Chapter III: Be Mai Valentine
"Weevilus is WHAT!?!?"
Ask anyone with a job what they really hate and/or fear and an angry employer is at the top of the list.
When your employer stands 6'7, has arms the size of some tree trunks, and sit upon a throne of skull from people he claimed to have killed, all while having looks a demon would envy, well, that blows the list to shreds.
Lord Benjamin Panikal, or Lord Panik as he prefers wore dark armour with the upper arms exposed and blood red outlines. A helmet covered his baldhead that he made himself from the sword of a fallen foe.
Dishing out fear was one of Panik's favourite pastimes. He liked to see people quake at the sight of his monsters and his stature.
And someone had to go and stand up to him, defeating his Insect Champion, Weevilus Underwood!
"Your saying this 'Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh' faced down Weevilus, defeated him, banished him, all just to protect PEASANTS!"
His informant bowed down low. "Yes my Lord. And a contact of mine claims he may head here to face your personally."
"Bah! The fool has no idea what he is getting into!"
Panik sat back in his chair of human skulls contemplating this matter. He would have to send out another duellist to kill this worm before he gave him any trouble. With a feral grin he came up with a solution.
"Guards! Fetch Miss Valentine for me! I have a job for her!"
"At Once!"
As the pair of guards left Panik decided he would need to find a new duellist to hire to replace Weevilus. On a side-note he also needed a new slave-girl to fetch drinks.
Ah well, those matters could wait. Other things needed to be attended to.
---
Two days had passed since the battle against Weevilus. He got the entire story from the villagers.
Some jerk by the name of Panik was trying to force them to pay an outrageous fee for 'protection'. Turns out he only wanted to bully the people around and get richer in the processes.
Ranma had actually dealt with bullies before. He could deal with this one too. Besides he had no idea where these five items were, and until he could get a fix on one he may as well make use of the time.
Yami had kept coaching him on the game, more so now since they found a new threat to deal with. They both knew that Panik had to be stopped before he went on a rampage.
The information was, however, limited. Panik employed duellist, loved to terrorize, and lived in a keep on a sort of 'island' with a 'bridge of land' leading to it.
But he set that all aside as he finished lunch. His routine since he left Arcus was simple. Travel, find a place to make camp and do so. Eat dinner, then sleep. Wake at dawn, practice Kata, summon monster, spar with monster then recall monster. Eat breakfast, read Neko-Ken scroll, practice the meditation techniques the scroll described, eat more breakfast, break camp, continue journey.
All though he had his doubts about the scroll he was beginning to feel that he could, well not be afraid of cats, but at least stay sane.
But even though he had strong monsters to train with, a scroll to control his greatest fear, and an amazing journey ahead of him... he really wanted something to happen.
Cue foreshadowing.
---
Her boots clicked loudly as she walked down the well-worn path, the small case that held her deck beating lightly against her thigh. Her long blonde hair waved in the breeze as her indigo eyes looked about. She sighed again at reason she was out here.
To kill a guy she didn't know, never heard of, never seen, and would probably like if given the chance.
Life sucked.
Of COURSE she had to try and stop Panik.
Of COURSE she thought she could win.
Of COURSE she had to get beaten. Badly.
Panik, however, didn't kill her. Nope, far to easy. Making her his slave, however, was his idea of fun.
Mai Valentine though of it as torture without the physical pain and screams of anguish. All because Panik put on a stupid lame dog collar on her so that she HAD to do whatever he said. Said collar looked like a simple black piece of leather, but bonded a person's will to another. She could say what she want, do something how she wanted...
But she had to do it. If Panik ordered her to strip naked, she had to it, because the damned collar would force her.
In the four months she'd been forced into his service Panik had embarrassed her beyond believe. Eating dog food, bathing with the soldiers, especially the ugly ones, making her beg for scraps, licking his boots clean...
He hadn't raped her yet, but she figured he wanted to make her crack first. Not that she would.
She was tough... She was strong... And somehow, someway she would knock the smirk right off of him.
But for now she had to kill a guy.
Yup. Life sucked.
---
If there was one thing to note being chained up in an alternate dimension for five thousands years gave one plenty of time on their hands.
In Exodia's case he figured he'd put said time to good use. Case in point: evening the battle lines between the Sailor Senshi and the Dark Nebula.
Problem: Figuring out how to do so.
It should be noted that Exodia, even in his weakened state, had a lot of powers.
Namely seeing the future. Not unlike the future seeing abilities of the Time Gates, but unique in their own way as he could see every future, even the most unlikely. However what was likely was the dismemberment of the Dark Nebula. Directly after the beginnings of Crystal Tokyo would begin.
Balancing the scales was the problem. Until he fully recovered from transporting Ranma twice, creating his items, and taking the scroll, the Puzzle and decks from subspace had left him weaker than normal.
Powerful still, but very limited. As it stood he could affect one member of the Senshi. Time to go over the options.
Sailor Pluto was a no-no. She could sense any attack that required space or time displacement, which he would need to get at her. She also knew how to resist those attacks. No, she was out.
He considered the Princess, Sailor Moon, but that was another bad idea. The Silver Crystal, damn the thing that helped entrap him, would automatically protect her from such an attack.
The future King was another option, but upon further investigation he found it was also another problem. Crystal Tokyo, as it was designed, only needed the Queen. The King would just help things along.
Mercury was another possibility, but the shift would not be enough, even if the Senshi lacked her brainpower.
Mars, Jupiter and Venus? Any of them wouldn't be as much of a factor. They were just support fire really.
The Outers, Uranus and Neptune? More so than the four Inners a factor, but not enough to tip the scales towards a balance.
And the Senshi of Saturn...
Exodia couldn't smile do to his mouth. He would have liked to though.
Saturn would shift the balance, just enough. Since she was the one that was most likely to destroy the leader of the Dark Nebula, her removal would tip the scales. But how to do so?
---
Mai was becoming bored by the time she spotted a man on the road. 'About time too.'
He wore exotic garments, hair pulled into a pigtail, heavy pack, muscled but not bulky, and heading towards Panik's tower. Handsome devil he was. Just as the messenger described too.
Damn Panik's orders. She had no choice, so might as well get it over with.
She kept her approach, making her step as casual as possible, but as loud as she could to get the man's attention. After a few moments he took notice, a curious look coming over his face. They both stopped walking once they were within a few yards.
"You are a 'Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh', right?"
The man looked confused for a moment, but shook it off.
"Yes. And you are?"
"Valentine. Mai Valentine. And I'm supposed to kill you, at the order of Lord Panik."
The man frowned. Deeply. "Another little lackey of Panik's huh?"
Mai looked towards the ground. "Slave is more like it. See this collar here?" She raised her head and indicated the strap around the neck. Seeing her target nod she continued, "It's a control device. I can talk to like this, but I have to choice in the matter. If Panik says kill you, I have to do it."
She took her deck out, watching as Ranma did the same.
"So Mister Yu-Gi-Oh... Time To Duel!"
They shuffled their decks as the arena appeared around them, and the solid light podiums were created. Discreetly the puzzle glowed, uniting Ranma and Yami. Setting their decks down they each drew five cards.
------------ Ranma: 2000 Mai: 2000 ------------
Ranma looked to his opponent.
"Ladies first."
"Chivalry lives... Fairy Dragon, Attack Mode!"
With that, a long green, snake-like winged being with a rounded and cute head rose from the ground. (1100/1200)
---
"That was great Michiru."
Haruka leaned back as she finished her meal. Hotaru started gathering the dishes, and Michiru was finishing up.
"Thanks Hun. And... What the...?"
When you're a Sailor Scout you see plenty of odd things.
Seeing your adopted daughter start to fade away was odd. Also very bad.
"What's happening? Michiru-Mama?! Haruka-Papa?!"
And with that the Senshi of Saturn vanished. And the two Outers started scrambling wondering just what happened.
---
Few things can scare Sailor Pluto. Not because she was the strongest, no a few beings were stronger. Not because she was the smartest, the universe had many smart beings.
No, she feared little because she often knew what was going to happen. She had the Time Gate, a tool that could see into the future. She knew what would happen before it happened.
Except when a large factor of chaos was involved, then it wasn't until after the fact that she could see what the hell just happened. As she felt a short controlled burst of chaos force, she checked the future, standard procedure to insure nothing changed. What she saw caused her to use a word she hadn't used for well over two hundred years.
"Aw shit..."
---
Ranma took a card from his hand to play. This Mai only sent out a weaker monster to see what he had.
So he'd comply, for now.
"Then I counter with Ancient Elf (1450/1200) in attack mode!"
A figure rose with long pointed ears, purple armour and a staff with a winged end.
"Elf's Magic Burst!"
Upon the call a ball of magic was cast forth by the Elf, sending the dragon to the graveyard.
------------ Ranma: 2000 Mai: 1650 ------------
Mai's only response was to nod for a moment. "Not bad. Really. Next I'll place a card in defence mode, and one card face down."
After playing her cards, she ended her turn. Ranma drew a card and laid it face up.
"Next I'll play Fire Kraken in Attack Mode! (1600/1500)"
On Ranma's side of the field a new monster arose, a red squid with a fiery head. "Kraken Burn Burst!" The beast inhaled then exhaled, sending a fireball towards it's target.
In a burst of light Mai's defence monster arose, blocking the attack. The red bird not only took the hit, but also survived the attack.
"Should have pulled out a stronger monster. Then you wouldn't have lost life points from that attack on my Queen Bird. (1200/2000)"
------------ Ranma: 1600 Mai: 1650 ------------
"Well played, but that monster is too weak to attack."
"True, but my next monster will change that... Harpie Lady, Attack Mode! (1300/1400)"
She placed her card down to create her monster. A pointed eared woman with clawed hands and feathered wings rose up and took to the air. "And by playing Rose Whip I can boost her attack and defence three hundred points." With that a long whip appeared in her monster's hand, with thorns on the long cord. (1600/1700)
"Harpie attack the Elf, Rose Whip Strike!"
The winged woman swung the whip hitting the Elf head on and shattering it.
------------ Ranma: 1450 Mai: 1650 ------------
Ranma frowned. This woman knew what she was doing. Time for a new monster card. He drew, gave a smile, and played it.
"Battle Steer, Attack Mode!"
Ranma's new monster was a half-man, half-bull beast with a pitchfork. (1800/1500)
"Attack!"
Mai only smiled as the bull-beast charged.
"Looks like it's time to use my down card... Cyber Armour!"
"What?"
"It will boost my Harpie's attack 500 points! (2100/2200) Counter Attack Harpie, Rose Whip Strike!"
Pitchfork was thrust forward, and the now armoured Harpie swung forth her whip. The whip broke both weapon and monster.
------------ Ranma: 1150 Mai: 1650 ------------
---
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DISAPPEARED?"
The princess. In rough times a pillar of strength and hope when things never made sense.
Seeing a rattled Usagi over the vanishing of Hotaru shook that right off.
"I mean," Haruka began, "She vanished! Poof! Gone! Left the building! MY DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED INTO THIN AIR!"
Haruka was in a panic. Seeing ones daughter vanish like a magic trick often does that to someone. The gathered scouts were doing everything to figure out what happened. Nothing seemed work. Ami's computer drew blanks, and Rei's fire reading kept showing cards of some kind.
A perfect time for Setsuna to appear.
"What happened?"
Everyone turned to the Senshi of Pluto. Not because of her sudden appearance, no, but because SHE asked a question. She was always the one brushing questions off, not giving them.
"You don't KNOW?"
Rei's outburst signified that. Pluto sighed and found a way to phrase this.
"Rei... just over half an hour ago a burst of chaos comes up from NO WHERE, sending the Time Gate reeling! I can barley keep it under control! And Crystal Tokyo is disappearing! I have no way of telling what happened, because the Gate is in no shape to tell me."
After everyone digested this, she asked again, "What happened?"
Usagi decided to be Miss 'Bearer of Bad News'. "Hotaru vanished."
Setsuna blinked. "What do you mean 'vanished'?"
"As in vanished into thin air! I saw! She just faded away!" Haruka was the one to answer that one.
"But that sounds like someone transported her to... aw shit..."
The Scouts gulped. Pluto swearing could not be good.
"Transported into another world..."
---
Ranma decided he was in a bad way. Being on the defensive against an opponent counted anyway.
"Fire Kraken, defence mode."
The fire squid wrapped it's arms around itself in a defensive gesture.
"Harpie Lady, Rose Whip Strike."
The thorny whip was snapped forward sending the fire creature to the next life.
"Oh, and before your turn comes around again... one card, face down."
Mai smiled outwardly. Inwardly frowning. She half-hoped this guy would beat her. Death was a lame way out, but a way out of Panik's bondage no less.
"Your turn good sir."
Ranma drew a card and smiled.
"I play Gaia, The Fierce Knight in Attack Mode!"
The mounted warrior rose onto the field, twin swords ready for battle.
"Gaia, Dark Knight Charge! Destroy Harpie Lady!"
Mai grit her teeth as the warrior charged. She quickly flipped her trap.
"I'll play the Shift Trap Card, to replace Harpie Lady as the target with Queen Bird."
In a burst of red and blue light Harpie Lady and Queen Bird changed positions on the field. Queen Bird was struck by a sword, shattering it like glass. Gaia rode back to his spot.
'A little TOO close.' Mai thought. Lucky thing she drew that card, she needed to keep her Harpie on the field to win. She smiled as Ranma looked ready to burst in frustration. 'Try again pal. But let's see what I can do.'
Mai drew her next card and smiled.
"You're done for pal. Using my new card Elegant Egotist I can triple Harpie Lady turning her into the Harpie Lady Sisters!"
She laid down her new card as the Harpie split into three. The new upgraded monster had higher stats than Harpie Lady (1950/2100) and kept all the equipment upgrades. (2750/2900).
"Now Harpies, Triple Rose Whip Strike!"
All three harpies snapped three thorny whips at Gaia, destroying the warrior and his horse.
------------ Ranma: 700 Mai: 1650 ------------
Ranma knew he needed some kind of trick to stay alive. As he drew his new card an idea came to him.
"For my next card I place Dark Magician, in Attack Mode."
Ranma's black magic sorcerer rose from the ground, hovering over mother Earth.
"What point is it playing him? He's too weak to face my Harpie Lady Sisters."
"Perhaps, but it's my next trick I pull from my hat will help. The Magical Hats!"
Upon playing his card a giant top hat with a yellow question mark covered his magician, then split into four separate hats. Mai grit her teeth. Just what she needed.
"As I'm sure you have guessed my Magician is inside a hat. The question is, which hat?"
"So many hats, so little time... Attack the one on the far right!"
Three whips lashed out and tore into a hat. As the hat was torn it's contents were made clear.
"Empty? Well, I'll get him sooner or later."
"Maybe. Maybe not. That is up to the Heart of the Cards."
Mai blinked. THIS was a new one to her.
"The Wha of Wha?"
Ranma just smiled.
"The Heart of the Cards. I trust in my deck and the cards within it. And I trust that even in the most dire of situations I can still pull though."
If Ranma were told he'd say THAT before meeting Yami he'd think it was crazy. But now it sounded... natural. Must be that reincarnation thing he figured as he drew a card. He held the card up, so Mai could only see the back.
"I'll place this trap card within a hat. Hit the right hat, my Magician is destroyed. Hit another and I get another turn."
Then he set the card onto the field.
"Strike the wrong one, and you'll enter my trap."
Mai only gave a short 'humph'. "Nice bluff Ranma, but I don't think so. Harpies, the left most hat."
The whips lashed out again and struck the designated hat. Upon the hat's destruction...
"Nice find Mai. You just hit my trap."
"Uh oh..."
In a flash all three cards were pressed together by a magical seal.
"The Spellbinding Circle drains your monsters of power, and entraps them!" (2050)
"Damn it! All right, take your turn!" 'And things were going so well... well, maybe I can die if he wins. I'd be free at least.'
Ranma drew his card, and smiled again.
"My next card is Armoured Glass, a card that will negate ALL of your equipment cards, including Elegant Egotist!"
Mai, for her part had only saw her Harpies lose once before, to Panik. She had the feeling it was about to happen again as the three Harpies reunited from the loss of Elegant Egotist. The Harpie's Cyber Armour and Rose Whip disappeared as well, leaving a weakened and trapped Harpie Lady. (600) The remaining hat on the left disappeared to reveal the powerful Dark Magician.
"End the game Dark Magician with Dark Magic Attack!" (2500)
The colour inverting blast shot forth, smashing into Harpie Lady shattering her like glass. The duel was won.
------------ Ranma: 700 Mai: 0 ------------
The arena left, decks returning to their owners hands. And Mai collapsed to her knees, unable to hold back her tears.
"I guess this is it then." Even if it was spoken as a whisper Ranma could hear her as he approached. "Guess Panik will have to have a little fit." She gave off a bitter laugh that ended quickly.
Ranma considered his options, and decided on a course of action.
"By the rules of the Shadow Games, your fate is mine to decide."
Mai let her self have a small smile.
"Mother, Father, Brother, I'll see you all soon."
"And I choose... to destroy you bonds to Panik and set you free!"
Mai's head, tear streaked and all, shot up.
"WHAT!?"
---
Forests. Hotaru often liked forests. Except for this one. The one she was lost in. One moment she was with Michiru and Haruka after a good dinner, the next the middle of nowhere. Her response was, unbelievably similar to a lost martial artist.
"Where on Earth am I now!?"
"Well, no place good doll."
Hotaru turned around to face a man. He was tall, had facial stubble, a leather jacket and tinted glasses.
"Well Panik DID say he wanted a new slave girl. Guess I just found one. I oughta get a good bonus from this."
Hotaru turned to run, but was caught before she could move. She cried out in an attempt to get help.
No one heard her pleas.
---
Exodia was a god. He lived a long time. He knew many things.
Such as four hundred and seventy two curse words to express displeasure. He enjoyed each and every one of them as he spat them out. It would just FIGURE that he had to sneeze at the LAST part of transporting Hotaru.
The last time he sneezed was... he forgot. Hell he forgot he could sneeze.
Murphy's Law folks, Murphy's Law.
Plan A was to transport Hotaru a little down the road for Ranma to find. He figured if he had to remove Hotaru from the picture he might as well do something useful with her and give Ranma a companion to travel with.
Instead Panik's hired help came across her. And Panik was never nice to little girls, especially scared ones.
He did a quick check of the future to figure out how the hell he could fix THIS!
Then he wished he could smile. Damn pulled back skin never allowed it.
But he was happy. The situation would resolve itself.
---
"Why the HELL are you just letting me go!? I tried to kill you for Pete's Sake!
Mai was NEVER used to kindness. In her experience men were kind to her just so they could bed her.
Hell, she knew some women out to bed her. Freaked her out really.
Even if Panik didn't do that since she is, or rather was, under his control he groped her often enough.
But still that didn't describe this guy. She had tried to kill him, damn Panik's orders, lost and for all reasons expected to die. Yet he was treating this like he always had people out to kill him.
If she knew Ranma was a super-powerful martial artist who had to fight off deranged samurai wannabes, old trolls, blind amazons, lost boys, men cursed to be yeti-while-riding-bull-while-carrying-crane-and-eels, princes, demi-gods, and fighters with styles no sane person would think of using, all attempting to kill him she may have understood.
She did not, however, know this. But Ranma, still merged with Yami, had an answer.
"Did you want to kill me?"
"What?"
"I said 'Did you want to kill me?'"
Mai blinked. "No, that was Panik's damned idea."
"And he was controlling you right?"
This time she looked down and blushed. "Umm, yes."
"So there's no problem then. It wasn't your fault. I'm not going to hold it against you."
"So that's it? You not going to enslave me, force me to do anything, just let me go?"
"That's right."
Mai was still confused but chalked this up to fact that the kid had a good heart. Nothing more.
"Well... thank you then. I don't think I can repay you enough."
Ranma just smiled. Mai blushed again. 'Yup, handsome devil'.
"You don't need to. I going off to beat Panik, so you don't need to worry about him anymore, OK?"
Mai let out a smile.
"All right. But I'm not going to go with you. I hate that damn Tower. Sides, I want to get back home to see..."
Ranma blinked as she forced a smile and shook her head.
"Never mind, don't worry. You just be careful. Panik is powerful and will do anything to win."
Ranma only smiled again. "No worries. Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh isn't gonna lose."
---
Duellist Profiles
Name: Mai Valentine
Deck Style: Harpie Lady Combo
Favourite/Best Monster: Harpie Lady/Harpie Lady Sisters
Other Monsters: Fairy Dragon, Queen Bird,
Info: Born to an upper-class family, she learned how to play the Shadow Games for fun and challenge. Popular among her town she was among the first to defend it when Panik and his lackeys attacked. After Panik killed her family she challenge him and lost. Rather than being killed like her family however she was taken as a servant and attack dog.
Author's Notes: If some cards effects looks like I made them up as I went along... I probably did just that. Hey, that seems to be what they do in the anime! As a point I will try to make the duels a little different from the anime, although a may borrow a thing here and there (Like the Dark Magician/Magical Hats/Spellbinding Circle Combo). Feedback is welcome. If it's negative feedback don't tell me I suck, tell me what you don't like about the fic. Thanks.
And for those who have never heard of Murphy's Law it's very simple. Hell, Ranma was yanked around by that law enough as it is.
'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.'
Next Chapter: Hotaru's in trouble now, and she needs a white knight. And meanwhile Ranma's is trying to figure out how to get into the tower. And who is Panik lining up to face Ranma next?
"Weevilus is WHAT!?!?"
Ask anyone with a job what they really hate and/or fear and an angry employer is at the top of the list.
When your employer stands 6'7, has arms the size of some tree trunks, and sit upon a throne of skull from people he claimed to have killed, all while having looks a demon would envy, well, that blows the list to shreds.
Lord Benjamin Panikal, or Lord Panik as he prefers wore dark armour with the upper arms exposed and blood red outlines. A helmet covered his baldhead that he made himself from the sword of a fallen foe.
Dishing out fear was one of Panik's favourite pastimes. He liked to see people quake at the sight of his monsters and his stature.
And someone had to go and stand up to him, defeating his Insect Champion, Weevilus Underwood!
"Your saying this 'Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh' faced down Weevilus, defeated him, banished him, all just to protect PEASANTS!"
His informant bowed down low. "Yes my Lord. And a contact of mine claims he may head here to face your personally."
"Bah! The fool has no idea what he is getting into!"
Panik sat back in his chair of human skulls contemplating this matter. He would have to send out another duellist to kill this worm before he gave him any trouble. With a feral grin he came up with a solution.
"Guards! Fetch Miss Valentine for me! I have a job for her!"
"At Once!"
As the pair of guards left Panik decided he would need to find a new duellist to hire to replace Weevilus. On a side-note he also needed a new slave-girl to fetch drinks.
Ah well, those matters could wait. Other things needed to be attended to.
---
Two days had passed since the battle against Weevilus. He got the entire story from the villagers.
Some jerk by the name of Panik was trying to force them to pay an outrageous fee for 'protection'. Turns out he only wanted to bully the people around and get richer in the processes.
Ranma had actually dealt with bullies before. He could deal with this one too. Besides he had no idea where these five items were, and until he could get a fix on one he may as well make use of the time.
Yami had kept coaching him on the game, more so now since they found a new threat to deal with. They both knew that Panik had to be stopped before he went on a rampage.
The information was, however, limited. Panik employed duellist, loved to terrorize, and lived in a keep on a sort of 'island' with a 'bridge of land' leading to it.
But he set that all aside as he finished lunch. His routine since he left Arcus was simple. Travel, find a place to make camp and do so. Eat dinner, then sleep. Wake at dawn, practice Kata, summon monster, spar with monster then recall monster. Eat breakfast, read Neko-Ken scroll, practice the meditation techniques the scroll described, eat more breakfast, break camp, continue journey.
All though he had his doubts about the scroll he was beginning to feel that he could, well not be afraid of cats, but at least stay sane.
But even though he had strong monsters to train with, a scroll to control his greatest fear, and an amazing journey ahead of him... he really wanted something to happen.
Cue foreshadowing.
---
Her boots clicked loudly as she walked down the well-worn path, the small case that held her deck beating lightly against her thigh. Her long blonde hair waved in the breeze as her indigo eyes looked about. She sighed again at reason she was out here.
To kill a guy she didn't know, never heard of, never seen, and would probably like if given the chance.
Life sucked.
Of COURSE she had to try and stop Panik.
Of COURSE she thought she could win.
Of COURSE she had to get beaten. Badly.
Panik, however, didn't kill her. Nope, far to easy. Making her his slave, however, was his idea of fun.
Mai Valentine though of it as torture without the physical pain and screams of anguish. All because Panik put on a stupid lame dog collar on her so that she HAD to do whatever he said. Said collar looked like a simple black piece of leather, but bonded a person's will to another. She could say what she want, do something how she wanted...
But she had to do it. If Panik ordered her to strip naked, she had to it, because the damned collar would force her.
In the four months she'd been forced into his service Panik had embarrassed her beyond believe. Eating dog food, bathing with the soldiers, especially the ugly ones, making her beg for scraps, licking his boots clean...
He hadn't raped her yet, but she figured he wanted to make her crack first. Not that she would.
She was tough... She was strong... And somehow, someway she would knock the smirk right off of him.
But for now she had to kill a guy.
Yup. Life sucked.
---
If there was one thing to note being chained up in an alternate dimension for five thousands years gave one plenty of time on their hands.
In Exodia's case he figured he'd put said time to good use. Case in point: evening the battle lines between the Sailor Senshi and the Dark Nebula.
Problem: Figuring out how to do so.
It should be noted that Exodia, even in his weakened state, had a lot of powers.
Namely seeing the future. Not unlike the future seeing abilities of the Time Gates, but unique in their own way as he could see every future, even the most unlikely. However what was likely was the dismemberment of the Dark Nebula. Directly after the beginnings of Crystal Tokyo would begin.
Balancing the scales was the problem. Until he fully recovered from transporting Ranma twice, creating his items, and taking the scroll, the Puzzle and decks from subspace had left him weaker than normal.
Powerful still, but very limited. As it stood he could affect one member of the Senshi. Time to go over the options.
Sailor Pluto was a no-no. She could sense any attack that required space or time displacement, which he would need to get at her. She also knew how to resist those attacks. No, she was out.
He considered the Princess, Sailor Moon, but that was another bad idea. The Silver Crystal, damn the thing that helped entrap him, would automatically protect her from such an attack.
The future King was another option, but upon further investigation he found it was also another problem. Crystal Tokyo, as it was designed, only needed the Queen. The King would just help things along.
Mercury was another possibility, but the shift would not be enough, even if the Senshi lacked her brainpower.
Mars, Jupiter and Venus? Any of them wouldn't be as much of a factor. They were just support fire really.
The Outers, Uranus and Neptune? More so than the four Inners a factor, but not enough to tip the scales towards a balance.
And the Senshi of Saturn...
Exodia couldn't smile do to his mouth. He would have liked to though.
Saturn would shift the balance, just enough. Since she was the one that was most likely to destroy the leader of the Dark Nebula, her removal would tip the scales. But how to do so?
---
Mai was becoming bored by the time she spotted a man on the road. 'About time too.'
He wore exotic garments, hair pulled into a pigtail, heavy pack, muscled but not bulky, and heading towards Panik's tower. Handsome devil he was. Just as the messenger described too.
Damn Panik's orders. She had no choice, so might as well get it over with.
She kept her approach, making her step as casual as possible, but as loud as she could to get the man's attention. After a few moments he took notice, a curious look coming over his face. They both stopped walking once they were within a few yards.
"You are a 'Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh', right?"
The man looked confused for a moment, but shook it off.
"Yes. And you are?"
"Valentine. Mai Valentine. And I'm supposed to kill you, at the order of Lord Panik."
The man frowned. Deeply. "Another little lackey of Panik's huh?"
Mai looked towards the ground. "Slave is more like it. See this collar here?" She raised her head and indicated the strap around the neck. Seeing her target nod she continued, "It's a control device. I can talk to like this, but I have to choice in the matter. If Panik says kill you, I have to do it."
She took her deck out, watching as Ranma did the same.
"So Mister Yu-Gi-Oh... Time To Duel!"
They shuffled their decks as the arena appeared around them, and the solid light podiums were created. Discreetly the puzzle glowed, uniting Ranma and Yami. Setting their decks down they each drew five cards.
------------ Ranma: 2000 Mai: 2000 ------------
Ranma looked to his opponent.
"Ladies first."
"Chivalry lives... Fairy Dragon, Attack Mode!"
With that, a long green, snake-like winged being with a rounded and cute head rose from the ground. (1100/1200)
---
"That was great Michiru."
Haruka leaned back as she finished her meal. Hotaru started gathering the dishes, and Michiru was finishing up.
"Thanks Hun. And... What the...?"
When you're a Sailor Scout you see plenty of odd things.
Seeing your adopted daughter start to fade away was odd. Also very bad.
"What's happening? Michiru-Mama?! Haruka-Papa?!"
And with that the Senshi of Saturn vanished. And the two Outers started scrambling wondering just what happened.
---
Few things can scare Sailor Pluto. Not because she was the strongest, no a few beings were stronger. Not because she was the smartest, the universe had many smart beings.
No, she feared little because she often knew what was going to happen. She had the Time Gate, a tool that could see into the future. She knew what would happen before it happened.
Except when a large factor of chaos was involved, then it wasn't until after the fact that she could see what the hell just happened. As she felt a short controlled burst of chaos force, she checked the future, standard procedure to insure nothing changed. What she saw caused her to use a word she hadn't used for well over two hundred years.
"Aw shit..."
---
Ranma took a card from his hand to play. This Mai only sent out a weaker monster to see what he had.
So he'd comply, for now.
"Then I counter with Ancient Elf (1450/1200) in attack mode!"
A figure rose with long pointed ears, purple armour and a staff with a winged end.
"Elf's Magic Burst!"
Upon the call a ball of magic was cast forth by the Elf, sending the dragon to the graveyard.
------------ Ranma: 2000 Mai: 1650 ------------
Mai's only response was to nod for a moment. "Not bad. Really. Next I'll place a card in defence mode, and one card face down."
After playing her cards, she ended her turn. Ranma drew a card and laid it face up.
"Next I'll play Fire Kraken in Attack Mode! (1600/1500)"
On Ranma's side of the field a new monster arose, a red squid with a fiery head. "Kraken Burn Burst!" The beast inhaled then exhaled, sending a fireball towards it's target.
In a burst of light Mai's defence monster arose, blocking the attack. The red bird not only took the hit, but also survived the attack.
"Should have pulled out a stronger monster. Then you wouldn't have lost life points from that attack on my Queen Bird. (1200/2000)"
------------ Ranma: 1600 Mai: 1650 ------------
"Well played, but that monster is too weak to attack."
"True, but my next monster will change that... Harpie Lady, Attack Mode! (1300/1400)"
She placed her card down to create her monster. A pointed eared woman with clawed hands and feathered wings rose up and took to the air. "And by playing Rose Whip I can boost her attack and defence three hundred points." With that a long whip appeared in her monster's hand, with thorns on the long cord. (1600/1700)
"Harpie attack the Elf, Rose Whip Strike!"
The winged woman swung the whip hitting the Elf head on and shattering it.
------------ Ranma: 1450 Mai: 1650 ------------
Ranma frowned. This woman knew what she was doing. Time for a new monster card. He drew, gave a smile, and played it.
"Battle Steer, Attack Mode!"
Ranma's new monster was a half-man, half-bull beast with a pitchfork. (1800/1500)
"Attack!"
Mai only smiled as the bull-beast charged.
"Looks like it's time to use my down card... Cyber Armour!"
"What?"
"It will boost my Harpie's attack 500 points! (2100/2200) Counter Attack Harpie, Rose Whip Strike!"
Pitchfork was thrust forward, and the now armoured Harpie swung forth her whip. The whip broke both weapon and monster.
------------ Ranma: 1150 Mai: 1650 ------------
---
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DISAPPEARED?"
The princess. In rough times a pillar of strength and hope when things never made sense.
Seeing a rattled Usagi over the vanishing of Hotaru shook that right off.
"I mean," Haruka began, "She vanished! Poof! Gone! Left the building! MY DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED INTO THIN AIR!"
Haruka was in a panic. Seeing ones daughter vanish like a magic trick often does that to someone. The gathered scouts were doing everything to figure out what happened. Nothing seemed work. Ami's computer drew blanks, and Rei's fire reading kept showing cards of some kind.
A perfect time for Setsuna to appear.
"What happened?"
Everyone turned to the Senshi of Pluto. Not because of her sudden appearance, no, but because SHE asked a question. She was always the one brushing questions off, not giving them.
"You don't KNOW?"
Rei's outburst signified that. Pluto sighed and found a way to phrase this.
"Rei... just over half an hour ago a burst of chaos comes up from NO WHERE, sending the Time Gate reeling! I can barley keep it under control! And Crystal Tokyo is disappearing! I have no way of telling what happened, because the Gate is in no shape to tell me."
After everyone digested this, she asked again, "What happened?"
Usagi decided to be Miss 'Bearer of Bad News'. "Hotaru vanished."
Setsuna blinked. "What do you mean 'vanished'?"
"As in vanished into thin air! I saw! She just faded away!" Haruka was the one to answer that one.
"But that sounds like someone transported her to... aw shit..."
The Scouts gulped. Pluto swearing could not be good.
"Transported into another world..."
---
Ranma decided he was in a bad way. Being on the defensive against an opponent counted anyway.
"Fire Kraken, defence mode."
The fire squid wrapped it's arms around itself in a defensive gesture.
"Harpie Lady, Rose Whip Strike."
The thorny whip was snapped forward sending the fire creature to the next life.
"Oh, and before your turn comes around again... one card, face down."
Mai smiled outwardly. Inwardly frowning. She half-hoped this guy would beat her. Death was a lame way out, but a way out of Panik's bondage no less.
"Your turn good sir."
Ranma drew a card and smiled.
"I play Gaia, The Fierce Knight in Attack Mode!"
The mounted warrior rose onto the field, twin swords ready for battle.
"Gaia, Dark Knight Charge! Destroy Harpie Lady!"
Mai grit her teeth as the warrior charged. She quickly flipped her trap.
"I'll play the Shift Trap Card, to replace Harpie Lady as the target with Queen Bird."
In a burst of red and blue light Harpie Lady and Queen Bird changed positions on the field. Queen Bird was struck by a sword, shattering it like glass. Gaia rode back to his spot.
'A little TOO close.' Mai thought. Lucky thing she drew that card, she needed to keep her Harpie on the field to win. She smiled as Ranma looked ready to burst in frustration. 'Try again pal. But let's see what I can do.'
Mai drew her next card and smiled.
"You're done for pal. Using my new card Elegant Egotist I can triple Harpie Lady turning her into the Harpie Lady Sisters!"
She laid down her new card as the Harpie split into three. The new upgraded monster had higher stats than Harpie Lady (1950/2100) and kept all the equipment upgrades. (2750/2900).
"Now Harpies, Triple Rose Whip Strike!"
All three harpies snapped three thorny whips at Gaia, destroying the warrior and his horse.
------------ Ranma: 700 Mai: 1650 ------------
Ranma knew he needed some kind of trick to stay alive. As he drew his new card an idea came to him.
"For my next card I place Dark Magician, in Attack Mode."
Ranma's black magic sorcerer rose from the ground, hovering over mother Earth.
"What point is it playing him? He's too weak to face my Harpie Lady Sisters."
"Perhaps, but it's my next trick I pull from my hat will help. The Magical Hats!"
Upon playing his card a giant top hat with a yellow question mark covered his magician, then split into four separate hats. Mai grit her teeth. Just what she needed.
"As I'm sure you have guessed my Magician is inside a hat. The question is, which hat?"
"So many hats, so little time... Attack the one on the far right!"
Three whips lashed out and tore into a hat. As the hat was torn it's contents were made clear.
"Empty? Well, I'll get him sooner or later."
"Maybe. Maybe not. That is up to the Heart of the Cards."
Mai blinked. THIS was a new one to her.
"The Wha of Wha?"
Ranma just smiled.
"The Heart of the Cards. I trust in my deck and the cards within it. And I trust that even in the most dire of situations I can still pull though."
If Ranma were told he'd say THAT before meeting Yami he'd think it was crazy. But now it sounded... natural. Must be that reincarnation thing he figured as he drew a card. He held the card up, so Mai could only see the back.
"I'll place this trap card within a hat. Hit the right hat, my Magician is destroyed. Hit another and I get another turn."
Then he set the card onto the field.
"Strike the wrong one, and you'll enter my trap."
Mai only gave a short 'humph'. "Nice bluff Ranma, but I don't think so. Harpies, the left most hat."
The whips lashed out again and struck the designated hat. Upon the hat's destruction...
"Nice find Mai. You just hit my trap."
"Uh oh..."
In a flash all three cards were pressed together by a magical seal.
"The Spellbinding Circle drains your monsters of power, and entraps them!" (2050)
"Damn it! All right, take your turn!" 'And things were going so well... well, maybe I can die if he wins. I'd be free at least.'
Ranma drew his card, and smiled again.
"My next card is Armoured Glass, a card that will negate ALL of your equipment cards, including Elegant Egotist!"
Mai, for her part had only saw her Harpies lose once before, to Panik. She had the feeling it was about to happen again as the three Harpies reunited from the loss of Elegant Egotist. The Harpie's Cyber Armour and Rose Whip disappeared as well, leaving a weakened and trapped Harpie Lady. (600) The remaining hat on the left disappeared to reveal the powerful Dark Magician.
"End the game Dark Magician with Dark Magic Attack!" (2500)
The colour inverting blast shot forth, smashing into Harpie Lady shattering her like glass. The duel was won.
------------ Ranma: 700 Mai: 0 ------------
The arena left, decks returning to their owners hands. And Mai collapsed to her knees, unable to hold back her tears.
"I guess this is it then." Even if it was spoken as a whisper Ranma could hear her as he approached. "Guess Panik will have to have a little fit." She gave off a bitter laugh that ended quickly.
Ranma considered his options, and decided on a course of action.
"By the rules of the Shadow Games, your fate is mine to decide."
Mai let her self have a small smile.
"Mother, Father, Brother, I'll see you all soon."
"And I choose... to destroy you bonds to Panik and set you free!"
Mai's head, tear streaked and all, shot up.
"WHAT!?"
---
Forests. Hotaru often liked forests. Except for this one. The one she was lost in. One moment she was with Michiru and Haruka after a good dinner, the next the middle of nowhere. Her response was, unbelievably similar to a lost martial artist.
"Where on Earth am I now!?"
"Well, no place good doll."
Hotaru turned around to face a man. He was tall, had facial stubble, a leather jacket and tinted glasses.
"Well Panik DID say he wanted a new slave girl. Guess I just found one. I oughta get a good bonus from this."
Hotaru turned to run, but was caught before she could move. She cried out in an attempt to get help.
No one heard her pleas.
---
Exodia was a god. He lived a long time. He knew many things.
Such as four hundred and seventy two curse words to express displeasure. He enjoyed each and every one of them as he spat them out. It would just FIGURE that he had to sneeze at the LAST part of transporting Hotaru.
The last time he sneezed was... he forgot. Hell he forgot he could sneeze.
Murphy's Law folks, Murphy's Law.
Plan A was to transport Hotaru a little down the road for Ranma to find. He figured if he had to remove Hotaru from the picture he might as well do something useful with her and give Ranma a companion to travel with.
Instead Panik's hired help came across her. And Panik was never nice to little girls, especially scared ones.
He did a quick check of the future to figure out how the hell he could fix THIS!
Then he wished he could smile. Damn pulled back skin never allowed it.
But he was happy. The situation would resolve itself.
---
"Why the HELL are you just letting me go!? I tried to kill you for Pete's Sake!
Mai was NEVER used to kindness. In her experience men were kind to her just so they could bed her.
Hell, she knew some women out to bed her. Freaked her out really.
Even if Panik didn't do that since she is, or rather was, under his control he groped her often enough.
But still that didn't describe this guy. She had tried to kill him, damn Panik's orders, lost and for all reasons expected to die. Yet he was treating this like he always had people out to kill him.
If she knew Ranma was a super-powerful martial artist who had to fight off deranged samurai wannabes, old trolls, blind amazons, lost boys, men cursed to be yeti-while-riding-bull-while-carrying-crane-and-eels, princes, demi-gods, and fighters with styles no sane person would think of using, all attempting to kill him she may have understood.
She did not, however, know this. But Ranma, still merged with Yami, had an answer.
"Did you want to kill me?"
"What?"
"I said 'Did you want to kill me?'"
Mai blinked. "No, that was Panik's damned idea."
"And he was controlling you right?"
This time she looked down and blushed. "Umm, yes."
"So there's no problem then. It wasn't your fault. I'm not going to hold it against you."
"So that's it? You not going to enslave me, force me to do anything, just let me go?"
"That's right."
Mai was still confused but chalked this up to fact that the kid had a good heart. Nothing more.
"Well... thank you then. I don't think I can repay you enough."
Ranma just smiled. Mai blushed again. 'Yup, handsome devil'.
"You don't need to. I going off to beat Panik, so you don't need to worry about him anymore, OK?"
Mai let out a smile.
"All right. But I'm not going to go with you. I hate that damn Tower. Sides, I want to get back home to see..."
Ranma blinked as she forced a smile and shook her head.
"Never mind, don't worry. You just be careful. Panik is powerful and will do anything to win."
Ranma only smiled again. "No worries. Ranma Yu-Gi-Oh isn't gonna lose."
---
Duellist Profiles
Name: Mai Valentine
Deck Style: Harpie Lady Combo
Favourite/Best Monster: Harpie Lady/Harpie Lady Sisters
Other Monsters: Fairy Dragon, Queen Bird,
Info: Born to an upper-class family, she learned how to play the Shadow Games for fun and challenge. Popular among her town she was among the first to defend it when Panik and his lackeys attacked. After Panik killed her family she challenge him and lost. Rather than being killed like her family however she was taken as a servant and attack dog.
Author's Notes: If some cards effects looks like I made them up as I went along... I probably did just that. Hey, that seems to be what they do in the anime! As a point I will try to make the duels a little different from the anime, although a may borrow a thing here and there (Like the Dark Magician/Magical Hats/Spellbinding Circle Combo). Feedback is welcome. If it's negative feedback don't tell me I suck, tell me what you don't like about the fic. Thanks.
And for those who have never heard of Murphy's Law it's very simple. Hell, Ranma was yanked around by that law enough as it is.
'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.'
Next Chapter: Hotaru's in trouble now, and she needs a white knight. And meanwhile Ranma's is trying to figure out how to get into the tower. And who is Panik lining up to face Ranma next?
