Okay, next chapter should be the big showdown, or at least the beginning of it.
ENJOY
(^)o(^)
"Expecting someone else?" The wielder asked, leaning casually against the wall. Yugi sighed in relief as answer.
"Don't scare me like that, I thought you were about to skewer me or something." Her smile never dipped as she pulled out a sack with her other hand.
"Hungry?" At the mention of food his mood improved considerably and he nodded. She held out the sack with the free hand and lowered the staff. As Yugi dug in, right after collapsing to the ground where he stood, he managed a question.
"How did you find me Siris?" Sitting down next to him, she settled in and watched him. He was too caught up in the food to notice how closely she looked him over. Returning her attention to his question when he repeated it between mouthfuls, she shrugged.
"It wasn't easy. I actually just got here not long before you came marching out the door. I was afraid that I wasn't going to find it before the imposter. He's looking for you too."
"Speaking of the imposter. Did everyone make it out of that battle okay?"
"Yeah. Actually, some interesting things have happened during your absence." Yugi finished up the meal and looked at her patiently, but she didn't continue.
"Are you going to tell me what?"
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Will you answer something else then?"
"Depends entirely on the question."
"At the end of the fight, right before I blacked out I noticed something. You had violet eyes again, and your cape, well, it was bleeding. At least it appeared to be, was I hallucinating?"
"Quite the question. I'm surprised you noticed, and no, you were not hallucinating. I'll tell you why. Now, don't go telling everyone because I really don't have the time to show everyone."
"As long as it isn't necessary for the others to know, I wouldn't want to lie."
"Oh, don't worry about that. Just do this, unless someone asks you, just don't mention it. No one else has noticed and there are more important things to worry about. Kay?"
"Okay." Indicating for him to pay attention she stood up and walked a few feet from him. Once she was positioned, and since he was watching closely, he saw the subtle changes that occurred right before the cape appeared. Confused as to what she was doing he nonetheless continued to watch, and he was glad he did. He never saw the shift but suddenly Siris no longer had a dark brown green tinted cape, she now had wings of the same coloring.
These wings weren't covered in feathers, nor where they leathery. They were actually furry, and while the cape had reached her feet, these appeared to be longer than that. She stood that way for a moment, fluttering the wings a bit, once hard enough to lift off the ground, but soon she approached Yugi again and went to sit next to him. The transition back was so quick that by the time she was sitting she was looking at Yugi with deep, dark brown eyes once more.
"My cape Yugi, is my disguise for my wings, when I am using that power anyway. There are too many places that would attempt to have my head if I showed up with wings, so I hide them. And that is the reason why you saw my cape bleeding."
"Huh?"
"My cape is merely an illusion for my wings, so, you cut the cape you cut my wings, and those can bleed. Now, we should be getting back. Come on." Standing up she retrieved her staff and assisted Yugi to his feet. They were about to start walking when he suddenly stopped and blurted out a question.
"Can you fly?" She stopped, looked back, cocked her head to the side and smiled. Blinking innocently she started off, trusting Yugi would follow. He hesitated only a moment before running after her.
"Hey, why are we going to walk if you can fly?" He called as he caught up. Her response was simply to continue walking, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
~~~~~**~~~~~
Yami walked into one of the conference rooms and froze in his tracks. He blinked, but the sight remained. He noticed Teal'c standing in the room and went to stand with him. He looked back to see that it hadn't gone away, so he cleared his throat before speaking.
"You two do realize you are going to be in a huge amount of trouble." Celt and Azul's only indication that they heard was to speed up what they were doing. So far they had managed to dress Dark up in lovely fluorescent yellow robes with a pretty orange floral design, and were just finishing up dying his hair flame red. They stood back to admire their work and frowned.
"Needs something else." Celt stated. Azul quickly agreed, however, before either could come up with an idea O'Neill marched into the room with two jars and a paintbrush.
"Teal'c, will you hold this for me for a sec?" O'Neill asked, holding out one of the jars.
"I do not wish to become involved." Teal'c declared, slightly raising one eyebrow. O'Neill shrugged and handed the jar to Azul. He opened up the one he still held and dipped in the paintbrush. It came out with a bright green paint on the bristles. Moving the brush to Dark's forehead he drew a design, allowing the other two conspirators to critique his work.
"It's perfect, the same symbol on the puzzle."
"Exactly Azul. Blue gave me the idea for that, but this last part is mine." Switching jars O'Neill opened the second and dipped one hand in. He came out with a thick clear gel, which he cautiously began to rub through Darks hair. In moments he had given Dark a very intriguing collection of spikes. The three smiled at each other and stood back.
"I got the mirror all ready, so can I wake him up?"
"Hold on Azul. Siris said she would let me know when she was getting close with Yugi, I think he should see this before Dark manages to undo it all."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'd say this would count as a kodak moment." O'Neill smiled as he held up a small digital camera. Giving O'Neill a high five they waited a moment for Celt to say that Yugi would get to see it in person, and not just via picture.
"We had nothing to do with this, right?" Yami asked under his breath to Teal'c.
"Indeed."
"Okay, your up." Azul's smile broadened, if it was possible, as he leaned over Dark's face. He cupped his hands around his mouth, took a deep breath and..
"Wake up! I gotta ask you something!" He screamed, causing Dark to jerk awake and nearly fall out of the chair. Looking up he met a smirking Azul and behind him he could hear Celt and O'Neill, who were straining to keep from laughing. In an effort to recapture his dignity he stood up and went to ask Azul what he wanted when he froze.
Azul was holding a full-length mirror, the reflection of said mirror now showing Dark's new look in all his glory. Dark's mouth started to open and shut as he attempted to say something as his eyes grew wider then should have been possible.
"What do you think?" Azul asked, smiling innocently. O'Neill and Celt were now leaning against each other as they tried not to burst out laughing, they were turning a nice rosy color because of their efforts. All Dark could do was stare at his reflection as he tried to find his voice. A new sound entered the room causing everyone to turn.
Collapsed just inside the doorway, laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing, was Yugi. Siris hid her smile with a hand as she moved to stand with Teal'c and Yami, the two of which having managed to seem impassive.
It was then that something happened that caused the three conspirators to lose what control over their mirth they had and fall to the floor much like Yugi. Dark looked once at his young master, blinking a few times, and then back into the mirror and did the last thing anyone expected.
The great Dark Magician fainted.
~~~~~**~~~~~
"What we need to do now is find a way to bring this guy out to a place of our choosing. I think I could get him to come out to meet me, he doesn't know what's going on with me yet."
"Kaiba, we can not let you do that."
"And why not?"
"Because you are still recuperating. You are in no condition to participate in this fight."
"Come on, you can't expect me to just sit here and do nothing. This guy has defiled my name! I have a right to restore it."
"Master, Dark is right. We will fight to restore your name, and afterwards you will be able to be instrumental in undoing the damage, or repairing it as well as we are able. Right now you should stay with Mokuba, Azul will be staying with you as well." Kaiba sighed, but relented. He hated to admit it but they were right, he didn't even have the strength to stand.
"We could always just have Dark stand out there as a beacon. I'm sure that would get that morons attention."
"Or better yet, I can just put a locating spell on you, thief, and throw you out on the spot." Dark retorted at Bakura's statement while unconsciously running a hand through his hair. He had changed back to his normal purple outfit, but for some reason nothing he did could remove the eye from his forehead, or change his hair from the bright flame red it now was.
"Just try it, I dare you."
"Guys, will you hold it. I'm sure we can do this without using anyone as the bait. So just calm down." Yugi quickly intercepted the fight before it began. The two backed down, but continued to glare.
"We probably could, but I don't think we really have the time."
"Tali, what do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is that we have to act quickly and in order to find a way to get him to go where we want without using people will be very dangerous. The longer we take the more likely he will find us."
"So, what is your suggestion?"
"Let me do it."
"That is a request, not a suggestion."
"I never said it was a suggestion Celt. Look, I really am not supposed to even be here right now. This way I can assist you, and not break my rules too much. I will be there, just not in the main fight. I'll ensure that he doesn't leave or bring in any reinforcements from outside."
"Are ya sure ya can get him dere widout being caught?"
"Absolutely Joey. I can easily avoid capture. All you have to do is tell me when and where you want him to be. Then I'll arrive a few minutes early to tell you he is coming, and then back off."
"Well, I guess then that we each have our jobs. We should rest tonight, and make our move tomorrow." At O'Neill's suggestion they rapped up the meeting and left for their individual rooms. Dark made a point of accidentally tripping Celt on his way out, and bumping into Azul. Everyone was soon gone, except for Kaiba, who had decided to stay there in the chair since it reclined. The only other was Siris, and she was busy writing something down on a pad of paper.
"Are you going to rest?"
"Perhaps, but I have some things to do first. I can leave if I am bothering you."
"No, actually, I have some questions for you."
"Really. Why is that?"
"You intrigue me. There is a lot I still don't know the full story on, but the others will fill me in, but you, no one seems to know much about you. The only thing I can tell so far is that you are very calculating, you take everything into account, and act only when absolutely necessary."
"I prefer to think of it as covering all bases Seto Kaiba. I could explain some things to you, since you weren't there the first time around."
"That would be good. Can I ask the questions?"
"Don't know, can you?"
"Oh, very amusing, may I?"
"You may ask, however, I may or may not answer." Siris moved to sit across from Kaiba and for the next few hours they talked. Though, Kaiba would always wonder how he ended up doing most of the talking when he had intended for her to.