Firstly, I inserted a new chapter in at Part Three, so do go back and read
it. I'm so sorry about the continuity screw-up, but I felt the text didn't
flow properly with the chapter coming up later. It just works better as
Part three, so go read it first then come back here. Done? Ok, good. Now
then, thanks to everyone who responded! I've been really encouraged by your
kind words. Everyone's been so supportive. If you spot any grammatical
errors, Aledia Waentauriel Blackwall, please just let me know what you've
spotted. I can't find it! *g* I'm glad you laughed at the joke, Yggdrasil's
3rd Root. I just couldn't resist it! Mai is hilarious to write. I'm
honestly not trying to make her annoying, but I don't imagine she'd be
happy and cool about the situation either. She's actually a character I
really like, so I'm sorry she's grating on your nerves. Hopefully you'll
warm to her more as the story progresses. Anyway, here's along chapter.
Hope you enjoy, and please leave commentary! Detailed comments are indeed
welcome, but even short ones will do. =)
* * *
Part Six
* * *
Mai was feeling pretty good about herself. Sure Pegasus had used a trap to cripple her Dark Witch, but she'd gotten a lucky draw with Rose Whip and a Cyber Shield, which she'd wisely held over for later, and a magic card which she'd used. He'd tried to attack her life points directly with Manga Ryu-Ran, but Mai had been expecting something like that. She used the magic card she'd placed earlier, Black Hole, to take out everything on the field, then summoned her Harpy's Pet Dragon. Attacking his life points directly had been quite satisfying.
Pegasus sighed and crossed out his life points on the back of a business card he'd found in his coat, bringing him down to under a thousand. "When did you get a Black Hole card?"
"I've been dueling and trading a lot. My deck is much better now than when I dueled Yugi on your island."
"I've noticed." Pegasus glanced through his hand and settled for a single card face-down in defense mode and smiled. "Your move."
Mai grinned and summoned Harpy Lady. "I combine this with Elegant Egotist and Cyber Shield to make some super powerful Harpy Lady Sisters. Now, I know that's a trap you've put down, so I'll attack it with my Pet Dragon while preserving the sisters."
Pegasus clicked his tongue. "Mesmeric Control. I guess he's spellbound and ripe for attacking."
"As if! I'm whipping your skinny ass!" She laughed and shook her head. "You know, those holographic things really are addictive. I feel like I should be commanding the cards around or something."
"I feel your pain. Duel mats are simply not the same." He glanced at his hand and smiled. "Your deck may have improved, but not enough." He drew three cards and grinned. "I'll use my Dragon Capture Jar to take that silly pet of yours. Now I'll summon him and combine with Toon World to make Toon Harpy's pet Dragon in defense mode. Add to that this card, the Mystic Eye. There's no way you can get around that."
Mai shook her head. "What is it with you and Toon World? Can't you combine with anything else?"
"You play your way and I'll play mine."
"Fine. I combine my Harpy Lady Sisters with two more Cyber Shields and the Malevolent Nuzzler."
Pegasus smirked. "Don't you think that's a little bit of overkill, to power up one card so much? Didn't you ever hear the old adage about putting all your eggs in one basket?"
"You play your way and I'll play mine, remember? I attack your Toon Harpy's Pet Dragon with my Harpy Lady Sisters." She smiled. "That's the end of that. You don't have many cards left."
"That's where you're wrong. Read the card. Mystic Eye gives me control of your Harpy Lady Sisters and nullifies the attack. So," he smiled triumphantly. "Thanks for powering them up so much. I attack your Life Points directly with Harpy Lady Sisters." He grinned. "That's all, folks!"
"Gimme that!" Mai grabbed the Mystic Eye card and read the description. Sure enough, the effect was right there. She growled and handed it back. "I can't believe I fell for that!"
"It happens." Pegasus gathered his cards and reshuffled his deck. "You rely far too much on brute force and power-ups. You should put a few tricks in your deck to spice things up a bit."
"You seemed pretty surprised by Shadow of Eyes and Black Hole."
Pegasus laughed. "Yes, but those are just two cards. You need more, Miss Valentine, for your deck to be effective."
"Please, call me Mai."
Pegasus stopped shuffling and looked at her, their eyes met for a long moment before he slowly nodded. "Alright. Mai." He placed his deck back in his pocket. "You may call me anything that is not similar to 'bastard' or 'sonofabitch'. I have a name after all. Do feel free to use it."
Mai nodded, a little ashamed though she'd never show it. She'd been furious when she'd realized he was attempting to sneak onto the same floor Yugi was on; but she knew she'd also been upset because she felt stupid. She'd been flirting like a real tramp, and all because the guy, who'd nearly beaten Yugi and almost gotten away scot-free with a pile of stolen souls, happened to be kinda hot. She watched him place the deck in his inside jacket pocket and wondered what else he kept hidden away like that. "You know, I figured you'd be easy to beat without your . . ." She made a circular gesture around one of her eyes. "You know."
"I did create the game, Miss - umm. Mai. I don't need the power of the Millennium Eye to win."
Mai laughed a little, her mind already wondering how much the guy had in his bank account. "Well Yugi still beat you at your own game. That's pretty funny to me." She peeled off her jacket as they spoke, leaning forward to reveal some cleavage. She expected it to catch his eye, but the wacko didn't even notice. Typical. "You sure you wanna stay in that outfit? It's really hot in here."
"Is that another crude reference, Mai?"
"No." She tossed her head indignantly. "I was just concerned, that's all. Don't expect me to take care of you if you get heat stroke or something."
Pegasus blinked. "Why would that happen?"
"Well, you're wearing a suit coat. I mean really, aren't you hot in that thing?"
"I always wear this sort of attire."
Mai shook her head. "What, don't you have a shirt on underneath? Are you embarrassed? Do you have a really hairy chest or something?"
"I resent that. No, I don't have a hairy chest. I keep myself very carefully manicured and clean, thank you very much. I don't see how it's any of your concern."
"Fine. Ignore me. That's fine. I just don't see how you can be comfortable with lace up to your throat, that's all."
Pegasus shifted a little. He was a little uncomfortable, but not until she'd harped on the subject for so long. Being from a wealthy and rather formalized family, he'd grown accustomed to the confines of a suit and tie at a young age. He looked at Mai in her short skirt and boots and wondered how she could be comfortable in so little clothing. "I wasn't ignoring you, I just don't agree."
"You just don't look comfortable."
"But I am!"
"You look kinda stressed and overheated to me."
"Well I wonder why!" Pegasus crossed his arms and glared, but she was right. Now that he was thinking about it, he could think of nothing else. Finally he sighed. "Alright fine! I'll take off the coat and tie."
Mai allowed herself a small smile as she watched the man unbutton the mauve coat and shrug out of the sleeves. By the time he removed the old-fashioned tie, Mai was no longer smiling. She realized it might not have been a good idea to get him out of those heavy clothes. He wore a white poet shirt that buttoned up the front all the way to his throat. She could easily make out his figure beneath. How could she not be expected to look at him?
Pegasus could feel her gaze boring into him. When he looked at her, Mai could tell he was irritated. "What? You told me to take it off."
Mai tore her gaze away from him. There was something irritatingly attractive about the jerk, she mused. If he still had that silly golden eye, she'd think he was toying with her. Mai sucked in a breath at the thought of his strange golden eye and the weird feeling she'd gotten when she realized it was gone. Gouged out maybe? She remembered then, and had to look again. His hair was covering the place, but she knew what was there. She'd seen it and wondered if he'd done it to himself. "You never told me about that."
Pegasus, unaccustomed as he was to the ways of women and their subject changes, was at a total loss. "About what?"
She watched him very closely as she spoke. "The weird eye thing. What happened?" His eye widened and his face went a little pale, then he turned away. Mai crossed her arms. "Don't be a child about it. What happened to it? Did you just get pissed off and tear it out?"
"That's a foolish question. For your information I . . . lost it." He began rolling up his shirt sleeves, focusing meticulously on the lacy cuffs. "I don't see how it's any of your concern."
Mai batted her eyes dreamily. "C'mon, you can tell me."
"Gods, you're annoying!"
"Tell me!"
"No!"
Mai eyed him critically. His left hand had once again become preoccupied with the mass of straight silver hair over his eye. He stared right at her, his gaze challenging yet defensive. She sighed and shook her head, only losing eye contact when he at last turned away. "You wanna talk about it?"
He burst into a mocking bark of laughter. "Why the hell would I want to talk? What would we talk about? The Eye?" He shook his head, abandoning his hair to pick at his fingernails. "It's not important."
"From the way you're acting, it seems pretty damn important to me."
He jerked his head up, his eye dark and his jaw tight. "Don't you know when to lay off?"
"Don't you know when to stop being such a stubborn child?" The two stared at each other for a long time before Mai turned away. Much as she hated to lose a staring contest, she couldn't match the icy look in his eye her questions had prompted. She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. You're right. It's none of my business."
He said nothing for a long moment, but then she heard him sigh as well. "Mai . . . I just can't . . ."
But Mai had already crawled across the elevator to interrupt him with a shake of his shoulders. "It's ok. You've got enough problems." She grinned. "I doubt, for instance, that Kaiba invited you here."
"True." He shrugged casually. "But what can he possibly do to me?"
"Nothing really. I guess you haven't broken any laws. None that any judicial system would believe anyway." She frowned then and stared into his face. "Why did you come here anyway? It wasn't to hurt Yugi, was it? You know I'll have to beat your ass if that's your plan."
He plucked her hands from his shoulders, carefully setting them in her own lap. "No. I didn't come to harm anyone, though Yugi-boy does have something I want."
Mai cocked her head, her eyes widening. "You mean Yugi stole your Eye?"
"What? No! Why would you think that?" He rubbed his temples. "Your mind travels in so many circles. How can you live like that?"
She ignored him, pressing the issue whether he minded or not. "But how did Yugi get it?"
"It's complicated." He glanced at the tracking device on his arm. Surely Croquet would realize he'd been captured somehow. Why hadn't his men been able to stage a rescue mission? Come to think of it, Kaiba was certainly taking a longtime to get his electricity working again. It was unlike the brat to go so long without his precious computer technology. Mai didn't seem to be satisfied unless he told her every detail of every event in his life. Pretty soon the truth would come out. He sighed and looked into her eyes. She really was nice to look at until she opened her big mouth and -
Pegasus shook himself, shocked at his own thoughts. There was no room in his soul for those sorts of thoughts, not after Cecelia. Nothing could compare to her, certainly not the poorly dressed duelist who sat before him. Still, though, he had to admit that something in her quirky nature amused him. He couldn't quite place it.
Mai stretched her legs out, propping herself up on her arms and flashing a winning smile. "I've got plenty of time for complicated tales."
* * *
Part Six
* * *
Mai was feeling pretty good about herself. Sure Pegasus had used a trap to cripple her Dark Witch, but she'd gotten a lucky draw with Rose Whip and a Cyber Shield, which she'd wisely held over for later, and a magic card which she'd used. He'd tried to attack her life points directly with Manga Ryu-Ran, but Mai had been expecting something like that. She used the magic card she'd placed earlier, Black Hole, to take out everything on the field, then summoned her Harpy's Pet Dragon. Attacking his life points directly had been quite satisfying.
Pegasus sighed and crossed out his life points on the back of a business card he'd found in his coat, bringing him down to under a thousand. "When did you get a Black Hole card?"
"I've been dueling and trading a lot. My deck is much better now than when I dueled Yugi on your island."
"I've noticed." Pegasus glanced through his hand and settled for a single card face-down in defense mode and smiled. "Your move."
Mai grinned and summoned Harpy Lady. "I combine this with Elegant Egotist and Cyber Shield to make some super powerful Harpy Lady Sisters. Now, I know that's a trap you've put down, so I'll attack it with my Pet Dragon while preserving the sisters."
Pegasus clicked his tongue. "Mesmeric Control. I guess he's spellbound and ripe for attacking."
"As if! I'm whipping your skinny ass!" She laughed and shook her head. "You know, those holographic things really are addictive. I feel like I should be commanding the cards around or something."
"I feel your pain. Duel mats are simply not the same." He glanced at his hand and smiled. "Your deck may have improved, but not enough." He drew three cards and grinned. "I'll use my Dragon Capture Jar to take that silly pet of yours. Now I'll summon him and combine with Toon World to make Toon Harpy's pet Dragon in defense mode. Add to that this card, the Mystic Eye. There's no way you can get around that."
Mai shook her head. "What is it with you and Toon World? Can't you combine with anything else?"
"You play your way and I'll play mine."
"Fine. I combine my Harpy Lady Sisters with two more Cyber Shields and the Malevolent Nuzzler."
Pegasus smirked. "Don't you think that's a little bit of overkill, to power up one card so much? Didn't you ever hear the old adage about putting all your eggs in one basket?"
"You play your way and I'll play mine, remember? I attack your Toon Harpy's Pet Dragon with my Harpy Lady Sisters." She smiled. "That's the end of that. You don't have many cards left."
"That's where you're wrong. Read the card. Mystic Eye gives me control of your Harpy Lady Sisters and nullifies the attack. So," he smiled triumphantly. "Thanks for powering them up so much. I attack your Life Points directly with Harpy Lady Sisters." He grinned. "That's all, folks!"
"Gimme that!" Mai grabbed the Mystic Eye card and read the description. Sure enough, the effect was right there. She growled and handed it back. "I can't believe I fell for that!"
"It happens." Pegasus gathered his cards and reshuffled his deck. "You rely far too much on brute force and power-ups. You should put a few tricks in your deck to spice things up a bit."
"You seemed pretty surprised by Shadow of Eyes and Black Hole."
Pegasus laughed. "Yes, but those are just two cards. You need more, Miss Valentine, for your deck to be effective."
"Please, call me Mai."
Pegasus stopped shuffling and looked at her, their eyes met for a long moment before he slowly nodded. "Alright. Mai." He placed his deck back in his pocket. "You may call me anything that is not similar to 'bastard' or 'sonofabitch'. I have a name after all. Do feel free to use it."
Mai nodded, a little ashamed though she'd never show it. She'd been furious when she'd realized he was attempting to sneak onto the same floor Yugi was on; but she knew she'd also been upset because she felt stupid. She'd been flirting like a real tramp, and all because the guy, who'd nearly beaten Yugi and almost gotten away scot-free with a pile of stolen souls, happened to be kinda hot. She watched him place the deck in his inside jacket pocket and wondered what else he kept hidden away like that. "You know, I figured you'd be easy to beat without your . . ." She made a circular gesture around one of her eyes. "You know."
"I did create the game, Miss - umm. Mai. I don't need the power of the Millennium Eye to win."
Mai laughed a little, her mind already wondering how much the guy had in his bank account. "Well Yugi still beat you at your own game. That's pretty funny to me." She peeled off her jacket as they spoke, leaning forward to reveal some cleavage. She expected it to catch his eye, but the wacko didn't even notice. Typical. "You sure you wanna stay in that outfit? It's really hot in here."
"Is that another crude reference, Mai?"
"No." She tossed her head indignantly. "I was just concerned, that's all. Don't expect me to take care of you if you get heat stroke or something."
Pegasus blinked. "Why would that happen?"
"Well, you're wearing a suit coat. I mean really, aren't you hot in that thing?"
"I always wear this sort of attire."
Mai shook her head. "What, don't you have a shirt on underneath? Are you embarrassed? Do you have a really hairy chest or something?"
"I resent that. No, I don't have a hairy chest. I keep myself very carefully manicured and clean, thank you very much. I don't see how it's any of your concern."
"Fine. Ignore me. That's fine. I just don't see how you can be comfortable with lace up to your throat, that's all."
Pegasus shifted a little. He was a little uncomfortable, but not until she'd harped on the subject for so long. Being from a wealthy and rather formalized family, he'd grown accustomed to the confines of a suit and tie at a young age. He looked at Mai in her short skirt and boots and wondered how she could be comfortable in so little clothing. "I wasn't ignoring you, I just don't agree."
"You just don't look comfortable."
"But I am!"
"You look kinda stressed and overheated to me."
"Well I wonder why!" Pegasus crossed his arms and glared, but she was right. Now that he was thinking about it, he could think of nothing else. Finally he sighed. "Alright fine! I'll take off the coat and tie."
Mai allowed herself a small smile as she watched the man unbutton the mauve coat and shrug out of the sleeves. By the time he removed the old-fashioned tie, Mai was no longer smiling. She realized it might not have been a good idea to get him out of those heavy clothes. He wore a white poet shirt that buttoned up the front all the way to his throat. She could easily make out his figure beneath. How could she not be expected to look at him?
Pegasus could feel her gaze boring into him. When he looked at her, Mai could tell he was irritated. "What? You told me to take it off."
Mai tore her gaze away from him. There was something irritatingly attractive about the jerk, she mused. If he still had that silly golden eye, she'd think he was toying with her. Mai sucked in a breath at the thought of his strange golden eye and the weird feeling she'd gotten when she realized it was gone. Gouged out maybe? She remembered then, and had to look again. His hair was covering the place, but she knew what was there. She'd seen it and wondered if he'd done it to himself. "You never told me about that."
Pegasus, unaccustomed as he was to the ways of women and their subject changes, was at a total loss. "About what?"
She watched him very closely as she spoke. "The weird eye thing. What happened?" His eye widened and his face went a little pale, then he turned away. Mai crossed her arms. "Don't be a child about it. What happened to it? Did you just get pissed off and tear it out?"
"That's a foolish question. For your information I . . . lost it." He began rolling up his shirt sleeves, focusing meticulously on the lacy cuffs. "I don't see how it's any of your concern."
Mai batted her eyes dreamily. "C'mon, you can tell me."
"Gods, you're annoying!"
"Tell me!"
"No!"
Mai eyed him critically. His left hand had once again become preoccupied with the mass of straight silver hair over his eye. He stared right at her, his gaze challenging yet defensive. She sighed and shook her head, only losing eye contact when he at last turned away. "You wanna talk about it?"
He burst into a mocking bark of laughter. "Why the hell would I want to talk? What would we talk about? The Eye?" He shook his head, abandoning his hair to pick at his fingernails. "It's not important."
"From the way you're acting, it seems pretty damn important to me."
He jerked his head up, his eye dark and his jaw tight. "Don't you know when to lay off?"
"Don't you know when to stop being such a stubborn child?" The two stared at each other for a long time before Mai turned away. Much as she hated to lose a staring contest, she couldn't match the icy look in his eye her questions had prompted. She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. You're right. It's none of my business."
He said nothing for a long moment, but then she heard him sigh as well. "Mai . . . I just can't . . ."
But Mai had already crawled across the elevator to interrupt him with a shake of his shoulders. "It's ok. You've got enough problems." She grinned. "I doubt, for instance, that Kaiba invited you here."
"True." He shrugged casually. "But what can he possibly do to me?"
"Nothing really. I guess you haven't broken any laws. None that any judicial system would believe anyway." She frowned then and stared into his face. "Why did you come here anyway? It wasn't to hurt Yugi, was it? You know I'll have to beat your ass if that's your plan."
He plucked her hands from his shoulders, carefully setting them in her own lap. "No. I didn't come to harm anyone, though Yugi-boy does have something I want."
Mai cocked her head, her eyes widening. "You mean Yugi stole your Eye?"
"What? No! Why would you think that?" He rubbed his temples. "Your mind travels in so many circles. How can you live like that?"
She ignored him, pressing the issue whether he minded or not. "But how did Yugi get it?"
"It's complicated." He glanced at the tracking device on his arm. Surely Croquet would realize he'd been captured somehow. Why hadn't his men been able to stage a rescue mission? Come to think of it, Kaiba was certainly taking a longtime to get his electricity working again. It was unlike the brat to go so long without his precious computer technology. Mai didn't seem to be satisfied unless he told her every detail of every event in his life. Pretty soon the truth would come out. He sighed and looked into her eyes. She really was nice to look at until she opened her big mouth and -
Pegasus shook himself, shocked at his own thoughts. There was no room in his soul for those sorts of thoughts, not after Cecelia. Nothing could compare to her, certainly not the poorly dressed duelist who sat before him. Still, though, he had to admit that something in her quirky nature amused him. He couldn't quite place it.
Mai stretched her legs out, propping herself up on her arms and flashing a winning smile. "I've got plenty of time for complicated tales."