Chapter 17--Double Trouble
Mike, Yuugi, and Benjamin set out towards the nearest town. Benjamin was "scouting ahead," although they had no idea what for, leaving Yuugi to make an awkward conversation with Mike, since Yami was carefully avoiding speaking as so not to bother Yuugi.
Feeling that he should say something to his new companion, but not able to think of anything to say, Yuugi unhelpfully said, "Uh...nice sword. It's...very sharp. Where did you get it?" Yuugi smiled hesitantly at Mike.
Mike stared at him like he was crazy. "This sword has been passed down through my family from generation to generation. I received it when my family was massacred."
Yuugi looked at him curiously. "Yours too?" he asked in surprise; he had met very few people whose family had been killed, as his parents were.
This caught Mike's attention. In his own World, the earth-like World that the Digidestineds came from, he had lived behind a dumpster with the aid of his close friends Jane and Luke because he had neither home or family; after touching his family's ancestreal sword one day, a corrupt Digimon named Necromon had been able to send his servants to kill Mike's family. "Your family was murdered?"
Yuugi had been only a few years old when his family and their Otherworldly friends had been killed, and he didn't remember them. Although Yuugi always felt sad about people who had been killed or even died in accidents, he couldn't feel particularly upset about people he didn't remember--it was like hearing about the deaths of strangers. Because of this, he had no problem telling Mike about his parents.
"Yes. They were tortured to death by the Overlord. All I have left is my father's deck." This was technically true; Yuugi's father had recieved this Duel Monsters deck from his own father, Yuugi's grandfather, but had never been very skilled at the game. He had kept the cards simply because he knew they were important to his father. Before Yuugi's father was killed, however, the cards found there way back to his grandfather, who had never explained just how they were returned. He handed it to Mike, who looked at it, nonplussed.
"But...it's....a bunch of game cards?"
Yuugi looked indignant for a moment, then sheepish, remembering that Mike had no idea that with these cards, Yuugi could wield powerful magic and call monsters to his aid from the Shadow Realm. "Uh....sure, that's right....they...don't do anything. Just cards."
He must realize how similar they are to his crystals, Yami said, sounding amused at Mike's ignorance.
Mike handed the cards back. Yuugi, lost in thought, absently put them away, saying vaguely, "No, I don't think so...most people wouldn't realize something like that if they weren't looking for it..."
Mike stepped away from him. "Talking to yourself again, Yuugi?"
Yuugi, startled, frowned at him. "I am not talking to myself!"
"Then who are you talking to?" Mike replied immediatly.
"I was talking to Ya--no one," Yuugi answered, mentally berating himself for almost giving away Yami's existence; so far, the two had decided to keep this a secret from the general public. Benjamin, Vice, and Yuugi's friend Tea knew about Yami because they could see him, but Yuugi didn't want to tell Mike just yet.
Mike smiled triumphantly. "Then you're crazy," he said, with the air of one coming to an unassailiable conclusion.
"I AM NOT CRAZY!!!" Yuugi shouted at him, finally losing his temper. In general, it was very hard to annoy or anger Yuugi, but he had been accused of being crazy before, and it was starting to bother him.
You do look pretty strange, talking to someone he can't see, Yami commented, making the problem even worse; for the most part, he tried not to get Yuugi into trouble by talking to him, but it was boring to stay within the Millennium Puzzle all the time, even if he did know what was going on because of his link to Yuugi.
"You started talking to me!" Yuugi protested; he had only realized that Yami existed within the last few months, so he was still get used to having the spirit inside his mind.
You didn't have to answer me, Yami pointed out.
"It is not my fault that he thinks I'm crazy!"
Mike groaned. "Would you shut up?" he said bluntly. He was becoming slightly disturbed by Yuugi's prolonged conversation, not just with himself, but apparently with some imaginary person.
Yuugi, caught off guard again, said, "I didn't say anything!" This was not strictly true, since he had been speaking to Yami, but what he meant was that he had only been replying to someone else.
"Both of you, shut up!" Mike said, annoyed. Then he realized what he had just said and paused, looking confused. "Wait...what am I saying?"
Benjamin turned around, looking back at his two companions from where he and Bikaymon were scouting ahead for any signs of danger, whatever they might be. "Would all three of you be quiet?" he asked politely; he was trying to concentrate, and loud noise would give away their position. He could not, of course, actually hear Yami since the spirit was communicating mentally with Yuugi, but he knew that Yami must be speaking from what Yuugi was saying.
Mike groaned. "Yuugi, stop talking to yourself, okay?" He whacked him gently in the head. Mike wasn't actually trying to hurt Yuugi--he was kidding more than anything else.
Mike grimaced. "Ouch!" He felt as though he had gotten a static shock on his fingers.
Yuugi glanced at Yami, who had invisibly manifested next to Mike. "That wasn't nice."
He deserved it, the spirit silently replied, glaring at the older boy. Yami didn't interfere in Yuugi's life for the most part--until only a few months ago, he really hadn't been able to--but he wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting Yuugi.
"It didn't hurt, you know," Yuugi said patiently, used to this by now. Before he found out about Yami, the spirit had occasionally taken control of Yuugi's body when he was in danger and defeated any potential opponents in magical Shadow Games.
Yuugi, you would say that if someone hit you with a sledgehammer, Yami replied. This was only a slight exaggeration--Yuugi was rarely willing to condemn anyone for his own sake.
"You still didn't have to do that."
There's a big difference between what you have to do and what you actually do, Yami said in a very final tone of voice.
"I give up," Yuugi replied wearily, lapsing into silence. As much as he liked Yami, the spirit did cause a lot of trouble.
Mike shook his head. Unable to cope with Yuugi's bizarre, one-sided conversation, he walked away, mentally reminding himself not to hit Yuugi again.
Benjamin sniffed the air. There was trouble coming, of that he was certain. There was a footprint in the ground; definitely a Clanner. He motioned to Yuugi and Mike, who came forward to join him.
Mike looked carefully at the print. "I'd say it's not more than two hours old, and maybe a lot less."
Yuugi, look--next to the footprint, Yami said, studying the ground. He didn't normally remain manifested for very long, since it drained his energy just as sustained physical activity would for a corporeal being, but these were special circumstances.
"What is it?" the smaller boy asked, looking down.
Mike studied the print, not looking at Yuugi. "What is what?"
Yuugi looked up. "Huh? Oh, this thing that's next to the footprint."
Benjamin was immediately on alert. "What is it?" he said, readying himself for trouble.
Yuugi shrugged. "I don't know; I haven't seen it yet."
They all looked down. It was the print from an animal's footpad-- possibly a wolf. Mike was astounded. "Yuugi, how did you know that was there?"
Yuugi looked at him curiously. "I didn't."
Bikaymon shook his head. Fluttering over to Mike, he whispered, "Don't ask. You don't want to know."
Yami sighed deeply. You really have to stop answering questions like that, he said, choosing to ignore the fact that he had started the whole thing.
The group continued walking, knowing that the Clanners were ahead of them. Suddenly Benjamin stopped. The young Clanner they had recently battled stood before them, having appeared from his hiding place. "You have dishonored my grandfather by defeating him, and I shall avenge him!"
He leaped forward, sword drawn. Benjamin, seeing the danger before Mike did with his Darkling reflexes, jumped in front of the blade so that Mike would not be injured. He collapsed, badly slashed. Mike was about to draw his own sword when Yuugi stepped forward, resolute.
"Stop. This is between you and me, Clanner. I challenge you to a battle!"
Mike expected to see a Pokemon battle, still not sure whether Yuugi came from this World or another one. Instead, however, Yuugi pulled out his Deck. Mike was in shock. "What are you doing!? Are you insane!?"
Yuugi ignored him, realizing that explanations were useless. "I Summon--Kuribo!"
The Clanner grinned as he pulled out a handful of cards. "And I Summon--Daishi, my faithful wolf!" he said as the amulet around his neck lit up.
The two began to battle as Mike, completely perplexed, turned to Bikaymon. Benjamin's partner said, "Mike, I know we've been telling you not to ask, but now that you know he can Summon...you may as well."
Mike watched as Kuribo, seemingly a defenseless hairball, used magical attacks to defeat Daishi. The Clanner scowled, almost in tears. "Daishi! Are you all right?" Desummoning his monster, he turned to Yuugi and his friends. "I will not forget this day, Summoner! I and my Clann will return!" With that, he vanished back into the wilderness, not willing to stay and fight while his monster was injured.
Yuugi sighed. This would not be the last time they faced Skull Clann- -he could feel it. Turning to Mike and Benjamin, he looked through his Deck for a card that would heal his friend's injuries. He drew out Monster Reborn. "In the game, this resurrects a monster that's been sent to the graveyard. I don't think it can resurrect the dead as a Summon card, but maybe I can use it to heal Benjamin by channeling my energy into it!"
You've never tried this before, Yuugi. I have a feeling you'll need more energy than you have to spare to make this work, Yami said, sounding worried.
Yuugi nodded. "Bikaymon, I'm going to need your energy as well as mine," he said, realizing that Benjamin's Guardian partner would be able to give him more strength than anyone else.
Before Bikaymon could agree, however, Mike shrugged. "Look--I have lots of extra energy, and Ben is my pal. Borrow some of my energy."
Yuugi's guess had been correct. Benjamin's injuries healed, although he remained unconcious. While he slept, Yuugi and Mike set about making camp. In the end Mike told Yuugi to stay out of the way because he was so inefficient, earning him another painful jolt from a vengeful, if insubstantial, spirit.
Mike rubbed his head. "What did you do that for? ...and how?"
Yuugi looked at him blankly. "I didn't do anything. I'm just sitting here like you told me to," he said from his position at the edge of the area where Mike was working.
Mike looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure you didn't do anything?"
Yuugi thought about this for a second. "Yes, I'm sure....oh." He turned to Yami, who was glaring at Mike. "What is with you and Mike? Can't you two just get along?"
If he can't get along with you, I can't get along with him, the spirit said flatly.
"Just leave him alone, okay? It's important that we all work together to get the Key."
I still say we don't need his help.
"And I still say that with Skull Clann chasing us, we need all the help we can get."
If you really think so...all right, Yami said. If it had been anyone else, he would have stubbornly refused to listen, but the spirit usually gave in to what Yuugi wanted.
Still watching Yuugi suspiciously, mostly because he was talking to himself again, Mike took the first watch. He was beginning to suspect that Yuugi wasn't as crazy as he seemed.
Don't move. If he realizes that you're awake, he'll put away the book, Yami said, having returned to the Millennium Puzzle earlier to conserve energy.
Yuugi very slowly turned to look at Mike, who was carefully examining a large book and one of his crystals--those had been the things in his lap and in his hand. Yuugi watched him for several minutes before sitting up and saying, "What's with the book, Mike?"
Mike, who had not realized that Yuugi was awake, jumped, sending both book and crystal flying. While he was recovering from his shock, Yuugi politely picked up his fallen materials. Without so much as glancing at them, he handed them back to Mike.
"Here--you dropped these."
Wait--look at the book! Yami said, sounding shocked.
Yuugi glanced down. To his surprise, it was a picture of the monster on the card. Even more surprising, however, was the subject matter. The monster looked almost exactly like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Dropping the book in amazement, he stared at Mike.
This continued for a minute before Mike, recovering from his surprise, hastily put the cards in his hands away. "I was just--er--that is--"
Yuugi seemed not to hear him. "Can it be? It looks so similar..." he said, picking up the book again and looking at the illustration.
It's not exactly the same. This can't be a picture of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon...can it? Yami said uncertainly.
"I don't know...it certainly seems like it..." Yuugi replied thoughtfully, frowning.
Mike waved a hand in front of Yuugi's eyes. "Uh...Yuugi? Who are you talking to?
Go ahead. You may as well tell him, Yami said, realizing that if they were to travel with Mike for any length of time, the older boy should at least be aware of his existence.
Yuugi sighed, wondering if Mike would believe him. "I was talking to Yami. He's the spirit of the Millenium Puzzle."
Mike stared at him for a minute. He stared at him for a minute more. Finally, he said, "Oh," not sure he wanted to hear any more.
Yuugi decided not to elaborate. "Mike, what is this book? And what were you doing?"
Mike sighed in his turn. "This book tells all about my crystals. I've been studying to find out more about my crystals so that I can use them. This one right here--" he held up the dragon that had so amazed Yuugi "--is the Blue-Eyes God Dragon. I've learned a few others as well-- the King Dragonite, for instance. Now I have about as many cards as those Clanners."
He gave card and book to Yuugi to examine. "This card looks almost exactly like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. And Dragonite is a Pokemon! What does it mean?"
Mike shrugged. "They are pretty similar, I guess, but this is the Blue-Eyes God Dragon, not the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and this isn't a Dragonite, it's a King Dragonite. These must be similar to monsters from multiple Worlds!"
Yuugi handed back the book and the crystals. "I know someone who'd like to have that."
Mike looked at him curiously. "A friend of yours?"
Yuugi smiled sadly. "Not exactly," he said, thinking of Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, as well as the young CEO's beloved Faith and the dragon which had hatched from an egg he had recieved, Skysong.
At that moment, Benjamin sat up, having finally recovered. "What-- what happened?" Bikaymon, who had fallen asleep watching over Benjamin, was overjoyed at his recovery, and he, Mike, and Yuugi hurriedly explained the situation to him. He was not pleased. "The Skull Clann will surely return. We must keep moving. We are near the next town now." The three-- or four, if you had spirit-sight--friends trudged on.-o-o-o-o-o-Benjamin glanced at a sign near the road. "We're almost at...Flat City. It's this wa--"
At that moment, Benjamin, responding to a literally inhuman instinct, dove sideways, narrowly missing decapitation by a wicked, saw-edged blade. The wielder of this blade hove into view, accompanied by a collective gasp of horror (minus Benjamin).
The creature was a sickly, unlustrurous shade of black, roughly the size of a human torso. Two stubby "legs" of unknown use grew from its lower section, while a single arm, ending in the sword Benjamin had barely avoided, protruded from the center of its body, which hovered above the ground so that it was at about human height. Its head was made of sharp, bony angles, resembling a dinosaur or a bird.
Although they had never before seen anything like it, they knew at once that it was evil. Benjamin and Mike drew their swords, while Yuugi, knowing that he would only hinder them in a swordfight, began frantically rummaging through his Deck, searching for a card to help his friends.
Mike charged forward and locked swords with the foul creature, only to have his blade pulled out of his hand by the serrated edge of the creature's weapon. Benjamin slashed at the monster in an attempt to help Mike, but only succeeded in losing his sword as well. The creature was about to run Benjamin through, but Mike jumped on top of it. Benjamin also attacked it, desparately trying to find a weakness.
Yuugi, meanwhile, had finally pulled out the Spellbinding Circle. Mike and Benjamin were knocked away as he activated it. Yuugi, however, discovered that the creature absorbed energy, including magic, whatever it was. His Circle flickered and died as the monster sucked in all of Yuugi's energy, causing him to collapse, gasping for breath and exhausted by the energy drain.
The monster, sensing weakness, closed in for the kill. Mike, who was grabbing his sword, knew that it was hopeless. There was no one close enough to help Yuugi...or at least, no one he could see. To his surprise, the creature's blade stopped. A knife flickering with white fire was locked with it. Battling a corporeal creature, Yami became visible even to Mike, who had very little ability to see spirits of any type. He stared in shock for a second before dashing forward to help.
As it happened, it was fortunate that he did so. It quickly became evident (at least to Yuugi and Yami--Mike was still clueless) that the monster could see spirits, and was also equipped to kill them. Mike arrived just in time to save two lives (one and a half by P'korum measurements). Benjamin also got up, quietly sneaking up behind the enemy.
Mike, hoping to distract it and possibly defeat it, pulled out his crystal deck. "Blue-Eyes God Dra--"
The monster had knocked the card out of Mike's hand! It slashed at him, knocking him down. Benjamin leapt from behind, but was thwarted by the monster's incredible reflexes.
In desperation, Mike unthinkingly shouted, "Go to him!" as he pointed toward Yuugi.
Yuugi picked up the Mike's fallen crystal. "Please let this work...Blue-Eyes God Dragon, Blue-Eyes God Dragon!"
To his surprise, it did work. The Blue-Eyes God Dragon appeared and calmly vaporized their strange attacker. Mike, taking the crystal from Yuugi, returned it.
Benjamin coughed. "We outnumbered it by three, but we barely survived! What was it?"
A small, high-pitched voice answered. "Oh, that was a Sentinel. There are lots of them underneath." They all stared at the small, shadowy- looking monkey standing before them, or perhaps more accurately standing by their feet. His outline was slightly blurred, as if he was made of fluid, and he was about as tall as Mike's knee. He looked at them with interest, sniffing curiously. "Ooo! A Guardian! ...TWO Guardians!"
Yuugi and Yami were equally surprised. "You can see me?"
The monkey shrugged.
"You can hear me!?"
The monkey snorted. "Of course I can!"
Mike groaned. "Am I the only one who can't see this guy!?"
Attracted by his comment, the monkey sniffed at him. "Ooo! A hero! Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow I MET A HERO!!!"
They all stared at Mike--and the monkey-- in silence. Finally Yuugi ventured to ask, "What's your name?"
The monkey stopped shouting momentarily. "Well...actually....I don't remember...why don't you give me a name?"
Yuugi agreed to this suggestion while Mike and Benjamin continued to stare in silent surprise. "Well, you're a fluidy-looking black monkey and you can see spirits...how about Shadow?"
The monkey (or Shadow, as he had just been named) was ecstatic over this, as he was about everything. "Ooo! Yay! I like that name!" He smiled amicably.
Benjamin, far more suspicious than Yuugi, was unaccepting of this strange creature. "Where do you come from, and what are you doing here?"
Shadow smiled again. "Ooo, another Guardian! I come from Da-Ku. I live in a forest--not underground like the Sentinels."
Yuugi, knowing nothing about either Da-Ku or the Sentinels (beyond the fact that one had tried to kill them), was unfazed by this. "Do you want to come with us?"
Shadow nodded happily. Benjamin, however, refused this suggestion point-blank. "Yuugi, cannot accompany us! We know nothing about him beyond that he appeared with a creature that tried to kill us, and he's from Da-Ku!!! Da-Ku is among the most evil Worlds in existence! If he is allied with the creature that just attacked us--the Sentinel--then he is a danger to us!"
Yuugi, smiling benignly, disagreed. "Oh, Shadow isn't dangerous! Just because he lives in Da-Ku doesn't mean he's evil, Benjamin. He's just a black, fluidy-looking monkey who lives in trees and sees spirits, that's all."
Benjamin was about to disagree when Bikaymon whispered something to him. He subsided, muttering ominously in Darkling. Shadow, on the other hand, was overjoyed. "Ooo! I get to come with you! Yay!!!"
Mike groaned again. "This could get annoying real fast........"-o-o-o-o-o-Mike, Benjamin, Yuugi, and Shadow arrived in Flat City. It was aptly named, built on a flat plateau of rock. All the buildings were symmetrical. In fact, the entire city seemed oddly balanced and uniform.
Before it got too creepy, they headed into the Pokemon Center. To say that Nurse Joy was surprised was an understatement. Three travelers, two of them covered with blood, wandering into the Pokemon Center only to ask for directions? It was a sight that they saw very rarely--in fact, until this moment, not at all. The travelers, seeming to realize that they were unwelcome, left as suddenly as they had come. Nurse Joy shook her head. "Something odd is certainly going on around here," she muttered. How right she was!
The travelers walked down the symmetrical street, heading to the symmetrical Gym. Before all this symmetry could get on their nerves, Benjamin accidentally ran straight into a dark figure as it wandered out into the street. He was knocked backwards several feet on contact with it. They saw, to their surprise and horror, that it was another Sentinel--an even larger and more powerful enemy.
Shadow squeaked, "It's a Sentinel Commander! Look out!"
Yuugi, highly attuned to the energy and intent of other beings, sensed the incredible evil emanating from the Commander and fell to the ground in pain, unable to move or attack. The Commander, sensing this, moved in for the attack.
Luckily, Benjamin was already on alert. Raising his hand, he began to absorb the Commander's energy. Yuugi was vividly reminded of the last time Benjamin had attempted to absorb the power of an enemy, causing his soul to be stolen by none other than Pegasus, the crazed former holder of the Millennium Eye in his own World. He had little time to review the memory, however, because at this point he passed out.
The Commander began to force all of its aura into Benjamin, causing him to fall to the ground as well. As with the last time, Benjamin was unable to absorb all of the Commander's power. Unlike last time, however, this was rapidly killing him. Mike leapt forward to attack, accompanied by an unseen ally. Only two of the party were still in fighting condition. These two were extremely angry.
It is never wise to attack Benjamin in Mike's presence.
It is never wise to attack Yuugi, because he is almost always in Yami's presence.
In short, the Commander had unknowingly made a fatal mistake.
The battle that followed was dangerous and bloody. In the end, Mike and the others were lucky. Mike threw his sword into the creature's torso, and Yami followed suit with his spirit blade. Benjamin, having recovered slightly thanks to his Darkling endurance, staggered to his feet and flung his sword as well, coughing blood.
The Commander finally collapsed. Mike stepped forward, yanking his sword free. At that moment, a strange, metallic, centipede-like creature uncurled from the handle and began crawling forward, seeking a victim to regain its strength. Its final mistake was to pick Yuugi.
It is never wise to anger an enemy you cannot see. The centipede discovered this to its cost.
Mike looked at the now-dead centipede, nonplussed. "Nice shot....whoever just stabbed that....."
Yuugi, having reawakened now that the Commander was destroyed, got up slowly, as did Benjamin. Benjamin wiped blood from his mouth, looking fully recovered. A silvery light faded from the medallion he wore under his shirt. Benjamin, having taken both severe injuries to the head and prolonged blood loss during his early childhood, could not remember where he had gotten his medallion; he wore it because he knew only that it had been a gift from someone very important to him, although he had no idea who.
Benjamin watched tiredly as Shadow poked at the eyepiece from the Sentinel. The black monkey straitened up for a moment, than vanished without a trace.
The companions were saddened, but Benjamin, who had drastically changed his opinion about Shadow, said, "I think that Shadow is fine, wherever he is. But...I will miss him."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Far away, in Kanto, the Guardian of the Pokemon World and her Guardian partner left the house they shared with her adoptive older brother, Matt. At that moment, Shadow fell on top of her.
She smiled. "Hello, there! My name's Cat, and this is Gard," she said, pointing to her Guardian partner, who looked like an unusually large Pikachu, although he was much more than that. "Who are you?"
Shadow looked up. "Well, they called me Shadow."
