Chapter 19--Secrets and Lies

Yuugi, Mike and Benjamin, having finally reached the town and defeated all of the various enemies who wished to stop them, entered the Gym. The Gym Leader was an ordinary-looking lady, in her ordinary-looking (and perfectly symmetrical) Gym. She smiled at them (in an ordinary manner) and asked them if they wished to challenge her (also in a perfectly ordinary manner). When she discovered that she had two challengers, she proposed a tag-team battle. They readily agreed.

To keep Mike updated on the battle, Bikaymon gave him a running commentary. As Benjamin and Yuugi selected their Pokemon, he whispered, "Watch--they'll probably choose Taru and Spark."

After a short conference, the two challengers did indeed choose these Pokemon. The Leader, smiling, selected two Pokemon. "I choose--Flash and Smash, the all-star team!"

An Eevee and a Gruff, a common mountain goat-looking Pokemon, appeared. The Eevee, Flash, leaped onto Smash's head. Benjamin and Taru began to attack, while Yuugi and Spark stood looking confused.

Bikaymon interjected, "Benjamin could beat them in about three seconds on his own, but with Yuugi....I'm not so sure."

Looking at them, Mike privately agreed. While Benjamin and Taru executed a variety of dodging moves in battle with both Flash and Smash, who were an almost perfect team, Yuugi said, "Okay, Spark, you should...um...you need to...uh...well, maybe we should just wait."

Taru charged Smash, and Flash, seemingly anticipating this, leaped from its head. Taru , however, was ready, and jumped to meet it. Finally, Benjamin shouted, "Water Gun!" The two Pokemon were soaked, but not heavily damaged.

Yuugi whispered frantically, "What should we do!?"

Yuugi, water conducts electricity. Use Thundershock! Yami said helpfully, having realized Benjamin's strategy.

"Oh, right! Spark, use Thundershock!"

As the Gym Leader, distracted by Yuugi's one-sided conversation, muttered, "Who is he talking to?", her two Pokemon were knocked out.

While she returned them, Mike walked over and whispered, "He's crazy."

The Leader handed Yuugi and Benjamin their Symmetry badges, which were circular with a symmetrical pattern of an "x" dividing the circle into four quarters that contained a dot each, then hurried away, apparently believing Mike.

Mike thought this was hilarious, and laughed uproariously. Unexpectedly, Benjamin joined in. Initially, his feelings about Mike's arrival had been mixed; Benjamin had known Mike when he and the Digidestineds fought together in the Digital World, and Benjamin naturally assumed that Mike would dislike him or be uneasy around him because he was half-Darkling. Mike, however, liked Benjamin for himself, regardless of his species, and so Benjamin had become more comfortable and relaxed in the presence of two people he was loyal to--his friends.

Yuugi, however, was not amused. He looked downcast; being different from everyone else did have its downsides. No one ever said being a Guardian was easy.

"No matter where I go, people think I'm crazy!"

So what? Yami said firmly. It was largely his fault that people thought Yuugi was crazy, but as far as he was concerned, their opinions were unimportant. You still won.

Benjamin was in agreement with Yami, although he couldn't hear the spirit. "It makes no difference what others think of you as long as you know what you think of yourself."

Mike, also regaining control of himself, said, "So, where to next?"

Benjamin pointed to the mountain in the distance. "Up that mountain."

They started off together, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead as a team. Although the group's team spirit had initially been strained, they were developing a sense of comaradary as they traveled together and learned more about each other. None of them was unduly worried about what lay ahead. How could they have known that the ugly specter of the past was about to strike them?

-o-o-o-o-o-

The mountain was a dangerous place. The foothills, covered in scrub oak and brush, concealed treacherous pitfalls and deep chasms. Luckily, the Mountain League had lined the deepest and most dangerous of these cataracts with guardrails. Despite this, the unwary traveler could run into trouble. In short, it was the perfect place for an ambush.

Hidden in the bushes, the stranger smiled. "We have them now," she whispered. She gave a soft but sharp whistle, then hurried to a new position.

At a wide area of the trail surrrounded by undergrowth about halfway up the mountain, Benjamin paused, his inhuman hearing catching something Mike and Yuugi missed. "What was that?"

The identity of "that" became obvious as a single Clanner stepped out of the scrub oaks and bushes nearby. She smiled icily. "We are here to take the Summoner. Give him to us, and we may spare your pathetic lives."

Mike scowled at her; no one got away with threatening his friends. "Which one?" he said, pulling out his crystals.

The Clanner looked disdainfully at him. "You have no Summoning magic, human. Stay out of this if you wish to live. You are surrounded; there is no escape."

Mike smiled at her with a confidence he did not feel. "Oh? And where are these "others" you talk about?"

The Clanner whistled again, smiling triumphantly as more than a dozen Clanners abandoned their concealment, forming a circle around the travelers. Mike, however, noticed that they were glaring hatefully at the lead Clanner who had signaled them. Looking at her face, he saw no skull- like tattoos--instead, there was a pattern of bones on one cheek and a smoky, black starburst design on her forehead. Nudging Benjamin, he pointed this out.

Benjamin nodded. "Yes--she is no Skull Clanner. Those markings are of Necro Clann, Clann of the Masters of the Dead, and wielders of the most feared and hated magic their World contains--necromancy."
Mike shuddered. He had enough experience with necromancy to hate it deeply. It was outlawed in much of the Multiverse, and used only by the most immoral people.

The leader smirked. "I am indeed a Necro Clanner, you filthy half- breed. I am Daria, sister of Kiendra, and I have been sent by the Overlord to stop your expedition for the Key even as my sister stops the quest of your pathetic friends. Give up now; you have no chance of survival!"

Mike was about to step forward, loosening his sword in its sheath, when Benjamin stopped him. "We must not interfere. They must fight this battle."

Mike saw, to his shock, that Yuugi, the last person to fight anyone, had already approached Daria. "It's me you've come to capture. Leave my friends out of this!"

Daria scoffed. "You would fight me, little brat? And here I thought you and your half-breed friend so valued honor! Two against one is far from fair, Summoner."

Benjamin scowled. "They have been watching us. They must know everything they can about us...this is more dangerous than I thought. If they know what I think they do...this is going to get worse."

Mike was about to question him further when Daria spoke again. "Of course, your views on this matter may be a bit relaxed; I and my Clann do not associate ourselves with spirits, because we know them to be dishonorable and untrustworthy. Yours is no different!"

"That's not true!"

Daria looked at him in mock pity. "Isn't it? You have been betrayed once, Summoner. Are you so foolish as to risk it twice?"

Yuugi was about to make an angry reply, but stopped. Only Benjamin correctly guessed why.

This is my fight, Yuugi. Let me talk to her.

"All right," Yuugi whispered, feeling worried.

Mike nudged Benjamin again. "What's going on?" he asked, confused.

Benjamin frowned. "I am not certain what Daria is talking about, but I believe it is connected to their first battle against the Overlord. Something happened, and Yuugi obviously knows little about it. Daria is goading them into an attack...but why?"

Meanwhile, Daria and Yami continued to argue. Mike, however, was not paying attention. He and Benjamin were still trying to decipher Daria's strategy. "They could easily overpower us--why don't they attack?"

Benjamin, who was listening to the argument, suddenly looked stricken. "No...Daria is less honorable than the Clanners we have faced in the past. I see her strategy now, I see what she is doing..."

At this moment, Mike looked up. Yuugi/Yami had finally challenged Daria to a battle--or so he thought. Listening more closely, he became utterly confused.

"Let's play a game."

Mike turned to Benjamin. "What's going on?" he asked, now utterly lost.

Benjamin watched Daria and Yami, face twisted in agony at what was about to happen to his friends. "A Shadow game. It is one of Yami's magical abilities. They will defeat Daria, but they will hurt themselves the most.

Daria smiled. "Oh? You would challenge me? Very well. I accept, on one condition--only one of you may battle. You must choose. I also will choose my champion while you are deciding."

Benjamin clenched his fist in anger and worry. "How can she do this to them?" he whispered. "The Overlord knows them better then I thought..."

Mike still did not understand. "What's the problem? They'll win, won't they? What's so bad about that?"

Benjamin turned to look at him, his eyes a deep, murky gray. "Don't you understand? "'They' won't be doing anything. By forcing them not to work as a team, Daria is using their greatest weakness. As much as he believes that he trusts Yami, Yuugi still does not know his motives for betraying him and his friends to the Overlord. Daria is working off the doubt that is already present. Like many Guardians, Yuugi and Yami are almost opposites in personality. Yuugi believes that fighting solves nothing; he battles only as a last resort, in self-defense. Yami is much more aggressive. They will not agree on what they should do next. Ordinarily, they would be able to use mind-fusion to battle together. You would not have noticed since you do not know them, but they have not been using this ability in their Gym Battles. That is because although Yuugi has forgiven him, he still does not fully trust Yami. Ordinarily, Yami would do what Yuugi asked him to. But if Yuugi's life is in danger, there' s no telling what could happen..."

Mike was shocked. "Ben, we have to stop this! We have to do something!"

Benjamin stayed Mike's hand. "We must let them resolve this conflict on their own. If they do not, they will never be able to work as a true team again. Their doubt will destroy them."

Daria called something to the Skull Clanners in Clann Common. They appeared to be angry, shouting an obvious "no" at her in their own language. The Skull Clanners were scowling, glaring at Daria and muttering furiously to themselves--clearly, she had angered them.

Mike and Benjamin were confused. "What's going on? What are they all so upset about?"

Benjamin was about to reply that he didn't know when the Clanner standing behind them spoke, sounding both anguished and enraged. "Don't you understand? She has chosen her champion--Kanshi."
They turned toward the aforementioned champion, who had stepped forward, looking white and scared. It was the child they faced twice before, and who, as they were informed by the Clanner, had no choice but to accept the challenge.

Yuugi and Yami, meanwhile, were experiencing their own problems, just as Benjamin--and the Overlord--had predicted. Yuugi, whispering so that the Clanners could not hear him, said, "We can't hurt him--he's just a kid, this isn't his fault!"

We have to do this, Yuugi. There is no other way, Yami said firmly. Usually, he would have refrained from doing something against Yuugi's wishes, but this was a dangerous situation--his place to act.

"We can't! I would have fought Daria, but he didn't choose to do this, we have no reason to harm him!" Yuugi said desperately, knowing both that convincing Yami not to fight was nearly impossible and that he could not bring himself to hurt this child.

There are no other options, Yami said coldly. He knew that there was no other way--the Clanners weren't going to back down, so neither would he.

"We can't do this. We can't fight!" Yuugi whispered, now frantic--he was vividly reminded of the day Yami had almost knocked Kaiba off a building because he didn't want to lose a game. The only difference was that back then, Yuugi had been able to stop the spirit.

We must. There is no other way, Yami said finally. In his mind, any further discussion was pointless; he knew he was right and that was all there was to it. It never even occured to him that a nonviolent solution might be better. That simply wasn't his way of dealing with obstacles.

Yuugi would never agree to this, of course, but at this point, Yuugi ceased to have any say in the matter, or indeed to know what was going on at all. When Yuugi had first completed the Millennium Puzzle, Yami was only able to help him by taking over his body and dealing with dangerous situations. The only way he could do that was to force Yuugi's mind out of the way, causing him to have no memory of what happened. Later, Yami learned to work with Yuugi, allowing both of their minds to be present within his body at the same time, but he was still able to force Yuugi out if he needed or wanted to. Knowing that Yuugi was too pacifistic to fight an innocent person, Yami put this ability to use. As Benjamin had said, when Yuugi's life or the lives of his friends were in danger, there was no telling what Yami would do.

Benjamin turned to Mike, his voice filled with anguish on behalf of his friends. "Daria has defeated them. It doesn't matter now what they do next; they have already lost this battle." Seeing Mike's confusion, he explained further. "Daria has not succeeded in capturing Yuugi, but she has succeeded in causing them to doubt each other. Yuugi would never harm an innocent person, but if Yuugi's life is in danger, Yami will, whether Yuugi wants him to or not. Many Guardian pairs argue at some point, but when two minds must share one body, conflicts become very serious indeed. That child is about to die."

Mike, turning back to the battle in disbelief, was shocked to see both the Clanner and Yuugi (or rather, Yami) standing on the narrow guard rail of the deep fissure beside the road. He quickly realized that Benjamin was right--the Clanner appeared to be nervous, and was sweating in the cold mountain air as he tried to maintain his balance. Yami, on the other hand, was not worried at all. His balance was perfect, possibly because it was a Shadow Game. In Shadow Games, nothing is normal.

Mike was about to suggest that they should not be engaged in such a dangerous activity when a light breeze sprang up. The Clanner child slipped, wind milling his arms wildly in a last-ditch attempt to regain his balance, then fell downwards into the yawning maw of the chasm, his mouth open in a silent scream.

Yami stepped down from the rail, saying coldly, "Those with weak hearts always lose the Shadow Games."

At that moment, Mike grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him vigorously. "WHAT THE F--- DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?"

He was, however, too late. Yuugi blinked tiredly at him. "Huh? What happened?" he said, face blank. Looking around, he realized that time had passed since he last remembered something. Trying to find a reason for this, Yuugi immediatly thought of Yami, but at once pushed it from his mind. He didn't want to believe that the spirit had taken over his body against his will and forced Yuugi's mind out, since the only reason he would do that was to do something Yuugi didn't want him to.

Mike stared at him, mouthing silently. He was completely speechless with shock, partially because Yami had just killed someone and partially because Yuugi had no idea that it had happened.

Benjamin, seeing Mike's predicament, stepped forward. As scrupulously honest as he was, he could not bring himself to tell Yuugi the truth. "Nothing happened. We won."

Daria also sputtered incoherently before yelling, "You think you've won, you half-breed? Think again! The Overlord will kill you all, you filthy freak of nature!"

With that, she Gated out. Skull Clann, however, stood in respectful silence as one of their number stepped forward, shaking with anger. "You have murdered my son, and I shall not forget it. My people are dying, humans, and you are the murderers. Your faces are engraved in our hearts-- you will die for this." Then, overcome with grief, he wept unashamedly as he turned away.

Mike called after him, "Why don't you blame the people who forced your son to fight, instead of us? We never wanted to do this!"

A different Clanner stepped forward. Her face was also streaked with tears, but she seemed calmer than the bereaved parent. "You do not understand," she whispered. "He has lost his wife and now his son--both to humans. We have joined with the Overlord so that our Clann might survive. He states only the truth--our people are dying every day." Her face hardened. "And he is right--you are the murderers. Man is of cold and hate. You speak of empathy, yet you despise us. Your kind are arrogant killers, as are your kind, Darkling."

Benjamin looked at her coldly. The Clanners had just hurt his friend in a way that was beyond physical pain, and now they accused him of being a murderer? "You think I am a Darkling? Daria was correct when she called me a half-breed freak of nature. I am half-human."

He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a jagged scar on his upper arm. "This symbol means "half-breed" in Darkling Common. The Darklings carved it there. Do not speak to me of my people; I have none."

The Clanner seemed dumbfounded by this speech, and turned to leave, but Yuugi stopped her. "Wait--we didn't kill anyone...no one died...did they?"

The Clanner saw from the look of blank innocence on his face that he had no idea what had transpired. She sighed deeply. "Little one, you trust too easily. Though you are my enemy, I pity you. Much pain is given to hearts as innocent as yours."

With that, she too left. All of the Skull Clanners filed past the fissure as one might file past a coffin, gazed into its depths, then walked away. When they had all disappeared into the wilderness, Benjamin said sadly, "We must keep moving. Come on..."

As they were leaving, Yuugi saw a glittering object on the ground. Picking it up, he said, "What is this?"

Benjamin and Mike also turned to look at it. It was a small, diamond- shaped crystal, unremarkable except for the incredible and ancient power they all felt within. As they all stared at it, they each heard a voice within their minds, saying that it could help them...that it could, and would, do anything....all but Mike, that is. Inside his mind, he saw scenes of terrible destruction, all of which would supposedly occur if he took the crystal.

Upon discussing what they heard, it became apparent that none of them believed what it had told them (each message was different). Benjamin, who had been told that the crystal could help his dying World and insisted that everything it said was a lie, told Mike that he should take the crystal, since this was what it had told him not to do. Interestingly, he and Mike were the only two of the five willing to share what they had been told. Mike also discovered that, when touched to the screen of his Digivice, the crystal melted into it. When he reached in, however, he could take it out again. Deciding to leave it inside his Digivice, they traveled on.

-o-o-o-o-o-

When night fell, Benjamin suggested that they make camp. They went about their tasks in a rather subdued manner. Benjamin told Mike and Yuugi that there was no need of a watch that night--the Clanners would mourn before they sought revenge. Mike, Benjamin, and Bikaymon quickly fell asleep, resting for the troubles they knew lay ahead.

Yuugi, however, remained awake, staring into the darkness. One of the Clanners had been killed...but how? And why did he have no memory of it? A sudden suspicion that he had already tried to supress wormed its way back into his thoughts. "Yami? You didn't kill that Clanner...did you?" he asked, sounded half fearful that the answer would be yes and half hopeful that it would be no.

Yami hesitated for a moment. No.

"I didn't think so...I wonder how he did die?" Yuugi said, feeling relieved and guilty for suspecting the spirit at the same time. With that he fell asleep.

Yami, however, remained awake, attempting to rationalize his lie to Yuugi. He had not directly caused the Clanner's death; those with weak hearts always lost the Shadow Games, nothing could change that...they would have killed all of them, there had been no other way. Despite these logical, if slightly untrue, explanations, he remained awake for a long time, feeling incredibly guilty, not least because Yuugi had unquestioningly believed him.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Inside the Fortress of the Overlord, Daria made her report. She knelt on the steps in front of a large wall alcove, bowing her head before a flat, glassy surface that looked almost like a window. "My Lord, I regret to say that we failed to capture the Summoner. We also experienced one casualty."

Behind the glass, colors twisted together and pulled apart again at random; it was the pure chaos of the Wilds. A sinister voice echoed in the chamber, or perhaps in Daria's mind. It matters not, faithful servant. You have failed to capture the Summoner, but you have succeeded in bringing them doubt. Without their ability to work as a Guardian team, they will not escape my trap. I have laid my plans; my followers are awaiting my command. Go now; you shall not be punished.

Daria bowed again and left, inwardly relieved that her failure had not angered the Overlord. She fervently hoped that her sister Kiendra would be able to fulfill her mission, so that no part of the plan would fail.