WARNINGS: Ways to Drive an Esper Psycho is rated PG13 for non-explicit sexual content and language. Plus some really dumb stuff.
"But when will you learn that the same loyalty is not returned
by the Blue Eyes?"
-Maximilian Pegasus
Nine: Master of Blue Eyes White Dragons
November 5, 2003
It was just the right spot. "You know perfectly well it did."
Aaron folded his arms and smiled at his victory. "Ah. I see. It got lonely, didn't it?"
"Shut up."
"If you broke me into a thousand pieces and threw those pieces to the wind, little brother, I would not shut up. If you locked me in a chamber with a rampant Tormentor, I would not shut up. If you took my soul and-"
"That's enough!"
Cassiel's reaction was indeed enough; Aaron was silent for a full minute. "Tell me again, why are we doing this?"
Cassiel didn't have an answer to that one.
"Really, why are we doing this? Why don't we just go, who cares about him?"
***
"He commanded the Tormentor to attack. And that
was it."
"That must have been awful. But if he did such
a thing to you… why didn't you leave?" He regretted the question the moment
he asked it- he wasn't a person who had the right to ask.
Chihiro obviously knew this as well. She lifted
an eyebrow. "I'll answer that after you answer me this. When he did that
to you, defiled your card just to win, made sure no honest Master could
ever command you- even worse than what Master did to Jewel… why didn't
you leave?"
***
"Cassiel? I know you're in there. I didn't see you
leave."
Cassiel opened his eyes. "I'm all right."
Aaron lifted an eyebrow, unknowingly echoing Chihiro.
But Aaron was his brother; a whole different spectrum of emotion came to
mind when Cassiel thought of Chihiro. "So why don't we, then?"
"Well… I thought you won't go because I won't go."
"You arrogant idiot, do you think the gods kneel
at your command?" Aaron sighed. "But you're right about that. About my
not going, I mean. If I go when you don't, it looks stupid, it feels stupid.
You have more reason to go than I have got.
"But what about you? Why don't you go so I can follow?
Do you still think you owe something to him?" Aaron shook his head. "Anything
there was, you paid it back a long time ago. He's the one who owes you."
"What could I have done to pay him back for anything?"
"Well… it works like this." Aaron held up his hands,
one finger poking upright on each one. "Say, unlikely as that may be, you
owed him something." A second finger on his left hand went up. "So you
owe him that one thing. Then he did That to you-" The left hand became
a fist. "That canceled out and then some. Now do you understand?"
"Yes," said Cassiel. He noted that he couldn't remember
a time after Before when he had spoken with Aaron this way, as in discussions
on magical theories. "I understand that's the way it's supposed to work.
But it doesn't cancel right."
"It cancels right. It just doesn't look like it
cancels right because whatever he did to you it worked at least halfway.
I know you know it cancels right. Don't you know?" A reluctant nod from
Cassiel. "But you don't want it to cancel right, because he made you think
you'll always owe him something. And what do you owe him?"
"… I don't know."
"And I don't think," said Aaron, "you ever knew.
Because it never was, therefore you wouldn't know." He sighed again, smiled
and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head, their demonstration
complete. "I think they have a new word for what I just did. I'll have
to figure out what it is later."
***
"Morning, Yugi!"
Yugi nodded in reply. "Good morning, Téa!"
Ailill had been standing next to him- on catching sight of Téa he
made a disgusted face and quickly retreated into the Game Shop.
Téa stared at the closed door and blushed.
"So, who's your new friend?"
"Him? Oh, that's Ailill. He's staying at my house."
"What happened to his?"
"Um… it got infested by killer bees."
"Killer bees?"
"Yeah. Or ants. Or was it termites?" Yugi laughed
nervously. "Or maybe it was gypsy moth caterpillars?"
"Yeah right. Next…" Téa laughed. "… next
you'll be saying his house got infested by Parasite Paracides!"
Ailill swung open the door and poked out his head.
"Actually," he yelled, "it was infested by Shining Friendships!" With that
he continued his retreat.
Téa blinked and continued. "And I don't think
I've ever seen him at school…"
"Actually," said Yugi, "he's homeschooled."
Téa's eyes became large and sparkly. "Well,
if all homeschooled kids look like that… wait a minute! He looks just like-"
Yugi decided to take a gamble that she was referring
to Celtic Guardian and not, say, Pegasus or the garbage man. "That's because
he is."
"Really?" Yugi nodded. "Well, I guess I can tell
you-" Téa leaned close. "-Shining Friendship is living in my house!"
***
Dar had gone out early that morning and bought more
fast food, Esper knew; the still-warm bags were on the counter when he
woke up. Dar never claimed credit for it, but who else could have done
such a thing? Who else would have?
His brothers had eagerly torn into the bags, being
sure to save some for Esper himself. Esper considered insisting that they
have it all themselves, but his stomach mutinied.
The mail had come, and with it an envelope containing
a half-sheet of paper and some more money, in cash. Their father had been
more or less on time this month. Esper counted the money and nodded. Precisely
one hundred dollars. The all-time high was a hundred and fifty. The previous
month, of course, he hadn't sent even one dollar.
The bathroom door opened and Dar stepped out, wearing
the same jacket. He kept on walking right out the door, without bothering
with a goodbye. Esper noted this (as long as there were no reports of bizarre
murders, he had resolved to tolerate it) and then looked at the paper.
***
Hey, Zacky. Might be coming by for Christmas.
Who knows, might even stay. Don't know if I'm quite ready yet.
***
It wasn't signed-they never were. But he knew. "Great, Dad," he muttered. "You're the one who smashes things and walks away and then comes back with a new thing more than a year later and think that's all that you need to do."
***
Haku sensed the difference the moment he entered
the room.
He was seated at the table once again; Seto Kaiba
seemed the same as he had always remembered, the Master he had obeyed without
question. But he noticed the way he looked at him; it was the in same way
he spoke to, say, Yugi Motou.
But then again, he had looked at him that way before,
on the day of the Tormentor incident.
"We need to discuss something."
Ryuunosuke looked up from the plate (nearly untouched)
and first at their Master, then at Haku, with wide anxious eyes. Haku had
an urge to go over and tell him it would turn out fine just like always,
but that would be a lie to tell him everything would be all right, and
besides he just couldn't. He settled for a nod that could be interpreted
in several ways, and Ryuunosuke smiled weakly in response before returning
to the plate.
Seto Kaiba interpreted it quite a different way.
"Come."
***
"Yo, Joey."
"Hey, Tristan."
They began walking toward their first-period class
together. "So. How's Black doing?"
"Fine, I guess." Joey shrugged. "You'll have ta
ask Yuge for details."
"So. Did ya do it yet?"
Joey blushed. "No!"
Tristan grinned. "Sorry, I thought with the PDA
and all… Joey, lighten up, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Hey, if
I were that way I'd probably think he was cute, too. Leave it to you to
pick just the right card to kiss."
"Shut up, Tristan."
"You did kiss him! I saw you do it!"
"I said SHUT UP!"
***
Geoffrey Giltia took the phone and promptly nearly
had his eardrums shattered by his cousin's shout. "GEOFFREY? ARE YOU THERE?"
"Oh, hello, Michael. And you don't need to shout
so loud when you use it, you know."
"I apologize. Geoffrey… is it true you have been
doing… that with Serpent Night Dragon?"
"… I'm going to kill Ken."
"You intend to do what?"
"First he copycats Dar wearing Helen's clothes-
by accident, he claims- and now he says I-"
"You mean you didn't know he was saying that?"
"If you recall, he was whispering."
"Oh, yes, he was. I'm sorry I ever thought you would
ever do that."
"Don't worry, Michael, I'm following your example.
Saving up for the big day, you know."
"… I didn't mean that! What I meant was-"
"Oh, yes, that. I suppose now wouldn't be the best
time to tell you…"
"Don't tell me you did do it with Serpent Night
Dragon!"
"I did not have any erotic contact whatsoever with
Serpent Night Dragon!" Geoffrey yelled, coloring. Then, holding one hand
over the phone, "Shut it, Ken, or I swear I'll be sure to cast a spell
on vinegar and baking soda when you're in the vicinity!" Back to the phone,
"Sorry about that, Michael."
"What was it?"
"It involves Joey and Jade, for starters."
"… I believe I would rather not know."
***
Seto Kaiba chose the room containing Jane as the
site for the discussion. While looking past mirror-image blue eyes at Jane's
screen, Haku noted that a sound-recorder program had activated, but he
managed to keep a poker face that would give his own Master a run for his
money. "What is the topic of discussion, Master?"
"… are you happy here?"
Haku began to count things off on his human-form
fingers. "The meals and rooms with which you provided us are excellent.
The weather is fair. We have not been humiliated, physically harmed, or
subjected to other detrimental influences. And you have not wished for
Obelisk the Tormentor. Logically speaking, yes, I am happy."
***
"Good." Seto began to walk back and forth, maintaining
eye contact. "The topic of discussion is the loyalty of the other monsters.
Particularly that of Lord of Dragons and your sister."
"I apologize, Master, but with all due respect,
if you wished to test their loyalty, then perhaps you should speak to them
instead of myself?"
Seto stopped his pacing and instead began walking
in Haku's direction, angry fire starting to catch in the debris of his
mind. Haku did not start walking backward in response, simply stood his
ground, and that somehow made Seto even angrier.
He continued to walk until they were face to face, until he was looking
directly into blue eyes which mirrored his own in their darkest part. "Have
they ever made negative remarks concerning myself? Have they ever questioned
my authority? Have they ever done anything against me?"
"Master, correct me if I'm wrong," said Haku, acid
dripping from every syllable, "but according to my knowledge, you were
the one who made the decision to set us against you that time. You can
hardly fault my older sister and Ryuunosuke for that incident."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Seto snarled. He knew
he was losing his advantageous cool; that knowledge made him lose even
more of it. "You don't know anything! You don't like what I do? Then tell
me a better way!"
Silence. Haku looked away; the way he did it, it
was not a coward's gesture. It was like the Judeo-Christian God passing
judgment on a sinner and finding him unworthy of heaven. "Chihiro told
me what that Pegasus freak disguised as a being worthy of being called
Master said before he played the Jar on her. Surely you didn't believe
him, Master."
But when will you learn that the same loyalty
is not returned by the Blue Eyes?
"Now it seems I have reason to."
"Don't stand there," said Haku, "with Obelisk the
Tormentor in your hand just waiting to be wished out, and accuse me of
being disloyal. I promised my loyalty, not that I would bend over backwards
and break myself in two just to satisfy a suspicious mind."
Seto looked down at his right hand, which had been
fishing through his deck with him being only slightly aware of it. Indeed,
he was holding Obelisk.
"So go on," said Haku, "be a Master and make the
wish."
***
Malik Ishtar frowned as the elevator reached the
twenty-first floor and the doors slid open.
He'd been meaning to go wipe any evidence of the
Rare Hunters from Arkana's apartment for ever so long, but somehow he kept
procrastinating. There was so much to do- Rare Hunters to be sent out (not
all of them to Domino-he had interests elsewhere as well). Hospital bills
to have payment arranged for from when he had lost his concentration and
one of the Hunters he sent after Yugi Motou collapsed and hit his head
(Malik had considered discarding that one, but he still had the God Card).
Newly acquired cards to sort through and deck (he had tried having them
do it themselves, but they sometimes-no, frequently- made mistakes, such
as considering Change of Heart a common card). On top of that, the mundane
affairs of electric bills and grocery shopping. After all, he couldn't
possibly use the Millennium Rod on every person working in the electric
company and still have some energy left over for the Hunters, now could
he?
Well, he thought as he put his hand on the doorknob,
better late than never.
He had never considered that the door would be locked.
He let loose a string of curses (he was somewhat stunned by how many he
knew- he even had stories to go with the more exotic ones), then remembered
the spare key.
A good guardian always has a spare key.
He grinned and began to fish around in his pockets.
***
He knew it was called blood. Humans' first words
tended to be things like "Mother" and "Father." His first word was blood.
He looked down and there was blood on human hands,
on human clothes several sizes too large. He knew this was not his blood.
It belonged to the body lying before him; blood still pooled around it.
He was on his knees, the hands on the hilt of
a sword and just starting to tug it out from the sheath still attached
to the body. Another sword lay nearby, stained with blood not yet dry,
with gems of the same color glittering in the hilt. At last it slid out,
and then he stood (the sword was the same length as more of his height
than he thought should be accurate) and realized he had no idea what he
had intended to do with it.
Movement teased in the corner of his eye. He
whirled and saw what was quickly labeled in his mind as "child," ten or
eleven. Red hair and green eyes.
"Welcome. You are," said the child, "one of us,
one of the blood."
One of the blood?" The voice was higher than
he thought it should be; it sounded much like that of the child.
"You are born from all the bits of goodness left
in a human unworthy of living. I am pleased to meet you. I am certain my
family, the DelaSangre family, will accept you." The child walked toward
him. "My name is Job. And you are Dar."
"Dar?"
"You must have a name." Job looked at the sword.
"It means 'pearl' in the same words my name came from. At least I think
it does."
"Pearl?"
"Let's get these things back home and I'll explain.
And I think there's a few pearls in the treasure room. Do you want to see
them?"
***
And did anyone take any notice of me during all
this? Did any of those dragons care about the rightful occupant of this
body? No!
Shut up, Dar thought as he walked over to
a boat to inquire about rides. Just shut up.
***
Aaron spun around the moment the door unlocked, grabbing his staff and holding it at the ready.
***
Malik blinked; that was his only action for several
seconds. His voice appeared to have turned traitor and fled.
If he wasn't mistaken there was someone who definitely
wasn't Arkana pointing a staff that looked remarkably like that of a Dark
Magician right at him. This person, in fact, reminded Malik of Arkana's
Dark Magician. The same wild silver hair, the same blue eyes, and the same
skin of around the same shade as his and his sister's, the shade everywhere
in Egypt but near nowhere here.
The difference was, in the hologram Arkana's Dark
Magician had always been smirking. If this expression counted as smiling
the world might as well be a cube and a Magician of Faith have the strength
of a God Card.
Not to mention that to the best of Malik's knowledge,
no Dark Magician had ever appeared wearing a red sweatshirt and khaki drawstring-ankled
pants.
Someone screamed from the bedroom. It was a familiar
scream.
Malik found where his voice hid and forced it back
in its proper place. "Who are you?"
The staff was now pointing at him even more directly.
"My name is Aaron. I think a better question would be who are you?"
A desperate voice from the bedroom rose above the
extended scream (Doesn't he have to breathe? Malik thought); this one was
completely unfamiliar. "Master, please, stop it…"
Aaron whirled, letting out several strings of curses
which left Malik once again reduced to blinking, and ran for the bedroom.
"You stop whatever you're doing to Cassiel this time or else I'll-"
Malik blinked again, then began to follow.
***
"Hello, you are speaking to Kaiba Corporation Artificial
Intelligence Module Alpha-Jane-0001. Do you have an appointment?"
Dar shook his head, thinking of the people he had
left unconscious on the boat when they had gotten too insistent that he
come with them, to their so-called Master Merrick. Then he realized what
he was speaking to. "No. I would like to speak to the Battle City Tournament
Commissioner, please."
"… I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba is currently unavailable.
Would you like to leave a message?"
"…Actually, could I get an appointment?"
"I suppose. Please state your name."
"Dar DelaSangre."
"Please state the purpose of your visit."
"I want to see if someone could get re-qualified
for Battle City."
"I'm sorry, we don't issue locator cards."
"No, I mean his opponent cheated, and I would like
to get him back in the tournament if it's at all possible. You see, in
all fairness he should still be in there. The tournament, I mean."
"Ah, I see. Could you please state the name of the
duelist whom you represent?"
"Rex Raptor."
"All right then. What time would be convenient for
you?"
"Just about any time, I guess…"
***
"Cassiel, you shouldn't do that. You gave me a scare."
"And you're actually admitting to it?"
"The way you talked I thought he was-"
"He wasn't! He wasn't starting to do That, either!
Now, are you happy?"
Right then they became aware of Malik's presence
and both turned to face him.
By Ra, he was getting sick of blinking. "How is
it that you both- I mean-"
"We're brothers," said Aaron. "If we didn't have
a resemblance the integrity of our parents would be called into question.
Now answer me!"
"Um…" He ran through his mind for an appropriate
pseudonym and grabbed the first one he came across, the one he usually
used to sign things when he didn't make one of the Hunters do it. "Terrence
Merrick."
"No, it's not."
Aaron turned to stare at his companion, who continued,
voice shaking. "Actually, I think your given name is Malik and you lead
the Rare Hunters. Correct?"
Malik grabbed his Rod and tried to convince himself
to use it. After all, his cover was truly blown beyond repair. But somehow
he felt the Rod wouldn't be much help at all against these two.
"Cassiel," said Aaron, "how could you know that?"
"Don't you remember?" Cassiel's eyes seemed to go
away. "When Master wanted to demonstrate. I saw him watching. You saw him,
too, remember?"
Malik put together this information and then shoved
it into a corner of his mind when he saw the obvious conclusion. There
was no way Arkana's Dark Magicians were really standing in front of him,
not a hologram, not a semitransparent construct by the Millennium Ring.
There was just no way.
Just no way…
He had acquired a cell phone in order to contact
those he didn't feel like using the Rod on just yet, and before he had
gone on his little mission he had grabbed it. Now it began to ring. Malik
fumbled with the buttons until he located the proper one and pressed it,
then lifting it to his ear as he had seen others do. "What?"
"I apologize, sir."
"First tell me what you're apologizing for, you
idiot!"
"The crew of Lady of Fate was attacked at the Domino
City harbor."
Lady of Fate- named in a moment of caprice, a semi-homage
to his sister (though she hadn't much appreciated it). Indeed, it was one
of the only properties not operated by Rod-controlled Hunters. "And you
interrupted me to bring me this trivial piece of information?"
"Sir, the perpetrator demonstrated unusual abilities."
"Such as?"
"Sir, the entire crew was rendered unconscious.
Several of them were actually knocked off the boat into the water, and
witnesses report the perpetrator made no physical contact with them."
"Now that's more like it. Has there been any clue
as to how the perpetrator got onto the boat?"
"… Evidence points to the theory that the crew allowed
the perpetrator on at the Lantern City harbor, possibly in exchange for
a cash payment."
Malik would have to seriously reevaluate his "employees"
after he was done with his task at hand. "And did these witnesses report
how he incapacitated them? Give me the details."
Details were given. Malik groaned, first putting
a hand over the phone so as not to betray any sign of weakness to the person
on the other end.
Apparently there was a way.
***
The same moment the bell rang Mokuba pressed keys
on his mini-computer to establish a link with Jane. A two-dimensional rendering
of a girl around Seto's age, wearing a sailor uniform and a wide grin,
appeared on the downsized screen. The graphic appeared to speak; as it
did a perfectly right-angled box materialized over the girl's head (No
sound- the teachers wouldn't stand for that. And Seto abhorred little cartoon
speech balloons) and text appeared in the box. "Hello, Mokuba. Someone's
been asking after you."
Mokuba's school portable didn't have all the capabilities
of Jane's full technological array in the Kaiba mansion. He had to press
keys to reply, instead of just opening his mouth. "Please display," he
typed.
"An three-thirty appointment has been arranged for
you with a Mr. Dar DelaSangre. He claims a wrongful disqualification from
Battle City on behalf of Rex Raptor and wishes to discuss it with the Tournament
Commissioner. Also, and you have one message (A) from Chihiro Snow and
one message (B) from Ryuunosuke. Would you like to view them?"
"Please display A."
More text appeared.
***
Mokuba, Jane told me about your appointment. There's something you should know about Dar DelaSangre. He isn't human exactly. He's actually Rex Raptor's Serpent Night Dragon, and I'm sure you know what's on Serpent Night Dragon's card. If you make him angry, there's no telling what he could do. I doubt Master would be too pleased if his younger brother was harmed, so I'm giving you prior warning.
***
Mokuba blinked. Serpent Night Dragon's real too?
This just gets weirder and weirder… oh well. Cross that bridge when you
come to it.
I wonder what Lord of Dragons has got to say?
"Please display B," he typed.
***
After the incident, Ryuunosuke had waited just beside
the door until he was certain as he could ever be that Master and Haku
wouldn't be reentering for a while, and then he had run in to discover
Jane had made an audio recording of the entire event.
Headphones were provided, and he made use of a set
while reviewing the incident, just to make sure no stray sound would filter
into the hall and call attention to himself. Then, with some help from
Jane, he managed to send a message to Master's younger brother, containing
the sound file.
Ryuunosuke wasn't quite sure how Mokuba Kaiba would
react to it, but it just wasn't right that it should be a secret how Master
spoke to people when Mokuba wasn't there to hear. Jane agreed.
Then, after Jane prompted him a few times, he returned
to his other file and continued typing.
***
Then there's Haku. He's Chihiro's twin brother.
Chihiro's older than him, and usually he agrees, but sometimes when he
gets angry or annoyed or something he doesn't call her onee-san, he calls
her imouto-san. She doesn't like that.
He's very… I don't know, devoted? After our Master
tried out his new system (the one in between the arena and the Battle City
disks), around the same time Sapphire started to change how he talked to
Alexander Sang, Haku was trying to imitate Master. And that meant talking
to Black Jade like he was even lower than me. Like he'd just stumbled into
where we were while being an idiot and was never meant to duel at all.
And Haku wasn't that way before.
You could tell he didn't really mean it as much
as Master did but he was trying and he was changing bit by bit so he started
to mean it. I guess in a way maybe I should thank Pegasus for interrupting
it, otherwise… who knows how much he might have ended up meaning it.
Pegasus. In that duel Sapphire was summoned,
but not by our Master. Chihiro ended up in a Jar. Haku was never summoned
in that duel- before his card was drawn the Crush virus got loose and of
course his numbers were above fifteen hundred. Damn that Pegasus, saying
Saggi was the only one Master could play. My numbers are below fifteen
hundred, too! But he didn't care about that. Because if Master had summoned
me then Chihiro wouldn't have been stuck in the Jar anymore. It would have
spoiled his fun.
No, actually, I won't thank him.