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Chapter 10
"Aftermath: Punishment"
Ambrosius stood up quickly and was now shaking all over. He began to mutter in a frightened voice to himself. None of the others noticed, until his quiet rants grew louder, "… No, master! It was luck!! I swear!!! I will not fail you again!!! No, please!!!-" The man cut off suddenly and his face turned a pale white, "Yes master. I understand, my master. I will." He slowly walked towards Yugi, and held out his necklace with the three items on it.
Yugi was startled, and turned around quickly. Was this the same fiery man he had dueled just moments ago? "Ummm… oh right!" The boy began to unhook two of the items when his beaten opponent, but the man shook his head slightly, "No. My master has instructed me to give you all three of the items. They are yours," Ambrosius dropped them at Yugi's feet, and then walked off without another word.
Yugi started to protest and run after the stranger, but Joey put a hand on his shoulder, "Yugi, the last thing you need to do is chase weirdoes like that. Just take the extra item as a gift. You did win, ya know!"
Yugi sighed, "Yeah, I know. But still, I only bet two items, so he was only supposed to bet two! Now that guy's out of the tournament, and he shouldn't be!"
Behind him, Tristan was also watching the man leave, thinking to himself. What had that guy been doing over there by himself? He had sounded like he was talking to himself. While the others had been congratulating Yugi on his victory, Tristan was sure that he had been listening in on half of a conversation!
"Uhhh… hey, Yugi! I'll take that item back to that guy for you!" Tristan smiled at his little friend, despite the confused look on Joey's face.
Little Yugi smiled up at Tristan, "Could you? You're faster than me anyway; I'll bet you could do it!" Tristan was such a good friend. It hadn't always been that way, but now Tristan was one of his best friends.
"Tristan, what are you-" Joey began, but Tristan gave him a look that silenced him. Tristan was pretty smart when he put his head to something, so Joey wasn't really worried about him trying to investigate that guy. Still, he was a little upset that Tristan hadn't asked him to come along.
"Sure, I'll do it Yugi!" Tristan took the Mini-Millennium Rod from Yugi's hand, and ran off. He called back over his shoulder to his watching friends, "I'll meet you guys back at the hotel later on, Ok? See ya!"
"But Tristan-" Tea called out to stop him, but he was already out of earshot, sprinting away down the dusty streets. She frowned, worried. She hoped he wasn't running straight into trouble. But he soon disappeared around a corner and her attention was forced back to Yugi, who was hooking his two new items to his chain.
"That makes four all together!" Yugi said happily.
"Pretty soon you'll have all seven!" Tsuki chirped.
"You're catching up pretty quickly, kid," Mai said. She cast a sidelong glance at Joey, "Unlike some people."
"Hey…what's that mean?" Joey said indignantly.
"It means, that you're falling behind Joseph," Mai said, putting her hands on her hips, "And if you don't find a duel soon, we'll be moving on to the finals without you."
"Grrr…." Joey growled through clenched teeth, "I'll find a duel – just you wait and see!" Angrily, he turned on his heels and took off, dashing down the street in the opposite direction Tristan had gone.
"Joey! Hey wait up!" Yugi cried, running after his friend.
"Don't forget us!" Tea said as she and Bakura also gave chase.
Mai shook her head, "Huh. Kids these days…" But she too followed behind them, at her own pace. Tsuki hurried to keep in step with her.
* * *
Man, where is this guy going? Ambrosius was walking at the same, constant pace, taking what seemed to be arbitrary twists and turns down the streets of the Egyptian town. But as Tristan continued to trail Yugi's mysterious, defeated opponent, he realized that, for the entire time, they were heading in the direction of that great pyramid.
Once or twice, the man stopped, and began to mutter to himself in a different language, but otherwise the journey to the man-made wonder of the tournament was uneventful. Tristan felt like patting himself on the back for avoiding detection for so long. Then again, the man also hadn't notice when he had run right through someone's fruit cart and barreled it over, or when the owner had clobbered him on the head with a pot of some sort.
As they began to walk out into the desert, Tristan had to think up some very creative hiding places, such as bending very agilely to fit behind a leaning palm tree, or walking in step with a passing camel and its owner. When they reached the Pyramid, Tristan managed to hide behind one of the corners to the building. He watched as Ambrosius flipped up one of the tiles of the Pyramid near the door and pressed a button inside the panel. Immediately, the door to the tourney finals swung open, granting him passage.
Seizing the moment, Tristan made a leap for the door but as he reached it it closed, making him smash right into it. Rubbing her sore nose, the Japanese teen began to feel around on the tiles near the door for the secret panel. Noticing one shingle was slightly ajar, he tugged gently and it flipped right up, revealing a single red button. Oh well, it worked for that guy, so why not me? The door's lock mechanism (which looked like you needed seven mini-items to put into each of its slots) deactivated and the door swiveled open again.
Inside was a complete about-face from the desert. Instead of being bright, humid, and fresh, it was very poorly lit, rather cool, and the air was very thick. Tristan stopped complaining to himself about this change long enough to see Ambrosius still walking down one of the long corridors.
At least there are plenty of good hiding spots in this place. It took at least ten minutes of walking and uphill climbing to reach what Tristan was sure was the tip top of the Pyramid. Still talking to himself, Ambrosius rapped several times on the door. Tristan ducked behind a corner, not wanting to be seen by whoever was on the other side of that doorway.
The door slid open and, although Tristan couldn't see who it was that answered, he recognized the voice of the tournament coordinator, Vitani. But her tone was harsh, lacking the false-friendliness she usually had. "Ambrosius, come in. Lord Jetsu is waiting for you."
Tristan heard footsteps and then the creaking of a closing door. Not wanting to miss out on anything, he quickly picked up a loose stone from the floor and hurled it across the hallway. It caught in the doorway, keeping it from closing completely. The voices he began to hear were faint, but understandable.
"My Lord, I have returned, just as you requested," Ambrosius' voice was shaky, as if filled with… panic?
"I can see that. Tell me…why is the power of the Pharaoh still in the hands of a child?" A deeper voice came back, one that Tristan didn't recognize.
"I-I did as you requested Lord! I followed all of your orders-"
"And you still failed me…"
"NO! I dueled him! His deck was able to bypass my Gravity Bind! Give me one more chance Lord, please, just one more!"
"ENOUGH! Ambrosius, you have failed me! There will be no salvation for you!"
Tristan shuddered and heard a sickening scream. There was the sound of cloth hitting the floor, and Tristan knew that he would never get to return this mini-item for Yugi. Not that that was the largest of his worries. Right now, he was more concerned with leaving the building alive. Part of him wanted to start sneaking away now, but another part forced him to stay and continue to listen.
He heard Vitani's voice yet again. "Shall I send for the Three Elementals?"
"Yes. It seems they will be needed now."
There was a paused and Tristan thought the 'fun' was over. As he started to tip-toe away, the deep voice spoke again. "Vitani?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"There is someone outside the door."
Tristan felt panic sweep over his body and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. See the stone wedged in the doorway? Only human hands could have put it there."
"I see, sir. Shall I bring him for you to deal with?"
"No. I have other business to attend to. Deal with him as you see fit."
"Yes, my lord."
Holy SHIT! Tristan began to back away nervously, trying to make it around the corner again without making any noise. He was about to turn the corner when he heard the creak of the door.
"Well, well, well," Vitani's voice had the fake-cheeriness again, "What do we have here?" He felt her hands take hold of his right arm, but dared not look at her, fearing she'd rip it out of its socket. "I don't think you're allowed to be here."
"Uhhhhh… errr…ummm… Well, you see, heh heh, I was just returning this item to that guy," Tristan held up the mini-item that was in his left hand, "And he left the secret button that controls the door wide open, so I thought it would be ok if I just, well, you know, came inside. Heh heh, silly me…" He knew that he sounded like a total dumbass, but if it would keep her from killing him, then who really cared?
"I'm afraid that that button is for authorized personnel only, young man," she said, starting to lead him back down the pyramid, "I'm going to have to ask you not to use it again."
"Uh…right…no problem…" he stammered, as they continued down the dimly lit corridors. Wait a minute… he thought, what am I scared of a girl for? As a bit of his cockiness returned to him, he ventured, "Just what was it that happened to that guy? I heard some kind of scream…"
"That's none of your concern, boy," Vitani said, the harsh edge returning to her voice, "And if you continue to ask question, you will suffer a similar fate."
Tristan gulped, wishing for the life of him that the pyramid were a lot shorter. Not another word was spoken between them until at long last they reached the exit. She removed one hand from his arm to punch the access code into a small panel in the wall, and the door slid open. Sunlight poured into the hall, and Tristan felt a little better.
She let go completely and gestured for him to leave. He did so hurriedly, and as he made to walk away, he heard her speak again, her voice perky once more, "Oh and one more thing."
He turned to look at her. She was smiling broadly.
"If you tell anyone what you've seen or heard, I can assure you the punishment will be severe. Bye now!" The door shut in front of her, leaving Tristan standing wide-eyed in the open desert.
What…the…hell?! He shivered. Her rapid changes in demeanor were way beyond weird. He held up the gold chain, the mini-item dripping with sweat from his palms. He had no doubt anymore that they were all in big trouble. And he was certain that these Millennium Items were the cause of it. He shook his head. Damn Ancient Egyptians. Why couldn't they have thrown their magic to the wind? Then we wouldn't have to deal with all this shit…
He stuffed the chain and item into his pocket and trudged away down the dusty street, brow furrowed with worry. This was all getting to complicated. He'd never quite understood about Yugi and his Puzzle until Battle City, and it seemed that ever since Yugi had put it together, every psychopath in the world was after it. What did a kid like that ever do to deserve all this?
* * *
After several minutes of blindly running about, Joey was forced to stop from a lack of breath. He knew that the others were somewhere behind him, trying to catch up. Joey had seen several duels going on, but he didn't want to wait and challenge the winners; he wanted to duel right now! Mai was right, he really was behind.
All of a sudden, it occurred to Joey that where he was now smelled quite different for some reason. He saw that he had reached the edge of town and staring majestically back at him was Egypt's main water supply: the Nile River, in all of its glory. The brazen Japanese teen grinned to himself; if there was one person that he could count on to be predictable, it was Mako Tsunami. Mako would no doubt be right at the edge of the longest river in the world, enjoying himself. Mako would be a perfect first test. A rematch from their last bout at Battle City!
He heard footsteps behind him and turned. Yugi was slowing to a stop, panting heavily. "What the big rush Joey…oh wow…" Yugi looked past his friend at the sparkling river, "That's the Nile, huh?"
"Yep, that's it," Joey nodded.
A few seconds later, Tea and Bakura came up along side them, with the same awed reaction to the mighty river. Tea glanced around, "So, what do you expect to find here?"
Before Joey could answer, another voice behind them said, "I think what ever he's looking for just found us!" It was Mai, with Tsuki at her side, and she was pointing out at the river with a small smile.
They all followed her finger out to the water and saw a mini tidal wave heading their way! The four teens exchanged nervous glances, but as the rising water drew closer, they all saw what it was.
Or who it was, to be more specific.
It was Mako Tsunami, grinning broadly, riding on the backs of two large alligators, holding the reins in one hand and waving at the group on the shore with the other, "Hello my friends!" He leaped off of the two large reptiles and landed perfectly on shore, while his alligators rode the rest of the now tiny wave up to shore, and began to wallow around in the shallow waters of the river banks.
Mako was his usual self, with only his swimming trunks and Duel Disk 2 on. He also wore a shiny, golden chain around his neck, with bared five small Millennium items on it!
"Hi Mako! Long time no see!" Yugi ran forward and shook Mako's hand, who shook Yugi's hand much more vigorously, causing little Yugi's entire body to shake violently.
"It is good to see you as well, Yugi! How are you faring in this fine tournament?" Mako was proudly fingering his items, each of which was wet and sparkling in the hot Egyptian sun.
Yugi revealed his chain as well, "I've got four so far, but I only got those this morning!" the Duel Monsters champion turned to look at Mai, "Looks like some one has finally caught up with you, Mai!"
"Nothing less than I expected," Mai said, showing her own chain with its five items, "Maybe you and I will finally get that duel, Mako."
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Joey cried, stepping in front of her, "I'm the one who came here to challenge Mako!"
"Yeah," Tea said, "You are the one that needs it the most, huh?"
"SHUT UP!' Joey yelled, surprising everyone, "I'm sick and tired of getting shit from everyone! I was number two in Duelist Kingdom, and I was in the top ten at Battle City!" Joey stopped, and saw that Mako was staring intently at him. Joey lifted his right hand and pointed his index finger at the water duelist, "Mako Tsunami, I challenge you to a duel! I'll even bet both of my items on the outcome of this duel!"
"That was quite harsh language in the presence of the young and female. Your successes have gone to your head, friend. It will be my honor to not only bring you back down to Earth, but also to avenge my loss at Battle City and eliminate you from this competition!" Mako spat back at Joey.
"Let's duel!" Both shouted, and inserted their decks into their Duel Disk 2s'.
It certainly had been harsh language. Yugi, Tea, Tsuki, and Bakura were looking shocked, and a little hurt. Mai had a different sort of expression on her face. Part of her was surprised at his outburst, but another side of her was impressed. It was a side of Joey she'd never seen – strong and hot-headed. She guessed their teasing had finally gotten to him, and this was a result of a lot of bottled-up aggression.
She cocked her head curiously. There was a fire in his eyes that she'd never noticed for all the time she'd known him. Her stomach gave a tiny lurch and she flushed slightly pink as she realized what had happened. For the first time, she'd seen him, no longer a boy, but as a man. And it was a little unnerving.