**** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ****
**** A/N: This could possibly be the most important chapter of the entire story. Sorry it took awhile to write. I hate writing duels! So confusing! ****
Chapter Thirty-Seven Duel of the Fates
Seto Kaiba bit into his lip. He tried his hardest not to let the tears that pinched at his eyes fall down over his pristine skin, as to expose his feelings. His heart seemed broken all at once. He found it in a way almost ironic; his heart was broken literally days after he discovered he had a heart.
Soon he would have to duel Roux. The duel that would secure their fates. If Kaiba lost the duel, he would die, and everything involved would go to Malik. This included Obelisk the Tormentor, as well as Roux. Kaiba's hand clenched furiously into a fist when he thought about that.
But if he won against Malik, as he was controlling Roux, she would be the one to die. Even if he attained Malik's Egyptian god card, and the Millennium rod, Kaiba would still have lost the only person in the world who gave his life meaning, other than his little brother.
He sat in the dining room with his deck, lying out each card carefully, trying to create a strategy, that wouldn't win him the duel, but rather get him out of this mess. If he called the police, Malik would kill Roux. If he tried to kill Malik himself, Malik's guards would kill Roux.
Kaiba shook his head. There had never been a spot more horrible than this. Usually in the past when he had a problem he was able to face it head-on and be rid of it somehow, but this didn't seem like one of those problems.
Either way one of them would die tonight. Kaiba had to accept this.
He couldn't bear to think of living his life from then on with Roux. He had waited for a long time to just tell her how he felt about her, how could he lose her after realizing how much she meant to him?
If he were to die, that wouldn't be as bad. He would die, and leave his brother and Roux alone in the world, but he knew they would look out for each other. There would be someone there to look after Mokuba, and Joey could always look after Roux, no matter how much Kaiba hated to think of it.
But he would die for love. What could be more glorious?
He tried to focus a little more on his dueling strategy, but after awhile he couldn't. The remaining cards he held in his hand slipped from his fingers and fell onto the table. Kaiba watched them, and then he himself collapsed onto the table, hiding his face in his arms. The tears fell from his azure eyes and he didn't try to stop them.
If he just gave Malik Obelisk the Tormentor.would that put an end to all this madness? Could he and Roux be allowed to go then?
Kaiba needed a miracle. What had he done all his life to deserve all this torture? Everything ever since his parents died had been cruel. What had he done to deserve everything that had happened to him? What had he done to deserve everything that was happening to him now?
The door opened, and then it closed. Someone walked into the room. Quickly wiping away tears from his cheeks with his thumb, Kaiba looked up softly. He half-expected it to be Malik, coming to tease him about the duel, but instead he found Yugi, looking very worried.
"Oh. It's only you Yugi." Kaiba said, sitting up and looking down at the cards on the table.
Yugi sighed softly. "Kaiba, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what's happening, and I'm sorry it had to end like this."
Kaiba scowled deeply and looked up at the unfaithful boy. "It's not the end yet Yugi! There has to be some way out of this! There's got to be something we can do." He shook his head. "I won't let it end like this." He sighed. "But what can I do?"
Yugi crossed his arms, and then he thought for a single moment. After awhile he cleared his throat. "There may be a way." He said softly.
Kaiba looked at the boy curiously. "What way is that, Yugi?"
The pharaoh swallowed, obviously thinking hard. Then he turned to Kaiba. "How far are you willing to go to save Roux and yourself from this mess?"
The CEO was slightly suspicious. "I'd give anything."
Yugi nodded and smiled softly. "Even the success of your newest invention?"
Kaiba didn't know what Yugi was talking about, unless he meant destroying the hologram disks while they were in duel play. Kaiba thought about that for a moment. If one of the disks weren't working, maybe it would alter the data on both disks. Maybe there was a chance.
"What if it doesn't work, Yugi?" Kaiba asked softly.
Yugi breathed in and sighed very softly. "Then, I don't know what to expect. But mark my words Kaiba, whatever choice you make, I will back you."
Kaiba smirked. He knew he needed Yugi's assurance and support and everything, but how far was he willing to let it go? Kaiba sighed again, and shook his head. What little hope there was left, Kaiba would need it all the way.
~*~
At ten o'clock, when the moon was out in full power, the cruise ship anchored out in the middle of the river, where they could see the spectacular city lights of downtown Domino City. On the front deck of the cruise ship stood two suits on each side of the deck, making sure that the players couldn't cheat. One suit stood on the side to give directions.
Malik was already standing on the deck at the side, while he watched Roux, his puppet, standing at the one side, stiff and blank, holding the hologram disk, as she waited for her opponent.
The Egyptian boy grinned fiendishly at his plan. No one could think of a more cruel way to win a duel. It was also the most horrible way to bring apart these two lovers, who loved each other so strongly. Malik chuckled, happy to see Seto Kaiba in so much pain.
He knew that if he could pull this off he would be rid of Seto Kaiba forever.
~ And speak of the Devil. ~ Malik thought as he looked over and saw both Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto coming onto the deck. He grinned wider when he saw the death-cold glare on Kaiba's face, telling the Egyptian boy that he hated him more than anything.
The suit at the side cleared his throat. "Positions please!" he called out.
Kaiba took his position, and Yugi came around and stood on the side by Malik, even though he would have nothing to do with the Egyptian.
"This duel is now in session!" the suit called out. "Please equip your disks!"
Kaiba took his deck from his jacket pocket and put it securely in the place where you were supposed to put the deck. He wondered in a moment whether Roux, or Malik as he controlled Roux, would he using his deck or hers. He was soon to find out.
"All right then Kaiba," came Malik's voice, but coming from Roux's red lips, which made Kaiba angry. "You may do the honors, since either way I'm going to win."
Kaiba scowled. "We'll see." He mumbled, and reached into his deck and pulled five cards from his desk. Fanning them out he observed them. He had drawn the Skull Red Bird, the Ogre of the Black Shadow, and the three magic cards Sogen, Monster Reborn, and the trap card Reverse Trap.
The CEO thought for a moment, and then he took his two monster cards, and inserted them in the correct places on the disk. "I summon Skull Red Bird in attack mode, and then I summon the Ogre of the Black Shadow in defense mode, and end my turn."
He watched his two monsters appear in front of him, and he took a deep breath in. He hoped his strategy would work, as it wasn't as planned out as he would have hoped. He had to hold onto his magic cards until later.
Roux, as controlled by Malik, quickly scanned the five cards that she held in her hands. Then a smile grew over her red lips; a smile of wickedness that Kaiba did not recognized nor liked. "I summon Hibikime in defense mode." She placed down a card, and the monster appeared on the field.
Kaiba recognized this card. She played it the day she was dueling Weevil. To his recall the kid had no trouble getting rid of it. And the Hibikime had lower defense points that his Skull Red Bird or his Ogre. The CEO cocked a suspicious eye at Malik on the sidelines. What was he up to?
"Then I place these two magic cards face down." The cards appeared face down as she set them in place. She then turned her eyes to Kaiba. "And end my turn."
Kaiba looked at the two magic cards for a moment. No doubt they would stop him from making an attack. Kaiba pulled two new cards from his deck and studied them. He pulled Battle-Ox, and Rogue Doll.
~ If I'm going to attempt to end this duel by destroying this disk, I'll have to make sure Malik doesn't suspect anything. ~ Kaiba thought to himself as he chose a card. ~ I'll make gentle attacks and when the duel's gone far enough I'll take action. ~
Kaiba cleared his throat. "I summon Battle-Ox in attack mode." He waited for the monster to appear. "And now Skull Red Bird, attack her Hibikime!" Kaiba swung his arm and pointed.
On the sidelines Malik cocked an eyebrow at Seto Kaiba as suspicion began to rise within him. Kaiba was up to something; why would he be attacking Roux so aggressively if he was in love with her?
Malik turned his eyes to Roux and re-entered her mind, taking control.
Roux laughed and snapped her fingers. "You forgot about my face down cards." She said happily.
The first card stood. "I unleash the Reliable Guardian, who will increase my monster's defense points by seven-hundred."
The Hibikime had 1700 defense points. Before Kaiba could call off the attack of his Skull Red Bird, it had already attacked. The attack failed and the bird returned. Kaiba gritted his teeth.
But Roux wasn't finished. "Then I release Sparks, which inflicts 200 points of direct damage to your life points!"
Kaiba's eyes widened as the Sparks card rose, and balls of flowing, hot flame came shooting from the card and towards Kaiba. He made fists and tried to maintain as the damage hit him, causing him to go backwards. He let out a gasp. He couldn't believe it, but he had really felt the flame and the damage that attack had caused.
His life points were now at 3800.
He struggled to his feet and dusted off his sleeves and awaited Roux's attack.
The girl grinned. "After your charade, I've decided to bring up another monster. So I summon Gearfried, the Iron Knight!" she put the card down and the monster appeared. "Now Gearfried attack his Skull Red Bird!" she pointed at Kaiba.
The Iron Knight destroyed Kaiba's Skull Red Bird, bringing down his life points from 3800 to 2250. Kaiba winced as he felt the impact of his card's destruction result in his lack of strength all of a sudden.
Roux looked pleased with herself. "And with that I end my turn."
Kaiba chewed on his lower lip. He couldn't just keep taking hits forever; he had to fight back to make sure Malik wouldn't be too suspicious. Firstly he discarded Sogen and Reverse Trap and sent them to the graveyard, and pulled two new cards.
His mind pondered. He drew Just Desserts, a trap card, and D. Human. His blue eyes fixed on Just Desserts. He saw his Ogre and Battle-Ox were still on the field, and for every monster summoned, if he used Just Desserts, it inflicted 500 points per monster to his opponent's life points.
"I summon D. Human." Kaiba began; laying down the card and watching the monster appear.
Malik grinned. ~ Seto Kaiba is foolish. Does he honestly think he can get by a turn without losing life points with a monster like that? ~
But Kaiba wasn't finished. "And then I summon Just Desserts, a trap card! For every monster I have on the field, 500 life points are taken! Go Just Desserts!"
It attacked, and for the three monsters Kaiba had on the field, it attacked Roux, and she lost 1500 life points. Her life points were now down to 2500.
Roux winced heavily at the harsh contact, and Kaiba almost first forward to help her, but he remembered that Malik was still in control of her. He tried not to move.
On the sidelines Malik smirked. "What a gentleman you are, Seto Kaiba." He taunted sarcastically, making Kaiba's blood boil. "Normally a man would run to the woman he loves if she was hurt."
Kaiba gave Malik a great look of warning. But he turned back to the duel.
Roux didn't look too pleased herself as she drew new cards and looked over them, again with the devilish smile. She chuckled heartily and looked up at Kaiba. "Now you're finished Kaiba. Perhaps you'll recognize this monster from my practice duel with Weevil."
Kaiba scowled, but then he saw what she was talking about. She laid down her card and then raised her arm. "I give you the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Kaiba looked up in horror as the immense dragon appeared on the field suddenly. He remembered that she had drawn this card with her duel with Weevil, and it had been the one thing to save her from losing.
Yami's eyes lit up in horror. ~ What, Joey's card? What is it still doing in Roux's deck? Is it possible Roux didn't return it to him? ~
Malik smirked. He knew that this duel was finished. Kaiba wouldn't be able to conjure up anything strong enough to take down what he had in store.
Roux grinned. "And then I add the magic card Dragon Treasure, which increases my dragon's attack points by 300."
The CEO shook his head. This was the exact same move she made in the practice duel against Weevil, and he hadn't beat her. He scowled. How was he going to get out of this one.
"And the first thing he shall do is take down your Battle-Ox! Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack!" she commanded.
The dragon wielded it's attack on the Battle-Ox, and in an instant it resulted to shards. Kaiba felt the pain strike him terribly suddenly and he let out a sharp cry as he felt several cuts going up and down his arms. He started to breathe heavily.
Yami watched in agony from the sidelines. Kaiba was in trouble, and somehow Malik was able to conjure up the exact same move Roux had that day with her practice duel with Weevil. How was it possible? Malik had to have been cheating.
Kaiba breathed in and out, looking down at his life points. 550. He shook his head. How could Malik have possibly beat him in a duel? How was this possible? Kaiba was the greatest duelist in the world, next to Yami. What could he do?
"I end my turn." Roux said with her hand on her hip. "You could use the time to breathe."
Swallowing tightly, Kaiba tried desperately to think of what to do. He looked at his cards in play and in his hand. He bit down on his lip and pulled a card. If this wasn't a good card, this could very well be the last move of his life.
Drawing the card he looked at it tentatively. Then a gasp escaped his lips.
He couldn't believe it. The card that could save him. His favourite, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Kaiba grinned, and he looked up. "This duel will soon be over!" he said. "I sacrifice Ogre of Black Shadow and D. Human in order to summon." he laid down his card. "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The immense dragon at 3000 attack points emerged, and it towered high. From the sidelines Yami smiled, and Malik was beginning to panic for a moment. That dragon could easily take down her Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"Now my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Kaiba commanded. "White Lightning Attack!"
The card in which Kaiba had used several times in order to save Roux from trouble was now about to cost her many life points. The dragon attacked the Red-Eyes, and the dragon disappeared. When the light from the lightning attack was gone, Kaiba looked up and saw that Roux had collapsed. He gasped to see that as she got up, she too had many bad injuries.
"Roux-" he breathed.
Her life points were minimal. Down to 200.
Kaiba bit his lip. It was now or never.
From the sidelines Malik smirked. "You truly are unbeatable, aren't you Seto Kaiba? No matter what anyone does, there's no way to bring you down! Only the pharaoh is able to find some way to psyche you out." He crossed his arms. "Evidently causing the death of the woman you love is not enough of a soft spot for you!"
That triggered it. Now Kaiba was angry.
"You're a coward, Malik, and two can play at that game!" Kaiba shouted angrily, and with ease he removed the disk from game play.
The Egyptian watched with what looked to be fascination. He blinked several times. "What are you doing?" he snarled.
Kaiba took the disk in both his hands, and let it go. Malik gasped when he realized what Kaiba was doing, and he reached out, screaming for him not to do it.
Once the disk was on the deck's floor, Kaiba looked down at it, and crushed it under the heel of his shoe. He watched as his creation, which had proven to be successful and very well designed was shattered beneath his own feet. He watched as the bits and pieces of the gadget crunched underneath him, and he took in a deep breath.
The hologram monsters were gone, both from his and Roux's hologram disk. Yugi grinned and nodded. "Yes!" he said.
Malik shook with fury as well as concern. Kaiba had crushed the hologram disk, and now neither of them would suffer as he planned. How could he have done this? Malik never would have expected Kaiba to destroy his own creation. That had been the one thing he had overlooked in this plan.
Furiously, Malik shot his eye towards Roux, and demanded his control over her to be gone.
The blonde let out a gasp, and she almost fell forward. She put a hand to her chest and blinked. She looked up and saw Yugi and Malik on the sidelines. "What.what happened?" she murmured softly.
Kaiba heard Roux's voice and instantly he looked up. He saw Roux there, the regular Roux, standing there looking dazed and confused. He broke out into a grateful cry and started to run for her. "Roux!" he called out.
Roux saw him at the call of her name, and she seemed to have recognized him. She grinned and started to run for him, her arms out. "Seto!" she cried.
But before the lovers could even touch each other, Malik had other plans. He angrily gripped his Millennium Rod, withdrew it, and commanded its power. He ordered it in his mind to take effect and attack.
A beam came from the Sennen eye on the Millennium Rod, and it hit Roux directly in the center of her chest. A sharp gasp of pain escaped her red lips and she instantly began to fall.
Kaiba, realizing that Roux had just been attacked, gasped in horror. He thought he had just saved Roux, but now he saw her eyes become hollow, and she started to fall forward, unable to use her own feet anymore. Kaiba leapt forward and caught her fallen body before it could hit the ground.
Cradling Roux in his arms, Kaiba shook his head, unable to accept what had just happened. Tears welling in his eyes, he fell to his knees, with Roux still in his arms. He continued to shake his head. "Roux? No, no Roux, don't do this. Not now. Don't do this to me now!"
Yugi ran up to them, after he had turned around to face Malik and challenge him in a duel of Millennium items. But he found to his great surprise that Malik, and his henchmen, were gone from sight. They had disappeared altogether. He guessed they must have taken a speedboat and found some way away from the cruise ship. Either way Malik was gone.
Yugi ran and fell to Kaiba's side. Kaiba clutched Roux possessively in his arms, trying not to let the tears spill. He bit down into his lip and hugged to Roux's frozen body for comfort, as he tried to cope with knowing that the one woman in the world that he loved was now gone.
Yugi reached forward to touch her cheek gently. Then he drew back and gasped. Her skin was cold as ice. He swallowed. "Is she-"
"Gone." Kaiba said, clenching his eyes closed and shaking his head, his tears falling into her golden hair and onto her marble skin, until they rolled down the apples of her cheeks and disappeared into her red lips.
Roux was gone. Kaiba couldn't stand to know it. He refused to believe it. Still holding her body he prayed to her mind. Even if her mind was dead, he prayed.
~ Roux, ~ he called to her in his mind, although he knew she could never hear him now, but he needed to let her know just how he felt, and to tell her spirit just how horrible he felt to let her die when he loved her more than the world.
~ There is something, so important that I needed to tell you. Before this whole incident, before I met you.I was a hard, selfish and cold person; there was something inside of me that was dead. ~
Kaiba swallowed, still feeling the coldness of her skin. He tried to smile as he looked down at her motionless face.
~ But I met you, and suddenly I didn't care about myself anymore, I didn't feel hard, or selfish, or cold. I felt warm, and comforted, and that night we first pronounced our love- I felt happy, truly happy, the happiest I've been in a very, very long time. What was dead inside of me, you brought it back to life. ~
Sighing he took her hand and began to rub her cold palm, like he believed it would bring her back to life, even though he knew it would. He took in a deep breath.
~ Now I know it wasn't the Millennium Rod Ishizu was talking about, when she gave me this mission, when she talked about the one thing that was missing in my life but would be returned. She was talking about love. She was talking about you. Please, come back to me. ~
Without realizing that Yugi was still there, he leaned down and kissed Roux softly on her red lips. "I love you." He murmured softly against her cold skin.
Yugi looked up when he heard Kaiba say this. He had never expected the CEO to ever say those words ever to anyone except his younger brother. Yugi didn't know what to think of this, and he hadn't thought of anything for a moment.
Suddenly, Yugi saw a piercing red light appear through her locks of blonde hair. Yugi blinked in surprise as it began to get brighter and brighter. Yugi tried to throw Kaiba back from her body. "Kaiba!" he shouted.
The CEO was going to snap at Yugi and tell him to leave him alone, but then he saw it too, the red beam. Slowly Kaiba backed away from Roux's body after lying her gently on her back on the deck floor. The light was coming from her ring. The Millennium Stone.
The light began to get brighter and brighter, until Kaiba and Yugi had backed up as far as they could go and held their arms on their foreheads to shadow their eyes from the great light. The light became more red, thicker and brighter, until it had consumed all of Roux's body. It pierced into the blackness of the sky, up to the moon.
When it's power had become the greatest; the beam had gone from blood red to a piercing white. And it seemed to have expanded greatly. When Kaiba blinked he was sure he had gone blind. He closed his eyes.
When both Yugi and Kaiba looked, the light was gone. Everything was back to normal. Kaiba rushed over to Roux's side to see what had happened.
When he was met with a rather friendly surprise.
With the colour rushing back into her cheeks and her lungs full of air, Roux's magnificent eyes opened and she let out a long, waited sigh through her red lips. She blinked several times, as if coming to life for the first time.
Kaiba was speechless. His jaw trembled as she looked up at him. Was he imagining this, or was she real? Was she really alive again?
Roux swallowed and looked at Kaiba. After awhile her red lips pulled into a smile. "And I love you, Seto Kaiba." She whispered to him delicately. "With all my heart."
Kaiba couldn't believe it. She was alive. She was alive! He threw himself down on her, and claimed her red lips in an instant, kissing her passionately, but not too hard as to shock her or scare her. She kissed him back as she entangled her hands in his hair, feeding from his kisses.
Yugi smiled from nearby, glad to see Roux alive, and even gladder to see Roux and Kaiba happy together. He thought for a moment, and remembered that she held the Millennium Stone. Whatever power it held, it was enough to save her life. But how? Yugi wasn't too sure.
Roux sighed in happiness into her lover's lips, so glad to be in his arms and to have him back. She didn't care about Malik anymore. All she cared about now was Kaiba. He was holding her to him, securely, and Roux didn't want to be let go.
In her mind she thanked her Millennium Stone. The one item in the world that had been a curse to her was now the very thing that had saved her life. She knew now that all she had to do to wield it's power was to practice. The Stone had finally accepted her, and now she had it's power.
And she thanked Kale in her mind. She knew now never to think twice before listening to her heart.
~*~
**** It's not over yet! ****
**** A/N: This could possibly be the most important chapter of the entire story. Sorry it took awhile to write. I hate writing duels! So confusing! ****
Chapter Thirty-Seven Duel of the Fates
Seto Kaiba bit into his lip. He tried his hardest not to let the tears that pinched at his eyes fall down over his pristine skin, as to expose his feelings. His heart seemed broken all at once. He found it in a way almost ironic; his heart was broken literally days after he discovered he had a heart.
Soon he would have to duel Roux. The duel that would secure their fates. If Kaiba lost the duel, he would die, and everything involved would go to Malik. This included Obelisk the Tormentor, as well as Roux. Kaiba's hand clenched furiously into a fist when he thought about that.
But if he won against Malik, as he was controlling Roux, she would be the one to die. Even if he attained Malik's Egyptian god card, and the Millennium rod, Kaiba would still have lost the only person in the world who gave his life meaning, other than his little brother.
He sat in the dining room with his deck, lying out each card carefully, trying to create a strategy, that wouldn't win him the duel, but rather get him out of this mess. If he called the police, Malik would kill Roux. If he tried to kill Malik himself, Malik's guards would kill Roux.
Kaiba shook his head. There had never been a spot more horrible than this. Usually in the past when he had a problem he was able to face it head-on and be rid of it somehow, but this didn't seem like one of those problems.
Either way one of them would die tonight. Kaiba had to accept this.
He couldn't bear to think of living his life from then on with Roux. He had waited for a long time to just tell her how he felt about her, how could he lose her after realizing how much she meant to him?
If he were to die, that wouldn't be as bad. He would die, and leave his brother and Roux alone in the world, but he knew they would look out for each other. There would be someone there to look after Mokuba, and Joey could always look after Roux, no matter how much Kaiba hated to think of it.
But he would die for love. What could be more glorious?
He tried to focus a little more on his dueling strategy, but after awhile he couldn't. The remaining cards he held in his hand slipped from his fingers and fell onto the table. Kaiba watched them, and then he himself collapsed onto the table, hiding his face in his arms. The tears fell from his azure eyes and he didn't try to stop them.
If he just gave Malik Obelisk the Tormentor.would that put an end to all this madness? Could he and Roux be allowed to go then?
Kaiba needed a miracle. What had he done all his life to deserve all this torture? Everything ever since his parents died had been cruel. What had he done to deserve everything that had happened to him? What had he done to deserve everything that was happening to him now?
The door opened, and then it closed. Someone walked into the room. Quickly wiping away tears from his cheeks with his thumb, Kaiba looked up softly. He half-expected it to be Malik, coming to tease him about the duel, but instead he found Yugi, looking very worried.
"Oh. It's only you Yugi." Kaiba said, sitting up and looking down at the cards on the table.
Yugi sighed softly. "Kaiba, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what's happening, and I'm sorry it had to end like this."
Kaiba scowled deeply and looked up at the unfaithful boy. "It's not the end yet Yugi! There has to be some way out of this! There's got to be something we can do." He shook his head. "I won't let it end like this." He sighed. "But what can I do?"
Yugi crossed his arms, and then he thought for a single moment. After awhile he cleared his throat. "There may be a way." He said softly.
Kaiba looked at the boy curiously. "What way is that, Yugi?"
The pharaoh swallowed, obviously thinking hard. Then he turned to Kaiba. "How far are you willing to go to save Roux and yourself from this mess?"
The CEO was slightly suspicious. "I'd give anything."
Yugi nodded and smiled softly. "Even the success of your newest invention?"
Kaiba didn't know what Yugi was talking about, unless he meant destroying the hologram disks while they were in duel play. Kaiba thought about that for a moment. If one of the disks weren't working, maybe it would alter the data on both disks. Maybe there was a chance.
"What if it doesn't work, Yugi?" Kaiba asked softly.
Yugi breathed in and sighed very softly. "Then, I don't know what to expect. But mark my words Kaiba, whatever choice you make, I will back you."
Kaiba smirked. He knew he needed Yugi's assurance and support and everything, but how far was he willing to let it go? Kaiba sighed again, and shook his head. What little hope there was left, Kaiba would need it all the way.
~*~
At ten o'clock, when the moon was out in full power, the cruise ship anchored out in the middle of the river, where they could see the spectacular city lights of downtown Domino City. On the front deck of the cruise ship stood two suits on each side of the deck, making sure that the players couldn't cheat. One suit stood on the side to give directions.
Malik was already standing on the deck at the side, while he watched Roux, his puppet, standing at the one side, stiff and blank, holding the hologram disk, as she waited for her opponent.
The Egyptian boy grinned fiendishly at his plan. No one could think of a more cruel way to win a duel. It was also the most horrible way to bring apart these two lovers, who loved each other so strongly. Malik chuckled, happy to see Seto Kaiba in so much pain.
He knew that if he could pull this off he would be rid of Seto Kaiba forever.
~ And speak of the Devil. ~ Malik thought as he looked over and saw both Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto coming onto the deck. He grinned wider when he saw the death-cold glare on Kaiba's face, telling the Egyptian boy that he hated him more than anything.
The suit at the side cleared his throat. "Positions please!" he called out.
Kaiba took his position, and Yugi came around and stood on the side by Malik, even though he would have nothing to do with the Egyptian.
"This duel is now in session!" the suit called out. "Please equip your disks!"
Kaiba took his deck from his jacket pocket and put it securely in the place where you were supposed to put the deck. He wondered in a moment whether Roux, or Malik as he controlled Roux, would he using his deck or hers. He was soon to find out.
"All right then Kaiba," came Malik's voice, but coming from Roux's red lips, which made Kaiba angry. "You may do the honors, since either way I'm going to win."
Kaiba scowled. "We'll see." He mumbled, and reached into his deck and pulled five cards from his desk. Fanning them out he observed them. He had drawn the Skull Red Bird, the Ogre of the Black Shadow, and the three magic cards Sogen, Monster Reborn, and the trap card Reverse Trap.
The CEO thought for a moment, and then he took his two monster cards, and inserted them in the correct places on the disk. "I summon Skull Red Bird in attack mode, and then I summon the Ogre of the Black Shadow in defense mode, and end my turn."
He watched his two monsters appear in front of him, and he took a deep breath in. He hoped his strategy would work, as it wasn't as planned out as he would have hoped. He had to hold onto his magic cards until later.
Roux, as controlled by Malik, quickly scanned the five cards that she held in her hands. Then a smile grew over her red lips; a smile of wickedness that Kaiba did not recognized nor liked. "I summon Hibikime in defense mode." She placed down a card, and the monster appeared on the field.
Kaiba recognized this card. She played it the day she was dueling Weevil. To his recall the kid had no trouble getting rid of it. And the Hibikime had lower defense points that his Skull Red Bird or his Ogre. The CEO cocked a suspicious eye at Malik on the sidelines. What was he up to?
"Then I place these two magic cards face down." The cards appeared face down as she set them in place. She then turned her eyes to Kaiba. "And end my turn."
Kaiba looked at the two magic cards for a moment. No doubt they would stop him from making an attack. Kaiba pulled two new cards from his deck and studied them. He pulled Battle-Ox, and Rogue Doll.
~ If I'm going to attempt to end this duel by destroying this disk, I'll have to make sure Malik doesn't suspect anything. ~ Kaiba thought to himself as he chose a card. ~ I'll make gentle attacks and when the duel's gone far enough I'll take action. ~
Kaiba cleared his throat. "I summon Battle-Ox in attack mode." He waited for the monster to appear. "And now Skull Red Bird, attack her Hibikime!" Kaiba swung his arm and pointed.
On the sidelines Malik cocked an eyebrow at Seto Kaiba as suspicion began to rise within him. Kaiba was up to something; why would he be attacking Roux so aggressively if he was in love with her?
Malik turned his eyes to Roux and re-entered her mind, taking control.
Roux laughed and snapped her fingers. "You forgot about my face down cards." She said happily.
The first card stood. "I unleash the Reliable Guardian, who will increase my monster's defense points by seven-hundred."
The Hibikime had 1700 defense points. Before Kaiba could call off the attack of his Skull Red Bird, it had already attacked. The attack failed and the bird returned. Kaiba gritted his teeth.
But Roux wasn't finished. "Then I release Sparks, which inflicts 200 points of direct damage to your life points!"
Kaiba's eyes widened as the Sparks card rose, and balls of flowing, hot flame came shooting from the card and towards Kaiba. He made fists and tried to maintain as the damage hit him, causing him to go backwards. He let out a gasp. He couldn't believe it, but he had really felt the flame and the damage that attack had caused.
His life points were now at 3800.
He struggled to his feet and dusted off his sleeves and awaited Roux's attack.
The girl grinned. "After your charade, I've decided to bring up another monster. So I summon Gearfried, the Iron Knight!" she put the card down and the monster appeared. "Now Gearfried attack his Skull Red Bird!" she pointed at Kaiba.
The Iron Knight destroyed Kaiba's Skull Red Bird, bringing down his life points from 3800 to 2250. Kaiba winced as he felt the impact of his card's destruction result in his lack of strength all of a sudden.
Roux looked pleased with herself. "And with that I end my turn."
Kaiba chewed on his lower lip. He couldn't just keep taking hits forever; he had to fight back to make sure Malik wouldn't be too suspicious. Firstly he discarded Sogen and Reverse Trap and sent them to the graveyard, and pulled two new cards.
His mind pondered. He drew Just Desserts, a trap card, and D. Human. His blue eyes fixed on Just Desserts. He saw his Ogre and Battle-Ox were still on the field, and for every monster summoned, if he used Just Desserts, it inflicted 500 points per monster to his opponent's life points.
"I summon D. Human." Kaiba began; laying down the card and watching the monster appear.
Malik grinned. ~ Seto Kaiba is foolish. Does he honestly think he can get by a turn without losing life points with a monster like that? ~
But Kaiba wasn't finished. "And then I summon Just Desserts, a trap card! For every monster I have on the field, 500 life points are taken! Go Just Desserts!"
It attacked, and for the three monsters Kaiba had on the field, it attacked Roux, and she lost 1500 life points. Her life points were now down to 2500.
Roux winced heavily at the harsh contact, and Kaiba almost first forward to help her, but he remembered that Malik was still in control of her. He tried not to move.
On the sidelines Malik smirked. "What a gentleman you are, Seto Kaiba." He taunted sarcastically, making Kaiba's blood boil. "Normally a man would run to the woman he loves if she was hurt."
Kaiba gave Malik a great look of warning. But he turned back to the duel.
Roux didn't look too pleased herself as she drew new cards and looked over them, again with the devilish smile. She chuckled heartily and looked up at Kaiba. "Now you're finished Kaiba. Perhaps you'll recognize this monster from my practice duel with Weevil."
Kaiba scowled, but then he saw what she was talking about. She laid down her card and then raised her arm. "I give you the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Kaiba looked up in horror as the immense dragon appeared on the field suddenly. He remembered that she had drawn this card with her duel with Weevil, and it had been the one thing to save her from losing.
Yami's eyes lit up in horror. ~ What, Joey's card? What is it still doing in Roux's deck? Is it possible Roux didn't return it to him? ~
Malik smirked. He knew that this duel was finished. Kaiba wouldn't be able to conjure up anything strong enough to take down what he had in store.
Roux grinned. "And then I add the magic card Dragon Treasure, which increases my dragon's attack points by 300."
The CEO shook his head. This was the exact same move she made in the practice duel against Weevil, and he hadn't beat her. He scowled. How was he going to get out of this one.
"And the first thing he shall do is take down your Battle-Ox! Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack!" she commanded.
The dragon wielded it's attack on the Battle-Ox, and in an instant it resulted to shards. Kaiba felt the pain strike him terribly suddenly and he let out a sharp cry as he felt several cuts going up and down his arms. He started to breathe heavily.
Yami watched in agony from the sidelines. Kaiba was in trouble, and somehow Malik was able to conjure up the exact same move Roux had that day with her practice duel with Weevil. How was it possible? Malik had to have been cheating.
Kaiba breathed in and out, looking down at his life points. 550. He shook his head. How could Malik have possibly beat him in a duel? How was this possible? Kaiba was the greatest duelist in the world, next to Yami. What could he do?
"I end my turn." Roux said with her hand on her hip. "You could use the time to breathe."
Swallowing tightly, Kaiba tried desperately to think of what to do. He looked at his cards in play and in his hand. He bit down on his lip and pulled a card. If this wasn't a good card, this could very well be the last move of his life.
Drawing the card he looked at it tentatively. Then a gasp escaped his lips.
He couldn't believe it. The card that could save him. His favourite, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Kaiba grinned, and he looked up. "This duel will soon be over!" he said. "I sacrifice Ogre of Black Shadow and D. Human in order to summon." he laid down his card. "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The immense dragon at 3000 attack points emerged, and it towered high. From the sidelines Yami smiled, and Malik was beginning to panic for a moment. That dragon could easily take down her Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"Now my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Kaiba commanded. "White Lightning Attack!"
The card in which Kaiba had used several times in order to save Roux from trouble was now about to cost her many life points. The dragon attacked the Red-Eyes, and the dragon disappeared. When the light from the lightning attack was gone, Kaiba looked up and saw that Roux had collapsed. He gasped to see that as she got up, she too had many bad injuries.
"Roux-" he breathed.
Her life points were minimal. Down to 200.
Kaiba bit his lip. It was now or never.
From the sidelines Malik smirked. "You truly are unbeatable, aren't you Seto Kaiba? No matter what anyone does, there's no way to bring you down! Only the pharaoh is able to find some way to psyche you out." He crossed his arms. "Evidently causing the death of the woman you love is not enough of a soft spot for you!"
That triggered it. Now Kaiba was angry.
"You're a coward, Malik, and two can play at that game!" Kaiba shouted angrily, and with ease he removed the disk from game play.
The Egyptian watched with what looked to be fascination. He blinked several times. "What are you doing?" he snarled.
Kaiba took the disk in both his hands, and let it go. Malik gasped when he realized what Kaiba was doing, and he reached out, screaming for him not to do it.
Once the disk was on the deck's floor, Kaiba looked down at it, and crushed it under the heel of his shoe. He watched as his creation, which had proven to be successful and very well designed was shattered beneath his own feet. He watched as the bits and pieces of the gadget crunched underneath him, and he took in a deep breath.
The hologram monsters were gone, both from his and Roux's hologram disk. Yugi grinned and nodded. "Yes!" he said.
Malik shook with fury as well as concern. Kaiba had crushed the hologram disk, and now neither of them would suffer as he planned. How could he have done this? Malik never would have expected Kaiba to destroy his own creation. That had been the one thing he had overlooked in this plan.
Furiously, Malik shot his eye towards Roux, and demanded his control over her to be gone.
The blonde let out a gasp, and she almost fell forward. She put a hand to her chest and blinked. She looked up and saw Yugi and Malik on the sidelines. "What.what happened?" she murmured softly.
Kaiba heard Roux's voice and instantly he looked up. He saw Roux there, the regular Roux, standing there looking dazed and confused. He broke out into a grateful cry and started to run for her. "Roux!" he called out.
Roux saw him at the call of her name, and she seemed to have recognized him. She grinned and started to run for him, her arms out. "Seto!" she cried.
But before the lovers could even touch each other, Malik had other plans. He angrily gripped his Millennium Rod, withdrew it, and commanded its power. He ordered it in his mind to take effect and attack.
A beam came from the Sennen eye on the Millennium Rod, and it hit Roux directly in the center of her chest. A sharp gasp of pain escaped her red lips and she instantly began to fall.
Kaiba, realizing that Roux had just been attacked, gasped in horror. He thought he had just saved Roux, but now he saw her eyes become hollow, and she started to fall forward, unable to use her own feet anymore. Kaiba leapt forward and caught her fallen body before it could hit the ground.
Cradling Roux in his arms, Kaiba shook his head, unable to accept what had just happened. Tears welling in his eyes, he fell to his knees, with Roux still in his arms. He continued to shake his head. "Roux? No, no Roux, don't do this. Not now. Don't do this to me now!"
Yugi ran up to them, after he had turned around to face Malik and challenge him in a duel of Millennium items. But he found to his great surprise that Malik, and his henchmen, were gone from sight. They had disappeared altogether. He guessed they must have taken a speedboat and found some way away from the cruise ship. Either way Malik was gone.
Yugi ran and fell to Kaiba's side. Kaiba clutched Roux possessively in his arms, trying not to let the tears spill. He bit down into his lip and hugged to Roux's frozen body for comfort, as he tried to cope with knowing that the one woman in the world that he loved was now gone.
Yugi reached forward to touch her cheek gently. Then he drew back and gasped. Her skin was cold as ice. He swallowed. "Is she-"
"Gone." Kaiba said, clenching his eyes closed and shaking his head, his tears falling into her golden hair and onto her marble skin, until they rolled down the apples of her cheeks and disappeared into her red lips.
Roux was gone. Kaiba couldn't stand to know it. He refused to believe it. Still holding her body he prayed to her mind. Even if her mind was dead, he prayed.
~ Roux, ~ he called to her in his mind, although he knew she could never hear him now, but he needed to let her know just how he felt, and to tell her spirit just how horrible he felt to let her die when he loved her more than the world.
~ There is something, so important that I needed to tell you. Before this whole incident, before I met you.I was a hard, selfish and cold person; there was something inside of me that was dead. ~
Kaiba swallowed, still feeling the coldness of her skin. He tried to smile as he looked down at her motionless face.
~ But I met you, and suddenly I didn't care about myself anymore, I didn't feel hard, or selfish, or cold. I felt warm, and comforted, and that night we first pronounced our love- I felt happy, truly happy, the happiest I've been in a very, very long time. What was dead inside of me, you brought it back to life. ~
Sighing he took her hand and began to rub her cold palm, like he believed it would bring her back to life, even though he knew it would. He took in a deep breath.
~ Now I know it wasn't the Millennium Rod Ishizu was talking about, when she gave me this mission, when she talked about the one thing that was missing in my life but would be returned. She was talking about love. She was talking about you. Please, come back to me. ~
Without realizing that Yugi was still there, he leaned down and kissed Roux softly on her red lips. "I love you." He murmured softly against her cold skin.
Yugi looked up when he heard Kaiba say this. He had never expected the CEO to ever say those words ever to anyone except his younger brother. Yugi didn't know what to think of this, and he hadn't thought of anything for a moment.
Suddenly, Yugi saw a piercing red light appear through her locks of blonde hair. Yugi blinked in surprise as it began to get brighter and brighter. Yugi tried to throw Kaiba back from her body. "Kaiba!" he shouted.
The CEO was going to snap at Yugi and tell him to leave him alone, but then he saw it too, the red beam. Slowly Kaiba backed away from Roux's body after lying her gently on her back on the deck floor. The light was coming from her ring. The Millennium Stone.
The light began to get brighter and brighter, until Kaiba and Yugi had backed up as far as they could go and held their arms on their foreheads to shadow their eyes from the great light. The light became more red, thicker and brighter, until it had consumed all of Roux's body. It pierced into the blackness of the sky, up to the moon.
When it's power had become the greatest; the beam had gone from blood red to a piercing white. And it seemed to have expanded greatly. When Kaiba blinked he was sure he had gone blind. He closed his eyes.
When both Yugi and Kaiba looked, the light was gone. Everything was back to normal. Kaiba rushed over to Roux's side to see what had happened.
When he was met with a rather friendly surprise.
With the colour rushing back into her cheeks and her lungs full of air, Roux's magnificent eyes opened and she let out a long, waited sigh through her red lips. She blinked several times, as if coming to life for the first time.
Kaiba was speechless. His jaw trembled as she looked up at him. Was he imagining this, or was she real? Was she really alive again?
Roux swallowed and looked at Kaiba. After awhile her red lips pulled into a smile. "And I love you, Seto Kaiba." She whispered to him delicately. "With all my heart."
Kaiba couldn't believe it. She was alive. She was alive! He threw himself down on her, and claimed her red lips in an instant, kissing her passionately, but not too hard as to shock her or scare her. She kissed him back as she entangled her hands in his hair, feeding from his kisses.
Yugi smiled from nearby, glad to see Roux alive, and even gladder to see Roux and Kaiba happy together. He thought for a moment, and remembered that she held the Millennium Stone. Whatever power it held, it was enough to save her life. But how? Yugi wasn't too sure.
Roux sighed in happiness into her lover's lips, so glad to be in his arms and to have him back. She didn't care about Malik anymore. All she cared about now was Kaiba. He was holding her to him, securely, and Roux didn't want to be let go.
In her mind she thanked her Millennium Stone. The one item in the world that had been a curse to her was now the very thing that had saved her life. She knew now that all she had to do to wield it's power was to practice. The Stone had finally accepted her, and now she had it's power.
And she thanked Kale in her mind. She knew now never to think twice before listening to her heart.
~*~
**** It's not over yet! ****