"I'm not going to be run ragged and put up for all to use. I'll play the part of Yuugi's monster if I need to but Mai is in her own. She's still an innocent in this, if she can get out safely before anything bad happens then good. But if I'm there with her they'll see her as a threat. So no. Besides, I don't think she'd want me anyway, not her type," Tyldak grunted.
"Ok, ok! Just Yuugi then."
"And I need to know ahead of time if I'm needed. Putting half my essence into card form for a duel isn't easy. We do a true Shadow Game and my summon will be no sweat. But if it's going to be a card game then I'm going to have to be divided until needed. And that means I can't protect anyone if I'm in a deck."
"Well why you tellin' me all this? I'm not even in the finals," Jou sighed.
"I want to make sure we're perfectly clear on the conditions."
"I agree with them," Yuugi shrugged.
"I know you are, I want to be sure mop-head isn't going to push me in a million directions since he's just on the sidelines," the bat said with a glare. He went back to stuffing his face once the message went through.
"It's about all I can do! Besides tangle with any lackeys anyone has."
"Your support is appreciated," Yuugi said with a nod. "I just wish it wasn't needed, that none of this had started to begin with..."
"But it did, an we're all beside you. Now come on, you finish eating and we're gonna swing by and get the others. Make sure everyone's ready for however long this may be," Jou waved. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head before he looked to the others.
"And have it be the last time I try and talk others out of coming," Yuugi replied softly.
"Ain't gonna happen. We're there with you till the end, bud. That's the way its always gonna be."
"No one knows of you yet, you've stayed hidden. So we need to arrive separately, let them think you're just some normal duelist."
"Yes sir," Rishid bowed. "Perhaps I should take my leave now to lessen the chances of us being seen together."
"Go ahead, I trust you'll be there at the start. I don't doubt my abilities, but having help couldn't hurt," Malik shrugged. Rishid took a bow before he turned to gather what he wished to take with him. Malik raised a brow when three figures in robes walked past the room he was in. He walked to the door and cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, Master," Ukori said as she turned to face him. Of the trio she was the only without the hood up.
"And what do you think you are doing? Who's with you?" he had an idea who one was, the figure was much too short to not know. He was right, the little bee monster turned around and lowered his hood, Rae too was there.
"I'm taking them into the city for a bit, before the tournament. You plan to use them correct? I wanted them to see how others duel so they can get an idea of what they would know what's in store for them."
"I see, and what makes you think I am going t use them?"
"Well, I just thought you were proud of your monsters and wanted to show them off. I'm sorry if I offended you," she bowed.
"Just go," Malik snorted. "You have two hours before I send someone else after everyone. And both monsters had better be with you. You do not want to anger me."
"No, I don't," the girl said with her eyes still downcast.
"Go then," he said with a wave. Ukori nodded and ushered the other two down the hall.
"Keep your hoods up while we're out. I'll have mine down, they'll think we're just goths or role players so you won't get hassled too much."
"I think we will, the other day I met someone and chased them from the boat. She wasn't too friendly when she figured I was a role player," Rae said. She adjusted her hood again and made sure her features could stay hidden well enough. Cricket had his hood down so low he was forced to tilt his head back some to see anything.
"Ignore them, they're just idiots," Ukori shrugged. She lead the two down the plank and onto the docks. The trio hesitated for a moment at the door of the enclosed dock before Ukori pushed forward. "Come on," she prompted. "I'll show you some places near here that you might like."
The trio moved swiftly; despite the previous day being slow, today was an explosion of life. The last minuet panic to get into the finals had set in and duelists were out in force. So many duels were taking place and all relatively close to one another. Anyone walking past was asked at least ten times if they were a duelist, disk present or not.
"Come on, the quicker we move, the sooner we can get away from this mess," Ukori sighed.
Cricket latched onto Rae's robe so he wouldn't become lost. "So many people!" he said with a gasp. "Too many, I don't think I like the city after all."
"Shh, it's ok," Rae said as she reached for his hand. "We get this one thing you wanted and we can go back."
Cricket's face lit up at the mention of that, he'd really wanted to come out here for that little quest and Ukori had been willing to take them both.
"I hope all this mess hasn't made street vendors move," Ukori said as she fell back in step with the other two. "Because we wouldn't have enough time to go deeper into the city. Not if cabs are being forced to take alternate routes because of the duels."
"Look! I see em!" the boy said happily. He tugged on Rae's hand then Ukori's as he rushed towards his goal.
"I figured you might want them back," Rishid said as he left the room. Seraph eventually moved from where she had been standing behind her wings to pick up what he placed on the nightstand. Her clothing, she sighed deeply and pressed her back to the door as she dressed. She was beginning to wonder if she'd be allowed to wear anything or not. Her staff had been stolen, she couldn't muster enough magic to summon it to her side. Malik must have found a means to lock items away from individuals such as herself, she scowled deeply as she sat back down on her bed. Her mind was cleared and she still couldn't reach Bakura mentally or hear him. Did Malik also know how to sever that bond? Or had his claim of her cut it only to be replaced with a bond linked to him? Morbid curiosity made her reach out...
"Master?" the demoness asked softly.
"I've business to attend to. What do you want?" Malik snapped back. His tone with her had taken her by surprise, but it was a welcome change.
"I was only curious on the whereabouts of my room mate. She is not on board, I awoke to fine her gone."
"You bothered me for that?" he questioned. "If you're in need of company that bad I suppose I could stand to have you by my side."
Seraph cringed and kicked herself, couldn't she have come up with something better to say that what she had? Now he was implying that he wanted her there with him. "If you are busy I do not need to be there. I would not want to keep you from your work."
"You may be part of what I need to focus on."
Again the demoness cringed a bit.
"I felt that," Malik said in a slightly amused tone. She had forgotten to dull the link between conversation, if left fully open both sides could feel what the other did. "Let me guess, the real reason you contacted me was because you couldn't get the tomb raider and needed to see if there was a problem?"
"Yes," Seraph snarled as she worked up enough courage to once again be defiant.
"I fixed that, your range has been reduced for that reason. Aren't you just loving all these nifty little things I've come across to keep everyone obedient?"
"You mean enslaved," she growled back before the link was closed. She made a sour face and absently dusted herself off as if she had become unclean just by talking to him. Seraph had plans to constantly test her leash, to see what it would allow. She wasn't going to simply take this punishment so long as she wasn't sedated.
Naki groaned as she stumbled over to the answering machine. It was near two pm and she had just woke up. She played the message back while she rooted through the kitchen for something to eat. A blank look was given at the machine once Cloey's message about the finals had ended.
"Ugh, that's today?" she sighed. She wanted to go, to see just how good Cloey's sister was. But she didn't feel like it, she wasn't sick or anything but rather felt like staying home. Every time she went out she seemed to black out and miss half the day. The red head settled on a sandwich and flopped down in front of the TV to watch, she flipped through stations before just settling for news. There was a duel in the background, so she figured it may be of some interest.
"--have been out in force today. There are literally blocks at a time shut down by these duels, in turn traffic is being forced to take alternate routes. With the finals in only a few hours, everyone is trying one last time to gain entry. Mr. Kaiba has said there are a set number of slots, but he wouldn't say anything further when we inquired. Also he would not disclose the location of it to us. There are doubts that this will even be made public and is happening in a more intimate setting," the reporter said.
"Sounds about right," Naki yawned. "So it doesn't matter if I want to go or not, he's not having them public. Guess it's a day to myself," she shrugged before she took a bite of her sandwich.
"No one can see what I got, so we gotta be careful!" Cricket reminded the other two. He took his robe off once they were near the boat and wrapped it carefully around his package.
"We will," Rae nodded.
"Just did make it," Ukori sighed. "We had better make sure he knows we're back."
"Lemme go put this away first," the little bee said. He ran up the boarding ramp and into the boat's interior. Ukori and Rae followed, they met Malik on his way up and he simply ignored them. It wasn't until they were almost out of earshot did he say anything about them having returned just in time.
"Guess that means I don't have to put it up?" Cricket asked once the girls were near him.
"Nope, can do what you want to do with it then," Rae smiled.
"Kay!" the boy grinned as he ran down the main hall.
The knock came again, she wanted to simply ignore it. And if not for the voice she heard when the knocker began to get impatient, she would have. Seraph rose to her feet and opened the door, she saw nothing until she looked down. A child monster half her size stood before her. He held a bundle behind his back and smiled up at her.
"I a friend of Rae. She told me about you and I got you this!" he said before he handed her the bundle carefully. She looked at the robe he had wrapped it in then him. "Open!" he urged.
Carefully she did just that. When all was removed she smiled ever so slightly at the child. "Thank you," she said simply before she raised the flowers to smell. "They are very nice."
"Picked em out myself! Thought you could use them, always made momma happy..." he said with a hint of sadness.
"Did you go alone? You really should not, the people are not friendly..." it wasn't the first thing she wanted to say, but it was nicer than telling him to go away.
"No, we took him," Rae said as she and Ukori stepped in front of the door. "But it was his idea."
"Thank you as well, but you did not have to." Really, they didn't have to, she hated feeling as if she was getting special treatment.
"But we wanted to. And we're all going to be out of her soon enough. I can't see Malik winning this thing, we'll most likely be offered as prizes anyway. So one way or another we're going to be freed. I just know it," Rae replied.
"Don't tell the other servants but I'm going to speak to him later. See if I can get him to use you all as a bargaining chip. If he accepts then when he's beat you'll be free. No matter who wins, they can't be as bad as Malik," Ukori said. She didn't know why she wanted to help, if the monsters left so did her only company. But they weren't happy here and she didn't want to feel as if it was her fault they had to stay.
"And if they are worse?" Seraph asked.
"If you'd rather not try, then fine. I don't have to put a word in with Master Malik," Ukori replied harshly.
"I did not mean I had no interest, I merely wanted others aware. Believe me, I want out of here badly. But it has to be the right time to prevent things from getting worse..."
"That part is up to you. I can only give him the idea, you have to pull it off," Ukori replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm just saying, you're the big shot millionaire and this place is unfinished. What gives?" Mai asked as she, Cloey and Seto entered a half-build stadium.
"You'll see soon enough," the CEO promised. "We need everyone here first. And do hold onto those ID cards I gave you in the limo. You're going to need them."
"Looks like a credit card to me," Cloey said as she turned the chunk of plastic over in her hands.
"It's a key card, it lets you get into restricted areas so yeah, as Seto said hold onto it," Mokuba replied.
"Restricted areas?" Mai questioned.
"Just in case security messes up and we have unwanted guests. They'll be rooted out easily if they can't show one of those," Seto glanced back to the gateway he and the others had just passed through moments ago. Yuugi and his crew had arrived with none looking too sociable.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask most of you to leave. Only one of you holds a disk so only one of you may enter," a guard said once he had stopped them.
"Like hell we're turning back! We're here to support Yuug!" Jounouchi snapped.
"But if he's the only duelist, the rest of you shouldn't even be here!" the guard insisted.
"Stand down," Seto called from behind. He approached the group and crossed his arms over his chest. "So the whole lot of you wants in?" he asked. His eyes ran over the group and he counted four extra faces. "Hmm, so long as no one else brings their own posse I think I can handle them." The CEO dug through his coat pocket before he handed each of the non-entrants a card. "Those grant you access to certain areas. Lose them and lose the ability to move freely." He looked back to the guard and nodded, the guard asked to see Yuugi's locators then handed him a card of his own. His had a room number stamped on the back when the others were just blank. "That card," he said to Yuugi, "is the key to your room as well as your number. You are the third to arrive thus your number is three."
Yuugi looked past Seto to where Mai and her sister were talking to Mokuba. He was hoping Mai hadn't sided with Seto, he really had hoped to have her help.
"As soon as the other finalists arrive we can begin to get you settled in."
"Wait just a moment, Moneybags," Jou prompted. "This is it? This half built stadium."
"It was where the map lead you to, correct? And I am here."
"So this is why you weren't going to let anyone come to view it. What do you have planed?" Anzu demanded. She pushed her way past the others and stood before Seto with a glare.
"A game, not a show to entertain," he said simply.
"Just a game? I was under the impression it was more than a game," Honda snorted.
"I've come into it thinking of it as a game. What have you come here expecting?" Seto questioned in return.
Argh, ok so I've been having updates daily since I first posted. I'm lacking time and inspiration to get much else done so I may or may not be keeping my normal routine. That's also why this part you know, sucked so much.