THE PARTING OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Twelve: Captive Versus Avenger
After Emrys signed all the necessary papers for her premature release, Doctor Hanahan placed a sling to secure her sprained left arm.
As Emrys and Jonouchi left the nurses' station, the blonde duelist looked for Mokuba and spotted the latter sitting on the sofa a few feet behind them.
The boy gazed upward once his two companions approached him. "The chauffeur will be picking us up."
"So has Yugi located Kaiba?"
While shaking his head, the raven-haired boy replied to Jonouchi, "He still has to find Ni-sama."
Recalling something important, the blonde teen diverted his focus to Emrys. "Do you have stuff left behind in your room?"
A tightlipped Emrys shrugged her shoulders.
"Why don't we go back in the room and check? You can stay here until we come back."
Emrys frowned her disagreement. "I'd like to stick with you two."
Emrys' companions looked at each other and relented. As the three walked back towards her room, Jonouchi smiled as he gazed at Mokuba with proud awe. "You really clobbered those two back there. Where did you learn how to do that?"
With a big smile, the boy replied, "Ni-sama taught me. Lately, he's been teaching me advanced moves after that recent incident at Kaiba-Land."
Jonouchi and Emrys inquisitively stared at the boy.
Mokuba blushed, held her right hand, and looked into Emrys' eyes. "That's the time we first met. Out of the group, I was most probably the first one you met." He then gave them a play-by-play detail of the incident. By the time he was finished telling the story, they all entered the hospital room with light grins on their faces.
Chestnut brown eyes widened as their owner gazed at Emrys and asked, "You know how to fight, too?"
Emrys gave Jonouchi a blank stare.
Just realizing that Emrys could not give him a response, an embarrassed Jonouchi rubbed his nape. "I'm sorry..."
Emrys murmured, "It's okay. I wish I remembered it, too."
"You will. Maybe not now, but soon," the younger Kaiba interjected as he tightened his grip on Emrys' hand.
Jonouchi asked Mokuba as he checked the nightstand drawers for Emrys' leftover items, "What did Yugi tell you?"
"He wants us to return to the loft and wait for them."
The blond teen deeply sighed, greatly relieved that the boy relented to his advice. "That's much better than going after them."
Slate blue eyes lit up as their young owner remarked, "I know that look in your eye. You want to follow them, too...don't you?"
A tightlipped Jonouchi responded, "I do, but I promised to keep you two safe. I have no intentions of breaking my word again."
Mokuba searched the narrow closet. He found a small canvas bag which he confirmed upon inspection was Emrys'.
Meanwhile, Emrys sat down and spotted the dagger that Jonouchi kicked away from Detective Garson.
Seeing that Emrys' sights were concentrated on a certain spot under her bed, the brown-eyed teen followed her gaze. Realizing what the item was, he then picked up the dagger.
Intently looking at the weapon, Emrys asked Jonouchi, "May I see it?"
As soon as Jonouchi presented the dagger to her, Emrys examined the item. Another memory jogged for her. She had seen its design before. She vividly saw in her little snippets of memory its menacing glint.
Observing Emrys while she scrutinized the dagger, Jonouchi noticed this weird fascination in her eyes as she saw the blade's evil glint. The sight further rattled him.
Everyone's concentration was broken as someone knocked on the door. The chauffeur cleared his throat and then said, "Master Kaiba, I'm ready to take you all home."
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Yoshiko brought Kaiba within the confines of the Shadow Realm.
The darkness crept until the entire cell was enveloped in darkness, leaving the two duelists to face off against each other.
The other Yugi's amethyst eyes then lit with hope as he thought, "Of course! He reached out to me at Duelist Kingdom when I battled against his doppelganger. I reached out to Mai when she dueled against Malik. I can establish a link with him. It's worth the shot..."
The other Yugi then shut his eyes and harnessed the powers from the Millennium Puzzle. Once the Puzzle's magical energies flowed through his body, he opened his eyes.
Kaiba turned around and then his sapphire eyes widened in amazement. "Yugi! How?"
Yoshiko pondered in anger, "So the Pharaoh's here, too. I should've known."
Yoshiko now turned to her opponent and sneered, "Are you ready to lose your soul, Kaiba Seto? We play according to your Battle City rules. We each start with 4000 life points. The first one whose overall life points reaches zero loses this duel." She then snapped her fingers, causing a duel tray to materialize in her arm.
Kaiba was startled as a duel tray also appeared in his left arm. He then drew out his deck from the deck holder and placed it in the contraption.
Yoshiko drew six cards, marking the beginning of the duel and her turn. "I place a card face down. I activate Tremendous Fire!"
Tremendous Fire
Normal Magic Card
Inflict 1000 direct damage to your opponent's Life Points, and inflict 500 direct damage to your own Life Points.
Multiple pyrotechnic creatures emerged from the void. Each sprite-like entity hurled a series of fireballs towards Kaiba until his life points were reduced by 1000. As to Yoshiko, 500 life points were reduced from her as half of the fireballs hit her.
While the sinister woman was unfazed from the direct attack, the azure-eyed duelist gritted his teeth as he reeled in pain.
Sardonically laughing, she said, "That's nothing, Kaiba. More will come your way. I activate Ookazi!"
Ookazi
Normal Magic Card
Inflict 800 direct damage to your opponent's Life Points.
Bright yellow and orange fireballs materialized from above and struck Kaiba's body. Even though he already fell on his knees, the fireballs continued striking him until 800 points were reduced from his overall life points.
With evil delight, Yoshiko mocked the CEO as he grimaced in pain. "Where's your blatant arrogance now? Just to show you my generosity, I give you one more for good measure. Activate Ookazi!"
Just after Kaiba barely stood up, another series of yellow and orange fireballs appeared from the sky. The fireballs did the same damage that the previous set inflicted him. Another 800 were reduced from his overall life points.
This time, the towering duelist fell face down. All of his muscles convulsed from the combined torture and drain as he fought to remain conscious.
Satisfied to see her opponent writhing and suffering, Yoshiko declared, "I place one monster face down and end my turn." At the end of her turn, Yoshiko reduced Kaiba's life points to a mere 1400. Her life points, due to Tremendous Fire's effect, were reduced to 3500.
The other Yugi grimaced as Kaiba suffered one direct attack after another.
The cloaked woman glowered at the other Yugi. "Stop preventing the inevitable, Pharaoh! Kaiba will lose the duel and his soul. If you don't sever your ties now, you will forfeit your soul to me as well!"
"Kaiba will defeat you, Yoshiko! He has the heart of a true duelist, and I believe in him!" the young man with the tri-colored mane spat as he held his pain-ridden chest.
Yoshiko scathingly hissed, "Look at him, Pharaoh! He's kneeling and reeling like the coward that he truly is! If you're placing all your faith on a disgraceful weakling, then so be it. You have just damned your soul!"
End of Chapter Twelve
About Yoshiko
If you're wondering who Yoshiko is, she is the stage manager, personal assistant, and Emrys' long-time friend. She appears in Chapters 6 and 7 of The Encounter of Lost Souls (entitled The Prelude and The Night to Remember respectively).
Her primary mission is to keep Emrys - the crest-wielder - close to her, and has been involved with the sinister group before knowing and befriending Emrys. Just like her father, Yoshiko is bent to get power - even in the cruelest of ways.
But since fate has a way of intertwining things, she includes revenge against Kaiba and the other Yugi in her agenda after her father dies.
Kaiba, through the course of making arrangements for Alexa's concert at Kaiba Corporation's Domino Arena, meets and deals with Yoshiko. And the other Yugi meets Yoshiko for the first time in Chapter 6.
Author's Note
Although this story arc stands independently from The Encounter of Lost Souls and There Will Come Soft Rain, the three stories are inter-connected. This fact will also apply to most of the subsequent Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction stories that I will post in the future.
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the property copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. This fan fiction, as well as the original characters, is the author's property.
Enjoy reading!
PJ Zatken