A Shout-Out From the Authors: Here we have a rare occasion in which the authors ACTUALLY RESPOND to their reviews! Due to the fact that we now have over 100, we thought this was reason for something new!
To "omegadramon": You no speak English good none. Please proof-read before you send us your "Ideals".
To "Link007": Yes, we have seen the eppy where Ishizu gave Yugi the Necklace. We dunno if he gave it back, but this our story, so we're using our artistic license.
To "Behold The Void", "DBZ Fanfiction Queen", "Peace Writer", "unknown reviewer", "YamiBakuraChan": Thanks so much for your kind words.
To "LoneWolf16": (And this goes to a couple other people too, I think) The Sword is a powerful Item...much more powerful than the Necklace could ever hope to be. Let's be clear about this - it couldn't even stop Kaiba, when he had no magic on his side - so how powerful could it be??
To "HellDragon" and "SulliMike23": First...what's wrong with teen romance?? Teen-angsty-romance stuff provides the much needed stress-relief in this story...otherwise it would just get too heavy and nobody would be able to get off the ground from the weight of it to review and tell us that it was too heavy... Look forward to those pics though, if you can get 'em scanned, HD. Next, Odion had such a tiny part to begin with, why must he stir up such fuss? How would you feel if someone (who you knew was once working a major psycho) broke into your home and tried to steal the manifestation of all the evil you have ever known?? Wouldn't you be a little high-strung, to say the least?? We worked hard trying to get Odion to feel right...I'm sorry if your standards are so high...
To "Time Mage": Yours got a little long, so we e-mailed it to you.
To "sdrive": You have lots of good points, but they get buried under all the nonsense with your "yami". Why turn the review into a place for "him" to perform? Your ideas would be understood much easier without "him".
To "AG The Master": As we have said before, we will be accepting NO addition OCs in this story. We have plenty of our own already. (And boy, are they hard to keep track of).
Thank you all for your reviews, in general! Now - enjoy the new chapter!!
Chapter 9
"The Second Duel: Stakes"
The incessant beeping of his $250 watch made Seto Kaiba vaguely aware that it was 1:00 in the morning, but it really made little difference to the boy billionaire. It was Monday night, as apparent by the blackness outside of his study window. She had officially been gone for over 48 hours now. Somehow, he had expected her to come crawling back to him by now, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking.
He let himself slide further down in the leather chair, so low that his chin rested on his chest, letting his depression roll in waves over him. He couldn't really figure out why this was getting to him – what ever happened to 'emotions get in the way of survival'? He closed his eyes and without intending it, brought her face into his mind. The smile she'd given him back in the Al Karnak Hospital…is just came so naturally to her, even after everything she'd been through. How was it possible for someone who had crossed the line and returned to have retained that?
He was jolted out of his musings as his chair suddenly swerved under him, spinning so quickly that he was thrown to the floor before he could even try to prevent it. Rubbing the back of his now-sore neck, he looked up to see his kid brother standing over him. "What's the big idea, Mokuba?" he asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you asleep?"
"You haven't moved from that chair for hours, Seto!" the younger Kaiba brother told him angrily, "You even took the day off from work! You never do that! I know you like Miss Vitani as much as I do, so why are you just sitting there?" Mokuba seemed to be building up steam in his rant, so many unspoken emotions bubbling up to the surface.
"What do you expect me to do?" Kaiba replied, dully picking himself up and settling back down in his chair, which was now facing his brother, "Go dashing off like an idiot trying to find her? There's a million places she could've gone…Besides, do you really think she wants to be found?" He turned his eyes to the floor, the heaviness of his heart weighing in once again, "We're better off without her…" he lied.
"No we aren't! We both liked her a lot and you know it Seto!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, throwing it at his brother, "And I'm sick of your moping around here like you don't care! I know you have feelings big brother; you're only human like the rest of us!" He pulled out another little box and set it down on the coffee table several feet away, "I challenge you to a duel, Seto! If I win, you have to find Miss Vitani!"
Seto picked up the box in his lap and opened it. My dueling deck…I haven't looked at this thing since Egypt… He smiled slightly, "You know you can't beat me, Mokuba," he said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Believe what you want to, Seto," Mokuba said, removing his deck as well and shuffling it quickly, "But I've been practicing."
"Fine…" Seto said, sliding his deck out of its box and crossing over to the table, sitting down on the floor opposite his brother. Anything to get my mind off of her… He drew his opening five cards (Blue-Eyes White Dragon, White Dragon Ritual, Dragon's Rage, Vorse Raider, Virus Cannon, Giant Orc) and said, "You can go first."
"Battle City Rules, right?"
Kaiba nodded. Mokuba can't possibly believe he can beat me, can he? He's never been much of a duelist, really.
"Good," Mokuba placed his deck down on the finely polished, low set table and drew his six cards (Messenger of Peace, Servant of Catabolism, Drop Off, Adhesion Trap Hole, Terraforming, Destroyer Golem). He placed several of his cards down on the table, "I play these two cards face-down (Adhesion Trap Hole/ Drop Off) and summon Destroyer Golem in attack mode (1500/1000)!"
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "You start with a monster that common? This duel'll be over all too quickly." He drew his first card (Ceasefire). "I'll –"
"Hold on, Seto!" Mokuba raised a hand to stop his big brother from playing cards, "I activate my trap card: Drop Off!" he flipped up the shiny, purple card of a hand releasing its grip on a sword, "This card makes you automatically send whatever card you drew to the card graveyard!"
Kaiba set the card in front of his deck, the first in his graveyard, frowning. That was something he hadn't been expecting. Maybe this would be more interesting than he'd first thought. "Nice move," he said, pulling on of his cards out of his hand, "Now I'll play Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode."
"Not dueling in six months must have taken a toll, Seto," Mokuba told his brother matter-of-factly, "You've set off my other trap: The Adhesion Trap Hole!" On this card was a picture of a monster dissolving in a deep pool of acid, "It reduces the attack power of one of your monsters in half, when you summon it to the field. That'll reduce your monster's power down to just 950 attack points." Mokuba sent his second trap to his graveyard, leaving just his monster card in front of him.
Kaiba was speechless for a moment, then smirked. "Not bad…you might actually make this a real challenge. Your move."
"Thanks," he pulled the top card off of his slippery deck (Shift), "I'll set one card face-down (Shift) and summon Servant of Catabolism in attack mode (700/500)!" Mokuba put another card down next to his first monster, then pointed at Kaiba's Vorse Raider, "Now my Destroyer Golem will attack your Vorse Raider, which let's my Servant of Catabolism attack directly!"
Seto moved his monster into the graveyard and did some quick mental calculations, then pulled out a pen from one of his many pockets and wrote several numbers on the piece of paper Mokuba had set up for the game. His fine manuscript seemed out of place under Mokuba's jerky, angled words spelling out "Seto" and "Moki". Seto: 2750 – Mokuba: 4000.
"Finished?" he asked. Mokuba nodded, and Seto slipped the next card off of his deck (Luster Dragon #2), "I'll set these cards face-down (Dragon's Rage/Virus Cannon) and summon Luster Dragon #2 (1900/1600) in attack mode! And then I'll use him to attack your pathetic Servant!"
"I'll use my trap card, Shift, to make your monster attack Destroyer Golem instead, so I'll only lose 400 life points." Mokuba placed both of his used cards in the graveyard and Seto merely inclined his head quickly, to acknowledge the change in his battle step. Seto: 2750 – Mokuba: 3600.
"Let's see here… draw one card to start," the littler Kaiba said, thinking out loud (Monster Reborn) Maybe that'll help later… "I'll play Terraforming, to search my deck for a field magic card and place it in my hand."
"Not quite, little brother," Kaiba said, flipping up one of his face-down cards, "I'll activate Virus Cannon, which allows me to remove ten magic cards from your deck." Seto searched his brother's deck, eyes widening ever so slightly now and again as he saw some of the cards his brother had acquired. At last he finished and placed Mokuba's considerably thinner deck back down in its place, "That should do. And I've removed all three of your field cards, so Terraforming is now a wasted card."
"Not a big loss," Mokuba shrugged, "Though I'm not thrilled about losing those other magic cards."
"Yeah, not having 'Raigeki' or 'Dark Hole' could hurt just about any duelist," Seto said casually, "Where in the world did you get cards like that?"
"What do you think I do when I stay home 'sick' from school?" Mokuba asked, "You were the one who gave me my own credit card, remember?"
'You really are a 'Kaiba', aren't you?" Seto asked him, a grin spreading on his face.
"You could say that," Mokuba said, scanning his hand, "I'll just play my magic card Messenger of Peace from my hand, and attack your life points directly with Servant of Catabolism."
"What? How? My Luster Dragon #2 still on the field," Kaiba protested.
"So?" Mokuba said, "Servant of Catabolism is an effect monster that can pass by any defenses. I would've thought you'd know that." Kaiba growled softly and record the score change. Seto: 2050 – Mokuba: 3600
"Don't get cocky Mokuba, this duel isn't over," Seto Kaiba pulled out his next card (Pot of Greed), "I'll just use this card to draw two more into my hand," he put the magic card on top of his growing pile of discarded cards and picked up two extra cards (Paladin of White Dragon/ Breaker the Magical Warrior), "Good! I'll now summon my Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!" The card he placed down showed a figure similar to Yugi's trusted Dark Magician, but the jagged outfit the figure wore was blood red and lined with gold, and he held a gleaming sword and shield.
"What is that?" Mokuba asked, his eyes widened with interest.
"He's a slightly-better than average monster, but it's his special effect that I'm interested in. Once per turn, he allows me to destroy one magic or trap card on my opponent's side of the field. I choose to eliminate your Messenger of Peace, allowing my monsters to attack you freely." Mokuba sighed and sent his Servant of Catabolism to the graveyard. His life points had just taken a major dip: Seto: 2050 – Mokuba: 800.
"Better make this move count, right Seto?" Mokuba asked his big brother cheerfully. He hadn't forgotten the conditions he had set on this duel. If he didn't defeat his big brother, then they might never see Miss Vitani ever again. Seto would spend the rest of his days miserable. NO! He couldn't let that happen. Mokuba pulled the next card off of the top of his deck (4-Starred Ladybug of Doom), "I'll set one monster in defense mode (4-Starred Ladybug of Doom (800/1200)) and play monster Reborn to revive your Vorse Raider (1900/1600) in attack mode! Now I can destroy your Breaker the Magical Warrior and damage your life points!" Seto: 1750 – Mokuba: 800.
Seto drew his card (Sword of Deep-Seated) and smiled. All he had to do was sacrifice his Luster Dragon #2 by using the White Dragon Ritual to ritual summon his Paladin of White Dragon. Then he could equip it with this power-up to raise its attack power by 500. After that, the Dragon's Rage trap card would allow him to do damage to defensive monsters and this duel would be over.
And he would never see that smile again.
He froze as Vitani's face entered his mind once more. Is that what he wanted…? I've done without it for so long…is this what…love is supposed to feel like…? He drew his hand together and set them all in a pile face-down on the table and put his right hand over his deck.
"What?!?!" Mokuba shouted, surprising himself at his sheer volume, "You're giving up?!?!"
"I don't have the cards I need in my hand to beat you, or even stall you," Kaiba shrugged, getting to his feet, "Bad luck, I guess." He turned and headed towards the door, "Suppose I'll go look for Vitani…though there's no way in hell to know where to start…" he grumbled.
Mokuba watched his brother leave for a moment, then turned back to the abandoned duel. He reached over and picked up his brother's old hand. Shocked, he flipped up Seto's unused trap card, "He could have won…" Mokuba said out loud to himself, "He had all the cards he needed to win right here." Without so much as a second thought, Mokuba sprung up from his spot on the floor and tore down the hall.
Seto never had a chance. Mokuba caught up to his big brother in about five seconds flat and squeezed his brother around the middle from behind, "Thank you Seto! Thank you so much!"
"What are you talking about?" Kaiba said, trying to act annoyed, but unable to hide the small smile tugging at his lips.
"I knew you liked her! I just knew it!" Mokuba cried, not responding to Seto's question. He was also sure that his big brother already knew what he was talking about.
Kaiba felt his face grow hot and turned away. "I'm not saying I like her Mokuba…" he said, "I…I don't know how I feel about her yet…but I know I need her to be here in order to figure it out."
"It's ok if you haven't figured it out yet, Seto," Mokuba told him, letting go and smiling brightly, "I already have. You're just a little slow, that's all." Without another word, he turned and headed off, "'Night, Seto!"
"Wha –? Wait!" reaching out in his younger brother's direction, but the boy had already disappeared. What does he know that I don't?? he wondered, frustrated, This would be so much simpler if he'd just explain it…
* * *
This is worse than being in Noah's virtual world. At least that was interesting to look at… Tristan Taylor thought to himself. He had no idea how long he had been wandering around in the blackness of the Shadow Realm, but it was quite apparent that no matter how far or in what direction he went, there would be absolutely nothing. Joey had told him the Shadow Realm was like a prison, damp and moist with hard, stone walls on every side and torches of blue fire. So Tristan had decided that either it could take on different forms at will, or Joey was just nuts. And he was leaning towards the latter of the two choices.
He stopped for a moment, not really for any other reason other than the fact that he was sick of wandering aimlessly, but the sound of footsteps in the darkness continued. "What the hell…?" he muttered, glancing around, "There can't really be anyone else here can there…?" The sound grew closer until a figure became visible in the distance, and Tristan felt his stomach give a funny jolt as he realized who it was. "Tea!" he cried, breaking into a run.
The brown-haired girl looked up at the sound of his voice, "Omigod! Tristan – is it really you??" she also began running and met him halfway, where he caught her up in his arms. "I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered and he felt her breath on his bare chest.
"What happened? I blacked out and when I woke up I was here. Is this really… you know…" Tristan asked her worriedly.
"I think so…" she said, still not letting him go, "It's hard to tell…the Shadow Realm seems to change each time we see it…but it still feels the same." Silence fell and she realized the skin under her hands was still burned, "Oh…you're hurt…" she said, releasing him slightly, realizing she must've been making it worse.
"Hey, it's no big deal," He lied, smiling at her, "I've had worse, after all."
She smiled weakly, "I'm…I'm glad we found each other…You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"Yeah, this place could really drive a person off the edge if you know what I mean," Tristan nodded in agreement, "Sorry I made you worry back there in the museum. I just could stand by and watch him attack you like that."
"I never realized I meant that much to you…" she said, putting a hand on his arm.
"Eh?" Tristan started, getting very red, "Well, um… what I meant was… er, just that… I would have done it for any of my friends, ya know?"
"Oh…right…" Tea said, looking severely disappointed. She pulled away from him and sat down a few feet away, "Guess there's nothing else to do but wait for someone to realize we're missing…wandering around here will get us nowhere."
"Um…yeah…" he said, settling down as well, putting his chin in his hands. 'Smooth, Taylor…very smooth…'