Author's Introduction:


Some Reviewer Responses:


To Yami Sakuno: The spirit in the Millennium Puzzle is indeed a woman. She has a name and a past of her own, as well, but we won't find out more about that until later.


To GOGO23: Of course Ryou will be in the story as soon as he shows up in Shonen Jump, since that's what I work from. I can't wait either!


To JaguarKitty2006: I have no idea what is wrong with that doll on the Island of Misfits Toys! We all sat around for hours too, trying to suss the whole thing out! We can't figure it out! By the way, I have the small plush Rudolph, Clarice, and Moonracer. When I stare at them my eyes get misty with nostalgia. ^smiles.^


To Meti: I won't tell you yet who Yami plays in the future "Naruto" vignettes (Yami and Joey seem to like playing "musical scripts"), but I'm curious to know why not Sasuke? ^smiles, intrigued^.


To Falcona Skywolf: I'm wildly amused by the idea of Johji flirting with Yami-Girl, because I don't think she'd be amused by it. ^grins.^ As for how they will get the laser gun without Anzu as host, I haven't figured that part out yet. But fear not, the hamster in my head is running. If it figures something out for me, I'll give it one of those little food pellets.


And now a chapter devoted to the one thing that makes Tuesday and Wednesday nights worthwhile: video games.


**


Chapter Fifteen, Twenty-Fifth Duel: Kick My Ass


**


I'm so sorry you had to kick my ass

You said I ruined your life

I didn't mean to do that

I'm so sorry

I regret everything

But what can I do

To make you take back that swing?

I'm so sorry

I scuffle and feud

But things are much better now

I guess thanks to you


(Kick My Ass)

(Garbage)


**


Joey Wheeler spit on his hands and marched through the humming glass doors, his black leather jacket flaring behind him. "Today is the day, today-is-the-day, baby!" he announced, his Air Muscles silent on the rubber doormat.


"Is it bacon day?" Yami Motou asked happily, pulling on the cord of her earphones as she followed Joey under the bright neon sign, round yellow bulbs outlining the red scrolling sign of the Broadway City arcade, her music replaced by the beeping and ringing of too many video games in too small a space.


"No, the day I'm gonna break this dude's record!" Joey knocked a fist against a "Cruisin' USA" racing game. He pointed a finger at the list of high scorers. "See? The top ranked guys get to record their names."


Yami leaned into the machine to read the names. The obligatory "AAA" was in third place, succeeded by "L*J". First place belonged to "KAI".


"K...A...I," Yami read. " 'KAI'? You're going to beat his driving record?"


Joey shook his golden head, bangs flying over his eyes. "It's not just this game. Even the puzzle games and the fighting games...this 'KAI' has the high score on almost all the games in the arcade."


It was true. Yami turned and waited for the "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" sample fight to end. Jill Valentine blasted MegaMan across the screen with a bazooka, and the highscore list scrolled up the screen. Sure enough, "KAI" was in first place, initials typed next to the tiny picture of M. Bison. In fact, "KAI" was first place on "Capcom vs. SNK", "House of the Dead", "Dragon Ball", and "Tetris", too.


"You're right!" Yami realized, walking from game to game. "He's first place on every game!...Except this one."


Yami had stopped in front of "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Mix". She giggled. "Maybe 'KAI' has two left feet!" Taking Joey's hands, she tried to dance with him to "I Believe In Miracles". "But he's really good at all the other games in this arcade."


"Are you kidding?" Joey stabbed a nearby screen with a finger, taking his hands from Yami's. "These games are connected online to arcades all across the country! That means this "KAI" dude is the number one gamer in Japan!"


Yami tilted her chocolate-vanilla head to one side and her crimson eyes went dreamy. "I wonder what he looks like? Maybe we've crossed paths and don't even know it."


Joey had already moved on with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, Yami, but get this! If I beat this guy, then I'll be the best in Japan!" He threw a fist into the air and yelled, "Awright! Today I'm gonna beat 'KAI'!!"


Yami opened her mouth to cry "Yay!" but the sound that was heard was snide laughter.


"Shyeah, right! Not in a million years!"


Both teens whirled to see two small children watching them. One had a knapsack slung over his shoulder and long dark bangs; the other was wearing a ski hat and kept wiping a runny nose with the long sleeves of his Volcom shirt.


"What was that, ya little brats?" Joey asked through gritted teeth, raising a fist.


"There's no way you can break Kaiba's record!" the kid with the knapsack said.


Yami twitched involuntarily, her face suddenly paling to reveal patches of blue under her eyes. Joey would later claim it was his imagination, but he thought her hair suddenly stood up in certain places too, like static electricity. "K-Kaiba?"


The kid with the runny nose sniffled. "Yeah! Kaiba the game master! He's like a legend!"


Yami's ruby eyes had gone distant; she was remembering Seto Kaiba, his arrogant smile, the way his icy eyes slid over the Duel Monsters cards fanned in his hand. How absolutely assured he had been of his victory, purring at her over the card table in the dark. Give up, Yami. Give in. There's no way you can win.


But she had won. She had beaten the legend. So why did she feel shivery all of a sudden?


"There are two brothers," the kid with the knapsack said. "The older one's the game whiz!"


Yami glanced down to the side, remembering the other Kaiba brother—the diminutive but no less scary Mokuba Kaiba, his violet eyes hectically bright under his shock of black hair. He hadn't believed she had beaten Seto Kaiba either—until she had trounced him as well.


The kid with the knapsack was still talking. "They say Kaiba got bored with normal games..."


Yami nodded, rolling her lower lip under and out like she was smoothing lipstick, although she wore no makeup. "That's no surprise. If there's no challenge, how much fun can you possibly have?"


The kid's long bangs flopped over his eyes as he leaned in conspiratorially. "That's not all! There's this rumor that Kaiba's working on this super secret project—that he's building the ultimate game!"


Yami felt that shivery feeling return to her stomach, turning it to water. The kid's face looked eerie, lit with a strange light unlike the glare from the video-game screens.


The ultimate game...?


Mokuba Kaiba's angry voice rang through her head. Death-T is coming, and you won't escape!


But the snide laughter returned, and the kid became just a snot-nosed little brat again. "Later, losers! Have fun challenging his record—forever!"


Joey snarled at the retreating kids, and Yami held a slim arm across his chest to hold him back. "Calm down, Joey."


Joey strained against the arm, but only barked at the kids. "Rrrrrruff! Rrr....ruff!"


Yami giggled. "Okay, Killer. Let's go play a game or two."


Five minutes later, a pixillated girl with a blonde ponytail and a bikini was running Joey's Corvette off the road. "Grrrrr! I suck at this game!" He slid out of the chair and turned to see Yami sitting across from him on a stool in front of a bank of fighting games. He could read the banner that stretched across the lower half of her black sweatshirt, bearing the name of her favorite band, From Autumn to Ashes. He chuckled at the two birds holding up either end of the banner—the blue one was normal-looking, but the red one had x's for eyes.


"Haven't seen you in a while," a guy in a Taking Back Sunday hoodie remarked to Yami. "Where've you been?"


"Dead," Yami answered nonchalantly, headphones once again clipped over her ears, a stick of pocky clamped between her heartshaped lips.


"Whatcha doin'?" Joey sat down on the stool on Yami's other side. "Hey, Kudoberi Jam! Now there's a real woman! Grrrowf!"


"Knock it off, Joey." Yami grinned. "Everyone knows I do best with Jam. Watch!"


Yami used the buxom fighting girl to cheerfully mop the floor with Ky Kiske. "Please...look at me..." the ninja girl begged from the screen.


"Nice job," Joey said appreciatively, chomping some of the leftover pocky. "Maybe you'll get your name up on the list!"


"Here comes a new challenger!" the screen blared, flashing suddenly next to Yami.


"Oh, cool, someone wants to fight against you!" Joey said.


"That's what I like best about these sit-down fighting games," Yami agreed. "You never know who you're fighting against."


"Who's he playing as?" Joey watched Jam face-off against a kung-fu master. "It looks like Bruce Lee."


Yami chuckled. "That's who he's based on—he's called 'The Dragon', Bruce Ryu, but he's based on Bruce Lee. I'm a fan."


"I didn't know you liked Bruce Lee," Joey commented.


"Sure! The Chinese Connection, Way of the Dragon...and the fact that he always insisted on doing his own stunts, even though he usually got hurt!" Yami grinned and turned back towards the screen. "And he's about to get hurt even worse right now! Kick his ass, Jam!" she cheered on her own character.


Once again, Yami kicked the challenger's ass up and down the screen. "Take that! And that!"


"Nice job!" Joey said appreciatively.


"Here comes a new challenger!" the game repeated, and Yami and Joey both turned back towards the screen.


Yami threw her hair back and rubbed her small palms together. "Well, if he wants more, I'm always up for extra innings!"


"Behave over there," Joey chuckled.


"Watch this, watch!" Yami said, tapping the screen rapidly with one hand while she controlled Jam with the other. "You've got to watch out for this when you're playing against Bruce Ryu. You can't get too close or he'll nail you with his close-quarters attack—the 'one inch punch'!"


"Hai yaaaaaahhhhhh!" the computerized ninja roared, while Yami's ninja girl easily flipped out of the way, then slammed a high kick to her opponent's forehead. "Oh yeah! Uh huh!" Yami let go of the controls to cabbage-patch in victory. "Uh huh! Uh huh! Mmhm, mmhm mmhm!"


"Here comes a new challenger!" the game repeated.


Yami blinked, thick lashes fanning over her ruby eyes. She stopped her cabbage-patch to raise an eyebrow incredulously at the screen. "Is it the same guy?"


"He must really like you, Yami," Joey teased.


"He likes Jam's breasts, I think," Yami giggled. "I guess I'll keep kicking his ass."


"Well, I have no doubt you'll mop the floor with him," Joey agreed, uncurling his tall body from his chair. "Want me to bring you a drink? It's on me."


Yami's smile was bright. "That's so nice of you! I'd love a soda!"


"Sure thing, pal." Joey ruffled Yami's hair teasingly and fished in his pocket for some money. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."


Literally less than two seconds after Joey turned away, he heard Yami crow, "I win again!" Lowering his blond head a little, Joey shook it and chuckled.


Seven minutes and four wins later, Yami was once again cabbage-patching to celebrate her opponent's finally giving up for good. She rose from her chair to turn the cabbage-patch into a full-floor dance, and so she didn't notice her opponent hadn't quite given up yet...


**


On the other side of the bank of sit-down video games, Yami's opponent slammed a fist down onto the console. Growling, he raked a hand through his dark hair and searched for the person who was humiliating him. Stalking around the bank of video games, he was surprised to see a small girl in a black hooded sweatshirt jumping up from her chair. She started up a victory dance, dark hair fanning around her face, body swaying and then stumbling in surprise, mid-dance, as she saw him standing with an angry glare aimed at her.


"—oh!"


"A little girl," he snarled. "It figures!"


She flicked vanilla bangs out of her eyes, drawing herself up higher. "What figures?"


"You could never beat me in a real fight, girly girl!" her opponent challenged, pointing a bony finger into her face. "So enjoy your last dance!"


"You want to bet?!" she shrieked, her anger sudden and fierce, her small fists curled up in front of her chest. "Count of three, tough guy!"


But Yami's mistake was counting at all. Her opponent didn't bother to wait till even "one" before delivering a hard slap to the side of her head, sending her into the bank of games, hard.


"H...hey!" she choked, sliding down to the floor. Spitting a bit of dark blood from the corner of her mouth, she hissed, "...Not...fair! You didn't even...let me count!"


"Thought I wouldn't hit a girl, did you?" Her opponent smirked, reaching down to the Millennium Puzzle shining at the end of its cord. "Let me help the lady up!"


With a sudden, rough yank, he had pulled Yami to her feet by the Puzzle's cord, wrapping it tightly around her slim throat until the cord bit into her skin. Yami's black boots scrabbled for purchase on the tiled floor, her ruby eyes widening with every minute that her air lessened.


"Who's laughing now, girly?!" her opponent demanded, giving Yami a shake. "Giggle for me now, bitch!"


Yami scratched weakly at the hands keeping the Puzzle's cord tight around her neck, but her opponent held on...held on...held on...


Yami's eyes closed—


—and the cord snapped.


Yami tumbled to the floor, gasping sorely for air, her cheek pressed against the cold tiles and her eyes sliding shut, hands curling and uncurling as if she were trying desperately to grab hold of something. Her chest heaved and her lashes fluttered, one hand slowly rising as if reaching for heaven, and then falling limply back to her side.


Meanwhile, her opponent held his prize—the Millennium Puzzle—at eye level. "I think I'll keep this to remember you by, sweetheart," he quipped to the semi-conscious Yami before turning and walking out of the arcade.


**


Joey was tossing his canned coffee from hand to hand as he walked back towards where he had left Yami. "Woo...hot...hot...hot!" he puffed, trying not to touch the hot can too long.


Looking up from the can, he saw the same two small boys who had teased him earlier kneeling on the floor by the sit-down fighting games. The kid with the ski hat and the Volcom shirt dragged a sleeve nervously over his nose, while the other kid's dark eyes went wide with shock over whatever they were staring at.


Joey arched a golden brow.


"Do you think she's dead?" the kid with the knapsack whispered. "She's bleeding."


Joey dropped the coffee can as he saw what they were staring at. Yami was lying on the floor against the bank of games, a thick line of blood dripping down her cheek. Her earring had sliced into her skin when she'd been hit. Her eyes were closed and she was trying to catch her breath, chest heaving beneath her hooded sweatshirt. Joey could read the lyric under the crown that was just over her heart. "To Die For".


"Are you okay?" The kid in the ski hat poked Yami's cheek gently. "Hey, girl? Are you okay?"


"Give her some air!" Joey slid on his knees the last five feet and the two kids jumped in surprise, giving him room. Joey drew Yami into his arms, giving her a gentle shake. "Yami. Yami! Come on, babe. Talk to me. It's me, it's Joey."


No answer from Yami, save a little sound and a barely perceptable toss of the head.


"No, stay with me, Yami, stay," Joey begged, shifting her in his arms. "Come on, Yami!"


"I can't breathe." Yami tried to sit up.


Joey heaved a sigh of relief. "Yeah you can, babe, you're breathing to talk." He rubbed her back. "Can you stand on your own?"


Yami drew a shaky breath. "I don't know."


Joey nodded. "If I help you, can you stand?"


Yami shook her head, changing her mind. "No. I can stand by myself."


And she did. She used the bank of games for support, but she stood without Joey's help and tossed her bangs out of her eyes. For the first time, Joey noticed the angry red marks on her throat. Reaching to cradle her face, he stroked his thumbs down her throat and gently examined the marks. He was torn between pulling her close in a hug and beating the hell out of the next person who looked at either of them. She was so sweet, so small. How could anyone want to hurt her?


"Joey," she said softly. "I'm all right. See? I can stand on my own."


Joey stroked his thumb down her throat once more, over the fierce red marks, his eyes unreadable.


Suddenly he grinned at her. "You better be able to stand on your own—cause I got some serious ass to kick!"


Turning from Yami, he knelt in front of the two kids who were still watching with goggle eyes. "Got a job f'r each of ya, if you're up for it," he said. Pointing at the kid with the knapsack, he said, "I need you to get my friend a napkin. As for you—" He pointed at the kid with the ski hat. "Did you see the guy who did this!"


A quick nod. "I saw which way he went!"


**


Yami's opponent was feeling pretty good about himself. He was examining the pendant he'd taken from her. I think I kind of like this pendant—it almost looks like real gold...


He couldn't possibly have known it was real gold, old gold, older than he could have imagined.


He decided to cut through an alley near the arcade in order to get home faster, even though the mouth of the alley yawned at him like the mouth of a dark cave. I'm the toughest guy in the world, he thought with a smirk. I can handle one dark alley.


Perhaps if he could have seen the dragon curled in that cavelne dark, he might have gone the long way home.


**


"Hey asshole—you may be pretty good at beating up girls, but how do you think you'll do against me?" Joey yelled from the end of an alley, spotting the guy who had matched the description given him by the boys at the arcade coming towards him.


With a single turn of the head, Yami's opponent became Joey's opponent.


Joey's grin was not pleasant. He was thinking of Yami's ear crimson with blood, dripping heavily into her collar. "I think I'm gonna cut yer ear off," he decided aloud. "You know, before I kill you."


Joey's opponent snickered. "You got balls of steel to challenge me to a street fight!"


"Oh, this ain't gonna be a fight," Joey said, his grammar getting worse and his accent getting deeper as he got angrier. "This'll be a slaughter. I'm gonna make you so sorry, and the last thing you see before your eyes shut will be me taking back that pendant!"


His opponent guffawed. "Get this, tough guy! I've never lost a fight!"


"Nobody hits her," Joey growled, his voice at its lowest.


For some reason, the angrier Joey got, the calmer his opponent became. He slouched a little, shoved his hands in his pockets, and chuckled. "I think you need a lesson in two things. First thing is history!"


Joey balled his hands into fists and growled. "Goddamnit! Why doesn't anyone just get straight to the fight anymore!"


His opponent laughed again. "I like that kind of thinking!"


"Then put up your dukes!" Joey hollered, cocking his fists.


"Not so fast!" his opponent said, placing one hand in front of him as if to say "stop". "I may not look like it, but I'm a big fan of Bruce Lee."


"Yeah, I noticed that when Yami was kicking your digital ass at the arcade!" Joey interjected with a sneer.


His opponent flinched, his pride wounded, but continued with his train of thought. "Bruce Lee wasn't just an action star—he was a real fighter! In the Ed Porter International Karate Tournament at Long Beach he showed the entire world how strong he was by using his 'one inch punch'! The records show that with just one inch, and no handicap, he blew his opponent away!"


"What's your frickin' point?!" Joey yelled.


"Nice choice of words." His opponent smirked. "There's your second lesson—a lesson in fear! I'm going to teach you the terror of one inch!"


"I think you've played one too many fighting games!" Joey shook his head darkly.


"Well, then you won't mind if we play one more." His opponent's hands disappeared into his pockets, and suddenly he had a knife dancing from one hand to the other and back again. It took Joey's eyes a few seconds to register that there were indeed two knives.


"We're gonna fight with these knives clenched in our teeth!" To demonstrate, he slipped one of the knives between his own teeth. He chuckled against the blade, knowing Joey could never see that his knife was a trick knife—its blade slipped into its hilt.


"Take that outta your mouth," Joey sighed. "I don't want to have to hold back on punching you in the face."


His opponent spat out the knife with a laugh and cocked his large fists. "So you see the danger! When I punch you in the face, that knife will go straight into your throat! One inch is enough to kill you!"


Just like that, the fight began, with Joey dodging his opponent's fists neatly. Every But the narrow alley made it difficult to dodge to either side, and he couldn't avoid the attacks forever. But he couldn't forget Yami's bloody face, or his promise to protect her.


Promise...


He snickered, the sound vibrating against the knife in his mouth, and shoved his hands into his pockets.


"Are you making fun of me?" his opponent panted. "Take your hands out of your pockets!"


"Can't!" Joey laughed. "I have my promises to my friend in both these pockets, and you don't get to see 'em until it's over!"


"Your torso is wide open!" His opponent swung with a wild punch, arm curving as he threw his entire weight into the strike. "I'm gonna kill you!"


The fist drove closer and closer to Joey, and then it was time. "All right! These are my promises!"


The fist never landed. Joey's left pocket exploded in a violent spray of carbonated soda, splashing his opponent's face and eyes. "I promised Yami I'd bring her a soda!"


His opponent howled, large hands fleeing to cover his eyes, rubbing the stinging soda away. "My eyes! Fuck!" he sputtered, scrubbing at his face fiercely.


Joey drew his curled fist from his right pocket and smirked. "And I promised you I'd clobber you!"


His opponent opened bleary eyes just in time to be too late.


Joey didn't need Bruce Lee's one-inch punch to knock the guy flat. He threw his whole body into a roundhouse punch to the face, making sure it was the same side Yami had been bleeding from. "And I always keep my promises!"


It was deeply satisfying to the blond to spit the knife at his now-unconscious opponent's feet. "Never in a million years, you jerk!" he said, kneeling to retrieve his prize—the Millennium Puzzle. It was easy to imagine Yami's smile; he couldn't wait to see it. Turning, he headed back towards the arcade, a smile of his own slowly forming on his face.


Got your Puzzle back, Yami. Now all I've gotta do is buy another soda!


**


Usually, I have a point in the author's notes that explains any personal references in the chapter. This chapter could possibly hold the record for the most personal references in any chapter to date!


And now for a little section that I like to call The Broadway City Appendix:


The Broadway City Arcade itself: The Broadway City arcade is in Times Square and I love it there. Me and my friends Shazzer and Izzy love to go there and play DDR and those quarter-pitching games whenever we have some free time, which isn't often, unfortunately.


Bacon Day: My friends and I used to go to a dance club called Zachary's. We can't go there anymore because they increased the age to get in to thirty years old! It's really too bad because we used to have some great times there. One of my favorite things about it was that if you stayed long enough, they served breakfast. I used to take as much bacon as I could carry out of that place. Every day was Bacon Day!


Cruisin' USA: My friends and I sometimes play "Cruisin' USA" at the icky Whitestone Lanes, which is where we bowl when we can't go to Strike. It's rather a stupid game, now that I think about it, but the only other game to play there is that one where you shoot the deer.


The video games at the arcade: I really miss the Dragon Ball game at the Broadway City arcade. I sucked at it, but I still loved it anyway. I also suck at House of the Dead but I like anything with shooting in it. My favorite fighting game is Guilty Gear X, but every time we go to Broadway City my two friends Shazzer and Izzy watch me get my ass kicked at Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Capcom vs. SNK. Sometimes they "help", which means we all jam on all the buttons and usually means I get killed even faster.


M. Bison: For some reason I think Kaiba would be an M. Bison type. Well, I don't know, I laughed when I thought about it.


Dance Dance Revolution: My favorite arcade game ever is Dance Dance Revolution! And there's a reason it's the only game in the arcade that Kaiba isn't first place at—but more on that in a later chapter.


Kudoberi Jam: Obviously Bruce Ryu is not a character in "Guilty Gear X", but I love the game and decided to have Yami play as my favorite character, Kudoberi Jam. I wrote a paper that was partially based on her response to Ky Kiske when she wins ("Please look at me") and received an A from my professor.


L*J: These initials are on one of the video games Joey and Yami play at the arcade. Guess whose initials those are? ^smiles and points to self.^


"Where've you been?" "Dead": This conversation between Yami and a guy in a Taking Back Sunday hoodie is a direct homage to Yu Yu Hakusho, right down to the pocky. Yusuke gets twenty-four hours one month to spend alive before he regains his living status, and chooses to spend it playing Plinko at the arcade. When a guy asks him where he's been, "Dead" is how he responds.


The Taking Back Sunday hoodie: The TBS hoodie is one that belongs to a very good friend of mine (who I may or may not have a crush on)—he loaned it to me on a camping trip that remains one of the best weekends of my life. ^sighs.^


The From Autumn To Ashes hoodie: Yami's From Autumn To Ashes hoodie is my beloved hoodie. I practically live in it. The lyric over the heart, "To Die For", is from one of my favorite From Autumn To Ashes songs, "The Second Wrong Makes You Feel Right", which can be found on the album "The Fiction We Live".


The cabbage-patch: Yami dancing the cabbage-patch is a double homage:

1) On New Year's, some friend/crush who may or may not own that abovementioned Taking Back Sunday hoodie demonstrated to me that no matter how herby it looks, you can indeed cabbage-patch to any song. I was busy at the time, however, trying to skank to "Runaround Sue". Which is also possible.

2) In Kevin Smith's "Chasing Amy", Ben Affleck's character, Holden McNeil, first tries to flirt with Alyssa Jones by dancing into her at a bar and then claiming, "You got in the way of my cabbage-patch!"


Next chapter: The return of Mokuba Kaiba, and what one has to go through to get a decent pancake breakfast.