SO: Due to ff . net's system, Yami's mindlink speech will be #talk#
Chapter 3
It's been awhile
"?!"
What would have thought that something so natural could be a memory beyond?
"…"
Back then, it came easy
"What do you mean, 'back then'?"
"Seto? Niisama?"
Everyone use to be waiting for you
"That was a long time ago"
"Kaiba? Kaiba?!"
You could get by with a beating
"…"
Everything is different now. Don't go changing
"'Different?' 'Changing'?"
"NIISAMA!"
Seto's eyes opened; his body trembling. When he noticed the credits rolling and all faces up in his, he relaxed a bit. "Hmm…?"
"You talk in your sleep." Jou said matter-of-factly. "Weird things too. Don't make no sense."
Seto turned to Mokuba, who nodded. "You were asking questions and other things!"
"What exactly did I say?"
Kai spoke up since the others forgot. "'What came easy?' and 'that was a long time ago'."
Seto remained silent, thinking of his dream. "What," he asked after awhile, "time is it?"
Jou looked at his watch. "About ten."
Seto's eyes went wide. "Dammit! I have a meeting in nine hours!" he jumped off the recliner and to his own laptop. "Shit!" he cursed.
"Why the rush Kaiba?" 'Yugi' asked. Only the Yugi-tachi and the Kaiba's knew that Yugi had turned into Yami.
"Shut it Pharaoh!" the older Kaiba snapped. His rushing figure made everyone give up on him. Suddenly Anzu had an idea. "Well…perhaps Mokuba could stay with us so you can work without worry." She recommended. Seto nodded, not really paying attention.
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Mokuba spread out his blankets over the bed that was in Anzu's room. The friends had rented two rooms that had a door between them.
"All set Mokuba?" Anzu asked, coming out from the bathroom with an oversized shirt and girl boxer shorts on. Mokuba nodded and pulled on the sleeve of his flannel shirt for comfort and then lay back down. He sighed rather loudly.
Anzu frowned. "Mokuba…" her frown turned into a light smile. "He might be uptight right now, but it will only last until the tournament, which starts next week." She got into bed and snuggled herself into the covers. "If anything," she went on, "he'll get aggravated at his work and will walk away and then have time to do all sorts of things with you. And other things that will make him more relaxed so we won't have to worry about him!"
Mokuba smiled. "Yeah! Thanks Anzu!" he too snuggled into the covers and the two soon fell asleep.
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Takao had met up with Kyouju down in the lobby. He had been talking to Dizzy and e-mailing Mr. Dickenson.
"So…" Takao trailed off. The movie had saddened him, so it was hard to speak with the right words. "What's up?"
Kyouju looked up from his laptop. "Nothing Takao. Why do you ask?"
Takao sweatdropped. "Because I'm trying to start a conversation here!" he growled, not affected by the movie anymore.
"Well maybe you should go to bed instead of talk. You know how late it is? And what about that tournament of yours? You have to rest up for that!"
"Yeah, yeah," Takao grumbled, "don't bite my head off."
...................................................................................................................
Seto looked up from his work for a second and relaxed when he saw no one there to bother him.
Suddenly, the windows snapped opened. Seto jumped up, alert, and ran to the windows to close them. But when he reached them, he noticed they were still closed. He put his hands on the cold glass just to make sure, but they were indeed close. Suspiciously, but thinking it was from working too hard, Seto sat in a chair by the table and relaxed a bit.
After a moment of breathing to calm himself down, Seto's vision began to get blurry. He choked on one of his own breaths and began coughing violently. He struggled to breathe and then he fell to the floor. He struggled to get himself up, gasping for breath and energy, and he suddenly was able to regain most of his senses.
He saw a man in the shadows, though visible, with a gas mask on and that was when Seto realized it.
'I was gassed. But with what?' he thought desperately.
Despite his body's weakness and his brain coming close and his senses' protests, he sprang to life and tried to get the person.
He followed the man out the door and through the halls, coughing and swaying violently all the way. Beads of sweat continued to roll down his face.
After a few minutes of running, Seto fell to his knees, holding his stomach and leaning over. He breathed in and out as best he could, but it hurt to breathe and was difficult too.
His vision blurred again and he closed his eyes; the pain swept through his body.
He suddenly was able to regain some of his senses again and began following the hall in the direction he though the man had gone. His vision was swimming dangerously, and he had to stop and catch his breath and lean on the walls for support.
Suddenly, after walking for awhile, a door creaked and Seto noticed that it was still ajar. He stumbled a bit as he walked in.
An immense pain soared through the back of his head and everything went black.
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The next morning, Yugi awoke to Jou's talking. He was mumbling in his sleep about food.
Yugi grumbled a bit. /Yami?/
#Yes Yugi?# Yami responded.
/How was the movie?/
Yami chuckled. #Excellent. Greatly directed and an ingenious script!!#
Yugi smiled, still not fully awake, and got up. He walked into the bathroom and took a shower and then his hygienic things. Afterwards, he exited the bathroom and came to a fully awake Jou.
"What's up?" Yugi asked.
Jou shrugged. "I dunno." He mumbled.
"Hey…the tournament starts next week…but I think that the Beyblading Tournament is today!" Yugi exclaimed. "Let's go root the BladeBreakers on!"
So Jou got up and got ready while Yugi spoke to Yami about this and that. Half an hour later, both were heading out the door.
The two went next door and knocked on Anzu's door and soon came face to face with a greened masked Anzu.
Jou screamed.
Anzu's eyes widened and she slammed the door. Yugi jumped. Soon the door opened again and Mokuba was there. He was laughing and then went to go sit on his bed, still laughing.
"Come in!" he said.
Yugi and Jou sheepishly entered the room and found Anzu had locked herself in the bathroom. Yugi turned to Mokuba. "What's with her?" he asked.
Mokuba shrugged. "I think it was the mask. I laughed the first time I saw it, and she laughed too. But then I began making fun of her and she got mad and was about to throw me out of the room but I stopped."
Jou laughed and positioned himself next to the young Kaiba. He and Yugi and Mokuba waited for about five minutes until Anzu reappeared from the bathroom, mask free. Her arms were crossed but her face was soft and silky.
Yugi smiled. "Come on Anzu! We're going to go watch Takao and the others in the Beyblading Tournament."
Anzu nodded. She grabbed her purse, "So, Mokuba, you coming?" she asked.
"Sure!" the young boy exclaimed.
................................................................................................................................
"I'm proud to introduce to you one of the greatest teams in the world: The BladeBreakers!"
Takao and Max, followed by Rei and Kai, walked onto the platform that would lift them up. As soon as the team name was spoken, the platform was rising.
The crowd's cheers started just as their heads showed.
Takao smiled smugly. "This tournament is going to be so easy!"
Max and Rei gave a grin while Kai gave a confident smile. They all turned towards the teams that they were to Blade against.
"First off, let me introduce to you the teams! The one and only, the BladeBreakers!" the announcer shouted. The BBs waved and smiled.
"There's Yugi! And Anzu and Jou and Mokuba!" Takao exclaimed, giving each of them an extra wave.
"And also, The AllStarz!" the crowd cheered, "The White Tigers!" a larger cheer. "The Physics! The Demolition Boys! The Cowboys! The Germanium! And the Majestics!"
Yugi put his hands together and he let out a yell, "Go BladeBreakers!"
#Interesting…I might come to like this game.# Yami said in the mind link. Yugi chuckled. /You're good at every game you play Mou Hitori no Boku/ he responded. /King of Games? Don't forget that/
It was Yami's turn to chuckle.
"First match! BladeBreakers versus The Germanium!" the announcer said. "Rules are as follow. This shall be a two out of three match. There will be no time-limit until the third match, if any. Time limit will be five minutes. You do not get two chances to beybattle. Teams, please select three players and a substitute. The first two battles will happen today, and if a tie is at the end, a third match will be the following day."
The BladeBreakers huddled together as did The Germanium.
"Ok, we got Max as first, Kai as Second, and Takao as substitute." Kyouju explained. "Go get 'em!"
"OK! The team players have been selected! First will be Max against Dedrick! Then there will be Kai against Kasch. And, in case, of tie, Takao verses Reinhard!" the announcer said.
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Max and Dedrick walked towards each other. A smirk came across Max's lips. "I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy this battle." he said.
Dedrick nodded, a smirk on his lips as well. "Well, let's go." he said.
"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!!" the two shouted, releasing their blades.
Dracil spun moderately, while Dedrick's blade, Theodoric, spun quickly. Yet, it couldn't really get under Dracil's defense.
Dedrick smirked, "Get ready for this you fool!" he shouted. "Go! Theodoric!"
Suddenly a bit beast came from within the blade and a ruler sitting on a throne rose up from his throne with a rod outstretched. It was clearly something that had never really been displayed within a bit beast.
Even Max was in awe. But he quickly recovered, "Go! Dracil! Go on the offensive!"
Max's blade spun around the outside of the ring, then turned its defense into offense when it attacked Theodoric.
To the audience, the blades were attacking each other. To experienced bladers, the bit beasts were attacking.
And yet the Yugi-tachi could see it. They were in awe.
#My Ra, it's amazing…# was all Yami could say.
Yugi nodded with his eyes wide. He couldn't take his eyes off it.
"Go Max!" they heard Mokuba shout very loudly. It took some of the people in the crowd out of their daydream.
Max looked into the crowd and a smile was on his face. "Yeah!" he shouted. His eyes narrowed, but he was playful. "Ok Dracil! Let's show Mokuba what you can do!" he instructed his bit beast. 'He needs it, I mean, with his brother so busy…' he spoke to Dracil in his mind.
Dracil seemed to understand and it nodded as it tried to attack Theodoric. The human-look-a-like bit beast stuck his hand out with the rod. Dedrick laughed. "Do you know what my name means Max?" he scornfully chuckled, "It means Ruler of the People!"
And with that, Theodoric sent a huge wave of energy at Dracil. Dracil groaned and fell, and the beyblade began to wobble a bit.
"Come one Dracil!" Max shouted. Encouragement was yelled from his new friends and his team, and it made him smile.
Suddenly, Dracil rose up and was able to knock the rod from the human-look-a-like bit beast.
Dedrick's eyes widened. "Impossible!" he shouted. Suddenly, the beyblade began wobbling quickly and it soon fell, completely still.
Max's beyblade flew to his hand, and he caught it. "Yeah!" he shouted, jumping up. His team ran to him, saying things along the line of 'good beybattle' and 'that was an awesome move'.
Max just laughed and accepted the praise.
.................................................................................................................................
Kai narrowed his eyes at Kasch. "So, you're the famous Kai Hiwitari?" Kasch mocked.
Kai ignored him and set his beyblade on the ripper (yeah, I forgot what they were called) and stuck the cord in.
Kasch mimicked his movements and soon the two were glaring at each other, Kai with a frown and Kasch with a smirk.
"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!" they shouted in unison, letting their beyblades fall into the ring.
"Dranzer! Get on the defensive!" Kai shouted as soon as Kasch's blade, Heller, spun round and began going for offensive.
"Don't think so fool!" Kasch shouted as he made Heller follow Kai's every movement.
"Dranzer! Show him who's boss!" Kai yelled. A phoenix appeared before everyone, and the people who had seen Max's bit beast were even more amazed by this one.
Kasch once again just smirked. "HELLER!" he shouted. A sun appeared from his beyblade and it suddenly opened its eyes. It grew hands and arms and legs and soon the sun took on the shape of a beautiful women curled in a ball. The ball uncurled and the woman was expose. (Yeah, Heller is actually a guy's name, but it sounds like a women's name right?)
The sun women outstretched her arms and her hand was flat upwards. Her finger's curled together except for her thumb and index finger. Suddenly, a huge glow appeared on her finger.
Kai opened his eyes a bit. It was too bright. Everything had been too bright ever since he called his bit beast out. Through the harsh light he could see the silhouette of a women. "Shit!" he shouted. "Dranzer! Attack!" he shouted.
Kai prayed to whatever god would listen to him that he wouldn't fail this one for the team.
Kasch was laughing with his hands on his hips and a smug grin on his face. "Too bright for you Kai?"
Practically everyone in the audience couldn't see what was going on.
Suddenly, the light increased. Even Kasch, who had specially made contacts on to protect him from his own bit beast's light, had to squint into everything. If anyone dared to look, their vision could be damaged.
When the light cleared away, they could see that both beyblades had stopped spinning and were lying on the ground, looking practically unwanted.
"And we have a tie!" the announcer shouted. Kai and Kasch both picked up their beyblades and glared at each other. Kai walked towards his team, but instead of speaking to them, he just went through the door to the lockers.
His team followed him. "Hey Kai, no need to feel so bummed out." Takao said, giving Kai a pat on the back.
Kai practically ripped Takao's arm from its socket when he pulled it off his back with a deep growl. Takao walked away to his locker, rubbing his arm.
"Takao! Max! Kai! Rei! Kyouju!" a voice settled into the room. They all looked to see Mokuba and Yugi and Anzu and Jou running in.
"Hey! Thanks for rooting me on!" Max said instantly. "It really helped me out."
"No problem." Mokuba smiled. He sat on a bench that was placed in there and Max joined him. The two were instant friends, that was a definite fact.
Jou walked to Rei. "Why aren't you going to be competing?" he asked.
Rei looked up sheepishly. "Well, tomorrow is Takao's battle, right? But I am going to have a tough battle of my own in the end, so I need all the rest I can get."
Jou chuckled. "Yeah, I know how that goes." he said, though he did not elaborate.
Yugi and Anzu walked to Kai. "Hey, you ok?" Anzu asked.
Kai nodded, "I'm perfectly fine." He looked away, "A little annoyed that I lost, but…" he admittedly mumbled.
Yugi smiled softly. Kai reminded him of Seto in a lot of ways.
Suddenly he looked up, "hey! How about we go for some lunch?" he asked.
Mokuba nodded. "Let's invite Niisama too. I'm sure he is done with the meeting and could use it."
Yugi smiled. "How about we all go up and get him so it will be simpler to get lunch?"
So it was agreed. Yugi and Mokuba took the lead as Anzu and Jou hung back to talking with everyone as they took the elevator.
It was relatively quiet in the elevator. Then the elevator stopped with a 'ding' and the doors opened.
Yugi walked out and walked through the hallway. Something didn't feel right. He could sense that Jou had that feeling as well as Rei and Kai.
Then, as they reached the end of hall before the corner, they saw an opened door.
Anzu gasped, seeing something in there. "Guys…" she hesitated. "Guys, I think something's in there!"
Yugi did not wait before he opened the door.
And there inside, dried blood on his mouth and over an injury to his head, was Seto Kaiba, lying on his back with a pale face.