*Kaiba, HCG, Kawari, and Kaze are all standing on the side of the room, watching the back-and-forth movement in front of them--which turns out to be Kaeru chasing Bakura around with a baseball bat*
Kaeru: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF IT TAKES ME ANOTHER 5 MILLENNIA!
Bakura: *running* *yells over shoulder* AS IF! If we fight, we BOTH get destroyed! And it's not even my fault anyway; it was in the script!
Kaeru: *waves baseball bat* SO WHAT?!
HCG: *blinks* Uuum...
Kaiba: Well, there's a new lesson learned. Don't let Kaeru watch Yu-Gi-Oh with you. Especially if it's the episode when he's making a deal with Malik.
HCG: Yeah. Or any others. *flinches* I'm just glad it wasn't "Evil Spirit Of the Ring" that was on today. I think Bakura'd be dead by now, no matter the Realm limitations o_O;;
*All three watch Bakura and Kaeru run by again*
Kawari: *shrugs* Actually, I think this is pretty entertaining.
HCG: ¬_¬;; So says the Negative character that also wanted to see Kaeru rip Bakura's guts out.
Kawari: _;; Shut up! *growls*
HCG: *moves her keyboard out of range* And in any case, it's not as if you can do much when you're spellbound there...thanks to Suma ^_~
Kawari: -_-;; OOooh yeah, THANKS Suma.....*sighs*
Kaze: *sighs* Can we hurry up? I have to go back to the Opposition and check over everything...I was stupid enough to leave Pegasus and Duke Devlin in charge, and if they haven't killed each other by now, there will be murder soon.
HCG: o_O I thought they were friends or partners or something?
Kaze: Hel-LO? Negative Realm? Opposites?
HCG: ^_^;; Oh yeah, that's right. Okay, onto the author notes!
Daricio ~ Hmm, you think the names are more confusing? Well....I'm sorry ^_^;; I'm sure it'll sink in in a few chapters, though. As for Kawari and Kaeru's names being similar--now, THAT I did on purpose. I wanted them to be nearly the same because, though they are two different people, they are alike in personality and so are kinda like two in one at the same time. And yeah, I know the two Joey's aren't that different...I've had trouble with his personality, but hopefully he'll seem at least a LITTLE different in this chapter....*sighs*
YumeTakato ~ Heh heh heh, you liked Kawari's little commentary on the fight, yes? ^_^ I had fun thinking it up. As for the name list, sure I'll do it ^_^ It'll go in with the notes at the bottom of this whole author's thingie...
Wingleader Sora Jade ~ ^_^ Good job, you, you found the resemblance's! Actually, I hadn't noticed the pocket-knife o_O;; I was trying to be a LITTLE similar to the anime, and Bakura seems to stab Ryou a lot ^_^;;
Kaeru: HE DOES?! *runs after Bakura with new determination, baseball bat held higher*
HCG: o_O;; Um...yeah...
Kawari: x_X;; Eeeeeviiiiillll.......
HCG: What's wrong with you?
Kawari: Evil leather...._;; If it's not ONE form of torture, it's another...
HCG: *rolls eyes* *continues answer* As for cloning Kawari--
Kawari: YOU CAN'T! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
HCG: ¬_¬;; As I was SAYING, you can clone Kawari if you want ^_^. He IS such a fun little cool guy, ain't he? And as for the writing him into a fic idea...I don't mind ^_^ If/when you do, however, just let me know about it via email. Oh, and if you really are interested in writing him into a fic, I'd suggest waiting until Ch. 7 of NC...that's an almost entirely Kawari-based chapter, and you get lots of info about him then ^_~ Okay, I'll shut up now ^_^;;
Silver Fang ~ O_O You have an HCG Banner? I was unaware that such banners existed ^_^;; Well, anyway, I'm glad you agree with the name-problem being solved. And Kaeru would normally thank you for your concern with his destroying himself, but he's busy, so...*watches Kaeru dash by again, chasing madly after Bakura* Anyway....
Aibou ~ Bakura: *takes the moment to stop, as he's pretty far ahead of Kaeru* You know what? I think you're ALL against me! *rubs head, where it was dented in with the M. Rod* I'm serious! Beat up HCG, SHE wrote the fic, not ME!
Kaeru: *catches up to Bakura* ^_~ Dun worry, Aibou, I'll give him a few good whacks for ya!
HCG: ¬_¬;; *sarcastically* You'd never know they were the same person...*sighs* Anyway, Suma, thanks for using a healing spell on me, I needed it...oh, and you thought Ch. 4 was the best chapter? Well, I think you'll find Ch. 7 particularly interesting, then *evil grin*
Okay, that's all the individual notes. Now for the general notes. Well, it seems to me that my reviewers were divided over whether the new names were cool or confusing. Um..sorry to you who thought it was confusing...I didn't mean it o_O;; I've been using the names in my head since Shadow Turned Light Ch. 9 (I think) though, so I'm used to them....^_^;;
Oh, and as a side note--Hey, WSJ, the stuff I've been borrowing from you--the Elements--are finally coming into the story now! YAY for you! ^___^ Okay, so granted, it doesn't come in until the end, but still.....
Kaze: *sighs* Just do the disclaimer and get on with the story....
HCG: ^_^;; Right! Okay, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters. I also don't own the Seven Elements, as I'm calling them--those belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, and first come into play in her own excellent story, "All Saint's Night" and go on from there. Go read'em. As for all the Negative Realm plots and ideas, those are MINE, and I'd appreciate if you ASKED before using them. And Karma and Slash are mine too, but....well....now they've both disappeared o_O;; I'll find'em....I swear I will...I need my muses!
Kaiba: o_O You still have ME...
HCG: That's right. *clings to Kaiba* ^___^
Kaiba: -_-;; I HAD to talk, didn't I?
Okay, first, Names:
Kawari ~ NR Ryou
Kaeru ~ NR Bakura
Kaze ~ NR Kaiba
Yeah, I know, lots of K's, so sue me -_-;;
Notes:
/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami
//word// ~ Yami to Yugi
Okay, this chapter has a duel sequence in it. Now, I've done my best to write out an accurate duel, but bear in mind that I'm no expert in the game. Some cards may not be quite right, as I'm using the anime for my base mostly, and some cards the characters in question may not actually have--I'm improvising. I mean, come on, each character has nearly 40 cards in their deck, and there's NO WAY we've seen them all...I can improvise if I want ^_~ What I'm saying is, don't get mad at the duel if I've done something wrong--gimme a break, I'm not a game expert, I'm a lousy fanfiction author ^_^
Oh, and special thanks to Aibou--she helped me out with different cards to use for my particular needs for this duel ^_~ She's a good duelist, too, so she gave me some advice. And then beat the crud outta me in a duel -_-;; Anyway, thanks, Aibou!
Is that all? I think I'll just fill up this blank space with random words...la la la...*gets lots of stuff thrown at her by readers* Geeze, you people don't know how to take a joke...*limps off and starts story*
Negative Chaos
Chapter 5: Controller of the Realms
Nearly a half hour after their departure, the group of nine finally found themselves standing at the large glass doors leading into the large KaibaCorp. building. Out of habit, Yugi tilted his head backwards and stared at the enormous height of the skyscraper building, but the rest of his companions scurried past him and quickly pulled open the double doors, anxious to be off the street. Pulling his gaze away from the still-awe-inspiring sight, he followed his friends into the building.
Speedily, as they had planned, the group split into two seperate parties. They had decided earlier that it was probably not one of the best ideas to walk into KaibaCorp. with three sets of twins that had apparently not existed earlier, and had therefore split up their similar-looking beings so their nearly identical features would hopefully not be noticed by the workers within the building. Kaeru and Kawari, being yami and hikari, naturally branched off together into one group, Mokuba and Yami following them. Yugi and Ryou walked in the second group, trying to act casual, with Joey and Kaiba striding behind them--and Kaze, crouching behind the two tallest in the group so as not to be seen at all. Again, the group had come upon the conclusion that workers, seeing to Kaiba's, would be suspicious, and he could not use a "twin" excuse on his own employees.
Though there were quite a few stares in the direction of the two groups--owing, no doubt, to Kaiba's presence in such an odd assembly of people--they made their way through the lobby, for the most part without trouble. They reached the doorways to the stairs and wrenched them open quickly, wanting to get out of the way of so many uncomfortable glances. Oddly enough, the three Negative beings seemed to have mixed reactions to the stares; though they acted calm and cool, they looked rather nervous at so much scrutiny. On asking Kawari about the reaction, the Negative Ryou had replied with a hiss, "We're not used to it. If this many people are watching you in our Realm, it usually means you're about to die or be in serious pain a few seconds later." Yugi had shuddered at the response, and Ryou had given his opposite an odd stare, his gaze flickering unconsciously to Kaeru before snapping back stubbornly to it's original course. Nothing was said on the subject after that.
The long journey up the stairs was, for the most part, uneventful. They made it up a good twenty-five floors without trouble, chatting quietly amongst themselves over various topics. The conversation stopped, however, when each person heard the familiar trudging sound above them of a person coming down the steps towards them.
The group reacted almost instantly. Kaeru's and Yami's physical forms had faded out of existence before the person above had taken two steps; apparently, they were smart enough to make themselves scarce so as not to attract unwanted attention. However, while their problem was easily solved, Joey had noticed another that was far from gone.
"Oh, man!" he hissed, glancing from Kaiba to Kaze and back. "They're gonna see you two and we'll be caught!" Without thinking, his eyes scanned the surrounding area. All around them, there was nothing but stairwells. He frowned, but suddenly found his eyes focusing on a janitor's closet not two feet away.
The footsteps above were getting closer; the figure was about to start the turn in the curving stairwell that would bring them into view with the group. Without warning, Joey reacted, grabbing the closest version of Kaiba and ripping open the janitor's closet, shoving him inside. He slammed the door shut quickly and wheeled around, leaning against it as a sharp yell of angry surprise forced itself through, though muffled.
"Not bad," the remaining version of Kaiba muttered approvingly. Flame and shadow adorned; he was, Joey noticed, the Negative version. "Quick reaction, nice solution to the problem. You'd make a fair agent in the Opposition."
Though a little surprised at the compliment, the blonde teen suddenly realized that he had just shoved the True Realm Kaiba into the tiny closet. He bit his lip, not wanting to see how the entire situation would work out for him, though he could already guess it was most certainly not going to be good.
The figure coming down the steps was in view with them now. It was a woman, with blonde hair and a light colored dress, her arms wrapped around a stack of papers and muttering under her breath. She started in surprise as she saw the oddly-assembled group at the foot of the next flight of steps, looking at them strangely.
It was then that Yugi noticed. Kawari and Ryou, identical in everything but personality, were still standing in the middle of the group, neither having time to hide. He supposed it looked a little odd, when combined with the rest of the members of the group, but at least there weren't two other pairs of "twins" in the group as before.
Abruptly, the woman seemed to notice Kaiba--or at least the Negative version of him--standing in the middle of the group. Coming down the stairs quicker than she had before, she held out the papers, muttering in a rather relieved tone, "Oh, Mr. Kaiba! I have some important documents here for you to sign--they're concerning your latest Duel Disk System. They're very important, sir." She pushed through the group, getting closer to Kaze, apparently not wanting to miss her chance getting her workload signed and done with.
Kaze, meanwhile, looked a little surprised--or at least, what counted as "surprised" for him; his face looked as calm and cool as if it was carved from stone. Yugi noticed with a bit of curiosity that it was the words "duel disk" that had triggered the Negative's odd look; he wondered about it, confused, before he recalled that the Opposition Leader had never had a chance to build his holographic game systems. Obviously, hearing of something that didn't exist to him must have thrown him off track. However, he recovered quickly, saying easily, "Not now. I'll look over them later, when I have more time."
"But, sir--" the lady was looking quite annoyed now, and it showed in her voice.
"I believe I gave specific orders not to be disturbed," Kaze said, clearly and with an air of superiority. "I only left my office so as to run a quick errand for my brother." He indicated Mokuba with a quick flourish of his hand, and the young boy added to the lie by grinning cheerfully and coming to stand next to his "big brother."
The woman sighed, apparently realizing she was not going to get her way, but none too happy about it. "Very well, sir," she muttered, turning to head down the stairs in her original path. She stopped suddenly, however, as her eyes passed over Ryou and Kawari, standing calmly next to one another.
"You look very similar," she muttered, observing the two with flickering eyes. "Are you twins?" she asked suddenly.
Ryou and Kawari exchanged a quick glance. Neither thought very much of the woman's rather rude manner, but they were willing to play along with the idea she had come up with. Kawari spoke for the both of them. "Yeah, we're twins. Identical." He grinned quickly and added, "You'd think we were the same person, wouldn't you?"
The lady snorted. "I suppose," she mumbled again. "You look enough alike. I could have sworn I saw you outside a few minutes ago, however," she added, giving Kawari a glance. "Though wasn't your hair...well...different?"
Kawari caught on quickly. "Yeah, that was me," he said, absent-mindedly. "It spikes up a lot this time of year. Hair usually gets up, and it won't stay down--but I tamed it." He gave another wide grin. "Strange, isn't it?"
"Indeed," the woman sniffed, somewhat disdainfully. "In any case, I must be going." Without another word, she pushed past the remainder of the group and continued on down the stairs, muttering under her breath again.
Almost as soon as she had left, Kawari began hissing under his breath as well. "I do not look like Ba--Kaeru," he muttered, forgetting his yami's new name for the moment. "What makes her think that's me?"
"Well, you gotta admit," Joey said with a snicker, "when compared to our version of Ryou, you do look a lot meaner." He grinned again as Kawari shot him a rather annoyed look, but the white-haired Negative stayed silent, and so the blonde teen had no reason to continue.
Yugi, throughout the banter, had walked over to the janitor's closet and opened it. With a glare that should have struck Joey down where he stood with fire and daggers, a very irate Seto Kaiba trudged out of the tiny closet and stomped up the stairs. Joey, nevertheless, gulped silently and decided to stay a few feet behind the enraged CEO--just in case.
Seeing no other option, the rest of the group quickly followed the True Realm Kaiba, falling into new conversations as they moved. Kaze hastily caught up to his opposite counterpart, hoping to calm him down before any dispute came to pass between him and Joey. He succeeded, for the most part; he was intelligent enough to turn the conversation to the Duel Disk Systems the lady had talked of, and within moments the two of them were in a conversation only they could really comprehend.
Several more minutes passed uneventfully as the group trotted up the steps. They ran into no other employees on the stairwells, making their travel much easier. At last, after what seemed like ages, they reached their desired floor and stepped out into the hallways. With relieved grace, the group moved towards Kaiba's office, most wanting a chance to sit down and gather their thoughts and ideas together.
Still talking with Kaze, Kaiba slowly approached the doors to his office, his face entirely serious. He had been astounded to learn that Kaze had never had the chance to build his hologram projectors and card systems in the Negative Realm, though he had written out the plans for them. The Negative CEO, in turn, had been quite interested to learn that Kaiba had built holographic stadiums and Duel Disk Systems, and was in fact working on the third version of the latter playing tool. Interested, the True Seto had been about to ask his opposite a new question, pushing open the door to his office in the process...
...And stopped, staring with wide-eyed shock at the person sitting calmly at his office desk.
As with all Negative Realm beings, the figure looked exactly like his True Realm counterpart--tall, with blonde hair and deep brown eyes. His eyes, however, were harder, and looked more sorrow-filled, as though they had once seen better days, but could no longer find even the wisps of memories for them. His clothing, in contrast to the other Negative beings, was light-colored and looked almost friendly; for the most part it was made of different shades of blue, and consisting of a light jacket, tee-shirt, and casual jeans. Within an instant, it was easy to identify the figure sitting calmly in Kaiba's seat.
"'Ey, guys, what's up?" the Negative Joey asked easily, his eyes flickering over the two versions of Kaiba entering the room.
The True Realm CEO looked plainly startled, but recovered within moments. He strode forward, bristling angrily, and hissed, "What the hell do you think you're doing in my office, Wheeler?!"
The reaction from the blonde was most interesting. With perfect ease, Joey drew himself up and answered lazily, "Ah, shove off, Kaiba, you've got such a temper in this Realm." He grinned and looked over the enraged True Seto's shoulder at the Opposition leader, adding with a wink, "Ain't that right?" Kaze, in reply, chuckled.
Kaiba, meanwhile, was rather annoyed and a bit startled at the Negative blonde's reaction. He growled in his throat angrily, but said nothing, attempting to hold in his temper.
The opposite Joey stood up now, coming around the desk to meet the other entering figures. As both Kaeru and Kawari had done, he nodded respectfully in Kaze's direction, though did so in a more friendly and less formal manner, grinning all the while. His respects paid, he turned his attention the rest of the group.
The True Joey strode forward suddenly, staring at his Negative counterpart in surprise. After seeing the opposite versions of his friends, he supposed he should have been ready to see such a sight, but nevertheless he gawked slightly upon seeing himself facing him, identical down to the last fingerprint.
The Negative blonde, meanwhile, spoke. "Ah, so you're my True Realm self. Nice to meet ya; I've heard quite a bit about you from Yug' over there." He nodded in Yugi's direction, still smiling friendily. He didn't look startled or nervous about the occurrences at all; if anything, he seemed to be enjoying the strangeness of the situation.
Joey nodded in reply. "Yeah, nice to see you--or should I say me?--too." He broke into his own trademark grin, suddenly feeling as relaxed as his opposite looked.
The Negative, his greeting finished, moved onto observing the others. He nodded to Yugi again, still smiling cheerfully, and easily distinguished Kawari, of his own Realm, from Ryou, though he gave the True light a respectful nod as well. His glance froze momentarily on Mokuba, and his eyes flickered unconsciously to Kaze and back, yet he kept up his friendly act and said nothing, his surprise quickly diminishing.
Without warning, the room was filled with two more people as Kaeru and Yami exited their Items quickly--apparently, Kawari and Yugi had told them it was safe to come out. The Negative Joey identified Kaeru quickly, the two being good friends, but his eyes snapped into place on Yami, his grin slowly fading away into a frown.
The Pharaoh sighed, leaning back against the wall for a bit of support as he murmured, "Yugi...will you explain it? I'm getting a bit tired of repeating myself."
Yugi nodded slightly before turning to the opposite Joey. "Don't worry," he muttered quickly. "Yami's on our side here, like I told you back in your Realm. He won't attack anybody without good reason, and you are, without a doubt, safe around him."
"Right," the opposite nodded quickly, accepting the explanation without an argument. "It makes sense." His grin was replaced, and he glanced cheerfully at Yami, apparently already at ease towards the spirit. The Pharaoh was a bit shocked at the opposite Joey's supposed sudden faith, but he did not complain--he needed the trust, so as to prove to the Negative beings that he was, in fact, on their side.
Kaiba abruptly spoke once more, hissing his words slightly in his anger. "How in God's name did you get past all my security?"
The Negative being question laughed in reply. "No offense," he chuckled, staring Kaiba straight in the eye, "but your security is pathetic. I could sneak by them undetected, and I don't even have half the spy skills that we train our resources with."
The True CEO, his temper now rising, backed up a step. He growled again, softly, but said nothing, instead clenching his fist into a tight knot and digging his fingernails into his flesh.
Kaze, thankfully, broke the tension between the two of them before it could snap completely. He spoke to the Negative Joey quickly, saying calmly, "You need a temporary name."
"What do you mean?" the opposite asked, frowning.
"What I mean," the Blue Eyes said easily, "is that you need a replacement name, so we are not calling two identical people by the same thing. Myself, Ryou, and Bakura, each of us from the Negative Realm, already have new names. I'm going by Kaze, while Ryou is Kawari and Bakura is Kaeru."
"Replacement name, hmmm?" the Negative asked musingly. "That shouldn't be too hard to come up with. How about....Saguru?"
Kawari chuckled. "To spy? Just a little bit into the Opposition, aren't you?"
Kaze, speaking at the same time, muttered under his breath, "Ever the agent."
The newly-named Saguru widened his grin in reply. "Well, why not? You guys all have symbolic names, I might as well have one too." His grin slowly faded away, however, to become replaced by a serious look. "Have all of us from the Negative Realm been found?"
Kaeru nodded in reply. "All those that crossed over," he said slowly, "though as to why we're here, we've still no idea."
Yami made his entrance into the conversation slowly. "I think I may have an idea as to why you have been drawn into our Realm," he said slowly, thoughtfully.
"Really?" Kaeru asked, sounding slightly interested, but skeptical as well. It was apparent from the sound of his voice that his distrust towards Yami had not diminished by much yet. "And it would be...?"
"Hold on," Yugi interjected. "Wait up a second before you explain it, Yami."
"Why?" the Pharaoh spirit asked, curious.
"I wanted to call Tristen and Tea. They'd probably be able to help us out in a case like this, and I have the feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get."
"Indeed," Yami agreed, settling back against the wall.
After getting permission from a still rather angry-looking Kaiba, the young Hikari picked up the phone and dialed the numbers of his two currently absent friends. As he did so, his darker half observed the four Negative Realm beings scattered throughout the room. A few moments ago had been one of the rare times when they had shown surprise; at the mention of Tristen and Tea, they had looked rather shocked, though each and every one of them covered their emotion quickly and expertly. Yami reasoned that the cause was probably from the fact that Tristen had died in their Realm--he tried not to add that last words, at my hands, into his thoughts, but it didn't work very well--and that Tea had been hidden in Great Britain for the past year and a half without seeing any of the Opposition members once. There was no doubt as to why it had come as a shock...
Yugi returned to the rest of the group quickly, announcing that Tristen and Tea were both free, and would be arriving at the KaibaCorp. building in roughly a half hour. The rest of the group nodded in acceptance and quietly settled down to simple chatting, awaiting the arrival of their two missing companions so that they could turn to the task at hand that required the Realms' Balance.
Yugi found himself talking quietly to the four Negative Realm beings, Yami by his side and occasionally throwing in his own opinion. The young Hikari was pleased to see that the atmosphere between his yami and the other Realm teens was becoming less dangerous, and slowly was edging towards being friendly. Each was still wary of the other, but they were slowly beginning to admit to themselves that they were allies, not enemies.
The topic eventually came around to dueling. Kaze stayed unusually silent, his lips pressed together tightly and looking somewhat white. Kawari and Kaeru did not volunteer much information, but Yugi, Yami, and Saguru were talking in a whirlwind, discussing different cards and important trades they had made recently.
"I've even come up with a few winning strategies that have never let me down in my duels," the Negative Joey added, grinning brightly. "They're really effective, and I can usually dig a chunk out of my opponent's life points."
Kaiba, meanwhile, had stayed off to the side, sitting in his desk chair and fuming slowly. On overhearing the Negatives' conversation, something within him finally snapped. He stood up abruptly and walked over to the group in a flourish, growling all the while.
"You came up with a strategy, Wheeler?" he hissed, chuckling. "Now, that is as fine a joke as I've heard in a while. You wouldn't know a strategy if it hit you in the face and laughed, you idiotic canine."
Kaze had heard the entire thing, and was watching his opposite levelly. Very slowly, he opened his mouth and hissed, "Watch the insults."
Kaiba laughed. "Why should I?" he asked, glaring daggers at Saguru. "I see no reason, and he does deserve it."
The Opposition leader sighed. "A reason? Very well. I, for one, am rather disappointed to see myself reduced to insults in this Realm. I would think we were above that."
Kaiba growled deep in his throat, narrowing his eyes angrily. "Would that be a challenge?"
Kaze continued his level gaze towards his other half. "Take it however you wish. It is of no concern to me."
The True Seto hissed in anger, and without warning whipped his Duel Monsters deck out of his trench coat pocket. "Fine then," he growled. "I challenge you to a Duel."
The Blue Eyes grinned. "I would love to answer your challenge," he said evenly, his gaze never wavering. "However, I think you and I will find it impossible to fulfill."
"Why would you say that?" the True CEO asked mockingly. "Are you running away?"
"You think we are one to run so easily? Think again. I have my reasons. For one, I have no deck with which to face you--I sold every single card I ever owned in attempts to earn money for the Opposition." Kaiba looked vaguely shocked at hearing this, but Kaze continued without stopping. "For another, even if I had my full deck with me, we would never win against each other. Remember the Realm's limitations; you and I, being one and the same, cannot defeat each other no matter how hard we try."
Kaiba looked distinctly disappointed, but his Negative grinned. "I have, however, not finished," he added, his competitor's blood running now. "I have a new idea as to how to resolve this little dispute." He turned and motioned towards the Negative beings behind him, saying slowly, "within this group is one duelist that I have given much training to. Instead of myself dueling you, then, I can have this person duel as my representative--he will, therefore, have my skill level, or near to it, but at the same time he will have his own cards and a variety of original moves, thus making it a fair fight." He grinned, facing Kaiba glare for glare. "Would you accept this challenge, then?"
Smirking, the True Seto nodded. "Of course," he said easily, thumbing the cards in his deck as if already planning which ones to use. "Not as interesting as a duel against myself sounds, of course, but who am I to judge?" He eyed Kawari quickly, obviously expecting the white-haired teen to be the candidate to represent his Negative.
"Not interesting?" Kaze's grin, if possible, deepened, darkening at the same time. "Would you care to place a wager on the outcome of the duel, then?"
"Name it."
"Very well." His ice-blue eyes glittered, and both Yugi and Yami had the sense that Kaiba was being led deep into a trap that there was no backing out of. The Opposition leader continued, his voice calm. "If my representative wins, or even comes out to a tie against you, then you may not insult either version of Joey for the rest of my remainder in this Realm."
Kaiba's own eyes looked calculating for a second, but finally he nodded. "Fine. Why, exactly, would you place a bet on a tie, however?"
"It makes the match more interesting. Ties rarely happen, you understand. And I would doubt that one at skill levels such as ours would ever fall into such an ending to a duel, don't you agree?"
The True Seto grinned. "I do at that." He frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment before saying slowly, "If I win, however, you must give up your title as the leader of your Negative band and denote yourself to the level of the dog over there, again for the remainder of your time in our Realm." His fiendish grin widened, his gaze became harsh and cold.
Kaze did not bat an eyelid. He answered almost lazily, "Agreed."
Joey felt shocked as soon as the last of the word had died away. The entire conversation between the Negative and True versions of Kaiba had been startling. Even more baffling was the fact that the entire plan of the duel had started when Kaze had been defending Saguru against an insult. And the stakes on the duel...the blonde was shocked just thinking about them. If the mysterious representative won, Kaiba wouldn't be able to insult him the entire time the Negative beings were there. And if he lost....that, too, was surprising; Joey would never have thought that Kaiba of all people would agree to being constantly insulted for a friend. In all truth, this Negative Kaiba was downright creepy.
"If there are no more terms to be settled out, then," the Blue Eyes continued, "shall I call my representative forward for you to duel?"
Kaiba nodded, again eyeing Kawari. The white-haired teen grinned in reply and asked easily, "Did you think it was me? No, I might be an okay duelist, but it's definitely not my area."
"Then who...?" the CEO cut off abruptly as Kaze spoke again.
"Saguru, will you step forward?"
* * * * *
Roughly ten minutes later, the entire group of ten had left Kaiba's office, following the True Realm CEO down a few flights of stairs and past several doors and hallways. He walked quickly, eager to become engaged in a duel so as to humiliate Joey--in any Realm--again. With a dark smirk on his face, he reached a pair of steel doors and pushed them open, saying easily, "Our Dueling arena."
The group filed into the vast room quickly, staring in all directions as each person looked over the room. Joey, Yugi, and Yami recognized the room almost instantly; it was the same chamber that Yugi, then unknowingly combined with his ancient spirit guardian, had defeated Kaiba for the first time. The Dueling Arena still stood as well, it's high-held duelist compartments waiting quietly with their painted smirks across their fronts. The field the holograms would soon appear on was enormous, promising a spectacularly animated duel when the game began. Kaze, upon seeing the arena, nodded approvingly.
"Well," Kaiba said calmly, turning to face both his opposite and Saguru. "Shall we begin, then?"
Saguru was the one to reply. "Why not? I've never used one of these before, but I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly."
Seto just grinned. "Of course," he chuckled, his eyes glittering darkly. Joey cringed, reminded far too vividly of his first attempt at using the Duel Disk System; it had ended in failure on much the same terms. He had to admit, though, the Arenas were easier to use, and so hopefully his own Negative counterpart would adjust within a few minutes.
As Kaiba and Saguru headed off to their opposite dueling compartments, the rest of the group positioned themselves along the sides of the arena to watch. Yugi and Yami, as always, looked quite interested in the approaching duel, as did Ryou and Kaeru. Kawari seemed to look on the duel as little more than entertainment, and seemed almost bored. Mokuba looked confused and was constantly looking back and forth between his True and Negative brother, as if unsure of which one to root for. Kaze had positioned himself squarely in the middle of the sidelines, so as not to miss a thing, and he had his arms crossed confidently, the ghost of a grin forming on his face.
Joey, of all of the people in the group, was the most confused--even more so than Mokuba. He stared at Kaze with a baffled frown before striding over to stand next to him, asking slowly, "Why are you doing this? Putting up so many risks for yourself, I mean?"
"Why?" Kaze repeated slowly, his gaze sliding from the Arena to the figure addressing him. "There are two reasons. For one, I could not consider myself a friend of yours--in either Realm--if I stood by and let such insults pass. I am always ready to defend my friends, and for this, I am willing to wager a duel against anyone, even myself. As for the risks involved," he added, watching Joey's perplexed frown deepen, "if you mean by that the fact that I am throwing my leadership and title on the line...both Saguru and I know that if we cannot defeat anyone for such a just cause that we are fighting for, then we very well deserve the place of insults." His gaze turned back to the Arena, but he continued speaking. "Would that, perhaps, answer your question?"
"Yeah," Joey murmured, taking a step back and slowly walking to join Yugi and Yami. "Yeah, it does." He only felt more confused than he had been to begin with, though. Kaze was a confusing and somewhat creepy person, indeed.
Meanwhile, Kaiba and Saguru had stepped into their respective dueling compartments, and were being raised slightly into the air by the metal supports underneath their feet. The posts at each corner of the arena shimmered and lit up, signifying that the equipment was ready for use.
"Ready to begin?" Kaiba asked coolly, shuffling his deck with ease.
"You bet." Saguru, across from him, had finished shuffling his own deck, and had set the cards down in their place quickly.
"Then let's duel." The CEO drew five cards quickly, watching his opponent as he did the same. The Life Point scoreboard suspended over the center of the Arena lit up, giving both players their 4000 points.
"Since it's my turn," Kaiba began, "I think I'll start by placing one monster card down, in attack mode. The Hitotsu-Me Giant." With a soft sound, he placed the card down on the Field board in front of him, ignoring the small flash of light as the machinery read the information of the card and registered it.
With a roar, the Field in front of Kaiba lit up, sending light blasting in all directions as a hologram rose from the ground. A well-muscled creature, green in skin color, stood in the place of the brightness a few moments later. It bared it's long claws and growled, it's one, large, bloodshot eye roaming the playing field across from it, as though searching for it's opponent. Off to the side, a mini-hologram of the statistics of the monster appeared for a few seconds, showing the creature's rather small attack of 1200 and defense of 1000.
Saguru looked a little surprised at the realistic appearance of the monster, but held his ground and quickly recovered. "Hitotsu-Me Giant, hmm?" he asked, drawing a card as he spoke. "Well, in that case, I'll play my Kojikocy card, also in attack mode."
His side of the Arena lit up as well, and a large, full-bearded man rose from the paneling of the machinery. It was dressed in ancient looking armor, bearing a scimitar and looking as though it could use it well, from the size of it's muscles. It's statis board showed it's attack to be 1500.
Saguru grinned and continued. "Kojikocy, attack the Giant now."
Bellowing a war cry, the holographic man-hunter leaped forward, swinging his scimitar in a rush. The Hitotsu-Me Giant screamed in pain as the sword was drawn across it, and within moments it had disintegrated, it's hologram fading away. Up on the scoreboard, Kaiba's 4000 Life Points retreated to 3700.
"Not bad," Kaiba said calmly, though his dark smirk remained as he drew a new card of his own. "However, I believe I have a monster to match yours." He grinned, placing the new monster card down onto the playing board. "Battle Ox, attack mode! Show his Kojikocy who the real blade master is!"
Another animal roar resounded throughout the chamber as the new creature was formed from the holographic emitters around the stadium. A half-bull creature soon became visible, it's brown-furred, humanoid arms clutched tightly around a wicked-looking single-sided axe. Red and golden armor covered the creature's upper body, it's helmet extended so as to cover the dangerous, pointed horns producing from the sides of it's head. The counter at it's side proved it's dominance over it's opponent, it's attack standing at 1700 attack points. With another beast's roar, it stomped forward, it's hooved feet looking as though they would crash through the Arena floor paneling. With a mighty swing of it's axe, it cleaved the man-hunter across from it neatly in two, growling it's victory to the air as it's opponent yelled and disappeared. Kaiba watched with satisfaction as Joey's Life Points changed from 4000 to 3800. "Your move, Saguru."
The Negative Joey sighed and looked over his hand. He had no useful monsters with which to attack; all but one needed a sacrifice before they could be put into play. His magic and trap cards, too, would be of no use in the current situation. He sighed and drew a new card quickly before making his move.
"I play the Swordsman of Landstar--in defense mode." He placed the card down on the field in it's sideways position, watching it appear in front of him in another giant flash of light. The creature hardly looked threatening; if anything, it looked more like a child's plaything, with it's little grin plastered over it's face. As soon as it appeared, it sank to one knee, placed it's little sword in a sheath on it's back, and held both of it's arms, crossed, in front of him. The statis screen hovering next to him showed his defense to be relatively decent at 1200 points.
"That's it?" Kaiba asked skeptically, chuckling. "Really, hardly into the game and you're already running like a scared little puppy." He watched the Negative blonde intently for a reaction; unfortunately for him, he found none. Saguru watched him just as calmly as he had before, the insult seeming not to even reach his ears.
"You'd be surprised, Kaiba," the opposite Joey said calmly. "I haven't even begun to show you my little tricks. Trust me, I'm not about to loose."
On the sidelines, his True self nodded in fierce agreement. "That's it!" he encouraged his counterpart, grinning. "You tell'im! Just trust your Deck and believe in the Heart of the Cards, and you're bound to win!"
"I wouldn't waste your breath, if I was you," Kaze said calmly, giving the True Joey a quick glance. "He doesn't believe in the Heart."
The blonde looked startled. "He doesn't?" he yelped, staring with new understanding towards his other self.
"Not at all," the Blue Eyes said calmly in reply, his eyes returning to focus on the two holographic monsters in front of them. "Actually," he added as an afterthought, "I personally find this duel quite interesting. A duel between two top rank duelists, neither of which believes in the Heart of the Cards."
"I still can't believe it," Joey murmured, still surprised. "Not believing in the Heart...why not?"
"He is your opposite," Kaze said calmly, still focusing on the monsters. "What you believe in he may not, necessarily."
The True blonde nodded, sighing. "Right," he muttered. He turned as if to look over the duel once more; however, a thought suddenly struck him. "Wait a minute," he said suddenly, turning to face Kaze again. "If Kaiba doesn't believe in the Heart of the Cards either, and you're his opposite...then you do?"
"Exactly." The response was cool and precise.
Joey was stunned, and to cover his surprise he hastily turned back to watching the duel. Kaiba, a believer in the Heart? No way...
Meanwhile, back within the duel, it was Kaiba's turn. "Very well, if you cannot summon a monster that can withstand my Deck's awesome power, I will just have to show you how it's done." He drew a card and grinned at it's face. "This will do. I summon the Skull Red Bird in attack mode!"
With a haunting shriek, the Arena erupted into another burst of light, giving birth to it's latest monster. A large, stunningly beautiful bird rose from the brightness, spreading it's wings wide and flapping them to stay in air. It was a deep, blood red in color, a fiery plume of feathers producing from it's head and just barely revealing glowing red pupils. A spiked collar wrapped the creature's neck, and it's talons looked as sharp as the metal. It's enormous wings hardly concealed the long dagger-points of the weapons stored within the reddish feathers, and it was easy to see why it's attack reading stood at 1550.
"Skull Red Bird," Kaiba hissed easily, sounding almost bored. "Attack!"
With another haunting sound, almost a melody, the bird swooped forward. It's wings spread wide, and a hail of knives sliced outward, cutting the air with an almost singing sound and slicing the Swordsman of Landstar into pieces within seconds. It's attack finished, it flashed backward and landed with perfect grace on a skull that rested on the Arena paneling, a skull that had not been there only a few minutes earlier.
"And I think," Kaiba said calmly, eyeing his Battle Ox, "that I will hold off my second attack until later. I really do wish to have a bit more fun in this duel, don't you?" He grinned maliciously, a dark look that had sent many a duelist shivering in their compartments.
Saguru ignored it. Instead, he began his turn, glancing over the two monsters Kaiba had set out carefully. He's trying to summon a creature, he noticed almost instantly. And a big one at that. He could have demolished my Swordsman with just his Battle Ox, but he brought out another creature as well. And since he hasn't tried a second attack, it's obvious he wasn't planning on reaching my Life Points just yet. That only leaves one other option for his moves--Tribute.
With a small frown, he moved to draw another card from his deck. At first, he felt anger--the new card wasn't a monster--but then, abruptly, he grinned. A trap card, and a good one at that. A plan began to form in his mind, and he fought the grin off his face quickly. Can't let him know too early. Play it right, man.
"I play one card face down," he said slowly, taking his newest draw and placing it within the Magic and Trap zone. "And that will end my turn."
"Not even a monster?" his opponent asked, laughing. "What a fool. Now you will see the reason you should have played smarter, Saguru." His grin widened, his laugh became harsher. "I sacrifice my Battle Ox and Skull Red Bird to draw upon another monster!" He tore the two monster cards off the field, tossing them carelessly into his Graveyard. The holograms in front of him reacted just as suddenly; the Battle Ox bent over and bellowed in angry pain, while the Skull Red Bird twisted it's wings back and shrieked in mournful agony. Both became enveloped in pockets of light, which in turn twisted together and swirled in hundreds of colors, forming a Tribute Gateway. Kaiba's laughter increased. "I call upon the mythical, powerful, and indestructible beast--the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
A monstrous roar shook the walls of the chamber, and the group on the side of the Arena hastily covered their ears against the noise. With another almighty roar, a lizard-like creature began to claw it's way out of the Tribute Gateway. It was impossibly huge, it's armored scales shining in an amazingly pure white color, the blue highlights flickering on it's hard sides. With claws nearly six inches long, it raked defiantly at the air, it's long tail whipping about the Arena in a frenzied manner. Huge, swept-back armored wings unfolded and furled around it, too big for the Arena alone to hold. It's head, the most terrifying thing about it, rose on it's serpentine neck and snapped it's toothy jaws at the air, and the attack readings next to it, at 3000 points, seemed tiny beside the creature.
Kaiba's grin widened, and the order he gave was a sharp hiss. "Blue Eyes! Demolish his Life Points with your White Lightning!"
The holographic dragon reared back on it's haunches, snapping it's head high as a crackling ball of pure light formed between it's jaws. When the energy became too much for the creature's mouth alone to hold, it shoved it's head forward, preparing to expel the energy from it's mouth.
"Did you really think I hadn't seen that coming?" Saguru asked skeptically, frowning. "Really, a move as obvious as your last one was a clear warning for me. I prepared for it." He reached for his face-down card, flipping it over and yelling over the roar of the dragon, "I activate Trap Hole!"
Kaiba's eyes widened in pure shock as he watched his dragon scream in sudden terror and fall into the deep pit beneath it's feet. The charged White Lighting attack was shot off course, exploding upwards and out of harm's way; the dragon, meanwhile, lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hole, already out of play.
"No!" The True CEO hissed angrily. "My dragon! You're going to pay for that, Wheeler!"
"Sure thing, Kaiba," the blonde muttered calmly back. "In the meantime, it's my turn again." He reached for his deck and drew, grinning as he saw the image on the card. A monster, and one that could be used at that. "I summon my Alligator Sword!" he yelled, slamming the card down into place.
The Arena's holographic emitters shimmered, and with a reptilian growl, a new monster came into being on the field. It looked much like a lizard or an alligator, with green scales and a yellow underbelly, along with a huge set of powerful jaws. Black and red armor adorned the creature, and within it's clawed hands it clutched a twisted sword. It's tail swished behind it's attack statis chart, showing it's fair 1500 points as it moved.
Saguru grinned triumphantly as he stared across at his opponent. "And since your Life Points are completely unprotected, I'm going to directly attack them." His voice rose as he ordered his creature. "Alligator Sword! Move in for the kill!"
The armored reptilian in front of him hissed it's victory and slid forward with animal grace. With perfect aim, it slashed outward with it's sword, attacking the air just in front of Kaiba's dueling compartment. The little cart-like area rocked back on it's support, throwing Kaiba slightly off-balance as the Alligator Sword finished it's attack and retreated, standing back on it's side of the field. Growling, the CEO watched his Life Points dwindle from 3700 to 2200--almost half gone already.
"You little..." he hissed, enraged. "You are going to wish you'd never decided to duel with Seto Kaiba!" His face burning in both anger and humiliation, he slammed his hand down and drew his next card. His face abruptly lit up as he viewed the image on the front of the card, and his dark grin returned. "What a useful monster," he muttered slowly. "I play La Jinn, Mystical Genie of the Lamp, in attack mode."
The lights in the holographic stadium flickered before bringing a new creature onto the field in a wisp of smoke. It rose high into the air, the wisps solidifying and taking on a greenish hue. Within seconds, it had formed the torso, arms, and head of what looked like a very muscular man, though from the waist down it still consisted of a thin trail of smoke. Golden arm bands, earrings, and wrist bands could be seen adorning it's figure, while another golden choker-like object encircled it's neck. An Asian-looking face and mustache were easily seen, as well as a small, blue-and-red circular head garment. It folded it's arms over it's chest and chuckled, it's 1800 attack points shown in it's full defiant look.
"And I order my Genie to attack your Alligator Sword!" Kaiba finished, his anger plain on his face. The Genie bowed slowly to it's master before turning, holding out it's hands and allowing a glowing orb of bluish-black light to accumulate there. Within a few seconds, the light seemed to leap from it's hands, smashing into the Alligator Sword with force. The creature was thrown backwards violently before screaming and fading away, bringing Saguru's Life Points down to 3500.
The Negative version of Joey didn't bat an eyelid. "My turn," he said simply, drawing a new card. Baby Dragon. He didn't have the Time Wizard to combine it with, meaning that he would have to play the monster without any combos, as it was his only defense. "I'll play Baby Dragon, in Defense mode."
The little creature sprang up in a tiny ball of light onto the field. Had it been older, it would have looked almost dangerous, but with it's size and stubby arms, legs, tail, and head, it looked more cute than anything else. It gave a tiny growl that sounded half like a squeak and spread it's babyish wings, looking for all the world like it wanted to fight the La Jinn in front of it instead of staying in it's small, 700 point Defense mode.
"Is that it?" Kaiba asked, looking over the Baby Dragon with distaste. "My turn, then." He drew another card, placing it in his hand before taking a second. "I'll place this card face down," he said calmly, setting one card down in the Magic and Trap zone. "After that," he added, "I'll have my La Jinn attack you again."
As before, the green-hued Genie raised it's massive arms and held them outward, allowing the blue-black light to form. Without warning it shot out, cannoning into the Baby Dragon and sending the creature spinning backwards with a painful squeak before disappearing completely.
The True Realm CEO grinned darkly. "Your turn," he said in an annoying, almost sing-song voice, tapping his finger impatiently.
Saguru growled softly as he drew his next card. He glanced over it quickly and sighed in relief; another monster card that could be used. He looked over the rest of his hand and carefully organized his next move.
"I'll play a card face down as well," he said evenly, placing one of his cards within the Magic and Trap zone, much like Kaiba had done. He continued announcing his turn without pause. "Next, I'll play a monster card in attack mode...Armored Lizard!"
With a screeching roar, the new monster appeared, rising out of the Arena paneling. It was made almost entirely out of metal, though it had a serpentine look to it that gave it a feeling of grace. Only it's throat was bare skin, while the rest of it was covered in hard metal plates. It stood tall, boasting it's 1500 attack points with a roar.
"And finally," the Negative Joey said calmly, "I'll play this magic card...Shield and Sword!"
The two monsters on the field began to flicker as the holographic projectors switched their statis charts. The Armored Lizard's attack dropped to 1200, it's original Defense points, but La Jinn's attack dropped further, falling to a worthless 1000, it's own once-defense level.
"Now," Saguru hissed loudly, "Armored Lizard! Attack!"
The creature streaked forward with a screech of metal on metal as it's armor scratched against itself. It opened it's jaws wide and stretched out it's front claws, moving to slice La Jinn in two.
"Not so fast," Kaiba murmured easily. "I activate my Trap Card...Castle Walls."
"What?!" Saguru yelped in surprise, recoiling slightly in his duelist's compartment.
"Exactly," the CEO said, grinning. "It increases the Defense Points of my monster for one turn when activated. As my monster's current attack is actually it's defense measurement, I believe I have just risen my monster's level above that of yours." He grinned, watching in amusement as his Genie grasped the Armored Lizard by the neck and slammed it down into the Arena floor, causing it do disintegrate within moments. Along with it went 300 of the Negative blonde's Life Points, bringing his score to a total of 3200.
"No...." Saguru groaned softly to himself. He quickly recovered, however, and stood up straighter, muttering, "Your move, Kaiba."
The True Seto grinned again. "Of course." He watched the attack readings of his monster return to normal before he drew a new card, glanced at it, and spoke again. "I'll lay another card face down on the field," he murmured easily, following through with his action. "And I'll place one hidden monster in defense mode." He surveyed the Arena for a moment before hissing calmly, "I don't think I'll attack you, however. Though you destroyed my first Blue Eyes because I did the same thing, I'm still interested in keeping you alive in this duel a bit longer." His dark smile told those watching that he intended to make Saguru feel humiliated throughout the remainder of the duel, as well.
Saguru frowned. "If you're done then, I'll move," he said evenly. Kaiba nodded, and the Negative across from him drew a new card, glancing at it. Another monster; he seemed to be drawing quite a few of them lately. It's stats would fit his needs perfectly, he noted, as he ran over the cards in his hand again.
"I'll place Uraby in attack mode," he began, slapping the card down on the Field board with a flourish. In a blast of light, the next monster made it's appearance, it's hissing growl the first thing to come into existence. It looked much like a velociraptor, though the gigantic toe-claw on the ancient creature was missing, instead replaced by three regular-sized claws--though each was as sharp as a knife. It was a deep, rich brown in color, with dark black stripes slashing up and down it's arms, legs, back, and tail. Long, jagged teeth filled it's large jaws, and it's small, ruby-red eyes contained pupils much like slits. It's 1500 attack points, shown on the reading next to it, fit it well; it looked dangerous and speedy at the same time.
"In addition," Saguru continued, "I'll activate my Trap card." He flipped the purple-colored card, revealing an illustration of several armored men charging into battle. "Reinforcements," he said calmly, reading the title of the card. "It raises my monster's attack points by 500 when I activate it for one turn--that brings my Uraby up to 2000 attack points, just enough to demolish your La Jinn." A ghost of a smile past over his lips before he gave the command. "Uraby, attack his Genie!"
With a beast's angry roar, the velociraptor leaped forward, slashing outwards with it's sharp claws and cutting through the La Jinn's smoke-like form in a flourish. The Genie yelled out in pain before rearing backwards and disappearing, finally defeated. On the scoreboard overhead, Kaiba's Life Points dropped to 2000, leaving him only 1200 points behind his opponent.
Kaiba only grinned. "Not bad," he said evenly, "But here the duel ends." Seeing Saguru's questioning look, he laughed. "Allow me to unfold my own turn," he said evenly, drawing. He placed the card in his hand and continued. "First," he said slowly, "I switch Saggi the Dark Clown to attack mode." The previously unknown monster was suddenly revealed, showing a darkly-dressed clown in strange-looking clothes and with it's face painted with unusual shapes. It's attack stats read at a low 600 points, though it didn't seem that it would be using them.
"Next," Kaiba continued, "I'll activate my Trap card, Ultimate Offering." He flipped the card over, showing a rather unusual image of one monster forming out of the side of a second's head. "With this card, once I pay 500 Life Points per monster, I can give myself an extra Normal Summon. I think I'll use it now and save my given Summon for later." He grinned and watched as his Life Points dwindled down to 1500 before taking a monster from his hand and placing it on the field. "Mystic Horseman, in attack mode!"
Another monster rose out over the field, it's form like that from a myth. Standing at 1300 attack points, the creature looked much like a centaur, though it's skin had a dark hue, and the horse section's fur was a deep brown. In one hand, the creature bore a long-handled, double-bladed axe. It pawed at the Arena floor in anticipation, as though getting ready.
Saguru already knew what was coming. Oh, man, he hissed to himself. Neither monster can actually defeat my Uraby....but since he's been saving his given Summon, then that means...
Kaiba grinned as he saw his opponent work out what was about to happen. "I sacrifice my Mystic Horseman and Saggi the Dark Clown to summon my second Blue Eyes White Dragon."
As with before, both monsters on the field screamed in agony as they were absorbed to pay for a much larger creature. The Dark Clown gave one of it's demented shrieks of pain, curling in on itself, while the Mystic Horseman bucked and kicked frantically. Without warning, they were both enveloped by light, and within seconds a Tribute Gateway had been opened once more. Roaring defiantly, the second Blue Eyes clawed it's way out of the Gateway, identical to the first down to the last gleaming white scales and sharpened claws.
"There is no escaping this time, Saguru," Kaiba hissed angrily, as his dragon roared it's agreement. "You have no Traps to hide behind this time." His dark smile widened slightly. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack his Uraby with White Lighting!"
With an almighty roar, the Blue Eyes lurched it's head back, charging up the pure light energy in fiendish glee. When the attack was at it's fullest, the creature's head lowered, and the energy exploded outwards in a rush. The Uraby was enveloped fully by the attack, and did not even have the chance to cry out in pain before it was completely out of sight. When the attack faded away, the dinosaur Monster was completely gone, evaporated, and Saguru's Life Points had retreated to a scarce 1700.
"Your turn," Kaiba hissed, still laughing. "See if you can worm your way out of this one, you canine."
Saguru didn't allow the insult to anger him, but rather turned to his Deck. He took a deep breath and drew his final card, hoping desperately that it was something that could help him.
At first, he was disappointed. It wasn't a monster card that he had drawn, and he was sure that it was the end of the duel for him. However, within a few moments he was studying his newly drawn card closely. He glanced between it and a card already in his hand before observing his opponent's Life Points closely. Maybe...maybe it would work.
"First," he announced slowly, "I'll place this card face down." The card was slipped into the Magic and Trap zone quickly, and he continued. "Then I'll play this Magic card, Ookazi!"
Without warning, a rumble resounded around the Arena, and in the next instant holographic flames seemed to appear out of nowhere. They burned the air just in front of Kaiba's dueling compartment, and the CEO felt the pressure of a Direct Attack on his Life Points.
"Ookazi?" He hissed, questioning.
Saguru nodded. "It takes 800 points directly from your Life Points in a Direct Attack." He indicated the scoreboard, where Kaiba's Life Points had dropped to a scarce 700. "And that will end my turn."
The True Seto laughed. "Not bad, lowering my Life so far, but you should have known it wouldn't have gotten you anywhere in the end." He grinned broadly. "You've left yourself open to a Direct Attack, you fool! But mistakes don't go unpunished by me," he hissed, his icy eyes glittering darkly. "Now you'll pay for it. Blue Eyes, attack his Life Points directly!"
With another resounding roar, the Blue Eyes complied, charging up it's pure light attack. With a quick snap of it's serpentine neck, it discharged the energy, sending it exploding into Saguru's dueling compartment and making him rock back on his feet.
"You see?" Kaiba asked, his dark grin still in place. "You couldn't defeat me. I just reduced your Life Points to zero in a single blast."
"True, you did, Kaiba," the Negative Joey said easily. "However..." his hands moved casually to the card he had placed face-down. "Did you forget about this?"
The CEO frowned. "What is it?"
Saguru's grin could have matched Kaiba's, the way it was plastered across his face. "It's called 'Attack and Receive.' When an opponent Directly attacks my Life Points, this Trap card in turn does 700 Direct Damage to my opponent's Life Points. And guess how many Life Points you have, Kaiba?"
The True Seto stared in shock at the scoreboard. "S-seven hundred..." he was still staring in shock as his own Life Points dwindled down to zero as well.
"Exactly."
The others on the sidelines could not hide their own surprise as well. They all observed the scoreboard for what seemed like ages, unable to believe the spectacular duel they had just seen.
Saguru and Kaiba had come down to an exact tie.
* * * * *
The group had returned in silence to Kaiba's office, absolutely nobody speaking, but each with thoughts spinning as fast as lightning. Once they reached the office, however, voices began to break loose.
"I don't believe it!" Joey yelled, still in shock, as he confronted his Negative self. "You actually came into a tie with Kaiba! A tie! That's next to impossible!"
"Not really," his opposite counterpart replied, though the ghost of a grin passed over his face. His serious composure remained, however, despite the chatter that was whirling around him.
Yugi and Yami quickly approached the blonde pair. "That," the ancient spirit said calmly, "was an excellent duel. I have seen few more interesting."
"Thanks, but it's really not that important," Saguru replied simply. Yugi and Joey stared at him as if he was mad, but he ignored them easily.
Kaze, meanwhile, was standing off to the side, talking quietly to Kaiba. "So then, you agree to hold to your end of the wager?"
Kaiba sighed. "Of course," he muttered. He still looked a little angry, but covered it without too much trouble. "That was one of my more humiliating defeats, but I'm a man of my word, and I made the wager fair and square." He sighed before continuing. "For the rest of your remainder in our Realm, I will not insult either version of Joey."
The Opposition leader nodded. "Thank you," he said, his voice easy. Almost as if trying to reassure the CEO, he added, "You really were at a small disadvantage against him. He knew all of your cards and some of your strategies because I trained him; you, however, did not have the same kind of information."
"A duel is a duel," Kaiba replied, somewhat stubbornly. Kaze let the matter rest, turning instead to face the rest of the group. Mokuba in particular caught his attention; his brother, albeit his in another Realm, still looked confused. The Blue Eyes could see easily enough why; on one hand, Mokuba's brother had won, but on the other he had lost. He grinned slightly before moving to sit down in the over-stuffed chair he had occupied earlier.
Quite suddenly, there came a knock at the door. Kawari opened it quickly, and Tristen and Tea stepped through into the now-full office.
"Hey, guys--" Tea began cheerfully, but stopped as she stared at the doubled Joeys, Kaibas, and Ryous, along with the kinder-looking Bakura.
"What is going on here?" Tristen yelped in surprise, focusing on his best friend in particular--or rather, the two versions of him.
"Long story, Tristen," Joey replied, chuckling. "You remember Yugi's story about his travels to the Negative Realm?" Both Tristen and Tea nodded, and he continued. "These guys came through from the Negative Realm to our own Realm. As a result, we've got doubles of the same person."
"I...see..." it was Tea who spoke; though she clearly understood the explanation, she still looked a little surprised, and was looking at Ryou and Kawari in her shock.
"But why are they here?" Tristen asked, curious.
"That," Kaeru said slowly, "was what Yami was about to explain to us."
The Pharaoh nodded. "Right." After a few quick introductions to the Negative Realm beings and their new names, Yami began his explanation.
"I believe the four of you were brought here because of the Realms' Balance. This was a theory that I thought up after Yugi had returned from your Realm on his own adventure. I believe that, when one particular Realm cannot take care of itself on it's own, the Realms' Balance is put into play, and other beings from other Realms--usually the needy Realm's reflection--will come to aid the Realm in repairing itself." At the Negative beings' nods, he continued. "It seems to make sense in Yugi's case. Your Realm could not help itself against the dangers it faced--a magic user taking too much power and control--and so a person from the outside was called in to help." He thought for a second before continuing. "In addition," he said slowly, "I believe that this Realms' Balance will only call in those that it needs to help other Realms. This could very well explain why I was not taken into your Negative Realm with Yugi--I wasn't needed, and Yugi could solve the problem on his own."
Kaze nodded, a musing look on his face. "It makes logical sense," he said, after a few second's pause. "Nature is constantly trying to balance itself out, and I don't see how Realms would be any different."
"But if this is the case," Kaeru broke in, "then what is the cause for the Realms' Balance here? Have you found it yet?"
Yami frowned slowly, giving Yugi and Kaiba quick glances before speaking. "I'm almost positive I know the answer to that question." When no one objected, he continued speaking. "The other night, we had problems with the Shadow Realm. A monster was released from the Shadow Realm without the direction of a Millennium Item user, and it nearly killed my Aibou and Kaiba before I managed to stop it. At the same time, it temporarily blocked me out of the Millennium Puzzle. As a result, I believe the magic in the Shadow Realm has become to great for it to contain, and that it is overflowing to try and spread out some of it's power."
Kaeru looked instantly concerned. "If it's that big a problem, there's no wonder we were brought over." He sighed momentarily, looking around at the large group before voicing his thoughts. "If the Shadow Realm's magic is overflowing, then we'll have to seal up the cracks the magic is getting through, and find some way to filter the magic so it won't build up in the future."
Yami nodded. "Very true. Unfortunately, there is a problem with that. I have no idea as to how to accomplish such a thing."
Silence dominated the room quite suddenly, and each person retreated into his or her own thoughts. However, without warning Kaze suddenly grabbed Yugi's wrist, asking slowly, "Was there a voice that spoke to you when you traveled through those Realm gateways?"
Yugi frowned momentarily before nodding slowly. "Yeah, there was. Why?"
"I think I heard it as well." Kaze's forehead creased in concentration as he murmured slowly, "It gave me a sentence of some sort and told me to remember it. It was...it was...ah, I remember now. 'Search for the Seven Leaders of the Realms.'"
Mokuba piped up from his silence. "The Seven Leaders of the Realms? What's that supposed to mean?"
Saguru, however, broke in suddenly. "Wait! I think that voice said something similar to me...except mine was worded differently. I think it was...I think it was, 'Gather the Seven Scrolls of Control.'"
Yugi spoke quickly. "It must be a warning, or a clue," he said, thinking out loud. "That voice, whatever it is, never lies, and never speaks without reason."
Tea volunteered her idea. "What if they're the same thing? What if the Seven Leaders of the Realms are also the Seven Scrolls of Control?"
"Seven Realm Scrolls of Control," Joey repeated, tying the two sentences together. "Kinda catchy, but has anybody ever heard of them?"
Kaze opened his mouth to speak, but abruptly his mouth went slack and his eyes glazed over. He looked as though his mind had been brushed gently aside to make way for another, though of course such a thing would have been impossible.
He began to speak, slowly and clearly, though his words were strange; though they were obviously Egyptian, each member in the room could understand it perfectly in Japanese. His tone had changed, too, and he sounded more dignified, almost ancient--much like Yami. "Seven Masters of the Realms, created for the good of all, and for the destruction of all. Each forged of the raw Elements that created the Realms; each with it's own unique powers. Desire, War, Passion, Hatred, Fate, Death, and Time. Alone, each has power unimaginable. Together, each has power invincible. So the records say, so it shall be."
Each member in the group stared at him in shock, with the exception of the Negative beings. Kaze did not seem to notice them; however, rather, he seemed to be just coming around, as though he were waking up. He blinked quickly, sitting up straighter, and looked around, mumbling, "What?"
Kaeru chuckled. "Don't act so surprised, Kaze."
The Blue Eyes frowned momentarily before cursing. "Dammit, I did it again, didn't I?"
Kaeru nodded, still grinning. "Indeed you did." Kawari and Saguru were now sharing his grin, acting as if the entire occurrence was all one big joke.
Kaze, however, found it far from entertaining. He began mumbling slowly under his breath, hissing things in a rather angry fashion, and muttering to Kaiba that he was lucky he didn't have to deal "with this."
Yami looked a bit confused, yet he seemed to be grasping what had just happened slowly. He opened his mouth to ask Kaze about what had just happened, but Kaeru elbowed him roughly in the ribs, hissing, "Don't push him into thinking about it. He'll turn into a loose cannon if you mention it right now. Not fun, believe me." Yami sighed in exasperation, but nodded, not wanting to pass up the Negative's advice.
Yugi, meanwhile, had started up a new conversation. "What was that whole statement about, Kaze?" he asked slowly.
"I'm...not sure," the Blue Eyes muttered, looking down at the floor.
Kawari snickered. "That would be because he can't remember a damn thing he just said," he chuckled, smirking. Kaze gave him a rather flat, dry look, which Kawari steadfastly ignored.
Kaeru, however, had seemed to understand. He turned to Yami quickly, hissing, "The legends. Do you remember them?"
The pharaoh nodded carefully. "I do." He carefully gathered his thoughts together before explaining to the entire group. "Thousands of years before Kaeru or I even existed, seven all-powerful items were supposedly created, which in turn created the Realms. They were hundreds upon hundreds of times more powerful than the Millennium Items, but were hidden away for reasons that mere mortals, or even immortal Earthly spirits such as myself and Kaeru, could not understand. They have not been found since, or at least so the records say."
Kaeru picked up the story. "The Scrolls, these seven all-powerful items, are said to have powerful spells written within them, which have long since been lost. They could, however, change the way of existence, which may have been the reason that they were hidden away by higher beings. If such messages as we heard were relayed to Kaze and Saguru, then it is probably safe to say we are supposed to find the Scrolls and use one of their spells to fix the Shadow Realm."
"The problem," Yami concluded, "is that we don't know where the Scrolls are."
This rather unfortunate remark set the room into silence once more, with most of the members of the group fidgeting uncomfortably in the quiet.
Without warning Kawari shot straight up, standing in a rigid position and eyes wide. "I can't believe I didn't remember!"
Kaeru frowned. "Remember what?"
His hikari explained quickly. "That weird voice spoke to me as well when we went through the Realm Gate. It told me it was giving me a clue, and advised me to follow it to what I was to search for. It's a long verse, though." He frowned for a minute to recollect his thoughts carefully; Kaiba took the time to stride over to his computer and open a word document, holding his fingers posed and ready over the keyboard.
After several seconds of pure silence, Kawari slowly began to recite his own message from the Gate's voice.
"The First you desire, and Desire am I,
I live and dwell and feel the sky
I watch the sun as it bleeds away,
as Night battles on and defeats the day
I know the Wind, when it feels joy or scorn,
Or when it angers, and battles, a raging storm
I live where the boundaries lie, a wall of it's own
A massive boulder of dirt and stone
The Dragon guards me. A warning, I say:
You may Desire, but loose not your way."
As Kawari finished speaking, the silence seemed to reign eternal, with the last words he spoke hanging off the edge of the quiet in eerie stillness. Slowly, the sounds of Kaiba's fingers clicking over the keyboard registered in the group's minds, and they watched him intently, not sure what else to do.
With a flourish, Kaiba finished typing, clicking the "print" button in a rush and waiting impatiently by the printer. When the one, single sheet had been ejected, he brought it over to the rest of the group, the ink still glistening. They realized that he had typed up the verse Kawari had recited, so as to make it easier for the entire group.
Each of them stared at the verse for what seemed like ages. No one seemed to be able to understand the little poem at all; though they knew it was a clue, they did not know much else. Finally, Ryou voiced everyone's thought for them all in one smooth, clear sentence.
"What on Earth is it supposed to mean?"
* * * * *
HCG: *snickers* I am evil! Lookit the cliffy! Are you not hanging off the edge of your seat?
Kaze: ¬_¬;; Or perhaps falling off the edge of it from laughing at your above statement?
HCG: _;; You stupid...meanie head!
Kaze: *breaks into laughter and proceeds to fall off his seat as he had earlier mentioned* What a stupid insult! Come on, I don't even enjoy insulting people and I'm better than that!
HCG: Oh, put a cork in it. Now for notes:
1) I am incredibly sorry that this chapter took so long. My only excuse is schoolwork. Since it's the end of the quarter at my school, all the teachers think it's fun to assign four tests on the same day and to give lots of big projects -_-;; As a result, I spent most of last week working on those, and what little time of mine was free I felt either like crud or not like writing. I did, however, spend ALL of Wednesday after I got home writing, all so I could get this EXTREMELY LONG CHAPTER out for you guys...I only let myself leave the computer for dinner and my chores. So there you have it. Wasn't it worth the wait?
2) Heh heh heh, what'd'ya think of my Duel scene? I don't think it turned out too bad, though there is a mistake in there. I'm not going to point it out. Actually, tell you what, that'll be a challenge for you. Find the Duelist's mistake, and you get....erm....a hug from your favorite Negative Realm bishie?
Kawari: O_O;; OOOOOOOOOH Crap
3) Well now, can any of you figure out what happened to Kaze? It's very simple, actually, nothing particularly outrageous. The answer lies in the logic. Just think about it--if Kaiba is or isn't something, or does or doesn't do something, Kaze is or does the opposite. Now see if you can figure it out. Those who guess correctly get a free gift basket full of sugar, chocolate, and plushies ^_~ (And Aibou, you know the answer already, so it's kinda not fair for you, but whatever...)
4) Anybody good at riddles out there? Can you solve the riddle above? I'll give you a hint--it's one of the Seven Elements, and a place. If you guess it correctly, you get the above gift of a gift basket ^_^
5) Hey, we're back to the duel scene! This is a random comment: It was fun to write, but a bitch to plan out. Excuse my swearing. I wouldn't advise planning out a duel mathematically, especially if you want it to come to a tie ¬_¬;; I'm NEVER doing it again..
HCG: Okay, that's it for the notes! *blinks and focuses suddenly on Kaeru and Bakura, who are both lying on the floor and looking exhausted*
Bakura: *gasp* *pant* Truce?
Kaeru: *pant* *gasp* Okay, sure....
Bakura: That's *pant* good. I *pant* would've had to beat the *gasp* crud out of you otherwise....
Kaeru: If you weren't so *gasp* far away and I wasn't *pant* so tired, I'd freaking hit you.
Bakura: Whatever.
HCG: ¬_¬;; Ooookay...
Kaiba: *sighs* Well, anyway. Reviews, people! HCG will not write until she has at least one review, preferably five, though she won't get picky. Reviews may perhaps ensure a new chapter quicker, however. And see if you can answer the questions!