AN: Another chapter for your enjoyment. And please! More reviews! Reviews make me happy and write faster. lol.
Kaiba watched as Isis vanished, falling down the hole that suddenly appeared beneath her. For a fraction of a second he stood frozen. Then, almost instinctively he lunged, throwing himself down on the ground, and reached. He caught nothing but a handful of white silk, the shawl that Isis always wore about her shoulder. For a moment he dared not to look, his breath caught in his throat.
"Seto..." Suddenly Isis's voice called, low and tense.
With mixed shock and hope he leaned closer, and saw Isis was holding tightly the other end of the white silk, pale and shaking from the strain. He glared at her and said with a growl, "Don't you dare let go."
Without another word he started pulling. He did not know how many minutes passed before he finally pulled her to safety. She sat there beside the bottomless hole she just barely escaped, looking thoroughly shaken. She was pale and cold, and her breaths escaped in short, shallow gasps. Almost impulsively he threw his arms about her, and held her in a tight embrace.
"You call yourself a duellist?" He chided, his voice harsh but deeply pained. "You were about to get yourself killed by a most rudimentary trap, you fool."
She said nothing, but clung to him like a frightened child. About them some already set engine was slowly beginning to manoeuvre. The murmuring tide had suddenly gained a franticness in its movement, and shadows swirled about them with vigour, but neither seemed to notice, but only indulged in each other's embrace. Finally Isis murmured quietly, "I don't think our troubles end here."
Just as her words fell, a great serpentine creature emerged from the shadowy water and charged at them. With a cold glare Kaiba pulled a card and called, "Mirror Force!"
A flash of white light, and the air about them shimmered. A wall of glass rose about them, barely visible to an unobservant eye. Yet out of the shadows another light sprang, and a ring of spell suddenly appeared the wall of light that was to protect them, and shattered it. Kaiba cursed and growled angrily, "Trap Jammer!"
The monster lunged at them still, nearer and nearer, its hideous mouth wide open, revealing sharp, glinting fangs. With difficulty Isis drew another card and threw it before her. It exploded with a great noise, revealing many cute looking brown-furred green-clawed creatures. The attack was effectively stopped. The creature withdrew into the shadowy water again noiselessly.
Silence, before Kaiba finally muttered, "For once I am glad to see that fur ball."
"Don't be so glad yet," Isis murmured shakily, "It is our turn now."
"Our turn?" There came the incredulous question from Kaiba.
Isis nodded and said tiredly, "Can't you see? We have walked into a set duel, and we ourselves have become creatures in this shadow game. One misstep and we may end up in the very depth of the Shadow Realm."
Kaiba's cold blue eyes narrowed, and he said tersely, "Even if the field is preset, I can tear through it easily."
Isis shook her head slowly and answered, "I don't think so. Cold Wave is still in play, so we can neither play nor set any magic or trap cards. And our opponent's monsters are hidden by the water, we cannot even see their number and strength, the less how to defeat them."
"If we can't beat it, stall." Finally Kaiba said simply. "Cold Wave lasts one more turn only."
"I suppose you have a strategy?" Isis asked with the faintest hint of annoyance. "How do you plan to stall without being able to use any magic or trap cards?"
Kaiba gave her a pointed look and said, "You know stalling is more of your expertise than mine." Receiving only silence as a reply he added with a sigh, "Try using a card with discard effects. If I remember correctly, some of your magic cards can be activated from the graveyard."
A relieved look washed over her features. She nodded and pulled a card and called, "I summon Tribe Infecting Virus. I will discard another card to destroy all Sea-serpents on the field."
A stir in the shadows answered her words. Some grotesque looking creatures appeared beside her, and the black water swirled a sickly colour of mixed green and yellow. "I end my turn." Isis called with grim determination, expecting brutal assaults race towards them.
Yet nothing came, at least nothing expected. They waited in silence, growing impatient as minutes after minutes ticked by. Finally after what seemed like eternity, the seamless shadow suddenly parted and the figure of a man emerged. He was in his thirties, almost as tall as Kaiba and just as wiry, with a pair of vicious vulture like eyes. Upon seeing them his face split into an eerie grin.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" He said in a condescending tone, his voice harsh like grinding metals. "I know sooner than later someone will come intercepting my plan."
Kaiba said coldly with a glare, "So you are the one behind this elaborate scheme?"
"Now young man, didn't you mother teach you glaring is impolite?" The man said coyly. "Let's be civil here. A proper introduction is due, don't you think? Maxwell Connor, at your service." And he added a small mocking bow at the end of his words.
Kaiba didn't answer, but only glared daggers. If looks could kill, the man would be dead thrice over. But Isis answered him coolly, "I am Isis Ishtar, Egyptologist from the Museum of Cairo."
The man applauded and said in a careless manner, "Well named. One with the power of Shadows and truly understands the heritage of the great goddess. And what of you, young man?"
"Seto Kaiba." That was all he replied, and did not bother to elaborate much further.
The man nodded, "I see now, one with the spirit of the storm god Seth. You even look the part, young man. Yet it seems you are in the wrong company. Surely one like you would appreciate my plan, and maybe even find it your heart's interest to lend me helps?"
"From what I can see so far, your doings are nothing short of utterly insane." Kaiba said coldly.
"Perhaps my means are a little unorthodox," Connor said calmly, "But my intention is noble, and my idea is beyond our time in its concept..."
"I am not here to listen to you preach!" Kaiba interrupted rudely with a growl. "Make your move and we will finish this little twisted game of yours."
Isis put a restraining hand on his arm and said gently, "Let him speak, Seto. I am intrigued to know what concept fuelled this strange plot of his."
Connor nodded with a sly smile, "Wise words, Isis. As a sign of gratitude to your understanding, I will explain myself then. You probably already knew that I set the magic card Cold Wave in this part of the ocean, and another I planted off the shore of Ireland. It took me much researching and planning to find these points, and I must say my work had paid off indeed. I couldn't have hoped for better results. Already you can see some of the outcomes. And in a few days, the storm will expand and cover the entirety of North America and Europe. Voila! There you have it, a whole new Ice Age."
Kaiba stared at the man incredulously, but Isis regarded him coolly with her unflinching eyes. She asked calmly, "May I inquire the reason behind this?"
"Of course, if you must know." The man answered her with a mock smile. "Don't you think there are too many humans on this planet? They abuse everything about them, and one day, they will sap this world dry. An Ice Age will cut all this non-sense short, don't you think? We wipe the sheet clean, and restart the clock. If some humans are lucky enough to escape—as I am sure some will—they will have to start all over again. Most beautiful plan, don't you agree? It is surely satisfying to use Mother Earth's own power against those who mistreated her so." He finished off dreamily.
"Aren't you forgetting that you are a human as well, you nihilistic freak?" Kaiba spat with disgust.
"Of course I am a human," Connor answered him placidly, "But I am a superior one compared to most, if not all. I am willing to make the necessary sacrifices to satisfy the big picture, unlike most selfish humans."
"You would hold the fate of the entire human race in your palms, and you say you are not selfish?" Isis's voice was low and rippling with hidden turbulence. "You would destroy the entire world to satisfy an idea that only you believed in, yet you still claim your actions are righteous? The power of the Shadow Realm is not to be invoked for such injustice."
A nasty smile stole the man's predatory face, and he said mildly, "And what are you going to do about it?"
"We will do plenty about it." Kaiba said with a growl. "Let's finish this little Shadow Game you set up, and we will let the outcome speak."
Connor looked at him with clear amusement, "So you want a Shadow Game? Sounds fair to me. But not this little show I set up earlier. It is growing old, and I am certain it's not fair. Let us do something simple and clean. Defeat me, and all the shadow magic shall vanish with me. The world will be saved then, in your eyes at least."
Even as his words the shadows about them shifted and stirred. Slowly, an enormous checkerboard appeared between them, set with black and white pieces. With a laugh Connor stepped onto the board, now with a mantle of pure white and a crown of ivory. His face split into another uncanny grin, and his hawkish features was distorted with malicious glee.
"A game of chess, if you will..."