Eye Gate Deep 09
By Elanor Pam
"How to play with a little dwarf"
December 16, 2002: Began chappie ^___^ I guess this one will be funnier than the last ones – at least it was funny to write. Also, this will be the long-waited one where Mou Hitori No Yuugi makes his debut – at least I wish so, but it's been long since I last controlled anything on this fic. Oh, good old times…
January 10, 2003: Had to reinstall Office… it's a curse, I tell ya all! I'm cursed to have to reinstall Office countless times!! It's been just half a year since the last time!! Remember? I was writing the first chapter of EGD on the WordPad!
February 11, 2003: Wai~~!! Office is finally back to its former self, block's gone… this chapter is definitely wrapped by today!! AAAND… I have the honor of introducing MOU HITORI NO YUUGI (the other Yuugi, to make it easier)!!
Disclaimer: What is mine is mine. What isn't mine isn't mine. (Cowering in shame) That was sooooo lame… Oh, and Mortal Kombat isn't mine either.
Note: Don't know the slightest thing about concussions apart from "putting ice on the bump". Please forgive me for any stupid thing I write about it.
BAD LANGUAGE WARNING.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The whole word seemed to shine a blinding light, as the teens covered their eyes… and suddenly everything was back to normal.
Yuugi held a weird golden pyramid between his hands, seeming completely normal and healthy, if not ecstatic – nah, he was ten times ecstatic, jumping to his feet and hopping around, turning around here and there sometimes, in a dance; all the time he sang, happily:
"The-puzzle-is-complete, the-puzzle-is-complete, the-puzzle-is-complete…"
He stopped, panting with the energy and joy he had, and threw the toy to the air, picking it back; his skin glowed with sweat, even though the only light that remained there, now that the puzzle was off, was the one coming from the floor. A big smile on his lips, he looked at the two baffled teens, unaware of their confusion.
"Thank you!! Thanks to you, I could complete the puzzle! I've been trying to put this together for years!! I've told you that, haven't I? You were so kind to bring the last piece to me, I thought I had lost it!!"
None of them was brave enough to interrupt his little moment with questions, even though thousands of them were swimming through their heads; they should have know Yuugi enough, though – the little teen never let much pass his eyes unnoticed. He had pieced the impossible puzzle, after all.
"Anything wrong?" he asked, simply, hanging the puzzle on his neck. It even had a strap just for that, neat, uh?
The two boys just looked at him, silent. Even if they tried, nothing would come out of their throats anyway.
Yuugi sighed, hanging his hands down tiredly. "Alright, just spit it. Something is bothering you, it's written all over your faces. No use acting in front of me, you know I won't give an Oscar to anybody."
Honda moved his arms a little, trying to talk as his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of the water. Jounouchi shot him an odd look, but he knew he wouldn't do any better, so he said nothing.
"Er…" Honda's voice finally came out "Well, when we arrived, that triangle thing was glowing, and flying in front of you…"
Yuugi looked at the pyramid hanging from his neck. "Was it?" his tone of voice was politely surprised.
"Yeah… and the puzzle piece was shining all the way here, you know, and it floated to you when you called…" Honda was practically making knots on his fingers. "You know, that was… a bit weird… and your eyes were weird too…"
"You didn't eat anything fallen on this floor, did you?" Yuugi looked at them, his eyes showing a mix of slight disbelief and a lot of worry.
Jounouchi would say "duh, cut it out already", but, noticing that Yuugi was being completely serious, he chose to say a meek:
"…no."
Yuugi walked towards them, looking visibly more worried. "Do you remember eating anything covered with a weird green thing or a funny goo in the last twenty-four hours?"
"Look, Yuugi," began Jounouchi, in a business tone "The only thing I remember eating in the last twenty-four hours was you grandpa's dinner, and it consisted of rice, olives, chicken and lemon juice. Alright that the chicken was covered with a funny goo, but it was tasty, and the lemon juice was green, but that means n—"
Jounouchi was going to say "nothing", but was interrupted by Yuugi's exclamation:
"What?! The only thing you ate in twenty-four hours? You mean you didn't even have breakfast?!" Yuugi was sputtering, his developing voice sounding quite funny (low, then high, then low…) with the indignation. "What the heck are you doing here, you shouldn't have come!!"
"Look who's talking…" grumbled Honda, looking to the side. Yuugi didn't listen, though, or at least didn't reply, as he was busy rummaging his backpack; crouched cutely with his back to them, his head was almost inside the oversized bag.
"I'm sure I had put it inside here…" they heard him mutter, and then he triumphantly jumped back on his feet, holding a chocolate bar high; it almost looked like Gustavo Kuerten (ß spelling?) holding the Rolland Garros (ß spelling?) Goblet.
He presented it to Jounouchi with a naturalness that felt completely out-of-place, considering their present situation; the only thing the blond could do was stare at it for a while, and slowly pick the candy.
"Is…" he stuttered "…is this for me?"
"Of course!!" Yuugi sounded as if it was the most obvious thing on the world. "I'm sorry that's the only one I have. If I knew you hadn't eaten I'd bring more."
Jounouchi was so moved he didn't even know what to say or do apart from looking at the smaller one with watering eyes. He had eaten two days worth of food in the dinner, but it had all gone away into the weird monster's face, so he was as empty as his father's bank account. Ripping the wrapping in a frenzy, the hazel-haired one shoved the whole bar into his mouth, unaware of Honda's pleading stare (that turned into one of bitter disappointment after it was all gone down his throat).
"Is it good?" asked Yuugi, his voice full of hope.
"Hn-hm!" Jounouchi nodded like a happy child, munching under Honda's (now hateful) glare. He crumpled the wrapping and threw it on the floor. "I'm done!"
"Let's get going, then," Yuugi closed his backpack, hanging it on a shoulder. "We have to find the others. They must be around here somewhere. Since you guys found me, it won't be very hard for three to find them."
Yuugi passed between them effortlessly (even though the space was kind of narrow), walking out to the corridor; for a moment, the teens stood there, dumbly. Suddenly, they woke up.
"Hey, wait, Yuugi," Honda hurried after the spike-haired "It's dark out…"
"YOUCH!" a tripping sound echoed, followed by a noise like a sack of potatoes tumbling on the ground.
"…there," Honda finished, a bit too late. "And there are a lot of stalagmites."
"Thanks for the advice," his little voice muttered between teeth, a bit muffled by the sound of cloth being rubbed. "I noticed the stalagmites when they almost impaled me. Now how did you walk in this place?"
"We told you," Jounouchi shrugged, his shape visible against the faint light from the chamber behind him. "The piece was shining all the way here."
There was a moment of silence, and then the rubbing sound began again. "I… I've fumbled with this puzzle more than half my life and it never made any weird thing… well, I always slept with it half-done, but piecing something like that is really tiring…" the rubbing sound stopped a little. "This last week has been so weird that it wouldn't be that surprising, but still…"
The voice trailed when a faint light started to spread itself through the corridor, the shapes of the rocks and stalactites becoming clearer as the shimmer strengthened itself. In the center of the light, Yuugi's figure gaped at the puzzle, shining lightly on his chest, his hand still holding the shin he was rubbing just a moment before.
Slowly, Yuugi stood up, his hands reaching towards the puzzle but stopping in the way; between his hovering hands, the puzzle's light was becoming stronger and stronger – till he could clearly see the corridor as it stretched forward in the darkness. Still, it stayed in a soft level, as if trying not to hurt his eyes…
He turned, surprise in his face, to his companions; Honda's face seemed to scream "I still don't believe this is happening", but Jounouchi flashed him a victorious smile.
"So…" he whispered, "it was really… it was…"
They nodded.
"Then…" Yuugi stepped towards them, his shadow elongating behind him "What you said… about me…" he walked another step "…I don't remember… but… was it? Was it true?"
Honda could only nod again, looking at the small, slightly scared teen in the center of the light; he wished he could say something more, but he wasn't very good with words, and also wasn't that intimate with Yuugi to begin with – he had no idea what kind of words would be better for him…
He almost jumped when Jounouchi walked ahead with large steps.
"Look, Yuugi," the teen began, "don't let this eat you up. Feel anything weird?" Yuugi shook his head. "So, it's ok. In fact you look way better than you've had lately, sincerely! No freaky paleness anymore! No looking like undead anymore!!" Jou nudged the boy lightly, the old gigantic smile plastered on his face as always. "Also, we have a light. We wanted a light anyway, right? The flashlight ended up with your grandpa, I guess, so we'll have to live with this light here…"
Jou pointed to the puzzle hanging from Yuugi's neck, but, in Honda's eyes, it almost looked like he was pointing to Yuugi himself. Jou didn't seem to notice, though, as he gently prodded Yuugi forward.
"Okay, let's get going, now. Hey, Honda, move. I hope we don't have any more unpleasant surprises along the way, but I guess we won't. I guess."
Honda smiled slightly when he saw how his friend handled the smaller one. Shaking his head, he started walking, following the twosome as they went.
'Experienced, eh?'
He quickened his pace.
~~*~~*~~
Sugoroku paused once more, trying to catch up to any stepping sound, but it was all in silence. Gulping, he resumed walking, trying to be as silent as possible.
Then Anzu tripped and somehow took them both – very noisily – to the ground.
"Anzu?"
No answer.
"Great…" he covered his eyes, feeling a cold hand wrap around his throat and chest. "She's dying. Yuugi'll survive out of anti-depressive pills for the rest of his life…"
"…hello?"
He lifted his head, hand poised to throw the recently found shoe onto whatever was it…
Its owner.
Suzuki-sensei, her other shoe on her hand (poised mostly like him), blinked at him. She then looked at her student, sprawled on the floor with blood trailing down her temple.
"What happened?" she asked (stupidly, in Sugoroku's opinion), kneeling by her student's side. She rolled Anzu on her back and, picking Sugoroku's flashlight without even asking, proceeded to examine the girl's eyes and bump.
"She has a bad concussion…" Suzuki concluded, much to the (not big of a) surprise of Sugoroku. "No doctor available around, though… if only there was some ice around here somewhere!" She sighed.
"ICE!!" Sugoroku would have whacked his head against the cave's wall if it were near enough. "I must be really getting old!! Crap-crap-crap…"
He opened his backpack, grabbing four little plastic bottles. Handing one of them to Suzuki, he begun telling:
"I had put some water to freeze for when we came here. I completely forgot about it, can you believe?"
Suzuki lifted her eyebrow at his comment, and opened the bottle, spilling the little water that had melted on the bump. After that, she unceremoniously hit the ground with the bottle, using all her might – the bottle broke, freeing the ice (and breaking it, too); taking a handkerchief from a pocket somewhere, she wrapped the ice with it, putting it against the bump.
"That'll have to do," she said. "Now that we're over with what was important, care to tell me what were four students doing out of bed at such a time? And, from what you told me, it was already planned. And you invaded property, if you don't know."
Sugoroku didn't let himself be intimidated.
"Well, I bet you did, too, and probably the Headmaster as well. And don't forget you were carrying a gun." He shifted on the floor. "My grandson hadn't been feeling well after he came in contact with a certain tile…" 'Quite literally', he added to himself.
"Hm, that changes things a bit," she shrugged, surprising the old man slightly. "So you came to investigate what could have done it, right?"
"Well, it wasn't all," Sugoroku looked to the unconscious girl, lying by his side. "One of his friends noticed something on the tile. He said it was like scratches forming an eye. Later on, the others noticed as well… also, there was a big mess with a ghost they saw, weird dreams, and…" he breathed in deeply. He had almost touched into a point that was better off in secret – the puzzle.
"…and?" she asked, lifting her eyebrow again.
He motioned a bit with his hand, and them let it drop limp by his side. He sighed, tiredly. "I'm an Expert in Egyptian history, you know. When they described the eye for me, I thought it looked like the Eye of Horus… it didn't matter that much to me on the beginning, since I was mostly worried about Yuugi, but Yuugi is… he's stubborn, darn. When his friends decided they should come and investigate, he wanted to come too and nothing would change his mind."
The story was convincing enough, even though it was a bit different from the real story.
"I understand," Suzuki changed the position of the compress on Anzu's head. "But I'd say you knew it wasn't anything normal or else you wouldn't have believed them. I know I wouldn't, if I was a newcomer in this."
Sugoroku kept his silence for a moment, and then chuckled. "You're right… I've traveled the whole world, seen interesting things." He sighed. "It was mostly in the interest of a gamer looking for challenges, but after an… occasion… I begun to ask myself 'How were these people? Why did they build all this? What's the truth behind these legends?'… These questions just would never die. I entered University – later than my parents would have liked – and graduated and mastered in Archeology. As an archeologist… I've seen even more incredible things in my life. So no, this isn't surprising for me in the sense it should have been. Unexpected, yes, but I'm used to underground passages…" He looked at her. "Your time, now. Why did you come?"
Suzuki shifted the compress again, her face turning into a bitter expression. "Some old problems to solve with Mr. All Mighty Headmaster, you know. My father… he…" she gulped. "Sorry, I'm really not in the mood to talk about it. But you'll probably know when this all ends. If this ever ends."
She wiped some of the water and blood from Anzu's wound. It wasn't bleeding anymore, and the compress seemed to be washing the dried blood away; it didn't look as bad as before.
"Is she going to be ok?" Sugoroku asked, even though he knew the woman was doing what was possible.
"I hope so!" she retorted, her voice high. "I'm no doctor; if I know what I'm doing, it's because I've been in times like these before. Look, don't blame me if this makes no eff… she's moving."
"Uh?" Sugoroku lifted his head.
"She's moving, look. She's waking up."
In fact, she was. Anzu moved a hand towards her head, moaning, but touched Suzuki's arm on the way… she opened her eyes.
"Su… Suzuki-sensei?"
"Psssst…" she whispered, warmly, her face kind (Sugoroku was quite impressed with the transformation; suddenly she looked like a woman… oh, wait. She was a woman.). "It's ok. Be still. You're hurt."
"…have you found the others? …is Yuugi still sick?" Anzu asked, blinking in the flashlight's light.
Suzuki shot a glance at Sugoroku, then answered with the same soothing voice. "No, dear, none of them are here yet… But don't worry about it now. Just rest."
The girl sighed, and suddenly her voice sounded very normal. "How long do I have to stay with this compress?"
"Until the swelling diminishes, at least," Suzuki knew very well that the girl wouldn't admit more than that. She checked the bump. "It'll take some time…"
They were surprised when Anzu started moving, taking her jacket out. The girl grabbed the compress, putting it in place, then put the jacket over her head like a hood…
Sitting up carefully, ignoring their protests, she tied the sleeves of the jacket behind her head. She got up, slightly dizzy; she knew she should be lying down, but that wasn't time to rest.
Anzu turned to them, the jacket on her head looking a lot like those Egyptian hoods; Sugoroku chuckled slightly at the thought. Suzuki, though, was of the opinion that she looked like a rebelled boy.
"This is no time to lie around," she said, her voice serious and slightly commanding. "Let's find them."
She turned, picking the flashlight from the floor with a calculated kick, and walked away, without waiting for them.
"Th… that girl…" Suzuki blinked. "She's…"
"She's Yuugi's oldest friend," Sugoroku chuckled, picking the remaining bottles from the floor and drinking a bit from one of them. "They share some… traits… but she has to be the most fierce of the two. Want some water?"
He handed her one of the bottles, hurrying towards the girl's retreating form. Suzuki thought for some time, drank a bit from the bottle, and walked towards them, calmly.
Things were getting interesting, in a rather sickening way…
~~*~~*~~
Haruno lifted the torch high, checking out her surroundings. The light revealed high stonewalls, full of carvings, and torches waiting to be set alight; half-broken statues held pyres around a small stand, which held a shrine. Behind it, a slightly damaged tablet stood, caked with dried blood, the writings barely legible.
She smiled bitterly. She had found it, now that it wasn't even needed.
'If I were still sticking to my original plan, this would be the key piece of the puzzle… and he would have to be brought here too. Then the ceremony would begin… then it would be over, I wouldn't be needed anymore, I'd be able to go to my sister in peace… but now… my usefulness was gone earlier than I thought…'
On that moment, enormous magic flickered into existence, to fade and conceal itself in a second.
A tear slid down her face.
'Yeah… my usefulness… burned itself out till the last crisp. But they deserve at least an explanation, right? At least an explanation…'
She lighted the torches and pyres, slowly, taking her time with each one.
'This is a horrible feeling… the feeling of being useless… of having no use… I completed my mission, but I feel so empty… after all, I did some pretty nasty things, didn't I? Was it worth?'
She stopped for a moment, as she lighted the last pyre.
'It was. It was worth everything. And I'd do it again without hesitation.'
She threw the torch she had brought on the floor, and the fire died. Now the room was as bright as the day, shadows dancing all around the walls, mocking, laughing, crying. She paid them no heed, as she examined the torches on the wall with more attention.
She smiled bitterly again as she noticed the smell coming from the walls.
"So… these torches never quite burn till the end, right? Fine with me… fine…"
She picked her skirt and walked to the middle of the room, elegantly and graciously. She didn't look like a small, thin woman anymore. She looked like royalty.
~~*~~*~~
"Gee… when is this ever going to end?" Jou looked around again, seeing only the same walls as always.
Now they were going back the way they had come, or at least that had been their intention; the corridors were getting wider and better cared, but the "arena" they had fought in simply wasn't there. Somehow, the whole place changed.
"I'd say we picked the wrong turn, if there was any turn to pick wrong…" Honda sighed. "Well, back then we did have the piece to guide us, so maybe we didn't notice some sideway?
"Hm…" Jou stopped, biting his thumbnail. Honda followed the example, without really noticing.
Yuugi looked from one to the other, blinking. He looked down at the puzzle on his chest.
"Hey, hey," he whispered, nudging the golden pendant slightly. "Can you show us the way out?" he blinked again, confused. "What the heck am I doing…"
Jou started pounding his head with a fist. "Crap, no ideas!!"
"Well…" started Yuugi, attracting their attention "The puzzle pointed the way when it was being held by you, right? Why don't you try again?"
Yuugi took the puzzle out and handed it towards the blond boy, that picked it by the cord as if it were a poisonous snake. Nothing happened.
"He, hello?" asked Jou, shaking it to see if it worked. He nudged the puzzle.
Its light went off.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Assorted bumping and running noises went on till the light came back, Yuugi holding the puzzle. Jou was frozen in the same position, empty hand still on the air.
"It seems your puzzle doesn't work for anybody…" Honda commented.
"Tricksters, aren't we?" Yuugi glared at the toy reproachfully, as if it were a kid. Jou could have sworn it grinned back (even without a mouth), but it was understandable to see things in his state of mind.
Suddenly, walking steps echoed through the walls. They looked around, alarmed, but no one was there as far as they could see.
"He, hello?" asked Honda. By his side, Jounouchi was getting a nice vanilla hue in the lips, as his shoulders seemed to shrink to the floor under their own weight.
The steps got louder and louder, then stopped. And, to their surprise, the wall opened, giving way to the Principal.
The man blinked at them, slightly surprised; a tiny fireball floated by his side, providing light for him. A smirk crossed his lips, as he closed the passageway behind him, and the secret door mingled perfectly with the cave walls.
"The… the headmaster?!" Yuugi whispered, chin dropping.
Jou's eyes seemed to be popping out of their sockets, as his face lost every healthy color.
The man looked at them and grinned, biting the butt of a burnt cigar. "Look who's here… the party-poopers. Are you satisfied with the mess you caused?"
"A-ah…" none of the three knew what to say or do. Maybe they should turn and run, but they were all glued to the floor.
"Well, it seems you are having fun…" he stated, in a casual tone, walking towards them. "So, what did you find? Maybe a pit of alligators?"
It was then that he noticed where their light was coming from.
"We… found a monster whose knees bended to the wrong side," stuttered Jounouchi, his eyes glued in the little floating fireball, while Honda elbowed him in the ribs. Yuugi, meanwhile, cringed under the man's intense gaze; for some reason, it unnerved him to the core, as if the man's head could stretch all the way over and bit him…
'Like a Fatality from Mortal Kombat… geh!! This ain't the time to think about games!'
Suddenly, the man seemed to process Jounouchi's stupid comment, and turned to him. "A beast, you say? That was bad, guys… lucky you for escaping alive… or not, since you met me." He walked towards Yuugi, still smirking, the butt of the cigar still hanging from his mouth. "If you hadn't met me, your little friend would have had a better chance of going home with this hanging from his neck."
He reached out a hand towards the panicked Yuugi's chest, fingering the strap of the puzzle almost as if it was a fine piece of glass artwork; immediately, the shaken boy was pulled out of his reach, and he saw his prize shielded behind two terrified, but determined, students.
"You… you… you fucking hypocrite, two-faces, you…" Jounouchi managed to gather enough courage to talk, but his boiling indignation made it difficult to get his voice out; his eyes reflected the fireball strangely. He gathered more air, his voice barely audible. "You… always… with Yuugi… and the others… you… you…!!" he stepped ahead, his anger finally getting the best of him. "YOU ALMOST EXPELLED ME, YOU FUCKING SHIT!!"
His voice echoed through the walls, as he panted. "You!! The Mister Strictness, headmaster of a "model school", you… you, always so worried with little students like Yuugi, or Hanasaki, or… or…" his voice got hoarse, and he moved his hands about in despair. "And "rebelled students" like me. You were ALWAYS warning me that you'd expel me if I kept on misbehaving and NOW YOU'RE HERE!! YOU'RE HERE SCARING YUUGI, SCARING ME, SCARING US!! SCORNING US!! LOOKING AT US WITH THOSE MAD EYES!! Reaching out that hand like a claw as if to rip and shred and…"
His voice weakened and refused to come out; his whole body trembled, as he covered his mouth with a shaking hand, between sobs.
All through the outburst, the man they called "Headmaster" hadn't flinched or been affected at all. Or rather, he seemed quite amused.
So amused that he laughed.
"This is a surprise…" he chucked. "I never thought I'd receive some kind of regard from you. So you considered me your "stepfather" figure? Or was I just someone who deserved some respect?" Yuugi glanced at Jou, surprised, while Honda reached out a hand to his friend's shoulder and squeezed it, flinching when the scratches at his back complained; he ignored the pain. He knew very well what went through his pal's head, and knew that it all stung at his soul much more than those scratches.
He squeezed his other hand in a quivering fist.
"Who may know," continued the Headmaster, without paying them attention. "Well, I'm sorry for letting you down like this, Katsuya Jounouchi-kun, but I won't throw away twenty years of plans for a bad student…"
BAN
The Headmaster fell backwards, a hand touching his cheek gingerly; the fireball died. His cigar's butt lost itself on the floor. Surprise was written all over his face.
Yuugi covered his mouth with both hands, and Jounouchi almost let the hand that covered his drop; Honda cracked his knuckles.
His eyes seemed to burn in the darkness.
""Stepfather figure"? Don't make me laugh…" Honda's voice seemed to crawl on the silence; he looked at the now furious form on the ground, his chin lifted scornfully, his eyes menacingly covered with shadows. "Jounouchi's standards for a father are too high for a piece of crap like you. He just thought you were serious in your work, something that he respects. He trusted you, to the point of cooking out a suicide scheme to uncover the guy that almost killed a bunch of students… having you as primary witness. Of course he's disappointed. Me too, actually. And we deal with disappointment in different ways."
He grabbed the man by the tie. "You'll discover that having Jou disappointed at you is a bit more healthier. And, you know, I've longed to smash your face open for a hella time… the way you look at Jou and at boys like Yuugi or Hanasaki is far too weird for my tastes…"
With no second thoughts, the fist descended heavily towards his face.
With a small shriek, Yuugi covered his eyes; light seemed to blink through his hands's flesh and his closed eyelids.
Curious, and hearing just some muffled thumping noises, he uncovered his face, hopeful.
Just to see Jounouchi and Honda sprawled on the ground, eyes wide, senseless.
He could barely breath.
"J… Jounouchi-kun?" his voice trembled. "Honda-kun?"
"Pff…" Yuugi couldn't lift his head to face the scornful face of his school's headmaster, so horribly hypnotizing was the image of his two friends on the ground, looking d— no, no, not that. Not that.
"What's up, Yuugi Mutou-kun?" he enunciated his student's full name, disdainfully. He got up, dusting his pants and fixing his tie. "I know. The two scoundrels that suddenly decided to become your bodyguards aren't really in position to save your hide, am I right? And you're afraid. Deathly afraid…" the man looked at Yuugi's small shaking form, his eyes shining eerily.
"I…" Yuugi trembled, his eyes filling up with tears, still glued on his friend's motionless forms. "I…"
"And, even covering your eyes, you must have noticed it. Right? My hex. It should have knocked you out like it did with those two, but… your pendant must have prevented it from doing so. Do you understand now why it interested me so much?"
"My… pendant?" Yuugi's head hung lower as he looked to the pyramid at his chest, tears falling, reflecting the light from the puzzle. "It…"
The headmaster couldn't be more pleased with a show of weakness. "It'd make a bunch of people like me jump on each other's throat, just to get it." He snorted, mockingly. "I could say that I'd bring your two lackeys back in exchange for it…"
"You would?" Yuugi's trembling voice sounded hopeful, as he lifted his head to look at the man.
"Nah, what's the fun in that – I wouldn't bring them anyway. I could also throw a similar, stronger spell on you and take it with no problem," Yuugi stepped behind, lifting an arm "but that's boring, and I would spend valuable energy… when I can just take it out of your neck, right?"
The Headmaster walked towards the quivering boy, calmly, grinning unpleasantly.
"You're too afraid to fight back… and leaving you in the dark with two useless rag dolls seems to be a much better way to torture your sweet, delicate mental health. Or… there are things I can do with you, but I don't have time now, and I don't think there's a better way to play with a little dwarf…"
The little dwarf smiled enticingly, lowering his eyelashes, all fear wiped from his face.
"Gotta try to make sure, don't you think?" his voice was calm and controlled, almost musical.
~*~*~*~*~*~
February 11, 2003: I know. The cliffie there is almost like asking the readers "hey, come out and kill me!" Well, what to do. Hate me. Kill me. Or wait for the next chapter.
But you see? I told you it'd be finished today!! I woke up in a roll! Anyway, here's Yami Yuugi, as you guys have screamed to see. I hope you'll like him…
By the way, next chapter is the one I expect to receive some nasty flames or the whatnot. Yami is going to show himself and, as I've stated lots of times, HE IS DISTURBING. Try to picture everything in your mind as you read. He has this deadly charm (oh! And he has Yuugi's thin and delicate appearance. No changes in appearance [apart from the bangs], only in behavior). Now imagine him blinking slowly and seductively. Yeah, with Yuugi's body (but his well-known sharp eyes). Now imagine him talking. With a trained, controlled, musical voice that seems to drown your own – either because you're deathly afraid or just swooning. If you've seen manga Yuugi, you know he walks with stiff shoulders and bent knees. Now imagine him relaxed, standing elegantly like… like a model, I dunno (Giselle Bündchen, haha!! I kill myself…). So he's a few centimeters taller, but I repeat, NO PHYSICAL CHANGES APART FROM THE BANGS, ONLY BEHAVIOR CHANGES.
Important note: As you guys should know, the Games of Darkness are supposed to bring out the worse there is in a person; and the Headmaster is… hm, his worse is the worst. He's very sick and perverted, I'm warning you. The descriptions of Yuugi's actions are almost all in the Principal's POV (it'll be obvious when it's not), so be prepared for very disturbing content. I'm going all out next chapter, without toning down anything. So be ready to throw in anything on the reviews. (The other Yuugi's first Game will be quite scary…) I think next chapter might be rated R or maybe NC-17… tell me what you think about it, ok?
And, although this fic is NOT YAOI, I think some yaoi fans might like next chapter. Also, the Headmaster's thoughts on the matter don't help any. Well, you'll se for yourself.
Also, I've opened a group at yahoo for the ones who want to know when will the next update be. Update notes, excuses for not updating after two months and general discussion will be sent through the ML. The addresses are below:
YGOundergroundml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com - to subscribe
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YGOundergroundml/ - the main page. Nothing there yet.
Well, that's it.