Okay, this is probably going to be the last quick update for a while, but future chapters should be posted a week apart or less. Thanks once again to all my lovely readers and reviewers, and I hope that you all enjoy this next installment of Seto May Cry.
On to the thanks!
Queen of Games: It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm glad to find that you're still around! This story is rather different from The Ride, or anything else I've written, really, but I hope you'll like it nonetheless. Oh, and I'm very glad you like Elizabeth; I would have used Mai, but I didn't want any prejudices associated with her relationship with Joey to factor into things. Let's hope you like this next OC as much!
Silver Sage: You still rock too, Silver! LOL, we'll see how the rapid updating goes, and if you think THAT was raping Joey's emotions, you ain't seen nothing yet! Looking forward to your next review!
A Person: Thank you very much for reviewing a second time. Perhaps you sense a bit of foreshadowing... read on to find out just how much. Oh, and you don't need to stop with the fangirl-gushing, LOL. I'm just glad that there are people who appreciate my work; as I've always said, you guys make it all about five times as worthwhile, although writing is in itself fulfilling for me. Actually, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't have posted this story at all if it hadn't been for Firewing, my beta... Thank you as well for the praise for The Ride. It means a lot, since that was both the hardest, yet most satisfying work to write.
Tess: Hey, girl! Thanks for the welcome-back, LOL. I can't wait to chat with you on MSN again, and I hope that you continue to read, enjoy, and review this new story. (hugs) Thanks for being a friend.
Flame Swordsman: Awesome, different, and original are very high praise on their own; together, they're almost too much. Almost. :P I'll do my best to keep this up to previous chapters' standards, and I do hope you'll keep reading it!
Macduff''s Mistress: Yep, Joey owns KC now! Thanks for your review on Butterflies; I'm glad to hear it touched you enough to make you cry! As to the next chapter... scroll down just a bit, and you'll find out!
Alright, just a quick note. The supernatural stuff gets started here, and the plot thickens as well, so if anyone has any questions whatsoever, please feel free to either e-mail me or ask them in a review. I really don't mind answering them!
Disclaimer: I own only the plot and the OC's.
Chapter 3- Bargaining With The Reaper (Seto's POV)
"Alright, everyone. C'mon, single file, no pushing. Every seat's just as depressing and miserable as the next one."
I come back to myself slowly. I seem to be lying in a sea of shattered debris, yet I feel nothing. No glass crunches as I struggle to rise; no sharp pieces of metal pierce me, although they're jutting out all over the place like fatal blades of grass. My hands obediently move up to my eye level in order that I might ascertain just how extensive the damage to my body is, but any injuries I might have are completely forgotten when I set eyes on them.
They're glowing.
/What--/ I start to say, only to realize my voice is now little more than a faint, telepathic echo. /What's happened to me?!/
My head snaps up, and I see row upon row of humanoid figures, all transparent, and all glowing in the same manner as I am. Standing in sharp contrast to their scintillating light, facing and directing the lines, is a perfectly solid-seeming man who might have looked normal if not for his dress. From the neck down, perfectly interlocking plates of dark green armour cover his body, and a cape of a slightly lighter shade adorns his back, perfectly still despite the swaying trees immediately to the man's right.
As I rise to my feet, trying not to think about the fact that I'm floating instead of standing, he turns to me, his long black hair streaming down his cape. "Come on," I hear him say, although his lips don't move an inch. "Get in line. You might have all eternity, but I certainly don't."
/Who are you, and what the Hell's going on?/ I shout mentally, for lack of any other means of communication.
He rolls his dark eyes toward the violet, darkening sky. "I hate the violent kills," he grumbles. "They're always so clueless."
/Kills?/ Suddenly, I remember everything; the explosion, the fire, the burns, the sound of the building creaking as it collapsed on itself. I can feel the shards of glass tearing paths into my skin, shredding my expensive clothing as though it were no more than a spider's webbing. Most vividly of all, I remember Joey, leaning against the car, trying his best not to make me feel guilty for abandoning him during our vacation. If only I had stayed with him, ignored that call... /Damn it!/
The armoured man flinches. "Phew, that's a lot of anger," he says. "Definitely can't leave you around here alone; you'd turn into a poltergeist, or worse, and I'd probably get blamed for that, just like last time..." He raises his hand, beckoning once to me. "Come."
I feel a strong pull, but manage to resist through an effort of sheer will. /No!/
His hand slips downward, just the slightest bit. "You can't remain here, among the living. You're dead."
/I have to know... I have to know that he's alright./ A horrible thought occurs to me, then, and I force my eyes to sweep the gathered souls, praying that I won't find him there. /Is he here?/
The armoured man closes his eyes, and I feel a slight tug against my mind before he reopens them. "Ah, a lover. I should have known as much; only that foolish emotion gets you humans so worked up." He snaps his fingers with a clink of metal, but nothing happens. "Nope. Your boyfriend's not here, which means he must still be alive. Unless, you know, his ambulance got hit by a Mack truck, or something..." He smiles. "I doubt it, though. I'd certainly have remembered such a pretty specimen."
/Is he alright, though?/ I attempt to glare at him, but my withering stare has no effect on this enigmatic being.
"Were you just especially pigheaded in life, or something? Seriously, one-track mind..." He grins. "If I show him to you, will you come quietly?"
/Show me, and then we'll talk./ If this guy thinks he's going to out-deal the ex-CEO of Kaiba Corp., he's in serious need of a common sense upgrade.
He nods. "Fair enough," he replies, and the world is lost in a blaze of green light.
---
When my vision clears, I'm standing with the armoured man in the whitewashed hallways of a hospital. A nurse passes through me, and we both shiver, for different reasons. /Where is he?/ I demand, snapping my head back and forth like some crazed owl.
Before he can answer, though, I notice five suited men striding confidently yet irately down the hallway, heading straight for us. /What are they doing here?/
"I thought we were supposed to catch both of them in the blast," growls Gansley, and my eyes widen momentarily before narrowing into slits.
"Wheeler was supposed to be in the elevator as well," replies Lector. "It was simply luck that he escaped."
"Simple luck it may be, but he's still breathing, and that means we aren't any better off than we were with Kaiba," Crump says, spitting off to the side of the hallway. "The odds against him were so overwhelming, I didn't think it necessary to tip things any more in our favour."
"Gentlemen, I don't see why you're so uptight," interrupts Johnson. "After all, we still have four souls between us, and I very much doubt Wheeler's luck will last him through another attack."
"Easier said for you, Johnson," grunts Nesbitt. "You've got nothing left to lose."
"The loss of one or two souls is secondary to procuring leadership of the Kaiba Corporation." Johnson passes through me then, and I am assaulted by wave after wave of hungry, devouring emptiness.
/What are they?/ I ask, my words punctuated by the mental equivalent of a gasp.
"Sorcerers, probably," replies the armoured man helpfully. "They've apparently struck a bargain with some higher-up in the Underworld; their souls for worldly gain." He clicks his tongue. "No imagination. Oh, well, that's five less souls for me to worry about."
/Are you saying that they're responsible for the explosion?/ I don't wait for an answer before continuing. /Joey. They're going to target Joey next./
"Seems that way," he confirms. "Well, you know he's alright if they're worried about him. Can we go now?"
I stare at him incredulously. /I can't go with you! I have to help Joey!/
He looks at me, raising one eyebrow amusedly. "I can think of at least one little snag in that plan," he snorts. "Come on. I still have continents to visit before my dinner break."
My mind races as he raises his hand to send us back to the blast site, and I grasp wildly for any argument with the slightest chance of convincing him to help me save the only person I've ever truly loved. /Wait./
He sighs, but lowers his hand. "What now? Do you want to sleep with him one last time, because I'm tellin' you, that's not happening."
/I have a proposition for you,/ I say, and he bursts out laughing.
"Oh, this should be worth the two seconds it'll take for me to shoot it down," he says around a smirk.
/Bring me back to life, so that I can save Joey./ I hold his gaze, my eyes never wavering once. Who would have thought my business training would come in handy bargaining with the Reaper?
"And why would I do something like that?" he asks patronizingly.
I grin. /If you let those bastards kill Joey, they'll get control of Kaiba Corp., and use its plants to produce cheap weapons instead of video games. Cheap weapons means cheap war, which means--/
"I get busy, real fast." The armoured man stares at me for a moment, then lets out one last bark of laughter. "You're pretty quick for a human."
/Cut the compliments. We don't have time,/ I snarl. /Are you going to help me, or do you want to spend years rounding up soul after soul, all of them, as you put it, 'violent kills'?/
He folds his arms over his chest. "You do realize there would be conditions, don't you?" he says, and I'm sure my heart would have skipped a beat if it wasn't so much dust by now.
/I don't care. Joey's my only concern right now,/ I reply confidently.
His eyes glitter imperceptibly. "Hold on, then. I'm told this hurts like Hell," he says, and my world explodes again, this time into a sea of pain.