Waking up mid-air and landing hard on a stone bench isn't fun. I think I just figured that one out. I guess I'd slept the rest of the ride here, to where ever we are, and they'd found out just how hard it is to wake a sleeping Jou. Guess I'm sorta lucky they didn't just start beating me until I woke up. That would have been painful.

"Hey, you in the cell next to me! You ain't gonna last long. Pathetic, what was Master Mokuba thinking buying a gladiator slave that skinny?"

"Hush up, Keith. You're just angry he wasn't made a body slave."

Voices on either side of my cell argued back and forth, and I was really tempted to join in one mans ridicule of the man Keith who had just insulted me, but I'd already learned some interesting facts-

"You know Master Kaiba ain't gonna like it either! You don't have any room to talk, Little Yugi."

"I've bested you twice now, Keith. Maybe you should figure out that size is nothing, compared to skill...speed...accuracy...you know, all those things you have little problems with."

"You little ba-"

"Silence!" This new voice was quiet and controlled...for a moment I figured that it was another gladiator, but then a tall man wearing dark blue strode down the hall. The short boy who'd bought me followed in his wake.

"Here he is, Brother. He looks kind of weak, but he managed to beat a pack of hungry mastiffs. I managed to buy him before they landed any injuries more serious than a nasty bite on his shoulder."

The taller brother stepped into the bit of light from the torches outside our cells, and glared in at me. I crossed my arms, ignoring the burning pain it caused my shoulder, and matched him glare for glare.

"He looks like he is one of the pathetic dogs, Mokuba. Surely you don't expect me to believe he's of any real worth."

"He is, big brother, I give my oath! The trader told me he was captured from the wildelands in Britannia, where his little tribes have a pocket resistance against the Roman Conversion."

I know I showed pleasure on my face, and didn't realize until too late what a mistake that was. The taller man, whom had perfectly groomed brown hair and narrow blue eyes, smirked. "You have pride in your barbaric little friends, mutt? Don't you realize that we've won every battle against them for years now? They don't stand a chance, and soon they'll join you in slavery or death."

Infuriated, I leapt towards the bars, intent on getting a hold of the aristocrat in front of me. Of course, I had just gotten my hands through the bars before one of them was bent backwards, nearly breaking it. "Idiot little cur, don't try my patience." Sneering, the Roman stepped back and released my hand, wiping at the side of his robe like he'd touched something disgusting.

In pain and humiliation, I cradled my hand against my chest, and muttered a few choice names for the man in Gaelic. We'd been winning, his rich rear just wasn't informed. Everyone one knew the commanders far away would tell of great victories even after a major defeat. I knew, for sure that the 'Master' was lying, trying to break my spirit. I did.

Alright, a short note here, even though I don't like them or reviewer responces...

I've never read the book a reviewer claimed this was almost verbatim from, but if someone wants to show me four or five instances that really are that close to one another, I'll remove the story or post a warning at the beginning. As for the p.o.v for the story, I'm hoping for mostly Jou's, and a bit of third person in places that Jou wouldn't see or hear. Maybe once in a while a bit of someone else's view, but probably never Kaiba himself.

Thank too all of you who gave me compliments or suggestions, and please keep reading!