Part Two
Kaiba's eyes opened slowly. He looked around and found himself in the middle of a large meadow.
Perfect, the stasis worked just like I predicted. His idea had been that if the player was unconscious before they were transported, they wouldn't be able to feel anything. He had been right. Not that he had doubted he would be.
He sat up off the ground and lounged back on his elbows. The sun felt warm on his face, a stark contradiction from the miserable little town called Domino. Domino. Who the hell thought of that name anyway?
Near the edge of the meadow was the first line of trees in a vast forest. From that direction, he could hear the various sounds of crickets and birds. He picked himself up off the ground fully and stretched his arms up. Time to go find me some ass to kick, he thought. Nothing focused his mind like a good duel.
Damn, forgot my gum.
He started off in the direction of the forest, but soon after stopped and reconsidered his decision. The thought of all the bugs made his skin crawl, and also gave him not-so-warm-and-fuzzy thoughts of a certain worm of a duelist he had once faced.
Think I'll take another route... Kaiba thought. Not that any other direction looked any more inviting. To the north and south eventually lay a desert and an ocean, respectively. The only other way to go was east, where the meadow sloped up towards a majestic mountaintop. He gazed at the mountain, trying to remember if he had programmed any towns along the way. The scope of this game was so vast that it was impossible for even him to remember every detail. Added to that, the mind transport had made his brain a little fuzzy. Here goes nothing.
He began the journey to the high peak. Time passed slowly in this virtual world, he walked for ten minutes...twenty five minutes....fifty minutes....an hour. Dusk had already started spreading its shadows across the field. This was definitely not what I had in mind. He knew he should have placed himself somewhere other than the meadow. That was the only area he now remembered he hadn't really programmed any monsters...
He stopped short, listening intently. As he had moved towards the mountain, the grass of the field had gotten gradually taller, and was now up to his waist. He knew he'd heard rustling behind him. He was being followed. Kaiba pulled a card from the duel disk on his arm and his muscles tensed. He could feel the surge of adrenaline as he waited in silence, needing only the slightest excuse to turn around a demolish something with his Blue-Eyes' attack.
It came- the faintest sounds of breathing and rustling behind him. Anyone else would have thought it only their imagination, but his hearing was better than that. (Besides, he had no imagination, right?) He spun on his heel and held the card out in front of him. "Blue-Eyes White....!" he started.
"Aahh! No! Wait, wait!!" a female voice called, sounding panicked.
"Huh?" Kaiba asked in surprise. He looked, but what- or who- ever it was was still hiding in the grass. Then he watched as a figure rose up, her hands held up in front of her.
Her looks were striking. She had jet black hair, which was cut in shaggy layers to frame her face. Her dark green eyes sparkled like emeralds, and were complemented perfectly by her deeply tanned skin. She was clothed in a black tank top and blue jean capris.
Kaiba looked angrily at her. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked in frustration.
"Sorry," she said. "It's been a while since I've seen any normal-looking people around here."
"Kind of the point, isn't it?" Kaiba replied tersely. He turned his back to her and continued walking.
It was the girl's turn to put an expression of annoyance on her face. "Nice guy," she muttered. She ran ahead of him, then stopped and faced him. "Tell me that was a fluke and you're not really that rude..." she said.
Kaiba gritted his teeth and growled. "Go...away..." he ordered with a tone of threat in his voice.
The girl's brow furrowed in anger. Then she thought a moment and her face relaxed. "Let's try this again..." she said.
"Let's not," Kaiba interrupted.
She ignored him. "Hello," she said. He just looked at her.
"Now it's your turn to say hello," she coached.
"I don't have time for this," was Kaiba's answer. He side-stepped the girl and walked past her.
She ran in front of him again. "Say hello," she coaxed.
"Hello," he said shortly. "Can I go now?"
"What's your name?" she asked.
"You've got to be kidding me," he replied.
"What's your name?" she asked, a little more insistent. Kaiba narrowed his eyes in irritation. The girl merely quirked a brow and waited for his answer.
"Seto Kaiba," he said, trying VERY hard to control his often short temper.
"I'm Delaney," the girl said back. "Nice to meet you."
"Now can I go?" he asked.
"You really need to work on your manners," she said.
Kaiba could feel the tension involuntarily clenching his fists. It was taking an extreme amount of control for him not to just sock her in the face.
She obviously noticed his fight-ready muscles, because she backed a step away from him and chided, "Go ahead, take your best shot..."
He stood still, trying to consciously send commands to his muscles to relax. The girl grinned.
"Scared you can't beat a girl?" she taunted.
That's it... he thought. No one comes into my world, into MY game and mocks ME! He charged at her and aimed a fist at her shoulder.
The girl chuckled and quickly sidestepped. The momentum Kaiba had gathered was stopped by nothing and he fell to the ground.
"Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to hit a girl?" she jeered. Kaiba's ocean blue eyes burned with fierce anger. In a flash he was back up on his feet and had grabbed her by the arm before she had a chance to react.
The two just stared at each other, eyes locked and each aflame with intense rage.
Kaiba pulled the girl close and murmured menacingly in her ear, "Leave. Me. Alone." Then he pushed her backwards and she stumbled to the ground. She picked herself right back up and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.
"You think you can push me around just because I'm a girl?!?" she cried in fury.
Kaiba said nothing, but reached up and grabbed her hand, pushing his thumb directly onto the pressure point of her hand. She yelped in pain and let go, then he easily twisted her arm downwards.
But she was quick too, and as her arm was going down, her opposite leg came up and caught him with a hard kick in his shoulder. He let go of her hand and staggered backwards. She looked at him and her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Kaiba looked at her, his eyes blazing. She took one look at his expression and was off like a shot, towards the bottom of the mountain. He ran after her, in hot pursuit.
She practically flew through the grasses- until her journey was cut short by a stray rock. The girl tripped over it and landed hard on the ground. Kaiba smiled in satisfaction and slowed down a little. He finally walked up to her and saw her cradling her arm, which had been cut by another sharp rock. She rolled onto her back and looked up at him and the cruel grin on his face.
"Are you going to behave now?" he sneered.
She took a moment to catch her breath before she answered, "No!" Before Kaiba had completely processed her answer her leg shot out and swept behind his, knocking him onto his back. Then she struggled to her feet. Looking about, she spied an opening in the side of the mountain, close to the bottom. Trudging along as fast as she could go, she made her way to it and crawled inside the cave. Moments later Kaiba followed her inside.
The interior of the cave was dark, and Kaiba couldn't see but a few feet from the entrance where the daylight was coming in.
He could, however, hear Delaney's soft panting. His eyes narrowed in a wicked expression. He was thoroughly enjoying this hunt. He took a few more steps into the cave, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He looked around, finally able to make out details- but it was too late.
Delaney had hidden herself on a shelf of rock near the ceiling, and just as Kaiba spotted her she jumped down and landed on his back, dragging both of them to the ground with a loud *thump*. Delaney got off his back and took a few steps, preparing to run deeper into the cave. She stopped short.
Kaiba half-picked himself off the floor and rubbed his head. He stopped too, when his ears picked up the quiet sound of rumblings.