grins can't get nothin' past y'all can I! mimicks Téa Wow! You're all soo smart!end impersonation unfortunately, a little smarter tham Seto proves himself to be in this chapter. Ahhh, blinded by love… Maybe that's why I don't have a boyfriend yet…smacks self OK! On with the story!!
Part Eleven
Seto looked around, a little nervous. He could hear the Baby Dragons, but he couldn't see them. The kiddie-toy squeaks continued and grew gradually louder and more frequent, until they became a loud descant of constant noise. He cringed at the sounds, which went on for several more minutes until suddenly, they were silenced altogether.
He looked around, trying to prepare himself for an attack. Instead, one single Baby Dragon wandered out of the shadows and stood before him.
"Huh?" Seto said, a little confused.
The Baby Dragon gave one little squeak, as if challenging him.
"Fine then. I summon the Judge Man!" Seto announced.
The miniature orange dragon let out a surprised squeak.
"Gotcha," Seto grinned. "Judge Man attack!"
The massive warrior charged at the little dragon, which let out a final squeak of pain before it vanished.
"Too easy," Seto said. He looked down as another Baby Dragon marched out into battle.
Hmmm... Didn't quite learn your lesson? He was about to order his Judge Man to attack again, when something above his head caught his eye. Another monster floated down and rested just above the Baby Dragon.
Oh, no! A TIME WIZARD?! Kaiba stood there with an annoyed look on his face. I soooo shoulda seen that coming…
"Time Magic..." the little clock-looking creature recited. Then both it and the little Baby Dragon were surrounded by bright light, and Seto watched as the form of the Baby Dragon grew and morphed.
Aww, SHIT!!
The glowing stopped, and in the place of the first dragon now stood a Thousand Dragon. With a roar, the dragon tilted its head back, then released a gust of toxic gas. Seto's Judge Man warrior vanished in a cloud of dust. His life point count lowered from 1500 to 1300.
Really gotta stop underestimating this crap, Seto thought. The remnants of the dragon's attack clouded the whole chamber. Seto suddenly found himself a little short of breath. He gave a small cough, but tried to push it aside.
My Blue-Eyes could wipe this dragon out in a breath of its own...but I can't risk using it now. I might need it later. Once I've played a monster anywhere in this level, it can't be used again in the Dragon Lair. I'll have to come up with something else, and quick!
There had to be something in his deck. Something he hadn't thought of yet. Well, whatever it was, he still couldn't think of it. So for now, he had to be patient.
"Hitotsu-Me Giant, in defense," he said reluctantly.
The great dragon attacked again, and Seto's monster again disappeared. Seto felt his chest tighten a little, like having a bad cold. He coughed again- a little more forcefully this time- and found that his breathing had become a little labored.
Damn dragon's going to poison me to death! Gotta focus. If I keep wasting monsters, I'll never get out of here. But for now, that's all I can do...
"Mystic horseman, in defense mode," he said, straining to get more air into his lungs.
The Thousand Dragon looked at him with a cruel smirk on its face. It was clearly enjoying the torture of this player's deck and body. It reared its ugly head once more and released another attack, but Seto was waiting for it.
"Negate attack!" he announced. That would at least keep him from having to use another monster for a turn. It did not, however, get rid of the dragon's smoke attack, which permeated the entire chamber. Seto fell to his knees, panting heavily. His sight phased in and out of focus, and the room felt like it was spinning around him.
He reached for his deck. He knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand another attack from that dragon.
Come on, deck, he pleaded. It's all up to you...
He pulled out one card, but his eyes wouldn't tell him what it was.
I'll just have to play it... he thought weakly. He held up the card, and the monster shimmered into view. He strained to focus his eyes to see what it was.
The Cyber Jar! The machine let out a burst of green energy directly at the Thousand Dragon, which roared in anger. It readied itself to attack, but ran out of time just in time. It disappeared in an enraged roar at its defeat.
The smoke began to clear, and soon settled, but Seto still had difficulty breathing. His sight, however, had returned to normal, and he deemed himself able to go on to the next chamber of the underground lair.
A few tiny specks of light drifted down in front of his eyes. He looked up, and once again the tiny Key Mace fairy fluttered above his head.
"I guess it's your job to show me the way out?" Seto said.
The little fairy nodded, and pointed its tiny scepter to a nearby pile of rocks. A miniscule stream of water flowed over them and down to the floor. Seto picked up one of the rocks near the top, and the stream became a little larger.
If there's a lot of water behind here, disturbing these rocks could flood the whole place! He looked back at the elfin creature, who only nodded in reply. Seto looked back at the rock pile and picked up a few more, which he tossed to the side. The stream that had started as a drip was now a slow faucet, running water over the remaining rocks. He reached his hand to pick up another one, but froze when he heard a low rumble echo through the chamber.
I've got a real bad feeling about this... Seto thought. He stood and backed away from the rocks and streaming water. Soon the ground started to tremble. He looked back at the rocks. There was now a decent water flow coming through, and a few spaces between the cracks were spurting water sporadically. The whole cave began to shake, and stones came falling down from walls and ceiling. Seto jumped when one particularly boulder-sized rock fell right beside him. His eyes widened as more and more liquid came pouring out of the wall. His eyes darted around the chamber, but the Key Mace was nowhere to be found.
Coward, he thought. Fine with me. Bring it on!
As though the game could sense his thoughts, the rocks suddenly burst forward, and a raging river swept into the chamber. The water surrounded and covered him in a matter of moments. He tried to open his eyes under water, to get his bearings, but it was too salty. As soon as his eyes even cracked open, they burned agonizingly. So he resorted to kicking blindly through the water, hoping that he would eventually be heading up.
After only a minute of his sightless expedition, he could feel his lungs start to burn. It didn't help that he hadn't been able to breathe normally before this. He swam through the water, becoming increasingly dizzy, and praying that he would live through this. He began to wriggle desperately through the steadily rising water.
Finally, his head broke the surface. He coughed harshly as his lungs emptied out, and gasped eagerly for the feel of fresh air in his lungs. He could finally open his eyes, and saw that the water had by now risen to fill over half of the little hollow. His feet weren't able to reach the bottom, so the lake that was forming had to be at least seven feet deep already.
There was only one way out that he could see, and that was to swim back through the opening in the wall through which the water flowed into the cave. But Seto had no idea how much water was still back there.
I may not be able to break the surface in time... he thought. The water continued to rise steadily, and the space of air between him and the ceiling was closing. He looked up, and saw another pinprick of light coming through the rock above his head!
That's the way out! He reached up and pushed at the stone ceiling. Unfortunately, with nothing under his feet, he only succeeded in pushing himself underwater. He came up for a breath.
How am I supposed to move this thing!? he thought in desperation. Then an idea struck him. It would be a last-ditch effort, but he had to try.
What if it doesn't work? I'll drown in here!
I'm just going to have to take that chance.
The water rapidly filled the remainder of the chamber, spilling over his head. He turned over and swam back down to the very bottom. His hands found the soft mud that had once been the solid ground. He turned back over and aimed himself at the top of the cavern. Then he gathered all the strength he could and pushed off from the bottom with everything he had...