Things Unseen; Sequel of Millennium Ritual
Disclaimer: ........... Sushi
Chapter 9: Show Down
Tea and Joey stared at Ryou and Tristan with pure shock.
"A-are you sure?" Tea whispered. Ryou and Tristan nodded at once, their faces serious. They were all in the hotel room, circled around a small table. Tristan stood off to the side, watching the dark night sky. Tea bit her lip; Joey rustled his hair. Ryou sat down on a cushion, staring into the tea's dark liquid.
They just finished explaining what they heard before. How Sadiki, who they knew as Kaphiri, was associated with the women who murdered the Healer a year before. They spoke of this mysterious Little One, who seemed to be their most greatest concern. And most importantly, how they planned on murdering Yugi and Kaiba.
"So what you're sayin' is," Joey said, crushing a cookie, "that a bunch of crazy old robed women and a guy with hair like Tarzan is out to kill Yugi and Kaiba. Why?"
"Probably because of this Little One they kept speaking of," Ryou replied, sipping the tea.
"Yeah, but the question is, who is Little One? Why is it such a problem for him to see Yugi and Kaiba?" Tristan asked, tossing his jacket to the bed.
Tea fiddled with her fingers, a look of worry across her face. "You said that Little One was distressed. And that guy, Sadiki, needed to protect him. What do you suppose that means?"
"I bet that Little One is going be used in a purpose of some sort. Whatever it is, they want to make sure that Yugi and Kaiba don't go and ruin it." Ryou answered. They were silent for a moment, not sure of what to say next.
"Look, maybe this was all just a big misunderstanding. Maybe what they meant by eliminating was taking them out of the tournament!" Joey thought.
"Joey, don't you remember what they did to the Healer? They're going to kill Yugi and Kaiba just for this Little One! I bet that they were the ones who caused all the trouble last year." Tea said discomfortingly, wrapping the blanket around her closer. Ryou sighed heavily at the thought.
Tristan was silent before saying, "Wait. There's something else." His friends looked up, Ryou staring at him with suspicion. "When the women left, someone else came. Another woman, only she didn't seem to know about anything what they talked about. She talked to the guy about walking or somethin'. Of course, we couldn't see her face, but something about her voice left me wondering. It seemed so familiar, as if I heard it a long time ago. It was. . . small, yet demanding. God, it's on the tip of my tongue, I know it!"
Ryou, Joey and Tea sighed, hoping for something more helpful than that. But, as they were about to speak of the subject more, the door slammed open.
Yugi stood in the doorway heaving big breaths, squinting his eyes. Everyone stood up as he walked into the room, sitting down on the bed beside him. Sweat beaded down his forehead as he held a niqab in his hand, staring at it hard. Yugi didn't say anything to them as he stared at the velvety silk.
"Yugi? Are you okay?" Joey asked, patting his back.
"Look Yugi, we've got something to tell you. . ." Ryou started, walking forward. But then Yugi stood up, wiping the sweat off his face with his sleeve.
"I can't tell them," he murmured, slowly walking out the door, "Not yet."
"Tell us what?" Tea asked. Yugi turned his head to look at her.
"You'd never believe me," Yugi muttered, turning around and closing the door shut. Tea blinked and turned to the rest of the group, seeing confusion across their faces.
A was silent as she took the elevator in the Enari Hotel. In her hand she held the velvet drawstring bag, tossing it up in the air over and over again. The numbers at the top of the elevator lit up as she went from floor to floor. Scratching her head, A stared at the bag as she caught it in the air. Once again she opened it to see seven golden puzzle pieces.
'Those idiots,' A thought, taking out a piece and staring at it, 'They made me lose my favorite niqab. Great. Now I'm gonna have to go in the tournament without it. Good thing I took this from Chike and Chuma as their punishment.' She blinked once or twice, watching the piece glint in the light.
"What kind of person would carry stuff like this around?" A thought aloud, pouring the large pieces into her hands. She stared at it with false amusement, dropping the bag to the floor. Sighing, she bent down and once more placed the puzzle pieces back in the velvet bag.
"Looks like some kind of puzzle. Maybe I should solve it," A said, tossing it once more. "Yeah. Have nothing else to do." Shrugging to herself, A opened up the small knapsack she carried and put the drawstring bag into the sack. Then rummaging inside it, took out another niqab. Quickly wearing it, she continued, "Well, at least I won't feel so naked in the time being."
The elevator door opened and she walked out. Rummaging inside the knapsack once more, she took out a card key and made a turn right. Stopping to a door, A knocked upon it, crossing her arms. After a few moments of muffled mumbling, Sadiki came out and held a huge sack, looking down at her.
"You're late," he said.
"Who said I have a curfew?" A grinned, taking the sack out of his hands, "So Adio came?"
Sadiki rolled his eyes, muttering, "Yeah he came. Came strolling down the street whistling and swinging bags in the air. And for someone that tall, that's quite a sight. I swear, someday that's gonna be his downfall."
"Aww come on. He's just a really happy person, you can learn from him," she said, heaving the sack onto her back. "Omph, heavy."
"Did anything happen on your stroll?" interrogated Sadiki, leaning on the door post with crossed arms. She shrugged.
"Chike and Chuma stole something again and caused a lot of trouble. The people started chasing them, and I met Raziya--their cousin, remember? Well anyway they heaved me into the limo and drove away just as the spiky haired kid stopped following." A answered, moving her hair out of her eyes. Sadiki's eyebrows rose, just for a moment.
"Really? Hmm. . . Well, might as well get ready for the tournament. Good luck," Sadiki said, closing the door.
"Yeah, good luck. May the best woman win," A said. Sadiki stopped it for a moment and stared at her annoyingly. "Night!" Then she slammed the door for him as a muffled "Ow!" was heard on the other side. Laughing, she then went to her room, which was a few rooms down from his.
When A went into her room she threw the sack onto her bed and took out the drawstring bag from the knapsack. Walking over to a desk, she spilled its contents on the table as the pieces scattered about the surface. Flexing her fingers, she thought to herself, 'Well, let's get started.'
A started to put two pieces together as the clock beside her ticked at every second.
The next day Kaiba and Mokuba walked into the Cairo Opera House at noon, handing his invitation to the security guards outside. The man in the shades inspected the invitation as Kaiba stood there calmly, Mokuba fidgeting with the briefcase. The man nodded, handing Kaiba a duel disk. Kaiba easily slipped it onto his wrist, seeing the additions added onto it.
"Hmm, intriguing," Kaiba said, turning around and walking away. Mokuba quickly followed, straining to catch up.
'Huff, all Seto can think about is the tournament,' he thought, walking beside him, 'He doesn't even remember that my birthday passed a long time ago.' His lips curled into a frown as they entered the dueling area. As the doors opened, Mokuba gasped at what he saw.
The Cairo Opera House was incredible, a sparkling crystal chandelier hanging over the vast chamber they were in. It was a circular room, and scattered everywhere were people dueling, unaware of the beauty. Pillars were at every side, supporting the high dome ceiling above. Lights were everywhere, the pearl white walls shown brighter than the sun. Kaiba looked this way and that, searching.
Flicking his head and taking his briefcase, he said, "Let's go Mokuba."
'Whoever stole my computer chips,' Kaiba thought as he and Mokuba swerved in and out of the crowd, 'Must be a duelist, considering that the chips were built for Duel Monsters. But for now, I must find Yugi. . . And duel him once more.' He smirked as he thought of the duel.
"So what are we gonna do big brother?" Mokuba asked, looking up at Kaiba.
"We're going to find me a worthy duelist," Kaiba said, taking huge strides.
A muttered under her breath, making her niqab move slightly. She fumbled with the last three pieces of the golden sphere she held, trying to fit it in with the rest. She had a duel disk at her wrist with five puzzle pieces and magic/trap cards she won. As she tried to figure out the puzzle, A thought to herself, 'God, this thing is harder than I thought. Unlike the duels today however.' Leaning against a pillar, A slowly calculated where one piece belonged. Crossing fingers for luck, she slid a piece in, fitting perfectly.
Heart beating fast, she slowly slid in another piece. It went in. The sphere was almost whole; all she had to do was put in the piece with the eye. Almost feeling faint, A took the last piece and placed it right in the middle of the sphere. It made a small click, and she had a golden sphere necklace of some sort.
She grinned and held the orb in the air triumphantly. "Ha, I finally did it! Took me all night to do it. Wait until Sadiki and the gang sees. . . Speaking of Sadiki, I wonder how he's doing." A looked around, seeing amateur cards played in a nearby duel. "Tsh, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already qualified for the finals. Amateurs." Shrugging, she delicately put the finished orb inside the drawstring bag, barely fitting inside. After some urging and pressure, the orb went in as A popped it in her knapsack. She wiped her forehead, taking WingWeaver out of her deck and staring at it with quiet satisfaction.
"Quite a strong card you have there," a voice said to her left. Seeing that the person was on her blind side, A turned her head to see a tall woman with long golden hair and violet clothing.
"Thank you," A replied politely, turning back to her card.
"So you're the duelist everyone's talking about," the woman stated, crossing her arms, "A half-blind girl who has the WingWeaver."
"Tsh, guess so," A muttered, rolling her eyes, "The duels are so easy anyway."
The blond lady smirked, holding out her hand. "The name's Mai."
A looked at her hand and shook it, saying, "Eshe."
"So Eshe," Mai said, leaning on the pillar beside her, "what do you think of the duelists here?"
Scanning the crowd, she replied, "They're so easy, making novice mistakes. My last duel only lasted for four turns. If I already got five puzzle pieces today, this tournament is gonna be a cinch." A held out the puzzle pieces and cards for proof.
Mai laughed, showing five puzzle pieces also. "Same here. It looks like they haven't even got used to their cards yet. I mean, look at that group over there. That kid took out a Harpie's Brother in attack mode, but the other kid has a six starred monster card in defense mode. . ."
As they watched, the boy with the Harpie's Brother attacked the face down card beside the defense monster and revealed a Dream Sprite, a blue fairy with fiery orange wings.
"The special ability of Dream Sprite allows the attack to be focused on another one of my monsters, and I choose my Steel Ogre Grotto #2!" the boy on the other side cried, pointing at the massive machine beside him. The Harpie's Brother attack turned toward the monster in defense mode, disintegrating on it's hard metal. "Subtract the 1800 attack points of your Harpie from my Ogre and you lose 400 life points, making me win the duel!"
The life points on the opponent's duel disk went to zero as the boy received his puzzle piece. He jumped in the air for joy as the other boy was taken away by a man in shades.
"Good observation, but that duel was not of high rank," A said to Mai, "But it makes me wonder where they put the losers in."
"Yeah, it's kinda creepy to see a guy come out of nowhere and take you away, huh?" Mai replied. A spark went through her purple eyes as she exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot the whole reason I was here!"
"Did you want to duel me?" A asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Not yet," Mai said, winking, "I want to save you for later because of the whole lose-one-duel-get-disqualified thing. Actually, I wanted to look for this one guy."
"And who may he be?" she wondered, now getting off of the pillar and standing.
"He was second runner up in Duelist Kingdom and was in the finals at Battle City, Joey Wheeler. Have you seen him? Big yellow hair, big t-shirt, big mouth. . ." she described.
A shook her head and replied, "No, not that I know of--" Suddenly a tall man bumped into her shoulder roughly, making A almost topple over.
An angry look on her face, she turned around toward the man and said angrily, "Watch where you're going, baka!" remembering a word she learned in Japanese from Sadiki. The man stood still, his white trench coat rustling. The small black haired boy beside him stopped also, looking behind himself.
Turning his head, the man replied, "Watch who you're calling baka, girl. You should be aware of the superiors around you, which means everyone."
A's hands curled into fists and was about to say something else until she realized who it was.
"Seto Kaiba," Mai said behind her, walking up, "So you're here too?"
Kaiba looked at her with no expression, saying, "Ah, Mai Valentine. So we meet again."
"Hey Mai!" the boy exclaimed, waving his hand, "Whose your friend?"
"Quiet Mokuba," Kaiba ordered, now turning to A. "So girl, what do you got to say for yourself?" A smirk appeared on his face, making her turn red with anger.
"Kaiba, can't you lighten up for a change? Sheesh, even outside of dueling you're a jerk," Mai said her hands behind her head.
Kaiba ignored her as he walked up to A and stared at her face hard. "Have we met before, girl? You seem. . . familiar."
She held her head high as she replied, "Yeah, we have met before. In your nightmares." Kaiba's face turned red with anger as Mokuba gasped in surprise.
"Nice one Eshe," Mai whispered to A, trying not to laugh.
Quickly going back to normal, Kaiba stared at her like a king would to a peasant. "So Eshe, you think you're pretty smart huh?" He stared at her with evil satisfaction.
"Am I smart? Well I must be if one sentence can make your face turn into the color of a tomato," A replied with a grin. Duelists from all sides were circling around them, watching with curiosity. Mai smiled at her, thinking how much A reminded her of herself. Mokuba glared at the Egyptian woman angrily.
"Don't you dare say that about my brother! He can kick your sorry butt at dueling any time, so you better watch your mouth!" Mokuba yelled out, holding up a fist. A glanced at him with a soft look.
She shook her head and laughed lightly, slapping her forehead. "God, what am I doing? I don't have time for this. Sorry 'bout that, kid. Mr. Kaiba. I won't waste your time anymore, besides, I'm sure that you'll want to beat some little kid in a duel right now. Bye." Then A walked away gracefully, making sure to do everything she can to annoy the CEO.
"Then I should duel you, shouldn't I?" Kaiba countered slyly, raising an eyebrow. That was when A stopped, turning her head towards him. The duelists around them cried out "Oooooo. . ." in unison.
"What's that suppose to mean, Kaiba?" she asked, turning around and staring at him.
"Well, from what I see, I don't see any little kids in here other than you, Miss Eshe. Unless you were speaking of yourself in the first place." Kaiba answered. The crowd chattered excitingly at what was to happen next.
A glared at him for a moment, then closed her eyes and looked away. "Tsh, whatever. I don't need to take this kind of crap from spoiled kids like you." Mai raised her eyebrows as A turned around and walked away.
"Hmph, I figured. Too afraid that someone will attack from your blind side, aren't you? Pathetic."
A stopped in her tracks, shaking a little. 'Who does he think he is. . .' She spun around and took out her deck, sliding it into her duel disk. Kaiba grinned, doing the same. Mai and Mokuba looked on with surprise as the people surrounding them hooted and hollered for a duel.
"So what should we bargain?" Kaiba asked.
"If I win the duel, you hand over your rarest trap card and grovel at my feet for forgiveness in front of these fine duelists," A replied, waving her hand to the crowd of people. "If you win, I will hand over my rarest trap card and. . ." She pointed to her niqab as she continued, "I'll take off this veil in public, a very embarrassing thing to do for an Egyptian woman."
Kaiba grinned, saying, "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Just giving you some time to enjoy this moment, because you'll be begging for forgiveness later." A replied, her duel disk shifting to the dueling mode.
"Be careful for what you wish for," Kaiba said, his duel disk shifting to dueling mode.
'This is gonna be interesting,' Mai thought, the duelists whispering amongst themselves.
"LET'S DUEL!"
To Be Continued. . .
Ha. Hahahaha. Ho. Man. Can't wait to see what happens next. And to think that Yugi is lurking somewhere in there. . . Who knows? Maybe he's watching himself. . . Man, the duel's gonna take long to type though. Most of the cards will probably be fake, so don't kill me when you see it in the next chapter.