Notes from the author: Okay the legal mumbo jumbo; I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its related companies. I do however own the characters Cameron, and Zander. The Character of Wes belongs to Lifevirus7 and the characters of Bethany and Eriza belong to Beth aka Android Eighteen. (Both of who are members of I know most of you do not like Bethany Kaiba but (and I don't mean to sound rude) you'll just have to get used to her. If this is the first chapter you're reading I highly suggest that you go back and read the past three chapters if you want to have idea of what's going on. Also please note that I am not a good speller or writer. So please forgive my misuses of "Their" "There" and "They're" amongst other things. Future chapters of this story will take longer to make (due to school opening soon) so please be patient. Thank you, and enjoy.
Oh, one last thing:
Thoughts
Yami's
"Speaking"
As he walked up the front stairs of his house, just before the door, Cameron paused and glanced at two flowerpots next to the corner of the house. Wedged in-between the two pots was an empty pack of cigarettes. He sighed and went inside. "I'm home mom!"
She answered him back from the kitchen. "Oh, how was detention?"
"Not to bad, I guess. I'm getting really good with the floor buffer."
"Dinner will be ready in an hour."
"I have to use the phone for a minute."
"That's fine with me." She said cutting a head of lettuce in half.
Cameron picked up the phone and walked up the stairs into his room. "What did Beth say her number is? Duh! Kaiba Mansion has its own area code!" Cameron punched in the three numbers. He got the answering machine, it had Seto's voice.
"You've reached the Kaiba household; although why you got the answering machine I have no idea considering the butler should've ANSWERED THE PHONE. deep breath Anyways, leave a message and I'll consider calling you back. beep"
"Why am I not surprised?" Cameron said falling backward in on his bed. Zander took over.
"Maybe she's online?" Zander suggested.
"It's worth a try." Cameron sat down in his chair and signed onto DIE. (DIE stands for Domino Internet Environment.)
"That's an interesting acronym." Zander noticed.
"I had a feeling you'd like it. Hey, Beth is on! Wes too! Time for a little chat."
OnlineHost: Welcome to private chat room number 36,304,921
Fiend528: hi
EgyptQueenB: Hi…um who are you?
Fiend528: beth im wes
EgyptQueenB: Oh, hello Wes. Did you start this room?
Fiend528: nope
Cartoon16Dude: I did.
EgyptQueenB: And you are…?
Cartoon16Dude: Cameron.
EgyptQueenB: Oh.
Fiend528: so what?
Cartoon16Dude: Beth do you remember what the CW homework is?
EgyptQueenB: I would not worry about it.
Cartoon16Dude: why not?
EgyptQueenB: A.) because tomorrow is Saturday. B.) Seto's battle city tournament starts that morning, so no school until it ends.
Cartoon16Dude: OO' How could I forget something that big?
Fiend528: cause' your u?
EgyptQueenB: Did you guys get your duel disks yet?
Fiend528: no not yet
Cartoon16Dude: How much will they cost?
EgyptQueenB: ¥10,916 (That's about $100 U.S.)
Cartoon16Dude: ¥¥ How much!
Fiend528: I think im a little short
EgyptQueenB: But if you're a duelist and you register you get one for free!
Cartoon16Dude: If you told me that first you could have saved me a heart attack.
Fiend528: so where we sign up?
EgyptQueenB: We can just meet up tomorrow morning and I can show you the place.
Fiend528: I think yugi said he was going tonight, with joey and the others
OnlineHost: EgyptQueenB has signed off.
Cartoon16Dude: ⌐⌐ How much you want to bet that she's gone off to wander all over Domino trying to find him?
Fiend528: its no bet if a sure thing
Cartoon16Dude: I can't argue with that. But I got to go as well.
Fiend528: i g2g to, little bro wants to use comp
Cartoon16Dude: You have a little brother?
OnlineHost: Fiend528 has signed off.
OnlineHost: Cartoon16Dude has signed off.
OnlineHost: Chat room closed.
Cameron yawned, stretching out his arms. He walked back out into the kitchen. "Mom, I'm tired. I'm gonna have to pass on dinner tonight."
"Is something bothering you?" She asked.
"No, just a busy day."
"All right, I'll save some in the fridge for you."
"Thanks." He said as he walked back into his room. About an hour later he was fast asleep. Fast, but not peaceful. "No! Stay away... Don't you... Mother!" Cameron shot up in his bed in a cold sweat.
"Is every thing alright, Cameron?" Zander asked.
"Yeah. Guess I just have monsters on the brain." He glanced at the clock. Midnight. He stared at the computer. "Might as well see what my horoscope says today." He signed back onto DIE. Wes was not on, but for some reason both Beth and Yugi were.
OnlineHost: Welcome to private chat room number 4,031,928
Cartoon16Dude: So um…what's up?
EgyptQueenB: Well, other then the fact that we all have extreme insomnia, not to much.
DMagician469: Um… Who's cartoon16dude?
Cartoon16Dude: A true gentlemen would introduce himself first before asking for someone else's name.
DMagician469: I'm Yugi.
Cartoon16Dude: This is Cameron. Hey, Yugi about the 4 way duel yesterday…
DMagician469: What about it?
Cartoon16Dude: Was it me or did Marik lose easily?
EgyptQueenB: Now that you mention it I noticed that too.
DMagician469: Well from what Wes told me, down in the nurse's office, it seems that he was the closest duelist to where I was.
EgyptQueenB: So Marik did not get a chance to put better cards into Wes's deck.
Cartoon16Dude: That's good. I'd hate to duel Marik at his peak.
DMagician469: Bakura just signed in.
EgyptQueenB: Give me a minute I'll invite him in.
AngelicDemon: Oh why hello everybody.
Cartoon16Dude: But something is still bothering me.
DMagician469: What is it Cameron?
Cartoon16Dude: Right now this is Zander.
DMagician469: It is? Well what's the problem?
Cartoon16Dude: The problem is that I'm still here.
EgyptQueenB: Why is that a problem?
Cartoon16Dude: High Priest Seto said I was to "finish him off". Him being Yami. But I should have passed on when he was defeated.
DMagician469: Defeated? You knocked me out.
Cartoon16Dude: That's true but the puzzle's power should have gone to Marik and then I defeated Yami in Marik's body. So I should not be.
AngelicDemon: Did I miss a memo or something?
EgyptQueenB: You see Cameron has a millennium item like us. His is a dagger.
AngelicDemon: nods
EgyptQueenB: The spirit in it was once an assassin. I forget how the rest of it goes, BUT HE KILLED MY PHARAOH!
Cartoon16Dude: You see High Priest Seto ordered me "To finish him off if I lose." So I played along for a bit. But when Seto lost, I refused to kill. So as a reward he sealed my soul in the dagger, (Causing it to become a millennium item) and then tossed the dagger into the shadow realm.
AngelicDemon: So why do you have to do what he says? He's been dead for well more then a millennium.
Cartoon16Dude: He placed a curse on me so I can't pass on until I follow out his wishes. Which I did.
DMagician469: Sounds like you should talk to Ishizu or maybe Shadi.
Cartoon16Dude: I guess it could not hurt.
EgyptQueenB: Um… I have a stupid question.
DMagician469: What is it?
EgyptQueenB: Why are we all awake?
Cartoon16Dude: Nightmare.
DMagician469: Me too.
AngelicDemon: Dido.
EgyptQueenB: This is almost scary, I had one too.
Cartoon16Dude: I wonder what the four of us have in common.
AngelicDemon: Millennium items?
Cartoon16Dude: Maybe. But it's probably something more then that. Yawn I need to go back to sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
OnlineHost: Cartoon16Dude has signed off.
DMagician469: I hope Serenity's surgery goes okay. Joey went to see her tonight.
EgyptQueenB: I'm sure they'll be just fine.
OnlineHost: EgyptQueenB has signed off.
OnlineHost: AngelicDemon has signed off.
OnlineHost: DMagician469 has signed off.
OnlineHost: Chat room closed.
Cameron shut his computer down and crawled back into bed. Zander just has to ask. "So Cameron, what did your horoscope say?"
"Emphasis on your career or social standing will require that you pay attention to what others think of you."
"What does that mean?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. Now go to sleep." His eye lids slowly shut as the both of them drifted back to sleep.
He awoke up to the sound voices coming from the first floor. He could not recognize them at first but he could tell one was his mother's. He went over to his dresser and grabbed an outfit; brown vest, red short sleeve shirt, a white long sleeved shirt under it, black jeans, and his blue hat. With Zander's dagger concealed in an inside pocket of the vest. Cameron grabbed his deck and back pack and walked down the steps into the living room. Due to his displeasure Bethany, Wes, and some other girl he did not know were all sitting on the couch. Wes at the far left end Beth at the right and mystery girl in wedge between them. Beth was drinking some tea his mother had made. Mystery girl was a little shorter then Bethany, and had long brown hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a light blue shirt with no sleeves, along with dark blue jeans that covered the tops of her shoes. She also seemed to have a sketch pad with her.
"What is this, a PTA meeting?" Cameron asked in his 'Do not disturb first thing in the morning or else I'll rip your head off' attitude.
"Cameron that's no way to talk to your guests." His mother scolded him.
"How are they my guests if they invited them selves over?"
"Well," Bethany started. "we came here to pick you up. We figured you'd forgotten… again." She placed an empty tea cup on a small tray in front of her.
"Would you like any more?" Cameron's mom asked. Bethany signaled a "no" with her hands. The large orange cat sitting behind her on the couch had decided to sniff at her blue hair. Cameron just noticed that his black cat fell asleep on Wes's lap.
Cameron lifted his back pack off his shoulders and placed it on the table. He opened it and started to put snacks, drinks, and other food into it. "Just so you guys know. I was preparing since last night."
"Then why are you bringing food?" The mystery girl asked.
"Do you have any idea how much Almondo (the local coffee shop in Domino) charges for a bottle of water?"
The girl placed her hand on her chin. "Didn't think of it that way."
"Well I did." He placed a few more bottles of water into his backpack. "Who are you any way?"
"How rude of me, my name is Kim."
"And why are you in my house?" He asked placing some bottled water into his back.
"I came with Bethany and Wes."
"We're friends from anime camp!" Beth added.
Inside Cameron's head Zander had to say something. Great just what we need, another Beth. Well maybe if she does not know you're an assassin every thing will be all right.
"Anime camp?" Cameron asked. "A summer camp about Japanese anime?"
"Yep! I ra--- moved here from America." Kim said with a huge grin on her face.
"And you duel?" Cameron asked taking out a juice from the fridge and drinking it.
"Yes I do. But I haven't signed up yet."
"What type of deck do you play?"
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"Well if it helps you any…" He pointed at Beth. "Fairies and Magicians." He pointed at Wes. "Fiends." He pointed straight down at him self. "Mixed bag." He tossed the empty bottle into the trash can.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Um..." Wes said "I don't mean to rush this but can we get going? I can't feel my legs." Cameron squatted down and made some clicking noises with his mouth. The cat woke up, hoped down from Wes's lap, and went over to Cameron. "How'd you do that?" Wes inquired.
Cameron had started petting the cat. "You can communicate with anything if you try hard enough." He checked his watch. "We really should be going."
"Cameron! You'll forget your keys again." His mom said. Cameron gave a nervous laugh.
"Thanks…again." He grabbed his keys and walk out side.
About fifteen minuets later Beth, Cameron, Kim, and Wes were only one block away from the registry. Wes had just wiped the last of the cat hair off his red and black shorts. He had starting eating a bag of chips Cameron brought, but he stained his red shirt with the grease. Kim didn't say much but she constantly drew in her sketch book. Cameron had started struggling from the weight of his back pack. He had packed more then he can carry. "Can I get a little help here?" He asked falling down. A small orb bounced out of his vest's pocket and rolled on the ground.
"Hey what's this?" Kim asked picking up the small white orb.
"That would be a blind sphere."
"Blind sphere?" They all asked.
"It will blind any one who looks in its direction for about three to five minuets."
"And you have this why?" Wes asked.
"Well, if we run into those rare hunters, at least we have some self-defense." He responded.
"You got anything else?" Kim asked with a slight interest. Cameron opened his vest up wide. He took the blind sphere from Kim and placed it with two others.
"Let's see, I have the dagger, a flash light, a skeleton key, a pocket knife, some rope, and these." He said pulling out a small silver bag with little purple pellets in it that look a lot like paintballs. He took out one small pellet and threw it across the street. It gave off a barley audible bang whit a purple smoke came out of it. Cameron also had a small lighter and a can full of pepper spray in his back pack. The others' eyes grew wide.
"It's a utility vest!" Beth said.
"What, do you fight crime at night or something?" Wes asked in shock.
"Cool dagger. Where'd you get it Zander?" Kim asked.
"Who's this Zander you're talking about?" Cameron asked a little worried.
"Oh don't worry about it Bethany or should I say Eriza filled me in on every thing earlier."
"You're kidding right?"
"Nope. You're an assassin who killed the pharaoh, and the queen, got his soul sealed away, and now your back to get revenge."
Zander spoke through Cameron. "A little rough around the edge, but mostly true. But just for the record I never killed the pharaoh."
"YES YOU DID YOU LITTLE LIER!" Eriza shouted as she ran at him, her arms flailing wildly. Zander grabbed her wrists in midair so that no one would be knocked out by them.
"You know you really are the queen of denial."
"Bad pun." Kim said thinking out loud. "If your done walking down memory lane the registry is right over their." She pointed out a little card shop in the nearby strip mall. It was wedged in between a set of escalators. They started back off to the shop, Eriza glaring the whole way.
"You know, all that glaring can't be healthy on your eyes." Wes pointed out.
"Shut up Wes!" Eriza said quickly as they walked into the air conditioned shop.
"What can I do for you kids?" The man behind the counter asked. He was not very old, about twenty-four or twenty-five.
"We've come to sign up for battle city." Wes pointed out, while rubbing a red hand shaped make on his face in the exact same shape as Beth's hand.
"Just in time only another hour and a half 'till it kicks off. Just tell me your name and I'll set you guys up."
"Wes Agmes."
The clerk typed in his name. "Okay it appears her you are eligible to enter. And your rarest card is the…" He was silent for a second. "I see it's the Masked Beast." (Atk. 3200 Def. 1800) "How did you get such a powerful card?"
"I won it at the Domino Arcade. Cameron's deck and mine were pretty much built twenty-five cents at a time."
"That's interesting. Anyways here's your free duel disk. Good luck. Next!"
"Cameron Hawkings." Again the clerk punched up his name.
"You are also eligible. Your rarest card is The Magician Dragon?" (Atk. 2700 Def. 2100)
"He has a very unique effect." Cameron started. "Every time he destroyers a monster in defense mode half of that monster's defense gets added to his own. If I do that a few times then play Shield & Sword, well you get the idea."
"That's a good strategy. Here's you disk. Next!"
"Bethany Kaiba." She said speaking again.
The clerk quickly typed in her name. "Let's see, your rarest card is…" He was in shock. "Your rarest card is The Cosmo Queen? (Atk. 2900 Def. 2450) Well, here's your duel disk"
"When you're a Kaiba you get access to all sorts of strong cards."
"In other words," Kim added "She bothered Seto until he got it for her." Beth gave her a friendly jab with her elbow.
"And what's your name?" The clerk asked Kim.
"My name is Kim Ames."
"I'm sorry your name isn't in our computer. What's your full name?"
Kim gave an annoyed sigh. "Kimberly Ann Ames."
"Here it is, it was filed under Ann not Kim, it'll take me a moment to fix it." His eyes grew to the size of duel disks. "Whoa! Your rarest card is Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End? (Atk. 3000 Def. 2500) How? I own this card shop and never pulled one!"
Kim grinned widely and giggled as she took her duel disk. "When you know a Kaiba you get access to all sorts of strong cards."
"Well I guess with all the money I'll save from lying off that employee will allow me to get some more cards my self."
"Why'd you half to lay him off?" Wes asked.
"He let some no-name duelist enter battle city."
"Who?"
"The name was…Johnny Roller …or something like that."
"No one I know." Cameron said. Beth glanced at his watch. She grabbed Cameron's collar with one hand and Kim's in the other. Kim in turned grabbed Wes. With all of then in hand Beth sprinted out of the store and across Domino. They were about to be late to meet Yugi.
The clerk stuck his head out the door of the store. "GOOD LUCK!" He shouted at the fading silhouette of the gang.
When Beth finally stopped running she went over to swoon over Yugi. Wes went to chat with Joey. Kim went to talk with Mai. Cameron took a moment to catch his breath. Zander was anxious about something. We need to talk to Yugi, NOW! Alright, alright, calm down Zander, this is my body so if you get a heart attack so do I.
It took them no time at all to find Yugi. It was even easier since Beth was parading around him like a true otaku. "Yugi, can we talk." Cameron asked. Beth gave him a death glare. "Privately." Zander added.
"Don't trust him, Yugi." Beth said protectively.
"Here hold this." Cameron handed her his sheath the dagger still in it.
"And the vest, and the backpack." She demanded.
"Fine." And he put down his vest and back pack. "Can we talk now?"
"I still don't trust you." Beth said making a face that would make any other man back down and start to cry.
"Good. Yugi if we may." He singed to an alley that would still be in Beth's view. Zander walked over to it and got comfortable. Yugi followed shortly.
I still don't trust him. Beth thought to her self. We should give him the benefit of the doubt; he did save us from Marik after all. By knocking out Yugi and Yami if you may recall. True but if he did not care about us we wouldn't be here. I still don't trust him. Does something seem familiar about Cameron? Like the way he looks? No doesn't ring a bell to me.
Zander sat down on an empty wooden crate, Yugi just leaded against the wall.
"So what is it you wanted to talk about, Zander?" Yami asked taking over Yugi's body.
"I have to apologize for yesterday."
"All right, but can I ask why you decided to knocked me out?"
"So I can pass on to the other side."
"For an assassin you're in an awful rush to burn."
"That would be true if I were an average assassin."
"Average?"
"You see I didn't kill to kill. I killed because I had to."
"Had to? Everyone has the ability to say no."
Zander gave a little laugh and a smirk. "You are so naive to the real world."
"How so?" Yami asked.
"You see unlike those born into royalty us peasants can't get every thing we want just by snapping our fingers, we don't have hundreds of slaves working for us, and we don't have the doctors to cure our sicknesses. We have to work for every thing we earn. This would require sacrifices we can't afford to make."
"You killed so you could afford nice things?"
"No I killed to save them."
"Save who?"
"My wife and young son, from an illness."
Yami seemed shocked. "You were married?"
Zander looked over to Beth. "So were you.
"Point taken."
"Listen, I did kill," He confessed. "but only because Priest Seto said he had a cure for their sickness. He would pay me for killing people who stood in his way of power. He even said I was the best." He sighed. "Not that I'm proud of it. I doubt it'll help my story any, but when it did come time for the kill I would always aim for the mercy area. The point where the neck meets the spine. That way if they did feel any pain it would only been for a fraction of a second."
"I see, so you killed Seto's enemies so that your family could live on. Then you deiced to come after me."
"I thought we've gone over this, I did not kill you or Eriza! Just the idea of killing my pharaoh would never have entered my mind even in my darkest dreams. So Pharaoh I ask you, no beg you, for forgiveness of what I have done."
"I want to but how can I trust you?"
"I know you may doubt what I say, but not what I do. Pharaoh, Seto threatened my family; he used me for his own gain and I fell for it. Then he took every thing I ever cared about away from me. But because of his curse I can't rest in peace."
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. An ancient philosophy."
A new voice echoed from around the corner of the ally. "It's not that ancient."
Zander quickly stood up and Yami stepped off the wall. A figure emerged from the dark shadows of the ally. A man, wearing a black shirt, and a purple full body robe marked with the symbol of the millennium. He was about five feet away and had thick black greasy hair. He spoke with what sounded like two voices.
"Figures, another one of Marik's puppets." Yami said.
"We shouldn't even waste our time with this one." Zander added.
"I suggest you hand me your rarest cards now!" The stranger demanded.
"Over my dead body. Zander you may want to rethink that." Cameron said with fear in his voice.
The stranger reached into his robe with his right hand and slowly pulled out a hand gun. "First rule of dueling, always have one last trick up your sleeve."
"How true." Zander turned his head and his eye met Yami's. "When I tell you, duck and be ready to kick. Trust me on this." Yami slowly nodded. Zander crossed his arms. "I bet there aren't any bullets in that gun. Zander don't push our luck." Out of sight from the Rare Hunter Zander was pushing open a hole in the pit of Cameron's shirt.
"Hehehe, you should listen to that alter ego of yours. I never take chances." He pulled the hammer of the gun back.
"Now." Zander said calmly.
Yami ducked, and in a flash Zander ripped open the pit of his shirt and griped the handle of his dagger. With the press of a button the blade of the dagger extended from the handle and slashed the man's hand. In the commotion he lifted his hand into the air so he could see for himself the size of the cut. About two inches long. Yami stood up, ran at him, kicked the gun out of his hand and proceeded to punch him in the face. The would be murderer fell on the ground.
"I suggest you leave." Yami said standing over the stranger. Yami's eyes turned to stone with an imbedded glare.
The stranger, now panicking, stood up and ran down the back of the ally covering his hand.
"How'd you do that?" Yami asked.
"Very simple." Zander remarked at his own genius. "He said so himself, "First rule of dueling, always have one last trick up your sleeve"."
"But I thought you gave the dagger to Beth."
"So does she. The dagger she has is a decoy made of plastic."
"So where did that dagger come from?" Yami asked pointing at Zander's hand.
Zander lifted up his left arm. "Theirs a sheath under my arm it's connected to a wire that passes around my torso."
"Impressive, but why go through all the trouble?"
"First rule of assassinations 'Never be caught defenseless'. Are you gonna be alright?"
"I'll be fine I'm just not use to being in a near death situation every day. How about you?"
"I'm gonna need a new shirt but other than that I'm fine."
"So I guess this makes us friends." Yami put his hand out.
"Only when Beth's not around." Zander laughed and shook Yami's hand.
They walked out of the ally back to Beth who had a mixed look of worry and anger; it soon turned in to confusion when she saw the gapping hole in the side of Cameron's shirt. "Do I even want to know?" she inquired.
"Trust me you don't." Cameron answered back. He opened his back pack and pulled out the extra clothes he had packed. With that out of the way Beth resumed looking worried.
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked.
"It seems that Joey was attack by rare hunters last night and they stole his Red Eyes Black Dragon!" (Atk. 2400 Def. 2000)
"You're kidding!" Cameron was shocked.
"Well first things first we have to go find that Rare Hunter and win Joey's dragon back!" Yugi sounded like he was about to do one of Tea's friendship speeches.
"Sounds like a plan." Wes said. Standing behind him were Mai, Joey, and Kim.
Kim spoke up. "Beth and I can check the area by the movie theater."
"Me and Wes can hit the blocks by the arcade." Cameron said. Wes looked at him as if to fix his grammar but decided against it.
"Yugi and Joey can take down town. I'll take up town." Mai added.
"Great, let's split up and find Joey's red eyes." And with this remark from Beth every one headed in their respective directions.
