Chapter Five

Comeback Tricks

Author's Note: Please excuse the shortness of this chapter. It is mostly meant as a follow-up too much bigger things and more important events but I thought it was necessary to reflect on both Deirdre's and Bakura's feelings after the last chapter's duel and I didn't think it should crowd in with another, much larger chapter.

Wallowing in a state of perpetual misery, Bakura sat in complete silence while Yugi and his other friends waited nearby for any sign of life from him. He hadn't moved or spoken sense the end of his duel with Deirdre and they were beginning to get worried simply because of the nature of the problem, which only Yami Yugi completely understood. They hoped this wasn't enough to extinguish Bakura's happy-go-lucky attitude and selfless personality but it wasn't looking very promising.

Téa let out a heavy-hearted sigh and took a seat next to him, smoothing out her checkered skirt. Previously, the rain-rotted bench was vacant minus Bakura; Joey and Tristan both secretly admitted to being rather frightened of his other side when it decided to make itself known. "Bakura, c'mon. You shouldn't be so bummed out. After all, you did win the duel."

Bakura shook his head and frowned deeply. "I had nothing to do with the outcome of the duel against Deirdre. The spirit of my Millennium Ring fought and won that battle. I could only sit by and watch as his anger fueled his drive to win." Bakura slouched over further. "And he was so cruel after winning. Why can't he, just for once, be a good sport?"

Joey snickered. "We're all talkin' about the same evil spirit here, right?"

"Yeah, good sportsmanship has never been one of his strong suits." Tristan chimed in and brushed away the tail of his trench coat as he took a seat next to Téa. "I'm sure it's hard sometimes, Bakura, but you gotta believe that you were chosen to bear the burden of the Ring for a reason." Tristan laughed at his own philosophical insight, though everyone but Bakura dismissed him with a roll of the eyes.

"Yes, because the world hates me." He grumbled.

"I don't believe that to be the case at all, Bakura," Yami Yugi said, turning back in the direction of his friends. "It's true that your alternate spirit has malevolent intentions, but perhaps this is all leading up to something much more important on a grander scale. I think you, and the spirit inhabiting your Millennium Ring, will be instrumental in the upcoming battle for the fate of the world."

"But until then," he said solemnly, getting to his feet, "I have to tolerate and try to control him. And it isn't easy. I must admit, I am afraid of what he might do. Of who he could hurt."

Téa smiled and got up as well, wrapping her arm around Bakura's shoulders and pulling him in closer to her chest. "Hey, c'mon! Let's try to forget about all this for now. Joey and Yugi still have a few locator cards to win. A good duel will take your mind off your Millennium Ring and all that magical stuff."

Bakura smiled and nodded. "All right, but I do kind of want to apologize to Deirdre. He must be pretty disappointed." He pulled gently away from Téa's grasp and deposited his hands uncomfortably in his pockets.

Joey shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Bakura. He might take out his frustrations on ya if you show up again so soon." With a quick pass of his hand, he retrieved his deck from his right pants pocket and slid it into the register of his Duel Disk. "Give 'em a day or two. Until then, I wanna go start a fight. If you'll all excuse me."

With that, Joey took a triumphant step forward, slid on the moldy bun of a discarded hot dog and took a header into the cold concrete beneath his feet.

The group let out a simultaneous groan, minus Tristan, who fell over laughing hysterically.

Joey pulled himself to his feet as quick as he could, wiped a small dab of blood away from his nose and cleared his throat. "Umm...that didn't just happen."

Yugi chuckled and walked off, looking for his next prospective duel. The others followed after him only for a few minutes before splitting off with Joey or by themselves as he stepped up to his next challenge against Weevil Underwood.

Three people stood around a rusted metal bench where a short, bald young man stood on top absolutely still. He didn't blink and it didn't even look like he was breathing. His face was riddled with piercing's and his hands, palms open outward, were held ahead completely immobile. A bird briefly landed on his shoulder but was scared off when one of his onlookers began talking.

"Man, this guy hasn't moved for hours." One of the young men said.

"Dude, don't you know? He's a mime. Were supposed to be impressed by this." Said the other, waving his hand in front of the mime's face. He stepped up on his toes to get a closer look at this guys pupils. They were incredibly dialated.

The girl leaned up on the tips of her toes as well and snapped her fingers a few times in front of his face, becoming somewhat concerned for him even though she had no idea who he was. It was unnatural for anyone to be this still for such a lengthy amount of time, but he was still completely oblivious to their presences.

Awaken, Strings! Go and find Yugi and relieve him of his Millennium Puzzle!

After hearing his master's call, the mime instantly sprang to life, reaching into the shoulder bag hanging from his arm and pulling out a Duel Disk. He slid it onto his wrist with one clean motion then hopped off from the bench, skillfully avoiding those around him and took off in pursuit of his prey.

Skylar had temporarily stirred Deirdre from his defeated stupor just long enough to get him to move under a shaded outdoor café. He leaned on his elbows and stared blankly out into the distance, watching another duel take place. Something he could never do again with success.

He slowly removed a duel monsters card from his pocket and gave it a look over. It was the Incinerator card, but because he didn't have the Flame Champion anymore it was useless and had no reason to be taking up space in his deck. But then again, he would never use his deck again so really why did it matter what was in it?

"Are you still feeling sorry for yourself?" Skylar asked walking back over to the table holding two chocolate smoothes. Deirdre didn't ask for anything but nothing was better at soothing the mind and body than a large amount of liquefied sugar. "C'mon, Deirdre! Snap out of it! Everyone loses some times, so why should you just give up after one measly defeat?"

"I wasn't ready," he said quietly.

Skylar sat down and took a sip of her drink. "You what?"

"I wasn't ready," he repeated. "I wasn't ready for this tournament. I'm not good enough to be here."

She sighed and shook her head in disagreement. "No, you do deserve to be here. Now I, however, was way too inexperienced. I don't know why Kaiba sent me that impersonal two-sentence letter and had someone else forge his signature. He must have just gone through the stack of local duelists really fast."

Deirdre looked up at her and shook his head. "I think he chose right. You can at least take a defeat without loosing your will to live."

"Oh, will you stop it!" She shouted, diverting the attention of all nearby people over to their table. She shot them all a furious glance and they quickly mumbled back into their own conversations. "Deirdre, listen to me. You still have a locator card so you not out of this yet. I'm going to find you another challenge so just wait here."

With lightning-quick reflexes he snatched her by the forearm and dragged her back into her seat, all without even looking up. "No, thank you. I'll find my own challenge." He slid back his plastic bucket seat and stood up.

"Oh, I knew you could make a comeback!"

He shrugged like it was no big deal. "I just got tired of your 'good sportsmanship' speeches." He picked up his Duel Disk from the table and walked with it in hand into the crowd.

He saw many potential duelists, but it was strange for him to go and pick someone out like he was picking the juiciest lobster at a seafood bar. Plus this would be the clincher for him. If he lost this time, he would be out of locator cards, his second rarest card, and the Battle City Tournament. He didn't want to just choose any pushover but his subliminal mind also told him not to pick a grand champion or a regional finalist. Someone high in their star ranking but not the best.

"Duelist, turn around and face your fate."

Deirdre raised his eyebrow and turned his neck to look over his shoulder. A kid who stood at about the height of Deirdre's waste and had deeply recessed cheekbones stood there with a psychotic grin on his face and a Duel Disk strapped on his wrist. His straight, static blue hair completed what was possibly the creepiest-looking person imaginable.

"Greetings, friend. Do me the pleasure of sending you into oblivion?"

'Well, that was easy enough,' Deirdre thought.

"Umm...yeah, sure. Why not?"

'Because your gonna lose, that's why not.'

"Wonderful!" The kid shouted and clapped his hands together. "I look forward to it! My friends call me Bones, but you can call me that anyway." He took out his deck and pushed it into the reader on his Disk. "Sorry if this is all happening to fast, but I'm in a hurry to get to the secret location of the tournament finals. How many locator cards do you have?"

Deirdre sighed and held up his index finger. "Just one."

Bones let out a truly ghastly laugh. His eyes even rolled into the back of his head, showing the whites of his irises. "Well, this should be easy enough! Prepare to meet the worst onslaught of zombie monsters you've ever seen!"

He gave a curt nod and loaded his deck. The two backed up a few meters (that sadistic smile never left Bones' face) and they launched their holo-imagers. Deirdre watched with growing hesitation and even fear as a crowd began to gather. 'Man, they're like flies. They come and swarm around the leftovers almost immediately. I don't know if I can do this.'

"Yeah, Deirdre!" Skylar said from the front of the crowd, pumping her fist into the air. "Let's go! Pummel this guy and you'll be back in the game!"

Bones shook his head. "You don't stand a chance. My deck is infested with all kinds of rare and exotic zombie monsters! This tournament will be your grave, Deirdre!" Bones paused, looked around nervously for a moment then leaned forward and whispered: "Umm...that is your name, isn't it?"

Deirdre snorted with impertinence but nodded.

"Well then!" He started up again immediately with the terror act. "Let us begin so I can move on to my next victim!"

Deirdre watched as his life point meter reset and they both drew their starting duel hands. 'All right, this is it. This determines my continuation in the Battle City Tournament. I have to remain focused and not listen to this guys babbling. I have to win. I have too.'