Domino City
On top of a high building, a bulky sphere of cement-colored cloth covered the tracker from all points of view. Opening his labtop, his eyes still taking note of how two certain duelists were walking along a bridge into a park, Umiryu was alerted to the bleeping sounds of a messenger convo being opened. He barely glimpsed at the name before responding in return, selecting the Audio option. "What is it?"
"-0001 has entered the city, along with target M3I1. I need you to abandon your report project and meet with him, then await further orders."
Though more than a year's experience had trained him against his unseen, garbled-voiced leader, the aqua-haired youth nearly dropped his PC. "WHAT!? I've spent the better part of a day trailing Drake, writing this accursed thing, and now I suddenly can't even finish it!?"
There was a pause, in which he realized how stupid he'd been to burst out like that, regretting it at the thought of what the reply would be. "Indeed. However, it seems that strange, uncontrollable circumstances have developed without warning, circumstances that could end everything for us. Pegasus already knows about Arano, understands that it was not normal circumstances that brought about his souless state, and has hired a professional with knowledge of our 'affiliate' agency, which Pegasus could also take down. Meet with -0001 at Domino Train Station, NOW."
Nodding needlessly, the agent went into action, leaping acrobatically down alleyside stairways and then dashing through several intersections, the labtop still open his right arm.
"Incidentally, how did Pegasus find out so fast?"
"Your report was followed, and we linked his attack to the first person possible that exhibited signs of insanity. Pegasus had someone trailing Bandit Keith, who relayed the information of his arrest to him."
"What? How is Bandit Keith insane?"
"........ You need to read more of our stolen reports concerning the Rare Hunters, don't you?"
XXXXX
Domino Park.
Far away from the blinding buildings, the park was mostly peaceful. Some duelists were even enjoying lunch with holograms of their favorite monsters, who stood patiently for orders. Well, some, at least.
Swatting a Kuriboh away, Drake grinned. "Except for the human life around us, this is a lot like home. So, what do you suppose we should do next?"
"Well, we both only have two Locator cards, but there's a lot of time left, in any case. So why not just relax?" Lara suggested happily, nudging closer to her boyfriend. She fingered the Locket on her neck. "I have some stuff ready back home we could warp here....or there's any number of stands around......or-"
She trailed off, her mind wandering. Drake glanced at her deep expression, concerned. "What's up?"
"I was just thinking about things.... like that Arano guy. And why Ryo didn't come back with us last week...." Lara groaned loudly. "This sucks. I want to stay out of abnormal things for once, but I'm too worried about said things to just ignore them!"
"I know the feeling..." The dragon duelist said comfortingly, his left arm moving protectively around her. His eyes shifted side-to-side, in case anyone was watching. "I've wanted to live normally for years, but I couldn't live with myself if I had just went along with Da....Helios."
'He has no right to talk.' Prima said bitterly, slightly surprising Lara. 'No offense meant, Lara, but he spent the last three years guarded at all times. Even if it was a sort of imprisonment, he was safe. He didn't go through-'
'That's enough, Prima! It's okay...and how do you know what I went through, anyway?'
Lara growled at her reclusive yami's continued silence. "And the only help we have, not counting Yugi, are two annoying spirits in our accessories."
"Eh, I'm sure some people have it worse off than us." The red-haired one shrugged, suddenly shivering as he finished the sentence. "And I probably just jinxed it so we'll meet those people. Dangit..."
"Well, not to be the bringer of bad news, but I'm not really very normal." A stern voice said to them. They turned to see the speaker as he finished," and neither is she."
Drake's earlier suspiscions re-flared when he saw someone standing a few feet away, matching him in physical appearance, save the change of color scheme. Red became a bright golden hue, and the hair reflected the light from the sun, making the original groan in continued exhasperation. To the copy's side stood someone thankfully different by far, though still weird, to a degree.
She stood a few inches higher than Drake (and, consequently, her companion), with a sickly yellow-green head of hair, which was pulled into two pigtails. She wore a light green shirt with a foreboading insect-like symbol in the center, and long, brown cargo pants. Two straps around her right arm led to a similar styled bag, which, by the bulges in it's form, contained her duel disk. Her eyes were hazel, and behind the large glasses she wore they were looking at the couple eagerly.
"Guess I was right in following you after all, whoever you are. Though I'd still rather duel one-on-one." She remarked. Her voice was haughty, like Mai's would be in the last turn of a duel, but it didn't seem intentional. "My name's Hachi, and this obsessed weirdo is-"
"Rai." He said simply, his voice much colder than the one he appeared like. Lara groaned deeply. "How many of you clones ARE there in this tournament?"
"Counting me, there are four left." He continued, surprisingly. "But that's beside the point. Drake Pegasus and Lara Justina, this girl and I wish to challenge you to a double duel."
"And why is that?" The red version inquired, glancing suspisciously at the two. "You two don't seem like you know each other."
"He came up to me after I finished my first duel, and wanted asked if I wanted to duel two strong opponants. I agreed, but he said it had to be a double duel, and he would have to be my partner." The girl called Hachi explained, her disk snapping into place. "So, any objections?"
Red eyes met violet in an eager glance, and the two lovers grinned simultaneously. "We bet two cards each." Drake answered.
"Deal." The yellow-clothed duelist said, his own disk moving with his opponants', the duel starting.
"I'll make the first move, if ya don't mind." Hachi declared, drawing her sixth card. "I summon Pinch Hopper, in attack mode!" 1000/1500
What looked like a giant grasshopper appeared beside her, and Drake smirked knowingly. 'She wants us to attack it, so she can summon a stronger insect from her hand.'
"I also place two cards facedown to end my turn."
"As long as we're going by the 'ladies' first; concept," Lara said, drawing a card, " I summon Fire Princess in defense mode, place three cards facedown, and end my turn!" 1300/1500
"I play Polymerization to fuse two cards in my hand together." Rai said swiftly, the Fusion card moving to his hand as he placed in on the disk. "My Thunder Dragons become the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon." 2800/2100
The three other duelists looked in shock as the large, red beast appeared, it's bulky form, large wings, and two-mouthed head crackling with electricity. " I end my turn by placing my last two cards facedown."
'Okay, that was unexpected.' Drake admitted to himself, though Lance heard it as well. 'Luckily for me, I have a stronger card to counter it, with a few moves.'
"I summon Red Eyes Black Chick, in defense mode!" What appeared on the field looked like nothing more than a red egg, though it was easily half as tall as Drake, and stirring fitfully. 800/500
"Then, I use its special ability to summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand!" 2400/2000
The egg shattered, and a long, large line of energy erupted from it, turning darker as it took shape and form, becoming a highly angled, jet-black dragon, thin and intimidating, with burning red eyes. "Finally, I'll equip it with the Nails of Bane, boosting its attack power by 600 points!" 3000/2000
"Inferno Fire Blast!" Rai didn't seem the least bit surprised as his giant creature faded into ashes at the raging river of flame, but he did glare at the one whose outfit he had copied. LP:3800
"I'll put one card facedown to end my turn."
Hachi glared at her already glaring partner. "Now I now why you sought me out; you suck!"
"I don't see any contributions from you to the duel."
"Then look harder." She snarled, drawing. "I play Tribute to the Doomed, allowing me to discard one card from my hand to destroy one monster on the field. My Pinch Hopper!"
The bug was mummified instantly in a maze of wrappings, which exploded in flames to reveal a new shape; a green skinned woman with insectoid eyes and wings. "The monster I choose to summon with it's special effect is my Insect Princess!" 1900/1200
"I'll also activate my two facedown cards; DNA Surgery and Insect Barrier! As long as the first is in play, all monsters on the field are considered insects, making your Nails of Bane useless and destroyed, Pegasus."
"Sad, but true." Drake sighed, removing his card and placing it in the graveyard. 2400/2000
"And also, because of the Insect Barrier, any attacks made by opposing insect monsters will be negated, so both of us are safe from your attacks. But that's not the best part; my Insect Princess is free to attack your weaker monsters, as her special abilities require all of YOUR insects to be in attack mode, and every one of them she destroys gives her 500 more points. And to get things ready, I'll equip her with Laser Armor with Firepower, a card that increases the attack of an insect by 700 points!"
The insectoid creature betrayed what little human appearance it had by grinning, revealing horrible pincers, as a large cannon appeared on her back along with a suite of white armor. 2600/1200
As Hachi raised a hand to call an attack, a sillouette of the Insect Princess suddenly warped from its owner, made of red energy, and, with a malicious grin, dissapeared into the cannon. "Royal Cannon Attack!"
With a massive fireball the red shadow burst forth toward the now sickly-green dragon. The Red Eyes looked up, and passively shot a fireball of less size. The form vanished, and Hachi could barely gasp before her creature was destroyed as well. "But...how!?" LP:3900
"That would be because of my two trap cards." Drake answered smugly, gesturing to both. "First, I activated Metalmorph to create the Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon, and swiftly followed with Royal Decree, a trap that remains on the field, and negates the effects of all trap cards besides itself." 2800/2400
Indeed, the creature that glared at the pigtailed girl was one of cold, dark steel, infrared eyes scanning her every move. She stared back into it's eyes with equal fierceness. "Lucky break, bolt breath..."
"Since you're no longer affecting us with your two traps, it's safe to say I can attack." Lara remarked, drawing her next card. "But it's not going to be so safe for you. I flip my three facedown cards, Tremendous Fire-" both opponants flinched as flames licked away 1000 of their life points, "-Dian Keto," both she and Drake regained 1000 points and Lara's Fire Princess subtracted another 500 from their foes,"-and Heavy Storm, which destroys Drake's Royal Decree, but also takes care of all of your facedown cards!" LP:2300/2400, LP: 5000/5000
"I'd remark how unfair this was, if I wasn't enjoying it." Drake remarked, mocking a yawn.
At this, Rai grinned, a slightly scary sight after several minutes of only seeing him frown. "Are you saying you like doing dirty work, Pegasus? Not that I mind, but it's unexpected.."
The redhead broke his humorous act, his ruby eyes matching the gaze of the blonde's. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Rai smirked, closing his eyes as he counted with gloved fingers. "You're the son of a millionaire, the creator of the game, who once nearly killed a large group of people trying to bring back the dead,-"
Hachi blinked, confused, and stared at her mysterious ally as he went on. "-you're harboring a fugitive who was convicted of murder before he was a teenager, you and all of your friends and rivals have records with the police, even if unwarranted, you're living with your girlfriend, a runaway, and sleep together every-"
With his eyes closed, of course, he hadn't noticed Drake walking up to him, and didn;t notice until fingers covered in golden metal grapped him by the collar, lifting him up. The eyes of the Gauntlet's owner were now like his mechanized dragon's ruthless and scrutinizing, and his voice was no less cold. "Nothing happens, if that matters, but how in the world do you know all of this?"
"..I knew the last bit from Duelist Weekly." Hachi offered meekly, but suddenly eyed the harsh look in Lara's eyes, across from her, and quieted.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal that information, 'Pegasus'." Rai spat out. "But I can duel you for some of it, if you'll stop measuring my noose length."
Dropping the duelist down and trudgin back to his side, he glared at his foe. "Be ready to talk in a few minutes. Cream em', Lara!"
00X00
A/N: I do not own any of the new characters introduced in this section. They come from an anime called Detective Conan, dub named Case Closed, making this fic, and any others I use them in, crossovers.
"It had to happen, didn't it?" Seto Kaiba asked aloud, his usual scowl in place as he walked through the halls of Domino Hospital. "Of course. A Duel Monsters tournament with Yugi participating; hospitilized competitors on the first day."
"Why were WE called here, though?" Mokuba asked, moving at a faster pace to compensate for the heavy briefcase strapped to his back. "I've been watching all day, and you haven't hurt anything more than a few duelists' decks."
"No idea, but we have to make it clear we aren't responsible for whoever was injured... and since someone is using MY tournament as a way to target people, they're going to pay!" The elder brother finished angrily, his hand turning the doorknob to a room they had reached.
Kaiba had expected most of the scene before him: The victim, unconscious and hooked to several machines at his bedside, and several other individuals, possibly family members, though they shared nothing similar to the comatose Drake lookalike. There were three things, however, that confused him. The eldest looking in the room, with a black mustache, faintly blue tuxedo, and half-serious look on his face, matched the description of the detective who he had been informed was hired for the case, making him unrelated.
The second confusing element was the group of four kids, from a glance classified as elementary students, three of which were chatting animatedly about something, while the fourth.....
Seto studied this boy closely in the half-second he first saw him, and both interest and naustalgia mixed as he noted the unusual traits about him. Behind a pair of large glasses, blue eyes much like his own were locked on the floord, signifying a mind going over something deep and serious. He wore a child-sized, dark blue tux, and a red bowtie that hung oddly, as if weighted. Adding in untidy brown hair, and this youth, though shorter even than Yugi, had the image of preschool genius... the same look Kaiba himself had once held, and, in a way, retained.
The third disrupting thing in the room did more than just confuse Kaiba; instantly, anger, annoyance, and a tiny hint of dread mixed with the confounded feeling in his mind, and it began with one word, the first thing signifying the chaotic person's presence in the room. "Kaiba-boy!"
"PEGASUS!?" The teenaged millionaire shouted, stepping in front of a startled Mokuba protectively. "What are YOU doing here?"
Amidst the shocked looks from the strangers in the room at Kaiba's reactions, the older buisinessman grinned, walking into plain view from a corner. Dressed in an fancy red tux, which was contrasted harshly against a new Funny Bunny tie, with two sides of sleek platinum hair, the left of the two covering his golden left eye, and his right eye a dark, brownish red, Maximillian Pegasus was odd enough to find in a random hospital room without the dark history Kaiba recalled.
"Well, I was talking with Ranny-girl over here about her father's rise to fame, but now that you're here, too, I suppose I'm waiting to be accused of at least one thing I didn't do, before I explain WHY I'm here."
"Can the lies, one-eye. You had something to do with this whole problem, didn't you?"
"No. And that's my cue to go on with the explanation!" Pegasus said, chuckling as a hole was burned into him by his accusor's gaze. "I came here because, the minute I landed in Domino City I overlooked an old aquaintance of ours being arrested on the streets. I followed up by coming here, checking on the one Keith is accused of... injuring, and realized his symptoms are remarkably similar to YOURS the last time to you actually visited me."
Kaiba dropped his anger for his usual contempt-filled face. "Let me guess; somehow this kid's soul has been drained into a playing card, which is why he's a vegetable. I'd have thought you would've dropped the little magic obsession after getting your feathered, fly-covered tail kicked by Yugi, but I guess I was wrong. And who are these?" He glanced around, gesturing to the kids, the detective, and a brown-haired girl standing near where Pegasus had been.
"Ah, yes, where are my manners. This is Kogoro Mouri-"
"Great Detective Kogoro Mouri, at your service!" The other man interjected, grinning widely, and offering a hand. Seto ignored the greeting, and looked toward the others as a disgruntled glare came to him.
"The charming young lady over there is Mouri-boy's daughter, Ran, and apparantly captain of her school's karate team." The girl nodded, blushing slightly, though it may be because of the more analysing glance Kaiba gave her. She was slightly shorter than him, probably around 17, with long brown hair, and she wore a blue, more buisiness-like school uniform than those at Domino High.
"And last but not least, these tykes are Genta, Mitsuhiko, Conan, and Ayumi, in order by height. " He gestured to the children, and Kaiba made a mental note to remember the serious boy, Conan's, name. " The first two and last are just on vacation with their friend, and Conan-boy, if I'm not mistaken, lives with Ran and Mouri."
Stepping into the room, allowing Mokuba to be verbally bombarded with greetings and questions by the younger-acting trio, Kaiba pushed the KC emblem on his jacket, which beeped, before he started speaking. "So, all mystical thoughts cast aside, who and what are we dealing with?"
"Our victim's name is Tarento Sabure, age 16, and he was here in Domino for your tournament, Mr. Kaiba." Detective Mouri stated. "His father is doctor and scientist from Japan, who is currently in the Sahara Desert, researching incurable mental illnesses. He was found this morning unconscious in an allyway, and, though he shows complete signs of full health, hasn't woken up after several attempts. Currently, our only suspects are some guy named Bandit Keith, who was apprehended for suspiscious behaviour, but released because of a lack of evidence, and Mr. Pegasus, who called us here, having no connection to Sabure whatsover."
Kaiba frowned, his eyes closing as he mused over the situation. "That doesn't explain why I was brought here, though."
"Well, he's competing in your tournament, has a Duel Disk, and already lost his only locator card... plus my own inspection of his deck leads me to believe he is quite skilled, possibly just below Joey Wheeler. That puts a champion like you in the spotlight, in my opinion." Pegasus answered, still grinning.
Kaiba smirked. "Yet another example of insanity, Pegasus. If that mutt is stronger than this duelist, and we're basing suspects on strengths, you've just addedninety-eight percentof all Duel Monsters players to our list."
"But losing a game doesn't mean going comatose! Our suspect may be a duelist, but we can't rule out anyone because they aren't!" A young, though somehow mature voice suddenly said. Kaiba glanced in surprise at Conan, who had obviously been the speaker, based on his stance. While it made sense, in fact, it was COMMON sense, hearing such logic from such a small person was slightly off-setting.
"How many times do I have to tell you; Leave the adults alone, kid!" Mouri snarled, and the seriousness portrayed by the boy died in front of Seto as he dodged a bump on the head by an inch.
"In any event, we can't do much just standing around here." Kaiba said, pushing the two letters on his duster again, turning off the recording link. "We should head for the alleyway in order to search for evidence, and fast; I still have a tournament to win."
"Er, there's a slight problem with that." Ran said, looking at her father with a depressed look. " I have to drive the kids to our hotel, and our rental car is running low on gas, anyway."
"A Great Detective who doesn't own his own car?" Kaiba muttered to himself as Pegasus smirked. "Not a problem, Ranny-girl! I can have my limo drive you and these little guys there, while I, Kaiba, Mouri, and Conan-boy stake out the scene!"
Both the teenage millionaire and the questionable investigator had stupified looks, though Conan seemed slightly intrigued, even happy. Before Pegasus continued, however, Kaiba noticed a look of realization and then sudden fear on the younger one's face. "No offense, Mouri-boy, but he seems to be the only one with common sense out of us all. Kaiba doesn't count, due to a superiority complex and plain rudeness. Besides, I think having him along would be fun...maybe even another few zeroes on that check's worth."
Before anyone could speak, Kogoro jumped to his feet, the confidant, goofy grin back on his face. "The brat comes along!"
The group was further shocked, and the plan derailed, however, by Mokuba, who turning off his own hidden link. "Seto, we just got a call from the blimp! An Egyptian God Card's been spotted!
A powerful rush of interest mixed with longing came to the blue-eyed CEO, and he turned to leave. "Right. Let's go."
"Hey, hold on! What about the crime!" Mouri cried as the white duster-wearing duelist left. "Jeez, what was that about?"
Conan nodded to himself, his theory proven correct from Pegasus' last statement. As he an his foster father left with the red-clothed millionaire, however, he memorized the look of surprise and well-contained horror that had spread across their client's face when the words 'God Cards' has been spoken.
00000
Before Lara could even draw her next card, the sky suddenly darkened. "What?"
Drake took in the abrupt change, the clouds that had gathered, the faint lightning visible from a distance. "What's going on?"
He snapped out of it in time to catch four cards that swirled into his hands, and looked, confused, at his imitator, who merely said," we resign."
"WHAT!?" Hachi shouted, looking enraged at her mysterious partner. "Don't I get a say in this! Hey, wait!" Rai was running off, away from the stormclouds and into the main city. Nonetheless, the holographic monsters vanished, and the insect-using girl was forced into a sigh of defeat. Without looking, she threw two Locator Cards and two normal ones to Lara. "Well, thanks for the duel.... what it was, at least."
As Hachi walked away, the two remaining spent several silent seconds just taking in the apparant randomness of what had just happened, before Drake groaned. "Somehow, I think these all point to an end of our short bout of normalcy."
"Yeah. Dang." Lara griped, pocketing her winnings. "So close, yet so.... impossible."
Drake shook his head, then smiled and walked up to his girlfriend. "At least we're together at the beginning of it, this time, so we can try and STAY together."
Lara blushed, nodding, before sighing deeply once again."I guess it's unavoidable; we're weirdness magnets. When something comes along, we'll have to kick the crap out of it, if only because we hear voices in our heads."
'Should I resent that?' Lance asked.
'I dunno. We ARE kinda the cause of it, in an ancient sense.' Prima reasoned.
'Yeah... I guess so. At least it isn't OUR minds being possesed, though, so that's a benifit.'
Drake groaned once more. "Couldn't have put it better, myself, Lara..."
XXXXX
Next Chapter: One last hour of peace awaits the Red-Eyed Dragon Duelist, but after a short meeting with a young, energetic rival, both old and new faces meet, and the mysterious group of 'Ryus' and the Rare Hunters face off, both appearing before the heroes! Also, Kaiba learns about another teenage genius, who, unknown to him, is actually already on his mind!
