When she opened her eyes, she expected to—wait...she opened her eyes?
Leticia blinked and looked around. Where was the rock that was falling on
top of her? She didn't see it anywhere around her, so she figured that she
must have managed to free her foot and move. Then she heard someone
straining, he (or she) was trying to hold something very heavy up unaided.
She turned her head around and saw Anubis holding up the large piece of the
building. His muscles bulged under the pressure and beads of sweat ran
down his pale brow.
"Go," he ordered gently. She could see that he wouldn't be able to hold it up much longer. His teeth were clenched hard. "Hurry, I can't hold it much longer!"
She nodded. "Right." She twisted her ankle just so that it slipped out of the crack in the floor, though it was bruised, and crawled out from underneath the hazard the ceiling caved in over Anubis. Her breath caught in her throat. She seriously considered going back to see if he was alive or not but continued running until she made it safely out of the building. The other vampires weren't outside so she assumed they were still inside the manor, somewhere.
"I see you made it out alive," a familiar voice said. She looked to one of the windows. Khentimentiu was crawling out with the Millennium Puzzle in hand. He had several cuts here and there but he looked all right. Khalid followed after him. He looked okay too.
"You two are okay?" she asked timidly. Whether or not they were evil, they still looked like her friends.
"Just fine, if not a little dirty," replied Khalid. "Where's Anubis?"
She jerked her thumb at the halfway collapsed building. "Still inside." Her voice sounded a little shaky. "He was buried underneath the ceiling when it collapsed."
A loud crashing noise came from inside the manor, followed by a loud yell that could mean only one thing: Anubis was alive. Leticia ran to the front door but found that it was blocked by huge pieces of the building. She slowly backed away. Her friends were still in there. She stormed over to Khentimentiu and looked him straight in the eye. "Where are Tristan, Yugi and Tea?" she demanded.
"Back off," Khentimentiu snapped, shoving her away. "They're probably dead so stop worrying about them."
Leticia felt like crying but didn't. She was too angry for that. She gritted her teeth, scrunched up her pretty face and prepared to strike Khentimentiu across the face when the rubble blocking the door suddenly flew everywhere. They all expected to see Anubis, and they did, but the person who came out after him shocked them to no ends.
It was none other than Yugi.
Leticia couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something different about him.
"That's..." Khalid said.
"M-my Lord!" Khentimentiu stammered with a kneel. Khalid and Anubis knelt at Yugi's feet as well. A smug and proud smirk appeared on Yugi's lips as Khentimentiu gave him the Millennium Puzzle. He hung it around his neck before he spoke.
"Hello again. It's wonderful to see you all."
That clinched it. This wasn't Yugi at all. His voice was much too deep and he looked...older. He was taller and had filled out a bit physically. His face didn't look quite so innocent and the violet in his hair had disappeared completely, not to mention it had grown out a bit. His eyes looked more like red than magenta and he was wearing all gray with a long, billowing black cape that had a high collar. Between his lips Leticia could see what appeared to be...fangs.
"Yugi...?" she said quietly.
He looked at her as if she were a dunce. "Yugi? Oh no, my dear girl, I am Ammon."
Leticia's face showed confusion. "Who the heck is Ammon?"
Anubis answered her question. "He is the alter ego of Lord Osiris. He was asleep within the boy named Yugi. After his death, Ammon's spirit was released and he took control of Yugi's dead body."
Ammon nodded in verification. "That's correct. But now I'm afraid I'll have to kill you. You've seen too much and I can't let you go alive."
Leticia looked to Anubis for help. He stared down at his feet sadly and shook his head. There wasn't anything he could do. "Well then..." she began. She had an idea. "I challenge you to a duel!"
Ammon seemed to be a bit shocked. "Pardon me?"
"I'm challenging you to a duel! You are familiar with Duel Monsters, right?"
"Yes, and I accept your challenge."
"Good!" she responded. "Now, if I win, I go free. And if you win, you get to do whatever you want with me."
"Deal." Ammon snapped his fingers. Two of Kaiba Corps new duel disks appeared on each of their right hands. Leticia studied it with awe; Ammon inserted his deck and waited for her to do the same. Finally, after what seemed to take forever, she managed to put her deck in the right place and a meter on the contraption showed the number 4000. "I hope you're ready, because the stakes are high," he told her.
"I know. I'm not scared!" she said bravely, drawing five cards.
"Excellent." Ammon drew five cards as well. "You may go first."
"Such a gentleman," she said mockingly as she drew her first card. The duel had officially started. "Here we go! I start off with Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer in attack and place this card face down."
Ammon drew a card and placed something face down on the field. "I'll put this monster in face down defense and end my turn."
Leticia drew another card. "Now I'll place this card face down and play the Forgiving Maiden in defense." She pointed at Ammon's face down card. "Now, Kycoo, attack his face down monster!"
"Of course," the monster said. Leticia almost fell over with shock.
"WHAAT?! They TALK?!" she exclaimed.
Ammon shrugged. "It is a time of darkness. The world is becoming one with the Shadow Realm. Now the impossible is possible."
"Cool. Now go get 'em!!"
Kycoo lunged at the face down monster Ammon had on the field and attacked it with his bare hands. When it was revealed and destroyed, she saw it was the dangerous Hiro's Shadow Scout. She sighed. She knew what it did, she had one too. She drew three cards, three very good cards. She held them out for Ammon to see: Coffin Seller, Dancing Fairy and Attack and Receive. She added them to her hand with a smirk. There weren't any Magic cards so she didn't have to discard any. "Your turn."
Ammon drew his card and smirked. "Perfect," he said darkly. "I summon Maha Vailo in attack mode and attach this card to her as well, the Black Pendant! And, due to her special effect, she gains 500 attack points for each Equip card that is on her giving her an overall strength of 2550! Now, attack and destroy Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer!"
Maha Vailo laughed and sent out beams of bright light at her target. They didn't affect him at all. In fact, they bounced right back at her and destroyed her!
"Guess you forgot about my face down cards. I activated Mirror Force before your attack hit. You destroyed your own monster, dude!"
"True, but when the Black Pendant is sent to the Graveyard, you lose 500 life points!"
"A scratch." She drew another card. "I'll summon the Dreamsprite in defense and attack you directly with Kycoo! Go and smack that Yugi imposter silly!"
Kycoo went in for the attack but a large wall that looked like crystal appeared before him. He ran right into it and disintegrated before her eyes. Half of his attack points were deducted from her life points, leaving her at 2600 while he had all of his intact.
"Now you fell into my trap, my Mirror Wall!"
"I'll destroy it, just you wait!"
If only she had the moves to back up her words...but there was something about his deck that was odd...
"Go," he ordered gently. She could see that he wouldn't be able to hold it up much longer. His teeth were clenched hard. "Hurry, I can't hold it much longer!"
She nodded. "Right." She twisted her ankle just so that it slipped out of the crack in the floor, though it was bruised, and crawled out from underneath the hazard the ceiling caved in over Anubis. Her breath caught in her throat. She seriously considered going back to see if he was alive or not but continued running until she made it safely out of the building. The other vampires weren't outside so she assumed they were still inside the manor, somewhere.
"I see you made it out alive," a familiar voice said. She looked to one of the windows. Khentimentiu was crawling out with the Millennium Puzzle in hand. He had several cuts here and there but he looked all right. Khalid followed after him. He looked okay too.
"You two are okay?" she asked timidly. Whether or not they were evil, they still looked like her friends.
"Just fine, if not a little dirty," replied Khalid. "Where's Anubis?"
She jerked her thumb at the halfway collapsed building. "Still inside." Her voice sounded a little shaky. "He was buried underneath the ceiling when it collapsed."
A loud crashing noise came from inside the manor, followed by a loud yell that could mean only one thing: Anubis was alive. Leticia ran to the front door but found that it was blocked by huge pieces of the building. She slowly backed away. Her friends were still in there. She stormed over to Khentimentiu and looked him straight in the eye. "Where are Tristan, Yugi and Tea?" she demanded.
"Back off," Khentimentiu snapped, shoving her away. "They're probably dead so stop worrying about them."
Leticia felt like crying but didn't. She was too angry for that. She gritted her teeth, scrunched up her pretty face and prepared to strike Khentimentiu across the face when the rubble blocking the door suddenly flew everywhere. They all expected to see Anubis, and they did, but the person who came out after him shocked them to no ends.
It was none other than Yugi.
Leticia couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something different about him.
"That's..." Khalid said.
"M-my Lord!" Khentimentiu stammered with a kneel. Khalid and Anubis knelt at Yugi's feet as well. A smug and proud smirk appeared on Yugi's lips as Khentimentiu gave him the Millennium Puzzle. He hung it around his neck before he spoke.
"Hello again. It's wonderful to see you all."
That clinched it. This wasn't Yugi at all. His voice was much too deep and he looked...older. He was taller and had filled out a bit physically. His face didn't look quite so innocent and the violet in his hair had disappeared completely, not to mention it had grown out a bit. His eyes looked more like red than magenta and he was wearing all gray with a long, billowing black cape that had a high collar. Between his lips Leticia could see what appeared to be...fangs.
"Yugi...?" she said quietly.
He looked at her as if she were a dunce. "Yugi? Oh no, my dear girl, I am Ammon."
Leticia's face showed confusion. "Who the heck is Ammon?"
Anubis answered her question. "He is the alter ego of Lord Osiris. He was asleep within the boy named Yugi. After his death, Ammon's spirit was released and he took control of Yugi's dead body."
Ammon nodded in verification. "That's correct. But now I'm afraid I'll have to kill you. You've seen too much and I can't let you go alive."
Leticia looked to Anubis for help. He stared down at his feet sadly and shook his head. There wasn't anything he could do. "Well then..." she began. She had an idea. "I challenge you to a duel!"
Ammon seemed to be a bit shocked. "Pardon me?"
"I'm challenging you to a duel! You are familiar with Duel Monsters, right?"
"Yes, and I accept your challenge."
"Good!" she responded. "Now, if I win, I go free. And if you win, you get to do whatever you want with me."
"Deal." Ammon snapped his fingers. Two of Kaiba Corps new duel disks appeared on each of their right hands. Leticia studied it with awe; Ammon inserted his deck and waited for her to do the same. Finally, after what seemed to take forever, she managed to put her deck in the right place and a meter on the contraption showed the number 4000. "I hope you're ready, because the stakes are high," he told her.
"I know. I'm not scared!" she said bravely, drawing five cards.
"Excellent." Ammon drew five cards as well. "You may go first."
"Such a gentleman," she said mockingly as she drew her first card. The duel had officially started. "Here we go! I start off with Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer in attack and place this card face down."
Ammon drew a card and placed something face down on the field. "I'll put this monster in face down defense and end my turn."
Leticia drew another card. "Now I'll place this card face down and play the Forgiving Maiden in defense." She pointed at Ammon's face down card. "Now, Kycoo, attack his face down monster!"
"Of course," the monster said. Leticia almost fell over with shock.
"WHAAT?! They TALK?!" she exclaimed.
Ammon shrugged. "It is a time of darkness. The world is becoming one with the Shadow Realm. Now the impossible is possible."
"Cool. Now go get 'em!!"
Kycoo lunged at the face down monster Ammon had on the field and attacked it with his bare hands. When it was revealed and destroyed, she saw it was the dangerous Hiro's Shadow Scout. She sighed. She knew what it did, she had one too. She drew three cards, three very good cards. She held them out for Ammon to see: Coffin Seller, Dancing Fairy and Attack and Receive. She added them to her hand with a smirk. There weren't any Magic cards so she didn't have to discard any. "Your turn."
Ammon drew his card and smirked. "Perfect," he said darkly. "I summon Maha Vailo in attack mode and attach this card to her as well, the Black Pendant! And, due to her special effect, she gains 500 attack points for each Equip card that is on her giving her an overall strength of 2550! Now, attack and destroy Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer!"
Maha Vailo laughed and sent out beams of bright light at her target. They didn't affect him at all. In fact, they bounced right back at her and destroyed her!
"Guess you forgot about my face down cards. I activated Mirror Force before your attack hit. You destroyed your own monster, dude!"
"True, but when the Black Pendant is sent to the Graveyard, you lose 500 life points!"
"A scratch." She drew another card. "I'll summon the Dreamsprite in defense and attack you directly with Kycoo! Go and smack that Yugi imposter silly!"
Kycoo went in for the attack but a large wall that looked like crystal appeared before him. He ran right into it and disintegrated before her eyes. Half of his attack points were deducted from her life points, leaving her at 2600 while he had all of his intact.
"Now you fell into my trap, my Mirror Wall!"
"I'll destroy it, just you wait!"
If only she had the moves to back up her words...but there was something about his deck that was odd...