Chapter 51- Musings

"So we have, what? Two days to prepare for an international tournament? I swear when I get my hands on Aaron I'll…"

Heather made crushing, twisting gesture with her hands. They were, once again, sitting at an outside table at the Checkers Commons' pizzeria. Russell was gone, which the others said was normal. He never stuck around. Andro shrugged.

"Hey, this IS Aaron that we're talking about. What did you expect?"

Ryou nodded. "But why the tournament? What does he want?"

Nicole tilted her head from one side to the other. "Power, prestige, it could be anything. He once launched a campaign on the online RPG just to watch people scramble about. Who knows? Maybe this was Achet's idea."

Laura laughed. "I remember that! It was cool!"

Heather frowned. "The point is, why weren't we told? We ALL own the company. I mean, I know that things like this ARE his department, but still!"

Andro blinked. "That reminds me, but what are the prizes, Nic?"

Nicole blinked. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because, you're the one who creates all the cards. I just research weaponry."

Nicole sweatdropped. "Actually, I have no idea what he could have used. None of the last couple of batches of cards I've created are even close to being considered good prizes."

Ryou thought for a moment before it hit him. "You know the Ankh cards? The ones that you use as your character?"

Nicole nodded, slowly.

"Well, what if he created something similar, except with an item or spell? Something that creates a weapon especially for your character?"

Andro blinks. "That… that makes sense."

Heather's hair suddenly spiked. She leaned over and put a possessive hand on Ryou's shoulder, grinning a psychotic, evil grin. "That's my boy!"

Blink. Blinkblink.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

Heather suddenly turned back to normal, snatching her hand away. "S-sorry!"

Ryou sweatdropped. "Let me guess, B."

Heather nodded. Ryou suddenly thought of a question he had been meaning to ask.

"What exactly does Russell do?"

Nicole blinked. "Well, he travels the world looking for magical artifacts, spell-books, anything."

"So, is he like an archaeologist?"

Andro tilted one hand from one side to the other. "Sort of. Sometimes he finds the items in tombs, temples, sometimes other magicians own the items."

Ryou's eyes widened. "So, he steals them?"

Heather laughed. "Well, yeah. It's a lot less evil than you'd think. Its sorta a custom among mages: protect what you have, take what you need. Of coarse it leads to all sorts of rivalries…"

"Sometimes it's Nes' and me doing the thieving. Depends on who, what, and where." Nic shrugged. "Nearly every team of mages has a thief or two. Some are ALL thieves, working for other teams."

Ryou was confused. Nicole had seemed like such a soft, innocent girl. Inside the Millennium Ring Bakura was paying attention, curious. "So… you've stolen…"

Andro sighed. "Well, yeah. But only from those we aren't allied with. We'd NEVER steal from another team member, or from any of our allies. We'd never ATTACK our allies. Loyal thieves." He laughed.

"Wait, you have allies?"

Andro nodded. "Yeah, quite a few. In Europe our team is partnered with the 'Asylum of Twilight', they're a vamp and were group. I used to be one of them, but when I moved her I went out of range so they made our groups siblings."

Wait, the groups had names now? "What's our group's name?"

"We're the 'Time Keepers', sortof a joke of who we all are: the dead, the living, and the immortal." Heather grinned, her gaze cast at Nicole. "Some of us are more dead than others."
Nessert took control, growling softly. "And some of us are soon to BE the DEADEST!"

B, who'd been masquerading as her host, laughed. "Please, child. Be a good little ghost and stop making empty threats!"

Nessert grabbed a plastic fork from the table and lunged at the berserker, wrestling her to the ground. Andro calmly leaned over and, taking one in each hand, picked up the fighting alteregos, holding them a few feet away from each other.

"Now, both of you will calm down before I make you both THE DEADEST!"

Nessert rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you'd never harm Vessel."

The giant shook her. "You forget, I can do all sorts of HORRIBLE THINGS to your soul. HORRIBLE, MONSTROUS things…."

"Then you'd be losing your OLDEST, DEAREST accomplice. I don't think so."

"Aw, is da wittle demon in wuv wit da wittle thiefy! Aw! Dats soo coot!"

B was laughing, taunting the two. Andro groled and dropped her. She'd been hanging by her leg.

"ACK! HEY!" Of coarse, she had somehow managed to land in a crouch. Ah well. "YOU BASTARD! WHY'D YOU JUST-"

Nessert reached in her Vessel's pocket and, finding a talisman there, stuck it to B's forehead. Returning to her seat, she noticed that in Ryou's place was Bakura. The thief was smirking.

"So, are you a couple?"

Nessert glared at him, as did Andro. "No, we've just been working side by side for the past three and a half thousand years."

"How? You were dead."

Andro patted the white-haired thief on the head.

"Necromancy, my friend. With a handful of bone dust, I can summon ANYTHING from ANY of the lands of the dead. And what better weapon than the Goddess of Destruction?"

Bakura blinked. "So, you summoned her in battle?"

Nessert nodded, a grin breaking across her face. "I control the demons of Plagues. I can summon the Devourer of Light. I don't need to be PHYSICAL to do damage."