Well, let's continue the story!
We'll jump ahead five years...
Enjoy!
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
It was a warm, classical summer's day. The birds were chirping. The breeze was stirring. The bugs were humming.
The doorbell was ringing.
And then the door was opening.
"Hey, Yugi!" Ryou grinned at his friend, chocolate brown eyes shinning. "It's been a while!"
Twenty-year-old Yugi Mouto grinned back. "I thought you'd never come!" he exclaimed, opening the door wider. "Come in!"
"It's been forever," the white-haired man commented. "I really missed you."
"I missed you too," Yugi smiled, closing the door behind them. "So, any idea why Seto'd want us all to meet here? He never said a word."
Ryou shrugged. He had grown; he was now the same height as Bakura. Yugi had grown, too. In his late teens he'd suddenly shot up several inches, successfully surpassing Yami's height, much to the young man's relief. "Dunno. He didn't explain to me, either."
The two old friends wandered into the living room lazily, the hot summer air making them as sluggish as the few clouds floating in the sky. Before going to college, Yugi had brought a small house in the city with the money his grandfather left him when he passed away. It was not that far from the old game shop, which had been sold to Kaiba Corp, and even closer to the Kaiba Mansion.
Just when all was peaceful and well, there was an unexpected flash, causing Yugi to jump. By the time he recovered from the shock, the light had disappeared, revealing a teen that look exactly like Ryou's double.
"Bakura. Hi," the violate-eyed man smiled softly. His eyes, which had been sparkling only a second before, suddenly clouded over. The light atmosphere almost abruptly turned heavy. Bakura did not say a word, only stared at Yugi so hard that the hikari thought a hole was being drilled through his skill.
The doorbell rang again, letting a grateful Yugi scamper away with a hasty, "Excuse me." He opened the door to reveal the rest of his guests: Joey, Tristan, Marik, Malik, Mokuba, and, last of all, the reason for this reunion: the CEO of KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba.
"Hey, Yugi!" Joey shouted, impulsively grabbing the shorter man into a huge hug. "You've grown! How are you?"
Yugi laughed at the blonde's characteristic roughness, cheering up immediately. He was surprised to see that there wasn't as much of a height difference between him and Joey as he had expected. "I've been great, Joey! Now let go of me before you take my neck off. Come in, and we can catch up. Ryou's already here."
"And Bakura?" Malik asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is the Psychotic Tomb Robber here, too?"
"Yes. I see you made it, Insane Tomb Keeper." Bakura returned, coming up to them, Ryou at his side.
"Shocking as it may be, I actually missed you." Marik smirked. "It's no fun to play Shadow Games with yourself."
"Ah. So that feeling is mutual," the white-haired yami chuckled. "What say we go out into the backyard and warm up?"
"No!" Malik and Ryou shouted in perfect unison. And then, realizing what had happened, they grinned sheepishly at each other.
"It's been what, three years? And all you can think about is playing a Shadow Game?" Tristan gave them an incredulous look.
"Old habits die hard," the bleach blonde yami shrugged.
"Yugi, it's so good to see you!" Mokuba shoved his way forward, until he and Yugi were face-to-face. He had grown into a tall and handsome seventeen-year-old, a teen that made girls giggle and blush whenever he so much as glanced at them. He'd gotten a tan somewhere, and muscles. But the hair was still pretty much the same.
Seto, though, was still the taller of the two siblings. But his eyes had softened from their previous icy state, and his face no longer carried its usual impassive look. The trench coat, belts, and buckles had disappeared, replaced by a black sleeveless shirt and dark blue jeans.
"It's great to see you, too, Mokuba. Let's all go into the living room. The bugs are getting in. I swear, they'd eat us alive soon."
Five minutes later, they were packed into the couches, squeezing close to make room for the whole group.
Seto, wasting no time, rose, and cleared his throat. Marik was right. Old habits do die hard, and Seto always had been, and always will be, the perfect businessman.
Joey laughed outright. "Seto, what are you, addressing your board of directors or something? Sit down, relax, and talk! We don't need no formalities here!"
"I see your grammar has not improved," the CEO replied dryly, but sat down anyway. "Well, I suppose you're wondering why I asked you to come here."
"Yup," Malik nodded. "I do believe you're right. Do you believe I'm right?"
Tristan groaned. "That's lame!"
"So're you," Malik shot back, causing Tristan to scowl.
"As I was saying…" Seto said exasperatedly. When all eyes were on him again, he continued. "How many of you have heard of DenTech City?"
"What kind of name is that?" Bakura snorted.
"Hush," the CEO sighed, as if he were dealing with an arrogant five-year-old.
Before Bakura could reply, Ryou broke in. "Isn't that one of the cities in the Tech World?"
"Yes." Seto looked pleased that someone had gotten it. "For those of you who don't know, the Tech World is a region to the south of here where the technology levels have suddenly skyrocketed. They've always been more advanced than us, but the gap separating us has, over the last few years, rapidly widened. DenTech City is at the heart of the Tech World, and the unofficial capital."
"So what's that got to do with us?" Malik asked, confused.
"Such a difference in technological levels is alarming the government. Anytime they wanted to, they could revolt, and we'd have no way of defending ourselves. Hell, we don't even know what they'd throw at us. So the government is trying to negotiate a treaty with the Tech World. Peacekeeping, they call it. As a result, the government there has invited a group of people from here to visit DenTech, to see what it's like. So our government turned to Kaiba Corp."
"We do, after all, have the best technology outside the Tech World. We were the obvious choice." Mokuba leaned back. "And we, of course, agreed. Who would turn down an offer like that? The Tech World hasn't opened its doors to outsiders of ages, and nobody wanted to risk angering them by forcing their way in. Just imagine what it would be like to go there! Just like stepping through a time machine into the future!" the teen's eyes glowed with excitement.
"The Tech World invited a group of people, not just two. So Mokuba suggested that we ask you to come along. I agreed. It's a once-in-a-life-time experience. If we're to go, we leave right now. They wanted us there as soon as possible. That's why I told you to pack your stuff. So, are you guys in or out?"
"Are you kidding?" Ryou squeaked breathlessly. "Of course I'm going! I studied the Tech World in Technology class last year…it sounded amazing! I can't believe it!"
"Well, if he's going, so'm I." Bakura crossed his arms.
"I'll go!" Yugi's eyes danced, not even bothering to contain his excitement. "This is awesome!"
"Count me in!" Joey shouted.
"And me!"
And so an hour later, every single one of them was sitting in Kaiba's limo, heading off to DenTech City.
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"Chaud!"
"Yes, father?" A teen sitting in front of a laptop answered, looking up. He was about fifteen years of age; well built, with emotionless eyes that were a startling shade of green. His hair was bi-colored: black topped with white. It had once been described as a broken egg shell on top of his hair. Despite that, he had no thoughts of dying it all black. He wore a red vest over a black shirt, and green pants held up by a black belt.
"We have visitors coming. I've given orders for them to be housed in the North Wing. I'd like you to greet them."
"Me?" the teen didn't look happy. "Why? Are they that important?"
"Of course! They're the group of visitors from the Outside World the government invited. They want us to host them. It's an offer we can't turn down. Learn from them, and teach them in return, Chaud. If you're to one day take over this company, you'll all the experience you can get. That includes experience with the Outside."
Chaud sighed. Once his father set his sights on something, there was no talking him out of it. He might as well give up. His father was the one person in the world he would back down from without a fight. "Alright, father, I'll see to it. When will they be coming?"
"Not until tomorrow. Around six p.m. at the latest. They're coming by car."
Chaud did the classic anime-fall. "Why couldn't you have told me tomorrow, then!"
"Wanted to give you a heads-up. Now get back to work."
Chaud stared at the closed door for a few moments, before turning back to his laptop, muttering incoherently.
Don't worry, we'll get back to Yami...eventually. But I wanted to update, since it's been too long...
Some people might have realized this, but DenTech City and the character Chaud are from Mega Man NT Warrior, which I do not own. The fic will be a slight crossover, but you don't have to have seen the show to get it.
Please review and tell me what you think!