Thank you for the reviews - it's encouraging to know someone's reading! The first part was set-up, now here comes the plot...
Kaiba scanned the windows of the shop and the sign over the door one more time, making absolutely sure there was no turtle logo.
This wasn't a game shop he knew; in his time this block hadn't been zoned for retail. And it was across the city from the original site of the Kame Game shop, but who was to say the Mutou family hadn't expanded their business? The last thing he wanted to do was to walk into this shop and bump into Yugi. Thirty years younger though Kaiba might be, he had no doubts that Yugi would recognize him instantly. And Yugi would likely want to share the news of his arrival with all his friends, however many hundreds he had surely managed to accumulate by now. Not to mention Yugi would almost certainly be sympathetic and eager to help Kaiba out.
As if he would need charity, just because he happened to be a few decades ahead of when he should be. It was hardly that terrible a predicament. All he needed was to find a Time Wizard. Even if the card was long out of production, there must be some available, in private collections if nowhere else. Kaiba didn't have money here; the bills in his wallet were probably obsolete, and the credit cards of course long since expired. But with a complete deck of original run cards to trade, he would surely be able to arrange something. So he had sought out the sort of small, specialized hobby and game shop that was sure to carry older cards. If they didn't have a Time Wizard on hand, they should have the connections he would need to obtain one.
Having verified that the shop wasn't Yugi's--hopefully--Kaiba entered. The blond man behind the counter called a welcome, as Kaiba pushed past the two chubby girls standing by the entrance, chattering over the miniature figures in the front display. The shop had only four aisles, and Kaiba paced up and down them, scanning the shelves.
He found decks of regular playing cards, and sports cards and idol cards, and new boxes of a limited edition holographic Dungeon Dice Monsters set, and even a few unopened Capsule Monsters. But no Duel Monster packs. Kaiba frowned and searched the shelves more carefully. The shop was small but well-stocked. There was even a shelf of Monster Fighters, gathering dust, the plastic figures discolored with age. And old handheld electronic games and digital pets that would have been outdated even back in his time.
But not a single card of one of the most successful games of all time. Nor any duel disks or collector guides or other accessories. As if Duel Monsters had been a fad so short-lived that even this shrine to pathetic obsession couldn't see fit to remember it. Or maybe it had gotten too big for such a shop to afford it? Perhaps he should have tried a more elite gamers haven. Kaiba Land might have an outlet, awkward as going there might prove to be.
"Can I help you, sir?"
Kaiba looked over his shoulder, saw the shop clerk watching him curiously. On the verge of snapping a negative, he shook his head instead and approached the counter. It would be simplest just to get this out of the way. "I'm looking for cards."
"Sure, how many decks? Standard, or any kind of special edition? We just got a nice set of old anime prints--"
"Not those cards," Kaiba said. "A different kind of card game."
The man, who had started sliding open the glass cabinet, straightened up again, laid his hands flat on the counter and met Kaiba's eyes. "What kind of game do you mean?" he asked, slowly, but with a certain edginess.
"A battle game," Kaiba said.
"I see," the man said, in that same careful tone, like he was suddenly speaking in code, decrypting words in his head. "Well, perhaps you could play with these." He placed on the counter a short deck, face down. Not Duel Monsters; the back was wrong, a more complicated design of celtic knots.
Kaiba flipped the first card over, and frowned at the oddly adorned six of clubs. "Not playing cards," he said. "I'm talking about cards like these," and reaching into his pocket he took out his deck, drew the top card and held the Blue Eyes White Dragon up before the clerk's eyes. "They're called Duel Monsters. Do you have any?"
He would have been unsurprised, if disappointed, to get no response whatsoever. He was more expecting a little recognition, however slight, at least an acknowledgment of having seen something of the sort.
Instead the clerk's face went sheet white, and his hand darted out. Kaiba pulled back, thinking he was grabbing for the card, but the man grasped his wrist instead, tight like a vise, and then Kaiba found himself getting yanked behind the counter.
"What the--" He wrenched his arm free, but before he could protest further, the clerk planted both hands on his back and shoved him stumbling into the storage room at the back of the store.
"It's okay, just sit down, I'll be right back," he was ordered, and then the door slammed shut. Behind it, Kaiba heard the clerk babbling to the two girls who were the only other customers, saying something about the shop closing for a dinner break and could they come back in an hour.
It gave Kaiba enough time to flip through his deck and pull out his three Blue Eyes. He stowed them in the card case which had held the second Time Wizard, and had pocketed the case, as well as taken off his duel disk and also folded it away, by the time the man entered again.
"Sorry about that," the clerk said, only to immediately belie that apology by locking the storeroom's only door behind him, shutting them both in.
Kaiba studied his unexpected captor. He looked to be mid-twenties, a few centimeters shy of Kaiba's height and built a little heavier, but not so brawny that it would be so hard to flip him. And his wavy blond hair was long enough to fall in his eyes, which might be all the distraction he'd need. Kaiba unfolded his arms and rocked back a step, seemingly casually, in truth setting his stance for a rush.
The clerk didn't approach, however. "Calm down, kid," he said, "I swear, I'm not gonna do anything to you. Sorry if I freaked you out, but you were waving those cards around like you didn't know what you got, and if someone had come in--I don't think those girls noticed, but we get a lot of serious gamer types in here."
He sat down at the small table squeezed between stacks of cardboard boxes, motioned Kaiba to do the same while saying, "It's okay, I've put the sign out now, so we won't be disturbed. I'm on shift alone for the next three hours, so we have time."
Kaiba pulled out the second folding chair, took a seat. His knees bumped against the bottom of the table as he crossed his legs, set his hands on his lap. He still held his deck, fingers folded tight around the cards, sliding a little against each other. "So," he said, "these cards are worth something?"
"Worth something?" The clerk blinked. "Damn, you really don't know what you have, do you."
I surely understand better than a boneheaded idiot who offers playing cards when asked for a fighting game--but Kaiba swallowed his irritation, schooled his features into politely blank ignorance. "They were my father's," he lied. "He passed away some time ago, and when I was going through his things recently, I found them."
"Found them." The man snorted. "Unbelievable."
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Would you require a copy of the death certificate?"
"No, I'm not saying you're lying," the clerk said. "It's just, with those cards, it's more like they found you. Listen," and he leaned across the table to catch Kaiba's gaze. "You don't have any reason to listen to me, I know, but you want my advice--don't sell those cards. You asked if they were worth something. The answer's hell yes. And they're worth money, too. I won't lie--you sure as hell could get some major bucks for 'em, but if your dad managed to keep them safe for this long, he had damn good reason. If I were you I wouldn't sell them for anything."
Kaiba blinked. "I wasn't intending to sell them," he said, honesty coming faster and easier than the bluff, and paused, trying to figure out the best story to explain his true intention without giving any more away.
"Well. Good." The clerk tilted back in his chair, then rocked forward again, fingers drumming on the tabletop anxiously. "Okay, you don't have to if you don't want to, but--could I see them? The deck? I swear, I won't be nicking any of them or nothing. Just want to know what you're dealing with."
His brown eyes were guileless, suspiciously so, but it might be the fastest way to get the man to open up and explain, and it would buy time for Kaiba to refine his story. Kaiba raised his hands from his lap, set his deck on the table and slid it across.
The clerk didn't touch the cards immediately, just looked down at them for several long seconds, holding his breath as if an exhalation might accidentally blow them away. Then he wiped his sweating hands on his t-shirt and picked up the deck, carefully.
More than carefully. Kaiba watched, intrigued in spite of himself. For all Yugi went on about the heart of the cards, for all the power of the god cards, for all the respect a true duelist should have for their deck, he had never seen anyone handle their cards so cautiously, so gently. The clerk turned the deck over slowly, then lifted the cards one by one to examine each in turn, eyes traveling over the text and art with such severe concentration he was expressionless, before setting them down on the pile. Even the master collectors who cared more for their prizes' condition than the actual game didn't treat them so conscientiously. Reverently, as if he were touching something holy.
When the clerk put down the final card, he rested his hand over the deck like a duelist signifying a surrender, and let go a long, sighing breath. Then he raised his gaze to Kaiba's. "Thank you," he said, so earnestly that Kaiba only nodded.
"Your father," the blond man said, "must have been one hell of a duelist. This is an incredibly powerful deck, it's almost perfectly balanced. Except it's three cards short. Monsters, I'd think. Strong ones, likely, there's enough lower levels for the sacrifices." He continued to look at Kaiba. Kaiba stared back, levelly, as the clerk asked, "The card you showed me in the store, which one was it? I didn't get a good look at it before."
Kaiba shrugged. "It was simply the first card I picked up," he said. Reaching across the table he reclaimed his deck, sorted through it and pulled out one card. "It was this one, I think?"
The clerk peered at it. "Twilight Zone Dragon?" He cocked his head. "Yeah, maybe that was it." But he kept looking at the card for a moment longer than Kaiba cared for.
He slid the dragon back into the deck, folded his hands over it. "You said this deck was incomplete. That would explain my father's request. He left a letter with the cards."
"Oh?" the clerk asked, distracted and curious.
"He wanted me to find another card," Kaiba said. "A specific card that he had tried to get before, I suppose, and hadn't managed. I came to your store today in hopes of fulfilling his wish."
"You're looking for more Duel Monster cards."
"Just one," Kaiba said. "It's called a Time Wizard, have you heard of it?"
The blond man nodded. "Yeah. Good card." He frowned. "Odd choice, though, for that deck."
"I don't know why he wanted it, but I'm sure my father had his reasons. Would you know where I could find one? Maybe find someone willing to trade some of these for it, if there's none for sale?"
"Willing to trade... Damn." The clerk sighed. "You really don't know, do you."
"Know what?" Kaiba asked sharply, losing his patience and not bothering to retrieve it. He'd had enough of vague allusions and run-arounds.
"I'm sorry, kid." The man's expression was all superfluous compassion. "You won't be able to find that card anywhere. That card, or any others." He pointed to the deck. "Those are the first I've seen in over a decade," he said. "They're the first I've even heard about for years."
"What are you saying?" Kaiba grated.
"Except for those cards there," the blond man said, "there's none left. Kaiba destroyed them all. Every last Duel Monster card on Earth."
It was like experiencing an earthquake that only he could feel, like the ground beneath his feet had shattered and dropped away, even if the table and the blond man and the cards under his hands didn't shift a micron. "Kaiba?" Kaiba repeated, hardly able to hear himself over the roar of blood pounding in his ears.
"Yeah. Kaiba. That Kaiba. The head of Kaiba Corporation." The clerk's hands closed into fists. "The man who's opened all those Kaiba Lands everywhere, the billionaire philanthropist himself. Kaiba's the one who did it. Who ended the game once and for all."
to be continued...