Bridging the Void
Note: Hopefully the action starts to rise a lot in this chapter. R&R, please, but also just enjoy the story. Also, ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))shows elapsed time.
Chapter Five: Unexpected Fight
I could hear faint voices, but everything was still pretty foggy. Everything hurt, my back, my head, even my stomach. I tried desperately to sit up.
"You're awake," a slightly worried but very controlled voice said from next to me.
I shifted again, managing to pull myself upright this time. "How… how long have I been out?"
"Only about a day. The doctor's said it was impossible for you to wake up this soon, but I if I know one thing about you, it's that you exceed expectations."
"Thanks," I muttered sourly. "I feel like I fell off a cliff and then was crushed by a train. What happened?"
"Well, Chris stabbed you and then you passed out."
"I know that part. I mean while I was passed out."
"We snuck into your house, found the TV and then there was a flash of very annoying light, and we were in Kaiba Corp, like I'd hoped we would be. Then I told the doctors to get straight to work, and they didn't ask many questions."
"Of course not, their jobs were at stake."
He nodded, or at least, I'm pretty sure that he did, but like I said, it was pretty hard for me to see.
"So, what's the damage?"
"There was a good deal of blood loss, and you'll probably have a scar, but he didn't do much real damage. And Steph came here long enough to tell us that he was in jail, then she and Marik headed off who knows where."
I grinned and reached up for the necklace, fingering it lightly. Another chill went down my spine and then my sight cleared. I knew something was up, and that it wasn't good, but I couldn't really tell exactly what it was.
"Mr. Kaiba," a suited man said, sticking his head in the door. "You have a phone call, should I patch it through?"
Seto nodded and looked up at the nearby screen, where Yugi's image had just appeared. Such a violent chill went down my spine that I shook and nearly fell off the bed.
"Kaiba," he said, confirming my suspicions that it was not really Yugi talking to us. "I want to duel you again, just to see the look on your face when you lose. Meet me at the fountain square in an hour, or else I'll tell the whole world that you backed down from a challenge."
"Can't this wait?" Seto asked indignantly. "I'm very busy right now with matters more important than duel monsters."
"Then don't show up, and lose whatever small reputation you have left."
I stood up, grabbed Seto by the arm and walked out of the room despite the doctors' protests.
"Where are my shoes?" I asked.
He pointed to a nearby closet and I ripped it open, pulling out my sandals and then searching madly for my purse. Seto handed it to me and I pulled out a piece of ribbon and a brush, tying back my hair.
"Lily, you really should rest. The doctors say-"
"Alright, where are my clothes? This hospital gown is going to draw some unwanted attention."
"Well… we tried to have them dry cleaned, but the blood had stained them too badly, so we had to throw them out."
"So you expect me to walk around in this?"
Seto sighed and pulled out a shopping bag. "I had someone pick these up for you. Sorry if they aren't your taste, but it was the best I could manage."
I pulled out the clothes and giggled. "Who'd ya send?" I asked, holding up the pink short skirt and tight, white, CHEER shirt up to me. "Forget it, at least it'll fit."
I rushed into a bathroom, put on the "decent" clothes and then grabbed Seto again. "I have a bad feeling," I said. "And I think it's up to you to stop this madness."
Feeling pretty silly in my outfit, I raced towards the fountain with admirable speed for a girl who'd recently been stabbed in the back. Sure enough, there stood someone who looked like Yugi, but simply had too evil a glint in his eyes to be him. But next to him stood another guy, one whom I did not recognize. 'Yugi' laughed as we approached.
"Did I fail to mention that this would be a team duel? Too bad, I guess it'll have to be two against-"
"Nice try, Yugi," I declared with a smile, brandishing my own personal deck from home, which I still carried around for old time's sake. "But he has a team mate."
The two of them went into hysterics, likely due to my unconvincing outfit and my lack of a duel disk.
"Are you going to share a duel disk or something?"
I blushed and looked sadly at my arm as if a duel disk might magically appear there.
"Here, Lily, catch dis," a recognizable voice called. I grinned and caught Joey's duel disk with one hand, wincing in pain when my arm bent back.
Stumbling into Seto, I strapped it on (it was only a little big, since I had formerly played many sports that required good arm strength) and faced the two guys with a pathetic effort to stand up. I was feeling faint again.
'Yugi" and the other guy, whose name I don't think I ever learned, frowned but hoisted their duel disks into ready position all the same. I nodded at Seto and tried to figure it out, managing to get the thing turned on only by the motivation that if Tristan and Joey could figure it out, I should be able to, and drew my first five cards.
"Let's duel," four voices called out in unison.
I glanced at my hand and sighed, realizing that my memory of the rules was already not good, and my headache wasn't really helping. I spotted one of my Harpies and smiled. It was Seto's turn, but I already had a plan.
"I play X-head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode and place one card face down," he said, doing just that. "And that's all for now."
I nodded approvingly and smiled sweetly at 'Yugi'. "You're move hun," I said. "Gonna tell us the diabolical plan now, Gozaboro?"
He gaped at me in shock. "How did you-?"
"You can't fool a writer, sweetie. So… tell us what's up, but please limit the maniacal laughter, because it really takes up a lot of time."
The other guy (I think I'll call him Bob, just to make things easier) smirked. "You think you've figured it all out, don't you, little girl?"
"Who are you, the boogie man?"
I snorted slightly, but then I saw Seto's loathing expression. He really, really hated his stepfather.
"Actually," Bob said. "I'm the only loyal worker that Gozaboro ever had. While the others were kissing this loser's shoes, I had quit and was helping the true owner of Kaiba Corp."
Seto laughed. "Gozaboro is a washed up old fool, not the owner of this company."
I was reminded that I would likely not ever see Seto again after this and my mood dropped. "So, are we going to be killed, or have our souls taken or something new and innovative?" I asked, hoping they'd get on with it.
"We are going to rule this puny planet, but first we need him out of the way. Once he's gone, trapped in the virtual world, I can upload a new, mind controlling program onto the Kaiba Corp satellite system and take over the world."
"One minor flaw," I said. "The virtual world you created was destroyed."
"No. I was able to save it and rebuild it into what I knew would be a living nightmare for little Seto. There are human inhabitants now, and they jeer, and laugh, and act just like real people. Most of them are loyal to me, but there was a slight bug. That'll just make it more fun to watch you squirm."
I blinked at him. "So the losers of this duel are sent to a virtual world? How lame."
But inside, I was frozen to the core with fear. I was not really a very talented duelist. What if I lost?
"Why Yugi's body?" Seto asked, hatred flaring in his cold eyes.
"Who else would you agree to duel? Who else would so many people trust?"
"Just duel," I spat, shaking a little.
"Oh, Seto, your girlfriend's scared of us," Bob said with an evil grin.
Gozaboro finally drew a card and placed Mystic Horseman (1300/1550) in defense mode. "That's all for now. Your doom comes next turn."
I sighed and looked at my hand again, hoping to see some miracle card resting there. The card I drew, Harpie Lady 2, would help some in combination with Harpie Lady 1, but not this turn.
"I set one monster in face down defense mode and I'll save this," I brandished a card before sliding it into the slot. "For later. Your move."
Bob smirked, drew a card, set a monster and nodded to show that his turn was through. I was bothered by his lack of speech, but said nothing. After all, a lot was hanging in the balance.
I had only 350 life points, while Seto had 550, Gozaboro had 1000 and Bob had 1900. Things were not looking good for the good guys. I did, however, have all three of my Harpies on the field (1600/1400, due to Harpie Lady 1's special effect) and that was decent news. Seto, however, had no monsters and it was Gozaboro's turn. I fumbled with my Scapegoat card hopefully.
"Swarm of Locusts (1000/500) attack Seto's life points directly and knock him out of the duel!"
"Not so fast," I declared. "I activate Scapegoat, so you destroy one of them instead."
"Good move," Joey called with a smile.
I smiled weakly at Seto, who was looking unhappy at being saved. He'd get over it.
Bob took out another Scapegoat and then it was my turn. "Harpie Lady 1, handle Gozaboro's pesky bugs, will ya? And now, Harpie Lady 2, take out Fireyarou (1300/1000). And my third Harpie can take a slice outta Gozaboro's life points and knock him out."
"Think again," Gozaboro said. "Activate face down card, Waboku."
I scowled and nodded to Seto. Hopefully he could make a good move.
Seto and I were hanging on by a thread, with only 100 life points each to our names. And it was Bob's move.
"I play Just Desserts, which inflicts 500 points of direct damage for each-"
"WE KNOW WHAT IT DOES, YOU IDIOT!" I screamed, watching the two life point counters plummet to zero. I fumbled with the straps of Joey's duel disk and tossed it to him. "Beat him!" I mouthed frantically before I blacked out yet again with a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.
End note: Let me know what you think! IF you want to 'adopt a townsperson' just give me a name and personality (including whether or not they follow Gozaboro, what they look like and anything else you'd like to add) and I'll try to include them.
