In the Shadow of the Prophecy
Disclaimer - I don't own YuGiOh! or the song lyrics and Carmen says she and Mei belong to themselves.
Chapter twelve - Nagumo Pays
So your the kind that deals with the game in the mind.
You confuse me in a way that I've never known,
You confuse me in a way that I've never known.
So break me,
Shake me,
Hate me,
Take me over,
When the madness stops,
The you won't be alone oh no.
Savage Garden
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Perhaps a more appropriate title chapter would be " This is the chapter that explains why you shouldn't mess with a duelist's deck even if they are small and weak-looking, because they may have a millennium item that gives them supernatural powers, or a friend with such an item inhabited by the spirit of an ancient pharaoh and will send your butt to the shadow realm ", but that would be extremely long winded. Besides there's not enough space up there, so hence " Nagumo Pays " does not mean that this all around not nice guy has gone to the store and bought a candy bar. It simply means that this mean, obnoxious and all around not nice guy Nagumo is going to pay for his crimes.
(A/N : Just me feelin' a little Lemony Snicket-ish)
Nagumo cackled in delight, " Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, I'll be unstoppable with these ,". He cast the silvery card protectors aside and put the stolen cards in his deck box.
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Joey followed Yugi behind the school to the supply shed, " Ay Yug' are you sure 'e's back 'ere ?".
" Well this is where he was when stole my Monster Fighter ," replied his friend.
" Ay Nagumo! You in dere, you bastard ?" hollered the blond. The white-blond haired teen appeared in the doorframe.
" What do you losers want ," He griped irritably.
Joey clenched hi fist in front of his face, " You stole some of our friend's cards n' we wan'em back ," he barked, grabbing the other guys collar and throwing him up against the post of the door.
" Maybe I don't feel like it ," Nagumo shot back.
" Den I'll jus' ave ta rough you up ," growled the scruffy, golden-haired youth, raising his fist to plant one right in the other guy's face, but Yugi placed his hand on his elbow.
" Careful Joey, what if we damage them ?" said the smaller boy. It was a risk they didn't really want to take, even if Joey could beat the tar out of him. / I think its about time we stepped in / voiced the spirit, Yugi nodded in concert.
YU-GI-OH !
" Stand down Joey, I'll take it from here ," said Yami. Joey recordnized the tone and stepped back.
Nagumo gave a nasal snort, " Ha ha, you gonna let this midget fight your for ya ," he mocked.
" Carmen is my friend as well as Joey's ," replied Yami, putting the argument to rest before it got started, " And for 'trespassing in her soul' you'll answer to me ,".
" Ooh, big words for a dwarf ," retorted Nagumo undaunted.
" Alright then I suppose we should start this little game ," said the spirit, pulling out his deck, " the rules are simple : we'll each draw a single card from our decks and the monster with the highest attack points wins, however a magic or trap card is an automatic loss ,".
" Alright dude, I'll play your 'game' ,'' said his opponent, pulling out his own deck.
" I'll go first ," Yami informed him, he drew a card, looked at it and showed it to Nagumo. The other teen's eyes shifted from the card to its holder, but the spirit's face betrayed nothing to him. Teeming with confidence, he stood back with a sardonic laugh, " Kuriboh? That's the weakest card in the game, anything I draw can beat that weak ass card !". Nagumo picked up the card on the top of his deck, " check this ,"...
" Well ?" inquired the King of Games, Nagumo's face was slack with shock, but what card had caused his downfall? " Well, which one of Carmen's cards did you draw ?" he asked.
The flaxen-haired teen snarled in a dog-like fashion, " The hell with this !" he raised his fist to deck his opponent.
WHAM!
Nagumo hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, Joey stood between him and his friend after punching the other guy to the ground. Yami, of course, could have easily dispatched his mind to the shadow realm. He leaned forward and picked up the scattered playing cards, " Well we got them back, that the important thing ," he said, holding up the card Nagumo had drawn. Raigenki.
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" Thanks for getting my cards back ," Carmen told Joey and Yugi.
" Yeah, sorry Nagumo ripped da rest up ," replied Joey with sincerity in his voice.
" Me too ," added Yugi, " It must have taken you a long to build it ,".
" Hmm ," the amber-eyed girl nodded affirmatively, " it took years ,". She split from the rest of the group and turned the corner towards her home. comrades
" She seems really broken up about this ," noted Te'a sympathetically to her comrades once the person in question was out of earshot.
" Can't blame her ," said the violet-eyed teen, " those cards used to belong to her brother, It like loosing a part of herself ,".
" You gotta point dere Yug' ," agreed Joey.
He sighed heavily I wish there was something I could do to helphe thought sadly to himself.
/ Is something stopping you aibou / asked Yami curiously / After all we did return the cards Nagumo stole / .
Yeah, but she lost nearly all of her best cards replied his light.
/ Still, nothing is stopping you from helping, just think about what she requires / said the spirit logically before retreating into the confines of the puzzle and leaving Yugi to ponder his words.
CCC-
Carmen closed the door behind herself and dropped her book bag next to the linen closet with a disheartened sigh. Her stomach growled irritably so she meandered in the kitchen for a snack, but when she got in there an affluently-designed envelope caught her attention.
Congratulations
You have been cordially invited to take part in an exclusive Duel Monsters tournament. Come to Domino Town Square on June 22 at 9:30 pm sharp for the official announcement and details.
To Be Continued . . .
Author Commentary -
Winged Tormentor : The votes are in ( okay so its like Whose line is it anyway and mine's the only one that counts but...) and the winners are Ai Haibara and Wing35, so I'm going to write in their characters somewhere in the next few chapters.
Carmen : You know choosing characters from submissions isn't easy, because its not just how cool they dress or what kind of deck they have. They have to get along with the other characters in the story, right?
Winged Tormentor : Right! So what do you and our expert panel of judges have in mind for our new inductees ?
( The panel of judges are Joey, Yami Bakura, Carmen and Miroku from Inuyasha )
Joey :( stops picking his nose) Hey, Whatta you doin' ere? Go back to your own show !
Miroku : I couldn't help it, there are so many beautiful girls, that I just had to stop in (winks at Des) and the authoress asked me to fill in.
Joey : Fill in fo' who ?
Winged Tormentor : Cell, he was supposed to be our guest judge, but he kinda had a break down after fighting Son Gohan and he kinda ...went all to pieces.
Joey : Oh.
Carmen :( to Des and Wing ) Alright, time for the initiation test.
( Des and Wing look at eachother with eyebrows raised )
Wing : Initiation test? But we won the contest!
Des :(grumbles under breath) Long as I don't have to kiss hat-boy over there.
Wing : Hey! I heard that!
Des : I guess that saves me the trouble of having to repeat it .
Carmen : Nope, I've already got something in mind and it'll be lots of fun (giggles manically and whispers in their ears) Okay, what you to do is ...psst...psst... uh-huh and then ...psst...psst... got it?
Des and Wing : (Nod their heads)
( Cut to Seto Kaiba, who is sitting at his desk in his office typing on his computer, abruptly he stopped and sat back. )
Seto : Why do I have the feeling I'm about to be annoyed?
(Suddenly Des bursts in, waving her arms wildly in the air )
Des : WHHHAAAAA !( stops next to his chair)
Seto: ...
Des : ...
Seto : ...
Des : ...
Seto : ...
Des : ...
Seto : ...
Des : ...
(Crickets chirping in the background)
Seto : ...
Des : ... ...
Seto : (( ) WELL ?
Des : (pushes him) Bother. (runs out of the office waving her arm in the air) WHHAAA !
Seto : ( ' ' ;)...