In the Shadow of the Prophecy

Disclaimer - Do I own Yu-Gi-Oh? (consult the mighty cootie catcher) Fat Chance?

I guess not (heavy sigh), what about the lyrics? No? Fine be that way, but Carmen and the tiara are mine.

Chapter fifteen - Outrunning Destiny

Squint your eyes and then look closer,

I'm not between you and your ambitions.

I am a poster-girl with no poster.

I am 32 flavors and then some.

And I'm beyond you peripheral vision,

So you might wanna turn your head.

Cause one day you are gonna get hungry,

And eat most of the words you just said.

Ani Difranco

CCC-

Checking over her shoulder, the disheveled youth almost fell on her face, sand was pretty slick when it was wet. " Hey watch where you're goin' !" " Damn Kid !" yelled irate pedestrians as she weaved her way through them. She didn't bother offering apologies.

A shadowy figure dogged close behind her, skimming along the rooftops and avoiding the eyes of normal people.

Damn she swore, up ahead the her escape route was cut short by a museum. Where did that thing come from? It took up an entire block! She was as good as dead unless she figured something out. There was only one option, she ran up to the door and prayed it was unlocked.

It was, but it took a moment for her panicked mind to figure out the door said 'Push' and not 'Pull'. There was a soft thump behind her as she closed the door behind herself and looked around. Geeze, this place is creepy at night she said to herself exploring the place and shivered, it was cold too, but then again, she was soaked from head-to-toe because of the rain.

The door gave a long squealing creeeeeak when the darkness entered after her, " Where are you ?" it called as if they were playing hide and go seek, " come out, come out, wherever you are ,".

The amber-eyed girl clasped her hand over her mouth as the shadow passed by her hiding spot behind a sarcophagus. Her breath froze as it scanned the room with its steely gaze and moved onto the next room. She sank to the ground with relief as the air left her lungs in a sigh." Phew..." she breathed, " oh that was close ,". She rubbed her eyes, seeing the spots of light gathering in the corner. Wait what ?

Sure enough, in the corner of the room there was a swirling ring of small orbs of light, she wasn't sure what they were, but it was seriously creeping her out. It was almost like those portals you see in one of those old sci-fi movies. Suddenly a horde of bloodthirsty...things spilled out of it. Wait... those look like the monsters on Duel Monster cards ! she realized, not that it made her feel any safer. Suddenly all the creatures' eyes snapped to her direction with ravenous hunger, did they have super natural tracking abilities, or something? Her mind was screaming at her to run, but her feet were frozen with fear. One of the creatures, a banshee-looking beast, let out a wicked loud yowl and lunged at the sarcophagus. Finally her legs agreed with her brain and she made a bolt for the door. " Heh heh, I thought you might be hiding ," laughed the shadow, " Now. Its over, resign yourself to your fate ,".

She gritted her teeth and stepped back slightly, but her other escape route was covered by those weird creatures. Damn she cursed.

" If you run, those monsters will rip you to pieces ," the shadow told her, " if you surrender I will be more benevolent ,".

No... she dissented mentally.

" This is your last chance ," warned the darkness.

I don't want to . She stepped back, the monsters launched themselves at the girl hungrily. " Die ,".

NO !

SHOOOOOM !

" Aaaaaaaargh ," the shadow snarled painfully, " What the hell is that damn annoying flicking light ?". The monsters disintegrated in the enveloping brightness, alone and feeling the light burn at her flesh, the shadow was forced to retreat.

This bright light... what is it ? thought the bewildered teen, shielding her eyes from the blinding illumination. Then, suddenly, as abruptly as it came, the light faded and something hit the floor with a metallic clang. " Huh ?" she looked, still trying to make sense of the is crazy night, there was a golden tiara resting, seemingly innocently, on the floor a few meters away. " What on earth is..." she trailed off absently, reaching for it.

EnD fLaShBaCk --

Well here we are she said to herself, verifying the directions scribbled on a piece of paper and checked her watch. " Right on time ," Carmen nearly jumped out her skin and whipped around at the raven-haired young woman.

" Will you seriously cut that out !". Ishizu stifled a chuckle at the girl's reaction, she was so easy to rile when you knew what buttons to push.

CCC-

" Breaking news ; Nicholas Seraph, president of the Seraph Software Company, has just stepped down as active president ," said the reporter on a teevee displayed in a store window.

Yugi shuffled down the sidewalk, after Joey's little 'incident' soon after register he was hesitant to do so. / Man, as if we didn't have enough to worry now there's someone attacking duelists and taking their cards before the tournament even starts / thought Yugi.

/ Well, if anyone that on us I'll teach them a lesson about jumping the gun / answered his dark side. The youth shivered, Yami's 'lessons' usually implied a shadow game.

/ It might be the same guy that tried to steal our puzzle / suggested his light.

/ Possibly, but I don't see the correlation, the one that attacked Joey was after his Red-Eyes, remember / replied Yami dubiously. Suddenly...

WHAM.

" Owww... ". / Who / thought the boy, dazed from impact.

" That didn't tickle ," grumbled another voice, causing Yugi to look up in surprise.

" Carmen ?".

She dust herself off, " We gotta stoop meeting like this, seriously, every time I see you, I end up on my ass ,".

" What are you doing here ," he asked curiously.

She cleared her throat and replied, " Well apparently...not looking where I'm going, you ?".

" Uh, well, I was going to register for the tournament ," he replied casually.

" Oh, yeah, that totally slipped my mind, I should probably do that too before I forget again ," said Carmen with a bit of a laugh at her absent-mindedness. So the two teen figured they register together (safety in numbers and what not), fortunately the store was just around the corner.

Ding-ding! chimed the little bell on the door, the cashier popped up from behind the counter with a business smile and greeted them jovially. " Hello what can I do for you today ?".

" We're here to register for the Battle City Tournament ," Yugi told him rather matter-of-factly.

" I see ," he said, the smile never left his face, " Then just tell my your names ,".

" Yugi Motou ,".

The storekeeper typed his name and entered it into the computer and with in seconds there was a hit, " S class, hmm, you must be quite skilled ," he said, then turned to the amber eyed girl, " You are ?".

" Carmen Seraph ,".

Again the clerk entered the name into the database, almost a minute passed before he looked up at her, " I'm sorry miss, your name isn't in the Kaiba Corp database ,".

" Oh, I see, " she started rummaging through her pocket until she pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to him, " try searching under this ,". Fortunately, for the store clerk he was wearing glasses so the two teens didn't notice his double take. He entered the name and within moments it, too, had a hit. " Ah, there you are ,". He ducked down behind the counter and returned with two large rectangular box." You both qualify, as participants, you both get the latest duel disc from the Kaiba Corporation ,". Now it was Yugi's turn to be surprised, that box was almost as big as he was! How the hell were they supposed to fit on their wrists?

Regardless, they thanked the clerk and left, " Well, I probably won't see you again till the tournament ," she said and turned to go home.

" See ya then ," he replied.

To Be Continued ...

Author Commentary -

Ranking system - I don't like star rating so I used this system as well, there's The P class (1-2 stars), the B class (3stars), A class (4 stars) and S class (5stars).

CCC-

Winged Tormentor : I can't believe it! Someone flamed my fic! Apparently my writing style is lazy and contrive, my story is hard to follow and my precious Carmen is useless. Now while I enjoy and encourage constructive criticism, that was just plain mean and I must ask that if you do not like my story then don't read it... Now Paladius.

( We see palidius duck taped to a wall, Carmen whips out the Mashmellonator 5000 ( which looks like an oversized machine gun) wearing a tee shirt that says T.A.A.D.A.A.)

Winged Tormentor : you need to be taught a lesson for being a total meany butt poo head, ready Carmen?

Carmen : (smiles evilly and cocks the marshmellonator 5000) Ready !

Palidius : (can't say anything because I ducked taped his mouth shut) NNNNN-NNN-NN!

Winged Tormentor : Fire at will!

(Carmen rapid fires the Marshmellonator 5000, showering Palidius with hundreds of hot sticky marshmallows and soon the nasty little flamer is very much resembling a human smore)

Seto : (Appears out of nowhere) What the hell is that ?

Winged Tormentor : Its my weapon against the forces of evil, the marshmellonator 5000.

Seto : You call that a weapon ? It just something to make smores with!

Winged Tormentor : (eyebrow twitches) Carmen ?

Carmen : Roger !(starts shooting at Seto) Muh ha ha ha ha !

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