In The Shadow of The Prophecy
Disclaimer - Yes, yes, I own it! I own it, muwaahahaha ! alarm clock rings Oh man, I guess it was just a dream, but I know Carmen and her yami are mine.
Chapter sixteen - The Tournament Begins
There is a thin line,
between fantasy and reality,
So fine you won't believe,
How many times,
Have you let it go?
Feelings deep in your soul,
Got you reeling out of control.
Read it somewhere,
In a little book,
There was more to love,
If I'd only look,
A little deeper,
But not with my eyes,
To have the courage,
To let it in...
Ultra Nate
FlAsHbAcK - -
Black and gray sneakers skidded to a halt with a small squeak.
" There's nowhere for you to run now, little Carmen ," said the warped voice of the cloaked predator. His target trapped, forced to the edge of the warehouse roof.
A blinding flash of light, the duelist pitched backward, " Ahhhh ,"...
The teen's body met the cement with a sickening, bone-crunching 'thud', while on the roof the caped demon smirked.
CCC-
A white haired, deeply tanned teenager paced the length of his study, his crystal eyes set deep in thought and his index finger stroking his chin as the gears turned in his mind. After hacking into the Battle City database, all the information to provide his card hunters with plenty of work was at his fingertips, and even better, that little twerp sharing a vessel with the infamous lords of the dark games was listed among them Heh, Ishizu doesn't know what she's missing out on he thought with a sardonic laugh, honest, who was this ghost to force he and his family into an eternity of solitude and darkness. An ominous smirk graced his lips, relishing the vindictive delight Well, the answer is simple he reminded himself Once I kill the former pharaoh, I'll assume the mantle of his power, then I'll be the one giving orders .
Hear that 'Pharaoh'? I'll be the one giving the orders
CCC-
Yugi buried his face into his soft fluffy pillow, there was an ear-to-ear smile and a soft pink glow about his cheeks. Yami was sure what the youth was dreaming about, but given the look on his face, it had to be good. It was tempting... to leave him be, safe in his dreams, it was a rare moment of late when he could just be normal and sleep in on a Saturday. The spirit sighed, no, they couldn't afford to get a late start tournament. / Aibou / .
" Mmmff ," came the muffled sound from the head in the pillow, mostly likely something about not wanting to get up.
/ Yes get up / said Yami sternly / the tournament is to start in a few hours and you, my aibou, have yet to get dress / . Yugi sat up, droopy-eyed, and yawned drowsily.
" Mornin' ," he said absently.
/ Good morning aibou / the spirit replied.
Dressed and ready to head out, the violet-eyed teen pulled his deck out from his desk drawer and slid it into the deck holder around his waist. / I sure hope its strong enough / thought Yugi apprehensively.
/ You doubt me / teased Yami with that roguish smile of his / All of our gaming knowledge went into that deck. Understand, aibou, that there is a time when you must put the 'what ifs' aside and trust yourself / .
" Right ," said his partner, though he didn't sound all that sure.
CCC-
Carmen grabbed her black shimmering jacket from off of her bed, like most female duelists, she strapped her deck box around her thigh. She took one last look at the mirror, " Well, I look pretty bad ass if I do say so myself ," she concluded, " its definitely an improvement over the cape ,". The golden tiara glimmered faithfully on her brow, almost accenting the outfit ...Destiny...Hmm... she thought hypnotically.
Abruptly she pulled out of her reverie and checked her watch. Damn, she was going to be late.
CCC-
Duelists were marching in by the droves, like British soldiers into town as the amethyst-eyed youth search out for his friend amongst the crowd, but he was nowhere to be seen, " Hey Yugi ," greeted a flirtatious voice.
" Oh, Ohayo Kujaku-san ," he replied.
" Aww, san wa idanai(1), Yugi ," she replied, throwing her arm around him, causing the teen to blush profusely.
" Hi Yugi, hi Mai ," said Carmen squeezing between a bunch of other duelists all huddled together and walking up to them.
" Lookin' sharp kiddo ," said Mai, giving her the thumbs up. The golden-eyed girl blushed a shade of pink to rival her hair, but on the inside she was wondering exasperatedly Why does she keep calling me 'kiddo' ? . " Pretty big turnout for this thing. Heh heh, All wannabes ,".
" Well I don't know if they're all wannabes, just because we've never seen alot of them ," said Yugi.
" Yeah, plus, you never know if the next duelist you fight is gonna pull something you're not expecting ," added Carmen.
" Yugi ," snapped a nasally, high-pitched voice, belonging to Insector Haga (2), " I thought I saw you buzzing around, kisama(3),". Yugi looked around, realizing the third member of his party had vanished into thin air-- oh, no wait, she dove behind him for cover as two very irate duelists stalked up to them.
" Uh, Carmen, I don't think I'm big enough for you to hide behind ," He said shyly.
" Warui(4) ," she replied nervously from behind him.
" Hmph, looks like the Duel Monsters Champion's found a new hopeless cause to take under his wing ," scoffed Dinosaur Ryuzaki(5). Hey ! .
" Or maybe she's his girlfriend ," teased Haga, " They've both got that height thing goin' on ,".
" Oh, that's it !" barked Carmen snapping out from behind her friend and standing her full height (a/n : which isn't much, I know), " Nobody, but NOBODY, calls me short! You got that four eyes ?". She whipped the Marhmellonator 5000 out of thin air and bombarded the two unworthy competitors with her marshmallows of death.
/ She's kinda scary when she's mad / said Yugi to himself scooting back slowly.
" Enough of you small fries, the only one making waves will be me ," said Ryota Kajiki(6), joining the fray. Thus the inevitable my-horse-is-bigger-than-your-horse insued between the threesome, only it was more of a my-card-is-rarer-than-your-card. Mai, Carmen and Yugi watched silently, sweatdrops aplenty.
" Well, I'm off ," said the blonde, " see ya ,".
" Bye Kuja--I mean, Mai ," said the violet eyed teen.
Yugi decided to go find and Carmen (not knowing the city well enough) tagged along at a distance.
CCC-
" Where'dae go, I giv'em sumthin' ta hunt ," snarled a familiar, seething blond duelist of a different variety.
" There he is ," said Yugi to himself, spotting his best friend, or rather hearing his ranting over the rest of the chatter he was milling through and ran toward the sound. No doubt Joey was after the ones who stole his precious Red Eyes Black Dragon. " Joey !" he yelled at the top of his lungs to get the other guy's attention.
The mussy-haired blond whipped around, seeing the smaller teen running towards him. " Hey Yug' ,".
The spirit assessed the scene as his partner caught his breath, their comrade was confronting a beady-eyed man with wild white blond hair that reminded Yami of a porcupine. The white hair man blandly refused the raving blond, he didn't see the point since Joey didn't have any cards he wanted.
However unbeknownst to the spirit, yet another unnamed shadow was watching the goings-on. Forget that ranting buffoon, my servant, his friend, defeat him NOW ! commanded the shadow in a dark tone that implied serious punishment if not obeyed immediately.
' Yes master ' replied the beady-eyed slave without delay.
To Be Continued . . .
Author's Commentary -
1. San wa idanai - quite literally " No need for formality!"
2. Insector Haga Weevil Underwood
3. Kisama - means " You bastard ", its a very rude way to refer to someone
4.Warui - means " Bad ", but in the context Carmen's using, its a slangy way of saying sorry, the Japanese equivalent of " My bad "
5. Dinosaur Ryuzaki Rex Raptor
6.Ryota Kajiki Mako Tsunami