-- Alyssa walked into the room, trying to seem normal. She had not forgotten the Pharaoh's words from before, asking if she was well; she had never expected it of him to notice. She kept her head down slightly more than usual, but not by much. She wanted to hide the dark circles that she was sure must remain, but she did not want him to know that she was attempting to.
However, when she tried to walk she became dizzy and had to reach out a hand to the wall to steady herself. Immediately the Pharaoh noticed. "Not feeling much better today then, eh?" he asks her, his eyebrows raised.
"I am fine, my Lord." She repeats to him, leaning against the wall but trying not to appear so. "It is merely sleep that I require. One day will not cure all ailments." She can hear him sigh from across the room. "Come up here and sit with me." He says.
After a shocked moment, she stammers, "I'm sorry, would you repeat that please? I think that perhaps my weariness is causing me to hear things." The Pharaoh sighs again. "Please, come up here and sit with me." He repeats patiently. Silently, she makes her way over to his bed and stands next to it. Hesitating, she looks away and does a quick bow. "How is it that I may serve you, my Lord? Are you in need of something?" she asks him. "No, I'm fine. Now please, seat yourself." He says. She can tell that this time it is not a polite request but more of an order. Pausing momentarily, she perches herself on the very end of the bed. "What is it you wish of me?" she asks.
"All the way on." The Pharaoh tells her, and she scooches over a little more. "A little more." He tells her, his tone becoming a little lighter, slightly amused at her reserved actions. Sighing yet again he merely says "More." With a small smile, and continues doing so until she is sitting, cross legged, beside him on his bed.
"Now, tell me," he says, trying to look in her eyes and failing as she notices and looks away. "Why are you so pale, and why do you appear so exhausted?" Hesitating while trying to find something that is neither truth nor lie, she vaguely says "Personal issues…at home." And falls quiet, her eyes straying towards the door. "Would you care to tell me what these are?" he asks her gently. "Yes!" her mind screams. "Yes! Tell him, he wants to know!"
Swallowing before answering, she states "I would rather not if I did not have to, my Lord. They are rather personal." She can hear her voice shaking. "You are sure then?" he says once more, trying to look at her. "Yes, my Lord." She says, blinking, and looking away.
He sighs. "Then I am excusing you." He tells her. "What?" she gasps. "Just for tonight. Go home. Get your business settled, and then return tomorrow when you can be of lighter mind." He explains. Expelling a breath with relief, she says "Thank you, my Lord. I will not forget such kindness." Hesitating again, she bows her head, palms together, and asks, "Do I have your permission to leave then?" 'Yes, you do." He tells her, and she climbs off the bed and exits. Pausing at the door, her hand on the frame, she says "Thank you, my King." Once more and exits.
Beckoning for one of his runners to come to him, the man asks, "Yes, my Pharaoh, what is it?"
"Follow her." The Pharaoh tells him shortly. "I want to know what she is doing." "But, she said that-" "I know what she said, and I know there is more she did not say. It does not take a clairvoyant to understand that she was not telling the entire truth." "Yes, my Lord." He says. As the man turns to leave, he calls out "Report to me as soon as you know something." "I will, my Pharaoh," the man calls, turning to bow, and exiting.
Alyssa turned down the stairs that led her to the room she had been stationed in. Rubbing her eyes she tried to push away the lethargy that threatened to close her eyelids. Getting down onto her hands and knees, she picked up the brush where it sat and began scrubbing. Thoughts flew through her mind, her stomach also reminding her that it needed its own kind of fuel. "If I finish this and another room, perhaps then I will have enough." She mutters out loud without realizing it. Next to the doorway so that he could not be seen, the spy listens in. For the longest time all that could be heard is the sound of her scrubbing brush against the palace floor. Sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall, the level of activity made it hard for the man to remain awake.
She stopped once, for a few moments, to stretch. As she reached up she almost fell backward, and had she not been so close in proximity to the wall for a stabilizing hand he was quite sure she would have fallen. It sounded like she muttered something to herself. "This is ridiculous, you have to tell him." It sounded like. And then there were a few "But I don't want to." 's.
Around the dawn Alyssa got up and set her brushes to the side, admiring the spotless room. "I'll get three coins for this one." She thought happily. "And I can get the rest when I come back." She didn't want to acknowledge it for fear of ruining it, but she couldn't help herself. "I might make enough…and if I come back tonight, I can get a head start! Things might finally be going up!"
Happily, she exited the room, her pail and brush in hand. She left them in another room, equally as dirty as the first had been, and exited the palace. Her tail followed her dutifully, as he had been instructed. In her joy mixed with drowsiness, she did not even notice he was there.
Taking a step back, Joey asks "What do you mean, Mai?" "What I mean is exactly what I said. We are going to duel, and I will prove to the world that I'm better than Joey Wheeler! And you'll pay for making my life horrible, by giving me your soul. "But I like my soul!" Joey protests. "I kinda need it. Soul equals good for me." He says. "And it will be good for me to get you finally out of the way…forever." Mai says, withdrawing some cards.
"Mai, are you serious?" he asks, bewildered. "You can't honestly believe that! We're friends!" "I have told you that we are not, have never been, and will never be friends!" Mai yelled. "I play Harpie lady One, and then the Seal of Orycalcos!" she says. The same green circle that had appeared atop the building falls down upon the area, pushing back everyone close to the opponents. "You're not getting out of this one, Wheeler." She tells him. "Mai!" he yells. "Are you nuts? This thing does bad stuff!" "I know." Mai says. "Bad stuff for you. Now hurry up and play your card." "I'm not dueling against you!" Joey yells, clenching a fist. "Afraid to lose your soul, Wheeler? Coward." She instigates him. "No, in fact, I'm worried I'm gonna win." He says. "I don't want you to lose your soul to this thing, Mai." He tells her. "It's just stupid."
"So now I'm stupid, am I?" She demands of him. "That's not what I said…you're twisting my words!" He tries. "just hurry up and play your cards so that I can be done with this already." After deliberating for a few moments, Joey takes the duel disk that he has on his arm. "Fine Mai. Let's duel."
"What's he doing?" Yugi says. "He could lose his soul!" "Calm down, Yugi." Yami says to him in a soothing voice. "I'm sure Joey knows what he's doing." Yugi sighs. "I guess you're right." He tells him, turning back to watch.
Joey opened with a basic move, allowing Mai's harpies to attack him. "Come on Wheeler," Mai said a few turns later as she destroyed one of his scapegoats. "I want a real match, not you just letting me win."
"But I don't want you to lose your soul." He says to her. He hesitates, biting his lip. "As far as I can see, there is only one way that I can keep you from ending up a mindless shell." Mai, I'm not dueling you." He says, moving his hand to reset the counter to zero.
Everybody gasps. "Joey, no!" Tea shouts. "What're you doing, man?" Tristan yells. "He's throwing the duel?" The Australian accented man from the alleyway says, as all notice him on the balcony with the blonde haired leader. "Joey, this is nonsense!" Yami says, ignoring them. "Mai is hurt and angry. You need to show her what it means to be a real duelist again, and try and bring her out that way." He offers as advice. Pausing again, Joey thinks. "You're right, Yugi." Joey says. "Never mind that Mai." He tells her, straightening up. "This duel is back on!"
"Big words, now prove it." She says, closing her eyes and placing a hand on her hip. Opening and looking straight at the Pharaoh, she says to him "And when I'm done with Wheeler, you're next." Yami says nothing, and merely stares her back in the eyes until Joey makes his move. "I play Panther Warrior, and two cards face down." He says. "Your move Mai."
They continue with their duel, when Yami hears Yugi. "Hey, where'd Alyssa go?" The Pharaoh turns from the battle to Yugi having heard his voice. "Hmm?" he says. "I said, where's Alyssa." "She's right…" the Pharaoh begins, looking around. "I could swear she'd been right here." He said. Looking up, he notices her perched on the stone head of a duel masters statue protruding from the walls, three floors up.
"What are you doing?" he calls up to her. The two on the balcony look upwards. "She's a bloomin' monkey!" The Australian one says. "Where are the God cards?" She asks them. "Excuse me?" The Australian one says again. "Where are the God cards?" she repeats her question. "They aren't in either of your decks."
"How would you know what's in my.." the one begins ad trails off as he notices his cards are not where they had been. "She f- Give me back my cards!" The Australian yells angrily, pointing at her. "And mine too." The blonde one said, his voice angry. "Not until you tell where the God cards are." She says.
"I can't believe she got their cards!" Yami says. "I can" Yugi said. "Half the time I can't even tell when she's nearby, she's so quiet." Yugi says. "If you don't want to tell me, I can always just hold on to these, or toss them." She says. "I'm pretty sure it would be harder than a mere fifty two pickup." She says.
"Alyssa!" She hears the Pharaoh call to her as she is in the middle of a sentence. "Yes, my Pharaoh?" she asks, bowing her head slightly. "Return their cards to them." He tells her. "But, your cards!" She begins. "Now, Alyssa" the Pharaoh says. "Two wrongs do not make a right. It is disrespectful to the cards to harm or steal them. Now give them back."
Slightly put out, she descends by climbing and hopping between statues, landing on the balcony.
"Here." She says, looking a way and holding out the two decks of cards to their owners. "I was told to return these to you." They swipe out a hand and retrieve their decks. "Good, now come on down here." The Pharaoh calls to her when she is done. "Yes, be a good little girl and go away." One of them says. Giving him an evil look, she hops off the balcony and walks, returning to the Pharaoh. "You called for me, my King?" she asks him.
"Don't worry about it. We'll get them back." He says to her. "You can't always be doing things like that. You're going to get hurt." "Yes, my Lord." She says, as if a child being reprimanded. The Pharaoh sighs and shakes his head, conscious of how she moves behind him, her head still bowed.
Turning his eyes back to the duel, he hears Mai call. "What's the matter, Wheeler?" Joey is motionless, though his hand is out holding a card. "I wonder what's going on?" Yugi questions. Joey blinks his eyes. He says "Okay. No more chili dogs before traveling."
Noticing the bright light shining from his card, he says 'It can't be…" Looking at it, he gasps. "It can't be" "He wouldn't have" The two on the balcony start. "Mai!" The brown haired one calls. "Be careful, love!"
"I don't need your help!" she yells, turning to them. "I don't need anyone, so leave me alone, will ya?"
"That's no ordinary card." The blonde one says. "I think you should be a little more gracious that Valin bothers with you at all. If it were me, I would have left you behind long ago." "Oh, come on." The brown Australian, who seems to be called Valin, interjects. "Besides, she's really cute when she's angry."
Mai just growls and turns back. "I don't need your help." She repeats. "Hey, she kinda sounds a little like you." Tristan says turning to Alyssa. Getting red again, she mumbles something and turns away. "Not like this, she doesn't." Tea says. "This is just crazy."
"Hurry up and play your card, Wheeler." She says. "I'm getting bored with you already." "Bored with me? It's like they've brainwashed you!" he tells her. "Mai's just tired of you always getting in her way. Kick him around, Mai!" Valin shouts encouragement. "I don't need you!" she shouts to him. "Play your card, Wheeler!"
"Alright then, if you're so eager." Joey states. "And now I play, the Claw of Hermos!" Joey shouts, his card glowing once more as a dragon emerges on the playing field. "And now I'm going to merge him with my Time Wizard! Go!" he shouts. The middle of the room is a giant, swirling mass as the two creatures begin to combine. "Oh yeah, this is gonna be big!" Joey shouts above the noise. The mass finally begins to take shape. "WHAT?" Joey shouts, a look of shock played across his face.
"OH NO! IT'S A CROQUET MALLETWITH WINGS!" Valin taunts him. "Argg…" Joey says, disappointed. "Don't underestimate it, Joey!" the Pharaoh calls to him. "These cards are not like any others. " "Yeah!" Joey shouts in agreement. "And I'll equip my newest creation with my monster already on the field, giving him a boost!" Joey shouts, and the monster on the field takes the hammer into his wings.
"This better work." Tea says. "Joey's got almost no life points left after those Harpie phoenixes and stuff." She was referring to some of Mai's most special attacks, Harpie phoenix formation, and Harpie Sparrow formation. They caused a massive drainage of Joey's life points.
"Alright, my Harpies, go!" Mai shouts, extending a finger in there direction. "Finish this!" "Not so fast!" Joey calls, as his monster swings out with the hammer.
A wave passes through the playing field, and all of Mai's monsters receive a number on their head. Then, suddenly, a black hole appears in the floor, sucking in all of her monsters!
"What's going on?" She asks, confused, as one of her Harpie's tries to futilely to hold on to the floor and escape the vortex. "I don't know myself." Joey says, looking at the hole. "But I can tell that you are all out of monsters!" Playing another monster to the field, he shouts "Attack!" And the creature goes towards my, taking some of her life points.
"No!" she shouts, her Harpie's in the pit. But then, to everyone's surprise, one returns to the field. "Hah!" she shouts. "I'm still in this, Wheeler!" "Go, Harpie Lady!" she says, and destroys the smaller of Joey's monsters, causig him to come perilously close to losing his life points. "Attack! Again!" Joey exclaims, his strongest monster going out, destroying the Harpie. "Mai's in trouble!" Valin shouts."
"Joey!" the Pharaoh calls to him. "I trust you understand what is going on now?" he asks him. 'Uh…yes?" He says, confused. The Pharaoh explains "Remember how the monsters had a number atop their heads before they were sucked into the vortex?" he questions Joey. "Yes." Joey says, thinking back the past few minutes. "Each turn another monster is released in order. Harpie Lady was first, next will be her pet, another Harpie Lady, etc, according to the numbers."
"Ooooohhhhh!" He says. "I gotcha now!" He pauses thinking. "Heheh. That's good for me. I can win this in a turn or two." He says. "Alright, let's go!" he tells his monster, and it destroys the next of Mai's monsters, decreasing her life points.
"Mai's in trouble!" Valin shouts. "Valin, wait, no!" he yells as the Australian jumps over the side. "With this fragment of the Orycalcos stone, I unlock the Seal!" he shouts. A blinding flash goes throughout the room. When the smoke in the room has cleared, all can see that the trio had left, and there was no more Seal restricting its captives.
"Joey, are you alright?" Tea shouts as they run up to the Youth, laying on the ground. He shakes his head and sits up. "Yeah, but what happened?" "Valin, or so I believe he is called, must have destroyed the Seal, so the duel was ended." The Pharaoh speculates. "That's good." Joey says. "I don't know what was up with Mai, but at least no one lost their soul." "That's for sure." Yugi says.
"Let's check the phones." Tea suggests. "We need to figure out what's going on." "Yeah." Joey says as they walk over to the receptionist's desk. Tea picks up the phone, but isn't even answered with a dial tone. "There's no dial tone." She explains to them all. "The power must be out." Duke says.
"When did you get here?" Tea asks him, only noticing he was there now. "What? You didn't see me?" he says. "I climbed up three flights of fire escapes to find the only open door, and you didn't see me?"
"Well, I see you now." She says to him. "How've you been?" she asks. "I've been good. It's nice in CA." he says. "I ran into a couple of friends of yours." He says. "Friends?" Joey asked. "What friends?" "Two guys, one with funky hair and glasses, the other with brown hair and some kinda other thing?" "Very descriptive." Tea says dryly. "Ah, oh well." he says. "So what are we doing?"
"Well, first we have to find out if anyone is in here since the lines are dead." Yami points out. "Guess you're right." Tristan says. "Yeah…" Joey agrees, and they start walking throughout the building.
They reach the top most floor of the building and come to a room. "Kaiba!" Yami says, surprised, as he sees the handsome teen sitting in Pegasus's chair. "Yugi. Good to see you. Not." He says. "Always a pleasure, Kaiba." The Pharaoh says to him. "What are you doing here?" "Well, Pegasus and I were supposed to have a little chat at his house. I however don't appreciate being cheated so I came here when some fool decides to try and pull one over on me. Of course, I got the upper hand." He says. "o I came here, looking for Pegasus. You haven't seen the dirt bag around, have you?"
"I'm afraid not." Yami says. "We were supposed to meet him at Duelist Kingdom as well. Unfortunately as you can see, I'm afraid we got a little side tracked." "Yeah." Kaiba says, looking at the group. "Well, I've had enough of this. If he gets here tell him he can come to me this time. I'm not waiting around any more."
"Aren't you worried something might have happened to him?" Te asks. "No, not really." Kaiba says. "It's no problem to me if something did anyway." "Kaiba!" she chides him. "Come on, Mokuba, let's go." He says, turning to look for his little brother. "Mokuba, what're you looking at?" he asks. "Just the door." Mokuba says. "It's locked." "Hmm?" Yami says, turning to see it. Next to the door is a slot where you could slide an ID card through, or a security pass. "Hey, Yugi! Try that card he gave you." Tristan tells him. "Good idea." The Pharaoh says, and swipes the card through. A small click can be heard, signaling the lock had been disengaged.
Opening up the door and walking into the room, they see all kinds of statues of monsters, magical cards, and more. "Wow!" Mokuba says. "Look at all this stuff!" "Indeed." Kaiba says, placing a hand a Blue Eyes White Dragon's nose. "But if he's not in here, then we're just wasting our time."
"Have some patience, Kaiba." Yami says to him. "What's this do?" Joey asks, pushing a button.
"Pegasus!" Tristan shouts. "No, you twit, it's a hologram." Kaiba tells him. "See?" he says, sliding a hand through it. "It's just an image of him. "I know what a hologram is!" Tristan says, becoming angry. "I'm sure." Kaiba tells him. Then, the hologram comes to life.
"If you are here it means that I've been captured. So pay close attention." The Pega-gram says. "As you know, I've been researching the history of Duel monsters. For a while now I've been going to various sites around the world, many of them in Egypt. To my surprise I found out that duel monsters might not be new, but a game that is centuries old and may have been played with real monsters and real magic!"
"According to my research, Egypt's powerful Pharaoh's used to play this game, as well as other members of the noble class. However, I have found hieroglyphics that might indicate that it is even older than that, hieroglyphics that tell me that it may have been a key factor in the destruction of Atlantis!"
"As the story goes, there was once three knights who fought to protect Atlantis, which was on the verge of destruction. Their adversary transformed the three nights into three dragons, the Dragons Critias, Hermos, and Timeaus, to weaken them of their power."
"How can turning someone into a dragon weaken-" "Shh!" Tea interrupts Tristan, as the hologram continues.
"Yugi boy, somewhere in this room is a card I have created that will unlock the powers of the three dragons to overcome this evil. Think strategically and you will find it. Let nothing happen to this card!" he yells.
"It is up to you to save us, this world, and my game before all is forced into ruin. Do not let what happened to Atlantis happen again, for it is the old war fought anew. This is more than a mere card game, this is the fate of the two worlds; The monster Realm, and our world. Their destiny lies in your hands." He finishes, and the hologram stops.
"What a lot of hot air." Seto says. "I can't believe I wasted my time with this." "It might not be as foolish as you believe, Seto Kaiba." "I have good reason to believe there is truth behind what he says." "Yadda yadda yadda, let's look for the card!" Joey says, excited. He begins looking underneath a few of the statues. "Pegasus said to think strategically." Yami says. "That was his hint."
"Perhaps…there is a statue in here that resembles something that gives you a card?" Alyssa offers hopefully. Everyone looks at her, but she turns her face away. "It was just a suggestion…" she says as they do, taking a few steps back and pretending to look at a statue.
"No, you might be right." The Pharaoh says. "It's worth a try." "Yeah, well what statue in here is going to give us a card?" Joey says. "Think, what card allows you to draw more?" Yami says to him. "Pot of Greed!" he says, as he spies a statue of the image on one of his cards. Tristan walks over to it and fishes his hand around in the opening, before withdrawing a card. "Ahah!" he shouts. "Eh…I don't know." He says, handing the card to Yugi. The group, including the Kaiba brothers, comes closer to take a look at it. "It's blank." Yugi tells Yami." "Perhaps it will remain blank until we find out what it needs to do." Yami states. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm leaving." Seto says. Seriously. Let's go Mokuba." He says, turning away. "Seto, your cards!" his brother calls to him as a bright light emits from his deck. "Huh?" Seto says, withdrawing the shiny card. "You wouldn't happen to possess one of these, would you?" Yami says, holding out his own dragon, the Eye of Timaeus. "Mine is glowing too." Joey says, as he wips out the Claw of Hermos.
Seto shows them his own card. "You mean you two have something like this?" "Yes." The Pharaoh says. "Well congratulations." Seto states, replacing the card in his deck as it stopped shining and walking away. "Seto! Don't be a fool!" The Pharaoh shouts after him. "Don't you see, we are supposed to stick together. This is destiny. The three dragons should be together in this war." "A load of hogwash." Seto says, entering the elevator as they follow him out. "Kaiba, are you running from such destiny?" The Pharaoh poses. "You know, if I had a dime for every time you said the word 'destiny' I'd be richer than I already am." Seto says, as the doors to the elevator close and they disappear. Moments later they can see his personal Blue Eyes jet flying away.