DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story! I love receiving reviews. Knowing that others are enjoying my stories is what writing is all about, for me.
Chapter 10: The Mystery Deepens
By Shadow's Mirror
"What do you mean, it's not accurate?" Kaiba glared at Yugi, obviously not happy at what the smaller teen had just said. His expression darkened as the air beside the boy began to shimmer and a familiar form took shape. When Yami appeared in his physical form at Yugi's side, he was met with a fierce glare and a low growl. "Who invited you?"
Yami ignored the question, his attention focused on the source of his light's shock. He studied the hologram for a moment before speaking. "She matches the description that Téa gave us. That is the Fire Sorcerer who aided Téa in her battle." Yami turned his head, addressing his next comment to Kaiba. "She is not, however, the one Yugi and I saw in the Shadow Realm last night."
Kaiba shot a startled glance at Yami. A moment later, his usual calm mask was back in place. "If this is some sort of joke, I do not find it amusing."
Yami's eyes were inscrutable as his gaze locked with Kaiba. "I assure you, Kaiba, this is no joke. This is a mystery, and one which I intend to solve."
"Some minor difference between a hologram and the real thing and it's bothering you that much?" The words were spoken without thinking, judging from the way Kaiba winced after saying them.
The slightest of smiles touched Yami's lips. "Kaiba… I would hardly call a change in gender to be a 'minor difference'." His smile widened at the shock that Kaiba wasn't quite able to hide.
"What? Are you trying to tell me that Fire Sorcerer is supposed to be a… boy?" Kaiba shook his head, the shock in his eyes fading. Apparently his usual reason and logic were reasserting themselves. "How can you be so sure? A few alterations to the appearance, I suppose I would be willing to concede as being possible. But what you're suggesting… I think even Pegasus would have noticed something so obvious."
Yami nodded. "I agree. Which makes me suspect that this may not have been a mistake."
Kaiba frowned. "You mean, Pegasus deliberately gave me the wrong information? But why do that for only one monster?" He tensed, alarm flashing through his eyes. "Unless…"
Yami's eyes narrowed as he considered the possibilities. "Indeed. There is no telling how many of the holograms are inaccurate."
Yugi looked from his darker half to Kaiba, and sighed. Kaiba's hands were clenched into fists and he was obviously not happy at the thought that his holograms might not be as accurate as he'd believed them to be. As for Yami… he was enjoying seeing Kaiba upset far more than he should have been! It was time to try and calm things down. "But as far as we know, there's only the one. I agree, it does seem like Pegasus did this on purpose. But maybe he had a reason for it."
Kaiba glared at him. "Oh, he had a reason all right. To make me look like a fool!"
Yami smirked. "He need not have gone to so much trouble then. You usually manage that all by yourself."
As Kaiba turned his furious glare onto Yami, Yugi shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant, Kaiba. Look at what we know about him. We learned why Pegasus did what he did during Duelist Kingdom. He had a reason for it all. We also know that when he realised how powerful the God Cards were, he gave them up so they could be put somewhere safe. He did some terrible things, but he wasn't insane or foolish and, when Yami and I dueled him, it was clear how much he respected, even loved, the cards he had brought into this world. He was like… like…" Yugi struggled to find the right words.
Yami placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, smiling gently at his light. "He was like a proud father showing off his children. Yes, that was the impression I had of him also."
Yugi nodded up at his darker half, then turned back to Kaiba. "That's why I don't think he would have given you the wrong information about any of the Shadow Monsters. Not on a whim, anyway. There must be another reason. Maybe it wasn't deliberate. Maybe he just got one wrong."
Kaiba frowned, but at least he was no longer glaring. "My request for the information was an unusual one. I expected to meet with resistance but… he surprised me. Although we were business rivals, he was… highly enthusiastic… about the project and gave me far more assistance and information than I had hoped for." He relaxed slightly. "For once, I must agree with both of you. His attitude towards the cards was the reason why I trusted him to give me accurate information about them in the first place. He was proud of them. He wanted to show them off to the world. At one point, he even said as much."
Yugi smiled brightly. "See? It must have been an accident! Or… Hey!" His eyes lit up. "Maybe there are two Fire Sorcerers! You know, like there are two Mystical Sheep!"
Yami looked thoughtful, but also doubtful. "Perhaps. There are several cards like that."
"Impossible." Kaiba shook his head, but he didn't glare. In fact, he now seemed to be back to his usual cool and logical self. "If there is, it would have come up on the screen when I…"
Yugi and Yami looked curiously at Kaiba. It wasn't like him to just trail off in mid-sentence. It also wasn't like him to appear somewhat dazed. "Kaiba? Are you okay?" Yugi's tentative question went unanswered as Kaiba suddenly started typing rapidly into the control panel.
"What is it, Kaiba?" Yami watched his rival intently. "What have you thought of?"
"It may be nothing." For once, the teen wasn't smug or sneering in his response. "But there is one possibility. What Yugi said… It reminded me of something."
"Huh? Me? What did I say?" Yugi blinked in confusion.
"The duel we had on the roof of Pegasus's castle… Some time after that, I ran a simulation of it through my computer. I noticed something odd. It took me a while to work out what had happened, but in the end… Here, see for yourselves." He hit one last key and two holograms appeared on the field.
Yami frowned. "Two Dark Magicians." His frown deepened as he took in their appearances. One of them was the familiar Monster he summoned in almost every duel. But the other… The differences were only slight changes in colour, but the two holograms were definitely not identical. "Wait. I have seen this before."
Yugi nodded. "During Battle City, when we dueled against Arcana. It was the only time we've ever faced another duelist using the Dark Magician. Oh! I get it!" He turned to Kaiba, grinning. "You programmed two versions of each Monster! So if both duelists were using the same one, they'd appear different on the field!"
"No. I didn't." Kaiba's flat response made Yugi's smile fade into confusion.
Yami scowled. "Explain, Kaiba." His commanding tone earned him a glare from the other boy.
"When I ran the simulation of our duel on the castle roof, I noticed that the appearance of the Dark Magician was not as I remembered it from the actual battle. I did some checking. It turned out, Pegasus had given me more than one set of images for that particular Monster. One set is used for every duel." He pointed to the hologram of the Dark Magician that the duelist Arcana had called upon. "The second set only comes into play when either of you two summon your Dark Magician to the field."
As Yugi and Yami stared at him in shock, Kaiba frowned slightly. "I still don't know why. But it's true. Your summoning activates an entirely different set of images in my duel disk system. In order to get that version of the Dark Magician in a simulation, I have to reroute the system through the data gathered from your duel disk during your Battle City duels. Otherwise, I get the other version."
Yami's mind raced at the new, and unexpected, information. "Could that be why…?"
"I'm checking it now," Kaiba cut in. He looked down at the monitor and frowned as he started keying in some commands. A few moments later, his whole body tensed as he gasped. "No! I don't believe it!"
"What is it?"
Yami's voice snapped Kaiba out of his daze, although he was still rather distracted when he replied. "According to this, the Dark Magician isn't the only Duel Monster with more than one set of images."
"How many are there?" Yami frowned slightly, concerned by Kaiba's reaction. For the cool-headed boy to be so shaken, something was definitely wrong.
"Ten." Kaiba almost growled out the word. "And before you ask, yes, Fire Sorcerer is one of them."
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that explains it, then! Mystery solved!" He grinned up at his darker half, but Yami's attention was still focused on Kaiba.
"There is something else, isn't there?"
Kaiba looked up, his sapphire eyes flashing with fury as he glared at his adversary. "You would know. According to the computer log, I've accessed this information before. When I found out about the Dark Magician, apparently I also found out about these other cards. Except… I have no memory of doing so. It seems that someone has been playing with my mind. As if I didn't know who! What is this Yami? One of your twisted little mind games?"