Twelve Little Duelists
Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters or related items, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own the story "And Then There Were None" (also called "Ten Little Indians"), the story is by the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie.
Summary: Twelve of them were invited to the island by the mysterious Mr. Owen. None of them will ever leave for their consciences were guilty and their pasts tainted. (AR. Rated for character deaths and language.)"Speech"---------------------- = Changing character stand point
-------------------------------------------- = change in time or place
IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS: I realize many of you tend to flame authors when they kill off a character. Let me warn you now, this fic is ENTIRELY about murder, and one by one each will get killed, so if you don't wish to read about your favorite character's death, STOP READING NOW. If you choose to continue, you really can't flame me without you being in the wrong, I warned you ahead of time! Thank you, come again.
------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 1: Rock Stairs and Clock Towers
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Joey, surprisingly, was the first to solve it, "UNKNOWN!"
Seto raised an eyebrow in relative surprise, "Well, the mutt does have some brains."
"Shut up, Kaiba!" Joey snapped.
"Make me!" Seto childishly retorted.
Tea jumped to her feet, grateful for the couch that separated Joey and Seto, "Boys! Please! We have to figure out why this Unknown guy brought us here."
"That's simple enough," Yami said, gently patting a shivering Yugi's back, "he brought us here to accuse us of outrageous crimes that I know at least SOME of us did not commit."
"What are you implying?" Seto asked, frowning.
Yami shrugged, "I believe some of us are guilty of murder, but not all of us."
"Let me rephrase my question," Seto said, "WHO are you implying?"
"Well, for one," Yami continued, glancing down at his hikari, "I know Yugi is not guilty. He's never brought harm to anyone intentionally. Nor, I dare say, has Ryou. Naturally, all of us are capable of taking another's life, it is simply a judgment of character I am using to determine the innocent and guilty." He glanced around at the eleven guests, "But I believe we should each plead our own case. I'll start. Kenta Mitsuhito was one of Yugi's classmates, he trespassed on Yugi's soul, so I challenged him to a Shadow Game, Kenta lost, but I did not kill him." He nodded to Bakura to go next.
"Jido Ayumi, yea I killed him," Bakura stated plainly, "he tried to steal Hikari's Millennium Ring." He shrugged, not at all bothered by his past crimes.
Ryou looked down at the floor, talking in a quiet voice, "Katsumoto was in our class, he was killed in a bank robbery, I had nothing to do with it." He shook with the very idea of taking an innocent life.
Tea spoke up next, "Miu, she was a friend of mine, we were in the same dance class. But one day she tripped and fell down the stairs..." She shuddered, "It was horrible."
"My stepfather," Seto started, "jumped out the window of his office. I was there, but I did not kill him. The idiot took his own life." He crossed his arms over his chest, daring anyone to say otherwise.
"Toushi, we dueled once," Yugi said, leaning against Yami for support, "I hadn't heard anything from him after the duel until he called me one night, he was acting weird, and the next morning they found him in his room. He had hanged himself."
"That kid, Taiki," Joey said, talking quietly, "I-I don't even know him. And I definitely didn't kill him!"
Marik smirked, "I killed Lobar. He tried to hurt Hikari, I killed him." He seemed quite proud of the fact.
Mai jumped to her feet, her voice high pitched, "Rei, he was stalking me! Stalking me! I hired a guy to stop him, I-I didn't know that he was going to KILL Rei! It wasn't my fault! I want to go home now!!" With a strangled sob she raced out of the room, the front doors slammed closed as the left the house.
"Maybe we should just stop there," Ryou said, glancing out the window sadly, "we all probably need some time to think. I know I do."
Duke nodded, "He's right. I could use some time to myself as well." He climbed to his feet and left the room, nodding to the others in farewell.
One by one each guest left the living room, going their separate ways.
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Mai sat on the beach, her eyes not focused on the blue waves as the pounced on the shore and quickly retreated. She ignored the soft, lulling growl of the ocean as it broke upon the cliffs nearby. It was a small island, but so peaceful. Mai didn't like it, it was too peaceful. She couldn't get that cold, accusing Voice out of her head.
'Mai Valentine, you brought about the death of Rei Kito on November 23, one year ago.'
No! No, she didn't! How could she have known that the hired man would kill Rei! She just wanted Rei to stop stalking her, it was frightening. Yet, somehow, she knew the man would kill Rei, and she had still hired him. But it wasn't her fault! That wasn't what she had paid for! She just wanted Rei to stop...and, oh, how he stopped. Now he could never stalk another innocent girl! The job had been highly successful after all...
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It was nearly dinner time. Tea had somehow managed to get Yami to prepare dinner, and--with Serenity's aid--she got Seto to help the Pharaoh. It didn't take long for the two to make dinner, it was a simple meal of stir-fry.
As Yugi finished setting the table, he glanced around at the assembled guests. "Where's Mai?"
Malik, attempting to stack the Duel Monster figurines atop each other, shrugged.
"She's likely still outside, I haven't seen her since she left this afternoon," Seto replied, snatching back his Blue Eyes from beneath the pile of statues, smirking when Malik cried in alarm as the 'Duel Monster Tower' toppled over.
Each person took back their respective figure from Malik, it was then that Tea gasped. "Mai's Harpie's Lady is gone! It was here a few minutes ago."
Bakura frowned, "So what? She could have come inside, taken the figurine and left again. Each of us feels fairly attached to ours."
Yami narrowed his eyes at the tomb robber, "Or YOU took it!" He pointed an accusing finger at Bakura.
"I would not steal such a cheap item!" Bakura retorted, "So, bite me, Pharaoh!" He smirked at his clever usage of modern insults. But Malik had taken Bakura seriously. "Ow! You bastard!" Bakura shouted, holding his arm where Malik had sank his teeth into him, "I'm going to kill you!" He whipped out a dagger, pouncing like panther, fangs bared.
Yami and Seto moved quickly, restraining Bakura while Malik scurried behind his yami for safety. Joey disarmed the tomb robber, tossing the dagger on the table. After a few minutes of futile struggling, Bakura finally calmed. He was released cautiously, Yami and Seto stayed relatively close to him just to make sure he didn't take another attempt on Malik's life.
"Dinner's getting cold," Tea said, looking down at the large bowl of stir-fry going unserved, "I'm going to go get Mai, she's probably hungry since she didn't eat lunch."
They waited. They waited for some time, then the horrified scream summoned them to the beach. Seto, Yami and Joey were the first to arrive, they were far faster then the others. Tea stood at the top of the flight of rock stairs, her hand, shaking violently, was pointing at the bottom. Below lay Mai in a crumpled heap, her neck twisted at a sickening angle. Yugi and Serenity were proof it was truly sickening as they raced back to the house. Yami and Joey chased after the pair, they would need comforting.
Duke and Seto were the ones elected to retrieve Mai's broken body--they were the only ones both sane enough and strong enough to do so. It proved no easy task carrying Mai up the long flight of stairs, both boys tripped quite a few times, almost losing themselves over the edge and into the sea each time. But they reached the house nonetheless, they took Mai's body to her room. She was placed on her bed, covered entirely by a bedsheet. The shattered remains of the Harpie's Lady lay forgotten where Mai had breathed her last.
As Duke and Seto descended the stairs, they spoke in low tones to each other.
"I can't believe Mai would kill herself, it just didn't seem like her," Duke said, sighing heavily.
"What makes you think it was suicide?" Seto asked, eyebrow arched in inquiry.
Duke shot Seto a bewildered look, "What are you saying? Murder? You're one crazy, suspicious bastard!"
"Better suspicious on always on guard, then not suspicious and killed off guard," Seto retorted.
"Do you always expect the worse from everyone? No wonder you've got no friends, you expect them to betray you at any minute!" Duke said, his tone both outraged and pitying.
Seto's blue eyes narrowed at the dice gamer, "You think your way, I think my way." As he finished saying that, they entered the living room where the other nine were gathered.
Tea looked up, eyes glassy with tears, "Is Mai really...?"
Duke nodded slowly, "Yes." He looked down at the floor trying to think of some words of comfort but none came.
Malik began dancing in small circles, singing in a high pitched voice, "Dead, dead, dead! Mai is dead! I'll throw more sandwiches at the dead, de-!" Joey, grabbing Malik by his shirt like a kitten, yanked the boy into a chair.
"That's enough!" Joey growled, his tone so dangerously low it even made Seto take a step back.
"Joey! Don't blame Malik, it's not his fault!" Yami said, pulling Joey away from the whimpering hikari.
"Poor Mai," Serenity whispered, but in the silence it was quite audible, "why would she kill herself? She seemed so happy..."
"Kaiba thinks it wasn't suicide!" Duke said aloud, startling everyone. He narrowed his emerald eyes, glaring at Seto, "He thinks it's murder."
All eyes turned on Seto. He was silent a moment before saying, "Have you ever heard of someone committing suicide by falling down stairs? No, because it is not always likely you will die instantly, and that's usually what the suicidal person want. Instant death, or at least one with little pain." He shrugged, "But that is my own opinion, you're free to think what you will." He turned to leave the room, pausing at the door to add one last comment, "It's better to be safe than sorry..." With that he was gone, a slamming door upstairs told them he had shut himself in his room.
Everyone remained silent for sometime after Seto's departure. Each wanted to believe Mai's death was either self inflicted or accidental, yet what Seto had said made sense, however eerie. The foreboding silence was too much for Yugi and Ryou. They both left to their bedrooms, their yamis right behind them. Tea and Serenity were quick to follow, both exhausted from grief.
Joey remained for a little while longer before also retiring. Malik became bored quickly and scampered out of the room. Marik followed his rambunctious hikari, leaving Duke alone in the room.
Finding the room disturbingly quiet, Duke went outside, not at all tired. While looking up at the moon, he caught sight of the odd, tall building connected to the main house. Curiosity getting the better of him, Duke inspected the building, discovering it was a clock tower. He found a small door with a staircase inside, climbing it, he ended up standing on a small balcony at the very top of the tower. It was a breathtaking view, you could see the entire island from up there.
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As he looked out at the island, Duke became lost in his thoughts. Memories of The Voice from this afternoon flooding his mind. Rinto Kogai, he had been Duke's friend and business partner. But Rinto didn't think opening a game shop across the street from a rivaling one would be a bad idea. He wanted to stop Duke's dream of running his very own game shop. But Duke didn't blame Rinto, he was simply using his business sense. And one day, Duke asked Rinto to try out their new virtual reality game, how was he to know the game had a bug in it? When Rinto began to scream Duke figured it was just part of the game, but Rinto collapsed and stopped breathing.
Duke shuddered, the look on Rinto's dead face was one of great pain. Duke had spent weeks arguing with himself, had he really known there was something wrong with the game? Did he really mean to kill Rinto? Yes, knew the game was faulty, but it wasn't supposed to kill Rinto! It was supposed to mess with the man's mind, make him insane, that was it!
But then again...it hadn't turned out so bad after all...
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Yami was awakened by a rapid knocking on his bedroom door. Unlocking and opening the door, he found Seto waiting impatiently outside.
"What do you want, Kaiba?" Yami asked, still drowsy. He noticed the odd expression on the teen's face. Seto looked quite unnerved.
"It's Duke. I found him outside. Dead." Seto said, voice low.
That fully awoke Yami. In a flash the Pharaoh was downstairs and out the door. He had to stop as Seto caught up and led him to the body.
Below the clock tower lay Duke, limbs bent in unnatural angles, back broken over a large rock jutting out of the ground.
Yami stared at the lifeless face of his friend, "Kaiba...why did you wake me of all people?"
Seto paused for a moment as he thought over the question, "I couldn't leave him out here. It's not right. But I also could not carry him myself. The girls, Yugi, Ryou and the nut job wouldn't be of much help. I trust the other yamis as far as I can throw them, and I tried waking the mutt, but he was snoring too loud to hear me knocking."
Yami frowned, "So I was the last resort?"
Seto shrugged, "Basically." He glanced around at the thick fog swirling around the island, "We need to get him out of here. This moisture is only going to cause decompo-"
"Enough! I really do not need to hear about that," Yami said, holding up a hand to silence Seto.
Together they lifted Duke's cold body. Seto nearly dropped Duke when he tried to point out what was beneath the body.
Shattered segments of Duke's Strike Ninja figurine lay in the dirt where Duke had been.
"I noticed Mai's Harpie's Lady by her body yesterday as well," Seto remarked as they entered the house, their burden slowing their progress.
"I'm beginning to believe your suggestion," Yami said as they climbed the stairs, "but if there is someone trying to kill us, where is he?"
"Probably hiding on the island," Seto replied, opening the door to Duke's room. "And if so, we have to find him before he finds us."
Yami, not too surprised at Seto's willingness to hunt down an enemy, lowered his voice, "But, we can't alarm the girls. Or Yugi, he worries too much."
"Then we won't tell them. We can search for the killer and say we're exploring the island," Seto said, "but we'll need someone else, as I said before, better safe than sorry."
Yami nodded, "We can trust Joey to help and keep quiet. He wouldn't want to worry Serenity, but he'd also want to protect her from harm." He heaved a sigh of relief as they lifted Duke onto his bed.
"I suppose the mutt is our best choice. There's no way in hell I'd trust Marik or Bakura, they could easily kill us when our backs our turned, and they'd do it for fun," Seto mused, exiting the room with Yami right behind him. "We need to wake the others now, though, and tell them what happened to Duke. We can say it looked like suicide, so none worry about a possible killer."
Yami blinked, surprised at Seto's mild thoughtfulness for the others, "Yes. You wake everyone on that side of the hall, I'll wake the ones on this side." They spilt up, making their way down the hall, calling out the other guests.
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It did not take long for Yami and Seto to get everyone downstairs, where they broke the news of Duke's early death. Tea and Serenity had immediately burst into tears. Yugi looked on the verge of tears. Ryou appeared to be in shock. Joey stared at the floor in disbelief. Marik and Bakura seemed completely oblivious, neither had been on friendly terms with the gamer. Malik would have been singing another of his morbid songs, but Seto had thought ahead and gave the hikari a large hunk of chewy taffy.
Seto waited near the front doors for Yami to return with Joey. When the Pharaoh did show up, Joey had a bewildered look on his face.
"Did you already tell him?" Seto asked Yami impatiently.
Yami nodded, "I did."
Joey shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, "You seriously think someone's killing people?"
Seto sighed, glaring at the blonde, "Did either Duke or Mai seem the type of person to kill themselves?"
Joey paused for a moment, "No...I guess it's worth a shot anyways, even if you are wrong, Kaiba."
"I'm beginning to wonder how many times I must say better safe than sorry..." Seto remarked idly as he stepped quietly out of the house.
The three spent most of the day exploring the island. It was almost entirely bare rock, with small patches of short grass scattered randomly. There wasn't a single hiding place around, not even a small shrub to hid in, let alone a cave. Everything had been searched with a fine tooth comb and nothing had been found.
As they rest near a cliff just before noon, Seto frowned, suddenly climbing to his feet. He walked to the edge of the cliff, trying to see the rockface from the bad angle he was at.
"Dammit," Seto kicked a rock over the edge, watching it hit the water below.
Joey scratched his hair, eyes locked on Seto, "What are you doing?"
Seto gestured to the cliff, "Do you think it's possible for him to have climbed down there? I can't see it well enough to determine if a cave is there or not."
Yami stood up, walking over to where Seto stood, peering down at the ocean below, "I suppose it is possible. But we'd need a rope to get down there and find out. I'm no rock climber."
Seto smirked, pulling back his long trench coat, revealing a coil of rope attached to his belt, "Again, better safe than sorry."
Joey suddenly jumped to his feet, pointing at Seto's belt, "You have a gun!?"
Seto glanced down at the small handgun also hanging on his belt, "Of course I do."
"Why would you take a gun on vacation!?" Yami demanded.
"Do you know how many times someone has tried to kill Mokuba or me? I've lost count, so I carry this," Seto held up the gun, "for protection. Murderers don't take vacations." He laughed to himself, "And yet again I must say better safe than sorry." He traded the gun for the rope, uncoiling it slowly. "So, who's going down there?"
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Seto growled irritably to himself as he was lowered down the cliff by Yami and Joey. "How the hell did I get stuck doing this? Damn them." He didn't like the idea of putting his life in the hands of an ancient spirit and a moronic mutt. It was quite unfortunate for him that he was the most experienced at rock climbing, and he was also the weighed the least, despite the fact that he was taller than both of the others.
Luckily, it didn't take him long to search the cliffside. There wasn't even a small niche where a mouse could hide.
Seto gave the rope a quick tug and he was pulled back to solid ground. With an annoyed sigh, Seto untied the rope from his waist, "Nothing, not a single damn hole down there. That was a waste of time."
Yami and Joey quickly responded in unison, "Better safe than sorry!"
Seto glared at the pair, "Shut up."
"Now what do we do?" Joey asked, searching around.
"We search the house, of course," Seto replied, immediately heading to the large manor.
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Again, their search was futile. There weren't many hiding spots in the house. The few possible ones were completely empty as well.
As the inspection came to a close, a bell rang, signaling lunch was ready. When Yami, Joey and Seto entered the dining room the rest were already seated and eating. Except for Marik, he was entertaining Malik by setting napkins aflame with a small silver lighter--he stole it from Joey earlier.
Marik finally lifted the spoon from his bowl of stew--everyone else was already halfway through their meal. Smirking hungrily, Marik stuffed the spoon in his mouth. A few seconds passed and he began to cough. Before anyone to get to their feet to help the yami, he collapsed. His hand knocking his Winged Dragon of Ra to the floor, where it broke into three large pieces.
Bakura was the first at the fallen Egyptian's side. The tomb robber slowly climbed to his feet after checking for Marik's pulse, "He's dead."
Ryou gasped, "Did he choke?"
Bakura shook his head, "No. By the looks of it, he was poisoned."
"But I served the stew out of one pot!" Tea cried, jumping to her feet and pushing her bowl away.
Yami frowned, "It can't have been in the pot, because everyone has been eating for some time now. Marik died the instant he swallowed the one spoonful. Someone put something in HIS bowl."
"One of us is the killer..." Seto whispered. Joey and Yami nodded in agreement as six pairs of eyes turned to stare at Seto.
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KT: (Sighs sadly) I hate killing the cute bishies. Poor Duke...
Seto: At least it wasn't me...
KT: True, I still have my beloved muse! (Huggles Seto)
Seto: -.-() It's better then getting killed.
KT: Please don't flame, nice readers! This is a murder mystery fic after all! Characters are supposed to die!
Seto: Who's the killer? Maybe I can get him before he gets me.
KT: Hey, you can't rule out the girls. And I'm not telling you who the killer is! It's for the ending!