Disclaimer: WookieeBeta still does not own Yuugiou (or Monster Truck Madness). Except in a random moment or two of delusion.
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
Chapter Fourteen: New Thoughts, New Games
By WookieeBeta
White. Endless, eternal, infinite white; like the Shadow Realm, but pure and clean, not dark.
Well, mostly clean. Marik grinned manically, eyes flitting from bloodstain to bloodstain. He'd never seriously hurt himself, no; too hard to rule the world when he was hurt. But that didn't mean he didn't cut himself sometimes.
Anything to end the white.
Too much.
Even his clothes were white, he realized with disgust. Thin, and airy, like what pretty-pretty hikari had worn in Egypt, but white.
He hated white.
White was Thief-King. White skin, white hair, white hikari, white lies (and black, but what was black? The inverse of white, that was all), white Thief-King.
How he longed for the pretty purple shadows.
They were such fun to play in, the shadows...not like mortal shadows. They weren't just shade cast by a solid object; they were living clouds, solid substances with voices of their own, magical beings that loved toying with minds just as much as Marik himself. Pharaoh and Thief-King lived in their Items, yes yes, but Marik had never lived in the Rod. He was attached to it; he followed it relentlessly; he had never lived inside it. He was not a long-dead spirit. The Shadow Realm had been his shelter - his home - for as long as he could remember.
There was no white there. The Realm did not like white. It was too light of a color; too unnatural.
No white.
No Thief-King.
No Pharaoh.
But...no pretty-pretty light, either. And that made it wrong, didn't it? He existed for his pretty-pretty. Sure, he wanted the God Cards; sure, he wanted the Items; sure, he wanted to destroy the world. But that was just so that his pretty-pretty would be happy. Because pretty-pretty loved destruction. And what better to destroy than everything?
All for his pretty-pretty.
All for the hikari.
All for the light...
All for the white…
He loved white.
"So...what did Sugoroku say?" Anzu asked. She was sitting in Jou's living room, half-heartedly watching the blonde and Otogi play some racing game she'd never heard of.
Jou shook his head distractedly. "No sign of him. He hasn't turned up at all. I guess you were right, Dicey-boy."
"See? You should listen to me once in a while. Especially when I say things like...eat my dust!" The light on the screen changed to green, and both trucks roared to life, tearing down the twisting road like there was no tomorrow.
Anzu rolled her eyes. "Guys are hopeless."
"Hey!" Honda protested from the other end of the couch. "I resent that remark!"
"I said guys, not monkeys."
Jou cackled. "Oooooh, score for Anzu," he said.
"That was low," Otogi added with a grin. Honda just glowered at a random speck of dust floating in the air.
"So, I still don't get what the attraction to this game is," the lone girl commented a few moments later after Otogi's truck flipped over, effectively ending the race. "I mean, it's nothing compared to the newer games, and yet you three treat it like some sort of religious artifact."
All three boys turned to gape at her. "Are you - " Honda started –
" - insulting - " Jou added –
" - Monster Truck Madness!"
"...eep..." Anzu sweatdropped. "Er...no? I just...don't understand your obsession, that's all."
"Well then!" Jou said, standing and gesturing for her to take his spot on the floor. "Otogi, you and Honda do the honors of introducing our poor sheltered friend here to the greatest race in history, and I'll go find some chips - deal?"
"Deal!"
"But I don't - !" It was useless; already the two boys were forcing her into the well-worn spot on the carpet and handing her the controls. She sighed and just went with it.
When Jou came back in, she had a somewhat manic look on her face and was glaring intently at the screen, eyes flicking back and forth from the map in the upper left-hand corner to the actual road. There was another truck just in front of her, and the detour just ahead; her eyes glinted and she swerved off the road, heading for the broken bridge.
"No, Anzu, you don't go there! What are you doing?" Honda shouted.
"Wait," Otogi interrupted, holding his brunette friend back. "I want to see what she does."
Anzu spared a moment to toss them a grin before turning her full attention back to the screen. There was the end of the bridge, just coming into view; on the right, she could see the pre-programmed truck dutifully following the detour. They were still neck-and-neck at the moment. The gap was closer now, and closing at a frightening rate. A little more...just a little more...now! She kicked the joystick violently left, and was rewarded with a smooth jump from the corner of the bridge to the bottom of the dirt heap. A few pieces of heavy machinery later, she was powering up a glassy slope and back onto the road, her opponent left far behind.
"Bwaha! Beat that, ya bugger!" she exclaimed as she passed through the final checkpoint.
"Go, Anzu!" Honda cheered.
Otogi raised her arm in the victory pose. "And the winner is...Mazaki Anzu!"
The newly-hooked gamer grinned. "Okay, I take it back - I get what the attraction is now." Honda and Otogi high-fived.
"...but I still say you guys are hopeless!" She ducked quickly, and the two pillows sailed harmlessly over her head.
Jou chose that moment to step back into the room, and both pillows caught him squarely in the face. The throwers and the intended target all burst into laughter, but quieted down almost instantly when they saw the blonde's face.
"What is it, Jou?" Otogi asked, jumping to his feet.
"I just talked to Mokuba on the phone," Jou said quietly. "The institution called him a few minutes ago... Marik's escaped."
A/N 1: Monster Truck Madness is the awesomest game I have ever played. And the bridge thing? It really works. Just don't run into the crane, cut the corner into the hill as close as possible, and you can shave off ten seconds easy. :nod:
A/N 2: Minor edits, title change. – WB 09Nórui2006
