Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 044
Originally Written: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 810AM to 931AM
. . . . .
"Oh, you figured it out." Seto and Leichter found Yugi running from a slew of lizards and crocodiles in the swamps. A Kuriboh almost as tall as him was floated by his side. He adjusted his glasses as Yugi caught his breath.
"That's what you have to say to all this!?" Yugi shouted, red in the face from anger and embarrassment. "What the heck is all this for!? Why is there a Blue Eyes White Dragon nuzzling you!?"
"Noah has always been obsessed with virtual reality gaming. Duel Monsters is my guilty pleasure. We were working on combining the two when Amane came along..." He lowered his head as the Blue Eyes rubbed its head against his side, "I was quite upset when he sold my dueling technology to Pegasus, so I put a few Duel Monsters in his program. They're actually viruses designed to cause little quirks in his program."
"...You two are nerds." Yugi groaned. "I'm not helping you find Deep Sea Warrior Gansley. God he's such a douche."
Leichter looked at Yugi with a pointed stare. "Do ya know who ya're speakin' about?"
"Don't care." Yugi looked right at him, "Gansley. Is. A. Douche." Kuriboh giggled as though he agreed.
"He was raised in a barn, wasn't he, Mr. Seto?" Leichter asked.
"A game shop mostly, actually." Seto waved him off. "Gansley probably teased Yugi about Kuriboh."
In response, Yugi clutched Kuriboh protectively and nuzzled his nose into its fur. "No one talks bad about Kuriboh." His speech devolved into cutesy speech like he was talking to one of his pets.
"Did you see a man dressed in red run through here, Yugi? He kind of looks like Bakura?"
"No. Gansley did though. He turned into a Deep Sea Warrior and chased him. We couldn't keep up." Kuriboh rested its green claws on Yugi's head. Yugi frowned, folded his arms and looked away.
They found Tea with Deep Sea Warrior Gansley, a short man in a green suit who was obsessed with the Penguin Warrior he was cuddling, and not-Bakura. Not-Bakura did not like this cold, and it had slowed him down considerably. Tea and Gansley were trying to talk him down, and the cold had distracted him enough to loosen his hold on Mokuba.
Yugi slid down the hill while they were running down to get to the group. He interrupted Tea, Gansley and not-Bakura's conversation by turning his blunder into a breakdance move. He slid on the ice, coming to a stop between them, posed as though he were laying on a couch. "Hello!"
"Yugi?" Tea giggled. "Nice save."
"Your friend was raised in a barn, Ms. Gardner." Gansley looked down at Yugi. "That is my explanation and I am sticking to it."
Not-Bakura looked at him with a pointed glare on his face. Yugi raised an eyebrow at him. The man looked away, clearly shivering. No one was dressed warmly enough for this area.
"Not a barn, just a humble game shop. Mostly." Tea continued giggling. The Dark Magician girl floating next to her pulled Yugi up to his feet.
"Seto!" Mokuba skid on the ice while running towards him. He bumped right into his legs and hugged him tightly. "She's not here, right? So it's okay?"
Seto looked down at him and pressed a hand on the top of Mokuba's head. The short man, Crump, completely ignored everyone as he brushed the Penguin creature's feathers. The Penguin preened under his care.
"Duke explained it to me. I get it now, so it's okay." Mokuba continued. "Oh!", he pointed to not-Bakura, "That's Bakura."
"No it's not." Yugi replied indignantly. "How many wayward siblings does Bakura have anyway?"
This time, not-Bakura looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Yugi thought he pulled the look off much better than he did.
"Yes it is. Our Bakura's first name is Ryou. His first name is Bakura. I'm serious, that's his name." Mokuba glared at Yugi. "He's really nice. Kind of."
"Thank you for protecting Mokuba." Seto looked at Bakura. "These men are with me."
The man nodded downwards, arms wrapped around himself, holding his red cloak closed. "I expect payment for this, Priest."
"Of course." Seto pressed a hand to the air next to him. A panel appeared, and he typed in a few lines of code, fingers pressing against the air as though he were typing on a keyboard. A soft glow of orange surrounded the group. "Better?"
"Oooh." Tea gushed. "It's warm! Thank you!"
"Thanks, big bro."
"And for you, your ring." Seto looked at Bakura. "This is just in addition."
"The ring can wait." Bakura shook his head. He hadn't dropped his arms, but he had stopped shivering. "If you claim these men are yours, then explain why one of them is attacking my chosen host? I was led to believe they are your allies?"
"Nezbitt's really attackin' Amane?!" Leichter looked at Seto. "Is he nuts!?"
"Only if he's by himself." Gansley asked, "Otherwise it's not a profitable move."
Seto shook his head, "Not Amane. Her brother, Ryou. Probably to use him against Amane. It won't work. Ryou doesn't have anything she wants. Can you take us to them, King of Thieves? I'm sure you'd rather not see them killed like this."
Bakura turned around without a word and started walking carefully on the ice. When he was sure they were following him, he switched to a steady jog that was faster than everyone but Seto could keep up with. Seto's dragon picked most of them up with ease. Dark Magician Girl picked up Tea. Once they left the ice, Crump's penguin refused to go further, forcing them to leave her behind.
Bakura arrived where they were first, and Seto arrived second. Seto took one look at the scene in front of him and raised his hand in the air. A panel appeared and he typed in more code. Everything in front of them froze, whether or not they were partially in the air or even moving.
Tristan held a bokken wooden sword, aimed at Ryou's head. Ryou kneeled on the ground. Shadowy wisps of smoke covered Ryou's hands which were raised to block. A man wearing glasses and a blue business suit was sitting on the shoulders of a Machine King duel monster. And Duke had just thrown a series of dice at the duel monster while jumping backwards.
"Please tell me where Nezbitt's body is. If you know." Seto looked at the factory around them. Noah didn't do a bad job coding this area.
"Dead. He was in a meeting with Gozaburo when she interrupted." Bakura gestured to the scene in front of them, "I'd be sorry for your loss, but..."
"Whoa." Mokuba murmured as he jumped off of Blue Eyes White Dragon. "This looks like a fight scene from a video game."
Seto typed some more, and Duke's dice went back to his hands. He jogged backwards on the ground a few steps, holding his dice. Tristan and Machine King walked backwards, with Tristan lowering his sword. Nezbitt appeared in his normal body, standing next to Tristan. "And now it doesn't. I'll unfreeze them if you make sure Ryou's magic doesn't backlash against him, King of Thieves."
Bakura walked over to Ryou, and placed his arms on his shoulders. He grunted. Seto unfroze everyone, and watched the fallout, slightly amused. Everyone looked around confused, and Duke fumbled with his dice, shouting that they were going to explode in his face. He caught them and breathed a loud sigh in relief when they didn't. Ryou's magic fizzled out.
"Good morning." He cleared his throat, and walked into the center of the group. He looked around at each individual as he spoke. "I don't care what any of you were doing beforehand. There is only one question I want you to answer. That question is: Where is Noah Kaiba?"