A/N: I am incredibly sorry this chapter is late guys. I wish I could have warned you once I realized this was going to be late, but the most I could think to do was put an update on my profile. So, check that in the future if a chapter is not on time.
I have some bad news, because of a series of increasingly frustrating events, I lost three entire chapters that I had already written. This is why this chapter is late and why I'll have to go back to the every other week schedule. I know, I just promised the once a week, but this data loss has put me back in both schoolwork and fanfiction. I really do want to keep a consistent schedule, but that's just not in the cards for me right now. Thank you for understanding.
With me losing entire chapters, I also lost a lot of my motivation to rewrite this or any other chapter. That's when I got this weird idea. I'm sure you guys noticed how I switch perspectives between Yami and Yugi each chapter. I sometimes jump to other characters, but for the most part, I keep to Yami's or Yugi's version of events. To keep me motivated, I ended up writing this chapter from an entirely different perspective. While it got me writing and I think it's even better than the old chapter, it didn't quite get to the point in the story I wanted to get to. So, here's the plan. This will be a special chapter, on Friday the 16th I will release the next chapter, and it will be a full Yami chapter. Then on the 30th, there will be another Yugi chapter, and the cycle will continue as usual. Sorry if this is confusing.
Thank you guys so much for continuing to read. Knowing you guys were waiting and were excited for more of this story was the thought keeping me going as I started rewriting. So again, Thank you! I can't quite convey how much gratitude I have for you all.
...
Tetsu Trudge always saw himself as a hero. He naturally wanted to protect others, his larger size helping in that endeavor. Growing up, he had the last name of Ushio and was the one to protect the other neighborhood kids from bullies, lost kittens from wild street dogs, and the one to defend his mother when his birth father got too angry. As time went on, that heroic image never left him. As far as he was aware, he was still the great protector. Even as he committed his darkest acts.
Tetsu didn't know when he started to fall. Maybe he had always been in a downward spiral, but as he got older, gratitude wasn't enough for him. He wanted more monetary appreciation. He had many excuses back then for why he took money from the people he saved, the most common being that his newly divorced mother needed it. Yet, if he was honest with himself, he knew he was only ever being greedy and cruel. To this day, he didn't know how, yet in his younger head, it all made sense. His heroics deserved rewards, even if he had to beat them out of the people he "saved."
It was a small boy with wild hair and Tetsu falling from a roof into a river of monsters that finally woke him up. He was no longer the protector he wanted to be; in fact, he needed the protection now. Every water source, no matter how small, had horrors swimming in them. What was even more confusing was that every pile of leaves became a stack of cash in his eyes. These monsters and tricks only he could see, and they never went away. His hallucinations were so bad that he had to live in a mental hospital for a full year. His lone mother couldn't take care of his constant breakdowns at home. All the time, that glowing eye haunted his waking nightmares.
At first, Tetsu was angry. Angry at that "thing" for forcing him into such a state. How dare he reject Tetsu's kind act of protecting him from bullies and instead torment him so. Sure, Tetsu might have beat him up a bit, but that didn't deserve all this punishment? Right?! Tetsu found he couldn't even utter Yugi's name concerning that fateful night. Because of this, he could never explain what exactly happened. As far as his doctors and mother were concerned, he fell into the river and had a psychotic breakdown.
While in that mental hospital, Tetsu saw many others like him. They all couldn't say what exactly was wrong with them, but Tetsu could figure it out. They had met Yugi too. All had varying hallucinations and mental problems. One guy swore his entire body was made of clocks. Another saw the ghosts of his dead patients coming after him. One even thought he was continually on fire. It was a busy time for the hospital. As more came in, Tetsu found himself more and more disgusted. While the doctors and nurses couldn't find a connection between all these different criminals breaking down, Tetsu knew. He was bad enough to be lumped in for punishment with these actual criminals. These people had tricked, stolen, and killed; they were real monsters. Yet, Tetsu was mentally tortured just as hard as them. This was the first time his anger towards Yugi turned to anger at himself.
What was he if he was equal to real criminals even in one twisted boy's mind? Tetsu thought a lot about that in his little padded room.
Tetsu's first solid memory without hallucinations came when the results from Duelist Kingdom were broadcasted. Yugi was the King of Games. Just seeing the boy's face plastered across the hospital's TV was enough to make Tetsu physically sick, yet, his hallucinations started disappearing after that day.
As the months passed, Tetsu found his symptoms lessening. He talked more with his psychologist, interacted with others more freely, and even started exercising again. His mental purgatory vanished. With that came real growth. He had the most development, physically, mentally, and emotionally that he had in years. He could find the root of his many problems, most not even being related to Yugi, and face them. He got help, real help for the first time in his entire life. Help that he would have never sought out before his great fall from that roof. It was then he finally realized,
He was no hero.
This was Tetsu's most significant turning point. He realized he was the monster he saw in his nightmares. There was no magic, no shadows controlling him; it was all his very sick brain's way of interpreting the world. A world where he thought he was the hero no matter what. What probably happened that faithful night was that Yugi somehow pushed him off the roof in self-defense, and his broken brain had made up the rest to explain why he lost.
Once Tetsu was passed that mental hurdle, he sprinted his way to mental wellness. He finally left that live-in hospital for his mother's wedding. He came out as Tetsu Trudge, a healthy and better hero. He was going to become the protector he used to lie to himself he was. The first step was to get a job and start working towards police academy while still going to counseling.
While on his journey, Tetsu met new people. Be it through work, training, or his new counseling sessions. They were more friends to him than his school cronies had ever been. Which was good because he needed them. Almost as soon as he stopped living in the mental hospital, Duel Monsters exploded in popularity thanks to Battle City. Everyone was playing the game, even non-gamers. It was becoming a worldwide phenomenon — all with its King of Games, Yugi Muto. The King's winnings were broadcasted all the time. A waiting panic attack on almost every corner, more like it. It had been pure torture for the recovering Tetsu. But this time, he had support.
While Tetsu didn't blame Yugi and knew there was no magic involved, he still couldn't get rid of his irrational fear of the small boy. However, to be a hero, Tetsu couldn't let a thing like that hold him back. He went out of his way to walk by those game shops that showed off Yugi's many duels. This, of course, led him to go into said shops occasionally, and, obviously, looking at the game, his biggest fear played. That was as far as Tetsu thought he would ever go, but Duel Monsters have such a powerful draw to them. There's a reason why the game had existed since the beginning of history and will live to the end of it.
…
This had to be the weirdest day of Tetsu's life. First, he meets Yugi twice! Then he ends up being late for work, which he never is! He just had to hope this wouldn't be the one night Mr. Nosaka decided to check on them.
Tetsu just about Tokyo-drifted into the bike stand and locked up his bike. As he fought with the uncooperative bike, he dreamed of the day he'd have a motorcycle and wouldn't have to ride on the rusted thing anymore.
"About time!" Ryuichi Fuwa groaned as Tetsu rushed in, throwing on his uniform as he ran.
"Sorry, I'm late. My last duel seemed to go on forever! You should have seen my opponent. He was trying to outlast me by playing defensive spells and simply destroying my monsters instead of inflicting-"
"Yeah, yeah. Tell your nerdy duel stuff to someone who cares." Ryuichi said as he rolled his eyes. As Tetsu clocked in, he couldn't help but smile. Ryuichi always did this none caring act. Their counselor called it his defense mechanism. He had grown this thanks to years living in the lap of luxury, then losing it all. If he didn't care about Tetsu's dueling, why did he spend hours helping Tetsu build and tweak his deck on slow nights?
Once Tetsu finished clocking in, he checked the worker's side room to see why Ryuichi wasn't handling the cash register like he was paid to. Ryuichi was hunched over the small table in the room, rubbing through a stack of scratch cards. Tetsu groaned and was about to head to the front of the mart when Ryuichi raised one of his hands, keeping the other on the card.
"Don't worry about it. No one's shoppin' right now. I left a note upfront, so even if someone does want to buy somethin', dey have to bother us last instead of first."
"But what if someone tries to steal?"
Ryuichi shrugged. "Who cares? So, someone takes a few candy bars. It's not like dey can get into dat brick of a cash register Mr. Nosaka has bolted down out dere."
"Well, I care." Tetsu turned to walk out of the worker's room (more like a worker's closet). "And you should really stop with those scratch cards. You never get anything from them."
"Don't give me dat! I just need one win, one win! And I know I'll have my luck back." Ryuichi then went about using his quarter to rub more vigorously.
Growing up, Tetsu never watched the game show Ryuichi was once the star of, but many of his friends did. Apparently, a new contestant every week would put their luck up against Ryuichi's in various games. The loser would be electrocuted. Ryuichi never lost. Ryuichi said it was because he was naturally the luckiest man alive. It was all going swimmingly for him, then he came along. Ryuichi could never say who he was, but most of the others in the counseling session could guess. One of Yugi's friends came on the show instead of Yugi and lost horribly. Every show after that, Ryuichi was the one to lose.
It was pretty clear to Tetsu that what actually happened was that the show rigged every game. They never told Ryuichi it was fixed, and as he grew up, he believed he was that lucky. The network or someone then caught the show. The show had to play honestly after that, but playing honestly got them in debt and canceled. Yugi's friend being on the show was only the start of the downfall. However, in Ryuichi's eyes, after Yugi came along, he became the unluckiest man alive.
"Come on, man, you know you never had any supernatural luck, to begin with. It was all rigged. You should be mad at that game show for not telling you the truth as you grew up. You always had the same chance of winning as the rest of us." Tetsu tried. Tetsu noticed Ryuichi wasn't paying any attention to him. He was instead focused on a scratch card. His eyes grew wide as he slowly lifted the card.
"I did it! A fidy-dolla' bill right dere!" He said as he tossed the scratch card to Tetsu. The large teen had to fumble for a bit, but eventually, he caught it and read Ryuichi's winnings. Sure enough, he had just won fifty dollars.
"That's great, Ryuichi! How many scratch cards did you buy again?" Tetsu said with a sad smile. He then gestured to beside Ryuichi's chair, where a pile of hundreds of failed scratch cards lay.
"Dat doesn't matter. What does matter is dat dis might be the beginnin' of my winnin' streak again! See, I'll prove it." Ryuichi immediately grabbed for a new card and began frenziedly scratching. Tetsu could only sigh as he watched his co-worker scratch out another loss.
"See? It's not magic. It's chance." Tetsu said as he patted Ryuichi's shoulder. Tetsu then handed him back his winning card and started cleaning up his mess. Ryuichi remained frozen for a minute, his eyes staring unblinkingly at his winning card.
Tetsu heard the sliding doors out front open. He started heading for the front area when Ryuichi let his head fall on the desk and slammed his fists.
"It's not fair!" He cried. While Ryuichi could be quite the drama queen, Tetsu could tell this was different. Tetsu looked from the door to the front, then back to his co-worker. What would a good protector do at this time?
Tetsu pulled up a chair and sat next to Ryuichi as he ranted into the table.
"It's not fair, it's not fair. I had everythin'! I had the money, the girls, the fame. Even the great Seto Kaiba thought highly of me! Now, look at me! Nothin' more dan a slave worker dat no one remembers."
Tetsu slowly patted his back, deciding this was not the time to point out that their job was far from slave labor. He had to keep reminding himself that Ryuichi grew up in a different environment than most people.
"Just because you had one show doesn't mean you can't have another. This one should not be based on luck, though." Tetsu tried.
"Shut up! You wouldn't understand! I had it all, and it was all taken away by… by… by some kid!" Even the brave Ryuichi couldn't say Yugi's name. Tetsu decided to be glad of that because he already had his fill of Yugi for the day.
"I think I'm one of the few people that could understand."
"Yeah? Den name my show! Go ahead. If you are so wise, den name the show I used to star!" Ryuichi snapped as he sat up and stared daggers into Tetsu.
"Uh…" Tetsu stammered. His mind drew a blank, but he did want to remember. He could even recall the show's announcer with his balding comb-over. Or was that the host for that other game show?
When Tetsu could think of nothing, he gave Ryuichi an embarrassed smile. That did not help the situation. Ryuichi let out another moan and let his head plop back on the table, his long hair spreading everywhere. Tetsu could only keep awkwardly patting his co-worker's back.
"Aw, it's not going to matter much anyway." Ryuichi eventually sighed after a minute or so of more self-pity.
"Really?" Tetsu perked up, hoping Ryuichi suddenly found some positivity.
"Yeah, When the Hendrick brothers come to collect the money I don't have, I won't have to worry about a lot of things anymore," Ryuichi said in a dry voice.
Tetsu jumped out of his chair in shock. "You what!? Don't tell me you actually took them up on their offer of poker?! You knew those guys were dangerous and always cheated!"
The Hendrick brothers, the last remains of old Domino city. The city with gangs and violence around every corner. The town that would beat you to death for daring to look at someone wrong. The city that would kill to get debts paid.
Ryuichi only sighed. "Cheatin' or not, back in the day, I could win anythin'. I was hopin' goin' up against high stake cheaters would… I don't know… spark somethin'."
"Well, how much do you owe them?" Tetsu said, quickly sitting back down and focusing on what they could do now.
"Much more dan dis fidy." Ryuichi said as he lazily brought up the scratch card.
"Well…then… Maybe I could duel them? That could bring down the price a bit." Tetsu suggested. This only made Ryuichi laugh an empty, defeated laugh.
"Dey don't care about duelin'."
"They don't care about dueling?!" Tetsu stuttered. It was like being told someone didn't care if gravity affected them. Dueling was everything! Gun and knife fights had already been replaced by dueling in this world. For lack of a better word in Tetsu's vocabulary, those cards just had a magic about them. Whenever you dueled, it was for everything. The act of dueling was becoming as binding as a contract. Even much older adults were taking on dueling as a way to settle differences.
"They don't accept dueling?!"
"Thanks, I just needed to hear dat yelled in my ear one more time." Ryuichi rolled his eyes as he rubbed his ear.
"How are you so calm about this? If you don't pay them, you could be-. You could be-" Tetsu kept trying to finish his sentence but shouting from the front of the shop cut him off.
"What's dat?" Ryuichi asked. Tetsu's eyes widened as he listened closely to the voices. "Don't dey know I'm about to die in here?" Ryuichi growled as he got up and started stomping towards the door.
"Wait, Ryuichi! I don't think you want to go out there-"
"… I am not safe to be around! I understand any other anger towards me, but don't hold that one against me! I stayed away because I was going to hurt you or your mom. Yugi-!"
"I'm not Yugi! Why haven't you noticed that fact yet?!"
The two fighting by the slushie machines caused both Ryuichi and Tetsu to freeze completely. It was like their internal organs decided they had enough of their bodies and left. Nothing seemed to work, even their own thoughts. In front of them was the cause of their worst nightmares and a man that looked like him. They each had that heart-stopping aura, that creeping dread of a stalking shadow. Just looking at the two brought a barrage of memories neither boy wanted to remember. Memories that Tetsu had been trying to move past for the last few years.
Ryuichi dropped the quarter he had in his hand, the sound alerting the two monsters to their presence. As soon as Yugi met Tetsu's eyes for the third time that day, Tetsu wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and roll back to the mental hospital. Yet, he couldn't move. Those violet eyes held him fast.
"Sorry to bother you!" Ryuichi suddenly shouted, his voice raising a few uncomfortable octaves. This was what woke up Tetsu as both bolted for the worker's closet and slammed the door shut. Or they tried to slam the door shut. There was a sudden whistling and a ting right as they were slamming the door. The door wouldn't close anymore, though both Tetsu and Ryuichi put their whole strength into pulling it. Tetsu, in his panic, looked up to see a large wrench wedged between the door and the wall. This wrench was from a repair kit below the slushie machines.
"Could you come back out?" Both Ryuichi and Tetsu stiffened at that voice. It wasn't Yugi's. It was soft even. Yet, it still had that spine-tingling quality. He might as well have had a glowing eye on his forehead for how frightening that short man became. "We just need to talk to you two." That voice came again. At this point, Tetsu was seriously considering running for the back entrance. Ryuichi was even a few steps further than him.
"Ushio, Fuwa. Come out… please." Yugi's voice was the next to follow. Both Tetsu and Ryuichi froze mid-stride. Finally, the two could only sigh.
They were dead.
They let the door swing open, the wrench falling to the ground, and headed towards the two. Tetsu picked up the wrench as they passed, not out of self-defense, but out of some misguided need to do his job and keep the store clean. The two then stood in front of the two monsters. Ryuichi, with his hands defeatedly in his pocket, and Tetsu standing stalk straight, like he was about to be recognized by the Police Chief.
"I apologize for tossing the wrench like that. I panicked." The taller of the two monsters said. Tetsu then realized the man was holding his hand out for the wrench. Tetsu immediately gave it back to the man, not even caring about what he would do with it. The man then slipped it back under the slushie machines. Tetsu chose not to think about how this man knew where the repair kit was, let alone how fast he had to be to grab the wrench and throw it before they closed the door.
"Did I hit either of you?" he asked before standing up. If Tetsu didn't know better, it almost sounded like genuine worry in his voice.
"Nope! We're fine!" Tetsu shouted, nearly ending that with "sir." Ryuichi grimaced at his co-worker.
"That's good." The man said in a lower voice. He then looked to Yugi. Yugi's own eyes were wide as he glanced from where the repair box was to the door to the worker's closet. "You know these boys?" the man asked.
Yugi then blinked in surprise and looked back at the man. "Yes, they were my… classmates at one time or another." Yugi then shrugged and put his own hands in his pockets. The man kept looking from Tetsu and Ryuichi, then to Yugi. Like he was expecting something. When Yugi said nothing, he asked,
"Are you going to introduce them to me? We want to be polite here." The man asked.
"Oh right! Polite..." Yugi trailed off. "That there is Tetsu Ushio, he was an older classman-"
"I'm Tetsu Trudge now!" Tetsu yelped.
"Come again?" Yugi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Trudge, I'm Trudge now. My mom remarried." He mumbled the last bit, feeling like an idiot for even speaking.
"Right, Tetsu Trudge." Yugi then tried to smile, but it was clear even to the terrified Tetsu that he was faking. "And over here is Ryuichi Fuwa. He was only in my school for a few days. He was also a star of a game show for a while. The one where you either won money or were electrocuted?" Yugi said, his eye briefly glancing to Ryuichi. He didn't even try to smile at him.
"Oh right! That one." The other man said as he snapped his finger. "That must have been an interesting job, always being one bad guess away from a shock?"
Ryuichi didn't respond for a few moments, not realizing he was even spoken to until Tetsu cleared his throat. "Hmm? Oh, ah, yes it was… interestin'…I miss the show, often." He said with a pointed glare in Yugi's direction. If Yugi noticed, he didn't react.
"And this is... my father." Yugi continued as he gestured to the man beside him.
"Thank you." Mr. Muto then smiled at Tetsu and Ryuichi. He put his hands behind his back as he looked at the two. Tetsu found his smile to be more convincing than Yugi's, but that was because it was simply practiced more. It was still just as hollow. "As I said, I only wanted to talk to you two. I just want to know how much you heard from our little conversation."
"Nothing!" Tetsu blurted. Mr. Muto raised an eyebrow and frowned. Despite Tetsu being massively taller than both Mutos, he felt like nothing more than a mite under their gazes.
"I know that's not true. We were practically yelling at the end. It be hard for you not to overhear, and I'm not blaming you for that. I just need to know how much you heard."
Both Tetsu and Ryuichi glanced at each other. How much had they heard? What had been yelled by the two was covered in their overwhelming fear of being faced with two Mutos. Tetsu barely remembered the two whispering something else to each other after yelling. But what they said, Tetsu didn't make out.
"Really, we heard nothin'!" Ryuichi tried. Mr. Muto's frown turned into almost a glare as he crossed his arms.
"I know when you lie." He said.
The two boys had no problem believing him completely.
"Right! Ah… I heard something about not being safe to be around? I think?" Tetsu tried.
"Yeah, what he said. We were so busy in the worker's room dat we didn't hear anythin' beforehand."
Mr. Muto's eyes glanced over the two. Tetsu could tell he was studying every one of their movements. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't believe you."
Both boys took a tentative step back towards the front counter. The Mutos took another step forward. Yugi too, crossed his arms and glared at the two. His father then continued. "You wouldn't be this nervous if you only heard 'that' part of the conversation. You heard much more. Enough for you two to be shaking like leaves in our mere presence."
It was then Yugi's eyes widened, and he glanced at his father from the side of his eye.
"They might be telling the truth. There are some other reasons they would be scared right now, other than hearing us talk." Yugi said. For the first time in his entire life, Tetsu was glad Yugi was there.
"Yeah! We heard nothing else, we swear!" Tetsu said, nodding emphatically at Yugi.
"Absolutely, we were too terrified of your son to register anything else," Ryuichi added. The confusion that crossed Mr. Muto's face and the cringe from Yugi made both boys take another step back, both ready to run at a moment's notice.
"What?" Mr. Muto chuckled after quickly collecting himself. "Terrified of Yugi? This Yugi?" He said as he looked back at his blank-faced son. "Did he humiliate you two in a duel or something?"
Tetsu and Ryuichi didn't know how to answer that, so they glanced nervously at Yugi. Yugi's eyes stared down each person in the room; then, he sighed after thinking for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"Here we go." He said under his breath. After he took a deep breath, he then said to the group. "I'm not Yugi. You did not mishear me earlier, Solomon. I am simply a spirit inhabiting Yugi's body." He said as he gestured to the weird golden necklace he had on. "I am saying this for everyone's sake." He then pointedly glanced at Tetsu and Ryuichi.
Tetsu found his mental functions freezing up again. 'A spirit? But… there are no spirits. There is no magic! There's a rational explanation for everything in this world. There has to be….' Tetsu was about to voice his thoughts when Mr. Muto beat him to it.
"What are you talking about Yugi-?" Mr. Muto began to say, worry returning to his face.
"Please, I am not Yugi. Stop calling me as such. Yugi's gone!" Not Yugi then had to take another breath to get control of his raising voice. Once he reopened his eyes, all anger had left his face. "Now, let me speak. I will explain what I can here, then when we get back to the house," Not Yugi looked up to Mr. Muto with a tired sigh. "I will explain everything else."
The room was silent, dead silent. Not even Mr. Muto seemed to know what to say. The man's face was a mixture of fear, worry, and disbelief. Not Yugi nodded to him and turned to the two store workers.
"I am an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh whose spirit was locked away in this item called the Millennium Puzzle. When Yugi rebuilt it four years ago, he awoke me. The problem was that I had spent thousands of years, being… I can only describe it as being something in a sea of nothing. It wasn't good for my mental health if you get what I'm saying." Not Yugi kept his hands on the golden pyramid as he looked down at its center eye. "When I first awoke, I was not a kind spirit."
Tetsu couldn't help but visibly shiver. He wanted to run there and then, all while covering his ears. He had spent so long convincing himself that everything was normal, that it was all explainable. These few words were tearing down the protective walls Tetsu had built, and it was becoming painful. Yet, then why were these insane ramblings making sense to him? Why did it seem to answer so many questions, all without saying a single rational thing?
"I woke up with only one thought, protect Yugi Muto. I still don't have anything else of my own. I have no memories, no ambitions, no life outside of Yugi. The only thing I have is that it was my job to protect him." Not Yugi then looked up, glancing at Mr. Muto. "I love Yugi more than anything. He was the one to pull me out of the dark state I awoke in and the first to befriend me. He is my everything, figuratively and literally. I am Yugi's 'TV persona.' I take over when he needs strength or gaming skills he doesn't think he has." Not Yugi then turned to the two, making sure to keep eye contact. His mouth turned down into almost a growl.
"I am the one you met on the roof of the school. And the one Seto Kaiba wanted you to bring out. I believe we don't have to go into more details there. I know what I did, and you know what you did. You weren't the only ones, either." Not Yugi said to Tetsu and Ryuichi, respectively. The entire time Mr. Muto was standing frozen to the side, clearly not believing this.
"I have no defense to what lengths I went to back then to protect Yugi. I know they often went too far. I have grown much from that time. I am no longer the vengeful spirit you knew." Not Yugi said with all the anger gone from his voice. He then bowed to the two, making Tetsu jump back, and Ryuichi's eyes widen in shock. "I apologize for all the pain I have caused you two. I know words aren't enough, but that is all I can give at the moment. I hope that the penalty games have worn off by now. If not, and if there are any lingering effects, I will do my best to fix them now."
The last of Tetsu's walls shattered. Yugi, or Not Yugi, or whoever this was! Was he apologizing? To Tetsu?! The man he considered as bad as the other criminals in the mental hospital? He felt… sorry? This made every feeling go numb in Tetsu. He had been planning for any other outcome for this conversation, but this? While this apology wouldn't give him back his year in the mental hospital, Tetsu suddenly found he didn't care. Just the fact that this "monster" thought enough about him to want to apologize... Tetsu felt something, he wouldn't call it happiness, but it wasn't sadness, anger, or fear either.
"Yeah, protectin' Yugi..." Ryuichi grumbled. Tetsu turned in surprise to hear Ryuichi say anything at all. "Protected Yugi so hard dat he forced dis guy to be hospitalized for over a year," Ryuichi growled as he gestured to Tetsu. Tetsu quickly shook his head and tried to smile, just to show no hard feelings. He even jabbed Ryuichi's side but the unluckiest man alive only pushed him away.
"Yeah, protected Yugi so well dat you took everythin' from my fellow Game Masters and me!" Ryuichi yelled. He tried to stomp up to Not Yugi, but both Tetsu and Mr. Muto got in his way.
"I think it's time for us to go home. We're clearly all too tired to talk coherently." Mr. Muto tried to laugh. Just then, a flash came from Not Yugi. Everyone had to shield their eyes as a bright golden light came from the puzzle's center eye.
"I am more than just sleep deprivation talking." Not Yugi said, more commanded. Everyone then noticed various snacks floating beside them. They all lifted out of their holders as if on invisible strings and began to slowly circle Not Yugi, his wild hair flowing like it was in some sort of wind storm. Then the light disappeared, and everything fell. Not Yugi looked exhausted after that show.
"I have little magic at the moment, but that should be enough to prove my words." Not Yugi sighed. He then looked back to the group. "I am sorry I can not answer many questions, but I hope that at least gave you two a bit of closure."
The group stood stunned for many moments. Tetsu was unsure how to feel. Honestly, it felt like his entire brain just shattered. He was more exhausted than anything else. It was funny to him because of all the things he could have been thinking at that moment; he was worried about how he was going to stay awake for the rest of his eight-hour shift.
"…No, I want more dan just an apology! Use your ancient Aztec or whatever magic to give my luck back, or Tetsu the year of his life back!" Ryuichi yelled as he tried to fight out of the two mens' grip.
"Calm down! Don't make him start another shadow game!" Tetsu yelped.
"Oh, he won't. He's 'grown past that.'" The struggling boy said in a nasally interpretation of Not Yugi's voice. Not Yugi could only take a step back in surprise.
"I-I did not realize I took your luck. That was not part of the penalty game." Not Yugi stammered.
"What do you mean?! What is even going on here?!" Mr. Muto yelled as he hefted Ryuichi over his shoulder and threw him behind the front counter. Tetsu immediately ran to his co-worker's side and helped him to his feet. He was uninjured other than a bump on the head.
"You all know this sounds absolutely crazy, right?! And what was that!?" Mr. Muto said as he pointed to the candy bars now on the floor.
"A little shadow magic to show the truth of my words." Not Yugi responded.
"Just a little magic-?!" Mr. Muto gasped. His face then turned down in a snarl as he suddenly turned to Not Yugi's side, "And don't you float another inch closer to me!" Mr. Muto shouted at the thin air.
"Don't talk to Dark Magician like that." Not Yugi said in a low voice. "He only wishes to help."
Tetsu couldn't figure out what the two were talking about. Still, Mr. Muto's eyes immediately widened when he heard what his not son said. He fell back in shock and attempted to crawl away from the empty space next to Yugi. Fear now replacing any anger.
"Dark-Dark… You can see it?" He stammered.
"Yes, that is something else we are going to have to talk about more at home. The hallucinations you have been seeing are most likely real, but only if they are duel monsters!" Not Yugi quickly added. Mr. Muto completely stiffened as he stared at Not Yugi. He was about to open his mouth when Ryuichi just had to open his own.
"Just for your information Yugi's Dad. That thing right dere has electrocuted me to near fryin', took my natural talent, threw dis boy off the school roof, and made him see hallucinations everywhere! He is no protector. He's a demon!" Ryuichi yelled.
"Only after you abused Yugi and his friend with your luck!" Not Yugi shouted. Then he turned to Tetsu with the same angry tone. How Tetsu wanted to scream to the heavens that he didn't agree with Ryuichi's death wish. "And after you extorted freshman Yugi with a price he could never reach, then beat him near to death for failing to pay!"
"It was more than that. You enjoyed hurting us!" Ryuichi shot back.
"You WHAT?!" It was Mr. Muto that shouted this time. No, more than shouted, he roared. Everyone immediately turned to the man, fear even clear on Not Yugi's face. Mr. Muto stood, trembling from every limb as he stared down the group. Tetsu didn't know if he was trembling in fear or rage. What made this worse was that they didn't know who Mr. Muto was referring to. No one knew who was the first that needed to run.
Mr. Muto slowly looked down at the ground as his fists curled. Eventually, the trembling stopped, and he stood still, his wide eyes only on the ground.
"You… You enjoy hurting... and many others… you see monsters too." He whispered as if on the verge of crying.
Mr. Muto's mental snap was almost audible to Tetsu. He kept standing there, all his emotions draining from him and leaving nothing but a hollow shell. Eventually, Not Yugi took a few tentative steps towards him.
"Let's go home. We need to talk to Grandpa." Not Yugi said. Slowly, Mr. Muto blinked, then nodded. All without changing that hollow, tired expression. Not Yugi then led the man towards the door, grabbing a purple slushie cup along the way.
"Wait!" Ryuichi yelled. Tetsu groaned and was about ready to leave his co-worker to his self-dug grave. "You didn't pay for your slushie!" Ryuichi shouted as he raced to the cash register.
Tetsu's mouth dropped open. "Now you care about sales?!"
The two Mutos looked at each other. "Right, we have to pay." Not Yugi said. Mr. Muto robotically felt around his pockets.
"My wallet's gone." He said in a dead voice. He didn't even look around. He simply stared at Not Yugi.
"I saw you pick it up before we left the house. It must be back by the machines." Not Yugi suggested as he had to lead the near-comatose father to the back of the shop to find it. As they did, Ryuichi crossed his arms and grinned to himself. He was standing proud as if he had somehow won over the two.
"What are you doing?! We almost had them out of here!" Tetsu whispered. Ryuichi only laughed.
"Even ancient spirits aren't above paying for their treats," Ryuichi said with that smug smile that usually got him a knuckle sandwich.
"But why them?!"
"Isn't it clear? He needs the money." Another much deeper voice came from the store's sliding doors. Ryuichi jumped higher than he did for Not Yugi as he saw two tall men walk into the shop. They had no-nonsense expressions and a dark paper bag in each of their hands.
"The Hendricks." Ryuichi squeaked. Tetsu couldn't believe his eyes could get any wider that night, but somehow, they managed.
"We're here for your debts, Fuwa. You're out of time." One of the twins said as he sidled up to the register. Ryuichi could only try and back up, Tetsu following suit. These brothers were even bigger than Tetsu, and there were two of them.
"I'm guessing you don't have it?" The other brother said.
"N-no, but I will! Hey, how about another game?! Winner takes all-" Ryuichi was cut off by one of the brothers pulling out a handgun from the paper bag he was carrying, his brother doing likewise. They did it so smoothly, so quietly, that it made Tetsu's blood freeze over.
"No, I believe you'll pay your down payment now. Let's start by what's in the register." One said. The other then nudged his brother and gestured towards Tetsu. "Oh, and what your kind friend has to offer. I'm sure he won't want anything bad happening to his co-worker."
"We have the wallet." Not Yugi said as he and Mr. Muto came forward, not realizing that a robbery was happening. His not father was moving just as emotionlessly as before. He didn't even glance up as they stood behind the brothers.
"That's good for you, Ryuichi, more friends to help pay off your debts." One of the brothers smiled as one kept the gun on the two boys, and the other turned to the Mutos.
"No," Tetsu whispered under his breath as the other man pointed his gun at the Mutos. They really were all going to die today. The question was, were they going by bullet or shadow magic?
"Fuwa here has some massive gambling debts, too large for someone of his age. You mind helping lower them a bit?" The brother said.
As soon as the two Mutos realized they had a gun on them, they immediately put their hands up. Tetsu had expected to find that cursed yellow eye on Not Yugi's forehead, or at least his confident expression. Instead, he found a surprised and almost scared boy. The father wasn't much better, being somehow just as dead as before.
"Do you mind handing over that wallet you so graciously found?"
Mr. Muto immediately held out his wallet, no fight and no words. The brother happily snatched it. He started to back away when the other brother looked over.
"Hey! Is that the King of Games?" He asked. Once Not Yugi heard his title, he started backing away from his not-father.
"You know what? I think it is." The closer brother then pointed his gun straight at Yugi's head. "I believe you have a nice dueling deck that we could sell for quite a bit. And before you ask, no. We won't duel you for it. Unless you want to see if your cards can stop a bullet." He laughed.
Not Yugi's face suddenly turned determined. An expression that made both Ryuichi and Tetsu simultaneously shrink back in fear and sigh in relief. Not Yugi then leaned forward right into the gun's barrel.
"I would love to see you try firing that thing." Not Yugi said in a voice that Tetsu remembered all too well. "You kill me, and there will be more on your tail than just the police. It would be a lot of trouble, more than you two would want. With the gangs in this city just about wiped out, you two are all that's left, aren't you?" Not Yugi then reached into his back pouch and produced his deck. He then started flipping the cards from one hand to the other. The entire time continually backing up.
Tetsu didn't know what the spirit had planned. If he wanted to protect Yugi so badly, why was he putting his body in danger? Then Tetsu noticed how the brother in front of him and Ryuichi had his attention on the brazen Muto too. In fact, both brothers had turned completely away. Tetsu didn't know how Not Yugi could be that distracting until he saw the faint glow from his gold necklace. Tetsu then glanced at the door, and Ryuichi did more than just glance. He bolted over the counter and ran for the exit, Tetsu close behind. Somehow their feet didn't seem to make a sound. Tetsu just decided to write it off as magic and keep running.
Tetsu had expected Mr. Muto to be behind him, but the man wasn't moving. Yugi continued to distract the two brothers away from the door and made sure they were by the noisy slushie machines to cover the sound of the sliding door.
Once outside, Ryuichi raced into the darkness and didn't seem like he was stopping. Tetsu wanted to follow, but the pit in his stomach stopped him. He quickly dialed the police and told them the address and about the robbery. Then he turned back to the store-wide window. Inside he saw as Not Yugi was cornered. He had nowhere else to back up into. He kept up his confident smile and was still talking, but Tetsu couldn't understand what he was saying. One of the brothers suddenly started reaching for the deck. Tetsu was about to call the two's attention to himself when another man got it first. Mr. Muto suddenly appeared next to one of the brothers, a purple slushie in one hand. He said something and gestured to the drink, causing the two brothers to look down at it.
That was when all hell broke loose.
Tetsu really did run that time, and he didn't look back. He couldn't be there anymore, not when that smile, that cursed dragon-like smile, was now on Mr. Muto's face.