The school bell ringing for the end of the day had never sounded so ominous to Yugi.
Having been watching the clock closely, she had already packed away her things, so the moment it went she got to her feet and shot out the door, heading straight for Otogi's limo, narrowly making her way into the crowds and successfully losing Katsuya, who had been on her tail.
The other game shop heir was down at the car only minutes later, and he looked torn between pleasant surprise and sad amusement. "I see you're keen to get started."
"I want my friend and my grandfather safe," she informed him as she slid inside the limo and fired off a text to Jou to take home the club room keys that she had left inside her desk, kind of worried that if she got hurt tonight, she would not be able to open the club room for the other Senshi tomorrow. The moment the doors were shut and they were on their way, she added, "I want Amane freed before the game."
"Bakura isn't my prisoner," Otogi admitted slowly with a grimace. "Otosan is the one keeping her from leaving."
"So, it's your father I need to rescue my friend from," Yugi sighed, leaning back in her seat, and watching the world go by, not really having anything else to say to him.
Otogi grimaced, not wanting Yugi anywhere near his old man, and torn between his need to help his father get his lost years back and his steadily increasing understanding that what he and his father were doing was not right.
His concentration had been completely shot this afternoon. His mind had kept returning to the two girls that were caught up in his father's schemes, guilt crashing into him like a tidal wave at the memory of Bakura's pained upset this morning and Yugi's upset question at lunch.
Between them and his own swirling thoughts, brought on by Bakura's reminder that he did not have to act like his father, and the uncomfortableness caused by his father's malicious joy at hurting others, a realization had come to him.
He was hurting people who had never done him wrong.
His father's scheme had seemed like justice for everything that had been stolen from them before they had actually started. Now that Ryuji was getting to see how much it was hurting people who had never actually done anything to the Otogis, he was finding it hard to continue.
He had a choice. He could follow his father's plan and everything could go back to normal, but Bakura and Yugi would suffer because of him.
Or he could resist his father, refuse to hurt others, and help the two girls, but he would lose everything.
His Otosan, his home, and his future.
Finally, as they turned onto the road the shop was on, he made up his mind.
"The answer, by the way, is yes, we were stupid enough to hold her at the shop. I'll let you see her, unobserved, before the game starts, but in exchange you and I are going to have a proper match. I want to know I deserve your Puzzle."
Yugi's expression brightened a little at that. If she could see Amane, she might be able to help her escape. If she was lucky, she might even be able to get the Ring back to her. If she could, Ba-Khu-Ra would definitely be able to assist in getting both Item Bearers home safely.
Even if the Thief Queen only escaped with Amane and Yugi had to make her own way out, it would be a massive step forward.
Otogi, who could see her smile in the reflection in the window, relaxed a little. He would not allow Yugi to free her friend if he could see it, but if she left the other girl a route while his back was turned, then so be it. This way he was helping them while maintaining plausible deniability.
The Black Clown looked ominous as they pulled up outside. The dark stone building and tinted glass made Yugi feel like she was walking into a villain's castle rather than a game store, including a pair of gorilla-like security thugs guarding the front door, not that it seemed to bother the customers inside.
The store inside was heaving. It was a little depressing for Yugi as she followed Otogi through. She could see some of her store's regulars here, buying double what they had bought from the Kame Game Store. One them had been a loyal customer for years. It was a sign of the future, and she was not stupid enough to miss it.
They headed through the staff area, where Otogi was informed that his father was still out and would not be back for an hour. That relieved the teen, who was certain that by the time his father got back, he would have possession of the Millennium Puzzle. Plus, it meant that if he allowed Yugi through his father's study, he was not going to get into trouble. At least not right away.
The study, thankfully, was empty, and Otogi unlocked the door to the hidden room and turned his back on the office, allowing Yugi free rein. She immediately darted for the Millennium Ring, unclipping it with difficulty as she had to stand on her tip toes to reach it, freeing the item to be returned to its Bearer, before darting into the previously locked room.
"Amane." She hugged her friend, who had been sat on the floor and looked surprised and worried at seeing her. "Here."
She handed the Millennium Ring to her friend, who stared at it for a moment, then slipped the rope over her head. Almost the moment the Item fell into place, the Spirit of the Ring took over. Ba-Khu-Ra quickly assessed the situation, swiftly realizing that her host was hungry and in pain, and then glowered at the Puzzle Bearer.
"Runt? What the hell are you doing here?" Bakura hissed out, fuming at the fact she had needed Yugi's help to get to her host.
"Rescuing you and Amane and getting my Puzzle piece back," Yugi whispered back, shoving the first aid kit from her bag into the Thief Queen's hands. "I'll distract Otogi, so you two have a chance to get away. Just mind the security guys on the front doors. They creep me out."
"I can handle it. Get out of here."
"Made a deal with Otogi Ryuji. I get to see you, I play him." The Puzzle Bearer shook her head and started to get to her feet, only to get stopped as the Thief Queen grabbed her arm.
"Do the others know you're here?" the Spirit of the Ring demanded quietly.
"Couldn't tell them." She shook her head. "He threatened to damage the Puzzle piece he has, keep you guys hostage, and take the Ring for himself to use on Jii-san."
The ancient spirit scowled at that as she pressed the die she had taken from Ryuji the day before into the Puzzle Bearer's hand, disliking the fact that she had been in a position that she could be used against the Pharaoh's brat.
"I'll be okay," Yugi promised as she got the rest of the way to her feet. "Get Amane out of here, please."
The Thief Queen paused, realizing the Runt was serious. She wanted them to flee and leave her behind, despite the fact she knew that she might end up hurt or captured herself. Respect for the Runt flickered through her. "Be careful."
"I will," Yugi promised as she unclipped a gold bracelet that had been around her wrist and slipped it into the door's runner, before nodding to her nervously and slipping out of the door.
Amane, who had tried everything she could to open the door in question over the course of the previous night, mentally danced as she realized Yugi had ensured the door would jam, making their escape easier. Bakura, on the other hand, was ticked, understanding that this rescue meant they owed the brat.
Otogi was waiting for her in the corridor past the office, and he shut the door to the hidden room, his inexperience with the mechanism causing him to miss that it did not lock again. He then led his adversary to the workroom, where his brand-new game was set up. Yugi's hand wrapped tightly around the black die as she approached the board, realizing that she had no idea what they were about to play.
"This is Dungeon Dice Monsters," he announced as he set the board up. "I designed this game specifically to face you. If I win, it'll be released in the store. We have hundreds of pre-orders already. You're the final beta tester."
Yugi would have been honored, but she was too nervous and angry about everything that was going on to really take that in. "What're the rules?" Yugi pushed, wanting to know before she picked her dice.
Otogi nearly made a snide comment about a Master Gamer being able to play without knowing the rules in advance. Then he remembered Bakura telling him that Shadow Games had to be fair and that those who cheated suffered. If he was going to be the new Puzzle Bearer, then he should get used to playing fair games.
He slid a rule book across the table to Yugi, who picked it up and took a quick read through the rule book to get some idea of the basics, then took a more serious look as Otogi set out the dice for her to pick between.
She was not going to let this be another Dragon Cards situation. She was determined that she was going to have all the information before she got going.
"Yugi," Ryuji called as he took the Puzzle piece out of his pocket and it clicked against the table, "place your wager."
She pulled the golden box out of her bag, along with the top piece, whose chain no longer fit in the box, and put both items on the table next to her, determined that by the end of the night, every piece of the Puzzle was going to be back in her hands, and by morning her twin sister was going to be free.
"Otogi. If I win, I want one more thing. You're going to leave Jii-san alone. Understood?" she stated, staring at him without breaking contact.
Ryuji looked away first as he nodded. "Fine, but if I win, you're going to teach me how to use the powers of the Puzzle."
"Deal," Yugi agreed, certain that it would not come to that.
"The let the game begin." He gestured to the dice.
Yugi picked from amongst them, selecting blue warrior dice and white spellcaster, adding the black die Bakura had given her as her final one. Otogi's eyes widened when he saw it. "When did you get that?"
"Bakura had it." Yugi shrugged as she took her seat. "Problem?"
"No, no." Otogi shook his head. "I just thought I had lost that die."
Yugi nodded and tipped her small collection of dice into the shuffler, taking a deep breath. She could win this. She knew she could. When the table spat out three of her dice, she went to roll, only to pause when a small figure, a little wizard with three red hearts on, rose up from the board on a red platform, while a vicious looking clown rose up on a blue one on Otogi's side of the field.
"That's my Dungeon Master, right?" Yugi checked, trying to remember the rules.
"That's right, if he gets struck three times, it's all over." Ryuji nodded, wondering if he should have kept the rulebook to himself as he rolled his dice, becoming pleased when two summon crests appeared in his roll.
Yugi, who had the rulebook on her lap, open at the crest page, grimaced slightly as Otogi crowed, "If I have two of the same crests, I can use that ability this turn. Since I got two summon crests, I can do this…"
He picked up the red die he had rolled, a dragon die if Yugi was remembering correctly, and placed it on the field near his Dungeon Master. "Dimension dice."
The die suddenly unfolded, revealing a small dragon piece, which somehow roared at his opponent.
Yugi was fascinated as to how it worked, and her opponent could not help but smile slightly at the wonder on the girl's face.
Then he shook himself slightly, reminding himself that he was not supposed to care about what she felt. "Yugi, the dice unfold to create a dungeon for our monsters to traverse. The goal is to make your way to the opponent's Dungeon Master and wipe them out."
The girl nodded, nervous at fighting alone with none of her friends by her side, but wanting her Puzzle piece back. This was a new game and a new opponent, but she had defeated Kaiba Seto, so she could beat Otogi Ryuji.
She rolled her dice and grimaced when none of her crests matched.
"Too bad, Yugi." Otogi smirked. "Those three dice are high level, so they only have one summon crest on them. It makes it harder to match crests. However, you can store those unused crests to use later."
In some ways it was not a bad thing, the Duelist realized as she entered her roll into the tracker on her side of the field and slipped the dice she had rolled back into the tumbler. Once a die was dimensioned, it was out of the roll pool and could not be rolled again. With only twelve dice in their total pool, that meant she had more options for later.
It meant Otogi's dungeon was expanding faster than hers, which was not great, but meant she had an attack, a spell, and a movement crest stored to use in later turns.
Otogi rolled again, gaining a movement crest, along with matching two summon crests again on the low level dice he had deliberately picked out, allowing him to summon a second dragon and move it to the edge of his dungeon, towards Yugi's side of the field.
Yugi's next three rolls were not much more helpful, as she failed to match again, adding crests to her dice pool, but failing to summon any monsters.
"Is this the extent of your gaming skill?" the Black Clown heir taunted as he rolled, summoning a third beast, and extending his dungeon over to her half of the board. "I would have thought you would be better than this."
The Kame heiress did not bite, despite the nervousness beginning to settle in. Just because she had not had great rolls so far, it did not even slightly mean that this was over.
The quiet sound of a door closing and soft footsteps in the hallway caught her attention. She took a calming breath as she felt the Ring approach, relieved that Bakura had gotten Amane out. Glancing over at Otogi, who was pulling his next set of three dice out of the shooter, she internally grinned as she realized that he had not heard the noise.
A weight felt like it had lifted from her shoulders. Two of her friends were safe.
Now all she had to do was win this game and she could see her twin again.
Confidence flooded through her as she rolled her dice. She had defeated Crawford at his own game; she could beat Otogi, too.
The dice rewarded her with a pair of summon crests, allowing her to summon out her first monster.
The dice unfolded to reveal a small spellcaster with 500 attack points, which was more than enough to blow away one of Otogi's monsters when she combined it with both the magic crest she had rolled and the one in her dice pool.
"This game isn't over." Yugi grinned at Ryuji, who looked torn between irritation and pleasure.
Yes, he wanted his father back. Yes, he wanted Yugi out of the way of his father's revenge schemes, and no, he was not entirely free, but he had his own reasons for assisting.
His father might have wanted him to overwhelm the heiress to the rival store to humiliate the Mutou clan, but Ryuji had his own goal in mind.
He wanted to test himself against the Queen of Games.
His father had told him so many stories about the Millennium Puzzle, a legendary item of power that held the fate of the world, and the one who would complete it.
An undefeatable gamer who would never lose. Who would never turn away from a challenge. Who would be crowned the 'King of Games'.
Yugi, despite her title being 'Queen of Games' since she was a woman, was the fulfilment of that prophecy, and Ryuji wanted nothing more than to prove to himself that he was not useless and was worthy of taking her place.
He was almost glad the Puzzle had shattered. Though it meant he would have to complete it in her place when he won, it allowed him to test her true gaming prowess, rather than the skill she inherited from the Item.
"Good." Otogi smirked as he rolled and dimensioned another die, this time without another monster taking the field.
Yugi paused to look down at the board, hand hovering over the shooter as she realized something. Otogi was trying to cut off her side of the board, locking down her ability to summon. She picked up her dice, mentally frowning as she realized these were high level again. She had tried to get a relatively even balance of low- and high-level dice, but her shooter was just firing out high level after high level.
She took a deep breath and was about to roll her dice when there was a loud, angry noise from the office, and suddenly the creepiest clown Yugi had ever seen was sweeping into the game room, damaged golden bracelet in hand.
She did not have a chance to move before his cane met the right side of her face hard enough to knock her off her chair sideways, sending her dice scattering across the room. Ryuji's chair scraped back as the boy shot to his feet as the hunchbacked old man raised his cane and shook the bracelet at her. "Where is she?! Where's the Ring!?"
Yugi pushed herself sitting, one hand on the right side of her face as she tasted blood and spat a tooth out, glaring at the man with the eye that did not hurt to open.
"Gone." She spoke proudly, uncaring about the blow she had taken when it was the result of freeing her friend. "She's gone, and she took the Ring with her. You won't hurt her again."
"Otosan?!" the younger Otogi demanded as he came around the table.
"You're an idiot, boy," the clown snapped out, showing him the bracelet. "You let her in there, didn't you?"
Ryuji stared at the dented bangle for a moment, then turned to Yugi, kind of impressed she had thought to jam the door and torn between happiness and worry that she had ensured her friend's escape. He had anticipated this when he had given Yugi an opening, and he was kind of pleased she had run with it. It was just a shame Bakura had left Yugi here alone.
He was not entirely surprised considering the girl's words yesterday, but it meant that the small Duelist had taken a huge risk for a girl that hated her, and he just knew she now was going to pay for it.
"Otosan…" he started.
"You've let me down, Ryuji, and I'll be dealing with that later." The old man sneered as he strode over to where the golden box and the top piece of the Puzzle were resting, snatched up the chain connected to the top of the Puzzle, and turned back to Yugi. "You… you've taken everything from me."
Before Yugi could react, the man had darted forwards, far faster than she could have anticipated, and wrapped the chain around her throat, using it to drag the girl to her feet. She tried to resist, only for the loop to pull tight, cutting her airways and forcing her to submit or choke.
"Otosan, please," Ryuji pleaded, stepping forward as the older man dragged the Puzzle Bearer towards this room's entrance to the hidden room and opened the door, trying to stop his father from doing something he would regret. "Let me finish this game."
"Why should I?" The wild expression on the creepy clown's face as he wheeled to face his son, pulling the chain taut again with his movements and making Yugi stagger. "Why should I trust you ever again?"
The younger Otogi did not have an answer. He had betrayed his father. He had helped release the one person who could have possibly gotten back Otosan's lost years.
But at the same time, this was not right. Bakura had been offering to help them freely, and Yugi had not been the one to play against Kintaro and steal those years. Her Ojiisan had. Yugi was innocent. At least of that crime. Ryuji could not blame the girl for freeing her friend when she had the chance.
"Because you know you can take the Puzzle from me easily, and the Challenge is already in motion," the teen tried, torn between trying to get that chain away from his father and staying dead still to avoid his Otosan's wrath. "The magic might react weirdly if you interfere."
His father paused to consider his son's words.
The Challenge for the Puzzle had started. If he interfered, he could get his son hurt or worse.
But his son had betrayed him. He had helped the Puzzle's true Bearer free the girl who had promised to help him get his lost years back. If he was hurt, it would be his own fault.
Yugi, who was reaching up to try and free her neck, let out a startled squeak which got cut off midway through, as the man turned back to the door and yanked on the chain, forcing his captive towards the door.
The Puzzle Bearer planted her feet, trying to resist the pull, refusing to get sealed into the hidden room like Amane had been, causing the chain to pull so tight it cut blood flow. Within seconds her feet gave way under her as light-headedness hit hard, making her lose the fight as she fell.
Kintaro took advantage of her descent, using his body weight to swing the chain, which tightened so much that pain shot through her throat, and released it at just the right moment to have the momentum cause his captive to go tumbling through the door and come to a gasping, coughing stop on the other side as the girl tried to heave in the breath the chain had previously denied.
"You are nothing to me," he hissed at his son as he scooped up the box containing the Puzzle pieces, as well as the one his son had stolen, putting that one in the box for safe keeping. "You are a traitor, and I disown you."
"Otosan…" Ryuji hesitated, having known secretly that this would probably be the consequences of his betrayal, but having not wanted to believe it. His eyes widened as he saw Bakura slip behind his father and dart to Yugi's side, helping the Puzzle Bearer sit up.
The pained squeak Yugi let out as she tried to whisper something to the Spirit of the Ring made Kintaro wheel around. He did not even hesitate, stalking into the room and shutting the door behind him, trapping the trio of them inside.
"You… don't want… to do this…" The Thief Queen grimaced as Yugi forced out the words and tried to warn the man in front of them. The crackling and hoarseness of the Runt's voice suggested her throat was damaged. She did not take the risk of taking her eyes off of the man to look, though.
"Get back, Runt. This one is mine," the Thief Queen hissed out, noting that the girl was unstable on her feet as she pulled the Puzzle Bearer behind her, and that the door out to the office was shut, too. "You know, Otogi, you've made a critical mistake."
"Really? I'm the one with the Puzzle pieces. I'm the one who knows how to get out of the room. I don't see how I've made a mistake here." The older Otogi snorted as he started lighting the candles on the table around the game she had been so keen to examine. "If you want to get out of here, you have to do what I say, so you and I are going to play a game."
"See, there's where you're wrong." Ba-Khu-Ra's voice echoed slightly, a slightly deeper, more masculine voice speaking underneath her usual tones. "We're not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with US."
With that the Shadows erupted out from the Thief Queen without caution, slamming the Runt against the wall behind her and the elderly Otogi against the one opposite, both impacting with loud, painful sounding cracks. Otogi dropped the Puzzle box as he collided with the wall, which went tumbling to the floor and scattered all the pieces inside.
Ba-Khu-Ra heard the Pharaoh's Brat hit the floor silently and not get up, but she did not care as she stalked forwards, fully planning on enjoying tearing the man limb from limb.
"You… you can't do this. You need me," the elderly man stammered, using the wall as a support as he struggled to his feet, right arm hanging limp, eyes wide and terrified.
"I need what's in your head. Not you." The demon thief chuckled viciously, the magic she had released swirling around her and her victim. "You and I are going to play a game, yes, but it will be of my choosing, and when you lose, and you WILL lose, you will give me the code before I rip your soul to pieces for the crime of harming me and mine."
"I'm not going to lose. I can't lose. And when I win, your Ring and her Puzzle will be mine, and you will return the years that have been stolen from me." Otogi Kintaro snapped back, terrified but trying to hide it.
"I appreciate the confidence, but prepare to die," she snarled out as she waved a hand. Power swept across the room, and Kintaro gulped as everything on the table seemed to disappear, only to be replaced by what looked like a marble game board with thirty spaces in three rows of ten, with two sets of pyramid shaped tokens, one in blue and one in black. Two dice, one of each color, fell onto the table opposite each player.
"The game is called Senet. I'm sure, considering your history, you've heard of it. First person to get all their tokens to the end wins," Ba-Khu-Ra informed her opponent as she picked up the blue die. "If your tokens land on mine, my token goes back to where yours started and vice versa, and the special tiles on the board will work automatically, so you don't have to worry about not knowing the rules."
Kintaro trembled as he approached the table and picked up the black die, realizing he had lost control of the situation. "If you could do this, why didn't you do it when I first trapped you?"
"Because I made the mistake of thinking you were a rational person," the demon thief snorted, her voice still echoing, "and that you could be reasoned with. I know better now."
The elderly Otogi glanced around the room, trying to think of a way out, but the doors had vanished into the Shadows, along with everything except the table, the game, Bakura, and himself. Even the unconscious Puzzle Bearer had vanished.
"Oh, and for the record, try to cheat, leave the table, or injure me," she warned, her voice sharp, "and you lose, automatically."
He grimaced, having been considering just punching his opponent.
"Now, let the game begin."
