Gotc: Bear with me here folks, it's been several years since I wrote out a duel and I wasn't particularly pleased with that one either and it's part of the reason it's been so long for this chapter to get out. Anyway, keep going. Refer to the whale and all that.
Squeaky: Squeak! (Since Gotc seems to think you all have suffered short-term memory loss: Gotc does not own YGO, Harry Potter, or any of its affiliates. Go get your suing elsewhere lawyers.)
Gotc: So go keep reading.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon
CHAPTER 26: When Titians Clash
It was a different kind of magic when a duel began. They all started the same way, no matter how many times you played. 10 cards, two duelists, and an unlimited number of possibilities. But from those first ten cards, no duel ever played out the same way.
"I'll start by summoning my Queen's Knight in attack mode!" Yami called out, pulling a card from his deck and laying down the one he had selected in a fluid practiced move, "Then I'll place one card down and end my turn."
He barely managed to get the words out of his mouth before a tingle ran down the length of his arm. The holograms had yet to make their appearance on the field, though the feeling still persisted and seemed to be getting worse. Then it hit, a sudden drain that made the world spin dangerously, and had the sky not still been above him he would have thought they were in the Shadow Realm. His vision blurred a moment and he thought he might pass out, before the feeling subsided, and there stood his faithful monster, ready for a fight.
"I guess I should have warned you," Kaiba's voice drifted into his still unsteady world, "I couldn't get the projectors to run mechanically from their original power source and since I didn't have the time to re-work a new one, they'll pull magic from you to function."
"Wonder where he got that idea," Yami heard Bakura chuckle from the sidelines.
"No kidding Kaiba," Malik agreed, "For someone who didn't believe in magic until a month ago, you sure seem to be adapting well."
"Trust me," Kaiba scoffed, pulling his card, "I'm getting a CAT scan as soon as I get home. I play Pot of Greed, then place one card face down and one in defense mode. Now let's see if I can't take that title from you."
"You're more than welcome to try," Yami challenged him, setting his next cards down, "I summon King's knight in attack mode, and since I have both King's and Queen's knight on the field I can summon Jack's Knight straight from my deck. Now, Jack's Knight, destroy his monster!"
A chuckle came from across the field even as Yami's monster rushed to annihilate Kaiba's monster. Just as the knight's blade was about to slice through the card, a thick pink smoke billowed from it, engulfing both the card and his Jack's Knight.
"Sorry Yugi," Came the confident chuckle, "but you've just attacked my Ancient Lamp, and when it's flipped, I can redirect your attack to any monster I choose." Kaiba smirked, "Like your Queen's knight for example."
As if on que, his knight reemerged from the fog, only this time headed straight for his Queen's Knight. She put up a feeble attempt to defend herself against the onslaught, but the sword of his Jack's Knight quickly cut through her defenses and reduced her to little more than a fine dust.
"Oh by the way," Kaiba called, "Since my Ancient Lamp is now face up, I can summon my La Jin, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp to the field as well. And I think I'll have it get rid of your King's Knight as well."
Another hollow scream came from his Yami's field, as the genie's fist obliterated his second knight, and a respectable chunk of his life points. He grit his teeth, partly from irritation with himself at being so careless, and partly from the thrill that welled up in his chest and ran through him to the tips of his fingers. Yes, he'd lost life points, but Ra, he'd missed this kind of challenge.
"Do I detect some worry?"
"Not by a long shot, Kaiba," Yami nodded, quickly recovering, "You'll have to do better if you want to beat me. So I'll summon my Gamma, the Magnet Warrior to the field, and then play my face down card: Exile of the Wicked. It destroys any and all Fiend type monsters, and if I'm not mistaken, your La Jin falls under that category."
It only took a second more for the former genie to suddenly explode in a shower of sparks, causing Kaiba to shield his face from the particles that shot past him. He wasn't the only one that had to shield himself from the gust that accompanied the monster's destruction. Malik, Bakura and Hermione all had to cover their face from the fine dust before it dissipated into the air.
"Kaiba's certainly made it interesting," Bakura grinned maliciously.
"Care to make it even more interesting?" Malik perked up an eye brow.
"This isn't enough?!" Hermione gaped at the field, "I mean the wizarding world has nothing like this! Even wizard's chess doesn't come close!"
"You're amazed by this?" Malik asked a little skeptically.
"Think we should tell her?" Bakura chuckled
"Tell me what?" She asked, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.
"They've only just been testing each other's defenses," Bakura nodded towards the field, turning his attention back to the two duelists, "The real game's about to start."
Yami laughed a little to himself as he caught a glimpse of Hermione's face. Of course, he must have looked the exact same way the day he first saw the monsters on his cards seemingly spring to life in front of him.
/Think she's still going to take the disks?/ Yugi asked, following his Yami's train of thought.
/Not after this she won't./
"Alright Kaiba," Yami said, "I think it's time I do some damage of my own! Gamma! Attack his Lamp!"
It took only a heartbeat for the sound of screeching metal to eliminate the last obstacle between Yami and Kaiba's life points.
"Now, Jack's Knight, direct attack!"
Kaiba braced himself at the last second, the force of the attack pushing him backwards and nearly toppling his balance. The CEO recovered quickly, but breathing noticeably harder than he had before. It didn't surprise the Pharaoh much; after all, it only made sense that this game in particular would be more real than the majority of their other duels. But while he'd landed a solid attack, Kaiba certainly seemed to be ready for more.
"If that's all you've got for me Yugi," Kaiba scoffed, getting himself back under control, "Then I think I'll show you how this game is suppose to be played. I discard a Thunder Dragon from my hand, to draw two more from my deck. Next I'll summon my Lord of Dragons and equip him with the Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon those two Thunder Dragons to the field as well!"
The humanoid appeared without delay, shortly followed by the draconic instrument. When he seized it and pressed the flute to his lips, the sound rang out loud and clear, causing Yami to cringe a little. Especially because the horn sounded several times before the effect seemed to kick in. And there was more emphasis on the loud than anything. Even the trees of the forest next to them seemed to rustle and move, as if they'd been stirred by the sound. No doubt someone back at the castle would have heard that, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Besides, he now had two very angry dragons staring him down and looking like they wanted nothing more than to rip him and his monsters apart.
"I'm sure you can guess what comes next, eh Yugi?"
"Vaugely," He replied, trying to ignore a strange feeling starting to work its way up the back of his neck, "Only I hope you've got a back-up plan considering your monsters still don't have enough attack strength to do any damage."
"Unfortunately for you, I do," Kaiba smirked, "So I'll play my face down, Polymerization and fuse my two dragons together and summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
Despite the sky's now bright blue color, it grew dark and cloudy again for a brief second as the two dragons rushed into the cloud cover, allowing the new dragon to descend in a storm of lightning and a thunderous roar from both of its mouths. Yami's hand tightened around his cards, knowing full well neither of his monsters would be able to withstand an attack from that thing. One card did catch his eye, sparking an idea but he'd need a little help before he could carry it out…..
"His Highness dodged a bullet there," Bakura scoffed from the sidelines, "That dragon of Kaiba's won't be able to attack until next round."
"That doesn't mean he's out of the clear yet," Malik pointed out, "Yugi still needs to get rid of it if he wants any chance of getting to Kaiba's life points again."
"Hold on a second," Hermione said, looking away from the match, "Did you just call Yugi 'His Highness'?"
"His title in the dueling world is the 'King of Games'," Malik said quickly and surreptitiously casting a glare in Bakura's direction, "It's just kind of a nickname really….."
Malik stiffened for a moment, hearing the leaves rustle from behind him. Bakura seemed to hear it too, and he felt the slight shift in magic as the Ring quietly came to life. The Tomb Keeper quietly slid his hand into his robes and closed his hand around the Millennium Rod, easing its hidden blade into a ready position as the noise grew louder
"Hermione….," Bakura whispered, "Any idea what's in the trees there?"
"It's the Forbidden Forrest," She said quietly simply, as the rustle grew louder then suddenly stopped, "We don't really know all what's in there to be honest."
"Anything ever come out?"
"Not into the open."
"Then I suggest a few more steps out into it," Malik suggested a little warily.
((Worried we can't handle it?)) Bakura asked, one eye turning halfway towards the Egyptian.
[Of course not, but I don't know how well the girl will deal with having the last several hours of her memory erased.]
((From what I heard, the wizards do it to each other all the time.))
[A trip to the Shadow Realm is not the same as a spell.]
((Not like she'll be able to tell if she doesn't remember it.))
Malik cast another wary glance over his shoulder, quick enough to be missed by the young witch who had gone back to the duel. The noise had stopped or been lost in the noise of the match, but the feeling something was watching them did not lessen with it.
((Sense anything?))
[No. That's what worries me.] Malik sighed, keeping one eye behind him as Yami took his turn. [Should we warn them?]
((Not now. Besides, the Pharaoh's too deep in this now to hear us anyway.))
Yami pulled his card, suppressing the grin that threatened to creep across his face. His old friend was strong, though not enough to beat Kaiba's dragon. Not on his own anyway.
"I sacrifice Jack's Knight and Gamma to summon the Dark Magician in defense mode," He called out, watching the purple clad sorcerer appear. He stopped a moment, catching the small smirk that flitted across the magician's face, before he took a defending stance in front of his master.
/I think he missed you./ Yugi commented
/I think I did too Aibou./
"Kaiba, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Yami said simply before looking up.
"Hmph. Good to see you've kept that magician around." Kaiba scoffed drawing his card, "Too bad he won't be staying longer. Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon! Destroy his Dark Magician!"
The dragon wasted no time, opening his jaws and aiming the building electricity straight at Yami's magician. But neither monster nor master flinched, as Yami finally allowed the grin to appear across his face.
"I'm afraid my magician's going to be around longer than you think. I play my spell card, De-Fusion! Which means your Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon's attack is negated, and your two Thunder
Dragons are re-summoned to the field."
"Clever," Kaiba said with a dismissive scoff, "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."
Yami narrowed his crimson eyes at his rival. Kaiba never gave away much in the way of body language, either good or bad. The que's he'd learned to identify with other duelists simply didn't apply to the blue-eyed titan across the field from him now. Still, Kaiba was now facing a challenge from the Dark Magician and wasn't even batting an eye. Which probably meant Yami would soon be the one on the defensive.
/Not a lot we can do about that though,/ Yugi mused glancing over their cards.
/Nothing except end this before he has a chance to recover./ Yami pointed out as he drew his card.
/Maybe…./
Yami paused in his draw a moment to look at his distracted lighter half. The familiar edge of excitement ebbed away to be replaced by the prickle along the back of his neck and an unwavering sensation in the pit of his stomach. Yugi could feel it too.
/I can't quite place it…/ Yugi muttered looking around him for the source.
/It's like you've forgotten something important./ Yami sighed, /And the world is watching you for that moment when you remember exactly what it is./
There was a silent pause between yami and hikari, however short-lived as they earned an impatient glare from Kaiba.
/We should probably…/
"I play Pot of Greed from my hand," Yami said, trying to rally his thoughts again. The first was nothing helpful, but the second sent a jolt of electricity through his arm the moment the card touched his fingers. The crimson form that curled across the card was nothing short of a welcome sight, as he slid it into his hand. "And attack your Lord of Dragons with my Dark Magician!"
"Not before I play my Shrink magic card," Kaiba declared, quickly flipping the face-down, "It cuts your Magician's points on half, which means it's still strong enough to destroy my monster, but I'll only lose 50 life points n the process."
"No wonder he wasn't worried." Yami growled to himself, as the attack hit home but with none of the intensity it should have held.
"I think since you got to play your favorite monster, Yugi…" Kaiba chuckled, before the smoke of the attack had time to dissipate, "It's only fair that mine get to join in all of this fun…White Lightning Attack!"
Yami barely had enough time to throw his arms in front of his face as the jagged rush of energy tore through the veil of smoke and dust to hit his magician hard. There was a second where he heard the cry of his favorite monster, before it was lost to the overwhelming display of power now breathing down his neck. When he was able to look up again, the only thing he was able to see was the glint of the morning sun as it reflected off of the brilliant silver scales of the dragon issuing its arrival to the world.
Yami winced as his life points counter leveled out at 2800 points, but with no monsters on the field that meant he was only on attack away from losing the duel. Unless he could stop Kaiba from attacking.
"I play Swords of Revealing Light!" Yami called out as the luminescent blades fell from the skies to trap the white dragon.
"Feeling nostalgic Yugi?" Kaiba grinned, "If I recall I forced you into a similar situation in our first duel."
"And if I recall," Yami snapped back, "I was the one who won that day. And I plan to again. I summon my Stone Soldier in defense mode and end my turn."
"And yet here I have you on the defensive again," Came the smug reply, "You're supposed to learn from the past, Yugi. So I draw. Now let's see what you've learned."
/He's toying with us./
/He did back then too./
"I play Berfomet in defense mode, and then add Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts to my hand." Yami said finding the right card from his deck as Kaiba shook his head almost mockingly.
"It doesn't look like you're going to last very much longer does it Yugi?" The brunette taunted, while he pulled another card, "Not if this is the best you can do against my Blue Eyes."
"You never one for the big picture, were you Kaiba?" Yami countered, shutting out the truth behind Kaiba's taunts, "I summon Feral Imp in defense mode."
"You have a god in your hand.'' He said narrowing his eyes, but the sneer across his face refused to leave.
"You'll just have to find out."
"If you insist."
The former king didn't have time to ask what Kaiba had meant before a hurricane force wind tore through the playing field, almost knocking him off of his feet. Across the field, Blue Eyes lifted its head to the heavens and let out a dismayed bellow as the wind swept it off the field and into oblivion.
"What did you just do?!" Yami demanded, utterly nonplussed that the white dragon had just been willingly obliterated by its master.
"The Card of Sanctity requires that all card from the my side of the field and my hand be removed from play," Kaiba explained calmly, gathering his cards and sliding them into the disk, "and in exchange I can draw two new cards from my deck. And these are just what I needed."
Hermione stood at the edge of the field trying to follow the duel that moved faster than any game of Quiditch she'd ever witnessed. She would have been inclined to believe that the entire thing so far had been choreographed down to the last detail, had she not saw the two shuffle their decks before the chaos had begun.
From what she could tell, the scores were all but tied, a difference of a only a couple points separating Yugi from Kaiba but neither seemed to have been able to gain the upper hand over the other. Malik and Ryou certainly hadn't been joking when they'd said they'd only been getting warmed up. Things had only gotten progressively worse with each passing turn. Every attack more and more savage, and every play only a small part of a bigger strategy that she couldn't even begin to imagine. Even now, this lull in the action was only a respite on the surface. The tension had only risen to a palpable level that hung heavy in the air. The only thing she could relate it to was the lingering magic in the air after Harry had cast his patronus in their third year. Only this was anything but lingering.
Yet despite the severity of this game, Ryou and Bakura were still practically biting at the bit for their turn to pound on each other. All four seemed different, but this felt….well natural in a way, this strange game bringing out people she'd never met before in her friends.
"He's in trouble now." Bakura's scoff bringing Hermione out of her thoughts.
"Who? Yugi?" She said confused, "He's got the most points and the most monsters on the field, especially since Seto wiped his field clean with that sanctity thing."
"The thing about this game Hermione," Malik chuckled, "Everything can change with the draw of a single card. That dragon was Kaiba's favorite monster. There's no way on Earth he would have destroyed it himself if it meant he didn't have something even stronger waiting in the wings."
"Stronger?" Every monster she'd seen so far had only gotten bigger and more vicious than the last, that white dragon tipping the scale so far. "There's ones stronger than that?!"
"Yep. And I think you're about to meet them."
"This game's over Yugi," Kaiba smirked as he slapped his card onto the field, "I play Dimension Fusion! By sacrificing 2000 of my life points both of us are allowed to special summon every monster we've removed from play. But since you haven't removed any of your monsters, I guess that just leaves me. And since I had my Blue Eyes on the field when it was removed from play, I think I'd like to welcome it back, with a few additions that is."
Yami felt his stomach sink when he heard the all-too familiar roar ripple once again across the field, only this time echoed by two more of its brothers. One was hard enough to deal with, three had taken Exodia, and if he had Kaiba figured correctly, what was coming next might even stand up to the god in his hand.
"I may only have 50 life points left thanks to my Dimension Fusion, but since it wasn't the only card I drew, I think it will be worth it. So I'll play polymerization from my hand, and summon my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
/Damnit./
"Hold on a second," Hermione managed, staring up at the massive three headed behemoth now stretching its newly formed wings and lunging at the defensive monsters on Yugi's side through the fading swords trapping it, "I thought Kaiba already played that polymerization card."
"He did," Malik nodded, "But you can have up to three copies of the same card on your deck and it would be stupid to have more than one fusion monster in your deck and only one card to fuse them."
"Yugi's in trouble now," Bakura pointed out, "Even if he does manage to summon a god, that dragon has 4900 attack points. He's going to need a miracle to stop it-"
"Uh oh."
"Why is it every time you say that things get worse?" Hermione asked with an exasperated sigh.
"Because I think someone finally noticed us out here."
/Any ideas?/ Yugi asked, staring at the dragon ready to rip them apart.
/One. But it'll be close, especially since Slifer's going to need all the power he can get./
"Well come on Yugi," Kaiba mocked, "Let's see your god…."
"Fine Kaiba," Yami growled, "If you're so eager to lose, far be it for me to stand in your way! I sacrifice all three of my monsters on the field to summon Slifer, The Sky Dragon!"
Yami had no sooner placed the card on the duel disk when he heard Bakura's voice shout something from the sidelines. He turned to try and hear him better, but any hope of that was quickly drown out by a noise akin to the heavens ripping open with a thousand thunderstorms as the giant crimson dragon descended from the heavens to the field. It's massive bulk overflowed the field and wrapped around them in undulating coils that never seemed to stop moving. And now that the swords keeping Kaiba's dragon at bay were gone, both dragons now sized each other up in preparation for an all-out war.
Yami raised a hand to order an attack, but that was all the further he managed to get before a new, and entirely unwelcome voice grated against his ears.
"STOP THIS VERY INSTANT!"
"I tried to say the Toad Brigade had found us," Bakura sighed walking up next to Yami, as Umbridge and a full host of other teachers came charging out to their dueling grounds.
As the teachers got a little closer, most had more than a little apprehension of going anywhere near the two very real looking dragons that seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were about to tear each other apart. Umbridge even hesitated when the great crimson beast swiveled an eye to see who it was that had delayed its attack. She seemed very small for a moment, her short stubby wand shaking in her hands, despite the contingent of teachers behind her. Dragons in the wizarding world were dangerous, violent beasts that killed without a second thought. They answered to no one, yet here were two of the most ferocious things she'd ever seen, waiting on the beck and call of two children?
"What. Is. Going. On. Here?" She managed to half stammer, half snarl.
"Professor Umbridge!" Hermione called out, "I can explain! It's just a-"
"Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "What on Earth are you doing out here in the middle of this?!"
Hermione's face turned a shade of red and she turned her gaze to the ground in embarrassment. Bakura saw and his hackles went up. He'd had more than enough of the backwards way things were done here, magic or not.
"She wanted to watch a game!" He growled, an inch from letting the Shadows talk for him, "Last I checked, that wasn't something that warranted the entire calvary come charging out!"
"Watch yourself Mr. Bakura," Umbridge warned sternly, "You and your little friends are already looking at expulsion from this school and an inquiry from the Ministry of Magic-"
"Oh knock it off already, will you?"
A rustle came from the trees of the forest, before Professor Cooper dropped to the ground like a ripe fruit. Whatever color Hermione had turned, Umbridge took it to a whole new level as the muggle professor came striding out the trees with his jacket slung over one shoulder. He passed by the dragons with hardly a second glance, stopping several yards away from his fellow Dark Arts teacher.
"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've seen a good duel like this, and then you come in at the climax of it and ruin everything?" He said, plainly irritated with the current series of events, "It's not every day you see the King of Games duel you know."
"Did you just come out of the Forbidden Forest?!" McGonagall exclaimed at the Ace's sudden appearance.
"Yeah, why?"
"Didn't the Headmaster tell you how dangerous it is in there and not to go near it?!"
"A lot of people tell me not to do a lot of things," Ace shrugged , "I tend to tune it out."
"You duel professor?" Malik asked, still focused on the professor's earlier comment.
"Used to," Ace clarified, looking back over his shoulder at the Egyptian, "Haven't in a long time though. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching a good –"
"EXCUSE ME! These children have committed a serious crime!" Umbridge shrieked, her face now red enough to warrant an aneurism, "Any summoning by magical means-"
"Oh shut up already," Ace scoffed, waving his hand towards the field, "There's no crime here. It's a game. Played with cards, brought to 'life' by holographic projectors. It's little more than a real-life 3-d move."
To illustrate his point, Ace picked up a small rock and lobbed it straight at Slifer's hide. It sailed cleanly through, causing only the slightest of distortion in the god's image as it passed through. It was minute, but enough to prove his point and put some of the other teachers at ease. Umbridge was beside herself, but her reaction was lost as the teachers moved in to get a better look at the dragons themselves.
"Truly remarkable!" Professor Flitwick said, leaning over one of the projectors to examine it, "How in Merlin's bread did you get such a thing to work here? I though the castle disrupted any kind of muggle technology."
"It does," McGonagall said, now with an edge of weariness as the initial adrenaline began to wear off, "Which is why we'll need to inspect those….whatever they are before we can allow this sort of thing to continue."
"Over my dead body," Kaiba growled in unison with his own dragon. The combination was more than a little intimidating and hologram or not, caused those assembled to take a step back. "Do you have any idea how many of my competitors would love to get their hands on my design for the duel disks?"
"I don't think they're asking Kaiba," Yami sighed.
"Please Seto," Hermione said, finding her voice again, "They did the same thing to Harry's broom a few years ago and he got it back a few weeks later-"
"Oh like hell I'm waiting another couple of weeks for my turn!" Malik erupted in protest.
((Drop it Keeper,)) Bakura said evenly, ((I'll beat you soon enough, but I don't think the Toad's in a mood to argue about this and we're not in a position to challenge her. Yet.))
[So you're going to roll over then?]
((For now.))
"We can either take them, or ask you to leave the school," McGonagall said plainly, "It's from the muggle world and still works within the castle grounds, then we have to assume that there's dangerous enchantments that have been placed on them."
"Guilty until proven innocent," Kaiba grumbled, tapping a button on the underside and releasing the device from his arm.
Yami followed suit and did the same, pulling his deck from its slot and watching as the two dragons faded into nothing. He was about to tuck the cards into his pocket when Umbridge's ringed hand appeared in his field of vision.
"Those too Mr. Motou."
"Sorry?"
"Those cards," Umbridge said slower, pointing at the deck in his hand and a satisfied smirk starting to crawl across her face, "We'll be needing those too."
"Why?" Ace cut in, an eyebrow raised in obvious amusement, "Afraid of playing cards?"
Umbridge stopped and turned around to face her colleague, a phony look of pity on her face as she addressed him.
"Of course not dear, however it is policy that all aspects of these devices be examined before they can be deemed…safe for the children to use," She said, falling back in to her overly sweet voice though it was apparent it took some effort to keep it steady, "After all, we don't want to miss anything ."
"Riiiiiight," Ace rolled his eyes, "Because ink and a paper thin piece of cardboard are extremely dangerous. They children might give themselves a paper cut you know."
"Why how d-"
"You've got what you came here for," Ace said casually taking the disk from Yami and shoving it into Umbridge's hands, "Now let's get back to the castle before breakfast is over shall we?"
Ace turned an about face without another word and left Umbridge standing beside herself with her jaw past her knees, as the group began to break up and head back to the castle. Yami gave a sideways glance at Umbridge and stuffed his cards back in their holster before running to catch up with Ace.
"You didn't have to do that." The former king said in a hushed voice.
"Nonsense," Ace chuckled, as they drew closer to the castle, "I was happy to do it. Every deck is special to its owner and she had no real cause to take it anyway."
"You would know then?" Yami asked, "I heard you say you used to duel yourself."
"I suppose you could say that."
"What made you stop?"
Ace stopped himself and turned to look at Yami. His face was still set in the same amused look he'd had when he first emerged from the trees, but it only went so deep, something else stirred behind the carefully painted mask, even as his features turned into a wide grin.
"Call it a lack of motivation," He said and then gestured up to the castle doors as the rest of the group closed in behind them, "Better hurry or you'll miss breakfast."
"Aren't you coming? You couldn't have had a chance to eat yet."
"I appreciate your concern Mr. Motou," Ace said waving a hand as he turned to head off again, "But I'm afraid I still have matters that require my attention this morning."
Before Yami could say another word, Ace was already out of earshot and heading around the castle and vanished out of sight. Bakura, Kaiba and Malik came up next to him, looking out to where Cooper had pulled out of sight.
"What'd you say to him that made him leave in such a hurry?" Malik commented, "I wanted to ask him if he'd seen anything in the woods before he came out."
"Like he would have told us if he did," Bakura pointed out, "Mr. CEO here has more of a social personality than he does."
"At least there's only one voice inside my head." Kaiba jeered back.
Yami ignored the comments and kept his gaze fixed on where Ace had turned the corner. Not so much that he was hoping the professor would return, but because it provided some sort of stability as everything started to rock back and forth. His vision fuzzed once, and the ground beneath his feet gave a spectacular heave that threatened to have him flat on his back.
"Kaiba," He managed, "Are you feeling alright? You aren't dizzy or anything?"
"A little tired, and in need of a strong cup of coffee, but otherwise fine. Why?"
"I….I just-"
That was all the further he managed to get before a white hot pain struck him behind the eyes. He felt his body go numb only for a second but never hit the ground before the world went black.
Gotc: Buahahahahaha! It feels soooooo good to be back. And to get that dueling scene done. I can't tell you how hard it was to plan that whole thing out.
Ace: Because being lazy had nothing to do with it?
Gotc: You got a break, so why are you complaining? Anyway, I hope you all remember where my favorite link is there at the bottom. You know the one that's right below this sentence? Yeah, that one. Click it and get help me get motivated for the next chappie and maybe it won't be several months before you hear from me again! Laters!