Small Note
Sakura: As promised here is the next chapter... So far updating every two weeks is working out a whole lot better than I thought. I have a lot more time to get things done. So without anymore delay here is the next chapter...
Chapter 15
Eyes that See the Future
Pandora looked on in frustration as his turn was wasted. He had no idea Yugi's Dark Magician would sacrifice itself to save its master and now his own Magician was gone as well. However he was not done yet as he still had two other Dark Magicians in his deck and he knew Yugi only had the one. Plus unless Yugi had another monster reborn there was nothing stopping Pandora from summoning another Dark Magician and finishing Yugi off for real.
"Enough Gawking let us continue! I'll play one face down card and end my turn." Pandora said as he collected himself and placed a card face down, "By the way Yugi, I know you don't have another Dark Magician in your deck but I have two left to defeat you. The title of master is as good as mine."
Yugi was not in the best of moods anymore as glared at Pandora, "We'll see about that Pandora. If you were a real master of magicians your ears would be filled with the cry of the soul of the card you sent to its death!"
Pandora laughed at that, "I don't hear anything of the sort! I just hear the sweet music of the circular saw waiting to cut you up! You're down to seven hundred life points. The moment it reaches zero the cutter will pass the zero counter and chop you in half and I will complete the greatest escape trick of the century."
"Only the cards know the way this battle will end," Yugi stated as he started his turn. 'Pandora doesn't have any monsters on his side this is my chance to attack.' He had to take Pandora out before he summoned another Dark Magician. "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode!" Yugi called as he summoned his monster and sent it on the attack.
However before his attack could hit Pandora another curve ball was thrown his way as Pandora activated his face down card, "Trap card Devil's Scales!"
A giant scale appeared on the field with the look of a devil and razor sharp scales. "This trap card activated when you try to summon a monster. It weighs the number of my monsters against the number of yours and makes yours equal to mine." Pandora explained with a chuckle.
Yugi cursed his luck, "And you don't have any monsters… in other words the devil's scales will destroy all my monsters."
"How right you are! Let the scales decide!" Pandora was enjoying it way too much as Yugi's two monsters were placed on one side of the scales. Their weight versus the other side caused the scale to lower with Yugi's monsters and crush them.
Pandora was pleased with that move now that the field was empty once again of monsters, "Now we both have no monsters on our fields and right after you summoned… I'm so sorry," He said with complete sarcasm before a wicked grin crossed his face, "Now allow me…"
'Now that neither of us have monsters the first person to summon one and keep it on the field will win,' Yugi analyzed as his turn was now over. He had no monsters on the field and only his face down cards.
"Heh heh you played right into my grasp… do you know that Yugi? Because I have a card that can summon a high-level monster in an instant. A card to summon the world's most powerful spell-caster the Dark Magician!" Pandora felt the need to gloat, "I win with this card!"
'He wiped out all the monsters on the field because he had a special summon card in his hand.' Yugi realized and it was smart but not for him.
Pandora placed his card on the field for all to see, "Dark Magic Curtain!" A large black curtain with a skeleton wearing a cape appeared on his side of the field and at his command the skeleton pulled the curtain aside, "Come out Dark Magician!"
Without having to sacrifice any monsters, the Dark Magician appeared on Pandora's side of the field looking just as deadly as the other one. "Well Yugi, who has the perfect magician deck? Speed of attack, speed of summoning, spell cards… in every way my deck is superior to yours! You must admit I am the true master of magicians the ultimate arch mage!"
Yugi had nothing to say to that, but Pandora could not keep his mouth shut, "You don't have a single monster on the field. When I give Dark Magician the word he will strike you down and I will win. Your only hope it those face down cards. No doubt they're killing traps that will be activated by my attack. I don't like them so I'm going to get rid of them."
There was nothing Yugi could do as Pandora played his Anti-Magic Arrows sending arrows at Yugi's face down. The cards were destroyed leaving Yugi with no defense to counter Pandora's next attack.
"Now you have nothing left to stop me! Dark Magician attack Yugi!" Pandora sent his magician on the attack ready to finish the duel once and for all.
Though it appeared Yugi had lost the look on his face proved something else as Yugi smirked knowing something Pandora did not. It was only when Dark Magician paused in his attack did Pandora's eyes widened when his Dark Magic Curtain appeared on Yugi's side of the field.
It seemed Pandora did not know everything about his cards as Yugi stated, "The effects of Dark Magic Curtain extend across the entire field. In other words I can use the magic too. Though it costs half my life I'm also summoning a magician!"
"B-But I know your deck! You only have one Dark Magician!" Pandora protested.
"That's right I never said I had more than one." Yugi agreed with him but he did have a different magician in his deck, "In the world of duel monsters the Dark Magician has an apprentice who inherited his vast powers." The Dark Curtain opened up to reveal the monster within as Yugi announced, "Dark Magician girl!"
The Dark Magician Girl appeared before them both looking ready to kick some butt. This was good because Pandora was not happy about this turn of events as he still sent his monster on the attack. Dark Magician girl was five hundred points weaker than his monster so he would still win on this turn.
Both Magician's sent out their best attacks causing a clash, smoke covering the field keeping both monsters hidden from their masters. Pandora was just waiting on the smoke to clear so he could see his Magician in all his winning glory but that glory would be short lived.
Once the smoke cleared only Yugi's Dark Magician Girl stood tall after the attack causing Pandora's heart to sink. 'That can't be….! My Dark Magician was vaporized. But why? It had five hundred more attack points…'
Yugi could see the look of panic on Pandora's face so Yugi thought best to explain what happened before the guy had a break down, "Dark Magician Girl's attack power raises by five hundred for each Dark Magician in the graveyard. The apprentice carries on her master's legacy and he watches over her."
"B-But… There was only one Dark Magician card in your graveyard! Even with five hundred extra attack points she should've only had twenty five hundred! She should have died in that last exchange!"
"Take a closer look. If you're a real magician lord, see the truth with your own eyes!"
Pandora did and not only was Yugi's Dark Magician's ghostly form standing behind the Dark Magician Girl but so was his first Dark Magician. This bought Dark Magician Girl's attack points to three thousand making her stronger.
"Dark Magician girl inherits the souls of all dead magicians, no matter where they are buried even you're so called 'slave' who you ruthlessly killed!" Yugi informed him as Pandora's life points went down to seven hundred and fifty from that last turn. Now was the time to finish him off and finish this duel. Yugi sent his Dark Magician Girl to finish off Pandora with a direct attack taking his life points down to zero. "When duelists treat cards as nothing but objects they go down the path of ruin and defeat. You lost because your own Dark Magician turned against you!"
"Th-That can't be…." Pandora was still in complete denial, "Cards are just cards! They don't have minds of their own! They can't turn against their masters!"
"You cut up cards to cheat. You slaughtered your own monsters to win. You've lost the soul of a duelist… if you ever had one." Yami said simply stating the facts as he watched Pandora freak out as the saw blade began to move. The box below Yugi's feet popped open at that point so Yami hurried over to help Yugi out of his shackles. He didn't trust the blade that was close to his boyfriend even if it wasn't moving. Inside the box was a key and puzzle card for the winner.
"No it's got me…" Pandora said in mock worry but really he was smirking on the inside as he reached inside his sleeve. '…Not! Don't underestimate a conjurer! I had a spare key hidden up my sleeve. As long as I have this, I can easily escape…' Or so his thoughts were as he pulled the key out to use. That was when he felt the familiar pull on his mind meaning only one thing. 'M-Master Marik….'
/Didn't you lose the duel, Pandora? Then you must pay the price…/
"Please master, forgive me!" Pandora begged but Marik wasn't as forgiving as he took away his ability to see. Pandora was left with a key in his hand that he did not believe was there anymore. "Where's they key? Where'd it go? It was right here in my hand!"
/I can control your memory… I've erased the key from your mind you can't see it or feel it. As far as you're concerned it doesn't exist…/ Marik informed his puppet as the blade only got closer to its victim. It appeared to be moving slow with a purpose to inflict as much pain on the loser as possible. However by this point it had got to the point that it was on the edge and just about to cut into Pandora's leg.
Luckily before it could do some real damage, Pandora was freed from his shackles and pushed to the ground in time to save his legs. Yugi sat up panting from the burst of energy he just had to use. "No game is worth dying for. That's just sick." He said despite how much he was sure Pandora deserved his punishment. He had wanted to inflict the same pain on Yugi, but Yugi had won and he did not wish to see his opponent die.
Yami came over to help Yugi stand back up and keep him away from the creep lying on the ground. "Always the hero…" He mumbled into Yugi's hair as he kissed his partner's head. He would have preferred to see Pandora die but saving him was Yugi's choice.
Before Yugi could say something back, another voice spoke up, "Now why'd you do that?"
"Marik…" Yami growled out as he watched Pandora stand up like a puppet on strings. The same third eye was on the conjurer's forehead like it had been with that other ghoul when Marik controlled him. It appeared he had been watching them all along. "Why do you want to kill us? Tell me." He shouted sick of these games. It wasn't right for Yugi to risk his life like this.
"It doesn't concern you," Marik informed them as the puppet looked toward Yami, "But I have business with the soul you contain and my business is revenge. I am the heir of the clan of tomb guardians who have lived in darkness for three thousand years and I will avenge them."
'Clan of tomb guardians? Where have I heard that before…?' Yami thought as he tried to remember why it sounded familiar. It must have been something he heard in the past because at the moment it escaped him why he knew of it.
"In the most remote parts of Egypt near the tombs of the kings. We tomb guardians have lived apart from the world, hiding in the shadows, passing the tasks from mother to daughter and father to son to protect the seven secrets to protect the lost memories of the pharaoh so that one day the king will rise again…" Marik stated and from the tone in his voice it wasn't something he liked telling others.
"You're talking about the millennium items?" Yugi questioned matter of fact since that seemed to be the only thing the enemies they had faced seemed to be after.
There was a nod of the puppets head and Marik continued, "I hold one of the seven items. I must guard it, even if it means my life, until I present it to the king's soul. That's what I was taught as a child. The problem is finding the king's soul. The only clue is written in the original hieroglyphic text of the book of the dead. It says of the king 'you will know him by the three god cards he wields'. In other words the one who collects the three god cards will be crowned king and regain the millennium items and his lost memories."
'The three gods cards…' Was the same thought running through both Yugi and Yami's head, but most importantly what stuck to them was the fact Marik mentioned the King's lost memories. This would be the most important clue they had run across in helping the pharaoh and strange it was coming from the enemy.
"For countless generations my family has protected the millennium items at the cost of suffering and pain. I will put an end to our curse but not by welcoming the king we have waited for." Marik pointed out to them and they could hear the anger in his voice. "I will kill him a second time and take revenge. And if the prophecy says that the king will wield the three gods' cards then I will fulfill the prophecy and become the new king!"
However in Yami's mind something didn't add up. The pharaoh lived within him not his partner who was forced to face all these duels against the ghouls. It made him wonder if the true propose for them fighting Yugi was for the millennium puzzle. The last time the puzzle had been taken apart had ripped the pharaoh from him taking the pharaoh's life away until Yugi completed it. Since the pharaoh was only a spirit that must be the only way to kill him. Just the thought that Marik was still out there hunting them made him wish he had the puzzle not Yugi. These were some dangerous games they were playing. The pharaoh may have developed into his friend, but Yugi was more important to him.
He could see it in Yugi's eyes as he looked own at his little lover. Yugi had that look that told him he wasn't about to let Marik get away with any of this. So for now Yami would just have to have faith that Yugi knew what he was doing.
"Of course I formed the ghouls to find the three god cards and I have two of them already…." Marik mentioned offhand catching Yami's attention again. "The last one is in this town in battle city."
"I won't let you kill the pharaoh!" Yugi said with determination glaring at the puppet as if he was glaring at Marik himself. The pharaoh was his friend and just like all his other friends he would protect them. "We will fight you!"
Marik only chuckled at that, "It'll take a while to get to domino city but I don't want you to get bored. In the meantime a rare hunter with a god card is already in town with you, a man with Slifer the sky dragon. You'll see him before you expect it. Remember this… beware the silent doll."
As if the strings were cut Pandora fell face first to the ground letting them know Marik was gone. The two felt like they could breathe a little with their enemy gone, but of course that didn't change anything. Marik was still headed toward them and they only knew a little about him. They didn't even know what he looked like so he could pretend to not be there when really he was already in battle city.
Yami raked his fingers through his hair, "I wish he would just show his face already so I could give him a good beating for all the shit he's putting us through."
Yugi nodded in agreement. "Not much we can do for now. What do you think he meant by beware the silent doll?"
"I rather get out of here first before trying to piece any puzzles together," Yami suggested as he was fine during the duel but now that it was over he was just ready to get out of there.
Yugi took one look around the room, "I'll second that." They didn't even check on the conjurer on the ground as they headed for the nearest exit which they hoped took them out of there.
By eleven forty eight am, three hours had passed since the start of the tournament. While Joey, Seto, and Yugi were moving along in the tournament there friends however were having a little trouble finding them.
"So did you find them?" Tea asked of Bakura and Ryou as she met back up with them in the plaza where the tournament had started at. It had been agreed the day before that once the tournament got started they would come down and try to see their friends duel. There wasn't anything forcing them, well maybe on Bakura's part there was a little force by Ryou, but they wanted to cheer their friends on. It helped that they didn't have to worry about classes and somehow they all ended up with days off from work.
Ryou shook his head while Bakura looked like he hadn't even tried to find them. "No they weren't over there either…" There were duels happening all over but none with Yugi or Joey in them.
"Sheesh where could they be…?" Tea wondered as she looked at her phone. "I'll never understand how those boys can have cell phones but never answer them." She had tried texting Joey and Yugi in case they were in a duel, while she tried to call Yami but no answer there either.
"Domino city's pretty big. It could take a while to find them…" Ryou mentioned as he was still getting used to the area.
Tea did not want to even be reminded of that. "And Tristan is gone dragging Duke with him on some kind of trip." She sighed meaning there was even more ground to cover between her and her two white hair companions for the day. Tristan was better at knowing all of Joey's favorite spots. Yugi was one of her very best friends and she still couldn't keep up with all the places he and Yami disappear to.
Ryou knew Tea was frustrated at not knowing where her friends were so he offered one of his best smiles and said, "Don't worry Tea. No matter where they are, I'm sure they're doing fine. Besides we all know Yugi is best at this game."
Tea knew he was but still she wanted to see them for herself, "C'mon lets go look for them." She ushered them forward wanting to try a different area.
It wasn't that far of a walk as they moved from the plaza into one of the smaller parks of Domino. This one was located in the heart of downtown to give the steel city a bit of greenery. Plus it made a great spot for employees working nearby to have a great place to have lunch. However on that day the area was filled with duelists of all kind trying to beat each other.
The trio by passed them all until Ryou stopped when he spotted an unusual large crowd just off to their right. "What's that crowd…?" He wondered as he parted from the other two to check it out. Both Bakura and Tea saw him walk away and decided to follow and see what had Ryou's attention.
"This guy's been standing in this same spot since yesterday!" Someone in the crowd explained to a friend.
"He hasn't eaten or drank the whole time!"
"That's gotta be a record!"
Ryou worked his way to the front of the crowd with his boyfriend and friend behind him. As soon as he got to the front his eyes widen when he noticed a mime standing on a park bench. He appeared to be trapped in some invisible box with his hands up in the air staring straight ahead and not blinking. Unlike some of the more traditional mimes he had seen this one was dressed in a gothic fashion of chains and buckles with a large bag around his shoulder.
"Wow and he's been in that pose for a whole day?" Tea commented to what she had heard the people around her say.
While Ryou and Tea were impressed with the mime, Bakura just wanted to get the hell out of there. He hated large crowds but mostly people in general besides Ryou. "C'mon he's not a duelist, let's go." Bakura said as he grabbed Ryou's hand to gently pull him away.
Ryou understood the message and let Bakura led him away just as the bell from a local clock tower stuck noon. "It's already noon…" He said not believing the time and turned to Tea, "How about we get some lunch before we start searching again."
"That's it!" Tea shouted making Ryou jump at the outburst. She looked to him with a grin, "I know where to get some lunch and find Joey."
Only about two blocks away from the trio's location was one of Domino's famous beef bowl places called the Beef Buster. It was no surprise after his last duel that Joey took it upon himself to stop at one of his favorite places and grab a bite to eat. In Joey's book it was a crime for any duelist to eat on an empty stomach. That's why when an extra-large with extra sauce beef bowl was placed in front of him Joey was in heaven.
"Alright you rule, this looks so good." Joey told the chef as he dug right in.
The chef knew Joey as a regular costumer and he also knew him to be a duelist. Plus judging by the duel disk on his arm he was in the tournament that had started that day. "I should have figured you wouldn't be one to miss out on a tournament like this." He said making casual talk while serving his other costumers as well.
"You bet I wouldn't," Joey said after he swallowed a mouth full of tasty noodles. "But you can't draw good cards if you're hungry. Even a warrior needs a break."
"Then good luck and eat our beef with our blessings," The chef informed Joey as he moved to serve a new costumer that just sat down to order.
While eating Joey never realized that his duel disk was nearly poking a guy on his other side that was trying to eat before he had to get back to work.
"H-Hey take that thing off your arm! It's in the way!" The guy shouted when the duel disk really did hit him in the arm making him lose his chopsticks.
Joey glared at the guy beside him, "What're you talking about man! This duel disk is part of my arm, if you don't like it why don't you just cut my whole arm off!" He loved his new duel disk and he wasn't about to take it off just because someone didn't like it.
"Hey c'mon don't bother the other costumers," The chef spoke up to Joey before things could get nasty. "It wouldn't kill you to take it off for a few minutes."
The blond thought about it for a second before he reached to take the duel disk off. He rather finish his meal without being kicked out of one of his favorite places. Plus he had to remember that he wanted to be a duelist people respected and picking fights was not the way to go. So reaching behind him Joey place his duel disk down on the table so he could finish his meal and get back to dueling.
However Joey's meal would be short lived as not a minute after he placed it on the table to turn back to his food did he get this strange feeling. Peeking behind him he caught sight of the kid just as his duel disk was snatched off the table.
"That punk!" Joey shouted as he threw his money down on the counter for his meal then took off out the door after the kid. "Come back here!"
Just as Joey exited the restaurant, Tea was just about to cross the street with Bakura and Ryou. She spotted the blond blur as he chased some kid who was holding something tightly to his chest. Because Joey was much taller and faster it took but a few strides for him to reach the kid and grab him by his collar.
"Give it up you little jerk!" Joey growled as he held on tightly to the little thief.
A few minutes later found the thief sitting on a park bench with Joey and the others surrounding him so he couldn't get away. Joey wasn't about to let the kid just walk away from trying to steal his duel disk. He was going to answer for his crime.
"I'm sorry… I'll never do it again…" The kid begged Joey as the blond wanted to know where his parents were so he could let them know what their son was doing.
Joey sighed as he put his duel disk back on his arm so no one could take it again, "Then why'd you steal my duel disk anyway?" He might let the kid off with a warning but he still wanted to know why.
"I was in the tournament today too but for my first duel I fought this guy who was really tough and I lost." The kid confessed with tears in his eyes, "He took my duel disk and all my cards."
'What the heck?!' was Joey's only thought as Tea kneeled down in front of the boy.
"So you wanted to challenge him to another duel using Joey's duel disk?"
"Yeah!" The kid replied to Tea with a nod. "I was going to give it back once I won back my own disk. I'm really sorry." He apologized again as he looked up at Joey.
Joey shook his head, "Man.. that'd never work. A duelist's deck is made of the soul of the guy who put it together. Only that one person can really bring out the power of the deck. You probably would have lost even if you did use my deck." He explained to the kid but he wasn't about to leave the little guy hanging. "But don't worry your problems are over. Cause I'll fight this guy!"
Tea looked up at the blond, "Joey are you sure? Why don't you see how strong this guy is before you fight him?"
"Doesn't matter I won't let him get away with it! I hate guys who steal cards from weaker dudes!" Joey spoke with determination in his voice letting them know that no one would be able to talk him out of it.
The kid got excited as he stood up, "Th-Then you'll beat him for me?"
"Yeah, I'll waste him!"
"Then wait here I'll go get him," The kid replied with a smile before he ran off.
Once he was gone Bakura commented, "Probably won't be seeing him again."
All eyes turn to him as Ryou asked, "Why?"
"I wouldn't be surprised he if swiped a couple of your cards," Bakura stated as he looked to Joey. "You should check your deck." He honestly didn't care if Joey followed his advice or not he was just stating the obvious.
"He's got a point you know, maybe you sho—"
"Man everybody's so cynical nowadays…" Joey interrupted before Ryou could finish his sentence. "C'mon guys you gotta have faith in people. If you can't trust people how can you trust anything. I have faith in my future. I have faith I'm gonna keep winning duels in battle city until I'm at the same place as Yugi…." He expressed putting his heart and soul in his words. "And then I'm gonna duel him. Whether I win or lose I'll know that I can hold my head up high and call myself a duelist."
He would stand right there no matter what anyone else said and wait for the kid to return. However in the meantime he realized something different about the group, "By the way where is Tristan and Duke?"
Tea jumped at the question not quite sure how to answer herself when she didn't even know. "He and Duke went on some kind of trip. They just mentioned they would be back before the tournament was over." She said trying to sum up her talk with Duke.
The thought of Duke and Tristan on a trip together was odd to say the least but Joey wasn't about to dwell trying to figure out Tristan's thought process. He would question the two about their random trip when they got back. Joey had more important things to focus on as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching and turned to face his next opponent.
A moving van pulled outside a small house within a small town in the middle of nowhere. The drive had taken two hours and being stuck on a trip with someone you weren't all that close with could get awkward. Tristan hopped out of the truck as did Duke from the passenger side.
"Man I think my butt went numb during the last bit of that drive."
"Dude I don't want to know nothing about your butt!" Duke said with a roll of his eyes as Tristan stretched from the sitting position he had been in for the last few hours. It hadn't been his idea to travel from Domino to a small town in the middle of nowhere. However Tristan had his reasons and Duke ended up getting dragged along.
Duke looked around them, "Where the heck are we? It's farther out in the sticks than I thought…"
"I already told you, this is Yonezato…"
"I know the name, but why the heck does she live way out here?"
"It was her mother's doing and it's one of the reasons she wants to move to Domino." Tristan explained as he started up the path to a cute little house that he had been to a few times before. If Joey knew where he was at the blond would probably kill him for not letting him in on it. However it wasn't his idea in the first place...
Duke followed Tristan up the path and watched as he knocked on the door. "Are we even sure she is home?"
"Of course, I called this morning to…." Before he could finish that sentence the door opened in a rush and he was tackled by a blur with light brown hair. "Whoa nice to see you again too Serenity."
Serenity Wheeler a beautiful eighteen year old with long brown hair and sparkling honey eyes like her brother smiled a big smile as she looked up at Tristan. Then before Duke even had a second to properly meet Joey's younger sister she left him speechless as she reached up and gave Tristan a kiss right on the lips.
Sakura: I don't know why but I just felt like I wanted to leave it there. Next chapter we will better introduce Serenity into the story along with finding out her relationship with Tristan. Oh and if you recall a few chapters back, Serenity has already had her surgery so there is no worries about her sight anymore. I came up with a few different reasons for why she goes to Domino besides to see Joey.
Yumi: Please Review! Next update will be around November 27th...