Chapter 06: Crossover

Confidently striding into the arena, Kaiba nodded at Yuugi as he ascended into the duel ring, pleased that the other had been delivered on time and was already situated on the opposite side. He had been looking forward to this all day and was eager to get started, so he wasted no time as he shuffled his cards in preparation. Scanning the area, Kaiba was surprised to see that they were alone, not even a single one of Yuugi's annoying friends was present. "Didn't want your cheerleading squad to witness your defeat?" he taunted, drawing his first hand of cards.

"No, they couldn't come until later," Yuugi informed him, offering no further details as he did the same.

It made no difference to Kaiba one way or the other so he let it go, focusing on the field in front of him instead. He had spent many hours over the past week making modifications to his deck, all for the sake of finally gaining a victory over Yuugi. For the first time since the week had begun, he felt as ease, surrounded by the comforts of his reality. The only things he had to question here were the tactics and techniques of his opponent and the best options to ensure his own victory. Even if it was just for the duration of the battle, he could relax for the time being and forget about the nonsense that had been plaguing him and just enjoy the challenge of a good duel.

That sense of contentment didn't last for very long, though. Over an hour went by, but very little progress had been made on either side. Kaiba had 3,000 life points left, having sacrificed 1,000 points in order to strengthen the attack of one of his monsters, whereas Yuugi was down to 2,500 points after being on the receiving end of damage from Kaiba's attacks.

Scowling, Kaiba reviewed the events in his mind, trying to figure out just what Yuugi was scheming, but it made no sense. By this point in the game, Yuugi had usually played the Black Magician or his god cards, but not even that damn Kuriboh had made an appearance! He could understand if those cards had been replaced in favor of stronger ones, but he had yet to see any evidence to support that theory. Even Yuugi's behavior was strange, something which Kaiba found to be slightly unsettling. Instead of the brash, challenging Yuugi he was accustomed to dealing with, he was facing off against a meek and far too quiet Yuugi, who despite the look of determination in his large purple eyes, was lacking the fire that Kaiba had come to expect.

Upon seeing Yuugi play a Winged Kuriboh in defense, Kaiba became incensed. "Are you mocking me?" he called out to the other, narrowing his eyes into a hateful glare. He found it insulting that the other didn't even seem to be trying to defeat him. Unless Yuugi pulled off some miraculous combo, Kaiba was set to defeat him in the next two turns and that was not how he wanted to win. If he did, it would feel just as hollow and meaningless as his defeat of Yuugi during Duelist Kingdom had been. No, if he was going to claim a victory, it would be because of his skill, not because of Yuugi giving up again.

Looking as if he had been caught off-guard, Yuugi frowned in confusion as he tried to explain, "Kaiba-kun, I'm not—"

"Any other time it's, 'Ore,' this and, 'Kisama,' that! What the hell is with this, 'Boku,' and, 'Kaiba-kun,' bullshit?" he demanded to know, infuriated. Was he not a worthy opponent? He was better than that lousy excuse for a duelist Jounouchi, that was for damn sure, and he would not put up with such disrespect. Having drawn a card, he placed one of his Blue Eyes White Dragons onto the field in attack position after making the appropriate sacrifices.

Yuugi's look had changed into one of frustration by this point. "But Kaiba-kun, that's not me, that's—"

Cutting him off again, Kaiba barely noticed the face down card Yuugi put into play. "I don't want to hear such a pathetic excuse!"

It was then that Kaiba first heard the familiar deep rumble of laughter begin to echo in the empty dueling arena, sending a chill through him. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, noticing that the sound had not come from Yuugi, who was looking rather startled by the interruption. A quick visual scan around the area revealed nothing out of the ordinary and he continued to glare at Yuugi. Refusing to let his suspicions turn into unfounded conclusions, he calmed his mind, chiding himself for being so easily rattled. If this were part of Yuugi's plan, Kaiba would make him pay dearly for it.

Beginning his turn, Kaiba was just about to lay down a card when he became aware of movement on the ground below the dueling platform. Setting the card into place, he issued no commands as he looked down to see his worst nightmare come true. Looking up at him was a taller, darker version of Yuugi, smirking at Kaiba with those shining blood red eyes, wearing jeans and a white shirt that were eerily reminiscent of those from the first dream. His breath caught in his throat and he fought off the memories that were all too quick to come to the surface, but he was spared when his common sense kicked into full effect. That was an ordinary outfit and the guy was probably wearing colored contacts at Yuugi's request. Yuugi certainly had enough crazy fans and there were bound to be a few who dressed up like him for the various cons that were held annually. What Kaiba wanted to know was why he was there and how had he managed to get into the facility?

Returning his focus to Yuugi, he noticed that the smaller boy didn't seem overly surprised by the appearance of the other. That led him to the conclusion that Yuugi had to have known this person was in the arena before Kaiba had ever arrived. He didn't know why Yuugi had employed him, but there was no way that person was Yami because he was one hundred percent certain that he was awake, making it impossible for that figment to exist right now. "Oh, that's just fucking great," he sneered, "a goddamn cosplayer!" The guy wasn't even a good one; he was lacking the school uniform and Yuugi's trademark necklace to complete the full effect.

From below, the newcomer called out, "Kaiba! You should—" but never got the chance to finish his sentence.

Kaiba's traitorous mind couldn't stop drawing comparisons between the man standing below him and the one from his dream, especially since the sound of their voices were uncanny in their similarity, but he didn't want to hear anything further. All he cared about was the fact that this person was real and standing in front of him, thus making him an imitation of Yami—a hell of a good one, but he was still a fake. "Shut the hell up before I have you forcibly removed," Kaiba threatened. Was this Yuugi's way of avoiding his eminent defeat that was so close at hand? No, Kaiba couldn't believe that Yuugi would resort to something so underhanded, and upon further inspection, he noticed that Yuugi was looking at the intruder with something akin to annoyance. No matter how Kaiba looked at this situation, it failed to add up to a logical conclusion.

He was distracted from his thoughts when the intruder questioned, "Must you insist on doing everything with force?" The tone of his voice full of insinuations that played on all the images Kaiba was trying to quell, particularly the ones from that morning.

Kaiba was trying hard to maintain his patience in order to show that he was unaffected by this demonstration, but he was severely tempted to call Security and have the man escorted off of the premises. It was obvious the other was seeking attention in an attempt to distract him, so he made himself focus on the battle once more. His questions could be answered later, he decided. "Yuugi! Let's finish this duel!"

Yuugi wasn't the one that answered him, though. "But he's not the one you really want to fight, is it?"

By this point Kaiba had set his cards aside so as not to crush them in his fist since it was becoming more and more apparent that this problem wasn't going to be settled any time soon. Pointing down at the source of his annoyance, Kaiba gave Yuugi one of his most commanding looks as he demanded, "I don't know why you brought him here, but get rid of this imposter right now. Otherwise—"

"What is it with you and your orders?" said imposter interrupted, causing Kaiba to stare at him with all of the hatred he was feeling at the moment. Instead of looking away as Kaiba had expected, the man gave him an all-knowing look that prevented Kaiba from immediately replying.

Kaiba's body tensed as if preparing for a physical attack, unnerved by hearing a question Yami had asked him at the riverside coming out of the mouth of someone who looked identical. Shaking his head as if to clear it, Kaiba tried to convince himself that it was a common expression used when trying to defy authority. Unaware of the pattern he was falling into, Kaiba declared, "I've had enough of this," the duel and Yuugi completely forgotten.

"I think that's the problem, Kaiba. I think you haven't had enough of this," came the smooth reply, identical to their earlier exchange.

This can't be happening, Kaiba thought with a growing feeling of dread forming in the pit of his stomach as his hand fell limply by his side. Reaching out to grip the edge of the duel panel in an attempt to try and ground himself, he wondered if he had fallen asleep again without realizing it. After all, getting two hours of disturbed sleep wasn't enough to make up for the almost three days he had been conscious, so it was a distinct possibility. Perhaps he had fallen asleep in the car on the way to Kaiba Land? At least if it was true and this was actually a dream, it meant it wasn't really happening.

Yuugi had been watching the exchange between Kaiba and Yami with mounting confusion, trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them. He had known that Yami intended to reveal his new physical form to Kaiba, but they had originally agreed to wait until after the duel was over. It was the reason Yuugi had been persuaded by Yami to convince their friends that Kaiba was forced to reschedule their battle because of a sudden business meeting. Yuugi had acquiesced without entirely understanding why Yami had insisted on it just being the three of them, but he was beginning to get an idea as to why. Yuugi could hardly believe that he was witnessing Yami reducing Kaiba into silence; he didn't think he had ever seen the other look so shocked before. Nothing his other half was saying made any sense to him, nor did he understand why Yami looked so pleased about the way things were going.

"This is where you're supposed to say, 'You have obviously misunderstood me,'" Yami prompted with the wide grin of a man who had just played his wining card. Kaiba could only stare in numb disbelief as his earlier fears were confirmed, that this was actually Yami standing before him. How could such a thing be possible when Yuugi was standing in front of him at the same time? His bewilderedness vanished the moment Yami playfully added, "Unless of course you plan on running away?"

As in each prior incident, those words sent Kaiba into a rage; this time the duel panel was the victim of his outburst as he slammed his fist down, causing it to shatter, the holograms on his side of the field flickering before disappearing. The action caused Yuugi to jump, startled by the intensity of Kaiba's reaction, fearing for Yami's safety. However, instead of the yelling Yuugi expected to hear, Kaiba's voice was overly calm and measured as he stated, "This ends now," collecting his cards before turning to descend the stairs with his coat flaring out behind him.

"Oh, it's just getting started," Yami contradicted with a laugh, watching Kaiba carefully as he approached.

As an afterthought, Kaiba addressed Yuugi, announcing, "This duel is invalid," ignoring the protests the other began to give. He would not claim victory in such an undeserved manner, despite the fact he could have easily defeated Yuugi during his next battle phase.

Yuugi debated about whether or not to go down to the ground floor to join Yami, but he was still unsure about what was happening as he watched his higher vantage point. He knew that any time the two of them got together there was always some sort of yelling going on, some sort of challenge being issued, but this had a different feeling entirely and Yuugi wasn't sure that he liked it. Gathering up his own cards, he quickly put them away in their holder, ready to come to Yami's aid in an instant if necessary. Yuugi was still upset that Kaiba had cancelled their duel, especially since he never would have suspected that the other would do such a thing. It wasn't like Kaiba to be so easily distracted, and while Yuugi understood that it could come as quite the surprise to see a second person that looked like him, it didn't explain the intensity of Kaiba's reaction.

"Explain," was all Kaiba said as he kept his distance, still unsure of what emotional reaction he was supposed to be having at the moment.

Given Kaiba's hatred of anything related to ancient Egypt or magic, as well as his agitated state, Yami decided against telling him the complete truth for the moment. "You wouldn't believe me even if I did tell you."

"Damn straight," Kaiba agreed, "all of that magic bullshit, which I'm sure you'll claim is the reason for you being here."

Ignoring the dig, Yami shrugged and settled for saying, "Suffice it to say, I managed to gain a physical body." The details could wait until later, because he was sure the CEO's curiosity would inevitably get to him and he'd want some answers.

"I can see that."

"You can feel it, too," Yami invited him with a smirk, stepping closer to Kaiba, "if you want." Sure, it sounded a little wanton, but it was worth it for the momentary wide-eyed expression on Kaiba's face that Yami thoroughly enjoyed.

Kaiba couldn't help but notice that Yami's ear was still slightly bruised, the image bringing him closer to the issue at hand. It was one thing to let his desires get out of hand in a dream, but what was he intending to do now that his rival was standing right before him in the waking world? Reality had repercussions that Kaiba wasn't sure he wanted to deal with just yet, if ever. Despite that, some small part of Kaiba wanted to reach out and touch the other, to prove that this person standing before him was real and not a solid vision hologram or another fragment of a dream that would leave him frustrated in the morning. Then again, what good would that do him since even in the dreams, everything had felt so realistic?

Yuugi continued to watch, puzzled by the lack of anything happening between them. Kaiba's initial volatile outburst had led him to believe that Yami's encounter was going to be more intense than this stalemate he was witnessing. It was when Kaiba finally reached out to touch Yami's ear that Yuugi realized he didn't have a single clue as to what was going on down there. Yuugi wanted to know why would Kaiba touch Yami's ear of all things? Frowning, he remembered that was the one with the mysterious bruise that Yami had never quite got around to explaining. He had seen plenty of strange behavior from both of them previously, but this was taking it to a new level as he watched Yami poke at Kaiba's shoulder, leaving Yuugi utterly mystified, almost wishing that they were yelling at each other just so he could have an idea of what was going on between them.

The temptation had been too great for Kaiba so he had finally stroked the mark he had left on Yami. "Why is this here?" he asked neutrally, making sure to keep his voice low since Yuugi was still in the arena. The acoustics would make his voice travel if he spoke too loudly and he wanted to keep this matter between him and Yami for the time being.

"Because you put it there," Yami reminded him with a grin, earning him a slight pinch that had him inhaling deeply at the sensation.

Tracing the outline of Yami's whole ear, he reprimanded, "That's not what I was referring to and you know it." Kaiba was unsettled by the way his heart was pounding and the emotions his thoughts were producing as a result of what was happening. Why did it have to feel so real? It would be so easy to give into the hormones that were demanding he declare this a dream and move onto better things before he was forced to wake up, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do as such.

"I don't know," Yami finally conceded with a shrug. "The same reason that this," emphasizing his point as he reached out to poke the place on Kaiba's shoulder he knew should have a mark from this morning, "is here."

Despite all of his determination, a small noise escaped past Kaiba's lips because of that action. "Yeah, thanks for that," he said sarcastically, moving his hand away from Yami's ear in order to swat away the one that was prodding him. Lapsing into silence, he waited for the other's next move, not wanting to make an even bigger idiot out of himself than he already had. Even if his mind couldn't accept the reality of the situation, he knew that it was happening despite the impossibility of it all.

Bewildered by Kaiba's passive response, Yami was unsure how to proceed next. Perhaps it had been naïve of him to believe that things would go half as smoothly as they had in the dreams, but he was nothing if not optimistic. "Kaiba," he started, still trying to formulate a plan.

When Yami took a step closer to him, Kaiba had his suspicions about what the other was thinking and he'd be damned if he'd let that happen here at this time. He already had enough things to process as it was and he didn't need the other adding any more things for him to think about later. "Whatever you're intending to do, just forget it," he told Yami with a warning look. He had to get control of this situation, and failing that, he needed to remove himself from it, because this sort of behavior was unacceptable.

"And if I refuse?" Yami challenged, crossing his arms as he assumed a defiant stance.

"You will not."

"You sound awfully confident about that, Kaiba."

Kaiba's demeanor was still calm, his eyes revealing none of the inner conflict that was currently running through his thoughts. "That's because I won't let you."

"I wonder about that," Yami countered, moving so close to Kaiba that their bodies were almost touching.

Not wanting to give Yami the satisfaction of seeing him step back from his advances, Kaiba firmly stood his ground as he stared down at the shorter boy. When Yami tried to touch him again, Kaiba firmly grabbed the offending hand and bent it back harshly, causing the other to gasp out in pain, but Kaiba ignored the reaction, remaining focused on those crimson eyes that were wide with surprise. "This isn't one of your little dreams," Kaiba informed him, bending the wrist back further, causing a second gasp from Yami which was quickly followed by a swear. "Things don't work that way in the real world and the sooner you learn that the better." Having said what he wanted, Kaiba roughly released Yami, watching as he stumbled back a few steps and rubbed his wrist, flexing it as if making sure nothing was seriously injured.

The moment Yuugi had heard Yami cry out, he had raced down the stairs to approach the pair and come to Yami's aid, but he had stopped when he reached the ground. Kaiba had already let Yami go and what could Yuugi really do anyway? Deciding to wait it out a little longer, he tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, hiding himself behind the duel ring in order to keep watch without getting in the way, neither noticing Yuugi's change of location.

"If you have nothing else to say, I'll take my leave now," Kaiba announced, turning his back and proceeding to the exit. The duel between him and Yuugi was over and he had other things he could be doing instead of wasting his time further by being harassed by the likes of them.

"Kaiba!"

He stopped but did not turn around as he asked in annoyance, "What?" Some remote part of his mind wondered why Yuugi had gone so silent, but it didn't really matter. When he heard no response, he continued heading toward the door, wanting to be anywhere but in this room.

Yami was on him in an instant, forcing Kaiba to turn around and face him as he exclaimed, "Don't walk away from me, damn it!"

"And what else would you have me do?" Kaiba demanded, finally raising his voice out of exasperation. "Fight you? Fuck you?" Relishing the shocked expression on Yami's face, he laughed cruelly at the other.

Yuugi hadn't thought his eyes could become any bigger than they already were, but the words he had just heard from Kaiba caused them to grow even larger. Where did that comment come from? he wondered, waiting anxiously for Yami's response.

Seemingly recovered from his initial disbelief, Yami asked incredulously, "Is that what you think this is about?"

"You tell me," Kaiba shot back, hoping he would actually get a straight answer out of the boy for once.

"Of course it's not about that!"

"If not that, then what?"

Yami began to answer, but paused before speaking, as if trying to properly formulate his response. That moment of hesitation was all the further he got before Kaiba interrupted him again.

"Exactly," Kaiba said, seizing upon the opportunity as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring down the shorter man once more. "Did you really expect that you would show up here and we would just pick up from where we left off this morning?"

"No, but—" Yami began to protest but was cut off curtly by Kaiba.

"But what? 'But it would have been nice,' is that it?"

Yami asked in a confident voice, "Do you deny it?" His grin annoyed Kaiba, as did the realization that Yami had closed the space between them again.

"Yes," he said simply, his body tense for whatever Yami was planning.

"Liar," Yami accused him smugly, making Kaiba realize that whatever strategy he had been trying for had backfired.

Ignoring what had just been said, he insisted, "It's not going to happen," with all of the conviction he could manage backing up his words.

"Is that a challenge?" Yami asked in eagerness, a light coming to his eyes as he pressed so close to Kaiba that they were now touching.

Shaking his head, Kaiba replied, "No, it's a fact," and yet again resisted the urge to step back, not liking the invasion of his personal space one bit.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Yami told him with a devious grin. Before Kaiba had time to reply, Yami had wrapped one arm around his neck and was attempting to pull him down into a kiss, but Kaiba used his height to his advantage and freed himself before Yami could succeed.

"What part of 'no,' did you not understand?" Kaiba asked in a clipped tone, falling into the rhythm of one of their previous conversations once more.

Yami, however, did not follow suit and instead settled for one word: "Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why?'"

"Why not? Why can't—"

"Because I fucking said so!" Kaiba snapped, not knowing or caring how Yami's sentence ended. Turning on his heel and heading for the exit, he didn't give a shit if he would be accused of running away later; all he knew was that he had to get out of there now, even if he wasn't entirely sure about the reason. Besides, it wasn't so much running away as it was a tactical retreat, he decided. Just what was it about that boy that clouded his head so much? The sooner he could figure that out, the easier it would be to deal with the problem later.

He heard Yami's voice calling out to him, "That's bullshit and you know it," but there was no anger in his words. His parting shot set Kaiba on edge, though, as Yami promised, "This isn't over yet, Kaiba!"

Kaiba's only reply was to slam the door as he left, angered by the fact he was coming away with any emotions at all from the whole confrontation. It could wait until later, though, since right now the only thing he was concerned about was getting as much distance as possible between himself and those two idiots. Pulling out his cell phone, he barked orders to Isono to ready a car by the south gate and began heading that direction. Yes, he would go home and finally catch up on some sleep, because he was beyond exhausted at this point. Maybe now that Yami had a corporal form, he would stay the hell out of Kaiba's dreams and he could finally get some real rest.

Exiting the gates, he walked over to the car that was waiting for him and slid into the backseat, leaning back with a heavy sigh as the driver shut the door. Too numb to even begin thinking about what had just happened, he stared out the tinted window and was barely cognizant of the driver asking where he wanted to go. "Home," he answered absentmindedly, closing his eyes to the world. At least if he fell asleep, it would confirm that he had been awake, even if that meant proving that his encounter with Yami had happened for real.

A/N: Bolding topics again because I was Wordy McWord again.

I haven't been this mad at a chapter for a long, long time. It's just did not want to cooperate (ha!) and I don't know why it was so difficult to get through, but it was. It had about seven different middles and two different endings, none of which I really liked, but it is what it is now. Even if it meant getting rid of Kaiba telling Yuugi, "I don't care if you had to buy a friend because yours couldn't show up! Get rid of him!" Well, it was either "Couldn't show up," or, "Because you don't have any," but either way, it was still amusing to me. Poor Yuugi-boy. XD

To me, this was a real test in keeping the characters true to themselves, that's for sure. And it proved that I suck at writing card games, but who really wants to read a drawl out duel when there could be more smexing going on? XD So difficult, and yet it was the idea that started the whole thing, ironically enough. For those who aren't familiar with Japanese, I suppose I should explain the statement:

"Any other time it's 'Ore,' this and 'Kisama,' that! What the hell is with this 'Boku,' and 'Kaiba-kun,' bullshit?" he demanded to know, infuriated.

Whenever Yuugi is speaking, he always refers to himself as "Boku," and Kaiba as "Kaiba-kun," since he's such a polite little boy. Yami, on the other hand, calls himself the ruder form of "I," which is "Ore," and usually calls Kaiba "Kisama," or just plain "Kaiba." As a result, these are the main identifiers that can be used to differentiate the different personalities and the fact that they do duel differently. Thus Yuugi's reaction and Yami laughing at Kaiba, teasing that it isn't really Yuugi that he wants to duel, but Yami instead. Clever boy that he is.

Amazing how those twenty-four words spawned this whole damn fic, eh? If only I had known… :laughs:

I thought about writing the scene that shows the conversation Yuugi and Yami have after Kaiba storms off, but because of the perspective, it just wasn't going to work. So for all of those who wanted to see that, sorry about that; I'm not going to do a chapter 6.5 either. It's kind of a given that Yuugi would rush over and demand to know what just happened, especially because he'd be ticked that his duel was cancelled as a result of Yami's interference. Yami would be apologetic to his aibou, but he would still maintain some of the secrecy because he does tend to do that from time to time. That boy sure does love a good challenge. And what's more challenging that Kaiba? :laughs:

And for the few of you who don't know what I'm talking about when I mention a lamp or a Blue Eyes White Dragon alarm clock, I added an edit in chapter five with those things in it. They're not overly crucial to the plot, but they do show up again next chapter, so if you feel like you're missing something, go back and check out the extra paragraphs after the dream ends and the author's notes that went with it.

But that's enough rambling from me! I'm always happy to hear what you guys think of the latest chapter and I'll get back to you, as always.

NEXT CHAPTER: A Tentative Truce

Kaiba's strange afternoon turns into a surreal evening. Is Yuugi really waiting downstairs to apologize? Kaiba finally gets some answers as the museum mystery comes to a conclusion. But what about the rest of it? And why is Mokuba on a milk carton?

I've had much more fun with chapter seven than this one, to put it mildly. There are some fun twists that kept me entertained, anyway. Things really start picking up after this! I'm still not quite done with it, though, so I'll need about another week or so. Please look forward to it!