Yayayayyyy! Here's chapter four!
I finallt finished it. Hope you all like it. And i know, i know, it's a bit like a filler, but it's still good!
Disclaimer: I no own. Heck, even the idea for this plot's not mine!
Chapter Four
Calm Before the Storm
The soft echo of footsteps rebounded around the arena as the large group arrived.
"Dis is it?" Joey wondered aloud. "Dis can't be it. Moneybags wouldn't do somethin' like dis."
"Yeah, you're right. It's unlike Kaiba to leave something like this unfinished." Yugi mused as he gazed at what was believed to be the site of the finals. The seats surrounding the group were dark, scaffolding was scattered around, and the smell of fresh paint was hinted at.
They looked toward the center of the arena and spotted Kaiba, who was smirking. "Roland," He said, nodding to one of his goons nearby.
"Yes Sir!" He turned to the newly arrived group.
The light flashed against his sunglasses, making him look a bit more polished. Neko wondered at the back of her head why he wore sunglasses at night. Just a bit of simple curiosity.
"Welcome duelists!" Roland spoke loudly so all could hear. "As you may have thought, this is not the site of the finals." He paused to give the group a moment to absorb this. "The true site of the finals will arrive shortly, so please be patient." Roland said nothing more, so the group began talking again, in anticipation of finding out where the next site would be.
Neko separated herself from the group in an attempt to get her bearings and to talk to Fox for a bit. She did not know that Yugi watched her leave the group.
"Sheesh, Fox, what a day it's been." She said as she sat down on the dusty ground. The Pikachu took this as a cue to get off his trainer's shoulder and stretch his legs a bit. "Pika…" The mouse sighed, as if showing its already tired disposition.
"Sorry buddy, but I have a feeling that this night is far from over."
"Can I sit with you?"
The question came as a surprise to Neko, and her head whipped around to see who spoke.
"Oh! Uh…Yeah, sure." Yugi copied Neko and sat next to her, legs crossed pretzel style.
"May I?" He asked, reaching a hand towards Fox.
"Sure," She shrugged. "But don't rub his cheeks, I don't want you getting shocked with a 1,000 volts of electricity." Yugi reached and scratched just behind Fox's ears, his soft spot. The Pikachu cooed in appreciation.
"You have a gift." Neko said, grinning. "He likes you."
"Thanks. All animals seem to be like this around me." Yugi mused. "I went to the zoo once, and by the time we were supposed to leave, the zookeepers didn't want me to go." They laughed, but were silent again soon enough.
Neko studied the person next to her. He seemed softer than before when she first met him. Then, back on the skyscraper, he was pricklier (no pun intended), and had a harder feeling to him, like a pineapple. Harsh spikes on the outside that was close to impossible to get a tight grip on. Now Yugi seemed so much softer and fuzzier. Like a peach.
A few moments passed and Tea called from the group. "Yugi, someone's coming!"
"Hey, maybe we'll have some action at last." Yugi said, standing up. Neko followed his lead and they both went back to the group, Fox back on Neko's shoulder.
The wind picked up, blowing the loose dust everywhere. Out of the gloom came one of the two people that Neko had hoped to never see again. Bakura.
"Bakura, what are you doing here?" Tea questioned. Both Tea and Joey seemed concerned. Neko was surprised at the fact that they knew this person at all.
"I'm in the tournament, see?" He said in the kindest voice that Neko never would have guessed he had. Everyone in the group looked toward his arm and saw the Duel Disk that sat there.
"But you should be in the hospital!"
"I'm fine. Here, if you don't believe me, look at my arm. I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore. Want to touch it?" He brought his injured and still bleeding arm up you Joey, who quickly backed away. Neko froze when Bakura's gaze reached her. She could feel the Persian in her curse beg to let it take over and rip this guy to pieces. She struggled to keep it at bay, fearing the repercussions if the transformation was seen. He glared at her for a few seconds, and then moved on to mingle with the now growing group.
The wind picked up again with the message of an incoming duelist. This time, it was the other person Neko had hoped to never see again. She didn't know his name, but was smart enough to guess that it was Marik. She froze again when he came right up to the group and started talking to Joey and Tea again.
She heard Joey's voice from her slight fear-induced deafness. "Yugi, this is Namu. Namu helped Bakura out when he really needed it." Yugi shrugged and said, "Any friend of my friend is a friend of mine. Thanks for helping Bakura." They shook hands.
"It was no problem," Namu shook his head. "I'm just a bit nervous now that I'm in the big leagues."
"Hey hey! The great Joey Wheeler can show you some tips!" Joey bragged about his skill, acting as if he was God's gift to duelists. Tea whapped him on the head and told him to save it for the field.
The commotion died down a bit but Neko was still petrified.
'Oh man, it's the guy that wanted to kill the Pharaoh, whoever that is. He knows I heard his plan; he'll come after me too!'
Her curse fought all the harder against the mental constraints she stuck it in, the Persian felt her fear and wanted to protect her.
The platinum blonde walked up to her, all pretenses of kindness gone. He stuck his face an inch away from hers and said, "Don't say a word." His voice was deadly low. "One peep from you and I slit your throat. Though I really don't want to do that, your body's such a pretty one." He backed off and smiled. "It was nice meeting you Neko, maybe we'll get another chance to talk during the finals." The Namu mask was back on, and he rejoined the group at large.
All the blood had drained from Neko's face the moment that Marik had walked up to her. Now her face was bone white and her eyes were the size of saucers. She didn't even notice the next duelist come in, who called himself Marik. He was tall, wore a dark cloak, and had tattoos all over one side of his face. Everyone in the group besides Neko had something to say at his arrival. Neko was still too shocked to register anything.
Her knees gave out on her and she sat down on the ground hard. Fox scrambled off her shoulder and tried to get Neko to come back down to Earth. He had no success. Neko was deep within her own mind repeating the same mantra over and over again; 'He's gonna kill me, he's gonna kill me.'
Neither noticed the blimp that was the true site of the finals land behind them. Only when Fox saw that everyone was boarding that he went to get help.
"Pika, pi, pikachu! Pi, Pikachu, pika!" Nobody listened. That got Fox pissed. Really pissed. Everybody back home would've heard the calls of a distressed Pikachu, especially if it's trainer was mentally MIA! That was the last straw. Fox would get somebody's attention; he didn't care what he had to do!
"PIKACHU!!" He charged up his electric sacs and let loose with a bolt of electricity that would have scared a Geodude. The electricity went straight into the sky, but it did its job.
It got everybody's attention.
The mouse Pokemon snorted slightly and went marching on all fours to the one person that it felt its trainer trusted the most.
Yugi kept his eyes on the thing that just let out enough electricity to power all the Duel Disks for the rest of the tournament as it came right up to him. It slapped him slightly on the ankle, and then pointed back into the arena. His eyes widened even more when he saw Neko spaced out on the ground.
"Oh no! Neko!" he called, rushing out towards her. Fox let himself have a short moment of self-satisfaction, and then dashed back to his trainer.
Yugi had no idea how to snap Neko out of her shock, however she got it.
//Aibou//
Yugi blinked, then responded. /Yeah? Do you have an idea/
//Let me try. //
/Ok. Good luck. /
The switch was subtle, but Joey and Tea noticed it immediately. Fox noticed it after a minute as well. Yugi smelled differently to him.
First, Yami tried getting to Neko verbally, by calling her name a few times. Then he snapped his fingers in front of her face a couple times, but that didn't work either. Then, by going on total gut instinct, he placed his hands on her shoulders, and his forehead on hers. The puzzle flashed and a temporary connection formed.
Confusion and fear whammed into him like a pile driver, making him suck in air through his teeth. He wanted to find out what the causes of these negative emotions were, but the link wasn't strong enough for that. It was just enough to get a few words to Neko mentally as a last ditch effort.
"Neko!" He called, "Wake up! You're ok!"
"No I'm not! He's gonna kill me! He's gonna kill me!" She yelled back, her voice echoing.
"Who's going to kill you?" He asked, but the only response he got was "He's gonna kill me!" After a moment, he knew there was only one way to get her to calm down.
His expression softened and he said, "No one will hurt you while I'm here."
The connection was then broken when he was pushed out by something decidedly feline.
He opened his eyes to find the Pikachu in his lap, and everyone else surrounding him and Neko.
"Hello," Yami said, blinking at the electric rodent.
"Pika." It said, blinking back.
Further conversation was cut off when Neko stirred. Her skin had regained its healthy color and her expression registered that Yami's face was right in front of hers.
She looked at him for a quick moment before her eyelids became too heavy for her and she fell sideways, asleep.
Yami caught her and cradled her head, his appearance softened as she relaxed.
"Whoa, is she going to be ok?" Mokuba asked, looking at the pair.
"Yes," Yami responded. "She's just resting. Today has been very hard for her." Rising, he held Neko bridal-style and boarded the airship. The others followed not long after.
Kaiba took charge as seven of the eight duelists were on board.
"Yugi," Kaiba spoke, not looking at Yami. "Take the girl to the infirmary, it's the best we can do for her right now until we get all of you rooms. She'll get her own when she wakes up." Kaiba turned to a nearby goon. "Isono, show Mutou where the infirmary is."
"Yes sir!" Isono gestured down a hallway.
Fox watched the two leave with his trainer, thought about following them, and decided against it. He could always track their scent if he needed to.
Feeling a bit peckish, Fox decided it was time to get something to eat. That's when he saw the table with the piles of food on it. The human called Joey was already gorging himself on some of it, but he left one part untouched. The fruit and apples were Fox's favorite. Unfortunately, Fox couldn't reach the top of the table to get these apples. So, he'd get a human who could. He walked over to the human girl who was next to Joey. He didn't know her name; all he knew was that she kept calling Joey "Big Brother." Fox tugged on her sock a bit to get her attention.
"Huh?" Serenity looked down. "Oh, you're so cute!" She squealed a bit in delight and bent down to pet Fox. Even though Fox enjoyed this attention immensely, he was getting very hungry.
"Pika!" He pointed to the top of the table around where the apples were.
"You're hungry?" Serenity asked, picking up Fox and giving him more attention. Fox nodded.
"Ok. You can get what you want just don't make a mess."
Pikachu grinned and went straight for the biggest, reddest apple in the pile. He nabbed it and turned back to Serenity, who picked him up again. Fox was quite content to let this human girl hold him while he ate.
The door to the infirmary opened with a whoosh. Yami walked in, spotted a bed, and placed Neko on it gently. The two doctors in there at the time noticed but did nothing.
The Pharaoh noticed a couple of sheets at the end of the bed, and decided to drape them over her. Not having anywhere else to be at the time, as Kaiba hadn't announced the start of the finals, he grabbed a chair and sat on it backwards so he could use the back as an armrest.
Now having time to think, he observed Neko, and brainstormed what he knew about her in an attempt to figure out how she got so scared.
'For one, Marik or one of his Ghouls caught her in the first place and tied her to the flag post. Then, she decides to come with, helps at the pier with her…Golduck, was it? After that, she gets here on a horse like animal with flames, and she doesn't get burned! She called it a Rapidash.
When we got to the arena, Neko was fine. It wasn't until Bakura got here that she froze. I remember looking back at her and she still seemed ok. The next two people to enter the arena were Namu and Marik. That's it! Marik did something to her to scare her. He threatened to kill her!' Yami's fury grew at the fact that Marik used someone totally innocent in this sick game of his. But there was nothing he could do about it now. He took a few deep breaths and continued to think.
'I'm wondering how she got here in the first place. These…Pokemon she carries with her are not of this world. This whole time, she hasn't said a word about where she's from, nor has she said much about herself. Then again, none of us have. We haven't had the time. Maybe we'll get the chance to fix that later.'
The announcement over the PA system broke this train of thought.
"Will all duelists please come to the mezzanine level for the start of the finals! All duelists!"
Yami took one last look at Neko and left the infirmary.
Well, that was chapter four. I know, filler-ish, but I have no sources to go except memory!
I want to ask you guys a question. I have a few fanfics I want to put up next after Illusory Love, but I'm not sure which one to do first.
Here's a list.
Choice A: Title: Boom.
Rating: T might go up, I dunno. Depends.
Subject: Tamora Pierce Universes
Summary: Pierce universe xover. Some group from Scanra builds a ship and crosses the sea. A Christopher Columbus event happens, and they try to invade and conquer Summersea.
Along with the meeting of the two lands, is the meeting of the seperate pantheons. And the gods from the respectives sides don't like the other side. Boom. You should be picturing a nuclear explosion right about now.
Choice B: Title: None as of yet
Rating: T, just to be safe.
Subject: Xover(triple) Stargate SG-1, Harry Potter, and Yugioh
Summary:(in the making) Hmmm...set just before Battle City, to make it interesting. Post HPbook4, pre book5. And, just to throw a monkey wrench in the thing, season 4 of Stargate SG-1. I'm using the #4 in this a lot, aren't I? Anyways...A goa'uld(haven't decided who yet) hears about these relics from Egypt, and how powerful they are. Thinking it's some kind of advanced technology that Ra had but really didn't use, the System Lord begins to go after it. SGC notices Jaffa in Japan, and come investigating. Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore notice big magic spikes in Japan as well. Voldemort finds out as well, deciding to look for older and other types of magic, not wanting to be taken again by surprise from something he didn't know about. Now, just imagine, Death Eaters, Ghouls, rampant Jaffa, a tournament, magic flying ever which way, and technology to make both Kaiba's and Carter's jaws drop, and you have a recepie for chaos.
Ok, after reading this a few times, I just realized how the two extremes(Harry Potter on one end, and SG-1 on the other) contradict each other. But I DON'T CARE! I'll write it anyways!!! Now, the question is how...
Choice C: Title: None as of yet.
Rating: T
Subject: Spirited Away
Summary:(in the making) Chihiro, only 10 in movie, waited for 6 years for Haku, otherwise known as the Kohaku(sp?) River Spirit to come back for her. Every weekend that she could, she would camp out at the entrance to the tunnel. But for those long 6 years, no Haku. Finally, a couple weeks before her 17th birthday, on the anniversary of when she went through the tunnel herself, Chihiro decides that she wouldn't wait for him anymore. She would camp out for a whole week, but after that, never again. One the last day of that week, when Chihiro is packing up to go home, a weak and bloody Haku stumbles through the tunnel, and colapses at her feet. She brings Haku home, and nurses him back to health. The whole time he is unconscious and delusional. When he wakes up, he has little memory of what happened to him, has no idea of where he is, and little memory of Chihiro as well. On top of all of that, he's mute. This is the story of what happened to the Kohaku River Spirit, and what happened after he reunited with the love of his dreams.
Choice D: Title: None as of yet
Rating: T, maybe something a bit higher, but not as extreme as Mature.
Subject:(xover) Babylon 5 and Doctor Who
Summary: 10th Doc/Rose. Anyway, Doc and Rose are traveling together(haven't seen enough Martha, and I don't like her enough yet) and they come back to Earth, a little after the Dalek invasion, say, a few years after Parting of the Ways. They're exploring, helping people here and there, and they come across this one person, a woman, by the name of Lyta Alexander. Now, you B5 peeps are going to be thinking, what the heck. Well, everything past the time that the Vorlon and Shadows go into the rift, Lyta goes with them. Explaination as of why in the fic.
Doc and Rose decide to give Lyta a few rides, as Lyta does a bit of exploring in the Doc's mind. And what an unwelcome meeting she gets in there. heh.
Choice E:
Title: Ghosts on the Horizon
Rating: T
Subject: Doctor Who/Stargate SG-1 xover.
Summary: In Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, the Cybermen appeared everywhere. Including the Cheyanne Mountain complex. Everyone is freaking out trying to figure out what is going on, when they all get sucked away. At the end, Carter hears news of a Blue Box...
That's it everybody. Place these plots in order of how you'd like to see them and I'll see what I can do!
P.S. I've got others if anyone wants to see them.