Chapter 12: Confessions of a Troubled Mind

Several hours after Miguel left Game Sanctuary Set met with Seto Kaiba at Kaiba Corp Headquarters inside Seto's office. Seto was rather angry.
"It looks like your plan failed." Seto remarked. "Your buddy Miguel got flattened by Tea Gardner of all people."
Set was rather annoyed at Kaiba's lack of confidence, "In case you forgot, I sent Miguel in to gain information, not to kick the crap out of people, and he gave me exactly that. We now know what these guys are capable of. If they can give Tea Gardner this kind of power, then surely Yugi and Joey are just as powerful now."
"So what do you want to do now?" Kaiba asked Set then stood up and began to pace about Seto's office.
"OK, I have an idea." Set began "They have too much advantage inside Game Sanctuary. We need to somehow lure them out. My associates and I are based in Egypt where we have our headquarters, if could somehow lure them to coming to our headquarters, we could better catch them of guard and take care of these guys."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kaiba asked.
"If we can bring Tea Gardner to Egypt, they would obviously drop what they were doing and come find her."
"You're going resort to kidnapping Tea Gardner?" Kaiba asked, "Isn't that a little too simple for a man of your talents?"
Set stopped pacing, placed his hand on his chin and looked at Kaiba, "True, kidnapping the girl is a very clichéd move, but you must admit, it is effective. Sometimes a trap is only as good as the bait you use."
"Seems a bit extreme just to eliminate a few duelists." Seto said "But these aren't any ordinary duelists. So I'll go along with this."
"Glad you agree." Set said. "Of course this will require you coming to Egypt with me to await Horus's arrival. And when he shows up, you'll get as many shots at him as you need. My men will see to that."

"Good!" Kaiba said, "I'll have my Blue-Eyes White Jet prepared for the trip and we can leave as soon as possible."
'Take your time." Set replied. "Oh but Seto, I would advise you to not bring Mokuba along. This could get dangerous and we would not want to see him get hurt."
"Fine." Kaiba said. Set then pulled out his cell phone from his inside coat pocket and placed another call.
"Lord Set!" The voice on the other side answered, "How may we serve you?"
"Bring Tea Gardner to me. I'll be waiting for her at the Temple. Be careful, The Saints might be ready to protect her."
"It shall be done My Lord." The voice responded. Set then hung up and placed his phone back in his coat pocket. He then followed Seto through a secret passage behind a bookshelf in his office leading to an elevator shaft. Set and Seto entered the elevator and Seto pressed the up button. The elevator rose and carried the two men to the roof of the building, where Mr. Kaiba's personal Jet was docked. It was in the shape of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The two men boarded the aircraft, Seto in the Pilot's seat and Set in the co-pilot seat. The aircrew gave the jet the green light and the engines roared to life, propelling the craft off the platform and into the sky.

The next night, back at Game Sanctuary, The Saints were all back inside the Rectory eating dinner after closing the shop up for the night. The Rectory was a three-story building adjacent to Game Sanctuary. The first floor consisted of an entrance hallway with stairs leading to the upper floors. Inside were a kitchen, dining room, and a small office in the back where business for the shop could be conducted. There was a larger office with an adjacent sitting room that had been converted into a large living room with couches, and a large 32-inch TV with a VCR, DVD player and multiple video game consoles. This was the common area for the Saints and their students. The second floor consisted of 8 small rooms. These rooms were previously used by the Priests and other church staff as living quarters. Each room was simply furnished, containing only a bed, dressers and a desk. Each room also had its own small bathroom. These rooms were used by the students living with The Saints. Students using these rooms were allowed to furnish them however they pleased. Thus some rooms contained Television sets, Computers and posters for the walls among other decorations. The third floor consisted of three separate apartments. These were the quarters of The Saints. Each Saint had his own apartment that consisted of a bedroom, private bathroom, living room, walk in closet, and a small kitchen.

The Saints were downstairs in the common dining room eating a supper of roast chicken and steamed vegetables. James Triton, and Adam O'Neil, a big well-built kid about the same size as Horus only a little skinnier who was also living with The Saints as a student were eating with them. It was raining extremely hard out so no one had any intentions of going out that evening. This was the kind of night where The Saints would prefer to just sit back and play some video games.

"Hey Maximus," Adam said. "After supper I wanna play you in that game 'Twisted Metal.'
Maximus began to laugh out loud at this challenge. "OK fine I'll play you but you do remember the last time we played right?"
"Yeah but I'll be ready for you this time." Adam retorted
"Adam, let's be honest Dan owns all of us at that game, just like I can kick all of your butts in Guilty Gear." Horus chimed in
"Oh you know it's just a matter of time before I take you down." Shinobi, said.
"Aye Sean, sure you will. And let me know when Elvis gets here." Horus responded Maximus laughed so hard at this comment that he spat out a mouthful of water he had been trying to swallow.
Just then the doorbell rang, "Now who on earth could that be?" Adam asked,
"I'll get it." James said. He dropped off his dinner plate in the dishwasher and walked over to the front door. He opened it to see a soaking wet Tea Gardner standing there.

"I'm really sorry to bother you guys, but I need to talk to Horus." She said
"Sure, come on in." James said as he motioned for Tea to enter the Rectory. 'Matt!!! You have a visitor." James shouted. Horus made his way to the front door and was started to see Tea. "What are you doing here?" he asked
"I needed to talk to you." She said.
Horus turned to James "I'm gonna take her upstairs. See if you can't find her a change of clothes the poor girl is soaked." He whispered into James's ear. James than walked back into the dining room.
"Why don't we get you a nice shower first? You're soaked." Horus said
"Yea, that would be nice." Tea replied through her shivering.

Horus led Tea up to the third floor of the Rectory. He led her down to the end of the hallway to a plain white door with "Mathias Blackheart" engraved on a brass panel in front. He opened the door and they entered his apartment. He decorated the walls with an ancient Egyptian motif. His living room contained a couch along the wall near a window, two swiveling chairs in front of a 25-inch TV with a PlayStation2 Console hooked up to it. There was also a reclining chair in one corner next to a computer cabinet. He had turned his kitchen into a sort of mini bar where he could serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

"Wait here a moment." Horus said. He then disappeared through a door leading into a bathroom. He returned with a large crimson towel. He handed the towel to Tea.
"Take as long as you need in there." He told her. "We'll try and find you some clean clothes."
"Thanks a lot." Tea said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her
After about 15 minutes, there was a knock on the front door of Horus's apartment. "It's Dan!" the voice said. Horus opened the front door and Maximus walked in carrying a white sleeveless T-shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of sneakers and a pair of clean socks.
"These should fit her." Maximus said as he handed Horus the clothes. "I'll be downstairs teaching Adam a lesson in pain." Maximus then turned around and headed for the exit. "Don't be too harsh on him." Horus said just as Maximus was leaving.

Horus knocked on the bathroom door to get Tea's attention.
"I'm leaving a set of clean clothes on my bed." Horus said, "Just go out the bathroom from the other door to get in there."
"Thanks." Came Tea's reply, About 5 minutes later the water finally stopped running. Horus had been killing the time by checking his email and reading online news articles about his defeat of Seto Kaiba. Another 10 minutes after he heard the water stop Tea emerged from the bedroom wearing the set of clothes that he had left for her. The shirt looked 1 size too small for Tea, but nonetheless it fit her, or she was not going to complain about it not fitting.
"Feeling refreshed?" Horus asked
"Yeah, Thank you so much." Tea said

"So what's on your mind?" Horus asked, "Surely you didn't come here just to use my shower. Although that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Tea paused for a moment, and then she motioned for Horus to come with her into the bedroom. He got up from the computer and followed her. Horus's bedroom was decorated in the same ancient Egyptian motif that his living room was done in. The walls were painted with all sorts of hieroglyphs and symbols. The bed was an ordinary modern bed though. A reclining chair was in one corner of the room next to a small table. On this table contained small Egyptian looking artifacts and a small wooden box.

"I have to ask." Tea said pointing to this table "What is all this stuff?"
Horus sighed "Those items were given to me by Elena." He began "They are all I have to remember her by." He picked up the wooden box and showed it to Tea. "This was the box that she gave me that had the Horus cards in it." He then picked up a smaller blue velvet box. He opened it up and pulled out a dueling deck.
"This was that 'Temple Deck I told you about" Horus said. I keep all of this as mementos of Elena, and to remind me of what I fight for.
"You really loved her didn't you?" Tea asked
"Absolutely." Horus said, "She served as a ray of light to me, at a time when I was in complete darkness. Her death in ways brought back that darkness inside my heart. I guess you could say that I am one who lives in the darkness and attempts to shatter it."

"Wow!" Tea said, "That's really touching. I hate to change the subject like this but I came here to ask you for some advice. I'm really worried about Yugi."
Horus was extremely surprised to hear this. "Why? What's wrong?" Horus asked
"He still thinks that he should have been the one to face Miguel instead of me." Tea began, "Ever since the Puzzle was destroyed, Yugi's felt like he's missing a part of himself. Somehow, someway he would always find ways to win, but it's been so much harder since The Pharaoh went back to Ancient Egypt and the Puzzle was destroyed. At the World Championships Yugi felt like he'd lost his prestige when Kaiba beat him. When he lost to Shinobi, Yugi felt like he lost his pride. When he tried to step in against Miguel, Yugi wanted to do more than protect me, he wanted to hopefully win and help boost his sagging confidence."

Horus sat down in the reclining chair listening to Tea's story. He was rather shocked by this turn of events. "I think I get it." Horus said, and then he began to explain. "Yugi feels like he's lost his edge over the rest of the dueling world. And now in his own mind he feels like he needs to find some way to regain his momentum, but every big loss only seems to damage his confidence further. Strange, knowing what I know about Yugi Moto I must say that that's not like him at all."
"I guess it must have been losing the Pharaoh." Tea said, "They were really close to each other and went through so much together. But Yugi was really upset that I wouldn't let him duel Miguel in my place."

Horus bowed his head for a moment to think. "Why did you decide to fight that one on your own?" he asked.
Tea began to explain "Well, ordinarily I would have let Yugi step in and face Miguel for me. But when you showed me those cards in that room, I felt like they would help me become stronger. Not just as a duelist, but as a person. I felt like I had a new sense of power and strength and that I was now able to take care of myself. In my heart I needed to face Miguel because I needed to step up from the sidelines and fight for myself. Let's face it, being the 'Damsel in Distress' is not funny."

"I didn't think so." Horus said
"What has me worried is that when we left here after I beat Miguel, Yugi was going on and on about how 'You could have gotten hurt up there Tea. You should have let me face Miguel. I need to regain my stride.' It's almost like he feels like he has to prove to everyone that he can duel perfectly well on his own, without the Millennium Puzzle, but nothing ever seems to go right for him. It hurts me to see him like this. I care about Yugi, I really do, but he's been so focused on gaining back his confidence."
Horus was near speechless and hearing this. After all it's not everyday that you hear that Yugi Moto, a former World Duel Monsters Champion, is having issues with his dueling abilities.

"Jeez!" Horus exclaimed. "This is unbelievable." He the stood up and walked over to Tea. He placed his hand on her chin and had her look him in the eyes as he spoke. "Don't you worry. We're not going to hurt Yugi. We're here to help. He offered to join us in our fight against the Hunters; the least we can do is help him regain his stride. I'm sure when he sees how his new deck works it will give him all the confidence he needs."

"Thank you Mathias." Tea said. Horus was caught a bit off guard. He was so used to having Tea call him Horus and not by his real name. He smiled, Tea could sense something in his smile connect with her.
"I can tell." She said "Ever since we met, you've taken a bit of a liking to me. What is it about me that has you so intrigued?" Horus froze. He then bowed his head rather sadly and covered his face with an open hand.
"It's because you remind me a lot of Elena." He said, "Your thinking is a lot like hers used to be. You have that same warmth and compassion that she used to show me the errors of my ways." Horus was about ready to cry; he broke from his talk and grabbed a tissue.
"Oh, I'm so sorry I brought this up." Tea said

By now Horus had regained his composure, "Eh, It's cool." He said. "Every so often I don't see the harm in letting out some emotion. It's really bad to keep things bottled up. Don't worry, I'm OK."
Tea breathed a sigh of relief "Thank goodness." She said,
"I tell you what," Horus began "Tomorrow, why don't we get Yugi and Joey over here and see if me, Dan and Sean can't help rebuild Yugi's confidence."
"That would be great." Tea said. Horus extended his hand to Tea. Tea grabbed it and pulled herself up. The two then left Horus's apartment and proceeded back downstairs to the Living room.

"Is there anyway I could stay here tonight?" Tea asked. "Since you're gonna get Yugi and Joey over here tomorrow it may be easier for us."
"Sure no problem" Horus replied. "We've got some extra rooms on the second floor you're more than welcome to one."
"Thanks." Tea replied. Tea and Horus entered the living room and saw Maximus and James playing a round of Twisted Metal. Shinobi and Adam were sitting back watching.
"Hey guys, when this game is finished you wanna watch that movie I got last week again?" Horus asked, you know the Thai Martial Arts one with the Random Dance Sequence."

"Yeah!" came everyone's response all at once. Maximus quickly turned off the game and turned on the DVD player.
"I don't know if you like Martial Arts movies," Horus said to Tea "But we got this one just last week and everyone here loves it. Hey guys, on three everyone, 1, 2, 3."
As Horus reached three Adam, James, Maximus and Shinobi all got up and yelled in unison "MUSIC!!!" They then proceeded to move their shoulders and get their arms going in an on the spot dance. Tea did a double take at this sight. "WOW!!" was all she could say.
"Watch the movie and you'll understand." Horus said.
"Ok, Maybe I'll get a kick out of this." Tea replied.
The movie was called "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" it was a foreign film taking place in Thailand. The story revolved around a village whose statue of The Buddha was desecrated and only the village's chosen hero can set things right. The film ran its course and when it was over everyone looked over at Tea. "So what did you think?" Adam asked. Tea then stood up as if to address everyone
"I've got one word for all of you…MUSIC!!!"