Author's Notes:
Yes! A new chapter of 'Pyramid of Death'. The current 'entrants' have their OC's in the story, no matter how vague. Since this should not be interactive material, I shall be introducing them later in the story, and with permission. Rating may go up. Please read the first post in the first chapter for updates. IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN YGO OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, LOGOS, SYMBOLS, ETC. On a friendlier tone, I shall explain what is happening to you. This is DIRECTLY (two days...) after Atem went to the afterlife along with Zorc (Bakura.) Yugi, Anzu, Honda, Jonouchi, and co have reverted back to their normal lives. Seto is multi-tasking, working on Duel Academy as well as some new mysterious project that no one knows about. Yugi still lives with his grandfather, who is pestering him constantly about college. Anzu, by the way, got a new part-time job at a different restraunt that pays decent and is on the edge of Domino. Jonouchi bought a new small apartment with some left-over money from Duelist Kingdom and he and Shizuka have moved in together, due to some problems in his old house (overrun by cockroaches and other bugs that pesticides can't kill.) Honda's whereabouts stayed basically the same, though he got into collecting cards even more, and Ryo still lives in his old house, occasionally contacting the others to see how they are doing. Rated T for mild language, and over-mild violence later on.
POV of Yugi Motou.
----
"Yuuuugii."
That voice still haunts my nightmares.
"Yuuugiii."
Sighing and grunting, amid many other noises that morning is usually associated with (apart from the 'happy' chirping birds, stereotypical alarm clock ...) morning, I kick the sheets back and curse. Where did my Puzzle go? My eyes snap open, violet gems, gleaming in the early morning sun's rays. I blink rapidly. I never liked any kind of bright light.
And then I remembered.
Crap.
He was gone.
"Yuuugii." The old man calls. I could practically see his head poking from around the bend at the end of the stairs. "Wake up! It's time to do your college excersizes and get some breakfast while you're at it! Now that the Pharaoh is gone, you must learn to cope on your own. Plus, there's a rather large package in the mail ... it's addressed to you ..."
Hell, if an elephant was addressed to me I wouldn't be quicker. My limbs were still sleepy and, due to resting on my left hand during the night, my hand was rather numb and had the uncomfortable pin-and-needles feeling. It was also remarkably cold. I took that as a sign of a lack of blood.
Oh, well.
Ever since Atem had gone, things usually began pretty bad and got worse.
Stepping into the bathroom, I turn the tap on, splash my face with cold water, and ... must I continue? I do what people do in the bathroom.
Several minutes later, I'm stepping down the stairs, a radio on the kitchen table turned at an alarmingly high pitch. My grandpa needs a hearing aid. I smell sizzling bacon and fried noodles coming from the kitchen itself, which is blocked by a screen door to the 'eating room'. I then notice a package that is rather large, about two and a half feet or so, with the unmistakable white envelope taped to the front. It's apparently for me.
I had been receiving much fan mail and whatnot lately. I was tempted to throw this away. This was not uncommon.
But the thing on the white envelope had captured my interest.
It was the unmistable logo of KaibaCorp.
What did Kaiba want now? I mused. And why was be giving me a package? I reach out a hand and rip the envelope away from the package. Tape dangles from it. It's rather heavy, and I wonder why Kaiba would be so 'professional' with his mail to me. But then again, he always was. I rip open the envelope. By this time, if Atem was not gone, he would have commented on ...
what would he have commented on?
Something about Kaiba.
Yes.
I then take out a random wad of paper. It's folded, and the pink - pink? - paper catches my interest. I unfold it, and something falls out of it that accounts for the heaviness and clatters to the floor. I ignore that. I read the letter.
"To Yugi Motou:
You have been informed of a private investigation happening in KaibaCorp. Contact us immediately and as soon as possible.
KC"
Wait, what? That was it? Lame. Why was the paper so damn big and heavy, then? Oh. It was the thing that fell out. The pink paper (slip, more like) had alot more space at the bottom and it was rushed, as if in a hurry. Kaiba usually wasn't in a hurry, and if he was, his employees always had the time to look things over. Then why was this so ... so ... unlike KaibaCorp?
or Kaiba?
And why was there not much information?
Whatever.
I frown and put that pink slip away, on the table, where it naturally folds over itself again. There are two more wads of paper in there. I reach in and, to my surprise, pull out what are unmistakeably airplane tickets.
What the hell?
This is getting strange.
Along with the airplane tickets, I had accidentallky pulled out the other letter. I unfold that, and it reveals itself as two. No wonder why the envelope was so thick. This had better be worth the paper, I thought. I take the one that was wrapped around the other one and unfold it:
"Yugi,
Through the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournament and whatnot I was always astonished with your dueling skill and strategy. You seemed to have developed a different personality when dueling, unlike your usual mild and timid self. I would not usually do a personally typed letter, but because of certain ... circumstances, I have resorted as to so."
Who is this? That was quite obvious ...
"I am quite impressed by what had happened in that Egyptian tomb several days ago. How you were dueling with another - that was naturally assumed to be a hologram, of course, though the opening of the door at the back was a pretty good pretense - and how you seemed to be yourself. I had always thought that it was ... fake. Wrong. Holograms. I continue to think so, though my confidence has wavered since my latest finding. This envelope includes first-class tickets to Egypt. My explanation is futile. Continue reading onto the next paper, and all shall be revealed.
Seto Kaiba President of KaibaCorp"
Nice joke, Jonouchi. How you managed to pull this, use correct grammar and even sound REMOTELY like Seto, I shall never know. Quite possibly you forged the tickets. An amused smile pulled at my lips. I took the smaller piece of paper that had fell out a minute ago, and read its contents:
"Mr. Yugi Motou,
You have been invited of a private investigation, as was stated before. We sincerely hope that you will participate. The information will be revealed to you AFTER you come to Egypt, with all expenses paid. Courtesy of KaibaCorp.
KC"
"Ha!" I breathe. "Nice. Jonouchi, never knew you had it. Or is it Honda?"
There's one last bit of paper in there, and it's the smallest. It's only slightly larger than a post-it. I take it out and unfold it. There are several post-its entangled with it, giving it the look of a thick wad. I take the first one and read it.
"Time: Midnight"
That's it.
The other one:
"Date: Tomorrow"
What the hell? Why couldn't they have just ... used a complete piece of paper to put this information on one whole piece of paper? If it WAS KaibaCorp, I could only think of one explanation. Kaiba wanted to screw with my mind.
Other slip. And last one.
"Package."
It was then I noticed what had dropped out. I bend and pick it up. It's a fragment of ... sandstone? It fit comfortably in my hand. There were several Egyptian-ny engravings on it. My interest perked. Jonouchi had to have guts to go this far.
I open the large, carboard box. There's foam in it, and a Duel Disk sits in there. It's a new design. I have never seen it before. Gasping, I ran my hands across it, then realize that it's protected with an annoyingly thin film. I rip that off, and lift the Duel Disk, looking for an on-off switch. There is none.
The Duel Disk looked like any other, apart from the fact that it was rather ... well, yellow. Very yellow. There were streaks of ugly brown and black across it. Was this some kind of joke? Seriously, the streaks looked plain tacky. And there was a hole. There was a great freaking hole to where your deck should have been placed - the thing on top of the deck that held it in place. It was a gaping carven, as if something was missing. I checked the rest of the package. Nothing. Just the Duel Disk and some foam stuff that prevented the Duel Disk from rubbing against other things. What other things?
I then notice the slab of sandstone that I had put on the table earlier.
Its shape, which was actually circular now that I looked carefully, seemed to fit in the hole. How much weirder could this get? I mused. Jonouchi couldn't have done this. This was genuine. Apart from the notice. That was shit.
I put the Duel Disk on and insert the slab into the circular hole.
Nothing happened, but I swear that the Duel Disk seemed to glow faintly, as if satisfied with its 'offering'.
What the heck!?
DONE~ That took about ... half an hour? XP Well, the next chapter is (hopefully) longer than this one and will explain some stuff. LYKSRSLY. R&R.