Hellowe!
Thanks for all your reviews! We think we love you. We think.
We knew that last chapter would be a bit confusing, but apparently, considering the reviews, it was VERY confusing. Sorry. Next chapters should confuse you even more. But little by little, answers will be given.
Now enjoy the following confusing chapter of Heart to Beat!
Chapter 7
The strange look in her eyes still present, Maya walked on in a trance, still following the cat. After a while, she abruptly stopped and the blue glow faded from her eyes. She blinked confused, before looking around.
"Where am I...?", she asked herself as she tried to make out her surroundings in the dark. To no avail however, she might as well have been blindfolded. Hearing the sound of waves crashing against the coast she at least knew she had wandered to the ocean. Not that that told her much, for she had no idea how far inland their camp was. She sighed. Deciding that the best course of action was to turn around and walk back the way she came, she spun on her heel. Just then the area was brightly illuminated. Maya closed her eyes to block out the light as she slowly turned around again. Eyes barely open, she could just make out a duel platform. A feeling of déjà vu washed over her and she half expected someone to yell 'welcome to...(insert random country here)'.
When her eyes had finally adjusted to the light, she noticed a boy standing near the platform. Maya was about to ask an explanation when she saw the boy's face. She froze. It's not that she recognized him or anything, she had no clue as to who he was, but she did recognize the look on his face. She had seen it a million times before; however it had been over a year since she had last seen it. The one that just read 'don't come near me, you weirdo', the one filled with disgust and rejection.
Seeing it brought back all the bad memories. Before Maya knew it, they were replaying in her head, dragging her thoughts into a negative downwards spiral. She tried to push them away, but it was as if her willpower was paralysed and all she could do was watch helplessly.
"Why? I thought it had ended. After all, middle school and high school were just a coincidental gathering of a lot of mean, bad people. So why?"
Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes as the question repeated in her mind. Suddenly the boy smirked, snapping Maya back to reality. She violently shook her head, clearing her mind of all negative thoughts. The boy's smirk fell and he just looked annoyed now.
"What is wrong with me?" Maya thought confused as she turned her attention to the boy again, who still hadn't moved nor spoken. Was it because of him? A shiver went down Maya's spine at the boy's sight. As she clenched her hands tightly, she felt her deck in her right hand. She hadn't realized she had been holding it at all until now.
"You!", she suddenly pointed at the boy, "You're a duelist, aren't you?" The amount of anger in her own voice surprised Maya. The thought that she had submitted to negative thoughts like that didn't sit well with her.
"Among other things.", the boy replied calmly. His voice sounded a bit distorted, as if he was trying to talk underwater.
"In that case", Maya answered, ignoring the unnerving feeling in the pit of her stomach, "I challenge you to a duel!" The boy merely smiled.
"I have 6 starchips.", she raised her right hand to show her bracelet, which she had refused to wear on her left arm. "How many do you have?"
"Stars or chips?"
"Starchips of course!", Maya practically snarled. She was extremely on edge and the boy's almost mockingly calm demeanour didn't help. Neither did the fact that every fibre in her body was telling her to run away as fast and as far away as possible. Some deep primal instinct acknowledged this boy as a serious threat, but Maya stubbornly ignored her survival instinct.
"None." Maya was dumbfounded by that answer. The boy grinned, "But let's duel anyway. After all, the challenge has already been offered and accepted."
A dangerous glint flashed through the boy's eyes and Maya's instincts doubled their efforts to try and get her out of there. "You have passed the point of no return.", he said, his tone menacing and his voice slightly more distorted than before. He laughed deeply as he walked over to climb on the platform. Maya swallowed hard and, against her own better judgement, went to the opposite side and climbed on as well.
Having walked over a patch of wet grass, she realized she wasn't wearing any shoes, just socks. Looking down at herself whilst the platforms were raised, Maya realized she must've really just up and left the tent. Why else would she be here in nothing but her bright light blue pyjamas, socks and only carrying her deck. It was a small miracle she hadn't dropped it when she was in trance.
"No need to shuffle each other's deck.", the boy stated, the tone in his voice clearly informed Maya that there would be no discussion over the subject.
"Fine with me. Duel!"
"Duel.", the boy laughed, as the waves were once again heard crashing against the coast.
"I'll take the first turn!", Maya yelled, not even waiting for her opponent's consent before drawing her sixth card. The feeling of dread still present, she realised that the faster the duel was over, the better. Though the reason for her fear still eluded her and did nothing more than add to her frustration.
She examined her hand and groaned. It wasn't good. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she decided that she just had make do for now. No need to panic, it was only the first turn.
"I set a monster and end my turn."
"Hmm, is that all?", the boy asked but Maya didn't reply. "How rude, I asked you a question." The words sounded painfully familiar to Maya, but she decided to ignore it. That was all in the past, it didn't matter. "Really now, you're such an unpleasant boy. I can already tell." Maya gritted her teeth at the comment as she saw the same look from before appear on the boy's face. Tears were threatening to form again, but she held them back and forced all possible negative thoughts away.
"Ah well, where was I? Oh yes, draw.", his expression changed again. Though the tone of his voice was light, a look of annoyance passed over his face again. He drew a card. "I'll start off with this little critter then.", he smiled. A petite purple frog with a spiralling white horn hopped on the field. The moment it sat still, its original 400 attack points jumped up to 1600. Maya blinked confused and looked over at the screen to see if he had perhaps activated a spell card, but saw nothing of the kind.
"Meet Unifrog(1600ATK/400DEF). You're wondering why his attack went up, aren't you?" Maya looked up at him, waiting for the answer, and suddenly noticed the distortion in the boy's voice had almost completely disappeared.
"Just look at my side of the field. See all that grass? Well, since we're so close to the sea, it all becomes flooded every odd season, transforming the environment into wetlands.", he explained while pointing down at the field. It was indeed flooded grassland, some parts worse than others.
"Wetlands?", Maya asked incredulously, amazed at the different types of environments on such a relatively small island.
"Theoretically at least. At any rate, due to the wetland all level 2 or lower Water-type monsters, that are also Aqua-type, will get a 1200 attack boost." Maya nodded, indicating that she understood.
"It's okay. Even with that huge boost, his monster still won't be able to break my defence."
The boy smirked, "Now on to my Unifrog's special ability." Maya's eyes widened slightly at those words, but she remained silent. "It can attack you directly.", the boy said bluntly, his smirk growing visibly at Maya's distress. "So I think I'll do just that. Unifrog, skewer her.", he ordered. The little froggy skated across the patches of water towards Maya. He jumped up when he was right in front of her and ran his horn in her stomach.
She clutched her stomach in pain as her life points dropped to 2400. Of all the times to have a relapse of pain from her encounter with Bandit Keith! The blow had been bothering her occasionally for the remainder of the day, but never this bad. She had of course never told Rose it still hurt. There was no use in having her worry about something that couldn't be helped anyway.
"Anything else?", she asked, slowly rubbing her abdomen in an effort to ease the pain. A confused look briefly passed over the boy's face, but it was soon replaced by another eerie smile. "No. I end my turn."
"Draw!", Maya yelled, despite the strain the action put on her stomach muscles. She looked at her options, which still weren't that good.
"At any rate, I have to get rid of that frog or else it'll be over in no time. Hmm, let's see, he doesn't have any set spell or trap cards so it should be safe to just attack it. Too bad Flamvell Guard only has 100atk or else I could've done some serious damage. Ah well, it'll be a start."
"I summon Spirit Ryu(1000ATK/1000DEF) in attack mode." A see-through snake-like little dragon floated on the field. Its ghostly body appeared and disappeared, like it itself flickered in and out of existence. Its small purple head was in a bodily state and it had a green gem fixed on its forehead. Wings sprouted from its neck. At the end of the spirit tail was another bodily scale.
"I attack your Unifrog with Spirit Ryu and at the same time activate its effect." Maya took a card from her hand and looked at it, knowing that it could come in handy later. "I discard one Dragon-type monster from my hand to increase my Ryu's attack and defence with a 1000 points until the end of this turn." Spirit Ryu's points went up to 2000 as it swiftly flew over to the equally purple frog and devoured it whole. The mysterious boy's life points dropped to 3600. He twitched, but continued to smile.
"I place a card face-down and turn end!" Spirit Ryu's attack and defence dropped to 1000 points each again.
"Tell me", the boy started, "why are you here?" The question came completely out of the blue and before Maya could even think of an answer, he continued, "I mean, what do you hope to accomplish by entering this tournament?"
Maya blinked, not really sure what to say. A silence fell over them. The boy merely stared at her, waiting for an answer, and seemingly having no intention to continue the duel until he got one.
"I just like games, including Duel Monsters, and have never participated in a real big tournament before, so why not? Also, I've never had the chance to use duel platforms or duel disks, so this was a good chance to do so.", she told him, glancing at her dragon. The holographic images were truly amazing, even more so in real life than on television. Maya hoped she would get the opportunity to use all her cards, just to see what they would look like.
"Hmm...", the boy hummed, pulling Maya out of her dreamy state. "Is that really all I wonder?", he asked, more to himself than anyone else. Still, Maya felt she was being addressed and, not wanting to risk another rude comment, decided to answer.
"Of course it is. What other reason could I have?", she wanted to curse at the slight hesitation in her voice. The boy noticed and turned his attention to her again.
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps a futile effort to prove yourself?", he guessed, smirk broadening when Maya looked away. "Really now. For someone so confident you sure look pretty unsure right now.", he went on. Maya clenched her fists before looking up again.
"I am not unsure of anything!", she yelled, immediately regretting the action. That's what he wants her to do. That's what they always want to do. Get a reaction from her, preferably a highly emotional one so they can have a good laugh. She hadn't disappointed him, for the boy started laughing. The sound echoed throughout the darkness and could've quite possible awoken the entire island.
Tears were once again welling up. Maya could hardly suppress the urge to cry anymore, but the thought that that would be even worse gave her the strength to hold it back. She refused to give in, not ever again! She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, which she slowly released when she opened her eyes again.
"Continue the duel now.", she practically ordered in a voice almost as menacingly calm as the boy she was addressing, looking him straight in the eyes. The boy looked somewhat taken aback by Maya's sudden change, but quickly recovered. Wordlessly he drew a card.
"I summon T.A.D.P.O.L.E.(0ATK/0DEF to 1200ATK/1200DEF) in attack." A small head appeared on the field with nothing else but a little tail swishing back and forth. There was a red flame-like design on the front. Maya stared at the barely visible monster, thinking it could have been a lot worse. Unless of course...
"So, what's his special effect?", Maya asked, confident it would be something annoying again.
"Right now? Nothing.", he smirked. Maya didn't like this one bit. "I attack your set monster with T.A.D.P.O.L.E." The head swam forward, avoiding the grass, until it reached the reverse card. He head-butted it, causing the card to lift, revealing Maya's Flamvell Guard(2000DEF/100ATK). The little tadpole instantly caught fire and hurriedly scurried back to its place, successfully extinguishing the flames. The scaly, bird-like dragon stayed cradled, protected by a barrier of magma-hot fire, and roared happily as the boy's life points dropped to 2800.
"Looks like it can't handle the heat.", Maya smirked. The boy clutched his head for a few seconds, before looking up at her again as if nothing had happened.
"Yes, well," His voice had become significantly more distorted again. "Luckily, I have this." He placed down a spell card and suddenly a green-haired man with a crystal ball appeared on the field.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!", Maya exclaimed, recognizing the card as Dian Keto the Cure Master. The ball shone, the boy's life points rose to 3800 again and then the man disappeared.
"Ah, much better!", the boy said happily, voice level again. "Now, I'll just put these two face-down and then it's your turn again."
"Draw!", Maya yelled, wincing at another jolt of pain. "Hmm, he made quite the mistake to attack my set monster. He should've just destroyed my Spirit Ryu. Is this a trap? He does have two face-downs..." Maya smiled at the thought, like that's ever stopped her before! Sure, it was suspicious, but if she didn't attack she would get nowhere. Still, there's a difference between being fearless and just plain stupid.
"I discard one Dragon-type monster from my hand to raise Spirit Ryu's attack again while I attack your T.A.D.P.O.L.E.", she put the card in her graveyard and the dragon's points went up to 2000 each again as it dashed forward. It somehow managed to strangle the tadpole with its ghostly body, making it shatter and dropping the boy's life points to 3000.
"NOW my monster has a special effect.", the boy intervened Maya's turn, as his face seemed to crunch up in pain. She groaned, she just KNEW it! Weak monsters like that always have an effect! Well, except maybe Skull Servant. He just looked silly.
"When he's destroyed and send to the graveyard, I can add any number of T.A.D.P.O.L.E.'s from my deck to my hand. I have two more so I'll take them both.", he explained as he did so, briefly showing them to Maya. She nodded, realizing that wasn't as bad as she had expected. What good could two more of those monsters do? She shook her head, telling herself to stay focused. She knew better than to underestimate so-called weak monsters. After all, she had quite a few of them herself and enjoyed using them a lot. Even if just to see the look on her opponent's face when she summons them.
"Turn end.", she said. Apparently she had saved her normal summon for nothing, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Do you like him that much?", the boy suddenly asked again. Maya sighed, but for some reason wasn't even surprised that he didn't just go on with the duel. She blinked when her mind had processed the words. Who was he referring to?
"Do you really think he would think any different of you than I do?"
"And who might you be that your thoughts about me are so important?", Maya asked annoyed, tired of all the questions and insults. Seriously, why was someone who clearly didn't like her(if the look hadn't made it perfectly clear yet, the insults would) asking all these personal questions?
"Kai.", he replied simply. Behind him the waves crashed more violently then ever against the coast."As in the same kai from Kaiba.", he added to clarify.
"Fitting name.", Maya remarked, thinking of both the kanji for 'sea' and the German word for quay.
"I know. You can call me Kai. Ningen Kai.", he smirked as he said his full name. Maya's eyes widened as it clicked in her head. The boy, Kai, plastered that same look on his face again, clearly transmitting his thoughts on her.
"Ningenkai? The human world? So...he, who's he?..." The last part of their conversation replayed in her head and suddenly Maya realized who he meant. "Seto... he-he thinks the same way about me as..as...the human world...But...he was nice to me..."
"W-what are you on about? Seto...he's not like that...", Maya whispered, trying desperately to keep her voice void of any hesitance, fear or sadness. Kai merely raised an eyebrow at her, indicating he didn't believe her, not even a little. "He made me hot chocolate!", Maya managed to get out. The statement was met with loud, cold laughter. However, it wasn't Kai's.
"Oh, please. Stop deluding yourself!"
"S-Seto?", Maya was shocked to see him standing next to the duel platform. She froze again and felt her heart sink at his words. "I'm not...", she started but soon trailed off, looking at the ground next to Kaiba instead of straight at him. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. His eyes were so cold, so heartless and basically everything the rumours always say about him. But he wasn't really like that, Maya had been sure of that. Rumours were just that, rumours. Nothing more, nothing less and even if they could contain a hint of truth, there was always something more.
"Don't tell me you really hadn't noticed I was just pretending to be nice!", Kaiba laughed degradingly at Maya, who was confused beyond words. Had she been that wrong? Why would he do that? It made no sense. She wanted to ask, but was afraid of the answer.
"Now, why did you do that?" Kai voiced Maya's question for her in an almost accusing way. It made it sound like he was defending Maya. "I mean, why pretend? Just do what I do!" Of course he wasn't. The human world would never protect her. After all, why would they protect someone like her?
"Ah, you're right. I wanted to be more subtle, but to think she was actually so foolish as to really believe I even remotely liked her!" Kai nodded in agreement with Kaiba's words.
Someone who didn't belong in their world...
"I should've just said it like it is."
...to them she was just...
"You're a monster.", Kaiba finished, as if he had just stated a simple fact.
... A monster.
Maya shook violently as her vision became blurred with tears. Holding her hands over her ears and closing her eyes, she attempted to block everything out but it was too late. Overcome with sadness, she completely forgot everything else. Only her memories and the hurtful words that were ringing in her head remained.
"Why? Why? Why am I ...a...monster? I haven't, not once, wronged anyone in my entire life! I don't bother people, I don't attack them, I always try to be as friendly as I can, even when all I ever get in return is disappointment and pain! So...", Tears streamed down her face, as that same question kept repeating itself over and over. "So...WHY?"
"Hmpf! And I was supposed to be impressed by you? Don't make me laugh!", Kaiba yelled, but laughed anyway. Maya clasped her hands around her ears even tighter, desperately trying to block it out.
"Now, now.", Kai started, briefly looking up at the full moon, "Seeing as I'm in a good mood right now, how about I grant you this one time favour?", he offered, but Maya didn't look up. She had barely heard him, let alone processed his words. "I'll take that as a go-ahead."
The next thing Maya heard was a deafening shot. Her eyes instantly shot open in surprise, heart beating like she was being chased by a wild animal. Her vision was blurred and it took her a while to realise Kai was holding something other than cards. "A gun?" Noticing it wasn't aimed at her, she looked in the direction the barrel was pointing at.
Her breath stopped at the sight. Kaiba sat down on one knee, a pained look on his face, blood streaming from his left leg. It had already formed a small pool on the ground. Not believing this was really happening; Maya rubbed her eyes to clear her vision.
"S-Seto!" Stunned, she merely stared at him, fresh tears already mixing with the old ones that had never stopped flowing.
"What's with the concern? You should be happy! I punished at least one person who has hurt you."
"What?", she angrily turned to Kai, "I'm supposed to be happy? Even if...even if he has hurt me, that doesn't mean you can shoot him!"
"Don't you want him to suffer as well?" Kai turned back to Kaiba, "You know, like this.", he simply said as he fired the gun again. Kaiba let out an agonizing cry as the bullet pierced his right leg.
"Painful just to watch.", Kai remarked nonchalantly, face scrunching up in pain as well.
"SETO!", Maya yelled. Wiping away her tears, she wanted to go over to him when suddenly her head felt very light. She stood still, holding her head as she waited for the dizziness to disappear.
"I wouldn't leave the platform if I were you."
"And why...", Maya stopped as she looked at her hands and lower arms. "Blood? W-why is there so much blood on me...?" She wiped away more tears and noticed the blood was coming from her face.
"Oh, did I forget to mention? If you lose this duel, you'll die.", Kai explained like it was the most normal and logical thing in the world. "And of course, leaving the platform means you give up and surrendering is the same as losing.", he added for clarification.
"Die?"
"Yes, you know, die. Cease to exist. Nakunaru. Shinu. Sterben. Dood gaan. Mourir. Like this.", as he finished his sentence, he fired another shot at Kaiba, but there was no cry afterwards. "Hmm, perfect shot, don't you think?" Kai admired his work, whilst Maya stared horrified at the unmoving body on the ground. The bullet had gone straight through his head, in and out again.
"Oh come on, don't take it so hard. It's not like you could've helped him.", Kai went on. Maya didn't respond. She was too shocked. After another minute or so, she snapped back to reality.
"You... you killed him...", she murmured as she looked over at Kai again.
"It's not nice to accuse others. You're the one with blood on your hands.", he shook his head disapprovingly as he put the gun away again. "Literally, as well as figuratively speaking."
"He... he's...dead...", Maya murmured in between sobs.
"Yes, because you..", Kai stopped when he noticed Maya's sobbing had turned into full-fledged crying again. He smiled, "Ah never mind." He drew a card, briefly glanced at it before placing another down.
"I summon Beelze Frog(1200ATK/800DEF to 1500ATK/800DEF) in attack.", Kai carried on with the duel as if nothing had happened. A dark brown frog with a beige coloured belly landed on the field. Its little dragon-like wings made it hover slightly before plopping down. The fire-red markings on its back resembled those of T.A.D.P.O.L.E. It all went by unnoticed to Maya, who was having trouble just standing. Her knees felt weak, she was shaking violently and her face, arms and hands, as well as her pyjamas were covered in blood.
"Next I play Card Destruction." Kai put his remaining cards in his graveyard and drew the same amount from his deck. "Come on, you too.", he urged. On the field his Beelze Frog's attack power rose to 2100 due to its effect. "If you don't, you'll lose the duel you know."
Maya knew what that meant and she meekly lifted her head, but that seemed to be all she could manage. She had never felt this dizzy or lightheaded before in her life. Her body felt weak too and she could collapse at any second. Everything was a blur and the uncontrollable crying had made it difficult to breathe.
"Time's up, I'm afraid." Before her eyes Kai seemed to be changing. Changing into what appeared to be water. Maya didn't know for sure, she couldn't really trust her senses considering the state she was in now. Whatever Kai had turned into, it definitely didn't look human. Loud thunderous laughter filled the air and suddenly the intense feeling of dread Maya had felt from the very beginning made sense to her. She should've left when she had the chance. She should've just ignored him and walked away. The moment she had challenged him, she had sealed her own fate and Kaiba's.
Maya closed her eyes as Kai launched himself at her, swiftly soaring over the field. She wanted to brace herself for the impact but realised that nothing could ever prepare her for death. The thought alone usually scared the living daylights out of her. She didn't want to die, she was afraid to die, but in that split second she actually believed that she deserved to die. After all, Kai had been right. It was her fault that Seto was dead. He had been dragged down because of her. Just like she had dragged down Rose by being friends with her. If she hadn't been so weak than Rose wouldn't have had to protect her all the time. Then she wouldn't have been bullied as well.
The sound of rushing water approached her. It was close now, so close. Mere seconds from death, all Maya could think was "I'm sorry."
Rose: Kaiba is dead!
Maya: Yes. What about me then?
Rose: Oh, you too. Almost.
Maya: Well thank you. He finally gets to appear again and then he dies...
Kaiba: Humpf...
Maya: Sorry Seto. It's all for the sake of the plot.
Rose: Yes, don't let it bother you too much. I'm about to be stabbed. At least Rex is safe.
Maya: Or is he?
Rose: YES! Actually... if we die, isn't the fic over then?
Maya: I guess so?
Weevil: Then it will be MY fic!
Rose + Maya: ... We have to survive somehow.
Weevil: Grlmbl.
Rex: I have to pee.
Maya: And we care why?
Rose: Wait Rex!
Rex: I can't wait!
Rose: No, I mean you have to wait another chapter.
Rex: What? I have to wait another week?
Rose: Eh, no. Two actually.
Rex: What?
Maya: Yes, because next week is Sinterklaas!
Kaiba + Rex + Weevil: What is that?
Maya: Something typical Belgian.
Rose: It's for kids actually but... we like it. It's an old man with a white beard and he gives the children toys if they've been good. That's basically the thought.
Maya: Else he hits them!
Rose: Yes, but he actually never really does that. It's what they make children believe.
Maya: And he walks over your roof on a horse called 'Bad Weather Today'.
Rex: No, it's quite sunny today.
Rose + Maya: ... No, that's the horse's name!