Ba-Ku-Ra!
By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider
Chapter 16: Mistake of Arrogance
"My turn..." Ryo said to himself as he walked up to the guard standing by the open entrance. Raising his duelist gauntlet up Ryo showed it to the guard who, after a brief moment, nodded allowing Ryo pass. Stepping inside to wait for the others, Ryo was met with the sight of a lavished and very expensive looking hall. Ryo looked around examining the hall with interest, 'Looks like a mix of Greek and European styles...' He thought as he looked over a painting. Ryo jumped hearing a sudden yell and looked towards the entrance, "What-"
The white haired teen was cut off when Jonouchi suddenly grabbed him and started to drag him quickly down the hall, "We gotta go."
"EH!? Why!?" Ryo managed confusedly as he was being dragged away.
"I knocked out the guard." Jonouchi explained in an oddly casual tone.
Ryo's eyes when wide, "Why!?" He yelled feeling and sounding more confused.
The bearer of the Ring heard his friend huff bluntly, "He wouldn't let me, Honda or Anzu pass." He explained looking annoyed, and then his tone shifted to completely nonchalant, "Also I've been wanting to punch the jerk since we met him." Jonouchi admitted.
"Oh..." Ryo said, sweat dropping. He should have known to expect something like that from Jonouchi; Don't get between him and helping his friends.
From within the Ring the Thief King huffed dully, "Might as well..." He rolled his eyes before continuing in a sarcastic tone, "Wouldn't want anyone sulking over their absence now would we?" he muttered dully referring to Yugi. Personally he was growing tired of the boy's friends rather quickly. Especially with all their useless chattering.
'I'd miss them...' Ryo thought quietly to himself, his yami not seeming to notice this thought. He finally had friends for once and he'd like to spend as much time as he could with them. Obviously his yami didn't share that sentiment, but he didn't exactly seem like the social type to him. He blinked when Jonouchi finally stopped. Straightening himself up he saw they were in some hall overlooking a stage like some sort of theater gallery.
"Eh? Is that the first finalist?" Jonouchi asked upon spotting someone in the hall.
Immediately after getting a good look at the man Ryo stiffened when he saw it was Bandit Keith, "You!" He exclaimed angrily as he pointed to the American.
Adjusting his sunglasses Keith chuckled tauntingly, "Heheh, well you actually made it here little runt."
Not recognizing the man Jonouchi was a bit confused as to how Ryo knew him, "You know this guy?"
Still upset about the whole ordeal he'd gone through Ryo shot a glare at Keith, who merely grinned amusedly at him. "He's the one that kidnapped me and forced me into a duel!" Ryo paused a moment noticing his flunkies weren't around, 'He's missing a few people...safe to assume how he got his star chips.'
Akefia glares at the one who had caused their previous troubles, "Well, well... As expected... and indeed." He agreed not finding it hard at all to picture the man turning on his henchmen to further his own progress. "If they were lucky he just cracked their skulls." The boy flinched at his words but otherwise agreed. The Thief King didn't notice this as he continued his own private thoughts while glaring dangerously at Keith, 'Keep grinning you diseased ridden sewer rat. Get in our way again and I will find the means to crush you...'
Hearing that the man was the one that gone after his friend and got them stuck in the tunnels, Jonouchi growled angrily getting ready to attack the guy for what he did, "You're the one that messed with-" He was cut off when Keith pointed down at a dueling stage.
"Shut it mutt, the show's about to start! I'll deal with you later! Haw-ha." Keith laughed mockingly as he looked down at the dueling stage.
Carefully keeping his distance as he wouldn't put it past Keith to push him over, Ryo looked over the rails and to his surprise, 'Kaiba!' His yami hummed interestedly as he spotted the CEO getting ready for another duel.
Keith continued to chuckle as he explained what was about to go down, "Heh-Heh, you're just in time for the duel between Kaiba and Pegasus!"
A moment later the rest of Ryo's friends joined them in the hall as a man welcomed them to Duelist Kingdom, all the while Kaiba was tensely waiting for his opponent to show up. Finally after a small stretch of time everyone heard footsteps of someone approaching. Sure enough, with no withheld servant introduction despite the crowd well knowing who he was, Pegasus emerged.
Pegasus's entrance caused Kaiba to grab the card pendent around his neck in a strangling hold as he gritted his teeth. 'Mokuba...hold on. I'll beat Pegasus and get you back!' He vowed.
Pegasus waved a greeting before speaking to him in a friendly manner, "Kaiba-boy! Good to see you! Welcome to my Castle!" He exclaimed joyfully as he motioned to the building around him. He smiled gleefully as he continued sounding rather excited about what was going to happen shortly, "I've been waiting for the day I could duel a proud duelist such as yourself in my kingdom!" He chuckled amusedly seeing the seething hate on Kaiba's expression. Clearly he didn't share Pegasus's enjoyment of the moment, "Heh-heh, don't worry Kaiba-boy, once our duel is over I'll hand over Mokuba-boy." He promised before clapping his hands together resuming his happy mood, "Now Kaiba-boy let's enjoy a great duel!"
"Let's go Pegasus!" Kaiba barked as he got out his deck, rearing to tear Pegasus apart in a duel.
Recalling the power of the item Pegasus had, Ryo frowned sadly realizing what Kaiba was about to go up against, 'Pegasus can read minds... does Kaiba even stand a chance against that?'
Akefia hummed pondering the thought for a moment, "Only to one who knows what they are doing and knows how to step properly..." He answered before adding, "It's not an all-powerful item." He chuckled, regardless of the result, he was going to enjoy seeing this duel, "And we'll see won't we~?" He said returning his gaze to the duel, the boy nodding in agreement.
Standing on his side of the dueling field Pegasus began, "Now let's begin shall we?"
"Before we begin, where's Mokuba!?" Kaiba snapped.
"Patience Kaiba," Pegasus chuckled calmly as he faced him, "you'll be allowed to see him soon. Now by the means of our duel..." He paused a moment as if gathering his thoughts, "I believe that you brought an interesting contraption with you, correct? A...duel disk?" He questioned. With an ever so slight knowing smirk on his face as he says, "Am I right?"
For a moment Kaiba looked surprise that he knew of it but he quickly assumed he had been watching the duel between him and Yugi. Nodding he handed him the briefcase that contained the device. "That's right...we duel with this or I won't fight!" He barked sternly.
Taking the device out Pegasus looked the thing over confusedly "Do I throw it?" He questioned getting into a Frisbee pose. He sighed tiredly "Looks exhausting, I'm not very good at physical sports..." Pegasus lamented sadly as he rubbed his head.
Seeing the odd sight Ryo sweat dropped unsure what to think of the display.
Akefia grunts, mentally crossing his arms sounding both disgusted and annoyed with what he saw, "Oh look! A rich man who is afraid of sports! How rare..." He spat sarcastically.
Mentally Ryo gave and embarrassed laugh, 'Eheh...I can't say I'm a big fan either...' He admitted, and much to his embarrassment his yami chuckled at this.
"I can tell~," He mused, "bit of a runt~." Akefia chuckled amusedly as the boy blushed faintly out of embarrassment before looking back to the dueling field to distract himself.
Pegasus smirked slightly, he knew Kaiba was trying to tilt things in his favor and he wasn't going to let that happen, "How about this, we'll use your duel disk but I'll have a proxy wield mine?"
"What?" Kaiba growled.
"Now, now," Pegasus said while waving a finger, "I'll chose what cards to play but your opponent will still be me." He explained calmly, knowing he was only angering Kaiba further.
"You will fight me one on one! That's it!" The CEO barked as he bared his teeth at the American.
The white haired American ignored his barking and motioned to the hall, an evil smirk on his lips, "Now..." He said slowly a darkly amused tone in his voice, gradually the sounds of chains rattling could be heard coming closer, "as promised I'll let you see Mokuba." Everyone stared as Mokuba emerged from the halls lead by a staff member. The poor child looked haggard and his eyes had a dead soulless look to them. It looked like his mind was completely empty; Like he was merely an empty shell.
Even the stoic Kaiba was shocked and horrified to see his brother like this, "Mokuba...Mokuba!"
Ryo felt a cold chill slither up his spine when Mokuba didn't respond to Kaiba's frantic calls. The dreadful feeling got worse when Ryo met his eyes to Mokuba's cold dead ones, 'He's not responding...Pegasus did something to him...' He thought to his yami tensely.
It took only one quick look for the Thief King to realize what was wrong with the boy, he frowned somewhat dully to himself; he knew that look, "Yes he has... that is simply a husk. His soul is gone."
Hearing that, a terrible thought struck Ryo and he gripped the banister tightly as he began to shake fearfully. Heartbeat racing in panic he screamed out his terrified thought in his mind, 'Did he do that to Father...!?'
Caught off guard by the boy's strong sudden burst of anxiety the King of Thieves winced. Gathering himself he hummed considering the thought carefully, "It's a possibility...if he wants the items that badly then this man is willing to do anything..." Pausing a moment he thought what to say to calm the boy, "In any case... don't worry about it. Those details mean little... the end goal remains the same."
Realizing he was right Ryo reigned in his emotions and stiffly nodded his head as he tried to calm his nerves, 'R-right.'
Seething in anger Kaiba snaps at Pegasus, "What did you do to him Pegasus!?" He demanded.
Chuckling Pegasus pulled a card out from a pocket on his suit jacket. Turning it to Kaiba revealed a card with jail cell bars. Behind them was a terrified Mokuba gripping the bars. "Heh-heh, his body can't speak to you because his soul is in this Shadow Card. The Mokuba in front of you is an empty shell." Pegasus's voice began to seep with an amused cruelness as he grinned gleefully at Kaiba, "He has enough will to obey me. Kaiba-boy...if you defeat me I'll free his soul...your brother will be yours again. Which brings me back to the duel." He gestured to Mokuba's lifeless husk, "I choose Mokuba to throw for me."
Kaiba froze in place as Pegasus handed the disk over to his little brother's shell, he wanted to protest but his voice was lost to him. 'Is...He asking me to attack Mokuba!?'
Looking down at the situation Akefia narrowed his eyes, "Using a loved one as a meat servant... how cruel..." He said slowly sounding disgusted with the turn of events.
Still tauntingly holding up the Shadow Card for Kaiba to see Pegasus waved it back and forth to further mock the older brother, "...Or if you don't like it we go back to the original plan and duel my way..."
Having no choice Kaiba growled giving in begrudgingly, "Fine Pegasus we'll do it your way! But I'll be the one who wins!" With that the duel went underway.
After Kaiba's monster destroyed a wall monster of his, Pegasus goes on the offensive and summons a monster in attack, "I summon Parrot Dragon!" A green deranged eyed cartoon dragon-like bird appeared on the field. "Do your best!" The white haired man cheered happily.
||Parrot Dragon: Attack: 2000 Defense: 1300 ||
Akefia kept a careful eye on the boy to be sure his emotions had calmed before turning his attention back to the duel at hand. Seeing the hideous green creature appear on the field Akefia reeled his head back far as he was able. 'By the jaws of Amut! What the fuck is it with this man and these...THINGS?!' The Thief King groaned in disgust realizing he was stuck watching the duel, "This duel is going to be painful..."
Hearing his yami's clear tone of disgust Ryo recalled he had a similar reaction to a Toon before this, 'You don't like cartoon creatures do you?' He questioned curiously.
The King of Thieves gritted his teeth in frustration, "The sheer ludicrous motions, their mockery of the art of battle, and less than tasteful VOICE and laughter? No I DO NOT!" He ranted.
Ryo, sweat dropped, he understood why the Thief King didn't like the Toon monsters. They were far different than anything he had during his time, and they did tend to look downright insane, 'They're supposed to be funny, little kids love them. I don't mind them but...I wouldn't make my deck out of them.'
Akefia huffed hearing the boy's explanation about the Toon creatures, "I am hardly a "little kid"..." He grunted before eyeing Pegasus's seriously questioning the man's mentality, "and I question him at this point..."
Hearing Pegasus go on about how much he likes cartoons Ryo began to question his state of mind too, 'I'm starting to question too...'
When his parrot was destroyed, Pegasus let out an over dramatic, "Oh no!" As Kaiba drew his card he smirked holding his hand up, "Stop! Hold it right there..." Quickly he flipped over a card revealing it to be a trap, "I activate this trap card called Prophecy! If I guess correctly whether the card attack value is more or less than or equal to the card is mine..." To amuse himself he pretended to think for a moment, "I predict its more than 2000, I predict your about to play the Blue-Eyes White dragon with an attack of 3000 thousand!"
Seeing Kaiba's stunned face, Pegasus claimed his Blue-Eye card and placed it in his hand, "Well, I'll take this for myself~.' Putting the cards up to his face he smirked. 'The horror has just begun Kaiba-boy~.'
Blinking as he noticed that Pegasus had taken the Priest's dragon, Akefia Inwardly felt himself reel in anxiety, 'Oh by the gods... No...If he's about to do what I think he is...'
Watching Pegasus take Kaiba's card Ryo frowned silently, he didn't hear is Yami's private thoughts but he managed to reach the same conclusion on his own.
"Wow Kaiba-boy I never thought I'd get your Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Pegasus gloated joyfully. "I'll draw a card and end my turn." He smirked as Kaiba merely switched his monster to defense mode and ended his turn. Drawing a card Pegasus began his own move, "I play one card face down and play this card in defense mode. Dark Rabbit!" A mad looking black rabbit wearing simple armor popped onto the field from a pink puff of smoke.
||Dark Rabbit: Attack: 1100 Defense: 1500 ||
During his next turn Kaiba set up his Dark Clown and Crush Card virus combo. The very same one he had used to cripple Yami Yugi's deck. Pegasus unfortunately knew how to counter this plan and did so immediately. "I activate this Negative Energy!" All the dark monsters including Kaiba's Dark Clown attack doubled, making the virus null.
"Dark Rabbit attack! Murder the Clown!" Pegasus ordered, the empowered Toon leapt forward with a cartoon 'boing' and crushed the clown with one punch, shattering it. The attack dropped Kaiba's life points considerably.
||Dark Rabbit: Attack 2200 ||
Kaiba||LP: 1000||
As the duel played out the thief shook his head almost amusedly, the Priest was losing ground fast, "He entered this duel far too arrogant... he relies too far on power and lacks the art of subtlety... This duel won't get better for him."
Frowning, Ryou had to agree with what his yami said about the duel. He'd already seen the kind of deck Kaiba used and it wasn't suitable for countering a deck like Pegasus's, 'that's true...Kaiba has a power based deck...'
The duel really took a turn for the worse when Pegasus played his Toon World card. The Dark Rabbit seemed to be sucked inside the book but soon as its master called it out the Rabbit rocketed from the book destroying Kaiba's monster. The Dark Rabbit mocked Kaiba by sticking its tongue out, laughed then popped back into the book where it was safe from being attacked. Pegasus chuckled amusedly as Kaiba merely played a face down card and ended his turn.
"My turn then isn't it? Let me show you something interesting Kaiba-boy." Turning a card in his hand over he showed Kaiba the Blue-Eyes he took from him a few turns ago. "This is the Blue-Eyes I got from you." Pegasus placed the monster down onto the field saying, "Watch what happens when I play it." Instead of the mighty looking dragon a tiny Toon version of the dragon popped onto the field with a screech instead of bellowing roar, "All my monsters become Toon monsters! He's much more lovable now isn't he? Toon Attack Crude Kaiser is blown to pieces!"
The Toon Blue-Eyes looked to its master before heeding his word. Inflating itself like a balloon it shot out a bolt of lightning as it exhaled returning its shape to normal. Despite its smaller stature the Toon dragon had the same power as its regular version and destroyed Kaiba's creature. Although it being in defense no damage was done.
Despite liking the sight of the Priest's own beast turning on him, Akefia groaned seeing the Toon version. Still he managed an amused chuckle when he saw Kaiba's horrified expression in response to the things appearance, "This is humiliation at its best."
Seeing the crazed look in the Toon Blue-Eyes' eyes Ryo sweat dropped, 'It looks demented..." He commented before frowning slightly, and I'm pretty sure that's Pegasus's aim...' Looking at the floating Toon World book Ryo came to a realization. 'I've never seen or heard of most of his cards...they must be one of a kind cards Pegasus made for himself!'
A movement from Kaiba made the white haired boy snap his attention back to him. What he saw shocked and confused him. Kaiba had abandoned his hand! 'What's he doing!?'
Looking defiant Kaiba gave Pegasus a cold glare, "Instead of waiting for you to tell me what I'm going to do. I'm going to draw a card and play it in attack mode. That way you don't know what it is and neither do I." Drawing a card he continued his speech, "Watch this! The card I had faith in was...My Blue-Eyes White dragon!" The true version of the mighty white dragon appeared onto the field with a roar that frightened its demented fake counterpart, "I'll show you my anger!" Kaiba declared.
The sudden development caused the Thief King to quirk a brow in intrigue, "Ah? Seems his beast answered his call..." Despite the powerful beast being on the field Akefia questioned if it'd make a difference against the unpredictable Toon creatures, "but will it be enough with that infernal "world" on the field?"
'We'll see...' Ryo responded to his yami, he himself was unsure as well. He watched tensely as Kaiba ordered his Blue-Eyes to attack the fake. Normally two monsters of equal strength would destroy each other; however, Toon monster are far from normal Duel Monsters. The Toon dragon stretched its body out just like in an American cartoon, completely avoiding the true Blue-Eyes' attack. To add insult to injury the jagged toothed Toon proceeded to mock its foes wagging its tail at them.
Not seeing the dodge coming Ryo was shocked, 'What!?'
Up on the balcony standing some ways away and out of attention as he watched Kaiba's rather futile struggle, Bandit Keith chuckled in his mind, 'Heh-heheh, that bastard. No one stands a chance when that card is one the field.' He paused a moment before adding, 'Well no normal card that is, haw-hah.'
Seeing and hearing the situation from his location Malik chuckled, agreeing with his servant, {Heh-heh, indeed those Toon cards are defiantly formidable...despite their appearances. Get those cards for me Keith! With them in the arsenal the Rare Hunters will be more powerful!}
Keith grinned eagerly, this order he'd personally enjoy doing, 'Yes, sir. Defeating Pegasus will just be a bonus! Haw-hah!'
Wow, we're still recapping duels...So sorry guys we thought this would be the last one but seems we still have a bit to go through. Most likely one more chapter. Just hang in there guys.
This chapter was written by me edited by Renagade.
Renagade: Thief Bakura
Me: Ryo, Pegasus, Kaiba, Jonouchi, Bandit Keith, Marik
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