Theseus and Ariadne
It was only 'half way' through the duel so to speak. Minimal amounts of damage had been dealt to both sides, rather they had until the latest move. Within one swift play from Yugi 'Kyuu's most powerful monsters had bitten the dust. The rusted metal 'Labyrinth Tank' was currently vanishing into a fine powder on the board, and the corpse of Jirai Gumo was now collapsing into a pile of destroyed flesh. Cheering had erupted from behind around the same moment, Honda in particular giving a loud shout as the two at the table stared their opponents down. "Yugi, Jonouchi," he shouted, Katsuya turned briefly to grin at the expressions on their friends faces. All smiles and grins, shouts echoing around the large marble room. "You guys are at the top of your game man! Show them how it's done!"
He nodded, turning back to the table with a growing grin. "You got it," he shouted, watching as Mei angrily drew a card. Well, wasn't someone a little ticked?
"It's my turn," he growled, before his expression shifted to a grin once again. Ahhh shit that wasn't good... Stop switching... "First, I'll play Sanga of the Thunder on the board," he shouted, placing the card on the board. "Hehehehehe... My turn is over!" Okay...
Wait, where was the monster..? Yugi frowned from beside him, also staring at the blank space on the board questioningly. Nothing but a card for a few moments... Abruptly however, a small box appeared above the card, tied firmly shut with a gold chord. 'Kaminari'... Thunder. That was the symbol on the lid but... Well shit, who knew what that meant for the moment! Deciding not to bother (The monster was face down after all), he turned his attentions back to the game. Well... He'd find out when he got there he supposed... "Okay," he announced with a nod. "It's my turn! Hah..." Well... On the bright side... "Not a bad guy in sight," he said as his expression shifted to a slight smile, the teen drawing a card. Nothing in his hand that would really help prepare for something at the moment so... "Flame Swordsman charges forward!" Yugi beat all the enemies that they'd had... So with this they had a solid chance! Other than that there was nothing more to do really... As the swordsman came to a stop six spaces down the path, he leaned back on the chair. "End turn!"
Across from him, Kyuu nodded, drawing a card. "My turn again," he stated, before gaining a smirk fairly similar to the one his brother held constantly. "Hehehehhe... The second of the three great guardians is mine!" Wait what? Guardians? That's what they were! And... There were three..? "I set this card face down as well," he announced, smirking. "Only one more before the Guardian springs to life!" Ahhh that didn't sound good... Mizu... The kanji for water was on this box. So they had thunder and water then... And there was a third. ... Why did he not want them to find that third one. "In addition to that," he stated, placing a second card on the table, "I'll play Dungeon Worm in attack mode!"
As he played the card, nothing appeared to happen... For a few seconds, the board fell silent, the card merely shimmering a slight moment. However, within moments after deciding nothing would happen, a rumbling began... Louder... Louder... Yugi and Katsuya both shared a frown as the shaking threatened to topple their cards off the side, before an ear splitting scream of horror came from the board. Katsuya turned, eyes wide as Yugi followed his gaze to the playing field. A gaping hole had been torn through the ground, an enormous worm swallowing the Elven Knight almost completely. "A... A monster from underground," Katsuya said with a growl, teeth clenched. Shit, these two had loopholes around everything didn't they! Through the walls or underground... Below on the field, the knight was fighting off the worm as much as he could, doing little more than gouging out one of the beast's eyes before shouting in pain.
If Kyuu the screams, he certainly wasn't affected by them. He merely laughed, arms crossed again as he 'narrated' the fight. "The elf falls prey to the Dungeon Worm," he shouted, the enormous monster clamping his teeth on its victim before spitting out a bloodied leg and arm. Yugi's lifepoints dropped yet again as the limbs clattered to the ground, and although there was a wall between them it looked as though his former companions knew of his demise as well. The worm in the meantime slithered forward a few squares, as though sniffing out its next meal before it burrowed back to the ground with a low rumble. "Between meals," Kyuu stated with a smirk, his opponents sending a narrowed glare toward the man, "The dungeon worm hides itself under the labyrinth... Hehehehehhe... No matter where you run, you're worm food," he shouted, a mad cackle coming in with it. "And each time it devours an enemy, it's attack power rises by ten percent!"
Ahhhh fuck! Not percentages again! He grit his teeth, before turning to the teen beside him. "Gh... Shit... Got any ideas Yugi," he asked nervously, eyes still trained on the hole. The others had to have heard that scream, it was damn scary! Like it was right beside him... Come to think... He swallowed, recalling (with a shudder) his duel with Kotsuzuka. No one had a reaction to the smell from the board... He'd thought that was because he was on the other end, or maybe because Kotsuzuka played with the zombie deck regularly but... Well heck, some of the crap in this duel was worse!
He shook it off, watching as Yugi drew a card. "It's my turn," he stated, a severe frown in place. He only looked at his card a moment before placing it on the ground with a shout. "And I play this spell; Magical Hats!" The area where their monsters sat were instantly covered by a shroud of 'dust', hiding the two from view. As the shroud collected, it began to clear into four familiar black top hats, the 'question mark' band appearing as the last of the dust vanished. This card... Katsuya grinned as the hats merged into one with the monsters inside. Yugi had used it against the Ventriloquist the day before! The hat split into four as they spun across the nearest four squares, before stopping in place with a light 'thmp'. 50-50 shot of a miss now...
"Alright," he shouted, grinning as silence came over the table. "Now that worm won't know where to attack!"
At those words, Yugi nodded, smirking. "Right... The Magician and Swordsman are hidden somewhere in those hats," he began, smirk growing wider in response to the scowls across from them. "Even with its power up from eating the elf, Dungeon Worm only has 1980 attack points; if it chooses the hat with the Dark Magician," Yugi continued, Katsuya watching as their opponent's faces fell even further, "Who has 2500 attack points, then your dungeon worm is dead!" Yes! Which meant only a small chance of taking a hit!
For a moment, there was no response, save for the growl from Kyuu. However, Mei's face twisted into a grin again, the man having drawn his card and looked over it. "Very well then," he began, Katsuya narrowing his eyes. Damn it, why was it that these two had to switch between 'win'-'lose' so fast... Seriously... "I play this card," he announced, an Arabian looking man with a whip appearing. The man pulled his whip taught, slouching over as he shimmered into full existence. "The Monster Tamer of Hell!" The whip cracked across the ground, the tamer grinning darkly at its master continued. "Oridinarily I wouldn't be able to control a monster which my brother played on the board," he stated, grin widening. "But by using Monster Tamer, not only do I take control of the dungeon worm, I increase its power by 600 points!"
At the side, Yugi visibly winced. Shit... Six hundred with 1980... Definitely more than 2500. Not much more, but it was enough. Great... If that worm hit the Dark Magician, they were dead! Another crack of the whip, and Mei pointed the tamer forward. "Come on, Dungeon Worm! Attack the hat on the corner!"
The table began to shake loudly again, and each player looked forward as the rumbling increased. Fifty-Fifty chance of surviving here... Come on... Louder... Louder... Finally with a thundering roar it appeared, bursting through the top of the hat only to find nothing. "HAH! Yeaaaa!" The beast flailed angrily in an attempt to search out its prey, the cracking of the Monster Tamer's whip sounding in the background. As the worm finally slunk back into its hole with a growl of annoyance, Katsuya grinned. "It missed!" While Yugi continued to stare at the hats, the blond had to drop the grin as he followed his gaze. If they stayed put they were screwed... Hmmm... "It's my turn," Katsuya announced, drawing a card. Abruptly, the cheer from before returned. This one... This was exactly what he needed! "Heheheh... Y'know," the blond said with a grin, flipping the card around in his hands before putting it on the board. "I just hate bein' stuck in dark places... FLAME SWORDSMAN," he shouted, the monster leaping from his hat at his master's command. As the hat dispersed in his wake, the table and those from behind frowned. 'Jonouchi,' Yugi whispered from the side, voice a little overpowered by the shouts of 'WHAT' from the side. 'What are you doing?'
He merely smirked, watching his spell take effect on the field. "Take a look at this," Katsuya said, continuing to laugh. He knew exactly what he was doing... "The power of Salamandra, the Fire Snake!" From within the card shot an enormous dragon, flames licking the sides of the walls as he rushed through the maze. A frightening roar pierced the air, a few of the walls still left smoking in his wake as he surrounded the Flame Swordsman to bless its blade. "Salamandra goes inside the sword, increasing its power by 800," he announced, watching as the swordsman's blade glowed a red-hot orange before continuing. "Here I go... Do it, Salamandra! Attack the Dungeon Worm!"
They were probably gonna tell him he couldn't do that... After all, the dungeon worm was underground... But that wasn't a problem, Katsuya thought as he ignored them with a smirk. From the sword, Salamandra reared his flaming head, giving off a loud roar before diving forward. Katsuya's smirk grew, the blond watching as flames dove into the hole beside Flame Swordsman. Silence passed over the board as the Meikyuu brothers went pale. No one said fire couldn't follow the monster... He just hoped this worked. More time passed, with seemingly no result. Finally however, he heard a faint roar from beneath the hole. Briefly, his eyes widened. Did that mean...
Katsuya shifted a glance over to his opponents and Yugi both, seeing no reaction. Maybe not.. Or maybe- A roar of flames and Salamandra shot back out of the hole, a burning and half-eaten worm corpse tightly gripped in it's mouth. "AHAHA!" He grinned, pumping his fist. "YES! Take that," the blond shouted, watching as Kyuu's face went ghostly white. "The worm burns!"
Beside him, Yugi grinned. "Not bad Jonouchi," he said, the blond turning to give him a similar look. The others as well were shouting now that the strategy had worked- truth be told, if it hadn't, he wouldn't really know what he'd do... As it was though, they were in the clear now!
"Cheer while you can," Kyuu growled, drawing his next card. "For without further ado-" He stared at the card, scowl dropping for a frightening grin. Oh fuck. Ohhhh fuck he knew that face. Obviously not the same, but it was definitely similar to the look he'd seen on Kaiba's face when she tore through Sugoroku's card. Really. Similar. "I play this," Kyuu shouted with a cackle, before slamming the card on the board. A third box appeared on the field, the kanji for 'wind' clearly viewed on it's top for a brief moment. The cords holding the lids down snapped off with a 'crack', and from each box game a glowing orb of sorts while the boxes burned into nonexistence. "HAHAHA! Thunder, Wind, and Water, all united to form the ultimate being! Rise, Gate Guardian," he cried, a shadowy figure appearing from within the triangle the orbs created. "Demon God of the Three Elements! THE GATE GUARDIAN!"
He stared, frowning as the monster began to appear. There was a triangle of light hovering in place as a pair of arms shot through, followed by a second set, and a third... "What in the world," Yugi was muttering, the others struck silent. This... This was oddly similar to when Exodia was summoned, he had to say. With those thoughts he swallowed nervously, drawing back slightly in his chair...This... Didn't mean they lost right? If summoning Exodia meant 'instant kill'... He frowned as the monster appeared before them, mouth slightly open. The three cards summoned into place were still there, and though the monsters were stacked on top of each other, the cards being there cleared up one thing at least. They had three sets of attack... What the hell! The guardian roared, flexing its golden metal arms and claws dangerously from his position between the doors. Wellll wasn't that great... Even if they didn't have a door in mind, there was still a great big monster sitting between them!
"Great," he muttered, teeth clenched. Gate Guardian... 'Guardian' indeed, how were they supposed to beat their way through that thing damn it! "I shoulda known there would have been a 'boss character'!" Shit... Three layer monster looked pretty damn powerful...
And of course the opponents were gonna rub it in about now. As usual. "Heheheheheh... A fatal mistake," they both shouted, voices echoing around the room yet again. "You gave us time to summon the Gate Guardian! And now that it's here, there's nothing you can do!"
You know... He was really sick of those put downs. "Feh!" He snorted, glaring at the two men across from him. There had to be someway out of this... Besides, they were safe in the maze, the Gate Guardian was sitting where he was. "Listen up cue-balls," the blond shouted, his targets showing no visible response. "If you guys are gonna use card combos then so will we; we'll show you just what kind of power we have!"
The brothers merely smirked darkly, Kyuu leaning back in his chair. "Hnhnhn... I spent my turn summoning the Gate Guardian," he stated with a sneer, crossing his arms. Convenient that... Not that they could attack. Right? ...Right? "It's your move, 'Yugi'!" Alright... Now what would he do...
Yugi stared forward, eyes narrowed as he drew a card. "I'm going to play two cards face down," he stated, before bringing his arms back with a frown. Looked like aside from that he had nothing... "End turn!"
"My turn," Mei shouted, the boys looking over with a blank frown. "Gate Guardian," he continued. "Use your power! Sanga of the Thunder, attack the swordsman!" Hang on what! But there was a wall there! He winced, watching as a torrent of lightening charged towards his warrior. Not fair damn it! This thing shouldn't have been able to attack from outside, not after all the crap about flying monsters and stone tunnels they couldn't see!
Shit... Shit... "Damn it!" Sanga had a hundred points more than the Flame Swordsman even with his sword... He was dead...! The blond frowned as he heard chuckling, turning to stare at Yugi.
"Hehehe... We'll see about that," he was muttering, flipping one of his set cards over. Oh? "I activate the card Mirror Force," he shouted, a smirk appearing on his face as he spoke. "It protects the Flame Swordsman, deflecting the electric attack back to the monster who dealt it!" At those words, a shining light sprang from the card across, shield appearing around the swordsman just as the lightning struck its side to bounce right back.
Alright..! He was in the clear! "Thank's Yug," he shouted, grin appearing. Thanks to that card, they'd have one less piece of the Gate Guardian to deal with! At least... He'd figured that before a shout from Kyuu cut their cheer in two.
"Kazejin," he commanded, scowl set on his face as the middle portion of his Guardian responded. "Reflection! Storm Barricade!" Wait what? With a loud 'FUUUUUU', the green 'orb' blasted a gust of air from its mouth, the winds appearing to swirl around the guardian before the lightning hit. Katsuya's eyes widened as the thunder was blocked, rebounding on the rest of the field nearby as his opponents laughed. "Heheheh... Reflection activates automatically when an enemy attacks," Kyuu announced, resulting in a brief scowl from his opponent. "Nothing hurts the Gate Guardian," he shouted. "Nothing!"
Again, Yugi chuckled, a smirk appearing on Katsuya's face as well. Though the thunder had failed to strike Sanga, it had done something... "Too bad your other monster isn't as safe," the teen stated, a pained cry sounding over the board. What was once the Monster Tamer was quickly fried into a black, burnt crisp, his ashes blowing away into the air in silence. "The Monster Tamer is killed!" And by his own ally too!
As Mei and Kyuu both began to growl at the chip to their lifepoints, Katsuya continued to grin. "Whew! That was close... Saved me again Yug, nice one!" Really really saved him actually... Come to think, how many times had he done that so far? He shook it off, drawing his card instead. Couldn't think about that... He was just as competent a duelist after all! "Right... Now it's payback time," he shouted with a grin, the Flame Swordsman pointing his blade forward. Nothing in his hand that would help right now, so with a single nod he watched the Flame Swordsman move forward. Six steps... And with that, he was at the exit of the labyrinth! "Come on Flame Swordsman," he began, the blade charging with energy as he spoke. Now that he was in range, there was only one thing to do right now... First things first; get rid of that damn shield monster! "Attack Kazejin, with the fires of Salamandra!" A roar echoed through the room, the flaming serpent appearing around the blade with a nod. As the dragon charged forward however, it stopped in its tracks, the monster below its target opening its gaping mouth with a low chuckle.
"REFLECTION," Kyuu shouted from above the field, his monster glowing slightly as the sound of rushing water began to come forth from its mouth. "Wall of water!" Shit! At those words, an immense blast of fluid poured out of the beast's mouth, surrounding the monster in a bizarre translucent pillar. Damn... That thing could create a shield too? He growled as Salamandra was held at bay, the dragon hissing as the barrier stood between it and its goal. "Hnhnhnhn... Now do you understand," the man continued with a chuckle, his opponents merely glaring in response. "Water, Wind, Thunder! The power of the three guardians makes their tri-form incarnation unbeatable! And now it's my turn," he shouted, the waters abruptly dropping to the ground in a pounding 'splash'. "Pay the price for your insolence! AQUA WAVE!" Shit...
The waters gathered into an immense wave as Suijin continued to pump out the liquid, the wave barreling towards the hats and Swordsman both. Dark Magician would be fine, Katsuya thought with a wince, the waters passing around the hats no problem. Those things were air tight so long as they weren't the target... This was a matter of water VS fire though! "No," Yugi was muttering, voicing his thoughts completely. "It's going to die..!" Yea. Yea it was... Nice knowing yah Flame Swordsman, he thought with a wince.
"DROWN SWORDSMAN, DROWN," Kyuu was shouting, Katsuya watching as the monster suffered from his elemental disadvantage. Salamandra had attempted to take the brunt of the damage, erecting a 'shield' across the blade. His flames however, were easily extinguished, and as the waters continued to flow, the Flame Swordsman was carried away beneath the depths.
Gh... Shit! As the swordsman gave one last gurgling shout of terror, the point counter to the side began to flip through the numbers. Great... There went his lifepoints again. "Damn it..." As the twins continued to chuckle, he frowned, gritting his teeth and muttering to himself. "Fuck! Losing Flame Swordsman right at the doors..." Worst luck ever worst luck ever... Wait. "This mean I have to walk through that maze all over again," he wondered out loud, scowl deepening at that thought.
"No," Yugi said, drawing a card. Katsuya blinked, turning to him with confusion. He wasn't talking to him but.. That was right... It was his turn... So did he have something to make a comeback? "Your swordsman's death wasn't a waste Jonouchi! Now it's my turn," he called, taking the card he'd drawn and placing it on the board. "And I'll use this card to follow in the Flame Swordsman's footsteps! Come forth, Skull Demon!" A dark thunderclap sounded through the air, and from the waters Suijin had left behind came an ominous shadow. Above the board the shadows began to converge, thunder rumbling through the air yet again as a figure materialized from the darkness. Towering over the walls of the labyrinth, the summoned skull stood, crossing his arms with sightless eyes as the storm around him continued to brew. One of Yugi's most powerful monsters had come... And given the name, whatever it did wouldn't be pretty.
The twins stared at it nervously, tension on their side of the board thick with fear before Kyuu frowned. "But," he muttered, attempting to reassure himself of his safety, "It's at the beginning of the maze! It's attack won't reach the Gate Guardian!"
More chuckling was heard in response, and already Katsuya had a feeling he knew what was going to happen. If its attack was anything like against Haga, then this would be good... Really good. "Heh heh... We'll see about that," Yugi was saying with a smirk, leaning back on his chair. Below, Skull Demon's clawed hands were held upwards, the storming clouds above sending bolts of lightning to his hands. As the demon charged his attack, Yugi's grin widened. "I thought I told you I'm following in his footsteps," he stated, his partner watching as the storm covered most of the board. "The footsteps of his path through the maze!"
At these words, the guardians reeled back, looks of horror appearing on their faces. The dungeon was still flooded from Suijin's attack after all... And it didn't take much to realize what water would do with Skull Demon's next attack. The two turned to look directly at their shorter opponent, eyes wide with fear. "T...That means..."
Yugi's smirk vanished to be replaced with a fairly vengeful scowl, the teen nodding to his monster in a silent command. "That means you DIE! DEMON LIGHTNING," he roared, the monster below giving a growl in response. Thunder sounded about the board, and from the demon's fists, lightning struck the water with a crash. "The electric shock races through the water with lightning speed," Yugi shouted, the current racing through the maze toward the Gate Guardian. All that was delaying the attack for now was the non-conductive surface of the walls and hats, forcing the electricity to bounce through the paths. "And it's headed for Suijin!"
"Alright!" Katsuya grinned, crossing his arms. The grin faltered however, when he recalled the 'middle' portion of the giant. 'Forget it,' Kyuu was shouting, having realized the same thing. 'I'll blow away the water with Kazejin's wind powers! Relfection!'. Instead of a shield however... The grin returned, and the twins followed his gaze with wide-eyed horror.
Nothing was happening... Kazejin was merely frozen in place, hands against his cheeks as he attempted to give even a weak puff of air. "H-Huh! Nothin happened.. But why!" What did they mean 'why', were they blind?
Again, Yugi chuckled, smirk appearing on his face once more. "Surprised," he asked 'innocently', leaning on his chair. "Here's a clue... Remember when your wave passed over the top hats?" The two froze, eyes wide as Yugi held up the trap he'd activated. Below, there was only one hat left over, Katsuya recognizing yet another move from the match against the 'Ventriloquist'. "Hnhnhn... When you did that, you set off this! The Spellbinding Circle!" The expressions of horror grew more, as did Katsuya's grin. YES! "Hexagram activate," Yugi roared, the circle encasing Kazejin completely from within the beast. "And as for Suijin," he continued, "EAT LIGHTNING!"
With those words the beast toppled to the ground, Suijin becoming little more than fried metal. The waters began to recede without the source of their power on the board, and while Suijin's ashen and rusted form collapsed into the water the board was eventually left clear of any evidence he even existed. Kyuu's lifepoints toppled yet again, and as the shouts came from behind to encourage them forward it was easy to ignore his pessimistic grumblings. "Alright," Katsuya shouted, grin widening as he looked down at the two guardians on the ground. While Kazejin was completely motionless, Sanga was trying and failing to right himself on the board with an audible growl of anger. Haha! This boss was a piece of cake! They'd make it through easy! "We'll smack 'm from th' bottom up, like a daruma otoshi!"
Across from him, Mei merely seethed. Eyes narrowed the man drew a card from his deck, almost as red in the face as his twin brother. "Gh... My turn again," he called out, placing a card on the table. "Undo-Magic," he called, the 'de-spell' lock appearing before them. With a loud 'click' the lock broke open, the circle locked around his brother's monster vanishing into a mist. "The spellbinding circle is removed!" At those words Kazejin shook himself, appearing to blush heavily with embarrassment before blowing a large gust of wind to propel himself and Sanga into the air. "Hah! The Gate Guardian is back," he called, his opponents merely staring with slightly narrowed eyes. "It's your turn!"
Katsuya nodded, drawing a card. "Okay then," he shouted across the board. "Here goes..." As he looked over the card, he to share a glance with Yugi. 'Jonouchi', the boy was whispering, the blond nodding in response. Time for their trump cards! "Here's my card," he shouted, placing it on the field with a determined glare. A shower of shadows and flames alike sprouted from the card, appearing to create an almost demonic flame. Ruby red eyes gleamed as they shone from the shadows, and in a flurry of black scales came the dragon he'd summoned to play. "Red Eyes Black Dragon!" A fearsome roar sounded through the air, and the dragon flexed his wings menacingly as it came to rest on the ground.
"And that's not all," Yugi shouted, Katsuya nodding in agreement. That's right... Though they didn't get any more duels in the night before, they sure as hell got some trading done! "I use the magic card I played face down on the board, POLYMERIZATION!" As a swirling vortex appeared, sucking the two closest monsters inside, Yugi smirked. "This is our combo," he shouted, the vortex pulling in even more before an earth shaking roar bellowed through the air. "Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon," he shouted, his partner staring as the creature came into full view. "Combine to become the Black Skull Dragon!"
The blond grinned as their opponents grew pale again, leaning against his chair. "Hah! This is our team's ultimate monster," he shouted, before Yugi nodded in agreement. Below on the board, 'Black Skull Dragon' was looking himself over in apparent confusion, as though wondering just what had happened in the last two seconds. In the end however, it appeared to decide that whatever had occurred was a welcome change, turning its gaze to the maze before them. "You better look for a new dungeon," Katsuya continued with a grin, the dragon before them flexing his now bone-rimmed wings and claws with a growl. "Cause we're breakin' this one int' pieces!"
The twins before them merely stared, mouths hanging open. One minute passed... Two... Hah! They were so shocked by the summon that they were- "HAHAHAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Wait what... He frowned, drawing back slightly. Ok... Yea he'd made a joke about breaking the maze in two but... His joke wasn't nearly that funny, what the hell was going on. "Fools," Kyuu shouted, grin mirrored only by his brother, "Have you forgotten? This labyrinth can only be crossed by grounded creatures... You can merge as many monsters as you like," he continued, the twins still laughing loudly, "But a dragon is always a dragon!"
From beside him, Mei's grin grew as well, becoming dangerously sharklike. "The Black Skull dragon still has wings," he shouted with a grin, "So it can't fit into the narrow corridors... It can't get in range of the Gate Guardian!"
"But the Gate Guardian," the twins chorused, Katsuya growing paler with each word, "Can attack the entire maze! AHAHAHAHAH!" Shiiiiit... Shhiiiiiiiit!
Of all the fucking things to come up! "Ghn..." They were right! Yugi had even told him, 'flying monsters WILL NOT WORK HERE', he'd just screwed everyone over by- Wait... Yugi could have just not used polymerization with his dragon. But he'd used Red-Eyes anyways. What the hell, why the hell did he do that.. What... "H-Hold on..." He narrowed his eyes, looking over to Yugi. The teen was still smirking for some reason... Did he have another half of this plan then? "You... You knew about that too Yug'... Heck you're th' one who told me, but y' still used Polymerization so..." He coughed, silently wondering if he really screwed up as much as he did. Heck, if Yugi thought they needed a big giant dragon on their field... His friend merely nodded in response, resulting in a loud sigh of relief. Phew! Leave it to Yugi to figure out a way out of this... "Heheheheh..." He looked forward, confidence restored yet again as he crossed his arms. "Alright baldies! In that case, I'm done here!"
More shouts came from behind, Katsuya's smile growing larger with each one. 'You can do it guys,' Anzu was yelling, her cheers outweighing their opponent's chuckling by a long shot. 'Us getting out of this maze depends on you, go for it!' Honda was calling, the rest of their words fading into mutterings. Bakura's voice had grown quiet in particular, even by the albino's standards really. Before he could put more thought into it however, he heard something else.
For a brief moment, he thought that what he was hearing was rumbling... Not the 'earth-quake' kind either, more... He didn't know, but as his smile faded it felt weird... He shook it off, focusing on his opponent. One move and he'd see what Yugi was planning... "My turn," Kyuu shouted, before moving to draw a card. A menacing grin came over his face as he looked at what he'd picked up, Katsuya growing pale under the gaze sent their way. H-Hihhh... That was not a good sign... "Heheheh..." The man chuckled, before looking over at the group with a frightening sneer. "This card even scares me," he muttered, before placing it on the table. From the board came an eerie set of shadowed arms, each one ripping into the ground with an unnerving amount of silence. "The magic card Ryoku," he cried, Katsuya and Yugi both staring with a frown. Ryoku... What... The shadowed hands shifted, as though digging for something, and the blond's eyes narrowed further. What the hell did that- He turned, watching as Yugi's expression shifted to that of horror, the boy's eyes glued to his life-point counter. "HAHAHHAHAAA!" Shit that couldn't be good. If Yugi was freaking out, that could only mean- "Now your lifepoints belong to me," he called, Katsuya's eyes widening as those behind him groaned.
"Wait... No way," he shouted, turning to watch his life-point counter tumble down to half the original amount. The steady 'beep' of the counter soon clicked to a stop, the blurred numbers glowing a neon yellow as opposed to the 'safe zone' of green. "Our life points-!"
Ryoku took half their lifepoints and... And... "I take the power from you," Kyuu shouted darkly, the blond across from him watching as the same shadowed arms tore back from the ground with two glowing orbs. "And feed it to the great Gate Guardian!" W-Wait... So... If Sanga had 2600... That would make him more powerful than... As these thoughts came to mind, 'Ryoku' tossed the two orbs to the monsters above, who both eagerly devoured them and grew in size. If he didn't think metal, 'mecha' type monsters could be menacing before... Well, case in point, the two in front of him looked more like floating demonic spirits than robots by this point.
He grew pale, swallowing. Shit... Shit they were s- "I can't attack on the same turn that I play Ryoku," Kyuu stated bluntly, his grin still in place. Oh... Oh ok... The blond sighed in relief, shaking his head. Well, that was alright... "But next turn," the man continued, Katsuya wincing at the shout, "When Sanga of the Thunder and Kazejin attack together, they will have 3500 attack points... More than enough to kill your dragon!" As the teens tensed at those words, Kyuu merely continued to laugh loudly with his brother. "Hahaha! No matter what you do, your lives will end on my next turn!"
Gh... Damn it... 3500 was more than enough to wipe at least one of them out too... Beside him, Yugi merely narrowed his eyes, drawing a card from the table. "Hn," he muttered, sitting up in his chair. "Before that," he announced with a shout, "It's my turn!" The teen looked over his hand, nodding to himself and looking back at the board. Alright... Lets see what he was doing! "Dark Magician proceeds toward the exit from the labyrinth," he called out, Katsuya blinking from beside him. Ah wait what? On the board, the top of one of the hats flew off, to the side, and as a hand came to grab the edge the Dark Magician swiftly moved to pull himself out. Landing with a soft 'thump' to the ground and giving his master a nod, he turned to face the hall that lead directly to the maze exit. Dark Magician... But he wasn't nearly enough to take on the Gate Guardian... Course, Yugi probably had a plan going so he probably couldn't complain. Still, what was he going to do? "Dark Magician," Yugi continued with a set glare, eyes not moving from the end of the board. "You're a seven star monster... So advance seven spaces!" Again, the magician nodded, before doing as commanded. Seven spaces... That would take him a full square out of the maze. Quiet tapping noises echoed around the board, and as the Meikyuu brothers continued to laugh at the move the teen's eyes narrowed. "Listen up," he shouted, pointing toward them as his magician continued to walk steadily to his goal. "We'll continue on no matter what stands in our way... So long as there's even a slight chance! With seven steps," Yugi continued, the room falling silent, "We're out of the maze... And one step away from the exit! And before my turn ends," he continued, "I'm playing one more card!" As it was placed on the ground, Katsuya stared, a small glow appearing on the field beneath Kazejin. "Monster Reborn," he called out, the glow from the card and field both intensifying. "I'm going to raise one of your monsters and make it defend my own!"
At this, Mei merely smirked. "Hah! Bring back any monster you want," he shouted, apparently oblivious to the fact that beneath Kazejin's breath, pieces of metal were now re-forming. "It won't make a difference... And now it's my turn! Gate Guardian," the man shouted, his monster rumbling in response as it attempted to steady itself above their revived former comrade. "Attack the Dark Magician!" Ohhhh Yugi this better work... He was dead if that hit connected... "Double Attack," Mei continued with a grin, the metal form of Suijin still morphing and misting back into shape. "Demon's Wind and Thunder!" The blast was gathered above the magician, tendrils of fire and air swirling as they charged for the inevitable before chuckling broke out from Katsuya's own side.
The twins couldn't see it from there but... Katsuya continued to snigger as Suijin finished at the bottom of the Gate Guardian, while Yugi crossed his arms to watch. "Attacking is useless," he stated, watching as the charged attack shot forth, he continued. As he said this, the watery demon across from them rumbled, as if to ask what happened while he was gone. "Suijin," he shouted, the monster abruptly dropping his mouth open for the familiar torrent of water to escape. "Use Reflection!" The Meikyuu brothers froze as the water shot forward, wrapping around the Dark Magician in a large protective dome.
"S-Suijin!" That was right... And while Suijin's reflection wouldn't be as effective as Mirror force, they wouldn't take damage that turn... Nor would they take damage when Suijin was destroyed, since it wasn't their monster!
He grinned, arms crossed as he laughed. "Hahaaah! Smooth move Yugi!" They survived this turn... Somehow. "Now.." What to do... Ignoring the mutterings from their opponent, he looked down at his deck, grin disappearing to shift back into his determined glare. 'Alright,' Yugi was saying, the look he gave telling him all he needed to know. All on him now... 'It's your turn, Jonouchi!' The blond nodded, eyes narrowing as his hand came to rest on the deck. "Yea..." Now what... He drew a card, frowning. Everything depended on his draw... There was only one way to win! Once Suijin was destroyed, they'd be screwed... And there was no way that the Meikyuu brothers would stand to have their attacks blocked again. One shot... He looked over his card, before blinking. This... This card was... A grin came over his face as a plan came into being, and he chuckled. "Heheheheh... I just had a good idea," he said with a grin, the 'Copycat' card gripped tight in his hand. "I play Copycat," he shouted, grin widening as the card began to glow on the board.
"W-What!" The twins balked, eyes wide as they leaned over the table to stare at the monster. "The mimic illusionist!" Damn straight it was!
Katsuya continued chuckling, watching as the mirror-faced wizard appeared on the board. The robes swirled as the magician waved cheerily, quite uncaring about the fear on his opponent's field. "That's right... And I'm gonna copy your card 'Ryoku'," the blond shouted, crossing his arms with a grin as the magician suddenly sprouted those same shadowed arms from before. "In otherwords, I'm taking half of yer life points and turnin' them into power for US!" The arms tore through the ground from Copycat's card, swiftly returning from their search with the stolen lifepoints. "And I'm giving it all to the Black Skull Dragon!" With a violent roar, the dragon on their field took both, pulsing as he increased in size and devoured the energy received. Meal finished, he reared up on his hindlegs with a 'grin' of sorts, Copycat vanishing from the board now that his work was done. Alright! Half of each the brothers lifepoints was added to the dragon's power... And if his math was right...
"Good job Jonouchi," Yugi said with a grin, his friend nodding in response. That gave Black Skull Dragon over 4000 attack points... Yes! With this kind of power, they could easily beat the Gate Guardian! ...Or at least keep it from attacking really.
Across from them, the Meikyuu brothers were seething, as though unable to tell if they should laugh or scream. In the end, it looked as though they decided on screaming. "You stupid morons," Kyuu roared, Katsuya taking back all comments on one being calmer than the other. Holy shit he could not wait to get out of here... "How many times do I have to tell you! The Black Skull Dragon CANNOT CROSS THE LABYRINTH!" He continued to growl, redfaced as he drew a card. "It's my turn," he shouted, visibly shaking as his brother blinked a few times at the tone. "KAZEJIN DESTROYS SUIJIN," Kyuu continued, the brother sharing a crazed glance with his twin. From directly above him, Suijin was blown against the ground, the force of the wind enough to leave a crater that hit the board itself. The rest of the metal followed after it within moments, and as it vanished from sight Kyuu's face was still held in a crazed grin "Haha...Ha"
"Hehehehehe..." As the two turned back to face their opponents, they grinned viciously, the elder apparently deciding to ignore the change in composure from his brother. "Now what, Yugi," Mei called with a grin, his own expression no different from that of the start of the duel. "You have no way of blocking our attacks... And on the next turn, we win! HAHAHAAA!"
Katsuya frowned, before a glance to Yugi told him that this was far from the case. Well... He had a plan obviously. Didn't have a clue what it was, but it was probably something good. "Hnhnhn..." The boy smirked, arms still crossed as he looked across the board. "Now's the time when I laugh," he began, the Meikyuu brothers tensing in response. "Haven't you figured it out," Yugi asked, leaning forward to take one of the cards he'd set off the board. "The real reason why I took the Dark Magician through the maze?" As the twins continued to tense, the teen held it up, activating it. "This! The magic card shift! This card switches my monsters, letting me put the strongest ones up front!"
Hahaaa! Yes! Katsuya grinned as the card was replaced on the board, activating at Yugi's words; 'SHIFT,' he called out, and from both monsters came a blinding light. With this... Black Skull Dragon didn't need to bother with the maze! The light intensified, surrounding the monsters both before slowly dying down. At their side of the board appeared the Dark Magician, the sorcerer kneeling in a defensive stance. He stood up once the light cleared, and after sending a glance to his master chose to turn his attention to the other side of the field. At the other end however, came a rage filled growl, bone-white armor on pitch black scales appearing from the pillar of light. Black Skull Dragon was there and ready to fight... And since Kazejin's shield only worked on monsters other than itself... "Alright," the blond cheered, before pointing the dragon forward with a nod from his friend. His turn after all... It was time to finish this! "Black Skull Dragon! METEOR FLARE!" The dragon roared, rearing on it's legs at the command. Without even bothering to charge an attack it released a series of red-hot blasts from its mouth, each one hitting their target clean in the face. With destruction of both Sanga and Kazejin the twins points plummeted simultaneously, the devices hitting zero and giving off a loud 'beep' in response. "Heh... We win," he shouted as the holograms dispersed on both sides of the field, point counters 'clicking' off at those words. Behind him the others were shouting, and with a sliding clack the group watched six starchips come across the board. The maze had clicked back into the board immediately after loss, and grabbing two of the chips from the relatively smooth surface he grinned further. "Haha! We can get t' the castle now!"
As they gathered their cards however, the twins began to chuckle again, eliciting a frown from their former opponents once more. "Hnhnhnhnhn..." The pair grinned, arms crossed. "This game isn't over just yet..."
Wait what? "What th' hell are you talkin' about," he muttered, frowning. The duel was over, of course it was... "Didn't we just beat you?"
Kyuu shrugged, the cunning smirk still on his face. "Oh yes," he stated, "You have our respect for defeating us in our own labyrinth of course..." Yea, 'respect'... "And you've gotten your starchips," the man continued, sharing a look with his brother.
"But don't tell me you've forgotten," asked Mei, his own expression also rather fox-like in appearance. "You haven't really won until you actually get out of the maze!"
Gh... Katsuya scowled, tensing against his chair. That was right, they still had to pick a door... Shit... "Hnhnhn.." He turned as Yugi began to chuckle, a smirk on the boy's face. "Oh, we haven't forgotten... Isn't this what you said," he asked, pocketing his deck before crossing his arms. While Katsuya as well pocketed his cards, he watched as his friend continued, smirk widening. "There are two doors, 'Mei' and 'Kyuu'; only one leads to the surface... And we only get to open the door of the person we beat! However," he added, his friend slowly turning back to stare at the back walls. "We defeated you both at the same time! So both doors should be opened!"
That was right..! If it was a tie, they should get both shots right? "No," shouted the brothers, Katsuya gritting his teeth. Great... Apparently not. "Only one door will open," they shouted, the blond continuing to growl in response.
"Come on," he shouted, the twins merely chuckling in response. Seriously, what was with these pricks and pulling rules from their ass? "That ain't fair at all!"
"Yea," came the voice of the others, Anzu's voice angrily rising above those behind her. "If that's the case then there was no point in a double knock out!"
As the woman finished her own two cents, Honda's annoyed growl could clearly be heard rising in volume, the teen red-faced at the moment. "Damn it... We're still stuck with a 50-50 shot at this! What the hell was the point of the duel!" Yea, that was his question too... Then again, this did mean they could choose either one.
The Meikyuu brothers continued to laugh, their voices echoing around the room amid the growls of the others. "That's right," they chorused, taking a relaxed seat against their chairs. "Now you must choose your fate... On your right, 'Kyuu', and on your left, 'Mei'!" Laughter continued, the brothers gesturing to their respective doors. "Which one will you choose?" As the group continued to grumble, the brothers grinned. "Let me give you a hint," Kyuu was saying. "The 'Kyuu' door is right."
"No no," Mei was adding with a smirk, clearly enjoying the position of 'power' he and his brother held. "The 'Mei' door is the best choice!" Damn itttttt...
He gripped the side of the table, scowling. "Damn it, I know one of you is lying," he shouted, grinding his teeth before standing up from his seat. "But you can both shut up until we figure out which one, got that?" As the twins continued to chuckle, he sat back down against his chair and grumbled. Man... They said that they'd speak in truths or lies, but all they did was point last time... If that was all they'd do when asked a question, how the hell was he supposed to figure this out? "Man..." The blond rubbed his face, groaning. How could those two morons be so confident in this, it was a 50-50 shot they'd be right... Damn it, this was all hurting his head... "I can't think anymore Yug'," he muttered as the others came by to help out with the 'riddle'. "It's all yours..."
"Jesus Jonouchi, pull yourself together," Honda muttered from behind. Just shut up, his head was pounding right now...
More chuckling came from the other side of the table, and Katsuya looked up with narrowed eyes. Hn... What now? "It seems you're pondering the existence of a third door," Kyuu was asking Yugi, toothy grin still in place.
"How about this," Mei offered, gesturing to the open room. "We'll give you five minutes to search every inch of this hall." They were letting them search..?
The blond jumped out of his chair, nodding. Alright... If that was the case, maybe he could figure out if one of the doors was fake too! "Got it," he shouted, the others turning to run about the room as well. "Let's search this place top to bottom!" As he moved to check around the back however, Kyuu's voice could be heard again. Now what..? 'Aren't you going to look,' he was asking, Katsuya turning back to see Yugi still sitting on the chair with a smirk. He wasn't..?
"I'm fine where I am," the teen said confidently, smirk still in place. "It's easiest to judge the correct door from this spot." Well... If he said so. Really, Katsuya thought with a shrug, he was probably right. He moved off to the back of the room, peering beneath the doors best he could. As he attempted to see where the light went (If it stopped, there was probably a wall, but so far it was just fading out...), the blond suddenly tensed. He stood, a frown over his face as an eerie feeling came over him. Both doors were real, no doubt about that... But that wasn't what had him all creeped out. Right now... He could hear it again... That rumbling sound from before.
He turned, frown deepening as the strange, air-shaking rumbling came around the room. Nothing seemed wrong... No one else looked like they were feeling it, save maybe Bakura; the albino was holding his head, back toward him as he appeared to shake himself off... The others however, were searching around the sides, checking for cracks or even buttons that would lead to a third door. What was going on though... The blond narrowed his eyes as for a moment, he swore he heard muttering. Now what- "FIVE MINUTES ARE UP," the Meikyuu brothers shouted, Katsuya jumping as he was pulled out of his thoughts.
The blond sighed, walking back with the others. Well... No luck on his part... "Sorry Yugi," he said with a grimace, turning to his friend as he came to the table. "Looked everywhere but there's no way of tellin' which way t' go from that..."
As Bakura came up from behind, he turned, blinking as Anzu asked him how he'd done. "What about you Bakura," she was saying, the albino looking a little worse for the wear. Anzu and Honda also had no luck, maybe Bakura did..? "Did you find anything?"
The teen shook his head, appearing just a little... Off. "No," he said quietly. "I didn't..." Something wrong..?
Across from them, the twins were laughing again, both gesturing toward their door. "Well then! Back to the matter at hand," they shouted, the group turning back to face them. "Yugi," the brothers called, "Choose a door! Will it be Mei... Or Kyuu?" The teen merely smirked, and Katsuya watched as he held up two 10 yen coins between his fingers. One one, the kanji 'Mei' and other, 'Kyuu' was written. That was one way to do it he guessed. The twins across from them blinked as they stared at the coins, before bursting into laughter. "AHAHAHHAA! You're going to decide with a coin toss?" Really confident... And how was two coins a coin toss?
While Yugi replaced them in his hands however, he frowned. Hang on... He had 'kyuu' on the opposite side of the 'Mei' coin as well... What was that about? "Be quiet and watch," the teen ordered calmly. "I have a coin in my left and right hands..." There was a soft clink as Yugi folded his hands over and put them down. "And I now put them on the table... We're going to play a small game," he continued, those behind him blinking. "I will keep these coins covered with my hand... And you will decide which one I move. The coin that remains hidden," Yugi stated, eyes narrowing slightly, "Will be my guess. Are you ready," he asked, the brothers conversing across him for a moment.
As they whispered, Katsuya stared, finding an odd feeling of paranoia creeping up. Was something else in the room..? Sheesh, it was like someone was holding a knife to his back right now, what the hell..? He turned slightly, seeing no one but Bakura and the others behind him. What was going on... Felt like the air was a freaking blanket or something... The blond swallowed as Mei guessed the left hand, turning to look back at the table. "Alright then," Yugi stated, removing his hand from the coin.
"Ahhh," Kyuu stated with a smirk. Upon the coin revealed was the kanji 'kyuu', and while a majority of the group looked across the table in silence it's 'counterpart' continued to grin. "My door! So then the coin in your other hand must be Mei!" He chuckled, Yugi merely narrowing his eyes. "Which means you chose my brother's door!"
From behind, Katsuya tensed yet again. Something behind him..! He turned only to see Bakura narrow his eyes, muttering. "He chose Mei," Bakura was asking, somehow seeming a little less than his usual self. 'B-Bakura,' Anzu was asking as the teen moved past, frowning. "No- You're wrong Yugi," the albino shouted. "The Kyuu door was the right one!" What the... How the hell did he know?
Chuckling came over the table again, and Kyuu merely smirked. "It's too late," he stated, his brother chuckling as well at the growls from most of their 'victims'. "Yugi already chose the Mei door... Hehehhehe..."
"You should have listened to your friend instead of taking a gamble Yugi," Mei continued with a grin, chuckling continuing to echo about the room. "The correct answer is... The Kyuu door!" With a click, the door labeled 'Kyuu' opened wide, a single gold key revealed. It was fairly ornate in appearance, and definitely unique. Of course, like everything else that door had to do with, the kanji 'kyuu' could be seen rather clearly on it. "HAHAHHAHAAAA..." The twins continued to laugh, grins widening. "This key is the only thing that can open the exit," they cheered, Katsuya's frown deepening in response. Oh great... And what he wouldn't bet that these guys would catch him picking the lock in an instant. Not that he couldn't take two guys, but it'd probably be difficult given earlier acrobatics. "You chose wrong Yugi... Thereby, you are forbidden to leave this labyrinth! You and your friends must stay here," they continued with a low growl. "Forever!"
At this, both Yugi and Bakura began to chuckle, Katsuya finding himself looking at the taller of the two with a slight frown. Alright, what the hell was going on with Bakura? "I knew it," Yugi was saying, his friend attempting to pay attention to his words rather than the albino behind him. "You gave everything away," he continued with a smirk, the twins quickly frowning in response. "All the clues I needed were on your faces! Those smug expressions, confident that I wouldn't choose correctly... Because there is no right answer!" Wait what? Katsuya blinked, turning to look at the doors. "If I chose Mei you'd say the correct door is Kyuu... If I chose Kyuu, you'd say Mei..."
"In other words," Bakura continued from behind, voice seeming fairly unlike the teen, "They decide which door is correct, after knowing what their opponents choose." As the teen chuckled, Katsuya and Anzu both shared a nervous glance. Maybe Honda couldn't tell from behind the guy but... Well, given he was right between them it was fairly clear to at least them that this wasn't normal behavior. "It's the perfect swindle," Bakura was saying with a low chuckle, a small shiver running up their spines. What was wrong with Bakura..?
Across from them, Kyuu merely snorted. "Feh! It doesn't matter," he shouted, smirking again. "You still couldn't answer correctly... Therefore, we win!"
Yugi shook his head, and as Katsuya looked at him again he noted that the second coin was still covered. "Not so..." He moved his other hand, revealing the 'kyuu' kanji on his second coin. 'WHAT,' the twins were roaring, eyes wide with shock. 'BOTH..' "Hnhnhn... The coin I hid under my right hand only had Kyu written on one side... But the first coin," he continued, the smirk growing, "Had 'Mei' written on one side and 'Kyuu' on the other... Hnhnhn... I forgot to tell you," he added, picking up the two coins and pocketing them as his opponents seethed. "One of my hands doesn't play fair..."
"Hnnnng!" Katsuya smirked as the two brothers in front of them growled, the younger ripping out the 'Kyuu' key and tossing it over. "Tch! You win," Kyuu shouted, his brother merely looking at them in aggravated shock. "Take the key and get out of our sight!"
Hahaha! Yea! "What..." The blond blinked, as Bakura's voice came from beside him quietly. Turning to look at the albino, he stared as his friend looked around confusedly "Erm... W-What just happened..?" Katsuya frowned, looking at the teen. What did he mean 'what just happened', he was right there... "Er... Did you just win Yugi," he asked, turning to the boy.
Beside him, Anzu frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you feeling alright..." Yea... That was a good question. It really didn't look like it.
Katsuya grabbed the key from the table, walking over to the 'Kyuu' door with a frown as his thoughts stewed. What the hell was going on here... It was like Monster World without the monsters... He attempted to shake it off, pushing the key into the door and turning it with a 'click'. A loud 'thunk' could be heard as a crack appeared in the center of the door, the door swinging outward with a loud creak. They could deal with this later- it wasn't like Bakura had put the ring on or anything right? That would be completely and horribly... Stupid. Bad. Really stupid and really really bad. Um. He forced the paranoia back again, better judgement vanshing in lieu of a grin. "Alright," he shouted, tossing the key back to the Meikyuu brothers behind them. Not really caring where it landed, he focused his attentions to the dark tunnel ahead of them. "We're outta the maze... Next stop," he continued, walking through the door, "Pegasus' Castle!" Now wasn't the time to worry about things; they had ten starchips, and no where to go but 'up'!
"Lets go!"
AN: Ahhh... This would have been up much sooner if I didn't get caught up in colouring pictures... Whoops... Anyways!
And the Tag-Team duel is over! You know what that means...~ It means that next chapter we'll see some bad-assery in motion! Not to mention the start of what will be an avalanche of changes for this arc. In any case. There isn't much to say, due to the speed of this update really... That's actually why this chapter seems slightly shorter than the 'norm'. Fun fact guys; from the point where we started hitting 12,000 per chapter, only 10,000 has been the actual story. Even for the last one, which hit '15,000' words by the end of the edit. Generally, when I type out the chapter, it hits the 6,000-8,000 word range, with around 2,000 (Sometimes even 4000) words added during the edit. After that, everything is my words to you~.
Poll results so far are unchanged~ However, an interesting fact; if cross-dressing does indeed win out, then the poll will knock off 'Priestess' and continue on with 'Crossdressing' and 'Male' as vote options. This is because the only thing that people have to go on until late in Battle City is a stone tablet. So we really can't tell if the Priest is a lady crossdressing or a man.
Anonymous Review Responses
New reviewer! Hey there Ayu! Glad to see you like the fanfic. As for the links... I'll test them now, but you need to remove the spaces between the characters of the link. FanFiction doesn't support web-pages in the stories or profiles, so unfortunately this is the best I can do for now. Sorry about that... From what I've checked though, the images are fine. Check and double check that all spaces between letters are gone when you paste the link- some of them are between the '%' and the '20', a space that tends to like hiding...
Iona! Yea Keith gets what's coming, but then he comes back! D: Or.. Something. I don't know, part of me likes that he got a twisted second chance, but the other part is screaming 'WHYYYY'. Onnn the other hand, re-reading 'R' gave me an idea on how to get it mixed in with Doma. After all... No one said they didn't successfully get part of the 'Avatar' project going... Not sure if I'll go through with this idea though, as it seems almost literally 'Deus Ex Machina'... 'God in the Machine'. Hehehe...
Glad you like the fan art! Speaking of fanart, finished flat-colouring something, so I hope you enjoy that too. ;)
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that should put up warnings for explicit language, but it's a little late now.
The title 'Theseus and Ariadne' comes from the couple who slew the Minotaur... Though technically Theseus did all the work and Ariadne just acted on a love-interest and led him through the tunnels. Sometimes she didn't even do that. She just gave him a ball of yarn. Ah well.
You probably noticed this ages ago, but when it's Jonouchi's POV and he's thinking about something specific (As opposed to the general 'omnisient' view), Kaiba's referred to as 'Seto-chan'. ...Boy, you are digging yourself a hole. Oddly enough, I'm looking forward to when he slips up. He'll probably get a briefcase to the face.
Yes, that monster really is called the 'Monster Tamer of Hell'. Adding 'Hell' in Japan tends to instantly make things a million times worse. Kind of like 'Darkness', or 'Terror' or such. Whoo!
Exoida is actually compared to the Gate Guardian by the brothers themselves; specifically, they say that some cards require certain monsters to be on-hand or on-field to summon, and that Exodia was the only one. However, Pegasus created the Gate Guardian specifically for the Meikyuu brothers. And then more cards came...
Each of the 'gods' used to summon the Gate Guardian use the compounded versions of the words for Thunder, Water, and Wind on their boxes. Not to mention 'jin', which means 'human' in the case of the bottom two of the guardian... Any who! Interesting fact, but aside from the obvious (Sui comes from water, kaze from wind, rai from thunder), but they all have faces and arms. Yet they form one giant monster. ... Mecha anyone? Or... Power rangers? (I feel the nostalgia seeping in...)
Hey changed names! Interestingly enough, though the cards got their translated counterparts, the names called out... Didn't. Huh. Anyways. Elven Knight is the Celtic Guardian as mentioned last chapter, whereas Skull Demon is the Summoned Skull.
Also... 'Suijin's attack flooded the maze!' 'THAT MEANS YOU DIE, BITCHES." Even though Yugi didn't say that last word there, anyone on the receiving end of that phrase will feel like he said it. Hell, I felt like he said it. Yugi can be harsh.
Interesting fact, but Yugi appears to use a lot of strategies in this duel that are from his battle against the Ventriloquist. Magical Hats and the Spellbinding Circle inside the hat are the biggest two really... Reusing strategies is fun~
A daruma otoshi is a toy where you knock out the bottom segments of a pillar, without letting the other ones fall down... Rather, it's a pile of wooden disks with a daruma on top. It's really really old, but also really really common as a kid's toy in Japan to this day. You do this (knocking disks out) with a mallet by the way. HAVE FUN.
I got bored and made 'Polymerization' bold. Heee. Normally, I only do that with attacks. Anyways, interesting point here; somehow, even though he didn't get Red-Eyes until he was on the island, Yugi has a Black Skull Dragon in in his deck. Even... Though he needs a Red-Eyes to make it. What the hell is with this kid, is he a seer or something? Heck, it gets even crazier with the filler arcs. It's like... I can see Kaiba asking him why the hell he's got a card that requires Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to fuse, with Yugi just shrugging and going 'Eh, felt like it'.
He'd do that. You know he would.
How can you NOT see where the Meikyuu brothers are coming from in their laugh fest? It's like 'WE JUST TURNED THE MONSTER THAT KICKED YOUR ASS INTO A DRAGON. SO... HE CAN'T GO THROUGH THE MAZE NOW. YEA.' Granted this bites them in the rear about two seconds later but WHATEVER.
You can practically see the Meikyuu brothers grabbing their heads in rage during the final chapter of this duel. Seriously! How many times are they like 'YOU CAN'T USE DRAGONS IN THE GODDAMNED DUNGEON! ARRGH'. And then suddenly Yugi and Jonouchi do, and they win god damn it. That's gotta SUCK. Granted, this happens to pretty much anyone that Yugi and Jonouchi face in the series... After all, Jonouchi's still standing later on during his duel against 'Yami' Malik, after taking a hit from freaking RA. In a SHADOW GAME. (Which means he felt that. ALL OF IT.) Granted he collapsed about two minutes later but still. He freaking stood up!
Also, to clear things up, Jonouchi doesn't have a weird sixth-sense in the hearing voices way... Yugi aside, it was allll his head. Which might speak wonders for his conscience as assumed by him but in any case... Well... There was a bit of spirit-y business during Kaiba's coma, but that's over now. Notice how Jonouchi didn't hear Kaiba for a while after she woke up, and when he does, it's because of a dream he had... Dreams that were really just that. HOWEVER...
Notice how he's seeing/hearing/smelling the things on the board with what seems to be more clarity than the norm... Like Beaver Warrior getting gouged through the throat. Yay? You can probably tell by now that I have way, way too much fun going into detail on what's on the board. Also his sensitivity to the 'rumbling' that happens when the Ring is active is part of this... There's a VERY good reason for this, and it comes into play much later! So don't start throwing tomatoes alright?
When everyone starts complaining about how there was no point in ending the match with a double knockout, I had to frown; the way the Meikyuu brothers had it set up, the player you beat was the 'door' you picked, regardless of whether or not that was actually the goal. However, that means that a double knockout should have been preferable... As it would mean the opponents would still have a choice.
By the way, it really is 'Fluffy' behind them right now; in the panel right after the Meikyuu brothers say 'MOVE YOUR HAND', we see a small toning 'star' around Bakura's head to draw our attention to him. If you look at his eyes, they're not the usual soft round ones, and his hair seems slightly more messy than usual. DUN DUN DUNNNN. Granted, within the next page it's fairly obvious that, given the crap with the ring in the same chapter, it's the 'Other one'... (As we actually see his evil-face quite clearly when he shouts) But still.
OH GOD THIS CHAPTER. So long, to the point that finding the mid-point was hell in itself! ARG. As it is, there's still some maze-issues after that... But fear not, for we encounter the amazingness that is Kaiba next chapter!
Fan-Art and Fic Art
One picture for you! Not a new one so much as an improved one, but I flat-coloured the 'poster' for the fanfic. I showed you the line art in the last chapter; the image was titled 'Skin'. Obviously the details on scars are missing, but that's because I put that sort of thing in when I shade the image. Same with the background and special patterns on things like kimonos really.
Same thing as usual, remove the spaces and you'll have a link!
http: / /i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO%20Fanfic%20- %20Skin/ YGO-1. jpg
Until next time, I'll see you!