Revenge Before Reason
Watching the battle Katsuya had to admit to one glaring fact that he could no longer ignore. Personally, he was beginning to mentally kick himself for not seeing it sooner... It was literally right in front of him after all. No one else saw it of course... That would have been pretty weird otherwise, and they'd have definitely reacted. However, as he stared across the balcony and swallowed back a comment there was no doubt about it.
These holograms... Were not supposed to look like what he saw. Not by a long shot, that was for sure. Ryu-Kishin had been a hulking mass of moving 'liquid' metal and at his flaming attack toward Feral Imp's motionless card he had heard a piercing and inhuman screech that he wasn't even sure could be emulated by a computer. Curse of dragon's own blast of red-black flames had melted the armour right off his opponent in retaliation, before the burns set a now scaled and revolting looking Ryu-Kishin ablaze, flames lasting for a few moments before allowing it the peace that was death. Swordstalker had summoned in his place, and the ethereal spirit of Ryu-Kishin had been enough to drive a figurative blade of ice through his own heart. Ghosts were one thing... Zombies, mummies and other things. Ghosts of god damned 'god demon's were another thing all together though. Swordstalker charged... Only to be taken down by the Dark Magician, who gave a humoured and dark smirk as he switched places with the dragon VIA an obvious 'tag-team' switch out. Briefly, as the magician charged up his magic he had heard chuckling...
He'd thought these were just lights. Just some intricate tricks that Seto had put into the dueldisks. Well done if not obsessive voice acting with overly accurate details. He was quickly proven wrong.
Swordstalker vanished in a blast of black lightning, but as the disk was pulled back the hovering and almost stone-like cards remained in place. La-Jinn in turn appeared and taunted the Dark Magician into attack before taking refuge in his lamp, the clawed golden device giving off loud and aggravating clicks as it scuttled across the ground. Dark Magician's face visibly grew pale, regardless of already odd complexion, when Curse of Dragon's piercing roar hit the air under his own comrade's attack. Inside the card however, the dragon could do nothing.
He'd thought the others were just ignoring it... Hiding it like he was, regardless of already pale complexion. Maybe it was because of his apparently 'recent' eye-for-detail... Was it just him, or was Seto's 'acting' fooling even herself out there, her obvious exhaustion somehow holding no effect over her at all? La-Jinn burned another card... Three swords hovered in the air before vanishing into very real looking flames. No one seemed to really notice all of this, so maybe it was just something they weren't talking about, like he was. When Eye of truth came into play however, he had to stare. Blue-Eyes image sat across one of the cards... But why the hell wouldn't Seto have played that card if she had it? That was, without a doubt, her 'favourite', to a pretty damn obsessive point... So why the hell didn't she summon it! Yugi seemed unaffected by this reveal after only a few moments. There was obviously something there that he'd missed, something that Yugi knew... The battle went on. The Ancient Lamp was skewered by the Magic Boxes Yugi had cast into play, and as the Magician exited his, the same dark smirk was in place.
"Ah-ah-ah," the Magician was saying, Katsuya's eyes widening momentarily as he heard the voice. They.. They'd heard that right? They'd heard... Dark Magician pointed his staff forward, and as he watched it again seemed that only he had seen those things. La-Jinn was electrocuted violently by the black lighting, the smell of smoking and burnt flesh accompanying the already acrid smell of smoke as he vanished into a pile of oddly coloured dust. There was no way Seto would have programmed something that intense for a card she didn't use right..? He had continued to watch in silence as he pondered that, and Saggi the dark clown was sent out next...
Same with Gaia from Yugi's side. The horseman stood valiantly, as he was called to attack, hoofs clacking across the stone ground as he urged his horse to charge the clown before it. Regardless of being skewered by a drilling blade however, regardless of the lance embedded in its abdomen, the clown merely laughed in response. "Nyahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Dark, poisonous smoke seeped from the clown's wounds, Katsuya coughing as the clouds seeped into Yugi's side of the field. How... How was he the only one seeing this..? His vision swam slightly, the poisonous clouds floating through the air as he continued to choke. What the hell was going on, that stuff wasn't seriously... Affecting him was it?
"J-Jonouchi," Bakura asked worriedly, turning to him from the field. Over on the towers the horse had been the first to fall, its rider soon to follow in the poisoned air. The Dark Magician knelt on the ground, struggling to breath and holding to life only a moment before death finally claimed him. In the clouds of smoke, their bodies quickly evaporated into nothingness... "Jonouchi," the albino asked again, tapping his shoulder hesitantly. "Are you alright..?"
He nodded, breathing deeply as he looked over the others. Fine... He was fine... Whatever that 'poison' was had him feeling pretty damn crappy but... Another cough, and he put his hand against the railing to steady himself. "Are you sure man," Honda was saying with a slight frown, Anzu giving a similar expression from beside the teen. "You look almost as pale as Kaiba over there." Honda, only snow could be whiter than Seto-chan now... That and Bakura.
The blond gave another nod, scowling slightly. Honestly, it was nothing..! (Besides, would they really believe him if he said that he was being poisoned by Crush Card Virus?) "I said I'm fine! It's nothin' alright? Prolly jus' from tha' cold I got yesterday..." As if to support this fact, he sniffed before turning back to the duel. In the clouds of poisonous smoke, Saggi had continued to laugh, eventually bleeding out and dissolving into the black and endless clouds. "Damn," he muttered under his breath as the others whispered amongst themselves. The poison had since faded slightly, resembling more of a thin curtain hovering over Yugi's side of the field. "Talk abou' biological weapons..."
Now that that had happened Yugi was left with spells and low level monsters... Likely against Blue Eyes. Silver Fang was summoned to Yugi's defence, the white wolf growling nervously as he paced on the spot. In the end he had taken a defensive crouch, before the Battle Ox was summoned from Seto's own side. 'Axe Crusher,' Seto had cried, the enormous minotaur rushing forward. The axe had cleaved Silver Fang clean in two, but it wasn't a pretty sight. From head to tail the wolf had been cut, both halves falling to the ground on a mess of blood and organs before disappearing into the poisonous fog on Yugi's side of the field.
Next came Griffor... The bear-like beast appeared in its armoured shell, and after a long and golden horn grew from its head the beast had given a low and chuckling growl to match its master's apparent amusement. The 'card' behind it that had summoned the horn ground itself into dust, and as the horn itself glowed brilliantly Griffor continued to growl darkly. Thunder charged from the tip of the horn, shooting directly forward to pierce the battle ox's heart. "Hrnrrrrrrrr..." With a weak growl the beast had clutched his chest, collapsing to his knees in pain. Finally, he toppled forward, and within a few seconds the ox vanished completely.
He didn't believe this... How the hell was it even possible, was it some kind of crazy mind trick? Hell he could see the blood literally pooling in the middle of the state..! Was he loosing it somehow, and these completely vicious images of the monsters a sign of that? The sounds, the scents... Everything? Was this some kind of twisted nightmare that he'd managed to get stuck in? Of course, he added as an afterthought, not all of the things were vicious 'mindfuck's. 'Gift of the Mystical Elf', Seto's spell, had been activated, a young robed woman appearing before them in a soft glowing ray of light. In her hands was a ball of that very same glow, and though he doubted Seto could see it, the elf turned to its master with a calm and genuine smile before tossing the orb forward. It floated into the disk, the elf vanishing in a shower of white dust to grant Seto some life points. And then...
Blue Eyes had appeared. "She... He finally did it," he muttered, likely unheard even in the silent shock of the others. The others were probably just staring because Blue Eyes would easily put Yugi in a rough spot. And honestly, sights and sounds aside he knew that too. With what was before him now though... He didn't know how 'realistic' the monsters appearances were compared to what the others saw, they probably weren't close to the gore he'd seen in the past few moments... He had to say though, the blond thought with a nervous swallow, unable to look away from the creature, his figurine couldn't even hold a candle to the beast that hovered protectively around Seto's form. Hell, it didn't even hold a candle to what he'd seen when he fought against Seto the night before, how did that even work? Maybe it was because of the darkness..?
How did that even make sense though..? Huge and white, the dragon's scales glimmered, even in the light of a clouded and setting sun. An earth-shattering roar came through the area, and it felt almost as though that in itself would knock him over. It hovered in the air and each beat of its wings joined with the fierce winds in blowing the crowds back slightly, blue eyes focused on the opponent's field completely. With Seto's command the beast had attacked... Griffor hid in his shell only to be fried into nothingness, a small scrap of his horn left behind in the resulting explosion. And even that had faded away...
Still, the battle continued. The Soldier of Stone was summoned in defence mode for Yugi's sake... Even the soldier knew he was doomed, staring across at the dragon with a nervous gaze. Nonetheless however, he took a protective stance in front of his master, its gaze shifting from fear to grim determination. Rather than destroying the stone golem however, it quickly became apparent as to what Seto was doing, the woman waving her hand and activating a card that hovered before her.
'POLYMERIZE!'
An immense vortex appeared behind the three Blue-Eyes white dragons as the last two appeared on the field. The three dragons growled expectantly, vortex growing larger and larger behind their summoner. Each one was pulled inside, giving a last roar that sounded neither pleased nor disappointed about the current situation. They vanished completely into the whirlwind, sounds of thunder erupting from the void as it continued to churn. The vortex shrank, shifting from its circular appearance to something else... And when the swirling winds finally came to a halt he had to stare.
It was immense... Huge, larger than the Blue-Eyes before it by a long shot. Each head was easily his own size, and the scales and armour of the dragon had become more defined and battle ready than that of its predecessors. Enormous wings only beat once and the wind increased three-fold in intensity. Katsuya stared upward, eyes wide as one of the heads turned to stare in return. A single black marking marred the brows of the dragon's three heads, and aside from that the scales were a blinding pure white in colour. This... This was... Blue eyes continued to stare directly at him, before the head finally gave a snort and turned back to the field.
Dimly, he could hear the others. 'Was this Kaiba's plan all along,' Honda was muttering from the side, also staring with shock.
'Three heads,' Bakura was saying as they stared, the dragon regaining its protective stance in front of Seto, seemingly hovering in mid-air without even bothering to flap its wings more than thrice. '4500 attack points...'
Hell, no wonder it was so big... The first attack was made, but rather than strike the golem that stood between it and its prize the great dragon had simply snorted. The heads turned to each other, as though conversing amongst themselves. Before Katsuya could even give a thought to how something that was one monster could do that, the left-most one shot a small and weakly powered beam off to the side. The card struck burned into nothingness in an instant, reduced to mere ashes... But the arm the golem had used to defend the card was gone as well, as though to prove to the stone giant just how wide the gap of power was between it and the dragon before it. As if to prove just what madness it took to challenge it, but regardless of such, the golem did not move...
Not even as its master faltered, gritting his teeth and staring at the ground in worry. No...He grit his teeth, taking a glance at Seto and her enormous dragon before turning to Yugi. No... He didn't want to pick a side, but god damn it, he sure as hell didn't want them to just give up and forfeit! And if no one said anything Yugi was liable to do just that... That was worse... Yugi continued to stare at his deck, time for his turn ticking away quicker and quicker. "COME ON," he finally shouted, the others jumping at his sudden words. They couldn't just end this on a forfeit damn it! "YUGI," he continued, the teen turning to him with wide eyes as he heard his friend's voice for the first time during the entire match. Katsuya kept his gaze as far from the dragon and from Seto as possible, swallowing as he continued. He could feel the dragons staring at him... It was unnerving, frightening even... But... If they lost here without trying... If they lost simply because of their fear... Then how the hell could they say they were worth the lives at risk? "WE'RE ALMOST AT PEGASUS' CASTLE," he roared, eyes wide with determination rather than shock this time around. "WE WORKED HARD TO GET HERE!" Harder than anything... Mokuba had been snatched before their eyes, Yugi's grandfather was trapped in a camera that was right in their hands... And even though they were all technically on the same side, they couldn't just give up. He wasn't picking a side damn it... And while that meant not rooting for a single person to win, it also meant not wanting a single person to lose! "IF YOU GIVE UP NOW," he continued, gritting his teeth. There was only one real enemy here... Only one... "WE'LL NEVER GET IN!"
"Remember your promise to your grandfather," Anzu was shouting from the side, joining in the cheers with an encouraging stare. "You said you'd beat Pegasus!" That was the real enemy. Katsuya stopped shouting with the words Anzu had given, eyes narrowing dangerously. Pegasus was the target... Not them! They had to remember that... Regardless of what was going on! Focusing on the match once more, Yugi was standing firm again and drawing his next card. He'd regained his resolve, that much was sure. But resolve alone was not enough to save the Stone Giant from being reduced to mere dust in the face of Blue-Eye's ultimate attack, the blinding light forcing Katsuya to close his eyes until the blast calmed down to reveal nothing but a card-filled field. Not at all. All the same though...
It wasn't the end. By far it wasn't the end.
Kuriboh was summoned, and he had to say, for the 'weakest monster in the game', it was being pretty bad-ass... Granted, the moment those things opened their mouths to scream against Blue-Eyes' attack he had to shudder; even the weakest monster held true to the word 'monster' it seemed. Most of the Kuriboh were too furred to really see anything but their eyes of course... Beneath that however they had razor sharp, shark like teeth, and a good majority were baring them at the immense dragon before them, accompanied by the sounds of low and almost whispering growls. He had to hand it to them... For all that they were up against, they were pretty damn courageous... Not to mention, he noted with a slight frown, not duplicating anymore. After they had about fifty they'd called it quits, the 'Multiply' card only spitting out a few more Kuriboh from it's portal after Blue-Eyes' attack. Those that were there swarmed the field completely however, blocking Yugi, portions of the dragon... And even Seto herself from view.
Not all of her though. He could barely make out her face, but nonetheless it was there. As Katsuya looked through the wall of kuriboh, he squinted in an attempt to see the woman clearly. It wasn't much that he could make out, but from what he could tell... She was still eerily pale compared to usual... And while she might have completely shut down any immediate threats of what the doctor had predicted, he still couldn't be too sure. "Damn it," he muttered, a glance at the others telling him that they couldn't see much as well. "Can't they just move-" He cut himself off, watching as a few of the kuriboh turned to look at them. W-Wait... Wait that couldn't be right, these things couldn't hear him!
And if they could, then damn it he really was going crazy wasn't he. Apparently however they really had heard his words... And as if to respect his wishes, they moved back toward the other side of the field just as Yugi finished making his move, giving the blond one last look before turning on the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and continuing with their growls. Living Arrow... Plus Polymerization... Plus... Katsuya's eyes widened as the arrow shot forth from the card, carrying with it the second spell at its tail end. The arrow pierced Blue-Eyes directly in the center of its chest, each head turning on the weapon in question with silent stares. Suddenly however, their stares were turned toward the sky, mouths hanging open in what Katsuya could only assume was shock. In the center of the field hovered an enormous vortex, similar in appearance to the one that had fused the three Blue-Eyes together. This one however, did not elicit the same neutral screams from before.
Katsuya watched in silent horror as both the immense three headed dragon and Yugi's own skeletal mammoth were pulled inside, each monster giving off their own screeches and shouts of horror. Loud and endless roars of a fear that he didn't even think the dragon could have, and bellows of pain from a mere skeleton. How the hell a skeleton could shout was beyond him, but what the hell did he care! The thing that was happening... The 'portal' that the monsters had been pulled into... He didn't get a good feeling from it at all. And still the vortex swirled, growing darker and darker in the center of the sky. Larger and larger it grew, before finally subsiding and re-forming back at Seto's side of the field. The winds vanished... And in its wake the Blue-Eyes was left seemingly untouched.
For a moment at least.
Blue-Eyes gave a low groan of pain, the beast coming to land on the tower on all four legs. How it could fit was beyond him, but it was by far the last thing on his mind as the blond stared at the dragon and swallowed. It's immense heads were bowed toward the ground, and for a moment he was unsure of what was happening... It merely clutched itself with its foreleg, each head breathing heavily and painfully. And then Yugi explained, just as the Blue-Eyes showed him what was wrong... "I mixed Mammoth Graveyard with your monster," he stated with a frown, the mammoth's skeletal head and legs suddenly bursting from within the dragon's middle with a loud and nauseating squelch. The dragon's ribs and front were split open in an ear-splitting screech, and as Katsuya stared in frozen horror it took all he could not to reach up and cover his ears before the cries died down. "By fusing an undead 'Dark' monster with the light Ultimate dragon," Yugi continued, the dragon rearing on their hind legs as Mammoth Graveyard attempted to untangle it's freed limbs from the beast's mass, "A deadly organ rejection is caused... The body becomes unstable," he explained, Katsuya watching as the dragon's scales slowly began to melt off to reveal delicate skin and muscle underneath. They clattered to the ground in clumps, most still attached to patches of skin themselves before they began to... Melt... Into a disgusting, murky grey substance that he could scarcely describe. "...And it starts to decompose..."
Rotting... The dragon was... Rotting. The skin began to literally slide off the body in chunks, the mammoth trapped in the dragon's chest giving off another moan. It's host's heads were held almost level with Yugi's own, as though pleading the teen end his play, destroy the mammoth and free them regardless of any pride they held. Claws scraped against the side of the field, wings hung limp at the sides as muscles and blood practically poured from the wounds they were receiving... The Blue-Eyes was literally rotting... Yugi was winning, that was great. Wonderful even, it had to be! He was winning in a fair fight, no one forfeiting no one cheating... He shouldn't be upset, he told himself, silently shaking his head slightly. He shouldn't... Hell, they were fighting for the same thing, weren't they?
Watching that dragon rot away right before him however... Katsuya attempted to do the math in his head, watching as Seto stared at her dragon with frozen horror as well. The dragon had what... Forty-five hundred points? And it was losing twelve hundred each turn... So how many turns did that leave it? Hell, what did that even mean if the dragon had already rotted away to this much? What fell off and clattered to the ground continued to melt in the seemingly poisonous presence of the mammoth skeleton, the ooze pooling on the field at the beast's feet. The dragon's three heads each coughed up large amounts of blood and phlegm as they attempted to give a roar, their failing muscles and organs refusing to give them the chance as all that came out was little more than a low and crying moan.
Seto wasn't moving... Wasn't moving from the shocked stiff position she stood in, staring wordlessly at her rotting dragon. He frowned, mouth hanging slightly open as he stared across at the balcony 'towers'. Yugi was also waiting in silence... One minute... Two minutes... Finally, the blond's friend merely frowned drew a card, the time for his opponent's turn passing over in an instant. Aside from that he remained silent, holding a steady and almost glaring vigil... Waiting for the dragon to continue dissolving... (he could see the sinews of tendons hanging by a thread, the round eye-balls of each dragon, one of them losing them to gravity and rot already...)... Waiting...
She still wasn't moving. Just staring blankly and while he didn't think the others had really noticed he was getting worried... Why... She wasn't like this... She couldn't be like this..! Her brother's life was at stake, she couldn't... But still... Why wasn't she moving..? Her shoulders were no longer held back in the 'proud' stance she always held, and the woman's eyes were wide and blank as they continued to stare at Blue-Eyes decomposing form... Staring... Simply staring... The locket hung limply around her neck, battered by the winds completely... Why... Why wasn't she doing anything!
Damn it... Katsuya grit his teeth, before moving forward and past the others with what could almost be called a growl. Damn it! It couldn't end like this... He didn't want it to happen to Yugi and he sure as hell didn't want it to happen to Seto-chan! The others blinked as he leaned against the wall, hands cupped as he prepared to shout. "OIIIII!" The others turned, blinking. Yugi stared as well, frowning slightly. He wasn't looking at Yugi... The others were likely wondering why, but whatever... Hell Yugi was going to win, he'd have to be a complete moron to not believe that! But he didn't want it to end like this... He didn't want it to end with a series of forfeited turns... He didn't know what was going on but... "DIDN'T YOU COME FOR A REASON SE... KAIBA," he shouted, watching as he received no reaction from his target. Of course, the moment he'd said that the others reallytensed... They knew he was looking at Seto but... Not cheering her on. Yugi in particular seemed to be looking at him as though he'd grown an extra head for a moment, but with a quick look of realization instead gave an encouraging smirk.
Yea. Yeaaaaa he kinda got it... He guessed. Sort of. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE," he shouted, ignoring the taps on his shoulder. She couldn't just give in like this damn it... Wake up... Wake up, and listen to him this time! "IT AIN'T OVER YET!" Come on Seto-chan... Move... Move... Do something... Anything!
And... She moved. A quick jerk of the head, and suddenly the look of sheer horror shifted back into a stead and determined glare. Briefly, Katsuya grinned, before quickly toning it down to a more serious smile. Alright... She was back- time to pipe down again. The smile didn't even falter when Seto herself actually looked his way, visibly confused. Heh... He merely continued to look back, even as the confusion visibly increased for a split second... Hidden again moments after as she turned back to the duel. So she didn't know what he was up to... At least this way the duel would go properly...
"Jonouchi..?" He finally turned to the others, smile replaced with a slightly questioning stare as the others looked at him oddly.
"Hn?" He blinked, watching as the three others stared with raised eyebrows. Oh. Right... They were probably wondering what the hell was going on... Ahhhhh... "What is it?" Honda looked as though he'd be first- He was interrupted by Anzu instead though, though given her fairly dumbfounded stare that wasn't actually surprising..
"...That..." She coughed, eyes flicking over to where Seto and Yugi were fighting. Definitely confused, definitely wondering... "What was that?"
"Yea," Honda said with a slight frown, looking equally as confused as the others. For another instant it looked as though he wouldn't say anything, but in the end he continued. "I... I mean, I know we're all gunning for Pegasus but..." He coughed, before attempting to piece together what he was going to say yet again. "You know what. I can't even find the words to describe that question so... I'm going to go with Anzu's- What was that?"
He stared, watching as Bakura nervously scratched his head. What to say, what to say... He inwardly groaned, trying to figure out just what it was he was going to say. In the end, it appeared that Bakura's words covered him more. "Eh... N..Not to be rude but..." As Katsuya and the others looked at the albino, their friend nervously took a breath. "Well, Yugi is winning..." He shrugged, looking decidedly torn about whether or not he should actually be saying this. "But I don't quite think it would be fair if the loss came out of Kaiba constantly forfeiting his turns..."
At this the others blinked, before Honda changed his expression of confusion into a frown. "Yea," he muttered, turning back to the duel as Yugi shouted his turn. "That's right..." Aha! He had an excu- "At the same time though," the teen continued with a raised brow, "I never thought youof all people would be cheering for Kaiba, Jonouchi..." He gave him an odd look, narrowing his eyes. "...Are... Are you alright..?"
"I'm fine," he shouted, crossing his arms with a scowl. Perfectly fine, seeing things that either weren't there or just happened to be there and he was the lucky guy who got to see them... Seriously... "Geeze... I get that I cheered for the opposite side but lay off for a minute alright..." Could not... Find out what was going on...
Anzu put her hands in front of her, laughing nervously at the outburst. "Hey... We didn't mean anything by it Jonouchi it's just..." She frowned, lowering her hands to shrug. "Weird... I mean-"
'ATTACK, ELVEN KNIGHT!' "Graaaaoaooghg-!" Katsuya jumped, the others frowning as he turned to look at the battle instead of listening to the others. A strangled, gurgling growl had come over the air, sounding more like a suction cup than a dragon. Right before it had been a shout... For a moment the others had attempted to restart conversation, but after looking at the damage done they instead followed his gaze with a grin.
'Ah,' they were saying, grins on their faces as the blond went pale and leaned against the wall. Damn it... And here he'd thought he'd seen enough crap in his life to have an iron stomach... 'Blue-Eyes lost enough power to take a hit!'
Yea... He shut his eyes, mentally wincing. Got that right... Katsuya made an effort to hold back what he'd eaten back in the tunnels as one of Blue-Eye's head-less spines twitched and spazmed violently. What with the beast having three heads, it was far from killed... But while the severed neck was at least still holding a few muscles and blood vessels in place, the head on the ground was mostly that thick grungy slime and a vicious yet pathetic looking skull. And as that as well rotted, he could hear Honda shouting behind him. 'Alright,' he called, seemingly oblivious to his friend's hastily covered nervousness. 'We have a win!' It wasn't dead yet though... It wasn't giving in yet. Despite only having half a body, despite the fact that it now resembled little more than a skeleton held together by fragments of rotting flesh it stood, attempting to hold what small scraps of pride it had left to the very end. "Graooooo..." The roar was not a roar anymore... It wasn't even a growl. Yet somehow he could hear some distinction in the tone. It was almost mourning, crying even... And yet... Something told him it wasn't because of the grievous harm it was going through right now.
'Yugi,' Seto stated quietly, the cheers cutting abruptly at the deadly serious tone of voice. Same as before she had 'spaced out', and after she'd snapped herself out of whatever daze she was in, her posture was less than it normally was. As she spoke however, the posture was regained... Yet somehow it didn't seem to be a good thing. 'The game has only just begun...' The woman was staring Yugi down with what could pass for 'soulless', maybe even dead eyes, confident pose shadowed with some other feeling that identified itself as little more than a shiver in his spine. The others as well were staring in silence... Just listening. 'I lost 500 points from that attack... Each of these bricks on the ground will be my life points...' What... He frowned, listening and staring as Seto continued to look toward her opponent with an empty stare. 'I will move back as many bricks as I lose life points,' she continued, Katsuya's eyes widening further in response.
Five bricks..? He stared at the tower, counting the number along the wall as Seto began to move back. How many... These bricks were already a fairly decent size, almost half a meter square... One... Two... Beside him Anzu had her hands on her mouth, eyes wide as she and the others realized what 'five spaces' meant. Three... He as well swallowed, stopping his count when estimation told him what would happen.
Four...
"Oh my god," Anzu said with a shaking tone, Bakura and Honda both simply watching with silent horror. Their eyes widened as the wind continued to howl about them, dragon's almost gurgling cries accompanying it. "He's going to..."
Five. "Oh dear god..." She was standing on the god damned ledge of the balcony... Simply looking down to see how that kind of fall it would be made him dizzy, and fearful eyes were turned back toward the woman. The woman who was, without any fear what-so-ever, staring her opponent down and standing tall against the wind. "Oh fuck no...No no no no no..."
"I have nothing left to lose," Seto stated, voice gaining a large amount of confidence and volume as she spoke. God damn it... No... No... "If you hit me again," she continued, hands held to the side as if to simply accept the next attack literally with open arms, "If you win this game... I die."
No... Oh fuck no... NO... For a brief moment, Seto's gaze was turned on them, he and the others. A narrowed stare that didn't seem angry and yet all the same... Don't... No... The woman turned back to her opponent, expression hardening as she continued. "I would gladly die for this," she spat out, the others continuing to stare. No... He shook his head, swallowing. No...
Finally Anzu shook her head, moving to take a position beside Katsuya against the wall. "KAIBA," she shouted, eyes wide with panic as she leaned over the side. "DON'T DO THIS!"
From behind, the others were merely staring, unsure of what to say. "What the hell is he thinking," Honda was muttering, shaking his head in disbelief. "What the hell kind of bluff is he making, you don't do that kind of crap..! This is at least thirty meters up..!" Was that how high it was? It looked a lot longer than that...
Bakura as well was shaking his head, the teen growing exceedingly pale as he spoke. "But what if... What if it's not a..."
"S... He ain't bluffing," Katsuya stated in response to his friend's unfinished question, voice on the verge of cracking as he stared at the woman. What if it wasn't a bluff? He had a feeling he already knew... "...He's not bluffing! YUGI," he roared, eyes wide as he turned to face his friend. Who the hell cared what kind of questions he got, this... They couldn't let this happen! "YUGI SH-HE ISN'T LYING!" If Seto died... If she died because of something like this... He didn't want her to... Hell if he knew why he felt that way besides obvious comatose confessions but he didn't want... "DON'T DO IT!"
They'd find another way in, hell he'd gladly play Yugi to 'give' him his five other chips provided he could get into the castle with the others. He'd pound Saruwatari into the ground, pound any guard that stood in their way to the ground, but this... He would get on his knees and beg if that was what it took... Just don't...
"Yugi," Seto was saying, the group turning their attention back to the woman with wide and fear filled eyes. No... Don't talk, don't... "On your next turn, your realworth as a duellist will be tested..." What worth, the worth that involved not killing a person! Or some twisted honour in the reverse! What was she doing, she couldn't... She couldn't.. Don't... Don't... "A duel is like two mirrors held against each other," Seto stated, eyes still unchanging. "How would you evade your own attack," she asked, arms hanging limply at her sides. "You need to be one step ahead, you need to put yourself in the mind of your opponent... Only then, when you become your opponent can you achieve victory," she continued with a blank stare. 'Victory'? What the hell kind of 'victory' would this be! Could you even call it that! This wasn't victory, please... Don't... "After all... Only then can you know yourself..." Don't do it... Don't do it... Please... He stared with wide eyes, silently mouthing his words. Please... Please don't, he knew she didn't care about what he thought but Mokuba was... If Mokuba was freed only to find that his sister had...
Blue-Eyes was still rotting, and the two remaining heads turned to Kaiba with mourning cries. Though their jaws were literally falling from their hinges, they still turned, curling around the woman in a final attempt to protect her from Yugi's possible attack. Why did he have a feeling... How did he just know that they understood the gravity of the situation themselves..? That their cries from before were...
They weren't even real, they couldn't be real but... What other explanation was there...
"If our positions were reversed," Seto stated, crossing her arms as she stood against the pounding winds, winds that had died considerably in the last few minutes alone. "I would push you over the edge of that wall without a second's thought. But," she continued, Katsuya still watching with wide and horrified eyes, "I didn't say I give up. It's my turn," she stated calmly, hand moving toward her disk. Damn it... Why did she have to... "And I draw this. Monster Reborn!" She hadn't even looked at the card... How did she know that was her card..? The disk was pulled back, Seto somehow managing to stand unfaltering as the disk slammed against her palm. The card was placed on the side before the disk was thrown back out, and in a beam of light the monster that had never once left the field in Katsuya's eyes continued its mourning cries. "I resurrect Blue-Eyes with this," she shouted, the dragon before her giving an odd moan.
From the severed neck came a blinding light, swirling endlessly from the empty hole it had left behind. It continued to spiral forward, shifting, rearranging itself into a long and serpentine form before clearing. The ankh that had appeared above the dragon to create this light vanished from view, and with it the clouds of smoke caused by both the constant attacks, poisons, and decaying flesh.
The deceased head was completely repaired... And now that it could roar, it merely joined with the other decayed heads in miserable song. "Now one Blue-Eyes with normal attack points has been resurrected," Seto stated with a grim smile, the renewed head of Blue-Eyes turning to face its master in brief thanks. Mouth open, mouth close... The sound that came out wasn't a roar or a growl, but it still suited the beast quite well in his opinion.
"Graooooo... Aooooo.." Sad... It sounded so... Sad...
"Unfortunately," its master continued, arms hanging at her sides once more, her still disadvantaged position seemingly holding no effect on her stance, "As a fused monster it can't attack this turn... Which makes it your turn, Yugi!" Silence filled the air... What words did they say in this situation? What did they say... He couldn't do it... Yugi wouldn't, he couldn't do that... And yet memories of Mokuba's screams of his 'penalty game', the condition of the few others that had been on the other end of the punishments came to mind. He'd say they were deserving, but... Mokuba... "DO IT YUGI," Seto roared, almost desperately, the group's eyes turned to her in silence. No... NO NO NO NO NO!. "SLIT MY THOAT WITH YOURCARDS!"
Even Yugi's own monster looked uneasy about that particular command, pulling back slightly with a grimace... Turning to his master uneasily for a moment before looking back on the great and decayed dragon before it. Yugi himself however merely stared, expression caught between horror and anger. Where was the worry..? Where was the concern from his friend... Don't do it... God damn it Yug', don't do it... His voice was caught in his throat as he looked toward his best friend, one of his best friends with wide and pleading eyes.
Don't do it... Please, for the love of anything that existed in the world please don't do this...
"Ng..." Don't...
There was no hesitation in the boy's tone. "I'LL DO IT KAIBA," the Dark Yugi shouted at the top of his lungs, pointing his monster forward. Those on the sidelines had no words themselves from the sheer shock of the shout, staring powerlessly and silently as the boy continued. NO... NO! "ELVEN KNIGHT," he commanded, the guard turning to give his master a look of horror. "ATTA- GHk!" Huh?
Did Yugi... Choke..? 'NOOOO!' Yugi's body gave a violent shudder, the monster on his field, dropping his blade as he looked toward the boy with worry. His body fell to his knees, hands gripping his head tightly and continuing to shake. 'No other me,' someone shouted with panicked terror, the voice distant and almost inaudible. 'DON'T DO THIS!' Yugi continued to clutch his head as he shook on the ground, before the time for the turn finally passed. Katsuya looked over to Seto, the woman's expression shifting from dull acceptance of the inevitable to a sudden unbridled determination and drive that lacked any and all anger from her previous moves. This wasn't for her... She wasn't into this...
This was for... "BLUE EYES," she commanded, the living head rising up to turn on the elf before it. Its jaw was clamped with grim determination, as though what it was doing was also for something other than the duel itself. "BURST STREAM!"
'Destruction' was cut off... He stared, watching and wondering in silence. What did that mean..? As Blue Eyes charged a beam and blasted the Elven Knight from behind, the field began to clear of the monsters completely. The last thing remaining in the flash of light was the knight's shocked face as the sudden pain struck it, before calming into a small smile. The last thing heard over the field was a loud and song-like cry that had come from the dragon's reborn head. And over the field, last rays of the setting sun had disappeared behind the horizon... Besides all that, as he looked toward 'Yugi', he could see that it was the 'original'. And he could see that he was in rough shape. Yugi's hands were all that kept the boy from falling over, fingers gripping the stone bricks tightly, and slowly, very slowly, he looked up toward Seto with wide and tear-filled eyes.
"Ng... N..." Oh god... Katsuya bolted around to the stairs, running over as the boy crumpled to the ground in complete tears. Not a word nor a glance was spared to the other on the field, the blond swallowing as he attempted to calm his friend. God-damn it... What the hell was going on with all this... What was going on..! "Yugi... Yugi," he shouted, the others coming behind him just as quick.
Yugi shook as his friend came toward him, a hand placed on his shoulder as he cried. "Ahh... I... I couldn't do it," he forced out, shaking his head. "I couldn't... If I kept going..."
"It's ok Yug'..." He clutched the boy's shoulder, turning away slightly. The words were partially for himself really... All the crap going on... How did... "It's ok... It's..."
The boy shook his head rapidly, eyes wide and fearful. "No it's not... Kaiba-san could have died," he shouted, shaking his head as the others drew back with a partial wince. "I... I almost..."
'NOOOOOOO!' Katsuya swallowed, looking at his friend with tearing eyes. The 'Dark' Yugi... That shout he'd heard...
That was the 'real' Yugi... Wasn't it? That was him... Stopping his other-self from landing the last hit. "I'm scared," he whispered, curling on himself as the others stood around him worriedly. "I'm scared of this game... Of the other me..! I don't... I..." Yugi...
"You did the right thing," Anzu was whispering, pulling the boy into a hug. Any other time, and Yugi would have gone tomato red at the gesture. Instead however... "You did the right thing, it's ok..." Anzu herself was on the verge of tears as she said this, and as the others merely stared the woman continued. "Don't cry," she whispered despite her own tears, before pulling slowly out of the hug. Yugi himself was still wiping tears out of his eyes, looking at the woman with fear and confusion both. "You're a guy aren't you," she added with a slight laugh. "Men... Men don't cry!"
The boy chocked, wiping his face with a sniff. "A...Anzu..."
From the side they could hear a dull clattering sound as the starchips thrown to the ground were gathered. The chips had been scattered completely about the tower... And now, Seto was gathering the ten starchips, looking toward Yugi with an expression of near loathing. While Katsuya frowned at the sight however, he held his tongue. Now wasn't the time... There were more important things... Thinks like-
"You showed weakness at the end," Seto was saying almost with disgust as she moved forward with her briefcase in hand. As Katsuya tensed at the words, he continued to still bite his tongue in response. Her dueldisk was already packed inside the briefcase, and with a single movement all ten starchips were hidden away in her coat pocket. Her cards were likely already there... And still the woman continued to speak with the narrowed glare she held. "And it cost you your win... If you'd had the resolve to push me over the edge Yugi, you would have won," she continued, Katsuya gritting his teeth as he went red in response. "You would have moved on to that castle with no problems... Caring about the enemy's safety is the most moronic thing you can do in this kind of situation- consider that a lesson to you."
Damn it... Not. The time. "S... Kaiba," he growled, eyes narrowed as the woman turned to look at him briefly. "This is a GAME! It ain't about murder! I get that Mokuba's in there," he shouted, pointing toward the castle and taking a step forward. "And I'll do whatever it takes to get him outta there as well... But that doesn't mean that you drag this kind of bullshit into the match! You won," he spat out, bringing his hand back to his side. "You don't need t' go an' diss the guy who saved your ass for it."
At this, Seto merely stared before snorting. "Hn! Moron," she muttered, crossing her arms. "Games mean 'conflict', 'combat between enemies'... They're all the same," she stated bluntly, eyes narrowed. Huh..? "Cards... Chess... And the blood-soaked wars that go on around the world as we know it... They're all just different kind of games, and you know what," she asked, moving closer as she stared the blond down. "When this world was created, each person was given one thing, just one thing to play these games... And that thing was one single chip called Life. And when I threw that chip on the board," she continued with a low growl, expression souring further, "Your 'friend' exposed all weaknesses he had in his own and lost..."
For a moment, they simply stared. Anzu looked as though she would say something... In the end she didn't, the others instead watching the two glare at each other. Seto had an odd look in her eye, hate filled but not for the one she was currently staring down. Not for Yugi either, he didn't think... It was for something else... Something different...
"That so," he finally said, expression kept as neutral as possible. No... Seto wasn't just spouting nonsense... Well... She kinda was, but at the same time...
Made him think back to Death-T again really... 'He told 'him'... 'Lose means death',' Mokuba had told them all, hands clutching the worn photograph he had. 'And then he jumped out the window...'
This was all she knew, wasn't it. Didn't know why that came to mind now, but somehow it made him feel a lot better... And a lot worse all the same. Confused even... Somehow though... "You're the one who lost th' duel, y' got that right," he muttered, shaking his head and moving over to Yugi's side as the boy stood shakily. "But not just this duel..." Helping his friend up and watching as the boy gave him a weak and nervous smile, he turned to Seto and continued, expression softening somewhat. "If life 's a game, then you've got th' rules all messed up S... Kaiba. You said you have t' know yourself..? Then you have t' face yourself too. Stand up and fight, no matter how tough things get... No matter what happens..." That was the point of that months long coma wasn't it? To figure out what mattered, for her brother?
"You bet your 'chip' as if it meant nothing," Anzu spat from the side, Seto's look of dull confusion abruptly shifting to anger as Katsuya was interrupted. "You lost to yourself! When you realized you were going to lose, you decided to just end it all right there!" Uh wait, he was pretty sure something else factored into that... Katsuya mentally groaned as Anzu continued to turn on Kaiba, eyes narrowed as the other merely glared in silence. Damn it... He was getting to something... "Listen," she stated, voice lowering. "Real courage... It isn't pushing someone off a cliff if it benefits you... It's protecting what it is that's been given to you. No matter what! The moment you give up," she continued, the blond beside her blinking as he caught the message and giving a nod, "That's when you really lose!"
At this point, Honda came forward, hands stuffed in his pockets as he fixed Kaiba with a stern frown. From behind, Yugi was fumbling with the duel disk... Trying to get it off as he attempted to calm down simultaneously. As Katsuya moved to help him out with that as Honda spoke, the blond unable to see Seto's reaction to the words. "Don't forget Kaiba," the teen was stating with a neutral tone, somehow managing to keep even a thread of anger out of his voice. "If it wasn't for Yugi, that 'chip' of yours would be over the side of the cliff... And I doubt that, even if you had lost this duel, that your brother would want that."
As Katsuya grabbed the duel disk and turned back, Seto was fixing them all with a narrowed glare. Either she caught it and really didn't like it or... Something he supposed. The woman's teeth were grinding as she clenched her fists before them, finally speaking after a few moments. "Tch... Say what you want," she finally spat, eyes narrowed as she turned to Katsuya. Knowing why she was looking over, the blond tossed the woman her dueldisk, watching as she caught it and swift motion stowed it in her briefcase. "Nothing changes the fact that they're the cries of a loser!" Eh... Somehow he didn't think she'd get it. Or admit that she got it if she did... Which she likely didn't. She really didn't make it easy to tell. "I'm leaving," she snarled, the briefcase clacking shut as she turned toward the stairs. "And when you morons get to the castle I'll leave the remains of Pegasus for you to deal with!"
With that the woman disappeared down the stairs and into the stone arch beyond, Katsuya staring with a slight frown. Well... Not for lack of trying, he thought with a sigh. Rubbing his head as the woman turned away from them, he mentally sighed. She was doing all this for Mokuba really, so he guessed that was a start to not being so tense about this stuff... If that ever changed really. Smiling wryly to himself, he shook his head, before turning back to Yugi.
Currently the boy was speaking to Honda, taller walking over as he spoke. "Cheer up Yugi," the teen was saying with a slight smile, hand on the boy's shoulder. Yugi in question was looking up at him with a slight frown, wiping his eyes as he listened. "You've still got half of your starchips right? So there's still a chance we can get in..." That was right... And even if the competitors were all eliminated there were Player Killers.
"That's right," Bakura said from the side, smiling. "After all... Kaiba isn't officially in the tournament... So if no other competitors have made it in, there's still a good chance you can make it..." He continued to smile softly, looking down the balcony as the night started setting in. "There have to be some duellists left on this island, and if you face them... I doubt anyone would be falling asleep on the last day after all..."
As the boy continued to look at them all, Katsuya smirked. "Yea," he said with a laugh, jamming his hands in his pockets. "C'mon- we aren't giving up... So neither should you! We're with ya to th' end alright? Don't let anything bring you down!" Yugi continued to stare, before nodding with a small smile. Still nervous... But it wouldn't be Yugi if he wasn't, much as he didn't like to admit it. Either way, a start. "A... Alright," he said, somewhat uneasily. "I won't give up!" Just what he wanted to hear! The group turned back to look at the castle, Katsuya's grin softening into a small smile. They'd make it in... No matter what they'd make it in..!
Walking back through the tunnel and looking through the courtyard however, the group froze. "Wait..." Saruwatari was standing by the door, watching as Seto placed her ten starchips into the lock. Standing there only moments before the door opened inward to allow entrance. Seto was going in obviously, but behind her... "What th' hell," he said with a growl, watching as a familiar, bandanna capped man flashed a glove to the guard and followed after. That bastard... He wasn't even in the tournament, what the hell! (He could see why Pegasus would be pulling the chip-gambit over Seto at least...) "Bandit Keith is here!" He growled, before turning to the others with a frown. That was one person in... What happened if three others followed after Keith? "Damn it... We can't waste any more time guys... We gotta get those starchips!"
The others gave a nod, Yugi looking toward Katsuya with a slightly unsure stare. "R-Right!" The sun was gone... They raced out the door, following lights affixed to the sides of the rails only for Katsuya to tense up. Something was off... Something was very off, he decided, hairs raising as the feeling increased.
Freezing at the tops of the stairs, he slowly turned, the others stopping in their tracks as well. Watching... Someone was- "It's too late," a voice from behind said with a chuckle, Katsuya turning to growl in response. For the love of... AGGGH. Saruwatari merely grinned at the sight, arms crossed. What did he mean 'too late'? Did four people already get in? The rest of the group turned, frowning as the man laughed before them. Was it just him, or was it always this guy? "You're disqualified Yugi!"
Katsuya grit his teeth, eyes narrowed. "What th' hell do you mean 'disqualified'," he shouted, fists clenched as the guard continued to chuckle. "Yugi's still got half his starchips, you can't disqualify him!" That was only if he had no starchips whatsoever! ...Unless...
This only elicited a louder laugh, the man pointing off toward the coast of the island. "Really," he said with a smirk, the others following his gaze to the sea. "Then look over there! See that boat leaving the island," he asked, Katsuya dimly making out the shape in the dark. Hard to tell but...
Well, it was a lot bigger than the one they'd seen before. "It's full of duellists who lost their starchips," the man stated, expression unseen to the group as they watched the ship. "Which includes all remaining contestants besides you!"
"What.." They turned back, eyes growing still wider as Saruwatari continued to laugh.
"Ahahaha... In other words," he said with a grin, the others expressions falling at the sight, "The four finalists for the championship tournament have already been decided!"
He tensed, swallowing nervously. "What... They're already..." Shit... So Keith was the fourth then?
"The first of course," the man muttered, "Is Howard Keith'..." That lousy son of a-! Wait.
Waaaait... First? He frowned, listening as Yugi asked about whether or not he'd gotten in. If Keith was first... "What about Jonouchi," his friend was saying with a worried frown, the others turning back to look at Saruwatari as well. "He has ten starchips, he has to be-"
"Don't worry," Saruwatari was saying dismissively, grin visibly fading slightly. "He's one of the four..." Not that he obviously liked that, Katsuya mentally added. At all. Then again, he' d kinda been calling him out on everything he did.
Which he wasn't about to stop doing, he added with a mental grin. Feeling a little sore, Saruwatari? As those thoughts came to mind, he was pulled back into the conversation's topic. So he was still in... But what about the other two? "Then... Does that make Kaiba the third finalist," Honda asked with a frown, only for the group to sigh in relief as Saruwatari shook his head.
"No," he stated curtly, arms crossed behind his back. "He's a special guess of Pegasus-sama... For that reason, he won't be participating. The third contestant did in fact come by earlier," he continued, looking off down the stairs. The lights along the railing lit the path rather brightly, but a few feet past the bottom and there was nothing but darkness. "However they left, claiming to be bringing back the fourth... Well," he continued with a smirk, walking back toward the door, as the others continued to look down the staircase. "When those two get back we'll have four!" How the hell did he even know that the 'fourth' existed? Ass... "A pity you didn't make it Yugi! AHAHAHAHAAA!" At those words the gate slammed behind him, leaving Yugi to do nothing but stare at the ground with wide eyes and the others to growl.
That asshole... Tch! He looked over his glove, frowning. Starchips... Stupid things had gotten them into heaps of trouble, but without them they were screwed. Eyes drifted to his friend, before the blond held his wrist out to Yugi. Only one thing to do... Only one! "Yugi," he stated, severe expression in place. "Take my starchips!" The boy stared, jumping as the hand was literally thrown in his face before frowning. 'But why,' he seemed to silently ask, eyes wide. 'Why..' "The only reason I made it this far," he began with a sad smile, "The only way I got here was because you gave me one of your starchips... You gave me half," he continued, bowing his head. "Half of your starchips, so tha' we could both go after our goals." Granted that had been 'Dark Yugi' but... Well, he was in a 'time-out' for the next bit really. "It's time f'r me t' return the favor."
"But Jonouchi-kun..." Yugi continued to stare at the blond, before shaking his head. "No... I can't... I can't," he shouted, frowning. "You won those for Mokuba-kun, you worked hard for them... You said it yourself, he's in there..! There's no way," he continued, shaking his head furiously. "There's no way I can take these..."
Mokuba... He bit his lip, looking at the ground. "Yea, I have t' get Mokuba but..." He looked back at Yugi, steeling himself. "But you've got somethin' t' fight for too! And you and I both know that out of th' two of us, you're th' real champ... Yugi," he continued, still holding the glove in his friend's face. All those times they'd faced each other at his house... He'd almost always won, and while the blond knew that he himself had improved, Yugi was still... "I know that you can do this... F'r both of us... So you can't give up," he shouted, shaking his head. "Never-"
Again, Yugi refused. "I can't..." There was fear in his eyes... Fear that he'd seen only moments before back on the balcony. The fear that he'd had at duel's end when... His own eyes widened with realization, and the blond bit his lip. That was right... Whenever Yugi had duelled on the island, it wasn't him was it...
It was 'Dark Yugi'...
They fell awkwardly silent for a moment, before a shout from behind caught their attention. "There you are," came a familiar voice, Katsuya blinking with shock as the same 'stalker-esque' blond from before made her way up the steps. Mai was only about half-way up when she shouted, but it took mere moments before she was at the final flight with a large smile on her face. "Really," she said almost exasperatingly, "I've been looking for you guys for ages... Do you know how hard it was to convince the lug at the door that I was getting you?"
Wait... What! His eyes widened as they turned, before the blond mentally groaned. Damn it of all times... "Great... It's you..." And hang on... He blinked, the woman's last few words catching on. 'Lug'? Saruwatari? ... SHE was the one who was looking for the fourth competitor?
Mai snorted, hands on her hips as she pulled Kastuya from his thoughts. "Hn! 'Me' indeed... I see that you're still here..." At those words she paused, before roughly grabbing blond's wrist with wide eyes.
"O-OI! What th' hell are you doing!"
The woman ignored him, staring a few moments before dropping the hand with a dumbfounded expression. "I don't believe it... You collected ten starchips..?"
He growled, face going red. Well, by all means, don't hold back right? "Oiii... Don't act like it's an impossible feat! B'sides," he grumbled, crossing his arms as the scowl deepened. "It's gonna be half that when I finally convince Yug' t' take 'em..."
Again the woman paused, turning to look at Yugi in question with a bewildered stare. Obviously she was in shock... Yugi had half the amount while he had all of them, probably looked just a little weird he'd admit. She scratched her head in silence, Yugi merely shrinking back slightly under the look. "You..." She frowned, eyes narrowing slightly with worry. "You're not disqualified are you..?" Silence was the only answer she received, Yugi staring to the side with an awkward expression. "Hn! You're kidding me," Mai muttered, before reaching into her pocket for something. "Well... I can't accept that," she stated with a smirk. "Here... Not quite the eight I owe you... But take these!"
Katsuya stared, he and the others looking in shock as a handful of starchips gleamed in the sun. "Holy shit," he muttered, looking at the woman with wide eyes. "You got sixteen starchips? How the hell is that even possible?" Wouldn't... Wouldn't she be called out on that if she challenged someone with the full amount of chips?
She merely smirked, hand still held out as she turned to give the blond a joking wink. "Double-or-nothing; you won't believe how easy it is when your opponent spends all his time underwater..." Underwa- Ryota?Mai chuckled, free hand on her hip as she continued. "One would almost think he never saw a real woman before!" The woman appeared relatively oblivious to the fact that Anzu was now muttering death threats to a certain harpoon fisher at the moment ('real woman, honestly!'), looking back at Yugi with a more serious expression. "Go on, take them," she said with a light tone, smiling. "They're not gonna bite you... All I want in return is a fair fight in that castle there, understand?"
As she said this, Yugi continued to stare at the ground in silence. Mai as well stopped speaking, her hand unmoving. "Yugi," Anzu finally said, smiling as she got over her earlier slip of anger. (Hopefully, for Ryota's sake, she never saw the guy again... Especially since he wasn't the one who made the comment.) "Go on... If you take these we can all get inside right?"
"That's right," Honda was saying with a nod. "Come on man... You just caught a lucky break, we've got a fair shot now!" A really fair shot.
Still Yugi stared, a frown playing over his face before he finally shook his head. "I can't..." The others tensed, Mai's hand slowly closing over the chips in response as the boy politely pushed it back. "I can't accept these..."
"...Yugi..." They stared, Katsuya almost shaking his head in slight disbelief. "But why..."
He stared at the ground, shaking his head again. "When I was fighting with Kaiba-san, I had to force the other me to stop... Because of that, I lost..." Ignoring Mai's raised eyebrow the boy grabbed his puzzle, holding it close. "The other me... I know, even with all that's on the line... I know he wouldn't take those starchips after what happened... So... I won't take them..." Wait... So 'Dark Yugi' was too proud to take the chips outside a duel? AGGGGGH.
Katsuya had to hand it to Mai. For such a creepy 'stalker', not only was she actually pretty cool but... She was pretty much just taking what Yugi had said and throwing the words to the side for what. Though... Given that she'd already been there with that whole 'Player Killer of Darkness' deal, she probably knew about 'Dark Yugi' as it was... "Well," she said with a small smile, still holding the starchips tight in her hands. "I don't know what happened but... This 'other self' of yours is effectively a mass of 'duellist pride'!" She chuckled slightly, before again holding the chips toward Yugi. "But the fact is, I owe you these starchips... If not for you, I'd have been disqualified long ago, and your 'other self' knows that. So never mind his pride," she stated, narrowing her eyes as the smile vanished. "I always pay back my debts... And even if you had ten starchips already, I would hold these in your face until you took them!"
"But..." Yugi looked at the woman with confusion, frowning. He shook his head still more, trying to find an excuse of sorts. "But..."
A hand clapped his shoulder, and the boy turned. Katsuya looked at him with a narrowed and severe stare, almost hesitating before speaking. In the end, he found the words though. "That's enough," he said clearly, his friend looking up with still more confusion. "Stop thinking about what th' darker you thinks," he said with a scowl, watching as Yugi gave him a slight frown in response to 'dark'. Hey, not like he said 'evil' right? That wasn't Yugi. Definitely darker though... "Think about your own feelings! 'Dark Yugi'," he said with a snort, shaking his head. "He can take a time out this time; hell, if he's sulkin' in there you can just tell him t' deal with it an' move on! But I ain't talking about him," he continued, regaining his serious gaze. "I'm talking about you!"
The boy shook, head turning back and forth as his gaze slowly shifted to the ground. "I... I..."
"Why do you feel so INFERIOR," he shouted, the others frowning as he turned on the boy completely. As Yugi jumped slightly, he continued, ignoring the fact that he was shouting and continuing regardless. "Is it because he won all those battles? Because he's 'good at games'? THINK," he continued, Yugi looking up in shock. "I've played you, th' real you an' not that other side... An' yer just as good as he is! Just because he's good, doesn't mean that you aren't worth just as much! Think about yourself for once," he continued, Yugi still staring at him with wide eyes. "What's the thing that really matters to you... Th' thing you came for!"
At those words the confusion seemed to clear. Yugi's eyes grew wide not with shock or indecisiveness, but with realization, and in response the blond continued further. "All I ever hear is 'Duellist' pride', worries about 'losing face', WHO THE FUCK CARES," he roared, Mai going a little red behind him. "We didn't come here for that kind of crap! We came for something important! Something we're fighting for! Yugi," he continued, turning to look at the sky for a moment as his voice quieted. All these things that were going on here... What he saw earlier, not just between Seto-chan and Yugi but also...
"Somehow, even though I'm just newbie-player that picked up a deck a few weeks ago, I got ten starchips... Set... Kaiba's words," he said with a sad laugh, "They weren't all lies, it really must've been a miracle that I came this far..." He smiled, still staring at the stars as his hand fell from Yugi's shoulder. "But I was feeling happy... Thinkin' people might start callin' me a 'real duellist', instead 'f jus' callin' me a mutt all the time... But if all a 'real duellist' cares about is pride," he continued, turning back to the others with a determined gaze, "If all that matters is saying 'I won' and flaunting it in th' other guy's face... Then I don' wanna be a duellist... I don't wanna be some asshole, acting full of myself just 'cause I won a few games playing cards..." The sad smile remained in place, hands in his pockets as he continued. "I have somethin' t' protect," he continued, stare unchanging. "And I'll crawl through hell itself if that's what it takes t' do it. Cause y' know what," he said, giving a small shrug. "B'fore I'm a duellist, or a security guy, or a student or any of that other crap... I'm Jonouchi Katsuya. An' that's all I'll ever be."
Yugi stared, as did the others in silence for a good long while as the blond stared into the distance. Mokuba and Yugi's grandfather... And Seto-chan as well, if her condition against Pegasus' eye was any given. He didn't know what was going to happen... But he'd be damned if he didn't get his say in how things went, even just a little. "Jonouchi-kun," Yugi was saying from behind, Katsuya turning in response.
Mai as well was staring, before giving a small and seemingly knowing smile. "He's right you know," she stated to the boy, gaze softening as she leaned against the staircase wall. "Pride... It can be a right pain sometimes... But Yugi," she continued, still clutching the starchips tightly in her hand. "I didn't go around collecting these just for pride... True, I wanted to repay you, believing that with that, I would earn the right to face you in a match... But to tell the truth," she continued, giving a light shrug and a sad sigh, "I wanted to see you guys again..."
What... He frowned slightly, the others turning on Mai as well with confused stares before the woman continued. "After all the things I said before, after all that..." She snorted, the smile remaining unchanged. "To hear you guys say 'we're friends', that made me truly happy... It's the first time anyone's said something like that to me, in my entire life..."
"Ku..." Katsuya paused, before correcting himself. Nah... If she was a 'friend' (He'd admit it really...)... "Mai..."
Briefly, Mai blinked in response to that. In the end however, she merely smiled and turned to Yugi yet again. The woman held her hand before the boy, eyes appearing sad as opposed to their former pride-filled cheer as she spoke. "Listen... These starchips are more than just a debt re-paid," she stated quietly. "These are a token of my appreciation; my 'thank-you' for what you've done. Yugi," she asked, hand opening to reveal the starchips that were now slightly embedded into her palm. "You'll take them... won't you..?"
They stared, expressions blank as they waited for his answer. Yugi appeared to merely look at the chips blankly for a moment, expression decidedly neutral for the boy. Finally however, he smiled and nodded. "Okay," he decided, taking the chips in his hand and clicking five into place. "I'll take them!"
"Alright!" The others grinned, watching as Yugi turned to them with an equally cheerful expression in place. Back in the competition! "That's better," Honda was saying with a wink, pointing back toward the castle over his shoulder. "Now how about we get going?"
As Yugi nodded, Katsuya tapped the boy's shoulder. "That reminds me," he muttered as Yugi turned, blinking. "Yug'... You tell your other self that if he's gonna keep moping and complainin' that he's got me t' face, got it? You bring him out th' moment he starts, I'll knock some sense intah him!" He grinned, before coughing. "Er... Without somehow hurtin' yah..." Maybe he could find a way to get in there to deal with him himself? But wait, what would that do..?
His friend stared a few moments before laughing loudly and shaking his head. "Ahaha! Don't worry Jonouchi-kun," he said with a smile, the others turning to face the castle. "I won't let him argue... Trust me!"
"Good," he said with a grin. Well... That fixed things. If 'Dark Yugi' or 'Other Yugi' or whatever he was would keep quiet then things would work out... Fact was, he missed 'normal' Yugi- after hours and hours of nothing but 'Other Yugi', it was a good break... No matter how damn different those two were, or how damn creepy it was. "Now... Let's go kick some ass alright?"
With that there was a mostly resounding shout of 'Alright!', the only silence resulting from Mai being due to preference to not scream. The group pushed open the great iron doors to the castle's courtyard with that shout, rushing forward to enter the castle itself. It was time...
And in just a while, this would all be over.
AN:And another chapter complete! This one's a little longer than average (The note isn't as long as normal.), and I didn't even get everything I wanted in;there was originally going to be a scene with good old fashioned 'Pegasus creepy' at the end of this chapter, but really, it'll work at the beginning of the next one as well. Very well actually, regardless of the fact that Jou and Co will only get a small sliver of speech if they show up in the next chapter at all... They likely will though, given that I'd like to involve their reactions to the start of the duel in there... (There's an extra scene going there setting the marks of the complete 'big change' this arc.)
In any case! New poll results as per usual; Female, Crossdressing Priest Set is really killing the other two competitors...
Crossdressing, Female Set - 9 (Two Anonymous Polls)
Obviously Female Set - 4 (One Anonymous Poll)
Male Set – 2
NOW, on to things that are not polls! This story has been getting massiveamounts of favourites and 'alerts', and I really want to thank those people; you might not be reviewing, but it tells me that I'm obviously doing something right when someone signs up for a chapter update or puts it in their list of 'top fanfics'.
ANDDDD NOW...
Anonymous Review Responses
Two this time! First off, your vote has been recorded above Blam! Thanks for reviewing!
Second, hello hello there Iona! As I said before... Anything that Kaiba deals with is 'serious business'. ... Anything.
Definitely for the better, but definitely on the extreme side; sadly, a few lines concerning Mokuba originally concerned the cards themselves... AHHHH CANON KAIBA, DID YOU LEARNNOTHING AT THAT TIME? Granted, trying that with a helicopter would be just as successful as jumping out of it into the moving blades, and for all Kaiba knows Pegasus has a gun to Mokuba's head sooooooo... Yeeeaaaaa...
Ah! Thanks! I like putting in things like that... Not to mention, I find it hard to believe that if Kaiba has crazy laughing scenes in the manga that he's really recovered from anything... Which ends up being drawn on in Battle City with the tower as it is. See you next chapter; hope it's just as good as the last!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The guide that demands you embrace the TV-Troper within.
Speaking of TV Tropes; the title for this chapter is one. It's effectively the reverse of 'Honour Before Reason', a trope that has the hero doing the 'honourable' thing to do... But completely forgoing common sense to do so. Arguably, this happens to both Yugi and Jonouchi fairly often... Not to mention anyone else when they have a 'save the day' moment... Hell, in the actual series, you can forget about logic; any time Kaiba goes for it, his logic is likely to backfire if it's a moment of 'YAMI YUGI IS ALWAYS RIGHT'. Course, 90% of the time, Kaiba is awesome anyways, and that's ifit backfires...
Of course, for 'Revenge Before Reason', you just need to switch 'honour' with 'revenge' and let the sparks fly! This tends to lead to instances of 'was it really worth it?' or 'My GOD, what have I DONE' when the vengeance succeeds. Or doesn't succeed as is happening in the puzzle above.
Mentioned in the last chapter, but the cut-off point between this chapter and the last is the exact moment where the commercial break for the episode depicting this duel sat.
Hey Usagi! WHY DID YOU SUMMARIZE THE LAST CHAPTER? Well, mostly because it's Jou's 'inner reveal' that he's got some weird sixth sense thing going on. Granted, he thinks he's completely crazy but we all know what's going on...
Kinda sucks when you're subject to the cards poisons though. A lot actually. To be specific, Jou's spirit-y ability is more centered around the same crap running the power in the millennium items. Possibly because of all the exposure to them... More likely something else. In any case, what it means is that all those monsters that are summoned out, while ordinarily unseen are perfectly visible to him.
In every. Form. (Ick.) Also means he's a bit more sensitive to the... Other. 'Spirits'. Ironically, while this will serve as a handy warning for when Yami Bakura (Or Dark Bakura or... Whatever) comes up, it does dick all for when 'Yami Malik' appears... Because all Malik's 'dark side' is, is a sad result of Dissociative Identity Disorder. (Ironically, DID is so eerily similar to the 'early' relationship between Yami Yugi and Yugi that a lot of people actually think Yami Malik is another person. BUH?)
How can Jonouchi get away with saying 'she' before replacing it with 'he'? Well, the fact is I'm just using that as a text effect. In the Japanese language, it's actually very rare for them to specifically say 'he' or 'she' does this as opposed to 'Name' does this... If they even mention who the subject is. Hell, they don't even really have a word for 'she' and 'he'. They just stick with 'this/that person' and slap 'girl' on the end to differentiate. It's generally implied in the Japanese language that you know who they're talking about, and that if you don't you're clearly an idiot. So really, when the fanfic says 'she... He... Is doing this', he's screwing up with the 'that girl' and 'that person'; rather 'Kanojo' (Kano (That; specifically, the 'That' used for someone or something distant from the speaker. The other 'that' is 'sore'.) and Jo (Woman)) with 'Kano' itself, which reallyis used as a rough equivalent of 'he'. (Even though it means 'that'. Alternatively 'Kare' is also used... But that's still the same word, just used more specifically for men. Also for boyfriends, hence why he's not saying 'Kare'.)
Basically, he keeps saying 'Kanoj-' before correcting himself with either 'kano' or 'kare', and that's if he even bothers. All they ever hear is 'Kano' though, which is really still 'he' territory. OH JAPAN. Basically, 'why would he bother correcting himself if all he did was add a 'j' sound at the end?' comes to mind.
You can probably tell, really, really obviously, that I had fun emphasizing the 'three' in Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. (Thrice? Three-fold? OH USAGI YOU NUTBAR.)
Originally, there was a little more to the 'WTF WAS THAT' scene. (Also known as the 'STOP CHEERING FOR THE WRONG TEAM' scene.) However, I quickly realized as I was typing that they would have only had a few moments to do so... In the end, it'll be slightly re-lived in a non-canonical scene that takes place in either the next chapter or the chapter following that. We'll see how it works out. (It's not from Anzu's doing though... I'm fairly certain that the entire issue of Kaiba threatening suicide killed that for her.)
In the manga and anime both, Kaiba's original line was 'I would gladly die for the cards!'
Wait... Wait what are you talking about Kaiba... I thought you were doing this for your brother! (Hence why 'cards' became 'THIS'. Up to you if Kaiba's obsessing over the wrong thing.)
Another interesting point; when Kaiba draws 'Monster Reborn' in the manga, he calls the name... Before pulling the card out. HUH.
Also... 'Slit my throat with your cards' might sound silly, but it's a fairly literal comment that actually increases the intensity of the scene; this is a card game as Jonouchi himself says in this chapter, and Yami just about did as Kaiba said... Over cards. YIKES.
You think 'normal Yugi' is traumatized by this event? Try everyone else as they listen to someone they consider a best friend effectively shout 'I'LL KILL YOU!', send the monster forward without any remorse whatsoever toward an opponent who is literally waiting for the blow to fall. There's a reason why Jonouchi isn't questioned about Kaiba anymore in this chapter, and it's because everyone else is too busy being completely scared shitless by the 'Other Yugi'.
'Dark' Yugi indeed. (Did you know that 'Yami' means 'Darkness'? Now you do.) Notice how rather than 'Other Yugi', it suddenly switches to 'Dark Yugi' for a while in Jonouchi's mind the moment he shouts that. Hohoh~ This isn't an act of hate or downplay; rather a re-surfaced fear on Jonouchi's part. Remember, first time this Jonouchi found out about him by means of Mokuba's panicked mutterings of a penalty game. So... It's kinda like having a really cool really strong best friend that (unfortunately) also scares the shit out of people occasionally.
And yes. Jonouchi heard normal Yugi giving a big 'No'. Among other things. However, this is only because Yugi was literally screaming in his mind at the time; casual conversation or deliberately private mutterings will remain completely unheard to him, though it's likely that with time he'll end up guessing when they're talking... (That will probably be an overall thing though, as opposed to something 'special'. Otherwise, Jonouchi's got a little toomuch 'special'.
Kaiba's speech about games and life is actually really, really deep... But it's of course played off as either an overly obsessive point (Which it admittedly is) or just plain silly. Guys... When you take those lines out of context, it really ISN'T, particularly when you think of just how 'serious business' games tend to get as it is.
Speaking of that speech, Kaiba! Kaiba you said 'God', does that make you religious? FUCK NO. I doubt Kaiba solidly believes in anything guys... Not to mention the main religion of Japan is Buddhism followed by Shinto.
Dialogue switching? WHERE? I took a number of Anzu's lines and altered them for Jonouchi's mindset; given that he actually doescompare life to things like this with relative ease, it wouldn't surprise me if the slightly-more-character-developed version above actually came up with this.
Course... Anzu picked up and apparently missed that Jonouchi wasn't bashing so much as attempting to deliver a message...
Specifically, Anzu's exact lines after 'you're the one who lost' are 'You say people's struggles are a game? That's totally wrong! Facing yourself no matter how tough things get... And keeping up the fight... That's what games are really about!' And then cue 'you bet your chip.'
Quite honestly, I would think that Jonouchi understands more about Kaiba's 'game' analogy than Anzu's own. Which is rather silly in the end. Granted, after she said the second half, it makes a LOT more sense... If... You divide the speech in two... Plus, Kaiba spent most of it ranting about either cards or rivalry rather than Mokuba, so really, with that in mind, the entire thing is actually really well said.
Jonouchi's own line after Anzu was given to Honda... Given that Jonouchi had already said his piece in the chapter, and Honda kinda deserves a little more than 'Hey, it's alright Yugi~'
In the manga, when Jonouchi (Angrily) tosses the dueldisk back to Kaiba, he compares it to cup ramenagain. (Specifically, he says 'THIS CUP RAMEN THING'.) Oh Jou...
As it turns out, Mai was looking for Yugi; that's why she told Saruwatari she was getting the 'fourth finalist' (Probably didn't know if Jonouchi made it or not.). To be specific, it's more likely that she mentioned getting someone else with ten starchips and convincing Saruwatari to wait with her more 'convincing' aspects.
Again with the accurate lines; the first thing out of Jonouchi's mouth when he see's Mai is 'IT'S HER!'.
On the other hand, the first thing out of /Mai/'s mouth is 'WHA- Jonouchi...YOUCOLLECTED TEN STARCHIPS!' To which Jou 'intelligently' retorts that it will soon be half, not even explaining why. (Mai seems to catch on regardless though.)
Yea, I had Mai go double or nothing against Ryota. AHAHAHA. On another note, somehow Mai's character is growing closer and closer to 'really cool big sister' rather than what I tend to see of her in media... Let me know what you're thinking of that, it kinda affects the plot.
Yugi's original line makes so little sense that I almost want to throttle the kid myself, regardless of the constant pummelling he goes through anyways. 'When I was fighting Kaiba... I interfered with my other self... And lost... I can't do anything selfish anymore...'
Selfish? SELFISH? BOY YOU SAVED KAIBA'S LIFE, THAT'S NOT SELFISH. YOU PREVENTED MURDER YOU MORON.
It almost makes me wonder... If he's so submissive at this point that he's bullying himself. Hell, if you take that line the wrong way, it almost seems like Yami's picking on Yugi... When this is far from the fact, and it's more likely that Yami's just sulking in his puzzle and Yugi's feeling miserable about that fact. Because face it guys, Yugi's very nice.
And that tends to be what gets him into deep crap.
In any case, technically the situation is no different given Yami Yugi's mood, though there probably is a bit of a guilt layer there... (It's still pride that's keeping him from wanting those chips though. FOOL.)
Mai appears to already be aware of Yami Yugi, but given that she witnesses a duel between he and the PK'er of Darkness, I'm going to assume that Anzu cleared things up for her...
That or she is able to pass of anything, because she really does make a statement about Yugi's 'other self' in the manga with a straight face.
Still doubting Jonouchi's awesomeness? Besides a few words at the beginning in regards to Yami Yugi himself, thatentire speechwas all him. All of it. Oh... I also added some slang, given his mood. Some lineswererearranged to make more sense though... Otherwise,all him, message, heart, and soul. Ohhhh his mood though... So conflicted...
He's happy Seto's alive. But pissed that she essentially threw that to the ground in everyone's face. Sure he loves her, but he's still pissed as hell. Then there's Saruwatari being a jackass and Keith getting in... And now Yugi's giving up? NO, HE CANNOT HAVE THIS. And of course, he's currently dealing with the fact that Yugi effectively just said that only now did Yami finally pull a 'WHAT HAVE I DONE...'. That didn't even happen in the manga or anime guys; case in point, Yugi's original line.
Another point on that actually; the main reason why Yami's got that reaction in the fanfic (He doesn't appear to give it much thought until much later in the anime and manga both. If he even does.) has little to do with Kaiba herself and more with Jonouchi. Specifically, he now has the recent knowledge that he's facing the one his best friend has eyes for... Not to mention he's a fair bit closer to Mokuba than before, and also has that particular attachment thread to bug him.
So now he's effectively come that close to killing off his best friend's 'girlfriend' and another friend's older sibling. One of those things that make you go 'OH SHIT WHAT DID I JUSTDO?'.
And that's all for this chapter! I'll see you next time!