Skin

by Usagi Squared

Jonouchi Katsuya will always look out for his friends, no matter how weird things get. That means he will keep on fighting, whether facing maniacs with freaky powers, monsters from a childrens game, or the fact Kaiba's a girl. Wait, what? Warnings inside

46. Chapter 45

Between A Rock and the Frying Pan's Flames

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Planning an attack was never really an easy task... Particularly when the attack was meant to go against a group of people who could arguably have each of them shot for simply breathing the same air in the room. There were many things to be done, many things to be prepared. The area needed to be scouted out, analyzed more thoroughly than a soldier's bedroom during inspection. Safe paths of entry and exit would need to be found, backup plans made in case things went awry, ideas for what would occur in the game itself... And for the next hour and a half, that was exactly what they'd been doing. The book lay open on the table before them, and in a twisted way, Katsuya could almost compare it to a last minute study session for entrance exams.

The book came in three parts really; location, detailing the rooms containing pods along with their location. Construction, which concerned the wires and code of the device, down to the details of each tiny piece in the motherboard... And last of all, the actual game play. The game itself was so heavily based on circumstance that they gave up looking through that section after about ten minutes really; there were too many things based on where they went, and what they did. All they really had was that the final boss was some kind of giant dragon of sorts, and even that in itself was sketchy. They did have one thing from the section though; thanks to the detail that went into what was a surprisingly well written 'class system', they'd managed to already have set decisions on just what they'd be picking to go into the game.

Mokuba for one, had stuck with what was familiar to him; having played the rogue during the Monster World fiasco, the 'Thief' seemed a most logical choice for him. Fighting with a dagger, the thief could (according to the book) use trap cards, as well as steal from the opponent during battle. Katsuya in the meantime had picked the same 'Warrior' class he'd had from that time, the blond briefly wondering what sort of armor he'd end up with; from what the book said, the look depended on the size and build of the person... Completely in fact, to the point that even the 'preview' screens weren't much to go on. Nonetheless, the moment he'd seen the 'warrior' on the list, he'd picked it, grinning eagerly when told that the warrior got an attack bonus; whatever got them closer really.

While he'd been pondering his armor however, Yugi and the other Yugi had both been flipping through the book, while questioning whether or not they'd both end up in the virtual world or not. It was a good question, given how things worked out in reality; would a machine be able to take two minds in from one person, even when one wasn't technically in there? Pegasus hadn't been able to read both minds after all. He'd only reached the one 'present'... So what would happen in the game? In the end, the thoughts of who would be going were dropped when Mokuba spotted the page that Yugi was currently looking at. "The archer," he asked with raised eyebrows, the three sitting around the table as the others stood at the side. It had already been made clear that only three of them would be able to go in, once Mokuba had stated that there were only three pods in the room they would be able to access; and after Mokuba had insisted on going, it was effectively pointless to even suggest that anyone other than Katsuya and Yugi follow after. Katsuya was probably the closest thing to a 'brother' next to Kaiba... Yugi in the meantime would probably have more luck in the virtual world than the real one when things started getting rough. The boys stared at the page, Anzu and Honda remaining at the side as they talked to each other. Like the others, it had a basic 'image' of the class, along with all the stats... Yugi had been looking over it for a while now though. "Are you going to pick that one Yugi," Mokuba asked, the boy in question turning with the statement.

There was a slight pause, Yugi briefly looking back at the book. "I think so," he said with a nod, looking over the page for a few moments. "I was considering summoner as well, but this way I won't have to rely on the monsters completely... Also," he said with a small and determined nod, passing the binder over to Mokuba, "The archer has a chance of taming opposing monsters to summon once again... Depending on what we run into, that could be extremely helpful!"

The others nodded, looking back at the book themselves to look over the page. That wasn't all the archer could do it looked like; it could also use spell cards. "Heh..." Katsuya shook his head, smirking. "Guess that's as close as we'll get t' the 'Beast Tamer'," he said with a laugh, before watching as Mokuba flipped to another portion of the book. "Anyways... Now that we've got that," he continued with a slight frown, "We'll need t' figure out a way in righ'?" He looked to Mokuba, the boy nodding from where he was scanning the book.

"Yea... They'll probably have the entrances covered," he said with a frown, flipping through until he found a page labeled 'Multi-Player Beta'. A large room detailing three pods situated around a pillar met their eyes, certain areas labeled 'computer', or 'main power cable'. "Although..." The others stared, Mokuba looking up in thought before turning to them. "If we could get in through the back door without being seen," he explained, leaning on the table as he spoke, "We might be able to avoid detection until we get in there..."

Katsuya scratched his head, frowning. "Yea, but what happens when we actually get in there then," he asked, the others turning to him questioningly. "I mean, if we're gonna get caught when we get there, what happens after that?" He'd rather not end up going in only to be dragged back; nothing would get done if that happened!

Beside him, Yugi nodded in agreement, wincing somewhat at the thought. "That's right," he said with a frown, biting his lip. "They might try to do something to the machines while we're connected... And if it's attached to our spines," he added with a nervous swallow, shuddering somewhat. Well... That would be bad. Hihhhh... He should probably not think about things attaching to the back of his neck.

From the side, Honda snorted, shaking his head. "Hah! Like hell we're going to let that happen," he said with a frown, crossing his arms while the others turned to him. "We'll be there won't we," he asked, smirking. "Just because only three of us can go into this game, doesn't mean that the rest of us will be standing on the sides doing nothing right?"

Anzu nodded, frowning slightly. "That's right... I might not seem very capable," she said with a slight glare, "But there's a reason why you used to call me Mazaki." Yes. Yes there was, and it was because she was more than enough to scare the shit out of him and Honda at school. And sometimes not at school. Like at Burger World... With the ketchup bottle. (Stop thinking of that.)

Well, if they said they were good... "Alright," Mokuba said with a smile, looking back to the book, before frowning somewhat. "Just one more thing then..." The others turned, blinking before watching as the boy flipped through the binder. One more thing..? What was that then? He pulled open one of the latter pages, a list of computer terms and diagrams that just about gave the blond a headache appearing before them. "We're going up against all sorts of things that the Big 5 programmed to specifically counter Seto-niisama," the boy stated, frowning. "We're going to need as much of an advantage as possible..." That was for sure; if it was programmed specifically against Seto of all people, then what did that mean for them? Mokuba continued looking over the book, Anzu and Honda coming over to look as well while the boy frowned. "If I can find a way to maybe hack the game software to do that... Put in a code to our advantage..."

Katsuya looked over the book, the others staring with somewhat wide eyes at the gibberish on the page. "Wow," Honda muttered, scratching his head as the boy worked over the binder. "You actually understand all that crap?"

The answer to what was likely everyone's thoughts was needless to say not only silent, but another clear example of just how close the Kaiba siblings were; fairly interesting how that glare could be re-created really... It sure as hell had him inching back a bit. In the end however, the boy went back to the book, staring at a few pages and biting his lip. "Hnn..." A few moments of silence passed, the others watching with baited breath. It wasn't as though they could tell what the book said on all this... There was nothing but numbers and codes and lists on the page. An entirely separate language really. It seemed he found something however as in the end he closed it, nodding to himself before smiling. "Ok... I have something," he announced, sitting up before wincing and tugging at the shirt he was wearing.

"Er..." Yugi bit his lip, rubbing the back of his neck as Mokuba adjusted the shirt a bit. "My shirt isn't causing any problems is it," he asked, the boy in question shaking his head.

"Ah, no... It's fine," he said with a laugh, scratching his head and looking himself over for a moment. It was pretty weird to say the least, seeing Mokuba in leather of all things... But when they were pressed for time and Mokuba was wearing wet clothes... "It's just a little weird," the boy continued with a laugh, "Being able to fit in your clothes I mean..." Well, given that there was a five year difference... Yea, he could see why that made him fell a little awkward. Just a little. "...Thanks for letting me wear them though," he said with a small bowing nod, Yugi shaking his head.

"It's the least I could do," he said with a smile, standing up himself. "Your clothes won't be dry for a while after all, and if you wore them too long you'd get a cold... I don't think your brother would be too happy about that," he added with a small and nervous laugh.

Katsuya nodded, getting up from the side as well and stretching somewhat. "Besides," he said with a smirk, laughing. "Don't yah wanna see S... Kaiba's face when s- When he see's yah in Yugi's clothes?" Damn it, why was it so hard to keep the terms straight! Yugi was doing alright with it... Then again, he had the other Yugi to remind him, didn't he...

The boy laughed nervously, shaking his head while the others stood up. Ok, maybe the situation wouldn't play out as well as it did in his head... Actually, the situation in his head was suddenly a lot worse. "Well," Honda decided, stretching somewhat as he moved from behind the couch to the stairs. "If we're ready we should probably head out... Limited time right," he added somewhat awkwardly, frowning. Yea... Limited time.

The others nodded, Mokuba shoving the binder under his arm with a determined if not nervous frown. "Yea," he said somewhat nervously, looking over to the stairs before walking over to them. "We need to get going... Has it stopped raining," he asked, Anzu nodding her head.

"A few minutes ago," she said, blinking as she moved from her chair to follow the boys. "We can use the umbrellas if it's started up again though... In any case," she said, turning to the others as they walked over. "Do you two have your decks," she asked somewhat warningly, Katsuya and Yugi both nodding in response.

The blond pulled his deck out, holding it out. "Yep; right here!"

"Ah... That reminds me..." The others turned to Yugi, the boy himself looking up at Katsuya. "Jonouchi-kun... Have you added any new cards to your deck since the Duelist Kingdom?" New cards?

He turned, staring for a moment. "Eh?" The blond smirked, shaking his head. "Hah! Nope... This deck has a lot of good monsters," he said with a grin, looking through it as he spoke. These cards were what got him through all those battles after all! "I don' really see much point in changin' it..." Though... He had yet to win against Yugi...

Yugi grimaced, crossing his arms. "I guess," he said with a shrug, biting his lip. "You should probably think of re-organizing it with some new cards though..."

Beside them, Mokuba as well nodded, before moving to head up the stairs with Honda and Anzu behind him. "He has a good point Katsuya-nii," he said with a frown, the blond in question following behind with Yugi. "If you just use the same cards all the time, it'll be too easy to tell how you're going to attack..." What? Man... ...No wonder Yugi kept beating him...

Honda snorted from the back, shaking his head. "Don't even bother trying to tell him that," he said 'wisely', before giving the blond behind him a smirk. "Jonouchi's the kind of guy who'll stick to a good thing until the very end when he finds it!" Wait, what the hell was that supposed to mean? "It'd be pointless to tell him otherwise!"

"O-Oi! Don't talk like I ain't here yah ass!" What was wrong with sticking with something good? That was why it was good wasn't it!

The teen laughed, he and the others coming out of the stairway and moving into the hall. "Well then try listening to people for once," he said with a smirk, Katsuya merely growling as the others laughed.

Come on, them too? "Aww c'mon guys," he muttered, running his hands through his hair and groaning. "So mean... Seriously..."

"But it's because we care Katsuya-nii~" The boy ducked a playful swipe from the blond, laughing as the others shook their heads.

"Yea, you guys care alright," he said with a snort, shaking his head and pulling back with a mixed smirk and scowl. If Mokuba weren't eleven damn it... Hahhh... ...Now that he thought about the cards though... "Hey Yug'," he asked, the boy turning to look up with a slight nod. "You re-did your deck then..? Y' cleaned it out an' put new ones in?"

He nodded, hands holding his puzzle for the moment as Anzu and Honda busied themselves with finding the largest of the groups umbrellas. Currently, it looked as though they were all about the same size... Bringing them to an argument of which one was safer (Anzu's green 'frog' one) or 'less embarrassing' (Honda's worn out black one)... Needless to say, Honda's comment was not well taken, so Katsuya decided it'd be best if he just paid attention to what Yugi was saying."Un... Yea! I kept my key monsters," he said with another small nod, putting his puzzle down. "But the most of the other cards are new," he continued, turning to his puzzle. "I don't think that the same monsters can keep fighting in duels forever," the boy continued with a small smile, looking back up at Katsuya again. "So for the past few days, the other me and I have been going through our cards, refurbishing the deck."

Hnnn... Katsuya looked back to his deck, putting it back in his pocket with a nod. Even though Yugi probably didn't see what he did on the field, he knew without a doubt what his friend was getting at. Giving the monsters a break then eh? ...Huh... Maybe he should try a bit of card sorting himself, buy a few new cards... He moved past the others and pushed the door open, looking outside and at the sky. It was pitch black, with what few stars were normally visible clearly out above them. The clouds were obviously gone. "Nnn... Alright," he said with a grin, turning back to the others and holding the door open for everyone. He stepped outside, leaning against the door and holding his arm out. "Skies are clear, no rain! Lets get goin'!"

Honda shrugged, tossing his umbrella back in the bucket in the hall while Anzu rushed outside herself. "Well, so much for that then," he decided, walking outside as well. It was pretty cold out there for obvious reasons; middle of January, it wasn't going to be that warm. Either way... Despite the cold they crowded outside with either their school jackets or in Mokuba's case a borrowed one, Yugi turning back as his grandfather waved them off from the door.

"We'll be back soon, alright grandpa," he said, the man merely nodding.

"Of course," he said with a small bow, looking down the street and turning back to the group with a small smile. "I wish you all luck."

The group nodded, turning to leave. "Yea!" Yugi looked up at the others, before turning to Mokuba. "Alright," he said as the boy adjusted his grip on the binder. "Lead the way!"

Mokuba looked over the others, before nodding and moving past the others toward the direction he came from. "Right... Follow me," he shouted, before charging off down the now relatively empty and dark streets. While crowds still filled the area, it was far easier to maneuver their way through now, the group forming a sort of clustered train as they shoved through the streets. "The company building should be closed down by now," he said as they ran, binder gripped tightly under his arm. "The gates will all be locked from the inside..."

Honda grit his teeth, frowning with the words. "So we're going to have to break in then," he asked, Anzu also frowning from beside them. Oooooh... He didn't have his picks on him either...

"That doesn't sound like it'll be too easy," Anzu said uneasily, shaking her head as they continued to run. "Your brother is pretty particular when it comes to security isn't he? It won't just be a matter of hopping a fence I don't think..."

The boy nodded in response, before answering. "That's right," Mokuba said, continuing to run as the others followed close behind. "But even though nii-sama did a security sweep," he continued with a slight frown, There's still a way in..." There was? Other than just breaking in then? "Katsuya-nii," Mokuba called, the blond blinking as they continued down the streets behind the boy. "Do you have your security pass on you?"

Katsuya stared for a moment, before nodding. "Yea," he said with a blank and slightly confused expression. "'F course I do, it's th' only way I can get in th' house! But I thought that was all it was keyed into!"

He shook his head, the enormous tower that was Kaiba Corporation standing tall in the near distance as the others listened carefully. "Not really," he said seriously, slowing down as they came to the large crosswalk between themselves and the building. For the most part, they'd had a straight shot in terms of crossing streets... Most of the roads were fairly long, so this would be the first wait... The boy looked up at Katsuya as they took a few moments to breathe, clarifying. "Seto-niisama coded the security staff he left on hire at the house into the building here as well," he said with a small frown, Katsuya raising his eyebrows in response. "...Didn't he tell you Katsuya-nii?"

The blond laughed quietly, a frozen and somewhat wry smile on his face. As a matter of fact... "No," he said, turning away and continuing to laugh somewhat darkly. "No s-" Not she, not she... "No he didn't..." And something told him he knew why damn it. The lights for the crosswalk changed over, the group running across the street before slowing to a stop at the gates. The barred doors were immense to say the least, and more than impossible to scale too easily... At the side however, was the familiar 'box' that was installed back at the mansion. Katsuya looked down at Mokuba, shaking his head for a moment before fishing around his pants pockets for his ID card. There it was, same emotionless face that had Honda in stiches for a few weeks after he'd first shown him the card... (As Anzu and Yugi both smiled somewhat...) "Right... They won' be on our trail after I use this will they," he asked, frowning somewhat. It would really suck if that was the case...

Mokuba shook his head, looking back at the gate. "Nope," he said confidently, turning back to the entrance. "When the gate opens, the card ID is logged automatically in a computer," he explained, continuing on, "But the log has to specifically be accessed to tell exactly who's coming in... After all," he said with a grin, looking up at the others with a small laugh. "If the card works, then obviously they're allowed in right?" And yet no one told him that he could use his card to get in here... And he had a feeling it had to do with why Seto hadn't told him either... Hahaha...

He pushed the thought from mind, nodding as he swiped his card across the gate lock. A small 'beep' came from the device, the light growing green as Katsuya watched the gate swing inward for them to enter. It seemed a little too easy, walking in with nothing happening. Really really easy, almost like they were waiting for him... So that they could just end up trapped inside...

Honda appeared to notice the blond's uneasiness, throwing an arm around his shoulder with a grin. "Heyyy! Calm down man," he said with a smirk, the group walking in as Mokuba quietly led them around a more dark path to the 'back door'. Katsuya looked at his friend, expression somewhat blank as the teen went on. "It's better than trying to hack into Kaiba's security system isn't it?"

From ahead, Mokuba nodded, smirking. "Haha... And faster too," he said with a grin, Katsuya looking back to the boy while he ducked under Honda's arm. "If I started hacking into nii-sama's security system after what he did to it when he got back, I'd be stuck at that gate for fifteen minutes before it opened! And even then," he added with a more nervous laugh, "We'd probably trigger the alarms doing that..."

That... That was a good point. He should stop complaining. "Hahaha..." The blond scratched his head, before rubbing the back of his neck as they made their way around the building. Yea... Erm... Oh well. They walked over to a small door, Mokuba looking back to Katsuya before moving to the side and gesturing to the lock. He shook his head, pulling the card out of his pocket again. "Kay... Somethin' tells me I should jus' leave this card out," he said with a nervous laugh, swiping it through as the door clicked open.

"Pretty much," Mokuba said with a grin, watching as the others began to file inside. "Ok... Now we need to be quiet in here," he whispered, looking down the currently dark hall. There were next to no lights still on inside the building, and even then, they were only tiny and distantly spaced 'lamps' for the sake of a small bit of safety. "Patrols go on regularly in the building after hours, especially in the basement rooms..."

The basement? What? "Why th' hell would they have issues in the basement," Katsuya hissed, frowning as the door was quietly clicked shut behind them. The five slowly made their way down the hall, keeping to the walls as Mokuba looked around the next corner before moving on. "If it's all computers down there, wouldn' that make it even harder t' steal?" There was a light smack, the blond growling slightly before turning to the source. "T- Ow! Honda, what th' hell?"

Honda shook his head, rolling his eyes as they walked. "Idiot," he muttered, the group heading quietly down the hall as Mokuba looked around for the stairs. "It's a company that's built on technology, all someone would have to do is copy what they need to a flashdrive!"

There was another pair of thumbs, both teens wincing and groaning as someone else growled behind them. "Will you two both shut up," Anzu hissed, the two turning to meet the woman's glare with a flinch. "Mokuba said to be quiet, do you want us caught?"

They both clammed up, sharing an annoyed look before the expression switched to a resigned sigh and they continued off. Alright alright, perfect silence... They'd keep quiet, no worries... There was a loud creak as Mokuba held the door open, turning to the others as they winced and waving them over. "Alright," he whispered, gesturing to the stairs beyond the door. Unlike in the halls, there were no lights in there, save whatever the main-floor window and that of the doors to the hall left them. "Watch your step and follow me!"

The group nodded, following the boy down as the door again echoed shut behind them. It was hard going, walking down the stairs in the dark... The railing was tightly gripped as they went down, passing the first basement floor in silence before stopping at the second. 'B-2'... The door was opened in tentative silence, Mokuba poking his head out before waving them over with a hurried nod. 'This way,' he mouthed, the others tiptoeing down the hall as the door was quietly shut behind them. The halls were completely black down there... There was the occasional light above a door to light the way however, and it only took a few moments before they found the room they were looking for. And all without running into a single person; damn they were lucky! "Alright," Mokuba whispered, looking at the number pad and biting his lip. "This is the room. Lets see..."

Mokuba stared at the keys a moment, Katsuya looking at the pad himself. Out of all the keys, there were a few that were faded... "Hnn... Whatever th' code is," he muttered, squinting as he looked at the pad, "It's gonna have a lot 'f '2's in it..."

The others turned, staring at the seemingly odd statement. "Er... 2's," Mokuba repeated quietly, looking back at the pad and narrowing his eyes.

He nodded, scratching his head. "Y-Yea," he muttered, looking around the hall somewhat nervously. "Th' key's all smudged, so it's been used more than th' others..."

"Huh... That's pretty handy Jonouchi," Anzu said with a nod, blinking with slight surprise. "Where on earth did you learn that..?"

Er? Where? ...Ah... "Trust me," Honda said with a quiet laugh, watching as Mokuba punched something into the number pad before the doors hissed open for them to run in. "You really don't need to know the answer to that one."

Anzu gave the teen an odd look, Katsuya laughing nervously himself as they walked in. The lights were quickly flicked on from the side, the doors buzzing shut behind them with a loud clang... Including the manual 'pull shut' door, which had been hanging open on the inside. He rubbed his head, still laughing quietly as they moved into the large room. It was probably for the best that Anzu not know why he learned that trick...

They looked around, watching as Mokuba ran over to the computer for a moment to push in a few buttons. Large screens sat beside him, the one in the center turning on before he moved to pull the cables from the other smaller ones. "...Alright," he said as the others watched, before coming down and handing Anzu his binder. "You'll need page seven on hand," he said with a slight frown, the woman nodding in response. "It should have all the instructions on starting up the pods... Also," he continued, looking toward the door, "I put a code in to keep the doors from opening... But they could still push them in manually, so you might need to put up a barricade if worse comes to worse," he said with a wince. "...At least there's lots of stuff down here?"

The woman gave a somewhat wry smile, merely nodding while Honda moved over to the computer to look at the switches. "We understand," she said with a nod, before watching as the pods opened up with a hiss. Katsuya and Yugi both walked over, Yugi looking at the second one and appearing to stare off for a few moments in silence before turning back to the others. "...Make sure you all come back safe, understand," she asked with a worried frown, holding the binder close before moving to sit with Honda at the computer. "If anything happens to you guys... I..."

"We'll be fine," Katsuya said with a nod, smirking. Hey... They couldn't get worried now, not when it was all or nothing right? If they stopped to think right now, they might not come back! "That's a promise," he added, turning back to the pod he was standing by. He kept his promises didn't he? And this would be no different. He pulled out his deck, looking at it a moment before turning back to the pod. Alright... Time to get in...

Mokuba as well moved over to his pod, pushing a key of sorts on the arm of it's 'chair' before dropping his sister's deck in a drawer that appeared from it. "Push the third button on the right," he told the other two, looking at them both from his far off pod. "The machine is programmed to ask for the deck automatically, but it's a little hard to reach the drawer once you're inside..."

He and Yugi nodded, doing as Mokuba had said and watching as a small drawer appeared. Ok then... He dropped his deck in, watching the drawer retract and taking a large breath. This was it... They all took a seat in their pods, Katsuya tensing slightly as the device abruptly began to lock around his body. "Gh-" Cold metal pushed against his shoulders, the blond attempting to turn his head only to be viced in by a helmet. "W-What th' hell..!"

"It's just the machine Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said with a slight shout, sounding somewhat faded thanks to the 'helmet'. "Just calm down, it's part of the game!" Yea, but the game was also a death trap, it was kinda hard to relax with that kind of knowledge...

Nonetheless he nodded, watching as the glass for the pod itself closed over top of him. Damn this was claustrophobic, he thought with a swallow, eyes wide as he stared forward. From where he was, he couldn't see the others... He couldn't hear anything either, he realized with a frown, attempting to lean back against the seat and get somewhat comfortable. Having his uniform jacket on the side helped with that he supposed, but even so the 'chair' was just a little uncomfortable... The blond sat there, silence digging into his mind while he stared down at the dog-tags around his neck. He never did end up getting the nerve to ask Seto what they were made of... Sure as hell hadn't asked anyone else if they'd have an idea, he'd probably have gotten a fair number of awkward looks... (Sure as hell got raised eyebrows from Mokuba...) They looked pretty damn expensive though, that was for sure.

Now that he thought about it, Anzu had mentioned her co-workers gushing about someone who came in and paid extra to have a quick engraving job done on some dog tags and a stuffed animal... And... Didn't Mokuba get a monogrammed-

"Ghn!" The blond froze, streams of light abruptly rushing across the black screen of glass before his eyes. What the hell..? The lights continued to fill his vision, streaming across in what looked to be lines of code before blurring into nothing. What the hell was- His eyes widened momentarily as something pressed against his neck and head, before slowly closing over as the cold feeling increased. This feeling... Wh... He felt pretty tired for some reason... Couldn't keep his eyes open... Body felt numb... No, it wasn't that he was numb, it was more that he wasn't there. He couldn't feel anything... Not the chair he was in, not the air he was breathing (He was still breathing right?)... Yet he couldn't feel scared about that, even though he knew he'd ordinarily be creeped out more than when he'd dueled Kotsuzuka. His eyes closed over completely, the sounds of his breathing dying out to his ears. He couldn't see... Feel... Hear... Couldn't even taste the roof of his mouth when his tongue pressed against it, if it was doing that even...

...Why was that...

...It was dark again.

---

"...What... What th' hell?" Katsuya slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times before frowning at the darkness that sat around him. Nothing... There was nothing here, just an endless expanse of true darkness and... "Aw hell," he muttered to himself, rubbing his face as he closed his eyes for a moment. "Not this again..." Ok... Calm down Katsuya, this wasn't necessarily one of those creepy ass dreams he'd been having since Duelist Kingdom... Maybe it was something different! Something that wasn't scarily prophetic, like the last few. Or just plain weird, like with the 'little Seto-chan' that had... Managed to materialize in Pegasus' castle. He should really stop thinking of that crap, but hey, this wasn't a dream right? Although... He frowned, staring off and making a mental list. Complete and total darkness... Check. It was definitely around and below him, given the weird floating feeling he had despite standing flat on his feet. Next up... Cold... Sheer cold despite whatever the hell he was wearing. Also present, he thought as he rubbed his arms, before frowning and looking down at himself. What the- His shirt and pants were- ...Was he naked? Seriously? ...And...

...And glowing? Naked and glowing? (Seriously, the hell was this shit...) Alright! Weird crap! Definitely there! Three for three, he told himself with wide eyes, shaking his head. God damn it, did he fall asleep in the pod or something? This was the worst possible time for this... Seriously... 'Welcome,' a computerized voice above him stated, the blond looking upward with a jump. W-W-Wait... That voice was new. 'To Duel Monster Quest version .10.' Er... Wait, so this was part of the program..? "...What the hell kind of game is this," he muttered, scratching his head as the computer continued on, ignoring his mutterings. Ask a bunch of questions, listen to the instructions, yadda yadda yadda... (Why the hell was he naked...)

Wait did it just ask for his name? He looked back up, bringing his arms back down. "Er... Jonouchi," he said with a shrug, leaning somewhat backward as he put his hands behind his head. There was no way in hell he was ever going with 'Joey' again... Never. Ever. Again. Not after Bandit Keith damn it... Completely ruined it for him. The voice continued on about something else as he thought of this, before a series of panels appeared to spin around him. Oh hey... The blond blinked, watching as they stopped moving and hovered in place before him. 'Please choose your battle class', the computer stated, Katsuya merely staring. Huh. The classes. Er... He poked the first one, blinking as the other panels vanished behind the 'Warrior' one. 'Thank-you,' the computer said, Katsuya shrugging in response. Eh, whatever... He was just trying to move through the game really... A few more panels showed up, a bunch of armor appearing before him. "Eh..." Hohhh... Here he thought he was done...

Katsuya scratched his cheek, looking over his options. Leather and cloth, cloth and leather... He'd have picked the cool looking metal armor, but looking at how damn heavy it was... And how many issues he'd had in that one bit of time where he'd been wearing his figurine's armor when he wasn't a figurine (That was weird). "Shit, I won't be able t' run more than two meters in that," he muttered with a laugh before sighing. Alright then... He tapped the cloth one, smirking as the panels all vanished completely from sight. "Heh... This oughta work..." He blinked as the sudden feeling of cloth came over him, looking down at himself as a simple pair of breeches appeared on him along with a tunic. Huh... Boots as well, a small sheath of sorts on his back. Didn't look like much, he'd have thought that armor would come with a bit more armor, cloth or not...

Ah well. This was pretty comfortable really, so no big deal! He shrugged to himself, stretching slightly to get a feel of the outfit before frowning. Waaaaait, did that computer just say the game was beginning? Right now? He looked down coughing as a large and dead looking wood began to come up through his vision, the darkness around him fading out into a large and cloud filled sky. "Ahhh shit!" The trees began to become more detailed, a few clouds passing him as he fell. "Shit!" The blond looked around, watching as the ground moved closer and closer. Shit, he was falling! What the hell kind of game was this, he only just started and already he was going to die! ...Wait why was he still standing?

He blinked, stumbling slightly as he came to land on his feet on the ground. "Wooooahhh..." He tripped, shaking his head as he looked around. Man... He hadn't even hit the branches coming down, he thought, looking up at the trees above. He'd just... Passed right through them, like he was a ghost... H-Hihhhh... Scary... "...S-Shit," he muttered, looking at the withered and blackened trees around him with wide eyes as he brought his eyes to more 'ground level'. Numerous gashes lined the trees, each of variant height and depth. A cluster of shuiken were embedded deep into the side of one tree in particular, the ground singed completely, as though lightning had struck the place where he stood. There were even a few charred pieces of wood at one side he noted, the blond rubbing a finger along the charred wood and drawing back with a swallow. Still warm too, even though it was obvious that no one had been there for a while now. And the damage was all concentrated in once spot... "Shit... What th' hell happened here..."

"Nee-sama happened, that's what," a voice said from the side, Katsuya turning abruptly with wide eyes. Mokuba stood there, hands held behind his currently bandanna wrapped head before coming down to his sides as he walked over to inspect the damage as well. A cloak as well hung around his shoulders, making Katsuya just slightly jealous of the fact that all he really had to call his own was a simple shirt. Either way... Attempting to scratch his head told him that there was a pretty awesome looking spear hanging on his back, so the feeling didn't last too long.

Looking at the damage around them however, that wasn't quite the point. "Seto-chan was the 'source'," the blond repeated with raised eyebrows, looking back at the charred wood and again swallowing. "Even f'r this?"

The boy nodded, frowning. "Yea... Nee-sama managed to figure out the initial spell system," he said, crossing his arms in thought. "Her first card draw was a dud, so she had to fight using both that and her sword... That was her first attack against the thing that ended her game, the 'Armed Ninja'..."

"So then..." The others turned, blinking as Yugi stumbled to the ground himself with a slight frown. "That's the one we have to look for right?" He himself didn't look to bad either; aside from a simple tunic style shirt and shorts, the boy's ranger wear came with rather thick looking boots and gauntlets. Along with, of course... His puzzle? Katsuya stared, shaking his head and looking again. It was gone..! It was... Yugi appeared to pay it no mind, walking toward the other two as he continued. "If Kaiba-san was last here, and she was captured by that ninja that must mean that we're going to be traveling along the same path she was taken on..." He turned around, looking down the cliff they stood on with a swallow. It was probably about ten, fifteen meters up really... Not a short distance. "Hnn... It doesn't look like this will be too easy," he muttered, scratching his head with a wince. "Mokuba," he asked, turning to the others as they looked over the cliff as well. "What sorts of fights does this game have exactly?"

The boy blinked, before looking over the deckholder on his arm. Come to think, he had one as well... Looked pretty out of place to say the least. "Well," he began, blinking before turning back to them, "There are two options really... We can draw a card once per battle, and either use that or store it in a hand... There's a limit of seven, like the game," he added, looking to Katsuya and Yugi as the pair stared at their own disks. "From what I could tell while nee-sama was fighting however, we have to pay half of the monster's attack when we summon..." W-Wait, that much? "We also have to pay to cast spell cards but... Ahh..." He laughed, looking over to Katsuya. "Well.."

"W-What," he said with a frown, blinking. "Is... Is there somethin' different in my case?"

Yugi grimaced, pulling a face and nodding. "The book said that the warrior class sacrificed all magic for strength," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think you'll be able to cast any spells even with cards... I can't use traps myself, while it's the reverse for Mokuba..."

Awww hell that sucked. "Seriously..?" He bit his lip, frowning as he fingered the spear his armor had come with before pulling it out. It was about a foot taller than him he'd say... The blade curved around to cover his hand, almost like some kind of giant curved dagger or axe stuck on a stick. Annnnd this was all he had. And his monsters... Which admittedly made up most of his deck, but damn it, he still had good spells in there! "Crap," he muttered, rubbing his head with his free hand. "What th' hell do I do with any spell cards I pull out then?"

"Hnn..." Mokuba looked up, crossing his arms in thought. "You could probably toss them to us," he began, shrugging. "Actually, I think that as long as we use them right away, we can use each other's cards..." Oh. Well that was a bit of a relief anyways...

The boys looked back down the side of the cliff, Katsuya swallowing and pulling back from the cliff's edge. Hooooo... Long way down. "Heh, well... At leas' I can still use monster's or my spear," he said with a laugh, waving the staff in question before leaning on it somewhat.

The others nodded, grinning. "Haha! That's the spirit, Jonouchi-kun! Ah..." Yugi turned, blinking and looking questioningly at Mokuba. "That reminds me though... How does the combat system work for us?"

"Ahh... Basically," he said with a shrug, biting his lip, "We fight; from what I saw, it comes natural... Though we won't get any experience from a monster attack as opposed to our own attack... Ah, we'll still get lifepoints from each monster we beat though," he said quickly, looking at the others. "When we beat a monster, we get the same number that it had at defeat... When nee-sama beat the two-headed king rex," he explained, Katsuya briefly shaking his head at the image of Seto charging a giant purple dragon-thing, "She gained 1600 life points... I don't know how it'll work with three of us," he continued with another shrug, "But it should be similar."

They nodded, Yugi looking back down the cliff again. Hnn... This couldn't be anything compared to a giant purple dinosaur right? "Ok then," Yugi said, crossing his arms and staring down the side. "How should we get down to that cliff though..."

Mokuba frowned, looking down it himself before turning to the forest behind them. "I'm not sure," he said, shaking his head. "There should be some way around here... I mean, that kind of jump would be impossible otherwise and-" He froze, watching as Katsuya abruptly flew past and skidded down the cliff on his feet. "G- K-Katsuya-nii!"

"J-Jonouchi-kun," Yugi shouted, staring as the blond skidded through a now developing cloud of dirt before landing safely at the bottom with a loud cheer. "Ah- ...It worked..."

"WHOOOO! YEA!" That was great! HAH! He looked up, grinning at the others and making room for the two to come down themselves. "Heh! I figured since Seto-chan took down a dinosaur, we'd have some sort of special ability in th' game!" Like say incredible cliff diving skills. Or something. Heh... The blond stretched, cracking his knuckles before leaning against his spear. "That was pretty fun actually... Hehehe..." Really fun... Hah!

The others blinked, sharing a look for a moment before turning back down. Should they jump down or... Finally Mokuba shrugged, shaking his head and following after Katsuya with a sort of skidding jog. "Hup!" Dirt flew through the air behind him, Yugi waving it out of his face before the dust cleared. He landed with a slight stumble, Yugi following behind in a similar fashion before scratching his head and looking back up. "So..." They looked down the path, Katsuya visibly growing pale while the other two looked up at him worriedly. Tombstones littered the ground that had originally been mostly invisible from the top of the cliff, a heavy and thick layer of smog sticking to the ground before them. What trees remained were shadows of even those above on the cliff... White and dry husks that looked as though they would crumble with a mere tap. "...This must be the 'Graveyard' 'bonus' level we were trying to avoid," Mokuba said with a swallow, looking back to Katsuya.

"N-Nyhhh..." He shivered, shaking his head. Of all the places for them to come, why were they here! "D-Damn it," he muttered, shaking considerably, "What were th' chances of that!"

Yugi bit his lip, shrugging. "I suppose it makes sense," he said with a frown, taking a few steps forward through what had merely been a thick blanket of fog from above. "We did have to go down a cliff to reach it..."

Mokuba nodded, giving a somewhat sympathetic look to Katsuya. "Well... Think of it this way," he said with a nervous laugh, rubbing his head. "More experience points right? We'll need all the strength we can get when we go against what took Seto-neesama right? So this might be for the better then!"

Well... He guessed that was right... He swallowed, nodding his head in an attempt to steel himself. "A...Alrigh'... I guess..." They started walking, the blond looking down at his deck holder nervously before looking back at the graves around them. "But if we run int' any monsters, there's a good chance it'll be zombies..." Particularly if this graveyard, which looked... Eerily familiar to him... Was home to the same ones Kotsuzuka had used... H-Hihhhh... "I don' think too many of my cards'll help against those..."

"Actually," Mokuba said with a wink, turning to the blond with those words, "I fixed that." The others blinked, staring owlishly at the boy as he explained. "I put a code into the program," he continued with a somewhat wicked smirk, crossing his arms. "It's simple enough to get rid of, since there wasn't time to put a firewall on it... But for now," he added with a grin, "We should be able to call our draws!"

So like... Just say what the card would be and pull it out? So... "...Y'mean cheat?" There was a nod as Mokuba continued walking beside them, Katsuya sharing a look with Yugi for a moment.

"Well," he said with a shrug, Katsuya blinking with minute surprise at the dismissive response, "Since the people we're up against are technically cheating, I guess it's only fair... The other me thinks so anyways," he added as he scratched his head, staring up briefly. Wait... He was still talking to him without the puzzle there? But... How..?

Katsuya again nodded, turning to his friend to ask about that before tensing. Something on the air... Something was in the air, something familiar... "...Hey... ...You guys smell that," he asked lowly, staring ahead as the same acrid scent from the 'graveyard board' met his nose. Rotting flesh, bugs and bone... Moth eaten cloth, rusted metal and coppery blood... The others frowned, shaking their head as the area fell quiet. Great. Why was he always the first to smell this kind of crap, he thought with an involuntary shudder. Gh... The smell increased, Katsuya looking around at the graves around them and stopping in his tracks. Where... Where were the monsters... He could smell them, but where-

"GRNNNNNNN..." A loud squelching noise came through the air, followed by a deep growl as an enormous bony claw pierced the ground. Skeletal wings broke through the earth and the zombie dragon clambered from its grave, toppling the tombstones of those beside it as it exited the ground. And it wasn't alone... The boys tensed, backs pressed against each others as they drew back, the sound of a low growl accompanied by hoarse and rasping laughter. From beneath the ground just a few paces away, a rotting clown with a scythe pulled itself through the dirt, appearing before them with a wicked toothless grin. It stood on it's worn yet still inflated ball with a manic cackle, twirling the scythe in its hand before leering down at its current opponents. And still there was another, Katsuya thought with a wince. Still another for the god-damned 'immortal zombie trio' he'd seen before! A third sound came through the air, soil pushed from the front of a grave as a rusted and worn blade was tossed out. Bony arms followed after, an ancient and worn samurai with nothing to call a face save its skull pulling itself from the ground and turning toward them with endlessly empty eye sockets.

God damn it why did it have to be zombies. WHY. "Gh... S-Shit," Katsuya muttered, holding his spear out before him and swallowing. "S-So... What was that y' said about 'top-decking' Mokuba?"

There was no answer, the boy merely running forward with a hand on his deck. "No time, just watch" he shouted, facing the zombified warrior with a frown. "Without looking at the card, call your draw! Rude Kaiser!" There was an odd sound as his lifepoints dropped, the monster appearing to Mokuba's aid in a shimmer of dust and light. Scaled and as lizard-like as ever the beast drew his blades, charging forward and cutting down the zombie warrior in a flash of light. Lifepoints increased again, the other two zombies looking over their fallen comrade before chuckling darkly. An odd green mist filled the air... Rude Kaiser turned to look back at the corpse he'd destroyed, eyes widening as the pieces began to reassemble. "H-Heh..?" Mokuba swallowed, stepping back as the other two quickly came to his side. In a flash of steel the Rude Kaiser was gone, Mokuba's well earned lifepoints cutting down instantly. The alligator-like monster's body collapsed to the ground to vanish into a mist... And the samurai appeared slightly larger than it had before. "What..!"

The blade was turned on Mokuba in just an instant, Katsuya jumping in front of the boy to block the strike with his spear tip. "Gh-... I played against a guy who used these," he said with a grunt, pushing back the blade of the samurai before hurriedly moving to block another strike from the clown as it came forward. The dragon in the meantime had successfully drawn Yugi's attention, the boy dodging a number of 'stomping' attempts from the beast with wide eyes. "Normal attacks don' work," he continued, slicing through the clown and watching the pieces bowl away on the ball before slowly reassembling. Shit, here it came again... "They jus' come back even stronger! Y' can't kill them!"

"W-What!" Mokuba and Yugi shared a look from behind gravestones as they narrowly avoided a blast of acidic slime from the dragon, Katsuya turning back slightly as he continued to block the attacks. This wasn't working... Again he was forced to send the clown back, managing to but its ball back along the ground as opposed to simply killing it.

"Look... You guys need t' get outta here," he shouted, attempting to push the onslaught of zombies back yet again. Constant moaning was grating at his ears, worm eaten flesh staring him in the face as he attempted not to puke. God damn these things were creepy... So damn creepy... The scent was burning his nostrils, and it was taking all he could to just hold his breath and not pass out... "I'll hold 'em off for a bit," he continued loudly, attempting to reassure himself as metal clashed against rusted metal, "But until then..."

Yugi swallowed, frowning from where he and Mokuba were ducking behind a stone slab. "Jonouchi-kun," he said as he and Mokuba backed up somewhat, before they themselves were forced to dodge a second blast of acidic smoke from the zombie dragon. The gravestones melted into a mere sludge, and they both looked over at Katsuya with wide eyes. "Jonouchi-kun," the boy repeated, he and Mokuba keeping a careful eye on the dragon as it lumbered forward. "Didn't you have a card that stopped them? You beat Kotsuzuka last time didn't you?"

Back against Kotsuzuka..? Ah- That was right, he had- "Gh-... AH-CK!" The blond fell back, spear cut in two and his arm faring just as badly as it bled. S-Shit... Just a moment of distraction and that was all it took... He gripped the half of the spear that still held a blade, cutting half-blind at the monsters as they came near again. "Gh..." Shit it stung... Oh man it stung, he thought as he gripped his arm. They had to end this, now! The card... He couldn't use the spell but... "Tch... Shield and Sword," he shouted, pulling the card from his deck holder and tossing it to the others as he took a few steps away from the monsters again. "Yugi," he called, ducking under a strike from the zombie clown before rolling out of it's way when it opted to simply attempt steamrolling him. "Go for it!"

The boy nodded furiously, dodging another blast from the dragon as he caught the card in his hand. "Alright," he shouted, holding the card toward the monsters as Mokuba charged out of the way when the dragon attempted a more physical approach yet again. "Shield and Sword" he called, voice reverberating around the graveyard. The card vanished into dust, and in its wake the result was instantaneous; the blades of the samurai and clown both rusted away to nothing, handles clattering to the ground pointlessly. The clown's large ball deflated, leaving the zombie to struggle to its feet while the dragon at the other end of the field merely collapsed to an even slower crawl than it already had. And as they stood there, the monsters looking over their defenseless forms, Katsuya gripped his spear top with a wicked smirk.

"Hehehe... Try this f'r size," he said with a grin, charging forward. Pay back time! "Hah!" It was more than simple to slice the head of a zombie when he knew it wouldn't come back really. With a single 'whoosh' sound, followed by a thunk, the zombie warrior was long gone, helmet clattering to the ground along side its worn and filthy skull. He turned to deal with the clown, only to blink as Mokuba twirled his dagger from where the clown's corpse was vanishing into dust. Huh... Already dealt with eh...

"Haha..." Mokuba sheathed his dagger, looking from the corpse back to Katsuya. "This is kinda like the Monster World," he said with a grin, rubbing his head. "Except not as creepy... Maybe nee-sama will keep developing the game after all this is over..."

Katsuya shivered somewhat, shaking his head. Personally, as scary as the 'Monster World' was, he prefered those monsters over the zombies a lot more. He sighed, smirking nonetheless before paling as a shadow loomed over them. "...Aww hell," he muttered, looking up as the enormous and very much alive zombie dragon ambled over and above them. "Shit," he muttered, looking down at his spear while Mokuba looked at his dagger. Not exactly 'dragon destroying' material really... "This is gonna s-"

-fffpt!-

The boys blinked, looking up and hurriedly running back somewhat as the enormous dragon collapsed to the ground with an echoing thump. Looking at the great beast's head as it slowly disolved, they swallowed, staring at the three arrows embedded deep into the monster's fragile skull. The two turned, watching as Yugi shouldered his bow with a grin. "Hah... You didn't think I wouldn't help did you?" Of course they didn't! It was just weird, seeing him take out a dragon that was about twenty plus times their size... Haha... The boy walked over, brushing a bit of dirt from his pants before looking at them with a worried smile. "...Rangers are better for long-range attacks... Sorry if I surprised you guys," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Ahh, it's fine," Katsuya said with a shrug, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulder. "I'm jus' glad y' didn't try taming one of these guys," he added with a shudder. Yugi gave a small laugh in response to that, before the boys abruptly froze. Just seconds after the immense dragon fully vanished, a glass 'screen' of sorts appeared before their eyes. "E-Eh!" Katsuya jumped, pulling away from Yugi as the screen began to flash with numbers. "What the-"

Mokuba jumped slightly as well, before watching as the dirt and filth from the battle cleaned itself off of their armor. "Ah!" The boy blinked, before turning his attention back to the 'screen'. "This is the stats menu," he said with slight surprise, turning to the others as he continued. "We all gained two levels already," he continued with wide eyes, the others nodding in response.

"It must be because we defeated three monsters at once," Yugi said with a blink, watching as the menu vanished. "If we keep fighting, we should be able to learn more skills as well..." Wowwww... Two levels in one shot, that was pretty... Wow...

The taller of the three nodded, looking over his magically repaired spear before putting it in the holster on his back. "Heh... So long as we don' have t' deal with that again," he muttered, before looking at his arm. He couldn't see much damage from the outside but... He pulled his sleeve back, biting his lip as he looked over the slice on his arm. Though not bleeding, the strike from the zombie warrior had clearly left it's mark, leaving a large bloodied gash along the side of his arm. "D-Damn," he muttered with a wince, swallowing. "First few minutes 'f th' game and I'm already hit..." Lifepoints took a hit too... From the insane number he had after destroying the clown, he was now sitting at 1860...

Yugi looked over the arm himself, Mokuba as well looking before wincing. "Ah... That can't be good," the older of the two said with a frown, biting his lip and looking back up at Katsuya.

"I can't tell if the injuries are too much for the lifepoint drop or not," added Mokuba, still staring at the wound with a grimace.

Katsuya mimicked the expression as well, pulling the sleeve back down with a grim nod. "Hihhh... Tell me about it," he said with a wince, before looking at where the corpses of the zombies had vanished. At least his arm didn't hurt any more and- "Ah- Hey... There's somethin' by where th' bodies were!"

The others turned, Mokuba walking over to the pile as three cards hovered in place above the 'corpses'. "Ah... This must be the drop item," he said, hesitantly grabbing the card before a menu appeared before all three of the boys. Numbers flashed, all three tensing slightly before the menu vanished. "Fifteen gold..."

"Five for each monster," Yugi added with a nod, before turning to the others. "We can probably use this for better weapons and armor if we find a store," he added, watching as they nodded in response.

That sounded like a good idea... Given how fast his spear had given out at least. "The menu is probably voice activated," Mokuba muttered, moving over to them again as he sheathed his dagger. Eh? What was that about the menu? "It's probably a good idea to look over the menu next chance we get," he continued seriously, "Just to make sure we aren't bad off, or that we haven't missed any possible upgrades..."

Katsuya nodded, crossing his arms and looking down at his deck holder. Not going up... Though the zombies didn't have any attack points so that was probably the reason. In any case... "That's probably a good plan," he said with another nod, before frowning as he recalled the series of numbers on the 'menu'. "A lil' weird havin' two counters f'r things though..." The others looked at their deck holders at that, nodding in agreement. Despite the confusion, it almost made sense though... Like the holder was their own personal 'hitpoints' bar. Though the thought of what would happen when those 'hitpoints' ran out was more than disturbing... Thankfully, before anyone could voice their opinion on that a small bell-like chime came through the air, the others turning as it echoed through the clearing air. "Nh?" The blond blinked, moving over to the side as the chiming continued. Behind some of the intact tombstones... "What's that sound..?" He walked closer, frowning as a small glow came from behind one. "...Heh?"

"M-Mnn!" He jumped back, a small spray of power and light smacking him in the face as small muttering came from behind the tombstone he was inspecting. Dust flew in his eyes, Katsuya squeezing them shut and attempting to clear them with a shout.

"Ack! What th' heck!" He shook his head, blinking rapidly as his vision cleared to the source of the 'attack'. Just a small, tiny little figure dressed in a blue sleeper, complete with hat. Not to mention fairly large wings on its back, which were probably what gave it away. "Ah... A fairy?"

The others walked over, Yugi and Mokuba both watching as the fairy cringed and hid further behind the tombstone. It looked kinda cute actually... for a tiny little guy with wings. That glowed. Looked pretty nervous too...

Hey what was that about fairies and games again..? "Ah! Of course!" He turned to the others, grinning. "In games, fairies normally have advice of sorts... We can probably ask this little guy for help!" He looked back at the fairy in question, only to jump back as it blasted past his face with a loud cry.

"Nmnnn!" Gold and sparkling dust erupted in their faces, filling the air as the fairy flew from the spot.

He kept his eyes open despite the urge to rub the dust out, turning with a shout. "O-Oi!" They stumbled, watching as the fairy tore off down a nearby path before running after it. "Wait up," the blond called, chasing after while the others followed close behind. "We jus' need some help," he continued, trees and cliff-sides blurring behind him as a small trail of sparks and dust hovered ahead of him. Had he paid attention, he would have noticed the forest growing less and less dead... But for the moment, that wasn't the point of things really. "Wait!" He stopped running, grabbing his knees as they came to a large and clear outcropping that sat high above the expansive forest. The trail of dust went over the side, and looking down... Well, he could see the tops of what were likely fifty meter tall trees really, so that was a bad idea. "Damn," he muttered, scratching his head as he looked down with a swallow. "Lost it..."

"I don't think we'll be able to slide down this cliff," Yugi said with a nervous laugh, looking down the side as well. "I guess we'll just have to follow the path..."

The two boys nodded, before Mokuba's voice caught their attention. "Hey," he called from his position down the path, pointing to the side "Look!" They both turned, staring in the direction that the boy was pointing in with wide eyes.

"Ah... A town," Katsuya muttered, standing up from where he'd been kneeling at the cliffside. "Pretty far away but..." That was definitely a town out there. "Hah..."

"It's probably our best shot at finding Kaiba-san," Yugi said seriously, moving a bit down the path and squinting as the sunlight peaked through the clouds above. "Someone in the town might have some information we need to complete the game... Or even find Kaiba-san herself," he continued, looking to the others.

In that case, what was distance but... Well... Distance? "Alrigh' then," Katsuya said with a nod, staring down the path with a grin. "What are we waitin' for? Let's get movin'!"

Mokuba and Yugi both nodded, following after the blond as well. "Right," the younger said with a smirk, rushing past the blond at his own steady jogging pace. "Lets go!"

---

It took a long time before she managed to open her eyes again. Dimly, she could recall passing through a desert of sorts, before a sudden jolt shut her down again. Her entire body was still trembling from the electricity even, fingers giving a numb twitch. She felt tired... She felt weak. "N-nnnn..." And extremely warm. Hot actually. The heat was almost blistering, and as she opened her eyes somewhat she could make out a red and flaming glow along side a stone wall in front of her. How far was it... Three meters, four maybe? Seto's eyes slowly opened, the woman attempting to move her arms only to freeze as she woke up completely. Something was holding her... Her feet weren't touching the ground and she was pressed against something, so... "Gh- What the..." She turned her head, eyes widening as thick ropes came into her view. They wrapped tightly around her arms, fixing them to a thick stone 'arm' that stretched behind and down like some sort of giant English letter 'T'. Stone... They had her tied to stone... She attempted to move her arms, only to find herself hanging limply on the stone cross with a scowl. "Tch..." Great. She was tied to a rock in the middle of what looked to be a volcano. "Where the hell is this..."

"Ahhh, Seto Kaiba-sama," a voice called from in front of her, the woman looking forward as a shadowed portal appeared on the ground. Darkness spiraled out from a small circle on the ground and slowly a monster misted into existence before her, dressed in a violet suit and cap with narrowed green eyes. 'Majin Satan', she realized as the gold-skinned demon brushed some hair from his face. Or as the card in the USA had created him, 'The Witty Phantom'. And apparently, she had the luck of getting him for a jailer. Damn it. "So nice to see you've finally woken up," the demon said with a toothy grin, gloved hands pulling his cap over his head as he bowed. "I must say you've given us quite the surprise..." Of course. "I assume you like your quarters," he said with an echoing shout, Seto minutely looking down at the lava below them in disdain. Eh. They could have put her in worse really... "Only the best for the great Seto Kaiba," he said with a grinning sneer, the woman looking back at him unimpressively.

Hn! Of course it was... Seto merely glared, hanging from her position with narrowed eyes. "So I see," she said with equal sarcasm, fists clenched against the tight hold of the rope. These ropes were far too tight... They'd really wanted her stuck to this rock, hadn't they? "I'd demand release," she continued with a frown, "But something tells me that that would go against your programming, wouldn't it." The woman continued to narrow her eyes, the phantom across from her merely smirking in response.

"Ahhh yes, but of course," he said with a dark chuckle. "You are right to guess that... And after all, you know everything don't you," the phantom continued, pacing around the two stone crosses with his arms behind his back. The woman before him merely watched with a blank frown as he walked, still talking as he went. "Absolutely everything... About this world that you are now trapped in, about all of 'us'... An interesting thing," the demon added with a menacing grin. "Not only am I programmed to keep you here, but this entire game was created to prevent you from getting any further than that graveyard! Even if you'd beaten the armed ninja," he said with a laugh, "You would have been captured! Be it by a monster, or by the will of God himself..."

"A God you say," the woman said with narrowed eyes, smirking darkly. Oh please... As though that would have worked. She certainly wouldn't be sitting here for much longer... "And you think that this digitized 'god' of yours will be enough to hold me here?"

The Witty Phantom smirked, bowing low from where he stood by the second cross. "But of course," he said with a small laugh, stopping in his pacing to stand a few meters away from his captive. "Even if the Five God Dragon lacks a physical form after all, his will is our own..." 'Five God Dragon'? Seto frowned, minutely running the name through her head. That monster, what was it... It was one of the newer monsters, she knew that much... "Speaking of the Five God Dragon," the phantom stated with a grin, razor sharp teeth giving a crocodile's smirk. "An interesting thing... To appease the dragon and allow his return, we require a pair of virgin sacrifices... One male," he stated, Seto continuing to glower before the monster as it drew close. "And one female... Now I had assumed that we had our male sacrifice," he said with a grin, drawing close enough for his acrid breath to sting the woman's nostrils as her eyes widened with anger. "But imagine my surprise," he continued, bringing a hand toward the woman's cheek as his captive clenched and bared her teeth in disgust, "When I found out that we already had our woman..?"

Tch... Get away from her! A loud crack filled the air, the demon quickly thrown to the side by a well placed kick slamming into the beast's skull. He hadn't been too close after all... A knee to the jaw, and a heel to the cheek and the 'Witty Phantom' was on the ground holding his face. "Hn..." She spat at where the demon lay, watching as he slowly stood up to look at her with disbelieving rage. "You forgot to tie my legs, 'Phantom'..." She continued to glare, watching as the demon slowly cracked and adjusted his jaw before glaring at the woman.

"You," he muttered with wide and rage filled eyes, receiving nothing but a steady and cold glare in response. "Tch! Enjoy what little freedom your body has," the demon spat, snapping his fingers as a shadowed portal appeared beneath him. "It's only a matter of time before the second sacrifice arrives," he shouted, stepping into the portal and vanishing from sight as his last words echoed around the room. "And the both of you are immersed in lava to appease God!"

Seto merely glowered, watching as the demon vanished into wisps of shadow to leave her hanging on the rock. Hn... Good riddance, she mentally muttered to herself, attempting to stretch somewhat before tensing. Seto stared, narrowing her eyes as from her 'menu' screen the stats menu appeared again, familiar band of 'glass' coming from in front of her eyes. 'Remaining experience to Level 3,' the device stated blankly, Seto merely staring silently. '152 of 1200'. Up... Her experience had gone up...

As the heat from below beat at her and pounded her into exhaustion, a wicked smirk had to appear on her face, even as her head slumped forward in an attempt to find some rest. "Hnhnhnhnhn..." They could hold her there as long as they liked... She wasn't out of this game just yet...

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AN: Yea Kaiba, you kick that thing's ass! ...As you sit on a stone cross. Eh, at least she's doing more than her anime counterpart... Though in canon Kaiba's defense, Witty Phantom didn't try to get that close to him, as there was not only no reason, but he wasn't quite as creepy... So he was pretty much out of range there. ANYWAYS.

Lots and lots of chibi's will be flying your way next chapter, including not only our main trio, but also the 'Queen' (Princess in the dub), and Mai... ALSO, ready for you to see NOW, the sketch of that creepy creepy Pegasus eye... Whose hands aren't drawn. Bleaaaaaahhhh... I decided against penciling them in, since the eye will probably be painted digitally as opposed to cel-gradient shaded, which needs lines. Also, ignore the weirdness of Jonouchi's pose... It's hard to draw that small, and now that it's scanned in I'll be able to work on the detail of it much much much easier. So no worries~ I almost scanned in another page with a few more eye-ball creature things, but then I would be spoiling you. And I don't want to do that. (Hahaha, god I'm such a dick... )

On another note, I've been flipping through the Japanese soundtrack for the series, which has some pretty awesome tracks I have to say. Particularly 'Anger of a God' and 'Fang of Critias'. YESSSS, MUSIC. YESSSSSSS.

*cough* Now then...

So without further ado...

Poll Results

And there's new ones too! Not wanting to take even the slightest risk, the cross-dressing Priest has gained yet another vote!

Female Crossdressing Set - 12 (Three Anonymous)

Obviously Female Priestess Set - 7 (Three Anonymous)

Canon (Male) Set - 2

And now for reviews!

Anonymous Review Responses

Hello there Iona!

If you want my opinion, I think he secretly retained all of his skills as a rogue in the Monster World… That's the only explanation I have (Despite him doing this in canon as well)... But that's just me. It does help a lot that no one expects the eleven year old to be a genius when it comes to things like that though, it really does.

And oh yes, LOTS of trouble. I think the best part about that trouble though is the fact that they don't see each other until right before the Five God Dragon shows up… So it'll be like 'WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!' 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN!' 'YOU FUCKING TOLD THEM!' 'DID NOT!'

And in the meantime, the others would be like... 'Guys guys, can we PLEASE focus on the giant five headed dragon trying to eat us!'

Very good thing Mokuba's there. Very…

And ah! Thank you! As for awesome outfits… Wait no more, the are below! Whoo! (Including Mokuba in leather, which will probably give Kaiba a heart attack. Hehehe…)

And Cynical Gamer! Stop apologizing! *ka-smack!* I like long reviews, silly. And… I both hate and love the updates tooooo… (Mostly because sometimes I'll get a review… RIGHT AFTER I UPDATE. Bawwwwww… Makes me feel so terrible, since I have to wait until the next chapter to respond to it.)

And yes, Noa too. Actually, I have three completely separate options for how Noa's mind-fuckery will work, I should figure out which route I'm going soon… *mutter mutter* They either branch on him either being completely fine with possessing a lady (That's interesting.), on him having a fairly twisted crush on said lady (Resulting in much 'do not want' of course) annnnd him just being oddly obsessed with Mokuba as opposed to Kaiba... Which could work out interestingly well, as it's one that could mix with the other two. UMMMM Hoh. Needless to say, I must figure this out!

Back to Pegasus! …You know, I bet that's a big part of how Yami Bakura got to him…

As for Jou! It does, it really does; all that sitting around actually led to wanting Kaiba to wake up and call him a 'mutt', because in the end, at least it means that they're there and alive. One of those things where it's like 'COME BACK SO YOU CAN YELL AT MEEEEEE', just because... Well, having them not be there is just that bad. Of course, this has a bizarre effect of the insults not working completely… (Unless of course, your name is not Seto Kaiba…) Oh well. I'm sure Kaiba will find a way around that. (It certainly comes into play to hilarious extents in Battle City...)

It is almost friendly… I think that's mostly because Mokuba is there, along with the fact that the Christmas bickering was so god-damned awkward for everyone that even the bickering itself was affected! (Though it's also partially because of that same grudging respect of course. Poor confused Kaiba is... Well, confused.) And hahaha, too true on that; the dog tags especially are a show of that, as while made of platinum, they're meant purely for identification if Jonouchi gets into an accident; hence the address and blood type. ... (Or are they... I should stop pulling your leg. )

Course, as you can see above, she's still being rather petty about things… ('Wait, you were coded into the building security and you didn't know?' '…NO. NO I DID NOT.' ) But hey, that's Kaiba.

And hahaha, I think that even with all of this, if Kaiba hadn't been made a woman it would have fallen completely flat! ...Mostly. Probably would have made for the world's most awkward brother system. Even so… Aaaaaahh yes that… Duelist Kingdom... It probably was because of the competition, though I have a feeling that it was mostly a matter of not having complete records on-hand for the island staff's part; the guards on the island itself were basically just inspecting gloves and tossing off… Of course, the others simply being there creates a hole there, but whaaaaatever.

That's because it's patented Jou logic… ALWAYS WORKS (mostly). Also, the hole in the eye is the closest thing in appearance to an exit as anything in the entire place. (It's visibly hollow.)

And hahaha, YEEEEEP. I'm actually tempted to have her smack him on the back of the head sometime, though it would ironically be more likely to happen in private than in public… Likely because actually physically doing something to him would imply that they were closer than most people are to her; after all, you don't see Kaiba tossing anyone else around…

And BWAHAHAHA- *cough* It's... It's ok… *pats back* *cough* Anyways! He is indeed the one that has come closest to death the most often, even in the canon sense (He admittedly comes closer more often in the fanfic, but that's because I'm a bit of a jerk to characters. ...A big jerk really.)… It's actually questioned in the manga if the reason why he survives Ra's strike is because 'His spirit is stronger than that of a God'. How did he survive? He's that damn lucky… Among other things in the fanfic's case. In any case, you're getting closer on this tangent of simply encountering ancient and evil forces more often than he should, so have fun with your theories! (And hahaha, you're like me~ Thinking is fun until you have to do it.)

Hahaha, it's not quite that the expression is awkward or mature, it's that is scary as hell; it's the scene where she's about to (attempt) to kick Pegasus' ass after all… She has this creepy-ass smirk on her face as she does it too. Hihhhhh! And it was still coinciding concern, you're right on that; but the fact that she was able to appear, and that Jonouchi was able to see and hear her… That's your hint.

I think it was always supposed to be about Yugi, that series, but you're right in that the anime managed to amp it up to Yugi or Kaiba by ridiculous proportions… Despite Jonouchi technically being the 'second main' and not Kaiba. And haaaah, oh well~ As for the manga, that's quite fine really, as despite minute changes, the anime still serves as a fairly good resource for things… At least I still have Mai VS Yami Malik though! YESSS.

And… Hoh… That sounds like one of the earlier cases; back then there were a lot of 'one show' characters due to the partially episodic nature of the manga really… (Though Hanasaki managed to hang around for a while! …Kinda.)

Welp! To the next chapter! Also, enjoy the eye scene~

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Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that can't wait for the next chapter! And the next, and the next...

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Seriously, this series is so full of fun that despite my bad habit of constantly looking at future scenes and thinking 'I can't wait to write those', the scenes I'm working on now are too fun to even let that thought come to mind! Anyways!

To the chapter title! Today we have a mix of two common phrases; 'Between a rock and a hard place', which quite possibly came from the term 'Between Scylla and Charybidis', the two great monsters (Or monster and whirlpool...) in Greek myth who guarded a narrow strait of water. (So narrow that it was an 'arrow's length wide'. Hihhh!) In any case, we're combining that with 'Out of the frying pan, and into the fire', as a rather cheesy reference to the fact that Kaiba is tied to a rock... Above a pit of lava.

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Remember way back when Jonouchi mentioned that Mokuba was taller than Yugi, or at least close? Well, Mokuba's obviously still growing himself, and given that Yugi doesn't really get much taller throughout the series… It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that they're about the same size. Especially since they really are the same size in the anime! Though there appears to be a difference in the manga for a while. That was weird. Guess Mokuba caught up...? (Really fast? He is supposed to enter middle school in April so...)

Anyways, point is, same size clothing as is good, because I cannot rationalize Mokuba going back to that building in the same clothes he came in with, now that they're completely wet. He'll catch a cold! That or at least go into shock again from the cold... The body doesn't generate much heat sitting still, and his body was about to do that at the start of this chapter... Needless to say, Mokuba in Yugi's clothes; Kaiba will have conniptions.

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The conversation between Yugi and Jonouchi concerning decks being souped up is based on the conversation they have after the Dungeon Dice bit in the manga; Yugi of course is hospitalized with burn injuries (A good idea really...), so the others are visiting him, Jonouchi getting his ass kicked in cards many many times during said visit. I was originally going to leave the scene where it was (After Dungeon Dice) but I realized with a fairly heavy jolt that the incidents in the manga were originally quite close together; Duelist Kingdom happened shortly before the next year of school began, so it was likely only a few weeks. To say that would be the same for the fanfic would be disastrous, as that means it took over four months for him to get that point. In addition…

That scene in the manga has Yugi using the 'new rules' concerning the game, namely that you need to sacrifice monsters to summon more powerful ones. But when Jonouchi first uses the dueldisk to fight against Esper Roba in Battle City, he doesn't know about that rule! (In fact, Ryuzaki calls him out on it rather angrily, before lamenting that this is the person he lost to... Personally, from Ryuzaki's point of view, I'd be fairly upset as well.) In fact, he's quite surprised when he tries to summon a monster… And it fizzles out thanks to the programming instilled in the disks, preventing rule-breaking. Bahahahaha… Whoops? (Honda's line is relatively the same from that scene actually, though Jonouchi originally responded with 'SO MEAN!'… Which was technically still included.) Interesting thing about the disks though, if they're programed against that during duels, why was he able to summon Red Eyes right off the bat against the Rare Hunter?

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Speaking of conversations, we've skipped the one concerning 'who gets to go'; originally, as Jonouchi is counting out the pods and people in the anime (You (Yugi), Me, and...), he's pretty much head-locked by Honda, who quickly says 'And me as well!'… Only for Mokuba to insist on coming, stating that without Kaiba, his life is pointless. (Sound familiar guys? IT SHOULD.) Jonouchi then claps Honda's shoulders saying 'Well then… Honda, you stay here!'

(Cue Honda going 'Heh?') In any case, I didn't think that the others would be quite so clueless as to why Mokuba was wanting to go himself… Nor would they really think it as a possibility that they could convince Mokuba otherwise. So really, as it says above; to question the boy going when Kaiba is what's at stake would be disasterous.

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When Anzu mentions that they used to call her 'Mazaki', she's not lying. In Jonouchi and Honda's initial appearance, she comes in on them as they toss around Yugi's puzzle box... She quickly grabs the box and tells the boys to beat it. And surprisingly enough, they do... Calling her by her last name, which is an extremely masculine way to refer to someone... (So basically she was a tomboy.) In any case, something tells me that being a tomboy was not what scared the two boys off...

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Interesting thing about the KaibaCorp building; in the anime, the dub places the building in the KaibaLand building (Which makes it seem so outrageous given the brightly coloured company sign really)… But whenever any business concerning Kaiba Corp happens period, it's still that same building. Despite the fact that KaibaLand is a giant skyscraper housing an indoor theme-park. (Actually, the Japanese anime has the Big 5 telling the guards to go to KaibaLand to deal with Mokuba and the others... This is still a weird point to me though, because... Well... Why the hell would a prototype machine that needs to be well guarded and worked on be at the park... Rather than at the building? Though I suppose it would make things easier for transporting the device...) Needless to say, KaibaCorp itself is in a different building, especially since it seemed to be that way in the manga…

Which is good, because that is the logical thing to do. And Kaiba tends to be fairly good about logic.

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Logic does not appear to be used for the security however! AHHHHH. Kaiba Kaiba Kaiba, I don't care if your brother is an awesome hacker, it should not be so easy for him to climb the fence to your company and break in. It really shouldn't… Needless to say... Patched up here.

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And concerning those plot holes… (I have a giant chain going here, can't you see?) Last chapter, Kaiba and everyone were only aware of five pods (Yugi, Jou, Mokuba, Kaiba, and Mai)… And for a damn good reason.

See, for this fanfic, those other five pods are kinda in a room not meant for computer-y things… Actually, Kaiba isn't even aware of the room herself; it was Gozaburo's more 'private' of rooms there… (-winkwinknudgenudge- on that by the way. …No it's not concerning Noa! Silly.) In any case, perfect hiding spot for the Big 5… Until Kaiba actually finds it, at which point they are so fucking screwed… (This was mostly to help with the fact that the big 5 got there... Really fast.)

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Jonouchi has a very good reason to be paranoid; as usual with his twisted 'sixth sense', he's completely right. After Mokuba leaves, Oka (The laywer guy) tells the other members of the board not to bother with chasing after him; they have Kaiba, so Mokuba will be returning soon enough... And then they can move on from there.

And of course, Oka is right, Mokuba does come back... In the anime the board knows this because the pods are turned on. In this fanfic's case, I decided that they'd simply be made aware when someone was accessing the room itself. (Not that we can see this.)

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Most places with number pad locks are either really cool doors to houses owned by paranoid people… Or warehouses with many things inside. So… Jonouchi probably learned this (Along with most of his more questionable skills) while he was actually part of a gang… Because it really does lessen the number of options you have when trying to break into a num-pad lock.

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When you think about it, with how most of Jonouchi's weird dreams have been starting out, it's no surprise that he'd end up mixing it up with the VR start. Hehehehe... Poor guy... (And by the way... He's had other dreams since Duelist Kingdom. They just aren't as serious, and while most were just him and the darkness for a few hours, one or two resulted in awkward 'line finishing sentences'... Like with the weird dream he had involving giant Kaiba, Blue-Eyes, and a dog kigurumi.)

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Hey, the Millennium Puzzle counts as 'original clothing' guys, it's not exempt from things like we want to believe. However. They still obviously have that strong connection, which surpasses the limits of the mind itself. So while technically Yugi's out of the body and his other is inhabiting the puzzle, the link between their minds is unaffected... So they're still communicating just fine! (They're of course just taking it as it is for that reason... Because trying to think about it just brings sore heads.)

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When we see everyone land in the VR world, they actually pass through the same forest that Kaiba started out in; rather than skip over how everyone figured out fighting (Graveyard scene) though, I decided that they started off where Kaiba dropped off the map; she was about to enter the graveyard herself in this case. Of course, just to be silly, I left all the damage intact... Meaning burnt twigs, slashed trees...

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Technically Jonouchi isn't using a spear; he's using a polearm called a 'Bardiche', which has a tall and curved 'axe' blade at one end... The curve goes far past the 'top' of the staff however, and if the head was cut off from the staff, you could arguably use it as a giant blade on its own. The blade is also reaaaaally long compared to an 'axe'; it's about two feet.

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So does anyone else wonder what the hell was going on in Legendary Heroes? It's like they magically top-decked all the right cards, and the program didn't shuffle… Or it did, and the boys were all psychic, and super lucky when it came to the draw. Seriously, HOW DID THEY DO IT? Well. In this case it was through the magic of hacking.

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Alright, now here's something that bugs me. Forgetful as Jonouchi can be, I sincerely doubt that something as paralyzingly frightening for him as zombies would be something he forgot about; for him to just instantly forget that zombies have an incredibly bad habit of coming back stronger is a little silly. In contrast, Mokuba, who doesn't actually play duel monsters, would not likely know every little detail about this… And you have to admit, he did just summon a monster instantly in the game, though that's probably more for defines in the anime's case... (Of course, he and Yugi both slam the zombies in the face initially, before quickly realizing 'OHSHITTHEYDON'TDIE'

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Also yes, Jonouchi's bleeding arm stopped bleeding after the battle; battle was over, there's no more damage! But his lifepoints don't go up either... Because the monsters have 0 attack, there's nothing to gain from them! That's also why they don't come back; the monsters are supposed to come back with a certain percent attack point gain but… You can't do that when it's 'percent of 0'.

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In Japanese, the card 'Witty Phantom' is called 'Majin Desu-Satan', with the middle word being a butchered form of the English word 'Death' (So 'Demon Death-Satan'. HAHAHA ahhh...). Personally, Kaiba being held hostage by 'Satan' as opposed to the 'Witty Phantom' appeals to me in a twisted sense, but I still shortened the name to 'Majin Satan' (Which literally means 'Demon Satan'. And then left him as the Witty Phantom, because I am a jerk/contradictory like that. Also because in the anime and manga both, Duel Monsters started out in the States as opposed to Japan... So the fact that all the Japanese names are the Japanese changing the names of the cards as opposed to the reverse really make sense when you think about it.

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A note on things like that… Technically, the Phantom would have called Kaiba 'Kaiba Seto-sama', but it flows a little better when I switch the name order. Also, the phantom itself is based on more western-things, so it technically makes sense for the phantom to be incorrect on this (Despite the fact that it's a computer program.). Either way.

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'Five God Dragon' is the Japanese name for the Five Headed Dragon, and here's an interesting bit; it was inspired by a similar monster that appeared in Dungeons and Dragons, which in turn was based on the Mesopotamian god Tiamat (Who ironically was never clearly stated as a dragon, just as something who gave birth to a crap load of things including dragons and sea monsters…)…

Also Tiamat's a girl, just thought I'd throw that out there. (LAAAA~)

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Virgin sacrifices Usagi? WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I dunno, I just find that for some reason, the sacrifices that come in twos (Conveniently enough, one male one female) have to be virgins. Not sure why, since they stay virgin, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with 'purity'. OH WELL. (You can practically see Kaiba rolling her eyes in that scene though... 'Virgin? REALLY?'

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In the anime, we have two different things occurring in the first scene concerning the Phantom and Kaiba, thanks to dubbing changes. First we have the dub, where Kaiba attempts a kill code to escape the game and fails horribly… And then the sub, where Kaiba demands to be returned to the game, only for the Phantom to be all 'Pbbbbbt, no.'. I stuck to the Japanese as usual, but with a different spin. Mostly because I'm pretty sure that when tied to a rock above a pit of lava, one would realize that asking the enemy for release is a stupid thing to do. 'I'd do it, but you'd say no.' 'Ahhh, so true~'

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Speaking of 'tied to a rock'; in the initial scene we see Kaiba, he's literally chained to the stone cross. He has his arms cuffed in shackles that are literally embedded into the rock... And then suddenly, the next time we see him, it's as though the animators realized that Mokuba would have to actually be able to cut Kaiba free, so they replaced it with rope. Whoooops?

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Damn it Witty Phantom, stop trying to compete with Pegasus for creepiest antagonist, it doesn't work.

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FanArt/My Art Section

As per usual! Remove the spaces and you'll have yourself a link!

Only one sketch today, since I finally bothered scanning it in... BEHOLD THE EYE. And he's not the worst of it, I'll tell you that... (And nothing more.)

The Millennium Eye - http: / /i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ TheMillenniumEye. jpg - By the way, that thing's about half the size it can possibly be (And was, in the case of the 'guarding Yugi's mind' scene)... And all those 'squggles' are where arms made of pure darkness will go. Yeaaaaaa... If you look close, you'll notice mini-Seto's legs are gone, since... They kinda were. In any case, enjoy the sketch!

And with that... That's all for this chapter! I'll see you soon!~