Yell Omens

Watching the screen of the 'game' so to speak was fairly interesting really, even if everything took the form of small simplified pixel sprites. It had taken a moment for anything to really happen once the game started of course; all they'd really seen was information slowly filling a profile that held a '?' in the place of a sprite body, things such as name and class slowly appearing on each profile. Needless to say, with that going on they had ample time to look through 'page 7' as Mokuba had asked them to. "Alright," Anzu was saying from the book, skimming the page with a blank expression. It was mostly text to say the least; the only image on it was a copy of the 'control center' they sat at, numerous numbers along side the buttons to match with a list below it. "It looks like the monitors on the computer," she stated, gesturing to the small screens built into the control center, "Are keeping track of everyone's health..."

Honda looked over the monitors in question, nodding as he watched a small line scoot across all three screens. Now that they'd entered their names, the status monitors were a fair bit easier to tell apart; Yugi's was in the center, Mokuba's on the top, and... "Jonouchi's heart rate is pretty normal," he said after a moment, looking at the bottom with slight surprise. "I'd have figured this kind of thing would scare the shit out of him really..." What with being tossed into a giant computer and all. Weird things tended to bug Jonouchi really...

"Well," Anzu said with a shrug, "It's not as though they're fighting a horde of zombies or anything..." She flipped a page, before turning back to the large screen. "We'll get a view of what they're doing in game on the screen there," she continued, watching as the three profiles flashed for a 'final check over'. The woman blinked, watching as slightly more detailed views of the sprites came on screen. "Ah..." She continued to stare, watching as the profiles flashed briefly above a loading menu. "Yugi's puzzle is gone..."

The teen beside her turned, blinking at the small 8-bit of their friend. As with everyone else the outfit was different... But somehow, simply not seeing the puzzle there felt a little... Weird. Possibly wrong even. "Hey, you're right... Man," he muttered, looking back at the pod that held their friend in question. "Hope that doesn't cause any issues," he continued with a swallow, frowning. "Those two are pretty much inseparable... To split them up without warning..."

Well... Who knew what that could do. The two shared an uneasy glance for a moment, before looking back at the screen as a large forest of sorts appeared. The scene looked just a little barren really... A patch of black on the ground and trees, and to start only Jonouchi's sprite had appeared. "Ah," Anzu said as the other two followed soon after. "The game's starting," she said with a blink, watching as the three sprites appeared to simply amble around for a moment. They were turned in toward each other, standing in place. Occasionally, one would turn and appear to do something. But other than that, they were left to guess what was going on on the board. "I wonder what they're saying," she muttered, Honda shrugging beside her as he shook his head.

"Who knows," the teen muttered, sitting back in his chair again with a worried look on his face. "Though it's probably best that we don't know," he continued, crossing his arms from his seat. "If we can't tell, then the Big 5 shouldn't be able to figure it out either right? So whatever plans they make can stay secret then."

That was true... In any case... Anzu continued watching the screen, the sprites jumping down the side of a cliff and continuing on. Huh... They were almost cute to say the least. Wait... "...Uh-oh," she muttered, eyes widening as the scenery on screen shifted to that of a graveyard. What were once somewhat large if not bunched together trees were now... Well, they were definitely dead. "I think they found that level they were trying to avoid..."

Honda as well winced, biting his lip as a trio of pixelated zombies appeared on the screen as well. "Along with what's supposed to show up in that level..." Beeping behind them increased, the teen rubbing his head and turning to look at the bottom monitor as 'R waves' quickly began shortening the gaps between each other. "And there goes Jonouchi's heart rate..." It was quite clear to say the least that the three on three line-up on the screen was not doing the actual event any justice... At all.

The two continued to watch, looking at the screen with near identical worried frowns. A standard 'RPG style' battle began to unfold on the screen, turn based actions flying across at top speed. It was weird, watching something that their friends were technically experiencing in person as the equivalent of an old NES game. What would be next, over-world traveling? Anzu sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair. "...How long do you think they'll be in there," she eventually asked, watching as Jonouchi took a direct strike from the zombie clown.

"...I don't know," Honda said with a frown, shaking his head. On the screen, the image of a card flashed across the screen, tiny 'attack/defense' numbers flipping around above the zombie's heads. "I mean, even Yugi needs time to get through a game right? And he's pretty much the king of games really..." Yea... That was true... Anzu nodded in response, still staring at the screen before Honda spoke up again. "Hey," he said with a slight smirk, sitting up from his chair. "Cheer up alright? They'll get through this... ...Want to talk about something while we wait," he continued, leaning against the computer. Anzu merely turned, blinking from where she'd been reading the manual. "I could tell you about my first crush," he said with a shrug, the woman merely snorting in response.

"Your first crush was Miho," the woman said with a somewhat amused smile, "I think we all know how that went..." It involved a puzzle... And the teacher's face to say the least.

Honda 'pouted' somewhat, before shaking his head. "Ahhh... You don't know that," he said with a slight frown. "Right... What about... My essay for Japanese? We could talk about that..."

Anzu raised her eyebrows, looking up from the binder again. "You actually wrote an essay for that class?" That was actually... Surprising. Really surprising actually.

He frowned, arms still crossed. "Of course I did!" There was a small span of silence, and he gave a slightly defeated shrug. "...I just don't get the best marks on them, that's all..." Anzu continued looking with raised brows, Honda leaning back on his chair again before explaining. "It was for the career assignment... I called it 'My Dream is to Become a Pilot'..."

A-huh... The woman shook her head, turning back to the binder. "I think I'll pass... As 'interesting' as it sounds," she said with a slight frown, "I don't think now is really the time..." Honda gave a shrug in response turning to look at the screen again before sounds began coming from outside. The noises against the door quickly increased in volume, the two turning to look at it with wide eyes before sharing a hurried and panicked glance. "...That doesn't sound good..."

"Crap," Honda muttered, standing from his chair as the 'hammering' continued. "They're here already?"

The sounds from outside increased still further as the 'first' was joined by what was likely two others, both teens running from the computer desk as the binder clattered to the ground. "I guess we'll be barricading the door faster than we thought," Anzu muttered, grabbing a large box from the side and pulling it over in front of the door as it threatened to push forward.

"A hell of a lot sooner," Honda added with a shout, pushing what looked to be a failed 'bottom half' for a pod in beside the box. "Do you think any of this will hold?"

A few more boxes were shoved against the door, before the two both moved to grab more boxes from the side of the room to add to the barricade. "I don't know," Anzu said with a slight shout as calls to open the door came from the other side of it. "But I'm pretty sure we're going to find out really soon!"

It was a long walk down the side of the cliff. Or at least it felt that way going down... Katsuya couldn't really tell, but as it was they were just busy trying to reach the town anyways, running as quick as they could to do so. After all; limited time right? "We should probably watch for monsters," Yugi was saying as they ran, Mokuba nodding from ahead of the two. "I don't think we'll see anymore zombies," he added with somewhat rushed breath, "But who knows what might attack next!"

"Got it," Katsuya shouted, the trio continuing at a relatively quick pace through the woods. Upon leaving the graveyard, the scenery had freshened up fairly quick to say the least; for the moment, they were running down a long dirt path with tall green pine trees on either side. "How long do you think it is from here to the town," the blond asked, eyes trained on the two running ahead of him.

Mokuba shrugged, turning his head back a moment before answering. "I don't know," he said with a slight frown, before turning back. "It looked pretty far from on the cliff... But I can't tell with all these trees here," the boy added, the path taking a quick turn down a corner as they ran.

Yea, that tended to put a bit of a damper on things... Particularly when there was no map really. "Right... Well," he said with a slight laugh, continuing to run with a grin, "At least we ain't runnin' outta breath righ'?"

The others nodded, smiling in response. "That's right," Yugi said with a grin, looking back at Katsuya. "I guess that our stamina was increased along with our agility... It's kind of weird actually," he said with a nervous laugh, scratching his head before picking up his speed. "In the real world, I'd have had to stop by now but... Well..." He laughed again, shaking his head. "I feel like I could keep running for hours! It's amazing!"

There was a sudden rustling noise, the three skidding to a stop as growling came from around them. "Er... Y' might wanna re-think those words," Katsuya said with a nervous laugh, before looking around the clear path they were on with narrowed eyes. Despite the bright, sunlit skies above, the scenery seemed to almost have darkened with that noise... Looking around, though they didn't see anything, they could certainly hear. "Somethin' tells me stayin' put is a better idea righ' now..."

Mokuba and Yugi both looked around with equally expectant looks, the three boys all bringing their deck holders up as the rustling sounds increased yet again. Suddenly... Silence. The three swallowed, waiting with baited breath for what ever was following them to appear. Two seconds... Three seconds... "GRNNNNAAAOO!" From all sides they appeared, large eyes narrowed with feral rage. The three stared, watching as what looked to be three kuriboh faced them, fur bristling as they faced their opponents.

Katsuya blinked, before smirking at the sight. "Heh... This won' be too bad," he said with a grin, pulling his spear out and looking at the Kuriboh. "We'll be done in-"

"GRAAAOOOOOO! RAAAAAOOOOO!"

The three tensed as a loud roar pierced the air, eyes turning upward as nervous swallows became audible. "Er... ...I take that back," he muttered, Yugi and Mokuba both gaping at the beast.

The kuriboh grinned, large and razor sharp teeth bared from underneath their fur as a large shadow hovered above the group. The boys looked up, swallowing as a great black-scaled dragon flew overhead, enormous wings blocking the sun from sight for a moment before it landed just behind the trio of kuriboh. Burning red eyes stared the boys down, the dragon rearing back on its legs to let loose a red hot stream of flames into the air. "GRAAAAAOOOO!"

"Ah... It's Red-Eyes," Yugi said with a shout, before looking at his deck holder. It was one draw per battle right? The boy looked back at the dragon, eyes narrowed just slightly with determination. "Right! Dark Magician," he shouted, reaching for his deck to pull the card. Lights flashed on the disk as he did so however, the boy freezing completely as another voice came over the air.

"ERROR," the computerized voice they'd been introduced to the game with called, the three looking up for a moment before Yugi looked back at his deck holder and card. "CARD UNAVAILABLE. ERROR," it continued, Yugi paling visibly at the sight of his draw, "CARD UNAVAILABLE."

Katsuya watched as Yugi's card, briefly revealed as the 'Multiply' spell vanished from sight, simply turning into dust from where it sat in his hands. "W-What," he said with wide eyes, Mokuba as well gaping at the sight. "I thought th' top-deck code was..." Why didn't he pull out the Dark Magician..?

"Gh... The Big 5 must have already gotten to it," Mokuba said with a wince, pulling out his own card biting his lip. For the split second they could see the card it revealed itself as the spell 'Quick Attack'... Just as quickly however it vanished, Mokuba swallowing and turning to Katsuya as the blond looked at his own deck holder. "We're going to have to rely on whatever the deck gives us," he continued with wide eyes, Katsuya pulling out his own card before clenching his jaw.

"Damn," the blond muttered, 'Trap Hole' vanishing as he adjusted his grip on his spear. Three kuriboh were easy enough... But while Red-Eyes appeared to have contented itself with simply showing off, it looked more than ready to attack now, and that was not going down easily. "Looks like we get to fight th' traditional way," he shouted while the others nodded, each of them pulling out their own weapons to jump out of the way of a blast of red-hot and burning black flames. The three didn't need to look back to know that the fires had singed the ground where they once stood. It was something they didn't need to know for the moment; that was how battle worked. "Hraah!" The kuriboh growled, mouths wide open as they attempted to strike at the group's limbs. One flew at one's arm, another at the other's legs... But with a mere flash of light they were dealt with, one by Mokuba's dagger through its skull, another cut clean in two and already vanishing from sight after being split by Katsuya's spear. The third one fell as well, Yugi piercing the beast through with two arrows before it succumbed, the three turning on Red-Eyes with grit teeth. Lifepoints increased by 300... But the battle wasn't over just yet.

The dragon was huge... And it knew it. Entire trees had fallen in its wake as it landed, almost skeletal form standing on its rear legs with an ear-splitting roar. The dragon's tail swished angrily as it stared down its opponents, and by the time it had passed behind it once the entire area was cleared. "Here goes nothing," Mokuba shouted as the dragon bared its fangs, before he and Katsuya charged toward it. "Lets go!"

Yugi bit his lip, pulling a few arrows and jumping to stream of flames before shooting each one toward the beast. Mokuba and Katsuya were having a little less luck themselves; though Yugi had managed to pierce the soft and vulnerable tissues of the dragon's eye, the thick black scales proved nigh impossible for them to cut. Mere clanging noises came from the blades as they struck, the two sharing a wide-eyed glance beneath the dragon before turning to where their friend stood. "Yugi," Katsuya shouted as he and Mokuba attempted to avoid being stepped on by the beast, quickly ducking as it's tail swished toward them. A reverberating 'thud' sound echoed as the dragon stomped on the ground, the two pulling themselves to their feet after being knocked back by the shock-waves. "We ain't having much luck here!"

"Nh... Hang on guys," he shouted, pulling a few more arrows and firing. The air was filled with constant growls, the smell of smoke thick on the air as Yugi continued to fire from a seemingly endless quiver of arrows. Nothing was working... Katsuya again ducked under the tail as it passed behind him, only to find himself clinging to it as it smacked back into his chest.

"Guh!" Oh god that hurt, oh that- The blond hurriedly wrapped his arms around the tail as it rose off the ground, eyes widening as he looked down. "AhhhAhhhAHHHH- Shit!"

"Ahhhh... Yugi," Mokuba called, watching as Katsuya attempted to keep his hold on the black dragon's tail as Red-Eyes began to flail the appendage through the air in an attempt to shake its victim off. "You should probably hurry!"

The boy winced, firing another volley of arrows before biting his lip. Constantly firing wasn't doing anything... So maybe... "I'm going to try something," he shouted, moving his hand away from his quiver.

Katsuya looked over from where he was still gripping the tail, vision blurring as he attempted to hold back whatever vomit his virtual self had. "Whatever it is," he managed to shout out, wrapping his arms tightly around what was proving more bouncy than an out of control carousel. "Please hurry!"

There was a nod, Yugi staring up at the dragon and swallowing nervously. "According to the class specifications," he managed to say as he pulled out another arrow, the shaft appearing to gleam in a different light than the others had. "I can tame a monster after I've dealt damage to it... And I pick you," he continued, looking directly up at the dragon's good eye before taking aim and firing. "Red-Eyes!"

It was a little weird, what happened next. The arrow had appeared to glow, shooting through the air not at Red-Eye's eye, but at his chest. And yet unlike the few arrows Yugi had attempted to fire there, which had merely bounced off the impenetrable scales, it sank into the dragon completely. There was just silence after that, Mokuba pulling himself out from beside the dragon's feet to look up, Red-Eyes slowly ceasing in its fury and bringing his tail to the ground to let Katsuya off... And then suddenly, the great beast bowed its head, a low growl forming in its throat before vanishing into the form of a card. The three boys stared, Yugi slowly walking over and picking it up from the ground before looking at Katsuya. "...Heh," the blond said with a grin, putting his spear back in its hold as Mokuba as well came over. "Good job there Yugi," he said with a laugh. "Looks like 'monster tamin' really came in handy!"

The boy smiled wryly, looking at the card a moment before holding it out to his friend. "Maybe so," he said with a slight shrug, "But all I did was fire a few arrows... It wouldn't feel right if I took this," he continued, Katsuya blinking as the card was held out to him. "Jonouchi-kun," he continued seriously, "You ended up being thrown around by Red-Eyes... You had the dragon's complete attention while I fired that arrow," he added, frowning somewhat. "I think you should take this card instead... I don't think that I would have been able to catch it if you hadn't helped."

Katsuya blinked before frowning. Take the card? But Yugi had been the one to deal all the damage to it, and could he even do that? "But I didn' even make a scratch," he said in protest, Mokuba merely watching for the moment as they 'argued'. "All I did was grab 's tail and hold on!"

His friend merely shrugged, still holding the card out. "But you still did most of the work... Come on, take it," he said with a smile. "I won't use it, even if you don't!"

Awwww, don't say that... Now he had to take it damn it... He sighed, before smirking. "Heh... I guess there's no changin' yer mind then huh," he muttered, before taking the card and watching as it vanished into his hand. Huh... Weird, why hadn't it done that in Yugi's hand while they were arguing..? "I'll make sure t' save it for somethin' important, alrigh," he said with a nod, Yugi merely smiling in response. Something really important he mentally added, watching as Yugi grabbed the 'loot card' from where the Kuriboh had vanished. He blinked, frowning and looking around as the menu appeared to signify the end of the match. Numbers shifted around, but... Ah... "O-Oi... Where's Mokuba," he asked, turning around.

"Hey," the boy called, standing a fair ways down the path. Ah; there he was. "Look," he called from atop a number of logs Red-Eyes had left in his wake. "We're just outside of the town!"

The two blinked, walking forward to join the boy before grinning. The stone gates were nothing compared to the height of the trees, but now that those around were on the ground it was more than easy to see. "Hah... So we are," Katsuya said with a laugh, shaking his head. Well what were the chances of that? "Guess this means we can jus' head in t' look around then righ'?"

Yugi nodded, the three hopping down the series of logs before walking off into the town. "Yep! We should probably split up to cover more ground though," he continued, looking around the main street that they came into. Numerous people seemed to bustle around, paying them no mind in particular as they walked. The boys stopped as one stand in question caught their eye, Katsuya hanging further behind to stare bewilderingly at what looked to be a food stand.

The word 'looked' being the most key, given that the 'food' looked like a series of dried newts hanging from a stick. Or maybe lizards... "Ehhh..." He swallowed, stepping back from the stand somewhat as he paled. Were these things deep-fried..? "D-Do they actually eat these things here..?" A crunching sound came from beside him, the blond turning only to pale even further as a towns person munched away on one of the newts in question. He didn't appear to be paying any attention to the teen beside him; which was probably good, as Katsuya was currently eyeing the newt with considerable distaste as he held back still more virtual chunks. "Gh- Nevermind," he muttered to himself, edging away to join the others.

"Jonouchi-kun," Yugi said from the next stand over, the blond moving to join them as he attempted to push the image of fried newts from mind. "Look!"

He turned to the stand that his friend was gesturing to, before his eyes widened. "Ah- That's Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon..." Ooooooh... The two continued to stare, before Mokuba coughed from behind them and pulled their attention. "..E-Eh?"

"It's too expensive," he said bluntly, the others looking back at the price before paling. Oh... Aha...

"Gh- 2000 coins," Katsuya said with a swallow. That was pretty high...

"We only have 20," Yugi added with a slight laugh, rubbing his head. "We're no where near that amount..."

Mokuba shook his head, sighing. "We should probably be focusing on finding nee-sama anyways," he said with a frown, arms crossed as the others turned away from the stand. "Besides," he continued as the three walked further down the street. "Even if we bought the card, we'd have to pay half the lifepoints to summon it; we can't afford that kind of price right now!"

The others blinked, before nodding. "Right," Yugi said, Katsuya looking around at the town in question as they moved. Call it a hunch, but a lot of the people walking around them didn't seem like they'd be responsive... Even so.

"I guess we should ask whoever we run into for info then," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck.

Yugi nodded again, looking toward the end of the street where a large fountain sat. "Hn... How about we meet at that fountain in half an hour," he asked, looking to the others as they stopped.

Mokuba blinked, before nodding in agreement. "That sounds like a plan... Let me try something first though," he added, crossing his arms yet again as he appeared to stare off briefly. "Hn... 'Open Menu'," he said plainly, watching as the menu appeared before him in a simple flash. "There should be a clock around here somewhere," he continued, looking over the numbers before smiling. "Aha- there," he said, the menu closing in another flash of light. "There's a clock underneath the gold counter," he told them, looking back at the two before waving. "I'll see you in half an hour," he continued, running off.

"A-Ah... Right," Katsuya said with a nod, Yugi also nodding before the he took off down another of the four 'main streets' from the fountain. The blond looked around, scratching his head before shrugging. "Eh... I guess that leaves me with th' north then," he muttered, heading around the fountain with his hands behind his head. So... Questioning people... He wandered down the street, frowning. "Er... Hey," he asked, a few people merely passing by without a glance. He waved a hand in front of a few, raising his eyebrows as the people merely walked around it. "...Oi," he asked, attempting to grab the attention of at least one person. "Anyone know something abou' how t'... Finish... This game," he asked lamely, scratching his head.

No answer of course... Instead, the people merely continued to walk past him in a seemingly pre-programmed track. He supposed he expected just as much really. "Ahhhh... Great." Well wasn't that just perfect. He walked down the street, turning a corner and frowning. "Gotta be someone here who'll answer my questions..." He turned, blinking as he spotted a pair of meditating monks. "Hnn... I don' s'ppose you guys would have an idea 'f what I'm after would yeh," he asked, turning to the two for a moment.

The monks said nothing, merely continuing in their silent meditation as Katsuya stared. Yea. Yea he would get the quiet NPCs, wouldn't he. Ahhh... He continued walking, groaning before looking around at the people as they walked by. They weren't even sparing a glance... Hell, the way they moved practically told him he'd have no luck asking questions; was it just him, or had he passed that blue robed guy three times already? "Damn it," he growled, kicking a rock and watching it bounce across the dirt as he continued on. "Who th' hell do I have t' ask f'r help around here?"

"You could say please," a childish voice sounded from behind, Katsuya mentally groaning. Please... Please tell him that the 'handy NPC' in this game was not going to end up being a pain in the ass, please. It always ended up being some loud and annoying fairy or kid in those situations, but could that please not happen right now?

Katsuya sighed, turning around to address the source of the voice with a slight frown. "Yea well," he muttered as he scratched his head, "I ain't exactly worried abou' bein' poli... Te..." He stared, before tensing and drawing back as a small dog tilted his head and wagged its tail at him. There was no one else in the street in view really. None that weren't merely walking past and giving the dog no second looks or even first looks of which to speak of. Not a single person, and in fact, within a few moments he really was the only one looking at the dog. He wouldn't have been surprised if the NPC's had given odd looks while they'd been there though; the muzzle on the dog was... Fairly interesting to say the least...

If not sado-masochism worthy, given the spikes on the collar, the completely black eyes, the straps pretty well wrapped around its head... The almost robotic mask gleamed in the sunlight, 'black' eyes staring blankly upward despite the otherwise cheerful appearance of the rest of the dog's body. The dog was just a little chilling... That was for sure. The dog continued to sit there, looking up at the blond and tilting its head. "It's rude to stare you know," it said rather plainly, Katsuya coughing awkwardly and taking a step back.

Aha... Yea but... Could that thing really blame him? Really? "E-Er... S-Sorry abou' that..?" He guessed... What...

The dog gave an odd, mechanized laugh, remaining in its seat on the path. "It's fine," it shouted as it laughed, 'staring' forward unblinkingly. "I'm just saying! Someday the person you meet won't be so forgiving." That was a creepy warning, he was just going to say that now. So... O...Kay... ...Damn it why did all the weird crap have to happen to him? "You said you needed help right," the dog asked, giving a small bark as it grabbed Katsuya's attention yet again. "Maybe we can both help each other," it continued, standing up from its seat. "You answer my questions, and I'll answer yours!"

Uh... What..? "Er..." The blond coughed, shaking his head. "I... Don' think tha' there's much I can tell yah," he said with a nervous laugh, taking a step back. Not much at all really... "An' unless y' know anythin' abou' someone bein' captured an' dragged off," he continued with a forced laugh, "I don' think there's much you can help me with yerself so... Eh... I'll jus' leave now..."

"Oh, but I do know," the dog said with a bark, trotting after the blond despite his clear discomfort. "I know lots of things," it continued, Katsuya paling as it made to follow after him down the street. "Many things... Everything," it said with a particularly loud 'yelp', causing the blond to flinch and continue backward. "But there's just one thing I really want to know," the dog said, Katsuya swallowing and continuing to back away from the creature as they came to a small four-way street. "Just one thing," it emphasized, "I have to know... This 'real world' of yours," it asked, target still walking back from the dog. "What's it like?"

The real world? "Ah... W-What?" Wait, this thing actually knew it wasn't real? How the hell did that work!

The dog looked up, an odd gleam appearing in it's 'eyes'. "I said... What is this 'real world' of yours like... Is it still as pathetic as it was last time I checked?" P-Pathetic? Self-aware computers were never a good thing in movies and crap, if this thing was calling the world 'pathetic' then...

Katsuya stared at the small 'puppy' with wide eyes, swallowing. What the hell... What... Slowly he stepped away again, the dog merely sitting in place and wagging its tail. One step... Two step... The dog continued to sit, and finally he turned, bolting from the spot as fast as he could while the same odd mechanized laughter began to ring behind him. 'Ahahahahha~ I-tera-shai, Katsuya~'

What the fuck what the fuck what the hell was that! Katsuya gasped for breath as he skidded to a stop down one of the other streets, leaning against a wall as he stared off in silence. Alright... Breathe... Breathe, it wasn't following him... He swallowed, before slumping to a seat beside the same two monks he'd passed earlier and letting out a long panicked sigh. W...What... What the hell kind of 'program' was that? 'Itterashai'? Like hell he'd be seeing that dog again! "Hah-ahh... Hah-ahh... Ahh... Gh-..." He choked, attempting to calm himself down and continuing to stare off before simply shutting his eyes. "Hah... Hah... hah... hah... ...What was that," he finally muttered to himself, rubbing his head and turning to stare at the ground. "What was..." What was that thing? He swallowed, thumping his head back against the wall and staring at the sky. Bright and blinding sunlight in a cloudless sky... Wasn't that deceiving? ...Time... He continued to stare, leaning against the wall as the thought dimly came to mind. What time was it... "...Open Menu," he muttered, the odd 'glass' appearing before his eyes in an instant. Stats came across the screen, the blond's eyes moving toward the 'gold' counter to check the clock beneath it. Half an hour... That's what they had said, right? Half an hour, meet back at the fountain.

Some help he'd been... The blond took another deep breath, before standing up with a slight grunt and heading back toward the fountain as the menu closed. Time was up... And he hadn't found a damn thing, save for a creepy ass dog that he was sure as hell keeping quiet about. "Ahhh... Damn it," he muttered, shaking his head. Well, maybe the others had something! That would be good.

"Ah, Jonouchi-kun!" Katsuya looked up, watching as Yugi sat up from where he'd been waiting at the fountain's edge. "Did you find anything," he asked, the blond shaking his head as he walked over with a slight frown.

Besides something to add to any nightmares he might have... No. Not really. "Nothing," he said with a shrug, scratching his head. "You?"

He shook his head, frowning somewhat. "The same..."

Which left them with... "I found something," Mokuba said with a grin, the others turning as the boy ran over. The boy continued grinning as he came over, brushing a bit of sand off his cloak before speaking. "An old man I helped out apparently saw someone with an unconscious person on the back of their 'Koke'... Whatever that is," he added with a slight frown before shaking it off. "They crossed the desert," the boy continued seriously, looking toward the 'eastern' street. "Toward what he called the 'Cave of Death'..."

They blinked, Katsuya frowning. "E-Er... 'Cave of Death'," he repeated, frowning as the three began walking away from the fountain. Because hey. 'Cave of Death', that didn't say anything at all right? "...Wait... Do you think that person could have been Seto-chan?"

Mokuba nodded, expression somewhat blank as he looked at the two. "I'm almost sure of it," he said in response, eyes wide. "The old man said it was about two hours ago," he continued, sending a glance toward the eastern road as he spoke. "That was around when nee-sama lost the game... There's no way we're wrong!"

"Hn... So then if we cross the desert," Yugi began, turning to look as the large wide 'road' that opened up to the vast wasteland in question. It was fairly clear that sticking to the main street as opposed to taking the side-roads as Yugi had done during their search for clues was a fast and sure way of getting to the desert... And what a desert it was, Katsuya thought, the three stopped at the edge and staring out for the moment. Wow... Lots of sand... "Hnn... That looks pretty far out... ...Ah!" He jumped, watching a blue-black blur rush past him. "Mokuba!" The two watched, eyes wide as the boy abruptly charged forward in a run and began making his way out into the desert. "H-Hang on," he shouted, charging after with Katsuya close behind him.

"Mokuba," Katsuya shouted loudly, wind picking up almost immediately after they ran out into the sanded wastes. He winced as a blast of sand met his face, throwing his arm above his eyes and continuing on. "Mokuba, wait up!"

The boy didn't listen, Yugi and Katsuya both holding their arms above their faces as they charged through what looked to be a quickly brewing sand storm. Mokuba had a bandanna and cloak... He was lucky. Them... Not so much, Katsuya decided as the sand quickly blew with enough force to block their vision past about 5 feet. "Mokuba," Yugi shouted, the two older ones slowly making their way toward the boy as the wind slowed them down. The boy ahead of them was slowly blown back, the three within arm's length of the other as they walked. "Mokuba, it's too rough out here," he cried, attempting to make himself clear through the sand. "We need to get back, at least to prepare for this better!"

There was no answer, Katsuya squinting through the sands as he shouted as well. "Mokuba! This is impossible," he yelled, sand striking the side of his face hard enough to cut skin. "We're gonna die if we keep goin', let's jus' turn back like Yugi said!"

"No!" The two frowned, wincing slightly as the wind appeared to pick up with the small boy's anger. "I... Just... Shut up," Mokuba shouted, struggling to move further. "We... We can't turn back! This is our only lead," he protested, fighting against the wind with all he could as his cloak and bandanna flapped against the wind. "We need to keep going... It can't be much further," he continued to shout, voice barely audible over the storm. "If we hurry, we can find Seto-neesama and-" He froze, the three stopping in place as howling wind met their ears.

"Ahh..." Katsuya squinted, stumbling back slightly as a wicked blast of air hit him. "Please tell me I ain't th' only one hearing that," he shouted, the sand blasting against their ears as the others shook their heads.

Yugi swallowed, looking forward before his eyes widened despite the sand blowing at his face. "It's not just you," he shouted, stumbling back somewhat as an enormous hurricane of sand appeared. "That's a tornado!"

And what a tornado it was- it as as though it was a monster's attack as opposed to an actual natural occurrence. And would you look at that, it was getting closer. Ahhhh shit... The three stumbled back as they overcame the shock, before turning to trip against the sand. "Run," Katsuya muttered to start, before grabbing Mokuba's arm and charging in the opposite direction. The boy gave an awkward shout as he stumbled, Katsuya finding his voice as the sound of the winds increased. "RUN!"

There were no arguments as they attempted to flee, stumbling through the sand as the sound of howling wind continued to grow behind them. Odd 'clipping' noises sounded from behind, scratching against the backs of their cloth armor as they ran. "Haaah..." Katsuya turned somewhat, eyes widening before a wave of sand smacked him in the face and knocked him off his feet. "AAAAHHH!"

As he landed to the ground, all he could see was an enormous shadow, three 'claws' reaching toward them through the curtain of sand. And then there was nothing...

Nothing but darkness...

-BRAM! BRAM!-

Honda winced against the pounding on the door, throwing as much weight as possible against the boxes. It'd been going on for at least an hour really; he and Anzu would switch between holding the 'fort' at the door, which would occasionally jump forward an inch before being slammed back, the other grabbing whatever was available in the room to add to the barricade. The problem however, was that they were beginning to run out of things to hold the door back... And as it was, the 'door' resembled more of a wall of boxes than anything. "Anzu," he called, looking across the room as the woman began pushing a series of chairs over from the side. "Find anything else?"

"Besides these," she said with a grimace, jamming the chairs against the boxes with as much force as she could. One leaned against the other, while the back of the chair was rammed as far into the box pile as possible. "Nothing! You'd think that the doors would be a little easier to barricade given all of Kaiba's thoughts on security!" Yea, they'd think but... Here they were.

The teen beside her nodded, looking over at the screen. Walking out of a town now... They'd missed what happened after the zombies were taken out really, barricading the door was a bit of a priority at the time... Still a priority actually, but really, what could they do? "Damn it... I hope those guys hurry," he said with a wince, the woman following his gaze toward the screen with a nod.

"Gn... You say that now," she muttered, leaning against the boxes and biting her lip as the pounding and shouts behind the door continued with seemingly increased vigor, "But from what I can tell on the screen they won't be doing much of anything for a while..."

Honda nodded, watching as on screen the three sprites of their friends collapsed to the ground in a sand storm. "Looks like," he muttered, small pixelated 'SLP' appearing above the trio. "H-Hey," he said with a swallow, watching a large tentacled beast made of stone appeared from the opposite side of the screen. Despite what little detail was visible on the sprite, it was fairly obvious that it was bigger than their friends. And far... Stranger too. No eyes, a mouth on one hand, three claws on the other... It simply appeared from the ground, tentacles waving from its base as it appeared to give a roar. "What the hell is that thing..?"

Anzu paled, watching the pixelated monster slowly approach the fallen sprites with an odd snail-like motion. "That's a duel monster," she muttered, before her eyes widened. Ordinarily it wasn't very strong on it's own but... 'SLP' meant 'Sleep' didn't it? "That's 'Sandstone'," she said with a swallow, pushing back against the barricade. "But if they aren't awake to fight then-" The two cut off, watching as a fifth sprite charged onto the field. It was tiny, far smaller than Mokuba or Yugi's sprites to say the least. But it looked almost like... A puppy? With a mask maybe? The dog appeared to bark, the words 'Sandstone fled' appearing on the screen briefly before the screen went completely black. And then there was nothing... "What the..." She turned, sharing a confused and wide-eyed look with Honda as the teen shook his head.

"Hey... I'm just as confused as you are," he said with a swallow, watching the blackened screen before it switched to the edge of the town their friend's had sat in prior the storm. Small dog from no where saving everyone's ass? He'd take that for now. "At least the thing is on their side right?"

They looked at the screen a few moments more, sharing nervous glances again. That had to be it right..? It had to be on 'their side'... After all... What else would it be doing if it wasn't?

"Kh! Kack! Kah! Ahk..." Katsuya coughed roughly, groaning as he slowly opened his eyes to look up at the sky. "Ghk..." Sand in his throat... And his ears... And everywhere else... "Gnnn..." God, his head... Agghh... It felt like his head was tossed around in one of Seto's blenders... On one of the weird options that he didn't think existed until he watched all those strawberries go 'splat' against the ceiling... "Aggghh..."

"Ahh..." What was that sound... "You're awake!" The blond tensed, eyes widening as he slowly sat up and turned toward it. Oh fuck, not that voice. Please tell him it was not that same- It was. "This is interesting," the dog from before said, Katsuya turning away the moment he spotted it as he held his breath. Damn it... Whyyyyyyy... Of all the things to see when he woke up, why was that thing there..? "I didn't expect to see you so soon," it continued, giving a happy bark despite apparently not having a jaw to open or close to do so. "You should thank me," the dog said from its seat, the blond it spoke to currently holding his head in his hands. Maybe this was just a bug. Some weird, twisted bug that somehow slipped into beta... "If I didn't pull you back here, the Sandstone would have ripped all three of you into little fleshy ribbons~" ...A very twisted bug. "As it is," the dog continued despite Katsuya's apparent discomfort, "If I didn't already owe you a favor, I would have just sat and watched anyways..." Uhhh... O... Okay?

He stared, unsure of whether or not to thank the dog. It did just finish saying it would have watched... And as it was, the prospect of having been, as the thing said, 'ripped into little fleshy ribbons' was just a little... Unnerving. Particularly since it was apparently a fate he was spared from for some favor he didn't even know about. "Er... T-T-Thanks... I... Guess..?" What the hell did he pull himself into...

The dog gave it's usual mechanical laugh, shaking its head before turning away. "Whatever," it said somewhat dismissively, walking back toward the town. "I'm going to go back to my home now, ok, 'Katsuya'?" How the hell did this thing know his name! The dog turned, as if to answer. "Hnnn? I know everything... Remember?" Er... W-W-What? As the blond tensed, growing white and pale the dog began to walk away with a still constant and mechanized laugh. "Ehehehhe... Say 'hi' to 'Seto-chan' for me, neh? I'll see you again~"

No. No he wouldn't, he told himself as the dog vanished back into the city, quickly turning a corner and vanishing from sight completely. He damn well would not, not if he wanted to stay sane in any way. "Nnnnnnnng..." This was turning into the most fucked up birthday ever in existence. By a long shot. He rubbed his head, collapsing back on the ground before turning his head to look at others. Somehow they were all relatively in the same spot... They were still knocked out though, faces turned to the side. He clambered to his feet, crawling over to Mokuba and lightly shaking him by the shoulder. "Mokuba," he said with a slight frown, rolling the boy over and continuing to try and wake the boy up. "Oi... Mokuba!"

"Ghnn..." He opened his eyes, blearily looking up with a wince and blinking a few times. "Gnn... Katsuya-nii..?" The boy groaned, sitting up and looking around dimly as the taller of the two followed his gaze. "...What happened..?"

Katsuya bit his lip, looking out at the seemingly calm desert. "Eh... That's a good question really..." He looked back to Yugi, before moving over to his friend's side. "Yugi..." He tapped the boy's shoulder, before grabbing it and shaking it slightly. "Yugi... Yugi," he repeated, moving back as Yugi as well began to stir. "Hey," he said, watching the boy pull himself up to his knees with a groan. "You alright? Mokuba," he added, looking toward the boy worriedly. "What about you?"

While Mokuba merely nodded sullenly, Yugi shook his head and looked around himself. "Ah..." The boy blinked, turning to Katsuya with somewhat wide eyes. "We're back at the town..?"

The other two nodded, frowning. "Yea," Katsuya said, standing up and shaking the sand from his pants. "Th' twister blew us back here..." Or at least close enough to be dragged over by a creepy ass dog... Which he should probably not think about given the already large number of questions surrounding that. The three stood in silence a moment, before rough and rasping chuckling came from the side.

"Hahahahaha... Tried to cross the desert did you," an old robed man said, the boys blinking as he looked them over. The man seemed to stare up at his shack's roof, looking at the ceiling with squinting eyes while sitting in his rocking chair. "How foolish..."

Foolish? Tch! And he had a better idea? ...Wait... Katsuya blinked, before walking over as the others followed behind him. Did he have a better idea? "Wait," he muttered, watching as the man continued to stare at his porch roof. "So then you know somethin' abou' crossin' th' desert, old man?"

The man merely continued to chuckle, staring off at nothing in particular. "You need a 'Koke' card to cross the desert," he stated, trailing off somewhat as he shook his head. "Great avian mounts weathered against the sand for means of travel..."

Koke... Katsuya frowned a moment, thinking back to their initial clue to Seto's location. Mokuba said that she'd been carried off on a 'Koke' right? Thinking in terms of duel monsters... He continued to frown, before grinning as the image came to mind. "Ah... That card!" Yugi blinked, turning as the blond continued with a grin. "The chicken card! You know, th' one that goes on abou' a chicken who eats things f'r their life energy?" Come to think, that sounded pretty damn creepy... Were they seriously going to ride on one of those things?

Mokuba pushed forward, eyes wide as he clung to the next clue at how to reach his sister. "O-Old man," he asked somewhat desperately, the man in question appearing to not respond for a moment. "How do we get that card?"

"You need a 'Koke' card to cross the desert," the man stated, chuckling somewhat as he spoke. "Great avian mounts, weathered against the sand for means of travel..."

The three blinked, frowning as the taller gave an awkward cough. "Er... Y' said that already," Katsuya said with a slight frown.

"You need a 'Koke' card to cross the desert," he said again, the boys sharing somewhat exasperated smirks in response. R-Really? Again? "Great avian mounts, weathered against the sand for means of travel..."

"Pbbbbt... Gh... He keeps repeating the same thing," Katsuya said with a wheezing laugh, holding his head as he shook it. It was worse than just hitting the 'a' button too many times in a video game! All they had to do was say something, ahhh... "Shouldn' there be a program agains' that or somethin'?"

Mokuba merely smiled wryly, before it dropped to a frown as the boy turned away. "Yea... I guess," he muttered, the older two quickly cutting their laughter short as they noted their friend's current misery. "But it looks like we can't leave this town without that card," he continued, staring at the ground.

Hnnn... Damn. That was a good point huh... "We should look through the town for clues," Yugi said, turning back at the town in question as the sun continued to hover high in the sky. "Someone should know about this 'Koke' card..."

Yea. Someone... Though given their luck with finding out which way to go... ...Wait... Katsuya blinked, looking back at the town before running off as he recalled something. "H-Heh? Katsuya-nii," Mokuba shouted, running behind him as the blond continued off down the street.

"J-Jonouchi-kun," Yugi called, the blond ahead of them running back to the square surrounding the fountain. The three slowed somewhat, looking around the main square in slight confusion. "What's going on?"

"I saw somethin' earlier," he answered, turning back a moment before coming to a stop at one of the walls. Where was it... "When I was runnin' back t' meet up with you guys," he added. Or rather... Running away from that creepy dog... Not that they needed to know about that part. "I didn' think anything of it at th' time but... There was a contest poster," he said, the other two raising their eyebrows before following him to a collection of posters on the wall. Alright... Newt add, something on armor, and... Aha! "Here!"

The pair looked at it, blinking for a moment as they read it over. "The battle of champions," Mokuba read someone monotonously, skimming over the text decorating the rather 'over the top' poster. "Test your strength against the incredible 'Queen of the Butterflies'," he continued, eyes briefly moving over the costumed woman on the paper, "Winners will receive- Ah!" He brightened, eyes wide as a grin came back into place. "The prize is a Koke card!"

He grinned, Yugi and Mokuba both looking at him with similar expressions. "This is great," the older of the two said, looking back to glean the location of the 'coliseum'. Somewhere north right? "If we hurry, we can still catch up to Kaiba-san's captors!"

Katsuya nodded, turning toward the road that he'd walked on before they attempted the desert crossing. He'd never made it to the end of that street... It was no wonder he'd missed the building first time around. "Th' coliseum should be over there," he mentioned, the others turning to follow his gaze. The walls of the enormous ring rose high above the buildings in the town, easily making it locatable now that they were trying to find it... "I just hope this ain't timed," he muttered, grimacing at the thought. "If we can't compete just 'cause 'f timing..."

The boys frowned, beginning the small trek toward the coliseum. "I don't think that it would end up like that," Yugi said in response, shaking his head. "While the Big 5 are definitely trying to stop us, I don't think they'd put that kind of a bug in to do it..." He trailed off, looking at Mokuba as the boy pulled a face.

"You'd be surprised," Mokuba spat, scowling at the topic. "To code a timer into a program is as easy as breathing for Ota, if he decided to he could stop us in our tracks!"

Gh- really? The blond turned, swallowing as they came toward the coliseum and wandered into the entrance. "Then... Why hasn't he," he said nervously, blinking a few times. If it was that easy then... "I mean, not that I don' mind still bein' here but..."

The boy shrugged, shaking his head as they located the 'office' of the building. "I don't know... I'm not complaining either but..." He sighed, a worried frown on his face as he looked back at Katsuya. "It's bugging me..."

Yea... Him and everyone else that wasn't made of computer data... Katsuya scratched his head, following Mokuba and Yugi in through the door and staring from the doorway in silence. "...E-Eh..."

Yugi swallowed, before bowing his head politely as the other two continued to stare. "Ah... Are you the coliseum manager," he asked, the three watching the fat and frog-like man follow a fly around with his eyes. Frog-like was probably the 'nicest' way of describing this thing actually... Besides green and somewhat warty skin, the man was... Pretty much a slime ball, to say the least.

"I am," the man stated with a hoarse grunt, smirking as the others continued to stare. "Come to take my challenge have you?" They were... The boys nodded, bowing their heads somewhat as the manager gave a hoarse laugh. "Aha! Good," he shouted, standing up from his seat as the wood creaked under the lack of pressure. "Wonderful, wonderful... I was beginning to think no one would show," he said with a laugh, tromping over to a shelf at the side while the others continued to stare. "Apparently they're all scared, afraid of being trounced by our current reigning champion! Its so pathetic," he spat, "That even with nothing but the challenge of defeating her in place, I was getting empty seats and costumes! But you," he said with a grin, pointing at Yugi as the boy jumped somewhat. "I can tell you have what it takes!"

There was a snap noise shortly after he said that, the three both staring with wide eyes as the man's tongue shot out to grab the fly he'd been watching. A fairly pleased expression came over the manager's face for a split second, an audible swallow coming through the air as the man grabbed a few more things from the shelves. E-Er... What the hell..? Yugi bowed his head nervously, watching as the frog-like man pulled a hooded cloak with mask-like additions and other pieces of furred armor from the side to hand to him. "Ah... Is... Is it really that dangerous," he asked with wide eyes, coughing somewhat as the three listened..

"But of course," the coliseum manager said with a snort, hobbling back to his chair to sit down as it groaned under his weight. "All matches here are 'to the death'! You keep fighting until one or the other dies, that's business," he added with a laugh.

To the death? That didn't sound good... The boys shared a nervous glance, before jumping as Katsuya snatched the dog-like costume from Yugi's hands. "A-Ah... Jonouchi-kun!"

"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba protested, eyes wide as the blond stowed the costume under his arm with a frown. "What are you doing?"

Katsuya looked down at the two, staring seriously at them. "You two are Seto-chan's best chance of rescue," he said calmly, the manager watching in silence. "I'm already a good chunk 'f lifepoints under y' both... Both of you guys have a better shot than I do! I'll go," he continued, nodding his head toward the 'frog' as he said this. "Tha' way, if I really do end up losin' th' game, it'll jus' be one less liability f'r yah both."

They stared, frowning somewhat with those words. "Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said with a glare, "You're not a liability! You're-"

"Eh, I don' wanna hear it," Katsuya said with a shrug, turning his back on the two as the protests stopped. "No matter what, y' can't change my mind! B'sides," he added with a grin, looking back at them with a small laugh. "No way I'm gonna lose, alrigh'?" He promised right?

The two fell silent, sharing odd looks before finally nodding. "Alright Jonouchi-kun," Yugi said with a nod, the blond turning in response. "...We'll be watching from the stands alright?"

"Yea," Mokuba said with a set frown, "You better not get yourself too roughed up out there!"

He continued to grin, nodding. "Hah! Whadya take me for, an idiot?" There was silence in response, the blond growling as he received shrugs. "O-Oi!" Now hang on! "That wasn't a serious question!"

There was a cough from behind, the three turning and dropping the subject as the manager pointed toward the side of the room. "You're going to need to put on that costume, understand," he said with a grunt, Katsuya nodding in response. Yea, of course..."Wait by the grated door at the end of it when you're ready, and in fifteen minutes the battle will begin! As for you two," he continued, standing up from his chair as the other two listened, "The stands are that way; that will be ten coins each for admission!"

The boys nodded, before freezing. Right... Payment... Ah... "Er..." Yugi stared, looking over himself for some sort of bag to get the money from. "How do we pa-"

"Good, good," the frog-man abruptly said, the boys blinking as he pointed to the side. Briefly, the menu flashed before Mokuba and Yugi's eyes, the sound of a cash register coming from above. Ten coins vanished from the counter, leaving them with the same amount paid. There was no reaction from the 'frog' however. It was as though the manager simply... Didn't hear it. As though they'd simply handed the coins over rather than staring and letting the computer do its work. Weird... "You can go take your seats in the front row," he continued, nodding his head toward the path to the side.

Yugi and Mokuba both nodded, turning to Katsuya briefly. "Good luck," the older said, Mokuba nodding his head in agreement.

"Whatever you do," Mokuba said seriously, frowning as he looked at the blond, "Don't lose! Understand?"

He nodded, smirking as he waved the thought off. "No problem," he said, before turning with a smirk. He wasn't about to lose... "I'll have this over in no time flat," he continued, grinning before the boys went their separate ways. He walked over to the door at the other end of the room and shut it behind him, looking around the somewhat dark room and putting the costume at the side by a window.

This would be easy, he told himself as he shook some still clinging grains of sand from his hair and grabbed the cloak. No problem whatsoe- Katsuya pulled a face as he held up the costume, gloves and greaves falling to the ground in its wake as he looked the black 'fur' over. "Ah hell," he muttered, an oddly adorable looking dog face staring back from the hood. Despite the somewhat 'flaming' appearance of the mesh eyes, all in all, the black dog costume was just a little much. Even a pig would have been better, god... "Is my life cursed 'r somethin'?"

He continued to scowl, before pulling on the greaves around his shins nonetheless. They were more boot covers made of fur really... Covering the lets from his toes up to his knees, with the gloves themselves being long enough to reach his elbows. What was the point in all this if he had a mask though? And one attached to a freaking cape at that? The blond shook his head, pulling on the cloak and mask before attempting to cape portion on the front in place. "Sheesh," he muttered, voice muffled by the cloth as he looked through the red 'veil' so to speak, "How th' hell am I supposed t' see in this thing?" He looked down, grabbing the gloves from the ground and pulling them on before pulling out his spear. Maybe it was just the lighting... Hell, despite the red 'film', most of what he could see was relatively clear...

Seriously though, a dog? "Man," he muttered, scratching his head. "This is completely..."

A loud blaring noise came over the air, Katsuya jerking his head up and running forward as a grate at the end of the room began to lift. Ah... He slowed down, watching the gate lift completely before looking out at the large arena. The battle was starting already then? 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' the rasping voice of the coliseum manager called out, Katsuya slowly walking forward and squinting as the sun glared from above. "I welcome you to the match we have all been waiting for! A battle so fierce," he continued with raised volume, "That the gods themselves watch from above as we speak!" Errr... What? "Put your hands together for our challenger," he continued, Katsuya taking the words as his cue to walk out with a somewhat nervous swallow. "A fierce hound, who guards the gates of hell itself... Will he stand against our reigning champion," he shouted, a chorus of 'boos' coming through the air.

Ahhhhahaaa... Katsuya laughed nervously, the sound never making it past his mask. Increased angered shouts came through, the blond nonetheless standing in place near the exit of the tunnel he'd come from. D-Damn, this was a tough crowd... "Katsuya-nii," a voice shouted from the side, the blond turning to spot Mokuba and Yugi in the crowd. "Go for it," he shouted, Yugi cheering loudly as well. Despite the overwhelming shouts from around, the calls of those two in particular seemed to stand out as a whole really- now where...

Aha! There they were! He stared for a brief moment before nodding with an unseen smirk, turning back as the enormous gate on the other side of the field began to open. "We'll soon find out," the frog-man was shouting, calls from the ring blurring into one sound as an elaborate palanquin was carried out on a crowd of men. "For the champion now stands before us," continued the manager as the crowd stopped just outside the entrance, the man gesturing to the curtained 'box'. "Now... Please welcome, the Queen of Butterflies!"

From the covers of the palanquin a shadow rose, curtains drawn and pulled back before a woman stepped forward from the cover into the sun. Katsuya's eyes shot wide open as the rather busty blond walked forward, the teen staring with wide eyes as the woman pulled out with a whip to look down with a smirk. The cloak that the 'Queen' wore spread out wide behind the woman, forming an enormous pair of butterfly's wings that shimmered in the sunlight with all the appearance of a series of stained glass windows. And that was probably all that was on the woman's back too, Katsuya mentally thought to himself with a swallow. Because there certainly wasn't anything on her arms and shoulders. Or legs and sides. Or the center or her breasts.

How was this armor again, he thought with yet another swallow, briefly wondering if his nose was bleeding. Seriously, was anything covered? Katsuya took a step back somewhat, letting out a long breath as the woman in front of him flipped through the air to land across him on the ground in a crouch. The palanquin was pulled back into the room behind the woman, whip cracking threateningly across the ground as the gate closed shut behind her. The bladed whip sliced through the sand and dirt on the ground as she looked down through the butterfly shaped mask, the manager's voice coming from the side as woman stared. "Let the match... BEGIN!"

There were only a few words for this, he decided as he held his spear before him. Very few, he decided, watching as the woman began to walk forward before moving to produce a card seemingly from nowhere. Though the whip lay motionless as she did this, it was more than apparent that she could pull it forward as soon as she liked to slit through his throat, lest whatever she call from the card did that. In fact, he decided with a swallow, there were really only three for the situation. "Fuck my life..."

AN: Yea Jou, that's about what I would say too. In any case. THE WINGS DO NOTHING~~ Lost and lots of dialogue here, so a shorter chapter for you (again)... But hey. It's lots and lots of dialogue, ahehehe.

On a more 'artsy' note, I have a fair number of things for you... Chibi's of Mai (without the awesome wing-cape and mask) and Yugi in particular, and in addition to that we have a musical note. Remember when I would put the songs I listen to as I type down here? Well, as of late I've been reserving that right for the songs with lyrics I kinda see fitting in with the mood... And today we have two.

The first one is more of a Noa sympathizer (And really, who can't feel for the guy at the last episode of his arc despite all the crap he's done), and is called 'Recycle Bin', done by vocaloid Kagamine Len. Again, I was listening to a rather beautifully done Nico chorus (You'll find all the choruses I talk about on 'AnotherNicoUploader's channel), but for the lyrics you'll have to look up the song with subtitles I'm afraid...

This next song though, has me in emotional stitches. Not laughing really, but oh my god, it's like the song was made for Jou to shout in Kaiba's face! There are a number of different translations of it though (thank you alternative reading/hearing...), so the translation that you want is found by searching 'No Logic [English] [Kuripurin]'. No Logic is the name of the song itself of course... It's originally sung by the vocaloid Luka, but someone took a version with subs and keyed it into a cover by Kuripurin. Anyways~

The poll results are currently unchanged, so as usual, check the last chapter for the results.

Now lets move on to what else is important...

Anonymous Review Responses

Hey there you two! I love your reviews~

First up, Iona! YES. I HAVE SUCCEEDED. (And continue to do so with that dog hopefully...) And trust me, besides the fact that she technically beaned him in the face hard, he's about to get it much worse. Next chapter actually, ahehehe...

And interestingly enough no they don't know just yet; because while the program knows, the Big 5 can't until they themselves are hooked up. And while certain others shown above might be able to weasel their way in using tiny programs from the web, (At least enough to make themselves a nice little hacking microphone despite the inability to do anything else.) the Big 5 can't access that sort of thing…

You can bet that it only adds to just how much they'll want vengeance in the Noa arc though.

Hahaha! Ooooh, you can almost bet on that… Almost; for one, Kaiba has to actually work along side Yugi for the end of this arc to work… So no strangling there. And for another, Jonouchi will still, as he did in the anime, sacrifice himself for Mokuba's sake. Giving Kaiba another wall to smack her head against before she thinks of strangling him for being a moron. Curses!

Actually, the 'T' is somewhat religious if you think really hard about it; it's one of the many forms of the crucifix, and… Well we all know who ended up stuck on a crucifix, even though that one was a cross. In any case, a good number of people died on 'T' shaped ones, as well as 'X' shaped ones in addition to the crosses. Ick!

Ooooh yes it amplifies the anger… Just wait for what happens next though, that really does it.

And now…. Cynical Gamer! …Again you say? Meep! I'm sorry! Annnny ways…

Hahaha, technically both would be screaming of wrongness; depending on which path you take so to speak, not only does the mind-fuck differ a fair amount, but the way that Noa pulls a forced 'reveal' on Kaiba also changes! (And a lot. The reaction is mostly the same. But also not. Hurumum...) I'll probably mix the third in with one or the other though… Feels more right that way. You're right to say that there's no telling right now though- I'll just have to wait and see…

Yep~ At least she's there~ And it really doesn't; you could probably compare it to moving out, going on about how you won't miss annoying younger siblings and the like… Only to realize that things are just not the same without them.

Of course it's confusing for Kaiba! And hahaha! MAKE MEEEEEEE. *coughs* Ok I'll stop.

Hehehe, too true! Though certain aspects may have thawed out even now really…

Yesssss… Jou would probably take a long walk if gender wasn't changed… Very long... Underwater…

And oh! Oh! I know what you're getting at now! ...I think. I tend to be clueless like that... Ahhhh… In terms of the anime, he was technically there legally once Yugi coughed up a starchip for him… And for the fanfic, Jou was mostly known due to Pegasus and Saruwatari both knowing (The latter due to having been working at the house until late), but allowed to an extent because… Well… Pegasus needed the key.

Indeed, scary little girls… Far more badass though, you can bet on that. And not quite; more that it's how he was able to help with that. Though you can bet being connected to someone whose been reincarnated helps as well... And you can bet that this will be something fairly big in a certain way.

And very true, very true. Well, at least 'minor' has been toned down a bit here…

And why thank you! As for your question, like hell I'd pass up the chance. :'D Time to lay the rage on Mokuba! AHAHA~ I'm putting a twist there too, as a backward take that… And another shameless reference to my original fiction. (Which I will clarify at that time.)

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that supports overly creepy antagonists! ...And semi-protagonists. Hihhhhhh...

The title up above is a little more cryptic than usual, mostly because anything else that came to mind was horribly corny. (More so than usual! Oh my!) It draws from two things, albeit two things that are rather closely entwined in topic. 'Yell' comes from 'Yeth'.. Specifically the 'Yeth Hound', a creature from Devon folklore. It's one of the many kinds of 'Black Dogs' that show up in European myth... However, there's a reason I picked this one as opposed to the standard 'Black Dog'. The 'Yeth Hound' is said to appear as a headless dog, and is the spirit of an unbaptized child. It roams the woods making wailing noises, but that has nothing to do with why I chose it.

I picked it more for the headlessness really. Because heeeeeeyyy... That muzzle on the dog above mind as well be its head.

In any case, black dogs in general are said to be omens of death, or misfortune at the very least. ...Hehehehehe... (And of course, Jou's 'costume' is that of the sterotypical 'Black Dog'.)

In the anime, Anzu and Honda originally got to sit around being bored to shit until they ended up barricading the doors… (Though they first opened them, spotted Saruwatari down the hall, and closed it again. HEH.) And yet when Mokuba was heading things with Kaiba, he got this handy little screen with this adorable 8-bit of his brother walking around… (I should make those sprites actually.)

Oh well?

'R Waves' are the tallest parts of the little wave you see on a heart-rate monitor. The entire set is called the 'QRS' complex, but generally it's the gap between the R-waves themselves that make up the heartrate.

Here's a bit of humor for you; 'Yugi', as in Yugi's name means 'game'. Now... The name of the series, 'Yu-Gi-Oh' is technically 'Yuugiou'... 'Ou' means king. The name of the series is King of Games. Ahhhhhh I love this... On a more awesome note, changing the kanji of 'Yuugi' gets you the word (One of them anyways) for friendship as well; apparently it doesn't have to be 'yuu-jou'. (Yea. 'Jounouchi'. Heheheeeee... OH THE PUNS!)

The conversation between the two is based on the actual one used in the Japanese version (The dub had 'Tristan' going on about how he had eight whiskers on his chin. WUT.)… Honda asks if Anzu wants to hear about his first crush (not interested), and then if she'd like to hear about his essay… Which really is called 'My Dream is to Be a Pilot'. (She's clearly annoyed by this, and asks if he has any idea what kind of situation they're in.) In any case, I couldn't help but draw the line between 'crush' and 'Miho from that early chapter'. Hehehe. Also, given that I had Honda be the one to clear Jou's head in the Duelist Kingdom, I figured that the 'do you even have a clue what kind of crap we're in right now' deal would be a tad void.

Kuriboh! This will be eas- And then Red-Eyes appeared. Originally, it was just going to be kuriboh... But things happened, mostly concerning the plot.

Multiply is probably already a card that obviously wouldn't be helpful for the boys at the time it was pulled out, but for those who don't know, 'Quick Attack' is a card that allows Fusion monsters to attack on their first turn… (Ordinarily, they can't.) While 'Trap Hole', Jonouchi's card, is obviously something that wouldn't really help unless the monster's were actually standing on the ground or at least unable to float or fly. (Which is what Kuriboh and Red-Eyes can do.)

Just as there are monsters Yugi will have no luck with using arrows (Armored beasts mostly, along with anything that attacks him in close combat) on, there are a few which reduce Mokuba and Jonouchi to nothing… Such as Red-Eyes; the dragon is so heavily scaled, the blades can't pierce anything. After all, way back with just the holographic duels, Kaiba's battle ox had to step on the blade in order to actually cut through armored lizard's neck. Thinking about the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in comparison... Yea. The only reason why Yugi's having any luck himself is because he can shoot things at the vulnerable points, whereas a normal blade would have to get there first.

And of course, this ends up with the two looking over at Yugi going 'UH… HELP?'

That scene with the newts? It happened. Though no one ate them in the anime, we just saw Jonouchi wondering if that was food. Mokuba is notably more displeased with Jonouchi when he looks at the card-stand in the anime though, coming off as a little more impatient while he's at it… (Due to his expression mostly) I can't tell if he's blaming both him and Yugi or just Jonouchi though, because I had Yugi take a few of the blond's lines; originally, they both call him over (Mokuba's looking too; does this make him hypocritical in the anime?), and he notices the card… Only for Mokuba to say 'No, too expensive', after which Jou mopes.

As for the questioning of people; came from the mini-montage we got after Jonouchi decided it was time to go look for clues; Mokuba's scenes involve him trying to bribe a few kids for info (Using a popsicle from… Somewhere…), and helping an old man up a bunch of stairs by piggy backing him up the stairs... Yugi first tried just talking to a crowd of people… And then apparently tried going into a bar, which got us this image of him being carried out by the back of his jacket. Jonouchi's however, involves him sitting with a bunch of monks (Why the hell..? How did that help in any way?)…

And being chased off by a group of dogs, which was what inspired that creepy little scene we had there. (In the anime, he actually returns with one of the dogs attached to his leg, chewing away at his pants… Poor Yugi just draws back with wide eyes.)

Speaking of interrogation of sorts, I'm wondering how they got anything out of the NPCs when the one at the edge of the desert was so pathetically 'repetitive' (as in, after giving his advice, that was all he could say. Erummmm…). So really, it's no surprise that they didn't actually get too much info... Even so. That old man... Ahhhh...

Anyways. That dog there. You should know who that was… As to why that's all he did, it's mostly because he'll be busy dragging off a few other people in a few moments; right now he's just sorta gauging the competition. Reading their minds. Deciding on the perfect way to screw them all over (you know, that sort of thing.). FUN THINGS. Also, there's a bit of distance between them in terms of computers for the moment, so it's a little more difficult... Think of it as an RC car.

'Itterashai' ('I-tera-shai' really… There's a 'skipped beat' where those dashes are.) is a phrase commonly said by those inside the house when another leaves. Normally the person leaving will say 'Ittekimasu' first, which basically translates (very loosely) out to 'I'll see you soon!' and is said when leaving the house (your house), with 'itterashai' being the loose equivalent of 'I'll be waiting', said by those still inside. Now… That's fairly everyday thing in japan if you're just a person who lives there. And it can be a touching thing too, if it's used like in the case of my Japanese teacher, whose host family on his exchange said this as he was leaving back for Canada at the end of the exchange… Meaning that they were effectively saying 'you'll always be welcome to come back to our house'.

But when a tiny little puppy with a spiked and twisted evil looking mask says the equivalent of 'I'll be waiting' as you run away in terror, that's not touching. At all. Hihhhhhhhh…

In the anime, Mokuba says that he was told someone passed through with a 'prisoner' and went off into the 'Cave of Death'. My question however is... One, how the hell did they cross the desert if the others need a Koke (Ta-daaaahh...), and two, why would Kaiba be walking? Clearly he was still unconscious... In fact, it's probably implied that this was the case. Even so, when I first heard this, I couldn't keep the image of the usual 'shackled to the back of a carriage' image from mind, hehehe... (Instead, Kaiba was flopped over a bird. ...Er... Not much better in hindsight.)

I almost thought it would be better to leave the 'blown to the entrance' thing as part of the game… But then I realized that the opportunity for scaring the shit out of Jonouchi again was too fun to pass up.

What can I say guys. I'm an asshole. You all have fun with 'the dog's sadistic humor now… And keep in mind that said dog's sadistic humor is mostly a trait of the dog, rather than of the one controlling the dog… …To put it plainly, we have here a remarkable show of acting skills… To make up for the fact that what's going on right now is effectively radio transmitting. (He can't get any 'closer', hence why he hasn't tried anything weird." You could probably compare it to what Yami Bakura did during the Dungeon Dice Monster's arc in the manga... Where he actually helped Yugi win; granted, it was so that he could put a little bit of his soul in a piece of the puzzle but HEY whatever.)

Hey, it's the repetitive NPC! Yea guys, Yugi and Jonouchi were both laughing at the guy in the anime… As Mokuba remained behind, completely silent. (Nooooo…) No one even asked if he was ok! Poor guy...

In English, the 'Koke' card is known as 'Niwatori' (Which is what the old man calls it in Japanese as well actually.); Niwatori is the word for 'chicken', coming from 'tori', or 'bird'. (It's still the same kanji though.) This happens a lot, changing the names of the cards to something in Japanese; for example, 'Sangan' comes from 'san' or 'three' and 'gan', which is a pronunciation of the word for 'eye'.

In any case, the flavor text for Koke (flavor text being the italic words under any card that has no effect... Which is exceedingly rare these days...) says 'Swallows enemies whole and uses their essence as energy'. ...And they're riding on this?

Finding the poster with the koke card on it (Koke, by the way, is the sound a chicken makes… Rather, the sound effect used for 'cluck' in Japanese.) was a lot easier in the fanfic than in the anime; originally, they spent a good chunk of time looking around the city for any sign of the card (Didn't even get a montage this time), meeting back at the fountain again with no luck…

At which point Yugi spots the poster and starts going 'AAAAH! I FOUND IT!'. I kinda figured that someone should have seen it sooner though.

I have 'Madame Butterfly' as Mai was known for a small bit here, explicitly named, (She was the 'Butterfly Queen' in the Japanese) mostly because she was technically on the poster. Complete with mask, cape, mini-skirt, corset, and whip. And boots. YEAAAAAA. That was definitely Mai on that poster.

Which was actually a sign in the anime. D'OH.

Now here's a question that comes up with the question of Big 5 meddling; why make themselves vulnerable to being trapped inside the game when they probably could have just sent a virus or a rewritten code in through the computer? Hnnn…

Yea guys. Screw the protector of the pigs, (Those who saw the episode know what I'm getting at) I made him a dog. Again. This is actually in part to make up for the fact that we won't see the amusing and horrendously embarrassing kigurumi scene in the Dungeon Dice Monster arc, as that largely follows the Manga plot… Which leaves no room whatsoever for that scene. D'OH. In any case... At least his 'intro line' is a bit cooler.

Greaves are essentially shin armour. Basically, what the cloak doesn't cover for the costume, the greaves and gloves do. (It also makes it that much more amusing for me to draw. AHAHA ulterior motive!)

If you can guess what the frog-man gets at when he says 'the gods', you'll be laughing as hard as I am.

Anyways; hellhounds are a fairly 'widespread' term for any hellish, supernatural dog really; most tend to be omen's of death though… The 'Black Dog' (AKA, the 'Grim') is known as a hellhound actually. Some of them were fairly benevolent… But seeing them was still an omen of death unfortunately.

NOSEBLEED. You know those anime nosebleeds that are a sure sign of arousal? It comes from an old Japanese wive's tale… And tends to imply something else coming out as well… Hehehehehe... (That's not what Jou is doing though.)

FanArt and My Art Section

You know the drill! Remove the spaces and there you'll have a link!

We have a lot things today... Two coloured chibis, a fair number of unfinished chibis... And some spoiler-ific sketches with appropriate warnings there for you! Along with a small bit of concept art. Very small though. ...Along with a painting WIP for the Millennium Eye. (Enjoy~) (Yea I went overboard.)

Mai the Summoner - http: / /i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ ChibiMaiSummoner. jpg - Oh my! How stripperific. Mai is demonstrating just why Kaiba was so rightfully irked by the possibilities for her armor; if she picked metal, she'd have likely ended up with the equivalent of a chain-mail bikini. If she picked cloth... Leather is a little more difficult to do that for though, particularly since it was mentioned in layers. ...By the way, Mai gets more clothing with her 'costume upgrade' before the final attack.

Archer Yugi - http: / /i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ ChibiYugiArcher. jpg - I screwed up his eyes so bad... But AAAAH. How do you make Yugi a chibi? His eyes are big enough as it is! His size compared to everyone (There are episodes where Mokuba is taller than him) does not help matters in any way either... In any case, enjoy the chibi! (God his eyes are big...)

Spoilers: The other Eyes - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ EyeThings. jpg - In which you get a sneak peek at those who are just a little worse than their counterpart in the Millennium Eye. Note that they're kinda subject to change though... (And that as ridiculous as the Rod's is, it's effectively fire with teeth for eyelids on all its eyes. ...As to why it has so many, you'll find out someday.) ...Oh, but as powerful and creepy as they are, don't think that both of them are evil; the Tauk's spirit is actually quite nice, despite the fact that neither of the two speak to anyone but themselves.

Chibis: Jonouchi & Mokuba - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ MokubaJouVR. jpg - To the left we have Jonouchi in his 'Warrior' wear... As you can see, I drew his spear wrong. BAW, oh well. Beside him is Mokuba of course, in all his thieving glory. Their colours are actually going to be hints to the Doma arc; Mokuba's wearing blue, whlie Jou has a brown-ish red. (If Jou was wearing flat red, it wouldn't look good on him; red clashes on blonds... Trust me on this.)

More Chibis: Mokuba & Meyari - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ MokubaMeyari1. jpg - In which Mokuba is questioning Yugi's taste in clothes, and Queen Meyari merely stares. Un-Mokuba-like. I figured that Meyari, being a queen of sorts, should probably have brushed hair. Probably. I dunno, one of those things...

Concept: Noa 22 - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ Noa22. jpg - A pity he didn't live to that age. This was me doodling one day... Decided to ponder on what Noa would have looked like if he actually made it to 22 years old. He looks pretty good, I have to say... (Hee. Jacket.)

WIP: The Millennium Eye - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ TheMillenniumEye-1. jpg - You can't see the puzzle lines because those are going to be painted into the details. But heyyyy! Lookit those HANDS! Also, Mini-Kaiba is ridiculously small because eight year old Kaiba is... Ridiculously small. Kinda helps that her legs are mostly gone, and those make a good chunk of her height. (She's also really skinny, hence why Jou's arms look like they could be the size of her scrawny little neck.)