Hold Your Tongue
He wasn't completely sure why he 'felt' anything for this program that now sat before him. In fact, he wasn't even sure why he'd reacted as he did, banishing the two siblings who had intruded on his family to the farthest reaches of his virtual 'world' while bringing this girl back for 'repairs'. He could not find out what made him even bother to appear before them to take her away, nor could he decide whether or not he was upset with the program for failing its task. And above all, he found himself worried about the 'back-up', and wondering if the program would be the same as it had been in those moments before Mokuba's blade cut through its updating form.
Perhaps this was what it was like, having a 'sister', or a 'daughter'...
Either way the programs, both 'Kisara' and 'Seraph', were quite unlike anything he had built before, and it was with that in mind that he attempted to repair the damage done to the girl before him. The damage that, despite all its fatal implications, still left the girl able to speak and comprehend her own 'design', reacting with slight emotions that had been granted in her final moments. She'd been given the sensation of feeling after all, so as to interact with the scenery properly. It was only natural that, on the first encounter of pain, the first signs of fear would come into existence.
And in the relief of that, the emotion of gratitude, and sorrow. "Noa-sama," Kisara rasped, despite the inability to breathe and the lack of a reason to even do so. "Forgive me, Noa-sama... I couldn't find it..." It took only a moment to realize what the girl was talking about of course. The memory... The memory that should have been there, that he knew had to be there after all that went on. The memory he wanted to see relived, the one that he wanted to use to make that woman realize just who she was dealing with..!
Instead of berating the white haired girl for her failures however he stared, placing a hand above the girl's sliced and slowly repairing abdomen with narrowed eyes. "It's fine," he found himself muttering, healing as much damage as he could whilst the pixels re-appeared and formed her body. "You did your best. I will just need to think of another strategy."
Of course, for a program, or even a human he supposed, that was never good enough. "I should have found it," Kisara told him, sounding almost like a depressed child berating themselves for a loss. "I looked through everything you offered," she continued, "And yet I still failed. But I shouldn't have."
Yes... Well. "It is not your fault that the memory is repressed," Noa told her quietly, bringing his hand back to his sides as the damage continued to heal. "But for now you need to repair, understand? I will have new codes for you in a few moments," he continued, Kisara closing her eyes in response. "Perhaps that will make things easier. Until then, enter 'repair mode' until your wounds and upgrades are complete."
With a single blank tone, the girl nodded, the glow about her seeming to fade. "Hai..."
That was all he needed to hear. Noa vanished from the 'room' in an instant, walking along the 'floors' of circuitry that depicted the computer he was trapped inside. Why? Why was this memory so difficult to find he asked himself, 'vanishing' to another realm with narrowed eyes after looking over his circuits in distaste. He knew the timeline where it happened; he'd even placed her almost directly before that moment, and had Kisara search through any and all important events in her history up until that last 'attack'. He knew it happened, above all, he even knew when... And the event was most certainly life-changing, one that would have attracted Kisara's sensors, but why hadn't he found it! It was as though it had been carefully locked away, hidden within a box that not even Seto herself could open.
A box that she probably didn't even know about. The boy continued to frown with these thoughts, before shaking them off and stepping into one of the many 'realms' he'd created about the network. He would have to work on that in the back of his mind he decided, regaining a slight expression of calm. Set a small 'program' in his mind to search through for ideas on how to deal with this. For now, he would need to address another issue. And it was with those thoughts in mind that he entered one of the five virtual 'rooms' his 'employees' had been given on their arrival, the room in question almost resembling a closed in library study filled with books on law and myth both. As for the man he had come to visit...
He sat in his usual position, the one that he tended to take after finally choosing to take advantage of the near god-like powers of the Virtual World and it's information. Everyone went through that stage after a while he supposed...
The question was merely when they would desire being mere mortals again. "Noa-sama," a surprised voice muttered, Oka turning from the desk he held behind a large stack of 'books'. The man hurriedly stood to bow politely, before adjusting his glasses and staring forward. "I... I was about to contact you," he stated almost humbly, swallowing an evident wave of unease. "Please... I must ask that you forgive the failures of my partners, I recently obtained the results of their battles... I was afraid you would be 'displeased'," he continued, more than obviously out to save his own skin rather than that of his partners. The boy had to chuckle nonetheless though, hands stowed in his pockets as a smirk came over his face. Really...
With a tone like that one would think he was about to smite him where he stood. Hnhnhnhnhn... "Now now Oka," he said with a chuckle, pacing toward the desk with a sigh. "I never said I was angry... I'm merely surprised," the boy drawled, shrugging dismissively as the former lawyer winced. "After all, I had thought you and your co-workers would prove useful to me," Noa went on as he continued to sigh, "But so far you're merely providing menial sources of pointless entertainment... Personally, I think I'll be cutting this deal short," he muttered, turning to Oka with a menacing grin, "And sending you and your 'friends' back to that computer system on the mainland..."
At this the lawyer paled, glasses slipping somewhat as he choked."A-Ahh... W-Wait," Oka begged, shaking his head as his 'employer' moved to leave. "The last two... They're useless when it comes to games like this, really, their loss was practically guaranteed," the man shouted, Noa watching in hidden amusement as Oka continued to beg. "But me... I'm different," he continued, leaning over his desk with a desperate look in his eyes. "Completely different... I'm not like those two, I'm much better... So please, Noa-sama," he begged, "Please, just give me a chance!" Hnn... Well...
Obviously the threat had worked... He'd been wondering just how much he'd have to do before he separated the man from his internet resources and sent him into a duel. "Hn... Very well," he said with a sigh, snapping his fingers as they were 'transported' to a separate area of the system. Stacks and shelves of books and trinkets scattered through the wind, replaced with a wide and expansive darkness that led from a door to nowhere. An 'empty folder', ready for whatever arena Oka chose to fill it with... Along with whatever challenges he saw fit to add in. "You have five minutes to build your 'realm' for your next battle," Noa explained, stepping through the darkness to take his leave. "I trust you know of your opponent," he asked as he glanced back, the man nodding with a dark smile in place. Hmp! Lawyers... Once they opened their mouths not a word of truth passed their lips... And if they weren't talking who knew what they were thinking.
"I've decided on the blond," Oka told him, a glimmer of distaste appearing in his eyes at the mention. "He should be here any moment now I would think... I'll be taking his body as my own." Well, well, well now...
"Jonouchi Katsuya," Noa 'repeated', eyebrows raising slightly. Otaki's choice had been understandable, if not somewhat cringe-worthy to the weak minded; non-professional duelist, female, the only one of the entire group. Ota himself had targeted no one in particular, merely setting his 'lair' up so that many of the 'guests' current locations eventually fed into his own realm. Oshita had taken Yugi as part of his personal desire for vengeance... Daimon had chosen to wait at the end of Kaiba's memories... This however, was the first one that seemed to center on more than a drive for a vengeance of sorts. "You're fairly confident..." Choosing to take down Jonouchi... Like his friend 'Yugi', his rank continued to rise. Unlike Yugi however, he hadn't gained it almost 'over night' in terms of world view, as with the 'Death-T' match of 2010. If anything, it was probably the most interesting case of honest growth he'd ever seen... At least next to a few examples in the USA. Nonetheless a smirk continued to play across his face, eyes narrowing with mirth as he pondered what would happen next. "Hnhnhnhnhn... I suppose I'll have to watch and see what happens then," he continued, fading out of existence. "Don't disappoint me," he warned, smoking away completely with those last words.
"I won't," Oka assured him, vanishing from sight with narrowed eyes. "Believe me!" Hn. 'Believe' in a lawyer, really! What a crafty guy...
He already knew that this man was up to something... Perhaps it was something worth looking after, but there were other ways to keep tabs. Ways such as 'Seraph'. The boy nodded to himself at the idea, opting to simply put the rest of his thoughts elsewhere as he traveled back through his cybernetic realm. After all, he had other things to deal with right now, other things to be bothered with dealing with. And if things got out of hand, he'd just have to cut in before it became too serious. For now however...
He had his 'daughter' to look after.
A program. That was what Seraph had called Noa. It was probably the bluntest way to put it, but that was still what he had said.
'Program'. "How," he muttered, shaking his head as he took a step back from the boy. "A 'program'... How is tha' ev'n-"
"Perhaps I should clarify," the boy responded, feathers shifting slightly as he spoke. "Noa-sama is a 'program' in that his mind, during the time of greatest weakness," he explained plainly, "Was completely uploaded into an electronic device nine years ago. It was a risky process back then; and more importantly," he continued, "A final solution. However, it worked, and so he has lived on through those times." And 'those times', if he was right...
Were probably nine years. Which meant that for all that time, Noa was... "Why... Why would anyone do that," he shouted, shaking his head as he turned back to the 'guide'. "If someone's dyin'... You have t' let go don't yah? Y' can't jus' force 'm t' live like that," he pressed, "He isn' even human any more, with something like that!"
"Wrong," responded the guide, his charge narrowing his eyes with confusion.
"Wh-?" Wrong..?
Seraph's monotonous stare seemed almost angry with that statement, the boy continuing on with his explanation. "Noa-sama is within the computer, that is true, and placed deep enough to say that his will controls all within this world. But, Noa-sama is still human," he continued, not looking away from the blond. "He holds within him human emotions, anger, betrayal, and rage, such as that which a program such as myself cannot comprehend. He has a goal," the boy explained, "And if he were truly machine, he would fulfil that goal without question. However, he instead formed a convoluted and failing plan, from base emotions of guilt and neglect. That is why you must realize, no matter how hard he tries, that Noa-sama is 'human'. And even at the ends of time," Seraph continued, "He will still remain as such. Noa-sama is not a machine," he repeated. "He is 'human'.
'Human'... Katsuya stared, narrowing his eyes at the boy before him. And he was taking this from the words of a computer created by the guy? "A good point of caution. Then again," his 'friend' muttered, "Is it possible, for a computer to lie, even about this?"
Was it possible for a computer to be wrong he countered, receiving no response. Katsuya continued to stare as the boy before him turned to the side of the hallway, placing a hand on the wall. "Your opponent has completed his preparations," he said plainly, fingertips appearing to almost glow as they reacted to the contact. "Our conversation has ended. I will guide you to the entrance of the field, and take my leave. Now," the boy told him, eyes glowing white as he pushed lightly against the structure. "Watch." Crumbling filled the air, spiderweb cracks spreading from the boy's hand to form an intricate spiralling pattern before the wall crumbled completely into pieces. Meeting his gaze was a long metal hall, with only one clear exit...
The airship hangar from the real world.
"You will find your opponent within the depths of this 'room'," Seraph told him, slowly scattering in a flurry of pixels from the bottom up. "He will test your skills first," he explained while his charge stared down the hall, "And then, provided you succeed, he will begin the fight."
"Test my- ...Wait," Katsuya called out, turning back as he spotted the fading pixels in the air. "Where'r you goin' then," he asked, looking to the boy with a frown. "You aren' stayin'?"
Seraph shook his head, looking up at the blond. "My duty is complete," the boy said blankly. "I will now 'end' the program. Such is my code, and the existence of a program," he explained, the disintegration already reaching his knees. End pr-
"W-Wait! Y' mean yer gonna die," he shouted with wide eyes, "Yer gonna die an tha's it?"
Seraph merely continued to stare off blankly, seemingly looking past the teen before him rather than at him. "I was never 'alive' to begin with, Katsuya-sama." Erm... Sama? Since when was he the 'sama' type, hell... The blond stared, shaking his head as the boy gestured to the hall with his still present hand. "Now, go... Please," he 'asked', before turning away. "I am done."
Go... He looked back down the hall, biting his lip as the almost ghostly lights of the dead hall greeted him. It was altogether more frightening than the real world's counterpart, with emptiness staring him in the face amid a flickering and dying light. Alright... He was g- "Ah-" Katsuya turned, jumping as the boy grabbed the hem of his cloak. "Didn' you jus' tell me t' le-"
"...Re... Set," the program whispered, not looking toward his charge. His body was almost completely gone by this point, his eyes shadowed by grey hair as the wings and helm vanished into dust. "Please," he repeated, voice filled with an emotion that far betrayed his former monotonous speech patterns. "'Reset'."
"Wh..." What...
The boy turned his head upward as he continued to vanish, eyes briefly filling with life as he spoke. "Don't save the 'game'," he told him, his hand vanishing as he drew back through the air. "Reset."
"What... What are y' talkin' abou- S-Seraph," he shouted, reaching forward to grab at the boy. "Oi! What do y' mean by r'set! Oi!" With no further words the boy scattered completely into shards of light, Katsuya's outstretched hand touching nothing but air. No... He was... Gone... But why did he even feel like this, it was a 'program' wasn't it? Wasn't it? "Seraph... SERAPH," he roared, the spirit in the back of his mind seeming to observe in brief silence.
"I doubt we'll see him again," his partner muttered, Katsuya nodding in response. "Though who knows; for now, you need to focus on escaping this place chabar." Escape... Right.
Then, with that in mind... The blond turned back to the rest of the hall, walking forward with a nervous swallow. Creating the airship and the hangar... Which ever one of the five he was fighting, they were obviously the more 'asshole-ish' of the group, that was for sure. Though as to which one of the five was more of an ass than the other was fairly hard to tell. Briefly, he wondered how the others were doing. What kinds of things they'd wound up fighting, what kind of place they'd woken up in... Seto... Yugi... And... "Shizuka," he whispered, biting his lip. Seto could handle herself, that was for certain, and between herself and Yugi not a single member of the 'Big 5' stood a chance in hell. He could get worried all he wanted about them, but thankfully that fact wouldn't change, and in the end he knew that they'd both pull through.
But as to how Shizuka was doing... Not to mention Mokuba, Honda, and the rest. The blond shook himself as he came into the darkened hangar, stepping aboard the open airship and looking around in the dark. This place... The airship... For some reason he noted, one of the doors were still open at the far end of the hall, one very specific door. No one was here... But all the same. "Why that room," he muttered, receiving no answer from the chilled hall. Katsuya walked over toward it in silence, cold metal chilling his feet as he looked inside. This room...
Mai's room. And to get there, pass Malik's room...
Someone who despite never following them into this realm, still managed to bring shivers down his spine. Katsuya peered inside the room in question, nervously stepping forward as the silence drilled at his mind. As with the rest of the area, the room was dark. The steady sound of monitors and machines could be heard as he drew close however, creating a low hum. And there she was...
Or at least, an illusion of her.
She was laying in her bed, as motionless as the real world's counterpart, but had it not been for that knowledge he'd have almost believed she was really here. Believed that he'd come back to the real world, woken up only to return to find everyone gone. Katsuya stood at the woman's bedside, narrowing his eyes somewhat as he recalled Malik's words to him. 'You have twenty four hours... If you don't kill me before then, then this woman will never wake up...' He had less than twenty hours now before she died... Less than a full day, and he was trapped in here.
But he wouldn't be for long. "...Wait for me Mai," he whispered, gripping his staff tightly as he bowed his head in silent rage. "I'll d'feat Malik... An' I'll get y' outta whatever hell he's stuck you in!" The blond turned away, briefly glancing back before looking toward the door. "Now... T' get outta here an-" -sffff- "Eh..?" Katsuya hurriedly stepped back as he turned to face the bed again, watching as the blanket shifted before him. With complete silence 'Mai' had sat up, turning her head toward the blond and slowly getting out of the bed with all the subtleties of a stripper. Really, it was things like this that made him remember that Mai's clothes were on the side so that the machines could be attached properly, so that the woman could breath properly, and so that... Um... "F-Fuck..." Yea. She wasn't wearing anything right now. And he'd looked down. Damn it. "Alrigh'," he growled with a red face, "Th' airship w's one thing, but puttin' a fake Mai in here's a whole other story..!"
"Oh," a deep, and clearly male voice asked, 'Mai' raising a coy eyebrow. "So you saw through all of this then?" S-S-Sfff...
"H-HIHHHHH! What th' hell," he screamed, voice raising considerably with awkward fear. "Wh-What... WHAT! That ain't right," he protested, "Holy SHIT that ain' right!"
'Mai' chuckled, before shifting seamlessly into the form of a familiar 'lawyer' that had more or less been the bane of his existence before, adjusting a tie around his neck before continuing to laugh. Oka... This was- "Hnhnhnhnhn... You'll have to forgive me," he stated politely, holding out a card as he bowed his head and smiled, "I was merely checking to see if you would be foolish enough to believe you were- Gh!"
A crack sounded through the air, Katsuya holding his clenched fist with narrowed eyes as he threw his 'opponent' across the side of the room. The bed smacked solidly into the machines from the force, clattering echoing about the ship. "Asshole... What kinda moron would fall f'r that," the blond spat, Oka slowly pulling himself up from the floor while he continued. "I w's in a mansion two seconds ago, you think I'd be tha' stupid!"
"Wellllll," muttered the ghost in his mind, quickly quieted by a rush of anger from his 'host'. "...Never mind, go on."
Oka merely wiped the side of his mouth, cracking his jaw and adjusting his glasses in an attempt to make himself more 'presentable' despite the fractured bone and bleeding lip. "Hn! Nice to see that things haven't changed," he muttered darkly, Katsuya merely scowling from across him.
Tch... Lawyers. "Keh... Trus' me... Given what I know abou' lawyers, tha's th' least I could do- Las' I checked," he continued bitterly, "Yer job was t' find th' truth... Not cover it up an' hope no one found out!"
The lawyer smirked, shaking his head as he gave an almost dismissive sigh. "Ahh yes, the 'truth'... What did you define it as during out last meeting again? 'The cold facts'?" Something like that. Oka chuckled as he was met with a blank scowl however, crossing his arms. "Hnhnhnhnhn... I suppose that to you that was too difficult a question really. After all, I am the only 'truth'," he continued, "Turning even black into white... Such is my power..."
"Tch... Shut up already an' fight," Katsuya roared, hangar light barely illuminating the rage in his face. "That's what we're here for ain't it? You're my opponent righ'?"
Oka's smirk grew in response, glasses gleaming in the dull light of the room. "Very true... But you know," he 'warned' with a grin, "If you lose, your body will become mine... You'll end up turning into what you hate," he chuckled, "And do you really want that..?"
The blond narrowed his eyes, gripping his staff as he took a fighting stance. "Doesn' matter," he growled, "'Cause I ain't gonna lose! An' t' get outta here, I gotta beat you anyways... So I don' have much 'f a choice, now do I," he asked, waiting for his opponent's reaction.
The lawyer shook his head, crossing his arms as the scene appeared to whirl. "True," he muttered, "Very true... In that case," he announced loudly, flying back through the air as his body began to shift, scents and smokes spiralling to form a field, "Welcome to the grand court, the gates to the realm of the great judge 'Enma'! I stand before you as the judge of your very soul," the 'demon' roared, "And as the judge of your worth in escape! So Jonouchi Katsuya," he ordered, hovering in the air as he came to rest on a skyborne 'stand' amid flame filled lands and mountains of knives. "Choose your cards!"
Tch! "Same t' you..!"
"Woah..." Little words could initially describe the place they stood, and the 'mind' they were in. Where was this, he wondered, looking around them with wide eyes. Where was this desert, with a shack of a stable house to one side and a series of distant cliffs in another. The stone arch that they'd passed through had crumbled into dust the moment he and Anzu had entered this place it had seemed, leaving them stranded on the sands of some great and enormous desert. There was no way to tell why they were in the desert... Or even how. But as they stood together in the sands 'Ren' himself seemed to look about curiously, head bobbing as he attempted to gain a better view of the area.
"Damn," the serpent muttered, shaking his head after glancing at the stars above. "We're right near Memphis... Probably not to far south from where it should be even," he muttered, eyes wide, "But all I can see is sand..."
Anzu blinked at this, holding the snake out on her wrist to speak with him easier. "Ah- You know where we are then," she asked, the serpent scoffing in response.
"Hey, I'm an Egyptian cobra, of course I do! ...Well... Mostly anyway," he added, looking back up at the sky to squint before turning. "Normally I can find my way around a desert easy by looking at the stars and such," he explained, Anzu momentarily ignoring the mention of a thought that likely wasn't hers, "But those cliffs over there don't look familiar at all, not to this area... And hell, don't even get me started on this stable house..." Well, the stable house was understandable, not to say anyone couldn't just pass over it walking on the hills around them. But the cliffs..? Other than the far distant ones then?
The others turned around to follow Ren's gaze, blinking as a triad of large and fairly conspicuous stone walls came into view. "Wh- Hah... They... They're huge," Yugi cried, the somewhat distant cliffs appearing almost the size of the stable house from the distance they were at.
"Yeaaa... And you know what," the snake said with a drawl, "I hear they're even bigger up close!"
"Ren," Anzu warned, Yugi merely tensing somewhat as his other growled.
"Whaaaaaaat?"
"This snake is beginning to annoy me considerably," the spirit muttered, likely grinding his teeth. "And you're sure you can't just kill it?" Not if they didn't want to upset Anzu...
Yugi sighed, rubbing his head before looking back toward the cliffs and ignored the sarcasm from the 'team pet'. "Well, they're our best sign of what to go after here I suppose," he decided, the other two nodding in agreement. "Are those sorts of cliffs normal here though," he asked, the snake blinking in response.
"Those ones? Not really," Ren said plainly, pulling as much of a frown as was possible. "Most 'cliffs' here are formed because of the nile, or some other body of water... You don't find rocks just sitting in the middle of nowhere," he went on, "They're either sand by now or ruins from some kind of temple. And even if those were Nile cliffs," he continued knowledgeably, Anzu looking fairly surprised about the fact that this was supposedly coming from a fragment of herself, "There'd be a lot more rock! ...Not to mention water," he added dryly, the others again shaking their heads.
Sarcasm and annoyances aside, it looked as though the snake had a point. "Like Yugi said then, it's as good a guess as anything," Anzu repeated, making her way forward as her friend followed behind in the drifting sand. "So whose memories do you think we're in any ways," she continued, looking around with a frown. "I mean... I don't think any of us have ever been to Egypt, and if anything," the woman continued, sliding down the side of a sand hill before moving on, "I'd have expected that from your mind Yugi... No offense or anything," she added, "It just seems more like 'your thing'."
Ahahaha... The boy shrugged, a smile on his face as he slid down to continue after his friend. "It's fine... Actually, it might be Otogi's," he mentioned, the footprints they left behind vanishing in the winds around them as sand whipped past their faces on a dull breeze. "Otogi's tou-san made him do a lot of research when it came to Ancient Egypt, and even something that came before Egypt," he added, the smile replacing itself with a slight frown. "I wouldn't be surprised if they actually travelled here."
"Ehhh... I don't know," Ren muttered, 'shrugging' from his again moved position atop Anzu's head. "This doesn't feel like dice-boy's head..."
"And you would know that how," Anzu asked, the others turning to look rather accusingly at the snake as it cringed.
"Uhhhhhh..."
A great rumbling sound broke through the air, cutting the serpent's excuse short as a voice followed behind it. "You who trespass on sacred lands," a booming voice demanded, the sound of crumbling rocks and stones piercing the sky. "STATE YOUR BUSINESS."
"You know," Ren coughed as he looked up, "I don't know about you, but I think that matters more."
"Wha-" The others frowned, before jumping as the words sounded once again.
"STATE. YOUR. BUSINESS," roared the great beast that seemingly came from no where, Yugi and Anzu both turning to follow Ren's gaze with wide eyes as they realized what the source was.
"The cliffs," Anzu whispered, stumbling back with a pale expression as shards of stone continued to fall from the bipedal and dinosaur-like dragon before her. "The cliffs have..."
"RUN," Yugi shouted, pulling Anzu out of the way as a massive and draconic 'foot' slammed down on where they'd stood moments before. "Just run!"
"Run? Oh come on, we can take these things," Ren shouted, the other two busying themselves with ducking under a blast of sand as the monster behind them gave another roar.
A crater formed just inches behind them as sand poured down in a shower of dust, the humans of the group covering their ear as another snarl came from behind. "Are you INSANE," Anzu screeched, looking to the snake as it hung off her arm. "That thing's the size of Tokyo Tower!"
At this the snake snorted, shaking his head. "Yea? And how big did I get during that last match?"
"The match-" The woman blinked, eyes widening with realization as she and Yugi took refuge behind a piece of some stone ruin hidden amid the rocks. "Ahh... Right! The duel!"
"Ah? Anzu," her friend asked, goggles momentarily pulled on in the monster-created sandstorm "What are you talking abo-"
"Hang on a second," she quickly said, closing her eyes as she pulled up her 'menu'. To a slight extent, he could see the spells on the list, the screen hovering before his friend's left eye as she muttered to herself. Level one spells including 'thunder-blizzard-fire-quake', level two 'lightning-hailstorm-fireball and fissure, level th-
"A-AH!" The boy coughed, eyes widening as he looked over the impressive series of spells. "You have a third tier of spells already..!"
"For one of them at least," the woman's familiar muttered. "I don't know how much experience we got from the fight... And if we don't have the upgrade for the other one..."
"Got it," his partner shouted, a wide and somewhat uncharacteristic grin growing on her face.
"Oh! Well, never mind then," the serpent said with a grin, his partner turning to face the dragon with an odd laugh as Yugi frowned. "Let's do this! Should be fun!"
"RIGHT!" Um, Anzu? "Let's GO!"
"Erm... A-ANZU," he called out, turning with wide eyes as he caught the look on his friend's face Without another word the woman had hopped onto the stone they hid behind, hand held toward the stone dragon with a near maddening stare, the grin across her face far betraying her usual emotions. "Anzu," he repeated, watching his friend charge toward the dragon. "Hey!"
"This- What is she doing," his other self muttered, "She's going to get herself-"
Light erupted from at the woman's feet, sending a gale up from its source to blow the robes in a constant and strong spiral. A seal appeared beneath her, and as Ren dropped and swirled around the ground he grew in size once more, scales taking an icy tone as the glyphs on his back became caverns in the ice. "HAHAHAHAHAHAH! NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL A FIGHT," the serpent roared, Yugi's blood draining as the laughter was mirrored by Ren's charge.
"AVALANCHE," the woman roared, a golden eye seeming to arise on both her brow and that of the snake's, her familiar charging the dragon as it grew beyond the cliff-sized monster's height.
"Gh- What-!" Ren struck immediately as the dragon froze in shock, his form increasing in size and power both as he opened his mouth to deliver his blow.
"Open WIDE," the snake cackled with a grin, the expression mirrored to a frightening extent by his partner as Yugi stared. "IT'S DINNER TIME!"
"Oh my..."
"Ha- HRAAAAAAAHHHH!" -crunch- Ren's jaws closed over the maw of the dragon, hoisting it off the ground before opening his mouth wider. Stone limbs pushed and pressed against the mouth but to no avail; succumbing to gravity the beast fell forward, squeezed tight by the serpent's muscles and in the end limply falling further inside it's maw. A lump formed in the serpent's throat as Ren closed his mouth, the form traveling slowly downward as it swallowed. Further... Further...
Ren lowered his head, the grin still on his face as the glow faded. "Man," he said with a grin, his partner appearing to shake herself from some unknown mental freeze. "That was great..!" Within seconds of saying this however the expression of elation followed the same fate as their opponent, the serpent shrinking back to his original size as he screamed and writhed upon the ground. "Gh- GRAAAAAHHH! FUCK! FUUUUUCK! AUGH!"
"R-Ren!" Anzu paled, running over to the snake with wide eyes as Yugi hurriedly followed toward him. "Ren, what's going-"
"AWWWWWW... I feel like I'm going to puke a mountain," he moaned, rolling on his back as his tail thumped the ground. "Sweet mother of all, just end it now!"
Yugi and Anzu both traded glances, the former briefly holding back his question on the 'eye of wdjat' as he looked back to the snake. "It must be because of the dragon you ate," he muttered, biting his lip. "There's probably something in the game that prevents that from being acceptable..."
"Ghhhhnn... Would have been good to know BEFORE," he hissed, fangs bared and hood wide as he thrashed. "Augggggh..! GET ME PEPTO-BISMOL DAMN IT!"
They were in a virtual world though... "Hahhh... Well look on the bright side," Anzu assured him, picking the snake up in her fingers as it continued to groan in pain, "That was all there was, and now we can just let this pass and-"
-BROUM.
...BROUM.
...BROUM!-
...Uhhh...
The trio turned back, swallowing as a pair of shadows arose over them with great sunken sockets eyes set on stone faces. "Gh... What was that you were saying again," Ren asked, grunting through his pain as he hissed "I didn't hear you over the sound of these two GIANT STONE DRAGONS CORNERING US!"
"REN... NOT now," Anzu snarled, glaring at the serpent before looking back to the two quadruped dragons.
"Hn! So you have defeated our sister... Do you feel you can defeat US," the first roared, rearing on its hind legs with a snarl as it revealed multiple razor rock teeth. "Or are you a coward," he spat, "As shown moments before?"
"C-Coward?"
"...Wait, sister?"
Needless to say, as he drew back with Anzu's hand in his own, he had a nasty feeling that his wasn't Otogi's head they were in.
Choosing cards for his deck had been relatively easy, in his opinion. The giant screen had appeared around him, shielding him from the view of the endless and dreary plain of shadows that made up 'hell', with each card more or less recognizable in an instant. Gone were the views of 'Naraka's mountains of knives, the somewhat close swamps of fire and stone, along with the distant plains of ice. Like the screen before, from the game start, it took only a tap to take each card. A spell here, a trap here... For the most part he didn't pick anything he didn't know from his real deck, keeping his eyes on the field as it slowly came back to view. Avoiding the mountains in the fight was probably a good idea he told himself, same with that cliff. Now... What other cards to take..? (He certainly wasn't taking Red Eyes...)
"Jonouchi," his 'friend' muttered, the blond pausing as he looked at the cards. "I'll keep out of the fight from this point on... But that card..." Ah?
'The Burning Soul – Ally Slaying Sword' "This one," he repeated, pointing toward it with a whisper. There was no answer, and for a moment the blond stared. It certainly looked handy, provided it was the one the ghost referred to; it would add the attack of a tributed monster to whatever it was equipped to after all, and given the kind of power that could bring... "Alrigh'," he decided, tapping that last card as the dome vanished around him in a flash. "I'm ready, 'Oka'! Bring it on- I'll punt y' righ' back t' hell if I have t'!"
"Hn! Appropriate words," his opponent rumbled, gavel in hand as he slammed it against the stand before him. A cold wind blew against the blond, Katsuya shivering as mire formed of decayed corpses clung to his feet. "I wonder though... Just how will you do this without being able to reach me?" Gh..! The blond tensed at the reminder, clutching his staff as he looked above at the storm cloud his opponent stood on. "I hold the advantage... And no matter what monster you choose to assimilate, that won't change! Now... Choose your deckmaster," he ordered, slamming the gavel on the stand with a fanged grin, "And prepare yourself!" Deckmaster...
Right, he had to pick a monster..! Again the screen appeared before him, various monsters hovering before his eyes. Alligator Sword. Panther Warrior, Rocket Warrior... All the monster's he'd fought with over the months since he'd taken up the game. And in the middle of the list...
"Ah... Flame Swordsman," he muttered, blinking somewhat as he passed the card. This guy... He'd been in his deck from the very start, hahaha... Heck, by this point he probably had one of the few 'legal 'non-fusion' ones, seeing how most people had to fuse it to create the monster now. Well... Seeing how he'd fought by his side that long, it was his turn to return the favor he decided, tapping the card with a slight nod. As the screen flashed out of existence the effects arose instantaneously. A rush of heat filled his body, breath growing hot as his eyes glowed gold. Fire... His cloak sprung into flames, flickering with his very heartbeat as his hair as well seemed to shine, and ashes fell from the embers of his clothing. Fire... He was fire, he was the swordsman... Hurriedly the blond contained himself, giving off another smoked breath of air before turning upward. Alright... "I've picked my deckmaster," he shouted, instantly aware of the abilities that came with his position. "Now lets do this!"
Again the Judgeman nodded, gavel's pound echoing through the air. "Very well! Start the fight; I summon to my aid the Hysteric Angel in attack mode," he announced, the business dressed woman shimmering into existence as she soared forward on the air. Despite the lack of weapons it was evident that the angel could fight; gripping a clipboard in hand she adjusted the glasses on her face, and with a maddening laugh pointed a finger forward, evidently choosing to attack out of turn by means of the 'battle' rather than the duel.
"AERO," the business woman screeched, Katsuya's eyes widening. Aer-
"Gh!" The blond rolled to the side as the blast of wind came, gritting his teeth and watching as the attack blew filth and grime into the air. "Tch... Gonna play like tha' are y'," he shouted, cards appearing in his mind as he regained his footing. Lousy bitch... He'd almost run into the damn mountains! Alright... Time to see how his ability fared! "Tha' case, I summon Gearfried th' Iron Knight! An' while I'm doin' that," he continued, the monster in question appearing from the sand rather than the standard tablet at his side, "I activate my ability; I take five hundr'd of my deckmaster's attack power... An' my own," he added with narrowed eyes, "T' give it t' Gearfried!" As Gearfried completed forming from the remains on the ground the etchings of his armor seemed to glow. A wave of weakness passed over him, and just ahead the knight clacked one of the blades from his arms to take aim at the woman above. "Now," he roared, briefly stumbling forward on his staff as the iron knight at his side clenched his blade-covered fists, "ATTACK!"
Had this been real, he'd have heard the knight grunt, along with the phrase 'with pleasure'. He'd have bit his lip as a metal 'spear' gouged the Hysteric Angel's stomach, spilling bile and blood both to the ground. However, this was not reality he told himself, and though it was oddly bizarre to see the monsters acting as mere programs, it was at least proof of the fact that this was fake. As the blade cut through Hysteric Angel in fact, it was even a relief. For once the usual spray of blood was minimized, and the screams mere cries of shock as the feathers scattered into pixels rather than falling to the ground in a sticky mess. "Hn! So you already know how to utilize your deckmaster ability," his opponent muttered with a snort, Katsuya merely looking up with narrowed eyes from the side of his knight. Hn! Of course he did... Did he seem so stupid? "I'll set a monster face down," the demonic lawyer/judge added shortly, crossing his arms as a glassy panel appeared before him before fading out of sight. "And with that, my turn is over..."
Defense eh... The blond briefly closed his eyes as a new card appeared in the back of his mind, menu already scrolling as he made his decision for the next 'move'. He still had 1300 'attack points' left... In that case, it would be best to play it safe, at least until he had something that could get him to that cloud. "I summon th' Little Winguard," he decided, gesturing to the side as the monster appeared. Rising from the mulch at the side it was again 'different' from the one he knew, wrong in every manner of action. The 'real' Winguard acted like some child soldier, constantly worrying about what the monsters of the deck thought of him or whether or not he would be useful. This one merely stood, ready for battle with unblinking eyes as it peered toward their opponent.
But hey; he could 'fly' to some extent, right? The monster seemed to nod with that mental question, Katsuya looking back to his opponent. Alright... It wasn't like he could use this thing to fly himself up, but in that case...
"I'm activatin' my effect again," he announced, rapping the bottom of his staff against the cold and barren swamp ground, managing to create a loud 'clack' despite there being nothing but mush at their feet. "I give three hundr'd attack points t' th' Winguard," he continued as the weakness and dizziness struck him, "An' after tha', he attacks your monster!"
The winguard acted immediately as his master leaned on his staff, jumping forward with considerable strength before bringing the sword down through the shimmering panel before them. Spiderwebbing cracks appeared in the air... Until shards blasted across the air, the faded after image of a cherub-like angel following within seconds. "Hng! Skelengel's effect activates," Oka responded, unphased by the attack. "Allowing me to draw one card..."
Hn! "Well, tha's jus' great," the blond called up in response, "But 's that card gonna help wi' this? Gearfried attacks d'rectly," he roared, his knight charging forward to toss one of the two detachable blades from his arms toward the demon. "Le's see y' not get hit from yer throne in th' sky!"
The blade did not appear to hit the Judge before him despite these words. If anything, it embedded itself into the wooden stand instead, driving itself deep into the front to completely destroy the wooden table before the target. With a sudden scream however Oka dropped his gavel, grabbing his leg in pain as the wood before him collapsed and burned away to reveal evidence of a strike. Blood was flowing freely from the wound, spurting with every beat of his heart, even more so after he tore the blade out and threw it to the side. "Gh... Go right ahead," he spat, fanged teeth scratching his skin as solid white eyes leered down at him. "It won't matter in the end... I set the Holy Elf in defense mode," the demon continued, pointing his hand forward with a snarl. "And lastly, a card face down." Ohhhh...
He was so 'scared'... Katsuya gave a long and sarcastic whistle, shaking his head as the elf in question appeared cross-legged at the demon judge's side. "Yeaaaa... A trap, scary! Yer jus' runnin' an' hidin'," he shouted, pointing up toward the demon's cloud with narrowed eyes as his opponent snarled at the taunts. "Try fightin' like a man instead 'f hidin' b'hind tha' stupid 'desk' 'f yours!" Trap card... It could be dangerous, or it could not, but there was obviously only one thing to do! Press forward... Fight! "I'm summonin' th' Rocket Warrior," he called out, again slamming the bottom of his staff on the crackling and rotted ground as a pillar of sand arose to form his third monster. "An' t' start off my move, Gearfried attacks- too bad y' had t' stay up there th' entire match," the blond shouted with a smirk, brushing a bit of hair from his eyes as his new warrior joined in the others silent stare toward the opponent. "Maybe you'd 've gone out better!"
"Hn... That's what you think," Oka snorted, now standing atop the empty cloud as a clap of thunder came through the air. Storm clouds moved in on the sky, further sending the field into darkness despite the occasional illumination from the lightning. "I activate my own ability," he roared, clawed hands outstretched as the water-less storm continued to rage, "DEATH SENTENCE! All of your monsters," he continued at a roar, "Excluding your own self, are removed from the field... And for each one destroyed," the man shouted, Katsuya mentally berating himself for forgetting that both sides had abilities such as this, "You lose 500 points of damage!" Five hundred-
An explosion threw him back against the mountains at the side, blood filling his lungs and throat as he gave an agonized cough. "G-GHAAAAHH! GHK!" Sand tore at his form as his monsters burst into dust, the grit scratching at his skin and dampening the flames of his cloak. Dirt and grime coated his throat, and as he managed to force himself off the bladed mountains he found himself collapsing on his staff for support. "Ghhhaaaaaahh... Ahhhh... Ghk... Hnggh... Y-You..." He took a weak step forward, narrowing his eyes as the storm battered his opponent as well. Blood coated his back, covered by the flames of his cloak... It ran down the sides of his mouth, sustained only by his 'life points'. "You bastard..."
"Now now... Don't look so distraught..." Distraught? He'd show him distraught damn it... "...That cost me 1000 life points," Oka chuckled, demonic grin made even more fearsome by the storm around him as his opponent leered. "You can figure out how much damage that is, can't you..?" How much...
It was a whole damn lot, that was for sure! That meant Oka only had 200 life points left... And with that in mind... The blond closed his eyes, heaving another splatter of blood to the ground before forcing himself to his feet. His next card was appearing in the back of his mind just now- 'Bottomless Trap Hole', perfect for anything that Oka used his Holy Elf to bring to the field. And seeing how there were no other monsters in his hand, it was all he had. It was this or nothing... "Hahh... I set a card face down, an' end my turn," he rasped, hands clutching the staff tightly as he attempted to regain his strength. "Your move!"
For the past number of minutes, Anzu and Yugi had spent a lot of time together. And he really enjoyed that, he really did! Hell, he would have given anything to hold Anzu's hand like this. It was just... Really a pity that they couldn't spend it walking together rather than running for their lives. Not to mention the fact was that if it hadn't been for the computer's mysterious ability to increase their stamina they would have long since become 'mountain food', and any background and hormonal driven thoughts of romance would have been even more squashed than before.
In fact, he wasn't even sure why those were coming to mind, and- The boy blushed as Anzu pulled him to a quicker pace, hand gripped tightly in hers. Right. That was why.
As it was, the carvings on the dragon's legs, along with their manner of speech said quite clearly that it wasn't Otogi's mind they stood in now. In fact, he realized, ducking behind another cliff with ragged breaths, he was having troubles convincing the others of just whose mind it was... And when he shouted it over the snarls and growls from the monsters, the group managing to find the cliff lined shores of the nile for cover, it took a bit before they answered. "Alright," Anzu said with a gasp of air, having spent another fair chunk of 'magic' power firing 'Blizzard' attacks at the monsters to gain enough time to hide. "Tell me again whose head you think this is?"
"Jonouchi-kun's," Yugi said seriously, gaining an odd look from Ren as well as his 'master' in response to the blunt response. "I... I know it's strange," he continued, rubbing his neck as a similar feeling of awkwardness came from his other half, "But it's definitely his! The dragons have his sense of honor... And the desert... Ah..." He cut himself short, turning away with a small frown. That was right... Outside what Jonouchi had trusted him with, he showed no interest in Egypt, so he couldn't well say anything... Although...
Ren seemed to narrow his eyes, tongue flickering in and out with annoyance before he shook himself. "I'd say 'aaaaand', but we don't exactly have time," he hissed, slithering over Anzu's arms to look off to the side. The thundering continued through the air, shaking the ground as the snake winced. "Heck, I'm surprised we can still talk."
"RAAAAAAOOOO!"
The dragons fearsome roar rumbled over head, Anzu's eyes widening as she peered over the rock wall at the source. "Gh- Crap!" The mage of the group stood, immediately pointing her staff forward with a swallow. "HAIL STORM," she cried, the stone of the staff dying blue. Pellets of ice comparable in size to boulders erupted from the tip of the staff, pounding into their attackers in an instant as the beasts snarled in displeasure. "Hurry," she cried, Ren curling about her wrist as the woman grabbed Yugi's hand to pull him away. "That won't last long, and I can only do this so many times!" Gh... That was right, if they didn't think of something soon they wouldn't last much longer...
Another cliff appeared ahead, the waters of the nile coming closer and closer as they ducked behind and under the next overhang. "We need a plan," he muttered with a swallow, looking back at the stone dragons as they continued their search with faint growls. "The third-tier spell won't work if what Ren-kun said is any sign, and your second tier ones are having no effect..."
"Hey," Ren muttered, still grumbling about the stomach pains, "Sorry for having limits..."
"We're not blaming you," Anzu told the snake.
"A-huh..."
"Ah- Really! We're not," Yugi shouted hurriedly, hands up in slight defense as the snake scowled. "I didn't mean anything like that! I'm just saying we need a plan..!"
"Well... If you think of something, let me know alright," Anzu said weakly, giving the boy a worried smile as she peered back over the cliff's edge again. "Because unless you can tell me a way to take down a mountain, I'm stuck..."
"Hah... Well, in our defense," her partner laughed, managing to coil around a few strands of hair, "I'm pretty sure most people in this situation would be just as stuck. Heck, since when do mountains even move like that," he continued, shaking his head as Anzu shrugged. That was a good point, Yugi thought to himself, there was probably not a single monster in existence that was... That...
Big.
Hold on now...
"Ah..." The boy's eyes slowly widened, and as he stood the others frowned. "I... I think I have an idea," he told them, a grin coming over him as he looked around the cliff, staring at the moving dragons. "There's a game I played before... 'Wander and the Colossus," he continued, the grin widening as he recalled the game. "As the main character the goal is to defeat the sixteen colossi, some of which are almost 250 meters long! Normally," he admitted with a nervous cought, "I wouldn't have compared it to this but..." He paused, pulling his boomerang from his back as he swallowed. "The main character has only a sword to kill the monsters; and even then, he can't wield it properly... The strategy to take them down involved finding and reaching their 'weak points', climbing up the monsters to do so," he explained. "So... If we can get on the backs of these things," Yugi went on, trailing off as the others stared. "Well..."
"Then... We might actually stand a chance," Anzu whispered, before biting her lip. "But Yugi... I don't have anything to store this staff in," she muttered. "Moreover," the woman continued with a gesture, "These robes aren't exactly roomy enough to climb in..."
Ah... That was true but- "Well, there's still a matter of getting close enough to climb up anyways," his other self muttered, the boy blinking in response. That was...
He swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck as an idea formed. Ohhh... This wasn't going to come out easy... "Erm... Anzu," he asked, his friend turning from where she'd been keeping an eye out for the enormous beasts. "About that... I actually had an idea and-"
The snake evidently caught the idea much quicker than his partner, immediately flaring his hood as the boy trailed off awkwardly. "Heyyyy... Hey, you better not be about to say what I think you are," he spat. "I'm not going for this!
Erm... Yes. Yes well, he probably was if Anzu agreed, but that was besides the point. "Well... I need to climb up the monster's back," he explained, still holding the boomerang in one of his hands. "And while I didn't want to ask you of this," the boy continued with a cough, "It would probably be better than waiting for one of these things to attack..."
Anzu stared, blinking a few times as she ran the words through her head. "You... You want me to be a distraction," she asked incredulously, her friend wincing in response.
"Eh... W-Well," he choked, stepping back as he flushed, "I just thought..."
The woman nodded, standing up and giving her staff a twirl as her friend blinked. "Alright!" ...Alright? He stared, watching as his friend seemed to flip her mood around completely before preparing to hop the cliff. "Make sure you're quick though," she warned, the snake on her wrist seemingly collapsing in disdain and grief both. "I only have enough magic for five attacks," she continued, "And after that there's no telling what will happen!"
Five attacks... Alright. "Got it!" The boy sheathed his weapon again, flushing somewhat as he pulled up the resolve to go through with his plan. "Let's go..!"
"Right... HAIL STORM," Anzu roared as she hopped over the small rock wall, the pair of dragons easily spotting her black robes among the sand. "Come and get me," she shouted with slight unease, "You sorry excuse for mountains!"
The dragons appeared to turn to each other at this, Ren shaking his head with a sigh. "Weak," her partner muttered, "Weak..."
"NOT NOW," the woman spat, turning and bolting as the insult proved effective enough to gain their full attention. With the monsters eagerly chasing after Anzu their attentions were drawn away completely from Yugi, the boy hopping out of the hiding place and staring at the field through his goggles.
Alright then... The boy hurriedly broke into a sprint, running against the sanded ground as dust flew out behind him and behind the monster's both. The first dragon's tail was dragging through the sand, leaving behind it a miniature canyon that he now struggled to keep from falling into. At the back of the monster's neck however, he could see it, shimmering slightly amid the monster's manufactured storm. A crack in the armor, a small niche he could use... "You won't be able to throw the boomerang into that spot," his other self muttered, Yugi nodding as he picked up speed to chase down the beast. "We're going to have to run to it; regardless of its awareness!"
Got it! The boy pushed off from a nearby stone ruin, grabbing at the rocky hide of the beast as it gave a shocked roar in response. "Gh!" The tail he clung to swung violently as he held on, teeth grinding as he heard a shout-
"HAILSTORM," he could hear her cry, a frosted gale blasting by the stones as the dragon was momentarily distracted. This was his chance. A third 'Hail Storm' was released as the second wore off, Yugi stumbling and charging up the enormous creature's back. A fourth one was formed, and he passed the hips stumbling toward wings... A fifth, and he'd made it to the dragon's neck... Ice filled the ground only to melt almost immediately, and as he reached the niche in the stone the dragon turned its attentions back to the boy to rear on its legs and knock his footing out violently.
"GRAAAOOO... RAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHH!"
"Gnh..! Hah... GHAA!" Yugi's first hand was torn from its grip, dangling almost limply as he attempted to grab his boomerang with the arm. Come on, he told himself, the third dragon still chasing after Anzu as she screamed. He needed to get it into this slot, come on... Fingers wrapped around the handle of the blade, and with a triumphant shout he pulled it free before driving it through the crack in the stone. "HAH! HRAAAAAHH!"
"Ghn-" The monster stumbled, tripping somewhat as Yugi tore the blade free from it's spine. "Rooooo... Roaaaaaaaaooooo..." Please... Please let that have worked, ple-
"HAAAAAHHH!" Sand blew in a violent wave from the beast as it collapsed, Yugi holding on for his life as the monster's corpse took a fully stone form. Sliding down the side of the stone it was easy to reach the ground safely... But as he looked forward to the final dragon he found himself paling, looking to where it had finally cornered its target. Anzu was directly below it's head, trapped by stone ruins... The dragon's maw was hanging open, now charging a blast of sand and dust, concentrated to a paint-peeling attack that would easily reduce the woman into mere ashes. That attack...
"No," he shouted, running forward with wide eyes as panic rose. "No... NO!" He couldn't-
"NO! ANZU," the other Yugi cried, reactions merging with his lighter half as he screamed. "ANZU! ANZU!" A switch... The other Yugi didn't bother to wonder why it had worked this time, continuing to charge toward the dragon as it loomed above his friend. "ANZU!"
At that moment a remarkable thing happened, to say the least. The dragon could have fired that attack. It could have destroyed Anzu and moved on to him, and yet it instead closed its great mouth and turned to look toward the boy approaching it. It turned its tail, folded its wings back and stared in what appeared to be both shock and awe. For a brief moment, Yugi found himself frozen, fierce glare widening into a look of fear rather than the usual shine of determination it held. The dragon was huge after all... And it radiated with power, the land itself seeming to react to its will. And yet, as if to complicate things further the dragon lowered itself before the boy, laying its head on its forelegs as it closed its eyes...
And bowed. "Young King of the Black Lands," the dragon rumbled, rising to stand on its haunches as Yugi slowly came to Anzu's side in shock. "I have waited long to see your face," it muttered loudly, "But alas, it is not yet time for us to meet..." What... The dragon... This thing of such power had just...
"And you said that this was Jonouchi's head, right," Anzu asked yet again, Yugi merely nodding slowly as he stared up at the monster. Yes... Yes he had...
And for some reason, this only cemented that fact, despite things making no sense at all. "Ohhhh geeze," Ren was whispering, shrinking back against his partner's neck with a swallow. "Ohhhh hell, I know what this is and this is not... Ohhhh..."
"What... What is it then," Anzu hissed to the serpent, not taking her eyes from the dragon, "What-"
"We," the dragon announced, "Are those of the long forgotten past, those whose final remains are but a strained bloodline from our descendants... We are the guardians of Time, of Light, and of Peace," the beast continued, those below staring up in awe. "But as to our full identities it is not yet time to say, much as our appearance to the one who bears OUR blood is not yet to come..."
Their... Their blood..? "What does he mean by that," the lighter Yugi asked, his darker side shaking his head in response. "What..."
"Who," Yugi called out, swallowing a slight wave of unease. "Whose blood are you talking about!"
The monster before them shook his head, great wings spread wide to block out the sun. "Do not fear... All will be revealed in time young ones," the dragon rumbled, cliffs and stones seeming to arise to reform the initial pair that had been defeated moments before. "But for now," it continued calmly, "We will grant you passage to our guardian's present location, provided you fulfil our request."
"Request," Anzu repeated, answered by the dragon that had just moments ago been swallowed by her familiar. "What do you mean..?"
"As my brother has told you," the first dragon began, "It is not yet time for our presence to be known. We are mere shades of our former selves," 'she' continued, "Carried through time by the bloods of those we gave rise to. Our true spirits lie elsewhere," it explained, tone tinged with a tone of sorrow. "And they are hidden in the realms far beyond your own."
"For that reason, we must ask that you hold your tongues in regards to our beings," the second asked, bowing its head as it came to all fours before the three. "That you allow more time for people to 'heal' before old wounds are re-opened."
"Old wounds," Yugi questioned, narrowing his eyes. "But what to you mean, 'old wounds'!"
The dragons merely crouched down alongside each other, forming a ring of cliffs as the one in the center opened a clawed fist to reveal a doorway. "You will know when the time comes," they whispered, growing motionless as a desert breeze passed by, the cracking and rumbling of stone slowly coming to a stop. "Until then, we wish you luck, 'til next we meet..."
And as the breeze blew again the desert was filled with silence, leaving Yugi and Anzu both to turn to each other as they considered the message they'd been given. 'Ancient beings'... 'Ancient blood' even he noted in his mind, slowly turning back to the cave in front of them. It was strange... So horribly strange, and looking at the cave now he realized that the carvings were not even Egyptian in origin. It was some other language, completely foreign to him.
But as they walked into the tunnel, it seemed that all three of them agreed on one thing; this secret would be safe with them, no matter what...
Even if, past the blinding light that graced them at the end of the spiralling stair case of the cavern, Jonouchi stood beyond the door they passed just now. "A-Ah..!" And conveniently enough...
He did. "Jonouchi," Yugi shouted, running forward as they entered the smog covered, blackened haze. He coughed somewhat, freezing in place as he took in the scenery. Mountains made of sharpened knives loomed around and behind them. Beyond the edge of the cliff they stood at lay fields of boiling oil and water, filled with falling stones. And even further lay a barren wasteland of blue ice, above all of which a thick series of poisonous looking storm clouds hovered. "Gh... Jonouchi," Yugi found himself asking, bringing a hand to his face as he removed his goggles. "Where is this..?"
Jonouchi appeared to only just notice the three really... And as he followed his friend's gaze to the others, it seemed that they were having similar reactions as opposed to the blond's apparent indifference in the matter. "Gh... Shit..! It smells worse than a crypt," Ren wheezed, his partner covering her nose with her robes. The serpent's tongue instantly stopped flickering sitting rather prominently between his teeth as he continued to grumble. "I thwar tu gawd," he snarled, lisping almost amusingly as the others plugged their noses, "I'm noth bwinging thith tongue back in mah mouwf!"
"You'd better hold it then, because that lisp is already grating my nerves," Anzu could be heard muttering, waving a hand in her face as she came forward. "Gh... God, it's worse than a sewage drain..."
Jonouchi gave the others a sympathetic smile, straightening himself from his formerly weakened and hunched position. If they looked close it looked almost as though he'd managed to shave his back off... In fact, Ren himself was holding his tongue at the sight, only shaking himself off as the blond turned to face them. "Yea... Hahaha! Welcome t' 'hell'," he laughed, scratching his head. "An' I really do mean 'hell'," he added seriously, coughing as the sound of a gavel came from above this.
"Hn! What is this," the judge snarled, having somehow created the sound without a single thing in hand. The others turned, Jonouchi rolling his eyes as the man continued to complain. "What are you two doing here..? This area is supposed to be impenetrable..!"
"Yea well it looks like it ain't, y' creep!" The blond again rolled his eyes, adjusting the grip on his staff with a scowl. "Sheesh... You see this guy here," he snorted, turning back to the others as he jammed a thumb in the man's direction. "Firs' he spends 's livin' life tryin' t' boot me out an now he's tryin' t' kill me! Th' nerve righ'?"
"J-Jonouchi," Anzu laughed, rubbing her head. "Is this really the time for..."
Yugi as well seemed to stare at the blond awkwardly for a moment, eventually clearing his throat and finding something else to say. "Well... It's good to see you're alright..."
"I'll say," He shouted back with a grin, free hand giving the group a beaming thumbs up from the flaming cloak. "'F course I am! You think I'm gonna let somethin' like this take me down," he continued, adjusting the staff in his hands. "Jus' watch," Jonouchi muttered, renewing a battler's stance as smog furled around his smoking cloak, "I'm abou' t' slaughter this guy!"
"Tch! Believe what you like," his opponent called from above, "But your friends are going to have no part in it! TO THE SIDE WITH THEM," he roared, great and monstrous arms grasping the pair from behind, "And be sure they can watch as their friend tastes defeat!"
"Gh- What the," Yugi shouted, large and blue tinged arms snatching him below the neck as he was pulled off the ground.
"H-Hey," Anzu shouted, pulling at the demonic creature who now held her by the throat, "Let me go! Let me- Ah... Ahhh..."
The face of the monster looked down as the woman cut off, Yugi himself looking up at his captor with a swallow as well. Demons were one thing- perhaps they were even expected. But the faces of the one's holding them now were that of a horse and an ox, with large tusks and dead eyes. True, they were masks; but even looking at the wooden faces one could tell that the images beneath them would be worse... And as it was, the masks were more than enough to instil fear in him as his lighter half's mind connected the dots. "N-Niu-Tou and Ma Mian... Ox-Head and Horse-Face! Guardians to the gates of hell!"
"G-Ghh... Heww gwadianth! Wha tha heww ith wong with tha Athian mytholowogy thythem," Ren hissed, half of his body quite firmly crushed in Niu-Tou's grasp as he continued with his lisping attempts at avoiding the realm's scent. "Thewiouthly!"
Ahead of them on the field their friend turned, eyes wide as he turned to look back to his opponent. "O-Oi... OKA! LET 'M GO," Jonouchi roared, the others merely gritting their teeth at the strain being put on their arms. "C'mon, they don' have anythin' t' do wi' this match!"
"Hn! Regardless of what they have to do with anything, you'd better win," his opponent cackled, sounding almost goat like as he did so. "Because otherwise you'll find they have everything to do with what happens afterward!" The demons tightened their grip with these words, Yugi wheezing as his air was mostly cut off. Oka continued to chuckle at the sight, his opponent's nails digging into his plams as he looked back upward in rage. "Hehehehehe... It's still my turn... Prepare to face true hell," he anounced, the holy elf at his side bowing her head in agreement. "I summon 'Curtain of the Dark Ones'," Oka began as the furling cloak blew forward in the wind, "And then, using Polymerization, fuse it with my Elf... Behold," the judge shouted, gesturing forward as his opponent swallowed. As the swirling clouds shrouded the monsters from view, lowering to the ground before him to reveal a menacing masked grin and a scythe-like axe... "The chaos wizard, 'Kamion'!"
"Gh..." He didn't know what it was that Jonouchi had at his defense with no monsters on the field really...
But given the look on his face now, it was safe to say they were in trouble. All of them.
When Oka had said 'polymerization', he'd gotten hopeful. Fusion monsters were more often than not powerful after all, which would mean matching the minimum power needed to fall into his trap. Heck, '1500' wasn't even that high compared to a lot of monsters now...
However, when Kamion came to the field, spinning a wicked looking 'axe' in his hands whilst staring through a smiling psycho's mask, the blond had to pale. A monster needed at least 1500 points to fall for his trap.
Kamion only had 1300. And with the judge far up in the air and out of reach, it was safe to say he'd be going through this guy before anything happened... At all. Provided he could get past the damn axe in the wizard's two hands. "In addition to summoning this monster," his opponent was shouting, either ignoring or relishing in the blond's unease, "I play the spell 'Sinister Justice', while setting yet another card face down... Following that," he roared as the spell took effect, "I attack directly! GO, KAMION!"
The only sound in response was the 'swoosh' of the air as the blade swiped against emptiness, Katsuya hurriedly dodging the strikes as the former elf charged. "H-Hah! Ah- Gh-!" Jump, duck, swerve, duck, the blade cut fragments of hair and fabric both as he barely avoided each hit, before finally with a fifth strike he found himself blocking the blade against his staff. With wood however the blade was barely held at bay, slowly being pushed back with a wince. "Gh.. Like... Hell... Yer beatin'... Me..!"
"Jonouchi," he could hear someone shout, before being thrown roughly back by the force of the blade he blocked. "JONOUCHI," Anzu screamed, "WATCH FOR THE-"
"Gh- GRHAAAAACH!" As with before a dozen or more knives dug into his back, blood dripping and spurting from his mouth as ordinarily fatal wounds reaped another portion of his lifepoints. The blond stumbled forward as he pulled off the knives, falling against his staff with pained coughs as his back burned and scarred the wounds sustained. "Gh... Fucking rat... You..."
"Jonouchi," the 'other' Yugi shouted from the side, Katsuya clutching the bleeding wound he'd sustained as he looked to the boy. Before, he'd been wondering why the other Yugi was there... Now... Well, it probably wasn't that important right now. "That card adds 800 lifepoints to its owner during a successful attack," he called out, blood draining from the blond's face as he pulled himself to his feet. "Be careful!" 800...
The lawyer had 1000 points again..! "Oh you're kiddin' me," he hissed, before ducking under another strike from the Kamion wizard as it cackled. This guy was getting healed up for this? "D-Damn it..!" He needed 'help'! A card appeared in his mind, before escaping it through a pile of rising dust on the ground. "Summon th' Panther Warrior an' set a card," he roared, rolling to the side as the Wizard's sights moved to his now summoned monster.
Please work please work please work he chanted in his head, the black leopard standing tall before him with his blade ready. Please please pleaaaaaase... "I suppose it's my turn then," Oka was muttering, his opponent merely wincing as he attempted to get over his wounds. "Then for my move, I'll play this; Leading Question," the demon announced, the Wizard's curved and cruel blade appearing to glow as it approached both the panther and Katsuya both. "Increasing all level 4 or lower fusion monster's power by 800 during the battle phase!" W- Was he serious! "NOW ATTACK!"
But that meant he couldn't use his trap..! "Aggggghhhh... Shit! Act'vate trap," he shouted, pointing his staff forward as a smoked, red imp appeared from the top. "Skull Dice!"
The imp soared forward the monsters before him clashing blades in a slightly one-sided brawl as he did so. "Hehehehehe!" With a malevolent chuckle the imp threw his die, both battling monsters ahead freezing as their attacks were interrupted. "Dice Roll," it called, the block falling between them. And with luck...
The die clattered to the ground, Katsuya grinning as the result appeared in his mind. "A-AH! Six," he called with a grin, only to pale as the number on his 'screen' plummeted. Now hang on, what..? The die ahead spun viciously on itself, clattering to an abrupt stop as the imp it came with vanished into a pile of ash. No... No no no... "W... ONE," he roared, before ducking a spray of blood as his Panther was cut in two. The two halves scattered into pixels and dust both, and as the Kamion wizard charged he found himself rolling out from under anther strike. 1800 now... "FUCK!"
"Hey, Dyonouthi," a lisping voice snarled from the side, "Yu going thoo do thomthing uthfull!" That voice... Who...
Katsuya turned, gritting his teeth as his eyes met with a small gold snake. Oh- so that was who it was. "Gh- Shut up," he responded, before fleeing another strike. "Do I even know you?"
"Probably not," came Anzu's own ragged and strained response, whatever words that followed drowned out by clashing metal as Katsuya ducked under yet another strike. A small break was earned as the monster's blade became embedded into the dagger ridden mountains at the side, the blond running as far from it as possible with grit teeth. Hah... Hah... He turned toward the others, swallowing as the two continued speaking.
"Gh... Jonouchi," Yugi shouted, "I hate to say this, but he's right... You need to do something!"
"And fast," Anzu screamed, the blond in question gritting his teeth.
"Hnnnngg... I'm thinkin' damn it..!" He was thinking but there wasn't much coming into view right now..!
"Hehehehehehehe..." Oka's bleating laughs echoed through the air, Katsuya leering up at the demon's 'cloud cover' as a growl developed in his throat. "Is something wrong," the demon sneered, tusked grin in place as Katsuya shook. "Perhaps you shouldn't have abused your ability so much... Maybe then you'd have been spared all of this," he laughed, receiving aggravated growls in response.
Tch... "Bastard..!" It was his turn again. He could at least take solace in that while his opponent's pawn was stuck. A card appeared in the back of his mind for the draw, the blond swallowing nervously as it appeared on the screen as well. 'Graceful Dice'... So he had a second shot at this then, he told himself. He could power up a monster and keep moving. "I summon th' Swordsman 'f Landstar," he announced, pointing his staff forward as the Kamion Wizard freed his weapon to turn toward them. The rotted mush rose and took form, the alien-like warrior spinning his blade with a shout as he blocked a sudden strike from the Wizard. "An' then, I play th' spell 'Graceful Dice'!" Now... Before Kamion overpowered Landstar, and before Landstar was sacrificed... "ROLL TH' DIE," he shouted, the tiny angel that appeared doing so with a nod. The angel soared upward and threw the die... The die spun, tumbled through the air and bounced off the ground before clattering to a stop. And for just a moment, a grin appeared on his face.
But once again, he was wrong. The die spun once more, as though possessed by some other thing. It clattered to the ground a second time before coming to a stop, and with wide eyes Katsuya's face plummeted in horror. One... Another one...
"He lost again," Anzu shouted from the side, eyes wide. "He..."
"Twice... Twice in a row," Yugi muttered, his friend merely standing in terror as the Kaimon wizard approached.
"How... How th' HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE," he roared, only for his question to be drowned out by the judge's cries from above.
"DEATH SENTENCE," the demon roared, sacrificing 1000 of his 1800 to repeat his tactic of clearing the field.
Crap. "GHAAAAAAH!" The wave of dust that had formed his newly created monster blasted Katsuya hard in the stomach as the beast exploded, sending him skidding on his back to the edge of the barren cliffs of the underworld as he choked. Weak hands grasped at the clifftop and staff both as he skidded off the side, choking as he attempted to pull himself upward. "G-...Ghnng..." Sand stuck to his robes where the blood had stained them. And inside the wound the 'sand', which looking now appeared to be the dust of rotted remains, was sending sharp, stinging pains through his body. But it was still his turn... It was still his turn... And although Kamion was walking toward him in no hurry, he at least had a slight defense at his side... "Gnhg... I set two cards," he rasped, the shimmering 'glass' almost creating a shield before him as he clambered onto the field again. "An' I end my turn..." His last chance... This was his last gamble, his last... His last chance
The cloud above turned somewhat, Oka smirking wickedly from his 'throne' of smoke and fog. "So then it's my turn," he laughed, a cloud of smoke misting in his hands as he held up a card toward the blond. Ehh... That card was... "You see this," he called down, his opponent looking up weakly with narrowed eyes. Ah... Pot of Greed. That card... "You want this card, don't you," the demon taunted, receiving no further response from the blond as Katsuya stared. "Hnhnhnhn... I play 'Pot of Greed'," he called out, the card evaporating into mist as its results remained hidden completely. "Pity you couldn't use it yourself, with no cards in your hand," the lawyer continue to taunt, chuckling darkly. "I imagine it would have helped..." Hn!
"Not as much as your move jus' helped me," he muttered, smirking as the judge stared in confusion. The smirk grew, and as Katsuya held his hand out the first of his glassy 'face down cards' shimmered into reality. "Act'vate my trap, 'Gamble'," he announced, narrowing his eyes. "You got six cards in yer hand now righ'? Well lets even the score! I'm gonna flip a coin," the blond continued, snatching at the air as one such coin appeared before him, "An 'f I call it right, I draw five cards!" And if he got it wrong...
He'd rather not think about that, given how much each move counted. Oka merely continued to stare from above however, Katsuya gripping the oddly carved bit of gold in his fingers tightly. Here went nothing... One side was engraved with a circular design, the other with the head of an eagle. 'Goddess of Luck'...
Don't fail him now! The coin was tossed high into the air as it flipped side over side, the blond snatching it once more from the air as he closed his eyes. "Alrigh'," he whispered, before slapping it over on his palm with a swall. "I'm callin' HEADS!" With those words he opened his eyes again, only to feel his blood run cold as the flames on his cloak blew down to an ashen state. "Oh hell..."
The circle side. He could have sworn he'd felt the eagle's side and yet... "No... No, he loth AGAEN," Anzu's snake roared, tongue still firmly viced between his teeth as it thrashed in anger. "WHA ITH THITH BU-THIT! WHATH WONG WITH YU BATHTARDTH?" ...Could anyone tell what that damn snake was saying?
"Hehehehehe..." Gh..! Chuckling echoed over the snake's snarls, Katsuya looking up at the source with shadowed eyes. "All three gambles, and you've lost them... Hehehehe..." Oka grinned from above, his personal monster looking onward with a sneering mask as Katsuya swallowed. "What bad luck you must have..!"
Gh... Bastard... "Damn it damn it damn it..." No choice! "Act'vate th' spell 'SCAPEGOAT'," he hurriedly shouted, waving the staff in his hands as four great wooled sheep came to his defense from the smoke and clouds around them. "End turn!"
"Hehehe... How awkward you are when you're in a bind!" Awkward? Come on... "It's almost pathetically amusing," the demon chuckled, ignoring the growls from below. "I'm not done my turn just yet though... First, 'Reinforcement of the Army'," he called out, "Adding a level 4 or lower warrior monster to my hand." A breeze passed as the shimmering panel vanished, effects unseen as Oka continued to speak. "Next," he announced, "I'll activate polymerization... Taking both this monster and the 'One-Eyed Wicked Knight' from my hand to fusion summon this! Dragoness," he roared as the thundering portal appeared, "The Wicked Knight!" The spiralling portal behind Oka swirled into dust on the ground, a spear wielding warrior pulling himself forward with narrowed eyes. It was strange; it looked almost like Seto's 'Lord of D', the bone lined spear sitting with one end buried deep in the ground with near identically rimmed armor meeting Katsuya's eyes. "And yet the look in this monster's eyes, despite it being a program, seemed more...
Menacing...
And as the orders to attack were given he found himself blown with more and more force with the treat of falling off the edge, his missed turn making his scapegoat's completely useless. As it was the blows left him on his back and at the cliff, Katsuya's neck held upward by a spear and an axe both... With Oka himself lowering the cloud he stood upon to come forward and laugh. "Hehehehehe... You should have known that the winner of this match would be decided at the end and not the start," he chuckled, his opponent gritting his teeth as the two monsters 'grinned' above him. "And by this point," Oka chuckled, "I would say we're there. No monsters... No spells... You have nothing to protect you," he laughed almost madly, "Nothing at all..!"
Gh... Hng... "Come on," Anzu shouted from the side, pulling at her holds with narrowed eyes. "You have one turn left, there has to be something!"
"YEA, WE'WR GONNA GE' EATHEN IFTH YOU DON'TH DO THOMTHING," the snake howled, the monster holding his partner giving an odd 'slurping' noise in response.
"Not helping," Yugi muttered to the snake, Katsuya closing his eyes as the shouts persisted. Damn it...
Damn it! Stop shouting..! Sure he had one move, but there wasn't a card in his deck that could turn this around right now, not with his luck going down the drain! Nothing, not even... Even... "Don't be so sure of defeat," the spirit in his mind muttered, his friend opening his eyes with a start. "In fact," he continued with a grin, "If I were you, I'd hold on for just a moment longer..."
Hold on..? With a voice like that, it seemed almost as though he knew something would-
"This duel is invalid," a monotone voice stated, those on the field turning with a start. Shimmering light was filling the air, and from above white wings spread wide to reveal the mould ridden plain in full reddish flesh colour. And at the center of that light, with pale skin and hair was Seraph. He...
The Seraph program was- It was still alive..! "Y-You," Oka muttered, taking a step closer with wide eyes as he left the cloud beside him. "You're one of Noa-sama's programs..! By why wouldn't he have told me," he roared, Seraph not bothering to look at the man. "Why-"
"This duel is invalid," Seraph repeated dully, the others still staring in shock. "Oka Chikuzen-san; you have been found guilty of cheating... As a result," he explained monotonously, "This duel is unable to continue."
"Cheating..." The two monsters at his front slowly stepped back in silence, Katsuya shaking his head as he looked toward his opponent. "You were... Cheating..?"
Seraph nodded, eyes still seemingly glazed as he explained further. "That is correct; from the beginning of this duel," he told them, Kastuya pulling himself to his feet with a look of incredulity, "Your opponent has been fixing each randomly generated card effect in his favor." Randomly g-
"You... You were riggin' my rolls," he roared, lunging at the Judge only to be held back by the two monsters as he snarled. "BASTARD! All those attacks an you were CHEATIN'!"
Oka seemed to ignore the angered shouts, instead looking to Seraph with a stubborn scowl. "You... But this was a part of my plan, I needed this to work," he protested. "It's just a game of cards, what harm could possibly lie in this, you must understand! There's nothing wrong with-"
"You fool," hissed a familiar voice, Noa's form now appearing beside Seraph in a mist. The boy was more than obviously upset, eyes revealing a glimmer of rage and madness both as he looked down upon his 'tool'. "You dare to argue against my words? If you wish to surpass the head of Kaiba-Corp, to reach your goals," the boy snarled darkly, "Then you need to defeat those beneath that person as well! If you can't face this boy in a fair battle then what hope could you possibly have against Seto," he spat, the demonic judge pulling back with a wince.
Oka continued to pale, white eyes staring upward in horror. "H-Hng... I... ...I..." Heh... So luck was on his side after all was it...
"Oka Chikuzen," Seraph announced dully, looking down at the man with no visible emotion as Katsuya calmed to a slight extent. "Due to your attempts to falsify the true results of this match," the program explained dully, "You are ordered to take responsibility for your actions. Consider yourself 'defeated'," he continued, holding a hand out in a deceptively passive gesture. "As such, Jonouchi Katsuya wins this match."
The demon paled even further if it was possible, eyes widening as he shook his head. "H-Hah... P-Please," Oka shouted, the others staring as the normally calm man began to beg. "Please, Noa-sama! Give me one more chance..!"
"Hnhnhnhn... Oka... You lost that chance with the 'Skull Dice'," Noa stated with a grin, Katsuya swallowing. "You should have known better..." Yea, he really should have...
But regardless, he didn't want to win like this. "...Hold on a sec'," he shouted, the two above them turning as Katsuya began to speak. "...Let me finish th' match first," he continued, Noa raising his eyebrows in response.
"You... You want to fight even after all of that..?" The blond nodded, Noa seeming to stare in confusion as they stared at each other. "...Why," he asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes.
Katsuya merely smirked, bloodied hands taking his staff from the ground as he smirked. "Heh- It's obvious isn' it? What's done 's done after all... An it ain't like there's no cheatin' in gambling," he shouted, laughing somewhat despite the grievous wounds on hsi back. "A battle like this needs to be taken seriously," he continued, "It isn' somethin' you can jus' cut b'fore th' end. You'll step in if he tries t' cheat again... So let me take my next move, alrigh'," he asked, his opponent blinking in a similar vein of confusion as his 'friends' sighed.
At this Noa appeared even more confused, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. However, after a few moments he merely smirked, shaking his head. "Hn! Eager to die are we? Very well," he shouted, snapping his fingers as Oka's 'cloud' vanished to dust to leave the demon stranded. "If you wish to throw away your largest chance of a win, then so be it. Until then," he continued, chuckling as both himself and Seraph began to disappear into fragments of pixels. "Sayounara, Katsuya..." Katsu-
"G-Gh..." That voice... That same voice, he'd heard it in the game..!
"Tch..." Katsuya's attention was pulled back to his opponent as the brilliant light faded, growling coming from the demon before him. "To think you would make such a foolish decision," Oka spat, turning on the boy before him with narrowed white eyes. Now that he stood on the ground his size was far more than expected, the judge easily standing at three times his height. And even though there was no weapon in his hands, it was still clear that the match up was not going to go well. "Heh... You just traded my name on a death certificate with your own... I'm almost tempted to thank you..." Really now?
The blond snorted, narrowing his eyes despite the towering threat before him. "Heh... We'll jus' see abou' that- Luck hasn' abandoned me yet, an' I know tha' now," he said with a grin, spinning the staff in his hand as he pulled up the 'card' screen. "So les' see... It was my turn, wasn' it," Katsuya 'asked' with a grin, Oka grinding his teeth somewhat from across him. "Then allow me t' take it! R'member th's card, he asked, tapping the staff end on the ground as a pot arose to his side.
"...Hn... The pot of greed... How convenient for you," the Judgeman muttered, his opponent merely grinning as the spell took effect.
"Got tha' right," he responded with a smirk. "An th' draw I got ain't half bad either," he added, the pot vanishing as two cards appeared in his 'hand'. With cards like these he knew exactly what he was doing next... Heh! "Here goes! I'm fightin' w' myself from here on out," he roared, a vicious gale erupting about him as sand and dust blew around him in a spiral. The lands appeared to melt and bend to his very will and mind as the demon across him stared with narrowed eyes. Sand replaced swamped piles of rot... Dunes and cliffs took the place of bladed mountains, and despite all this he continued on without even missing a beat. "T' help wi' that move, I'm equipin' myself wi' th's! Th' cursed blade... Th' Burnin' Soul," he snarled, the staff in his hands glowing with dull heat as the sands around them were blown back by a wave of energy.
"Gh... Burning soul..?" The judgeman scoffed, shaking his head. "Hah! That card's useless without a tribute," the man sneered, "You don't stand a chance..!"
Oh really now? "That what y' think," he continued to shout, golden sands of a whitish and moonlit hue coloured eeriely in the fire-light of his cloak. "You think I'm done? Think again," the blond roared. "Thi's th' card I added t' my deck b'fore," Katsuya announced, holding a hand out as the winds howled about them, dust flying into a central location before it. "Ardous Decision! I've drawn two cards just now," he snarled, "An' yer gonna pick one... If it's a monster," the blond explained, "I special summon it t' the field, an you lose... If it's a spell," he continued, "I d'scard both, an you win! So here are your choices," Katsuya announced, Oka shielding his eyes from the sand blowing forth as he leered at the boy. "Goblin Attack Force, or 'Shield and Sword'... One monster," he announced, shimmering 'two way' panel appearing at his side, "An' one spell," he finished, a second appearing to his left. "Make yer move... Left, or right?"
Oka seemed to freeze with the decision, mouth hanging open somewhat as he held back his words. After all; he was used to asking the questions himself, and creating situations with only one possible answer. Not something that relied entirely on chance, and luck. "You... I..." Come on, Katsuya told himself as he held a blank expression. This was still 50/50, but if he pulled this right he'd get it no matter what. Oka was cautious... But easily fooled when it came to things like this, he knew that! If he'd just make his choice... "Th... That one," the demon called out, pointing toward the spell card. "The one on the left!"
"Oh? This one," Katsuya asked, the winds settling momentarily as the choice was considered. "Are you sure about this," he asked, receiving a nod in response. "Really," he repeated with raised eyebrows, "You're sure?"
The demon glowered, fists clenched. "Tch- I know this strategy all too well," he snarled, his opponent barely able to read the nervousness in the lawyer's blank eyes. "Trying to fool me into picking the 'other one'... Well it won't work," he spat, others on the field holding silent as they watched the final move unfold. "I won't fall for such a-" Oka fell silent, only just noticing the look on his opponent's face. Hidden beneath his hair, just barely visible, a smirk... A slight quiver coming from a chuckle, the speed of wind intensifying... "Gh... I pick the one on the right," he shouted, eyes widening with fear. "That's my final decision! The one on the right!"
"This one then," the blond 'asked', the spell card on the left vanishing without a trace. Within an instant the panel turned around, a horde of goblins arising from pillars of sand to stand by their summoner as Oka paled. "Hehehehe... Too bad," Katsuya shouted, shaking his head with a menacing grin. "You picked th' wrong card!"
"Gh- Impossible," Oka muttered, "The mon-"
"Tha's right! An' now I tribute that monster t' activate th' 'Burning Soul'," he roared, sands appearing to pull toward him as the winds picked up in intensity. The goblins disintegrated into dust, whirling about him rapidly as the blond gripped the staff in both hands. Power was gathering. Heat, energy, wind... "All 2300 attack points are added to my own power," Katsuya announced through the howling winds, "And with that I'm ending this now! TAKE THIS OKA," he roared, staff glowing white hot as he slammed the end down on the ground, "THE BURNING SOUL!"
With a sound similar to a sonic boom a wave of darkness and sand blasted forward, Katsuya's sending a single crater-like ripple through the desert as a result. Winds scattered away from him as the 'wave' sliced through each monster, cutting and destroying Kamion and Dragoness both before moving onto Oka within mere milliseconds. For a brief moment, the blond's eyes glowed a fierce red... And though the sand swirled in the air to create almost a curtain, his flamed cloak remained unaffected, billowing in a wind that had already passed. And as the sands cleared, the damage could be seen. The first two corpses were gone... Oka however had fallen to his knees, arms held limply at his side. "How," Oka rasped, blood spurting from his wounds as he fell forward. "I was a master at seeing through those strategies," he choked as his blood stained the desert sands, "How could I lose to a- ..."
Child? The wind died down as Katsuya let out a sigh, flames vanishing back to the cloak's red wool as the heat in his body as well cooled. Oka died before his words could even be finished, blood staining the sanded fields of his 'past memories'. But while that was all fine, and while the demons holding Yugi and Anzu vanished into dust and locusts to the shock and surprise of the captives, there was more to deal with. "Noa..." That 'boy'... Hell, if he was still alive he'd be of drinking age! No way someone connected to a computer for that long could be considered 'some kid'. No... This guy was dangerous... "Where'd tha' brat run off to this time," he muttered, walking toward the others as he looked to the side. They needed to find this kid...
Something the others agreed with it seemed. "Knowing him he's likely preparing the next duel," Yugi muttered, crossing his arms. "He seems to be setting these up 'chronologically', at least that's how it's worked so far." The next duel hadn't started yet then eh.
Hnnn... "There's only two members 'f th' Big 5 left it you guys 'r here," the blond added with a frown, narrowing his eyes in thought. "So who's fightin' who..."
"Well... Chances are, Kaiba's one of them," Anzu muttered, crossing her arms as her snake nodded in agreement. "That leaves Otogi, Honda, Mokuba, and Shiz-"
"Shizuka..." The pair looked up, watching as their friend paled and bolted. "Oh shit," Katsuya shouted, running past the others with wide eyes. "Shizuka! I gotta find Shizuka," the blond repeated, stumbling through the sand as he headed toward whatever direction he faced.
"A-Oi oi! Blondie, we don't even know which way to go," Anzu's snake shouted, violet eyes flashing in the moonlight as it hissed, no longer holding his tongue in place thanks to the return of bearable air. "How are we supposed to find... Her... Eh..." A door appeared before them, similar to the same one he'd found before as the others stared toward it. "Well that's convenient," he muttered, Katsuya pulling the doors curtain to the side.
"We c'n talk abou' how weird my head is later," he muttered, gesturing toward the door. "Let's go!"
"We got it," Anzu called out with a sigh, "Just wait up! Jonouchi... Hey, Jonouchi," she repeated, the others running through the archway ahead as the blond disappeared. "J-Jonouchi! HEY!" Katsuya ignored the woman, instead rushing through the wet and cavernous tunnel revealed through the door with grit teeth. They had to move... They had to...
Seto was one thing after all, she could probably take him out if she wanted. But like hell those assholes were targeting his little sister.
AN: Ooooh, Jonouchi~ Nice magic-looking attack there. But really, shock wave isn't magical.
It just shows that getting hit by that staff would fucking hurt. The next chapter brings us a small snippet of Kaiba before delving completely into Shizuka-Honda-Otogi territory, and though I'm pretty sure that it'll end up with the lead up in one chapter, duel in the other, you never know...
We could have another 'Super Chapter' on our hands, similar to Anzu. (I doubt this though, as the 'lead up' for those three is much longer.)
Also, when Jonouchi says 'take him out', he means physically. Besides a nasty right and left hook, Seto's legs are not just there for show. (Also she's very good with a gun. VERY. GOOD.)
In any case, work was postponed due to snow (for a week. Ffffff.), so there are coloured things for you! I did hold back a bit to save time though. Mostly we have a few things missed from two chapters prior (NightmarePenguin-Possessed!Honda and Anzu's Deckmaster form), along with a bit of art for today's chapter... Specifically Jonouchi's Flame Swordsman upgrade. There would have been more, (as it is, there IS a nice concept picture down there), but sadly the scanner copped out half-way through... Soooo there will be more sketches next chapter. (Including trigger happy Judgeman-Possessed!Honda.)
On another note, I've been listening to lots of things, but a part of me wonders if that section of the note bugs people or not; I get lots of praise for the research section after all, and occasionally the art, but something tells me the music gets a 'why are you telling me this...'
Let me know if I'm wrong though, hehehehe.
Another news point, considering adding a small character section to the TV-Tropes page that this fanfic has. Not for the canon characters (Well, unless people feel there's enough difference to warrant it), but more for the constantly recurring OC's... Kyouko, the Panther Warrior, etc. So that's another question for you!
And with that out of the way, we press forward!
Anonymous Review Responses
Hey, glad you like the story Crazykido2! Yea, I was debating including the fillers, but the fact is, between my personal love for Noa's character and the horrible rap the Doma arc got (So much potential… WASTED!), I opted to simply include them with a lot of 're-write work' so to speak.
Oooooh… And speaking of re-writes, if you think Noa's taken an interesting turn, not only have you not seen anything yet but you should pay close attention; this arc is actually going to be littered with references to future arcs as well! And not just the 'canon' or 'manga' ones either!
And, by reviewing all the chapters do you mean- Ahhhh, I get it… You flew through this huh? Well, always glad to hear about what you thought of specific chapters really! (And I'll be the first to say that knowing which chapter you're talking about is a big help when it comes to remembering minor events when they're commented on…) Enjoy the newest update!
Hnn… Venomous things can be a problem I suppose Iona… I'm actually pondering venom involvement in a later incident, but more on that later. You're very right, Ren isn't your typical temperamental snake. Hell, he's not even really 'himself' right now thanks to the physical memory cut off. It's more like he and Anzu 'merged' to a slight extent… Which is bizarre…
And is also an important fact to remember for later, so just hold it for a moment.
Ooooh! Before I go into this, I must mention that Kisara was in no way being 'cruel', not intentionally at least; the program is simply acting on orders after all, and can't even feel emotions… Not until the last bit at least, but that was actually Kaiba's doing. Remember when Noa said she was formed from her memories? Along with how, if you look carefully, Kaiba's most 'emotional' point in terms of a reaction was around that point?
YEA. It transferred.
Very right in saying that the real Kisara would not be pleased with what the program was being used for though.
As for Kaiba's vulnerability, that's actually quite the rough point for me; how much vulnerability and how little mostly, given that this is Kaiba… The girl/guy's been through a LOT, and it only gets worse… So here's to what's planned for later on, hehehe.
Oh, well, as to Seraph, there's your answer! Due to Seraph's much simpler task (Namely helping Jonouchi to his destination rather than scanning Kaiba's head for a memory that's proving oddly difficult to find- which should tell you something about it), we don't see much of him. In fact, when Seraph disappears, he briefly ends up in Noa's 'hands' for a 'reassignment'; keep hidden, watch Jonouchi, and if things go awry (cheating) step in.
The only reason Noa stepped in anyways was because Seraph doesn't have the 'power' needed to smack Oka around when it comes to who's in charge.
Well, here's your update, complete with coloured things that should have been here long ago! Enjoy!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that has a great desire to play Shadow of the Colossus right now... Or at least something with giant monsters.
What with there being giant stone dragons and demon judges hanging around, I couldn't help but reference at least one thing containing that... I decided that since the chapter focuses on Jonouchi VS Oka though, that it should concern the latter...
So it's again not game related. Rather, it comes from a saying in Japan that goes 'Uso o tsuku to enma-sama ni shita o meka neru', or, 'If you lie, Lord Enma will rip out your tongue.'
(Uso o tsuku means 'tell a lie' or 'to tell a lie', with 'uso' being 'lie', 'tsuku' being the verb for telling one, and 'o' being a particle that denotes action. 'To' is the particle for 'and', 'Enma-sama' speaks for itself, whereas 'ni' is about as close to 'will do' as you can get here. 'Shita' means tongue, and 'me-ka' is the verb to 'remove', or 'pull out'. Neru is just an add on, similar to 'ne', which is used to emphasize, and in this case, it denotes passiveness.)
So yea. Hold on to your tongue's guys, Noa will take it!
Originally, Jonouchi was obviously on his own, but for some reason, despite having just knocked down a wall, he thought the airship was the real thing.
I'd make a comment here, and say 'OHHHH Jonouchi!', but… Seriously I really don't think that would have happened. It… It's like his IQ just drops during fillers…
Naked Mai! The fact is, she was wearing a corset and a tight mini-skirt. Mai's body needs blood-flow, not tight clothing... She also needs clean clothing, but we aren't going there save for the fact that the reason why Kuzushi is still alive is probably because she was specifically asked to be Mai's 'guard' due to gender businesses... I'll also mention now that the airship isn't exactly a hospital stocked with hospital gowns, so there wasn't really anything to put the woman in; so really, Kuzushi was also there to make sure none of the guys randomly pulled the blanket off or something... (Not that they would. But Kuzushi doesn't know that.)
What's this? They know each other? Of course they do! Oka's the one who made it possible for Daimon to kick Jonouchi out of the mansion way back at the start of the duelist kingdom, along with the one who made the Legendary Heroes possible! Moreover, he had been trying to do this for quite some time… So trust me, they've met. They don't know each other like Daimon knows Kaiba of course, but they know enough to recognize faces/voices/names and get pissy with each other.
As per usual, lots of script parts have been changed. This is either to suit the situation accurately, or, in the case of the latter, for the rule of 'cool' and the sake of smooth conversation before a battle as opposed to a duel. There's more trash-talk in a duel I find. Probably because it's hard to think of a card game as threatening. In this case though, the weapons kill the illusion, so serious business is taken up to eleven.
Also, Judgeman (who's based on 'Enma', the judge of the freaking DEAD) is sitting in the sky for the sake of making it really, really hard to reach him. Otherwise, you can bet that Jonouchi would have forgone cards and just beat him with his stick. Also, I wanted to keep his stand. I just... Can't see Judgeman really fighting, you know? (This is why the deckmaster version gets an anti-tank gun. You can't really move and fire those at the same time you know.)
As mentioned above, Jonouchi is depicted really… Idiotically in the fillers, which warranted more script changes. While the deckmaster slip was excused (it's easy to forget things like that when you're ahead), he knows perfectly well he has three monsters on the field at the time of 'Life Sentence', unlike his anime counterpart…
Who was busy figuring out what 3 times 500 was after counting them on his fingers. (Ehhhh… )
Judgeman's deckmaster ability has two names; in Japan, it was called 'Life Sentence', and in the dub, 'Clear the Courtroom'. However, life sentence implies surviving. And clear the courtroom will be a mouthful later on in the 'Big 5 VS Jou & Yugi match...
So here's to the death sentence, which suits poor Jonouchi's constant back-stabbery much more.
Damn straight I referenced Shadow of the Colossus. See if you can figure out who those dragons represented too... It'll give you a nice bonus of unanswered questions for upcoming chapters. As for why the name is different, this is what it was called in Japan; 'Wander and the Colossus' (Wanda to Kyouzo, as the 'er' sound is left silent. Hallier for example becomes 'Harria
')
Contrary to popular belief, snakes don't truly smell with their tongues; otherwise, they'd just stick them out all the time. Instead, they pull in air particles with it and stick them into the sensors that will detect scent. Hence constant flickering in real snakes.
Not to mention tongue hate on the part of Malik-with-a-lisp. (The smell is rotting corpses by the way.)
(By the way, fun fact, I actually stuck my tongue out and voiced all those lines to type them properly. It was kinda fun.)
Ox-Head and Horse-Face (Niu Tou and Ma Mian, in their original Chinese) are the two guardians of the underworld in Chinese Myth, who guide each soul to the Judge 'Yanluo' (Enma in Japanese). They aren't mentioned in Japan from what I tell, but they're big scary demon things so they deserve mention nonetheless. They're also pictured below, though there's no colour. (Picture one in a dark dark blue and the other in dark dark red for full amusement though.)
For some reason in the anime, Oka summoned his monster first and then used polymerization. He doesn't have to do this though. (Course, I left it anyways…)
As per usual, script changes occurred for timing reasons. Oh well. It's not like too many of Oka's lines were amazing... (Not like a few other jarring ones in certain duels...)
No really; listen to Oka's laughter in the Japanese. He sounds like a goddamned goat
.
So why does 'Kaimon Wizard' (Chaos Wizard in Japan) have an axe instead of a scythe all of a sudden? Because scythes don't actually make good weapons.
At all. It's just too hard to do anything when the blade is on the inside... So, I moved the blade of Kamion's curved 'moon scythe' to the outside, which makes it more of a giant axe, or even a Shaolin spade. Actually, exactly like a shaolin spade, except with more curve.
And bigger.
Hey guys! Can't tell what Malik/Ren is saying? Well here you go!
I thwar tu gawd, I'm noth bwinging thith tongue back in mah mouwf! - 'I swear to God, I'm not bringing this tongue back in my mouth!'
Heww gwadianth! Wha tha heww ith wong with tha Athian mytholowogy thythm! Thewiouthly! - 'Hell guardians! What the hell is wrong with the Asian Mythology system! Seriously!'
Dyonouthi, yu going thoo do thomthing uthfull! - Jonouchi, you going to do something useful!
No, he loth AGAEN! WHA ITH THITH BU-THIT! WHATH WONG WITH YU BATHTARDTH? - He lost AGAIN! WHAT IS THIS BULLSHIT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU BASTARDS?
WE'WR GONNA GE' EATHEN IFTH YOU DON'TH DO THOMTHING! - WE'RE GONNA GET EATEN IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING!
And there you go, a complete guide! …If this sort of thing irks you, just let me know, I won't do it again.
So why didn't Noa step in on Oka's duel the first time he cheated? Well, he supposedly wasn't aware… In this case though, it's actually Seraph's fault. He didn't catch the cheat until the coin, where rather than just moving the die, the coin's metal was actually altered. D'OH. (In his defense, he didn't really get the kind of programming needed to sense that sort of thing.)
'But Jonouchi, Shizuka does duel in the fanfic, Ryuzaki taught-' Ahhh, and therein lies the problem… Accepting that his sister duels would mean accepting that Ryuzaki personally taught her. And to Jonouchi, he's still slooooowly getting over the fact that the two are even friends... Let alone friends on first name basis teaching each other how to play duel monsters.
And now, we give you... Art!
FanArt And My Art Section
Taking spaces to give you links since chapter... Uhh...
How long has it been again? Quite a while.
In other news, quite the dump here, most of which are sketches. As to why I had time, it's mostly because GIMP was being glitchy in the past few weeks. It calmed down though...
At least for now. Any ways, don't expect too many art dumps like this with the job... Though you never know; seeing as this one is seasonal, I'm still looking for permanent ones, and given that most entry level jobs stick with shifts, I'll probably still have time...
Oh well. PICTURES!
Spoiler!ConceptInk: Deckmasters – Dark Flare Knight – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ DeckmasterDarkFlareKnight. jpg - In which you might have gotten the answer to one question that probably hasn't occurred to you; if the players are the deckmasters, then what's going to happen when Yugi and Jonouchi's deckmasters fuse?
Reference- Deckmasters – Dark Magician Girl – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ AnzuDeckmasternPenguin-1. jpg - Hey there Anzu! ...Nice hat. Oddly enough, those robes aren't actually that cold looking... Must have been something in the material that made it so cold during her duel I suppose.
Reference- Deckmasters – PossessedHonda! Nightmare Penguin - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ PenguinHonda. jpg - You think the eyes won't get scarier? Oh trust me, they will. We still have Jinzo/Psycho Shocker after all. (Also Robot Knight but that one isn't really creepy...) ...Also Judgeman... (Tie for creepiest eyes is between him and Psycho Shocker so far...) On another note, I have to say; despite being the bad guy, Otaki wears Honda quite well, I have to say. Looking rather dapper there Honda! Erm... Not Honda... Erm... Oh whatever. I'll just have to get another excuse to put the guy in something this snazzy.
Reference- Deckmasters – Flame Swordsman – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ JonouchiDeckmaster. jpg - Oooh... Flamey. For this one I actually just inked and coloured an already drawn sketch, from waaaaay back on that doodle sheet. Why? Because I really liked that pose.