Skin

by Usagi Squared

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

114. Chapter 113

Taraph

---

In the darkness of the cavern, the boy feels fear. It is the first time such a thing has ever happened within these walls, and the fact only serves to intensify this feeling. Though he has become good friends with the apprentice Neker, his friend's words now worry him. He tells him that he should try and prove himself again. That he should show them the dragon again, and that he will stand at his side and strengthen his argument.

But the boy protests- the Elders cannot see the Dragon. If they cannot see it, they will only assume that the two are both taking them for fools, and it will not just be the boy who receives punishment as a result. The dragon as well, had agreed with this standpoint... And with that, it seemed Neker had realized his fault.

Neker however did not have a look of honesty in his eyes when he said this... A fact that the boy and the dragon both realized.

And so, late in the evening while the village sleeps, the boy has wandered back through the desert he now knows well and hidden away where no one will look for the moment. The dragon is surprised by his arrival of course- and as he always does in times like this, he tells the boy that he should be in his own home, and in his own bed. But as always, the dragon is quick to give in, eventually allowing the boy to remain at his side.

This time however, there are no stories. The boy is too frightened for that, this much the dragon knows. Instead he sits in silence, offering a comfort that no words can give while the moon sits in the sky.

So they sit in the sand, with nothing but pale moonlight trickling down through long forgotten mirrors in the ground. Mirrors that have only recently received care from the room's visitors, and have only been polished with what was available. Rough cloth, and spittle.

The silence lasts a long time. It is long past the middle of the evening by the time the boy's mouth opens. When it does open however the dragon is there, and ready to listen. "Dragon," he asks quietly, scarcely able to see in the darkness around them. "...That story... About the 'nameless' things... You said that if they found the same vessel, they could come back," he whispers worriedly. "That they could become one thing again. ...Dragon," he asks, looking up at the shadowed creature sitting with him and continuing to press a curiosity that has been striking him for a number of days now. "When that happens... The Light will stop it again right? Just like it did last time... Right?"

The dragon gives a low rumble, adjusting his position as he bows his head. "...Sadly child, I must answer no. The stones of light will not be enough when the time comes," he warns, shaking his head. "If anything, they will be powerless before it..."

"P... Powerless," he repeats with a whisper.

"Indeed... For if they were to combine again," the dragon explains calmly, "They would regain their names. And I fear child, that in this time the true name of the Light has long since been forgotten... Even by the shadows... That the difference in power would be unimaginable."

The boy swallows, and though he does not realize it a later version of himself shudders from behind those he walks with. "How is that possible," the boy whispers with horror, wide eyes bloodshot and filled with betrayed and nervous tears. "You said the Light was strong... The strongest there ever was, that nothing-"

"I said that Light was strong... When she was whole," the Dragon responds, cutting the boy's words short. "When her name was known to thousands, and when it could be spoken and the sun would rise. But in these sorry times it has been forgotten," he laments, "And her power is as the dust..." But that...

It can't be possible. The boy simply cannot believe it is possible, and yet there is nothing but truth in the Dragon's eyes. And because of this, the boy falls silent, eyes filled with nothing but fear in the light of what could be. "How can a name... Hold such power," he eventually asks in whispered tones, looking back to the dragon. "How can a name... Decide so much..? How..!"

"You must never underestimate the importance of a name," the Dragon warns, curling a protective wing about his charge. "The mere utterance can give great power... The power to curse its bearer, the power to protect... With a name alone all of your memories could be locked away... Or even awoken after a millennia of time and rebirth. Without a name, you are not who you are meant to be," the shadow continues. "You are someone else... Perhaps even 'no one'. That is why the nameless must remain nameless," he tells the boy, his charge so entrapped by the conversation that neither can hear the approaching steps that come from outside the chamber's true door. "Because without names they are without power. ...But with names..."

They surpass the darkness itself... The boy realizes this of his own accord, and bows his head. "To think," he says quietly, "Of something like that happening... I can't..." He doesn't want such a thing to transpire. He couldn't bear it if it happened, if the light from the sky was torn from existence and replaced with black.

The dragon knows this though, and reassures him in the odd manner he typically does so with. "What does your heart tell you child?" The boy blinks, but despite his confusion listens as the dragon repeats the question. "Have you listened to it as you used to," he asks knowingly. "Or have you been blinded by your fear? Your heart will always guide you," he continues, looking into the boy's eyes. "But only if you listen. If will warn you of what is yet to come, but only if you keep your eyes and ears open."

"...Like the dreams..?" he whispers in response.

"Exactly like the 'dreams'. You have been given a gift," the dragon rumbles, lowering his head and neck to curl about the boy. "A power that was once available to all those with eyes and ears... That you still hear and see is not something to be taken lightly," he continues. "For there is always a reason for these things..."

You just need to find it...

---

"Ng... Nnhnn..." As the lights came back on in the room, there was still an obstacle standing in their way. An easy to by pass obstacle for most, he was sure. But as the spirit of the puzzle stared he found himself just as silent as all the others in the room, unsure of how to deal with what was in their way. "Nhhhnhn... Nhahahaaaa... Sff... Nhh..." Though they'd won the battle, neither had moved- they'd merely watched the one across from them tremble and fall to his knees, hands on the ground as he shook and shivered. Strange sounds were coming from the teen's body... And if his eyes were not mistaking him, something fell from Scott's face. But that couldn't be right, could it..? That their opponent was...

Crying..?

"Game over," Gekkou finally said after a moment, the others unable to look away. "We've won this match."

"Iyah..." What was that..? "Iyah, Iyah, IYAH...!" Iy- Wait, he could speak Japanese this entire time..! As the other Yugi tensed Scott continued to shake his head, wide and bloodshot eyes overflowing with tears as he looked up. "I was supposed to win," he cried, fumbling with his arm and continuing to curl in on himself. "I can't lose, not to you," he screamed. "I... We... Pegasus-sama is all we have," he wept, lowering his head once more as a shadow-eyed Richie came from behind. "He's all we have left... It's all your fault..!" Yugi stiffened along with his partner this time, and the teen before them cried on. "If you didn't fight him," he wept, "If it wasn't for you he'd have never left! He'd still be here! He... I... I just wanted..." A loud sniff broke the slight silence on the air, followed by a number of choked sobs. "I just wanted to see him," Scott whispered. "Just one more time... Just... One... Nghh.. Hn... Aaaaaaah... HaaaaaAAaaaahh..."

"C'mon Scott," Richie whispered, helping his friend to his feet with a depressed sigh. His friend merely collapsed against the arm with grief, wracked cries silenced only by the coat sleeve his face fell onto. "Come on, lets... ...Hah... ...HEY," he called back, looking to the hall behind him. To Yugi's surprise two suited men instantly ran in, eyes widening behind their sunglasses as they spotted their apparent employer. "Hey," Richie continued in English, the men briefly distracted by the sight of Scott's current state. "Little help here?"

The men hurriedly bowed their heads with a nod. "Yes Mr. Merced."

"Sorry for the delay, Mr. Merced."

"Yea yea," the man muttered in response, the suits already helping to support the weight of a teen who refused to move. As the pair began carrying him off Richie sighed. "Just look after him while I deal with these guys..."

The doors closed tightly behind Scott and the suits both, and all three tensed as soon as Richie's gaze was turned back on them. "Well," the American eventually said, switching back to Japanese tongue. "'Mutou Yugi'... The rumours don't lie," he decided. "I think that's the first time I've seen you fight as 'you' and not some other version I caught a glimpse of online." Though he tensed regardless, the other Yugi almost wondered if he should have be glad to not receive a dry look for the reference to their ID image on Kaiba's duelist database once he realized what Richie was talking about. In the end he supposed the moment was far too tense for that really- Richie was in there way, therefore, it was time to fight. Yet as he prepared to step in he held himself back- Yugi's expression was now shifting back into a stony look of determination, his deck shuffling within the disk as he stepped forward.

"I beat Depre," he said slowly, speaking both to his partner and the one before them. "And I won't lose to anyone else either- not until we save Anzu!" the boy almost snarled, eliciting a snort from his soon to be opponent.

"Yea yea... Where have I heard that..." As both Yugis frowned at the English muttering Richie as well narrowed his eyes, pulling a deck from his side and slipping it into the duel disk. "That's how Scott thought too you know," he said bitterly. "To him... No, to all of those that Pegasus-sama raised," he corrected, "That man was something like the sun. Without him, we can't survive, understand? All he wanted," the man hissed, shaking his head. "All he wanted was to see him again... That's all!"

But the dead were dead, the spirit found himself thinking distantly, suddenly far more aware of his own status of being. They didn't return to the world of the living...

Not without a price. "...I'm fighting you next then?" Yugi asked, hand hovering over his duel disk to start. To their slight amazement Richie snorted, shaking his head almost in disgust.

"If I were fighting for Scott then sure- why not," he shouted in response. "But I'm not fighting for Scott." Um. He wasn't? "I'm fighting for something else," Richie went on, clenching his fist. "Sure, he's a friend of mine, and about as close to a brother as I'll ever get," the man explained. "But I'm not putting my neck on the line for vengeance- not my style," he told them. "We're card professors- if we don't live together then the only time we meet is for battle; we can win, and we can lose, but that's it. Shit happens," he said, "It's our life. But YOU," he snarled, eyes snapping toward Gekkou as he tensed. "You... You're the one I want to fight," the man spat, disk already in place on his arm. "You're a traitor... You betrayed all of those who Pegasus-sama raised, and THAT is something that I WILL fight for! Come forward!"

The trio swallowed, Gekkou looking to the corporal of the Yugis before looking back. This was their only obstacle; and as it was, they could hardly expect to take down someone who could send Keith Howard to the ground if that sort of thing had even registered in their minds. "Gekkou-kun," the boy started, only to watch as his friend stepped forward and switched his own duel disk on.

"I'll handle this Yugi-san," he said curtly. "It doesn't look like we have much choice."

"Not much is right," the other Yugi murmured under his breath, arms crossed. "I wish him luck."

Not that Gekkou would hear that. The young man took Yugi's place on the field, his cards shuffling on his arm while he spoke. "Richie... I know how you feel about Pegasus-sama. Believe me... I understand your feelings more than anything," he continued clearly, "But we cannot drag others into this! Not Yugi-san, not Mazaki-san... Nor the company whose building we stand in now. This is something that should be dealt with ourselves," Gekkou pressed, fist clenched tight with his words. "But instead Yakou had to involve everyone else in this..! And we can't let that go on!"

"Che! And what do we care who we use, or whose things we take," Richie responded callously. "We LIVE for Pegasus-sama... No one else matters if we can get him back!"

"But Pegasus-sama wouldn't have allowed this!"

For a moment Richie fell silent at Gekkou's words, but given the stone cold expression on his face it was clear that he wasn't reconsidering his choices. "Really?" he 'asked', eyes narrowed with adamant resolve. "Well why don't we ask him when he comes back then?" the man sneered. "Just try and stop us Gekkou... Just try. If we're going to fight," he continued, disk arm held outward, "Then we'd mind as well get this over with..."

Across from him Gekkou bowed his head, and in the end nodded in resignation. "Very well," he said lowly. "We duel."

With a single nod it began. "GO!"

Awful 'nice' of Richie, the other Yugi noted, to continue speaking in Japanese despite his opponent being American himself. Before he could voice this however the hands of cards were already set, with Gekkou making the first move. "My turn," he called out, a pair of holograms appearing as he spoke. "First, two cards face down... Following that," he announced, a young cloaked elf with a book in her arms shimmering into being, "The Learning Elf in defense mode!"

The elf again the spirit noted, watching as the somewhat life-like hologram hovered in place. Strange... It seemed that when he wasn't using Yugi's body, he could 'see' clearer, but how...

It was almost like it had been when fighting against the ja-shin... "Turn end," Gekkou called out, cutting the boy's thought's short. "Your move, Richie!"

"Hm! And I see that you've managed to almost waste yours," the man laughed. "You call that a monster Gekkou? Try clearing out your deck! I draw," he went on, slipping the cards onto his disk while the field glowed. "Same as you, two cards face down... And following that," Richie shouted, "I summon this. Twin Gun Fighter!" he announced, the somewhat puppet like gunman appearing in a flash. "This is a real monster Gekkou... Watch! I attack, with Double Shot!"

"Activate trap," the other countered in response, his words almost expected from the two watching him now. "Reflector!" Inflict damage equal to half the attacking monster to the opponent and negate the attack, the other Yugi read, before snapping his eyes back to the field. A new... Rather, a different equip spell. And... "Equip to the Learning Elf," Gekkou ordered, his 'audience' watching the mosaic mirror appear before the woman to send both fired bullets back from whence they came, "Try again Richie!"

"I think I'll do just that," he responded darkly, tapping the duel disk's button as the bullets approached. "Counter!" As the card swung upward the bullets impacted, seeming to pass through Richie's body in a spiral of wind and light. The others froze at the sight in shock, but despite the after image of the man literally exploding into nothing but fragmented mist it quickly became obvious what happened. The bullet had seemingly passed right through him... But only because of the activated card! "Mirage," Richie announced with a grin, the card beside him showing a rather cliched image of a desert 'oasis'. "Spells, traps and attack targets won't apply to me as long as this card is on the field."

"Tch... Which means he's safe no matter what," the spirit behind them all muttered, only to frown. "Hold on..."

The two both turned to Gekkou, frowns deepening with confusion at their friend's expression. "What's wrong?" Yugi asked, the elder of the group not responding. "Gekkou-kun..."

"I wasn't hit but my lifepoints just dropped by sixteen hundred," he muttered, before looking to Richie's monster with wide eyes. "That's the Gunfighter's attack power, which means-"

"Guessed it already," Richie called out, arms crossed. "Twin Gunfighter inflicts damage to the opposing duelist equal to his power when he attacks," he explained, chuckling darkly. "I might have taken the 'hit', but you're the one who took the damage Gekkou- and the Gunfighter will always have a gun aimed at your chest... Too bad really," he added with a sigh. "You used to be good. A 'perfect duelist' according to Pegasus-sama! Hell... Back then I couldn't beat you if I tried," Richie went on in slight disgust, "But you know what, here I am! I've fought my way to the top through countless duelists as Card Professor- I earned this black disk Gekkou and this time the tables are turned! You may have been perfect once," he hissed, a growing and darkening grin on his face, "But that's ancient history! And I'll prove it to you... And this time... This time, Pegasus-sama will call me 'the Perfect Duelist'!"

"Gh..."

"'Perfect duelist'... Even adopted this family has problems," the other Yugi grumbled to himself, his partner unable to do anything other than nod in agreement. Still... If Gekkou was attacked during the coming turns it could spell loss. Not good. Gekkou was fighting for them- if he lost, so did they, and so did Anzu. And for Gekkou himself it would spell far more than guilt. To lose his brother after all, would be... Well.

The spirit steeled his resolve, and with similar thoughts Yugi cupped his hands to give their friend a shout. "You have to do this Gekkou-kun," he cried, the man nodding in response. "For Anzu... And for your brother!"

"Hm! My turn," Gekkou responded, looking to the card he'd pulled out and setting it upon the field. "I set one card face down," he began, "And next, I summon the Wonderbeat Elf in attack mode!" With two hooked blades in hand the monster appeared with a crouch, hovering just inches above the ground. His sightless eyes stared forward and as Gekkou pointed the newly summoned monster forward he continued. "Wonderbeat can attack an additional time for each elf on the field," he began, "And he attacks now!" And with the Learning Elf there... "GO! Dual Blade!"

"Tch... Activate trap," the opponent countered, card flying upward with the click of a button. "Robbing Whip! Stealing your Equip card," Richie explained, the glow of the card sending stars in their eyes, "And equipping it to my monster!" he finished as the card did just that. The whip coiled around the Learning Elf's mirror and tore it from her grasp, sending the first of Wonderbeat's blades crashing into Gekkou as he winced. But as the man looked up, his opponent was far from finished. "Hehehe... It must be my lucky day," Richie sneered. "Thanks to your elf's ability, he still has to attack me... Which means you take half the damage from this reflector!" No...

No! Again the blades clashed, and again Gekkou gave a shout, ducking behind his arm where the hologram struck. Wonderbeat's ability backfired completely... Now Gekkou had less than 1000 life points while Richie was at full power..! "This.." He couldn't even speak. "This is not..."

As both Yugis swallowed Richie merely continued to chuckle, shaking his head. "Looks like the gap is even wider than I thought," he laughed, shrugging from his place on the field. "It's interesting too... From what I can tell," the man noted, "Your deck is built on effect monsters. Low power, low defense... But devastating abilities. It just so happens my deck was built along the same lines!" he added with a smirk. "...But look... Just a couple of turns in, and already the gap is telling its own story. Seven hundred... To Four Thousand," Richie hissed, the others narrowing their eyes as the man spoke still more. "And you can see it as luck or skill, up to you Gekkou... But personally," he went on, "I'm placing my bets on skill."

"...You could be right about that," Gekkou admitted, the ghostly form behind him taking in a sudden 'breath' in shock. No... No he couldn't be..! If he didn't win then they would- "After we lost Pegasus-sama," Gekkou explained, unaware of the panic behind him, "There was no one left to take control of the company. It was utter chaos... So I stepped in and took his place, rebuilding I2 as he would have wanted," he continued. "But you Richie... You travelled, joined the Professor's league... You devoted yourself to dueling entirely, thinking nothing more than the defeat of Yugi-san."

Something they already knew, right? "So what if I did?" his friend retorted, evidently feeling the same way. "'You were too busy to practice', is that your excuse?"

Gekkou shook his head. "No. Richie," he began quietly, "Can't you see..! You owe all of this... All your success to Pegasus-sama's death. Your determination was a direct result of that," he protested, watching as the man across him grew more and more red-faced, "Pegasus-sama brought each of us up, that's true... But now that he's gone we've all learned to stand on our own and live our our lives to their fullest as he would have wanted. And now you're trying to bring him back," he murmured, "At the cost of a young woman's life... Just so you can depend on him for everything like you did before..."

"You... SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Richie snarled, the English roar echoing through the now eerily silent room. "Are you trying to say it's good that he's gone," he shouted bitterly. "That it's better he's dead!"

Dead silence was the brief response, Gekkou now returning the earlier dead stare. "You know full well that isn't what I'm saying," Gekkou answered with a dangerous tone. "I'm saying we aren't kids anymore..! We can't be his 'children' forever!"

"Oh yea," the other 'asked'. "Well you're wrong!" Gh-! Not really proving him wrong there either though..! "A world without Pegasus-sama isn't worth living in," Richie hissed with detest. "We lost someone important to us... So we're going to do anything we can to bring him back! That's all there is to it!"

Even at the cost of Anzu's life, they wanted to say, bitter eyes staring the man down from a distance. "Richie..."

"...Gekkou," the man said quietly, an almost wistful tone coming into his voice before it vanished. "You've changed. You're not like the rest of us any more," he continued, "Not at all... So sorry about this Gekkou," he continued bitterly, "But I have to defeat you NOW! MY TURN," Richie roared, pulling the next card free with considerable force before taking a different one from his hand. A glass-faced 'western-belle' appeared in a shower of light, and as the gloved maiden cocked her shotgun Richie announced her name clearly for the field to hear. "Take this..! I summon Pierce Musketeer," he called out, all eyes instantly flickering to mentally note her 'piercing' effect. "AND NOW, GEKKOU... I attack..!"

-BRAM!-

"H-Hahh..! Gekkou-kun!" Yugi cried, all three guns taking aim and firing in an instant.

"Shit..!"

"Activate face down!" With a flash of light all fired bullets halted movement, the monsters on both sides freezing in place in the light of the activated card. "Holy Sacrifice! Both attacks target only one monster," he explained, the bullets instantly charging back toward the Learning Elf, "And I take no damage from either attack!"

"Tch..." With a rumbling 'explosion' the Elf was struck down, her hologram misting and fading into sparks where the bullets hit. 'I draw one card,' Yugi could hear Gekkou say quietly, the effect of the fallen elf coming into play. From across the field Richie could do no more than stare in disgruntled annoyance, brow visibly ticking with the emotion. "Fine, be like that... I play one card face down and end my turn," he announced, "But come next turn you won't be so lucky!" Hmp!

They would see about that... After all. He'd escaped this turn the other Yugi thought to himself, so it was quite likely they'd make the rest of the duel turn back around as well! In fact... "My turn," Gekkou shouted, drawing his next card and giving it only a glance before setting it on the field. "And I activate the spell 'Owner's Mark', returning all spells to their owners! The Reflector equips to Wonderbeat Elf," he continued on, the equipment fading from sight before it reappeared over his monster's arm. Again Richie seemed to stiffen in distaste, an action that was hardly missed by his opponent. "... Richie," Gekkou began, lowering his hand somewhat as he looked over the field. "I'll say again that I know how it feels... We had no family!" he shouted. "We had nothing, no relatives... To us, Pegasus-sama was more than a teacher. He was a father, our family... And after losing him, how can we even think to cause someone else the same pain? I know how it hurts... You certainly do as well," Gekkou continued, "So why..."

When he received no answer the young man's gaze hardened, and he bowed his head.

"...This is the end," he said clearly, taking another card from his hand. "Sorry, Richie. But I activate this spell," he cried out, "Sacrifice goods- the equipped Reflector acts as a tribute monster for this turn, and along with him, I'm sacrificing Wonderbeat Elf! NOW," the man announced, his monster and its shield both bursting upward in a shower of light as the card was played, "And I'm summoning this..! ANGEL 07!"

AH- "A-Angel 07?" he repeated with a start, only to fall silent as the light continued to fill the room. As metal took form with bladed wings, a shadowed half of face appearing before a now shocked and notably terrified Richie Merced. The Angel 07 was a very recent card... But it was a coveted one. It negated the effects of all monsters on the field regardless of spells and traps. To a deck such as Richie's it was murder- it would shut down every one of his monsters and render them nothing more than sacrifice fodder to a deck with no high-level monsters.

And Angel 07 was not 'high level' for nothing. The power of the others on the field could not hope to match it. "It's my turn to strike," the duelist started lowly. "Now... Angel 07 attacks," he cried out, "And with his ability, your Mirage takes no effect!" Which meant all damage would be made, all of it...

Something that Richie knew full well. "NGH-!" The attack blasted right through his Twin Gun Fighter, scattering it into light and smoke while Richie ducked behind his disk arm. It wasn't much of course- less than 1000 points of damage. But it was a damn good start and with a growing grin the other Yugi shared a look with his partner, the boy's own expression growing as he looked to Gekkou with a laugh.

"Hah... Hahahaa..! Great!" he cried out, unaware of the fact that Gekkou's cold expression had yet to change. "You're turning it around..! This is great..!" It was..! It was incredible!

But why did something feel off..? "I'll set one more card face down before I end my turn," Gekkou decided, slipping the card into its slot before giving Richie a nod. "Turn end."

"Then I draw," his opponent responded, teeth grinding as he looked toward Gekkou. Time to tend this, the other Yugi thought to himself. Time to wrap this up and move on... Yet even as Richie made his move he couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something was about to happen. "I set a card face down," Richie began, the hologram appearing at knee level beside him. "Next, summon Grenadier," the mand decided, a monocle wearing old 'puppet' with an oversized gun in hand hobbling in place on the field. "Pierce Musketeer also enters defense mode," Richie announced as the southern belle took a more crouched position, "And following that I end my turn." With his words the recently rendered useless 'Mirage' card faded away from the side, all eyes briefly captured by the movement before flicking back to the field. It was Gekkou's turn now...

This would be it! "Alright then..! Draw," the man announced. "And following that, summon the Boomerang Elf!" In a bright flash of light a monster appeared to stand on the floor directly, the short and boyish elf in the light hoisting an enormous boomerang above him before looking forward. "Both monsters move to attack," Gekkou continued, "Now!"

Synthesized battle cries filled the air, and while the Grenadier erupted into flames caused by Angel 07's single beam of light the Musketeer's own arms were severed from her body by a boomerang's blade before the rest of her followed suit. Both monsters faded into light and dust, and standing behind the fading 'smoke' Richie did nothing but glare darkly. It was a no damage turn true, but this move was just what they needed to turn things around- now they could attack directly..! Now..!

"Richie... It's your turn now," Gekkou said calmly, his monsters hovering motionlessly at his side.

Silence... And with Richie's response the spirit at Yugi's side went white. "I'm not doing a thing this turn," the man said clearly. "Pass." Not even a draw... Not a single move, not even a draw, not-

"No," the other Yugi shouted, eyes widening as he looked to Gekkou. "NO! It's a trap, he can't-!"

"It's over Richie," Gekkou announced coldly and tonelessly. "Let's go... Both monsters attack!"

"Heh."

"No... NO, GEKKOU!"

"Wh-" "What... Other me," his partner whispered mentally, "What do you mean 'no', what-"

A blinding flash of light filled the air...

And the moment it cleared, with Gekkou left clutching his stomach in pain and shock, both of the boys were left to stare. Lifepoints, Zero.

They'd lost. "No," Yugi whispered quietly, his partner shaking in place before slowly fading from sight in his shock. "No, that can't..." It was a trap, the other Yugi wanted to scream. It was all a trap, and Gekkou had fallen for it..! But in the end, with what was on the line...

Wouldn't he have done the same..?

"GEKKOU-KUN!"

---

In the world of the duelist, there was winning, and there was losing.

It was a fact of life. It happened. And sometimes, Richie thought to himself darkly, the stakes and fates both were simply against them. As with now. As it was while Gekkou fell to his knees, head bowed and unable to turn to look at the one behind him. The one whose face was completely flushed, white as the clear field and on the verge of a melt down. The traitor lost...

And he knew exactly how. "I win, Gekkou!" he shouted clearly, moving to stand over his fallen opponent. As the man beneath him levelled a shaking glare Richie continued. "You were in too much of hurry to win," he continued on. "It's over."

That was likely when Gekkou realized what happened. Realized what his subconscious picked up in the blinding light that had appeared when he'd attacked, when his opponent activated a single card... 'Bewitching Light'. Sending the monsters attacking into a blind strike on each other.

Gekkou hadn't missed that one though. No, he'd go so far as say he was insulted if that had been the case. He'd prepared- Amulet of Kindness appeared around the weaker of the monster's necks, and Boomerang Elf braced himself for Angel 07's harsh laser.

But the laser never connected.

It hit Richie. And it seemed that as Gekkou looked up and spotted the card on his friend's disk in horror he realized it far far too late- 'Skimming Bullet' could only be activated in the opponent's battle phase. It inflicted the damage of an attacking monster to both sides. He knew Gekkou wasn't stupid- so he'd planned ahead.

And now, the skill of both sides was obvious. He could take a hit from Angel 07 on its own.

But Gekkou? Even with Boomerang Elf intercepting, he sure as hell couldn't. "G-Gekkou-kun," Yugi was saying hesitantly, approaching his friend with a nervous swallow. "Ge..."

"Gekkou!" Richie shouted, watching his former opponent's head sag to face the ground in defeat. The man before him scarcely moved, and the action only cemented his resolve further. "If you were even half the duelist you used to be, you'd have had a counter for that move," he told him. "If you were dueling as you used to," he went on, "You wouldn't have lost! … ...But you're not like the rest of us," the man explained with a cold, quiet tone. "You still have family. You still have Yakou... And your drive to finish this and save him as soon as you could made you act without thinking."

"That... That's not true," Yugi protested, shaking his head. "You're saying he lost because he fought for his brother? Because he cared?" he added with an angered and desperate shout. "How is that any different from you?" he asked with wide eyes. "You're fighting for Pegasus!"

True... But this was different. "Yea, I fight for Pegasus," he admitted flatly, eyeing the boy before him only briefly. "But not with the same desperate need to 'protect'... Not like Gekkou. When I was a kid, I was nothing," Richie went on. "My world was dirt and trash, and if you were asked to tell the difference between me and the pile of slime me you wouldn't be able to find it. And then I met him," he told them. "Pegasus-sama. He pulled me out of that hell hole and taught me how to live. As a person... And as a duelist. Pegasus-sama gave me a second chance when no one else would," Richie spat. "He gave me his life- so I'm fighting to give him his. I'm not afraid to lose!" he continued fiercely. "I'm not some spoiled kid flinching at every threat in my face! This was a battle of will," the man finished as he turned, "And mine came out on top..!"

With that he left the pair staring at his back, opening the door with his card only to pause. "W... Wait..!" Yugi cried out, his eyes moving from Richie to the door. The man looked back with a stern glare, eyes narrowing slightly before he spoke.

"Mutou," he began stiffly, the reason for the boy's outcry obvious. "You know the rules- you agreed to have Gekkou fight for you... And he lost," he went on, mumbled and grieved apologies mixed with sobs coming from far behind both. "You swore on those rules when you entered this building- this... Is as far as you go."

"Wait..." The doors closed behind the man slowly, and Yugi's cries continued to pierce the air. "WAIT! WAIT!"

With a resounding thud they closed behind the man, and staring at the wall across from him a moment he listened. Listened as footsteps pounded the ground behind him, as fists began slamming against the doors in desperation, with screams and cries filling the air- 'Please... PLEASE,' Yugi screamed, voice faded and muffled by the metal between them. 'Please open the door..! Please, you have to open it!`They began to fade only slightly, but as the sounds were accompanied by pounding fists on a door it became even more difficult to hear. 'PLEASE,' he wailed desperately. 'I'm begging you, open it! Open it..! We have to... We have to save Anzu... We have... Ahhh... UAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH..!'

He turned his head from the door and walked briskly down the hall, waiting for the screams to fade. There wasn't time for all of this, he told himself. He'd wasted a lot of time back there- for now, he needed to find out what was going on. In fact...

As he turned the corner his eyes met with the figure of one of I2's suits, the man bowing instantly. "Well played sir," he began in English, his 'employer' merely continuing down the hall.

"Yea..." Well played indeed. Duel was a damn waste of time that's what it was. "...What's our current situation," he asked, the suit behind him picking up his pace to keep up.

"According to Mr. Tenma, the final phase of the project is now underway," the man began in response. "We need only wait for the three final pieces, or so he told me." The three final pieces...

So the three Ja-Shin would need to be summoned then, right? That was what Yakou had said last he checked... "That sounds good," he said almost immediately. "I suppose I'll be returning to the top floor then..."

"Actually," the suit coughed, Richie looking back with a frown, "As it would seem, we've developed a small problem." Hm...?

"Problem," he repeated, the suit nodding uneasily.

"Our men downstairs are being taken down by force," he explained. "From what we've been able to tell, the culprits consist of Katsuya Jonouchi, Mokuba Kaiba, and another unidentified young man. The more important issue at hand however is where they are heading," he continued. "Their current path is taking them dangerously close to the server room, and while Yakou doubts they can do anything it is still possible that the Kaiba boy can find a way to sever our connection to the device." WHAT-

"Tch..." Well wasn't that just great, the dueling really was pointless then! Richie scowled, stopping in his tracks. "Great... And your men can't stop them?" he snarled, the suit bowing his head in embarrassment and shame both. "Are you all useless?"

"F-Forgive me..." Hahhhh...

Couldn't rely on anyone here damn it... "Fine... I'll take care of them," he growled, walking past a nearby stairway and balcony. "Just tell me which way they are, I'll-" A loud whistle ripped through the air, both tensing instantly at the sound that came from above and behind.

"Hey FUCK HEAD!" a familiar voice snarled, Richie turning just in time to find himself knocked back by the force of a 'falling' punch. "TAKE THIS!"

A sickening crack came with the sudden blow, Richie unable to even pull together some time to counter. "MGN-"

"M-Mr. Merced..!"

"Hihihihihi... Pay back!" Keith cackled, Richie wiping a small bit of blood from a now bleeding lip as he fixed the laughing man with a low glare. "Thanks for nothing 'Rich', you sorry son of a bitch!"

"Kh... Keith..." he growled, pulling himself off the ground somewhat. "You just had to go and do that didn't you 'old man'!" Without another warning he swung a kick toward Keith's legs, the man jumping back with alarming ease and still more laughter. "You think you've got what it takes to take me on!" he snarled, the leather-clad American sounding more and more like a hyena with each laugh. "You're a damn ungrateful guinea pig, you know that!" he added bitterly. "We go and bring you back to life and you go around causing hell instead? Plan on going back to being a corpse?" the man went on, pulling himself up to uneasy feet.

Keith merely snorted, adding a flippant shrug to his response. "Keh! Fuck that! You think I give a damn about your experiments?" His humoured grin quickly twisted into a scowl, and with clenched and shaking fists he continued on. "The reason I'm alive dumbass, has nothing to do with you! The only reason I'm alive now," Keith hissed, brushing some hair from over his nose, "Is to take out the guy who made a fool of me last time... And now that one's down, there's only one more to go... If you think you're going to be the one fighting dear 'Joey', you've got another thing coming," he sneered, bracing himself only to throw a locked and ready duel disk forward. "I'm not giving him up for anyone, you hear! But you know," he added idly as the others stared, "I just got back to this world... Not quite used to this duel-disk crap... So how about it Richie Merced? Let's duel! This time, you can be the guinea pig!"

---

Stalling was and had always been one of the less desired of distractions in situations such as this Seto decided, face twisting into a scowl as the doors on-screen locked for Yugi and his defeated 'friend'. She'd had a nasty suspicion that Yugi's naive trust would get him in this mess... But she hadn't expected that suspicion to be correct this time.

One would have hoped that the 'other' Yugi would have stopped it, but no! Now they were stuck there, which meant that instead of waiting for him to get up here and provide enough distraction for her to actually do something, she would have to do something else. Something she really... Really... Didn't want to do.

Though she supposed Mokuba would get some fun out of it. "Well," she muttered dryly, pulling Tenma's attention away from the screens. "I can't say much for your 'second place' Card Professor... If the 'normal' Yugi is a match for him," she went on, the man merely snorting in response.

"Please," he chuckled, stepping away from the computer. "Are you telling me that you would fare any better against him?"

The woman momentarily stiffened, before choosing her words semi-carefully while a fairly prideful voice in the back of her mind growled angrily. "There is only one person in this world who will ever defeat him," she told the man flatly, "And that's me. If it were you in that room," Seto added with a dark scowl, "You would have lost just as quickly, Tenma."

More chuckling was her answer, and the man before her moved to stand as he pulled something from his sleeve. "Hm! As though that matters behind closed doors," he sneered, fingering the card that he'd hidden away. "I only have one problem now and that problem is standing right before me 'Kaiba'..." Yes... That was true...

And she'd be giving him as much hell as she could until he left, regardless of how he saw that, she thought with a mental smirk. "Hn! Why not make this easier for both of us," she hissed 'warningly', despite knowing full well it would be ignored. "And leave the building now? Maybe then you'll stand a chance of escaping with a hair more than your own neck." Preferably severed, but regardless...

The answer was, of course, no. If anything Tenma was chuckling, a reaction that had the hairs on the back of her neck inexplicably rising up on end. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Hnhnhahaha... Hahahaaa! Dear 'Seto'," he sighed, ignoring the sudden hiss at the familiar use of names, "My project will enter its final phase in moments! I hold the key to success in my very hands, do you really think your threats mean anything to the 'Ja-shin'?" Ahhhh... She'd guessed that he would say something like that, but-

...Ja-shin..? "...Evil Gods?" she asked incredulously, eyes narrowing as she spotted the face of the card that was spinning in Tenma's hand. 'The Devil's Avatar', it read, the very words it held for title sending shivers down her spine despite her mind berating herself with the words 'it's only paper'. The card's power was listed as a mere pair of question marks, and the description was blacked out completely. It looked like a single smooth black sphere, a black 'sun' even... And as she made that connection she very quickly guessed what Tenma was rambling on about. "...You... You expect me to believe this?" she barked, gesturing to the card that the young man held. "There are only THREE God Cards in this world, and each of them are in Yugi's possession!"

"And yet," Tenma calmly countered, "The ja-shin are very much real." His gaze drew still more severe, and as though possessed he continued to speak before the again silent woman. "They are the cards that Pegasus himself disavowed... Cards that were never meant to exist," he 'whispered', "Cards that were never even meant to have a name..." Names..? Just why would the name matter to her she wondered, narrowing her eyes. Why..? Continuing to stare in obvious rage she grudgingly continued to listen, face continuing to pale as an unexplainable sense of unease continued to grow. "Pegasus may have created the God cards only to seal their power in Egypt but there were still other powers to consider," Tenma explained, the woman before him clenching her fists but still listening nonetheless. "While the Egyptian god cards are powerful enough to be Gods themselves," he continued, "The Ja-Shin were created with only one purpose. And that was, in the event that his inability to destroy what he created, to stop the possible rampage of the gods. To keep the gods in check," Tenma went on, gauging Seto's reaction. "To control the power that could not be controlled..."

Something that could keep something like those in 'check'? The cards whose 'holograms' were at one point larger than the destroyed 'Duel Tower' itself..! "Are you trying to tell me that these Ja-shin of yours are more powerful than the Egyptian Gods?" she hissed, not bothering to correct the fact that she forgot to refer to them as the cards they were. "You think that these 'cheap copies' of yours can come even close to matching them?" Assuming there were three of course, but-

"Of course," the madman chuckled 'amusingly', the speed of the response throwing Seto off momentarily. "Why would I lie about that? I've no reason...! Though I... Truly... Wonder," he went on, speech as choppy as it was refined, "Why it was that Pegasus never finished developing them... It's a shame really," Tenma decided with a sigh, the woman across him merely wondering what kind of power could possibly frighten Pegasus more than the Egyptian Gods, "But I think I understand now... He left these Gods for someone to continue in his stead. So that someone... So that I could carry out his will," he corrected madly, "And transfer it into these 'Ja-Shin'! And this God," the man laughed, the noise coming out almost as a feral snarl, "Will be the God who brings judgement onto Yugi Mutou for his actions..!"

Tch! She'd heard quite enough bullshit for one evening she decided. Hell... This was so ridiculous she could laugh- Was, laughing, to a slight extent. "Hnhnhnhnhn..." 'Pegasus' will'... "Hnhnhahaha..!" Honestly... "Ridiculous," she sneered, mouth twitching with a slight smirk. "I've already told you once before- Your cards won't stand against Yugi's! They might not be the trash I typically see people carrying around, but you wouldn't last five minutes... Even your brother stands more of a chance!" she added with a dark grin, only for it to almost freeze and collapse at the response she received.

This wasn't laughter any more. It was breathing. As though a switch had been flipped over Tenma seemed to shake, hair hanging over his eyes while one briefly widened with an insane gleam. "My brother," he repeated airily, mouth twisting up into a 'smile'. "I surpassed my brother the moment I received these cards... Don't stress yourself 'Seto'... I will beat Yugi. Even if 'no one else' can, I will, with the power of these Gods... Unless," Tenma added with a sneer, eyes closing back into near slits yet again, "You think you can take me out first..."

A chill almost identical to what would have been felt outside came over the room, the sensation of a breeze passing over them. Seto's eyes narrowed just moments before she made her decision, and as all plans to 'hold back' were thrown from mind the so-called wind increased. "HN! Why not," she 'asked' with a still darkening grin that was almost reminiscent of older times. "I'll take you on Tenma... I'll defeat you and deal with your so called 'Gods' myself..!"

"Well then," Tenma sneered. "Where shall we duel..?" Hn! There was only one 'real' option for that, she thought to herself.

"This way," she responded. "On the roof- we'll duel on the Apex Arena!"

---

The radios were crackling and shouts were filling the air and yet around them now it was completely silent. In another language that was only 'translated' by his mind a suited guard was wheezing warning to Saruwatari in panic over a radio, eventually collapsing as the man shouted angry demands of what was going on in response. 'I can't hear you,' the guard was snarling back to the weakened and beaten man, Katsuya only grimly amused by the panic that the former employee of the mansion was in. 'Speak louder! Speak-'

At this moment Saruwatari turned, the others of his team looking toward the elevator with wide eyes. "What is it," he barked in English, unsure gaze hidden by sunglasses. "What are you all doing?"

"It's the elevator sir," one of the men responded nervously. "Someone's using it..."

Saruwatari's scowl deepened with confusion, and he walked toward the door with his radio in hand. "That's impossible," the guard hissed in response, "It's lock-"

"Our cue," Katsuya said with a grin, the elevator slowing to a stop as he pulled a fist back. Not bothering to ask what he'd seen while 'spaced out' Honda did the same, Mokuba giving a wide, vicious grin combined with a thumbs up from behind. "Three... Two... One..!"

-dng-

"OOOOORRRRIIYYAAAAAA!"

A loud crack came over the air as the guards closest to the elevator were knocked away, Katsuya's shoe quickly rising to meet with a third face as the men stumbled and collapsed backward on each other. "YOU!" Saruwatari snarled as the teens fought their way forward, Mokuba blowing a quick raspberry as the two in front of him knocked down the men who were trying and failing to catch him now. "Jonouchi..! AND-" The guard paused, before settling with a scowling growl. "And YOU!" Um. Hadn't he said that already?

"Hahhh... No one knows my name anymore," Honda said with a sarcastic sigh, grinning as he elbowed a guard in the face. "It's almost pathetic..!"

"Ahhh, it's probably good news," his friend laughed in response, "Means that they can't call you out like some corny kamen rider show!"

Another guard fell beneath a swift roundhouse that was followed by a straight 'low' punch, before a guard making the mistake of attempting 'sneak attack' was thrown to the ground as well. "I like those shows," the teen said flatly, turning to Katsuya with a perfect expression of honesty. "Those are my favourite shows."

The blond briefly stopped, silent. "Wha- ... Seriously..?"

As the fallen guards stumbled back up the pair turned, Honda merely rolling his eyes to give in and follow after the third member of their party while his friend cracked his knuckles. "Heheheee... You dumb suits gonna get in our way too?" he asked with a grin, a few of them turning to each other briefly.

"...But... Isn't this one of Kaiba's guards?" Okay he caught the name 'Kaiba', and his weird head thing translated everything else so...

"You..." A second crack as the blond brought his foot down on the guard, grin twitching somewhat as he moved. "THERE'S A DIFFERENCE DAMN IT!"

"A-AAAHH!"

"UNCLE! UNCLE!"

"Take that!" One more punch in the face of the one who said that. "An' tha' an' tha' an 'tha!" Punch, punch, punch- (Damn it he was getting thirsty here...)

"Hey JONOUCHI," Honda called back, the teen already half way down the other hall. "Mokuba's already heading toward the server room, what the hell are you still doing!"

Katsuya blinked, looking up only briefly before tensing. "AH- You guys tell me this now!" he cried, jumping up to run after the two while the remaining guards gathered to chase them from behind. "C'mon, now everyone knows damn it!"

"Your fault!"

"No it ain't..!" He 'huffed', turning back briefly to send a kick toward his pursuers. "Haaahh... AH!"

"GOH-" The unlucky victim of the strike instantly grabbed at his gut, the rest of him flying against the pursuing guards to send them to the ground.

"Hehehehe..." Ooooh yea! "Try getting' outta tha' one morons!" With one last laugh the blond picked up speed, Saruwatari and the others groaning and struggling to untangle themselves from far behind.

"Gh... Damn it..! WE CAN'T LET THEM GET TO THE SERVER," he cried out from beneath the pile, "AFTER THEM!"

"Just... A second... Boss..!"

"Aaaaaagh...!"

Still laughing Katsuya grinned, skidding against the floor somewhat as he regained pace with the others. "Shit," he muttered to himself with a laugh. "Been so long since I fought someone with somethin' other than cards I was worried abou' gettin' rusty..."

"What was that," Honda asked as he turned back.

The blond shook it off. "Nothin', nothin'," his friend responded, still laughing quietly as he tried to catch his breath. Not the time to joke around, he warned himself, the pair following close behind Mokuba as the boy searched for a clear path to the server. After all... While they fought, Yugi was still somewhere in the building doing the same right? And Seto...

She was probably fighting too..!

---

"Man... What a nice view..." Willa Mette let out a long and relaxed sigh as he stared up at the cloudless sky above, unable to keep from smiling at the sight. "Hard to believe it's nothing but hell beneath right now," he muttered, adjusting his hands from beneath his head. He'd been up there for quite a while- only a few moments after the Kaiba brothers went inside actually. The stair-well house had a ramped side after all, so he'd figured 'why not'? The fence around the roof was certainly high enough for him not to accidentally fall off of, and while his own house back home was admittedly cool (in his opinion), the fact was that he could never see the stars this clearly from his own roof.

Which really said something given that he lived outside the city, but regardless. The sky above him was only slightly marred by the city lights and the lights of the arena just beside and beneath him, and from his position on top of the stairwell roof he was honestly wondering if he was going to fall asleep.

And then the door opened, and out stormed Seto Kaiba with Yakou Tenma in tow, the first looking as though he was caught between excitement and rage while the other was eerily calm. "W-Woah... Woah...!" He muttered swiftly, barely keeping himself from rolling (ironically) on top of the pair in shock. "What on earth..!"

The pair turned briefly, Kaiba being the one to stop as Tenma headed for the arena with a smirk. "Hn! So you're still here then?" she asked with a slight snarl, eyebrow raised as the teen shrugged.

"Well, hate to break it to you 'Mr. Kaiba', but... You locked me out." As Willa gave a somewhat false smile to go with this he watched the famed duelist snort once again, before turning to face Tenma whilst walking onto the arena.

"Tenma," he growled, teeth grinding half to dust while Willa shrugged from behind. "I can't believe this... You have your 'men' climbing this tower like tiny, useless ants..!"

Ants! Oh come on! "Hey! I don't completely agree with that there, pal!"

"Hnhnhnhnhn..." Well wasn't that great. Evidently his boss did. Though at least there was no response from Kaiba on the 'pal' remark.

At the moment in fact, Kaiba had turned back to his opponent to click his dueldisk into place, slipping a deck of cards in with clearly rage-filled eyes. "Lets get this match over with," the man hissed, Willa eventually shrugging and moving to a cross-legged observation position. "You've already pushed my temper far, far enough for one lifetime..!"

Still more chuckling entered the air, the observer's own words coming back to mind as he watched almost boredly. "Hnhnhnhn... And what a temper," Yakou commented, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement. "As you stand before me in your 'rage', my project comes closer and closer to its completion... Why... I don't know why you're even bothering to fight," he laughed, his opponent visibly stiffening with a growing anger. "As a duelist of your calibre, you should understand completely the meaning of 'power'... And as someone of your level of power," he added darkly, "You don't even have a fraction of what it takes to stop what now comes to a close here."

Oooooh... That was probably not the best thing to- "Are you saying I'll lose," Kaiba hissed. "To YOU!" Yeeep. Yep, and there was the silently known, world-wide based 'Kaiba-Temper' Willa thought to himself with a wince, covering one ear as Kaiba continued. "Tenma... Your 'Ja-shin' have bloated your ego if you think even a scrap of your words are close to the truth," the CEO 'chuckled', the action clearly a hair away from incredulous rage. "If your 'Ja-Shin' are truly 'Gods' to rival Yugi's own then prove it to me now! Show me those cards..! I'll tear you apart and make you and your so-called 'ja-shin' kneel at my FEET!" he roared. "I'll reduce your project to nothing but ashes Tenma... START THE DUEL!" Oooooh, harsh, the 'audience' decided with a wince.

But nonetheless expected, he decided. Never, ever imply a power-gap outside a duel to Seto Kaiba's face. Especially when the guy was in a mood. Neeeeeever... It was one thing when, as he himself had been able to spot on the CEO's arrival, he was in a somewhat irritated mood, and they had been dueling. That sort of thing came with the job as it were... So at least then all that happened was the guy getting ticked off and setting a nasty combo on his ass. But this was like setting off a bomb.

A really, really BIG bomb. An absolutely fucking HUUUUUGE-

It was about now that Willa realized the first move was about to be had, the cards pulled into each player's hand and the first to play decided. It was also about then that Willa realized he was going to see nothing but the backs of each monster's head at this rate. "Weeeeell shit," he muttered to himself, turning to the ramp he'd used to get up. "How the hell do I get down..." Lets see... Right foot first, hand on the roof...

"My turn first!" Kaiba announced, the shout just about causing Willa to lose footing. "I set a card face down, and summon the Material Bat in defense mode! End turn!" Material Bat? Managing to slip down to the roof floor Willa blinked, watching as a seemingly robotic and stereotypically designed 'Vampire Bat' flapped its wings on the field. Hoh... So these were those new 'material' monsters then...

Well, they supposedly had a lot behind them so... "I set two cards face down," Yakou began in response, fixing his opponent with a darkening glare. "End turn."

"En-" END! Two face downs and he was ending his turn? "What the hell," Willa hissed to himself from the side of the roof, Kaiba as well staring with wide and even cautious eyes. "Is that hand trouble or what..!" Did he have a crappy draw, did he just want to lay a trap..?

And what foot went where, he was going to fall at this rate... "Tch... My turn!" Kaiba announced in the end, drawing his next card and switching it with another from his hand. "And I summon the Material Lion in attack mode! Now... LION," he ordered, Willa narrowing his eyes at the side while the lion 'paced' in the air. "ATTACK DIRECTLY!"

With a synthetic snarl the lion bounded across the field, 'leaping' into the air above Yakou and spreading wide, razor sharp claws. And as Yakou allowed the claws to connect, wincing and pulling back to hold where the hologram struck, the field stared in shock. "Kts..." No way...

"What..." No WAY...

No way he'd just taken that entire strike directly! "You... You didn't activate a trap when I summoned a monster or even attacked," Kaiba chuckled almost hesitantly, expression caught between a confused frown and success. "Your two face down cards are nothing but bluffs, aren't they?"

"We'll see," Yakou responded coolly, his opponent instantly losing the tense smile.

"Tch..." The apparent soon-to-be winner of the match drew his next card, glancing at it only briefly before setting it on the field. "I set a card face down and end my turn," the teen announced, before moving to cross his arms. "Turn end." Alright...

Kaiba still had the advantage, Willa told himself. Now if they could just figure out what Yakou's strategy was. It was really starting to bug him now that his spell and trap row was filling up..! Yakou quite calmly ignored this slowly growing curiosity however, merely drawing and setting another card face down. There were three on the field now... And as he looked forward, he allowed his hand to rest near his side. One card face down... "Turn end," he said flatly, opponent looking more and more as though someone had just spat in his face.

Quite honestly, watching Kaiba level that glare across the field, Willa wasn't surprised. 'Spells & Traps' was one of the hardest decks to play in the game. A deck made of nothing but traps and spells with not a monster to be found, relying either on spell card damage to whittle the lifepoints away or on Trap-Monsters to swarm the field. In the right hands, it could be a hell of a challenge. But not to a professional duelist.

And certainly not to Seto Kaiba. The very idea was likely insulting even- and as the teen took his next turn his 'audience' had a fairly good feeling as to what was going to happen next. Yakou...

Was going down.

Hard. "My turn..!" Kaiba snarled loudly, slapping a card onto the disk as a ribbed and robotic looking scorpion appeared to the field. "And I summon the Mosaic Scorpion! Watch closely Tenma," the duelist continued to growl, all three of the mosaic monsters separating and reforming in the air behind him. "I won't need my strongest monster to defeat you... I'm going to finish you off in this turn!"

---

The pieces behind her shuffled and clicked just as programmed and the wind about them howled viciously whilst they did so. On the side Willa Mette watched as though they were in a completely separate world but quite frankly she could care less about him, and had more or less forgotten he was even there. Instead, her attentions were turned on her opponent. To think... That this scum... This filth would dare to try using such a ridiculous deck against her in a match...

She was tired of this bullshit. She was tired of Tenma and anything associated with him- and mark her words she would finish this NOW. "Behold," she roared, the pieces all connected in a thundering crash of metal and stone, "The Mosaic Manticore- the Chimera!" As though to mirror her rage the holographic monster howled loudly, humanoid face staring forward with sightless eyes whilst bat wings spread far behind it. Her expression however, quickly turned back to shock.

Across her on the field an identical roar could be heard, a howl that came with the image of a monster identical to her own. The enormous manticore, with a scorpion's tail and the face of a man, eyes white and wings spread almost like hands behind it...

The same monster she'd just summoned was on her opponent's field..! "Hnhnhnhnhn..." Seto's eyes snapped to Tenma, the woman's fists clenched and stiff. "I activated one of my 'bluffs'," the American laughed, only for his laughter to snap back into a snarling scowl. "'Chronic Deja-Vu! I don't think you know this one," he continued, Seto merely ignoring the CEO in lieu of reading the card's printing itself. "With this card I duplicate the monster you summoned just now... So try and break through to my lifepoints with that." That...

Summoning an exact duplicate gave him that sort of comfort! "K... Khnhnhn... Hahahahaaa... HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" If she attacked now, there was no doubt about it. The manticore would both kill each other, and they would both be left with cleared fields. But there was a draw-back to this plan so obvious that it made her wonder how her opponent could ever have been a threat. How this opponent of hers could ever pose a danger as he already was... Perhaps, she should have kept that in mind- but she didn't, and couldn't, and the chuckling died down only to allow her the time to speak. "Did you think," she asked with a sinister grin, "That these half-baked tactics of you would work on me? Try again Tenma," she laughed, clicking the button on her duel disk as a card swung upward. "I activate the trap card Alpha Wave Radiation!" The card swung upward in an instant, and as it did so it seemed to release a pulse of light. The field became coated in a thin layer of dust, and the cards depicting the monster's power instantly dropping by three-hundred points.

Something that Tenma, as co-owner of the company that created the card, already knew would happen. "Why bother?" he asked confusedly, watching as his opponent's smirk slowly grew. "That card affects your monster just as much as it does mine, they're still-"

Hnhnhnhnhn... "I haven't finished my turn," she said with a dark grin, Tenma almost flinching from across her while his expression dropped. A single card was placed on the field and instantly her own manticore's attack reverted to normal, triumph clearly visible on its summoner's face while the card's face revealed itself to the field. "The spell card 'Vaccine Inoculation' leaves my monster immune to the virus... Which makes the true manticore more powerful than yours! NOW, MANTICORE," she roared, a blast of flames growing within the mechanical beast's mouth. "ATTACK- BLAST BURN!" In a roar of flames all that could be seen was a grimacing Tenma, the field cleared of the manticore and replaced with a lion and bat identical to what she herself had sent to the grave to summon her own monster. Narrowed eyes were looking over the monsters in silence and with a superior smirk Seto held her arms crossed. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Be thankful," she told her opponent. "Manticore's effect has left you with two useless materials for another chimera. If you had a third one you could stand a chance at bringing it back, but as worthless clones this is all you have..." Nothing but to monsters and crushed hope, no doubt... And as she was answered with silence Seto quickly regained focus, gaze growing cold yet again. A blast of wind blew about them almost in anger, and with an impatient frown she adjusted her stance just slightly. "I'm done with this turn," she said plainly. "Now... Draw your next card!"

"Very well," her opponent hissed, drawing and setting a single card in almost the same motion. "In that case allow me to use these two materials you left me; I sacrifice both monsters to tribute summon the Angel of evil," Tenma announced, both mechanoids exploding into pillars of pixelated light to form robes of black and violet in its place. "The Marquis of Darkness," he called out further, "Belial! And Belial," he explained smugly, shadowed eyes taking form beneath the black winged angel as it stood across Seto on the field, "Cannot be attacked by a creature of less than seven levels in power..." Seven levels...

Another pathetic shield then, looking at Belial's 'power' if it could be called that in this case. "Hmph. So that's your 'plan' then," she noted, closing her eyes for just a moment as she briefly reigned in her current reaction to the idea. "Block a level four monster from attack with your so-called 'angel of darkness'... ...I see now," Seto continued, opening cold eyes back to her opponent and watching as the teen stiffened. "This is all you're worth as a duelist... You have nothing left that can convince me of anything else." And the more she spoke the more a low growl developed in the back of her throat, the more she could hear the roar of the dragon she held in her hands. She had told herself that she would not need to use Blue-Eyes to wipe this scum from the face of the earth... But tonight, she would have to back down on those words. "It's MY turn now," she snarled, drawing her next card and switching it with the dragon in her hands. "And the card I need to crush you is already in my hand... I activate the Manticore's effect and revert it to its materials," Seto announced, a slowly growing and possibly crazed smile coming over her face, "And using two of those materials as tribute, I summon the most powerful of monsters... RISE," she ordered, the light from the destroyed sacrifices swirling into the wind. "AND DESTROY THIS FIEND BEFORE US... BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!"

"GRAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Pearly white wings broke free from the light that had yet to form, tearing through the air and through the sky itself. "RAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOO!" With a single wing-beat the air moved back from the arena, and with a blood-curdling roar the dragon landed to her side, scales shimmering beneath the moonlit sky and glowing a pale silver. Snarls did not fade from the air- blue eyes turned and faced only their opponent, as though the dragon itself knew what sort of a threat and annoyance the man brought.

And with nothing but a nod, the dragon fired up a growing blast of light from within its jaws, scarcely waiting for the command to strike. "Attack," Seto snarled, the lightning already shooting forward from close at her side. "BURST STREAM!"

This time her opponent was pushed back more than just slightly by the force of the blast, Tenma's arm held stiffly before his face. The ashes, completely synthetic in form blew over on the wind, and as Tenma looked forward Seto's eyes continued to narrow with rage. Compared to all fights before her... None had even compared to this in the level of pointlessness she saw. None.

A fact that had her loathing, more and more, the fact that she was standing on this arena to begin with. "You aren't worthy of any form of 'god'," she hissed, face twisting in disgust as she stared her opponent down. "Yakou Tenma... Leave your Gods and get off of my property!"

"..." Tenma's response... Was almost expected, the woman admitted to herself mentally. Silence. Endless silence with shadowed eyes, hair hanging in front of it like a tattered curtain. If this had been anyone else, she would have expected a look of defeat. In fact, for a brief moment as she looked over the field she thought she could see that very emotion hovering over him now.

But he instead continued to stand in silence, and as the wind blew around them the woman took a card from her hand to continue on... If only to get this over with through more 'bearable' means. "I set a card face down," she stated clearly. "And I end my turn... But for now, your fighting is futile," she sneered, mouth twisting into a competitive grin despite herself. "And by this point, you should just admit defeat and surrender. You can fight all you want if you like... All it proves is that you're just as pathetic a duelist as I expected, if not more so..."

Her words had begun to have an effect. She knew they were beginning to have an effect, and the very sight was leaving only a growing smirk on her face. This game as hers as it always had been... It was hers and Yakou knew it, his hand rising toward his deck in a motion to surrender. Hovering above it, his body shaking and trembling on the spot...

And suddenly, with a wide and crazed eye he snapped that hand to draw a card, an audible crack entering the air as his head turned to face her. Tenma wasn't surrendering, she realized in a dull instant, the fallen smirk replaced with a determined scowl on her face. Well. That was just fine with her! If Tenma wanted to keep fighting then she would make sure he left this field entering the jaws of the ultimate monster... But first.

To see what Tenma spat out next... The insane gleam in his eyes had been replaced with nought but cold severity, and a stone desire to continue to fight. Taking the card he held in his hand he set it upon the field, his confident and almost relaxed posture restored once more. "I summon Agathion in defense mode," the man announced simply, a small flaming demon of sorts coming to the field in a crouch. "End turn."

...This... "Gh... Hahaha..." This one turn, and Tenma's counter was this... "Hahahahaha..! That... What's that supposed to be," she snarled, amusement swiftly turning to hate as she pointed toward the monster. "Even for a duelist postponing the inevitable this is pathetic! It's as though you're asking me to overlook it completely..! As though you're just throwing this duel away and wasting even MORE of my time!" the woman went on, her voiced rage leaving no effect what so ever on her opponent. Well then... "My turn," she spat, drawing her next card. A single glance told her all she needed about the card she'd been waiting for, and that same card was set on the field instantly. "First," Seto began, "I play the spell Cross-Shift! Replacing the Material Lion with the Lord of Dragon!" As the cards arose so did strands of synthetic light, the pixels forming the lion shifting and transforming as a card was ejected from the deck to replace the Lion's own. In moments the bone armed dragon Lord stood upon the field, and without even waiting for the light to settle the duelist continued on. "Next, I activate my face down card, Dragon Awakening Melody," she called out, a large and almost scaled lute appearing in the Dragon Lord's hands. "By discarding one monster, I'm adding two other dragons to my hand... And... Following that," the woman shouted, voice growing louder and louder as her strategy unfolded, "A spell from my hand... Flute of Summoning Dragon! And with this..."

"RAAAAAA-AAAAAOOOOOOO-OOOOOOO!"

"I summon from my hand the two other Blue-Eye's White Dragons! But don't worry Yakou," Seto chuckled, the roars and snarls of the now triad of dragons filling the air from behind her, the two magnificent beasts having appeared in a literal flash of light despite the usual slow mist that would do so. "Despite everything, these dragons didn't inherit the Manticore's vaccine; they can't attack you now... But the other dragon can! GO, BLUE-EYES," she ordered, the immune dragon giving a roaring battle cry as the flames burned in her throat. "ATTACK, WITH BURST STREAM!"

"AAA-RRRAAAAOOOOOOO!"

This time, though the attack was just as powerful as before, Tenma stood unflinchingly in the flames. He merely held his eyes closed in calm, hand at his side as he slowly opened them to look forward. Silence settled over the field for a few moments- Tenma stared and through those moments Seto continued to let her rage grow. "My turn is over," she said after a few impatient moments. "Make your move!"

"Pass."

Again both herself and Willa at the side stared in silence, nothing but shock on their faces before the expression began to change into a twisted grin in order to 'cope'. "Well..." the woman hissed, eyes shadowed somewhat in her hair. "Here I had hoped to catch a glimpse of your 'Wicked God'," she chuckled, "But here you are giving in..." This duel that she was wasting her time with... This duel that wouldn't seem to end for anything... "I was right to call you pathetic," she spat darkly. "You're even less so- a worm could defeat you with ease..! It's my turn now," Seto roared. "And," she continued, sparing the card she drew a mere glance before staring her opponent down with an expression that could have rivalled one of her opponent's own, "It looks as though my deck wants to settle this now..! With the most powerful monster in existence..! I activate the spell Polymerization from my hand," Seto announced. "Fusing the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons into the ultimate beast..!"

"RAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A vortex of incredible size appeared behind her, and with momentarily closed eyes she began to laugh. The dragons were pulled back and into the funnel behind her, a spiral of energy that coalesced to the ground and air behind her...

Clawed feet gripped the arena and the roof-top both. Three magnificent dragon's heads rested atop a body of immense size, and enormous white wings blanketed the sky as they stretched back. The scales seemed to emit a light of their own, not even marred by the small black crests on their brow. But as she opened her eyes, that as not what she saw.

"No..."

It was something else.

"Hnhnhnhnhn..."

More snarls met the air, whilst her opponent laughed, and the blood drained from her face. "Impossible..!"

"HnhnHAHAHAA!"

Standing across her... Three... Three Blue-Eyes...

HER three Blue-Eyes..! "Take a look at my trap," Tenma cackled insanely, the three beasts crouching almost morosely from across the field. "The Junk Dealer! I've been waiting for you to summon that dragon," he sneered, the cards in his hand seeming to smoke as he grinned, "And you certainly know how to deliver... Thanks to you, I now have three monsters on my side of the field, three monsters you threw away for your so-called 'Ultimate Monster.'..!" No...

The three dragons were going to... "Impossible," she repeated yet again, unable to believe what she saw. "Impossible..."

"Hnhnhahaha... Hnhnhahahahaha... It's plenty possible, 'Seto'... Just watch! You can't do anything else now... So watch and wait," Tenma thundered, the formerly clear sky beginning to darken as the snarls of the Ultimate dragon behind her began to die down. "As your beloved pets become your NIGHTMARE! The God which will destroy you sits in my very hand, and now," he howled as the growing storm around them intensified, "My Ja-Shin will descend upon me, and with him I bring absolute destruction! WATCH," Tenma roared, the white dragon's seeming to melt and emulsify before her wide and quivering eyes. "Let me show you!" he screamed, the rotted black 'shadow' rising up to the sky above while the sacrificed monsters cried and collapsed in on their own decaying flesh. "I summon... THE DEVIL'S AVATAR!"

If fear had been what filled her before the monster appeared then fear of a new kind was what she felt now. Stricken stiff and pale at the sight of a 'black sun' she stood, sweat dripping down the side of her face. Her entire being went cold, unable to move. Even the dragon behind her fell silent, and with horrific realization the woman managed to take a single step back from the evil god before her.

And as though to spit in the face of her fear, the great sphere began to change shape, sprouting wings and limbs before her very eyes. "The Devil's Avatar will now take form," Tenma said with a leering grin. "Watch," he hissed, three snarling dragon's heads forming as the shadows stretched forward. As a tail that could level cities grew, and as claws the size of a very person sharpened and took form. As what should have been white scale and beautiful blue eyes...

Were dyed black...

"Sink into the deepest darkness, Seto Kaiba..."

"RAAAAAA-AAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOO!"

Black eyes stared her down, and immediately her sense of control, despite all she knew and was, began to fade. Fear began to sink into the air, fear and a pounding darkness unlike anything she'd felt in years... This...

Was a 'Ja-Shin'.

A monster with the power to mimic her dragon in size and shape, but while the colour seemed to be the only thing 'off' there as more. This was no mere 'copy'. It was not just a 'dragon', a creature of immense power... And the sensation of dread that was filling every fibre of her being now was something she wanted more than anything to disappear as her opponent laughed.

"Hnhnhnhnhn... The Devil's Avatar lacks a body of its own," she could hear through the blood that rushed in her ears, "But don't let its new shape fool you," Tenma hissed, right eye wide with madness and his left narrowed in cruel mirth. "The ultimate dragon gave it this shape, but that isn't all that has changed... The Avatar's power is the same as your ultimate dragon's own... Plus one." One... Point... As her face continued to fall in shock Tenma's grin widened further, his laughter reaching a fever pitch with his words. "How does it feel!" he cackled. "With a mere point difference as a gap... But a gap which is nonetheless impossible to surpass! It's a decisive difference isn't it," Tenma sneered, the wide eye only narrowing slightly as Seto swallowed. "But one that highlights a difference in skill nonetheless..." A single... Point...

The ultimate dragon had more power than even the Obelisk. It had the potential to defeat the Egyptian Gods that Yugi held, it was the monster she would have used against him... But even that power... Even that was being surpassed she realized, unable to hear the voice at the back of her mind that screamed for her to realize it wasn't merely that. That screamed for her to realize there was something else, that the monster before her was more than a hologram, it was doing something it had done something, Blue-Eyes was no longer as she normally was and this thing had caused it..!

The virus did not affect a god, no matter how malevolent in intent. A god was a god- that was all. 'Attack,' she heard through the air, eyes widening as they turned from her opponent to the central mouth of the dragon above. 'Attack...'

"BURST STREAM OF DESTRUCTION!"

"RAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO!" It was incredible...

All the power in the air, all that was pushing against herself and her dragon's very being and she could still hear it roar... She could see it rear back even as its now almost holographic form moved in front of her, open mouths wide and snarling before becoming nothing but ashes on the wind. It was only one point... Just one, not even a scratch...

And yet there she was struggling to stand. Watching as the form of the black dragon melted and collapsed into a single sphere before changing yet again. Changing to a monster that could have easily been defeated by the dragon it had just destroyed. "...Bastard," she managed to rasp, eyes narrowing in bitter rage. "So now you're copying the dragon lord then..?"

"The Dragon Lord with an extra point of power," Tenma sneered, chuckling under his breath almost hysterically. At the side of the field and from across the CEO both, there was nothing but silence on the air. A stiff and horrified silence that mixed with whatever feeling of negativity was the most prevalent. Rage... Loathing... "I put a card face down and end my turn," the American stated plainly.

Then it was hers... "Gh..." No matter how powerful her monsters were, they had no chance to counter the Avatar's attack. So long as it duplicated the highest number she was-

Wait...

The Avatar took the stats of the highest monster of its position she 'reminded' herself, running the facts through her mind almost in desperation. If it was attack it mirrored the highest attack, defense the highest defense. So long as the opposite stat still opposed it in power, there was a chance. Tenma was no fool- he wouldn't put something as powerful as a Ja-Shin in defense mode; not when, no matter what, it could out class her attack. However...

"Dragon lord enters defense mode, and I summon the Material Armadillo," Seto announced, a robotic creature almost similar to something she'd seen once before appearing to the field and curling into a ball as her other monster crouched down. "Also defense mode!" And the Ja-shin couldn't possibly beat that, she thought to herself. It would be 901 against 2000- an easy win.

Almost. "Hnhnhn... HAHAHAHA!" Tenma still laughed.

And that was never a good sign.

"So..." Never. A good sign. "You think you can stave off the end with this, do you," he cried, arm seeming to blur as he moved it over his duel disk to mirror words from earlier in the duel. "Hnhnhahahaaaaa... You can't escape the darkness so easily... Activate the trap Comparable Level! At the cost of half my lifepoints," Tenma explained, "I can summon as many monsters as it takes for their power to equate to your own!" As many as three levels..? But-

With widening eyes the woman watched as the holograms swarmed the field, her body locking completely into place. Level one, 'Angel 01'.

Level one, 'Angel 01'.

Level one, 'Hourglass of Time'...

Three monsters. Three useless monsters in ordinary circumstances, and yet as she stared it was impossible to shake the growing fear she felt. She never even called for her turn to end... Merely stared, frozen, watching... Watching as the time slipped away through her grasp...

"No one can stop the power of the Ja-shin," Tenma hissed, eyes narrowing as he drew his next card. "Now... Tremble in fear, Seto Kaiba... The Darkness is coming now. I must thank you," he continued, grinning madly. "You've allowed me to summon another God... A god whose power is that of fear itself..! I sacrifice three monsters," he announced, the three miniscule monsters scattering and exploding into ash on the wind. "And I summon the second of the Ja-shin... ARISE! THE DEVIL'S DREADROOT!"

The ashes from the monsters swirled into a massive vortex as the Avatar itself did the same. Legs were the first to form, along with yellowed bone armor on pitch black skin. Wings lined in ivory stretched back from the monster's form, the Avatar creating his own to do the same... And as the monster appeared her heart quickened in pace. Any blood remaining in her face drained from it completely and for a moment it was as though she couldn't breathe. She could no longer hear the wind, nor Tenma's words. She could no longer feel the cold sweat she'd broken into, nor the sensation of the cards in her hand. She could only look forward as two mammoth sized demons clad in an armor almost ironically similar to that of the Obelisk's on clenched their fists, Tenma's final words finally breaking past the deafening fear that pressed down on her.

"Don't worry," he chuckled, "About the third of these Evil Gods... There's no need for you to meet this one. After all," he laughed, hands held to his side with a howling, cackling cry, "This is where you die..! ATTACK," he thundered, a card swinging upward on his field. "With the trap power break, the Dreadroot first destroys all your monsters," Tenma roared, the woman across him getting only an instant's notice to duck behind her arm as the holograms exploded in her face. "And next," he hissed, staring forth with a single widening eye as his opponent forced herself to stand before the blackened demon about to attack. "Avatar..." Gh... "Thank you again for your assistance," Tenma sneered, the Avatar pulling a fist back and taking aim. "Because of this match, the R.A. Project has entered its final phase of completion... Now fly into darkness!" he cackled, a fist slamming into her and throwing her back against the edge of the arena without warning. "FEAR KNOCKDOWN!"

"GH-HHH... ...GHHA-GH-"

The air from her lungs rushed out with enough force that she momentarily pondered if being hit by a truck would have hurt less. But despite the force behind the blow it was her own feet which carried her to the edge of the arena. Her wide eyes could do nothing but stare through the pain at the ground, chest heaving as she struggled to breathe and struggled to completely comprehend what had just happened.

Until this point, only Yugi and Pegasus had ever beaten her- and the latter did it through cheap tactics and mind-games. But it was the jashin which stood before her now, even as the playing field 'vanished' which had done so now.

With a direct attack of four thousand and one points.

Still struggling to breathe she began to collapse, knees striking the metal arena floor as she brought a hand to her chest. She'd lost. Her building... Was about to fall into the hands of some crazed upstart, some twisted, disgusting..!

'Kaiba...' she could remember Yugi telling her in their last match. 'You saw what I did, didn't you?' he had asked. 'Pharaoh or Priest... Enemies or even friends,' he'd gone on, 'It doesn't matter who they were or how they came to that field. What was carved in that stone were their spirits as duelists and warriors, carrying with them the battle itself..! And that battle," Yugi had gone on, the words now pounding against her skull as she continued to force herself to breathe, 'Has been passed through the years to us now...!' That battle...

Was one that was destined...

She'd built this arena to fight Yugi properly. She'd re-built this tower as part of a promise and a dream, shared with her brother. This was the tower where everything came together, where so many things were meant to happen, where her brother was already rushing to save alongside those he'd found in this building. And now... Those dreams and promises were sinking down into the shadow at her feet, twisting swirling, falling out of her grasp... Falling...

With horror filled eyes she moved back on one foot, watching as a black sludge not unlike the Avatar rose up from the ground to change form. Morphing from the ooze and snarling as it formed a neck and jaw, gnashing teeth like razors and flexing wings blacker than the pits of the seas. And a blue eyes white dragon, with all the ferocity of the world and not a scrap of familiarity opened up its maw, lunging toward her- "Hah..."

She wasn't there, Yugi's 'penalty' was over, she wasn't there...

The dragon continued to take form, cries mirroring the creatures of nightmares long past, teeth coming toward her face-!

She wasn't there, she'd come out of that, the nightmares were gone-

With black flames in its throat, and an ear splitting roar-

"HHHAA... AAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAHH!-"

It was gone in a flash, nothing but a puddle sinking into the ground remaining where the dragon stood. But despite that her eyes stared at nothing but the space where the monster had risen from, her hand clenching the fabric of her coat even tighter as she attempted to regain her breath. Across from her the Dreadroot had finally started to vanish. The fear began to evaporate from the air, and though it was a slow to fade emotion it was fading nonetheless.

But while the Dreadroot faded, the Avatar remained. As formless and black as a devoured sun, perfectly smooth and perfectly round it hovered above the field, watching, waiting... As its servant gave a cunning and dark 'smile', walking steadily toward his fallen opponent. "You know Seto," he began, ignoring the laboured breathing and the slowly tensing grip on the arena's smooth floor from at his feet, "I'm really quite glad that we had this duel..! Yugi's path came to an end after all," he continued with an almost halting laugh, "And I was in a spot..!" He briefly knelt down to put a hand on the woman's shoulder, confident that despite the woman's resulting expression she would be too weak to even thro the gesture off. "...You see this duel was more than a gathering of power," Tenma whispered, shaking his head as crazed chuckling came from within his words. "It as more than just a clash of Gods..! Of all the duels in this building the cards have never resonated so strongly... And NOW," he roared triumphantly, standing back up to turn and face the enormous 'god' before him, "As the last test subject summons the third God, this project will meet its end! NOW," Tenma laughed triumphantly, "With the final Ja-shin... The light of all the cards in the world will bring a man back to life! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN," he screamed insanely, a pillar of energy that none could even recognize or describe now rising up from before the man, "And WATCH! Listen... FEEL the energy in the air," Tenma howled, ignorant to the grinding teeth and steady, murderous glare that now looked to him from behind strands of brown hair. "This is the beautiful burning of a soul... The beginning of new life..! And right here... Right now... THE REBIRTH OF AVATAR IS COMPLETE!" Complete..?

Despite all her pain and despite all her rage Seto's mind managed to clear in that moment and that moment only, her eyes following the crackling pillar of light as it shot from the centre of the field and into the sphere that was 'Avatar'. She'd told herself what she would do after all. She knew what she came here to do..! And this 'LOSS'...

Would not stop her now..! "...Mokuba," she whispered under her breath, the hand on her chest silently and discretely pressing down the button for the radio clipped there. "Listen very carefully... To what I'm about to say. I need you to enter in this code... Exactly when I say so."

---

Far below Seto Kaiba and possibly even Jonouchi and those with him, the room that Richie had left behind had grown dark and cold, with nothing but a faint and pleading voice audible within it. "Please," the voice cried softly, repeating himself over and over. "Open the door..."

Tiny, weak, and pounding 'thuds' were being made upon the door between the arena room and the halls outside it right now. Unknown to the boy that was weakly slamming a fist against the metal, still crying and whispering for someone to let him out, the situation was now much more dire than it had been. In one room a computer sparked and screamed, all those within frantically searching for the cause while one lone person clutched his head and forced back a loud and agonized cry. In another a fist collided with the shocked and weakened face of another, the victor of a bloodied and vengeance driven match ripping the duel disk from his victim's arms before stalking down the halls after his goal. Behind him, Gekkou was still bowed, his head almost resting on the ground in a state not unlike Yugi. The 'other' Yugi had floated ahead... Desperately searching for any of the others, if only to find a way to open the way forward. Because for all the doors that lead into this room, there are none that lead out.

And they were, without a doubt... Trapped.

"Please," he whispered desperately, head thumping against the door as he slowly collapsed against it in exhaustion. "Please, please just let us out... Please..."

'Yugi...'

The boy blinked, head snapping back up with a jolt as a faint voice met his ears. As though wind had blown through the room something had sounded around him, blowing gently against his face and hair. It couldn't be right, he found himself thinking. What he'd heard had been scarcely above the sound of a whisper, yet spoken with the force of a panicked cry. As he looked around now though, there was no source to the voice... If anything, it seemed as though he was hearing things.

'Yugi... Help...'

And yet, there it was again. Yugi frowned, struggling to hear the faint cry that seemingly came from nowhere. The voice he was hearing sounded almost familiar, but he just couldn't place it... So what...

As he looked around he felt something warm from the deck holster at his side, along with a pressuring sense of foreboding at the back of his skull. With a slight swallow he looked down at the case in question, slowly opening it only to pale.

The voice was louder now.

'Yu... Gi... Help... Me...' No...

Anzu...

With shaking hands he pulled out the card with his friend's face on it, staring at it with horror filled eyes for only a moment before hurriedly slipping it onto his duel disk and turning it on. "A... Anzu," he called out, the holographic image of the woman appearing before him with deathly pale countenance. Even at a number of feet away the hologram's image was crystal clear, and it was all he could not to shout more than he did. Her hair was almost tattered in appearance; frazzled and dull, with thick bags hanging beneath her eyes. And her eyes seemed even more dull in comparison to all this, barely able to gather the strength to look toward the one who summoned her as she curled in on herself. "Anzu," the boy repeated, eyes tearing up at the very sight of his clearly dying friend. "Anzu..!"

"Yu... Gi..." She rasped, voice grating the air like nails to chalkboard. "Help... Help..." she pleaded, forcing a deep 'breath' of air into her lungs. "I'm... Scared..." she forced herself to say, reaching out with a shaking and even smoking hand. "Something... Something's coming," Anzu cried, her voice fading as Yugi stared in shock. "Something's rushing through... It's... Pushing me away..." she wept, now flat and almost colourless hair sticking to her clammy face. Her hand stretched closer... The woman attempted to take a step, Yugi himself attempting to will himself to move as well. "It's rushing into... Into..." All at once her eyes widened, and just as the one before her reached forward she pulled back, trembling in horror. "Yugi... Am I... Dead..?" Dead..? No...

No she wasn't, she wasn't... Why was she asking..! "Anzu..?"

"Am I... Going... Am I... Dead..." she repeated, water dotting her eyes as she began to smoke and crumble. Yugi's eyes continued to fill with tears, the boy shaking his head with desperation and disbelief at the sight.

"No," he whispered, his head slowly shaking more and more strongly as he ran toward the hologram that had appeared a few feet ahead of him in the air. "No... NO..! ANZU!"

"Yugi..." Her body was turning to ash, growing black, fading away... "Yu..." She was vanishing, smoking, misting out from existence, fading from reality for all time..! "I... I l..."

'Yu... Gi...'

No... His eyes shook, moving from side to side as bits of smoke hung through the air, his body frozen in place and his hand petrified before him. No..! The final pieces fell to the ground only to smoke and fade on contact... The lights in the room seemed to fade even more than they already had, and the normally comforting presence of his other self was only serving to enhance the horror in the room at this moment with the growing sensation of rage and despair from the spirit that had no returned to the millennium puzzle's confines. No..!

NO!

"ANZU!"

---

AN: OH GOD FRUIT AND VEGETABLES FROM THE SKY! -ducks the rain of rotten vegetation- AHHH! AHHHHH, I swear this'll be fixed next chapter, oh god!

First things first! NO. I am not DEAD. That would be horrible. Though it would explain absences...

Regardless. Numerous excuses that I will toss to you before saying 'actually it's my fault lol', but really, the biggest one is just all the excuses combined getting in the way. First off, the above chapter covers... Preeeeeetty much the entire fourth manga.

YEA. That is an ENTIRE MANGA up there, save a few little bits of chapter 31, along with chapter 32. Unfortunately, that is where the biggest roadblock was- I get Yu-Gi-Oh R through my local Library. However, each time I went, the fourth volume was taken out. So... I finally placed a hold, and, using the database that my library connects to, had them send a copy over.

This took a little over a week, which means it took a little over a week before I had a clear idea of what would happen this chapter. BUT!

Do not despair! I wasn't just sitting around! In addition to preparing for University (Something I am now attending; more on that below), I decided to take advantage of the fact that I had the fifth volume with me. Sooooo, while I'm still relying on a fairly unorthodox manner of reference for this arc, I at least have all I need written out from that for easy transfer to a chapter format.

ALSO, I typed out all the Past!Jou scenes, along with anything else that wasn't at least slightly manga reliant. Which cuts off a fair amount of typing time, as those scenes typically take the longest to think of. So yay! Things should be... Faster?

Don't count on that; it's quite likely that one and a half to two weeks will be the average for the next bit with schooling... Though I'll know more on that as the time comes and goes. Whatever the case though, I am still working on this! So don't worry if the chapter takes a it to appear!

Now then... Art will continue to be missing (Sorry Imadork!) due to the fact that, well... I'm in the art program. No fan-art tolerated! If anyone's reaaaaally curious I'll link them to any pictures of what I can take pictures of in that class though, but I'm not sure what you'd want with my sketch book...

Lots of music will be had though!

Now then...

Anonymous Review Responses

O- Oh! Thank you so much, Imadork..! I actually hadn't realized until the review that it's been a year..! (An entire year, holy CRAP...) In any case... On to your FIRST review...

The fact that you're laughing is actually not that surprising really... I know that when the full implications of what would happen if all this worked (If you haven't guessed yet, Tenma isn't summoning Pegasus despite what he thinks...), I end up in either giggles, or pulling a look of uneasy squick. JUST A LITTLE AWKWARD THERE...

And most would have been in the USA, but the Tenma brothers actually were in the castle at this time..! However, they were fairly far off, and Pegasus had specifically told them not to come to that wing until a certain time...

Which of course meant they were too late. Actually, one of the scrapped scenes for that arc involved Jou running into and then past an at that time very shy Yakou Tenma.

I... I really can't stop thanking you and everyone else for telling me things like this... (-weeping tears of joy in a corner-)

...Of course now, I feel like I just pulled a dick move, handing you all such a nasty cliffhanger right after saying that...

OH MAGGIEMAY.

Trust me, once it comes it won't stop for a while. The next arc is 'filler', and goes from September to April. There WILL be shipping/interaction! (Though I can tell you now that it will still be just as slow going as everything else, for accuracy's sake. But in a good way. I can guarantee you'll still enjoy it! ...Partially because I know what it's like to be on the other end of the fanfic.)

In any case, try and keep bugging to a minimum nonetheless, or I might end up distracted by it; and that just means more delay. (...Also... THREE JOBS! Holy SHI-)

Ooooh yea. I think that 'Matchmaker' is his destined career Iona.

Yeeesssss, I think this narcolepsy could do a little more than startle them though. And actually... I would not be at all surprised if that was her reaction.

Actually, I would not be surprised if she sent him to a doctor. (AAAAAHAHAHAAAA!) The sleep-fits stop once the Ja-shin are dealt with though, so that won't have to happen... Which is good, you really have to limit things like that...

In any case, I hope you liked the chapter! Here's to the next one!

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Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that is still bowing in apology... ...While sketching for FIN 110...

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Tod'ay's chapter is 'Taraph', and I picked it for accuracy this time...

'Taraph', you see, means 'Tears'.

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Truth be told, I have... Really mixed feelings about Scott. I mean, the guy was STONE COLD, and then suddenly at the end...

He was crying. I get why he was crying but... Holy shit, it's just so JARRING to see that happen..!

And then of course everything else goes to shit, which means everyone else is crying but that is not the point damn it.

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Anywho, there's a small bit of scene bouncing here, as the bit with Kaiba was meant to come directly after the last bit we had from her. Ahaaaa...

But as explained above, I didn't have access to that, and while it's one thing when your entire chapter hinges on it, it's another when it's a few lines. So, they were moved! And we got a crying Scottie instead.

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IYAH? WUT- Well, it's one of the common pronunciations of 'Iie' (Often slurred up as 'Iyeh'), which means no.

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And yes Scott can speak Japanese! Heck, as mentioned last chapter, he's got more reason than half the people in the building; Scott and Richie would have both had to learn if they were staying with Pegasus, given that he'd likely imply lots of involvement with Japan in the future.

Of course, when it comes to the next duel, Richie is using Japanese because Gekkou refuses to speak anything else for Yugi's sake; it's no fun when your conversations are going bilingual on you, and it's harder to focus too!

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Seriously, everyone but Gekkou seems to have a parental attention complex with Pegasus. The irony? When Pegasus says you're 'perfect', that's not actually a good thing. It might not make much sense right now, but trust me..! Come the conclusion of the arc (Which is coming FAST, holy crap!), it'll all be explained!

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'PSH. Usagi, everyone uses effect monsters now, it's almost impossible not to!' True, true, unless you bother looking for the ollllld cards, you're not likely to find any decks with Alligator Sword and the like... And I hardly think a deck centred on Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes counts, as those ones are generally loaded with effect monsters too. BUT...

Remember, this came before all that! So while effects crop up a lot more following this, the fact is, not many people actually really had them at this point. It's like things such as Synchro monsters; you wouldn't see them in GX or Duel Monsters because they didn't exist yet. But in our real world, they're everywhere! So at this time in the series, the typical goal was simply OBTAIN BIG STICK, or CENTER ON SINGLE EFFECT CARD. This is our first REAL visit to the world of Archetypes.

No, not types, like 'Fish' or 'Dragon'... Archetypes! As in Lightsworns, Genex... That sort of thing. This point in the manga is preeeeetty much where it really started off in regard to timeline, though if you look back you can sort of see it already with Rishid's Trap Card deck; that counts as an archetype.

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'Piercing' is when a monster attacks another in Defense mode and inflicts damage in the same way you would have if it was in attack. Now... Given Learning Elf's stats of 1400/1500, and the Musketeer's ATK of 1700, I went out on a limb and figured that there was no battle damage this turn.

Cause... Um... Gekkou didn't take damage.

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Before I get any weird comments on 'UM, Pegasus was like 26 wasn't he?', I'll say that age doesn't really matter so much in this situation; it's action. Even if Pegasus took them all in when Duel Monsters was created, (He'd have been 18 then) the others were still at least below the adult age. So even if the age gap was small, a father figure is still a father figure, and he was there for a good number of years!

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This scene... Was heart-wrenching to type. It was difficult, and it was enough so that it took until almost a day later for it to come to 'paper' despite all the resources and thoughts and plans being there. The utter despair in the room after the light clears is.. Incredible. And as a note, there's a reason that scene is from Richie's point of view. One, it preserves the shock after the light clears; in the manga, both sides knew what happened, but the ending of the previous chapter gives the feeling that they didn't.

For another point however, it's the other Yugi's reaction. Shell shocked, enraged... Silent? 'Little' Yugi is in tears, Gekkou is broken, and no one else cares. And frankly, the other Yugi is probably just as immobilized. He's likely in an even worse situation than the others, sitting in the puzzle in shock until later. That's not something that needs to be seen though- moreover, we do need to see what happens on the other side of that door, hence the Richie POV.

But before you all think 'DAMN what an ASSHOLE', think of it this way- If the situation was reversed, and Yugi lost Anzu... And had a way to bring her back, what would he do? The other Yugi would likely kill to get any of those he considers friends. Wouldn't be nearly as icky (OH GOD pegasusinanzusbody), but... Both sides are willing to die for their cause. It's not completely mirrored...

But it's close.

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Had to actually laugh at Richie's story- he originally says 'he taught me how to live... How to live as a duelist.' ...And then you see this picture of Pegasus being all 'finger gesture that way, hand out in offer' sort of thing... With a really raggy looking Richie holding a deck of cards like it's gold.

Much as I find Pegasus AWESOME for what he did, that picture just cracks me up with all its cliches and 'OMGITSHEAVEN'-ness.

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Oh hey, Honda was mentioned! ...Sort of.

Because poor Honda, no one knows who the hell he is.

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OHHHH for those wondering why Kaiba almost literally spent the last hour standing around instead of beating the shit out of Tenma, Yakou was kinda standing/sitting at the computer the entire time.

Which meant he'd smash something if he landed on it. Worse, he could simply push something else and screw the others in the building over.

Including Mokuba. Who's kinda busy running off to fix the server. So she needs to stall for time, but at the same time she needs him gone damn it- so if dueling him keeps him from tapping the key that could blow things sky high she'll do it!

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Usagi, where'd the 'sama' go! They're speaking in English, that's where.

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Hang on a second, why is Kaiba suddenly referred to as male..? Well, it's Willa's POV... And for those who got used to people knowing Seto was a woman, HAAAAAAAAH. Now we have MORE characters who are unaware!

Though as to whether or not Yakou knows, given all his knowledge of everything else... Well. You shall SEE.

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Yes, Kaiba built an arena on her roof. We're not going there. And if you haven't guessed already, the Ja-Shin kinda bring a more negative emotion around... Everything. Not actually the best for Kaiba's self control, though she's still got a semi-straight head, which is better than some (-coughGekkoucough-) can say... Basically...

Other than the obvious 'hey, maybe I can use these gods for myself!', she's pretty much planning on just shutting Tenma down by slamming holograms in his face... Something that does have a purpose actually!

For now, compare it to... The ring of power, in the Lord of the Rings. (Yes, I went there.) How many people were tempted by it in the initial name of what was right? (Got Boromir killed that... Anywho.) It's a similar issue here... Though at least she has a clear enough head to continue with the main reason she started dueling in the first place. (Note that she wasn't asking to take the Gods initially, just 'test' them.)

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Seriously, how long has it been since Jou beat someone with his fists again..?

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Originally in the manga, Willa's still in front of the door (albeit in the same laid down position), and only gets up because the arena is rising from the ground.

However, as I had the arena rise up before (only to be ignored haha), I had Willa take a more daring option and actually climb up on the stair entrance. And believe it or not, he likely can see the stars better from there than he can at his home. Partially for reasons that will actually be revealed later on should he appear again (if he doesn't I'll tell you), and partially because the difficulty in seeing the stars is due to light pollution.

Sure, Tokyo is BLINDING at night, but that tower is the tallest thing in Domino! I'd say he's still got quite the view, even with the light pollution!

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'Why... It's a different POV!' Mostly because Willa will actually prove important soon... Even later in storyline as opposed to simply in this arc. A few of the other professors will have similar reappearances as well actually, but I won't say who.

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By the way, the monster is neither a true manticore nor a chimera, unless you count the scientific definition of it being a mix of animals; the original chimera was made up of goat, snake, and lion. The Manticore was a lion with a man's face and ten rows of teeth, along with a barbed tail that contained poison. (Lions.. Actually have a barb in there by the way. Not poisonous, but it hurts like hell, as that 'barb' is actually the Lion's last few tail vertebrae fused into a single shard of bone.)

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Some might recall that the actual attack of Mosaic Manticore is 'Blaze Fire'. I ask you- which sounds better? Because... Yea.

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In the manga, Kaiba originally questions the fact that there's more than one Ja-shin. But the fact that Kaiba was told that they mirrored and opposed the Egyptian God cards should have done that for her...

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Seto's thoughts of a 'devoured sun' actually refer to Ancient Egyptian's explanation for the solar eclipse; those were days when, despite the typical success, Apep succeeded in swallowing Ra.

Of course, Ra would always cut himself out...

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By the way, that shoulder thing IS canon... I had actually contemplated cutting it though. Then I remembered that even without the shoulder, Kaiba would likely have punched Tenma in the face by now if the strength was there, so really...

What the heck, lets make the creepy guy even MORE creepy! (Not like you wouldn't expect that from me...)

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In these final scenes, the manga originally had Jou doing a fair bit more... But it all happened during RA's complete activation.

Which would obviously happen after the Jashin were summoned. Which... We already know does NOT sit well with Jou. At all.

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Nothing can compare to the utter chaos in this manga. Nothing. RA is complete, Yugi's stuck in another room, the server is over heating (Not that we saw THAT one...), KAIBA LOST... Anzu's soul pretty much EXPLODED in Yugi's FACE..!

NOTHING. COMPARES.

And that is where I left you. So all I can say is...

ACK! HOLD THE TOMATOES, HOLD THEM!

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Musical Notes

In which I tell you what I listened to whilst typing.

First off, lots of techno this time; from AVTechNO for the most part, and that is why these are NOT covers; they're vocaloids.

Because... That realllly works with techno!

So first off, we had 'Darkness Six' (Kagamine Len), which was used a fair bit for Seto's duel. Some of the lyrics make sense for it. Most of them don't.

But that's expected. 'Acid Nel', with Miku, has NOTHING to do with the fanfic..! But for some reason, choice portions of the tune made the final scene with Anzu even more teary for me... That scene was one of the longer ones too, which meant I got 'SOU – Music Box version' (Used Miku in it) playing as well... And again, if you listen to the original, the lyrics have nothing to do with it, but the tune for the music box version... Well, 'SOU's 'Musicbox' take in particular had me feeling fairly depressed during that scene, so if you're down hear looking for music to listen to as you read, keep that one handy for it.

Actually the normal version of 'SOU' is also fairly good... (Though I believe that one is actually a different song; called 'Sou Core')

In any case, final music bits to mention include 'NEL' (Acid Nel is a remix of that song), which probably suits gloom slightly more than Acid Nel depending on your opinion, along with ANOTHER Miku song..! Namely 'Blue World'.

And with that out of the way...

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I just have one last thing to say. If you look at the top, you'll probably notice something- this fanfic has been running for over a year, coming in at almost two million words.

Guys... We aren't even half way yet. I look at this fanfic and I find myself utterly speechless at how far it's come, how much more there is to do, and moreover... How much it's improved my writing, and even my ability to research, which is an invaluable skill now.

I couldn't have gotten this far without you, and I wouldn't be able to continue without you either! Each of your reviews, your favorites, your alerts... With everyone I get I feel encouraged to keep typing..! Here's to another year of crossdressing and duel monsters guys!

Enjoy the chapter!