Tsalmaveth

In the darkness around her, she could no longer breathe. Torn from her body, torn even from the world it was all Anzu could do not to scream despite this lack of air. Scream in frustration, in rage at Tenma and his 'plan', at the duelists who had come in their way, at all the obstacles in their way, at everything that happened and targeted them simply as an offshoot of an event they'd been forced into..!

And to scream in grief... If she could cry she would cry until there was nothing left right now... Not even a soul...

There was only one 'companion' with her right now, and it was nothing to be called companion at all. Shuddering in fear she held her legs close, with shadows coiling around her as they waited... Waited for the moment when all would be complete, waited for the moment when three would become one... It was an almost liquid creature that surrounded her now, dark and oily in form and devoid of all temperature to the touch. After all- even the cold required a bit of life to exist.

And this creature had no life.

"Who..." Her voice was hoarse, but she could see a face before her, skeletal in form and covered with darkness. She could no longer feel any fear... She could scarcely feel anything in fact, and perhaps that was why she could do nothing but stare as the enormous monster loomed over her. "Who... Who are you..?"

To her surprise the creature answered, dull voice scratching over the air as waves of shadow continued to envelope the small area around her. "Zzzzzzuuuuuuuuuuu..." Zu..? As she thought the name the creature spoke again, as though to correct her. "Zizzzzzzzzz..." Ziz then, she asked herself hesitantly. But what was...

It spoke again.

'Annnnnnzuuuuuuuuuu...' An...

Anzu..?

Such a pity, her clouded and careless mind found itself wondering with that word, her eyes dull and glazed with coming death as the monster simply stared. Malik's memories were right...

You could do... Anything with a name...

By a mere coincidence of events they'd been challenged. That was what she believed, what she'd told herself to believe. But perhaps... There was more. Energy was building around them. Harsh and cool as the void, electrifying her body and strengthening the monster that was around her completely rather than above or beside. She could not scream, nor feel the pain... Yet the pain was all about her and she was screaming until lungs burst all at once.

And it was strange. Despite him not being there, despite her hoping to anything that felt willing to listen that he wasn't there, she could feel Yugi's presence amid this power... This power that was destroying her, this power that was pulling her further and further away...

It was ironic. But between the power available, the power that would be driven to recover her at all costs, and her own name...

They were losing. All in Tenma's path had fallen, and the monster before her gained power by latching onto a name granted to it through ancient history, a name pronounced as her own. A name that had been screamed and cried with such passion that destruction of the beast was nigh impossible. They were losing... And even Tenma had yet to realize what was about to be unleashed on the world. Yugi, she wanted to call, slowly closing her eyes back over again to 'sleep'. She would hold on... She would hold on for as long as she could...

But if he didn't come before then...

'...Help...'

When they arrived at the server room, the first thing that had come to mind was wow. Resembling almost ironically an obelisk of sorts in the center of the room, the computer's server towered high above them, with support cables stretching from carefully located bracers at all sides. It glowed, quite literally, with electricity, and while Katsuya had been staring at the device in awe Mokuba had immediately begun speaking with those who had been forced to remain behind and keep the device running.

But the next thing he noticed was how cold it was- something that Mokuba had stated to be not just unusual, but bad.

It should have been the first thing they noticed, the cold temperature. Ordinarily, anyone inside would have been wearing jackets, or even coats. But the server was beginning to overheat, and with the way things were going they wouldn't be able to prevent the device's inevitable crash.

The heating started when Tenma input the card data for the Ja-Shin. The machine began flying through calculation after calculation, desperately searching for reason in the program and casting away everything else. But as Mokuba began snarling curses to Tenma's name, something began to push against his skull. A clouded feeling, a darkening feeling...

He could only dimly hear what was going on now. Mokuba was being told about his sister's location... About how she was fighting, at that moment, atop the Apex Arena...

'Pull up a camera feed, quick!'

And that was when the room grew silent, Katsuya's mind absolutely flooding with pain as he bit down on his lip to keep from screaming. That was when the others watched as a black monster punched its way through Seto's form, Mokuba giving a loud and wailing cry at the sight. That was... Was...

"Ssss-FF!" Katsuya collapsed to his knees, fingers digging through knotted blond hair as he struggled to keep silent. If only to keep the others from worrying. If only to keep the plate somewhat empty of fear. If only... Only...

There was a power filling up the air and he could feel it. Clutching his skull and forcing his eyes open he and everyone else could only watch as the server in the center began to spark, entire waves of blinding light crackling over the surface. Scorching the server's casing, filling the air with heat and smoke, making it impossible not to stare, and then...

With a snap a vision came to mind. Pushing its way past the barrier of the evil gods, tearing his mind from the 'darkness's hold. A single large room, darkening slowly as it was forgotten more and more...

"Yugi." The headache needed to take second seat, he forced himself to think. The headache, the ja-shin... None of that mattered until they could make sure they knew where EVERYONE was, what EVERYONE was doing. If all this was happening now... If Tenma's plan was coming this far... The blond's eyes widened with realization, and despite the protests of any who he pushed aside he rushed for the computer that Mokuba was struggling to fix. "Mokuba!" he shouted hurriedly, the boy jumping from where he was staring at the screen. "Mokuba, I need..." He caught his breath, Mokuba staring at him with still teary eyes. "Mokuba, we need to find Yugi," he said clearly, the servers howling loud enough to almost drown out their voices. "He was trying to stop all of this, if this is happening now..!"

"No way," Honda muttered from behind the two. "You don't think he actually..."

Without even waiting for what mind as well have been the 'forbidden word' Mokuba's hands flew to the keyboard, reddened eyes sharpening with resolve. "I'll start looking through the arena rooms," he hurriedly told them, "But not all of them have surveillance; you'll need to get him to answer the com-"

"YUGI! OIII, YU-"

-smack!-

"OW! What th' hell!" he protested as he looked to Mokuba.

"After I turn the coms on," Mokuba growled, going back to the computer. "He won't hear you at any time before then, Katsuya-nii!"

"Owww... When did y' get so abusive..."

The boy ignored the half-hearted complaint, instead tapping multiple keys before gesturing to the others. "I've hooked us up to the nearest arena," Mokuba began. "All the other ones are in the lower testing floor, and there's only one on the upper levels other than the Apex Arena," he explained. "Now..."

The screen crackled for the video portion of the communicator, and to their pleasant surprise it was a shock of black and red hair that met their gaze. "Ah-! Found him!" Katsuya laughed, leaning over to shout into the mike. "OI! YUGI! YUGI, PICK UP TH' COM!"

The hair twitched somewhat, before turning to reveal Yugi's tear-stained face as the boy stood up to look at the com. "Jonouchi-kun..?" He blinked, wiping his eyes a little before nodding slowly. "I... I'm here..." If only half, given the look...

Oh no... The others paled somewhat, Katsuya pressing on with a swallow. "Yugi! 'M I glad to see you... Honda an' I are with Mokuba in th' server room... Yugi, we gotta-"

"Jonouchi-kun," Yugi interrupted, sniffs and chocked sobs cutting in and out of his words. "I... Anzu just... Anzu is... G... G..." Cold realization began to fill the room as they drew back shortly, the unspoken words left unneeded. Oh HELL... "Nh... She's de-" No! Not yet!

"Don't you dare start cryin'!" he snarled, his friend jumping back in surprise as the blond continued. "Yugi... Don' even start, got it!"

"J-Jonouchi-kun..."

"An' if th' other Yugi's mopin' around you get him back up too," Katsuya added fiercely, a slight surprised flash in the boy's eyes telling him his guess was on the dot. "This isn' th' time for cryin', you got that?" he growled. "Yakou's started his project- an' you aren't th' only one in a mess, y' hear?"

"That's right!" Honda added from the side, nodding. "The server here is going completely crazy... And Kaiba just lost to Tenma!"

Yugi's eyes grew with shock, his tears momentarily halted with surprise. "Kaiba-san lo..."

"Yugi," Katsuya cut in. "We've almost got control 'f this tower back, but there's still more t' deal with..! Mokuba's codes can' get in any further, so we can't do more just yet," he muttered somewhat bitterly. "BUT! That doesn' mean we just give in..! We've still got a chance," he roared, fists clenching as his friend stared back. "We're gonna find Anzu... An' we're gonna get her outta here! But you need to deal with Tenma, got it?"

"Mokuba-sama!" The group turned momentarily, Yugi as well turning a moment before shaking himself and looking back to the screen. One of the few employees in the building rushed over, gesturing to the side. "Mokuba-sama, we've traced the flow of data... Tenma's program is diverting all files from the server into the system he installed on his arrival in one single, concentrated download- look," he continued, pulling a few things on the screen next to Yugi's own. "It's right in the room above-"

"Oh FUCKING hell," Honda hissed, video feed of the very room patching onto the screen with the employee's touch of a button. The others as well paled, Yugi himself growing eerily white with fear. "What the hell is that machine..!"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess," Mokuba decided with a swallow, "I'd say that Anzu is..."

Anzu was the 'end point' of the download. And while he doubted the others could see it, there was nothing but darkness around the subconsciously screaming body, the body that emitted no sound from a machine that only barely gave them a view of the woman in question. With a hurriedly covered look of horror Katsuya turned back to Yugi, eyes narrowed and filled with grit determination. "Listen up Yugi," he started seriously, the boy swallowing in response. "Anzu's pretty close t' where we are; it'll be easy f'r us t' get there. But we can't do shit until Tenma's been dealt with. Mokuba's got the codes for the door," he went on, the boy in question hurriedly tapping away at a few keys with the blatant hint, "So don't you worry abou' anythin' in yer way... No more 'card key' crap, got it?" he shouted. "There's no time t' waste... So get goin'! You get up there, an' you guys kick Tenma's ass!"

With wide eyes the tears were stopped, and as they narrowed in determination it seemed that both Yugis were nodding despite only one being on the screen. Standing straighter they wiped their eyes, and then nodded yet again. "Right," they both shouted, clicking the screen off. Time to go...

With a nod of his own Katsuya turned to Mokuba, the boy looking up somewhat hesitantly. "So," the blond asked. "...What's the fastest way upstairs?"

Now that he was actually aware of things, it seemed the room had gotten a lot darker than it had been to start. "I guess we didn't pay much attention to that," Yugi muttered to himself quietly. "The power's being diverted upstairs I think..."

"There were more important things at hand," his other half responded quietly, before appearing at his side. "...But Jonouchi is right. We need to move."

"Nn!" Again Yugi nodded, running back to the center of the room until he spotted Gekkou's still unmoving form. "Gh..." He was still there..!

"Tch... Don't tell me he's gone into shock..!" his other muttered under his breath.

"Haven't you done that before yourself," the boy found himself murmuring almost nervously, his partner going somewhat red at the comment. Well... He supposed that wasn't the point in the end he told himself, walking over to where Gekkou still sat. Hah... "Gekkou-kun," he called out, the man not moving from his place. "...Gekkou-kun... Come on, the door's open," he told him, gesturing to the large door before them now. "Gekkou-kun, we need to leave!"

Silence was again his answer, Gekkou slowly and deliberately shaking his head. "I've already lost," he said quietly, his voice rasping with an almost haunted tone. "I can't go any further..."

"Gekkou-kun..." Yugi stared for a few moments, looking over the obviously broken man before him. One loss, and he was like this. One... "Don't say that!" he insisted, worried eyes shifting into a frown. "There's a path before us right now... And you promised yourself that you would fight for your brother! You told me that when you promised to help me," he continued, "And one loss shouldn't affect that! If you still feel you want to save your brother then come with me!" Yugi shouted. "There's more than one way to stop this..!"

"More..." After lowering his head even more he began to stand, slowly and shakily pulling himself up to his feet. "...What am I doing," he murmured, berating himself with an almost disgusted frown. "Sulking like this... I've let those cards completely affect my thinking," Gekkou muttered. "Rather than thinking as I should... You're right," he continued, looking to Yugi with a more renewed expression. "This was never about if I was strong enough in a card game. I just hope we aren't too late to get rid of those ja-shin..."

"Gekkou-kun..." The 'curse' of the Ja-shin... Could it be... That it affected them even when they weren't a part of the duel? Even when they couldn't see it?

Looking toward the door, the pair gave each other one short nod before taking off with a run. "Let's go," Gekkou shouted, disk clacking back into a de-activated position on his arm. "For Yakou... And for your friends..!"

"Right!" Now then... "Which way to the roof," he called to the man, only to blink as his other half floated beside him.

"I found out that answer earlier," he responded clearly. "Follow me!"

"Um..." Well, he'd just finished asking Gekkou but he supposed...

"Yugi-san, if we take these stairs-"

"Um, nevermind..." he coughed, walking after his partner.

"What?" Gekkou blinked, watching as his friend ran up in the same direction he'd been about to suggest. "...What?"

"I'll explain later," he shouted down, "Just, um..." He froze in place, stumbling to a halt as a shadow moved from ahead. If they looked now, they could make out a dueldisk... But...

"...How many people have we fought now?" his other half asked idly, partner blinking as he thought of the answer.

"Um... Not counting Gekkou-kun, six..."

The spirit nodded. "There are thirteen professors right?"

"...Yea..."

At this moment Gekkou came up the stairs, before groaning somewhat. "Great," he muttered, "Cedar."

"Cedar?" Yugi repeated with a raised eyebrow, only to turn as 'Cedar' moved from out of the shadows to smirk. It was a little hard to tell exactly how old Cedar was... He could have been anywhere from 18 to 25, with messy brown hair and a fairly slight goatee just beginning to grow on his chin. His overall appearance said 'lazy' in all honesty; but evidently, as he clicked his duel disk on, he wasn't so lazy as to ignore them.

"DAMN," he laughed in English, arms somewhat crossed as he rubbed his chin. "I can't believe you losers made it up this floor... I don't remember a thing from Richie about giving you guys second chances..! But," he lamented, ignoring the fact that the two before him were now looking to the other and paying his words no mind, "I can't just let you pass..."

Rggggh... Regardless of how much of that they understood, the prospect of another road block was just... "...Aibou," the other Yugi decided with a tense tone. "If I may?"

The boy did nothing but nod, before moving to run forward despite the confusion of the others. "Ah- He's not moving," Gekkou shouted in protest, taking a few steps and reaching out only to frown as Yugi continued at full tilt toward the man. "...Yugi?"

"EH?"

"Forgive me Aibou," the other Yugi growled aloud, "I might bruise our knuckles..! Now... GET OUT OF OUR WAY!"

-CRACK-

It was all Cedar could do to stumble back with wide eyes at the one-sided statement before the statement itself was quickly justified. Tall as he was, it was nothing after all, if Yugi jumped. And he did jump.

And with a fairly echoing 'crack', Cedar was falling back under the combined force of Yugi's landing weight and his own fist while the boy continued running forward. They weren't stopping for anything, they told themselves, the two both switching positions once more despite never skipping a beat in their run. 'Ah... Sorry Cedar!' they could hear Gekkou shouting to the cursing man behind them. 'But we don't have time..!' If anything, their time was spent... But regardless of timing, they were coming- and they WOULD reach Yakou..!

In the room where Anzu's body sat, any watching would have been forced to turn away. Whether from the blinding light that now filled the room, the electricity rolling and pulsing impossibly from the device as energies far more powerful than mere 'card data' entered the mind of its captor, or from the state that the body in question was now in.

Locked into the device Anzu's body, formerly almost serene in appearance, screamed. She screamed a silent and endless cry of pain, eyes locked shut in a contrasting 'peace' as her body attempted to pull away from the bonds that held it. Cuts began to come on her wrists and ankles where she pulled against the device, her forehead locked too tightly in place to allow it such 'freedom'. And if most looked now that would be all that they saw...

But there were also shadows, if they could even be called that. Pure black in form, dripping from the very top of the tower the oily, oozing substance that formed the 'Avatar's being began to flow. Down, down along the sides of the server's tower, down and over the coiling cables that connected the device to it... It flowed and forced its way into the cuts on Anzu's form, and into the pores of her very skin. Bypassing fabric and metal alike the substance moved...

And above on the tower itself, Willa could do nothing but stare in horror as the man who had hired him as a 'guard' laughed hysterically. "AT LAST!" he cried, somehow still able to breathe through his laughter. "AT LAST! The energies have gathered! The gods have SPOKEN," he thundered, pulling a single card from his pocket. "And the time... Has come! Now that the chaos within the soul has a body to attach itself to, it can again take form! It can take life yet again, and I will make it so! With this card," Tenma continued to laugh, holding his deck out with a malicious grin. "With this last piece, he will ARISE... BEHOLD!" the roared, setting the card to the field as a booming clap of thunder came over the air. "THE FRUIT OF THE R.A. PROJECT... I summon... PEGASUS!" P...

Pegasus..!

The air seemed to pull from around them in that very instant, with all the energies of the tower swirling with it. The 'avatar', despite all its blackness began to glow, shining as though it were the sun itself in the black and clouded sky. And then, as he stepped back in terror, the great sphere began to really change... And, if it were even possible, he could swear he heard a voice...

"Your... Payment..."

Long, thin tendrils of black 'liquid' began to drop from the sphere before Tenma, pooling on the ground in a small puddle of sorts. From the puddle arose flames and oil alike, completely black and rising up ever so slowly to create one single being from its power. Shoes were the first to come, followed by the 'white' pants if it could be called that in the darkness. But from within the clothing arose such things as bones and nerves, vessels of blood and the meat that would become muscle, all wrapped in skin. The cloth moved up faster soon enough however, only beaten by areas that were never covered to begin with, and as the hands developed they slowly moved to clench tight upon themselves. The orb that was avatar glowed brighter... Stronger, more powerful, and the form began to take shape even more quickly-..!

And then it stopped. "Huh...?" Willa moved around the arena as Tenma himself began to shake his head, silently muttering things under his breath as the Avatar seemed to freeze and shake. As the form of Pegasus, complete save for the only real eye that they themselves had ever known, stood before them in wax-like form. "Why did it stop," he muttered, wide eyes unable to turn away. "Why..."

With a sudden shock-wave of wind the power dissipated from the field. The Avatar suctioned in on itself, becoming a black-hole of sorts as a howling wail came over the air. Smoke and dust was all that remained of the creature as it burned away, falling into nothing... With horror filled eyes Tenma shook. Frozen in place he shook, looking to the still frozen figure of his deceased teacher in desperation. "P... Pegasus? Pegasus..!"

-clk... crck-clk... crk...-

All eyes turned to Kaiba, the man still slumped over in exhaustion. Though his arms were at his side something had crackled from where he sat, something small... And with a slow, deliberate and shaking hand the teen managed to force himself to grasp the radio that was clasped upon his coat collar. "Status... ...M... Mokuba..."

"You... YOUUUUUUU!" In a fit of rage Tenma flew toward the teen, grabbing him by the coat to pull him forward with alarming ease. "What did you DO," he wailed, eyes red and filled with desperate insanity. "What did you DO! You did something..! WHAT IS IT!"

The radio answered for them. "We got it, nee-sama!" a voice called out in Japanese, the only one with the ability to comprehend the meaning of the familiar term too far gone to think anything of it. "It took a bit, and Katsuya-nii and Honda probably got to the other room by the time it did... But the code took affect!" Did that radio say 'code'?

"Hnhnhnhnhn... Hnhnhahaha..." Despite all his weakness Kaiba managed to look Tenma straight in the eye with a twisted and triumphant smirk, sweat still dripping down the man's face as he laughed. "Haven't you guessed," he wheezed out, shaking with both laughter and fatigue in Tenma's grip. "You may have created that twisted program... But I just put an end to it..!"

"But that's impossible!" Tenma snarled in desperation, shaking the man violently with almost every word. "IMPOSSIBLE! How... HOW!"

"Hnhnhnhnhn... Just one card..." he responded weakly, the blood draining from Tenma's face as grip slowly loosened to lower the weakened teen. "Someone's still fighting... You said your 'guinea pig' summoned your God," he continued, smirk widening despite the situation. "Well... You can thank them for putting a wrench in your plans... Because they obviously didn't win with it..!"

"No..."

As Tenma shook with disbelief Kaiba continued to speak, his 'grin' small and forced at best with the obvious pain he felt. "The code I made needed only a single card of data to piggy back on into your server... And it looks like," he added, voice somehow growing louder, "This 'virus' meant to restore the server destroyed your precious 'God' as well..!"

"No... No, no, NO!" Tenma snarled, grip tightening as he threw Kaiba away. "YOU... YOU..! RRRHHAAAAAAAAGHHHH!"

"Gh-!"

As Kaiba fell back Willa could see his heel catch the edge of the ground. His foot collapsed beneath his weight and his body continued to fall back, Willa's eyes widening in alarm. "Wooaaaahhh CRAP... WOAH-!" With no time to lose he jumped beneath the falling teen's form, arms wrapping around him before he himself was thrown back by the weight. "Ghnn... Shit," he wheezed, moving his arms up somewhat in attempt to push the man off of him. "You might not look it but you weigh a t-" He froze, flexing his hand a moment while the one in his arms as well tensed. "Woah..." He frowned, tilting his head. "WOOOOOOOO-AH..." The teen looked toward Kaiba, the CEO in question growing fairly red-faced and enraged as their eyes met. "Those are DEFINITELY-"

"Let go, and bite your TONGUE," the 'man' snarled warningly, "Before I find something that can do it FOR YOU."

He did as he was told very, very quickly. "Aaaaaa-hahahaaaaa..." Shiiiiiiiiiiit...

"Pegasus..." The two teens both looked toward the arena, Willa managing to pull himself out from the... Person (Were those BOOBS he felt?) with minor difficulty. Somehow, despite the Avatar being long gone, 'Pegasus' was still there... But he was motionless, and even stone-like in appearance. "Pegasus," Tenma repeated desperately, his face hidden from those below. "Pegasus.. Please, open your eye... Open your eye," he begged as the hologram smoked, voice wavering. "Please, please..." The hologram continued to mist...

And then it smoked. It burst into flames and vanished with the wind, Tenma unable to do more than back away in horror. "No... No, no no," he cried, clawing at his head as the figure faded completely. "NO... NO! PEGASUS! PEGASUS!"

"Holy shit..." Willa stared with wide eyes as Tenma collapsed, Kaiba merely leaning against the safety rail with a look of caution in 'his' eyes. "They both disappeared," he finally said. "The R.A. project failed..." It was over... It was all...

"Still fighting," Tenma suddenly said aloud, slowly standing to turn toward them with wide and horrific looking eyes. "You said someone was still fighting," he repeated, moth slowly cracking into a grin. "Hnhnhn... Hnhnhahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" As the others pulled back and stared Tenma continued to laugh, hands held to the skies as the clouds continued to converge. "The project CONTINUES!" he cried in triumph. "Now I can revive Pegasus with even more power than BEFORE! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

Ohhhh shit... "So..." Willa coughed out at a whisper. "You think of something for your buddies in there in the event that this guy keep going..? Because I'm not so sure about his mentality any more." As he looked back to receive a dark glare for his efforts he sighed, instantly turning back to the field. "Yea," he muttered under his breath. "Didn't think so..."

-CLNK-

"Ow-! FUCK-" Katsuya hissed, freezing in place to rub his nose. "Damn it Honda, you kicked me in the face!"

From slightly ahead his friend shrugged, or at least attempted to. At the moment both were slowly making their way through the largest ducts in the building's ventilation, in what was probably the most cramped position they would ever be in for the rest of time. It was noisy as hell, and just as dark, but while the guards would obviously hear them they also weren't properly armed as the earlier brawls had proven. So it was either they alert the guards to their presence through the ventilation and listen as they attempted to find a way to catch them, or allow the crowd outside the server room entry to the inside as they left.

Mokuba had very kindly handed them a coin before pointing them to the grate at the side when he explained that. Which made a fair bit of sense he supposed.

But still. "My bad," Honda called back. "Felt like you were spacing out behind me."

"How th' hell can it 'feel' like I'm spacing out!"

The answer came a little quicker than he preferred. "You stop moving."

It was dryer than preferred too. "Asshole..!"

Another shrug. "Hey, if it keeps you from collapsing in here..." Alright. He supposed he had a point but...

"You have t' kick me in the face for that..!"

"Yep." AAAAAGH- "Now come on, we need to move," his friend reminded him.

"Yea yea..." Sheesh... "'S too damn tight in here," he muttered under his breath, slowly inching forward 'seal-style' on the ground. "An' dark..."

"Yea, well deal with it," Honda whispered in response. "It was this or nothing; you're lucky I still had paper on me for a map," he added, holding the paper 'up' behind him. "We'd be screwed otherwise."

"How the hell are y' even readin' tha'," he groaned, holding his head in his hands. "I can' even see my own hands..."

"That's because I'm blocking your light, dumbass." Oh was that it.

"Great... Glad t' know I'm in safe hands then," he muttered, before reeling back as something collided with his face again. "OW! HONDA, YOU ASSHOLE!"

"My bad..."

Rgg... "Show you 'my bad'," he grumbled to himself, slowly crawling up behind Honda. "I..." Woah... He froze in place, squinting as he looked ahead. "Hey Honda," he asked warily, swallowing back a wave of unease as he waited for an answer.

"Yea," his friend responded from directly in front of him. "What now?"

"You... You c'n still see th' outline 'f yer own hand in th's kinda light right? Even when it's darker," he asked with a swallow.

"You could see yourself in even pitch black," Honda said with a shrug. "Far as I know at least. ...Why?" he added cautiously.

"...No reason," he said with a swallow, forcing himself to move again despite the locking sensation that came over his limbs. "None at all..." But he hoped to hell that this blindness was as far as whatever 'darkness' from his dreams went...

Because this was the last place he wanted to start seizing he thought as he grabbed at his head, the last of his thoughts fading as he collapsed.

The Elders are outside the door now.

The boy knows this not because of any sound they may have made, nor any word they may have given, but because of his own 'heart'. For his heart, the dragon tells him, has roots in the soul. And the soul, so guarded by the creature which protects him from Darkness' hold as others do for their own partners, has roots in shadow. And as such, his heart cries to him in the form of a vision, warning him of what is yet to come. That is how the Dragon explains his ability, and the boy trusts the dragon's word.

The elders have been waiting outside the room for quite some time though. Typically by now they would have pulled him by the ear and berated him for entering the chamber, but instead they stand behind them. They are waiting, he has realized. Waiting either for the time to strike, or for their prey to walk unwittingly into their fingers.

Neither of these two will happen.

"They're here," he says simply, not yet turning to face those who slowly move close from behind. Those who move with the grace of thieves, a grace he has never learned to master. "They're in the room," the boy tells his friend, "And they're here. Dragon..."

The dragon gives a low sigh, rubbing his face against the boy's cheek. "Fear not child," he tells the boy, the heat from his nostrils sending sparks above the boy's head. "Listen to your heart and soul and it will give you protection. Listen..." They boy closes his eyes and nods- but it is not his heart he hears next.

"Hey! There you are..!" Neker pushes past the elders, but the boy can see this without even turning around. In fact, as Neker stumbles forward in the cloak he's worn over the years, the boy feels something is out of place...

"Neker," the boy realizes almost dully. "Your sash is coming undone."

The elders tense, and turn to Neker for proof of this. And Neker himself pauses, smile fading as he looks down before laughing. "Hahaha! Right again..!" he cries, hurriedly fastening it into place. "Incredible..! That's-"

"Truly a blessing," one of the elders mutter, staff clomping against the ground as he steps forward. "Truly a blessing, to see around instead of merely forward," he adds greedily. "Tell us Neker, what is it that your friend speaks to?"

As the boy slowly turns his head to look at the side the dragon growls and Neker, ever oblivious, explains with cheer. "It's the dragon..! The dragon of the shadows..!" he laughs, unaware of the ill intent that sits on the air. "He's the one that we both sit with when we have the time, he tells the best stories..!" He looks to the dragon with those words, but again his smile falters. For the dragon has nothing but anger and fear in his eyes when he looks to Neker... He growls from behind the boy, the sound kept as silent as possible but with furls of smoke from his nostrils giving his ever growing rage away.

"Child," he growls lowly, "Why have you brought them here..."

Neker again falters, and swallows. "Because... It's not fair," he says clearly, bowing his head whilst elders listen curiously. "He deserves more than me... He's better than me, he..."

As Neker falls silent the boy turns very slowly to face the crowd, trembling in place and breathing irregularly. He wishes that they could see the dragon. Truly, he does. But they are blind- they will never see. And nothing can change that now. The only thing they see is a scared boy who now clings unconsciously to the dragon's scaled foreleg, wide eyes filled with terror. And the elders...

Have made their decision. "Bring him to the chamber," the eldest of the twelve order. "We will reveal this shadow of his whether he wants it or not!" No...

Strong arms grab him and the dragon roars,only to be held back by the shadows of the elders. Neker cries in shock as he's knocked back, and he can only follow behind the crowd as his friend is dragged away, and as chaos arises from what was meant to be peace. "NO," the boy screams, kicking at the dirt and sand and flailing as he attempts to grab at a foot hold. "No NO, you can't..! You can't!"

"SILENCE," they snarl. "You owe us this much!" No..! No, this isn't right..! This isn't..!

"NO!"

"JONOUCHI!"

Katsuya's eyes snapped open and almost immediately he drew back, raising his arm as much as possible as a shield. In the distance of the tunnel he could make out Honda's form, which was backing up down the vent crossing their own. The light around him was coming from a grate... More proof that his 'blindness' hadn't been normal in any way, and with a low groan he looked back to his friend. "Gh..."

"Jonouchi," Honda repeated, voice echoing off the walls. "Hey! What the heck are you doing back here?" he asked, his friend ignoring him a moment as he shook off the rest of his drowsiness. "Oi..! Jonouchi!"

'...Perhaps this way is better...' 'You seemed to know your way around rather well before.' '…' Was that...

Hey, those voices were coming from outside weren't they..?

Katsuya held a hand up for Honda to stop, his friend frowning as the blond looked through the grate. "Hold on a sec'," he said quietly, "I think I c'n hear..."

Footsteps came down the hall and soon enough a familiar head of red, black and gold came into view. The second in the group was partially unseen. With the angle of the grate, he couldn't see the man's head, but from what he could tell Yugi (the other Yugi if he was right) was talking to him about directi- "Sff-!" The blond froze, cutting all thoughts short as the head of the other person came into view. Shifting his weight the grate beside him was kicked open, those below immediately looking up and to the side as it clattered to the ground.

"What-" The blond tumbled out to land on his feet, Yugi frowning somewhat while the one beside him stared. "Jonouchi..!"

"Outta th' way Yugi!" he said swiftly, charging the pair with darkening eyes. "HHAH-"

"AH- Jonouchi, hold on-!"

"Eh?"

-CRACK-

"MMMNPHHH!" While Katsuya hopped somewhat in place to pull his fist back for another blow 'Tenma' gave a muffled cry, falling back to the ground and cupping a now bleeding nose. "MMMgggghh..!"

"J-JONOUCHI!"

"Take that, TENMA," Katsuya spat, knuckles cracking as 'Tenma' looked up in mild confusion. "An' get up! I got plen'y more where tha' came from!"

"AH- Jono-"

"Hold on a sec' Yugi, this'll only take a second-"

"JONOUCHI!"

He groaned. "C'mon Yugi, I've been itchin' t' show th's guy f'r earlier an' y' know it..!"

"Jonouchi!" The blond sighed, looking to his friend and frowning. Hang on, what was with the look of exasperation... As the boy shook his head and moved to help the other up from the ground he looked back, watching as Katsuya tilted a head in confusion. "This," he explained, "Is Gekkou- the one helping us. This isn't 'Yakou Tenma'." Oh. Um...

"...What." He blinked a few times, watching as 'Gekkou' stood and wiped some blood from his nose before bowing his head.

"Pleased to meet you," he said somewhat dizzily, voice a little clogged sounding from the blocked nose.

Katsuya blinked. "...Wait, this is..."

Yugi gave a wry smile, shaking his head. "You didn't honestly think I wouldn't have done that to 'Yakou' Tenma myself did you..?" Noooo, he'd have thought he'd get a penalty game or whatever but...

His eyes widened with realization as he looked over Gekkou, face paling and voice cutting in and out as he tried to speak. "Ooooooh shiiiiit," he cried out with a wince, "An' I totally decked y' there too..! Aww... Shit," he repeated, shuffling awkwardly and turning away from Gekkou's still confused stare. "You've got the same face but... ...Damn, Yugi ev'n mentioned workin' his way up with a twin," he muttered, Gekkou merely watching with a still confused, if not slightly bemused smile.

He probably had no idea how Yugi had told him about that... Ehehe. "It's... Fine," he managed, giving a slight sniff before wincing and continuing on. "Really, I probably deserved that..." Erm... Not likely actually...

"Yea, try not t' sniff 'r anything... Ah... Not th' best thing w' tha' nose," he muttered, a loud 'thump' behind him telling him that Honda had gotten tired of waiting.

Honda for his part stayed a fair distance away, taking in the sight of his friends both tending to 'Tenma's nose with narrow-eyed confusion. "What in the..." He tilted his head, unsure of whether or not he should move. "...This gets weirder and weirder..." Yea well deal with it.

The blond abruptly froze as yet another voice came to mind however, hurriedly passing it off as 'contemplating the nose' while he frowned. Someone was laughing in the back of his mind... And if he was right, that 'someone' was not someone who should have been alive... "So..." And he'd be damned if he let that distract the others... "You guy's 're abou' t' say somethin' about Yakou bein' good at some point righ'," he asked conversationally, putting his 'ability' to slight use as he tried to pay attention to the dull muttering far behind him.

"Um... Yes actually," Gekkou answered, blinking in surprise. "How did you..."

'Well look who came outta hiding...' Crap, looked like he was right about the 'dead voice'. It was a hell of a lot closer than he thought.

"Er, Jonouchi," Honda hissed, having apparently spotted said 'dead voice', "Might wanna look behind you..."

"Hold on," he said dismissively. "Alrigh'... So th' same things causin' me a headache did this then, those evil 'gods'," he 'asked' with quotations, "'M I righ'?"

Again Gekkou nodded, looking completely taken back by what the blond was telling him. "Again, exactly right... ...They're causing you headaches," he asked worriedly, only to blink as he was literally waved off by teen.

"Jonouchi," his friend again whispered, "Seriously, you might want to see this..!"

The blond continued to ignore him, crossing his arms in 'thought'. "Hmmm... So you're figurin' tha' if y' get rid 'f th' cards, he'll go back t' normal then..."

"You're oddly open with your 'visions' today," Yugi muttered dryly, his lighter half even appearing at the side to stare owlishly. "Are you alright..?"

"...Visions?" Gekkou hissed. "He's psychic?"

'Kehehe... I haven't felt this good since I first woke up..!' Damn it shut up voice.

"Explain later!" Katsuya cheerfully decided, grabbing both Yugi and Gekkou by the shoulders before lightly steering them toward the door he 'somehow' knew they would have to take. "Go on, go on, you guys gotta get movin'!" he laughed, the 'light' Yugi still staring as he nonetheless followed along.

"Umm... Jonouchi-kun..?"

"Erm- What are you-"

"Jonouchi, what's going on..?"

"O-Oiii, Jonouchi..!"

"Shut up Honda and get y'r ass in gear, Anzu needs savin'!"

"My a- What the hell!" he barked, momentarily forgetting to warn the group about the coming 'threat'.

And still, the blond ignored the confused or annoyed comments, even as the 'voice' became clomping footsteps against the floor behind him. "C'mon, c'mon," he urged them, continuing to 'herd' them toward the door as the one behind him began to shake with rage. "Le's g-"

"You little shit..."

The group froze, Honda going so far as to smack his head as the group looked toward what he'd been talking about before tensing. With the very same black leather boots as the Duelist Kingdom, shades hiding bloodshot eyes, Keith Howard stood directly before them...

And he was not pleased. "God damn it Jonouchi..! What the hell do you think you're doing, ignoring me when I'm trying to talk to you!"

Honda sighed, holding his head in one hand. "Annnnd here comes another kick to what I deem 'reality'..." Heh. Try being him. Katsuya continued to ignore the American to the side as he stormed forward, the blond well aware that Keith was red with rage and well prepared for a fight.

"HEY! Turn around and face me," he snarled, knuckles cracking as his face continued to contort with fury, "BEFORE I PUT A HOLE BETWEEN YOUR EYES!"

This time Honda's face was as well filled with shock, the wide eyes of the others slowly turning as the sound of their friend laughing met the air. "J... Jonouchi," Yugi asked somewhat hesitantly, still blinking rather owlishly at everything.

"Hahhhh..." The blond moved his hands from the others shoulders, giving a loud and obvious sigh. "Man..! Speak of the DEVIL," he laughed, turning to face Keith with an almost nasty smirk. "These 'bit-players' jus' won' shut up..! How's it hangin' Keith?" he asked with a grin. "Haven' seen you since y' decided t' take a visit from the stone age!"

"You... Khehehehehehehe..." While the others decided to look uncomfortable in the face of crazed laughter the blond swallowed, watching the American with wary eyes. "Jo... Nou... Chi..." Keith hissed, flexing and clenching his hands as he continued forward. "I'm back from the grave to fight you you know," he chuckled darkly, not at all missing the slight swallow of unease his target had at the fact. "I came back here... To destroy you..!" he roared, wide and unstable grin covering his face completely. Tch...

Well didn't that just figure... The blond abruptly tensed, eyes taking in the form that stood before him with a sudden growing fear. As though the devil himself stood before him... As though hell came with Keith when he returned from the grave, shadows were covering him in a wraith-like and translucent manner... The prospect of fighting a 'zombie' had already been putting him on edge not that he planned to show it.

But now... "...Yugi, you move on ahead," Katsuya said quietly, cheerful expression swiftly replaced immediately with a look of dread and severity. "I'll handle this guy, alrigh'?"

Yugi frowned, shaking his head. He'd caught his friend's expression- and he wasn't stupid. "Jonouchi-"

"Hey!" The boy closed his mouth, and Katsuya went on. "I said I'd handle it, alrigh'? Jus' trust me on this an' deal w' Tenma, kay? Sides," he added with a smirk, turning to look toward his decided opponent. "I've beat th's guy once... I know 'xactly how th's match is gonna go, far 's I can w' out actually seein' it, hehehe!"

"Jonouchi... ...Heh." Giving in his friend smiled, shaking his head before flashing the blond a grin. "Alright! Go for it, Jonouchi!"

"'F course..!" he laughed, "What else! Now go on!" Katsuya shouted, the other two nodding and taking off. "...An' you too Honda," he added quietly.

The teen balked. "Wha- What the hell do you mean, 'me too', we're supposed to be getting Anzu!"

"Yeaaaa," he 'laughed' in response, "An' y' wan' someone like Keith followin' us there?" Katsuya warned quietly. His friend responded with silence. "Trus' me," the blond muttered, eyes drifting over what looked to be a jet-black duel disk on the American's arm. "This ain' goin' away."

Honda stared for a moment, the two sharing looks before he gave in. "Hah... Fine," he decided, turning to head in the direction the vents had been leading him. "But you better move got it? Anzu's heavy you know," he said with a wink. "Can't move her on my own!"

"...Honda..." He pulled a small, impish smirk, as though wondering whether to smile or not. "I'm gonna tell her you said that..."

The teen rolled his eyes, deciding not to respond. "Yea whatever... Just hurry up and get here alright," he called back, running past Keith with an edgy glance over his shoulder. Keith could careless what Honda did after all- he didn't care about the 'R.A.' project, and his current disk was testament to that. So with one final shout Honda kept running, soon vanishing around another corner with a wave."Don't you dare lose! And try not to pass out!" ACK-

He had to say that out loud..! "Khehehehehe..." Katsuya suppressed a slight shudder at the sound of Keith's laugh, instead facing the man with a cold glare. That black duel-disk... Belonged to the strongest of the Card Professors. He knew that not only because of what his 'gut' told him, but because of the magazines and articles that Yugi occasionally collected from the store front of the Kame Game. It belonged to Richie Merced...

A duelist with a history in street and gang fighting. Which meant that if Keith had taken him out, it hadn't been an easy task...

Which meant, despite all his lip, this would be one hell of a fight he told himself, swallowing as Keith moved to speak. "SO!" he laughed, wolfish grin refusing to die. "Long time no see, 'Joey'..." Tch.

Again with the 'Joey', what was with that... "Real long," Katsuya responded with a smirk. "Seein' how yer f'rgettin' my name... But what's this," he continued, drawing out the taunting as long as he could. "You used t' be all big, fightin' in Duelist Kingdom with a band 'f mooks! Since when did you become a mook y'self Keith? Owe Tenma a favor now," the blond added with a laugh, his opponent merely snorting as he spat to the side.

"Keh! As if I give a rat's ass about what that horse-fucker thinks! Tenma's got nothing to do with this! But then again," Keith went on with a laugh, a slightly shadowed feeling coming over Katsuya as the man spoke, "I guess I owe the guy in a way... Seeing how I got my brains blown out by Pegasus' penalty game, and he went and brought me back with no questions asked..." Gh... And here he'd thought the death deals weren't literal, he was getting it from the horse's mouth..! Again Katsuya swallowed, and in front of him Keith continued on. "Don't figure you give a flying fuck about what happened in the Kingdom though," he sneered, moving into a 'duelist's stance' as he spoke. "Nah... What matters now is that I'm alive and I'm here... Can't get back at Pegasus," he snarled insanely, grin growing forced before contorting into a scowl. "But you know what, that's the thing about grudges..! They give you a reason to live, a reason to keep coming back from the grave... Hehehehehe... And while Pegasus is gone, there's still one person left who I want nothing more than to see dead at my FEET," Keith spat. "You and Pegasus ruined me!" he roared. "You sent me down to the grave..!"

"So y' come back from th' grave t' get payback then," Katsuya responded shortly. "Pretty p'thetic if y' ask me... Should've stayed dead in my opinion!"

More laughter met the air, and despite the shades Katsuya could almost make out Keith's eyes beneath the tinted glass. "HAH! That what you think then 'brat'? Well try this on for size... Wasn't easy to get here you know..! Only reason I could is because of the fact I died! Ironic don't you think," he leered, relishing in his opponent's unease. "Cause you know what... When I came out, Tenma was starved for information... So when I told him that I spotted Pegasus on the other side-"

"WH- You met Pegasus!" Keith seemed to stop in genuine confusion as the blond across him balked, the American seeming to almost wonder if his opponent was being honest or not. "Are... Are you serious..! You met Pegasus' gh... Ghost..!" H-Hihhhhh...! Scary, scary, sca-

"GHAHAHAHAHAAA! What the fuck kind of moron are you!" Keith howled, holding his head as he doubled over in laughter. "Of course not! I don't remember dick all from when I was dead!" ...Oh. Well. ...That was somewhat upsetting. But wait... "Hnhnhnhnhn... Course Tenma didn't know that," Keith was laughing, still grinning enough to put the cheshire cat to shame. "In fact, I think he'd have believed me no matter what I said! So you know," he continued crazily, "I figured what the hell..! This was my shot at fighting you again.! So who was the last person to see Pegasus that was connected to you?" Oh no... "Well... That was Yugi Mutou of course," Keith laughed, ignorant to the growing rage from across him. "Hnhnhahaha... And when I told him that Pegasus was murdered by Yugi Mutou, champion of the Duel Monster's game, you and your buddies were instantly short-listed as sacrifices to the R.A. project... Hnhnhnhnhn... HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! And now you're here," Keith laughed almost incredulously. "Just as I figured, you're-"

"So that's how th's all started," Katsuya said quietly, the man across from him cutting himself short at the 'unusual' tone. "You wanted to duel me... So you dragged in my friends. You named Yugi as a murderer," he began, "Allowed S... Kaiba's company to fall into Tenma's hands... And you put Anzu in line for d'monic possession!" he roared, Keith's laughter slowing somewhat as he listened. "You... F'r all tha', you almos' killed her... For nothin' but a duel, somethin' y' could'a just called me up about, you put all my friends in DANGER! I'm fightin' you alrigh' Keith..! I'm gonna give yah all I've got," he snarled, fists clenching until they shook. "An' when you find yerself at Hell's gates again, they won' even recognize your face..! NOW," the blond snarled, disk clicking into place with one swift movement before the deck within it shuffled for use. "LETS DUEL!"

"HehehahaHAAAA!"

Cards were drawn and hands were decided, and as he usually did he had no need to look down. With nothing to do other than glare however, he found his gaze half-hearted despite all the intent behind it.

The shadows around Keith were thickening. Coiled around his legs, flowing and flaming about him like some liquid flame... Tearing his mind from those thoughts however he drew his sixth card, putting it on the field almost immediately. "I put a card face down," the blond cried, "An' I summon th' Little Winguard in defense mode!" The field reacted to the card's touch and Katsuya became silent for a moment as he watched tall desert stone rise up from behind. Though it was typical for the newly risen stone of the defensive to remain dormant however, he found a nagging feeling of dread pushing against him when he looked to the tablet. It seemed more dead somehow. Grey... Lifeless... "End turn," he managed to call out in the end. "Your move, asshole!"

"Hnhnhnhnhn..." These shadows that swirled around him couldn't be anything good... "Alright then... One card face down," he shouted, opponent briefly wondering why seeing more Japanese-typed cards brought surprise to mind, "And Motor Shell in defense mode!" Motor shell?

The tablet rose up as Keith announced the end of his turn, numbers coming to mind before a smirk followed. "Gh- HaHAHA! Seriously? That's all y' got," he laughed, gesturing to the 'shell' in the stone. "For someone who talks big, you sure don' deliver too well, Keith!"

"Tch! Bite it!" Keith retorted, scowling only briefly. "I've been waiting a long time to deal with you... Far too long to just finish you off and be done with it..! Hnhnheheheee..." Tch...

Damn creeper. As if he wasn't bad enough before all this... If he hadn't been over the edge then, he was sure as hell over it now! "My turn," he snarled, drawing his next card. For now, he'd leave Winguard in defense, just in case... But with a target like this sitting before him... "I summon th' Panther Warrior!" Katsuya called, stone rising from the ground as the familiar black-furred swordsman charged forward from it. "Go get 'm Panther," he continued, the American before them slowly beginning to shake with rage. "ATTACK-"

"Trap activate," Keith snarled, tablet at his side suddenly spitting multiple imp like creatures carrying enormous mechanic's tools above their heads. "Engine Tuner! Motor Shell gains half his defense points in power," he laughed, grin widening as his opponent scowled. The scowl however quickly vanished as the imps went to work, tools flying over the Motor Shell's parts. What were once wheel-like devices mashed together to form a large ball on a chain, and as the Panther Warrior skidded to a halt, Katsuya realized something important at an all too late moment.

The Panther hadn't said a word since his summoning. And as he turned around, opening his mouth to say something while Keith's monster smashed through him with the ball and chain... No words passed into the air.

Katsuya stared, eyes widening as the Panther attempted to repeat his words, but in the end he could only swallow. He couldn't hear... Why couldn't he hear-

He couldn't hear his monster as it sank, not into dust, nor even smoke or sand, but into a thick black sludge that joined with the shadows at Keith's feet.

"HehehaHAHA! What's the matter Joey?" his opponent cackled, not at all ignorant to the blond's growing horror. "Having doubts? You really are an amateur, you know that," he hissed, both Katsuya and the Panther turning on him with narrowed eyes. Hn!

"Amateur?" he repeated with a snarl. "Las' I checked, this 'amateur' beat yah almost a year ago! It's been ages since then," the blond continued fiercely. "You can't call me amateur any more... I'm gonna place one card face down an' then end my turn," he continued with a swallow. "...Yer move..."

"Hehehehehe... Back to me then," Keith sneered, drawing and moving cards with a grace that far betrayed the rest of his actions. "First... Another card face down," he decided, 'smile' growing into a dark grin. "Next! The Motor Shell attacks," he roared. "CANNON BALL!"

The rapidly flying ball launched forward in nothing but a blur but Katsuya could see it clear as day. "Act'vate trap!" he countered, gesturing toward the Winguard's tablet with a nod. "Fairy Box!" As opposed to the typical box that would appear however, the tablet with the spell instead grew around Winguard's stone- "H- Hihh!" The blond hurriedly dodged to the side as the ball came his way, watching as Motor Shell's metal 'cannon-ball' barreled forward to shatter the tablet to nothing but dust on the air. The tablet had been destroyed, true- but the Winguard's stone was still intact, leaving a scowling Keith and a grinning Katsuya in its wake.

"What..." Keith's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, a growl developing in the back of his throat. "What the fuck kind of card was that!" he snarled, pointing to where he likely saw the hologram. "What the hell was that!"

"Tha's called strategy!" the blond countered with a grin. "Now... My turn! An' I know jus' what I need t' beat th's thing," he continued, grin growing wider as he drew his next card. The monster was sitting in his very hand... And as he set it to the field, the Winguard's tablet instantly wiped itself clean of engraving. "I tribute th' Little Winguard t' summon my newest monster," he announced proudly, dust swirling as it formed the white and blue armor of the smaller monster's mentor. "Th' Divine Knight Ishzark! Now," he went on, the Knight in question stepping from his tablet with a nod and another bout of silence that his summoner struggled to ignore, "Attack! BREAK DOWN DISTORTION!"

"Ch-!" Keith stumbled back, but not from any damage done on the field. Ishzark's blade had easily cut through the monster before him, but the attack itself hadn't reached the monster's summoner.

Regardless, it was some damage... And for that, he was feeling a little more grateful than he likely would have ordinarily. "Heh! So how does tha' feel," the blond laughed, only to frown as he looked to where the monster had once sat. There was now a pile of spare parts on the field...

Identical to the ones the Engine Tuners had been carrying... "Kehehehehe... Whoops!" Keith chuckled, hands tucked somewhat in his vest pocket. "Guess amateurs can't read, eh, Joey? Anything equipped with Engine Tuner leaves behind the spare parts as a token... Not to mention, I can equip it to any other machine I summon on my turn! Khehehehehe... So..." Rrrrg...

He knew it would happen, but damn it, if he hadn't have attacked what good would it have done him anyway..! "I'll put another card face down," he spat, gaze moving from the Motor Part to Keith as he attempted to ignore the silent monster at his side. "Turn end!"

"Hehehehehehe..." Keith continued to chuckle as he drew his next card, scarcely giving it a glance as he leered at his opponent. "Well damn," he laughed as he made his move. "Looks like your attack left me something good..!" Heh? As the fragmented pile of scrap began to sink into sludge his opponent continued, seemingly ignorant to the fact that he was being ignored. "Check it out," the American cried. "I sacrifice the Motor Part to summon this..! Motor Violence! A monster who," he continued, Katsuya watching the beast rise up from the black pool beneath it, "Thanks to this 'Engine Tuner', is as powerful as a seven star monster..! HAHAHAHAHA!" Ahhhhhh SHIT. The engine tuner's 'imps' didn't need to move a muscle for the card's magic to work it seemed- already the mechanical beast was armed and armored, aiming triple barrel guns directly at Ishzark's skull. "Get ready," Keith roared, needlessly pointing the monster forward. "ATTACK! MOTOR CANNON!"

Not a sound was made as the bullets shot forward, and it was all Katsuya could do to duck behind his arm as he was pushed back against one of his tablets by the shock-wave. Despite being unable to hear the other, Ishzark had gotten the message he'd attempted to give him- a relief, if anything, but there was still a cold feeling of dread watching the monster melt away. There wasn't much time though, he forced himself to remember. Not much at all, and with nothing but will he forced the tablet behind him to activate. The same one he'd used to win against this guy the last time...

Trap card- 'Time Machine'!

"What the fuck..." As smoke rose from the sludge that had pooled beneath Katsuya's feet his opponent stared, going so far as to step back as the shadows that had been prepared to meet darkness began to mist and smoke into another form. "What the hell-" Metal rose behind the blond's back, spiraling and smoking and shaking as it appeared. Details began to form across a door, a window of glass clearing in the mist. With an ominous creak the door of the floating device opened, and as the smoke around it revealed the enormous steel device Keith realized just what it was. "You... That's my CARD!" he roared, face growing red the more Katsuya's own grin grew. "You FUCKING SON OF A-"

"What, this thing here," Katsuya laughed, shrugging the curses off with ease. "Were you lookin' for it then?" he asked, grin widening. "Well... Not like you were using it any more," the blond continued with a smirk. "After all... After our fight in th' Duelist Kingdom, you went an' left all th' cards in a rage-quit 'r somethin' along th' lines! I figured you didn't care," he went on as he shrugged, "So what th' hell? I found yer card in my deck, but I didn' see th' point in lettin' it just go t' waste either..." Of course, graverobber was the one who had put it there, but as though he was saying that aloud...

And oooooh, he was pissed. "You god damned brat... You...!" The more Keith seethed the more the shadows rose Katsuya suddenly realized, his grin falling as his opponent again began to chuckle. "Well... Big deal," he snarled, gesturing to the monster he had on the field. "You think you're so great? All you did was bring the Knight back to life..! All I need to do is take him out again and it'll all be over for you... Man," the American snorted, shaking his head. "You can't even use the card properly," he spat. "What a pathetic-"

Heh. "That what y' think," he asked, a small and triumphant grin appearing on his face. "Tha' I can' use even a single card properly," he continued, a blade far different from Ishzark's appearing as the doors of the time machine began to open. "Think again," Katsuya announced as thunder pealed, the shadows almost shrinking back as strong armored arms lined not in white but in gold began to pull out from the machine. "I act'vated one other card Keith..! TAKE OVER! By sendin' Ishzark to th' grave when he came back w' this thing," he explained, "I was able t' summon a differen' warrior in his place... Meet one 'f my strongest cards," the blond laughed almost darkly, the man in tattered cloth and golden armor stalking forward with a look of stern decision on his face. "GILFORD TH' LIGHTNIN'!"

"HN!" Though he did not hear what Gilford said when he spoke, he could at least hear any other sounds he made. Raising the blade high over his shoulders the warrior awaited his summoner's command, an order that Katsuya was more than willing to give.

"Take this Keith," he laughed, "Gilford attacks yer monster..!

"LIGHTNING CRASH SWORD!"

The blade cut through the metal as though it were nothing but soft and melted butter, the pieces of the Motor Violence falling to the ground before collapsing and dissolving into the shadows at Keith's feet. It was disconcerting, what was happening before him... But there was likely nothing he could do about it save fight on. "Well now Keith," he laughed, a rather nasty grin staring the American down. "I sure hope yer prepared t' offer somethin' up by th' end of this, if you're gonna go down so fast!"

"You little shit..."

"Maybe another card," Katsuya 'offered' with a shrug. "Maybe not... ...Nahhh, I don' think I want anythin' outta your deck," the blond decided, watching his opponent's rage as it grew. "But what's that?" he laughed, pointing toward the black disk that Keith wore. "Like th' new accessories there... A 'Black Duel Disk'! That thing proves who's th' top in the USA, doesn' it," the blond added 'carefully'. "I'm thinkin' you don't really deserve somethin' that fancy, now do y' Keith..."

Keith merely continued to growl, eyes narrowing behind his shades. "Tch... Laugh while you can," he hissed, fists clenching in rage. "I'll get you in just a few seconds..."

"Oh will you," the blond countered loudly. "Back in th' Duelist Kingdom, I didn't have any tactics y' know..! Hell, two weeks b'fore tha', I'd been fighting 'monsters only'! I was an amateur then, that's true," he went on, "But you've been dead a hell 'f a lot longer than a couple weeks Keith..! An' I've fought all kinds' 'f people since then... I beat you las' time," Katsuya snarled, "An' after how much better I've gotten since then you can be sure tha' I'm gonna beat 'y here too! You've got another part now," he went on, smirking. "But they're both prime targets for Gilford now... Count y'r turns," the blond warned, "Cause they'll be yer last..."

"Really now," Keith sneered, rubbing his wrist in his unease. "You think you're gonna beat me with these half-baked tactics of yours..! Think AGAIN," he roared, drawing his next card. "What I have in my hand will finish you off in-"

-BRRREEEEEP-BREEP-BREE-BREE-BREE-BREE-BREE-BREE- What th-

"What th' hell..?"

"NGH!" As the American moved to play his face-down card a blaring alarm began to sound, the source more than easily pinpointed to the black disk itself. "What the fuck..!" Keith snarled, pulling the card out and grimacing as the alarm slowly died. "What the hell was that..!" Yea, he'd like to k-

Wait. A. Second.

The wrist..! "You... You were abou' t' cheat, weren't yah," Katsuya muttered incredulously, his opponent tensing in response. "Yea... Yea, you were, weren't you y' jackass! Man! Must be gettin' pretty nervous t' be pulling somethin' like tha'," he growled, Gilford and Katsuya both looking forward in accusation. "Too bad it isn' gonna work! GILFORD," the blond called out, the monster giving a steady nod and charging forward with his blade. "ATTACK TH' FIRST MACHINE PART!"

"HNNNN-HAH!" The tiny pile of scraps stood no chance against the force of Gilford's blade, and the backlash of the wind almost cut into Keith's being. Motor Parts had no power, and no defense... Taking all the damage from that turn left Keith with 1000 points even, while he himself was close to unscathed. Heh...

"Hehehahaha! Whoo! An' here I w's feelin' worried," the blond crowed, taking two other cards from his hand before slipping them onto the disk. "Well! I'm gonna set two more cards face down b'fore I call it I think! Heheheheeee... Mind as well surrender now," Katsuya laughed, crossing his arms to watch for the next turn. "Seein' how y've got no chances left..." Seeing how he had to go and try cheating already... Hah!

It was almost impossible to feel negative now, he thought to himself behind a grin. Impossible! Time Wizard and Probability Chance both sat encased in stone behind him, waiting to strike- if it was a bad spin then he would spin again, if not, then he won! The next thing to come to the field would be nothing but scrap metal... Nothing...

...But why wasn't Keith moving?

"Oiiii... KEITH!" he called out, giving the American a wave. "What's takin' yah! You seem quiet f'r some reason!" Little too quiet, a voice in the back of his mind decided, and now that he was bothering to listen to it, he'd have to agree... Keith was... Way too quiet. Way, way, way-

"Hehehe..." Ohhhh fuck his life. "HeheHAHAHA..." Just... Just end it now damn it... "HAHAHAHAHHA!" Agghhhhh, what the hell was with him and fighting crazy people! "You... You think I'm going to surrender to YOU," Keith laughed, wide and incredulous grin spreading over his face. "You think I... Hahah... HAHAHAHAHA! You... Your win at the Duelist Kingdom was a FLUKE!" he roared, shaking in rage as the shadows around him began to build. "But it looks like it blew you full of hot air regardless! You think that you have the right to tell ME to give up?" he spat viciously. "That you have any say in where this duel is going? HAH! You can shut your trap before I do it for you," the American snarled. "Because you're about to find your place, 'Joey'... It's my turn," he hissed, "I sacrifice the remaining Machine Part to summon a new monster! Motor Kaiser!" Keith announced. "I'll set another card face down and then end my turn with that!" Eh!

Seriously? Despite the slight dread that had started growing with the shadows Katsuya found himself chuckling, looking over the field with almost incredulous eyes. The monster was only slightly more powerful than the last 'Motor' that had come to the field- all in all, it was nothing special. Hah... Hahahahaha... Really... That... "Tha'... You got all d'rmatic over tha' little thing?" he laughed, holding his head as he looked away from the blocky robot that had come to the field. "Gilford'll eat that guy for breakfast," the blond shouted, "You didn' succeed 'n anythin'! HAH! Alrigh' Gilford," he decided, pointing the swordsman toward the monster that was, even with his 'tune-up' from the Engine Tuner, still less powerful than he. "GO! An' while I do that," he continued with a grin, "I'll act'vate-"

"MY trap," Keith snarled over his words, "Card Hexachief!" Hexchief? Wasn't that a fix-

Oh crap. Chains launched from the ground at his feet, the blond hurriedly ducking behind his arms as tile and concrete flew up from the air. Wrapping around the tablets behind him the chains gave a light shudder, glowing just briefly with power before settling into place. "Shit," he muttered, before turning back. Alright then... Deal with this the hard way! "Alrigh' y' prick," he growled, not even bothering to let Keith explain a card that was already 'gleefully' explaining itself in the back of his mind. "You might've chained th' cards down, but tha' won' stop the attack! Now Gilford," he ordered, the monster charging with a loud cry.

"LIGHTNING CRASH SWORD!"

Again the scent of burning metal met the air and again the sight of it melting into shadows met his eyes. Despite his apparent victory he couldn't help but feel a pressuring sense of dread rising again, the shadows at Keith's feet almost flaming with expectation. Anyone else would say this was a pointless move- why bother chaining his cards down? But as the fear rose, so did thought, along with questions of paranoia...

Why did Keith chain his cards to the field only to let an attack in..? "Khehehehehe..." Why was he laughing, when he was so clearly about to lose? Why..? "I win, 'Joey'." What..?

"Heh..!"

Still the American laughed, and as he looked forward the blond could just barely make out blood-shot and crazed eyes behind the sunglasses facing him. "I said, I win," he chuckled darkly, acting as though anything out of his mouth made sense. "You just signed your death warrant kid!" What..!

"What th' hell are you talking about," he asked incredulously, nonetheless unable to shake the growing dread he felt as Gilford as well frowned. "Yer field is empty..! Can't you see properly w' those shades?"

"Can't you see at all, you dumb shit!" EH! Keith's grin had yet to fade, and as the tablet at his side began to carve and crumble from its blank slate he could see why. He'd said it once... And he'd say it again.

Oh how he hated traps.

"'Scrap Garage'," Keith announced nastily, his laughter echoing about the room in time with the shadow's flares. "When a Motor monster is sent to the grave... I can bring them all back as tokens!" Ahuh... But... But...

"But these things don' even have any power," he protested with a swallow, watching as one by one they rose from the darkness at Keith's feet. "They're even in attack mode, what w's th' point in tha'..!" The point... He knew the point, somehow. But it couldn't be that... He didn't want it to be that, it couldn't, just couldn't be..!

"Hehehe... Understand what this means," his opponent hissed, crazed grin cracking still more. "Do you know what I'm about to do," he continued, the time ticking away into Keith's turn as Katsuya swallowed. "Watch," the man sneered, the room itself seeming to darken as he brought a single card to the field. As shadows whipped up from the very ground, thrashing uncontrollably through the air. "I'm going to show you something good... I'm going to show you a REAL God... A Ja-shin..!" No... "I sacrifice these three monsters..." No..! "AND SUMMON THIS! RISE," Keith howled, a roaring and thundering rush of noise piercing his opponents very mind and soul as the shadows took form. He couldn't do this, he couldn't he couldn't, he couldn't-

"N-namonaki...!" Nameless...

But not any more..! "DEVIL'S ERASER!" Keith thundered, the ear-splitting wail that surrounded it forcing Katsuya to cover his ears in pain. The great, serpent like demon stood before him with an almost draconic helm covering a human's face, mounted on a long and shadowed neck. Its arms were naught but 'panels', topped claws and joined to the body by a set of armor that almost resembled a human's rib-cage. Long, flat wings spread behind it, matching razor-thin and razor sharp horns from the helm... This was a Ja-Shin, his mind told him, hands slowly coming down from his ears as he stared. This was what his 'dreams' had once warned against. And this...

'K... su... a... ..!'

"DIGESTIVE BREATH!" Was the reason why he couldn't hear right now.

With wide and uncomprehending eyes the blond watched as Keith laughed and shouted, spouting words that met no one's ears as the God itself spoke instead. As the demon opened its gaping, 'porcelain' mouth, revealing a tube... "You who bear the face of those who dared to SEAL such POWER. You who would DARE to stand in the way of our GLORIOUS REVIVAL..!" it snarled, impassive expression accompanied by an endless darkness that continued to fill the room. "Become the nutrients that satisfy the hunger that is DARKNESS!" Hah... Haahhhhh..!

Acidic ooze gushed forward, and dully, he watched Gilford jump in the attack's path. He watched as rather than dissolving into bone and flesh, dust and sand, or even fragments of a hologram the monster collapsed into the same oil as everything else... Joining with the shadows that formed the demon before him. Gilford was gone, just like that, he realized dully. Gone... Gone...

Keith was still talking, but it didn't matter. He already knew, if not barely, why his cards were pinned in place. The nameless who took the form of the serpent, who gained power from the number of those who faced it... In the same way, the Eraser gained power for each card on his side of the field. He could barely hear Keith over the roar that was on the air, over the drowning rush of pain and darkness that was beating him, screaming for him to simply allow himself to sink into darkness and forget everything and-

He swallowed, looking up toward the beast's betrayingly calm face. He... Couldn't stop here, he told himself. He couldn't...

With a shaking hand he drew his next card, and with his mind made up he forced a determined and pained grin onto his face. "He... Hahahahaha... Looks like my luck's really paying off," he laughed, holding out the card he'd pulled at that moment. "Sorry Keith... Looks like I've got what I need to finish off your God already! Spell card Hurricane!" he announced breathlessly, setting it on the field as stone rose and crumbled simultaneously behind him. "All spells and traps are returned to the hand," the blond roared, "And-" And as the chains rattled his grin began to fade, words cut short with a single barked order from his opponent.

"Counter!" he snarled, almost pounding the duel disk to reveal the last face down he'd played. "DE-SPELL!" De... De-spell...

"No..." The hurricane that had begun to rise up in the sands instantly funneled toward the center, slowly pulling itself into the ground from whence it came. "NO!" The tablet that had spawned it faced a similar fate, spiraling down to the ground to leave the air completely clear. "AAAAAHHHH!" Shit! SHIT! SHIT! Slowly the blond's eyes turned back up toward the Eraser, the 'nameless' god his opponent controlled. This wasn't good... Eraser's power still sat at two thousand points now, and he didn't have any monsters in his hand that could counter that just now. He didn't...

Keith's voice entered the air, and with horrified eyes he looked toward an attack that he could not block. "DIGESTIVE BREATH," he snarled, the Eraser's laughter piercing the air. "HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Oh no... Oh no no no no no-

TABLET. With nothing to grab but the chains from the hexachief he barely pulled himself back and behind the tablet he'd left 'face down', the blond wincing as the very heat of the acidic juices burned against his shield. Keith's own vengeance and madness left him watching the actions without even batting an eye... The smoke that rose from the field was quite likely something only Katsuya himself could see, and as he looked back to the monster who had launched the attack he had to swallow. These shadows... That were filling the air now...

These shadows surrounding Keith... Katsuya's eyes moved from the monster to the man behind it, the man who now faced him with a demonic and sinister grin. Keith sought him out, that much he knew. From hate, for vengeance... He had a grudge and he was here to exact it. But this feeling in the air, mixed with the fear he felt... It wasn't just that, he found himself telling himself, forcing himself to breathe lest he collapse as he had all the other times the 'Gods' were summoned. It wasn't just that, and if he wanted to move forward he needed to figure out what the hell that was..!

"My... TURN," he rasped, drawing his next card and swallowing. "I set this face down," he decided, a single card remaining in his hand. "And I end my turn..!"

"Ehhh..!" Keith's eyes widened, and his monstrous expression grew even more. "That's it..! HAH! Thank's so much, JOEY! Now the Eraser has THREE THOUSAND attack points..! I don't know how much stupider you could possibly get," he laughed hysterically, "You've only buried yourself even more..! You outta know that traps don't work on the Gods," he roared, "But I guess that goes to show how much an amateur you really are..! ERASER," Keith ordered, the 'God' preparing his attack once again as Katsuya prepared for the hit. "ATTACK!

DIGESTIVE BREATH-"

"ACT'VATE TRAP! GRAVEROBBER!" The blank stone he'd pulled into existence crumbled immediately, the 'card of choice' already carving on its face as its token 'imp' grinned from behind it. "An' th' card I've taken is yer Motor Violence!"

"WHA-" A loud crackling explosion filled the air as the machine that appeared melted under Eraser's attack, nothing but scraps falling to the ground in its place. From behind his arm Katsuya grimaced, but despite the bits of singed cloth he had he managed to look forward with a weak and triumphant smirk. And hey... Keith was pissed right? "You... You stole my card again you son-of-a-bitch!" he roared, the teen across from him merely grinning. "YOU FILTHY FUCKING-"

"Ohhh..? Th's is interestin'," Katsuya muttered blankly, paying Keith no mind as he rotated his shoulder and looked over his life-points. "Thought I'd take a bigger hit... ...Ahhhhhh..." He grinned, looking forward as he spotted the tablet from near the start of the duel. "Engine Tuner, tha's right... Heh! Explains these things," he laughed, crossing his arms as he looked over the two 'tokens' he now had. "Man did I luck out! Looks like you even left me with the sacrifices I need f'r a monster," he chuckled weakly, shaking his head and turning back to Keith.

Keith for his part, was not surprisingly unamused. "So you can get a big fish on the field then," he snorted, evidently wanting this over and done with. "Big whoop! Like I give a rat's ass what you summon, you said it yourself! Gilford was one of your best- you telling me you have something better?" Better?

"What, another guy like him? Nahhh," he muttered almost absently. "Gilford's one of a kind... Hell I don' have a monster in my hand let alone someone like Gilford," he laughed. "But... Who knows," the blond continued darkly, wind seeming to rise and blow back the shadows of the Eraser as he set the next card. "Maybe you do! I cast th' spell Summon Capture," Katsuya roared, his mind filling in the blanks of the rising tablet's power. "An' that means I c'n summon somethin' from your hand..! Yer a pretty power hungry guy," he continued with a grin, eyes narrowing as the one across from him swallowed. "An' you've got jus' what I need in there... I'm summonin' th' card furthest left in your hand," the blond announced, tablet rising despite the card never appearing in his hand. "SO," he continued, walking forward with an expectant hand for the final piece of the summon. "Fork it over!"

"Che..." With no choice the American held his hand out, shaking in rage while Katsuya snatched his prize. "Damned rat... Get the fuck out of my sight!" he snarled as the blond hopped back, narrowly avoiding a kick.

"Hih! Well, someone knows they're screwed," the blond snorted, chuckling under his breath as he made it back. "But whatever... Wi' this card, along with YOUR power-up," he announced, the tablet already standing tall behind him with the carved image of a robotic monster, "Your 'namonaki' doesn' stand a chance..! NOW... Les' see what yer monsters are like w'out th' shadows," he roared, metal breaking free from stone with an earth-shattering rumble. "I sacrifice th' two metal parts t' summon this... TH' DEMONIC MOTOR, OMEGA!" And as black-green metal crashed into existence, the shadows briefly pulled back, heralding the monster's summon with a bang.

"RRRRRRNNNNNNNN-NNNNN-HAAAAAAAHHHHH! At LAST..!" W-Wh-What..! As Katsuya jumped back the machine at his side blew off clouds of steam from its shoulders, gear-jointed tail swishing almost in agitation while it cracked its 'neck'. "Finally," the monster growled, 'stretching' and 'flexing' in place. "Out of that shadowed hell hole..!" Um.

What. "...Th' hell," he muttered under his breath, only for Keith's words to snap him back to the duel.

"You... CHEH! Whatever then," the American muttered with a scowl. "I was already thinking of how boring it would be to win with this thing..."

"Yeaaa, 'f course y' were," he muttered dryly, only to flinch when Omega tapped his shoulder with a blade-tipped finger. "Eh..?"

"Oi." Um. Yes? He was listening. Never thought he'd be talking to a robot with a notably American accent but... He was listening. "Brat. This guy's been stuck with me and my buddies for a while, got it- might not be the brightest bulb on the shelf," he added with a shrug, "But he's family to me and my buddies, got it?" UHHHHHH... "You watch how you finish him, understand," the robot growled. "We can either end up dealing with this again, or fixing it this time. Got it, brat?" Um... Um...

He nodded somewhat weakly, head soon picking up speed with the action as he became more sure. "Ah... Right," he muttered to himself, swallowing. "Got it..! It's gonna end righ' here," he said even louder, narrowing his eyes as he attempted to comprehend a 'better' Keith in the meantime. "LET'S DO THIS! ATTACK! JONOUCHI CRUSHER!"

"MECHANIC'S SCYTHE!" Oh, that was what it was called? With a rush of steam and fires the monster shot forward, Eraser doing nothing but rearing back with perfect neutrality on its face. With a 'snicker-snack' sound the blade cut clean through Eraser's neck- it's head toppled to the ground with a dull thud, porcelain face cracked and its summoner's life depleted to 100.

Eraser was dead. "Hah..." Dead and gone... "HahaHA! WHOOOO! YEA," he screamed, laughing almost to the point of tears in relief. "YEA! Did it!"

"Did you?"

Katsuya looked back down from his skyward celebration, face growing white as Keith's words echoed around the room. A feeling of cold, of dread, and of endless despair was already beginning to fill him, and the room began to grow darker than it had even before. Blood was falling from the gaping wound on the Eraser's corpse, the corpse that had yet to vanish as it should. Thick, black, oil like blood, rising from the ground to surround the entire 'arena', dripping from above and slowly filling the area around them... "What th' hell," he croaked, unable to speak as the sound of creaking gears and clanking chains met his ears. "What th' hell is this..! What..!"

"Ngh... Eraser's ability..!" Ability..!

"Khnhnhnhnhn..." The blood continued to rise, and as it did he could feel himself sinking... Omega himself was already drowning in the dark, never to be seen, while his 'face down tablets' were doing the same... It was all he could do to stay awake, all he could-

'KRREEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'

"Ngh..!" Screaming... Screaming was filling the air, from no where, from everywhere...

"Did I forget to tell you," he could barely hear, the blond covering his ears and breathing laboriously in an attempt to hold off the sheer pressure of darkness around him, "Did I forget to mention that Eraser destroys everything on the field when he dies..?" Ngh... Gh...!

"One card face down," he rasped, slipping the card onto his duel disk lest he drop it. He could feel a tablet rise behind him, save from the power of the Eraser, but even then the blood was falling, Keith was laughing, the sludge was leaping from the ground, encompassing them both..!

Darkness... He couldn't see, get him out, get him out..!

Nothing but darkness... "Fhihihihi..." Keith was laughing somehow, he could still hear him... "This is just as good... As winning...!" Damn it, was Keith even willing to die here..!

Darkness... His sight was gone. His hearing, that was gone too... He was losing his scent, his touch... And as he held his arms close he shook with fear, scarcely able to breathe. 'It's the feeling of being dead,' someone was laughing, cackling in the darkness around him. 'Now it's your turn to go to hell 'Joey'... Now it's your turn...

To die.'

"HnhnHAHAHAHAHA!"

Darkness. Darkness...

Help...

The darkness is here...

And the circle is complete.

The elders stand around it, the design traced into the ground with goat fats and ashes. And as the candles burn, he can hear himself speak.

"Please," he cries, struggling to escape the arms that hold him in the center, others moving to fasten ropes around his arms and wrists. "Please... This number will bring nothing good," he warns, watching as the 'perfect' number before him seems to fade into ashes. "My shadow isn't ready," he continues in desperation, "Please..!" The twelve elders stand around him after tying his arms down to stone. He pulls and tugs, unable to reach the cords with his teeth and unable to slip his hands through the knots as he usually could, and in the end he is left sitting in a stiff and forcefully built position in tears. "Please," he weeps, the candle light flickering on the side with haunting effects. "Please don't do this, please..."

"We gather here today in the presence of our ancestors..." The chanting has started, and the ashes on the ground seem to rise and smoke with unseen power.

The boy tries again. "Please, please, please... Please don't... My heart... My soul... I can see it," he screams, Neker standing in the corner in fear as he listens to his friends words. "Please, you'll kill us all," he wails pitifully, "Everyone will die if you do this, I BEG you..! GHH-"

An echoed slap choruses around the chamber, with nothing but the candles around the circle to illuminate the source. The elder who brought him here, the elder who did nothing but tell playful stories with shadows at his hands holds the very staff he used to twist the darkness for the scene. Blood now drips from the end, just as it does the side of the boy's face. And the boy, with his eyes watering and overflowing completely, can do nothing but choke on his misery.

"Silence, boy!" the elder snarls, gripping his staff and pulling it back in a single swift movement. "This is for your own good! Today we put an end to your ridiculous stories," he continues, turning to leave the intricate circle without making a single mark upon it, "And to these 'gut feelings' of yours-"

"They aren't like that!" he screeches, pulling at the ropes with renewed strength. "The shadows told me... The heart is the soul is the shadow who knows, please! Please I beg you, please, I don't want you to die..! I don't want..! I- I..."

"Do not speak as though these demons you've found know the workings of the world," the elder snarls in response, leaving the boy to choke on his tears. "Be silent and allow the ritual to complete itself..!" But the ritual is not meant to be. It is not meant...

"I can't..." His voice quiets and the chanting surrounds him, his strength wasted on futile struggles against his bonds and his voice hoarse from his begging and pleading. His struggling dies and his vision seems to slow, and the boy looks about the room with terror filling his entire being as he feels himself slipping away. "I can't... I... ...Neker," he whispers, the boy he speaks to stepping back and looking to his grandmother for advice. But his grandmother is one of the elders, and she merely says-

'It is for his own good.'

"I can't..." He can't see...

'I reach into the pits of darkness to pull forth light...'

"I can't..." He can't feel...

'I wield it as my own, as my weapon as my shield...'

"...please..."

'I TAKE FATE INTO MY OWN HANDS AND OUT OF THOSE OF THE GODS..!'

And the hands rise from the circle, before the true ceremony begins.

"!"

As he screams in the room of the tower in the east, he screams in the chambers of the deepest pits of the desert. He holds his head in one world, fingers digging against the skin of his skull, and in the other he throws his head back, pulling at his binds and seeing nothing but white with his wide, dying eyes. "KKKRRHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He hears nothing but the hums and screams of the shadows that pull, of the taunting hands that force their way into the depths of his soul. "rrrRRRAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He feels nothing but the pain of their touch, of their hold, of their force, and sees absolutely nothing at all.

The boy screams until his throat is dry, until his lips are stretched and bleeding. As energies of all kinds rise from the circle to join the hands, illuminating it to a level that stands brighter than even the candles in the room the elders speak falsely comforting words. 'It is for your own good,' they repeat betrayingly. 'It will all be over soon.' "NNNGGGAAAAAHHHHHH!" 'We will tear your soul free from the shadows-' they tell him soothingly, as though their voices will calm the screams. 'No more will you be tormented by these gut feelings of yours!' "HHHRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Tears are running down his face, and with pleading eyes he looks over the crowd, somehow able to see through the veil that has coated his eyes. He cannot hear Neker's screams as the boy asks what is wrong. He cannot hear what he says as he turns to the elders, pulling on his grandmother's arm in desperation before being thrown to the ground by the annoyed old ones. He cannot hear his own name as it is called over the air. He cannot hear...

He cannot hear...

The shadows roar. Liquid darkness rises from the circle at his feet, and an intense pain, surpassing all that has come thus far, begins to rise within him as the hands pull out their prize. The glow of the circle is unbearable. The elders chants are coming short, and they step back with wide and fear filled eyes as the boy in the center continues to scream and thrash at his bonds despite all their magic and traditions. And finally the ropes snap. Finally, the shadows that coalesced begin to gather within the grip of the darkened hands from the ashes. They take form, and as he reaches out with a hand so does the small black creature that has risen from the depths of his soul. So does the creature with eyes as red as the evening sun, and scales as black as the shadows of the desert. But as he reaches out, an ebony claw doing the same...

"Bri... Kri... KRIIIIIIIII!" It falls to ashes at his very finger tips, and the pain returns. A searing flame across his chest, his hands flying toward it in pain as it threatens to break his very being, as it tears at his soul and mind and spirit all at once, as it shatters what little he has left-!

"NGH..." The elders are running toward him, and the boy rolls back onto his side. "NNGH..." The pain never ends, never stops... It feels as though his body is empty, as though he's dead, as though he'll never move again, and this pain..! "NNGHAAAAAAAAAGHH! GHHAAAAAAAAAAA!" This pain... "GHHHHAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHH!" This PAIN!

snap out of it.

Someone...

'Snap out of it.'

Stop...

"Wake up..."

STOP!

"DAMN IT KATSUYA!"

A punch knocks him back in the darkness, and despite the inability to see he brings his hand to his face in pain. "Ngh-!"

"It's about damn time!" a familiar voice growled, the blond looking forward with a grimace.

"Gh... Panther..?"

Katsuya blinked and the cat continued to growl, the duelist's eyes slowly widening as he looks around. Everyone... Every...

All of his monsters, standing with him in the darkness...

"N-NGH-" The darkness began to push again, but just as quick to react, a scaled hand smacked him in the face.

"Ohhh no you don't Katsuya-jun!"

"OW- What-?" What the hell! Alligator did that!

"YEA! Wake up!" chimed the Little Winguard, her summoner grimacing and letting out a yelp as he grabs at the shin she just kicked.

"We're not letting something like DARKNESS take the first one to speak with us in a few thousand years," the Flame Swordsman growled in agreement, pounding Katsuya on the back as the others crowd for their own two cents.

The next to come came from a nodding Ishzark, but it seemed all their voices now chorused on the air. "THE NAMELESS MUST NOT RETURN!" they roared, bodies almost flickering in the darkness.

"Right!"

"RIGHT!"

"RIGH-"

"OKAY, I'M UP, I'M UP!" Katsuya cried out, arms held above him in defense. "I'm up," he repeats, opening his eyes to look at the blood soaked room around him, the shadows of the monsters now long gone. "I'm... ...H-Hah... HAHHHHH-!"

His eyes widen as the blades of the Motor Omega meet his gaze, each one raised and prepared to strike. 'Nikoichi' was used, his mind tells him as he panics, allowing Keith to summon it from the graveyard and- "Time to die, Joey...~"

Shit-! "Act'vate trap," he hurriedly cried, jumping to the side as the blades splashed and cut into the bloodied darkness, "Skull dice!" From above the blood soaked ground the tablet for the card spat out a rolling die, the imp within too terrified to even move. Splattering blood all about it as it fell however, the number was clear. "Hah... Four..! NGH-" Too late to dodge Katsuya found himself raising his arms above him for defense, a flailing, blood-soaked Omega forced to return to its side of the field as it scratched the blond's arm. "Hahgh..." He shook himself, oily sludge slipping off his hair and out of his eyes. "Hahh..." His arm bled, but it bled slowly, and as he blinked he found his vision clearing up just enough to see around the black arena. This place...

The 'nameless god's influence was powerful indeed he found himself thinking uneasily, flexing his hand out of habit. And even now, while he was awake, he felt as though he was sinking into darkness... But this feeling...

He looked across the field to his opponent, steeling his gaze as the Motor Omega hovered at its master's side. Keith was an asshole, but something told him that there was more to it... A reason for the Omega to say so- And now... Now that he stood there, looking toward the broken and blood-soaked man... "Why," Keith rasped, shaking his head in a growing sensation of horror that had turned against him so quickly. "Why... Why won't you just DIE," he wailed, cries met with nothing but a stony glare. "I'm dead... You're alive, it... I can't..!" The man grabbed at his head, clenching his teeth as naught but whimpered moans came from his lungs. "Ng... Unnn Uaaaaa... Am I... Again..?" What..? "Am I going to vanish... Again," he asked himself aloud, shaking his head and growing even stiffer as his breathing began to race. "To the pit... Of darkness... To the pit," he repeated with a dangerous tone, "Of DARKNESS... Here... Right here Jonouchi," Keith whispered, expression glazed and possessed as Katsuya watched grimly from afar. "I'm gonna drag you... To the depths of hell," he wheezed, stumbling and taking a step forward despite the thick, knee-high sludge. "I'm gonna... Kill you... I'm..."

"...My turn," Katsuya managed to say, drawing a card and looking across to Keith in silence. "...Keith... You c'n stop yer mutterin' now," he said quietly. "This time, I ain' pushin' you back there. I summon th' Iron Knight Gearfried!" the blond announced, a tablet pushing free of the bloodied ground as steel limbs and armor managed to force their way forward, "In attack mode!" Despite all the blood the monster's metal gleamed brilliantly from the glow of his own power, and with a knowing nod the monster began its charge forward. This was it... "This is th' hit that'll wake you up Keith!" Katsuya announced, Gearfried's blade rising above his head to come forward with the same motions of a downward punch. "NOW!"

"YOUUUUUUUUU!"

"HHHHHRAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Gh-k-" As though blown away by a fan, the blood dissipated. Gearfried's blade cut through the monster that had risen from the sludge, pushing directly through Keith's chest, and as the American fell back in almost comatose defeat the light came back to the room. Tablets crumbled and sank to the ground... Any remains of the Eraser were long gone, Katsuya and Gearfried as well walking over to where their opponent had fallen.

One look was all it took- there was nothing for the monsters to say now... But with his hands stowed in his pockets he found himself looking over Keith with pity despite what he knew of the man. "..." Damn... To think, after all this... "...Keith," he said almost quietly, the man at his feet struggling to recover from the shadows of the Eraser's blood. "...It's over. ...I know you can' feel th' pain from a monster's hit th' way I can," he continued, looking away somewhat with a swallow, "But a Duelist oughta know what their monsters are feelin'!" the blond shouted. "It's proof that you're alive," he went on, "That you're a duelist, tha' you're-"

-click-

Katsuya stared as Keith fumbled with the black disk on his arm, ripping it off and pelting it toward the shocked teen before him. "Not... Done," he growled, insane grin appearing on his face. The Eraser was gripped tightly in his finger-tips, and as it shook he continued to speak. "We aren't done yet... Jonouchi... Duel me," he demanded lowly. "You can wear the black disk... Go on... Wear it... Wear..!" The teen looked down at Keith numbly before saying one thing.

"I can't."

"Gnnhhhghh... Damn it..!" he roared weakly, fist clenching and reddening whilst he shook. "DAMN IT..! Ngh..!" The fist fell to the ground in exhaustion, and with a tight jaw the American's head fell forward. "You... You..."

"...I can't duel you like this," Katsuya said quietly, eyes looking over the man with an almost dead glaze over the cold pity he felt. "Righ' now... Looks like you've let yerself turn into a demon 'f r'venge... ...An' I think tha' if you didn' have tha' card yer holdin' now, things'd be differen'. I know tha' I'm not th' only one t' believe tha'," he continued. "If anythin', the ones tha' really care are th' only ones who'd know. ...I know... Tha' there w's a time where you dueled for fun," Katsuya whispered lowly, pulling a card out from his graveyard as he went on. "Hard t' imagine what tha' was like," he laughed shortly, "But tha's b'side th' point. This card 's yours," he said with a whisper, tossing the 'Time Machine' to Keith's feet. "I'm givin' it back. Use it t' go back t' tha' time, alrigh'," he added, turning to leave. "An' when you come back as a duelist instead 'f some demon 'f r'venge... We'll have tha' fight."

Keith didn't respond, but even with his back turned to the man he had a feeling that it would be the last time they met- if at least 'like this'. The Eraser fell to the floor- and a hand moved to pick up the Time Machine card in silence. It was a relief, in a bizarre way. Enough that he was even feeling dizzy, hands gripping the black disk as he took the other one off. Enough that-

"Ngh...!" Both disks clattered to the ground and dully he realized someone would have heard that but a majority of him didn't care. His hands flew to his head as his body locked, collapsing to the ground in a fit of blurred senses. His vision went black, his hearing dim, his feeling dulled...

To any one passing, it would seem he'd collapsed in exhaustion. But as his arms move to cover the wounds sustained under the Eraser's acidic breath, there could be a few in the world, even the building, that could see...

"Gh... Ngh..." The darkness is still upon them. It's eating away, pulling him in... "Sff... Gh..!" Pulling... Pulling...

Pull-

He's still in the circle, and his body lies limp and prone upon the ground, staring out at nothing.

But despite this chaos that has occurred, the elders continue to approach. 'Continue the ritual,' they call confidently. 'With the demon exorcised there is limited time to form the shadow!' As he realizes what they thought had been a demon, Neker's eyes are wide with horror... But it is not to the elders that he looks, and the gaze fills ever more with fear. The elder who gave the order now turns back from where he faced the others, instead looking behind the boy in terror as darkness pushes back from the ashes and the hands on the ground. The boy does not know what is going on... He does not feel anything, merely disconnection and pain, a blinding pain...

And then as the shadows rise up behind him his eyes widen, a single voice cutting through the dim chaos like a blade through water. "GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" The roar rumbles through the air and shakes the very foundations of the cavern, and as the elder takes a single step forward with his staff and shadow the true chaos begins.

Snarls of rage meet the air, and screams do the same as the fight blazes through the room amid candle light. The dragon has never been seen in such a furious state, and the boys did well to avoid it. They tread with caution when it looked as though their friend could possibly reach that sort of emotional plane, but now the Elders have overstepped their bounds. And they will now pay dearly.

For the dragon feels close to the boys- he sees them as his own, and will protect and scold when necessary. The time to scold Neker has passed- Neker already realizes, with great horror, what he has done. He already realizes, and laments, what his actions have wrought. And so the time to protect arises in its place. Flames fill the chamber and reduce the first two cloaked ones to ashes, with Neker huddling and ducking beneath the blast. The next two are swallowed whole, with another pair snapped in half.

Blood and death is filling the room, and the steady crunch of bone can be heard. Neker runs to the boy while the dragon fights... He runs and stumbles as the elders attempt to flee and escape the dragon's wrath. He begs forgiveness, but the boy cannot hear. He feels numb, watching everything with disconnected eyes. Without a soul, without feeling... He's melting into nothing, fading away, fading away and then...

"I'm sorry," Neker cries, pulling and shaking him in an attempt to wake his friend. "I'm sorry," he screams, holding his friend close as the boy's dead eyes stare up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, -!"

He cannot hear his friend, nor feel his touch.

He is already past the veil of death.

"I'm sorry..."

AN: NOOOOOO PAST JOUUUUUUUU!

And yes, I'm going to hold his name back for a while. Because trust me, it's a very important name. Regardless, you've probably guessed that length is the source of the delay for this chapter... I actually got this done at a nice speed, I'm surprised! Went to Vancouver too, and in fact...

My friend filmed a few bits of us being total nerds! So if you want the chance to hear my actual voice or see what I look like... Or if you just like watching nerds in a car, go! (I'm the one in RED by the way. With glasses. In the backseat.) ...UM. I'll give you the link when it's posted, hahaha...

We're only two chapters from the end- this one used to be two, but I decided it would be better as a super chapter.

Hence the over-flow of past-jou. In any case, not much to say here outside the fact that this update was a fast one- I will not likely be this fast..! (Homework, homework...) So there's your warning...

…

I wonder now, how many people read this... Like really REALY read it, because I think FF counts the people who just skim the prologue and say 'meh, no' as well. I must check...

And in the meantime...

Anonymous Review Responses

So you too then Imadork? It was WEIRD. So so SO weird...

And oddly enough, Yugi's expression was actually kinda... Passive. Which was also weird, as I figure fanfic Yugi's expression was described by YOU spot-on. Well, aside from the rage...

I think the other Yugi got all the rage...

And hahaha, I was just typing and I was like 'you know what, I'm actually surprised they know who he is.' And then I decided...

HAH, lets make them NOT KNOW WHO HE IS.

Too bad about cliffhangers though, because HERE'S ANOTHER ONE~

And... I've never heard that term before Iona, but thinking it over I would have to agree.

Conflict is fun~ And I'm glad you think I'm pulling it off! (Fun as it is, it is also very hard to figure out how someone will act AFTER the conflict. Heck, just look at Willa Mette! You think he's staying a 'one-appearance only' character after this?)

In any case, enjoy the update! See you next chapter!

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that wants a past!Jou plushie...

Today's title draws from death, but it doesn't simply mean 'death'- it means 'shadow of death'.

Hey, remember how I mentioned that Ziz and Zu were sort of related to the other in regard to myth? And how Zu is also VERY commonly known as 'Anzu'?

TA-DAAAAAAAAHHHH. Creepy isn't it?

As to why fanfic Ziz jumps religions, it's because fanfic Ziz never really belonged to one; different cultures spotted his giant feathery form in the writings from the original and thought of different things to call him since he was unnamed.

WHOOPS.

Okay! THIS SCENE. It was REAAAALLY hard to piece. Not because of any particular mood, but just...

Well, it was split up. A lot. So those pages needed to be pulled together, Jou's headache considered... It was a little challenging build wise.

Originally, not only did Mokuba randomly make this search half way through Jou and Yugi's 'conversation', but they got the feed of Anzu BEFORE figuring out what room she was in... An act that involved many keystrokes.

I find this utterly hilarious, because in all actuality, they'd have to have the label of the room there before Anzu's feed showed up due to a handy thing called 'file names' and camera programming.

Honda MAYYYYY have stolen some of Jou's lines (not to mention random employee stealing Mokuba's to make up for his other lines vanishing), if only to make up for the fact that he essentially has none.

Somehow in the manga, it looks as though the room has... Changed. Originally, it looked like a bridge above nothing. But in chapter thirty one, we see Yugi walking back and forth on a floor beside the arena.

Lol WUT.

HAY GUESS WHAT GAIS. We got another codename~! Cedar Mill, located in Oregon, is another Intel codename. Ta-daaaaah~

Now, in the manga, he pretty much shows up before Yugi says 'screw it' and BLASTS HIM IN THE FACE WITH OSIRIS. You never even see Cedar's deck; all you get is a splash page with one of his monsters saying he uses a 'high-tech marionette deck'. (So lady robots basically. Because that is what they looked like.)

YUGI YOU SHOUTED ENGLISH imsoproud. -coughs- In any case, I figured the punch made more sense than summoning Osiris, what with each one being an 'anti-cheat'...

It's Willa's turn for a language barrier! He'd likely only recognize 'code', as that word is often used in English rather than Japanese while in the Japanese language. Maybe it sounds cool..?

Hahaha, and here is where Ventilation Escapes make sense! It isn't so much they're escaping as using an alternate route; if they open the doors, the brawl potentially destroys the computer. But if they're going room to room in ventilation, and the destination is locked, then this is actually the quicker way.

It just means it's cramped, dark, and loud as hell.

There's an actual term for the kind of crawling those two are doing, but I've forgotten it, it seems. Basically, they're pulling their legs behind them by their fore-arms. So I suppose the closest you can say is... Worm-crawl? I used seal, but a 'seal crawl' is where you pull your legs using your hands, and those legs are being supported by toes as opposed to dead weight on the ground...

Funny thing guys! The chapter was supposed to END here! That's right; the second half was a chapter all on its own! That's why there's so much 'past-Jou' in this chapter; they were originally meant to act as 'book ends' for these chapters. (By the way, if the other chapters stay separate, there's only two more for this arc..!)

Wanna know something awesome? Jou acted as though he didn't know Keith was there in the manga too. You know... Where he really ISN'T psychic?

However, I managed to still work it into the scene without making it seem like Jou's less competent than manga Jou in that regard; in the manga, we got parts of Yugi and Gekkou filling Jou in, by way of Jou repeating what was told.

Here, Jou's not even letting them speak. He's just regurgitating what he's getting a flash of... By the way, when it comes to those sorts of flashes, if you haven't noticed, I don't really highlight them much.

They just sort of 'happen'... Because that's pretty much how it happens in fanfic. It just 'does', without any warning or prediction.

Originally, Gekkou hung around long enough (despite him clearly running off in the last chapter) to explain the black duel disk to Jou. To keep with the ending of the last manga chapter however, Jou's plot-muffin- Erm, I mean, ability, means he gets to see that rather than need someone to explain it.

For those who missed the ah... 'Joke' in Keith's cursing (I'm being quite creative with him, can you tell?), 'Tenma' uses the kanji for heaven (Ten) and horse (ma, from 'Uma'). So... Yea.

'Horse'.

Because COME ON GUYS, of course Keith was going to try cheating like he did in the Duelist Kingdom... (Though this time, Ring of Destruction really WOULD have destroyed Jou.)

I do love this though. The black disk has this intense 'anti-cheat' system in it. As soon as you play a card that wasn't pulled from the deck, it actually starts buzzing and wailing and getting angry at you, hahaha.

'Namonaki' is used in this very series! It's the 'nameless' part of 'nameless pharaoh' in the Japanese. The 'namona' comes from nameless, but what is the ki..?

Well, when the kanji at the end, 'na', is on its own, it's often followed by 'ki'..! Those two symbols make up the suffix 'less'. (In other words, the 'namo' part is 'name' and the 'naki' is 'less', in a rare show of literal translation!)

Technically, the Eraser's helm is an entire dragon head sitting ABOVE the human face, but I find it a heck of a lot creepier to pull a 'Bayonetta'.

(If you don't get my meaning... Here. One of the boss fights. Probably NSFW due to the game's copious amounts of fanservice, but conveys what I'm putting in with the 'porcelain'. http : / / www. youtube. com/watch? v= HYUKk6emp_E Just wait until late in, where she's beating the crap out of faces. YIKES!)

If you're wondering why Jou's so surprised about Omega, there are a few reasons. One, he didn't realize that the Eraser's 'dead' effect went even FURTHER on the monsters within its own deck- so none of the summoned machines could really do much. They were all rather lethargic.

Two, he hasn't been able to really hear his own monsters the entire duel- oddly enough, this reasoning is actually because Omega is mechanical- now that he's out of the shadows, it takes longer for the Eraser to effect him, as while Omega has a soul, he isn't particularly 'alive' per-say... He's a machine.

The last reason though is that he did not expect Keith's monster to warm up to him immediately. At all. And for good reason too.

Today's 'JONOUCHI CALLS HIS OWN DAMN ATTACKS' name is brought to you by Demonic Motor Omega- who can name his own attacks, thankyouverymuch Jou! (In reality, you never see Omega's real attack... Huh.

'Nikoichi' is the act of taking two cars and welding them into one. Which suits the card, seeing how all other motor's in the grave end up removed from play... By the way, Niko is one of the terms for two of an object (Can't recall which ones; there are different counters for different objects, and 'ko' is only one of them.), and Ichi is... Well, One.

And what, you thought it was over for poor Jou? ...Actually you probably didn't, otherwise you'd be left with that nasty cliffhanger... Regardless! We still have Yakou to deal with!

Musical Notes

There's only two this week, because I was listening to it with my usual techno mix- the two existing pieces of the trilogy 'Synchronicity', sung by Len, Rin, and occasionally Miku. The first is called 'Looking for you in the Sky'. The second is called 'Paradise of Light and Shadow'. Neither seem to have anything to do with this... But they're very nice pieces, I have to say.

Until next time though, that's all there is- enjoy the chapter!