Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks
Title: Duel Monsters Next Top Model (6/?)
Author: Mishiko Shinsei
Rating: NC-17 (eventually)
Pairing (s): Various
Beta: None
Spoilers: Minor for the series
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Yu-gi-Oh, just the cracked-out stories I write about them.
Summary: Pegasus is crazy. He draws two other crazies with him, Dartz and Siegfried von Schroeder. Together the three make our beloved duelists an offer they can't refuse. Warnings for crack! and slight OOC-ness.
Week 0 – Part 4
Kaiba nearly bursts out laughing at the shock and fear on the faces at Bandit Keith's table.
'Yes, definitely worth it,' he grins to himself as he makes his way to his usual place in the corner.
He'd walked up to the table and smiled, and then told them that he'd give the "Candy Assed Joto" their best when he sees him that morning. He'd then explained that he didn't expect to hear or know about any more such conversations while they were within a five-mile radius of either of them.
"And trust me, I'll know," he'd snarled before smiling dangerously and turning away.
"You seem to be in a good mood this morning," Amelda notes as Kaiba sits beside him with his plate, a hot cup of black coffee already awaiting the CEO in its usual space.
"Do I? I suppose it's because we're finally going to get this idiotic contest started today," he gruffs.
"Uh huh." Amelda counters, sending a sly smile to Yami. They'd both seen the cool CEO stop by the table of homophobes. And they'd also seen the fear etched on every face there when Kaiba walked away.
Smiling down at his food, Amelda does his best not to start grinning like an idiot.
'I guess I won't have to mention the nasty little notes they've been leaving me,' he assumes. 'Then again, it could be amusing to see what he'd do to them.'
All of a sudden, he remembers the sight of Marik's limp body draped across the small patio table. Though he'd meant what he'd said to Kaiba that night, the thought that something he says or does could possibly initiate such a reaction from the brunet makes him sick to his stomach.
"Amelda?" Yami ventures, noting the redhead's distress, "Are you alright?"
"Not much of an appetite I guess," he swallows thickly, attempting to hide the tremor from his voice.
Neither Yami, nor Kaiba mention that he fails miserably.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dartz is shocked by what he sees in the photo. He'd always known that the CEO was good looking, but in these first photos of the competition, with very little make up and enhancements, Seto Kaiba is stunning!
"Herr Dartz, are you going to look at Herr Kaiba's photo all afternoon? We need to go through the rest of the pile and weed out the first seven dismissals," Siegfried von Schroeder interrupts his staring in exasperation.
"My apologies," the Atlantean smiles, passing the picture along. "I was simply taken aback by how photogenic Kaiba seems to be."
"Of course, Dartz," Pegasus smiles knowingly. "But don't be ashamed for admiring that one's ethereal beauty. I've been doing it for years."
"I'm sure you have. Let's continue shall we?" Dartz concurs.
At the end of the long table, archaeologist Arthur Hopkins sighs in defeat. When Pegasus contacted him a little over a month ago about participating in this farce, he'd turned him down flat. But then he'd gotten that hand-written note from his old friend and spoken to the 60-year-old, retired shopkeeper via Pegasus' speakerphone and he'd been forced to agree. Looking at the faces of those he knows so well scattered in front of him, knowing that their reasons for participation are similar to his, he shakes his head in despair.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"If I call your name, please return to the house, gather your belongings and use the open-ended airline ticket that you were given earlier to fly home," Dartz announces to the men gathered in the familiar hotel ballroom. "And don't even think of taking something that isn't yours or destroying anything in the house; members of my staff, as well as cameras to record your exit interviews, will be accompanying you.
"Okay, let's begin: Shadi, Esper Roba, Bandit Keith, Raphael, Rishid, Ryuzaki and Haga."
The ballroom erupts in protests from the expected sources.
"You cut me because of what happened at Duelist Kingdom, didn't you, Pegasus?" Bandit Keith snarls.
"We cut you because your picture and attitude were horrible!" Arthur Hopkins shouts back. He's never particularly liked that young man as a duelist anyway and after he found out that Keith is a mean-spirited little cheat, he's liked him even less!
The room erupts into laughter at Keith's sputtering in response to his smack down from the oldest member of the panel.
"We were robbed of our rightful chance!" Haga yells over the din.
"Yeah! Robbed! They threw us out of the house," Ryuzaki points accusingly at a stone-faced Otogi and those sitting with him, a forlorn Esper Roba, a smiling Honda and a glaring Noa.
"And we missed our ride to the photo shoot," Haga concludes angrily.
"Is this true?" Dartz questions the four men.
"Yes," Noa snips. "Those idiots argued with each other at every meal, every night before bed and most of the days we spent cooped up in that house. We just wanted a few minutes of peace and quiet!"
"And do the rest of you agree with Noa's assessment?" Dartz asks the room, receiving affirmative nods all around. "Well, then. Since your presence was so disruptive, it's perhaps fated that you missed the photo shoot and disqualified yourselves."
"What! That's ridiculous! Mark my words, I'll get you for this you un-dead freak!" Haga snaps at Noa as he and Ryuzaki are dragged from the room by the guards discreetly summoned by Pegasus.
"Bring it, you weasel!" Honda flings at their retreating forms, adding a rude gesture for good measure.
"Well, now, since that unpleasantness is behind us, shall we continue?" Pegasus prods.
"Yes, by all means, Pegasus," Dartz replies cordially. "The rest of you will have 10 minutes to say your good-byes and then we will resume."
"Where are they, Pegasus?" Yami yells over the returned din in the room. "You said that if we made it through the first round we'd get to see them, so where are they?"
"Yes, I did say that, didn't I?" Pegasus smiles sweetly. "All in good time, Pharaoh. All in good time. Perhaps after your meal this afternoon."
"NOW!" Yami snarls, the Sennen eye blazing on his forehead, wisps of shadow magic swirling at his feet, its power causing the tri-colored man's voice to reverberate with power.
Pegasus merely smiles wider. With seeming carelessness he flicks his hair back from his face, allowing the room a glimpse at the returned Millennium Eye.
"Or what, Pharaoh? You'll yell louder? After your afternoon snack; okay? Yugi-boy, do keep your other half under control. We wouldn't want him to get disqualified," he smiles condescendingly.
The shadows at Yami's feet flare up to strike until he feels four different hands on his shoulders and arms; Jou and Kaiba's on one side, Yugi and Amelda's on the other. It takes quite a bit of effort for him to calm down before he spins around and stalks out of the room, his four anchors behind him.
At Pegasus' display, Noa becomes surer than ever that he's going to sever ties with Dartz.
Seeking to ignore the commotion at the front of the room, Marik and Rishid slip into a quiet corner in the back to say their good-byes.
"Maybe I should get myself disqualified," Marik grumbles, dishearteningly.
"No, I want you to do your best," Rishid admonishes.
"But I don't know when I'll see you again. And without the Rod, I won't be able to talk to you either," he whines.
"Then I guess you'll have to learn to use the phone," his love smiles.
"Don't leave," Marik pleads. "We can figure something out."
"It's in the rules, Marik. I must go."
"Fuck the rules!" the platinum blonde sneers.
"Now, there's the Marik I know and love," Rishid smiles, pulling the other in for a passionate kiss.
Not caring about anything around them, Marik melts into the arms of his husband, wrapping his own arms around the other's neck and opening his mouth to Rishid's dominating tongue.
"That's what I call a good-bye kiss," Bakura whispers to Ryou, having spotted the two lovers when they first slipped away. Surreptitiously, he catches Otogi's eye, promising with a slight smile and nod something similar later that night.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"How the hell did he get the eye back?" Jou explodes once the five have left the room.
"I'm sure Dartz had a hand in that too," Yugi murmurs. "Bastard."
"We need to go back," Kaiba prods after a few minutes. "If he's telling the truth about us seeing them after we eat, we don't want to miss them."
"Not that I'll ever believe one word of that lying snake," Jou growls as they head back into the ballroom.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As the meal comes to a close, Pegasus smiles to himself, eager to see the reactions of his protégé and friends once their loved ones appear.
Bakura is the first to react when he looks up into the soulless eyes of Mokuba Kaiba wearing a waiter's uniform and clearing his table.
"Oh, Fuck!" He swears vehemently as he looks around the room to see Anzu, Shizuka and Ishizu's empty vessels doing the same, while Grandpa Motou's shell waits near the kitchen entrance with a large cart for all the dishes.
And for the first time in his life, Bakura knows a murderous rage on someone else behalf when he sees distraught tears streaming down Yugi's face.