Here's the next chapter. A crazy amount of work was placed into this and it is much longer than I thought it was ever going to be.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters, only the story and the OC's.
Chapter 6
Store Accidents
Saturday October 15, 2011
Regan looked down at the cubed plastic containing a blue comforter. She was at the back of the superstore standing in front of a ladder that reached to the top shelf of the shelving unit that went to the ceiling. She never understood why stores had such shelves that no one can get to, but there was one thought for a reason they were there: for the workers to take a break by climbing a three story ladder. She was wearing a pair of black, tight fitting dress pants and a white long sleeve shirt under her black store uniform shirt. "So you need to go all the way up there."
She paused as she waited for it to answer. Thankfully it didn't and she started to walk it up the ladder. It was a quiet Saturday with very few people in the superstore which she found weird considering Halloween was only sixteen days was away. Maybe Japan didn't celebrate Halloween the same way her home country did. She knew that there was an 'all spirits day' festival at school where everyone got to dress up and the closest to the original would win a prize. She sighed pushing the bedding onto the shelf, as the rain poured outside onto the roof; it was a nice day to be working indoors. Suddenly a sharp pain hit her hand and she whipped it back in forth. She looked at what she caught her hand on and noticed the shelf was damaged with some red liquid on it. She looked at her hand and sure enough there was a nice cut on the back of her hand. Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle screeching its tires on the floor near Regan's ladder was heard. She looked down and saw one of the shopping scooters that had been casually driving down the aisle now going much faster with a lady in her fifties with a look of complete shock plastered on her face.
"Watch out, this cart has a mind of its own!" The lady shouted as the cart drove towards the ladder.
Without thinking twice Regan jumped onto the shelf just as the mortised vehicle hit the ladder causing it to crash to the floor. Today was not a good day to be working. Quickly climbing down the shelves she got about half way before she noticed that the cart turned around and started towards the shelf.
"You have got to be kidding me." She whispered to herself and jumped off allowing Nile to take over for the small air time to complete a back flip to lessen the gravitational urge to go straight to the ground.
The cart turned around just as she jumped off and started towards her instead.
'Regan, do you have any idea on what the meaning of this is?' Nile asked mental as she caught the cart, but was still being pushed backwards towards the front. "Miss, I am going to get machine to slow down and to a stop for a moment, when it does, get off that way you don't get hurt and go to the front of the store."
"But what about my things," The woman asked looking less freaked out as the machine was slowing down due to Nile slowing her sliding with the skate shoes on her feet and Regan pulling on the back on a different realm.
"Don't worry; I'll get them for you after I stop this cart. Do you need help for walking to the front of the store?"
"Not at all, I thought of using the cart for the fun of it, call it abuse of age, but I bet that you have always wondered if it was fun to drive these things."
"She does have a point; they are extremely tempting to ride." Regan said to her partner also trying to hold the machine back.
'I only wonder sometimes.' Nile responded back and nodded to the lady with a smile. "They seem rather intriguing."
Nile foot hit a wide crate that was only three feet tall and the cart came to a stop while still trying hard to move forward as the wheels skidded against the floor. Nile pushed harder changing her position to better suit the force of the unmanned thing. Suddenly a black cable came out of the handle and latched on to the wound of her hand and wrapped around her wrist. "What is this?"
"I have never seen anything this weird in my life." The lady said and started to reach for it.
There was a sharp pain in Nile's arm making her almost lose her position as she cringed in pain. "Don't touch it!"
The woman backed off quickly as a second cable started to come out of the handle and the black cable started to turn silver with black and white waves.
"Go, to the front of the store and tell the cashier in cash number eight to come with the box knife. His name is Ichi."
"Got it." The lady left quickly.
There wasn't even thirty seconds afterwards when Ichi came running with the box knife out. "What the heck is that supposed to be?"
"Good question." Nile told her fellow employ trying to dodge the second tube that seemed to go for her throat. There was a scream from Regan as she dropped to her hands and knees panting. "Sever these things quickly!"
Ichi lengthen the blade and sliced down like he was using a sword. The cord fell off and the flying cable went to go replace it. With ease he cut the other one away.
Ichi grabbed two shelves from an empty shelving unit and placed them from the ground to the crate. "Okay Regan, you can move now."
Without much hesitation Nile jumped out of the way for the crazy machine and it moved road up the tracks and into the crate. Feeling the stress of whatever those cord things were doing, Nile sat on the ground breathing heavily.
"Do you want me to take over? Those things seemed like they were feeding off of you more than me..." Regan asked her partner.
Nile closed her eyes. 'Sure. '
They switched spots and Regan stood up to look at Ichi. "What do you think that was?"
"I don't know; they seemed attracted to your cut. Could it have something to do with your aura thing Tristan mentioned?"
"Not a bad conclusion," Regan thought out loud. "I just hope that this was the only psychotic machine."
"Yeah about that..." Ichi pointed towards the entrance.
Regan turned around and there were three more shopping scooters trolling in their direction by themselves.
Regan sighed in annoyance. "Whatever those cord thingies were doing before didn't feel too comfortable and they might hurt the customers if they are in the way; we have to shut them down."
"Easier said than done; they run on a car battery that is charged all night. They can run for days without charging and their battery is under the seat screwed in."
"Well then let's bust a tire or six with their two driving wheels out of commission then they can't move, unless they run on four wheel drive."
"Nope they are a two wheel drive, they are the back wheels."
"Okay," Regan sighed and turned her attention to the box knife. "Do you have a spare?"
Ichi looked at the knife and passed it to her. "Here."
She watched him pull of another box knife and she nodded. "You take the right I'll take the left. If we slash one tire each per vehicle then we can stop these things faster."
"Sounds like a plan," Ichi grinned. "Who knew work would be so exciting."
"If getting attacked by shopping scooters with crazy ways of attacking is exciting then you need to get out of the arcade."
The two of them ran to each side of the scooter and slashed the tires.
"Aw don't be like that; I can see you are having just as much fun as I am."
The scooter came to a slow stop as they went after the second machine. They slashed the tires again and like the vehicle before it rolled to a stop.
Regan looked up to charge for the third but it was nowhere in sight. "Hey where did it go?"
"I don't-" Ichi started and grabbed her just as a tentacle of darkness whizzed by her face. "What the hell was that?"
"I think that was a shadow."
"A shadow of what; that was not a shadow. Shadows are on the ground not flying a hundred miles an hour at somebody."
Regan shook her head looking in the direction it came from. "Not that kind of shadow, like one from the shadow realm."
"I heard about that realm from the gang, apparently it can be used with a millennium item or something like that, but I'm not exactly sure."
"Something along those lines, but still that is still strange that the shadows are being commanded in a superstore... the only other person who has a millennium item is Yugi, but he would never do something like this."
"Well you certainly aren't trying to kill yourself, so who could it be?"
Regan's mind clicked. "Dark Matter, he is the only demon running around that I know of who can control the shadows! Dammit, now I wish I knew how to use them, that way it wouldn't be so one-sided. I wonder if Yugi would be willing to teach me, or maybe Atem."
"Now isn't the time to be thinking on who can teach freaky magic power stuff, that shopping scooter is still riding about and the less the shoppers know the better." Ichi told her and pointed behind him. "I'll start on the other side of the store and you start here."
"Okay, just be careful."
"Please careful is my middle name."
"I doubt it."
"But it is." Ichi insisted. "My middle name is Vor meaning cautious."
"Whatever." She shook her head and turned to start her end of the search. "Yell if you need me."
"Scream if you need me," He retorted back and she left looking down each of the aisles.
Each aisle was as empty as the last and it seemed that all the customers that were in the store seemed to have disappeared. As she went the feeling of just leaving the building became stronger with each step and she almost decided to leave and headed the back gather her things. She stopped as a tricoloured hair boy came into view in the centre aisle making her remember the shopping scooter. She shook her head clearing the mushy fog in her judgement. 'No wonder people left. I swear it's a pheromone that a queen ant sends to her workers.'
"Hey Regan," Yugi called excitedly walking up the aisle a bit looking on the shelf.
"Hey Yugi, say you wouldn't have seen a self-mobile shopping scooter wander by have you?" She asked trying to make the question as innocent as possible.
"Yeah I did, it was following me just a second ago." Yugi replied shrugging his shoulders as he picked up an item then returned it to the shelf. "I think Ichi was playing a game or something with it and a wireless remote."
"Have you sensed anything weird?" She asked suddenly wonder why he hadn't left like the other customers and she wandered into the aisle looking at the stacked cans of food beside him.
"A little shadow magic, but that would be your millennium item." Yugi touched his puzzle. "But now that you mention it, the puzzle does seem warmer than usual."
Regan frowned turning to him. "Then there is something going on."
"What's going on?" Yugi asked and suddenly tensed at something behind her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the aisle. The shelf suddenly came crashing down behind them. In behind it there was a shopping-scooter and a shadow slithering back into it. "That shadow was sneaking up behind you; I guess the cart didn't appreciate me taking you away from it."
Regan blinked in shock. "I didn't even notice for the second time today, I should know when the shadows sneak up… why-"
"We can figure it out later, that cart has other ideas." Yugi commented dragging her down the back of the store in a run.
The wheels of the scooter squealed on the floor as it started to chase after them. It didn't take very long before Regan knew that they couldn't out run it; they were only human and didn't run on bolts and an engine, on top of it she didn't know what would happen if they left the store. Technically the wheels would lock up and cease to move before crossing the door to the outside world, but what would this thing do when something else was controlling it? Regan turned down an aisle leaving Yugi to continue running the back. She closed her eyes as the sound of the cart came closer. She had to make that cart stop and the only thing that she had was the idea of using her aura. She concentrated on the movements of her aura as she grasped the River's Puzzle and focused on moving it to her item like she had done with her aura swords. She opened her eyes just as the cart started to peak out from behind the shelf and unleashed her aura into a concentrated, colorful beam from her puzzle. It struck the machine dead center stopping it in its tracks. The aura beam created different colored lights as the shadows that were in it leaked onto the floor in a pool.
"Yes, I did it." Regan smiled in glee as Nile materialized beside her. 'Did you see what I did?'
"I did, you are becoming an excellent aura user." Nile told her. "And it seems that the last shopping scooter is no longer a treat anymore."
Regan nodded, "Yea, now all we have to do is find Yugi and Ichi."
She walked out of the aisle to find Yugi at the other end of the store catching his breath. He looked up at her and she waved at him. He waved back and suddenly he stopped in mid wave.
"Regan, behind you!" He shouted and pointed to something behind her.
She turned around to notice the shadows that were originally on the floor were now some sort of portal with a creature that was half human with a snake as its tail that was very much in her face. The creature sent chills down her spine and sent her senses into an overdrive of warnings as she froze in fear. Even her senses that she felt with Dark Matter didn't even come close to whatever this thing was giving off. "Wha- what is this thing?"
Nile didn't answer with wide eyes. The footsteps of someone running towards them was barely noticeable as the creature growled and the snake moved around her body wrapping around her without actually touching her.
"Get away from her Diabound!" Yugi ordered angrily as shadows that came from behind attacked the creature.
The snake hissed in annoyance as it tightened around her making her unable to move. She screamed only to be cut out as the snake tightened its grip making her unable to breathe. She realized that the portal was to the Shadow Realm in the floor. For some reason the Shadow Realm actually seemed inviting as she felt her puzzle absorb some of its existence that fell off of the creature. She felt some sort of sorrow coming from it almost sympathy the closer the creature called Diabound moved into the other realm. Anger took over her fear of the creature and her aura moved swiftly into her item. She didn't know how much she was powering into her item and she really didn't care; this creature was making the realm angry and she wasn't going let Diabound anger it. Regan released the colorful energy causing the snake and the creature to cry in agony as it unraveled itself and tossed her into a shelf that was filled with condiments causing them to fall and break on the floor leaving a mess of red, yellow and brown liquid. She looked up to watch it disperse and the shadows in her puzzle vibrated with happiness as the realm entrance disappeared. She attempted to stand up as Yugi came over to her and helped her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" He asked in worry.
Regan was about to answer when the owner of the store came out from the back that the door just happened to be in front of them. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"The shopping scooters went into a frenzy; sir." Ichi appeared walking down the back aisle and stopped next to the machine that she had attacked with her aura and patted it. "They were being controlled by an outside source attacking the customers and the staff, being the two of us. Somehow everyone just happened to be sick today."
"Is that so?"
"Yes," Regan responded going along with Ichi's story; the poor owner didn't need to know about the freaky shadow magic or the creature. "Luckily none of the customers were injured in this event. We will get this mess cleaned up so customers can continue their shopping without knowing anything about the scooters going wacky, Mr. Shun."
"Alright," Mr. Shun sighed as all chaos seemed to leave his body. "As long as no one was hurt, but Ms. Heartin are you sure you are not hurt, I did see you hit that shelf pretty hard, which is the reason why I came out of the office to see what was going on."
"I'm fine, it wasn't that hard of a hit, if it was the shelf would be on the floor which thankfully it isn't, only aisle 5 and 6 have a shelving unit on the floor with all the cans that were on it are now all over the floor." She laughed putting on a smile as she grabbed the mop and really large wheeled bucket of floor cleaner and water from behind her boss. "I'll start tidying up this mess as it was my fault and then give the lady her things from the other cart it the empty wood crate at the front, while Ichi and you can pick up the shelf."
Mr. Shun shook his head with a smile. "Ms. Heartin, you never cease to amaze me and here I thought I was the boss."
"Sorry sir."
"Don't be, I like when I have workers that actually have a brain and use it."
"Well, after I'm done tiding this up, I think I'll take apart these machines to see what was making them funny and then they should be good to go for tomorrow." Ichi said as he watched Regan clean up the red liquid mess. "Hey Regan, are you sure none of that is yours, I know you and I know for a fact that you would continue to keep going even if you are seriously hurt, so answer truthfully."
"Nope none of it is mine, completely hundred percent ketchup; well actually it is probably ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent ketchup there might be a little bit of blood from a cut I got earlier today." Regan answered mopping up the ketchup. Suddenly she felt a shudder go through her body and darkness started to consumer her sight as she felt her body collapse into someone's arms.
Yugi was off to the side while Regan, Ichi and their boss Mr. Shun talked. As much as their conversation seem interesting, something didn't seem right in his opinion. Why had Diabound appeared in front of Regan? Why was it that the Shadow Realm itself wasn't happy with the creature? The anger seriously enhanced his ability to control the shadows himself as they actually attacked Diabound. He also didn't use the Millennium Puzzle as a generator; just his thoughts and they went straight to their target when enough power to place a hole through a concrete wall.
Then there was Regan who managed to fuse the shadows and her aura together to create a powerful attack enough to release her from Diabound's grasp and make it retreat to wherever it came from. That kind of power was like the one she used to take out DM a couple of weeks ago and it almost killed her last time. Now she is just standing there like nothing happened. Suddenly he heard footsteps walking down the aisle of the mess and turned to see Kaiba and Mokuba and Kaiba did not look like he was in a good mood. He was about say hello to him, but the CEO's eyes widen and rush past him just to catch a falling Regan.
"Dammit, I so saw this coming." Ichi stated shaking his head as Kaiba picked up the unconscious aura user.
Mr. Shun was at a lost. "Seto Kaiba, what are you doing here? Thank you catching my employee, but that doesn't make any sense why you are here… and before you ask, some shopping scooters apparently decided attack our customers and staff which was caused by an outside source."
"Mr. Shun, I noticed that there was something going on in here as I drove by so I decided to take a look." Kaiba replied in a straight forward, business tone. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking Regan and one of your carts with me so I can find the outsider."
"I don't mind at all," Mr. Shun replied. "Just make sure you bring back my cart in tacked, not like the last time you brought my fork lift home… Ichi had to put it all back together again."
"I think I can arrange it being back together before the end of tomorrow." Kaiba smirked. Yugi shook his head, knowing why Kaiba was smirking. Ichi had told him that Kaiba only took the fork lift and took it apart just so Ichi could put it back together. Kaiba turned and started towards the exit of the superstore. "If Regan's mother calls and asks where her daughter is, tell her that she is with me."
"Alright Mr. Kaiba, I'll tell her."
"Mokuba, Yugi, let's go. One of my workers will come and pick up one of the machines that had its tires slashed at the front of the store and Regan's things in five minutes."
Yugi and Mokuba followed the CEO out to find a limo parked in front of the store. Roland opened the door to the back of the limo and Kaiba got in with Regan. Yugi followed Mokuba and saw Kaiba adjusting Regan into a more comfortable position. The door was closed and Roland sat in the driver's seat and drove away from the store.
"So Kaiba, where are we going?" Yugi asked.
"Back to my mansion, I don't feel like dropping her off at Jade's place, the woman is hiding something other than lying to Regan's face and I don't like the feeling I get every time I am near her." Kaiba responded and then changed the subject. "What actually happened in the store?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Yugi answered shaking his head. "The store was pretty empty for a typical Saturday, so there really wasn't anyone in there to get hurt, but the carts were under the control of something with shadow magic."
"So someone rigged the carts with shadow magic, anything else that I should know about?"
"Diabound was also there."
Kaiba's face paled a bit. "Why would Diabound be there?"
Yugi shrugged. "Good question, scared me senseless, but more so on Regan, she was terrified; she could hardly speak let alone move. It attempted to kidnap her, but between her, the Shadow Realm and me Diabound left without doing too much damage."
"What do you mean the Shadow Realm helped?" Mokuba asked in confusion.
"Obviously the realm has its own mind, like our realm has sense of order; obviously it too also has a sense." Yugi told the kid knowing that Kaiba had the same question. Suddenly, he got curious. Why would he ask such a question Mr. Shun already told him his story? There was also no way for Kaiba to think that there was something wrong in the store, all the action was in the back. "Kaiba, how did you actually know about the incident in the store? There was no way you could have known about the incident from looking out the tinted window of your limo to the back of the store as you drove by."
Kaiba didn't answer as he continued to look out the window. After a few minutes he sighed and looked back at Yugi. "Well you could already guess the high priest life hasn't quite finished his job, but I would have accepted the story told by Mr. Shun if it wasn't for a little twist as Mokuba and I were on our way back from a restaurant due to a breakfast meeting with a business partner…"
*Flashback*
Kaiba was slightly annoyed with the breakfast, but Mokuba seemed to have enjoyed himself so he was content with just that. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through his head making him yelp as he held his head.
"Seto what's wrong?" Mokuba asked in a panic.
"There something wrong with, oh wait." Kaiba ignored the pain that ran through his head and growled in anger. "Is Regan working right now?"
Mokuba blinked in surprise at the sudden change of attitude. "Yeah, why is there something wrong Seto?"
"Yes, I think, no, I know Regan is in danger. Dammit," Kaiba cringed again and suddenly the pain subsided. "Roland, turn around and head to the Domino Superstore, immediately."
"Right away Mr. Kaiba," Roland answered and turned around just as they were coming up to the mansion.
About five minutes past and then Mokuba looked like he was ready to throw up.
"Mokuba what's wrong?" He asked his younger brother, but he didn't need an answer as a rush of panic and fear made his heart skip a beat.
"I don't know, suddenly I feel really, really scared. It makes me want to be sick." The younger brother answered shivering.
As quick as the panic came it left to replace by anger from him, but also the external source. "Atem better hope that I don't find the Millennium Rod or the rod doesn't find me."
"Why, would you want to find it?"
"Because if he is correct about his assumption about Nile and Regan having a connection with that High Priest all those years ago; I'm going to slit his throat with it for putting you in danger because of it."
They came up to the store entrance and Kaiba got out of the limo before Roland could open his door and Mokuba followed him. They walked into the store to find it abandoned and a mess. There were two shopping scooters with their tires slashed in front of the aisles and another one inside of crate still trying to move as the tires were rubbing against the wood. Kaiba looked around and noticed that one of the shelves were on the floor with all of it continents on the floor underneath and around it.
"What the heck happened in here?" Mokuba asked in worry.
"Let's go find out, but first." Kaiba replied as he held the icon on his jacket. "Roland, get someone to pick up a shopping scooter in the front of the aisles with the lashed tires and to come and pick up Regan's things."
~Right away, sir. ~
"Should we get a cleanup crew in here?" Mokuba asked as they walked father into the store towards some voices.
"No, let Mr. Shun deal with this, he wouldn't accept my help even if he was given all the money I have."
"Prideful man huh?"
"No, just likes his way of doing it, OCD probably." Kaiba grinned, but it turned into a scowl as he saw the mess of condiments. They walked down the aisle and Yugi looked like he was trying to solve another millennium puzzle in his head as Regan, Ichi and Mr. Shun were chatting as the girl cleaned. He wasn't exactly please to see the girl cleaning even though she was exhausted, at least that was what the little messages going through his brain were telling him, but by the looks of her actions, Regan didn't even seem to notice she was exhausted. Yugi turned to them with a confused look on his face and just as he was about to greet them, Kaiba noticed Regan started to pass out he rushed over to her and she fell limp in his arms.
*End of Flash back*
"And now you know everything from there." Kaiba replied as Yugi shuddered at a realization that there might be a connection between Regan and the Kaiba brothers.
"Mr. Kaiba, we arrived at the mansion." Roland told them as the limo turned into the driveway of the property.
"So what are you going to do now?" Yugi asked and Kaiba grinned. "Besides going out to try and find the Millennium Rod to kill the Pharaoh."
The CEO sighed. "What I'm going to do it rip the scooter apart to see what triggered the activation of them, I can tell right away as soon as I saw the one in the crate that is wasn't an overnight job."
"What about Regan." Yugi nodded his head towards his friend as the limo came to a stop in front of the mansion. Roland opened the limo door and picked up the unconscious girl.
"Roland place her in my room, she knows how to get downstairs to the rec room from there when she wakes up." Kaiba told his right hand man and answered Yugi's question. Yugi followed Kaiba into his mansion with Mokuba behind him. They walked up to a door on the inside of the staircase that Roland was walking up and Kaiba took off the picture from around his neck and slid it into a key card slot. The door opened and he turned to Mokuba. "Mokuba, could you bring Regan down when she gets up?"
"Sure thing bro," Mokuba answered and ran off towards the rec room.
Yugi shook his head at the enthusiasm of thirteen year old and noticed the worker Dominic walked through the door carrying a white purse with purple and blue designs and a trolley with the shopping scooter on it. Yugi smuggled the laughter at the sight of the man.
"The purple definitely match your hair, Dominic." Kaiba commented with amusement in his voice.
Dominic posed. "I'd like to think it brings my eyes, the bright colors that hide the weight of the ten pound bag."
Yugi raised an eyebrow. "That thing weighs ten pounds? What's in it?"
"I don't know, probably a change of clothes or something, but I am not going to attempt to check." Kaiba answered. "Dominic, send the cart down to the lab, we'll meet it there and then drop off the bag in my room, Regan is currently in there so stay quite."
"Yes sir,"
Yugi looked at Kaiba as he started to descend down the illuminated stairway. It wasn't a very long walk to the bottom which opened to a large room with several doors. Kaiba lead him to the door straight across from the stairs as a door that Yugi didn't notice it before as it opened beside the stairwell to show the trolley and cart following them. Kaiba swiped the key card again and the door opened to a room with a ring in the middle surrounded by glass. Yugi was in awe to the size of it as the trolley rolled into the middle of ring dropping off the cart and then leaving as the ring's door closed behind it. Yugi watched Kaiba as he pressed several keys and the cart was suddenly surrounded by robot arms and a scanner that scanned the machine to show a hologram in front of them. "Kaiba, what are looking for?"
"I already told you, I'm looking for the trigger and the original attacker who set this up."
"Well I can answer the person who more than likely set this up, or have you forgotten two weeks ago?" Yugi responded to Kaiba's annoyed tone.
"I haven't forgotten anything Yugi. Just something this like this doesn't seem to be the demon's level of thinking." He replied ignoring Yugi's frustration. "Diabound is who I am having difficulty with. He was there you said and the last time Diabound was around; it was being controlled by Bakura-"
"Yami Bakura."
"Whatever, the demon couldn't have brought Diabound to the playing field."
"We don't know Dark Matter's level of thinking Kaiba, when he showed up he had been walking around on this realm since Regan put the River's Puzzle together."
"And how much time was that?"
"About seven hours to when he picked you up and the total amount of hours after he was defeated was about sixteen hours." Yugi counted, "So for all we know that little stunt in the store today was probably a testing ground or an accidental start-up and trust me if Regan didn't do what she did she would have been long gone."
"Heh, what about you power boy," Kaiba laughed. "What happened to your fancy magic?"
"Completely useless, it caused a bit of annoyance to Diabound and the cart had a force field against shadow magic, Regan blew up the machinery from the inside for it to stop moving, but that only caused the shadows around and in the machine to pool on the ground to make a gateway to the Shadow Realm, which Diabound came out."
There was silence in between noise of the machines around the shopping scooter as the CEO did his work. Yugi played with the touch hologram of the machine to inspect it for anything that looked like it didn't belong when the door behind him opened making both him and Kaiba jump.
"Hey big brother," Mokuba called as they turned to face him. Mokuba was being followed by a wide-eyed Regan. "I brought Regan, so what's up?"
"Good question." Kaiba replied turning back to his work. "From the looks of it, there isn't any difference let alone a trigger; I don't understand how this was activated to begin with."
"There is something you can't figure out Kaiba?" Yugi asked with sarcasm.
"Don't fill in for Wheeler." Kaiba sneered.
"Why is there a psychotic shopping scooter in your basement?" Regan asked walking up to the glass in between him and Kaiba.
"Because my brother could," Mokuba answered with pride. "Though, I guess searching the machine for three hours didn't come up with an answer to why the machine went ballistic."
"I've been out for three hours! I should be at work not resting let alone being here." Regan exclaimed. "Speaking of which why am I here?"
Kaiba laughed at her outburst. "Work alcoholic much?"
"I don't think I'd be talking Seto, considering you were banned from working on Tuesday."
"She's got a point Kaiba." Yugi added making Kaiba roll his eyes.
"I didn't feel like dropping you off."
Regan shrugged, "All righty then."
Yugi went back to looking at the machine that was currently not being attacked by the machinery. The carts have always been working when Regan was working there so why did they stop doing their jobs and go commando? What scenario changed today that didn't happen before? He turned back to look at Regan in her sleek black dress pants, a box knife and her deck attached to her belt, and a low, white, V-neck tight long sleeve shirt with her arms crossed. There was a bandage wrapped around the back of her hand that hadn't been there before. Suddenly, the idea clicked. "Regan can I see the box knife?"
She blinked and she took it off her belt. "Sure I guess."
Yugi took it from her and walked up to the doors of the glassed area. The doors opened and he walked into it followed by Regan and Kaiba.
"Mokuba you stay out here." Kaiba told his brother.
"Alright, but be careful Seto." Mokuba answered and went to the control panel.
Yugi pushed the blade out of its protection case and poked his finger. He winced at the pain of all of the nerves in his finger went off at once.
"Yugi what are you doing?" Regan asked in panic.
He didn't answer as he focused on making pushing enough blood on the outside of his finger. He had to be quick on getting the required material before the wound closed. Fortunately and somewhat unfortunately, his enhanced shadow magic healed his wounds extremely quickly, so such a prick to the finger would only take a few seconds to heal. Once he managed to get enough blood, he looked at the machine and held his hand over top of it. The blood drop dropped onto the machine making to come alive scaring him half to death. The wheels of the machine tried to move from its spot in the middle of the ring, but then it stopped. Yugi walked back to it and suddenly a black cord came out of it and latched onto his arm.
"What the-"Kaiba started as he tried to touch it but it shocked him away. "Fuck!"
The cord turned gold as it gripped tighter around his arm and Yugi felt his energy start to leave. Someone grabbed the knife from his free hand as he tried to tug away from the gold cord that started to get tinted with white waves. Then the connection was severed by Regan slashed the cord off and the cord that was left on his arm went limp and fell to the floor along with him. He panted in exhaustion and Regan lifted him to his feet and the three of them left the ring just as another cord appeared smashing against the door behind them.
"What the hell was that?" Kaiba asked looking at the machine as its single cord was batting rather loudly against the glass.
"Surprise," Regan replied and glared at the machine. "I hope that is bullet proof glass."
"No it's not." Kaiba answered in annoyance, "Its natural disaster glass. Good against typhoons, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, and earthquakes."
Yugi and Regan sighed in relief.
Then something clicked in Yugi's mind. "But it still can get through it has-"
"Shadow Magic," Kaiba finished in realization. "Everyone head to the observation level, we'll wait until it calms down from there."
"But can't it reach us from there?" Mokuba asked and Regan grinned.
"That thing is just a cable so it can only go so far, so even if we were twenty feet away from it, it wouldn't be able to touch us."
"Which is why you three are following me, if it was a twenty foot cable it can reach ten feet outside of that ring and with my luck with the magic shit, it would use the shadows as an extra arm to reach for Yugi in this room." Kaiba retorted walking over to a door to the left. "Yugi started it up with his blood so it is looking for Yugi the rest of us would technically be safe theoretically, but I'm not taking any chances."
Yugi nodded just as the cord started to make a shadow portal into the glass. Regan, Mokuba and him ran after Kaiba leaving the cord in the dust. They watched the cord play around the room for about a half hour before it started to retreated. During that time Yugi filled Regan in on what she missed.
"So now what?" Regan asked. "We know the culprit and a little bit more on whom he is and how he thinks. But what else have we actually gained from this test, besides it feeding off of the aura and shadow magic using the tracking system of the person's blood."
"How did you come to the conclusion that it feeds off of shadow magic?" Yugi asked her in confusion.
"You know that little white stream that started to form after the cord turned the color of your aura?"
"Yes."
"Well the same thing happened to me when I was attacked by it only black and white waves while yours was white. If I remember correctly when Atem split his soul he split it down between dark and light where the light was to be reincarnated while the dark was sealed in the Millennium Puzzle. Shadow magic is split in this same format with light and dark, so when it was feeding off of you all it got was the light of the shadows while it fed on me it fed on both because I'm not split down the middle with Nile." Regan explained.
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Mokuba pondered and looked at the box knife he had been playing with for the past half hour. Without warning he slit his finger open.
"Mokuba what do you think you are doing?" Kaiba asked in worry and anger.
Mokuba ignored his brother's tone and placed a bit of his blood on the knife then grabbed a Band-Aid out of his pocket and wrapped his finger. "I know for sure I don't have any shadow magic, so there is still one more test that needs to be completed. We need to know if it is any blood that will work or it is just a user of shadow magic."
"But I'm not a shadow user." Kaiba and Regan stated at the same time. They looked at each other funnily.
"You may not use it, but you certainly have the capabilities to do so. You are both shadow welders, hence why you both technically have a millennium item, even if you rather not have it." Mokuba emphasized on the last point towards his brother.
Kaiba sighed. "Fine, but as I am going down there you will not and I repeat will not leave this room even if everything goes to hell. Do you understand?"
Mokuba nodded and Yugi went to follow Kaiba and Regan to the elevator and he was stopped by Regan or rather Nile. "You need to stay up here also; the shopping scooter might still be active towards your signature."
"But what about you and Kaiba?" Yugi questioned the spirit of the River's Puzzle.
"Don't worry about us." Nile grinned and rubbed the top of his head making it messy. "We got it covered."
Yugi sighed and let them go down the elevator. He was annoyed at the fact that Atem sister pretty much set him aside like a child. He huffed and looked at Mokuba and then back down at the two people as they walked towards the glass ring. The door opened and they walked into it. It looked like Kaiba dropped the blood onto the machine, but it didn't do anything.
Mokuba pressed a button and spoke. "Anything happen?"
"Nope, not a thing, which makes your theory all the more true, I still want to do one more test." Kaiba answered from the floor.
Yugi thought about that for a moment then realized something. "Kaiba you better not do what I'm thinking you are about to do."
"Yugi, that is only part one, now stay up there and don't bother coming to the rescue. Trust me you'll be the victim instead of the hero."
"Yugi, is my brother doing what I think he is doing?" Mokuba asked him after cutting out the line.
"If it is your brother placing his blood on that thing then that is probably- is completely doing right now." Yugi face palmed himself as he watched Kaiba dropped a lot of blood from his hand onto the machine making it go completely insane with about ten cables. "I never considered your brother an idiot, but he better have something to redeem his title."
"Yugi, you might wanna look at this?" Mokuba replied and Yugi looked down at the scene that unfolded.
"What the fuck," Yugi called out as he opened the communications. "Kaiba, what the fuck is that?!"
Kaiba laughed. "Ah something that makes the little light swear like a sailor; this makes me happy."
"What in fucking Ra are you attempting to do?" Yugi yelled as he watched in awe and in fear.
Down below, Kaiba and Nile were standing in front of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon as it was defending with its tail to keep the cable away from Kaiba. The CEO nodded at Nile and she released a colorful light show and the beam hit the machine. This caused the machine to retract and the shadows that were poured into it pooled onto the floor like it had before. Yugi realized what they were up to. Diabound came out of the portal to the shadows and Nile quickly hid behind Kaiba. Yugi felt Mokuba shudder beside him.
He looked down and Mokuba looked like he was scared out of his mind. "What's wrong Mokuba?"
"I suddenly feel really, really scared and I don't know why. Diabound is down there and I'm up here there is no way for it to even notice I'm here," Mokuba answered shaking his head. "But still I feel like it is breathing down my neck."
Yugi looked back down at the scene, Blue-Eyes was smacking Diabound around silly while Nile was standing behind Kaiba, but Regan being in spirit form was literally clinging on to Kaiba's suit, which he would have to ask Kaiba if he noticed, while Nile held her in a comforting way. Yugi growled in frustration at the fact that he couldn't help, but Kaiba was right. He would be more of a victim than a hero in that fight. Blue-Eyes attacked with Burst Stream Destruction and Diabound vanished in a puff of smoke and the Shadow Realm closed. The Kaiba squeezed his hand over the machine as blood dropped from it and onto the machine again but nothing happened.
Mokuba and Yugi rushed to the elevator as soon as Kaiba gave the clear. Yugi walked while Mokuba ran to his brother with bandages and started to tend to his wound. Yugi walked up to Regan as Nile stood beside her as they had changed places again. She seemed pale, but other than that she was as cheery as ever as jumped for joy in excitement.
"We did it!"
"Yup and now the rest of the shopping scooters should be back to normal after defeating Diabound." Yugi answered also getting excited, but suddenly felt sad as the enthusiasm in Regan left almost immediately.
"I have never met Diabound before now," Regan frowned giving Kaiba's frown a run for his money. "I don't understand why I was frozen in fear the first time I met it and the second time I couldn't even stand in the sight of it without feeling the evil and fear run down my spine. It is almost worst then being in the hospital."
"That would be because of my memories." A deep voice entered the room.
Yugi turned to see Atem walking up to them, "Hey Pharaoh."
"How did you get in here?" Kaiba demanded in a fierce tone, but there was a grin playing on his face as if they were in the middle of a match on how times can they jump the other.
"Oh you know the 'hocus pocus magic shit' is what I believe you called it." Atem grinned in a playful way and then got serious again. "Diabound was what started the beginning of the rise of Zorc, back in the palace when Thief King Bakura attacked the palace the first time; that is also when I first summoned a god card."
"Great so all the stress is really being caused by your past experience." Regan grumbled.
"Not just mine, Kaiba also had a run in with it when Bakura threatened to steal Mokuba's soul. Diabound gained the power of Blue-Eyes, during the memory RPG game. Also during the attack five thousand years ago, Priest Seto couldn't seal Diabound as it was the Ka created by the Thief King and all of the rage from the taken souls of Kul Elna. Am I right Kaiba?" Kaiba didn't answer which meant all the more truth and Atem continued. "You were probably feeling the stress of Kaiba, Kaiba's past life, Mokuba and mine all at the same time making you freeze in fear, like your phobia of hospitals."
"Speaking about past lives," Kaiba commented. "What would you say if I went to find the Millennium Rod?"
"I'd be concerned, why?"
"I understand the whole Millennium Item connection, but this nothing to do with my brother so why the hell is he?"
Confusion struck Atem pretty hard that Yugi felt it on his end so he decided to elaborate. "Mokuba is on the same empathy link that Kaiba is on."
"But that doesn't make any sense." Atem pondered. "Unless by hanging around with people who have shadow magic actually gives them a bit of shadow magic, like a rub off effect."
"That's seems reasonable." Regan replied and then turned to Kaiba and Mokuba with a sad expression. "I'm sorry for causing you two so much trouble."
"Ah don't worry about it, just don't do stupid stuff and we are even." Mokuba said and gave a cheeky smile. "Hey I have an idea, why don't you take my big brother out and show him the life of being normal as payment."
"What?" Kaiba asked turning to his brother. "Mokuba, I know what 'normal' is like, I wasn't born yesterday."
"Seto, you may 'know' what being normal is but you most certainly don't know how to be normal. Take a day trip wearing the clothing you got for your birthday and be a nineteen year old for the day."
"Yeah right," Atem chuckled evilly. "I doubt you brother could ever be nineteen for five hours let alone an entire day, I think Hell would have to freeze over, melt and refreeze again for that to ever happen."
Kaiba's attitude to the situation changed immediately and looked at his brother with determination. "I will gladly take the day off and Atem I accept your challenge."
Yugi couldn't believe his eyes and ears at what happened. He laughed on the inside at Atem had playing Kaiba into going for the day trip. He turned back to Kaiba. "Good luck Kaiba, so when do you plan on taking this 'day trip'."
"Next Saturday, it's a weekend, there isn't school and Kaiba Corp doesn't run on weekends so no fools will be able to screw up while I'm gone." Kaiba answered. "I just don't have a clue where to go without being attacked by those crazy females and not be seen with everyone judging."
"Canada is the resort for celebrities that need a break from life, unless you're Justin Bieber or the Jonas Brothers, because then all the teenager girls go ballistic, we could go there."
"That's like saying go find a needle in a haystack, Canada is huge which province do you want to visit cause I certainly don't care and nor I do not want to visit the territories, way too cold for that."
"Let's go on a BC tour trip!" Regan exclaimed with excitement. "The trees are freaking huge and the whale sights are amazing."
"Vancouver it is." Mokuba said. "That's a ten hour trip so you guys leave here at 3pm Saturday and you'll get there at 8am on Saturday."
"That does not sound like ten hours, that's like going back in time." Atem replied.
"That's pretty much what we're doing." Regan answered. "There is a seventeen hour time difference between here and Vancouver."
"In other words, Atem they are seventeen hours behind us." Yugi explained and turned to Kaiba and Regan. "Which is why you are sleeping on the plane; that way you don't get jet lag."
"Great, well I'm going home to change and then I'm heading to the arcade." Regan announced heading to the door that headed to the surface. "Joey challenged me to a race, so I guess I'll be ready for three at my house for pickup."
Yugi waved good bye to his friend then remembered that Tristan challenged him to Téa's dancing game. "Hey wait up Regan, Tristan challenged me to that dancing game. Let's walk home together."
She turned to him and gave him a smile. "Then hurry up slow poke."
"I'm not slow!" He called back as she started running and ran after her. "And I also have an umbrella, so wait!"
What could Dark Matter be up too and who knows what Diabound's real purpose was, guess it was a good thing Blue-Eyes solved that problem.
But now, off to Vancouver, British Columbia in the next chapter
Review please and thank you