And like I said, I am posting the new chapter at around twenty after 3 in the morning. Hope you enjoys Ladies and Gentlemen. Don't own battleship well okay have the game, but I don't own the product and make money off of it. Anyway…

Chapter 3

Taken by the Fool

7:00AM

Atem woke up slightly and sighed at his dreamless sleep. He wasn't sure that he really liked it or not. It wasn't throwing his life into utter confusion like his waking hours were, but he wasn't getting the sleep he wanted either. He checked his watch on his wrist and as he liked it, it read more sleep hours, seven in the morning. He closed his eyes again only to hear Yugi muttering about being late for the semifinals. He opened an eye and somewhat looked at him.

"Yugi, I doubt we are going to be late, it should only be about seven in the morning." Atem grumbled. "I just checked a second ago."

"Well, guess what you just had Pharaoh, you just had a flash sleep. It's ten and the games start at eleven." Yugi stated in annoyance. "Check your watch if you don't believe me."

Atem looked at his watch and load behold it was as Yugi had mocked. "What the-"

"Told you, now I have to get ready, see you before you leave for your game. Téa, make sure he gets up."

"Yes Yugi." Téa replied softly and then he heard Yugi run out the door.

Atem sighed as he got up out of the warm, comfy spot. "I guess we should get ready."

"Alright, I'll see you afterwards"

Téa walked out of the room with a yawn and a wave and Atem smiled as he waved back. He got out of the bed and decided to find some clothes. He put on a pair of jeans and a black dress shirt. He felt pretty good about today and so he was going to dress of it. He walked out of the room and saw Kaiba putting away Monopoly and wondered what he was doing with it out. He went into the kitchen, pulled out a bowl and poured come cereal into it. He sat at the table and took a bite just as Yugi walked out of his room. Yugi grabbed a bowl of cereal of his own and sat down beside him.

"Good morning Yugi." Atem greeted after he swallowed.

"Good morning." Yugi replied and turned to Kaiba. "What's with the game?"

"It was just a game." Kaiba retorted. "I suggest you get ready for the semifinals, because your crown is mine."

"You against me again?"

"Did you think it would be different?"

Yugi sighed. "No, I suppose not."

"What are you playing?" Atem asked him having a feeling it wasn't Duel Monsters.

Yugi turned to him. "I don't have a clue; I'll check afterwards." And then Atem heard the second part to Yugi's answer in his head, 'When death isn't standing there.'

Atem smirked. "I think I'll get some milk."

Atem left the table and headed to the fridge; he grabbed a glass and poured the white liquid into it. Joey and Tristan walked into the kitchen looking pretty worn out.

"Late night guys?" Yugi asked.

"No, someone cocooned us to our beds and we've been trying to get out of them since we got up around eight this morning." Joey grumbled in annoyance as he sat at the table with cereal. Atem and Tristan came back to the table.

"Who would cocoon you to your bed?" Atem asked, but he caught a flicker of an evil grin from Kaiba. He knew who had done it, but he continued to ask the rest of the question. "Why wouldn't you just yell for some help?"

"We would have." Tristan groaned. "But we were also gagged and when we got them off we were already un-cocooned."

"Sounds like a personal problem." Kaiba stated in monotone and walked into his room though Atem could tell he was about to burst out into a fit of psychotic laughter.

"Prick," Joey muttered and took a bit of his cereal.

"So where are you guys going today?" Atem asked.

"Well, I want to see Yugi kick Kaiba's ass again. What about you Tristan, where are you going?"

"I want to see Jade get beaten and finally kicked out of the tournament. So I'll go to whoever is destroying her." Tristan answered.

"Oh yea, I forgot about her." Joey looked at the TV. "Looks like Atem gets the privilege to rip her apart."

Atem felt his hopes of the day rise even higher as a grin appeared on his face. It was time for him to deal justice for everything that woman had done. "About time one of us got the chance to go against her."

"You said it, are you ready for her?"

"I'm ready for anything she throws my way. There is no way she is getting away with what she has done."

"Just don't conduct a shadow game with her." Yugi said urgently. "I think Regan still has some things to say to her."

Atem blinked. "I wasn't going to. She may be a heartless bitch, but she is still a human and until she does something otherwise, I think only the Kaibas have the right to deal what punishment she does or doesn't deserve."

The four of them sat in silence as they ate their food. Before they knew it, it was time to head out. Yugi, Joey, Grandpa and Mai were heading out the door only to be met with Kayama about to knock on the door. The five of them left and Kaiba, Mokuba and Serenity were not too long afterwards. Atem walked over to the TV to find out what everyone was playing. Regan was playing Monopoly with Kennedy in the ballroom. Yugi and Kaiba were playing Whac-a-Mole, which confused him as it was a simple and quick game, not something many would buy seats for let alone bother to watch it on TV. His name popped up along with Jade's and Atem smiled evilly. It could not have got any easier to beat her down before she even saw it coming.

"What are you smiling at?" Tristan asked him.

"This game is a military game, something that a former king of Egypt has lots of practice with. This should be fun."

"Battleship huh, but I thought war wasn't fought in the water in your time period." Téa pointed out.

"That makes me feel old." Atem pouted as he turned to her. "But it's still the same principal of guessing where your enemy has placed their men and where they are going to strike."

"Then I guess we should get going or Jade might sly her words and get you disqualified."

Atem nodded in agreement and the three of them left to his arena. They walked in silence and Téa and Tristan left him as he entered the challenger's wing. He looked ahead and saw the light at the end of the hall. He had high spirits in the beginning of the day, but now, he was a little edgy at what Jade had planned. He didn't expect her to play fair. He took a breath and saw her sitting on her chair. He hoped no one would get hurt because of the match. He walked out and met her up on the stage. Devin stood there looking proud as ever as he greeted his arrival.

"Welcome Atem, glad you could make it."

"I'm not late, though I guess some of us wish I was." Atem said turned his attention to Jade who didn't back down under his stare.

"Well then, I see that there is some sort of war that has already started between the two of you. Shake hands and then you may begin setting up to finish what war has begun between the two of you."

Jade held out her hand and Atem took it. He felt a sharp pain as he didn't realize how tight her grip could be and then she let go. He suddenly didn't feel so highly about the game as she sat down in her chair. Atem sat on the other side of the table and opened his battleship box. Inside there were five ships, white pegs and red pegs Atem grabbed his ships one at a time and started to place them on the bottom board. When he was down his ships were in place: patrol boat on D6 and E6, his destroyer was on C9 D9 and E9, his submarine was on B3, B4, and B5, his battleship was on I4, I5, I6, and I7, and finally his aircraft carrier was on C2, D2, E2, F2, and G2.

"Okay Jade, Atem, the rules are a bit different from what you are familiar with. You can fire five times, one for each ship, when a ship sinks; your number of shots lowers to the number of ships you have left. When a person hits, you have to tell them what ship they hit. The winner is obvious the last person left standing wins. So, are you ready?"

"Let the kid go first, I'm in no hurry." Jade stated her answer and Atem glared in her direction.

"Alright, Atem you get first shot. Now begin!" Devin said and the crowd cheered.

"You are going to regret letting me go first." Atem said slyly as he picked his strategy.

"I highly doubt it." Jade retorted smugly.

"If you say so, I choose targets A1, B2, C3, D4, and E5!"

"Well congrats; A1 was a hit, the Battleship to be precise."

Atem placed his hit pieces on the top board. "Your go." There was a moment of silence and Atem took it to take the time to plan out his next move.

Then, Jade decided to launch her attack. "C3, F6, G6, H9, and J7."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you missed every shot."

"That's fine, slow and steady wins the race right?"

"Sometimes, though I'm sure you know all about blitz attack, which is something I plan on using to my advantage if you are going slow and steady."

"So how much do you know of current history?"

"Lots, usually whatever I was interested in, I'm sure lots of students can say that?" Atem told her with a smirk as Jade frowned. "I see you don't like the fact that I actually enjoyed history class, especially the wars found throughout it."

"Just make your move."

"If you say so, I attack F6, G7, H8, I9 and J10."

"I suppose that was a nice move, once again you hit on your first shot, F6 the destroyer. But can I ask why you didn't attack my battleship?"

"You sure are talkative this morning." Atem said and didn't both to answer her question as he placed on his pegs.

"Fine then, A4, D4, D5, G9, B10 are my targets."

"You aren't very good at this are you? You missed them all again."

"I'm just having bad luck."

"I'd say, you have ten percent of the board and still haven't found one of my ships which cover seventeen percent of the board that you have not hit."

"Well now I have ten percent less of the board to find now. Take your turn, all mighty warrior."

"Don't mock me. Taking you apart like this is making me feel like a parent manipulating a child." Atem snapped and knew he hit a nerve as she closed her mouth. "My turn. A2, B1, F5, G6, A10."

"B1 is your hit and it's the battleship. You seem to be losing your touch on first hits."

"I don't need to say the hitting position first, as long as one of my shots within the round hit you, I don't care."

"Well, let's see how well this round goes. A1, E1, D7, G2."

"Wow, by not firing the total amount you actually managed to hit me, G2, Aircraft carrier. Why did you only fire 4 times, you had five shots."

"To make you ask questions."

Atem placed her attacks along with the rest of her misses and then placed a red piece on his ship. "My turn then, I hit C1, D1, E6, F7, and B9!"

Jade started to laugh. "That B9 shout; sounded a bit like bingo if you ask me."

"Nobody was asking you, so what did I hit?"

"C1, D1, and F7, you sunk my Battleship and hit my Destroyer."

"You may have your shot now; you can have only four shots now."

"I know that, G1, G3, F2, and H2."

"Miss, miss, you actually hit the aircraft carrier ship and another miss."

"You are a prick, did you know that?" Jade questioned him as they placed pegs.

"And you are many words that I chose to hold my tongue over; many of them should never be said on live TV. Now I hit F8, C8, D7, G4, and H3."

"You sunk my Destroyer and hit my submarine."

"Excellent, did I hit anything else?"

"No, but you carrier is done as well. E2, D2, and C2 are my targets and I know each of them hit the aircraft carrier."

Atem nodded and filled his ship with the three remaining red pegs. "You've slowed your defeat, but it hasn't stopped it. I hit, C9, D8, I2, and J1."

"C9 is a hit." Jade sighed. "My submarine."

"Your turn then," Atem told her as he placed the pieces on his board.

"B1, B10, and A5 then."

"Misses all around."

"Of course I did, whatever, your turn."

"C7, C10, C5, and G9."

"Over kill much, god C7 sunk my submarine."

"Just want to make sure I got it, you can't trust anything that's under the water."

"You're funny."

"Well of course, I am many things, now take your turn and stop stalling."

"If you say so, G10 and C8."

"Miss again." Atem stated.

She just shrugged. Atem went to call out his attack, but suddenly his vision pulsed once. He narrowed his eyes at the board and it didn't happen again. He shook his head and continued his move, "J3, J5, I4, and H5."

"Would you look at that, not one hit, getting tired?"

"No." Atem stated glaring. "I'm sweeping the field for your last two ships."

"Alright, I guess I'll hit D4 and I1."

"Both are misses." Atem replied and his vision pulsed a few more times, but he didn't let it show as he looked at his board, or at least tried to, to pick his next targets. "H7, I6, J8, and H10."

"Ah you hit something H10, my aircraft carrier." Jade said and they place the pieces on the board. Atem went to move his red piece and noticed something dripped from his hand. He placed in his piece and looked at it. At the base of his palm where his wrist met his hand was some blood that had pooled there and dripped down his arm. He wiped it away and found a small puncture wound in his vein. He looked up at Jade who looked more than happy. He gritted his teeth as to why she shook his hand so tightly. The question was what the hell she injected him with and how long he was going to last. "So I guess it's my turn then, since you seem to be finished. I hit H10 as well and I5."

"I5 is a hit, my battleship." Atem said. "I strike G10, F10, E10, and D10!"

"I a rush are we, you hit each time upon my aircraft carrier, except for D10; that was a miss."

Atem growled and felt himself become drowsy. He shook his head to try and wave it off.

"I hit I9 and I6."

"You hit my battleship twice." Atem said confidently. "Now, I10, I8, J7, and H1!"

"I10 is a hit and you sunk my aircraft carrier. How much longer are you going to take, Mr. Muto?"

"Until it is over." He replied knowing what she was talking about.

"We'll see, I3?"

"Miss sorry. E2, F1, F3, G2."

Jade frowned, "F1 is a hit."

He felt what little adrenaline he had left fill him. He was one hit away and then he could pass out, but not before. He had a feeling falling asleep or dying, depending on what Jade gave him, and would disqualify him from the tournament.

"I7." Jade said.

"That's a hit and down goes my battleship." Atem said and just as he was about to call his final attack, he felt his body stop working as his vision blacked out and he fell into the darkness.

00000

Kaiba was the first out of his seat and heading towards the stage. Yugi wasn't too far behind and Devin was on the stage. Kaiba jumped over the rail and landed on the arena floor. To his surprise, Yugi had followed the same route and was running up to the stage. Kaiba took a looked as he walked onto the stage where Devin and Yugi were both attending to Atem and noticed he was out cold, but also that his wrist was bleeding from a small puncture wound. He turned his attention to Jade and walked over to her. She stood up so fast her chair fell over.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, he just fell over." Jade said innocently.

"Then why is there a needle mark were someone would shake hands with another person?"

"I don't know, when I shook his hand I got some blood on my finger, but I didn't bother to think any of it."

Kaiba glared even deadlier, but he couldn't get anything else off the woman. He turned his attention away from her as he didn't have any evidence at the moment to do anything in public. He turned to Devin. "So what are you going to do about this? Who won?"

"Well, I did say in the beginning the last one standing wins. Atem doesn't seem to be able to finish the game so-" Devin started, but Kaiba heard enough and finished it for him.

"Jade wins and proceeds to the finals."

"Yes."

Kaiba picked up the limp body off the floor. "Then Jade, good luck on going any farther than what you have, you're either going against Yugi or Regan, that is, if you aren't taken out before that. Yugi, let's go."

The two of them walked out of the arena that was still silent in shock and met up with Téa and Tristan at the end of the competitor's hall. They walked with a quick pace or running, Kaiba wasn't sure, as they went to the medical center. Devin apparently gave the doctors and nurses an update and took Atem almost immediately as soon as they go to the doors.

"We'll test his blood and see what was injected." A nurse said as her coworkers took the pharaoh away.

"How long will that take?" Yugi asked.

"An hour at the most, you can stay here if you wish." The nurse answered and then ran off.

"I'll stay; you guys should go and tell the others. I'll text someone when the results are in or when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up." Tristan grumbled. "Alright, hope you got this Téa, I can stay too you know."

"Go," Téa glared at him and Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, when he does get up, start asking him questions, if it was Jade I need to know right away so I can create the proper preparations."

Téa gave him a nod with a deadly intent in her eyes it surprised Kaiba even more so than Yugi jumping over a rail almost half his size and onto the floor almost ten feet from the top of the rail. "If it was her, she deserves whatever you have planning for her, even if it's some realm worse the shadow realm. Just do it."

Kaiba nodded and walked back to the room to deliver the news. He checked his phone and noticed Regan was still not finished her game. He had forgotten how long Monopoly could be.

Now the question is, what happens next

See you next chapter that should be going up either … well Sunday (so today for me) or Monday (for me) and then another chapter will be following it. Lots of chapters so little time.

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