"Look! There's the next room!"
Yugi frowned, "Grandpa…hang in there! Please!" He could feel his grandpa through the cards, he knew that his grandpa's life was on the line.
"So they managed to get past Death-T 2…" Seto was not expecting this, he knew that Yugi would eventually reach him, but expected the group to have losses.
He crossed his arms, "They're a real group, an efficient team…this friendship has been a lifesaver to them, I wasn't expecting this…I need to break this group, no matter how strong a friendship is, in the end you'll always think about yourself first and most…This is where Death-T 3 comes in, when faced with impossibility, they'll sacrifice their friends to save themselves," He smirked.
Death-T 3
"What can surpass the fucking serial killer?" Katsuya said.
"It's…it's an empty room." Anzu said.
The door locked behind them, "We must look for an exit! It must be a trick!" Hiroto started to look for a hidden switch on the walls.
"Look! The ceiling is very high! And there's an opening right there! Maybe some 10 meters or so from the ground!" Anzu pointed at the opening.
"He's not expecting us to climb a smooth wall, right?" Katsuya looked for any way up.
"Maybe…maybe there's no way out? Maybe that was his plan all along? To trap us and watch us wither?" Yugi started laughing.
"Don't give up, Yugi! Kaiba is crazy, but he's obsessed with games! This is a game, we just need to learn how to play!" Katsuya reassured him.
They sat down and waited for the instructions, but they never came.
"This…this is all my fault…if I wasn't here…this would never have happened." Tears ran down Yugi's cheeks.
"Yugi, don't you dare say that!" Katsuya yelled at his face.
"What?" He said confused.
"Don't you understand why we came with you? Because we're friends! If you give up, you just said that our friendship means nothing!" Katsuya grabbed his collar.
Yugi flinched and closed his eyes.
"Get your hands off him!" Anzu pulled the blonde by the back of his collar.
"Get away from him, Jou. You're not a bully, remember?" Hiroto put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"...Yeah." He released the shorter boy, "I was an asshole, wasn't I?"
Katsuya got up, "Living in this shitty society…with my shitty parents and my shitty life…I never learned how to like myself. When I saw you in school, Yugi, I remembered when you got that bear for my sister…I remembered how you, Anzu and your gramps took care of her when I lost her in the festival…I never forgot that day. When I saw you, I had to thank you properly! But I couldn't stand to look at you! You were this innocent and kind kid who didn't mind being taken advantage of! I thought I hated you for being so wimpy! But…who I actually hated…was myself…you were a better person than I could ever be, and that offended me."
He turned around, hiding his face from his friends, "I made it a personal quest to beat the kindness and innocence out of you, so I could bring you down to my level…When you defended me and Honda from Ushio, I thought you were an idiot, but you called me your friend…I didn't understand why, but that changed something inside me, you tolerated me even if I was the villain in your story, that was when I decided to change. My parents divorced when I was a kid and my mother took my sister, and ever since that day, I was never the same, I became violent and bitter, lashing out at the world…. But I changed! Because of you, I decided that this wasn't who I wanted to be, I wanted to be better, I wanted to be someone who could be depended on, someone who can make a difference..."
Katsuya wiped his eyes, "Thank you, Yugi. You don't know how much you changed my life," He turned around and smiled, "That's what a friend is, Yugi! A friend is someone that you love, and because of them you learn to love yourself! A friend is someone that you share your good and bad moments with! We came here with you because we want to share your pain! So please, Yugi, don't give up! If you give up…why shouldn't we give up too?"
Yugi started to cry, "T-Thank you, Jonouchi-kun! I won't give up!"
"A bear…now I remember it! You were the kid with weird hair!" Hiroto pointed at Yugi.
"Wait…you're the one who-"
"Yes! I was the boy who got it!" He interrupted Yugi.
Anzu laughed.
"...Now I'm kinda lost…" Katsuya scratched his head.
"Yugi didn't get the bear! It was me! When I was a kid I liked to go to the shooting range at the summer festival, I was never interested in the prizes so I just won them for random people. I saw this old man with two kids missing shots and decided to help! Now I realized who the old man and the kids were!" He laughed.
"...Okay, destiny is messing with us."
"It was meant to be! We're like a sentai squad!" Anzu said.
"I'll not wear colorful spandex!" Katsuya chuckled.
"If we're a sentai squad, Yugi is the red!" Hiroto smirked.
"Of course! And Jonouchi is the pink!" Anzu slapped the blonde's back.
"Ha ha very funny." He was not amused.
The group laughed, forgetting their situation for a moment.
"Hey, boys! Extend your hands!" Anzu took a magic marker out of her pocket.
"Do you, like, just carry this thing around?" Katsuya extended his arm.
"Everyone has their quirks." Hiroto extended his arm.
"What are you going to do, Anzu?" Yugi extended his arm.
"We were friends for some time already, but this is the first time that we have a heart-to-heart!" Anzu extended her own arm, "This is just a little something to remember our friendship," She drew a smiley face over their hands, "This will be the symbol of our friendship! No matter where we go or how much time has passed, even when we graduate and go our own ways, when we think of this smiley, we'll remember our friendship! The ink will fade, but the mark will stay in our hearts forever!"
The group smiled at each other, but a sound brought them out of their heartfelt moment.
"Look out!" They jumped back just in time to avoid a large block that fell where they were standing.
"The game began! Be careful!" Yugi yelled as he avoided another cube.
"It's random! We can't predict where the cubes will land!" Hiroto dodged a cube.
"I think that we have to reach the opening!" Yugi yelled.
"I see! We have to dodge and climb the blocks until we get there!" Katsuya helped Yugi climb.
"Be careful and stay away from the corners! If you get boxed, you'll be squished!" Yugi said while jumping on another block.
"Wait! It's not random! There's a rhythm! Like a dance! This is a game, remember? One…two…three…there!" A block fell where Anzu pointed.
"You're right!" Katsuya smiled.
"We just have to stay light on our feet, like dancers!'" Hiroto dodged a falling block with little difficulty.
Yugi waited for a block to fall, counted the seconds until the next block and observed where it fell, and then tried to predict where the next one would fall. His prediction was spot-on, "The rhythm is easy! Stay calm and we'll get it!"
The group quickly learned the pattern and started to dodge and climb, and in a few minutes, they reached the exit. When Hiroto was going to climb, a cube suddenly fell behind him out of rhythm, missing him by a few centimeters.
"The rhythm got faster! Come, quickly!" Anzu hurried them.
"Calm down, I'm fi-YUGI, COME HERE, QUICKLY!" Hiroto picked Yugi up like a kid and threw him to Katsuya.
"Now it's your turn! Quickly!" Katsuya extended his hand.
"Sorry," The tall teenager turned a little, showing that his jacket was stuck under the cube behind him, "See you guys around," He gave them a thumbs up before a block closed the exit.
"HONDA!" Katsuya pushed the block, but the large object didn't budge.
"He is…Honda is…" Anzu covered her mouth.
"No…He's not dead! He's just stuck! He'll find a way!"
"Honda-kun is dead…and it's my fault…If he didn't follow me here…no…it's not my fault…it's Kaiba's…He took my grandfather…took my friends…Kaiba…KAIBA!" Yugi started trembling with hatred.
"If this is chess, then Yugi is the King, Mazaki is the Queen, Jonouchi is the Knight and Honda is the rook…the rook is down…" He smirked, "The checkmate has begun…"
"They don't give up easily, right, Nii-san?"
"Mokuba? Need something?"
"They're almost at the final challenge! Remember what you told me? That you need me? I'll beat them! You'll not need to fight Yugi at all!" Mokuba smiled.
Seto frowned, "I think you misunderstood something, brother. You can't beat Yugi, you're just a test, Yugi will fall by my hands."
"...What? You…you don't trust me?"
"Of course I do! I trust you to be a worthy challenge to him, that will be a good warm up before he faces me."
Mokuba stormed out.
"Foolishness, little brother, utter foolishness. You can't possibly defeat Yugi, after all, he defeated me, and you're nowhere near my level," Seto chuckled.
"Yugi? Honda is alive, okay? I'm sure of it!" Anzu put her hand on his shoulder, but the boy didn't care.
"Honda! Wait for us, we'll come for you later! Or better, get the hell out of there and meet with us! We'll go ahead, okay?" Katsuya turned around, "Let's go."
"Wait…Yugi is acting strange…"
"Kaiba…Kaiba…" The boy looked like he was about to kill someone, and it was probably Seto Kaiba.
"Yugi! What's wrong? Do you need your insulin or something?" Katsuya shook his friend.
"He's not diabetic, you idiot. Yugi, talk to me!"
"...Jonouchi-kun…I have to tell you something…I have something….no…I have someone inside me, another Yugi who lives inside me…I can't control him, he's dangerous."
"Yugi, you're just stressed! C'mon! Honda is not dead, you can't have a mental breakdown now, right? Anzu?"
The girl looked to the ground.
"Oh…You're actually serious…"
"Ever since I completed the puzzle, I started blacking out at random times and having gaps in my memory. It used to be worse, now I can at least keep him from possessing me…I was afraid that you guys would leave me if you knew. Maybe…maybe you would think I'm crazy…I'm scared…I'm scared that I'm becoming someone else, someone who isn't me."
"...Yugi, I believe you! Even if you change, I'll always be your friend! No matter what happens with you, you're still Yugi, right?"
Yugi hugged him, "Thank you, thank you so much!"
"Anzu, you don't look very surprised." Katsuya frowned at Anzu.
"I already knew…I found out a few weeks ago. You said that 'no matter what happens he's still Yugi,' but that's a little more complicated. The other Yugi is different, he still has his similarities but the way he thinks and acts is completely different."
Katsuya frowned, "It's only complicated if you make it complicated. As I said, he's still Yugi to me."
"...You're right. Yugi, no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side!" The girl put her hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"Thank you. Let's go!" Yugi and friends ran to the exit with their energies renewed.
Death-T 4
"What is this cheering?" Katsuya asked.
His question was answered when the trio left the tunnel, arriving at a large stadium with a suspended glass box in the center.
"Welcome to Death-T 4!" A familiar voice said from the other side of the arena.
Mokuba Kaiba.
"This is a duel between us, Yugi! Leave your friends behind and enter the duel box alone!" The kid said.
"Yugi, we're coming with you!" Anzu protested.
"No, I'll go alone."
"No way! He'll try something, I know it!" Katsuya tried to go to the box, but Yugi put his hand in front of his friend.
"Trust me!" The shorter teenager smirked, the glint in his eyes told his friends that this wasn't the Yugi they knew anymore.
"You're-" Katsuya's eyes widened.
"We can have this conversation later," Dark Yugi made his way to the duel box.
"I'm surprised that you made this far! But you're not walking alive out of this!" Mokuba smiled sadistically.
"Shut it, brat. I'm not in the mood."
"I wouldn't keep this attitude if I was in your place! Do you see that elevator? The final stage is just above this floor."
"So I just have to beat you to get this over with."
"Yes! But it's not like you're going to, you'll die here! Along with your precious friends!" He pointed to Yugi's friends.
Two men in black were holding guns to their heads.
"I really hate you, you know?" Yugi frowned.
"Whatever! Let's play! This is Capsule Monsters in augmented reality!"
"Augmented reality?"
"Yes! We'll play normally, but our game will be shown on the field below us for the audience! This way, they'll be able to see you lose in detail! And whoever loses, will go through the 'Experience of Death' penalty game! You remember what happened to your old man, right?"
"Of course I do! Start the damn game already!"
"I like this! You remember our last game, right? We'll draw our monsters from the coin machine!" They took turns drawing their monsters.
Mokuba got four LVL 5s and a LVL 4, Yugi got three LVL 1s and two LVL 2s.
"Rigged again…this damn brat…okay…There's no way I can win in a direct confrontation, I'll have to use the field and my skills with wisdom!"
The field had two paths between each player's area, Yugi put all of his monsters on one side of the field, leaving the other path defenseless.
"What an amateur field! Game Start!" Mokuba pressed a button on the table and holograms of the monsters appeared in the field below them.
"I'll go first! I'll move my 'Armorsaurus'! Your turn!"
"...I pass."
"Gave up already? Fine by me!"
Mokuba moved his monsters. He moved two of them to block the path in front of Yugi's creatures and invaded his field by the other path with the remaining three, surrounding his opponent completely.
Yugi didn't make a move the entire game.
"Your turn, Yugi!"
Yugi made his first move in the game.
"Too little too late! I attack your monster with my Armorsaurus!" Mokuba attacked Yugi's monster, the hologram spat fire on the opponent, destroying the weaker creature, "But this isn't all! I'll activate his ability 'Armor Attack'! Allowing me to destroy another monster in a straight line!" The Armorsaurus curled up in a ball and destroyed the monster in front of him, moving one spot and ending up behind Yugi's mole 'Mogley', "This ability can be activated as many times as I want during my turn! I activate Armor Attack again!"
The Armorsaurus curled up in a ball again, but Mogley dug up the ground. The Armorsaurus kept moving and crashed into another one of Mokuba's monsters, destroying them both.
"I forgot that the damned mole could do this!" Mokuba punched the table.
"High level monsters have a high power, but you need to control them better," Yugi smirked.
"Shut up! Make your move!"
"I'll move my 'Ninja Squid' to attack your 'Zoid M', Ninja Squid can't defeat him normally, but I activate his special ability! 'Self Destruct'!" The squid exploded, killing itself and taking Mokuba's monster with him.
"You sacrificed your creature? That was useless! You lost one to destroy one of mine! We're still even!"
"But not for long."
Mokuba looked to the field, Ninja Squid opened a straight line to the 'Evolution Space'! A special place that can increase the level of one monster by three for free! His monsters were too far from Yugi's, he couldn't stop him!
"I reached the Evolution Space! I evolve my LVL 2 'Beeton' to LVL 5 'Hyper Beetle'!" The small and weak larva quickly transformed into a powerful and heroic beetle.
"No matter how weak a monster is, if you believe on it, it'll grow strong!"
"Impossible!"
"I'll activate its ability 'Horn Attack' to destroy your LVL 4 'Nama Hargen' from distance!" The beetle destroyed the opponent monster, "You only have one monster remaining, Mokuba!"
"So what? In close quarters, my 'Big Foot' is stronger!" Mokuba moved his monster towards Yugi's, they attacked each other, but only the Beetle was destroyed, "And you have one more monster hiding, right?" Mogley got out of the underground, "Big Foot, destroy that damn mole!"
Big Foot started to fall apart.
"What? A critical hit?! I…I lost again?"
"The game only ends when it ends! I won, Mokuba!" Yugi got up and moved to the exit.
"Yugi! No! I can't lose again! There's no way I lost!" The boy started to have a breakdown.
"Yugi!" Seto Kaiba appeared on the monitors above the duel box, "I've been waiting for this! Take the elevator and come face me!"
"Wait for me, Seto Kaiba!" Dark Yugi pointed to the monitor.
"And you, little brother. I'm sure you remember the rules of Death-T, right? Only the winner gets out of this box! You disappointed me for the last time! It's time for your penalty game!"
"Seto? No! Please! You can't do this! Please, Nii-san! Let me out! No!" The holograms came to life and attacked the boy.
"Mokuba!" Yugi ran back to the duel box, "His own brother? Seto Kaiba, what the hell is wrong with you? He's only a kid!"
"Nii-san, please! Save me!" Mokuba curled up in a ball and started screaming for his brother.
"Mokuba! Grab my hand!" The young boy grabbed Yugi's arm and the older boy pulled him out of the nightmarish illusions.
Mokuba shrugged Yugi's arm off and crawled away, still disoriented, "Yugi? W-Why did you save me? Why?"
"I only got so far because I have friends by my side, Mokuba. Everyone needs help, I wouldn't have survived even Death-T 1 by myself." Yugi got up and walked to the elevator.
"Friends…Yugi! Wait!" The teenager stopped, "Please, defeat my brother, please…he wasn't always like this…he used to be so kind and gentle…please…I want the old Seto back…I just want my brother…" The boy started crying, Yugi said nothing and entered the elevator.