Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 062
Song: Anubis - Tsuki no hana ~Bosendorfer Ver.~; Davichi - You Are My Everything
Originally Written: Friday, April 29, 2022 442PM to 554PM
. . . . .
Deep within the Millennium Puzzle, Pharaoh banged against the door that once led him out of his soul room. "Yugi!" He shouted. "Yugi!"
Apparitions of the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl stood behind him, solemn as they waited.
"YUGI!" He lost track of time. He lost track of the demands and begging and pleading he made to both Magicians. There was nothing they could do, however. Yugi had to put the puzzle on. And he did not. He never would. Never again.
Pharaoh was already sitting on the golden floor of his prison. He hoped a dream that would never pass, could never be. His hands slid down the door, and fell in his lap. The more he sat waiting, the more he shivered. The darkness that once trapped him, slowly engulfed the Millennium Puzzle the more time went on. The gold faded to black.
He didn't know what happened to Yugi, but knew it was horrible. Pain wracked his soul as he had begged and pleaded to his loyal Magicians. Pharaoh curled up on himself, shivering. "It is dark now."
He ran his hands over his face, sobbing. "So dark and cold. Light is gone. It's too late now."
His Magicians knelt next to him, trying to comfort him, even as the darkness of the puzzle swallowed them whole, like it had long before Yugi had solved it, or Grandpa Shimon had found it.
Meanwhile, Tea sat on a chair in Tristan's garage, her face buried in her hands. Tristan was pushing himself to work, to focus on anything else. He looked over the bike he leant to Joey. It was beat up, but nothing like what he was expecting. His older sister left some snacks and drinks for them, but didn't stay long. She didn't know what to say. Arkana stood near the garage door, his arms folded. He quietly spoke to Pegasus on his cell phone.
In the driveway, Duke sat on the hood of his car playing with a pair of dice to distract himself. Serenity was on speaker phone, apprising them of the situation. It was hard to understand her through her own tears. She let them know she spoke to Joey earlier that day, and he was on his way. Duke's radio played the news, keeping them updated of the glowing cloud of doom overtaking the esteemed Kaiba Mansion.
'A vehicle registered under the late Noah Kaiba's name was found crashed and wrecked at Domino Pier early yesterday afternoon. There is still no whereabouts of Misters Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, however they were not found in the wreck or in the area. Witnesses say they saw the car speed past them on the pier before failing to make a sharp U-Turn. It is estimated the vehicle was going at least 90 miles per hour (144kph) at the time of the crash. I'm Mizuki Umino and you're listening to Domino News Radio. Keep your radio dialed to stay updated on this series of unfortunate events.'
"This is horrible." Serenity whispered.
Tristan stood and kicked his bike. It clattered to the floor in a bang that made both Tea and Duke jump. Both glared at him. Tristan glared at the bike, his hands clenched.
"Fuck you, Joey." Tristan's body shook in rage. Tears gathered in his eyes. "The worst part is Yugi, Bakura and the Old Man would still be gone even if you hadn't run like a bitch."
Seto's alternate mansion was a very pleasant and posh place, but Joey did not want to be here. Seto kept giving him the runaround, and he was starting to get annoyed. The TV in one of the many guestrooms played the news in the background. Joey stomped down the stairs, following the chill in the house.
The chill led him right to Seto. He found Seto sitting in a chair in the main living room. Mokuba stopped him, blocking his path.
"Move, kid." Joey all but snarled. His fists clenched tightly.
Mokuba shook his head. "No." He held his arms out to his sides.
Behind Mokuba, Seto sat on a couch, fiddling with his glasses. Joey raised the black bag he was holding and threw it to the ground. It hit the wooden floor with a loud bang, hard enough to scratch the floor. The gold of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle box lid spilled out from the bag as it skidded closer to Seto.
"What da fuck is dis!?" Joey shouted. His voice echoed off the walls. "Got me nearly dyin' over an empty box! Where da fuck were you protectin' Yug'!? You forgot about our agreement ya bastard!?"
"No!" Mokuba replied in Seto's defense. "He didn't. I promise. He didn't."
"You don't know shit 'bout what I'm talkin' 'bout!" Joey spat.
"You asked Seto to look after Yugi if at any point in time you and Tristan weren't able to. Seto said yes because he always thought one of you would be around. Big Bro didn't know Yugi was doing this. How could he? Pharaoh mind crushed him. Seto woke up in a cell underneath the mansion, and the Shadow Game was already halfway in play." Mokuba stepped to the side in time with Joey as Joey tried to get around him. Seto's shoulder's further hunched over.
"You fuckin' lying!" Joey protested. "I seen the shit he can do! He coulda done something!"
Seto sharply turned around. "That's why I went to get you instead! I could have told her how to win Yugi's game!"
Joey fell silent, watching tears flow down Seto's cheeks. Joey gave him a glare, staring him down. "Ya explanation betta be good."
"I-I learned what was going on f-f-from Yami Marik." Seto breathed heavily. He wiped his eyes, and fell silent. "T-This is about m-more t-than the agreement."
"I learned from Roland." Mokuba dropped his arms, shaking. "It was too late to save Yugi by then. We could only keep them from getting the puzzle. So we set up something like a decoy. To make them think you snuck in and took the Puzzle when they weren't looking, or that Yugi had given you a key to unlock the barrier protecting it."
"Da fuck does this gotta do wit me? Why drag me inta it? You shoulda been wit Yug'..." Joey ran his hands through his hair and paced.
"Do you remember the duel against Yugi on the pier?" Mokuba asked.
Joey shook his head. "I only remember what happened after Yug' gave me the puzzle."
"Yugi…" Mokuba breathed, "Yugi told you something then. He asked you to do something."
Joey thought. His mind raced. "Look afta Pharaoh?"
"That's as good enough as Yugi giving you the puzzle, Joey. The owner of a Millennium Puzzle doesn't just have to lose a challenge to lose the item. They can just give it away to someone the God's find trustworthy enough. I guess you fit the bill?"
"...But I gave it back."
Mokuba shook his head, "It's weird, but it still counts. If anything happened to Yugi, he placed you next in line for the puzzle. That's not even counting what Yami Marik said Thief King Bakura said Pharaoh did."
Joey dropped to the floor. "He gave it ta me too?"
"Something like that." Mokuba sat on the floor next to him. He slowly explained Pharaoh's side of the situation, which if Joey had the ability to, would allow him to loosely tap into the Puzzle's powers. Occasionally, Mokuba looked off to the side as though listening to a voice only he could hear. It reminded Joey of the far away look Yugi would get when speaking to Pharaoh. "We didn't drag you into it. Yugi and Pharaoh did."
"When Yugi was thinking of his plans for the Shadow game, he realized you would get dragged into it, because he expected to die during that duel on the pier and acted accordingly. So he told you to run, and that you'd see him in two weeks, right?"
Joey nodded, feeling numb.
"One week for the Shadow Game. Another week for them to start searching for you, and realize how far away you are. By then Amane's lost the Shadow Game, leaving Bakura in full control of her body. Bakura then gives Ryou the Millennium Ring. Pharaoh works through his memories, and does what he's supposed to do. Game ends. Everyone's free."
"Dat sounds like da good ending."
"Amane was supposed to lose her soul when the shadow game ended in her loss. When the ring returned to Ryou, he or Yugi would save her soul from the Shadow Realm. Pharaoh would then mind crush her, to help her get over her obsession with saving or helping Bakura." Mokuba whispered. "But she pushed the Thief King into control. It shouldn't have worked, but she's been siphoning his strength and power from him. He couldn't force her back in control. So his soul got stuck instead. And the dark part sealed into Thief King and the ring got separated from him, giving it free reign of Amane, who wasn't strong enough to fight it. Yami Marik told us it destroyed her soul immediately."
Joey's head dropped as his mind raced. The news reporting on the deaths of Yugi Moto, Ryou Bakura and Solomon Muto repeated again and again in his head. "There's not a damn thing in the box. So where's the puzzle?"
"It's still in the shop. You and I are the only ones alive who can get through the barrier protecting it. However, you're currently the only one who can touch it without immediate punishment courtesy of the Egyptian Gods." Seto answered. "You could very well leave it there, if you'd like." Seto lowered his head.
"And who's attacking us now?" Joey looked at him.
"...The creator of the Shadow Realm. A dictator named Zorc Necrophades." Seto put his glasses back on. "The Puzzle is a key, which acts as a lock, keeping Zorc fully locked away. The Zorc attacking us now is the part from The Thief King. Bakura locked it in a room in our main house. It's currently trying to break through the seals Bakura set up. The Zorc that chased us, is a human Amane or Zorc gave some of their power to. It is very likely that Amane's obsession with helping the Thief King isn't a real obsession, rather the true Zorc subtly manipulating her into freeing him."
Joey closed his eyes. He took a deep, shuddering breath. He sat in silence, letting everything sink in. "No more running me around. No more beatin' round tha bush. No more keepin' me i' da dark. Take me back ta Domino. Straight ta Kame Game Shop, or I'm leavin' wit-outcha."
A/N: Didja get all that?