As the sun dipped below the horizon on the final night before Battle City, Ishizu pushed herself away from the desk and let out a relieved breath.
She was done.
She held up the replacement Memento, a second gold painted coin, into the light beam and tilted it back and forth, watching the fading light cause the paint to shimmer for a moment before turning away to the darkness in the corner.
This was it.
Tomorrow, everything she had worked towards would unfold. She would set the Pharaoh on the path she needed to tread and soon she and her brothers would be free of those who hunted them. Her other minions were already released and would soon be in place, but she had waited for this one because she suspected he would be hard to predict.
A few days ago, she would have felt bad for what she was about to do, but then her brothers had nearly been taken from her and she had almost lost her life.
Now Ishizu would offer Yugi no escape. She would set the demons of Yugi's own nightmares on her. She would even become the worst of the nightmares if she had to.
It was the only way to ensure the futures of her siblings and punish those who sought to oppose her.
Once the Pharaoh knew there was only one way to do what needed to be done and was strong enough to complete her duty, Ishizu and her brothers would be finally free from those who had tried to kill her and drag the boys back into the darkness.
And to the Bearer of the Millennium Rod, nothing mattered more than the safety and freedom of her siblings. Not even the world.
The plan would cost the Pharaoh much, but it would force her to become stronger, teach her that sometimes you have to be merciless to protect what's important and show her that sometimes, the only one you have to rely on is yourself.
All things she would have to do and learn if she was going to fulfil her destiny and destroy not only the demon but the thief whose soul was bound to him.
Still… even as angry as she was at the Pharaoh's vessel and her allies, guilt yet weighed on Ishizu's shoulders as she took a deep breath and prepared to summon her last tool.
If Azra had been right, if Yugi had not lured her away to help the Tomb Keepers, Ishizu was sorry she had to do this.
But she would never be sorry enough to stop.
'Remember. The Pharaoh is responsible for all the pain Marik and Rishid have suffered. Her cultists tried to kill us. She deserves what's to come.' Hanaq reminded Ishizu as she lowered the coin from the light, 'And Yugi is not a person. Not yet. Not truly. She's just parts of the Pharaoh given some pretence of individuality. She can't really care about anyone until she's a real girl. Right now, she's just a doll. Our brothers deserve to live more than she does.'
'She may be a doll, but she is still valuable.' Ishizu gently scolded, feeling shaky after the attack but stable enough with her brothers safely nearby to push back at her wrath. 'And she is vital to our final step. We can't have freedom while the Demon Thief still roams this world after all. Everything we're doing will force the Pharaoh to become strong enough to destroy her. What we plan will bring anger and despair, those things bring hope, and hope brings strength.'
She took a deep breath and started gathering the magic she would need to drag her most vicious pawn out of the Shadows. As she pushed her way through the threadbare barrier and yanked the body and soul she required out of the darkness, Hanaq was there, assisting and supporting her in giving the form that had been so badly depleted enough life to survive as long as she needed it to.
'So to create despair, I'll put them through hell if I have to.'
Slowly a huge, hulking figure appeared before her. A lesser woman would have been terrified of the tall brute of a man whose clothes were torn like one who had been living rough for a while, and whose dark eyes scanned the room with a mix of confusion and fury.
"Who?" The short haired, blonde male demanded, his hands balling into fists as he struggled to focus. Ishizu was not surprised. The Shadows had been more than willing to share what he had done and what the consequences had been.
This man had not only been the ruthless gang leader, but he had also once kidnapped and hospitalized the Pharaoh's brat. Something he had only survived because the Pharaoh had allowed her consort, his former right-hand, to deal with the situation. The cost of that survival though, had been great. He had lost his gang, his territory and the respect he had worked so hard to earn.
A few months later though, he had broken into the home of the Pharaoh and attacked her there, looking for revenge for everything he had lost. Doing so had earned him a crushed mind and what should have been a one-way trip into the realm of darkness beyond the seal.
It had taken a lot of effort to put his shattered mind back together enough to be able to pull him back into the real world. She just hoped it was worth it.
"Who I am doesn't matter." She purred, "What matters is that I'm giving you a chance to get back at the witch who stole everything from you and trapped you in the darkness."
His wild-eyed gaze caught hers and he stepped towards her. She did not back down. If he attacked her, she could dismantle him far more easily than she had put him together.
"And why would you give me this gift? What's in it for you?"
"I hate the girl as much as you do." After what had happened the other day, it was all too true, "Side with me and I'll give you the power to do to her what she did to you."
The man's eyes widened for a moment at that, then his lips twisted upwards into a cruel smile.
"That sounds fun."
"Good." She held out the golden coin she had charged with Shadow energy. "Bring me someone and I'll give you this. All you'll have to do is break this in front of the witch and you'll have all the power you need."
He moved to snatch it from her, only for her to pull back and glower at him. Her reaction caused his expression to shift from a greedy smirk to an annoyed sneer, "And what's stopping me from using it on you and stealing your magic thing?"
Her answer was to release part of her grip on the magic holding him together. He let out an agonized bellow and fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around his torso as the edges of his body fizzed and popped as if dissolving in the air.
Then she tightened her grip and his form solidified again.
"That's why." She hissed out, unsurprised by his threat. Brutes like this always needed to be shown just how powerless they really were. "I brought you to the living world. Work for me and you get to stay, betray me and I'm more than willing to send you back."
The figure on the ground shuddered for a moment longer, then staggered to his feet, hatred attempting to hide fear as he glowered at her. "So, what's the plan?"
"I need you to bring me a girl. One I think you'll want to deliver considering she's a sibling to Jonouchi." Hirutani's eyes widened for a moment, then his expression darkened as the desire for vengeance surged through him. "Once you do, I'll hand over this Memento. You can do whatever you want to the witch after that, except attack her family. They're mine."
Ishizu shrugged with less care than she felt, silently hating herself for what she needed to become to save her family and knowing that her brothers would be disgusted, "I can even herd her towards you if you need it, once I have the girl in my custody."
"Let me get this straight. I give you Jonouchi's sister and you give me enough power to destroy the bitch that ruined me?"
"That's right." Ishizu nodded.
"What're you going to do with the girl?"
"That's none of your business but if it makes you more compliant, let's just say Jonouchi won't like it." Honestly all she planned to do was make the girl a mind slave so she could easily manipulate the girl's brother but being threatening would encourage her brute to be efficient.
"Fine. You'll have her." The brute snorted, catching the pay-as-you-go phone she tossed to him. "Where is she?"
"You'll find her at the train station in about an hour. She thinks she's going to surprise her brother by coming in on the last train." Ishizu was glad for Marik's spying. It meant he had gotten to overhear plans she would not have known about otherwise. "Once you have her, message me using that and we'll arrange a meeting."
"And I'll get my power after that?"
"Yes, I'll give you what you deserve."
"You'd better." The brute started stalking from the room.
"Oh and Hirutani?" The glare he shot back at her would be killer. "Don't let me down."
"Go screw yourself."
With that her goon was gone and Ishizu could not say she was sorry. She hated working with men like him but they were useful when she wanted something nasty done.
She much preferred working with people who thought they were clever but were easy to manipulate, like the former champion, whom she had found wandering the darkness in the last few days and added to her roster, the brothers and her little spider.
Her spider, if he was on time, would be the Pharaoh's first lesson and would move into position just before the tournament kicked off.
There was just one last thing she needed to do before she could sleep.
'I can't believe it's the evening before Battle City and we're still debating this.' Yugi sighed as she and Meisa sprawled over the bed in the basement, trying to work out what exactly they were doing about a certain card.
'Honestly, Imoto, it might be safest to leave her out.' Meisa offered as they considered their grandfather's prized card.
"You're not wrong. I really don't want to take the risk and lose her." Yugi admitted, picking her up and tilting her in the light, allowing the shine of the metallic foil glint in the light, "She's a huge asset but she's too valuable to risk."
'We can hand her back to Jii-san in the morning.' Meisa agreed as Yugi put the Blue Eyes White Dragon card on the bedside table. 'Of course, this is when we find out that the ante rule isn't so Kaiba can get his hands on the God cards. He's actually still after our dragon.'
Yugi chuckled at her sister's joke and leaned back, staring at the cards on the bed. "I think we're nearly there."
'Indeed, though we still need to talk about…'
Yugi's phone ringing made them both pause. Yugi was shocked to see that the caller ID revealed it to be Ishizu and she nearly dropped the phone in her haste to pick it up.
"Ishizu? Are you alright?"
"It appears I need to talk to you regarding getting my brother's motorcycle back." The other Item Bearer did not answer her question. "I'm already in your yard, so hurry up. Come alone, or I'll assume you're going to attack me and react accordingly."
As the call dropped, Yugi hesitated for just a moment, aware that she should ask Katsuya or Jii-san to come with her. Then she shook her head and snatched up the keys. She would not be leaving the store grounds and this could be her last chance to talk Ishizu around and prevent Battle City from being chaos. She had to take it.
'Imoto, be careful.'
'I know.' Yugi paused at the door. 'I just want to try.'
With that she pushed the door open to reveal that yes, Ishizu had broken into their gated yard and was knelt by the bike in question. She straightened when she heard Yugi's footsteps crunch in the gravel and wheeled around, her hand brushing the top of the Millennium Rod for just a moment before staring her down.
"Are you alright?" Yugi repeated her question. "Azra said…"
"I don't care what Azra said." Ishizu huffed, holding her hand out, "Just give me the keys and go away."
"Ishizu, I…"
"Keys. Hand them to me."
Yugi swallowed hard, disappointment hitting like a truck as she took the keys for the chain out of her pocket. Daring to approach, Yugi dropped them into Ishizu's outstretched hand.
The moment they were in the air, Ishizu's eyes went amber and the woman grabbed Yugi's wrist.
Hanaq spun around her as the keys clanked to the ground. She twisted Yugi's arm up her back as she went. Before the Puzzle Bearer could cry out in shock, a hand clamped over her mouth, forcing her head back so it rested against her captor's chest, pinning her in place.
Meisa seized control and tried to break free, but her arm was twisted further, to the point where the Pharaoh thought her shoulder might dislocate, forcing her to go still.
"Let the brat out or I break your arm." The hiss that emerged from their captor made Yugi shudder, but the Pharaoh shook her head, refusing to leave her twin in the woman's clutches.
The hand over her mouth muffled the pained noise the Pharaoh let out as her restrained arm was wrenched further up her back. Her body stiffened and Meisa could not help the physical shivering as something in her shoulder shifted in a way that she KNEW was wrong.
'Let me out, Anesan.' Yugi's voice quivered, 'She won't kill me. She needs me and we need to be able to move our arm tomorrow.'
The Pharaoh did not like it, but relinquished control. For just a few seconds after Hanaq felt the shifting energies of her captive, Ishizu's Wrath held her victim in place. Then she untwisted the arm a little, lessening the pain.
She smirked slightly as she felt her prisoner go limp in her grasp for a moment as Yugi gathered herself.
The brat thought the worst was over.
"You betrayed me, little Light." Hanaq whispered in Yugi's ear, ignoring the head shake and muffled protest that came with her statement. Instead, she let loose the spell she had woven, ready for this moment, and forced Yugi's head to one side, leaving her neck exposed.
The trembling fear that radiated from the teen was delicious as at the girl's feet, a serpent of pure Shadows formed.
"You got my brothers hurt. You got me stabbed." As the snake started to entwine itself up Yugi's frame, the girl struggled violently, forcing Hanaq to twist her arm again to keep her still, "And you're going to pay for your crimes…"
Yugi caught just a glimpse of the purple-black body of the serpent and a set of glowing golden eyes, before it lunged for her throat.
The scream she unleashed as the fangs drove into the side of her neck, was stifled by the hand secured over her mouth. The venom the snake carried was like sharp daggers of ice that cut and froze everything it touched, making her whimper and thrash as each beat of her heart spread it further through her veins.
Within milliseconds, the Puzzle started to glow. At the warning, the snake slithered onto Hanaq's shoulder. Ishizu's Wrath released her prisoner, who dropped to the floor, only to push herself to her hands and feet almost instantly.
A hand clamped over the point the snake had bitten, expecting to find blood, as the girl rose to her feet, red eyes glaring at Hanaq, only for shock to interrupt anger as it came away clean.
Confusion coursed through the Pharaoh as she took stock of her physical form.
It felt… fine.
The body was not hurt. There was no mark where the snake had bitten her Imoto. And the ice flooding the body was gone…
Yet she could sense Yugi's soul still writhed in agony.
"What. Did. You. Do?" Meisa demanded of Hanaq, Puzzle and eyes glowing as she started to weave a Shadow Game.
"I would hold Pharaoh, unless you want her to die." Hanaq smirked, forcing Meisa to pause as Hanaq held out her wrist. The snake weaved its way down it and bit hard, causing a grunt of pain. Once it pulled back and vanished, the demon-tainted Wrath smirked at the Pharaoh and showed her a wrist unharmed by the fangs, "There… we go. Shadow Games… have to be fair, after all."
"What did you do?!" Meisa had no patience for the games, watching as her opponent paled and her breaths shortened, suggesting she was in as much pain as Imoto.
"When Isis wanted Ra's true name… so she could claim his power… she created the first snake." Hanaq panted out as she shuddered. "And had it poison him… I merely followed that tradition by poisoning… your doll."
Ishizu's Wrath smirked at the glare her words earned her, "Oh don't worry. It'll settle a little once… the poison has fully spread throughout our souls and… we have adjusted to… the constant pain. But we're already... locked in this game."
"What. Game?" The Pharaoh's fury pulsed at her sister being referred to as a doll.
"It's simple really." Hanaq swallowed hard and braced herself against the pain, "If you want her to live, you'll make it to Hekigan. Fail and... well, her soul will die from the venom my snake carries."
"What?!" The fury gave way to fear, much to Hanaq's delight.
"What's the matter, Pharaoh? All you have to do is reach the quarter-finals and it'll clear right up." Ishizu's Wrath taunted before licking her lips, enjoying the meal Meisa's fear provided, "Or don't you think you'll make it?"
"If you have to threaten someone, threaten me! Not Imoto!"
"I need you to grow stronger, so you can do your damned job and I will do whatever it takes to get the ending I want." Hanaq hissed, eyes narrowing, "If I have to torture her to make you do your duty, I will. After what she did to my family, I'll even enjoy it."
"Imoto never betrayed you! She didn't know the Tomb Keepers were going to attack!" Meisa snarled out, beyond furious. With herself for letting Imoto get hurt, with Hanaq for poisoning her sister and with the Tomb Keepers who had created the situation with their inability to leave the Ishtars alone.
"Even if that's true. You must be strong enough to defeat the Demon and his Thief." Hanaq spat, "This way, you can't run from my lessons."
"I had no plans to run." The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed. "You didn't need to do this."
"I really did." Ishizu's Wrath glowered back, "You grow stronger with assistance, that's true, but you need to be strong on your own first or the extra power means nothing. This way you can't rely on her. You must face my tasks yourself and grow your own strength."
There was a pause, and then a smirk formed on Hanaq's features, "Besides, your doll is nothing but a vessel. Her pain means nothing in the grand scheme of things."
The Pharaoh's hands clenched tightly as she barely resisted the desire to smack the woman in front of her. "She is more than just a vessel. She is MY Imoto. And if she dies, everything ends. You know that!"
"You fail, everything ends anyway. I'm just speeding up the timeline." Hanaq simply shrugged, "Her life? Doesn't really matter until you go. She doesn't have the right to be her own person until then. Right now, she's nothing but a doll in your image."
The continued insult to her twin made Meisa's blood boil. The only thing that kept her from launching a Shadow Game there and then, was the venom coursing through her sister's soul.
"Tell me the full rules." She demanded instead, eyes narrowing, plans beginning to form for what Shadow Game she WOULD cast once they had earned their way to Kaiba's theme park and her sister was safe. "Since you're so focused on this being fair."
"It's simple. We and our Other Selves cannot attack each other directly, nor can we attack each other's family, unless we wish to lose. Which means your grandfather and my brothers are now protected." Hanaq explained casually, smirking at how badly she had thrown the Pharaoh off.
Meisa nodded tensely, noting that her friends were not protected by those rules and that a loophole had been left for them to send minions after each other. Probably for Ishizu's 'lessons'.
"Think of it as an obstacle course." Hanaq continued as she picked up the keys for the motorcycle chain. "With us each running it and the other Duelists as the obstacles. We make it to Kaiba's Hekigan theme park, where he's holding the finals, we cross the finish line, and get to live. Fail, and well… Game Over."
"You'd risk your own life and the lives of everyone in this world for your own selfish…"
"Don't you dare…!" Hanaq cut Meisa off, sweeping forward and raising a hand to slap her. She stopped at the last minute and narrowed her eyes. "Clever, Pharaoh. Trying to make me break my own rules to save your twin, but I won't lose that easily. I risk my life and the world because you won't. I would rather die trying to protect my brothers by making you do your damn job, than stand here and do nothing."
"I told you." Meisa growled out, glowering at her adversary, "I will do my duty when I'm ready."
"That's not soon enough. Not when your zealots are ready to kill." Hanaq hissed out, the world around them darkening. "You no longer have a choice. I will MAKE you do your job, or I'll rip your power from you and do it myself."
"Take the motorcycle, leave, and stay the hell away from my home, my family and my friends." The Pharaoh hissed, barely holding herself back from Challenging the woman before her.
"Gladly."
Meisa did not take her eyes off of Ishizu until the motorcycle had turned the first corner, then she flung herself into the Soul Sanctuaries, where her sister was finally calming. Yugi opened her eyes as she pushed herself sitting, needing to lean against the wall of her room to stay upright. The Pharaoh bit her lower lip as she took in her sister's condition. Yugi's clammy skin, flushed face, and eyes glittering with the pain Meisa sensed lay beneath the surface of her soul, did not reassure her in the slightest.
The Pharaoh knelt at her twin's side, reached for Imoto's neck, then paused. "May I?"
Her sister nodded and tilted her head slightly to one side, trusting her completely. Meisa gently brushed Yugi's hair aside to reveal the clear marks of the serpent's bite.
"I'm sorry." At her sister's soft apology, Meisa pulled back.
"Imoto, you don't…"
"We could have healed ourselves if she'd really broken our arm." Yugi shook her head, angry at herself, "If I hadn't given in, she wouldn't have been able to…"
When she trailed off, her hand shakily going to the wound on her throat, Meisa shook her head.
"You have nothing to apologise for. If you hadn't emerged, I'm sure she'd have poisoned me instead and we'd be in the same position." The Pharaoh disagreed, "I'm sorry I didn't seize control fast enough once we saw the snake."
"It's not your fault. It happened too fast." Yugi paused for a moment, then tried to force herself to her feet. It took a moment and Meisa, who had to help her up, could feel her trembling, but Yugi managed it. "We'll just have to be careful tomorrow."
"Imoto…"
"I'm not… okay, yes, I'm a little scared, but the 'lessons' were going to be dangerous anyway. We knew that. All this changes is that we know just how far Hanaq is willing to go."
"And that Ishizu isn't going to stop her." Meisa grimaced. The change between them when they had grabbed Imoto had been too smooth for that.
"So, we do what we do best." Yugi smiled, though her sister could see it was a little forced. "We duel. We were planning on getting to the finals anyway. So, we couldn't afford any losses."
Meisa hesitated for a moment then pulled her sister into a hug. "I won't lose, Imoto. I promise."
"I know." The sheer faith that radiated from Yugi helped Meisa relax. "But let's not tell the others. They're already wound up enough as it is."
"You sure? They're going to worry either way."
"They don't need to know. Not yet." Yugi shook her head, "Unless we're pushed, I'm not going to tell them. If we do, Katsuya won't be able to focus on dueling and the others will just follow us and end up targets. Besides, it won't matter if we reach Hekigan anyway."
The Pharaoh just nodded, not entirely sure it was the right call, but willing to follow her twin's lead.
"Come on, we need to try and rest before tomorrow." Yugi pushed herself out of her sister's grasp with trembling arms, "Or we're going to be useless tomorrow and…"
Yugi swallowed hard and trailed off. Meisa did not say a word. She just put her hand on her sister's shoulder before following her twin from the Sanctuary.
Shizuka was exhausted as she stepped onto the platform at Domino Central Station. Still, she considered it worth it. While Tokyo to Domino was a long trip, she was looking forward to surprising her brother in the morning.
The station was quiet as she headed for the main doors. All the commuters had already passed through for the day and the final trains were mostly empty, leaving very few passengers to walk the halls.
Which is why the bleach blonde guy, in his late teens or early twenties in torn clothing caught her attention.
She pulled her bag closer, recognising the signs of a ruffian from her brother's descriptions. Back before he had started down the straight and narrow, he had belonged to a local gang and he had given her a warning of what to look out for. The bleached hair, for example, was something gang members and delinquents did to show they did not care about authority.
Though in the defence of the young man who was watching her like a hawk, she could see his roots coming through, so there was a chance that, like her brother, he had made a mistake that he was trying to fix.
Hoping that was the case, she tried to skirt around him, suddenly aware that it was late and she was on her own. When she had planned the surprise, it had not been a problem, but with hindsight, she wished she had asked Honda or Anzu to meet her at the station, or even insisted that her mother come with her.
She was halfway out of the station when the teen caught up to her. "Kawai Shizuka, right?"
The sound of her name made her pause and turn to look at him, her head tilting slightly, "Yes? Do I know you?"
"Me, no, but I've heard a lot about you from your brother, Jonouchi." His smile was a little unnerving, but he held the door open for her, suggesting that he could be a decent person. "I'm an old friend. Came into town to surprise him before the tournament tomorrow."
"Really?" She asked, hoping to find a taxi rank on the other side and becoming worried when it was empty of cars and drivers.
"Yeah, he's gonna be real surprised to see me." The door swung shut behind them, blocking them from the view of the ticket booths, "Why don't we meet up with him together?"
"I don't…" She trailed off as his hand landed heavily on her shoulder, "Umm…"
"Name's Hirutani." His smile reminded her of a shark on the hunt and she tried to pull away, only to find he had a firm grip. "And you're coming with me."
Hirutani…
Shizuka knew she had heard that name before, but she did not stop to think where. Instead she slammed her heel down on the other teen's toes and ran for the nearest lit building she could find, yanking her phone from her bag as she went.
Something yanking on her hair made her cry out and drop the phone, which went skidding down the road as she was dragged into an alley and pinned against a wall. The arm pressing against her neck made it hard to breathe as Hirutani's voice hissed in her ear.
"You're lucky the bitch demands your presence." He growled, "But make this difficult and I'll hand her your body anyway."
"Wh…who… why?" The girl choked out, frightened and wanting answers.
"Your brother's bitch pissed off someone far more powerful than her." Hirutani snorted as he pressed harder against her throat, cutting her airways completely and making her pulse thump loudly in her ears. "And you?"
Suddenly she remembered where she had heard his name before.
Hirutani had been the name of Katsuya's 'best friend' when he had been living the life of a gang member. And who had punched her brother when he had given it all up…
Shizuka tried to push herself away from the wall or stamp on his feet again, but she could not reach him and the rapid beat of her heart as she panicked stole what little oxygen she had available away, sending her world tumbling into darkness.
As she fell limp in his clutches, the last thing she heard was his vindictive chuckle.
"You're just collateral."
