"I expect you to be standing when I'm done too." The Pharaoh shot back with a smirk before sliding the door shut behind her. Once she was out of sight of Kaiba and the minions, Meisa took a deep breath and turned to Anzu, who was watching her carefully. "Anzu, I…"
"I knew the risk when I agreed to help and I don't regret it at all." Anzu reassured her as she adjusted the device on her arm, "Let's get this over with."
"Right."
Turning to examine the area around them made both girls shudder. The halls were narrow and split in multiple directions. Wisps of Shadows crawled around the floor, obscuring it and stopping them from seeing where they would be walking. There was no external light, only what could be given off by torches that burned in sconces on the walls.
Meisa carefully stepped forward, relaxing a little when nothing happened, and examined the corridors, noting they bent and twisted in a warped approximation of a maze.
"The labyrinth you're now within," A man's voice echoed from above, making both girls look up, revealing walkways that passed over the tall walls around them.
"Is all set to prevent your win," A second spoke as a pair of men in cheongsams, one orange, one green, emerged into their line of sight.
"Find the middle of our maze most cruel."
"And you will face us in a duel."
Anzu sucked her teeth, already irritated by the rhyming pair, as Meisa let out a huff.
"But fail our quest or try to retire."
"And both of you will burn in fire."
"What?"
As Anzu yelped, taking a step back, the pathway behind her dropped away, revealing vicious purple flames that consumed the fallen floor tiles. Meisa squeaked and pulled Anzu away from the edge, unwilling to let her friend be consumed by the darkness. "To get through here you have an hour." The first man continued.
"And a ban on all your power."
At the second's words, Meisa hissed, unhappy at being banned from using her Shadows to help. She hadn't planned to use them unless utterly necessary, but after the game with Hirutani, she'd been prepared to lash out if she had to.
"But should you win, you will see…"
"The pair of you will both go free."
With that, the pair retreated out of sight. Meisa suspected they'd moved so they could watch, without giving the girls a clue.
"So no going back," Anzu grimaced as she glanced back toward the door, which was now cut off by several feet of burning floor.
"Only way is forward and up." Meisa agreed, "Still up for helping?"
"Wouldn't hesitate now for the world. Let's go."
Moving forward in the darkness of the gloom-laden corridors was uncomfortable. Not only because Meisa had an innate fear of the dark, after her three thousand years in captivity, but because the constantly flickering shadows made it hard to see the entrances to the pathways that shot off the bigger corridors, and for the two girls, who had to pick carefully, lest the collapsing floor corner them, that was dangerous. Especially when combined with the traps that were waiting for them.
Meisa suddenly realised why her magic was banned; when Anzu's foot came down on a tile that shifted under her foot, a green skinned Shadow Ghoul launched itself out of the wall, taking a swipe at the dancer who narrowly dodged.
The Pharaoh reached for her deck, about to summon to defend her friend, only to remember she couldn't summon using anything other than her Duel Disk and instead grabbed Anzu's arm and ran.
The Shadow Ghoul followed, leaping out of the walls and from the darkness of the floors, taking swipes at the girls as they sprinted down the corridor, whose floor fell behind them, raising the temperature of the maze around them as more flames were revealed.
Until they slammed into a dead end.
Meisa moved to shield her friend, only to find Anzu pulling her backwards as the Shadow Ghoul launched itself at them, and raising the blade of her Duel Disk to block the attack.
Anzu's cry of shock and pain as the Duel Disk was knocked back into her infuriated the Pharaoh, who drew from her deck and slammed her Double Costan onto her Duel Disk; summoning the twin spectres who bodychecked the many-eyed zombie monster backward into the flames, where it shattered with a screech.
And the walls shifted.
Not that Meisa was paying attention to it, other than to note that the wall they'd crashed into had fallen, and the path behind them had been closed off. Instead she turned to Anzu, who was shaking.
"Are you alright?"
"I… I've had worse." The dancer promised, giving a watery smile that didn't help Meisa's concern. "Are you ok?"
"Yes." The Pharaoh's shoulders sank, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Anzu examined her Duel Disk and found three deep scratches across the blade, but relaxed when it activated and still seemed to work. As she tested that, Meisa examined the new pathways as best she could without moving, and realised she could see the staircase upward from here. A fact that lifted her heart.
They were nearly there.
'Hey Anesan?' At her twin's quiet tone, the Pharaoh paused.
'Imoto? What's wrong?'
'I don't know if it helps at all, but in every game I've played, you can find your way to the centre if you follow the left hand wall. And the way out, by following the right.'
The Pharaoh nearly replied that they weren't trying to find the middle, but the stairs, when she remembered the rhyming pair's riddle. The middle of the maze would lead to the pair who'd started the Shadow Game. As such, the middle and the stairs were probably the same thing.
She glanced up, confirming her suspicion as the overhead walkways all headed in that direction.
'You are brilliant, Imoto.'
'No, I'm just exhausted and want to get this over with before either of you get hurt.' Yugi breathed in return, 'Please be careful.'
'I will.' The Pharaoh promised before turning to Anzu. "Imoto has an idea."
"I'm listening."
She explained as they started moving, putting it into practice and swiftly finding that the path was easier to follow. Still, they had to be careful not to follow it into a dead end, but to follow the wall around with their eyes and move on. It did not help them when a second Shadow Ghoul launched itself from a trap door on the floor, this time triggered by the Pharaoh, whose ghostly creatures shattered with it this time, warning the pair that the beasts were getting stronger.
Something that stopped mattering as they reached the stairs and made their way out of the maze, onto the wallways above, which were rusted and rickety and made both girls nervous as the world rumbled and shook, forcing them to grasp the railings as the entirety of the floor tiles below them tumbled away, revealing a floor of pure purple fire.
As well as showing the pair just how fragile the walkways were, as part of one of the side paths fell to the ground, clanging against the walls of the maze loudly enough to set their ears ringing, and tumbling into the flames where it was consumed.
"We are impressed, you did not fail."
The sound of the first man's voice drew Meisa's attention away from where the walkway had fallen, to the middle of the room, where each man was standing on a separate bridge across.
"We expected you both to wail." The second chuckled, gesturing for them each to take a spot in front of them.
"But now you have to win at cards." The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed as she moved in front of the one dressed in orange as he continued to rhyme.
"And your dueling partner, you'll need to guard." Anzu stepped in front of the other one, separating the two girls by guard rails and a fall, but ensuring that they both were able to face an adversary directly.
"For you a tag team duel is something new."
"Too bad you face the brothers Meikyu."
With that, the brothers activated their Duel Disks.
Meisa was unamused. 'Labyrinth' brothers. Like the maze below. Lovely.
"Do you have like, normal names?" Anzu asked, as she and Meisa followed suit, shuffled their decks and slipped them into place before drawing their opening hands.
"I am Mei, the older brother."
"And I am Kyu, the smarter other." That earned Kyu a dower look from his brother.
"I'll move first, and then you." Mei gestured to Anzu.
"Then my move, followed by this Mary Sue." Kyu pointed at the Pharaoh who'd heard enough about various fandoms, through her Imoto's addiction to magical girl anime and her own horror anime research, to be insulted. "Your time is done, you cannot win."
"Now, let the duel begin!"
With that, Mei drew, immediately summoning the gigantic brown and black spider, Jurai Gumo, which skittered along the wall and snapped its pincers in the direction of the girls as the system revealed its 2200 attack points.
"One card face down, your doom I'll prove, now go ahead and make your move."
"Ew, gross." Anzu grumbled as she drew. "I set two cards face down and summon my Lunalight Crimson Fox!"
It took her a moment to slip the cards into place, having never used a Duel Disk before, but when she did, her Beast-Warrior appeared on the field, its red furred ears twitching as it took in the sounds around it. Its long tail twitched as it glanced back at Anzu, who was fascinated by the graceful figure dressed in boots, a leotard and a waistcoat. When she nodded to it, it nodded back, the blue eye that wasn't covered by a crescent moon mask winking at her before it turned back to its enemies.
"You may think our monster's gross, but you will learn." Kyu summoned his own Jirai Gumo and played a card face down. "Now little Queen, it is your turn."
Trusting in Anzu to have something to cover her foxgirl, Meisa drew.
"I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode and play one card face down."
Her red armoured, card-themed knight grimaced as she took the field, having already faced down one Jirai Gumo today and not particularly looking forward to dealing with a second, yet alone a third.
"That ends my turn."
"I will make my move then." Mei's smug expression set Meisa on edge. "I activate my Tribute Doll! Allowing me to sacrifice just one monster to obtain a piece of a puzzle! Meet my Sanga of the Thunder!"
The Pharaoh scowled as his spider disappeared from the field and a brown, torso-like creature floated in its place. Red-brown armour protected it as it looked from Anzu's field to Meisa's and back again. "Sanga! Attack the Fox!"
"I activate Horn of the Phantom Beast!" Anzu called as her face down card flipped up, revealing a helmet with great glowing golden horns. It sat awkwardly on the head of the fox girl as her attack points rose to match those of Sanga, allowing her to counter attack and take Sanga down with her. "Leaving you wide open for Yugi's turn."
"Your field isn't safe either." Mei dropped the rhyming in his irritation, "My brother will squash you!"
"No he won't." Anzu grinned, nervous but enjoying the other duelist's irritation. She'd known they would underestimate her, but she hadn't anticipated how much. "I discard my Black Sheep to recover my Crimson Fox from the graveyard and summon my Fox back to the field."
The Crimson Fox spun back onto the field, only to get hit by lightning, let out a shriek and vanish again.
"Raigeki Break stops your fox and your move in their tracks." Mei smirked.
"I'm not done. If my fox is sent to the graveyard by card effect, it can reduce your brother's spider to 0 attack points!" Anzu's tone wavered slightly, having hoped to get her field protected, "And I activate my other face down card, Reincarnation Dance, which allows me to pull my Sheep and my Fox back to my hand."
"Jurai Gumo is just a stepping stone." Kyu snickered, "Your effect means nothing. I activate Cost Down, allowing me to tribute just my spider for Suijin!"
The blue set of heavy stone legs slammed onto the field, its maw open as it bellowed at its opponents. The kanji for water rested upon its crotch. Realisation hit Meisa and Yugi in the same moment, as the creature unleashed its 2500 attack points upon Anzu, who flinched back and raised her Duel Disk to protect herself from the water spout that was headed her way.
But never reached her.
"I activate Magic Cylinder!"
At the Pharaoh's call, a pair of pink, blue and yellow cylinders appeared before the dancer. One sucked in the incoming blast, while the other spat it back out. It slammed into Kyu, knocking him off his feet and deducting the 2500 from his life points instead, sending him tumbling down to 1500.
"Th… Thanks." Anzu stammered, giving Meisa a grateful smile and suddenly less confident she wasn't going to drag her friend down.
"We're a team." The Pharaoh nodded in return, "I'll always have your back. Just like I know you have mine. Just be careful. They only need one more monster to make something powerful. Luckily, they're too slow."
"Oh?"
Meisa grinned at Anzu's curiosity, "I summon my King's Knight, allowing me to special my Jack's Knight!"
The two male warriors, one in blue, one in yellow, appeared on the field, but they didn't have time to draw their swords before the Pharaoh activated Polymerization, fusing her three knights together into one super warrior clad in black and silver, with gold trim. He drew his sword as the system revealed its 3800 attack points.
"Attack Mei directly!" She directed her warrior, who slashed at the Duelist in question, sending him tumbling back into the railing, which snapped and fell, bouncing off of the walls below and into the flames which roared at the feast.
"I set one card face down, and end my turn." The Pharaoh finished as Mei's lifepoints hit 200.
"Your warrior means nothing!" Mei snapped, suddenly afraid he was going to end up in the fire, where he'd planned to send his opponents. When he'd been revived by Ishizu, he'd been promised an easy win, followed by an easy chance for money, revenge on Kaiba, and the bitch who had left him and his brother in a coma. "I activate my own Cost Down, allowing me to summon Labyrinth Wall!"
Confusion flickered through the Pharaoh as the huge stone wall appeared, blocking off the opposing side of the field, but its attack flashed rather than its defence. Something which made no sense when it had an attack score of 0.
"I activate Shield and Sword!" The Pharaoh flinched as the Wall's defence and attack points switched, suddenly endowing it with 3000 attack points, "And I destroy your Joker!"
The wall fell forward, squashing the warrior monster and deducting 200 life points from the Pharaoh.
"That's it for me." Mei looked at his brother, "But you have my back?"
"Always!" Kyu promised. "My face down card will protect you and tear these girls down!"
"You can try." Anzu drew, her face lighting up as she saw what she had pulled, "I activate Polymerization! Fusing my Sheep and my Fox to call forth Lunalight Cat Dancer!"
One of the monsters that'd drawn Anzu to the deck in the first place; the dancer took the field, cat ears twitching. It had a purple mask covering one eye, and a golden mask covering the other. Its purple leotard had a red chest piece surrounded by pale, blue-grey ribbons and its headpiece fanned out in a gorgeous purple. It spun around its duelist, high fiving her, before bowing to the Pharaoh who smiled and nodded back, happy to see the way Anzu's face lit up at its arrival as its 2400 attack points were revealed.
"Cat Dancer! Attack the wall!" Anzu called, planning to take down one of the brothers.
"I activate Block Attack!" Kyu's words echoed around the arena.
Anzu flinched, expecting her dancer to switch to defence mode, only for the Labyrinth Wall to switch instead. With the effects of Shield and Sword over, the dancer's fist slammed into a 3000 defence, taking 600 from Anzu's lifepoints instead of Mei's.
But Mei and Kyu's lifepoints dropped by 100 too, leaving them on 100 and 1400.
"Any time Cat Dancer attacks, my opponents lose 100 lifepoints." Anzu was shaken by the sudden switch. She still felt like she'd accomplished something, but it wasn't enough… "Yugi…"
"Yugi will go down here and you'll follow!" Kyu snapped, "I summon Sangan and activate my Tribute Doll, allowing me to tribute Sangan for Kazejin!"
The Pharaoh hissed as the third part of the monster she'd been wary of appeared on the field as a floating green ball, the kanji for wind glittering on its surface.
"Suijin! Kazejin! Attack Yugi directly!"
"No! Yugi!" Anzu yelped as the two launched their assault for a total of 5900.
The Pharaoh had just enough time to activate her face down card before the blast of wind carried, superpowered water slammed into her, knocking the Pharaoh off her feet and slamming her into the wall behind her, pinning her there for a moment before the water cut off and Meisa fell to the floor.
"Yugi!" Anzu could feel tears building when her friend didn't move, feeling like a complete and utter failure for being unable to defend her.
"I… I'm fine." Relief slammed into her as Meisa pushed herself sitting.
"How?!" Kyu demanded as Anzu rushed back to help the Pharaoh to her feet and let her lean on her.
"My face down card, Nutrient Z, gave me 4000 life points, more than enough to survive that attack." Meisa held back wincing, pain lancing across her back from the impact as she drew. "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards."
The two new cards were more helpful and she let out a relieved laugh as she called, "One card in defence mode, one card face down. That ends my turn."
"And ends your lives!" Mei snarled, irritated and wanting this over with, "I play Monster Reborn, bringing back Sanga of the Thunder!"
The third piece reappeared on the field with a crack of lightning and a roar of thunder.
"Brother, may I?"
"You may!"
"I tribute Sanga, Suijin and Kazejin to bring forth the instrument of your demise! The Gate Guardian!"
Suijin made up the legs, Kazejin the stomach and Sanga the torso of the towering beast that roared at the pair of girls. The walkway shook under them as it slammed its feet down.
"Gate Guardian! Destroy the cat!" Mei lashed out at the beast that would end him, no matter how strong his guardian was, if it lasted past this move.
The Pharaoh reached to activate her face down card, but Anzu caught her hand. "Don't…"
"But…"
"Trust me." The Pharaoh's eyes widened but she nodded and allowed the attack to go through.
The Cat Dancer was slammed backwards into the railing, flipped over it and landed on its feet, rather than being destroyed as Anzu's life points dropped by 1550.
"My Cat Dancer can't be destroyed by battle." Anzu cut off the questions before they could be asked, "Allowing me to do this! Cat Dancer! Attack Gate Guardian!"
Another 1550 points were ripped away from Anzu, dropping her to 200, as her dancer's attack backfired, but with the declared attack, both Labyrinth Brothers lost another 100 life points.
The walkway under Mei crumbled into dust as his life points hit 0 and he fell, his side of the field vanishing into the graveyard, taking Gate Guardian with it. Anzu could not watch, but the Pharaoh did, swallowing hard as she and Kyu watched him vanish into the soul devouring flames.
"Now I'm trusting you." Anzu looked at Meisa, who nodded, pride radiating from her at Anzu's success.
"I've got this."
"No, you don't!" Kyu pushed past his stunned shock and horror to snarl at the girls, "Monster Reborn brings back the Gate Guardian, who will send you into the flames! Like you sent my brother!"
The beast slammed its feet into the ground again and again, making the railings shake and crumple, as it loosed its fury upon its foes.
"Mirror Force!" Meisa wouldn't allow him to harm a hair on Anzu's head and her trap card reflected the incoming attack back at the beast, destroying it and leaving Kyu wide open.
"No… no!" Kyu took a step back, terrified.
"I'm sorry, but this duel is over." The Pharaoh apologised, "I tribute my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian for my Summoned Skull!"
The skeletal demon arrived with a snarl and didn't even need to be told to attack before it was firing a bolt of lightning at Kyu, whose life points couldn't survive it.
When his life points hit zero, the walkway started to disintegrate under him, just as it had his brother, but he lunged forward and narrowly avoided falling.
It did not save him.
The Pharaoh sensed the moment that Ishizu seized control, the Shadows surging as Kyu's body went stiff and moved like a marionette.
"Well done, Pharaoh." Ishizu's voice was layered over Kyu's as she stepped backwards, taking her doll back towards the edge and the flames below, the soul within her puppet struggling and panicking, giving her a perfect meal. "You pass this lesson."
"Where's Katsuya?!" The Pharaoh snapped back, not taking her bullshit.
All it earned her was a vindictive laugh and a poem.
"Your lesson plan is almost done,
The day you have nearly won.
But to save your sister, you'll face a shock,
Your exam awaits you at the dock."
With that, she forced the body she was controlling backwards and it fell into the flames. As Kyu vanished into the darkness below, there was a ping that echoed throughout the room. The Pharaoh's eyes widened as the walkway beneath their feet shifted and tilted and she shoved Anzu hard enough to get her back on solid ground, but couldn't get there herself before the walkway fell.
The cry she let out was cut off as a hand wrapped around her arm, arresting her fall, saving her life and soul as the flames below slowly vanished, revealing the solid concrete and broken, twisted metal far below.
"Give me your other arm, Mutou." At Kaiba's hiss, her head snapped up, surprise and relief hitting her when she saw the one who'd helped her was Kaiba, meaning he'd survived the triple duel outside. She reached for him and Anzu grabbed her flailing arm, allowing them both to pull her to safety.
"Thanks, both of you."
"Don't thank me." Kaiba huffed, his eyes narrowing, "Just finish your damn Shadow Game so I can crush you properly, when the crowds can see it, on Hekigan."
"You can try." The Pharaoh shot back, though her heart wasn't really in it. Ishizu's words had triggered a fear in both her mind and the mind of her sister.
They'd been promised they would see Katsuya after this lesson and now they were about to face a 'shock'.
'Katsu's the exam.' Imoto's voice trembled. 'Isn't he?'
The Pharaoh couldn't deny it.
