Mokuba wasn't pleased.
He had too much to do for the tournament's finals to be kept waiting for the V. to arrive. He tapped his foot against the floor as he steadily lost his patience.
His brother, thankfully, was already in his waiting room, getting fitted for a lapel microphone that would share his words with the twenty-thousand souls filling the stadium seats. So, Mokuba didn't have to worry about him being late to his match.
That didn't mean Mokuba didn't have somewhere to be and by the time Pegasus J. Crawford and his sons arrived on the scene, the younger of the Kaiba brothers was about ready to start yelling.
But he didn't, because that wouldn't be professional, and as Head of Kaiba Corp Public Relations and Marketing, he had no choice but to put on his customer service smile and step forward.
The four armed guards in the corners of the room helped his nerves, however. There was no way that Crawford could kidnap him again without magic and with guns ready to end him at any moment.
"Crawford, Tenma, Tenma, Depre, Merced." Mokuba listed them all off, with an incline of his head. "Welcome to Hekigan and V.I.P. booth three."
"Three? What's the matter, couldn't get the first two ready in time?"
Yakko's dismissive tone was enough to set Mokuba on edge, but he tried to hide it behind a smile as he shook his head.
"No, Kaiba Corp gave the top two Japanese schools in the National Duel Monsters tournaments a free week here on the island and tickets for V.I.P. seating in the stadium. Domino High's Senshi and their parents and guardians are in box one, while Machida Senior High's Samurai and guests, are in box two."
Giving the two teams the two best boxes had been a deliberate jab at Crawford. A reminder that while Seto needed him enough to give him V.I.P. status and accommodation, it was the players who mattered more. After all, without the players, the game would cease to make money and collapse.
Something Crawford had forgotten when he'd run Duelist Kingdom into the ground.
And the understanding on the faces of both Crawford and Gekko confirmed that they understood that, even as Yakko looked mulish, Depre unamused and Merced like he wanted to leave.
"Which seats are ours?" Pegasus asked, without rising to the verbal snipe, looking around at the buffet which had been laid out, the bar, where a bartender was already waiting for them to place their orders, and the seating, which was angled to give the best view of the events that would soon be taking place in the arena far below.
"One through five belongs to you and your sons. Twenty-three is for your bodyguard." Mokuba gestured to one of the seats near the back, closest to the door. "That's where everyone's guards are going to be sat. Unless you'd prefer Crockett stands."
"He'll be fine there. Will you be joining us for the matches?"
"No, I have Handler duties to do once I've gotten you all settled." Mokuba shook his head as the next V. started through the door. "Please, move on through. The bartender knows exactly how you like your white wine spritzers."
"I should hope so."
With that grumble, Crawford moved in, followed by several of the investors who'd joined the Board of Directors when the Big Five had been ousted. All of whom seemed pleased with what they'd seen so far.
Thankfully.
Including the last one.
Mokuba wasn't sure why Azaes Dartz Vasillikos unnerved him. It could've been the yellow and green eyes that stared at him. Eyes that seemed to know everything before Mokuba could even say it.
It could've been the aura around the man that said that the two guards that'd come with him, a huge brute of blonde male and a lither, clearly athletic but steely eyed, red haired man, were completely unneeded. Vasillikos could put down anyone who tried to antagonize him without a single crease put into his suit.
Or it could've been the way his brother tensed up any time Vasillikos was around. The way Seto was on strictly professional terms with Paradius Inc., to the point where he didn't allow Mokuba to handle any of the business dealings with the finance company.
And if Mokuba had needed confirmation that Seto still wasn't feeling alright after last night's collapse, the fact he'd been left alone to deal with the man, except having Isono as backup, spoke volumes.
"Kaiba."
Vasillikos nodded to him. The woman on his arm didn't even bother to do that. The rudeness grated on Mokuba's already frayed nerves, but he held his first response down and instead he nodded back.
"Vasillikos, Wong." He politely greeted them, noting the green glowing gem in the mouth of the serpent ring Vivian Wong wore and the creases in Wong's yellow cheongsam that said she hadn't had a chance to sort herself out after their flight.
"Your seats are seven and eight. Your bodyguards are in twenty-four through twenty-six… but you appear to be missing one."
"Valon will be up later, he's taking care of a business matter." Vasillikos replied with a careless shrug. "I assume there won't be an issue in getting him up here?"
"Not at all."
Mokuba shook his head, making a mental note to check the security cameras and check that the wandering guard wasn't doing anything to sabotage the park before its launch in a few hours' time.
"You've already been given your room keys?"
When Vasillikos confirmed it, Mokuba made his exit as fast as possible and headed for the tech booth, cussing quietly about the time wasted as he went.
It was nearly eleven o'clock and soon his brother would be taking the field.
He needed to get the final checks done with the technicians to make sure this went as perfectly as possible.
Because he would be damned if he was going to let their dream go crashing to the ground, the way so many other things had over the years.
Hekigan's launch was going to be perfect, or his name wasn't Kaiba Mokuba.
Within the side rooms that'd been set up for the Semi-finalists, Mai took a deep breath as she was fitted with a lapel microphone. With her duel moved up, she had only minutes before she was due to face the challenge of a lifetime, and now she was alone, except for the technician, and she could admit she was nervous.
Watching the live feed of the Quarter Final duel had given her a good view of how events had unfolded, even if the audio feed had apparently failed just before the duel could start and hadn't come back online until moments ago, when Digital Duelist had started streaming their entrance into the stadium. She was confident that she had a way to counter the God Monster that would soon be screeching in her face.
But she couldn't be sure.
And with two people in the hospital and another vanished, she couldn't afford to be wrong.
"All set, Kujaku-san." The technician grinned at her as they backed off. "It'll be turned on the moment your name gets called to enter the stadium, so everyone in the stands can hear you."
"Thanks for the warning." She appreciated it. Knowing that her voice would carry to everyone in the stands, allowed her to watch her words in a way she wouldn't have bothered, if the only people who could hear her were on the dueling field.
It also meant she needed to do something now, rather than later.
"You'll need to follow the blue line in about ten minutes." The technician informed her as he gathered up his equipment, "Good luck."
"Thanks."
As the technician stepped into Yugi's room, Mai carried on down the hall to room one, where Hanaq was just scaring her technician out of the room. The Amazoness Duelist didn't hesitate to enter the room, shove the poor unfortunate soul who'd been assigned to Hanaq out of the room, and slam the door shut behind them.
"Come to surrender, Kujaku?" Hanaq chuckled from where she was sprawled in a chair, "Mutou was supposed to, but she clearly enjoys pain."
"You're going to leave Yugi alone. You're going to leave her alone and undo everything caused by the actions of you and Ishizu. All the hurt and pain and exhaustion you two caused these kids and their pet ghosts."
"And why would I do that?" Hanaq asked, rising to her feet, recognising a threat when she heard one.
"Because if I hand over all the messages on Yugi's phone to the police, you and your brothers won't see the light of day again. Kidnapping, blackmail, death threats? They're not exactly legal. And all the evidence is right there."
"I could just kill you here and now."
"You could, but there would still be the evidence, which Yugi shared with me earlier before the technicians arrived. I put it in a timed digital dropbox. If I'm not around to stop it tomorrow, it will get forwarded to the police. Plus, Battle City rules mean you can't attack a finalist. The Shadows would have your ass in a heartbeat."
"You know the Shadows better than I gave you credit for, Kujaku." Hanaq allowed with a nod. "And you're not wrong. I don't want my brothers to suffer, I never have. Everything I've done, everything I'm about to do, is for them. So, how about a wager?"
"I'm listening."
"If you win our Shadow Game. I'll undo everything that my sister and I did to the children and their ghosts." Hanaq promised, "They'll be healed of anything caused by us. But if you lose, your knowledge, your life and your soul belong to me. I'll be able to stop the data transfer and you'll become fuel for the raging fires of Ra. You'll become part of the inferno that erases the Pharaoh from this world!"
"You realise that once we step into the arena, we can't mention magic, or anything about the ancient past, right? Or a stadium full of people will learn about magic."
"I can still run a Shadow Game." Hanaq smirked. "And find out if you can handle feeling the pain of your monsters long enough to win. Of course, if you're too scared to face my magic, I'll consider it a forfeit."
"I'll never be scared of you."
"Then do we have a deal?" Hanaq offered her hand.
"Deal."
As Mai shook it, she was just glad her bluff had worked. There was no dropbox and Yugi had no idea about what Mai was up to. She definitely hadn't shared the evidence. Still, if Mai won, Hanaq would never have to know.
"You realise, Kujaku, that you're about to go through more pain than you've ever faced in your entire life?" Hanaq asked as she let go and Mai backed up.
"You've clearly never met Jean-Claude Magnum. Listening to him is enough to cause a migraine that lasts for weeks." Mai brushed it off, trying not to think about what was to come, so it couldn't affect her nerves.
"Thankfully not." Hanaq snickered as she headed for the door. "And you won't see him aga..."
"Kujaku Mai and Ishtar Ishizu to your places, please. Kujaku and Ishtar to your places."
The Tanoy system calling them to their entrances cut off Hanaq's threat.
"Good luck." The good wishes were sarcastic as Hanaq headed down the red line in the corridor and Mai flipped her the bird before turning for her own corridor.
"Mai?"
The Amazoness Duelist paused and turned to look at the speaker, only to find a worried looking Yugi awaiting her.
"I'll be fine, Mutou. Have some faith."
"I know... I just... It's you and me in the finals. Right?"
"Right." Mai smirked, with more confidence than she felt. "You'd better be there. I've waited long enough."
"I will." Yugi promised, with a worried smile. "Good luck."
The honest hope for her helped with the nerves and made her glad she'd spent time this morning adjusting her deck to cope with the God she was about to face.
"You too."
As the announcements started in the stadium, Azra darted between the rides in Tenku no Seiki, trying to reach the stadium before the matches started, mentally cursing the whole way.
She'd wanted to be in the finals with the Pharaoh, in case things went wrong, but it hadn't been possible. Not only because she wasn't a particularly good duelist, but because she hadn't been able to even get into the tournament. There had just been too many applicants for too few places.
Not that things could go much more wrong than the Shadows nearly breaking loose.
Azra had nearly had a heart attack when, around sunset yesterday, the world had nearly ended. The steady, slow cracking of the magic keeping the Shadows trapped outside of this dimension, had been a sign that her children had done the unthinkable and killed the vessel that bore the Pharaoh's will.
Somehow, miraculously, the world's destruction had been averted, but now Azra couldn't trust that the woman she had raised wouldn't finish the job.
Just to make it worse, she couldn't do anything about it if Ishizu tried. She hadn't managed to catch the other Item Holder as she entered the stadium. The island security had prevented that when they'd come to her hotel and harassed her regarding what she knew about the Ishtars. And she didn't have a backstage pass, so she couldn't enter the back areas to catch her before the duels began.
Which meant all she could do was get to the stadium and watch.
But still she had to be there. She had to see the end of her tribe, one way or the other. She had to see what would become of the children she'd stepped in to raise, after their mother had died and their father had ignored their existence.
Which was why she was highly unamused when a young man with spikey brown hair kept out of his face by the biker goggles that rested on the top of his head, stepped into her path. His blue eyes dancing in their amusement as she tried to step around him, only for him to catch her arm easily and wheel her around so she had to face him.
"Sorry, but you're going nowhere."
His accent was thick, either English or Australian, she wasn't sure, but that wasn't the worst of her problems. What was more concerning was the glowing green gem that rested in a plain silver or steel band upon his finger that pulsed with power.
"I have no quarrel with you." Azra tried to yank her arm out of his grip, only to find that for all his apparent youth and slight frame, he had a vice-like grasp on her. "Let me leave, before I need to make you step aside."
"You can try, but you're not the only one with magic."
The young man released her, allowing her to take a step back, away from him as he shuffled his deck, drew and smirked.
"And I want to get this over before I miss all the good stuff. So, you and I are going to play a game."
As he held up a Duel Monster's card she'd never seen before, Azra's eyes narrowed as the ring's glow brightened and she felt the world shift sideways. A green magical seal spread out from beneath the young man's feet, one with a six-pointed star in the middle and runes from a language far, far older than the hieroglyphics of Egypt encircling it.
"And when you lose? Your soul will join our little collection."
Without hesitation, Azra's hand rose to the golden treasure around her neck. The Millennium Necklace's power would protect her from this strange power and help her take him down.
Except, it wouldn't work.
Any attempt to activate its powers sputtered out, like a candle whose wick had been pinched, cutting the flame the moment it started.
"What the…?" Panic flared through Azra as she realized she had no counter to the sheer power that was radiating off her opponent, the same seal as beneath them, resting upon the young man's brow.
"The boss said that might happen." He chuckled as he waved a hand. "Your trinkets were created long after our magic came into being, so it can't stand up. It just gets washed away."
Azra stared at him as a glowing board appeared before her, shimmering in the same design as a Duel Monsters' competitive mat.
She hadn't seen this coming.
She hadn't seen this magic overwhelming hers and leaving her with no choice but to fight for her soul.
She had no clue who this man was or what he wanted.
But she could find out.
"Who are you and what do you want from me?"
"The name's Valon." The young man nodded politely, "And it's less what I want from you, and more what I need to stop you doing. See, my friends and I can't have the Thief and the Pharaoh teaming up against us, or leaving, and if we let you talk to them, you'll give them a reason to do that. So, you gotta go. A powerful magic user, like yourself, will make a great meal for our Leviathan."
Azra scowled. Somehow it didn't surprise her that this was about ensuring the Pharaoh couldn't do what she needed to, but Azra had no plans to allow her soul to be taken and devoured. So, she drew her deck from a pocket and shuffled it.
"You realise that stopping me from talking to them will have them hunting you?" Azra demanded as she laid her deck upon the field.
"Only if they know who attacked you. Even if they find your soulless body, I've got plenty of cover with that little psycho with the Rod running around." Valon countered as they drew an opening hand, "They'll never know it was me, or that they shouldn't be fighting each other. They should be fighting us instead."
Anger trickled through Azra's mind and made her body tremble. This 'Valon' wanted to cause chaos for the Pharaoh. Wanted to ensure the three-thousand-year war continued to further his own goals.
Wanted to strip the freedom that Azra had sought, that she'd earned through the sacrifices that she'd made, away from her by ripping her soul out and sealing it away.
"When I win here, I'll be sure to tell them. Make your move."
"With pleasure."