TW: Slurs against LGBTQ
Joey frowned as he looked about the city. "Hey!" he called out. "Anyone here?"
He heard nothing.
Saw nothing.
Ever since Aria and Nezbit had disappeared Joey had been utterly alone. No one around to talk to. To listen to. Nothing.
"Man… this is just freaky," he muttered to himself as he looked about. "I don't even hear anything. No cars, no trucks, no people!" He continued to walk along the sidewalk, twisting his head in hopes that maybe, just maybe, he had missed all the people and if her twisted his head quick enough he would spot them. "Oh man!" he said, trying to sound like he truly didn't know that there were people hiding somewhere near by. "Looks like I'm completely by myself! Sure would be startlin' if some villain popped out now and gave some big speech about how I doomed I was!"
He looked about as subtly as he could. No one popped out, pointing and laughing at him. No one put their hands on their hips and cackled at how he was destined to fail.
"Okay then… I really don't hope that none of my friends are hidin' waitin' ta throw me a surprise party?" He let out a huff even as he shrugged. "Sorry, had ta at least try." He stuck his hands in his pockets and began to amble along the street, lips pressed together in thought. 'Could Noah have been tellin' me the truth? Did he really get rid of that creep Nezbit? He was workin' with Noah… called him 'Master'. Ya don't do that unless you're partners.' He paused. 'Or it's a sex thing.' His face screwed up at that. 'Ugh, that sounds like a joke Ed would make…'
And that made Joey feel all the more nervous.
'I ain't see Ed or Yug or anyone. Normally, no matter what kind of trouble I get inta, my friends are right there, ready to step up and help me out. But I ain't see anyone. Does that me they're somewhere else in dis freaky world, duelin' against the rest of the Big 5? Or did Noah have somethin' else planned for them?'
Joey paused, looking at the road, before slowly extending his foot.
No bus or truck or car came like before.
He walked further into the street and nothing happened. There were no sounds of honking horns or revving engines or anything of the like. Just silence.
He was utterly alone.
"Man, I think I preferred it when Nezbit was screwin' with me," he muttered. He took a step only to start when he heard it echo all around him. It reminded him of one time when he'd gotten detention and fallen asleep and the teacher, so annoyed, had just left. Joey had awoken to find the entire school empty, a note on the chalkboard telling him he STILL had detention because that one hadn't counted. The walk to the front door had been at first rather calm, with him just grumbling under his breath at the teacher forcing him to do yet ANOTHER detention. But as he had continued on, with only his footfalls ringing through the halls, he had slowly felt his soul fill with such dread that by the end he had raced not just out of the doors but down the street, a scream nearly ripping from his lips until he'd burst into a convenience store and giving the clerk a fright. And then truly weirded the poor guy out by crying out in relief to see another person.
"What… what the?" Joey got out, taking another step only to hear the echo again. Louder. Longer.
He swallowed.
"Hello?" he called out, disturbed that not even his voice wasn't echoing… just his footfalls. "Anyone?"
The blond threw his head back.
"ANYONE?!"
~MC~MC~M C~
Koyo frowned, swearing he had heard something.
'Of course I hear a lot of things,' he thought to himself. 'The cars driving. People talking. Even the groan of buildings and the wind blowing.' He looked about the stale and stationary city he was in. Despite all he was hearing he didn't see anything. 'Just audio to mess with me.' He looked up at the sky, figuring that was how Noah would view him because, despite being in the Virtual world for a long time he most likely still had a physics-based view on the world and thus would believe that to see everything he must be either far away or high up, rather than letting the data swirl into his mind, and said, "I don't mean to give you advice on how to run things but if you really want to throw people off you'd do more than just the phantom sounds."
He honestly wasn't surprised when Noah's head, and just his head, suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Oh?" the boy said, a bemused little smirk forming on his lips. "And what would you do?"
"The wrong sounds," Koyo stated. "Jungle noises suddenly."
That actually wasn't what he would do. If Koyo were in Noah's position he would begin messing with the person's senses in far more subtle ways. Have the sounds of their footsteps or their breathing be just a quarter of a second off. Have it that as they were speaking their words came out a moment after their lips moved, so it felt like they were stuck in one of those bad dub movies. Low frequency sounds to irritate or have something be said that was so quiet that one barely could hear it… but was also so innocent that when they did it drove them insane that they had wasted so much time chasing after someone just saying "hamburgers" over and over again.
"Jungle noises?" Noah asked, a frown forming on his lips. "Like… lions roaring? Things like that?"
"Well, if you want to be obvious. But making things not match with the eyes would really mess with a person."
"Not you though?"
Koyo found it was his turn to smirk. "Well, that trick won't work, since I'll be expecting it."
He had to be careful how he worded things. He knew that if he was too brash and bold then Noah would take that has a challenge. He wanted to play with the kid, to learn more about how he thought so he could figure out just how he functioned.
'This is no different than a duel,' Koyo thought to himself. 'Half of winning a duel is understanding who your opponent is and how they will react to your moves. Are they cautious? Bombastic? Vain? Timid? After a devastating blow do they shrink back, wounded and hurt and needing time to heal? Or are they likely to snap and bite, wanting revenge? Or will they be blinded by rage? Stubborn and refuse to course correct?' He watched Noah as he considered his challenge. 'How Noah handles me here will tell me what he is like and that will help me figure out exactly how to get out of this mess and find the others.'
Noah finally spoke. "And I suppose you think I should listen to you? And your advice… not for free, I guess. You want something… perhaps your body and mind to remain one?"
'Mistrust hidden as mockery and the automatic assumption that all people have an agenda,' Koyo thought to himself. He had expected that but it also made him very sad.
His sister had once stated that Koyo was an old soul trapped in a young body. That his great intelligence forced him to grow up far too quickly. Where other children just accepted that a classmate had a bruise because they had 'been clumsy' Koyo understood that the bruise was in the shape of a hand and that the boy's mother hadn't dropped him off like she normally did and instead it had been his grandfather… a grandfather who had suspiciously red eyes as he looked at his grandson for a touch longer than might be considered normal. He noticed things. He saw things. And it meant that he couldn't just accept things at face value.
Looking at Noah he couldn't help but shut his eyes.
"What is this?" Noah asked. "What is this look?"
"Nothing," Koyo said. "Just… I feel sorry for you."
"Sorry for me?" Noah asked with a half sneer. "And why would you feel sorry for me? I have full control in here… and very soon I will be claiming a brand new body while you are left to rot in this false world."
"And that's why I feel sorry for you," Koyo stated. "You shouldn't have learned how to have control in this world. You shouldn't have been left with only old men who care only about their stock options. You should have had a chance to grow up… to have friends and go to school and make mistakes. You should have been allowed to live."
"And I will when I take your body," Noah replied.
But Koyo merely shook his head. "No… no you really won't. Because you will have stolen it from someone else and that will leave a mark on you. Maybe you'll ignore it. Do all you can not to think about it. But… it will be there every time you look in the mirror and don't see your face." He took a step forward and Noah's head backed away from him. "Have you thought about that? How you will have to stare at my face or Tristan's face or maybe even Tea or Mai's face and know it isn't your own? Catch a reflection and wonder, "Who is that?"."
"I'll get used to it."
"Maybe," Koyo said. "But that will mean you either have to hide who you really are… or kill yourself."
"Kill myself?"
"Spiritually," Koyo corrected. "Change everything about yourself to fit into the new person you are until Noah might as well not exist." He sighed. "I wish there was a way to help you. Maybe there is… perhaps there is someone who is braindead and if we… hmmm, the brain would still need to be able to function…" He narrowed his eyes and puzzled over that problem. 'Perhaps it would be seen as evil but find someone who had committed a murder… a school shooter or the like… and swap Noah's brain with their's. Yes, he has captured us but he hasn't killed anyone yet so-'
Noah though cut off his thoughts. "I know what you are trying to do."
"You do?" Koyo asked.
"Trying to form a bond with me in hopes that I will spare you. A foolish gesture… I only respect those that have true strength and trying to play up to me in order to avoid your defeat just proves that you are wasting your life!"
Koyo frowned at that. 'How sad he thinks basic empathy is a weakness.'
"Edwin Chaos tried that and he is now paying the price," Noah continued on and before Koyo could find out just what he had done to Edwin the boy's floating head suddenly rushed away from him. "And now I think it is time that you stop trying to avoid your fate!"
There was a flash of light… and an old squat man suddenly appeared before Koyo.
"So," Koyo said, folding his arms over his chest, "which member of the Big 5 are you?"
But the man didn't look at him. Instead he twisted around and stared at Noah's floating head, clearly confused to suddenly find himself in a completely different place. That told Koyo a lot when it came to Noah and how much power he had in the Virtual World and how he handled those that were supposed to be his allies. 'Didn't bother to give him any warning. Just summoned him here like he was a Duel Monster card. And not even with respect.' That was… very troubling.
Once more Koyo felt very old.
"Master Noah, what is going on?" the old man asked and while he tried to puff up his words with bravado Koyo could still hear the fear in his tone. He didn't like that he wasn't in control, Koyo could tell that at once. Didn't enjoy that he was being bossed around by a child who, from his figuring, he was five times older than. Perhaps even six. But he understood his place in the world… he would push but only so far because he understood that there was a barrier and that if he tried to move beyond it all he would receive was pain. It reminded Koyo of a dog Mr. Owatta had, Barkley. There was an invisible fence and Barkley would run right at it in a full charge when he saw someone… only to stop at the very last moment, nose barely grazing where the lawn ended. He knew that he couldn't go any farther than that. The same for the Big 5 member.
'I wonder just what Noah did to finally get that message across,' Koyo thought to himself.
"Hello Gangsley," Noah said and even though the old man was looking just below Noah's neck, clearly wishing he'd sprout a body, the head refused to give him any comfort by doing that. Koyo got the sense that Noah liked having him feel awkward. "This one I think will do rather well, don't you think?"
Gangsley looked at Koyo and scowled.
"I was hoping for the girl. Taya I believe was her name."
"Tea," Noah corrected at once though Koyo wasn't a hundred percent sure WHAT he was correcting. Just that he was correcting it. "And why are you refusing, Gangsley? I've saved you the time in hunting down one of our prey."
'So Noah knows where we are but not always,' he thought. 'Or maybe he knows all the time but doesn't let the Big 5 know? Yes… that seems more like his style, I think.'
Noah continued. "That is rather rude of you to dismiss all the work I did to help you Gangsley. Especially when I brought you a strapping young lad."
"I've been a strapping young lad already," Gangsley stated, glancing at Koyo before utterly dismissing him from his mind. He wasn't offended; honestly he was surprised the man had waited that long to try judging him before dismissing him as not being important. He'd had enough professors at college dismiss him because he hadn't even gone through puberty yet so they assumed he was just a bright child that was coddled. "I want a challenge. Women get by differently than men and I have a few ideas on what I can do to build up my empire without the benefit of being male." He frowned at that. "A minority-"
"We discussed this already," Noah snapped and Gangsley bowed his head at once. "You get what I bring you unless you want to wait for the perfect body to just stumble into the Virtual World. I have brought you this one and he will be the body you attempt to take over."
"Of course, Master Noah." And while Gangsley tried to make his tone respectful to Koyo it came off as stilted and forced. The Big 5 respected him because of his power but it was a weak respect. Could be shaken and shattered in an instant. He wondered if Noah realized just how fragile his control was.
"Then I will leave you two to your duel. I would suggest you do better than Nezbit… he already failed me."
Gangsley nodded and Koyo hid his smirk; someone had managed to defeat a member of the Big 5. That was a relief to be sure.
Noah was gone in an instant, disappearing without even a bit of flash or flare. That left just Gangsley and Koyo…
…and then there was a distortion and they weren't alone again.
"I hope you don't mind," Gangsley said and Koyo mentally rolled his eyes had how smug and sure of himself the man sounded; the moment his master was gone it seemed the dog would bite and snarl, "but I am an old man who never had time for such childish games. But I do have someone that will duel for me." He gestured at the figure that had appeared. "This is Nate… new to KaibaCorp, I've been informed, but then again most of the Virtual Replicas we are using are new… at least to us!" He chuckled at that but Koyo didn't get the joke at all. "He will be dueling for me."
"G'day," the man, Nate, said.
'Australian but… no, that's wrong.' Koyo frowned, studying the man before him. 'He's Australian but that isn't his normal accent. Its too thick and his mouth clearly isn't used to saying words like that. He said this was a Replica… the real Nate must have a light accent.' He stared at the replica, coming to terms with what his brain was screaming at him. He didn't want to confirm it but… "Did he agree to this?"
"The Replica will do as I command," Gangsley stated.
"Not him. The real person you have based this replica on."
That made Gangsley laugh. "Oh, I doubt it very much. All KaibaCorp employees have to get the brain scans but they didn't realize what Nezbit was up to…" He shrugged. "Johnson drew up the employee contract that made it official and I organized them all coming in the first time for the scan. Very orderly… just as I like it." He looked at the Replica. "And I prefer this to regular employees. I really must see if there is a way to get all our employees to be this way."
'This is wrong,' Koyo thought to himself darkly. 'This is very, very wrong.' Still, instead of saying those words Koyo said, "Well then, I suppose if he is your champion…"
"He is. Now then, let us get this duel over with. I look forward to taking your body, boy. Its been a long time since I've been able to wake up without my joints aching. I look forward to being young again, the world filled with so many possibilities!" He laughed at that, clearly already thinking of all he would do with Koyo's body. "I will have to decide how much to hobble myself… it wouldn't be much of a challenge if I simply used my brains to become an emperor of business. Nothing physical… don't want to be maimed. Hmmm… I suppose I could claim I was a faggot-"
Koyo's brain came to a halt.
"-I've never been interested in sex… I was willing to try as a female, to see how hard it would be to use one of the teens' nethers to get what I want… but claiming to be some fag would make things difficult on me."
'Destroy him,' Koyo's mind screamed. 'Destroy him completely and utterly.'
"That would be a wonderful way to cripple myself. Make things harder. The challenge-"
"Excuse me," Koyo said, his smile sharp and flinty. "But I think you're getting slightly ahead of yourself."
"Yes yes, I haven't claimed your body yet. But I assure you that is only a formality-"
"That isn't what I'm talking about," Koyo stated, once more cutting him off. "I mean that I haven't agreed to the duel."
"You have no choice," Gangsley stated smugly, Nate just standing there watching him. Honestly that was rather offputting, the way the man just stood there like a puppet waiting for someone to begin tugging on his strings. "You will duel."
"Actually I do have a choice. I don't have to duel you."
"Then you will be trapped here forever, boy," Gangsley warned him darkly.
Koyo though merely walked forward until he was standing right in front of the old man. He looked down his nose at the bigoted bastard and whispered, "And so will you."
"I-"
"You pledged to defeat me, Gangsley," Koyo taunted. "You swore to your Master. What would he say if you returned to him, pockets empty and cap in hand, having to admit that you couldn't even reach an agreement with a mere teenager to engage in a duel? I doubt he would be happy with that. Not happy in the slightest."
Gangsley grit his teeth together at that. "What do you want?"
"Simply for us to handle this properly," Koyo said. He felt a thrill rolling through his spine and he wondered if this was how Edwin felt when he began to play his tricks against his enemies. He certainly could believe it and understand why Edwin was such a snarky bastard; it was a heady drug, to be able to lead someone about by the nose. "In every tournament I've been a part of there was an entry form that explained exactly what was going to happen. What I needed to do to win and the prizes I would receive… and what would happen if I failed. I don't think it would cost you much to draw something like that up."
The old man considered him for a long moment. "I'd have to contact Johnson-"
"Come on now… I thought you were an Emperor of Business!" Koyo chuckled at the title, making his derision of it clear. "Are you telling me that you don't know how to write up a contract?" That made Gangsley glower at him. "Write up the contract. When my name is on it… we duel."
"…fine," Gangsley finally said only for Koyo to hold up his hand again.
"And," he continued, "while you do that… I want a copy of the rules."
"The… what?"
"I want a copy of the rules," Koyo stated. "I want to see exactly what I can and can't do in this duel. I want to know exactly what is allowed and isn't." He smirked again. "or did you expect me to duel blind?"
Once more Gangsley growled at him before finally waving his hand and causing a large book to appear.
Koyo sat down on the sidewalk and began to leaf through the rule book.
~MC~MC~MC~
"Mr. Pegasus, where are we going?" Serenity asked as the two of them ran out of the theater, the laughter of the toons still filling their ears.
"Somewhere safe," Maxamillion said. 'Of course I have no idea where that actually is,' he thought to himself bitterly as he kept a hold of Serenity's hand. 'We're strangers in a strange land… and the rules are nothing like what I know them to be.'
People wondered why Maxamillion didn't travel anymore. After all in his youth he had traveled quite a bit. Even before he had lost Cecelia… in fact the two of them had traveled quite a bit after their marriage. Then it had been because she wanted to see the entire world before she passed away, though Maxamillion had been stubborn and refused to acknowledge that. The follies of youth, believing that death was nothing to fear, that it would never come for them. Which was madness… not only did death come apparently it dueled!
But he and Cecelia had traveled the world. And after she had passed he had begun traveling again, though it hadn't been for pleasure but in the hopes of finding some way to bring her back. The many places of spiritual importance, where it was said that the barriers between life and death were the weakest had been his places of choice. Chinese shrines where it was said that ghosts could commune with the living. The supposed entrance to Hades. Sacrificial Alters that had been bathed in blood. And, of course, Egypt.
But he had also come to realize as he had gotten older that while there was much fun to be had in travel… it wasn't fun to be in constant danger because he didn't understand the lay of the land. He had been chased out of more villages and towns than he could count because he had made honest mistakes about what was culturally accepted. To think he knew how to do even the most simple of things, like eat or walk or sleep, only to discover he did not. Maxamillion wasn't an old man… but he certainly wasn't a young one. He was far more comfortable in places where he understood the rules.
Or, even better, where he controlled them.
'But this world though,' he thought as he pulled Serenity along, thankful that she wasn't fighting him but wishing she would run a bit faster. She had long legs, how did she not know how to use them!? 'This world has rules that don't make any sense. Noah can change anything he wants in an instant. Make up be down, right be left. Things that shouldn't harm us can become deadly. He watches us-'
That made Maxamillion slow.
"Mr. Pegasus?"
"He's watching us," he said quietly.
Maxamillion… stopped.
"Mr. Pegasus?" Serenity said, staring at him in worry.
But Maxamillion wasn't worried. Instead he merely smiled at the young woman. 'I haven 't been behaving like myself,' he thought as he looked about. 'I've been running about, fearful and scared and not THINKING. Letting Noah control the game and force me to bobble about from one mistake to the next. But… that isn't how things are going to be anymore. I might not know the rules to this game but that doesn't mean I have to play by them. I won't dance to his merry tune.'
He raised his hands up in surrender.
"Mr. Pegasus…" Serenity said, startled when he let go over her hand. But he merely looked down at her and, after a moment, the dear girl mimicked him. "What the fuck is going on?" Serenity hissed.
He was a touch startled that she had cursed but didn't show it. Probably an Edwin thing… Eddy-Boy cursed like a one-eyed construction worker who had metal in his thumbs and a hammer made of magnets. So instead he stated, "Noah is watching us." He didn't bother to raise his voice. "He sees all and hears all. There is literally no where we can run where he won't catch us." He tilted his head and smirked. "And I have a feeling that he doesn't want to risk letting us get hurt."
"Oh?" Noah's voice said, filling the air. "And why is that?"
"Because if I die then my shares in Industrial Illusions and KaibaCorp go to my four heirs: Yako, Gekko, Depre, and Richie. I should also mention that I included a clause that if I do not reach out to a 3rd party every 3 weeks to prove I am alive and well then the shares and my fortune all automatically move to a trust to begin being divided up by my boys. Kaiba and I have controlling interest in our companies and Edwin has minority control… I suppose, if you are able to beat them, then you will be able to steamroll over my heirs… but they won't make it easily. Especially because they know I was on this blimp and will blame Kaiba for my disappearance.
"All your little plans for KaibaCorp? They will suddenly be muddled every single day by my boys. They are vicious. When I was arrested Yako came up with an entire revenge plot against Yugi and Seto… involved kidnapping, a tower, and oddly enough a vampire, if you can believe it." He gave a helpless shrug. "Boys will be boys, after all. But the point remains that he will KNOW that I disappeared on the KaibaCorp blimp and he will blame the Kaiba family… and I imagine that while the Big 5 will be going after Yugi and his friends you will be seeking to take Kaiba-Boy's body. Meaning YOU will be the target."
"I can defeat your brats easily enough," Noah stated.
But Maximillion could hear the concern in his voice. The boy was trying to hide it but it was there. He wasn't for sure if he actually could.
So Maximillion began to poke at that weakness, trying to rip open the wound.
"Not easily… and not quickly. After all, you will be trying to deal with an entire world you don't understand, Noah. One that has advanced greatly since you disappeared." He kept his arms up even as he looked about the sky, making sure that Noah realized that while he might try and act like he was in control it was now Maximillion Pegasus who controlled the game. Just as it should be. "And you should use yourself as the perfect example of how someone can suddenly flip things on their head quite quickly enough. My boys are smart… and when working together they can destroy you. And if not destroy you then they can, at the very least, make your life hell for decades.
"You've been waiting a long time for your revenge, haven't you? Do you really want to achieve it only to find yourself trapped in another war?" He chuckled. "No… no, I don't think so. Which is why I know that you aren't going to actually hurt me. You need me to duel one of your little lackies, so that I might have my body taken and pave the way for your total victory."
Noah quickly blurted out, "But we don't need the girl. We need only 6 bodies and we brought double that into the Virtual World."
"I won't duel you if she is harmed," Maximillion warned. "And you won't force her into a duel either… she has no training. It wouldn't be honorable."
"And you think I am honorable?"
"I think even your father, at his most disgusting, would never attempt to score a cheap victory over a defenseless child."
It was the lowest of low blows.
Maximillion SAVORED the silence that came from Noah considering what he had just said. Chewing it over. Stewing it in. And most importantly of all being unable to deny exactly what he had said.
"I also imagine," he continued, "that Leichter has something grand planned for us?"
"What makes you think-"
Maximillion cut him off. He was finding that if he kept talking, kept acting like he was in control… then Noah, without realizing it, PUT him in control. He just couldn't help himself. 'Control through Force of Will', it was known as and all the great powers of the world had it. Politicians, dictators, warlords, titans of industry, the greatest of the creatives… all knew that you could force someone to bow to you and surrender control if you dominated through passion, intelligence, and raw conviction.
"Oh, it has to be Leichter," Maximillion stated. "Johnson is a buzzard, seeking out the weakest of pray… or what he thinks is the weakest, mind you. Gangsley makes a great show of wanting a new challenge and he's already sparred with me so he wouldn't be interest. Crump has always had an eye for the… fairer sex, and not for use in reproduction. Nezbit likes his tricks and schemes and would have asked to deal with me already. So that leaves your father's so-called best friend, the man that claims to have known him the best: Leichter. Head of the Big 5. He is my opponent… yes?"
Noah was silent for a long moment.
"We'll go willingly to wherever he has decided to have this little duel," Maximillion stated. "And I will defeat him. Then, Noah, perhaps we can have a… chat?"
A limo pulled up on the street beside them.
"Very good," Maximillion said, almost able to hear Noah's teeth grinding as he settled into the limo, Serenity sitting across from him.
~MC~MC~MC~
Marik easily moved through the corridors of the war machine he found himself in, avoiding the weapons that were set up to instantly blast him if he got in their line of sight. It was utterly pathetic how simple it all was.
'This modern world merely takes what I was forced to endure and makes more complex copies of them,' he thought even as he sent a blast of Shadow Realm magic from his Millennium Rod at one of the cameras, shattering it before it could detect him. 'This place is a tomb… I was forced to grow up in true ones however so it holds no power over me. Just as all these guns and lasers are little more than the pale imitations of the traps of my ancestors!'
Though he hated the Tombkeepers and all that their ways had ruined his life that didn't mean he hadn't learned from them. Come to understand how they worked.
And just as importantly… how to avoid them.
'Pathetic,' he thought as he continued on. He had no idea WHAT he was looking for but he knew that he would know when he had found his prize when he saw it. A place like this HAD to have something good in it… and then there was the fact that the Pharaoh and his little friends had disappeared. They had darted off somewhere and that meant they were either being annoying heroes saving the day or they were damsels in need of rescuing. 'And I will rescue them… from the pain that is their very existence!'
Edwin had once accused his weaker, restrained self of not having a plan. That he merely did what he did out of a need for vengeance against the Pharaoh but didn't truly understand WHY he wanted vengeance. He might have accused him of that again now that he was fully himself. It was hard for Marik to remember all the rants the blond fool made… there was so many.
He did remember the ones he made against his sister. He was considering getting a record of all of them and listening to them as he fell asleep. Preferably with lamps made from Edwin and Ishizu's skins sitting on the endtables.
'But he was also right,' Marik thought to himself, hating to admit that the American bastard was right about anything. Still… sometimes one had to accept that their foe had the right of it and that was the case here. 'I don't have a grand plan… not anymore. I don't care about the Puzzle or the powers of the Pharaoh. If the meddlesome brat allowed me to be on my way I might even spar him… no, I don't think I would. Would be too much fun watching him scream. But even if I didn't want to kill him I will need to because he will never accept me doing what I want.'
And that was the thing… Edwin Chaos had been right.
Marik didn't know what he wanted to do.
There were just so many… choices!
'Select a group at random… a family, a class of students, some friends looking for a good time, and kill them off one by one, doing it in ways that made their terror grow so great that by the end they were begging me to just come and finish it. Or perhaps find a single person and seek out making their lives miserable. Pick a random day to do random acts of violence so that eventually it became known as Marik Day and all lived in terror of it; circling it on their calendars and trembling as the hours crept by and it drew closer. Slaughter a bunch of miserable little nobodies in some town and then disappear for decades so they all thought I was just an urban legend… only to return and kill them all the moment they forgot about me.'
So… so many options.
It made him erect just thinking about them all.
The war machine he found himself in offered options as well. Chances and ways to bring about the brutal end of his enemies, his foes, those around him, and complete strangers. He just knew it. Weapons of mass destruction… places like this ALWAYS held them and Marik was itching to get to them.
He slinked through the halls, wondering just where his whims would take him next…
~MC~MC~MC~
Chaosverse Omake
By The Patient One
Castanet Orphanage was a surprisingly mundane building in Shepardsville, Michigan. The sand-colored mansion was known to be a passion project by its wealthy owner, who seemed to have a knack for cherry-picking children from horrible situations and giving them a place where they could grow properly.
The owner himself, Jamal Cass, was largely an amicable and generous man. But a handful of times over the past seven years, some fool gave him an excuse to show that he was not someone to cross. And both of those qualities went double when it came to his kids. Anyone who ever approached the building with an air of forcing things to go their way was disappointed, and usually left far humbler than when they'd entered.
Which was why a certain blonde woman in a yellow jumpsuit carrying one of the finest swords ever forged, marching towards the building with a sense of purpose, was a mark of danger for what few civilians were around to see it.
She opened the doors and climbed the stairs, no man, woman, nor child impeding her path as she went, though she paused despite herself as she passed the nursery on the second floor, anger and grief festering in her heart. Shaking her head firmly, she continued up to the owner's office and suite on the top floor and knocked.
"Come in," came the call from inside.
The woman took a deep breath and then let it out before opening the door.
Deep and dark colors met her eyes, like the night sky. And the man within fit perfectly, clad in white and gold hidden beneath shades of blue, with slicked-back hair and heterochromic eyes that painted a perfect balance of comforting and scary.
She wasn't surprised to see him already facing her. She was equally unsurprised to see that he was armed, a pistol in one hand and his weapon of choice, a one-of-a-kind custom-made whip, in the other. But reassuringly, both were resting on the desk more than they were in his grip.
"I'm glad to see you've recovered, Kiddo," Jamal greeted her calmly.
She didn't release her hold on the sword as she approached him and sat on the other side of his desk.
"You're the only one who wasn't there four years ago," she uttered, her voice calm but cold. "If you tell me what I need to know about the ones who were, we won't have any trouble."
Jamal sighed. "I'm not going to condone what Bill did. But based on what he told me? You were being pretty stupid yourself."
She scowled, her grip on the sword tightening.
"You should understand better than anyone!" she snapped. "You got out for the same reason!"
His eyes briefly followed her gaze to his whip before looking back at her.
"I got out because I realized that I was causing too much more of the pain that I got in for. I'll never regret killing that plague of a man who took my mother. But I can't believe I ever got to a point of rationalizing taking someone else's parent. Bill still isn't happy about how much I intervened. But he gets it, especially with B.B."
The woman's expression slowly melted as what he said sunk in.
"…B.B.?" she asked. Jamal looked at her face, blinking slowly.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jamal asked in his most condescending voice. "You told Bill that she was his baby, and you thought he let her die?"
The blonde's grip on the sword slackened, her head falling as tears came to her eyes, as frustrated as she was happy.
"The last thing I saw was Bill giving me a coup de grâce! I woke up after four years and I wasn't carrying her anymore," she gasped. "Can you blame me for assuming the worst?"
"Maybe not," Jamal conceded. "But your daughter is alive and well. Bill brings her by now and then."
She raised her head slowly, and he shook his head.
"I've been adamant that she should grow up free, and he's long since agreed. You know how I teach my kids: arm them with the skills needed to succeed, but hope they never have to use them. If you had just come to me about this instead of trying to run off with some stupid Texan as a cover—I mean, you had to have known that that was never going to work!"
"No," she admitted, grimacing. "But I would've had B.B.!"
Jamal sighed. "I've always thought you would be a wonderful mother. Hell, I thought that about most of you snakes, and Vernita has even proven me right. Her daughter and B.B. met a couple of times here." He looked up slightly. "Sometimes I regret not taking a chance with her."
"Hmph," the woman scoffed, smirking slightly. "I thought Elle and I were more your type."
"HA!" the man barked. "Maybe, but you two only ever had eyes for Bill. Or, well, an eye in her case."
The woman let out a single snort.
"But as I was saying, both of you messed up, Kiddo. You and him," Jamal went on. "You broke his heart, and he retaliated with a shootout. That's not easy to get over. But-"
He leaned forward.
"B.B. is alive, and she hasn't done anything to deserve growing up without both of her parents. So, tell me: knowing that she's alive, well, and innocent, do you still hate them enough to go on whatever rampage you must have been planning?"
Her eyes closed, her grip around the sword tightening to the point it seemed likely to draw blood. It was several minutes before she could finally answered.
"No. But I'm still beyond pissed."
"And nothing is stopping you from working things out with your fists," Jamal conceded.
A pause fell.
"When are they coming by next?"
"Funny you should ask," Jamal answered, looking at the clock. "Won't be long now. Wait wherever you'd like; Bill knows better than to start anything at my house."
Another knock came at the door.
"Mr. Jamal?" came a boy's voice. "Are you there?"
"Come right in, Matthew."
Beatrix Kiddo left the office as a middle school-aged boy entered it, homework in hand. And Jamal wore a wry smile as he saw she'd left her sword behind.
Introducing the Chaos of Earth-7718: Jamal Cass, formerly Rattlesnake of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad
