If Jounouchi was confused by the fact Ichigo had a glove and the rest, he was surprised when the other teen handed them both over (except he kept one of the stars and a card) to the blond without any hesitation whatsoever.
"Why give them to me?" he asked.
"One, I don't duel and I don't even own the cards, let alone own a deck. Two, this gives you a chance to win the money for your sister's surgery legally. Three, it will royally piss off Pegasus when he finds out he gave an invitation to someone who doesn't even play the card game he created and that I plan to turn this into a camping trip until this is over," said Ichigo flatly.
Mokuba snickered.
"That's actually the same reason I asked Yugi for one of his stars and the extra card. Pegasus can't kick us out if we have at least one of each, but nothing said we have to duel," said Mokuba.
Yugi, once they explained what they were doing, had snickered himself. It was pretty funny that they were going just to annoy Pegasus.
The fact Ichigo was going to be in charge of tents, food and water meant he was more or less the one making sure they didn't starve to death.
Ichigo had overheard Anzu and Honda planning to sneak into the tournament, so he told them flatly to bring their own food supplies and a change of clothes. He was not carrying extra, because he was pushing it as it was.
Mokuba and Ichigo were grinning evilly as they showed their cards and stars to the guards. This was going to be hilarious.
They didn't have the gloves, but they did have everything else.
Seeing the predatory looks of the more traitorous duelists, Ichigo smirked. This was definitely going to be fun.
"Yugi, keep an eye out for bug boy. He has a shifty look that just screams he's going to try something unpleasant," said Ichigo.
Yugi blinked, before he noticed the look the bug duelist was giving him. It reminded him of some of the bullies at school before Ichigo came and dealt with them. They weren't stupid enough to cross the orange-haired teen. He winced.
"Can you and Mokuba stick close?" the smaller teen asked quietly.
"Jounouchi, find us on the side decks later. Go find some decent cards to trade for," said Ichigo.
"Gotcha."
He came back half an hour later with some new cards, to which Yugi added even more since he couldn't use them in his own deck.
The second Ichigo spotted the bug boy, he subtly shifted Mokuba between Yugi and Jounouchi before making sure the boy could see him clearly. One look at Ichigo's eyes, and he decided that perhaps challenging Yugi immediately would be a better idea... Ichigo couldn't interfere then.
Once they were on the island and Ichigo made very certain Mokuba was in arm's reach at all times, Yugi was drawn into the first duel of the tournament by bug boy.
It was...informative, Ichigo could claim later.
The second Ichigo ran into Ryou from school and saw the odd pendant around his neck, he knew without a doubt that Ryou was the one stuck with the other soul. Once he was out of view of any dueling platforms (all duels were televised, and thus each arena had ample amounts of cameras nearby to catch all the action...a fact Ichigo took advantage of) he confronted the white-haired teen.
Ryou paled when Ichigo asked about the black outs, and looked horrified when Ichigo asked to speak to the spirit in the Ring.
He had already had a chat with the Pharaoh, and while the other spirit was relatively friendly, he also had large gaps in his memory. What he knew about the situation was very limited, and spotty at best.
Ichigo had the feeling this spirit knew more.
"Are you sure? From what I understand this spirit isn't exactly..."
"I just need to confirm a few things. In order to trap me he has to challenge me to a game I can accept, which I have no intention of doing," stated Ichigo flatly.
While the pharaoh hadn't exactly been full of information, he did remember that a challenge or game had to be issued before they could act with impunity. It was why he mostly only came out when Yugi found himself against an opponent.
There was a subtle shifting of Ryou's posture, and his hair spiked up a bit more. Where there had been warm brown the same shade as Ichigo's, there was now a bloody red.
"Wow... so he's like..." said Mokuba.
"Yeah, same possession. Though something tells me there's an extra that's not wanted or welcomed in this one."
"Hmph. What do you want, and how did you know the Landlord was possessed?"
"First off, do you have a proper name? All I got out of his royal highness was Pharaoh, and that was because I had told him that much. The Chibi and his cheering squad have taken to just calling him Yami though."
The spirit's eyes narrowed in anger at mention of the other spirit, but he finally said "My name is Ba-Ku-Ra, or Tomb Robber. And for your continued health don't you ever dare compare me to that bastard."
"Bakura then. Good to have the fact there were two spirits sealed into these things confirmed. Now what do you know about these items, specifically their powers? And before you think I'm trying to get them for myself, the only interest I have in them is to see them destroyed and the souls contained inside them released to their respective afterlives," said Ichigo.
The thief's eyes narrowed, before he told Ichigo what he knew of the items. Mokuba, who had opted to come with Ichigo instead of sticking close to Yugi, was taking notes so Ichigo could relay them to his contact. He was good at that, despite the fact he didn't have his tablet with him.
Ichigo got as much information from the thief as he could, as Ba-Ku-Ra was a much better source than his rival (a fact that rather pleased the spirit to no end...as did the fact Ichigo was treating this tournament as a camping trip to piss off the man running it) before he bid the spirit a good bye.
So long as Ichigo remained neutral towards both parties, Ba-Ku-Ra wouldn't try to turn him into a doll or send him to the Shadow Realm. The fact Ichigo treated him with genuine respect didn't hurt either, or that he knew the truth about the items.
The entire reason Ba-Ku-Ra hated the Pharaoh was because it was his village sacrificed to make the damn things. An attack he, unfortunately, had been around long enough to witness, as well as their forging.
At least Ichigo learned it wasn't the spirit in the Puzzle who ordered the initial attack, but the father of the spirit. Ba-Ku-Ra found the fact the idiot had forgotten his own name hilarious enough that he refused to tell Ichigo what it was. To be fair, Ichigo was of the opinion that it was probably better Yugi found the name himself, rather than find it second hand.
"This entire thing stinks. My brother's stuck dealing with a psycho who's using a ball made of dead people and gold?" said Mokuba, looking rather queasy.
"The Egyptians were rather fond of gold. In any case, at least we had a lot of things confirmed and even more we didn't know. Urahara's going to be pleased about this," said Ichigo, looking for a place to set up so he could e-mail this to the man. No way was he sending a text with this much information. Not a chance in hell with how tiny the keypad was on his phone.
Once he found a sturdy rock, Mokuba sat next to him as he typed out everything he learned from the thief. Once it was sent off, they went looking for someplace to set up camp near a dueling arena.
Pegasus might have cameras all over the place, but the ones that went outside were all near the arenas. As a consequence, Ichigo and Mokuba made a point of sticking around those areas the most. It would be rather awkward for Pegasus to have to explain why he had a twelve-year-old kidnapped to an international audience, especially if he started crying rape or something similar. The fact he was well known as Seto Kaiba's brother didn't hurt either.
"Mokuba! What are you doing here?!" said Seto horrified and beyond pissed.
Mokuba cheerfully held up his card and star, as did Ichigo. That confused the billionaire considerably.
"Why do you have those?"
"Pegasus sent me an invite since he couldn't get past me to take Mokuba. I gave my invitation to Jounouchi, and kept one card and star to piss him off. Rules state I have to have at least one card and one star to come here and stay on the island. Nothing said I had to duel though," said Ichigo amused.
It took Seto Kaiba a moment to process that, before he started cackling.
"He has no idea you don't even own a deck does he?"
"He might have figured it out after the first idiot tried to duel me," said Ichigo. "The fact I still have a star chip and card means he can't kick me out, because we've made a point to be near the duel arenas where the cameras that are transmitted outside are."
"That is unbelievably funny and the fact he invited you without doing any research is hilarious," said Seto grinning evilly.
He only wished he could have seen Pegasus' face when he realized Ichigo not only did not own a deck, but he had no intention of dueling in this little tournament.
"Before I forget... When you go after Pegasus, do not make eye contact with him. Ever."
"Why?"
"Remember how the chibi beat you? He has a trinket that's similar, only it lets him read minds. Making eye contact only makes it easier for him," said Ichigo. Mokuba nodded.
"That stupid gold eye of his?" asked Kaiba for clarification.
Ichigo nodded.
"He doesn't have a dead guy in him like the runt does he?"
"The only one who has something similar is Ryou, and that one isn't nearly as nice unless you plan on mocking the one in Yugi's Puzzle," said Ichigo.
"Good to know."
Ichigo made sure to stick near Seto Kaiba, primarily because if anyone could protect Mokuba from being taken, it was him.
However that apparently didn't apply to Ichigo. Once he left to use the rest room, he was grabbed from behind and knocked out before he knew what hit him.
Apparently he had really, really pissed off Pegasus when the man found out what he had done with his invitation and the fact he kept Mokuba safe from his goon squads.
The whispers were stronger as Ichigo woke up. He could feel a knot on his head...likely from whatever he was hit with.
Ichigo took comfort, rather than concern, when he heard the voices.
Zangetsu and Shirosaki. He had thought he lost them forever.
Pegasus was there, and he was pissed. Not only had Ichigo given away his invitation to someone else, but he had come anyway and turned it into a holiday rather than pander to the man's ego.
The fact he kept Mokuba far, far from the man's good squad didn't help either.
So yes, Pegasus was pissed off.
"You've caused me a great deal of trouble, Kurosaki-san," he said annoyed.
"Not my fault you didn't think to check if I was a duelist," said Ichigo cheekily.
If Pegasus had sent someone to check, he would have known Ichigo was one of the rare people in his school that didn't even own a deck. He knew the basic rules, but he didn't duel.
"Yes, well you'll still pay me back for the mess you started by showing up without a deck," said Pegasus a little darkly. He was going to have the boy duel Kaiba for him, if only to push the other teen into making mistakes.
Ichigo didn't say a word, merely leveled an unimpressed glare at the man. When the Eye hit him with it's mystical energies, there was a violent backlash.
Because Ichigo's power seemed to come back faster around people who used this shadow magic, and the fact he had more than one soul in his body, the spell didn't react as it should.
Where there was one Ichigo in the cell, there were now two. Only one of them wasn't in shackles and had a rather odd looking samurai outfit and a large sword that looked like an oversized butcher knife. The leading edge was black, but the rest was a pale white-gray. Where Ichigo's hair was orange and his eyes were brown, this one was white haired and yellow-eyed, with the whites of his eyes an ominous black color.
Every instinct in Pegasus' body screamed at him to run, run and never look back.
"KEKEKE... Looks like you've gotten soft, King,"said Shirosaki.
"Shut up and get rid of the damn shackles Shiro. If you behave I'll even introduce you to the thief. I bet the two of you would get along great," said Ichigo sarcastically.
Shiro's smirk didn't waver. With a single slash, the iron manacles were cut into pieces...and Ichigo was unharmed.
Pegasus saw the look in the eyes of the white Ichigo...and fled. No way was he facing that thing...not when his eye couldn't effect him! And he did try, once he got over his shock.
With Shiro's help and the help of the reverse Zangetsu blade, Ichigo was able to get out of the cell.
Now to find his way out.
Seto heard a beep on his cell phone, which had a very extensive coverage once he was done tinkering with it.
He read the text with no little amount of disbelief...and amusement.
Managed to get kidnapped by the one-eyed moron. Sent him running with tail between legs, but there was a minor addition after. I'll try to catch up to you soon, but he's going to be pretty mad and might take it out on you if he can. Ichigo
Kaiba snorted. Trust Ichigo to piss off Pegasus and somehow manage to escape.
He sent a text back to Ichigo.
Got ten stars. We'll be heading to castle soon. Meet up with us there and tell me how you managed to get out. Kaiba