I don't know about you, but I think it's time to focus on Yuzu's group.
What awaits them in Death T-F? Here's a hint: The "F" doesn't stand for fun.
Yugioh: The Hope of Six
Chapter 18: Kaiba Arc – Part 8
It took over a minute, but Yugi and the others managed to reach the top of the escape tunnel they were climbing. One by one, they all stepped out into a large, empty room. There seemed to be no door of any kind around them. Everyone collapsed once they were all through.
"Is everyone… alright?" Yugi asked after separating himself from Atem. His friends all nodded.
"Yeah buddy. We're all good." Joey said, sounding breathless. He couldn't believe how close he was be chopped in half by the madman Noah unleashed on them. He was glad he made it out time.
They all lay on their backs, resting from their most recent ordeal. No one spoke for a long moment. Finally, Yuya spoke to break the silence. "Yugi… how did you know… about the key?" He asked.
Yugi sat up and told him and the others how he discovered the additional keyholes and what they meant. "You see, it wasn't the keys themselves I should've been looking at. The real key was still hidden within that podium. The three keys we found were merely meant to reveal the one we needed to get out of there."
"That was really clever, Yugi." Serenity said.
"Yeah. Thanks for saving all of us." Yuya said, very grateful. Yugi said he was glad he figured it out.
"Still, we were close to being killed by the Chopman. If that wall hadn't closed down again, we would've been goners." Tristan said.
"I don't understand about that. Noah said he'd released Chopman after five minutes spent figuring out the keys, and he did. Why did he shut him out all of a sudden? I doubt he decided to soften up at the very last second." Tèa said, frowning. Her boyfriend shook his head.
"No Tèa. He wouldn't. I got a feeling that had nothing to do with Noah."
"Then what happened?" Joey asked.
"I don't know. Whatever it was, I'm glad it did." Yugi told him.
"So now what?" Tristan asked, looking around the new room. "Could this be Death T-3?"
"I guess we'll just have to wait for Noah's next set of instructions." Tèa said. Yuya then frowned.
"What about Yuzu and our friends with her? Do you think they're okay?" He asked, fearing for their safety, especially those of his girlfriend.
"I'm sure they're fine, Yuya. We just have to believe it." Yugi told him. Yuya nodded and smiled at him. Still, he couldn't help but worry about what they might be facing far below.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Oh my, I thought they were goners for certain." Pegasus said, relieved Yugi and his friends escaped the Chopman with their lives. Mokuba, Yusho, Solomon, and Duke nodded in agreement.
"It certainly seemed that way. Thank goodness they made it out alive." Solomon said, also glad everyone was alive.
"Me too." Mokuba then turned to the Water Ignis. "You closed the wall again, didn't you Aqua?" Aqua nodded.
"I did. It bought Yugi and the others the time they needed to escape."
"I still can't believe it. You not only hacked into the surveillance cameras in Noah's tower, but you also took control of one of his systems!" Duke exclaimed.
"Thanks to the close proximity of the Mokuba hologram, it is indeed possible for me to interfere when necessary." She admitted.
"And Noah has no idea about you?" Solomon asked. Aqua shook her head.
"No, not at all. My signal still cannot be traced."
"You're incredible!" Mokuba said, more than impressed with her abilities. "Seto would envy you!"
"Thank you, Mokuba." She told him.
"How is he by the way?" Mokuba asked her. The image instantly changed from Yugi's group to the main lobby. Kaiba was still trapped in his container with the Mokuba imposter. He didn't look happy being locked up and not being able to do anything. Otherwise, he seemed fine… for the time being. 'Seto… Whats Noah planning to do with you?' Whatever it was, it couldn't be good for him or anyone else.
Mokuba still didn't understand how and why Noah was doing all this. In the last moments before the submarine containing that supercomputer was destroyed, Noah decided to let go of his greed and jealousy toward Seto and saved everyone from death. Now, out of the blue, he returned and became a worse villain than he previously was. None of this made sense whatsoever. The little boy wanted answers, but he had none. No one had answers, nor could he do anything to help. All he could do was watch and hope everyone escaped Noah's tower alive, including his brother, Yuya's mom and Yuzu's dad.
"Well, since they're all safe for now, shouldn't we see how Yuzu and her group is doing?" Yusho suggested.
"Agreed." Aqua said as she changed the video feed again. To everyone's surprise, Yuzu's group was still in the elevator they entered earlier. Aqua could tell that they had reached Death T-F a while ago, but the elevator doors never opened. 'It appears that Noah was been waiting for the appropriate time to let them out.' She thought to herself. She, along with those with her, felt they weren't going to wait much longer for their turn.
On the upper level of Duke's home, the man let out a sinister chuckle. His work was done. His trap was set. All he needed now was to get a certain young man's attention. "Yes, all is ready. Very shortly, I'll have my revenge. And you, my son, will help me achieve it."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"How long are we going to have to wait?" Mai asked impatiently. She wasn't the only one. Yuzu, Valon, Bakura, and Miho were also getting anxious. It had been nearly an hour since they stepped into the elevator and descended to the lower level of the tower. After the gang felt it stop, they waited for the door to open and face whatever Noah had prepared for them. Only, nothing had happened… yet.
"Noah must be taking his time putting Yugi, Yuya, and the others through Hell." Valon said. "Sooner or later, he'll have to start paying attention to us." His girl frowned.
"That's what worries me." Mai said. She and Valon noticed the three teens staring down at the floor. Their faces didn't show fear, but great sadness. "You three okay?" She asked. None of them looked up as they shook their heads.
"I still can't believe what happened to Mokuba." Bakura admitted. "It's just… awful."
Miho had her arms around herself, her lips quivering, her body shaking. She had never seen someone being killed before and she came close to being sick because of it. It was even worse by the fact that it was a little child that was murdered. "I thought… he was supposed to be… protected." She managed to say.
"So did we." Bakura replied depressingly.
Yuzu had nothing to say. She couldn't say anything to change the situation. Over and over she kept replaying the scene of Mokuba laying on the floor, dead after being hit by a laser blast in the dark. 'Aqua said she had a plan to keep Mokuba safe. So why couldn't she prevent this?' Before that happened, Mokuba told Yuzu that everything would be fine no matter what. And before that Yusho and Aqua both told her to trust the Ignis' words. She didn't see how she could after what she witnessed… unless she missed something, which she very much doubted.
"My apologies for keeping all of you waiting. It is now time for your own Death-T game to get underway." Yuzu and the others nearly jumped when Noah's voice finally chimed in.
"And here I thought the game was to avoid dying of boredom." Valon sarcastically said.
"Believe me, Valon. Death T-F is anything but boring." Noah told him.
"What's happened to Yuya, Yugi, and the rest of our friends?" Yuzu demanded, still pissed at Noah for his murderous actions.
"Unexpectedly, they all managed to survive my first couple of games. For now they are taking a break until their next challenge." A sigh of relief filled Yuzu's group. Their other friends were alive and well, at least for the time being. "But don't start to feel content. The next games for them will be tougher and more life threatening, mark my words. For now, let's focus on the game for you lot."
"Oh joy." Mai muttered.
"Death T-F is actually pretty straight forward. It consists of a giant maze with many twists and turns. All you have to do is find your way to the center… where Shuzo Hiragi will be waiting."
"Dad." Yuzu said softly. She and her group were close to saving her dad. Of course, she didn't believe it would as easy as Noah was implying. As if reading her mind, he says so.
"Don't think it will be a breeze. There are traps set throughout the maze, all of which will kill you if you don't watch your step. And that's not even the worst part…" He paused for dramatic effect.
"What could be worse than a trap filled maze?" Bakura asked. Noah snickered.
"The worst part is that a wanted serial killer will be in the center of the maze with Shuzo… waiting for all of you. Most of you might have heard of him: The Chopman." Nearly everyone gasped in horror.
"The Chopman?! He's in there?!" Miho shouted, sounding terrified.
"Oh, he is. And I should tell you, he's not in a good mood. He was looking forward to "playing" with your friends on Death T-2, but they all got away before he could even touch them. He's really itching to make up for his loss by spending some quality time with you guys. Good luck dealing with him. Oh, and one more thing before you step out. Try to not let your fear kill you. Have fun! Hahaha!" The room went quiet again as Noah ended his chat with them.
Yuzu could tell the others were not looking forward to the upcoming game now. "Guys, is this Chopman really that dangerous?" She asked. They all nodded.
"He's a nasty customer from what I hear. You definitely don't want to tango with that bloke." Valon said, sounding more serious than usual.
"Frankly, I'm shocked Noah even managed to track down that madman and convince him to work for him. He must be more insane than I thought." Mai commented.
"So now we have to navigate a maze with a monster of a man wanting to kill us? This really sounds like an old myth I once read about, only no other traps were involved." Bakura said, recalling the tale of a hero venturing into a maze to kill the monster in the center.
Miho was not looking so well, and no one could blame her. "What do we do when we… bump into him?" She asked, referring to Chopman. Yuzu placed a comforting hand on her arm.
"I know you're scared, Miho. We all are. Still, Noah did make at least one valid point. We can't be so afraid to go out there that we become unable to do anything other than wait to die. If we stick together, we can do this. It's the only way to save my dad."
"She's right. There is strength in numbers." Mai told the scared teen.
"We'll watch each other's backs. Count on it." Valon added.
"None of us will do this alone. We will be there for each other." Bakura said, giving an encouraging smile.
Miho gazed around at them all and realized they were right. 'It's true. I'm scared to death of what we'll face, but I'm not alone. Not with my friends with me. Plus, Joey wouldn't be so scared so I shouldn't be either.' With those thoughts, she smiled back and nodded her friends. "Thanks you guys."
They all nodded back just as the elevator door finally slid open, revealing a dark path. The gang all eyed each other and, with a resolved determination, walked out and into the labyrinth that was Death T-F.
As they did, Noah and Vivian smiled with anticipation. "I wish we had some popcorn. This is sure to be very entertaining… at least for us." Vivian said. Noah nodded.
"Oh, it will be. That is… as long as they do not die of fright." He replied evilly.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
There wasn't much light, but Yuzu's group could see well enough to watch their step. In fact, the only source of light seemed be lit torches placed in front of and inside the maze. The maze itself actually seemed like it was made of stone and stood several meters tall.
"Woah. If it's this big, how can we find the center without getting lost?" Miho asked.
"Not to mention avoid the traps?" Bakura added.
"We won't know until we try. Let's go." Valon declared as he ventured in first, with the others following suit. Before long they came at a fork in the road. The path was split in three different directions, and no hints were given of which way to proceed. "Right then. I'll try each one and see which is the one we need to take."
"Sounds too risky." Yuzu said. Valon shrugged it off.
"Relax. I'll be careful." He then moved slowly through the center path first, making sure to not to be too reckless. So far he had not seen anything unusual. No indications that a trap was near… or so he thought. Without warning, the floor beneath him gave way and revealed a huge pit. Valon almost fell but managed to grab onto the ledge at the last second. After pulling himself back up, he looked back down the pit and saw that it contained a large pool. That wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that it was filled with hungry looking sharks swimming around in it. "Damn. I almost ended up being fish food." Valon said to himself, glad he didn't fall in.
He then looked around above the pit, but saw no way across. This meant the center path was not the way to go. Knowing that, he turned and headed back. "Are you okay Valon? We heard you yell just now." Mai asked, concerned. Valon smirked.
"I'm okay, Love. I just found out which way not to go, believe me." Mai sighed.
"Just to be on the safe side, don't blindly walk in another way without an actual plan." She suggested strongly. Valon had to agree after what nearly happened to him. The gang eyed the remaining two paths wearily.
"So if the center path isn't where we should go, then which way is?" Yuzu asked. She would hate for her friends and herself to stumble onto another trap. How were they to know where to move that was safe?
"I don't suppose anyone has a pebble or something to throw to test for traps?" Mai suggested.
"You mean like in the movies?" Miho asked the older woman.
"Yeah. You have something in mind?" To her surprise, Miho brought a small pouch from her jacket pocket.
"Actually, I do." She then put her hand in the pouch and took out two marbles, one green and one red. "My lucky marbles! I never leave home without them!" She said, grinning.
"Nice. Let's see how lucky those marbles are." Valon said. Miho nodded as she rolled a marble into each of the remaining pathways. The red marble rolled smoothly down the right path… until it got smashed by a huge stone block that dropped from high up. The gang grimaced in response, glad that none of them went that way. Several seconds went by and nothing happened with the green marble. This meant pretty much meant that the left path was the one to take.
"Well, looks like we're going left. Thanks Miho." Bakura told her.
"No problem." She said, glad that she got to be helpful. The group then headed left, with Miho retrieving her marble along the way. Whenever they encountered multiple pathways further ahead, Miho would use her marbles to test them. They moved right, another left, another right, and straight ahead. They also managed to dodge other traps like poison darts, built in flamethrowers, and electrified rods that would shock anyone to death.
Yuzu felt they were making good progress. She believed they would reach her dad in no time. One thing kept nagging at her, though. Noah's last warning about fear killing them made her uneasy. So far the only fear they had was taking a wrong turn and die horribly in one of the maze's traps. Thanks to Miho, that fear had been dispelled… as long as she didn't run out of marbles before getting to the center.
In their control room, Vivian grew bored since Yuzu and her friends have been able to avoid the traps in place. "Well, this is rather dull." Noah felt differently.
"Patience, Vivian. They are about at the halfway point of the maze. It is there the entertaining part will come." He said, looking forward very much to what would happen.
Back in the maze, the gang found themselves in a rectangular shaped section. They soon realized a problem. "Uh, guys. Are you sure we've been going the right way? Cause I don't see where to go next." Mai said. Before them, dead ends were everywhere. They could go no further as far as they could see.
"We've been avoiding the traps, so we should've been heading in the right direction." Miho said.
"Then what do we do?" Yuzu questioned, starting to worry about her dad who was in the company of a murderer. Before anyone could reply, a slamming noise was heard behind them. They turned to see the way they came had closed itself.
"We're trapped!" Miho yelled in alarm. "What'll we do?!"
It was then Yuzu felt a slight prick on the back of her neck. "Ow. What was…?" Suddenly, she felt dizzy and started swaying. Then… all became black.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"What happened to them?!" Mokuba shouted. He and the others just saw Yuzu, Mai, Valon, Bakura, and Miho all fall unconscious.
"This is not good." Duke commented. Aqua, Yusho, Solomon, and Pegasus all agreed.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Solomon asked, sounding very worried. The Water Ignis did not answer. She just kept watching, and waiting.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Yuzu. Yuzu, wake up. Wake up." Yuzu groaned as she struggled to get up again.
"What… What happened?" She felt her head pounding. The last thing she remembered was blacking out. What had caused it?
"You were out cold when I found you." She finally managed to open her eyes and was surprised to see who was talking to her. "Y-Yuya?"
It did appear to be Yuya, who seemed relieved. "Yeah, it's me. You okay?" Yuzu then took a look around and saw that she was no longer in the maze. She was back in her apartment. However, there was no one else in sight. It was just her and Yuya. This more than confused her a little.
"Yuya, What happened? Where is everyone?" Yuya hesitated. He didn't seem to want to answer. "Yuya? Tell me! Did we manage to save my dad and your mom?" He frowned as he looked dow, hiding his eyes from view.
"Yuzu… I'm sorry. They're… gone. Everyone is…" He stopped. Yuzu felt her chest tighten.
"Gone?! What do you mean gone?! Don't tell me that…" The girl didn't want to face that possibility. Yuya still couldn't face her when he answered.
"My mom… your dad… Yugi… all of them. None of them made it out alive. They're all dead." Yuzu's mind went blank. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
"No… no! No that can't be! I don't believe it!" She shouted.
"Believe it." Yuya said softly. Yuzu shook her, still not accepting it.
"No! Tell me what happened Yuya! What did Noah do?! And why are we the only ones that escaped?!" Yuya stayed silent. He still refused to meet her eye. "Answer me!" She demanded heatedly. Then, to her utter bewilderment… Yuya smiled. It was not the warm, caring smile he used to have. It was different. Cold. Detached. Yuzu was not liking this at all.
"I never said Noah was responsible." Yuya then started to laugh. "The one who killed all the people you loved…" He finally raised his head up, revealing the dark glowing red eyes. "Was me!"
Yuzu stood frozen in horror, trembling uncontrollably. It couldn't be. "Zarc?! You're controlling Yuya?!" The person she thought was her boyfriend made a deranged laugh.
"No. Yuya Sakaki no longer exists. I destroyed him when he needed my assistance at his most desperate hour. That was a fatal mistake on his part. His body is mine now, permanently!"
Yuzu couldn't believe it. She just couldn't! "NO! That's not true! Yuya is still there, I know it!" Zarc laughed further as a dark aura grew around him.
"Not this time. I truly have succeeded and now no one can stop me!"
Yuzu didn't understand. None of this made any sense. "But Yuya… he told me you weren't the evil Zarc that tried to kill me and everyone else! You were the good that was still there and became attached to Yuya! You helped him save us! He trusted you! Why would you betray him after all that?!" Zarc showed his fangs as he smiled.
"He was a naïve fool. You all were. He was so gullible thinking he found a new friend in me. I was merely biding my time until I could take what should be mine." He then examined his own hands, which now had blood stained claws. "Once I eliminated Yuya and took his body, I slaughtered every single human in Noah's tower. I left no one alive… not even Yugi Muto. He did manage to put up a fight, but in the end, even he was powerless to stop me. I tore them to shreds with my bare hands. And now…" He looked back at Yuzu. "I will finish my revenge on Ray Akaba… by killing you."
He then started approaching Yuzu, who then began stepping backward. She felt herself crying from pure terror, hopelessness, and confusion. Not one single thing she heard made any sense. "But why? Why did you wait until now to kill me?" Her voice cracked with emotion as she spoke. She then moved around the back of the couch as Zarc still kept coming for her.
"I wanted to save you for last. I decided to end your life here because it was the one place you felt safe. Your home away from home. That way, your death will be most… satisfying."
Her focus was solely on Zarc that Yuzu failed to notice the foot stool behind her, causing her to trip and fall over. She quickly sat up and kept distancing herself until she hit a wall. As Zarc came closer, Yuzu's breathing became more rapid as her panic increased. Zarc apparently was in no hurry. He seemed to take delight in tormenting her. "Yuya… please. You have to be in there. Take control like you did last time!" Yuzu begged. Her attempt made Zarc's grin wider.
"I told you. Yuya is gone… and you're about to join him." As if things were not scary enough, Zarc's appearance changed. His fangs became more pronounced, his clothes ripped when his muscle mass increased, revealing dark red scales like armor around his body. To top it off his face cracked with red energy and it crumbled away, now showing the face of a dragon from Hell itself. The end result was that Zarc resembled much more demon than human. A truly terrifying form.
Yuzu felt her heart beating unbearably fast and found it much harder to breath. She found herself unable to scream. The fear she felt was so overpowering that she was unable to think. All she could do was stare up at the monster that used to be her boyfriend. Was this how Ray felt when Zarc became the Demon Duelist? That she was so afraid of what the man she loved had become that she thought of nothing else? Yuzu then shut her eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next.
"Look at you. So weak, pathetic, and helpless. And to think, you helped Yugi destroy one of my fragments. Well, no one is coming to help you this time… I made sure of that." Zarc said, his voice filled with malice. "You were so concerned for your precious boyfriend when he told you about me. Despite his assurances, you still saw me as a danger to him. You allowed your greatest fear to become reality. You should've had Yugi eliminate me when you had the chance. Now… it is far too late. I'm going to finish what I started during the attack on the Airship… and enjoy every second of it." His mouth then widened unnaturally until it was big enough to swallow the poor girl whole.
Yuzu still kept her eyes tightly closed. She just sat there, waiting for it all to end. She simply had no way out of this one. If only she weren't so afraid… and suddenly, it clicked. Her eyes snapped open, realizing what was really going on. "Fear… that's it!"
The last thing Noah said to her group was to try not to die by fear. She originally thought he was referring to fear of the maze's many booby traps, but she was wrong. It was what was happening right now, at that very moment! The fog in Yuzu's mind began to clear. The thing in front of her mentioned her greatest fear, which was what she was experiencing. She also thought back to right before this nightmare started. She had felt something hit her neck, which made her feel not so good before blacking out.
Now knowing the truth, she stopped crying and regained her courage. After wiping away her tears, she got back on her feet and stared straight at the fake in front of her. "You're not real! None of this is real! This is all in my head!" "Zarc" stopped, stunned by her response.
"No! I am real! I will prove it by killing you!" He declared, moving his overly large jaws to clamp down on the girl. Yuzu didn't so much as flinch.
"I can't be killed by something that isn't really there! You may be my biggest fear… but that doesn't mean you actually exist! Yuya trusts the good Zarc, and I trust Yuya with all my heart! If he really believes the part of Zarc within him is truly good, then I should have nothing to be afraid of! NOW GO AWAY!"
Yuzu's last statement was accompanied by a bright glow from her bracelet. The light caused the illusion before her to break apart. "No! NOOOOO!" Yuzu watched as her great fear was wiped away, leaving nothing of it behind. Her bracelet continued to glow and grow, enveloping her with it's warmth…
/\/\/\/\/\/\
When Yuzu opened her eyes once more, she found herself back in the maze within the Death-T Tower. She sighed a breath of relief from this. "I'm back." She held up her bracelet and smiled fondly at it. "And I have you to thank for that." She may have imagined it, but she thought she saw a tiny twinkle from her piece of jewelry. She like to to think it was saying "your welcome" to her.
She then remembered she wasn't alone and found her friends next to her. They were all laying unconscious on the ground, like she had been. She also saw that they were each mumbling something. She had to lean in and listen hard to what they were saying.
"No… not you. You should be… gone." Bakura said in a very frightened tone.
"Y-You're wrong. He's forgiven me." Mai said in a defensive way.
"Please. Stop. Don't go." Valon begged.
"How could you? How could you say something so… cruel?" Miho accused, a tear in her closed eye.
Yuzu understood what was happening now. She also understood why this floor was called "Death T-F". "They're all living their worst fears! If I don't help them… they will all die!"
To be continued.
(A.N. I promise, next chapter there will be a Duel. And I think it will be very surprising.)