FVN Chapter 20 - 20
Chapter 20 - 20
Chapter 20
"All packed up?"
Mai looked up from the suitcase she was zipping up and smiled at Edwin, who was leaning in the doorway of her room with a slight grin on his face. He'd changed out of his suit, going with more casual clothing but still managed to look rather good in that outfit. Maybe it was because he'd forgone the slobby grey hoodie he'd worn during the first few days of Duelist Kingdom and instead gone with a blue plaid shift, the sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms. Edwin wasn't by any means muscular; he didn't bugle with throbbing veins and shoulders wider than he was tall. But out of the hoodie and in that shirt he looked strong and confident and despite how much she loathed the word for sounding so childish the only way she could describe him was 'yummy'.
'Don't let him hear you say that,' she thought to herself with a smirk. 'He might claim to be the 'Guardian Devil' but he's like a choirboy when it comes to flirting.' It honestly made it all the more fun to do so; Mai was used to men turning into drooling idiots around her when she batted her eyelashes and cooed sweet empty words in their ears. Joey and Tristan had been like that and while she'd never attempted it with Yugi because, frankly, at his short stature and his youthful build it would have made her feel like a child molester, but she had a feeling that if she did try and fully flirt with him he'd be stammering but all to happy to do whatever she asked. But Edwin only blushed... or got annoyed if he thought she was just trying to manipulate him.
So she didn't say a word about his clothes and instead focused on her bag.
She herself had changed out of her 'dueling gear' into far more comfortable clothes. When she'd arrived that morning for the duel she'd dressed in her favorite attire: super short skirt, long boots, tight jacket, and lacy undershirt. Now though, seeing no need to impress anyone and planning to just hang out in her room for the boat ride back to Domino, she'd gone with a set of jeans herself and a very thin sweatshirt with the logo of some minor east coast college that had held a tournament a few months back. She literally couldn't remember it other than she'd won and part of the prize had been the sweatshirt. The money was long gone, used to buy cards most likely, but the clothes remained and it was just warm enough to be comfy without making her become a sweaty mess.
"I never bother to unpack," she told him, extending the handle of her rolling suitcase, glad Edwin had convinced her to go with that instead of the knapsack she'd originally been planning to use. "Too many times I've needed to leave town quick."
"There are several stories there, I sense."
"Maybe someday I'll tell you a few. They don't paint me in the prettiest of lights."
He rolled his eyes at that. "Mai, none of us our saints. I keep calling myself The Devil, remember?"
"The Guardian Devil," Mai retorted as she walked over to him, Edwin moving out of the way so she could leave. His own suitcase was sitting just outside the door and he grabbed its handle and joined her in walking down the hall. "Packed as well, I see."
"Yeah but that's because I'm a worrier," he said with a slight shrug. "I always have these nightmares that I'm going to leave something behind at a hotel and never get it back. I'll double check my list 10 times before I feel good about leaving a place." He looked around the hall, a grimace flashing over his features. "And I honestly don't have any plans to come back to this island again."
"I get that," Mai said. "There is something about this entire castle... I keep expecting..." she rolled her hand about, searching for the right word.
"To find a pair of twins waiting in the hall asking us if we want to play with them forever... and ever... and ever?"
"I wouldn't have put it quite that way but yes." She paused, looking at one of the paintings that was hung on the wall. "This place just feels so... artificial. Fake. It's like walking into a house that the owners claim dates back to roman times but you just know the columns are made of wood and a bit of plaster. Its... wrong and tacky but it also puts you at unease. You know?"
"I know. Believe me I know. I've been here a whole day more than you, Mai."
She nodded at that. "So, not interested in seeing Yugi duel Pegasus either?"
"Not really. I have a feeling that there won't be much to the actual duel."
"I don't know about that," Mai said. "Pegasus and those Toon monsters are pretty impressive-"
"Not really. Destroy the book and you can take out his entire strategy."
Mai chuckled at that. "Not everyone has Endymion, Edwin."
"Harpie's Feather Duster," he countered.
"Touche," she admitted, getting his point. "People really just focus too much on throwing strong monsters at each other and hoping to overwhelm their opponents, don't they? Even with my Harpies swarming its still all about getting my Sisters on the field and overwhelming my opponent. You are really the only duelist that bothers to try other methods to win. Even PaniK-" her face twisted in a scowl as she remembered the brute that had terrorized her, "-with all his mind games ended up to just resorting to making his monsters stronger. You though? Endymion and his effect damage is just amazing."
"I don't know about that. Not the amazing part... I am amazing." Mai scoffed at his bragging. "But I think you're forgetting someone." She stared at him for several moments. "Joey and the Time Wizard."
"Right. Him." She growled out the words in frustration.
"You need to let go of that grudge. He beat you fair and square Mai. And next time you'll beat him. But you can't dwell."
"And why not?" she asked petulantly... and she knew it.
"Because then you'll be Kaiba and no one wants that."
Mai shuddered at the thought. "That man can hold onto a slight for ages." The two of them continued on, taking one turn and then another and then heading down a very short flight of stairs to another floor. Pegasus' castle was huge and confusion but they were still managing well enough. "Still, I guess that's why I see your duel against Yugi as the real finale. Pegasus is cunning and can throw out his toons but you like said... if Yugi is smart he'll know how to destroy them all. You and him going at it... I doubt that Pegasus' match will top yours."
"I don't know about that," Edwin said, clearly embarrassed by the praise. He muttered under his breath, something about someone named 'Mary Sue' but before she could dwell on who that hussy might be he spoke up once more. "So, what are you thinking about doing now?"
"I assume you mean other than heading to the boat?" Mai asked as they reached the elevator. She pressed the button and after a moment the doors slid open; she wasn't surprised, seeing as everyone else was down in the main hall, watching Yugi and Pegasus have their epic duel. Mai and Edwin had of course been invited to watch by Pegasus at dinner after Edwin had lost his match but both had declined. They'd even decided to skip breakfast, just in case everyone tried to convince them to change their minds.
Edwin stepped into the elevator and, once they were both set, pressed the button for the ground floor. "Yeah, smartie."
She gave a shrug. "Well, Pegasus informed me that because I made it to the finals I am getting a consolation prize. $10,000 dollars. Not exactly the $3 million I was hoping to get but nothing to sneeze at. I plan to use some of that to upgrade my deck... Duelist Kingdom has proven that the game is evolving and I need to evolve with it."
"What are you thinking?" Edwin asked.
"See about getting some new Harpies," Mai said. "Or maybe a new deck. I've heard interesting things about a set of cards that were released in South America... the Amazoness Archtype. Might try and grab those."
"Sounds like a deck you'd like," Edwin said with a smile, one that spoke to him knowing more than he was letting on. Mai had gotten used to that smile in her short time knowing him... didn't mean it was any less infuriating. She wanted to press him on that but didn't; the man had managed to con Pegasus and Seto Kaiba and for how good she thought she was at manipulating others, especially men, she wasn't willing to bet she was good enough to do what they could not.
'But that is the thing that bugs you, isn't it?' she thought to herself. 'He knows something. A secret of some kind. And you don't know if you asked him if he'd tell you the truth.' And that scared her more than anything: the idea of pushing that issue and finding out if he did trust her or would treat her like every other man she'd ever known had, lying 'for her own benefit'.
"Warriors have a ton of generic support," Edwin continued, Mai realizing he'd been talking about the deck while she was focused on his hidden knowledge. "That makes them easier to build around. You can pick out a bunch of spells that your opponent won't be ready to counter, or have a counterpart of." He began to tick off points on his fingers. "Warriors, Spellcasters, and I THINK Dragons are the top three. Fiends next or Fairies. After that it kind of falls off. But Warriors and Spellcasters duel for first and second place."
"And of course you're partial to Spellcasters," Mai teased.
"Not originally," Edwin stated. "I started out preferring Warriors myself."
"Really?" Mai said in surprise before she thought things over. "Oh right... you are using your uncle's deck-"
"I guess, if by 'his deck' you mean I kept the bare bones, tossed out the garbage, and completely rebuilt it." He frowned. "I need to do that all over again. I'm not happy with how the deck ran. Too slow."
"Only you could complain about a second place deck not being good enough and wanting to completely rebuild it."
"Said the third place duelist," Edwin pointed out, earning a chuckle from her. "Alright, after improving your deck... what will you be doing then?"
She honestly hadn't really thought about what would come after Duelist Kingdom. Mai rarely planned too far ahead when it came to where she would be going, what lands she might travel. With the way tournaments could suddenly spring up it was always wise to be flexible. She'd more than once had her plane ticket ready to leave a continent only to suddenly change her mind when she learned of some new tournament that had popped up with far better prizes than the one she had been planning to go to. Duelist Kingdom had been a prime example of that; she'd been planning to hit Vegas to participate in some minor tournaments when Pegasus' invite had arrived.
"Nothing set in stone. Thinking I might head back to Europe. None of the big tournaments are running at the moment but I'm sure I can find some locals that will fill my pocket. If not I can always offer my services teaching some kid how to play."
"You do that?" Edwin asked, surprised.
"Not often but it does pay the bills. Granted," she winked, "usually it's the kids' parents that are more interested in having me around than they are."
"That sounds about right," Edwin groused. "Still... another castle?"
Mai's smile fell as she realized that yes, it was very likely that she would end up in some keep or abbey or the like. "South America would be nice this time of year. Just wrapping up summer, moving into autumn... summer wrecks havoc on my hair so it might be worth it to just skip the entire thing."
"I would have thought you'd love summer. The beach, the sun..."
She shook her head though. "Sunburns, tan lines, insects, humidity... the beach is nice enough but sand gets EVERYWHERE..." she trailed off, the two of them sharing a small laugh at that. "And what about you? What are your big plans after you get off of this island?"
"You mean other than avoiding Pegasus and the Big 5 trying to kill me for screwing up their plans?" Edwin grumbled. "Find a financial advisor."
Mai felt like slapping her forehead. "Right, because you are Mr. Moneybags now."
"...I want to make a mocking comment but it would come off as pretty pretentious considering I have $6 million dollars now."
"And minority control in KaibaCorp," Mai reminded him; Pegasus had revealed to Edwin after his duel with Joey that, thanks to him beating Kaiba, he'd already fulfilled his end of the bargain and transferred control of the shell companies that the Big 5 used to hold their stocks to him. While Pegasus had to wait till the end of the tournament to claim Seto Kaiba's shares Edwin had now usurped the Big 5 and was the minority owner of KaibaCorp along with Pegasus and Kaiba. "No matter what happens now you are the big winner of this tournament."
"Just in the right place at the right... this is a really long elevator ride."
Mai felt like she'd just been given mental whiplash, the way Edwin's comment caused all her jokes and comments to come to a screeching halt. It was such a simple, basic, obvious thing... and yet the moment Edwin told her it she felt so utterly stupid not noticing and everything that she'd been so focused on screeched to a halt as her mind did a complete 180.
The ride should have been only a few seconds. A minute at most. And yet...
"Another trick by Pegasus?" Mai whispered, suddenly very alert and fearful. She looked about the small space, searching for cameras or hidden microphones that might have been used to spy on them.
"I hope so," Edwin stated.
"How can you HOPE that this is Pegasus?"
"Because I can deal with Pegasus. If it's someone else-"
The doors slid open but any relief Mai might have felt died in her throat at the sight of Bakura standing there, leering at them with a demented grin on his face. Somehow he seemed older, wilder, his stance making him look taller and his hair sticking out in sharp points rather than the thick mane he normally had. His face was leaner, looking like it could cut her if she just brushed up against one of his cheekbones. But his eyes... his eyes were filled with such malice that it made her take a step back in shock.
"Hello there, champion," Bakura said before grabbing Edwin's by his shirt and throwing him out of the elevator and into the stone-lined hallway he was standing in. Edwin fell hard and while he did roll and begin moving back to his feet it was slower than she'd have liked. Bakura though, or whatever the monster who wore his face was called, turned his back on Mai and began to stalk towards the blond man, tilting his head in consideration. "I think it's time we continued our chat."
~MC~MC~MC~
"How do you think the duel is going?" Kemo asked, arms folded over his broad chest. The sun had risen hours ago, meaning that he could scan the horizon without being blinded by its rays, but he still kept his sun glasses on all the same. In fact other than one small alteration he was in his standard uniform, the one he'd worn ever since the Big 5 had selected him to be the head of their security forces. Didn't matter if he was on a Pacific Island rather than stalking the hallways of the high rises and headquarters that were their domains, Kemo prided himself in being perfectly outfitted.
The one thing that was missing? His ear piece. That he had tucked in his pocket.
He wasn't in the mood to be distracted. Not today.
"Mr. Pegasus probably already has the Muto boy sobbing and wishing he'd never come to this island!" Toei replied. He was one of Kemo's best commanders, one that he could trust to get things done if he wasn't available. Normally it was rare for them to be assigned to the same task, as he always felt better having Toei off handing projects that Kemo himself couldn't get too, but at this point everything was wrapping up rather nicely and thus he could enjoy having one of his trusted commanders at his side. "Wish I could see it," Toei muttered to himself.
"Pegasus is recording the entire thing... you can watch it then," Kemo informed him. "Be the perfect capper to all of this finally coming together." He resisted the urge to rub his hands together in glee, choosing instead to keep a tight rein on his emotions. All he allowed was a small smile, barely a quirking of his lips if one was being charitable. "Pogo should be finding Mokuba Kaiba any time now, wrapping up that little problem." It had annoyed him to no end that the boy had managed to escape and despite Pegasus saying he wasn't interested in having the younger of the Kaiba Brothers anymore Kemo never left loose ends. "The Domino Police should be discussing what to do with Yuri Gardner now that it looks like she's a filthy drug addict. Seto Kaiba has been dealt with and after today Mr. Pegasus will be in charge of KaibaCorp."
"But what about the Big 5?" Toei asked. "Pegasus said he's giving their shares to Edwin Chaos."
Kemo's smile fell as he thought of that cocky little jerk and his mocking insults and names. "He has to get off this island to collect. That's why we're here." He gestured at the pier that were standing on. "This is the only way to get back to the boat... Chaos and that chick Valentine said they were leaving. We're going to make sure they miss their ride."
Toei chuckled at that. "Rough'em up good?"
"Something like that," Kemo said. While he trusted Toei he didn't TRUST him. 'No need for him to know the real plan!' Kemo thought with a dark laugh. Toei would take care to deal with Valentine, drag her back to the castle for Mr. Pegasus to deal with. Edwin Chaos though? He wouldn't be leaving the island. And since he would become a permanent part of it that meant that the $6 million dollars he'd gotten off of Seto Kaiba, and the Big 5's shares, would be up for grabs. It would be easy enough to forge some documents, make some transfers, and within a few weeks it would be HIM that was the one in control of the Big 5's stock. 'Not that anyone will know that,' he thought as he turned and looked out at the ocean. 'Will need to keep that quiet. Won't quit my job either... will be easy enough to manipulate Pegasus, get that fop to do what serves me best... and when he least expects it I'll get rid of him and take everything!' His fists itched, the need to feel Edwin Chaos' face burst under them and thus truly start his plan, making him feel giddy. "Soon Toei, we'll-"
He turned only to find Toei no longer standing next to him.
"Toei?" he asked only to hear a muffled groan near his feet. Looking down he was shocked to see the man out cold, a lump rising on his head. "What-"
There was a whistling sound and then something struck Kemo in the back. He let out a cry as his arms were suddenly pressed against his sides, hard pressure squeezing his limbs and forcing them against his torso. He struggled and fought but couldn't free himself and then there was another whistling and the same thing happened to his legs, causing him to crash down against the dock, his glasses falling from his eyes. He groaned and rolled, finally getting a good look at himself and seeing the twin set of bolos that had wrapped him up tight.
"Nice shot." Kemo twisted his head and his eyes went wide in shock as that meddling cop Yuri knelt down next to him, reaching over and poking him in the forehead. "Though I think I'd have preferred it if he'd fallen into the water."
"Ah, but that would be too quick," a dark skinned man wearing tactical gear side, Kemo struggling to shift so he could get a better look at the figure. "And I have uses for this one."
Suddenly Kemo was jerked up by his tie, the new arrival dragging him closer to his face. Kemo's neck burned from where the tie dug into him and the awkward position left the nerves in his arms and legs burning. The other man though didn't care in the slightest; in fact Kemo had a feeling that he was doing it on purpose.
"Hello Kemo. I am Baptise. You might be wondering how I recognize you." He held out his hand and another man in tactical guard produced a phone, holding it up for Kemo to see. The Big 5's top man trembled with rage at the photo of him and Mokuba Kaiba, knowing all at once who was responsible for this team's arrival. "I work for Kipling Chaos. And I have been tasked in retrieving his nephew and any other duelists that remain on this island, along with Pegasus. You... are going to give me the clearance codes to get into that castle." He jerked Kemo down, causing the back of his head to slam into the dock before he was drawn back up. "How long that takes... and how many bruises you gain... is up to you."
~MC~MC~MC~
I'd been in very few fights in my life.
Which was both unexpected and completely expected.
Unexpected because I was a cocky person who knew he was smarter than most people. And while I'd been a late bloomer when I had finally hit all my growth spurts I'd towered over the bullies and mocking 'In Crowd' that had pestered me, giving me the edge. All that meant I had an ego and an arrogance... and combined with a temper that could flare up quick (especially when dealing with people who moved or thought too slow for my tastes) meant that I could easily butt heads with others.
Expected because I was smarter than most people and knew when to sweet talk, humble myself, or just generally do all I could to make people decide I wasn't worth the time or effort. And worst case I was able to overpower or outrun my opponents.
In my life I'd only had four altercations that led to or came dangerously close to violence. These included a single punch to the face (that my glasses intercepted and saved me from a black eye), being shoved into a fence (faked a blackout to freak my opponent out and allow adults to swarm), a slash to my wrist (my fault... ass tried to intimidate me into running a stolen credit card, he came at me and end up cutting my wrist causing me to go into a blood frenzy that had the other employees at the store rushing to HIS defense), and stopping a mugging by playing dumb and then threatening my mugger that I'd throw him off the bridge we were on if he didn't back the hell off.
As such I wasn't very much prepared for Yami Bakura to throw me across a hallway.
"Son of a-" I moaned, slowly rising to my feet and rubbing my left shoulder, which had taken the brunt of the fall. I looked up at the possessed Brit and forced myself not to look in Mai's direction; last thing I wanted was for him to realize that she was the perfect target for him to use as a hostage. So instead I focused solely on Yami Bakura, who was approaching me with a gleam in his eye that spoke of pain and suffering... my pain and suffering, which was all the worse. Right arm crossed over my chest so I could clutch my left shoulder I stared him down even as I began to back away from the elevator.
'Alright,' I thought, 'this looks like the hallway Tristan faced Yami Bakura in when he saved Mokuba from... being his host? Man early Yugioh was weird. Focus!' I began to look around, as I vaguely remembered Tristan finding a set of armor he was able to hide it. Not that I would have time to don it; rather I was hoping for a sword or a lance or something that I could use to keep my distance from Yami Bakura.
"You have no idea how hard it was waiting for this moment," the spirit told me as he continued forward, his steps slow and measured.
"How long have you been controlling Bakura since that duel?" I asked, trying to search without actually making it look like I was searching. I remembered well that Yami Bakura had the ability to summon certain monsters from the Shadow Realm and I had no urge to force him to go for such an extreme move against me.
"For a few days... it took me a while to claw my way out of the Card Graveyard your patron goddess sent me too."
"What? Okay, did I miss something here? Yugi mentioned the same thing about some goddess. What goddess?"
"The one that has apparently named you their champion... similar to what I did in Ancient Egypt with the first bearer of the name 'Bakura'. One touched by," he chuckled, "destiny?" He let out a titter of laughter once more. "But you don't realize it, do you? Have no idea that you've earned the love of a goddess."
I didn't and that concerned me. I was a fan of myth and legend and I knew that things never ended well for mortals who were 'beloved' by the gods. 'If I have one of them focused on me that isn't good. And not only has this one declared me her champion but she's also in love with me for some reason? That really isn't good. A god's love... it is possessive. Greedy. All consuming. But... I might be able to use it to my advantage.' Out loud I said, "That's mighty daring of you."
"What's that now?" Yami Bakura said, quirking his head in interest.
"You said it yourself... I'm more than a champion. I've apparently this goddess' sweetie. You think she's going to take kindly to you messing with me?"
The spirit narrowed his eyes at that, sneering in disgust. "She merely got the drop on me. Startled me, that's all. I'll be ready this time. And when my true form, my greater half, is released from his prison she's rue the day she tangled with me."
"Have to actually free Zorc, won't you?" I taunted. "Somehow I think the Pharaoh won't be interested in just letting you walk up and breaking those chains."
THAT caused Yami Bakura to pause, eyes widening for a moment before he glared at me. "How do you know that? How do you know the name of my greater form? How do you know that the spirit within the Puzzle is the Nameless Pharaoh!"
'Well, it worked with Pegasus,' I thought. "The man you killed told me."
"Which one?"
Now it was my turn to be concerned. "Just... how many people have you killed? This life, I mean. Modern day."
"Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of 'killed'," Yami Bakura stated with a lazy roll of his hand. "I've sent plenty of souls to the Card Graveyard and the Shadow Realm... if they weren't able to survive what they encountered there that can hardly be blamed on me, now can it?" He leered at me and pulled out his deck. "Which I suppose means that I won't be able to claim that I killed you either."
"Aw crap," I muttered to myself, taking another step forward.
"Now, what should be the monster that brings about your doom? My Man-Eater Bug? Perhaps the Morphing Jar? Possibly one of my dark fiends or terrible spirits? Decisions, decisions, decisions. How does that old saying go? I feel like a kid in a candy store..."
"Well, I'll let you decide on that-" I began only for Yami Bakura to hold up a card and suddenly feel a heavy weight clamp down on my ankle and a cold, draining sensation to fill me. I looked down even as I reached out to brace myself against the wall and saw a ball and chain had been attached to me... a ball that had a leering demonic face on it.
"Darkworld Shackle will keep you in place. I so do hate it when you modern mortals try and run just when things are getting good!" He came closer, much too close for my liking, and jerked my chin up so he could stare at me eye to eye. "That sensation you feel? It is the Shackles robbing you of your strength, using it to strength themselves so you can't escape. Don't worry... the Shackles care for you too much so it won't kill you. But it will leave you so weakened that even the most minor of pains-" he squeezed my chin and I could hear my jawbone cracking even with the little pressure he was applying, "-become agonies."
He let me go and I panted. "Son of a-" I gasped, entire body throbbing. He hadn't been lying... even pressing lightly on my face had felt like my entire head had been put in a vice. It was getting harder to stand up and a deep, bone-tiring weariness was filling my veins, making me just want to collapse and accept my fate. Problem was... I was a stubborn bastard and had long gotten used to pain. So I grit my teeth and forcing myself to continue on.
"How are you able... to do this?" I asked, trying to sound confused and desperate... which honestly wasn't that hard. "Yugi can't summon monsters like this. Neither can Pegasus."
"Those aren't the powers of their items. The Eye sees all. The Puzzle holds. And the Ring... well, rings have always represented portals to other worlds."
"That fact... or are you just making it so through belief?" I asked as a thought began to occur to me.
"Does it matter?" Yami Bakura said before selecting a card. "Hmmm... I heard you like to use Burn Damage cards. How ironic would it be to use the weakest of them, the lowly Sparks, to burn you alive? In your pathetic state even an ember would set you ablaze."
I'll be gone
In a day
Bouncing on a bed, Mai let out a warcry as she swung a pillow at my head, sending me toppling over before a grabbed another one of Buckingham Palace's finest and softest pillows and going on the attack.
I'll be gone (take on me)
In a day (take me on, take on me)
(Take on me, take on me)
(Take me on, take on me)
(Take on me)
"Okay, this is going to blow your mind," I said as we stepped through one doorway in Berlin and ended up walking out of a massive armored door into a huge warehouse-like structure.
Mai, dressed in a Red Wing's jersey I'd snagged for her during our global day out, opened her mouth to make some retort but it died in her throat as she stared at the pallet racks filled with crates, each one clearly marked with a name of a Booster Pack from the Duel Monsters card game. She turned to look at me, eyes wide and a thousand questions fighting to be the first to be asked, only to end up utterly speechless as her brain tried to process what she was seeing.
"Welcome to Pegasus' Vault."
"Is... is this what I think it is?" Mai asked, stepping forward.
"If you mean every card ever made? No." I smirked and threw out my arms. "This is every card ever made... and going to be made in the next ten years."
Her mouth opened and closed and I realized she was actually trying to swear but the censors were muting her, leaving her speechless. She reached out to one crate only to suddenly stop, as if doing so was a great sacrilege that she was unwilling to commit to.
"It gets better," I teased, motioning for her to follow me towards the computer. "These are premade decks," I stated, Mai standing beside me as I hovered my fingers over the keys. "Now-"
There was a chime that made us both jump and I looked around wildly, remember what Pegasus had said about poison gas and searching for the nearest door. But when nothing happened I turned back to the computer screen and found it was my turn to be rendered speechless.
FULL ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS GRANTED
PLEASE SELECT DECK
"What... what did you do?" Mai asked me.
"Crap," I murmured. "No lock can hold me. It doesn't just apply to doors... anything that is 'locked' I can now open as holder of the Millennium Key!" I typed in a command and the structure decks rotated and moved until Order of the Spellcasters, the Endymion structure, was the main one before me.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO REMOVE OR SHIP?
"Edwin," Mai whispered, "I think it wants you to take the deck."
I shook my head though. "It doesn't want me to take it, I just have full control over the system. I can take the deck-"
"Can? You are taking it!" Mai exclaimed. I turned in my chair to stare at her and for the first time since we'd begun bouncing around the world she shot me an annoyed and fierce glare. "Pegasus sent men out to hunt you down because you protected a little boy. One of them nearly burned you alive. And you just told me he's been cheating this entire tournament, using some magical artifact to win his duels. He needs to compensate you for all that and this is how." She held up her hand. "And don't say it was the stocks or the money... that was for you winning DESPITE what he did. This is your prize, Edwin..." She grabbed my wrists and leaned forward, her words like honey as she ghosted them into my ear. "You're the Guardian Devil... stop trying to be an angel and be bad. Just once." She pressed her cheek against mine and I could feel my heart thudding in my chest once more. "You might even like it."
When she pulled away I heard a buzz and a chime and it took me a moment to realize that I had, at some point, spun in my chair and given the command.
REMOVE DECK
The bullet proof glass protecting the massive case parted and I got up, grabbing the structure. My hands trembled as I carefully opened it and looked at the cards: Servant of Endymion, the Magical Citadel of Endymion, Spell Power Mastery. A full deck.
'No... this is three decks combined!' I realized as I saw that every card was done up in three, meaning I could easily configure the deck to my liking. I pulled out my Duelist Kingdom deck. 'The only thing missing though is-'
The Millennium Key, resting around my neck, chose that moment to act on its own, swinging out and touching Endymion the Master Magician. There was a flash of golden light and when I blinked back the stars from my vision I found that in my hand I now held three copies of Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic.
"Holy-"
"Move your hands before you lose a finger!" Mai called out. I leapt back as the case moved again and two new Structures popped out: one featuring Harpie Harpist, Perfumer, and Channeler, the other Amazoness Empress and Amazoness Liger. I spun around and glowered at Mai but she merely pranced up and claimed the decks. "What? Pegasus screwed me over too. This is my payment."
I opened my mouth to complain before snapping it shut. Maybe it was the high I was on because of spending the day with a beautiful and intelligent woman seeing things I'd never thought I'd get to gaze upon... maybe it was the fact that the Millennium Key was corrupting me and telling me that power was there to be taken. Maybe it was my fear that Battle City was coming and now that I had taken a sledgehammer to canon I needed to be better prepared.
Whatever the reason I walked over to the computer and typed in the word KAIJU.
"What is that?" Mai asked as the new structure was found. "I never heard of Kaiju monsters."
My phone began to play the Godzilla March as I took the deck. "Trust me... it is far better that this deck is in my hands than anyone else's." Pocketing it along with my new Endymion Deck (I wouldn't be putting it in my deckbox till we were off the island, just in case someone decided to duel me last minute) I went back to the computer and pulled out a directory. "Hmmm... Pegasus has been keeping tabs on every duelist that plays Duel Monsters. And... well."
"What is it?"
"Seems like he had the computer decide what decks would be best for them. Endymion for me, obviously. Harpies for you. And now it is listing Kaiju and Amazoness for us. As well as-" I stopped.
"What is it?"
I swallowed as I saw that I had three decks listed to my name, thanks to forcing the system to make me the controller of the Kaiju deck. But the second deck Pegasus' system thought I was supposed to hold?
Lair of Darkness.
The deck appeared with a touch of the keyboard and I looked at it, a small tendril of dread filling me though I couldn't really put into words why. It was a sense that... this was me never being able to go back. I was able to pretend that I was overall a good man but if I controlled this deck it would be admitting to the darkness in my own heart and soul. That I am been willing to do so much, compromise so much, and now the rival Endymion in the war for my true self there would be Darkest Diabolos. I knew I was being insane, that this was just enough deck... except this was Yu-Gi-Oh!. Where decks spoke of who you were, revealing to all what made up... you. I wanted to be a hero... and yet I could feel the call to abuse my knowledge and power. The temptation... to have a dragon that could rival the Blue Eyes, to claim the Virus cards from Kaiba, to hoard decks like Smaug... it was all there.
'Be bad. Just this once. You might even like it.'
To my shame I reached out and took that deck too.
"So, what exactly surprised you before... that?" Mai asked, having missed me making this FAR too hard on myself and most likely making a mole hill into a mountain.
"Oh... uh, right." I blushed and walked back to the computer, pocketing the Lair of Darkness structure. "Pegasus has deck suggestions for everyone here. An insect deck for Weevil. Dino deck for Rex, duh. Hmmm... Yugi actually has several decks here." I read through them: Dark Magician, of course, but also Gaia, Buster Blader, and a Magnet Warrior deck. 'Maybe its because of him and the Pharaoh. Everyone else only has two at most...well, before I hacked myself a third... but since Yugi is technically two people it is giving him 4 deck suggestions. Though I wonder where Yugi's Silent deck is... maybe Pegasus hasn't made those cards yet.' Outloud I continued. "Kaiba has Blue-Eyes and the ABC Dragons... heh."
"What is it?" Mai asked.
"Mokuba Kaiba," I said, rubbing my hands together, my earlier concerns pushed aside; after all, if you abuse your morals once why not make the trip to Hell all the faster? "Mai, tell me to be evil again."
"What?"
"Convince me to be bad. Wicked."
It took her a moment to figure out what I was getting at, what I was planning to do, but once she did she leaned over my shoulder, reaching around so she could begin running her hands along my chest, slipping one hand inside and letting her fingertips caress my bare flesh. "Be bad, Edwin... be bad for me."
I typed in the command.
DUELIST: MOKUBA KAIBA
SUGGESTED DECK: ICE BARRIER
ACTION: SHIP
There was another bit of chiming and whirling from the computer and suddenly the Ice Barrier deck shot out of the case and out of the vault.
"I guess its getting mailed to him," Mai said with a shrug, looking down at her two new decks (and leaving me to adjust my pants, the fucking tease). "Good for him. Kid deserves a break."
"Yeah," I said before I rose, offering my arm. "What to head back up?"
"Why not... let's see how Yugi did against Pegasus." We turned to go only for me to notice the computer flashing.
ACTION: SHIP?
"Huh... guess it's a double confirmation." I hit yes and then turned away from the computer, leading Mai towards the door. She giggled as she leaned against me as we emerged from a doorway and out in the courtyard of Pegasus' castle, the setting sun bathing it in oranges and yellows. I hadn't realized just how long we'd been running about; the day was almost over.
"Hey!" Tea called, surprising us both. "Edwin! Mai!"
"There you two are!" Joey exclaimed. "Where have you been?"
"Oh... here and there," Mai said, reaching over and brushing a bit of confetti off my shoulder.
"Geez, you two missed everything!" joey complained. "Yugi totally kicked Pegasus' butt!"
"He did?" I said, forcing myself to sound surprised. I moved to shake Yugi's hand but Mai decided to be clingy and I nearly tripped as she forced me to remain next to her. Finally I had to stretch my arm in order to grasp Yugi's hand in my own. "Congrats, man."
"Thanks Edwin!" Yugi said. "It was a tough duel... but I did it. And hopefully that means I saved Kaiba and my grandpa."
"Too bad we can't find anyone," Tristan said with a sigh (which was actually visible as a little cloud that came out of his mouth; I was never going to get used to anime). "The entire castle is empty what with Pegasus getting injured."
"Injured?" Mai asked. "What happened? Did he get a paper cut shuffling his deck?"
Tea though shuddered at the memory. "No... someone took his Millennium Eye."
Mai, remembering what I'd told her about the Items, grimaced. "Oh..." She clearly wanted to say more, to apologize for her crass comment, but she couldn't find the right words and in the end just remained silent.
"What happened with Pegasus?" I pressed. "Where did he go?"
"Him and his entire staff disappeared," Yugi informed us. "We only saw Croquet, who told me that Pegasus freed everyone already and gave us the prize money... which we'll be using to help Serenity."
Tristan nodded. "And we won't be letting Joey anywhere near the check. Yugi will be giving it to the doctor personally."
"Aw, come on, I said I was sorry!" Joey complained. "I messed up with Ed but I learned from it."
Mai scoffed. "Well, what do you know... Joey can learn. Good for him." I gave her a slight squeeze to signal for her to be careful and play nice.
"Though now the only problem is how do we get off this island?" Bakura asked and I gave Mai another hard squeeze to keep her from reacting.
'I told you, it's going to be hard but we have to remember that sometimes the real Bakura actually will be in control of his body. It's not his fault and we have to understand that.' I mentally shuddered as I remembered Yami Bakura attacking me. 'Though I admit that isn't quite-'
There was a commotion at the gate and suddenly the courtyard swarmed with activity. From different doors Pegasus' servants, who had apparently been in hiding, emerged with quick frightened steps, some struggling to remain professional while others failed to hide their fear. There was a crash above us and we all turned to see a window had broken and one of Pegasus' suited thugs was being restrained as he leaned out the window by another man, though it was hard to see who. We all twisted and turned, trying to make sense of what was happening. It was just so hard though as the courtyard had become the epicenter of a storm. Pegasus' staff were being forced to their knees, restrained with zip ties, while men and women in tactical guard suddenly appeared at every entrance and exit, giving 'All Clears' to each other as the flood of bodies turned to a trickle.
Finally one of them, a tall dark skinned man with hair so short he was nearly bald, realized we were standing there and pressed his earpiece. "We have Mr. Chaos, along with Tea Garden, Mai Valentine, Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, Joey Wheeler, and Ryou Bakura. Any sign of Seto Kaiba?"
"Kaiba?" Yugi said in surprise, taking a step forward. "What do you want with-" I grabbed Yugi and stopped him before he could go any further. "Edwin!"
"Yugi, guys who are taking out Pegasus' goons? Maybe people you don't want to startle by suddenly leaping forward."
"Oh... heh, right." Yugi blushed and our group pressed closer together as the new arrivals turned their full attention to us.
"Mr. Chaos-" their leader said only for another man to cut him off.
"Sir! We've located Seto Kaiba in the dungeons. And we've apprehended Pegasus. The castle and island are ours. Shall we bring our guests ashore?"
"Yes, I'm sure Mr. Kaiba will be happy to see him," the leader said before walking forward to us. As he had addressed me Yugi and his friends all parted and shoved me forward, much to my annoyance. "Mr. Chaos, my name is John Baptiste. Your uncle sent me."
"My uncle?" I said in surprise.
"He received your texts and photos... and decided to send aid."
"TEA!"
Whatever Baptiste was about to say would have to wait as a woman with dark short hair who resembled an older Tea rushed towards us, Tea's eyes lighting up as she saw her.
"YURI!" Tea said, breaking away from us, hugging the other woman; if she noticed that Yuri was holding her far more tightly and desperately than she was Tea didn't say it.
"Mr. Chaos, we have much to discuss," Baptiste informed me. "Kidnapping, assault... we need to discuss everyone." In a lower voice he whispered, "Sir... you do not realize... but you've started something... something far bigger than you can realize."
Hours later, as Mokuba hugged Seto while celebrating their regained control of KaibaCorp, Yugi got to talk to his grandpa on the phone, and I was officially given my stocks, I learned just how much my photos to my uncle had done.
Something bigger?
Oh no... I'd kicked a hornets' nest that was about engulf all of Domino.
'Well... at least I can't have caused any more chaos.'
~MC~MC~MC~
Deep in Pegasus' vault the computer whirled and buzzed as it acted on the last few commands:
FIND DIRECTORY OF ALL DUELISTS AND BEST DECK SUGGESTIONS
ACTION?
SHIP DECKS
YES
One by one, every single structure deck Pegasus had painstakingly created shot out of the case to be automatically packaged and mailed out to every single duelist in the world that had ever played Duel Monsters in any tournament, no matter the size.
YUGI MOTO- DARK MAGICIAN/GAIA/BUSTER BLADER/ MAGNET WARRIOR
SETO KAIBA- BLUE EYES/ABC DRAGON
JOEY WHEELER- RED-EYES
SAMUEL SHEPPARD- CYBER OGRE/CYBER DRAGON
ESPA ROBA- JINZO
MAKO TSUNAMI- LEGENDARY FISHERMAN
BROM BONES- SKULL
ARKANA PANDORA- DARK MAGICIAN V2
REBECCA HAWKINS- CHARMER
VELLIAN CROWLER- ANCIENT GEAR
VIVIAN WONG- DRAGON LADY
JEAN CLAUDE MAGNUM- NINJA