We keep editing this in an insane obsession to get it to all look right.
Disclaimer: WE DO _NOT_ OWN YUGIOH!!! JUST TO GET THAT _PERFECTLY_ CLEAR!!!
--
This is dedicated to someone we will name as "Mr. T," because he practically wrote half of it.
--
Flame us, we dare you. Muhahaha.
--
When in the Hour of Deepest Need
--
Chapter One: After the Fire
--
Yugi Moto picked carefully through the desolate streets of Domino. Like that of most of the poorer humans, his garb seemed to have been cobbled together from whatever could be found so that it would last and be as warm as possible.
Mostly, he wore black, like quite a few of the less easily oppressed, under a somewhat worn blue trenchcoat. He scuffed his leather boots along slowly to make himself appear less of a threat.
Close to his chest he clutched a golden box covered in strange symbols. He knew he had to hide its glint as well as possible. Queliyg themselves didn't see any value in gold, but many Enforcers were human now, as the elven didn't seem to make very good bullies. Rare metals still held importance in the eyes of some humans.
Yugi stiffened as he heard a human voice chuckle behind him. "Uh- oh..."
"Well, well, what have we here?" the deep voice said. Yugi turned slowly to see an extremely ugly man standing there. From the looks of him, he was actually a streetie. His small eyes darted to the box cradled in Yugi's arms. "Whazzat? Hand it here!"
Yugi clutched it closer. "I-I can't!"
The big man took a step closer. "Can't, or won't? C'mon, Shrimp!"
"He won't," said a hard, angry voice from behind the streetie. "He doesn't have to listen to some brainless street dog like you."
The streetie turned, and Yugi caught a glimpse of the boy who'd come to his rescue. "Seto!" The streetie looked back.
"You two know each other?" he asked.
Seto looked annoyed. "What kind of an idiot are you? I come to his rescue, he says my name, of course we know each other!"
The streetie blinked at him. Yugi giggled. "Lis'sen, 'Slim,' I'm a lot bigger and stronger than you. How about you just--"
"How about you just take a lie-down?" With a swift movement that was so powerful it was terrifying, Seto lay the man on his back. He bent down and grabbed him by the shirt-collar. "And maybe later rethink how you want to go about existing," he growled into the streetie's face. "D'you want to live, or d'you want to live free?"
The streetie's eyes widened. "You're one of them rebels, ain't you!"
Seto let out a groan of exasperation. "Why, yes, Mr. Obvious!!" he thundered, throwing the streetie into a nearby waste-disposal unit.
Yugi burst out laughing as Seto wiped his hands disgustedly on his jeans and walked to Yugi's side. The rising sun began to glint through a hole in a nearby apartment building.
Seto grinned, grabbing Yugi and steering him toward the nearest subway entrance. "We'd better get out of the light. Did you find it?"
Yugi produced the golden box so Seto could see it. "Yup! Can you believe it survived the fire?"
Seto's eyes saddened just a little. "I'm really sorry that it had to, Yugi."
Yugi shrugged as they entered the ruined subway. "Grandpa knew the consequences of sheltering you and your brother. He's been doing that sort of thing ever since my father was killed."
The little fifteen year old then jumped subjects completely. "The only thing that was damaged was the string." Yugi made a face. "It was burned to a crisp, I'll have to clean out all that soot..."
"You could replace it with a chain," Seto suggested.
"Maybe," Yugi replied, thinking.
Seto jumped onto the useless tracks, his black sleeveless trenchcoat billowing behind him like a cape. He turned to help Yugi down.
"Just take the box a second," Yugi started to say, but halfway through his sentence he realized that Seto had already grabbed him and set him gently on the concrete.
The much taller boy smirked. "You were saying?"
"Darn you."
They turned at the sound of someone running toward them. "Joey," Seto said as the blonde stopped before them, panting heavily, "What have I told you about learning to be a little _quieter?_"
Joey glared at him. "Darn it, you're always on my case!! Wha' gives you the right to tell me how ta do things, anyway?!?"
Seto grinned evilly. "I'm the one wearing iron-studded wrist- guards!" he said, brandishing them menacingly.
"Guys," Yugi cautioned. This looked like another one-sided brawl brewing. "I'll tell Grandpa you were fighting."
They both relaxed. "As if the Old Man wouldn't be able to tell anyway," Seto said, using the words "Old Man" like a title.
Yugi shook his head. Seto and some of the other younger rebels had taken to calling Solomon Moto that as if in reverence. They all knew it drove him crazy, though.
"Joey, where's Tristan?" Usually the two were never apart. The answer soon came, though, when Tristan came out of nowhere behind Joey.
"Right here!" he said, also panting.
"And being a lot quieter than Joey, too," Seto noted, earning a nasty look from Joey.
"I din't come ta meet you guys so you could diss me, Seto!"
"Then why _did_ you come to meet us?" Seto asked snidely.
Tristan answered. "Mr. Moto wanted us to make sure you were okay."
Yugi yawned. "We're okay. Except that I'm exhausted. I'm not used to being up all night like that!"
Seto grinned, heading in the direction of "home." He stopped, to imply that they should be following him. "You'll get used to it, Yugi. It's not safe in the daylight for you anymore."
--
Meanwhile, over in America, a great American hero and his compatriots were holding a meeting deep in the man-made caves under Texas. Some of his companions were younger than he, some older, but he was the obvious leader there.
An old roadmap had been tacked onto a large table, alterations made where the Queliyg had changed the corresponding landscape. It was on one of these alterations that the gathered men and women concentrated.
"If we play our cards right," the tall, lean man was saying, tucking a strand of long platinum hair behind his ear and tapping the map with a pencil, "We can hit those dirty birds where it hurts and keep food in our people for a month at least, not rationing."
His wife put a hand on his shoulder and leaned against him, smiling. "You may or may not be exaggerating there, Max." Several of the others chuckled.
"Cecilia," he replied, although he was addressing them all, "I'm hoping that I'm _underestimating_ our chances."
"So do we all, Pegasus," Arthur Hawkins said, and a general nod went through the group.
"Well, then," Max replied, leaning back over the map, but he straightened again when he heard someone clearing his throat at the doorway behind him. The assembled company turned to the door, where a muscular, roughly cut blonde man now stood.
"Keith?" Max prompted. Cecilia's hand tightened on his shoulder.
"The Queliyg have sent a message to 'this warrior called Pegasus,'" Keith replied with a wry smile. "They're giving you one last chance to turn yourself in."
Max laughed. "Or they'll do what, shake their talons at me?" Cecilia rolled her eyes. "You tell those pasty featherbrains to go to Hades' frying pan, Keith." Keith nodded, tossed off a half-serious salute, and left.
"You are aware that they'll probably be sending you another 'last chance' next month," Arthur said, his mustache quirked slightly up to the side in a smile.
"Yeah," Max said in a deadpan, nodding. "I've got a subscription."
They stared at him a moment, their memory for such jokes faded by nine years of occupation. Then Arthur began to chuckle, and the rest burst out laughing soon after.
--
Maximillion Pegasus had been having strange dreams since the night before the Queliyg came, and they happened with such clarity and accuracy that he'd come to view them as premonitions.
Sometimes the dreams were about the ghostly avians themselves, the clearest being the first such dream he'd ever had.
Other dreams were about strange creatures and semi-human warriors which battled in the darkness, battles he often found himself absentmindedly sketching in his rare free time.
This dream, however, wasn't about the Queliyg or about creatures he'd never seen before. It seemed to be following a small boy, who Max somehow realized was older than he looked, a boy with with black and crimson hair and golden bangs. He had huge purple eyes and wore mostly black.
The sun was setting on grimy streets of a Japanese city, or at least it looked Japanese to Max, who had traveled the world with his father a few years before the invasion. The boy slid deftly through the wreckage of old buildings, a golden box hidden in his backpack. Max wasn't sure why, but that seemed important to him.
He was looking through the boy's eyes now. As he passed an alley, there was a crash and the sound of leather hitting flesh, as well as grunts of pain. The boy jumped and stared down the alley, trying to see what exactly was happening in the shadows.
Soon the shapes resolved themselves. An Enforcer, young for one but still huge, especially compared to the boy with multi-colored hair, was standing over a blonde elf, holding a blood encrusted leather belt. The elf was muscular, but it looked like he'd been letting the Enforcer beat him.
_The Enforcer owns him!_ Max realized with some horror. The trenchcoated boy seemed to realize it at the same time, and darted into the alley and positioned himself between the Enforcer and elf.
"STOP!" he yelled, but the Enforcer laughed at his soft voice.
"This elf _belongs_ to me, twerp!" the Enforcer said. "Why should I stop?"
"I know he belongs to you," the boy replied, "And that makes it even worse, you-- coward!"
The young Enforcer's eyes darkened with a deadlier malice. "Nobody calls Ushio a coward, Shrimp!" He raised the belt to strike the smaller boy.
Apparently the little one didn't care if he got beaten to a pulp. Either that or he was just a little too angry to think straight. He put his hands on his hips. "Well, if nobody calls Ushio a coward, then Ushio will never discover the truth, will he?"
_WHACK!!_ Ushio struck the boy across the face with a length of the belt. Max would've winced if he'd had a body in this dream.
Ushio apparently had a good arm. The boy went flying. Anger showing in his face, the elf drew himself up behind Ushio.
"That's enough, _Master,_" he said, picking up a length of pipe and holding it like a sword. Holding it high above his head, he charged Ushio and struck him to the ground with a blow on the neck.
Ushio seemed to have neck muscles of legendary proportions. He rolled to his feet and caught the elf's pipe with the belt. "Oh, so Kel isn't happy anymore, eh?" He jerked the pipe from Kel's hands. "Maybe you need another lesson, elf!"
Grabbing the pipe as it came toward him, Ushio swung it at Kel one- handed, striking the elf in the arm as Kel brought it up to protect his face. Ushio then struck Kel in the chest, barely missing his solar plexus, and the elf's knees gave way.
The little teenager leaped onto Ushio's arm and ripped away a length of sleeve from the Enforcer's uniform. Ushio actually shrieked as the boy's teeth sank into his flesh.
If he could have, Max would've cheered. _Go, whoever you are!_
Ushio grabbed the boy by the throat, prying him loose. With a powerful shove, he sent Kel up against the wall with a loud crack, then tossed the wild-haired boy into his lap.
Kel's eyes were cloudy now, and his breathing shallow, the blonde head sank onto his chest. Ushio laughed.
"He was worthless anyway," he said, swaggering away. "Looks like I've won, kid."
The boy scrambled off Kel's lap, then took him by the shoulders and began shaking him gently. "Kel? Kel!"
Kel's eyes opened, just a crack. He murmured something.
"Why did I try to help you? I had to! I'm just-- sorry..." he began to sob as Kel lapsed into unconciousness. "Kel!"
The golden box began to glow through the fabric of the backpack, but the boy didn't seem to notice. Max, who was once again viewing the scene as a seperate entity, suddenly felt something yank on him. "PEGASUS!" a deep voice shouted.
"Ack!!" Max yelped, sitting up in bed. His wife stirred.
"Wha?" Cecilia asked, sitting up beside him. "Dreaming again?"
Max nodded. "But this one was different," he said as she began probing for the knots in his shoulders. He told her about the strange boy, and Kel and Ushio.
Cecilia wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders comfortingly. They sat like that a few moments. "What do you think it means?" she asked finally. She knew all these dreams meant things to him.
"I'm not sure, yet." He brought his hand up to caress a few golden locks. "Maybe it doesn't _mean_ anything. Maybe I was 'only' seeing something that was just happening." Their eyes met. "I do know one thing, Ceci," he said. "Something is _going_ to happen, and it's going to change everything."
--
Yugi struggled with Kel's heavy body, dragging him down to the old subway station. Tears still ran down his cheeks. Kel was dying, and he knew it.
He didn't know what to do, but keep the streeties and animal scavengers away from the elf's body. And maybe make him as comfortable as possible.
Down in the subways, he managed to find what used to be some sort of office. Laying Kel down on the floor, he then started to put his backpack under Kel's head.
"Wait," he realized, and took the golden box out. "This wouldn't exactly be comfortable to lay one's head on, I suppose." He finished trying to get Kel settled, then sat down in a hard chair and opened the box.
He'd taken Seto's advice and looped a chain through the largest piece. Now, all he had to do was fit the puzzle within the box together.
He laughed at himself, toying around with the pieces. _Yeah, right._
--
Two pieces came together. A thought formed. Not much of one, but it was there. What?
A third piece joined the other two. _ How interesting. Didn't I used to have a body? No, no, kid, that piece goes there, and that one goes there._ Calm. _That's right._
_Wait a second... What is this place? Who is this person? Why can't I remember anything but which piece goes where?_
The pieces were coming together faster now, forming a pyramid... _I'm as much a puzzle to myself as the Millenium Puzzle itself is to this boy!_ came the thought, a little panicked.
"One more piece, one more piece..." the boy muttered, entranced. He searched around for it. "Oh, no."
_You left it under somebody's head, kid._ The boy, as if hearing him, looked over at the prone elf on the floor. _Hey, I know ONE thing, anyway. That's an elf. Yay._
The boy gently moved the elf's head. There was blood in his blonde hair. Carefully, the boy hunted through the bag under the elf's head.
Soon, he found the piece. He stared at it for a couple seconds, gently replacing the elf's head.
_That's not a real eye, kid, trying to have a staring contest with it is kind of pointless._
Once again, as if hearing him, the boy stood, and walked back to the Puzzle. As if a little afraid, he slowly eased the last piece in.
_Finally!!_ the thought came, and suddenly his essence was pulled toward him, and like with the first pieces, two became one.
_His name is Yugi..._
--
Yugi pulled the chain over his head, only he was no longer Yugi. With sharp violet eyes he looked upon Kel, and Kel, stirring for the first time in several hours, looked back.
"What happened to the other you?" the elf croaked.
"Don't worry about it," "Yugi" replied, kneeling beside him. He began murmuring in a chanting tone, and Kel's eyes widened as he recognized the words. "Sleep," the strong voice commanded, and once again darkness enveloped him, only it was a different, less dangerous darkness than before.
"Yugi" stood. "Now to find a certain Enforcer," he growled, leaving Kel hidden in the office. "And teach him a lesson he won't soon forget..."
--
Ushio strolled down the dark streets, humming to himself. He loved night patrol. Little did he know, that was about to change...
"Uuushioohhhhhh..." a deep, powerful voice intoned mockingly, beckoning him.
"Wha? Who's there?" Ushio stared around, suddenly nervous.
"Over here, Ushio," the voice called from a dark alley, hypnotic and dangerous.
Ushio approached the alley cautiously, then started in surprise when he saw who was calling him. "Hey! You-- You're that twerp from before! You owe me an elven slave, punk!"
The dark figure smirked. "I owe you nothing... unless, perhaps, you'd like to play a little game?"
Ushio's brow furrowed in confusion. "A _game?_ What are you? Some kinda nutcase?"
One brow raised over the sharp violet eyes. "Are you afraid?"
"_Afraid?!?_" Ushio remembered the jabs from before. "I told you, I'm no coward!"
An almost evil smile spread across the other's features. "Then let the game... begin."
At these words, darkness suddenly enveloped them both. Ushio yelped in shock and fear. "What the-- what's goin' on?!"
"The rules are as follows," the mocking voice called from somewhere above Ushio. "And they are very simple: Roll the dice, and whomever ends with the highest total wins. You should understand that well enough." Something small dropped into Ushio's hands.
"I can't even _see_ the dice!" Ushio protested. "How will I know what I got?"
He was answered with a laugh. "The Summoned Skull will tell you."
"The Summoned _what?!_" Something growled-- or purred?-- in the darkness.
"I roll first," the voice said. Something clinked.
"_Three and four,_" a gravelly voice snarled.
Ushio's hands shook. "Forget this!!" he squeaked.
"_ROLL!_" Summoned Skull thundered. The dice fumbled out of Ushio's hands and struck the floor. "_Snake eyesss...._" Was it just Ushio's imagination, or had he just heard something licking its lips? If it _had_ lips...
The master, Ushio was sure he was the creature's master, laughed softly. "Care for another round, before he gets hungry?"
"_Too late, Pharaoh,_" the Summoned Skull hissed almost pleasantly. "Pharaoh" laughed.
"Just indulge us, would you?" he asked, mirth flavoring his tone. He got an affirmative purr. "My turn again."
Clink, clink. Ushio could feel sweat running down his face. "_Six and one._"
The sound of "Pharaoh's" voice had come from right in front of him! Maybe he could get out of this crazy mess! Wild hope fueling him, Ushio rushed forward, found a handful of cloth, and drew back his fist to strike.
"You have broken the rules!" "Pharaoh's" voice intoned angrily, like a furious god.
A heavy-- paw?-- smashed into Ushio's chest and separated him from the master. "_RULEBREAKER!!_" Summoned Skull shrieked.
A light flooded their game site, a light that emanated from an eye symbol on "Pharaoh's" forehead. Ushio screamed as he saw what the Summoned Skull was.
"Pharaoh's" expression was dark with his fury. "Sic' 'im," he said to the demon.
Summoned Skull seemed to grin. With a howl of hunger and rage, he stalked lithely toward Ushio.
"No, WAIT!" Ushio screamed, putting his hands up futilely. The alley reappeared, but Summoned Skull did not vanish. His wings spread, casting their shadow onto the Enforcer.
The dark figure smiled, turning his back to leave. "You should not have broken the rules," he said over his shoulder. "Summoned Skull has a very authoritarian streak when his belly's empty."
A high, terrified scream lifted into the night sky.
--
Yugi jerked awake. Kel was staring at him, the cloud gone from his eyes, his wounds healed, although the blood still stained his clothing and hair.
"Kel?" Yugi asked. "What happened? I was afraid you were going to-- to--"
"Die?" Kel looked thoughtful. "I was hoping you might know what happened." He sat up wearily. "You don't remember?"
"Remember what?" Yugi asked, confused. The elf smiled.
"Never mind." He heaved himself to his feet, then stared at Yugi. "I owe you so much, and yet I still don't know your name."
"Oh! My name's Yugi Moto!" Yugi jumped to his feet. "And you don't owe me anything, Kel, I was doing what I had to do! It was right!"
Kel shrugged, then paused, as if his shoulder was sore. "I see. Are you trying to get rid of me?"
Yugi blinked. "I beg your pardon?" He thought about it a second. "Well, no. I don't suppose it'd be very safe for you aboveground anymore."
Now the elf looked confused. "We are... underground?"
Yugi nodded. "You don't know all that much about Earth, do you."
Kel shook his head. "A lot of us have stayed up in orbit the past nine of your years, Yugi. I was only brought down about a year ago, and being Ushio's slave means you don't get out much."
"Well," Yugi said, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the office. After a moment, he went back and retrieved his backpack, which was now squished from having Kel's head on it.
"Well," he restarted, "Before the Queliyg, humans used tunnels as modes of mass transit under the city."
"Wouldn't it be crowded?" Kel asked innocently.
Yugi laughed as he realized the elf misunderstood. "I hear it was, but probably not in the way you're thinking, Kel." He pointed at the track before hopping down. "They used big metal boxes that glided along that track there. These 'trains' went very fast, although hardly as fast as a Queliyg's spaceship."
"Trains," Kel said, sounding out the unfamiliar word.
"I'll show you the wreck of one later," Yugi said. "C'mon. For some reason I'm hungry!"
"Where are we going?"
Yugi grinned. "I'm taking you to Sub-Town, Kel."
"What is Sub-Town?"
"Right now, it's the home of the local Japanese Resistance."
--
End Chapter One. So, what'd you think? ^_^
Disclaimer: WE DO _NOT_ OWN YUGIOH!!! JUST TO GET THAT _PERFECTLY_ CLEAR!!!
--
This is dedicated to someone we will name as "Mr. T," because he practically wrote half of it.
--
Flame us, we dare you. Muhahaha.
--
When in the Hour of Deepest Need
--
Chapter One: After the Fire
--
Yugi Moto picked carefully through the desolate streets of Domino. Like that of most of the poorer humans, his garb seemed to have been cobbled together from whatever could be found so that it would last and be as warm as possible.
Mostly, he wore black, like quite a few of the less easily oppressed, under a somewhat worn blue trenchcoat. He scuffed his leather boots along slowly to make himself appear less of a threat.
Close to his chest he clutched a golden box covered in strange symbols. He knew he had to hide its glint as well as possible. Queliyg themselves didn't see any value in gold, but many Enforcers were human now, as the elven didn't seem to make very good bullies. Rare metals still held importance in the eyes of some humans.
Yugi stiffened as he heard a human voice chuckle behind him. "Uh- oh..."
"Well, well, what have we here?" the deep voice said. Yugi turned slowly to see an extremely ugly man standing there. From the looks of him, he was actually a streetie. His small eyes darted to the box cradled in Yugi's arms. "Whazzat? Hand it here!"
Yugi clutched it closer. "I-I can't!"
The big man took a step closer. "Can't, or won't? C'mon, Shrimp!"
"He won't," said a hard, angry voice from behind the streetie. "He doesn't have to listen to some brainless street dog like you."
The streetie turned, and Yugi caught a glimpse of the boy who'd come to his rescue. "Seto!" The streetie looked back.
"You two know each other?" he asked.
Seto looked annoyed. "What kind of an idiot are you? I come to his rescue, he says my name, of course we know each other!"
The streetie blinked at him. Yugi giggled. "Lis'sen, 'Slim,' I'm a lot bigger and stronger than you. How about you just--"
"How about you just take a lie-down?" With a swift movement that was so powerful it was terrifying, Seto lay the man on his back. He bent down and grabbed him by the shirt-collar. "And maybe later rethink how you want to go about existing," he growled into the streetie's face. "D'you want to live, or d'you want to live free?"
The streetie's eyes widened. "You're one of them rebels, ain't you!"
Seto let out a groan of exasperation. "Why, yes, Mr. Obvious!!" he thundered, throwing the streetie into a nearby waste-disposal unit.
Yugi burst out laughing as Seto wiped his hands disgustedly on his jeans and walked to Yugi's side. The rising sun began to glint through a hole in a nearby apartment building.
Seto grinned, grabbing Yugi and steering him toward the nearest subway entrance. "We'd better get out of the light. Did you find it?"
Yugi produced the golden box so Seto could see it. "Yup! Can you believe it survived the fire?"
Seto's eyes saddened just a little. "I'm really sorry that it had to, Yugi."
Yugi shrugged as they entered the ruined subway. "Grandpa knew the consequences of sheltering you and your brother. He's been doing that sort of thing ever since my father was killed."
The little fifteen year old then jumped subjects completely. "The only thing that was damaged was the string." Yugi made a face. "It was burned to a crisp, I'll have to clean out all that soot..."
"You could replace it with a chain," Seto suggested.
"Maybe," Yugi replied, thinking.
Seto jumped onto the useless tracks, his black sleeveless trenchcoat billowing behind him like a cape. He turned to help Yugi down.
"Just take the box a second," Yugi started to say, but halfway through his sentence he realized that Seto had already grabbed him and set him gently on the concrete.
The much taller boy smirked. "You were saying?"
"Darn you."
They turned at the sound of someone running toward them. "Joey," Seto said as the blonde stopped before them, panting heavily, "What have I told you about learning to be a little _quieter?_"
Joey glared at him. "Darn it, you're always on my case!! Wha' gives you the right to tell me how ta do things, anyway?!?"
Seto grinned evilly. "I'm the one wearing iron-studded wrist- guards!" he said, brandishing them menacingly.
"Guys," Yugi cautioned. This looked like another one-sided brawl brewing. "I'll tell Grandpa you were fighting."
They both relaxed. "As if the Old Man wouldn't be able to tell anyway," Seto said, using the words "Old Man" like a title.
Yugi shook his head. Seto and some of the other younger rebels had taken to calling Solomon Moto that as if in reverence. They all knew it drove him crazy, though.
"Joey, where's Tristan?" Usually the two were never apart. The answer soon came, though, when Tristan came out of nowhere behind Joey.
"Right here!" he said, also panting.
"And being a lot quieter than Joey, too," Seto noted, earning a nasty look from Joey.
"I din't come ta meet you guys so you could diss me, Seto!"
"Then why _did_ you come to meet us?" Seto asked snidely.
Tristan answered. "Mr. Moto wanted us to make sure you were okay."
Yugi yawned. "We're okay. Except that I'm exhausted. I'm not used to being up all night like that!"
Seto grinned, heading in the direction of "home." He stopped, to imply that they should be following him. "You'll get used to it, Yugi. It's not safe in the daylight for you anymore."
--
Meanwhile, over in America, a great American hero and his compatriots were holding a meeting deep in the man-made caves under Texas. Some of his companions were younger than he, some older, but he was the obvious leader there.
An old roadmap had been tacked onto a large table, alterations made where the Queliyg had changed the corresponding landscape. It was on one of these alterations that the gathered men and women concentrated.
"If we play our cards right," the tall, lean man was saying, tucking a strand of long platinum hair behind his ear and tapping the map with a pencil, "We can hit those dirty birds where it hurts and keep food in our people for a month at least, not rationing."
His wife put a hand on his shoulder and leaned against him, smiling. "You may or may not be exaggerating there, Max." Several of the others chuckled.
"Cecilia," he replied, although he was addressing them all, "I'm hoping that I'm _underestimating_ our chances."
"So do we all, Pegasus," Arthur Hawkins said, and a general nod went through the group.
"Well, then," Max replied, leaning back over the map, but he straightened again when he heard someone clearing his throat at the doorway behind him. The assembled company turned to the door, where a muscular, roughly cut blonde man now stood.
"Keith?" Max prompted. Cecilia's hand tightened on his shoulder.
"The Queliyg have sent a message to 'this warrior called Pegasus,'" Keith replied with a wry smile. "They're giving you one last chance to turn yourself in."
Max laughed. "Or they'll do what, shake their talons at me?" Cecilia rolled her eyes. "You tell those pasty featherbrains to go to Hades' frying pan, Keith." Keith nodded, tossed off a half-serious salute, and left.
"You are aware that they'll probably be sending you another 'last chance' next month," Arthur said, his mustache quirked slightly up to the side in a smile.
"Yeah," Max said in a deadpan, nodding. "I've got a subscription."
They stared at him a moment, their memory for such jokes faded by nine years of occupation. Then Arthur began to chuckle, and the rest burst out laughing soon after.
--
Maximillion Pegasus had been having strange dreams since the night before the Queliyg came, and they happened with such clarity and accuracy that he'd come to view them as premonitions.
Sometimes the dreams were about the ghostly avians themselves, the clearest being the first such dream he'd ever had.
Other dreams were about strange creatures and semi-human warriors which battled in the darkness, battles he often found himself absentmindedly sketching in his rare free time.
This dream, however, wasn't about the Queliyg or about creatures he'd never seen before. It seemed to be following a small boy, who Max somehow realized was older than he looked, a boy with with black and crimson hair and golden bangs. He had huge purple eyes and wore mostly black.
The sun was setting on grimy streets of a Japanese city, or at least it looked Japanese to Max, who had traveled the world with his father a few years before the invasion. The boy slid deftly through the wreckage of old buildings, a golden box hidden in his backpack. Max wasn't sure why, but that seemed important to him.
He was looking through the boy's eyes now. As he passed an alley, there was a crash and the sound of leather hitting flesh, as well as grunts of pain. The boy jumped and stared down the alley, trying to see what exactly was happening in the shadows.
Soon the shapes resolved themselves. An Enforcer, young for one but still huge, especially compared to the boy with multi-colored hair, was standing over a blonde elf, holding a blood encrusted leather belt. The elf was muscular, but it looked like he'd been letting the Enforcer beat him.
_The Enforcer owns him!_ Max realized with some horror. The trenchcoated boy seemed to realize it at the same time, and darted into the alley and positioned himself between the Enforcer and elf.
"STOP!" he yelled, but the Enforcer laughed at his soft voice.
"This elf _belongs_ to me, twerp!" the Enforcer said. "Why should I stop?"
"I know he belongs to you," the boy replied, "And that makes it even worse, you-- coward!"
The young Enforcer's eyes darkened with a deadlier malice. "Nobody calls Ushio a coward, Shrimp!" He raised the belt to strike the smaller boy.
Apparently the little one didn't care if he got beaten to a pulp. Either that or he was just a little too angry to think straight. He put his hands on his hips. "Well, if nobody calls Ushio a coward, then Ushio will never discover the truth, will he?"
_WHACK!!_ Ushio struck the boy across the face with a length of the belt. Max would've winced if he'd had a body in this dream.
Ushio apparently had a good arm. The boy went flying. Anger showing in his face, the elf drew himself up behind Ushio.
"That's enough, _Master,_" he said, picking up a length of pipe and holding it like a sword. Holding it high above his head, he charged Ushio and struck him to the ground with a blow on the neck.
Ushio seemed to have neck muscles of legendary proportions. He rolled to his feet and caught the elf's pipe with the belt. "Oh, so Kel isn't happy anymore, eh?" He jerked the pipe from Kel's hands. "Maybe you need another lesson, elf!"
Grabbing the pipe as it came toward him, Ushio swung it at Kel one- handed, striking the elf in the arm as Kel brought it up to protect his face. Ushio then struck Kel in the chest, barely missing his solar plexus, and the elf's knees gave way.
The little teenager leaped onto Ushio's arm and ripped away a length of sleeve from the Enforcer's uniform. Ushio actually shrieked as the boy's teeth sank into his flesh.
If he could have, Max would've cheered. _Go, whoever you are!_
Ushio grabbed the boy by the throat, prying him loose. With a powerful shove, he sent Kel up against the wall with a loud crack, then tossed the wild-haired boy into his lap.
Kel's eyes were cloudy now, and his breathing shallow, the blonde head sank onto his chest. Ushio laughed.
"He was worthless anyway," he said, swaggering away. "Looks like I've won, kid."
The boy scrambled off Kel's lap, then took him by the shoulders and began shaking him gently. "Kel? Kel!"
Kel's eyes opened, just a crack. He murmured something.
"Why did I try to help you? I had to! I'm just-- sorry..." he began to sob as Kel lapsed into unconciousness. "Kel!"
The golden box began to glow through the fabric of the backpack, but the boy didn't seem to notice. Max, who was once again viewing the scene as a seperate entity, suddenly felt something yank on him. "PEGASUS!" a deep voice shouted.
"Ack!!" Max yelped, sitting up in bed. His wife stirred.
"Wha?" Cecilia asked, sitting up beside him. "Dreaming again?"
Max nodded. "But this one was different," he said as she began probing for the knots in his shoulders. He told her about the strange boy, and Kel and Ushio.
Cecilia wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders comfortingly. They sat like that a few moments. "What do you think it means?" she asked finally. She knew all these dreams meant things to him.
"I'm not sure, yet." He brought his hand up to caress a few golden locks. "Maybe it doesn't _mean_ anything. Maybe I was 'only' seeing something that was just happening." Their eyes met. "I do know one thing, Ceci," he said. "Something is _going_ to happen, and it's going to change everything."
--
Yugi struggled with Kel's heavy body, dragging him down to the old subway station. Tears still ran down his cheeks. Kel was dying, and he knew it.
He didn't know what to do, but keep the streeties and animal scavengers away from the elf's body. And maybe make him as comfortable as possible.
Down in the subways, he managed to find what used to be some sort of office. Laying Kel down on the floor, he then started to put his backpack under Kel's head.
"Wait," he realized, and took the golden box out. "This wouldn't exactly be comfortable to lay one's head on, I suppose." He finished trying to get Kel settled, then sat down in a hard chair and opened the box.
He'd taken Seto's advice and looped a chain through the largest piece. Now, all he had to do was fit the puzzle within the box together.
He laughed at himself, toying around with the pieces. _Yeah, right._
--
Two pieces came together. A thought formed. Not much of one, but it was there. What?
A third piece joined the other two. _ How interesting. Didn't I used to have a body? No, no, kid, that piece goes there, and that one goes there._ Calm. _That's right._
_Wait a second... What is this place? Who is this person? Why can't I remember anything but which piece goes where?_
The pieces were coming together faster now, forming a pyramid... _I'm as much a puzzle to myself as the Millenium Puzzle itself is to this boy!_ came the thought, a little panicked.
"One more piece, one more piece..." the boy muttered, entranced. He searched around for it. "Oh, no."
_You left it under somebody's head, kid._ The boy, as if hearing him, looked over at the prone elf on the floor. _Hey, I know ONE thing, anyway. That's an elf. Yay._
The boy gently moved the elf's head. There was blood in his blonde hair. Carefully, the boy hunted through the bag under the elf's head.
Soon, he found the piece. He stared at it for a couple seconds, gently replacing the elf's head.
_That's not a real eye, kid, trying to have a staring contest with it is kind of pointless._
Once again, as if hearing him, the boy stood, and walked back to the Puzzle. As if a little afraid, he slowly eased the last piece in.
_Finally!!_ the thought came, and suddenly his essence was pulled toward him, and like with the first pieces, two became one.
_His name is Yugi..._
--
Yugi pulled the chain over his head, only he was no longer Yugi. With sharp violet eyes he looked upon Kel, and Kel, stirring for the first time in several hours, looked back.
"What happened to the other you?" the elf croaked.
"Don't worry about it," "Yugi" replied, kneeling beside him. He began murmuring in a chanting tone, and Kel's eyes widened as he recognized the words. "Sleep," the strong voice commanded, and once again darkness enveloped him, only it was a different, less dangerous darkness than before.
"Yugi" stood. "Now to find a certain Enforcer," he growled, leaving Kel hidden in the office. "And teach him a lesson he won't soon forget..."
--
Ushio strolled down the dark streets, humming to himself. He loved night patrol. Little did he know, that was about to change...
"Uuushioohhhhhh..." a deep, powerful voice intoned mockingly, beckoning him.
"Wha? Who's there?" Ushio stared around, suddenly nervous.
"Over here, Ushio," the voice called from a dark alley, hypnotic and dangerous.
Ushio approached the alley cautiously, then started in surprise when he saw who was calling him. "Hey! You-- You're that twerp from before! You owe me an elven slave, punk!"
The dark figure smirked. "I owe you nothing... unless, perhaps, you'd like to play a little game?"
Ushio's brow furrowed in confusion. "A _game?_ What are you? Some kinda nutcase?"
One brow raised over the sharp violet eyes. "Are you afraid?"
"_Afraid?!?_" Ushio remembered the jabs from before. "I told you, I'm no coward!"
An almost evil smile spread across the other's features. "Then let the game... begin."
At these words, darkness suddenly enveloped them both. Ushio yelped in shock and fear. "What the-- what's goin' on?!"
"The rules are as follows," the mocking voice called from somewhere above Ushio. "And they are very simple: Roll the dice, and whomever ends with the highest total wins. You should understand that well enough." Something small dropped into Ushio's hands.
"I can't even _see_ the dice!" Ushio protested. "How will I know what I got?"
He was answered with a laugh. "The Summoned Skull will tell you."
"The Summoned _what?!_" Something growled-- or purred?-- in the darkness.
"I roll first," the voice said. Something clinked.
"_Three and four,_" a gravelly voice snarled.
Ushio's hands shook. "Forget this!!" he squeaked.
"_ROLL!_" Summoned Skull thundered. The dice fumbled out of Ushio's hands and struck the floor. "_Snake eyesss...._" Was it just Ushio's imagination, or had he just heard something licking its lips? If it _had_ lips...
The master, Ushio was sure he was the creature's master, laughed softly. "Care for another round, before he gets hungry?"
"_Too late, Pharaoh,_" the Summoned Skull hissed almost pleasantly. "Pharaoh" laughed.
"Just indulge us, would you?" he asked, mirth flavoring his tone. He got an affirmative purr. "My turn again."
Clink, clink. Ushio could feel sweat running down his face. "_Six and one._"
The sound of "Pharaoh's" voice had come from right in front of him! Maybe he could get out of this crazy mess! Wild hope fueling him, Ushio rushed forward, found a handful of cloth, and drew back his fist to strike.
"You have broken the rules!" "Pharaoh's" voice intoned angrily, like a furious god.
A heavy-- paw?-- smashed into Ushio's chest and separated him from the master. "_RULEBREAKER!!_" Summoned Skull shrieked.
A light flooded their game site, a light that emanated from an eye symbol on "Pharaoh's" forehead. Ushio screamed as he saw what the Summoned Skull was.
"Pharaoh's" expression was dark with his fury. "Sic' 'im," he said to the demon.
Summoned Skull seemed to grin. With a howl of hunger and rage, he stalked lithely toward Ushio.
"No, WAIT!" Ushio screamed, putting his hands up futilely. The alley reappeared, but Summoned Skull did not vanish. His wings spread, casting their shadow onto the Enforcer.
The dark figure smiled, turning his back to leave. "You should not have broken the rules," he said over his shoulder. "Summoned Skull has a very authoritarian streak when his belly's empty."
A high, terrified scream lifted into the night sky.
--
Yugi jerked awake. Kel was staring at him, the cloud gone from his eyes, his wounds healed, although the blood still stained his clothing and hair.
"Kel?" Yugi asked. "What happened? I was afraid you were going to-- to--"
"Die?" Kel looked thoughtful. "I was hoping you might know what happened." He sat up wearily. "You don't remember?"
"Remember what?" Yugi asked, confused. The elf smiled.
"Never mind." He heaved himself to his feet, then stared at Yugi. "I owe you so much, and yet I still don't know your name."
"Oh! My name's Yugi Moto!" Yugi jumped to his feet. "And you don't owe me anything, Kel, I was doing what I had to do! It was right!"
Kel shrugged, then paused, as if his shoulder was sore. "I see. Are you trying to get rid of me?"
Yugi blinked. "I beg your pardon?" He thought about it a second. "Well, no. I don't suppose it'd be very safe for you aboveground anymore."
Now the elf looked confused. "We are... underground?"
Yugi nodded. "You don't know all that much about Earth, do you."
Kel shook his head. "A lot of us have stayed up in orbit the past nine of your years, Yugi. I was only brought down about a year ago, and being Ushio's slave means you don't get out much."
"Well," Yugi said, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the office. After a moment, he went back and retrieved his backpack, which was now squished from having Kel's head on it.
"Well," he restarted, "Before the Queliyg, humans used tunnels as modes of mass transit under the city."
"Wouldn't it be crowded?" Kel asked innocently.
Yugi laughed as he realized the elf misunderstood. "I hear it was, but probably not in the way you're thinking, Kel." He pointed at the track before hopping down. "They used big metal boxes that glided along that track there. These 'trains' went very fast, although hardly as fast as a Queliyg's spaceship."
"Trains," Kel said, sounding out the unfamiliar word.
"I'll show you the wreck of one later," Yugi said. "C'mon. For some reason I'm hungry!"
"Where are we going?"
Yugi grinned. "I'm taking you to Sub-Town, Kel."
"What is Sub-Town?"
"Right now, it's the home of the local Japanese Resistance."
--
End Chapter One. So, what'd you think? ^_^