Disclaimer: We do not own Yugioh. If we owned Yugioh, there might be giant
robots. Silver doesn't know why, but Golden and Mr. T do.
Dedicated to Mr. T. We noticed this morning (during the first episode with Exodia Necross) that Gozaburo is actually shorter than Seto. In chapter 7, where Kaiba and Seto are fighting, Kaiba is actually larger than Seto. Our explaination for this is that he's a cyborg anyway, and thus in this universe really is a goliath. Just to stem any future questions.
Griffenfire: Don't worry, we knew it was you.
Silvia Viridian: (proud beaming) Thanks. Glad you enjoy it.
Cherrazz: Gee, is this much praise really that good for us?
Chapter 14: A Really Gross Chapter.
No, Seriously.
Gozaburo Kaiba stared icily out at the storm from his window in the new Queylig command center in Domino. In the plastiglass, his reflection glared back at him, with one human eye... and one red, cybernetic optic sensor. Lightening flashed, and he snarled with the thunder that rumbled up soon after.
The door to his quarters opened to reveal the lank figure of his son. "Father?" Noa asked, his wretched accent tainting the word. Kaiba scowled.
"What do you want?" he demanded, injecting all the venom he could into the question.
Noa did not flinch. "Just to say that I'm sorry... and I forgive you."
Kaiba didn't turn to look at him. "What did I do?"
Noa's eyes widened in surprise, and then he turned his back on his father, hand ready to close the door. "Maybe Ryin was right, Father. You sold me and sent me away for nine years... You never missed or mourned for me. And when I finally return, you treat me like a stranger."
"You are a stranger," Kaiba replied, listening to the hush of the closing door.
Domino: SubTown
Yugi lay in his bench-turned-bed, staring at the ceiling. Some of the rebels had been giving him a wide berth ever since the destruction of Kaiba's old estate, afraid to cross him, even though he'd assured him that he never called out the monsters unless he needed them.
Thank Ra for Seto, Joey and them, right Yugi? Yami said sympathetically within his mind.
"Who is Ra?" Yugi asked out loud, staring up.
"I don't know, who is Ra?" Joey's voice came. Yugi sat up to see the taller boy peering in at him. "Lots of stuff ta think about, Yugi?"
Yugi nodded, getting up and walking over to his friend. Joey put his hands on his hips, grinning down at him amiably. "I kinda wish I could do that summoning thing. That dragon you flew Seto out with, wow..." It seemed to take him a moment to come up with the words he wanted. "When I looked at it, I felt... connected, you know? Like there was a little part of me, flying up there with you and that dragon."
Yugi nodded. "I understand. Is Bakura back yet?"
Joey shook his head. "Haven't seen him since he trotted off oh-so- cheerfully this morning. Cheerio and all that, wot?"
Yugi giggled. "Don't make fun of him, Joey."
Joey cocked his head. "Pardon, Guv'nor." Yugi snorted and punched him lightly in the arm. "Right. Anyway, Seto's been slimming down his holoprojecter, and he's started trying to make more of them. He says that even if the rest of us can't summon, we may as well look like we can."
Yugi nodded, a grin sneaking across his face. "I get what he's thinking. The Queylig won't be able to tell for sure which ones are real and which ones aren't, so they won't be able to take the chance that it's only an image."
Joey shrugged. "That's the idea, anyway. We're just lucky Max decided to leave some of his sketchbooks with us."
Bakura stalked through the old sewers and subway systems, his white hair covered in a black hood. Anyone who might have looked at the scattered open places he walked through would have only seen a flicker of a shadow, a wraith in the stormy night.
But there really was nobody to look. The smarter denizens were probably at home, asleep. The streeties would have gathered in various abandoned buildings for shelter. He should have been alone, but for Kekatsu.
I sensed something this morning, Kekatsu muttered in the back of his mind. Something intense.
Bakura nodded internally, gliding silently up the subway exit and out into the thunder and rain. The wind was hard, but it didn't bother him any. "There's some sort of commotion down that alley over there," he muttered.
The dark shape moved closer, leaning for a better look.
It was a fight. Several Enforcers had apparently closed around a slight, raven haired woman, but she had her protectors. One, a tall, muscular man with black hair cut into a single ponytail on his otherwise bald head and ornate tatoos across one side of his face, had two of them in headlocks. The other, a teenaged boy with shoulder length blonde hair and determined purple eyes, had an ornate knife out, the handle made with intertwining cobras.
They have millenium items with them, Kekatsu said thoughtfully, the glowing Ring affirming his statement. And their fighting, clothing and hair are all in very old styles.
Quite an enigma, Bakura agreed. But I like how they fight.
Blood spattered into the air, interuppting the rain. So do I, Kekatsu replied with a chuckle. Now that one of the Enforcers lay dead, the others took the hint and ran. The two that the oldest member of the group held were set free, thrown from the alley with great force. Bakura stepped to the side to let them fly by.
"Who's there?" a clear voice called through the rain. Bakura froze, realizing they'd noticed him somehow. "Come on, unless you want a whooping like those jerks."
Bakura's eyebrows rose. He stepped into view, and the three relaxed as they saw that he was obviously not an Enforcer. "I'd like to see you fight me," he said, pulling his cloak open so they could see the Millenium Ring against his black shirt. It glimmered challengingly.
The three stared at him with wide eyes, and finally the youngest stepped forward.
"I am Marik Ishtar, a guardian of the Pharaoh's Memory. This is my protector and brother, Odion, and my sister, Ishizu. How did you come to own that?"
Bakura traced his hand along the golden ring, remembering. "My father brought it to me, long, long ago. I am Bakura." He paused. "What do you mean, guardian of the Pharaoh's memory?"
Marik reached into his cloak, replacing his blade, and drew out a blade of a different sort.
The Millenium Rod! Kekatsu whispered excitedly in Bakura's mind. Bakura, if you knew what this means!
"My father charged me to protect this, right before he died," Marik said softly. "I didn't deserve it... I had broken the rules and thus led the aliens right to us. But things... things might have been worse if it weren't for them."
Bakura tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "Explain."
Marik came closer to him, as though not wanting his family to hear. "If it weren't for them, I might have been the one that murdered him-- or at least, part of me, from the story I was told," he whispered softly at the taller teenager.
Gozaburo Kaiba sulked silently. There really was no other way to sulk, he mused. Sulking loudly was simply delegated to grumbling and whining. And Kaiba did not whine.
Moving stealthily down the corridors, he found the weapons storeroom.
"You can't keep me locked up forever, Ryin," he whispered in malicious glee. "And soon, you'll regret trying to chain me."
"Look, there's Bakura!" Téa suddenly said to Seto, Mokuba, Tristan and Serenity, pointing at the entrance to SubTown. "But-- Who are they?"
People began to gather to see the exotic newcomers. Whispering comments were made, how pretty the young woman was, how handsome the boy was, how intimidating the man was.
Yugi watched from farther back. "What do you think our ally has found?" he asked Yami aloud, suspecting Kekatsu was more behind it than Bakura himself. The blonde was scanning the crowd, finally looking up at the people behind them.
Yugi followed his gaze and their eyes locked, purple on purple. Lightening seemed to crackle between them as the blonde's eyes traveled to stare at Yugi's chest and widened as they came to rest on the Millenium Puzzle.
Yami seemed to shiver within him. Something very-- strange is hanging about them, Yugi.
Yugi slid to his feet and began to walk through the crowd, people hurrying to step out of his way as though afraid he would suddenly lose his temper and set something terrible on them.
"No need to be skittish, folks," he murmured as he nudged gently into the front. The blonde, who had been watching him this entire time, suddenly dropped to his knees and rested his forehead at Yugi's shifting feet. His companions followed suit.
Several people gasped, whether in surprise or amusement who knew. Yugi stared at them in some astonishment. Yami prodded at him silently.
"Uh... You may rise?"
The blonde looked up at him cautiously, then rose. "I am Marik Ishtar, and these are my brother and sister, Odion and Ishizu. We have come at your service."
Yugi backed away a few steps, looking around himself nervously.
The silence could have killed.
"Why Yugi, why now?" Seto asked Joey, half casually and half in irritation. The two wandered the streets of downtown Domino almost carelessly, a little away from the main group that was attempting to acclimate the Ishtars as best they could.
Joey shrugged. "Yuge has always been... different, Seto. Like you, but in his own way."
Blue eyes scanned the cracked and disrepaired road. It was like the rest of the city; worn, wrecked and uncared for. "How am I different?" came the question. "You stand out, too, if that's the truth."
"Then it's the truth," Joey replied. "I don't think I'd be fitting into a world without the Queylig either. I'm too rebellious."
Seto began to laugh... but pulled it back between his teeth when he noticed the crowd. "What do you think's going on over there?"
Joey squinted. "Looks panicked... Like something bad news." He turned to yell at the rest of the party. "Hey, you guys, come'n look at this!"
Yugi, Kel, Téa, Tristan and Bakura came, the Ishtars behind them.
"What is it?" Ishizu asked, her misty voice floating over to them. Joey pointed.
"Crowd." He glanced over to where Seto was supposed to be only to realize he was already headed to investigate. "Seto, wait up!" he yelled, running after him. The rest of the group followed.
The "party," so to speak, was apparently just wrapping up... but it was a gruesome sight.
Gozaburo Kaiba lay twisted in pain on the concrete, a smoking weapon at his side. Enforcers were assessing the damage, checking both on wounded and dead. A severely injured Queylig lay on the curb, her body both burnt and lacerated. Most of the other victims sported similar wounds.
Joey heard Ishizu and Téa both gasp as the other men in the party grimaced, and turned to Seto. "Come on, buddy, we don't want to be recognized--" He stared.
Seto was staring at the carnage, his teeth locked as if he was holding back his stomach. He swayed side to side vaguely, trying to keep his knees from buckling.
Joey looked back at the rest of the group, thinking fast to keep them from noticing this.
"You guys go ahead and get outta here, Yuge," he said, catching Yugi's attention. "Seto and me, we're-- we're gonna lag behind, see if we can't find out what's going on, you know."
Yugi stared at him questioningly. "Joey?"
The blonde gritted his teeth. "Go ON, Yuge," he urged. Seto didn't need anyone more than someone who already had known how his father was killed.
Yugi blinked, then nodded. "Fine." They were gone.
Joey grabbed Seto's arm and dragged him stumbling down an alley. "I've only seen you like this once, when I first met you," he said under his breath. "Best not to let you break down in plain sight."
Seto apparently had the same idea, because he fell to his knees and surrendered to his feelings (and his twisting stomach) as soon as the two reached shadow.
Joey leaned up against a wall and tried to look casual as his friend retched.
"I did NOT need that," Seto hissed painfully between clenched teeth, then he coughed, unable to get anything else out of his system. Joey managed to find a clean square of cloth in his black jacket and kneeled, putting it to Seto's face. Seto put his own hand over it and Joey let him wipe at his own mouth, watching the brunette's disgusted movements.
"I'll say you didn't," Joey replied, trying for a little levity, "You needed that breakfast to stay down."
Seto coughed again, but this time they were painful little laughs. "Stupid," he groaned.
Joey smiled slightly. "Sorry."
"You must think I'm an idiot."
"No, just traumatized."
"Help me up." Joey put an arm under Seto's and the two stood, Seto testing himself.
Joey watched him carefully. "Maybe if you got some water you'd feel better."
"Maybe if I got some water I'd just puke water," came the sarcastic answer. The two laughed and started home.
End Chapter Fourteen. What the #$ happened here, you ask? We ARE working on a prequel. It tends to follow the mood this chapter followed: Messy. Next chapter finds us all in America! And no worries, less gross stuff.
Dedicated to Mr. T. We noticed this morning (during the first episode with Exodia Necross) that Gozaburo is actually shorter than Seto. In chapter 7, where Kaiba and Seto are fighting, Kaiba is actually larger than Seto. Our explaination for this is that he's a cyborg anyway, and thus in this universe really is a goliath. Just to stem any future questions.
Griffenfire: Don't worry, we knew it was you.
Silvia Viridian: (proud beaming) Thanks. Glad you enjoy it.
Cherrazz: Gee, is this much praise really that good for us?
Chapter 14: A Really Gross Chapter.
No, Seriously.
Gozaburo Kaiba stared icily out at the storm from his window in the new Queylig command center in Domino. In the plastiglass, his reflection glared back at him, with one human eye... and one red, cybernetic optic sensor. Lightening flashed, and he snarled with the thunder that rumbled up soon after.
The door to his quarters opened to reveal the lank figure of his son. "Father?" Noa asked, his wretched accent tainting the word. Kaiba scowled.
"What do you want?" he demanded, injecting all the venom he could into the question.
Noa did not flinch. "Just to say that I'm sorry... and I forgive you."
Kaiba didn't turn to look at him. "What did I do?"
Noa's eyes widened in surprise, and then he turned his back on his father, hand ready to close the door. "Maybe Ryin was right, Father. You sold me and sent me away for nine years... You never missed or mourned for me. And when I finally return, you treat me like a stranger."
"You are a stranger," Kaiba replied, listening to the hush of the closing door.
Domino: SubTown
Yugi lay in his bench-turned-bed, staring at the ceiling. Some of the rebels had been giving him a wide berth ever since the destruction of Kaiba's old estate, afraid to cross him, even though he'd assured him that he never called out the monsters unless he needed them.
Thank Ra for Seto, Joey and them, right Yugi? Yami said sympathetically within his mind.
"Who is Ra?" Yugi asked out loud, staring up.
"I don't know, who is Ra?" Joey's voice came. Yugi sat up to see the taller boy peering in at him. "Lots of stuff ta think about, Yugi?"
Yugi nodded, getting up and walking over to his friend. Joey put his hands on his hips, grinning down at him amiably. "I kinda wish I could do that summoning thing. That dragon you flew Seto out with, wow..." It seemed to take him a moment to come up with the words he wanted. "When I looked at it, I felt... connected, you know? Like there was a little part of me, flying up there with you and that dragon."
Yugi nodded. "I understand. Is Bakura back yet?"
Joey shook his head. "Haven't seen him since he trotted off oh-so- cheerfully this morning. Cheerio and all that, wot?"
Yugi giggled. "Don't make fun of him, Joey."
Joey cocked his head. "Pardon, Guv'nor." Yugi snorted and punched him lightly in the arm. "Right. Anyway, Seto's been slimming down his holoprojecter, and he's started trying to make more of them. He says that even if the rest of us can't summon, we may as well look like we can."
Yugi nodded, a grin sneaking across his face. "I get what he's thinking. The Queylig won't be able to tell for sure which ones are real and which ones aren't, so they won't be able to take the chance that it's only an image."
Joey shrugged. "That's the idea, anyway. We're just lucky Max decided to leave some of his sketchbooks with us."
Bakura stalked through the old sewers and subway systems, his white hair covered in a black hood. Anyone who might have looked at the scattered open places he walked through would have only seen a flicker of a shadow, a wraith in the stormy night.
But there really was nobody to look. The smarter denizens were probably at home, asleep. The streeties would have gathered in various abandoned buildings for shelter. He should have been alone, but for Kekatsu.
I sensed something this morning, Kekatsu muttered in the back of his mind. Something intense.
Bakura nodded internally, gliding silently up the subway exit and out into the thunder and rain. The wind was hard, but it didn't bother him any. "There's some sort of commotion down that alley over there," he muttered.
The dark shape moved closer, leaning for a better look.
It was a fight. Several Enforcers had apparently closed around a slight, raven haired woman, but she had her protectors. One, a tall, muscular man with black hair cut into a single ponytail on his otherwise bald head and ornate tatoos across one side of his face, had two of them in headlocks. The other, a teenaged boy with shoulder length blonde hair and determined purple eyes, had an ornate knife out, the handle made with intertwining cobras.
They have millenium items with them, Kekatsu said thoughtfully, the glowing Ring affirming his statement. And their fighting, clothing and hair are all in very old styles.
Quite an enigma, Bakura agreed. But I like how they fight.
Blood spattered into the air, interuppting the rain. So do I, Kekatsu replied with a chuckle. Now that one of the Enforcers lay dead, the others took the hint and ran. The two that the oldest member of the group held were set free, thrown from the alley with great force. Bakura stepped to the side to let them fly by.
"Who's there?" a clear voice called through the rain. Bakura froze, realizing they'd noticed him somehow. "Come on, unless you want a whooping like those jerks."
Bakura's eyebrows rose. He stepped into view, and the three relaxed as they saw that he was obviously not an Enforcer. "I'd like to see you fight me," he said, pulling his cloak open so they could see the Millenium Ring against his black shirt. It glimmered challengingly.
The three stared at him with wide eyes, and finally the youngest stepped forward.
"I am Marik Ishtar, a guardian of the Pharaoh's Memory. This is my protector and brother, Odion, and my sister, Ishizu. How did you come to own that?"
Bakura traced his hand along the golden ring, remembering. "My father brought it to me, long, long ago. I am Bakura." He paused. "What do you mean, guardian of the Pharaoh's memory?"
Marik reached into his cloak, replacing his blade, and drew out a blade of a different sort.
The Millenium Rod! Kekatsu whispered excitedly in Bakura's mind. Bakura, if you knew what this means!
"My father charged me to protect this, right before he died," Marik said softly. "I didn't deserve it... I had broken the rules and thus led the aliens right to us. But things... things might have been worse if it weren't for them."
Bakura tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "Explain."
Marik came closer to him, as though not wanting his family to hear. "If it weren't for them, I might have been the one that murdered him-- or at least, part of me, from the story I was told," he whispered softly at the taller teenager.
Gozaburo Kaiba sulked silently. There really was no other way to sulk, he mused. Sulking loudly was simply delegated to grumbling and whining. And Kaiba did not whine.
Moving stealthily down the corridors, he found the weapons storeroom.
"You can't keep me locked up forever, Ryin," he whispered in malicious glee. "And soon, you'll regret trying to chain me."
"Look, there's Bakura!" Téa suddenly said to Seto, Mokuba, Tristan and Serenity, pointing at the entrance to SubTown. "But-- Who are they?"
People began to gather to see the exotic newcomers. Whispering comments were made, how pretty the young woman was, how handsome the boy was, how intimidating the man was.
Yugi watched from farther back. "What do you think our ally has found?" he asked Yami aloud, suspecting Kekatsu was more behind it than Bakura himself. The blonde was scanning the crowd, finally looking up at the people behind them.
Yugi followed his gaze and their eyes locked, purple on purple. Lightening seemed to crackle between them as the blonde's eyes traveled to stare at Yugi's chest and widened as they came to rest on the Millenium Puzzle.
Yami seemed to shiver within him. Something very-- strange is hanging about them, Yugi.
Yugi slid to his feet and began to walk through the crowd, people hurrying to step out of his way as though afraid he would suddenly lose his temper and set something terrible on them.
"No need to be skittish, folks," he murmured as he nudged gently into the front. The blonde, who had been watching him this entire time, suddenly dropped to his knees and rested his forehead at Yugi's shifting feet. His companions followed suit.
Several people gasped, whether in surprise or amusement who knew. Yugi stared at them in some astonishment. Yami prodded at him silently.
"Uh... You may rise?"
The blonde looked up at him cautiously, then rose. "I am Marik Ishtar, and these are my brother and sister, Odion and Ishizu. We have come at your service."
Yugi backed away a few steps, looking around himself nervously.
The silence could have killed.
"Why Yugi, why now?" Seto asked Joey, half casually and half in irritation. The two wandered the streets of downtown Domino almost carelessly, a little away from the main group that was attempting to acclimate the Ishtars as best they could.
Joey shrugged. "Yuge has always been... different, Seto. Like you, but in his own way."
Blue eyes scanned the cracked and disrepaired road. It was like the rest of the city; worn, wrecked and uncared for. "How am I different?" came the question. "You stand out, too, if that's the truth."
"Then it's the truth," Joey replied. "I don't think I'd be fitting into a world without the Queylig either. I'm too rebellious."
Seto began to laugh... but pulled it back between his teeth when he noticed the crowd. "What do you think's going on over there?"
Joey squinted. "Looks panicked... Like something bad news." He turned to yell at the rest of the party. "Hey, you guys, come'n look at this!"
Yugi, Kel, Téa, Tristan and Bakura came, the Ishtars behind them.
"What is it?" Ishizu asked, her misty voice floating over to them. Joey pointed.
"Crowd." He glanced over to where Seto was supposed to be only to realize he was already headed to investigate. "Seto, wait up!" he yelled, running after him. The rest of the group followed.
The "party," so to speak, was apparently just wrapping up... but it was a gruesome sight.
Gozaburo Kaiba lay twisted in pain on the concrete, a smoking weapon at his side. Enforcers were assessing the damage, checking both on wounded and dead. A severely injured Queylig lay on the curb, her body both burnt and lacerated. Most of the other victims sported similar wounds.
Joey heard Ishizu and Téa both gasp as the other men in the party grimaced, and turned to Seto. "Come on, buddy, we don't want to be recognized--" He stared.
Seto was staring at the carnage, his teeth locked as if he was holding back his stomach. He swayed side to side vaguely, trying to keep his knees from buckling.
Joey looked back at the rest of the group, thinking fast to keep them from noticing this.
"You guys go ahead and get outta here, Yuge," he said, catching Yugi's attention. "Seto and me, we're-- we're gonna lag behind, see if we can't find out what's going on, you know."
Yugi stared at him questioningly. "Joey?"
The blonde gritted his teeth. "Go ON, Yuge," he urged. Seto didn't need anyone more than someone who already had known how his father was killed.
Yugi blinked, then nodded. "Fine." They were gone.
Joey grabbed Seto's arm and dragged him stumbling down an alley. "I've only seen you like this once, when I first met you," he said under his breath. "Best not to let you break down in plain sight."
Seto apparently had the same idea, because he fell to his knees and surrendered to his feelings (and his twisting stomach) as soon as the two reached shadow.
Joey leaned up against a wall and tried to look casual as his friend retched.
"I did NOT need that," Seto hissed painfully between clenched teeth, then he coughed, unable to get anything else out of his system. Joey managed to find a clean square of cloth in his black jacket and kneeled, putting it to Seto's face. Seto put his own hand over it and Joey let him wipe at his own mouth, watching the brunette's disgusted movements.
"I'll say you didn't," Joey replied, trying for a little levity, "You needed that breakfast to stay down."
Seto coughed again, but this time they were painful little laughs. "Stupid," he groaned.
Joey smiled slightly. "Sorry."
"You must think I'm an idiot."
"No, just traumatized."
"Help me up." Joey put an arm under Seto's and the two stood, Seto testing himself.
Joey watched him carefully. "Maybe if you got some water you'd feel better."
"Maybe if I got some water I'd just puke water," came the sarcastic answer. The two laughed and started home.
End Chapter Fourteen. What the #$ happened here, you ask? We ARE working on a prequel. It tends to follow the mood this chapter followed: Messy. Next chapter finds us all in America! And no worries, less gross stuff.