Chapter 9: - Enter the Dragon
"So Yugi's possessed?" Honda asked.
"Yeah..." Jou responded as he leant against the wall next to the school gates, waiting for the other two and trying to fill Honda in on recent events.
"By a ghost from Egypt?"
"Yeah."
"Who can and will kill people to protect Yugi?"
"I'm not gunna let it go that far again."
Honda paused and stared at Jonouchi, "Are you insane?"
"Maybe." Jonouchi grinned slightly.
Honda just stared at him a little longer before shaking his head, "You don't seriously expect me to believe this nonsense?"
"You'd rather believe that Yugi, the Great Pacifist, is some kind of witch who punishes anyone that crosses her?" Jonouchi asked.
"I'd rather believe that today was some kind of weird dream and get back to reality."
"Even though you got a date out of it?"
Honda paused and smiled slightly at the thought of the upcoming date, "Okay, other than the date part. Magic isn't real. Remember Kokurano?"
"Just cause he was a fraud, doesn't mean magic isn't real mate." Jonouchi told Honda, "I've seen Oneesan's powers in action, I can tell you. They're real."
Honda glowered at Jonouchi for his easy acceptance of the weirdness that appeared to be following Yugi around, "How do I know that wasn't just a concussion playing up or something? I'd suggest you were drunk but..."
"I don't drink, Honda." Jonouchi glowered at him, "You know that. Don't do drugs either."
"I know, I know." Honda waved it off. "That's why I wouldn't suggest it." Jonouchi just continued to glare, "You're serious about this aren't you? You really believe Yugi's possessed and the spirit lives in the Millennium Puzzle when she's not defending her host."
"Dude, I know Yugi's possessed and Oneesan has told me herself that she sleeps in the Millennium Puzzle while Yugi's out and about. Well unless Yuge's on painkillers and then they're both awake at the same time and... I'm not helping am I?" Jonouchi sighed when Honda shook his head, "Look Honda, you don't have to believe me, but you know what you saw and that's not even the limits of the crap Oneesan can pull. Remember the criminal who set himself on fire in Burger World?"
"Key words, set himself on fire."
"Oneesan set him up. She Challenged him and set him up so when he moved he caught fire. He never stood a chance. And she did that without magic. Think what she could do if she really got pissed off. I still don't know what she did to those thu..."
"Look." Honda held up a hand, interrupting Jonouchi before he could continue, "I don't know how much of this is truth and how much of it is you getting beat round the head one too many times and I don't want to know. I'm more than happy not paying attention to Yugi's weirdness and if you were smart, you'd ignore it too."
"But..." Jonouchi stopped at the look he was getting from his friend. "Fine. Fine. Shutting up."
Honda let out a soft sigh as Jonouchi kept to his word, going silent. Well, that was partly true. Mostly though it meant that instead of talking nineteen to the dozen, Jou started tapping his foot impatiently as they waited for the girls to join them at the school gates.
Honda lasted all of thirty seconds before turning and glowering at his friend. "Jonouchi, I swear if you don't stop that I'm going to..."
"Hi." Anzu interrupted. Honda turned to look in the direction her voice had come from, only to discover that Yugi was hovering behind her, looking nervously between Jonouchi and Honda. Honda just nodded to Yugi, who nodded back but, thankfully didn't try to defend herself or the supposed spirit of the Puzzle.
"Hey." Jonouchi grinned at the pair, well aware of the awkwardness of the situation and trying to get the group talking, "So what was it you wanted to show us Yuge?"
"Well you know I've been teaching you guys how to play Monsters and Wizards?" Yugi asked, launching quite happily into gaming mode and earning Jonouchi a relieved smile from Anzu who had had to deal with Yugi's nervous pacing as she worried about what Honda was going to do or say.
"Yeah." Jou nodded, thinking about the multiple times he'd been trounced that lunch time by Yugi and her deck. If it had been anyone else he would have gotten frustrated but he was beginning to get used to the fact that Yugi never lost at any game she played.
"Well I'm hoping I can talk Grandpa into showing off his really rare card." Yugi grinned, "It's really powerful. He got it as a gift from a good friend of his."
"So trading for it is out of the question?" Jou earned himself a clip around the head from Honda for the question, which, of course, started an argument between the pair that only ended when they reached the shop.
"Why do we put up with them again?" Anzu asked Yugi as the two girls preceded the boys into the shop.
"Hey! I heard that." Jou protested as he followed them in, piping down when he realised that there were still customers in the store and that they were giving him an odd look.
Without a second thought Yugi slipped into 'saleswoman' mode, helping her Grandfather work through the customers and giving hints and tips on games to people who asked for them. With her help the last of the stragglers were gone in just under ten minutes, leaving Yugi free to ask her Grandpa about the really, really rare card he had.
"Ah, you've got your friends playing too?" Sugoroku looked amused, "I did wonder who the starter decks you bought out of your pocket money went to." He wandered out into the store room while Yugi watched the shop, coming back with a box that was slightly bigger than a trading card. "Now this, this is my most prized possession, just like Yugi's Puzzle is hers..."
With that he opened the box. Inside it was a single Magic and Wizards card which rested on a soft velvet background.
"Doesn't look all that special to me." Jou commented, earning himself another clip around the head, prompting Anzu to make a comment about giving the blonde brain damage, but Yugi wasn't paying attention. This was mostly because she thought she'd felt something that wasn't hers to feel, but she wasn't certain.
"There were only ever four of this card printed." Sugoroku explained, "And a good friend of mine gave me this card when we got trapped in a tomb during one of our expeditions together. I helped him out and in exchange he gave me this card as a symbol of our friendship."
"Wow." Jou said, taking a closer look at the card, "No wonder you..."
The door opened and a boy in a smart white suit entered the shop, striding towards the counter before dropping his briefcase on the counter, "That's it! That's the card I've been looking for!"
"Isn't that Kaiba Seto?" Honda whispered to Anzu who nodded.
"He's top of our class." She informed him, "I didn't realise he liked games too."
Before Kaiba could say another word Sugoroku had put the card away. "Can I help you?" The elderly man asked, holding the box close to his chest.
"That card! I must have it!" Kaiba stated, his eyes fixed on the box Sugoroku held tightly.
"I'm sorry, everything else here is for sale. This card however, was given to me by a friend and I won't give it up for anything."
"What if I offer all of these?" Kaiba asked, opening the briefcase. Yugi's eyes went impossibly wide as she took in the sight of hundreds and hundreds of Magic and Wizards cards.
"Not even then. It's not for sale and I won't trade it away either. You've had your answer." Sugoroku didn't like the boy, there was something about him he didn't trust, "Now I suggest that either you buy something or you leave. I'm about to close up for the night."
Kaiba glowered at the shopkeeper but closed his briefcase and stalked out of the shop, the door slamming behind him.
"You know," Sugoroku commented as the four teens stared after their classmate, "That's quite impressive considering the door isn't supposed to be able to slam like that."
Yugi shook herself out of her shock first and started helping her Grandfather close up the shop. It wasn't long before she was ushered upstairs with her friends though. Yugi's friends settled in the living room while the games addict prepared drinks for everyone. By the time she was done making the tea her Grandfather had finished downstairs and had come up to the flat with a box of spares, the volume of which was rather impressive. Almost as much so as the amount in the briefcase.
"What're these for?" Jou asked, halfway through pulling his small collection of cards out of a pocket of his backpack.
"These are my spares." Sugoroku explained, "But I thought I might let you lot go through them."
"Really?" Jou asked, surprised considering how much the boosters went for in store.
"Yugi needs someone who can challenge her, besides me." Sugoroku informed him, "And these will never sell. You're more than welcome to go through this box and take what you need. I let Yugi do it months ago."
"Thank you." Anzu smiled at the elderly gamer as Jou and Honda nodded their thanks and dug in, looking through the cards carefully.
They spent the night learning new tricks and modifying their decks, only splitting up when Anzu's parents rang to find out if their daughter was still there and they realised it was getting on for ten o'clock at night.
The following morning Yugi was running late and only just slipped in behind her teacher. Luckily Chono-Sensei had phoned in sick and the teacher that was standing in for her didn't say a word, mostly because they didn't know Yugi's name. This suited the girl rather well considering that it meant that she didn't get into trouble.
By lunch the substitute teacher had fled from the insanity that was Yugi's classmates and Yugi's group of friends was able to settle into a corner of the classroom and enjoy a nice quiet meal for a change, the gossip having finally shifted off of Yugi and onto the topic of what had happened to Chono-Sensei.
"Why were you so late?" Jou prodded as Yugi pulled out her bento and her deck box out of her bag.
Yugi looked sheepish. "I kind of asked Grandpa a favour." She admitted, opening her deck box and showing her friends the card she'd borrowed from the man in question.
"How'd you manage to get him to give you that?" Jou asked, surprised considering that Sugoroku had been rather against letting it leave his clutches last night.
"I had to promise to look after it and not let it out of my sight." Yugi replied as her friends examined the Blue Eyes White Dragon in her hand, "Trust me, there's all sorts of impending doom promised if I lose it."
Before Jou could ask the surprisingly sensible question about the sensibility of bringing such a rare card, which was probably worth a lot of money to collectors, into school, Kaiba had shoved past him.
"Kaiba-Kun?" Yugi asked, only slightly surprised by his actions considering how much he seemed to want a Blue Eyes White Dragon card, she pulled back when he reached for the card. She'd pleaded with her Grandfather, hoping that she was wrong about Kaiba but now something was telling her not to trust him, the same thing that had told her to trust Jou and Honda...
"Please Yugi, please. Just let me have one more look. I need to see that card." Kaiba pleaded.
She warily held it out for him to see and let out a startled yelp as he snatched it from her, only to be forced to hand it back a moment later by an angrily growling Jou and a glaring Honda.
"You are very lucky to have that card, Yugi-Chan." Kaiba informed her solemnly, "Take care of it." With that he returned to his seat.
Yugi frowned as the others turned back to their lunches and the games in progress as she looked at the card he'd put back in her hand. It felt wrong, inert, where before it had felt like the morning sun and radiated the same feeling as she got when her grandfather was playing at being a mother hen. Not that she'd ever explain the feelings to her friends.
She examined the card carefully, her eyes widening as she noted a couple of small differences that just confirmed what her heart already knew. The card in her hand was a fake. A very convincing fake, but a fake none the less.
She frowned slightly but didn't say anything, not wanting to get her friends into trouble if they started anything. Instead she retook her seat and watched Kaiba out the corner of her eye as she tried to teach her friends the game she loved. She did, however, mention Kaiba's actions in a written message to Oneesan, who wanted to challenge him immediately.
By the time class had started again, Yugi had managed to get her to agree to wait and let Yugi try first, but Oneesan had warned that she wouldn't tolerate anything less than the return of the card, and if he harmed Yugi at all, she wouldn't go easy on him.
Yugi had been worried about confronting him after that, she didn't want him hurt because of her but Kaiba had stolen from her and worse, tried to replace it with a rather convincing fake.
Managing to lose her friends in the post-school rush, she managed to corner Kaiba in a quiet area by the school football pitch as he headed for the car park.
"Kaiba-Kun, we need to talk. You took my grandpa's card." She tried putting some of the confidence that Oneesan supposedly had into her pose and tone, only for Kaiba to chuckle as he turned to look at her.
"Yugi-chan, I don't know what you're talking about." Kaiba commented, sounding confused.
"Please Kaiba-Kun, I'm not stupid." Yugi shook her head as she spoke, "I know the card you gave me back is a fake. Please give me back the real one."
Suddenly the nice guy act was dropped and the glare she was on the receiving end of made her freeze on the spot, "You're accusing me of being a thief?"
"Kaiba-Kun please." Yugi tried again, "I just want that card back. I know you want it badly, that's obvious from the fact you went so far as to make a copy of it, but it's not youeep!" Yugi let out a startled squeak as someone grabbed her shoulder.
"He bothering you, Mr. Kaiba?"
Yugi glanced over her shoulder to find two men in dark suits and sunglasses had appeared behind her, one of whom had grabbed her shoulder.
"No. She's not. Now, Yugi-Chan." Yugi looked back at Kaiba, worried by his voice, which was full of malice and amusement, "You need to know something."
"O...Oh?" Yugi asked, her voice stumbling where it hadn't before.
"The strong take what they want from the weak, I wanted your Grandfathers Blue Eyes White Dragon, and I took it, simple as that." He turned to go.
"Kaiba-Kun!" Yugi shook herself free of the hand and grabbed Kaiba's school jacket, "Please..."
That was as far as she got, Kaiba wheeled around and smacked her hard enough to send her reeling. Yugi staggered back into one of the suited men, who seized her left shoulder with one hand and her right wrist with the other and twisted the appendage up her back. Oneesan, who had been woken by Yugi's pain and shock, took control and tried to break free but the man's answer was to twist the arm further and tighten his grip, causing her to emit a pained yelp.
"Don't," Oneesan glared at Kaiba as he spoke, biting back a growl and a wince as her right shoulder and wrist complained loudly. "Ever touch me again."
"I Challenge you." Oneesan responded in much the same tone, "To a game of Magic and Wizards."
"You?" Kaiba laughed, having seen Yugi's deck and the way the girl played, "Challenge me?"
"Yes. You win, you can keep the Blue Eyes. You lose I'll inform everyone that you're a liar and a thief and take Grandpa's Blue Eyes White Dragon back. I looked you up last night," Or rather Yugi had but he didn't need to know that, "I don't think it would do your reputation any good to have that going around. Not considering you're supposed to be the World Champion at the game."
"I don't run from any challenge, Yugi." Kaiba scowled, somehow sensing that this Yugi wasn't the same girl he'd hit just moments ago and that he should be taking her seriously. "We can duel this way."
He led the two goons, the taller of which had yet to release Oneesan, into the car park and into a storage room where the old desks were kept. There the goon let go of Oneesan, shoving her forward a couple of steps as he did so, as the other thug set up a pair of chairs with a table between them.
"Out." Kaiba ordered his thugs, who exited the room without a second thought. "Don't try anything stupid. They're only outside the door."
The only difference that made to Oneesan's plans was the Penalty she was going to inflict when she defeated the brat in front of her. She didn't doubt that he was good, but he had already proved that he was a liar and a thief, she didn't doubt that cheat would be added to that list and if he cheated in a Shadow Game well...
"This duel will be slightly different, by the way." She informed him with a smirk on her face as they settled down to play, cutting and shuffling each other's decks. He stood no chance. When she handled Yugi's cards there was nothing but trust and indignant rage on behalf of their holder, well that and a little wariness since they didn't know her yet.
Kaiba's cards on the other hand hated him, she could tell from the moment she laid her hands on the deck. They wouldn't aid him in this battle, while Yugi's allies would. She shuffled them quickly, feeling the power shifting in the deck and making a note of the fact she didn't sense Sugoroku's Blue Eyes in the deck. Either he was going to put it in later, or he wasn't planning on using it at all.
She started weaving the magic, setting up the game she wanted the moment she handed the deck back, taking her time putting Yugi's deck down. She'd never played the game herself, but Yugi had. Hopefully between the fact the cards had their effects written on them, the cards themselves seemed to want to back her up and she had Yugi's experience to draw from it would be enough to secure victory.
"We'll both start with 2000 life points, if you hit zero, you lose." Oneesan continued, "Game Start."
"Well then," Kaiba didn't give her more than a heartbeat to say anything else, "I'll go first." He drew and smirked, "Ah ha! Five stars! The Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle!" He played it, practically throwing the card on the table.
The Gargoyle appeared in a whirl of mist. The red demon bellowed, its wings extending as it glowered at Oneesan.
"It came to life?" Kaiba didn't sound as shocked as Oneesan would have liked as he beheld the five inch tall monster currently stood on the table. In fact he looked pleased, almost delighted.
"I told you this wasn't an ordinary game." Oneesan pointed out as she drew a card, smirking slightly when she saw what she'd drawn, "To stand against your Gargoyle, I summon the Blackland Fire Dragon."
The dragon appeared, flapping its huge wings and letting out a roar that caused the Gargoyle to take a step back. It turned to run, but the dragon was faster, unleashing a torrent of flames from its mouth that engulfed the creature who vanished into ashy grey smoke.
"Damn it, I lost that round." Kaiba grouched as he watched the smoke fade away, "My Gargoyle is disappearing."
"The monsters from the cards become real and the loser faces a Penalty," Oneesan stated, amused by her first turn win, "Those are the rules in the Shadow Game version of Magic and Wizards!" Kaiba just watched her. Oneesan almost paused, surprised to find that she couldn't read his features but she continued her explanation. "After that exchange, your life points drop from 2000 to 1500. The first to run out of life points loses and will know Death in a Penalty Game.
There was nothing from Kaiba for a moment then to Oneesan's shock he started laughing semi-manically, "Heh ha ha ha this is good! I'm glad I took your challenge! This is the extreme game I've been looking for!"
This wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting and Oneesan hid her confusion well. Instead of showing her true feelings she just gave him a smug smile and quite calmly stated, "And now it's your turn to draw a card."
"Okay!" Kaiba practically sounded like he was bouncing for the split second before he drew, then it was back down to business as he beheld the card he'd drawn. "Alright! I drew Battle Ox! One of the strongest of the Beast Warriors!" He practically threw the card on the table and almost immediately smoke rose from it. "It's taking form!" The joy on his face was marred by the slightly psychotic gleam in his eyes as the Battle Ox took shape and launched itself forwards, axe raised.
"It beats your dragon in both attack and defence! You can't beat it!" Kaiba continued, not letting Oneesan get a word in edgeways, not that she had anything that could prevent what was coming. "Go Battle Ox! Slice the Fire Dragon to ribbons!"
The dragon tried to defend itself with its flame breath but the minotaur like monster just shrugged it off before dicing the dragon into tiny pieces which swiftly turned into smoke and faded away. Oneesan was just glad that Imoto-chan wasn't awake to see it happen. Kaiba's monster was almost as vindictive as his Duellist.
"My minotaur beat your dragon by 200 points." Kaiba gloated.
"I'm aware of that, thank you." Oneesan deadpanned, "However I'm still ahead with 1800 life points."
"Not for long, Yugi-chan." Kaiba chuckled viciously, "It won't be easy to draw something stronger than by Ox."
Oneesan was aware of that too. She just had to trust that her Other Self's deck would help her. Drawing the next card, she mentally sighed in relief. "My next card is the Mystical Elf." Oneesan called as she placed it on the table carefully, not wanting to damage Imoto-chan's possessions and allies, "In defence."
"Smart." Kaiba allowed as the Mystical Elf appeared, sat kneeling as if in prayer on the field, "Your elf doesn't stand a chance in a head on battle, but her defence beats my attack by a safe margin. If I attack I'll just hurt myself, so I'll go into defence too." He turned the card on its side and the Battle Ox crouched down, hunkering behind its ridiculous Axe Sword. Adding to Oneesan's worries, Kaiba played something face down behind the Ox before passing the turn over to her.
Oneesan drew as Kaiba gloated about the pair of them being in a stalemate and having to waste turns building up their hands. Though she was taking her knowledge of the game from Imoto-chan's memories, her little sister was knowledgeable enough in the game that Kaiba's insistence on explaining everything felt insulting.
Frustratingly she didn't draw anything useful, just a Skull Servant that was good for forcing the opponent to waste an attack, but not much use for anything else.
Before she could officially end her turn, Kaiba was making his move, activating his face down magic card, Giant's Might.
Oneesan had to repress the urge to use several colourful words Jou had taught her as the Ox gained enough attack points to annihilate her Elf.
"My ox is stronger than your stupid Elf!" Kaiba crowed, "Off with her head!"
The Battle Ox took Mystical Elf's head off with one swing. Oneesan's hand went to her neck as she winced. These were her little sister's allies after all and they had been made real for this game. Though she hadn't thought of it when she'd set up the game she could imagine that dying wasn't exactly pleasant. She couldn't say for certain since she couldn't remember her own death, but it was a pretty easy guess to make.
Skull Servant went down next followed by a Mushroom Man and another three cards in quick succession before Oneesan drew a card that could change the state of play.
"The strongest card in my deck!" Oneesan didn't mean to let the relief slip into her tone but it was there all the same as she summoned her creature, "The Summoned Skull!"
"Summoned Skull!" Kaiba looked stunned as he beheld the creature, "How do you have such a rare card?"
Oneesan didn't answer, she just smirked, "Say goodbye to your Battle Ox! Demon Lightening!"
The Battle Ox was cooked to a crisp by the lightning that rushed from the demon's hands and coursed though the minotaur.
"Your move, Kaiba."
Kaiba glared as he considered his deck properly. Yugi had him on the ropes now and she was aware of it. He had things that could beat the Summoned Skull but there was very little chance of him drawing what he needed in time to prevent his defeat. He had underestimated and it had cost him dearly.
Still defeat wasn't an option and he leant back, deciding to take a course of action he didn't have to resort to very often. He had a card in his possession that he could summon right now, if he could make it look like he'd drawn it from the deck rather than his pocket, that would defeat the demon and end the game.
"You know Yugi-chan, you should come to tournaments." He commented as he supposedly stretched, giving himself time to palm the card in question, "I didn't think it was going to come this close. It's been a long time since I had a decent challenge. However," He reached for the deck, "It's over. I've got a special card I've been saving for this eventuality. This!"
Oneesan glared at him as he so say drew the Blue Eyes White Dragon. She knew full damn well that card hadn't been in Kaiba's deck at the start of this duel and for this blatant display of cheating and for having the nerve to play the stolen card against her she would have his guts for garters.
The Dragon appeared on the field and Kaiba's whole attitude changed into one of insane glee. "It's here!"
"That's my Grandfather's card!" Oneesan snarled, pissed beyond measure and already weaving the magic in the direction she wanted it to take when Kaiba's move backfired on him.
"Your Grandfather's card?" Kaiba laughed, psychosis firmly set in, "You're wrong, wrong! This is my very own card! I just happened to get it from someone! And when it attacks you'll be the one to experience Death!"
Oneesan nearly snapped back at the teen, then she realised something. The Blue Eyes was as pissed off as she was. If Kaiba gave the wrong order, it was quite possible that she wouldn't have to do anything about the dragon. After all the cheating had occurred, the game was over. The monsters were free to act as they wished.
"Go Blue Eyes White Dragon! Kill! Destroy!"
Those were the wrong words and the 7 inch tall Dragon didn't need a second order. It flew up and then circled around Oneesan for a moment. The ancient spirit of the Puzzle felt the dragon's rage and light brush against her for a moment, causing her own words to Jou about those of light being incredibly powerful made more sense to her as she felt the dragon building up for its attack. A feminine concern for the younger of the pair inhabiting the body brushed against Oneesan's mind for a moment, then the Blue Eyes was purely focused on destroying its target.
"Wait! You're supposed to destroy Yugi! Not me!" Kaiba yelped as the dragon unleashed a beam of bright white light and electricity which struck Kaiba in the chest, knocking the Duellist backwards off of his chair.
"You cheated Kaiba." Oneesan stated as she got to her feet, checking that the dragon, who had managed to latch itself onto the spirit's shoulder, hadn't killed the boy. She didn't fancy dealing with the guards outside the door if it had. Luckily, or unluckily as the case may be, Kaiba was sitting up, watching her like she moved towards him and looking like he was unable to comprehend why the dragon had turned on him like that. "And the Penalty will stand, Illusion of Death."
A Magic and Wizards card appeared in Oneesan's hand with Kaiba's image on and the rich brat's mind shrieked as he was sucked into the Graveyard with his monsters, who pounced on him the moment that he appeared, tearing the boy limb from limb.
"You'll probably experience death in that world." Oneesan stated as she collected the Blue Eyes from the table and put it and Imoto-chan's deck away, "But my wish is that by becoming a card, at least temporarily, you will understand their heart and become a true game master like my Grandfather. As for the dragon," She turned her head to look at the Blue Eyes on her shoulder, who was taking its time in fading away as the rest of the game had, "I assume you want to be returned to your proper owner."
The Dragon nodded and then disappeared from the real world.
Oneesan shot Kaiba, who was curled up on the floor, unmoving bar the panicked breath of one in great pain, one last glare and then opened the one window available and slipped out of it, leaving the teen trapped in her illusion. His guards would find him sooner or later and she needed to catch up with Yugi's friends.