善良妈妈的朋友

Chapter 49

"Hey Renard," I said casually as we walked down the street, "You ever hear about the family that went into the talent agency?"

"Can\'t say that I have."

I smirked. "So this father, mother, brother, and sister got to a talent agent and tell them they have this amazing act he\'s going to want to book right away. Dressed in their Sunday best, very excited as they drink the coffee he provided, hoping to convince him. But the talent agent is a bit skeptical. "I\'m not into cutesy family acts. They don\'t sell well." But the father asks him to just listen and the agent finally gives it. "Fine, tell me about your act." And the father goes, "Thanks, I know you will love it. So it starts with us ripping off all our clothes..."-"

~MC~MC~MC~

\'A god card,\' Seto thought to himself as he and Mokuba walked down the street, seeking out more duelists for them to challenge. Honestly it was easier for him to find opponents for Mokuba as his brother was just excited to challenge anyone. Seto though... he was focused on only proving himself against the best of the best.

And currently there was only one duelist that counted in Seto\'s mind.

\'Yugi managed to get a hold of a god card. More than that... he defeated one.\' He pulled out Obelisk the Tormentor, staring at it intently. \'Receiving this from Ishizu was so important. At long last I thought I had found the key to finally defeating Yugi. Not through trickery or schemes but through skill and power. But now... now he has a god card.\' He scowled. \'One that he defeated and won through combat. I only have Obelisk because Ishizu decided to pass it to me.\'

His mind drifted to his first duel in Battle City, if one could even call it that. The punk that had insulted Mokuba, thinking he had only beaten his friend because Seto had bought him a powerful deck. \'I gave him a case full of rare and powerful cards and then utterly destroyed him with Obelisk. But... am I any better than him if I have never defeated a god?\' Yugi\'s duel with that weird performer flashed before him. The power of Slifer, towering over all, only to be brought low by Yugi\'s brilliant tactics. \'Even when I hold the power of a god in my hand Yugi finds a way to top me! How? Why?\'

"Big brother?" Mokuba asked, tugging on his coat. "Are you okay? You\'ve been staring at that card for a while."

"I\'m fine Mokuba," Seto said sternly only to mentally wince as he looked at his little brother\'s concerned face. "I\'m fine," he repeated, a touch softer. "Why don\'t we get something to eat? You won\'t be able to duel properly if you aren\'t able to focus due to hunger."

"Yeah!" Mokuba said, grinning at that. "Edwin was really firm about that when we were on Pegasus\' island."

Normally the mention of Edwin set Seto\'s teeth on edge but this time he forced himself to push down his anger. Mokuba clearly cared for Edwin out of misguided thanks for his help during Duelist Kingdom and he didn\'t want to upset his brother by badmouthing the older man.

So instead Seto found himself asking, "Is that right?"

"Yeah," Mokuba stated. "After he beat that clown that was trying to pretend to be you he was pretty firm that I get something to eat as he knew I\'d been running around for a while. And he didn\'t let Yugi and his friends get away with just having junk food either... demanded they eat filling meals."

"Hmmm," Seto murmured to himself as they crossed a street and headed for some restaurants. "What are you thinking on getting then?"

"A burger?" Mokuba asked.

"Are you asking or telling?"

"...telling," Mokuba said with a bit more firmness.

"Very well then," Seto said, patting his brother on the shoulder. Something he was trying to instill in his brother was understanding that if you wanted something in this life you had to be firm. While there would be the occasional person that would help you (after all, Seto donated to orphanages and didn\'t expect the kids there to break down his door and steal the money) more often than not if you wanted something you had to fight for it. Mokuba would gain a lot of benefits from the Kaiba name... but also a lot of downsides. There would always be people who believed he didn\'t deserve what he had because he hadn\'t \'earned it\'. And thus he had to do just that: earn it.

He looked down at Obelisk the Tormentor before slipping it back into his deck.

\'It doesn\'t matter how I obtained that card. Soon I\'ll defeat Yugi and claim Silfer the Sky Dragon and after him the final God Card. And with all three in my deck I will reclaim my position as the greatest duelist in the world!\'

He bypassed the greasy fast food joints he knew Yugi and his little band of hangers-ons liked and instead zeroed in on a rather nice looking mom-and-pop restaurant. It was doing standard business though not nearly as busy as the burger joints that were being mobbed by both duelists and the public enjoying the tournament but Seto knew that was about to change.

All eyes were instantly on him as he made for the door, throwing it open with one hand and staring at the owner, a slightly overweight man with a droopy dark mustache who was manning the counter.

"I\'d like a table and two menus," Seto said with his own "I am not asking" voice. The owner quickly nodded, motioning for a waitress that most likely was a member of his family to guide them to a free table, right near a window. She blushed as she handed them their menus, clearing excited and nervous. Mokuba ordered a soda (and Seto smirked at that; he\'d heard Edwin rant about how \'it\'s pop for fuck\'s sake!\' and was delighted that Mokuba didn\'t agree) and he took a water before he glanced out the window, letting Mokuba look over the menu.

\'After today this will be the most popular restaurant in Domino,\' Seto thought to himself. He understood what kind of pull he had, how his presence alone would be enough to garner the owner of the place more attention in a week than he\'d seen in a year. It was a heady thing, that domination of the world, but Seto always reminded himself that so long as he understood it he would be in the right. He would NOT become his step-father... no matter what.

"Excuse me," a woman said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"You\'re excused," he said coolly. "My brother and I just want to get something to eat."

"Oh, are you hungry?" the woman said as she leaned over the table. She was wearing a long blue coat that had buttons in the shape of fangs and black trim along the edges. Under that was a bright white t-shirt that did little to hide her breasts, especially as she leaned over to smile at him. If she thought showing off her mammaries was going to get him flustered though she was mistaken. "I\'ll admit I was surprised you came in here. I was hoping you\'d go someplace far more... romantic."

"I tend not to take my brother to romantic places," Seto said dryly.

The woman, rather than being embarrassed by his insult, merely giggled and actually snagged a chair and sat down at the table next to them. "Of course not! You would want to go to some place like that with someone far more... special."

"Hey!" Mokuba complained. "I\'m special."

"Shhh, the important people are talking," the woman said.

Seto growled at that. "Listen here-"

"Susan," the intruder said with a smile, reaching over to try and put her hand over his own only for Seto to snatch it away. "Susan Marison. It\'s cute how you are pretending you don\'t remember me."

"I don\'t," Seto said as he quietly pulled out his phone and began to dial one of the emergency contacts to bring in his private security. He\'d dealt with the occasional deluded fan before but Susan was showing she was in a league of her own.

"Come now... all the times we\'ve spent together... on the ethereal plane?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Ah."

"Yes, \'ah\'."

"You\'re fucking insane," he said.

"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Edwin curses all the time in front of you," Seto complained to his brother before returning his attention to the deranged fangirl beside him. "Listen, I don\'t know who you are but we\'ve never met. We don\'t have a connection or some deep bond. Now leave before I make you leave."

"And that\'s how I know you are just being a tease," Susan said, reaching her hand over to try and rub his chest. "You could never get rid of me. It would be like cutting off a limb-"

Seto smacked her hand away. "Touch me and you\'ll live to regret it."

"Touch me and you\'ll live to love it." She though did have enough sense to keep her hand on the table rather than try and make a grab for him again. "Come now... you must feel it. We were denied being together in our first life but now-"

"Excuse me?" the waitress said. "Do you need-"

Susan grabbed her hand and twisted it, the waitress screaming as the bones snapped. She fell to her knees and wailed and Mokuba\'s eyes went wide with horror, Seto just as shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"I hate interruptions, don\'t you?" Susan asked, leaning towards him and batting her eye lashes as if there wasn\'t a woman sobbing on the ground clutching her broken limb to her chest.

"How could you do that?!?" Mokuba exclaimed in horror only for Susan to reach out and grab HIS wrist in a death grip.

"Very easily. Maybe if you stick around I\'ll show you."

Seto\'s hand snapped out, wrapping around her throat.

"All I have to do is squeeze," he threatened.

Susan... moaned in delight.

"Oh... your hand is so warm..."

He felt like he needed a shower.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Brother."

"Of course," Susan said and Mokuba, wisely, scurried out of his chair, moving over to the restaurant owner who had come out with a baseball bat, looking for who had hurt the waitress. The other patrons were staring now as Seto kept his fingers locked around Susan\'s throat, ready to fulfill his promise and wring her neck if she made another move towards Mokuba. "Now that he\'s gone we can get down to business."

"The only business we have is in court when I see you locked up for assault," Seto snarled. He already was thinking about which lawyers he\'d let the owner use on Seto\'s own dime to destroy the foolish girl.

"Mmmm, prison fantasies," Susan moaned before grabbing a knife from the table and rubbing it against Seto\'s cheek. He tensed, not wanting to move in case she shifted and drove it into his flesh. He felt a bit of security considering he still had his hand on her throat but that didn\'t mean that he could strangle her quick enough to keep her from doing some damage with the knife, even if it was a butter knife. With enough force she could drive it through his cheek or take out an eye.

"What do you want?"

"You."

"Not happening."

"But we are MADE for each other! You must realize that!" She stared into his eyes and he was sure she thought she was being soulful and alluring but all he saw was swirling madness in her gaze. "We keep finding each other! We were in Egypt... I died to save you... and now here we are again, given a chance to be together! We first found each other in our dreams... oh, the way you made me shudder..." She flashed him a doping grin. "The way you hold me. Kiss my tears away and hold me tight... I know you remember!"

"I don\'t," Seto said firmly, having decided that there was no chance he was entertaining her delusions.

"But... oh!" she pulled the knife away and giggled. "How foolish of me! How utterly, utterly stupid." He found himself agreeing with that but still made no move to let go over her. "Our connection was formed in warfare and strife! If I want it reforged I must prove again that I can serve you, my Priest." She ripped herself away from Seto\'s grasp and for the first time he noticed she was wearing a duel disc. "I challenge you to a duel, Seto Kaiba! And when I win you will see my strength and understand that I am the only woman for you!"

Seto stood up and turned to the owner of the restaurant. "Sir?"

"Y-yes?"

Seto pulled out his checkbook. "This is for her recovery and to cover her salary if she can\'t work." He scribbled out the check and tossed it to the startled man then wrote out a second check. "And this is if you\'ll watch my brother while I deal with this demented cretin."

"Yes sir!" the owner said firmly.

"Seto..." Mokuba said nervously.

"It will be alright, Mokuba. You just order something, okay? I\'m going to deal with this intruder."

"Okay," Mokuba said, forcing his fear down. It made Seto so very proud how his brother, despite his worries, was able to rally so quickly. "Hey!" he went over to the waitress who was still holding her broken wrist. "Want something to eat while we wait for the medics to show up? My brother is buying..."

Seto motioned for Susan to begin walking towards the door. "Oh, such a gentleman letting me go first."

"I want to keep my eye on you as I don\'t trust you to not run back and try and hurt my brother."

"You just want to stare at my ass," Susan said coyly, a smirk playing on her lips as she slapped her rear. "You can admit it."

"What I will admit is that the moment this is done I am going to use every ounce of power KaibaCorp has to ruin your life. Family? I will buy the places they work and force them to do the most degrading tasks possible while trapping them in a contract that prevents them from leaving. Friends? I will ruin their futures and make sure they know it is your fault. No one threatens my brother and you are going to discover that these delusions of yours were the worst things you could ever have floating around that head of yours."

Susan paused for a moment something flashed across her face. Not quite a grimace or a flush of embarrassment but it hadn\'t been the dopey lovesick smile she had been wearing. Seto wondered for a moment if, perhaps, he had finally gotten through to the clod that this wasn\'t a game and she had just destroyed her life... only for her to giggle and smack his arm.

"Oh, you tease!" she said as she skipped over to the sidewalk, Seto going several paces away from her while allowing him to not only rush back to the restaurant if he needed to but also see Mokuba. His brother was seated at a new table with the waitress across from him and he gave a big wave that Seto acknowledged with a nod before turning to Susan. "All these people... they are about to see why what they call \'love\' is a pale flickering candle to the inferno that is our soul bond."

"I wish I could throw you into an inferno," Seto growled as he took out his deck and activated his duel disc. "But I\'ll settle for defeating you here and then watching the police haul you away."

"We are going to laugh about this tonight as we jet set to Paris, forgetting all about this silly little tournament."

"Enough of your mindless banter. Its time to duel!" Seto drew his hand, looking it over carefully. \'I need to end this duel quickly. Everything I say gets twisted by this demented loon into some declaration of love and I am frankly sick of it already. I need to show her the might of my Blue-Eyes White Dragon so she realizes that the only thing that\'s going to be between us are the bars of whatever jail cell she gets locked away in for the 30 years.\' Selecting two cards Seto declared, "I will start by setting this card face down on the field and then summoning the The White Stone of the Ancients in defense mode!" The monster, which appeared to be nothing more than a rather shiny large white boulder, appeared on the field.

"Oh, such a tease with your foreplay, lover," Susan purred. "But there is no reason to be soft and sweet with me... I can take whatever you dish out!"

\'Don\'t be so sure of that,\' Seto thought to himself. \'Thanks to the new cards I received from Pegasus after Duelist Kingdom, my deck is now far beyond anything the world has seen. My Blue-Eyes were feared before? Now they spread terror with the mere mention of their names!\'

Susan looked over her hand. "Allow me to start with this: The Time Wizard-White Chronos Lighting in defense mode!"

"What is that?" Seto exclaimed in surprise as the monster appeared on the field. "The Time Wizard?!?" His thoughts raced. \'I remember looking over the footage of Duelist Kingdom... Wheeler had a Time Wizard in his deck that he constantly abused in order to score cheap victories. It was relying on that which cost him the tournament, as when he used its Time Roulette it fell on a skull, causing it to blow up and take out all his lifepoints and won Edwin their duel.\' He narrowed his eyes as he studied the one in front of him. \'But this one is different. It\'s eyes are blue... and the staff it is holding... it looks like a Blue Eyes\' head! Is this a Blue-Eyes card I\'ve not heard of?\'

Susan kept speaking. "And I think I will set my own facedown on the field and end my turn."

"Come on Seto!" Mokuba cheered, his voice muffled a bit thanks to the window. "You can beat this creepy stalker with one hand tied behind your back!"

Seto smiled slightly at that. It was so very strange to have someone cheering him on. While he wasn\'t in need of such platitudes... they were nice to hear coming from his little brother. "Well then, Mokuba, let me not disappoint you! Draw!" He looked at the card he\'d gotten and smirked. \'Perfect.\' Looking up he lifted the card high. "I think it\'s time to show you why any hopes you had of mattering to me were always a fool\'s fantasy! I discard my Sage with Eyes of Blue in order to destroy my White Stone of the Ancients!"

"Now that is interesting," Susan said as the stone shattered. "What cunning little tricks are you pulling out just for me?"

"Nothing more than your downfall you pathetic cretin. When Sage with Eyes of Blue destroys an effect monster on my side of the field it is able to call from my deck the beast that will spell your end! Come forth Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The duel disc\'s holoprojectors whirled as they created the hard light construct of Seto\'s mighty monster. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon bared its fangs before throwing back its head and roaring, causing people a block away to turn and stare at the mightiest dragon in all of Duel Monsters as it stared down the demented fool that had intruded on his time with his brother.

"Surprised? You shouldn\'t be. There is no connection between us but there is one between me and my Blue-Eyes." In his mind he added, \'And during my end phase I\'ll be able to use the White Stone of the Ancients in my graveyard to summon a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck. Together they will tear apart anything you have in your deck. You made a grave mistake when you challenged me and now I\'m going to make you regret it.\' Out loud he declared, "Allow me to demonstrate just that! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack her Time Wizard with White Lightning Attack!" His dragon charged up a beam of energy before letting it go, the destructive wave striking the Time Wizard and reducing it to ashes... but leaving its staff behind.

"Oh, Seto... that is where you are wrong," Susan said as Seto\'s duel disc suddenly locked up.

"What... what did you do?"

"When my Time Wizrd- White Chronos Lighting was sent to the graveyard his effect activated, causing him to destroy your monster and end your turn, skipping right to mine. Of course that could only happen if there was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon monster on the field... so thank you so much for summoning that one." She tilted her head and smiled. "I must admit that it is so odd to see myself like that."

Seto growled as the Time Wizard staff blasted his dragon, turning it to dust. "Yourself? What are you talking about?"

Susan stared at him now, brow furrowed. "You truly don\'t remember, do you? Oh... my poor Seto. I will help you remember it all and when you do you will regret everything you\'ve said. You will understand that ours is a love that has spanned millennia. It starts... in ancient Egypt-"

"Oh no," Seto said with a groan. "Not this." He jabbed a finger at her. "I\'ve already dealt with this garbage from Ishizu Ishtar and Yugi Muto. I\'m in no mood to hear about past lives and Pharaohs and destinies. Duel Monsters might be inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphs but it isn\'t some magic ritual performed by druids or mages or whatever you want to call them. People don\'t die and then wake up thousands of years later. All of that nonsense is just fluff peddled by con artists seeking to steal the money of the dimwitted. So save your tales for someone who has only two brain cells in their head because I am not interested at all! I am not some long dead man repeating history! I am Seto Kaiba and I write my own future!"

~MC~MC~MC~

"Your brother really doesn\'t like that mysticism stuff," the waitress said as one of the patrons who had some sports medicine training wrapped her wrist.

Mokuba nodded as the owner of the restaurant brought out his burger and fries. "Yeah... he\'s gotten really sick of it. Made for some... issues..."

~A Few Weeks Ago~

"Thanks for hanging out with me, guys," Mokuba said, grinning at the gathered group that sat in his living room. "I know you probably have better things to do than spend the night with a little kid-"

Edwin reached over and ruffled his hair. "Mokuba, don\'t ever think I don\'t want to spend time with you. And the rest of the gang from KaibaCorp was all to happy to come by."

"That\'s right," Cassie Garnett, one of the loremasters and deck designers for Industrial Illusions said. Unlike the goons Pegasus had working at his castle Cassie was fun to hang out with as she had a ton of funny stories about designing the cards in Duel Monsters. She\'d even given him a lesson about his own deck! "Though if we were to Irish this up..."

Edwin shook his head. "No drinking."

"Mokuba won\'t mind," Cassie argued.

Aria Potts scoffed from the overstuff chair she\'d claimed as her own. "It\'s Edwin who has the problem." Mokuba knew Aria more than Cassie as she worked directly for Seto testing his Duel Disc system and whenever he stopped by her office she let him snag candy from her secret stash.

"Worst things than not drinking," Yuri said as she plunked down next to Mokuba.

"Not by much," Cassie grumbled as Renard passed out cans of pop and warm bags of popcorn.

"So," Mai asked as she snuggled up next to Edwin, "what are we watching?"

"Mokuba wanted something scary but I hate scary movies," Edwin said.

"Because you\'re five," Aria teased.

"So," he continued, "I brought the classic Universal Films. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy-"

Suddenly a door opened and one of Seto\'s security detail marched in, grabbed the DVD from Edwin\'s hand, and snapped it in two.

"...yeah, he\'s been doing that a lot," Mokuba complained. "He saw someone at work was eating Yummy Mummy in the breakroom and had security beat up the box."

"YOU\'RE PAYING ME BACK FOR THAT SETO!" Edwin roared.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You can deny it all you wish Seto but you can\'t change history," Susan informed him. "Thousands of years ago our souls lived another life. You were the Priest Set, the loyal advisor to the Pharaoh. One day you encountered a crowd tormenting a poor girl, one with pale white hair and startling blue eyes. That girl was me and at once you knew you loved me. You rescued me and took me back to the palace, caring for me even as others demanded my death. Ours should have been a romance told throughout the ages... but our enemies had other plans. They attempted to destroy you and to save your life I bonded with the monster that dwelled with me: The Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It is why you feel such a connection to that card, Seto! You remember our love if nothing else! And I am going to MAKE you remember..." her face twisted. "No matter how many people I have to maim to do it."

"..so you really are insane," Seto said with a shake of his head. "Get this through your thick skull: the only life I have led is this one! People who believe that they had some grand destiny in a past life are just pathetic fools who can\'t accept that things haven\'t worked out as they desired. So they invent in some fantasy where they were rich or powerful or met the person of their dreams. But it is just that: fantasy! All that matters is what we do right now! The past is gone, buried and best forgotten. It is the future that matters! I am who I am not because of what some person with my face did thousands of years ago but what I do right here! And I am going to prove that right now!"

"Just like I will make you see by the end of this duel how wrong you are. By the end... you will know that we are bonded together, Seto!" She held up a card. "And my proof... starts with this: Reunion with Eyes of Blue!" The spell card she had set, which showed a woman standing on a cliff as a Blue Eyes White Dragon rose up before her, appeared on the field. "This card allows me to select a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from either graveyard and add it to my hand!"

"If you think I\'m going to let you take my Blue-Eyes," Seto warned as Susan walked towards him.

"You don\'t have a choice... not unless you wish to end the duel now and admit defeat through a forfeit. And we both know you will never do that. It is your passion and drive that I find so attractive."

Seto growled as she finally came to a stop and he pulled the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his graveyard and shoved it at her. "I will be taking that back, mark my words."

"I will return it to you with a kiss, my love," she walked back to her side of the field. "Now, with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand I am able to activate the effect of the monster I just drew, the one that proves that you and I are made for each other, Seto! For by revealing the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I can now special summon to the field my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!"

Seto could only stare in shock as the monster appeared. It looked similar to his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, definitely kin, but there were many differences. It seemed... sharper. More angular. Where his dragon was a sleek bruiser this was a jagged blitzer.

"How... how is that possible? I have every card ever made for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Apparently you do not," Susan stated. "I was given this deck by Ishizu Ishtar, who opened my eyes to our past and helped me understand why I\'ve always been drawn to you."

\'Ishizu,\' Seto thought darkly. \'You claimed you were working with me, giving me the Obelisk the Tormentor in exchange for holding this tournament. But now I see you were holding out on me, hiding the fact that you had a Blue-Eyes Deck of your own. One you\'ve given to this madwoman that threatened Mokuba.\' He grit his teeth together. \'I am going to destroy you, mark my words. I will tear down everything you care for and reduce it to dust! That is my promise!\'

"And now let me prove to you\'re the connection I hold with your dragon!" She giggled behind her hand before thrusting it out. "Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! Attack directly with Positron Burst!"

"Heh," Seto said with a smirk. "You really think I would let you get away with attacking me after you stole my Blue-Eyes to summon that knockoff? For all your claims of knowing me it\'s clear you don\'t understand a damn thing. I activate my face down: Majesty With Eyes of Blue, which allows me to send a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the graveyard to negate your attack!"

"So clever, my love, so clever... but it will do you little good. We will have our dance."

"No, we won\'t," Seto said, narrowing his eyes. "For it is my turn now and I think it\'s time I rid the field of that eyesore you summoned. I activate Silver\'s Cry, which allows me to resurrect the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I just sent to the graveyard!" A roar filled the air as his Blue-Eyes appeared, snarling as it glared at its counterpart. "Now then, let\'s see which dragon truly is the most powerful! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack with Neutron Blast!"

"Counter, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!"

The two beams of energy collided violently, the two white scaled drakes struggling to dominate the other. But in the end they were too matched and shattered completely.

"And I\'m not done! As now I use the effect of my White Stone of the Ancients to bring back the Blue-Eyes that was just destroyed!" The stone appeared before cracking open, allowing the Blue-Eyes to, yet again, appear on the field. "You might as well give up now. Next turn I\'ll summon another monster and both it and my Blue-Eyes White Dragon will attack your life points, eliminating you from my tournament and teaching you a valuable lesson: don\'t ever mess with Seto Kaiba."

"Talking so tough, my love... but you don\'t have to hide your vunerable side from me. I know that inside that cold exterior is a soft, wonderful, tender heart."

"My heart is a muscle that pumps blood through my veins. That is all it needs to do. Now make your move so I can finish you already you demented cow."

Susan merely shrugged. "Have it your way! I summon in defense mode the Mystical Elf-Mystical Burst Stream in defense mode!"

Seto\'s eye began to twitch. \'First the Time Wizard that Wheeler used... now Yugi\'s Mystical Elf that he used back in Duelist Kingdom? This deck... Pegasus probably made it, same as the one I have... but he purposely did all he could to make it a joke. An insult against me. All the monsters are based on Wheeler and Yugi\'s cards! Damn that fop!\'

"And now I activate the spell card Greed with Eyes of Blue!" On the field a blue and white Pot of Greed appeared. "This card allows me to discard one Blue-Eyes monster to draw three cards." She did just that, sending Seto\'s Blue-Eyes to her graveyard...

...and Seto wasn\'t going to have that.

"That card goes back to MY graveyard, not yours," he said coldly, marching forward and holding out his hand. "I will be taking back what is MINE now."

"Of course, of course... whatever you desire." She handed him the card only for her fingers to linger on his wrist. "Anything."

Seto snatched his hand away and stormed back to his side of the field. "Play your little games all you wish... you\'ll regret them soon enough! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy that elf now with White Lightning!"

"I activate my Mystical Elf\'s effect, allowing me to summon the Blue-Eyes you just put back in your graveyard!" Seto grit his teeth as Susan held out her hand, forcing him to ONCE MORE walk across the field. When he did so she grabbed his wrist and dragging him close, pressing her breasts against his chest. "You can admit you are just doing this to be close to me."

"If you don\'t let me go I\'ll dash your head against the curb."

Susan tisked at that. "So much anger... just means you\'ll be all the more passionate as we spend hours in bed making sweet sweet love."

"I\'d rather penetrate a cactus," Seto growled as he stormed back to his side of the field. "Now, my attack can continue-"

"My Mystical Elf can this turn redirect your attack to the target of my choosing. And I select my Blue-Eyes!" The two dragons leapt at each other, clawing and biting at one another before shattering. "Oh no... it goes back to your graveyard." She began to move towards him, purposely swaying her hips.

\'I\'d rather duel Pegasus and Edwin at the same time then put up with this annoying woman!\' Seto thought as he once more claimed his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and placed it in his graveyard. He set two cards and ended his turn.

"Seto," Susan said, her voice dropping to a quiet whisper, her smile fading as she stared at the ground. "You believe you understand the power of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But... it is me. I am it. I understand truly its power... its might... and not just WHAT it has been... but what it COULD be." She snapped her head up and he saw the madness return in her manic grin. "Let me show you! I activate The Ultimate Ritual!" On the field two white urns appeared, burning with blue fire. "I now tribute from my graveyard my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon in order to summon forth his new perfect evolution." The flames exploded skyward as the Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon appeared on the field, letting out a roar before the flames fell down on it, engulfing it. "The Blue-Eyes is known as a dragon of light... but that is only half of life itself. I grant it now the other half, to make it perfect. Light... and Darkness! Just like you and me, Seto! Two separate beings, brought together to make something glorious! Behold... the Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon!"

The dragon the emerged from the azure flames was larger than the original Blue-Eyes White Dragon and thrummed with crackling lightning. Its body was more crystalline, with its wings looking like they had been cut from diamonds and it scales made of unbreakable glass. But the diamonds were not pure and the glass was clouded, shadows moving along the beast\'s flesh and rippling outwards the create an aura of darkness that fought with its natural light.

"What... what have you done to it?" Seto whispered in disgust. "You\'ve desecrated it!"

"I have made it perfect!" Susan countered with a wild grin.

"I won\'t allow that abomination to remain for a second more! Activate my facedown: Monster Reborn!" Seto threw out his hand. "Come back my Blue-Eyes White Dragon and take down that false Blue-Eyes!" But the moment his Blue-Eyes appeared on the field it let out a cry of pain and began to sink to the ground. "What... what is happening?"

"My Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon is making your dragon recognize who is superior. Its effect allows it to force your monster into defense position and then reduces its defense points to zero. And the might of my Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon is that it can inflict damage even when fighting a defense monster!"

"SETO!" Mokuba cried out from the resturuant.

"Attack with Chaos Lightning!"

"Reveal my other facedown!" Seto said quickly. "Silver\'s Barrier! This card allows me to redirect any damage I might take involving a battle with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my opponent! So all that damage is heading right to you!" The attack shattered his Blue-Eyes White Dragon only for the beam of corrupted lightning to strike the barrier and bounce of, making it race towards Susan. "Say goodbye to 3000 lifepoints!"

"I think not," Susan said, holding up a card. "I activate the Blue-Eyes White Kuriboh!"

Seto\'s eye began to twitch again as an albino version of Yugi\'s annoying puff ball appeared on the field, cooing happily.

"When there is a Blue-Eyes monster on the field and I would take damage to my lifepoints by battle or effect I can discard this monster and reduce it to zero and then increase the attack of one Blue-Eyes monster on my side of the field by that damage!" The Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon roared as the power swelled into it, causing the energy that was currently thrumming through its body to increase all the more. "Do you see, my love? Do you see how well I understand you? The way we counter one another, how we are ready for the other\'s moves... it shows that we are meant to be together! We dance so divinely!" She set a card on the field and ended her turn.

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Edwin\'s whispered, \'if that\'s the requirement then Yugi is Seto\'s great love\' in Seto\'s head but he merely brushed it aside. He had no time for that jabbering oaf. He had a duel to win and he was going to do it right now!

"Draw!" Seto declared, pulling the card from his deck... "Ha...hahaha...hahahahahahaha!" He threw back his head and laughed. "You have done all you could to annoy me! Mocked my Blue-Eyes White Dragon with that imposter! Used twisted new versions of Yugi and Wheeler\'s monsters. Made your coy little comments like you think for one second I would ever want to be with you! Well...now it ends you disgusting piece of rubbish! I first activate Silver\'s Blessing!" The card, which showed villagers cheering as a Blue-Eyes flew above them towards an attacking army, appeared on the field. "This card allows me to gain 500 lifepoints for every Blue-Eyes monster on the field or in the graveyard. And with my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and your Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon on the field my lifepoints increase to 6000!"

He smirked as he selected another card. "But they won\'t be staying there for now. I next activate Foolish Burial to send my final Blue Eyes to the graveyard and then activate Soul Charge! This card allows me to sacrifice 1000 lifepoints to summon a monster from either player\'s graveyard... and I can do that as many times as I wish. So I sacrifice 5000 life points to bring back the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my graveyard, my Sage with Eyes of Blue, and your Mystical Elf!"

"YEAH!" Mokuba cheered from behind the window as all three of Seto\'s dragons appeared, roaring at the corrupted imposter that stood before them.

"Impressive, my love, but it won\'t be enough to defeat my Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon. Have you forgotten that I increased its attack to 6000 with my Blue-Eyes White Kuriboh? Even should you summon your mighty Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon you would be hard pressed to overcome this terror I have created." She held her arms out wide. "Admit it! Admit that I understand the Blue-Eyes White Dragon far more than you! That it is I and I am it and thus we belong together!"

"I admit that you were a loser before, are a loser now, and will be a loser forever more. Because it won\'t be my Blue-Eyes you face." He held up a single card. "It will be something far worse."

And with that... his dragons began to glow.

Susan blinked in surprise. "What... what is this?"

"The card that will destroy you, Susan! I tribute my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in order to summon OBELISK THE TORMENTOR!"

The three dragons gave a final roar before turning into blue light that rushed up into the sky, forming black storm clouds that unleashed lighting all around them as the ground trembled and bucked. The heavenly bolts all came together, striking a single spot, and twisted together to form the giant Egyptian God. Obelisk towered over them, making the Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon look like a puppy nipping at its indulgent master\'s heels. People fell back in terror at the sight of the monstrous bipedal being and for the first time since the duel had begun Susan was utterly shaken.

"That... what is that thing?"

"That... is a god. Allow me to show you his divine wrath! I sacrifice my Sage and your Elf to increase Obelisk\'s attack power to infinite!" Obelisk grabbed the two monsters in his beefy hands, drawing their life essence into him and causing his power to skyrocket. His duel disc was trembling, trying to handle the raw power that the Egyptian God Card was putting out but Seto pressed on. "Now Obelisk, attack!"

"But... but Soul Charge prevents you from attacking!"

"A mere spell card can not hold back the wrath of a god! Obelisk, attack with Fist of Fate!"

With an unnatural roar Obelisk drove his fist down into the Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon, causing the monster to let out a roar that was instantly cut off as it shattered, Susan sent flying through the air and landing in a heap. (Susan-0000)

"Pathetic," Seto said as he deactivated his Duel Disc.

"This... this just proves..." Susan murmured in a daze.

"It proves that you were insane to bother me," Seto growled, grabbing her fallen Locator Card and after a moment taking her Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon. He considered ripping it up in front of her but as he held the card he paused. \'It is a useful card... and having it in my deck will always remind me to be careful of demented fools like her. To never allow those that believe in fate and past lives to dominate my path. I should take her entire deck, search it for other cards, and then use them against that traitor Ishizu-\'

Susan suddenly leapt up, a grin on her face. "Now a part of my deck will be with you, my love! I get it though, I understand... I must become stronger. Prove I am worthy of you. And I will. I promise. But for now-" Seto titled his head as he heard sirens, "-time to go."

And with that she began to run.

Seto took two steps forward to chase after her, not wanting her on the loose, only to hear his brother calling for him, causing Seto to stop and return to the restaurant where Mokuba was standing in the doorway, a To-Go bag in his hand.

"That was amazing, Seto! You and Obelisk were able to take her down with one hit!"

"Was there any doubt?" Seto said but there was no bite to his words. "Did you get your fill?"

"I did and the owner Mr. Perkins made you a To-Go bag so you could eat as well."

"Hmmm... thank you," Seto said with a simple nod to the owner before placing his hand on his brother\'s shoulder. "Come on Mokuba, let\'s get going. That distraction might have gotten me a locator card but we both have a ways to go before we lock our places in the finals." Mentally he added, \'And now there is one more person I need to deal with. Yugi... this is merely business. The two of us determining who is the best duelist in the world. Edwin... this is a reminder that you are below me and you need to understand that. But Ishizu... this is personal. You sicced that mad dog on me and my brother? Now I\'m going to return the favor. I am going to make sure that you pay!\'

"So that Ishizu woman gave that crazy lady her deck?" Mokuba asked. "Man, I hope I see here and am able to give her a piece of my mind!"

Seto paused before smiling, taking out his phone. "You might have to get in line..."

~MC~MC~MC~

"...and the father assures him that the clown makeup won\'t be smudged at all. And the agent just stares at the four and with a look of utter horror whispers, "Jesus fucking Christ...". And the mother is quick to remind him that no, the son is dressed as Moses, not Jesus. Common mistake though. The agent just whispers, "What the ever living fuck would you call that act?!?". And the father proudly declares, "The Aristocrats!"."

Renard, who had alternated between disgust, shock, and laughter, just stared at me before we heard a chime. I looked down as my duel disc lit up before a small hologram projected message flashed up.

BATTLE CITY UPDATE!

BONUS INTRODUCED!

ONE MILLION DOLLAR BONUS TO THE DUELIST THAT ELIMINATES ISHIZU ISHTAR FROM THE TOURNAMENT

"Oh what the fuck did you do now you demented loon?" I muttered.

/UzumakiLegacy"