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Okay, yeah. Now, this is important. There's a deck of cards in your right pocket. Slowly grab it with your left hand, then whip it out quickly, and point to him with your right index finger and say, 'IT'S TIME TO DUEL!'
Ch. 2 -- The Method to Madness
////////////////////////////////////////CH2//////////////////////////////////////////
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The Method to Madness*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
////////////////////////////////////////CH2//////////////////////////////////////////
WARNING: Character "Death"
You lowered your hand and shook your head fiercely.
That's right... you thought. That jerk tricked me into seeing some flashbacks...to
help that girl,
Anzu...
You snapped out of your inner monologue just in time to see... -him- ...The creepy guy who...
...Wait...
This guy wasn't creepy at all! Same hair, but all the kids wear their hair crazy nowadays. It
all looked the same
to you. But...his expression was innocent, almost child-like. He was wearing a unform from your
school,
Domino High, but why was he here? You thought back to your first conversation with -him-.
"First, you'll see -my- problem..." he had said.
I get it! Maybe its -him- when he was younger!
Then you realized his younger self was staring at you, confused. You stared back, blankly, then
opened your
mouth.
"Wh-What is it...?"
You gasped at the sound of your voice. It didn't sound anything like you! As you tried
to figure out what was distorting your voice, the little -him- spoke:
"What do you mean, Spirit? You came to visit me, remember?" He tilted his head to
one side,
obviously just as confused as you were.
You frowned, and started to explain. "Well, I..." but -his- voice interrupted you.
Tell him you want to play a game.
It was -his- voice again. You recognized its sickeningly disguised tone of exasperation.
"What?!" you snapped aloud.
The little guy's eyes widened. He seemed to be unnerved by your outbursts.
"Um...I didn't say anything...?"
You covered your mouth, embarassed. Can you hear me? you thought, actually disgusted at
the fact that
you -wanted- him to respond..
No, I can't. The voice, -his- voice, sounded blunt and sarcastic, yet the
situation was too
serious for him to be playing around. Anzu's life was at stake, right?
Oh...then how can I.....wait a minute...
His laughter echoed in your ears.
You frickin...never mind that. He's lookin at me funny. What do I say? Who is he? And why
does my voice
sound all weird?
I already told you what to say...Anyway, his name is Yugi Mutoh...and your voice
does not
sound weird . It's my voice. You're me. His words were so carefully
spaced, and his
tone, terse...annoingly so.
What?!
Just do as I say... The line was dripping with exasperation. He was really
getting tired of
your mistrust of him. But it was his fault for seeming so...well...untrustworthy!
He was getting on your nerves, so you decided to get him back.
"Heeeey, Yugi!" you said giddily. "Wanna play a game?"
How was that?
Don't make me sound stupid!
You were going to take another shot at him, but this "Yugi" broke your train of thought by
grabbing "your
hand".
"Sure!" He seemed excited, but then backed off immediately. "I mean...I guess that's okay..."
Sounds like he's kind of afraid of you.
This was the first time I spoke to him. Before now, I would take control whenever he got
scared or
was in trouble, and he would just think he had blacked out. But that was before I realized how
much time I
was wasting with that...He couldn't help me, like I thought. Even though he completed the
puzzle...
Hmph. Sounds like you used to be a good person, but only because you had your own plans for
him. Then,
when he couldn't help you, you got rid of him.
It -sounds- that way, doesn't it? This time his voice dripped with contempt...if
it was possible
to "think" a sneer, you had just heard it.
His arrogance bothered you, but you had been so busy with -him- that you were ignoring "Yugi".
Your attention
clicked in as he was finishing his list of games to play...
"...-nopoly, or yeah! We could play Scrabble! I love that game...Or, we could do a puzzle
together! I think
that would be cool, since you came out of my puzzle. You know, for us to do a puzzle together?
Or what
about..."
Should I suggest a game? He doesn't seem to know what "we" should do...
Okay, yeah. Now, this is important. There's a deck of cards in your right pocket. Slowly
grab it with
your left hand, then whip it out quickly, and point to him with your right index finger and say,
'IT'S TIME
TO DUEL!'
...
You burst out laughing.
"You've...gotta be...kidding me!" You managed between muffled laughter.
Once you realized you had said that out loud, you noticed Yugi's eyes welling up with tears. But
he was
holding most of it back, you could tell.
"So...then...you don't want to play?"
Oh, crap. It wasn't as if you cared about this Yugi, but really, he was an innocent
bystander in all
this. Not quite guilt but...you definately felt stupid for confusing him, and hurting him
because of this other
guy, this psycho in your mind...or in whose mind you were stranded.
See what you've done?! His voice resounded with all of its 'Holier than thou'
glory. He was -so-
condescending, and wrong to blame -you- on top of all that.
Me?! First, you tell me not to make you look stupid and then you ask me to say THAT?
You felt your face
wringing, twisting up out of sheer disgust for his audacity. Yugi must have thought you were
crazy, the way you
were scowling. Then, his voice disrupted your thoughts.
Get out of the way!
You felt a hand grab "your" throat and start to squeeze. You gasped for air, but couldn't get
any. Your throat
seemed to swell though, instead of contracting, and it was if you were getting too much air,
rather than not
enough. Either way, you were definately choking.
The threat of death -he- had promised you was starting to become a reality for you. What if you
couldn't survive
this? What if this was really it for you?
Were you ready to die?
Whether it was time or not, although the former seemed to be the case, you asked yourself again:
Am I prepared...to die...?
What are you -doing-?! You're gonna kill me! STOP!!!
No response.
The random chokehold caused you to black out. You felt "your" eyes close and the floor
underneath you...
everything turned black and you could feel your eyes rolling back into your head. Your temples
surged with pain,
and you felt sick, like you had been spinning around and around, out of control. You weren't
sure if it was the
feeling of death, but...
It was definately not comfortable. And then...nothing. Just light-headed and weightless, in a
large, pitch-black
room. You felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. Although you could breathe again...it seemed
you had been
conscious the whole time...?
Then, you heard -his- voice.
But it sounded distant and muffled, the same way it had when you first heard it, behind that
door...Thinking
back to that room gave you even more questions for him, but there was one question that took
priority, in your
mind:
WHAT THE -HELL- WAS THAT?!
I thought an interactive memory might be fun. I've never done it that way, but...YOU
screwed it up.
Maybe a NORMAL memory would be better for both of us.
You were, however, glad to hear the voice...but only because it meant you weren't dead.
Maybe it would. I TOLD you I just wanted the information anyway. Why do you have to make
everything more
complicated?!
But he said nothing more to you. You only heard, "Yugi, I want to play a game of Duel Monsters.
I want to duel you, right now."
Suddenly, light erupted from nowhere within the space. You turned, or at least, you thought you
were turning, to
see two pictures of Yugi's face. It looked normal but seemed a bit strange. As you stared at the
screens, you
were reminded of school; the big screens they used with overhead projectors were similar.
But...why was Yugi...
Oh...you were watching the memory!
Precisely.
Oh, so NOW you wanna talk to me?!
Not really. Just pay attention. Blunt...Condescending...He needed to die, or at
least be hurt.
Why are you so damn bossy?!
But it seemed he has stopped speaking to you for the moment. Then, you heard Yugi again.
"But I can't." Yugi tried to sound disappointed. "You have more important things to do anyway,
right?"
"What would I have to do that's more important than playing?" He almost sounded choked up. But
you werent sure
he was even capable of that...
"It's just...that I don't trust you. I black out when you show up...and people are always hurt."
He had the
same tone in his voice that Anzu had before...but it was more afraid and hurt than angry. "Even
if what they
were doing was wrong, I know that the only one who could have been responsible...is you."
"I didn't come here to be accused...and of hurting people? Why would I do that, Yugi?" An
unusually plain tone...
Did he mean it?
It was strange, you were so sure about his character before, but this flashback...maybe he was
okay, but had
changed somehow...
"Don't try to trick me, y-you....whatever you are!"
"Is that...is that what you think I do? I just wanted to grant your wish. You wanted friends,
right? I'm here
now, aren't I? What...what did I do...wrong?"
Your -pauses- sure as HELL don't mean -anything- to ME. And if that Yugi had any sense, -he-
wouldn't
believe you either.
I really did come here to help him...It's not MY fault he's so damn spineless!
It was the same way he had talked about "Justice" before with Anzu. He really thought he was
right, and that
everyone else was wrong! Again, his arrogance was infuriating! HOW could he be so obstinate and
pompous?!
I wanted to be there for him, when he felt he didn't have ANYONE! He had taking
an angry tone
here...but you weren't sure if it was because he had really wanted to help, or because he was
wrong about Yugi's
perception of people...That had to be it, right?
Maybe he really wanted to help Yugi. Maybe, at first, you'd give him that. But now...he only
wanted to get
rid of him.
"Y-You really just wanted to help? You didn't come here to hurt anybody?" Yugi seemed affected
by his words, in
the same way you had. Could Yugi really trust him...? Knowing what you knew about -him- now, you
would say...
No.
"Why would I do something like that? Why would anyone want to do that?"
But then, he -did- seem a little different. The overbearing confidence, still there, but...it
hardly seemed
malicious...
"Don't say things like that!" Yugi was seemingly harnessing his fear... "Just answer me! I don't
like being
tricked...I don't want to be betrayed..."
"Then...-why- ask for -friends-...?!"
Ah, the "Justice" tone.
The guy was just not acting like himself! Either Yugi had struck a chord, which you doubted, or,
as you
suspected, -HE- was trying to lure Yugi in. But then, he had seemed much more diabolical when
-you- first met
him...
Could it be that he was just as alone as he had claimed Yugi was before the two of them met?
No.
He -had- to be angry at Yugi for not being trusting enough for him to fool.
"I...I've never really had any...I was willing...And its not like I asked for friends who would
hurt me...
I asked for true friends, people I could count on....and...people who could count on ME. THAT'S
what I asked
for. NOT someone like YOU."
"I'm telling you, I'm not bad!! Why won't you believe me?!"
"I already told you...whenever you show up, something bad happens, and people get hurt."
"But only bad people! I always protect you AND your friends. Whenever you're in trouble...when
you're feeling
anger, helplessness, despair...I can feel it, and I come to help."
Yugi clasped his hands over his ears and shook his head violently. "Hurting people doesn't help
anything! I HATE
fighting! Why can't you just go away!? Just leave me alone!"
You just -had- to cheer him on! Yugi was a really great person...you could see that. He didn't
deserve to deal
with -him-.
Now your weird subspace room was getting very hot. You felt angry at Yugi, but couldn't explain
it. You knew that
this other guy was wrong, but...you couldn't help but be angry at Yugi. What the hell was going
on?
You're pissed, aren't you?
He didn't respond. It could have been that he was too busy with the memory, or irritated that
you had figured
him out.
But yeah, it had to be that he was mad. If your souls were together, then you felt the same
things. You were SO
angry SO randomly, it HAD to be because HE was feeling that. But you still werent certain if it
was the -him- in
the memory that was angry, or the -him- controlling the memory.
Then, -he- spoke again:
Yes, the room reflects my emotions. It did the same thing while I was in there and you
were dominant.
When you were yelling before...it steamed up. The room has all sorts of ways of relaying emotion
He was being pretty off handed, but you could still tell. He was pissed -now-. There was nothing
you could say
to get rid of it. Nothing you could do, but watch. This really wasn't the time to be pissing
-him- off, you
could see that now.
"Fine...I'll leave. But you have to get rid of me."
Yugi set his jaw. "Whatever I have to do to get you out...to protect people, even those that
don't deserve it,
I'll do it." Yugi's eyes were a little red and watery, but he was still glaring defiantly. Go
Yugi!
"Play a Shadow Game with me."
"Sh-Shadow...Game...? You mean...the same thing you've been doing...to everyone else..."
"Yes. If you win, I'll leave, and you'll never hear from me again. I'll go back to the puzzle,
you can lock it
away, and that'll be it."
"And if I lose...?"
"You already know what happens, Yugi." He said darkly.
Yugi sighed. "Fine. What do we have to do?"
"Very simple. It will be based entirely on fate."
"Fate...? Entirely...? That doesn't seem to be much of a game..."
"All games are based on a certain degree of luck. This game is the same, only more so."
"Okay...So...What are the rules?"
"Not a whole lot to it." he shrugged. "We each draw a card from our deck of "Duel Monsters"
cards," which he
indicated standoffishly, "and whichever creature has the higher number of level stars," Another
shrug, and then,
"wins."
But now, he held up his index finger. "Then, the winner claims his spoils, on the side. If he
loses his main
deck, those cards become his deck."
He nodded slowly. "The first to run out of cards, loses."
Yugi looked down at the ground. "Sounds easy enough...but what if the cards have the same number
of stars?"
The pictures narrowed. "Well, then we play three more cards, and all of their stars combined
will be what is
compared."
"And Magic Cards and Traps?"
"Zero, naturally."
"Okay...I think I'm ready then..." Yugi didn't seem as afraid as you thought he should be. But
then, what did
he need to be afraid of, really? Except...these "Shadow Games"... what would happen to Yugi, if
he lost...?
"Well, then.... LET'S DUEL!" He sneered. You didn't need the room to tell you that, you could
hear it in his
voice on your own...his dark demeanor and his sadistic fascination with hurting people, even
someone he once
cared about, or so it seemed...it was all starting to actually scare you...well, mabe not
"scare" but..
You were worried about Yugi.
And somehow, hearing -him- say the line he had tried giving you earlier, when he said it, it was
MUCH less amusing.
*~* {[SHADOW GAME, YUGI: Battle of Hope]} *~*
The battle arena was set. Just Yugi and...well, the other guy, face to face, on a carpet, decks
by their sides.
"You go first," You heard him say. "I hate to go first."
"Okay..." Yugi drew a card, and his face lit up. "Yeah! Alright! I got Summoned Skull! Five
stars!"
-He- picked up a card next, and looked at it. It seemed like he did it, just long enough for you
to see. You
didn't know anything about the real game, but you knew that Yugi had lost the first round in
this "Shadow"
version. The card he picked up had five...six...seven stars...
"Dark Magician!" He slapped it onto the carpet confidently. "-Seven- stars."
"Oh no!" Yugi cried out.
You had a feeling how the rest of this would go...
*~* *~* *~*
It was ugly. Yugi was getting beat left and right. On every turn, Yugi played a card and -he-
had a better one.
Yugi had only taken a couple of his cards...but...
"Yes!! My Dark Magician!! There's no way you can stop HIM!" Yugi cheered.
"My draw...is..." His dark tone...could he have actually -beaten- a seven star monster?
"What did you get?"
"...Kuriboh..."
"WHAT?!" Yugi clasped his ears, like before and looked down. "But...Kuriboh only has one star!
AGHH!! My
Magician was WASTED!!"
Wasted? Didn't he beat you?
Yes, but he could have taken out up to a six star monster with his magician, but he was
against a one star
monster instead. He could have beaten Kuriboh with most anything, but now his Dark Magician
can't be used for a
while.
I see...that really does suck...
Hey! Whose side are you on?! It was kind of...he was faking be offended by what
you said, and it
was so obvious too...How was it even -possible- to take this guy seriously...? Sometimes he was
such a moron...
Not -YOURS-! You snapped.
Not that it matters anyway...or did you forget?
What was he talking about? But then, your concentration went back to the game.
You watched as -he- slowly slid Yugi's Magician and his Kuriboh over to Yugi, and smiled.
"You won this round." He said, and yes, it was condescending, as most everything he said seemed
to be.
He was rubbing it in!! You wanted to strangle him.
But...the game all but changed after that...They turned their cards, and...
"Gemini Elf!" Yugi cried, definately desperate.
"Gemini Elf..." He didn't seem to care as much. But then, he was winning...
"What?!" Yugi sounded like he was having some kind of anxiety attack, wheezing and shaking. You
were really
rooting for him. You wanted him to win so badly! He deserved it...
"Yes...it seems we drew the same card..."
"Okay, so...we combine these with the next three cards in our decks?" Yugi was really trying to
rush things
it seemed, as if he wouldn't get another chance to get this many of -his- cards.
"Right..."
"But...if I lose this...I won't have any cards left...!"
"That's why...this is the Battle of Hope! With your quaint notion of "the heart of the
cards"...can you use it
do defeat fate?" He sounded so...over the top. He really didn't need to be that dramatic...even
though they were
playing for their lives...Still, you couldn't help if you didn't like anything that came out of
his mouth. You
wanted Yugi to win, even if it was a memory...
And then, it sunk in that Yugi -had- to lose.
Yugi turned over his first two, Dark Magician (7) and Swords of Revealing Light (0)...
And -his- cards... Slate Warrior (4) and Dark Magic Ritual (0)
Yugi's eyes widened, you both saw it. Had -he-....lost? One left...
Yugi turned over Witch of the Black Forest (4)...
And -his- final card...
Magician of Black Chaos (8)
Yugi's 11 against...
12.
"NO! I can't...how...?" He clutched his stomach and stared at the ground, trembling. He had
lost...but, what was
going to happen now?
"You've lost, Yugi. Now you know what has to happen...!" A forboding tone...hopefully it wasn't
-too- bad...
*~* {[PENALTY GAME: Illusion of Apathy]} *~*
"Illusion...of Apathy?" Yugi said, awed by just the name alone.
Illusion of Apathy? You were awed too, but mostly confused. What does that mean?
You mean...what is apathy?
Yeah.
Just watch. He seemed to be playing with you.
However YOU did not like to be messed with like this. The more he slipped into his "trickster"
like attitude,
the more you were reminded that all of this was set up by him, for really, no apparent reason.
He could have
just TOLD you what you wanted to know...
But then, you wouldn't fully understand the real danger Anzu is in.
What?
I said watch!
AGHHHHHHH! He needed to die, and you needed to be the one to kill him. Seriously.
"Spirit, what does this mean?"
"You don't know? Apathy is when you don't care. About anything."
You were relieved. That doesn't sound so bad!
It's not over yet. The dark, foreboding tone...you couldn't ignore it. Somehow,
you got the
feeling Yugi was in for some real trouble.
"You're going to make me not care about anything? That would be terrible! My friends wouldn't
like that at
all..." Yugi seemed worried, but not scared out of his mind. What exactly did Anzu have to fear?
"No, you don't understand. Let me explain," he motioned gracefully, extending his hand, it was
like some sort of
extra motion that didn't really need to be there...
"Yugi, this state is rather like a nightmare." He said plainly.
"A...Nightmare...?" He seemed more afraid now, but still, he was so little. Of course he was
afraid of something
like that. But Anzu...what did she have to fear? If it didn't get answered soon, you made up
your mind to ask
him.
"Yes. In this nightmare, you aren't the one who will be affected." He seemed to be getting
excited by the fact
that he could reveal this "penalty game." He was taking his time on purpose!
"But if nothing happens to me, then...I don't understand!" Yugi's eyes darted around, like he
was looking for
a straight answer. Apparently, -he- isn't a direct person, and does these kinds of things to
everyone; playing
games for information! Maddening; you swore if you could hit this "Spirit", you would have
already done it.
"The ones who will be instilled with apathy...will be the ones around you, those you care about
most. Your
friends; Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda, your mother, your grandfather. THEY will be the ones
affected by this shadow
game. And YOU, indirectly, will be eaten alive out of a product of your own sheer agony."
"Wait...do you mean...They won't love me anymore? Or care about me at all?!" His eyes widened in
horror.
Even -you- were taken back by this. It was so horribly evil, and -he- had enjoyed it! He loved
every minute of
this...torture!
I can't believe this! His biggest weakness, and you used it against him like that...that's
TERRIBLE!
Such is the hope of a great strategist, to defeat people by using their weaknesses
against them.
He seriously, SERIOUSLY was enjoying it! His absolute conviction in the fact that hurting this
poor kid was okay
...you hated him!
HOW COULD HE DO THAT?!
You can't be serious! He's a real person! And you want to hurt him! He's just a little kid!
"Yes. You will feel what it is like to truly be alone. You thought you could complain before...!
Ha! I'll show
you what its -really- like. You have no idea what you're up against!"
You could hear it in his voice; he loved it. You still couldn't believe that anyone would do
something like that.
He was truly, truly evil, to hurt poor Yugi like this. And then, to make it even worse, he was
getting a big
kick out of it...
You had used the word "sadistic" to describe him before...you would no longer toss out
adjectives thoughtlessly.
This was an entirely new level of evil, that you didn't even think possible. Yugi's loved ones,
no longer
loving him? What would they do? How would they act? You couldn't begin to imagine a world where
you were
utterly ignored, even from those you care the most about. He would feel so alone, Yugi. And even
saying that, is
an understatement.
This "Spirit" had stepped over the line. You were sure now.
There had to be a way to stop it.
And you were going to find it.
Just like you were determined to save Anzu, a girl you hardly knew, you would also save Yugi. It
didn't matter
how you were involved originally, not anymore. He was destroying the lives of good people, ON
purpose, FOR FUN.
There had to be a way to stop it.
So...I see you understand now, the danger Anzu is in?
I can see perfectly... Your words were spoken poison. You had nothing but contempt for
the evil Spirit.
So you know, its not permanent. He said it like you should have known.
What? You snapped. You couldn't compose yourself. Not just yet.
"Spirit..." Yugi's eyes were filled with water. "Please...why...?"
He came over to Yugi, and patted him on the head.
"Goodbye now." The most disdainful tone you had heard yet from the Spirit. "Your new life awaits
you!"
You watched as the Spirit started to glow gold, and a strange emblem appeared on his forehead.
He touched Yugi's
temples with his index fingers, and then Yugi began to glow also, but the gold aura was being
transferred from the
Spirit to Yugi, who began to scream out in pain.
A bloodboiling, gut-wrenching scream.
You could only watch hopelessly as Yugi dropped to his knees, and then, the floor.
The Spirit from the memory spoke to Yugi, as if he could hear:
"You will most likely experience death in that nightmare." The pompous,'Holier than thou' ass
was mocking him
now! He spoke again, as he walked out of the door, looking back to Yugi, twitching on the
carpet:
"But, as I said, its just a nightmare. If you can overcome your fear, you might actually be able
to esc-"
He coughed.
Not a normal cough, but a wet, hoarse cough. Like he was dying...
Yes. I realized, just as soon as I sealed Yugi away, that I could barely exist without
him and the
Millenium Puzzle with me.
The Millenium...Puzzle?
The Golden pyramid, on the desk there.
As the Spirit turned to look at it, you could see it too.
You actually recognized that thing!
I know that thing! There's this kid at school, who...
Yugi -was- a kid from your school. How couldn't you have noticed it before!?
I know you know. I'm surprised you only just now realized it. Do you finally understand
how you are
involved...? I know you don't pay much attention to the hair, but he's the exact same one.
What did he mean? And Why couldn't he survive without Yugi and that necklace thing? You knew
Yugi was from your
school and all, and you recognized the pyramid...it was so strange that you only knew him by
that lame necklace.
But how did that involve you? Why were you here? It didn't matter as much as it had before,
since all you knew
was that you had to stop the Spirit...but you sill wondered. About that, and one other thing...
Just WHEN am I gonna start getting some REAL answers around here?!
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