Ennead: Battle of the Gods - Night on the Blimp

“I’m sorry, Jou, but I’m breaking my promise.” Yugi’s tone was apologetic and soft as she smiled at him ruefully from across the dock. His mind, which was still recovering from kicking Isis out of his head, stalled.

She couldn’t mean…

“Mystical Ref Panel!” Yugi’s gaze turned upwards, to the pixie holding the magic mirror containing the very last card Isis had managed to make him play, the direct assault card, Meteor of Destruction and his heart froze. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t… “Direct your attack towards me!”

“Yugi!” Jou screamed as the fireball launched itself out of the mirror and consumed the opposite side of the field.

And then he woke up.

Gasping for breath he quickly scanned the room he was in, only to find he had not woken any of the others who had crashed in his room. A fact he was both grateful for and irritated by as he had to weave between them to grab a drink of water.

This was the third time this evening he had been woken up by the duel at the docks and he knew it would be almost impossible to get back to sleep again. Especially when every time he closed his eyes he saw Oneesan having to pick herself up after a direct assault, or Yugi falling after the meteor’s attack or worse, his best friend lying limp and unbreathing on the docks after he had pulled her from the water…

He thanked every god he had ever heard of that her heart had still been beating and that he had learned CPR.

He knew it was not safe to wander the blimp, but staying here would not help either. He wanted fresh air to clear his head, or to go for a walk, but they were trapped by Rich Boy’s insistence on showboating and Isis’s insane other self that seemed to want to rip Yugi’s friends apart to get to her.

He flinched as he remembered Mai’s Shadow Game and the harm Yugi had taken upon herself in order to not only interfere in the Game but protect him and Mai from Ra’s fire. He had sworn that he would defeat Isis and save Mai, but he had no idea how he was going to do that. Not yet anyway.

Part of him wanted to check on Yugi. She had been tired and sore when she had come around after the attack, but he had let Anzu talk him into heading into his room and sharing it with the others, giving Yugi the space Anzu thought she needed. He was not so sure. Yugi did better around her friends. She always had.

After the incident earlier today though he could not be sure that she would want him around. He had hurt her. Isis had had him under her control, but it had been him playing the cards. Him who had taken a piece of the Puzzle out. Him who had broken his promise to Oneesan and made Yugi scream in anguish and emotional pain at the betrayal.

He had to make things right but he did not know how.

Oneesan was okay now. He knew that. He knew he had managed to fight Isis’s control enough to put the piece back in and free her once again, but he had still done it. Yugi had, somehow, forgiven him for his treacherous actions, but he could not forgive himself. Not yet. Not until he had worked out how he could ever make it up to them.

He did not think that he ever could. Yugi had nearly died because of him and he had sent Oneesan back to the Shadows. He had not broken free from the brainwashing until it had nearly been far too late to save his friend and even then he had needed Kaiba’s help to revive her.

Jou cussed quietly, causing to Honda grumble in his sleep and roll over. The blonde grimaced and made up his mind. He’d go for a walk and see where he ended up. Isis had to be in bed by now and he needed to clear his head or he would be in absolutely no state to duel in the morning. That would be bad. Yugi would need the emotional support of having someone in the competition with her.

He was still tempted to knock on her door but he suspected Yugi was most likely either asleep or trying to sleep and would not appreciate being woken because of his nightmares.

He slipped out the door, locking it behind him so Isis could not hurt anyone else because of his carelessness and headed down the darkened corridors. He was unsure of where he was headed but he did not care as he tried to calm down.

Despite everything, Yugi did not hate him for what had happened. Oneesan had even deliberately pulled him aside to tell him that she did not blame him for sending her back to the Shadows and that if he wanted to be mad at anyone, he should be mad at Isis. Logically he knew that. He was just a normal duellist. He did not have any magic of his own that he could have used to protect himself from Isis’s Millennium Rod. He could not have stopped her from taking control of his mind and brainwashing him into trying to kill Yugi.

That knowledge did not help when he closed his eyes or awoke from a nightmare but it did help now, as he wandered the hallways and let his feet lead him around the kitchens, past the control deck and back down to the bedrooms, stopping him right in front of Yugi’s door.

He hesitated. She was probably asleep. He knew he himself was only awake because of the nightmares. Oneesan would probably behead him if she had finally managed to talk Yugi into sleeping and he woke her up but…

He knocked on the door.

“One minute,” Yugi’s voice was shaky as she answered, worrying Jou, “Who is it?”

“Just me, Yuge.”

“J…Jou?” He heard her scramble for the door and when it opened it was to reveal Yugi was still dressed, the Millennium Puzzle hanging in it’s customary place and she looked worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Couldn’t sleep either?” His response got a startled and slightly hysterical laugh from his best friend, who moved aside to let him in and locked the door behind him.

The moment it was safe Jou hugged her, feeling her freeze up in his arms before she clung to him, clearly needing the comfort despite the wavering question of, “Are you sure you wouldn’t be safer with the others?”

“I’m here, Yuge. Where I want to be…” He rubbed her back gently, reassuringly and heard her sniffle, suggesting Yugi was about to burst into tears.

“B…but…it’s not safe. I’m not safe…Isis will hurt anyone who’s close to me…” Yugi mumbled as she tried to get herself under control. “A…Anzu was right to keep you all away…you’re…”

“Not going to abandon you Yuge.” Jou promises, edging towards the bed and pulling Yugi into a sitting cuddle, “No matter how dangerous the situation looks. I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But…I…I can’t…” Yugi trailed off, trying not to admit to what she was thinking.

“Can’t what Yuge?” Jou asked quietly.

“I can’t,” Her voice wavered, on the edge of tears, “I can’t lose any more friends…” She started sobbing.

Jou had been expecting it and held her tightly, rubbing her back and cooing softly, the way he would if Shizuka needed comfort. It seemed to help as Yugi’s sobbing soon slowed as the girl curled into him, still needing the contact but beginning to doze off.

“You’re not going to lose us, Yuge.” Jou promised quietly, just continuing to hug her, “No matter what happens, we’re going to stick with you.” He felt her relax and little and began to let go of her.

“Stay?” Yugi’s tone was soft and pleading as she grasped his top.

“Alright.” Jou nodded, lying down with her and staying still so she could drift into an exhausted sleep. He soon followed, the comfort of having Yugi pressed in against him keeping the nightmares away for the rest of the night.

When I planned for Bakura to deal with Hirutani in Ennead: Season Zero

The screams from the thief before her as the Shadows consumed him, mind, body and soul, did not faze her in the slightest. He was nowhere near her calibre. More concerned with finding the fastest way to his prize and causing as much damage as possible rather than doing the job with speed, dignity and style.

 Not that dealing with a lousy thief had been in her plans for the evening when she had left the house. She had only been seeking to work out what the local area was like around her ‘landlord’s’ new home. When she had run into a local who had been touched by the Shadows, she had thought she might find something interesting. Possibly even useful.

It had not been hard to talk the ticked off teenager out of his bad mood and when she had mentioned she had an interest in games, he had been more than enthusiastic in his wanting to introduce her to a ‘Gamer friend’ of his. Of course he had not expected to come home to a break in.

She had not recognised the victim to start with, not properly. Her anger had been more for the sheer incompetence shown by the thief and the fact that while she did not recognise the victim fully, something in her was screaming at her that she needed to save her.

When she had pulled the girl away from her captor, she realised she recognised her and there was a reason she had needed to save her. The girl she was untying was the one she had been waiting for. The one who had trapped her in the Ring all those years ago.

Part of her wanted to end the threat before it could get off of the ground, especially when the girl, whose name was Yugi if she had heard the boy correctly, had begged her to go and get her Puzzle. However sanity had won out. She had waited three thousand years for ‘Yugi’ to reincarnate. She needed her alive in order to finally be able to get her hands on all of the Millennium Items after they all gravitated to the Pharaoh.

She had not dared hope that the Puzzle itself had been completed though. Not when the Pharaoh seemed so weak and helpless. She had expected to go into the girl’s bedroom and pick up the golden box it lived in. When she had seen that it was finally finished though, her temper had snapped.

She had waited three thousand years for the Pharaoh to reincarnate and complete the Puzzle, three thousand years of watching, waiting and hunting and some idiothad nearly ruined everything! Her own roommate, the demon she had made a deal with back in Egypt had been just a furious.

He had waited three thousand years to destroy the one member of Akhenamkhanen’s family who had escaped his wrath all those years ago. The Pharaoh was histo ruin, torture and feed to the Shadows piece by agonizing piece. No one was allowed to kill her. No one except him and he would take great pleasure out of teaching the moron who had dared to attempt to steal his kill, a lesson.

The brat had not lasted more than a turn and a half before cheating and she was more than happy to allow the Shadows to consume the brute she had been dealing with. He deserved everything he got in her opinion and she had much bigger fish to fry.

Sneak Peek of a Distant Future: Ennead: Battle of the Gods

When the Millennium Necklace had revealed to her that the Pharaoh had been female she had found it incredibly difficult to believe. Every story she had been told, every legend passed down through her family’s history had spoken of the nameless Pharaoh who had given hislife to save the world, surrendering everything he had and any chance of making the journey through the afterlife to do so, and who would be reborn when the Shadows once again launched an assault against the world.

Nothing had ever been said of he being a she.

And yet here she was, in all her glory, the nameless Pharaoh, the Queen of Games, here in the museum, looking for answers.

And Isizu was torn as to what to do. She’d seen the future, she’d seen herself telling the Pharaoh and her consort everything they needed to know, that was what she had to do to in order to have even the slightest chance of saving her brother. 

That possibility was remote though, she’d seen the future after all. She knew how everything was going to unfold. The Pharaoh would be told everything she needed to know in order to force her onto the necessary path and then she would compete in Battle City, believing she was on the route to getting her memories back, never knowing that she was on the path to her own destruction.

If Isizu was truly loyal to her Queen, as she should have been, she would have warned her about the danger, told her about the mental and physical torture that was to come, how Marik, Isizu’s patricidal brother, would cause both the spirit of the nameless Pharaoh and the vessel, Mutou Yugi, agony so great that they would wish for death long before it came, but she couldn’t, not while there was a chance that she would get one last chance to save her brother, even if...

She knew the future. By the time he moved onto the Pharaoh, Marik would be guilty of sororicide too.

She was supposed to have faith in the nameless Pharaoh, faith that he would be able to defeat evil and restore balance to the world, but he had turned out to be a she and now Isizu wondered how many of the tales that had been passed down through her family for the last five millennia were actually true.

Was it really possible that this tiny girl was the Pharaoh of the legends? The one who had protected Egypt from so many dangers? The one who had battled Anubis and won? The only one who could control all three Egyptian God monsters at the same time?

If the Pharaoh had looked more like her consort, Isizu would have been happier. A tall, powerful looking male Pharaoh would have been much more reassuring than the short, tiny framed girl that now stood before the tablet, absorbing every detail of it...

Even without the visions she’d had from five thousand years ago, when the Pharaoh had stood before the tablet, she’d sensed the magic that had been loosed and recognised the girl in front of her as the same woman from her visions.

“Oneesan?” The Pharaoh’s consort asked, surprising Isizu, as she’d ‘seen’ the blonde kissing the Pharaoh, and causing her to wonder if it hadn’t been the nameless Pharaoh she’d seen him kissing, but the young vessel, “Are you alright?”

Ennead: Season Zero Chapter 23 Sneak Peak

Yugi didn’t need much coaxing to come and settle at her Grandfather’s side as he settled on the sofa, happy to leave Jou to cook something that was resembling food more and more with every meal. She cuddled into him, relaxing as he hugged her. She had been tense for days after Death-T, still partly convinced that everything that had happened was her fault. Even now, a week and a half later she sought out their company, silently enjoying what had nearly been ripped away from her, but didn’t join in their games and laughter. Tonight was no different.

It was almost, Sugoroku mused as he watched the frustration crossing Jonouchi’s features when Yugi didn’t join him in playing for yet another night in a row, instead watching as he completed yet another chapter of some video game, as if she didn’t think she deserved to have fun.

It hurt to see her like this. Watching her regress into the quiet, shy little mouse she had been pre-Puzzle was painful. He missed the bouncy, happy, energetic girl she had become over the last few months. 

It was partly his fault she had withdrawn so far. When they had gotten to the hospital, he had still been in emergency surgery and the Doctor had told Yugi the truth of his condition. A condition that had been brought on by Kaiba’s ‘Penalty Game.’ He had emerged from the surgery whole and healthy, feeling much better, in fact, than he had for a while but the damage had been done.

Yugi had barely left his side since. He didn’t think he could blame her. He had been just as terrified about losing her as she had about losing him. He had been so afraid that she would not make it. That Kaiba’s malicious games would rob him of the last remaining member of his family. He did not think he could have survived it if he had had to return to the Game Shop, knowing that Yugi was never going to come home.

To know she was safe, that she had made it through the trials she had taken on purely to ensure his safety, eased most of the remaining stress on his heart and made breathing easier. Now if he could just mend her heart, his own would be just fine.

He had tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault. That he didn’t blame her for Kaiba’s actions. He had even offered to help her merge his deck and hers into something new, just for her. However she had turned him down, just handing the deck back and shaking her head. A first sign, maybe, of the state she had spiralled into.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the Pharaoh thought. Whether the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle was as frustrated as Yugi’s other friends or whether she felt guilty about what Kaiba had done too. It wasn’t like he could ask his other granddaughter. Not without something happening to Yugi to make her come out.

He was sure that given the right impetus Yugi would be okay but he couldn’t help but worry. He wasn’t quite sure what to do to fix the problem. Normally he would have offered her a game or two from the store to help lift her mood, but he did not think it would help. Not when he didn’t have anything new to encourage her curiosity.

Not till tomorrow at least. He was pretty sure that the new game that was due to arrive in store would at least get her playing again. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. She never had been able to resist the latest releases. From there he was sure her friends could draw her out of her shell once more. Despite their frustration he could see that they only wanted to help her.

Yugi retired to her room early again, leaving a ticked off Jou and a worried Sugoroku behind.

“If she were a guy I’d’ve smacked her by now.” Jou huffed, irritated as he watched her go. “It wasn’t her fault Kaiba was a psycho and the sooner she works that out the better.”

“I have a plan.” The elderly gamer reassured him, smiling slightly at the confirmation of his suspicions. “Just give it a little longer.”

“I hope it works.” Jou replied, shutting down the games console as he did so. “Can I help?”

“Actually you’re kind of vital.” Sugoroku chuckled lightly, “Got something new coming in tomorrow. I’ll be giving you and Yugi freebies.”

“But Yuge’s not playing...” Jou paused, curiosity kicking in, “Wait, how new?”

“Brand new release. Out for sale tomorrow.” He informed the teen, amused by the way the thought of a new game had derailed the blonde.

“That could work.” Jou nodded thoughtfully.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Ennead Chapter 23 Unused Opening

“I don’t understand why I’m always getting attacked.” Yugi complained as she leant on Honda and hobbled home to the shop after her friends had rescued her from an attempted mugging on the way home from school. “I mean I’m glad it’s me and not you lot, but I always seem to attract the thieves and bullies and then you guys have to come and get me.”

“Face it Yuge,” Jou grinned at her. In hindsight he had quite enjoyed the fight. Once he had been sure Yugi was okay it had been quite therapeutic to punch the guy in the face. “Every so often life demands that you fill your ‘damsel in distress’ quota.”

“What...?” Yugi was confused, still trying to work out how her friends had managed to react before Oneesan could considering that they had not been with her when the mugger had jumped her.

“Your life is basically a shonen anime.” Jou pointed out, “Or it’s playing out like one. And you’re a girl. You might be the lead character, but you’re still a girl. This means every so often, you have to fill your damsel in distress quota.”

“My life isn’t a...”

“Yuge, think about every game based anime we watch.” Jou sniggered, “Your life’s basically on par with some of them. Except for one thing.”

“Oh?” Curiosity piqued her.

“None of them have a female lead. If your life was an anime, you’d be a dude.”

“Jou!” Anzu protested.

“No, no, he has a point.” Yugi allowed, thinking, “I don’t think any of the shows we watch have a female protagonist so they’d probably make me a guy.” She paused, considering it for a moment longer, “Unless they made it as a magical girl anime.”

“Okay, I know you like ‘Starlight Breaker’ Yuge, but if your life was like it, Oneesan would be a morality pet.” Jou pointed out, “And you’d be like, eleven. And a human gundam.”

“Love the order of importance there.” Honda grinned at him.

“It could be worse.” Anzu pointed out, “It could be a love anime where every guy we know is a romance option. And I mean everyguy.”

“Eww.” Yugi grimaced, sticking her tongue out, “Eww. Eww. Eww. I am NOT dating any of our teachers.”

“Well the mecha genre’s right out, unless you’re hiding a giant robot somewhere that we don’t know about.” Jou pointed out, “And you suck at sports, so there’s no way they’d pick that.”

“If they were making an anime of my life it would have to be a game based one. I don’t do anything else interesting.” Yugi pointed out, “So either I’d end up being a guy, or the fact people used to think I was a guy would remain a huge plot point.”

“And you’d get to spend the entire first season hiding your gender.” Jou sniggered.

“Yes but who would be the love interest?” Anzu asked with a smirk as Yugi blushed bright red.

“Oh so you do notice guys.” Jou grinned at the embarrassed girl, “Go on. Share. We can’t plan out your future anime without knowing what you go for.”

“You just want to tease her rotten.” Honda shoved him hard enough to make him stagger.

“You do realise this could be considered girl talk, right?” Anzu asked the pair.

“Nah, we just need to know who we’ll be beating up in the future if they hurt Yuge, that’s all.” Jou tried to put a manly spin on it.

“I’d like to point out Oneesan would get there first. There wouldn’t be enough of him left for us to beat up.” Honda pointed out.

“It’s doesn’t matter anyway ‘cause I’m not going to be dating any time soon.” Yugi shrugged, “Now can we please get back to a saner subject?”

“Why not?” Jou couldn’t help but ask curiously, something in him twisting at her words but he didn’t understand what.

“Because dating would be weird if I have Oneesan sharing headspace with me.” Yugi replied, “I mean whoever I date would have to get used to two Yugis. And it’s not fair to drag her on dates with some guy she’s not interested in.”

“And it’s not like Oneesan could wander around if you left the Puzzle at home either.” Jou frowned, understanding.

“Exactly.” Yugi nodded, not mentioning the fact that she didn’t think any guy would be interested in her, considering they had much taller and more developed girls to chase. That and Hirutani had put her off of guys for a long while, “I couldn’t leave her stuck in the Puzzle. It’d be cruel. So again, saner subjects? Please?”

“Okay okay.” Jou backed off, finally noticing that Yugi was rather uncomfortable with the topic at hand. “They wouldn’t introduce your love interest till next season anyway.”

“Wha...?”

“Well we have to be done with season one by now,” Jou grinned at her, “Kaiba and his crazy amusement park would have been the end of season boss. So we have to wait for season two to find out who the love interest is.”

“Would they really end the season before we met the real big bad?” Honda couldn’t help but ask, “I mean we haven’t seen hide or hair of the Thief King and he’s supposed to be Oneesan’s true enemy.”

“And I hope I don’t run into him until seasons four or five.” Yugi frowned, “Or at least he has the decency to wait until Oneesan and I can have a conversation.” She could sense Oneesan’s agreement at that and smiled slightly.

“Next season, Yuge, next season.” Jou ruffled her hair.

“I’m sorry guys, but I have had enough of the anime talk.” Anzu butted in, “Can we please go back to something sane? Like the homework we’re supposed to be doing?”

Author Note: Well, now that I've gone over the goal for the month...

This fic was not what I was intending to write, or, indeed, how I was intending to write it when I first started 'Light Amongst Shadows'. It appears to have decided it did not like the direction I originally planned for it and that it wanted to go in a completely different way. I must admit to not being happy with it. Before it goes up on fanfiction.net (when I finally get that far with the series) it will likely have a complete rewrite. This was the product of a stressed, overbaked and constantly pissed off mind due to heat, work and moving houses. Next time around it might ressemble something like a decent fic. For now here's the basic story for that particular arc and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

In a day or two I will do an info dump on the ShadowSwords, who are an enemy that I came up with purely because I figured that in the anime there had to be other groups of people who were able to conjure the monsters from the tablets. Otherwise why would Pegasus and his cult be practising under Duellist Kingdom?

I meant to get it in the story, but I don't think 25,000 words was enough room and there really was not much space with everything that happened to get in everything I wanted. The story was spread out over too short a time for anyone to get to sit down and discuss anything... Hmmm, maybe I need a bigger build up... something to think about for later on, I suppose.

Light Amongst Shadows Part 28

The monster stepped towards her and Oneesan ripped out the drips before turning and running down the corridor. The minotaur followed, picking up speed as it ran after her. Luckily for Oneesan it did not corner as well as she did, even injured as she was, allowing her to gain ground as it crashed into the walls and pillars at every junction.

“Damn it.” Oneesan snarled as she had to duck behind a different nurse’s station to catch her breath, her side aching from both the bruising Imoto-chan had gained earlier and the exertion as she took great, heaving breaths. “Can’t... Keep...Running...”

It was a good job she had decided that because the monster had decided that it had had enough of going around things and was just going to go through them. It ripped the nurse’s station in two with its huge axe, leaving Oneesan with little to no time to get to her feet and escape.

Left with no choice but to try and fight for her life against a gigantic foe, the Pharaoh blasted it with magic. It staggered backwards, bellowing in pain, but before Oneesan could move, there were shouts from down the corridor and she had to duck behind the remains of the station as the security arrived and put several rounds in the creature.

They seemed to go through the monster, causing enraged cussing to erupt from the men, even as it turned its focus on them. Its prey was cornered after all, it had time for sport.

Oneesan shut the link between herself and her little sister as the monster charged down the corridor and struck at the men. Imoto-chan did not need to hear or see what was happening and she could not bring herself to inflict it on the lighter half of her soul.

She launched herself out of hiding and drew on the power of the item around her neck, feeling an odd disconnect as the dark and dangerous powers of the Puzzle tried to draw strength from a mind that was not entirely coherent. Without a single command the magic seemed to know what she wanted and the Dark Magician appeared at her side, real enough for the men to see him and realise who she was.

“Move!” Oneesan ordered as her most trusted monster built up for an attack.

The men were not foolish. Those who knew the game, knew that the Dark Magician packed a punch. While those who did not saw a man building up a ball of energy and did not want to see what would happen if they were hit by it. The moment they were out of the way the magician struck, its attack striking the beast directly.

The creature exploded into fragments, or rather an image of it did, leaving behind a man in a robe not unlike the ones she had dealt with earlier.

Before she could get any answers from the barely conscious mook, who was being taken into custody, a sharp, agonising pain struck as something stabbed her from behind and her whole world tumbled into darkness.

When she awoke again, it was after the weirdest dream she had ever had, one which involved time travellers, two other ‘Queens of Games’ and a man named Paradox. It was also to find both Jou and her grandfather were at her bedside, waiting for her to wake up.

“Yuge!” Jou looked relieved, barely restraining himself from hugging her, “Thank Kami.”

“What happened?” Oneesan asked, nudging Imoto-chan and wondering who had put the Puzzle back on them.

“According to security someone stabbed you while you were distracted by the huge monster.” Jou stated matter of factly. “One of the ‘ShadowSword’ lot.”

“That explains a lot.” The spirit of the Puzzle winced as she tried to sit up, the action pulling on her wounds. Sugoroku pushed her back onto the bed, a gentle but worried smile on his face as he ruffled her hair, obviously worried about her, but being careful not to aggravate her injuries.

“I do wish you had warned me you were getting mixed up with that lot.” The elderly man sighed, “I’ve run afoul of them before.”

“You have?” Oneesan and Jou both blinked at him, confusion obvious.

“Is there anyone you haven’t run up against?” Jou asked the man who treated him like a grandson.

“When you get to my age you find you’ve made a great deal of friends but even more enemies.” Sugoroku replied. “Now, both of you settle down and listen. I suppose I had better explain what I know...”