Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Duellist League ❯ Battle Stage 39: Re-Match! Restoration of Kings - Part 2 ( Chapter 39 )

Author's Note: Thanks to DJ Rodriguez & PrincessofHeartsNYP for reviewing.

 

Battle Stage 39: Re-Match! The Restoration of Kings - Part 2

 

“No, we saw you die, how, Anzu, how are you alive…?” Serenity asked staring bewildered into the Azure eyes of her supposedly dead friend. Anzu was now attired in flowing cream and sapphire robes, a golden choker hung off her neck.

 

Anzu smiled slightly, “Gee, its good to see you too Serenity-chan.”

 

Serenity stumbled towards Anzu, her face flushed, “I, uh, um, I'm glad you're alive big sister…” She responded hugging Anzu who wrapped her arms around the red head and smiled, “So am I.”

 

The others walked up behind them and Katsuya spoke, “Anzu, we saw you die… I'm glad you're alive but… you're…”

 

“I know Katsuya, I remember being hit and being in Yuugi's arms, the next thing I remember I was in these robes on a silk bed… and yes the idea that I might be dead did cross my mind.” Anzu explained her eyes drifting over her friends, “Mr. Mutou, why are you here and where's Yuugi?”

 

The group looked between each other, “We wish we knew Anzu…”

 

Meanwhile in a darkened cavernous hall elsewhere in the building Yuugi Mutou lay on the floor watched in the shadows from above. Yuugi groaned rolling onto his back, he winced and sat up rubbing his eyes, “Damn headache… now where the hell am I?”

 

“Where do you think you are?” A voice asked.

 

“That's funny…” He responded rising slowly to his feet, Yuugi's eyes scanned the area, “Another faceless voice you'd think it would get old after a while…”

 

“You would, but it's still effective…” The voice replied stepping out into the light, Yuugi closed his eyes, “Yami, after all this time you finally appear.”

 

“You knew?” Yami asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“I guessed, I hoped I was wrong, but I suppose it became obvious, the Ventriloquist, Marik, who could have drawn them from hell but you, the Pharaoh.”

 

Atem smirked, “Very good, I see I wasn't too subtle then.” He responded standing above Yuugi on a railed platform, two statues flanked him, one was of Exodia the other Ra. Atem stood between them in silky cream robes and an amethyst cape, a headband with the eye of Horus emblazoned in the centre sat on his forehead, “I was stunned to witness you kill though.”

 

Yuugi's eyes narrowed, “He got what he deserved, Anzu's dead because of him…”

 

Atem closed his eyes, smiling, “Because of him, or you, Yuugi?”

 

Anzu, Sugoroku, Jyoonouchi, Serenity, Mai and Kaiba had now walked the length of the corridor without further incident or sign of Yuugi, they were now facing a wall with no sign of a door, Anzu sighed, “Dead end.” Jyoonouchi gave her a reproachful look, “Hey, I'm allowed to make that pun.”

 

Jou sighed, “Yeah, yeah, now what though?”

 

Mai thought for a moment then turned to the brunette, “Anzu, we've seen no doors, but you appeared ahead of us…”

 

“So, how did I do it? The doors are built to seamlessly blend with the walls.” Anzu explained walking to a wall to outline the marginal but just visible gaps between the walls and the doors. The group anime fell behind her to which Anzu sweat dropped, “What?”

 

“You couldn't have told us earlier?” Kaiba growled resuming his feet.

 

“I didn't see the point; I assumed the doors just led to rooms like I was in.” Anzu retorted angrily.

 

“Never assume my dear, one of these doors might have a clue to where Yuugi is.” Sugoroku stated matter-of-factly. Seto nodded, “Or a clue as to what's really happening to us.”

 

“Obviously.” Serenity muttered walking to one of the ajoining walls examining the edges, “Ah, ha!” She declared depressing a hidden switch causing the door to swing open, what she was on the other side left Serenity needing an admission to the asylum, “Anzu… you need see this…”

 

“Serenity… oh, god…”

 

Jyoonouchi peered around the corner, “Wow, it's like Anzu Disneyland, without the rides…” He commented dryly as the others gathered behind them.

 

Meanwhile Yuugi gaped open mouthed at Atem who was smiling down at him, “Wh-what…”

 

Yami laughed, “She threw herself before the gun to save your life, it may have been Keith who delivered death, but you failed to protect her, didn't you?”

 

“N-no… I-I tried…”

 

“Perhaps you did, but you failed! Just like you failed James Carlstrom.” Atem stated coldly.

 

“What?” Yuugi exclaimed backing away from his Yami. The said duellist smirked, “You failed him, even though you had his brother's blood on your hands he tried to warn you of impending threats, but you failed to save him from the guards that murdered him. You didn't even try to take his body with you. You failed both of them, the only time you didn't fail was when you saved yourself from Haga, but the only one in danger then was you, isn't that curious.”

 

“I've never asked anyone to save me, I don't want anyone to sacrifice themselves for me.”

 

Yami smirked, “But they did, ask yourself Hikari how do you stop even more dying to protect you?”

 

“How?”

 

“Simple, you are the cause, eliminate the problem.” Atem replied, Yuugi's eyes narrowed, “You want me to let you kill me.”

 

“No, I want you to kill yourself.” Yami responded.

 

Entering the room, the gang were almost stunned into silence at the design. In one corner of the room was a door with a keypad where the handle would have been. In the other corner opposite the door was an alter with Anzu's picture surrounded by candles, every wall was covered with pictures of her, some posed, some taken from a distance.

 

“Obsession's the word…” Mai commented scanning the photos, Kaiba gave her a side glance, “Funny, I thought it was grease…”

 

“This isn't the time for jokes…” Anzu commented angrily, Mai turned to the brunette, “Honey, all we have right now are jokes. I mean we've stepped into an episode of an American crime show and we're still lost without direction so forgive us if we try to lighten the mood.”

 

Anzu sighed a response as Serenity examined the photos, “What's so damn special about her anyway, I could be a brunette with big boobs too if I wanted, but no all the boys and girls only want Anzu, Anzu, Anzu, Anzu… I'd hate her if she weren't my best friend…”

 

The photos extended the length and breadth of the walls. An unusual characteristic of them was while crowd photos were left unaltered, any photos involving Anzu and the gang the surrounding faces were blacked out leaving only Anzu's face showing. Anzu stood before the alter the photo surrounded by candles was of her and Yami taken on the day of their date before Battle City. Suddenly her hands clenched and eyes narrowed, grabbing the photo from the table she smashed it on the ground, “Bastard!”

 

“Anzu!” Mai scolded carefully picking the picture up off of the floor, “Yami?”

 

Anzu nodded, “Of course, he has to be behind this, we never asked how having his own body again after being shielded from the darkness for so long by Yuugi would affect him.”

 

“So he's turned obsessed evil spurned lover?” Jou quiered.

 

Anzu nodded, “Yeah, and I bet you anything, well almost anything he has Yuugi.”

 

“Great, now all we have to do is find them…” Serenity replied voicing her exasperation.

 

Yuugi gazed blankly into the eyes of his former mentor and partner Atem as he proclaimed that Yuugi should commit suicide, “How, how, can you say that.”

 

“It makes sense Hikari, you've killed and others have died to protect you, the only way to stop the cycle of death is for you to make the ultimate sacrifice, your life.”

 

“You're supposed to be my protector, my friend, why are you doing this. You never used to be like this you were always wise and gracious, everyone respected…”

 

“RESPECT!” Atem spat his eyes flaring, “You claim respect when you committed the ultimate act of disrespect towards me, the Pharaoh, how dare you!”

 

Yuugi backed away several steps, even from this distance Yuugi could feel the unbridled anger emanating from Atem's slender frame. Yuugi was astonished that this spirit of a lost time that he thought he knew so well was capable of drawing on such deep reservoirs of anger. But Yuugi could feel it even standing several metres below and away from Yami's observation platform, he could feel the depths of Atem's anger and hate.

 

“How, did you know?” Yuugi replied.

 

Yami smirked, anger still burning in his eyes, “I know you Abiou, you're easy to read if you know what to look for, I knew the moment you didn't act.” Yuugi frowned, “Why didn't you say anything?” Yami snorted a sarcastic laugh, “What would have been the point, it was already over, besides at the time I thought it might be possible to make a life and find love in this century, I was obviously wrong.”

 

Yuugi clenched his fists, “Anzu…”

 

Atem laughed bitterly, “Yes, Anzu… she led me to believe she wanted me before arbitrarily changing her mind, a low act on her part.” Yuugi growled, “She had that right… she was her own woman.”

 

“Oh really, how did you feel when you found out that Anzu had moved on with Jyoonouchi?”

 

Yuugi looked away, “I moved on, besides there were exceptional circumstances…”

 

Atem crossed his arms, “You moved on… you ran away your heart in pieces, wasn't it the next day that you committed your first murder?”

 

Yuugi spluttered, “No, when… oh, but…”

 

“But nothing Hikari, Ari died at your hands, he lies buried in an unmarked grave you carved fro him. Did you think you could kill two men and not be punished?” Atem asked judgementally, Yuugi shook his head, “No, of course not but…” Atem cut in, “Then shouldn't you atone for your sins with your life?”

 

Yuugi stood staring into Atem's cold crimson eyes his anger ridden but none the less calculating words were boring into Yuugi's brain and starting to take hold, “Yes, you're right… but how?”

 

“I believe you'll find that solution tucked into your belt Abiou…” Atem replied his eyes alight with desire. Yuugi pulled the revolver he'd used on Marik and Keith from his belt holding it in his hands, “Yes Yami, I must atone…”

 

In the shrine room the group were discussing how to find Yuugi while Seto had finally discovered the keypad and was in the process of a detailed examination of the device. Jyoonouchi sighed, “If there's a piece of tech around Nerd boy Kaiba has to pick at it.”

 

“Shut up mutt, did it ever occur to your pea sized brain that the answers to our questions might be behind this door?”

 

“Uh… I guess not…” Jou replied, Kaiba sighed shaking off a sweatdrop to continue his examination of the keypad.

 

Mai ignored the snipping to ask a question of her boyfriend, “Any clue?”

 

Kaiba replaced the housing on the keypad and stood, “The only clued is the code is ten digits long, but the number of nine digit combinations numbers in the millions…”

 

Jyoonouchi did a calculation in his head, “Try AnzuMazaki in numbers.”

 

Kaiba and Mai looked at each other, “What?” Jou asked, “What makes you think the code will be AnzuMazaki?”

 

Jou extended his arms as an answer, Kaiba rolled his eyes, “Fine.” He turned to the keypad and proceeded to enter the code, “One, six, nine, eight, six, one, nine, one, five four… like this is ever…” As soon as Kaiba hit enter the door swung open revealing the room beyond, “Now what…”

 

The room beyond was hall sized, the walls, floor and ceiling were covered in rusted copper coloured metal plating. Beside the door was a computer workstation, cables ran from the station to eight human sized stasis pods with Perspex lids that were integrated into the walls. The group walked lightly as they entered feeling the power vibrate beneath their feet. As Jyoonouchi made to examine the pods he stumbled backwards, “Guys, hey, found something…”

 

“Yuugi!” Serenity and Anzu chimed hopefully running behind Jou who shook his head, “Not even close…”

 

Sugoroku's head squeezed between the two girls, “Hmmm… oh, isn't that Malik Ishtar?”

 

Kaiba and Mai who had been examining the computer terminal ran over as soon as his named was mentioned and indeed it was Malik Ishtar. He sat sheltered in the pod his eyes closed dressed in black silk robes. Kaiba located the latch and opened the pod, Sugoroku made an examination of the Egyptian boy as Kaiba walked back to the terminal. After a few minutes Sugoroku faced the group, “He is alive, just unconscious, but there is no sign of how he got this way.”

 

“The seemingly dead keep showing up, next thing we'll find Bandit Keith wandering around.” Mai commented sarcastically. Anzu raised an eyebrow, “Mai, Bandit Keith isn't dead… or is he…”

 

“Um… well…” Jyoonouchi started, Anzu's eyes flared, “Jyoonouchi how…” Jyoonouchi shook his head, “No Anzu, not me… Yuugi.”

 

Anzu's eyes widened sharply, “No, no way, he would never do that!”

 

Jou closed his eyes for a moment, “He did Anzu, you died in his arms, or so he thought and he lost it… he took Bandit Keith's gun and shot him dead, can't say I blame him.”

 

Anzu frowned, “This is nuts, there must be a reasonable explanation for this.”

 

“Yes Mazaki and I've found it.” Kaiba announced proudly standing beside the computer terminal, the others gathered around him quietly allowing him to continue after a moment, “For two years Kaiba Corporation has been trying to develop an immersive, networked Virtual Reality simulator…”

 

Jyoonouchi jumped in, “Kaiba we're not listening to you pitch us one of your lame gizmos…”

 

“Jyoonouchi shush, let him finish.” Sugoroku admonished, Jyoonouchi grudgingly fell silent as Kaiba nodded curt thanks before resuming his speech, “We've built and tested prototypes but as of yet we have not released a working device for public use.”

 

“Are you saying these…” Anzu began, Kaiba nodded, “Are designed to do what my company has been developing, yes. They've even stolen the base code to my designs, I wrote it myself so there's no mistake, these are virtual reality simulators designed to give the user an almost real world experience.”

 

“This explains everything, we must have been knocked out by that mist on our way to Erebus, brought here and plugged in and played someone's sick little game.” Mai surmised.

 

“Does this mean Bandit Keith wasn't killed by Yuugi?” Jyoonouchi asked hopefully. Kaiba nodded, “I found the code for Keith and the Ventriloquist in the mainframe, the only living opponent was Ishtar. If these are based on stolen designs the left arm of the seats will have deck slots.” He explained returning to the terminal bringing up several windows of code.

 

A quick search of the pods located Mai's, Yuugi's, Kaiba's and Jyoonouchi's decks and a locker where the groups bags had been stashed along with their duel disks. Anzu smiled, “Yay, I can finally get out of these robes…” As she said the words she noted the perverse eagerness in Jyoonouchi and Sugoroku's eyes, “Then again…”

 

Mai rested her hand on Anzu's shoulder, “Go change in the other room, we'll guard the door won't we Serenity?”

 

Serenity nodded, “Yep, Serenity's on guard!”

 

Anzu smiled, “Thanks.”

 

Anzu retreated into the shrine room with her bag. As soon as she was alone Anzu pulled off the robes changing into a teal sleeveless button up shirt, blue denim short shorts, thigh high white stockings, white platform sandals and blue and pink bangles on her wrists. Anzu considered taking the robes, but decided to leave them on the floor stepping back into the VR room. “What's up?” Anzu asked taking in everyone's serious expressions.

 

“Whiz kid can't access Yuugi's location, it's password protected.” Jyoonouchi explained.

 

“It's five characters long, the clue is fruit…” Kaiba explained indignantly, Anzu thought for a moment, “Peach?”

 

Kaiba glared typing the code into the terminal, allowing the fact that Anzu was correct pass without comment Kaiba determined Yuugi's location, “Six levels up, central duelling chamber, there's a lift that will take us close, let's…” Kaiba was about to say “go”, when he realized the others were already gone.

 

In the central duelling chamber Atem sneered down at his gun bearing Hikari, “Yes, you must atone, do it, do it now!”

 

Yuugi closed his eyes, “Anzu… if you're watching from the afterlife, don't hate me…” He whispered bringing the gun to his forehead as the doors of the hall burst open. Yuugi ignored the commotion pulling the hammer back, he ignored the voices until one rung out he couldn't ignore, “Yuugi Mutou put that gun away!” It screamed.

 

Yuugi's eyes snapped open almost pulling the trigger out of shock, “An-Anzu?!”

 

“Of course it is, before you pull that trigger there's something you need to know…”

 

To Be Continued…