Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Mary-Sue Invasion ❯ Games, Murders, and Sleeping Beauties ( Chapter 11 )

Too tired to say anything intelligent right now… okay, there's nothing new in that. Let's put it like this: too tired to say anything right now. Except… do you still remember Yuki? The seal? Check author's notes in the end of chapter 4 if you don't.

Disclaimer: I still haven't gained the ownership of Yu-Gi-Oh, and all the white seals still belong to PM. Nothing new here, in other words.

~*~*~

Chapter 11: Games, Murders, and Sleeping Beauties

Still humming, Otogi waltzed into his home. The scent of incense greeted him at the door, and he followed it to the bedroom. He stopped at the bedroom door a watched the sleeping figure with a small smile. She was so beautiful, when she was relaxed like that… so innocent and pure, the perfect angel. He walked quietly to the bed and bent down to watch the sleeping girl. A part of him didn't want to wake her, but on the other hand, he was really impatient to show her that he had fulfilled his mission with success.

Gently he tapped on her shoulder.

"Azura? Light of my days? Wake up…"

She stirred a little and muttered something incomprehensible.

"Sweetheart?" Otogi tugged her a little harder. "Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me…" [1]

Azura turned over and hugged her pillow. "Just a little longer," she muttered.

Otogi sighed. "As you wish, honey." He looked sadly at the bracelet in his hand. "I just would have liked to tell you I got the bracelet, but if you…"

"You got it?" Azura jumped up suddenly making him to jump a little as well. With a quick move she grasped the bracelet and stared at it with a grin. "Great. Wonderful. Totally… I need a shower."

With that she got up from the bed and almost ran to the bathroom, leaving Otogi to sit alone on the bed.

He stared a little sadly after her. Well, at least it made her happy.

~

"We really should help them, niisama."

Seto glared out of the car window, strictly avoiding his younger brother's begging eyes. In theory he would have thought that with time he'd grow even some resistance to Mokuba's puppy eyes act, but that didn't seem to be the case. Big watery eyes, a little quivering lower lip, and a blaming gaze, and all his polished defenses came stumbling down.

"I don't have time for that. There are so many things I've been ignoring lately that it's a miracle Kaiba Corp. is still running." He kept on staring out of the window as he heard Mokuba sit back with a sigh.

They had left from Kaiba Corp. about ten minutes ago, leaving Yuugi and others behind. He didn't know what they were going to do, but after all, it wasn't he's problem. Really, it wasn't.

The silence in the car was quite chilly. Seto stared at the houses flashing by. He couldn't help it, but even though he wasn't looking at his brother, the picture of Mokuba's unhappy face was floating in the front of his eyes. Making him feel guilty. Yes… that was probably the only thing in the world that managed to do that.

"Fine!" he finally exclaimed. "Take us to the Kame Game Shop," he grunted then to he chauffeur. At the same moment, a beaming Mokuba was clinging to his neck.

"Thanks, niisama! You're the greatest!"

"I know," Seto muttered, pushing him back a little angrily, still refusing to look at him. He just couldn't believe he had fallen for it again.

~

Azura didn't linger long in the shower. The hair dryer started soon blowing in the bathroom, and in a moment she rushed out of it.

"Honey…" Otogi started to say, but she ran past him.

"Not now." She went to the front door, jumped into her shoes, snatched her coat, and in a second she was already outside.

"But…" Otogi stared after her by the door.

"Sorry, honey." She flashed a quick smile at him. "I have to be going."

"But…" A taxi drove past and she stopped it. Otogi blinked slowly as it drove away. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She didn't even thank him! She was supposed to be awed by his heroic deed, and now she was rushing away, who knew where.

Maybe she had someone else.

Otogi frowned. Impossible thought, but… then again, who knew with women?

He walked back in and closed the door behind his back. He would have to do something about this. Maybe her friends knew what she was up to… he could go to meet them. But first… he took a look at himself in a mirror and grimaced. He'd have some use for that hair dryer as well.

As he walked to the bathroom he suddenly realized that rain had stopped and the sun was shining again. Figures. Just when I got out of it.

~

In the game shop, Aurora was sitting in her room (or in what used to be Yuugi's room, but since you share everything with the one you love, it was naturally her room as well), reading some mode magazine, but she couldn't really concentrate on it. Her yami was discussing with Yuugi's yami about the current situation. Nightfall was acting as if everything were under her control, but she knew better. With a sigh she placed the magazine down and took the mascara out of her pocket. She stared at it thoughtfully, beginning to wonder if this all really was worth it.

In the living room Nightfall was walking in circles, talking constantly, while Yami sat on a chair by the table.

"It's quite impossible, I don't understand how this could happen… that she'd really betray us like that. And what's keeping those Pearls? It can't take this long to fetch one stupid item. Idiots. They're all idiots, I don't understand how I could ever get involved with people like that. I should…"

Yami wasn't really listening to her. Ever since he'd come back he had had this throbbing headache, which was only getting worse all he time. Actually, he had a feeling he had got it even earlier than that, but he wasn't sure. He was feeling vaguely guilty, he knew that Nightfall was stressed and that he should help her, but at the moment, thinking was very hard. It hurt.

"Idiot." Nightfall had stopped walking for a while and stared accusingly at her coffee cup. "She's an idiot. An impudent idiot. I should have known it… from the way she was all the time telling me what to do, telling me how to use my own mascara, everything!" She glanced sharply at Yami. "Are you listening, honey?"

Yami managed a weak smile. "Sure."

"Good." Nightfall resumed her walking with a sigh. "Well, at least I have you. My powerful Pharaoh… I've never understood what Aurora sees in your other half. That boy is so… weak."

She continued talking, but Yami had stopped to wonder her words. Other half? Was she talking about that little guy who used to live in this house as well some time ago? The one he had hit when he had been in Nightfall's way? Now that he thought about that, it did made him feel a little guilty, for some reason. He frowned a little hoping that his head wouldn't have ached so much.

"Personally, I'm just glad he's gone. Ever since that day in the park I've been thinking that he's a little too cute. It's almost sickening, you know? No one shouldn't be that…"

Cute? Yami frowned. Yes, maybe that boy could be described with that word, he had never really thought about it. But what was this about a 'day in the park'? He hadn't been in any park lately, had he? He did have some vague memories about some park, though.

Finally Nightfall stopped her spacing and sat down on a chair beside Yami. He tried to look at her admiringly, but the look turned out a little pained. Nightfall didn't pay any attention to it, though, since she had noticed that she had sat on something.

"Where did you come from?" she muttered glaring at a white stuffed seal.

Yami blinked. "Oh… that's Yuki. It's mine." He reached for it, but Nightfall only shot him an exasperated glance and threw the seal into a corner.

"Don't you think you're a little too old to be playing with stuffed animals?"

Yami didn't listen to her, instead he was staring at the seal. He had a feeling that it was in some way connected to that boy Nightfall had been talking about.

"Are you listening to me!?" she yelled suddenly, making Yami to jump a little. "Forget that idiotic seal! Why the hell are you staring at it when I am here?"

Yami blinked again, this time a little irritatedly. All this yelling wasn't really making his headache better. "I just like it," he muttered.

"Like it." Nightfall snorted. "You're supposed to like me, not anything else." She glared at the seal, got then up from her chair, and walked to it.

"What are you going to do?" Yami asked suspiciously when she picked the seal up.

She smiled at him sweetly. "To get rid of this, naturally. It's really in the serious need of some chopping."

"But I like it," Yami protested quietly as she walked out of the room.

Chopping. Yuki. Headache. Not a good day. Suddenly, something flared up inside him and he bounced on his feet. "I said that I like it, damn you! Yuugi gave it to me!"

He blinked, once more. Yuugi… that was the name of the small boy, wasn't it? The name of his light…. For a moment he stood frozen staring into emptiness. When he finally rushed after Nightfall there was new light blazing in his eyes.

He found Nightfall in the kitchen where she was holding Yuki in her other hand and a big knife in the other.

"You…" he grunted slowly, memories of the day in the park floating to his mind. "By Ra… what's been going on here?"

"What?" Nightfall turned to look at him with a start. "Oh…" She placed Yuki and the knife on the kitchen table and walked to Yami staring into his eyes. "Is something wrong, honey?"

"Yes. You are wrong. Where is Yuugi?" Yami's voice was low and composed.

Nightfall blinked. "Take it easy, honey. Just look into my eyes, and…"

"Damn your eyes!" Yami shouted. "What do you think you're doing? What have you done to Yuugi?"

Nightfall twitched nervously. Could it be that she was right… could he really have developed immunity to the mascara? "I don't know where he is," she said aloud. "He ran away. Listen, beloved…"

"I am not your beloved," Yami stated coldly. "Nor have I never been. I don't know who you are or what you want but I know that you have never been my wife. I…"

Nightfall cut him off calmly. "I challenge you to a Shadow Game."

"I… I…" Yami did a very good impression of a fish on dry land. "That was my line!" he finally exclaimed.

"I know, honey." Nightfall smiled at him. "That is why I said it. So…" She sat on a chair by the table. "Since I challenged you, I will choose the game."

She was silent for a moment, thinking deeply as Yami sat warily down on the other side of the table.

She smiled. "A game of imagination." I shouldn't lack that… so much of all this is my doing, anyway. "It's easy. I say something like 'I'm a fly, buzzing in the air' and you have to continue immediately 'I'm a flyswatter, smashing the fly', and so on. There will be gate to Shadow Realm on this table, it'll be our judge. The one who doesn't come up with anything to say loses. Do you get it?" [2]

Yami blinked. "I'm a… flyswatter? Well, you surely are a fly…" He nodded. "Let the Game begin."

"Good." Nightfall thought for a moment while an entrance to the shadow realm opened upon the table and small tentacles of darkness reached towards both players. "I'm a lark, singing high in the sky," she said finally, looking dreamily at the ceiling.

"I'm a sparrowhawk, eating the lark," Yami continued right away.

She frowned a little as the tentacle that hovered in the front of Yami flashed approvingly. "I'm a dragon, burning the sparrowhawk with my fire."

Yami took a more relaxed position in his chair. "I'm a storm wind, throwing the dragon down."

"I am a mountain, splitting the wind into two!"

"I'm an earthquake, flattening the mountain to the ground."

Nightfall was quiet for a brief moment but continued soon, "I'm a powerful spiritual being, unaffected by earthquakes. In other words, I am me." She smirked a little as Yami sweatdropped. What an ego…

"I'm even more powerful spiritual being, defeating the spirit you are."

Nightfall glared him, and he added with a smirk of his own, "In other words, I am me."

"No way! You're not stronger than I am!"

"Really?" Yami raised his eyebrows. "The game is still going on, so the answer was accepted. Are you going to continue?"

Nightfall fumed at him. "I am… I'm a goddess, all-powerful!"

Yami snorted. "Hardly," he muttered under his breath. "Then, I am Fate, crushing the goddess."

"I don't believe in fate."

"Who cares about what you believe in. What's the problem? Imagination starting to stop working?"

"No!" Nightfall shot an angry glance at him. "I… I am… I am a… a… even more powerful goddess! Defeating the Fate!"

Yami stared at the tentacle of Shadow Realm that reached even closer to Nightfall. "That doesn't seem to be a good enough answer."

"But… but it has to be!" Nightfall swiped at the tentacle with her other hand. "It is good enough cause I say it's good enough! I decide what's good enough here! Do you understand me?" She glared at the tentacle that was still crawling closer to her while Yami stared at her incredulously. She has to be crazy…

Nightfall jumped to her feet. "It is good enough!" she screamed. Just then the doorbell rang quietly, but neither of them paid any attention to it. "I said it is good enough!"

Yami shook his head. "I suggest that you come up with something else, and quickly. Otherwise, you lost."

Nightfall turned her glare at him with a laugh. "You're a fool. I cannot lose. I control what happens here. The reality follows my wishes. I cannot lose."

"Then… how do you explain that?" Yami gestured towards the tentacle that was touching Nightfall's forehead.

She grimaced. "It means nothing. It doesn't matter…"

Yami pointed his finger towards her. "You lost. Punishment Game!"

"It doesn't matter, it's… just…" She blinked, suddenly feeling herself very drowsy. What had she been going to say? Why was she in bed? Wasn't she, just a moment ago, been playing a game with Yami? Right now it felt like a dream….

She frowned a little, listening to the birds singing outside of her window. I'm a lark, singing… What was that? Had she dreamed that she was a lark?

Suddenly the door to the room opened, and a young woman dressed in white stepped in. She walked to her bed and bent down to smile at her.

"Oh, you're awake. Good morning. How are we today?"

She stared at the white-dressed woman, blinking slowly. "Who are you?" she croaked, and then fell silent in a shock. Is that my voice? Can't be…

The other sighed a little sadly. "So, you have forgotten me again… I'm Kathy. The nurse-girl, remember? Now, get up… it's time to go to eat breakfast."

Kathy helped her to sit up in the bed. As she was sitting on its edge, her eyes fell on her hands, and she blinked again, more shocked than before. Those couldn't be her hands, could they? Those small, wrinkled, powerless things… She wasn't old… or was she? At the moment, she really couldn't remember.

"I had a boyfriend," she thought aloud. "A Pharaoh…"

Kathy laughed as she helped her up. "What on earth have you been dreaming? Oh, come now. Your friends are already waiting."

She raised her head quickly. "Friends?" Aurora, Pearl, Felicia… but Felicia was dead, wasn't she?

"The other people who live in this old people's home," Kathy said sympathetically.

"Oh…" Dream… I guess I was only dreaming…

Kathy helped her to put her dressing gown on, and then led her by the arm out of the room.

~

When the doorbell rang, Aurora ran to answer it. As she ran by the kitchen she heard her yami yelling something about 'it being good enough', whatever 'it' was. She shook her head as she opened the door. Nightfall really should try to take it easier, she was getting too worked up over this.

"Hi."

"Uh… hi." She stared suspiciously at Azura who smiled at her brightly.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess," Aurora said nervously, but didn't move away to give her room. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I have to use the mascara again, so if you… Hey, you have it with you!"

Aurora took a step back fingering nervously the mascara she was still holding in her hand. "Well, yes, but…"

"What? Don't you want to let me to use it?" Azura stared at her through narrowed eyes, and she gulped.

"Oh, I didn't mean that, but…" /Yami, I need help here! …Yami? What's going on?/

She turned to look behind, suddenly scared. "Ya…" she started to shout, but just then she felt a hot, tearing pain between her shoulder blades. "Ah… yami…" She grasped the doorjamb, trying to stay on her feet, but it was hard, too hard. As she fell down to the floor she glanced over her shoulder and saw Azura leaning against the door, a bloodied knife in her hand.

"Wha… what you…" she slurred, but talking was difficult. The world was getting dizzy around her, and the pain in her back wasn't sharp anymore, it was getting duller all the time, she was getting duller… With a sigh she closed her eyes, and her head fell to the floor with a quiet thud.

Azura wiped her knife and bent down to pick up the mascara. "Thanks." She closed the door after herself and walked back to the taxi that was waiting for her.

~

"Did that taxi leave from the game shop?" Shizuka asked frowning a little as she peered after the disappearing car.

"Huh?" Yuugi looked up with a blink. "Did it?" He too looked out of the car window but the taxi had already disappeared from sight.

Sugoroku shrugged as he parked his van by the pavement a little away from the shop. "It looked like that, but it's difficult to say for sure."

"Maybe the girls left somewhere and left Yami alone," Yuugi said, his voice so hopeful that Anzu didn't have the heart to voice her doubts.

Even if they did, this won't be easy….

When they had separated from Kaiba and Mokuba at the Kaiba Corp. they - Yuugi, Anzu, Mai, Shizuka and Sugoroku, that is - had left to the game shop. They still didn't know what they'd be able to do, but in the end they had decided that gathering some intelligence (i.e. spying) would be as good way to proceed as any in the current situation.

As they walked towards the house, Yuugi couldn't help getting more and more nervous with every step he took. A bunch of butterflies was flying around in his stomach, making him feel a little queasy. Maybe the girls were home after all. He shuddered a little as thought about facing them. He really wasn't sure if he'd be up to it. And then… even if the girls weren't home, it was quite probable that Yami wouldn't be too enthusiastic about getting saved. What would he do if, instead of facing the girls, they'd had to fight with Yami? What would he do if he'd have to fight with Yami? The very idea was totally impossible.

"Hey…"

He startled a little as a hand patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

"Don't be so worried," Anzu continued, smiling at him. "We'll be here with you, you know. And we'll find a way to make everything right again."

Yuugi smiled back at her, feeling a little relieved, just as Sugoroku told them to stop.

"We can't go closer than this, if they are home they'll notice us." He looked at the house thoughtfully. "Yuugi… you are the smallest. Why don't you go to see if you can take a look inside through the windows?"

Suddenly the butterflies were back in action.

"Me?"

"Just go," Anzu whispered. "We'll be right here."

"Uh… okay." For Yami, he thought, deciding to ignore the butterflies. With a determined look he started to tiptoe towards the house.

"Try to keep your hair from the view," he heard Anzu whisper behind himself, and bent down a little more.

Everything appeared to be very calm at the game shop. He peeked in from a couple of windows, but couldn't see anything.

Maybe they have gone away, he thought trying to calm down. There doesn't seem to be anyone…

"Hey, Yuugi! What are you doing?"

The sudden shout made him jump a feet in the air with a little yelp. At the same time he heard Anzu's angry voice.

"Jou, you idiot! Be quiet!"

Yuugi winced. Same to you…

Since everything was still quiet at the house despite of all the shouting, he gestured to the others to come closer.

"Do you think we should go in?" he whispered as they arrived.

"We could at least take a look," Sugoroku answered, whispering as well, and took his key from his pocket.

Jou and Honda glanced at each other bemusedly. "Why are we whispering?" Jou asked and Anzu whacked him with her bag.

"Be quiet! We're saving Yami."

Jou and Honda shared another bemused look. "You mean, you five on your own are…" Honda started to say, but fell silent when Mai glared at him.

"Something wrong with that?"

Honda was saved from replying when Sugoroku opened the door.

It took a moment till the sight in front of their eyes registered in their brains.

"Well, I wouldn't say he needs any saving," Jou stated as Yami jumped up by Aurora's dead body.

"Oh my…" Anzu's face was quite white. "Oh… my…"

Yuugi stared at his yami with wide eyes. "Yami… what you…"

"Nothing!" Yami stared at them looking quite frantic. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I didn't do anything, I found her like this!"

"I… see." Sugoroku as well looked a little white. "I guess we should… take… that somewhere else before someone sees it."

"Before someone sees what?"

Everyone startled and turned to look behind to see Kaiba's questioning look.

"What are you doing here?" Yuugi exclaimed as Kaiba took few steps forward and looked inside over his shoulder. (Actually, he could have easily just looked over his head…)

"Mokuba wanted to come here," he answered and looked at the dead girl thoughtfully. "I see… don't let Mokuba in." He turned around on his heels on walked to his car.

"Why?" Mokuba tried to peek inside. "What's in there? Hey!" he exclaimed when Honda took a grip of his waist and carried him away from the door.

"I think you'd better obey your brother on this matter."

"Definitely." Kaiba was back with them again. "My men will take care of that," he gestured inside. "Let's go in through the backdoor, okay?"

~

"So they have this computer program and this is all there, and they're not really from this dimension or something, and there are some shortcuts to take them home, and that computer has the outline of everything that's happened here - they called this a story - but there seems to be something wrong with it and…"

Everyone else was sitting in the living room while Jou walked around the room, waving with his hands as he explained to them what was going on. Mokuba stared at him with wide eyes, Yuugi was blinking rapidly, and Kaiba was getting more and more annoyed.

"Jou…" Anzu cut him off hesitantly. "What are you talking about?"

"That's what the twins told us! Isn't it?" he looked at Honda for support.

The other boy nodded. "Basically, yes. Although I'm not sure if you're doing so great job in explaining this…"

Jou glared at him angrily, but before he could say anything, Kaiba spoke up. "You said something about a computer."

"They did…"

"Yep," Honda answered cutting Jou off. With a frustrated growl the blond dropped into a chair, but remained quiet. "If I remember right, they said that Unity wrote the program, and it has the outline of how this 'story' was supposed to go. What they look like and what kind of Millennium Items they have is also in that program - and so is who their 'boyfriends' are."

He paused for a while, collecting his thoughts.

"They told us that they've come from another dimension, and they called this the Yu-Gi-Oh! Dimension… I don't really know what they meant by it. That's pretty much all we know."

"I see." Kaiba was staring into emptiness thoughtfully. "If that is true, getting that computer might be a good idea. I believe it's still in my manor, Unity never took it away from there."

"Then maybe we should go to get it," Yuugi said. "But… I was wondering… who it was who killed Aurora?"

Yami shrugged. "Who cares? Good thing she's gone."

"I'm not sure about that…" Anzu said quietly. "I mean, I'm not that found of the idea of having a murderer on the loose here. Can you think of anyone who'd want to kill her?"

Yami looked at her slowly, while Jou tried not to burst into laughter.

"Okay, stupid question," she muttered. "Let's put it like this, can you think of anyone not in this room who'd want to kill her?"

Yami rubbed is chin thoughtfully. "Yami no Malik? He wants to kill everyone, after all… or maybe…" He paused for a while. "I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that they were worried that Azura had betrayed them. I think they thought she'd want to get the Bracelet… maybe she wanted to have the Mascara too."

Kaiba stood up. "And maybe she wants to get the computer. We'd better go there now."

"Right!" Yuugi jumped up as well. "Let's go!"

They went to the front door, everyone of them ignoring the bloodstain on the floor - except Mokuba, who stared at it with wide eyes. Just when Yuugi was about to open the door, the doorbell rang. He froze for a second and looked hesitantly at the others. Yami nodded to him. "Just open it," he whispered.

Yuugi nodded back, and pushed carefully the door open. Outside, on the steps, was standing a very suspicious-looking Otogi.

"Is Azura here?"

Everyone stood frozen for a moment, then Jou, Honda, Kaiba and Yami burst into action at the same time. They grasped Otogi, dragged him inside before he could even shout, and Yuugi closed swiftly the door behind him.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Is there any place with a lock here?" Kaiba asked, ignoring the protests of the raven-haired boy.

"Lock? What are you talking about!? Let go of m…"

"Be quiet," Kaiba stated and placed his hand on Otogi's mouth. "You're too loud - as usual."

"Here." Sugoroku gestured towards a cellar door.

"Well, he hasn't spent any time in a cellar yet," Jou muttered as the dragged Otogi inside and quickly slammed the door shut behind him.

"Well, now we have him too," Mai stated. "Maybe someone should stay here guarding him, just in case."

Yami nodded. "Why don't you and Shizuka do that?"

She shrugged. "Okay."

Shizuka didn't look too happy about letting his brother leave without her, but agreed to stay as well. The others packed themselves into the two cars again, and started to drive towards the Kaiba mansion.

~*~*~

[1] No, I don't own Beautiful Dreamer. Don't have any idea who does, though… Anyway, it just came to my mind when I was writing that scene and refused to let go. X_x (It's a song, in the case you didn't know…)

[2] Don't own the idea of this game either. I took from Neil Gaiman's Sandman-series (from the first part of it, I think: Preludes & Nocturnes). Again, it just came to my mind when I was writing that scene and refused to let go. That happens. ^^;

The next chapter will be up… some day. There aren't that many left anymore… I know I should have proofread this one once more, but… too tired. x.x G'night. Going to bed now.