Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Virtual Fantasy ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: ... Shoot... I'm out of sarcastic remarks...

Dustbunny: Hi, again! Wow, I've gotta say that this fic has probably given me my best reveiws ever.

Bunnydust: -_- Whoopdy-do-da-day.

Marshmallow: Grouch... Now then, onto the next installment!

Bunnydust: I stand by my earlier statement.

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Noah grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best not to pass out from fear. So, he had not been alone in his arrival to this new land. So much for a fresh start. More like a new way to re-live an old end.

"Are you o- ohhhhh!" concern became surprise and fear when the petite princess that had stood beside Noah a moment ago was suddenly flung haphazardly across his lap by yet another terrifying quake of the foundation below them.

"Sorry," came the embarrassed apology that Noah barely heard as a blushing Adina attempted to reaquaint herself with a standing position. At the same time she was trying to see out the window for a clue as to what was happening.

She could not really understand, though, Noah knew. All she could see were dark, ominous clouds hiding the blue sky that had been present mere minutes ago and swift bolts of lightning zig-zagging between the sky and ground. She did n't understand the true nature behind the raging winds or the booming thunder. Could she even hear the sinister cackling that came from empty space? Could she sense the wickedness in the shaking grounds? No, surely not.

"Oh!"

Noah was pulled from his grim musing by a sharp cry of horror. So preoccupied by what the big picture behind this small scene was, Noah had up until now failed to notice the screams of pain and fear coming from outside. Also somehow ignored were the howls and roars of the beasts that accompanied the virtual villagers. It was almost ironic that such a small cry had brought him out of his ignorance.

Adina cried out once more at what was happening outside the window. Buildings were falling, people were running in terror, in their frenzy, the monsters that resided within the village were adding to the chaos. Tiny fairies flew around and made attempts to calm the madnes, but to no avail.

While Noah was doing his best to gather his courage, Adina had efficiently hopped up from the bed and rushed to the door. Knowing immediately where she intended to go, Noah threw back the blankets that covered him from the waist down and ran as well as he could with the quaking after the fleeing form.

"Stop!" he commanded. Adina did not heed.

As difficult as it was for him to progress on the unsteady ground, Adina was faring no better and he caught up to her within a few seconds.

"Stop!" he repeated, grabbing Adina by her upper arm and effectively halting her.

"My people!" she cried helplessly, turning to face him with shimmering eyes. "I have to help them!"

"How?" Noah demende of her. She could not answer.

The ground began to shake with even more ferocity. The walls of the palace started to crumble and Noah cursed himself for holding the both of them in the unstable hall. Of course the building would become questionable. He had thought only to keep her from putting herself out into the open and had forgotten this tiny detail.

"We've gotta get out of here!" he cried to Adina.

The girl scowled, no doubt realizing that it was indeed he that had prevented this very action. She said nothing of it, however, and turned to lead the way out. The pair had to run and duck to avoid debree that was now loosing itself from the cieling above them. If the ceiling was growing shakey then the floor was definately going to do or already doing the same.

While running, Noah tried to search through the databanks once more in search of any sort of protection that the digital land could offer. But it was no simple task. The game had gone into a defense mode, trusting nothing to chance. As far as the system was concerned, there was a virus in its midst. It was defending itself, blocking all stores of memory from anything and everything. Thus, Noah had to both concentrate on the task at hand- getting Adina and himself out of the castle- as well as finding some way to hault Gozoburo's assults.

After what seemed like over a thousand of the most advanced fire walls that Noah had ever encountered, the main store of intelligence was located. At the same time, he followed Adina into the open air of the outside. Now was the time for action.

"Adina!" he said in his most commanding voice, having to shout to be heard over the chaos of the village. "Adina, go someplace safe!"

Before the princess could protest, Noah darted away from her though she was unsure where. But then Noah had no more of an idea than she. All he knew was that he needed to find an open area ideal to trigger the system's main defense mechanism. As far as he could tell, the only reason it had not launched already was because Gozoburo had found a way to turn off the automated launcher. It would have to be switched on manually. Since it did not seem that anyone on the ouside would be activating it soon, it was up to Noah.

After what felt like decades, Noah emerged in a secluded part of the surrounding forrest that had been cleared of trees by the massive winds. He turned toward the sky just in time to see a face forming in the clouds. It was a familiar face indeed. It took all of Noah's will-power to keep from fainting, vomiting, or both. Instead, he looked boldly up at the hideous form that loomed above him. He braced himself against the roaring, evil laughter that rang from it.

Eyes squnited in concentration, Noah began the defense-launch protocall. Quite a task it was, as the boy could barely keep himself rooted to his spot on the ground. The only reason that he was staying so well as he was, really, was due to the fact that Gozoburo had failed to notice him and was busily taunting and torturing the villagers. After minutes that contained seconds like hours, the thunder and lightening began to dull, and the wind to lull to more of a strong breeze.

Knowing that something was amiss, the great face, contorted by anger, searched for the cause. It was not long before Noah was spotted. Eyes widened and jaw clenched, all of Gozoburo's energy was suddenly focused on the young Kaiba. Noah would sure have been done for if that power was not already dimming.

With Gozoburo weakened, Noah quickly began reinstating the fire walls that should have blocked his step-father in the first place. This time, the walls were reinforced with a code of Noah's own making. Gozoburo let out one final howl of hatred before his face disappeared completely from the purple and red clouds. It was not a howl of defeat, Noah knew. That howl was one that promised vengence.

Normally, Noah would have been quit afraid at the thought. Now, however, he found it very difficult to care. His mind was too tired to go through the trouble of comprhending worry or fear or anything else for that matter. In fact, Noah had never been so tired in his entire existence.

His work complete for the time being, the boy allowed himself onto the welcoming softness of the grass carpet below him. So comfortable he was, that he barely noticed the small rocks poking into his back in a way that would have otherwise made him relocate. But now all he wanted was to rest.

A gasp sounded just before the thudding of footsteps. Noah groggily recognized Adina before his vision gave out on him completely. He was able to identify one interesting and, frankly, odd detail about his surroundings. While the trees had been blown away and the some of the grass torn from where it had been, the humorous fact remained.

He was in the exact spot he had been the first time Adina had found him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Noah tiredly opened his eyes and attempted to survey his surroundings. His whole body screamed at him for moving and even his eyes conspired to force him to lay down once more by refusing to operate properly. Nonetheless, the youth managed to will the blurriness from his vision to see where he was. He was in a bed in an elegantly furnished room, Adina's head lay o his side from where she had fallen asleep in her chair beside him. She began to stir, roused by his movement.

Groggy eyes met groggy eyes as the princess looked up at the boy that was doing his very best to sit. A small smile triggered another to respond, though i was hard to say which was the cause and which the action.

""We really need to stop meeting like this," Noah joked tiredly.

Adina nodded whilst trying to settle on either a yawn or a giggle, both of which were trying to escape. Streaching her stiff joints, Adina looked over Noah with a seriousness in the eyes.

"What happened? I think you know," she said quietly.

Noah was silent for several moments before answering.

"Someone I know," he told her, telling only half the truth. "I've had to face him before," he added.

"I see," said Adina in a quet, thoughtful tone. There seemed also to be some trace of nervousness or fear for which Noah did not blame the girl. "But he's gone now, right?" she questioned hopefully.

Silence was the only answer she neded. Finding her lap suddenly interesting, the girl wrung her hands nervously.

"He'll be back," she said for Noah who only nodded solemely.

"I'll try to keep him away," Noah assured. "But..."

Awkward silence then filled the room. Wishing to put an end to it, Adina cleared her throat as loud as was possible for her.

"You should get some rest," she told her guest as she stood. "Later, when you've recovered some, I'll show you around a bit. You may desire a different room. This one is rather small."

"You mean," said Noah in astonishment, "you don't wnat me to... leave? But what if-"

"Whether you've gone or not," cut in Adina, "I'm quite sure that... that man will return anyway. I believe that we may need you here at that time."

Nothing could come to the boy's mind to do but stare in awe. A tingley feeling overtook his eyes and he had to blink several times to make it go away. She was so much like... like Mokuba.

Not until a small smile crept upon the girl's lips did Noah realize that he had said the last two words aloud. Adina blushed slightly at what was to her stunning praise.

"It's true, you know," Noah told her.

A nod was his reply, the smile never leaving the lips of the raven-haired girl.

"Get some sleep," she told him. "After that, I'll show you around and you can choose a room."

This said, Adina rose and walked gracefully from the room while Noah did as she said and laid down for a nap. Closing his eyes, he could not help but wonder if this would not be so bad after all.

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Dustbunny: It's beginning! Whee!

Bunnydust: Don't worry. They're not falling in love yet. Right now there's just respect, admiration, graditude, stuff like that.

Marshmallow: And to answer AMK, Noah's name is spelled without the "h" in the original, but with the 'h' in the dub.

Noah: Sadly, Db is a total dubbie as far as my part in the series is concerned. That's why she's using the dub spelling. (Db: Besides, I didn't know about the different spellings until after I started and I was too lazy to change it if I wanted to ^^')

Marshmallow: Now that's outta the way, please reveiw! No flames, please. Constructive critisism is alright, though.