This is (Not) a Game, Thread 2
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Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Scraped from here.
First Thread: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/1288
FF.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7179271/1/This_is_Not_a_Game
_________________________
Continuing our adventure from where we last left off, our intrepid author writes another retroactive segment to set up for the main plot of the Yugioh jump, as well as do some character exposition and have yet another character break down in the SI's presence. Because that shit happens to him all the goddamn time.
Disclaimer: All text is subject to change or retcon, as necessary.
_______________________________________
Dueling Seto Kaiba. It was a daunting prospect, if the decks these people used weren't fairly basic and designed to be understood by preteens, let alone teenagers. As it was, Kaiba had a potentially interesting deck design- but it lacked in consistency and had a lot cards that, while iconic, weren't exactly useful.
The lack of current support for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was also an issue- Synchros weren't out yet, so that entire engine was missing.
Of course far more pressing than those concerns was the fact I didn't have a deck. Oh, and of course that transporters were offline because Doc had repurposed some key components to keep the forcefields up preventing the ship from flooding. Calypso had been designed to travel in space, not as a deep sea diving rig.
So there was really only one person to turn to.
"I didn't ask if you could do it better than Twilight Sparkle, I asked if you could do it safely!" I said, ire rising. Attempting to deal with the Magicial formerly known as the Great and Powerful Trixie was... difficult.
"And if you could only understand my response: Of course I can do it- I know for a fact that that snooty little unicorn claims teleportation as a personal spell which she mastered in only a month but I, TRIXIE, mastered it in a mere week!"
Why does that fill me with dread? Wait a second.
"How long ago?" I interjected.
"Wha?"
"How long ago did you master it?"
"Foalish man, you don't need to concern yourself with Trixie's studies, she is more than capable of-"
She paused, fumbling with a buckle and then turned. She pulled a wallet out from somewhere (I was pretty sure there was no room for pockets on those shorts) and began going through it, and I-
I reached out and plucked the wallet out of her grasp, pulling out a handful of paper banknotes. neat little english numbers stared back at me- as well as the faces of several respectable looking japanese people. Yen- bank notes. From the surface.
"Return that to Trixie-"
"YOU!" I roared, realizing what Trixie had been doing.
"Eep," she squeeked, eyes widening- and then she vanished in a pop of displaced air.
She reappeared almost immediately, except now she was sopping wet, and leveled me with a rather hostile glare.
"You teleported on reflex?" I asked slowly.
Trixie didn't respond.
"Would it help if I said I'm sorry I overreacted?"
"You want to help!?" Trixie growled incredilously. "Trixie is not your slave, and she is not your project. She's her own mare- Trixie, the greatest showmare in Equestria. She goes where she wants, and she does what she wants. If she wants someone, she takes them! Trixie is great, powerful, and in control."
Now looking considerably less confident than before, made a motion and the water reluctantly floated off her, congealing into a floating orb.
"But you... you took Trixie away from her home, from her... everything. And then you dare dictate terms to Trixie? You dare try to... to chain her?"
"Well, when you put it like that.... but-"
"Nopony dares! No pony... dares... except..."
"I just want to survive this, you know? This isn't Equestria anymore, and literally anything could have happened to you. Please tell me at least you weren't seen?"
"Trixie... I was careful," She said quietly. "T-..."
"Where'd you get the wallet?" I asked softly, trying not to upset her more, and cursing myself for reacting without thinking- or for thinking the worst.
"Ah," Trixie said, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Before Trixie was the greatest magician in Equestria, she was the greatest..."
She moved- I was certain she did. But she hadn't moved- nothing had changed, except.
"Trixie had other means to support her lifestyle," She said, tossing the IXA knuckle at me. I caught it reflexively- then stared at it in fascination.
"You were a thief?"
"I was the best! At the top of my game and with no one to stop me. I was great, I was powerful. Colts feared me! Mares wanted to be me! I was wanted in ten cities, and my name plastered across the outback!"
She was standing now, and the orb of water had transformed into a little blue unicorn, who dashed across the air, leaping over little watery points- rooftops, I could only assume.
"But then I stole something that... Trixie stole a dream. She took it and hid it away and tried to keep it safe. But it wilted and died, and Trixie tried to keep it alive, she really did, but it was too hard. So Trixie learned... dreams need to be shared. But what could Trixie do? So she looked at the life she had abandoned when her mother passed. She took up the cape and the name, and became the greatest entertainer Equestria had ever seen."
"It wasn't that easy?" I asked.
"No," Trixie replied simply. "Trixie... I couldn't make it fly. Nopony wanted to hear my dream. They didn't want anything so sad. They wanted to be amazed, to be thrilled, to be entertained. But they didn't care about Trixie. I was foalish."
"I started making stories up. After getting run out of town the first couple times. People liked their stories larger than life. They paid for them, came to expect them, and afterwards, Trixie moved on. Searching for greater stories- bigger and better stories. But always there were neighsayers. Trixie had to get rid of them- so she made them part of the story. Part of the show. It worked. It worked and worked and worked... and then... Ponyville."
The little blue water unicorn reared back- and a little purple water unicorn formed in front of it. The two squared off, but then the little blue water unicorn splashed apart.
"Trixe has unfinished business with that mare. You must return Trixie- return... me to Equestria. Until you do, I... I will be, as you say, 'sticking around'- but I am not your work horse. You don't own me. Nopony owns me..."
"Okay..." I exhaled. "Can I at least ask you to be careful? This..."
"... isn't Equestria, yes, you said so.... I didn't believe you. But just one look, one smell above, and I... I saw that it was true. Very well, Trixie will comply. B- But don't think I'm making a habit of it."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
First Thread: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/1288
FF.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7179271/1/This_is_Not_a_Game
_________________________
Continuing our adventure from where we last left off, our intrepid author writes another retroactive segment to set up for the main plot of the Yugioh jump, as well as do some character exposition and have yet another character break down in the SI's presence. Because that shit happens to him all the goddamn time.
Disclaimer: All text is subject to change or retcon, as necessary.
_______________________________________
Dueling Seto Kaiba. It was a daunting prospect, if the decks these people used weren't fairly basic and designed to be understood by preteens, let alone teenagers. As it was, Kaiba had a potentially interesting deck design- but it lacked in consistency and had a lot cards that, while iconic, weren't exactly useful.
The lack of current support for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was also an issue- Synchros weren't out yet, so that entire engine was missing.
Of course far more pressing than those concerns was the fact I didn't have a deck. Oh, and of course that transporters were offline because Doc had repurposed some key components to keep the forcefields up preventing the ship from flooding. Calypso had been designed to travel in space, not as a deep sea diving rig.
So there was really only one person to turn to.
"I didn't ask if you could do it better than Twilight Sparkle, I asked if you could do it safely!" I said, ire rising. Attempting to deal with the Magicial formerly known as the Great and Powerful Trixie was... difficult.
"And if you could only understand my response: Of course I can do it- I know for a fact that that snooty little unicorn claims teleportation as a personal spell which she mastered in only a month but I, TRIXIE, mastered it in a mere week!"
Why does that fill me with dread? Wait a second.
"How long ago?" I interjected.
"Wha?"
"How long ago did you master it?"
"Foalish man, you don't need to concern yourself with Trixie's studies, she is more than capable of-"
She paused, fumbling with a buckle and then turned. She pulled a wallet out from somewhere (I was pretty sure there was no room for pockets on those shorts) and began going through it, and I-
I reached out and plucked the wallet out of her grasp, pulling out a handful of paper banknotes. neat little english numbers stared back at me- as well as the faces of several respectable looking japanese people. Yen- bank notes. From the surface.
"Return that to Trixie-"
"YOU!" I roared, realizing what Trixie had been doing.
"Eep," she squeeked, eyes widening- and then she vanished in a pop of displaced air.
She reappeared almost immediately, except now she was sopping wet, and leveled me with a rather hostile glare.
"You teleported on reflex?" I asked slowly.
Trixie didn't respond.
"Would it help if I said I'm sorry I overreacted?"
"You want to help!?" Trixie growled incredilously. "Trixie is not your slave, and she is not your project. She's her own mare- Trixie, the greatest showmare in Equestria. She goes where she wants, and she does what she wants. If she wants someone, she takes them! Trixie is great, powerful, and in control."
Now looking considerably less confident than before, made a motion and the water reluctantly floated off her, congealing into a floating orb.
"But you... you took Trixie away from her home, from her... everything. And then you dare dictate terms to Trixie? You dare try to... to chain her?"
"Well, when you put it like that.... but-"
"Nopony dares! No pony... dares... except..."
"I just want to survive this, you know? This isn't Equestria anymore, and literally anything could have happened to you. Please tell me at least you weren't seen?"
"Trixie... I was careful," She said quietly. "T-..."
"Where'd you get the wallet?" I asked softly, trying not to upset her more, and cursing myself for reacting without thinking- or for thinking the worst.
"Ah," Trixie said, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Before Trixie was the greatest magician in Equestria, she was the greatest..."
She moved- I was certain she did. But she hadn't moved- nothing had changed, except.
"Trixie had other means to support her lifestyle," She said, tossing the IXA knuckle at me. I caught it reflexively- then stared at it in fascination.
"You were a thief?"
"I was the best! At the top of my game and with no one to stop me. I was great, I was powerful. Colts feared me! Mares wanted to be me! I was wanted in ten cities, and my name plastered across the outback!"
She was standing now, and the orb of water had transformed into a little blue unicorn, who dashed across the air, leaping over little watery points- rooftops, I could only assume.
"But then I stole something that... Trixie stole a dream. She took it and hid it away and tried to keep it safe. But it wilted and died, and Trixie tried to keep it alive, she really did, but it was too hard. So Trixie learned... dreams need to be shared. But what could Trixie do? So she looked at the life she had abandoned when her mother passed. She took up the cape and the name, and became the greatest entertainer Equestria had ever seen."
"It wasn't that easy?" I asked.
"No," Trixie replied simply. "Trixie... I couldn't make it fly. Nopony wanted to hear my dream. They didn't want anything so sad. They wanted to be amazed, to be thrilled, to be entertained. But they didn't care about Trixie. I was foalish."
"I started making stories up. After getting run out of town the first couple times. People liked their stories larger than life. They paid for them, came to expect them, and afterwards, Trixie moved on. Searching for greater stories- bigger and better stories. But always there were neighsayers. Trixie had to get rid of them- so she made them part of the story. Part of the show. It worked. It worked and worked and worked... and then... Ponyville."
The little blue water unicorn reared back- and a little purple water unicorn formed in front of it. The two squared off, but then the little blue water unicorn splashed apart.
"Trixe has unfinished business with that mare. You must return Trixie- return... me to Equestria. Until you do, I... I will be, as you say, 'sticking around'- but I am not your work horse. You don't own me. Nopony owns me..."
"Okay..." I exhaled. "Can I at least ask you to be careful? This..."
"... isn't Equestria, yes, you said so.... I didn't believe you. But just one look, one smell above, and I... I saw that it was true. Very well, Trixie will comply. B- But don't think I'm making a habit of it."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
This next segment takes place after the (yet to be modified) segment in the previous thread where the SI encounters Yugi, puts his deck together, defeats Yugi in a friendly match, and meets Seto Kaiba in person.
It accounts for changes to the storyline, so you can attribute any continuity snarls to that- I'm going to go back at some point (before the FF.net release of the finished chapter) and touch up that segment to take into account the modified continuity.
That said, here's the new chapter.
___________________________________
Friends, readers, countrymen, I'm here today at the Kame Game shop because I have to face Seto Kaiba in a duel monsters match tomorrow. A man who knows only that I'm allegedly a Canadian industrialist, and that I've beaten Yugi Mutou, the King of Games, in a friendly match.
Had he not seen that, I might've expected him not to bring his A game- Kaiba was nothing if not persistently overconfident in the show. But now? His entire set of reactions will have been skewed. I'm no longer just some random industrialist- I'm a rival. Someone who's schmoozing in on his territory. Making 'friends' with Yugi and all that jazz.
Moreover, since I can't be sure how long he was watching my game, he's seen my deck. He'll have plans for it. With access to the resources he has, I have no doubt that his deck will be loaded to the gills in anti-continuous trap card effects and a whole host of destruction effects.
And that's why I'm not going to cede him that advantage. As we speak, I'm looking through recently released cards, packs, and special edition releases. Searching for something I can make without a significant investment in rare cards.
But what to build?
"So I heard you got a duel against Kaiba tomorrow," said Jounonochi- Joey to you fans of the dub- as he sidled on up. "And I was thinkin' you could use some advice, from one pro to another."
I raised an eyerbow.
"Oh?"
"Kaiba loves to play big and bad- and there's nothin' bigger and badder than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But that's not all he's got in his arsenal. Crush card, Deck Devastation virus- his deck is full of traps that'll eliminate whatever monsters you throw at him. So you gotta keep him from gettin' those off."
You know to be honest, I'd forgotten about the crush card virus- it's banned back home. Too powerful, as they say. But here there's no banned list, no limited list. If you have it, you can play it. Even if it's from the future, another dimension, or was found inside a ten thousand year old tomb and vastly predates the current cards but inexplicably looks just like them.
Yugioh was never very consistent on that, even if it did try to follow 'rules'.
"I'll keep that in mind..." I said, then trailed off, glacing at a familiar looking booster pack. "Hey gramps- when'd this come out?"
Yugi's grandfather glanced over at the pack I was holding up.
"Oh, that." he said.
"Oh?"
"Hrm, well, it's an early shipment. Doesn't go on sale until tomorrow, you understand."
And tomorrow duelists would fill up the store buying every pack available until there were none left. I frowned- This pack could be the key to winning against Seto Kaiba. Or rather, this set.
"That being said, you really did an old man some good work today, so I'll make you a deal. If you're willing to pay for it up front, I'll sell it to you- as long as you promise not to play anyone with those cards until tomorrow."
"Sure. Deal."
We shook on it, and then I withdrew my wallet and pulled out a 'corporate' credit card- only it wasn't corporate and it wasn't really a credit card either. The card was a piece of starfleet technolog, Smart Plastic, and mimicked a credit card. Or a securty access card. Or a press pass. Or- well almost anything really. Apparently they were standard issue when studying industrial level pre-warp societies.
I bought eight packs- the cards I wanted weren't any of the game's various types of rarity, and generally speaking were the sort that would be overlooked by any given duelist as being worthless. They weren't my first choice of deck type, but for faciing a Seto Kaiba who knew what was in my other deck, it was the best option I could think of.
Packs purchased, I headed over to one of Solomon Mutou's various singles binders, and began flipping through. There were other cards I needed, and- with the sun setting and time grinding on, not much time to put them togehter into a deck.
And that's when a new factor added itself to my already complicated web of planning. The door to the game shop chimed, and a solitary figure walked in.
Jeans, turtleneck sweater, white hair, green eyes.
Ryou Bakura has entered the building.
Oh and of course the barest hint of something circular beneath the sweater- the Millennium Ring.
"Bakura, you're back!" exclaimed Jounonochi, heading over to greet the timid young ban. "I thought you wuz in egypt."
(yes, he really said wuz)
"Oh I was, Jou, but my father had to help with another expedition, so he sent me home early," Ryou said. He glanced around, before asking. "Is Yugi here?"
"Oh yeah, he's just in the back with the rest of the crew."
"Great!"
And he walked right past Jou- and me- and headed towards the back of the store. As he moved past there was an ever so brief moment when his hair seemed more... prickly. His eyes flashed red and he seemed so intent on his goal that he didn't even notice my presence- or if he did, he had dismissed it as part of the scenery.
Given who was renting the apartment that was his soul, maybe that was a good thing. But it meant that my job here had just gotten a bit more complicated.
Yugi wasn't a threat. His other half (Mou hitori no boku, whispered a voice in my head) would only be a threat if I threatened him or his safety. The rest of the scooby gang wasn't even a consideration. Kaiba could be an annoyance, but I could deal with him. Maximillion Pegasus could be down right dangerous, but with the loss of the Millennium Eye and the man's subsequent breakdown and therapy, he had left the realm of major villain.
Yami Bakura however, could easily murder me without a second thought. A simple glance at me and a piece of gold egyptian magic and my soul would fly right out of my body and into a card. But of course, Yami Bakura woudln't stop there- no. He'd readily torture me, or banish me into the darkness of the shadow realm. Merciless, cruel, and... strangely considerate of his host. He was evil, certainly, and responsible for a significant number of crimes and other violations- but...
He's also not someone I can strictly hold responsible for his actions, given what I know of his history- and that of the show.
There's various backstory pieces I could explain now, but I think instead I'll just mention the most immediately relevant one: He's possessed by the spirit of a dark god- Zorc Necrophades.
Oh yes, spirit that is half of a soul who himself is possessing the physical body of the individual with the other half of his soul is, himself, possessed by a dark god, the duel monster Zorc Necrophades.
And here I am thinking "I bet I could throw the entire plot off the rails by solving that problem (and save various souls from soulrending violation by a sadistic murderer)"
I know, I know, it's a bad idea. They resolved it in the show (to not necessarily a happy conclusion), and it would resolve on its own if I left it alone.
But... I was right here and in a position, possibly, to do something that could change this world for the better. Dare I use that power?
"These," I said, laying several cards on the counter," Solomon nodded and held his hand out for my card. "Thanks."
"You're going to play that Kaiba man, right?" he asked, glancing at the back of the store where his grandson was busy extracting tales of the splendor of egypt from a reluctant Ryou Bakura.
"Tomorrow, apparently."
"Kick his keister for me, will you? He needs a good taking down a peg or two, and my grandson, noble as he is, only seems to drive the man to even greater heights.
"Okay," I replied, eyeing the man speculatively. For all his age, he still had fire to me. "I don't think he'll see this coming. Chain burn is going to explode onto the dueling scene gramps, and it'll leave a Kaiba-shaped hole in the roof when it does. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pick a large ham."
Unsurprisingly, the old man didn't get my joke- so I merely smiled and let myself out.
It accounts for changes to the storyline, so you can attribute any continuity snarls to that- I'm going to go back at some point (before the FF.net release of the finished chapter) and touch up that segment to take into account the modified continuity.
That said, here's the new chapter.
___________________________________
Friends, readers, countrymen, I'm here today at the Kame Game shop because I have to face Seto Kaiba in a duel monsters match tomorrow. A man who knows only that I'm allegedly a Canadian industrialist, and that I've beaten Yugi Mutou, the King of Games, in a friendly match.
Had he not seen that, I might've expected him not to bring his A game- Kaiba was nothing if not persistently overconfident in the show. But now? His entire set of reactions will have been skewed. I'm no longer just some random industrialist- I'm a rival. Someone who's schmoozing in on his territory. Making 'friends' with Yugi and all that jazz.
Moreover, since I can't be sure how long he was watching my game, he's seen my deck. He'll have plans for it. With access to the resources he has, I have no doubt that his deck will be loaded to the gills in anti-continuous trap card effects and a whole host of destruction effects.
And that's why I'm not going to cede him that advantage. As we speak, I'm looking through recently released cards, packs, and special edition releases. Searching for something I can make without a significant investment in rare cards.
But what to build?
"So I heard you got a duel against Kaiba tomorrow," said Jounonochi- Joey to you fans of the dub- as he sidled on up. "And I was thinkin' you could use some advice, from one pro to another."
I raised an eyerbow.
"Oh?"
"Kaiba loves to play big and bad- and there's nothin' bigger and badder than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But that's not all he's got in his arsenal. Crush card, Deck Devastation virus- his deck is full of traps that'll eliminate whatever monsters you throw at him. So you gotta keep him from gettin' those off."
You know to be honest, I'd forgotten about the crush card virus- it's banned back home. Too powerful, as they say. But here there's no banned list, no limited list. If you have it, you can play it. Even if it's from the future, another dimension, or was found inside a ten thousand year old tomb and vastly predates the current cards but inexplicably looks just like them.
Yugioh was never very consistent on that, even if it did try to follow 'rules'.
"I'll keep that in mind..." I said, then trailed off, glacing at a familiar looking booster pack. "Hey gramps- when'd this come out?"
Yugi's grandfather glanced over at the pack I was holding up.
"Oh, that." he said.
"Oh?"
"Hrm, well, it's an early shipment. Doesn't go on sale until tomorrow, you understand."
And tomorrow duelists would fill up the store buying every pack available until there were none left. I frowned- This pack could be the key to winning against Seto Kaiba. Or rather, this set.
"That being said, you really did an old man some good work today, so I'll make you a deal. If you're willing to pay for it up front, I'll sell it to you- as long as you promise not to play anyone with those cards until tomorrow."
"Sure. Deal."
We shook on it, and then I withdrew my wallet and pulled out a 'corporate' credit card- only it wasn't corporate and it wasn't really a credit card either. The card was a piece of starfleet technolog, Smart Plastic, and mimicked a credit card. Or a securty access card. Or a press pass. Or- well almost anything really. Apparently they were standard issue when studying industrial level pre-warp societies.
I bought eight packs- the cards I wanted weren't any of the game's various types of rarity, and generally speaking were the sort that would be overlooked by any given duelist as being worthless. They weren't my first choice of deck type, but for faciing a Seto Kaiba who knew what was in my other deck, it was the best option I could think of.
Packs purchased, I headed over to one of Solomon Mutou's various singles binders, and began flipping through. There were other cards I needed, and- with the sun setting and time grinding on, not much time to put them togehter into a deck.
And that's when a new factor added itself to my already complicated web of planning. The door to the game shop chimed, and a solitary figure walked in.
Jeans, turtleneck sweater, white hair, green eyes.
Ryou Bakura has entered the building.
Oh and of course the barest hint of something circular beneath the sweater- the Millennium Ring.
"Bakura, you're back!" exclaimed Jounonochi, heading over to greet the timid young ban. "I thought you wuz in egypt."
(yes, he really said wuz)
"Oh I was, Jou, but my father had to help with another expedition, so he sent me home early," Ryou said. He glanced around, before asking. "Is Yugi here?"
"Oh yeah, he's just in the back with the rest of the crew."
"Great!"
And he walked right past Jou- and me- and headed towards the back of the store. As he moved past there was an ever so brief moment when his hair seemed more... prickly. His eyes flashed red and he seemed so intent on his goal that he didn't even notice my presence- or if he did, he had dismissed it as part of the scenery.
Given who was renting the apartment that was his soul, maybe that was a good thing. But it meant that my job here had just gotten a bit more complicated.
Yugi wasn't a threat. His other half (Mou hitori no boku, whispered a voice in my head) would only be a threat if I threatened him or his safety. The rest of the scooby gang wasn't even a consideration. Kaiba could be an annoyance, but I could deal with him. Maximillion Pegasus could be down right dangerous, but with the loss of the Millennium Eye and the man's subsequent breakdown and therapy, he had left the realm of major villain.
Yami Bakura however, could easily murder me without a second thought. A simple glance at me and a piece of gold egyptian magic and my soul would fly right out of my body and into a card. But of course, Yami Bakura woudln't stop there- no. He'd readily torture me, or banish me into the darkness of the shadow realm. Merciless, cruel, and... strangely considerate of his host. He was evil, certainly, and responsible for a significant number of crimes and other violations- but...
He's also not someone I can strictly hold responsible for his actions, given what I know of his history- and that of the show.
There's various backstory pieces I could explain now, but I think instead I'll just mention the most immediately relevant one: He's possessed by the spirit of a dark god- Zorc Necrophades.
Oh yes, spirit that is half of a soul who himself is possessing the physical body of the individual with the other half of his soul is, himself, possessed by a dark god, the duel monster Zorc Necrophades.
And here I am thinking "I bet I could throw the entire plot off the rails by solving that problem (and save various souls from soulrending violation by a sadistic murderer)"
I know, I know, it's a bad idea. They resolved it in the show (to not necessarily a happy conclusion), and it would resolve on its own if I left it alone.
But... I was right here and in a position, possibly, to do something that could change this world for the better. Dare I use that power?
"These," I said, laying several cards on the counter," Solomon nodded and held his hand out for my card. "Thanks."
"You're going to play that Kaiba man, right?" he asked, glancing at the back of the store where his grandson was busy extracting tales of the splendor of egypt from a reluctant Ryou Bakura.
"Tomorrow, apparently."
"Kick his keister for me, will you? He needs a good taking down a peg or two, and my grandson, noble as he is, only seems to drive the man to even greater heights.
"Okay," I replied, eyeing the man speculatively. For all his age, he still had fire to me. "I don't think he'll see this coming. Chain burn is going to explode onto the dueling scene gramps, and it'll leave a Kaiba-shaped hole in the roof when it does. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pick a large ham."
Unsurprisingly, the old man didn't get my joke- so I merely smiled and let myself out.
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Okay, I lied, next update is now. I decided to have the segment cut directly to the duel with Kaiba- with the aftermath covering what happened between the prior segment and this one. An aftermath you'll get to read... when I actually write it 
.
In the meantime, enjoy this duel, which isn't just the SI trouncing Kaiba thoroughly and so should be a bit more enjoyable and less one-sided.
_________________
"Unfortunately for you, you've stepped right into my trap!" yelled Seto Kaiba, gesturing imperiously. A trap card- Deck Devastation Virus flipped up. "I sacrifice Peten the Dark Clown- and destroy all monsters with 1500 attack or higher on your field, in your hand, and for your next three draws!"
Crush Card Virus was a grade A outstanding trap card. Capable of seriously neutering an enemy's power players, be they on the field, in the hand, or even the deck, it was a top notch card. Moreover, it was fantabulously rare here, with Seto Kaiba having shelled out at the bare minimum hundreds of dolalrs to procure it.
That's a fantastic waste of money to spend on a card- and Crush Card's no black lotus. Here, it did precisely nothing. While there's one monster he could have eliminated from my deck, it wasn't in my hand- and even if I'd drawn it, the loss wouldn't impact my deck overmuch.
Instead, I waited for the virtual visualization of the Crush Card virus to shimmer into existence over the dueling grid- a mottled collection of purplish viral cells just searching for a monster they could latch on to- and destroy.
"I'm afraid you're not in luck, Kaiba-san," I said simply. My only face down monster's attack was below Crush Card's threshold. "However, what you are in is for a shock, because you've activated *my* trap card."
I gestured, putting my full body's motion into it and throwing my jacket open to the wind, where it ripled dramatically.
"Reckless greed!"
"Tch, that's-"
"Not all! Legacy of the Yata Garasu! Jar of Greed!"
"You!"
I smirked.
"And for the finale, Chain Strike!"
With a gesture, each of my face downs flipped up in sequence. Most were just card draw. Specifically four cards of draw. The final card, however, was the king piece of my combo. Chain Stike is a card designed to activate at the end of a sequence of cards, and inflicts damage to the opponent based on how far along it's been activated.
In the case of this chain, it was link five, which meant an impressive 2000 life points- exactly half of Kaiba's total.
As the chains slashed across my opponent's form, they threw up a tremendous cloud of smoke that was, fortunately, only virtual. But as it cleared...
well damn. Hallowed Life Barrier. A 'negate all damage' trap. Unexpected, but crafty.
Kaiba laughed- not a pleasant laugh either, but his 'you've challenged me but now you're going to lose pathetically' laugh. He laughed and laughed and grinned manically at me.
"You're better than the mutt, I'll give you that," he said with dark smirk. "But you've got a long way to go if you think you can defeat Seto Kaiba!
Simple, yet effective- and oh so smug about it. The turn passed to Seto Kaiba, who had decided to make a win of it. And we were only three turns in.
"Draw!" he yelled, swiping a card from the top of his deck and holding it out. Whatever he saw must have met with his approval, because his smirk threatened to edge off the sides of his face. "This will be the last turn. Polymerization!"
Polymerization is a card that allows a player to discard monsters from their hand or field and summon a fusion monster that lists those discarded as material. For Seto Kaiba, it could mean only one thing.
As three Blue-Eyes White Dragons tumbled into the graveyard, the very air distorted before us, spiraling and shimmering as the three headed ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon came into play. And boy did it look pissed.
"First- Burst Stream of Destruction!"
Nevermind that Burst Stream of Destruction only works with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and not its fusion, Kaiba was in full form. A jagged bolt of white lighting lanced out and shattered my face down monster- which I reluctantly sent to the graveyard.
"And now, de-fusion!"
One Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon became three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, each with 3000 attack and I with no defensive monsters and a paltry 4000 life points.
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!"
The center dragon prepared a massive blast- but even as it fired I was reacting, activating a card from my hand.
On the virtual field just before the lightning bolt could hit a reedy mechanical figure snapped into being wielding two little branches in its hands. It smirked and used the two brances to the pare the incoming blast and send it splitting to either side of me.
"Swift Scarecrow negates your attack and ends the battle phase," I said with a bit of smugness.
"Hmmpf, so you've bought yourself another turn," Kaiba responded, keeping the cool air of authority and self-assuredness. But I was familiar enough with the man to tell that he was ruffled.
"One turn is all I need," I replied. I glanced at the card I had drawn from my trap cards and grinned. I set three cards astride another card I hadn't yet activated, and nodded at Seto Kaiba. "This ends now, one way or another."
"I agree completely," Seto said- for once not maliciously or smugly or anything like that, but actually serious. "Draw!"
.In the meantime, enjoy this duel, which isn't just the SI trouncing Kaiba thoroughly and so should be a bit more enjoyable and less one-sided.
_________________
"Unfortunately for you, you've stepped right into my trap!" yelled Seto Kaiba, gesturing imperiously. A trap card- Deck Devastation Virus flipped up. "I sacrifice Peten the Dark Clown- and destroy all monsters with 1500 attack or higher on your field, in your hand, and for your next three draws!"
Crush Card Virus was a grade A outstanding trap card. Capable of seriously neutering an enemy's power players, be they on the field, in the hand, or even the deck, it was a top notch card. Moreover, it was fantabulously rare here, with Seto Kaiba having shelled out at the bare minimum hundreds of dolalrs to procure it.
That's a fantastic waste of money to spend on a card- and Crush Card's no black lotus. Here, it did precisely nothing. While there's one monster he could have eliminated from my deck, it wasn't in my hand- and even if I'd drawn it, the loss wouldn't impact my deck overmuch.
Instead, I waited for the virtual visualization of the Crush Card virus to shimmer into existence over the dueling grid- a mottled collection of purplish viral cells just searching for a monster they could latch on to- and destroy.
"I'm afraid you're not in luck, Kaiba-san," I said simply. My only face down monster's attack was below Crush Card's threshold. "However, what you are in is for a shock, because you've activated *my* trap card."
I gestured, putting my full body's motion into it and throwing my jacket open to the wind, where it ripled dramatically.
"Reckless greed!"
"Tch, that's-"
"Not all! Legacy of the Yata Garasu! Jar of Greed!"
"You!"
I smirked.
"And for the finale, Chain Strike!"
With a gesture, each of my face downs flipped up in sequence. Most were just card draw. Specifically four cards of draw. The final card, however, was the king piece of my combo. Chain Stike is a card designed to activate at the end of a sequence of cards, and inflicts damage to the opponent based on how far along it's been activated.
In the case of this chain, it was link five, which meant an impressive 2000 life points- exactly half of Kaiba's total.
As the chains slashed across my opponent's form, they threw up a tremendous cloud of smoke that was, fortunately, only virtual. But as it cleared...
well damn. Hallowed Life Barrier. A 'negate all damage' trap. Unexpected, but crafty.
Kaiba laughed- not a pleasant laugh either, but his 'you've challenged me but now you're going to lose pathetically' laugh. He laughed and laughed and grinned manically at me.
"You're better than the mutt, I'll give you that," he said with dark smirk. "But you've got a long way to go if you think you can defeat Seto Kaiba!
Simple, yet effective- and oh so smug about it. The turn passed to Seto Kaiba, who had decided to make a win of it. And we were only three turns in.
"Draw!" he yelled, swiping a card from the top of his deck and holding it out. Whatever he saw must have met with his approval, because his smirk threatened to edge off the sides of his face. "This will be the last turn. Polymerization!"
Polymerization is a card that allows a player to discard monsters from their hand or field and summon a fusion monster that lists those discarded as material. For Seto Kaiba, it could mean only one thing.
As three Blue-Eyes White Dragons tumbled into the graveyard, the very air distorted before us, spiraling and shimmering as the three headed ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon came into play. And boy did it look pissed.
"First- Burst Stream of Destruction!"
Nevermind that Burst Stream of Destruction only works with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and not its fusion, Kaiba was in full form. A jagged bolt of white lighting lanced out and shattered my face down monster- which I reluctantly sent to the graveyard.
"And now, de-fusion!"
One Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon became three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, each with 3000 attack and I with no defensive monsters and a paltry 4000 life points.
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!"
The center dragon prepared a massive blast- but even as it fired I was reacting, activating a card from my hand.
On the virtual field just before the lightning bolt could hit a reedy mechanical figure snapped into being wielding two little branches in its hands. It smirked and used the two brances to the pare the incoming blast and send it splitting to either side of me.
"Swift Scarecrow negates your attack and ends the battle phase," I said with a bit of smugness.
"Hmmpf, so you've bought yourself another turn," Kaiba responded, keeping the cool air of authority and self-assuredness. But I was familiar enough with the man to tell that he was ruffled.
"One turn is all I need," I replied. I glanced at the card I had drawn from my trap cards and grinned. I set three cards astride another card I hadn't yet activated, and nodded at Seto Kaiba. "This ends now, one way or another."
"I agree completely," Seto said- for once not maliciously or smugly or anything like that, but actually serious. "Draw!"
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Haha, glad you approve. Anyways, I seem to be writing up a storm, because the end of that duel is here.
I decided to go for less grandstanding than I did in the original leadup, so there's no big festival or the like, and I decided that my earlier plans of getting involved in the plot of the Bonds Beyond Time movie were actually kind of stupid- I'd much rather
So yeah, changes in plot and the like. But we're moving on to the main reason why the SI and crew are here, and it shouldn't be long from here to the next chapter.
_______________________________
The final turn arrived- Seto with three Blue-Eyes White Dragons on his field, a single card in his back row, and a single card in his hand. The man was confident and self-assurred. He had all the pieces necessary to win this game, and it all came down to how he used them.
"Of all the duelists I've faced, you're the first to create an entirely new deck before the game- and one you can't possibly have any experience running. So at the very least you're an opponent of some worth. But ultimately experience triumphs over luck, and this is where your luck ends!"
He waved his hand, and each of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons shimmered and shattered, cards ejecting from his duel disc into Kaiba's waiting hand.
"I sacrifice my three Blue-Eyes white Dragons to summon the ultimate legendary beast: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!"
What arose was a monster I had never expected to see- because it was from an american produced Yugioh movie. But I hadn't considered that it might have been dubbed into japanese and released in japan. Whatever this world's origin, the dragon that was now staring me down was clearly canon. And its attack would mean my end- if I allowed it.
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon receives three hundred attack for each dragon-type monster in my grave," Kaiba declared, making a sharp gesture. The monster's attack counter increased- cycling from 3000 to 4500 for the five dragons in his graveyard. "And now, the final blow! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon attack his life points directly!"
I grinned as the dragon roared, gathering blue-white energy in its maw, charging a powerful bolt of energy. At the apex of its attack movement, I activated a trap card- and a shimmering silvery wall spread between myself and the monster.
"Dimension wall, activate!" I growled showily. "When your monster attacks, I can activate this card- any damage I would have taken from the attack, you take instead!"
Seto's visage contorted in anger, as the shimmering silver wall turned mirror perfect, showing his own dragon and himself beyond it.
"No! I refuse this outcome! Ring of Destruction!"
The trap card activated, and a ring of eight grenades settled around the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon's neck- then immediately detonated, destroying the dragon, conveniently avoidng my dimension wall, and inflicting 4500 life points worth of damage to both players.
There was dust and ruin as the virtual battlefield tore asunder from the explosion, but as it cleared I had one last trick to play.
"Immpressive," I said, not yielding a step. "Truly top notch- I didn't think you would force me this hard, but you're a truly awesome duelist. Unfortunaely this is how it ends. Spell of Pain!"
The card that activated- a card I had set two turns ago and not expected to actually use, was simple: It altered an opponent's effect card that inflicted effect damage to myself- and made it deal that damage to my opponent. On the receiving end of nine thousand damage and no small holographic wind storm, Seto Kaiba was forced back a step- but only a step. He recovered swiftly as his life points ticked down to zero. He was defeated- and not even by his designated rival that he typically assigned all of his hate.
I crossed the virtual field, my remaining cards fading to pixels behind me, until I stood in front of the man.
"Good game," I said, holding a hand outstretched.
You know, I fully expected him to spit, or slap my hand away- but instead he took it, shaking it. Unyielding as ever, he nevertheless allowed me to catch the barest moment of a grin.
"Good game," he said. "It's your victory- without trickery or deceit. Without luck or the intervention of other powers. I can respect a victory like that- one won through skill."
He turned back, gesturing to two black suited security men- both wearing sunglasses and carrying heavy suitcases.
"As a courtesy, I've expedited your request," he said, and both men walked over, setting down the suit cases at my feed. I knelt, clicking one open and- yes, within were the parts that my 'company' (really just Doc hacking the internet a whole false history for it) had ordered. The parts we needed to repair the Calypso, and be on our way.
I nodded back at him.
"Thanks. We'll have to do this again sometime," I said with a grin.
"COunt on it," Seto replied- then turned and strode from the room, coattails billowing in the nonexistent wind. His two guards nodded at me, and then followed him out.
For my part, I hefted the two briefcases- heavy buggers- and left myself- heading for the elevator. Inside, I met my 'assistent', a smartly dressed woman in a black womens' suit with blue-lighter-blue hair, and purple eyes.
Trixie, for her part, had watched my duel from the room's observation deck- the next level up. I assumed that Seto's younger brother and partner in crime, Mokuba Kaiba had also been up there- as Trixie looked just the slightest bit frazzled.
"Tough day?" I joked, but Trixie frowned and shook her head slightly- then took my hand. The moment we hit ground floor, and were out the door I felt a twisting in space- sort of like a teleport, but different.
"They're following us," Trixie said, and gestured. From the front of Kaiba's offices several men in dark coats emerged- and headed off down a separate street. I narrowed my eyes, glancing down that street- and spotted an image of ourselves, making our way to a black limo. "They'll follow it around the corner- and when they do it'll be gone."
"You sure are good at this," I told her- and she smirked.
"These... cars... are complex- but not so complex that Tr-that I cannot replicate their form. Illusion, after all, is a tool of the mind- and the mind is my specialty," She said. "We're clear now."
Trixie flashed an azure outline, ever so briefly, and then there was a popping of air as it rushed to fill the void she had just occupied. I took that as a cue to leave- although for myself it was a much slower transition. The world faded- whiting out into a vast expanse. Then narrowing my focus, it abruptly faded back in, and I was onboard the Calypso- and apparently at least a minute and a half behind, given what I could hear of Trxie's animated conversation with our starfleet compatriot.
Doc, for his part, nodded and smiled- and patted Trixie on the head all fatherly.
"So I see you were successful- let's get these looked at and then we can get going," Doc said- and I hefted the suitcases onto a console.
The man clicked the first one open, nodding appovingly at the parts. THen his tricorder came out as he ran a scan over them.
"The quality's sufficent for our purposes, although we could have done without the bugs. Fortunately they're UHF burst transmitters- inactive at the moment, and the nav deflector would have filtered them anyway," he continued- tapping in several commands on the tricorder. "I've disabled them just to be safe."
"Now once I've got these installed and we have main power back online, will you be able to take us home?" he asked.
I... don't actually know the answer to that one. I hadn't yet returned to a place that I'd been, although I did have the vaguest sense of some sort of spiral motion every time we jumped, turning inwards and back. Maybe I could harness that, point us back from whence we came. Maybe I could use it to get home... but I-
"I don't think our next jump will get us home- or the one after that. But I'm begining to understand this power, and we have to start somewhere," I said with as much confidence as I could muster. But... "But before we go there's something I need to do first."
"Son, we're breaking the prime directive enough just by being here- and you want to interfere more?"
"Does the prime directive apply to interdimensional alternate reality weirdness? Who am I kidding, of course it does. But I have to believe that I'm here for a reason- it can't just be to meet and greet and leave- and these jumps are too close to my knowledge to be truly random. There's a pattern here of some sort, and I'm not just going to leave without making a difference."
Doc frowned.
"Well, I guess you're your own man, and you gotta do what you gotta do. It's not like there's a court martial waitin' for me back home. So lay it on yer Doc, what's this thing you've gotta do?"
"We're going to kill a god," I said. "Kill a god and save the world. Simple, right?"
I decided to go for less grandstanding than I did in the original leadup, so there's no big festival or the like, and I decided that my earlier plans of getting involved in the plot of the Bonds Beyond Time movie were actually kind of stupid- I'd much rather
Shoot Zorc Necrophades in the face with a photon torpedo.
So yeah, changes in plot and the like. But we're moving on to the main reason why the SI and crew are here, and it shouldn't be long from here to the next chapter.
_______________________________
The final turn arrived- Seto with three Blue-Eyes White Dragons on his field, a single card in his back row, and a single card in his hand. The man was confident and self-assurred. He had all the pieces necessary to win this game, and it all came down to how he used them.
"Of all the duelists I've faced, you're the first to create an entirely new deck before the game- and one you can't possibly have any experience running. So at the very least you're an opponent of some worth. But ultimately experience triumphs over luck, and this is where your luck ends!"
He waved his hand, and each of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons shimmered and shattered, cards ejecting from his duel disc into Kaiba's waiting hand.
"I sacrifice my three Blue-Eyes white Dragons to summon the ultimate legendary beast: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!"
What arose was a monster I had never expected to see- because it was from an american produced Yugioh movie. But I hadn't considered that it might have been dubbed into japanese and released in japan. Whatever this world's origin, the dragon that was now staring me down was clearly canon. And its attack would mean my end- if I allowed it.
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon receives three hundred attack for each dragon-type monster in my grave," Kaiba declared, making a sharp gesture. The monster's attack counter increased- cycling from 3000 to 4500 for the five dragons in his graveyard. "And now, the final blow! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon attack his life points directly!"
I grinned as the dragon roared, gathering blue-white energy in its maw, charging a powerful bolt of energy. At the apex of its attack movement, I activated a trap card- and a shimmering silvery wall spread between myself and the monster.
"Dimension wall, activate!" I growled showily. "When your monster attacks, I can activate this card- any damage I would have taken from the attack, you take instead!"
Seto's visage contorted in anger, as the shimmering silver wall turned mirror perfect, showing his own dragon and himself beyond it.
"No! I refuse this outcome! Ring of Destruction!"
The trap card activated, and a ring of eight grenades settled around the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon's neck- then immediately detonated, destroying the dragon, conveniently avoidng my dimension wall, and inflicting 4500 life points worth of damage to both players.
There was dust and ruin as the virtual battlefield tore asunder from the explosion, but as it cleared I had one last trick to play.
"Immpressive," I said, not yielding a step. "Truly top notch- I didn't think you would force me this hard, but you're a truly awesome duelist. Unfortunaely this is how it ends. Spell of Pain!"
The card that activated- a card I had set two turns ago and not expected to actually use, was simple: It altered an opponent's effect card that inflicted effect damage to myself- and made it deal that damage to my opponent. On the receiving end of nine thousand damage and no small holographic wind storm, Seto Kaiba was forced back a step- but only a step. He recovered swiftly as his life points ticked down to zero. He was defeated- and not even by his designated rival that he typically assigned all of his hate.
I crossed the virtual field, my remaining cards fading to pixels behind me, until I stood in front of the man.
"Good game," I said, holding a hand outstretched.
You know, I fully expected him to spit, or slap my hand away- but instead he took it, shaking it. Unyielding as ever, he nevertheless allowed me to catch the barest moment of a grin.
"Good game," he said. "It's your victory- without trickery or deceit. Without luck or the intervention of other powers. I can respect a victory like that- one won through skill."
He turned back, gesturing to two black suited security men- both wearing sunglasses and carrying heavy suitcases.
"As a courtesy, I've expedited your request," he said, and both men walked over, setting down the suit cases at my feed. I knelt, clicking one open and- yes, within were the parts that my 'company' (really just Doc hacking the internet a whole false history for it) had ordered. The parts we needed to repair the Calypso, and be on our way.
I nodded back at him.
"Thanks. We'll have to do this again sometime," I said with a grin.
"COunt on it," Seto replied- then turned and strode from the room, coattails billowing in the nonexistent wind. His two guards nodded at me, and then followed him out.
For my part, I hefted the two briefcases- heavy buggers- and left myself- heading for the elevator. Inside, I met my 'assistent', a smartly dressed woman in a black womens' suit with blue-lighter-blue hair, and purple eyes.
Trixie, for her part, had watched my duel from the room's observation deck- the next level up. I assumed that Seto's younger brother and partner in crime, Mokuba Kaiba had also been up there- as Trixie looked just the slightest bit frazzled.
"Tough day?" I joked, but Trixie frowned and shook her head slightly- then took my hand. The moment we hit ground floor, and were out the door I felt a twisting in space- sort of like a teleport, but different.
"They're following us," Trixie said, and gestured. From the front of Kaiba's offices several men in dark coats emerged- and headed off down a separate street. I narrowed my eyes, glancing down that street- and spotted an image of ourselves, making our way to a black limo. "They'll follow it around the corner- and when they do it'll be gone."
"You sure are good at this," I told her- and she smirked.
"These... cars... are complex- but not so complex that Tr-that I cannot replicate their form. Illusion, after all, is a tool of the mind- and the mind is my specialty," She said. "We're clear now."
Trixie flashed an azure outline, ever so briefly, and then there was a popping of air as it rushed to fill the void she had just occupied. I took that as a cue to leave- although for myself it was a much slower transition. The world faded- whiting out into a vast expanse. Then narrowing my focus, it abruptly faded back in, and I was onboard the Calypso- and apparently at least a minute and a half behind, given what I could hear of Trxie's animated conversation with our starfleet compatriot.
Doc, for his part, nodded and smiled- and patted Trixie on the head all fatherly.
"So I see you were successful- let's get these looked at and then we can get going," Doc said- and I hefted the suitcases onto a console.
The man clicked the first one open, nodding appovingly at the parts. THen his tricorder came out as he ran a scan over them.
"The quality's sufficent for our purposes, although we could have done without the bugs. Fortunately they're UHF burst transmitters- inactive at the moment, and the nav deflector would have filtered them anyway," he continued- tapping in several commands on the tricorder. "I've disabled them just to be safe."
"Now once I've got these installed and we have main power back online, will you be able to take us home?" he asked.
I... don't actually know the answer to that one. I hadn't yet returned to a place that I'd been, although I did have the vaguest sense of some sort of spiral motion every time we jumped, turning inwards and back. Maybe I could harness that, point us back from whence we came. Maybe I could use it to get home... but I-
"I don't think our next jump will get us home- or the one after that. But I'm begining to understand this power, and we have to start somewhere," I said with as much confidence as I could muster. But... "But before we go there's something I need to do first."
"Son, we're breaking the prime directive enough just by being here- and you want to interfere more?"
"Does the prime directive apply to interdimensional alternate reality weirdness? Who am I kidding, of course it does. But I have to believe that I'm here for a reason- it can't just be to meet and greet and leave- and these jumps are too close to my knowledge to be truly random. There's a pattern here of some sort, and I'm not just going to leave without making a difference."
Doc frowned.
"Well, I guess you're your own man, and you gotta do what you gotta do. It's not like there's a court martial waitin' for me back home. So lay it on yer Doc, what's this thing you've gotta do?"
"We're going to kill a god," I said. "Kill a god and save the world. Simple, right?"
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
This is (not) an update.
I've decided to not do the whole 'try and kill an ancient empire toppling evil' simply because I cannot for the life of me come up with any ideas on how to make it work aside from 'hodrod Yugi and the Pharaoh into the Memory Game- and to be honest I never actually watched the Memory Game arc.
I had a couple ideas here and there, but to be honest I don't think there's any way I can put them together without it all being horribly contrived. So we'll be going for a much simpler solution.
_____________
"Normally that'd be suicide, but we're in luck. Zorc Necrophades, the God in question, is tied to one of the Millennium Items- specifically, the Millennium Ring. Without it, he can't interfere in mortal affairs. I... suppose there's one or two things that Yugi Mutou might need the Ring for, but that's just memory game stuff- I can just tell the nameless pharaoh his name and we should be good on that front."
"Wha? God? Son, I pride myself on being a man of science- and everything I've learned in the last thirty years has changed that not one iota. There are no gods- only aliens of sufficient advancement," Doc sputtered- just a bit- before regaining control over the utter incredulity he was suffering over my statement.
"Kyouko, Trixie? Anything to add?"
"Pfft, if it bleeds, I can kill it," Kyouko muttered. "Besides, I'm fed up of being cooped up in this dinky little piece of crap- if it gets us somewhere I can cut loose faster, I'm all for it."
".... Trixie knows that you do not simply destroy a God- they are as immutable as the stars themselves."
Doc and I shared a knowing look.
"That being said, she is a mare of many talents- if this... God... can be dealt with without interacting directly, Trixie is willing to take the risk."
"There might be some bumpy parts, but the plan is beautiful in its simplicty," I said after a moment of thought.
"Simple, ha! Aliens like that are never simple."
"Normally I'd agree, but in this case we're going to beam the Millennium Ring into the sun. That's... pretty much it," I said. "There's the risk that his agent will attempt to mind control anyone in direct bodily contact with the Ring- and he can influence its movements slightly. Just manipulation of chance, nothing serious."
Nothing serious- Doc snorted.
"Regardless, Zorc Necrophades was destroyed in the original timeline- OTL," I continued. "By the Great Creator God, Heractynes. God of the sun. So beaming the ring into the sun should have some effect- and at the very least it's unlikely the Ring will be able to physically travel back to Earth any time soon. So that's... basically it."
Doc looked pensive, Kyouko looked excited- and Trixie looked just a bit concerned, but she shook herself out of it rather quickly.
"Well, if we're set on doing this, you're going to need pattern enhancers. If this artifact is as 'magical' as its name implies, then we'll need to augment the confinement beam. Unfortunately pattern enhancers are a bit tricky to put together- I'll need a day to get a set ready," Doc said after a moment.
"You speak as though this item is cursed. Fortunately, Trixie knows that curses often have very specific requirements. Bodily contact, as you have said, is one of them. If we use only Unicorn Magic (tm) to procure the item, we should be safe... however Trixie would like some time to ready her old enchantments just in case. At least a day should suffice."
I turned to Kyouko.
"Do you need a day to get ready too?"
She smacked me upside the head- which, for the record, hurts like a motherfucker. Ow. Ow. Pain. Fuck.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. What do you need then? Anything?"
"Get me out of this tin can and find me some Pocky and then we'll talk, gaijin," Kyouko said with a smirk. "I'm going goddamn stir crazy in here."
I turned to Doc.
"Transporters?"
"Gimme a couple minutes to get main power online."
"That works."
I held up my hand and mouthed "Five minutes" to Kyouko, who made a fist and gestured menacingly. Out of concern for my own safety, I backed up accordingly.
I've decided to not do the whole 'try and kill an ancient empire toppling evil' simply because I cannot for the life of me come up with any ideas on how to make it work aside from 'hodrod Yugi and the Pharaoh into the Memory Game- and to be honest I never actually watched the Memory Game arc.
I had a couple ideas here and there, but to be honest I don't think there's any way I can put them together without it all being horribly contrived. So we'll be going for a much simpler solution.
_____________
"Normally that'd be suicide, but we're in luck. Zorc Necrophades, the God in question, is tied to one of the Millennium Items- specifically, the Millennium Ring. Without it, he can't interfere in mortal affairs. I... suppose there's one or two things that Yugi Mutou might need the Ring for, but that's just memory game stuff- I can just tell the nameless pharaoh his name and we should be good on that front."
"Wha? God? Son, I pride myself on being a man of science- and everything I've learned in the last thirty years has changed that not one iota. There are no gods- only aliens of sufficient advancement," Doc sputtered- just a bit- before regaining control over the utter incredulity he was suffering over my statement.
"Kyouko, Trixie? Anything to add?"
"Pfft, if it bleeds, I can kill it," Kyouko muttered. "Besides, I'm fed up of being cooped up in this dinky little piece of crap- if it gets us somewhere I can cut loose faster, I'm all for it."
".... Trixie knows that you do not simply destroy a God- they are as immutable as the stars themselves."
Doc and I shared a knowing look.
"That being said, she is a mare of many talents- if this... God... can be dealt with without interacting directly, Trixie is willing to take the risk."
"There might be some bumpy parts, but the plan is beautiful in its simplicty," I said after a moment of thought.
"Simple, ha! Aliens like that are never simple."
"Normally I'd agree, but in this case we're going to beam the Millennium Ring into the sun. That's... pretty much it," I said. "There's the risk that his agent will attempt to mind control anyone in direct bodily contact with the Ring- and he can influence its movements slightly. Just manipulation of chance, nothing serious."
Nothing serious- Doc snorted.
"Regardless, Zorc Necrophades was destroyed in the original timeline- OTL," I continued. "By the Great Creator God, Heractynes. God of the sun. So beaming the ring into the sun should have some effect- and at the very least it's unlikely the Ring will be able to physically travel back to Earth any time soon. So that's... basically it."
Doc looked pensive, Kyouko looked excited- and Trixie looked just a bit concerned, but she shook herself out of it rather quickly.
"Well, if we're set on doing this, you're going to need pattern enhancers. If this artifact is as 'magical' as its name implies, then we'll need to augment the confinement beam. Unfortunately pattern enhancers are a bit tricky to put together- I'll need a day to get a set ready," Doc said after a moment.
"You speak as though this item is cursed. Fortunately, Trixie knows that curses often have very specific requirements. Bodily contact, as you have said, is one of them. If we use only Unicorn Magic (tm) to procure the item, we should be safe... however Trixie would like some time to ready her old enchantments just in case. At least a day should suffice."
I turned to Kyouko.
"Do you need a day to get ready too?"
She smacked me upside the head- which, for the record, hurts like a motherfucker. Ow. Ow. Pain. Fuck.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. What do you need then? Anything?"
"Get me out of this tin can and find me some Pocky and then we'll talk, gaijin," Kyouko said with a smirk. "I'm going goddamn stir crazy in here."
I turned to Doc.
"Transporters?"
"Gimme a couple minutes to get main power online."
"That works."
I held up my hand and mouthed "Five minutes" to Kyouko, who made a fist and gestured menacingly. Out of concern for my own safety, I backed up accordingly.
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Today was a good day. Discovered that I aced my midterms for my server admin course (100%) and was reading the posts in this thread when I had a bit of inspiration.
I've spent the last hour and a half sketching out the conclusion for the Yugioh arc- effectively a chapter conclusion that 'tells' what happens with interspersed dialogue or mention markes (ie: brackets, snappy joke, backets).
All that's left is to go through and actually turn it into a scene by scene writeup where things actually happen and characters interact beyond 'he said she said'
That shouldn't take too long- but it will still be a delay, I'm all pooped out from writing tonight so it probably won't be today- and I've got a lot of stuff happening tomorrow, so IDK about then. Later in the week is more probable.
I promise, however, that it will come soon, and that it'll be worth the wait I think.
One concern I do have, of course, is where to go next. I know I put Star Wars on the table- but to my defense I was reading an awesome SW fanfic at the time and really in the mood for it. I can still write SW, but I'm not as interested as I was.
Other possibilities that I'm entertaining is the DCU- or specifically either Green Lantern or Batman focused excursions- I'm not familiar enough with the other heroes to really get them right, but Green Lantern and Batman? Those I can do. No idea which continuity- although for green lantern something involving the different ring colours- because it'd let me explore the whole shard of harmony thing.
I also want to apologize for the filler aspects of this chapter- I sort of lost my way with the fic for a bit, and was trying to recapture that initial wonder and terror the SI had when traveling to a new world. Yugioh is perhaps the most friendly world outside of MLP (which is weird tbh) and I was indulging a bit in running around and getting cool things.
Moreover, I was finding I couldn't justify why my character wouldn't just get ALL THE THINGS- he's got time and he's not on any sort of countdown like ATC's crossover.
But I think part of that was because I'd forgotten my focus for this fic, namely that it's exploring the development of the SI as he meets fictional but new people, becomes friends with them, faces challenges, and solves problems. Moreover, the message of the title- that this is and is not a game, and that everything is simultaneously as simple as a piece of fiction- and as complicated as real life- is something I really want to continue to explore. Giving the SI a millennium item, or piling on the super powers, would really take away from that- since there'd be no story, it'd just be generic SB wish fulfillment.
And I think to an extent the SI himself recognizes that- there's an encounter in the last part of this chapter where he discusses why he doesn't want the Millennium items- mainly focusing on their drawbacks. But then he gets to the Necklace/Torque, and that item doesn't *have* a drawback. But he sort of realizes that it'd make everything into a story he'd be reading about- he wouldn't be living the adventure anymore.
And that's sort of why I'm going to be focusing less on the super powers from now on. There'll still be awesome acquisitions, but I think that there's going to be a lot more of the SI only pulling out the big guns when he absolutely needs to pull out the big guns- sort of like saying that he has to learn to handle it himself, and that means focusing on his own talents.
Damnit, but I still want to give him a GL ring. Fuck!
I've spent the last hour and a half sketching out the conclusion for the Yugioh arc- effectively a chapter conclusion that 'tells' what happens with interspersed dialogue or mention markes (ie: brackets, snappy joke, backets).
All that's left is to go through and actually turn it into a scene by scene writeup where things actually happen and characters interact beyond 'he said she said'
That shouldn't take too long- but it will still be a delay, I'm all pooped out from writing tonight so it probably won't be today- and I've got a lot of stuff happening tomorrow, so IDK about then. Later in the week is more probable.
I promise, however, that it will come soon, and that it'll be worth the wait I think.
One concern I do have, of course, is where to go next. I know I put Star Wars on the table- but to my defense I was reading an awesome SW fanfic at the time and really in the mood for it. I can still write SW, but I'm not as interested as I was.
Other possibilities that I'm entertaining is the DCU- or specifically either Green Lantern or Batman focused excursions- I'm not familiar enough with the other heroes to really get them right, but Green Lantern and Batman? Those I can do. No idea which continuity- although for green lantern something involving the different ring colours- because it'd let me explore the whole shard of harmony thing.
I also want to apologize for the filler aspects of this chapter- I sort of lost my way with the fic for a bit, and was trying to recapture that initial wonder and terror the SI had when traveling to a new world. Yugioh is perhaps the most friendly world outside of MLP (which is weird tbh) and I was indulging a bit in running around and getting cool things.
Moreover, I was finding I couldn't justify why my character wouldn't just get ALL THE THINGS- he's got time and he's not on any sort of countdown like ATC's crossover.
But I think part of that was because I'd forgotten my focus for this fic, namely that it's exploring the development of the SI as he meets fictional but new people, becomes friends with them, faces challenges, and solves problems. Moreover, the message of the title- that this is and is not a game, and that everything is simultaneously as simple as a piece of fiction- and as complicated as real life- is something I really want to continue to explore. Giving the SI a millennium item, or piling on the super powers, would really take away from that- since there'd be no story, it'd just be generic SB wish fulfillment.
And I think to an extent the SI himself recognizes that- there's an encounter in the last part of this chapter where he discusses why he doesn't want the Millennium items- mainly focusing on their drawbacks. But then he gets to the Necklace/Torque, and that item doesn't *have* a drawback. But he sort of realizes that it'd make everything into a story he'd be reading about- he wouldn't be living the adventure anymore.
And that's sort of why I'm going to be focusing less on the super powers from now on. There'll still be awesome acquisitions, but I think that there's going to be a lot more of the SI only pulling out the big guns when he absolutely needs to pull out the big guns- sort of like saying that he has to learn to handle it himself, and that means focusing on his own talents.
Damnit, but I still want to give him a GL ring. Fuck!
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
And now an interlude.
Chronologically, this piece takes place immediately prior to the events of the next chapter. In fact, it will open up with the decisions reached in the following drabble, and should let me move on to the next stage in the story.
_________
In the thick of things as I'd been, I hadn't had the chance to really think about my situation. With the burgeoning control over my strange reality jumping power, coupled with my actions, I'd begun to consider that I might not be acting on the side of the angels. Through my actions, I might be a worse villain than those I'd sought to defeat. It was a startling thought, but one I was beginning to consider had real weight.
But let's take a talley shall we?
First off there's Madoka's world. My interaction there was light- most probably because I'd been scared outta my mind and working on incomplete information. I'd known the assumptions that led to that point in the timeline, but nothing after.
Eventually I'd left, somehow saving myself and Kyouko from total stellar oblivion. But that's somewhat of a divergence. The lack of Kyouko likely meant that Sayaka became a witch, which threw the timeline off. With Homura nearing the end of her time, could the universe really afford my alterations?
Next there's Kamen Rider. Just by crossing over I'd fucked things up- Kyuubey's witch making shennanigans leaking through the rift. Sure, I *thought* I'd tied things up, but there was no guarantee that we'd wiped out his only body there. If he figured out how to crossover, there'd be an entire world at his disposal- and who knew how many I'd put at risk.
My actions in Equestria were little better. I'd tried to help, here and there, and for once there were events that weren't in the slightest precipitated by me. I knew that- of course- because it was an alternate quantum universe, one tied together with Star Trek. Star Trek, but not the Trek I was familiar with. A different quantum universe- one of what must be an infinite number, bracketing across subspace domains stretching into infinity.
The changes I was making... who I helped, and whom I condemned... in an infinite set of alternate universes, would my actions matter? Or are there a million billion alternates of me blundering around, turning right where I turned left, condeming where I saved and saving whom I condemned?
Did my actions dictate theirs?
Not directly, assuredly, but as an underlying physical reality of the universe?
This isn't a game- I'm not a god... but I seem to have that power. If I... If I interfere, how many suffer? If I learn to control this power, how many die? Were I truly separated from them, perhaps it would not weigh on me as much, knowing that they were forever out of reach.
But now I have this power. Can I go there? Go to those suffering masses, those condemned by my decisions?
Or are they doomed to suffer, to die?
Now lets take this entire thing to another level: Dare I go to them? If my actions have brought upon their suffering, what will I have wrought by seeking to undo it? If all things act in balance, and I step here- does an alternate timeline duplicate of myself step there instead?
So the question then becomes: Do I continue? Do I seek to return home, to aid when I can, and interfere where able, with only my ethics and idiocy to guide me?
Or do I retreat? Do I hide out, hoping that by inaction I save those whom would otherwise suffer?
Even further for that- do I... Do I...
To be... or not to be.
I...
Chronologically, this piece takes place immediately prior to the events of the next chapter. In fact, it will open up with the decisions reached in the following drabble, and should let me move on to the next stage in the story.
_________
In the thick of things as I'd been, I hadn't had the chance to really think about my situation. With the burgeoning control over my strange reality jumping power, coupled with my actions, I'd begun to consider that I might not be acting on the side of the angels. Through my actions, I might be a worse villain than those I'd sought to defeat. It was a startling thought, but one I was beginning to consider had real weight.
But let's take a talley shall we?
First off there's Madoka's world. My interaction there was light- most probably because I'd been scared outta my mind and working on incomplete information. I'd known the assumptions that led to that point in the timeline, but nothing after.
Eventually I'd left, somehow saving myself and Kyouko from total stellar oblivion. But that's somewhat of a divergence. The lack of Kyouko likely meant that Sayaka became a witch, which threw the timeline off. With Homura nearing the end of her time, could the universe really afford my alterations?
Next there's Kamen Rider. Just by crossing over I'd fucked things up- Kyuubey's witch making shennanigans leaking through the rift. Sure, I *thought* I'd tied things up, but there was no guarantee that we'd wiped out his only body there. If he figured out how to crossover, there'd be an entire world at his disposal- and who knew how many I'd put at risk.
My actions in Equestria were little better. I'd tried to help, here and there, and for once there were events that weren't in the slightest precipitated by me. I knew that- of course- because it was an alternate quantum universe, one tied together with Star Trek. Star Trek, but not the Trek I was familiar with. A different quantum universe- one of what must be an infinite number, bracketing across subspace domains stretching into infinity.
The changes I was making... who I helped, and whom I condemned... in an infinite set of alternate universes, would my actions matter? Or are there a million billion alternates of me blundering around, turning right where I turned left, condeming where I saved and saving whom I condemned?
Did my actions dictate theirs?
Not directly, assuredly, but as an underlying physical reality of the universe?
This isn't a game- I'm not a god... but I seem to have that power. If I... If I interfere, how many suffer? If I learn to control this power, how many die? Were I truly separated from them, perhaps it would not weigh on me as much, knowing that they were forever out of reach.
But now I have this power. Can I go there? Go to those suffering masses, those condemned by my decisions?
Or are they doomed to suffer, to die?
Now lets take this entire thing to another level: Dare I go to them? If my actions have brought upon their suffering, what will I have wrought by seeking to undo it? If all things act in balance, and I step here- does an alternate timeline duplicate of myself step there instead?
So the question then becomes: Do I continue? Do I seek to return home, to aid when I can, and interfere where able, with only my ethics and idiocy to guide me?
Or do I retreat? Do I hide out, hoping that by inaction I save those whom would otherwise suffer?
Even further for that- do I... Do I...
To be... or not to be.
I...
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Update.
Note: My original plans for the encounter with Bakura? fuck em. Too overcomplicated and formulaic. Interesting, but I want to move away from 'find bad guy, fight bad guy, team up with hero, defeat bad guy, exposition with hero, leave' like I've done before. This is a tentative result.
Disclaimer: The following segment contains mentions of sexual activity. If that disturbs anyone, well, I'm sorry. I've done my best to sanitize it for public consumption, but it's still there. Yes, it's definitely a contrivance- I couldn't make the piece work without it, and I'm still off my groove as far as writing this goes. I'll be working my way back into it with successive segments, hopefully.
Anyway, without further adieu, the chapter segment in question:
________________________
Let me go on record: Not how I expected to start things off.
The plan was simple- get Ryou to take me back to his apartment, duel him while Kyouko and Trixie planted the transporter enhancers, and them beam the ring into the sun. No fuss, and any threat would be directly on me- not Yugi or any of his friends. None of my allies would get hurt. Simple.
Instead Ryou Bakura and I stood nose to nose, stuffed as we were into the Kame Game shop's utility closet. Outside, I could hear hear Yugi and someone else grappling, knocking things over, and generally making out like a pair of frenetic sex crazed rabits.
Oh, and I forgot to mention- Ryou's eyes had gone bright red once I'd passed into his personal space, and I could feel a single spoke of the ring pressing against my chest.
"Magrus-san..." Ryou began- and then his voice shifted, becoming fuller- rough like sandpaper, or the desert wind, but also stronger. "You're brimming with greed. You want the ring... you want them all."
Legs moving, the sound of clothing flying- and abruptly Yugi and whoever he was with pressed up against the door to the closet. Any response I had died, and I struggled not to give myself away.
In the darkness, Bakura grinned, and a hand reached out to grasp my chin.
"Or maybe... you want to duel." he said with a grin. "I'll go first."
In that moment he withdrew his deck- and from the top of it a single card. Change of Heart.
On the other side of the door, frenetic motion turned from that of hands seeking, grasping, and digging to a binary motion- a rhythmic vibration against the door.
"Not now!" I hissed at him, but he just grinned all the same, eyes filled with malice and amusement.
"Not now? This is a perfect time," said Bakura- and with those words, the card began to glow. I could almost feel it, reaching for my base nature, seeking to reverse it- to reverse me and all I was.
"I don't want the ring," I hissed back- and the motion on the other side of the door shifted- Yugi's partner sliding to the ground. A low hiss of emotion from Mutuo as he- goddamnit brain I don't need that image.
Bakura pressed his hand forward, the glimmering card increasing its force. Something... something inside me felt the pressure it was exerting. Felt it... and began to give way.
"Oh no you don't!" I growled, coming to a decision. No way I was letting this fuck mess with my soul.
Catching his hand, I glared death at him- then flipped my phaser to setting 16, and discharged its entire power pack into the center of the Eye of Ra on the Millenium ring in a blaze of orange. Bakura went rigid with a silent scream, and the Change of Heart abruptly ceased its unearthly glow. Then he fell bonelessly against me, card fluttering to the floor.
On the other side of the door, Yugi and his unknown partner quieted, motions slowing, stopping- in a mirror to those of Bakura and I.
And there I was, one unconscious Yami Bakura lying on top of me, stuffed into a closet. Yugi and whoever's brains he'd just fucked out lying on the other side of the door- and I didn't dare use my communicator to ask for a beam out, because it'd do that fucking "chirp chirp" thing loud enough to wake the goddamn dead.
I'd wait. Wait and ignore Bakura as best I could.
Asshole.
Note: My original plans for the encounter with Bakura? fuck em. Too overcomplicated and formulaic. Interesting, but I want to move away from 'find bad guy, fight bad guy, team up with hero, defeat bad guy, exposition with hero, leave' like I've done before. This is a tentative result.
Disclaimer: The following segment contains mentions of sexual activity. If that disturbs anyone, well, I'm sorry. I've done my best to sanitize it for public consumption, but it's still there. Yes, it's definitely a contrivance- I couldn't make the piece work without it, and I'm still off my groove as far as writing this goes. I'll be working my way back into it with successive segments, hopefully.
Anyway, without further adieu, the chapter segment in question:
________________________
Let me go on record: Not how I expected to start things off.
The plan was simple- get Ryou to take me back to his apartment, duel him while Kyouko and Trixie planted the transporter enhancers, and them beam the ring into the sun. No fuss, and any threat would be directly on me- not Yugi or any of his friends. None of my allies would get hurt. Simple.
Instead Ryou Bakura and I stood nose to nose, stuffed as we were into the Kame Game shop's utility closet. Outside, I could hear hear Yugi and someone else grappling, knocking things over, and generally making out like a pair of frenetic sex crazed rabits.
Oh, and I forgot to mention- Ryou's eyes had gone bright red once I'd passed into his personal space, and I could feel a single spoke of the ring pressing against my chest.
"Magrus-san..." Ryou began- and then his voice shifted, becoming fuller- rough like sandpaper, or the desert wind, but also stronger. "You're brimming with greed. You want the ring... you want them all."
Legs moving, the sound of clothing flying- and abruptly Yugi and whoever he was with pressed up against the door to the closet. Any response I had died, and I struggled not to give myself away.
In the darkness, Bakura grinned, and a hand reached out to grasp my chin.
"Or maybe... you want to duel." he said with a grin. "I'll go first."
In that moment he withdrew his deck- and from the top of it a single card. Change of Heart.
On the other side of the door, frenetic motion turned from that of hands seeking, grasping, and digging to a binary motion- a rhythmic vibration against the door.
"Not now!" I hissed at him, but he just grinned all the same, eyes filled with malice and amusement.
"Not now? This is a perfect time," said Bakura- and with those words, the card began to glow. I could almost feel it, reaching for my base nature, seeking to reverse it- to reverse me and all I was.
"I don't want the ring," I hissed back- and the motion on the other side of the door shifted- Yugi's partner sliding to the ground. A low hiss of emotion from Mutuo as he- goddamnit brain I don't need that image.
Bakura pressed his hand forward, the glimmering card increasing its force. Something... something inside me felt the pressure it was exerting. Felt it... and began to give way.
"Oh no you don't!" I growled, coming to a decision. No way I was letting this fuck mess with my soul.
Catching his hand, I glared death at him- then flipped my phaser to setting 16, and discharged its entire power pack into the center of the Eye of Ra on the Millenium ring in a blaze of orange. Bakura went rigid with a silent scream, and the Change of Heart abruptly ceased its unearthly glow. Then he fell bonelessly against me, card fluttering to the floor.
On the other side of the door, Yugi and his unknown partner quieted, motions slowing, stopping- in a mirror to those of Bakura and I.
And there I was, one unconscious Yami Bakura lying on top of me, stuffed into a closet. Yugi and whoever's brains he'd just fucked out lying on the other side of the door- and I didn't dare use my communicator to ask for a beam out, because it'd do that fucking "chirp chirp" thing loud enough to wake the goddamn dead.
I'd wait. Wait and ignore Bakura as best I could.
Asshole.
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
Fifteen minutes. That's how long I had to endure this shit. Yugi and the other picked themselves up- and I heard a muffled "Shiiit, gramps is gonna kill me!" before they headed upstairs. Then I- slowly- positioned myself so I could open the door a crack. As I suspected, the shop was a bit of a mess. Yugi hadn't knocked all the displays over, but there were a couple comics on the floor, and at one point they must've gone through the T-shirts, because the entire rack had tipped over.
It was dark out- Solomon had left me to mind the shop until Yugi got back- and prior to all this shit Ryou and I had been talking about all the supernatural bullshit that went down around here. Or rather, Ryou was talking about his 'adventures' with Yugi and I was listening intently.
Then Yugi had gotten back from his date or whatever- and I'd grabbed Ryou and ducked into the closet the moment I heard kissing noises from the front of the shop. And then, well...
I left Bakura on the floor for the moment, and noted that Yugi had at least been coherent enough to flip the shop sign from open to close- although the front door wasn't locked. I remedied that, then slid the the cellphone that was tied in to the Calypso's communications grid out of my pocket.
Doc and I hadn't been too sure on cell phones- while Kaiba had one, most people didn't seem to have much in the way of portable phones in the show, so it was likely the technology was new and expensive. Or possibly just arbitrarily rare.
"You there?" I asked, wincing at the "chirp chirp" noise the phone made as I flipped the top open.
"Kid, you okay? We lost you for a bit- some sort of triolic field in your vicinity. Detected a phaser discharge, before your readings came back," Doc said- and my mind immediately went to the keyword of that statement: Triolic.
History lesson: Triolic radiation is generated by an out of phase group of aliens known as devidians. They consume neural energy, and live in a blue tinged shadow... realm.
No fucking way.
I glanced at Bakura's inert form.
"So yeah, change of plans. Two to beam up, and you probably want to fire up that containment unit too."
"Is that the one at your location, the one above you, or the one on the roof?"
on the roof? wtf?
"At my location," I replied after a moment of going wtf and making annoyed gestures.
"Standby."
Maybe fifteen seconds later I felt a tingle of energy- and then Bakura, the Ring, and I were all suffused in a radiant energy field as the Kame Game Shop dematerlaized around us and was replaced with the cramped science lab in the aft of the Calypso.
I materialized standing, of course. Bakura on a biobed to the left- and no ring at all.
"The ring?" I asked.
Doc looked up from the console.
"Still in the buffer. I'm getting a dual reading from it- it's superimposed over some sort of energy signature- which is, itself, actually a matter/energy signature that's been shifted to full energy."
That didn't sound good.
"Can you separate them?"
"Son, that's what I'm doing. Now shut up and let me work."
I nodded.
Seconds stretched into minutes- and I knew we had to be nearing the limit of the pattern buffers. Doc was a genius, but he was a medical genius, not an engineer. A pattern could only stay in the buffers for so long before it became too degraded to rematerialize properly. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of the ring just 'poofing'- especially if it did it in the ship's systems.
Finally, after what seemed like an eterinity, a rectangular oblong on a table flashed- and within a small window I could detect the haze of the transporter effect. The ring materialized fully, safe and sound.
"We g-" I began, but Doc shushed me with a sharp gesture. In a lower voice, I asked: "Doc?"
His eyes narrowed, and he adjusted the controls- and then a familiar and at the same time strange whine filled the room. It was a transporter effect, but more like the Original Series effect. A humanoid figure hung suspended in its center- and as Doc manipulated the controls, the field went fromm amber and out of focus to a brilliant azure of particle haze. Undefined features grew definition, shape, and structure- and then abruptly the field was gone.
It was Bakura. Yami Bakura. Physically separate from his other half- and he wasn't breathing.
Now, I'm CPR certified, but that's just basic training. This was... I had no idea what to do here.
"Don't just stand there- roll him over," Doc said, rushing over. A cortical stimulator was laid on Bakura's forehead, and another similar instrument on his chest. After a brief jolt that arced between the two, Bakura took in a hesitant, halting breath. Then another, straining with each one. Gradually, the breathing pattern normalized, and Doc himself breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's stable now," Doc said, turning to me. His face was concerned- and he clearly had a lot of questions. But I all out of answers.
I shrugged.
"Yer not the oracle I'd thought you were," Doc said, cracking a small smile.
I shrugged again.
"Sorry. You think he... they'll... be okay?"
"Should be. took a piece of delicate work to separate his pattern from that hunk of scrap, but I've done this sort of operation before. Transporter accidents are rare, but they do happen. So... sun?"
"Sun," I nodded.
"Better use the enhancers, just in case," Doc said. "I'm getting trace triolic readings off it, but right now it's too heavily suffused with nadions to be a real threat- your work, I assume."
"Yeah."
It took just a moment to set up the enhancers, with the containment module in the center- and then we were ready.
"I think this is the part where I speak its name," I said. "Or would, if I was a moron."
I glanced at Doc and nodded.
"Energize."
The ring vanished in a haze of technocolour.
It was dark out- Solomon had left me to mind the shop until Yugi got back- and prior to all this shit Ryou and I had been talking about all the supernatural bullshit that went down around here. Or rather, Ryou was talking about his 'adventures' with Yugi and I was listening intently.
Then Yugi had gotten back from his date or whatever- and I'd grabbed Ryou and ducked into the closet the moment I heard kissing noises from the front of the shop. And then, well...
I left Bakura on the floor for the moment, and noted that Yugi had at least been coherent enough to flip the shop sign from open to close- although the front door wasn't locked. I remedied that, then slid the the cellphone that was tied in to the Calypso's communications grid out of my pocket.
Doc and I hadn't been too sure on cell phones- while Kaiba had one, most people didn't seem to have much in the way of portable phones in the show, so it was likely the technology was new and expensive. Or possibly just arbitrarily rare.
"You there?" I asked, wincing at the "chirp chirp" noise the phone made as I flipped the top open.
"Kid, you okay? We lost you for a bit- some sort of triolic field in your vicinity. Detected a phaser discharge, before your readings came back," Doc said- and my mind immediately went to the keyword of that statement: Triolic.
History lesson: Triolic radiation is generated by an out of phase group of aliens known as devidians. They consume neural energy, and live in a blue tinged shadow... realm.
No fucking way.
I glanced at Bakura's inert form.
"So yeah, change of plans. Two to beam up, and you probably want to fire up that containment unit too."
"Is that the one at your location, the one above you, or the one on the roof?"
on the roof? wtf?
"At my location," I replied after a moment of going wtf and making annoyed gestures.
"Standby."
Maybe fifteen seconds later I felt a tingle of energy- and then Bakura, the Ring, and I were all suffused in a radiant energy field as the Kame Game Shop dematerlaized around us and was replaced with the cramped science lab in the aft of the Calypso.
I materialized standing, of course. Bakura on a biobed to the left- and no ring at all.
"The ring?" I asked.
Doc looked up from the console.
"Still in the buffer. I'm getting a dual reading from it- it's superimposed over some sort of energy signature- which is, itself, actually a matter/energy signature that's been shifted to full energy."
That didn't sound good.
"Can you separate them?"
"Son, that's what I'm doing. Now shut up and let me work."
I nodded.
Seconds stretched into minutes- and I knew we had to be nearing the limit of the pattern buffers. Doc was a genius, but he was a medical genius, not an engineer. A pattern could only stay in the buffers for so long before it became too degraded to rematerialize properly. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of the ring just 'poofing'- especially if it did it in the ship's systems.
Finally, after what seemed like an eterinity, a rectangular oblong on a table flashed- and within a small window I could detect the haze of the transporter effect. The ring materialized fully, safe and sound.
"We g-" I began, but Doc shushed me with a sharp gesture. In a lower voice, I asked: "Doc?"
His eyes narrowed, and he adjusted the controls- and then a familiar and at the same time strange whine filled the room. It was a transporter effect, but more like the Original Series effect. A humanoid figure hung suspended in its center- and as Doc manipulated the controls, the field went fromm amber and out of focus to a brilliant azure of particle haze. Undefined features grew definition, shape, and structure- and then abruptly the field was gone.
It was Bakura. Yami Bakura. Physically separate from his other half- and he wasn't breathing.
Now, I'm CPR certified, but that's just basic training. This was... I had no idea what to do here.
"Don't just stand there- roll him over," Doc said, rushing over. A cortical stimulator was laid on Bakura's forehead, and another similar instrument on his chest. After a brief jolt that arced between the two, Bakura took in a hesitant, halting breath. Then another, straining with each one. Gradually, the breathing pattern normalized, and Doc himself breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's stable now," Doc said, turning to me. His face was concerned- and he clearly had a lot of questions. But I all out of answers.
I shrugged.
"Yer not the oracle I'd thought you were," Doc said, cracking a small smile.
I shrugged again.
"Sorry. You think he... they'll... be okay?"
"Should be. took a piece of delicate work to separate his pattern from that hunk of scrap, but I've done this sort of operation before. Transporter accidents are rare, but they do happen. So... sun?"
"Sun," I nodded.
"Better use the enhancers, just in case," Doc said. "I'm getting trace triolic readings off it, but right now it's too heavily suffused with nadions to be a real threat- your work, I assume."
"Yeah."
It took just a moment to set up the enhancers, with the containment module in the center- and then we were ready.
"I think this is the part where I speak its name," I said. "Or would, if I was a moron."
I glanced at Doc and nodded.
"Energize."
The ring vanished in a haze of technocolour.
10
Kerrus
Fractal Insanity
And now an update I've been holding off on because I really wasn't sure how to do it, but it was also one that needed to be done. It centers on the SI and Kyouko, and airs some feelings that've become a bit of trouble. It also introduces the reason why Kyouko has barely featured in this past chapter, which I hope to resolve in the segment *after* this. We're almost to the end of this chapter folks, and while the revelations in this snippet may seem out of left field- as the person the SI is based on, I can confirm that they were in a long time coming.
________________________________
I'd flomped down on one of the Calypso's small cots in the aftermath of the whole thing with Bakura, and was now trying (trying!) to get some sleep. However, as has been said, there's no rest for the wicked. Sensitive ears heard the door to room open, a familiar gait bringing someone within, and my nose detected a faint smell of alcohol.
Kyouko, probably discovering that she couldn't get drunk anymore.
I rolled over, pulling myself up to a sitting position- and abruptly realized that maybe I should've stayed asleep.
"Kyouko... you don't look so good," I breathed, taking in her rather angry expression, disheveled clothing, and what appeared to be blood on her fists.
"Pfft, they look worse. Can't a girl go out for a run without no fewer than nine fuckers trying to challenge her to that fucking card game? Even ran into a rape gang- assholes- who tried to challenge me to a card game as though any woman would consider their defeat remotely binding," she replied angrily. "Kicked the shit out of them and broke their fancy armband things."
I considered for a moment that in this world, defeat in that card game well might be considered binding. I shuddered, with that thought.
"Kyouko..." I began.
Kyouko, for her part, was only introspective for so long that she could formulate a plan of attack- and it seemed that today, I was the target.
"But no, why don't you tell me all about your week. Can't let Kyouko kick some asses, gotta use 'diplomacy'. Can't let Kyouko come, gotta bring the prissy unicorn. Kyouko's too stupid to play a card game, gotta go in and nearly get myself killed," she growled, getting more and more worked up. "It never occured even once to you that I might actually need..."
Then she stopped, turning away.
"Need?" I began slowly. "Kyouko, what is it?"
She was silent for a moment, but then I saw the fire and tears! in her eyes as she wirled at me, lunching and clocking me across the jaw. It wasn't her enhanced strength, but it still sent me slamming into a bulkhead like a sack of potatoes.
"Fucker, admit it- you didn't even think about me when you sent Tsubame away- How the fuck do you think I felt about that? No, you just fucked her and then let her leave!"
I- what?!
I am the product of my parents. From their psyches- both of them- I am me.
From my father, I learned to confront, not run. When angered I stood and moved to engage, to meet on the field of battle.
From my mother, I learned not physical violence, but words. I learned the strength and dexterity of words used in battle.
Unwilling to back down, but not prepared to engage physically, the torrent of anger and indignation that rose threw up- I stood, towering over Kyouko, rage in my eyes.
"I did not fuck anyone, much less Tsubame. I didn't send her away- she left on her own choice. Might she have stayed if I asked? SUre. But I'm not selfish enough to impose that choice on anyone," I growed.
"Well maybe you fucking should be," Kyouko replied waspishly. "You never considered what it would do to me? If you think you did, you're a liar. 'doki doki I didn't sleep with anyone', fucking bullshit! The two of you spent an entire night together. The girl was glowing like a goddamn star when she left, and you're telling me you didn't fuck her six ways till sunday? So what did you do then? Hmm?"
"We talked."
"You talked. Suuure. 'oh baby take my giant man rod'- if that counts as talking."
I saw- and went red.
"Mother of fucks, when I said we talked, I mean we talked. We watched the stars, talked, and slept. There was no fucking, there was no goddamn snu snu or any of that shit going on. She's my friend- I don't even like her like that. I didn't even, in the goddamn slightest, consider liking her like that."
"Well maybe you fucking should've- but then I guess since it's your fault you should fucking take responsibility!"
She threw something at me, and it was only after I caught it that I realized it was her soul gem. Never would Kyouko have been so frivolous with such a thing- but as I caught it, and felt a... a roil of darkness... I glanced down at it. It was black. Save for a tiny smidgeon of crimson at the top, the gem swam in the waters of despair.
"Kyouko, I..."
"No, I don't even want to hear it. I was wrong about you- you aren't Tsubame's type. You're not good enough for her. You're just a liar and a cheat and a-"
Another roil of darkness interrupted us, and Kyouko clutched at herself in pain. I had to stop this. I had to stop this before... Before Kyouko became a witch, a traitorous part of my mind whispered- we were in a universe with the motherfucking shadow realm. I ruthlessly throttled that part of my mind- fuck the world, I didn't want to lose my friend.
"Not that you'd be able to keep your hands of her- you're probably the sort of sick fucker who wants to fuck ponies!"
Well gee Kyouko, thanks.
I was still angry- but I was also thinking. Thinking how to win- only by stopping this argument could I possibly save Kyouko.
"Kyouko," I began slowly, but not patronizingly. "I would not fuck a pony without their permission, and besides they aren really my type."
"Your type?" Kyouko said, tears running down her cheeks. "Then what the fuck is your type? Maybe you like men. Maybe you like tall blond American girls with giant tits. What the fuck does the type of girl you like have anything to do with this?"
Either this will backfire spectacularly, or it would work spectacularly. But I had a feeling I wouldn't necessarily enjoy either one.
The sacrifices we make.
"It seems to have something to do with it," I said quietly, closing my hands around her soul gem. I wished- really wished- that I could get rid of the darkness like Tsubame had been able to, but that wasn't my magic. I knew that, somehow.
I put my arm on her arm- and she flinched, but immediately recovered and glared right at me, eyes meeting my eyes.
"Short, fiery, redheaded girls," I said in deadpan, wincing and preparing for the responding kick in the nuts.
Kyouko hissed, daring me to look away, to step back- but I stayed there. She searched my eyes for any hint of deception- but I knew there was none to be had.
"Y- You..." she began haltingly, ever so maniacally. "Redheads? Short?"
A pause.
"You never denied the pony accusation."
Well, err.
"You," she repeated, pushing against my chest while looking away.
"Me," I replied after a moment. "Sorry."
Kyouko grinned- while still upset, the grin was certainly genuine- so I smiled in return.
"Sorry," I apologized. "Guess I've kinda been neglecting you."
"You guess?"
"Okay, okay," I said, chuckling.
Kyouko just shook her head and snorted.
Crisis averted, I think.
"Ano.. I may have a solution to this," I said after a few minutes of just standing together.
"And we just had to go through this entire kerfluffle before you'd think of it? Really gaijin?"
"Hey! I didn't know it was an issue until now," I pleaded. "Sorry."
"So when I was a pony you must have barely been holding yourself in check. All those fetishes..."
"Damnit Kyouko!" I growled, but she grabbed her soul gem from my hand even as she ducked and spun away. Then blowing me a raspberry she backed out of the room and dashed off.
Women.
________________________________
I'd flomped down on one of the Calypso's small cots in the aftermath of the whole thing with Bakura, and was now trying (trying!) to get some sleep. However, as has been said, there's no rest for the wicked. Sensitive ears heard the door to room open, a familiar gait bringing someone within, and my nose detected a faint smell of alcohol.
Kyouko, probably discovering that she couldn't get drunk anymore.
I rolled over, pulling myself up to a sitting position- and abruptly realized that maybe I should've stayed asleep.
"Kyouko... you don't look so good," I breathed, taking in her rather angry expression, disheveled clothing, and what appeared to be blood on her fists.
"Pfft, they look worse. Can't a girl go out for a run without no fewer than nine fuckers trying to challenge her to that fucking card game? Even ran into a rape gang- assholes- who tried to challenge me to a card game as though any woman would consider their defeat remotely binding," she replied angrily. "Kicked the shit out of them and broke their fancy armband things."
I considered for a moment that in this world, defeat in that card game well might be considered binding. I shuddered, with that thought.
"Kyouko..." I began.
Kyouko, for her part, was only introspective for so long that she could formulate a plan of attack- and it seemed that today, I was the target.
"But no, why don't you tell me all about your week. Can't let Kyouko kick some asses, gotta use 'diplomacy'. Can't let Kyouko come, gotta bring the prissy unicorn. Kyouko's too stupid to play a card game, gotta go in and nearly get myself killed," she growled, getting more and more worked up. "It never occured even once to you that I might actually need..."
Then she stopped, turning away.
"Need?" I began slowly. "Kyouko, what is it?"
She was silent for a moment, but then I saw the fire and tears! in her eyes as she wirled at me, lunching and clocking me across the jaw. It wasn't her enhanced strength, but it still sent me slamming into a bulkhead like a sack of potatoes.
"Fucker, admit it- you didn't even think about me when you sent Tsubame away- How the fuck do you think I felt about that? No, you just fucked her and then let her leave!"
I- what?!
I am the product of my parents. From their psyches- both of them- I am me.
From my father, I learned to confront, not run. When angered I stood and moved to engage, to meet on the field of battle.
From my mother, I learned not physical violence, but words. I learned the strength and dexterity of words used in battle.
Unwilling to back down, but not prepared to engage physically, the torrent of anger and indignation that rose threw up- I stood, towering over Kyouko, rage in my eyes.
"I did not fuck anyone, much less Tsubame. I didn't send her away- she left on her own choice. Might she have stayed if I asked? SUre. But I'm not selfish enough to impose that choice on anyone," I growed.
"Well maybe you fucking should be," Kyouko replied waspishly. "You never considered what it would do to me? If you think you did, you're a liar. 'doki doki I didn't sleep with anyone', fucking bullshit! The two of you spent an entire night together. The girl was glowing like a goddamn star when she left, and you're telling me you didn't fuck her six ways till sunday? So what did you do then? Hmm?"
"We talked."
"You talked. Suuure. 'oh baby take my giant man rod'- if that counts as talking."
I saw- and went red.
"Mother of fucks, when I said we talked, I mean we talked. We watched the stars, talked, and slept. There was no fucking, there was no goddamn snu snu or any of that shit going on. She's my friend- I don't even like her like that. I didn't even, in the goddamn slightest, consider liking her like that."
"Well maybe you fucking should've- but then I guess since it's your fault you should fucking take responsibility!"
She threw something at me, and it was only after I caught it that I realized it was her soul gem. Never would Kyouko have been so frivolous with such a thing- but as I caught it, and felt a... a roil of darkness... I glanced down at it. It was black. Save for a tiny smidgeon of crimson at the top, the gem swam in the waters of despair.
"Kyouko, I..."
"No, I don't even want to hear it. I was wrong about you- you aren't Tsubame's type. You're not good enough for her. You're just a liar and a cheat and a-"
Another roil of darkness interrupted us, and Kyouko clutched at herself in pain. I had to stop this. I had to stop this before... Before Kyouko became a witch, a traitorous part of my mind whispered- we were in a universe with the motherfucking shadow realm. I ruthlessly throttled that part of my mind- fuck the world, I didn't want to lose my friend.
"Not that you'd be able to keep your hands of her- you're probably the sort of sick fucker who wants to fuck ponies!"
Well gee Kyouko, thanks.
I was still angry- but I was also thinking. Thinking how to win- only by stopping this argument could I possibly save Kyouko.
"Kyouko," I began slowly, but not patronizingly. "I would not fuck a pony without their permission, and besides they aren really my type."
"Your type?" Kyouko said, tears running down her cheeks. "Then what the fuck is your type? Maybe you like men. Maybe you like tall blond American girls with giant tits. What the fuck does the type of girl you like have anything to do with this?"
Either this will backfire spectacularly, or it would work spectacularly. But I had a feeling I wouldn't necessarily enjoy either one.
The sacrifices we make.
"It seems to have something to do with it," I said quietly, closing my hands around her soul gem. I wished- really wished- that I could get rid of the darkness like Tsubame had been able to, but that wasn't my magic. I knew that, somehow.
I put my arm on her arm- and she flinched, but immediately recovered and glared right at me, eyes meeting my eyes.
"Short, fiery, redheaded girls," I said in deadpan, wincing and preparing for the responding kick in the nuts.
Kyouko hissed, daring me to look away, to step back- but I stayed there. She searched my eyes for any hint of deception- but I knew there was none to be had.
"Y- You..." she began haltingly, ever so maniacally. "Redheads? Short?"
A pause.
"You never denied the pony accusation."
Well, err.
"You," she repeated, pushing against my chest while looking away.
"Me," I replied after a moment. "Sorry."
Kyouko grinned- while still upset, the grin was certainly genuine- so I smiled in return.
"Sorry," I apologized. "Guess I've kinda been neglecting you."
"You guess?"
"Okay, okay," I said, chuckling.
Kyouko just shook her head and snorted.
Crisis averted, I think.
"Ano.. I may have a solution to this," I said after a few minutes of just standing together.
"And we just had to go through this entire kerfluffle before you'd think of it? Really gaijin?"
"Hey! I didn't know it was an issue until now," I pleaded. "Sorry."
"So when I was a pony you must have barely been holding yourself in check. All those fetishes..."
"Damnit Kyouko!" I growled, but she grabbed her soul gem from my hand even as she ducked and spun away. Then blowing me a raspberry she backed out of the room and dashed off.
Women.