Bab 45: Battle City Quarter Finals!
[3rd POV]
Hours Later...
"Mokuba, is everything ready?" Seto asked while impatiently glancing at his watch.
"Yep, they should arrive any second now," Mokuba nodded, tapping away at his tablet: "Everything is on standby awaiting your orders."
Seto hummed with satisfaction. Subconsciously, he glimpsed at the woman standing quietly behind them. With her long black hair and immaculate brown skin, her beautiful appearance was further enhanced with the golden headwear with an emerald embedded at the centre.
Ishizu Ishtar, that name already put him in a bad mood. The first interaction Seto had with her was when she gifted him Obelisk, the Tormentor, to convince him to host this tournament. Other than that, he knew nothing about her, and Seto thought she was highly mysterious.
"You still haven't explained to me why you're here," Seto remarked coldly.
"My brother's inner darkness has run out of control..." Ishizu answered: "I will have to stop him myself. So you don't have to involve yourself in my family's matter any longer."
"Your family's matter?" Seto growled and stomped towards her: "What Marik has done was enough of a reason for me to put him six feet under."
"Killing a Tomb Keeper is a great offence," Ishizu frowned in displeasure: "Can you bear the responsibility for your actions?"
"Responsibility..." Seto scoffed. He suddenly grasped Ishizu's cheeks, forcing her to stare into his eyes: "You should pray that your brother will live with his limbs intact."
Letting her go, Ishizu scowled and ignored his glare as she took a step away from the young president. Thinking about the chaos Marik has caused made Seto's blood boil. What happened with Mokuba was truly unforgivable. If Yuna weren't present at that time, he wouldn't know if he could save Mokuba alone.
Yuna...
Seto clicked his tongue; why do things always lead down to her? He couldn't understand; they had been crossing paths a lot of times already, and Seto couldn't simply wrap his head around it...
Suddenly, Mokuba's face brightened: "Look, Big Sister is here!"
Following Mokuba's pointing, Seto turned his head and watched Yuna calmly approaching them. Dressed in blue jeans, a white tank top and a black leather jacket, she walked with a calm stride and stopped before Seto.
"You've arrived," he said.
"Y... yes..." Yuna smiled awkwardly: "Others?"
"They're not here yet." Seto said while frowning: "I hope I won't be disappointed."
Not knowing how to continue the conversation, Yuna let out a weird cough. Thankfully, Mokuba jumped in and managed to keep the entire discussion alive. Not sure how long she had waited, Yuna finally spotted a group of people sprinting towards them.
"Took you long enough..." Seto grunted as Yugi and his friends collapsed in exhaustion.
After the Marik incident, Yugi's group spent the rest of the afternoon desperately trying to collect the remaining Locator Cards. Encountering Mai along the way, they dashed to Domino City Airport, which was all the way across the city.
"We're... We're here." Yugi said while gasping for breath.
"Pathetic..." Seto muttered, and Yugi smiled helplessly: "I wasted enough time waiting, Mokuba; we will end the qualifiers here. Stop anyone...."
"Ah, did we make it in time?!"
Suddenly, interrupting Seto, two young men arrived on the scene. One had white hair and brown eyes and was dressed in a blue open shirt over a light blue and white horizontally striped t-shirt. The second had dark skin, white-gold hair and purple eyes; he wore a sleeveless purple hoodie, golden necklace, black pants and shoes.
"Bakura, what are you doing here?" Joey asked in surprise.
"Me?" Bakura laughed: "Well, I'm here for the qualifiers." He held out his arm, showing everyone the duel disk on his wrist: "I also have six locator cards as well, so isn't this enough?"
Seto glared at Bakura silently and glimpsed at the young man beside him: "Then is he a duelist as well or another stowaway?"
"Oh, he's a friend I met recently," Bakura introduced: "His name is Namu, and he's also a duelist like us."
Stepping forward, Namu smiled: "Hello, everyone, it's nice to meet all of you."
Yugi and his friends naturally warmed up to Namu's friendliness, and thanks to Bakura's introduction, they began to engage with him. However, only Yuna knows what's really going on.
"Big Sister, what's wrong?" Mokuba asked as she blocked him with her arm.
"Avoid.... him..." She muttered in a solemn voice.
Yuna's seriousness tunned Mokuba as he noticed the hand holding him tightened: "If Big Sister said so, okay." Relieved, Yuna visibly relaxed.
"We have enough people," Seto muttered observantly: "Let's begin the...."
"I apologise for intruding, but I would appreciate it if you wait just a bit longer." A deep voice echoed.
"Tsk... what now..." Seto snarled in annoyance for being interrupted the second time.
Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to the sound of leather shoes striking sharply against the floor. There, they saw a tall man dressed in purple robes with a cape, golden earrings, green eyes, bald head except for the strand of black ponytail on the back of his head. However, the most prominent feature of his appearance was the tattoos of hieroglyphics on the half of his face.
Without hesitation, the man approached Yuna: "We meet again, Miss Sano."
Yuna stared at him uncomfortably, and Seto suddenly stepped between them: "Before you start snooping around the place, how about telling us who you are?"
The man calmly observed everyone's tense expressions: "Very well.... Listen closely. My name is Marik Ishtar, the one that will unite all three Egyptian God Cards under my control."
It was like time had stopped. Shock, disbelief and finally, anger appeared on everyone's faces. Seto's arm sliced through the air like the deadly strikes of a serpent; his fingers clenched around Marik's collar: "So it was you! You really have the nerves to show yourself now!"
His chest heaved with rage as he raised his fist, ready to give Marik the worst beating of his life. Seto had never felt this much anger before, and this was the first time that he wanted someone dead.
Before he could break Marik's nose, Yuna grabbed his shoulder. Glaring at her, Seto hissed: "Why are you stopping me? Let go,"
"Kaiba..." Yuna muttered worriedly: "Don't...."
Looking further ahead, Seto finally noticed Mokuba, who was terrified at whatever was about to happen. Realising that he was going to commit violence right in front of his little brother's eyes, he wavered.
Gritting his teeth, Seto lowered his fist and shoved Marik aside. Patting his wrinkled robes, Marik retorted in a calm tone: "I always thought the renowned Seto Kaiba would be a bit less barbaric than this."
"What are you saying?" Seto scowled.
Marik smirked and revealed his duel disk: "Let us settle this as we always do. Unless you want to break your own rules?"
Yuna glimpsed at Seto, and she could hear the sound of his teeth grinding against each other. Not wanting to damage his pride, Seto turned around and pressed a button on his phone.
A minute later, a loud engine sound roared in the wind, and Yuna spotted a massive airship flying through the air. With a resounding boom, the ship landed at the entrance, opening and generating a whistling noise.
Stepping onto the ramp, Seto suddenly stopped and glanced at the group of people: "That reminds me, seems like there's an odd number of duelists. Mokuba, Sano and you..." Seto spat the last part while pointing at Ishizu: "Let's go, the rest of you all, go and work something out. I don't care how you do it, but one of you won't be advancing."
"Hey, hold on, how come Sano-san and that lady gets to go with you!" Joey complained: "Speaking off, aren't you participating too, so why do you have a free pass!"
"Because it's my tournament, and these two were the only ones professional enough actually to make it to the qualifiers on time," Seto said while trying to hold in his anger. Without waiting for a reply, Seto entered the airship. Glancing at Yugi apologetically, Yuna could do nothing but smile.
"Don't worry about us, Sano-san. We will work something out." He said reassuringly. Urged by Yugi, Yuna nodded as she quickly chased after Seto into the airship.
[Yuna's POV]
An hour later...
"So you're telling me that Marik's real name is Odion, and the person called Namu was the real Marik in disguise?" Kaiba repeated to make sure he got everything.
I nodded with vigour as he stared at me in doubt: "Then how did you obtain this information?"
"Overheard... From duel..." I lied, and Kaiba nodded, seemingly convinced.
He knew that I had a battle with Odion on the first night, so he was able to construct a fake plot that sounded logical in his mind.
"It doesn't matter," Kaiba eventually snorted and stared at the windows: "No matter who's the leader, they will all be destroyed."
'What a Kaiba thing to say...' I thought and was going to leave.
However, before I took one step, Kaiba suddenly grabbed onto my wrist and lifted my arm into the air. There, the sleeves of my jacket fell, revealing the bandages wrapped around my limb.
"What happened." He questioned with a scrutinizing glare.
Crap, I have completely forgotten about those!
It was back in the hospital that I discovered the wounds on my body, and it gave the doctors quite a scare. The source of these injuries was from my battle against the "God", and what I thought was only my consciousness being dragged into its realm turned out my physical body was brought along as well.
So all of its sharp scratch marks and the bruises of the tumble were evident for the world to see. Noticing that Kaiba was still demanding an answer, I said the first excuse I could think of.
"Fell... off the bed..."
Kaiba: ".....Bullsh*t"
"It's... true...." I insisted, and he eventually let go.
"Fine," He spat reluctantly: "Have it your way."
Kaiba seemed really irked. Was my lying disturbed him that much? Not wanting to bother him any further, I hurriedly sneaked away and entered the room personally assigned to me.
Collapsing onto the bed, I groaned in comfort. I could feel the airship slowly taking off from the ground, and I was surprised by how little shaking there was. That's what a multi-billionaire company can do for you.
Opening my system, I planned to buy a few more cards before the end of the tournament. Expecting a large amount of unused credit waiting for, what appeared was...
[Credits: 0]
"Huh, where did all my credits go!" I yelled. My fatigue instantly vanished.
Standing up, I wracked my brain, thinking about where my credits could have gone. Suddenly, my eyes lit up as realisation dawned upon me.
"So it was you!!!" I shouted at the card in my hand: "The heck are you hiding it for!? Instead of saying question marks, say all of my hard-earned income and potentially my life into the mix!"
Raising my hand, I wanted to toss the card to the ground. However, when I remembered who it was that was behind this card, I sighed and stored it away. Suddenly, I heard knocking on the door, and Mokuba's voice rang from the other side.
"Big sister, we will begin our take off. Big Brother said that everyone should gather at the top of the airship in about ten minutes."
"Mokuba," I called out: "Yugi's friend... who left?"
"Ah," Mokuba instantly understood: "They decided to host a small tournament, and Mai Valentine has been eliminated."
'Mai huh...'
Typically, I would've felt bad for her, but since we barely interacted with each other, that feeling lasted only for a moment. Mokuba soon left to help with Kaiba, and I was once again alone.
Deciding to take a whiff of fresh air, I exited my room and strolled through the empty hallways.
Leaving my room, I walked through the empty hallways and glanced out the window on the side. Exploring through the massive airship, I spotted a young girl with brown hair peeking at something around the corner.
'That's Joey's sister...'
Recalling that she and Tea were the ones who brought me back from drowning, my attitude towards her was naturally good. Sensing my presence, she turned her head, and her pupils lit up.
With an eagerness I've never seen before, she crossed the distance in a flash and grabbed me by surprise.
"Hello!" She chirped: "I've always wanted to meet you!"
"M... Me?" I uttered.
"Un-huh!" she nodded: "How could I not want to meet my saviour!"
"I heard from Joey that you were the one who paid for my eye surgery," She said with a voice full of emotions: "To think there's someone so kind...."
"Ah!" She yelled: "How rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself yet; I'm Serenity Wheeler!"
If I have to describe Mokuba as a puppy, then Serenity felt like a hyperactive gerbil that was begging for attention. I pointed at the corner, wondering why someone like her was alone.
Understanding my intentions, Serenity dragged me around the corner and told me to look. There, I saw Namu leaning against a wall, seemingly absorbed in his world.
"No matter how friendly he is, I couldn't help but be suspicious!" Serenity scrutinised: "You must feel the same!"
Impressed with Serentity's detective observations, I stayed with her and watched. Suddenly, at the end of the hallway, Ishizu appeared. She calmly stopped beside Namu, and they exchanged a couple of unintelligible words.
Whatever their conversation was, Ishizu seemed slightly shaken, and she quietly left, going back the way she came. Opening his eyes, Namu glanced our way.
"Eeeep! He's coming towards us!"
In a panic, Serenity hugged me against the wall. Her face buried into my chest, like an ostrich sticking its head into the ground in danger.
What were you doing? I screamed in my head, trying to pry Serenity off of my body. However, all my efforts only made her dig deeper, and I was beginning to hear her making some questionable noises.
Namu appeared around the corner and stared at us strangely. Please, this wasn't what you were thinking!
Covering my blushing face, Namu eventually left, leaving us alone. I sighed with relief, and I glanced at Serenity, who had her arms around me. I tapped her shoulder to notify her that she was in the clear, but no matter how much I nudged her, Serenity refused to budge.
"Mufufufu... so soft..." She mumbled and rubbed her face against my chest.
.....
Heat rose to my face, and I hurriedly pushed her away. Serenity pouted and flexed her fingers: "But the divine pillow...."
"Serenity..." I called, trying to talk some reason into her.
My back was pressed against the corner as the perv... no Serenity approached me with a mischievous smile. I tried to block her, but Serenity ducked under my arms and began to tickle me. Unable to resist, I laughed uncontrollably as she continued her ticklish barrage.
*BAM*
Suddenly, a fist arrived out of nowhere and struck Serenity's head: "I took my eyes off you for a second, and now you're defiling someone." Joey scolded.
"But we're just playing...." Serenity pouted.
"Oh yeah? It doesn't look like Sano-san is feeling the same." Joey said and glanced at me worriedly.
As Serenity released me, I collapsed on the floor and hugged my body, traumatised. It's over... Who would want to marry me now...
"I apologise on my sister's behalf." Joey bowed apologetically: "She recently was able to step outside of the hospital. So she's very excited."
"That's right!" Serenity grabbed my hands: "It was all thanks to Yuna's kindness! You're just like my brother!" She praised with pride.
"He said that in the Duelist Kingdom, he felt bad for besting you in Duel Monsters and decided to forfeit and let you advance into the finals!"
Joey suddenly flinched and smiled nervously: "Hey... Hey Serenity, it's rude to boast."
"But I'm not boasting! You said that Yuna already knows about it!"
"Stop Talking!!" Joey screamed and covered Serenity's mouth: "Ah ha ha, she doesn't know what she's talking about!" He laughed awkwardly under my glare.
What the hell were you telling her?!
"Anyway, I heard that we will decide our opponents soon," Joey desperately tried to change the subject.
Good, then I will really show who's the better duelist....
Understanding my evil thoughts, Joey gulped nervously. Serenity pulled me up, and together, we walked to the top of the airship, where the rest of the people were waiting for us.
"Looks like everyone's here," Kaiba said and opened the door.
Immediately, a vast gust of wing blasted our faces. Walking with hesitant steps, we emerged onto the top of the airship with the clouds right below our feet. What appeared before us was a flat field that was slightly elevated from the ground, similar to a boxing ring. Surrounding the duel field was a walkway used for spectators.
Arriving at the centre of the field, Kaiba pressed a button on a remote, and the airship visibly slowed down. On command, a man with green hair, a black suit and glasses pushing a projector screen.
"Good evening," The man greeted courteously: "My name is Roland; I work as the Business Advisor of Kaiba Corps and the MC of Battle City. I will also be acting as the referee. If there are any questions regarding this tournament, please refer to me."
I stared at Roland's face with fascination. Despite being a side character, he's a little famous among the Yugioh community for being so unfazed by the paranormal activities of the Duel Monster card game, like summoning an actual god to fight your opponents, which was just an ordinary Tuesday for him.
Also, something I haven't noticed. Being the Business Advisor of Kaiba Corps meant that Kaiba trusted him a lot, which was surprising considering that Kaiba's employees betraying him was the norm.
"Now, please pay attention to this screen. Your first opponent will be randomly chosen."
We watched with bated breath as the projector flickered to life. Instantly, two columns of names were formed beside each other.
[Yuna Sano vs Bakura Ryou]
[Yugi Mutou vs Marik Ishtar]
[Seto Kaiba vs Ishizu Ishtar]
[Joey Wheeler vs Namu Saad]
I glanced at Bakura, who was smiling at me. However, that smile transformed into a sly smirk, and I realised that I was no longer facing the Bakura I was familiar with but the evil spirit hiding within his Millenium Ring.
"Yuna Sano and Bakura Ryou, please prepare yourselves; everyone else, please step out of the duelling ring."
Returning to his smile, Yami Bakura walked past me, but he stopped midway, his lips close to my ears: "You warned Pegasus about me, didn't you?"
Not responding, Yami Bakura grinned: "It doesn't matter. I will make sure to kill you in this duel..."
Freezing, I glanced at Yami Bakura, who calmly strolled to his side of the field. Rubbing the chills crept along my arms. Taking a deep breath, I regained my composure. Sorry to disappoint you, Yami Bakura, but I don't plan on dying anytime soon.
With a new confidence, I made my way to the opposite end of the field. Activating my Duel Disk, I glared at Yami Bakura.
"Are both duelists ready?" Roland asked.
"Yes," Yami Bakura said with a cheerful voice while I nodded in silence.
"Good, then the first match of the Balle City finals will now begin!"
"Duel!" We shouted in unison.
[Yuna Sano: 4000 LP]
[Bakura Ryou: 4000 LP]
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I hope you enjoy
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Status Power Mingguan
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