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twisted-art-wounders · 5 months

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YGO AU: Breaking the Seal 11

Chapter 11 Ensnare

Yugi and gang arrive in California and meet Mai who gives them a ride to Industrial Illusions, but they may have wondered into a trap…

The plane finally landed at the airport, Yugi and his friends all looking out of the window to see all the parked planes that waited on the ground. Excitement washed over them all as they departed the jet and walked into the airport, waiting by their gate was an old familiar face. Mai was wearing her sundress with laced high heeled sandals complete with matching hat and sunglasses; she smiled and waved at them before racing over to the group. Arms opened wide she jumped and grabbed Joey by the head putting him in a headlock and ruffling his hair.

“There you are! It's not nice to keep a lady waiting, Joey!” she jested.

“Gr-Great to see ya Mai!” Joey was surprised by her actions but allowed her to keep his head locked for a bit before pulling away.

“Mai!” Tea yelled and hugged Mai warmly, as Tristan gave Mai a high five “Great to see you're doing well!” he said.

“Wow you look like your ready for a vacation!” Tea smiled “You look fantastic!”

Mai gave a slight pose and threw her hair to the side a bit before commenting “Oh just a little something I threw on!” she chuckled before looking down at Yugi.

“Yugi! You look-” she shouted before getting a very good look at him and blinked “Like hell…wow did you sleep last night?” She then bent down a bit to get a better look at him.

He looked up at her and forced a smile with a laugh. “Y-yeah! just had some nausea on the plane this morning…I'm doing better now though!” Yugi rubbed the back of his neck a little.

His friends all looked down at him quietly, something was defiantly thick in the air…Mai was just about to ask what was going on when the tension was suddenly broken by the same suited men back in Japan approached them with their luggage and announced they had arranged a ride for them.

“Oh! But Mai was gonna-” Yugi started but was interrupted by Mai herself who stepped in.

“I was actually gonna give them a ride to Industrial Illusions myself.” Mai announced to the man.

“That is unnecessary madam, Master Pegasus has arranged a ride for them you see.” The man spoke again.

“Oh man but Mai already went through all the trouble to come and get us!” Joey yelled disappointed.

Mai smiled slightly “It's fine Joey. Tell the suits to toss the baggage in my car. I'll tag along behind.”

They all looked at Mai, Yugi spoke up first “Ar-are you sure Mai?”

Mai waved her hand a bit “I already said I'd come so no point of leaving now, besides once you're done with your meeting I'll take you guys out to eat on me!”

The main man among the suits nodded “If that's what you wish.”

They all existed the airport together and walked to where Mai parked her car. Normally she drove something a little more sporty and portable but this time she had a large white Jeep Wrangler with a flatbed in the rear, followed by a trailer holding something under a tarp. All the gang was floored by the luxury car Mai was sporting.

“Get out! You got something that fancy!?” Joey was drooling along with Tristan, Tea was amazed by it's creamy white colour and Yugi seemed dazed.

“Well when I knew I was gonna pick you guys up I needed something more spacious! Besides this is California you need to travel in style.” Mai chuckled giving her hair another flip.

As the men loaded the luggage into the flatbed Tea noticed one of the bags seemed out of place so she asked who it belonged to. None of them claimed the bag as their own, so one of the men took the bag back inside the airport since they assumed it must have been taken by a mistake. All the while inside the bag Rex and Weevil were barely conscious after the turbulent journey they took in the cargo bay of the jet.

Mai had gone to Tea and asked her “Hey Tea, I was hoping you'd ride along with me instead. The trip is gonna be long and I could use some company. Besides I think you could use a little girl time after a flight with boys.”

“Hey! How come she gets to ride in the fancy truck?” Joey pouted prompting Mai to shout “You can ride in it after you have a shower!” making Joey grumble.

Tea was surprised to be asked so suddenly “Oh uh… I could sure! But-” She then looked over to Yugi and was about to reject the offer only for him to look up at her with a smile.

“Go on Tea! We'll be okay!” He smiled again and Tea's face became softer so she looked at Mai and nodded “Sure!”

Yugi and others were escorted to a black limousine and sat inside, the car took off and just after them Mai and Tea followed behind.

As they cruised along the city they took note of all the famous sights around them; the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and more sights around town. Joey and Tristan couldn't help but look at all the amazing sights they passed. Eventually they existed the city and headed towards the dessert road; Tea was enjoying the feeling of the chilled conditioned air blowing past her brunette hair, Mai looked over and smiled at her.

“Guess you're loving the city sights huh?”

“Yeah, I can't wait to return to New York City!” Tea beamed.

“New York City?” Mai asked, she had no idea Tea was going to move so far away form her friends.

“Yeah, I plan to move there to study dance after I graduate…” Tea looked down a bit rubbing her thumbs together biting her lip a little “It's gonna come up pretty soon actually…”

Mai could see she was acting nervous now and looked back at the road. “You know I'm surprised you really wanna move so far away form your friends, but if it's what you want to do then go for it.”

Tea looked over to Mai for a moment and smiled lightly “It's crazy I know and I may not even make it out there but…I want to try.”

“Nothing wrong with that, life is about heading out, making mistakes and finding your way. Hell I was working on cruise ships for years before I discovered my love of Duel Monsters.” Mai started to reminisce about her life before and how playing Duel Monsters gave her a sense of power she always wanted and how it helped her pick a new course for her life.

“I think you're gonna do great Tea, and if you need any help while your in NYC just look me up, I find my way all around the world at any time. So I wont mind dropping in and checking in on you.”

Tea's heart fluttered a bit hearing that; sometimes Mai could be a very hard person to be around that's what she thought at first when meeting her back in Duelist Kingdom. Then she stated to see Mai only needed to be tough because she was on her own so much and had to be hard to survive alone. Now it seemed like she was starting to get softer…more approachable almost like a older sister.

“Thank you…it really does mean a lot to me.”

Mai smiled back at her “Anytime.”

After a while of silence between them Mai's tone shifted a bit to more serious one.

“Tea, I had another motive for taking you with me…” Mai gripped the steering wheel a bit more, her eyes becoming harder.

Tea was a bit worried since she could feel the seriousness of her voice so she knew it was big…

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me whats the deal with Yugi? I don't mean why he's looks sick right now, I mean in general. I know there's more to him then meets the eye… and I know there's some kind of crazy magic or something about him. So give me the whole story.”

Tea paused for a bit, her blue eyes looking up then down to her hands again. She took in a deep breath and let it out again.

Turning to her she said “It's a very long story…”

Mai kept her eyes on the road and answered back “We have time, so spill.”

As they drove along in the limo; Yugi was absent form everything his mind was so flooded with worry, not just for himself but for Pegasus. Something inside of him was eating away telling him something bad was coming and he was in danger.

Joey had noticed Yugi's absentmindedness and decided to ask him.

“Yug, everything okay? You're not feeling sick again right?”

“N-no! I'm just…” he sighed “I'm worried about Pegasus…he was so scared on his video…”

Yugi remembered the video and how panicked and afraid Pegasus was. He knew Pegasus was a powerful man and even after losing his Millennium Eye he still was a strong duelist…so who could these people be and why are they so hellbent on silencing him? What did he know about them?

“Yugi it's gonna be okay, I'm sure old one eye is fine, and once we meet up with him we'll get the skinny on what he knows about these biker guys and I know we'll find the other half of your soul!” Joey spoke with his usual confidence which made Yugi feel a bit better.

He nodded now “You're right Joey…I'm sure Pegasus is fine.” No he didn't fully mean what he said but he didnt want Joey or Tristan to worry more, if anyone should be worried it should be his burden not his friends…

Yugi shivered a bit before he felt something in his deck belt shift and move, he had taken out his Timeaus card since he did sense it was glowing and it was! For some reason the card was glowing.

Joey and Tristan both looked at it and wondered why it was glowing all of sudden; Yugi remembered there were still two other crystallized dragons still frozen back in the duel monsters world. Could it be? Has one of them been released?

Back in the Jeep Tea had just finished explaining everything she knew about Yugi, the Pharaoh, the Millennium Puzzle, and Yugi's destiny after solving it. The car ride for a quiet for a bit while Mai tried to properly process everything she was just told. It made Tea nervous since she knew it sounded like and insane plot of some kind of tv show but no this was real, all of it was real.

Finally Mai broke the silence.

“So…There are two Yugi's one whose the quiet childish one and the one who duels is really the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh with no memory of his former life or name, who exists inside of the Millennium Puzzle and uses that Yugi's body as a host.”

Tea nodded.

“And in Battle City he won the three Egyptian God cards because using them would help him unlock his memories of his past which he will then use this knowledge to somehow save the world form some kind of great evil like he did in the past.”

Tea nodded again.

“And when he tried to use them to do that; somehow it made all these monsters who are not holograms appear all over the world. Then a group of bikers stole the god cards then challenged the little Yugi to a duel, who won but still lost the god cards. Then a giant eye appeared over Domino City, attacked Yugi and stole half of his soul but not before Yugi used some kind of super powerful dragon card named Timeus to defeat the monster.”

“Y-yeah….” Tea muttered out.

“And now Pegasus has sent for you guys since he knows who these bikers are, and he may know the key to getting Yugi's soul back and stopping whatever evil monster is causing all this madness world wide.”

“Okay yes, I know it all sounds insane and I know you think I must be crazy, and trust me after hearing it all out loud I'd so agree with you too. But I promise I'm telling the truth!” Tea looked at Mai hoping she could try and convince her that this was all real.

“Tea, relax after everything that happened in the Battle City Semi finals, my duel against the psycho path Marik I believe you.”

“Y-you do?” Tea blinked.

Mai nodded and continued “Of course! I have first hand experience don't I? That nightmare I lived through…”

Mai recalled her loss to Marik and her punishment for losing a shadow game; the torture and torment that still haunted her heart. She shook her head quickly trying to snap out of it, she didn't ever want to go back to that horrible place. Never again…

“But it's in the past now… either way I believe you! I just don't trust Pegasus…” Mai glared at the road, gripping the steering wheel tightly again.

“If he's up to something I don't want you or the others to get any deeper into this ancient evil magic junk! You guys have dealt with this kind of thing for a long time, but it still doesn't mean you should put yourselves in danger.”

“Mai…” Tea watched her with worried eyes, she didn't realize until now how right she was; putting themselves into danger like this seemed like the norm at this point, but it really shouldn't be should it?

“I may not have magic, but I have other skills so maybe I can help you guys out more…If Pegasus is up to something sinister I'll have your back.”

Tea smiled, it felt good to know they did have her to help if things did start to go south, but she was still worried about Mai's safety too. Everyone could be in danger and Tea was the most worried for Yugi…

“Mai…Thank you.” Tea finally said and Mai only smiled and kept driving.

Inside Industrial Illusions both Raphael and Valon were waiting in the lobby up high on a balcony that over looked the area. Valon was leaning against he guard rail with his back turned while Raphael stood beside him with his arms crossed.

Raph got a message on his phone and looked it over with a smile.

“They've just arrived in front.”

Valon grinned “Finally! Some action!”

The limo had stopped right in front of Industrial Illusions HQ with Mai's Jeep pulling up just behind it. As Yugi and the others existed the vehicle the driver of the limo come out and closed the door after them, before returning to the driver's seat starting the car and driving off. This confused the boys since up until then the staff had been very helpful and pleasant to them but this time he seemed to be in a bit of trance and he left not saying a single word.

“I guess he's off the clock?” Tristan remarked.

Tea had emerged form the Jeep and gone to greet the others and make sure Yugi was okay, Mai had gone into the back seat of the Jeep and took out her duel disk strapping it to her arm.

Joey had noticed her actions and gone to her to ask.

“Wow, you brought you're Duel Disk with you?”

Mai nodded “Hey I'm still a duelist and vacation or not I'm always ready for a battle.” she smiled.

Joey gave a thumbs up and with that the group of five entered the building together. Inside it was empty no employees were present and everything was quiet…too quiet. They all called out trying to see if anyone would come out to greet them. Tea had gone to the phones sitting at the front desk to check them only to discover they were dead.

As if on que steel gates started to drop from the top of the windows and main door planting themselves firmly on the ground. Everyone let out a yell of confusion before realizing they'd been locked in. Each of them sprinting to a different side of the lobby trying in vein to lift the steel gates holding them in but it was no use, the gates were too strong and there was no way out for them now.

“Urgh! You gotta be kidding me!” Joey shouted pulling at the steel.

“Theses things wont budge!” Tristan yelled out trying to lift the gates

“We've been tricked!” Tea shouted.

“There has to be away out!” Mai pulled at the gates as well but with no luck.

“Oh no! is this-” Yugi was then interrupted by the sound of a new voice from up top forcing all of them to stop and look up at the source.

“Well well well 'bout time you lot showed up! It's rude to keep people waitin' you know!” Valon chuckled.

Yugi 's eyes widened in fear as he felt a chill run up his spine, he recognized him right away

“It-It cant be…” Yugi's voice cracked “Not you two!”

“Oh but it can be! Long time no see short stuff remember us?” Valon sneered down at Yugi making him take a small step back.

The others gathered to Yugi's side and looked up at the two new faces that waited their arrival.

Joey growled and stepped forward.

“Hey! Are you the guys who took the God cards!?”

“Maybe we did, you got a problem with it?” Raphael said coldly.

Joey snarled “As a matter of fact I do! Now how about you step on down here and allow me to validate the ass kicking ticket you purchased the second you laid a hand on my best friend!” He empathized his words by smacking his fist into his open hand.

This caused Valon to laugh out loud and smack the railing a few times “Oooh boy! I knew you were gonna be fun Wheeler!”

“You think this is some kind of a joke you googled headed freak!” Mai yelled up at Valon which made him stop and stare down at Mai, after he studied her for a moment he pulled back his spiked hair a bit and leaned in.

“Well now who is this gorgeous goddess who happens to be hanging out with a bunch of twerps? You got a name beautiful?”

Mai growled and shook her fist at him “Yeah it's 'noneofyourbusiness!' psycho!”

“Whoooo scary~” Valon grinned with a wink. “You can call me Valon, dove~”

His grin made Mai sneer in disgust which also made Joey grind his teeth a bit.

Yugi finally decided to step in and yelled up “What have you done to Pegasus! Where is he!?”

Raphael chuckled a bit “Sorry but Pegasus can't see you right now…he's feeling a bit stiff at the moment.”

Stiff? What did he mean by that? Before he could even ask Raphael had gone into his pocket and pulled out a card. Holding it up they could tell it was a magic card, but not just any magic card it was a Seal of Orichalcos card and in the center trapped behind the circle was Pegasus's screaming face.

Everyone stared in disbelief at what they were looking at, the creator they'd all come to see had been trapped in a card of his own making. How could this have happened? Did the bikers do this? Did they really have the power to trap souls into duel monster cards? These questions were running through everyone in Yugi's group but Yugi himself looked the most guilty, almost as if he knew the answer but asked anyway.

Yugi swallowed a lump in this throat. “D-did you do that to him?”

Raphael only chuckled putting the card back inside his pocket. “I'm not the one who did this…you are.”

Everyone stood in disbelief and surprise at the tall blonde man's claim especially Yugi; He did this? But it couldn't be! It didn't make sense! How could he have-

“I…I couldn't- no! I never- I- I” Yugi was stuttering in a panic, he couldn't form the words he wanted.

“Aww whats the matta kid? You blocked out that little stint you had that night? We remember like it was yesterday! But really it was more like 2 nights ago.” Valon rubbed under his chin.

Yugi felt a lump in his throat again; two nights ago? That was when he and Dartz…his eyes widened when he realized this. Was his duel with Dartz posing as Pegasus…real?

“Gotta say for someone with such a baby face you're a stone cold killa! Ripped the soul right outta that one eyed pretty boy you did!” Valon cackled as he watched Yugi stumble a bit.

“What's wrong Yugi?” Raphael said coldly “Having a hard time handling the truth?” he grinned.

Yugi's head was spinning as his breathing got more strained; How? How could this happen? It was a dream! It was only a dream! His heart was pumping harder as he felt sweat start to flow down his face the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. All of his friends could see Yugi was starting to have a panic attack, Tea came to his side and held his shoulders to keep him stable. Joey looked at Yugi then glared up back at the men on the balcony, he was fuming with even more anger now.

“Enough of you're crazy talk! No way Yugi could have done this!” Joey yelled.

“That's right! Yugi was all the way across the world! You expect anyone to believe he did this?” Tristan folded his arms glaring up.

“Exactly! You people are the ones going around snatching souls!” Tea added squeezing Yugi's shoulder a bit.

“And you got some nerve accusing him of this act when you're holding the soul card, gruesome!” Mai glared putting her hands on her hips.

Yugi felt some relief after hearing all this friends defend him so much, he heard the voice of the Pharaoh now come through the puzzle.

//Yugi! Let me take over I'll deal with them.// Yami said confidently.

After a very long bout of silence from the spirit it made Yugi happy to hear him speak again, he nodded and decided in this case it may be better for the other Yugi to handle them. With a flash of light from the puzzle they swapped places the Pharaoh now in charge. He glared up at the two older men and pointed.

“Alight! I think we've all had enough of you're mind games! If you think you can pin this on me you're sorely mistaken!” Yami shouted before folding his arms in his classic stand off posture. “Time for you both to come down here and answer for your crimes!”

Raphael kept his current pose and glared down at the Pharaoh “So you've finally come out of hiding Nameless Pharaoh?”

Yami smirked and glared right back up to him, he unfolded his arms and wagged a finger to him “Now now I'm not the one who ran off the first time we met now was I?”

His smug attitude and response made Raphael furious but of course he didn't show his emotions very easily so he stayed more or less stone faced, Valon on the other hand was quicker to anger and let them all know it.

“Big talk coming form such a puny little king! Comin' in the save the day only once you got your friend group to back you up!”

“That's right goggle brain! We always got each other's back! So how about you both come on down for the two for one sale! Second ass kickin' is on the house!” Joey stood beside Yugi with his duel disk out and ready for a fight.

“That's right! Enough lies come down here and duel us! And when we win you're going to give back the rest of my partner's soul, free Pegasus form that card prison and return the god cards you stole!” Yami Yugi got his duel disk set as well.

“You're still calling us lairs… Okay since you're so keen to fight maybe a demonstration is in order.”

Raphael looked over to Valon giving him a nod.

Valon grinned widely and rummaged through his pocket excitedly before finding what he wanted; the orichalcos shard Dartz had given him earlier dangling it over the ledge. Yami looked up and recognized the shard but before he could verbalize anything Valon let the shard drop.

As it descended to the ground below a bight flash of green light burst out of the shard blinding everyone in the room. Joey and Yami being the closest to it held their arms up to help block out the bright light. It soon started to take the form of a person the same person it took the form of before. A perfect copy of Yugi stood before his friends, and just like before he was missing the Millennium Puzzle around his neck and on his right ear the shard of the Orichalcos hung like an earring.

Lowering their arms Yami and Joey and soon everyone else could now see this new being standing before them was a doppelganger of their friend. All of them looked in confusion and horror, how could there be two physical Yugi's in the same room? The one most vocal about it was Joey of course who pointed from the copy Yugi to the Yami Yugi who stood beside him.

“Whoa! What the- he you- your over here and now there's another you over here and what is going on!?” Joey was panicked trying to figure out what had just happened.

Yami on the other hand felt a chill run down his spine as he looked into the eyes of the copy of his partner. It was almost like looking into a mirror but with cold emotionless eyes of the figure looking back at him it made his heart skip. Yugi was silent but also just as shaken by all of this, was this how they were using his separated soul?

Yami growled then glared up at the two men on the ledge and yelled out.

“What is this! What have you done?”

Valon chuckled as Raphael looked down at Yami like he was a bug beneath his eye line and answered coldly.

“You wanted a demonstration well now you have it. Joey will be the first target!”

#yugi #yugi mut #yami yugi #mai valentine #anzu mazaki #mai kujaku #yugioh #yugioh dm #breaking the seal #au #fan art #fan fic

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