C.N. April 2014: Digital Distraction Part 24

They had already started disembarking from the boat when Dani finally finished working on her latest updates and setting them to update on a schedule for the next few days just in case something happened.

She wasn’t too worried. She was due to start at the ‘temple point’ starting position along with three others and if she was reading the map in the guide book right, it was the closest starting point to the docks. She had plenty of time to gather up her things and head out.

She could hear the sounds of people moving around in the corridor, rushing to get off the boat and start playing. She could understand why. If SharpShade Inc. wasn’t involved she would have been ecstatic to be testing out the VirtualNet. However, knowing that the ShadowSwords were involved left her wondering why the hell she had agreed to Pegasus’s request for help in the first place.

On an intellectual level she knew why and it wasn’t because of anything as simple as a desire to prevent other people getting sacrificed. It was partly because of that, but mostly it was because Pegasus had promised her backup and a rather large sum of money towards her expenses. She still felt like she was a complete and utter moron for agreeing to do it though.

As the voices outside faded away she packed her laptop away in her shoulder bag and shrugged on her jacket. Finally she attached her DimDIsk to her arm, enjoying the reduced weight. Even though she didn’t generally compete in tournaments, she still had one of Kaiba Corp’s Duel Disks and often used it to play against her university course mates. She had mentioned a couple of time on the blog that the Duel Disk was more than a little bit heavy. She wasn’t sure that the lighter DimDisk was the answer though.

The VirtualNet system looked impressive, she couldn’t deny that, but she had little hope of a city allowing someone to install the projectors all over town. They were an eyesore and they would, most likely be expensive. Still she wanted to see what the new tech could do in a game.

A knock on the door made her jump, causing her to drop her bag. She flinched as the expensive piece of equipment within hit the floor hard. “I’ll be out in a minute.” She called, picking up the bag and checking the contents.

She let out a frustrated huff as she noticed a crack in her laptop’s casing, but she didn’t get a chance to see if the machine was broken or not. The door slammed open and three men entered the room.

“Umm, hi?” Dani asked, backing up rapidly, glancing around for a way out.

“It’s been a while, Green.” One of the men told her, causing her to look at him, startled. Her face paled as she realised she recognised the man in front of her as one of the men who had held her captive the last time she had run into the ShadowSwords. “You honestly thought we wouldn’t be waiting for you when you got here? Especially after you got Pegasus to add you to the rosta specifically?”

“Honestly?” Dani asked, edging around the room and trying to lure the men further in. It worked on two of them, who moved towards her. The one who knew her stayed in the doorway. “I wasn’t planning on coming, I got bribed into it. And I didn’t expect enough of you to have survived the last few years to remember me, considering the way you off each other at your little Gatherings.” She explained, before grabbing the chair and chucking it at the man by the door.

He yelped and jumped away, allowing Dani a chance to dart out of the room. The men followed, nearly catching her as she raced up the corridor. She managed to gain some ground on them when she grabbed the arm of one of the crew members and used him as a post in order to turn sharply and escape down a corridor.

She was almost to the exit, not that she had anywhere to go after that considering that it led out onto the bad guy’s island, when something heavy came out of nowhere and slammed into her stomach, sending her tumbling to the ground, winded.

As she coughed and gasped, she glanced around, trying to work out what the hell had hit her. It wasn’t hard to work out. One of the other mooks she had seen on the boat was stood by the door with a rather sturdy looking pole.

“Pick her up.” The man from her room gloated as she was dragged to her feet and her laptop and her phone were pulled from her bag.

“No, please!” Dani struggled, watching as her machines were carried over to the edge of the walkway that led out over the ocean and onto the docks below. “No. No. No!” She watched, horrified as the goon holding her stuff dropped the equipment into the water. “You son of a bimph!”

Dani’s cursing was suddenly muffled by the rag that was shoved in her mouth. She tried to spit it out but another cloth, wrapped around her head kept it firmly in place as she was dragged away from the exit, kicking and screaming, fury obvious.

“She’s a feisty one.” The one holding her laughed as she tried to scratch and bite, his amusement fading fast when she elbowed him in the nuts, pulling the cloth way from her head and spitting out the rag as she darted out of the exit and into the nearby forest.

“Should we go after her?” One of the men asked, watching her rather than his colleague who was curled up in a ball on the ground, trying not to throw up.

“No, she’s wearing her DimDisk. It’ll lead us right to her.”

C.N. April 2014: Digital Distraction Part 23

Yugi’s words seeped into his mind as he looked around for the mook to hand the phone back to, or Shadow Game, whichever came first. He paused as he realised what he had actually said. That it wasn’t him they wanted, indicating that though the note had said Yugi’s name on it, it was Yami they were after.

In which case they had grabbed the right Yugi after all.

It made sense that he was the Yugi they wanted to sacrifice. He was the one who was known to have powers and was the one who competed in all the tournaments. Yugi always took a back seat once the duelling started so people didn’t know just how skilled Yugi really was. Pegasus was the only person outside their group of friends who had ever had a taste of Yugi’s ability to duel.

If anything he was relieved that it was him they wanted to sacrifice, rather than his lighter half. While it meant that Yugi was expendable in their eyes, which was a dangerous situation for his light to be in, it meant that they wouldn’t start their ritual the moment the players got on the island because for some reason they needed to catch him first.

Yami couldn’t help but wonder why. He knew that they had modified their ritual this time. That was if D.M.G. was to be trusted and she was normally, at least online, a reliable source of information.

That still didn’t explain why they weren’t just going to use their ritual to kill all the players straight away. He had a funny feeling that they were going to wait until they had all gathered in the castle where the so-say, ‘Final Boss’ would be waiting for them.

He still had too little information to be able to really work out their plans. Whatever they had in mind, it was obvious that they wanted him out of the way for them.

The frustrating thing was there was no guarantee that if he handed himself over, they were going to release Yugi. It was much more likely, if they were waiting till they had all the players in one place, that they would continue to hold Yugi hostage to force him to behave until the time was right.

The only plus side was that if he could break out without alerting anyone, there was a chance he could get Yugi and get out.

He stalked along to Kari’s room and knocked on the door. He must have tapped harder then he realised because when Kari opened the door, she sounded cross. “You don’t have to break the door...” She paused, noting the look on his face. “What’s happened?”

“I got instructions.” Yami replied as he entered the room, noting that neither Ombre or the Millennium Orb were in the room, “And Yugi’s hurt.”

“But he’s alive, right?” Kari asked, the relief that Yami had been feeling earlier obvious on her face as she shut the door. When Yami nodded, she grinned, “That’s good, right?”

Yami nodded, letting out a huff. “It is but I think they’re planning on splitting us up.”

“What do you mean?” Kari looked confused. “I thought we were all being dropped off in the same place?”

“No.” Yami shook his head, “There’s different ‘start points.’ I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let us keep the gang together. It would be a tactical error on their part.”

“Divide and conquer.” Kari nodded, understanding even as she disliked the thought. “But that means you and Tea are going to be on your own.”

“We’ll be fine.” Yami waved it off, confident that no matter how bad it got he would be able to handle the situation. “You said you thought it might be possible for me to contact Yugi, even without the Puzzle?”

Kari nodded. “It was you eating like a horse that got me thinking about it.” She explained, sitting on the bed and patting it, indicating he should sit down too. “You know my theory, that you and Yugi are still bonded and that a lot of your power still comes from him?” Yami nodded. “Because normally Yugi eats like a horse and you don’t have to, right? But Yugi gets exhausted when you do and when he’s sick, your powers are weaker.”

Yami nodded. The theory was relatively sound, especially considering that while their bodies acted like normal human bodies, they had no idea how they had come to be. Plus the yamis could go for days without eating and live off of their magic alone, but the hikaris swiftly fell ill if they did that so it was better for everyone if the darks ate when everyone else did.

“Well D.M.G. told us that the guys who have Yugi don’t feed their captives, or give them anything to drink, so Yugi’s not getting any fuel to give you. He’s not even getting any for himself.” Kari continued, “So his body should be shutting down.” Yami nodded again, though he didn’t like it. “Except I think he’s pulling from you. There’s no way it’s a long term solution, no matter how much you eat or drink. Yugi’s still in a mortal body that will require sustenance but...”

“If he’s drawing from me then the link’s still there, it’s just strained to the point we can’t communicate.” Yami nodded, getting it.

“Yugi told me once that he could still hear you when he wasn’t wearing the Puzzle, back before the fire in the warehouse, but you were quiet and it was hard for him to get through to you.” Kari continued, giving Yami a sympathetic look when he winced, aware that Yami didn’t like to be reminded of the times he had nearly lost his other self. “Which gives me further reason to think the bond doesn’t snap when Yugi’s not wearing the Puzzle.”

“Which means I should, in theory, be able to reach Yugi even now.” Yami smiled slightly.

“Don’t get too excited.” Kari held up a hand, “I don’t know the range on it, or how hard it’s going to be. I can just about hear Ombre while she’s three corridors over, but it took a lot of work AND she’s considerably closer than Yugi is.”

“But it’s still viable.” Yami was pleased by that idea. “I just need to be close enough to Yugi for it to work.”

“Just be careful.” Kari worried at him, “If they are going to split us up, you’re gonna be without any brute strength. I mean I know Tea has a mean right hook, but you’re not exactly built for a brawl, no offence.”

Yami frowned but had to nod. She was right, even if he didn’t like it. In the past he had probably had self defence lessons to balance out his small frame, but in the modern age he didn’t remember those lessons and Yugi was a pacifist. He didn’t like fighting and as such had never learned how.

“I’ll be careful.” Yami promised Kari, “I’ll have to be. I’ll have Tea with me and I can’t risk Yugi’s safety.”

“We’ll come and find you as soon as we get dropped off.” Kari promised, “Just try not to get murdered horribly until we can reach you.”

NaNo2013: Speedster's Secret: Part 18

Luna was relieved to hear from her, having worried about her from the moment she had left the house. Luna promised to pass on messages to the Club for her before Speedster put the phone down and shot off again. She would have talked to the others herself, but all her numbers had been on her mobile phone and that had been at Luna’s house.

Speedster paused as it struck her that while she had left her mobile behind deliberately, she had left it in the in bin outside Luna’s house in Chew Magna.

“Shit.” She muttered as she darted for another pay phone, needing to tell her friend to get the phone as far away as possible or chuck it in the lake. She swiftly dialled her friend’s mobile phone number and tapped her foot impatiently as the phone continued to ring and ring and ring. “Come on, come on.”

“Hello?” Luna sounded a little frightened, tipping Juliet off to the fact something was wrong.

“Luna?” Juliet asked quietly, unsure of who might be listening in.

“I’m very sorry but I don’t want anything, so please don’t call this number again.” With that Luna put the phone down.

It was obvious what had happened, but it was too fast. She hadn’t taken that long to get out of the country and she hadn’t really had a chance to plan much further than ‘get her stuff, get out of the country, make sure she’s seen doing it.’

The pay phone started ringing. Automatically Juliet picked it up, still flustered and trying to work out what to do. “Hello?”

“Miss Rhodes, don’t put the phone down.”

“If you’ve harmed one hair on her head, I will rip you apart.” Juliet threatened, pushed to close to breaking point and sick of the man stalking her already.

“No need for that, Miss Rhodes.” The agent replied, “We have no intention of harming Miss Roberts, we just wanted to have a word with you. If you come in quietly, I swear we won’t bother her further.”

“You’re an asshole.” Juliet hissed at him.

“I get that a lot.” The man sounded amused. “There will be a group waiting for you on the English side of the channel tunnel.”

“Fine.” Speedster replied, between a rock and a hard place and not particularly happy about not being able to do much about it. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

“Good.” With that the phone clicked off and Juliet burst into a bunch of profanities that had the locals staring at her.

One mistake, one simple, stupid mistake and she was cornered. She couldn’t let them harm Luna and if she didn’t go back they could. She had to go. Well, she didn’t have to go, as Shade or Spike would remind her, she always had the option of walking away. She couldn’t bring herself to take it, but the option was there.

She sped back up the coast of France, reaching the channel tunnel and becoming further irritated when she saw that there were suited goons there, all of whom seemed to report something when they saw her and then left her alone.

She got the money changed back at the same station, confusing the teller at the window, and then shot down the tunnel, narrowly avoiding one of the shuttles that constantly went up and down the dark, narrow passage that passed under the ocean.

There was a group of six goons waiting for her on the other side. They led her to a group of rather large black vans with tinted windows. There, in front of one of the back doors of one of them, stood the man who had been the primary focus for her anger so far.

“Where’s Luna?” She demanded as she hung back. Though surrounded, she wasn’t caught yet and she was wary of handing herself in if her friend wasn’t safe.

The man gestured to one of the goons, who moved away from the pack, the rest shifting to cover the gap he left. The suit opened the back doors of the truck to the left of Juliet and Luna was escorted out, her hands cuffed behind her back, blinking as she stepped into the sunlight from the dark back of the vehicle.

“Jules...” Luna paled when she saw her friend, realising that for all her attempts to prevent them knowing it was Juliet on the other end of the phone, they must have managed to get ahold of her friend after she’d been taken away.

“You promised you wouldn’t bother her if I came in.” Speedster’s emerald eyes flickered towards the leader of the band of assholes, anger obvious as she tensed, ready for action.

“That was before we realised she had powers too.” The man replied, a small, amused smile on his features. “Her brother too, but he got away.”

Speedster glanced around, her sight taking in details at much greater a speed than any normal human could. The five around her were armed, as were the two by Luna and the ringleader. She could dodge the bullets, she had already proved that. But Luna’s safety was more important and she couldn’t.

She glanced at her friend, relaxing slightly when she saw Luna’s eyes shift from the amethyst purple they had turned post Fusion, to their ruby red hue. When the Other Luna nodded slightly, Speedster took that as the cue to move, seeming to vanish from the spot as she burst into action, taking down her guards before they could react, knocking down the two with Luna and as the ringleader drew his weapon, she knocked it out of his hand, allowing the Other Luna to call down the Shadows and start a Shadow Game with him.

While Luna and the ringleader were caught up in the darkness, Speedster found that the small group hadn’t come alone. Several more goons piled out of the doors of the vehicles, and at least two radioed for back up.

None of them seemed entirely sure what to do though. With their leader out of action, they were hesitant to attack the girl who had easily taken down seven armed men. Especially when it was obvious she was willing to do the same to them and quite possibly able.

“Look,” Speedster spoke to them all, “I don’t want to fight you all. It doesn’t feel right kicking your butts when you’re just following orders, but I will if you don’t let my friend and I walk away.”

That did it. Those who didn’t really want to fight backed off, while those who felt insulted that she didn’t even consider them a threat launched themselves at her or drew their weapons. 

Speedster blurred into action, moving too fast for anyone to aim at properly. She slammed into one of the men, sending him tumbling into two others, before disarming the ones pointing guns aimlessly, sweeping up all of their weapons and hurling them into the open van.

Then she stopped and glowered around for a moment, giving a couple of the morons a chance to try again. Frustrated, she darted back, allowing them to crashing into each other, before using her tornado trick to scoop the pair up and slam them into one of the vans on the opposite side to the one holding the guns. Only once it was obvious that no one else was going to try anything did she slow down to a visible speed.

The wall of Shadows dissolved as she did so, revealing a babbling mess of a Government based stalker and the Other Luna who had gotten hold of the keys and was unshackling herself. She glanced around, amusement obvious when she saw the piles of thugs, and then turned to Speedster. “I believe we can leave now?”

“Yup.” Speedster nodded, finding herself worryingly pleased with the sight of the man who had been hounding her babbling like a lunatic on the floor. “Unless anyone else has any objections?”

When no one stepped forward again, she scooped the Other Luna up and darted off. She shot up the country, finally stopping and letting her friend down when they reached the treehouses.

“You okay?” Speedster worried at her friend, well aware that since Luna didn’t have a Millennium Item, channelling the Shadows always left her exhausted.

“I’ll be fine.” Luna had taken over halfway through the ride up country, wobbling slightly as she staggered over to the rope ladder. “I just need to sleep. I was more worried about you. I mean they kidnapped me to get to you. They didn’t seem to want more than that before Shade started throwing magic around.”

“Sorry.” Juliet apologised, guilt seeping in. “If I hadn’t left my phone behind...”

“I fished the phone out of the bin and chucked it in the lake the moment you left.” Luna shrugged, “They seemed to know my name and that you had come to ours for Christmas. So I doubt it was the phone that drew them to my house.”

Speedster let out a frustrated groan as she moved to help her exhausted friend climb the ladder, just as tired herself but knowing she had to get Luna settled and some food in before she could collapse herself. “My manager wanted to know what I was doing over Christmas. I didn’t even think not to tell him. Why would I? I wasn’t wanted by the Government then.”

“Not your fault.” Luna shrugged, already starting to fall asleep on her feet as she reached the top and Juliet had to herd her into the second treehouse, where a bed was already set up. Juliet made a mental note to get more blankets from the local supermarket as she made sure her friend was comfortable, before promising to be back as fast as possible and shooting off.