Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Chain of Hearts ❯ 04. Dance-Dance Showdown ( Chapter 4 )

CHAIN OF HEARTS

Emerald Princess of Vernea

NOTE FROM THE GREAT WILL OF THE AUTHORESS

From this point on is where the anime crossover ensues, so I want no complaints that this is an original fic that should be on fictionpress, got it? I just wanted you to get used to Nikhi. But enough of my pointless blabbering, ON WITH THE FIC!!!

Part One: Straight Into The Heart

Chapter Four: Dance-Dance Showdown

Ten minutes later the group of catgirls and catboys were all gathered inside the heart of the Cat's Eyes, the most popular arcade centre in town. It was called the most popular arcade centre in town because it housed to most popular arcade game throughout Fortune Outset.

The DDR machine.

With each day that passed at least a thousand people passed through the doors of the Cat's Eyes, and at least eight hundred of those people heading straight towards the DDR machine. It was hard not to resist the game - with its eight-steps, bright lights, loud music and challenging steps, very few could master its complex moves.

Few that is, apart from Kit. Kit was renowned throughout Fortune Outset as the best dancer on the island. The entire Rave family were superb dancers, and throughout the history of the island no one had ever beaten them in a dancing match. Many hopeful catboys had pitted their chances against him, only to be thrashed and to run with their tails between their legs. Still, that didn't stop people from trying to claim his title. Yet, so far, no one had managed to take it.

"Are you ready, Nikhi?" Kit asked, looking over to Nikhi.

Nikhi stepped up onto the dance mat built beside Kit, and positioned himself in the centre of the mat. Beneath him were the eight small squares on which he would dance on, each one marked with a different coloured arrow. Up in front of him was the screen that would show him his steps, which was currently showing the selection screen. Nikhi looked over to Kit.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm ready."

Kit nodded and pressed the buttons on the console in front of him, selecting the song that they would dance to. He chose his favourite and what was probably his trademark song - Rave Master. When it came to choosing the difficulty level he glanced over at Nikhi with a smirk before moving it to the Standard Level. Nikhi swallowed nervously. He was okay on Standard, but Kit was an absolute master.

"Just to see if you are improving," said Kit with a wink. He then selected the Standard option and stepped back up onto the podium beside Nikhi. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated hard, preparing himself for the dance ahead. Nikhi watched him. Kit always did that, but Nikhi could never figure out why.

Silence fell amongst the group as the two catboys prepared themselves. Seconds later the song started, booming out of the speakers and drowning out all other sounds from the arcade centre. At the same time Kit opened his eyes and focused solely on the screen, just as the multicoloured arrows rose out from the centre towards the points on the screen.

Kit moved instantly to the arrow destinations, slamming his feet down perfectly in time to the music. Bright lights shone down from the ceiling onto the dance podium where Kit was dancing. He moved expertly, hitting each step right on target, getting a `Perfect' every single time.

On the podium next to him, Nikhi also moved in time to the music. He saw the arrows moving up, and tried to keep up in time, but he could only really manage a `Good' status. He wasn't as good as Kit when it came to dancing. He had some cool moves and could beat many of the other catboys on the island, but no one could beat Kit.

Looking through the corner of his eye he could see Kit dancing. His movements were so fluid it was as though he had memorised every step, but that was because he had such quick reactions to the arrows coming up on the screen. Nikhi, on the other hand, wasn't as quick or as fluid, and was doing all he could just to hit every mark in time.

He could also see Kit's dancing screen, and his ever-rising score. The score bar was rising up rapidly with each step that Kit hit perfectly, and that was every step he took. Nikhi knew exactly what would happen when he hit the top mark.

Sure enough, within the next five seconds Kit's score rose up to the highest it had ever been. The bar glowed brightly, and the group standing behind Kit burst into a shower of cheers. The cheers distracted Nikhi from his dancing and he missed the next two steps, lowering his own score bar a notch.

"Go on, Kit!" Dani and Faria said, cheering Kit on.

A smile spread on Kit's face as he heard the cheers of his adoring fans behind him. He continued to power his way through the song, still hitting every step perfectly. He even dared to spin around on the podium before continuing with the steps. He truly was a Rave Master.

After another thirty seconds the song finally came to an end and the screen went black, and Kit jumped down from the podium to where the others were waiting for him. The other cats greeted him warmly, especially Alloran, who picked Kit up in his arms and spun him round in the air.

Nikhi watched silently as Kit and the other cats cheered his fourth victory. Nikhi couldn't help but feel a little put off by losing to Kit again. Kit was so popular among all the other cats; Nikhi often felt a little left out.

Seeing how put out Nikhi was looking, Makoto, who had been watching the dance-off from the sidelines, slid over to Nikhi and stepped up onto the podium beside him.

"You are improving, Nikhi," Makoto said with a smile. "You managed to hit every step that time. Soon you'll be hitting `Perfect' just as he does."

"Maybe," Nikhi replied. "But I don't anyone can beat Kit Rave."

He still looked a little disheartened, so Makoto leaned over and gave Nikhi a quick lick on his cheek. Nikhi jumped and stared, before his face turned bright red with embarrassment. Makoto tilted his head to the side, and his black hair fell over his eye. Nikhi stared at him, feeling his heart begin to pound again.

"Hey! Nikhi!"

Nikhi turned as Kit walked over to him, after breaking free from Alloran's tight embrace. The older catboy walked right up to Nikhi on the podium and stared him right in the face with a serious glint in his eyes. Nikhi stared back fiercely, and for a moment or two everyone around the dance machine fell silent.

Then, suddenly, Kit smiled. A happy, playful grin spread on his face, completely different to the competitive look he had when he was dancing. He then held out his hand for Nikhi to take. Nikhi hesitated for a moment before he took hold of Kit's hand and shook it firmly.

"You really are improving," the catboy said cheerfully. "But it'll still be a while before you can beat me, Ni-kun."

"Stop calling me that," Nikhi replied, sounding slightly harsh. Kit often treated him like a child, and `Ni-kun' had been his pet name by Kit for many years, ever since they met. Kit only used it to make Nikhi feel inferior, although it wasn't intentional.

Kit nodded, understanding, and let go of Nikhi's hand. "Well, whatever," he said, and turned away from Nikhi. "You'll just have to keep on practicing. Until then," he added, turning his head back to look at him. "You'll have to carry on being the second best to the Raves." He gave a little wave. "Catch you later, Ni-kun."

The catboy then headed off, with Alloran and all the other catboys and girls following close behind him, leaving Nikhi standing on the podium with Makoto beside him. When they were all gone Nikhi sighed heavily and sat down on the podium, once again feeling oppressed by Kit's apparent dominance.

"I don't think Kit means to be overbearing, Nikhi," Makoto said as the usual arcade sounds replaced the cheers of the others. "You shouldn't really let him get to you."

"I know," replied Nikhi. He kicked gently at the floor. "I just wish that I could beat him at something. I'm tired of being second grade to the Rave family." He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his tail around them. "Kit's always been the best at everything. I'd give anything to beat him. I bet he even sees a star be born before I do."

"Be careful of what you wish for," Makoto said, sitting down beside Nikhi. "Fortune doesn't always play the way you want it. You know the old saying, right?"

Nikhi nodded and sighed. "Yes, I know. You say it all the time remember? But still, I'd love the chance to do something exciting." He shrugged. "But here it's just the same old stuff. Nothing exciting happens. I challenge Kit. I lose. Everyone cheers. Even that weird dream was more fun, when I think about it." A minute's silence spread between him and Makoto, before Nikhi looked up again. "Why did you decide to come here, anyway? Why did you move here when nothing happens?"

Makoto shrugged. "I guess I just felt like I had to," he replied simply. "I don't know why. I just got up and moved here. And then I met you," he added, giving Nikhi a playful smile.

Nikhi couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah," he said. "Where did you live before?"

The question made Makoto fall silent for a moment as he thought about it, until he scratched his head and looked down towards the ground. "To be honest, I don't really remember much," he admitted. "It's been so long, and being here is just so nice, I guess I just blocked it out." He laughed nervously. "That sounds weird right?"

Nikhi shook his head. "No, no. It sounds really nice." He shuffled up closer to Makoto and took hold of his arm. "I think I can be happy here as long as you're here, too." He looked up into Makoto's eyes and smiled happily.

The castle gave a hefty shake as another dark wave slammed into the walls and pummelled its way into the castle. More than half the castle had been destroyed by now, and the castle gardens were pretty much non-existent anymore. Any grass that had been left behind had been sucked of all life, along with anyone else who had been unfortunate enough to fall in its wake.

"Come on! Hurry up already!!!"

Yugi turned round the corner of the corridor sharply, and nearly fell over as his boots skidded across the stone floors of the castle. He was barely able to keep his balance as he staggered sideways, before regaining his balance and running forward once again. The ground beneath his feet was shaking heavily as wave after wave slammed into the castle.

"I'm trying!" Yugi called back, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.

Running ahead of him were Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. During the chaos that followed after the strange cloud began attacking their castle, Yugi had been separated from his friends. He had nearly been caught up in the dark waves, until Seto had jumped in and pulled him to safety. By the time they had made their way into the castle Yugi's friends were nowhere to be found, so now they were running as fast as they could towards the secret chambers that lay at the back of Duelist's Castle.

As Yugi ran past a window he could see outside of the castle, and he was terrified by what he saw. Their vast, happy world has been rapidly shrunken down to a simple floating rock, with their castle being the only thing left standing. Everywhere where the land had been broken away had been replaced by a gaping hole leading down into a pit of nothing. The pit seemed to stretch into oblivion, and had a number of strange electrical waves and patterns flickering across it.

"Over here!" called Mokuba.

Yugi's attention was brought back inside the castle as he heard Mokuba's call, and turned quickly. He had to come to a stop very quickly before he ran into Seto and Mokuba, who had both stopped just a few metres ahead of him in front of a large wooden door. Yugi looked up - the door was huge, but he had never seen it before. In fact, he had never been to this part of the castle before.

"Where exactly are we heading to?" Yugi asked, his voice hoarse from him trying to catch his breath.

He watched as Seto reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a long but old metal key, and then began to try and turn the old lock of the wooden door. It was old and rusty, but it was still fairly strong.

"We're trying to get to the secret bays that were built when the castle was first founded," said Mokuba, turning to Yugi while his brother picked at the lock. "No one's really been in here for a long time, but the key's been handed down through our family for years."

He stopped and turned back to the door as Seto, after growing frustrated when the key wouldn't turn, stepped back away from the door. He suddenly lifted his leg and kicked it hard, and the loud echo of cracking wood rang throughout the corridor. The sound of falling rock replied to the call, and Yugi and Mokuba both turned in fright as they realised that another wave had struck the castle close to them. Seto looked back as well, before he kicked the door again.

The might of his kick sent shards of wood flying into the air, but the doors remained intact. Seto tried again, and this time the hinges of the metal lock guarding the door broke away a little with age. A loud crumbling sound made Yugi and Mokuba turn back again, and Mokuba cried out as he saw the dark, dreary effects of the energy waves reach the corner behind them.

"Hurry, Seto!" said Mokuba desperately. He was then pushed aside by Yugi as the boy ran forward and began to help Seto in kicking down the door.

Mokuba watched desperately as Yugi and Seto tried their hardest to kick down the door. It was still a tough job, even with the two of them kicking at the door. With each and every kick the door dented inwards just a little bit more, but the life-sucking effect of the wave was quickly closing in on them. With one final ferocious kick from Yugi and Seto at the same time the lock hinges finally broke apart and the door burst open, letting the three run inside.

Seto and Mokuba ran straight through the door and into the large open hall beyond, while Yugi stopped and looked around in awe. The hall was vaster than he could ever have imagined - it was about the size of two football fields, with a large hole in the side of the wall at the far end leading outside. There were numerous old machines in the hall, but nothing compared to the machine that was built in the middle of the hall.

Standing on large metal triads in the middle of the hall was a gigantic blue jet that clearly hadn't been used for a very long time. The strange thing about the jet was that it was built in the shape of a large blue dragon. Many layers of dust had covered the whole jet, and rust was gradually beginning to take hold of the blue metal plates that covered it. Powerful jets were attached to its wings and ankles, and a large, dust-covered panel was built on the head that was the cockpit.

Finally recovering from the shock of seeing such a large jet, Yugi began to run forward after Seto and Mokuba, who were running to the jet. "Kaiba, are you sure this thing will still work?" he called out to Kaiba, looking directly at the dust and rust that covered the dragon jet's metal framework. "I mean, how long has it been here?"

Kaiba stopped by the jet and ran his hand across the side of the jet, wiping away the dust. "It will work," he replied curtly. "This jet was built by my family. It is a very sophisticated machine and no matter what, it'll work for me." He patted the jet's side. "This jet won't ever fail me."

Yugi narrowed his eyes fiercely, and glared at Kaiba. "Do you expect me to just leave without the others? You're crazy, Kaiba!"

"Watch it, Yugi," Kaiba warned him sternly. He turned and glared at the smaller boy. "You seem to forget that our world is being destroyed as we speak. If you want to stay behind and be sucked into oblivion then go ahead. I won't stop you. So unless you want to die I suggest you get your butt in this jet now."

"I won't leave without Joey and the others!" Yugi snapped.

A loud explosion back in the entrance of the main hall suddenly interrupted the argument. The three boys all turned sharply towards the broken door just in time to see the walls around the door melt and fall away, replaced by the spreading dark pit that was consuming their world.

Realising what was happening; Kaiba dashed forward and grabbed hold of Yugi by the arm. He pulled Yugi harshly forward and threw him towards the jet. Yugi staggered and clutched onto the side of the jet, and one signal from Kaiba made him begin to climb up the side towards the cockpit. Mokuba quickly joined him, leaving Kaiba to unlock the triads holding the jet in place.

The dark pit began to seep through the broken doorway and spread through the rest of the landing bay. As with the outside area the rock quickly turned dark and crumbled away, spreading fast towards the jet.

Kaiba quickly ran to the first triad and began to type the unlock code for the triad holding the first of the two back legs in place. It was a hard task because he had never had to input the code before, and it was a complicated 10-digit code. Somehow he just about managed to remember it, and the triad unlocked itself from the first leg. At the same time Yugi had just reached the top of the jet, Mokuba just a few steps behind him.

"Hurry, Kaiba!" Yugi called out to him.

Kaiba muttered angrily to himself as he ran under the large body of the jet and came out on the other side, beginning to work on the final lock that would release the jet to their control. Glancing underneath the curved body of the jet he could see the dark pit zooming quickly towards them, already fairly close to the jet. He finished putting in the code he thought was right, but nothing happened. Kaiba cursed.

"Get in the jet!" Kaiba called up to Yugi. "Prepare for take off!"

"WHAT!?" Yugi cried back in horror. He nearly fell off the top of the jet he was so shocked. "Like I know how this stupid thing works!!!"

"It's simple!" Kaiba said. "The controls are basic! Mokuba can show you. Now get in there and prepare for take off!"

"But what about you?" came Mokuba's terrified voice.

Kaiba cursed as he input the wrong code for the second time. He glanced again underneath the jet and saw the dart pit with its strange electrified lines now no more than ten metres away from the jet. A loud explosion from somewhere deep within the castle suddenly boomed throughout the hall, and dust began to fall down from the ceiling - it wouldn't hold out for much longer.

"Yugi!" he shouted up as he tried for a third time to unlock the triad. "Get Mokuba in the jet now! Don't worry about me!"

Still standing on top of the jet by the dusty window of the cockpit, Yugi looked down at Kaiba struggling with the controls for the lock. He then looked towards the pit heading towards them, spreading across the old walls and making them unstable. He then looked at Kaiba one last time, before he turned and pushed the button at the side of the window to open the cockpit and let them inside.

A gust of old, stale air gushed out as the front part of the glass panes opened up, and the layers of dust slowly tricked down the side. Yugi took hold of Mokuba's hand and pulled the small boy into the jet, ignoring his protests for his brother to come with them. But he had no choice as Yugi pulled him into the jet.

Once inside the jet, Yugi quickly jumped into the pilot seat. He looked at the many controls set out in front of him - he had no idea which ones to use. He turned to Mokuba, who looked over Yugi's shoulder at the controls.

"I think you have to use these control sticks," he said, pointing to the two control sticks in front of Yugi. "And I think… this button… starts the engine… But we can't leave Seto behind - we have to wait for him."

Yugi nodded. He then leaned forward and pushed the button to start the engine. A quiet hum vibrated throughout the jet as the engine slowly came to life - Yugi was surprised that it still worked. He then took hold of the control sticks, and waited.

Down below Kaiba finally managed to key in the right code to unlock the triad, and the lock came off. The jet was immediately set free and floated a good few inches into the air, automatically beginning to rise with the engine activated. Hurriedly Kaiba grabbed onto the side of the jet and climbed up, just in time before the pit swept underneath the jet and across the ground where he had been standing. Kaiba then began to scramble up the side of the jet towards the cockpit.

Mokuba was at that time looking out of the window of the cockpit, leaning over to see his brother climbing up to them. He called out to Yugi, who was holding the control sticks firmly to try to keep the jet in place. He looked up as he heard a thud behind him, and saw Kaiba lying on the floor of the cockpit with Mokuba holding him happily. Yugi sighed heavily, before he pushed the control sticks firmly forward.

The jet gave a heart-jerking screech as the old engines began to use their power for the first time in years, and slowly began to move forward towards the exit, the cockpit windows sliding shut to seal them off. As the jet took off the hall gave another shake, and this time the ceiling began to crumble apart as the pit moved over it. Large rocks began to fall around the jet as it moved slowly towards the exit. With one final lurch the jet suddenly moved forward with surprising speed, now awake as they headed up and flew swiftly out of the door.

Once outside, Yugi pushed another button on the confusing control panel. As he did the large dragon legs lifted up and curled underneath the jet, and the giant blue wings spread out straight into the air to their full capacity, and the last two jets turned on and began to power up the jet's speed even more.

There wasn't much left of their world as they flew up into the sky. While Yugi piloted the jet out of the landing bay and into the air, Kaiba and his younger brother turned and looked out of the window. The castle was almost completely destroyed, enveloped in a pit of darkness that swirled around the castle like a liquid, the strange digital current continuing to flicker across it. The gardens and the surrounding land had been completely vanquished, and there was no sign of Joey or any of the others.

The Blue-Eyes jet continued to fly up into the sky, and Yugi tried hard not to look behind him. He didn't want to see what was happening to their world, or to think that his friends were being left behind, if they were even still alive. He piloted the jet straight up into the sky towards the borders of their world.

At least some of them would have survived.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter Five: A World Ends, A Journey Begins

EMERALD: And there you have another chapter! Please leave a review when you read this, okay? I really like to know what you think. No rude flames, please. It's disheartening and really puts me down. *flashes back to Digimon fic, which was removed after a rude flame 5 minutes after it was put up* Bad memories…

YUGI: *huggles Emmie-chan*

EMERALD: Aww. *huggles him back* Look out of the next chapter, folks!