Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Memories of the Kuro Battousai ❯ Of Many Meetings ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I tried to kill the pain,
But only brought more.
(So much more)
I lay dying
, and I'm pouring
C
rimson regrets and betrayal.
I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming!
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too
lost?

My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!
My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!

D
o you remember me?
L
ost for so long...
W
ill you be on the other side
O
r will you forget me?
I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming!
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too lost?

My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!
My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!
(Return to me salvation!)

[Spoken:] I want to die!

My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!
My God, my tourniquet,
R
eturn to me salvation!


M
y wounds cry for the grave,
My soul cries for deliverance,
Will I be denied?
 
Christ,
tourniquet
,
My suicide...

...My suicide...
 
......My suicide......
 
Tourniquetby Evanescence
----------
Odelia sat on a branch of an oak tree, dagger in her hand. She watched at her image reflecting off the blade, her cold, violet eyes gazing into the reflection's cold, violet eyes. She craved blood, she craved release, and she craved to just hurt herself.
She stabbed the sharp weapon slowly, and painfully, into her wrist and dragged it agonizingly up her arm, making swerved lines and tiny swirls and zigzags as the knife began reaching her shoulder. Soon the cut was followed by more intricate, complex lines and markings. Blood began sliding down her arm, dripping from her elbow, and slowly raining from of her arm, and landing on the soil of the tree.
--
Title: Of Many Meeting: Yugi-tachi meets Odelia
--
It had been a hectic night for Yugi and his friends:
First, Seto Kaiba had arrived in Duelist Kingdom, a man on a mission to save his little brother. He'd come armed with a new weapon . . . the Duel Disk, a portable device that would enable a duelist to duel anywhere, rendering arenas unnecessary and even obsolete. To test the effectiveness of the Duel Disk, he dueled Joey . . . and wiped the floor with him in spite of Joey's powerful new monster the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Of course . . . the Red-Eyes' power paled in comparison to that of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon mastered by Kaiba.
Second, there was the Kuro Hitokiri Battousai. After Kaiba punished Joey with a humiliating defeat, this girl appeared trying to kill the cold-hearted CEO of Kaiba Corporation! And she was very frightening indeed—especially when she turned into a monster and almost butchered Seto to death!
And thirdly, the crew had run afoul of Panik, one of Pegasus' eliminators, specifically hired to “weed out” weak duelists. Panik had brutally defeated Mai Valentine and taken all of her star chips. When Joey saw Panik's cruel treatment of Mai, his first impulse had been to beat the brutish eliminator until he was just a smear on his fists. Instead, Yugi dueled with him . . . and won, his alter ego emerging to send Panik to a realm of unholy darkness.
 
--
Now Mai was traveling with them and Joey had been talking more than his usual amount of trash. Tristan theorized that the brash duelist was just trying to look tough for Mai, especially in light of the fact that he was still nursing his ego after Kaiba's vicious trouncing of him.
“I don't care who else has made it this far, I'm gonna kick all their asses and make it to the top!” Joey declared. “Nobody's gonna stand up to the power of Hurricane Joey!”
Mai sighed in slight irritation. “Must you go on about how `wickedly awesome' you are?” she asked. “It's kind of a bore.”
“Don't hate me `cuz I'm great, Mai,” Joey answered with a smirk. “Hate me `cuz I'll win this tournament.”
Just as he was about to brag some more, he felt a drop on his face.
“Is it raining?”
“Joey . . .” Bakura uttered.
“What?” Joey asked. “It's just water, right?”
“Actually, Joey . . .” Téa replied with a shiver. “. . . It's blood.”
Joey felt more drops land on his face. He reached up and touched one of the drops. He pulled his hand away so he could look at it.
“Who's bleeding on me?” he asked. “WHO'S BLEEDING ON ME?!”
The shout was accompanied by a red-cloaked girl falling out of the tree above Joey . . . and landing in his arms. The duo landed on the ground and Joey's hand accidentally slipped on the girl's chest.
Joey screamed.
“What are you screaming about?” Tristan asked. “I thought you'd like having a girl fall for you.”
“She's bleeding!” Joey yelled, then with a pause he suddenly screamed, “...And it's her—The Cory Hockey Battiesaw!”
The girl came to her senses and slipped out of Joey's arms, landing on her feet. “I know.” She bent down and picked up a bloody dagger. “I know, and it's Kuro Hitokiri Battousai, you baka inu.”
Then the Black Battousai laid her cold eyes on Joey's hands, which were still resting on her breasts, and looked up at Joey square in the eyes.
She didn't look too pleased.
Joey quickly panicked and looked at her with trembling eyes.
“Mer—mer—mercy...” The blonde begged shakily.
But in only a second....
“HENTAI!” The assassin screeched like a high-pitched banshee and kicked Joey straight in the gut, “TOUSAKUSHA!”
She attacked Joey and beat whatever was left of him after the duel with Kaiba. Joey let out screams and pleas in fear and pain, and the Black Battousai continued throwing punches and kicks at him while screaming Japanese.
Finally, Joey was sitting by a tree with a black eye, a bloody nostril, lots of bruises, and maybe broken bones.
“Ecchi,” the Black Battousai grumbled, “I'll kill you if you touch my bust again, that I will.”
“Is that your blood on that dagger?” Yugi asked, his soft voice and violet eyes filled with concern.
“Yes,” the girl admitted, brushing her hands from her dirty work on Joey. “So what?”
“Why are you hurting yourself like that?” Yugi asked.
“Why shouldn't I?” the girl asked, her voice a deadpan, “I need to hurt myself.”
“Why?” Yugi asked.
“Because I shouldn't have existed,” the girl answered in that same deadpan voice. “I'm an abomination, that I am.”
“Why would you call yourself that?” Joey inquired, staring at her with his one good eye.
“Because that's what I am,” the girl responded.
“Oh, great, another one of those gothic, `woe-is-me' girls,” Mai groaned. She stormed up to the girl and slapped her. “What is wrong with you that you feel you have to cut yourself?!”
Yugi, Téa, Joey, and Tristan gaped at Mai with shock while the girl spoke once again.
“You would not understand,” she said. “You would not understand at all . . . and if you did, you would wish you didn't.”
“What's your name?” Yugi queried.
The girl turned and began to walk away into the night. Before she completely disappeared into the shadows, she said one word.
Odelia.”
--
Raven, Starfire, and Miya landed in Duelist Kingdom.
“So we're here,” Raven spoke.
“Yay!” Miya cheered. “I'll get to see onee-san again!”
“Even though this Odelia is an assassin for hire, I am certain that if she is a relative of yours, she cannot be wholly bad,” Starfire spoke.
Raven resisted the urge to smile. “Your optimism is as touching as always, Starfire. For Miya's sake, I hope you're right.”
Raven and Starfire took off their knapsacks and opened them, revealing normal clothes they would use to disguise themselves. All Raven really had to do was take off her cloak and pull on a pair of black pants over her leotard. Starfire, on the other hand, had to change from a midriff-baring purple top, matching miniskirt, and thigh-high boots into a white T-shirt with a star on the chest and blue cutoff jeans with leather sandals.
Raven and Starfire also had to change their names to keep low profiles. Raven changed her name to Midnight Kurohane. Starfire changed her name to Kory Anders.
“As much as I don't wish to duel, we'd look less conspicuous if we looked like duelists,” Raven suggested.
“A good plan,” Starfire agreed. “But I do not wish to injure and rob innocent humans.”
Conveniently enough, the two Titans spotted a pair of sinister-seeming men walking by them . . . and they had duelist's gauntlets almost full of star chips.
“These men . . . they have no good purpose in mind,” Starfire uttered.
“You'd be correct,” Raven replied. “They're eliminators, hired by Pegasus to spice up the competition by out-dueling `weak' players.”
“Earlier I stated my lack of desire to injure and rob innocent humans,” Starfire said. “But these are not innocent humans.”
“Miya, wait here,” Raven whispered. “We won't take very long.”
“Ok, shukubo-san,” Miya whispered back.
Raven and Starfire—or rather Midnight and Kory—emerged from the shadows, ready to rob the two eliminators of their duelist's gauntlets. To their surprise, the eliminators simply removed their gauntlets and gave them to them, along with their decks.
“Huh?” Raven uttered.
“I am confused,” Starfire stated.
“So am I,” Raven agreed.
Miya giggled as the two eliminators walked away. “I told those mean men to give you their gloves and chips.”
“Your assistance is most appreciated,” Starfire said.
“Ditto,” Raven added.
“You're welcome!” Miya chirped. “Now let's go find onee-san!”
The three girls journeyed through Duelist Kingdom looking for any sign of Odelia.
“She's concealing herself,” Raven spoke. “Not just from our eyes, but from my empathic abilities as well.”
“That's all right, shukubo-san,” Miya said. “I'll find her.” She created a small energy raven and told it to find Odelia. Obeying her orders, the energy raven flew away.
“What if Odelia does not wish to be found?” Starfire asked.
“It doesn't matter,” Raven replied. “We'll still find her. She's in more danger than she realizes.”
At that moment, a shadow darted past Starfire, hidden within the trees and bushes. Starfire yelped in surprise and shot her starbolts at the shadow.
“Kory! Stop it,” Raven ordered sharply. “We cannot bring attention to ourselves. It'll interfere with saving Odelia.”
Starfire stopped shooting starbolts at the shadow. “I am sorry, Raven—er—I mean Midnight!.”
Raven sighed tolerantly. “Let's keep going. We still have to find Odelia.”
----
Kaiba stalked through Duelist Kingdom, his destination the castle in which his younger brother Mokuba was being imprisoned. Pegasus's goons could try their hardest, but they wouldn't stop him. Not even that strange, demonic assassin.
`Demonic?' Kaiba thought with a silent derisive laugh. `Please. There are no such things as demons.'
His musings were interrupted when he heard small explosions. “Misfired traps, maybe?” he surmised as he walked in the direction of the explosions.
--
Soon enough, he found three girls. Two appeared to be about his age, while the third was obviously much younger. The leading girl was petite, although he'd wager that she was taller than Yugi, and her hair was colored a very unique shade of purple. The other teenager was tall and very tan, even if that tan was slightly orange, and her hair was a vibrant scarlet. The little girl also had purple hair and looked somewhat like the leading woman—but with a much more cheerful appearance.
He looked closely at the girls and saw that the older girls were wearing duelist's gauntlets with the star chip slots almost completely filled.
`Don't see many girl duelists around these parts,' he silently remarked. `Were they the cause of the explosion I heard?'
He decided to shadow them for a while, solely to satisfy his own curiosity. Now that he thought about it, the little girl reminded him of that assassin - only far happier. She was practically skipping, for crying out loud.
Unfortunately, his shadowing was interrupted when he heard the purple-haired girl say, “You can come out now, whoever you are.”
Kaiba stepped out of the shade that the trees had provided him.
“Who are you and why are you following us?” the red-haired girl asked, her voice sweetly accented.
“I don't see why I should tell you that,” he replied.
“You are the most arrogant person I've ever met,” the purple-haired girl stated in a dark monotone.
“You're not the first to call me that,” Kaiba stated with a smirk. “So? Who are you?
“I don't see why I should tell you that,” the purple-haired girl answered, repeating Kaiba's words perfectly.
Then she added a bit to her response, “Stalker.”
Kaiba chuckled. “You're an interesting girl, you know that?”
The teen billionaire could have sworn he saw something flicker in the purple-haired girl's eyes. Embarrassment? Confusion? Some amalgam of the two?
It didn't matter. He'd wasted enough time with these girls. Mokuba was still in Pegasus' clutches and he intended to free him.
“Whatever. I've wasted enough time here.” He started to walk away. “See you later.”
`What an ass,' Raven thought.
--
`He called us interesting!' Happy shouted joyfully and bounced about and off the walls of Raven's mind. `I think he likes us!'
`Arrogant punk-ass!' Brave declared, not really caring about the happier personality of Raven and utterly disagreeing with the fact the man could like Raven. `We should have whooped him good!'
`Are you sure?' Timid asked, once again trembling in fear. He's really scary . . . and really cold.
`Aw, come on, he's not that scary!' Happy insisted cheerfully. `And he's kinda cute, too!'
`Yeah, for a conceited jackass,' Brave added, putting sarcasm in the mix of her words.
`Billionaires tend to be full of themselves anyway,' Wise added knowledgably.
`You mean that was . . .?' Brave started to say.
`Seto Kaiba,' Wise finished. `Odelia's target.'
--
“Midnight? Midnight?” Starfire asked.
Raven returned to the real world. “Sorry, Kory. You were saying?”
“I was saying that was a very unpleasant boy,” Starfire replied. “He spies on us and then he behaves in such a condescending manner toward us!”
“I think he was just sad,” Miya said.
“Sad people do not behave in the way that that boy behaved,” Starfire declared.
“He was trying not to look sad,” Miya explained simply.
--
“I don't believe that girl,” Mai said, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks a bit in frustration. “What's the point of cutting yourself up?”
“Try to be understanding, Mai,” Téa pleaded. “She might have just had a really bad life.”
“Not all of us have perfect lives,” Mai admitted, “Doesn't mean we all cut ourselves up.”
“She's creepy,” Tristan said. “And I don't mean in the good way.”
Yugi said nothing, but his Millennium Puzzle's eye suddenly glowed. But unlike its usual golden glow whenever the Other Yugi came out, it was glowing black. “What's happening?” he wondered.
“Something wrong, Yug?” Joey asked.
“My Puzzle is glowing,” Yugi replied.
The glow spread throughout the entire pyramid-shaped pendant . . . and exploded outward, catching Yugi and his friends within it. When it faded, they found themselves in a school.
--
“Hey . . . it's an all-girls school!” Joey exclaimed as he raised his fist up in the air. “SWEET!”
Téa whacked him upside the head. “Would you focus, please? We need to figure out how we got here!”
“I think the Puzzle brought us here,” Yugi said. “Somehow.”
“School,” Mai uttered. “Never one of my favorite places.”
“The other girls hated you, didn't they?” Joey surmised. “Kept stealing all their boyfriends, did'ja?”
“Not my fault I was that much hotter than their skanky asses,” Mai grumbled with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Hey, guys, I think that's Odelia!” Bakura exclaimed as he pointed at a redheaded girl sitting at a desk in the back of the classroom.
The others turned around and saw that it was indeed Odelia. Her expression was a deadpan, just like it had been when they first met her, but there was clear sadness in her eyes. Oddly enough, it seemed she had grown just a bit shorter and looked younger. The other difference was she was dressed in some kind of kimono too.
“Hey, check out the freak,” one of the other girls in the classroom whispered to the girl sitting next to her.
“Yeah, I hear she's a witch,” the other girl whispered back.
“Uh-huh, I bet that's why Janice is sick,” the first girl whispered. “She got cursed by the witch.”
The two girls snickered cruelly.
Yugi and Mai turned to look at Odelia and they saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. Odelia turned away from the girls and stared out at the window, gloomily.
“Why, you goddamn stuck-up skanks!” Mai yelled. The two girls paid her no mind. “Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you, damnit!”
“I don't think they can see or hear us,” Yugi said. “In fact, I don't think any of this is real. At least, it's not real now.”
“What do ya mean?” Joey wondered.
“What he means is that we're somehow living Odelia's memories,” Bakura clarified, “You can tell because Odelia looks just a bit younger. This must have happened a year or two ago.”
“So if we're living Odelia's memories . . . this must be why she's the way she is!” Mai concluded.
Then she looked at the younger version of the Kuro Battousai, noticing the tear slipping out from the corners of Odelia's eyes.
“And...” She added sadly, pitying the poor teen, “Maybe this is how she felt when I scowled at her and called her another one of those gothic, `woe-is-me' girls.
--
The vision ended and Yugi and company found themselves back in the real world.
“That was a trip,” Tristan remarked.
“Yeah,” Joey agreed.
“We've got to find more duelists so we can get ten star chips and enter the castle,” Yugi stated. “We've gotta get in there so we can rescue Grandpa.”
--
“Pegasus, sir, Kaiba is still alive,” Croquet reported.
“I already know that,” Pegasus answered him in his usual calm and normal tone, “It looks like our Kuro Hitokiri Battousai isn't all she's cracked up to be after all. Find her and dispose of her. I don't give my employees the opportunity to fail twice.”
“Yes, sir,” Croquet said with a bow and walked out.
Pegasus stood up and walked to the window. A smirk grew upon his face as he held a glass of wine within his palm.
--
“Ah, yes, Odelia Himura,” Pegasus cooed with a few chuckles, “You may very well get past my guards . . . but you won't get past me. . . .
--
To be Continued...
--
Kris1rad: I would like to thank my co-writer, Kokuryu, for writing up this story. I also have a special announcement to make for all faithful fans and fans-to-be. Once I revise the other 4 chapters of Memories of the Kuro Battousai (Chapter 1 has now been revised.), I will create a “Memories of the Kuro Battousai” on Deviant Art where fellow fans can create tribute arts and short stories to other fellow fans and see artworks/short stories done by other fans. The link to the fan club will be sent along with Chapter 6—which I do not plan on making until I revise my previous chapters. Thank u again, to our fellow fans of “Memories of the Kuro Battousai,” and I hope you'll enjoy being a member once the fan club is up.
Glossary:
Tachi-used like “Mr.” or “Mrs.” Except instead of being formal, it usually means like “Yugi's gang” or something.
Baka inu—(Direct translation) idiot dog
Hentai/Tousakusha/Ecchi-pervert
Onee-san-big sister (with respect)
Kurohane-(Direct translation) Blackwing
Shukubo-san—aunt (younger then one's parent, with respect)