Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ House of Cards ❯ White Light ( Chapter 2 )

Let's play the game
I'm sure you all know how
But watch yourselves, my foolish friends
You're all in my world now…

      &nbs p;     When Seto opened his eyes he was met with clamouring bright light and the sting of water. The light played and swam before him, blinding white, and a red blur, feet above. Bewildered and immobile, enveloped in wet warmth, he let the experience wash over him, too dazed to try to make sense of it. He narrowed his eyes, attempting in vain to see clearly, and then blinked. His eyelids too heavy, he felt himself slipping under again. ---  

“You have a lot of enemies,” murmured the long haired man, studying his array of monitors closely. “Yet somehow you have managed to slip through each of their fingers. But worry not…” He tapped a couple of keys. “I have studied them all very closely, and have learned from their mistakes.” He began to smile. “I will succeed where they have failed.”   ---  

      &nb sp;     A swimming blur of colours, blindingly bright, assaulted his eyes, and Seto squeezed them shut just as quickly as he had opened them. His ears still hissed, but as the dizziness subsided he was able to make out, peering through his colours of a room he vaguely recognised. When he again tried to open his eyes fully the brightness of the room was not quite so unbearable, and after several seconds of blinking he was able to see more or less normally. He found himself staring up at the ceiling of the entrance hall, just where he had fallen. He could remember what had happened clearly, yet that did little to help him understand it. Sitting up with a groan he gingerly supported his head with his hand, and looked around the hall. To his surprise, he was its sole occupant.

          &n bsp; “…Yugi?” he tried, not truly expecting an answer. Met with silence, he rested his elbows on his knees, waiting to feel strong enough to stand. “Well, this is new,” he muttered. A moment later and he was on his feet, only swaying slightly. “Pegasus!” he yelled, wincing at the effect the volume had on his fragile head. “What the hell’s going on here?” Again there was no reply, and he sighed. His eye caught one of the speakers and he gave a mirthless laugh. “No ordinary tournament, huh?” he said. “Another one of your stupid games. Well, I’ve beaten you before.”

         &nb sp;  Glancing about the hall again he decided upon an exit at random and set out, his steps becoming surer with every stride, until he walked, quite literally, into Joey Wheeler.

          &nb sp; “Whoa, hey, watch it Moneybags!” Joey exclaimed, trying and failing to save himself falling inelegantly to the ground.

          &nbs p; Seto growled, and foughtto remain dignified. “Wheeler.”

        & nbsp;   Joey rose to his feet, dusting himself off and shaking his lank hair back into its usual dishevelled style. “Right,” he said, shooting Kaiba another resentful glare.

            ; Seto folded his arms and sighed irritably. “What are you doing here?”

           ;  “Thought we covered that one,” the blond snapped. “Remember? Tournament, prize, you insulted me… jeez, you were there.”

         &nbs p;  Seto rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.” He glanced down the hallway, back the way he had come. “Where is everyone?”

         & nbsp;  Joey shoved his hands into his pockets and sniffed, “Beats me.” He strolled to Kaiba’s side, and followed his gaze until Seto noticed and looked inquiringly down at him. Joey laughed, scratched the back of his head, and proceeded to rummage in his jacket pocket for something. Seto watched him.

            “You’re not worried?” he asked.

            ; “Who, me?” Joey replied, pausing and pointing to himself. “Nah, o’ course not. Sure, it’s weird, but… Aha!” He withdrew a packet of cigarettes, slid one out, and placed it between his lips. With a crooked smile he offered the pack to Kaiba, who declined with a sneer. Joey shrugged and, procuring a lighter from somewhere about his person, lit up.

            “Since when do you smoke?” Seto asked, wafting a hand before his face to dispel the smoke and suppressing a cough.

            ; Joey shrugged. “A while. ‘Sides, who are you to be sayin’ stuff like that. What are ya, worried about my health?”

         &nb sp;  Seto raised his eyebrows. “Please.” He began to pace absently, glancing about the corridor. “You needn’t worry about me passing judgement on you. I’ve already done that.”

           ;  Joey shrugged again, leaning back against the smoothly plastered wall. “Whatever.”

             A long pause, then, “Do you know how this tournament’s meant to work? I don’t see any arenas, and we don’t have duel disks…”

        &nbs p;   Joey took a long, lazy drag on his cigarette before replying, with trademark nonchalance, “Guess you’re right there.” At Kaiba’s cold gaze he seemed to feel obligated to continue. “Maybe I’m supposed to challenge you,” he suggested.

          & nbsp; Seto gave an involuntary snort of laughter. “It’s supposed to be a challenge, Wheeler. Duelling you would be far too easy to even bother with.”

           ;  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Duelling monkey, blah blah.”

           ;  “Actually I was going more with Chihuahua, but monkey is fine,” Seto replied sweetly. Joey shot him an acid look, but Kaiba merely shrugged. “Oh, get a grip. What did you expect, an apology?” Wheeler gave an indignant “Huh” and looked away, frowning. “Stupid mutt,” Seto added under his breath, rapidly growing bored of the conversation. “I’m going to go find someone worth challenging,” he said scornfully, then as an afterthought, “Where’s Yugi?”

           ;  Wheeler seemed significantly less talkative than he had minutes earlier; he only gave a surly half shrug and said, “I dunno.” Kaiba moved to turn away, but stopped when the blond called after him. “Try headin’ upstairs. Seems to me that’s where he’d go. The old arena an’ all.” Seto looked at him in barely concealed amazement. “What?” Joey said, fidgeting.

          & nbsp; “Nothing,” Seto replied with a laugh. “It’s just that… that’s probably the most intelligent thing I’ve heard you say.”   ---  

Even in the darkest shadows of night, some say, will shine the light of madness. As such, in this particular darkness this light chose to manifest itself in musical form, and the quiet yet startling cheerfulness of the tune lent a certain calm to the ominous blackness of the dungeon.

          &nb sp; “Face up, face down,” the voice sang with vacant, upbeat rhythm, the lyrics half slurred, “stay on guard…” A sigh, followed by a churlish “Humph.” The dungeon’s sole inhabitant stared critically into the maze of shadowed corners, still tapping out a rhythm on the floor with one nail. “It’s shoddy, is what it is,” he said absently. “Not even a single guard. A man could get insulted, you know!” He raised his voice at this last comment, but nothing but dull echoes answered. “Face up, face down…” he resumed, apparent good humour defying his current situation, “Play your strongest card…”  

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