Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seth's Magical Adventure! ❯ Sparklefire: An Alternative to Ammunition ( Chapter 22 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and he can't believe Egypt's going to war. He'd have thought Zork was enough. Zork was a letdown to me.

 

The wait proved to be much more tiresome than Seth ever would've thought possible as the large ship sailed slowly through the clouds, the other three sailing just slightly behind it. At first, he contented to just sit in the seat quietly, watching as Sith spoke to Atemu, or as the other high priests talked amongst themselves, but eventually, that became too repetitive for his liking. Everyone seemed to be discussing the war, and Seth would've done anything to block the conversations out after the first twenty minutes. But the only solutions were magic, and neither priest nor Esper would deem it wise to deafen one of their own.

 

After he tried futility to remain in his seat, eventually Seth gave that up and stalked to the windowsill, watching with disinterest as the clouds drifted. He could barely see Bahamut up ahead, the dragon's form ripping through the clouds as though they were cotton candy. A few of the more irritated soldiers wanted to open the windows just to see if they could actually rip off a piece of the puffy substances, but stern glances from Sith always kept them in check. Seth just sighed. This was easily his least favorite aspect of war. Waiting was like the enemies' form of mental torture, and by the time Bakura actually walked over to the sill, Seth began to wonder if anyone could actually die from mental dormancy.

 

“Bored as hell too, right?” Bakura asked, his voice popping Seth out of his inner slur. The priest side-glanced the thief coldly, but didn't object to the company. Considering that they were on the same team, it'd do best for him if he showed at least a little kindness, even if Bakura didn't entirely deserve it.

 

“What if her entire plan is to make us wait so long that we just give up?” Seth suggested, almost joking. Bakura snorted, crossing his arms as he sat down on the sill, looking into the field of swirling white and blue as they dove into another cloud. The higher they climbed, the more the sun poked through, revealing a beautiful day. Seth almost cursed it for being so lovely.

 

“If that were the case, I doubt she'd have attacked at all,” Bakura reasoned, a smirk crossing his face, “Try again.”

 

“Go away,” Seth growled, definitely not in the mood to banter around with Bakura. He leaned on the sill, resting his head on one arm as he looked out the window. He could almost feel Bakura's smug expression on his back, but didn't bother to turn around. He didn't need to see Bakura's all too familiar grin.

 

“Aww, come on. You have to do something while on this thing,” Bakura said, throwing his arms up in exasperation. Seth glanced back, but remained absolutely reluctant in his speech to Bakura.

 

“I am doing something,” he pointed out, “I'm sulking.”

 

“And what a waste of time that is, too,” Sith said, coming up behind the two, “You could be listening to the ideas Mahaado's been planning. I have to say, priests are much sneakier than I'd have thought.” Seth turned to throw a glare at the Esper, but Sith was already walking away, heading toward where Cyd was steering the ship. Curious about what she said, Seth turned to find Mahaado, Karim, and Isis sitting at one of the tables with two Espers, a map of some sort sprawled on the table. He couldn't hear what was being said, but it was something of great importance. They spoke in low whispers at the loudest. He nudged Bakura, and the thief looked down at him, mildly bored with whatever Seth could possibly enlighten him with.

 

“They're speaking, and I can't hear them,” Seth pointed out obviously, “What are they saying?” Bakura raised an eyebrow, almost amused that Seth would be asking him to eavesdrop. He turned to the group in question and narrowed his eyes. But, like Seth, he couldn't hear anything particular. He turned back to the priest.

 

“And you honestly think I have better luck?” Bakura retorted, just a slight scorn in his voice, “Wow, you must be desperate to waste both your time and mine. Why not go over and ask them?”

 

“Because that'd require interaction I don't want to instigate,” Seth sighed, returning his stare out of the window, “I'm going to sleep this trip off. Wake me up when something interesting actually happens.” He closed his eyes to try to drift off to sleep. Bakura grunted in annoyance, but Seth didn't bother to open his eyes. He wouldn't let a thief disrupt him. For a moment, all felt silent as Seth casually let his mind wander, ignoring the noise as soldiers behind him hustled around the ships, carrying messages or just trying to pass time. But, then even those noises began to subside. Seth was curious as to what was going on, but no one spoke. He didn't feel the ship land, so he didn't think they'd landed yet, unless the ship's transition was nearly flawless. Then, he felt something outside stir, and opened just one eye. And then he screamed as he saw a huge mouth filled with teeth. A roar filled the air as many human soldiers near one side of the ship screeched and inched away, and then most of the Espers just laughed heartily. Seth, who'd fallen over from a near heart-attack, just staggered up. At the window was one large, golden eye. A dragon's eye.

 

“Was that interesting?” came Tiamat's highly amused voice, and Seth grumbled angrily. He never expected Espers to play such tricks on people; he thought they were all as straightforward and dry as Sith was. Tiamat's eye blinked, and everyone felt a rumble as she chuckled, obviously feeling her little trick was quite clever. Seth turned away indignantly, and Sith looked over, giving a half-smile and rolling her eyes in disbelief at the older Esper. Atemu tried not to laugh at Seth's expense, but Bakura didn't even bother hiding his amusement. He practically rolled off the sill in laughter. Seth shot him a furious glare before storming over to Sith, who was probably the only one who wasn't outright laughing at the incident. She watched him patiently, crossing her arms slowly as he stopped in front of her. His anger subsided just slightly, as he was somewhat grateful that she wasn't actually laughing at him.

 

“Tell those Espers to stop trying to give me a damned heart attack,” he growled. Sith let out a chuckle, unfolded one arm, and patted Seth on the shoulder.

 

“If you expect me to stop them from making the atmosphere a bit lighter, then you're going to be disappointed, Priest Seth,” she replied calmly, shaking her head, “I don't have control over anyone here, even if I'm rightfully their queen.” Seth's eye twitched just a bit, annoyed as he was with Sith's answer. He glanced toward Atemu for some form of guidance, but the pharaoh seemed to agree with Sith, for he nodded.

 

“That's how power works, Seth,” he added, smiling serenely, “Just because Sith and I are figureheads in our societies, that's all we are. We can't control anyone's actions just because we don't like them.”

 

“If you could, then you'd be no better than Rath,” Sceppiro finished, and Seth just sighed. He only meant to ask them to tone down the disruption, not to control their people with an iron fist. But he could see their points. Even if they asked, there was nothing that could actually keep anyone from annoying Seth. He lifted his arms in mock surrender, raised a brow, and turned to take his seat back at the sill. Bakura was still there, though he actually did manage to crash onto the floor. He was currently trying to shoo away two guards that had come to help him, and they left reluctantly, half-worried that the thief actually hurt himself. Bakura watched them go with wary intent, and then grinned when he saw that Seth was returning. He patted the seat next to him, but Seth just became determined to stand up. He told himself a thousand times already to not do whatever Bakura said; oftentimes, it always made Seth look like an ass.

 

“Well, that was a bit of fun, wasn't it?” Bakura asked, almost sarcastically. But Seth knew Bakura derived some form of pleasure in watching Tiamat play with him. Seth just huffed impatiently, and Bakura's grin lessened only slightly as he said, “Relax. We're all trying to keep our nerves down. With the battle coming up, you really want us to go fighting with our nerves wound as tight as a lyre?” Seth's lips thinned. Technically, Bakura did have a good point. If they went into the battle, nervous and on edge, that was just a recipe for absolute disaster. Not even Sith would be able to control the chaos. Seth climbed onto the sill next to Bakura and stared intently over the horizon.

 

“Maybe so, but I don't want it at my expense,” he replied, his voice remaining surprisingly even. Bakura blinked, noticing that Seth didn't seem nearly as mad as he'd thought. Seth smiled weakly, looked over and asked, “So, aside from laughing at me, what did I miss?” Bakura's clueless expression just worsened with that question. Was Seth's attempt at comradery… genuine? He looked at Seth for just a second longer, his eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the question. Then he too looked out at the bright sky.

 

“Well, I did ask Mahaado what he and the others were planning,” Bakura answered, unsuccessfully trying to keep his surprise out of his voice, “Apparently, they're trying to decide which entrance into Aeroglyph should be used for the ground forces, and what we can do to get inside of the castle.” Seth hummed a bit as he thought on that. He'd only been in the castle for a short while, and the only entrance he saw was the front one. Unless they were planning on using the windows, he didn't see what the point was.

 

“Isn't it better to ask Sith or Sceppiro about that?” he asked, perking a slightly bewildered brow at Bakura's reply, “They should be able to tell us, even if the castle's changed, right?” Bakura's lips pursed as he tried to think of an answer that wouldn't completely topple Seth's straining calm. He had asked that to Mahaado himself, but Mahaado politely told him that Sith and Sceppiro were already busy with making sure all of their units were kept in control. Bakura ended up just shrugging.

 

“With the exception of the short time we spent, Sith hasn't been to Aeroglyph in years,” Bakura reminded him, “And Sceppiro didn't utilize a lot of advantages Aeroglyph has. Even if they did know, we can't assume that the passages will still be there.”

 

“Then what about the fleets that came from Aeroglyph?” Seth inquired. When Bakura looked at him skeptically, he slipped off of the sill and said, “Look, I want to trust Mahaado, but we can't poke around blindly. Have they even asked any of the Espers?” Bakura nodded, and pointed to where Mahaado sat. Two Espers were indeed sitting with him as they poured over the maps laid on the table. Isis had left, Seth noticed, and Karim was discussing something with Shaddah. But Mahaado was definitely working as diligently as he could.

 

“I don't respect any of you, but none of you are stupid enough to plan ahead without consulting an Esper when it comes to their territory,” Bakura stated, almost grimly, “I doubt any of them can guess what Rath might've done to Aeroglyph now, though. It's been hours since the first shot was fired. She might have completely shifted the castle again.” Seth snorted. He remembered clearly when that happened, and they just happened to be trying to escape from Aeroglyph. He had wondered then, and was still wondering now, if Sith even knew Aeroglyph could shift. He couldn't remember if he brought it up, but if he hadn't, it would surface sometime soon. The priest leaned back a bit, careful not to let his back slip off the side of the window pane. The sunlight felt soothing against his skin, despite being so high in the air.

 

“It might be safer to assume she had than to say she hasn't,” Seth commented, slowly closing his eyes, “It's better to brace ourselves for something disadvantageous than to get our hopes up, eh?” Bakura glanced at him, and then laughed, patting the priest's stomach in encouragement. That was a rule he tried to implement on any other thief he passed, and it had circulated into a given law among his kind. Any weakness, even mental, had to be avoided unless someone wanted to die.

 

“You're actually thinking like a thief!” Bakura remarked, proudly. When Seth snorted smugly, Bakura's grin widened and he said, “No, seriously, I'm very surprised! Guess my intelligence is rubbing off, eh?” Seth snorted again, and opened an eye just in time to see Sith pass them both, lightly smacking Bakura on the back of the head. He rubbed where she had hit him, and looked at her intently. She turned just slightly and smiled warmly at them both.

 

“Don't get arrogant, Bakura,” she reminded gently, “What Seth said is merely common sense. It's better to prepare for danger than it is to count on unchanged safety. That way, no matter what, nothing comes as a shock. If indeed she hasn't changed Aeroglyph again, then it's just a small blessing from the gods.” Bakura's grin didn't fade, although his eyes did narrow a bit from Sith's words. Seth just gave out a small chuckle at Bakura's expense, and sat back up, shaking his head. Leave it to Sith to deflate anyone's unwavering confidence in themselves. He looked over at Bakura, and the thief's expression was almost comical at that point. He stood up and lightly shook a fist at the knight.

 

“Yeah, well, ask any thief along the Nile about that one, my dear!” he exclaimed, “They'll all tell you that Bakura, the king of thieves, taught them that lovely, little rule!” If he actually expected to impress Sith, he was disappointed. All his efforts managed was an amused laugh from the knight as she walked over to where Ruon stood with his own legion of soldiers. They spoke briefly, but in the language of the Espers. Seth scowled in annoyance, because that meant he couldn't understand a word of what they happened to be discussing. Bakura side-glanced, snorted smugly, and said, “They're discussing what form of physical combat is best. Ruon thinks guns are acceptable, but Sith is worried about ammo and accuracy. She wants it to be clean and fast, and she's thinking on the way of the sword. Big surprise on that one.” Seth's eyes widened as he just stared at Bakura in disbelief. Bakura's grin just kept growing as he looked upon Seth's flabbergasted face.

 

“How in all Hell can you know what they're talking about!?” the priest demanded, his voice threatening to break in exasperation, “They're speaking in Esper!” Bakura just snorted and returned his gaze to the sky outside, trying not to let too much smugness into his grin.

 

“Remember the Esper I said I knew back at the docks?” Bakura reminded, “He taught me. That, and my thief senses give me unnaturally good hearing.” Seth just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He highly doubted being a thief actually did anything to improve one's senses, but he wasn't in the mood to argue something that seemed so pointless to him. He looked back over to where the knight had once stood, but both she and Ruon had left. Seth frowned, wondering where they had gone in the split second that neither he nor Bakura had been watching. He looked back at Bakura, who was enjoying letting the sun shine on his face.

 

“Thief, where did Knight Sith go?” he asked curiously, and Bakura opened one eye when he heard the bit of worry in the priest's voice, “Did you happen to see?”

 

“Er… no, but…” Bakura yelped as the ship suddenly jolted to a stop, and everyone within was thrown backwards. Both he and Seth heard books being slammed off of the shelves, and trinkets being broken from the weight of everyone on board the ship. Immediately, Bakura rolled off of the sill, his agility allowing him to retain his balance whereas most everyone else was struggling to get off of the ground. His brows pinched in frustration, he ran across the large room and toward where Cyd was trying to control the wheel. But, the pilot seemed angry with something unseen as sweat collected on his brow.

 

“What the hell happened!?” Bakura demanded, trying to help Cyd with the wheel. But something was jamming it. That's what had caused the ship to stagger to a violent stop. Cyd grunted as he tried to free the wheel, and then let out an outrageous sigh, slapping the wheel with a force that really should have broken it.

 

“Ship's been jammed!” Cyd yelled, throwing his arms up, “Damned line's been put on a stop!”

 

“What… could've… done this?” Sceppiro asked, struggling to get out from under Atemu and a larger Esper, both of which fell on him during the airborne crash. Seth saw Sith emerge from a pile of books near the back, Ruon and a third Esper struggling to help her out.

 

“Someone needs… to ask the dragons,” she called forcefully, “They'd know.” Seth nodded grimly, and quickly thrust open the window nearest to himself. The wind had died down completely now that the ship was halted, and the clouds that used to ripple underneath the ship were at a complete standstill. It all felt eerie to happen so suddenly, but Seth ignored that for now. He stuck his head out and looked around frantically for any sign of either dragon.

 

“TIAMAT!” he yelled as loudly as he could, “TIAMAT, BAHAMUT, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!” He felt a rush of air, and screamed as he pulled himself in. Tiamat came rushing to the ship's side, having heard the frenzy in Seth's voice. One of her golden eyes filled the window as she looked around at all of the scattered, dizzied occupants within the room.

 

“What is it, child?” she asked urgently, her gentle voice calming down those that had begun to lose their nerve. Seth stopped shivering and regained his posture, the initial shock of Tiamat's large frame exiting his mind.

 

“We've been halted. What's going on?” Seth demanded, though not unkindly, “We can't even get the wheel back.” Tiamat's large eye blinked, but it was Bahamut who answered. His voice sounded farther away, and Seth had a feeling he had actually gone to investigate what could've been happening. Bakura came back to the window at that point, and Seth noticed that he looked far graver than he had been before. It sent chills up the priest's spine.

 

“We've been spotted,” Bahamut replied grimly, his voice sounding slightly faltered from the distance, “It appears that she knows how we're planning to attack. She's frozen our engines with powerful spells, and I'm not even sure I can break them from this distance.”

 

“Damn it!” Bakura hissed, and Seth turned to him, true fear etched on his face, “She's going to destroy the dragons while we're stuck here, unable to fight her!” Bakura's fists clenched viciously, his eyes narrowing in hatred at what was happening. Seth was almost taken aback by the thief's anger toward the setback; it was as though he could see that they'd lose the dragons. Seth bit his lip, trying to figure out how to calm Bakura down, but two crashes near to them caught both of their attention. Everyone saw glass shattering, but whoever had jumped had moved too quickly to be identified. At least, too quickly at first. Everyone watched as two more dragons now emerged; one golden with a silver streak going down its head, the other silver with purple markings on its face. Bakura's face drained of color. He knew them instantly.

 

“SITH!” he screamed, as he and Atemu ran to the windows that had broken, “Sith, stop! Come back!”

 

“Sceppiro! Sith! Come on, ya idiots! Don't be rash!” Cyd also yelled, hoping to draw them back before they were hit, “GET OVER HERE BEFORE I SHOOT YER DAMN ASSES!” But they knew they were too late. Sith and Sceppiro continued off with Tiamat, soaring through the sky in a haste that no magic alone could've conjured. Everyone else watched in silence, no one believing the turn their battle now took. How Rath could've seen this, Seth could only guess. He had been sure their plan was stealthy enough for Rath to not be able to put a complete shutdown on, but then he remembered that no one had brought up the question of security for the dragons. That was a flaw, and now it was kicking them hard.

 

“What do we do now?” he asked, turning to Atemu, Bakura, and Cyd, all three of whom looked completely defeated by the departure of their best warriors. The answer should've been to retreat, but Seth knew too well that they had gone in too far; retreat would take far longer than just continuing their attack. But without either Sith or Sceppiro to control the flow of damage, Seth couldn't be certain of how long they'd last, either. Atemu turned to him, his face hard with the realization that they were severely screwed.

 

“We have no choice but to find a way to get into Nesce,” he replied, “We can't run away, and even if the ships are stationary, we can use them as decoys now.”

 

“WHAT!?” Cyd screamed from behind him, and both he and Seth turned, slightly struck with the power behind the old Esper's voice, “You honestly telling me we're going to let them destroy my ships!? My BABIES!?” Atemu's eyes widened in terror as he backed away from Cyd, who was glowering with absolute outrage at the idea. Seth didn't know whether to have expected that or just run from the room, and only Bakura seemed the least bit in control of his feelings. He put a hand on Cyd's shoulder to calm the older man down, and Cyd snapped to glare at him as well, despite him not having said a thing.

 

“Relax, old fool. No one's said anything about destroying your ships,” the thief replied, “The pharaoh simply suggested it, and I happen to think it's a bad idea. If we lose these ships, we can't do anything to her. Ground forces alone can't stop her, especially if she uses the sky to battle.”

 

“Then what can we do?” Mahaado asked him, supporting Shaddah on his shoulder, who had fallen into a bookcase from the crash, “Bakura, we can't stay here or we might die.” Bakura looked at Mahaado flatly. That was true, but even if they abandoned the ships and continued on foot, their lives were no safer. And it'd make it nearly impossible for either Sith or Sceppiro to land safely if they managed to help the other two dragons. It was a difficult situation.

 

“We'll die regardless of what we do,” Bakura reminded him, “Everyone eventually dies, priest. The question is, which way will keep our asses out of the fire the longest. And, I think staying up here's the answer. If Sith thought we'd be in danger, she'd have told us to leave before jumping out there herself.” Mahaado opened his mouth to argue, but simply ended up closing it a moment later. Bakura was right; Sith would've instructed them before just leaving the way she had. Seth glanced around the room, studying the faces of all the soldiers and warriors participating in the battle. Most of the humans were terrified, confused, and looking ready to collapse in fright from what was going on. However, nearly all of the Espers seemed to be controlling their fear. Only the youngest had difficulty. Ruon especially looked like he had almost expected Sith to jump. That made Seth curious, as he wondered just how well Bakura actually translated the conversation the guard had with Sith.

 

“I think Bakura's right,” Seth stated, and everyone turned to him in complete surprise, their mouths dropping open, “If we don't stay, and Sith and her brother come back, they're not going to have any idea where we are and what happened. Rath's trying to force us all to attack from the ground. That'll give her the advantage entirely.” Bakura just blinked, half-wondering if he heard Seth wrong. The priest never agreed with him before; hell, Seth never appeared to agree with anyone before, but here he was. Seth glanced at Bakura, and nodded his head to tell the thief to continue with his speculation. Bakura hummed, and then inclined his head slightly.

 

“What we need to make sure of is that we can still use the cannons on our ships,” he said firmly, “Cyd, are they frozen?” Cyd's brows pinched in a frown, and he turned back to the wheel, turning a smaller gear on the panel. They heard a cranking of something large moving on the deck, and then Cyd's usually confident grin returned as he snapped his goggles onto his eyes.

 

“They're workin' just fine, boy!” he exclaimed proudly, giving Bakura the thumbs-up, “She ain't even freeze `em!” Bakura just snorted; they weren't entirely helpless now. He grinned, looking at Atemu, Mahaado, and Seth for approval for him to continue with his plan, and all of them nodded. Despite him being the last person who should be leading the kingdom, all three of them were interested in just how far his plan would be going. He turned back to Cyd.

 

“How far can they fire?” he asked. Cyd tapped his chin as he recalled the answer.

 

“These ones? I made `em special. They'll stay airborne until they slam into a target,” the old Esper replied proudly, “I didn't want to take a chance that we'd aim short and take out our own men!” Bakura's lips pursed, not knowing if he should've pointed out that if they aimed entirely wrong, the ballistic would stay airborne until it hit anything, including something thousands of miles from there. Cyd just seemed so proud, and he hated to dash the Esper's spirits. He decided to let it slide, knowing the likelihood of a misfire was very small. He could see Aeroglyph from there, its high peaks poking through the sky like a large, black crystal.

 

“Then we can shoot down the citadel from here,” Bakura told them all, “We might be able to win without so much as moving as long as we can hit them.”

 

“And what if we kill innocent Espers in the process?” one such creature asked, and Seth recognized him as Vanargand, from when he snuck into Aeroglyph, “There are still many people inside the citadel who couldn't escape.” Bakura's eyes widened. He had assumed everyone had escaped Aeroglyph, but now, he knew that would've made things too easy. Rath left the cannons on purpose, as if to tell them that even with weapons, no mortal was a match for her. He cursed, his brows pinching in anger as he tried to think of an alternative plan. But with their ships frozen, there really wasn't much they could do. He knew she was trying to herd them to the ground.

 

“We can't go on foot,” he said grimly, “That's what she wants us to do.”

 

“Do we wait for Lady Sith to return?” Mana asked, tugging Bakura's cloak. Bakura just sighed heavily. He didn't know what the answer was. And he doubted Sith would have any more luck than he was having. After all, he was a thief, and getting out of situations like this was his specialty. He reminded himself that as he continued to rack his brain. People were counting on him to succeed, as he knew he'd taken charge of the battle with Sith gone. He breathed deeply.

 

“No. Sith will be exhausted when she gets back,” Bakura answered, “For now… I think all we can do is bluff.” He felt many, many pairs of eyes settling on him in disbelief, and it almost made him wince. True, that was the worst plan to come up with, considering how boxed in they were, but if they could actually scare Rath, that'd stop her attack on the dragons for just a little while. Unfortunately, the problem right then was convincing everyone else to give it a try. No one looked willing to risk it.

 

“A bluff? Are you serious?” Seth asked, raising a skeptical brow, “Thief, you understand how truly idiotic that sounds, don't you?”

 

“Well, what else do you want!?” Bakura snapped, and when no one could provide an answer, he continued, “Look, we can't do a damn as it stands. Rath is going to try taking out the dragons first, and they're our best bet right now until someone fixes the engines. If we can get her attention off of them long enough for the four of them to slaughter everything that could oppose us on the way inside, we stand a much better chance of winning. The question is, are you all going to help me, or do I need to do this alone?” People all around shuffled nervously, none of them knowing just how to answer. Bakura was right, in the end. Something had to be done to help the dragons. Bakura waited patiently for an answer, but none was given until Cyd snickered. And then, the old Esper just laughed, patting Bakura on the back.

 

“That's a good speech you gave there, boy. You got me convinced!” he exclaimed, and turned to the rest of the crowd, “All right, ya damn sissies! We're gonna help Bakura with his little plan here, so if yer too scared of a little fire, get the hell off my ship and crawl back to Egypt with yer tail between yer legs! If not, help me load the cannons with Sparklefire! On the double!” Bakura was impressed by the results Cyd had on everyone. Immediately, many Espers, and many humans, followed the older man out onto the deck, carrying barrels of a substance Bakura couldn't name. He saw just a glimpse of purple powder, but couldn't actually be sure of what it was. He just knew it wasn't actual cannon fire. He turned to Seth, who also watched the crowd moving with sheer amazement. Cyd was definitely good at ordering everyone around.

 

“…Sparklefire?” the priest repeated with a snort, “What the hell do you think that is?” Unfortunately, Bakura didn't know. He just watched as Cyd loaded the powder into the cannons, speaking quickly in the radio he carried to alert the captains of the other three ships into doing the same. If he hadn't known how serious Cyd actually was, he'd have thought it was a joke; the powder glittered when it fell to the floor. He could only imagine what sort of distraction Cyd was actually going for, and had to laugh at the Espers and their ideas concerning weapons of war. Glitter was one he'd never think of. Smiling widely, he simply leaned back as Espers and humans alike hovered around the cannon nervously as one brave soul lit the fuse with a long match. Any second, they'd see just what this Sparklefire could do.

 

“Whatever it is, I have a feeling I'm going to love it,” Bakura replied, and silently counted down the second as the fuse burned toward the end, where it would set off the first of many explosions. Bakura could hardly wait to see it.

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

And so, even though Sith and Sceppiro left the fleet to help Bahamut and Tiamat evade Rath's attacks, it looks like Bakura pulled through with an attack of his own, however unusual it would be. With Cyd taking care of the distraction directly with his usual gruff attitude, all should go well for them. At the very least, Rath will see something she deems as a second threat. But, will they actually be able to help the dragons escape? How much damage will Rath do if she does attack the ships? Will the remaining prisoners in Aeroglyph escape to the safety of Egypt? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!