( the nightmare was )
When you wake, Tristan hits you in the face, but Joey holds him back from trying again.
“What are you doing, Joey? This…this jerk played the Orichalcos and lost Yugi’s soul and you’re just okay with that?”
But Joey shakes his head. “Da Pharaoh didn’t play it, did he?” He looks directly at you, and his shoulders slump. “Let’s see if I got dis all straight in my head. Yugi played the Oriwhatsit an’ it made him act wrong. Den, he lost his soul. An’ we’re gonna get his soul back an’ make dose bastards pay, but not by usin’ dere evil mind mojo card of doom.”
Your head’s swimming a little, and then you realize—you’re still wearing that cursed stone. You tear it off and your head feels clearer, though you want to cry and scream and hit whatever you possibly can. Or get hit. Yugi’s voice is telling you that you don’t deserve it, but you know that if he hadn’t stepped in, you would’ve played it, too. Yugi would also tell you that that doesn’t make you any more guilty than he was, that no one could resist its power forever, but he’s not here to say anything. Still, the thought make you feel more normal, and Joey’s speech…well, you’d hardly have credited him with it at the beginning, but he’s actually good at both summarizing and motivating. “That’s all correct, Joey.” You hesitate, but he claps you on the shoulder with one free hand.
“Don’ worry, Pharaoh. I don’ blame ya, any more den I blame Yuge for da things he said. It was that Ori-thingie talkin’, an’ you’re our friend, too. Friends stick togetha.”
Those are words you haven’t heard; you thought you were just included in the circle because Yugi was, but here’s Joey telling you you’re one of them. After centuries of darkness alone, you’ve found a circle of friends without even trying, and it’s all thanks to your partner. He brought you all together. He believed in you.
You won’t fail him; any of you. Joey sees the determination in your eyes and grins. It’s a little frightening, but it doesn’t bode well for your enemies, which…
You’ll win, you’ll beat them, and you’ll remember Yugi’s lesson. No one else is losing themselves to this evil, not if you can help it. And if you need a sobering reminder that rage gets you nowhere, you have one memory, close to heart.
As the duel continues, Yami feels his fury rising, but then, so does Yugi’s. It reassures him that this is a righteous cause, if even his calm, forgiving partner is angry. Still, there’s something different about Rafael than most of their opponents. How can someone so misguided play with such respect for his own deck? Part of him is starting not to care. All the people Rafael and his buddies have hurt are crying out for justice.
But the duel drags on, as Rafael continues with the same confidence that he’s going to lose, and the absolute dismissal like he isn’t even a threat stings in a way it’s never done before. He’s always been underestimated, so why is it this hurts? And their plan makes him sick.
Destroying the world, based on an assertion everyone is evil? How dare he judge?
Rafael plays Exchange, and he doesn’t realize, not at first, what he’s been given.
It’s the Seal of Orichalcos. He can’t play that. Not that card.
“We’ll have to rely on the heart of the cards,” he muses, but Yugi’s uncharacteristically silent. Even if it saves the world, though, he can’t use it. No matter how tempting, the power to save the world, to save his friends, he can’t. With all of his strength, he continues to resist, calling on his cards to do what he cannot. But it seems a losing battle, and he growls.
Yami feels a flash of impatience from Yugi before he’s forcefully shoved out of the way, and when he realizes what’s happening, Yugi’s standing in his place.
“Yugi! What are you doing?” he asks, reaching forward, but there’s a distance between them that he’s never felt, and Yugi doesn’t turn, doesn’t even acknowledge his presence.
“You’re going to pay for all the people you’ve hurt, Rafael!” he yells, and there’s something wrong with his voice. There’s a sneer to it that isn’t right. It isn’t his partner. “I play the Seal of Orichalcos!”
“Yugi, don’t—” The Pharaoh realizes, belatedly, that he’d been considering playing it himself, that it hadn’t seemed the absolutely dangerous idea that it does now. It plays on our weaknesses, our uncertainties. It clouds our mind. I’d thought that Yugi was unaffected, but it seems like I was wrong. And it’s too late. The Seal grows, shutting him out as Yugi had shut him out, and he’s the outsider staring in. “Yugi!” he screams, hitting against the seal, but there’s nothing he can do. It’s Yugi’s duel now.
“No one expects you to be the person you were then.” From the sound of the voice from the guy leaning against the railing, this is the ‘other one’ as everyone keeps insisting.
Kaiba allows himself an ironic smile. “I’m sure that’s a lie, Yugi. There are those who insist I don’t have a choice in the matter.”
Yugi blinks, then nods seriously, a small smile appearing. “You know, you’re probably right. But that’s a mistake. I’ve never met anyone who’s so skillfully managed to rewrite fate before.”
“I don’t believe in destiny, as you well know.” Seto sighs and joins his rival in staring out at the ocean. “But I’ll take that as a compliment all the same.”
The surprise in the plum-colored eyes is worth it. “Kaiba, you don’t really think that I wouldn’t hold you in high regard?” At the silence, he shakes his head. “You’re my strongest rival. Not respecting you would be like disrespecting myself.”
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