Yu-Gi-Oh! Codex of Shadows [IC/PG-16/Always Accepting]

[Dova]

---

“This Court of Shades is in session.”

Court of Shades? Yet another hint of the depth of this organization that Toshiro had now gotten himself involved in. Although he was a little miffed at being denied access to what seemed to be the “power chair” as it were, he hadn’t expected to be accepted this quickly, and so stepped back a little to observed the forthcoming events.

Tomoya said something that Toshiro couldn’t quite catch over the hubbub around him, but he managed to see a case being deposited by a woman in front of him. He couldn’t quite make out what was in the case, but by the small rectangular shapes and a few of them reflecting ambient light, it seemed to be a bunch of Duel Monster cards. Toshiro couldn’t hold back a sigh, even though he knew there would be more coming. It seemed anti-climactic.

Tilting his head slightly to get a better look at the unfolding events, he noticed the woman in front of Tomoya was staring daggers at him. He shifted uncomfortable, not because of the stare, but because this woman seemed close to Tomoya in this chain of command, and a bad opinion might change the boss’ own. Then again, Tomoya didn’t strike Toshiro as the kind of guy who would be easily manipulated.

“Good. Once prepared, these simple vessels shall poison this city’s denizens with their own darkness. In the meantime, the plan also requires two other elements: The monolith and the raw materials.”

The Monolith? Raw materials? Toshiro’s feeling of ignorance intensified upon hearing these words, but he decided to just sit back and keep trying to take it all in. He needed to stay on top.

---

[◇ Void ◇]

Yami Tomoya’s head turned as the sound of a sigh besides him, with Toshiro appearing disheartened at the sight of cards. He could sympathise: The spirit had not anticipated how the future had shaped the legends of the shadow games into a mere activity for children, which had also somehow become a worldwide obsession on par with other mysterious concepts, such as the “smartphone” and “selfies”.

 

“Not impressed, are we?” Yami Tomoya arose from the throne, clutching the Millennium Rod in one hand and the Codex of Shadows in the other, which was flipped open to the middle by careful handling. Eyes shut, Yami Tomoya mentally focused his powers inwards with sheer willpower. The Hunters grew wary as his form began to shimmer with a glittering inferno of darkness, spitting flares of utter chaos around the halls that condensed the very air around them.

 

The flares collided with some of the railings, encasing them with violent shards of ice. The hunters at the very front, including Tilda, fled to the back in a panic of being hit themselves: A fate that one unfortunate hunter went afoul, who became encased with a silvery sheen in a terrified mid-run. Yami Tomoya smiled as that beautiful demise, his iris’ now brilliant cold flames. The Millennium Rod was held up, awash in the same alchemical power and directly pointing at the case of cards. “The first law of Shadow Alchemy is simple: Sacrifice is inevitable.” He declared, experiencing recoil in his arm as the Rod acted as a conductor for the Miasma, blasting it in a concentrated beam into the cards. With a few seconds of exposure the cards themselves took upon Yami Tomoya’s power, becoming Cards of Power. As the power subsided, Yami Tomoya felt drained, quickly retreating into the comfort of the throne.

 

“Ugh…This form’s vitality is puny.” Complaining mentaly, his form was looked more fragile as the veins in his face protruded across paler skin, and the overweight figure seemingly shrunk down a size within a minute. “Now we have these to collect the Dark Souls we need. Hunters, I command you to distribute these to as many duelists across the city, and then install duelling frenzy in however manner you see fit.” Confusion took over from the terror: Why on earth would they want to give away cards was the obvious dilemma in their faces.

 

An insulant voice emerged from the back: “We hunt cards: not give them away!”

 

Yami Tomoya took a single breath in silence, ready to counter. “Consider this an investment. These cards will transform upon contact into the wielder’s desire, but in return it will corrupt them, and in time their soul will become forfeit. We will then harvest them for our plans.” There would be a pause, as the group considered the idea. “Now be gone, and conduct my will!”

 

The Rare Hunters swiftly departed with bunches of  of the Miasma’d cards into their hands until the case laid bare, apart from 3 card blanks at the bottom. The only ones left on the platform would be Yami Tomoya, Tilda and Toshiro, while the frozen Hunter stood besides the walkway cut-off.

 

“Meanwhile.” Yami Tomoya’s head turned with care to Toshiro. “We need a few Kilos of Gold.”

[Dova]

---

Yami Tomoya glanced at Toshiro before saying, “Meanwhile, we need a few Kilos of Gold.”

Toshiro hesitated slightly, then nodded. While it did seem like a large amount, he had been expecting a lot more to be requested in terms of raw materials or funds. Maybe this was just the first, but it wouldn’t be hard to do. He had just received a tonne of Gold in payment for a smuggling operation he had carried out, so it wouldn’t be hard.

“As you wish.” Toshiro gave a little bow. “I’ll have it ready for you this afternoon. Would you like it delivered here or to some other location?”

---

[◇ Void ◇]

Yami Tomoya had slight shivers as his body reacted to the continuing cost of the Shadow Alchemy. The game that he played now was maintaining a balance of internal control.

 

“H-here. I don’t care for the size: Ingots, coins or jewellery. It is going to get melted down anyways.” He then turned cautiously to look at Tilla, who stood in her passive-aggressive, cross armed stance. The body language just reinforced the distain between herself and the strain that her group had undergone in a few hours. “Tilla, you think you can salvage one of the small smelting furnaces down there, on the factory floor?”

 

“I can get a couple of the techs on it.” Was the cold reply, seeming concerned more by the fact that she was still there. Yami Tomoya read the tone perfectly, frowned, and gave an equally cold response. “Then go and see it done. But before you both go…” A pause broke to allow a convulsing shiver to pass along his spine. Then one of his weakened hands arose to point towards the card case. “I want you both to take one each.”

 

“That meddler from the tower is out there. If he somehow crosses your path, use these.” Tilda took the far right card and slid it under her robe, before courting away like a phantom in the opera along the walkway. Yami Tomoya had little else to say to Toshiro; closing his eyes and resting his weary head back into the throws of the throne.

[Dova]

---

“H-here. I don’t care for the size: Ingots, coins or jewellery. It is going to get melted down anyways.”

Toshiro nodded briskly. A part of him thought back to the diagrams he had caught a glimpse of within that strange tome, the construction of...something, seemingly using gold as well. He quickly put the thought out of his mind; now was the time for action, not second-guessing.

Toshiro turned to leave, assuming his dismissal, as Yami Tomoya began to converse with that other woman who had looked at him so unapprovingly. However, before he could move far, the weakened being in the throne called out to him again .“But before you both go…” A moment of silence, giving Toshiro time to look back at Yami Tomoya and catch sight of him gesturing towards the card case. “I want you both to take one each.”

He tilted his head slightly, confused as to why he would need a card, but Toshiro decided to merely respond with, “Thank you.” He had seen enough to know that this wasn’t the time to ask questions, and in any case, there was definitely more to it than it just being a trading card.

After grabbing the softly glowing card, Toshiro took his leave, following the path of the building towards the door that he had opened only a few moments before. A few of the other Rare Hunters still glanced at him with confusion and what could be interpreted as disgust, but his presence among them during Yami Tomoya’s displayal of his powers seemed to have transmitted his alliance more clearly to them.

The cold winds blowing in the dockyards would’ve been enough to make the most warmly dressed man wince, but Toshiro was too caught up in the preceding events, trying to align them his own thoughts and views. A gave a soft chuckle as he neared his vehicle, the bodyguards within snapping to attention upon seeing their boss. What a day. Toshiro had not been expecting anything like this upon entering the Chateau a mere day ago, and, if he had, he would’ve easily paid the price or the entrance ticket a dozen times over just to be involved. These thoughts whirled around his head as he stepped into the vehicle, not giving his men a chance to open the doors for him, but he focused long enough to order them to take him back to their base of operations. And that they did, leaving Toshiro to plan ahead at the back of the car as they drew out of the derelict place around them.

Half an hour later, he was exiting the car, this time with the help of his bodyguards. Stepping towards the discreet entrance of his destination, Toshiro was clearly back to his old self, or at least, mostly. He carried himself with the same air he had for most of his life, an aura of smugness and confidence around him, however an observant person could notice the slight tension in his face which had been there since his escape from KaibaCorp Tower with Yami Tomoya. His pride had been bruised, but it had certainly been worth the cost.

Rapidly typing on several keyboards, Kevin glanced up from his booth as his boss moved closer. He noticed the change immediately, but quickly dismissed. After all, psychology wasn’t in his job description. So, he closed several windows on the monitors around him and opened a text document just in time to receive some orders from Toshiro.

“Go through our collections of valuables. We need, let’s say, 50 kilograms of gold, on hand.” Kevin nodded as he typed this down, then turned back to face his boss. Toshiro noticed the questioning look on his face, so he added, “It’s for our...partner. Also, access the KaibaCorp security cameras. Try to locate a gold cube. You’ll know when you see it, it doesn’t exactly fit in.”

And, on that mysterious note, Toshiro turned and headed to his office.
.

---

[◇ Void ◇]

Yami Tomoya’s strength faded in the absence of Tilla and Toshiro, leaving the possessed villain in a comatose slumber to be cradled by the throne; his body wallowed in the plush velvet padding. Within his mind however the clouding influence of the Codex of Shadows sent the neurons within sparking, vying for domination. Yami Tomoya’s spirit now existed in the realm of the two minds, standing within an endless corridor of stone. From a single candle upon a ledge, two iron doors existed. The one in front had a small visitors hatch, allowing faint glimpses within, while at his back the other door was embossed with the Eye of Wadjt, seemingly staring eternally. Yami Tomoya gently pressed the base of the front door with his foot, creaking it open.

 

The room was of a small space, not much bigger than a couple of prison cells slammed together, decorated by dark navy wallpaper. Dust and dirt was dragged though as Yami Tomoya’s sneakers treaded into the carpet. It also crackled as he stood upon a pile of computer hardware he did not recognise, cracking them. Cables and wires crisscrossed the room, with only the occasional sparking wire or attached bulb providing illumination.

 

The normal Tomoya laid slouched in a leather office chair, his long hair and head resting on a traditional ornate desk. Eyes shut, the spirit took the opportunity to slip his cold fingers though a portion of his host’s mahogany hair. It felt coarse and untreated as they glided though, until reaching a slither of glass embedded within. It had belonged to a shattered photoframe besides Yagi, badly faded and desaturated from his attempts to supress it.Yami Tomoya simply gazed at it, deciphering the image of some kind of Marina in the background. Two figures stood in the foreground close together, with one arm of each them resting on the other’s opposite. The faces had completely been faded away, but a hint of mahogany hair could be seen on the left.

 

“Hmph. Sleep tight.” He lightly tapped his captive on the head, retreating back to the endless corridor.

 

Like a mother looking over a sleeping child, Yami Tomoya took care to slowly slide the door closed without noise, before locking it with a bronze key from his inner-jacket pocket. Sighing, he rotated his body around to face his own room, kicking it open with force. Yami Tomoya walked into the utter darkness within his own soul with confidence.

[Dova]

---

“Any luck with the footage from the KC Tower?”

“None, sir.”

Toshiro gave a huff of disappointment as he continued to pace within his office. He wasn’t normally an impatient man, but these recent events had certainly set him on edge, even with the few hours he had had to himself to mull it over after returning to his complex.

After pausing mid-stride, he called back to his secretary with the same insistent tone as before. “How is the gold collection coming along?”

“We’re just finalizing the details now.” You’d think that a criminal organization could get things done quickly with no questions asked, but those kinds of groups tended to be most chaotic. If you wanted to maintain control and stability, you had to incorporate some sort of system. And with systems came rules.

Desperate to have something to occupy his mind, Toshiro threw his eyes about the room. He had just dealt with a few transactions with a rival black market, but knew it was unwise to start anything big now. Not with this operation about to progress.

About to give up and return to pacing, some shiny on the edge of his desk caught Toshiro’s eyes. Focusing in on it, the rectangular object became clear. The front of a Duel Monsters card. A blank, but familiar, card. The one given to him by Yami Tomoya when he had left his compound. The parting seemed more like a century than a few hours ago.

Toshiro stepped closer to the table, his hand reaching out for it. As it drew near, he felt the familiar cold sensation that had been with him ever since he first picked it up. He had felt it around Tomoya as well, but it was much stronger in...whatever the card had now become. The strange aura had also been present around Yami Tomoya, but it seemed much more tangible here.

Toshiro had been purposely avoiding it for a while now. He had never been an avid player of Duel Monsters, and he had never been one for the supernatural. The seemingly great involvement of both in the various chaotic incidents that had taken place over the past two days had forced his acceptance of the two, but he still shied away from it. It wasn’t something he willingly welcomed into his life.

Picking the card up as he swung around to sit on his office chair, he examined it more closely, ignoring the now increased cold sensation. Now that he was able to get a good look at it, Toshiro was sure he could see a vaguely purple flame around the edges of the card. It was ethereal, silent, and incorporeal, but he couldn’t deny it was there.

A press of a button, and now a portion in the center of Toshiro’s desk rose up. Placing the card neatly on the top of this platform, he proceeded to open up some holographic screens around it. For a moment, part of his old personality resurfaced, well, how he had felt before all of this, and he chuckled. He had found his challenge.

Finding out what the hell was going on.

---

[Sluggaholic]

"...You mean to tell me that all this was because of some idiotic hallucination you had, whilst grappling with a terrorist?"

 

"Idiotic? Hallucination?!" Emfur pounded upwards, disbelief splashed across his face. "I-- you-- what?! How can't you believe me?! Do you think I'm just some child who gets rattled by the most mundane of situations?!"

 

Dextrio narrowed his eyes, and stood himself, his grey eyebrows set. "You wouldn't want me to answer that anyways. Not with your elevated heart rates." Gesturing towards the chair behind his charge, he asked for Emfur to sit. However, the boy was too riled with disbelief to do so, his bandaged hands clenching together. In the back of his mind, Emfur almost felt off not clutching the Cube, but in his foremind he was glad to not have its edges rubbing into his cut hand.

 

"Elevated? And why do think they are like that, hum? Could it be because of some infuriatingly stubborn butler who doesn't know when and where to throw away his skepticism?!" Emfur spat back at Dextrio, whose eyebrows simply set even further in response. His clean shaven lip twitched some, but not enough to give way to visible anger. "What do I need to do to prove it to you?! Bring the maniac here?" Throughout the boy's tirade, Dextrio remained silent, eyes locked with his young master's, no emotion seeming to escape the old man. And that infuriated Emfur even more. Though he wasn't the kind to get frustrated easily, the old man always seemed to know just how to tick him off.

 

"You know what? Screw it! I don't need you to tell me what I do and do not know, Dextrio!" With that, Emfur angrily snatched up the Cube, and stormed through the door, leaving his butler behind, his form solid, and yet with his young master now gone, resonating with anger. However, the composed old man would not let Emfur's childish actions and thoughts perturb him. He had a much more dire matter to attend to. Pulling a phone from his pocket, he quickly snapped its case open, and tapped across its flat surface, scrolling through hundreds of different tabs, searching with intense vigor for what he'd been looking at, whilst he waited for his young charge to appear here.

 

"...Ancient spirits... Hmph." Dextrio shook his head, his wavy hair bouncing forth and back. "I had told Master to not read those children's tales to young Master. But of course, he did not listen. Now look at the child..." For a moment, the hard exterior Dextrio always had about himself cracked, loosing what almost seemed to be parental affection for the boy. It was quickly sealed, though, and he returned to his robotic exterior. No matter how much he cared for Emfur, his lies would not be tolerated. Though he could no longer discipline the boy at the age he was, that did not mean he wouldn't find some way to reprimand him. That, however, could wait. More... pressing matters were at hand.

 

- - - - -

 

"Treating me like a child... who does that Dextrio think he is?!" Emfur growled, clenching the Cube just a bit tighter. Though his words were laced with anger, a bit of regret tinged them. He hated fighting with the one person he could ever look to being his father. Still, Emfur thought, as any sentimentality was pushed from his mind, no matter how much Dextrio loved him, he had no right to doubt him so. After all, this Cube of his-- Emfur brought the Cube to his face subconsciously with this thought-- was more than proof enough. It was very clearly NOT a bomb, so there was no way he'd have stolen it from the alleged terrorist.

 

"...Whatever. I suppose finding Mokuba is not out of the question." Emfur attempted to run a hand through his hair, only to wince as the dust-coarsed hair scratched roughly against the bandages around his hand. "Tch. Forgot about those..." Deciding it was best to let his hand rest, free of any painful distractions, Emfur slithered his hand into his slack's pockets-- though that in of itself was an ordeal.

 

Walking aimlessly, Emfur's path was soon given purpose when a soft thudding sound reached his ears. Turning to his right, he was surprised to see a door there that he'd not noticed before. Curious, he rested the arm in which he held the Cube's elbow upon the handle, and then pushed down and out, swinging the light door inward. What scene lay before him was... most concerning. Not so much that Mokuba appeared to be striking an old man, but more so that it just happened that old man was Pegasus: a man Emfur revered.

 

"What in the--!!" Dashing in, and getting a better understanding of the situation (though Gekko's shocked-- or maybe horrified?-- expression didn't do much as far as explanation went) Emfur locked his eyes in on Mokuba and Pegasus. The old man was pinned, Mokuba's young, fit body being more than a match for the elderly Game Maker's. "Mokuba, what in diety's name are you doing?! That's Maximillion Pegasus!" Emfur was impassioned to rush to Pegasus's side, but with one hand cut to high hell and back, and the other preoccupied with the protection of the precious Cube, he was in no means to drag Mokuba back-- not without perhaps choking the Kaiba. Instead he opted to glaring with a swirling mix of confusion and deep anger. Though he didn't personally know Pegasus, like the older Kaiba, a deep respect for the creator of Duel Monsters was set in Emfur's heart for Pegasus.

[ParadoxCaller]

Boarding the train at Domino City Station Sora was glad the weekend was finally here. She had been really preoccupied with school this week in particular, which was a shame since Tomo had been sick for a couple of days now, and she hadn't had time to visit him. They had been texting of course and he made sure he was okay, but she still didn't like this unexpected solitude that came from not being able to commute with him to and from school. "He's certain he's going to be fine on Monday he says!", Sora thought to herself as she took a window seat, just as the train slowly started leaving the plattform, "I'm just gonna have to take his word for it I guess.".

The cityscape of Domino City flashed by outside of the window, and was eventually replaced by trees and endless forest. "That event at the Lake Pegasus Centre seemed to be something out of this world. What I wouldn't have given to be able to have gone there.". She sighed a bit to herself. "But then again, that Rare Hunter attack didn't sound very fun. Hope no one got hurt.". The train made it's first stop on the way before it would pass Vermillion Hill. "Also with the commotion going on at Kaiba Corp. I wonder what's going on?". The train moved onward.

Sora took out her deck from her backpack. She hadn't really felt like visiting the Black Clown today after school. It just wouldn't be the same without Tomo. But she still brought her deck, she always did. Going through the cards one by one she couldn't help but get a bit sentimental, thinking back to the time she first started dueling with school counselor Ms. Sakura. How wierd it was that dueling helped her come out of her shell and become a better person.

- Next stop, Vermillion Hill -

Sora snapped back to reality. She put her deck back into her backpack and got up from her seat. Standing by the door she noticed a poster on the wall for the gala at the Lake Pegasus Centre Resort, where the unveiling of the legendary Millennium Items as well as other ancient egyptian treasures would take place. "It's not fair. I also wanted to go.". She couldn't help but pout a little at the sight of the poster.

The train slowed down as it entered Vermillion Hill Station and stopped. Sora got off and made her way through town until she was home. Her mother greeted her from the kitchen the second she stepped inside and asked her if she'd had a good day, as ususal, which Sora replied she had, as usual. Her mother informed her that dinner would be in one hour, as usual, since her father wouldn't be home until then, as usual. She went to her room where she unpacked her things, changed into her regular clothes, and undid her hair. As she loosened the braid, her eyes fell on the reflection of her scars and she paused for a moment. "It's been ten years now, but the scars are still there.", she thought to herself. She remembered Tomo mentioning something at some point that you could get surgery to get rid of old scars, but where would she get the money from to do someting like that? "Sora, could you come and help me real quick if you're done?", she heard her mother from the kitchen. "Sure!". Sora let the thought of her scars go for now and hurried to be done with the braid, then she went to help her mother in the kitchen.