The Games: Reload
~ Chapter One ~
by Yuen
"Why are you here?" Wu Kong stared into Bandit Keith's red irises.
"Simple," the fused youkai gave a little laugh. "Revenge. On all of the bastards who destroyed me!" His laugh turned into an all out, evil, insane howl of laughter. "MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!" Thus the all mighty Evil Laugh of Doom (TM) was born.
Wu Kong felt shivers down his spine. This guy was obviously clinically insane. The mad glint in his red demonic eyes said it all. And for the first time in his life, Wu Kong felt truly afraid.
"And now the first step of my plan will be put into action," Keith grinned maniacally. "VORTEX OPEN!" Wu Kong was blown back by the the sudden blast of raw power, and he almost hit the trees behind him. As he braced himself, skidding to a halt, he felt an enormous surge of power in the sky -
And heard a plethora of screams which started out faint and slowly became louder in a smooth crescendo which ended in a series of thuds on the ground. Wu Kong blinked. Was it him, or had a group of strangely dressed people just fallen out of the sky?
"Yami, are you okay?!" "Yes, I'm fine Yuugi, but can you get off me please?"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?! - Ouch! Anzu! Get off me!" "Oops, sorry, Jyounouchi."
"CRAP! My hair! Oh my god, Shizuka is that you?" "Onii-chan help~ Mai-nee-chan's squashing me!"
"What are you doing down there, Otogi?" " (grumbles) Man, Honda, and I thought I was seme!" ".... (sweatdrop) "
"I'm so sorry, Yami!" "Hah! As if your weak mortal frame could do any lasting physical damage to the greatest tomb robber of all time! Seriously, you need to add more weight Ryou - waitaminute WHERE ARE WE?!"
"Mokuba! Where are you?! Mo - (plop) Oof." "(sitting brightly on Kaiba's back) I'm here, onii-chan!"
"Ack! My poor ROD!! (Millennium Rod sticking out under Malik) ...Um, Yami? Yami Malik?" "Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!"
(collective sweatdropping)
"Rishid! How did we get here?" "I... I'm not sure, Isis-sama..."
"Pe-Pegasus! What are you doing here? And where is HERE for that matter?" "Ah, Mr. Mutou. I'm sorry to say that I don't know where are we at the present moment."
At that moment, Bandit Keith the Youkai let out another volley of evil laughs which got everyone's attention. "Bandit Keith!!" Everyone was on their feet, staring at the fusion of man and youkai.
"Not entirely accurate, but it'll do," Bandit Keith smirked. Pegasus was the first to react.
"What's this place? How did we end up here?" Pegasus demanded. "Was it... you?"
"Of course!" Bandit Keith bowed with a flourish of his hands. "I... have powers that far surpass anyone present, be it your shadow powers" Yami, Bakura and Yami Malik growled at this "or the powers of an immortal." Now only then did the Yu Gi Oh people notice Wu Kong at the back. He was staring at them with his eyes popping out, wondering if all this was just a nightmare - a very weird nightmare.
"This place is in ancient China, in a time where Japan doesn't have the name of Japan yet. Oh," Keith shook his index finger mockingly at his the outraged yells of his victims. "Don't worry, you won't be here long, just long enough to complete the first stage of my plan for - REVENGE!!" Here Bandit Keith felt compelled to torture his enemies with another long bout of the Evil Laugh of Doom (TM). "Wow, that guy has an eviler laugh than me," Yami Malik whispered to Malik.
"Keith, some of the people you brought here didn't harm you in any way at all, " Pegasus said, forcing himself to remain calm. "Why them?"
"Because I want you to watch your friends, your family, everyone that is dear to you suffer," Keith answered promptly. "Also, because I hate the Millennium Items which have caused me such suffering." His eyes regained that insane glint. "Plus, the more people there is to torture, the better, isn't it? The more the merrier!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA!!" This was greeted with gagging noises and mutters of 'This guy's sick' and 'I knew Bandit Keith was insane, but not this insane'.
"So! Enough of chitchat!" Keith clapped his hands sharply. "Let the fun begin!"
"You think we're just going to lie back and let you do whatever you're going to do to us?!" Jyounouchi yelled.
"I, as the King of Games, challenge you to a duel!" Yami proclaimed. "If I win, you have to send us all back and not bother us again."
"Oh, Yami, Yami, don't you think I don't know your love for games?" Keith said soothingly. "I have an epic one, all planned out just for you and your helpless little friends..."
"Oh, and what makes you think we'll accept?" Pegasus said, staring at Keith, eye narrowed. The other eye socket, void of the Millennium Eye, was partly revealed by his flying silver hair.
"Pegasus." Bandit Keith turned towards Pegasus and smiled sadistically. "I have... other things in store for you. After all, I can't let you have the luxury of fighting for your life. I want you in my grasp, helpless, unable to do anything to help yourself, and then I'll - " Here Keith stopped. "But then I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you, would I?"
Suddenly the wind increased its ferocity, forcing everyone to drop to the ground, covering their eyes. Before anyone knew what was going on, Wu Kong screamed in fury.
"MASTER!! MASTER, BA JIE, WU JING!!!!" His Golden Fiery eyes, uninfluenced by the wind, saw clearly what was happening. San Zhang, Ba Jie, and Wu Jing, together with Pegasus, Rishid, Isis, and Mutou Sugoroku, were unconscious and disappearing into a black vortex.
"Jin Gu Bang GROW!!" Wu Kong shouted as he lunged towards Keith, staff lengthening in hopes of striking him and stopping the vortex. Keith smirked before phasing out at the last moment. 'He's fast!' Wu Kong eyes widened. Before he could continue his attack however, he was distracted by yells and screams near him. Then he saw what they were shouting about.
The whirlwind had ceased. "Grandpa! GRANDPA!!" Yuugi was screaming, tears flowing down his eyes. Yami was staring, horror-struck, at the vortex which had sucked in his hikari's grandfather.
"Isis!! Rishid!!" Malik yelled. Fear and anger were written clearly on Yami Malik's face, his protruding veins even more pronounced than before.
"Where are you taking them, Keith?!" Mai and Anzu shouted at the smirking villain. The rest looked on in mortification as the vortex finally swallowed up its victims.
Wu Kong screamed in anger. "KEITH!!! I'm going to KILL you!!" He released a flurry of strikes at the youkai. Surprisingly, Keith dodged them all. The Yu Gi Oh gang looked on in disbelief as the two fought in the air.
"Is that that the best you can do?" he smirked while dodging Wu Kong's continued assaults. "Surely the Great Sage Equal of Heaven can do better?"
"Of course." Keith's eyes widened as he heard Wu Kong's hiss behind his back. But the monkey youkai was attacking him from the front... 'Fenshen shu!(1)' He whirled around at the same second the Wu Kong at his back brought his staff down.
Wu Kong's staff crashed into the ground, blowing out a long, deep trench. Dust billowed in all directions, obscuring the fight from human eyes. Then it slowly settled, revealing Wu Kong's small, lithe form and...
"Keith's gone!!" Honda exclaimed in shock. Wu Kong slammed his staff into the ground again and cursed. He'd let that monster get away!
Another vortex suddenly opened before them. Keith's voice came booming out of it. Almost everyone jumped and scuttled away from it in fright.
"THAT WAS A GOOD FIGHT, WU KONG." Wu Kong snarled and gripped his staff tighter, all the while staring at the vortex, trying to peer through its murky depths. "THOUGH YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRAIN HARDER FOR ANOTHER CENTURY TO BEAT ME."
"Where have you taken my master?!" Wu Kong was seething with anger.
"PATIENCE, WU KONG. NOW, ALL OF YOU, DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES BACK? DO YOU WANT TO GET BACK TO YOUR OWN WORLD AND CONTINUE ON WITH YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCES? DO YOU WANT TO SAVE PEGASUS BEFORE I RIP OFF EVERY INCH OF HIS SKIN, PULL OUT HIS NAILS ONE BY ONE, HANG HIM UPSIDE DOWN BY HIS.... (continue describing more and more violent ways of torture)... IN EFFECT, TORTURE HIM ENDLESSLY FOR A FEW DECADES BEFORE LETTING HIM DIE? DO YOU WANT TO TRY AND GET RID OF ME ONCE AND FOR ALL?"
Without waiting for an answer, Keith continued to speak through the vortex. "OBVIOUSLY YOU DO. THEREFORE, AS I SAID BEFORE, I HAVE PREPARED A GAME FOR YOU. GO THROUGH THIS VORTEX. THE GAME WILL START IMMEDIATELY ONCE YOU'RE INSIDE. YOU'LL FIND ME AND THE HOSTAGES WHEN YOU FINISH IT... IF YOU FINISH IT. MWA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
"OH, AND WU KONG? YOU MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED, I'M SPEAKING TO YOU IN JAPANESE. JUST NOW DURING OUR LITTLE FIGHT I USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO CAST A SPELL ON YOU - ONE THAT WILL ENABLE YOU UNDERSTAND AND SPEAK JAPANESE. CONVENIENT, NE?"
Wu Kong felt cold. The bastard had spelled him during the fight - and he hadn't even felt it.
"GOODBYE, MY FRIENDS. PERHAPS WE'LL MEET AGAIN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE. " And with a last round of the Evil Laugh of Doom (TM), the vortex fell silent.
"We're going!" Yami said immediately. "We have to save Grandpa, Rishid, Isis and Pegasus! And..." His eyes burned. "The King of Games will never back down from a challenge."
"We're gonna teach that Bandit Keith a lesson!" Jyounouchi exclaimed. "I don't care how strong he is now, we'll kick his butt, right Honda, Otogi?"
"Of course everyone's going," Malik cut in.
"We can't get home otherwise," Kaiba said coldly. "I still have my business to attend to."
"So, what are we waiting for?" Anzu said. "Let's go!" Then she spotted Yuugi walking over to Wu Kong. "Yuugi? Yuugi! What're you doing?!" 'That guy looks dangerous!'
"Um... sir?" Yuugi said haltingly. "My name's Yuugi. That's my yami over there. Are... are you coming with us?"
Wu Kong turned and looked at Yuugi. He tensed and his eyes glazed over. Yami walked closer warily, wondering if the strange-looking monkey guy was going to hurt his hikari.
"Sir?" Yuugi asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"
To his utmost surprise, Wu Kong dropped to the ground, howling in laughter. He managed to raise a shaking finger and pointed at Yuugi and Yami.
"Pine... Pineapple head!!" He then promptly went into hysterics. Yuugi sweatdroppped and his yami looked plain outraged.
Smirking, Bakura mentally added pineapple head to lists of things to call Yami.
TO BE CONTINUED
(1) Fenshen shu: Body-splitting spell. Naruto fans will know this as the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Its almost the same thing, except that fenshen shu uses fa li (magic) while Bunshin no Jutsu uses chakra. Creates a copy or copies of oneself. Bunshin and fenshen have the same kanji, so do shu and jutsu. The extra 'kage' means shadow.
AN: Okay, in case anyone didn't get it, Keith has fused his soul with White Bone Demon. So practically he's a fusion now. The body is changed because of the demonic soul. Is he OOC? If he is, that's because it's White Bone Demon's influence. So, that was the first chapter! What do you all think? Please review, thanks! ^_^