Eine Mitternachtsstimme, Ch 5(Yu-Gi-Oh, Seto Kaiba; Blackout)
Title: "Eine Mitternachtsstimme" ("A Midnight Voice") Chapter 5: The Dinner Party, part III (other chapters available in other LJ comms and/or ff.net)
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Seto Kaiba)
Table: Do-it-Yourself
Prompt: Blackout
Rating: PG13
Summary: It was all just an illusion...
Warnings: In this chapter, none.
Will be cross-posted to 18coda and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4586339/5/
Seto and Téa returned to the banquet hall, discussing the case.
“Any one of those creeps could be the one who knocked me out,” Seto muttered, glaring at the guests in suspicion.
“Well, I can tell you one thing,” said Téa. “You were probably knocked out by a woman.”
Seto glanced at her, eyebrows arched.
“How can you tell?”
“Just before I found you, I could’ve sworn I heard high heels running away, though I didn’t see anyone.”
“Wonderful,” snarled the CEO. “So I have to find out which of these ladies is my Mysterious Woman?” He glanced around the room. “I guess I should be grateful that you’ve narrowed it down for me.”
“You should be,” she replied. “But I’m not going to old my breath for it.”
“Hold that thought,” Seto replied, folding his arms. “I think I just found my prime suspect. Anyone in particular looking familiar to you, Gardner…?”
“Well…” she said, looking around. “There’re a lot businesspeople I don’t know; I’d figure that you would be the first one who’d be able to recognize…” She trailed off, noticing the blonde-haired woman who was in a black evening gown, and was in deep conversation with her longtime lackey, Chenston Travencore. “Isn’t that…?”
“Aranea Vulsor,” Seto finished for her. “I think that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”
“I heard that she was released from prison,” said Téa, frowning. “I guess she’s back to her old ways if she’s knocking you senseless.”
“We’ll have a hard time proving that it was her,” the CEO said. “But maybe we can catch her off-guard…”
He walked over to the two of them, clearing his throat.
“Why, if it isn’t Seto Kaiba…” Vulsor purred, noticing him. “And his tiny dancer friend… What would bring you to speak to me? Don’t tell me that you actually want to do go along with that business proposition I proposed back in the spring?”
“Save it,” Seto growled. “You tried to kill me!”
“On the contrary, my objective was never to have you be bitten by the funnel web spider,” she said, smirking. “That honor should’ve gone to your girlfriend. What’s this I hear about a kiss on the rooftop of the Paris Opera House?”
Neither Seto nor Téa were going to give her the pleasure of a reply to the latter remark.
“What are you two doing here, anyway?” Téa asked.
“We are businesspeople, and we were invited to this supposed hologram demonstration,” said Vulsor. “If anything, I should be asking you why you’re here; you’re no businesswoman.”
“Never mind her,” said Seto. “What do you know about--?”
He never got a chance to finish his question; von Krolock crossed to the middle of the room and began to address them.
“It honors me, Ladies and Gentlemen, that you decided to grace me with your presence here tonight,” he said. “I understand that some of you are here to see for yourself the wonders of my latest project?”
“Right you are!” exclaimed Valon, getting into the spirit of things.
Raphael and Alister rolled their eyes.
“Then it goes to show that my creation is a success,” said von Krolock. “For you have already been convinced.”
Seto’s eyebrows arched as the other guests exchanged bewildered glances.
“Yes, my friends,” the silver-haired man went on. “Nearly everything you have seen here tonight has been an illusion created by the simulator.” He held a control device in his hand. “Watch; I will now stop the projectors.”
He pressed a button on the controller, and the room plunged to a dim, torch-lit room; there were no working electric lights anywhere, though the manor had seemed to be grandly lit. And the grand manor itself was grand no longer-the lavishly-decorated walls and granite floors were rotten wood. And the priceless paintings and sculptures now had a thick coating of dust on them.
“I don’t believe it…” said Raphael, amazement evident in his voice.
“I think we all agree,” said Alister, dryly.
Valon just stood with his jaw open.
Even Vulsor gasped, her eyes wide in shock and wonder.
“All this time, we’ve been in this… old ruin!?” she shrieked.
“That’s right,” said von Krolock. “This old wooden house was abandoned nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. Everything you saw was a mere embellishment, provided by my holographic system. Convincing, was it not?”
Vulsor froze, glancing at her hand under the light of a torch mounted on the wall. It was covered with a coating of dust. She quickly blew it off of her hand before Seto could notice; she succeeded, but the scattered dust now caused her to sneeze, causing Seto and Téa to glance at her.
“Are your allergies getting to you?” Seto smirked. “I wonder where you would get that much dust on your hand… Perhaps from grabbing something to knock someone out, without realizing how old it really was…?”
Vulsor shot him a dark look.
“I had my hand resting on this endtable,” she said, coldly. “Come on, Travencore…”
She stalked off with Travencore following close behind her, and Téa was pleased to see her retreat.
“That showed her,” she said. “And that dust on her hand proves that she was the one who attacked you.”
“Not that there was ever much doubt to begin with,” Seto replied, his expression deadpan. “Unfortunately, I still don’t know what this ‘Loxosceles’ thing is she slipped into my hand. Knowing her, it’s probably something intended to distract me from her true motives.” He crumpled the note and tossed it aside. “And I will not allow that to happen.”
“Of course not…” sighed Téa.
*********************************
Yugi, Joey, and Mai had still been searching the floor when the holographic illusion had ended, plunging the entire floor into darkness; there weren’t as many torches lit here as there were downstairs, but there was just enough light to see that the rest of the house was now made of the same ill-maintained wood that had been present in the hidden room that they had found. The antiquities and portraits were still where they were before, but they, too, were now covered in dust.
Mai let out a groan of disgust as she saw the dust on her hands; it had undoubtedly come from moving the painting that had hidden the switch.
“Oh, the cleaners are just going to love us…” said Joey, sarcastically as he looked at the dust that now covered his suit, along with the breadstick crumbs. “What now, Guys?”
“Well, since we’re already covered in dust, it wouldn’t hurt to keep looking,” said Yugi, with a shrug, still trying to figure out how this illusion had been created. “I just can’t believe that everything we saw was fake-even the lighting! Something really weird is going on.”
“Something really weird is always going on in Domino,” said Mai, wondering if this had something to do with Madam Mystíca’s disappearance. She let out a good-natured sigh. “Well, I’m already covered in dust; there’s no point in being vain and refusing to go on with the search. Lead on, Boys.”
“Mai, you’re one in a million,” said Joey.
The other rooms now looked just like the hidden room-old and dusty, and made of antique wood.
“I never even knew about this old place,” said Yugi. “I mean, I knew there were abandoned houses up here; Grandpa always warned me to stay away from this area when I was a kid… But I just never knew about this particular place. And I wonder if this art collection was here even then…”
“Hey, here’s something…” said Joey, picking up an old piece of paper. “On second thoughts, never mind; I can’t see a thing. The light’s too dim. Ah, well…” He folded up the paper and slipped it into his pocket.
After a while, they reached what seemed to be a dead end, but Yugi wasn’t so sure.
“That hidden room was accessible over there at that end of the hall; I think there might be another one on this end,” he theorized. “These old houses usually have networks of passageways…”
The three of them inspected the expense of wall.
“I think I found the switch!” said Joey, feeling a portion of the dusty wall that was indented.
He pressed down on the switch, and the secret door opened with a creak. But before any of them could get a glimpse of the hidden room and its contents, a flock of large bats emerged from within the room.
“Vampires!” Joey yelled without thinking. He tore back down the corridor, heading down the stairs.
“Joey, no!” Yugi called out after him.
“We’re not supposed to be here!” Mai called, as well.
“And there’s no lighting on the stair--” Yugi began, but he was cut off by another yell from Joey and a crashing sound. “Oh, no…”
“Oh, man…” Joey groaned, trying to pick himself up. Fortunately, he had been a good way down the staircase before he had tripped, so although he was now sprawled out at the foot of the stairs, he wasn’t hurt.
But the crash and the yell had been heard by everyone in the dinner party. The guests, with von Krolock in the lead, arrived almost immediately to see Joey there, his suit now covered with another coating of dust.
Téa’s eyes widened, while Seto was determined to give no sign of recognition to the blond youth. Vulsor, however, bit back a smirk. And the bikers were still trying to come to grips with what they were seeing.
“I thought I heard someone wandering about upstairs,” von Krolock said, his expression cold. “On your feet, Boy!” He glanced back up the stairway. “And if there is anyone else upstairs, you may as well come down now while I’m still in possession of my patience!”
Yugi and Mai sheepishly came down the stairs (Valon abandoning all anonymity and trying to get Mai’s attention), and Téa was fighting the urge to slap her forehead. But Seto was now glaring at her.
“I didn’t tell them a thing!” she whispered to the visibly annoyed CEO. “They must’ve followed me here!”
“Did you enjoy your tour of the upper floor, Gentlemen-and Lady?” asked the silver-haired man. “You chose the right time to come crashing down the stairs-the party has come to a close. You may leave with the others, and be grateful that I am feeling particularly benevolent tonight.”
The guests began to disperse, though von Krolock stopped Seto before he could leave with Téa. For a moment, Seto was worried that he might ask if he knew the other members of the geek squad, but, thankfully, that wasn’t the older man’s query.
“The holographic simulator was impressive, was it not?”
“I’ll give credit where credit is due,” said Seto, with a brusque nod. “It was very convincing. Perhaps we can discuss a contract some other time.”
“As you wish,” said von Krolock. “I bid you both a good night.”
Seto and Téa left the old building; they hadn’t gone far when they met up with Yugi, Joey, and Mai. Seto’s eyes narrowed.
“OK, before you say anything--” Joey began.
“Wheeler, go away,” Seto replied, glaring at him. “You made a compete fool of yourself tonight… not that that’s anything new for you, of course.”
“Well, if Téa had just told us--”
“Excuse me!?” the brunette dancer asked, glaring at her friend. “Joey, did you honestly expect me to tell you that I was spending the evening with Kaiba? You’d have hit the roof!”
“He would’ve when he saw you two together,” said Mai, dryly. “But we were outside…”
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you--”
“It’s okay, Téa,” said Yugi, trying to give an understanding smile.
“You four can discuss this all you like,” said Seto. “I, for one, am going home. Good night, Gardner.”
He walked away, heading for where he had kept his limo waiting for him.
Téa sighed, glancing at the others.
“It’s not what it seems,” she said. “He just needed someone to accompany him tonight--”
“Believe me,” said Mai, with a smile. “We… well, I understand completely.”
Joey rolled his eyes, but before he could reply, Téa’s cell phone began to ring.
“Téa, this is Tristan… I don’t have time to explain this, but you and the others need to get to the festival right away.”
He had hung up without waiting for a reply.
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Seto Kaiba)
Table: Do-it-Yourself
Prompt: Blackout
Rating: PG13
Summary: It was all just an illusion...
Warnings: In this chapter, none.
Will be cross-posted to 18coda and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4586339/5/
Seto and Téa returned to the banquet hall, discussing the case.
“Any one of those creeps could be the one who knocked me out,” Seto muttered, glaring at the guests in suspicion.
“Well, I can tell you one thing,” said Téa. “You were probably knocked out by a woman.”
Seto glanced at her, eyebrows arched.
“How can you tell?”
“Just before I found you, I could’ve sworn I heard high heels running away, though I didn’t see anyone.”
“Wonderful,” snarled the CEO. “So I have to find out which of these ladies is my Mysterious Woman?” He glanced around the room. “I guess I should be grateful that you’ve narrowed it down for me.”
“You should be,” she replied. “But I’m not going to old my breath for it.”
“Hold that thought,” Seto replied, folding his arms. “I think I just found my prime suspect. Anyone in particular looking familiar to you, Gardner…?”
“Well…” she said, looking around. “There’re a lot businesspeople I don’t know; I’d figure that you would be the first one who’d be able to recognize…” She trailed off, noticing the blonde-haired woman who was in a black evening gown, and was in deep conversation with her longtime lackey, Chenston Travencore. “Isn’t that…?”
“Aranea Vulsor,” Seto finished for her. “I think that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”
“I heard that she was released from prison,” said Téa, frowning. “I guess she’s back to her old ways if she’s knocking you senseless.”
“We’ll have a hard time proving that it was her,” the CEO said. “But maybe we can catch her off-guard…”
He walked over to the two of them, clearing his throat.
“Why, if it isn’t Seto Kaiba…” Vulsor purred, noticing him. “And his tiny dancer friend… What would bring you to speak to me? Don’t tell me that you actually want to do go along with that business proposition I proposed back in the spring?”
“Save it,” Seto growled. “You tried to kill me!”
“On the contrary, my objective was never to have you be bitten by the funnel web spider,” she said, smirking. “That honor should’ve gone to your girlfriend. What’s this I hear about a kiss on the rooftop of the Paris Opera House?”
Neither Seto nor Téa were going to give her the pleasure of a reply to the latter remark.
“What are you two doing here, anyway?” Téa asked.
“We are businesspeople, and we were invited to this supposed hologram demonstration,” said Vulsor. “If anything, I should be asking you why you’re here; you’re no businesswoman.”
“Never mind her,” said Seto. “What do you know about--?”
He never got a chance to finish his question; von Krolock crossed to the middle of the room and began to address them.
“It honors me, Ladies and Gentlemen, that you decided to grace me with your presence here tonight,” he said. “I understand that some of you are here to see for yourself the wonders of my latest project?”
“Right you are!” exclaimed Valon, getting into the spirit of things.
Raphael and Alister rolled their eyes.
“Then it goes to show that my creation is a success,” said von Krolock. “For you have already been convinced.”
Seto’s eyebrows arched as the other guests exchanged bewildered glances.
“Yes, my friends,” the silver-haired man went on. “Nearly everything you have seen here tonight has been an illusion created by the simulator.” He held a control device in his hand. “Watch; I will now stop the projectors.”
He pressed a button on the controller, and the room plunged to a dim, torch-lit room; there were no working electric lights anywhere, though the manor had seemed to be grandly lit. And the grand manor itself was grand no longer-the lavishly-decorated walls and granite floors were rotten wood. And the priceless paintings and sculptures now had a thick coating of dust on them.
“I don’t believe it…” said Raphael, amazement evident in his voice.
“I think we all agree,” said Alister, dryly.
Valon just stood with his jaw open.
Even Vulsor gasped, her eyes wide in shock and wonder.
“All this time, we’ve been in this… old ruin!?” she shrieked.
“That’s right,” said von Krolock. “This old wooden house was abandoned nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. Everything you saw was a mere embellishment, provided by my holographic system. Convincing, was it not?”
Vulsor froze, glancing at her hand under the light of a torch mounted on the wall. It was covered with a coating of dust. She quickly blew it off of her hand before Seto could notice; she succeeded, but the scattered dust now caused her to sneeze, causing Seto and Téa to glance at her.
“Are your allergies getting to you?” Seto smirked. “I wonder where you would get that much dust on your hand… Perhaps from grabbing something to knock someone out, without realizing how old it really was…?”
Vulsor shot him a dark look.
“I had my hand resting on this endtable,” she said, coldly. “Come on, Travencore…”
She stalked off with Travencore following close behind her, and Téa was pleased to see her retreat.
“That showed her,” she said. “And that dust on her hand proves that she was the one who attacked you.”
“Not that there was ever much doubt to begin with,” Seto replied, his expression deadpan. “Unfortunately, I still don’t know what this ‘Loxosceles’ thing is she slipped into my hand. Knowing her, it’s probably something intended to distract me from her true motives.” He crumpled the note and tossed it aside. “And I will not allow that to happen.”
“Of course not…” sighed Téa.
*********************************
Yugi, Joey, and Mai had still been searching the floor when the holographic illusion had ended, plunging the entire floor into darkness; there weren’t as many torches lit here as there were downstairs, but there was just enough light to see that the rest of the house was now made of the same ill-maintained wood that had been present in the hidden room that they had found. The antiquities and portraits were still where they were before, but they, too, were now covered in dust.
Mai let out a groan of disgust as she saw the dust on her hands; it had undoubtedly come from moving the painting that had hidden the switch.
“Oh, the cleaners are just going to love us…” said Joey, sarcastically as he looked at the dust that now covered his suit, along with the breadstick crumbs. “What now, Guys?”
“Well, since we’re already covered in dust, it wouldn’t hurt to keep looking,” said Yugi, with a shrug, still trying to figure out how this illusion had been created. “I just can’t believe that everything we saw was fake-even the lighting! Something really weird is going on.”
“Something really weird is always going on in Domino,” said Mai, wondering if this had something to do with Madam Mystíca’s disappearance. She let out a good-natured sigh. “Well, I’m already covered in dust; there’s no point in being vain and refusing to go on with the search. Lead on, Boys.”
“Mai, you’re one in a million,” said Joey.
The other rooms now looked just like the hidden room-old and dusty, and made of antique wood.
“I never even knew about this old place,” said Yugi. “I mean, I knew there were abandoned houses up here; Grandpa always warned me to stay away from this area when I was a kid… But I just never knew about this particular place. And I wonder if this art collection was here even then…”
“Hey, here’s something…” said Joey, picking up an old piece of paper. “On second thoughts, never mind; I can’t see a thing. The light’s too dim. Ah, well…” He folded up the paper and slipped it into his pocket.
After a while, they reached what seemed to be a dead end, but Yugi wasn’t so sure.
“That hidden room was accessible over there at that end of the hall; I think there might be another one on this end,” he theorized. “These old houses usually have networks of passageways…”
The three of them inspected the expense of wall.
“I think I found the switch!” said Joey, feeling a portion of the dusty wall that was indented.
He pressed down on the switch, and the secret door opened with a creak. But before any of them could get a glimpse of the hidden room and its contents, a flock of large bats emerged from within the room.
“Vampires!” Joey yelled without thinking. He tore back down the corridor, heading down the stairs.
“Joey, no!” Yugi called out after him.
“We’re not supposed to be here!” Mai called, as well.
“And there’s no lighting on the stair--” Yugi began, but he was cut off by another yell from Joey and a crashing sound. “Oh, no…”
“Oh, man…” Joey groaned, trying to pick himself up. Fortunately, he had been a good way down the staircase before he had tripped, so although he was now sprawled out at the foot of the stairs, he wasn’t hurt.
But the crash and the yell had been heard by everyone in the dinner party. The guests, with von Krolock in the lead, arrived almost immediately to see Joey there, his suit now covered with another coating of dust.
Téa’s eyes widened, while Seto was determined to give no sign of recognition to the blond youth. Vulsor, however, bit back a smirk. And the bikers were still trying to come to grips with what they were seeing.
“I thought I heard someone wandering about upstairs,” von Krolock said, his expression cold. “On your feet, Boy!” He glanced back up the stairway. “And if there is anyone else upstairs, you may as well come down now while I’m still in possession of my patience!”
Yugi and Mai sheepishly came down the stairs (Valon abandoning all anonymity and trying to get Mai’s attention), and Téa was fighting the urge to slap her forehead. But Seto was now glaring at her.
“I didn’t tell them a thing!” she whispered to the visibly annoyed CEO. “They must’ve followed me here!”
“Did you enjoy your tour of the upper floor, Gentlemen-and Lady?” asked the silver-haired man. “You chose the right time to come crashing down the stairs-the party has come to a close. You may leave with the others, and be grateful that I am feeling particularly benevolent tonight.”
The guests began to disperse, though von Krolock stopped Seto before he could leave with Téa. For a moment, Seto was worried that he might ask if he knew the other members of the geek squad, but, thankfully, that wasn’t the older man’s query.
“The holographic simulator was impressive, was it not?”
“I’ll give credit where credit is due,” said Seto, with a brusque nod. “It was very convincing. Perhaps we can discuss a contract some other time.”
“As you wish,” said von Krolock. “I bid you both a good night.”
Seto and Téa left the old building; they hadn’t gone far when they met up with Yugi, Joey, and Mai. Seto’s eyes narrowed.
“OK, before you say anything--” Joey began.
“Wheeler, go away,” Seto replied, glaring at him. “You made a compete fool of yourself tonight… not that that’s anything new for you, of course.”
“Well, if Téa had just told us--”
“Excuse me!?” the brunette dancer asked, glaring at her friend. “Joey, did you honestly expect me to tell you that I was spending the evening with Kaiba? You’d have hit the roof!”
“He would’ve when he saw you two together,” said Mai, dryly. “But we were outside…”
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you--”
“It’s okay, Téa,” said Yugi, trying to give an understanding smile.
“You four can discuss this all you like,” said Seto. “I, for one, am going home. Good night, Gardner.”
He walked away, heading for where he had kept his limo waiting for him.
Téa sighed, glancing at the others.
“It’s not what it seems,” she said. “He just needed someone to accompany him tonight--”
“Believe me,” said Mai, with a smile. “We… well, I understand completely.”
Joey rolled his eyes, but before he could reply, Téa’s cell phone began to ring.
“Téa, this is Tristan… I don’t have time to explain this, but you and the others need to get to the festival right away.”
He had hung up without waiting for a reply.