{34}

[hero_of_dark]

[Screened to Johan // 20% hackable]

...I forgot to ask earlier.

What were you saying about my alter, before...? You tried to say something, but... you couldn't finish...

Comments

[eightgemmaster]

Oh...that...um...

I...

Juudai...he ...

[This is obviously upsetting Johan quite a bit.]

[hero_of_dark]

............

Johan, he didn't do anything to you, did he...?

[eightgemmaster]

Huh? You mean ....no! I still think he'd cut his own throat first.

But...he wants me to do something for him...and...I said I would...I just haven't yet...

[hero_of_dark]

[flatly] ...What did he do to get you to agree to it? Threaten you?

[eightgemmaster]

[Johan looks down a little, trying not to think about that too much.] He...has my deck...my family... [Slight gulp, remembering seeing one of his cards burning in the other Judai's grip. It was a trap card, not one of his precious monsters, but he never wanted to see any of them hurt.]

[hero_of_dark]

...........

...That's low.

Then, what is it he wants you to do...?

[eightgemmaster]

He...wants me to steal...your Super Fusion card...and bring it to him.

[hero_of_dark]

[Juudai is silent for a moment, thoughtfully processing this. Then, he looks at Johan, stifling his emotions from showing on his face. The truth is, though, he's incredibly, lividly frustrated, even more so than before. He rubs his temples and sighs.]

...Would it be worth trying to trick him, you think?

[eightgemmaster]

[Johan feels utterly horrible about all of this. He'd never wanted to choose between his family and Juudai, and that's what he's been forced to do.]

It would make him ...insanely furious. [A faint grin.] I think it's worth doing. We just need to make sure I can get the Gem Beasts back before he finds out that he was tricked. [He glances down for a moment.] He burned one of my trap cards already...

[hero_of_dark]

Yeah, definitely. We can't afford to lose anything... anything more, anyway. You'd probably have to demand your deck back before you do it, and hopefully he'll agree and won't try and force you to hand over your side first.

...A fake Super Fusion card... I think that's entirely possible. I don't know if I can do it, but I know there's a few people around who can... and if it's necessary, I can place a decent amount of power into it to emulate the power of the real thing, so he doesn't suspect anything until he tries to use it.

[eightgemmaster]

That sounds like a good idea. And I'd like to be as far away from him as possible when he does find out it's a fake.

[hero_of_dark]

I'll make sure you are. He'll probably come after both of us when he does, but as long as your deck is safe, I can handle him if he tries to attack us in a blind rage, as he's likely to do.

[eightgemmaster]

Yeah. [He looks away a bit.] You'll have to keep him off of me. I think he likes hearing me scream when he does that...pain touching thing.

[hero_of_dark]

Don't worry. He won't touch you, I promise.

...I'm sorry all this is happening to you. You haven't done anything to deserve any of this. And to think that another version of me could be so malicious and bitter... I never thought it was possible before Econtra. Then again, I never thought any other versions of me were possible at all either. Or any other versions of anyone else I knew.

[eightgemmaster]

Neither did I, really. It's been so strange, all of this. But mostly...I think I'd still go through having it happen if I had a choice. [faint smile] Though there are a few things I'd skip out on.

And according to him, I deserve it for loving you and being loved by you. [smile hardens a little.] And if that's the case...I don't care. It's worth it.

[hero_of_dark]

...Heh. Thanks, Johan.

Alright, then. We'll work on getting a fake Super Fusion card together and you can present it to him, and hopefully come away with your deck safely. I think for the actual card, I could probably ask either Otogi or Pegasus for the favor of making an identical copy, if possible, and then infuse it with as much power as I can spare.