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Post by Scribbler on Nov 3, 2012 17:42:20 GMT -5
“I, uh … that is to say, uh … I’m not FAILING, Miss Kanjo, I’m just … streamlining my time management skills to make myself a leaner, meaner … greener machine?” He offered a hopeful smile that withered and died at Seto’s blank stare.
“Greener?”
“I established a paper recycling bin in our office.”
“By all accounts you put an old cardboard box in the corner and throw paperwork into it when it’s past a certain age.”
“Oh.” The man looked crestfallen. “Well … I bring cupcakes to work on Fridays for all the guys in my department? That makes me valuable.”
Seto leaned forward, hands steepled under his chin. “Mr. Sugimura, value lies in what an employee can bring to the company. Currently you bring yourself into the office each day and not much else.”
“I got us the Krakow Entertainment Network account,” Sugimura said in a tiny voice.
Seto blinked. “That was you?” It had been a real coup when the Polish television network agreed to start broadcasting Duel Monsters commercials.
Sugimura nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am!”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 3, 2012 21:21:21 GMT -5
"I see." Seto smiled, hoping the expression hadn't changed too much with the restructuring of his face. "Upon verrification of this, you will have earned yourself a reprieve; I would recommend that you make good use of that opportunity, as quickly and efficiently as possible."
"Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am, right away ma'am!" Mr. Sugimura clumsily made his way out of Seto's office, clearly eager not to rouse "Chiyoko's" abated ire.
"I've not gotten that reaction before." Seto turned about in his chair, facing away from his desk and door. "Perhaps I shouldn't rush too quickly to fix all this." There were after all, so many other departments that could use a fire under their feet, and where Seto could burn with ice, Chiyoko could achieve from the opposite end of the spectrum.
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 6, 2012 5:46:19 GMT -5
“So … your answer to all this is to eat ice-cream?” Ryuzaki said in amazement.
Mokuba shrugged and continued pulling tubs out of the gigantic freezer. Nothing but the biggest and best for the Kaibas, even in their frozen treats and where to store them. He glanced at each label and then set it on the side, looking for one in particular. “I had a craving.”
“You have a brain malfunction.”
Mokuba ignored him. “There you are!” he exclaimed, pulling out a tub of double chocolate fudge ripple. “Do you want one before I put them back in?” He gestured at the row of others.
“No!” Ryuzaki snapped. “I want my old body back!”
“Seto’s working on it.”
“Says you!”
Mokuba shrugged and made to put the Neapolitan back in the freezer, but Ryuzaki snatched it out of his hand.
“Got a spoon?” he asked sullenly.
“In the kitchen drawer.”
Ryuzaki grumped but waited until Mokuba was done and then followed him back into the kitchen, where he plonked down at the table and snatched up the spoon he was handed.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 6, 2012 13:22:12 GMT -5
"And here it is!" Otogi said, having found the page in his father's diary that he'd been looking for, complete with accompanying picture.
"You were right Otogi, it does look just like the statue." Yuugi looked from the statue in his hand, to the one in the photo being held by two people, a man and a woman.
"According to the entry here," Otogi said, "My father had been on vacation in Egypt when he came upon a woman who didn't have enough money to pay for her meal, and so he offered to pay for her. The woman was reluctant to accept this gift, but she did, and afterwards she came to his hotel room looking very nervous and said that she wanted to pass on the blessing of Hathor onto his child, and part of this ritual involved them exchanging their names. Hers was Ahit." Otogi closed the book. "I always knew I was more in touch with my feminine side than most, and apparently there was a reason why." Otogi shrugged his shoulders, his breasts rising and falling ever so slightly.
"So, what does any of that even mean?" Jounouchi said, scratching his ass until Anzu smacked his hand away.
"It means that if we can find Ahit or someone who knew her, then we'll be on the trail of Hathor's Vengeance."
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 7, 2012 18:14:37 GMT -5
“I don’t know …” Anzu pursed her lips.
“You have scrunchy mouth,” Jounouchi said sombrely. “Nothing good ever comes from a girl going scrunchy mouth.”
“I do NOT have … oh never mind. Otogi, what did this woman mean by ‘pass on the blessing of Hathor’? And when did this happen to your dad?”
Otogi consulted the photo, turning it over and scanning for his father’s compact handwriting. “Twenty years ago.”
“Otogi, you’re only sixteen.”
“Like he didn’t already know that?”
“Shut up, Jounouchi.” Anzu frowned. “Otogi she can’t have meant you, can she?”
“Why not? Maybe she was prepping my dad for the day he finally had children. That was the summer he proposed to my mom. Maybe this blessing thing spurred him into marriage so he could start a family. I’d ask him, but … y’know.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable sailence as they all considered the mental institution in which otogi’s father now resided. Otogi went to visit him once a month and always returned subdued.
“Dude, do you have any older siblings?” Jounouchi asked.
“Nope.”
“Not even one?”
“I’m an only child, mutt. I think I’d know if I wasn’t. Dad barely had time for just one son, let alone any other sproglets, and my mom died when I was born.”
Yet more uncomfortable silence. Jounouchi had to good grace to scrub at the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Sorry, man.”
“Whatever.” Otogi examined the picture in his hand once more. An indecipherable expression flitted over his face as he looked at his father, young and free of the thirst for money and power that had eventually snapped his sanity like a dry twig, leaving his son to run Black Crown Incorporated in his stead. “Ahit,” he murmured.
“Do you have a surname to go with it?” asked Anzu.
He consulted the diary entry, flipped forward a couple of pages and ran his finger down the lines of text. “Chalthoum.”
“Ahit Chalthoum,” Yuugi murmured. “Where in Egypt was your father vacationing?”
“Cairo.”
Honda groaned. “So all we have to do is track down a woman we don’t know, in a country we’re not in, from a diary entry written two decades ago? No problem! Piece of cake! Easy as pie!” He turned, walked to the wall and thumped his head rhythmically against it.
“Hey, mind the fretwork!” Otogi snapped.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 7, 2012 18:37:21 GMT -5
"Sorry." Honda took his head away from the wall and displayed a sarcastic expression. "I didn't even know fretwork was even a word, I'll be more careful from now on."
"And besides Honda," Yuugi said, still looking at the statue in his hands, "We do have a connection with the Egyptian Government, remember?"
"Isis!" Jounouchi brought his fist down onto his palm. "There's no telling how many favors she could call in at a moment's notice, she'd have no problem tracking down this Ahit chick for us! Yuugi, you're a genius!" Jounouchi grabbed Yuugi up in a tight hug and lifted him off his feet. Then he paused, Yuugi still stuck in his arms and suspended in the air. "This feels different now, and I don't just mean your boobs."
"Sorry." Jounouchi gently laid Yuugi back down.
"Okay, I admit, that does sound like it would help a lot, but does anyone here actually have Isis's number?" Honda said. Everyone looked at everyone. "That figures."
"What about Seto?" Anzu said. "He probably has Isis's number." Everyone looked at everyone once more.
"I suppose I'll go ahead and give him the call." Otogi said.
....
"What?" Mokuba said, having just finished off his bowl of ice cream. Ryuzaki was staring at him. "Do I got some on my face?"
"You got something on your face, that's for damn sure."
"Huh?" Mokuba looked around for a mirror, found one, and looked at himself.
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 11, 2012 17:34:10 GMT -5
“I mean, it’s like, one second I’m looking at you and you’re all naked-eyes, I eat some ice-cream, look back up and BOOM!”
Mokuba tugged at the corner of one eye. Somehow, of its own accord, eye-shadow had not only appeared on his eyelids but developed like an old photo into a rainbow of colours at stretched up to the thin arch of his eyebrow. Thick, dark lashes framed already large eyes, giving him a lost, slightly fey expression without even trying. He blinked; checking to make sure the reflection mimicked it. Yes, that really was him. He looked like Princess Adina 2.0.
“How did this happen?” he murmured, real fear in his voice as he turned to face Ryuzaki.
“I dunno.” Ryuzaki leaned towards him, “but dude, it’s spreading.”
“What?” Mokuba looked back at the mirror to see that, yes indeed, the rainbow eye-shadow was arching out into an elegant flick at the side of his eye and onto his temple. There it stopped, like an artist wondering whether one more stroke would finish or ruin a painting. Mokuba rubbed at the make-up, but it refused to even smudge. “Soap,” he said, running for the door. “I need soap and the roughest flannel we have.”
“Whoa, dude, wait up!”
[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6nqtxCg8e1rpk86qo1_400.jpg --> reference pic]
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 11, 2012 19:16:46 GMT -5
"How does anyone put up with this?" Seto once again flicked his hair out from in front of his face; he'd met with three department heads and achieved progress that before would have taken weeks, but after every meeting he had to adjust his seemingly unceasing growing hair; at this point it was nearing his waist and if there was any indication it was going to stop he had no way of recognizing it. At least nothing else about his body or his appearance had changed, as he still had use for this female form.
Then the phone rang. "Hello, Chiyoko Kaiba, CEO of the Kaiba Corporation." He didn't usually answer so quickly, but given the circumstances he could be forgiven such lapse.
"...Seto?"
"Otogi?" Despite the higher pitch, Seto did recognize Ryuji Otogi's voice.
"Long story short, we need you to get in touch with Isis Ishtar and ask her to track down...Ahit Chalthoum, it's really important." Ryuji was intelligent, he didn't blather needlessly. Seto would have to keep that in mind.
He was also going to need a stern word with his intelligence department, which hadn't reported back anything at all despite the resources and training available to them. "Duly noted." Seto Kaiba hung up, then dialed up Isis Ishtar for the second time that day.
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 14, 2012 16:36:44 GMT -5
Isis reached for the telephone on her desk without looking up from her paperwork. Tucking it under her chin, she flipped through her current file and scanned the lines of text as she spoke. “Hello?”
“Isis, I require your assistance.”
The paperwork froze in her hands. “Who is this?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already.”
“Seto?”
“Yes.”
“Your voice has risen in pitch again since last we spoke.”
“Damn it. It appears the alterations being made to me haven’t been completed. Currently my hair is growing at an exponential rate and the make-up I did NOT apply refuses to be removed.”
“Oh.” Isis blinked. “I have no adequate response to that conundrum. Did you speak with Yuugi Mutou.”
“Yes, and he’s afflicted too. All the male members of his group have … been altered. But not Anzu Mazaki – she’s still … the same as she was.”
“Are you in a position or place where talking of this matter is awkward?”
“Yes. Yuugi talked about something called the Cult of Pathos or Pathetic or Hate Thor; something like that.”
Isis frowned and put down the file to grip the phone better. “Hathor?”
“Yes, that was it.”
“The Cult of Hathor was a benign religious sect that died out thousands of years ago.”
“Maybe you should speak to Mutou yourself. He was pretty certain it had something to do with all this, since he found a statue of that goddess in place of the Millennium Puzzle this morning.”
Isis sat up straighter. “The Puzzle is missing?”
“Completely vanished, right from under Mutou’s nose. No sign of entry to his house and an ugly statue to greet him when he woke up.”
“This is an disastrous development.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 14, 2012 18:23:58 GMT -5
"You would think that, wouldn't you?" Seto Kaiba groused, feeling at his eyeshadow; it made no sense, make-up was not a biological or intrinsic aspect of femininity, it was a cultural factor, so why the hell was the curse adding something like that to the mix?
"I have no time for your obstinate refusal to acknowledge the role the supernatural has played in your life Seto Kaiba." Isis spoke so fiercely that even Seto was struck dumb. "You will tell me everything that Yuugi Mutou and his friends have told you, do you understand me."
"...Ahit Chalthoum. Apparently she was connected to the cult 20 years ago or around then."
"Anything more precise then that?"
"She was in...Cairo?" Seto now wished that he'd listened more closely with a fervor normally reserved for a good game of Duel Monsters.
"I suppose that will have to do. I will investigate as much as I can on my end and then I will fly back to Domino as soon as possible."
"You're certain you won't need us to fly over there?"
"No; while not confined by physical laws, magic of this caliber demands proximity to establish and maintain."
"So you're saying whoever did this is still somewhere in Domino City?" Thoughts connected in Seto's mind. "Then if I were to have access to the flight registers, I could narrow down who it might be."
"Any chance at all Seto, it is imperative that the Millennium Puzzle be restored to Yuugi and his form be his own." With that Isis Ishtar hung up the phone.
Seto Kaiba put his phone down and rubbed his head. He paused, looked at his finger. He pulled at the nail experimentally. "Damn. Not a press-on."
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 16, 2012 16:54:32 GMT -5
He paused for a moment before buzzing through to his secretary. She answered quickly and answered the summons to his office. When she came in, even more hesitantly than usual, Seto leaned back in his chair and tapped the tips of his fingers together under his chin in thought.
“Yes, ma’am?”
In short order he informed her about the flight registers. She blinked in surprise but didn’t question the request. She was used to even odder orders from ‘Chiyoko’s’ cousin, the infamous Seto Kaiba. A simple information retrieval exercise was peanuts in comparison.
“Will there be anything else, ma’am?”
“Yes.” Seto levelled a threatening look at her. “Don’t call me ma’am.”
“Uh, y-yes, Miss Kanjo.”
“Better.” Seto flicked a finger at the door. “Get on with it.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 16, 2012 17:04:41 GMT -5
"I'll be right back guys, just got to grab something to snack on." Anzu said very quickly as she closed the door behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked further and further away from Yuugi, who was becoming cuter and cuter practically every time she looked at him, the curse seemingly never content with what it had done to him. It would not have been so distressing save for the fact that somehow Anzu found herself increasingly attracted to Yuugi in his current, feminine form.
"Either the curse is getting to me too, or I'm learning something very important myself." Anzu muttered as she reached the kitchen.
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 18, 2012 18:32:35 GMT -5
Otogi’s kitchen was a study in modern conveniences. Gleaming metal work surfaces warred with smooth granite finishes to create an overall look that was part culinary dream, part munitions factory. Anzu leaned against the door and wondered whether the fridge would detonate if she tried to open the door.
Thankfully the cupboards had glass doors, so it was easy to spot a box of crackers and grab them without spending too much time in there. She wandered back to the guys, nibbling as she went. When she reached them, however, she nearly choked.
“Whoa!” Jounouchi harrumphed. “Say it, don’t spray it, Anzu.”
“What the heck happened? I was gone for less than ten minutes!”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Nov 18, 2012 19:24:48 GMT -5
"What are you talking about Anzu?" Jounouchi looked right at her, his significantly longer eyelashes just one of a medley of changes. "We have mirrors in here, I'd think we'd notice if something had happened to us." Jounouchi then puckered his ruby red lips and ran his fingers through soft, sleek blonde hair, no coarseness to be found at all. "See, I may be flat as a board but at least I'm still pretty."
"Yeah Anzu, at least whoever was behind the curse was that considerate." Honda said, examining her well manicured fingernails.
"And besides, once Kaiba gets back with the intel, we'll be able to fix all this in no time." Otogi had lost all trace of masculinity by this point; if one did not know Otogi before today, one would have thought he was always a woman.
"Don't worry Anzu, we'll be okay." Yuugi said, the top button of his blouse undone, exposing the beginnings of his cleavage.
"Oh no." Anzu had no idea how she was going to fix this; the changes were getting so deep, they couldn't even remember how they were only a few minutes ago. Anzu double checked to make sure that she could remember all the states her friends had been in, and almost spent far too much time on Yuugi.
....
"Almost done, my nameless Pharaoh." The female voice crooned as the spirit stirred. "Almost done, and then Hathor's will will be met."
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Post by Scribbler on Nov 21, 2012 8:13:47 GMT -5
The spirit struggled, but it was like trying to move through treacle and think while drugged. “Wh … y?” he managed to get out.
“Why what, love?”
He tried to answer but those cool hands soothed his brow again. They made everything seem so much better. When they were brushing back his hair he could forget the strange, draining feeling sapping his energy. He could forget that he wasn’t meant to be here. He could forget … that person. Someone important. Who was it again?
“Why am I … here?” he asked at last.
“Why are any of us here, love?” the equally soothing voice replied.
“Why … doing thissss … t’me?” Why was it so hard to do anything?
“Oh, love,” hummed the voice. Soft lips kissed his brow. How was that even possible? He didn’t even have a body to kiss without … that person. “Hush now. It’ll all be fine in the end.”
“Who … who’s … Hath …”
“Hathor?” A smile curled up the edges of the word. He felt it creep across the skin he shouldn’t have. “She’s wonderful. Divine, even. All this is for her – and you. it’s not right that a soul like yours should be … but no, that’s not for me to tell you. everything will become clear in time. Now you must hush. I’ll take care of you. I won’t let anything happen to you, love. I’ll protect you.”
Someone else had said that to him, hadn’t they? “Nnn…” he tried to say as he was pulled back into the dark. “No, w-wait … I c-can’t … remember … that p-personnn …”
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