Rock Bottom: Season One

Arrival

"Come on, we'll miss it!" Marik ran up the narrow stairs with excitement as Ryou followed behind, suppressing a yawn. It was early, too early for many people to be awake just yet. This had been Marik's idea, though, and Ryou couldn't say no to him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ryou called out as Marik burst onto the deck and turned around to watch Ryou ascend the stairs at a slower pace. The tanned teen was practically bouncing with excitement while his white-haired lover still seemed groggy with sleep. The moment Ryou set foot on the deck, Marik seized his hand and pulled him along in a hurry, Ryou smiling in amusement. Marik finally came to a rest at the very front of the ship, just in time to watch the sunrise. After so many years in the darkness, it felt glorious to see the light, and sleeping inside the hull of the ship had felt too much like being underground again. His eyes were wide with rapture as the two held hands in silence, Ryou resting his head against Marik's as they appreciated the beauty of it together. When the sun had cleared the horizon, Marik glanced over at Ryou and grinned.

"Your hair is still messy," he chuckled, running his fingers through Ryou's long, rumpled, white locks.

"Ah, well." Ryou shrugged dismissively, glowing at Marik with eyes of melted chocolate. A throaty chuckle from behind startled them both and made them turn around. Ryou blushed an even darker shade of red as he realized that they were being watched—and who was watching them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were there," Marik apologized with a blush of his own.

"That's alright, it's not like the ship is mine," Seto said breezily as he stood, a little stiff after sitting there for hours, but he'd felt worse before. "We should be arriving soon, since the island is right out there," he commented as he approached, not even needing to point since the distant island was in clear view on the horizon. "Is anybody else awake?"

"I don't think so," Ryou answered, his face starting to return to a normal color. "Joey was snoring pretty loudly when we left, and Anzu and Yugi were still sleeping soundly."

"I suppose now wouldn't be too early to wake them up, would it?"

"Nah, we all went to bed pretty early last night, so they should be fine," Ryou replied.

"Alright, sounds good. I just think we should have some kind of plan for what we're going to do when we get to the island."

~~~~~~~~~~

It had taken longer than Duke anticipated for him to explain all of the details of Dungeon Dice Monsters to Pegasus, and even longer than he anticipated for them to go through the potential of every die, the make-up of every booster pack, the plausibility of making it compatible with an adapted model of the Duel Arena. It took them a few days to draw up the contract after that, and by this time, the Duelist Kingdom Tournament was hours from starting.

"I would love to fund the launch of your game, Dukey-Boy." Pegasus sipped his wine before he continued. "It sounds like it's going to be a smashing success. There's just one little thing I need to know first, before we sign the contracts: Who invented the Duel Arena?"

"Noah Kaiba, of course," Duke answered automatically, and a little too quickly. The fact that Pegasus even asked that question made him feel nervous, but he refused to show it, maintaining his usual aura of casual confidence and cocky intellect.

"Come now, do you really think I buy that explanation?" He laughed, the sound light and almost scornful. "He couldn't explain a single thing about it to me when I asked! He clearly had no hand in making it. So, let's try this again, Duke." He stood, setting down his wineglass before strolling over to sit on the edge of the table and face the teen. "Who created the Duel Arena?"