The Rod and the Mage

Oh, my! This is longer than usual! But it had to be! SPOILERS! If you have yet to see Battle City semi-finals, you'll be spoiled! Disclaimers on the first chapter.

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Later that day, Teajuana wasn’t able to get much sleep, not that she cared much, but this was one of those days that she needed sleep. The young woman stared at the ceiling for countless hours before she felt her eyes begin to close and darkness claim her for a few more hours.

:: I’m running. I can’t stop running. If I do, then they’ll catch me. So I run. It’s so dark and cold here. But what really scares me is the dark. I feel as if I’ve been here countless times, but I can’t escape it. But I run because I want to try to escape.

:: A hand grabs me and flings me to the floor. I look around and see no one. Then a whip flies toward me, slicing my back. The sting hurts, but I’ve been hit like this before. Another whip flies from nowhere it seems, hitting various places on my back. I try to stand and am thrown down once again. This is getting really tiring.

:: I’m on my feet now, but something’s wrong. I can feel it. I can’t see them yet, but I know there are many men and a few women circling me. Then all hell breaks loose. Whips fly toward me, and daggers pierce my skin. I’m in a bull ring, and I can’t escape! I try to punch these enemies, and although my punches connect, nothing happens. It’s as if I have no power behind my punches and kicks to do any damage. Instead, I just seem to anger my attackers, and they end up punching and kicking and doing whatever else they can think of to harm me. Soon, I’m on the ground, just taking the beating. Even in my dreams I can’t stop my painful past. And so long ago, my dreams were my escape from reality.

:: Soon, they stop attacking me, leaving me to bleed forever, and I look up to see a young boy just standing and watching. Yonnie. I cry out for him to leave, to run, but he just stands there, frozen to the spot. I cry out to him again as those men and women move toward the young boy; I try to get up, to protect him, but I can’t. My body won’t let me! Right before my very eyes, Yonnie is taken and beaten, and soon, his body can’t handle it. He’s stabbed in more places than I could count, if I could even count very high, and blood just pours from those wounds. I reach out to him, and he just smiles sadly before giving into the pain and laying limp in the arms of those murderers. My heart plummets to the underworld below, wanting to follow my little brother and knowing that will never happen. My life and soul dies every time I dream for my little brother is always there, wanting to protect me as much as I want to protect him. ::

Teajuana sat straight up in bed, panting and sweating as if she had just been in a marathon. A hand went to her head to try to calm herself down, but the young woman erupted into tears. “If anything were to happen to Yonnie, I’d never forgive myself,” she said to no one in particular. “My little brother.” Teajuana grabbed her cell phone and quickly dialed Yoseph’s. It wouldn’t be too late in the day for her to have called, and soon, Yoseph answered.

“Yoseph, where’s Yonnie? I need to talk to him,” she said with urgency.

“Calm down, Bastet. He’s right here,” the elder replied.

“Bastet, what’s wrong?” came the voice of Yonnie. He sounded concerned, and Teajuana just smiled.

“Nothing now, little brother. I was just worried about you.”

“You had that dream again?”

“Yeah, I had that dream again. So how are you doing? Are you being good for Yoseph?”

“Yep! He even let me dig!” Their conversation lasted for a few hours; Teajuana assured that nothing had happened to the young boy. It was all too soon that Yonnie had to hang up because it was getting rather late, and he was tired. Teajuana let the boy go and watched the rising sun peek over the horizon. She sighed. It was the start of a new day.


“Another day and another boring one at that,” Teajuana yawned. She traveled the streets of Domino by foot, not really trusting vehicles except her own motorcycle which hadn’t come in yet from Egypt. She watched a few duels and just shook her head at the unreality of it all. These kids were so horrible compared to those she dueled in Egypt. Unfortunately, Teajuana had dueled many men and women in Egypt, and the cards were like gold. Soon, one duelist had spotted her and came up to her.

“Interested in the duels?” asked the light green haired boy. Smaller versions of this boy were surrounding him.

“Hardly. Just studying the differences between the different dueling styles. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be leaving,” Teajuana turned on her heal, but a hand stopped her.

“I can tell your interested, miss. Why don’t we duel?” the same boy asked, as another with a ski cap covering his unruly brown hair walked up.

“Look, Roba, I don’t want to duel. You wouldn’t last five minutes against my dueling skills,” the young woman spat.

“Looks like that’s a challenge, Roba,” the brown haired boy commented.

“I accept your challenge, ma’am. Are you ready to lose?” Espa Roba challenged.

Teajuana sighed and looked pointedly at the two boys. “Listen. I don’t have a duel disk, I don’t want a duel disk, and I’m not going to waste my time dueling either of you. If you refuse to let me go, then I’ll leave by force. And trust me. You don’t want me to leave by force.”

“So, you’re scared?” Roba asked.

“No! You don’t get it!” Teajuana turned around and tried walking off again. “Stupid brats. Don’t know when no means no.”

“Wait a second! How did you know my name? I didn’t even tell it to you!” Roba said as he chased after her.

“I didn’t have to ask for it. Your cards told me.”

Both boys looked at each other. “Cards?” Then they lookt tht their decks.

Teajuana let out a frustrated sigh. “Give me those.” She grabbed Roba’s deck from the duel disk and began telling what card was in what order and holding up that card so the back faced her. Espa watched as every card was named in precisely the order the young redhead was picking them up. The other was speechless.

“How. . .how did you do that?” the other boy asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Rex Raptor.” Teajuana watched as the boy widened his eyes at her knowing her name. “Don’t look so surprised. You’ve been on TV, you know. That and your cards told me. Both decks need work.”

“Need work?!” both exclaimed, jaws dropped.

“Let’s see your deck,” Roba said.

“It’s more of a collection really.” Teajuana brought out her cards a bit at a time, her normal deck being first.

“Wow, you have a lot of cards, ma’am,” Roba commented.“I’v“I’ve never seen this many at once, unless you count Kaiba’s briefcase! Where do you keep all of these cards?!” Rex asked.

“I have pockets covering my entire being, but I don’t suggest you try pickpocketing. Your hands might get cut up by the daggers I have hidden.”

Rex looked Teajuana up and down. “So how do you get past metal detectors at airports?”

Teajuana merely shrugged. “I’m in mil military and don’t really take normal airplanes. Besides, all I’d have to do is flash my badge, and that’s the end of that.”

Although Roba was listening, his attention was primarily on the cards. He just couldn’t believe how many cards there were in this deck! Then, his eyes landed on one in particular. “Oh, my God! You have the Magician of Black Chaos! This is really rare!”

“I know. My little brother gave it to me,” Teajuana replied.

“Hey! She’s also got Exodia! She could even give Moto a run for his money,” Rex commented.

“I don’t know. Yugi’s pretty good,” Roba countered.

“Well, definitely Joey! There’s no way, with a deck this good, that anyone could beat her,” Rex argued. “I’m glad I didn’t challenge her!”

Roba gulped and looked at Teajuana. “You’re not gonna hold me to that challenge, are you?”

“Only if you want to, but I warn you. The deck you hold in your hand is the one I normally use.”

“Oh, in that case, here are your cards back. Thanks for letting us look at them.”

“Whatever. I need to get going anyway.” Teajuana took the cards and left, leaving the boys in a state of awe.

::You were decent for a change, Bastet.:: the Magician of Black Chaos commented.

::Eh, it wasn’t like they could do anything anyway. Whether they tried beating me at Duel Monsters or fighting me, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. I don’t mean to boast, but it’s the truth.::

The Magician just nodded and watched as Teajuana stopped by a building and sighed. She longed to be with Yonnie; the separation was beginning to kill her. Heole ole life had been centered with caring for the boy for at least three years, but he meant a lot to her. Her dream came back to haunt her for a moment before vanishing, leaving her in a state of near tears, but the task at hand was more important than her own feelings. If she didn’t wininstinst the assassins, she would never be with Yonnie in peace. It was then she saw a young man with red hair and blue eyes much like hers coming out of the building on which she was leaning.

::He’s here. I knew it!:: Teajuana went into an alley before continuing her thoughts. ::He looks like someone just died. I wonder if Takashino died. That would be a load off my shoulders.:: The woman watched as the other looked around and pulled out a picture. . .a picture of Yonnie. ::What’s he doing with a picture of Yonnie?! Why is he grieving over my little brother? I’ll have to call Yoseph as soon as I can.:: She watched as the young man left the area via sidewalk and toward a hotel.

Next, Teajuana went to get out her cell phone and blinked, noting she had just been robbed of her cell. ::Well, at least I won’t have to worry about calls. That phone is password only. No one could answer it or call on it. Heh. Sucks to be the punk that stole it.:: Shrugging off her stolen cell, Teajuana decided it was best to just continue walking around.

Soon, she came to the docks and hid behind creates. ::What is this going on? Two guys dueling, but with anchors chained to their feet? Wait. That one’s Yugi Moto, and the other is Joey Wheeler. They’re supposed to be best friends. Wait a sec.:: Teajuana felt something happening to the inside of Joey, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. ::Isis told me a lot about her brother Malik. Maybe he’s controlling Joey’s mind with that rod. Makes sense. But why? Isis said her brother wanted the power of the pharaoh, but how will he obtain it by killing Yugi? Or, is Malik trying to kill Yugi so he can become pharaoh instead of Yugi?::

The young woman watched as Seto, Mokuba, Tristan, and Serenity showed up to the site. She watched as Mokuba and Seto tried to stop the duel but to no avail. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Teajuana saw a man with the Rare Hunters’ robe on carrying a gun, hiding from view. Quickly and quietly, she moved over toward the man and disarmed him before he even knew she was there.

“That’ll teach you not to try that again, Malik. And I know you can hear me through that empty shell. Know this. I don’t care what you do, but you harm anyone during the time you are here, and I will personally see to it that you are stopped.” The young warrior walked away from the duel and proceeded home, where her bike and a brand new cell phone where waiting for her. Picking up the phone, she smiled and said her code, activating it. Then she turned in for the night, reminding herself to call Yoseph and Yonnie the following day.


The days flew by, and soon Isis called to say that Teajuana better get ready for the Battle City finals. Teajuana agreed, and with all the traveling she’d done, it wasn’t hard to find the halfway built stadium. To be precise, she was the first one there.

She hid from everyone and watched as a blond, almost white, haired young man and a much taller gentleman with hieroglyphic markings on his face appeared. Teajuana noted how the tr for followed the shorter young man, and that was when Teajuana saw the Millennium Rod! The young woman quickly deduced that the blond was Isis’s brother, Malik.

::I had not doubt he would be here. However, that other Egyptian puzzles me. Why would he follow Malik?::

“Rashid, we’ll be going near the top,” the younger said, brooking no room for argument.

“The older bowed and replied in the deep rumble that was his voice, “Yes, Master Malik.” He stood straight and looked up in Teajuana’s direction. With it being so dark and Teajuana wore dark clothes, Rashid was unable to see her.

Malik turned questioning, violet eyes to Rashid, asking, “What is it?”

“Someone else is already here, my master. But that is all I can gather.”

“We’ll see who’s here with my Millennium Rod.” Malik held it up, and Teajuana felt someone probing her mind, but that was it. She blinked, expecting to hear Malik in her head, but it never happened. “What’s this?! Someone is here, but the powers of my Millennium Rod have no effect!” He growled, “Show yourself!”

“Why should I, abuser of the Millennium Magic?” Teajuana answered, her voice echoing.

Malik stood still for a moment. “What?! Come down here and say that to me, hider!”

“I’d rather not. Besides, your bodyguard there wouldn’t be able to stop me from ripping that Rod out of your hands and returning it to Egypt. Judging from the way you treat him, I’d say he would let me.”

“You’re wrong, little girl. Rashid is my trusted and willing slave.”

“So that’s all he is to you, just a slave. My cards tell me that he is more than that, but you lost sight of what Rashid means to you. And besides, every Egyptian is a brother or sister, not a slave.”

Teajuana noted how Rashid seemed to agree with her but said nothing else. Malik didn’t, however, notice Rashid’s reaction and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Anger was beginning to build in his being.

“Who are you to talk about Egypt?! You’re probably not from there anyway!” he shouted.

“How do you know, brat?”

Malik was having about just enough of this girl and her accusing ways. “If you’re so tough, then come down here!”

The Eye of Ra could not be mistaken as Teajuana jumped from herch rch and landed right in front of Malik, who jumped back in surprise. The menacing and yet agile form before him was both deadly and beautiful at the same time. However, the piercing gaze upon him made Malik shrink back. ::That look could rival Kaiba’s!:: Teajuana’s cards told her as Malik thought this.

“You wanted me down here. I am from Egypt just like you, but I honor what is and not what I want to happen. You have no honor for you go against the one appointed by Ra himself to rule.” She smirked, “But then again, this is an age where pharaohs no longer rule. Either way, I honor ancient Egypt.”

“Who-“ Malik squeaked and then cleared his voice, “Who are you?”

“They call me Bastet Nefertiti.”

Both Malik and Rashid widened their eyes and took a step back. They had heard about the young woman that fought for justice in Egypt, but they never thought they’d ever see her. Rashid longed to talk to Teajuana, but his loyalty to Makeptkept him where he was. Malik inched closer to her.

“Forgive me, Bastet. I hadn’t known you were in Japan. If I may ask, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“That’s my business only, Malik. And I suggest you shape up for I will be watching every move you make in the finals. Harm the pharaoh, and you’ll deal with me, without your lap dog to protect you.”

Voices were heard in the distance, and Teajuana disappeared as quickly as she appeared, waiting for Isis tow upw up. She watched as Malik almost panicked and raced up the stairs to a worthy spot, just not as high as Teajuana. Rashid was quick to follow, and they too waited for everyone’s arrival. Despite the young warrior’s warning, Malik decided that it would be best to have Rashid act as him so no one would guess that “Namu” was really Malik. Teajuana’s eyes narrowed as she took this information in. She figured that the truth would be revealed sooner than Malik thought.

After everyone, except for Isis, showed, they proceeded onto the blimp that landed in front of them. Teajuana noted the distance and jumped from her perch to the small dueling platform and went inside to look for Isis. She scoffed at the inadequate security and soon found Isis beginning to enter her room.

“Bastet, I’m so glad you could make it!” the other woman said joyously, itching to wrap her arms around the other.

“Go ahead, Isis. You’ll be giving me one sooner or later,” Teajuana replied as she just stood there. Isis promptly gave the other a big hug and then released quickly, remembering that this could very well be just a one time offer.

“Right, come in quickly. I’ll let security know that you are here so they don’t try to arrest you. So, how long have you been waiting for me?” Isis inquired while putting some things away in the makeshift room.

“Long enough to talk to your brother.”

Isis stopped and looked at the dead serious expression Teajuana sported. “You. . .talked with my brother and survived?”

“He was more concerned with not getting a hit from me. Are you sure he’s supposed to be a danger to Yugi? I had him quaking in his boots.”

“Oh, I assure you. What ever threat you bestowed upon my brother has no effect on his plans. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t take you seriously; he just doesn’t want to believe it.”

“He’ll believe it when all he sees is me every time he lookoundound. In fact,” she smirked, “I could play you and go to the deck where they are picking lots to see who duels who. Give your brother a little mind joggle.”

“That would be interesting, but no. My brother is not to be harmed, Bastet. Not yet at any rate.”