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Bestest Friends 2

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Wanda continued to walk through Domino City as Tea followed closely behind her. Tea could think of nothing else besides being Wanda's "bestest friend," a title she now deeply hoped never to let down.

As Wanda and Tea rounded a corner, Wanda bumped into a man wearing a white-striped suit with graying hair.

"Ow!" Wanda yelled as she fell.

"Mistress Wanda! Are you hurt?" Tea asked, still with a faint deadpan.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Miss Tea," Wanda said. She looked up to yell at the man, but then got a smile on her face. "Terry!"

The man looked down and nearly broke down crying. "Miss Wanda, there you are! You had me worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Terry. I just really wanted to see the new dolls, then I lost you."

"I'm just relieved you're unharmed."

"Yeah, Miss Tea helped me!"

"Miss Tea?"

Tea walked over to Wanda's side. "I am Tea Gardner, Mistress Wanda's bestest friend."

Wanda pouted and said, "Now that I think of it, Tea, you shouldn't call me 'Mistress' or anything like that. You're not my slave or servant or anything like that; you're my friend."

Tea smiled and said, "As you wish, Wanda."

"That's better! By the way, this is Terry, Daddy's bestest friend!"

"Actually, my name is Terrence, and I'm Wanda's Father's personal butler. I was asked to escort Miss Wanda around the mall, but then got separated from her in the crowds. I must sincerely thank you for watching over Miss Wanda in my absence, Miss Gardner."

"It's no trouble, Mr. Terrence."

"Terry, can Tea come home with me? I wanna play with her more!"

"Well, I don't think--"

"I don't mind, Mr. Terrence. Wanda and I are bestest friends, after all. I want to be with her for as long as she'll have me."

Terrence sighed and said, "Very well. Please come with me to the limousine. It's past your curfew, young lady."

Wanda pouted as she climbed into the back of the limousine, Tea following suit. As the limousine drove off, a woman walked up and asked herself, "Was that Tea? What on earth is she doing hanging around little girls? I need to investigate this."

Terrence drove his two passengers outside Domino City and up a nearby mountain, up to the gates of a fairly large mansion. Driving past the gates of the mansion, Terrence opened the door of the limousine and let Wanda and Tea emerge from the back.

Almost immediately, Wanda turned to Terrence and asked, "Hey, Terry, is Daddy in his office again?"

"I'm afraid he is, Miss Wanda, but it's almost time for his last meeting to be over, so you should be able to see him soon."

Reaching into her deck and pulling out a card, Wanda said, "That's okay. Could you just ask Daddy what this is, then tell him I managed to make a bestest friend? Please, Terry."

"If it'll make you happy, Miss Wanda, I'll do as you ask."

"Thanks, Terry! Come on, Tea! We have a ton of games to play!"

"I'm coming, Wanda."

(In another room of the mansion, five minutes later)

"I'm pleased to accept your cooperation in this latest project, Miss Ishtar."

"It's nothing, Dr. Harkness. I must admit that I've wanted to join Ido Industries' Egyptology department for quite some time."

"Yes, well I'm sure your vast knowledge on the subject will prove to be a valuable asset to our expedition into the Valley of the Kings next week. Learning more about what the Ancient Egyptians thought of death and the afterlife could lead to a greater understanding of why the pharaohs built such memorable monuments to their honor. I'm expecting an awful lot out of you, Miss Ishtar. Think you can handle it?"

"You can count on me, Doctor."

Ishizu Ishtar stood to shake the hand of Dr. Jonathan Harkness, president of Ido Industries, the largest and most powerful subsidiary of Industrial Illusions. Dr. Harkness kept his appearance in check all the time, never allowing a stray hair atop his neatly combed head or stubble forming around his cheeks. The white suit with thin red lines he wore was always kept clean and free of lint. Even his shoes didn't stay dirty for long.

Ishizu was a little disturbed at how much he prioritized keeping himself clean. As he reached for some hand sanitizer, she asked, "Um, Doctor, are you always so…hygienically minded?"

"I'm afraid so. Even the most professional psychiatrists can suffer from phobias and the like. I just happen to despise germs and everything about them."

"But the trip to Egypt--"

"Will be made by a party on my behalf. It's a terrible shame, but it's the only option available to me."

A knock filled the room as Dr. Harkness and Ishizu turned to see Terrence walking into the room holding a handkerchief in his hands.

"Please excuse the interruption, Dr. Harkness, but your daughter has returned and wishes for you to examine this," Terrence explained as he held out the handkerchief. "Don't worry, sir, it has already been disinfected for you."

"Very efficient, Terrence," Dr. Harkness said as he took the handkerchief from Terrence's gloved hands. "You may leave now. I'll tell Wanda what I find about this personally."

"Very well, sir." Terrence bowed and left the room.

Dr. Harkness unwrapped the handkerchief and held up a Duel Monsters card. He couldn't help but smile at what he saw.

Ishizu, noticing his faint smile, asked, "Is there something strange about that card, Doctor?"

Dr. Harkness chuckled and said, "I think you'd be rather fascinated by it, actually. Since you're now a trusted member of the staff here, allow me to show you something you'll never forget."

Ishizu watched anxiously as Dr. Harkness pressed a button on a small table on the back wall.

"I designed this room to be able to project holograms from anywhere in its vicinity, meaning I can make the monsters on Duel Monsters cards appear right next to you," Dr. Harkness explained.

"One of the perks of being associated with Industrial Illusions?" Ishizu jokingly asked, not believing what she was hearing.

"You could say that. Now, for the fun part."

Dr. Harkness placed the card on the table without another word. Ishizu was surprised to see something appear right next to her, but she was even more surprised when she discovered its identity.

"Tea? Is that you?" Ishizu asked as she stared at Tea Gardner, now dressed as the Dark Magician Girl.

Tea looked over at Ishizu and stood confused. "Ishizu? What are you doing here? Where is here, anyway?"

"Are you two friends or something?" Dr. Harkness asked, drawing Tea and Ishizu's attention.

"We've met quite a few times in the past, yes," Ishizu nervously answered. "Tea, what happened to you?"

"I wish I knew. One minute, I was dueling a little girl who had gotten lost in an effort to cheer her up, then I started believing I had to please the girl like I was a slave or something, then the next thing I remember is seeing someone who looked just like me calling the same girl her "bestest" friend. Now, I'm suddenly here."

"Tea, you're here as a hologram. You've somehow become trapped in a Duel Monsters card!"

"What? When did that happen?"

"Perhaps I can explain," Dr. Harkness said. The two girls looked at Dr. Harkness as he raised a portrait to reveal a large television screen. An image appeared on the screen that scared Ishizu and Tea.

They gazed upon Tea's body combing Wanda's hair while wearing a blue dress with puffed-out shoulders and a silver tiara in her hair. Wanda wore a pink dress and held a small golden crown in her hand.

Tea and Ishizu could hear some faint talking, but it didn't look like Wanda was treating Tea like a slave or servant. In fact, Tea even saw her own body laugh alongside Wanda.

Dr. Harkness spoke over the video. "What you are witnessing now is the crowning achievement of my work: the distinction between a person's "soul" and its "will"."

"Your work? You're the reason behind this?" Ishizu asked.

"It's a pretty complicated story. Let me see if I can put it simply.

In my early years, I came to the conclusion that the human mind is divided into two parts, the "Soul" and the "Will". The body with Wanda right now is acting purely on Tea's Will, which directs the actions of a person, whereas the hologram of the card in this room is her Soul, which directs the thought processes and sense of reason."

"That's great and all, but it still doesn't explain why my body is acting like a little girl while I'm dressed in this!" Tea impatiently said.

"The answer lies in my daughter, Wanda. Every time she begins a duel, she takes control of her opponent's Will and manipulates it to make the body act to her desires. As long as the Soul still has power, however, the Will has to obey it instead of Wanda. Luckily, the Soul will lose power proportional to the amount of Life Points lost."

Tea remembered the strange thoughts that ran through her head during her duel with Wanda, now recognizing them as Wanda's power over her body.

"When the Life Points of her opponent reach zero, the Will completely takes over and expels the Soul so that it can't get in the way of fulfilling Wanda's wish for the person. The Soul can't exist by itself in the physical world, so it creates a vessel for itself, which nowadays will usually take the form of the person's favorite Duel Monsters card. In your case, Tea, you forged a Dark Magician Girl card for your Soul to reside in."

Ishizu and Tea stood in shock and awe at Wanda's power. Tea stared at her body playing with Wanda on the screen, wondering whether or not Wanda was aware of what she had done.

"Doctor, you said before that Wanda's power was your 'crowning achievement'. Does that mean that you gave your daughter that power?" Ishizu asked.

"Hard to say. She manifested the power on her own, but I may have had something to do with its inception."

"What are you saying?" Ishizu asked.

Before Dr. Harkness could answer, Terrence burst into the room, shutting off the holograph system and causing Tea to disappear back to her host card. "Forgive me, Doctor, but an intruder was captured on the premises. She's being held in the foyer right now."

Dr. Harkness switched the camera feed from Wanda's room to the foyer of the mansion, where two guards were holding down a woman with flowing blonde hair.

"Get off of me! I need to talk to Tea!" the woman kept yelling.

Ishizu stared at the screen with surprise. "Is that Mai Valentine?"

Dr. Harkness smiled. "Well, this is a blessing in disguise, it seems."

Ishizu quickly turned to Harkness and asked, "What are you planning?"

"I just wish to show you Wanda's power firsthand," Harkness calmly said.

Ishizu tensed up and said, "I can't allow you to do that. You're talking about taking away a person's free will while I'm here."

"There's really no harm done, Miss Ishtar," Harkness said. "It's not like this woman's going to lose her life."

"She will lose her life. By manipulating any part of a person's mind, that person becomes someone different and the old life is lost! Don't you see that?"

Harkness grinned. "Well, if you're so convinced that this is that harmful, why don't we make a bet?"

"A bet?"

"Of course. You're convinced that a human will die if its identity is stolen, while I believe that it doesn't. How do you propose we solve this matter?"

"You want me to duel, don't you?"

"Precisely. If you win, I'll support your argument publically and even restore your friend Tea to normal."

"And if I lose?"

"You'll acknowledge that my argument is the most sound, and agree to help me with whatever projects I might have in the future after our current project."

Ishizu thought about her options for a minute, but one thought took over her mind. "Harkness said he could help Tea get back to normal. I have to fight if only for that."

"I'll accept your terms," Ishizu declared.

"Very well. Terrence, show Miss Ishtar and our intruder to the Duel Arena."

Ishizu stiffened up at his words. "What?"

"And after that, let Wanda know that she and her "bestest friend" have a chance to gain new friends."

Ishizu angrily glared at Dr. Harkness after Terrence left. "This man doesn't even have the nerve to fight me himself, but if this is the way he wants it, fine. I'll let Wanda know her power is dangerous and save Tea. That'll bring this pompous oaf to his knees."
Part 2 of this story: [link]

Tea and Wanda go to Wanda's home, where Wanda's father and Ishizu Ishtar debate the ethics and morality of Wanda's power.

I know Wanda's power can be a bit confusing at first, but hopefully everything makes sense.

I also apologize for this chapter's length. I just didn't know where to stop.

Tea Gardner, Mai Valentine and Ishizu Ishtar belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Wanda Harkness, Terrence and Dr. Jonathan Harkness are original characters.
© 2012 - 2024 Crocodile-Kuro
Comments19
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I'm curious to know more about this Soul/Will separation. Specifically, how it manifests in stubborn/conflicted characters like Mai. What if the Will's job is not only to move the body, but also to keep the Soul in check, like the ego governs the id?

So in response to Vincent's question, I think the Soul-monster would be free to think, but unable to act on her own. (That's the Will's job.) She would also be unable to keep her thoughts secret, making it humorously difficult to discuss strategy with the duelist.