Chaos (The Magician of Dark Chaos) and Dark Magician are Yu-Gi-Oh! characters created by Kazuki Takahashi. No rights are assumed by writing and posting this story.

This story is a challenge-fic response to the character "Chaos" and the word "kitten". The writer sheepishly admits to having a humorously unwholesome fascination with Chaos' buckles. (I'll go crawl under a rock in embarassment, now.)

The Final Buckle

He would somehow get Mahaad back for this. Yes, the battle line had been drawn in the sand of his soul. This was now war. He mentally waved aside the metaphysical ramifications of such a war, since Mahaad was he, and he was Mahaad, because this situation irked him so much that he now considered Mahaad a separate entity. Just the thought of wiping the smug little smile he was certain had been on Mahaad's Dark Magician face filled him with a righteous sort of glee. As Chaos, he was more powerful than his Dark Magician aspect. How had Mahaad managed to keep such an important secret from him?

He couldn't help but pace in his agitation. Really, this was completely intolerable. He was Chaos! While he wasn't evil, he delighted in inspired a sort of wariness in everyone, those he had just met and especially those who thought they knew him fairly well. He prided himself on being inscrutable and unpredictable. Chaos his name; chaos his nature. While part of him could appreciate what Mahaad had done, part of him was seething that his smirking alter-ego had managed to out-chaos even him.

A kitten. A cute, soft, black-furred kitten. Complete with delicate whiskers, velvet-soft paddy-paws (concealing needle-sharp little claws) and downy, fuzzy fur. He shook his head. A kitten. A weak, helpless, cute, little creature -- yes, even cuter than Kuriboh. Somehow Mahaad had saddled him with ...

Not only that, the final indignity, Mahaad had managed to deprive Chaos of all but one of his buckles. That was what made this the most intolerable of all. Without all his buckles, he felt naked. It didn't matter that he was, in fact, not naked, he felt that he was.

Also, the wily mage had trapped him in the one place he desperately did not want to be right now, practically naked as he was. Her house, specifically in the front yard. He'd explored every avenue of exit, from the locked gate, to the top of the high fence; in his desperation even considering abandoning his dignity altogether and digging out under the fence. To no avail. He was trapped, almost buckle-less -- and the front door was opening.

"How did you manage to get yourself trapped here?" she asked, approaching gently. He paced in agitation once more, a mistake as she pounced and grabbed hold. "Let's just see..."

She fumbled for the last remaining buckle. He closed his eyes tight, dreading to hear the final schnict! that would reveal his total nakedness to her gaze. Oh, yes, that grinning, purple, demon magician would somehow get his comeuppance for this extreme humiliation!

"Uhm...?"

Something in her tone made him curious. What new wrinkle of disgrace was unfolding? He opened his eyes.

Her eyes were wide with shock. She blinked once, then again. Because he was watching, he could see how a delighted smile washed into her eyes on the second blink. Entranced, he watched as the smile spread from her eyes to light up her whole face. He wanted to share that smile with her, despite his irritation at his Dark Magician self -- that is until he heard that dreaded sound and knew that he was utterly naked before her eyes.

She held his last buckle in her hand and turned it so he could see the metal disk attached to it. 'Chaos' was etched into the metal in a very familiar script.

"What pretty, purple eyes you have, my little Chaos!" she laughed, bringing the black kitten up to rub her cheek against his furry one. "So now I know; under all that bondagy leather, scary hat, weird, nearly insane eyes, and --oh yeah, buckles --there's a pretty, little, Dark kitten! Eeeeee!"

She stroked her hand slowly along his back, then played gently with his ears. It felt so wonderful that Chaos almost decided to forgive Mahaad for transforming him into a kitten.

Almost.

-end-

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!

stargarde (at) yahoo (dot) com