Transylvania, 1893…

A lonely carriage bumps along a windy path through the mountains of Transylvania. Inside, a well-dressed and rich looking Egyptian man sits across from two other gentlemen, one blonde and one brunette, who were both staring at him in utter silence. The Egyptian shifts uncomfortably and he opens his mouth to speak.

"In such close quarters, I feel compelled to introduce myself. I'm Marik Ishtar, Esquire. Solicitor from London."

The blonde's mood seems to change to a happier tone and he smiles, "Oh good, ya speak English! I thought I woulda insulted ya with my Brooklyn accent. I'm Joey Wheeler and this is Tristan"

"Hello British man!" The brunette waves at Marik, who returns it with a friendly smile as he goes to reach for a pocket handkerchief.

"I must admit, that I'm not quite accustomed to these Transylvanian roads…," he wipes his brow, "feeling a bit queasy…"

"Nyeh, I'll tell the driver to slow down a bit for ya." The blonde sticks his head out of the window next to him and looks up at an elegantly dressed man with long silver hair and a golden fake eye. As Joey is about to ask the driver to slow down, he gazes up at the sky to see the sun setting on the horizon. In a panic, he bangs on the side of the coach to get the driver's attention.

"Pegasus, whaddya doin? The sun's settin and we gotta get to da village before dark!"

The driver looks down at Joey and frowns, "Whatever are you talking about Mr. Wheeler? The sun won't set for…" He is cut off as he notices the sky is getting a bit darker by the second.

"Quick! QUICK!"

Pegasus takes the reigns in one hand and cracks his whip in the other, spurring the horses on. "What an un-fabulous day this is turning out to be!"

The carriage starts quickening pace and rocks back and forth. Marik looks around in confusion at the sudden change in speed and at Joey and Tristan, who are rushing to hold onto the handles on the walls near their seats.

"Hold on, Marik! Dis is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

"Save us, SuperMan!" Tristan clenches his eyes shut and grips the handle tightly.

Marik grabs the handle on his left and gasps when it breaks in his hand. Looking to the right, he goes for the handle on the right…which also breaks. At a sudden bump in the road, Marik is thrown out of his seat and is squished in between Joey and Tristan. He scrambles for a handle, hoping one of them would share, but the other two simply try to push him away from the handles.

"Why you on dis side? Get back, ya moocher!"

At a turn, Marik flies out of the seat and lands upside down on his own side, making Tristan jump a bit in his seat.

"Ah! I knew it Joey, he's an alien! He used his powers to fly away from us!"

The now disgruntled Marik sits himself back up and leans out the window, looking up at Pegasus.

"I say, silver man? Could you slow up a bit?"

Pegasus looks down at Marik and screams a creepy "YES!" before he cracks the whip, the horses slowing only a tad.

"Thank you!" Marik yelps as at another bump, he is back upside down in the carriage.


The carriage finally stops and Marik slumps against one side, catching his breath and feeling his heart slow its pace back to normal. However, a moment later, the carriage door opens and he flips out onto the dirt road, followed by Joey and Tristan who fall on top of him.

"Man, lucky we fell on somethin' soft huh, Tristan?"

"Um…Joey?" Tristan points down at Marik and Joey, realizing who he is on top of, stands up quickly to help the Egyptian up.

"…Thank you…" Marik moans in pain as he gets up, dusting himself off as he looks around at the small village the carriage ended up in and notices that a crowd of peasents have come to see the new arrivals. He looks up at Pegasus and is about to ask where they are when he sees him about to drop his luggage onto the ground. "Oh driver, don't deposit my luggage. I'm continuing on to Borgar Pass tonight."

Pegasus responds by simply throwing the baggage near Marik, who jumps a bit in surprise. "What are you doing, Golden Eye?"

Pegasus raises a hand to the sky. "It is far too dark…I cannot go any further. From here on, you walk!" the driver clicks his teeth together and spurs on the horses, making the coach go down the village street. As Pegasus drives off, a short, elderly man with gray hair and a beard steps forward with a frown.

"You are going on…tonight?"

"Yes, I'm heading towards the castle."

At the sound of the word "castle", the villagers all whisper in hushed voices and gasp with fright.

"Why would ya wanna go to a creepy old dump like that?" Joey pipes up from where he and Tristan are standing nearby.

Marik looks at the villagers quizzically. "Well, I'm scheduled to meet Count Bakura."

A collected gasp echoes from both the villagers and Joey and Tristan, who look at Marik with horror.

"C-Count Bakura?" Joey gulps loudly.

"B-Bakura?" a few of the villagers ask with fright.

"…Scheduled?" Tristan cocks his head to one side, confused.

Marik nods, "Yes, I have business with the Count."

"No! You must not go!" the older man shakes his head quickly.

"…And why not?"

"Grandpa Moto and the rest of us believe that vampires live in da castle, Nyeh!" Joey says, no hint of joking in his voice.

"…Vampires?" Marik asks with a bit of hesitation.

"They are the undead," Grandpa Moto says gravely, "they rise from the coffins at night…"

"Yes…," another villager in a white cloak and a strange golden necklace walks towards Marik near his left. As the figure gets closer, its head lifts a bit higher and an Egyptian woman with blue eyes looks back at him. "They take the form of wolves or bats and puncture the throats of their victims with their teeth to drink their blood."

Marik gulps slightly and cracks a fake smile, trying to calm himself down. "Surely that is just superstition?"

"Lady Ishizu is always right!" Tristan called from where he was standing.

"Please, weary traveler, take this Ankh." Lady Ishizu lifts from a pocket in the cloak a shining silver cross-like object and holds it out to Marik.

"Uh…no thanks…" Marik shook his head and kindly smiles at the woman.

"Take it, its holy love and spirit of goodness will shield you from the lurking danger."

Marik frowns, "Look creepy lady what part of "no" did you not-"

"By Anubis, take the Ankh!" Ishizu slaps Marik on the hand and he yelps, quickly taking it from her. She stares at him for a second before holding out her hand. "That will be 15 Kopecs…"

Marik quickly shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out the money for her, placing it in her open hand. Ishizu smiles and thanks him with a bow, stepping back into the crowd and disappearing from view. Shrugging, Marik picks up his luggage with a huff. "Well…if I must walk, then I shall walk."

The crowd followed Marik as he walks back the way the carriage came and turned to continue down the road. Tristan and Joey run in front of him, trying to block his path.

"No! Please don't go!" Tristan pleads.

"I beg you!" Joey is on his hands and knees, his hands clasped together.

"But you don't understand, I'm expected!" Marik scoots past them and nods at them and the rest of the villagers before continuing on his way.

"Farewell, mind slaves!"