Disclaimer: Not mine...
Chapter 2 –
"Shock! A plan is formed"
"Ha, ha, Jounouchi," Malik said after a pause, "real funny. It wasn't April 1 the last time I checked though." But his voice was uncertain.
"I'm serious, Malik!" Jounouchi said in exasperation. "Would I lie about this? Come see for yourselves!"
Malik glared at Jounouchi and the latter glared back, but then they broke eye contact and turned towards Ryou, only to find no one there.
"Where's Bakura?" Jounouchi asked, rather needlessly.
Malik bit his lip. If Yami Bakura had surfaced and had gone there, that meant he believed Jounouchi. "I think he's there..."
They rushed to the Kame no Game Shop, only to meet Yami Bakura, whose face was carefully neutral, the Millenium Puzzle and a piece of paper in his hand.
"This place can be read like a book," he said. There was an odd tone in his voice but nobody picked up on it, as they were still too shocked to speak. "Let's get cracking, I suppose," he continued after a long silence, putting the note and Puzzle onto the counter. Focusing, Yami Bakura placed two fingers on the Puzzle and delved into it, reuniting with the tiny piece of soul he'd left there.
The soul room was huge and confusing as always, but there was something missing. The stillness was unsettling, and no matter how he probed Yami Bakura could not find any trace of a living being, spirit or otherwise. Withdrawing from the artifact, he said slowly, almost unbelievingly, "The Pharaoh isn't in the puzzle."
Silence greeted the statement. Again. Yami Bakura was getting tired of it.
"Don't just stand there!" he said after yet another long pause, annoyed. "Do something! You're supposed to be best friends, aren't you? The power of friendship and all that! Remember?"
Jounouchi stared at him for a moment, then reacted. "Uh... yeah," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'm going to call Anzu and Honda." He gestured at Yami Bakura. "And you have a note..."
"Oh yeah," he replied. "About the note... I'm not too familiar with English characters. You read it, Malik. I doubt Jounouchi's English ability."
Jounouchi glared at Yami Bakura and made a one-handed snatch for the note, but since Yami Bakura had two hands at his disposal it was pretty obvious who won. However, he could not celebrate his triumph in public as Ryou soon forced him back in, having felt the need to finally take control.
"Maybe I should read it," he commented with a hint of amusement lacing his voice as Jounouchi finally got through to Honda and explained everything. But when Ryou scanned the note his face went white. He opened his mouth and started reading:
"'Kame no Game Shop, 47500 Domino Precinct, Yokohama, Japan. Remember the gourd. The boy has multicolored and spiky hair, also very short. Be careful of the spirit. Very important. DO NOT FAIL.' A gourd..." Ryou mumbled. "Don't they use gourds to contain spirits?"
"Yes, they do," Malik said gloomily. "So someone wants the Pharaoh, huh? Someone from America or England?"
"England!" Jounouchi's head shot up, still on his phone. "I got a letter from a school of wizardry in England!" Then he bit his lip, as if expecting a negative answer.
"I did too," Ryou said softly. "Do you think it's connected?"
"Wait..." Malik said, "you guys did too? I did, but I thought it was just some crazy prank. But if the letter and the note are to be believed... all evidence points to England. Wow," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "What a help."
"At least we know he isn't in the rest of the world, Malik," Ryou said mildly.
Meanwhile, Jounouchi had finished his phone call to Honda and had told him to inform Anzu about it. "But we are going off on another adventure to save Yuugi, aren't we?" he said. "How are we even going to get to England?"
"Well, I've kinda got an idea..." Ryou said, giving them a small smile.
Harry opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room, scar still smarting painfully from Voldemort's sudden anger. After his vision focused, he realized that the room didn't feel quite right.
Where were Ron and Hermione? Where was his party? Where was this place, anyway? He was still slightly confused, when suddenly a cruel, snake-like voice started to speak, and Harry sighed mentally.
'Voldemort can't even leave this day alone, huh? So much for a happy birthday...'
"I told you, Crabbe, to go to Japan, take the spirit quietly, and quietly come back, leaving no traces of your presence. But what do you go off and do? Almost burn the entire house down. And although the spirit is here, safe in my dungeons... where are the other two?" His voice lowered dangerously. "The whole point of this was to not leave any witnesses. I am disappointed, Crabbe, very disappointed indeed..."
Crabbe's reply was a hasty mumbling and a few robe kisses, however, they did not seem to have any effect as Voldemort spat in contempt and kicked at Crabbe angrily.
"Get up. Only the fact that your son is graduating soon saves you; believe me, if your son had been but a child, or had already become part of the circle, you would already have been dead."
Crabbe replied meekly, "Yes, my lord," then turned and left the room.
It was at this point that Harry, who had been utterly engrossed with what was happening, realized just how vulnerable he was in this state. Unfortunately, it was too late, as Voldemort had already turned around and cast his red snake-eyes upon him.
"Someone has been spying, hasn't he?" he asked sardonically, and reached for his wand.
Harry closed his eyes.
"Aveda Kedav-" the robed figure said, and then Harry heard no more.
He woke up later in his bed, sweating profusely and was immediately attacked by his closest friend, Ron.
"HARRY! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" his red-haired friend asked him, eyes clouding with worry. "We thought we'd lost you there, mate!" Hermione waited for him to finish, before asking quietly, equally concerned, "Are you okay, Harry?"
'Another close shave,' Harry thought. 'This can't go on forever, you know.' The aftertaste of a predictably vile-tasting potion burned his throat, but Harry didn't complain; it was probably that potion that had saved his life.
'But what the hell,' he finally decided. 'I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts. My life, I mean.' The implication of the prophecy Dumbledore had explained to him suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Oh yes. The spirit.
"Ron, Herm," he suddenly said in an urgent tone, leaning forward in his bed. "I was at Voldemort's... I was at his hideout, and he was punishing Crabbe. And apparently..." he swallowed, unsure. "Apparently, they've captured a spirit all the way from Japan."
"And you think they might use it against us?" Ron asked, incredulous.
"Maybe, maybe not," Harry said. "Maybe the spirit's on our side, and they captured it because of that."
"But all the way from Japan?" Hermione said skeptically. "The spirit must be really powerful, if they went that far..."
"Figures," Ron said darkly. "Snape goes off to save a Slytherin's soul, while a powerful spirit gets captured in front of our very eyes."
"No, we are definitely not doing that," Jounouchi growled.
"But it makes perfect sense!" Malik gritted out in frustration. "Provided he agrees, of course..." he trailed off, unsure.
"Oh, but he will, he will," Ryou said, smiling. "Just go over and ask him, trust me. Meanwhile, I'll tidy up a bit, so that this place doesn't look so cluttered and draw attention."
"Okay, whatever," Jounouchi said glumly, giving up, as he walked off with Malik.
And soon, Yami Bakura found what he had been looking for, and his eyes gleamed.
Ryou knocked on the door of Kaiba Mansion. He had, indeed, been quick with the cleaning up. A servant opened the door and led them inside to the hall, informing them that Kaiba-san would be down in a minute.
In exactly fifty-two seconds, an irritated Kaiba Seto walked down the stairs, brandishing a thick envelope.
"Jounouchi. You're here too," he said. "But of course, how could I not guess? Everything that annoys me involves you. You aren't involved in this prank, by any chance?" He showed the envelope to everyone, and they all recognized the loopy, cursive, green handwriting.
Jounouchi, taken aback, looked puzzled. "Me? That letter? I got it too!" He glared at Seto. "I'll show you later if you won't believe me!"
"I have it as well," Ryou said, and was echoed by Malik with a similar statement. Seto looked at them briefly, deciding on whether to believe them. "We," he finally declared, "had all better go to the lounge."
Settling down in the plump cushioned armchairs, the four looked at each other.
"I don't believe it. The letter, I mean," Seto said bluntly.
"I do," Malik said. "Did you guys get an extra note? Because I did... and it all makes perfect sense. The events link up, and it's easy to see why Yuugi's been kidnapped."
"Wait," Seto said, holding up a hand to prevent Malik from going on further. "You say Yuugi's been kidnapped."
"Yes," Ryou said. "Jounouchi went over to the Kame no Game Shop and found it ransacked, and Yuugi-kun and his grandfather were gone. We found the Puzzle, but the other Yuugi isn't in it. We think he's been sucked into a gourd and brought back to England."
Seto stared at him as his mind went through everything again. "You must be kidding me," he said wearily. "First the boycott, then the stupid letter, and now this. You are serious, aren't you?" Ryou nodded without saying anything. Sighing, Seto got up and motioned for them to do the same.
"Come up to my office," he said, starting to walk, "I am assuming that you want my plane." Relief clearly showing on his features, Ryou followed him and beckoned Jounouchi and Malik to follow.
Three floors later, they reached Seto's home office, which still commanded an intimidating aura despite not looking like one. Posters of Blue Eyes White Dragon and its various forms were tacked up on the walls, possibly covering every square inch. A blue desk with a computer on it stood near a large window, and some shelves containing things like Tamagotchis, Game Boys, PSPs and of course, Duel Disks were by the wall. On the other side of the room, there was a large sofa and a TV connected to an Xbox, Gamecube and Playstation 3.
Ryou and the others stared, and noticing their obvious awe, Seto sighed mentally. He also felt obliged to explain the game consoles and did so promptly. "Those game consoles are Mokuba's, by the way."
Meanwhile, Malik was prodding a shiny poster. "My God, Kaiba... this is a holo poster," he breathed. "Do you think you can get me Ra?" he asked happily. This time Seto didn't hold back. He gave a rather audible groan, but stopped midway and snapped abruptly, "Get your hands off my cards, Yami Bakura."
"Man, Seto, you're damned sharp," said Yami Bakura appreciatively, chuckling lightly and casually opening Seto's briefcase of ultra-rare cards. "Let's see what's in here... you know, you could've been a master thief if you weren't a snivelly CE—" He was suddenly replaced by Ryou, who looked very apologetic. "I'm really sorry, Kaiba-san. My yami still cannot control his tendencies... and his mouth, it seems." Then a faraway look appeared on his face. Seto guessed correctly that Ryou was telling his yami off rather fiercely, and sighed. Again.
"I think your other's had enough, really," he said. "Although tell him not to call me Seto. Do you want to rescue Yuugi or n— Jounouchi! What the hell are you doing to my computer!"
Jounouchi jumped up guiltily. "Um... nothing much," he mumbled. "Yeah... just clicked a few things. Played Minesweeper, y'know. Eheheh." Seto snorted. "Just clicked a few things, yes. You probably deleted important reports and forms. Maybe you even ordered a million Tamagotchis to be made or something. Nothing much, indeed!"
"Well, Tamagotchis are fun to play with, you know!" Jounouchi snapped back. "I liked them a lot!" A loud beeping started to emit from the computer, but by now Seto and Jounouchi were too focused on their respective tirades to notice.
"Yes, Jounouchi, the key word is 'liked'. Tamagotchis were in, yeah... eight years ago. Tamagotchis are OUT now, Jounouchi, OUT. Everything is all about trends."
"What's that then, Kaiba, hmmm?" Jounouchi asked, pointing at the Tamagotchi poking innocently out of the box on the shelf.
"Er... well," Seto replied, almost embarrassed. "Like I said, they're all Mokuba's!"
"Pah!" Jounouchi said derisively. "Your little office is so weird! I knew you wouldn't be playing with this sort of stuff anyway!"
"What did you say...?" Seto snarled, his hands clenching into fists.
"You know what I damn well said!" Jounouchi growled back, eyes narrowing and bringing his fists up.
But before both boys could break out into a brawl, however, they were stopped by a quick, sudden slap to the cheek. They stared at Ryou, shocked, but before they could say anything Ryou plowed on angrily, "Will you please stop fighting? You're fighting here, but who knows what they're doing to Yuugi in England? You may not like each other very much, but at least unite to save your friend!"
It occurred to Seto that Yuugi was not his 'friend', more of an acquaintance or a rival, but faced with Ryou's burning eyes, he wisely decided not to say anything.
"Bakura's right, we have to get a move on," Malik added.
Jounouchi, breathing heavily, stared at Seto, tensed. Seto, straightening up, stared at Jounouchi, tensed. Then both boys suddenly relaxed. "All right," was Seto's curt reply, "Let's get a move on." Finally noticing the beeping, Seto reached over to the computer and opened up a video message window. Immediately, Otogi's face appeared on the screen.
"What's happening over there?" he asked, slightly annoyed. "You took ages to pick up!"
"Otogi, my man!" Jounouchi said, smiling. "Where have you been? You went somewhere overseas to promote DDM, that's all I know."
"He's in London," Seto said sharply. "To promote DDM, that's right."
"Yeah," Otogi said, face relaxing into an easy grin again. "It's a big hit here, you know. I'm actually quite surprised."
"That's good, Otogi," Malik said. "But the truth is..."
"Yuugi's been kidnapped," Jounouchi, ever the blunt one, continued, grin now off his face. "And we think he's in England."
Otogi's face froze. It was rather interesting, really, to see Otogi's face try unsuccessfully to remodel itself back into a recognizable expression for the first few seconds. Finally, he collected himself and, face grim, said, "Well, knowing you all, you're probably not joking, especially when Yuugi-kun's concerned. So what are you going to do, go to England? Will you need any help? And is Kaiba coming," he asked, smirking slightly, "or are you in his office solely for the sake of leeching off his advanced technology?"
"The jet they're going to England in belongs to me," Seto replied. "Of course I'm going."
"And yes, Otogi-kun, we will need a lot of help..." Ryou said grimly, showing Seto and Otogi the note found in the Kame no Game Shop. "This enemy has obviously planned this kidnapping down to the last detail... I know that something terrible is going to happen."
Malik, remembering his note from Dumbledore, felt a feeling of ominous dread settle in his heart...
If you have read the previous chapter 2, you may now be pleased to note that Jounouchi no longer has raging hormones that make him disagreeable!
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