Chapter Four: Possible Losses

A world of white light. All around him, nothing but pure brightness, blinding in its iridescent shine. Yet the place was a void; he felt no pain, no warmth or chill, not the slightest hint of air. Only a strangely calming silence…

A flicker of violet, just out of the corner of his eye. He turned; there, a shimmering figure enveloped in a royal purple glow. He could not see beyond the violet light, yet the being inside was so familiar, a faithful friend of many years…no, many centuries…

The deep purple began twisting, shifting, transforming into a small orb of iridescent violet. He could feel the invisible energy it held, pulsating with mystical forces far beyond mortal comprehension. It grew, expanded, drew around him in a shimmering violet cloak. The energy filled him with inhuman strength; this was power like he'd never felt before…

They were one.

Yugi!

A familiar voice called from the recesses of his mind; he stared up at the darkness behind his closed eyes, listening to a dull, monotonous beep play over and over again. Something was poking into his arm; his hand slowly reached over and touched it, feeling a long, smooth item embedded in his skin.

Yugi, please, open your eyes!

He attempted to move his eyelids; they were so heavy, like thick black blankets…with a bit of effort, a small crack of light came out of the darkness; the hazy shimmer slowly grew, the fuzziness around its edges smoothing until it became a flat, rectangular light embedded within the ceiling.

He slowly turned his head towards the flat beeping at his side; the noise was being emitted from a monitor-like device sitting atop a small white cabinet, two jagged green lines running across its black screen. Wires from the device had been firmly embedded in his arm, along with the needle of an IV unit pumping needed liquid into his veins while he rested atop a flat, snow-white bed.

I'm in the hospital…how did I get here? When did I get here?

In the corner of his mind's eye, Pharaoh's familiar face appeared, relief etched across his features. How are you feeling?

Yugi paused. He slowly raised his hands up to his face and gently moved his fingers, bending them with usual ease. Lowering them down to his bed's side, he cautiously raised one knee up to his chest, then the other. I think I'm alright…

He brought himself up to a sitting position, wincing as he felt a soft pain against the back of his head. Be careful, Pharaoh advised him, you were slammed pretty heavily into the wall by Moreau's creature.

Moreau…?

The man's name tore out his remaining tiredness, jolting him awake with the memories it shoved back into his mind. Joey! Tristan! Téa! What happened to them?

Don't worry; the police and the paramedics came into the office not long after Moreau used his device on you. All of you were taken to the hospital along with Kaiba and his injured security guards. Joey apparently had a minor concussion, but otherwise our friends' extent of damage done is just cuts and bruises. They were discharged a few hours ago.

Yugi breathed a small sigh of relief. And what about Moreau?

Pharaoh's eyes narrowed. He and his two creatures simply flew out of Kaiba's office by use of the she-beast's wings.

Damn…

"Yug!"

The familiar voice brought Yugi out of the mental chat. He turned his head towards the door as Joey entered, wearing a few small bandages and a wide grin on his face. "'Bout time ya woke up; we were startin' ta worry that you'd be out for good."

"Hey, Joey," Yugi gave him a wan smile. "Are the others doing OK?"

"Well, I dunno about Tristan," Joey shrugged. "Not even the docs were able ta do somethin' about his ugly mug."

"I heard that!"

Tristan bolted into the room and lunged at Joey; the two of them crashed onto the tiled floor, wrapped up in another one of their typical fights. Moments later, Téa appeared in the doorway; she looked down warily at the guys, all tangled up with fists flying at each other. "This is why I need some female friends…" she muttered.

Yugi couldn't help but smile at the scene. His friends were definitely fine.

The calm, authoritative voice of a doctor floated into the hospital room from down the hall: "Mr. Kaiba, I strongly suggest that you reconsider your decision to leave. You don't know that other complications might develop-"

"Doctor, if you attempt to prevent me from leaving one more time, I promise that I will sue you for everything that you're worth. Now get out of my way."

Joey pressed one foot down onto Tristan's stomach; with his buddy pinned to the ground, he stood up and looked out the open doorway with an annoyed glare. "What the heck is Rich Boy's problem? Some of us actually like ta sleep after takin' a beating, and he's already up and screamin' at the doc that he has ta get outta here this freakin' minute!"

"Did he say why?"

"'Course not; and even if he had, does anyone understand why that jerk does anything?"

"Are you sure that you're not the one that has problems with understanding anything, Wheeler?"

Seto Kaiba had appeared in the doorway, giving Joey a cold stare. He was holding up one hand to cover his right cheek; Yugi could only assume that the beasts had scratched him like they'd slashed at his security guards. "I understand that you four geeks came to my office last night."

"That's 'cause the psychotic doc, whoever the heck he was, swiped Yug's gramps' Blue Eyes White Dragon," Joey snapped in response.

"I'm aware of that," Kaiba snarled. "The four of you tried to confront him, I assume?"

"Not with success," Yugi murmured, rubbing the back of his sore head. "Those creatures and that scientist's weapon were too much for us to handle."

Kaiba's eyes just slightly narrowed. "He hit you four with his rifle?"

"That wasn't a rifle; it was some kinda ray-gun like from those cheesy sci-fi flicks!" Joey cried.

"I see…"

Kaiba remained in the doorway for a moment, glancing around at them. Yugi thought he was going to say something more, but he simply turned and continued down the hallway. Not once did his hand lower from his face.

"And 'get well soon' ta you too!" Joey sarcastically called. "I'm not sure what's worse: seein' that jerk or havin' one of my best cards, my freakin' favorite card, vanish inta thin air!"

Yugi stared at him. "Your Flame Swordsman is gone?"

"It's not just his card," Tristan's voice called from the floor. "Every Monster and Magic card we had is gone!"

"When we checked out of this hospital and got our stuff back, we couldn't find our Duel Monsters with them; we went through our bags and pockets dozens of times and came up with nothing," Téa explained as she sat down on the side of Yugi's bed. "The doctor told us every patient's personal things are locked up tight and nobody has a chance to get to them before they're discharged, but they still just… disappeared."

"My vote is that the guy in the lab coat swiped 'em," Joey snapped. "It wasn't enough that he swiped Gramps' card; he had ta go and help himself to ours, too!"

Yugi barely heard his angry rants; although his eyes were on his friends, his gaze was focused on the recesses of his mind, still trying to let news of the Duel Monsters' disappearance sink into its crevices. He hadn't checked his own belongings yet, but what were the chances that Dark Magician remained when the other cards had been taken?

Our cards are…gone?

A sensation of warmth spread around his eyes as hot tears began welling up. Maybe it was silly, crying over the loss of just a card…but the Dark Magician had been more than 'just a card' to him. He'd always been an excellent addition to his deck, loyal and quite powerful in a duel. The loss almost seemed like the death of a longtime friend. Grandpa probably had a spare card stored somewhere in the shop, but a replacement never carried the memories and usage of the original, did it?

Yugi? Pharaoh's image reappeared in his mind, smiling sympathetically. I'm sorry about this loss. Dark Magician was a powerful ally for the both of us.

Yeah…Yugi clenched his hands into fists. That Dr. Moreau…how could he-

He didn't, Pharaoh frowned. I watched over all four of you since you were knocked unconscious by the doctor. When he was finished with you, he and his creatures simply left; they never had the opportunity to swipe our monsters.

But…that doesn't make sense; if Moreau didn't take them, then where did they go?

"Master? Master, what's wrong?"

Moreau barely heard Plato calling to him. He was at his third lab's makeshift desk, a metal folding table and matching chair, scanning heavily over the newspaper article he'd pulled up on his laptop. Since last night's outing, a nagging concern had been pulling at the corner of his mind: That one boy, the short one with the spiky, tri-colored hair, had some sort of familiarity about him. Where had he seen him before…?

"Master, would you please tell us what the problem is?" Nikki folded her arms and impatiently tapped her paw on the grey stone floor. "You're starting to freak us out, you know?"

Moreau had typed the words 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' and 'torn' into an internet search engine; the most frequent match for his search were newspapers articles dated a few years or so ago, chronicling the defeat of former Duel Monster champion Seto Kaiba by a relative newcomer named Yugi Muto over the CEO tearing up the kid's grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Yugi Muto…the King of Games?!

Moreau became paralyzed in his seat, his fingers hovering just inches above the keyboard. If that was the King of Games…damnit, why would it have mattered if his Duel Disk was empty?! The King of Games could get challenged at any time; he'd be certain to carry a deck with him everywhere that he went!

Nikki and Plato jumped as Moreau slammed clenched fists onto his makeshift desk. "I have just made a critical error…" he snarled through gnashed teeth. "I used my invention on someone who likely had Duel Monsters on his person!"

After seething at his desk for a few moments, he slowly pushed himself up and turned to face Nikki and Plato. "Do you know what that means? I have most likely created another one of your kind!"

Nikki stared. "I thought that was the purpose of your device; you know, so that you can create a superior race?"

"Yes, Nikki, but you've seen the majority of the human race's reaction to my culminations of perfection. They consider beautiful creatures such as yourself abominations; crimes against humanity, even! And if those humans reveal to the world what I may have just done to them, do you think we'll have a remote chance to fulfill the rest of my plans?"

"I thought the one human was our biggest concern, master," Plato said.

"Friends are bonded by commonality, Plato; the King of Games' friends must have had cards on their persons."

"I see. What will we do about this possible wrench in your plans, then?"

Moreau turned around and snatched a silver pistol up from his desk. The pulsing energy within pounded fiercely against the palm of his hand. "You two scour the place; old warehouses such as this must have vermin or insects hidden in its corners."

Nikki stared at him. "You seriously want us to fetch those disgusting pests for you?" she shuddered. "What the heck do you need those sick things for?"

"For the possible wrench. If we want to avoid exposure, then there's only one definitive solution, Nikki: Complete and total elimination…"