Notes: Well, isn't this a blast from the past? After 8 and a half years, a chapter! It took me this long to figure out one of the things I was the most stumped by. Then, suddenly, everything fell into place. I can't guarantee the story will be finished this time, but I would certainly like to be able to write it to its conclusion! It's taken a few very different twists than I had originally planned, but I like these twists better than the original plans.

Chapter Seven

Instead of displaying anger, the ghost grinned at Tristan and Duke. "Well, this is an intriguing situation," he commented. "Allow me to introduce myself."

"Please do," Duke retorted.

"Gunju Rakesh, not at your service." The translucent man gave a mock bow while Azazel watched, clearly displeased.

"Rakesh?!" Tristan repeated. "But that's the same name as this guy!" He gestured at Azazel. "And you look exactly alike!"

"I would hope so," Gunju said. "We are twin brothers, after all."

Azazel crossed his arms in annoyance. "Do you plan on revealing all of our family secrets to these strangers?" he demanded. "You have a job to do."

"I'll go when I'm ready," Gunju said. "This is much too interesting to abandon just like that."

Tristan looked back and forth between them. "Twin brothers?" he repeated. "But you . . . you're all transparent!" He pointed at Gunju, who shrugged.

"He's dead, genius," Duke said. "Unless he's the latest in holographic technology."

Now Gunju cackled. "A sense of humor," he purred. "I like to see that. But yes, I'm no longer on the mortal plane. It's been over ten years since my departure."

"I see," Tristan said slowly.

"And if you're wondering why I don't pass on to the afterlife, they didn't want me!" Gunju laughed. "Besides, it's more fun here."

Duke looked creeped out now as well. "The afterlife didn't want you," he repeated. "Which one did you try?"

"Both of them," Gunju giggled.

". . . Yeah, I think we're going to be going now," Tristan said. He ducked around the corner and started to hurry up the hall before Gunju could reply.

Duke quickly joined him. "Well, that was a bust," he said in annoyance.

Tristan nodded. "We've gotta find something out!" His eyes flashed with anger. "Anybody who attacks a kid is just the lowest of the low."

"I don't think we're going to find them here," Duke said grimly. "No one's seen them at all."

"So what can we do?! Nothing?!" Tristan threw his hands in the air.

"Right now, yes." Duke turned away. "But we'll keep alert."

"Coming to think of it, where's that obnoxious store manager of yours?" Tristan suddenly wondered. "He could help us keep alert."

"David is managing the store," Duke said with a raised eyebrow. "He doesn't like business dinners. He says they're stuffy."

"Can't blame him there," Tristan said.

Duke flipped his hair. "And don't let his obnoxious behavior fool you," he added with a smirk. "He's very efficient."

"Guess it figures that you have such an annoying store manager," Tristan said. "You idolize the most obnoxious businessman here too. You must like those kinds of people."

"I think just about everyone can be obnoxious in their own way," Duke said. "You're not exempt, Tristan."

"What the . . . hey, how am I obnoxious?!" Tristan cried in frustration. "Joey, sure, but me?!"

Duke just smirked as he walked on ahead.

Tristan glowered after him, but followed. "You know, it seems kind of wrong."

"What."

"Us arguing about pointless things like this when a kid's lying dead."

Duke paused and looked over at him. "You're the one who started it. Anyway . . ." He looked away again. "It's just how we're choosing to cope. We don't want to talk about what happened, so we're using this other stuff as a distraction."

"We are?" Tristan frowned.

"We are." Duke twirled a piece of hair around his finger. "And really, what is there to say? That it's horrible? That whoever was behind the attack must have been completely evil? That we have to stop them before anyone else dies?" He whipped around again to look at Tristan. "We already know all of that. So why talk about it?"

Tristan was momentarily taken aback. Then he looked away with a frown. "You sound like Kaiba when you talk like that."

"Yeah, well, Kaiba has good sense on a lot of things." Duke stared ahead, not offering anything more.

Tristan didn't either. But he wondered if Duke was deeply affected at all. Duke was often the most cynical of their group, the one pointing out the reality of their situations and not letting anyone harbor false hopes. Tristan was badly shaken by what they had witnessed, and whereas maybe to some extent he agreed with Duke about not wanting to talk about it, another part of him wanted to.

"So what if somebody's really upset?" he said then. "Do we still not talk about it?"

"You do whatever you want," Duke said. "You always do. Just don't expect that I can offer you any comfort, because I can't."

"Yeah, I wonder if that's how you talk to all the girls who swarm around you," Tristan muttered.

"Well, since none of them come to me for comfort, I guess we'll never know," Duke retorted.

"I guess not," Tristan snapped.

They walked on in silence.

xxxx

Siegfried was reeling, still unable to believe the sight that had greeted him upon running into his hotel suite. His younger brother, the only person he truly loved in the world, was dead. He was laying in Siegfried's arms now, so still, so quiet. . . . He seemed asleep, if it wasn't for the lack of vital signs.

Siegfried trembled, cradling him close. What monster could have done this? How would he find out?

Well, when he did, nothing and no one would be able to restrain him from showing his wrath. This was unacceptable. This was worthy of the deepest vengeance. And surely no one could blame him.

He frowned. Leonhard looked asleep. There wasn't really any chance, any possible chance that he was alive but only highly advanced machines could detect it?

It was a foolish thought, a desperate elder brother's vain hope, but it couldn't be ignored. He had to find out if it was possible, if there was any conceivable chance that the worst had not happened.

His heart racing, he stood with the boy still firmly in his arms and went to the door. Everything sounded quiet, and when he opened it, the corridor was vacant. Relieved, he slipped out and down the hall, soon vanishing into the back stairwell and out the back exit.

The drive to the nearest hospital seemed endless. Siegfried occupied himself by trying to insist on believing that there was hope, but hopeless thoughts continued to torment him anyway.

What would life be like without Leonhard? Empty and dull and filled only with work, to say the very least. Leonhard was the only truly bright spot in his life, a moral compass for a life that had sometimes wavered towards the not so moral. And he deserved to live, to enjoy life in a way Siegfried likely never would. Responsibilities had been thrust upon him much too early after their father's nervous breakdown. Leonhard had been left alone so much of the time after Siegfried had been forced to take over the company. Siegfried had tried to make more time for him lately, and to involve him more with company affairs. Now all he could think was that if Leonhard had just stayed home this time, or even if he had come to the business dinner, he would still be alive.

No, he was still alive. Siegfried wasn't going to believe otherwise. He had to.

The limousine pulled up at the hospital and Siegfried got out as soon as the chauffeur opened the door, still cradling Leonhard close to his heart. He ran through the automatic doors and over to the shocked receptionist. "My brother was badly hurt!" he cried. "I found him like this in our hotel suite."

The receptionist stared, horrified and stunned. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know!" Siegfried snapped. "Just summon a physician to help him!" He wasn't about to say it had been a Neo-Orichalcos duel. He couldn't prove that, and anyway, they apparently weren't well-known in Domino City yet. He didn't want to go through a long-winded explanation when Leonhard needed help. They might decide he needed to be placed under psychiatric observation.

Thankfully, the receptionist immediately set about calling for a doctor. Forms would need to be filled out, but she could see Leonhard needed prompt attention. When the doctor ran out with a stretcher, he was stunned by the sight. "Sir . . ."

"I know he looks dead, but I won't believe it," Siegfried declared, laying Leonhard on the stretcher with care. "Tell me he isn't dead! Tell me he's going to be alright!"

Shaken, and fearful that there wouldn't be anything positive he could tell the man, the doctor bent over the child's body with a stethoscope. "I really can't hear anything," he said. "There's no indication of a heartbeat or breath."

"Try something more advanced!" Siegfried pleaded. "Don't give up on him yet! Please!"

Something in his desperation reached the doctor. He always hated having to give bad news about a child. He straightened and wheeled the stretcher towards the emergency room. "I'll try," he said. "But please, don't expect anything."

It was useless to say that to a loving older brother, and he knew it. Siegfried waited, pacing the floor of the waiting room and refusing to settle down. At last he crossed to the window and stood looking out at the glittering lights of the city, his thoughts tumultuous and agonized.

The original Orichalcos had never touched his family. Why had this one? How could anyone believe that a small, pure child deserved this fate?

What if they hadn't?

Horror struck him then. Maybe this had all been a way to get at him. Maybe he had been the true target all along.

"Dear Lord, no," he whispered, running a hand down his face. He had collected so many enemies through the years. Businessmen always did. Now, if one of them had decided to get at him through Leonhard . . . !

The return of the physician brought him sharply back to the present. The man looked shaken and stunned.

"Well?" Siegfried demanded.

"His heart's beating," the doctor stammered. "It's so faint, but it's absolutely there."

Siegfried nearly went limp from relief and joy. It was what he had longed with all of his heart and soul to hear, yet had seemed too impossible to be true. Part of him still wondered if he was imagining it now. The other part grasped it and insisted it was true. "Thank God," he whispered. But there were still questions that needed to be answered.

"What is wrong with him?" he demanded. "Why is he like this?!"

"I really don't know," the doctor admitted, shaking his head. "His heartbeat and breathing are faint, but steady. There doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with him. I'll have to run some tests, but it's like he's in some kind of suspended animation."

"Suspended animation?" Siegfried stared, shocked, and watched as the physician vanished through the emergency room doors again. Now he knew his brother was alive, but the mystery had only deepened.

He didn't notice the wide-eyed receptionist quietly picking up the telephone and making an outside call.

xxxx

Alister had just finished his duel with the man who had defeated Leonhard when the telephone rang. He stepped away from the blue circle as it swirled in and enclosed the wretch in its grasp to extract its price. "Hello?" he greeted as he lifted the telephone receiver and pressed a button for the blinking line.

"Mr. Mackenzie," a hushed voice said. "There's something you need to know. I saw the news tonight about the Neo-Orichalcos debuting at the business dinner. And Siegfried von Schroider's little brother . . ."

"Yes, I know," Alister interrupted. "He was attacked tonight, against my express wishes. The Neo-Orichalcos is just taking care of the matter now."

"He's in suspended animation!" the girl continued.

Alister rocked back. "He's . . . what? He's alive?!" Was it possible?

"Yes!" the girl exclaimed. "His brother brought him in to the hospital just now. He looked like he must be dead, but then the doctor found he wasn't! It's so wonderful and amazing and I thought . . ."

Alister gripped the phone tightly enough that his knuckles went white. "The Neo-Orichalcos preserved his life because he wasn't meant to fall," he whispered. "But . . . if he looked dead and he wasn't . . ." He looked towards the door. "Thank you. I have to go." Abruptly he hung up and started towards it.

From her basket, Liu looked up and meowed, confused.

"I'll be right back," he told her. "I think I have good news."

With that he slipped into the hall, firmly shutting the door behind him, and headed for the elevator. He still tried to stay away from the basement whenever he could, but now he would go there on purpose. He had to see . . . he had to know.

Rishid was down there, of course. Alister could almost always find him there when he wasn't around upstairs. Their loved ones had been placed on beds in what had apparently been an employees' lounge. Rishid was sitting between Marik and Ishizu, his eyes closed in silent meditation. But he looked up as soon as Alister walked in. "What is it?"

"I was just talking to one of our members at the hospital," Alister said. "Leonhard von Schroider was attacked by Cristoffson tonight and apparently killed."

Rishid paled. "No. . . ." His hand shaking, he reached for the Neo-Orichalcos stone he held. "This can't go on any longer, Mr. Mackenzie. This is too horrible. We have to accept our loved ones are . . ."

"I'm not accepting anything!" Alister snarled. "Let me finish. I took care of Cristoffson just now. He knows children are off-limits. Then I got this phone call. Siegfried von Schroider took his brother to the hospital and the doctor found breath and a heartbeat!" He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "Leonhard is alive, but in suspended animation! Don't you see?! If he looked dead and wasn't, then maybe . . ."

Rishid looked back to his siblings with a start. "Marik . . . Ishizu. . . ."

"It makes sense!" Alister barreled on. "They look dead, but their bodies are all preserved. They're still alive! They must be!"

"The blast during our battle on the island was tremendous," Rishid remembered. "It was the same as the Neo-Orichalcos, so it certainly could have put them in suspended animation. . . . But then . . ." He briefly touched Marik's cheek before looking to Alister in horror. "What have we done? We believed the Neo-Orichalcos could restore them to life. Instead, most likely it is only by defeating the Neo-Orichalcos that we can save them!" The weight on his soul was too much. He sagged back in the chair, dizzy and reeling. He felt sick. "What evil have we helped unleash upon the world?"

Alister wasn't willing to go down that path yet. He went to Valon and Raphael, so still and quiet on the other side of the room. "There's some basic medical equipment here," he said. "I saw it the other day. We'll use it and try to find out if they're still alive. If they are, then we'll dismantle our operations here and . . ."

"How?" Rishid interrupted. "These stones have been slowly poisoning our minds from the moment we picked them up! Do you really believe they will let us go? That they will let anyone go? We have dug ourselves into a pit from which we cannot easily escape!" He stood, his voice rising the longer he spoke. "I never should have listened to you!"

"Arguing isn't going to help now!" Alister shot back. "Be quiet. Let me think."

"You have done more than enough of that already!" Rishid boomed. "And I was so lost in my own grief that I thought you made sense."

Alister ran out of the room, soon returning with what looked like a heart monitor. Rishid stared. "What on Earth is something like this doing in the company building?"

"There's a department for virtual reality," Alister explained with impatience. "They used heart monitors to help keep track of the beta testers' reactions to the simulations." He hooked the machine up to Valon and turned it on, his hands shaking. This had to work . . . it had to be true. . . .

The sound of a faint yet steady beep was glorious. "You're alive," he whispered. Quickly he performed the same test on Raphael. "You're both alive. . . ."

He ran across the room, pushing the heart monitor ahead of him to Rishid. "Listen! They're alive!" he exclaimed.

Rishid took it almost reverently. When he hooked it up and saw and heard Marik's and Ishizu's soft heartbeats, he was brought to tears. "I haven't lost you both," he whispered. "There's still a chance, if we can only find it. Please forgive me for what I have done in the name of trying to save you!"

Something in his words pierced Alister through the corruption the stone had been feeding into his soul. "What really have we done?" He slumped back, the magnitude of the horror finally beginning to set in. Suddenly he felt a little sick as well.

Suppose the stones had minds of their own, as he had thought. What if they had deliberately knocked their loved ones into suspended animation but had left him and Rishid out of that fate because they had hoped for this very development? Maybe the blast had affected him and Rishid in a different way, poisoning them just enough that the thought of using the stones to bring back their loved ones sounded logical. Or maybe that was just a lame excuse because he didn't want to admit that all on his own he had thought it sounded like their only chance.

How had they been so blind? How had he? Even though he had tried to run this organization differently, the truth was that he had started to become Dartz. He had tried to pick and choose who deserved to be approached by the Neo-Orichalcos. What right did he have to decide that? And what if Rishid was right? What if the stones wouldn't let them go? How would they ever correct what they had caused? What if someday he would be so corrupted and twisted that he would even do as Dartz had and manipulate events and disasters to serve his own purposes and mold loyal servants to the cause?

If possibly he had been under the influence of the stone ever since the blast, then at least he wasn't entirely at fault for this catastrophe. He and Rishid would both be victims. But at the moment he didn't feel like exonerating himself. And he didn't know how Valon and Raphael ever would. He should have known better. They had gone to that island to put a stop to the Neo-Orichalcos and its users. Instead, Alister and Rishid had decided to start using it too. They had made their loved ones' sacrifices be in vain.

And Leonhard von Schroider. . . .

The first time Alister had sunk into the darkness, it had been because of his younger brother's needless death. Now, to know that the organization he had selfishly devised to revive Valon and Raphael had caused another innocent to fall, even if he could be saved . . . ! If Siegfried determined to take vengeance on Alister, he would deserve every bit of it.

Shaking, he looked to Rishid in horror and dismay. "We have to call Yugi Muto," he said. "We have to tell him everything. I don't know who else to turn to."

"There is no one else," Rishid said. "Yes, we must try."

There was a telephone in that very room, still plugged in and working. Alister grabbed up the receiver, soon obtaining the number for the Turtle Game Shop from the operator. As he dialed, he wondered why the stone was allowing this. Was it going to suddenly cut him off when he tried to tell the truth? Or would it do nothing, feeling instead that its power was already so widespread that it couldn't be stopped? Right now he just wasn't sure, but he also wasn't sure if the sudden tightening in his heart was because of his anxiety or the stone activating.

The phone clicked. "Turtle Game Shop." It was Yugi's grandfather.

"Is Yugi there?" Alister asked.

"No, I believe he's still at a business dinner in town," Solomon replied. "Perhaps I can help you?"

"I don't know if anyone can," Alister replied. "And I don't know if I'll get another chance to call. Maybe I can tell you."

The urgency and anguish in his voice prompted Solomon to not dismiss the idea. "Yes," he said. "Maybe you'd better."