Sorry for the cliffhanger. Thank you once again for your kind reviews. We have reached the half way point.
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Chapter Seven
Jounouchi ran through the foyer, ignoring everything around him. He didn't care what decor mounted the walls or what color everything was. The only thing he paid attention to were the circular stairs leading to the second floor. He silently hoped that he could make it in time. "Hold on, Kaiba, I'm almost there." Taking the stairs two at a time, he ignored his need to breathe as he climbed them.
He stopped at the next floor and noticed another set of stairs. "Mokuba," he gasped. "Could you tell what floor he was on?"
Mokuba lifted his hand from the glass. "No. All I know is it was at the end of the hallway."
Jounouchi groaned and looked at the two different hallways. He ran down one of the hallways and kicked down the door at the end. Finding no Kaiba, he continued on. Hallway after hallway and floor after floor, Jounouchi ran until he was on the top floor. He leaned over, placing his hands on his knees and gulping for breath. He stood up straight and noticed that there was only one hallway left. This left one room that Kaiba could be in. He snuck down the room, catching his breath along the way. He snuck a look inside of an open door, noticing that it was the room Kaiba was trapped in. He slowly walked down the hallway and stopped in shock when he heard a loud scream.
The blond carefully moved down the hallway, finally thinking about what he was doing besides just rushing into something. He approached the door and placed his hand on the knob. Turning it slightly he realized that it was unlock. Baron either didn't suspect that they would arrive in time or had a trap set up beyond the door. Jounouchi took a deep breath and gripped the sword tighter. Kaiba's screams stopped for a moment. That would mean that Baron would be anywhere in that room besides near the brunet. "I'm sorry," Jounouchi whispered, knowing that it would be dangerous to burst in without knowing where Baron was.
He waited until the screaming started again before easing the door open. The sight that was before him nearly made him vomit. Kaiba's tunic was full of blood and barely showed its original color. His head was tilted to the side and looked like he barely knew what was going on. Baron pulled the dagger out of the brunet, snapping Jounouchi out of his trance. He didn't want to stab the creature in the back, but he feared that he wouldn't be strong enough to defeat him otherwise.
Jounouchi raised the sword and slowly slid it into the back, gripping his shoulder to keep the creature there. "Game over," he sneered, quickly pulling the sword out of him. He waited for Baron to burst into bubbles and was confused when he didn't do that. Baron chuckled and knelt down in front of him.
The overweight creature chuckled. "You think I needed a long time to make permanent damage to him." He spat blood out of his mouth. "He'll never be the same again and will never enter this world again." Baron raised his hand and slammed it into Kaiba's leg.
Jounouchi launched forward, grabbing the man's hand. He opened the fist and pulled out a syringe. "What did you do?" Baron spat more blood before disappearing into bubbles. "Damn it! Mokuba, he injected Kaiba with something. How are his vitals?"
Mokuba looked up at the machines. "His heart rate is still fast and nothing different with his brain waves. The exit menu is still not working."
"See if you can get it working." Jounouchi said while he untied the unconscious CEO. "Kaiba, can you open your eyes?" The brunet groaned as Jounouchi lied him down on the ground. He opened his eyes for a few seconds before slowly closing them again. "It's okay. You can rest." He gently held Kaiba's hand while he waited for Mokuba to fix the exit menu. What Baron said about permanent damage was causing unrest in Jounouchi's mind. He didn't know what to do. He knew for a fact that Kaiba would never enter this world again, but it didn't make sense that Baron was adamant about that. It wasn't as if this world would continue to live after Kaiba destroyed it.
Heavy footsteps caught his attention. He looked up just as Yugi came running into the room. "Baron?"
"Dead. Witty Phantom?"
"Also dead. How is Kaiba?"
"He woke for a few seconds before closing his eyes again. Baron injected him with something at the last second. I don't know what it was, but Mokuba says his vitals didn't change."
"Let me try to heal him. His breathing is staggered."
Jounouchi nodded, refusing to release Kaiba's hand. Yugi knelt on the other side of the brunet. He opened the menu and stared at the healing. He groaned. "I still can't access my healing powers. I thought with Baron destroyed we could reset the game back to normal."
"I thought the same as you, but the exit menu is still not working. Mokuba is attempting to fix it."
"Until then, let's try to clean him up." Jounouchi stared at him and was about to tell Yugi that it was silly since they weren't in the real world but Yugi cut him off. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but I can't stand looking at him covered in blood. There was a fountain in the courtyard. I'll get water from that."
The blond nodded. "I'm going to look for a room with a bed. I'll leave the door open. I'll start on this floor and go down until I find one."
"Okay." Yugi ran out of the room and down the stairs, he stopped on the first floor and grabbed the wooden bucket he spotted from the top of the stairs on his way down. Walking out into the courtyard, he started filling the bucket with the surprisingly cold water.
He was about to move back up the stairs when he noticed the group of warriors they traveled with standing by the drawbridge. He set the bucket down and walked over to them. "Are you alright?"
"We're fine," Gaia answered. "How is your friend?"
"He's hurt but alive."
"All the enemies have been defeated. We were planning on heading back to our homelands unless you still need our help."
"We'll be fine. I don't think any enemies will be coming back, and if they do, we'll defeat them. Thank you all for your help." Everyone bowed their heads before walking across the drawbridge. Yugi watched them leave before moving over to the system to raise the bridge. It didn't hurt to be safe. He walked over to the bucket and started inside to look for a cloth they could use.
Jounouchi didn't want to leave Kaiba in that room, but he didn't want to hurt the brunet more by carrying him while he looked for a bed. Luckily the room directly across from where he was being held looked like a king's bedroom. The large canopy bed sat in the middle of the room surrounded by wooden dressers. Nothing else decorated the room to indicate if someone used it. The blond returned to the torture chamber and gently lifted Kaiba from the floor. He struggled to balance himself with the CEO held bridal style in his arms. He staggered with Kaiba's height more than his weight until he went into the room and lied him down on top of the black covers.
The blond moved Kaiba's hair out of his eyes, noticing sweat on his forehead. He used his sleeve to wipe it away. "Mokuba, how is it coming?"
"I think I found a way but I have to get it working."
"When you get it working, call for an ambulance. If Kaiba's body in here is going to reflect on his real body, you're going to need medical staff on hand."
Mokuba looked up at the screen from where he sat crouched beside the computer that controlled the virtual world. "Why?"
"He's sweating from I believe an infection. Yugi wants to clean him up."
"That's fine. I'm going to need about ten or twenty minutes."
Jounouchi turned just as Yugi entered the room. "Wow this looks like the king's chambers." He walked over and set the bucket down on the nightstand beside the bed. "Our friends are returning to their homelands. I pulled the drawbridge up to help protect us incase there are any enemies left."
"That's good. We don't need their help now. Mokuba says he may be able to get us out of here in ten or twenty minutes."
"I still want to clean him up though."
"I'm not saying you can't."
"Good. Help me get his shirt off."
Jounouchi walked over to the still unconscious man and lifted him into a sitting position while Yugi pulled his shirt off. The blond grew angry as he looked at the cuts, burn marks and welts lining his upper body. The tri-hair colored duelist walked over to the bucket and rung out the clean cloth he found. He gently dabbed and wiped the blood away. Slowly the water began to turn red and Kaiba's body became clean. "The good news is that there are not too many deep cuts. There are a lot of burn marks and welts."
"Does anything look infected?"
Yugi glanced around and shook his head. "Not on his upper body." He looked down at Kaiba's legs, pulling the skirt up slightly. "Nothing on his legs either." The duelist wiped Kaiba's brow again. "You said that Baron injected him with something. Maybe it has something to do with that. We'll know for sure once we get him to the hospital."
"Are you two ready?" Mokuba's voice echoed through the room instead of their gauntlet like it has been coming from.
"We are. Did you call an ambulance?" Jounouchi asked
"I have the medical staff from Seto's personnel standing by."
"It might feel strange. I'm going to unplug you manually."
"Start with Kaiba," Yugi suggested. "He needs medical attention right away."
Mokuba smiled sheepishly. He had planned on starting with his brother and felt guilty about it, but now he felt better. He walked over to the machine holding Kaiba and unplugged it, this time not getting shocked. The image of him vanished from the monitor before the lid slid open. The medical personnel were instantly at his side, checking his vitals. The raven haired teen moved over to Yugi and unplugged him before doing the same to Jounouchi. Both of their lids opened and they climbed out just as the medics moved Kaiba from the pod to the gurney.
Mokuba was already beside them. "How is he?"
"He looks like he's in a coma even though his brainwaves earlier looked like he was sleeping peacefully. We'll need to get him to the hospital and run some tests. Other than that, he's physically fine. All those wounds you showed us on the monitor did not appear."
"Can I ride with him?"
"Of course, Mokuba-sama."
"Give me one second." He turned and looked over at the other two. "Will you be able to make it out of here okay without me?"
"We can. Get him to the hospital," Yugi answered, waving him off.
"Thank you for everything. Let's go." Mokuba opened his phone and pushed the number three. "Isono, meet us outside. We're taking Seto to the hospital now and I don't want to risk the press knowing until we are certain what is going on. I don't want any speculation," Mokuba said as he walked out of the room.
Yugi turned to Jounouchi, seeing a strange look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"
The blond blinked before nodding. "I'm worried. I was hoping that Kaiba would wake the second his mind was connected to his body."
"Do you want to go with Mokuba?"
"There wouldn't be anything we can do anyway. I doubt Kaiba would want to see me of all people when he first wakes up."
"He saw you in the game, right?"
"Just for a second. I doubt he'll remember. We should get back to the game shop. I'm sure Mokuba will contact us if something happens. If not, we'll call him in a day or two."
"I agree. Do you want to stay over tonight?"
Jounouchi sighed and thought about what he would go home to. He still needed to clean his apartment not to mention go shopping. He didn't have the energy to do any of that nor did he want to be alone for the moment. "That would be great," he answered. He hardly ever spent time at his apartment with working two jobs and spending all his free time with Yugi. He could return to his father's apartment, but he wanted to prove to himself that he was able to live on his own. His father didn't like that idea, and he wasn't going to stop his son from trying. He continued to have the door open for him incase Jounouchi wished to return.
The two left Kaiba Corporation the same way they came, walking. The walk was long and they noticed that night had fallen while they were in the game. The cold night air caused them to shiver when the breeze blew. Neither of them was in a hurry and didn't speak on the way home. They were both worried about Kaiba and hoped that he would come out of the coma.
The game shop was closed by the time they arrived back home. Yugi's grandfather didn't question them besides to ask how Kaiba was doing before letting them go up to Yugi's bedroom. The futon was still on the floor from when Jounouchi slept over last night. The blond crashed onto it, not caring about pulling the blankets up. He was too tired to care about anything. He closed his eyes, listening to Yugi change his clothes before lying down on his own bed. They didn't have to question each other nor tell each other good night. Sleep wouldn't come easily to them and they knew that. All Jounouchi could think about was the syringe Baron injected into Kaiba. What was it and would it affect Kaiba in this world?
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The next chapter will start the second half of this story. I hope you liked the virtual reality. Thank you for reading. Please review.
Angel Dove
