"Um, guys? Are you sure we should be here with no police backing us up? What if Akira catches us?" asked Jounouchi uneasily an hour later.
Yugi, Atem, Jounouchi, Bakura, Raphael, and Alister were hiding in the bushes on a small hill overlooking the Paradius lot; Ryou, Otogi, Anzu and Honda were making sure no one else attacked the Kaiba brothers.
The car they had ridden in was parked a good mile or so away from their location, so that no guards would get suspicious. They had decided not to take Otogi's car—seeing how as they would be spotted a mile away because of the light aquamarine color—and had instead used Raphael's car (he had bought one with the money he had saved up shortly after DOOM had disbanded; Valon had insisted that he did not need the car the night of his disappearance).
The former DOOM headquarters looked in heavy disrepair, but there were definite signs of more than one person occupying the building; the windows had lights on in them and armed guards passed on their patrol in the courtyard. The moon had gone behind a cloud, casting the whole area in shadows.
In the center of all the warehouses within the gated walls rose a tall silver skyscraper; its appearance reminded Yugi of the Alcatraz Tower where Seto had held his tournament. Overall, there was an ominous feeling that hung in the air as everyone looked at the building.
"We're not here to break in," replied Atem grimly in a soft tone. "We're only here to scout out the situation. We don't know if Akira is here or not, but if he isn't we'd be endangering ourselves—nto to mention that we would be placing Valon at risk," he said, noticing how Raphael and Alister were fixing the building with near identical looks of disgust and concern—the last of which was for their missing companion.
"Good point," concurred Jounouchi after a moment's pause. "Akira better hope he doesn't run into me, though!" he continued, slamming a fist into his open palm. "He'll regret it if he does!"
Raphael felt a pang as he watched the younger teen's actions; the boy's behavior reminded him strongly of Valon. The same mischievous spark in his eyes, the same brashness and boldness of character, even about the same height...Raphael sighed softly to himself, offering up a silent prayer for the Australian's safety. Alister's eyes briefly flickered with a similar pained look before vanishing once more into the emotionless gray orbs.
"Should we try to get closer?" asked Yugi in a whisper. "Maybe we should split up into groups and see if we can find a way in."
"For now, let's stay in one group if we can. Raphael and Alister know their way around this area, and it'd be a good idea if we did stick together," replied Atem firmly. "But, just in case...we should probably have a couple of groups that we can go into if we do need to split up."
"Would two people per group be enough?" asked Alister then, his eyes locking onto Yugi and Atem both.
When this group did get separated—and he knew that there was no 'if'—he did not want to have to bother with a whole mess of people getting lost; he was under enough stress already. If push came to shove he was sticking with Raphael. He had already lost one of his friends and he had no intention of letting the other one out of his sight.
Jounouchi nodded. "That sounds reasonable. There isn't much point in organizing them, seeing how as things may get a little hectic once we get in there. Just get with the person closest to you and run."
"No. If we get spotted and pursued, we need to know who is with whom," said Atem quietly. "If we don't organize ourselves now, then when the time comes we may find one of us missing."
At that point, however, a wrench was thrown into the works of their plan.
Before their small group had left, Anzu had given Yugi her cell phone and had instructed the teen to call Otogi's phone in case of trouble—seeing how as Alister and Raphael had lost their cell phones when they were captured and Jounouchi and the Yamis did not own one; Yugi had left his at home.
Someone decided to call Anzu's phone at that precise moment, and everyone found out then that her phone was not off.
"For the love of Ra shut that abomination up before the blasted guards hear you!" hissed Bakura sharply, scooting away from Yugi and looking down towards the hill at where the men were.
Yugi scrambled to turn it off and succeeded, but by then the guards patrolling the perimeter had began climbing up the hill, guns out of their holsters.
"What do we do now?" snapped Jounouchi, annoyed. Even from here they could all hear the sound of gun safeties being taken off.
"Split up and meet back at the car. We'll have to try scouting this place later on tonight," replied Atem sharply, his eyes narrowing as he stood up. "We haven't given up on this yet, but we need a different approach."
Ten minutes later, everyone was safely assembled in front of the car. After Atem did a quick roll call, Bakura rounded on Yugi and snarled, "Now what fool mortal decided to call that infernal device?"
Atem's eyes narrowed. "It wasn't like Yugi made the phone ring, tomb robber."
"It's still his fault! He should've turned off the blasted thing! Now answer me—who called?"
"I don't know," said Yugi, startled by the menacing figure of the tomb robber. "It was an unidentified number. They left a message, though."
Atem frowned at the silver-haired teen and said quietly, "He doesn't warrant your anger, Bakura. It isn't his fault."
"Yug? What's up?" asked Jounouchi suddenly, concern tingeing his voice. "Who was it?"
Yugi had decided to check the message to figure out who was calling him. He had gone pale as he listened to whatever message was being conveyed via the cell phone, though moments later it was replaced with a grim expression. He held the phone to his ear before he finally hung up.
Yugi looked at the assembled group and said in a would-be calm voice, "The one who called us did it deliberately. He didn't say who he was, but he knew we were here. He called us so we could meet him."
"How does he know the cell phone number? I may not know her as well as you four do, but I'm pretty certain that your friend doesn't give her number out to strangers," said Alister with a frown, his gray eyes troubled. "What else did this man say?"
"He said to meet him at the abandoned cottage nearby in ten minutes; it's three miles northwest from here. He also said he had valuable information concerning Akira and Valon's condition, as well as Akira's possible motives," replied Yugi, looking to Atem for direction.
The former Pharaoh frowned and mulled over this information, obviously debating, but he said nothing.
"I dunno…this whole thing reeks of 'set-up'. What if it's Akira who called? He could be waiting for us with his mini-army," said Jounouchi suspiciously, his eyes narrowing darkly.
Raphael had chosen not to say anything thus far, but he knew that even if Yugi and his friends did not agree to go to the specified location, he and Alister would. This was possibly the only lead they had as to where their young friend could be—and Raphael would not willingly pass it up. He voiced this thought a moment later to the group.
"You do have a point, Raphael," replied Atem quietly. "But there isn't any need for you two to go alone. We'll go with you both, in case it does turn out to be a trap. At any rate we may get some information out of him about what is going on involving Akira."
"So can we go, already? We've wasted enough time here!" growled Bakura in annoyance, his eyes flashing with irritation. Everyone agreed and got back into the car, driving towards the cabin and bracing themselves for whatever problems would present themselves upon their arrival.
"No! Absolutely NOT! You may not leave!" cried Dr. Barton in a distressed tone, still startled by the fact that Seto was alive and breathing in a hospital bed.
Seto eyed him with an incredibly bored look. "Yes, I will. I can. I am. Get over it," he replied flatly, not seeming to care about the fact that the doctor was dangerously close to having a coronary.
Understandably, Dr. Barton was more than a little shocked to learn that Seto was both alive and coherent; he was even further alarmed by the teen's persistence in getting out of the hospital. "You were clinically dead nearly three hours ago! You have no business leaving in your condition!"
"You're not exactly convincing me to change my mind."
"Mr. Kaiba, if I have to forcibly make sure you stay here then I will!"
Seto rolled his eyes, glancing at his brothers; they had mingled looks of annoyance, concern, and impatience. He knew that time was running out for them—they needed to get to Akira before he advanced any further in his plot. At any moment that madman could ambush them, and the opportunity could be given to attack his family again.
He had understood full and well that if he tried going with Atem and his friends in his current condition he would be burdensome to them. His decision to remain behind was made mainly out of concern for his brothers; he knew also that if he went they would insist on following, and Seto could not allow that.
But just because he did not intend to follow after the Dweeb Patrol that did not mean he wished to remain in the hospital. He would rather take his chances of being captured or killed outside of the hospital then remain and become a possible target to be used (that idea was laughable—he was used by no one). Seto had learned of what Akira had done to Noa, and while he did not agree with the magic angle of it he was absolutely determined to do whatever was humanly possible to shut Akira down.
In order to do just that, he would need to get to his computer at Kaiba Corporation. Or his home office—anywhere but the hospital would work.
He was half-tempted to remain in his current location, but seeing how as the hospital had sent him to the morgue—from what he had gathered from Jounouchi and his friends—he was none too thrilled to stay there. He had mental images of him being carted off to the morgue and having a live dissection performed on him.
With a heavy sigh, he struggled to sit up and get off the bed; Mokuba and Noa automatically moved to assist him.
"Mr. Kaiba, please! Get back in bed now!" said Dr. Barton in exasperation.
"Make me."
"You can't just simply walk out of here!"
"Watch me."
Ignoring the older man's indignant squawk he marched purposefully forward, heading for the door. His vision blurred wildly seconds later and he stopped, waiting until the room had stopped moving before he tried to take another step forward.
A hand on his arm steadied him. "Please, Dr. Barton. We'll make sure they do anything too strenuous," said Ryou quietly. Seto hesitated before reluctantly allowing Ryou to drape one of his arms over the younger boy's shoulder. "You have our word on it."
"That's right!" agreed Anzu fervently, with Honda and Otogi nodding in unison. "You can trust us!"
Mokuba watched the older man anxiously. He knew more than anyone (excepting Noa) that his older brother would not relent and settle down, the possibility of hurting himself even worse looming in the near future; Seto hated both doctors and hospitals, and as long as Akira was on the loose the eldest Kaiba would not be content to stay put.
Dr. Barton debated with himself for a moment, his eyes revealing conflicting emotions. Then he said in an exasperated voice, "All right, but the moment his condition worsens he comes back here. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."
"Sure thing, doc," said Honda with a grin. "C'mon, guys, let's go!"
"Where are we going exactly, Kaiba?" asked Otogi as they slowly walked out of the room and started toward the elevators.
Seto said nothing for a few moments, debating on his next course of action—which involved deciding the fate of his brothers. On the one hand, he could allow them to come with him to Kaiba Corporation. But on the other hand…
"Mokuba, call Roland and tell him to pull his car out back of the hospital; we'll go that way to avoid unwanted press. Then give the phone to me. Otogi, you get your car and drive it there too," said Seto curtly, pulling himself free of Ryou and swaying unsteadily before managing to right himself. He flatly ignored any invitation of help from the assembled teens.
"Why do we need two cars?" asked Anzu with a frown.
"Seven people can't fit in my car…it only holds six," replied Otogi.
Actually, Seto had a totally different reason for needing both cars, but he would need to tell only Roland that reason. If he voiced what was currently running through his head he knew that both Mokuba and Noa would protest. However, he would not risk their safety again. He was going after Akira, and he needed to know that there was no way for the madman to get ahold of his brothers.
With that thought in mind he stepped forward purposefully.
He floated listlessly in the darkness, his spirit shattered and his thoughts unfocused.
He had spent very little time in this place, seeing how as his resistance and his spirit would not allow him to succumb to Darkness' effects. But as time had passed in the company of the blasted guards, his physical strength had waned.
They had beat him longer this time, even long after he had fallen unconscious; he had woken up to flying fists and pipes whistling in the air, thumping onto his body. One time he heard a sickening crunch and a searing pain ignited in his arm, causing him to scream with what was left of his voice.
But even that had not broken his spirit.
They could starve him, beat him, deny him water or medical attention—Valon would stand his ground and fight tooth and nail against them. During his time wandering the streets and while in prison he had learned the fundamental rule of the world: survival of the fittest. Those who allowed themselves to be trampled underfoot would die.
No…what had finally broken him was what they had done to his friends…what Akira had done to them…the very act that had driven him into the darkness and recesses of his mind. He had gone numb, no longer able to feel the pain in his body—but Akira's words beat him just as mercilessly.
"Face it, Valon. No one could care less about you. You've caused too much trouble to too many people…why would they want to even be with you? That nun's dead because of you—and your friends…they have joined her."
Valon fought back against the guards, desperately struggling to gain his feet and to attack Akira. "Shut up! You're lyin' 'n' you aren' foolin' me!" he shouted, his voice breaking from the stress. He gasped as a fist slammed into his stomach and knocked the wind out of him.
"Really?" replied Akira coolly.
"Raph and Alister aren' dead—I know it! They aren' tha' easy t' get rid of!" said Valon hoarsely, hating how weak and pitiful his voice was. Breathing had become a problem for him; the combination of the cold and the lack of water caused his throat to remain irritated and his tongue feeling like dry parchment. His vision blurred and spun dizzily, but he managed to deliver a defiant glare.
"Oh, but I did. They were here, Valon. They found our location and were bent on leaving with you or die trying. I decided to go with the latter."
"You lyin'—!"
"Do you want proof? I knew that you would refuse to believe me…so after they were killed I relieved them of their possessions."
As he finished speaking he dug a hand into his coat pocket and fished out two objects. He held them up, a look of sadistic enjoyment spreading across his face. But Valon did not even see the look, for his eyes had locked onto what was in the cruel man's hand.
Both of the older bikers had their own families once; they had been torn asunder by Dartz's mad designs. Alister's mother and younger brother, Miruko, had been killed in a war-torn country. Raphael had lost his parents and two younger siblings, Sonia and Julien, to a disastrous shipwreck. Both incidents had been caused by Dartz in order to secure the two young men; he had even burned down the church where Valon had been living in, Mother Mary trapped within its walls.
Both Alister and Raphael still had small reminders of their family left to them, however.
Alister very rarely left Miruko's broken and charred action figure at home; he had always preferred to carry it around with him in his trenchcoat pocket. Valon had seen it so many times before that it was impossible to mistake it. And Raphael had a similar charm—the last birthday present he had gotten from Sonia and Julien, the Guardian Eatos Duel Monsters card. He, too, very rarely let it out of sight.
Both of these objects were being held up.
And the action figure was covered in crimson liquid.
"No...aw no..." murmured Valon in shock, his eyes never leaving either of the objects. They were speaking a silent testimony—an irreversible one.
He heard footsteps, felt a hand on his jaw that forced him to look up into Akira's mask, and clearly heard the words that were being spoken in a now dangerous hiss.
"They tried so hard to get you back—and it's what killed them. Typical. You've always caused trouble for them, and now you've ended their existence. Their deaths are your fault."
"No...Tha's not—!"
"It is your fault that silly nun died. It is your fault that Miss Kujaku can never return to her former friends. It is your fault that Raphael and Alister died…I'm beginning to see the pattern here. Any problems concerning the ones you care about happened directly because of you. Not Dartz. Not them. You."
"STOP IT!"
"Stop what? Being honest? You know as well as I do that what I say is factual. Everything you've done caused them annoyance, inconvenience, suffering, and death. You are nothing but a worthless—"
"NO!"
"—unwanted—"
"SHUT UP!"
"—orphan. Even your own parents didn't want you; they abandoned you when it convenienced them."
Fury coursed through him and he fought back against the thugs holding him back with a burst of strength. "YOU SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"
"My my. It seems you have a little fight left in you. This is to be expected from someone who refuses to see the truth. You have no point in resisting my demands anymore. No one cares about you enough to try to rescue you—those who might have had the notion to care for you are dead. And it is all because of you."
And honestly, Valon was forced to agree.
It was true, after all…if only he had allowed Raphael to drive with him to the store, if only he had not taken Mai to Dartz, if only he had not run out to find the bullies that had shoved Mother Mary about…so many if only's, and if he had done the right thing each time, they would be alive—and in Mai's case, happy.
The hope that his friends were coming had been his crutch, something he had drawn hope from. With that faith irreversibly shattered, what reasons did he have not to tell Akira what he wanted to know?
For that matter, what reasons did he have to live?
Don't think like that.
The woman's stern and yet kindly voice echoed in his mind, and the cerulean eyes widened. He had heard this voice years ago, so far back in his past that he had nearly forgotten it. But now, though he could not see her…he knew Mother Mary was there with him.
Your friends are alive, Valon, continued the voice kindly. Akira is lying to you…you must keep living.
But he was so weak…and as much as he hated to admit it, it could be that he was hallucinating due to lack of food, water, and first aid. Even so, he desperately clung to her words. He needed another crutch to hold him up, just for a little longer.
"All righ', then. I won' give up," he mumbled wearily, uncertain if he had spoken aloud.
And as he felt the nun's presence leave he allowed his consciousness to slip away once more.
