Chapter Eight: Rescue Mission
"What do you mean Marik's been captured?!"
"I mean that he's been captured," Odion said calmly, "I don't know who, but I can take a good guess."
"What happened?" Heather asked, also calm.
"He went for coffee at the new Starbucks around the corner and didn't come back. I went to look for him and couldn't find him. I sent out feelers to see if I could find out where he could be. I didn't get anything useful back so I did some foot work myself. Believe it or not, a Starbucks employee told me that he got into a car with a man fitting the description you two gave us of Tommy."
Carla sat down and Heather jumped up.
"What?!" Heather shouted. "Tommy's here. In Egypt! And he went for coffee down the street from the main headquarters of the agency out to kill him and no one noticed!!"
"You both know that we don't post many agents near headquarters in an attempt to keep its location secret and also to prevent a blood bath where innocent civilians could be hurt."
"It's Starbucks! You couldn't have assigned one agent to Starbucks! Agents would be lining up around the block to volunteer for that position!!"
"Listen to me!" Odion's voice quieted, "I think I may know where Tommy took Marik, but I can't send in a million agents just in case I'm wrong. We don't want this whole thing to blow up in our faces. I'm sending the two of you. Alone. No backup at all, not even Joey. If you get the chance, and this is completely off the record, but if you get the chance, don't give Tommy another chance to slip out of our grasp, if you have to, kill him."
Heather's eyes lit up with the idea that she didn't have to go through all the red tape to get rid of the man who had ruined her life time after time. She began to leave. When she reached the door she turned back and saluted before going to her room. She opened her underwear drawer and dug to the secret compartment in the bottom. The opened it up and pulled out several of her personal and favorite guns. She again read the label she had plastered to the back of the compartment.
"This is my rifle…These are my guns…This is for work…These are for fun."
A few minutes later Heather had joined Carla at the main doors.
"Shall we stop off at the scene of the crime before we head out?" Heather asked in an innocent voice.
"You just want coffee."
"So?"
"Fine," said Carla putting on her hat, "But let's be quick about it. We don't want him to get away with Marik."
Heather gave her a look that clearly said "Maybe you don't."
"Okay, so maybe you do want Marik gone, but I don't think you want Tommy to get away. Now let's go."
"Hey, Johnson!" Joey called out to the man just leaving the cafeteria.
"What?!" Johnson called back irritated. He had too much to do without having to deal with Death and Mercy's little pet.
"You seen Death?" Joey asked heading over to him.
"No, I haven't, but if I do, I'll let you know," he said and stalked out of the room.
"Jeez, what's his problem?" Joey muttered under his breath, "You'd think I was bugging him." Joey let out a sigh as he left the cafeteria and made his way to the stairs that led up to Marik's office on the top floor. It was still weird to think of it as Marik's office. He knocked on the office door and heard Odion's voice calling out, "Come on in."
"Hey Odion," Joey said, he had no real issues with his former enemy, but he was still surprised that Marik had turned out okay, "Where's Marik?" Joey asked confused. The white-haired man was conspicuously absent from his own office.
"Out," Odion answered simply.
Joey raised an eyebrow even more confused. "The Big Boss goes out? Wow. What a strange concept."
Now it was Odion's turn to look confused, "The Big Boss?"
"Well, he never gave me a name, what was I supposed to call him?"
"Good point." Odion went back to the reports on the desk.
"You seem to know where everyone is at all times," Joey said after a moment, "Any idea where Death is?"
"Out," he replied again, this time without looking up from the papers he was trying to sort.
"Out," Joey repeated, "Just out. No where, no why."
Odion pulled a list out of the drawer with a sigh. "'Death and Mercy have taken me shopping. Signed, Marik. P.S. Save me. Please. I think they said something about lingerie.' That's all I found when I came up here. It happens. They're evil like that you know."
"Good point. Okay, I'm gonna go talk to my sister, since Death's not here to tell me to go run laps."
"Good idea."
Joey left the office and went in search of the gang. It didn't take too long to find them. They were all in the cafeteria, sitting at a big round table in the corner.
"Hey," he said coming up behind Yugi. Yugi turned to see him before moving over so he could pull up a chair and join them. Joey sat down and Seto stood.
"Seto," Yugi said in demanding voice, "Sit."
Seto froze, shocked by Yugi's tone.
"Now."
Seto sat. Everyone stared at Yugi. They had never heard him use that tone of voice before.
"Now, can we all just get along," he asked the table at large in exasperation. No one answered. He glared around the table once, daring anyone to contradict him before he gave them all a smile they had not seen in years, "That's better."
Everyone was silent until Joey started laughing. He tried to suppress it but failed entirely. It felt so good to laugh. And it was just so damn funny. He tried to stop, but everyone was staring at him with a shocked look and he just ended up laughing even harder. When he finally had himself under control again, he looked at his friends who were waiting impatiently for an explanation.
"Sorry," he told them, still smiling, "It's just that, I used to spend so much time wondering what it would be like if all of you were here, well, all but you Rich Boy, and what I'd say, and none of them were anything like this. Besides, it's just so darn funny."
"What's so funny? What was so different? Joey, you're not making any sense," Yugi said impatiently.
"I'm not exactly sure what was so funny, but one difference was that Heather and Carla would be here to explain. Which I suppose, technically, they already did. And Marik, Ra, there's a shocker, I was expecting someone more, I don't know, someone else is all. And of all the stupid, he's not here right now either 'cause he's gone with…Death…and Mercy…to…DAMN IT!!" Joey jumped up and bolted back out of the cafeteria.
Yugi followed after a second, and so did the rest of the gang. They followed Joey up to the top floor. They had just entered the hall when they heard Joey yelling from within Marik's office, "WHERE IS DEATH?!"
They reached the doorway just in time to hear Odion's answer, "I already told you Joey, Death and Mercy are with Marik. Shopping."
"Mm-hmm, for lingerie. Yeah right. Now where are they really?"
"Do I need to call them?"
"Yes."
Odion sighed and hit the speed dial after a moment, Carla answered.
"What do you need Odion?" Carla's voice came through the speaker.
"Joey here doesn't believe me when I tell him that you, Death, and Marik are lingerie shopping," Odion told her calmly.
"Joey, we're lingerie shopping, isn't that right Death?" She called a little louder.
"The pink or the black, do you think?" They heard Heather's voice coming through too.
"How about the topaz, it matches his eyes," Carla responded after a moment of thought.
"Good idea."
"Do you believe Odion now Joey?"
"Yeah, I guess so. But of all the stupid, why lingerie?"
"Don't ask me. It was Heather's idea. Anyway, gotta go, she just spotted lace. Bye." With that she hung up. Odion hung up too and stared at Joey with a look that very clearly read, "Now would you please get out of here, so I can get some work done?"
"Sorry Odion," Joey said looking out the window, "I'll leave you alone now."
He turned and headed back out of the office. Yugi and the gang were waiting for him outside.
"What was that about?" asked Tristan.
"Carla, Heather, and Marik are all out shopping, for lingerie apparently," Joey replied, still a little unbelieving.
"Lingerie?" asked Mokuba also doubtful.
"Yeah. Ah well, as long as they're gone, I'm free to do whatever I want. You guys want a tour of the facilities or something?"
"Sure."
"Sounds great!"
"Why not?"
"Whatever."
"No one said you had to come Rich Boy," Joey said mockingly; he was surprised to note that he was actually enjoying the rivalry with Kiaba. 'Never thought I'd miss this,' he thought to himself.
Kiaba just glared, but followed anyway when Joey led the way down to the basement for the beginning of the tour.
"So we're lingerie shopping," Carla stated.
"Cool," Heather said putting her helmet on the bike handle.
"You're enjoying this thought way too much," Carla followed her toward the front of the coffee shop.
They walked through the front door and froze.
"What is this, a bad guy union coffee break?!" Heather asked the room at large as she pulled out her guns.
The entire shop was filled with Tommy's agents, known agents on the UCSO list. They all froze too.
"Nobody move!" Carla warned them, but one little punk stood up, hands in his pocket.
"Why should we, we've got you outnumbered and out gunned?!" He sneered, looking at the girls with a raised eyebrow.
"You, kid, have no idea who you're messing with," Heather told him calmly.
"Oh, really? I see a couple of gangly little girls with toy guns."
"Kid, you're talking to the Angels of Death and Mercy."
"Sure, and I'm Tommy the Gun," the boy said using Tommy's full mob name.
"Wow!" Carla's voice was mocking, "You've gotten short Tommy. Did you change your mind and finally realize that you need to dye your hair because you're too recognizable? Death."
"What, Mercy?"
"Why don't you start your interrogation with this punk here? He seems rarin' to go."
"You're really gonna let me?"
"Why not? Since I'm clearly not Mercy, I shouldn't care what happens to him, should I?"
Heather smiled evilly and took a step towards the boy. But the man next to him stood too and placed himself between Heather and the boy.
"Sit down, kid," the man said in a low voice, "They're Death and Mercy."
The kid looked at the man and fear flooded him face. He collapsed back into his chair.
"So does that mean that you wan to go first?" asked Heather.
"Yeah. You'd never be able to get anything out of them anyway. They've all been with Tommy less than a year," he pulled his hands out of his jacket and placed both his guns on the table before stepping forward.
Heather moved out of the way and let him lead the way into a back room.
"Who are you?" Heather asked once they were in the back and out of earshot.
"I'm A. Wolf," the man said patiently.
"No, you're not. Wolf is in prison in the US."
"Not Wolf. A. Wolf," he said again, stressing the initial.
"A. Wolf?" Heather asked shocked, "So you're-?"
"Yeah, I lead the Wolves, the resistance within Tommy's gang."
"Where is he?"
"He's taken you're boss to his hideout at the Sari Oasis. Tommy's not there though, he's already left, although I am not sure exactly where he went. I heard him say he was going to Villa Franka, but I've never heard of any such place."
"Neither have I. You're telling me the truth?" Heather asked not sure whether she should believe him or not.
"Yes. If you don't believe me, here's my proof," he reached up and pulled down his collar to reveal a small 'X' scar on his sternum.
"'What he has taken, we shall retrieve.'" Heather said quietly.
"'As the fates will.'" He replied returning the greeting of the Wolves.
"How new are those kids in there?"
"They haven't been initiated yet. This was supposed to be their initiation. They're clean."
"They're all gonna have to go to jail anyway, you know that right?"
"Yeah, I know. I also know you gotta beat me, otherwise our cover will be blown."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
Heather hit him. Again and again and again. Finally it looked good enough to pass. He leaned on her as they went back out into the front of the shop. She dumped him in a nearby chair.
In the meantime, Carla had shut all the blinds and spaced her prisoners out so she could cover them all at once.
"I'm calling them in," Heather told her partner.
Carla nodded. A while later, all of Tommy's agents had been arrested and were heading off to jail. By the time the last agent had been booked, Heather and Carla were sneaking into Sari Oasis.
They had no trouble at all sneaking past the guards; no one was as good as them. They had found Marik before anyone knew they were even on the premises. They had just gotten him untied when the alarm went off.
"Keep your mouth shut and your head down," Heather told Marik firmly. She turned and began leading the way out of the compound. Marik followed her and Carla brought up the rear. They had a couple of close calls but managed to get out without being caught. They had just entered Cairo when Heather spotted a Victoria Secret and pulled over.
"What are you doing?" Marik asked glaring at the shop suspiciously.
"Shopping."
"Why?"
"Because Odion called. The cover story for your being gone is that we kidnapped you and took you lingerie shopping. So now we have to fill in our cover."
"I am not going in there," Marik told them firmly.
"Oh yes you are," Carla said in his ear as she pulled his arms behind him and cuffed them.
Marik opened his mouth to yell at her, but Heather took that opportunity to tape his mouth shut. The two girls took his arms and dragged him into the shop.
Half an hour later, they left carrying ten bags all filled with lace and other fun stuff.
They parked their cycles in front of the UCSO building, forcing Marik to enter via the main door. As they were grabbing the bags they heard a little boy across the street ask his mother, "Mommy, why is that man tied up?"
"It's called marriage, son," the mother replied.
"But why are there two ladies?"
"One of them must be the sister."
Heather and Carla laughed as they walked into the building and came face to face with Joey and the gang. They were staring in shock at the Victoria Secret bags and the girls only laughed harder. Carla took off the handcuffs and Marik ripped off the tape glaring at Yugi and the others.
"What?!" He asked angrily.
"Okay," Joey said ignoring Marik and talking to Heather, "How many of those are Marik's and how many are yours?"
"This one is mine, the rest are his," she told him holding up the smallest bag. At this, everyone else began to laugh too. Marik stormed up to his office leaving his bags for one of the newbies to take care of. After about a half hour he called Carla and Heather to his office.
"I need your reports before you head off on this new mission," he told them hitting the record button on his computer.
The girls went through every detail of what happened up to the point where they reached him in the basement before he turned it off.
"Villa Franka? You've never mentioned a Villa Franka," he said afterward.
"I've never heard of it," Heather said, "I'm just as confused as you are."
"Yeah, same here," Carla said after a moment.
"Okay," he said as he pulled open one of the many drawers in his desk. He removed a file and tossed it to Carla who began to speed read as Marik began explaining their next assignment to Heather. When Carla was done reading, they switched and Marik explained it one more time.
"I've heard that Tommy has a new base he just built. You are going to go and do some reconnaissance."
"I got that much from the reports in there," Carla said nodding at the file Heather was still reading.
"Okay. What do you need to know before you head out?"
"Are we going to have any kind of back-up, just in case, you know?"
"Do you really think you need back-up? You've never asked for back-up before. Something about it look bad to you?"
"No, I just…have a bad feeling is all. It's probably nothing. We better get going," Carla stood up and turned to leave.
"Wait," Marik said as Heather stood too, handing back the file, "Take these." He handed them each a tiny tracer.
"Not a tracer," he told them at their doubtful look, "They're, for lack of a better word, bugs. We can hear you, but you won't be able to hear us unless we turn on the two-way part of the bug. Just in case."
Heather took placed her bug in the butt of her gun; Carla, in her ear.
"See ya," Heather said as she walked out the door.
"What she said," Carla followed her out.
"Good luck," Marik muttered. He waited until their footsteps had disappeared down the hall before he called for Odion.
"Odion, I need your help keeping track of them. Carla had a bad feeling. The last time she had a bad feeling, we nearly lost them."
"You gave them the bugs, right?" Odion asked pulling out the recording system the bugs were on and turning on the speakers just loud enough that it could be heard in the office, but not out.
"Yeah, but I'm still worried."
"I understand, but it will be okay, and if worst comes to worst, we can go get them, or rather Joey can. Do you want me to get a team ready just in case?"
"Yes, please. Joey, Mekiahl, and a few others, but not too many. We can't risk a public relations situation."
"What if we got Joey to help us keep an eye on them, well, ear technically."
"Sure. Go find him will you. Oh, and tell him one crack about the 'shopping trip' and he'll be running laps 'till he dies."
"Of course, Master Marik," Odion gave a small bow and left. He found Joey outside giving the gang a tour of the grounds, while simultaneously introducing them to Mekiahl.
"Joey," Odion said approaching them, "Everyone. You'll have to excuse us. Joey, Marik needs to see you in his office immediately. He also wants me to tell you, and I quote, 'One crack about the shopping trip and you'll be running laps 'till you die.'"
"Yeah, that sounds like him. 'Kay, I'll be there in a second."
"It's important. Now, Joey."
Joey looked at Odion, gauging his expression before nodding and turning back to his friends. "Sorry, we'll have to finish this tour another time. I'll catch you later," he said as he ran off to the building and up to Marik's office.
"What's going on Odion?" asked Yugi, who could tell when something was very wrong.
"Believe it or not, Yugi, Joey still has a job to do. But, seeing as I have deprived you of your guide may I suggest you all find something to do. I'm sure you have work that you can do," Odion said nodding at Kiaba, "And, Yugi, have you called your Grandfather since you left Japan, or have you decided that he doesn't need to know what you do anymore?"
"Grandpa!!" Yugi realized in shock, before he charged off to his room to call and apologize to his grandfather for worrying him so much.
"You're free to explore all you want, but please stay out of the way of the Newbies."
Odion left them there knowing that Marik was going to need his help to keep Joey from over reacting. He had reached the office door when he heard Joey's eruption.
"She's doing WHAT?!"
Yazani: Well, how am I doing?
Yugi: We all think you're doing a great job. Although again, I'm surprised by what you know.
Yazani: (sighs) We've been over this already. I know you people. Besides, I know things, in case you haven't noticed yet, I have a bit of precognition.
Marik: So I've noticed.
Everyone: (surprised) Marik?!
Kiaba: What are you doing here?
Marik: (sits) I'm in the story too, and it's not just you who will be staring in it, I'll be there too. (makes a face)
Kitsune: What?
Marik: What what?
Kitsune: What was that face about?
Marik: ( guardedly) Nothing.
Yazani: Yeah, nothing.
Kitsune: Yazani. What do you know, that we don't know?
Yazani: Many things, what in particular?
Kitsune: Whatever it is you're helping Marik hide?
Yazani: I already said it's nothing. (looks at Yugi) So, I've got a question for you. How is it that you got the Puzzle back? And you, (looks at Ryo) How'd you get the ring again?
Yugi: (shrugs) It just showed up one day.
Ryo: Same here.
Marik: (to Yazani) Don't bother. They won't get it. Might as well just tell them. Milak's back. The face was in response to his comment about the Pharaoh. (turns to Yami) He was saying you were a bit full of yourself to think that Odion, Ishizu, and I wouldn't be joining you all.
Milak: (materializes behind his light) No, I said he was a - who needed to be taught a lesson in-
Yazani: (stands, grabs Milak's ear and drags him outside)
Everyone: (watches the door)
Yazani and Milak: (return and sit)
Kitsune: What was that about?
Yazani: Milak and I were just having a little chat. Don't worry about it. Milak, isn't here something you want to tell the Pharaoh?
Milak: (glares at Yazani before speaking) Sorry.
Everyone: (jaw drops)
Marik: (in shock to Yazani) What did you say to him?
Milak: (mocking) You mean you haven't told them yet, little witch?
Yazani: I brought Milak back. I brought back the items. Well, I didn't exactly bring them back myself, rather, by solving the mini-puzzle and setting Yani free, I recalled the items to this world, and thus all the spirits connected to them. The thing is, I can just as easily send Milak back to the torture of the shadow realm, if he doesn't behave.
Marik: Wait, if the items are back, where's the rod, I didn't get it. I found the eye.
Kiaba: I've got the rod.
Everyone: (stares at Kiaba)
Kiaba: I tried to get rid of it, but it keeps coming back.
Yazani: (yawns) Well, sorry that you missed the chapter, Marik. Here's the book, you'll have to catch up on your own. I am exhausted. 'Night all. (leaves)
