Chapter Nine
Everyone else looked towards the weapon with a jerk.
"Gansley's cane," Johnson whispered.
The wielder of the cane stepped out—tired, battle-worn, but very alive.
Johnson felt weak. "Gansley," he choked out.
Lector approached slowly, cautiously. It could be Alice's final trick, reanimating Gansley's body as the undead, but he had just attacked Alice to save Johnson. And his eyes . . . they were filled with recognition. "Is it really you?" he rasped. Please . . . this has to be real, not a cruel trick. . . .
"Yes," Gansley assured him. "It's me."
Nesbitt was still clearly skeptical, not wanting to be taken in only to realize it wasn't their dear friend. He didn't think he could deal with that additional pain. "There's no blood on your clothes," he objected. "And those wounds . . . you couldn't possibly be walking with them!"
"No, I couldn't," Gansley agreed. "I don't fully understand it myself, but I was healed."
"Gansley!" Crump tore past Nesbitt and Lector and pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't do that to us again! We can't lose you, Buddy!"
Johnson also embraced Gansley, a little more quietly, but no less emotional. "We were hoping so much that you could be saved," he said brokenly, "but we didn't think it would happen until we beat this game. . . ."
Lector was also confused about that. "There's nothing like this in the original game, is there?" he said to Yugi. "Boris doesn't come back. . . ."
"No, he doesn't." Yugi looked at Gansley with shining eyes and a joyous smile. "But don't question this too much. Just accept it."
"Well, I can't!" Nesbitt interjected. "It hurt too much to lose Gansley. And I have to be logical. I know he couldn't come back from something like that! This has to be a trick." He turned away. "I can't fall for it. . . . I can't be hurt like that again. . . ."
"It really is Gansley."
Again everyone looked up.
"Grampa!" Yugi tore forward at the sight of Solomon Muto and rushed into his arms. "I've been so worried . . . !"
"Worried? Bah, I've been having the time of my life!" Solomon hugged Yugi close. ". . . Well, no, that isn't quite true. This is one of the most demented games I've ever encountered. And what happened to Gansley was cruel and tragic. I found his body after you were all forced to leave him and run. I was just leaving him when these two showed up."
A second Alice Angel stepped into the room, accompanied by Boris the Wolf.
"Gah! Another Alice!" Joey screamed.
"Don't worry," she told him. "And I don't go by 'Alice,' either. I'm Allison." She looked to where Gansley was returning Crump's and Johnson's hugs. "Your friend made a noble sacrifice, and in this world, that's what saved him."
Solomon nodded. "They led me back to where Gansley had fallen. His wounds healed and he woke up. We've been traveling together, trying to catch up to all of you from another path."
Yami Bakura grunted. "Of course, since this no doubt is a Shadow Game, a more likely explanation is simply that death is not real here and is never permanent if it happens. And since it's based on a video game, one can be restored when they die, just as in the actual game. That would explain why we didn't have to wait until beating the game to see him again."
"Well, whatever the reason is, it's awesome," Mokuba said with shining eyes. "I'm so happy for them. . . ."
Yugi firmly nodded. "They really deserved this."
"I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused you," Gansley said. "If I could take it back while still protecting you, I would."
Finally convinced, Lector pulled Gansley close now, stray tears leaking from his eyes. "Nesbitt was right all along," he said. "We shouldn't have left you."
"No, you should have," Gansley insisted. He hugged Lector firmly. "You couldn't have known. All you knew was that there was no way you could drag my lifeless body around with you while you were fighting all your enemies. That would have been utter foolishness, and the delay could have caused many more of you to fall."
"I still wish we had," Lector said. "I'm so glad you're alright. . . ."
Nesbitt finally ventured over. "It's not a trick?" He looked at Gansley in heartbroken desperation. "It's really you?"
"Yes," Gansley assured him. "It's really me."
Nesbitt broke down sobbing and clutched at Gansley. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. . . ."
"You don't have any reason to be sorry," Gansley said in surprise and sorrow.
Nesbitt shook his head. "I couldn't save you. I didn't realize you went after Lector. And after you were . . . gone . . . I treated Lector horribly."
Gansley sighed. "I was afraid there might be trouble. We don't do well when one of us is gone." He pulled back, looking firmly at Nesbitt. "But what happened to me is not your fault! You did save me, Nesbitt. You saved my mind. And I'm glad you didn't know I went after Lector. I had fallen back under Alice's spell and was going after him to get the ink back. Then I got there and saw him being attacked and I was able to break free." His voice cracked.
"I wish you hadn't had to die to break free," Nesbitt said.
Lector nodded. "As I most certainly do."
"Let's just say all of us do and leave it at that," Crump said.
Johnson gave a sorrowful nod.
"Well, of course it's going to take a long time to recover from this," Gansley said, "but at least now we have the chance to try."
Nesbitt could only nod. "Yeah. . . ."
"No no NO! This isn't how things were supposed to be at all!"
Everyone jumped a mile. A flash of light and a second Yami Bakura was standing in front of them, eyes flashing in rage. His striped shirt was badly torn and he was clearly wounded in many places, most likely from the fight against Atem in his world, but he was heedless of all of that.
"I didn't program any of this into my game world," he spat. "This can't be!"
Yugi smirked at him. "I guess Yami Marik didn't tell you about the time he put some of us in a Shadow Game to play out a game over and over and it ended up that self-sacrifice was the key to getting out. He didn't program that in either."
Their Game Master snarled. "So, you think you have everything figured out, eh? You think you'll always win because of that?"
Bakura stepped forward. "I know life doesn't always work that way. I don't know why it sometimes has for us, but it hasn't always. People have died permanently, such as my mother and sister and the Kaiba brothers' parents and Pegasus's beloved Cecelia. And the Kul Elna massacre happened in this world too. I know you must have suffered a great deal in your life, just as my Yami did. But it's over now! Zorc is defeated. You don't have to fight anymore. Why don't you end this madness and we'll try to help you get back to your world? Go back to your Bakura. Beg his forgiveness for everything you've done!"
"Shut up!" The Game Master stepped forward, eyes flashing. "I have nothing, just as I did after the Kul Elna massacre."
"Then you admit now that you are Bakura and not Zorc," Bakura said.
Ignoring that, the Game Master said, "Actually, I did have something—a most valuable lesson in hatred and vengeance. That was also all I had after I lost to the Pharaoh, both in Egypt and today."
"And that is why you struck out at all of us, isn't it," Yami Bakura said. "It was your way of rebelling against your loss. You couldn't get back at the Pharaoh and Yugi who actually beat you, but going after another Pharaoh and Yugi was the next best thing."
"That's probably also why you targeted me," Gansley said darkly. "You couldn't care less about the Big Five, but you knew once you saw me protecting Yugi that hurting me would hurt Yugi."
"I didn't know you would be targeted," the Game Master insisted, "but I certainly wasn't about to complain when it happened."
"Oh, I think he did have a reason for targeting the Big Five," Bakura said. "He was jealous of their close bond. I think that's why he targets all the rest of us as well. He's probably also jealous of Yami, because Yami has a much better life than he has."
"Come on! You actually think I'd be jealous of another me?" the Game Master snorted.
"It is an interesting thought, isn't it?" Yami Bakura sneered. "Why don't we have a battle and see who's really the most powerful?"
The Game Master started to back into the shadows instead. "While that sounds like a highly appealing prospect, I think I'm going to let all of you play out the rest of this game instead. After all, I had some very dark plans for how to change the storyline. Let's see if your friendship and love can get you out of this!" His cruel laughter echoed all around them as he vanished.
"That creep!" Joey spat.
Solomon sighed. "Well, we have no choice but to play out the rest of his game. We'd better get started."
"So, what happens in this part of the game, Yug?" Joey nervously asked.
Yugi sighed. "The final boss battles." He looked to where Bendy had made short work of the Projectionist. In all the commotion, Bendy had dragged the body off without any of them really noticing, but there was a chilling trail of ink.
"And I'm guessing we're gonna have to face that freak," Joey gulped. "Only how is it gonna work when we really can't fight it?!"
"I just don't know," Yugi worried. "I'm still sure the Game Master won't do the twist of having Bendy watch that film reel, like I said."
"Well," Allison suddenly spoke up, "I don't know what you're talking about, really, but we need to go to the Ink River."
"Why?!" Joey exclaimed.
"To advance the plot," Duke grunted.
"In the game, it's to get away from Bendy," Yugi said, "which isn't a bad idea right now!"
Allison nodded. "We'll take you there. Let's go!"
No one protested.
The trip down to the bottom level and a river of literal ink was mostly uneventful, save for the usual ink monsters that rose to attack them. As everyone climbed into the barge at the dock, Joey caught sight of an ominous sign.
"'There's something in the river'?!" he read in alarm. "What's that?!"
Yugi sighed. "A giant hand. We'll have to be careful, guys; just like with Bendy, being hit by the hand is instant death."
"So how do we stay away from it?!" Joey yelped.
"The only way is to keep the barge moving faster than the hand is moving," Yugi said.
"Then you can bet we're gonna do it!" Crump exclaimed.
The Ink River was disturbing all by itself—a seemingly endless path of darkness that twisted and turned down cold and dimly lit corridors. Knowing that somewhere under the surface was a sea monster just waiting to attack made the experience agonizing as well as chilling.
"Now I know how ancient sailors must have felt," Téa moaned.
"I doubt they were as terrified as Joey is right now," Yami Bakura smirked. If he was uneasy, he wasn't going to admit it.
"Aww, come on!" Joey snapped. "This is freaky! Don't tell me you're really not worried!"
The barge started to rock underneath them, sending several to the deck.
"Gah!" Joey yelped.
"Everyone, find something to hold on to!" Yugi directed. "It's not like this in the game. It's probably only going to get worse!"
The giant hand started to emerge from under the inky waves, reaching for the barge.
"It's big enough to crush us!" Serenity shrieked in horror.
"Go faster, go faster!" Joey yelled.
The desperation to keep the barge both upright and ahead of the hand was rising with everyone. Atem and Yami Bakura were currently trying to man the vessel, but no matter how fast they could make it go and how much they tried to keep the paddlewheel clear, the hand was always looming right there, sweeping at them again. The barge swerved sharply up on a wave to the right, then back down again.
Crump yelped as he went rolling from one side of the barge to the other. "Hey!"
Seto grabbed for him. "And here I thought you liked the water."
"You can't call this water!" Crump retorted. "I've never had such a bumpy ride!"
Lector looked over worriedly. He was trying to keep a look-out for the hand, but with both it and the barge weaving all over the river, it was almost impossible to keep track.
Without warning the hand crashed into the back of the barge.
"We're hit!" Tristan yelled.
Serenity screamed as she went flying through the air along with chunks of wood and pieces of rope. When she was suddenly caught before she could fly over the side of the barge, she and everyone else looked up in stunned surprise. "Mr. Nesbitt. . . ."
Nesbitt growled, holding her protectively close as they crashed on the deck of the barge. Something slammed into the back of his head when they hit and suddenly he wasn't on the barge anymore; he was in New Orleans, in a hotel suite, talking with Lector about some of the calamities that had beset them on their trip several weeks ago.
"Gansley told me that you running into the warehouse after Mr. Ishtar and Mokuba was a matter of personal redemption for you," Lector said. "You put them in that deadly warehouse when we took over Mr. Kaiba's augmented reality game last year and you wanted a chance to save them from this one. I know that was true, but did it help you any?"
". . . Some," Nesbitt said. "But that was all eclipsed by the fact that we thought you were dead. I couldn't even think about what I did or how it may have helped anyone."
"Well." Lector walked over to him. "Don't forget that you saved the Ishtar boy, Nesbitt. You proved that you've got past your hatred and vengeance." He sighed. "I should have stopped you when you put him and Mokuba and Mr. Devlin and Mr. Tanaka in that warehouse in the past. I didn't know what you were doing at first, and when you had the Fire dragon head set it on fire, I could hardly believe it. I was right ready to leave the duel and go save them myself when I saw Yami Bakura go in after them. I thought he would probably stand a better chance of rescuing them, since his Infinity Ring is a compass. But I wish I'd gone anyway. Who knows what it would have changed; maybe it would have brought all of us back from the brink of darkness without having to be sent to the Shadow Realm first."
Nesbitt looked away. "We all would have got angry at you, the same as we did in the Shadow Realm when we realized you'd been trying to help Mokuba."
"And it's a moot point anyway, since I didn't do anything to stop your plot in the past except to create an escape route for everyone after Yami Bakura found them." Lector looked tired. "The point is, we both have so much to atone for. It's not all on you."
Nesbitt was about to reply when Serenity's frantic voice cut into his memory of the conversation. "Mr. Nesbitt! Mr. Nesbitt, please wake up! Please!"
"Nesbitt?!" That was Gansley.
Gansley. . . . He was alive. . . . It still seemed so unreal. . . .
Nesbitt forced his eyes open. He was laying on his side on the deck, Serenity and the Big Four and many of the others kneeling around him. Splintered wood was scattered about, and the barge was still. They must have reached a shore. . . .
Crump breathed a sigh of relief. "We thought you weren't okay, Pal!"
"I'm alright," Nesbitt grunted awkwardly, although at the moment he certainly didn't feel alright.
"Thank God." Lector relaxed. "We didn't know what had happened. We thought maybe the hand struck you."
"I think it was the railing." Nesbitt sat up, grimacing as he touched the tender spot at the back of his head.
"You saved me," Serenity said softly. "Thank you. . . ."
Nesbitt looked away, embarrassed. "I had to. . . . I was the only one close by. . . ."
Gansley sighed. "Well, I wish you could rest, but I doubt we have time. We have to vacate this barge before the hand catches up with us."
Nesbitt forced himself to stand. "Then let's get out of here."
Johnson and Gansley took his arms to help him balance. Even as they headed for the other side of the barge and started to climb over, the hand was rising from under the ink river again.
"Here it comes!" Téa screamed. "Hurry, guys!"
The Big Five dived over the side and onto the shore just in time. The hand fell on the barge, splintering it to pieces and dragging it into the river.
"Hoo boy." Joey stared at the wreckage with a shiver. "So now what?" He turned to look at their new surroundings. "This place doesn't look like a five-star hotel either."
"It doesn't even look like a one-star hotel," Tristan retorted. The shoreline was covered with assorted buildings and houses, almost like an Old West town.
"Actually, it doesn't look that bad, considering," Crump said.
"It's the Lost Harbor," Duke said. "This is where the ink monsters live, both the mindless ones and the ones that used to be human."
Mokuba shrank back. "This place really looks like Cooperstown," he said softly.
Seto laid a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "It's going to be alright." He prayed that was really true.
Yugi's eyes were filled with worry. "Here we're going to run into Sammy, the guy who tried to sacrifice me and Gansley to Bendy," he said. "At least . . . if things play out the same as in the game, and here, it's hard to say."
"I don't see anybody," Crump objected. "But you mean it's the guy who drew the pentagram on the floor?!"
"Yeah," Duke said.
He looked to Nesbitt, awkward and yet wanting to say what was on his mind. "It doesn't really capture what I'm feeling now, but . . . thank you for rescuing Serenity," he said gruffly. "I know you've been our ally now, but I don't think I really expected you to do that."
Nesbitt nodded, still looking very awkward. "Things aren't like they used to be. I'm . . . sorry for everything I did that hurt you kids in the past. I want to be better than I was."
"And you are," Duke said. "You all are." He looked to the other members of the Big Five. "We're all grateful you're our friends now."
Lector also looked to the others before replying. "And we are all grateful that you have been willing to trust and forgive us," he said with a slight bow.
"Well, it didn't come for free," Seto grunted. "You had to convince us you were worthy of the privilege. At least in my case."
"Of course," Gansley said.
The group slowly advanced into the underground village. All the streetlights were on, but no one seemed to be around at all. Mokuba grew more and more visibly distressed, gripping Seto's hand as they walked down the Main Street. Marik and Lector also walked near him, recognizing his agony.
Suddenly an axe broke through a nearby wall. An ink monster stepped out, tightly clutching the weapon. A Bendy mask was concealing his face.
"I gave you everything!" he screamed, swinging the axe at the group. "Loyalty! Sacrifices! You promised to restore my humanity and you gave me nothing! You betrayed me!"
Yugi jumped back. "Look out, guys!"
"What the heck is this guy's deal?!" Tristan yelled as they all scattered. "None of us did anything to him!"
"Not to mention, none of us look like that Bendy creep he worships," Joey added.
"He's lost his mind," Gansley said grimly. He stumbled, and desperately dug his cane into the wooden sidewalk to steady himself. Lector and Nesbitt immediately took his arms.
"We are not losing you again," Lector vowed.
"Never," Nesbitt growled.
Sammy roared, madly swinging his axe in every possible direction. The group could only keep scattering, avoiding the weapon while trying to strike back with their pipes, axes, and wooden beams.
"So what happens at this point in the game?!" David exclaimed.
"Sammy tries to kill the protagonist," Duke called over Sammy's mad screams. "He's stopped by that new Boris. But I don't see any trace of him!"
Indeed, Sammy seemed to have cornered several of the group. "Sheep, sheep, sheep," he whispered, his voice suddenly low and eerie. "Now it's time to sleep. . . ."
Suddenly a beam of light shot out, piercing Sammy as he raised his axe to aim at Ishizu. He let out a gasp, falling forward as the mask slipped from his face. "Don't look at me," he commanded before dropping to the ground and vanishing into ink.
Ishizu looked up with a gasp. Yami Bakura was standing nearby, the Infinity Ring glowing from having blasted Sammy.
"That's about all the Ring can do in this game world," Yami Bakura grunted. "I'm surprised it can do that much."
"Thank you," Ishizu breathed.
Bakura laid a hand on Yami Bakura's shoulder. "Right now, it was enough," he said firmly.
"Let's get out of here," Yugi said worriedly. "I don't know what's going to happen next, because we're supposed to find the film reel to use on Bendy, and I don't think that's going to happen in this game."
"So from here on out, things could be really different in a bad way?" Joey looked around nervously. "We'd better be real careful. . . ."
"Way to play Captain Obvious," Mai said, rolling her eyes.
The group slowly advanced over the wooden floor. It creaked ominously, echoing throughout the lonely space.
"It feels like eyes are watching us everywhere," Crump groaned.
"Actually, they probably are," Yugi realized. "I forgot, before we leave here, we have to fight more ink monsters!"
Now the creatures were emerging from every direction, as if the apparent death of Sammy was drawing them out. They lunged with one accord, swarming the group on all sides.
"Ugh!" Mai knocked one away with her wooden beam. "These things are disgusting! Not to mention everywhere!"
The floor creaked more loudly.
"I think it's giving way!" Duke yelled. He swung a pipe at another ink monster.
Indeed, as the brawl continued, the floor weakened completely, sending the entire group plummeting to another level. The ink monsters splattered on impact and fell still. The group lay dazed, some on top of each other, as they tried to recover their senses.
"Oh . . . you're okay, aren't you, Grampa?" Yugi mumbled.
"I'm just fine, Yugi," Solomon groaned.
"You guys are all okay, right?" Crump asked.
"We're alive, at least," Gansley grunted.
"Seto?" Mokuba worriedly asked. "Marik? Lector?"
"We're okay," Seto assured him.
A chilling hissing sound brought everyone's attention up. All of the ink monsters were coming together, forming a creature that was very briefly Bendy before shifting to a new, monstrous form that still bore the same demonic grin.
"Oh no!" Yugi cried. "It's the beast form of Bendy, the final boss! And we don't have the film reel to destroy him!"
