Chapter Nine

It wasn't long before Seto and Téa arrived with Mokuba and the Ishtars, the strange object in tow. Yugi looked it over in dismay; it definitely looked a lot like it could be part of the Reshef statue as depicted in the book.

"So what's the plan, Yugi?!" Mokuba demanded. "How are we going to help my brother?!"

"Well, right now I think we need to make sure that the other pieces of this statue don't fall into the wrong hands," Yugi said in concern. "I called Grampa and he's trying to reach Dr. Brisbane to see if he knows anything about it. Meanwhile, Crump thinks maybe your idea about businessmen being targeted is probably right, so I think we need to talk to some of the other possible targets, like Siegfried and Dartz and the president of Jenova Corp."

"Jenova Corp?" Seto started. "They're responsible for some of the augmented reality programming I used for Duel Monster Days."

Mokuba nodded. "Seto got a deal going with them last year."

"So . . . what'd you think of those guys?" Joey asked.

"I thought they were fine," Mokuba blinked.

"They don't seem . . . weird or anything?" Tristan said.

Seto grunted. "The promotions director is a little too enthusiastic for my tastes, but otherwise they seemed completely normal."

"They look like Final Fantasy VII characters!" Joey blurted.

That brought a scowl. "Oh no. We are not going there," Seto snapped. "Isn't it enough that Duel Monsters are real?"

Yugi sighed. "Well, I think we need to get started talking to them before it gets any later. Do they live around here?"

"Not too far," Seto said.

Peter shook his head. "All of you seem to know what you're doing. I'd better stay here with the kids."

"I've brought in extra security," Gansley told him. "Everything should be fine."

"So are we splitting up to talk with Jenova Corp and Dartz?" David asked.

"Sounds good to me," Joey said.

"Maybe someone should check on Croquet and see what's happening with Pegasus," Bakura worried.

"We can do that," Yami Bakura said.

"And I'm texting Leon right now," Mokuba said. "It's daytime over there."

"What about checking on Bandit Keith and the Rare Hunters?" Yugi wondered.

"My chauffeur is still shadowing them," Gansley said. "I may approach them at the hospital. I imagine they'll be there a while. Either way, I'll know what they're up to."

"Good," Yugi nodded.

"Perhaps you should go with the group that talks to Sephiroth, Kaiba, since you know him," Atem said.

Seto nodded. "Let's just hope I won't lose my mind again. Or that he won't have already lost his."

"No kidding," Crump gulped. "Doesn't he have enough power to blow up the world?"

David cringed. "Let's hope some things just stay in the game and aren't true in real-life."

xxxx

The mansion where the Jenova Corp executives lived really wasn't far from everyone's current location. Seto took the lead in marching up to the porch and ringing the doorbell. The others in his group, including the Big Five, looked around nervously.

"I know we figured we should come here so we'd be closer to home if we're needed, but are you sure it's a good idea to come here at all?" Crump moaned.

"Quite frankly, no," Gansley retorted.

"You're not instilling me with confidence here!" Crump exclaimed.

Téa sighed. "We're going to be fine, Crump."

"Easy for you to say," Crump grunted.

The door opened, revealing a girl who was also familiar from the Final Fantasy franchise. "Hello," she greeted. "Can I help you?"

"Aerith," David whispered to Duke.

"We need to talk to Sephiroth," Seto said. "Is he home?"

"Why, yes," Aerith said. "Come in, won't you?" She held the door open farther and the group trouped inside.

"Wow, this place looks even bigger than Kaiba's," Crump said.

Sephiroth was sitting on a couch in the living room, glancing over some papers. He looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Kaiba. I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I wasn't expecting to be here either," Seto said. "The fact of the matter is, we have a ridiculous problem and we're concerned you might get caught up in it."

"You have my complete attention," Sephiroth said. "What's wrong?"

Between them they managed to relay the basics of the problem. Sephiroth listened, frowning. Before their explanation was over, Cloud and Zack had wandered in to hear as well.

"So . . . basically you think that some crazy spirit is going around possessing businessmen so they can gather the pieces of an old statue?" Cloud remarked at the conclusion.

"That's pretty much it," Crump said. "And when they put them all together, they can have ultimate power!"

"And you wondered if one of us would be targeted?" Sephiroth said.

"Why us?" Zack asked. "I mean, there's tons of businessmen here!"

"Your company is very large and prestigious," Seto said before someone could blurt something awkward about Sephiroth's past in the game.

"Makes sense," Zack shrugged.

"Of course you realize that if one of us was possessed, we wouldn't admit it," Sephiroth said. "The force wouldn't let us."

Seto nodded. "But in case it hasn't happened, we felt you needed to be warned."

"Thanks!" Zack exclaimed. "We can sure use the warning."

The group quickly excused themselves and departed. Outside, Crump still looked bowled-over by the encounter. "So, does this mean Mario and Sonic are real too?" he had to ask.

No one even knew how to answer.

xxxx

Serenity restlessly paced the floor, back and forth, unable to hold still. Ms. Kawai sighed, heavily. "Serenity, please settle down. You know your brother said there's nothing you can do right now. And Heaven knows I wish you wouldn't get involved at all."

"I already am involved, Mom, because all of my loved ones are involved!" Serenity insisted. "And if there's some weird plot against businessmen, that means Duke could be in danger too! Even if there's nothing I can do, I really feel I should be with them!"

"They would rather you stay out of danger too," Ms. Kawai said. "And with all these creatures running around town . . . !"

"Most of the Duel Monsters are nice," Serenity said. She headed for the door. "I'm sorry, Mom, I have to go."

"And how will you even find them?" Ms. Kawai exclaimed.

"I'll see if Mai will come get me," Serenity said. "She'll understand." She typed a text as she walked.

Ms. Kawai certainly could have put her foot down and stopped her daughter, but instead she did not. She was proud of Serenity for always being concerned about others, and whether she liked it or not, she knew Serenity really had helped on many bizarre adventures. It was quite a change from the shy, sheltered girl she had raised. And maybe Serenity never would have ended up like that if she hadn't separated her and Joey. Joey had always brought Serenity out of her shell.

She frowned. Joey had also reminded her a lot of her ex-husband in the past. In her angry and hurting state, being reminded of him had been the last thing she had wanted, and the last thing she had thought would be good for Serenity. Was that why she had so readily agreed when the man had wanted them to split the children up?

It had been a cruel and selfish decision, she knew now. It had hurt Serenity so deeply, and she knew it had hurt Joey too. He hadn't even wanted anything to do with her for years because of her taking Serenity away. And with her ex-husband having degraded through the years, she was sure Joey had suffered in many ways from him as well.

So when a car horn honked several minutes later and Serenity bade her mother Goodbye before hurrying outside, Ms. Kawai didn't stop her.

She just watched from the doorway as her daughter went off to help in a serious crisis once again.

xxxx

Mai smiled at Serenity as she hurried out to the car. "Well, Hon, it's good to see you onboard," she said. "We were just heading up to talk to Dartz about the latest developments."

"Uh oh." Serenity climbed into the front, next to a worried Joey. "Do you think he might get controlled by that creepy force too?"

"We're not sure, Sis," Joey said, "and I really wish you weren't coming along for this. Who knows what could happen!"

"That's why I need to come, Joey," Serenity insisted, "in case I can help." She turned to look in the back. "Hi, guys. Where's Duke?"

"Duke went with the group that's talking to Sephiroth about the same problem," Tristan said. He didn't look much more pleased than Joey that Serenity was coming along.

"And I guess Téa did too?" Serenity noted.

"Yeah, she did," Yugi said. He smiled. "But it's good to see you, Serenity."

Serenity smiled. "I'm glad to be here."

Dartz's home was near the canyons. The closer the group got, the more Duel Monsters they encountered flying overhead and roaming up and down the mountains. For the most part, the Duel Monsters seemed to ignore the vehicle and its occupants. Then a loud snort brought them to startled attention.

"What the heck?! It's that thing that chased Serenity in Noa's world!" Tristan cried in horror.

"WHAT?!" Joey yelled. That was one part of their misadventure he hadn't heard about. And as he turned to look, his eyes widened. "It's a Mad Sword Beast! Oh no!"

Serenity paled. "It's coming right at us!"

"Stay calm, boys and girls," Mai interjected. "We can outrun it easily!" She revved the engine and practically flew up the next hill. Tristan and Joey screamed in terror, but whether that was from the Mad Sword Beast's pursuit or Mai's questionable driving wasn't clear. When at last she pulled up in front of Dartz's mansion, the behemoth had long ago fallen far behind.

Joey slumped back in the seat, breathing heavily. "Serenity . . . why didn't you tell me that thing chased you in Noa's world?!" he exclaimed.

"I didn't want to worry you," Serenity gasped back. "Duke and Tristan were both very brave protecting me. I was fine."

"Oh man, and it'll probably still be around when we come back the other way!" Tristan moaned.

"Let's hope not," Yugi said. "They usually have short attention spans, so by then it will have probably found something else to chase."

"Can you guarantee that, Yug?" Joey frowned, closing one eye as he looked to his friend.

". . . No," Yugi admitted.

At that moment the door flew open and Dartz's daughter Chris stood there, looking at them in surprise and concern. "Are you guys alright?!" she exclaimed. "I was upstairs and I saw that monster chasing you!"

"Yeah, we're okay," Joey said, taking a deep breath as he got out of the car. "Uh . . . how's your dad doing?"

"He's okay," Chris said slowly. "Is something wrong? You don't normally come up here. . . ."

"Well . . ." Yugi got out of the car. "I'm afraid something is wrong. Can we speak with him?"

"Sure," Chris said. "Come on in." She held the door open and waited for everyone to come in before shutting the door after them.

Dartz was wandering into the living room as they came in. "Well, hello," he greeted. "I was rather expecting to see you, Yugi, after Duel Monsters entered our dimension again."

"We know you didn't do it, Dartz," Yugi said, "but we're worried that someone may try to involve you."

"And why is that?" Dartz grunted, definitely not looking pleased.

"It's a long and freaky story," Joey said.

"We'll try to explain," Atem said.

And explain they did, while Dartz, Chris, and the rest of the family listened in increasing alarm. Chris petted her wolf, Skye, her eyes wide.

"This certainly is a fine mess," Dartz frowned.

"I wonder if I picked up one of those pieces at an auction I attended last week," Iona said. "Do you have the one Mr. Kaiba . . . stole?"

"The other group has it," Yugi sheepishly admitted. "There was another businessman in town we wanted to warn too, so they took the piece in case he was already being controlled and had a piece and the one they have could sense it. But . . ." He held out the heavy book. "It would be a piece of this statue."

Iona studied it. "I'm sure there was something that could be one of those pieces in an old trunk I bought! I'll go get it." She got up and hurried out of the room.

"Mom likes antiquing," Chris explained to the group. "It makes her feel kind of nostalgic, even though of course she never finds any pieces from Atlantis."

"I see," Atem said.

"Coming to think of it, I wonder how Croquet is doing with Pegasus," Yugi exclaimed. "He's never checked back in."

"Maybe Pegasus found him and drained his life force?" Joey gulped.

"Maybe," Yugi said slowly. "But maybe the reason he fired Croquet was because he was afraid he might hurt him and he didn't want that to happen."

"It's nice to think that, at least," Tristan said.

"The Bakuras were going to find Croquet in case he needed back-up, and they haven't checked in either," Mai frowned.

"I'm going to text Bakura," Yugi decided, and quickly started tapping out a message.

Iona returned while he was typing. "Here it is," she said. "Does this look like it could be part of what you're looking for?"

Atem took it and turned it around in his hands. "Yes, it does," he frowned. "It looks like it could be part of the statue's back."

"Well, please take it," Iona said. "If that force has any inkling that we have it, it might try to control Dartz to get it. Of course, I'm sure he could resist it now," she added, "but I don't want him to have to suffer."

Dartz nodded. "Take it, with our blessing. I'll start doing some research and see if I can learn whether any of the other pieces have turned up."

"That would be a big help," Yugi said, looking up from his phone. "Thanks."

They soon departed and climbed back into Mai's car.

"So, how are we going to know if this is another piece?" Serenity wondered.

"When we meet up with Kaiba's group again, we can see if the pieces react to each other," Yugi said. "And I'm not getting a reply from Bakura. Oh no, what could be going on there?!"

Tristan sighed. "With our luck, almost anything."

xxxx

Yami Bakura was deep in thought as he drove to the hotel where Pegasus was registered. Bakura shifted uneasily in the passenger seat.

"Maybe I shouldn't have pointed out about someone checking on Croquet," he worried. "I don't like to think of trying to confront Pegasus all by ourselves in his state. What if his artifact can overpower the Ring and you end up hurt?"

Yami Bakura grunted. "I had better not."

He pulled up at the hotel and they got out.

"I'm glad we went back home for the van and left Oreo there," Bakura said nervously. "I hate to think what Pegasus might do to her."

Yami Bakura reached into his pocket for his deck. That was something he most certainly didn't want to be without to confront a madman. Now that he knew the Infinity Ring would allow him to render the cards' powers real, that was another weapon he could use against their enemies.

They stepped into the hotel lobby. Croquet was nowhere to be seen, but the desk clerk looked up boredly at them. "May I help you?" he asked, almost in a monotone.

"We want Maximillion Pegasus," Yami Bakura said.

Bakura cringed at the lack of manners.

The desk clerk looked like he couldn't care less. "Room 402. He's popular tonight."

"Someone else came to see him?" Bakura exclaimed. "How long ago?"

"Oh . . . thirty minutes or so," the desk clerk said. "Go right on up."

"Thank you very much!" Bakura said. "Let's go, Yami."

Yami Bakura grunted and headed for the elevator. Bakura hurried after him.

"So, Croquet has been here for thirty minutes?" Yami Bakura growled once they had the privacy of the elevator. "The way Pegasus is right now, I highly doubt that's good news."

Bakura swallowed hard. "You think we'll go and find him on the floor, like Bandit Keith was?"

"It would be foolish to discount the possibility," Yami Bakura said. "And Pegasus might not even be here. He could have escaped out a back way, not wanting his departure to be publicly known for whatever reason. He might be going to look for the other pieces of the statue."

"Oh dear," Bakura worried.

The elevator stopped and they got out. Yami Bakura walked ahead, determined not to allow this madness to hurt Bakura if there was any way to prevent it.

The door was standing ajar when they arrived. Swearing under his breath, Yami Bakura ran over to see what had happened. Fearing the worst, Bakura followed.

Croquet was leaning heavily against the wall, breathing heavily. Pegasus was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?!" Yami Bakura demanded.

"I . . . I don't know," Croquet gasped. "We talked . . . argued. . . . But I must have broke through to Master Pegasus somewhat; he tried to drain my energy and suddenly stopped in horror. Then he ran out while I was still weak."

"You'd best come and sit down," Bakura said in concern. He reached to take Croquet's arm.

"How long ago did he leave?" Yami Bakura growled.

"Maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago," Croquet said.

"Then he must have drained a good deal of your energy before he stopped," Yami Bakura said.

"He did," Croquet admitted. "But he did stop. Maybe if we can find him again, he'll have completely broke free, like Mr. Kaiba."

"Oh, that would be wonderful," Bakura exclaimed. He guided Croquet to the couch and eased him down.

"I wouldn't count on it," Yami Bakura grunted. "Did he give any indication of where any of the other statue pieces are?"

"Yes," Croquet said. "He said there were several in the immediate area and the others were farther away. He said something about contacting Siegfried von Schroeder."

"Then at least one of them must be in Germany!" Bakura cried. "And maybe this force will try to control Siegfried to take it!"

Yami Bakura growled. "You'd better text the others."

Bakura nodded and took out his phone.

xxxx

Mokuba, meanwhile, had finally received an answering text from Leonhard just as his group was returning to Gansley's house. "Oh no!" he exclaimed.

Everyone jerked to attention. "What is it?!" Seto asked.

"Leon says Siegfried's been acting weird and he just brought home some weird gold thing!" Mokuba moaned.

"Oh joy." Marik laid a hand on Mokuba's shoulder.

". . . So that means somebody's going to Germany?" Crump cringed.

"Probably." Seto held a hand to his forehead. Seeing Siegfried was one of the last things he wanted to do. On the other hand, he wanted to see this force succeed even less.

"Leon also says that some weird German art collector guy might have another piece," Mokuba continued. "A . . . Francis von . . . Tassle?"

Duke and David both paled. "No, that's impossible!" Duke cried. "He's dead!"

Seto quirked an eyebrow. "You know him?"

"Let's just say we had some unpleasant and unforgettable encounters with him," David said. "I'm sure you'll read all about it in Snakes' book."

". . . Oh." Seto made a face. From the way David said it, he could tell that magic was involved.

"We should probably stay here, shouldn't we?" Crump said, looking to the rest of the Big Five. "With your family and all, Gansley. . . ."

"Actually, it might be better for us to all get away," Gansley pointed out. "The Rare Hunters now know that Peter Bracken is my son."

"But there's no point in us bringing him in when Master Keith is lying at death's door and may never wake up."

Everyone jumped a mile. Lumis and Umbra were stepping out of the shadows, Gansley's chauffeur being prodded along with them.

"Thank you for warning me about this," Gansley said dryly to his employee.

The chauffeur flamed red. "I'm sorry, sir. They caught me watching them in the hospital waiting room. I guess I'm not cut out for the spy business."

Lector looked at the Rare Hunter team warily. "What are you two proposing?"

"A truce," Umbra said. "We want to find out what happened to our master. This man said you know." He shoved the chauffeur forward at Gansley.

Gansley reached to steady him as he stumbled. "We have an idea," he said. "Which is very likely the truth."

"We're 99.9% sure it is," Crump said.

"But what makes you think we'd ever trust you to team up with us?" Seto frowned. "You've given us no reason to trust you."

Lector nodded. "Once the problem is solved, you'll likely try again to take Gansley's son."

"I'm afraid I don't trust either of you," Gansley said. "I most certainly don't want you in close proximity to my grandchildren."

"If you come, you'll probably be coming as our prisoners," Seto said. "Not to mention, you'd be jumping bail, and that would get all of us into trouble for helping you."

Umbra cringed, and he and Lumis exchanged a look. "Alright, nevermind," he said. "But we want to know what you find out!"

"If we solve the problem, your boss should wake up," Seto pointed out.

"True," Lumis agreed. "Very well. Goodnight!" They disappeared back into the shadows.

". . . That was weird," David said.

"And I'm sure they're not going to take No for an answer," Duke said. "I'm betting that when we leave, they'll follow us."

No one disagreed.