Author's note: Behold, it lives! And after realizing that my muse has been dodging Yu-Gi-Oh in favor of Hogan's Heroes, I have decided that this will be a duology instead of the originally intended trilogy. I have every intention of finishing it, and goodness knows I will.
Téa was still lost in thought during the limo ride to KaibaCorp.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to say," she said, as she got out of the limo as they arrived. "He's not exactly the easiest person to talk to…"
"Just say what you believe," Mokuba said. "I know it seems weird, but Seto really does listen to you more than you think."
"Somehow, I never quite got that vibe from him," she replied, somewhat dryly, as they headed up the elevator.
Even as they exited the elevator, they could hear the young CEO's angry ranting from the outer office as he talked to someone over the phone. The secretary gave Mokuba a helpless shrug.
"Oh, boy…" he murmured. "Who's he talking to?"
"That CEO of NightWing Enterprises," the secretary replied. "He's been at it for a while now, demanding to know what the idea was behind last night's stunt and asking what he knows about Mr. Roland's disappearance. Shall I tell him you're here?"
"Better not," Mokuba said, leading Téa to the inner office. "Hey, Seto…"
The CEO looked up briefly before turning his attention back to the phone. He then performed the slightest double-take as he realized that Téa was there, as well, but went back to his phone call, keeping an eye on the streaming news on his laptop.
Von Krolock was taking the accusations very calmly, assuring that he had no information to give to Seto, but offering whatever help he could.
"Then I take it that you'll accept a face-to-face meeting?" Seto inquired.
"Of course," von Krolock replied. "When do you wish to meet? I can arrive at anytime."
"Is there any particular reason why I can't arrive at your headquarters?" Seto asked, suspicious. He was hiding something, surely.
"Because I do not have one just yet," von Krolock said. "I have only just arrived in Domino; I am staying at the Hotel Silver along Domino Pier. If you wish to meet me there, we can discuss whatever you wish in the conference room."
Téa's eyes widened slightly. Discreetly, she texted this information to Mai; perhaps this would help their investigation of von Krolock—not that Téa believed that he was a vampire, of course, but it certainly was strange that the odd events in Domino had skyrocketed in number ever since his arrival.
"Fine, the hotel conference room," said Seto. "I'll meet you there tonight—8:00." He had no intentions of having dinner with the man.
Mokuba caught Téa's eye; he, clearly, disapproved of the idea. She shrugged, helplessly, as Seto said his goodbyes and hung up.
"Seto, do you think it's a good idea to meet him that late?" the boy asked.
"It's an upscale, crowded hotel, Mokuba," Seto replied. "He'd be an idiot to try anything there." He frowned. After last night, he wasn't convinced that von Krolock wasn't partly crazy anyway. Shaking his head, he turned to Téa. "And what are you doing here?"
"Uh… Oh, yeah, that's right," she said. "I just… wanted to thank you for taking me to the dinner party and for the ride…" She trailed off as Mokuba cleared his throat. "And to see how you are after… after…" Get ahold of yourself! "Kaiba, are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Seto answered.
"Because of this, for starters," Téa said, grabbing the Anubis medallion from the desk before Seto could hide it from sight. She was careful to hold it by its cord rather than by the disc itself. "Kaiba, we just had a conversation with Marik; he thinks that all of these disappearances are the work of the Rare Hunters; they're going to sacrifice the souls of fifty people to bring back Anput, the wife of Anubis. That will let them bring back Anubis, too. Marik… well, all of us, really, think that Anubis is controlling you with this medallion in order to help the Rare Hunter's plan. Roland is going to be one of the fifty souls."
Seto glared at her for a moment.
"Impossible," he said, unable to fully hide the unease in his eyes.
"Seto!" Mokuba protested. "Seto, there's something up with that medallion! And… you could be next—once the Rare Hunters and Anubis think they've used you as much as they can, you'll be vanishing next!"
"I won't deny that the Rare Hunters may have something to do with this—not to mention that Vulsor woman, as well," Seto responded. "But there is no way that they can lay a hand on me—and certainly no ancient spirit. They're trying to make me believe that I'm going crazy—that I did something to Roland. That isn't possible."
"Kaiba, why do you always insist on acting like this?" Téa asked, clenching her fists in frustration. "You don't have to always be in such denial." Her expression softened. "I know that deep down, you are worried about Roland—and worried that you did do something to him. But Marik believes that until all fifty people are captured, they'll be fine; you can help get him back. You don't have to be afraid—"
"I am not afraid!" Seto spat, his eyes blazing as he looked up. "I fear nothing."
"Nothing except being afraid," Téa said, softly, undaunted. "Kaiba, there is no shame in asking for help when you don't know what to do."
"Gardner, I know what to do," he said, through gritted teeth. "I'm going to have a long talk with that von Krolock and get some answers. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is involved with the Rare Hunters. He probably had someone follow me last night—and did something to Roland while I was…" He trailed off.
"Sleepwalking," Mokuba finished. "Seto, you have never sleepwalked in your entire life until this whole mess started happening. How do you explain that?"
"Kaiba, we think you may have been drugged at the party last night," Téa said. "It must have happened when you were knocked out; none of us who ate the food sleepwalked. If Vulsor was the one who knocked you out, she probably slipped the drug to you; Mai heard from Valon that there was a bottle of odd serum that made him act abnormally because he had a cut that was exposed to it. She's probably slipping you the serum somehow."
"Yeah, but how did she do it the first time?" Mokuba asked. "Seto was at home all day."
"That's the mystery we need to figure out," Téa agreed. "Kaiba, please… let us help you. Accepting help won't make you any less of a man."
"I don't need help, Gardner," he retorted.
The dancer placed a hand on his wrist.
"But let me help, anyway," she said, softly. "I'm in your debt for when you saved me from the Rare Hunters over the summer. Please… let me help."
Seto looked up again to glare at her. Two sets of blue eyes locked. Two wills—one of fire and one of ice—began to battle.
Mokuba blinked, attempting to make a casual retreat to let things work out for themselves, but was stopped by the news anchor on Seto's laptop began to speak of the case in question.
"We have a breaking update concerning the mysterious worldwide disappearances. We have just received confirmation of the disappearance of two men within the last seven hours; early this morning, a Kaiba Corporation executive vanished from the business district of Domino City, while no less than two hours ago, a retired pilot of the Royal Air Force vanished in the Stepney neighborhood of London. The victims' names are being withheld for the present."
"Number thirty-three," Mokuba whispered.
"We're running out of time," Téa realized, a shiver going down her spine.
"As with the previous cases," the report continued. "The victims appeared to have been chosen at random. However, unlike previous cases, where there were no traces left behind, personal items of the victims were found at both scenes: the cell phone of the Domino City victim, and a throwing knife belonging to the London victim, perhaps used in an attempt to defend himself from his kidnapper. In addition, both victims appeared to have been on the phone at the time of their disappearances; those on the other line reported hearing sounds of struggle before silence. Authorities are looking into the disappearances, but have not found any clues in either case."
"You didn't tell them about the medallion or von Krolock?" Téa asked Seto.
"I don't have the evidence to make an accusation against von Krolock, but I hope to change that tonight," the CEO replied. "And there is no way I would report an Egyptian medallion as a clue because of it allegedly containing a spirit. And if you're going to insist on helping, I thank you not to question my decisions."
"Oh, sorry; I was just…" She trailed off. "You mean…?"
"Don't think this is me 'opening up,' in any way," Seto retorted. "You're so keen on repaying this debt; who am I to stop you?"
The dancer smiled, as did Mokuba. This was a triumph for the both of them. Fire had won over the ice today.
Duke and Yugi heard the news report over the radio as they drove to the Dronyche Company headquarters.
"I don't believe this…!" Yugi said, disgusted. "They took Roland and an innocent, old man?"
"Interesting that they were both on the phone when they vanished," Duke murmured. "I wonder… Maybe these two disappearances—and Ishizu's—weren't as random as the report claimed. Think about it. Marik was researching about the legend, and what happens? Ishizu disappears. People on the phone are vanishing now, unlike the previous cases, when they were just taken from their beds. And they were struggling, too—that retired solider pulled a knife on them, didn't he? I think it's because they knew too much."
"Roland was following the sleepwalking Kaiba when he was talking to the secretary," Yugi agreed. "If it is the Rare Hunters, then they really want to make sure that there are no witnesses. Kaiba's secretary didn't get any information, though; Mokuba would've told us if there had been any leads. We need to find out if that Englishman managed to give a clue to the person he was talking to before he vanished."
"How can we?" Duke asked. "They're not releasing his name."
"I know…" sighed Yugi. "But someone with prestige could probably get the name—especially when his right-hand man was the other victim…"
"You mean get Kaiba to get the name of the other victim?" Duke replied. "Yugi, Kaiba would never bother with someone who wasn't connected to him in any way."
"It's worth a try," Yugi said. "Téa's there; she can probably convince him if we put the idea in Kaiba's head to start with."
"Can't hurt," Duke agreed. He sighed as he pulled into the parking garage next to the Dronyche Company building. "Actually, yes it can."
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.
"Think about it," Duke said. "If Roland and that other man vanished because they were getting too close for comfort, what's going to happen to us once we get ourselves deeper into this mystery? Getting captured by crooks is one thing. Even getting killed by them doesn't seem as bad as a half-human, half-jackal devouring your soul." He shuddered. "What happens to you after something like that? Does your soul just… get digested? You can't go to the afterlife because you don't exist anymore? Yugi, we're talking about a fate worse than death. And you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you? You and a bunch of the others somehow managed to survive it, when Dartz summoned that Leviathan. But from what I understand, you managed to defeat the thing before it could digest your souls. What would've happened if you had run out of time?"
Yugi blinked.
"Well…" he said. "My soul was spared before the Leviathan was actually summoned—Kaiba and Joey were, too. We just got sucked through its skin, which… wasn't much better, I suppose. On the other hand… I could feel it starting, since Atem was in control of my body at the time. It was a very chilling sensation. You start to feel less and less like yourself… as though you're being…" He trailed off.
"Assimilated?" Duke offered.
"Yeah," Yugi whispered, shuddering at the memory. "You start to forget things—little things at first, but I'm sure I would've forgotten more had we run out of time. I guess you become a part of it, without your consciousness. Yeah, that's it. I think it's your consciousness that is destroyed; I don't think your soul can ever truly be destroyed, but if your consciousness is, then… your soul doesn't need to be destroyed. In fact, it's the eternal energy of your soul that probably feeds the monster that devours it."
"That's still a fate worse than death," Duke declared, pulling into an empty parking space. "You can't remember anything about how your life was like; you go on for eternity, thinking that you've always been a part of that abomination."
"Until a dormant spark within you rekindles," Yugi said, as he and Duke got out of the car. "That's how we freed everyone—Atem got them to remember the important parts of their lives. His consciousness was always strong." He gave a wan smile. "If he were he, he'd know exactly how to stop those Rare Hunters."
"Maybe we should tell Bakura to ask that psychic for a séance," Duke said, dryly. "Well, here we go; into the lion's den."
"What's our cover?" Yugi asked.
"I guess I'm going to ask if there's any future for Dungeon Dice Monsters' technology to be improved by hers," he said. "Hopefully, I won't be talking to her directly; she knows I'm an acquaintance of yours. I'm going to keep them busy, which'll give you a chance to look around. If there's any trouble, send an S.O.S. text message—'Save Our Souls.' I'll do the same if I'm found out."
"And then we run?" Yugi asked. He swallowed hard. "Everyone for himself?"
"Afraid so; if they must gain more souls, it's better if it's just one more as opposed to two more," Duke agreed, somberly. He crossed to the trunk, pulling out a set of trenchcoats. "But first, we try to bluff the lobby."
"Right," said Yugi. This had to work. There was so much more at stake, as Duke's ponderings had revealed.
They couldn't let innocent people suffer such a fate.