Chapter Ten

The next hours were a whirlwind of confusion. Everyone had to pack as quickly as possible while Seto arranged for one of his private jets to be ready to take the group to Germany. And even as all this was going on, some weren't sure it was the best course of action.

"We really shouldn't all go," Yugi said to Atem. "What if there's still more pieces in town and Pegasus finds them?" He absently reached and took a shirt that Kuriboh was holding out for him.

"That's a good point, Yugi," Atem frowned. "Although Kaiba has his security guards looking for Pegasus, and Croquet and Dartz and the bikers and even your grandfather have promised to stay alert." He watched as Kuriboh floated over to him now with a belt.

"Yeah. . . . But maybe someone with magic needs to stay behind to help too," Yugi said slowly.

"Well, the Big Five want to all stay together and go, and Mokuba wants to go for Leon's sake, so Kaiba is going," Atem said, taking the belt. "That would leave either me or Yami Bakura."

Yugi nodded. "I'd like for us to stay together too, and I felt like I needed to go," he said, "but I wonder if we should stay. . . ."

"Or I could stay and you could go, Yugi," Atem said. "I know you would do fine."

"We have no particular interest in going to Germany, Pharaoh," Yami Bakura said suddenly from the bedroom doorway. "Bakura and I will stay."

They both jumped.

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked.

"Yes," Bakura nodded. "Yami had the same idea, that a magic user should stay here to watch over the city when Pegasus is still at large."

"How did you get in?" Atem frowned.

"Through the door," Yami Bakura said with a cheeky smirk. "We talked it over and decided, and felt we should come tell you before you made other arrangements."

"Well, thanks, you two," Yugi said.

"Everything will be just fine," Solomon said, coming up behind the Bakuras. "I've also reached Alexander Brisbane and he's flying right out."

"Oh good," Yugi smiled. "Does he know anything about the statue?"

"Not really, but he thought he should be on hand to see what develops," Solomon said.

"Um . . ." Yugi shifted, hesitating. "Are we sure Alexander the Great's bad side was destroyed? We sure don't want him coming over. . . ."

Yami Bakura snorted. "You can't destroy someone's bad side. Look at that demon; he still exists. Rest assured, that part of Alexander the Great's spirit is out there somewhere."

"You're not instilling us with confidence," Atem frowned.

"It's something you need to know, isn't it?" Yami Bakura retorted, folding his arms.

"It sure is," Yugi sighed. "I just hope he hasn't been living dormant in Dr. Brisbane's body. . . ."

"I'm sure he hasn't," Solomon said. "But we'll be here to deal with it if he is." He glanced at the clock. "Now, you two had better run along. You know how Kaiba hates to be kept waiting."

"Okay." Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Grampa." He picked up his suitcase and hurried to the door. "You guys be careful!"

"We will," Bakura assured him, stepping aside to let Atem pass. "All of you be careful as well!"

Atem nodded. "Thank you. We will certainly try."

Kuriboh chirped and waved to the Bakuras as he bounced past.

Yami Bakura grunted. "I wonder why that hairball doesn't hate me."

"I guess he's had more time to get used to the idea of you being good," Bakura said.

"Heh. I suppose," Yami Bakura said.

xxxx

It wasn't until everyone who was going got on the plane that there was really any chance to relax, and even then, some of them still couldn't.

"I don't like this," Duke said to David and Serenity. "We're going to have to meet Francis von Tassle again. I thought he was done for when the tomb collapsed in Egypt!"

"I guess he's more slippery than a cobra," David frowned. "But we could have stayed back with the Bakuras. I don't like the thought of you meeting him again either, Duke."

Duke sighed. "Unfortunately, since we're the only ones here who have met him, we figured we needed to come along to help the others. It sounds like he's gone right back to his old tricks of collecting dangerous magical artifacts."

"It's going to be fine, guys," Serenity insisted. "We beat him before. And this time we've got so many of the gang by our side!"

"While he's got a magic item that can do who knows what," Duke said through clenched teeth. "All of the pieces can steal energy, but maybe they all have their own unique powers too."

Yugi looked up with a start. "That's a really good point, Duke. I didn't even think about that!"

"Maybe we should start writing down all the freaky powers that Reshef had in the Capsule Monsters game, Yug," Joey said. "Then we might have some idea what we're up against!"

"It's also possible it had other powers we didn't see," Yugi worried.

"What I remember is that laser arsenal," Tristan spoke up. "That wasn't something you see on a Duel Monster every day."

"There was also that horrible power of sacrificing the other players' monsters to give himself even more power," Téa said.

"And of course, sacrificing the other players' energy as well," Atem said darkly. "I had hoped we would never have to encounter that being again."

"Kuri," Kuriboh commiserated.

"Did he have to come along too?" Gansley grunted.

Kuriboh glared at him. "Kuri."

"He's really latched on to us while he's here," Yugi said. "He didn't want to stay behind."

"It's too bad we didn't pick up any of our Duel Monsters," Crump said. "I wonder if any of them came over."

"If they did, I'm sure you'll find them eventually," Seto retorted.

Mokuba looked down. He had told Leonhard that they were coming and asked him to try to keep Siegfried there if he could; they didn't need him collecting any other pieces. Leonhard had said he would try, but he doubted his brother would listen. Mokuba had told him to be careful.

Was Leonhard really in danger? It was hard to say how far the force would go in attacking anyone in its way. He wanted to believe that Siegfried was strong enough to get on top of it if it wanted to harm Leonhard, but could they really afford to believe it?

"Man, it'll take hours to get there," Tristan said. He unwittingly voiced Mokuba's fears when he added, "Can Leon really hold that guy at bay for so long?"

"We'll have to hope so," Seto said harshly. "Meanwhile, since there's nothing we can do until we arrive, I suggest all of us try to get some sleep."

That sounded like a good idea, so many of them leaned back in their seats to do exactly that.

"You should try to sleep too, Seto," Mokuba said.

"I will," Seto promised. He'd try, that is. He wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't work.

"Hey, I didn't think about it before, but did you guys ever meet Siegfried?" Joey asked the Big Five.

"Occasionally, at social functions," Lector said. "Mostly we met his father."

"So we are definitely familiar with the family," Gansley said. "After all, they were KaibaCorp's biggest rivals in both weapon construction and gaming."

"What was the guy like?" Joey wondered.

"Can anyone really know what somebody is like if they only encounter them at social functions?" Lector said. "Naturally they will try to put their best foot forward."

"Well . . ." Joey shrugged. "You must have some idea."

"What he really means is, was the dad as big of a jerk as Siegfried himself," Tristan said.

"I had the impression that he was a very hard man," Lector said. "But I also felt he truly cared about his son. However, I am not the best judge of character regarding fathers, am I?"

Crump sighed sadly. Lector was of course still hurting about his own father's betrayal. And, perhaps, also thinking on how Gozaburo had turned out to be so much different, negatively speaking, than Lector had believed.

Gansley silently laid a hand on Lector's shoulder.

xxxx

The flight was long and mostly dull. Most of the group managed to sleep, even just for a short while, and Gansley ended up reading more books to his grandchildren. But by the time the plane finally landed at Siegfried's private landing strip, everyone was more than ready to get off.

"I hope Leon will have a welcoming committee!" Joey exclaimed. He jumped down from the stairs onto the concrete and discovered Brunhilde looking at him from her horse. He yelped in horror and fell back.

"Oh great," Seto scowled as he came to the doorway. "So at least some of Siegfried's precious Valkyries are here."

Brunhilde, at least, didn't seem about to attack any of them. Instead she turned and started off towards the castle.

"Maybe we're supposed to follow her," Mokuba said. "If she knows something's wrong with Siegfried, maybe she's glad to see us and wants us to help him."

"I can think of a lot better ways to show you're glad to see someone!" Joey sputtered.

"Guys!" Now Leonhard was running out of the castle and over to the air strip. "I'm really glad to see all of you!"

"Now that's a good way," Joey said. He waved. "Hey, Leon!"

Mokuba hurried past Joey. "Leon! What's going on now?"

"I wasn't able to stop Siegfried from going out to get a second artifact," Leonhard said regretfully.

"Wait, so he has von Tassle's piece now?!" Duke exclaimed. He quickly got out of the plane and went over, followed by the rest of the large group.

"Well, he went to try to get it," Leonhard said. "I'm afraid he'll either get hurt or else he'll hurt von Tassle and get arrested! It's not like the police would believe he's possessed by some weird force!"

"Alright. Then we have to go there right now," Yugi said. "How long ago did he leave?"

"Just five minutes ago," Leonhard said. "I held him off for as long as I could, and the Valkyries tried to help too, but finally he just ran out! We might be able to catch up to him if we go right now."

"There's no time to waste," Atem said. "Let's take some of the limousines and go."

"Too bad Kaiba's Blue Eyes isn't here," Joey said. "It wouldn't move as fast as the plane, but it's probably faster than the cars. Or at least, it'd cover a bigger range faster in the city. . . ."

"She'll be along when she can," Seto said, "but we can't wait for her to catch up."

Leonhard nodded. "There should be enough limousines for everyone, and the Valkyries will probably follow us in the sky. Come on!" He ran around the side of the castle. Everyone else chased after him.

"The three of you should stay here, at the castle," Gansley said to Peter and the children. "This could be dangerous."

"Aww! But we wanna help!" Charlie protested.

"Now, your grandfather is making a good point," Peter said. "The last thing we need is even more trouble." He stared at the castle. "But is it really alright for us to just hole up in there?!"

"Sure!" Leonhard called over his shoulder. "Mokuba told me about you guys. Just go in and talk to the servants. They already know too!"

"And I guess if we can't help Sieggy break free, we all go to a hotel instead?" Joey said.

"Let's figure that out if or when it happens," Seto grunted.

They reached the limousines and started to pile into them. Gansley was just climbing into one with the others when Amber hurried over and hugged him around the waist. "Be careful, Grandpa," she said plaintively.

Surprised and touched, Gansley returned the gesture. "I'll be as careful as I can be," he promised.

Amber pouted. "That'd better mean a lot."

"We'll see that it does," Nesbitt interjected.

That brought a smile. "Okay!" Amber stepped back, watching them get into the car.

As all the vehicles drove off, Peter sighed to himself and laid his hands on his children's shoulders. Hopefully they would all be safe.

xxxx

No one knew what to expect as they followed Duke's directions to Francis von Tassle's home. When they arrived and found Siegfried and von Tassle in a duel in the yard, each brandishing his piece of the statue, they stared in horror.

"Oh my gosh!" Téa exclaimed. "What do we do?!"

As they landed, Siegfried's Valkyries seemed confused as well. They wanted to help and protect their master, yet they didn't want to help the force controlling him get more statue pieces.

Atem leaped out of the car, soon followed by the others. "Von Schroeder! Von Tassle! You're playing with forces you don't understand!"

Siegfried turned to look at him, his eyes cold and yet filled with a madness. "And who asked you?" He sneered. "I understand it very well, as a matter of fact."

"And so do I," said von Tassle. "Although unlike Herr von Schroeder, I am actually in my right mind."

"Elder brother!" Leonhard ran out of the limousine and over to Siegfried. "Come on, please! You don't want to do this!"

"Oh? You are such an expert on what I do and do not want to do?" Siegfried mocked.

Leonhard flinched, but quickly replied, "Yes, when it comes to something like this! You don't have any interest in putting together some old statue and reviving an ancient dark being! You want to make video games!"

Siegfried brushed his hair over his shoulder. "Then I would say my ambitions have greatly risen, because right now I do want to put together this old statue and revive the ancient dark being!" He held up his artifact, which was blinking off and on as it reacted to von Tassle's and Téa's artifacts.

Seto growled. "As much as I never thought I'd say this, von Schroeder, you're not yourself. You're being controlled by some unknown force. I know because it's been trying to control me as well. In fact . . ." He clenched his teeth and brought a hand to his head. "It's probably been dormant while we've been traveling, but now that there are even more pieces of that thing, it's trying to take control again!"

"Seto, no!" Mokuba wailed. "You've gotta fight it!"

Seto stumbled back. "I'd better stay in the car. I'll only be a hindrance."

"I know you can fight this, Kaiba!" Téa cried.

"Maybe so, but it only makes sense for me to . . . stay away from all these statue pieces," Seto growled. He dove into the limousine and hunched forward, gripping at his head with both hands.

Mokuba watched helplessly. "Seto . . ."

"Aren't we forgetting the main event here?" von Tassle interjected. "We're in a battle for these statue pieces. And once I've won Herr von Schroeder's, I will be coming after the rest of you, if you have any. I'm guessing you do, or you wouldn't have any idea what's going on here, and you clearly do."

"Not gonna happen, von Tassle." Duke stepped forward, eyes narrowed.

"You again?" von Tassle scowled. "And I see your little girlfriend and your store manager are still with you. Such a pity about that friend of yours my men shot down in the temple."

Everyone other than David and Serenity started and looked to Duke in shock, who just glared back at von Tassle. "Actually, he's alive," he shot back. "I was talking to Snakes just recently." He smirked. "He's not so easy to kill."

Von Tassle's scowl deepened. "Well, nevermind. That's not important anyway." He turned and blasted at Siegfried. "This, on the other hand, is!"

Siegfried snarled and countered with a blast of his own. The magic collided in mid-air. "You will not stop me," he vowed. "I will drain your life energy and take your piece of the statue!"

"You must both stop this now!" Atem ordered. He ran in between them. "Von Schroeder, I know we haven't ever seen eye to eye, but you wanted to repent of your wrongdoings! You begged your brother's forgiveness! I know that deep down, the real you doesn't want to do this!"

"You are such a fool, Pharaoh." Siegfried aimed the next blast at him.

Atem put up his shield courtesy of the Infinity Puzzle. "That's another thing," he said. "You never knew about me! It's obvious that this is the force talking through you!"

Von Tassle watched boredly. As Atem's shield came down, he decided to try a new tactic. He blasted at Atem himself.

"Atem!" Yugi cried. He leaped up, grabbing von Tassle's arm and knocking the beam off-balance.

Von Tassle's eyes flamed. "You little runt!" He shook his arm, desperate to dislodge Yugi. Instead, several others ran over to help restrain him.

"You are not getting away with this," Duke said.

Atem spun around, staring at the scene. "Yugi!" He took a step forward.

"Auf Wiedersehen, Pharaoh," Siegfried mockingly said. He moved to blast again.

"Kuri!" Kuriboh shrieked. He was suddenly in Siegfried's face.

"You irritating fuzzball!" Siegfried yelled, batting him away.

Finally von Tassle managed to throw Yugi off. The boy cried out as he crashed to the grass.

Atem's eyes flamed. "You will regret that!"

With von Tassle distracted, David reached and pulled the statue piece out of his hand. "You won't need this where you're going," he smiled.

Von Tassle swore at him.

It was then that a flash of light erupted from the middle of the yard. As everyone stared in shock, the light faded to reveal a very angry Magician of Black Chaos.

"Hey, is that yours, Atem?" Joey asked.

The Magician responded by sending out a shockwave blast that knocked the entire group off their feet.

"I think it's safe to say it's not!" Atem cried. He got up, his Infinity Puzzle glowing insistently.

"So why's he so ticked off?!" Joey yelped.

"Maybe we disturbed his nap?" Crump suggested.

"He's going to blast us again!" Téa cried. "We're going to have to all work together to beat him! That means you guys too!" She looked to Siegfried and von Tassle, neither of whom were impressed.

"Why should we do that?" Siegfried sneered. "While all of you deal with him, we will continue our battle for the statue pieces."

"That's foolish!" Atem exclaimed. "You could use the magic of those pieces to fight him!"

The Magician of Black Chaos pointed his staff and blasted a gaping hole in the ground right in front of him.

"Hey, you big creep! Atem's not the bad guy here!" Joey snapped, shaking a fist.

"I have to admit, I always wondered how a Duel Monster called the Magician of Black Chaos could be a good guy," Tristan said.

"No kidding," Crump said. "I mean, what's good about black chaos?!"

"It looks like we'll have to try to help fighting it off with our rings," Gansley said.

"And what if they don't activate?!" Nesbitt countered.

"If they activate when there are dangers threatening the entire world, you would think this qualifies," Gansley countered.

Lector held up his ring and it glowed a deep purple. "You're right."

Gansley nodded in approval. "Then let's do this."

"We're probably gonna need Kaiba's help too," Crump worried. "And maybe we'll regret not having Yami Bakura come with us. . . ."

"I'm sure there are magical disasters happening back in Domino City as well," Gansley said. "Someone needed to stay back to monitor them."

The limousine door opened and Seto stepped out. "I'll help you with this," he said. He still looked worried, fearing that the force would take control of him with other statue pieces in the vicinity, but he steeled himself and held out his Light ring.

Atem nodded in approval. "Then let's go."

Everyone else backed away to allow the magic users to deal with the new threat. But to everyone's frustration, they seemed to be evenly matched. Every blast they tried collided and canceled in mid-air. The Valkyries' combined power couldn't damage the Magician either.

"Alright," Seto growled. "There's only one thing left to do. We have to summon our signature monsters."

"And hope that they're available," Johnson said in concern. "They might not even still be in their dimension to come through the portal."

They quickly brought their rings together. A bright glow enveloped the sky and Blue Eyes White Dragon and Five-Headed Dragon soared out, roaring at the Magician of Black Chaos. He backed up, not having expected that.

Seto sneered. "Both of these monsters have higher attack power than he does. He knows he's finished."

The Magician wasn't willing to concede, however. He sent out one final blast, which was quickly overtaken by the dragons' attacks. The explosion of power once again knocked everyone back, including Siegfried and von Tassle.

Siegfried immediately jumped up again. "Alright, that is it!" His eyes filled with rage, he blasted at the Big Five, Seto, and anyone else in range.

Leonhard stood and watched the chaos, the helplessness standing in his eyes. "Siegfried . . ." He looked to his brother, who was continuing to blast at anything that moved. The force controlling him was no doubt growing more unhinged and more desperate to gather the pieces as it looked more and more unlikely that he would be able to. Finally Leonhard made a decision. "Siegfried, no!" He deliberately ran out into the path of the next blast.

Siegfried wavered, his eyes flickering back to their normal green. "Leonhard . . . ?!" He fell back in horror. There was nothing he could do to stop the blast.

Atem grabbed Leonhard at the last second, dragging him to the grass. But that left him exposed to the force of the blast.

Only it never hit him.

Atem looked up in shock at the sound of a pained grunt. A heavy body fell into the grass beside him and lay still. "Gansley?!"

Siegfried had fallen into the grass as well, looking oddly dazed. He groaned, the statue piece falling from his hand.

Leonhard immediately scrambled up and ran over to him. "Siegfried?! Are you alright?!"

Siegfried squinted, looking up at him. "I believe so. . . . But I almost hurt you. . . ."

"I'm fine." Leonhard looked over in horror. "But someone else isn't!"

Siegfried stared. He hadn't even noticed that Gansley had fallen until now. "I did that?!" he gasped.

"Something controlling you did," Leonhard cried. "Is he okay?!" he asked Atem.

Atem pushed Gansley onto his back. "I don't know. . . ."

Now everyone else was starting to realize what had happened. "Gansley!" Crump screamed.

Gansley slowly opened his eyes as the Big Four and Yugi and the rest of the group ran over. He wasn't even fully sure he remembered what had happened. Something about protecting the Pharaoh and his Earth ring activating, and being hit by the blast from Siegfried at the same moment Siegfried was struck by his attack.

"Kuri?!" Kuriboh exclaimed, floating above him.

"What happened?!" Johnson cried.

"Gansley saved me from Siegfried's blast," Atem said, his heart heavy. "I don't know what kind of damage it did to him."

Nesbitt reached Gansley first and crashed to his knees next to him. "You are not dying again!" he said fiercely. "We won't let you!"

"I won't die," Gansley promised. "Although I'll admit at the moment I'm not sure how I'm going to live. . . ." He grimaced.

"We'll take care of that," Crump said, but inwardly he was panicking. Gansley had been hit by dark magic. How could they fix that?! Apparently everyone else who had been victims of the statue's power was still in very bad shape.

Atem laid a hand on Gansley's shoulder. "You fought valiantly and you saved my life. Thank you, my friend." His voice was taut.

Lector grabbed Gansley's hand, checking for a pulse. It was slowing down, but steady.

"Kuri?" Kuriboh was hovering closer to Gansley now, his eyes actually sad.

That was something Gansley had never thought he would see. Of course, he had also never thought he would do this. "Heh. . . ." He reached up with his free hand, laying it gently on top of Kuriboh. When his eyes closed and he fell limp, the hand started to slip back down.

"Kuri . . ." Kuriboh took it between his front claws and cried.

"Oh Gansley. . . ." Atem bowed his head, praying they could keep him alive.