Atakku

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Notes: Hoo boy. I wrote that last chapter in a big rush and it seems I've confused some people other than myself. Hopefully Téa and Odion's conversation will further explain things there.

And about Different Dimension Dragon: Seto Summoned it when he was possessed, but it used its special ability and slipped through space to wind up in Mokuba's bedroom. (The note Mokuba found was actually written by Seto.) When Mokuba picked up the card, it appeared to him, and has now brought him to some mystery universe- read on, but you won't find out where in this chapter!

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Chapter 10

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"Mokuba?" Ezra poked her head into his bedroom door, checking up on him as promised. Her eyes immediately focused on the golden glow hovering around his bed and she saw Mokuba just in time to watch him disappear. A dragon, hovering languidly in front of the bed, turned to face her. Her gaze locked with its piercing yellow eyes and she stumbled backwards. Her heart thudding, she screamed for the person whose room was closest. "YUGI!"

A thump, several heavy footsteps, and the sound of his door being shoved open reassured her that he was on the way. From the sounds coming down the hallway, it seemed like several other people were hurrying down as well. She gave the dragon a brief once-over, recognizing it. A summary of Different Dimension Dragon's abilities went trickling through her mind and she suddenly realized what must have happened to Mokuba.

Trusting that Yugi would figure out how to rescue them, Ezra took a deep breath. She had to make sure Mokuba was safe. With that thought in mind, she dove directly into the golden cloud still hovering by the window.

xXx

The door to Mokuba's bedroom was propped open slightly. Yugi reached it first, followed shortly by Serenity. He barreled into the room, skidding on the stone tiles and just managing not to slide into Different Dimension Dragon. The dragon, apparently, had gotten used to all the commotion and just yawned widely, giving Yugi an up-close and personal view of its teeth.

He summed up the situation in a quick glance, and knew what he had to do a few seconds later. "What happened?" Serenity asked worriedly, grabbing onto his hand.

"Tell everyone else where I am," Yugi responded, gently letting her go and striding forward, disappearing into the golden mist.

Serenity's mouth hung open as she watched him disappear. Her eyes slid over nervously to the giant dragon stretching out in the corner. She studied it carefully; she felt like she should know what it was. While living with Mai, the older girl had taught her a lot about Duel Monsters. Although she'd never been able to see the cards, she had a pretty good understanding of what each card did and a vague idea of what each one looked like.

Some sort of dragon, obviously; and apparently with a special ability. Was this the card that could transport itself to alternate universes? If so, it could apparently bring people with it. She swallowed. It made sense. It also made things ten times more dangerous.

"Whose room is this?" Malik demanded as he barged through. He fell silent, his jaw hanging open as soon as he caught sight of the dragon. It was still lazing in the corner.

"The brat's," Marik was quick to respond, before he too saw the Duel Monster. He reacted a bit more calmly. "Neat. Who did that? Did it eat anyone?"

"It hasn't eaten anyone," Serenity responded, distracted. "It took Yugi and Mokuba and Ezra to an alternate universe, that's all. I'm going to follow them and find out where they are. Will you tell Ishizu and Shadi? They might be able to help us out of there."

"Last I saw, Ishizu was coming out of Shadi's room, following us down the hall," Malik remarked.

"It's not as juicy as it sounds, either," Marik added, "because all they ever do it have solemn talks about the end of the world."

"In the old days, it'd be solemn talks about you," Malik cracked.

"So where'd you say you were going?" Marik called after Serenity, who was already making her way toward the gold mist. "To find…" his voice trailed off as she disappeared into the cloud.

Malik looked at his friend and shrugged. "Hey, it can't be any worse than living with Pegasus," he reasoned. Seeing Marik open his mouth, he quickly added, "I know you like him. But you're nuts, too, in case you forgot."

Marik grinned in response. Sticking his head out the still-open doorway, he shouted, "Ishizu and Shaaadi! Malik and the redhead and the porcupine and the girl with the dog and the brat and I are going on a vacation with Different Dimension Dragon! Don't wait up, but please rescue us if you can! Because I really don't think there's a way out!"

"What?" she shrieked, looking haggard, but he ducked back without responding.

"Quick! She's coming!" Marik shoved Malik through, although the other boy suddenly looked as though he was having second thoughts, then darted through the portal.

Ishizu and Shadi slammed into the room a few seconds too late and skidded to a halt, staring at Different Dimension Dragon. "Wonderful," Ishizu grumbled, not her usual collected self. "Something else we have to deal with."

"Tristan and Duke are on their way," Shadi commented, hearing footsteps. "And possibly Pegasus and the other servants."

Ishizu sighed, shoving strands of dark hair from her face. "Pegasus might be able to help, but I think only magic will be able to bring them back. And perhaps not even that. I haven't the slightest clue as to the magical properties of Different Dimension Dragon. We haven't studied Summoned Monsters as much as we should, or could, have."

They fell silent and stared at the portal, as if hoping it would solve their problems for them.

A second later, it did.

xXx

"I do not know how to cook," Téa grumbled as she stormed down the hallway.

"It's all right. I do," Odion responded calmly, several strides ahead of her, leading the way. Ra had brought them down from the roof and sent them on their merry way to the kitchens.

There was now a barrier of Shadow-Magic ringing the palace grounds. It was low and thin, and looked like an exceptionally small black river circling around, but Ra had cheerfully assured them that no humans could get in and no humans could get out. Then he'd changed back into the dragon-form and flown off to wreak havoc wherever he could find people, after informing the two that his supper had better be ready be the time he got back that evening.

Téa, naturally, was extremely displeased with all these developments. But Odion's sudden declaration brought her mutterings to a sudden halt, as well as her footsteps. "You can cook?"

"Of course," he said, slowing so she could resume walking and catch up. "Who did you think cooked for Masters Marik and Bakura all those months?"

"I don't know, I thought they had a whole staff of kitchen-slaves," she said honestly.

Odion allowed himself a small smile. "They did. I was the head cook."

Téa blinked. "Well, all I can say is I thought they'd have found a better use for you." When he glanced back at her, she shot him a blinding smile. He returned it tentatively.

"I was happy in the kitchens," Odion remarked. "It wasn't the only thing I did, naturally. I really only oversaw the dinners. Someone else took care of breakfasts and lunch. But I liked cooking, and Master Marik did wish to keep me happy."

Téa frowned slightly. "I wonder what happened to them all," she mused. "I have no idea what happened to any of my friends, or even Marik and Bakura. I have a feeling I missed the rescue squad."

"Téa, this won't last forever," Odion murmured, taking care to keep his voice low. "We'll get through things for now. Trust me, the kitchens aren't entirely unpleasant. And last I heard, the Pharaoh and all his friends were still fighting strong. I'm sure they're plotting right now how to get rid of Ra and restore world order."

She stopped walking and tilted her head quizzically. "So I did miss the rescue squad?"

Odion laughed at that one, turning to face her as well. "I'm afraid so. What's rather embarrassing was that I intended to be part of that rescue squad." Briefly, he explained how he'd met up with Yami and the others; he told her how he'd also set out. "I was making my way back here, to get you out and offer my services as needed," he explained. "As I was coming in, I noticed that the spell over Masters Marik and Bakura had been broken, because both of them were surrounded by the Pharaoh and his friends, looking rather confused. Master Marik was unconscious, having just torn up Ra's Duel Monster's card."

Téa snorted. "So that's how it happened. When the card was broken, Ra was unleashed."

He nodded: "I do not think anyone intended for this to happen." Téa nodded back, making a slight face.

"I picked up my pace, trying to reach everyone," he continued, seeming slightly uncomfortable. "But the wall collapsed just as I was passing through." His eyes clouded: "I think a lot of people died under it, trying to get out of Akuma."

Téa pressed a fist to her mouth. "I had been so afraid you were killed!" she gasped. "Perhaps it's a good thing I never knew!"

Odion seemed embarrassed. "I'm just lucky I wasn't. The bigger pieces of marble missed me, so I wasn't crushed, but I was knocked unconscious for several days. I was buried under all the rubble and only just awoke and dug my way out when I met up with you."

"And Ra," Téa added ironically. "So you had no idea that he'd brought all the Duel Monsters to life?"

"Not until I awoke in the middle of the Forest Magic card," Odion explained, shaking his head. "But, while we are on the subject: How did he bring all the cards to life?"

"I think he Summoned them," Téa said, deep in thought. "And I don't think he got all the cards, actually. Just the ones in this area. When the Rare Hunters were running away, a lot of them dropped their decks, and of course a lot of the corpses had their cards with them." She shuddered.

Odion nodded, looking at her and silently urging her to continue. Téa recognized that, after he'd told her his story, it was her turn to explain everything that had happened to her.

"I got knocked unconscious during Yami's assault on the palace," she said, flushing a little. "It was a stupid accident. Anyway, I think I was the last person left in here. When I woke up, half the building was destroyed and Ra was hovering over me. He tore down some more walls, so I was stuck on the new roof, and all the staircases were completely blocked. There was no easy way down.

"Then Ra took on that humanoid form you saw earlier. He Summoned all the cards, poked around a little more, then turned back into his normal form and went flying off. I could see bits of Shadow Magic being thrown around. I knew that he'd already moved Duel Monsters from the Shadow Realm to earth, so I realized that he was sending humans to the Shadow Realm. I decided to escape, but it took me a whole day to climb down from that stupid tower. Like I said, there were no more staircases.

"So after I finally made it out, I bumped into you, then Ra showed up. And now we're his kitchen slaves," she finished despondently, rolling her eyes.

Odion heaved a sigh. "This has been an unfortunate turn of events," he noted. "We thought that once Marik and Bakura were saved, the world would turn back to normal."

Téa lifted her palms. "I've given up on normal. I just want sane and reasonably secure now."

Odion smiled at that. "In any case, you understand why Ra is sending humans to the Shadow Realm?"

"I think so," she replied quietly. "He's angry that the Duel Monsters have been imprisoned in the Shadow Realm for the last five thousand years while humans walked the earth freely. Now he's sending people to the Shadow Realm and letting Duel Monsters take over the earth.

"Ra is using Akuma as his 'base'. He'll live here, and eat here – that's where we come in, as cooks, I suppose – but he'll leave daily to go seek out people. Once he finds them, he'll send them to the Shadow Realm. And so on," she sighed gloomily.

"Look on the bright side," Odion said, resuming his walk towards the kitchens. He flung open the door, revealing an untouched storeroom packed with fruit, wheat, and various kinds of wine, all of the finest quality. Téa gaped, noting the pen of squawking chickens in the corner, a stone door marked 'Dairy Products', and the shelves of food reaching to the ceiling. "Marik and Bakura were pigs," she muttered.

Odion laughed. "This did go to feed all the Rare Hunters and staff… as well as the prisoners," he reminded her.

"I never got food this good," she commented.

He shrugged. "I apologize for that. I brought you the best I could."

"Don't apologize. That was delicious, especially for prisoner fare." She gazed around. "But this is simply amazing…"

"I hope you don't mind following my directions in the kitchen," Odion explained, taking mental note of how well-stocked the room was and what products would last the longest. "But back to what I was saying. Look on the bright side."

"That would be?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're 'reasonably secure', for now. We know that the Pharaoh is still out there fighting. And we most definitely will not starve."