Over Yonder
By Pearl of the Dark Age
Sept 1, 2006
Chapter 11
"We should have done this days ago!" Honda declared. "But someone felt that asking Kaiba for help was too desperate!" He glared at Jonouchi, who returned with resolute sienna eyes. The whole gang was in the front lobby of Kaiba Corporation. Yugi and Anzu had returned from their trip both baked from the Jamaican sun. They all managed to fit into the elevator, and Jonouchi pressed the button for the top floor.
Shizuka whistled absentmindedly while Ryuji twirled a strand of jet-black hair nervously. The bell dinged, and they all piled out haphazardly. Rebecca even fell over. "Does anyone feel that this is a bad idea?" Jonouchi asked before they reached the secretary.
Honda sighed. "Shut up, Jou." He turned to the secretary, Suzu. (A/N) "Hello sister! How's my favorite nephew doing?"
"Johji's fine," Suzu replied. "He's growing like bamboo! What can I do for you, Hiroto?"
"My friends and I would like to see your boss," Honda replied. "I know you usually don't allow anyone in who doesn't have an appointment, but this is urgent!"
She studied her brother carefully for a sign of a joke, but then sighed heavily. "Okay, but just this once," she said. Suzu pushed the button under her desk to open the security door that lead to Seto Kaiba's office.
The walked down the hall and quickly walked into the office after knocking. If the CEO was surprised to see everyone in his office, he didn't show it. His eyes trailed over each face, lingering momentarily on Anzu's before staring at Honda. The brunette was in front of everyone, apparently leading the group forward. "What do you small fries want?" Seto inquired acidly.
"We need your help!" Honda blurted out. "Ryou Bakura went crazy and took off to Egypt! We believe he's trying to get his yami back! We need you to help us get there! WE NEED TO STOP HIM! WE NEED TO SAVE HIM!"
"Yami?" a voice puzzled from behind. They all turned around to see Amelda leaning against the wall. Yugi grinned knowingly for a second. Amelda continued, "He said something about that when I saw him last."
Everyone looked confused as Honda looked away from the redhead. Seto scrutinized his new boyfriend for a second. "I'm not going to ask what you were doing with that nobody," Seto stated coldly. He turned his eyes back to Honda. "You know that he can't reach the Millennium Ring. It's buried. Unless he's got equipment…"
"You know what would happen if he got Yami no Bakura back!" Honda exclaimed. "You were there in the Memory World, too! You know what Hell he can unleash! You don't want that to happen again, do you? Help us to stop him!"
Seto bit his bottom lip. He was extremely aggravated. "I'm not interested in another Yugi-tachi adventure, dweebs, but I don't want to suffer the headache that guy can create. I'll help you."
"Can I come?" Amelda asked cheerfully, the dire situation lost on him.
A jeep sailed across a sea of golden sand dunes. Four passengers rode in the weathered vehicle, each feeling at home in the forsaken desert. Miss Ishizu drove, her serene, blue eyes fixed upon her unseen destination. Her traditional Arabian garments flapped in the relentless wind. Beside her sat Pegasus, bedecked head to toe in khaki and a safari hat. His silver hair was tied in a ponytail, revealing his formerly hidden face. His remarkably realistic, new glass eye moved in coordination with his real, right eye due to the expensive surgery he had undertaken recently.
Pegasus still retained an acute six-sense, which at present he ignored. While he expounded gaily about Duel Monsters to Ishizu, intense lavender eyes were burning holes in the back of his head. Behind Pegasus sat Marik, who grounded his teeth and trembled with mounting anger. Beside Marik sat Rishid, his bald-head was protected by a turban in the blazing sun. He leaned forward and asked, "How much farther, dear sister?"
"Not far," Ishizu replied, cool as an oasis.
"I'm really excited about these new carvings you've found, Ishizu!" Pegasus exclaimed. "Should be quite a treat! I'm always eager to search out new inspirations for my paintings. I sure hope I do justice to…"
As he rambled on wistfully about his artwork, dark ominous ideas clouded Marik's mind. Rishid put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "Don't worry, Marik-sama," the elder said softly. "Our sister is a grown woman. She can handle herself."
"Hmph!" Marik snorted as he shot a swift, piercing glance at his elder brother before returning to glower at the back of the apparently oblivious American. Just try to touch her… Marik egged on darkly in his mind. I dare you! He desperately wished he still had his Millennium rod.
"You know, I have an exquisite personal collection in my home in San Francisco," Pegasus informed Ishizu. "You should come over sometime and have a look. I daresay it would be to your liking. Someone with fine taste as yourself, Ishizu, would appreciate my art along with a great-tasting red wine! If you ever happen to-"
At that moment, Ishizu had slammed her foot on the break pedal. The jeep slid forward a good ten meters before resting with its front tires half-sunk in the sand. Marik, who was the only one foolish enough to not wear a seat belt, went sailing over Pegasus, landed on the hood of the vehicle, fell off, and landed face-first into the sand.
Pegasus forced himself not to laugh at the sight of Marik, who resembled an ostrich with his head buried in sand. He unbuckled and got out to assist his potential brother-in-law. Marik's near-white blonde hair was now golden like the surrounding desert, and his dark face looked pale coated in glittering sand. He started to yell curses in Arabic at Pegasus, mixed with "may Ammut eat your 'nads" and "may the gods grind your bones!"
Rishid had been the only one to notice Ishizu jumping out of her seat to bolt off towards the near-distant alluvial fan that marked the former entrance to where the Millennium Stone lay buried. "Marik-sama!" he called sharply. Both the younger brother and the stunned entrepreneur glanced at Rishid and followed his scrutinizing gaze into the distance where the beautiful Egyptologist had disappeared. They followed him, running towards Ishizu and the foothills.
They found her crying over something resembling a human lying in her lap. A hand lay upon the sand next to Ishizu's hip, its fingers tainted with dried blood where the tips had worn away to the bones. Their eyes traced the hand to the limp arm up to the emaciated collarbone to a familiar face frozen in pain and sorrow. The corpse was barely recognizable since he was covered in dirt and sand, perfectly camouflaged with the surroundings.
Marik gasped, "Bakura…"
Author's Note:
Suzu is an OC I plan on using later in my upcoming fic, Quinquepertitus. She's Honda's sister, which also means that she's Johji's mother. Read the first series manga if you don't know who Johji is. Don't use Suzu without my permission.
More importantly, this story will have a sequel. It will also be the sequel to another fic of mine, Coming Forth By Day. If you haven't read that one yet, I suggest you do – otherwise, the ending to this story won't make any sense. CFBD is only 4 short chapters long - a breezy read.
And yes, I started writing the latter half of this chapter yesterday, and the previous chapter today. (If anyone's paying attention to the dates.)
And no, this is not the end… There is more. Reviews please, or I will delay the last chapter. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!