Chapter 11

They were leaving cars behind them at a terribly fast rate. Vehicles honked their horns loudly as they passed, drivers shaking fists and making rude gestures behind the windows. "We'll make it in time, Marik." Odion tried helplessly to reassure his brother. Marik only made a sound like a low growl and clenched his fingers tighter around the steering wheel.

"What good is the Necklace if we can't even tell anybody about its predictions? This is ridiculous! If that plane hadn't been late—!" Marik fumed.

Odion put a hand on his arm. "This is probably fate, Marik. We'll reach them when we reach them." He soothed, squeezing Marik's arm.

"We should have left the day we made the decision to leave! We should have booked a flight for that very day! But no —we had to take care of last minute issues with that dig! This is just fate laughing at us, isn't it, Odion? Hah, thought your duties with the Items were over, did you? Nope, here's something new. Keep fighting, have fun." If anything, the tension in his arms had only increased. Odion could see the muscles clenching in his neck.

"Marik, listen to me. You need to slow down. If we're caught speeding, it will only delay our arrival to the Game Shop. And this is a rental car, remember, which would only further complicate things. Marik. Breathe for a moment. Brother." He didn't let go of Marik's arm, and continued to keep his voice level. After a second or two, Marik stopped grinding his teeth and let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. The car started to slow down. "Good. Keep listening to me, okay? You know as well as I do that all of this is happening for a reason. The fates are not laughing at us, so stop thinking that, you know it's not true. Nothing terrible is going to happen to either Yuugi or to his friends." Odion said confidently, putting Marik's mind a little more at rest.

"If only we had a cell phone—"

"We'll get one after this," Odion patted his shoulder and pulled his hand away. The car had slowed to a more reasonable speed, and Marik had started to breathe normally, though his knuckles still looked a tad white. Odion sat back in his seat. He was beginning to see why Ishizu had insisted on his being with Marik, and he was glad for it. This disturbance with the Rod was causing Marik to be entirely too moody and prone to his bad temper. Odion knew he had to be there in case his brother needed to be calmed down.

Marik glanced over at him. "This next light, do I turn left or right?"

"Right." Odion responded.

They switched lanes and slowed to a stop at a traffic light. Marik tapped his feet anxiously as he waited for an opening. "What if they're not at the Game Shop? What if they're already in the danger Ishizu suggested to us?"

"Then, we are able to at least find out where they are by asking Yuugi's grandfather." Odion reasoned, shifting in his seat slightly as the car lurched forward into a right turn and picked up some speed.

They let silence reign in the vehicle for the remainder of the drive. After a few more turns, they finally left the more crowded roads and headed into the quieter part of the city. And much to both their relief, they finally saw the Game Shop as they turned another corner. Odion didn't comment as Marik sped up and brought the car to a halt with a slight squeal of the tires. He quickly shut the engine off and flung open the car door, and Odion did the same, rushing with him up to the front door of the store. Marik pulled it open and they entered.

The occupants of the store had heard the car approach and were waiting for them just inside in a dark disquiet. Bakura, Kaiba, his brother, Téa, and Yuugi's grandfather Solomon each considered them. Marik and Odion found a moment to catch their breath.

"You're too late," Kaiba stated coolly to Marik. He ran one slim hand through his hair, and sighed. "Yuugi and Joey have already gone." His expression was hard to read...he seemed a little exasperated, a little anxious, and a little accepting all at once.

"I...we...received a call from my sister when we were switching flights, she..." Marik looked at Odion.

Odion could only look back at the lost expression on his face. He found words to explain the situation to the gathered group. "She had a vision. That Yuugi and Joey and Serenity were surrounded by duel monsters, that they were hurt and trapped in a corner, that they were about to be driven over a cliff...we assumed this was in the virtual world. She told us it hadn't happened yet...but this was some hours ago. We couldn't get a hold of you, Kaiba, and didn't know how to contact anyone else," it sounded like an excuse even to his ears.

Kaiba looked over at Bakura and Téa, who in turn were looking at each other. Téa spoke up. "What happened was...Serenity was kidnapped. Dr. Yoshida phoned the Game Shop and told us to come and get her. We were still debating on whether to do that or not when Joey decided to go it alone, whether we would come with him or not. He phoned here...and Yuugi agreed to go with him into the virtual world to try and get her back. Well, we never actually found out that he went with Joey until Tristan told us over the phone a little while ago. He had apparently told Tristan and Joey that he didn't want to involve anybody else for fear of us getting hurt."

"And Tristan?" Odion broke in, having noticed the absence of that particular group member.

Téa shook her head, knowing what he was about to ask. "Tristan's not in the virtual world with them. He's down at the warehouse, watching the computer screens to make sure their minds are still okay. He said he can reverse the sequence that got them into the virtual world in order to forcibly pull them out if we need to, but Kaiba's not so sure—"

"He knows a little too much about my technology for my liking," Kaiba interjected, "and I don't think he'd let any of them go so easily. It's quite possible that they're stuck in there until he's finished with whatever plans he's got in the works. Or until we can figure out a way to rewrite the program." He explained.

Marik fought the tide of conflicting emotions rising in his chest, and tried to drown out the screaming thoughts in his head with his faith in his gods. He succeeded, but just barely. "Which means...the only way Yuugi, Joey, and Serenity can escape is by beating everything he throws against them," he concluded, looking at each of them in turn in order to see if his interpretation of the situation was right. Judging by the solemn faces, it was. He hesitated a breath. "I'm guessing you've all been having a long debate about whether to go in after them long before we even got here," Marik inferred with a mildly questioning tone.

Solomon decided to join the conversation at this point, surprising all of them. "You guessed right. They argued back and forth before Joey and Yuugi left, and they're still no better at coming to an agreement now. I know I said trust you all to make a good decision, but not doing anything is a decision too, you know, and I'd rather not lose my only grandson and his best friend." He tried to come off as angry, but it was a weak attempt at best and instead he only sounded helpless.

Marik had never known a grandfather, and even if he had, he knew he would have been nothing like the man standing before him. He was a short man, with a wrinkled, world-weary sort of face, and big kind eyes much like Yuugi's. Marik wondered how he had managed to deal with all of the life threatening situations Yuugi and the others had found themselves in over the years. Even now he was coping better than Marik himself —speaking more slowly and with much less stress in his tone of his voice— and had apparently come to terms with the fact that even though these troubles should have been long over with, they weren't. Bearing in mind the responsibility he'd carried with him to Domino, Marik spoke with a faint tone of respect. Here was the man who'd raised the Pharaoh's reincarnation, after all. "We won't lose them. They will return here soon enough, safe and well. The only question that remains is whether we risk ourselves going in after them...or put our faith in fate and wait for them to return."

He had Kaiba's complete and utter attention at his words. "Ah, now I remember why I never did quite like you. You're just like that sister of yours, aren't you? Believing in fate and destiny, and oh, the heart of the cards and whatever other nonsense you can think of. Listen, Ishtar, I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to wait here for Yuugi and Joey to come back. Not because of some belief, but because if we went in after them we'd only be setting ourselves up for disaster. Forget your sister's vision. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about walking into whatever trap he's got set up all nice and neat for us where nobody can touch him physically. This is serious. I'd bet a good amount of money that he'd be expecting us to make that move. I'm betting that he knew Yuugi and Joey would foolishly go in after him like that, too." Kaiba let out a sharp breath (almost like a brief flash of the apprehension he was feeling, if Marik ever saw it), and slid his hands into the pockets of his tailored pants. His eyes dared Marik to challenge him. "So we need to play it safe."

Odion said nothing, though Marik knew he wanted to, if he knew anything about his brother. The others standing behind Kaiba seemed like they were waiting for him to make a move, as though they had given up arguing with him and were now looking to him to fight him for them. Marik considered what he wanted. He thought about why he'd come here. And he looked again at Kaiba, with his eyes firm like blue steel. He's not sure of the outcome, Marik realized. Normally he'd just go in and believe in his victory. But this is his computer program, isn't it? Marik thought in confusion. Isn't this the one he built for use as a virtual video game? Shouldn't there be nothing in there that Dr. Yoshida can throw at him to surprise him? If anything, Kaiba should have been comfortable to duel in his own territory (the possible tampering of the world by their enemy aside). Yet in place of where that confidence should have been, instead there was only a strong sense of uneasiness emanating from the young businessman. "There's something you're not telling us, isn't there," he surmised.

Kaiba was just as startled as the rest of them. But then his eyes narrowed. "Quick on the uptake, aren't you." Marik smiled thinly in response.

Téa broke in and grabbed his arm. "What is it? What haven't you been telling us?"

Glancing down at her in irritation, Kaiba pointedly uncurled her fingers from his arm. She backed away, but still looked determined, though nobody was really sure what she might do if he decided not to tell her. "All right," he sighed, and his gaze flickered onto Mokuba for a second, who was giving him a worried expression, "this virtual world that they're in is not the one which everybody has been assuming it is. This is not the virtual world I created some time ago during the Duelist Kingdom tournament and finished shortly after. This isn't the game world where Mai, Joey, Yuugi, myself, and Mokuba entered. It is similar only in the basics of its programming. But other than that, it's completely different."

Everyone looked at each other. Marik drew a blank. "I don't understand," he began, "so far as I know, there are no other virtual worlds, not any that you've created...oh..." his voice trailed off into silence.

Kaiba nodded in affirmation. "You're right. There are no other worlds that I have created. And actually, there are no other virtual worlds...save for one. It was a world created solely for Gozaburo's son, for his mind to live in while he found a way to restore his body." Téa now no longer had the determined expression on her face, but she did have one of slowly growing fear. The rest of the room was just as disturbed by the news, save for Mokuba, who only scuffed his shoe on the floor with an uncomfortable look on his face. "I'm sure you all remember the incident where we were turned off-course from the finals of the Battle City Tournament. When we entered this particular world."

They did.

"And you didn't consider the fact that this might be important information because?" Marik asked, a little aghast at the turn of events.

Scowling, Kaiba took several steps forward and leaned in to snarl in his face. "It was not important at the time. No one had been kidnapped, and when we did find out about that, I made it quite clear with Yuugi that he was not to go into the virtual world without us further discussing some sort of plan. I would have informed them if they had told me about what they were doing! Are you suggesting that I withheld this information on purpose? What possible thing could I have gained from that?" He snapped.

Marik crossed his arms over his chest. "I wasn't suggesting anything," he returned angrily, "I simply think that by failing to inform everyone of this (for whatever reasons you had), you've placed them in grave danger. Because Noah's world is very different from the game world, isn't it? There are no set rules in the world which Joey, Serenity, and Yuugi are in. Wasn't it a world built so that Noah could create his own perfect reality? A world in which anything could be changed —from the colour of the sky to the existence of all the virtual creatures." He gauged Kaiba's reaction: his teeth ground together and his spine straightened visibly. The fact that he was correct in his deductions did not make him feel any better. Rather, they made him feel a lot worse.

Hesitantly, Bakura tugged at Kaiba's sleeve, causing the taller man to look down at him, his expression still hard and cold. "It's not your fault, Kaiba." Bakura offered, and Kaiba said nothing. Bakura drew in some air and turned to Marik. "Do you think we've lost them, then, Marik? That maybe it really is pointless to go in after them, because Dr. Yoshida is possibly controlling the world like Noah did...and predicting their every move?" He fumbled on his words a little, and stared hopefully at Marik. Asking him to say something different. "Do you think they're already captured like Serenity?" He choked out.

They all looked at each other in dread. Odion did not generally give him reassurance in public, but this time he reached out and squeezed Marik's shoulder. The voice that filled the room then was not Marik's, however. It was Mokuba's, who spoke a little tentatively, silently asking his brother's permission with his eyes. "We don't know for sure if he can control the world like Noah could. The world was created for Noah's mind specifically, after all, not for Dr. Yoshida's. That being said, we do know that he built those virtual pods, but we don't know how fast he had them finished. Presumably he had at least one finished before today. He could have been testing the place out before he dragged Serenity there, figuring out how it worked, what it was like. And with that Rod of his...I don't know, maybe he can use it even while he's in the virtual world. Maybe that's how he would be able to manipulate what goes on in there. But then I'm not one to talk; I don't really know a whole lot about the Rod's powers." Mokuba shifted uneasily on his feet and looked down at his shoes.

This had everyone looking at Marik. The Egyptian sighed. "The Rod's main power was the ability to control other people, not technology. But if this world can be as easily changed as I suspect it can be..." Marik shot a look at Kaiba, who did nothing to refute the claim, "...then I think this Dr. Yoshida could use the powers of the Rod and the Shadow Realm to cause it to obey his will. Rewrite who the program responds to, so to speak. And since Noah is no longer in that world—"

"It makes it all the easier to make the program respond to him. Yes, we get it." Kaiba cut him off icily. Marik didn't flinch at the tone in his voice. Had he touched a nerve? "All of this only further adds to the idea that we should not go in after them. We need to find a way to get at him that doesn't involve going head-to-head with that Millennium Rod. Entering the virtual world only puts us at the mercy of all the powers of the Shadow Realm he can —and will— throw at us. It's very possible that everything he tells the program to add to the world are infused with the powers of the Shadow Realm. And while we're no strangers to its strength, and can possibly stand up to those powers for a while, the fact remains that the only way someone has ever been able to beat a Millennium Item is with another." And there are no other Items with which to fight him, Kaiba thought, except the Necklace, which is back in Egypt.

They all debated this in silence.

Then, "So we're to remain here in faith and wait for them to return. But...if they don't...I mean, how long do we keep waiting for...?" Solomon risked asking. He knew he had no say in what they did, and he certainly would be of no use to them in whatever plans they came up with. Yet, knowing this, he still couldn't help the need that he should be doing something, that he should be helping to save his grandson. Looking at the gathered group, Solomon saw in all of them something the average bystander would never be able to. He saw the strength that they'd all acquired over the years, the strength to face up against the impossible and continue to hope for the best. There was the dancer, Téa, determined and willing, always believing in a positive outcome. There was Bakura, quiet and unassuming, his kind and devoted nature hidden in his almond eyes. The Kaiba brothers stood side by side, with their sharp intellect and decisive manner. Odion with his unwavering loyalty and patience. Marik, full of pride, but his cunning and deviousness made him glad the man was on their side. It would be strange to anyone else that they were all here, cooperating with each other to further a common goal. They were each so different, after all. The decision that they'd made (however silently) did not seem like an agreement between friends. It sounded more like a dismissal of the problem...they could not figure out what to do about it, so instead they would stay out of the virtual world for the moment and leave the fate of the three inside to Yuugi and Joey. Such belief. Such confidence. But even as Solomon saw all of this, he also saw the great pain it was giving them, choosing to wait rather than dive in and go after their friends.

This was a group that couldn't be brought down easily. Solomon decided that if they would trust this deeply in Yuugi and Joey, then he could do no less. They would come back. And that's all there was to it.

Téa adjusted the hem of her shirt for a lack of something better to do with her hands. "We need to try and come up with ideas that can take down a man with something as ancient and powerful as a Millennium Item while we're waiting for them. And someone should go down to the warehouse to make sure Tristan knows what he's doing with the controls." She then gave Solomon a smile, though it was forced and did not radiate the happiness it should have. Giving the rest of the group a quick look, she answered, "We'll wait, then, Kaiba. As long as we have to."

Taking her words to heart, they settled down to discuss. Later, when they had exhausted themselves of words, Kaiba would take his car down to the warehouse district to give them a ride back when they came out. In those hours the floor grew scuffed from the heavy pacing of the anxious friends.

The phone did not ring once.

xXx

The door rattled on its hinges, but did not budge, however hard he tried to turn the handle. Groaning in frustration, Joey filled his lungs with virtual air and took off again down the hallway. It was a seemingly endless path, with dozens of turns and even more doors than he would have ever thought possible. Dark oak panelling covered the walls, but the occasional antique suit of armour or sword relic broke up the redundant scenery. An exquisite white marble covered the floor, and so even though Joey tramped down the hall in his sneakers he made barely a sound at all.

A sudden crack of noise like thunder split through the air. Joey sucked in more air and picked up his speed. There: another door on his right. Skidding to a halt, he grabbed the handle and turned it hard. "Please, you stupid...yes!" The door clicked open and he jumped in, slamming it closed behind him and turning the lock. Not like that would stop his pursuers, but still. It was the thought that counted.

Joey took a quick look around the room. It was a large master suite, complete with extravagant hand crafted furniture (a four-poster bed, two side tables, some dressers, a couch, a coffee table, and a wardrobe). For a fraction of a second, Joey thought he'd walked right into a dead-end, and nearly pounded his fist into the wall...and then he realized that there was a rather large window just behind the couch. Good. He strode up to the window, lingering a moment beside the bed as he realized how dusty everything looked. The comforter on the bed looked moth-ridden and old. Funny, Joey thought, I always figured virtual stuff didn't decay or nothin'. A small picture frame on the side table closest to him caught his attention, and he picked it up absently, wiping away the dirt on the glass with his forefinger.

A young boy with turquoise hair stared mockingly back from the photograph.

"What the...Noah?" He muttered, scratching his head. His eyes widened in sudden realization. "Aw, man! I knew this place looked familiar! And here I thought this was Kaiba's game world!" Joey cried out in surprise, and then swore and clapped his hand over his mouth, praying his pursuers hadn't heard his voice.

No such luck. A second thunder crack split through the hall and a noise like feet running came down towards the room he was in. Joey jammed the picture in his pocket without a second thought and jumped up onto the couch, pushing aside the flimsy drapes to access the lock on the window. Sliding it open, he used one foot to kick out the fly screen and then climbed out onto the slanted roof of the building. No sooner than he'd exited the room, the door he had locked previously was blown from its hinges and thrown into the wall, splintering into pieces. Not bothering to get a good look at the scene, Joey kept his eyes forward and ran as fast as he dared along the rooftop away from the room.

Something leapt from the room onto the roof, cracking tiles and causing them to slide off of the building, shattering into pieces down below. Joey jerked slightly from the noise, and lost his footing with a loud curse. He dropped to his hands and knees but managed to keep his balance, saving him from going off of the edge. Rising shakily to his feet, he snuck a peek at the creature roaring behind him. A vicious beast type duel monster that looked much like a lion was quickly padding across the tiles towards him. There was something about cats and how they never lose their balance, Joey thought. He grit his teeth and issued a challenge. "Well, fine, you overgrown house pet! You want a piece of Joey Wheeler so bad? I'll turn you into virtual dust!" He activated his duel disk (which had thankfully made it to the virtual world with him) and drew a couple of cards. For a brief moment he wished Yuugi was there with him: he couldn't for the life of him remember the name of the duel monster he was up against, which would cause some major problems if he guessed wrong on the number of attack points it had.

His situation only grew worse when the second monster that had been pursuing him slithered onto the roof. Joey drew some more cards, just to be sure. He didn't know the name of this monster, either —he only knew what he could see, which was that it looked like a giant green eel with yellow spikes on its head, and when he had first run into it, it had spat lightning at him. Joey could see the electricity crackling along its body as it worked its way across the roof. It was slower than the lion...but it could shoot from a distance, so really they were both a huge threat to him at the moment.

The lion roared again and moved a little faster.

"Ah...ah, um...okay! I summon Kojikocy in attack mode!" He slapped the card down onto a monster space, wishing for the best. Kojikocy appeared in front of him in a flash of white light, blinding Joey somewhat. He shielded his eyes with the duel disk, and when he brought it back down he could see that the lion was now only a few feet away, but being blocked from Joey by his warrior. This duel monster looked perpetually angry, a scowl barely hidden behind a long white beard. He was bare-chested, which allowed his opponents a look at the bulging muscles he sported. Green gauntlets, leg armour over navy pants, and a helmet were all that the warrior wore. In one hand was carried a heavy looking sword.

Joey shifted one more card into his opposite hand in case he needed to activate it. "Right, then. Kojikocy, let's see if you can't beat that mangy cat!" Hefting the sword with a grunt, the warrior dug his feet into the tiles and charged at the lion still loping towards them. Shaking its great mane, the beast side-stepped the charge with ease and swiped out a paw; Kojikocy blocked it with the gauntlet and suffered no damage. But now the lion was settling onto its haunches, gathering its powerful muscles to tackle his warrior. Kojikocy stabbed forward, and the blade barely cut through the thick fur. He raised his sword again...

...but then a shock of lightning zapped forward and latched onto the metal like a second skin, charging down the sword like it was a lightning rod and jolting through the warrior, who yelled in pain. The electricity didn't stop there. It sparked along the tiles and shot through Joey, up his legs, his torso, and into his head. He screamed and fell back, stunned from the blast. The lion also backed off, nearly hopping in its effort to avoid the sparks fizzling through the roof tiles. His head was spinning, and his eyes were having trouble focussing, yet somehow Joey managed to slide a trap card into his duel disk. It took him a few tries, his card missing the slot by inches as Joey fumbled with it. "Go, Blind Destruction," he croaked out.

Kojikocy was no longer lit up by blue lightning, and for a moment he seemed like he might fall over, as he was wavering unsteadily on his feet. He was able to straighten, however, and was soon standing once more with his sword raised protectively in front of Joey. The lion and the eel snarled and hissed respectively, but did not come forward, even though their opponents seemed a little out of it. Joey realized the reason: a single die had magically appeared in front of his disk, hovering in the air as though waiting for him to reach out and grab it. Blinking several times, Joey was glad to see his vision was now mostly clear (he wasn't half-blinded anymore). He double-checked to make sure that neither of his enemies were moving to attack him, and seeing that they were not, he snatched up the die.

"Okay...they don't call me the luck duelist for nothin'! Go! Take down at least one of these guys, come on!" Joey shouted, tossing the die into the air. For several breaths it seemed as if the world had gone silent...the die began its descent to the roof, and tapped down onto some tiles, rolling across the roof towards the enemy duel monsters. They backed up further, as though afraid of the tiny six-sided object.

Joey held his breath and waited as the die rolled to a stop. If it landed on a four, his Kojikocy was done for. The die finally stopped, and then in a single breath it exploded. Fire, smoke, tile shards, and blinding light blasted the area around them. Joey let out a cry and covered his face with his disk; his cry alerted his monster to his concern and Kojikocy drew closer to take the brunt of the damage. Neon green lights shot up from where the die had once been, destroying the roof, which caved in from the blast. And although the beast tried to bolt, the rays of deadly light struck the lion closest to them, cleaving the five star monster in two before it vanished.

Joey was not exactly the smartest duelist or strategist in the dueling world, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. His trap had destroyed the lion, but not the eel. Before the smoke cleared and the green lights faded down he planned on making a run for it. He returned his unused cards to his deck along with his warrior from his space on the monster field zone, causing him to vanish in front of him. Then, he spun on the spot and took off away from the site, still stumbling a little from the pain of the lightning attack. Joey tried to remember the last time he'd been in the virtual world, and it bothered him that he couldn't recall a pain ever hurting as much as it did at the moment. The world was a little more real than the last time he had been in it. If that lightning attack had continued...he might have blacked out. And then if it had continued after that...? Joey stopped that particular train of thought before it could get any further. Hopefully, the loud noise and blinding lights didn't alert more monsters to come after me, Joey thought. Of course he knew that it was a slim chance that they had not. It didn't stop him from wishing so anyway.

So he ran on, leaving the roof with the eel behind him.

Down, down, below the castle and past rolling hills, past ice floes and caves and a rope bridge across a canyon, a young man with deep violet eyes finally exited a forest. He walked calmly, with certainty, spine straight and hands resting by his sides. He could have been a leader, or maybe a scholar or a teacher. He could have been a hero, or a saviour, or a king. He could have been all of these things, but he was not, not in this moment. The young man exiting the forest was on a mission, searching for two people whom he truly cared about. In this moment, he was nothing more, and nothing less, than a best friend.

The King of Games planned his strategy as he drew closer to the castle.