"At least she's a lot quieter than Yugi's crew," Seto thought to himself, as he and Vulsor searched the basement corridors. But that didn't stop him from being annoyed by her tagging along.

Vulsor was following behind him, holding the flashlight. But when she cast the beam to the floor, they both noticed a relatively new set of footprints, which Vulsor couldn't recognize.

"I've never seen footprints like those before," she said. "I've seen footprints of sneakers and other shoes, but those look like…"

"Dancing shoes…?" Seto asked aloud.

"Really?" asked Vulsor, kneeling in the dust to get a closer look. "Well, you're probably right…"

Seto glanced around the corridor, wondering if someone was nearby. And that was when he remembered about the young girl outside mentioning that her tutor had vanished. Either an innocent bystander had tried to take a look at what had been going on, or…

"Leave it to Gardner to get herself lost down here," he thought. He was half expecting her to show up right where they were standing. And then they'd get into another argument about getting in each other's way, leaving him to deal with both her and Vulsor.

"Listen!" gasped Vulsor. "Do you hear that!?"

Seto concentrated and was also able to hear it: a faint voice, obviously calling for help. And it sounded just like Téa. So, she was lost in the labyrinth somewhere. But why would she be calling out when the thieves would be able to hear her? Either she had lost it completely, or she was desperate to escape.

"I think it's a trap," said Vulsor. "We'd better get out of here; clearly, we go to help that girl, and they're going to swarm us."

She had a point, Seto realized. He was never the heroic one anyway; perhaps he should just call Yugi to take care of things. But there was something about Téa's frantic cries that made him uneasy; it was as though she had been overcome by an incredible fear.

"Just turn away," his pride ordered himself. "You're not as expendable as she is, even if she is in trouble. Her friends will come to her rescue; you need to save yourself, if not for your own sake, then for Mokuba. Get out of here while you still can… before those thieves show up again…"

Seto turned to leave, but the pleas and cries were too intense for any human to ignore. Something was terribly wrong, and as though to illustrate that fact, the screams faded away to nothing.

"I don't like this one bit," said Vulsor. "Let's get out of here; we can call the police to search down here."

Seto couldn't move, and his pride was chiding himself for it.

"You're going soft, Kaiba! Get a grip on yourself before you start turning into one of Yugi's cronies!"

And suddenly he realized why the cries had unnerved him; a painful memory of his childhood had resurfaced. He had been barely thirteen at the time, but he could still remember the day when he and Mokuba had been riding in the limo on their way to speak with Gozaburo. The memory of the accident itself was hazy; perhaps he had been unconscious for a while, but he distinctly remembered coming to upon hearing his younger brother's frantic cries for help. Mokuba had been trapped in the wreckage, and had feared for his life. And Seto realized that Téa's screams (which had now ceased completely) had been echoing that same fear; no one could possibly fake such a degree of fear.

"Where are you going?" asked Vulsor, looking back to see Seto walk in the direction of the cries.

"I don't know about you, but I intend to solve this mystery and get my equipment back," he replied. "And the first line of business is to free the captive and see what she knows."

"Grandpa?" asked Yugi, as he entered the Kame Game Store. "I'm here; you said it was important--"

"Yugi!" gasped a woman, whom he recognized as Mrs. Gardner. "Yugi, please tell me that you know where my daughter is!"

"We're trying to look for her, too…" Yugi replied, unable to look Mrs. Gardner in the eyes. "She said she had to meet with someone this morning--"

"Really? Well you know more than we do," said Mr. Gardner, trying to console his wife. "She normally calls us when she's going to be late, but we haven't heard from her, either."

"I'm sorry," said Solomon, disappointed that he could not alleviate the worries of the couple. "I had hoped that Yugi might be the one to know what had happened. He has a close friendship with your daughter."

"And it worries me that she didn't even tell him where she would be!" cried Mrs. Gardner.

"It's a long shot, but we were thinking that something may have brought her back to the theater--" Joey began, but was cut off by a cell phone ring.

"Oh, please be Téa," Yugi prayed. "Oh… hi, Tristan. No, we haven't found her yet; her parents are here at the Game Shop looking for her, too… Did you find out anything?"

"Well, we didn't find Téa or Delphi, but we did find the name we were looking for. The name has changed; the owners of the metalwork company had the last name Gratia-Travencore, and it was eventually shortened, though we couldn't find the new name. We're going back to the Gazette office to see if we can figure out what else we can find out. And I need to hang up, because that librarian over there is giving me the evil eye…"

"Tristan? Tristan!?" asked Yugi, as the connection was lost. "Oh, no… I hope he won't get into too much trouble for that…"

"But we got the name!" said Joey. "Whoever this guy is, he might know something about Téa's disappearance!"

"That's right," agreed Mai. "All we have to do is pull up an internet search, and we'll hopefully find out where his other job is. And maybe that's where we'll finally find Téa."

"But shouldn't we still check--?" asked Yugi, but he paused as his cell phone activated again. "Mokuba just sent me a text message; he's asking if we know where Téa is…"

"You're kidding…" said Joey, looking over his shoulder. "Why would Mokuba be asking for Téa?"

"He says he's in a meeting and can't talk, but says that he just received a text message from his brother, who thinks that she's in some sort of trouble, too."

"Aw, man; if Kaiba thinks Téa's in trouble, then she must be!" said Joey, growing more worried.

"Joey!" warned Mai, indicating Téa's horrified parents. She then turned to Yugi. "Did Mokuba say where Kaiba is?"

"No; he wouldn't be asking us where they were if he already knew. I guess Kaiba didn't tell him. It's another dead end…" Yugi replied, disappointed.

"Don't give up yet," ordered Mai. "We still have that name as our clue; we just need to put all of the pieces together. In the meantime, send a message back to Mokuba asking him if he can find out through his brother where Téa is."

Yugi nodded; it was the only chance they had. Solomon sighed as the three teens departed the room, and could only offer the Gardners his thoughts and prayers to try to lighten their burden.

"Kaiba, is this really worth it?" asked Vulsor, as they searched through the corridors. "Why are you bothering to help this girl who means nothing to you? You don't even like her, so why are you risking your own safety (not to mention mine) to help her?"

"No one's forcing you to come along," Seto shot back. "I told you I handle things better alone anyway!"

Vulsor fell silent as they approached the room with the rotten floorboards. Seto carefully made his way to the hole in the floor, taking the flashlight from Vulsor and aiming it into the hole.

"Who's there!?" came a frantic cry from down below. "Can you please help me!? I don't have any time left; the tide's almost covered me!"

Seto was shocked to see Téa trapped beneath the iron gate, and knew that with the water level as high as it was, she didn't have enough time to wait for Yugi or the others at all. Seto flinched as he realized that her survival depended on him. She didn't even have enough time to wait for Seto to find the trapdoor room and swim to her; he would have to jump.

"I'm no hero…" he snarled to himself. "What is she expecting of me!?"

And yet, he knew that even he wasn't so heartless as to stand by and do nothing. With a frustrated sigh, he removed his trenchcoat.

"Find your own way down," he instructed Vulsor.

And with that, he leaped into the hole and into the water. The gate was heavier than he had expected, and for all of his efforts, it didn't budge when he pulled upon it. By this time, the water level had increased to above Téa's head. She merely held her breath and prayed, keeping her eyes shut.

Now Seto tried a different tactic; by focusing his strength on one corner of the gate, he was able to move it slightly.

"Faster, Kaiba, faster!" he ordered himself. "You don't have all day, and neither does she!"

At last, Téa was freed from the gate, but she had fallen unconscious. Seto had no other choice put to pull her from the water and take her to higher, dry ground in the cavern. She began to revive now, coughing as the musty air returned to her, and Seto found it prudent to stand aside.

"I'm free…" she whispered, as she sat up. "But how did I get away from that gate?" She turned, and beheld the face of her rescuer. Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "You!?"

"Small world, isn't it?" Seto asked, sardonically.

"Not you!" she blurted out, pointing at him. "Anyone but you! This has got to be a joke!"

"Well, I'm certainly not laughing," he replied. "And you might want to thank me for saving your life before you begin all of your snarling."

"Um… hello?" asked Vulsor, who had apparently found her way to them. She was carrying Seto's trenchcoat, which he accepted.

"May as well tell Mokuba that I managed to fish you out of the lake," he said, sending another text message to his brother. Téa didn't reply him, but her face was still bright red.

"Of all the people who had to come to my rescue, it had to be Seto Kaiba, didn't it!?" she thought, furiously. "Why not Atem!? Or Yugi!? Or any of the others!? Kaiba will never let me forget this…"

Seto put away his cell phone and placed his trenchcoat back around him. He did consider lending it to Téa, but felt as though he had granted her enough favors to last for a long time.

"If you two are quite ready, shall we continue on down this cavern?" he asked. "I have a feeling that the answer we seek are at the end of it."

"I wonder where it leads…" Vulsor thought aloud.

"I did see someone take the missing carriage as a boat down the cavern," Téa recalled, as they walked. "It was one of the thieves, so I'm guessing that this cavern leads to their headquarters."

"You saw one of them!?" Seto asked.

"Yeah; I asked for help, but…" she shuddered. "The thief just left me there to the tide."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Vulsor.

That did it. Seto rounded on her.

"Why don't you stop the masquerade!?" he snarled. "I know who you really are, Vulsor!"

"What are you talking about!?" she asked, looking scandalized.

"Kaiba?" Téa asked, uncertainly. "Are you sure--?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Seto retorted. "If you don't believe me, why don't you ask her why she never seemed to be overly concerned about her emails and crowds? Why don't you ask her how she just happened to be arriving at the theater when I was trying to get in? Why don't you ask her how she knew that I knew you, even though she had never met you before? Why don't you ask her why the name on that gate you found was 'Gratia-Travencore,' and why the name of her vice-president is also Travencore!? And why don't you ask her how she managed to make it down here so quickly, as though she knew exactly which way to go?"

Téa's eyes widened in horror, and she glanced at Vulsor with a furious look, who, in turn, was glancing at Seto with a look of amusement and bemusement.

"Did you honestly believe that I'd never see through your façade and uncover your little Carmen Sandiego routine!?" Seto roared. He pulled the smashed electronics from the previous night out of his pocket. "Here's the final proof; I was able to track these to your company!"

Vulsor began to laugh.

"Oh, I knew you would figure it out eventually," she said, struggling to maintain her composure (this all seemed quite funny to her). "Of course you would! You're too shrewd for your own good, Seto Kaiba! But I'll admit that you solved the case a lot quicker than I expected you to!"

"Well, your game is over!" snarled Seto. "We're getting out of here, and you aren't about to stop me!"

"Really?" Vulsor asked.

Before anyone could make a move, she grabbed the weakened Téa and held her so that she couldn't move. She then drew a small vial from her pocket, which held a medium-sized, bluish-black spider. She held the spider-filled vial in front of Téa, who flinched at the creature.

"Allow me to introduce to you to the funnel web spider," she said. "Said to be one of the most venomous. One of my henchmen must have been discussing about our shipment of these spiders; that was what your friend Bakura overheard. Now then, Kaiba… you are free to go. I know I can't capture the great Seto Kaiba, so I won't even try. However, if you do decide to leave, know that this vial will open, and this little spider will leap right onto your friend here. Now… maybe she won't get bitten if she stays really still, but…" She paused, glancing at the trembling dancer. "You can't be sure, can you?"

Seto saw the fear rising in Téa's eyes again.

"What's he going to do!?" she thought. "He wouldn't leave me here, would he!? Oh, he just might after how ungrateful I was when he saved me last time…"

Seto, meanwhile, was waging his own personal war.

"Vulsor has to be bluffing," his pride rationalized. "She wouldn't dare try such a thing. You can't afford to get captured!"

"Kaiba…" Téa whispered, not taking her eyes off of the vial. "Help me, please…"

"Ignore it! Ignore it!" his pride roared. "Just walk away and call Vulsor's bluff!"

And yet, he couldn't walk away. He may be a cold loner, but he had saved Téa the first time because he wasn't so heartless to see her suffer. But it would do her no good for him to stand there and do nothing.

"Well, Kaiba?" asked Vulsor. "What's it going to be?"