Chapter 14
The Warning
and the Rescue
Sensing of how close Yugi is to danger, the spirits ran and flew after the four Egyptians and Ryou and Jonouchi. As they ran through the woods to get to the desert, other spirits that saw them rush out of the woods, sensed that there was something wrong. Deciding to follow them, Flame Swordsman, the Change of Heart, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Blue Eyes White Dragon and many other spirits ran and flew through the woods as well to get help.
When the spirits had reached the gold mines, the Egyptians, Ryou and Jonouchi were all surprised to see so many spirits running over to them before they went inside the mines. Seeing the behavior of the spirits, pushing and pulling them somewhere, Seto said as Soggy the Dark Clown pushed him, "What is wrong with these spirits?"
As Happy Lover pulled him with a piece of his clothing in her mouth, Bakura said as he tried to push her away, "They are out of their minds!"
"They are!" Marik reply while Winged Kuriboh and his family pulled on him.
Back at the mansion, the old man had 'recovered' and decided to tell Yugi something. "Because you've been so good to poor old Gramps, I have a secret I want to share with you." Pointing at the apple, he continued, "This here is not an ordinary apple; it's a magical, wishing apple."
Surprised, Yugi said with his hands to his racing heart, "A magical, wishing apple?"
To see his stepson fall for the act, Dartz continued, "Yes! Every one of your dreams will come true with one, single bite."
"Really?"
"Yes, my dear boy." Slowly offering the apple to the prince, he added, "Now make a wish and take a bite."
At the mines, Ryou and Jonouchi noticed a few of their own spirit friends approach them. "Red Eyes, Flame Swordsman?" said Jonouchi when he saw the black dragon and the flame warrior.
"Change of Heart?" Ryou followed when he saw the half angel, half demon approach him.
"My dear Ryou," said the Change of Heart when she took hold of his hands as a friend, aware that Bakura is in love with him. "We've come with terrible news."
"What's happened?" Ryou asked her.
"It's about the young Prince." Red Eyes said in his mind to them.
"Has something happened to Yugi?" Bakura said as the Egyptians approached the spirits.
Shaking his head, the Flame Swordsman said, "Not yet, but the one that is after his life is close to accomplish his goal."
To hear that Dartz is so close to kill Yugi, they all understood the situation. "The king will kill him. We've got to save him!" Seto said. And so, Seto climbed onto Blues Eyes, Jonouchi climbed onto Red Eyes, Ryou holding Change of Heart's hand with Bakura taking his other hand, and Marik and Malik climbed onto the Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress, they all flew as fast as they could back to the mansion to save Yugi before it's too late with the other spirits following close behind them.
Approaching Yugi slowly as he stepped back into a wall, Dartz continued with his act, "There must be something your young heart desires. Maybe there's someone you love."
Thinking of Atem, Yugi said as his image made him smile, "Well, there is someone."
Smiling underneath his elderly man mask, Dartz said after letting out a chuckle, "I thought so, I thought so. Old Gramps knows a young boy's heart." Then gently taking his hands, Dartz placed the apple in them. "Now take the apple, dear boy, and make a wish."
With the apple in both hands, Yugi held it up and close to his heart and said, the image of Atem on his mind, "I wish… I wish…"
"That's it, go on! Go on." Dartz said with encouragement.
"I wish that Atem is able to find his family. Then he'll return safely for me. And he will lead me to his childhood home, where I'll meet his family and my friends' families."
"Fine. Fine! Now take a bite. Don't let the wish grow cold!"
Happy and hoping his wish will come true, Yugi brings the apple to his lips and bit into the red fruit. But, the moment the juice touched his tongue, Yugi started to feel something strange. With the apple still in hand and his other hand at his throat, Yugi said as his knees became weak, "I feel…strange."
Watching Yugi become weak from the poison, Dartz said with amusement, holding his excitement inside until the right moment, "His breath will still. His blood congeal."
Feeling very weak, Yugi went down to his knees and in an instant, collapsed onto the floor with the poison apple rolling out of his hand.
To see his stepson dead on the floor, Dartz let out a cackle and let his excitement out as thunder flashed outside the mansion. "Now I'll be the most admired in the land!" Still laughing, Dartz left Yugi on the floor and exited the mansion. But turning to his right, he saw four of the five Egyptians, Ryou and Jonouchi, on flying spirits, appear from the trees.
Seeing him run to the left, Seto signaled everyone to stop and then pointed to Dartz trying to escape, "There he goes!"
"Ryou, Jonouchi, check on Yugi!" said Bakura as the two hurried from the Change of Heart and Red Eyes.
"Hurry after him." With that, Ryou and Jonouchi ran inside to be sure Yugi was alright while the Egyptians went after Dartz. Watching from the tree, the two grinning Man Eaters flew after them to see who dies and will be their next meal.
Running through the woods while it is pouring, Dartz started to climb a cliff in the Man Eaters' territory. Getting off the spirits at the base of the cliff, Seto pointed to Dartz and said to the others, "After him!" And they started to climb the cliff.
Climbing to the very top, Dartz came to a halt when he saw the rest of the path was a drop down. Turning back toward the Egyptians that were on his tail, Dartz looked around for a way to help him. "I'm trapped! What will I do? Those meddling, bronze fools!" Seeing a boulder right next to him, Dartz took a long, dead branch and tucking it under the boulder, tried with all his might to push it over the edge to crush the Egyptians with the two Man Eaters perched on a branch above him.
Seeing him trying to push the boulder down their path, the Egyptians stopped in their tracks with Dartz laughing. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck the cliff he stood on, making him fall into the abyss with the boulder soon following.
To see the king die from the fall, the Man Eaters buzzed from the branch and flew down to the now dead king to have their meal.
After watching Dartz fall to his death, Bakura turned toward the other panting Egyptians. "Now that he's gone, we need to see about Yugi."
"Yes, let's hurry back to the mansion!"