Chapter Twenty-One

As told from the perspective of Joey Wheeler-

…where was I.

It was completely silent and …still. No breeze, or anything… no sounds.

My mind was foggy. I couldn't grip a solid thought for a while. I tried to process where I was… sleeping, but…

I gulped and forced my eyes open. It was… dark. I could barely see very much. There was a kind of low candlelight…

I groaned and closed my eyes. My head was aching. I pressed my hand to my forehead. It was… kind of warm in here. The air was heavy and stale. My other hand was still gripped around the Millennium Scale.

Then I realized something: where the hell was I! How did I get here…? Was I kidnapped, or…? But, I was alone… nobody else was in here…

I forced my stinging eyes open again and pushed myself sitting. It looked like… a temple, or … or tomb, or…

Wait, no. We'd been here. …this was… the temple that Atem had first seen Zorc in. Kul Elna. Zorc had been resurrected here. We'd had the last battle with Atem here.

"How the hell…!" I gasped, completely confused… I stood up and looked around. Yes, that's where I was… I looked down at myself. I was still dressed in my formal suit.

I looked around the room that I was in, a little bit. With a rush I realized that I was not alone: the white-haired girl was sitting here, not far from me. I rubbed my head and looked over at her. "You're-" I began, but she looked over her shoulder and exclaimed, "Wheeler! I am glad to see that you are okay."

I shakily stood up and saw that Kaiba was lying in her lap. His eyes were closed, and the girl had the back of her hand pressed to his forehead.

"What happened to us," I asked.

Kaiba coughed at that moment. I knelt down next to him and the girl. He was disoriented. He muttered, "I'm… on the ground… what happened…?"

Kisara gently set him down, and he pushed himself sitting, and then he stood up, leaning heavily on Kisara's shoulder. "Thank you," he muttered, able to stand by himself.

"Pegasus is drunk with the power of the Millennium Eye," Kisara began slowly. "I think that he is being controlled by Zorc."

I swallowed. Kisara continued, "I think that Zorc has made him a minion, and has a decent hold on Pegasus' mind… he wants the items brought back together in the stone. That is how Zorc can be released. Pegasus tried to kill you all tonight; he tried to get the items from you..."

"You stopped him?" I gasped, and she nodded. "I recognize that power. I know it very well."

I swallowed hard again. "Thanks," I said, unable to believe it. "Where did you bring us?"

"Well... I have an idea, and I think that we must do it... I think that we shouldresurrect Zorc."

Kaiba's eyes widened, and she said, "It would be in a controlled environment. We could summon him, and then, we could be here to fight him. Fortunately, Pegasus was able to escape Zorc's control enough that he knew what was going on, and was able to train you all for a potential defense. Right?"

"Yeah," I said hesitantly.

"Then, let us make our way through the temple, back up to the chamber that holds the tablet. Pegasus' men have strung up lights... we should be able to see," Kisara said. "I brought everyone else here, too. They're all somewhere, and we'll find them…"

"Everyone else? Who is everyone else?" I asked, and she replied, "Everyone who held a Millennium Item. I am sorry that we are all a bit scattered. Only the people who were standing near each other at the party are together- but, we can find everyone. They are all alive."

"Thank you," Kaiba muttered. "I trust your decisions, but I will need your strength."

"Of course," she said happily. She disappeared with a burst of light. I shielded my eyes for a second, and then saw that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card in Kaiba's hand had shone for a moment. He put the card back into his jacket pocket.

"So… you have the Millennium Rod with you, right…?" I asked. He frowned, and said, "Come on."

I was looking around at everything that we passed. There were stone end tables here and there that had jars and statues on them. I was kind of fascinated. There were even more stone slabs that had monsters in them… were these monsters supposed to guard Atem? Maybe… there were tons of them. I recognized most of them.

We reached a kind of fork in the hallway. Both branches were lit by candles. I groaned. "Which way now?" I asked.

Kaiba frowned over his shoulder at me and started walking off to the left. I shrugged and followed him. Either way was the same, right? Maybe? If they both had candles, then that meant that Pegasus' people were here, so it can't be too bad…

As told from the perspective of Seto Kaiba-

I frowned in the darkness; I could feel the Millennium Rod, in my pocket, pressing against my back.

Joey wasn't far behind me. I could hear him rustling around with things; picking up things off of the stone tables and setting them down, sometimes muttering, "What the hell is this," under his breath.

"Don't touch anything," I told him.

"Uh-huh," he said lamely, ignoring me; he picked up what looked like a vase and studied it. "'Ey, Kaiba, look at this," he said. "This has a message on it. Can you read it?"

I went over to where he was standing. I squinted in the low light; in the hieratic text, I read, aloud, "the vengeful souls of those sacrificed for the Millennium Items shall rise."

"What does that mea…" Joey began to ask, before the urn in his hands started shaking; startled, he dropped it; the pottery shattered, and a horrible, thick dust filled the room swiftly.

Coughing, I growled, "what did you do?" at him; he replied, waving the dust out of his face, "I didn't… mean to!"

We both stepped back from the destroyed urn. "Great," I said angrily. "Do you realize that your senselessness never ceases to amaze me? It's fascinating; how can you possibly come up with new material so often?"

"At least you read it before it got broken," he sighed. "What good does that message do us?"

I didn't have time to wonder, myself; I was interrupted by a horrible flash of light that came from the shattered urn's remains; suddenly, the forms of hundreds of fearsome ghosts formed in front of us. They looked like lost, evil spirits- the forms of poltergeists. I yelled aloud in fright and dropped the Millennium Rod in surprise; Joey didn't even have time to react before the shrilly moaning spirits swirled around him.

He fell to his knees, gripping his head, howling aloud in pain, as they swarmed about him. I rushed towards him; they were hardly touching him, but he was reacting as though he was suffering the utmost torture- what were they doing to him? "Wheeler!" I shouted. "Get up! Move away from them!"

It was no use; perhaps he couldn't even hear me, over the sound of his own painstaking yells and the moans of the ghosts. What could I do? I had to think of something, quickly… I didn't know what they were doing to him, but he was in pain-

"Get off of him!" I yelled, now as close to them as I could possibly be without touching a ghost- It was as though I was not even there, to them; I reached my hand into the gaseous mass of ghosts in an attempt to grab Joey's shoulder and wrench him away, and was immediately struck with the sensation of having plunged my entire arm into a bucket of freezing water; I felt my hand make contact with Joey's shoulder; I was now not surprised to feel that he was even colder than my arm was-

He stopped yelling after a moment and was now obviously struggling to breathe- only seconds had gone by, but I knew this had to be stopped- then something occurred to me: why were they attacking him and not me? Who were these ghosts…

I had to fight them. I picked up the Millennium Rod off of the ground a few feet behind where I had been standing; instantly, as soon as my hand touched the Rod, half of the ghosts began to rush at me, and suddenly I realized that this had been the difference: he was still holding the Scales when I had dropped the Rod; they were attacking the people who held the Millennium Items…

Thinking quickly, heart pounding, I held the Millennium Rod at arm's length towards the ghosts who were hastily flying in my direction; I shouted, "I damn you ghouls to darkness!"

Incredibly, they all stopped and hung in midair; chest heaving, I now commanded, "Retreat to the prison of stone," still pointing the Millennium Rod. Immediately, they flew away from me and away from Joey and disappeared into a stone panel of the wall; they were gone. Joey fell forward; lying as still as the shattered pieces of the urn which he had broken.

I jammed the Millennium Rod back into my back belt loop and rushed the few feet to where Joey was crumpled and knelt down and turned him over. His eyes were closed and lips just parted; was he breathing?

"Shit," I grumbled frantically. "Shit, Wheeler, come on…" I jabbed my finger up under his jaw line. Could they have really killed him? No; that was impossible… right?

He wasn't breathing; I couldn't find a pulse. I could tell, even in the dim light of the room, that his face was stark pale… "Shit," I barked again. I clasped my hands together and brought my fists down hard and quickly onto his chest; from this action I got no response.

"Damnit! Don't you dare do this, you useless asshole!" I shrieked. I beat my hands down onto his chest, again, with all of the possible force I could muster; this time, he recoiled and coughed loudly. I sighed in relief; he began lightly trembling and breathing shakily for a moment.

"Can you hear me?" I asked. "Can you get up?"

He didn't respond; only lied there, eyes still closed and face tightened in pain. His hands were curled forcefully into fists. "Say something," I said.

"What the hell…" he whispered, finally, still shuddering. "What the hell happened… " He opened his eyes and looked up at me. I could still see pain in his eyes; he grabbed my forearm tightly with a quivering hand and whimpered, "Kaiba…this sucks… cold…"

What should I do? Get him out of here? …yes. I pried his hand off of my arm and slung his arm around my shoulder and raised him up. I was standing; his feet dragged the floor.

"What… what happened," he whispered, hanging completely limply. "I… I don't…"

I frowned. He was clearly disoriented. Was he still in pain? "Ghosts… ghosts came from the urn that you broke," I explained. "They attacked you because you were holding the Millennium Scales…"

"No… no, I … ghosts…I know…" he muttered.

"You know? You know what they are?" I asked, very surprised.

"Atem… Atem said. …Millennium Items. …ghosts… they hate…" he replied, barely clinging to consciousness.

I sighed. He was in no condition to stand up even with my help. I gently set him back down against a wall of the temple. He was steadying his breaths; I stood impatiently in front of him. He then whispered, "The ghosts… they … they hate the Millennium Items…"

I frowned. He shakily continued, "I don't… I don't know much… more. But… those are … ghosts hate…"

I folded my arms and waited for him to regain his strength; for a long time he sat, clutching at his chest and letting out an occasional rare whimper of pain. Finally he whispered, "I'm …okay. We… we shouldn't sit still…"

Tremulously he started to push himself up, leaning against the wall desperately for support. I sighed, goaded, but realized what I had to do if we were going to get anywhere: I approached him and slung his arm around my shoulder.

"Why're you… you're helpin' me…" he muttered, as I carried him through the halls of the temple.

"If I don't, then, you're holding me back even more than you usually do."

Joey was silent. Then, he said, "What… so, you're resortin' to teamwork…?"

"Look, I know that you have a ton of practice in holding me back, but, this isn't particularly the time to put your skills into motion." But, then, something caught my eye- I looked up and become surprised at something that was materializing in front of us. "What is that…" I muttered. I felt Joey lift his head and retreat his arm from around my shoulder. I let go of him and he stood by himself. He looked up at what I was seeing… "It's…" he began slowly.

It was a figure that sauntered out of the darkness. Joey gasped softly. I narrowed my eyes in disbelief. It was… Mai Valentine?

"Joey," she whispered. He just stood there, plainly in shock. It had been months since we saw her; she was wearing dark purple leather clothing and had a kind of sad look in her eyes. What was she doing…?

I frowned. Mai Valentine was wandering this pyramid? Did Pegasus bring her, here, too? She was a good duelist… maybe he would ask for her help…? But, there were no more Millennium Items to use… so, why would Pegasus bring her here? It would be dangerous for her.

"Mai," Joey whimpered.

Mai didn't approach us anymore. She just smiled warmly yet desolately, and said, still very quietly, "Joey… can you ever forgive me…"

Joey didn't move. He was trembling; I stood a few feet behind him, mind still racing. What was she apologizing for? And why here, why now?

"Could you ever forgive me?" Mai continued, in response to his silence. "I… I am afraid to face you again. But…"

As she went on with this, my frown became deeper and deeper. Something was wrong. Why wasn't Mai frightened because she was here? Why wasn't she confused? She hadn't done any training with us… Kisara wouldn't have brought her here. Even if it had been a long time since she'd seen Joey, didn't we have other things to be concerned with, than trying to repair their friendship?

I felt something shift in my hand. The Millennium Scales... they were tilting… and then I realized…

Joey stood, still tremulous, for a moment, but then began to rush forward. Thinking quickly, I grabbed his forearm, shouting, "Don't!" loudly-

"Kaiba, what the hell-"Joey began desperately, but I jabbed the Millennium Scales forward; the likeness of Mai disappeared to reveal Pegasus' toon doppelganger monster. Joey gasped aloud and I threw the monster into a stone slab that made up the wall.

Joey fell to his knees as I let go of his forearm. He whimpered, "It was just…"

"…a monster," I said, furiously finishing his thought. "You can't believe everything that you see. I mean, really, that didn't seem bizarre to you? That monster could have seriously hurt you-"

He stayed on his knees. He said, "No… that's… it was just…"

I was dumbfounded when I heard him sniffle. He shakily got to his feet, facing away from me. "I… I think of Mai all the time," he said, voice horribly choked. "I… I worry about her, because I don't know where she is… I'm afraid that she'll get took advantage of again, like… like what Dartz did, and… I want so bad to see her, because I forgive her for… using the Orichalcos on me… "

I didn't know what to say. I had forgotten that Joey had lost his soul to the Orichalcos, too; I had forgotten that Dartz had brainwashed Mai into dealing him that fatal duel.

He was choking back sobs as he slowly turned to face me. "I'm sorry…" he whimpered, looking rather pathetic with tears pouring from his eyes. "I… I've just… never wanted anything so bad… it's like… how did the monster…" he hiccupped and continued to talk between sharp breaths, "…know that that's what I'm thinkin' about… we used to… be such good friends… watchin' each other's backs…"

He broke down into his hands. I frowned. "Did those ghosts have anything to do with it, I wonder," I thought aloud.

In a flash that took me completely by surprise, he threw his arms around me. "What're you-!" I shrieked, squirming intolerably uncomfortably, as he sobbed into my shoulder. "Get… get off…" I muttered.

He completely ignored me; only continued to cry softly into my shoulder. I sighed, exasperated, and awkwardly pat him on the back. This was pitiful. At least he was surprised enough when I pat him that he let go of me and took a few steps backwards. He looked, wide-eyed, at me, for a moment, before shaking his head to contain himself and saying, "Sorry, man. I don't usually act like this. I think the ghosts screwed with my head and then that monster just got my soft spot, is all. I'm okay."

"Please don't do that again." I commanded stoically.

"Yeah," he muttered, wiping his eyes and sighing. We stood in a moment of exceptionally uncomfortable silence before he quietly blubbered, "Atem said that when you were the Priest, you put your memories into the Millennium Rod. Have you seen any of 'em yet?"

"I have," I said, fine carrying on a conversation with him if it meant that he wasn't going to cry anymore. "I think I know as much as you do. I saw how Atem sealed Zorc away, saw the origins of monsters… the last thing I saw was Atem crown me as the next Pharaoh."

"Yeah," Joey said. He wasn't crying anymore; his voice was steady. "You're a king, too. That's cool. We saw you when we went to the memory world. Your man-dress was pretty kick-ass… you wore this tall hat. Do you remember?"

"I have seen my hat," I sighed, wondering why I didn't expect for the only things that he found interesting to be things like that.

"Uh-huh," he laughed. "You're like, almost eight feet tall when you wore it. I wanted to wear it real bad. I had half a mind to like, sneak into your bedroom or somethin' while you were sleepin' and steal it. Then I remembered that I couldn't touch anything in the memory world…"

"You wanted to wear my hat," I repeated.

"It's totally awesome!" he exclaimed, as though everyone in the world might have wanted to wear my hat. "I think I'll make myself a hat like that so I can wear it. I liked your hat."

"Didn't you care about anything else in the memory world?" I asked. "I mean, really…"

"'Course I did," he replied carelessly, crossing his arms. "I helped Atem find his name and everything. I'm just sayin', I couldn't help but notice that you had a really kick-ass hat. But… so, you're believin' this stuff, now, huh?" he asked, grinning. I nodded diffidently; he sighed contentedly. "You've changed, Kaiba. Do you realize it?"

I frowned. "Somewhat; mostly, though, the difference in my personality and overall tolerance of your friends comes from considering the advice of my very reasonable girlfriend."

A brief moment of stunned silence; then, "Very reasonable… what?" he gasped, utterly astounded.

"Girlfriend?" I asked, confusedly finishing his sentence.

"Girlfriend," he repeated.

"Sure," I said.

"You do not."

"I do…"

Incongruously, he looked now as though I had just offered him a million dollars. He laughed and rambled, "Kaiba actually likes somebody! When the hell would I ever see the day!" jovially. "I didn't really think about it, that girl at the ball-that girl who brought us here- duh, oh my gosh, I shoulda known-"

"It's not that strange…" I muttered, eyes narrowed in bewilderment, until he elatedly said, "Do you realize what this means? You're off'a the market! Those girls at school can leave you the hell alone and give me a shot!"

I groaned and waited impatiently as he went on with this for a while longer, saying things like "bitches are mine now, hahaha; nothin' they can do about your big money and big penis;" I discordantly interjected, "Wheeler, I always rejected those girls…"

"You don't get it, do you," he sighed, shaking his head, looking terribly like a shaggy dog. "When a guy like you rejects a girl, it makes her want him more."

"Why," I asked flatly.

"Because you know you're too good for 'em!"

"I am too good for them," I said, not knowing where this was going.

"Right!"

We stood in a moment of silence as he beamed at me.

"Why am I even discussing this with you…" I then began, but he came up to me and clapped me on the shoulder. Then, he said, "You know what, Kaiba? You proved somethin' to me. You actually are finally capable of love!"

"Love?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you not counted the amount of times that I have ever risked my soul for my brother?"

"That's different!" he said, eyes wide and sparkling as though he was experiencing a magical fairy tale. "You've always loved him! See, you had to learn to like the girl that you're with, now, and the fact that you actually did… so, you know what?"

"What," I demanded, now thoroughly annoyed and wanting this to be over.

"Even after all the stuff we've all been through, over all'a the years and shit, I don't utterly despise you anymore. And I tell you, by the time we're done with all 'a this Millennium Item crap, you and me are gonna be friends."

"I'm happy for you," I said sharply. "But, don't get your hopes up; I've generally not been known to waste my time succumbing to friendship with useless, drooling idiots…"

"Don't be so sure, you stubborn jackass," he sang, alight with happiness. "My tears stain your expensive ol' suit!"

I groaned and looked down at my shoulder. It wasn't really wet. He laughed. "What's it like?" he asked.

"What," I groaned.

"Let me into your mind. How does one of the rare few people that you know that you like make you feel!" he asked gleefully, almost like… he was asking for relationship advice?

"Interesting question; I suppose that I am a fascinating person to ask owing as to I hate everyone on Earth." He chuckled, said, "Damn straight!" and waited eagerly for me to continue.

I figured I'd humor him. "Hmm… I suppose she captivates me. I look into her eyes and I am blinded to the evils of the world; she speaks to me and I cannot hear the echoes of the agonizing memories that for so long have cruelly plagued my mind. As she touches my hand I am numb to pain. Every word that passes her lips leaves me speechless. You mean, like that?"

Joey's jaw was on the ground. "What," I asked.

He didn't say anything. I frowned, feeling cross and petulant. "Did that answer your question," I asked impatiently. Then he sniffled again and tears began to stream down his face, but he was beaming.

My lips parted in surprise. Joey whimpered, "That's… that's the most beautiful thing I ever heard, Kaiba!"

"Beautiful?" I asked.

"You… I can't believe you're actually capable of sayin' things like that!" he muttered stuffily, wiping his eyes. "I'm so proud 'a you, man…" And he skipped off happily, pleased with what he had accomplished.

I stood, exasperated; rooted to the spot in which I was situated. Why… why did I always have to be stuck with the idiots? Did I not deserve to be associated with even half-wits- why was I forced to team up with the sixteenth-wits…

I resigned myself to following him down the hallways of this place. At least the sooner we got out of here, the sooner I could go back to visiting with the intelligent people whom I actually enjoyed spending time with: a mirror and a duel disk.