The Rescue

Yami and Kaiba succeeded in defeating Lumis and Umbra in their double battle. Though they were able to put their differences aside and work together, Kaiba continued to let his pride get the better of him and boast that in the end, he defeated the Rare Hunters all on his own. It's true that Kaiba managed to summon his Egyptian God card, but it only worked because Yami helped him to achieve that task. It had been that way throughout the entire match, but Kaiba wouldn't admit it and only claimed that he was the true winner.

Umbra lost the duel and was sent plummeting to the Shadow Realm, leaving Lumis alone. But he didn't want to meet the same fate as his partner, so he surrendered. The magic shadow box didn't break the surface he was standing on, so he was safe, but not as safe as he thought. Marik began taking over his mind and began speaking directly to Yami and Kaiba.

"So you defeated my Rare Hunters," said Marik. "That's all right. They did their job."

Yami had enough. "What have you done with my friends, Marik?"

Marik said nothing. He just chuckled.

"This Rare Hunter's gone mad," said Kaiba.

"No, he's under the control of a man named Marik."

"That is ridiculous, Yugi."

"Marik's power is very real and he is the one holding Mokuba and my friends captive."

Kaiba found that last statement to be true. "Then tell me where this Marik is hiding."

Marik found Kaiba's temper to be amusing. "Wouldn't you like to know, Kaiba? I'll give you a hint: I'm closer than you think I am. I hope you enjoyed the special duel I set up for you. You fare better than I thought, but don't think that just because you beat my Rare Hunters, you'll be rescuing your friends and families anytime soon. You see, I've been preparing for the next phase of my plan and I've been studying each of your decks carefully through the eyes of my Rare Hunters. But Kaiba, I'm afraid your Egyptian God card pales in comparison to mine. There's no way it can stop me. And once I defeat you, Obelisk the Tormentor will be in my deck.

"And I haven't forgotten you, Yugi. Your Egyptian God card and Millennium Puzzle will be mine as well. And since my Rare Hunters failed, I've come up with the perfect plan to defeat you once and for all. By playing upon your greatest weakness: your loyalty to your pathetic friends. Don't worry, they're safe and sound right here with me. But I don't think they're on your side anymore. It seems their allegiance now lies with me. It's funny how friends are so quick to turn."

Yami couldn't believe what Marik was saying. "I'm the one you want, Marik, so leave my friends alone!"

"Too late. I'm afraid those fools belong to me now, Yugi," Marik said and began laughing.

"Why don't you face me already instead of hide behind your mind slaves, you coward?" Yami demanded. But Marik wouldn't. To him, it was fun to control minds and take advantage of others. And by turning Yami's friends against him, Marik was certain that Yami would surrender everything to him. "Leave my friends alone and tell me where they are," Yami said again.

Kaiba walked up to Lumis. "I don't know who you are, but you'd better tell me where Mokuba is. I've won this battle, now release my little brother just like you said you would."

"You trust me? What a fool."

Yami walked up to Kaiba to stop him. "You're wasting your energy. He obviously has no intention of telling us where to find Mokuba and the others."

"Very perceptive," Marik said as Kaiba released his grip on Lumis. Then he dispatched his servant.

"We're going to have to track them down on our own," said Yami. "Maybe your satellite system can help."

"I agree, but first, this Rare Hunter owes us something." Kaiba reaches into Lumis' pocket and takes out two locator cards. It was still an official Battle City duel and now Kaiba and Yugi had six locator cards, meaning they both qualified for the finals. But there was no time to think about the tournament now. They were about to think of a plan until they saw a helicopter in the air.

"Isn't that one of your helicopters?" Yami asked Kaiba.

Then Mokuba came out as it landed on the roof. "Mokuba escaped!" Kaiba cried. He approached his brother and asked, "Tell me, are you all right?"

He nods and says, "But I had to leave Téa and Emily behind."

"Are Téa and Emily all right?" Yami inquired. "What about Joey and Tristan?"

"Well, I'm not sure about Joey and Tristan, but the girls were doing fine until they helped me escape from the Rare Hunters' hideout. We have to go back for them."

"Get in the chopper now," Kaiba told Yami. "It seems like your friends Téa and Briar saved Mokuba's life and as much as I hate getting involved, I hate owing someone a favor even more."

Yami thanked Kaiba and stepped inside the helicopter after him and Mokuba. As the helicopter took off, Mokuba took out his desktop computer and began using the satellite system to track Joey. It was picking up a weak signal from his duel disk. It was being traced back to where the Rare Hunters were keeping Mokuba and the girls.

"The Rare Hunters' hideout is eleven miles away. We should be able to make it there in about fifteen minutes," said Mokuba. "I know exactly where those creeps are keeping Téa and Emily. Joey should be there too. We'll get them all out of there in no time," he promised.

But that was the least of Kaiba's concerns. His new objective was to find the last Egyptian God card. And based on what he heard, it must be in the possession of this Marik. Knowing that Yami might have some information, Kaiba asks him to fill him in with all the details. "Tell me, Yugi, who exactly is this Marik? You said he leads the Rare Hunters, but what else do you know about him?"

"Well, I've never actually seen his face," Yami answered. "But I know he possesses a Millennium Item very much like my own Millennium Puzzle."

Kaiba moaned. "Those again? Spare me the bogus magic talk, Yugi."

"Kaiba, you have already experienced the great power of a Millennium Item firsthand. Or have you forgotten about Pegasus' Millennium Eye?"

Kaiba did remember, but he didn't believe what happened to be real. "That was just a cheap trick."

"But, Seto, Pegasus did use his Millennium Eye to trap us," Mokuba argued, remembering what happened and how real it felt.

Kaiba still stubbornly refused to accept the facts. "Just drop it, Mokuba."

"You can believe whatever you wish," Yami said, seeing as Kaiba would stubbornly deny what he was hearing. "But I assure you the power of my Millennium Puzzle is no trick." Yami also decides that it's time to tell Kaiba the truth whether or not he wants to hear it. "And I'm not exactly who you think I am, Kaiba. I am actually a five thousand year old spirit who lives within the chambers of the Millennium Puzzle."

"That's a lie," Kaiba barked. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you!?"

"I believe you," Mokuba immediately said. "Emily told me about you. You're the spirit who guides Yugi in his duels. You're Yami."

"And she's right," Yami said. "And at one time, Emily and I lived in Egypt as pharaoh and princess."

"Pharaoh and princess?" Kaiba echoed. His eyes widened and he began reflecting on that night in the museum as Ishizu explained the same thing. "Your royal story's not true. There's just no way. Ishizu told me the same lie at the museum," Kaiba muttered. Then he realized that Yami had to have heard the same story from her. "I spoke to that crazy woman also, Yugi, but unlike you, I didn't buy into her story."

"What Ishizu said was true," Yami argued. "I know what I must do." And he began explaining to Kaiba how he met Marik and heard his plan for the first time. "I'll never forget what he said to me when I first met him; he told me his objective of wanting to gain ultimate power so he can rule the world."

"Emily said the same thing," Mokuba replied. "She said getting the Egyptian God cards and the power of the pharaoh will give Marik the power he needs to do it. That's why he's been out to get you."

"That's ridiculous, Mokuba," said Kaiba. "Yugi, do me a favor and stop corrupting my brother's mind with your lies."

"They're not lies," Yami promised. "And you heard Marik's plan firsthand. Do you remember when he controlled my opponent's mind and used Slifer the Sky Dragon against me?" He asked, talking about when he defeated Strings and heard Marik's plot to attack his friends and begin his plans of domination.

Kaiba laughed at that. "Using magic powers to control people's minds? How can you actually believe in such nonsense?"

"Because Marik's powers are very real and very dangerous," Yami answered. "And now that he's captured my friends, there's no telling what he plans to do with them."

Mokuba spoke up again. "Emily said that Marik wanted her for her own powers too."

"That's right. He wants the Millennium Star. How he plans to take it from Emily is what worries me. Just as he went through great trouble trying to defeat me in a duel, he could have something dangerous in store for her. We said we would work together to stop Marik, but now I have to save her before something terrible happens to her. And the same goes for the rest of our friends. We have to locate every one of them as soon as possible and get them away from that madman before it's too late."

Mokuba checked the map on his computer. "Don't worry, Yami. We're only two miles away from our target."

"Good," Yami told him. "It won't be long before we find Téa, Joey, and Emily."

Kaiba had enough. "I'm tired of hearing about your friends, Yugi. Especially that hack Wheeler and that mutant freak Briar."

Yami wasn't going to stand to hear Kaiba speak ill of his friends. "Joey has become an extremely skilled duelist, Kaiba. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he already qualified for the Battle City finals."

"And Emily's not a mutant, Seto," Mokuba argued. "She really does have magical powers. You saw them for yourself as she tried to help me. And like I said before, her powers make her one of Marik's victims."

"Damn it, Mokuba, that's enough!" Kaiba snapped. "Whatever that was back there, it wasn't magic! I don't know what Briar did, but it was a trick."

Yami could see plainly that Kaiba wasn't going to listen. So he silently vowed, "Not to worry, my friends, I'll set you free."

"Look, the Rare Hunters' hideout is just up ahead," Mokuba said, looking through the window and seeing the pier.

"Begin our descent," Kaiba ordered.

Yami grasped the chain holding his Puzzle and Yugi's voice rang through. All right, no matter what happens down there, I'm not leaving without my friends. You won't get away with this, Marik! "As soon as we land, Mokuba will lead us to my friends. We'll break in and get them out."

Kaiba disagreed. "I brought you here, so I'll be the one who decides what we're going to do. The first task on my agenda is to track down the third Egyptian God card. After that, we'll find your friends."

"Kaiba, Joey and the girls are in great danger and we must rescue them right away!"

Kaiba scoffed. "It's obvious that you and I have very different priorities. So I say we split up and fend for ourselves once we land."

"That's foolish."

"Maybe it is for you, but I've always worked better alone. Haven't you realized by now that teamwork's not my thing? So do me a favor and stay out of my way, Yugi, because we're finished. You want to find your friends, so you can do it yourself. I've done enough charity work for today."

Looking out the window, Mokuba saw someone standing alone out in the pier. "There's someone out there and I think it's Joey."

Yami saw that Mokuba was right. "It is Joey!" Then he began to think something was wrong. "Kaiba, we may be heading into a trap."

But Kaiba wouldn't listen. "I've heard enough out of you for one day."