CROSSOVERS

Chapter 35: A Break from Adventure

"Father?" the voice echoed in cyberspace – lost and alone.

"Ahh... Noah," Gozaburo materialized next to his son. "You were not deleted, excellent."

Noah, with his father by his side, was suddenly confident, "Seto's defenses are down. He is not expecting an attack from the inside – the fool. We should strike now!"

"No," Gozaburo said harshly. "The last time we used your plans we failed miserably." Noah winced. "I have a plan of my own, but we must reach the island first."

Noah brightened in understanding, "Of course! Father, you're brilliant!"

"I know that!" Gozaburo snapped, "You don't have to repeat it. Now make yourself useful and hack into their files." A little hurt, the boy went as his father instructed.

Now alone with his thoughts, Gozaburo smiled sinisterly. "Seto has thwarted me for the last time, and my revenge will soon be complete." He laughed aloud, "The moment that boy steps on my island will be his last!"

Gozaburo knew that no one could hear him, so he laughed all the louder.

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"It feels like someone split my head open with a sledge hammer," I complained for the one hundredth time.

The doctor chuckled, "And it will for another few hours."

I had awoken to the bright lights of the medical room, which were now giving me a headache. I was in the same cot as before, when Ishizu's turban wearing friend attacked me. (I had long since given up trying to find out who he was.) The foam mattress was a bit lumpy and the sheets were paper thin, but the port hole on the wall allowed in the light, so I was cozy.

The doctor told me I had been out for an hour. Then Keith poked his head in and filled me in on the escape details: From me wiping out both Joey and Tristan to the sudden decor change from blimp to high-powered jet. Yugi and Téa popped in to sit at the foot of the bed and see how I was doing, and Joey and Serenity came in once every thirty minutes to check on both myself and Mai.

"Serenity!" I gasped when they first visited. "Your bandages are off!" I was surprised to see deep, intelligent, brown eyes looking back at me. Usually, the only word I would associate with Serenity was: innocence.

Serenity blushed and touched her face while Joey grinned behind her. The girl said bashfully, "When I was in the virtual world..." She blushed again. "Well, I could see! I know that place was a horrible trap, but it was so beautiful. When we returned to the real world, I couldn't stay in the dark any longer. I took my bandages off the moment my POD opened."

I smiled, "At least something good came out of that virtual mess."

The two Wheeler's soon left, and the doctor returned to check on me. Then he spent the next hour poking and prodding me with various equipment, writing everything down on a chart. He looked over his chart one last time and smile at me. "You might have a headache for another few hours. But, I do see a full recovery in your future."

"Great," I said. I sat up on my cot and pulled a monitor suction cup from my forehead. The doctor smile sympathetically and pushed me down, "I said in your future – not this instant."

The doctor returned to his instruments, adjusting the knobs here and there. "And to think! If you had been twenty years older you would have died!" The doctor laughed. He stuck the monitor cup back on my forehead, "Ah, to be young..."

"You don't get out much do you?" I asked. At the doctor's surly look I quickly changed the subject. "When can I get out of here?"

"Let me finish my examination first," the doctor said. He added, "You should be ready to leave by the time we reach Kaiba Island."

I nodded, "I think I can survive in here until then." As long as my dueling abilities weren't affected by my little electric adventure, I'd be fine.

"Please remember, Miss Murphy, that electricity gave your heart quite a jolt. So I want you to check with me every few hours, and you should return here immediately if you experience any nausea or chest pain." He stuck a thermometer in my ear, "Now, sit still."

For the remainder of the flight I was a prisoner of the medical room. Dr. Grey would not let me leave, not even to get my deck to prepare for the next round. In truth, I mainly wanted to leave because the room gave me the creeps. It was disturbing to be surrounded by all the victims. Rex Raptor's pale, cold body—on the cot to my right—just didn't strike me as "homey."

I was just about to lose my mind when Mokuba came in. He was sweet enough to bring me my deck when I asked him, and returned it to me with the words, "We have a whole catalog of duel monster cards right here on the ship. You could trade for some... if you wanted."

"Mokuba," I said, "That sounds lovely." My deck, in truth, still had a lot of the beginner cards – if I wanted to stay in this tournament I needed to give it some extra oomph!

The boy grinned at me, "I'll grab my laptop and we can access the whole database from there."

As soon as Mokuba set the laptop on my bed, I felt a sense of panic and clutched my deck to my chest. Okay – so it was a beginner deck, but it was MY deck. It had pulled me through countless situations and saved my butt more than once. I was about to call the whole thing off when Mokuba clicked into the Fairy section of the catalog. My eyes started to glow and my hands loosened their grip on my cards. So maybe some changes can be good...

After making a few cautious trades, I got into the mood and became more daring. But no matter how 'daring' I became, the process was still nerve racking. Without Yami by my side giving me pointers, I couldn't help but wonder if I was ruining my deck.

Have to cut the umbilical cord at some point. There was humor in Malik's voice.

"Ha-ha, very funny," I muttered, but all I accomplished was an odd look from Mokuba.

Staring at the laptop screen, listening to Mokuba explain cards, and fighting between whether I wanted to trade my Dark Magician or Last Hope, exhausted me. When we were finished I was about ready to collapse onto my pillow and fall asleep. Mokuba must have noticed, for he very quietly packed up his laptop, told me I'd do great, and left.

I was just about to drift off when another entered the room, breaking the silence.

"If you cannot duel during the next round, Elaine, you will be disqualified."

At the sound of Seto Kaiba's voice I was wide awake. From what Keith told me, Seto had practically saved my life back on the base! But more importantly – he had the power to kick me out of the tournament. The CEO had come around to stand beside my cot. He towered above my bed so high that, even laying down, it felt like I had to crane my neck to look into his face.

"Don't worry about me," I said. "I'll duel."

"You better," Seto said in a low voice, then he left the room. After I was positive he was out of hearing range, I finished, "Yeah, I'll duel... and I'll kick your butt, too!"

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Short and sweet...
Don't worry, Elaine will get into some dueling some. The finals are about to begin!
-all jump up, wave Elaine-Flags, and shout: YEA!-