Chapter 56, everybody! In which breaking in and breaking out occurs….

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! I know! There's why the weather's been weird. Of course—that beach has been brought to you by sand! It's everywhere! Get used to it! :D Although at least beach sand doesn't do as much of a number on your socks (I don't think). That happens in our house too—it really freaks us out on occasion. *~* Probably the best example was the TV in the other room turning on when no one was in there—I think this place is part of the Twilight Zone….

Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi

Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment

"What do you mean, 'this is convenient'?" Yugi managed to gasp, once his heart rate returned to normal.

"You strangling yourself," Mana explained. "It saved me the trouble."

"What?"

"Not so loud! Now come on—we're getting you out of here."

"And where to?" Yugi asked suspiciously.

"Out of the palace," Mana explained simply. "I'll explain the details on the way. Oh—these are yours."

And she handed him his clothes.

"I managed to snitch them before they were burned," she explained, looking reticent. "I…er…I told the drudge I had an incineration spell I wanted to try, and since they were going to be burned anyway, and I'd take them to the burn pit if the spell didn't work, so don't worry about it…."

Yugi sensed she was seeking solace for what she perceived was a bad action. "Well, it's not like whoever is going to tell anyone," he said, the joke falling flat even to him.

Mana shook her head. "Some of the Items can read a person's mind. Now come on—before I talk myself out of this."


Bakura made very carefully sure to be on the opposite side of the palace from where his father and Wilson were going to be. He didn't need to be caught by his father and grounded for life—that would be even worse than being caught by the guards.

The walls of the palace were tall and smooth—so much so that crawling up them was impossible. So was digging under. His father and Wilson's plan was to slip through the main gate when the guards came out.

Bakura's plan was much more straightforward, and infinitely more dangerous.

The stones that formed the walls and the palace were mined from the canyons in which Kul Elna resided. As a matter of fact, a section of Kul Elna had been formed by that very quarry. That meant that the stonecutting tools they used in Kul Elna would be just as effective on these walls.

Of course, he wasn't about to tunnel through—that would take too long.

Instead, he fished the two spikes out, gripped them firmly by the handles, and drove them into the wall.

They went in smoothly and quickly.

That done he pulled one spike out and drove it in as high as he could reach. Next, he pulled the other spike out and tightened his other arm, testing his weight. When he was satisfied the spike would hold, he drove the other spike into the wall, loosened the other one, and set to the arduous task of scaling the wall.

This was going to be a major pain, he decided.

He was about halfway up—an endeavor that had taken him over an hour, he was sure—when he heard guards circling above.

He froze where he was, clinging to the wall. Now that he wasn't moving, his arms were really beginning to burn from the strain. And was it just his imagination, or did gravity seem to be getting stronger?

He couldn't let go—he'd slide down at best and let out a cry upon landing that would alert the guards on the wall. At worst, he'd break both his legs upon impact and let out a cry that would alert the guards on the wall.

To make matters worse, he heard movement below him. He spared a glance down to see a pair of guards making a circuit around the wall. Great. What else could go—

The spikes began to slide out of the crumbling wall.