Notes: The wonderful ElfBean on DeviantArt illustrated the rescue scene at the end for me! I love it.

Chapter Fifteen

After the outlandish experience in the house, the group wondered if they would really be able to leave without trouble. But they made their way back upstairs, past Adele and Celine in the dining room, and out the front door onto the porch. As soon as they were out, several dared to look behind them. Now the house had reverted back to its decrepit state.

"Weird," Tristan commented.

Joey moved as far away from the house as he could. ". . . So now what?" he asked, trying not to show how disturbed he was.

"We need to put this in a safe place," Lector said, looking down at the old cloth. "But I'm not exactly sure where that Dr. Raven wouldn't think to look."

"Yeah, I mean, how do we know what this guy can't break into?" Joey said.

"Let's take it back to the house and put it any old place," Yami Bakura grunted. "Perhaps a safe, if the house has one. Or we could put it in a tomb. I'll cast a sealing spell on it." He sneered. "And if anyone tries to break it unauthorized, they'll get a very nasty little surprise."

"Works for me," Crump said.

Atem watched Yami Bakura carefully as they started heading down the hill to the vehicles. "You've been getting awfully bold lately," he remarked. "I hope that won't backfire on you."

Yami Bakura looked to him. "It is strange, isn't it," he mused. "But the Infinity Ring seems to allow it. The more I've been working with it, the more I may be starting to understand it. I can do things, even unconventional things, in order to protect Bakura and others. Perhaps . . . I don't have to completely change who I am to please it."

"Just be careful," Atem said. "I'm sure that some things would be off-limits, even if your intentions were good."

"I'm sure as well," Yami Bakura grunted. "But we'll see. I doubt a sealing spell would be a problem."

"Yeah, but can you really do one?" Tristan wondered. "Your Ring acts so screwy."

"I believe I can manage this," Yami Bakura said.

It didn't take long to return to the mansion and decide on a place for the coat of arms. Evangeline felt it would be safest in one of the secret compartments in one of the tombs, so they picked the most difficult one to access and Yami Bakura cast his sealing spell over it.

Téa sighed, leaning on the wall with an elbow. "So now what?" she wondered. "I mean, where do we go from here?"

Lector looked up from his phone. "I've called Adele," he said. "Mother is finally out of the spell, as are the other people around the city."

"Well, that's good," Téa said.

"I would say our remaining objective, then, is to catch Dr. Raven," Gansley said.

"But how are we gonna do that?!" Crump frowned. "We don't know where he'll show up next! Unless . . ." He pondered the problem. "Unless he decides to go to his old shop after all. . . . Or unless maybe he wants the stuff that Dove guy was transporting?"

Téa sighed. "I guess the police won't be able to hold that guy on anything when we couldn't prove he knew about Marie being drugged. . . ."

"No, they won't," Johnson said. "In fact, he's probably been released by now."

"And then he'd go right back to the ship to get his stuff!" Joey realized.

"Where he might clash with Dr. Raven again," Atem groaned.

"Then it looks like we've gotta go back there too," Crump said.

"And this time Raven won't have the chance to pull a stunt like last time," Yami Bakura growled.

Atem shot him a Look. "You're going to make sure he goes to the Shadow Realm, aren't you?"

"You surely can't deny that he deserves it," Yami Bakura insisted. "Prison obviously won't hold him."

"The Shadow Realm doesn't have the best track record of doing that either," Joey said.

"Hey, I just remembered something," Nesbitt exclaimed. "I was wondering last night if Darcy is still in a coma. What if she came out of it just as bitter and hateful and is working with Dr. Raven to hurt Lector and the rest of his family?!"

Lector flinched. "I should have thought of that myself," he said in chagrin. "Yes, I'm afraid that if the Mind Crush didn't help her to want to change, she might very well do something like that."

Evangeline's eyes flashed. "I'll call her aunt and uncle right now and find out!" She pulled out her phone.

"You'd think if she woke up that way that someone would have called Lector to warn him," Tristan remarked. "All of her family is nicer than she is."

"What if she'd try to fool them into thinking she'd changed if she hadn't?!" Crump exclaimed.

"Then one of the first things she would do would be to come to me and beg my forgiveness," Lector said. "I saw her put on her innocent act many times, but after I caught a glimpse of her true self she could never fool me with that again."

"Good for you," Nesbitt grunted.

Evangeline reached Darcy's aunt and shared a brief conversation before she hung up, her tan skin turning white.

"Nesbitt was right, wasn't he?" Seto frowned.

"She did wake up," Evangeline said weakly. "And she claimed she did feel bad about what she'd done and she'd tell Démas as soon as he came back here again. But she hasn't been around at all."

"Not to mention, how would she even know when he'd be coming back?" Gansley realized.

"So she must have been lying." Lector clenched a fist.

"Would Dr. Raven even work with her, though?" Yugi suddenly wondered. "He seems like he likes to be in charge, but she seems the same way."

"Well, that's a recipe for disaster," Duke remarked, twirling a piece of hair.

"If they both hated me enough, they'd probably try to do it," Lector said, his eyes flickering with discomfort. It would be one thing if someone wanted to hate him for the things he'd actually done wrong. But it seemed like so many hated him for mostly or completely imagined ills.

"Oh Démas . . ." Evangeline went to him and hugged him close. "This is the last thing you needed right now. . . ."

Nesbitt growled. "That's why I didn't mention it last night," he said. "But then I remembered again and I figured he should know. . . ."

"I should," Lector said, drawing his arms around his sister. "I'll be alright, Nesbitt. I won't collapse again."

Nesbitt's eyes flickered. He didn't look as sure of that.

Gansley was also concerned. "So we'll have to be on guard for the possibility that both of them will assault us when we go to the ship," he said.

"And that's all we can do," Atem said. "We'd better hurry and go."

"I guess there's no point in asking if you'll stay behind," Nesbitt said to Lector.

"Not really," Lector said. "And if you're right, Nesbitt, I'd probably be safer staying with all of you anyway. Darcy would love to get me where no one could defend against her black magic. I am most likely still too weakened to use my ring. And it probably wouldn't work to use it to defend myself anyway."

"Oh, that's true," Evangeline realized. "Stupid stipulations . . . !"

"Alright then, so we're all together," Mai said. "Let's see what we can come up with."

xxxx

All was quiet at The Star of New Orleans when the group arrived back. That was definitely enough to send off alarm bells in their minds, and as they climbed the ramp leading onboard, they all stayed alert for any sign of Dr. Raven, Mr. Dove, or Darcy Broussard.

"They might be in the cargo hold," Johnson suggested.

Gansley nodded. "We'll have to try there first."

It was only further disturbing when they found the cargo untouched and no one around to claim it.

"Man, I was sure that Dove guy would come back and get his stuff after the police set him free," Joey frowned, folding his arms.

"So was I," Atem said. He went to the nearest crate and studied it. "I wonder if the contents are really just trinkets for the tourists and nothing dangerous and genuinely magical."

"The only way to find out is to look in them," Crump said. "Although I guess even then we might not be able to identify anything . . . especially if it's not in the book. . . ."

Téa sighed. "So what now?" she wondered, shoving her hands in her shorts pockets while leaning back against the wall.

"Perhaps we should spread out and search the ship," Atem said. "If none of our enemies come to it, I'm not sure what to do next outside of returning to Raven's shop. And I would rather not do it unless absolutely necessary."

"I wholeheartedly agree," David said.

"Okay, so we'll search," Crump said. "But nobody should go alone!"

"We'll divide into several groups, and there will be at least one magic user in each group," Atem agreed.

"But there'll need to be two in whichever group Démas is in," Evangeline was quick to point out.

"I'll go with Lector's group," Nesbitt said.

Groups were quickly decided on and they spread out, promising to keep in touch via their phones. The ship was huge, and it might be fatal if they lost contact. Most were certain that someone would be coming, if no one was there yet. If nothing was discovered within thirty minutes, they would all meet back on the deck.

". . . I never realized how creepy a huge ship could be when no one's on it," Téa moaned as her group wandered down a hall.

"It's sure creepy, alright," Mokuba agreed with a shiver. "But it's even creepier thinking about all the jerks who could be hiding in the shadows trying to get us."

Marik ran his hand over the wall. "This is high quality craftsmanship. It's a shame the ship is being used by criminals."

"Leave it to you to think about that," Seto grunted.

Marik shrugged. "Ships are one of my passions."

"Well, there's sure no one down here," Téa sighed. "I wonder if anyone else is having any better luck." She took out her phone and looked at it. "No news yet. . . ."

Mokuba scowled. "I wanna be glad if no one's coming out, but if we don't find them here, we know we'll be seeing them some other time. I'd rather get it over with."

"I agree with you, Mokuba," Seto said. "But it remains to be seen if that will happen."

It certainly seemed that it would not. In every area of the ship, each group found absolutely no trace of anyone still onboard. But the more they looked and found it so completely empty, the more eerie it was.

"Shouldn't there always be a skeleton crew around?" Johnson wondered, pushing up his glasses as his group left the boiler room. As with every other section, it was vacant.

"You'd think so," Tristan frowned. "Nesbitt would know."

"Well, it's almost been thirty minutes," Joey said nervously. "We should get heading back up."

"I almost wonder if this entire ship is a trap," Johnson said. "Maybe the crew was bribed to leave. Or worse, maybe something . . . magical happened to them. . . ."

"I wouldn't be surprised either way," Tristan said.

"But if it's a trap, shouldn't we have sprung it by now?" Joey said, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder.

"You'd think so," Johnson said.

"Let's just find the others and get off," Mai said. "This ship makes me uneasy."

Joey looked to her as they headed up the stairs. "I wasn't thinking," he said. "Does being here remind you of when you worked on the cruise ship, Mai?"

"A little bit," Mai said. "But a cruise ship is a lot different from a cargo ship. A cruise ship has all kinds of rooms and activities for the passengers' enjoyment. A cargo ship is just the bare bones of traveling."

"It's still better than Evangeline's house," Joey said. "Man, I wish she'd move, since the ghosts won't cooperate or leave. . . ."

"You know, there are people who claim to help ghosts cross over to the other side," Mai said. "Maybe Evangeline should try one of those."

Joey blinked at her. "You mean like in the show Bleach?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Not exactly, since those people are basically Grim Reapers or astral-projected mortals and these people are alive and in their bodies."

Joey flushed. "Oh. Right."

Tristan looked around as they ascended to the next level. "It really is weird, where everyone went. Let's just hope none of our friends disappear like that."

"I'm hoping, I'm hoping!" Joey exclaimed.

When they reached the top deck, all the other groups were already gathering. From the matching grim and confused expressions, no one else had had any luck either. Joey noted with relief that Serenity was there.

Serenity turned and saw him too. "Joey!" she smiled.

Joey hurried over to her. "Everything okay, Sis?"

"Yeah. I just wish we could've found something," Serenity sighed.

"Found something?!" Crump suddenly bellowed. "Hey, that's Dr. Raven right over there, on the pier!"

Everyone looked to where he was pointing. He was right; the corrupted sorcerer was standing and raising his staff from the pier.

"Where'd he get the staff from?!" Joey yelped. "He didn't have that back!"

"Perhaps there was something similar in one of the crates that he took and we overlooked that crate was missing," Atem said. "Not that it really matters now."

Yami Bakura pushed past the others and stormed down the ramp. "We are going to have this out right now," he snarled, "and you're not going to use someone else as a shield this time!"

"Oh?" Dr. Raven looked at him in amusement. "And just what do you intend on doing?"

"What I was doing before," Yami Bakura replied. "Only this time it will work!"

Lector chased after Yami Bakura. He wished that he could also participate, when Dr. Raven had started all this madness by threatening his family. He knew he was still too weakened, but at least he hoped to watch. And judging from the man's actions, he had probably been about to cast a spell on the ship. Everyone should disembark.

The rest of the group had the same idea. They hurried down the ramp, leaving the ship behind. But it was as they set foot back on the pier that the horrible realization dawned.

"Where's Johnson?!" Gansley demanded.

The rest of the Big Five went stiff.

"He's not here?!" Crump gasped.

"He was right with us!" Joey exclaimed. "Following right . . . after us. . . ." He looked to Tristan and Mai, sickened. Had someone snatched Johnson while they had been oblivious?

Lector promptly turned back to the ship. "We have to get back on!"

Even as he spoke, the ramp was being abruptly pulled up. At the same moment, so was the anchor.

"It's leaving port!" Nesbitt said in disbelief. "Someone was onboard!"

"That's right."

They looked up with a collective jerk at the familiar, cruel voice. Darcy Broussard had emerged onto the deck, sneering down at them. One arm was around a trembling Johnson's throat. The other was curled around his waist.

"Johnson!" Lector screamed.

Joey snarled. "Oh man. . . . This was my fault. I should've been watching more closely!"

"What's wrong with him?!" Tristan said in worried frustration. "Couldn't he easily break away from her?!"

"No." Gansley stared up at his friend, helplessly gripping his cane. "Whether deliberately or accidentally, by grabbing him like that she triggered in him the memory of what his former secretary did to him last autumn. He's frozen, locked in the past."

"Oh, it's deliberate," Darcy said. "I've researched everything that's happened to you and your precious friends, Démas. I know you're the closest to Mr. Nesbitt, so I might have preferred to target him again like last time. But I also know you love all of them and Mr. Johnson would be the easiest to capture and manipulate."

"That's horrible!" Evangeline screamed. "You're beyond cruel!"

"I know." Darcy reached up with the hand of the arm around Johnson's neck and stroked it. Johnson flinched, a choked cry escaping his lips.

Nesbitt shook his fist, swearing at her.

Lector ran to the end of the pier. "Darcy, I'm the one you're after!" he cried. "Come back and let him go!"

"Sorry, Démas," she sneered. "This ship's sailing, if you haven't already noticed. The only way to get him back is to come after me. Of course, by the time you either get a boat or swim over, I think his mind will be gone." She started to move her other hand over his shirt and down to his belt.

When she made the slightest indication that she might take hold of the buckle and undo it, Johnson came to life. He screamed, grabbing her wrists and shoving her violently away from him. In desperation he ran to the side of the boat, clearly planning to leap over the railing into the water.

"Johnson, don't do it!" Lector yelled in alarm. "You're too far out! I'll get a motorboat and come out to you! Don't . . ."

Before he could even finish his sentence, the ship burst into a raging cacophony, the red-orange flames engulfing and billowing around it. Johnson and Darcy disappeared from sight.

"The ship exploded!" Téa shrieked. "How?!"

Nesbitt wasn't waiting to hear the answer. He kicked off his shoes and dived into the water, desperately swimming towards the inferno.

Lector was frozen, staring at the blaze as the color of the flames reflected off his face. Johnson . . . Johnson was no doubt badly hurt now, if not dead. . . . Had Darcy blown up the ship, and herself, to kill Johnson? This was the second time in twenty-four hours that he had witnessed a loved one fatally hurt, but this time it wasn't like when he had seen a fake Nesbitt. This was the real Johnson. He was . . . he was . . .

Crump wrapped his strong arms around Lector from behind, holding his friend close and keeping his legs from giving out. "It's gonna be okay, Buddy," he soothed, even as he trembled from shock and fear himself. "Johnson's . . . he's gonna be fine. Nesbitt'll get him and bring him back and . . ." He trailed off, choking on his words. "Oh Buddy. . . ."

"Johnson's not fine," Lector shot back. "He's dead! Or horribly burned. . . ." He sobbed, gripping at Crump's arms. Indeed, his friend was the only reason he was still standing right now.

Yami Bakura whirled, turning to stare at Dr. Raven. The man was still holding a small black box in his hand, sneering in approval at his work.

"You did it!" he realized. "You set well-concealed explosives on the ship and blew it up by remote control!"

"That's right," Dr. Raven crowed. "I wanted to kill every one of you, but I got sidetracked when Dove showed up. I had to take care of him first, and then all of you were back on deck and running down to meet me. When I realized that woman had one of the Leichter boy's friends, I decided to blow up the ship anyway, even though I'd only be getting one of you."

"You monster!" Lector spat, fire suddenly burning in his eyes. He struggled to get out of Crump's arms. "You're going to pay for this!"

"Of course he is, but you're not going to be the one to do it!" Gansley snapped. "Lector, you barely have the strength to stand right now! You are not going to use your ring!"

But it was a futile command. Lector raised his arm and blasted at Dr. Raven with every bit of his strength. All the pain . . . all the heartache and misery. . . . His family's betrayal. . . . It was all Dr. Raven's fault. And he was still trying to hurt them all now! Lector had had more than enough. But instead of collapsing this time, he was going to fight back. He would have done it before if he'd had the chance . . . if he could have been there when Raven showed up before.

Dr. Raven gave a yell of surprise and pain as the blast hit him and he flew off his feet to the ground. Yami Bakura was immediately there, pressing him down with a foot on his stomach.

"Lector had every right to attack you," he said darkly, "and now you'll regret everything you've done to all of us. You won't make a fool out of me again! Penalty Game!" The Infinity Ring began to glow.

"Penalty Game?! What?!" Dr. Raven yelped.

The dark purple and blue clouds enveloped them both.

Bakura bit his lip. "I hope Yami will be alright. . . ."

"Of course he will be," Joey said. "Right now it's Johnson we've gotta worry about." He turned to look back at the mess. The ship was burning, pieces of it falling off into the water. Nesbitt was still swimming, dodging the falling debris all around him.

"He can't find him!" Téa cried.

Lector sank back against Crump, shaking. Using the ring had drained him, but the adrenaline rush had kept him from outright passing out even as he'd used up so much energy. Right now, the knowledge that Nesbitt still couldn't find Johnson was making him weaker than blasting Dr. Raven had done. "He's dead," he whispered hopelessly. "Johnson's dead. . . ." He shut his eyes tightly, tears slipping down his cheeks. "There's nothing of him to find. . . ."

"Hey, we don't know that!" Crump exclaimed. "Maybe he's under the water!"

The same thought had occurred to Nesbitt. He dived, desperately looking in every direction for his missing friend. He wanted to call out, but of course that was impossible here. He squinted through the water. If Johnson was drowning, finding him immediately was critical. But where . . . ?!

He surfaced again, gasping for breath. "Johnson!" he yelled.

A bedraggled Darcy appeared, choking and coughing. She grabbed onto a piece of floating wood, clutching it for dear life.

Nesbitt regarded her with hatred. "Where's Johnson?!" he snapped.

"How should I know?" she retorted. "If he wouldn't have pulled away from me I might have him now, but I don't!"

Nesbitt set his teeth. "You know very well why he pulled away from you," he spat, and swam on.

The entire ship was in pieces. Now he was finding more and more debris and it was getting harder to swim through it. Several of Dove's crates from the cargo hold floated by, but he ignored them.

One thing he didn't ignore was the sound of Joey, Tristan, and some of the other kids calling for Johnson as they swam over and joined in the search. He looked to them briefly, gratefully, before pushing on. Gansley hadn't been able to swim in years and Crump had to look after Lector, so none of them could help him, but Johnson was all of their friend. Nesbitt didn't have to do this alone.

"Johnson!" he shouted again.

At last he pushed aside some more floating crates and found the man lifelessly draped over a large scrap of ship. His glasses were gone and he was soaked through. He must have gone under and then emerged to grab the debris in desperation. Surely he was alive . . . he had to be alive. . . .

"Johnson!" Nesbitt growled, grasping his friend's shoulder and shaking him. Johnson gave one weak moan but otherwise didn't respond. That, however, was good enough for Nesbitt. He swam closer, taking hold of the limp form and pulling him away from the scrap metal. Then he was making his way back to the shore, supporting Johnson all the while.

"I've found him!" he called to anyone in hearing range. "He's alive!"

Even from that distance he could see Lector straighten, finally receiving strength enough to stand on his own again.

"He is?!" Joey exclaimed. "Alright!"

The others all swam back with them, but Nesbitt reached the shore first. Lector and Crump were right there, reaching out their arms to take Johnson from him and lift him up. Gansley was also standing by, having leaned his cane against the wooden pier to reach out as well.

It was Lector who took hold of Johnson first. He stumbled, not having expected the weight of the smaller man. But as Gansley supported him he was able to plant his feet and hold fast. "Johnson, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "You were hurt because of that woman . . . and Raven. . . . And none of it would have happened if they didn't both hate me and the Leichter family so much. . . ."

Johnson shuddered. "Lector. . . ." In his semi-conscious state he was more clingy than he ordinarily would be, and he threw his arms around his friend's neck.

Lector held him close. "I'm so sorry," he said again. "Are you badly hurt?"

"No," Johnson mumbled.

"I couldn't see any serious burns on him," Nesbitt said.

"We'll have to have him examined anyway," Gansley said in concern. "He could have swallowed some of the Mississippi River."

Johnson groaned at that thought. "Disgusting. . . ."

"I've already sent for my medics from the plane," Seto said.

Lector looked over with flashing eyes as Darcy made her way to the shore. "You . . . ! The Pharaoh hoped that the Mind Crush would help you want to turn your life around! Even that twisted Yami Bakura from another world came out of that state better than he'd been before! But you . . . ! It didn't change you at all!"

Darcy stumbled onto solid ground, glowering at her ex-fiancé. "Of course not," she spat. "I'm not that weak, to let my hatred and anger drain away. I used that time to plan my next move against you."

"Well, you still failed," Nesbitt snarled. "And now we're going to try another method." He grabbed her wrists. "You're going to prison. This time you committed crimes the law will recognize—abduction and sexual assault!"

At the same moment, the Shadow Realm bubble started to vanish. As everyone looked over, Yami Bakura stood coldly triumphant. Dr. Raven was nowhere to be seen.

"I won," he announced. "Prison couldn't hold that menace. Let's see if the Shadow Realm can."

"Yami!" Bakura ran over in relief. "You're alright!"

Oreo meowed, reaching out for him.

Yami Bakura gruffly patted her head. "Of course I'm alright," he said. "Although I'll admit that Lector blasting him weakened him even more. It wasn't as long of a fight as I'd hoped. What about Johnson?"

Bakura smiled. "He's alright as well," he said, looking back to where Lector and Crump were helping Johnson walk over to the van. "Thank goodness."

Everyone else thoroughly echoed that sentiment.