Skipping the standard note, let's just plunge right in to the story.

Chapter Six - A Few Screws Loose Ends

Jounouchi led the charge up the trellises to the broken picture window.
"Looks like our man got scared and ran off," he said, vaulting through and landing in a litter of glass fragments, on a dark spot on the elaborate turkish rug.
Yugi climbed through next. He cringed when he saw the red smear under Jou's feet.
"Relax, Yug', it ain't what you think," said Jou. "I know a port wine stain when I see one."
"I thought a port wine stain was a kind of birthmark," said Anzu, as Yugi helped her through the frame.
"Eh..." said Jou, a sweat drop appearing on his forehead.
"Knowing Jou, he's probably seen those, too," said Yugi, and Anzu laughed.
"Shaddup." Jou turned up the volume on the camera.
"Jou! Where are you, Jou?! We're locked up, help us!" called Bakura, the sound chip distorting his voice.
"I'd answer him," Jou confessed, "but I kinda dropped the mike somewhere, and I don't think we'll be seeing it again any time soon."
"Then we'll just have to start searching."
The three split up, off to comb through the house, calling for Honda and Bakura. But as anyone who watches television knows, mansions that seem deserted seldom are...

Yugi made his way to the second floor, his hand trailing along the wall. Even though Anzu was safe, and they were minutes from finding Bakura, something about this house wouldn't allow him to calm down. First, it wasn't even a proper mansion. Most of the rooms were empty, and there were only a few knicknacks and cheap-looking artwork in the halls. Every wall was the same shade of off-white, and the air was frigid and reeked of potpourri. The floor beneath him made hollow, creaking sounds as he walked.
'It almost looks like someone intended to abandon this place,' he thought, wandering into a sterile room with a table at its center.
"Bakura? Honda?"
Yugi was about to turn and leave, when he saw what was sitting on the table.
"Duel Monsters cards? Who left these..." He picked them up and stuffed them into his pocket, making a mental note to look through them later.

Bakura kicked on the door. Maybe Honda had been wrong. Maybe, in his semiconscious delirium, he'd only thought that this little disc would work to call Jounouchi. But even if Honda was wrong, his ring couldn't be. Someone with a millennium item was in the building.
"Help! Let us out of here!" he shouted.
"Well, well, well. Bakura and Honda are in the closet. Who would have thought?"
"Jounouchi!"
The blond teen had found them. He stood in the third floor servant's bathroom, staring at the door to a cubbyhole probably meant for towels.
"Do you want to come out of the closet, Bakura?"
"Yes, yes! Let us out!"
"What about Honda?" Jou asked, grinning. This was hilarious. He couldn't wait to tell Yugi and Anzu--and the rest of Domino High School. It was the perfect revenge for the perfume jokes.
"He collapsed. I think he was hit over the head."
"So he's head over heels is he?" Jou replied, trying hard to restrain his laughter. He bent down and examined the lock. It was the usual kind to be found on doors, with pins and a tumbler. Cake and pie for experienced delinquents like himself.
"Hey! Are you making fun of us, Jounouchi?"
"Of course not. I just wanna know one thing." Jou carefully raked his lockpick inside the keyhole.
"What?"
"When's the wedding?"
Bakura kicked the door hard, and it flew open, smacking into Jou's forehead. "OW!"
"Oops," the white haired boy said, blinded by the sudden light. "Sorry."
"Ugh..." Honda moaned, rubbing his head.
Jou helped Honda to his feet, letting Bakura fend for himself.
"Oh, Jounouchi! You're wounded, too!" Bakura gasped. "Here, there must be some antiseptic here somewhere..." The boy turned to rummage through the cabinet behind the mirror, pulling out a bottle and tossing it to Jou.
"'Ey, thanks!" Jou said, splashing the contents onto his punctured arm.
...
The delicate scent of roses and vanilla filled the room.
"Wait a sec. This isn't antiseptic! It's...it's..."
Jou looked up, and saw Bakura disappear into the hallway in fright.
Honda was doubling over with laughter.
"Eh, what are you laughing at?!" Jou demanded, storming out after Bakura. "I'll get you both! You just wait!"

Anzu had descended to the bottom floor. Calling for her friends in her soft voice, she found herself in the foyer of the main entranceway. This was good; she could unlock the front door and they wouldn't have to climb out the window. To her right was a sitting room, and to her left was a grand dining hall. As had Yugi, she noticed how sparely furnished this mansion was. Maybe the Toshiras were minimalists, she guessed. But that didn't explain the lavish grounds, the guards, or even the size of the place.
It was pitch black--no lights were on. Anzu squinted to see, looking into the shadowy corners. She walked past a sofa and a cabinet filled with glass trinkets.
"Bakura? Honda?"
She heard a sound behind her, like someone opening a door. She froze.
"...Guys?"
A man's deep voice chuckled, and Anzu got the feeling it wasn't about something good. She dove behind the couch as the other guard emerged from the basement, cell phone in hand.
"The C4 is in place. Timer activated. Five minutes to detonation." He pressed the END button on the illuminated pad, muttering to himself about these rich people who insist on C4 when a can of gas and a match would do the trick just as well.
'Explosives?! We've got to get out of here!'
Anzu watched in horror as he walked toward her hiding place. She held her breath as the goon bent down to pick up a hat that rested on the sofa cushion, and some quarters fell from his pocket, rolling underneath. As he reached to pick them up, his eyes met Anzu's.
"You! What are you doing there?"
With an uncharacteristic burst of strength, she pushed the sofa over onto the man, and ran, screaming for Jou and Yugi, up the stairs.

"Jou!! Yugi!! We have to get out of here!"
"Isn't that Anzu?" asked Bakura, just as Jou caught up to him, a murderous gleam in his eye.
"Huh?" Honda mumbled.
Yugi jumped out from the room where he'd found the cards. "Anzu? What's going on?"
He didn't have to wait for an answer as he could see the flunky running behind the terrified girl. There wasn't time to come up with a plan. He acted on a reflex--as she passed him he stepped forward, and tripped the man. The guard's hulking figure flew forward, limbs flailing and managing to grab Anzu's ankle and pull her to the ground with him.
"Hang on! We're comin'!" Jou shouted, breaking into a run.
Anzu shrieked, digging her fingers into the carpeting, as the man pulled her toward him.
"I'll save you, Anzu!" Yugi shouted, jumping onto the guard's back and slamming his heel into the back of his neck. The man gagged and released the girl, and she kicked him in the face. He threw Yugi off his back, the boy smacking into the wall. Then he looked at his watch.
Jou, Honda, and Bakura ran towards the fray, only to find the man running toward them.
"What the--"
Jou was pushed to the side, and the man leapt over the banister, landing on the ground floor and disappearing out the door.
Anzu jumped to her feet. "Yugi, guys--this place is gonna explode! We have to get out of here!"
"That explains a lot," Jou quipped, and the five friends broke into a run, barely making it out the mansion door before it became a fireball.

~*~*~*~

They'd crowded onto the D-Circuit bus, which made stops by each of the friends' neighborhoods. The other passengers, what few there were at this hour of night, stared at their sooty, mangled clothing and cuts and bruises. One guy with eight piercings in his nose alone winced at the sight of Jounouchi.
Bakura told his version of the story first.
"No way!" Jou blurted. "So that babe's the bad guy, er, lady?"
"Unfortunately for me," Honda replied, rubbing the back of his head.
Jou and Honda gave their accounts next, Jou somewhat glossing over the part with the dogs and emphasizing more his fight with the taxi driver.
"A taxi driver? Are you sure?" asked Yugi, remembering what had happened the night before--was it only last night?!
"Dead sure," said Jou. "Why, did it give you any insight, sherlock?"
Yugi shook his head no, and became lost in thought. Then Anzu told her side of the story, telling about the Pegasus theater and the dirty double-cross that led her to be trapped in a box. She thanked Yugi for rescuing her, but didn't bring up the hug.
Honda shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense," he sighed. "What's going on, here, anyway?"
Nobody had any idea, but Bakura suggested that perhaps they'd be better suited to thinking in the morning. Everyone agreed, and the bus drove on. Honda and Bakura were the first to depart, then the bus pulled into Jou's stop. He gave Yugi a friendly punch in the shoulder and actually smiled at Anzu before hopping off the bus.
"Jou! Wait! You forgot your camera!" Yugi yelled, but the blond teen was already gone.
Anzu took the camera from Yugi's hands. "I wonder; where's the rewind button on this thing?"
Yugi took the camera back. "I'll show it to my grandpa when I get home," he told her, and she turned away, staring out the window and sitting quietly next to him.
He felt his face grow hot, as he was somewhat embarrassed. Things felt so different than when they'd all been on the island together. He missed the way that everyone had laughed together before setting up camp for the night. He missed telling stories and messing with cards. They'd been like a family, and today--well, today they'd been through a lot, and mostly separately. What if he hadn't arrived when he had? What if Jou hadn't been there? What if...
And he remembered the tournament, the American tournament, and that only four could go. It pained him to think about this, because it wouldn't feel right if they weren't all together.
Yugi saw the bus near Anzu's stop, and he placed his hand on hers.
For a minute she thought he was going to ask her to ride home with him, and she smiled at him, readying to accept.
"Goodnight, Anzu. I'll see you tomorrow."
Anzu winced, bid him a hasty goodbye, and jumped off the bus.

Jounouchi slumped through the door to apartment 301, thinking about his friends. He saw that his father was asleep, and he tiptoed past, across a field of empty bottles, toward the kitchen for a bite to eat and some ice for his wounds, which were beginning to look infected. He found some greenish roast beef, the gristle having taken on a mother-of-pearl finish, and some greenish bread. It looked remotely edible. Jou shrugged. It was better than nothing.
He took a large bite of his makeshift sandwich, and promptly spat it out. Perhaps "edible" was too much of a stretch. He dumped the remains in the trash can, and set about finding something to drink. He tried the faucet, but it seemed that dear old dad hadn't paid the water bill. Worse, the aftertaste of the sandwich was more foul than the initial flavor. Jou ducked down, checking under the sink, debating whether "Drano" would taste better than "Mr. Clean."
...But what was this? A bottle with a faded label, stoppered with a cork, hidden back behind the pipes. It seemed to be so old that his father had forgotten it, which Jou found hard to believe. Maybe it was a mirage. He reached out his hand, and took hold of it. The liquid inside was dark red, almost black. It had a slight viscosity. It smelled like booze. But it would get the taste out of his mouth.
"If dad catches me with this, I'll be dog chow. Not that I'm not already..."
He choked back a swig, the alcohol burning his throat. It was a good feeling. Jou took the bottle back to his room, where he could get some rest, and, if he felt like it, kick a hole in the wall. In his haze he almost missed the envelope tacked to the door.

Sugoroku woke up when Yugi crept in, but pretended that he was still asleep. His grandson set his backpack and something else on a table, and slowly trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. It was all the old man could do to restrain his curiosity. When he was sure the boy was asleep, he went in to the room and picked up Jou's camera.
'Out making movies?' Sugoroku wondered. He pondered pressing the play button, just to see what kind of drama little Yugi had contrived. And then, he made a move that would cost them all quite dearly--he didn't watch.
Had he watched, he would have seen Mrs. Toshira, and he would have known not to stay away from America...

...Exactly where Jounouchi Katsuya was going. His father had scrawled a note on the envelope--
--Threw in trash by mistake. Sorry about the pizza grease--
But there was no mistaking the invitation, with its signature purple insignia.
Jou toasted his luck. In just two days they'd be on the plane to the U.S.A. There was nothing standing in their way now!

END of chapter 6! If you thought it sucked, oh well, it was better than the first few versions. I've had writer's block bad these last couple days. Next chapter: 18 Hours on a Plane, featuring Mai and Kaiba! Yes, it's time for our favorite questionably moraled characters to make their appearance! Please tell me what you think--I am taking suggestions for where to take this story from here! Thanks!!