Joey couldn't stop crying. The others had hardly ever seen him so emotional. "Oh man . . . I can't believe I almost killed my best buddy . . . Yugi, man, I'm so sorry . . ."
With Joey back to normal, Yami Yugi returned to the Millennium Puzzle, and Yugi tried to comfort his friend. "Joey, it's okay," he assured him. "We all know you'd never hurt me. You couldn't control what your body was doing." He smiled. "But you did manage to overcome the evil power, Joey. And according to my Yami, you're the first one who has."
"Really, Yug?" Joey was starting to calm down.
Yugi nodded. "Really, Joey. I knew you could do it."
Joey smiled and embraced his friend. "Thanks, man. You're the best!"
"Hey, before things get too mushy here, we'd better figure out what to do next," Tristan announced.
Joey looked up. "Oh . . . yeah."
"Joey, what's the last thing you remember?" Bakura asked.
Joey rubbed his head. "Eh, I don't remember," he said sheepishly.
"That's okay, Joey," Yugi smiled. "You've been through a lot." He gasped. "With everything that happened in the last few minutes, I completely forgot—Mokuba's missing too!"
"Mokuba?" Joey repeated. "Oh man, Yug . . . do you think he suffered the same fate that I did?"
Yugi nodded grimly. "I'm afraid that's a strong possibility." He picked up the phone and dialed the number for Kaiba's mansion.
After several rings, the phone was picked up. "Hello, Seto Kaiba's residence," a cheerful maid answered.
"Um, hi," Yugi said, a little caught off guard by the maid's bubbly voice. "Can I speak to Seto Kaiba?"
The maid suddenly burst into tears. "No, I'm sorry, he's not here, he hasn't been here for hours, and I'm just afraid somethin' horrible happened to him!!"
Yugi wasn't sure what to do with the crying maid on the phone. "Is Mokuba still missing?" he ventured.
"Yes, he is," the sobbing maid replied. "Mr. Kaiba went out lookin' for him HOURS ago! I'm just so afraid they both got hurt, or killed even!"
A second voice came on. "Velma, you're getting overly emotional again," a stern woman's voice said. "You'd better go lay down. I'm sure Mr. Kaiba will be just fine."
Velma put the phone down and ran off wailing. Yugi blinked in surprise.
"I'm sorry about that," the stern woman sighed. "Velma is extremely fond of Mr. Kaiba and she just falls to pieces whenever she thinks something may have happened to him."
"Oh, I see," Yugi said, not sure of what else to say. "Um . . . If you don't mind my asking, how long has he been gone?"
"A few hours," the woman replied. "Frankly . . ." She lowered her voice. "I'm not so sure he's alright myself, but I'm not about to get Velma more worried than she already is."
Yugi hung up with her shortly afterwards, looking worried.
"Bad news, I take it," Joey said.
Yugi nodded. "Now both Kaibas are missing."
"Maybe Kaiba's just lookin' for Mokuba," Joey said with a shrug.
"Yeah, he was, but he's been gone for hours according to the maid," Yugi replied.
"Where could he be?" Tea wondered.
****
Seto Kaiba wandered down the road, Mokuba's little body in his arms, anxiously wishing for some kind of civilization. Kasumi had shown him that Mokuba miraculously had not been seriously injured physically in the accident, so Seto's main worry was that Mokuba would remain in the trancelike state forever. Would he never again come home to find Mokuba waiting anxiously by the door or hear him say how much he loved his brother? Would he instead come home to find this hypnotized, vacant version of Mokuba, who might try to kill him again?
The rain had stopped, but Seto could tell that it would probably start up again very soon. He wanted to get Mokuba to some kind of shelter before that happened. Was that the city up ahead? Seto breathed a prayer of thanks and hurried on ahead. "Please remember me, Mokuba," he whispered.
****
"Yugi, man, I don't know what to do about this case," Joey sighed. He, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Bakura were just preparing to head up to Yugi's home above the game shop and trying to figure out the best course of action for solving their mystery. "For the last couple of days, we've just been runnin' around gettin' knocked around."
Tristan snickered at Joey's choice of words.
"I know," Yugi agreed with a sigh of his own. "I wish I knew what to do. But a case like this is just so . . . mind-boggling," he finished.
Suddenly the door flew open and Seto Kaiba was standing there with his trenchcoat blowing in the wind, his long bangs plastered against his forehead by the rain, and a small body in his arms.
"Kaiba!" everyone exclaimed, startled.
"Where've you been, man?" Joey demanded.
"No time to explain," Seto said abruptly, coming in. "Mokuba's hurt."
"Eh, shouldn't you be takin' him to the hospital then?" Joey asked, confused.
"He's not hurt physically," Seto replied.
Yugi gasped. "Oh no . . . you mean the zombies got him?"
"I don't have time for nonsense, Yugi," Seto snapped. "He was brain-washed. I brought him here to get him out of the storm. He's been out in it long enough to catch pneumonia."
"Kaiba, listen to me," Yugi said firmly, summoning his Yami, "brain-washing is what zombies do to people. They put people under their spell and make them do whatever the zombies' controllers want done. They have no will of their own anymore, just like the undead themselves."
"Stop, Yugi. Stop." Seto's blue eyes were shining. "Just tell me how to reverse it." A tear fell from his eye and splashed on his brother's pale face. Normally he would never show emotions like this around people, especially Yugi and his friends, but when Mokuba was hurt like this, he didn't care who saw him cry.
Yugi looked sad. "I can't tell you, Kaiba. I don't know how. Only the person affected can break themself free from their inner prison."
Seto sank into a nearby chair, still cradling his little brother in his arms. "Mokuba . . . little brother . . . can you hear me? . . . Please don't forget me, Mokuba," he added in a voice so low only he and (he hoped) Mokuba could hear it.
The young boy stirred, his blue-gray eyes opening.
"Mokuba?" Seto looked hopeful. "Do you know me?"
Instantly Mokuba grinned and embraced his brother. "Seto! You're okay! I was so worried . . ." He started to cry. "Some awful thing took control of my body and tried to kill you!"
Seto bristled at the thought of anyone doing such a despicable act. He hugged his brother tightly. "It's alright, Mokuba. They didn't get away with it," he said softly. His eyes narrowed. "And we're not going to let them try it on anyone else."
"That's right!" Joey spoke up. "We're gonna shut their sick little operation down!"
"And I believe I might have something that might help," Grampa Muto announced, entering the room.
"What's that, Grampa?" Yugi asked curiously, feeling his Yami disappear back into the Millennium Puzzle.
"This." Grampa Muto held up the newspaper. On the front page was the headline PSYCHIC FORESAW SCARECROW INVASION.
"Whoa, man, that looks like somethin' right outta the National Enquirer," Joey remarked.
"Yeah, I don't buy into all that psychic stuff," Tristan agreed.
"I know it sounds ridiculous," Grampa Muto nodded, "but it's still a possible lead. You might want to question this psychic."
"You're right, Grampa," Yugi said, taking the paper. "Even if she's a phony, she might have something to do with the scarecrows being unleashed."
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to try," Bakura said slowly.
Tea took the paper and scanned through the article. "Her name is Madame Fiona from that fortune telling place here in town," she announced.
"Here she is in the phone book," Bakura said.
"I'll call and see if we can set up an appointment to talk with her," Tea said, taking the phone and dialing the number Bakura showed to her. The others listened to Tea's side of the following conversation with great interest.
"Hello? Madame Fiona? . . . Hi, this is Tea Gardner from Domino High School . . . Yes, my friends and I saw the article in the newspaper . . . We were wondering if we could talk with you about what you saw . . . Tomorrow evening at eight?" Tea turned to look at the others to see if that was acceptable. They all looked at each other and nodded. Tea turned back to the phone. "Yes, that would be great! Thanks, Madame Fiona . . . Um, excuse me?" Everyone perked up, hearing Tea's suddenly confused tone. "Oh, uh, sure, Madame Fiona," she said, blinking in surprise. "Don't worry, we won't. . . . See you tomorrow at eight then. . . Yes, thank you again! Goodbye." Tea hung up. "Well, she's agreed to meet with us tomorrow at eight then," she announced. "At her house."
"What was all that 'don't worry, we won't' stuff?" Joey asked.
Tea sighed. "It was kind of strange," she admitted, "but Madame Fiona was asking me to make sure that none of us snacked on garlic before coming over."
Everyone blinked.
"Garlic?" Joey repeated. "Eh, just why would we want to snack on that stuff?"
Tea shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed odd to me, too."
"Maybe Madame Fiona just doesn't like the smell," Tristan suggested.
"Who would?" Tea muttered.
"Hey, hold on just a minute!" Joey exclaimed. "Garlic—isn't that one of the things you can use to defeat vampyres?"
Everyone turned to look at Joey.
"Wheeler, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say today," Seto grumbled. "There's no such thing as vampyres."
"Oh yeah? Even you havta admit that there's zombies now, don't you?" Joey said defensively. "And you saw those scarecrows walkin' around, too."
Seto simply raised an eyebrow at Joey and replied, "But vampyres, Wheeler?" He paused. "There's probably a completely logical explanation for the living scarecrows. It could be a publicity stunt."
Joey rolled his eyes. "You know, Kaiba, you may have mellowed enough to hang out with us sometimes, but you still have trouble believin' in the totally weird and freaky!" He gestured wildly with his hands.
Seto only laughed in his wiseguy way.
"Joey, your vampyre theory is a little much," Tea sighed.
"Yeah, well, we'll see if you're still mockin' me after that lady decides to have us over as a snack," Joey replied defensively.
"Joooeeey!" everyone groaned loudly.
****
The next night, which was mostly clouded over but with a full moon shining through in classic Halloween fashion, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura all walked to the address Madame Fiona had given them.
"I must admit, I'm feeling rather nervous about this," Bakura said softly.
"After everything Joey's been saying, I don't blame you," Tea replied. She looked up at an eerie-looking mansion in front of them. "Is this it?" she gasped.
"I believe so, Tea," Yugi confirmed, pulling out the paper with the address on it. "The address matches." He checked his watch. "And it's eight exactly. Let's do it!"
"Not without us, you don't."
Everyone turned to look. Joey jumped and freaked out as Seto and Mokuba seemingly materialized from deep in the dark shadows. "Yaaaaaa!!!"
Seto smirked. "Afraid, Wheeler? Did you think I was the boogie man stalking you? Or maybe a vampyre anxious to drink your blood?"
Angry now, Joey grabbed Seto by the collar of his trenchcoat and glared into the other boy's deep-blue eyes. "Watch it, wiseguy. You want a piece of me??!"
Seto looked back in a blase sort of way. "Watch it yourself, Wheeler. You know I can flip you over onto the ground if I want to."
"Alright, you two," Yugi laughed. "Now isn't the time for a judo lesson."
Joey resignedly let go of Seto, muttering something unintelligible.
"Where did you come from, Kaiba?" Yugi asked curiously.
"Our limo is parked around the corner," Mokuba piped up.
"That's right," Seto nodded. "We came over under the cover of darkness. The shadows can be a very useful ally when one doesn't want to be seen."
"Or when one wants to give someone a heart attack?" Joey growled.
Seto raised an eyebrow at Joey but didn't say anything.
"Cool it, you two," Tea sighed, rolling her eyes.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah, we'd better keep our appointment and go knock on Madame Fiona's door."
They went through the creaky gate, up the squeaky steps, and onto the porch, and Yugi used the bat-shaped door knocker.
"Kinda freaky-lookin'," Joey remarked. "This place is givin' me the heebie-jeebies!"
Then the door slowly opened.
With Joey back to normal, Yami Yugi returned to the Millennium Puzzle, and Yugi tried to comfort his friend. "Joey, it's okay," he assured him. "We all know you'd never hurt me. You couldn't control what your body was doing." He smiled. "But you did manage to overcome the evil power, Joey. And according to my Yami, you're the first one who has."
"Really, Yug?" Joey was starting to calm down.
Yugi nodded. "Really, Joey. I knew you could do it."
Joey smiled and embraced his friend. "Thanks, man. You're the best!"
"Hey, before things get too mushy here, we'd better figure out what to do next," Tristan announced.
Joey looked up. "Oh . . . yeah."
"Joey, what's the last thing you remember?" Bakura asked.
Joey rubbed his head. "Eh, I don't remember," he said sheepishly.
"That's okay, Joey," Yugi smiled. "You've been through a lot." He gasped. "With everything that happened in the last few minutes, I completely forgot—Mokuba's missing too!"
"Mokuba?" Joey repeated. "Oh man, Yug . . . do you think he suffered the same fate that I did?"
Yugi nodded grimly. "I'm afraid that's a strong possibility." He picked up the phone and dialed the number for Kaiba's mansion.
After several rings, the phone was picked up. "Hello, Seto Kaiba's residence," a cheerful maid answered.
"Um, hi," Yugi said, a little caught off guard by the maid's bubbly voice. "Can I speak to Seto Kaiba?"
The maid suddenly burst into tears. "No, I'm sorry, he's not here, he hasn't been here for hours, and I'm just afraid somethin' horrible happened to him!!"
Yugi wasn't sure what to do with the crying maid on the phone. "Is Mokuba still missing?" he ventured.
"Yes, he is," the sobbing maid replied. "Mr. Kaiba went out lookin' for him HOURS ago! I'm just so afraid they both got hurt, or killed even!"
A second voice came on. "Velma, you're getting overly emotional again," a stern woman's voice said. "You'd better go lay down. I'm sure Mr. Kaiba will be just fine."
Velma put the phone down and ran off wailing. Yugi blinked in surprise.
"I'm sorry about that," the stern woman sighed. "Velma is extremely fond of Mr. Kaiba and she just falls to pieces whenever she thinks something may have happened to him."
"Oh, I see," Yugi said, not sure of what else to say. "Um . . . If you don't mind my asking, how long has he been gone?"
"A few hours," the woman replied. "Frankly . . ." She lowered her voice. "I'm not so sure he's alright myself, but I'm not about to get Velma more worried than she already is."
Yugi hung up with her shortly afterwards, looking worried.
"Bad news, I take it," Joey said.
Yugi nodded. "Now both Kaibas are missing."
"Maybe Kaiba's just lookin' for Mokuba," Joey said with a shrug.
"Yeah, he was, but he's been gone for hours according to the maid," Yugi replied.
"Where could he be?" Tea wondered.
****
Seto Kaiba wandered down the road, Mokuba's little body in his arms, anxiously wishing for some kind of civilization. Kasumi had shown him that Mokuba miraculously had not been seriously injured physically in the accident, so Seto's main worry was that Mokuba would remain in the trancelike state forever. Would he never again come home to find Mokuba waiting anxiously by the door or hear him say how much he loved his brother? Would he instead come home to find this hypnotized, vacant version of Mokuba, who might try to kill him again?
The rain had stopped, but Seto could tell that it would probably start up again very soon. He wanted to get Mokuba to some kind of shelter before that happened. Was that the city up ahead? Seto breathed a prayer of thanks and hurried on ahead. "Please remember me, Mokuba," he whispered.
****
"Yugi, man, I don't know what to do about this case," Joey sighed. He, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Bakura were just preparing to head up to Yugi's home above the game shop and trying to figure out the best course of action for solving their mystery. "For the last couple of days, we've just been runnin' around gettin' knocked around."
Tristan snickered at Joey's choice of words.
"I know," Yugi agreed with a sigh of his own. "I wish I knew what to do. But a case like this is just so . . . mind-boggling," he finished.
Suddenly the door flew open and Seto Kaiba was standing there with his trenchcoat blowing in the wind, his long bangs plastered against his forehead by the rain, and a small body in his arms.
"Kaiba!" everyone exclaimed, startled.
"Where've you been, man?" Joey demanded.
"No time to explain," Seto said abruptly, coming in. "Mokuba's hurt."
"Eh, shouldn't you be takin' him to the hospital then?" Joey asked, confused.
"He's not hurt physically," Seto replied.
Yugi gasped. "Oh no . . . you mean the zombies got him?"
"I don't have time for nonsense, Yugi," Seto snapped. "He was brain-washed. I brought him here to get him out of the storm. He's been out in it long enough to catch pneumonia."
"Kaiba, listen to me," Yugi said firmly, summoning his Yami, "brain-washing is what zombies do to people. They put people under their spell and make them do whatever the zombies' controllers want done. They have no will of their own anymore, just like the undead themselves."
"Stop, Yugi. Stop." Seto's blue eyes were shining. "Just tell me how to reverse it." A tear fell from his eye and splashed on his brother's pale face. Normally he would never show emotions like this around people, especially Yugi and his friends, but when Mokuba was hurt like this, he didn't care who saw him cry.
Yugi looked sad. "I can't tell you, Kaiba. I don't know how. Only the person affected can break themself free from their inner prison."
Seto sank into a nearby chair, still cradling his little brother in his arms. "Mokuba . . . little brother . . . can you hear me? . . . Please don't forget me, Mokuba," he added in a voice so low only he and (he hoped) Mokuba could hear it.
The young boy stirred, his blue-gray eyes opening.
"Mokuba?" Seto looked hopeful. "Do you know me?"
Instantly Mokuba grinned and embraced his brother. "Seto! You're okay! I was so worried . . ." He started to cry. "Some awful thing took control of my body and tried to kill you!"
Seto bristled at the thought of anyone doing such a despicable act. He hugged his brother tightly. "It's alright, Mokuba. They didn't get away with it," he said softly. His eyes narrowed. "And we're not going to let them try it on anyone else."
"That's right!" Joey spoke up. "We're gonna shut their sick little operation down!"
"And I believe I might have something that might help," Grampa Muto announced, entering the room.
"What's that, Grampa?" Yugi asked curiously, feeling his Yami disappear back into the Millennium Puzzle.
"This." Grampa Muto held up the newspaper. On the front page was the headline PSYCHIC FORESAW SCARECROW INVASION.
"Whoa, man, that looks like somethin' right outta the National Enquirer," Joey remarked.
"Yeah, I don't buy into all that psychic stuff," Tristan agreed.
"I know it sounds ridiculous," Grampa Muto nodded, "but it's still a possible lead. You might want to question this psychic."
"You're right, Grampa," Yugi said, taking the paper. "Even if she's a phony, she might have something to do with the scarecrows being unleashed."
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to try," Bakura said slowly.
Tea took the paper and scanned through the article. "Her name is Madame Fiona from that fortune telling place here in town," she announced.
"Here she is in the phone book," Bakura said.
"I'll call and see if we can set up an appointment to talk with her," Tea said, taking the phone and dialing the number Bakura showed to her. The others listened to Tea's side of the following conversation with great interest.
"Hello? Madame Fiona? . . . Hi, this is Tea Gardner from Domino High School . . . Yes, my friends and I saw the article in the newspaper . . . We were wondering if we could talk with you about what you saw . . . Tomorrow evening at eight?" Tea turned to look at the others to see if that was acceptable. They all looked at each other and nodded. Tea turned back to the phone. "Yes, that would be great! Thanks, Madame Fiona . . . Um, excuse me?" Everyone perked up, hearing Tea's suddenly confused tone. "Oh, uh, sure, Madame Fiona," she said, blinking in surprise. "Don't worry, we won't. . . . See you tomorrow at eight then. . . Yes, thank you again! Goodbye." Tea hung up. "Well, she's agreed to meet with us tomorrow at eight then," she announced. "At her house."
"What was all that 'don't worry, we won't' stuff?" Joey asked.
Tea sighed. "It was kind of strange," she admitted, "but Madame Fiona was asking me to make sure that none of us snacked on garlic before coming over."
Everyone blinked.
"Garlic?" Joey repeated. "Eh, just why would we want to snack on that stuff?"
Tea shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed odd to me, too."
"Maybe Madame Fiona just doesn't like the smell," Tristan suggested.
"Who would?" Tea muttered.
"Hey, hold on just a minute!" Joey exclaimed. "Garlic—isn't that one of the things you can use to defeat vampyres?"
Everyone turned to look at Joey.
"Wheeler, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say today," Seto grumbled. "There's no such thing as vampyres."
"Oh yeah? Even you havta admit that there's zombies now, don't you?" Joey said defensively. "And you saw those scarecrows walkin' around, too."
Seto simply raised an eyebrow at Joey and replied, "But vampyres, Wheeler?" He paused. "There's probably a completely logical explanation for the living scarecrows. It could be a publicity stunt."
Joey rolled his eyes. "You know, Kaiba, you may have mellowed enough to hang out with us sometimes, but you still have trouble believin' in the totally weird and freaky!" He gestured wildly with his hands.
Seto only laughed in his wiseguy way.
"Joey, your vampyre theory is a little much," Tea sighed.
"Yeah, well, we'll see if you're still mockin' me after that lady decides to have us over as a snack," Joey replied defensively.
"Joooeeey!" everyone groaned loudly.
****
The next night, which was mostly clouded over but with a full moon shining through in classic Halloween fashion, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura all walked to the address Madame Fiona had given them.
"I must admit, I'm feeling rather nervous about this," Bakura said softly.
"After everything Joey's been saying, I don't blame you," Tea replied. She looked up at an eerie-looking mansion in front of them. "Is this it?" she gasped.
"I believe so, Tea," Yugi confirmed, pulling out the paper with the address on it. "The address matches." He checked his watch. "And it's eight exactly. Let's do it!"
"Not without us, you don't."
Everyone turned to look. Joey jumped and freaked out as Seto and Mokuba seemingly materialized from deep in the dark shadows. "Yaaaaaa!!!"
Seto smirked. "Afraid, Wheeler? Did you think I was the boogie man stalking you? Or maybe a vampyre anxious to drink your blood?"
Angry now, Joey grabbed Seto by the collar of his trenchcoat and glared into the other boy's deep-blue eyes. "Watch it, wiseguy. You want a piece of me??!"
Seto looked back in a blase sort of way. "Watch it yourself, Wheeler. You know I can flip you over onto the ground if I want to."
"Alright, you two," Yugi laughed. "Now isn't the time for a judo lesson."
Joey resignedly let go of Seto, muttering something unintelligible.
"Where did you come from, Kaiba?" Yugi asked curiously.
"Our limo is parked around the corner," Mokuba piped up.
"That's right," Seto nodded. "We came over under the cover of darkness. The shadows can be a very useful ally when one doesn't want to be seen."
"Or when one wants to give someone a heart attack?" Joey growled.
Seto raised an eyebrow at Joey but didn't say anything.
"Cool it, you two," Tea sighed, rolling her eyes.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah, we'd better keep our appointment and go knock on Madame Fiona's door."
They went through the creaky gate, up the squeaky steps, and onto the porch, and Yugi used the bat-shaped door knocker.
"Kinda freaky-lookin'," Joey remarked. "This place is givin' me the heebie-jeebies!"
Then the door slowly opened.