NOTE: Kleenex warning again **Waaah!**
"Yugi, this is getting creepy!" Tea cried. "Where could everyone in the town have gone?!"
"That's a question I wish I had the answer to, Tea," Yugi sighed. "Right now, it's anyone's guess, but I'm pretty sure that whatever it was, it wasn't good."
"Man, I bet that creepy psychic set us up!" Joey burst out as they walked back to Seto's limo. "She probably rigged all this up—or maybe it was even group hypnosis!" He gestured wildly. "Maybe this is all one big delusion!"
"What is it with you and group hypnosis?" Tristan sighed.
"It's possible, isn't it?" Joey returned.
There was a silence as everyone climbed into the limo and drove off.
"What are we going to do now?" Bakura wondered.
Before anyone could answer, Tea gasped and pointed to a strange, moving cluster in the near distance. "What's that?" she exclaimed.
"I can hear weird chanting," Bakura commented.
"Drive closer so we can investigate," Seto ordered his chauffeur, who obeyed reluctantly.
"Whoa! Check it out!" Joey cried when they got closer, pointing at a large group of people in dark robes doing an eerie dance on a mountain near the town. The buildings of Cooperstown were still visible from the mountain road.
"It must be some kind of cult ritual," Yugi decided. "Perhaps this is the Cobra Colony!"
As they watched, one of the robed figures raised its staff at the city and a burst of dark lightning shot out, making the city's buildings vanish completely.
"Oh man! Did you see that?!" Joey gasped.
Yugi nodded grimly. "They're wielding evil power."
"And if they can make a city disappear—people, buildings, and all—I'd hate to think what else they're capable of doing," Tristan remarked.
"We should call the authorities," Yugi said grimly.
"They'll think we're nuts," Joey sighed.
"I'm sure you're right, Wheeler," Seto remarked, picking up the phone. "But let's at least see if the police can tell us something about that cult."
Yugi nodded in agreement.
After a few minutes, Seto hung up the phone and turned back to the others. "The desk sergeant I spoke to said that the dancers sound like a nature cult registered as Mother Earth's Disciples, and that they have no criminal record."
"Did you tell him about the hocus pocus we just saw?" Joey, who had been distracted by the robed figures' eerie dance, demanded.
"I asked him if this nature cult claims to be able to perform magic," Seto replied. "The desk sergeant said that they do. I then told him about everyone in Cooperstown disappearing, and he said he'd send a squad car out. I had to tell him that the 'nature cult' just made what was left of the town vanish," he said wryly.
"What did he say about that?" Tristan asked.
"He asked me if I was taking sleeping medication," Seto muttered. "I told him we'd all seen it."
"Then what did he say?" Joey wanted to know.
"Nothing. He probably thinks we're all crazy." Seto didn't look too happy.
"I guess you're glad you kept it an anonymous call, eh?" Joey grinned. Seto didn't answer.
"Let's go back to where the town was," Yugi said. "The squad car should be here any minute."
Seto nodded. "Drive back to what's left of Cooperstown," he told his chauffeur.
****
The town was still missing when they drove up, and the squad car was just pulling in.
"Holy smokes!" the officer exclaimed, as he and his partner got out of the car. "That guy on the phone wasn't nuts after all!"
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" the other officer gasped.
"Oh, you're in the right place, officer," Seto replied, stepping out of the shadows.
"Are you the anonymous caller who phoned the station?" the first officer asked.
"I am," Seto nodded.
Both police officers held up their badges. "I'm Detective Kraft, and this is Officer Ricks," the first one introduced.
"Seto Kaiba," the boy returned.
After Yugi and the others introduced themselves as well, Detective Kraft asked, "How long ago was it when you arrived in the town and found it devoid of all life?"
"Probably a couple of hours ago now," Yugi replied.
"And we saw the weird cult dancers about an hour ago," Joey added.
"I think they're probably gone by now, though," Bakura said.
"Well, let's go check it out," Officer Ricks suggested. "Show us where you saw them."
"It was over on that mountain," Yugi replied, pointing. "We'll go with you."
****
"This looks like the place where the Mother Earth's Disciples meet, alright," Detective Kraft remarked. "But it also looks like they've probably cleared out by now," he sighed.
"But we can still search the area for clues," Officer Ricks said.
The two policemen and the six teens started investigating around the brush and stones where the dancers had been performing their ritual.
Bakura, who had wandered over to some trampled grass a little bit away from where the others were, gasped as he noticed something shiny amongst the long blades and picked it up. "A cameo pin," he said to himself, "shaped like a cobra! . . . But that must mean that Mother Earth's Disciples are really the Cobra Colony!"
"That's correct, my young meddler," an evil voice hissed, and a dark-robed figure stepped out in front of him.
Bakura's blood ran cold and he tried to scream for help, but to his utter horror he found himself unable to speak. {Yami, help me!} he pleaded through their mental connection.
"The spirit in your Millennium Ring can't help you now," the dark-robed figure sneered.
Bakura's eyes went wide. Once again someone had tuned in to their mental connection! Since some kind of dark power was keeping him from speaking aloud, he demanded through his thoughts, "What have you done to me . . . and to him?!" He tried to back up but found himself frozen to the spot.
"Let's just say that while his powers are impressive, mine are more so," the figure replied, laying an ice-cold hand on Bakura's shoulder. A chill spread the boy's body and he felt himself growing weak. Just before he passed out, he heard the voice laugh and say, "You will never tell what you know to anyone!"
****
Yugi froze, his violet eyes narrowed in concern.
"Yugi, what is it?" Tea gasped.
"Where is Bakura?" Yugi asked, looking around.
Tea's eyes went wide. "I don't see him anywhere!"
"He was over there a minute ago," Tristan replied, pointing over at a nearby clearing.
"He's not there anymore," Yugi said grimly. "He's been taken captive by the forces of darkness." The others saw that his Millennium Puzzle was glowing and that the third eye had appeared on his forehead. He shook his head sadly. "And they don't intend to let him get away alive."
****
Bakura stirred, moaning softly. {Yami, are you there?} he asked, and received no answer. Either their connection had been blocked, or his Yami simply wasn't responding.
That's when a strange sensation came over him and he opened his eyes slowly. He was hanging upsidedown!
Memories came rushing back—the dark figure, its paralyzing powers, its icy touch. . . . "Where am I?" Bakura rasped, relieved to find that he could speak again.
"You don't want to know," a female voice hissed.
Bakura turned and found himself looking at a blonde woman, her nasty smile revealing abnormally long canine teeth.
"Who are you? What are you?" the frightened boy exclaimed, trying frantically to pull himself upright, but in vain. All he could do was hang upsidedown helplessly.
"I am Franceska, and you know what I am," the vampyress purred, brushing Bakura's long hair away and stroking his cheek.
He pulled away in disgust and fear. "What are you going to do to me?"
Franceska didn't answer. Instead she laid a hand on his forehead, sending horrible images into the boy's mind with her powers. Images of death and destruction, images of pain and torment. . . . Images of Bakura's friends being tortured in the most horrible ways.
The poor boy couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! Stop! Please . . ." Tears streamed down Bakura's face and he closed his eyes, trying to block the horrible images from his mind.
"This is what will happen when the Cobra Colony takes over the world," Franceska hissed. "Evil will prevail, and there is nothing you can do to stop us!" She slapped him roughly across his face and dug her long fingernails into his arm painfully.
"No! You're wrong!" Bakura cried, wincing at the pain. "Evil will never prevail! I'll stop you myself if I have to!" he said bravely.
"Insolent, foolish boy," Franceska snapped. "You could never stop us, nor would you even have the courage or strength to try!" She threw her hands up in the air, summoning many dark wraiths. "You need a demonstration of our true power. Show him what you did to the spirit of his Ring!" she ordered.
The wraiths obeyed, sending a mental picture into Bakura's mind of his Yami being overpowered and beaten harshly. The wraiths used their dark lightning on him and he vanished into nothingness, screaming in agony. Bakura gasped, feeling his Yami's pain explode through his own body.
"You see, we have even destroyed your powerful Yami when he tried to retrieve you from our clutches," Franceska smirked. "What possible hope can a weak little boy like you have against our powers?"
Bakura closed his eyes. His Yami was really gone?
He had no time to consider how he felt about that when he was punched viciously in the chest. He screamed in pain, gasping for breath.
"Go on, weakling, try and defend yourself," Franceska taunted.
"This isn't a fair fight!" Bakura cried, trying to catch the wraith's hand and restrain it, but instead was violently shoved backwards, still helplessly hanging upsidedown from the ceiling. The wraiths all ganged up on him, punching, kicking, and pounding his poor body. The rope holding him up snapped, sending him flying across the room. Hot tears coursed down his face as he was kicked hard against the wall. He struggled to get up but crashed back to the floor in pain and cried out.
Franceska sneered. "You fool. You see, you are no match for us! Now I will finish you off!" She moved in closer, her fangs glistening.
Bakura's eyes went wide. "No . . . no . . . please . . ." he rasped, inching away in terror. He could barely move. Please help me, he prayed. Please . . . I don't want to die!
Just as Franceska lunged in for the kill, a bright light appeared directly in front of Bakura. "Stop!" a commanding voice ordered. "You will not harm him any more!"
Franceska gasped, shielding herself from the light. "Impossible! Who are you? How dare you intrude on my turf!"
"You cannot torment innocent people like this. Be gone!"
Bakura looked up and gasped as a shining figure in the light raised her right hand and banished Franceska, who screamed in anger and yelled, "You have not defeated me yet! I will be back!"
Completely drained of his strength and badly hurt, Bakura moaned softly and closed his eyes.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder and his eyes opened again. A beautiful young girl was kneeling in front of him, her violet eyes loving and kind.
"Who are you?" Bakura asked in wonder.
"Kasumi," was her reply. "Come—we must leave this place. It is full of evil."
"But I'm too weak," Bakura rasped. "They beat me!"
"Have faith," Kasumi whispered. "You will be strengthened." She gently took hold of Bakura's hands and raised him up. To his surprise, he was able to stand. With Kasumi's help, Bakura was able to stumble out a door and into the cover of pre-dawn darkness.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"We are on the outskirts of Domino City," Kasumi told him. "We will go to the game shop. You can make it there," she whispered. "Be strong, sweet Bakura."
Bakura smiled weakly. He didn't know how long it would last, but right now he felt strong enough to keep going.
"Yugi, this is getting creepy!" Tea cried. "Where could everyone in the town have gone?!"
"That's a question I wish I had the answer to, Tea," Yugi sighed. "Right now, it's anyone's guess, but I'm pretty sure that whatever it was, it wasn't good."
"Man, I bet that creepy psychic set us up!" Joey burst out as they walked back to Seto's limo. "She probably rigged all this up—or maybe it was even group hypnosis!" He gestured wildly. "Maybe this is all one big delusion!"
"What is it with you and group hypnosis?" Tristan sighed.
"It's possible, isn't it?" Joey returned.
There was a silence as everyone climbed into the limo and drove off.
"What are we going to do now?" Bakura wondered.
Before anyone could answer, Tea gasped and pointed to a strange, moving cluster in the near distance. "What's that?" she exclaimed.
"I can hear weird chanting," Bakura commented.
"Drive closer so we can investigate," Seto ordered his chauffeur, who obeyed reluctantly.
"Whoa! Check it out!" Joey cried when they got closer, pointing at a large group of people in dark robes doing an eerie dance on a mountain near the town. The buildings of Cooperstown were still visible from the mountain road.
"It must be some kind of cult ritual," Yugi decided. "Perhaps this is the Cobra Colony!"
As they watched, one of the robed figures raised its staff at the city and a burst of dark lightning shot out, making the city's buildings vanish completely.
"Oh man! Did you see that?!" Joey gasped.
Yugi nodded grimly. "They're wielding evil power."
"And if they can make a city disappear—people, buildings, and all—I'd hate to think what else they're capable of doing," Tristan remarked.
"We should call the authorities," Yugi said grimly.
"They'll think we're nuts," Joey sighed.
"I'm sure you're right, Wheeler," Seto remarked, picking up the phone. "But let's at least see if the police can tell us something about that cult."
Yugi nodded in agreement.
After a few minutes, Seto hung up the phone and turned back to the others. "The desk sergeant I spoke to said that the dancers sound like a nature cult registered as Mother Earth's Disciples, and that they have no criminal record."
"Did you tell him about the hocus pocus we just saw?" Joey, who had been distracted by the robed figures' eerie dance, demanded.
"I asked him if this nature cult claims to be able to perform magic," Seto replied. "The desk sergeant said that they do. I then told him about everyone in Cooperstown disappearing, and he said he'd send a squad car out. I had to tell him that the 'nature cult' just made what was left of the town vanish," he said wryly.
"What did he say about that?" Tristan asked.
"He asked me if I was taking sleeping medication," Seto muttered. "I told him we'd all seen it."
"Then what did he say?" Joey wanted to know.
"Nothing. He probably thinks we're all crazy." Seto didn't look too happy.
"I guess you're glad you kept it an anonymous call, eh?" Joey grinned. Seto didn't answer.
"Let's go back to where the town was," Yugi said. "The squad car should be here any minute."
Seto nodded. "Drive back to what's left of Cooperstown," he told his chauffeur.
****
The town was still missing when they drove up, and the squad car was just pulling in.
"Holy smokes!" the officer exclaimed, as he and his partner got out of the car. "That guy on the phone wasn't nuts after all!"
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" the other officer gasped.
"Oh, you're in the right place, officer," Seto replied, stepping out of the shadows.
"Are you the anonymous caller who phoned the station?" the first officer asked.
"I am," Seto nodded.
Both police officers held up their badges. "I'm Detective Kraft, and this is Officer Ricks," the first one introduced.
"Seto Kaiba," the boy returned.
After Yugi and the others introduced themselves as well, Detective Kraft asked, "How long ago was it when you arrived in the town and found it devoid of all life?"
"Probably a couple of hours ago now," Yugi replied.
"And we saw the weird cult dancers about an hour ago," Joey added.
"I think they're probably gone by now, though," Bakura said.
"Well, let's go check it out," Officer Ricks suggested. "Show us where you saw them."
"It was over on that mountain," Yugi replied, pointing. "We'll go with you."
****
"This looks like the place where the Mother Earth's Disciples meet, alright," Detective Kraft remarked. "But it also looks like they've probably cleared out by now," he sighed.
"But we can still search the area for clues," Officer Ricks said.
The two policemen and the six teens started investigating around the brush and stones where the dancers had been performing their ritual.
Bakura, who had wandered over to some trampled grass a little bit away from where the others were, gasped as he noticed something shiny amongst the long blades and picked it up. "A cameo pin," he said to himself, "shaped like a cobra! . . . But that must mean that Mother Earth's Disciples are really the Cobra Colony!"
"That's correct, my young meddler," an evil voice hissed, and a dark-robed figure stepped out in front of him.
Bakura's blood ran cold and he tried to scream for help, but to his utter horror he found himself unable to speak. {Yami, help me!} he pleaded through their mental connection.
"The spirit in your Millennium Ring can't help you now," the dark-robed figure sneered.
Bakura's eyes went wide. Once again someone had tuned in to their mental connection! Since some kind of dark power was keeping him from speaking aloud, he demanded through his thoughts, "What have you done to me . . . and to him?!" He tried to back up but found himself frozen to the spot.
"Let's just say that while his powers are impressive, mine are more so," the figure replied, laying an ice-cold hand on Bakura's shoulder. A chill spread the boy's body and he felt himself growing weak. Just before he passed out, he heard the voice laugh and say, "You will never tell what you know to anyone!"
****
Yugi froze, his violet eyes narrowed in concern.
"Yugi, what is it?" Tea gasped.
"Where is Bakura?" Yugi asked, looking around.
Tea's eyes went wide. "I don't see him anywhere!"
"He was over there a minute ago," Tristan replied, pointing over at a nearby clearing.
"He's not there anymore," Yugi said grimly. "He's been taken captive by the forces of darkness." The others saw that his Millennium Puzzle was glowing and that the third eye had appeared on his forehead. He shook his head sadly. "And they don't intend to let him get away alive."
****
Bakura stirred, moaning softly. {Yami, are you there?} he asked, and received no answer. Either their connection had been blocked, or his Yami simply wasn't responding.
That's when a strange sensation came over him and he opened his eyes slowly. He was hanging upsidedown!
Memories came rushing back—the dark figure, its paralyzing powers, its icy touch. . . . "Where am I?" Bakura rasped, relieved to find that he could speak again.
"You don't want to know," a female voice hissed.
Bakura turned and found himself looking at a blonde woman, her nasty smile revealing abnormally long canine teeth.
"Who are you? What are you?" the frightened boy exclaimed, trying frantically to pull himself upright, but in vain. All he could do was hang upsidedown helplessly.
"I am Franceska, and you know what I am," the vampyress purred, brushing Bakura's long hair away and stroking his cheek.
He pulled away in disgust and fear. "What are you going to do to me?"
Franceska didn't answer. Instead she laid a hand on his forehead, sending horrible images into the boy's mind with her powers. Images of death and destruction, images of pain and torment. . . . Images of Bakura's friends being tortured in the most horrible ways.
The poor boy couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! Stop! Please . . ." Tears streamed down Bakura's face and he closed his eyes, trying to block the horrible images from his mind.
"This is what will happen when the Cobra Colony takes over the world," Franceska hissed. "Evil will prevail, and there is nothing you can do to stop us!" She slapped him roughly across his face and dug her long fingernails into his arm painfully.
"No! You're wrong!" Bakura cried, wincing at the pain. "Evil will never prevail! I'll stop you myself if I have to!" he said bravely.
"Insolent, foolish boy," Franceska snapped. "You could never stop us, nor would you even have the courage or strength to try!" She threw her hands up in the air, summoning many dark wraiths. "You need a demonstration of our true power. Show him what you did to the spirit of his Ring!" she ordered.
The wraiths obeyed, sending a mental picture into Bakura's mind of his Yami being overpowered and beaten harshly. The wraiths used their dark lightning on him and he vanished into nothingness, screaming in agony. Bakura gasped, feeling his Yami's pain explode through his own body.
"You see, we have even destroyed your powerful Yami when he tried to retrieve you from our clutches," Franceska smirked. "What possible hope can a weak little boy like you have against our powers?"
Bakura closed his eyes. His Yami was really gone?
He had no time to consider how he felt about that when he was punched viciously in the chest. He screamed in pain, gasping for breath.
"Go on, weakling, try and defend yourself," Franceska taunted.
"This isn't a fair fight!" Bakura cried, trying to catch the wraith's hand and restrain it, but instead was violently shoved backwards, still helplessly hanging upsidedown from the ceiling. The wraiths all ganged up on him, punching, kicking, and pounding his poor body. The rope holding him up snapped, sending him flying across the room. Hot tears coursed down his face as he was kicked hard against the wall. He struggled to get up but crashed back to the floor in pain and cried out.
Franceska sneered. "You fool. You see, you are no match for us! Now I will finish you off!" She moved in closer, her fangs glistening.
Bakura's eyes went wide. "No . . . no . . . please . . ." he rasped, inching away in terror. He could barely move. Please help me, he prayed. Please . . . I don't want to die!
Just as Franceska lunged in for the kill, a bright light appeared directly in front of Bakura. "Stop!" a commanding voice ordered. "You will not harm him any more!"
Franceska gasped, shielding herself from the light. "Impossible! Who are you? How dare you intrude on my turf!"
"You cannot torment innocent people like this. Be gone!"
Bakura looked up and gasped as a shining figure in the light raised her right hand and banished Franceska, who screamed in anger and yelled, "You have not defeated me yet! I will be back!"
Completely drained of his strength and badly hurt, Bakura moaned softly and closed his eyes.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder and his eyes opened again. A beautiful young girl was kneeling in front of him, her violet eyes loving and kind.
"Who are you?" Bakura asked in wonder.
"Kasumi," was her reply. "Come—we must leave this place. It is full of evil."
"But I'm too weak," Bakura rasped. "They beat me!"
"Have faith," Kasumi whispered. "You will be strengthened." She gently took hold of Bakura's hands and raised him up. To his surprise, he was able to stand. With Kasumi's help, Bakura was able to stumble out a door and into the cover of pre-dawn darkness.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"We are on the outskirts of Domino City," Kasumi told him. "We will go to the game shop. You can make it there," she whispered. "Be strong, sweet Bakura."
Bakura smiled weakly. He didn't know how long it would last, but right now he felt strong enough to keep going.