NOTE: I luv Kaiba's independent streak too! ^_^ **huggles!**
"A thunder storm?!" Joey exclaimed.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
"Oh man, I'm comin' down," the Brooklyn boy declared, quickly descending from the tree. He looked around. "Where's the freaky guy who gave us the warning?"
"Good question," Mai mused.
"There's no place for anyone to hide in the yard," Tea realized. "They must have been inside!"
"Well then, let's go in and find him!" Joey slammed his fist into his palm determinedly.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Joey," Yugi cautioned.
Bakura nodded. "If the tree is struck by lightning, it will probably fall over on the house. They've been trying for years to get this tree cut down because of the safety hazards," he explained.
Joey sighed in resignation.
"I don't think you'll learn anything new from either the O'Connells or the Hendersons," Mai told them. "Our experiences were all pretty much the same. None of them are home now, anyway," she shrugged. "But they should be back late tomorrow night," she added.
"Where did they all go?" Tea wondered.
"They went somewhere to get away from all the reporters bothering them about the aliens," Mai replied.
"Well, alright," Yugi said slowly as the rain started to fall. "We'll be back tomorrow. But before we go, Mai, can you describe the burglars?"
Mai paused. "Not much to describe. They looked like the typical movie aliens—you know, big heads, green skin, black eyes. . . ."
Yugi nodded. "Well, thanks, Mai. We'll see you later!" He and the others started to walk back to the bus stop, where a bus was just pulling up.
"Hey," Mai called after them, "is there anything I can do to help?"
"See if you can find any clues the police might have missed," Yugi suggested as they hurried to catch the bus.
****
Thirty minutes later, the five teens went up the walkway that led to Seto Kaiba's mansion. When they reached the porch, Yugi rang the doorbell, and soon the door was opened by Velma.
"Why, hello," the maid smiled.
"Hi," Yugi smiled back. "Is Seto Kaiba here?"
Velma hesitated. "Well . . ."
"Hey, we're here to talk about the case," Joey told her.
"Well, he's here, alright," Velma admitted, twisting her dustmop in her hands. "But I don't know if he wants to see anyone . . ."
"Is he badly hurt?" Tea asked.
"Oh, he never tells me anything like that," Velma replied. She paused. "Tell ya what—c'mon in and I'll find Mokuba."
"Okay," Yugi agreed, and he and the others went in. "Thank you," he smiled.
Velma scurried off and soon returned with Mokuba in tow.
"Hey guys!" the little boy smiled.
"Hey kid," Joey greeted.
"How's your brother, Mokuba?" Yugi asked.
"He's feeling a lot better, thank heavens," Mokuba told them. "Right now, he's working in his home office. You wanna see him?"
"If he doesn't mind," Yugi said.
Mokuba led them down a long hall and then knocked on a door at the end. "Big brother? Can we come in?"
"'We'?" Seto sounded puzzled.
Mokuba opened the door a crack. "Yugi and the others are here, big brother," he explained.
Seto sighed. "They can come in," he said finally.
Mokuba opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. "Come on," he said, and the others followed.
Seto was sitting in a chair reading a company report. His brown hair was combed in its normal, neat style, and he had bandages on the back of his right hand and on his left wrist. Tea could see that under his long bangs there seemed to be another one on his forehead. He was wearing his blue trenchcoat and his shirt was open. He quickly pulled it shut and looked up. "What is it you want, Yugi?" he asked.
"We've been up at Summit Hills," Yugi told him. "We thought we'd drop by here on our way back."
Seto nodded slowly.
"Hey, Kaiba, man, what was that weird mark I saw on your chest?" Joey asked suddenly.
Seto wrapped his still-unbuttoned shirt closer around him. "None of your concern, Wheeler."
"Hey, man, you don't havta be so aloof," Joey protested. "We're just worried about you, Kaiba."
"You don't need to be." A flicker of embarrassment and discomfort shone in Seto's eyes and he quickly looked down at the report he was holding. He wasn't used to people other than Mokuba fussing over him, and he didn't really like it. He hated for it to appear that he couldn't take care of himself. "Now, did you come to make a fuss over me or to discuss the case?" he asked.
"Well, Kaiba . . ." Joey grinned. "To be perfectly honest, what happened to you is a big part of the case."
Seto rolled his eyes. "Gee, I've always wanted to be scrutinized like an amoeba under a microscope."
Before anyone could reply to that, something crashed in the hall, and a loud scream echoed through the mansion.
"What was that?!" Joey gasped.
Seto didn't answer. He leaped up and ran out the door, and the others quickly followed. They found Velma in the hallway, shaking in terror, a broken vase on the floor at her feet.
"What happened?" Seto demanded.
"Oh, Mr. Kaiba, it was horrible!" the Southern maid wailed. "It was lookin' in at me with those nasty ol' big eyes, and then it threw that vase at me!"
"What was?" Yugi exclaimed.
"One of them horrible alien critters!" Velma declared.
"Aliens?!" everyone repeated, shocked.
"Where is it now?" Seto wanted to know.
"It . . . it just vanished!" Velma cried.
"In a cloud of smoke?" Seto asked.
"No," Velma denied, shaking her head, "it just plum vanished right in front of my eyes!"
Seto laid a hand on Velma's shoulder. "You'd better go lay down, Velma," he said kindly. "You look upset."
Velma nodded shakily and disappeared into a room down the hall.
"What do you think she saw, Kaiba?" Tea asked.
Seto looked down at the pieces of broken vase. "I'm not sure." He didn't say more, but he had to wonder if Velma's nephew Tom was playing some kind of practical joke on his hapless aunt. Or was it possible that . . .
His train of thought was interrupted as he suddenly became aware that Joey was staring at him. "What? What is it, Wheeler?"
Joey responded by pointing at Seto's chest.
Seto's eyes narrowed. In all the excitement about the alien, he had completely forgotten that his shirt was still open. Without saying a word, he turned around and buttoned it, not wanting Joey to make a big deal about the odd mark across his chest. "My maid tends to be very excitable," he said finally, changing the subject.
"So, do you think she was seeing things, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.
"I don't know what she saw," Seto replied, "but I've never known her to hallucinate before. And I'm certain that she didn't break the vase herself." He turned back to face the others again.
"So . . . what do we do, Kaiba?" Joey asked.
Seto surveyed the room. Nothing looked out of place, except for the broken vase. "The window's shut," he remarked. "There's nowhere an intruder could have gone, unless . . ."
"Unless he really did vanish, like Velma said," Tristan finished.
Bakura's eyes widened. "Oh my," he said softly.
Seto shook his head. "This whole thing is ridiculous."
"What should we do, Yugi?" Tea asked.
"Let's clean up the vase and see if we can have one of the bigger pieces dusted for fingerprints," Yugi suggested.
Before long, the teens had done just that, and, using some flour and Velma's dustmop, Bakura examined the largest piece of the broken vase. "There aren't any prints on this piece," he informed the others, "and I don't think any of the other pieces are big enough to hope to get a complete print from them."
"I didn't expect anything else," Seto said in his normal, cold voice. "Either what Velma saw was a person dressed as an alien, or . . ." He stopped.
"Startin' to believe in the weird and freaky?" Joey grinned.
"I keep my mind open to all possibilities," Seto replied indifferently.
"Oh, by the way, Kaiba, we saw Mai today," Yugi said. "She asked about you."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell her what happened to me yesterday, did you?"
Yugi shook his head. "We didn't," he assured the blue-eyed boy.
Seto nodded, looking satisfied.
"So, what's the plan, Yug?" Joey asked. "How're we gonna solve this crazy case?"
Yugi paused. "I'm not sure," he admitted.
That's when Mokuba came in, his gray eyes wide. "I just heard that a flying saucer flew over the canyons!" he exclaimed.
Everyone turned to look at the little boy. "How long ago was this, Mokuba?" Yugi asked.
"Just recently," Mokuba replied. "About forty-five minutes ago. The police and the army haven't found any clues yet."
"Well, I don't know how reliable they are for findin' clues," Joey remarked, glancing at Seto. "If Tea hadn't seen your hand hangin' out of the cornfield and thought there was a dead body in there, who knows if you'd be okay now!"
Mokuba gasped, his eyes widening. He hadn't heard anything like that before. He looked up at Seto, horrified. Seto hugged his brother comfortingly and glared at Joey.
Joey stopped and blinked, realizing everyone was giving him dark looks. "Eh, sorry, kid," he apologized to Mokuba. "I didn't mean to upset you." He tried to make up for what he'd said. "Hey, I'm sure your brother would've woken up anyway," he tried to reassure the younger boy.
"Of course I would have, Mokuba," Seto said softly. "But let's not think about the what ifs. I'm fine now, little brother."
"Hey, Kaiba," Tristan said, remembering something and trying to change the subject, "how did you know about the aliens vanishing in a cloud of smoke?"
Seto shrugged. "I watch the news," he replied.
Suddenly the phone in the hall rang and Seto answered it. "Kaiba," he said gruffly, then paused, looking surprised. "What? Yes, he's here . . . Hold on. . . ." He handed the phone to Yugi. "It's Mai Valentine," he told the violet-eyed boy.
Yugi was startled. "Mai?" he said into the phone. "What's going on? How did you know we were at Kaiba's place?"
"I heard you say you might drop by there on your way back to town," Mai replied. "But anyway, I remembered something that might be useful."
"Really, Mai?" Yugi perked up. "What is it?"
"It's . . ." Mai paused, then screamed.
"Mai? What's wrong?" Yugi gasped. "Mai?"
The line went dead.
"A thunder storm?!" Joey exclaimed.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
"Oh man, I'm comin' down," the Brooklyn boy declared, quickly descending from the tree. He looked around. "Where's the freaky guy who gave us the warning?"
"Good question," Mai mused.
"There's no place for anyone to hide in the yard," Tea realized. "They must have been inside!"
"Well then, let's go in and find him!" Joey slammed his fist into his palm determinedly.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Joey," Yugi cautioned.
Bakura nodded. "If the tree is struck by lightning, it will probably fall over on the house. They've been trying for years to get this tree cut down because of the safety hazards," he explained.
Joey sighed in resignation.
"I don't think you'll learn anything new from either the O'Connells or the Hendersons," Mai told them. "Our experiences were all pretty much the same. None of them are home now, anyway," she shrugged. "But they should be back late tomorrow night," she added.
"Where did they all go?" Tea wondered.
"They went somewhere to get away from all the reporters bothering them about the aliens," Mai replied.
"Well, alright," Yugi said slowly as the rain started to fall. "We'll be back tomorrow. But before we go, Mai, can you describe the burglars?"
Mai paused. "Not much to describe. They looked like the typical movie aliens—you know, big heads, green skin, black eyes. . . ."
Yugi nodded. "Well, thanks, Mai. We'll see you later!" He and the others started to walk back to the bus stop, where a bus was just pulling up.
"Hey," Mai called after them, "is there anything I can do to help?"
"See if you can find any clues the police might have missed," Yugi suggested as they hurried to catch the bus.
****
Thirty minutes later, the five teens went up the walkway that led to Seto Kaiba's mansion. When they reached the porch, Yugi rang the doorbell, and soon the door was opened by Velma.
"Why, hello," the maid smiled.
"Hi," Yugi smiled back. "Is Seto Kaiba here?"
Velma hesitated. "Well . . ."
"Hey, we're here to talk about the case," Joey told her.
"Well, he's here, alright," Velma admitted, twisting her dustmop in her hands. "But I don't know if he wants to see anyone . . ."
"Is he badly hurt?" Tea asked.
"Oh, he never tells me anything like that," Velma replied. She paused. "Tell ya what—c'mon in and I'll find Mokuba."
"Okay," Yugi agreed, and he and the others went in. "Thank you," he smiled.
Velma scurried off and soon returned with Mokuba in tow.
"Hey guys!" the little boy smiled.
"Hey kid," Joey greeted.
"How's your brother, Mokuba?" Yugi asked.
"He's feeling a lot better, thank heavens," Mokuba told them. "Right now, he's working in his home office. You wanna see him?"
"If he doesn't mind," Yugi said.
Mokuba led them down a long hall and then knocked on a door at the end. "Big brother? Can we come in?"
"'We'?" Seto sounded puzzled.
Mokuba opened the door a crack. "Yugi and the others are here, big brother," he explained.
Seto sighed. "They can come in," he said finally.
Mokuba opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. "Come on," he said, and the others followed.
Seto was sitting in a chair reading a company report. His brown hair was combed in its normal, neat style, and he had bandages on the back of his right hand and on his left wrist. Tea could see that under his long bangs there seemed to be another one on his forehead. He was wearing his blue trenchcoat and his shirt was open. He quickly pulled it shut and looked up. "What is it you want, Yugi?" he asked.
"We've been up at Summit Hills," Yugi told him. "We thought we'd drop by here on our way back."
Seto nodded slowly.
"Hey, Kaiba, man, what was that weird mark I saw on your chest?" Joey asked suddenly.
Seto wrapped his still-unbuttoned shirt closer around him. "None of your concern, Wheeler."
"Hey, man, you don't havta be so aloof," Joey protested. "We're just worried about you, Kaiba."
"You don't need to be." A flicker of embarrassment and discomfort shone in Seto's eyes and he quickly looked down at the report he was holding. He wasn't used to people other than Mokuba fussing over him, and he didn't really like it. He hated for it to appear that he couldn't take care of himself. "Now, did you come to make a fuss over me or to discuss the case?" he asked.
"Well, Kaiba . . ." Joey grinned. "To be perfectly honest, what happened to you is a big part of the case."
Seto rolled his eyes. "Gee, I've always wanted to be scrutinized like an amoeba under a microscope."
Before anyone could reply to that, something crashed in the hall, and a loud scream echoed through the mansion.
"What was that?!" Joey gasped.
Seto didn't answer. He leaped up and ran out the door, and the others quickly followed. They found Velma in the hallway, shaking in terror, a broken vase on the floor at her feet.
"What happened?" Seto demanded.
"Oh, Mr. Kaiba, it was horrible!" the Southern maid wailed. "It was lookin' in at me with those nasty ol' big eyes, and then it threw that vase at me!"
"What was?" Yugi exclaimed.
"One of them horrible alien critters!" Velma declared.
"Aliens?!" everyone repeated, shocked.
"Where is it now?" Seto wanted to know.
"It . . . it just vanished!" Velma cried.
"In a cloud of smoke?" Seto asked.
"No," Velma denied, shaking her head, "it just plum vanished right in front of my eyes!"
Seto laid a hand on Velma's shoulder. "You'd better go lay down, Velma," he said kindly. "You look upset."
Velma nodded shakily and disappeared into a room down the hall.
"What do you think she saw, Kaiba?" Tea asked.
Seto looked down at the pieces of broken vase. "I'm not sure." He didn't say more, but he had to wonder if Velma's nephew Tom was playing some kind of practical joke on his hapless aunt. Or was it possible that . . .
His train of thought was interrupted as he suddenly became aware that Joey was staring at him. "What? What is it, Wheeler?"
Joey responded by pointing at Seto's chest.
Seto's eyes narrowed. In all the excitement about the alien, he had completely forgotten that his shirt was still open. Without saying a word, he turned around and buttoned it, not wanting Joey to make a big deal about the odd mark across his chest. "My maid tends to be very excitable," he said finally, changing the subject.
"So, do you think she was seeing things, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.
"I don't know what she saw," Seto replied, "but I've never known her to hallucinate before. And I'm certain that she didn't break the vase herself." He turned back to face the others again.
"So . . . what do we do, Kaiba?" Joey asked.
Seto surveyed the room. Nothing looked out of place, except for the broken vase. "The window's shut," he remarked. "There's nowhere an intruder could have gone, unless . . ."
"Unless he really did vanish, like Velma said," Tristan finished.
Bakura's eyes widened. "Oh my," he said softly.
Seto shook his head. "This whole thing is ridiculous."
"What should we do, Yugi?" Tea asked.
"Let's clean up the vase and see if we can have one of the bigger pieces dusted for fingerprints," Yugi suggested.
Before long, the teens had done just that, and, using some flour and Velma's dustmop, Bakura examined the largest piece of the broken vase. "There aren't any prints on this piece," he informed the others, "and I don't think any of the other pieces are big enough to hope to get a complete print from them."
"I didn't expect anything else," Seto said in his normal, cold voice. "Either what Velma saw was a person dressed as an alien, or . . ." He stopped.
"Startin' to believe in the weird and freaky?" Joey grinned.
"I keep my mind open to all possibilities," Seto replied indifferently.
"Oh, by the way, Kaiba, we saw Mai today," Yugi said. "She asked about you."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell her what happened to me yesterday, did you?"
Yugi shook his head. "We didn't," he assured the blue-eyed boy.
Seto nodded, looking satisfied.
"So, what's the plan, Yug?" Joey asked. "How're we gonna solve this crazy case?"
Yugi paused. "I'm not sure," he admitted.
That's when Mokuba came in, his gray eyes wide. "I just heard that a flying saucer flew over the canyons!" he exclaimed.
Everyone turned to look at the little boy. "How long ago was this, Mokuba?" Yugi asked.
"Just recently," Mokuba replied. "About forty-five minutes ago. The police and the army haven't found any clues yet."
"Well, I don't know how reliable they are for findin' clues," Joey remarked, glancing at Seto. "If Tea hadn't seen your hand hangin' out of the cornfield and thought there was a dead body in there, who knows if you'd be okay now!"
Mokuba gasped, his eyes widening. He hadn't heard anything like that before. He looked up at Seto, horrified. Seto hugged his brother comfortingly and glared at Joey.
Joey stopped and blinked, realizing everyone was giving him dark looks. "Eh, sorry, kid," he apologized to Mokuba. "I didn't mean to upset you." He tried to make up for what he'd said. "Hey, I'm sure your brother would've woken up anyway," he tried to reassure the younger boy.
"Of course I would have, Mokuba," Seto said softly. "But let's not think about the what ifs. I'm fine now, little brother."
"Hey, Kaiba," Tristan said, remembering something and trying to change the subject, "how did you know about the aliens vanishing in a cloud of smoke?"
Seto shrugged. "I watch the news," he replied.
Suddenly the phone in the hall rang and Seto answered it. "Kaiba," he said gruffly, then paused, looking surprised. "What? Yes, he's here . . . Hold on. . . ." He handed the phone to Yugi. "It's Mai Valentine," he told the violet-eyed boy.
Yugi was startled. "Mai?" he said into the phone. "What's going on? How did you know we were at Kaiba's place?"
"I heard you say you might drop by there on your way back to town," Mai replied. "But anyway, I remembered something that might be useful."
"Really, Mai?" Yugi perked up. "What is it?"
"It's . . ." Mai paused, then screamed.
"Mai? What's wrong?" Yugi gasped. "Mai?"
The line went dead.