Note: This still isn't yaoi, and it never will be! ^_~
"Bakura! Bakura!"
Bakura looked up, tears spilling from his eyes. Mai was picking her way down the incline, looking worried. "What's wrong, kiddo?" she called. "Is your Yami . . ."
"Call 911!" Bakura screamed, not even stopping to wonder how the modern-day doctors would help the 5,000-year-old tomb robber.
Mai pointed this out to him, however, and Bakura had to admit that she was probably right. "But then . . . what can I do?!" the distraught boy wailed.
Mai paused. Aside from Yugi, she had never seen anyone with the immense kindness and compassion that Bakura had. The others had told her horror stories about Bakura's Yami—how he was always nasty and despicable, not stopping at anything to get what he wanted. Bakura often said that he wished there was some way to be rid of his Yami, but now that there really might be—and for good—Bakura couldn't bear to think that his Yami might not survive.
"Listen, kiddo," Mai said finally, "you're not the only one with a Yami. You stay here and I'll go find Yugi. Maybe he'll know what you can do."
Bakura looked worried. "But you might get hurt too," he objected. "You shouldn't wander around up here all by yourself!"
Mai shrugged. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "I'll be back with Yugi before you know it!"
With that she was gone, leaving Bakura with his Yami's limp body.
****
Yugi braced himself for the next disaster. The green light was almost upon them when Yami Yugi took Yugi and dove into the bushes.
"Yami, what are you doing?" Yugi asked.
"We're going to try to find the source of the light," Yami Yugi replied, beginning to follow the glow as it moved back the other way, then diminished and vanished entirely. "Hmmm . . . this is strange," Yami Yugi remarked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yami, look up there!" Yugi exclaimed, pointing at a strange saucer hovering in the sky.
"This looks bad," Yami Yugi said grimly.
Suddenly a twig snapped behind them and the two whirled around.
"Yugi!" a familiar voice called.
"Mai?" Yugi blinked in surprise as the girl emerged from the shadows.
"What's wrong, Mai?" Yami Yugi asked.
"Bakura's Yami got hurt," Mai told them, "and the poor kid's worried about him."
"Yami Bakura has been injured?" Yami Yugi looked grim. "There's more going on here than meets the eye."
"Yami, that saucer's disappeared!" Yugi gasped.
Yami Yugi and Mai both looked up at the sky. "You're right, Yugi. It has," Yami Yugi said. "We will have to keep a close watch out for it. But for now . . ." He turned to Mai. "Take us to Bakura," he requested.
****
Seto and Tea, meanwhile, were being bombarded with the aliens from all directions.
"Kaiba! What are we going to do?! We can't fight them off forever!" Tea cried, dodging another green creature.
Seto punched the umpteenth alien and then watched, startled, as it hit a tree and broke into pieces. "It's not alive," he realized. "They're robots!"
"Robots?!" Tea repeated incredulously, throwing her attacker back against a boulder. Limbs flew everywhere. "But . . . why? What does it mean?"
"It means that maybe there aren't real flying saucers in Domino City," Seto replied. "Maybe they're man-made."
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was examining his Yami's battle wounds. He gasped when he saw the deep gash in the thief's shoulder. What kind of creature had done that?! Quickly he removed his Yami's shirt—which had almost been completely shredded anyway—and pulled out a white handkerchief, which he pressed against the abrasion in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Please be alright, Yami," the kind-hearted boy whispered.
"Bakura! Hey, Bakura!"
Bakura looked up to see Joey and Tristan running towards him. They stopped short, shocked. "Whoa, man, what happened?" Joey asked, concerned.
"I don't know," Bakura replied, shaking his head fearfully. "He . . . he was fighting with that headless phantom and he told me to take Mai and run for it. . . . Then I heard him scream, and . . . and . . ." He trailed off, looking down. The bleeding had stopped, he noted with relief, and he gently tied the handkerchief around the wound as a makeshift bandage.
"The headless phantom did that to him?!" Joey exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"I . . . I suppose he must have," Bakura said softly.
That was when Mai finally led Yugi and his Yami to the spot.
"We're back," Mai told him. "How're you holding up, kiddo?"
Bakura shrugged helplessly.
"Bakura . . ." Yugi wasn't exactly sure what to say. "I'm . . . I'm sorry," he said softly. Bakura nodded in acknowledgment, trying to hold back another round of tears. Mai laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
Yami Yugi knelt down next to the tomb raider, looking grim. He lifted the handkerchief bandage and examined the deep slash in the thief's shoulder, then looked up. "Bakura, did your Yami give any indication of what happened to him?" he asked.
Bakura paused. "Well . . . he . . . he did speak to me briefly," he said slowly. "He said something about the Man-Eater Bug and the headless phantom. . . . Something about great and terrible power. . . . He . . . he told me to be careful," the boy finished in a near-whisper, a tear falling from his eye.
"The Man-Eater Bug?!" Yugi exclaimed.
"I don't get it," Tristan said. "What do Duel Monsters have to do with the headless phantom?!"
Yami Yugi shook his head. "I don't like this at all."
"Yami, do you know what's happening?" Yugi asked.
Yami Yugi paused. "I have a feeling that our headless phantom just might be more powerful than we've been thinking it is."
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, holding his Yami's body protectively.
Yami Yugi gently pried a card out of the thief's hand. Bakura blinked. He hadn't even noticed his Yami had been clutching anything. "Have a look at this," Yami Yugi said, holding it up.
"Whoa . . . it's the Man-Eater Bug card," Tristan exclaimed.
Yami Yugi nodded. "I have the feeling that Bakura's Yami tried to use his card tricks on the phantom, but that instead, it backfired on him."
"But . . . how?" Yugi's violet eyes were wide as saucers. "Yami, isn't that impossible, unless . . ."
"Unless the phantom has powers on the same level," Yami Yugi finished.
There was silence for a long time after this statement. Finally Bakura spoke.
"What about my Yami?" he asked softly. "Is . . . is he . . ."
Yami Yugi smiled at Bakura comfortingly. "I'm certain he will recover." Though it might take a while, the ancient pharaoh thought to himself grimly. "Here—let me help you carry him," he offered kindly, gently taking Yami Bakura into his arms.
Bakura smiled back gratefully. "Thank you. I hope he will be alright. . . ."
"Well, we should get him back to the limo right away and then try to find the others," Yami Yugi remarked.
****
Tea surveyed the broken alien robots. "Is that all of them?" I hope, I hope, she added to herself.
Seto didn't answer. Instead he reached to pick up a random robotic limb to use as evidence. To his complete surprise and consternation, the arm jumped up, hovered in midair, and slapped him across the face. "Ow," he grumbled, snatching the arm before it could do it again.
Tea gasped, her eyes wide. "How did it do that?!" she cried.
Seto shook his head. "I don't know." He stood up, rubbing at his cheek. "Let's find the others," he said coldly.
They hadn't gone far when they heard voices. "He's alive? Ridiculous!" a scratchy voice declared.
Seto froze, motioning for Tea to stop as well. He parted the bushes carefully and stared at the silhouettes of two men who were talking in a clearing.
"Not ridiculous, you blockhead," the second one scolded. "He wasn't dead in the first place! We only said that to scare that nosy fool!"
Tea's eyes widened. "Who are they talking about, Kaiba?!"
Seto sent her a warning with his eyes, telling her to be quiet.
"Well, what do we do now?" the first voice asked.
"Come on. This is a bad place to talk. I sense other entities nearby." With that, the two men disappeared into thin air.
Tea blinked in surprise. "Well, that was weird. Where did they go, and who were they talking about?!" she demanded again.
"I have a pretty good idea," Seto replied, but didn't elaborate. He looked like he was fuming.
Tea gasped. "You! They were talking about you, weren't they?!"
Seto didn't answer.
"Tea! Kaiba! Hey, where are you guys?!" a familiar voice yelled.
"Tristan!" Tea called in relief. "We're over here!"
Before long the other members of the group emerged from the trees.
"Are you two both okay?" Yugi asked worriedly.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is more injured people," Joey added with a sigh.
"We're both fine," Seto said in a detached tone.
"What do you mean by 'more injured people'?!" Tea exclaimed. "Who's hurt?!"
Yami Yugi stepped out of the shadows, carrying Bakura's lifeless Yami.
"Yami Bakura?!" Tea gasped.
"That's right," Joey nodded. "Bakura says the guy was fighting with the headless phantom."
Tea shuddered. "That horrible thing again?! What could it want with us?!"
"That's a good question," Yugi sighed.
Yami Yugi nodded grimly. "And we had better find the answer fast. Because while Yami Bakura will likely survive this attack, one of you most likely would not. And I don't want anyone to lose their life on this case."
They started walking again and within a few minutes they finally found the limo and climbed in. As they drove back to the city, Bakura gently laid his Yami across his lap, dabbing at his forehead with a damp cloth. "Poor Yami," the boy whispered softly.
Mai laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder gently. "You're something else, kiddo," she said softly.
Bakura shook his head, trying not to cry again. "I . . . I just don't want him to die," he whispered. "I know he's always cruel and mean, but . . ." He trailed off.
Suddenly the limo gave a violent lurch and then swerved, sending everyone crashing into those sitting next to them!
"Bakura! Bakura!"
Bakura looked up, tears spilling from his eyes. Mai was picking her way down the incline, looking worried. "What's wrong, kiddo?" she called. "Is your Yami . . ."
"Call 911!" Bakura screamed, not even stopping to wonder how the modern-day doctors would help the 5,000-year-old tomb robber.
Mai pointed this out to him, however, and Bakura had to admit that she was probably right. "But then . . . what can I do?!" the distraught boy wailed.
Mai paused. Aside from Yugi, she had never seen anyone with the immense kindness and compassion that Bakura had. The others had told her horror stories about Bakura's Yami—how he was always nasty and despicable, not stopping at anything to get what he wanted. Bakura often said that he wished there was some way to be rid of his Yami, but now that there really might be—and for good—Bakura couldn't bear to think that his Yami might not survive.
"Listen, kiddo," Mai said finally, "you're not the only one with a Yami. You stay here and I'll go find Yugi. Maybe he'll know what you can do."
Bakura looked worried. "But you might get hurt too," he objected. "You shouldn't wander around up here all by yourself!"
Mai shrugged. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "I'll be back with Yugi before you know it!"
With that she was gone, leaving Bakura with his Yami's limp body.
****
Yugi braced himself for the next disaster. The green light was almost upon them when Yami Yugi took Yugi and dove into the bushes.
"Yami, what are you doing?" Yugi asked.
"We're going to try to find the source of the light," Yami Yugi replied, beginning to follow the glow as it moved back the other way, then diminished and vanished entirely. "Hmmm . . . this is strange," Yami Yugi remarked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yami, look up there!" Yugi exclaimed, pointing at a strange saucer hovering in the sky.
"This looks bad," Yami Yugi said grimly.
Suddenly a twig snapped behind them and the two whirled around.
"Yugi!" a familiar voice called.
"Mai?" Yugi blinked in surprise as the girl emerged from the shadows.
"What's wrong, Mai?" Yami Yugi asked.
"Bakura's Yami got hurt," Mai told them, "and the poor kid's worried about him."
"Yami Bakura has been injured?" Yami Yugi looked grim. "There's more going on here than meets the eye."
"Yami, that saucer's disappeared!" Yugi gasped.
Yami Yugi and Mai both looked up at the sky. "You're right, Yugi. It has," Yami Yugi said. "We will have to keep a close watch out for it. But for now . . ." He turned to Mai. "Take us to Bakura," he requested.
****
Seto and Tea, meanwhile, were being bombarded with the aliens from all directions.
"Kaiba! What are we going to do?! We can't fight them off forever!" Tea cried, dodging another green creature.
Seto punched the umpteenth alien and then watched, startled, as it hit a tree and broke into pieces. "It's not alive," he realized. "They're robots!"
"Robots?!" Tea repeated incredulously, throwing her attacker back against a boulder. Limbs flew everywhere. "But . . . why? What does it mean?"
"It means that maybe there aren't real flying saucers in Domino City," Seto replied. "Maybe they're man-made."
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was examining his Yami's battle wounds. He gasped when he saw the deep gash in the thief's shoulder. What kind of creature had done that?! Quickly he removed his Yami's shirt—which had almost been completely shredded anyway—and pulled out a white handkerchief, which he pressed against the abrasion in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Please be alright, Yami," the kind-hearted boy whispered.
"Bakura! Hey, Bakura!"
Bakura looked up to see Joey and Tristan running towards him. They stopped short, shocked. "Whoa, man, what happened?" Joey asked, concerned.
"I don't know," Bakura replied, shaking his head fearfully. "He . . . he was fighting with that headless phantom and he told me to take Mai and run for it. . . . Then I heard him scream, and . . . and . . ." He trailed off, looking down. The bleeding had stopped, he noted with relief, and he gently tied the handkerchief around the wound as a makeshift bandage.
"The headless phantom did that to him?!" Joey exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"I . . . I suppose he must have," Bakura said softly.
That was when Mai finally led Yugi and his Yami to the spot.
"We're back," Mai told him. "How're you holding up, kiddo?"
Bakura shrugged helplessly.
"Bakura . . ." Yugi wasn't exactly sure what to say. "I'm . . . I'm sorry," he said softly. Bakura nodded in acknowledgment, trying to hold back another round of tears. Mai laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
Yami Yugi knelt down next to the tomb raider, looking grim. He lifted the handkerchief bandage and examined the deep slash in the thief's shoulder, then looked up. "Bakura, did your Yami give any indication of what happened to him?" he asked.
Bakura paused. "Well . . . he . . . he did speak to me briefly," he said slowly. "He said something about the Man-Eater Bug and the headless phantom. . . . Something about great and terrible power. . . . He . . . he told me to be careful," the boy finished in a near-whisper, a tear falling from his eye.
"The Man-Eater Bug?!" Yugi exclaimed.
"I don't get it," Tristan said. "What do Duel Monsters have to do with the headless phantom?!"
Yami Yugi shook his head. "I don't like this at all."
"Yami, do you know what's happening?" Yugi asked.
Yami Yugi paused. "I have a feeling that our headless phantom just might be more powerful than we've been thinking it is."
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, holding his Yami's body protectively.
Yami Yugi gently pried a card out of the thief's hand. Bakura blinked. He hadn't even noticed his Yami had been clutching anything. "Have a look at this," Yami Yugi said, holding it up.
"Whoa . . . it's the Man-Eater Bug card," Tristan exclaimed.
Yami Yugi nodded. "I have the feeling that Bakura's Yami tried to use his card tricks on the phantom, but that instead, it backfired on him."
"But . . . how?" Yugi's violet eyes were wide as saucers. "Yami, isn't that impossible, unless . . ."
"Unless the phantom has powers on the same level," Yami Yugi finished.
There was silence for a long time after this statement. Finally Bakura spoke.
"What about my Yami?" he asked softly. "Is . . . is he . . ."
Yami Yugi smiled at Bakura comfortingly. "I'm certain he will recover." Though it might take a while, the ancient pharaoh thought to himself grimly. "Here—let me help you carry him," he offered kindly, gently taking Yami Bakura into his arms.
Bakura smiled back gratefully. "Thank you. I hope he will be alright. . . ."
"Well, we should get him back to the limo right away and then try to find the others," Yami Yugi remarked.
****
Tea surveyed the broken alien robots. "Is that all of them?" I hope, I hope, she added to herself.
Seto didn't answer. Instead he reached to pick up a random robotic limb to use as evidence. To his complete surprise and consternation, the arm jumped up, hovered in midair, and slapped him across the face. "Ow," he grumbled, snatching the arm before it could do it again.
Tea gasped, her eyes wide. "How did it do that?!" she cried.
Seto shook his head. "I don't know." He stood up, rubbing at his cheek. "Let's find the others," he said coldly.
They hadn't gone far when they heard voices. "He's alive? Ridiculous!" a scratchy voice declared.
Seto froze, motioning for Tea to stop as well. He parted the bushes carefully and stared at the silhouettes of two men who were talking in a clearing.
"Not ridiculous, you blockhead," the second one scolded. "He wasn't dead in the first place! We only said that to scare that nosy fool!"
Tea's eyes widened. "Who are they talking about, Kaiba?!"
Seto sent her a warning with his eyes, telling her to be quiet.
"Well, what do we do now?" the first voice asked.
"Come on. This is a bad place to talk. I sense other entities nearby." With that, the two men disappeared into thin air.
Tea blinked in surprise. "Well, that was weird. Where did they go, and who were they talking about?!" she demanded again.
"I have a pretty good idea," Seto replied, but didn't elaborate. He looked like he was fuming.
Tea gasped. "You! They were talking about you, weren't they?!"
Seto didn't answer.
"Tea! Kaiba! Hey, where are you guys?!" a familiar voice yelled.
"Tristan!" Tea called in relief. "We're over here!"
Before long the other members of the group emerged from the trees.
"Are you two both okay?" Yugi asked worriedly.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is more injured people," Joey added with a sigh.
"We're both fine," Seto said in a detached tone.
"What do you mean by 'more injured people'?!" Tea exclaimed. "Who's hurt?!"
Yami Yugi stepped out of the shadows, carrying Bakura's lifeless Yami.
"Yami Bakura?!" Tea gasped.
"That's right," Joey nodded. "Bakura says the guy was fighting with the headless phantom."
Tea shuddered. "That horrible thing again?! What could it want with us?!"
"That's a good question," Yugi sighed.
Yami Yugi nodded grimly. "And we had better find the answer fast. Because while Yami Bakura will likely survive this attack, one of you most likely would not. And I don't want anyone to lose their life on this case."
They started walking again and within a few minutes they finally found the limo and climbed in. As they drove back to the city, Bakura gently laid his Yami across his lap, dabbing at his forehead with a damp cloth. "Poor Yami," the boy whispered softly.
Mai laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder gently. "You're something else, kiddo," she said softly.
Bakura shook his head, trying not to cry again. "I . . . I just don't want him to die," he whispered. "I know he's always cruel and mean, but . . ." He trailed off.
Suddenly the limo gave a violent lurch and then swerved, sending everyone crashing into those sitting next to them!