NOTE: This is NOT yaoi ^_~
When the limo finally stopped moving, everyone turned to look at everyone else to make certain that they were all alright.
"Whoa, what the heck just happened?!" Joey exclaimed.
"I . . . I don't know," Bakura replied, blinking. He had grabbed his unconscious Yami protectively when the limo had pitched forward abruptly, and now he relaxed, again laying the ancient thief across his lap.
Seto looked angry. "What's going on up there?!" he demanded.
"I'm sorry, sir," the chauffeur said apologetically. "I . . . I was just a bit dizzy, and then I had to suddenly swerve the limo so we wouldn't hit that man riding by on his horse."
The teens all looked at each other.
"There wasn't any horseback rider out there," Tea declared, and the others nodded in agreement. "We're in the city!"
"What do you mean you were dizzy?" Seto now asked of the chauffeur.
"Oh, it was just a little dizziness, sir," the man tried to assure his boss. "I'm sure I'll be fine now." He reached for the driver's wheel.
"No!" Seto said harshly. "Don't try to drive. You might get us all killed!" He paused, crossing his arms. "Tell me what happened while we were gone."
"Nothing much, sir," the chauffeur replied. "I just listened to the radio and ate a sandwich."
"A sandwich?" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Where was it?"
"Oh, just right on the seat next to me, in a brown bag," the chauffeur said. "Why, sir? Do you think someone might've slipped something into it?"
"Actually, yes I do," Seto replied.
"But who would do such an awful thing?!" Tea cried.
"Unfortunately, there are many who would," Seto said angrily.
"Any of our enemies would be capable of doing so," Yami Yugi added grimly.
"Did you notice anyone walking near the limo?" Seto asked.
The chauffeur paused, thinking. "No, I saw no one," he said finally.
Seto's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Did you eat the whole sandwich?"
"No, sir, only half," the chauffeur replied.
"Then we should have the other half analyzed," Seto decided. "And you should be checked out by a doctor."
"Oh, sir, I'm sure I'm fine," the chauffeur said again.
"All the same, I want you examined before you try driving this limousine again," Seto said sternly.
The chauffeur sighed. "Yes, sir," he agreed.
Yami Yugi looked around. "I believe there's a police station right in this area," he stated.
Bakura nodded. "There is," he confirmed. "It's right around that corner over there."
"Then let's go there and see what we can find out!" Joey declared, slamming his fist into his palm.
Almost everyone got out of the limo to make their way to the station except Bakura, who wanted to stay with his sick Yami, and Mai, who decided to stay with Bakura. Yami Yugi went back in the Millennium Puzzle.
As the others walked up to the building, Joey was shocked to see a familiar redhaired girl coming out through the doors. "Cindy?! What're you doin' here?!"
Cindy also looked surprised. "Joey!" She smiled. "I might ask you the same question." She paused. "As for what I'm doing here, I'm way into paranormal activity, as you well know. I was just filing a report on a UFO I saw over my house."
"Hey, Joey, wanna introduce us to your girlfriend?" Tristan grinned.
"This is Cindy," Joey said enthusiastically. "We met at the convention tonight."
"That's right," Cindy smiled. She sighed. "Well, I'd better be going. I'll see you tomorrow, right, Joey?"
"Sure thing!" Joey smiled and waved as Cindy hurried off.
"Ooh, Joey, do you have a date with her?!" Tristan asked incredulously as they entered the police station.
"When you've only known her for a few hours?!" Tea added in disbelief.
Joey shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? Great girl!"
The desk sergeant looked up, hearing them walk in. "Not more UFO nuts," he sighed.
"Well, not exactly," Yugi said slowly, "but strange things happened to us while we were investigating one of the UFO sightings."
"What happened this time?" the desk sergeant asked in resignation.
Over the course of the next hour, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea took turns explaining what they'd seen and heard—leaving out any mention of the encounter with the headless phantom and what had happened to Yami Bakura—while Seto took the chauffeur to be examined and the sandwich to be analyzed in the police station's laboratory.
"Your chauffeur should be alright in a bit," the officer told Seto a short while later. "Apparently someone slipped a sleeping pill into his sandwich."
Seto's eyes narrowed in anger. "That's exactly what I was afraid of," he muttered.
"What I'd like to know is, How in the world did they do it?" the policeman sighed, shaking his head.
"If we knew that, we might have half the mystery solved," was Seto's response as he turned away.
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was watching his Yami worriedly. The ancient thief moaned in agony and Bakura frantically tried to determine what was wrong.
"I'm afraid he's very ill," the poor boy declared, tears in his eyes. He turned to Mai pleadingly. "Please, can you find Yugi?" he asked.
"Sure, kiddo," Mai said gently, getting out of the limo.
When Mai came into the police station, she found most of the other teens talking to the desk sergeant. "Yugi?" she called quietly.
Yugi turned around and saw instantly what was wrong by the look in Mai's eyes. "Can you excuse me?" he said softly. "Joey, Tristan, and Tea will tell you the rest."
"Yeah, sure. Go on," the desk sergeant replied, waving him away. Joey, Tristan, and Tea exchanged worried looks.
"How bad is he?" he asked when the two of them got outside.
"Well, I'm not an expert on ancient Egyptian spirits, but I think he's probably pretty bad off," Mai said quietly.
Yugi nodded solemnly as he opened the door of the limo and stepped inside. "Bakura?"
The worried boy looked up. "Please, Yugi . . . please help him," he cried.
Yugi nodded and his Yami came out of the Millennium Puzzle, kneeling down next to Yami Bakura. The tomb robber was obviously unconscious, but was moaning in pain.
"I've never seen him like this," Bakura whispered.
Yami Yugi gently lifted up the makeshift bandage and again examined the wound in the tomb raider's shoulder. The pharaoh's eyes narrowed in concern.
"What is it, Yami?" Yugi asked.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Bakura said fearfully.
Yami Yugi nodded. "I'm afraid he's been poisoned," he said honestly. "The headless phantom must have used evil magic from the Shadow Realm to inject poison into the wound after the Man-Eater Bug attacked."
Bakura's eyes went wide. "Oh no . . . oh no . . ." He looked down at his Yami's agonized body.
"Why couldn't you tell that he'd been poisoned before?" Mai asked curiously.
Yami Yugi shook his head. "This is a very rare poison. I haven't seen the likes of it in centuries. It doesn't make itself known until several hours after the injection."
"Yami, isn't there something you can do for him?" Yugi asked, seeing how stricken Bakura was.
Yami Yugi looked solemn. "There is an ancient spell I could perform, but I don't know if it will work."
"Please try," Bakura begged, his brown eyes wide and frightened.
Yami Yugi nodded and placed his hands just above the thief's wound. He chanted some words in Egyptian and then paused for what seemed like ages. Finally he opened his eyes and backed away.
"What is that routine supposed to do?" Mai asked with a blink.
"It's supposed to remove harmful substances such as poisons," Yami Yugi replied slowly, "but in Yami Bakura's case, I'm afraid the poison might already have too great a hold over him to be banished."
Yami Bakura let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain and then fell silent.
Tears spilled down Bakura's face as he gently brushed the long bangs away from his Yami's closed eyes. "Please, Yami . . . please wake up. . . . Please be alright . . ." The boy trailed off, looking lost.
"What can we do now?" Mai wondered.
Yami Yugi sighed. "There's not much we can do now, Mai," he said softly, and Yugi looked at the floor of the limo sadly.
"Can he . . . can he . . . die?" Bakura asked quietly.
"Bakura, I will be honest with you." Yami Yugi laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "This poison is very deadly, and coming from the Shadow Realm, it could even destroy a non-mortal such as your Yami."
Bakura looked down. Yugi could tell the other boy was horrified. "Yugi . . . he . . . he rescued us from the headless phantom. . . . I . . . I don't know why he did it, but he did. . . ." His shoulders shook as he sobbed into his hands. "I . . . I can't bear to think of him dying . . . not now . . . not ever. . . . He's usually always so dreadful and awful, but . . . but still . . ."
Yugi gently laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder. "I know," he said softly. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I understand."
"Is there anything else you can do?" Mai asked Yami Yugi in an undertone.
Yami Yugi shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid not."
Yami Bakura groaned and rolled over, falling off the seat of the car and crashing to the floor.
"Yami!" Bakura exclaimed and knelt down next to the tomb raider, who was moaning in pain. His shoulder wound was bleeding again and suddenly he went into a convulsion, jerking uncontrollably. When this horror finally ceased, Yami Bakura lay on the limo's floor, gasping for breath, his eyes open but unseeing. Bakura's eyes spilled over with tears again as he cradled the ancient thief in his lap and pleaded, "Stay with me, Yami! Please . . .!"
Yami Bakura gave no indication that he heard Bakura at all, or that he even knew the boy was there. He drew a ragged breath and shuddered.
Mai turned to Yami Yugi, her eyes wide. "Is he . . .?"
Yami Yugi nodded gravely. "He's dying."
When the limo finally stopped moving, everyone turned to look at everyone else to make certain that they were all alright.
"Whoa, what the heck just happened?!" Joey exclaimed.
"I . . . I don't know," Bakura replied, blinking. He had grabbed his unconscious Yami protectively when the limo had pitched forward abruptly, and now he relaxed, again laying the ancient thief across his lap.
Seto looked angry. "What's going on up there?!" he demanded.
"I'm sorry, sir," the chauffeur said apologetically. "I . . . I was just a bit dizzy, and then I had to suddenly swerve the limo so we wouldn't hit that man riding by on his horse."
The teens all looked at each other.
"There wasn't any horseback rider out there," Tea declared, and the others nodded in agreement. "We're in the city!"
"What do you mean you were dizzy?" Seto now asked of the chauffeur.
"Oh, it was just a little dizziness, sir," the man tried to assure his boss. "I'm sure I'll be fine now." He reached for the driver's wheel.
"No!" Seto said harshly. "Don't try to drive. You might get us all killed!" He paused, crossing his arms. "Tell me what happened while we were gone."
"Nothing much, sir," the chauffeur replied. "I just listened to the radio and ate a sandwich."
"A sandwich?" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Where was it?"
"Oh, just right on the seat next to me, in a brown bag," the chauffeur said. "Why, sir? Do you think someone might've slipped something into it?"
"Actually, yes I do," Seto replied.
"But who would do such an awful thing?!" Tea cried.
"Unfortunately, there are many who would," Seto said angrily.
"Any of our enemies would be capable of doing so," Yami Yugi added grimly.
"Did you notice anyone walking near the limo?" Seto asked.
The chauffeur paused, thinking. "No, I saw no one," he said finally.
Seto's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Did you eat the whole sandwich?"
"No, sir, only half," the chauffeur replied.
"Then we should have the other half analyzed," Seto decided. "And you should be checked out by a doctor."
"Oh, sir, I'm sure I'm fine," the chauffeur said again.
"All the same, I want you examined before you try driving this limousine again," Seto said sternly.
The chauffeur sighed. "Yes, sir," he agreed.
Yami Yugi looked around. "I believe there's a police station right in this area," he stated.
Bakura nodded. "There is," he confirmed. "It's right around that corner over there."
"Then let's go there and see what we can find out!" Joey declared, slamming his fist into his palm.
Almost everyone got out of the limo to make their way to the station except Bakura, who wanted to stay with his sick Yami, and Mai, who decided to stay with Bakura. Yami Yugi went back in the Millennium Puzzle.
As the others walked up to the building, Joey was shocked to see a familiar redhaired girl coming out through the doors. "Cindy?! What're you doin' here?!"
Cindy also looked surprised. "Joey!" She smiled. "I might ask you the same question." She paused. "As for what I'm doing here, I'm way into paranormal activity, as you well know. I was just filing a report on a UFO I saw over my house."
"Hey, Joey, wanna introduce us to your girlfriend?" Tristan grinned.
"This is Cindy," Joey said enthusiastically. "We met at the convention tonight."
"That's right," Cindy smiled. She sighed. "Well, I'd better be going. I'll see you tomorrow, right, Joey?"
"Sure thing!" Joey smiled and waved as Cindy hurried off.
"Ooh, Joey, do you have a date with her?!" Tristan asked incredulously as they entered the police station.
"When you've only known her for a few hours?!" Tea added in disbelief.
Joey shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? Great girl!"
The desk sergeant looked up, hearing them walk in. "Not more UFO nuts," he sighed.
"Well, not exactly," Yugi said slowly, "but strange things happened to us while we were investigating one of the UFO sightings."
"What happened this time?" the desk sergeant asked in resignation.
Over the course of the next hour, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea took turns explaining what they'd seen and heard—leaving out any mention of the encounter with the headless phantom and what had happened to Yami Bakura—while Seto took the chauffeur to be examined and the sandwich to be analyzed in the police station's laboratory.
"Your chauffeur should be alright in a bit," the officer told Seto a short while later. "Apparently someone slipped a sleeping pill into his sandwich."
Seto's eyes narrowed in anger. "That's exactly what I was afraid of," he muttered.
"What I'd like to know is, How in the world did they do it?" the policeman sighed, shaking his head.
"If we knew that, we might have half the mystery solved," was Seto's response as he turned away.
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was watching his Yami worriedly. The ancient thief moaned in agony and Bakura frantically tried to determine what was wrong.
"I'm afraid he's very ill," the poor boy declared, tears in his eyes. He turned to Mai pleadingly. "Please, can you find Yugi?" he asked.
"Sure, kiddo," Mai said gently, getting out of the limo.
When Mai came into the police station, she found most of the other teens talking to the desk sergeant. "Yugi?" she called quietly.
Yugi turned around and saw instantly what was wrong by the look in Mai's eyes. "Can you excuse me?" he said softly. "Joey, Tristan, and Tea will tell you the rest."
"Yeah, sure. Go on," the desk sergeant replied, waving him away. Joey, Tristan, and Tea exchanged worried looks.
"How bad is he?" he asked when the two of them got outside.
"Well, I'm not an expert on ancient Egyptian spirits, but I think he's probably pretty bad off," Mai said quietly.
Yugi nodded solemnly as he opened the door of the limo and stepped inside. "Bakura?"
The worried boy looked up. "Please, Yugi . . . please help him," he cried.
Yugi nodded and his Yami came out of the Millennium Puzzle, kneeling down next to Yami Bakura. The tomb robber was obviously unconscious, but was moaning in pain.
"I've never seen him like this," Bakura whispered.
Yami Yugi gently lifted up the makeshift bandage and again examined the wound in the tomb raider's shoulder. The pharaoh's eyes narrowed in concern.
"What is it, Yami?" Yugi asked.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Bakura said fearfully.
Yami Yugi nodded. "I'm afraid he's been poisoned," he said honestly. "The headless phantom must have used evil magic from the Shadow Realm to inject poison into the wound after the Man-Eater Bug attacked."
Bakura's eyes went wide. "Oh no . . . oh no . . ." He looked down at his Yami's agonized body.
"Why couldn't you tell that he'd been poisoned before?" Mai asked curiously.
Yami Yugi shook his head. "This is a very rare poison. I haven't seen the likes of it in centuries. It doesn't make itself known until several hours after the injection."
"Yami, isn't there something you can do for him?" Yugi asked, seeing how stricken Bakura was.
Yami Yugi looked solemn. "There is an ancient spell I could perform, but I don't know if it will work."
"Please try," Bakura begged, his brown eyes wide and frightened.
Yami Yugi nodded and placed his hands just above the thief's wound. He chanted some words in Egyptian and then paused for what seemed like ages. Finally he opened his eyes and backed away.
"What is that routine supposed to do?" Mai asked with a blink.
"It's supposed to remove harmful substances such as poisons," Yami Yugi replied slowly, "but in Yami Bakura's case, I'm afraid the poison might already have too great a hold over him to be banished."
Yami Bakura let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain and then fell silent.
Tears spilled down Bakura's face as he gently brushed the long bangs away from his Yami's closed eyes. "Please, Yami . . . please wake up. . . . Please be alright . . ." The boy trailed off, looking lost.
"What can we do now?" Mai wondered.
Yami Yugi sighed. "There's not much we can do now, Mai," he said softly, and Yugi looked at the floor of the limo sadly.
"Can he . . . can he . . . die?" Bakura asked quietly.
"Bakura, I will be honest with you." Yami Yugi laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "This poison is very deadly, and coming from the Shadow Realm, it could even destroy a non-mortal such as your Yami."
Bakura looked down. Yugi could tell the other boy was horrified. "Yugi . . . he . . . he rescued us from the headless phantom. . . . I . . . I don't know why he did it, but he did. . . ." His shoulders shook as he sobbed into his hands. "I . . . I can't bear to think of him dying . . . not now . . . not ever. . . . He's usually always so dreadful and awful, but . . . but still . . ."
Yugi gently laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder. "I know," he said softly. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I understand."
"Is there anything else you can do?" Mai asked Yami Yugi in an undertone.
Yami Yugi shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid not."
Yami Bakura groaned and rolled over, falling off the seat of the car and crashing to the floor.
"Yami!" Bakura exclaimed and knelt down next to the tomb raider, who was moaning in pain. His shoulder wound was bleeding again and suddenly he went into a convulsion, jerking uncontrollably. When this horror finally ceased, Yami Bakura lay on the limo's floor, gasping for breath, his eyes open but unseeing. Bakura's eyes spilled over with tears again as he cradled the ancient thief in his lap and pleaded, "Stay with me, Yami! Please . . .!"
Yami Bakura gave no indication that he heard Bakura at all, or that he even knew the boy was there. He drew a ragged breath and shuddered.
Mai turned to Yami Yugi, her eyes wide. "Is he . . .?"
Yami Yugi nodded gravely. "He's dying."