Note: You can thank Ieyre for the comment about Pegasus in this chapter ^^ LOL, that was one hilarious visual image she gave me with her last review! ^_^
Yugi was worried when he went to bed that night. He was still worried (perhaps even more so) when he woke up the next morning. They hadn't actually started investigating anything yet, and already someone was threatening them!
When he went out to the kitchen, Grampa Muto was looking at him worriedly. "Hi, Grampa!" Yugi greeted him.
Grampa Muto nodded. "Good morning, Yugi," he said, sitting down at the table. He paused. "Yugi, I happened to accidentally overhear that strange call last night," he said slowly. "I had gone to answer the telephone, but then I discovered that you already had. I was about to hang up when I heard the caller's ominous message." He looked into the boy's eyes. "Yugi, I am very worried about the safety of you and the others."
"I know, Grampa," Yugi replied softly. "I am, too."
Grampa Muto sighed. "I wish you wouldn't keep getting involved in these mysteries, Yugi, but . . ." He smiled. "I'm very proud of you, always wanting to do everything you can to help others."
Yugi smiled back, but before he could answer, the telephone rang. "Hello, Muto residence," he greeted, picking up the receiver.
"Hey, Yug." It was Joey. "Did you hear the news?"
"'News'?" Yugi repeated, suddenly feeling his stomach knot up. What had happened now?
"That Thorton guy's been robbed again!" Joey announced.
Yugi blinked. "What?!"
"Yeah, someone took a couple of wild cat plushies right out from under his nose!" Yugi was sure that Joey was shaking his head in disbelief as he said this. "I'm thinkin' that after school, we should go over there and see if we can't crack this crazy case."
"Sounds good to me," Yugi agreed, and they hung up shortly afterwards.
****
Mara woke up that morning in a soft, warm bed and couldn't remember where she was at first, but she knew she felt warm and safe. She smiled happily as she recalled the events of the previous evening.
Slowly she got up and walked to the window. It had snowed during the night and everything was covered in a blanket of white.
She was on what appeared to be the top floor of the mansion, and she looked around in awe. Who would've imagined that she would ever wind up in a place like this?
Mara clicked open her locket and now stared sadly at the pictures of her parents. She prayed that the boy who'd rescued her really would be able to find them.
A soft knock came at the door. "Miss Mara?" the maid—Velma—called.
"I'm here," Mara replied.
The door opened. "How're you feeling today, honey?" Velma asked.
"Okay." Mara paused. "Is that boy here?"
"Mr. Kaiba?" Velma shook her head. "He had to go off to school, but he said for me to entertain you until he got back and could start helpin' you find your parents." She held the door open wider. "So . . . would you like some breakfast?"
Mara nodded and followed Velma out the door.
****
At school, Seto was trying to decipher the strange mixture of numbers and letters on the note Mara had given him the night before. So far, he couldn't seem to make heads or tails out of it.
"Hey Kaiba!"
The blue-eyed boy looked up. Joey was standing in front of his desk, grinning mischievously. "Soo, what're you workin' on there?" Joey asked, trying to get a look at the note.
Seto clamped his hand over it. "None of your concern, Wheeler."
"What is it, some top secret plans for your latest invention?" Joey persisted, trying to lift up Seto's hand to see the paper.
Seto could feel that his temper was about to snap. "I told you, it's not your concern. Now go on back to your desk before I really get angry."
Joey backed up, looking frustrated. "Man, you're in a good mood today," he said sarcastically.
Seto didn't answer and instead put the note in a book to conceal it from curious eyes while he continued to puzzle over it. What could it mean? Was it a code for some secret location where the answers to the mystery might be found? Or maybe some chemical formula? When he got home, he'd try running it through his computer and see if she could help him figure it out.
****
"Man, I still can't believe someone would be stealin' plushies," Tristan remarked later as he, Yugi, Joey, Bakura, and Tea walked to the mall after school. "That just sounds too weird to really be true!"
"It does seem rather odd," Bakura said slowly.
"Yeah, especially when there's all those expensive electronics they could take instead," Joey put in. "What kind of crook would find stuffed animals more appealin' than radio-controlled cars or video games?"
"Pegasus?" Tristan grinned.
"Be serious," Tea sighed.
"I am being serious," Tristan replied. Yugi and Bakura chuckled.
Before long the five teens had arrived at the Domino City Mall and were wandering through the long corridors, heading for Toys, Etc. and weaving their way through the large crowds of holiday shoppers.
"Hey! Hey guys!"
Everyone turned around and saw Mai coming out of a clothing store and waving to them.
"Mai!" Yugi smiled.
The blonde girl came over to them, carrying several shopping bags full of various expensive items. "So, are you catching up on your Christmas shopping?" she asked, then turned to smirk at Joey. "I figured you'd probably procrastinate until the last possible minute, Joey!"
"Heeey, I always get my shoppin' done on time!" Joey retorted. "But actually, right now we're trying to solve the mystery of the Purloined Plushies," the boy stated.
Mai stepped back and blinked. "Someone stole your toys?" she said slowly. Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura all had to laugh.
Joey fumed. "No!!!" he yelled. People passing by turned to look. "Someone's been shopliftin' plushies from Toys, Etc., and we're tryin' to find out who!!"
"Well, that makes sense . . . I think." Mai tossed her long hair. "A new mystery, huh?"
Yugi nodded. "That's right."
"Well, I must admit, I'm curious." Mai set the shopping bags on the floor and crossed her arms. "Who would want to steal plush toys?"
"We can't imagine," Tea replied with a sigh.
"But we're headin' for Toys, Etc. right now to find out!" Joey declared, slamming his fist into his palm.
"This I've gotta see," Mai smiled, inviting herself along. Of course, no one had any serious objection to that.
Maureen looked up when the six teens walked in. "What's with the convention?" she asked dryly. "I have a feeling that you five aren't customers." She pointed to those following Tea.
"Hey, you're right!" Joey grinned. "We're here to talk about the case!"
"Still playing Sherlock, huh?" Maureen rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just don't get in my way."
"Oooh, touchy!" Joey declared. Maureen ignored him.
"Were you the one who discovered that the stuffed animals were missing?" Yugi asked.
Maureen nodded. "I found them gone when I first came in to get the place ready to open."
"You mean they must've disappeared in the middle of the night?!" Joey said in disbelief.
"Or maybe before we closed last night," Maureen replied. "There was a lot of commotion, what with that creepy guy barging in and then throwing your friend off the balcony like he did."
Tea shuddered in remembrance.
"Wait a minute," Mai interrupted. "Someone fell off the balcony?!"
Yugi nodded grimly. "Kaiba did."
"Is he hurt?" Mai asked, realizing that she didn't see the blue-eyed boy anywhere around.
"He's okay," Yugi told her. "I'm not sure where he is now. I don't think he wants to get involved in a new mystery."
"I don't blame him," Mai exclaimed.
"I don't get it," Joey said suddenly, shaking his head. "Why would someone go to all the trouble to steal plushies?!"
"If you can tell me, then we'll both know." Maureen turned to a box on the counter and started taping a fresh strand of garland across the front window. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Tea and I have to redecorate the store. That creep yesterday destroyed a lot of the things we had hung around." She paused. "Unless, of course, you want to help," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Joey shrugged. "Well, heck, sure. Maybe you can tell us more about these purloined plushies," he suggested, pulling out a string of multi-colored Christmas lights.
Maureen handed Tea a Nativity set to display in the window. "There's not a lot to tell," she replied. "They weren't anything special—just a snow leopard and a Siberian tiger like those over there." She pointed to some plushies on top of a shelf.
"Man, those are pretty big," Tristan remarked. "How could someone just walk off with those and not even be noticed?!"
Maureen shook her head. "I have no clue."
"Perhaps they smuggled them out the back in packing crates," Bakura suggested.
"That's possible," Tea agreed.
"But what about that creepy guy?" Mai spoke up. "From what you guys have told me, I have a hard time picturing him coming in to steal stuffed animals. It sounds more like breaking people in half is what he does for a living!"
"I'm afraid you're probably right, Mai," Yugi said with a sigh.
Joey finished hanging the Christmas lights in the other window and stepped back to admire his work. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "What the . . ." He bent down to the floor.
"Joey, what are you doing?!" Mai demanded.
"I stepped on somethin'," Joey replied, "and here it is!" He held up a shiny, blue-tinted, circular object.
"What *is* that?!" Tristan exclaimed.
"It's the eye from a stuffed animal," Tea informed them, taking it from Joey and turning it around and around.
"Well, it's not much to go on," Yugi sighed, "but it is a clue."
Joey took it back from Tea and slipped it into his pocket. The teens and Maureen continued to decorate the store for Christmas when abruptly a low growl startled them all.
"Was that your stomach, Joey?" Mai asked only half-jokingly.
"No, it wasn't!" Joey said defensively.
"I think it's coming this way," Tea said grimly as the growl sounded again, only louder this time.
"Yeah, but just what's coming this way?!" Tristan exclaimed.
A cuddly-looking teddy bear leaped up onto the counter and raised its front paws threateningly.
"Oh man!" Joey gasped. "Tell me I'm not seein' what it looks like I'm seein'!"
"Unfortunately, Joey, you are!" Tristan replied. "We all are!"
Maureen was angry. "It's happening again!" she cried. "The toys are coming to life!"
"You mean this has happened before?!" Yugi said in shock.
"Once before," Tea told him. "Last week. Maureen and I were staying late doing inventory when all the stuffed animals and the radio-controlled cars came to life and surrounded us!"
Joey became uncomfortably aware of the fact that they were, indeed, being boxed in on all sides by the toys. "Uh . . . they won't attack, right?" he asked shakily.
"I wouldn't take any chances," Maureen replied. "Someone must be controlling them with a remote control . . . somehow." She didn't sound quite convinced.
"Last time, they were just suddenly lifeless again," Tea said, backing up against the wall as she was cornered by three-foot-tall dolls and plush lions. "Maureen and I decided we were just overworked and had imagined it all."
Joey gasped as a tiger roared and landed on his back. "Man, this ain't no imaginary creature!" he declared, wrestling with it. "Help! It won't let me go!!"
"Oh my!" Bakura exclaimed as he was brought to the floor by a giant elephant plush. He tried vainly to push it off his chest.
Before long, all six teens and Maureen had been pinned to the floor by the animated stuffed animals and remote-controlled cars!
Yugi was worried when he went to bed that night. He was still worried (perhaps even more so) when he woke up the next morning. They hadn't actually started investigating anything yet, and already someone was threatening them!
When he went out to the kitchen, Grampa Muto was looking at him worriedly. "Hi, Grampa!" Yugi greeted him.
Grampa Muto nodded. "Good morning, Yugi," he said, sitting down at the table. He paused. "Yugi, I happened to accidentally overhear that strange call last night," he said slowly. "I had gone to answer the telephone, but then I discovered that you already had. I was about to hang up when I heard the caller's ominous message." He looked into the boy's eyes. "Yugi, I am very worried about the safety of you and the others."
"I know, Grampa," Yugi replied softly. "I am, too."
Grampa Muto sighed. "I wish you wouldn't keep getting involved in these mysteries, Yugi, but . . ." He smiled. "I'm very proud of you, always wanting to do everything you can to help others."
Yugi smiled back, but before he could answer, the telephone rang. "Hello, Muto residence," he greeted, picking up the receiver.
"Hey, Yug." It was Joey. "Did you hear the news?"
"'News'?" Yugi repeated, suddenly feeling his stomach knot up. What had happened now?
"That Thorton guy's been robbed again!" Joey announced.
Yugi blinked. "What?!"
"Yeah, someone took a couple of wild cat plushies right out from under his nose!" Yugi was sure that Joey was shaking his head in disbelief as he said this. "I'm thinkin' that after school, we should go over there and see if we can't crack this crazy case."
"Sounds good to me," Yugi agreed, and they hung up shortly afterwards.
****
Mara woke up that morning in a soft, warm bed and couldn't remember where she was at first, but she knew she felt warm and safe. She smiled happily as she recalled the events of the previous evening.
Slowly she got up and walked to the window. It had snowed during the night and everything was covered in a blanket of white.
She was on what appeared to be the top floor of the mansion, and she looked around in awe. Who would've imagined that she would ever wind up in a place like this?
Mara clicked open her locket and now stared sadly at the pictures of her parents. She prayed that the boy who'd rescued her really would be able to find them.
A soft knock came at the door. "Miss Mara?" the maid—Velma—called.
"I'm here," Mara replied.
The door opened. "How're you feeling today, honey?" Velma asked.
"Okay." Mara paused. "Is that boy here?"
"Mr. Kaiba?" Velma shook her head. "He had to go off to school, but he said for me to entertain you until he got back and could start helpin' you find your parents." She held the door open wider. "So . . . would you like some breakfast?"
Mara nodded and followed Velma out the door.
****
At school, Seto was trying to decipher the strange mixture of numbers and letters on the note Mara had given him the night before. So far, he couldn't seem to make heads or tails out of it.
"Hey Kaiba!"
The blue-eyed boy looked up. Joey was standing in front of his desk, grinning mischievously. "Soo, what're you workin' on there?" Joey asked, trying to get a look at the note.
Seto clamped his hand over it. "None of your concern, Wheeler."
"What is it, some top secret plans for your latest invention?" Joey persisted, trying to lift up Seto's hand to see the paper.
Seto could feel that his temper was about to snap. "I told you, it's not your concern. Now go on back to your desk before I really get angry."
Joey backed up, looking frustrated. "Man, you're in a good mood today," he said sarcastically.
Seto didn't answer and instead put the note in a book to conceal it from curious eyes while he continued to puzzle over it. What could it mean? Was it a code for some secret location where the answers to the mystery might be found? Or maybe some chemical formula? When he got home, he'd try running it through his computer and see if she could help him figure it out.
****
"Man, I still can't believe someone would be stealin' plushies," Tristan remarked later as he, Yugi, Joey, Bakura, and Tea walked to the mall after school. "That just sounds too weird to really be true!"
"It does seem rather odd," Bakura said slowly.
"Yeah, especially when there's all those expensive electronics they could take instead," Joey put in. "What kind of crook would find stuffed animals more appealin' than radio-controlled cars or video games?"
"Pegasus?" Tristan grinned.
"Be serious," Tea sighed.
"I am being serious," Tristan replied. Yugi and Bakura chuckled.
Before long the five teens had arrived at the Domino City Mall and were wandering through the long corridors, heading for Toys, Etc. and weaving their way through the large crowds of holiday shoppers.
"Hey! Hey guys!"
Everyone turned around and saw Mai coming out of a clothing store and waving to them.
"Mai!" Yugi smiled.
The blonde girl came over to them, carrying several shopping bags full of various expensive items. "So, are you catching up on your Christmas shopping?" she asked, then turned to smirk at Joey. "I figured you'd probably procrastinate until the last possible minute, Joey!"
"Heeey, I always get my shoppin' done on time!" Joey retorted. "But actually, right now we're trying to solve the mystery of the Purloined Plushies," the boy stated.
Mai stepped back and blinked. "Someone stole your toys?" she said slowly. Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura all had to laugh.
Joey fumed. "No!!!" he yelled. People passing by turned to look. "Someone's been shopliftin' plushies from Toys, Etc., and we're tryin' to find out who!!"
"Well, that makes sense . . . I think." Mai tossed her long hair. "A new mystery, huh?"
Yugi nodded. "That's right."
"Well, I must admit, I'm curious." Mai set the shopping bags on the floor and crossed her arms. "Who would want to steal plush toys?"
"We can't imagine," Tea replied with a sigh.
"But we're headin' for Toys, Etc. right now to find out!" Joey declared, slamming his fist into his palm.
"This I've gotta see," Mai smiled, inviting herself along. Of course, no one had any serious objection to that.
Maureen looked up when the six teens walked in. "What's with the convention?" she asked dryly. "I have a feeling that you five aren't customers." She pointed to those following Tea.
"Hey, you're right!" Joey grinned. "We're here to talk about the case!"
"Still playing Sherlock, huh?" Maureen rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just don't get in my way."
"Oooh, touchy!" Joey declared. Maureen ignored him.
"Were you the one who discovered that the stuffed animals were missing?" Yugi asked.
Maureen nodded. "I found them gone when I first came in to get the place ready to open."
"You mean they must've disappeared in the middle of the night?!" Joey said in disbelief.
"Or maybe before we closed last night," Maureen replied. "There was a lot of commotion, what with that creepy guy barging in and then throwing your friend off the balcony like he did."
Tea shuddered in remembrance.
"Wait a minute," Mai interrupted. "Someone fell off the balcony?!"
Yugi nodded grimly. "Kaiba did."
"Is he hurt?" Mai asked, realizing that she didn't see the blue-eyed boy anywhere around.
"He's okay," Yugi told her. "I'm not sure where he is now. I don't think he wants to get involved in a new mystery."
"I don't blame him," Mai exclaimed.
"I don't get it," Joey said suddenly, shaking his head. "Why would someone go to all the trouble to steal plushies?!"
"If you can tell me, then we'll both know." Maureen turned to a box on the counter and started taping a fresh strand of garland across the front window. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Tea and I have to redecorate the store. That creep yesterday destroyed a lot of the things we had hung around." She paused. "Unless, of course, you want to help," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Joey shrugged. "Well, heck, sure. Maybe you can tell us more about these purloined plushies," he suggested, pulling out a string of multi-colored Christmas lights.
Maureen handed Tea a Nativity set to display in the window. "There's not a lot to tell," she replied. "They weren't anything special—just a snow leopard and a Siberian tiger like those over there." She pointed to some plushies on top of a shelf.
"Man, those are pretty big," Tristan remarked. "How could someone just walk off with those and not even be noticed?!"
Maureen shook her head. "I have no clue."
"Perhaps they smuggled them out the back in packing crates," Bakura suggested.
"That's possible," Tea agreed.
"But what about that creepy guy?" Mai spoke up. "From what you guys have told me, I have a hard time picturing him coming in to steal stuffed animals. It sounds more like breaking people in half is what he does for a living!"
"I'm afraid you're probably right, Mai," Yugi said with a sigh.
Joey finished hanging the Christmas lights in the other window and stepped back to admire his work. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "What the . . ." He bent down to the floor.
"Joey, what are you doing?!" Mai demanded.
"I stepped on somethin'," Joey replied, "and here it is!" He held up a shiny, blue-tinted, circular object.
"What *is* that?!" Tristan exclaimed.
"It's the eye from a stuffed animal," Tea informed them, taking it from Joey and turning it around and around.
"Well, it's not much to go on," Yugi sighed, "but it is a clue."
Joey took it back from Tea and slipped it into his pocket. The teens and Maureen continued to decorate the store for Christmas when abruptly a low growl startled them all.
"Was that your stomach, Joey?" Mai asked only half-jokingly.
"No, it wasn't!" Joey said defensively.
"I think it's coming this way," Tea said grimly as the growl sounded again, only louder this time.
"Yeah, but just what's coming this way?!" Tristan exclaimed.
A cuddly-looking teddy bear leaped up onto the counter and raised its front paws threateningly.
"Oh man!" Joey gasped. "Tell me I'm not seein' what it looks like I'm seein'!"
"Unfortunately, Joey, you are!" Tristan replied. "We all are!"
Maureen was angry. "It's happening again!" she cried. "The toys are coming to life!"
"You mean this has happened before?!" Yugi said in shock.
"Once before," Tea told him. "Last week. Maureen and I were staying late doing inventory when all the stuffed animals and the radio-controlled cars came to life and surrounded us!"
Joey became uncomfortably aware of the fact that they were, indeed, being boxed in on all sides by the toys. "Uh . . . they won't attack, right?" he asked shakily.
"I wouldn't take any chances," Maureen replied. "Someone must be controlling them with a remote control . . . somehow." She didn't sound quite convinced.
"Last time, they were just suddenly lifeless again," Tea said, backing up against the wall as she was cornered by three-foot-tall dolls and plush lions. "Maureen and I decided we were just overworked and had imagined it all."
Joey gasped as a tiger roared and landed on his back. "Man, this ain't no imaginary creature!" he declared, wrestling with it. "Help! It won't let me go!!"
"Oh my!" Bakura exclaimed as he was brought to the floor by a giant elephant plush. He tried vainly to push it off his chest.
Before long, all six teens and Maureen had been pinned to the floor by the animated stuffed animals and remote-controlled cars!