Seto's heart sank. He had known something was wrong, but he had never imagined it would be something like this. Why would someone take Mokuba? Mara had the information they wanted.

Quickly he knelt next to the little girl and looked into her eyes. "How did it happen, Mara?" he asked pleadingly. "Tell me!"

Tearfully Mara explained about the creepy men and the escape out the window. "They were still coming after us and there was nowhere we could run to. Mokuba had a plan, and I begged him not to do it, but . . . but . . ." She started to cry again.

Seto brushed her tears away. "Please, kid, what was his plan?" Knowing his brother, he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Well . . ." Mara took a deep breath and tried to get control of herself. "We . . . we both wear lockets, and . . . and Mokuba decided that since the paper everyone seems to want is in my locket, he'd pretend that he had it in his. He . . . he pulled out a paper he'd written something on and stuck it in his locket, making sure those awful men saw him do it. I . . . I guess those men didn't know what I looked like or anything, because . . . they . . . they fell for it! I . . . I tried to stop them . . . I said that I was the one they wanted, but they thought I was a decoy!" The little girl collapsed into Seto's arms, sobbing. "They took Mokuba!"

Seto held the child, his eyes filled with pain. It was as he had feared—Mokuba had sacrificed himself to save Mara. His brother had obviously been considering the possibility that he might have to do that for a while, since he had had a fake paper all prepared. Mokuba, where are you? Seto cried in despair. Then the old determination came back. He would find his brother—he had to!

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kaiba," Mara wailed. "It's my fault!"

Seto shook his head. "No, kid, it's not. You tried. We'll get him back," he vowed. He paused. "Can you tell me what those men looked like?"

Mara paused, wiping her eyes. "One of them was blonde and muscular, like that guy in the movies," she said shakily. "And the other had dark hair and a gun!"

"A real gun?" Bobby gasped, and suddenly Seto remembered he had an audience.

"I'm sure it was," Mara told him. The poor girl was practically in hysterics. "What if they use it? What if they hurt Mokuba when I'm the one they really wanted?"

Seto's heart broke. He had thought about this too, but he couldn't think about such horrible possibilities. He had to cling to the hope that they would keep Mokuba safe. But, he realized in horror, once they discovered that Mokuba did not have the information they wanted, there was no telling what they might do to him. "Mara," he said gently, "can you tell your story to the police? The sooner they know everything, the sooner Mokuba can get found." And of course, Seto himself would be searching for his brother.

Mara's eyes went wide and she became unexplainably terrified. "No!" she shrieked. "No! They'll hurt him! They'll HURT HIM!!"

The teens gasped, wide-eyed and confused. "Mara," Yugi tried to tell her, "the police will help Mokuba!"

"No!" Mara said emphatically. "They'll hurt him!! Oh, they'll hurt him!!" She buried her face in Seto's trenchcoat and sobbed.

Seto held her for a while, trying in vain to calm her down, and then finally suggested that Anna take her upstairs for a nap.

Mara nodded slowly, but as Anna carried her upstairs, the child screamed, "Please don't tell the police! Please!!"

"Man," Joey said when she was out of hearing range, "what the heck's the matter with her?"

"She was obviously terrified at the thought of the police being called," Tea mused. "But why?"

"Perhaps a police officer did something to violate her trust," Bakura suggested softly.

Seto nodded. Something was very wrong. Mara hadn't told him what she'd done during the three weeks between the time when her mother disappeared and when Seto had found her in the alley. He would have to see what she could tell him later. But for now, he knew he had to tell the police about Mokuba.

He turned to Velma. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked, after making sure she was alright.

Velma nodded, adjusting the ice pack. "It was horrible, Mr. Kaiba!" she declared. "Some horrible man busted through the door and came right at me!"

"Do you remember any distinguishing characteristics about him?" Seto wanted to know.

The Southern maid paused, thinking. "Well, he had dark hair and cold brown eyes," she said. "Oh! and an awful scar all the way from above his left eye to down by his mouth!" she said, demonstrating by drawing a line with her finger down Seto's face. "And he had an odd tattoo on his right hand," she remembered. "I know 'cause he used his right hand to hit me with that old flower pot and I caught a glimpse of the artwork!"

"What did the tattoo look like?" Seto asked, choosing to ignore the fact that Velma had used him for her demonstration of the scar.

"It was a . . ." Velma blinked, seeming to be trying to figure out how to best describe it. "It was one of them mythology critters," she said at last. "The one with all those heads, you know?"

"The hydra," Seto replied, nodding. "Do you feel well enough to come with us to the police station and tell them what you saw?" he asked.

Velma jumped up, a fiery look in her eyes. "I sure do!" she declared. "Don't worry, Mr. Kaiba, sir! We'll get Mokuba back!"

"We certainly will," Seto said with finality. He paused. "Did Anna see the man too?"

"No," Velma said, shaking her head. "She was cleanin' up the attic, but she heard the commotion and came down. But by that time, those men had taken poor little Mokuba!"

"Come on, then," Seto said, leading Velma outside. "Let's not waste a minute getting to the police station."

"Eh, what're you gonna do about Mara?" Joey asked.

Seto's eyes narrowed. "I'll post security guards around and see if I can get a couple of plainclothesmen to watch the place without her knowing who they are. When I get back, I'll try to find out why Mara's so terrified of the police."
****
Mokuba's heart was pounding as he was shoved violently into an unmarked van and to the floor. An evil-looking man in a business suit stood over him, holding a deadly revolver. "You can't run from us forever, kid," he sneered. "Now we've got you too and there's no one to help you or your parents!"

Mokuba couldn't believe that these guys didn't even realize that they had the wrong kid. Maybe if he didn't say anything, they wouldn't find out that he was really a boy and not the girl they were after. He supposed his long hair helped to disguise him, but it still seemed strange that they wouldn't have been given a detailed description of the runaway. He curled into the corner and stared at the man defiantly.

"Tough little brat, aren't you?" the man grinned. "You won't be so tough when we're done with you!"

My big brother will stop you! Mokuba thought in his mind, but he didn't dare say it out loud. He hoped Mara was safe.

"Once you give us the information we know you have, you can see your parents again," the man continued on with an evil smirk. "You can die with them!"

Mokuba's eyes widened, but he still remained mute. Please come soon, big brother! he pleaded silently.
****
At the police station, Joey found his friend—Officer Gabrielle Valesquez—and Seto told her about Mokuba's abduction in private. The others willingly let him, knowing that this was more important at the moment than whatever Mr. Thorton was up to. Seto and Velma told the policewoman in detail about everything that had happened—at least as much as they knew—and then Seto mentioned how terrified Mara had been when he had mentioned the police. Gabrielle promised to send plainsclothesmen to the house and told Seto to find out the reason for Mara's fears as soon as possible, which of course he had been planning to do anyway. Gabrielle also said that Velma's description of the one man sounded like the Hydra, a notorious criminal whose nickname came from the odd tattoo on his hand.

When they rejoined the others some time later, Joey asked her about Mr. Thorton. "We think he might be mixed up in all this 'cause he had a picture of Mara's mom on his desk . . . or at least he did until Byrnes stole it," Joey added.

Gabrielle nodded. "We thought he was mixed up in it too," she said, "especially after our informant told us about the picture."

"Informant?" Yugi repeated.

"Yes, but I can't tell you who it is," Gabrielle replied. "Anyway, we went out to question him, but he wasn't very open with us. He was obviously distressed when he knew that we thought he might be a criminal and flatly denied any involvement with the disappearances, but he never denied that he knew Mara's parents, or that he had the picture. We requested that he stay here in town until we could sort things out, but apparently he has decided to leave anyway." She looked annoyed about this. "This makes him look very suspicious. I'm putting an APB out on him immediately," she declared.

Yugi nodded. "A wise decision."
****
"We're here, kid," the man sneered, grabbing Mokuba and pulling him up.

Mokuba still made no reply. Sooner or later, they would discover that he didn't have the real information, and then they would go after Mara for sure. And what would they do to him? He hated to think of it, but he knew they weren't likely to let him live.

"Silent little cuss, aren't you?" the man remarked, lifting Mokuba out of the van and making a grab for his locket. The boy clutched it protectively, knowing that he needed to fully play his part.. He looked around, realizing that they were in a ritzy area of some sort. However, it wasn't likely that they were in Domino City anymore, and he wondered how far from home he was.

The man dragged Mokuba up the walkway of a large mansion and through the double doors. After taking him through the nicely-furnished home for a while, the man opened a door and dumped Mokuba on the floor of what seemed to be a private office with a walk-in safe in the corner.

"Well, well. Who's this?" a stern-looking older man asked, looking over the desk at Mokuba.

"The kid, sir," the man with the gun replied. "See, she has the locket."

Mokuba bristled at being called "she," but he knew he couldn't say something and blow his cover.

"This is the kid?" The older man came around the desk and hauled Mokuba to his feet, staring at him. Mokuba stared back defiantly. "I thought her hair was shorter."

"But sir, she has the locket," the first man pointed out.

The older man nodded. "True, she does. Leave us now."

The first man also nodded and then left, shutting the door behind him.

The older man now smiled, ruffling Mokuba's hair. "Now. You think you're very clever, don't you?"

Mokuba backed up, not liking the touch of the man's cold hand on his head. He blinked, narrowing his eyes.

"Now, child, speak," the man ordered. When Mokuba still didn't reply, the man waved a forefinger at him reprovingly. "Come now. I'm not as dense as my henchmen. I know you're a boy."

Mokuba was startled. "You . . . you do?" he demanded.

"Of course. You're Seto Kaiba's little brother." The man grabbed the boy's locket, pulling Mokuba unwillingly towards him. "However, I suppose it's possible that Mara gave the information to you. Unlikely, but possible." He yanked the locket off from around Mokuba's neck before he could stop it. "Mara was very frantic to stop my men from taking you, I'm told. Perhaps it's because you have the real information?"

Mokuba was silent, narrowing his eyes.

The man smiled wickedly. "We'll check it out, but if we discover you've cooked something fake up, your brother will suffer for it."

"No!" Mokuba cried, unable to keep still with that declaration. "You can't hurt him!!"

The man sneered, grabbing Mokuba fiercely and dragging him to the safe across the room. Opening the unlocked door, he shoved the boy in. "I'll do whatever I please," he hissed, "so you had better start praying for a miracle if you want your precious brother to survive. You'll remain here while I see if the paper is real or a fake, and then your fate will be decided, as will your brother's and your little friend's." With that, the door slammed shut and locked. Mokuba was plunged into darkness.

For ages afterward, the boy sat shivering in the cold safe, hugging his knees. "Please, God," he sobbed, "please don't let my brother and Mara get hurt!"

He knew he had to stay awake. If he fell asleep in there, it wasn't likely that he would ever wake up again.

After what seemed like hours, Mokuba heard movement outside the safe and he tensed fearfully. When the heavy door creaked open, the older man was standing there, looking angry enough to bite through metal. "Well, kid, the code you were carrying is a fake," he growled. "And what happens now isn't going to be pretty."