Yugi and the other boys stared at him in disbelief.
"'Dead'?" Yugi cried. "What do you mean?"
The man shook his head. "They have met an early demise."
"How do you know this?" Yugi demanded. He didn't want to believe this stranger.
"I saw them being lifted into a freight car," the man replied, throwing back his dark hood. His face was haggard and tired and he looked much older than he actually was. "They were not moving."
"What's going on around here?!" Weevil cried, but he was still ignored.
"Couldn't they have just been unconscious?" Yugi said, his eyes narrowed.
The man paused. "These people are ruthless. I don't know why they wouldn't have killed your friends. They have killed others."
"When did you see this?" Yugi demanded.
"Around four-thirty or five," the man replied, turning to go.
"Wait!" Marik cried. "Who are you?!"
The man turned back, his eyes fixing on the Egyptian boy in startled shock. "You!" he gasped.
Marik blinked. "I do not know you," he declared.
The man gave Marik a hard look. "Keep saying that, boy, but it won't save you from those other people. I'm running from them too, but they'll find me eventually." With that, he disappeared into the darkness. Marik stared after him, his heart pounding.
"That guy was weird!" Duke exclaimed.
Yugi nodded. "Duke, will you go report this to the police?"
Duke nodded. "I sure will!"
"Marik, will you accompany him?" Yugi asked.
Marik nodded as well, and the two boys hurried off.
"Will someone explain what's going on around here?!" Weevil screamed in frustration.
Yugi shook his head. "I have to get to the railroad yard. Unless you want to come along, I can't stop to explain things."
Weevil watched Yugi run off, then slowly disappeared into the shadows and followed.
****
Tea watched nervously as the woman examined her ankle.
"Don't worry, honey," she chuckled. "I used to be a doctor." She looked up. "Luckily for you, it's only a mild sprain—nothing serious. You should be able to walk it off, as long as those terrible people don't try to kill you again!"
"That's a relief," Tea smiled.
Seto crossed his arms. "I need to use your phone," he said abruptly, prompting Tea to glare at him for not speaking more politely.
The woman didn't seem taken aback, however. "Sorry, our phone's out of order," she replied flippantly, straightening up. "I'll go find some gauze for your ankle, honey," she said to Tea, and left the room.
Seto stood in the center of the room, his arms still folded over his chest, his thoughts a mystery.
Tea rubbed at her ankle. "What's going on in your mind, Kaiba?" she demanded.
Seto grunted. "We need to get out of here. These people are not what they seem to be."
"They seem nice to me," Tea retorted. "You're always suspicious of everyone, Kaiba!"
Seto didn't look pleased at the comment. "Their phone is working fine. I heard the woman talking on it not five minutes ago, before she came in to examine you." The boy glared out the door. "I doubt she's really getting gauze right now."
Tea was horrified. She knew she still felt a feeling of foreboding, but she had hoped that these people were not involved.
Seto started wandering around the room, looking for another way out. He hadn't told Tea everything. When he had heard the woman on the phone, she had been saying something about killing the boy who looked like their "master." The pieces still weren't fitting properly, but Seto gathered that perhaps Seth had somehow gotten a group of followers to assist him in his plan until he could retrieve his powers. Seth had probably ordered them to kill Seto when they found him so that he would then be free to attempt manipulating Mokuba for his evil purposes. The boy's blood boiled at the thought. Seth had to be stopped! Somehow Seto planned to disarm the couple and then demand to know everything. Without another word, he grabbed Tea and pulled her into the shadows.
"Kaiba, what are you doing?!" Tea demanded.
Seto sat Tea down gently on an ottoman in the corner. "Stay quiet," he whispered. "I'm going to see what they're up to."
The door slowly opened.
****
Joey and Tristan ran down the deserted streets frantically as snow began to fall on Domino City again.
"Man, this is bad," Tristan remarked, shielding himself from the flakes. "They've been gone for ages!"
Joey nodded. "I hate to think what they've gotten into. . . ."
Tristan concurred.
Suddenly a frantic-looking woman ran toward them, her blue eyes wide with worry. "Joseph! Tristan!" she called, and the boys stared at her in confusion.
"Ishizu?" Joey exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
"Where is Marik?" Ishizu cried.
"Last we knew, he was with Yugi," Tristan replied.
"I must find him," Ishizu said grimly.
"Sure," Joey said as they resumed walking. "Hey, I don't suppose you know where Kaiba and Tea are, do you?"
Ishizu shook her head. "I do not." She knew they were missing, and that they were in danger, but she had no knowledge of their current whereabouts. She only knew that she had to find her brother and make certain that he was still alright. And bring him home.
****
Bakura, Mai, and Mokuba, meanwhile, had met up with Duke and Marik on their way to the police station and exchanged their stories. Duke tried to gloss over what the strange man had said, but Mokuba could read between the lines—and he was horrified.
"Oh, my brother's hurt!" he wailed. "He must be!"
"We will find him," Marik said in determination. "And Tea as well!" He looked at Mokuba curiously, wondering who this child was. Mokuba looked back, blinking. It took some explaining from Marik, Duke, and Mai before Mokuba understood Marik's current situation. And he felt sympathetic toward the poor Egyptian.
When they arrived at the police station, they were led to see Detective Burton, who seemed intensely interested in the case even though he was already involved in about half a dozen projects when they arrived.
"If your friends and family were taken prisoner on a train, I will go out personally to find them," he declared, shuffling some papers on his desk.
Marik, who had been standing in the back of the group, suddenly saw something startling to him and gasped without meaning to, recognition dawning in his eyes.
Detective Burton snapped to attention. "Who are you?" he demanded.
Bakura, sensing that Marik should not be introduced, stepped in front of the Egyptian boy before Burton could see him clearly and tried to smile. "Well, thank you for your concern about our missing friends," he said, not sure why he felt uneasy.
Burton didn't reply and continued to try peering around Bakura and Duke to see Marik. Quickly the group backed to the door and eased themselves out.
"That was weird," Mai commented.
Marik was practically hyperventilating, his lavender eyes wide with fright.
"What is wrong with you?!" Duke demanded.
Marik shook his head, trying to get himself under control. "We . . . we cannot trust that man," he said at last.
"What?!" All eyes turned to stare at him.
"What do you mean?!" Mokuba cried. He wasn't sure exactly what to think of Marik yet. He believed Marik had repented, but the two of them didn't really know each other that well.
Marik took a deep breath. "He . . . he was wearing a ring with a strange symbol on it," he explained. "I . . . I remember that symbol from somewhere." He paused. "It's used by an evil cult!"
Everyone gasped.
"Whatever we do, we cannot allow him to look for Kaiba and Tea," Marik continued. "He probably already knows where they are, and if we let him get away to go to them . . ." He trailed off, not wanting to scare Mokuba. But his meaning was clear—the man's intentions were most likely ill.
"Let's hide in the bushes and wait for him to come out," Bakura directed after a silence. "Then we can follow him in Mai's car."
Everyone agreed and disappeared into the shrubs by the front doors.
Mokuba's heart was pounding. He knew that his brother—and Tea—were likely in very serious trouble, and he was saying a frantic prayer that they would be kept safe—and that they'd be able to catch this man before he did any further damage to them.
****
Yugi and his Yami arrived at the railroad yard nearly thirty minutes later and they looked around for any possible clues.
"Stay close, Yugi," Yami Yugi said grimly. "There could still be someone lurking around."
Yugi whole-heartedly agreed. Suddenly he glanced down and gasped, finding one of Tea's scarfs. "They were here," he declared softly.
A rustling sound came from behind an abandoned freight car and both of them came to attention. "Who's here?" Yami Yugi called sternly. No answer, but the sound of someone running away through the weeds met their ears and Yami Yugi chased after the stalker while Yugi watched, wide-eyed. Yami Yugi soon caught up to the other person and brought them sharply to the ground. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Yami Yugi demanded just as sharply.
"Let me go! I ain't done nothin'!" Weevil's familiar voice cried.
"You were spying on us," Yami Yugi retorted, surprised to find that the mop-haired boy was the spy. "Why?"
"I wasn't spying!" Weevil insisted. "I . . . I was just in the area!"
Yami Yugi slowly let the other boy up, glaring suspiciously at him.
"Why are you here, Weevil?" Yugi asked, catching up to them.
"None of your beeswax!" Weevil grumped, feeling around for his glasses. Yugi found and handed them to him, and Weevil accepted them without any indication of thanks. "And now if you'll both excuse me . . ." With that he stormed away, leaving Yugi and his Yami standing there in confusion and frustration.
"That was odd," Yugi remarked. "Why would Weevil be following us?"
Yami Yugi shook his head. "There are too many odd things happening to possibly keep up with them all. Let's try to find someone here who may have seen Kaiba and Tea."
Yugi agreed, praying that his friends were okay—wherever they were.
****
The other teens waited impatiently in the brush for their quarry to appear, talking amongst themselves while they watched the front doors.
"Why on earth would a policeman be part of a secret cult?" Bakura exclaimed.
"I cannot imagine," Marik replied shakily, "but I know that symbol is their calling card. It is supposed to be known only to the members of the cult so that they can recognize other members."
"You're not a member of this cult, are you?" Mai asked, not sure if she could put anything past him.
Marik shook his head helplessly. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I don't remember anything more about them . . . at least not now." He suddenly remembered the strange man's comments to him and he had to wonder if he was, indeed, a member. How else would he know about their symbol?
The door opened then and Detective Burton walked out, a determined and sneering expression on his face.
"There he goes," Duke said grimly as they watched the man climb into his unmarked police car. "Let's go after him!"
Mai produced her car keys and everyone climbed into her car. "Please hurry!" Mokuba begged. "We can't let him out of our sight!"
"Don't you worry, kiddo," Mai smiled comfortingly. "We won't lose him!"
****
Tea watched, her eyes wide in alarm, as the man entered the room with the rifle again in hand. "Alright, you stupid kids," he growled when he couldn't see them, "where are you?"
"I'm right here," Seto growled low, grabbing him from behind. The rifle went off into the ceiling, causing plaster to rain down. "If you wanted to murder us, why didn't you do it earlier?"
The man grunted in reply, struggling to free himself. With an angry exclamation that Seto blocked from his mind, the man swung the rifle backward and clubbed Seto on the forehead. Dazed, the boy's grip loosened and he sank backward, trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind before he went under. With an evil smirk, the man raised the rifle at Seto's heart, knowing that he was too confused to fight back.
Almost before she knew what she was doing, Tea sprang of the shadows. "Don't you dare!!" she yelled, throwing her boot at the man's head. "Get away from him!!"
Seto sprang up now as well, blood running down his face, and again grabbed the wicked man. "Tea, get back in the corner!" he ordered.
Tea stood frozen in horror as the two fell to the floor, grappling wildly for the firearm, which kept nightmarishly going off. She knew that Seto was probably going to get hurt, but she couldn't do anything to help him—not while he was fighting on the floor trying to get the upper hand. She hated the immense feelings of helplessness that washed over her, and she kept a constant prayer in her heart, pleading for the boy to come out of this alive.
Furniture crashed to the floor and the two continued their violent fight. The rifle went off twice more, and then suddenly everything was distressingly silent. Tea picked her way around the fallen furniture, her heart in her throat. "Kaiba?" she screamed. She felt dizzy upon seeing blood on the floor and not knowing whose it was.
When Tea finally rounded a couch, she was horrified to see both Seto and the man laying motionless on the floor. She could see that the man was bleeding from a leg wound, but that he seemed to be breathing normally. Seto's fate, on the other hand, was more unclear.
Shakily Tea knelt next to the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Kaiba?" she said again. "Are you hurt? . . . Please answer me!" She felt tears coming to her eyes. "Oh, please don't be . . ." She trailed off, unable to finish.
Seto's eyes fluttered open. "I'm not," he said simply, smirking a little. He was alright; he had only been stunned for a few minutes after again being hit with the back of the rifle.
Tea breathed a sigh of relief and helped him to sit up. Or at least she tried to; Seto wasn't extremely responsive to the idea of being assisted. "I'm so glad you're alright," Tea said softly. Seto didn't answer.
"Enjoy it while you can." A disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, and both teens jumped up in shock. "Because before long neither of you will be alright!"
"'Dead'?" Yugi cried. "What do you mean?"
The man shook his head. "They have met an early demise."
"How do you know this?" Yugi demanded. He didn't want to believe this stranger.
"I saw them being lifted into a freight car," the man replied, throwing back his dark hood. His face was haggard and tired and he looked much older than he actually was. "They were not moving."
"What's going on around here?!" Weevil cried, but he was still ignored.
"Couldn't they have just been unconscious?" Yugi said, his eyes narrowed.
The man paused. "These people are ruthless. I don't know why they wouldn't have killed your friends. They have killed others."
"When did you see this?" Yugi demanded.
"Around four-thirty or five," the man replied, turning to go.
"Wait!" Marik cried. "Who are you?!"
The man turned back, his eyes fixing on the Egyptian boy in startled shock. "You!" he gasped.
Marik blinked. "I do not know you," he declared.
The man gave Marik a hard look. "Keep saying that, boy, but it won't save you from those other people. I'm running from them too, but they'll find me eventually." With that, he disappeared into the darkness. Marik stared after him, his heart pounding.
"That guy was weird!" Duke exclaimed.
Yugi nodded. "Duke, will you go report this to the police?"
Duke nodded. "I sure will!"
"Marik, will you accompany him?" Yugi asked.
Marik nodded as well, and the two boys hurried off.
"Will someone explain what's going on around here?!" Weevil screamed in frustration.
Yugi shook his head. "I have to get to the railroad yard. Unless you want to come along, I can't stop to explain things."
Weevil watched Yugi run off, then slowly disappeared into the shadows and followed.
****
Tea watched nervously as the woman examined her ankle.
"Don't worry, honey," she chuckled. "I used to be a doctor." She looked up. "Luckily for you, it's only a mild sprain—nothing serious. You should be able to walk it off, as long as those terrible people don't try to kill you again!"
"That's a relief," Tea smiled.
Seto crossed his arms. "I need to use your phone," he said abruptly, prompting Tea to glare at him for not speaking more politely.
The woman didn't seem taken aback, however. "Sorry, our phone's out of order," she replied flippantly, straightening up. "I'll go find some gauze for your ankle, honey," she said to Tea, and left the room.
Seto stood in the center of the room, his arms still folded over his chest, his thoughts a mystery.
Tea rubbed at her ankle. "What's going on in your mind, Kaiba?" she demanded.
Seto grunted. "We need to get out of here. These people are not what they seem to be."
"They seem nice to me," Tea retorted. "You're always suspicious of everyone, Kaiba!"
Seto didn't look pleased at the comment. "Their phone is working fine. I heard the woman talking on it not five minutes ago, before she came in to examine you." The boy glared out the door. "I doubt she's really getting gauze right now."
Tea was horrified. She knew she still felt a feeling of foreboding, but she had hoped that these people were not involved.
Seto started wandering around the room, looking for another way out. He hadn't told Tea everything. When he had heard the woman on the phone, she had been saying something about killing the boy who looked like their "master." The pieces still weren't fitting properly, but Seto gathered that perhaps Seth had somehow gotten a group of followers to assist him in his plan until he could retrieve his powers. Seth had probably ordered them to kill Seto when they found him so that he would then be free to attempt manipulating Mokuba for his evil purposes. The boy's blood boiled at the thought. Seth had to be stopped! Somehow Seto planned to disarm the couple and then demand to know everything. Without another word, he grabbed Tea and pulled her into the shadows.
"Kaiba, what are you doing?!" Tea demanded.
Seto sat Tea down gently on an ottoman in the corner. "Stay quiet," he whispered. "I'm going to see what they're up to."
The door slowly opened.
****
Joey and Tristan ran down the deserted streets frantically as snow began to fall on Domino City again.
"Man, this is bad," Tristan remarked, shielding himself from the flakes. "They've been gone for ages!"
Joey nodded. "I hate to think what they've gotten into. . . ."
Tristan concurred.
Suddenly a frantic-looking woman ran toward them, her blue eyes wide with worry. "Joseph! Tristan!" she called, and the boys stared at her in confusion.
"Ishizu?" Joey exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
"Where is Marik?" Ishizu cried.
"Last we knew, he was with Yugi," Tristan replied.
"I must find him," Ishizu said grimly.
"Sure," Joey said as they resumed walking. "Hey, I don't suppose you know where Kaiba and Tea are, do you?"
Ishizu shook her head. "I do not." She knew they were missing, and that they were in danger, but she had no knowledge of their current whereabouts. She only knew that she had to find her brother and make certain that he was still alright. And bring him home.
****
Bakura, Mai, and Mokuba, meanwhile, had met up with Duke and Marik on their way to the police station and exchanged their stories. Duke tried to gloss over what the strange man had said, but Mokuba could read between the lines—and he was horrified.
"Oh, my brother's hurt!" he wailed. "He must be!"
"We will find him," Marik said in determination. "And Tea as well!" He looked at Mokuba curiously, wondering who this child was. Mokuba looked back, blinking. It took some explaining from Marik, Duke, and Mai before Mokuba understood Marik's current situation. And he felt sympathetic toward the poor Egyptian.
When they arrived at the police station, they were led to see Detective Burton, who seemed intensely interested in the case even though he was already involved in about half a dozen projects when they arrived.
"If your friends and family were taken prisoner on a train, I will go out personally to find them," he declared, shuffling some papers on his desk.
Marik, who had been standing in the back of the group, suddenly saw something startling to him and gasped without meaning to, recognition dawning in his eyes.
Detective Burton snapped to attention. "Who are you?" he demanded.
Bakura, sensing that Marik should not be introduced, stepped in front of the Egyptian boy before Burton could see him clearly and tried to smile. "Well, thank you for your concern about our missing friends," he said, not sure why he felt uneasy.
Burton didn't reply and continued to try peering around Bakura and Duke to see Marik. Quickly the group backed to the door and eased themselves out.
"That was weird," Mai commented.
Marik was practically hyperventilating, his lavender eyes wide with fright.
"What is wrong with you?!" Duke demanded.
Marik shook his head, trying to get himself under control. "We . . . we cannot trust that man," he said at last.
"What?!" All eyes turned to stare at him.
"What do you mean?!" Mokuba cried. He wasn't sure exactly what to think of Marik yet. He believed Marik had repented, but the two of them didn't really know each other that well.
Marik took a deep breath. "He . . . he was wearing a ring with a strange symbol on it," he explained. "I . . . I remember that symbol from somewhere." He paused. "It's used by an evil cult!"
Everyone gasped.
"Whatever we do, we cannot allow him to look for Kaiba and Tea," Marik continued. "He probably already knows where they are, and if we let him get away to go to them . . ." He trailed off, not wanting to scare Mokuba. But his meaning was clear—the man's intentions were most likely ill.
"Let's hide in the bushes and wait for him to come out," Bakura directed after a silence. "Then we can follow him in Mai's car."
Everyone agreed and disappeared into the shrubs by the front doors.
Mokuba's heart was pounding. He knew that his brother—and Tea—were likely in very serious trouble, and he was saying a frantic prayer that they would be kept safe—and that they'd be able to catch this man before he did any further damage to them.
****
Yugi and his Yami arrived at the railroad yard nearly thirty minutes later and they looked around for any possible clues.
"Stay close, Yugi," Yami Yugi said grimly. "There could still be someone lurking around."
Yugi whole-heartedly agreed. Suddenly he glanced down and gasped, finding one of Tea's scarfs. "They were here," he declared softly.
A rustling sound came from behind an abandoned freight car and both of them came to attention. "Who's here?" Yami Yugi called sternly. No answer, but the sound of someone running away through the weeds met their ears and Yami Yugi chased after the stalker while Yugi watched, wide-eyed. Yami Yugi soon caught up to the other person and brought them sharply to the ground. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Yami Yugi demanded just as sharply.
"Let me go! I ain't done nothin'!" Weevil's familiar voice cried.
"You were spying on us," Yami Yugi retorted, surprised to find that the mop-haired boy was the spy. "Why?"
"I wasn't spying!" Weevil insisted. "I . . . I was just in the area!"
Yami Yugi slowly let the other boy up, glaring suspiciously at him.
"Why are you here, Weevil?" Yugi asked, catching up to them.
"None of your beeswax!" Weevil grumped, feeling around for his glasses. Yugi found and handed them to him, and Weevil accepted them without any indication of thanks. "And now if you'll both excuse me . . ." With that he stormed away, leaving Yugi and his Yami standing there in confusion and frustration.
"That was odd," Yugi remarked. "Why would Weevil be following us?"
Yami Yugi shook his head. "There are too many odd things happening to possibly keep up with them all. Let's try to find someone here who may have seen Kaiba and Tea."
Yugi agreed, praying that his friends were okay—wherever they were.
****
The other teens waited impatiently in the brush for their quarry to appear, talking amongst themselves while they watched the front doors.
"Why on earth would a policeman be part of a secret cult?" Bakura exclaimed.
"I cannot imagine," Marik replied shakily, "but I know that symbol is their calling card. It is supposed to be known only to the members of the cult so that they can recognize other members."
"You're not a member of this cult, are you?" Mai asked, not sure if she could put anything past him.
Marik shook his head helplessly. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I don't remember anything more about them . . . at least not now." He suddenly remembered the strange man's comments to him and he had to wonder if he was, indeed, a member. How else would he know about their symbol?
The door opened then and Detective Burton walked out, a determined and sneering expression on his face.
"There he goes," Duke said grimly as they watched the man climb into his unmarked police car. "Let's go after him!"
Mai produced her car keys and everyone climbed into her car. "Please hurry!" Mokuba begged. "We can't let him out of our sight!"
"Don't you worry, kiddo," Mai smiled comfortingly. "We won't lose him!"
****
Tea watched, her eyes wide in alarm, as the man entered the room with the rifle again in hand. "Alright, you stupid kids," he growled when he couldn't see them, "where are you?"
"I'm right here," Seto growled low, grabbing him from behind. The rifle went off into the ceiling, causing plaster to rain down. "If you wanted to murder us, why didn't you do it earlier?"
The man grunted in reply, struggling to free himself. With an angry exclamation that Seto blocked from his mind, the man swung the rifle backward and clubbed Seto on the forehead. Dazed, the boy's grip loosened and he sank backward, trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind before he went under. With an evil smirk, the man raised the rifle at Seto's heart, knowing that he was too confused to fight back.
Almost before she knew what she was doing, Tea sprang of the shadows. "Don't you dare!!" she yelled, throwing her boot at the man's head. "Get away from him!!"
Seto sprang up now as well, blood running down his face, and again grabbed the wicked man. "Tea, get back in the corner!" he ordered.
Tea stood frozen in horror as the two fell to the floor, grappling wildly for the firearm, which kept nightmarishly going off. She knew that Seto was probably going to get hurt, but she couldn't do anything to help him—not while he was fighting on the floor trying to get the upper hand. She hated the immense feelings of helplessness that washed over her, and she kept a constant prayer in her heart, pleading for the boy to come out of this alive.
Furniture crashed to the floor and the two continued their violent fight. The rifle went off twice more, and then suddenly everything was distressingly silent. Tea picked her way around the fallen furniture, her heart in her throat. "Kaiba?" she screamed. She felt dizzy upon seeing blood on the floor and not knowing whose it was.
When Tea finally rounded a couch, she was horrified to see both Seto and the man laying motionless on the floor. She could see that the man was bleeding from a leg wound, but that he seemed to be breathing normally. Seto's fate, on the other hand, was more unclear.
Shakily Tea knelt next to the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Kaiba?" she said again. "Are you hurt? . . . Please answer me!" She felt tears coming to her eyes. "Oh, please don't be . . ." She trailed off, unable to finish.
Seto's eyes fluttered open. "I'm not," he said simply, smirking a little. He was alright; he had only been stunned for a few minutes after again being hit with the back of the rifle.
Tea breathed a sigh of relief and helped him to sit up. Or at least she tried to; Seto wasn't extremely responsive to the idea of being assisted. "I'm so glad you're alright," Tea said softly. Seto didn't answer.
"Enjoy it while you can." A disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, and both teens jumped up in shock. "Because before long neither of you will be alright!"