Seth didn't seem in the least surprised. "The great Seto Kaiba," he sneered. "So we meet again! I was expecting you."
Seto stepped into the light of the early dawn, his blue eyes aflame with outrage.
"Big brother!" Mokuba called out, both in delight and in worry.
Seto turned to face the younger boy and then stared at him, horrified as he watched the blood drip over his brother's face and arms. "Mokuba," he whispered in alarm, rushing over and kneeling next to him. "Oh, Mokuba, what did he do to you?!"
Mokuba looked up at his brother with his gray eyes, trying as much as possible to not show how much he was really hurting. "I'm alright, Seto," he said, managing a weak smile.
"But not for long." Seth used his scepter to send Mokuba into another torrent of agony, and though the boy tried not to, a painful scream tore from his lips.
Seto looked up in rage at his ancestor, who seemed to be entirely enjoying this sick display of his power. "You monster!" he yelled. "You filthy beast!!"
Seth only laughed, using his sceptor again to make everyone around his descendant go into fits of torment. Seto couldn't stand to watch this any longer, nor could he bear to hear the painful screams. Without hesitation, he began to climb up to the crow's nest.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba cried, tears adorning his face. "If you go up there, Seth will kill you!!"
"That's right," Seth sneered, shooting painful lightning down at the boy who looked so much like him. "But of course I'd do that whether you came up here or not."
Seto dodged the lightning and it struck Bakura instead. The boy cried out in pain, and Seto's eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid to die," he said firmly. "But I won't drop dead until you've been stopped." He climbed into the crow's nest.
"Foolish mortal boy." Seth shot electricity at Seto again and this time it did hit him, striking the boy on his shoulder. He clutched the injury with a grunt of pain and Seth laughed.
"Seto!!" Mokuba yelled fearfully, and Tea's eyes were wide with horror.
"Trifling with the likes of me is never a good idea," Seth hissed, and resumed torturing Mokuba and the others.
Seto straightened up determinedly and grabbed Seth in rage. He refused to allow this to go on any longer, no matter what happened to him in the process. "Your reign of terror . . ." he snatched the scepter from the evil priest's hand forcefully, ". . . is over."
Seth sneered as a burst of fatal electricity shot out and struck Seto squarely in the chest. With a heart-rending cry of pain, the boy fell out of the crow's nest and into the cold water below—Seth's staff disappearing with him. Bubbles rose to the surface with finality.
****
Joey was doing no better at regaining control of his body than he was before. Yami Marik's evil powers were forcing him to advance on Mai, wrapping his fingers tightly around her neck.
"Joey! What do you think you're doing?!" Mai cried in panic. "Stop it, Joey!!"
Ishizu was growing weaker by the minute from the stab wound she'd received. She knew that if she wasn't able to get free and stop the bleeding soon, she would die from the loss of blood. And now Tristan was trying to stab her as well.
Marik knew this too and he fought against his Yami fiercely.
"Stop it, you cur!" Yami Marik snarled. "You're making me loose concentration!!"
"Good!" Marik replied fiercely. "Then I will make you loose it even more!! I will not let my sister—and my friends—die because of you! I am strong enough to overcome you, and I will prove it!!!" A blinding light issued forth and Yami Marik screamed in rage as he was forced back out of Marik's body.
Marik looked up, finally back in control—his lilac eyes full of worry. "Cease controlling these minds!" he ordered the Rod, and the age-old Millennium Item glowed once more.
Joey and Tristan snapped back to their normal selves, breathing heavily. Immediately Joey let go of Mai's neck, looking horrified. "Oh man. . . . I didn't hurt you, did I, Mai?" he asked worriedly.
Mai shook her head, trying to calm down after the shock of what had happened. Quickly Joey began untying her from the wall, apologizing over and over.
Tristan, meanwhile, was frantically trying to get Ishizu's wound to stop bleeding. "It will be alright," Ishizu said calmly. She was certain that she would be fine now, but she was still worried about her brother. She couldn't forget the strange nightmare she had had earlier. Marik was now on a high ledge. The nightmare could still come true.
Marik watched all of these proceedings from up on the ledge. "Sister!" he called. "Are you alright?"
"I am fine, Marik," Ishizu told him gently.
"Man, haven't you caused enough trouble?!" Joey yelled, feeling overwhelmed with anger. "Just get outta here!! We were gettin' along just fine until you came back into the picture!"
"Joseph!" Ishizu said sternly, feeling angry herself. "Marik has been trying to help us!"
Marik hung his head. "No, he is right," he said softly. "I may not have been responsible for this, but I have brought about much evil in the past. He has no reason to trust me, no reason to believe that I have changed. And I have no reason to be alive." He dropped the Rod to the floor of the ledge. "I have brought everyone endless pain and agony."
"No brother! That is not true!" Ishizu protested. "I love you, Marik! If you leave, that is what would cause pain and agony for me! And for Rishid!"
Marik smiled tiredly, then sighed sadly. He didn't want anyone to be in danger from his Yami anymore. What was he going to do?
Suddenly his Yami appeared in his separate form, his features contorted in rage. "You pathetic creature," he growled, wrenching Marik's arm around. "You can never defeat me! And now I will make certain that everyone you care about perishes!"
****
Mokuba, free of Seth's torture, screamed more pitifully than when he was being beaten. "Big brother!!!!" He stared into the icy water in disbelief, looking for some sign of his beloved brother—but there was nothing.
Seth stared into the water as well, seemingly unfazed. "Just like what happened to the guard," he remarked, turning back to look down at Mokuba smirkingly. "Your brother has failed you!"
"No he hasn't!!" Mokuba yelled, his eyes welling up with tears. "Seto . . . he . . . he sacrificed himself to save me and the others!" he said, trembling.
The others were also free of Seth's evil powers, and Yugi stood up, his expression stern and forbidding. "Seto Kaiba saved us," he agreed. "His bravery will always be remembered." He tried not to let the tears fall from his own eyes. Now was not the time to cry.
Seth wasn't impressed. "All he did was temporarily save you from my torture. I can still get rid of you all!"
Yugi shook his head. "No, that wasn't all he did. He took your staff down with him to his watery grave. Because of that, I now have my powers back, and I won't hesitate to use them to banish you back into the Shadow Realm where you belong!" The third eye on his forehead glowed and he raised his right hand. With a scream, Seth was gone.
Yugi stood still, breathing heavily, and then he began to untie everyone from where they'd been chained up, feeling drained and numb. He knew that the others—especially Mokuba—were feeling the same way.
Mokuba again turned to stare in the water, tears falling uncontrollably from his eyes. "Oh Seto!" he wailed. "Big brother. . . ."
Tea was crying as well, though she tried to look away so no one would see. Yugi could never have defeated Seth if Seto hadn't first gotten the evil priest's staff away from him. "Kaiba, you were so brave," she said softly, staring at the endless depths of the lake.
Suddenly a familiar form broke through to the surface, coughing and gasping. Could it be? . . . It was! Seto was alive!
Mokuba's eyes lighted up. "Seto!!" he cried in delight.
The others were overjoyed as well, but they all knew that the other boy wasn't out of danger yet. The water was freezing, and Seto didn't look like he could hold out much longer.
"Kaiba!" Yugi called, finding a rope and throwing one end of it overboard, "take hold of this!"
Seto reached for the rope and grabbed it weakly, coughing again. He looked like he was barely alive. Yugi pulled him up in concern and then Seto collapsed on the deck, his strength depleted.
Mokuba, Tea, and the others ran over worriedly, and Mokuba sobbed as he hugged the older boy. "Oh big brother!" he exclaimed. "You . . . you saved us!" He buried his face in his brother's chest. "I . . . I was so afraid that you were . . ." He trailed off with a hiccup and looked at Seto through tear-filled eyes.
Seto smiled gently and brushed his brother's tears away. "It's alright," he said softly, drawing a ragged breath.
Tea could tell that the boy wasn't doing very well. Seth's scepter hadn't killed him, but it almost had . . . and it still might finish the job. Gently she took Seto's cold hand in hers. "Don't leave us, Kaiba!" she wailed.
Seto struggled to hold on, feeling his eyes grow heavy. He shakily laid his other hand on Mokuba's back, looking into his worried gray eyes. "I . . . I won't leave you," he promised, passing out.
"Seto!!" Mokuba screamed.
Tea also was horrified, feeling the boy's hand go limp. "Yugi," she said shakily, "is he . . . is he hurt . . . terribly?" She was actually afraid that he was dead, but she couldn't say that in front of Mokuba.
Yugi knelt next to Seto, unbuttoning the other boy's shirt and exposing his chest. Then he bent down and listened frantically for a heartbeat. He bit his lip, trying to think of how to say what he had discovered.
"Yugi?" Mokuba quavered.
Yugi still hesitated. "He's still alive," he said finally, "but he took in a lot of water, and . . ." He paused again. "Seth's dark magic weakened him extremely." Frankly, he didn't hold out much hope that Seto would survive the rest of the night. Gently he pressed on Seto's chest and the unconscious boy jerked, coughing up water.
Mokuba's eyes filled with tears. "Oh Seto," he whispered, embracing his brother gently.
Yugi laid a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Let's take him below deck," he instructed. Please, let him survive! he prayed.
****
The others watched in shock as Yami Marik appeared.
"Whoa," Tristan gasped. "Maybe it really was him who was controlling us and not Marik! It did look like him. . . ."
Joey watched them with narrowed eyes, still unconvinced. "They're probably both in on it," he remarked.
Ishizu, pressing a scarf against her wound, glared at him. "Joseph, what will it take to convince you? Marik freed you and Tristan from the mind control!"
"It is alright, sister," Marik said softly from on the ledge. "He does not owe me any trust. I have behaved atrociously before . . ." He trailed off as Yami Marik waved the Rod in front of him.
"I've had enough of this nonsense!" the ancient spirit hissed. "Now I will entrap your soul in the Shadow Realm as you did to so many others and take control once again!"
"Marik!!!" Ishizu screamed.
Marik took hold of the Rod. "I think not," he said, his eyes narrowed. "You will never again use my body as your puppet!"
The others watched with a mixture of shock, worry, and disbelief as Marik and his Yami fought for control of the Millennium Rod.
Yami Marik shoved hard, nearly causing Marik to loose his footing.
"You cannot kill me," Marik said, barely managing to regain his balance. "That would defeat your purpose!" He pulled on the Rod hard and Yami Marik backed up, pulling as well.
"Hey!! Look out!!" Mai screamed, seeing something that the spirit obviously did not.
Yami Marik ignored her, continuing to back up. As he gave a mighty yank on the Millennium Rod, he suddenly dislocated the lantern that had been hung up to light the room. With a crash, it fell to the floor below, and orange flames leaped at the walls.
"It's a fire!!" Mai shrieked, trying the door and finding it was locked. "And we're all trapped inside!!"
Seto stepped into the light of the early dawn, his blue eyes aflame with outrage.
"Big brother!" Mokuba called out, both in delight and in worry.
Seto turned to face the younger boy and then stared at him, horrified as he watched the blood drip over his brother's face and arms. "Mokuba," he whispered in alarm, rushing over and kneeling next to him. "Oh, Mokuba, what did he do to you?!"
Mokuba looked up at his brother with his gray eyes, trying as much as possible to not show how much he was really hurting. "I'm alright, Seto," he said, managing a weak smile.
"But not for long." Seth used his scepter to send Mokuba into another torrent of agony, and though the boy tried not to, a painful scream tore from his lips.
Seto looked up in rage at his ancestor, who seemed to be entirely enjoying this sick display of his power. "You monster!" he yelled. "You filthy beast!!"
Seth only laughed, using his sceptor again to make everyone around his descendant go into fits of torment. Seto couldn't stand to watch this any longer, nor could he bear to hear the painful screams. Without hesitation, he began to climb up to the crow's nest.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba cried, tears adorning his face. "If you go up there, Seth will kill you!!"
"That's right," Seth sneered, shooting painful lightning down at the boy who looked so much like him. "But of course I'd do that whether you came up here or not."
Seto dodged the lightning and it struck Bakura instead. The boy cried out in pain, and Seto's eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid to die," he said firmly. "But I won't drop dead until you've been stopped." He climbed into the crow's nest.
"Foolish mortal boy." Seth shot electricity at Seto again and this time it did hit him, striking the boy on his shoulder. He clutched the injury with a grunt of pain and Seth laughed.
"Seto!!" Mokuba yelled fearfully, and Tea's eyes were wide with horror.
"Trifling with the likes of me is never a good idea," Seth hissed, and resumed torturing Mokuba and the others.
Seto straightened up determinedly and grabbed Seth in rage. He refused to allow this to go on any longer, no matter what happened to him in the process. "Your reign of terror . . ." he snatched the scepter from the evil priest's hand forcefully, ". . . is over."
Seth sneered as a burst of fatal electricity shot out and struck Seto squarely in the chest. With a heart-rending cry of pain, the boy fell out of the crow's nest and into the cold water below—Seth's staff disappearing with him. Bubbles rose to the surface with finality.
****
Joey was doing no better at regaining control of his body than he was before. Yami Marik's evil powers were forcing him to advance on Mai, wrapping his fingers tightly around her neck.
"Joey! What do you think you're doing?!" Mai cried in panic. "Stop it, Joey!!"
Ishizu was growing weaker by the minute from the stab wound she'd received. She knew that if she wasn't able to get free and stop the bleeding soon, she would die from the loss of blood. And now Tristan was trying to stab her as well.
Marik knew this too and he fought against his Yami fiercely.
"Stop it, you cur!" Yami Marik snarled. "You're making me loose concentration!!"
"Good!" Marik replied fiercely. "Then I will make you loose it even more!! I will not let my sister—and my friends—die because of you! I am strong enough to overcome you, and I will prove it!!!" A blinding light issued forth and Yami Marik screamed in rage as he was forced back out of Marik's body.
Marik looked up, finally back in control—his lilac eyes full of worry. "Cease controlling these minds!" he ordered the Rod, and the age-old Millennium Item glowed once more.
Joey and Tristan snapped back to their normal selves, breathing heavily. Immediately Joey let go of Mai's neck, looking horrified. "Oh man. . . . I didn't hurt you, did I, Mai?" he asked worriedly.
Mai shook her head, trying to calm down after the shock of what had happened. Quickly Joey began untying her from the wall, apologizing over and over.
Tristan, meanwhile, was frantically trying to get Ishizu's wound to stop bleeding. "It will be alright," Ishizu said calmly. She was certain that she would be fine now, but she was still worried about her brother. She couldn't forget the strange nightmare she had had earlier. Marik was now on a high ledge. The nightmare could still come true.
Marik watched all of these proceedings from up on the ledge. "Sister!" he called. "Are you alright?"
"I am fine, Marik," Ishizu told him gently.
"Man, haven't you caused enough trouble?!" Joey yelled, feeling overwhelmed with anger. "Just get outta here!! We were gettin' along just fine until you came back into the picture!"
"Joseph!" Ishizu said sternly, feeling angry herself. "Marik has been trying to help us!"
Marik hung his head. "No, he is right," he said softly. "I may not have been responsible for this, but I have brought about much evil in the past. He has no reason to trust me, no reason to believe that I have changed. And I have no reason to be alive." He dropped the Rod to the floor of the ledge. "I have brought everyone endless pain and agony."
"No brother! That is not true!" Ishizu protested. "I love you, Marik! If you leave, that is what would cause pain and agony for me! And for Rishid!"
Marik smiled tiredly, then sighed sadly. He didn't want anyone to be in danger from his Yami anymore. What was he going to do?
Suddenly his Yami appeared in his separate form, his features contorted in rage. "You pathetic creature," he growled, wrenching Marik's arm around. "You can never defeat me! And now I will make certain that everyone you care about perishes!"
****
Mokuba, free of Seth's torture, screamed more pitifully than when he was being beaten. "Big brother!!!!" He stared into the icy water in disbelief, looking for some sign of his beloved brother—but there was nothing.
Seth stared into the water as well, seemingly unfazed. "Just like what happened to the guard," he remarked, turning back to look down at Mokuba smirkingly. "Your brother has failed you!"
"No he hasn't!!" Mokuba yelled, his eyes welling up with tears. "Seto . . . he . . . he sacrificed himself to save me and the others!" he said, trembling.
The others were also free of Seth's evil powers, and Yugi stood up, his expression stern and forbidding. "Seto Kaiba saved us," he agreed. "His bravery will always be remembered." He tried not to let the tears fall from his own eyes. Now was not the time to cry.
Seth wasn't impressed. "All he did was temporarily save you from my torture. I can still get rid of you all!"
Yugi shook his head. "No, that wasn't all he did. He took your staff down with him to his watery grave. Because of that, I now have my powers back, and I won't hesitate to use them to banish you back into the Shadow Realm where you belong!" The third eye on his forehead glowed and he raised his right hand. With a scream, Seth was gone.
Yugi stood still, breathing heavily, and then he began to untie everyone from where they'd been chained up, feeling drained and numb. He knew that the others—especially Mokuba—were feeling the same way.
Mokuba again turned to stare in the water, tears falling uncontrollably from his eyes. "Oh Seto!" he wailed. "Big brother. . . ."
Tea was crying as well, though she tried to look away so no one would see. Yugi could never have defeated Seth if Seto hadn't first gotten the evil priest's staff away from him. "Kaiba, you were so brave," she said softly, staring at the endless depths of the lake.
Suddenly a familiar form broke through to the surface, coughing and gasping. Could it be? . . . It was! Seto was alive!
Mokuba's eyes lighted up. "Seto!!" he cried in delight.
The others were overjoyed as well, but they all knew that the other boy wasn't out of danger yet. The water was freezing, and Seto didn't look like he could hold out much longer.
"Kaiba!" Yugi called, finding a rope and throwing one end of it overboard, "take hold of this!"
Seto reached for the rope and grabbed it weakly, coughing again. He looked like he was barely alive. Yugi pulled him up in concern and then Seto collapsed on the deck, his strength depleted.
Mokuba, Tea, and the others ran over worriedly, and Mokuba sobbed as he hugged the older boy. "Oh big brother!" he exclaimed. "You . . . you saved us!" He buried his face in his brother's chest. "I . . . I was so afraid that you were . . ." He trailed off with a hiccup and looked at Seto through tear-filled eyes.
Seto smiled gently and brushed his brother's tears away. "It's alright," he said softly, drawing a ragged breath.
Tea could tell that the boy wasn't doing very well. Seth's scepter hadn't killed him, but it almost had . . . and it still might finish the job. Gently she took Seto's cold hand in hers. "Don't leave us, Kaiba!" she wailed.
Seto struggled to hold on, feeling his eyes grow heavy. He shakily laid his other hand on Mokuba's back, looking into his worried gray eyes. "I . . . I won't leave you," he promised, passing out.
"Seto!!" Mokuba screamed.
Tea also was horrified, feeling the boy's hand go limp. "Yugi," she said shakily, "is he . . . is he hurt . . . terribly?" She was actually afraid that he was dead, but she couldn't say that in front of Mokuba.
Yugi knelt next to Seto, unbuttoning the other boy's shirt and exposing his chest. Then he bent down and listened frantically for a heartbeat. He bit his lip, trying to think of how to say what he had discovered.
"Yugi?" Mokuba quavered.
Yugi still hesitated. "He's still alive," he said finally, "but he took in a lot of water, and . . ." He paused again. "Seth's dark magic weakened him extremely." Frankly, he didn't hold out much hope that Seto would survive the rest of the night. Gently he pressed on Seto's chest and the unconscious boy jerked, coughing up water.
Mokuba's eyes filled with tears. "Oh Seto," he whispered, embracing his brother gently.
Yugi laid a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Let's take him below deck," he instructed. Please, let him survive! he prayed.
****
The others watched in shock as Yami Marik appeared.
"Whoa," Tristan gasped. "Maybe it really was him who was controlling us and not Marik! It did look like him. . . ."
Joey watched them with narrowed eyes, still unconvinced. "They're probably both in on it," he remarked.
Ishizu, pressing a scarf against her wound, glared at him. "Joseph, what will it take to convince you? Marik freed you and Tristan from the mind control!"
"It is alright, sister," Marik said softly from on the ledge. "He does not owe me any trust. I have behaved atrociously before . . ." He trailed off as Yami Marik waved the Rod in front of him.
"I've had enough of this nonsense!" the ancient spirit hissed. "Now I will entrap your soul in the Shadow Realm as you did to so many others and take control once again!"
"Marik!!!" Ishizu screamed.
Marik took hold of the Rod. "I think not," he said, his eyes narrowed. "You will never again use my body as your puppet!"
The others watched with a mixture of shock, worry, and disbelief as Marik and his Yami fought for control of the Millennium Rod.
Yami Marik shoved hard, nearly causing Marik to loose his footing.
"You cannot kill me," Marik said, barely managing to regain his balance. "That would defeat your purpose!" He pulled on the Rod hard and Yami Marik backed up, pulling as well.
"Hey!! Look out!!" Mai screamed, seeing something that the spirit obviously did not.
Yami Marik ignored her, continuing to back up. As he gave a mighty yank on the Millennium Rod, he suddenly dislocated the lantern that had been hung up to light the room. With a crash, it fell to the floor below, and orange flames leaped at the walls.
"It's a fire!!" Mai shrieked, trying the door and finding it was locked. "And we're all trapped inside!!"