Seto had looked everywhere in the library for Mokuba before eventually finding out from a librarian that he had gone off to the hospital.
When he got there, he found Mokuba standing outside and looking dejected.
"Seto, they said Marik's been poisoned," he whispered, his face a picture of horror.
Wordlessly Seto gathered the little boy into his arms, trying to comfort him. Now was not the time to scold him for running off from the library without telling him.
****
After Seto had taken Mokuba home, he headed for the KETY station once more. There were too many twists in this mystery, he thought to himself in frustration. Somehow he was certain that, once again, the cases—even though they seemed immensely different—were all connected.
He tried to figure out how everything might fit together. What if JP had, perhaps, found out something that would prove once and for all what an evil person Vivalene was and he was captured—and, knowing what kinds of things Vivalene did, tortured and even maybe murdered eventually—so he couldn't reveal what he knew? That made an eerie kind of sense, but how would everything else fit in?
Seto growled in vexation. Things still didn't make sense.
"We're here, sir," the chauffeur announced then.
Seto didn't answer and instead climbed out of the limo. "Wait here," he ordered, hoping that he wouldn't be long.
When he walked through the door, he found Tea at the front desk. The girl started when she heard the door open, but she didn't look up from the computer where she was frantically typing. "Hello and welcome to KETY," she said, obviously pretending to be the receptionist.
Amused and a bit annoyed, Seto leaned on the top of the computer. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Tea looked up, also annoyed. "Go away, Kaiba," she hissed. "You're going to announce to everyone that I'm here!"
Seto grunted and leaned back. "I take it that you're not supposed to be." His expression was impassive, as usual.
"I'm looking at the KETY records to find a possible reason for why all these things are happening," Tea told him in frustration.
"I see. Have you find anything of interest?" Seto wanted to know.
Tea paused. "The only thing I've found out is that this station was built over an old bank," she replied.
Seto didn't answer that, but his eyes showed vague interest. "Carry on," was all he said, and he disappeared down another corridor to find Darin' Dave. He hadn't forgotten that Lila had mentioned that the fill-in deejay might also be a suspect.
****
Bakura awoke slowly, feeling rested and refreshed. "Oh my," he said softly, "I wonder how long I've been asleep?"
He raised himself up, looking around. Yami Bakura was slumped over in the chair, apparently asleep himself. Bakura wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that he then noticed a faint smell of something sweet in the air—and when he turned to look at the thief more closely, he discovered that Yami Bakura's hair was braided. "Yami?!" the boy cried in complete disbelief.
When the tomb raider didn't reply, Bakura became increasingly worried. He shook his Yami gently on the shoulder. "Yami, are you alright? Please wake up!"
Yami Bakura stirred then, muttering something to himself in Egyptian.
"Yami, I can't understand you!" Bakura cried. "What are you saying?"
The thief's eyes snapped open. "Stop shaking me!!!!" he screamed in English.
Bakura released his grip, still looking worried. "Yami, are you alright?" he asked again.
"Of course I'm alright, you fool!!!" Yami Bakura growled.
The door opened and Yugi and Tristan entered. "What's going on in here?" Tristan demanded, and then suddenly stared at Yami Bakura, his eyes wide.
"What is it, you fool?!" the tomb robber growled.
Tristan snickered, pointing. "Your hair! Look at your hair!!"
Yami Bakura blinked. "What about my hair, you ridiculous . . ." He trailed off, staring at the long braid his hair had been pulled into, and immediately began cursing and screaming loudly in Egyptian.
Bakura and Yugi exchanged looks of their own. The thief obviously wasn't feeling ill, judging by the volume of his yells, and Bakura couldn't help but chuckle as his Yami pulled at his hair, unbraiding it and sending it flying once more in all directions. But Bakura had to wonder who had done that to his Yami, and why. What on earth was going on around here?!
****
Joey arrived at the station shortly after that. After the dinner date, which had been several hours before, he had dropped Vivalene off at KETY and promised to return later to walk her home.
When the Brooklyn boy came in, he found himself in an empty lobby. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called, and then turned to head down a random corridor. Vivalene had said she would be organizing things for tomorrow's show, so she should be in one of the studios.
But instead of finding Vivalene, Joey walked around a corner and banged right into Seto, sending them both to the floor. "Hey, I'm sorry," Joey started to apologize, but then he saw who he had bumped into. "Oh. It's you," he said coldly, standing up.
Seto grunted and picked himself up, regarding the other boy equally as coldly. "Next time, Wheeler, watch where you're going."
"I'd be glad to!" Joey shot back. "But *you* should watch where *you're* goin', Kaiba!" He narrowed his eyes. "Vifa does have a twin sister, just like I knew she did. And it's the sister who's always doin' crummy stuff, so you can't keep walkin' around feeding your lies about Vivalene to everyone!" With that, he pushed past Seto and stormed off down the hall.
Seto watched him go, his own eyes narrowed. Vivalene had a twin sister? He would have to investigate into that. Joey had made it quite obvious that he didn't want Seto's help, and Seto certainly wasn't about to keep trying, but he had his own reasons for wanting more answers. He was certain that he had seen Vivalene somewhere before. Perhaps, if what Joey said was true, it was the sister that Seto had seen. But whether it was or not, he still knew that Vivalene herself was a very deadly, dangerous person. "You're only setting yourself up for a fall, Wheeler," he muttered.
****
Ishizu stroked her brother's soft hair, intense worry in her eyes. The doctor had said that so far, the antidote wasn't working. Marik was very weak and deathly ill, as Rishid had feared when the nurse had first told him that the boy had been poisoned, and it also wasn't likely that he would be able to fight the poison himself.
"There's not much more we can do," the doctor said now.
"I understand," Ishizu said softly. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that her brother might die. They had come through so much together. . . .
Marik had been diabolical once—during Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament especially—but no matter what the boy had done his sister loved him unconditionally. And his days of committing wretched acts had ended a while back. Now he had completely changed and was closer to his sister—and to Rishid—than he had been in a long time. Ishizu couldn't bear the thought that she might lose him. "You must fight, Marik," the Egyptian woman whispered. "You cannot leave us!"
****
Seto found Darin' Dave in another studio, stacking up twenty or so CDs.
"Hey, Mr. Kaiba," the deejay said amiably before Seto could introduce himself. "I guess you're here to talk to me about JP."
Seto's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How did you know?"
Dave shrugged. "A birdie told me. But I'm not the crook you're looking for. Sure, I was bitter for a while that Von Wilkenson gave the job to JP instead of to me, but I got over it. You can't stay bitter forever, after all."
Seto observed the man, never dropping his suspicious gaze. "But now that JP has vanished, you're doing his show," he remarked.
"That's true," Dave agreed. "But I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of abducting JP to get his show, if that's what you're insinuating."
Seto grunted. "Some people do stupid things."
Dave was undaunted. "They sure do," he agreed.
Seto could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this man. "If you're not telling the truth, I'll find out," he vowed. The boy turned and left, his trenchcoat sweeping across the room.
****
Joey walked Vivalene back to the fancy hotel she was staying at. "Hey," the boy said worriedly, "aren't you going to get a regular house? You're not planning to leave soon, are you?"
Vivalene paused. "I never know, darling," she admitted. "I hope I can stay for a long time, but I might get transferred to another station at any time."
"Man, they can't do that!" Joey cried. "You've gotta stay here with me!"
"I'll do my best, darling," Vivalene promised.
They stopped in front of the hotel. Joey kissed Vivalene on the lips and turned to go. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.
"Tomorrow," she agreed with a smile.
****
Von Wilkenson entered the studio, his face purple. "Bakura!!!" he growled, standing in front of the silver-haired boy, who was still on the couch. "I've been looking for you everywhere! You weren't here to do your show, you idiot! What have you been doing—taking a nap?!"
"Now just a minute!" Yugi cried, but before he could speak in Bakura's defense, Yami Bakura stood up to his full height, his brown eyes blazing.
"You insolent creature," the tomb raider hissed. "That boy was being violently beaten while you were concerned with your station's confounded ratings!"
Von Wilkenson paled. "Is this true?" he cried, looking at Bakura in disbelief.
"I'm afraid so, sir," Bakura admitted. "But I wouldn't have done the show anyway. I won't steal it from someone else."
"Look, I fired Mandy," Von Wilkenson interrupted abruptly.
"You what?!" Bakura gasped.
"I want you for my station!" Von Wilkenson said, slamming his fist down on the table. "But your 'nice-boy' persona is starting to drive me crazy!! That's not the way you get ahead in this business!"
"Well, then, I don't want to be a part of this business," Bakura replied firmly.
"Mr. Von Wilkenson, aren't you in the least concerned that Bakura was attacked?" Yugi cried. "He could've been very seriously injured!"
"Of course I'm concerned!" the man grumped, throwing his hands up in the air. "I couldn't find him to do the show, and now he says he won't do it at all!"
"You make me sick," Tristan declared, his hazel eyes narrowed.
"Such is show biz, young man," Von Wilkenson retorted.
"Sir," Bakura said now, choosing to ignore that comment, "I believe whoever was here earlier may have came back while I was asleep to get what they were looking for."
"Oh?" Von Wilkenson gave him a searching look. "And why do you think that?"
Bakura paused. "Well, because . . ." He couldn't stop a small smile from drifting across his face. "Because he fell asleep too, and he woke up with his hair braided." The boy indicated Yami Bakura, who growled in reply.
Von Wilkenson stared at Yami Bakura. "You're Bakura's brother, aren't you?" he asked.
"Hardly," Yami Bakura growled. "Why, I'm old enough to be his . . ."
"Yami!" Bakura hissed in an undertone.
Von Wilkenson's attention was already drifting away. He looked around the room, suddenly spotting the filing cabinet slightly ajar. "Oh no!" he gasped.
"What is it?" Yugi asked.
Von Wilkenson didn't answer. Instead he ran over and pried the filing cabinet open, staring inside. "It's gone!!" he screamed.
"What's gone?" Yugi tried again.
"None of your business!" Von Wilkenson snapped, running out the door and muttering to himself.
Tristan slammed his fist into his palm. "Man, if I could just get him alone for about five minutes. . . ." The man's rudeness annoyed him to no end.
"What on earth do you suppose he was talking about?" Bakura exclaimed.
"It's a mystery," Yugi said, shaking his head.
They all gathered around the filing cabinet and looked inside. It was completely empty. There were no clues at all as to what had been taken, but whatever it had been, Von Wilkenson was obviously very distressed about it.
****
Seto, frustrated over his interview with Darin' Dave, was preparing to leave the station and return home to Mokuba. He decided it would be profitable to learn about the old bank the KETY building had replaced. Perhaps that was an important clue in the plot, somehow. . . . Everything was much too confusing.
Just as he was about to go out the door, a familiar ear-piercing shriek rent through the air and the boy paused.
"Tea?" he called, looking around. "Tea, where are you?!"
He walked down a hall and opened a door to a nearby storage room, then started in shock.
Tea had been cornered up against a wall by Lila, JP's sister—and she was brandishing a knife!
When he got there, he found Mokuba standing outside and looking dejected.
"Seto, they said Marik's been poisoned," he whispered, his face a picture of horror.
Wordlessly Seto gathered the little boy into his arms, trying to comfort him. Now was not the time to scold him for running off from the library without telling him.
****
After Seto had taken Mokuba home, he headed for the KETY station once more. There were too many twists in this mystery, he thought to himself in frustration. Somehow he was certain that, once again, the cases—even though they seemed immensely different—were all connected.
He tried to figure out how everything might fit together. What if JP had, perhaps, found out something that would prove once and for all what an evil person Vivalene was and he was captured—and, knowing what kinds of things Vivalene did, tortured and even maybe murdered eventually—so he couldn't reveal what he knew? That made an eerie kind of sense, but how would everything else fit in?
Seto growled in vexation. Things still didn't make sense.
"We're here, sir," the chauffeur announced then.
Seto didn't answer and instead climbed out of the limo. "Wait here," he ordered, hoping that he wouldn't be long.
When he walked through the door, he found Tea at the front desk. The girl started when she heard the door open, but she didn't look up from the computer where she was frantically typing. "Hello and welcome to KETY," she said, obviously pretending to be the receptionist.
Amused and a bit annoyed, Seto leaned on the top of the computer. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Tea looked up, also annoyed. "Go away, Kaiba," she hissed. "You're going to announce to everyone that I'm here!"
Seto grunted and leaned back. "I take it that you're not supposed to be." His expression was impassive, as usual.
"I'm looking at the KETY records to find a possible reason for why all these things are happening," Tea told him in frustration.
"I see. Have you find anything of interest?" Seto wanted to know.
Tea paused. "The only thing I've found out is that this station was built over an old bank," she replied.
Seto didn't answer that, but his eyes showed vague interest. "Carry on," was all he said, and he disappeared down another corridor to find Darin' Dave. He hadn't forgotten that Lila had mentioned that the fill-in deejay might also be a suspect.
****
Bakura awoke slowly, feeling rested and refreshed. "Oh my," he said softly, "I wonder how long I've been asleep?"
He raised himself up, looking around. Yami Bakura was slumped over in the chair, apparently asleep himself. Bakura wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that he then noticed a faint smell of something sweet in the air—and when he turned to look at the thief more closely, he discovered that Yami Bakura's hair was braided. "Yami?!" the boy cried in complete disbelief.
When the tomb raider didn't reply, Bakura became increasingly worried. He shook his Yami gently on the shoulder. "Yami, are you alright? Please wake up!"
Yami Bakura stirred then, muttering something to himself in Egyptian.
"Yami, I can't understand you!" Bakura cried. "What are you saying?"
The thief's eyes snapped open. "Stop shaking me!!!!" he screamed in English.
Bakura released his grip, still looking worried. "Yami, are you alright?" he asked again.
"Of course I'm alright, you fool!!!" Yami Bakura growled.
The door opened and Yugi and Tristan entered. "What's going on in here?" Tristan demanded, and then suddenly stared at Yami Bakura, his eyes wide.
"What is it, you fool?!" the tomb robber growled.
Tristan snickered, pointing. "Your hair! Look at your hair!!"
Yami Bakura blinked. "What about my hair, you ridiculous . . ." He trailed off, staring at the long braid his hair had been pulled into, and immediately began cursing and screaming loudly in Egyptian.
Bakura and Yugi exchanged looks of their own. The thief obviously wasn't feeling ill, judging by the volume of his yells, and Bakura couldn't help but chuckle as his Yami pulled at his hair, unbraiding it and sending it flying once more in all directions. But Bakura had to wonder who had done that to his Yami, and why. What on earth was going on around here?!
****
Joey arrived at the station shortly after that. After the dinner date, which had been several hours before, he had dropped Vivalene off at KETY and promised to return later to walk her home.
When the Brooklyn boy came in, he found himself in an empty lobby. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called, and then turned to head down a random corridor. Vivalene had said she would be organizing things for tomorrow's show, so she should be in one of the studios.
But instead of finding Vivalene, Joey walked around a corner and banged right into Seto, sending them both to the floor. "Hey, I'm sorry," Joey started to apologize, but then he saw who he had bumped into. "Oh. It's you," he said coldly, standing up.
Seto grunted and picked himself up, regarding the other boy equally as coldly. "Next time, Wheeler, watch where you're going."
"I'd be glad to!" Joey shot back. "But *you* should watch where *you're* goin', Kaiba!" He narrowed his eyes. "Vifa does have a twin sister, just like I knew she did. And it's the sister who's always doin' crummy stuff, so you can't keep walkin' around feeding your lies about Vivalene to everyone!" With that, he pushed past Seto and stormed off down the hall.
Seto watched him go, his own eyes narrowed. Vivalene had a twin sister? He would have to investigate into that. Joey had made it quite obvious that he didn't want Seto's help, and Seto certainly wasn't about to keep trying, but he had his own reasons for wanting more answers. He was certain that he had seen Vivalene somewhere before. Perhaps, if what Joey said was true, it was the sister that Seto had seen. But whether it was or not, he still knew that Vivalene herself was a very deadly, dangerous person. "You're only setting yourself up for a fall, Wheeler," he muttered.
****
Ishizu stroked her brother's soft hair, intense worry in her eyes. The doctor had said that so far, the antidote wasn't working. Marik was very weak and deathly ill, as Rishid had feared when the nurse had first told him that the boy had been poisoned, and it also wasn't likely that he would be able to fight the poison himself.
"There's not much more we can do," the doctor said now.
"I understand," Ishizu said softly. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that her brother might die. They had come through so much together. . . .
Marik had been diabolical once—during Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament especially—but no matter what the boy had done his sister loved him unconditionally. And his days of committing wretched acts had ended a while back. Now he had completely changed and was closer to his sister—and to Rishid—than he had been in a long time. Ishizu couldn't bear the thought that she might lose him. "You must fight, Marik," the Egyptian woman whispered. "You cannot leave us!"
****
Seto found Darin' Dave in another studio, stacking up twenty or so CDs.
"Hey, Mr. Kaiba," the deejay said amiably before Seto could introduce himself. "I guess you're here to talk to me about JP."
Seto's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How did you know?"
Dave shrugged. "A birdie told me. But I'm not the crook you're looking for. Sure, I was bitter for a while that Von Wilkenson gave the job to JP instead of to me, but I got over it. You can't stay bitter forever, after all."
Seto observed the man, never dropping his suspicious gaze. "But now that JP has vanished, you're doing his show," he remarked.
"That's true," Dave agreed. "But I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of abducting JP to get his show, if that's what you're insinuating."
Seto grunted. "Some people do stupid things."
Dave was undaunted. "They sure do," he agreed.
Seto could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this man. "If you're not telling the truth, I'll find out," he vowed. The boy turned and left, his trenchcoat sweeping across the room.
****
Joey walked Vivalene back to the fancy hotel she was staying at. "Hey," the boy said worriedly, "aren't you going to get a regular house? You're not planning to leave soon, are you?"
Vivalene paused. "I never know, darling," she admitted. "I hope I can stay for a long time, but I might get transferred to another station at any time."
"Man, they can't do that!" Joey cried. "You've gotta stay here with me!"
"I'll do my best, darling," Vivalene promised.
They stopped in front of the hotel. Joey kissed Vivalene on the lips and turned to go. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.
"Tomorrow," she agreed with a smile.
****
Von Wilkenson entered the studio, his face purple. "Bakura!!!" he growled, standing in front of the silver-haired boy, who was still on the couch. "I've been looking for you everywhere! You weren't here to do your show, you idiot! What have you been doing—taking a nap?!"
"Now just a minute!" Yugi cried, but before he could speak in Bakura's defense, Yami Bakura stood up to his full height, his brown eyes blazing.
"You insolent creature," the tomb raider hissed. "That boy was being violently beaten while you were concerned with your station's confounded ratings!"
Von Wilkenson paled. "Is this true?" he cried, looking at Bakura in disbelief.
"I'm afraid so, sir," Bakura admitted. "But I wouldn't have done the show anyway. I won't steal it from someone else."
"Look, I fired Mandy," Von Wilkenson interrupted abruptly.
"You what?!" Bakura gasped.
"I want you for my station!" Von Wilkenson said, slamming his fist down on the table. "But your 'nice-boy' persona is starting to drive me crazy!! That's not the way you get ahead in this business!"
"Well, then, I don't want to be a part of this business," Bakura replied firmly.
"Mr. Von Wilkenson, aren't you in the least concerned that Bakura was attacked?" Yugi cried. "He could've been very seriously injured!"
"Of course I'm concerned!" the man grumped, throwing his hands up in the air. "I couldn't find him to do the show, and now he says he won't do it at all!"
"You make me sick," Tristan declared, his hazel eyes narrowed.
"Such is show biz, young man," Von Wilkenson retorted.
"Sir," Bakura said now, choosing to ignore that comment, "I believe whoever was here earlier may have came back while I was asleep to get what they were looking for."
"Oh?" Von Wilkenson gave him a searching look. "And why do you think that?"
Bakura paused. "Well, because . . ." He couldn't stop a small smile from drifting across his face. "Because he fell asleep too, and he woke up with his hair braided." The boy indicated Yami Bakura, who growled in reply.
Von Wilkenson stared at Yami Bakura. "You're Bakura's brother, aren't you?" he asked.
"Hardly," Yami Bakura growled. "Why, I'm old enough to be his . . ."
"Yami!" Bakura hissed in an undertone.
Von Wilkenson's attention was already drifting away. He looked around the room, suddenly spotting the filing cabinet slightly ajar. "Oh no!" he gasped.
"What is it?" Yugi asked.
Von Wilkenson didn't answer. Instead he ran over and pried the filing cabinet open, staring inside. "It's gone!!" he screamed.
"What's gone?" Yugi tried again.
"None of your business!" Von Wilkenson snapped, running out the door and muttering to himself.
Tristan slammed his fist into his palm. "Man, if I could just get him alone for about five minutes. . . ." The man's rudeness annoyed him to no end.
"What on earth do you suppose he was talking about?" Bakura exclaimed.
"It's a mystery," Yugi said, shaking his head.
They all gathered around the filing cabinet and looked inside. It was completely empty. There were no clues at all as to what had been taken, but whatever it had been, Von Wilkenson was obviously very distressed about it.
****
Seto, frustrated over his interview with Darin' Dave, was preparing to leave the station and return home to Mokuba. He decided it would be profitable to learn about the old bank the KETY building had replaced. Perhaps that was an important clue in the plot, somehow. . . . Everything was much too confusing.
Just as he was about to go out the door, a familiar ear-piercing shriek rent through the air and the boy paused.
"Tea?" he called, looking around. "Tea, where are you?!"
He walked down a hall and opened a door to a nearby storage room, then started in shock.
Tea had been cornered up against a wall by Lila, JP's sister—and she was brandishing a knife!