Joey stared in disbelief as Seto fell, bleeding, to the floor of the roof. "Kaiba!" he cried in horror.
Now he realized that he'd been seeing everything warped. Vivalene—the one he had thought was so wonderful—had actually been lying to him this whole time, and wouldn't have any qualms about killing him now. And Seto Kaiba—the one Joey had thought was lying to him—had actually been telling him the truth, and now had just taken a bullet for him.
The Brooklyn boy looked back up at Vivalene, who seemed to be momentarily startled that she had shot the wrong boy. "Vifa . . . you . . . you shot him!" Joey cried, his eyes wide. "You shot Kaiba!!"
"Foolish boy," Vivalene sneered. "He only delayed the inevitable. Now I will kill you, as I originally meant to!" As she raised the gun again, police sirens were heard down below and the woman paused, irritation spreading across her face. If she tried to shoot Joey now, someone might see her. Better to make a hasty exit and come back later. "Think fast," she hissed, unleashing a smoke bomb. When the air cleared, she was gone.
"Good riddance," Joey muttered, looking at the spot where she'd been only a moment before.
He knelt next to Seto's still body, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Kaiba? . . . Hey man, you're . . . you're okay, aren't you?" he asked shakily, gaping in horror at the blood.
Seto's eyes fluttered open. "Do I look okay?" he said dryly.
Joey gently pulled the blue-eyed boy's body into his arms, trying to see how serious the wound was. "Kaiba . . . come on, man, you've gotta stay with me here!" he pleaded, fearing that the boy was losing strength fast.
Seto's blue eyes were only half-open. "I thought I wasn't your friend," he remarked. "Why should you care if I . . ." He trailed off, the pain increasing.
Joey swallowed hard. How could he really have said all those things? He'd hurt everyone who really cared about him, he realized now. "Kaiba, you . . . you saved my life," he said softly. "Even after everything I'd said and done, you were still willing to rescue me! Only a true friend would do what you did." A tear slipped down his cheek. "You may be aloof and everything, but you're okay by me!"
Seto felt himself growing weaker. "Maybe . . . maybe next time you'll listen to me. If . . . if there is a next time. . . ." His eyes started to close.
Joey was horrified. "Hey, come on, Kaiba! You . . . you can't leave!" He grabbed the other boy's shoulder forcefully. "Kaiba, if you . . . die, I'll never forgive myself! It'll be my fault!!"
Seto grunted. "Blame yourself for . . . for your stupidity in this whole matter, Joey, but don't blame yourself for . . ." He groaned. ". . . for my death," he finished. The boy paused, gathering what was left of his strength. "Look, Wheeler . . . I'm gonna try to hang on, but . . . in case I don't make it . . ."
"Shut up, Kaiba," Joey said shakily. "You can't talk like that! Everything's gonna be okay! You're gonna get better, and Vivalene's gonna get caught, and . . ."
Seto shook his head weakly. "Joey . . . tell Mokuba I love him," he said softly as his eyes drifted shut and his body fell limp.
Joey couldn't believe it. "Kaiba!! Come on, man, you can't just die on me!!!" Now his tears fell freely. "Oh man . . . it's my fault. It's all my fault!!" the blonde boy cried. "He . . . he wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me! I . . . I killed him! I killed him!" Seto's blood flowed over Joey's hands, leaving them stained red.
****
The others, in the meantime, were trying to figure out where Joey might be. If he was with Vivalene, they knew that he could have gone to the KETY studios.
"I'm going to check there," Tea said to herself resolutely.
Yugi and his Yami had the same idea. They, too, were heading for KETY, but they never got there.
A dark van pulled up in front of them, its headlights shining fiercely on them. "You two. Get in," a menacing voice growled.
"I'll handle this, Yugi," Yami Yugi said firmly, and faced the van defiantly. "What do you want with us?" the ancient Pharaoh demanded.
A revolver was shoved out the tinted window at him. "Get in the van or your friends will pay," the voice replied.
"Our friends?!" Yugi cried, stepping forward. "What have you done to them?!"
The man's grip on the weapon never wavered. "If you don't come with me, you'll soon find out," he threatened.
"We will not go with you without knowing what we are getting into," Yami Yugi said sternly, "nor will we allow ourselves or our friends to be hostages to be bartered!"
A deep-throated laugh came from inside the van. "You're brave to stand up to me like that," the man remarked. "Now get in, or your brother gets it." He pointed the gun at Yugi threateningly.
"I don't think so. Mind crush!" Yami Yugi screamed, and the Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly. With a cry of confusion and pain, the man dropped the gun and slumped unconscious over the steering wheel.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," he declared. "But what would he have wanted with us?!"
Yami Yugi approached the van and looked inside. The man was alone . . . or so he appeared to be.
Suddenly the back doors flew open and they were surrounded by half a dozen ninjas, each holding a deadly weapon.
Yugi gasped, his violet eyes wide. Yami Yugi's eyes narrowed and he prepared to fight, but he had the sinking feeling that this time they wouldn't win.
****
Yami Bakura watched Bakura sleep. The foolish boy was understandably exhausted after everything that had happened to him and he needed desperately to just rest.
The telephone had rang a while ago and Yami Bakura had answered it—unwillingly, of course, but he hadn't wanted the noise to continue and wake Bakura up. It had been Yugi, calling because that ridiculous Brooklyn boy was missing. Yami Bakura said that he would give Bakura the message, but he didn't actually intend to. If Bakura heard about what was happening, he would undoubtedly want to go join in the search, and he was much too weak for any nonsense like that.
"Absurd mortal," the tomb raider muttered now, pulling the quilt over Bakura's sleeping form. "You're going to catch a cold. How can I use you to help me take over the world if you're ill all the time?" He was actually quite fond of the boy—not that he would ever admit it to anyone. Bakura was the first person in centuries who had shown kindness to the old thief, and that had definitely not gone unnoticed by him. Now he felt protective of the boy, and he wouldn't let any harm come to him if he could possibly prevent it.
****
Joey was still kneeling on the roof, Seto's body in his arms. By now he had figured out that the police cars had not been coming to the KETY building after all, but what did that matter now? Vivalene was gone again. That viper had killed three people tonight. And if it wasn't for Seto, Joey might well have been among them.
"Joey! Joey!!"
The boy looked up as the door to the roof flew open and Tea burst through. The girl stopped short in alarm at the sight before her—the night watchman laying on the floor and Seto's lifeless, bloody body in Joey's arms.
"He's dead." Joey stood up slowly as Tea rushed to Seto's side in disbelief. "They're both dead. Vivalene wounded them, but I'm just as guilty."
Tea pulled Seto's limp form into her arms and unbuttoned his shirt, pressing her scarf against the deep injury in his chest and at the same time feeling for any possible life signs. "Don't say that, Joey!" she protested.
"Face it, Tea. It's true." Joey clenched his fists, tears flooding his eyes. "You've all been telling me how evil that woman is, but nooo, I just wouldn't have any of it. I pushed all my friends away, thinkin' that you guys just didn't know what you were talking about. I even decided that maybe some of you, like Tristan and Marik, were making things up because they were jealous and wanted Vivalene for themselves." He shook his head. "How could I have thought some dumb thing like that?! I've betrayed everyone who really cares about me!!" he cried.
"Joey, Vivalene used you," Tea said quietly, tears in her own eyes. "You can't blame yourself for everything. If you had ever thought that anyone would actually get hurt, you never would've continued going with her." Now she held Seto's body close to hers, feeling as though her heart would break.
You're not indestructible, you know.
Had it really been only a couple of days ago when she had said that to Seto after he had been stabbed? So much had happened since then. It felt more like a couple of years instead of just days. And she had seen him only a few hours before. How could he possibly be . . .
"That's just it, Tea!" Joey screamed now, startling her out of her confused reverie. "I was blind!!" He turned to look at the early morning sky. "Marik's dead. Kaiba's dead. All because I was too bone-headed to listen to them." He paused. "Tea, I even told Kaiba that he wasn't any friend of mine. But you know somethin'? He took a bullet for me, even after the rotten way I'd acted." Joey looked down, tears falling from his eyes. "He may not have always shown it, but he was every bit as good a friend as you and Yugi and Tristan and Bakura are," he said softly. "And now he's dead!! Dead because I wouldn't listen when he and you and everyone tried to warn me about Vivalene! She poisoned my mind! Now I can see that she was purposely tryin' to turn me against my friends—but I didn't see until now, and now it's too late!" He knew there was only one way he could try to make things right—he had to stop Vivalene himself before anyone else died at her hands.
Tea was startled when Joey suddenly turned and leaped to the next building over. "Joey, what are you doing?!" she shrieked.
"I can't let Vivalene keep doing stuff like this!" Joey called back. "I'm gonna stop her!! I have to avenge my fallen friends," he added softly.
"Joey, you can't!!" Tea screamed. "It's too dangerous!!" And what was more, she had discovered something while tending to Seto's chest wound just now—the boy's heart was still beating. He was still alive.
She tried to call out again. "Joey! Kaiba's not . . ." She knew the Brooklyn boy was too far away to hear her now. "Kaiba's not dead," she whispered, feeling the wounded boy shudder in her arms.
****
Unfortunately, it didn't appear as though the same could be said for Marik. The doctor had disconnected the heart monitor and told Ishizu and Rishid to say their goodbyes.
"He is gone," Rishid said sadly. "Our brother is gone."
Ishizu stood still, her blue eyes filled with tears. "She murdered him," she said in a dangerous, low tone. "She took his life away in cold blood."
"She will pay for her crimes," Rishid vowed, clenching his fist tightly and wanting to be the one to make her pay.
Ishizu leaned over and kissed Marik on the cheek. "Goodbye, dear brother," she said softly. "Goodbye."
Suddenly, unbelievably, the boy stirred.
"Marik?" Ishizu whispered in disbelief.
Rishid perked up, his eyes wide. Was it possible?
Marik's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at them peacefully.
"Master Marik!" Rishid cried, his eyes brightening.
"Oh Marik! You have returned!" Ishizu embraced her brother warmly, and then he weakly hugged her back, motioning for Rishid to come over as well, which he did.
"I never left," Marik said softly, embracing those he loved so dearly.
****
Joey was exhausted. He felt as though he'd ran all over the city, but he knew he couldn't stop now. Vivalene had to be caught, especially after what she'd done to Marik and Seto.
As he surveyed the sights below him from up on another rooftop, he suddenly saw something alarming—Tristan and Serenity were being herded into the back of a van by what looked like a female ninja! "Vivalene?" the boy muttered, his eyes narrowed. The woman's dirty work was continuing. Joey knew he had to follow them. Vivalene had killed three people tonight, and he wouldn't allow her to take any more lives.
****
Yami Bakura looked up at the sound of the door opening, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He had locked the door. No one should be able to gain entry into the home, unless they had somehow picked the lock. And that meant that they most likely were not welcome.
Cautiously the thief left the bedroom, where he had still been standing guard over Bakura, and crept into the hall. He could hear footsteps downstairs and hid in the shadows, waiting until he saw the person walk past. Without a sound, Yami Bakura sprang forward and tackled the intruder, bringing them both to the floor.
"What the . . .!" the man cried in astonishment. "Bakura, is that you?!"
Yami Bakura pinned the man down viciously, choosing to ignore that remark for the moment. "Explain your presence here, mortal, or the consequences will be grave!"
The man stared. "You're not Bakura!" he declared.
"Of course I am not," Yami Bakura grumped, then paused. "But how do you know him?!"
The man wrestled himself free and pointed to a picture on the wall. "I'm his father," he responded firmly.
Now he realized that he'd been seeing everything warped. Vivalene—the one he had thought was so wonderful—had actually been lying to him this whole time, and wouldn't have any qualms about killing him now. And Seto Kaiba—the one Joey had thought was lying to him—had actually been telling him the truth, and now had just taken a bullet for him.
The Brooklyn boy looked back up at Vivalene, who seemed to be momentarily startled that she had shot the wrong boy. "Vifa . . . you . . . you shot him!" Joey cried, his eyes wide. "You shot Kaiba!!"
"Foolish boy," Vivalene sneered. "He only delayed the inevitable. Now I will kill you, as I originally meant to!" As she raised the gun again, police sirens were heard down below and the woman paused, irritation spreading across her face. If she tried to shoot Joey now, someone might see her. Better to make a hasty exit and come back later. "Think fast," she hissed, unleashing a smoke bomb. When the air cleared, she was gone.
"Good riddance," Joey muttered, looking at the spot where she'd been only a moment before.
He knelt next to Seto's still body, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Kaiba? . . . Hey man, you're . . . you're okay, aren't you?" he asked shakily, gaping in horror at the blood.
Seto's eyes fluttered open. "Do I look okay?" he said dryly.
Joey gently pulled the blue-eyed boy's body into his arms, trying to see how serious the wound was. "Kaiba . . . come on, man, you've gotta stay with me here!" he pleaded, fearing that the boy was losing strength fast.
Seto's blue eyes were only half-open. "I thought I wasn't your friend," he remarked. "Why should you care if I . . ." He trailed off, the pain increasing.
Joey swallowed hard. How could he really have said all those things? He'd hurt everyone who really cared about him, he realized now. "Kaiba, you . . . you saved my life," he said softly. "Even after everything I'd said and done, you were still willing to rescue me! Only a true friend would do what you did." A tear slipped down his cheek. "You may be aloof and everything, but you're okay by me!"
Seto felt himself growing weaker. "Maybe . . . maybe next time you'll listen to me. If . . . if there is a next time. . . ." His eyes started to close.
Joey was horrified. "Hey, come on, Kaiba! You . . . you can't leave!" He grabbed the other boy's shoulder forcefully. "Kaiba, if you . . . die, I'll never forgive myself! It'll be my fault!!"
Seto grunted. "Blame yourself for . . . for your stupidity in this whole matter, Joey, but don't blame yourself for . . ." He groaned. ". . . for my death," he finished. The boy paused, gathering what was left of his strength. "Look, Wheeler . . . I'm gonna try to hang on, but . . . in case I don't make it . . ."
"Shut up, Kaiba," Joey said shakily. "You can't talk like that! Everything's gonna be okay! You're gonna get better, and Vivalene's gonna get caught, and . . ."
Seto shook his head weakly. "Joey . . . tell Mokuba I love him," he said softly as his eyes drifted shut and his body fell limp.
Joey couldn't believe it. "Kaiba!! Come on, man, you can't just die on me!!!" Now his tears fell freely. "Oh man . . . it's my fault. It's all my fault!!" the blonde boy cried. "He . . . he wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me! I . . . I killed him! I killed him!" Seto's blood flowed over Joey's hands, leaving them stained red.
****
The others, in the meantime, were trying to figure out where Joey might be. If he was with Vivalene, they knew that he could have gone to the KETY studios.
"I'm going to check there," Tea said to herself resolutely.
Yugi and his Yami had the same idea. They, too, were heading for KETY, but they never got there.
A dark van pulled up in front of them, its headlights shining fiercely on them. "You two. Get in," a menacing voice growled.
"I'll handle this, Yugi," Yami Yugi said firmly, and faced the van defiantly. "What do you want with us?" the ancient Pharaoh demanded.
A revolver was shoved out the tinted window at him. "Get in the van or your friends will pay," the voice replied.
"Our friends?!" Yugi cried, stepping forward. "What have you done to them?!"
The man's grip on the weapon never wavered. "If you don't come with me, you'll soon find out," he threatened.
"We will not go with you without knowing what we are getting into," Yami Yugi said sternly, "nor will we allow ourselves or our friends to be hostages to be bartered!"
A deep-throated laugh came from inside the van. "You're brave to stand up to me like that," the man remarked. "Now get in, or your brother gets it." He pointed the gun at Yugi threateningly.
"I don't think so. Mind crush!" Yami Yugi screamed, and the Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly. With a cry of confusion and pain, the man dropped the gun and slumped unconscious over the steering wheel.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," he declared. "But what would he have wanted with us?!"
Yami Yugi approached the van and looked inside. The man was alone . . . or so he appeared to be.
Suddenly the back doors flew open and they were surrounded by half a dozen ninjas, each holding a deadly weapon.
Yugi gasped, his violet eyes wide. Yami Yugi's eyes narrowed and he prepared to fight, but he had the sinking feeling that this time they wouldn't win.
****
Yami Bakura watched Bakura sleep. The foolish boy was understandably exhausted after everything that had happened to him and he needed desperately to just rest.
The telephone had rang a while ago and Yami Bakura had answered it—unwillingly, of course, but he hadn't wanted the noise to continue and wake Bakura up. It had been Yugi, calling because that ridiculous Brooklyn boy was missing. Yami Bakura said that he would give Bakura the message, but he didn't actually intend to. If Bakura heard about what was happening, he would undoubtedly want to go join in the search, and he was much too weak for any nonsense like that.
"Absurd mortal," the tomb raider muttered now, pulling the quilt over Bakura's sleeping form. "You're going to catch a cold. How can I use you to help me take over the world if you're ill all the time?" He was actually quite fond of the boy—not that he would ever admit it to anyone. Bakura was the first person in centuries who had shown kindness to the old thief, and that had definitely not gone unnoticed by him. Now he felt protective of the boy, and he wouldn't let any harm come to him if he could possibly prevent it.
****
Joey was still kneeling on the roof, Seto's body in his arms. By now he had figured out that the police cars had not been coming to the KETY building after all, but what did that matter now? Vivalene was gone again. That viper had killed three people tonight. And if it wasn't for Seto, Joey might well have been among them.
"Joey! Joey!!"
The boy looked up as the door to the roof flew open and Tea burst through. The girl stopped short in alarm at the sight before her—the night watchman laying on the floor and Seto's lifeless, bloody body in Joey's arms.
"He's dead." Joey stood up slowly as Tea rushed to Seto's side in disbelief. "They're both dead. Vivalene wounded them, but I'm just as guilty."
Tea pulled Seto's limp form into her arms and unbuttoned his shirt, pressing her scarf against the deep injury in his chest and at the same time feeling for any possible life signs. "Don't say that, Joey!" she protested.
"Face it, Tea. It's true." Joey clenched his fists, tears flooding his eyes. "You've all been telling me how evil that woman is, but nooo, I just wouldn't have any of it. I pushed all my friends away, thinkin' that you guys just didn't know what you were talking about. I even decided that maybe some of you, like Tristan and Marik, were making things up because they were jealous and wanted Vivalene for themselves." He shook his head. "How could I have thought some dumb thing like that?! I've betrayed everyone who really cares about me!!" he cried.
"Joey, Vivalene used you," Tea said quietly, tears in her own eyes. "You can't blame yourself for everything. If you had ever thought that anyone would actually get hurt, you never would've continued going with her." Now she held Seto's body close to hers, feeling as though her heart would break.
You're not indestructible, you know.
Had it really been only a couple of days ago when she had said that to Seto after he had been stabbed? So much had happened since then. It felt more like a couple of years instead of just days. And she had seen him only a few hours before. How could he possibly be . . .
"That's just it, Tea!" Joey screamed now, startling her out of her confused reverie. "I was blind!!" He turned to look at the early morning sky. "Marik's dead. Kaiba's dead. All because I was too bone-headed to listen to them." He paused. "Tea, I even told Kaiba that he wasn't any friend of mine. But you know somethin'? He took a bullet for me, even after the rotten way I'd acted." Joey looked down, tears falling from his eyes. "He may not have always shown it, but he was every bit as good a friend as you and Yugi and Tristan and Bakura are," he said softly. "And now he's dead!! Dead because I wouldn't listen when he and you and everyone tried to warn me about Vivalene! She poisoned my mind! Now I can see that she was purposely tryin' to turn me against my friends—but I didn't see until now, and now it's too late!" He knew there was only one way he could try to make things right—he had to stop Vivalene himself before anyone else died at her hands.
Tea was startled when Joey suddenly turned and leaped to the next building over. "Joey, what are you doing?!" she shrieked.
"I can't let Vivalene keep doing stuff like this!" Joey called back. "I'm gonna stop her!! I have to avenge my fallen friends," he added softly.
"Joey, you can't!!" Tea screamed. "It's too dangerous!!" And what was more, she had discovered something while tending to Seto's chest wound just now—the boy's heart was still beating. He was still alive.
She tried to call out again. "Joey! Kaiba's not . . ." She knew the Brooklyn boy was too far away to hear her now. "Kaiba's not dead," she whispered, feeling the wounded boy shudder in her arms.
****
Unfortunately, it didn't appear as though the same could be said for Marik. The doctor had disconnected the heart monitor and told Ishizu and Rishid to say their goodbyes.
"He is gone," Rishid said sadly. "Our brother is gone."
Ishizu stood still, her blue eyes filled with tears. "She murdered him," she said in a dangerous, low tone. "She took his life away in cold blood."
"She will pay for her crimes," Rishid vowed, clenching his fist tightly and wanting to be the one to make her pay.
Ishizu leaned over and kissed Marik on the cheek. "Goodbye, dear brother," she said softly. "Goodbye."
Suddenly, unbelievably, the boy stirred.
"Marik?" Ishizu whispered in disbelief.
Rishid perked up, his eyes wide. Was it possible?
Marik's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at them peacefully.
"Master Marik!" Rishid cried, his eyes brightening.
"Oh Marik! You have returned!" Ishizu embraced her brother warmly, and then he weakly hugged her back, motioning for Rishid to come over as well, which he did.
"I never left," Marik said softly, embracing those he loved so dearly.
****
Joey was exhausted. He felt as though he'd ran all over the city, but he knew he couldn't stop now. Vivalene had to be caught, especially after what she'd done to Marik and Seto.
As he surveyed the sights below him from up on another rooftop, he suddenly saw something alarming—Tristan and Serenity were being herded into the back of a van by what looked like a female ninja! "Vivalene?" the boy muttered, his eyes narrowed. The woman's dirty work was continuing. Joey knew he had to follow them. Vivalene had killed three people tonight, and he wouldn't allow her to take any more lives.
****
Yami Bakura looked up at the sound of the door opening, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He had locked the door. No one should be able to gain entry into the home, unless they had somehow picked the lock. And that meant that they most likely were not welcome.
Cautiously the thief left the bedroom, where he had still been standing guard over Bakura, and crept into the hall. He could hear footsteps downstairs and hid in the shadows, waiting until he saw the person walk past. Without a sound, Yami Bakura sprang forward and tackled the intruder, bringing them both to the floor.
"What the . . .!" the man cried in astonishment. "Bakura, is that you?!"
Yami Bakura pinned the man down viciously, choosing to ignore that remark for the moment. "Explain your presence here, mortal, or the consequences will be grave!"
The man stared. "You're not Bakura!" he declared.
"Of course I am not," Yami Bakura grumped, then paused. "But how do you know him?!"
The man wrestled himself free and pointed to a picture on the wall. "I'm his father," he responded firmly.