Bakura tensed, moving deeper into the shadows with his Yami's body. His heart pounded wildly as the person approached, praying that they wouldn't be spotted.

The person—who was attired in Egyptian robes and a turban—walked right past Bakura and his unconscious Yami and instead headed toward the back of the cargo hold.

How odd, Bakura thought to himself. What on earth could he want?!

Now the man paused and looked around suspiciously, his blue eyes narrowing. "He is near," Bakura heard him mutter, and then he disappeared out a side door.

For a long time afterward Bakura pondered on this strange occurrence. That man hadn't really looked too friendly; could he have been in league with the criminals? Bakura hated to think such things about people, but he knew it was possible.

Yami Bakura stirred then, moaning in pain.

Bakura quickly looked down at him. "Yami? Oh, are you badly hurt?!" the boy cried.

The old thief's eyes slowly opened. "Foolish mortal," he mumbled.

Bakura blinked. "I . . . I know this was my fault," he said softly, tears in his eyes. "I shouldn't have come in here with you, Yami. . . ."

Yami Bakura grunted, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "If you had come in alone, you most likely would have been injured yourself, you dolt."

"But now you're hurt, Yami!" Bakura exclaimed.

"Imbecile. I will be fine!" the tomb raider snapped, then winced at the pain.

"You're hurt!" Bakura said again, his eyes shining worriedly.

"Don't be a fool!" Yami Bakura grumped, pushing Bakura aside and trying to stand up. He clutched his side in agony, almost falling over.

Bakura gasped, rushing to steady him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Yami!" he cried in horror. "Please let me help you!"

Yami Bakura groaned, slumping against the boy wearily. "Just get me out of here," he ordered.

****

Marik, still laying semi-conscious on the ship's floor, now felt a hand gently shaking him on his shoulder, but he wasn't aware of things enough to really know what was happening.

"Master!" a familiar voice pleaded. "What is wrong? Please wake up, Master!"

Marik recognized the voice as that of his dear brother Rishid and he tried to rise from the oblivion, but he couldn't seem to gather the strength to do so.

Now he was being lifted into Rishid's arms and carried. He knew he was safe with his adopted brother and so his sensations faded away again as he went completely under.

****

Rishid held his brother's body close, a worried look in his eyes. What could have happened to the boy? He didn't look seriously hurt, but he certainly wouldn't be laying on the floor of the ship for the fun of it.

As he turned around a corner, he suddenly met up with Yugi and most of the rest of the boy's friends.

"Marik!" Yugi gasped, his violet eyes wide in alarm.

"Is he hurt?!" Mokuba cried. Seto laid a hand on his shoulder gently.

Rishid sighed. "I do not know. I am taking him back to his stateroom and then I will try to examine him more fully."

"We should tell the Captain about this," Yugi declared grimly.

The others agreed emphatically.

"Do you know where Ishizu is?" Tristan asked now.

Rishid nodded. "She is unpacking in her own stateroom," he replied. "Now you all must excuse me." And he hurried off with the boy's body, leaving the others stunned and confused.

"Man, I hope he'll be okay," Joey said softly.

Tea nodded. "Why do we always have to run into some kind of a mystery?!" she now cried in frustration. "I'm getting sick of it!"

"Don't worry, Tea," Yugi assured her firmly. "We'll find out who's behind these dastardly deeds and then we can spend the rest of our vacation relaxing."

****

Captain Hardy was absolutely appalled when he was told of the latest goings-on.

"This is outrageous!" he burst out, collapsing into a chair and shaking his head. "I just can't understand what's going on with this cruise! Everything is going wrong and we've barely been on the high seas for two hours!"

"We'll do everything we can to find out what's happening," Tea promised.

Yugi nodded, stepping forward. "Captain Hardy, can you think of anyone who might want to sabotage your cruise like this?"

"Not a soul!" Captain Hardy replied in despair. "I don't know what we're going to do." He looked up at the young people again. "Please tell me when your friend wakes up," he requested.

"We certainly will," Yugi assured him, then turned to look at the others. "And now we must go find Bakura," he declared.

The captain nodded shakily. "Yes, you need to find him." He paused. "I wonder if it's a good idea to go on with the interactive mystery as planned?" he mused worriedly.

"I think you should," Tea told him. "It would help take the passengers' minds off of all the scary things happening."

"You're probably right, young lady," Captain Hardy agreed, shooing them all to the door. "Now do hurry along and find your friend!"

****

Rex was sitting in the dining room when he saw Bakura walk past, trying to steady his Yami. Confused, the brown-haired boy walked to the doorway and looked out. "Hey!" he called. "What happened?!"

Bakura turned to look at him. "Some luggage fell down in the cargo hold," he hurriedly explained, "and a heavy trunk hurt my Yami . . ."

"I'm fine, you dolt!" Yami Bakura growled in frustration.

Bakura shook his head. "I'm afraid you're not, Yami," he said sadly, then turned back to Rex. "I'm sorry I can't stay and talk, but I need to get him back to the stateroom."

Rex shrugged and started to go back inside the dining room. As he did so, Bakura suddenly caught sight of the Egyptian man from earlier walking amidst the tables and started.

"What is it?" Yami Bakura asked grouchily.

Bakura blinked, coming out of his trance. "Oh . . . it's nothing, Yami," he said, knowing that the old thief wouldn't think anything of the incident and deciding that he himself probably shouldn't either.

****

Marik stirred, feeling a damp cloth being applied to his forehead. The boy's eyes fluttered open and he found himself looking up at a worried Ishizu. "Sister?" he said softly.

Ishizu breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh Marik. . . . You have had us so worried!" she declared.

Rishid now hurried over from where he had been going through a First Aid Kit. "Master, what happened to you?" he cried. "Are you alright?!"

"I am fine," Marik said with a blink, the events of the past half-hour slowly returning to him. "I have been looking everywhere for you and Ishizu," he said weakly, and explained of his escapade.

Both Ishizu and Rishid looked horrified as they listened. "This is very serious, brother," Ishizu said grimly when she heard of what the Egyptian guard had said on the phone. "He and his accomplice are obviously up to no good."

Marik nodded. "But it will not profit us if we accuse him now," he went on, telling of what he had had to do to get the man to let him go. "He would only deny everything, plus he would then know that I truly had understood the conversation."

"You are right, Master," Rishid agreed. "We will have to proceed with immense caution."

Marik then told of his idea that the guard should simply be closely observed for a while. "Perhaps he will slip up and we will learn something then," he finished.

"You must speak with the captain about all of this, Marik," Ishizu told him, and the younger boy promised he would.

Now Rishid looked worried. "Master, what on earth would make you fall unconscious so suddenly?" he wondered.

Marik shook his head. "I am sure I cannot imagine," he sighed. "I was extremely dizzy in the slippery slide and it took me quite a while before I was able to get myself under control. Then, after I had spoken with that odd guard, I was overwhelmed with vertigo again and fainted dead away."

"That, most likely, was not any ordinary fainting spell, brother," Ishizu remarked. "I have to wonder if perhaps the guard used an odorless anesthetic on you to make you pass out. He may have planned to return for you later but was scared away by Rishid."

Marik blinked. He had considered that possibility as well, but if it was true it meant that the man never really had believed Marik's story. "I have the feeling that we are dealing with immense danger," the boy declared, trying to stand up. "I should speak with the captain now."

Ishizu gently pushed him back down. "You must rest, Marik," she told him. "I will send for the captain to come here."

Marik looked frustrated. "That is not necessary, sister!" he cried.

"Perhaps not," Ishizu agreed, "but I do not wish to take any chances. You will rest," she said firmly.

"I feel perfectly myself again," Marik protested, his lavender eyes narrowing.

Ishizu smiled. "That is good. But you should still rest."

Marik sighed, sinking back into the soft pillows. He knew he would never win this argument.

****

"I don't see Bakura here," Tea sighed, staring into the dining room. "He's just not around!" She and the others had looked everywhere for their friend, to no avail.

"Something must've happened to him when he was trying to find Marik," Joey remarked, trying to ignore his complaining stomach.

"I saw him," Rex's voice announced, and the long-haired boy came from around a table.

"Well, for Pete's sake, tell us!" Tristan said impatiently. "Is he okay?"

"He was fine," Rex shrugged, "but he was helping his friend back to his stateroom."

"Which friend?" Tea demanded.

"The one that looks like him," Rex replied, turning to go.

"How long ago was this?" Yugi wanted to know.

"About fifteen minutes ago," Rex told him. "He said there was some kind of accident in the cargo hold. I'm glad I don't have to go down there!"

The other young people looked at each other and then took off for Bakura's stateroom. They had checked there earlier but hadn't found him. Perhaps he would be there now.

"Do you think whatever happened in the cargo hold was really just an accident?" Mai wondered as they hurried along.

"It's hard to say," Yugi replied grimly. "It depends on exactly what did happen."

Soon they arrived at Bakura's stateroom and Yugi quickly knocked. "Bakura!" he called. "Are you here?"

To everyone's relief, the soft-spoken boy answered. "Yes," he said quietly, coming to the door and opening it, "I'm here. Have you found Marik?" he asked worriedly.

"Marik was found," Yugi told him.

"But more about him later," Joey interrupted. "Where the heck have you been, man?! We've been lookin' everywhere!!"

Quickly Bakura explained what had happened in the cargo hold, much to everyone's shock.

"The luggage just fell off the shelf?!" Tea cried.

"I'm not an expert on ships," Tristan said slowly, "but I don't think that's supposed to happen."

"I know it's not," Bakura replied firmly, then blinked. "Are you saying that you think someone purposely did something to make it happen?!" he cried.

"There should be some kind of net restraining the luggage from falling." Seto, who had been mostly silent for quite some time, spoke up. "Someone could have removed it."

"But why would they want to?" Bakura exclaimed.

No one could answer that.

"How's your yami?" Tea asked suddenly.

Bakura glanced back inside the room. "He says he's fine, but I know he's in pain," the boy said softly, turning back to face his friends. "As soon as I opened the door he stumbled in and laid on the couch. I think he's asleep right now."

"I'm sure he'll be alright," Yugi said comfortingly, and Bakura smiled weakly.

Suddenly the phone rang and the brown-eyed boy hurried to answer it. "Hello," he said slowly, wondering who on earth would be calling him.

The answer was not pleasant. "You and your friends better stop meddling in affairs that don't concern you," a cold voice warned, "or this will be one cruise you will never want to remember!"