As the other teens walked along, Yugi suddenly paused and stared ahead. "There is something else we could try instead of just walking around the ship all day in search of Shadi," he declared.
"What is it?" Tea asked.
Yugi turned to head for the Captain's cabin. "Perhaps Captain Hardy can tell us if there is anyone on board by the name of Shadi, and if so, what his room number is. I know that's normally against regulation, but under the circumstances it might be allowed."
"Well, then let's go for it!" Tristan cried, slamming his fist into his palm.
"Let's split up," Yugi directed. "I'll go with Joey and Tristan, and Tea, you go with the Kaiba brothers. You look for Marik and Bakura, and we'll try to find the Captain."
****
As Yugi's group approached the Captain's quarters, they met up with a very annoyed-looking Rex Raptor.
"What's eatin' you?" Joey asked. "Did Mai refuse to duel you again?"
Rex growled in irritation. "That's beside the point." He glared at the blonde boy. "That friend of yours is acting weird!"
Instantly Yugi and the others perked up. "Do you mean Bakura?" Yugi demanded.
"Yeah, that British one," Rex confirmed.
"Well, what the heck did he do?!" Tristan cried.
"He isn't the innocent kid I thought he was," Rex replied. "He crashed into me and then told me to get out of his way. Then he paused and said, 'Soon you will bow before me when I am your ruler!'"
"What?!" Joey cried. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"That's what he said," Rex insisted. "And then he walked off muttering something about creating a disturbance!"
"How long ago was this?" Yugi wanted to know.
"Just ten or fifteen minutes ago," Rex told him.
"Are you absolutely certain it wasn't Bakura's Yami?" Yugi asked now.
"Positive!" Rex replied. "It was Bakura."
"Sometimes his Yami pretends to be him," Tristan pointed out.
Yugi shook his head. "I'm afraid that this time he's not," he said gravely. "Most likely it truly was Bakura." He turned to face Rex again. "Where did he seem to be going?"
"I don't know!" Rex cried in annoyance.
"It's very important that we find him," Yugi said. "Bakura isn't himself right now. He has been possessed by a great evil and he might hurt someone . . . or even get hurt himself."
"I don't know where he was going," Rex insisted. "But he was creeping me out!"
"Man, I don't blame you!" Joey exclaimed.
****
Tea and the Kaiba brothers, meanwhile, had found Marik's room and Mokuba was knocking on the door. "Marik?" he called. "Are you there?" Upon not receiving an answer, the boy turned away, puzzled.
Seto went to Ishizu's room next door and knocked, but no one came to her door either.
"That's odd," Tea remarked. "Didn't Marik say that she had something important to tell him?"
Seto nodded curtly. "And I doubt she would tell him anyplace where there might be a crowd."
"But where would they be?" Tea wondered.
"Here's Ishizu and Rishid now," Mokuba said suddenly as the two Egyptians approached.
Ishizu nodded a greeting. "I have foreseen your coming," she stated.
"Where's Marik?" Mokuba demanded.
"Unfortunately, that I do not know," Ishizu said gravely.
"We hoped that he was still with you," Rishid spoke up.
Tea blinked. "All we know that he left about an hour ago to find you and Ishizu," she said. "And he mentioned that you had something important to tell him," she added, turning to the blue-eyed woman.
"That is true," Ishizu agreed as she turned to look at the door to Marik's room. "But all of you would profit from what I have learned."
Now Seto looked at the door as well. "Did your brother leave the light on when he left?" he asked Ishizu.
"No, he did not," Rishid answered for her.
"Then someone's been in his room since then," Seto announced, pointing to the strip of light underneath the door.
Ishizu narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps someone has broken in," she said, quietly unlocking the door. "We must proceed with caution."
Both Rishid and Seto prepared for a possible battle as their group entered, but no one seemed to be in sight.
"If anyone came in, they must have gone by now," Tea remarked.
A low moan came from behind the couch and everyone froze.
"Marik?" Ishizu called worriedly, running over.
Slowly the injured boy rose up, clutching at the bump on his head and opening one eye to look around. Ishizu and Rishid rushed to his aid, helping him to stand.
"Master, are you hurt?" Rishid cried worriedly.
Marik tried to say no, but he found himself too weak to do anything except shake his head.
"Can you speak, brother?" Ishizu asked in concern as she and Rishid gently laid him on the couch.
"Yes," Marik managed to say.
Now Mokuba ran up to him, his gray eyes shining worriedly. "What happened to you, Marik?" he gasped.
Marik closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "Someone hit me," he reported.
"Hit you?!" Tea cried. "Who would hit you?!"
Marik looked at her sadly. "It was Bakura," he said softly.
"Bakura?!" everyone else repeated in disbelief. Bakura hadn't changed *that* much . . . had he?
Marik nodded grimly. "He snuck in here and struck me on the head—and I am certain that he took my Millennium Rod."
****
Captain Hardy stared at the teens thoughtfully. "You want to look at the passenger lists?" he demanded.
Yugi nodded. "That's right. We must find Shadi at all costs. Our friend is being controlled by a dark force and Shadi might be the only one who will know how to help him."
The Captain held the door to his office wide open. "By all means. Come in, my friends, and we will check the computer's records."
Yugi, Joey, and Tristan walked through the doorway and over to the desk, where Captain Hardy had already started a search through the registration lists for anyone named Shadi.
"Nothing is showing up," the man said slowly. "If he's here . . ."
"Hey, we know he's here," Joey interrupted.
Captain Hardy nodded. "If he's *registered*," he corrected himself, "he's using a bogus name."
Yugi shook his head. "I don't think he would do that."
"Then he must be a stowaway," Captain Hardy sighed.
Yugi smiled wryly. "I'm afraid I can picture that," he said. Shadi was a good man, but he sometimes made entrances that didn't quite conform to the rules.
At that moment there was another knock at the door.
"Now who could that be?" Captain Hardy mused.
"Captain Hardy?" Tea called.
Quickly the Captain went over to the door and opened it. "Why, come in, everyone," he said with a surprised smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
Seto stepped out from the newly-arrived group, his arms crossed over his chest. "We have some rather disturbing news," he said.
"And Ishizu says she's talked with Shadi!" Mokuba put in.
The Captain's eyes opened wide. "Well, let's hear the disturbing news first and get it over with," he suggested.
Marik then repeated the tale of what had befallen him earlier while Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Captain Hardy listened in shock.
"I can't believe Bakura would do that!" Tristan cried.
Yugi sighed. "You must remember, Tristan, that Bakura never would—if he were in control of his mind and body." He turned to Ishizu. "This is getting more serious with every passing minute, it seems. I do hope your conversation with Shadi has brought good news."
"And how the heck did you meet up with him, anyway?" Joey exclaimed.
Ishizu smiled. "I was just leaving the dining room when I encountered him coming out of a room down the hall. We recognized each other and he then explained his presence there in hopes that I would be able to help him."
"Well, for Pete's sake, what did he say?!" Joey burst out.
"Patience, Joseph," Ishizu scolded, then paused. "He said that he was looking for a thief who had stolen a very dangerous artifact dating back to five thousand years B.C. in Egypt, and that he had it on good report that the man he was looking for had boarded this very ship."
"What kind of artifact?" Yugi asked, intrigued.
Ishizu paused. "He said it was the staff of an evil high priest," she replied.
All the teens exchanged looks. "Seth's staff?" Joey wondered aloud, blinking.
"Seth's staff is at the bottom of a lake!" Tea reminded him.
"He did not say who the staff belonged to," Ishizu said slowly, "but I am certain that the man who stole it is using it to control Bakura."
"Where is he staying, sister?" Marik asked.
"He does not have a room," Ishizu said, but Yugi had already come to that conclusion after seeing the computer's records.
"Well, then how the heck are we gonna meet up with him?!" Joey wondered.
"He said he will meet us in the dining room at dinnertime," Ishizu replied.
Seto glanced at the clock. "It's almost that now," he observed.
"Then what're we waitin' for?!" Joey exclaimed, leaping to his feet.
Captain Hardy was about to follow them when his phone rang sharply. "Excuse me for a moment," he apologized, picking up the receiver. "Hello, Captain Hardy." He tensed, obviously receiving some very disturbing news. "I'll be right there," he promised, hanging up.
"What is it, Captain?" Yugi asked.
Captain Hardy sighed and dashed to the door. "You all go on to the dining room," he said. "There's some kind of crisis that I have to take care of."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Tea asked.
"No," the Captain replied with a smile. "It's just captain's business. Don't you all go worrying about it." And with that he was gone.
****
Yami Bakura was getting irritated. He had been all over the entire ship with no luck. And his Millennium Ring didn't seem to be working either—it wasn't letting him track Bakura down.
A new thought occurred to him. Perhaps their mental bond was purposely being blocked by someone, and perhaps this person had also made it impossible for Bakura to be tracked. Yami Bakura was certain that with the right amount of dark powers such a thing was possible.
"You pathetic creature," he muttered angrily, but it was unclear whether he meant Bakura or the person who was most likely controlling him.
The old thief eventually made his way to the dining room and looked around. People were starting to crowd at the tables, preparing to eat dinner, and Yami Bakura observed them all with annoyance.
"Hey you," he heard a voice say, and abruptly a hand was laid on his shoulder.
"What is it?" he demanded, whirling around and coming face-to-face with Mai Valentine. Both of them became startled.
"I . . . I thought you were Bakura," the girl said, taking a step back. She had met up with Yugi and the others a few minutes ago and had been told that Bakura was acting strange and had gone missing.
Yami Bakura's lip curled in frustration. "Well, I am not," he growled, turning away.
"Hey Mai!" Joey called as he entered the dining room. "Who've you got there?"
"It's Yami Bakura," Mai replied.
Soon Joey and the others had made their way over to them and selected a nearby table to sit at.
Tristan looked Yami Bakura over suspiciously. "It wasn't you who stole the Millennium Rod earlier, was it?" he demanded.
Yami Bakura's eyes went wide for a brief moment, then narrowed once more. "No, it was not," he replied grouchily. Bakura wouldn't have done that . . . would he?
"Then it really was Bakura," Tristan said in disbelief, seeing that Yami Bakura was honestly startled to hear the news of the theft.
Yami Bakura growled irritably. What in the name of Heaven had happened to that boy?!
The ship rocked suddenly, sending everyone into confusion.
"What's happening?!" Tea cried as she was thrown into Seto's arms.
The PA system crackled, just as it had the previous night, and a voice came on. A soft British voice.
"Hello, this is your captain speaking. We're only encountering a spot of bad weather. Nothing to be concerned about. Feel free to go about your normal activities."
Everyone began talking amongst themselves.
"That didn't sound like the Captain!" Tea exclaimed. She suddenly became aware that Seto had caught her and she pulled away in embarrassment, blushing wildly.
"I didn't know the Captain was British," someone at the next table over muttered.
"That wasn't the Captain," Seto said stonily, narrowing his eyes and voicing what all of them knew to be true. "That was Bakura."
"What is it?" Tea asked.
Yugi turned to head for the Captain's cabin. "Perhaps Captain Hardy can tell us if there is anyone on board by the name of Shadi, and if so, what his room number is. I know that's normally against regulation, but under the circumstances it might be allowed."
"Well, then let's go for it!" Tristan cried, slamming his fist into his palm.
"Let's split up," Yugi directed. "I'll go with Joey and Tristan, and Tea, you go with the Kaiba brothers. You look for Marik and Bakura, and we'll try to find the Captain."
****
As Yugi's group approached the Captain's quarters, they met up with a very annoyed-looking Rex Raptor.
"What's eatin' you?" Joey asked. "Did Mai refuse to duel you again?"
Rex growled in irritation. "That's beside the point." He glared at the blonde boy. "That friend of yours is acting weird!"
Instantly Yugi and the others perked up. "Do you mean Bakura?" Yugi demanded.
"Yeah, that British one," Rex confirmed.
"Well, what the heck did he do?!" Tristan cried.
"He isn't the innocent kid I thought he was," Rex replied. "He crashed into me and then told me to get out of his way. Then he paused and said, 'Soon you will bow before me when I am your ruler!'"
"What?!" Joey cried. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"That's what he said," Rex insisted. "And then he walked off muttering something about creating a disturbance!"
"How long ago was this?" Yugi wanted to know.
"Just ten or fifteen minutes ago," Rex told him.
"Are you absolutely certain it wasn't Bakura's Yami?" Yugi asked now.
"Positive!" Rex replied. "It was Bakura."
"Sometimes his Yami pretends to be him," Tristan pointed out.
Yugi shook his head. "I'm afraid that this time he's not," he said gravely. "Most likely it truly was Bakura." He turned to face Rex again. "Where did he seem to be going?"
"I don't know!" Rex cried in annoyance.
"It's very important that we find him," Yugi said. "Bakura isn't himself right now. He has been possessed by a great evil and he might hurt someone . . . or even get hurt himself."
"I don't know where he was going," Rex insisted. "But he was creeping me out!"
"Man, I don't blame you!" Joey exclaimed.
****
Tea and the Kaiba brothers, meanwhile, had found Marik's room and Mokuba was knocking on the door. "Marik?" he called. "Are you there?" Upon not receiving an answer, the boy turned away, puzzled.
Seto went to Ishizu's room next door and knocked, but no one came to her door either.
"That's odd," Tea remarked. "Didn't Marik say that she had something important to tell him?"
Seto nodded curtly. "And I doubt she would tell him anyplace where there might be a crowd."
"But where would they be?" Tea wondered.
"Here's Ishizu and Rishid now," Mokuba said suddenly as the two Egyptians approached.
Ishizu nodded a greeting. "I have foreseen your coming," she stated.
"Where's Marik?" Mokuba demanded.
"Unfortunately, that I do not know," Ishizu said gravely.
"We hoped that he was still with you," Rishid spoke up.
Tea blinked. "All we know that he left about an hour ago to find you and Ishizu," she said. "And he mentioned that you had something important to tell him," she added, turning to the blue-eyed woman.
"That is true," Ishizu agreed as she turned to look at the door to Marik's room. "But all of you would profit from what I have learned."
Now Seto looked at the door as well. "Did your brother leave the light on when he left?" he asked Ishizu.
"No, he did not," Rishid answered for her.
"Then someone's been in his room since then," Seto announced, pointing to the strip of light underneath the door.
Ishizu narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps someone has broken in," she said, quietly unlocking the door. "We must proceed with caution."
Both Rishid and Seto prepared for a possible battle as their group entered, but no one seemed to be in sight.
"If anyone came in, they must have gone by now," Tea remarked.
A low moan came from behind the couch and everyone froze.
"Marik?" Ishizu called worriedly, running over.
Slowly the injured boy rose up, clutching at the bump on his head and opening one eye to look around. Ishizu and Rishid rushed to his aid, helping him to stand.
"Master, are you hurt?" Rishid cried worriedly.
Marik tried to say no, but he found himself too weak to do anything except shake his head.
"Can you speak, brother?" Ishizu asked in concern as she and Rishid gently laid him on the couch.
"Yes," Marik managed to say.
Now Mokuba ran up to him, his gray eyes shining worriedly. "What happened to you, Marik?" he gasped.
Marik closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "Someone hit me," he reported.
"Hit you?!" Tea cried. "Who would hit you?!"
Marik looked at her sadly. "It was Bakura," he said softly.
"Bakura?!" everyone else repeated in disbelief. Bakura hadn't changed *that* much . . . had he?
Marik nodded grimly. "He snuck in here and struck me on the head—and I am certain that he took my Millennium Rod."
****
Captain Hardy stared at the teens thoughtfully. "You want to look at the passenger lists?" he demanded.
Yugi nodded. "That's right. We must find Shadi at all costs. Our friend is being controlled by a dark force and Shadi might be the only one who will know how to help him."
The Captain held the door to his office wide open. "By all means. Come in, my friends, and we will check the computer's records."
Yugi, Joey, and Tristan walked through the doorway and over to the desk, where Captain Hardy had already started a search through the registration lists for anyone named Shadi.
"Nothing is showing up," the man said slowly. "If he's here . . ."
"Hey, we know he's here," Joey interrupted.
Captain Hardy nodded. "If he's *registered*," he corrected himself, "he's using a bogus name."
Yugi shook his head. "I don't think he would do that."
"Then he must be a stowaway," Captain Hardy sighed.
Yugi smiled wryly. "I'm afraid I can picture that," he said. Shadi was a good man, but he sometimes made entrances that didn't quite conform to the rules.
At that moment there was another knock at the door.
"Now who could that be?" Captain Hardy mused.
"Captain Hardy?" Tea called.
Quickly the Captain went over to the door and opened it. "Why, come in, everyone," he said with a surprised smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
Seto stepped out from the newly-arrived group, his arms crossed over his chest. "We have some rather disturbing news," he said.
"And Ishizu says she's talked with Shadi!" Mokuba put in.
The Captain's eyes opened wide. "Well, let's hear the disturbing news first and get it over with," he suggested.
Marik then repeated the tale of what had befallen him earlier while Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Captain Hardy listened in shock.
"I can't believe Bakura would do that!" Tristan cried.
Yugi sighed. "You must remember, Tristan, that Bakura never would—if he were in control of his mind and body." He turned to Ishizu. "This is getting more serious with every passing minute, it seems. I do hope your conversation with Shadi has brought good news."
"And how the heck did you meet up with him, anyway?" Joey exclaimed.
Ishizu smiled. "I was just leaving the dining room when I encountered him coming out of a room down the hall. We recognized each other and he then explained his presence there in hopes that I would be able to help him."
"Well, for Pete's sake, what did he say?!" Joey burst out.
"Patience, Joseph," Ishizu scolded, then paused. "He said that he was looking for a thief who had stolen a very dangerous artifact dating back to five thousand years B.C. in Egypt, and that he had it on good report that the man he was looking for had boarded this very ship."
"What kind of artifact?" Yugi asked, intrigued.
Ishizu paused. "He said it was the staff of an evil high priest," she replied.
All the teens exchanged looks. "Seth's staff?" Joey wondered aloud, blinking.
"Seth's staff is at the bottom of a lake!" Tea reminded him.
"He did not say who the staff belonged to," Ishizu said slowly, "but I am certain that the man who stole it is using it to control Bakura."
"Where is he staying, sister?" Marik asked.
"He does not have a room," Ishizu said, but Yugi had already come to that conclusion after seeing the computer's records.
"Well, then how the heck are we gonna meet up with him?!" Joey wondered.
"He said he will meet us in the dining room at dinnertime," Ishizu replied.
Seto glanced at the clock. "It's almost that now," he observed.
"Then what're we waitin' for?!" Joey exclaimed, leaping to his feet.
Captain Hardy was about to follow them when his phone rang sharply. "Excuse me for a moment," he apologized, picking up the receiver. "Hello, Captain Hardy." He tensed, obviously receiving some very disturbing news. "I'll be right there," he promised, hanging up.
"What is it, Captain?" Yugi asked.
Captain Hardy sighed and dashed to the door. "You all go on to the dining room," he said. "There's some kind of crisis that I have to take care of."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Tea asked.
"No," the Captain replied with a smile. "It's just captain's business. Don't you all go worrying about it." And with that he was gone.
****
Yami Bakura was getting irritated. He had been all over the entire ship with no luck. And his Millennium Ring didn't seem to be working either—it wasn't letting him track Bakura down.
A new thought occurred to him. Perhaps their mental bond was purposely being blocked by someone, and perhaps this person had also made it impossible for Bakura to be tracked. Yami Bakura was certain that with the right amount of dark powers such a thing was possible.
"You pathetic creature," he muttered angrily, but it was unclear whether he meant Bakura or the person who was most likely controlling him.
The old thief eventually made his way to the dining room and looked around. People were starting to crowd at the tables, preparing to eat dinner, and Yami Bakura observed them all with annoyance.
"Hey you," he heard a voice say, and abruptly a hand was laid on his shoulder.
"What is it?" he demanded, whirling around and coming face-to-face with Mai Valentine. Both of them became startled.
"I . . . I thought you were Bakura," the girl said, taking a step back. She had met up with Yugi and the others a few minutes ago and had been told that Bakura was acting strange and had gone missing.
Yami Bakura's lip curled in frustration. "Well, I am not," he growled, turning away.
"Hey Mai!" Joey called as he entered the dining room. "Who've you got there?"
"It's Yami Bakura," Mai replied.
Soon Joey and the others had made their way over to them and selected a nearby table to sit at.
Tristan looked Yami Bakura over suspiciously. "It wasn't you who stole the Millennium Rod earlier, was it?" he demanded.
Yami Bakura's eyes went wide for a brief moment, then narrowed once more. "No, it was not," he replied grouchily. Bakura wouldn't have done that . . . would he?
"Then it really was Bakura," Tristan said in disbelief, seeing that Yami Bakura was honestly startled to hear the news of the theft.
Yami Bakura growled irritably. What in the name of Heaven had happened to that boy?!
The ship rocked suddenly, sending everyone into confusion.
"What's happening?!" Tea cried as she was thrown into Seto's arms.
The PA system crackled, just as it had the previous night, and a voice came on. A soft British voice.
"Hello, this is your captain speaking. We're only encountering a spot of bad weather. Nothing to be concerned about. Feel free to go about your normal activities."
Everyone began talking amongst themselves.
"That didn't sound like the Captain!" Tea exclaimed. She suddenly became aware that Seto had caught her and she pulled away in embarrassment, blushing wildly.
"I didn't know the Captain was British," someone at the next table over muttered.
"That wasn't the Captain," Seto said stonily, narrowing his eyes and voicing what all of them knew to be true. "That was Bakura."