Everyone just stood in shock, disbelief written on their faces. After everything else that had happened, the ship was being hijacked?! It seemed too horrible to really be true!
"Did Bakura cause this?" Mokuba cried.
"It's a possibility, I'm afraid," Yami Yugi replied. "But these hijackers could be acting independently as well."
"But what would hijackers want on a cruise ship?!" Mai exclaimed, coming over to them. "We're not carrying any precious treasures or anything like that."
All around them people were beginning to panic and attempting to run for their rooms.
"Now, now," the voice scolded smoothly, apparently watching everything from a security camera video, "just do what we want and no one gets hurt!"
"And what we want," a second voice chimed in, "is for all of you to stay where you are. We can see your wild panicking, but everyone who tries to leave the dining room will be . . . punished harshly."
Suddenly, from various spots all over the room people began standing with guns in hand. Several horrified screams immediately sounded from different tables, but Tea only clutched at Yugi's arm in alarm.
"This is very bad," Yami Yugi remarked, narrowing his eyes.
"That's an understatement," Mai said. "Now we're all trapped in here!"
Seto looked immensely annoyed at this latest disturbance and he pulled Mokuba close. There had to be a way out of this, he thought grimly.
Ishizu sat still at her own table, no expression visible on her face, but she was relieved that Marik and Rishid had gotten away before this had happened. She knew, however, that if either or both of them heard about it, they would try to help. As one of the gunmen approached her table, the Egyptian woman said a quiet prayer that everyone would be alright.
****
Yami Bakura stopped short when he heard the hijackers' announcement and growled. "Bakura, you imbecile!" he cried angrily, turning to run down another hall. He wasn't sure where the boy would go, but he did know that Bakura was after the other Millennium Items and was, most likely, behind the hijacking.
Suddenly he caught sight of silvery hair vanishing around a corner and he perked up. "Bakura?" he called, but of course he didn't get an answer. Muttering in vexation, the thief began to follow the boy down a dark corridor.
****
The man who had been mind-controlling Bakura listened to the news of the hijacking with interest.
"Foolish boy," he hissed. "Your plan may help you, but it will also help me. If everyone is distracted for you to carry out your plans, I can carry out mine as well!" He smirked. "And my cohort will have the revenge he wants on the Captain."
He turned to go. His first priority would be to eliminate Bakura and take the Millennium Rod from him. Then he could go about securing the other Millennium Items as well. The man cackled evilly as he went out the door.
****
Tea tensed as one of the gunmen began heading in their direction. "What do we do now?" she wondered worriedly.
Unbeknownst to her, Seto had had a short conversation with Mokuba and the younger boy had just vanished behind a potted plant to scan the room for some means of escape.
"Just do what they want, for now," Shadi told Tea.
Mokuba watched, his heart pounding, as the hijacker led Seto and the others away at gunpoint. "Seto's counting on me," the younger Kaiba said softly. "I have to get out of here and cause some kind of distraction that'll free everyone!"
As he glanced about, feeling panicky, he suddenly discovered a ventilation grate low to the floor about three tables away. If he could only reach it . . .!
Praying for help, Mokuba dove under the first table and watched from there. The other two tables were both occupied and, to his horror, one of the gunmen was seated at one of them. This would be potentially very hazardous. If Mokuba made the wrong move, he knew he could risk his brother and everyone else being injured. Was this the only possible way out of the room?
Yes, he knew then, it was.
As he looked at the next table over, he saw Ishizu there and got an idea. Now if he could just figure out how to sneak a message to her without anyone seeing . . .
And then the answer came to him.
Quickly he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a brief note on it explaining his problem, then carefully and precisely he folded it into a paper airplane. Judging his aim, the boy let the plane fly low enough so as not to be seen by any of the hijackers as it soared under the next table and struck Ishizu sharply on her leg.
The woman looked down, sensing the importance of this odd occurrence, and casually dropped a paper napkin over the plane. She then picked up both napkin and airplane and unfolded Mokuba's creation under the tablecloth. Her blue eyes darted over the frantically scribbled words.
Ishizu—
I'm under the next table over.
I havta get to the air grate
so I can get help, but I can't
reach it without that guy seeing me!
Can you help me?
—Mokuba
Now Ishizu looked up with a secretive smile. She knew what to do.
The Egyptian woman stood up, walking over to the next table and moving some of the chairs that were sprawled precariously around. She carefully and precisely arranged them so that Mokuba could slip out from under the table and crawl under the chairs to the next table.
"Hey!" the gunman yelled in annoyance. "What the heck are you doin'?!"
"I cannot stand a clutter," Ishizu replied calmly, continuing to rearrange the chairs once she knew Mokuba was safely under the next table.
"Yeah?" Just as Ishizu had predicted, the gunman stood up from his own table and came over to her. "Well, that's gonna be the least of your worries when I'm through with you!"
Mokuba used this opportunity to slip under the table. Now the air grate was right there for him to climb into. He just prayed that Ishizu could keep the man distracted for another minute or two!
Ishizu continued to look unruffled. "I don't take kindly to threats," she said, putting each chair in its proper place at the table.
"Yeah? Well lady, right now I hold your life in my hands," the gunman hissed, making a move as if to point his rifle at her. "I could kill you in an instant!"
"But you won't." Ishizu finished what she was doing and turning to face him. "I have foreseen it."
"What?!" The gunman started to laugh. "I like you, lady. You've got spunk!"
Ishizu snuck a glance at the air grate out of the corner of her eye and saw that Mokuba was climbing into it. He was able to get away. Please stay safe, she said silently.
****
Rishid had just fallen asleep when the hijacker announcements came over the loudspeaker. Marik, sitting on the edge of his own bed, jumped in shock. "What the devil . . ." His lavender eyes narrowed. "Ishizu," he said softly.
After making certain that his brother had dozed off, Marik crept to the door and eased it open. Slowly the boy snuck into the hall, closing the door behind him, and tried to decide what he could do. He could get to where the leader was and force him somehow to call off his goons in the dining room . . . but that might be too risky.
What if he caused a blackout? No, in the confusion some of the hijackers might start shooting and someone would be hurt or even . . .
He shook his head. He couldn't do anything to risk endangering anyone, especially Ishizu and Mokuba, who were most likely still in the room.
Perhaps the best thing he could do under the circumstances would be to try calling the Coast Guard for help on the ship-to-shore phone. Now if he could just find the radio room. . . .
Suddenly a terrifying gunshot rang out from inside the dining room and Marik felt dizzy. "Please," he prayed, tears flying from his eyes, "don't let anyone have gotten hurt!"
****
Joey and Tristan were still with Jamie in the captain's quarters. The mischievous boy was now subdued and worried about his uncle.
"We've gotta find him!" he cried. "He wouldn't just let someone come and hijack his ship, so he must be hurt somewhere!"
"Hey, don't worry, kid," Joey said comfortingly, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Everything'll be fine."
Tristan paused and blinked. "Did anyone hear what I just heard?"
Joey turned to look at him. "And that would be what?"
"It sounded like someone's moving through the ventilator system!" Tristan cried.
Joey snorted. "What? That's crazy!"
"That's what it sounded like," Tristan insisted.
Jamie looked around wildly and then hurried to collect various items into a bag.
"What've you got there?" Joey asked, confused.
"My 'fighting bad guys' kit," Jamie responded distractedly. "We're gonna need it to fight the hijackers."
Joey exchanged a look with Tristan. "Oh boy. . . ."
****
The gunman sneered at the hostages as he fired a bullet into the air without warning. "See that?" he said, pointing to the hole in the ceiling. "That could've been any one of you! Now settle down right now or you'll see just how good I am with my aim."
"This is terrible!" Tea fretted. "We have to do something!"
Seto grunted. "Mokuba already is, but in the meantime I'm not gonna stand around and wait to be used as target practice." He took out a small device and held it under the table.
"What's that?" Yugi asked quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation.
Seto didn't answer at first. It was actually a tiny, hand-held computer, and he was attempting to hack into the ship's computer and do something to confuse their enemies. He wouldn't know exactly what he could do until he saw a blueprint of the ship's interior and its devices. Then he smirked, getting an idea. He knew it would be risky, but just maybe it would work.
Tea peeked under the table to see what he was up to. "Kaiba!" she exclaimed in disbelief, realizing that he was hacking into the computer system.
Seto paid her no heed as he pressed a button and then clicked "Enter."
Without warning, loud, jazzy music began playing at its highest volume and everyone jumped a mile high.
"Where's that racket coming from?!" one gunman screamed, cursing vilely.
Quickly Seto snapped his computer shut and hid it in his coat pocket. He then straightened up and turned to face the nearest hijacker, punching him in the face while he was preoccupied with the racket.
"Come on," the blue-eyed boy directed, gesturing to Tea and the others. "They're distracted. Tea and Yugi, you two can cut through and get to that backdoor over there. Then you'll need to help get everyone out while Yami Yugi, Shadi, and I take care of the hijackers."
Tea looked at him with worried eyes. "You might get hurt, Kaiba!" she cried, clutching his arm. She was worried for the others too, of course, but she knew that Yami Yugi wasn't mortal and that both he and Shadi had magical powers—but Seto was definitely mortal and he definitely did not have magical powers.
Seto looked down at her. "I won't," he assured her. "Now go!"
Tea still hesitated, almost as if considering whether to say something more or not, but then she decided against it and disappeared with Yugi into the melee.
****
Yami Bakura came to the end of the hall and found only a door marked "Boiler Room." Bakura wouldn't have gone in there . . . would he? The old thief snorted. In Bakura's condition, he might do anything. Quickly he opened the door and entered the room himself, glancing around the furnace and pipes in search of the missing boy. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, but no matter how much he looked about he couldn't see anyone.
"Bakura? Are you in here, you dolt?" he called.
Soon he got a reply.
"Oh, I am here. But you are the dolt!"
Yami Bakura whirled around and stared upwards. Bakura was perched high on a catwalk, sneering at him.
"You idiot!" Yami Bakura cried. "Get down from there!"
Bakura stood up, not concerned in the least about his precarious situation. "Oh, Yami, you're in worse danger than I am," he smirked.
"Actually . . ."
Both of them whirled at the sound of the new voice. Bakura's "master" stepped out of the shadows, looking triumphant.
"Actually," he said again, "your 'Yami,' as you call him, is perfectly safe. You're the one I'm after, Bakura." He held up a vicious rifle and pointed it upward. "And you will pay for your betrayal with your blood."
"Did Bakura cause this?" Mokuba cried.
"It's a possibility, I'm afraid," Yami Yugi replied. "But these hijackers could be acting independently as well."
"But what would hijackers want on a cruise ship?!" Mai exclaimed, coming over to them. "We're not carrying any precious treasures or anything like that."
All around them people were beginning to panic and attempting to run for their rooms.
"Now, now," the voice scolded smoothly, apparently watching everything from a security camera video, "just do what we want and no one gets hurt!"
"And what we want," a second voice chimed in, "is for all of you to stay where you are. We can see your wild panicking, but everyone who tries to leave the dining room will be . . . punished harshly."
Suddenly, from various spots all over the room people began standing with guns in hand. Several horrified screams immediately sounded from different tables, but Tea only clutched at Yugi's arm in alarm.
"This is very bad," Yami Yugi remarked, narrowing his eyes.
"That's an understatement," Mai said. "Now we're all trapped in here!"
Seto looked immensely annoyed at this latest disturbance and he pulled Mokuba close. There had to be a way out of this, he thought grimly.
Ishizu sat still at her own table, no expression visible on her face, but she was relieved that Marik and Rishid had gotten away before this had happened. She knew, however, that if either or both of them heard about it, they would try to help. As one of the gunmen approached her table, the Egyptian woman said a quiet prayer that everyone would be alright.
****
Yami Bakura stopped short when he heard the hijackers' announcement and growled. "Bakura, you imbecile!" he cried angrily, turning to run down another hall. He wasn't sure where the boy would go, but he did know that Bakura was after the other Millennium Items and was, most likely, behind the hijacking.
Suddenly he caught sight of silvery hair vanishing around a corner and he perked up. "Bakura?" he called, but of course he didn't get an answer. Muttering in vexation, the thief began to follow the boy down a dark corridor.
****
The man who had been mind-controlling Bakura listened to the news of the hijacking with interest.
"Foolish boy," he hissed. "Your plan may help you, but it will also help me. If everyone is distracted for you to carry out your plans, I can carry out mine as well!" He smirked. "And my cohort will have the revenge he wants on the Captain."
He turned to go. His first priority would be to eliminate Bakura and take the Millennium Rod from him. Then he could go about securing the other Millennium Items as well. The man cackled evilly as he went out the door.
****
Tea tensed as one of the gunmen began heading in their direction. "What do we do now?" she wondered worriedly.
Unbeknownst to her, Seto had had a short conversation with Mokuba and the younger boy had just vanished behind a potted plant to scan the room for some means of escape.
"Just do what they want, for now," Shadi told Tea.
Mokuba watched, his heart pounding, as the hijacker led Seto and the others away at gunpoint. "Seto's counting on me," the younger Kaiba said softly. "I have to get out of here and cause some kind of distraction that'll free everyone!"
As he glanced about, feeling panicky, he suddenly discovered a ventilation grate low to the floor about three tables away. If he could only reach it . . .!
Praying for help, Mokuba dove under the first table and watched from there. The other two tables were both occupied and, to his horror, one of the gunmen was seated at one of them. This would be potentially very hazardous. If Mokuba made the wrong move, he knew he could risk his brother and everyone else being injured. Was this the only possible way out of the room?
Yes, he knew then, it was.
As he looked at the next table over, he saw Ishizu there and got an idea. Now if he could just figure out how to sneak a message to her without anyone seeing . . .
And then the answer came to him.
Quickly he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a brief note on it explaining his problem, then carefully and precisely he folded it into a paper airplane. Judging his aim, the boy let the plane fly low enough so as not to be seen by any of the hijackers as it soared under the next table and struck Ishizu sharply on her leg.
The woman looked down, sensing the importance of this odd occurrence, and casually dropped a paper napkin over the plane. She then picked up both napkin and airplane and unfolded Mokuba's creation under the tablecloth. Her blue eyes darted over the frantically scribbled words.
Ishizu—
I'm under the next table over.
I havta get to the air grate
so I can get help, but I can't
reach it without that guy seeing me!
Can you help me?
—Mokuba
Now Ishizu looked up with a secretive smile. She knew what to do.
The Egyptian woman stood up, walking over to the next table and moving some of the chairs that were sprawled precariously around. She carefully and precisely arranged them so that Mokuba could slip out from under the table and crawl under the chairs to the next table.
"Hey!" the gunman yelled in annoyance. "What the heck are you doin'?!"
"I cannot stand a clutter," Ishizu replied calmly, continuing to rearrange the chairs once she knew Mokuba was safely under the next table.
"Yeah?" Just as Ishizu had predicted, the gunman stood up from his own table and came over to her. "Well, that's gonna be the least of your worries when I'm through with you!"
Mokuba used this opportunity to slip under the table. Now the air grate was right there for him to climb into. He just prayed that Ishizu could keep the man distracted for another minute or two!
Ishizu continued to look unruffled. "I don't take kindly to threats," she said, putting each chair in its proper place at the table.
"Yeah? Well lady, right now I hold your life in my hands," the gunman hissed, making a move as if to point his rifle at her. "I could kill you in an instant!"
"But you won't." Ishizu finished what she was doing and turning to face him. "I have foreseen it."
"What?!" The gunman started to laugh. "I like you, lady. You've got spunk!"
Ishizu snuck a glance at the air grate out of the corner of her eye and saw that Mokuba was climbing into it. He was able to get away. Please stay safe, she said silently.
****
Rishid had just fallen asleep when the hijacker announcements came over the loudspeaker. Marik, sitting on the edge of his own bed, jumped in shock. "What the devil . . ." His lavender eyes narrowed. "Ishizu," he said softly.
After making certain that his brother had dozed off, Marik crept to the door and eased it open. Slowly the boy snuck into the hall, closing the door behind him, and tried to decide what he could do. He could get to where the leader was and force him somehow to call off his goons in the dining room . . . but that might be too risky.
What if he caused a blackout? No, in the confusion some of the hijackers might start shooting and someone would be hurt or even . . .
He shook his head. He couldn't do anything to risk endangering anyone, especially Ishizu and Mokuba, who were most likely still in the room.
Perhaps the best thing he could do under the circumstances would be to try calling the Coast Guard for help on the ship-to-shore phone. Now if he could just find the radio room. . . .
Suddenly a terrifying gunshot rang out from inside the dining room and Marik felt dizzy. "Please," he prayed, tears flying from his eyes, "don't let anyone have gotten hurt!"
****
Joey and Tristan were still with Jamie in the captain's quarters. The mischievous boy was now subdued and worried about his uncle.
"We've gotta find him!" he cried. "He wouldn't just let someone come and hijack his ship, so he must be hurt somewhere!"
"Hey, don't worry, kid," Joey said comfortingly, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Everything'll be fine."
Tristan paused and blinked. "Did anyone hear what I just heard?"
Joey turned to look at him. "And that would be what?"
"It sounded like someone's moving through the ventilator system!" Tristan cried.
Joey snorted. "What? That's crazy!"
"That's what it sounded like," Tristan insisted.
Jamie looked around wildly and then hurried to collect various items into a bag.
"What've you got there?" Joey asked, confused.
"My 'fighting bad guys' kit," Jamie responded distractedly. "We're gonna need it to fight the hijackers."
Joey exchanged a look with Tristan. "Oh boy. . . ."
****
The gunman sneered at the hostages as he fired a bullet into the air without warning. "See that?" he said, pointing to the hole in the ceiling. "That could've been any one of you! Now settle down right now or you'll see just how good I am with my aim."
"This is terrible!" Tea fretted. "We have to do something!"
Seto grunted. "Mokuba already is, but in the meantime I'm not gonna stand around and wait to be used as target practice." He took out a small device and held it under the table.
"What's that?" Yugi asked quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation.
Seto didn't answer at first. It was actually a tiny, hand-held computer, and he was attempting to hack into the ship's computer and do something to confuse their enemies. He wouldn't know exactly what he could do until he saw a blueprint of the ship's interior and its devices. Then he smirked, getting an idea. He knew it would be risky, but just maybe it would work.
Tea peeked under the table to see what he was up to. "Kaiba!" she exclaimed in disbelief, realizing that he was hacking into the computer system.
Seto paid her no heed as he pressed a button and then clicked "Enter."
Without warning, loud, jazzy music began playing at its highest volume and everyone jumped a mile high.
"Where's that racket coming from?!" one gunman screamed, cursing vilely.
Quickly Seto snapped his computer shut and hid it in his coat pocket. He then straightened up and turned to face the nearest hijacker, punching him in the face while he was preoccupied with the racket.
"Come on," the blue-eyed boy directed, gesturing to Tea and the others. "They're distracted. Tea and Yugi, you two can cut through and get to that backdoor over there. Then you'll need to help get everyone out while Yami Yugi, Shadi, and I take care of the hijackers."
Tea looked at him with worried eyes. "You might get hurt, Kaiba!" she cried, clutching his arm. She was worried for the others too, of course, but she knew that Yami Yugi wasn't mortal and that both he and Shadi had magical powers—but Seto was definitely mortal and he definitely did not have magical powers.
Seto looked down at her. "I won't," he assured her. "Now go!"
Tea still hesitated, almost as if considering whether to say something more or not, but then she decided against it and disappeared with Yugi into the melee.
****
Yami Bakura came to the end of the hall and found only a door marked "Boiler Room." Bakura wouldn't have gone in there . . . would he? The old thief snorted. In Bakura's condition, he might do anything. Quickly he opened the door and entered the room himself, glancing around the furnace and pipes in search of the missing boy. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, but no matter how much he looked about he couldn't see anyone.
"Bakura? Are you in here, you dolt?" he called.
Soon he got a reply.
"Oh, I am here. But you are the dolt!"
Yami Bakura whirled around and stared upwards. Bakura was perched high on a catwalk, sneering at him.
"You idiot!" Yami Bakura cried. "Get down from there!"
Bakura stood up, not concerned in the least about his precarious situation. "Oh, Yami, you're in worse danger than I am," he smirked.
"Actually . . ."
Both of them whirled at the sound of the new voice. Bakura's "master" stepped out of the shadows, looking triumphant.
"Actually," he said again, "your 'Yami,' as you call him, is perfectly safe. You're the one I'm after, Bakura." He held up a vicious rifle and pointed it upward. "And you will pay for your betrayal with your blood."