Seto and the others tensed as footsteps approached outside the door and then stopped.
"What's happening?" Captain Hardy wanted to know.
"Shhh," Seto grumbled.
Suddenly the ship jolted violently and everyone was thrown to the other side of the room, along with the table and a few chairs.
"Why aren't those bolted down?!" Mokuba cried as he was nearly beaned by a flying chair.
"They used to be!" Captain Hardy retorted.
There was a loud thump out in the hall, followed by angry muttering. Quickly Seto leaped up and ran to the door, throwing it open. In the next moment, he was viciously pulled outside by a pair of rough hands.
The others sprang to their feet. "Big brother!!" Mokuba shrieked.
Seto wrestled his opponent to the floor angrily. "What are you trying to do?" he growled.
"You insolent child!" the man roared, throwing Seto backwards against the wall. "I am the first mate on this ship, and many years your senior! I should ask what you are doing hiding in the meeting room! You have no right to be in there!"
"Actually, Simon," Captain Hardy said as he stepped out into the hall, "he has every right. I authorized him to be in here with his brother and some of his friends. You do remember, Simon—we're trying to solve a mystery here!"
Simon grunted as he dusted himself off. "As if a bunch of teenagers could solve it!" he said scathingly.
"Hey!" Mokuba yelled defensively as he gave Seto a tight hug. "My brother's the best!"
Simon only mumbled something unintelligible in reply.
The ship lurched again, sending everyone tumbling down the hall.
"What's happening?!" Tea gasped in horror.
"The ship's gone mad!" Simon yelled.
"Don't be ridiculous," Seto grumbled.
"There must not be anyone steering it!" Captain Hardy burst out as he slipped past.
Everyone wound up in a tangled heap on the other end of the hallway.
"Marik was supposed to be steering," Yugi remarked, trying to crawl out from underneath the confusion.
"Then he must have gotten hurt!" Mokuba cried, his eyes wide with horror.
"I think," Yugi said grimly as everyone began slipping to the opposite end of the hall, "that we should find him immediately!"
"Gee, you think?" Seto grumbled.
As they all slipped forward, a hole in the wall opened and they all fell through!
"Why are there all these passageways in here?!" Tea cried.
"I don't know," Captain Hardy replied as they plummeted downward. "I wasn't the original owner of this ship!"
"Now he tells us!" Mokuba muttered.
****
In the meantime, Joey, Tristan, and Shadi had gone into the boiler room looking for Bakura's assailant. As Yami Bakura had predicted, they found no one—but the man had apparently been there a moment before, as Shadi deduced after they had only been there a short while.
"Man, how can you tell?" Tristan demanded.
Shadi didn't answer, seeming instead to be drawing on his powers to figure out which way to go.
That's when the ship lurched abruptly, sending them all sprawling to the floor.
"What was that?!" Joey burst out.
"A bad sign," Shadi replied. "The ship is not being attended to."
"Oh man," Tristan moaned. "What next?"
****
Those still in the dining room weren't faring much better. By now most of them wanted to leave and go to their rooms, but with the ship's latest antics it would be almost impossible to get to the door leading out into the hall.
"Man, I'm getting sea sick," Rex groaned, leaning against the wall and then falling to the floor as the ship rocked once more.
Mai sighed loudly. "Well, don't hang around me, then!" she shot back, feeling frustrated and disheveled. It had been a long, tiring day full of strange experiences—and even now, she was certain they weren't over yet.
And she was right.
Within moments the same woman who had nearly been thrown overboard at the beginning now came stumbling into the room, sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Rex asked, looking up.
"This is all my fault," the woman wailed.
Everyone turned to stare.
"What are you talking about?!" Mai demanded.
Shakily the woman sat down across from Mai, dabbing at her eyes. "None of this would be going on if I wasn't on this ship," she declared.
"That can't be true," Rex objected.
"Maybe we can help you," Mai suggested kindly.
The woman shook her head. "No. . . . No, this is my problem. I started all of this. Now I have to get everyone out of it!"
"You're not makin' sense!" Rex protested.
"I can't explain things right now," the woman said apologetically, standing up again. "But . . ." Trailing off, she ran to the door and fled down the hall.
Mai and Rex stared after her, then turned to look at each other.
"That," Mai proclaimed firmly, "was weird."
"You said it!" Rex agreed, stumbling up. "Let's follow her!"
Mai didn't look pleased in the least at the thought of working with Rex Raptor, but at least she agreed and the two set out after the mysterious woman.
****
Once again Tea found herself crashing down after a long fall, but this time it wasn't a soft surface she landed on. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the floor hard.
"Are you alright?" Yugi asked as he also crashed down.
"Y-yes," Tea said shakily, pulling herself up. After making sure that Yugi and the others were okay as well, the girl mused, "I wonder where we are now?"
Captain Hardy clicked on a flashlight and shined it around. "It seems to be some kind of closet," he declared.
"I just don't get where all these secret passageways are coming from!" Tea exclaimed in frustration. "Why would they be needed on a cruise ship?!"
"I wish I knew," Captain Hardy lamented.
Seto stood up and began poking through the dusty buckets and mops, looking for a door. "It looks like this place hasn't been used in some time," he remarked.
"This is ridiculous!" Simon cried hotly. "I've never been on a stranger cruise!!"
"Well, maybe you should help us look for the solution," Seto shot back, "instead of just standing there complaining."
Simon turned purple with rage.
Captain Hardy had to chuckle. "The boy does have a point, Simon. Help me check this wall over here for the door," he requested.
As they continued their seemingly fruitless search, Yugi spoke up. "Captain, when did you get this ship?" he asked.
The Captain paused, trying to remember. "It seems like ages ago," he said at last.
"It was," Simon grumped.
Captain Hardy ignored that. "I've been running my cruise ship business ever since I got my first ship back in 1962," he said proudly.
"Wow," Tea said, blinking in surprise.
The ship jerked again, sending everyone to the floor.
"I wish it would stop doing that!" Simon growled.
"What are we gonna do?!" Mokuba burst out, worried again about Marik. "We're trapped in here!!"
Seto gently helped him stand up and spoke to him tenderly. "We'll get out, kid," he said. "Don't worry."
Yugi felt along the wall again. "I may have found something!" he exclaimed.
"A door?" Tea asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure," Yugi replied slowly, pressing on it. "Yes," he said now, "I believe it is!"
"Then quickly!" Captain Hardy directed. "Everyone throw your weight against it and we may be able to escape!"
Everyone in the group instantly complied, slamming hard into the wood and causing it to creak loudly.
"Once more!" Yugi called, and the action was repeated. The door creaked louder, obviously almost ready to give way.
"Third time's the charm," Seto remarked with a smirk.
As everyone crashed into the door for a final time, the hinges screamed in protest but finally tore free, sending the door to the floor with a bang.
"Freedom at last!" Simon declared, heading out.
As everyone headed out, Mokuba suddenly paused and bent down.
"What is it?" Yugi asked, turning to look.
"I'm not sure," Mokuba replied slowly, holding up a piece of parchment, "but it looks a lot like that Egyptian paper Tea found earlier."
Quickly Yugi took and studied it.
~Is this what Shadi was telling us about?~ the boy wondered.
**Yes,** Yami Yugi responded. **It's the counterspell to the evil one. But what I would like to know now is, How did it get down here?**
****
Ishizu slowly stirred, feeling the cold, hard floor underneath her. At first she couldn't remember at all what had happened, but then images of the previous experiences came back to her when she opened her eyes and found Marik laying next to her on the floor.
"Marik!" she cried softly, not able to speak louder than a whisper at the moment. As she became more aware of their surroundings, she realized that she and her brother were both laying out in the corridor instead of back inside the room and she wondered idly how that had happened.
But more about that later, Ishizu said to herself as she slowly got into a kneeling position. She had to awaken her brother!
Gently she shook him on his shoulder. "Marik," she said, able to speak more normally now, "dear brother!" She could see that, thankfully, the younger boy was breathing, and now he started and coughed, his lavender eyes fluttering open.
"Sister?" he managed to say.
Ishizu relaxed, relieved, and pulled her brother into an embrace. "You are safe," she whispered.
Puzzled, Marik hugged her back. "Sister, what happened?" he asked softly.
"I am not certain," Ishizu replied softly, "but there was something strange in that room that made you faint."
Marik blinked, the memories coming back. "Sister, where is Rishid?" he asked suddenly.
Ishizu froze. When she had first regained consciousness, the first thing she had seen was Marik's unconscious body, and she had been so concerned about him that the thought of Rishid's whereabouts hadn't really entered her mind.
Now she released Marik from her embrace and the two siblings glanced about worriedly. They weren't that far from the room's entrance, and they soon discovered Rishid laying motionless just inside the doorway.
Horrified, Marik stumbled to his feet and rushed over, collapsing on his knees next to his dear brother and shaking him frantically. "Rishid!!" he cried. "Rishid, wake up!!"
Ishizu watched worriedly, her blue eyes wide. She knew that Rishid must have been trying to save them from the fumes, but then hadn't been able to save himself.
Marik leaned back, his heart pounding. "No," he said softly, "not Rishid!"
Even though they weren't biologically related and Marik's and Ishizu's father had always treated Rishid as nothing more than a servant, he had never been that to them. Marik and Ishizu loved him so very much and considered him their older brother. To Marik, Rishid was his nearest and dearest friend as well.
"Not Rishid," Marik said again, shaking his head. "He can't be . . ."
To the relief of the other two Ishtar siblings, Rishid stirred then and moaned.
"He is alive," Ishizu said softly, saying a prayer of thanks.
Quickly Marik took hold of the man's wrists and pulled him out of the room and into the hallway, where the air was completely fresh. "I feel as though we are being watched!" the boy declared uneasily as he knelt next to Rishid again.
Ishizu had had those same feelings. Now she wondered if they had any significance.
****
Not too far away, the dangerous man who had been controlling Bakura earlier watched the proceedings via his dark spells. "You are being watched, my friends," he purred quietly. "You are indeed. And next time, you will not survive my wrath!"
"What's happening?" Captain Hardy wanted to know.
"Shhh," Seto grumbled.
Suddenly the ship jolted violently and everyone was thrown to the other side of the room, along with the table and a few chairs.
"Why aren't those bolted down?!" Mokuba cried as he was nearly beaned by a flying chair.
"They used to be!" Captain Hardy retorted.
There was a loud thump out in the hall, followed by angry muttering. Quickly Seto leaped up and ran to the door, throwing it open. In the next moment, he was viciously pulled outside by a pair of rough hands.
The others sprang to their feet. "Big brother!!" Mokuba shrieked.
Seto wrestled his opponent to the floor angrily. "What are you trying to do?" he growled.
"You insolent child!" the man roared, throwing Seto backwards against the wall. "I am the first mate on this ship, and many years your senior! I should ask what you are doing hiding in the meeting room! You have no right to be in there!"
"Actually, Simon," Captain Hardy said as he stepped out into the hall, "he has every right. I authorized him to be in here with his brother and some of his friends. You do remember, Simon—we're trying to solve a mystery here!"
Simon grunted as he dusted himself off. "As if a bunch of teenagers could solve it!" he said scathingly.
"Hey!" Mokuba yelled defensively as he gave Seto a tight hug. "My brother's the best!"
Simon only mumbled something unintelligible in reply.
The ship lurched again, sending everyone tumbling down the hall.
"What's happening?!" Tea gasped in horror.
"The ship's gone mad!" Simon yelled.
"Don't be ridiculous," Seto grumbled.
"There must not be anyone steering it!" Captain Hardy burst out as he slipped past.
Everyone wound up in a tangled heap on the other end of the hallway.
"Marik was supposed to be steering," Yugi remarked, trying to crawl out from underneath the confusion.
"Then he must have gotten hurt!" Mokuba cried, his eyes wide with horror.
"I think," Yugi said grimly as everyone began slipping to the opposite end of the hall, "that we should find him immediately!"
"Gee, you think?" Seto grumbled.
As they all slipped forward, a hole in the wall opened and they all fell through!
"Why are there all these passageways in here?!" Tea cried.
"I don't know," Captain Hardy replied as they plummeted downward. "I wasn't the original owner of this ship!"
"Now he tells us!" Mokuba muttered.
****
In the meantime, Joey, Tristan, and Shadi had gone into the boiler room looking for Bakura's assailant. As Yami Bakura had predicted, they found no one—but the man had apparently been there a moment before, as Shadi deduced after they had only been there a short while.
"Man, how can you tell?" Tristan demanded.
Shadi didn't answer, seeming instead to be drawing on his powers to figure out which way to go.
That's when the ship lurched abruptly, sending them all sprawling to the floor.
"What was that?!" Joey burst out.
"A bad sign," Shadi replied. "The ship is not being attended to."
"Oh man," Tristan moaned. "What next?"
****
Those still in the dining room weren't faring much better. By now most of them wanted to leave and go to their rooms, but with the ship's latest antics it would be almost impossible to get to the door leading out into the hall.
"Man, I'm getting sea sick," Rex groaned, leaning against the wall and then falling to the floor as the ship rocked once more.
Mai sighed loudly. "Well, don't hang around me, then!" she shot back, feeling frustrated and disheveled. It had been a long, tiring day full of strange experiences—and even now, she was certain they weren't over yet.
And she was right.
Within moments the same woman who had nearly been thrown overboard at the beginning now came stumbling into the room, sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Rex asked, looking up.
"This is all my fault," the woman wailed.
Everyone turned to stare.
"What are you talking about?!" Mai demanded.
Shakily the woman sat down across from Mai, dabbing at her eyes. "None of this would be going on if I wasn't on this ship," she declared.
"That can't be true," Rex objected.
"Maybe we can help you," Mai suggested kindly.
The woman shook her head. "No. . . . No, this is my problem. I started all of this. Now I have to get everyone out of it!"
"You're not makin' sense!" Rex protested.
"I can't explain things right now," the woman said apologetically, standing up again. "But . . ." Trailing off, she ran to the door and fled down the hall.
Mai and Rex stared after her, then turned to look at each other.
"That," Mai proclaimed firmly, "was weird."
"You said it!" Rex agreed, stumbling up. "Let's follow her!"
Mai didn't look pleased in the least at the thought of working with Rex Raptor, but at least she agreed and the two set out after the mysterious woman.
****
Once again Tea found herself crashing down after a long fall, but this time it wasn't a soft surface she landed on. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the floor hard.
"Are you alright?" Yugi asked as he also crashed down.
"Y-yes," Tea said shakily, pulling herself up. After making sure that Yugi and the others were okay as well, the girl mused, "I wonder where we are now?"
Captain Hardy clicked on a flashlight and shined it around. "It seems to be some kind of closet," he declared.
"I just don't get where all these secret passageways are coming from!" Tea exclaimed in frustration. "Why would they be needed on a cruise ship?!"
"I wish I knew," Captain Hardy lamented.
Seto stood up and began poking through the dusty buckets and mops, looking for a door. "It looks like this place hasn't been used in some time," he remarked.
"This is ridiculous!" Simon cried hotly. "I've never been on a stranger cruise!!"
"Well, maybe you should help us look for the solution," Seto shot back, "instead of just standing there complaining."
Simon turned purple with rage.
Captain Hardy had to chuckle. "The boy does have a point, Simon. Help me check this wall over here for the door," he requested.
As they continued their seemingly fruitless search, Yugi spoke up. "Captain, when did you get this ship?" he asked.
The Captain paused, trying to remember. "It seems like ages ago," he said at last.
"It was," Simon grumped.
Captain Hardy ignored that. "I've been running my cruise ship business ever since I got my first ship back in 1962," he said proudly.
"Wow," Tea said, blinking in surprise.
The ship jerked again, sending everyone to the floor.
"I wish it would stop doing that!" Simon growled.
"What are we gonna do?!" Mokuba burst out, worried again about Marik. "We're trapped in here!!"
Seto gently helped him stand up and spoke to him tenderly. "We'll get out, kid," he said. "Don't worry."
Yugi felt along the wall again. "I may have found something!" he exclaimed.
"A door?" Tea asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure," Yugi replied slowly, pressing on it. "Yes," he said now, "I believe it is!"
"Then quickly!" Captain Hardy directed. "Everyone throw your weight against it and we may be able to escape!"
Everyone in the group instantly complied, slamming hard into the wood and causing it to creak loudly.
"Once more!" Yugi called, and the action was repeated. The door creaked louder, obviously almost ready to give way.
"Third time's the charm," Seto remarked with a smirk.
As everyone crashed into the door for a final time, the hinges screamed in protest but finally tore free, sending the door to the floor with a bang.
"Freedom at last!" Simon declared, heading out.
As everyone headed out, Mokuba suddenly paused and bent down.
"What is it?" Yugi asked, turning to look.
"I'm not sure," Mokuba replied slowly, holding up a piece of parchment, "but it looks a lot like that Egyptian paper Tea found earlier."
Quickly Yugi took and studied it.
~Is this what Shadi was telling us about?~ the boy wondered.
**Yes,** Yami Yugi responded. **It's the counterspell to the evil one. But what I would like to know now is, How did it get down here?**
****
Ishizu slowly stirred, feeling the cold, hard floor underneath her. At first she couldn't remember at all what had happened, but then images of the previous experiences came back to her when she opened her eyes and found Marik laying next to her on the floor.
"Marik!" she cried softly, not able to speak louder than a whisper at the moment. As she became more aware of their surroundings, she realized that she and her brother were both laying out in the corridor instead of back inside the room and she wondered idly how that had happened.
But more about that later, Ishizu said to herself as she slowly got into a kneeling position. She had to awaken her brother!
Gently she shook him on his shoulder. "Marik," she said, able to speak more normally now, "dear brother!" She could see that, thankfully, the younger boy was breathing, and now he started and coughed, his lavender eyes fluttering open.
"Sister?" he managed to say.
Ishizu relaxed, relieved, and pulled her brother into an embrace. "You are safe," she whispered.
Puzzled, Marik hugged her back. "Sister, what happened?" he asked softly.
"I am not certain," Ishizu replied softly, "but there was something strange in that room that made you faint."
Marik blinked, the memories coming back. "Sister, where is Rishid?" he asked suddenly.
Ishizu froze. When she had first regained consciousness, the first thing she had seen was Marik's unconscious body, and she had been so concerned about him that the thought of Rishid's whereabouts hadn't really entered her mind.
Now she released Marik from her embrace and the two siblings glanced about worriedly. They weren't that far from the room's entrance, and they soon discovered Rishid laying motionless just inside the doorway.
Horrified, Marik stumbled to his feet and rushed over, collapsing on his knees next to his dear brother and shaking him frantically. "Rishid!!" he cried. "Rishid, wake up!!"
Ishizu watched worriedly, her blue eyes wide. She knew that Rishid must have been trying to save them from the fumes, but then hadn't been able to save himself.
Marik leaned back, his heart pounding. "No," he said softly, "not Rishid!"
Even though they weren't biologically related and Marik's and Ishizu's father had always treated Rishid as nothing more than a servant, he had never been that to them. Marik and Ishizu loved him so very much and considered him their older brother. To Marik, Rishid was his nearest and dearest friend as well.
"Not Rishid," Marik said again, shaking his head. "He can't be . . ."
To the relief of the other two Ishtar siblings, Rishid stirred then and moaned.
"He is alive," Ishizu said softly, saying a prayer of thanks.
Quickly Marik took hold of the man's wrists and pulled him out of the room and into the hallway, where the air was completely fresh. "I feel as though we are being watched!" the boy declared uneasily as he knelt next to Rishid again.
Ishizu had had those same feelings. Now she wondered if they had any significance.
****
Not too far away, the dangerous man who had been controlling Bakura earlier watched the proceedings via his dark spells. "You are being watched, my friends," he purred quietly. "You are indeed. And next time, you will not survive my wrath!"