Chapter 9

"Oh, we'll duel, Kaiba. But first, I'd like you meet my partner, Dale Parker." Lowell gestured to the end of the field, and Parker emerged. "Now, the match is a little bit more in my favor, what do you think?"

Kaiba glared at Lowell. "That's low, Parker, even for you!" He wasn't panicking yet though. He knew he where he could get help. He only hoped Bakura had his cell phone on him. "Give me one minute." He walked out to the receptionist, and handed her Bakura's cell number. "Dial, quickly." The receptionist handed him the phone, and he listened to it ring. "Come on, Bakura. Pick it up."

I had walked outside for a minute, to get a breath of fresh air. "Hello?"

"Bakura. The Dueling Center. Now." Kaiba sounded a little rattled.

"What? What's wrong, Seto?"

"Lowell and Parker challenged me to a duel, for Elizabeth's life."

"That's sick! I'll be right there." I hung up,and ran back inside to Lizzie's room. Luckily, the medicine that she was on kept her asleep most of the time. "Yugi, come here."

"What's the matter, Bakura?" He looked concerned.

"Those jerks that poisoned Lizzie are dueling Kaiba for the cure…."

"That's low."

"I know. He wants me to duel by his side, but I can't take the chance of Rakura rearing his ugly head."

"You want me to go in your place?" Yugi knew how well that would go over with Kaiba. "I don't think he'd like that too much."

"I'll go." We looked over at Mokuba. "She's just as much my sister as yours and Seto's , Bakura. I'll go help Seto."

"Are you sure, Mo? I mean, you haven't had that much dueling experience."

"I'll do my best, like Joey taught me." He left, before Yugi and I could protest farther.

"I sure hope he knows what he's doing." I looked at Elizabeth, lying so still, except for the rising and falling of her chest. "There's too much risk involved. We can't afford to lose."

"They won't lose,Bakura. They're the Kaiba brothers. Come on. I'm gonna call Tea and Tristan to stay with Lizzie.They need our moral support." Yugi went to a payphone, while I walked back to Lizzie's bed.

I leaned over, and kissed her forehead. "Hang in there, Baby. Just a little longer." I walked out, closing the door silently behind me.

"Mokuba! What are you doing here?!" Kaiba stared at his brother, in disbelief.

"I'm going to help you. Bakura was afraid that his yami would hurt someone. Not that I blame him. Elizabeth is Rakura's friend. You know how he can be, Big Brother."

"But…."

"Don't worry, Seto. I know how to duel pretty well. Joey's been working with me." Mokuba smiled. "Come on. Let's go save Lizzie."

Seto nodded now. What choice did he have? They were wasting time Elizabeth didn't rightfully have. "All right, Mo-Mo. You win."

"Trust me, Seto. We're going to win." He walked in ahead of his older brother, a look of determination on his face.

"That's your support?!" Lowell guffawed. "Oh man. You're making this too easy, Kaiba!"

"Laugh while you can, you big bully. You made a mistake, challenging the Kaiba brothers!" Mokuba glared at their opponents.

"Oh look, Parker. Kaiba's got a parrot." Lowell snickered at the younger Kaiba. "All right! Your team may go first!"

The holograms activated themselves, and the dueling disks of each player turned on. "This match won't last long, you creeps! Then we'll have our sister back, and healthy!" Kaiba played his first card in the monster field in defense mode face down.

"All right! My turn!" Mokuba played a Mountain field card, and a Red Eyes Black Dragon, followed by a Lord of Dragons card. "My turn is over." He looked over at Seto. "How was that?"

"Very impressive, Little Brother. Keep on your toes though. That Lord of Dragons powers all dragon cards." Kaiba glared down at the two others. "Well? What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Parker played a Mystical Elf.

"D'oh! Is that all you've got?!" Lowell glared at his partner.

"Well,t-the truth is,S-sir…" Parker wiped his forehead.

"The truth is, your partner doesn't know anything about playing Duel Monsters!" Kaiba said triumphantly.

"Can it, Kaiba. It's still my turn." Lowell played two cards face down.

Kaiba smirked. He knew they would have this duel in the bag. "Make your move."

"Fine." Lowell played a Hane -Hane. "Take back your Red-Eyes, brat."

Mokuba growled, and picked up his Red Eyes Black Dragon. "That move won't last too long, Lowell!"

"My turn now." Kaiba drew a card, then looked up at his opponents, with a smirk. "Now, I turn my last card face up,and play two more cards. Three Blue Eyes White Dragons and a Polymerization card. Oh now…guess what? I summon onto the field,Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! And with Mokuba's Mountain card, that's six thousand two hundred attack points!" He smirked, watching their horrified faces.

"Alright Seto!" I glared at the two other men. "That'll teach you for hurting my sister!"

"He hasn't attacked yet!" Lowell glared at me and Yugi.

"But I will now! Obliterate, my Blue Eyes!" Kaiba watched in amusement, as the two grabbed their decks, and ran. "Stop them! They've something I need!"

The two men were detained by Yami and Rakura. "Let us out!"

"Oh we will. Give us the antidote, Lowell. We won, fair and square." Kaiba glared at them. "And then, you'll accompany us to the hospital, to make sure it works. Now let's go."

They were ushered into my waiting limousine. "Domino General, Lorenzo, and step on it."

The ride back to the hospital was silent. I guess we were all lost in our own thoughts. All I could think about was saving Elizabeth. "What if it doesn't work, Seto?" I whispered.

"It better, or they'll be sorry." He opened the door, as the limo pulled up to the hospital curb. "Let's go."

Elizabeth was awake, and playing quietly with a doll Serenity Wheeler had made for her. "Ryou! You're back!" She smiled at me.

I could tell she was weakening. "Yeah…..sorry to have left you."

"Lizzie, guess what? Seto and I are going to fix you." Mokuba smiled, patting her hand.

"The doctor told Ryou I couldn't be fixed…." She teared up.

"Well, they don't know shit." Tristan spoke up. He grinned at her. "You're going to be around a long time."

"Give her the antidote, Lowell. Now." Kaiba shoved the man to Lizzie's side. "And you best not hurt her."

Lowell pulled out the syringe,and the vile. He sucked in the entire contents. "I'll put it directly into her IV. It'll work quickly." He put the antidote into Lizzie's IV, and backed off. "Give it about ten minutes, and she'll be fine."

"Now get out!" Kaiba told the hospital security guards to dispose of them. We looked at each other. "All we can do is wait now, and hope she is okay."

The night had been long. Lizzie had slept through it after the antidote. Her vitals improved drastically in the first hour. Now it was morning, and she was more alert than she'd been in the last two weeks. Dr. Branch came in to check up on her. "Good morning, Elizabeth. How are you feeling this morning?"

"A lot better. Can I go home? I've got a tournament."

"Slow down, Lizzie. I was just going to suggest that." Dr. Branch smiled at me. "I'll write her discharge papers."

I couldn't believe it. Lizzie was going to come home with me. Alive. "You hear that, Lizzie? You're coming home!" I hugged her tightly. "I'm going to go out and call Seto and the others, okay? We'll go out to lunch or something. "

"No. I just want to go home, Ryou." She was serious.

"Alright, we'll go home. That's where you belong,Baby." I hugged her again ,sighing in relief. Things were going to be okay from there on out.

(A/N: I really hope the duel in this is okay. It was the part I was the most worried about. Also, I want to thank everyone who've reviewed this, my first fic. I'm very proud of it. Stay tuned for the conclusion in a day or two.~The Author)