As Yami Bakura approached the harbor, a sobbing Bakura still in his arms, Shadi abruptly ran out and stepped in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yami Bakura said crossly. "Step away, mortal, or I shall be forced to . . ."
Before he could finish his sentence, Shadi had tackled and bowled him over, sending him to the ground and then standing over him threateningly. Bakura, who had wound up being flung several feet away by these actions, cried out in pain and shock.
"Shadi, what are you doing?!" Bakura screamed. "What's wrong?!"
Refusing to answer, the Egyptian man produced a dagger and held it up to Yami Bakura's throat.
The tomb robber let out a startled cry and then snatched Shadi's wrist angrily. "You imbecile!! What do you think you're doing?!" Yami Bakura burst out indignantly.
The Ring, Shadi stated silently. Give it to me.
"DON'T BE ABSURD!!!!!!" Infuriated, Yami Bakura threw the man backwards harshly against a stack of crates and watched the dagger fall from his hand. "I will never relinquish my Millennium Ring!!"
Bakura stood up, his innocent heart pounding. "Yami, what's happening?! Why is Shadi trying to hurt you?!" he wailed. "Is this a double?!"
"No," Yami Bakura growled in reply. "This is not a double. This is the real Shadi."
"But why?!" Bakura shrieked as Shadi got up and charged at the thief again.
"He's gone mad!" Yami Bakura snarled, pulling out the Millennium Ring and letting it glow. Shadi retaliated by displaying the Millennium Ankh and shooting a burst of deadly energy from it.
"Shadi!!" Bakura screamed, grabbing at the man's arm. "Shadi, please stop it! You're going to hurt him, and if you don't, he'll hurt you!! Oh please come back to yourself!!"
In response Shadi threw Bakura to the ground violently before attacking Yami Bakura once more.
"You moron!!" the tomb robber growled, glancing at the hapless Bakura and then back up at the boy's assailant. "You will pay for that." He lunged forward, knocking Shadi off-balance and then angrily grabbing the dagger to point at the crazed man's throat.
"YAMI!!" Bakura leaped up in horror. "Don't kill him, Yami! Oh please don't!!"
"He's going to kill us otherwise, you dolt!" Yami Bakura snarled.
"But he doesn't know what he's doing!" Bakura insisted. "You know Shadi would never act like this if he were in his right mind! You said yourself that he'd cracked up!"
"Either that or something worse," Yami Bakura hissed, but didn't elaborate.
Furiously Shadi snatched the thief's wrist and dug into it painfully with his fingernails. Yami Bakura gave a cry of agony and loosened his grip on the knife, dropping it to the ground with a loud clunk.
With a sudden burst of pressure, Shadi now kicked his legs up and knocked Yami Bakura away from him, letting his silvery-haired opponent fall into the ocean with a startled yelp.
"Yami!!" Bakura cried in horror, finding a rope and throwing it down for his Yami to grab onto. Sputtering, the thief clutched it tightly and pulled himself back onto the dock.
Shadi watched him for a moment and then picked up the Millennium Ring from where it had fallen, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Bakura cried, trying to run in front of him. "Why, Shadi?!" he sobbed. "Why would you do this?!"
Shadi, apparently unfazed, simply walked on, heading for his next victim. Before Bakura could stop him, the mysterious man had vanished through one of his vortexes.
"He's got the Ring," a very drenched Yami Bakura coughed, a fire in his eyes. "He stole it from me!!"
"And it's all my fault!!" Bakura wailed loudly.
"You imbecile!!" Yami Bakura snapped. "As if you could have stopped him!! If I couldn't do it, you most certainly never could have!!"
Bakura blinked at his Yami's harsh words. Even though he knew them to be true, he still felt that he should have been able to do something.
"I'm just too much of a weakling to do anything to help!!" Bakura cried now, tears in his eyes again.
"Oh hush," Yami Bakura growled. He would never admit it, but he liked Bakura much better the way he was—sweet, innocent, naive, and trusting. He didn't want the boy to change.
****
Seto and those with him were searching all over Chinatown for Yugi and Tea when suddenly a strange figure appeared in front of them. He had long white hair, very unusual eyes—one green and one brown—and was carrying a short sceptre in his hand.
"Whoa!" Joey exclaimed in disbelief. "Who the heck are you?!"
"Me?" The man snorted. "I am a very deadly Dark Chi Wizard, boy, and you would be wise not to interfere with me!"
"Alright, alright!" Joey threw up his hands in vexation and puzzlement.
The chi wizard chanted an ancient spell and then vanished in a cloud of blue-purple smoke.
"Guys," Tristan said after a brief silence, "that was . . . really weird."
"What the heck is a chi wizard?" Joey asked, blinking.
Mai rolled her eyes. "Lamebrain, it's someone skilled in Chinese magic," she informed him. "And the one we just met dabbles in the dark part of it!"
Seto remained silent through all of this. There were too many loose ends in this mystery. Deadly doubles. Threatening thieves. Missing Egyptian artifacts. Evil, ancient spirits and now chi wizards and Vivalene.
"I'm going back to the museum," he said abruptly, turning around.
"What?!" Joey burst out in complete confusion.
"I have some questions to ask the curator," Seto replied shortly. "The rest of you can find Yugi and Tea." And before anyone could say anything more, the young businessman had rounded a corner and vanished from their sight.
"Well, how do you like that?" Mai remarked, crossing her arms. "He's gone off by himself again!"
"That's Kaiba for you," Tristan said, shaking his head.
"Hey!" Joey exclaimed. "What the heck?! There's Bakura! And he's with Vivalene!!!" The blonde boy just stared in shock. Even though he knew that Vivalene was still alive, it was quite a shock to actually see her in the flesh—especially after he'd watched her pitch backwards off a building into the darkness below.
"Hey, you're kidding me!!" Tristan cried. "Bakura was being taken back to the ship by his Yami!!"
"Well, he's here now," Mai said with a blink, "unless that one's a double."
At that moment the both of them chose to stroll over. "Oh hello darlings," Vivalene purred. "So nice to see you again, Joseph."
"Hey, don't give me that garbage!!" Joey burst out, pointing his forefinger at the woman in emphasis. "You almost killed two of my friends and me as well!!"
Vivalene didn't even bat an eye. "Oh, darling, that was my evil sister," she purred.
"That trick won't work on me this time!" Joey fumed.
The boy who looked like Bakura stepped forward. "Hello," he smiled. "How are you all doing?"
"We're fine, Bakura," Tristan said slowly. "And you've sure seemed to cheer up fast."
"Hmm? Why, I've felt perfectly fine all day, Tristan," Bakura replied with a puzzled smile.
"Fine?" Mai stepped forward and stared into his purple eyes. "Well, if crying and carrying on that everyone was going to die because of you is being fine I guess you were ecstatic!" Wait a minute . . . Bakura's eyes are brown! she realized. Another piece of proof that this one is phony!
Vivalene ruffled Joey's hair. "Well, darlings, I'd love to stay and chat, but there's just so terribly much to do! I just thought I'd bring Bakura back to you before I left."
"Yeah?" Tristan glared. "You know, if the police found out you were still kicking around they'd come after you with at least three charges of attempted murder," he declared.
Vivalene chuckled. "Yes, well . . . life certainly is interesting, is it not?" And with that cryptic remark, she snapped her fingers and also instantly vanished.
"What the heck?!" Joey cried in frustration.
Bakura blinked. "Well, I really don't see what's so odd," he smiled.
"For one thing, buddy, you are!" Tristan retorted. "Come on, we all know you're not the real Bakura!"
"Well, of course I am, Tristan," Bakura responded. "If I wasn't Bakura, then who on earth would I be?"
"Man, that's what we wanna find out!" Joey exclaimed, moving forward threateningly.
"Oh please don't hurt me, Joey!" Bakura wailed, suddenly frightened—or so he appeared to be. As he backed up, Mai realized that he was slowly pulling a gun out of his pocket.
"Look out!!" she screamed, pushing Joey and Tristan to the ground just as the phony Bakura fired. The bullet flew into the air harmlessly, but Joey found himself start to feel dizzy.
"Hey! What the heck did you do?!" he yelled. He and the other two teens looked up to see the fake Bakura covering his nose and mouth with his hand.
"Well," he said in a muffled tone, "it looks like you've just been outsmarted by me. You see, Vivalene wanted me to bring you all in. So . . . I will."
****
Several cloaked figures stepped out of the shadows near the alley and surrounded Rishid grimly, each one holding a different weapon. The figure in the lead threw off the hood of his cloak, revealing none other than one who strikingly resembled Marik.
"Hello there. Rishid, isn't it?" he laughed, twirling his machete about in a dangerous manner. Rishid felt very uneasy at the thought of tangling with anyone pretending to be his beloved brother, but he stood his ground and narrowed his eyes angrily.
"What is it you want?" he demanded.
"To stop you from achieving what you want," Marik's double grinned nastily.
Rishid backed up. "According to my brother's young friend, those who attacked them were mistaking Master Marik for a double, most likely you." He glared at the boy angrily.
"And you are most likely right." The double paused and stepped up closer, bringing the machete up to Rishid's heart. "But this entire plot is too complex for your feeble mind to possibly comprehend. Unfortunately . . ." He turned slightly. "You cannot be allowed to learn more about it."
Rishid narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that if I continued to pursue this path I would find the answers?"
"I'm not saying anything." Marik's double then chose to add to the discomfort he was putting Rishid through by switching his voice to sound exactly like that of the boy he was pretending to be. "Except that I'm afraid you'll have to go, old friend."
"Stop it," Rishid snarled.
The imposter only laughed. "Attack," he ordered.
Rishid was prepared for the assault, but even one as strong and tough as he couldn't fight off every last one of the brutes, nor could he possibly dodge every swing and strike of their weapons. And when the treacherous impersonator summoned half a dozen more of his minions as well, poor Rishid found that he was utterly outnumbered.
"Well," Marik's double sneered as he kicked at Rishid's wounded body, "it seems I must say goodbye for now, brother."
"You are not . . . Marik," Rishid hissed, struggling to stand up again.
"Oh. I forgot." The imposter produced his machete and plunged it into the man's chest. "Now I will say goodbye."
****
Yugi and Tea were wandering around still looking for the phony Bakura when a threatening figure stepped into their path.
"Hey!" Yugi exclaimed. "Shadi, what are you . . ."
The boy trailed off as he was suddenly jerked toward the deranged Shadi by his Millennium Puzzle, which suddenly glowed as Yami Yugi emerged from it.
"Let him go, Shadi," the Pharaoh said angrily. "You know you don't want to do this."
Shadi ignored him and tried to pull the Puzzle off from around Yugi's neck, all the while holding the dagger dangerously in the other hand.
"You psycho freak! What's wrong with you?!" Tea burst out angrily, preparing to whap Shadi with her purse. Instead her attack was prevented as the man reached out and grabbed her wrist harshly.
Yugi watched this, his mouth agape. "I don't get it!" he exclaimed, immensely upset. "Shadi, you shouldn't be acting like this!! Let Tea go!!"
Yami Yugi grabbed for the Egyptian's arm to restrain him and stared into his eyes. "You're not yourself," the ancient spirit said sternly.
Shadi replied by pushing Yami Yugi back viciously and going for the Puzzle again.
"Stop it!!" Tea screamed. "Stop it, Shadi!!!"
"He's been poisoned!!" Yami Yugi yelled as he got to his feet again.
"What?!" Yugi gasped as Shadi grabbed for him once more. "Shadi, you can't do this!!" He stared into the man's red eyes. "You can fight whatever it is that's attacking you! I know it's not really you doing this . . ." He cried out as he was yanked forward again, the dagger being brought up to his throat. "You'd never hurt me if you were in your right mind!!"
The man wavered a bit, his eyes flickering back to their normal blue. "I . . . I cannot stop this," he murmured low, letting out a cry of anguish as his eyes became red once more. He held the dagger in front of Yugi's eyes and prepared to lower it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yami Bakura said crossly. "Step away, mortal, or I shall be forced to . . ."
Before he could finish his sentence, Shadi had tackled and bowled him over, sending him to the ground and then standing over him threateningly. Bakura, who had wound up being flung several feet away by these actions, cried out in pain and shock.
"Shadi, what are you doing?!" Bakura screamed. "What's wrong?!"
Refusing to answer, the Egyptian man produced a dagger and held it up to Yami Bakura's throat.
The tomb robber let out a startled cry and then snatched Shadi's wrist angrily. "You imbecile!! What do you think you're doing?!" Yami Bakura burst out indignantly.
The Ring, Shadi stated silently. Give it to me.
"DON'T BE ABSURD!!!!!!" Infuriated, Yami Bakura threw the man backwards harshly against a stack of crates and watched the dagger fall from his hand. "I will never relinquish my Millennium Ring!!"
Bakura stood up, his innocent heart pounding. "Yami, what's happening?! Why is Shadi trying to hurt you?!" he wailed. "Is this a double?!"
"No," Yami Bakura growled in reply. "This is not a double. This is the real Shadi."
"But why?!" Bakura shrieked as Shadi got up and charged at the thief again.
"He's gone mad!" Yami Bakura snarled, pulling out the Millennium Ring and letting it glow. Shadi retaliated by displaying the Millennium Ankh and shooting a burst of deadly energy from it.
"Shadi!!" Bakura screamed, grabbing at the man's arm. "Shadi, please stop it! You're going to hurt him, and if you don't, he'll hurt you!! Oh please come back to yourself!!"
In response Shadi threw Bakura to the ground violently before attacking Yami Bakura once more.
"You moron!!" the tomb robber growled, glancing at the hapless Bakura and then back up at the boy's assailant. "You will pay for that." He lunged forward, knocking Shadi off-balance and then angrily grabbing the dagger to point at the crazed man's throat.
"YAMI!!" Bakura leaped up in horror. "Don't kill him, Yami! Oh please don't!!"
"He's going to kill us otherwise, you dolt!" Yami Bakura snarled.
"But he doesn't know what he's doing!" Bakura insisted. "You know Shadi would never act like this if he were in his right mind! You said yourself that he'd cracked up!"
"Either that or something worse," Yami Bakura hissed, but didn't elaborate.
Furiously Shadi snatched the thief's wrist and dug into it painfully with his fingernails. Yami Bakura gave a cry of agony and loosened his grip on the knife, dropping it to the ground with a loud clunk.
With a sudden burst of pressure, Shadi now kicked his legs up and knocked Yami Bakura away from him, letting his silvery-haired opponent fall into the ocean with a startled yelp.
"Yami!!" Bakura cried in horror, finding a rope and throwing it down for his Yami to grab onto. Sputtering, the thief clutched it tightly and pulled himself back onto the dock.
Shadi watched him for a moment and then picked up the Millennium Ring from where it had fallen, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Bakura cried, trying to run in front of him. "Why, Shadi?!" he sobbed. "Why would you do this?!"
Shadi, apparently unfazed, simply walked on, heading for his next victim. Before Bakura could stop him, the mysterious man had vanished through one of his vortexes.
"He's got the Ring," a very drenched Yami Bakura coughed, a fire in his eyes. "He stole it from me!!"
"And it's all my fault!!" Bakura wailed loudly.
"You imbecile!!" Yami Bakura snapped. "As if you could have stopped him!! If I couldn't do it, you most certainly never could have!!"
Bakura blinked at his Yami's harsh words. Even though he knew them to be true, he still felt that he should have been able to do something.
"I'm just too much of a weakling to do anything to help!!" Bakura cried now, tears in his eyes again.
"Oh hush," Yami Bakura growled. He would never admit it, but he liked Bakura much better the way he was—sweet, innocent, naive, and trusting. He didn't want the boy to change.
****
Seto and those with him were searching all over Chinatown for Yugi and Tea when suddenly a strange figure appeared in front of them. He had long white hair, very unusual eyes—one green and one brown—and was carrying a short sceptre in his hand.
"Whoa!" Joey exclaimed in disbelief. "Who the heck are you?!"
"Me?" The man snorted. "I am a very deadly Dark Chi Wizard, boy, and you would be wise not to interfere with me!"
"Alright, alright!" Joey threw up his hands in vexation and puzzlement.
The chi wizard chanted an ancient spell and then vanished in a cloud of blue-purple smoke.
"Guys," Tristan said after a brief silence, "that was . . . really weird."
"What the heck is a chi wizard?" Joey asked, blinking.
Mai rolled her eyes. "Lamebrain, it's someone skilled in Chinese magic," she informed him. "And the one we just met dabbles in the dark part of it!"
Seto remained silent through all of this. There were too many loose ends in this mystery. Deadly doubles. Threatening thieves. Missing Egyptian artifacts. Evil, ancient spirits and now chi wizards and Vivalene.
"I'm going back to the museum," he said abruptly, turning around.
"What?!" Joey burst out in complete confusion.
"I have some questions to ask the curator," Seto replied shortly. "The rest of you can find Yugi and Tea." And before anyone could say anything more, the young businessman had rounded a corner and vanished from their sight.
"Well, how do you like that?" Mai remarked, crossing her arms. "He's gone off by himself again!"
"That's Kaiba for you," Tristan said, shaking his head.
"Hey!" Joey exclaimed. "What the heck?! There's Bakura! And he's with Vivalene!!!" The blonde boy just stared in shock. Even though he knew that Vivalene was still alive, it was quite a shock to actually see her in the flesh—especially after he'd watched her pitch backwards off a building into the darkness below.
"Hey, you're kidding me!!" Tristan cried. "Bakura was being taken back to the ship by his Yami!!"
"Well, he's here now," Mai said with a blink, "unless that one's a double."
At that moment the both of them chose to stroll over. "Oh hello darlings," Vivalene purred. "So nice to see you again, Joseph."
"Hey, don't give me that garbage!!" Joey burst out, pointing his forefinger at the woman in emphasis. "You almost killed two of my friends and me as well!!"
Vivalene didn't even bat an eye. "Oh, darling, that was my evil sister," she purred.
"That trick won't work on me this time!" Joey fumed.
The boy who looked like Bakura stepped forward. "Hello," he smiled. "How are you all doing?"
"We're fine, Bakura," Tristan said slowly. "And you've sure seemed to cheer up fast."
"Hmm? Why, I've felt perfectly fine all day, Tristan," Bakura replied with a puzzled smile.
"Fine?" Mai stepped forward and stared into his purple eyes. "Well, if crying and carrying on that everyone was going to die because of you is being fine I guess you were ecstatic!" Wait a minute . . . Bakura's eyes are brown! she realized. Another piece of proof that this one is phony!
Vivalene ruffled Joey's hair. "Well, darlings, I'd love to stay and chat, but there's just so terribly much to do! I just thought I'd bring Bakura back to you before I left."
"Yeah?" Tristan glared. "You know, if the police found out you were still kicking around they'd come after you with at least three charges of attempted murder," he declared.
Vivalene chuckled. "Yes, well . . . life certainly is interesting, is it not?" And with that cryptic remark, she snapped her fingers and also instantly vanished.
"What the heck?!" Joey cried in frustration.
Bakura blinked. "Well, I really don't see what's so odd," he smiled.
"For one thing, buddy, you are!" Tristan retorted. "Come on, we all know you're not the real Bakura!"
"Well, of course I am, Tristan," Bakura responded. "If I wasn't Bakura, then who on earth would I be?"
"Man, that's what we wanna find out!" Joey exclaimed, moving forward threateningly.
"Oh please don't hurt me, Joey!" Bakura wailed, suddenly frightened—or so he appeared to be. As he backed up, Mai realized that he was slowly pulling a gun out of his pocket.
"Look out!!" she screamed, pushing Joey and Tristan to the ground just as the phony Bakura fired. The bullet flew into the air harmlessly, but Joey found himself start to feel dizzy.
"Hey! What the heck did you do?!" he yelled. He and the other two teens looked up to see the fake Bakura covering his nose and mouth with his hand.
"Well," he said in a muffled tone, "it looks like you've just been outsmarted by me. You see, Vivalene wanted me to bring you all in. So . . . I will."
****
Several cloaked figures stepped out of the shadows near the alley and surrounded Rishid grimly, each one holding a different weapon. The figure in the lead threw off the hood of his cloak, revealing none other than one who strikingly resembled Marik.
"Hello there. Rishid, isn't it?" he laughed, twirling his machete about in a dangerous manner. Rishid felt very uneasy at the thought of tangling with anyone pretending to be his beloved brother, but he stood his ground and narrowed his eyes angrily.
"What is it you want?" he demanded.
"To stop you from achieving what you want," Marik's double grinned nastily.
Rishid backed up. "According to my brother's young friend, those who attacked them were mistaking Master Marik for a double, most likely you." He glared at the boy angrily.
"And you are most likely right." The double paused and stepped up closer, bringing the machete up to Rishid's heart. "But this entire plot is too complex for your feeble mind to possibly comprehend. Unfortunately . . ." He turned slightly. "You cannot be allowed to learn more about it."
Rishid narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that if I continued to pursue this path I would find the answers?"
"I'm not saying anything." Marik's double then chose to add to the discomfort he was putting Rishid through by switching his voice to sound exactly like that of the boy he was pretending to be. "Except that I'm afraid you'll have to go, old friend."
"Stop it," Rishid snarled.
The imposter only laughed. "Attack," he ordered.
Rishid was prepared for the assault, but even one as strong and tough as he couldn't fight off every last one of the brutes, nor could he possibly dodge every swing and strike of their weapons. And when the treacherous impersonator summoned half a dozen more of his minions as well, poor Rishid found that he was utterly outnumbered.
"Well," Marik's double sneered as he kicked at Rishid's wounded body, "it seems I must say goodbye for now, brother."
"You are not . . . Marik," Rishid hissed, struggling to stand up again.
"Oh. I forgot." The imposter produced his machete and plunged it into the man's chest. "Now I will say goodbye."
****
Yugi and Tea were wandering around still looking for the phony Bakura when a threatening figure stepped into their path.
"Hey!" Yugi exclaimed. "Shadi, what are you . . ."
The boy trailed off as he was suddenly jerked toward the deranged Shadi by his Millennium Puzzle, which suddenly glowed as Yami Yugi emerged from it.
"Let him go, Shadi," the Pharaoh said angrily. "You know you don't want to do this."
Shadi ignored him and tried to pull the Puzzle off from around Yugi's neck, all the while holding the dagger dangerously in the other hand.
"You psycho freak! What's wrong with you?!" Tea burst out angrily, preparing to whap Shadi with her purse. Instead her attack was prevented as the man reached out and grabbed her wrist harshly.
Yugi watched this, his mouth agape. "I don't get it!" he exclaimed, immensely upset. "Shadi, you shouldn't be acting like this!! Let Tea go!!"
Yami Yugi grabbed for the Egyptian's arm to restrain him and stared into his eyes. "You're not yourself," the ancient spirit said sternly.
Shadi replied by pushing Yami Yugi back viciously and going for the Puzzle again.
"Stop it!!" Tea screamed. "Stop it, Shadi!!!"
"He's been poisoned!!" Yami Yugi yelled as he got to his feet again.
"What?!" Yugi gasped as Shadi grabbed for him once more. "Shadi, you can't do this!!" He stared into the man's red eyes. "You can fight whatever it is that's attacking you! I know it's not really you doing this . . ." He cried out as he was yanked forward again, the dagger being brought up to his throat. "You'd never hurt me if you were in your right mind!!"
The man wavered a bit, his eyes flickering back to their normal blue. "I . . . I cannot stop this," he murmured low, letting out a cry of anguish as his eyes became red once more. He held the dagger in front of Yugi's eyes and prepared to lower it.