"Combustion?!" Tea shrieked.
"That's right," Vivalene smirked.
Bakura narrowed his eyes. "Vivalene, if you do anything to harm my friends, I swear I'll . . ."
"You'll do nothing!" she snapped at him suddenly. "If you do, it will be the utter downfall of everyone you're trying to save!"
Bakura blinked and staggered back, looking as if someone had punched him hard.
Yami Bakura's eyes flamed. "You are asking for trouble, woman!!" With that he lunged forward and grabbed her wrist harshly, trying to wrench the talisman out of her hand.
"YAMI!!!" Bakura screamed, his soft eyes wide and alarmed. "You're going to get hurt, Yami!! What if the talisman power activates and . . ."
The thief paid him no heed as the struggle continued. Suddenly the small, deadly object flew out of Vivalene's hand and soared down to where the others were.
"Everyone scatter!" Seto directed harshly, and it didn't take a whole lot to make the other teens obey.
A wicked laugh was heard from above and then rays of fire shot down all around them, completely incinerating several crates behind Joey and Tristan.
"YAAAAAA!!!" the Brooklyn boy yelped in panic, rushing away before he became the next victim.
"What is that?!" Tristan cried in disbelief.
"Heat beam eyes," Marik's double sneered from the catwalk he had managed to climb up to. "Would you like a more personal demonstration of their power?"
"I don't think so," Tristan retorted.
The imposter sneered maliciously. "It just so happens that I'm giving out free samples," he declared.
"STOP!!"
Everyone froze and turned to see what was happening as Yugi, his Yami, and Jackie and Uncle burst in.
"The Talismans should not be used in this way," Jackie cried. "How on earth did you even get them?!"
Vivalene smirked. "Oh . . . with a little help from my *friends*, darling, anything is possible." She laughed raucously, pushing Yami Bakura backward and nearly off the balcony. Bakura let out a cry of panic and grabbed the tomb raider's wrist just before he pitched over.
"Yeah?" Tristan's eyes narrowed. "Well, with *our* friends, nothing is gonna stop us from taking you down!!"
"We shall see, won't we?" Vivalene stood up and took four more talismans out of her purse.
"She must have them all!!" Jackie exclaimed in horror. Quickly he began cleverly scaling the wall, trying to figure out how to take the woman by surprise. Before he could finish his ascent, something caught him sharply in the back and he started to fall. "What *was* that?!" he gasped as he frantically grabbed hold of a nearby plank just in time.
"Oh . . . just me," Seth purred, floating in the air behind him. "Levitation plus speed equals flight." He held up two talismans triumphantly.
"Yeah? Well, how about a little free-fall!! HIIYAA!!!"
Without warning Jade somersaulted out of seemingly nowhere, kicking Seth roughly in the chest. Gasping, the priest's grip on the talismans loosened and they went flying over to the balcony, one falling to the floor and the other clanking Bakura on the forehead. Seth, meanwhile, nearly pitched to the floor far below—only he swiftly chanted a spell and managed to get himself lowered painlessly.
Bakura blinked as the talisman hit him and then grabbed for it, staring at the rooster picture engraven on the front. "Oh my," he said, "what on earth . . ."
Suddenly the boy let out a shriek as he began uncontrollably rising into the air.
"You moron!!!" Yami Bakura yelled. "Come down here this instant!!"
"I don't know how!!" Bakura retorted.
"Aiiyaa!! He cannot control the talisman power!!" Uncle cried.
Vivalene cackled. "Oh, you are so amusing," she declared, suddenly whirling around and dropping gracefully to the floor below. "But I'm really tired of letting things drag on like this." With that she sprang into the taxi and revved the engine, heading with unimaginable speed straight for Tea and Yami Bakura, who had followed her off the balcony.
"No!! Stop!!" Bakura screamed.
"She's powered up the car with the rabbit talisman!!" Jackie realized, trying desperately to get to her to stop this.
Bakura didn't even think about what he was doing. Even though he hadn't been able to control the levitation powers before, now he soared down gracefully like an eagle and pushed his two friends out of the way barely in time.
Tea gasped as she was thrown into some crates. "Whoa, that was too close!!" she said shakily, looking around.
Yami Bakura was nearby with Bakura sprawled across his chest. "Get up, you fool," he ordered as Vivalene turned and headed for them again. "Get up!!"
Bakura groaned and forced his eyes open, seeing the taxi barreling for them head-on. Several of the henchmen working for Marik's double had already been hit, and they lay scattered around the floor in various states of pain and anguish. "Yami, take Tea and go!!" he cried. "Please!!" With that the boy sprang forward and crashed through the windshield of the taxi, startling Vivalene and making her swerve the automobile out of the way.
Meanwhile, Uncle was fighting with Daolon Wong, who had just made his appearance.
"I should have known you would come to thwart my plans, good chi wizard!" Daolon cried in annoyance.
Uncle glared as he powered up his blowfish. "Why have you joined forces with these?!" he demanded, indicating the other members of the "team."
Daolon sneered. "Perhaps I am using them all as puppets," he said smoothly, "and once I have everything I desire, I will . . . dispose of them."
Seto was scrapping with Khu fiercely when a talisman suddenly flew into the air and landed in his hand.
"Hey, what the . . ." Seto barely had time to look at the picture of the sheep on it before Khu used a harsh blast of dark lightning, sending him to the floor.
Or was he on the floor?! Seto glanced around in disbelief as he realized he was floating in the air. Deciding he must have found the infamous levitation talisman, he turned to attack Marik's double, who was still on the catwalk and preparing to use Heat Beam Eyes on everyone once more. When Seto tried to tackle him, however, he found that absolutely nothing happened. Narrowing his eyes, he growled and tried again. Marik's double didn't even appear to notice him there.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Seto screamed at last, but no one even looked up.
"Big brother!! Big brother!!" Mokuba's voice shrieked as he and Ishizu dashed into the fray.
Tristan, who had just punched out one of the lackeys, looked up in surprise. "Mokuba!! What are you doing here?!"
The younger boy didn't answer, however, as he ran to Seto's still body on the floor and shook him frantically. "Seto!! Seto, get up!!"
Seto, up in the air, blinked and floated down to where his brother was. "Come on, kid, I'm right here!" he cried, then trailed off as he suddenly realized what had happened.
"Joey," Mokuba sobbed, seeing the blonde boy nearby, "please come help me!! I can't wake him up!!"
"Eh?" Joey hurried over and knelt down. "Kaiba?! Come on, man, this isn't funny!!" He noticed the sheep talisman in the other boy's hand and stared. "Hey, I wonder what this does . . ." he mused.
"No, wait, Wheeler!!" Seto screamed in vain, knowing that Joey couldn't hear him. "Don't . . ."
Joey grabbed the hard object and held it tightly, then fell forward and collapsed across Seto's body. Mokuba gasped and screamed in horror.
"Hey, what gives?!" Joey exclaimed as he found himself floating. "Why am I . . ." He glanced down at his body. "YAAAAAA!!!! I'm dead!!!"
Seto rolled his eyes. "You've astral-projected, Wheeler," he replied.
"Astral-projected?!" Joey stared at Seto in disbelief.
"That's right," Seto nodded. "Now get back in your body!!!"
Joey shrugged and flew down, entering his body and then getting up in confusion. Seto then followed suit, looking immensely irritated at this whole entire mess.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba exclaimed in relief, hugging the older boy tightly.
Seto smiled and hugged him back, then looked up to see what else was happening.
Vivalene growled angrily as her taxi crashed into the wall. "You miserable brat!!" she screamed, grabbing Bakura harshly and trying to strangle him. "Now look what you've done!!!"
Bakura struggled. "I won't let you harm my friends!!" he cried with a sob, feeling the darkness start to close in as his breathing was cut off.
"LET HIM GO!!!!" Yami Bakura yelled in rage, crashing into the cab and knocking Vivalene out onto the floor. The thief smirked nastily as he pulled out his deck. "You know, I've been waiting to use this on someone who truly deserves it," he hissed, pulling out the Man-Eater Bug and summoning it into the room.
Vivalene screamed as it grabbed her in its huge pincers, raising her high above the floor. In desperation she threw a talisman at Khu. "Here!" she yelled.
Khu took it and blinked. "What does it do . . ." he started to ask, but then gasped as a bright light encircled him, tearing at his very heart and soul.
Seth watched in disbelief as two Khus fell out of the light. "What the . . . now there's TWO of him!!!" he burst out in astonishment. "As if one wasn't enough!!"
"AIIYAA!! It is the Yin/Yang talisman!!" Uncle cried. "He has been separated into his good side and his evil side!!!"
Daolon Wong smirked. "How amusing," he declared.
The two Khus stood up, looking around in confusion.
"What is all this fighting?!" one of them gasped. This one had overly bright, cute eyes and a sweet expression. "This is terrible!!"
The other one looked more like Khu's real self, only much meaner and more evil. "What a wimp," he remarked, pushing the first one backward. "I'll pulverize you just for the fun of it!!"
Seth just stared, his blue eyes wide in bewilderment. "And he thinks I'M an idiot!" he cried, watching as the bad Khu beat his good half into submission.
Seto observed with much amusement, crossing his arms. "You know, I didn't even know he was capable of having a good side," he remarked.
Without warning he was whacked by Uncle. "Of course he has good side!!" the elderly man declared. "Everyone has good side!!"
Marik's double now cackled maniacally as he leaped down to stand in the middle of the fray. "You're missing a couple of your number, aren't you?" he taunted, looking right at little Yugi.
"What do you mean?" the boy cried, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh . . . just that the boy who looks like me and his poor servant aren't here," the imposter said smoothly. "I guess the real Marik Ishtar has found that Rishid is dead."
"What?!" Yugi screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. "What did you do to him?!"
"Stabbed him, of course," the impersonator sneered malevolently. "Unfortunately, tho, not with a poisoned blade." He started to laugh. "Poor Shadi," he jeered. "Imagine, him turning against everything his bloodline has been protecting for all these years and trying to get the Millennium Items for himself! Oh, but that's right—he couldn't control himself, now, could he?"
Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You killed him too!!!" he wailed, the tears spilling over. "You killed Shadi and now you've killed Rishid!! Why?!"
"They were in my way," Marik's double replied. "My master was actually the one who poisoned Shadi . . . but I slipped in an extra dose."
"Perhaps," a cold voice said from the doorway, "you think to rethink your methods."
Everyone looked up as a silhouetted figure stepped into the light, revealing his tangled black curls and piercing blue eyes.
"Shadi!!!" Yugi gasped.
"That's right," Vivalene smirked.
Bakura narrowed his eyes. "Vivalene, if you do anything to harm my friends, I swear I'll . . ."
"You'll do nothing!" she snapped at him suddenly. "If you do, it will be the utter downfall of everyone you're trying to save!"
Bakura blinked and staggered back, looking as if someone had punched him hard.
Yami Bakura's eyes flamed. "You are asking for trouble, woman!!" With that he lunged forward and grabbed her wrist harshly, trying to wrench the talisman out of her hand.
"YAMI!!!" Bakura screamed, his soft eyes wide and alarmed. "You're going to get hurt, Yami!! What if the talisman power activates and . . ."
The thief paid him no heed as the struggle continued. Suddenly the small, deadly object flew out of Vivalene's hand and soared down to where the others were.
"Everyone scatter!" Seto directed harshly, and it didn't take a whole lot to make the other teens obey.
A wicked laugh was heard from above and then rays of fire shot down all around them, completely incinerating several crates behind Joey and Tristan.
"YAAAAAA!!!" the Brooklyn boy yelped in panic, rushing away before he became the next victim.
"What is that?!" Tristan cried in disbelief.
"Heat beam eyes," Marik's double sneered from the catwalk he had managed to climb up to. "Would you like a more personal demonstration of their power?"
"I don't think so," Tristan retorted.
The imposter sneered maliciously. "It just so happens that I'm giving out free samples," he declared.
"STOP!!"
Everyone froze and turned to see what was happening as Yugi, his Yami, and Jackie and Uncle burst in.
"The Talismans should not be used in this way," Jackie cried. "How on earth did you even get them?!"
Vivalene smirked. "Oh . . . with a little help from my *friends*, darling, anything is possible." She laughed raucously, pushing Yami Bakura backward and nearly off the balcony. Bakura let out a cry of panic and grabbed the tomb raider's wrist just before he pitched over.
"Yeah?" Tristan's eyes narrowed. "Well, with *our* friends, nothing is gonna stop us from taking you down!!"
"We shall see, won't we?" Vivalene stood up and took four more talismans out of her purse.
"She must have them all!!" Jackie exclaimed in horror. Quickly he began cleverly scaling the wall, trying to figure out how to take the woman by surprise. Before he could finish his ascent, something caught him sharply in the back and he started to fall. "What *was* that?!" he gasped as he frantically grabbed hold of a nearby plank just in time.
"Oh . . . just me," Seth purred, floating in the air behind him. "Levitation plus speed equals flight." He held up two talismans triumphantly.
"Yeah? Well, how about a little free-fall!! HIIYAA!!!"
Without warning Jade somersaulted out of seemingly nowhere, kicking Seth roughly in the chest. Gasping, the priest's grip on the talismans loosened and they went flying over to the balcony, one falling to the floor and the other clanking Bakura on the forehead. Seth, meanwhile, nearly pitched to the floor far below—only he swiftly chanted a spell and managed to get himself lowered painlessly.
Bakura blinked as the talisman hit him and then grabbed for it, staring at the rooster picture engraven on the front. "Oh my," he said, "what on earth . . ."
Suddenly the boy let out a shriek as he began uncontrollably rising into the air.
"You moron!!!" Yami Bakura yelled. "Come down here this instant!!"
"I don't know how!!" Bakura retorted.
"Aiiyaa!! He cannot control the talisman power!!" Uncle cried.
Vivalene cackled. "Oh, you are so amusing," she declared, suddenly whirling around and dropping gracefully to the floor below. "But I'm really tired of letting things drag on like this." With that she sprang into the taxi and revved the engine, heading with unimaginable speed straight for Tea and Yami Bakura, who had followed her off the balcony.
"No!! Stop!!" Bakura screamed.
"She's powered up the car with the rabbit talisman!!" Jackie realized, trying desperately to get to her to stop this.
Bakura didn't even think about what he was doing. Even though he hadn't been able to control the levitation powers before, now he soared down gracefully like an eagle and pushed his two friends out of the way barely in time.
Tea gasped as she was thrown into some crates. "Whoa, that was too close!!" she said shakily, looking around.
Yami Bakura was nearby with Bakura sprawled across his chest. "Get up, you fool," he ordered as Vivalene turned and headed for them again. "Get up!!"
Bakura groaned and forced his eyes open, seeing the taxi barreling for them head-on. Several of the henchmen working for Marik's double had already been hit, and they lay scattered around the floor in various states of pain and anguish. "Yami, take Tea and go!!" he cried. "Please!!" With that the boy sprang forward and crashed through the windshield of the taxi, startling Vivalene and making her swerve the automobile out of the way.
Meanwhile, Uncle was fighting with Daolon Wong, who had just made his appearance.
"I should have known you would come to thwart my plans, good chi wizard!" Daolon cried in annoyance.
Uncle glared as he powered up his blowfish. "Why have you joined forces with these?!" he demanded, indicating the other members of the "team."
Daolon sneered. "Perhaps I am using them all as puppets," he said smoothly, "and once I have everything I desire, I will . . . dispose of them."
Seto was scrapping with Khu fiercely when a talisman suddenly flew into the air and landed in his hand.
"Hey, what the . . ." Seto barely had time to look at the picture of the sheep on it before Khu used a harsh blast of dark lightning, sending him to the floor.
Or was he on the floor?! Seto glanced around in disbelief as he realized he was floating in the air. Deciding he must have found the infamous levitation talisman, he turned to attack Marik's double, who was still on the catwalk and preparing to use Heat Beam Eyes on everyone once more. When Seto tried to tackle him, however, he found that absolutely nothing happened. Narrowing his eyes, he growled and tried again. Marik's double didn't even appear to notice him there.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Seto screamed at last, but no one even looked up.
"Big brother!! Big brother!!" Mokuba's voice shrieked as he and Ishizu dashed into the fray.
Tristan, who had just punched out one of the lackeys, looked up in surprise. "Mokuba!! What are you doing here?!"
The younger boy didn't answer, however, as he ran to Seto's still body on the floor and shook him frantically. "Seto!! Seto, get up!!"
Seto, up in the air, blinked and floated down to where his brother was. "Come on, kid, I'm right here!" he cried, then trailed off as he suddenly realized what had happened.
"Joey," Mokuba sobbed, seeing the blonde boy nearby, "please come help me!! I can't wake him up!!"
"Eh?" Joey hurried over and knelt down. "Kaiba?! Come on, man, this isn't funny!!" He noticed the sheep talisman in the other boy's hand and stared. "Hey, I wonder what this does . . ." he mused.
"No, wait, Wheeler!!" Seto screamed in vain, knowing that Joey couldn't hear him. "Don't . . ."
Joey grabbed the hard object and held it tightly, then fell forward and collapsed across Seto's body. Mokuba gasped and screamed in horror.
"Hey, what gives?!" Joey exclaimed as he found himself floating. "Why am I . . ." He glanced down at his body. "YAAAAAA!!!! I'm dead!!!"
Seto rolled his eyes. "You've astral-projected, Wheeler," he replied.
"Astral-projected?!" Joey stared at Seto in disbelief.
"That's right," Seto nodded. "Now get back in your body!!!"
Joey shrugged and flew down, entering his body and then getting up in confusion. Seto then followed suit, looking immensely irritated at this whole entire mess.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba exclaimed in relief, hugging the older boy tightly.
Seto smiled and hugged him back, then looked up to see what else was happening.
Vivalene growled angrily as her taxi crashed into the wall. "You miserable brat!!" she screamed, grabbing Bakura harshly and trying to strangle him. "Now look what you've done!!!"
Bakura struggled. "I won't let you harm my friends!!" he cried with a sob, feeling the darkness start to close in as his breathing was cut off.
"LET HIM GO!!!!" Yami Bakura yelled in rage, crashing into the cab and knocking Vivalene out onto the floor. The thief smirked nastily as he pulled out his deck. "You know, I've been waiting to use this on someone who truly deserves it," he hissed, pulling out the Man-Eater Bug and summoning it into the room.
Vivalene screamed as it grabbed her in its huge pincers, raising her high above the floor. In desperation she threw a talisman at Khu. "Here!" she yelled.
Khu took it and blinked. "What does it do . . ." he started to ask, but then gasped as a bright light encircled him, tearing at his very heart and soul.
Seth watched in disbelief as two Khus fell out of the light. "What the . . . now there's TWO of him!!!" he burst out in astonishment. "As if one wasn't enough!!"
"AIIYAA!! It is the Yin/Yang talisman!!" Uncle cried. "He has been separated into his good side and his evil side!!!"
Daolon Wong smirked. "How amusing," he declared.
The two Khus stood up, looking around in confusion.
"What is all this fighting?!" one of them gasped. This one had overly bright, cute eyes and a sweet expression. "This is terrible!!"
The other one looked more like Khu's real self, only much meaner and more evil. "What a wimp," he remarked, pushing the first one backward. "I'll pulverize you just for the fun of it!!"
Seth just stared, his blue eyes wide in bewilderment. "And he thinks I'M an idiot!" he cried, watching as the bad Khu beat his good half into submission.
Seto observed with much amusement, crossing his arms. "You know, I didn't even know he was capable of having a good side," he remarked.
Without warning he was whacked by Uncle. "Of course he has good side!!" the elderly man declared. "Everyone has good side!!"
Marik's double now cackled maniacally as he leaped down to stand in the middle of the fray. "You're missing a couple of your number, aren't you?" he taunted, looking right at little Yugi.
"What do you mean?" the boy cried, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh . . . just that the boy who looks like me and his poor servant aren't here," the imposter said smoothly. "I guess the real Marik Ishtar has found that Rishid is dead."
"What?!" Yugi screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. "What did you do to him?!"
"Stabbed him, of course," the impersonator sneered malevolently. "Unfortunately, tho, not with a poisoned blade." He started to laugh. "Poor Shadi," he jeered. "Imagine, him turning against everything his bloodline has been protecting for all these years and trying to get the Millennium Items for himself! Oh, but that's right—he couldn't control himself, now, could he?"
Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You killed him too!!!" he wailed, the tears spilling over. "You killed Shadi and now you've killed Rishid!! Why?!"
"They were in my way," Marik's double replied. "My master was actually the one who poisoned Shadi . . . but I slipped in an extra dose."
"Perhaps," a cold voice said from the doorway, "you think to rethink your methods."
Everyone looked up as a silhouetted figure stepped into the light, revealing his tangled black curls and piercing blue eyes.
"Shadi!!!" Yugi gasped.