Written by Janni Pedersen, a.k.a. "JAY" and "janni-chan"
DEDICATED TO LISA HOGAN AND FUNG CHUN HONG.
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NOTE: Chapter three, finally ^__^ Thanks SO much to all you nice people who read and commented on the two previous chapters, it's the first time I've been encouraged so much to continue writing stories =D Big hugs to all of you, and I hope you'll like this chapter as much as you liked the others and as much as I loved writing it ^__^
Oh yes, to people who're impatient to read the Duel; I told you it'd be in this part... IT IS NOT... if I included it here, it'd be longer than it already is, so I've decided to put it in PART 4 which I'm still working on... I'm in the middle of the duel somewhere ^^ I hope this doesn't bother you too much or stops you from reading =)
Lisa Hogan has started editing the two previous chapters and she's doing such a great job ^__^ Not only does she make my stories "better" by correcting all grammar and spelling error, she also helps me learn more English ^^ She's a great gal, that's for sure! Thanks Lissie! ^o^ *waves*
IMPORTANT!!!!!: For those of you who would actually like to see a picture of Ayi Kaiba, I put one up in my gallery at the Danish art page, Tegnebordet (the Drawing Table). I drew the picture in Paint, so it's not that good, but you get an idea of what Ayi looks like and that's the important thing, right? ^^
So here's the link!
http://www.tegnebordet.dk/arkiv/2091-9930-ayi2.JPG
the picture is drawn for my friend, Stefanie W. from Germany ^___^ She's such a great person =D
Ok, that's all! Let's just take the copyrights now =)
Ayi Kaiba and the whole story are (c) me.
Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba, Maximillion Pegasus and other characters from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! is (c) Kazuki Takahashi., 4Kids and FUNimation.
Other characters are (c) their respective owners.
PLEASE REMEMBER:
My main language is DANISH and I haven't had much to do with English in school, so I've basically had to teach myself English with help from my Internet friends- so if there're any grammar/spelling errors, please tell me and I'll try to kill them ASAP ^^ Otherwise, they WILL be dead once Lisa's edited this ^_^ Thanks =)
Only one thing left to say now... ENJOY!!! =D
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NOTHING BUT TROUBLE...
PART 3
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Domino City looked like it always did during night; quiet and empty... and dark... but in one apartment, above the Game's Store, nothing was quiet...
"What on Earth are you doing here?! I told you she isn't here, I've never seen the girl you're talking about!" Solomon folded his arms, watching four of the six henchmen searching through the living room. Kemo, who was one of the two who was making sure Solomon kept sitting where they'd placed him, let out a laugh.
"Come on, you old fool! I saw you, your grandson, his pathetic friends and even Mokuba Kaiba with her!" he turned around as one of the other henchmen tapped his shoulder. The other guy whispered something Solomon couldn't hear, and Kemo nodded, turning around, frowned and smirked at Solomon, "well, she isn't here, so we're just gonna leave you, old man! We didn't expect to find her here anyway, but don't worry; we've got at least fifty men searching the city!" he turned around and started walking out along with the others. Solomon glared after him, but as the door closed behind them, he sighed heavily, closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Be careful, Yugi..."
***
Seto looked the computer screen over once again. He then frowned.
"Say... the tracing mechanism in Mokuba's backpack still works, it seems... he's stopped..." he sat back for a second looking the screen over. Then, moved closer with a small gasp, "but.. it can't possibly be at the hospital... can it?!"
"I'm afraid it is... it looks like he went inthere..." the computer replied.
"WHAT?!" Seto's eyes widened, "he's hurt! I have to get there!" he flew up from his chair and started running out of the room
"But-"
"I have no time!" Seto stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the computer, "I have to get there! If my brother is hurt, I'll personally kill Yugi Muto..!" the door slammed behind him.
"But maybe it isn't him...." the computer finished, quietly, "of course...." if it had eyes, it would've rolled them, "he never listens when he freaks out..."
***
Yugi watched as the last doctor started walking away from Ayi, who was now laying in a hospital bed with her eyes closed and an oxygen mask on. Only one nurse was now standing beside the bed, putting a blanket over her and putting her head on a pillow. She then turned to Yugi and the others.
"It was a pretty rough seizure... she stopped breathing for several minutes, and she passed out, but she should be alright... her heartbeat's a little fast, but it always happens after seizures like that." she smiled at them.
"So she'll be outta here tonight?" Tristan asked. The nurse shook her head no.
"I'm afraid we have to keep her for observation... that'll be twenty-four hours." she replied, "are you family?"
"I... I'm her adopted brother..." Mokuba replied, slowly... he wasn't sure that Seto would appreciate if he even mentioned his relations to Ayi....
"I see... listen, I need to tell your parents... if you-"
"I can handle that." Mokuba cut her off, "they'd appreciate that.." he half smiled at her. She smiled widely back.
"Ok then..." she nodded to him, "a doctor will be in very soon. He needs to ask you some questions." she looked all of them over, "I'll see you later then!" she nodded to them again, turned around and started walking out, closing the door behind her... then, everything was quiet... only Ayi's breathing through the mask was heard.
"I... how could this happen?" Téa asked, "didn't she say she hadn't had any epileptic seizures for years?"
"She hasn't been taking any medicine since she came here..." Yugi made all of the others turn to him, "she said she hadn't had any seizures because the doctors found the right medicine for her... that means she's on some sort of medication... and I haven't seen her take anything..." she just kept looking at Ayi, and then sighed heavily, shaking his head, turning to the others, "Pegasus must still have that..."
"Well, we can't ask him to give it to us..." Joey muttered, "what are we gonna tell the docs when they come back, Yug?"
"We'll just have to tell them that she probably forgot to take her medicine for some days... that's all we can do." Yugi just kept looking at Ayi, not even turning to the others now.
"But... Yugi, do you think they'll give her the medicine?" Mokuba bit in his lip, "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep them from contacting Pegasus... he still is her adopted father and is probably registered as her parent..."
"They have to give her the medicine..." Yugi turned to him, frowning, "if she doesn't get it, the next seizure could probably kill her..."
"Yugi, kids!" a voice coming from the door, making them turn around; Solomon was standing in the door, trying to catch his breath, "thanks for calling! Pegasus henchmen looked through the appartment, but they didn't find anything!"
Yugi and the others let out a gasp
"They searched the appartment?!" Joey exclaimed, "but... how come they left you alone?!"
"They'd leave proof that they had actually been there if they heard me..." Solomon shrugged his shoulders, "and as soon as they didn't find any of you, I don't care what they did to the appartment. When they left, I checked that they were actually gone and I came as fast as I could! How is she?" he looked over at the bed, at Ayi and walked over beside Yugi.
"The doctors said she was fine." Téa replied, "it's normal for epileptics to fall asleep after a seizure.. she'll be fine..."
"Why on Earth didn't she tell us she didn't have any medicine?!" Solomon sighed heavily, clenched his teeth and shook his head, "I-"
"I didn't want to ask for too much..."
The hoarse voice came suddenly from the bed and they all turned around with a 'huh?!'; Ayi was laying, looking at them, biting her lip, "I'm sorry."
"Ayi!", Yugi hurried over to her side, "are you ok?"
Ayi looked at him, half smiled, nodding yes.
"Thanks..." she sounded terribly tired.
"No problem." Yugi looked away with a sigh, "man... why didn't you just tell us... you know that wouldn't be asking too much!"
"The medicine is expensive... and I wouldn't want to ask that from you..."
"Child, what went through your head?!" Solomon made her turn to him, "we'd rather be buying that medicine than seeing you dead!"
"I'm sorry..." Ayi looked away from Yugi and his grandfather, sitting up, "I didn't want to cause trouble.."
"Ayi..."
Another voice made her look up. Mokuba was standing, looking at her, "I can pay for the medicine... I've got money..."
Ayi looked him over for a few seconds; then, she smiled, shaking her head no.
"Hey... I don't need it right now, I should get the money myself some-"
"MOKUBA!!!!"
Ayi was cut off by the sudden yell and the door slammed open, making them all look towards it with a gasp; Seto Kaiba came running into the room with a terrified look on his face. He stopped in the door, looked everybody over and then, frowned.
"Oh..." he glared at Ayi, "it's... you..."
"Big brother!!" the voice made Seto turn around. Mokuba was standing, still by the bed, looking at him, "what are you doing here?"
Seto looked him over for a few seconds and then, shook his head.
"I put a tracking mechanism in your backpack..." he folded his arms, "when I saw you were inhere, I thought... I thought you were hurt..." he then looked up at Ayi again, "but obviously, you werent..." he snorted, "and you must be the... kid..."
"She's your sister!" Téa snapped, "not 'the kid'!"
Seto looked at her, and then, looked back at Ayi.
"ADOPTED sister..." he let out a small laugh, "I wouldn't even consider you related to me in ANY way anymore actually... Pegasus adopted you... so basically, you're his kid."
"Don't say that!!!"
Seto turned around again as he heard Mokuba's voice; his little brother was almost glaring at him now.
"She's our sister, Seto! And she needs us right now!"
Seto let out a laugh.
"If you think-" he was cut off as somebody knocked on the door. They all looked towards it as it opened and a doctor stepped in. He closed the door behind him and looked everybody over. When he reached Ayi, he half smiled.
"Oh... you're awake!" he nodded to her, walking over, shaking her hand, "I'm doctor Teniko. I'm here to write down some info for your record..." he turned to the others, "are you family?"
"I am." Mokuba replied, "and he is." he nodded to Seto, "we're her brothers. Adopted brothers, but still brothers..."
"oh, I see!" he doctors nodded, "but the rest of you are..?"
"Friends..." Joey replied.
"I see... then, I'd like you to step out-"
"No..." Ayi cut the doctor off, "I'd like everybody to stay... Please..."
The doctor blinked, confused a few times. Then nodded.
"Ok then..." he cleared his throat, looking down at some papers before turning to Mokuba, Seto and Ayi, "but the questions are for you three... family only."
Seto hesitated for a few seconds. Then nodded, slowly.
"Go on..."
"Well... yes..." the doctor cleared his throat again, turning to Ayi "we have to give you medicine... and we have to keep you here, at least until tomorrow... we have to be sure your condition is stable... you understand that, right?"
Ayi just nodded.
"Good." the doctor continued, turning to Seto, "since you're the oldest, I think I should talk to you about this. Do your parents know your sister is here after her epileptic attack?"
"Err...." Seto looked at Mokuba out of the corner of his eyes; he nodded, rapidly, "yes... yes they do..." he replied.
"Very well... the medicine we're gonna give your sister has to be pretty strong. She hasn't been taking any for at least two days, and normally, that doesn't really matter... but since her seizure was that strong, she does need medicine right away- strong medicine too, judging from her seizure... and..." he paused, "that's expensive..."
"How much?" Seto folded his arms, sitting back in his chair. The doctor picked up a paper, handing it to Seto, who immediately looked the paper over and then, looked up at him again.
"Ok... I can pay that right away... my... parents gave me money when they they were told that she's here...." he almost shuddered as he handed the paper back to the doctor... he hated lying about his parents, even his adopted ones... especially this way. The doctor lifted an eyebrow, looking Seto over.
"Well... ok then..." he then turned to Ayi, "before I go, I need to know your full name..."
"Ayi..." Ayi looked Seto over, biting her lip; Seto didn't even look at her. she then sighed, turning back to the doctor, "Ayi Kaiba."
"I see..." the doctor got up, folding the paper, "Mr. Kaiba, just pay on the way out... that's about what I have to say for now... just remember to leave before eight tonight... she needs rest. Goodnight!" he nodded to them before closing the door after himself. Then, everything was quiet...
"I hope you're happy, kid..." Seto made Ayi turn to him, "this'll be the last thing I ever do for you." he got up, "come on, Mokuba... we're going home!" he turned around and quickly walked out of the room.
"No way!" Mokuba shook his head no, slowly, "I'm staying..!"
"You'd better go with him, Mokuba..." Ayi sighed, "tell him thanks when he's cooled down... and that I'm sorry for interfering..." she smiled at Mokuba, grabbing his hand, "thanks for finding me... I really appreciate everything you've done." she squeezed his hand lightly and then, patted his shoulder. Mokuba looked at her for a while, but then, smiled.
"No problem.. and thanks for not being... well, mad... at Seto.. he'll be nicer to you eventually, don't worry!" he got up from the chair he was sitting on, "I'll be here tomorrow, as soon as the visiting hours begin! I'll see you then!" he then turned to Solomon, "and thanks to you, Yugi... for taking care of her." he half smiled at him, turned around and started walking out. He then gave them all a final wave before closing the door.
"You should have told us, Ayi..." Solomon frowned slightly, making Ayi turn to him, "about the medicine... we would have paid for it, and we wouldn't be sad to..."
"I know... and I really am sorry..." Ayi looked down at her hands, "I wish I had too... but you've done so much for me and I really wouldn't ask any more from you... and... I thought I could handle it..."
"I guess it's ok... we shouldn't be mad at you. It's not your fault." Solomon sat down on the chair, patting her hand, "but somehow, we have to make sure that Pegasus doesn't get to know about this..." he then turned to Yugi, "I'll be heading home, Yugi. You just come when you're ready, son."
Yugi just nodded while his grandfather got up.
"I'll see you then, granpa!" he half smiled at him while he was walking out. Solomon just gave him a final nodd before closing the door after him.
"Yugs..." Joey madeYugi turn around, "we'd better go too... it's getting late. If it's ok with you?" Joey bit in his lip.Yugi just smiled at him and nodded.
"Sure! I'll be alright! Thanks guys!"
"No problem!" Téa walked over, to Tristan and Joey, nodding to Yugi and Ayi, "oh, and we'll coming over again tomorrow, Ayi! We'll see you then!" she turned around and started walking out, nodding to Yugi, "bye Yugi... "
"Bye guys!" Yugi watched them as they all walked out. After they had closed the door, it was all quiet...
"Thanks Yugi..." Ayi suddenly broke the silence, making Yugi turn to her, "without you, Pegasus would've had me by now..." she smiled at him, "I really appreciate all you've done..."
"No problem!" Yugi laughed, "I'd do anything for a friend!" he patted her shoulder. Ayi half smiled at him, then, looked away for a few seconds.
"Sorry 'bout asking, but... how can you consider me a friend after.. so short time? I could be some... crook or something..." she turned back to Yugi. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders.
"Well... the day you ran into the game shop, wearing that robe, I did wonder whether I should trust you or not... but Pegasus's men were chasing you, and you did look scared... besides... if you were one of the bad guys, Yami would've probably reacted..." he grabbed his puzzle, holding it up a little.
"Yami..?" Ayi looked confused, lifting an eyebrow, "who's Yami..?"
"The soul inside the Millenium Puzzle... he practically takes over me when I'm in danger..." he replied, "he'd be able to tell if you were one of the bad guys..."
Ayi blinked a few times, then smiled.
"I see... I had no idea it'd be able to do that kind of stuff... that's cool!" she laughed, "awesome!"
"Pegasus didn't tell you about it?" Yugi frowned.
"No.. he just wanted me to steal it, I don't think he cared whether I knew what it could do or not..." Ayi sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "I didn't ask him either... I didn't really feel like chatting with him too much if you know what I mean.."
"Oh yeah!" Yugi laughed, "anyway, I'd better get home... it's late, and I want to be able to be here when you get out tomorrow." he got up, grabbing his backpack, "you take care, alright?"
"Alright..." Ayi nodded, smiling at him, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yep! I'll be here right after breakfast!" he grinned back at her before opening the door, "Night!" he walked out, waving before closing the door.
"Night..." Ayi almost whispered, out into the empty room... everything but the wind outside was quiet, she could almost hear the drops of the IV that was still attached to her hand... she sighed and laid back, just looking out into the air... then, after few minutes, she slowly fell asleep...
***
Pegasus looked up as he heard the knock on the door... a henchman was looking at him, holding a cell phone.
"What?!" he lifted an eyebrow, "come in, idiot! What is it?!"
"Mr. Pegasus... sir..." the henchman stuttered, "Domino City Hospital wishes to talk to you...."
"Domino City... Hospital?!" he frowned, "what's wrong with you?!" he almost screamed, "give me the phone!!" he got up and the henchman almost threw the cell phone at him, sprinting out of the room. Pegasus then calmed down a little, cleared his throat and put the phone up to his ear, "Yes?"
"Hello, sir.." a male voice instantly replied, "you're speaking to Doctor Teniko on Domino City Hospital... I'm just calling to know whether you'll be able to pick your daughter up tomorrow morning or if we should provide transport?" the guy on the other end cleared his throat. Pegasus frowned even more.
"She's in the hospital?!" he exclaimed.
"Er... yes..." the doctor sounded slightly surprised, "two boys, the Kaibas, came by here and paid medicine and everything else and said you were aware of everything that is going on... but we forgot to ask them for your phone number and we had to find it ourselves... am I talking to the right person..?"
"Oh! Hold on! Of course! I AM the right person, and... well, they DID tell me, I just.. I'm sorry!" Pegasus laughed, "silly me!"
"Oh..." the doctor sounded confused, "I see sir..."
"By the way, just out of curiosity... who's been visiting her?"
"Besides her brothers, the children that brought her in.. Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, Téa Gardner... and Solomon Muto came to visit a few minutes later..."
"Of course..." Pegasus suddenly smirked, "if that's the case, please don't let anybody but Yugi Muto visit her tomorrow... if that's possible of course.."
"Err... well, of course, sir..." Dr. Teniko cleared his throat, "but... why?"
"It's some reasons I'll have to discuss with my daughter... oh, and I'd like to talk to talk to mr. Yugi Muto too.. would you be able to call me when he arrives?"
"Well..." dr. Teniko sounded confused to say the least, "of course sir... I will..."
***
"I can't believe I paid for the treatment of that... brat!" Seto was still walking around in a circle, "she's of no use to me!" he turned around and slammed his fist down into the table. Mokuba was just observing him from the couch, sitting with a comic book on his lap. He rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders.
"Seto, she still is our sister... maybe only adopted sister, but that doesn't mean anything..." he yawned, "besides, she really is nice... you should at least talk to her." he got up, stretching, "anyway, I'm going to bed... I'll see you tomorrow big bro." he smiled at him, widely, and then started walking up the stairs to his room. Before walking all the way up, he turned to Seto again, "don't worry, bigbrother... I know you don't hate her... you're just confused!" he then turned around and disappeared up the stairs.
Seto was just looking after him, frowning a little in confuse.
"Maybe kid.." he sighed, hung his head a little and then sighed, "maybe I am... but I still don't trust her..."
***
Pegasus couldn't help letting out a laugh as the plane took off, heading towards Domino City... Kemo, Croquet and the four other henchmen sitting opposite them, looked at each other, obviously puzzled by their master's sudden happiness...
"Oh yes... I haven't introduced you to my plan, have I?" Pegasus made them all turn to him. He was sitting in a nonchalant position with his legs crossed, his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, smirking. The henchmen looked at each other again and then back at Pegasus.
"Actually... no master Pegasus, sir..." Croquet replied, "you didn't.."
"Ah, I thought so!" Pegasus laughed, "well, as said, we're going to pick up miss Kaiba in the hospital.. but not until Yugi Muto shows up... I've asked the doctors not to let anybody but Yugi-boy visit her... once he's there, you should be able to at least get the millenium puzzle and the girl... then we'll go back to Duelist Kingdom and I'll solve the millenium puzzle... and once that's solved, our little Ayi will be the first to try out mind crush..."
"But... sir... I thought you needed the girl as a millenium item hunter...." Kemo scratched his head. Pegasus folded his arms, smirking while closing his eyes.
"Not anymore... she's been nothing but trouble, and deserves no more than to be sent to the Shadow Realm... " he looked up again, "and she will be! Trust me..."
***
"Seto! I'm going!" Mokuba yelled before grabbing his backpack, opening the door.
"Be back by dinner then!" the response came after several seconds, and sounded reluctant... Mokuba sighed heavily...
"Well, at least he's letting me go... that's more than I dared hoping for..." he muttered to himself, finally walking out, closing the door behind him. He walked over, grabbed his bike and immediately started racing towards the hospital.
It only took ten minutes for him to get there. He quickly threw his bike in some nearby shrubbery and walked in, took the stairs up to the fourth floor, walking over to the counter marked "visitors"... there was already a line forming, but before the line even started moving, Mokuba noticed the doctor from yesterday waving at him, coming towards him.
"Doctor Teniko..." Mokuba left the line to meet him, "is something wrong?"
"Oh... no, mr. Kaiba... your sister just can't take any visitors today..." the doctor replied, "you see, your father's gonna pick her up and asked me not to-"
"Father..?" Mokuba cut him off, lifting an eyebrow. He then let out a gasp, "Pegasus?!" his eyes widened.
"Didn't he tell you..?"
"I..." Mokuba looked around, clenching his teeth. Then, he turned back to the doctor, "please, sir! I need to see her! Right away! It's very important!" he kept looking around, "Pegasus isn't here, is he?"
"Pega.. oh, you mean your father! No, he isn't here yet..." the doctor scratched his head, "he obviously hasn't told you... he doesn't want her to have any visitors, and-"
"I HAVE to talk to her! Now!" Mokuba snapped, "please!"
"I...." the doctor looked around for a few seconds, then looked back at Mokuba, "Ok..." he sighed heavily, shaking his head, "you know where the room-" he didn't even get to finish the sentance before Mokuba sprinted past him, "is......" he rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna get fired...."
***
Yugi whistled quietly as the line he was in by the visitors-counter moved forwards, leaving him to be next in a few seconds. As he walked up, the lady by the counter looked down at him.
"Your name?" she asked, turning to the computer.
"Yugi Muto... I'm here to see Ayi Kaiba... she came in yesterday.." he replied. The lady then looked at him again.
"Oh yes..." she finally said after a few seconds, "go on, mr. Muto..."
Yugi just nodded to her and then started walking down the ward.
***
People walked by the black car, swearing as it was parked almost all the way up on the sidewalk. However, the driver didn't seem to care at all, and Maximillion Pegasus who was sitting in the backseat of the car just smirked as the people walked by... they probably found it very annoying, having to almost walk out onto the street to get past the car.. but he didn't care. They couldn't see him through the toned window anyway... the cellphone beside him suddenly rang, and he immediately picked it up
"Yes?" he asked, lifting his eyebrow.
"Mr. Pegasus... this is Domino City Hospital... Mr. Yugi Muto has arrived. He's with your daughter now."
"I see... thanks for calling. I'll be there right away!" Pegasus smirked as he hung up. He then looked at the henchman who was in the driver's seat of the car he was in, "let's go! And tell the others to go get the girl and the puzzle!"
***
Ayi quickly woke up and sat up with a gasp as the door to the room slammed open; Mokuba came running in like mad.
"Mokuba... I didn't know visiting hours were starting already.." she watched him, yawning, as he sprinted to the side of her bed.
"We gotta get outta here!" he tried to speak while catching his breath, "Pegasus knows you're here! We gotta hurry!"
"What?! He knows I'm here?!" Ayi jumped out of her bed, tearing the IV out of her hand, "then what the heck are you doing here?!" she grabbed him by his shoulders, "I don't want him to get you too!"
"I had to warn you!" Mokuba lifted an eyebrow, "besides, I'm not leaving without making sure you're with me!"
Ayi bit in her lip, looking around in the room. Then, she looked back at Mokuba nodded to him, frowning.
"Let's get outta here... before-" she was cut off when somebody suddenly knocked on the door... they both let out a gasp, looking at each other then, back at the door.
"What are we gonna do?!" Mokuba whispered, "he's here!!" he grabbed Ayi's arm and hand. She looked down at him for a few seconds, then lowered her eyebrows, looking up at the door again.
"Come in..!" she squeezed Mokuba's hand a little as the door slowly opened... then...
"Hey Ayi!" Yugi's head was popped into the room from behind the door. He was smiling widely as he stepped inside, "oh! and hey, Mokuba! I didn't-"
"YUGI!"
He was cut off as both Mokuba and Ayi let out the yell and a laugh.
"It's you!" Ayi bit in her lip, "we thought you were Pe-" she fell silent and her facial expression changed to terrified. Mokuba was looking at her, but as her facial expression changed, he turned to Yugi as well and he too turned terrified... Yugi looked both of them over, blinking confused.
"YUGI, LOOK OUT!!!" Ayi started running towards him, but before she even got halfway through the room, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then, everything got black- the last thing he got to see was a man, wearing black step over him, into the room....
Mokuba and Ayi let out a shriek as Yugi fell after being hit in the back of his head by Kemo. Ayi's eyes widened as she looked at Yugi who was just laying on the floor, motionless with Kemo standing behind him.. she looked up at Kemo, letting out a growl, running to Yugi, past the other henchmen who had stepped inside.
"Yugi! Are you ok?!" she kneeled down beside him, "Yugi..!" she suddenly felt somebody grab her collar, but before she was able to do anything, she was lifted up to face Kemo... he looked at her through his sunglasses for a few seconds and then, smirked.
"Well... finally, we got you, miss Pegasus!" he laughed, stepped into the room, pulling Yugi with him before closing the door, "luckily nobody saw that!" he nodded to Yugi on the floor.
"NO!!!"
Ayi's eyes widened as she heard the voice and she immediately turned her head in the direction it came from... only to see the other henchman grab Mokuba as well. Her mouth opened widely for a few seconds. She then narrowed her eyes, turning back to Kemo.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" she screamed, "Mokuba's got nothing to do with this!! Yugi neither!" she tried to kick Kemo but he didn't seem to care the slightest. He just let out a laugh.
"Trust me, we ain't gona bring the Yugi brat! You and Mokuba on the other hand.. that's another story..." he laughed again, watching as the other henchman walked up in front of him, carrying Mokuba.
"PUT ME DOWN!!!" he screamed, swinging his arms and legs wildly in the air, "LET US GO!!"
Ayi looked at him for a few seconds... then turned back to Kemo.
"Why Mokuba?!" Ayi clenched her teeth, "he's got-"
"Nothing to do with this, I know, I know!" Kemo let out a laugh, "but we don't wanna risk losing you again... and the little guy here is the perfect hostage!" he nodded to Mokuba, "besides, we can't let him squeal to his big brother, can we, miss Pegasus?"
"It's Kaiba!" Ayi narrowed her eyes even more, "I'm a Kaiba!" she hissed.
"Sure! You just-"
"Sir!"
Kemo was cut off by a third henchman who was squatting down beside Yugi.
"We can't get the puzzle! He's holding it too tight!" he got up, shrugging his shoulders.
"Let me try, you moron!" Kemo hissed, tossing Ayi to the other guy as he got up. He then looked the knocked out Yugi over... he was all curled up, having the millenium puzzle in a tight grip, using both of his hands... Kemo grabbed the puzzle and pulled, hardly, but nothing happened... "Iron grip, eh?" he smirked, turned to the two other henchmen that was still holding Mokuba and Ayi, "well, whatever... we're just gonna bring him too then!"
Both Mokuba and Ayi let out a loud gasp.
"NO!" Ayi snapped, "you have us! Don't you have enough as it is?!?!"
"Master Pegasus wants the Millenium Puzzle... since the boy won't let go of it, we have to bring the boy... doesn't take much time to figure that out, does it?!" Kemo shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "by the way... on the way out, you two'd better stay calm! And if somebody asks, the guy's just fallen asleep!" he nodded to Yugi, "and if you don't do what I say, it won't be very tough to break the guy's neck!" he then turned to the two henchmen, "let's go!"
***
"Excuse me... Seto?"
Seto looked up from the book he was reading when the computer said his name. He put the book aside and moved over to the keyboard.
"What is it?" he sighed, "I have to read that book and get it finished soon... otherwise I can't install that software I bought... please hurry..."
"Mokuba's left the hospital..."
"He's probably hungry!" Seto rolled his eyes, "otherwise, he forgot his money and is coming home to get it..."
"But he's not coming towards the house... and he's definitely not riding his bike... it's going too fast, I'd say it's a car..."
"A car?" Seto lifted an eyebrow, "well..maybe the girl asked him to buy something for her and he's taking the bus into the city... just leave it alone... but tell me if he leaves the city anyway..."
"Of course..."
***
Mokuba and Ayi didn't say a word as the airport started appearing ahead of the black van they were in. Earlier, when they were leaving the hospital, neither doctors, nor patients noticed anything; they didn't even ask what had happened to Yugi as the henchmen had walked by, carrying him... Ayi and Mokuba tried their best to look just a little happy as they walked by people, for Yugi's sake... now, they were sitting in a black van, just staring out into the air with narrowed eyes, guarded by two henchmen on the backseat while Kemo was driving while another henchman was sitting beside him on the passenger seat... Yugi was laying behind them, on another seat, still knocked out, but definitely alive. A cell phone suddenly rang, and Kemo quickly picked it up.
"Yes?"
"Kemo!" Pegasus replied on the other end, "what's the status?"
"We have the girl, sir... but Mokuba Kaiba was with her, so we took him as well." Kemo replied.
"Oh, another Kaiba!" Pegasus laughed, "and what about the Millenium Puzzle?"
"Well, sir... Yugi Muto wouldn't let go of it, not even after we knocked him out... so we took him as well. He's still knocked out, sir."
Pegasus was quiet for a while.
"Hmm.." he sounded thoughtful. But then, he laughed, "oh well! Then we have THREE test subjects to send to the Shadow Realm once I've solved the millenium puzzle! Very good, Kemo, carry on! I'll meet you by the plane at the airport!"
"Yes sir! Over and out!" Kemo turned off his cell phone.
On the backseat, Mokuba and Ayi were still sitting side by side, not saying a word. Mokuba slowly turned his head, looking Ayi over; She looked angry and terrified, but she didn't say anything... she was just sitting there, with her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed, glaring straight out...
"Ayi.."Mokuba whispered, barely loud enough for himself to hear it, "Ayi!" he tapped her shoulder. Ayi turned to him, suddenly looking concerned.
"What?" she whispered back, "you ok?" she bit in her lip.
"Of course!" he half smiled, "I forgot to tell you something... Seto put a tracking device on my backpack yesterday... I forgot to take it off..."
Ayi's face lit up a little.
"Are you saying..." she had to hold back a smile... she didn't want Kemo or anybody else to know what they were talking about...
"Yeah!" Mokuba nodded, still half smiling, "my brother's still tracking us... once he knows we're on Duelist Kingdom, he'll come for us!"
***
"Whatever takes them so long?!" Pegasus clenched his teeth, looking at his clock, "if Kemo doesn't show up soon, FOUR people will be going to the Shadow Realm..!"
"Sir!" Croquet broke in, "they're coming!" he pointed towards a black van that came around a corner of a hangar, driving towards them; as it came closer, Pegasus was finally able to see Kemo and the other guy in the window. It stopped a couple of meters away from him and Croquet and after a couple of seconds, the backdoor was opened and Ayi and Mokuba was shoved out by two henchmen who immediately placed them in front of Pegasus while another henchman carried the still knoced out Yugi over in front of him too. Pegasus looked Ayi's face over. She was glaring right back at him with her eyes narrowed while holding Mokuba's hand with the hand that wasn't bandaged.
"Why, Ayi, you poor thing! I see your arm is broken!" he nodded to her broken arm with a smug smile on his face, "well, that's what you can expect from trying to leave Duelist Kingdom in a storm... what was wrong, didn't you like your room?" he laughed.
"The room was fine!" Ayi hissed, "the company on the castle was the problem!"
"Oh, I see!" Pegasus smirked, folding his arms, "unfortunately for you, you lead us right to Yugi Muto by hiding with him and his grandfather... sad, isn't it? In the end, I did get what I wanted from you... even though you did your best to prevent me from doing so and attemted to protect your little pal here.." he turned to Yugi, still smirking, but then, turned back to Ayi, "unfortunately for you, I don't need you anymore, since you probably never would agree to track down Millenium Items for me... so when I've got that puzzle solved, you're going on first class to the Shadow Realm, my child!" he patted her head while she held an arm between him and Mokuba. As Pegasus noticed that, he smiled even more.
"As for KaibaCorporation, we have another Kaiba right here... don't we? Again because of little Ayi." he walked towards Mokuba who just glared at him, snorting.
"You're not gonna get anything from KaibaCorp, not even a visitor's souvenir!" he growled, "besides, Ayi didn't do anything! And our brother's gonna rip you to shreds if you touch any of us!"
"Ah... certain of his big brother's abilities as a hero like always..." Pegasus laughed, "just be happy if you get one hour with your so called sister! It won't take me longer to solve that puzzle the required two times!" he turned to Kemo, "get the children onboard the plane- throw them into the cargo section... and tell the pilot to get ready for take off!" he turned around, walked into the plane and disappeared out of sight as he sat down in a seat. Mokuba and Ayi looked at eachother for a short time as they were shoved in the back of plane along with Yugi. As the hatch closed, they were left in the darkness; they were able to hear the henchmen making the plane ready for take-off and Pegasus's yelling at them at times...
"Ayi..."
Ayi turned around as she heard Mokuba's voice and felt him grabbing her arm, "you think Seto's gonna come for us..?"
"I'm sure he'll try... but I should at least be honest with you... it doesn't look too good." Ayi put her arm around his shoulders, giving him a small squeeze. He just nodded, letting out a small sigh.
"It's so dark inhere......"
"I know..." Ayi bit in her lip, "it's gonna be-" she was cut off as the engine suddenly started roaring and a small lightbulb was turned on in the ceiling, making the cargo section they were sitting in at least a little lighter. "here we go..." she sighed heavily, turning her head to look at Yugi... he was still knocked out... but he was definitely breathing.
"Sorry Yugi..." she whispered to herself, "you don't deserve this... I'm sorry, buddy.."
Mokuba watched her as she spoke to Yugi and her eyes started watering slightly. She quickly dried the tears away with the back of her hand as she noticed Mokuaba was looking at her. He shook his head, taking her hand.
"It's not your fault... you didn't know Pegasus would go this far..." he quietly said, "and Seto, and Yugi's friends are gonna find out and they're gonna get Pegasus for this... "
"Yeah... but this shouldn't have happened to any of you two..." Ayi bit in her lip.
"Hey... I'm just happy to be with you now... I wouldn't want anything to happen to you... you're my sister!" Mokuba smiled slightly at her, "and if Pegasus hadn't adopted you, maybe we wouldn't have known about you at all!" he put a hand on her shoulder, "and don't worry about it... Seto and Yugi's friends are gonna get us out! And when we get back to Domino, I'm sure Seto's gonna let you live with us! And we can go to amusement parks, to the beach and everything else, like real siblings! It's gonna be so cool!" he let out a small happy laugh, "oh yeah... I almost forgot..!" he suddenly slapped his forehead and then, started looking for something in his pocket, "aha!" he then stopped, and pulled something out... it looked like the back of a Duel Monster card, except, it was made with some kind of metal- and it was attached to a string, "here! I made this for you!" he smiled happily, got up, and put the thing around Ayi's neck. He then sat down beside her again. Ayi looked at it, wondering for a few seconds and then, looked back at Mokuba with a puzzled look on her face.
"A card necklace??" she blinked in confusion.
Mokuba let out a small laugh, shaking his head, "No! Open the pendant! You'll see!"
Ayi half smiled, grabbed the card-shaped pendant, and opened it. There was a picture inside. Of Mokuba and Seto, standing together. Seto didn't smile, but he didn't look uncomfortable either. He looked like he had everything under control, having his arms folded and a confident look on his face... like always. Mokuba on the other hand, looked really happy. Having an arm stretched out up into the air and a huge smile on his face. Ayi looked at it for several seconds, her smile getting wider and wider for every moment. She then suddenly turned to Mokuba, putting her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Thanks! I love it!" she laughed happily, "it's so great! Tell Seto thanks too."
"He doesn't know about it." Mokuba hugged her back, "if he ever got to know, I think he'd freak out... he still considers you a Pegasus... but he'll get over it!" he sighed as he let go, "but I'm glad you like it... it took me a while to find one of those pendants and a decent photo of both of us!"
"Of course I like it!" Ayi smiled, "and as for Seto... I know he's actually a nice person, and I don't blame him for what's happened. And I know he'll try to get us outta this mess..."
"I know..." Mokuba looked down at his feet, and then to the knocked out Yugi, "I just hope he finds out soon enough..."
***
"Ayi! We brought another-" Téa cut herself off as she noticed the hospital room she had just stepped into, was empty, "...friend..." she quitly finished, "Ayi? Yugi..?"
Joey, Tristan and Bakura stepped in after her, looked around, and lifted their eyebrows as they too noticed no-one else was in the room.
"Are you sure this is the right room?" Bakura scratched his head, "it looks kinda... empty..."
"This IS the right room..." Joey frowned, "but where the heck is the Kaiba girl... and Yugi for that matter... gramps said he was here!"
"Excuse me..." a voice made them all turn around; a nurse was standing in the door looking at them all, "are you here to see miss Kaiba?"
They all looked at each other again.
"Yes... we are." Tristan then replied, "where is she?"
"Her adopted father came to pick her up... Mr. Yugi Muto and miss Kaiba's little brother came with him too..." the nurse replied, "so she's gone."
Tristan, Joey, Bakura and Téa looked at each other, with their eyes wide open.
"The guy who picked her up... her adopted father... was that a.. Maximillion Pegasus?" Téa almost whispered. The nurse blinked a couple of times, then looked through the papers on the clipboard she was holding. She then turned back to them.
"Yes... or... it was his personal bodyguards or something..." the nurse looked over her clipboard again, "he must be rich..."
The four let out a gasp and Tristan, Bakura and Joey immediately started sprinting out of the hospital. Téa quickly turned to the nurse.
"Thanks for your help!" she immediately started sprinting after the others, out of the hospital too, "WAIT!!!"
The nurse looked after them.. she then shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and went back to work...
"GUYS!!! WAIT!!!!!" Téa's scream finally got the three guys to stop. They were outside the hospital now, across the street from it. Téa looked them over, frowning, short of breath.
"Running doesn't help us!"
"Then what does?!" Joey almost yelled, "we hafta get Yug and the others outta Pegasus's filthy grip! Fast!"
"Calm down.." Bakura sighed, "yelling doesn't help either, and Téa's right... we have to think... and since Mokuba's with Ayi and Yugi, maybe we even could get Seto Kaiba to help us..."
"Seto Kaiba?" Tristan let out a laugh, "I bet he's only interested in his brother... you heard what he said to Ayi yesterday..."
"Even though I hate to admit it... asking even Kaiba doesn't hurt..." Joey clenched his teeth, "and he could probably get to wherever Pegasus is... he'd be able to afford it anyway, that's for sure!"
"Then, what's the problem?!" Téa made them all turn to her. "the Kaiba residence isn't far from here! Let's go, guys!"
***
"He's WHAT?!" Seto slammed both of his fist down on the computer keyboard, furiously.
"He's moving towards Duelist Kingdom... as far as I can calculate it anyway..." the computer replied, "they're already above the ocean.. and the speed indicates that he's on a plane..." Seto let out a roar, slamming his fists down on the keyboard again.
"I have to get there then! Somehow!!!" he hissed, "Pegasus's got Mokuba!"
"Well.. maybe you should sit down and think for a while... how would you get there in the first place?"
"KaibaCorp owns plenty of helicopters!" Seto was already walking towards the door, "it'd be no problem!"
"Then what are you gonna do when you get there? You're no challenge for seven of Pegasus henchmen! And there certainly are MORE than seven guarding the caste now Pegasus's got Mokuba, and probably your sister too!"
"ADOPTED sister..." Seto had stopped by the door. He was just standing there looking down at his shoes, "she's not even my adopted sister... she's a Pegasus now..."
"For Pete's sake..." the computer spoke out, quietly, "whatever she is, she's with Mokuba, and she's probably doing her best to protect him if she's able to! Think of that, mr. Kaiba!"
"But she's the one who drew Mokuba into this mess too!!!" he yelled, turning back to the computer, "if I hadn't told him about it, he never-"
"Mister Kaiba, Sir?"he was cut off by voice of one of his guards in the intercommunication system ... Seto snorted, "if he reports a message from Pegasus, regarding KaibaCorp, I'll personally...." he fell silent, pressing the button to the inter-communication system, "what?!"
"there're somebody here to talk to you... they claim to be Yugi Muto's friends." the guard replied, "should I let them in?"
"Ask them to get lost!!" Seto hissed, "I have something more important to do here!!"
"Shut up Kaiba!!!" Joey's voice suddenly came through the inter-com, "what's wrong with you?! Don't you even wanna rescue your own lil' brother?!"
"How do YOU know, you monkey?!" Seto lifted an eyebrow, "who told you?"
"Seeing as Yugi and that Ayi girl's been taken as well, I'd be stupid not to know!!" Joey almost roared, "AND I'M NOT A MONKEY, YOU-"
"JOEY!!!" Tristan, Bakura and Téa cut him off and he heard Joey swear and snap at them.
"Sorry sir..." the guard came back, "they shoved me aside and..."
"How many are they?" Seto cut him off.
"Four, mr. Kaiba..."
"Let them in..." he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth, "we have something to discuss..."
***
Yugi was slowly waking up... he heard voices... but he wasn't quite able to make out the words, but at least, he was able to recognize them... Mokuba and Ayi... his head hurt badly and he let out a groan, rolling over so he laid on his side. This made Mokuba and Ayi silent and he heard steps, moving towards him...
"Yugi..?" Ayi was speaking to him, "are you awake..?" she was whispering... and he heard echoes... this deffinitely wasn't the hospital... everything was quiet now, and if it had been the hospital, he would've at least heard steps on the ward now... he then remembered seeing somebody walk past him right before he slipped into unconcioussness... a guy wearing black... probably one of... Pegasus's henchmen?!?!?! His eyes snapped open and he let out a loud gasp... he looked around.. he only saw bars... he HAD to be in a cell.. then Pegasus HAD got him, and... he quickly turned his head a little... he was finally able to see Ayi, sitting on her knees in the cell next to his. Mokuba appeared behind her; then Pegasus had them too.... He swore under his breath, clenching his eyes shut as he got up on his knees, rubbing his hurting neck.
"You ok..?" Ayi's voice made him turn to her again, "I thought you were....." she looked away, biting her lip.
"I'm ok..." Yugi half smiled, "what happened?"
"Pegasus..." Mokuba muttered, looking down on the floor, "he... got us all..."
"He only took you because you wouldn't let go of your puzzle.." Ayi added, "EVEN when you were knocked out..."
Yugi looked confused for a few seconds and then, looked down at his Millenium Puzzle...
"I..." he then looked at Ayi and Mokuba again, "are you guys ok?"
"Yeah... we are." Ayi sighed, smiling at him, almost sadly, "but... I'm not sure for how long... he'd probably kill for that puzzle..."
"What does he need those Millenium Items for, anyway?" Mokuba lifted an eyebrow, "becoming the world emperor or something?"
"That doesn't sound like him..." Yugi sighed, "I don't think anybody knows though... but I doubt that's it..."
"You're right, Yugi-boy... that's not quite it!"
A voice made the three turn around... Pegasus was standing in the corridor, looking them over with a smug smile on his face.
"Pegasus..!" Yugi almost hissed, "this is insane! Let us go!"
"Oh no, dear Yugi... I couldn't do that... and as for the Millenium Items; it has nothing to do with the world, but since you're all gonna be sent to the Shadow Realm, I could probably tell you..." he laughed, and then, paused. "I need it to bring back a special person. She died all too early from a disease a long It's only possible if I have all seven Millenium Items- only they would be able to bring her back..."
Yugi blinked, confused.
*bringing back a dead person?!* he thought, *Pegasus..?! No... he wouldn't... he's EVIL- not..." Yugi suddenly felt the power of his puzzle increase... *my other presence... he's taking over....*
Everything was quiet in the dungeon... Pegasus was standing there, looking them over while Yugi was looking down at the floor. After a while, he looked up... Ayi turned her head, looking him over as he did this... he looked different now... confident, strong... taller... and he even had more blonde streaks in his hair... she half smiled...
*Yami... it's Yami...* she thought, putting her arm around Mokuba as she turned back to Pegasus.
"Even the Millenium Items wouldn't be able to bring back your wife, Pegasus!" Yugi's now far deeper voice made Pegasus look at him again, a little surprised.
"Oh, I see the Pharao's soul has taken over you again, little Yugi... but that doesn't matter..." he laughed, "you can't tell me that the Millenium Items wouldn't be able to bring back my wife! Or at least her Soul! And that'd be good enough for me!"
"But her soul is already here, Pegasus! You know it is!" Yami frowned, "in your heart... in your memories... and you can't bring her body back... you know that as well as I do..." he got to his feet, folding his arms.
"I know I can't bring her body back! That's what I need KaibaCorp's holographic technologies for, you fool! And maybe her soul is in my memories, but that's not enough, Yugi-boy... that's why I stole souls, simply to make my Millenium Eye strong enough to bring back Cecilia... the Millenium Eye was stolen from me, that's why I need the other Millenium Items... when they're all together, they MUST be strong enough to bring her back!" Pegasus laughed, "well, enough chit-chat... your Millenium Puzzle please?" he let his hand out towards Yami.
"If you think I'm just gonna hand it over, you're pretty incompetent, Pegasus." he let out a laugh, folding his arms.
"That's what I expected from you, Yugi..." Pegasus smirked, snapping his fingers, "that's where your little friends here are usefull to me." he nodded to his henchmen who immediately walked over, unlocking the cell that Mokuba and Ayi were in. Yami let out a short gasp as the two were cornered and grabbed by the two henchmen who pulled out two guns and held them to Ayi and Mokuba's heads.
"NO!" Yami hissed, clenching his fist and teeth in anger.
"Pegasus!!! You cheatin'-" Ayi didn't get far in her sentance before the henchman yanked in her arm, almost dislocating it, making her let out a small scream. Pegasus only laughed.
"Ayi girl, I never claimed to be perfectly fair, did I?" he then turned to Yami, "well, the Millenium Puzzle?"
"I can't!!" Yami snapped, "we... we HAVE to!" Yugi's voice broke through, "but we CAN'T!" Yami yelled back, "you know that!!!"
Ayi looked him over... it was obvious he was struggling now, and she knew as well as Yami that they couldn't give up the Millenium Puzzle... so many souls would be stolen again if they did, and it would probably take thousands of souls before Pegasus would realize that he couldn't bring his wife any closer than she was now... she clenched her eyes shut as Yugi started taking off the puzzle.
"DON'T DO IT, YUGI!!!" she screamed, "please..!"
"But... but..." Yugi's voice was there again, "WE CAN'T LET YOU DIE!!!" he snapped, "please be reasonable!!!"
"Yugi..!" Mokuba snapped, "don't give it to him!"
Yugi fell to his knees... he was himself again; uncertain, small... and afraid... he slowly got up, looking down as he walked towards the bars of the cell.
"Pegasus!!!" he growled, clenching his eyes shut, "for lord's sake, TAKE IT!! Just TAKE IT!!!" he tossed it, making it slide all the way over to Pegasus's feet, "just... leave them alone..." he started sobbing, quietly. Everything was quiet for a while... then, Pegasus started laughing.
"Very wise choice, Yugi-boy... very clever..." he signalled his henchmen to let go of Mokuba and Ayi and they stepped out of the cell, "I knew you'd be human enough to make that choice..." he picked up the shattered Millenium Puzzle from the floor, "I'll see you kids later... I have a puzzle to solve!" he started walking out, laughing, followed by his henchmen...
Yugi didn't look up as he heard the steps, moving away from them. His tears dripped down on the ground and he didn't say a word. Ayi watched him fall to his knees, sinking the lump that was stuck in her throat. She then turned to Mokuba. As he shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head, she sighed heavily, moving closer to Yugi, as far as the bars would allow.
"Yugi..." she almost whispered, "I'm so sorry... really..."
He didn't reply. He only started shaking a little, still letting his tears fall. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up a little, right into Ayi's eyes.
"Yugi..." her eyes started tearing up a little too, "you've done so much for me, and I'm so sorry I've been causing you trouble again... I never wanted it to go this far... I never wanted Pegasus to get you..." she bit in her lip, shaking her head, "but no matter what, we're here now... and I can't let you break down because you lost your puzzle... not after everything you've done for me, Yugi... I... care too much about you to let that happen... please understand..."
Yugi had stopped crying. He was looking at her with his mouth opened a little, blinking. He then dried the rest of the tears away, shaking his head.
"I understand..." he bit in his lip, moving towards Ayi, "I... it's just... the puzzle gave me my friends... I'm afraid that if.. I... lose the puzzle... I..." he fell silent, but then sighed, "lose my friends..."
"That's not true!" Ayi made him look up, "I don't believe the puzzle gave you your friends... YOU were the one who got the friends... and no matter what, Joey, Tristan and Téa wouldn't give up on you just because you lost your puzzle! And... I wouldn't either! Trust me... I haven't really had any friends either except two girls who felt sorry for me when I had been walking around alone for almost thirteen years at the orphanage... and I know Téa and the others are your friends, not because you have a Millenium Item, but because you're a nice person!" she frowned a little, "'cause you are, Yugi... you really are..."
Yugi looked at her, still with an uncertain and doubting look on his face, but then, suddenly, he leaned over, hugging Ayi through the bars. Ayi looked stunned for a moment but then, smiled, hugging him back.
"Thanks, Ayi..." he sighed quietly, "I.. I'm sorry for doubting you all..."
"Don't be sorry... I know how you feel... trust me.." she patted his shoulder with a smile as they let go. She then turned to Mokuba, "you ok?"
He smiled widely, nodding yes.
"Always..." he winked, but then looked around, "oh yeah.. Yugi, we almost forgot something! Seto knows we're here!" he whispered, "look!" he grabbed his backpack, opened it and looked it over for a few seconds. Then turned, showing it to Yugi, pointing to a pretty small device with a blinking red light on it. Yugi looked it over for a few seconds. Then let out a small happy laugh.
"A tracking mechanism..!" had had to consentrate to keep his voice down, "Seto Kaiba knows we're here?!"
"Yeah!" Mokuba nodded, "or... he know's I'm here... he'll definitely get us outta here!" he then turned, looking out of the small window which of course had bars on it too, "I know he will...."
***
Nobody said a word in the helicopter... Tristan, Joey, Bakura and Téa were sitting in their seats, looking straight out into space, and Seto Kaiba was sitting opposite them, looking them over, frowning... he hated himself the moment he accepted their help; he had to admit that he wasn't strong enough to go rescue Mokuba himself this time, and even worse; he had to admit it to Yugi Muto's friends! He clenched his teeth and turned to look out of the window instead... still a while 'till they'd arrive on Duelist Kingdom...
"We're getting closer..." Bakura suddenly said, making everybody turn to him, "my Millenium Ring is reacting..." he was still looking out of the window with a slightly worried look on his face, "something is wrong though..." he turned to the others, shaking his head, "terribly wrong..."
"And that is?" Joey lifted an eyebrow, scratching his head. Bakura looked at him, slightly annoyed.
"How would I know!" he folded his arms, frowning, "I can just feel it... the sooner we get there, the better..!"
***
"Sir..!"
Pegasus looked up from the Milllenium Puzzle as he heard the voice... a henchman was standing, bowing slightly as Pegasus sent him a glare.
"A thousand pardons,sir... we just spotted a helicopter, moving towards the island.... it's from KaibaCorp- should we shoot it down?" the henchman cleared his throat. Pegasus frowned a little, but then laughed.
"No... it's probably Seto Kaiba, coming for his little siblings!" he got up, moving towards the window, "let them be... just don't let them get into the castle!"
"Of course not, sir... I'll tell the others, right away!"
***
"We're landing in a few minutes, sir! We're trying to find a nice landing spot..." the co-pilot looked through the curtain that separated the flight deck from the passenger's cabin. Seto Kaiba nodded to the co-pilot and the guy disappeared back behind the curtain. Seto then turned to Tristan, Téa, Joey and Bakura who were all looking at him.
"You heard that... we'd better get ready." he turned back to the window, folding his arms. Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura all looked at each other and then turned back to Seto.
"Did we get spotted at all?" Joey scratched his head, lifting an eyebrow, "it seems a little too quiet for me..." "Well, nobody's been shooting at us..." Tristan replied, "but I guess they could be waiting for us on the ground...."
"They don't want to kill us, you fools!" Seto snapped, "I don't even think they want to catch us! Pegasus just wants the millenium puzzle and he actually only needs Yugi since he's the one who knows the most about that thing!" he narrowed his eyes.
"Then, why don't we just wait? Maybe he's gonna let them go when he's solved the thing!" Joey suggested, "sounds good to me!"
"He wouldn't just let them go! He'd need to test the puzzle!" Téa broke in, "and I'm sure he wouldn't mind testing it on all three!" she clenched her fists, looking down at the Duelist Kingdom island under them, "and I have a feeling we've gotta hurry..."
***
Pegasus was still sitting, leaning over the puzzle on the table... his face seemed thoughtfull, and he was frowning deeply, still looking down at the unsolved puzzle in front of him- none of the pieces were together, they still laid spread- Pegasus picked two of them up; he was certain they fit together- and yet, as he connected them, it didn't even take a second before they suddenly started shaking, being lifted off the table by a strange invisible force, and then- fell apart, being thrown back down onto the table.... just like the time before and the time before that.. Pegasus clenched his teeth...
"Why?!" he almost hissed, "I can't believe it!!! Why does it do this!" he slammed his fists down into the table... he had tried everything; pressing them together, and even glueing them together, but the same thing had happened...
"You know why Pegasus...."
Pegasus immediately jumped out of his chair as he heard the voice inside his head... he knew it... and it knew him, obviously...
"Pharao!!! Yami Yugi!!" Pegasus almost screamed, "you again!!! But the puzzle is apart! How can you-"
"The puzzle still belongs to Yugi Muto- and it won't be yours until you've solved it twice..." the voice cut him off, "and I can't let you solve it. What you want is wrong. You canot bring back a dead person; you will disturb the spirit world, and I cannot allow that...."
"So YOU are the one in the way!!!" Pegasus yelled, "stay out of this!!"
"I'm afraid I can't..."
"If you don't," Pegasus started trembling with anger, "I will make sure that little Yugi and the Kaiba sister and brother will be the ones that disturb the spirit world!!! With the story about how you refused to let me solve the puzzle!!!"
"You will not, Pegasus!!! You know that'd be wrong!!!" Yami's voice raged.
"Watch me, mr. Pharao!!!" Pegasus snapped, "do we have a deal?!"
Yami was silent for a few seconds....
"Pegasus... let's settle this in a fair way..."
"Well, I think my suggestion is quite fair!"
"Listen... duel Yugi Muto in Duel Monsters... if he loses, I will leave you alone, let you solve the puzzle... and do whatever you want to with it...." Yami sounded calm. Pegasus lifted an eyebrow.
"And if I lose?" he folded his arms.
"Let Yugi, Ayi and Mokuba go... and let Ayi return to be a Kaiba... and as for the puzzle; it will stay unsolved forever- I shall destroy the pieces...."
"And Yugi will be dueling without the puzzle?" Pegasus sat down again.
"Without the puzzle, yes..."
"Well.... that sounds fair... Yugi's never dueled me without the puzzle, and even though I lost my Millenium Eye, I'm still better than ever!" Pegasus laughed, "I guess you have a deal! But I want to know what the catch is!"
"Catch?" Yami's voice turned surprised.
"Why are you offering this? If we duel, Yugi loses and I solve the puzzle, you said the worlds would be disturbed- why don't you just destroy the pieces now, right away- sure, I would kill little Yugi and the two Kaibas like I said I would if you did, but you know as well as I do that they're not important and that wouldn't disturb anything... "
"I know" Yami replied, "I guess all I can say they're my friends... and I'm sure Yugi will win."
"Such a gambler you are, pharao!" Pegasus got up with a laugh, "well, you've got a deal! I will tell little Yugi-boy immediately!"
***
The helicopter finally landed... as the hatch opened, Seto and the others immediately stepped out, followed by two Kaiba Corp security guards. Téa turned to the others with a sigh.
"We're here... now we need a plan!" she frowned, "any ideas?"
"Well, we have to get into the castle obviously..." Bakura replied, looking around, "but how? It doesn't look that easy to me..." he motioned at the castle with a sigh... it looked so big... and so well protected...
"Let's just beat up the guards and ram our way inthere! Piece of cake!" Joey laughed, making the others turn to him, glaring at him.
"Monkey..." Seto growled, quietly, rolling his eyes.
"Hey! Rich Boy, whaddya say?! Want some fist-salad?! EH?!?!" Joey snapped, running towards Seto angrily. He was immediately held back by Bakura and Tristan who just looked at eachother, lifting an eyebrow with a sigh.
"Honestly, we've got far more important things to worry about, Joey!" Tristan implied, "Yugi and Ayi, for instance! And Mokuba for that matter!"
"Yeah, we can't waste our time fighting..." Bakura added as he and Tristan let go of Joey who seemed to have calmed just a little bit down, "we should be thinking instead... something tells me that we'll be having quite a hard time getting into that castle..."
"Right... sorry.." Joey said through gritted teeth, still glaring at Seto, "but there's no way I'll be talking to mr. Seto Kaiba again! That'll be over my dead body!" he turned away, closed his eyes and folded his arms angrily, "but enough of that! Let's go get Yug!"
***
The dungeon and the cells Yugi and the Kaiba siblings were in hadn't changed at all... it was all still dark... and cold... and wet... Yugi had been looking out into the emptyness in front of him for several minutes now... a small snore and groan from Mokuba made him turn around, snapping out of his thoughts... Mokuba was asleep. Leaning against Ayi, having both of his arms around her arm, looking peacefully calm. Ayi on the other hand was looking out into the air with a very concerned frown on her face and her fists clenched... she then sensed Yugi looking at her and turned around smiling slightly at him. He half smiled back, and Ayi turned back to looking out into the air again... but was still smiling. Yugi observed her... there was something special about her that he couldn't explain; and a feeling inside him was growing stronger and stronger for every moment she was around... he just couldn't explain what; and he couldn't ask her... he was so afraid that she would consider him a weirdo if he did, they had only known each other for a few days...
Suddenly, he heard a sound... he quickly turned to Ayi; she deffinitely heard it too; her eyes had widened and her teeth were gritted. She turned to Yugi and the two looked at each other, listening tensely to the sound that was coming closer and closer... Yugi finally recognized it...
"Steps...!" he almost whispered. Ayi only nodded.
"I know... at least two persons..." she stated... Yugi prickled his ears and listened carefully... she was right; at least two persons... Ayi held her breath and held Mokuba closer, putting both of her arms around him, glaring in the direction of the steps. Yugi stood up, trying to spot the people walking towards them... after a few seconds, he was finally able to see them... Croquet, Kemo and another henchman....
"You?!?!" Ayi almost jumped up when she saw them too, "what do you want?!" she snapped, "leave us alone!!!"
Kemo looked her over, lifting an eyebrow as he walked past her.
"Shut up, miss Pegasus! This is of none of your concern!" he stopped in front of the cells along with the two other men.
"It's Kaiba!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes in anger.
"Whatever!" Kemo laughed, turning to Yugi, "Master Pegasus wishes to talk to you. Right away!"
"Us..?" Mokuba, who was still half asleep looked up.
"Only Mr. Muto!" Croquet replied, "let's go!" he nodded to Yugi's cell and the third henchman walked over and opened it, walked in and grabbed Yugi by the shoulder, dragging him out and started pulling him with them as they started leaving the dungeon.
"Yugi!"
Yugi got to look over his shoulder as he heard Ayi's voice. She was looking straight into his eyes, biting her lip.
"It's ok!" he yelled back to her, "I'll see you soon!"
Kemo then yanked him back, making him look straight forwards... yet, he was able to get a glimpse of Ayi's very small, but still relieved smile... he didn't like leaving the two of them alone now, but he knew this was the best... if Pegasus was talking to him, at least the chances of him leaving Mokuba and Ayi alone were bigger...
***
"Guards! Guards everywhere!!" Seto clenched his teeth, kicking the ground, furiously, "we can't get in anywhere!"
"Don't worry!" Téa almost whispered, "chances are they'll be having a shift soon! Trying to break in during a shift always works!"
"Hey, look!!" Joey's yell made them all turn around; he was pointing up,at one of the windows of the castle above them. They all looked up and instantly let out a gasp... Above them, in the castle, behind the window they were looking through, Yugi walked past, followed by three henchmen... he didn't even look scared or nervous.. he was just looking straight out, frowning deeply, just walking...
"Where's Mokuba?! What have they done to him?!?!?!" Seto roared, "Moku-" he was cut off as a hand was clamped over his mouth.
"Be quiet, you idiot!!!" Joey snapped, "want the whole castle to be on our butts?!?!"
"But-"
"Mokuba is probably fine!" Bakura let go of him, "Pegasus wouldn't hurt him 'till he's solved the puzzle- and since Yugi's still here, he definitely hasn't yet! So calm down!"
Seto narrowed his eyes, but shut up...
"What's going on then?!" he then snarled, "why's Yugi there?! Without Mokuba?!"
"How should we know?" Tristan broke in, "we'll find out sooner or later- but if we don't find a way into the castle fast, I'm afraid it's gonna be 'later'..."
***
The henchmen finally stopped as they got to the end of the coridor they had been walking down the last five minutes... Yugi had finally started to realize how big Pegasus's castle actually was but he didn't really think of this... he was just looking straight forwards all the time, only trying to figure out whatever Maximillion Pegasus would want from him except of what he already had now...
The henchmen opened the door and pushed him in by his shoulders, followed and closed the door behind them. Yugi looked around... the room was pretty simple... the only thing inthere was a long dining table with a lot of chairs around it, an expensive looking floor carpet, expensive looking curtains in the giant windows and...
"Pegasus..." Yugi frowned, "what do you want?!" he glared right into Pegasus's eyes. Pegasus simply smiled back. He then drank a little wine from his glass and laughed, still looking at Yugi.
"Well.. Hello Yugi. I hope you've enjoyed your stay so far! Was the room to your liking?" he got up from his chair and started walking towards Yugi and the henchmen with his hands on his back.
"What do you want?!" Yugi repeated, clenching his fists.
"Want...? well... nothing really... just a little... duel." he stopped a few meters away from Yugi.
"Duel? Duel Monters Duel?" Yugi coughed, letting out a small laugh, "why would I duel you?! I have better things to waste my time on!"
"What for example?" Pegasus turned to look at Yugi from the window he had started looking out of, "sitting in the dungeon, staring at the bars while you could duel me and win your freedom, I don't think so, Yugi-boy!" he turned back to the window with a smile. Yugi's eyes widened.
"Our freedom..?" he blinked, "wait... you're saying... if I win, you'll set us free??"
"Well, basically, yes."
"But what if you win?" Yugi lifted an eyebrow.
"Then you have to stay. And your little pharao friend has to let me solve the puzzle. That's all." Pegasus laughed.
"What do you mean, 'let you solve the puzzle'?" Yugi asked, "you haven't solved it yet?!"
"No. The Pharao's soul won't let me. He breaks it up every time I've connected two pieces. But if I win a duel against you... he will let me solve it and you three will be the first to go to the Shadow Realm." Pegasus didn't even turn to Yugi as he explained...he was looking out of the window, smiling widely.
"But I can't let you solve the puzzle!!" Yugi snapped, "you're crazy! If the Pharao keeps you from solving the puzzle, I'm gonna let it stay that way! I'm not going to accept!!" He turned around to the henchmen, "take me back to the dungeun!"
"Trust me Yugi, you can either accept this duel or watch your friends die!"
Pegasus's voice made him turn around again.
"Don't do this again!!" he growled.
"Why, it seemed to work last time!" Pegasus snickered, "and trust me, when I say 'your friends' I mean all of them... not only the Kaiba siblings!"
"It's not fair!!" Yugi screamed, kneeling down.
"I never claimed it to be fair... but the duel on the other hand WILL be fair. You have my word on it!" Pegasus rubbed his hands, "well little Yugi... do we have a deal?" he grinned. Yugi looked down at the floor for a few seconds, almost getting tears in his eyes. He then looked up at Pegasus, with the hate shining out of his eyes, clenching his teeth.
"Fine! I'll duel you! On one condition!" he hissed.
"I'm listening..."
"Let Ayi and Mokuba be by my side during the duel. Let them watch." he looked away, "I wanna make sure you don't hurt them and that you keep your promise..."
"Don't worry, Yugi, you have my word! But as you wish, then..." Pegasus nodded to him and then turned to the henchmen, "throw him in the cell and let him be with his friends for a while... and make an arena ready for seven o'clock this evening! That's when the duel will begin!" he looked down at Yugi again for a second and turned back to the window as the henchmen started leading him out of the dining room...
***
Birds escaped from a nearby tree as Joey, Téa, Bakura, Tristan and Seto were thrown through the gate, out from the castle. The gate was then slammed shut, and laughs from Pegasus's henchmen were heard from inside the castle.
The five got up from the ground, dusting themselves off, angrily.
"You bastards!!" Joey yelled, "if I was inside with you right now, YOU would've been the ones thrown out!!!" he waved his fist at the gate. The laughs from inside grew louder by this remark. Joey just folded his arms, "cowards!!!"
"Come on, Joey..." Téa rolled her eyes, "yelling doesn't help!" she grabbed him by his collar and dragged him with her and the others, towards the forest.
"Hey!!! Téa!! Let go!!.... please..?"
The others had stopped in a clearing in the forest, only around a hundred feet from the castle.
"Well, at least we got inside..." Tristan sighed, "but we didn't stay there for long..."
"There're simply too many guards." Bakura sat down on the ground, "they DID know about our arrival..."
"We just have to try again! At a different entrance!" Téa added, letting go of Joey, "let's go!"
Seto was standing a distance away, with his back towards the others, having his arms folded, glaring straight forwards with his teeth clenched.
"We can't just try to barge inthere!!" he snapped, turning to them, "they're just gonna throw us out again!!"
"Well, we can't just give up!" Joey retorted, "Yug is in there! With your sister and your brother!!"
"She's not my sister! I'm only here for Mokuba!" Seto hissed, "Yugi and that girl can go hang for all I care for!"
"YOU-"
"Stop it!" Téa cut Joey off, stepping in between him and Seto, "fighting doesn't help anybody! What we need is a plan, you two should be discussing that instead!!" she then turned to Seto, "but you shouldn't be talking like that, Seto! Especially not about your adopted sister! She would be doing whatever it would take to get you outta there if you were in her place!"
"But I'm not, so quit trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't do!" Seto roared, "I have my own way of doing things and if that Ayi girl hadn't come to Domino city, Mokuba would never have ended up with her and he wouldn't be here! And neither would Yugi for that matter!!!"
"Maybe not... but it still isn't her fault!" Joey replied, making the others turn to him, "she just ran! And Yugi's happy to help her and so are we! And I'm sure Mokuba's happy that she's there with him right now! And he's definitely happy to meet his sister, even if she's only his ADOPTED sister, trust me!" he narrowed his eyes, "she will do anything to protect Mokuba, I know that... so don't even go there pal!" he pointed at Seto, "let's stop this and make a plan... Yug and the others needs us!"
***
Mokuba and Ayi immediately looked up as they heard the sound of the entrance-door of the dungeon open and steps coming closer. Mokuba looked at Ayi and she just smiled at him while she kept looking at the bars.
"Yugi's back..." she got to her feet and Mokuba quickly followed her as she walked to the cell door. They only had to stand there for a few seconds before Yugi and two henchmen appeared, walking towards them. When they all got to the cell, the door was opened and Yugi was pushed in before they closed and locked the door again.
"Yugi..." Ayi smiled widely at him, walked over, and hugged him, "you're ok..." she bit in her lip as they let go and Yugi looked her face over, nodding.
"I'm gonna duel Pegasus!" he frowned a little, still smiling, "for the puzzle... and our freedom..."
Mokuba and Ayi looked at eachother, letting out a 'huh?!'.
"Really..?!" Mokuba blinked, scratching his neck, "but... really?!"
"Yeah... he can't solve the puzzle... the pharaoh won't let him unless he wins a duel against me..." Yugi looked down at the floor for a moment, "he really believes in my dueling skills it seems..."
"Of course he does!!" Ayi made him turn to her, startled, "Yugi, you've won against Pegasus once! Why shouldn't you be able to again?"
"I don't have my puzzle! I did back then..." Yugi shrugged his shoulders.
"Pegasus doesn't have his Millenium Eye either, Yugi..." Mokuba broke in, walking up beside Ayi, "besides, we believe in you no matter what!"
"Right!" Ayi smiled confidently, "and the Heart of the Cards are definitely on your side!"
"There's so much at stake..." Yugi muttered, sitting down on the ground with a sigh, "what if I fail? We'll all end up in the Shadow Realm! And Pegasus gets to solve the puzzle... why does Yami have to be such a gambler!!" Yugi hid his face in his hands, clenching his teeth.
"Hey!"
Ayi made him look up again as she squatted down, putting a hand on his shoulder, "he's not gambling, Yugi! He knows you're gonna win!" she half smiled, "and so do we! You can't give up... and neither can we... if we keep believing, we can do anything..."
Yugi looked at her, blinking in confuse for a second. He then frowned, clenching his fists, nodding.
"You're right... I believed when I dueled for granpa.. and I've gotta believe now!" he looked at Ayi again, "the duel starts at seven... and he said you'd be allowed to watch... will you?"
"Of course!" Ayi laughed, putting an arm around Mokuba's shoulders as he walked to her side while she got up from the floor, "you'll definitely win! We know you will!"
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END OF PART THREE!!!
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Hope you enjoyed this =D Part 4 is on its way, and it'll have the duel between Yugi and Pegasus innit ^__^ Also, I have another story coming up... more about that later, all I can tell you now is that it's gonna be pretty sad... ah, I just love spoilers!!! XD
Anyway, that's all for now =) Hope you liked ^^ Until next time,
~Janni Pedersen
DEDICATED TO LISA HOGAN AND FUNG CHUN HONG.
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NOTE: Chapter three, finally ^__^ Thanks SO much to all you nice people who read and commented on the two previous chapters, it's the first time I've been encouraged so much to continue writing stories =D Big hugs to all of you, and I hope you'll like this chapter as much as you liked the others and as much as I loved writing it ^__^
Oh yes, to people who're impatient to read the Duel; I told you it'd be in this part... IT IS NOT... if I included it here, it'd be longer than it already is, so I've decided to put it in PART 4 which I'm still working on... I'm in the middle of the duel somewhere ^^ I hope this doesn't bother you too much or stops you from reading =)
Lisa Hogan has started editing the two previous chapters and she's doing such a great job ^__^ Not only does she make my stories "better" by correcting all grammar and spelling error, she also helps me learn more English ^^ She's a great gal, that's for sure! Thanks Lissie! ^o^ *waves*
IMPORTANT!!!!!: For those of you who would actually like to see a picture of Ayi Kaiba, I put one up in my gallery at the Danish art page, Tegnebordet (the Drawing Table). I drew the picture in Paint, so it's not that good, but you get an idea of what Ayi looks like and that's the important thing, right? ^^
So here's the link!
http://www.tegnebordet.dk/arkiv/2091-9930-ayi2.JPG
the picture is drawn for my friend, Stefanie W. from Germany ^___^ She's such a great person =D
Ok, that's all! Let's just take the copyrights now =)
Ayi Kaiba and the whole story are (c) me.
Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba, Maximillion Pegasus and other characters from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! is (c) Kazuki Takahashi., 4Kids and FUNimation.
Other characters are (c) their respective owners.
PLEASE REMEMBER:
My main language is DANISH and I haven't had much to do with English in school, so I've basically had to teach myself English with help from my Internet friends- so if there're any grammar/spelling errors, please tell me and I'll try to kill them ASAP ^^ Otherwise, they WILL be dead once Lisa's edited this ^_^ Thanks =)
Only one thing left to say now... ENJOY!!! =D
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NOTHING BUT TROUBLE...
PART 3
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Domino City looked like it always did during night; quiet and empty... and dark... but in one apartment, above the Game's Store, nothing was quiet...
"What on Earth are you doing here?! I told you she isn't here, I've never seen the girl you're talking about!" Solomon folded his arms, watching four of the six henchmen searching through the living room. Kemo, who was one of the two who was making sure Solomon kept sitting where they'd placed him, let out a laugh.
"Come on, you old fool! I saw you, your grandson, his pathetic friends and even Mokuba Kaiba with her!" he turned around as one of the other henchmen tapped his shoulder. The other guy whispered something Solomon couldn't hear, and Kemo nodded, turning around, frowned and smirked at Solomon, "well, she isn't here, so we're just gonna leave you, old man! We didn't expect to find her here anyway, but don't worry; we've got at least fifty men searching the city!" he turned around and started walking out along with the others. Solomon glared after him, but as the door closed behind them, he sighed heavily, closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Be careful, Yugi..."
***
Seto looked the computer screen over once again. He then frowned.
"Say... the tracing mechanism in Mokuba's backpack still works, it seems... he's stopped..." he sat back for a second looking the screen over. Then, moved closer with a small gasp, "but.. it can't possibly be at the hospital... can it?!"
"I'm afraid it is... it looks like he went inthere..." the computer replied.
"WHAT?!" Seto's eyes widened, "he's hurt! I have to get there!" he flew up from his chair and started running out of the room
"But-"
"I have no time!" Seto stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the computer, "I have to get there! If my brother is hurt, I'll personally kill Yugi Muto..!" the door slammed behind him.
"But maybe it isn't him...." the computer finished, quietly, "of course...." if it had eyes, it would've rolled them, "he never listens when he freaks out..."
***
Yugi watched as the last doctor started walking away from Ayi, who was now laying in a hospital bed with her eyes closed and an oxygen mask on. Only one nurse was now standing beside the bed, putting a blanket over her and putting her head on a pillow. She then turned to Yugi and the others.
"It was a pretty rough seizure... she stopped breathing for several minutes, and she passed out, but she should be alright... her heartbeat's a little fast, but it always happens after seizures like that." she smiled at them.
"So she'll be outta here tonight?" Tristan asked. The nurse shook her head no.
"I'm afraid we have to keep her for observation... that'll be twenty-four hours." she replied, "are you family?"
"I... I'm her adopted brother..." Mokuba replied, slowly... he wasn't sure that Seto would appreciate if he even mentioned his relations to Ayi....
"I see... listen, I need to tell your parents... if you-"
"I can handle that." Mokuba cut her off, "they'd appreciate that.." he half smiled at her. She smiled widely back.
"Ok then..." she nodded to him, "a doctor will be in very soon. He needs to ask you some questions." she looked all of them over, "I'll see you later then!" she nodded to them again, turned around and started walking out, closing the door behind her... then, everything was quiet... only Ayi's breathing through the mask was heard.
"I... how could this happen?" Téa asked, "didn't she say she hadn't had any epileptic seizures for years?"
"She hasn't been taking any medicine since she came here..." Yugi made all of the others turn to him, "she said she hadn't had any seizures because the doctors found the right medicine for her... that means she's on some sort of medication... and I haven't seen her take anything..." she just kept looking at Ayi, and then sighed heavily, shaking his head, turning to the others, "Pegasus must still have that..."
"Well, we can't ask him to give it to us..." Joey muttered, "what are we gonna tell the docs when they come back, Yug?"
"We'll just have to tell them that she probably forgot to take her medicine for some days... that's all we can do." Yugi just kept looking at Ayi, not even turning to the others now.
"But... Yugi, do you think they'll give her the medicine?" Mokuba bit in his lip, "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep them from contacting Pegasus... he still is her adopted father and is probably registered as her parent..."
"They have to give her the medicine..." Yugi turned to him, frowning, "if she doesn't get it, the next seizure could probably kill her..."
"Yugi, kids!" a voice coming from the door, making them turn around; Solomon was standing in the door, trying to catch his breath, "thanks for calling! Pegasus henchmen looked through the appartment, but they didn't find anything!"
Yugi and the others let out a gasp
"They searched the appartment?!" Joey exclaimed, "but... how come they left you alone?!"
"They'd leave proof that they had actually been there if they heard me..." Solomon shrugged his shoulders, "and as soon as they didn't find any of you, I don't care what they did to the appartment. When they left, I checked that they were actually gone and I came as fast as I could! How is she?" he looked over at the bed, at Ayi and walked over beside Yugi.
"The doctors said she was fine." Téa replied, "it's normal for epileptics to fall asleep after a seizure.. she'll be fine..."
"Why on Earth didn't she tell us she didn't have any medicine?!" Solomon sighed heavily, clenched his teeth and shook his head, "I-"
"I didn't want to ask for too much..."
The hoarse voice came suddenly from the bed and they all turned around with a 'huh?!'; Ayi was laying, looking at them, biting her lip, "I'm sorry."
"Ayi!", Yugi hurried over to her side, "are you ok?"
Ayi looked at him, half smiled, nodding yes.
"Thanks..." she sounded terribly tired.
"No problem." Yugi looked away with a sigh, "man... why didn't you just tell us... you know that wouldn't be asking too much!"
"The medicine is expensive... and I wouldn't want to ask that from you..."
"Child, what went through your head?!" Solomon made her turn to him, "we'd rather be buying that medicine than seeing you dead!"
"I'm sorry..." Ayi looked away from Yugi and his grandfather, sitting up, "I didn't want to cause trouble.."
"Ayi..."
Another voice made her look up. Mokuba was standing, looking at her, "I can pay for the medicine... I've got money..."
Ayi looked him over for a few seconds; then, she smiled, shaking her head no.
"Hey... I don't need it right now, I should get the money myself some-"
"MOKUBA!!!!"
Ayi was cut off by the sudden yell and the door slammed open, making them all look towards it with a gasp; Seto Kaiba came running into the room with a terrified look on his face. He stopped in the door, looked everybody over and then, frowned.
"Oh..." he glared at Ayi, "it's... you..."
"Big brother!!" the voice made Seto turn around. Mokuba was standing, still by the bed, looking at him, "what are you doing here?"
Seto looked him over for a few seconds and then, shook his head.
"I put a tracking mechanism in your backpack..." he folded his arms, "when I saw you were inhere, I thought... I thought you were hurt..." he then looked up at Ayi again, "but obviously, you werent..." he snorted, "and you must be the... kid..."
"She's your sister!" Téa snapped, "not 'the kid'!"
Seto looked at her, and then, looked back at Ayi.
"ADOPTED sister..." he let out a small laugh, "I wouldn't even consider you related to me in ANY way anymore actually... Pegasus adopted you... so basically, you're his kid."
"Don't say that!!!"
Seto turned around again as he heard Mokuba's voice; his little brother was almost glaring at him now.
"She's our sister, Seto! And she needs us right now!"
Seto let out a laugh.
"If you think-" he was cut off as somebody knocked on the door. They all looked towards it as it opened and a doctor stepped in. He closed the door behind him and looked everybody over. When he reached Ayi, he half smiled.
"Oh... you're awake!" he nodded to her, walking over, shaking her hand, "I'm doctor Teniko. I'm here to write down some info for your record..." he turned to the others, "are you family?"
"I am." Mokuba replied, "and he is." he nodded to Seto, "we're her brothers. Adopted brothers, but still brothers..."
"oh, I see!" he doctors nodded, "but the rest of you are..?"
"Friends..." Joey replied.
"I see... then, I'd like you to step out-"
"No..." Ayi cut the doctor off, "I'd like everybody to stay... Please..."
The doctor blinked, confused a few times. Then nodded.
"Ok then..." he cleared his throat, looking down at some papers before turning to Mokuba, Seto and Ayi, "but the questions are for you three... family only."
Seto hesitated for a few seconds. Then nodded, slowly.
"Go on..."
"Well... yes..." the doctor cleared his throat again, turning to Ayi "we have to give you medicine... and we have to keep you here, at least until tomorrow... we have to be sure your condition is stable... you understand that, right?"
Ayi just nodded.
"Good." the doctor continued, turning to Seto, "since you're the oldest, I think I should talk to you about this. Do your parents know your sister is here after her epileptic attack?"
"Err...." Seto looked at Mokuba out of the corner of his eyes; he nodded, rapidly, "yes... yes they do..." he replied.
"Very well... the medicine we're gonna give your sister has to be pretty strong. She hasn't been taking any for at least two days, and normally, that doesn't really matter... but since her seizure was that strong, she does need medicine right away- strong medicine too, judging from her seizure... and..." he paused, "that's expensive..."
"How much?" Seto folded his arms, sitting back in his chair. The doctor picked up a paper, handing it to Seto, who immediately looked the paper over and then, looked up at him again.
"Ok... I can pay that right away... my... parents gave me money when they they were told that she's here...." he almost shuddered as he handed the paper back to the doctor... he hated lying about his parents, even his adopted ones... especially this way. The doctor lifted an eyebrow, looking Seto over.
"Well... ok then..." he then turned to Ayi, "before I go, I need to know your full name..."
"Ayi..." Ayi looked Seto over, biting her lip; Seto didn't even look at her. she then sighed, turning back to the doctor, "Ayi Kaiba."
"I see..." the doctor got up, folding the paper, "Mr. Kaiba, just pay on the way out... that's about what I have to say for now... just remember to leave before eight tonight... she needs rest. Goodnight!" he nodded to them before closing the door after himself. Then, everything was quiet...
"I hope you're happy, kid..." Seto made Ayi turn to him, "this'll be the last thing I ever do for you." he got up, "come on, Mokuba... we're going home!" he turned around and quickly walked out of the room.
"No way!" Mokuba shook his head no, slowly, "I'm staying..!"
"You'd better go with him, Mokuba..." Ayi sighed, "tell him thanks when he's cooled down... and that I'm sorry for interfering..." she smiled at Mokuba, grabbing his hand, "thanks for finding me... I really appreciate everything you've done." she squeezed his hand lightly and then, patted his shoulder. Mokuba looked at her for a while, but then, smiled.
"No problem.. and thanks for not being... well, mad... at Seto.. he'll be nicer to you eventually, don't worry!" he got up from the chair he was sitting on, "I'll be here tomorrow, as soon as the visiting hours begin! I'll see you then!" he then turned to Solomon, "and thanks to you, Yugi... for taking care of her." he half smiled at him, turned around and started walking out. He then gave them all a final wave before closing the door.
"You should have told us, Ayi..." Solomon frowned slightly, making Ayi turn to him, "about the medicine... we would have paid for it, and we wouldn't be sad to..."
"I know... and I really am sorry..." Ayi looked down at her hands, "I wish I had too... but you've done so much for me and I really wouldn't ask any more from you... and... I thought I could handle it..."
"I guess it's ok... we shouldn't be mad at you. It's not your fault." Solomon sat down on the chair, patting her hand, "but somehow, we have to make sure that Pegasus doesn't get to know about this..." he then turned to Yugi, "I'll be heading home, Yugi. You just come when you're ready, son."
Yugi just nodded while his grandfather got up.
"I'll see you then, granpa!" he half smiled at him while he was walking out. Solomon just gave him a final nodd before closing the door after him.
"Yugs..." Joey madeYugi turn around, "we'd better go too... it's getting late. If it's ok with you?" Joey bit in his lip.Yugi just smiled at him and nodded.
"Sure! I'll be alright! Thanks guys!"
"No problem!" Téa walked over, to Tristan and Joey, nodding to Yugi and Ayi, "oh, and we'll coming over again tomorrow, Ayi! We'll see you then!" she turned around and started walking out, nodding to Yugi, "bye Yugi... "
"Bye guys!" Yugi watched them as they all walked out. After they had closed the door, it was all quiet...
"Thanks Yugi..." Ayi suddenly broke the silence, making Yugi turn to her, "without you, Pegasus would've had me by now..." she smiled at him, "I really appreciate all you've done..."
"No problem!" Yugi laughed, "I'd do anything for a friend!" he patted her shoulder. Ayi half smiled at him, then, looked away for a few seconds.
"Sorry 'bout asking, but... how can you consider me a friend after.. so short time? I could be some... crook or something..." she turned back to Yugi. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders.
"Well... the day you ran into the game shop, wearing that robe, I did wonder whether I should trust you or not... but Pegasus's men were chasing you, and you did look scared... besides... if you were one of the bad guys, Yami would've probably reacted..." he grabbed his puzzle, holding it up a little.
"Yami..?" Ayi looked confused, lifting an eyebrow, "who's Yami..?"
"The soul inside the Millenium Puzzle... he practically takes over me when I'm in danger..." he replied, "he'd be able to tell if you were one of the bad guys..."
Ayi blinked a few times, then smiled.
"I see... I had no idea it'd be able to do that kind of stuff... that's cool!" she laughed, "awesome!"
"Pegasus didn't tell you about it?" Yugi frowned.
"No.. he just wanted me to steal it, I don't think he cared whether I knew what it could do or not..." Ayi sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "I didn't ask him either... I didn't really feel like chatting with him too much if you know what I mean.."
"Oh yeah!" Yugi laughed, "anyway, I'd better get home... it's late, and I want to be able to be here when you get out tomorrow." he got up, grabbing his backpack, "you take care, alright?"
"Alright..." Ayi nodded, smiling at him, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yep! I'll be here right after breakfast!" he grinned back at her before opening the door, "Night!" he walked out, waving before closing the door.
"Night..." Ayi almost whispered, out into the empty room... everything but the wind outside was quiet, she could almost hear the drops of the IV that was still attached to her hand... she sighed and laid back, just looking out into the air... then, after few minutes, she slowly fell asleep...
***
Pegasus looked up as he heard the knock on the door... a henchman was looking at him, holding a cell phone.
"What?!" he lifted an eyebrow, "come in, idiot! What is it?!"
"Mr. Pegasus... sir..." the henchman stuttered, "Domino City Hospital wishes to talk to you...."
"Domino City... Hospital?!" he frowned, "what's wrong with you?!" he almost screamed, "give me the phone!!" he got up and the henchman almost threw the cell phone at him, sprinting out of the room. Pegasus then calmed down a little, cleared his throat and put the phone up to his ear, "Yes?"
"Hello, sir.." a male voice instantly replied, "you're speaking to Doctor Teniko on Domino City Hospital... I'm just calling to know whether you'll be able to pick your daughter up tomorrow morning or if we should provide transport?" the guy on the other end cleared his throat. Pegasus frowned even more.
"She's in the hospital?!" he exclaimed.
"Er... yes..." the doctor sounded slightly surprised, "two boys, the Kaibas, came by here and paid medicine and everything else and said you were aware of everything that is going on... but we forgot to ask them for your phone number and we had to find it ourselves... am I talking to the right person..?"
"Oh! Hold on! Of course! I AM the right person, and... well, they DID tell me, I just.. I'm sorry!" Pegasus laughed, "silly me!"
"Oh..." the doctor sounded confused, "I see sir..."
"By the way, just out of curiosity... who's been visiting her?"
"Besides her brothers, the children that brought her in.. Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, Téa Gardner... and Solomon Muto came to visit a few minutes later..."
"Of course..." Pegasus suddenly smirked, "if that's the case, please don't let anybody but Yugi Muto visit her tomorrow... if that's possible of course.."
"Err... well, of course, sir..." Dr. Teniko cleared his throat, "but... why?"
"It's some reasons I'll have to discuss with my daughter... oh, and I'd like to talk to talk to mr. Yugi Muto too.. would you be able to call me when he arrives?"
"Well..." dr. Teniko sounded confused to say the least, "of course sir... I will..."
***
"I can't believe I paid for the treatment of that... brat!" Seto was still walking around in a circle, "she's of no use to me!" he turned around and slammed his fist down into the table. Mokuba was just observing him from the couch, sitting with a comic book on his lap. He rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders.
"Seto, she still is our sister... maybe only adopted sister, but that doesn't mean anything..." he yawned, "besides, she really is nice... you should at least talk to her." he got up, stretching, "anyway, I'm going to bed... I'll see you tomorrow big bro." he smiled at him, widely, and then started walking up the stairs to his room. Before walking all the way up, he turned to Seto again, "don't worry, bigbrother... I know you don't hate her... you're just confused!" he then turned around and disappeared up the stairs.
Seto was just looking after him, frowning a little in confuse.
"Maybe kid.." he sighed, hung his head a little and then sighed, "maybe I am... but I still don't trust her..."
***
Pegasus couldn't help letting out a laugh as the plane took off, heading towards Domino City... Kemo, Croquet and the four other henchmen sitting opposite them, looked at each other, obviously puzzled by their master's sudden happiness...
"Oh yes... I haven't introduced you to my plan, have I?" Pegasus made them all turn to him. He was sitting in a nonchalant position with his legs crossed, his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, smirking. The henchmen looked at each other again and then back at Pegasus.
"Actually... no master Pegasus, sir..." Croquet replied, "you didn't.."
"Ah, I thought so!" Pegasus laughed, "well, as said, we're going to pick up miss Kaiba in the hospital.. but not until Yugi Muto shows up... I've asked the doctors not to let anybody but Yugi-boy visit her... once he's there, you should be able to at least get the millenium puzzle and the girl... then we'll go back to Duelist Kingdom and I'll solve the millenium puzzle... and once that's solved, our little Ayi will be the first to try out mind crush..."
"But... sir... I thought you needed the girl as a millenium item hunter...." Kemo scratched his head. Pegasus folded his arms, smirking while closing his eyes.
"Not anymore... she's been nothing but trouble, and deserves no more than to be sent to the Shadow Realm... " he looked up again, "and she will be! Trust me..."
***
"Seto! I'm going!" Mokuba yelled before grabbing his backpack, opening the door.
"Be back by dinner then!" the response came after several seconds, and sounded reluctant... Mokuba sighed heavily...
"Well, at least he's letting me go... that's more than I dared hoping for..." he muttered to himself, finally walking out, closing the door behind him. He walked over, grabbed his bike and immediately started racing towards the hospital.
It only took ten minutes for him to get there. He quickly threw his bike in some nearby shrubbery and walked in, took the stairs up to the fourth floor, walking over to the counter marked "visitors"... there was already a line forming, but before the line even started moving, Mokuba noticed the doctor from yesterday waving at him, coming towards him.
"Doctor Teniko..." Mokuba left the line to meet him, "is something wrong?"
"Oh... no, mr. Kaiba... your sister just can't take any visitors today..." the doctor replied, "you see, your father's gonna pick her up and asked me not to-"
"Father..?" Mokuba cut him off, lifting an eyebrow. He then let out a gasp, "Pegasus?!" his eyes widened.
"Didn't he tell you..?"
"I..." Mokuba looked around, clenching his teeth. Then, he turned back to the doctor, "please, sir! I need to see her! Right away! It's very important!" he kept looking around, "Pegasus isn't here, is he?"
"Pega.. oh, you mean your father! No, he isn't here yet..." the doctor scratched his head, "he obviously hasn't told you... he doesn't want her to have any visitors, and-"
"I HAVE to talk to her! Now!" Mokuba snapped, "please!"
"I...." the doctor looked around for a few seconds, then looked back at Mokuba, "Ok..." he sighed heavily, shaking his head, "you know where the room-" he didn't even get to finish the sentance before Mokuba sprinted past him, "is......" he rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna get fired...."
***
Yugi whistled quietly as the line he was in by the visitors-counter moved forwards, leaving him to be next in a few seconds. As he walked up, the lady by the counter looked down at him.
"Your name?" she asked, turning to the computer.
"Yugi Muto... I'm here to see Ayi Kaiba... she came in yesterday.." he replied. The lady then looked at him again.
"Oh yes..." she finally said after a few seconds, "go on, mr. Muto..."
Yugi just nodded to her and then started walking down the ward.
***
People walked by the black car, swearing as it was parked almost all the way up on the sidewalk. However, the driver didn't seem to care at all, and Maximillion Pegasus who was sitting in the backseat of the car just smirked as the people walked by... they probably found it very annoying, having to almost walk out onto the street to get past the car.. but he didn't care. They couldn't see him through the toned window anyway... the cellphone beside him suddenly rang, and he immediately picked it up
"Yes?" he asked, lifting his eyebrow.
"Mr. Pegasus... this is Domino City Hospital... Mr. Yugi Muto has arrived. He's with your daughter now."
"I see... thanks for calling. I'll be there right away!" Pegasus smirked as he hung up. He then looked at the henchman who was in the driver's seat of the car he was in, "let's go! And tell the others to go get the girl and the puzzle!"
***
Ayi quickly woke up and sat up with a gasp as the door to the room slammed open; Mokuba came running in like mad.
"Mokuba... I didn't know visiting hours were starting already.." she watched him, yawning, as he sprinted to the side of her bed.
"We gotta get outta here!" he tried to speak while catching his breath, "Pegasus knows you're here! We gotta hurry!"
"What?! He knows I'm here?!" Ayi jumped out of her bed, tearing the IV out of her hand, "then what the heck are you doing here?!" she grabbed him by his shoulders, "I don't want him to get you too!"
"I had to warn you!" Mokuba lifted an eyebrow, "besides, I'm not leaving without making sure you're with me!"
Ayi bit in her lip, looking around in the room. Then, she looked back at Mokuba nodded to him, frowning.
"Let's get outta here... before-" she was cut off when somebody suddenly knocked on the door... they both let out a gasp, looking at each other then, back at the door.
"What are we gonna do?!" Mokuba whispered, "he's here!!" he grabbed Ayi's arm and hand. She looked down at him for a few seconds, then lowered her eyebrows, looking up at the door again.
"Come in..!" she squeezed Mokuba's hand a little as the door slowly opened... then...
"Hey Ayi!" Yugi's head was popped into the room from behind the door. He was smiling widely as he stepped inside, "oh! and hey, Mokuba! I didn't-"
"YUGI!"
He was cut off as both Mokuba and Ayi let out the yell and a laugh.
"It's you!" Ayi bit in her lip, "we thought you were Pe-" she fell silent and her facial expression changed to terrified. Mokuba was looking at her, but as her facial expression changed, he turned to Yugi as well and he too turned terrified... Yugi looked both of them over, blinking confused.
"YUGI, LOOK OUT!!!" Ayi started running towards him, but before she even got halfway through the room, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then, everything got black- the last thing he got to see was a man, wearing black step over him, into the room....
Mokuba and Ayi let out a shriek as Yugi fell after being hit in the back of his head by Kemo. Ayi's eyes widened as she looked at Yugi who was just laying on the floor, motionless with Kemo standing behind him.. she looked up at Kemo, letting out a growl, running to Yugi, past the other henchmen who had stepped inside.
"Yugi! Are you ok?!" she kneeled down beside him, "Yugi..!" she suddenly felt somebody grab her collar, but before she was able to do anything, she was lifted up to face Kemo... he looked at her through his sunglasses for a few seconds and then, smirked.
"Well... finally, we got you, miss Pegasus!" he laughed, stepped into the room, pulling Yugi with him before closing the door, "luckily nobody saw that!" he nodded to Yugi on the floor.
"NO!!!"
Ayi's eyes widened as she heard the voice and she immediately turned her head in the direction it came from... only to see the other henchman grab Mokuba as well. Her mouth opened widely for a few seconds. She then narrowed her eyes, turning back to Kemo.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" she screamed, "Mokuba's got nothing to do with this!! Yugi neither!" she tried to kick Kemo but he didn't seem to care the slightest. He just let out a laugh.
"Trust me, we ain't gona bring the Yugi brat! You and Mokuba on the other hand.. that's another story..." he laughed again, watching as the other henchman walked up in front of him, carrying Mokuba.
"PUT ME DOWN!!!" he screamed, swinging his arms and legs wildly in the air, "LET US GO!!"
Ayi looked at him for a few seconds... then turned back to Kemo.
"Why Mokuba?!" Ayi clenched her teeth, "he's got-"
"Nothing to do with this, I know, I know!" Kemo let out a laugh, "but we don't wanna risk losing you again... and the little guy here is the perfect hostage!" he nodded to Mokuba, "besides, we can't let him squeal to his big brother, can we, miss Pegasus?"
"It's Kaiba!" Ayi narrowed her eyes even more, "I'm a Kaiba!" she hissed.
"Sure! You just-"
"Sir!"
Kemo was cut off by a third henchman who was squatting down beside Yugi.
"We can't get the puzzle! He's holding it too tight!" he got up, shrugging his shoulders.
"Let me try, you moron!" Kemo hissed, tossing Ayi to the other guy as he got up. He then looked the knocked out Yugi over... he was all curled up, having the millenium puzzle in a tight grip, using both of his hands... Kemo grabbed the puzzle and pulled, hardly, but nothing happened... "Iron grip, eh?" he smirked, turned to the two other henchmen that was still holding Mokuba and Ayi, "well, whatever... we're just gonna bring him too then!"
Both Mokuba and Ayi let out a loud gasp.
"NO!" Ayi snapped, "you have us! Don't you have enough as it is?!?!"
"Master Pegasus wants the Millenium Puzzle... since the boy won't let go of it, we have to bring the boy... doesn't take much time to figure that out, does it?!" Kemo shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "by the way... on the way out, you two'd better stay calm! And if somebody asks, the guy's just fallen asleep!" he nodded to Yugi, "and if you don't do what I say, it won't be very tough to break the guy's neck!" he then turned to the two henchmen, "let's go!"
***
"Excuse me... Seto?"
Seto looked up from the book he was reading when the computer said his name. He put the book aside and moved over to the keyboard.
"What is it?" he sighed, "I have to read that book and get it finished soon... otherwise I can't install that software I bought... please hurry..."
"Mokuba's left the hospital..."
"He's probably hungry!" Seto rolled his eyes, "otherwise, he forgot his money and is coming home to get it..."
"But he's not coming towards the house... and he's definitely not riding his bike... it's going too fast, I'd say it's a car..."
"A car?" Seto lifted an eyebrow, "well..maybe the girl asked him to buy something for her and he's taking the bus into the city... just leave it alone... but tell me if he leaves the city anyway..."
"Of course..."
***
Mokuba and Ayi didn't say a word as the airport started appearing ahead of the black van they were in. Earlier, when they were leaving the hospital, neither doctors, nor patients noticed anything; they didn't even ask what had happened to Yugi as the henchmen had walked by, carrying him... Ayi and Mokuba tried their best to look just a little happy as they walked by people, for Yugi's sake... now, they were sitting in a black van, just staring out into the air with narrowed eyes, guarded by two henchmen on the backseat while Kemo was driving while another henchman was sitting beside him on the passenger seat... Yugi was laying behind them, on another seat, still knocked out, but definitely alive. A cell phone suddenly rang, and Kemo quickly picked it up.
"Yes?"
"Kemo!" Pegasus replied on the other end, "what's the status?"
"We have the girl, sir... but Mokuba Kaiba was with her, so we took him as well." Kemo replied.
"Oh, another Kaiba!" Pegasus laughed, "and what about the Millenium Puzzle?"
"Well, sir... Yugi Muto wouldn't let go of it, not even after we knocked him out... so we took him as well. He's still knocked out, sir."
Pegasus was quiet for a while.
"Hmm.." he sounded thoughtful. But then, he laughed, "oh well! Then we have THREE test subjects to send to the Shadow Realm once I've solved the millenium puzzle! Very good, Kemo, carry on! I'll meet you by the plane at the airport!"
"Yes sir! Over and out!" Kemo turned off his cell phone.
On the backseat, Mokuba and Ayi were still sitting side by side, not saying a word. Mokuba slowly turned his head, looking Ayi over; She looked angry and terrified, but she didn't say anything... she was just sitting there, with her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed, glaring straight out...
"Ayi.."Mokuba whispered, barely loud enough for himself to hear it, "Ayi!" he tapped her shoulder. Ayi turned to him, suddenly looking concerned.
"What?" she whispered back, "you ok?" she bit in her lip.
"Of course!" he half smiled, "I forgot to tell you something... Seto put a tracking device on my backpack yesterday... I forgot to take it off..."
Ayi's face lit up a little.
"Are you saying..." she had to hold back a smile... she didn't want Kemo or anybody else to know what they were talking about...
"Yeah!" Mokuba nodded, still half smiling, "my brother's still tracking us... once he knows we're on Duelist Kingdom, he'll come for us!"
***
"Whatever takes them so long?!" Pegasus clenched his teeth, looking at his clock, "if Kemo doesn't show up soon, FOUR people will be going to the Shadow Realm..!"
"Sir!" Croquet broke in, "they're coming!" he pointed towards a black van that came around a corner of a hangar, driving towards them; as it came closer, Pegasus was finally able to see Kemo and the other guy in the window. It stopped a couple of meters away from him and Croquet and after a couple of seconds, the backdoor was opened and Ayi and Mokuba was shoved out by two henchmen who immediately placed them in front of Pegasus while another henchman carried the still knoced out Yugi over in front of him too. Pegasus looked Ayi's face over. She was glaring right back at him with her eyes narrowed while holding Mokuba's hand with the hand that wasn't bandaged.
"Why, Ayi, you poor thing! I see your arm is broken!" he nodded to her broken arm with a smug smile on his face, "well, that's what you can expect from trying to leave Duelist Kingdom in a storm... what was wrong, didn't you like your room?" he laughed.
"The room was fine!" Ayi hissed, "the company on the castle was the problem!"
"Oh, I see!" Pegasus smirked, folding his arms, "unfortunately for you, you lead us right to Yugi Muto by hiding with him and his grandfather... sad, isn't it? In the end, I did get what I wanted from you... even though you did your best to prevent me from doing so and attemted to protect your little pal here.." he turned to Yugi, still smirking, but then, turned back to Ayi, "unfortunately for you, I don't need you anymore, since you probably never would agree to track down Millenium Items for me... so when I've got that puzzle solved, you're going on first class to the Shadow Realm, my child!" he patted her head while she held an arm between him and Mokuba. As Pegasus noticed that, he smiled even more.
"As for KaibaCorporation, we have another Kaiba right here... don't we? Again because of little Ayi." he walked towards Mokuba who just glared at him, snorting.
"You're not gonna get anything from KaibaCorp, not even a visitor's souvenir!" he growled, "besides, Ayi didn't do anything! And our brother's gonna rip you to shreds if you touch any of us!"
"Ah... certain of his big brother's abilities as a hero like always..." Pegasus laughed, "just be happy if you get one hour with your so called sister! It won't take me longer to solve that puzzle the required two times!" he turned to Kemo, "get the children onboard the plane- throw them into the cargo section... and tell the pilot to get ready for take off!" he turned around, walked into the plane and disappeared out of sight as he sat down in a seat. Mokuba and Ayi looked at eachother for a short time as they were shoved in the back of plane along with Yugi. As the hatch closed, they were left in the darkness; they were able to hear the henchmen making the plane ready for take-off and Pegasus's yelling at them at times...
"Ayi..."
Ayi turned around as she heard Mokuba's voice and felt him grabbing her arm, "you think Seto's gonna come for us..?"
"I'm sure he'll try... but I should at least be honest with you... it doesn't look too good." Ayi put her arm around his shoulders, giving him a small squeeze. He just nodded, letting out a small sigh.
"It's so dark inhere......"
"I know..." Ayi bit in her lip, "it's gonna be-" she was cut off as the engine suddenly started roaring and a small lightbulb was turned on in the ceiling, making the cargo section they were sitting in at least a little lighter. "here we go..." she sighed heavily, turning her head to look at Yugi... he was still knocked out... but he was definitely breathing.
"Sorry Yugi..." she whispered to herself, "you don't deserve this... I'm sorry, buddy.."
Mokuba watched her as she spoke to Yugi and her eyes started watering slightly. She quickly dried the tears away with the back of her hand as she noticed Mokuaba was looking at her. He shook his head, taking her hand.
"It's not your fault... you didn't know Pegasus would go this far..." he quietly said, "and Seto, and Yugi's friends are gonna find out and they're gonna get Pegasus for this... "
"Yeah... but this shouldn't have happened to any of you two..." Ayi bit in her lip.
"Hey... I'm just happy to be with you now... I wouldn't want anything to happen to you... you're my sister!" Mokuba smiled slightly at her, "and if Pegasus hadn't adopted you, maybe we wouldn't have known about you at all!" he put a hand on her shoulder, "and don't worry about it... Seto and Yugi's friends are gonna get us out! And when we get back to Domino, I'm sure Seto's gonna let you live with us! And we can go to amusement parks, to the beach and everything else, like real siblings! It's gonna be so cool!" he let out a small happy laugh, "oh yeah... I almost forgot..!" he suddenly slapped his forehead and then, started looking for something in his pocket, "aha!" he then stopped, and pulled something out... it looked like the back of a Duel Monster card, except, it was made with some kind of metal- and it was attached to a string, "here! I made this for you!" he smiled happily, got up, and put the thing around Ayi's neck. He then sat down beside her again. Ayi looked at it, wondering for a few seconds and then, looked back at Mokuba with a puzzled look on her face.
"A card necklace??" she blinked in confusion.
Mokuba let out a small laugh, shaking his head, "No! Open the pendant! You'll see!"
Ayi half smiled, grabbed the card-shaped pendant, and opened it. There was a picture inside. Of Mokuba and Seto, standing together. Seto didn't smile, but he didn't look uncomfortable either. He looked like he had everything under control, having his arms folded and a confident look on his face... like always. Mokuba on the other hand, looked really happy. Having an arm stretched out up into the air and a huge smile on his face. Ayi looked at it for several seconds, her smile getting wider and wider for every moment. She then suddenly turned to Mokuba, putting her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Thanks! I love it!" she laughed happily, "it's so great! Tell Seto thanks too."
"He doesn't know about it." Mokuba hugged her back, "if he ever got to know, I think he'd freak out... he still considers you a Pegasus... but he'll get over it!" he sighed as he let go, "but I'm glad you like it... it took me a while to find one of those pendants and a decent photo of both of us!"
"Of course I like it!" Ayi smiled, "and as for Seto... I know he's actually a nice person, and I don't blame him for what's happened. And I know he'll try to get us outta this mess..."
"I know..." Mokuba looked down at his feet, and then to the knocked out Yugi, "I just hope he finds out soon enough..."
***
"Ayi! We brought another-" Téa cut herself off as she noticed the hospital room she had just stepped into, was empty, "...friend..." she quitly finished, "Ayi? Yugi..?"
Joey, Tristan and Bakura stepped in after her, looked around, and lifted their eyebrows as they too noticed no-one else was in the room.
"Are you sure this is the right room?" Bakura scratched his head, "it looks kinda... empty..."
"This IS the right room..." Joey frowned, "but where the heck is the Kaiba girl... and Yugi for that matter... gramps said he was here!"
"Excuse me..." a voice made them all turn around; a nurse was standing in the door looking at them all, "are you here to see miss Kaiba?"
They all looked at each other again.
"Yes... we are." Tristan then replied, "where is she?"
"Her adopted father came to pick her up... Mr. Yugi Muto and miss Kaiba's little brother came with him too..." the nurse replied, "so she's gone."
Tristan, Joey, Bakura and Téa looked at each other, with their eyes wide open.
"The guy who picked her up... her adopted father... was that a.. Maximillion Pegasus?" Téa almost whispered. The nurse blinked a couple of times, then looked through the papers on the clipboard she was holding. She then turned back to them.
"Yes... or... it was his personal bodyguards or something..." the nurse looked over her clipboard again, "he must be rich..."
The four let out a gasp and Tristan, Bakura and Joey immediately started sprinting out of the hospital. Téa quickly turned to the nurse.
"Thanks for your help!" she immediately started sprinting after the others, out of the hospital too, "WAIT!!!"
The nurse looked after them.. she then shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and went back to work...
"GUYS!!! WAIT!!!!!" Téa's scream finally got the three guys to stop. They were outside the hospital now, across the street from it. Téa looked them over, frowning, short of breath.
"Running doesn't help us!"
"Then what does?!" Joey almost yelled, "we hafta get Yug and the others outta Pegasus's filthy grip! Fast!"
"Calm down.." Bakura sighed, "yelling doesn't help either, and Téa's right... we have to think... and since Mokuba's with Ayi and Yugi, maybe we even could get Seto Kaiba to help us..."
"Seto Kaiba?" Tristan let out a laugh, "I bet he's only interested in his brother... you heard what he said to Ayi yesterday..."
"Even though I hate to admit it... asking even Kaiba doesn't hurt..." Joey clenched his teeth, "and he could probably get to wherever Pegasus is... he'd be able to afford it anyway, that's for sure!"
"Then, what's the problem?!" Téa made them all turn to her. "the Kaiba residence isn't far from here! Let's go, guys!"
***
"He's WHAT?!" Seto slammed both of his fist down on the computer keyboard, furiously.
"He's moving towards Duelist Kingdom... as far as I can calculate it anyway..." the computer replied, "they're already above the ocean.. and the speed indicates that he's on a plane..." Seto let out a roar, slamming his fists down on the keyboard again.
"I have to get there then! Somehow!!!" he hissed, "Pegasus's got Mokuba!"
"Well.. maybe you should sit down and think for a while... how would you get there in the first place?"
"KaibaCorp owns plenty of helicopters!" Seto was already walking towards the door, "it'd be no problem!"
"Then what are you gonna do when you get there? You're no challenge for seven of Pegasus henchmen! And there certainly are MORE than seven guarding the caste now Pegasus's got Mokuba, and probably your sister too!"
"ADOPTED sister..." Seto had stopped by the door. He was just standing there looking down at his shoes, "she's not even my adopted sister... she's a Pegasus now..."
"For Pete's sake..." the computer spoke out, quietly, "whatever she is, she's with Mokuba, and she's probably doing her best to protect him if she's able to! Think of that, mr. Kaiba!"
"But she's the one who drew Mokuba into this mess too!!!" he yelled, turning back to the computer, "if I hadn't told him about it, he never-"
"Mister Kaiba, Sir?"he was cut off by voice of one of his guards in the intercommunication system ... Seto snorted, "if he reports a message from Pegasus, regarding KaibaCorp, I'll personally...." he fell silent, pressing the button to the inter-communication system, "what?!"
"there're somebody here to talk to you... they claim to be Yugi Muto's friends." the guard replied, "should I let them in?"
"Ask them to get lost!!" Seto hissed, "I have something more important to do here!!"
"Shut up Kaiba!!!" Joey's voice suddenly came through the inter-com, "what's wrong with you?! Don't you even wanna rescue your own lil' brother?!"
"How do YOU know, you monkey?!" Seto lifted an eyebrow, "who told you?"
"Seeing as Yugi and that Ayi girl's been taken as well, I'd be stupid not to know!!" Joey almost roared, "AND I'M NOT A MONKEY, YOU-"
"JOEY!!!" Tristan, Bakura and Téa cut him off and he heard Joey swear and snap at them.
"Sorry sir..." the guard came back, "they shoved me aside and..."
"How many are they?" Seto cut him off.
"Four, mr. Kaiba..."
"Let them in..." he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth, "we have something to discuss..."
***
Yugi was slowly waking up... he heard voices... but he wasn't quite able to make out the words, but at least, he was able to recognize them... Mokuba and Ayi... his head hurt badly and he let out a groan, rolling over so he laid on his side. This made Mokuba and Ayi silent and he heard steps, moving towards him...
"Yugi..?" Ayi was speaking to him, "are you awake..?" she was whispering... and he heard echoes... this deffinitely wasn't the hospital... everything was quiet now, and if it had been the hospital, he would've at least heard steps on the ward now... he then remembered seeing somebody walk past him right before he slipped into unconcioussness... a guy wearing black... probably one of... Pegasus's henchmen?!?!?! His eyes snapped open and he let out a loud gasp... he looked around.. he only saw bars... he HAD to be in a cell.. then Pegasus HAD got him, and... he quickly turned his head a little... he was finally able to see Ayi, sitting on her knees in the cell next to his. Mokuba appeared behind her; then Pegasus had them too.... He swore under his breath, clenching his eyes shut as he got up on his knees, rubbing his hurting neck.
"You ok..?" Ayi's voice made him turn to her again, "I thought you were....." she looked away, biting her lip.
"I'm ok..." Yugi half smiled, "what happened?"
"Pegasus..." Mokuba muttered, looking down on the floor, "he... got us all..."
"He only took you because you wouldn't let go of your puzzle.." Ayi added, "EVEN when you were knocked out..."
Yugi looked confused for a few seconds and then, looked down at his Millenium Puzzle...
"I..." he then looked at Ayi and Mokuba again, "are you guys ok?"
"Yeah... we are." Ayi sighed, smiling at him, almost sadly, "but... I'm not sure for how long... he'd probably kill for that puzzle..."
"What does he need those Millenium Items for, anyway?" Mokuba lifted an eyebrow, "becoming the world emperor or something?"
"That doesn't sound like him..." Yugi sighed, "I don't think anybody knows though... but I doubt that's it..."
"You're right, Yugi-boy... that's not quite it!"
A voice made the three turn around... Pegasus was standing in the corridor, looking them over with a smug smile on his face.
"Pegasus..!" Yugi almost hissed, "this is insane! Let us go!"
"Oh no, dear Yugi... I couldn't do that... and as for the Millenium Items; it has nothing to do with the world, but since you're all gonna be sent to the Shadow Realm, I could probably tell you..." he laughed, and then, paused. "I need it to bring back a special person. She died all too early from a disease a long It's only possible if I have all seven Millenium Items- only they would be able to bring her back..."
Yugi blinked, confused.
*bringing back a dead person?!* he thought, *Pegasus..?! No... he wouldn't... he's EVIL- not..." Yugi suddenly felt the power of his puzzle increase... *my other presence... he's taking over....*
Everything was quiet in the dungeon... Pegasus was standing there, looking them over while Yugi was looking down at the floor. After a while, he looked up... Ayi turned her head, looking him over as he did this... he looked different now... confident, strong... taller... and he even had more blonde streaks in his hair... she half smiled...
*Yami... it's Yami...* she thought, putting her arm around Mokuba as she turned back to Pegasus.
"Even the Millenium Items wouldn't be able to bring back your wife, Pegasus!" Yugi's now far deeper voice made Pegasus look at him again, a little surprised.
"Oh, I see the Pharao's soul has taken over you again, little Yugi... but that doesn't matter..." he laughed, "you can't tell me that the Millenium Items wouldn't be able to bring back my wife! Or at least her Soul! And that'd be good enough for me!"
"But her soul is already here, Pegasus! You know it is!" Yami frowned, "in your heart... in your memories... and you can't bring her body back... you know that as well as I do..." he got to his feet, folding his arms.
"I know I can't bring her body back! That's what I need KaibaCorp's holographic technologies for, you fool! And maybe her soul is in my memories, but that's not enough, Yugi-boy... that's why I stole souls, simply to make my Millenium Eye strong enough to bring back Cecilia... the Millenium Eye was stolen from me, that's why I need the other Millenium Items... when they're all together, they MUST be strong enough to bring her back!" Pegasus laughed, "well, enough chit-chat... your Millenium Puzzle please?" he let his hand out towards Yami.
"If you think I'm just gonna hand it over, you're pretty incompetent, Pegasus." he let out a laugh, folding his arms.
"That's what I expected from you, Yugi..." Pegasus smirked, snapping his fingers, "that's where your little friends here are usefull to me." he nodded to his henchmen who immediately walked over, unlocking the cell that Mokuba and Ayi were in. Yami let out a short gasp as the two were cornered and grabbed by the two henchmen who pulled out two guns and held them to Ayi and Mokuba's heads.
"NO!" Yami hissed, clenching his fist and teeth in anger.
"Pegasus!!! You cheatin'-" Ayi didn't get far in her sentance before the henchman yanked in her arm, almost dislocating it, making her let out a small scream. Pegasus only laughed.
"Ayi girl, I never claimed to be perfectly fair, did I?" he then turned to Yami, "well, the Millenium Puzzle?"
"I can't!!" Yami snapped, "we... we HAVE to!" Yugi's voice broke through, "but we CAN'T!" Yami yelled back, "you know that!!!"
Ayi looked him over... it was obvious he was struggling now, and she knew as well as Yami that they couldn't give up the Millenium Puzzle... so many souls would be stolen again if they did, and it would probably take thousands of souls before Pegasus would realize that he couldn't bring his wife any closer than she was now... she clenched her eyes shut as Yugi started taking off the puzzle.
"DON'T DO IT, YUGI!!!" she screamed, "please..!"
"But... but..." Yugi's voice was there again, "WE CAN'T LET YOU DIE!!!" he snapped, "please be reasonable!!!"
"Yugi..!" Mokuba snapped, "don't give it to him!"
Yugi fell to his knees... he was himself again; uncertain, small... and afraid... he slowly got up, looking down as he walked towards the bars of the cell.
"Pegasus!!!" he growled, clenching his eyes shut, "for lord's sake, TAKE IT!! Just TAKE IT!!!" he tossed it, making it slide all the way over to Pegasus's feet, "just... leave them alone..." he started sobbing, quietly. Everything was quiet for a while... then, Pegasus started laughing.
"Very wise choice, Yugi-boy... very clever..." he signalled his henchmen to let go of Mokuba and Ayi and they stepped out of the cell, "I knew you'd be human enough to make that choice..." he picked up the shattered Millenium Puzzle from the floor, "I'll see you kids later... I have a puzzle to solve!" he started walking out, laughing, followed by his henchmen...
Yugi didn't look up as he heard the steps, moving away from them. His tears dripped down on the ground and he didn't say a word. Ayi watched him fall to his knees, sinking the lump that was stuck in her throat. She then turned to Mokuba. As he shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head, she sighed heavily, moving closer to Yugi, as far as the bars would allow.
"Yugi..." she almost whispered, "I'm so sorry... really..."
He didn't reply. He only started shaking a little, still letting his tears fall. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up a little, right into Ayi's eyes.
"Yugi..." her eyes started tearing up a little too, "you've done so much for me, and I'm so sorry I've been causing you trouble again... I never wanted it to go this far... I never wanted Pegasus to get you..." she bit in her lip, shaking her head, "but no matter what, we're here now... and I can't let you break down because you lost your puzzle... not after everything you've done for me, Yugi... I... care too much about you to let that happen... please understand..."
Yugi had stopped crying. He was looking at her with his mouth opened a little, blinking. He then dried the rest of the tears away, shaking his head.
"I understand..." he bit in his lip, moving towards Ayi, "I... it's just... the puzzle gave me my friends... I'm afraid that if.. I... lose the puzzle... I..." he fell silent, but then sighed, "lose my friends..."
"That's not true!" Ayi made him look up, "I don't believe the puzzle gave you your friends... YOU were the one who got the friends... and no matter what, Joey, Tristan and Téa wouldn't give up on you just because you lost your puzzle! And... I wouldn't either! Trust me... I haven't really had any friends either except two girls who felt sorry for me when I had been walking around alone for almost thirteen years at the orphanage... and I know Téa and the others are your friends, not because you have a Millenium Item, but because you're a nice person!" she frowned a little, "'cause you are, Yugi... you really are..."
Yugi looked at her, still with an uncertain and doubting look on his face, but then, suddenly, he leaned over, hugging Ayi through the bars. Ayi looked stunned for a moment but then, smiled, hugging him back.
"Thanks, Ayi..." he sighed quietly, "I.. I'm sorry for doubting you all..."
"Don't be sorry... I know how you feel... trust me.." she patted his shoulder with a smile as they let go. She then turned to Mokuba, "you ok?"
He smiled widely, nodding yes.
"Always..." he winked, but then looked around, "oh yeah.. Yugi, we almost forgot something! Seto knows we're here!" he whispered, "look!" he grabbed his backpack, opened it and looked it over for a few seconds. Then turned, showing it to Yugi, pointing to a pretty small device with a blinking red light on it. Yugi looked it over for a few seconds. Then let out a small happy laugh.
"A tracking mechanism..!" had had to consentrate to keep his voice down, "Seto Kaiba knows we're here?!"
"Yeah!" Mokuba nodded, "or... he know's I'm here... he'll definitely get us outta here!" he then turned, looking out of the small window which of course had bars on it too, "I know he will...."
***
Nobody said a word in the helicopter... Tristan, Joey, Bakura and Téa were sitting in their seats, looking straight out into space, and Seto Kaiba was sitting opposite them, looking them over, frowning... he hated himself the moment he accepted their help; he had to admit that he wasn't strong enough to go rescue Mokuba himself this time, and even worse; he had to admit it to Yugi Muto's friends! He clenched his teeth and turned to look out of the window instead... still a while 'till they'd arrive on Duelist Kingdom...
"We're getting closer..." Bakura suddenly said, making everybody turn to him, "my Millenium Ring is reacting..." he was still looking out of the window with a slightly worried look on his face, "something is wrong though..." he turned to the others, shaking his head, "terribly wrong..."
"And that is?" Joey lifted an eyebrow, scratching his head. Bakura looked at him, slightly annoyed.
"How would I know!" he folded his arms, frowning, "I can just feel it... the sooner we get there, the better..!"
***
"Sir..!"
Pegasus looked up from the Milllenium Puzzle as he heard the voice... a henchman was standing, bowing slightly as Pegasus sent him a glare.
"A thousand pardons,sir... we just spotted a helicopter, moving towards the island.... it's from KaibaCorp- should we shoot it down?" the henchman cleared his throat. Pegasus frowned a little, but then laughed.
"No... it's probably Seto Kaiba, coming for his little siblings!" he got up, moving towards the window, "let them be... just don't let them get into the castle!"
"Of course not, sir... I'll tell the others, right away!"
***
"We're landing in a few minutes, sir! We're trying to find a nice landing spot..." the co-pilot looked through the curtain that separated the flight deck from the passenger's cabin. Seto Kaiba nodded to the co-pilot and the guy disappeared back behind the curtain. Seto then turned to Tristan, Téa, Joey and Bakura who were all looking at him.
"You heard that... we'd better get ready." he turned back to the window, folding his arms. Téa, Tristan, Joey and Bakura all looked at each other and then turned back to Seto.
"Did we get spotted at all?" Joey scratched his head, lifting an eyebrow, "it seems a little too quiet for me..." "Well, nobody's been shooting at us..." Tristan replied, "but I guess they could be waiting for us on the ground...."
"They don't want to kill us, you fools!" Seto snapped, "I don't even think they want to catch us! Pegasus just wants the millenium puzzle and he actually only needs Yugi since he's the one who knows the most about that thing!" he narrowed his eyes.
"Then, why don't we just wait? Maybe he's gonna let them go when he's solved the thing!" Joey suggested, "sounds good to me!"
"He wouldn't just let them go! He'd need to test the puzzle!" Téa broke in, "and I'm sure he wouldn't mind testing it on all three!" she clenched her fists, looking down at the Duelist Kingdom island under them, "and I have a feeling we've gotta hurry..."
***
Pegasus was still sitting, leaning over the puzzle on the table... his face seemed thoughtfull, and he was frowning deeply, still looking down at the unsolved puzzle in front of him- none of the pieces were together, they still laid spread- Pegasus picked two of them up; he was certain they fit together- and yet, as he connected them, it didn't even take a second before they suddenly started shaking, being lifted off the table by a strange invisible force, and then- fell apart, being thrown back down onto the table.... just like the time before and the time before that.. Pegasus clenched his teeth...
"Why?!" he almost hissed, "I can't believe it!!! Why does it do this!" he slammed his fists down into the table... he had tried everything; pressing them together, and even glueing them together, but the same thing had happened...
"You know why Pegasus...."
Pegasus immediately jumped out of his chair as he heard the voice inside his head... he knew it... and it knew him, obviously...
"Pharao!!! Yami Yugi!!" Pegasus almost screamed, "you again!!! But the puzzle is apart! How can you-"
"The puzzle still belongs to Yugi Muto- and it won't be yours until you've solved it twice..." the voice cut him off, "and I can't let you solve it. What you want is wrong. You canot bring back a dead person; you will disturb the spirit world, and I cannot allow that...."
"So YOU are the one in the way!!!" Pegasus yelled, "stay out of this!!"
"I'm afraid I can't..."
"If you don't," Pegasus started trembling with anger, "I will make sure that little Yugi and the Kaiba sister and brother will be the ones that disturb the spirit world!!! With the story about how you refused to let me solve the puzzle!!!"
"You will not, Pegasus!!! You know that'd be wrong!!!" Yami's voice raged.
"Watch me, mr. Pharao!!!" Pegasus snapped, "do we have a deal?!"
Yami was silent for a few seconds....
"Pegasus... let's settle this in a fair way..."
"Well, I think my suggestion is quite fair!"
"Listen... duel Yugi Muto in Duel Monsters... if he loses, I will leave you alone, let you solve the puzzle... and do whatever you want to with it...." Yami sounded calm. Pegasus lifted an eyebrow.
"And if I lose?" he folded his arms.
"Let Yugi, Ayi and Mokuba go... and let Ayi return to be a Kaiba... and as for the puzzle; it will stay unsolved forever- I shall destroy the pieces...."
"And Yugi will be dueling without the puzzle?" Pegasus sat down again.
"Without the puzzle, yes..."
"Well.... that sounds fair... Yugi's never dueled me without the puzzle, and even though I lost my Millenium Eye, I'm still better than ever!" Pegasus laughed, "I guess you have a deal! But I want to know what the catch is!"
"Catch?" Yami's voice turned surprised.
"Why are you offering this? If we duel, Yugi loses and I solve the puzzle, you said the worlds would be disturbed- why don't you just destroy the pieces now, right away- sure, I would kill little Yugi and the two Kaibas like I said I would if you did, but you know as well as I do that they're not important and that wouldn't disturb anything... "
"I know" Yami replied, "I guess all I can say they're my friends... and I'm sure Yugi will win."
"Such a gambler you are, pharao!" Pegasus got up with a laugh, "well, you've got a deal! I will tell little Yugi-boy immediately!"
***
The helicopter finally landed... as the hatch opened, Seto and the others immediately stepped out, followed by two Kaiba Corp security guards. Téa turned to the others with a sigh.
"We're here... now we need a plan!" she frowned, "any ideas?"
"Well, we have to get into the castle obviously..." Bakura replied, looking around, "but how? It doesn't look that easy to me..." he motioned at the castle with a sigh... it looked so big... and so well protected...
"Let's just beat up the guards and ram our way inthere! Piece of cake!" Joey laughed, making the others turn to him, glaring at him.
"Monkey..." Seto growled, quietly, rolling his eyes.
"Hey! Rich Boy, whaddya say?! Want some fist-salad?! EH?!?!" Joey snapped, running towards Seto angrily. He was immediately held back by Bakura and Tristan who just looked at eachother, lifting an eyebrow with a sigh.
"Honestly, we've got far more important things to worry about, Joey!" Tristan implied, "Yugi and Ayi, for instance! And Mokuba for that matter!"
"Yeah, we can't waste our time fighting..." Bakura added as he and Tristan let go of Joey who seemed to have calmed just a little bit down, "we should be thinking instead... something tells me that we'll be having quite a hard time getting into that castle..."
"Right... sorry.." Joey said through gritted teeth, still glaring at Seto, "but there's no way I'll be talking to mr. Seto Kaiba again! That'll be over my dead body!" he turned away, closed his eyes and folded his arms angrily, "but enough of that! Let's go get Yug!"
***
The dungeon and the cells Yugi and the Kaiba siblings were in hadn't changed at all... it was all still dark... and cold... and wet... Yugi had been looking out into the emptyness in front of him for several minutes now... a small snore and groan from Mokuba made him turn around, snapping out of his thoughts... Mokuba was asleep. Leaning against Ayi, having both of his arms around her arm, looking peacefully calm. Ayi on the other hand was looking out into the air with a very concerned frown on her face and her fists clenched... she then sensed Yugi looking at her and turned around smiling slightly at him. He half smiled back, and Ayi turned back to looking out into the air again... but was still smiling. Yugi observed her... there was something special about her that he couldn't explain; and a feeling inside him was growing stronger and stronger for every moment she was around... he just couldn't explain what; and he couldn't ask her... he was so afraid that she would consider him a weirdo if he did, they had only known each other for a few days...
Suddenly, he heard a sound... he quickly turned to Ayi; she deffinitely heard it too; her eyes had widened and her teeth were gritted. She turned to Yugi and the two looked at each other, listening tensely to the sound that was coming closer and closer... Yugi finally recognized it...
"Steps...!" he almost whispered. Ayi only nodded.
"I know... at least two persons..." she stated... Yugi prickled his ears and listened carefully... she was right; at least two persons... Ayi held her breath and held Mokuba closer, putting both of her arms around him, glaring in the direction of the steps. Yugi stood up, trying to spot the people walking towards them... after a few seconds, he was finally able to see them... Croquet, Kemo and another henchman....
"You?!?!" Ayi almost jumped up when she saw them too, "what do you want?!" she snapped, "leave us alone!!!"
Kemo looked her over, lifting an eyebrow as he walked past her.
"Shut up, miss Pegasus! This is of none of your concern!" he stopped in front of the cells along with the two other men.
"It's Kaiba!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes in anger.
"Whatever!" Kemo laughed, turning to Yugi, "Master Pegasus wishes to talk to you. Right away!"
"Us..?" Mokuba, who was still half asleep looked up.
"Only Mr. Muto!" Croquet replied, "let's go!" he nodded to Yugi's cell and the third henchman walked over and opened it, walked in and grabbed Yugi by the shoulder, dragging him out and started pulling him with them as they started leaving the dungeon.
"Yugi!"
Yugi got to look over his shoulder as he heard Ayi's voice. She was looking straight into his eyes, biting her lip.
"It's ok!" he yelled back to her, "I'll see you soon!"
Kemo then yanked him back, making him look straight forwards... yet, he was able to get a glimpse of Ayi's very small, but still relieved smile... he didn't like leaving the two of them alone now, but he knew this was the best... if Pegasus was talking to him, at least the chances of him leaving Mokuba and Ayi alone were bigger...
***
"Guards! Guards everywhere!!" Seto clenched his teeth, kicking the ground, furiously, "we can't get in anywhere!"
"Don't worry!" Téa almost whispered, "chances are they'll be having a shift soon! Trying to break in during a shift always works!"
"Hey, look!!" Joey's yell made them all turn around; he was pointing up,at one of the windows of the castle above them. They all looked up and instantly let out a gasp... Above them, in the castle, behind the window they were looking through, Yugi walked past, followed by three henchmen... he didn't even look scared or nervous.. he was just looking straight out, frowning deeply, just walking...
"Where's Mokuba?! What have they done to him?!?!?!" Seto roared, "Moku-" he was cut off as a hand was clamped over his mouth.
"Be quiet, you idiot!!!" Joey snapped, "want the whole castle to be on our butts?!?!"
"But-"
"Mokuba is probably fine!" Bakura let go of him, "Pegasus wouldn't hurt him 'till he's solved the puzzle- and since Yugi's still here, he definitely hasn't yet! So calm down!"
Seto narrowed his eyes, but shut up...
"What's going on then?!" he then snarled, "why's Yugi there?! Without Mokuba?!"
"How should we know?" Tristan broke in, "we'll find out sooner or later- but if we don't find a way into the castle fast, I'm afraid it's gonna be 'later'..."
***
The henchmen finally stopped as they got to the end of the coridor they had been walking down the last five minutes... Yugi had finally started to realize how big Pegasus's castle actually was but he didn't really think of this... he was just looking straight forwards all the time, only trying to figure out whatever Maximillion Pegasus would want from him except of what he already had now...
The henchmen opened the door and pushed him in by his shoulders, followed and closed the door behind them. Yugi looked around... the room was pretty simple... the only thing inthere was a long dining table with a lot of chairs around it, an expensive looking floor carpet, expensive looking curtains in the giant windows and...
"Pegasus..." Yugi frowned, "what do you want?!" he glared right into Pegasus's eyes. Pegasus simply smiled back. He then drank a little wine from his glass and laughed, still looking at Yugi.
"Well.. Hello Yugi. I hope you've enjoyed your stay so far! Was the room to your liking?" he got up from his chair and started walking towards Yugi and the henchmen with his hands on his back.
"What do you want?!" Yugi repeated, clenching his fists.
"Want...? well... nothing really... just a little... duel." he stopped a few meters away from Yugi.
"Duel? Duel Monters Duel?" Yugi coughed, letting out a small laugh, "why would I duel you?! I have better things to waste my time on!"
"What for example?" Pegasus turned to look at Yugi from the window he had started looking out of, "sitting in the dungeon, staring at the bars while you could duel me and win your freedom, I don't think so, Yugi-boy!" he turned back to the window with a smile. Yugi's eyes widened.
"Our freedom..?" he blinked, "wait... you're saying... if I win, you'll set us free??"
"Well, basically, yes."
"But what if you win?" Yugi lifted an eyebrow.
"Then you have to stay. And your little pharao friend has to let me solve the puzzle. That's all." Pegasus laughed.
"What do you mean, 'let you solve the puzzle'?" Yugi asked, "you haven't solved it yet?!"
"No. The Pharao's soul won't let me. He breaks it up every time I've connected two pieces. But if I win a duel against you... he will let me solve it and you three will be the first to go to the Shadow Realm." Pegasus didn't even turn to Yugi as he explained...he was looking out of the window, smiling widely.
"But I can't let you solve the puzzle!!" Yugi snapped, "you're crazy! If the Pharao keeps you from solving the puzzle, I'm gonna let it stay that way! I'm not going to accept!!" He turned around to the henchmen, "take me back to the dungeun!"
"Trust me Yugi, you can either accept this duel or watch your friends die!"
Pegasus's voice made him turn around again.
"Don't do this again!!" he growled.
"Why, it seemed to work last time!" Pegasus snickered, "and trust me, when I say 'your friends' I mean all of them... not only the Kaiba siblings!"
"It's not fair!!" Yugi screamed, kneeling down.
"I never claimed it to be fair... but the duel on the other hand WILL be fair. You have my word on it!" Pegasus rubbed his hands, "well little Yugi... do we have a deal?" he grinned. Yugi looked down at the floor for a few seconds, almost getting tears in his eyes. He then looked up at Pegasus, with the hate shining out of his eyes, clenching his teeth.
"Fine! I'll duel you! On one condition!" he hissed.
"I'm listening..."
"Let Ayi and Mokuba be by my side during the duel. Let them watch." he looked away, "I wanna make sure you don't hurt them and that you keep your promise..."
"Don't worry, Yugi, you have my word! But as you wish, then..." Pegasus nodded to him and then turned to the henchmen, "throw him in the cell and let him be with his friends for a while... and make an arena ready for seven o'clock this evening! That's when the duel will begin!" he looked down at Yugi again for a second and turned back to the window as the henchmen started leading him out of the dining room...
***
Birds escaped from a nearby tree as Joey, Téa, Bakura, Tristan and Seto were thrown through the gate, out from the castle. The gate was then slammed shut, and laughs from Pegasus's henchmen were heard from inside the castle.
The five got up from the ground, dusting themselves off, angrily.
"You bastards!!" Joey yelled, "if I was inside with you right now, YOU would've been the ones thrown out!!!" he waved his fist at the gate. The laughs from inside grew louder by this remark. Joey just folded his arms, "cowards!!!"
"Come on, Joey..." Téa rolled her eyes, "yelling doesn't help!" she grabbed him by his collar and dragged him with her and the others, towards the forest.
"Hey!!! Téa!! Let go!!.... please..?"
The others had stopped in a clearing in the forest, only around a hundred feet from the castle.
"Well, at least we got inside..." Tristan sighed, "but we didn't stay there for long..."
"There're simply too many guards." Bakura sat down on the ground, "they DID know about our arrival..."
"We just have to try again! At a different entrance!" Téa added, letting go of Joey, "let's go!"
Seto was standing a distance away, with his back towards the others, having his arms folded, glaring straight forwards with his teeth clenched.
"We can't just try to barge inthere!!" he snapped, turning to them, "they're just gonna throw us out again!!"
"Well, we can't just give up!" Joey retorted, "Yug is in there! With your sister and your brother!!"
"She's not my sister! I'm only here for Mokuba!" Seto hissed, "Yugi and that girl can go hang for all I care for!"
"YOU-"
"Stop it!" Téa cut Joey off, stepping in between him and Seto, "fighting doesn't help anybody! What we need is a plan, you two should be discussing that instead!!" she then turned to Seto, "but you shouldn't be talking like that, Seto! Especially not about your adopted sister! She would be doing whatever it would take to get you outta there if you were in her place!"
"But I'm not, so quit trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't do!" Seto roared, "I have my own way of doing things and if that Ayi girl hadn't come to Domino city, Mokuba would never have ended up with her and he wouldn't be here! And neither would Yugi for that matter!!!"
"Maybe not... but it still isn't her fault!" Joey replied, making the others turn to him, "she just ran! And Yugi's happy to help her and so are we! And I'm sure Mokuba's happy that she's there with him right now! And he's definitely happy to meet his sister, even if she's only his ADOPTED sister, trust me!" he narrowed his eyes, "she will do anything to protect Mokuba, I know that... so don't even go there pal!" he pointed at Seto, "let's stop this and make a plan... Yug and the others needs us!"
***
Mokuba and Ayi immediately looked up as they heard the sound of the entrance-door of the dungeon open and steps coming closer. Mokuba looked at Ayi and she just smiled at him while she kept looking at the bars.
"Yugi's back..." she got to her feet and Mokuba quickly followed her as she walked to the cell door. They only had to stand there for a few seconds before Yugi and two henchmen appeared, walking towards them. When they all got to the cell, the door was opened and Yugi was pushed in before they closed and locked the door again.
"Yugi..." Ayi smiled widely at him, walked over, and hugged him, "you're ok..." she bit in her lip as they let go and Yugi looked her face over, nodding.
"I'm gonna duel Pegasus!" he frowned a little, still smiling, "for the puzzle... and our freedom..."
Mokuba and Ayi looked at eachother, letting out a 'huh?!'.
"Really..?!" Mokuba blinked, scratching his neck, "but... really?!"
"Yeah... he can't solve the puzzle... the pharaoh won't let him unless he wins a duel against me..." Yugi looked down at the floor for a moment, "he really believes in my dueling skills it seems..."
"Of course he does!!" Ayi made him turn to her, startled, "Yugi, you've won against Pegasus once! Why shouldn't you be able to again?"
"I don't have my puzzle! I did back then..." Yugi shrugged his shoulders.
"Pegasus doesn't have his Millenium Eye either, Yugi..." Mokuba broke in, walking up beside Ayi, "besides, we believe in you no matter what!"
"Right!" Ayi smiled confidently, "and the Heart of the Cards are definitely on your side!"
"There's so much at stake..." Yugi muttered, sitting down on the ground with a sigh, "what if I fail? We'll all end up in the Shadow Realm! And Pegasus gets to solve the puzzle... why does Yami have to be such a gambler!!" Yugi hid his face in his hands, clenching his teeth.
"Hey!"
Ayi made him look up again as she squatted down, putting a hand on his shoulder, "he's not gambling, Yugi! He knows you're gonna win!" she half smiled, "and so do we! You can't give up... and neither can we... if we keep believing, we can do anything..."
Yugi looked at her, blinking in confuse for a second. He then frowned, clenching his fists, nodding.
"You're right... I believed when I dueled for granpa.. and I've gotta believe now!" he looked at Ayi again, "the duel starts at seven... and he said you'd be allowed to watch... will you?"
"Of course!" Ayi laughed, putting an arm around Mokuba's shoulders as he walked to her side while she got up from the floor, "you'll definitely win! We know you will!"
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END OF PART THREE!!!
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Hope you enjoyed this =D Part 4 is on its way, and it'll have the duel between Yugi and Pegasus innit ^__^ Also, I have another story coming up... more about that later, all I can tell you now is that it's gonna be pretty sad... ah, I just love spoilers!!! XD
Anyway, that's all for now =) Hope you liked ^^ Until next time,
~Janni Pedersen