Yami Bakura was wandering down an endless hallway when he heard Bakura scream in his mind.
"You dolt!" the thief yelled, looking around for the nearest exit. He had also mentally seen what was happening to the boy and knew there was no time to waste.
Finding the balcony doors, Yami Bakura burst through them and peered over the edge. "Bakura?" he growled.
"Yami?"
The tomb robber looked up at the weak voice and saw the boy's bloodied body hanging from a tree several feet away. He was clutching to a branch frantically, feeling his grip slipping. "Yami, help!!!"
"You foolish idiot!" Yami Bakura cried out, somersaulting down and running over. "Let go, Bakura. I'll catch you."
Bakura looked at him with glazed eyes. "Yami," he moaned again, slipping free and collapsing into the ancient thief's arms, shuddering.
Yami Bakura held him at arm's length, staring at him. "What happened to you?!" he demanded.
"The robed creature," Bakura rasped. "It . . . it threw me. . . ."
Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. "You could have broken your neck!"
Bakura managed a weak smile. "Actually, Yami, they tried to make that happen," he replied, indicating the red marks on his throat.
Yami Bakura cursed and grabbed for the boy as he lost his balance and crashed against him. "Dolt," he muttered.
****
Shadi continued to wrestle with Lou while holding Alyson firmly against his chest.
"Lou!"
Everyone looked up at the sound of the woman's angry voice.
"Stop tormenting your niece!"
Lou growled and shoved Shadi backwards before going up and harshly slapping his mother. "Be silent, woman! Don't you know I hold both your lives in my hands?!"
Immediately Shadi got in the way, threateningly holding his Ankh out. "Leave them be, Lou," he said quietly. "Or you will have me to deal with."
Lou growled and tried to grab for it. "Your pathetic magic doesn't scare me, Egyptian."
Shadi poked the Ankh in the wicked man's chest. "Unless you are even more foolish than you appear, you will not trifle with me further. You know of the ancient powers I hold, and I will not hesitate to use them."
Lou snarled, but turned away slowly and apparently was going to leave. In the next instant, however, he turned back—but Shadi was ready for him. Using a burst of energy from the Ankh, he sent a heavy statue crashing to the floor from across the room. It smashed down right next to Lou, who jumped and then narrowed his eyes.
"Do you wish to be like that statue?" Shadi looked at him stonily.
Lou clenched his fists. "Watch your step, guardian." He spit the word out as if it tasted bad. "This won't be like the last time you were here. I swear, you will never leave this ranch alive!" With that he stormed back out through the panel in the wall, locking it from the other side once he had gone through.
Alyson clung to Shadi in horror, sobbing into his shoulder. Shadi stroked her hair gently, trying to comfort her and finding himself infuriated at Lou.
And the elderly lady was angry as well.
"Honestly, I can't believe what Lou has become," she said, shaking her head. "He always was rebellious and a troublemaker, but now he's . . ." She trailed off, looking up at her granddaughter in concern.
"He . . . he comes in every night and . . . and . . ." Alyson looked up at Shadi sadly before rolling up her sleeve and showing him the angry bruises on her arm. "He . . . he was here earlier, when you had to go see about that lady who fell down the stairs." She spoke ashamedly and then looked away.
"This is not your fault, young one. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Shadi's eyes narrowed as the rage boiled within his heart. "I promise you, Alyson, that as long as I live, Lou will never again harm you," he vowed quietly.
Alyson smiled shakily and gave Shadi a tight hug.
****
Ishizu found herself floating in a strange, dark, seemingly endless space. At first she was alone, but then the pink-haired woman joined her.
"Hello," she said forlornly.
Ishizu nodded a greeting. "What is happening here?" she asked. "Do you not have any idea of who is causing these abominations?"
The other woman sighed and looked away. "It could be anyone, really," she replied. "I never saw my killer, and neither did the others who died here of unnatural causes. We are bound here by something intangible, unable to break free and go on to our afterlives."
Ishizu looked at her firmly. "What reason would someone have for wanting you dead?" she wanted to know. "I will do everything I can to ensure that the murderer is brought to justice, but first I must know any and all possible clues."
Carol crossed her arms. "The only thing I can think of is an odd incident that happened a couple of days before I . . ." She shook her head as a faraway look came into her eyes. "I had been out by the creek when I saw a dark-robed figure kneeling down looking into the water. He seemed to be searching for something, but I couldn't imagine what. I called out to him and asked if I could help, and immediately he turned and ran away."
Ishizu turned slightly. "I see," she said in her soft, musical voice.
****
Yugi, his Yami, and Téa were still wandering through the ranchhouse when the door was kicked open and Yami Bakura stormed in, supporting a limping Bakura.
"Bakura!" Yugi cried. "What happened?!"
Haltingly the brown-eyed boy explained about his experiences, struggling to hold himself upright. "Those good spirits I talked to said that we're the only ones who can get things back the way they should be!" Bakura declared.
"Nonsense," Yami Bakura grumbled, helping Bakura over to the couch and laying him on it.
"But what if it's true, Yami?" Bakura protested. "It could be!"
"I sense that it is, indeed, true," Yami Yugi said quietly, watching as Yami Bakura got the first aid kit and began treating Bakura's wounds.
****
Mokuba, meanwhile, walked down the long hall until he came to Ishizu's room and stood at the door. Slowly he reached up and knocked, calling for his friend.
In a moment the door was opened by an exhausted and depressed Rishid. "Come in, young Mokuba," he said, holding the door open wider. "Master Marik will be glad to see you."
Nodding his thanks, Mokuba scrambled inside and looked around for Marik.
The teenage boy was leaning over Ishizu's bed, worn-out himself. In hopefulness he had laid his head on Ishizu's shoulder gently and then had put his arm around her in a partial embrace, looking across the room with bleary eyes. When he spotted Mokuba, he raised himself up again and smiled.
"Hello, my friend," he said, gesturing for Mokuba to come closer.
The younger boy did, glancing over at Ishizu in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, knowing how much stress Marik must be under.
Marik hesitated a bit in replying but then at last said that he would be okay when Ishizu woke up. "I know she will," he said softly.
Mokuba smiled and hugged his friend, looking up at him with wide blue-gray eyes. "We're gonna find out why all this stuff is happening and then fix it!" he promised, just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky outside.
"I am certain we will," Marik agreed. "I only pray we can do it before . . . before . . ." He trailed off, but Mokuba knew that the rest of his sentence was, "before someone is harmed permanently."
Rishid turned to look out the window, his senses sharply alert. When another flash of lightning lit up the night sky, he turned away again, not especially wanting to recall the memories he associated with the natural phenomenon. And by the look on Marik's face, he didn't want to either.
The boy shuddered, grabbing Ishizu's hand for comfort.
"Are you thinking about Battle Ship?" Mokuba asked softly.
Marik nodded solemnly and sighed.
"It's okay, Marik. That's all over with now," Mokuba said with a quiet smile.
Marik ruffled the boy's hair. "And I'm glad of it," he declared.
****
Joey, Tristan, and Mako were exploring downstairs when Linda came up to them.
"Isn't it simply preposterous?!" the news anchor blurted.
"Which?" Joey asked, stifling a yawn. It had been such a long day and now that it was night he still wasn't able to go to sleep.
"Everything!" Linda screamed. "Why, now I'm living in constant fear of being murdered in my sleep!"
"I dunno," Tristan mused. "That doesn't seem like this criminal's style. This one seems to like his victims being wide awake when he attacks."
"This isn't funny!" Linda fumed.
"I never said it was," Tristan retorted. "I'm reporting the facts."
"That's true, Tristan, you are," Joey remarked. "Dang, you'd think that when everyone was awake, they'd be able to remember something more concrete than just some badly-dressed dude's robe!"
"Hey!" Tristan exclaimed. "Maybe what we should do is get a rundown on all the employees here at the ranch and then go investigating their rooms. One of them might own a dark cloak!"
"Now why would someone working here be behind this?" Mako wondered.
"Hey, why would anyone be?" Joey shrugged. "We've gotta start somewhere."
****
As a matter of fact, Rex was encountering someone who worked there that very moment.
"Hey! Watch where you're goin'!" the boy cried out indignantly as someone banged into him and sent them both to the floor.
"Me? What about you?" The man got up and glared daggers at Rex.
"Who are you anyway?" Rex wanted to know. "Do you work here?"
"Of course I do," came the grunted reply. "You'll know me as Mr. Ivy. And now if you'll kindly get out of my way . . ." Without waiting for an answer, Mr. Ivy shoved Rex to the side and stormed off.
Rex stared after him, looking highly miffed. "Man, he's sure got a burr in his saddle!" Thoughtfully the boy paused. "I wonder what he's up to. Maybe I'll just casually follow along and find out." Smirking to himself, he quietly trailed after Mr. Ivy.
****
By now it was far into the early morning hours and everyone was utterly exhausted. There was no sign of the cloaked figures or of anyone unusual at all.
"Perhaps we should go down in the basement and see if we can help those people locked up in there," Bakura said worriedly.
"There's people locked in the basement?!" Yugi cried in astonishment.
Bakura nodded, repeating what Rex had told him earlier.
"Heck, I'm sure Shadi is takin' care of them just fine," Joey said. He and his group had met up with Yugi and the others a few minutes ago.
The lights flickered dangerously as the thunder boomed outside.
"That's some storm out there," Tristan said, glancing at the window.
"I hope nothing else bad is going to happen tonight," Téa moaned.
****
Ishizu stirred, feeling Marik tiredly lay his head on her shoulder again. The Egyptian woman smiled, reaching up to pull her younger brother into an embrace.
Immediately Marik returned to complete awareness once more. "Sister?" he exclaimed joyously, his lavender eyes brightly shining.
"Yes," Ishizu said softly, holding him close and stroking his hair.
"Lady Ishizu!" Rishid perked up as well, hastening over.
Mokuba grinned, watching the happy reunion. "I'm glad you're okay," he said to Ishizu, who smiled at him in reply.
The lights flickered again, threatening to plunge everyone into darkness.
Marik barely noticed, so relieved was he to have his sister back.
****
Seto was somewhere by himself when the lights actually did go off. Muttering to himself, the young businessman clicked on the flashlight he was carrying around and prepared to continue down the hall.
Abruptly Rex crashed into him, knocking them both off-balance.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Seto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I havta tell someone!" Rex replied. "Heck, I guess you'll do. But there's a weird ranchhand here named Mr. Ivy and he's up to no good!"
"What makes you say that?" Seto wanted to know.
"I saw it!" Rex said in irritation. "I saw him! He was talking to those cloaked weirdos! They're plotting something!!"
Before Rex could say more, a shriek rent through the air.
"You dolt!" the thief yelled, looking around for the nearest exit. He had also mentally seen what was happening to the boy and knew there was no time to waste.
Finding the balcony doors, Yami Bakura burst through them and peered over the edge. "Bakura?" he growled.
"Yami?"
The tomb robber looked up at the weak voice and saw the boy's bloodied body hanging from a tree several feet away. He was clutching to a branch frantically, feeling his grip slipping. "Yami, help!!!"
"You foolish idiot!" Yami Bakura cried out, somersaulting down and running over. "Let go, Bakura. I'll catch you."
Bakura looked at him with glazed eyes. "Yami," he moaned again, slipping free and collapsing into the ancient thief's arms, shuddering.
Yami Bakura held him at arm's length, staring at him. "What happened to you?!" he demanded.
"The robed creature," Bakura rasped. "It . . . it threw me. . . ."
Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. "You could have broken your neck!"
Bakura managed a weak smile. "Actually, Yami, they tried to make that happen," he replied, indicating the red marks on his throat.
Yami Bakura cursed and grabbed for the boy as he lost his balance and crashed against him. "Dolt," he muttered.
****
Shadi continued to wrestle with Lou while holding Alyson firmly against his chest.
"Lou!"
Everyone looked up at the sound of the woman's angry voice.
"Stop tormenting your niece!"
Lou growled and shoved Shadi backwards before going up and harshly slapping his mother. "Be silent, woman! Don't you know I hold both your lives in my hands?!"
Immediately Shadi got in the way, threateningly holding his Ankh out. "Leave them be, Lou," he said quietly. "Or you will have me to deal with."
Lou growled and tried to grab for it. "Your pathetic magic doesn't scare me, Egyptian."
Shadi poked the Ankh in the wicked man's chest. "Unless you are even more foolish than you appear, you will not trifle with me further. You know of the ancient powers I hold, and I will not hesitate to use them."
Lou snarled, but turned away slowly and apparently was going to leave. In the next instant, however, he turned back—but Shadi was ready for him. Using a burst of energy from the Ankh, he sent a heavy statue crashing to the floor from across the room. It smashed down right next to Lou, who jumped and then narrowed his eyes.
"Do you wish to be like that statue?" Shadi looked at him stonily.
Lou clenched his fists. "Watch your step, guardian." He spit the word out as if it tasted bad. "This won't be like the last time you were here. I swear, you will never leave this ranch alive!" With that he stormed back out through the panel in the wall, locking it from the other side once he had gone through.
Alyson clung to Shadi in horror, sobbing into his shoulder. Shadi stroked her hair gently, trying to comfort her and finding himself infuriated at Lou.
And the elderly lady was angry as well.
"Honestly, I can't believe what Lou has become," she said, shaking her head. "He always was rebellious and a troublemaker, but now he's . . ." She trailed off, looking up at her granddaughter in concern.
"He . . . he comes in every night and . . . and . . ." Alyson looked up at Shadi sadly before rolling up her sleeve and showing him the angry bruises on her arm. "He . . . he was here earlier, when you had to go see about that lady who fell down the stairs." She spoke ashamedly and then looked away.
"This is not your fault, young one. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Shadi's eyes narrowed as the rage boiled within his heart. "I promise you, Alyson, that as long as I live, Lou will never again harm you," he vowed quietly.
Alyson smiled shakily and gave Shadi a tight hug.
****
Ishizu found herself floating in a strange, dark, seemingly endless space. At first she was alone, but then the pink-haired woman joined her.
"Hello," she said forlornly.
Ishizu nodded a greeting. "What is happening here?" she asked. "Do you not have any idea of who is causing these abominations?"
The other woman sighed and looked away. "It could be anyone, really," she replied. "I never saw my killer, and neither did the others who died here of unnatural causes. We are bound here by something intangible, unable to break free and go on to our afterlives."
Ishizu looked at her firmly. "What reason would someone have for wanting you dead?" she wanted to know. "I will do everything I can to ensure that the murderer is brought to justice, but first I must know any and all possible clues."
Carol crossed her arms. "The only thing I can think of is an odd incident that happened a couple of days before I . . ." She shook her head as a faraway look came into her eyes. "I had been out by the creek when I saw a dark-robed figure kneeling down looking into the water. He seemed to be searching for something, but I couldn't imagine what. I called out to him and asked if I could help, and immediately he turned and ran away."
Ishizu turned slightly. "I see," she said in her soft, musical voice.
****
Yugi, his Yami, and Téa were still wandering through the ranchhouse when the door was kicked open and Yami Bakura stormed in, supporting a limping Bakura.
"Bakura!" Yugi cried. "What happened?!"
Haltingly the brown-eyed boy explained about his experiences, struggling to hold himself upright. "Those good spirits I talked to said that we're the only ones who can get things back the way they should be!" Bakura declared.
"Nonsense," Yami Bakura grumbled, helping Bakura over to the couch and laying him on it.
"But what if it's true, Yami?" Bakura protested. "It could be!"
"I sense that it is, indeed, true," Yami Yugi said quietly, watching as Yami Bakura got the first aid kit and began treating Bakura's wounds.
****
Mokuba, meanwhile, walked down the long hall until he came to Ishizu's room and stood at the door. Slowly he reached up and knocked, calling for his friend.
In a moment the door was opened by an exhausted and depressed Rishid. "Come in, young Mokuba," he said, holding the door open wider. "Master Marik will be glad to see you."
Nodding his thanks, Mokuba scrambled inside and looked around for Marik.
The teenage boy was leaning over Ishizu's bed, worn-out himself. In hopefulness he had laid his head on Ishizu's shoulder gently and then had put his arm around her in a partial embrace, looking across the room with bleary eyes. When he spotted Mokuba, he raised himself up again and smiled.
"Hello, my friend," he said, gesturing for Mokuba to come closer.
The younger boy did, glancing over at Ishizu in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, knowing how much stress Marik must be under.
Marik hesitated a bit in replying but then at last said that he would be okay when Ishizu woke up. "I know she will," he said softly.
Mokuba smiled and hugged his friend, looking up at him with wide blue-gray eyes. "We're gonna find out why all this stuff is happening and then fix it!" he promised, just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky outside.
"I am certain we will," Marik agreed. "I only pray we can do it before . . . before . . ." He trailed off, but Mokuba knew that the rest of his sentence was, "before someone is harmed permanently."
Rishid turned to look out the window, his senses sharply alert. When another flash of lightning lit up the night sky, he turned away again, not especially wanting to recall the memories he associated with the natural phenomenon. And by the look on Marik's face, he didn't want to either.
The boy shuddered, grabbing Ishizu's hand for comfort.
"Are you thinking about Battle Ship?" Mokuba asked softly.
Marik nodded solemnly and sighed.
"It's okay, Marik. That's all over with now," Mokuba said with a quiet smile.
Marik ruffled the boy's hair. "And I'm glad of it," he declared.
****
Joey, Tristan, and Mako were exploring downstairs when Linda came up to them.
"Isn't it simply preposterous?!" the news anchor blurted.
"Which?" Joey asked, stifling a yawn. It had been such a long day and now that it was night he still wasn't able to go to sleep.
"Everything!" Linda screamed. "Why, now I'm living in constant fear of being murdered in my sleep!"
"I dunno," Tristan mused. "That doesn't seem like this criminal's style. This one seems to like his victims being wide awake when he attacks."
"This isn't funny!" Linda fumed.
"I never said it was," Tristan retorted. "I'm reporting the facts."
"That's true, Tristan, you are," Joey remarked. "Dang, you'd think that when everyone was awake, they'd be able to remember something more concrete than just some badly-dressed dude's robe!"
"Hey!" Tristan exclaimed. "Maybe what we should do is get a rundown on all the employees here at the ranch and then go investigating their rooms. One of them might own a dark cloak!"
"Now why would someone working here be behind this?" Mako wondered.
"Hey, why would anyone be?" Joey shrugged. "We've gotta start somewhere."
****
As a matter of fact, Rex was encountering someone who worked there that very moment.
"Hey! Watch where you're goin'!" the boy cried out indignantly as someone banged into him and sent them both to the floor.
"Me? What about you?" The man got up and glared daggers at Rex.
"Who are you anyway?" Rex wanted to know. "Do you work here?"
"Of course I do," came the grunted reply. "You'll know me as Mr. Ivy. And now if you'll kindly get out of my way . . ." Without waiting for an answer, Mr. Ivy shoved Rex to the side and stormed off.
Rex stared after him, looking highly miffed. "Man, he's sure got a burr in his saddle!" Thoughtfully the boy paused. "I wonder what he's up to. Maybe I'll just casually follow along and find out." Smirking to himself, he quietly trailed after Mr. Ivy.
****
By now it was far into the early morning hours and everyone was utterly exhausted. There was no sign of the cloaked figures or of anyone unusual at all.
"Perhaps we should go down in the basement and see if we can help those people locked up in there," Bakura said worriedly.
"There's people locked in the basement?!" Yugi cried in astonishment.
Bakura nodded, repeating what Rex had told him earlier.
"Heck, I'm sure Shadi is takin' care of them just fine," Joey said. He and his group had met up with Yugi and the others a few minutes ago.
The lights flickered dangerously as the thunder boomed outside.
"That's some storm out there," Tristan said, glancing at the window.
"I hope nothing else bad is going to happen tonight," Téa moaned.
****
Ishizu stirred, feeling Marik tiredly lay his head on her shoulder again. The Egyptian woman smiled, reaching up to pull her younger brother into an embrace.
Immediately Marik returned to complete awareness once more. "Sister?" he exclaimed joyously, his lavender eyes brightly shining.
"Yes," Ishizu said softly, holding him close and stroking his hair.
"Lady Ishizu!" Rishid perked up as well, hastening over.
Mokuba grinned, watching the happy reunion. "I'm glad you're okay," he said to Ishizu, who smiled at him in reply.
The lights flickered again, threatening to plunge everyone into darkness.
Marik barely noticed, so relieved was he to have his sister back.
****
Seto was somewhere by himself when the lights actually did go off. Muttering to himself, the young businessman clicked on the flashlight he was carrying around and prepared to continue down the hall.
Abruptly Rex crashed into him, knocking them both off-balance.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Seto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I havta tell someone!" Rex replied. "Heck, I guess you'll do. But there's a weird ranchhand here named Mr. Ivy and he's up to no good!"
"What makes you say that?" Seto wanted to know.
"I saw it!" Rex said in irritation. "I saw him! He was talking to those cloaked weirdos! They're plotting something!!"
Before Rex could say more, a shriek rent through the air.