Instantly Bakura was at his Yami's side, his soft brown eyes a picture of horror.
"Yami!" he sobbed. "Yami, get up! Oh please get up!" He shook the thief gently and didn't receive as much as a growl in reply. "Yami, what's wrong?!" he begged to know. "Please, Yami, please tell me!"
Oreo howled pitifully, nudging at Yami Bakura's limp arm. He grunted, jerking it away from her and then moaning in pain.
"Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed, running over. "Is your Yami okay?! What's wrong with him?!"
"I wish I knew!" Bakura said again, tears in his eyes. "He got hurt earlier and I have a terrible feeling that he . . . he . . ." Carefully he lifted Yami Bakura's arm and stared at the slashes once more.
Yugi's eyes widened. "What is that?!" he said in disbelief.
Yami Yugi came up behind him, his violet eyes narrowed in concern. "Poison," he uttered grimly.
Yugi and Bakura, as well as Joey, Rex, and Téa, all turned to stare at the Pharaoh.
"Say what?!" Joey cried.
The color drained from Bakura's face. "It . . . it isn't the . . . Shadow Poison again, is it?" he whispered fearfully.
Yami Yugi knelt down and examined the wounds. Sensing his old nemesis, Yami Bakura tensed and growled as if to say, I don't need your help!
"It's not the Shadow Poison," Yami Yugi said at last. "He doesn't have the symptoms. You can see he's still somewhat aware of what's going on around him. Those infected with the Shadow Poison lose sense of everything almost immediately."
Bakura bit his lip. "What can we do to help him?" he asked pleadingly.
Yami Yugi reached down to pull the thief up. "If there is an antidote, we must find it within the hour," he stated. "Or he will die."
****
Mako sat back, his eyes narrowed as he watched Shadi's labored breathing. "I've done all I can," he said quietly.
Alyson sobbed in protest, hugging Shadi's still form and praying as innocently as a six-year-old can for his life to be spared.
Mai and Tristan exchanged looks. They both knew that it wasn't likely that Shadi would last much longer.
"He's done for," Tristan said softly.
Almost as if in response to him, Shadi's breathing slowed to nothing and he went completely rigid.
Alyson clapped a hand to her mouth and screamed.
Mako stared sadly, checking for a pulse. "He's gone," he said finally.
The Egyptian man's body shimmered slightly before vanishing in front of their eyes. Only his blood and the Ankh remained.
Tristan's mouth dropped open. "Oh man," he muttered.
****
At long last Marik and the others made it to the end of the cave. The top of a huge waterfall was just ahead of them, the rushing liquid crashing against the rocks and debris below. Mokuba looked a bit uneasy, wondering if they were all going to be ambushed and thrown over. Subconsciously he grabbed Seto's hand and held on tight.
A light flashed, illuminating a figure standing on a low platform just to the side of the creek that became the raging waterfall.
"Well done," a female voice laughed. "You've all made it through to my lair."
Mokuba gasped, recognizing the voice. "Lorelei!" he cried out.
"You're the one behind this?!" Marik fumed, stepping forward in rage.
"Only one of them," Lorelei grinned, holding out a vial tauntingly. "Catch!" She threw it hard at Marik, who grabbed it in anger and glared at her. "Oh, come now," Lorelei purred. "You have your antidote. No need to look so cross. Let your sister drink that . . . if she still can, that is."
Marik let out a scream of fury and bent over Ishizu frantically. "Sister?" he whispered.
The woman's eyes fluttered open and she tried to focus on Marik.
"Sister, can you drink this?" Marik asked, taking the cork out of the vial and holding the small bottle up.
Ishizu struggled to speak. "I . . . I will try," she rasped.
Rishid continued to hold her in his arms while Marik carefully poured the vial's contents down their sister's throat. She coughed a bit and then settled into Rishid's embrace.
Marik smiled in relief, taking her hand. "Dear sister," he said softly.
Rishid looked up at Lorelei with steely eyes. "Will she recover?" he demanded, not wanting to deal with any more tricks.
"The antidote works wonders," Lorelei replied. "She'll be alright in a few minutes."
"You'd better be telling the truth," Marik hissed.
Mokuba stepped forward furiously. "What you've been doing is really messed up!" he yelled. "I can't believe what you've been doing to all of us!"
"Why don't you explain what this has all been about?" Seto added, his own eyes narrowed.
"Just a way to lure you all here," Lorelei responded.
"For what purpose?!" Marik growled.
"You'll see," Lorelei smirked.
****
Alyson picked up the Ankh shakily, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Where did he go?" she wailed. "Where is he?!"
No one spoke for the longest time, and then finally the grandmother said quietly, "I'm afraid he's gone, my little Alyson."
The child continued to cry, clutching the Ankh close to her heart. "He wasn't supposed to die!" she screamed.
A shadow fell across the doorway and Mai looked up to see Yugi's Yami standing there.
"We must leave this ranch now," the Pharaoh told her. "It's going to self-destruct in five minutes."
"What?!" Tristan burst out.
"What's happened in here?!" Téa cried in horror, looking in.
Mai looked at Alyson and then at Téa. "Shadi died," the blonde girl said at last.
Téa gave a cry of surprise and shock.
Yami Yugi's eyes narrowed. "This is grave news," he uttered, half-turning and indicating for the others to come with him. "I am sorry to hear of this, but I'm afraid we all must leave this minute."
Bakura, who was trying to support his Yami with Joey's help, looked horrified. "Shadi's dead?!" he shrieked. "But . . . but how?!"
"He was used as target practice," Tristan replied quietly. "About half a dozen times. His breathing stopped and then his body just disappeared."
Yugi turned away, tears glistening in his eyes. It was so hard for him to imagine how anyone could be so wicked.
"Yug?" Joey looked at his best friend in concern. "Yug, are you okay, man?"
Yugi clenched his fists. "This isn't right!" he screamed. "Shadi was a good person!"
"Yugi . . ." Yami Yugi laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know how terrible you must be feeling, but we can't allow anyone else to die. We have to leave before the ranch explodes."
Sadly Yugi nodded. "I know," he managed to say.
****
The group ran down the hall to a secret door Yami Yugi had found earlier. "This leads into a tunnel that runs under the house," the Pharaoh explained. "Come."
Alyson still held the blood-stained Ankh as she was gently guided into the passageway. She looked up at Mako with teary eyes. "I don't understand!" she wailed.
"I don't either, Alyson," Mako replied softly. "Many things happen in life that can't be explained."
They had all barely gotten into the underground tunnel when a horrific explosion echoed above them, rocking the ground and sending them all to the floor in a daze.
"No one else was in there, right?" Tristan said uneasily.
Yami Yugi shook his head. "We used the Millennium Ring to guide us to anyone still in the house, and your group consisted of the only other living beings there. Wherever the others are, they weren't in the ranch house."
Yami Bakura moaned and curled into a ball, the shock from the explosion having jarred him badly. Because the poison worked quicker on non-mortals, he was already more than half-dead, even though it had only been a little less than thirty minutes.
"Yami?!" Bakura screamed, kneeling down and trying to get him to straighten out, to no avail. Oreo tried to lend her support as well, grabbing Yami Bakura's pant leg in her teeth and pulling.
"Leave me alone," Yami Bakura hissed, curling up tighter. He hated for anyone to see him like this, especially Bakura and his band of friends.
"I won't!" Bakura said stubbornly. "Yami, you're hurt terribly and I'm not going to let you die!" Again he struggled to gather the tomb raider into his arms.
"Face it, pal," Tristan said. "He doesn't wanna be helped, so maybe we should just leave him here."
"Tristan!" Bakura yelled angrily. "I'll drag him along if I have to, but I'm never just going to leave him!" He looked down at the Ring, ordering it to lead them in the direction of the antidote. Almost immediately it began dragging him straight ahead. "I think it's nearby!" the boy called back as he was pulled along. "Please, someone get Yami!"
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes, but knelt down and grabbed the thief firmly. "Let's go," he said.
****
Seto glared daggers at Lorelei as he continued to restrain Lou, who twisted around and sneered at his captor.
"Poor Kaiba," Lou grinned. "You have absolutely no idea what's gonna go on, do you?"
Seto continued to give him a stony look. "Do you?" he demanded.
"Perhaps," Lou shrugged.
Lorelei grunted. "Well, I might as well tell them," she said. "After all, they'll all be dead in a few minutes anyway."
"Whatever you say, my dear," Lou replied.
"I am not your dear!" Lorelei snarled.
Marik continued to glare. "An explanation would be greatly appreciated," he said. "But none of us have any intention of dying."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you'll survive," Lorelei said, still standing on the platform. She paused. "I heard about those visions you had, dear Marik," the red-haired woman said now. "The second one in particular was intriguing to me, because every bit of it is true. The burial grounds, the angry spirits . . . all of that. They've been around for years, and they've caused all the deaths that happened throughout the years."
"A couple of years ago, Lorelei and I sort of made a deal with the spirits," Lou spoke up now. "If they'd help us get everyone away, we'd destroy the ranch. After all, we couldn't care less about that place. What we're after is on the surrounding property. And not on the burial grounds, may I add." He smirked.
"But lots of people actually died here!" Mokuba burst out. "It wasn't just some plot to scare people away!" He clenched his fists angrily. "A lot of us have been in real danger all night!"
Lorelei's eyes narrowed. "Those spirits aren't entirely loyal," she said. "I didn't want my sister to die. Nor did I want Lou to imprison my mother and my niece."
"Alyson is your niece?!" Mokuba exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Lorelei nodded. "And my mother wasn't traveling around as I thought she was. Lou paid people to send those postcards from around the world so I'd think she was just off on one of her escapades instead of locked up in my very own basement!"
Lou shrugged. "She was getting too nosy with her visions and remembering the past. I had to do something."
"Wait . . . isn't Alyson *your* niece?" Marik spoke up, glaring at him and stroking Ishizu's hand.
"You could say that," Lou replied. "See, Lorelei and I are married."
"Only until the divorce is final," Lorelei growled. "I can't stand that man!"
"Gee, it seems like you're perfect for each other," Seto remarked.
Both of them ignored that.
"We were just about done with our plan when all of you people showed up on that crashed airplane," Lou grunted. "So then we had to concentrate on getting all of you away first!"
"Oh lovely," Seto grumbled sarcastically.
Ishizu's eyes fluttered open and she blinked up at Rishid and Marik.
"Sister?" Marik cried hopefully.
The older woman smiled and held out her arms. Marik rushed into her embrace happily and then Rishid hugged them both. "I am fine now," Ishizu whispered, just enjoying being back with her two precious brothers. Mokuba looked on, grinning widely.
"A sibling reunion. How sweet," Lou sneered. "Now you'll get to all die together."
"What do you mean?" Marik snarled.
Lorelei smirked at him. "There's a dam just up ahead from where we are," she announced. "I can open it with this remote control. And once the water breaks loose, well . . . even if you're excellent swimmers, you'll never get out of here alive."
"And I suppose you will escape to safety before that happens," Seto grunted.
"Quite right," Lorelei agreed. "Now let's see . . . I think it's about time for our little showdown, don't you?" She held the remote control up and made a motion to press the button.
Instantly Marik somersaulted into the air and landed squarely on the platform with her. "I don't think so," he hissed, pointing the Millennium Rod at the wicked woman. "Don't trifle with me!"
"Marik!!" Ishizu, Mokuba, and Rishid all cried in unison.
Lorelei's eyes suddenly went blank as the Millennium Rod glowed brightly.
"What did you do to her?!" Lou demanded.
Marik glared at him. "I had hoped I would never have to draw on the powers of my Millennium Item again," he said dangerously. "But I will not stand for these abominations against those I love to continue." With that he forced Lorelei to walk toward him and hand over the remote control.
Mokuba's mouth dropped open as he watched. If Marik had been angry earlier, he was positively enraged now. Mokuba knew that his friend had never used the Rod since he had repented.
"Brother! Be careful!" Ishizu screamed, pointing upward.
Marik glanced up and got out of the way just as a third figure descended onto the narrow platform, right where the Egyptian boy had been standing.
"Going somewhere?" Bart grinned insanely and viciously grabbed Marik.
"Let him go!" Rishid yelled furiously, leaping up and running over to the platform.
Marik struggled against his attacker's viselike grip, his concentration weakening. "Rishid . . . don't come up here," he choked out.
Abruptly two wraiths flew out of the wall, one knocking Rishid backward and the other forcing both Bart and Marik off the platform and over the waterfall!
"Yami!" he sobbed. "Yami, get up! Oh please get up!" He shook the thief gently and didn't receive as much as a growl in reply. "Yami, what's wrong?!" he begged to know. "Please, Yami, please tell me!"
Oreo howled pitifully, nudging at Yami Bakura's limp arm. He grunted, jerking it away from her and then moaning in pain.
"Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed, running over. "Is your Yami okay?! What's wrong with him?!"
"I wish I knew!" Bakura said again, tears in his eyes. "He got hurt earlier and I have a terrible feeling that he . . . he . . ." Carefully he lifted Yami Bakura's arm and stared at the slashes once more.
Yugi's eyes widened. "What is that?!" he said in disbelief.
Yami Yugi came up behind him, his violet eyes narrowed in concern. "Poison," he uttered grimly.
Yugi and Bakura, as well as Joey, Rex, and Téa, all turned to stare at the Pharaoh.
"Say what?!" Joey cried.
The color drained from Bakura's face. "It . . . it isn't the . . . Shadow Poison again, is it?" he whispered fearfully.
Yami Yugi knelt down and examined the wounds. Sensing his old nemesis, Yami Bakura tensed and growled as if to say, I don't need your help!
"It's not the Shadow Poison," Yami Yugi said at last. "He doesn't have the symptoms. You can see he's still somewhat aware of what's going on around him. Those infected with the Shadow Poison lose sense of everything almost immediately."
Bakura bit his lip. "What can we do to help him?" he asked pleadingly.
Yami Yugi reached down to pull the thief up. "If there is an antidote, we must find it within the hour," he stated. "Or he will die."
****
Mako sat back, his eyes narrowed as he watched Shadi's labored breathing. "I've done all I can," he said quietly.
Alyson sobbed in protest, hugging Shadi's still form and praying as innocently as a six-year-old can for his life to be spared.
Mai and Tristan exchanged looks. They both knew that it wasn't likely that Shadi would last much longer.
"He's done for," Tristan said softly.
Almost as if in response to him, Shadi's breathing slowed to nothing and he went completely rigid.
Alyson clapped a hand to her mouth and screamed.
Mako stared sadly, checking for a pulse. "He's gone," he said finally.
The Egyptian man's body shimmered slightly before vanishing in front of their eyes. Only his blood and the Ankh remained.
Tristan's mouth dropped open. "Oh man," he muttered.
****
At long last Marik and the others made it to the end of the cave. The top of a huge waterfall was just ahead of them, the rushing liquid crashing against the rocks and debris below. Mokuba looked a bit uneasy, wondering if they were all going to be ambushed and thrown over. Subconsciously he grabbed Seto's hand and held on tight.
A light flashed, illuminating a figure standing on a low platform just to the side of the creek that became the raging waterfall.
"Well done," a female voice laughed. "You've all made it through to my lair."
Mokuba gasped, recognizing the voice. "Lorelei!" he cried out.
"You're the one behind this?!" Marik fumed, stepping forward in rage.
"Only one of them," Lorelei grinned, holding out a vial tauntingly. "Catch!" She threw it hard at Marik, who grabbed it in anger and glared at her. "Oh, come now," Lorelei purred. "You have your antidote. No need to look so cross. Let your sister drink that . . . if she still can, that is."
Marik let out a scream of fury and bent over Ishizu frantically. "Sister?" he whispered.
The woman's eyes fluttered open and she tried to focus on Marik.
"Sister, can you drink this?" Marik asked, taking the cork out of the vial and holding the small bottle up.
Ishizu struggled to speak. "I . . . I will try," she rasped.
Rishid continued to hold her in his arms while Marik carefully poured the vial's contents down their sister's throat. She coughed a bit and then settled into Rishid's embrace.
Marik smiled in relief, taking her hand. "Dear sister," he said softly.
Rishid looked up at Lorelei with steely eyes. "Will she recover?" he demanded, not wanting to deal with any more tricks.
"The antidote works wonders," Lorelei replied. "She'll be alright in a few minutes."
"You'd better be telling the truth," Marik hissed.
Mokuba stepped forward furiously. "What you've been doing is really messed up!" he yelled. "I can't believe what you've been doing to all of us!"
"Why don't you explain what this has all been about?" Seto added, his own eyes narrowed.
"Just a way to lure you all here," Lorelei responded.
"For what purpose?!" Marik growled.
"You'll see," Lorelei smirked.
****
Alyson picked up the Ankh shakily, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Where did he go?" she wailed. "Where is he?!"
No one spoke for the longest time, and then finally the grandmother said quietly, "I'm afraid he's gone, my little Alyson."
The child continued to cry, clutching the Ankh close to her heart. "He wasn't supposed to die!" she screamed.
A shadow fell across the doorway and Mai looked up to see Yugi's Yami standing there.
"We must leave this ranch now," the Pharaoh told her. "It's going to self-destruct in five minutes."
"What?!" Tristan burst out.
"What's happened in here?!" Téa cried in horror, looking in.
Mai looked at Alyson and then at Téa. "Shadi died," the blonde girl said at last.
Téa gave a cry of surprise and shock.
Yami Yugi's eyes narrowed. "This is grave news," he uttered, half-turning and indicating for the others to come with him. "I am sorry to hear of this, but I'm afraid we all must leave this minute."
Bakura, who was trying to support his Yami with Joey's help, looked horrified. "Shadi's dead?!" he shrieked. "But . . . but how?!"
"He was used as target practice," Tristan replied quietly. "About half a dozen times. His breathing stopped and then his body just disappeared."
Yugi turned away, tears glistening in his eyes. It was so hard for him to imagine how anyone could be so wicked.
"Yug?" Joey looked at his best friend in concern. "Yug, are you okay, man?"
Yugi clenched his fists. "This isn't right!" he screamed. "Shadi was a good person!"
"Yugi . . ." Yami Yugi laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know how terrible you must be feeling, but we can't allow anyone else to die. We have to leave before the ranch explodes."
Sadly Yugi nodded. "I know," he managed to say.
****
The group ran down the hall to a secret door Yami Yugi had found earlier. "This leads into a tunnel that runs under the house," the Pharaoh explained. "Come."
Alyson still held the blood-stained Ankh as she was gently guided into the passageway. She looked up at Mako with teary eyes. "I don't understand!" she wailed.
"I don't either, Alyson," Mako replied softly. "Many things happen in life that can't be explained."
They had all barely gotten into the underground tunnel when a horrific explosion echoed above them, rocking the ground and sending them all to the floor in a daze.
"No one else was in there, right?" Tristan said uneasily.
Yami Yugi shook his head. "We used the Millennium Ring to guide us to anyone still in the house, and your group consisted of the only other living beings there. Wherever the others are, they weren't in the ranch house."
Yami Bakura moaned and curled into a ball, the shock from the explosion having jarred him badly. Because the poison worked quicker on non-mortals, he was already more than half-dead, even though it had only been a little less than thirty minutes.
"Yami?!" Bakura screamed, kneeling down and trying to get him to straighten out, to no avail. Oreo tried to lend her support as well, grabbing Yami Bakura's pant leg in her teeth and pulling.
"Leave me alone," Yami Bakura hissed, curling up tighter. He hated for anyone to see him like this, especially Bakura and his band of friends.
"I won't!" Bakura said stubbornly. "Yami, you're hurt terribly and I'm not going to let you die!" Again he struggled to gather the tomb raider into his arms.
"Face it, pal," Tristan said. "He doesn't wanna be helped, so maybe we should just leave him here."
"Tristan!" Bakura yelled angrily. "I'll drag him along if I have to, but I'm never just going to leave him!" He looked down at the Ring, ordering it to lead them in the direction of the antidote. Almost immediately it began dragging him straight ahead. "I think it's nearby!" the boy called back as he was pulled along. "Please, someone get Yami!"
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes, but knelt down and grabbed the thief firmly. "Let's go," he said.
****
Seto glared daggers at Lorelei as he continued to restrain Lou, who twisted around and sneered at his captor.
"Poor Kaiba," Lou grinned. "You have absolutely no idea what's gonna go on, do you?"
Seto continued to give him a stony look. "Do you?" he demanded.
"Perhaps," Lou shrugged.
Lorelei grunted. "Well, I might as well tell them," she said. "After all, they'll all be dead in a few minutes anyway."
"Whatever you say, my dear," Lou replied.
"I am not your dear!" Lorelei snarled.
Marik continued to glare. "An explanation would be greatly appreciated," he said. "But none of us have any intention of dying."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you'll survive," Lorelei said, still standing on the platform. She paused. "I heard about those visions you had, dear Marik," the red-haired woman said now. "The second one in particular was intriguing to me, because every bit of it is true. The burial grounds, the angry spirits . . . all of that. They've been around for years, and they've caused all the deaths that happened throughout the years."
"A couple of years ago, Lorelei and I sort of made a deal with the spirits," Lou spoke up now. "If they'd help us get everyone away, we'd destroy the ranch. After all, we couldn't care less about that place. What we're after is on the surrounding property. And not on the burial grounds, may I add." He smirked.
"But lots of people actually died here!" Mokuba burst out. "It wasn't just some plot to scare people away!" He clenched his fists angrily. "A lot of us have been in real danger all night!"
Lorelei's eyes narrowed. "Those spirits aren't entirely loyal," she said. "I didn't want my sister to die. Nor did I want Lou to imprison my mother and my niece."
"Alyson is your niece?!" Mokuba exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Lorelei nodded. "And my mother wasn't traveling around as I thought she was. Lou paid people to send those postcards from around the world so I'd think she was just off on one of her escapades instead of locked up in my very own basement!"
Lou shrugged. "She was getting too nosy with her visions and remembering the past. I had to do something."
"Wait . . . isn't Alyson *your* niece?" Marik spoke up, glaring at him and stroking Ishizu's hand.
"You could say that," Lou replied. "See, Lorelei and I are married."
"Only until the divorce is final," Lorelei growled. "I can't stand that man!"
"Gee, it seems like you're perfect for each other," Seto remarked.
Both of them ignored that.
"We were just about done with our plan when all of you people showed up on that crashed airplane," Lou grunted. "So then we had to concentrate on getting all of you away first!"
"Oh lovely," Seto grumbled sarcastically.
Ishizu's eyes fluttered open and she blinked up at Rishid and Marik.
"Sister?" Marik cried hopefully.
The older woman smiled and held out her arms. Marik rushed into her embrace happily and then Rishid hugged them both. "I am fine now," Ishizu whispered, just enjoying being back with her two precious brothers. Mokuba looked on, grinning widely.
"A sibling reunion. How sweet," Lou sneered. "Now you'll get to all die together."
"What do you mean?" Marik snarled.
Lorelei smirked at him. "There's a dam just up ahead from where we are," she announced. "I can open it with this remote control. And once the water breaks loose, well . . . even if you're excellent swimmers, you'll never get out of here alive."
"And I suppose you will escape to safety before that happens," Seto grunted.
"Quite right," Lorelei agreed. "Now let's see . . . I think it's about time for our little showdown, don't you?" She held the remote control up and made a motion to press the button.
Instantly Marik somersaulted into the air and landed squarely on the platform with her. "I don't think so," he hissed, pointing the Millennium Rod at the wicked woman. "Don't trifle with me!"
"Marik!!" Ishizu, Mokuba, and Rishid all cried in unison.
Lorelei's eyes suddenly went blank as the Millennium Rod glowed brightly.
"What did you do to her?!" Lou demanded.
Marik glared at him. "I had hoped I would never have to draw on the powers of my Millennium Item again," he said dangerously. "But I will not stand for these abominations against those I love to continue." With that he forced Lorelei to walk toward him and hand over the remote control.
Mokuba's mouth dropped open as he watched. If Marik had been angry earlier, he was positively enraged now. Mokuba knew that his friend had never used the Rod since he had repented.
"Brother! Be careful!" Ishizu screamed, pointing upward.
Marik glanced up and got out of the way just as a third figure descended onto the narrow platform, right where the Egyptian boy had been standing.
"Going somewhere?" Bart grinned insanely and viciously grabbed Marik.
"Let him go!" Rishid yelled furiously, leaping up and running over to the platform.
Marik struggled against his attacker's viselike grip, his concentration weakening. "Rishid . . . don't come up here," he choked out.
Abruptly two wraiths flew out of the wall, one knocking Rishid backward and the other forcing both Bart and Marik off the platform and over the waterfall!