Instantly everyone came to attention.
"What?!" Yugi gasped, ducking behind a potted plant as the gunshots continued.
"Rex was shot!!" Mai repeated desperately, trying to drag the short boy's body behind a desk.
Yami Bakura grunted as a bullet went through his shoulder and then chose that moment to sic the Man-Eater Bug on the person firing at them. To his shock, the man only laughed and created a shield around himself.
"I know all about your pathetic bug, tomb raider Bakaré!" he cried.
Yami Bakura's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know of my name?!" he demanded.
"Oh . . . secrets are not hidden in the sands of time, old fool," came the cackling reply.
The thief hissed. "I am Bakaré the tomb raider no longer," he said coldly. "Bakaré died many millennia ago."
"Did he now?" The figure on the balcony looked thoughtful. "Then why are you so determined to protect the feline curled up at your feet? Shouldn't you instead be wickedly throwing her into the line of fire?"
"Silence, mortal fool!" Yami Bakura growled, scooping Oreo into his arms and holding her close.
"So soft-hearted," the man taunted. "And so like Bakaré. He—or rather, you—had a cat back in Egypt, did you not?"
Oreo hissed loudly at him, while Yami Bakura offered no answer.
"Marik!! Be careful!!" Rishid yelled as the shooting resumed. He winced and cried out as another flying bullet barely missed Marik and tore against his arm instead.
"Rishid!!" Marik gasped, staring in horror at his brother as he leaned back on the wall. "Oh Rishid . . ."
The man smiled weakly. "I'm alright. It's only a flesh wound."
Not wanting to take any chances, Marik quickly examined Rishid's bleeding arm and tried to apply a temporary bandage, all the while dodging gunshots buzzing around them.
Yugi had ducked behind the desk and was trying to help Mai with Rex. "What happened?" the violet-eyed boy asked worriedly.
"He . . . well . . ." Mai was clutching Rex's vest and looking flustered, very unlike her normal self. "I . . . I think he was trying to save me! He got shot in the back . . ." She trailed off.
Yugi bit his lip. "Okay. Let's see here. . . ." Trying to keep calm for Mai's sake—and for Rex's as well—he hurriedly pulled the other boy's shirt off and stared at the wound.
"Is it bad?" Mai wanted to know.
"I . . . I'm not sure," Yugi admitted. "He needs help right away, from someone who can answer that. We have to call 911!"
Mai fumbled in her purse and finally brought her cell phone out. Shakily she dialed the number and spoke to the operator.
Meanwhile, Bakura was becoming more and more distressed as he watched the friends he cared for so dearly trying to avoid the bullets and sometimes not being able to. Finally he walked right into the line of fire, tears streaming from his eyes. "STOP!!" he screamed.
The assassin raised the gun slowly to point at the boy's forehead. "You wanna die, kid? Be my guest!!"
"Fine! Kill me!" Bakura sobbed. "Kill me and leave everyone else alone!! You've already hurt at least three of them!"
"Get out of the way, you dolt!!" Yami Bakura hissed.
The man lowered the gun suddenly, giving Bakura a thoughtful look. "Maybe I've done enough damage for now," he said. "All I want is all the evidence you've collected, Mr. Collsworth. And your research on ancient Egypt."
Martin glared. "As if I would hand all that over to you!"
"Well, if you don't . . . maybe some more of these poor fools will be sporting bullet holes," the hitman sneered. Without warning he raised the gun and fired, aiming for Bakura.
"MEOOOOOOW!!!"
Everyone looked up at the sound of the cat's yowl. Oreo had somehow wiggled away from Yami Bakura and was viciously attacking the thug, causing him to misfire and send the bullet into a nearly plate glass window.
"CAT!!!!!!" Yami Bakura yelled, afraid that she would be shot. Bakura stared, ashen white.
"This is the police!!! Hands up!!"
Immediately everyone froze, watching in relief as half a dozen police officers trouped through the doors, their guns all trained on the man on the balcony, who dropped his own weapon in defeat. Oreo gave a meow of satisfaction and padded back to her beloved Yami Bakura.
"What happened here?" one of the officers demanded.
"That man was shooting at us!" Téa declared.
As the police hurried to arrest the shootist, Bakura smiled happily and stroked Oreo's soft fur. "Thank you," he said quietly. "You saved my life!"
Oreo purred loudly in bliss.
****
Shortly after the police's arrival, the paramedics came for Rex.
"How is he?" Mai asked, watching as they examined the boy she so often argued with.
"He doesn't seem to have any spinal damage," the young paramedic replied, "but he's lost a lot of blood. We'll have to get him to the hospital right away."
Rishid was looked at as well, but to Marik's and Ishizu's relief, he truly hadn't been injured seriously. Quickly they both lovingly embraced their older brother, who smiled and returned the gesture.
Mokuba watched and then hugged Seto with a grin, happy that he hadn't been hurt.
Seto pulled Mokuba close to him and glared daggers at the hitman as he was escorted out. "If you don't have any luck questioning him, be assured that I'll come by later to do so," he told the officer in charge, who nodded agreeably.
"I have the feeling he's gonna be tight-lipped about this. Any help you could give would be much appreciated, Mr. Kaiba," the policeman said.
Meanwhile, the paramedics weren't having much luck examining Yami Bakura.
"You absurd creatures, I'm fine!" the thief grunted.
The EMT stared at his profusely bleeding shoulder. "Fine, are you?" he said in disbelief.
"I've gone through much worse than this scratch," Yami Bakura responded. "I've survived repeatedly being stabbed by a javelin, an attack by my own Man-Eater Bug, and a poison that would have killed me within the hour, to name a few things. Therefore," he continued while the rescue team just gaped at him in a sort of awe, "I really don't think I have to worry about a minor injury such as this."
Bakura had to chuckle at the paramedics' expressions, all the while cuddling Oreo.
****
Meanwhile, Tristan was pacing the floor and keeping watch over Duke, as he'd promised. He hoped Serenity was sleeping peacefully in her room and didn't have any knowledge of the latest disasters. If she knew that Joey and the others had all gone out with Martin Collsworth to his secret hiding place, she most definitely would have wanted to go along. And Tristan absolutely didn't want Serenity getting into any more dangerous situations.
Duke stirred now, blinking up at Tristan. "What are you doing here?" he asked sleepily.
"I'm gonna have a little chat with you," Tristan replied, crossing his arms. "I wanna get one thing straight with you, Duke Devlin—Serenity is mine!"
"Huh?!" Duke sat straight up in bed, confused at this greeting.
"You heard me," Tristan said. "I don't like the way you're always interfering when I'm trying to have a romantic moment with her!"
Duke rubbed his right temple. "What brings this on now?" he wanted to know.
"Because it's high-time I told you!" Tristan retorted, never finding it odd that he was bringing it up almost out of the clear blue.
Duke shrugged. "Serenity doesn't seem to mind being around me," he smirked. "If you're so upset about this, maybe it's because you know she prefers me over you."
This was obviously the wrong thing to say.
"Serenity prefers me!!" Tristan yelled.
"Oh really?" Calmly Duke got out of bed, swaying as he did so, and glared at the other boy. "Maybe we should simply call Serenity right now and ask her who she likes best."
"Fine with me!" Tristan declared.
Abruptly there was a loud clunk and both teenagers froze.
"What was that?!" Duke demanded.
"Whatever it was, I didn't like the sound of it," Tristan groaned.
****
It was only after the other members of the group had been at the hospital for a while when they realized that some of their friends were missing.
"Hey!" Téa exclaimed. "Where's Yugi?!"
Everyone looked around, startled at the realization that Yugi wasn't with them.
"Oh dear!" Bakura gasped. "Not only is Yugi missing, but it seems that the Kaiba brothers are as well!"
"What?!" Marik blinked in astonishment and looked about for his young friend Mokuba, only to find that he was, indeed, nowhere in sight.
"They must all still be back at the Prudential Building!" Joey cried.
"But why?!" Bakura wondered in confusion.
"Heck, who knows!" Joey threw his hands up in frustration. "But maybe they're gettin' in some kinda scrape. Wouldn't surprise me!"
"Well, we'll just have to go back and find them!" Téa said firmly.
"You all go," Mai said softly. "I'm going to stay here and make sure Rex will be okay." She was still feeling extremely perplexed by the events of the past hour. Why had Rex saved her? The question plagued her mind so that she could barely think of anything else. All they ever did was squabble like a couple of immature kids. And Rex certainly had no reason to want to save her after everything that had happened at Duelist Kingdom.
"Um . . ."
Mai looked up to see a shy Bakura standing in front of her.
"Would you like some company?" the boy asked softly. "This . . . this might take a while. . . ."
Mai sighed but smiled. "Sure, hon," she replied, and Bakura sat down next to her.
Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. He didn't care about going to find the others, but he didn't really care about being here, either. Grunting, he sat down at the opposite end of the room with Oreo concealed in his shirt.
****
It was practically dawn by the time Téa led her exhausted group back into the Prudential Building.
"I can't believe we've been up all night," she moaned.
"Man, I'm gonna sleep all day," Joey vowed, letting loose with an enormous yawn.
A policeman stopped them at the front desk. "Excuse me, kids, but this is a crime scene," he said.
"We know," Téa told him, while Rishid raised an eyebrow and wondered whether the elderly officer was including him and Ishizu among the "kids."
"We were victims of the crime," Marik added.
The officer's eyes widened. "Oh!" he exclaimed. Blinking now, he asked what they were all doing back. Marik then explained that they were missing three of their friends and asked if he had seen them, by any chance.
"I think I might've," a smooth voice spoke up.
Everyone turned to see Viper standing there, her arms crossed.
"Where did you come from?" Martin said in surprise. "You were supposed to be waiting back at the . . ."
"Yeah, I know, but it was taking too long. I came to see what the hold-up was." Viper smiled, catching Rishid's eye. "Hey there," she said in a sultry tone.
Rishid gave her a curt nod but didn't speak.
Viper didn't seem to mind. "I like the strong, silent type," she purred, taking his arm.
Rishid pulled it away. "You said you thought you had seen our comrades," he reminded her.
"I think I did," Viper nodded. "Up on the observation deck. Come with me." She gestured for everyone to follow her, which they did.
When they arrived on the observation deck, however, they were in for quite a shock. Yugi and Mokuba were standing way out on the ledge as if in a trance, and Seto Kaiba was watching them silently, not doing a thing to get them back on firm ground!
"What?!" Yugi gasped, ducking behind a potted plant as the gunshots continued.
"Rex was shot!!" Mai repeated desperately, trying to drag the short boy's body behind a desk.
Yami Bakura grunted as a bullet went through his shoulder and then chose that moment to sic the Man-Eater Bug on the person firing at them. To his shock, the man only laughed and created a shield around himself.
"I know all about your pathetic bug, tomb raider Bakaré!" he cried.
Yami Bakura's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know of my name?!" he demanded.
"Oh . . . secrets are not hidden in the sands of time, old fool," came the cackling reply.
The thief hissed. "I am Bakaré the tomb raider no longer," he said coldly. "Bakaré died many millennia ago."
"Did he now?" The figure on the balcony looked thoughtful. "Then why are you so determined to protect the feline curled up at your feet? Shouldn't you instead be wickedly throwing her into the line of fire?"
"Silence, mortal fool!" Yami Bakura growled, scooping Oreo into his arms and holding her close.
"So soft-hearted," the man taunted. "And so like Bakaré. He—or rather, you—had a cat back in Egypt, did you not?"
Oreo hissed loudly at him, while Yami Bakura offered no answer.
"Marik!! Be careful!!" Rishid yelled as the shooting resumed. He winced and cried out as another flying bullet barely missed Marik and tore against his arm instead.
"Rishid!!" Marik gasped, staring in horror at his brother as he leaned back on the wall. "Oh Rishid . . ."
The man smiled weakly. "I'm alright. It's only a flesh wound."
Not wanting to take any chances, Marik quickly examined Rishid's bleeding arm and tried to apply a temporary bandage, all the while dodging gunshots buzzing around them.
Yugi had ducked behind the desk and was trying to help Mai with Rex. "What happened?" the violet-eyed boy asked worriedly.
"He . . . well . . ." Mai was clutching Rex's vest and looking flustered, very unlike her normal self. "I . . . I think he was trying to save me! He got shot in the back . . ." She trailed off.
Yugi bit his lip. "Okay. Let's see here. . . ." Trying to keep calm for Mai's sake—and for Rex's as well—he hurriedly pulled the other boy's shirt off and stared at the wound.
"Is it bad?" Mai wanted to know.
"I . . . I'm not sure," Yugi admitted. "He needs help right away, from someone who can answer that. We have to call 911!"
Mai fumbled in her purse and finally brought her cell phone out. Shakily she dialed the number and spoke to the operator.
Meanwhile, Bakura was becoming more and more distressed as he watched the friends he cared for so dearly trying to avoid the bullets and sometimes not being able to. Finally he walked right into the line of fire, tears streaming from his eyes. "STOP!!" he screamed.
The assassin raised the gun slowly to point at the boy's forehead. "You wanna die, kid? Be my guest!!"
"Fine! Kill me!" Bakura sobbed. "Kill me and leave everyone else alone!! You've already hurt at least three of them!"
"Get out of the way, you dolt!!" Yami Bakura hissed.
The man lowered the gun suddenly, giving Bakura a thoughtful look. "Maybe I've done enough damage for now," he said. "All I want is all the evidence you've collected, Mr. Collsworth. And your research on ancient Egypt."
Martin glared. "As if I would hand all that over to you!"
"Well, if you don't . . . maybe some more of these poor fools will be sporting bullet holes," the hitman sneered. Without warning he raised the gun and fired, aiming for Bakura.
"MEOOOOOOW!!!"
Everyone looked up at the sound of the cat's yowl. Oreo had somehow wiggled away from Yami Bakura and was viciously attacking the thug, causing him to misfire and send the bullet into a nearly plate glass window.
"CAT!!!!!!" Yami Bakura yelled, afraid that she would be shot. Bakura stared, ashen white.
"This is the police!!! Hands up!!"
Immediately everyone froze, watching in relief as half a dozen police officers trouped through the doors, their guns all trained on the man on the balcony, who dropped his own weapon in defeat. Oreo gave a meow of satisfaction and padded back to her beloved Yami Bakura.
"What happened here?" one of the officers demanded.
"That man was shooting at us!" Téa declared.
As the police hurried to arrest the shootist, Bakura smiled happily and stroked Oreo's soft fur. "Thank you," he said quietly. "You saved my life!"
Oreo purred loudly in bliss.
****
Shortly after the police's arrival, the paramedics came for Rex.
"How is he?" Mai asked, watching as they examined the boy she so often argued with.
"He doesn't seem to have any spinal damage," the young paramedic replied, "but he's lost a lot of blood. We'll have to get him to the hospital right away."
Rishid was looked at as well, but to Marik's and Ishizu's relief, he truly hadn't been injured seriously. Quickly they both lovingly embraced their older brother, who smiled and returned the gesture.
Mokuba watched and then hugged Seto with a grin, happy that he hadn't been hurt.
Seto pulled Mokuba close to him and glared daggers at the hitman as he was escorted out. "If you don't have any luck questioning him, be assured that I'll come by later to do so," he told the officer in charge, who nodded agreeably.
"I have the feeling he's gonna be tight-lipped about this. Any help you could give would be much appreciated, Mr. Kaiba," the policeman said.
Meanwhile, the paramedics weren't having much luck examining Yami Bakura.
"You absurd creatures, I'm fine!" the thief grunted.
The EMT stared at his profusely bleeding shoulder. "Fine, are you?" he said in disbelief.
"I've gone through much worse than this scratch," Yami Bakura responded. "I've survived repeatedly being stabbed by a javelin, an attack by my own Man-Eater Bug, and a poison that would have killed me within the hour, to name a few things. Therefore," he continued while the rescue team just gaped at him in a sort of awe, "I really don't think I have to worry about a minor injury such as this."
Bakura had to chuckle at the paramedics' expressions, all the while cuddling Oreo.
****
Meanwhile, Tristan was pacing the floor and keeping watch over Duke, as he'd promised. He hoped Serenity was sleeping peacefully in her room and didn't have any knowledge of the latest disasters. If she knew that Joey and the others had all gone out with Martin Collsworth to his secret hiding place, she most definitely would have wanted to go along. And Tristan absolutely didn't want Serenity getting into any more dangerous situations.
Duke stirred now, blinking up at Tristan. "What are you doing here?" he asked sleepily.
"I'm gonna have a little chat with you," Tristan replied, crossing his arms. "I wanna get one thing straight with you, Duke Devlin—Serenity is mine!"
"Huh?!" Duke sat straight up in bed, confused at this greeting.
"You heard me," Tristan said. "I don't like the way you're always interfering when I'm trying to have a romantic moment with her!"
Duke rubbed his right temple. "What brings this on now?" he wanted to know.
"Because it's high-time I told you!" Tristan retorted, never finding it odd that he was bringing it up almost out of the clear blue.
Duke shrugged. "Serenity doesn't seem to mind being around me," he smirked. "If you're so upset about this, maybe it's because you know she prefers me over you."
This was obviously the wrong thing to say.
"Serenity prefers me!!" Tristan yelled.
"Oh really?" Calmly Duke got out of bed, swaying as he did so, and glared at the other boy. "Maybe we should simply call Serenity right now and ask her who she likes best."
"Fine with me!" Tristan declared.
Abruptly there was a loud clunk and both teenagers froze.
"What was that?!" Duke demanded.
"Whatever it was, I didn't like the sound of it," Tristan groaned.
****
It was only after the other members of the group had been at the hospital for a while when they realized that some of their friends were missing.
"Hey!" Téa exclaimed. "Where's Yugi?!"
Everyone looked around, startled at the realization that Yugi wasn't with them.
"Oh dear!" Bakura gasped. "Not only is Yugi missing, but it seems that the Kaiba brothers are as well!"
"What?!" Marik blinked in astonishment and looked about for his young friend Mokuba, only to find that he was, indeed, nowhere in sight.
"They must all still be back at the Prudential Building!" Joey cried.
"But why?!" Bakura wondered in confusion.
"Heck, who knows!" Joey threw his hands up in frustration. "But maybe they're gettin' in some kinda scrape. Wouldn't surprise me!"
"Well, we'll just have to go back and find them!" Téa said firmly.
"You all go," Mai said softly. "I'm going to stay here and make sure Rex will be okay." She was still feeling extremely perplexed by the events of the past hour. Why had Rex saved her? The question plagued her mind so that she could barely think of anything else. All they ever did was squabble like a couple of immature kids. And Rex certainly had no reason to want to save her after everything that had happened at Duelist Kingdom.
"Um . . ."
Mai looked up to see a shy Bakura standing in front of her.
"Would you like some company?" the boy asked softly. "This . . . this might take a while. . . ."
Mai sighed but smiled. "Sure, hon," she replied, and Bakura sat down next to her.
Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. He didn't care about going to find the others, but he didn't really care about being here, either. Grunting, he sat down at the opposite end of the room with Oreo concealed in his shirt.
****
It was practically dawn by the time Téa led her exhausted group back into the Prudential Building.
"I can't believe we've been up all night," she moaned.
"Man, I'm gonna sleep all day," Joey vowed, letting loose with an enormous yawn.
A policeman stopped them at the front desk. "Excuse me, kids, but this is a crime scene," he said.
"We know," Téa told him, while Rishid raised an eyebrow and wondered whether the elderly officer was including him and Ishizu among the "kids."
"We were victims of the crime," Marik added.
The officer's eyes widened. "Oh!" he exclaimed. Blinking now, he asked what they were all doing back. Marik then explained that they were missing three of their friends and asked if he had seen them, by any chance.
"I think I might've," a smooth voice spoke up.
Everyone turned to see Viper standing there, her arms crossed.
"Where did you come from?" Martin said in surprise. "You were supposed to be waiting back at the . . ."
"Yeah, I know, but it was taking too long. I came to see what the hold-up was." Viper smiled, catching Rishid's eye. "Hey there," she said in a sultry tone.
Rishid gave her a curt nod but didn't speak.
Viper didn't seem to mind. "I like the strong, silent type," she purred, taking his arm.
Rishid pulled it away. "You said you thought you had seen our comrades," he reminded her.
"I think I did," Viper nodded. "Up on the observation deck. Come with me." She gestured for everyone to follow her, which they did.
When they arrived on the observation deck, however, they were in for quite a shock. Yugi and Mokuba were standing way out on the ledge as if in a trance, and Seto Kaiba was watching them silently, not doing a thing to get them back on firm ground!