"WHAT?!" Joey cried out. "No way!!"
Lou smirked. "There's not any escape from here. You can see the walls are crumbling. This cave was created specially for the reviving of the beast. Now that it can't be awakened ever again, the cave has no choice but to self-destruct." A horrid spray of blood shot up from deep within the dark crater and everyone screamed and reeled back in alarm.
The wraiths, wanting to save themselves, released all their prisoners and began to vanish.
Tristan got to his feet, angered immensely by all this. "Yeah? Well, it looks like you're going down with us, Lou! If there's no way out, then you can't get out either!"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lou made a half-turn, steadying himself against the quaking floor. "But no, I won't be perishing with any of you pathetic losers." He made a move to shove Mokuba off the ledge.
"Leave him alone, you big bully!" Alyson screamed, blasting Lou without warning and sending him flying back.
Mokuba slowly got up, his heart pounding. "Whoa," he uttered. "That was too close!"
Undaunted, the wicked Lou stood to try again, grabbing at Serenity this time. The poor girl shrieked in alarm, her hazel eyes wide.
"Hey!" Joey growled low, intercepting him, "no one messes with my sister!!" He delivered a fierce punch to Lou's jaw.
Rishid grabbed the man as he fell back. Saying nothing, the strong Egyptian forced Lou's arms behind his back. He was determined to not let Marik's—and Kaiba's—sacrifices be in vain.
"This is all very amusing," Vivalene's voice called suddenly. "Even though the beast didn't rise, I have gotten what I really wanted. My two greatest enemies are dead!"
"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!!" Mokuba yelled. But even as he said it, he knew it wasn't likely to be true.
Ishizu narrowed her eyes. "Even if . . . even if they have perished, they died bravely," she declared, tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Oh yes," Vivalene said mockingly. "So very bravely."
"SILENCE!!" Rishid yelled in fury, knowing that they had to get out but being unable to stand having his brother put down by anyone, especially this treacherous, unfeeling creature.
And really . . . how could he bear to leave? How could he? What if Marik was still alive in there somehow? He couldn't leave his brother in this Heaven-forsaken place!
Abruptly the veiled man appeared right in their midst with Alyson. "We all must depart," he announced, dodging a falling beam.
Alyson ran to her grandmother and hugged her tightly, fear in her eyes. This whole experience was all so terrible . . . so frightening. . . . She just wanted to go home and be a normal girl again, without worrying about demons and sacrifices and all of the outrageous things that a six-year-old should never have to witness.
Serenity knew exactly how Alyson felt. She had seen so much death on this night. So many of the friends she had become fond of had been hurt in some way or were even . . . gone. For one with such a sheltered, yet loving, heart it was almost too much to take.
"Yugi, how can we leave when Kaiba and Marik are still . . ." Téa trailed off, her eyes sad. She knew that their friends couldn't be rescued from the pit.
Yugi knew it as well. He didn't meet Téa's gaze.
"I don't think we'll be leaving just yet."
Everyone froze at the sound of the gravelly voice and then looked up at the high ledge where Seto and Marik had been only moments before. Amid the collapsing walls and rising smoke and debris they could see a familiar figure laughing maniacally.
"You!" Yami Yugi cried, making out the spiked hair of one crazed tomb raider.
Yami Bakura continued to sneer. "You can destroy my physical body, Pharaoh, but you can never destroy me!"
"Where's Bakura?!" Tristan demanded.
"Right here," Yami Bakura replied, indicating that the boy's body was being controlled by him.
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes. "What is it you want, tomb raider? We don't have time for shenanigans, especially yours!"
"I merely want revenge on those who caused all of this," was the reply as Yami Bakura's eyes lighted upon Lou and Vivalene.
"Are you nuts?! No, wait—don't answer that," Tristan groaned. "But the place is gonna crumble any minute now!" The brown-haired boy glared up at the robber he so despised.
"Well then, I'll just have to move fast, won't I?" Yami Bakura grinned as he pulled out his deck.
Lou messed up his hair in frustration. "Doesn't anyone ever stay dead around here?!" he yelled.
Behind the veil, the Middle Eastern man had to smile in amusement. "It doesn't seem so, does it."
"Tomb raider!! Now isn't the time!!" Yami Yugi screamed in desperation, knowing that there likely wasn't anything that could stop Yami Bakura now.
"Seto and Marik sacrificed themselves to save us," Mokuba said angrily, tears falling. "We can't go do something stupid now!"
"And so we will not." The veiled stranger began to concentrate hard, generating a portal.
Yugi turned to stare. There was only one he knew of who could do such a thing. "Shadi?" he whispered tentatively.
He was ignored. This is not the time to reveal my identity, the man thought to himself.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!" Mokuba wailed. "We're not going without Seto and Marik!! We're just not!!"
Rishid looked away, embracing Ishizu and trying to comfort them both.
"There is nothing I can do for them," the mysterious stranger answered solemnly.
"Are they . . . dead?" Ishizu whispered.
Again he refused to reply.
"Yami Bakura, you must come down now!" Yami Yugi growled, watching as the thief began summoning something unknown. "If you do not, you and Bakura will both perish!!"
Yami Bakura snarled, but then came down, much to everyone's surprise and Oreo's delight.
As everyone scrambled into the portal, Lou and Vivalene angrily tried to follow and force them back out.
"Come with us!" Yugi pleaded. "You'll both be caught in this!!"
Lou only cursed and grabbed at Yugi, trying to pull him out.
Yami Bakura gave a satisfied smirk. "Change of Heart," he murmured, bringing the card forth. Suddenly Lou froze, his eyes blank. Before he or Vivalene were able to do anything about it, they toppled into the portal as well and Yami Bakura shook his head in disgust. "Not exactly what I was hoping to accomplish," he grunted.
"WE CAN'T GO!" Mokuba shrieked. "WE CAN'T!!" He struggled against Duke's viselike grip in vain, tears spilling from his pain-filled eyes. "We just can't," he said again, looking lost. "BIG BROTHER!!!! MARIK!!!! Come back!!" His voice echoed throughout the portal as it began to close. "Oh please come back. . . ."
Yugi looked away, unable to bear the younger boy's screams and his own sorrow as well. They couldn't leave their friends—and in Ishizu's, Rishid's, and Mokuba's case, their family—behind . . . and yet . . . they had no choice.
****
Everyone soon found themselves sprawled all over the deserted, famous baseball park back in Boston. Slowly they all got to their feet, a mixture of feelings churning in their hearts.
"We have had a great victory this night, but a great loss as well," Yami Yugi declared gravely. "Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar both died heroically to keep us all safe, and to keep an abominable evil from taking over. We forever will owe them our deepest gratitude and our remembrance."
Mokuba started to sob again and Ishizu held him close.
"The best way to honor their memories now is to ensure that we do not start arguing with each other," Rishid said quietly. "We should leave here more united than we were when we arrived." He turned away, tears chasing each other down his face.
"Rishid is right," Ishizu agreed.
A bright light glowed in the middle of the stadium and everyone turned to look, their eyes wide in trepidation and disbelief.
"Here are your loved ones," Kasumi said gently, appearing in all her angelic glory along with Kamara. At their feet lay both Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar. Neither of the two boys were moving and both of them were bleeding profusely from the torture they'd undergone.
Mokuba and the other two Ishtars cried out and ran forward, dropping to their knees next to the brothers they treasured so dearly. The others stood by, also horrified, but not knowing exactly what to do.
"Seto??! SETO??!!" Mokuba wailed, shaking the brown-haired boy frantically. "Big brother . . . please . . ."
Ishizu watched as Rishid took Marik into his arms, remembering the nightmarish spurt of blood that had come up from the pit. She wondered if that had been her brother's and Seto's blood, but no . . . there was too much of it. It couldn't have been theirs. At least, that was what she hoped. "Brother," she said softly, touching Marik's arm. The boy didn't respond.
Kamara smiled gently at them. "They were both very brave and selfless," she said.
"'Were'?!" Mokuba yelped, hugging Seto protectively and crying. "NO!! They're gonna get up!! Seto!!! Seto, please!!!! You can't just leave me!!!"
Rishid cradled Marik tenderly, helping Ishizu wrap him in her white cape. "His leg is cut badly," Rishid worried, gently examining the wound. Marik didn't stir at all, worrying them both even more.
Yami Bakura offered no apologies. It had been his Man-Eater Bug that had done that to Marik, but Yami Bakura himself hadn't been in control, so he felt that it wasn't his fault.
Kasumi closed her eyes, chanting softly. "They did a remarkable deed that shall be remembered," she told them. "And now they will be healed."
"But if they're dead . . ." Mokuba sniffled.
"They are not," Kasumi told him kindly. "They survived."
To everyone's astonishment, the boys' wounds began to close up and vanish. After a moment, Seto opened his eyes and tried to focus.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba cried happily, giving him a very gentle, joyous hug.
Seto smiled, hugging him back.
"Marik?" Ishizu said softly.
"Please wake up, brother," Rishid added sadly. "We miss you!"
After a moment Marik's eyes fluttered as he tried to regain consciousness. "Hello," he said softly, managing a tired smile as Rishid and Ishizu gazed down at him.
"Oh Marik!" Ishizu exclaimed, and Rishid brightened immensely.
Yugi watched happily as the Ishtars and the Kaibas embraced. "Well," he said with a sigh of relief, "we're all safe."
"Yeah," Joey grinned, hugging Serenity.
Kamara nodded. "You have proven yourselves to all be truly kind and good. I was sent here to test you all. I am not a mortal." Shimmering, she vanished with Kasumi while everyone else stared in a kind of awe.
Bakura, meanwhile, sat up and blinked as his Yami retreated back in the Ring. "Oh my," he said softly, "I've had the most horrible nightmare!"
Tristan and Duke exchanged glances.
"Should we tell him it was real?" Duke wondered.
Tristan shook his head. "Let's not. Let's just call the police to arrest those clowns." He pointed at a dazed Lou and Vivalene.
"Meow," Oreo said in delight.
Lou smirked. "There's not any escape from here. You can see the walls are crumbling. This cave was created specially for the reviving of the beast. Now that it can't be awakened ever again, the cave has no choice but to self-destruct." A horrid spray of blood shot up from deep within the dark crater and everyone screamed and reeled back in alarm.
The wraiths, wanting to save themselves, released all their prisoners and began to vanish.
Tristan got to his feet, angered immensely by all this. "Yeah? Well, it looks like you're going down with us, Lou! If there's no way out, then you can't get out either!"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lou made a half-turn, steadying himself against the quaking floor. "But no, I won't be perishing with any of you pathetic losers." He made a move to shove Mokuba off the ledge.
"Leave him alone, you big bully!" Alyson screamed, blasting Lou without warning and sending him flying back.
Mokuba slowly got up, his heart pounding. "Whoa," he uttered. "That was too close!"
Undaunted, the wicked Lou stood to try again, grabbing at Serenity this time. The poor girl shrieked in alarm, her hazel eyes wide.
"Hey!" Joey growled low, intercepting him, "no one messes with my sister!!" He delivered a fierce punch to Lou's jaw.
Rishid grabbed the man as he fell back. Saying nothing, the strong Egyptian forced Lou's arms behind his back. He was determined to not let Marik's—and Kaiba's—sacrifices be in vain.
"This is all very amusing," Vivalene's voice called suddenly. "Even though the beast didn't rise, I have gotten what I really wanted. My two greatest enemies are dead!"
"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!!" Mokuba yelled. But even as he said it, he knew it wasn't likely to be true.
Ishizu narrowed her eyes. "Even if . . . even if they have perished, they died bravely," she declared, tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Oh yes," Vivalene said mockingly. "So very bravely."
"SILENCE!!" Rishid yelled in fury, knowing that they had to get out but being unable to stand having his brother put down by anyone, especially this treacherous, unfeeling creature.
And really . . . how could he bear to leave? How could he? What if Marik was still alive in there somehow? He couldn't leave his brother in this Heaven-forsaken place!
Abruptly the veiled man appeared right in their midst with Alyson. "We all must depart," he announced, dodging a falling beam.
Alyson ran to her grandmother and hugged her tightly, fear in her eyes. This whole experience was all so terrible . . . so frightening. . . . She just wanted to go home and be a normal girl again, without worrying about demons and sacrifices and all of the outrageous things that a six-year-old should never have to witness.
Serenity knew exactly how Alyson felt. She had seen so much death on this night. So many of the friends she had become fond of had been hurt in some way or were even . . . gone. For one with such a sheltered, yet loving, heart it was almost too much to take.
"Yugi, how can we leave when Kaiba and Marik are still . . ." Téa trailed off, her eyes sad. She knew that their friends couldn't be rescued from the pit.
Yugi knew it as well. He didn't meet Téa's gaze.
"I don't think we'll be leaving just yet."
Everyone froze at the sound of the gravelly voice and then looked up at the high ledge where Seto and Marik had been only moments before. Amid the collapsing walls and rising smoke and debris they could see a familiar figure laughing maniacally.
"You!" Yami Yugi cried, making out the spiked hair of one crazed tomb raider.
Yami Bakura continued to sneer. "You can destroy my physical body, Pharaoh, but you can never destroy me!"
"Where's Bakura?!" Tristan demanded.
"Right here," Yami Bakura replied, indicating that the boy's body was being controlled by him.
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes. "What is it you want, tomb raider? We don't have time for shenanigans, especially yours!"
"I merely want revenge on those who caused all of this," was the reply as Yami Bakura's eyes lighted upon Lou and Vivalene.
"Are you nuts?! No, wait—don't answer that," Tristan groaned. "But the place is gonna crumble any minute now!" The brown-haired boy glared up at the robber he so despised.
"Well then, I'll just have to move fast, won't I?" Yami Bakura grinned as he pulled out his deck.
Lou messed up his hair in frustration. "Doesn't anyone ever stay dead around here?!" he yelled.
Behind the veil, the Middle Eastern man had to smile in amusement. "It doesn't seem so, does it."
"Tomb raider!! Now isn't the time!!" Yami Yugi screamed in desperation, knowing that there likely wasn't anything that could stop Yami Bakura now.
"Seto and Marik sacrificed themselves to save us," Mokuba said angrily, tears falling. "We can't go do something stupid now!"
"And so we will not." The veiled stranger began to concentrate hard, generating a portal.
Yugi turned to stare. There was only one he knew of who could do such a thing. "Shadi?" he whispered tentatively.
He was ignored. This is not the time to reveal my identity, the man thought to himself.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!" Mokuba wailed. "We're not going without Seto and Marik!! We're just not!!"
Rishid looked away, embracing Ishizu and trying to comfort them both.
"There is nothing I can do for them," the mysterious stranger answered solemnly.
"Are they . . . dead?" Ishizu whispered.
Again he refused to reply.
"Yami Bakura, you must come down now!" Yami Yugi growled, watching as the thief began summoning something unknown. "If you do not, you and Bakura will both perish!!"
Yami Bakura snarled, but then came down, much to everyone's surprise and Oreo's delight.
As everyone scrambled into the portal, Lou and Vivalene angrily tried to follow and force them back out.
"Come with us!" Yugi pleaded. "You'll both be caught in this!!"
Lou only cursed and grabbed at Yugi, trying to pull him out.
Yami Bakura gave a satisfied smirk. "Change of Heart," he murmured, bringing the card forth. Suddenly Lou froze, his eyes blank. Before he or Vivalene were able to do anything about it, they toppled into the portal as well and Yami Bakura shook his head in disgust. "Not exactly what I was hoping to accomplish," he grunted.
"WE CAN'T GO!" Mokuba shrieked. "WE CAN'T!!" He struggled against Duke's viselike grip in vain, tears spilling from his pain-filled eyes. "We just can't," he said again, looking lost. "BIG BROTHER!!!! MARIK!!!! Come back!!" His voice echoed throughout the portal as it began to close. "Oh please come back. . . ."
Yugi looked away, unable to bear the younger boy's screams and his own sorrow as well. They couldn't leave their friends—and in Ishizu's, Rishid's, and Mokuba's case, their family—behind . . . and yet . . . they had no choice.
****
Everyone soon found themselves sprawled all over the deserted, famous baseball park back in Boston. Slowly they all got to their feet, a mixture of feelings churning in their hearts.
"We have had a great victory this night, but a great loss as well," Yami Yugi declared gravely. "Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar both died heroically to keep us all safe, and to keep an abominable evil from taking over. We forever will owe them our deepest gratitude and our remembrance."
Mokuba started to sob again and Ishizu held him close.
"The best way to honor their memories now is to ensure that we do not start arguing with each other," Rishid said quietly. "We should leave here more united than we were when we arrived." He turned away, tears chasing each other down his face.
"Rishid is right," Ishizu agreed.
A bright light glowed in the middle of the stadium and everyone turned to look, their eyes wide in trepidation and disbelief.
"Here are your loved ones," Kasumi said gently, appearing in all her angelic glory along with Kamara. At their feet lay both Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar. Neither of the two boys were moving and both of them were bleeding profusely from the torture they'd undergone.
Mokuba and the other two Ishtars cried out and ran forward, dropping to their knees next to the brothers they treasured so dearly. The others stood by, also horrified, but not knowing exactly what to do.
"Seto??! SETO??!!" Mokuba wailed, shaking the brown-haired boy frantically. "Big brother . . . please . . ."
Ishizu watched as Rishid took Marik into his arms, remembering the nightmarish spurt of blood that had come up from the pit. She wondered if that had been her brother's and Seto's blood, but no . . . there was too much of it. It couldn't have been theirs. At least, that was what she hoped. "Brother," she said softly, touching Marik's arm. The boy didn't respond.
Kamara smiled gently at them. "They were both very brave and selfless," she said.
"'Were'?!" Mokuba yelped, hugging Seto protectively and crying. "NO!! They're gonna get up!! Seto!!! Seto, please!!!! You can't just leave me!!!"
Rishid cradled Marik tenderly, helping Ishizu wrap him in her white cape. "His leg is cut badly," Rishid worried, gently examining the wound. Marik didn't stir at all, worrying them both even more.
Yami Bakura offered no apologies. It had been his Man-Eater Bug that had done that to Marik, but Yami Bakura himself hadn't been in control, so he felt that it wasn't his fault.
Kasumi closed her eyes, chanting softly. "They did a remarkable deed that shall be remembered," she told them. "And now they will be healed."
"But if they're dead . . ." Mokuba sniffled.
"They are not," Kasumi told him kindly. "They survived."
To everyone's astonishment, the boys' wounds began to close up and vanish. After a moment, Seto opened his eyes and tried to focus.
"Big brother!!" Mokuba cried happily, giving him a very gentle, joyous hug.
Seto smiled, hugging him back.
"Marik?" Ishizu said softly.
"Please wake up, brother," Rishid added sadly. "We miss you!"
After a moment Marik's eyes fluttered as he tried to regain consciousness. "Hello," he said softly, managing a tired smile as Rishid and Ishizu gazed down at him.
"Oh Marik!" Ishizu exclaimed, and Rishid brightened immensely.
Yugi watched happily as the Ishtars and the Kaibas embraced. "Well," he said with a sigh of relief, "we're all safe."
"Yeah," Joey grinned, hugging Serenity.
Kamara nodded. "You have proven yourselves to all be truly kind and good. I was sent here to test you all. I am not a mortal." Shimmering, she vanished with Kasumi while everyone else stared in a kind of awe.
Bakura, meanwhile, sat up and blinked as his Yami retreated back in the Ring. "Oh my," he said softly, "I've had the most horrible nightmare!"
Tristan and Duke exchanged glances.
"Should we tell him it was real?" Duke wondered.
Tristan shook his head. "Let's not. Let's just call the police to arrest those clowns." He pointed at a dazed Lou and Vivalene.
"Meow," Oreo said in delight.