Chapter Four-Truces and New Friends

Jonathan looked back to the duelists check in line, where Espa was standing with Joey and Rex, whose separate charges had already entered the house of mirrors. I hope Espa will be okay…I don't want to be away for too long. He rubbed Little E's back, as the baby Roba cried for his older brother. "Come on, E, we're here. Chris, Andy and I will protect you. "

"Hey, Roba. Come up here." Kendra Underwood's unpleasant voice could be heard over Baby Espa's crying clear as a bell.

"Come on you guys. We might as well stick with people we know, even if it is Kendra." Jon led the other boys up to where Weevil's little sister was. "Uh..hey,Kendra."

"It's Kenny, and don't forget it." The girl said softly. "So, what do you think the big deal is?"

"We're not sure." Chris spoke up, as he shifted the heavy diaper bag. "What did Espa put in this thing, rocks?"

"It can't be that heavy.." Jon said. He reached over, and unzipped it. Out tumbled diapers, E's pacifier (which Jon gave to his baby brother to soothe him.),and….their head sets. "Wow. Espa must've put these in here."

"Those are going to come in handy." Chris looked at his brothers. "Come on." They walked into the House of Mirrors,as they all put their equipment on. "If we get separated, switch them on." Chris instructed. "Hopefully, we won't."

Jon looked over at Kendra. "You can stick with us, if you want to. "

"Are you nuts? No way!" Kendra left them gawking, and caught up to Monica Raptor.

"Well, we tried…." Jon said to his brothers.

"I'm hungry…." Andy looked up at Chris, clinging to his hand.

"Maybe they'll be giving us food…"Chris picked him up. "Come on."

Back at registration, the only one who seemed to be listening to Espa was Joey. They were talking about how to rescue their relatives.

"Do you think Lacey'll be all right?" Joey asked, looking over at Espa, worriedly.

"I…I hope so. Maybe my brothers will find her, and take care of her. We can't be worrying about them, and dueling too." Espa said suddenly. It was as if something had suddenly hit him. "Hey, Wheeler….there's a good chance we might be put against each other again…." He said slowly.

"Yeah? I'm sure we'll both be at our best, especially with our relatives' freedom at stake." Joey assured his friend, but Espa was shaking his head.

"I haven't really dueled since Battle City. I've only dueled once, and they was against an easy guy. You…you will win." Espa concluded with a sigh.

"That's not the Espa Roba I know. He doesn't "let" anyone win. Even after I figured out your scheme, you fought me. Come on, Roba, snap out of it. What happened to dueling for your brothers?"

"You don't get it. If we're matched against each other, Joey, you're the better of us. You'll win." Espa looked behind them, at the House of Mirrors. "They're probably going to get stuck there, and it'll be my fault for bringing them! What kind of older brother am I?!"

"The kind that goes as far as cheating in a major tournament to keep them from being picked on. Roba, if you don't pull yourself togetha,I'm goinna have to wack you. Your brothers are counting on you more than ever to win." Joey replied.

"What if I don't though?" Espa looked at his friend in dismay.

"Tell ya what. One of us has to win, right? Well whoever wins, frees the other's relatives. It's almost like what my pal Yugi did for me at Duelist Kingdom."

Joey's reassuring smile gave Espa hope. "You're on,Wheeler. If I win, I'll be sure to take care of your cousin."

"And I win, I'll make sure to keep an eye on your brothers. I love those guys anyway." Joey promised.

They were interrupted by the loud sound of a helicopter. Espa looked up at the sky, and gasped. "I don't believe it! It's Seto Kaiba!"

"He's probably the one behind all this! I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!"

"Hang on, Wheeler. Something tells me his isn't. Look!" Espa pointed. In the distance, the friends saw Kaiba get off the helicopter with Mokuba. "See? He wouldn't bring Mokuba to something like this. He probably got invited, and threatened, just like the rest of us!" Espa watched in amazement, as the young businessman and his little brother went ahead of some unknown duelist, and signed them in.

"I swear to you, if you touch one hair on my little brother's head, you are going to pay!" Kaiba threatened the receptionist.

"Not to worry, Mr. Kaiba. Your brother, and all of our young guests will be well taken care of."

"He better be." Kaiba growled angrily, before walking to the duelists' area. "Be careful, Little Brother." He warned Mokuba.

"I will, Seto. You too." Mokuba headed towards the house of mirrors.

"Well! This is just getting more interesting by the minute, isn't it, Roba?" Rex walked up to them now.

"Yeah. I'll say. You know what? I just thought of something." Espa smiled at Wheeler and Raptor. "We're all getting along. Last week, we couldn't stand each other. "

"This is no time to hold Battle City grudges. We all need to work together." Rex said slowly. "I just wish Underwood would take this more seriously. He could lose his sister. "

"Somehow, I think that's part of his plan. He doesn't seem to care much about her." Joey remarked.

"No one hates their siblings that much…not even Weevil." Espa said.

"He's Weevil. What makes you think he doesn't?" Joey asked him,looking over at him.

"Because." Espa only smiled.

"Well, I think we should join the others , before we look suspicious. Who knows who's watching us." Rex said, casting a long look around.

"Good idea. Let's try and talk to Weevil again before this thing really takes off."Joey said. "I'm not saying I like him or anything, but his sister is another matter all together."

"Good luck." Espa told his friend, before walking off to find Cedric. He was the only other person that was not from Battle city that he knew.

"Alright, you kids. We're going to be dividing you all into groups. While your older siblings/guardians are dueling you will be fighting your way through this house. I warn you now, this is no ordinary house of mirrors. " The tall male with long silver hair stared at them craftily. "When I call your names, go to the group I assign."

"No! I don't want us to be separated, Brother!" Andy held on to Chris' hand all the more tighter.

"Don't worry. I have a feeling it's going to be an even split." Chris freed his hand, and looked over at Jonathan. "Hey…how's E?"

"Asleep, for now. I think he'll be okay, as long as we all stick together." Jon replied. He felt a little more anxious than he let on to his younger brothers. "Remember what Espa said.

"They're going to split us up! These people know us, Jon. They know we're stronger as a group!" Christien looked at him, seriously. "I'm glad Espa remembered our headsets. It's going to be our only means of communication."

"I know." Jon snuggled Baby Espa closer, when the little one stirred. "He just called you and Andrew." He'd been listening with on ear. "Let's turn on our devices." He reached in his pants pocket, and flipped his headset on. "Be careful,Chris." He hugged each of his younger brothers in turn, before they were led off, with Mokuba Kaiba to their group. He looked down at Little E, who was staring up at him, as he sucked on his pacifier. "Well,E…it's just us now."

"Psst! Hey,you're Espa Roba's brothers, aren't you?"

Jon turned to see a blonde headed girl, who looked a lot like Cedric, the duelist from three nights ago. "Yeah…who are you?"

"I'm Miranda Wilson. Randi for short. I'm one of Cedric's sisters."

"One? Oh that's right. He's got three. I'm Jonathan Roba…Jon. And this is Baby Espa. We call him Little E, or E for short." Jon smiled. Randy was about his age. "I bet your sisters got put in my brothers' group. Or at least one of them did."

"Maybe. Do you think your brothers will take care of them? My sisters Cindy and Alexandra are very young. They're twins."

"I'm sure Christien will. He loves little kids." Jon assured her. "So what do you make of this place?"

"I don't like it at all. It's scary." She stepped closer to Jon, as if for protection.

"Don't worry, Randy. I know two other people in this group." He started to point out the other two. "That's Mokuba Kaiba. His brother's the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. And that's Kenny Underwood. She's Weevil's little sister."

"What do you think they want us to do?" Randi asked.

"I think we're supposed to get through here unharmed. The way that guy was talking, it's not going to be as easy as we might think."

"Well….we'd better,if we wanna see our siblings again." Randi stood up straighter. "My sisters are counting on me."

"So are my brothers." Jon agreed. "We'd better hope our brothers win. " He added.

"Cedric will. He got new cards since your brother split the money with him." Randi told Jon.

"Good. Now, let's get the maze solved." He moved up, and entered the maze.