Tristan's eyes went wide. "WHAT?! Is this freaky hand trying to tell us that Marik's dead?! No way!"
Ishizu looked rattled, but she refused to accept what was being said. "It is not real," she insisted. "This is a cheap Hollywood prop. And Marik is alive."
To prove his sister's point, Rishid went forward and kicked the hand, causing it to break apart and reveal the electronic workings inside. "We have heard enough of these lies!" he screamed, certain that someone was hiding nearby. "Where is our brother?!"
"In the afterlife," the same voice responded.
"You lie," Ishizu hissed.
"Do I?" The voice echoed all around them, making it impossible to figure out which direction it truly was coming from. "No, he was laying on that piece of debris, not merely unconscious, as you assumed—but dead. Oh so very dead. His poor body just couldn't handle the crash."
"How do you know Ishizu's vision?!" Yugi demanded angrily while Rishid gave a strangled cry and Ishizu tried not to lose control. Something seemed extremely fishy, and though the Ishtars were quite certain that their beloved brother was still alive, this was so terribly unnerving.
Now silence reigned. No matter how they tried for the next several minutes, they could not get any more answers out of the voice.
"Guys?" Tristan said uncomfortably. "Do you think Marik *is* dead?"
"He is not dead," Ishizu retorted, though it was obvious from her eyes that she wasn't sure.
"We shall keep looking," Rishid vowed. "And we will find him—alive."
****
Mokuba grabbed Marik's arm, again begging for his friend to get up. Marik didn't move and continued to lay still among the leaves, much to his young comrade's distress.
"Why won't he wake up?!" Mokuba wailed. "WHY??!!"
"He's exhausted," the doctor replied, straightening up from cleaning the boy's wounds. "Let him rest." He sighed. "Though I wish he didn't have to rest here. . . ."
"If only Ishizu and Rishid were here," Téa said sadly.
"Man, I'm gonna go find them!" Joey cried suddenly, leaping up and running off into the brush. He knew that Marik needed to get home, but they couldn't leave without the others. And since Marik's condition didn't seem to be serious, Joey hoped that there would be enough time to find them without there being a problem.
"Wheeler!" Seto yelled in irritation. After a moment he crossed his arms and grunted. "Idiot."
Téa sighed. She knew it was dangerous for Joey to wander through the woods alone, but he had already gone too far in for anyone to successfully follow him. So for now she leaned over Marik and gently draped her sweater across him, letting him lay his head in her lap. Poor Marik, she thought to herself. He's come through so many trials lately. . . .
He had repented at the end of Battle City and then had gone off on his yacht with Ishizu and Rishid, supposedly to return to Egypt. But because Shadi had told them that there was no longer a need to guard the Pharaoh's tomb, they had soon returned to move to Domino City permanently, wanting to get away from the bad memories their old home held. Marik hadn't been trusted by hardly anyone, however—at least not until he had gotten amnesia and had become entangled with the gang's fifth mystery. Once his memory had been restored, he had then nearly died to save the ones his Yami had taken captive, and finally the others saw that he could be trusted. Since then, Marik had experienced many more terrible things, not the least of which was his being captured in order to be sacrificed to a great creature of evil.
Téa looked down at him, seeing how tired and haggard he appeared. Marik, like Seto Kaiba, was so much different than he used to be. Where once he had been cruel and angry and full of confusion, now he was kind and sweet and one of the best friends one could have. It was quite a change.
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" Mokuba demanded of the doctor again.
"Quite certain," the doctor told him, shaking his head. "All of this was miraculous. He shouldn't even be alive, let alone in such good condition. Someone wanted him here, for one reason or another."
****
Joey was running through the woods, calling at the top of his lungs for Ishizu or Rishid or any of the others when he abruptly fell through a loose piece of ground into a previously covered hole.
"Hey!! What the heck?!" he yelped, staring up at the sky far above him. Realizing it would be futile to try climbing up, the Brooklyn boy started looking for other ways out. Unfortunately, there seemed to be absolutely none other than straight up. Someone seemed to just have dug this hole in the earth and then covered it over with twigs and branches, hoping someone would fall in it. But who would do it? And why?!
A hissing sound immediately came to his attention then and he saw eyes gleaming in the near-darkness. A snake was in there with him! What if it was poisonous?! At any rate, Joey did not feel like being bitten today, whether it was poisonous or not. He had to get out, and fast!!
Frantically he clawed at the vine-covered wall and then stared. Where had the vines come from?! He could've sworn they weren't there before. After making certain that they weren't poison ivy, he grabbed on tightly and pulled. Maybe he could get up yet!
He was about halfway up when the vine started to tear. Flailing about in panic, Joey tried to grab onto the next one over before he fell back down to the bottom.
"Joseph?!"
Joey looked up to see an utterly shocked Rishid staring down at him. He didn't know if he'd ever felt so relieved in his life. "Hey!!" he screamed. "Can you give me a hand?! I'm in a kinda jam and ol' Fork-Tongue down there isn't too happy that I fell in on him!"
Rishid blinked in surprise and then straightened up. "Just a moment." Quickly he went over to where a thick vine was and then threw it down to the boy. "Grab that and I will pull you up."
"Oh wow, thanks, man!" Joey said in relief, clutching the new vine so tightly that he was surprised it didn't crumble in his grasp.
Once he was on solid ground again, Rishid—as well as Ishizu, Yugi, and Tristan—all looked at Joey as if demanding an explanation for what had happened.
"What were you doing in a hole with a snake?!" Tristan cried.
"Man, I dunno!" Joey retorted after again thanking Rishid for rescuing him. "Someone must've wanted me to fall in there!" Quickly he recounted his experience in full. At the conclusion, the others agreed that it had most likely been a carefully thought-out trap.
"The only question is, did they mean to entrap you, or someone else?" Rishid mused before turning his attention to other matters.
"Why are you separated from the others, Joseph?" he asked now.
"I was lookin' for you guys!" Joey explained, then going on to tell about Marik.
"Then he is alive!" Yugi said happily.
"Yeah," Joey said slowly. "He's doin' pretty well, actually, but the doc Kaiba brought with us thinks he should go home and rest. He kinda passed out on us. . . ."
"Oh!" Ishizu cried, her eyes wide.
"Can you lead us back to him?" Rishid wanted to know.
"Heck, yeah, I can!" Joey assured him, just hoping that he knew the way back. "Just follow me!"
****
Back in the heart of Domino City, Bakura's radio show dragged on. After the seventh call or so, the boy just stared up at the ceiling in despair. The animal control officer had come in a while back and had asked if either Bakura or his "brother" had seen any strange animals around. Of course they both said no, but both of them wondered if werewolves were actually on the prowl in the station.
"What kind of animal have you picked up?" Yami Bakura had asked with interest.
"A big dog," the reply had been. "Looks kind of like a wolf, almost. Dangerous beast. If this kinda thing is going to go on, the station will have to be shut down."
Bakura sighed now, just wishing the radio show they were doing would end. It was such torture for him, and so far he really wasn't finding out anything that would help things.
"Morons!" Yami Bakura was muttering now. "I'm surrounded by morons!"
Bakura went pink. "YAMI!!" he scolded.
Yami Bakura grabbed a piece of pizza and munched thoughtfully before punching the button to allow the next caller to come on the air. "I am hoping you have something useful to tell me," he said, licking the cheese from his lips.
"Well, I'm afraid I do!" was the frightened reply. At first Bakura thought the caller was frightened because of his Yami, but with the next sentence the truth was revealed. "I swear, the canyons behind this city are dangerous!"
Yami Bakura looked bored. "And you were there, I suppose?"
"Yes! And I saw something horrible!!" The caller paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm assuming you've heard about the plane crash up there?"
Yami Bakura grunted. "There are plane crashes everywhere, woman."
Bakura perked up, wondering if this person had heard something about Marik. The others had managed to come in for a moment before they had left and they had told Bakura where they were going and why. Of course Bakura hadn't been able to go with them, but he had wished them well and was praying that they would find Marik.
"This one was absolutely nightmarish!" the woman insisted. "Both people on board were killed. I happened to see the crash site, and . . . and . . ." She drew a nervous breath. "Then I saw the ghost of the pilot!"
Now Yami Bakura looked vaguely interested. "Oh? And what did the pilot say?" he wanted to know.
"He . . . he wants revenge," the caller replied. "He didn't speak, but I could see it in his eyes!"
"Revenge on who?!" Bakura exclaimed, leaning over.
Oreo meowed, attacking the final piece of pizza in the box.
"That . . . I couldn't say," the caller replied before abruptly their conversation was cut off.
"Hmm, well, that was intriguing," Yami Bakura purred. "Here's a ghostly track for you foolish mortals while your simple brains ponder on the news of the canyon's spectre."
While the song played, Yami Bakura conversed with Bakura.
"Yami, do you think the caller was actually telling the truth?!" Bakura exclaimed.
"It's hard to say," Yami Bakura shrugged. "Some mortals let their imaginations run away with them."
Bakura lapsed into silence, fearful for his friend Marik. Supposing the person was telling the truth. . . . What if Marik had been there and now was . . .
"Bakura!" Bruce cried, interrupting his thoughts and bursting into the studio. "You're alright, I hope!"
"Um, why, yes," the British boy blinked in surprise.
"The dog didn't come in here," Yami Bakura grunted.
Bruce shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed.
"What is it then?!" Bakura yelped.
"Some nutcase is wandering through the station, claiming to be Frankenstein!" Bruce moaned. "It's terrible!"
****
In the meantime, Joey had successfully gotten himself and those with him lost in the thick woods.
"For Pete's sake!!" the boy wailed, messing his hair up. "I KNOW I came through here!!!! I KNOW I DID!!!"
"You must calm yourself, Joseph," Ishizu said quietly, though she was finding herself very tense by now. She just wanted to get to her precious brother!
"Think, Joey," Yugi said kindly. "Is there something you remember seeing when you came looking for us, something that would help identify which way you came and where we'll need to go?"
Joey paused, trying to remember. "I dunno," he said at last, shrugging helplessly.
Tristan sighed, obviously figuring that they would be stuck there for quite some time.
Luckily for them, they were much closer than they thought.
"Joey?" Téa's voice called. "Yugi?! Are you guys there?"
"Téa?" Yugi called back hopefully. "We're here!!"
"Follow my voice!" Téa directed.
Before long the others had reached the clearing and Ishizu and Rishid both hurried to Marik, who was starting to rouse a bit by now. Mokuba hadn't strayed far from his friend and now grinned in delight to see that he was awakening.
"Brother!!" Ishizu cried in happiness, running to Marik's side and embracing him. Rishid quickly followed, saying prayers of thanks that the boy's life had again been spared.
Marik hugged them both, feeling a bit confused as to how his siblings had gotten there but then was just relieved that they were. He blinked at them sleepily, still exhausted from his ordeal.
"You have been through so much, brother," Rishid said softly, holding him close. "You should rest now." There were so many things he would like to know, such as how Marik had wound up on the airplane in the first place, but it could all wait. Marik's health was more important now.
Marik tilted his head to the side, still looking confused. "Where is it?" he asked softly.
"Where's what?" Mokuba asked, looking even more confused than his friend seemed to be.
Marik rubbed his head, only now remembering something he'd seen just before he'd passed into the darkness. "The . . ." He moaned, feeling the effects of being hit on the head twice in the same place. "That grotesque creature," he managed to say at last. "It . . . it looked like a badly burned body . . . like the pilot's. . . ."
Ishizu's eyes narrowed in concern. "There is nothing such as that around, brother," she told him firmly.
"But it was here," Marik insisted, starting to slump against Rishid and looking as though he wasn't entirely with it.
"He must have been hallucinating," Seto said coldly.
A burning branch was suddenly thrown at them from somewhere in the near distance and a maniacal cackle met their ears.
"Oh man!" Joey yelped. "What if it wasn't a hallucination?! What if the thing's here now, tryin' to set us all on fire?!"
Ishizu looked rattled, but she refused to accept what was being said. "It is not real," she insisted. "This is a cheap Hollywood prop. And Marik is alive."
To prove his sister's point, Rishid went forward and kicked the hand, causing it to break apart and reveal the electronic workings inside. "We have heard enough of these lies!" he screamed, certain that someone was hiding nearby. "Where is our brother?!"
"In the afterlife," the same voice responded.
"You lie," Ishizu hissed.
"Do I?" The voice echoed all around them, making it impossible to figure out which direction it truly was coming from. "No, he was laying on that piece of debris, not merely unconscious, as you assumed—but dead. Oh so very dead. His poor body just couldn't handle the crash."
"How do you know Ishizu's vision?!" Yugi demanded angrily while Rishid gave a strangled cry and Ishizu tried not to lose control. Something seemed extremely fishy, and though the Ishtars were quite certain that their beloved brother was still alive, this was so terribly unnerving.
Now silence reigned. No matter how they tried for the next several minutes, they could not get any more answers out of the voice.
"Guys?" Tristan said uncomfortably. "Do you think Marik *is* dead?"
"He is not dead," Ishizu retorted, though it was obvious from her eyes that she wasn't sure.
"We shall keep looking," Rishid vowed. "And we will find him—alive."
****
Mokuba grabbed Marik's arm, again begging for his friend to get up. Marik didn't move and continued to lay still among the leaves, much to his young comrade's distress.
"Why won't he wake up?!" Mokuba wailed. "WHY??!!"
"He's exhausted," the doctor replied, straightening up from cleaning the boy's wounds. "Let him rest." He sighed. "Though I wish he didn't have to rest here. . . ."
"If only Ishizu and Rishid were here," Téa said sadly.
"Man, I'm gonna go find them!" Joey cried suddenly, leaping up and running off into the brush. He knew that Marik needed to get home, but they couldn't leave without the others. And since Marik's condition didn't seem to be serious, Joey hoped that there would be enough time to find them without there being a problem.
"Wheeler!" Seto yelled in irritation. After a moment he crossed his arms and grunted. "Idiot."
Téa sighed. She knew it was dangerous for Joey to wander through the woods alone, but he had already gone too far in for anyone to successfully follow him. So for now she leaned over Marik and gently draped her sweater across him, letting him lay his head in her lap. Poor Marik, she thought to herself. He's come through so many trials lately. . . .
He had repented at the end of Battle City and then had gone off on his yacht with Ishizu and Rishid, supposedly to return to Egypt. But because Shadi had told them that there was no longer a need to guard the Pharaoh's tomb, they had soon returned to move to Domino City permanently, wanting to get away from the bad memories their old home held. Marik hadn't been trusted by hardly anyone, however—at least not until he had gotten amnesia and had become entangled with the gang's fifth mystery. Once his memory had been restored, he had then nearly died to save the ones his Yami had taken captive, and finally the others saw that he could be trusted. Since then, Marik had experienced many more terrible things, not the least of which was his being captured in order to be sacrificed to a great creature of evil.
Téa looked down at him, seeing how tired and haggard he appeared. Marik, like Seto Kaiba, was so much different than he used to be. Where once he had been cruel and angry and full of confusion, now he was kind and sweet and one of the best friends one could have. It was quite a change.
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" Mokuba demanded of the doctor again.
"Quite certain," the doctor told him, shaking his head. "All of this was miraculous. He shouldn't even be alive, let alone in such good condition. Someone wanted him here, for one reason or another."
****
Joey was running through the woods, calling at the top of his lungs for Ishizu or Rishid or any of the others when he abruptly fell through a loose piece of ground into a previously covered hole.
"Hey!! What the heck?!" he yelped, staring up at the sky far above him. Realizing it would be futile to try climbing up, the Brooklyn boy started looking for other ways out. Unfortunately, there seemed to be absolutely none other than straight up. Someone seemed to just have dug this hole in the earth and then covered it over with twigs and branches, hoping someone would fall in it. But who would do it? And why?!
A hissing sound immediately came to his attention then and he saw eyes gleaming in the near-darkness. A snake was in there with him! What if it was poisonous?! At any rate, Joey did not feel like being bitten today, whether it was poisonous or not. He had to get out, and fast!!
Frantically he clawed at the vine-covered wall and then stared. Where had the vines come from?! He could've sworn they weren't there before. After making certain that they weren't poison ivy, he grabbed on tightly and pulled. Maybe he could get up yet!
He was about halfway up when the vine started to tear. Flailing about in panic, Joey tried to grab onto the next one over before he fell back down to the bottom.
"Joseph?!"
Joey looked up to see an utterly shocked Rishid staring down at him. He didn't know if he'd ever felt so relieved in his life. "Hey!!" he screamed. "Can you give me a hand?! I'm in a kinda jam and ol' Fork-Tongue down there isn't too happy that I fell in on him!"
Rishid blinked in surprise and then straightened up. "Just a moment." Quickly he went over to where a thick vine was and then threw it down to the boy. "Grab that and I will pull you up."
"Oh wow, thanks, man!" Joey said in relief, clutching the new vine so tightly that he was surprised it didn't crumble in his grasp.
Once he was on solid ground again, Rishid—as well as Ishizu, Yugi, and Tristan—all looked at Joey as if demanding an explanation for what had happened.
"What were you doing in a hole with a snake?!" Tristan cried.
"Man, I dunno!" Joey retorted after again thanking Rishid for rescuing him. "Someone must've wanted me to fall in there!" Quickly he recounted his experience in full. At the conclusion, the others agreed that it had most likely been a carefully thought-out trap.
"The only question is, did they mean to entrap you, or someone else?" Rishid mused before turning his attention to other matters.
"Why are you separated from the others, Joseph?" he asked now.
"I was lookin' for you guys!" Joey explained, then going on to tell about Marik.
"Then he is alive!" Yugi said happily.
"Yeah," Joey said slowly. "He's doin' pretty well, actually, but the doc Kaiba brought with us thinks he should go home and rest. He kinda passed out on us. . . ."
"Oh!" Ishizu cried, her eyes wide.
"Can you lead us back to him?" Rishid wanted to know.
"Heck, yeah, I can!" Joey assured him, just hoping that he knew the way back. "Just follow me!"
****
Back in the heart of Domino City, Bakura's radio show dragged on. After the seventh call or so, the boy just stared up at the ceiling in despair. The animal control officer had come in a while back and had asked if either Bakura or his "brother" had seen any strange animals around. Of course they both said no, but both of them wondered if werewolves were actually on the prowl in the station.
"What kind of animal have you picked up?" Yami Bakura had asked with interest.
"A big dog," the reply had been. "Looks kind of like a wolf, almost. Dangerous beast. If this kinda thing is going to go on, the station will have to be shut down."
Bakura sighed now, just wishing the radio show they were doing would end. It was such torture for him, and so far he really wasn't finding out anything that would help things.
"Morons!" Yami Bakura was muttering now. "I'm surrounded by morons!"
Bakura went pink. "YAMI!!" he scolded.
Yami Bakura grabbed a piece of pizza and munched thoughtfully before punching the button to allow the next caller to come on the air. "I am hoping you have something useful to tell me," he said, licking the cheese from his lips.
"Well, I'm afraid I do!" was the frightened reply. At first Bakura thought the caller was frightened because of his Yami, but with the next sentence the truth was revealed. "I swear, the canyons behind this city are dangerous!"
Yami Bakura looked bored. "And you were there, I suppose?"
"Yes! And I saw something horrible!!" The caller paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm assuming you've heard about the plane crash up there?"
Yami Bakura grunted. "There are plane crashes everywhere, woman."
Bakura perked up, wondering if this person had heard something about Marik. The others had managed to come in for a moment before they had left and they had told Bakura where they were going and why. Of course Bakura hadn't been able to go with them, but he had wished them well and was praying that they would find Marik.
"This one was absolutely nightmarish!" the woman insisted. "Both people on board were killed. I happened to see the crash site, and . . . and . . ." She drew a nervous breath. "Then I saw the ghost of the pilot!"
Now Yami Bakura looked vaguely interested. "Oh? And what did the pilot say?" he wanted to know.
"He . . . he wants revenge," the caller replied. "He didn't speak, but I could see it in his eyes!"
"Revenge on who?!" Bakura exclaimed, leaning over.
Oreo meowed, attacking the final piece of pizza in the box.
"That . . . I couldn't say," the caller replied before abruptly their conversation was cut off.
"Hmm, well, that was intriguing," Yami Bakura purred. "Here's a ghostly track for you foolish mortals while your simple brains ponder on the news of the canyon's spectre."
While the song played, Yami Bakura conversed with Bakura.
"Yami, do you think the caller was actually telling the truth?!" Bakura exclaimed.
"It's hard to say," Yami Bakura shrugged. "Some mortals let their imaginations run away with them."
Bakura lapsed into silence, fearful for his friend Marik. Supposing the person was telling the truth. . . . What if Marik had been there and now was . . .
"Bakura!" Bruce cried, interrupting his thoughts and bursting into the studio. "You're alright, I hope!"
"Um, why, yes," the British boy blinked in surprise.
"The dog didn't come in here," Yami Bakura grunted.
Bruce shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed.
"What is it then?!" Bakura yelped.
"Some nutcase is wandering through the station, claiming to be Frankenstein!" Bruce moaned. "It's terrible!"
****
In the meantime, Joey had successfully gotten himself and those with him lost in the thick woods.
"For Pete's sake!!" the boy wailed, messing his hair up. "I KNOW I came through here!!!! I KNOW I DID!!!"
"You must calm yourself, Joseph," Ishizu said quietly, though she was finding herself very tense by now. She just wanted to get to her precious brother!
"Think, Joey," Yugi said kindly. "Is there something you remember seeing when you came looking for us, something that would help identify which way you came and where we'll need to go?"
Joey paused, trying to remember. "I dunno," he said at last, shrugging helplessly.
Tristan sighed, obviously figuring that they would be stuck there for quite some time.
Luckily for them, they were much closer than they thought.
"Joey?" Téa's voice called. "Yugi?! Are you guys there?"
"Téa?" Yugi called back hopefully. "We're here!!"
"Follow my voice!" Téa directed.
Before long the others had reached the clearing and Ishizu and Rishid both hurried to Marik, who was starting to rouse a bit by now. Mokuba hadn't strayed far from his friend and now grinned in delight to see that he was awakening.
"Brother!!" Ishizu cried in happiness, running to Marik's side and embracing him. Rishid quickly followed, saying prayers of thanks that the boy's life had again been spared.
Marik hugged them both, feeling a bit confused as to how his siblings had gotten there but then was just relieved that they were. He blinked at them sleepily, still exhausted from his ordeal.
"You have been through so much, brother," Rishid said softly, holding him close. "You should rest now." There were so many things he would like to know, such as how Marik had wound up on the airplane in the first place, but it could all wait. Marik's health was more important now.
Marik tilted his head to the side, still looking confused. "Where is it?" he asked softly.
"Where's what?" Mokuba asked, looking even more confused than his friend seemed to be.
Marik rubbed his head, only now remembering something he'd seen just before he'd passed into the darkness. "The . . ." He moaned, feeling the effects of being hit on the head twice in the same place. "That grotesque creature," he managed to say at last. "It . . . it looked like a badly burned body . . . like the pilot's. . . ."
Ishizu's eyes narrowed in concern. "There is nothing such as that around, brother," she told him firmly.
"But it was here," Marik insisted, starting to slump against Rishid and looking as though he wasn't entirely with it.
"He must have been hallucinating," Seto said coldly.
A burning branch was suddenly thrown at them from somewhere in the near distance and a maniacal cackle met their ears.
"Oh man!" Joey yelped. "What if it wasn't a hallucination?! What if the thing's here now, tryin' to set us all on fire?!"