Everyone gave Joey odd looks at his remark.
"Do not be ridiculous," Ishizu said finally. "The pilot's ghost is not seeking revenge. Even if he wanted it, he would have no reason to come after us."
"Unless he was mad 'cause Marik didn't get his body out of the plane in time," Tristan suggested.
"How reassuring," Marik said sarcastically. "The man was already dead. There was nothing I could have done for him. And the plane ignited before I could retrieve the body."
"No one is blaming you, brother," Rishid said gently. "You've had a wretched experience that was not your fault." He turned to look at the burning twig, which was now shooting off sparks. "Someone living is doing this, perhaps to give the illusion of a fire ghost."
A horrible, unearthly laugh echoed around them. "Are you certain?" an equally grotesque voice cackled. "No, my friends, I have come back from the grave, seeking my revenge on those who sabotaged my plane!"
"Who are you really?" Yugi yelled.
"I told you," the eerie voice retorted. "Marik Ishtar knows who I am. And all of you will be seeing more of me!" The laugh faded into silence and the burning branch abruptly ceased to glow.
"A ghostly flame!" Joey cried, completely unnerved. "Oh man . . ."
Calmly Téa bent down and retrieved the stick, wrapping it in a scarf. "This could be an important clue," she declared. "Let's get home and we can examine it more there!"
"That's a great idea," Yugi smiled. "We have Marik back safely, so there's no need for us to stay here any longer. We'll just tell the firefighters we found him and then leave."
Rishid turned to his younger brother in concern. "You shouldn't walk any further until you've rested," he said.
Marik crossed his arms. "Really, Rishid, I'm alright," he tried to assure him. To prove it, the Egyptian boy pulled himself up, swaying violently.
Rishid caught the boy before he could collapse to the ground. "You are still weak," he said softly. "I don't want you to swoon again." Despite Marik's protests, the man lifted his brother into his arms to carry him. A slow smile came across his face then. "But you must be starting to feel like your old self if you can be protesting."
Ishizu chuckled.
****
Back at KETY, Bakura breathed a sigh of relief as his nightmare ended and the On the Air button went off.
"That was horrible!" he moaned. "Oh, if I have to go through that again . . ."
"Then you will simply grin and bear it," Yami Bakura smirked, standing up and rolling his eyes as Oreo licked the microphone again.
"Why on earth does she do that?!" Bakura cried in disbelief.
A chuckle came from behind them and they both turned to see a strange, raven-haired girl standing there.
"Must be the catnip," she grinned.
"Catnip?!" Yami Bakura repeated. "Why, exactly, is there catnip on the microphone, woman?!"
The newcomer laughed. "I'm always carrying some," she replied as Oreo made a beeline for her. "Comes from having a lot of cats to care for."
Bakura had to chuckle as Oreo started climbing into the woman's bag. "So . . . do you work here?" he asked now, watching as the cat found a catnip mouse and meowed in delight.
"That's right," the woman chirped, letting Oreo take the mouse. "This is usually the studio where I broadcast from. I do the show when JP's and then yours end, meaning that I stay up for a good portion of the early morning hours." She glanced at the clock, which now read 2am. "You can call me Delya. And I know who you are."
Bakura went pink. "Oh. . . . Well . . ." He scratched his cheek and bent down to get Oreo.
"She can keep the mouse," Delya smiled. "I have a million of them."
"That's very sweet of you," Bakura said sincerely.
Oreo meowed her agreement.
"Be safe going home," Delya warned. "There's that weird Frankenstein creature roaming through the station."
"Oh my," Bakura said with a blink. "I'd forgotten about that. . . ." Idly he wondered where Bruce was, since he usually came in at the end of Bakura's shows to say how much he enjoyed them.
"Just some joker, most likely," Delya shrugged. "But I saw him on the security cameras and he looks convincing. He must be pretty strong. I wouldn't mess with him for anything. Unless he tried to harm my precious kitties, of course," she added then.
Bakura could understand her feelings. "I hope you'll stay safe," he said slowly.
"She'll be fine," Yami Bakura said impatiently, heading for the door. "Now come on!"
"Yeah. Just go with your brother, honey," Delya encouraged.
Bakura finally relented, amused at everyone calling the thief his brother.
****
As Bakura walked down the halls, he noted how eerily silent it all was. Usually there were more people around, even at two in the morning. What could be going on? Had everyone fled because of the "Frankenstein"?
"I think we should find Bruce before we leave," Bakura said uneasily.
Yami Bakura grunted. "What for? I would think you would just want to go, especially since Bruce would get at you to do another show."
Bakura went pink. "Well, I don't want to do another show," he said, "but what if Bruce got hurt by whatever is prowling about?!"
Yami Bakura took Oreo into his arms, stroking her fur. "You're too soft-hearted."
Bakura simply blinked at the tomb raider, obviously thinking that he was one to talk. "Let's go down this way," the boy directed.
Knowing that he would get nowhere with his protests, Yami Bakura reluctantly gave in.
Without warning all the lights in the hallway shut off, plunging them into darkness.
"Yami??!!" Bakura yelped, feeling along the wall. "Yami, are you still here?!"
"Of course I am," the thief said irritably. "Where would I go?"
Bakura sighed, then turned his attention to the problem at hand. "This is terrible! Someone must have purposely done this!!" he cried, glancing out a window and seeing that the other buildings' lights were still running.
"Most likely it's just a fuse," Yami Bakura retorted.
Bakura was about to reply when the wall he was still leaning on opened up and swallowed him. To his displeasure he found himself falling down what almost seemed to be a laundry shoot. When he reached the bottom, he happened to fall out in a room that had obviously once been the vault when the building had served as a bank many years ago.
"Oh my," Bakura exclaimed, his eyes wide. Slowly he got up and walked through the doorless entry out into another hallway. Maybe if I follow this, I'll get back to where I should be! he hoped.
He hadn't gone far when he found a stairwell and decided to climb up. At the top, he turned the doorknob and found himself in Bruce's dimly lighted office.
"Um, hello?" Bakura now called uncomfortably. "I'm sorry to intrude. . . ."
His voice echoed emptily around the room and then a nearly still figure at the other end slowly began to turn. Bakura knew this wasn't Bruce. The person had dark hair and a muscular, strong body. As he started to turn, Bakura spotted a scar that went from the person's neck up to the middle of his right cheek.
"Oh. Oh my," the British boy cried again, realizing that this person wasn't friendly. He barely had time enough to duck before a knife was thrown directly at him. As he lay sprawled on the floor, heavy footsteps met his ears and he knew the person was escaping.
A low moan met Bakura's ears now and a new thought suddenly dawned on him. What if that strange person had hurt Bruce?!
Quickly he leaped up and ran across the room. To his horror, he found Bruce laying on the floor behind his desk, clutching a horrible wound in his chest.
The station manager fixed his glassy eyes on the boy, smiling in relief. "Thank goodness! I was afraid my top deejay was going to be skewered!"
"What happened?!" Bakura demanded, ignoring that remark.
"What does it look like?" Bruce sighed. "That . . . that guy . . . he tried to kill me!" Shakily he held up his other hand, which was clutching a grotesque mask. "That was the Frankenstein guy." He looked at Bakura urgently. "Did you see who it was? Did you see his face?!"
"Well, no," Bakura admitted as he tried to help Bruce stop the bleeding, "but he did have a terrible scar on the right side of his neck! It stretched clear up to his cheek!"
Bruce just looked confused. "I've never seen someone like that," he said.
"For right now let's just worry about getting help for you!" Bakura exclaimed. "You've been stabbed!"
"Oh, I'll be fine," Bruce said nonchalantly and then immediately slumped over.
Bakura's eyes widened. "Bruce??!!" he cried, becoming panicked. "HELP!! OH, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP!!!" He checked for a pulse and then swallowed hard.
****
Marik looked up at Ishizu and Rishid as everyone drove home in Seto's limo. "We need to find out why there was an airplane in the field behind the radio station," the Egyptian boy managed to say.
"Then I did hear it taking off," Ishizu said quietly, keeping an arm around her exhausted brother. "Yes, we must discover why it was there."
"And why the pilot abducted you," Rishid added, staring in disbelief at a string of bruises visible on Marik's exposed waist. He could hardly believe that the boy had come out of this with only a few cuts and some painful bruises. His brother could have died, and most likely would have if a higher power hadn't intervened. Gently Rishid moved closer and pulled Marik close to his heart, knowing how close he had come to losing this precious boy.
Marik knew as well that he could have lost his life and so he settled down close in between his siblings and started to doze, feeling peaceful and safe.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open again. "The dog!" he cried.
Everyone turned to stare at him. "Dog?" Téa repeated.
"What dog, Marik?" Ishizu asked.
Marik took a deep breath and explained about the events leading up to his abduction and then what he remembered had happened afterward. "I didn't see the dog on the airplane," he concluded, "so they must have left it behind. It could be back at the station right now!"
Seto grunted. "It could be the same one that got tranquilized," he said, crossing his arms, "in which case we wouldn't have to worry."
Marik blinked at him in confusion and then Mokuba hurriedly explained of their misadventure. "I suppose it could have been the same dog," Marik said slowly when he heard the end of the tale, "but I guess we can't know for certain. . . ." He sighed, confusion and disorientation again creeping over him due to the harsh blows he had received.
"No, but I do know for certain that you must sleep," Ishizu said, a trace of a smile on her lovely face.
Ordinarily Marik might protest, but for now he was much too tired. He started to drift into a state somewhere between sleep and unconsciousness, having a strange dream about a crash and screams. Then he was falling . . . falling . . . falling from the sky onto something hard. He wasn't alone, either. . . . Someone else had fallen with him, holding onto him tightly. . . .
Abruptly he snapped awake, cold chills running up his spine. He was laying on the floor of the car, clutched to Rishid's heart. Painful moans from the others met his ears and then he knew what had happened—they had been in a car crash.
"Rishid?!" he whispered, gently shaking his brother. He received no reply and felt the uneasiness within him growing. "Rishid??! Get up, brother!! Get up!!" he screamed desperately. "PLEASE!!"
Still Rishid did not answer his pleas and Marik bit his lip. No . . . no . . . this was still his nightmare. Rishid would get up. . . . He had to get up!!! But . . . it didn't seem as though he was going to.
"Do not be ridiculous," Ishizu said finally. "The pilot's ghost is not seeking revenge. Even if he wanted it, he would have no reason to come after us."
"Unless he was mad 'cause Marik didn't get his body out of the plane in time," Tristan suggested.
"How reassuring," Marik said sarcastically. "The man was already dead. There was nothing I could have done for him. And the plane ignited before I could retrieve the body."
"No one is blaming you, brother," Rishid said gently. "You've had a wretched experience that was not your fault." He turned to look at the burning twig, which was now shooting off sparks. "Someone living is doing this, perhaps to give the illusion of a fire ghost."
A horrible, unearthly laugh echoed around them. "Are you certain?" an equally grotesque voice cackled. "No, my friends, I have come back from the grave, seeking my revenge on those who sabotaged my plane!"
"Who are you really?" Yugi yelled.
"I told you," the eerie voice retorted. "Marik Ishtar knows who I am. And all of you will be seeing more of me!" The laugh faded into silence and the burning branch abruptly ceased to glow.
"A ghostly flame!" Joey cried, completely unnerved. "Oh man . . ."
Calmly Téa bent down and retrieved the stick, wrapping it in a scarf. "This could be an important clue," she declared. "Let's get home and we can examine it more there!"
"That's a great idea," Yugi smiled. "We have Marik back safely, so there's no need for us to stay here any longer. We'll just tell the firefighters we found him and then leave."
Rishid turned to his younger brother in concern. "You shouldn't walk any further until you've rested," he said.
Marik crossed his arms. "Really, Rishid, I'm alright," he tried to assure him. To prove it, the Egyptian boy pulled himself up, swaying violently.
Rishid caught the boy before he could collapse to the ground. "You are still weak," he said softly. "I don't want you to swoon again." Despite Marik's protests, the man lifted his brother into his arms to carry him. A slow smile came across his face then. "But you must be starting to feel like your old self if you can be protesting."
Ishizu chuckled.
****
Back at KETY, Bakura breathed a sigh of relief as his nightmare ended and the On the Air button went off.
"That was horrible!" he moaned. "Oh, if I have to go through that again . . ."
"Then you will simply grin and bear it," Yami Bakura smirked, standing up and rolling his eyes as Oreo licked the microphone again.
"Why on earth does she do that?!" Bakura cried in disbelief.
A chuckle came from behind them and they both turned to see a strange, raven-haired girl standing there.
"Must be the catnip," she grinned.
"Catnip?!" Yami Bakura repeated. "Why, exactly, is there catnip on the microphone, woman?!"
The newcomer laughed. "I'm always carrying some," she replied as Oreo made a beeline for her. "Comes from having a lot of cats to care for."
Bakura had to chuckle as Oreo started climbing into the woman's bag. "So . . . do you work here?" he asked now, watching as the cat found a catnip mouse and meowed in delight.
"That's right," the woman chirped, letting Oreo take the mouse. "This is usually the studio where I broadcast from. I do the show when JP's and then yours end, meaning that I stay up for a good portion of the early morning hours." She glanced at the clock, which now read 2am. "You can call me Delya. And I know who you are."
Bakura went pink. "Oh. . . . Well . . ." He scratched his cheek and bent down to get Oreo.
"She can keep the mouse," Delya smiled. "I have a million of them."
"That's very sweet of you," Bakura said sincerely.
Oreo meowed her agreement.
"Be safe going home," Delya warned. "There's that weird Frankenstein creature roaming through the station."
"Oh my," Bakura said with a blink. "I'd forgotten about that. . . ." Idly he wondered where Bruce was, since he usually came in at the end of Bakura's shows to say how much he enjoyed them.
"Just some joker, most likely," Delya shrugged. "But I saw him on the security cameras and he looks convincing. He must be pretty strong. I wouldn't mess with him for anything. Unless he tried to harm my precious kitties, of course," she added then.
Bakura could understand her feelings. "I hope you'll stay safe," he said slowly.
"She'll be fine," Yami Bakura said impatiently, heading for the door. "Now come on!"
"Yeah. Just go with your brother, honey," Delya encouraged.
Bakura finally relented, amused at everyone calling the thief his brother.
****
As Bakura walked down the halls, he noted how eerily silent it all was. Usually there were more people around, even at two in the morning. What could be going on? Had everyone fled because of the "Frankenstein"?
"I think we should find Bruce before we leave," Bakura said uneasily.
Yami Bakura grunted. "What for? I would think you would just want to go, especially since Bruce would get at you to do another show."
Bakura went pink. "Well, I don't want to do another show," he said, "but what if Bruce got hurt by whatever is prowling about?!"
Yami Bakura took Oreo into his arms, stroking her fur. "You're too soft-hearted."
Bakura simply blinked at the tomb raider, obviously thinking that he was one to talk. "Let's go down this way," the boy directed.
Knowing that he would get nowhere with his protests, Yami Bakura reluctantly gave in.
Without warning all the lights in the hallway shut off, plunging them into darkness.
"Yami??!!" Bakura yelped, feeling along the wall. "Yami, are you still here?!"
"Of course I am," the thief said irritably. "Where would I go?"
Bakura sighed, then turned his attention to the problem at hand. "This is terrible! Someone must have purposely done this!!" he cried, glancing out a window and seeing that the other buildings' lights were still running.
"Most likely it's just a fuse," Yami Bakura retorted.
Bakura was about to reply when the wall he was still leaning on opened up and swallowed him. To his displeasure he found himself falling down what almost seemed to be a laundry shoot. When he reached the bottom, he happened to fall out in a room that had obviously once been the vault when the building had served as a bank many years ago.
"Oh my," Bakura exclaimed, his eyes wide. Slowly he got up and walked through the doorless entry out into another hallway. Maybe if I follow this, I'll get back to where I should be! he hoped.
He hadn't gone far when he found a stairwell and decided to climb up. At the top, he turned the doorknob and found himself in Bruce's dimly lighted office.
"Um, hello?" Bakura now called uncomfortably. "I'm sorry to intrude. . . ."
His voice echoed emptily around the room and then a nearly still figure at the other end slowly began to turn. Bakura knew this wasn't Bruce. The person had dark hair and a muscular, strong body. As he started to turn, Bakura spotted a scar that went from the person's neck up to the middle of his right cheek.
"Oh. Oh my," the British boy cried again, realizing that this person wasn't friendly. He barely had time enough to duck before a knife was thrown directly at him. As he lay sprawled on the floor, heavy footsteps met his ears and he knew the person was escaping.
A low moan met Bakura's ears now and a new thought suddenly dawned on him. What if that strange person had hurt Bruce?!
Quickly he leaped up and ran across the room. To his horror, he found Bruce laying on the floor behind his desk, clutching a horrible wound in his chest.
The station manager fixed his glassy eyes on the boy, smiling in relief. "Thank goodness! I was afraid my top deejay was going to be skewered!"
"What happened?!" Bakura demanded, ignoring that remark.
"What does it look like?" Bruce sighed. "That . . . that guy . . . he tried to kill me!" Shakily he held up his other hand, which was clutching a grotesque mask. "That was the Frankenstein guy." He looked at Bakura urgently. "Did you see who it was? Did you see his face?!"
"Well, no," Bakura admitted as he tried to help Bruce stop the bleeding, "but he did have a terrible scar on the right side of his neck! It stretched clear up to his cheek!"
Bruce just looked confused. "I've never seen someone like that," he said.
"For right now let's just worry about getting help for you!" Bakura exclaimed. "You've been stabbed!"
"Oh, I'll be fine," Bruce said nonchalantly and then immediately slumped over.
Bakura's eyes widened. "Bruce??!!" he cried, becoming panicked. "HELP!! OH, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP!!!" He checked for a pulse and then swallowed hard.
****
Marik looked up at Ishizu and Rishid as everyone drove home in Seto's limo. "We need to find out why there was an airplane in the field behind the radio station," the Egyptian boy managed to say.
"Then I did hear it taking off," Ishizu said quietly, keeping an arm around her exhausted brother. "Yes, we must discover why it was there."
"And why the pilot abducted you," Rishid added, staring in disbelief at a string of bruises visible on Marik's exposed waist. He could hardly believe that the boy had come out of this with only a few cuts and some painful bruises. His brother could have died, and most likely would have if a higher power hadn't intervened. Gently Rishid moved closer and pulled Marik close to his heart, knowing how close he had come to losing this precious boy.
Marik knew as well that he could have lost his life and so he settled down close in between his siblings and started to doze, feeling peaceful and safe.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open again. "The dog!" he cried.
Everyone turned to stare at him. "Dog?" Téa repeated.
"What dog, Marik?" Ishizu asked.
Marik took a deep breath and explained about the events leading up to his abduction and then what he remembered had happened afterward. "I didn't see the dog on the airplane," he concluded, "so they must have left it behind. It could be back at the station right now!"
Seto grunted. "It could be the same one that got tranquilized," he said, crossing his arms, "in which case we wouldn't have to worry."
Marik blinked at him in confusion and then Mokuba hurriedly explained of their misadventure. "I suppose it could have been the same dog," Marik said slowly when he heard the end of the tale, "but I guess we can't know for certain. . . ." He sighed, confusion and disorientation again creeping over him due to the harsh blows he had received.
"No, but I do know for certain that you must sleep," Ishizu said, a trace of a smile on her lovely face.
Ordinarily Marik might protest, but for now he was much too tired. He started to drift into a state somewhere between sleep and unconsciousness, having a strange dream about a crash and screams. Then he was falling . . . falling . . . falling from the sky onto something hard. He wasn't alone, either. . . . Someone else had fallen with him, holding onto him tightly. . . .
Abruptly he snapped awake, cold chills running up his spine. He was laying on the floor of the car, clutched to Rishid's heart. Painful moans from the others met his ears and then he knew what had happened—they had been in a car crash.
"Rishid?!" he whispered, gently shaking his brother. He received no reply and felt the uneasiness within him growing. "Rishid??! Get up, brother!! Get up!!" he screamed desperately. "PLEASE!!"
Still Rishid did not answer his pleas and Marik bit his lip. No . . . no . . . this was still his nightmare. Rishid would get up. . . . He had to get up!!! But . . . it didn't seem as though he was going to.