Yugi looked around blearily, trying to focus in the near-darkness. Vaguely he was aware of agonized screams and then realized that it was Marik begging for Rishid to move.
"Marik?" he tried to say, but it came out as a rasping whisper.
Joey was sitting next to him, a wide-eyed, stunned look on his face. "Yug . . . did someone just crash into us?!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head.
"I . . . I don't remember," Yugi admitted, still dazed from the impact. "But . . . I think Rishid's hurt. . . ." He struggled to get his seatbelt undone so he could go over and help, but his hands were shaking too badly to make the button work.
"Someone shoved us into a ditch," Seto spoke up coldly, holding Mokuba close against him. The younger boy was shivering, his eyes wide with fright. "They shoved us into the ditch and then drove off. My chauffeur will get us out, but first we'll need to see if everyone is alright." Quickly he turned on the overhead lights, bathing the limo in brightness.
Marik didn't even notice as the lights came on. He continued trying to awaken his brother, panic showing in his lavender eyes. "Rishid!!! Wake up, my brother . . . please . . . wake up . . ." The boy's voice dwindled to a defeated whisper as he felt dizziness brought on by both physical and emotional shocks come over him. "Rishid . . . no, you have to get up! You have to!!" Tears spilled from his eyes then and Marik collapsed back against the still body, crying uncontrollably.
Somewhere through the mists of his confused mind another thought came to him then and he tried to rise. "Where is Ishizu?!" he screamed. "Where is she??!"
Yugi and the others looked around at each other in shock, realizing they didn't know. Ishizu wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Seeing this in their eyes, Marik looked down again, despair blanketing him. "Ishizu is missing . . . Rishid won't wake up. . . ." He trailed off, looking so lost and scared and so unlike the strong-willed Marik everyone was so familiar with. "Why?" he sobbed. "WHY??!!"
No one knew how to answer him.
"And why didn't the seatbelts work??!" Anger was starting to show in Marik's eyes now. "Did someone tamper with them??!" He was still held fast in Rishid's arms. The man's last coherent thought had been to protect his brother at all costs, and now not even Marik himself could loosen his brother's grip.
A low thudding sound came from outside and everyone jumped in surprise, turning to face the side of the limo from which it had come. What was happening now? Were they going to be ambushed? Did their assailants want to make certain everyone was dead?
"Sister?!" Marik called hopefully.
The door opened slowly and Ishizu's battered form stood in the doorway. She had been thrown from the limo into a soft patch of grass, but it had taken her a few minutes to recover from the shock. Now she surveyed the scene before her in horror before stumbling inside and kneeling beside her brothers.
At last Mokuba snapped out of his shock and looked around, shocked at what he saw. "Big brother?" he whispered.
Seto continued to hold him close. "It's alright," he said softly.
Mokuba hugged Seto back, but then pulled away and ran to Marik. "What's wrong?!" he gasped.
Marik looked up at both Mokuba and Ishizu in despair. "Rishid's hurt," he replied tearily.
Now the doctor, who was still traveling with them, came over to examine him. Marik gave him a suspicious look, suddenly not trusting him. Ishizu tensed as well, but otherwise gave no sign of thinking things were amiss.
"Can you help him?" she asked calmly.
"I can try," the doctor responded, struggling to pry Rishid's arms away from Marik.
Now Rishid gave the first sign of life he'd shown since before the crash—he moaned and clutched Marik almost frantically, not knowing who was trying to take his brother away.
"Rishid . . ." Marik gave a soft smile, relieved that at least his brother was still alive. Then he looked up at the doctor, narrowing his eyes. "Why didn't you come sooner?" he demanded.
The doctor blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Why didn't you come sooner?!" Marik repeated, his voice climbing. "Did you tamper with the seatbelts? You would have had the perfect opportunity. WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL US??!!"
Mokuba's eyes widened and he also turned to stare. "You work for my brother!" he cried. "Did you betray him?! Did you betray all of us?!"
Now the doctor held up a syringe. "Don't be ridiculous. Now stand back so I can treat Mr. Ishtar."
Marik glared. "Stay away from my brother," he hissed. "You're not here to help him."
By now everyone else had gathered around, wondering what was going on and if Marik's accusations were true.
Abruptly the doctor lunged forward, trying to jab the syringe into Marik's arm. The boy dodged, rolling across the floor to get out of the way and pulling Rishid with him.
"So. It is true," Ishizu said angrily. "You wanted to kill us!"
The doctor merely sneered at her.
"I've heard enough," Seto said irritably. "You are fired. Get out of my limousine now. You can just walk back to the city on your own."
"Oh, I don't think so." The doctor turned, now trying to use the syringe on Seto.
"BIG BROTHER!!!" Mokuba shrieked.
Instantly Seto moved forward with ease, forcing his elbow into the man's ribs. The doctor screamed in pain, falling to the car floor. Seto then punched him, sending him into unconsciousness. Next he grabbed the syringe and shot the contents out the window before someone could be hurt by them.
"That was awesome, Seto," Mokuba grinned before turning his attention back to Marik.
Now Rishid stirred again, starting to revive at last.
Marik perked up hopefully, still so very weak from everything and feeling as though he would pass out again. "Brother?" he exclaimed. "Rishid?"
The Egyptian man moaned, trying to open his eyes. "Marik?" He couldn't remember much about the crash, or why he was laying on the floor with a terrible headache—but he did remember that he had been protecting his brother. If Marik was safe, then he didn't care how many headaches he suffered. He loved his brother more than anything.
Immediately Rishid was engulfed in a tight hug as Marik gave a cry of joy and pulled him close. "Oh Rishid . . . I was so worried, my brother. . . . So very worried. . . ."
Mokuba grinned as he watched his friend embrace his brother. "So we're all okay, then?" he asked, looking up at Seto.
"Yeah," Seto smiled.
****
Yami Bakura was feeling his way down the still-darkened hall when he heard Bakura screaming for help. "What has that moron gotten himself into now?" the thief muttered angrily.
Eventually he tracked the screams to what he recognized as Bruce's office and looked in. "What's been happening in here?!" he growled, seeing Bakura's panicked expression.
"Yami, someone stabbed Bruce!!" Bakura replied, his eyes wide with fright.
Yami Bakura grunted. "What for? Was he forcing one too many people into doing radio shows?"
"YAMI!!" Bakura cried, not in the mood for the thief's cynicism. "Please call 911 immediately!!" He pointed to the phone on the wall. "I'd do it, but I need to keep trying to help get the bleeding stopped!"
The tomb raider growled, definitely not happy. "Fine, if it means getting out of here." Now that the radio show was over, all he wanted was to go home to his chocolate milk and his window seat. "What do you want me to say?" It had suddenly dawned on him that he had never called 911 before.
The same thought had just occurred to Bakura, and he prayed that his Yami wouldn't say something embarrassing. "Just tell them to send an ambulance here and give the address," he directed frantically. "Tell them that a man's been stabbed and then ask if there's anything we can be doing while we wait."
"Meow," Oreo called, nudging the phone toward Yami Bakura, who snarled and picked it up in annoyance.
"Get me 911, woman," the thief barked when he heard the operator come on.
"Yami, you're supposed to dial it yourself!" Bakura moaned.
"I'll do whatever I please," Yami Bakura retorted. Once he heard the dispatcher come on, he gruffly began relaying what Bakura had told him to. "The station manager of KETY was stabbed in his office," he snarled. "Send an ambulance and tell me what to tell my absurd descendant to do in the meantime!"
Bakura groaned loudly, feeling his face flushing with embarrassment.
"Yes, he's doing that—trying to stop the bleeding!" Yami Bakura snapped. ". . . I know I called him my descendant, you moron!! That's what he is! Do you realize how old I am?!"
"Yami, they'll come to take you to the asylum!" Bakura scolded. He didn't feel like trying to explain about ancient Egyptian spirits and wind up being locked up as well, and the last thing he needed was his Yami starting something with his "I'll say whatever I please" attitude.
"Oh forget that!" the tomb raider growled now into the phone, completely ignoring Bakura. "Just send the ambulance or your soul will be stolen!" Before the person could get in another word, he hung up.
And once again, Bakura felt ready to cry.
****
Luckily, the ambulance did come and no one got carted to the asylum. Bakura explained what had happened while Bruce was loaded on a stretcher and into the vehicle.
"Did you see who did this?" one of the paramedics asked with a frown.
Bakura gulped, suddenly remembering how the assassin had thrown a knife at him. "Yes," he said softly, "but I couldn't clearly see the face." He described the scar, however, and the paramedic's expression only darkened.
"He meant business, that's for sure," she said. "You'd better be careful, kid. You don't know what he might do next, but he may come after you."
Bakura's eyes widened, the thought never having occurred to him before. "Will Bruce be alright?" he asked, pushing thoughts of insane hitmen chasing him out of his head.
"Time will tell," the girl replied, "but we don't have much of it."
Before long the ambulance had driven off, leaving Bakura and his Yami standing around on the sidewalk.
"Well, come on, you moron!" Yami Bakura snapped. "Let's go home!"
Bakura turned worried eyes to face him. "But Yami, what if there are others who are hurt?!" he exclaimed.
"We are not going to search through that entire building!" the tomb raider retorted huffily.
"Well, go home if you want to!" Bakura yelled then. "But I'm going back in to make certain everyone else is alright! And the police have to be called!"
Yami Bakura threw his hands up in frustration. "Is that all you ever think about—calls??!" he screamed.
Oreo meowed from somewhere within his shirt.
****
As Bakura rushed down the dark halls of KETY studios, he wondered where JP was. Had he gone home? Had he . . . gotten hurt? Bakura had just realized that he hadn't seen the friendly deejay in quite some time.
Happily, his fears were unfounded. JP soon rounded a corner and blinked at Bakura in confusion. "Bakura! What are you still doing here?" he exclaimed. "Your show's been over for quite some time!"
Quickly Bakura explained about the Frankenstein person and what had happened to Bruce. JP registered genuine shock.
"Maybe this means Bruce isn't guilty after all," he mused.
"I hope so," Bakura said fervently.
Out of the corner of his eye, the boy suddenly thought he saw someone familiar—someone like the mysterious, veiled stranger who had assisted them in Boston—but when he turned to look, no one was there.
"Something wrong?" JP asked.
"Oh, um . . . no," Bakura replied hurriedly. "Everything's fine." He smiled.
****
After a trip to the police station to drop off the crooked doctor and briefly explain things, Seto had taken the Ishtars home first, since they needed so desperately to rest. Now the two older Egyptian siblings were watching Marik sleep, still amazed that he was relatively alright after what had happened.
"Are you certain you are alright, Ishizu?" Rishid asked, turning to her. Ishizu had briefly mentioned how she had been thrown out of the limo upon its fall into the ditch, but she hadn't gone into any details.
"Yes, quite," she said softly, gently touching his arm. Rishid always thinks about others before himself, the woman thought to herself. And Marik is that way too. "And what of yourself, Rishid? You have such a nasty bump on your head!"
"I am alright," Rishid smiled, before leaning over Marik and adjusting the quilt around his brother's bare shoulders. Marik tensed for a brief second and then relaxed, burrowing into the comforter.
"What about that strange beast that was in our yard earlier?" Rishid asked now, his eyes narrowing. "Where is it now?"
"I do not know," Ishizu replied. "It has vanished. But I sense that it has not gone far."
She tensed herself now, feeling certain that she heard a footfall on the stairs. Was someone—or something—in their house?!
"Marik?" he tried to say, but it came out as a rasping whisper.
Joey was sitting next to him, a wide-eyed, stunned look on his face. "Yug . . . did someone just crash into us?!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head.
"I . . . I don't remember," Yugi admitted, still dazed from the impact. "But . . . I think Rishid's hurt. . . ." He struggled to get his seatbelt undone so he could go over and help, but his hands were shaking too badly to make the button work.
"Someone shoved us into a ditch," Seto spoke up coldly, holding Mokuba close against him. The younger boy was shivering, his eyes wide with fright. "They shoved us into the ditch and then drove off. My chauffeur will get us out, but first we'll need to see if everyone is alright." Quickly he turned on the overhead lights, bathing the limo in brightness.
Marik didn't even notice as the lights came on. He continued trying to awaken his brother, panic showing in his lavender eyes. "Rishid!!! Wake up, my brother . . . please . . . wake up . . ." The boy's voice dwindled to a defeated whisper as he felt dizziness brought on by both physical and emotional shocks come over him. "Rishid . . . no, you have to get up! You have to!!" Tears spilled from his eyes then and Marik collapsed back against the still body, crying uncontrollably.
Somewhere through the mists of his confused mind another thought came to him then and he tried to rise. "Where is Ishizu?!" he screamed. "Where is she??!"
Yugi and the others looked around at each other in shock, realizing they didn't know. Ishizu wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Seeing this in their eyes, Marik looked down again, despair blanketing him. "Ishizu is missing . . . Rishid won't wake up. . . ." He trailed off, looking so lost and scared and so unlike the strong-willed Marik everyone was so familiar with. "Why?" he sobbed. "WHY??!!"
No one knew how to answer him.
"And why didn't the seatbelts work??!" Anger was starting to show in Marik's eyes now. "Did someone tamper with them??!" He was still held fast in Rishid's arms. The man's last coherent thought had been to protect his brother at all costs, and now not even Marik himself could loosen his brother's grip.
A low thudding sound came from outside and everyone jumped in surprise, turning to face the side of the limo from which it had come. What was happening now? Were they going to be ambushed? Did their assailants want to make certain everyone was dead?
"Sister?!" Marik called hopefully.
The door opened slowly and Ishizu's battered form stood in the doorway. She had been thrown from the limo into a soft patch of grass, but it had taken her a few minutes to recover from the shock. Now she surveyed the scene before her in horror before stumbling inside and kneeling beside her brothers.
At last Mokuba snapped out of his shock and looked around, shocked at what he saw. "Big brother?" he whispered.
Seto continued to hold him close. "It's alright," he said softly.
Mokuba hugged Seto back, but then pulled away and ran to Marik. "What's wrong?!" he gasped.
Marik looked up at both Mokuba and Ishizu in despair. "Rishid's hurt," he replied tearily.
Now the doctor, who was still traveling with them, came over to examine him. Marik gave him a suspicious look, suddenly not trusting him. Ishizu tensed as well, but otherwise gave no sign of thinking things were amiss.
"Can you help him?" she asked calmly.
"I can try," the doctor responded, struggling to pry Rishid's arms away from Marik.
Now Rishid gave the first sign of life he'd shown since before the crash—he moaned and clutched Marik almost frantically, not knowing who was trying to take his brother away.
"Rishid . . ." Marik gave a soft smile, relieved that at least his brother was still alive. Then he looked up at the doctor, narrowing his eyes. "Why didn't you come sooner?" he demanded.
The doctor blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Why didn't you come sooner?!" Marik repeated, his voice climbing. "Did you tamper with the seatbelts? You would have had the perfect opportunity. WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL US??!!"
Mokuba's eyes widened and he also turned to stare. "You work for my brother!" he cried. "Did you betray him?! Did you betray all of us?!"
Now the doctor held up a syringe. "Don't be ridiculous. Now stand back so I can treat Mr. Ishtar."
Marik glared. "Stay away from my brother," he hissed. "You're not here to help him."
By now everyone else had gathered around, wondering what was going on and if Marik's accusations were true.
Abruptly the doctor lunged forward, trying to jab the syringe into Marik's arm. The boy dodged, rolling across the floor to get out of the way and pulling Rishid with him.
"So. It is true," Ishizu said angrily. "You wanted to kill us!"
The doctor merely sneered at her.
"I've heard enough," Seto said irritably. "You are fired. Get out of my limousine now. You can just walk back to the city on your own."
"Oh, I don't think so." The doctor turned, now trying to use the syringe on Seto.
"BIG BROTHER!!!" Mokuba shrieked.
Instantly Seto moved forward with ease, forcing his elbow into the man's ribs. The doctor screamed in pain, falling to the car floor. Seto then punched him, sending him into unconsciousness. Next he grabbed the syringe and shot the contents out the window before someone could be hurt by them.
"That was awesome, Seto," Mokuba grinned before turning his attention back to Marik.
Now Rishid stirred again, starting to revive at last.
Marik perked up hopefully, still so very weak from everything and feeling as though he would pass out again. "Brother?" he exclaimed. "Rishid?"
The Egyptian man moaned, trying to open his eyes. "Marik?" He couldn't remember much about the crash, or why he was laying on the floor with a terrible headache—but he did remember that he had been protecting his brother. If Marik was safe, then he didn't care how many headaches he suffered. He loved his brother more than anything.
Immediately Rishid was engulfed in a tight hug as Marik gave a cry of joy and pulled him close. "Oh Rishid . . . I was so worried, my brother. . . . So very worried. . . ."
Mokuba grinned as he watched his friend embrace his brother. "So we're all okay, then?" he asked, looking up at Seto.
"Yeah," Seto smiled.
****
Yami Bakura was feeling his way down the still-darkened hall when he heard Bakura screaming for help. "What has that moron gotten himself into now?" the thief muttered angrily.
Eventually he tracked the screams to what he recognized as Bruce's office and looked in. "What's been happening in here?!" he growled, seeing Bakura's panicked expression.
"Yami, someone stabbed Bruce!!" Bakura replied, his eyes wide with fright.
Yami Bakura grunted. "What for? Was he forcing one too many people into doing radio shows?"
"YAMI!!" Bakura cried, not in the mood for the thief's cynicism. "Please call 911 immediately!!" He pointed to the phone on the wall. "I'd do it, but I need to keep trying to help get the bleeding stopped!"
The tomb raider growled, definitely not happy. "Fine, if it means getting out of here." Now that the radio show was over, all he wanted was to go home to his chocolate milk and his window seat. "What do you want me to say?" It had suddenly dawned on him that he had never called 911 before.
The same thought had just occurred to Bakura, and he prayed that his Yami wouldn't say something embarrassing. "Just tell them to send an ambulance here and give the address," he directed frantically. "Tell them that a man's been stabbed and then ask if there's anything we can be doing while we wait."
"Meow," Oreo called, nudging the phone toward Yami Bakura, who snarled and picked it up in annoyance.
"Get me 911, woman," the thief barked when he heard the operator come on.
"Yami, you're supposed to dial it yourself!" Bakura moaned.
"I'll do whatever I please," Yami Bakura retorted. Once he heard the dispatcher come on, he gruffly began relaying what Bakura had told him to. "The station manager of KETY was stabbed in his office," he snarled. "Send an ambulance and tell me what to tell my absurd descendant to do in the meantime!"
Bakura groaned loudly, feeling his face flushing with embarrassment.
"Yes, he's doing that—trying to stop the bleeding!" Yami Bakura snapped. ". . . I know I called him my descendant, you moron!! That's what he is! Do you realize how old I am?!"
"Yami, they'll come to take you to the asylum!" Bakura scolded. He didn't feel like trying to explain about ancient Egyptian spirits and wind up being locked up as well, and the last thing he needed was his Yami starting something with his "I'll say whatever I please" attitude.
"Oh forget that!" the tomb raider growled now into the phone, completely ignoring Bakura. "Just send the ambulance or your soul will be stolen!" Before the person could get in another word, he hung up.
And once again, Bakura felt ready to cry.
****
Luckily, the ambulance did come and no one got carted to the asylum. Bakura explained what had happened while Bruce was loaded on a stretcher and into the vehicle.
"Did you see who did this?" one of the paramedics asked with a frown.
Bakura gulped, suddenly remembering how the assassin had thrown a knife at him. "Yes," he said softly, "but I couldn't clearly see the face." He described the scar, however, and the paramedic's expression only darkened.
"He meant business, that's for sure," she said. "You'd better be careful, kid. You don't know what he might do next, but he may come after you."
Bakura's eyes widened, the thought never having occurred to him before. "Will Bruce be alright?" he asked, pushing thoughts of insane hitmen chasing him out of his head.
"Time will tell," the girl replied, "but we don't have much of it."
Before long the ambulance had driven off, leaving Bakura and his Yami standing around on the sidewalk.
"Well, come on, you moron!" Yami Bakura snapped. "Let's go home!"
Bakura turned worried eyes to face him. "But Yami, what if there are others who are hurt?!" he exclaimed.
"We are not going to search through that entire building!" the tomb raider retorted huffily.
"Well, go home if you want to!" Bakura yelled then. "But I'm going back in to make certain everyone else is alright! And the police have to be called!"
Yami Bakura threw his hands up in frustration. "Is that all you ever think about—calls??!" he screamed.
Oreo meowed from somewhere within his shirt.
****
As Bakura rushed down the dark halls of KETY studios, he wondered where JP was. Had he gone home? Had he . . . gotten hurt? Bakura had just realized that he hadn't seen the friendly deejay in quite some time.
Happily, his fears were unfounded. JP soon rounded a corner and blinked at Bakura in confusion. "Bakura! What are you still doing here?" he exclaimed. "Your show's been over for quite some time!"
Quickly Bakura explained about the Frankenstein person and what had happened to Bruce. JP registered genuine shock.
"Maybe this means Bruce isn't guilty after all," he mused.
"I hope so," Bakura said fervently.
Out of the corner of his eye, the boy suddenly thought he saw someone familiar—someone like the mysterious, veiled stranger who had assisted them in Boston—but when he turned to look, no one was there.
"Something wrong?" JP asked.
"Oh, um . . . no," Bakura replied hurriedly. "Everything's fine." He smiled.
****
After a trip to the police station to drop off the crooked doctor and briefly explain things, Seto had taken the Ishtars home first, since they needed so desperately to rest. Now the two older Egyptian siblings were watching Marik sleep, still amazed that he was relatively alright after what had happened.
"Are you certain you are alright, Ishizu?" Rishid asked, turning to her. Ishizu had briefly mentioned how she had been thrown out of the limo upon its fall into the ditch, but she hadn't gone into any details.
"Yes, quite," she said softly, gently touching his arm. Rishid always thinks about others before himself, the woman thought to herself. And Marik is that way too. "And what of yourself, Rishid? You have such a nasty bump on your head!"
"I am alright," Rishid smiled, before leaning over Marik and adjusting the quilt around his brother's bare shoulders. Marik tensed for a brief second and then relaxed, burrowing into the comforter.
"What about that strange beast that was in our yard earlier?" Rishid asked now, his eyes narrowing. "Where is it now?"
"I do not know," Ishizu replied. "It has vanished. But I sense that it has not gone far."
She tensed herself now, feeling certain that she heard a footfall on the stairs. Was someone—or something—in their house?!