At Rishid's actions the others relaxed. They knew he would be alright. Ishizu smiled, reaching down to embrace the man as well. Rishid hugged her and Marik as well, his weakness obvious.
"Rest, my brother," Marik said softly, recruiting Tristan and Seto to help him get Rishid onto the couch in the corner. Rishid smiled his gratitude, squeezing Marik's hand gently as he closed his eyes.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to the puzzle of the envelope Joey had given him. While he carefully opened it, he and Téa quizzed the Pharaoh on his whereabouts.
"I don't know what happened," Yami Yugi sighed. "I found myself down in the basement, just in time to help Joey fight the vampyres that were summoned."
"Summoned?!" Yugi exclaimed. "By whom?!"
"By some freak who was pretendin' to be one!" Joey replied from where he was relaxing in his chair. "Oh man . . . so many vampyres. . . ."
Marik's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered something Bernard had said. "Did any of you know someone named Franceska?" he asked.
Bakura instantly paled. "Franceska?!" he fairly yelped.
Téa laid a hand on his shoulder. "Franceska caused a lot of trouble for us last Halloween," she said. "Especially for poor Bakura."
Marik sighed. "Well . . . the treacherous creature who bit Rishid said that this Franceska is out for revenge," he reported.
Yami Bakura grunted. "Then so be it," he said. "But if she tries to do anything to Bakura, this time she will have me to deal with first!"
"Meow," Oreo chirped, as if in agreement.
Now Yugi got the envelope open and several sheets of apparently blank paper fell out. "Huh?!" He blinked, so terribly confused.
"I know it looks crazy," Joey said, "but it must be important somehow. That vampyre impersonator was carryin' it around."
"Maybe you're supposed to hold it up to the light," Serenity suggested.
"Well, it can't hurt to try," Yugi said, raising a sheet in front of a nearby lamp. Slowly the outlines of words appeared vaguely.
"Here's what you have to do," Seto grunted, taking the sheet and setting it on the table. Then he took a pencil and scribbled over it lightly. The words jumped out at him then and he sat back with a smirk.
Mokuba reached over and pulled the paper down to look at. "It's some kinda list of songs!" he cried.
Phil glared. "Let me see that!" he ordered, snatching it away.
"Hey!" Mokuba said indignantly, trying to reach for it again.
Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Then it is true!" he said in anger, coming over for a better look. "These are all songs that have been pirated lately!"
Phil slammed the paper onto the table again and clenched his fists. "But it isn't me this time!" he protested.
"I know," Bruce replied. "I know it's not!"
"Wait a sec—this time?!" Tristan repeated. "Just what's been going on??"
Phil gave him a dark look. "We all have things in our pasts that we're not proud of," he retorted. "I used to buy pirated records for the station. Later on I even made some of my own. But then Bruce found out about it. He said he wouldn't report me to the authorities if I changed my ways." He narrowed his eyes even more. "Bruce is the first honest guy I've ever worked for. It's a new experience for me, but I don't intend to mess it up. No, I'm not involved with whatever's going on now, but I want to know who is."
The others looked at him, startled. He had been a suspect through most all this case. Was he really innocent?
Yugi looked at his Yami to see what he thought about it. The Pharaoh gave a curt nod, letting the boy know that he was certain Phil was on the level.
"Alright," Yugi said, turning back to face him, "we're going to trust you. Can you tell us about the private plane the shipments sometimes came in on?"
Phil crossed his arms. "Of course I can," he said. "It always came in from somewhere in Washington, flown by some hotshot pilot who frequently seemed to travel back and forth. When I was buying, all I had to do was present the check and take the boxes inside. And when I was selling, I would carry the boxes out to the plane and get my check."
"It was most likely that same plane that Marik was abducted on," Ishizu spoke up. "Can you think of any reason why they would want my brother?"
Phil thought for a long minute and then sighed. "I'm afraid not," he said.
Joey had listened to all this with a suspicious look on his face. He didn't know if they should be trusting Phil. After all, he'd said that Bruce was the first honest guy he'd worked for. Surely, Joey thought, working for so many dishonest guys would turn one into quite the unscrupulous person. Phil could be pulling a fast one. Joey intended to keep his eyes on him.
"So now what?" Téa sighed. "We're not any closer to finding out what's going on around here!"
"I *do* have an idea," Bakura said shyly. "What if we visited the airfield on the flight schedule Ishizu found? If those record pirates are still in business, they may have hired another pilot. At any rate, we may learn something more about Barry Russell."
"That's a great idea, Bakura!" Yugi praised. "Alright, let's go!"
"Are we all going?" Téa wondered, looking from Joey to Rishid.
"Heck, I am!" Joey cried, pulling himself up.
"Joey, you should rest!" Serenity objected, knowing her brother had been hurt in the fight.
"Aw, I'm fine, sis," Joey smiled.
"Rishid must rest," Marik said softly, watching his brother sleeping.
"All of you go," Ishizu added. "We will stay here."
The others quickly agreed to this arrangement and soon left, knowing that Rishid was in no condition to get up and become involved in the mystery again after being viciously bitten several times by the vampyre.
"We have to come with you!" Bruce cried as Yugi and those going with him were heading to the door. "Phil and I are coming!!!"
"And so am I!" Grace exclaimed.
"Don't be ridiculous!!" Bruce exploded. "You're staying HERE!!!"
"Bruce Von Wilkenson, I'm coming and that's final!!" Grace yelled back.
Joey winced. "Man . . . that sounds familiar. . . ." He wanted to tell Serenity to stay behind, but he couldn't help feeling like he'd prefer his sister to be with him as opposed to wandering around the dangerous KETY studios tonight.
Rikki, who had been silent throughout all of this, abruptly stepped forward and grabbed at Joey. "Hey, I'd love to come with you guys, but I have a show to do," she said. She also suspected there'd be more action at the station and she wanted to stick around for when it happened. "But . . . I found something that might help." She dug around in her pocket until she produced a picture from a security camera of a horrible-looking man with a deadly scar on the right side of his face.
"OH!!" Bakura gasped. "That's him!! That's the one who stabbed Bruce and tried to kill me!!!"
Yami Bakura snatched the picture from Rikki. "Where did you get this?!" he demanded to know.
"Found it coming out of the camera," Rikki replied. "It was some kinda weird one that was like a Polaroid as well as a video thing! Must be a new item on the market. I wouldn't mind having one!"
"Why would it be coming out of the camera?!" Marik asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe someone was printing it out," Rikki shrugged. "And then they got scared away or something. But oh well." She pointed to the bottom. "The date on it is yesterday. Must've been taken when he burst in to stab Mr. Von Wilkenson."
After thanking Rikki for the picture and warning the Ishtars to be very careful, the others set out for the airfield.
"Yug, is it just me or are you feelin' some kinda forebodin' about going there?" Joey whispered. "I sure as heck am."
Yugi sighed. "I wish it was just you, Joey, but I feel it too."
****
Domino Heights Airfield seemed to be deserted when the group arrived. There weren't any lights on in the observation tower, and the only airplanes around seemed to be old, broken-down models.
"This looks like an airplane graveyard!!" Téa cried, gesturing around. "I don't think anything here is in working order!!"
Tristan tapped on the propeller of a bi-plane near him and then gasped when it started up seemingly by itself. "Guys, not only that, but I think it's haunted!!" the hazel-eyed boy announced.
Oreo stared at the twirling propeller and then gave a loud hiss, her fur standing on end. Yami Bakura scooped her up in annoyance, muttering under his breath.
"I just don't get it," Yugi said, shaking his head. "Was Barry Russell only using this airport name on the flight schedule?!" He didn't really see how that would be possible if the man had had a legal pilot's license, however.
"It'd be nice if we could just ask the guy," Joey remarked.
"This is the kinda place he might be hangin' out at now," Tristan said facetiously.
Serenity gave him a reproving look, not liking the morbid talk. She moved closer to Joey, glancing around nervously at everything.
Suddenly Bakura froze. "Did anyone hear that?!" he cried.
"What, you dolt?!" Yami Bakura grunted.
"That scratching sound!" Bakura replied, trying to discern what direction it was coming from.
"I didn't hear anything, buddy," Tristan said.
"I did," Yugi said quietly. "It came from over there." He pointed ahead.
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?!" Bruce said impatiently. "Anything to wrap this case up! Let's go see what the devil it is!!!"
Slowly the group approached the dilapidated plane from which the sound seemed to come. Now they could all hear it.
"It's too loud for a mouse," Tristan mused.
Seto walked up and peered in. Nothing was immediately visible and so he clicked on a flashlight Mokuba had been carrying with him to shine around.
"See anything, man?" Joey asked, trying to look over the businessman's shoulder.
"Someone's tied up in the corner," Seto replied, climbing in. The others soon followed, amazed that they could all fit, and quickly made their way into the corner Seto had indicated. Yugi turned the person to face them and then cried out in utter shock.
"No! It can't be!" he gasped.
It was Bernard!
****
Ishizu smiled, watching Marik start to doze. Before long her brother managed to get himself half on the couch and half on the floor and then promptly fell asleep.
Gently Ishizu took off her white cape and laid it across Marik and Rishid both. It wouldn't keep then that warm, but it was better than nothing.
"You have been through so very much," she said softly, wishing it would all stop. All she wanted was for them to be able to relax for a good long while without crimes interfering with the peace.
A motor outside the wall broke into her train of thought and the Egyptian woman stood up, going to the window.
A small plane was landing in the field!
"The criminals must have acquired a new aircraft and pilot," Ishizu said to herself. Deciding to get a better look, she opened the door quietly and slipped outside.
Marik stirred with the noise of the plane and the opening door and looked up. "Sister?!" he cried, catching sight of the aircraft and Ishizu's form going out into the night. "Sister, come back!!!!" He ran over to the door and hauled it open again.
"This must be something in connection with the criminals," Ishizu told him, not surprised to see her brother running out. "Marik, you should go back inside with Rishid."
"I can't leave you out here, Ishizu!" Marik retorted, feeling torn.
The airplane, whose pilot had obviously caught sight of the siblings, suddenly turned in their direction. Ishizu's eyes widened in horror as she grabbed Marik's wrist and pulled him away. But no matter where they ran, the plane always caught up to them.
"It wants us!" Marik growled.
The aircraft made another sweep past them, the side door wide open. Before either of them could do anything, a lasso flew out and wrapped around them both, pulling them inside.
Both Ishizu and Marik let out screams of shock and pain as they flew through the air and then crashed down on the hard metal floor.
"They're taking us with them!!" Ishizu realized as the plane started to take to the skies again.
And then Rishid was stumbling outside and running to the aircraft, grabbing onto the edge of the open doorframe as they rose into the air.
Marik's eyes widened in utter alarm. "Rishid!!" he cried, grabbing the man's wrists. Ishizu helped him, and miraculously Rishid managed to pull himself up into the plane.
"Rishid, you shouldn't have done that," Ishizu objected softly. "You could have been hurt seriously!"
Rishid simply shook his head and collapsed on the floor, still very weak. He hadn't been about to let both of his siblings get abducted in this way.
After Marik made sure that his brother hadn't injured himself more, he stood up with fire in his eyes. Fear surged within him that this plane would go down just as the other one had and that they would all die. But he refused to let that happen.
"I've had enough of being used this way!!!" he hissed. "I am going to find out, once and for all, what is happening here!!!" With that he stormed into the cockpit, having many flashes of deja vu, and then stood still in shock.
There wasn't anyone piloting the craft!
"Rest, my brother," Marik said softly, recruiting Tristan and Seto to help him get Rishid onto the couch in the corner. Rishid smiled his gratitude, squeezing Marik's hand gently as he closed his eyes.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to the puzzle of the envelope Joey had given him. While he carefully opened it, he and Téa quizzed the Pharaoh on his whereabouts.
"I don't know what happened," Yami Yugi sighed. "I found myself down in the basement, just in time to help Joey fight the vampyres that were summoned."
"Summoned?!" Yugi exclaimed. "By whom?!"
"By some freak who was pretendin' to be one!" Joey replied from where he was relaxing in his chair. "Oh man . . . so many vampyres. . . ."
Marik's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered something Bernard had said. "Did any of you know someone named Franceska?" he asked.
Bakura instantly paled. "Franceska?!" he fairly yelped.
Téa laid a hand on his shoulder. "Franceska caused a lot of trouble for us last Halloween," she said. "Especially for poor Bakura."
Marik sighed. "Well . . . the treacherous creature who bit Rishid said that this Franceska is out for revenge," he reported.
Yami Bakura grunted. "Then so be it," he said. "But if she tries to do anything to Bakura, this time she will have me to deal with first!"
"Meow," Oreo chirped, as if in agreement.
Now Yugi got the envelope open and several sheets of apparently blank paper fell out. "Huh?!" He blinked, so terribly confused.
"I know it looks crazy," Joey said, "but it must be important somehow. That vampyre impersonator was carryin' it around."
"Maybe you're supposed to hold it up to the light," Serenity suggested.
"Well, it can't hurt to try," Yugi said, raising a sheet in front of a nearby lamp. Slowly the outlines of words appeared vaguely.
"Here's what you have to do," Seto grunted, taking the sheet and setting it on the table. Then he took a pencil and scribbled over it lightly. The words jumped out at him then and he sat back with a smirk.
Mokuba reached over and pulled the paper down to look at. "It's some kinda list of songs!" he cried.
Phil glared. "Let me see that!" he ordered, snatching it away.
"Hey!" Mokuba said indignantly, trying to reach for it again.
Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Then it is true!" he said in anger, coming over for a better look. "These are all songs that have been pirated lately!"
Phil slammed the paper onto the table again and clenched his fists. "But it isn't me this time!" he protested.
"I know," Bruce replied. "I know it's not!"
"Wait a sec—this time?!" Tristan repeated. "Just what's been going on??"
Phil gave him a dark look. "We all have things in our pasts that we're not proud of," he retorted. "I used to buy pirated records for the station. Later on I even made some of my own. But then Bruce found out about it. He said he wouldn't report me to the authorities if I changed my ways." He narrowed his eyes even more. "Bruce is the first honest guy I've ever worked for. It's a new experience for me, but I don't intend to mess it up. No, I'm not involved with whatever's going on now, but I want to know who is."
The others looked at him, startled. He had been a suspect through most all this case. Was he really innocent?
Yugi looked at his Yami to see what he thought about it. The Pharaoh gave a curt nod, letting the boy know that he was certain Phil was on the level.
"Alright," Yugi said, turning back to face him, "we're going to trust you. Can you tell us about the private plane the shipments sometimes came in on?"
Phil crossed his arms. "Of course I can," he said. "It always came in from somewhere in Washington, flown by some hotshot pilot who frequently seemed to travel back and forth. When I was buying, all I had to do was present the check and take the boxes inside. And when I was selling, I would carry the boxes out to the plane and get my check."
"It was most likely that same plane that Marik was abducted on," Ishizu spoke up. "Can you think of any reason why they would want my brother?"
Phil thought for a long minute and then sighed. "I'm afraid not," he said.
Joey had listened to all this with a suspicious look on his face. He didn't know if they should be trusting Phil. After all, he'd said that Bruce was the first honest guy he'd worked for. Surely, Joey thought, working for so many dishonest guys would turn one into quite the unscrupulous person. Phil could be pulling a fast one. Joey intended to keep his eyes on him.
"So now what?" Téa sighed. "We're not any closer to finding out what's going on around here!"
"I *do* have an idea," Bakura said shyly. "What if we visited the airfield on the flight schedule Ishizu found? If those record pirates are still in business, they may have hired another pilot. At any rate, we may learn something more about Barry Russell."
"That's a great idea, Bakura!" Yugi praised. "Alright, let's go!"
"Are we all going?" Téa wondered, looking from Joey to Rishid.
"Heck, I am!" Joey cried, pulling himself up.
"Joey, you should rest!" Serenity objected, knowing her brother had been hurt in the fight.
"Aw, I'm fine, sis," Joey smiled.
"Rishid must rest," Marik said softly, watching his brother sleeping.
"All of you go," Ishizu added. "We will stay here."
The others quickly agreed to this arrangement and soon left, knowing that Rishid was in no condition to get up and become involved in the mystery again after being viciously bitten several times by the vampyre.
"We have to come with you!" Bruce cried as Yugi and those going with him were heading to the door. "Phil and I are coming!!!"
"And so am I!" Grace exclaimed.
"Don't be ridiculous!!" Bruce exploded. "You're staying HERE!!!"
"Bruce Von Wilkenson, I'm coming and that's final!!" Grace yelled back.
Joey winced. "Man . . . that sounds familiar. . . ." He wanted to tell Serenity to stay behind, but he couldn't help feeling like he'd prefer his sister to be with him as opposed to wandering around the dangerous KETY studios tonight.
Rikki, who had been silent throughout all of this, abruptly stepped forward and grabbed at Joey. "Hey, I'd love to come with you guys, but I have a show to do," she said. She also suspected there'd be more action at the station and she wanted to stick around for when it happened. "But . . . I found something that might help." She dug around in her pocket until she produced a picture from a security camera of a horrible-looking man with a deadly scar on the right side of his face.
"OH!!" Bakura gasped. "That's him!! That's the one who stabbed Bruce and tried to kill me!!!"
Yami Bakura snatched the picture from Rikki. "Where did you get this?!" he demanded to know.
"Found it coming out of the camera," Rikki replied. "It was some kinda weird one that was like a Polaroid as well as a video thing! Must be a new item on the market. I wouldn't mind having one!"
"Why would it be coming out of the camera?!" Marik asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe someone was printing it out," Rikki shrugged. "And then they got scared away or something. But oh well." She pointed to the bottom. "The date on it is yesterday. Must've been taken when he burst in to stab Mr. Von Wilkenson."
After thanking Rikki for the picture and warning the Ishtars to be very careful, the others set out for the airfield.
"Yug, is it just me or are you feelin' some kinda forebodin' about going there?" Joey whispered. "I sure as heck am."
Yugi sighed. "I wish it was just you, Joey, but I feel it too."
****
Domino Heights Airfield seemed to be deserted when the group arrived. There weren't any lights on in the observation tower, and the only airplanes around seemed to be old, broken-down models.
"This looks like an airplane graveyard!!" Téa cried, gesturing around. "I don't think anything here is in working order!!"
Tristan tapped on the propeller of a bi-plane near him and then gasped when it started up seemingly by itself. "Guys, not only that, but I think it's haunted!!" the hazel-eyed boy announced.
Oreo stared at the twirling propeller and then gave a loud hiss, her fur standing on end. Yami Bakura scooped her up in annoyance, muttering under his breath.
"I just don't get it," Yugi said, shaking his head. "Was Barry Russell only using this airport name on the flight schedule?!" He didn't really see how that would be possible if the man had had a legal pilot's license, however.
"It'd be nice if we could just ask the guy," Joey remarked.
"This is the kinda place he might be hangin' out at now," Tristan said facetiously.
Serenity gave him a reproving look, not liking the morbid talk. She moved closer to Joey, glancing around nervously at everything.
Suddenly Bakura froze. "Did anyone hear that?!" he cried.
"What, you dolt?!" Yami Bakura grunted.
"That scratching sound!" Bakura replied, trying to discern what direction it was coming from.
"I didn't hear anything, buddy," Tristan said.
"I did," Yugi said quietly. "It came from over there." He pointed ahead.
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?!" Bruce said impatiently. "Anything to wrap this case up! Let's go see what the devil it is!!!"
Slowly the group approached the dilapidated plane from which the sound seemed to come. Now they could all hear it.
"It's too loud for a mouse," Tristan mused.
Seto walked up and peered in. Nothing was immediately visible and so he clicked on a flashlight Mokuba had been carrying with him to shine around.
"See anything, man?" Joey asked, trying to look over the businessman's shoulder.
"Someone's tied up in the corner," Seto replied, climbing in. The others soon followed, amazed that they could all fit, and quickly made their way into the corner Seto had indicated. Yugi turned the person to face them and then cried out in utter shock.
"No! It can't be!" he gasped.
It was Bernard!
****
Ishizu smiled, watching Marik start to doze. Before long her brother managed to get himself half on the couch and half on the floor and then promptly fell asleep.
Gently Ishizu took off her white cape and laid it across Marik and Rishid both. It wouldn't keep then that warm, but it was better than nothing.
"You have been through so very much," she said softly, wishing it would all stop. All she wanted was for them to be able to relax for a good long while without crimes interfering with the peace.
A motor outside the wall broke into her train of thought and the Egyptian woman stood up, going to the window.
A small plane was landing in the field!
"The criminals must have acquired a new aircraft and pilot," Ishizu said to herself. Deciding to get a better look, she opened the door quietly and slipped outside.
Marik stirred with the noise of the plane and the opening door and looked up. "Sister?!" he cried, catching sight of the aircraft and Ishizu's form going out into the night. "Sister, come back!!!!" He ran over to the door and hauled it open again.
"This must be something in connection with the criminals," Ishizu told him, not surprised to see her brother running out. "Marik, you should go back inside with Rishid."
"I can't leave you out here, Ishizu!" Marik retorted, feeling torn.
The airplane, whose pilot had obviously caught sight of the siblings, suddenly turned in their direction. Ishizu's eyes widened in horror as she grabbed Marik's wrist and pulled him away. But no matter where they ran, the plane always caught up to them.
"It wants us!" Marik growled.
The aircraft made another sweep past them, the side door wide open. Before either of them could do anything, a lasso flew out and wrapped around them both, pulling them inside.
Both Ishizu and Marik let out screams of shock and pain as they flew through the air and then crashed down on the hard metal floor.
"They're taking us with them!!" Ishizu realized as the plane started to take to the skies again.
And then Rishid was stumbling outside and running to the aircraft, grabbing onto the edge of the open doorframe as they rose into the air.
Marik's eyes widened in utter alarm. "Rishid!!" he cried, grabbing the man's wrists. Ishizu helped him, and miraculously Rishid managed to pull himself up into the plane.
"Rishid, you shouldn't have done that," Ishizu objected softly. "You could have been hurt seriously!"
Rishid simply shook his head and collapsed on the floor, still very weak. He hadn't been about to let both of his siblings get abducted in this way.
After Marik made sure that his brother hadn't injured himself more, he stood up with fire in his eyes. Fear surged within him that this plane would go down just as the other one had and that they would all die. But he refused to let that happen.
"I've had enough of being used this way!!!" he hissed. "I am going to find out, once and for all, what is happening here!!!" With that he stormed into the cockpit, having many flashes of deja vu, and then stood still in shock.
There wasn't anyone piloting the craft!