THE PARTING OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Eleven: Fighting Back
Jonouchi, Mokuba, and Emrys were stupefied as they braced themselves for the worst.
The lights flickered until they were out. The waning illumination from the window, for some unknown reason, was blocked. The room was in total darkness.
A pentagram appeared under the three new arrivals' feet, causing them to change into cloaked figures. The multicolored lights from the pentagram gave them a more spectral appearance which struck fear into the hearts of the other three.
The sight petrified Emrys even more as she recalled the specters from her recent nightmares and reality. Seeing the pentagram also jogged the incoherent snippets of memory inside her head. As painful as it was for her, she struggled to the edge off the bed. She winced as she removed the needles and suctions from her body, causing her to pull sprained muscles and press against her broken ribs and bruised side.
Mokuba and Jonouchi helped Emrys remove the remaining impediments. Once she was free, they assisted her out from the bed. The two then went behind Jonouchi for protection as the latter balled up his hands into fists.
The detective, who now appeared before them as one of the hooded men, held up his left palm. A glowing golden orb of light materialized and floated in the air above his open hand. With his right hand, he reached out, grabbed, and yanked an invisible object from thin air.
Instantaneously, Emrys' could not breathe. She slid on the floor and fell on her knees as she failed to grab Jonouchi's shoulders for support. Clutching her chest, each breath became more unbearable. Tears of agony streamed down her cheeks as her vision began to blur. With each passing second, more oxygen was depleted from her body.
A helpless Mokuba screamed as he ran and knelt beside Emrys.
One of the cloaked figures behind the detective laughed. "Scream all you want, runt! No one will hear you!"
Jonouchi stepped back as his chestnut brown eyes blazed in anger and the adrenaline pumped in his veins. In lightning speed, he ran, jumped, and lunged at the cloaked detective. He sent them down on the floor.
The other cloaked figures, not anticipating the blonde young man's move, rushed to their leader's aid.
Once the leader fell to the floor, his lethal supernatural hold on Emrys was released. As much as it burned her lungs and made her torso throb in pain, she sucked in as much oxygen as she could.
The lights also went back on and the fog receded.
As the detective and Jonouchi got up from the floor, the former produced a dagger inside his cloak, pinned Jonouchi against the wall, and then aimed it at Jonouchi's heart. The blonde teen, with all the strength he could muster, pushed to keep the deadly dagger away from him.
Seeing Jonouchi's predicament, Mokuba's eyes frantically scanned the room. Spotting a heavy vase by the nearby night table, the boy grabbed it, hopped on the bed, rode on the back of one cloaked man, and hit the other hooded man with the vase.
Once he saw one-third of the intruders fall unconscious on the floor, the younger Kaiba wrapped his arms around the cloaked man's neck. He maintained his tight hold as the man squirmed to get him off his back.
The cloaked man stood up and ran to ram his back against the wall, hoping to hurt and stop Mokuba.
However, the raven-haired boy used all his strength to twist his opponent's body at an angle. Using the leverage he created from the movement, he rammed the man's forehead full-force against the wall.
The second man fell unconscious on the marbled floor.
During Mokuba's brave moves, Jonouchi leveraged himself to stamp on the detective's foot. As the man screamed in pain, he twisted the arm that held the dagger. The dagger fell on the floor and the blonde teen kicked it as far away from them as possible. He then punched his opponent.
Jonouchi's fist sent the detective reeling on the floor. Once he saw the accomplices sprawled unconscious a few feet away from them, he slammed the leader hard against the floor. "Who sent you, you bastard?"
The detective did not reply.
Jonouchi slammed the detective harder against the floor and demanded, "Who sent you?"
"Yo -Yoshiko!" the cloaked detective confessed in between labored breaths of pain.
The blonde-haired duelist then punched the hooded man out-cold.
Emrys limped towards her two companions. Her mind and heart pounded as she pondered, "Didn't Yugi tell me that she's my good friend? Why would a good friend want to kill me?" The hazel brown eyes then narrowed and misted.
Jonouchi approached Emrys. His chestnut-brown eyes expressively conveyed his concern. "Are you okay?"
With eyes remaining narrowed, Emrys stared at their three unconscious attackers.
The blonde teen kept his silence as a wave of worry and uneasiness descended upon him.
The younger Kaiba, seeing Emrys' reaction, went by her side and hugged her.
Although her ribs and side throbbed from the gesture, Emrys still embraced the boy with one arm. Hazel eyes focused its attention on the raven-haired boy as she smiled and basked in her companions' care and concern for her.
Sighing deeply, Emrys then grimly looked at their blonde-haired companion. "We're not safe here, Jonouchi. We have to leave."
"I agree, but where do we go?"
Mokuba interjected, "Let us follow Yugi."
Jonouchi's voice rose. "That's too dangerous!"
"Not more than here," the younger Kaiba retorted.
After discussion, the three agreed to leave the hospital in spite of the vehement protests of her doctor and nurses. Security already detained the three men and waited to relinquish them over to the police.
While Emrys signed release forms and waivers for early release after Mokuba told her what name she should use for signing, Mokuba called the other Yugi and told the latter everything that just happened.
The other Yugi was still stunned to know that Yoshiko was responsible for the attacks against Emrys. He advised the boy, "Why don't you guys return to the loft?"
Mokuba groaned as he leaned against the wall. "The loft might not be safe, either. I still don't know how these people followed us here."
"Where are Emrys and Jonouchi?"
The younger Kaiba looked a few feet ahead of him at the nurses' station. "They're a few feet away from me. The hospital is making her sign papers before we leave. Jonouchi's standing right beside her."
With a deeper voice, the other Yugi said, "Mokuba, don't follow us here. It's too dangerous. I know that your brother would be saying the same thing to you."
"But - "
"Please, Mokuba... It's for everyone's safety."
Assessing that Emrys was in no condition to travel and knowing that his older sibling would want them safe, the raven-haired boy pouted. "I don't like this one bit."
Soothingly, the other Yugi replied, "I know... You have to trust me that I'll get your brother back. Meanwhile, the three of you need to stick together and stay away from here."
The chauffeur opened the partitioning window between him and his passenger via remote. "We're almost there, Sir."
The passenger slightly nodded. He looked around and saw the limousine enter a vast and abandoned amusement park. "I'm sending back the chauffeur to pick you guys up."
A calmer and more accepting Mokuba then said, "We'll go back to the loft. We'll wait for both of you. Good luck, Yugi."
The other Yugi hung up, flipped the cell phone, and placed it in his pocket. He flipped open the laptop monitor to pinpoint exactly where Kaiba was. He then knocked on the partitioned window and requested the chauffeur to stop.
The other Yugi now found Kaiba's exact location. Now, it was just a matter of finding and setting his rival free. Addressing the chauffeur, he said, "Thanks for the lift. Master Kaiba and the rest need a ride back to the loft."
The chauffeur inquired, "Would you like me to come back for you, Mister Mutou?"
"I'll call to let you know. I'll just get off from here. Thanks again."
After his passenger stepped out of the limousine, the chauffeur drove out of the abandoned lot.
The young man's amethyst eyes intently gazed at the spectacle before him: a house of horrors inside an abandoned amusement park. He entered the mouth of the cave and smelled the air's dankness - marking the beginning of the house of horrors and his search for Kaiba.
For a good fifteen minutes, the other Yugi walked through the labyrinth of halls inside the house of horrors. He encountered mirrors, fake skeletons and other creatures of the night, artificial and real insects, and other minor obstacles. During the whole time, he brushed off the cobwebs he collected through his search. The air became heavier and staler as he went deeper within the cavernous-looking hallways.
As the other Yugi made one sharp turn, he then stopped dead on his tracks and whispered, "Kaiba..."
The sapphire-eyed young man twitched and glanced up as he heard his name called. His eyes widened as he saw the other Yugi.
His rescuer placed his index finger on top of his lips, prompting the captive to remain silent. Trying to find a way in the cell, he discovered that the cell was unlocked. He slid the cell door open with ease. Something, however, remained unsettled with him.
Looking up as he gathered an ounce of strength, Kaiba whispered, "Who's with you?"
Still concentrated on releasing the captive from his shackles, the other Yugi responded, "I'm alone."
The older Kaiba let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Mokuba was safely far away from where he was held. He then asked, "How did you find me?"
"Mokuba tracked you down."
Before the amethyst-eyed duelist could free his rival, or for the CEO to react from hearing that his brother found him, a voice from behind sarcastically asked, "Having trouble, dear Pharaoh?"
The other Yugi abruptly looked behind him. His hunch was right...
It was a trap.
As Yoshiko snapped her fingers, the bonds from Kaiba's hands and legs fell and clanged on the concrete floor.
Still reeling from the stun gun's effect as well as the abuse he suffered from her, Kaiba struggled to stand up. Eventually, his knees found some strength.
The two duelists stood side-by-side, looking at Yoshiko with respectively intense anger and disgust.
Sneering with contempt, Yoshiko remarked, "You don't look surprised to see me, dear Pharaoh."
"Someone already told me what you're really up to," the other Yugi deadpanned. "Emrys completely trusted you..."
Yoshiko's eyebrow rose as her charcoal gray eyes burned. However, her flared temper quickly subsided. "My henchmen know the price for their failure. If you both want your freedom, one of you must duel against me and win."
Before the other Yugi could accept her challenge, Kaiba held him back using his right arm. With his trademark stubbornness and coldness, he said, "No, Yugi. This is my duel!"
Intense amethyst eyes met burning azure ones. "You don't know what you're up against! She's going to take you to the Shadow Realm. You'll have no strength to withstand her there."
Kaiba scoffed at his rival. "I don't want to hear that supernatural nonsense you keep yammering about!"
The cloaked Yoshiko's face radiated a twisted and evil smile. "You should listen to the Pharaoh."
The CEO glowered at Yoshiko with burning sapphire eyes. "You're dueling against me, you cowardly and treacherous bitch! I'll show you why you shouldn't mess with Kaiba Seto!"
With the other Yugi's amethyst eyes narrowing further and his forehead crinkling with trademark intensity, he braced himself with clenched fists. He thought, "How the hell can I help Kaiba if he doesn't want to be helped?"
The other Yugi's heart and mind raced to find a way to improve his rival's odds for the upcoming inevitable...
Kaiba and Yoshiko were about to duel in the Shadow Realm with the disadvantage resting against Kaiba. While she would remain unaffected by the results of the duel, his rival would forfeit his very soul should he lose.
End of Chapter Eleven
About Yoshiko
If you're wondering who Yoshiko is, she is the stage manager, personal assistant, and Emrys' long-time friend. She appears in Chapters 6 and 7 of The Encounter of Lost Souls (entitled The Prelude and The Night to Remember respectively).
Her primary mission is to keep Emrys - the crest-wielder - close to her, and has been involved with the sinister group before knowing and befriending Emrys. Just like her father, Yoshiko is bent to get power - even in the cruelest of ways.
But since fate has a way of intertwining things, she includes revenge against Kaiba and the other Yugi in her agenda after her father dies.
Kaiba, through the course of making arrangements for Alexa's concert at Kaiba Corporation's Domino Arena, meets and deals with Yoshiko. And the other Yugi meets Yoshiko for the first time in Chapter 6.
Author's Note
Although this story arc stands independently from The Encounter of Lost Souls and There Will Come Soft Rain, the three stories are inter-connected. This fact will also apply to most of the subsequent Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction stories that I will post in the future.
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the property copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. This fan fiction, as well as the original characters, is the author's property.
Enjoy reading!
PJ Zatken