CK: Okaaaaaaaaay....just realized that I'm making a fic about Pegasus, and then I put him in a coma without a little bit of an explanation for the readers. Okay, first of all, YES, this is a ficcie about Pegasus, so he IS the focus of all this. He's only down for the count in last chapter and this chapter. Technically, this doesn't mean the coma ends, but....well, you'll all understand what I mean in the next chapter, OK? Just trust me people. AND KEEP REVIEWING!!!!!! Which reminds me: Mokuba, SweetCandie sends you a hug and two kisses.

Mokuba: ^ ^

CK: Also, some goodness: once I finish this chapter, all the GOOD stuff happens. Once I finish this chapter, I can stop ESTABLISHING the plot and actually get TO the plot. But I'm yapping too much. ONWARD!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4: Curiosity Kills the Cat

Kaiba glanced around the darkness, uncertainty showing in his eyes. There was some light coming from the floorboards above his head, but Kaiba could tell that it was too far above his head for him to attempt to climb back up again......he didn't even know where the walls were at this point. He felt around blindly with his good arm until he felt something similar to a wall.......wait. If he had just fallen under Pegasus's dungeons, wouldn't the walls be craggy and hard, like a cave? Instead, what he felt was smooth and metallic, and it seemed to be bulging out a little.
Kaiba felt along more of it...it wasn't a wall it was....a pipe?!! It must be a water pipe leading to the castle...... Which means.....? Kaiba thought to himself. If the water pipe led to the castle, then there must be a way to get inside from there......The wheels in Kaiba's mind started churning slowly..... Even if the pipe doesn't have an entrance big enough for me or Pegasus, it'll still be by the castle....maybe close enough for someone to hear someone's SOS signal...... Kaiba took one last glance at the slim beam of light coming from the ceiling.... If Mai hasn't found us here now, she's not going to find us here later....... Kaiba proceeded to attempt to make a sling out of his trench-coat. It took him what seemed an eternity, but eventually, he managed a simply done sling. Kaiba proceeded to half-drag, half-carry Pegasus along with him.... No matter how much I may hate him, I can't leave him down here like this. As much as I may want to, I'm not some sniveling brat who takes the easy way out when it comes to revenge............ Kaiba leaned against the water-pipe to make sure he didn't lose his way......the tunnel was still too dark to see very well in...... Kaiba began his tiresome hike...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Yugi and company came near to Duelist Kingdom, it was almost midnight. Almost everyone was tired, except for Yugi and Bakura.........
Bakura noticed out of the corner of his eye that Yugi was staring out the window, gazing intently at the moon. He must be thinking rather hard...then again, so am I....good thing my hikari's giving me instructions on how to fly this thing......
Bakura was thinking intently...he was puzzled by something. When he heard his hikari speak Pegasus's name, a memory surfaced...one that still puzzled him......
It had been the day of the Duelist Kingdom championship.....and Yugi had just won the duel. The baka hikari had been asleep, but when he awakened he heard the news.......so of course, Bakura had gone to win the Millennium Eye......
It was strange. Bakura had entered the room only seconds after Pegasus himself.....but something had prevented him from interfering immediately......
The Ring had always been able to sense the Millennium Eye...even when the Millennium Puzzle was sitting in front of it, the Eye was all it pointed towards.......because the Eye had a shadow about it, an aura that was irresistible to an object like the Ring, the always power-hungry Ring.......
When Bakura had seen Pegasus that last time, the aura was gone....instead, a strange feeling of emptiness was there......hollowness.....strange for one with such magical abilities as Pegasus......which was what he had supposed the aura was, it had to be magic, as the Ring only sensed it when a Millennium Item was near........No, that wasn't it either, without magic Pegasus couldn't have freed those souls......Well, whatever it was, its absence had weakened Pegasus, causing him to lose his item......forever........ With a grin, Bakura fumbled for its weighty presence in his left pocket.....
Yugi stared into the night, thinking to himself about the situation at hand.....In his eyes, he saw Yami sitting beside him, watching him closely...but of course, no one else could see him..........
//Yugi, what are you thinking so intently about?....You've been quiet this whole time, but I know you're not tired....// //I'm just confused, that's all......// //About what? // //Kaiba and Pegasus......it seems like it's so obvious that Pegasus would be up to something again, but......but I don't think that's even possible.// //Why?// //I don't know....it's just a gut feeling// //Yugi, people don't change that quickly. You can watch a person for years on end, and they never change. They keep all their flaws with them, all of their talents, all of the good things about them. That's just how things are. // //If you say so...// Yugi took a long look at Yami. //Are you alright? You look worried....// Yami sighed. //I sense something...I don't like this Yugi, I think something bad's going to happen...// //What? You mean Pegasus? // //No, I don't sense any evil....just danger....// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone arrived at the island a few minutes later.....when they got to the castle, they found Mai, sleeping on the tall stairway that led to the entrance. Mokuba shook her awake. "Mai! Mai! It's me, Mokuba!!!!!' Mai stirred. "Wha? Oh, you guys are here....." (A/N: Oops, I forgot to mention a couple of things.....Mokuba called Mai before, so she knew they were coming a.k.a. why she was waiting for them in front of the castle. Also, the reason that everyone is not gonna be grounded for life by their parents for leaving later is, well, everyone either said that they were gonna sleep over at somebody else's house for a couple of days, or, in Roy's case, his parents are in Italy. Also, please just pretend that Ryou, Mokuba, and Mai know about Pegasus wanting to bring Cecilia back, because it saves me a lot of explaining. But don't pretend that Kaiba knows....you'll find out why in the next chapter.....) Mai stood up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Good...you're here. Now maybe somebody can help me figure out what's going on around here." Yugi shook his head. "We all wish we knew the answer to that one." "Well, whatever.....listen, it's late, so why don't we go find those guest rooms of Pegasus's and get some sleep....?" Everyone but Yugi nodded in agreement and immediately went inside, exhausted from the long flight...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yugi lay awake, yet again thinking to himself......he just couldn't get to sleep, no matter how hard he tried.
Yami watched his hikari carefully, though the older spirit showed more signs of fatigue. //Yugi, you have to get some sleep. It's almost one in the morning........// //Not really....look, the sun's rising.// //It's just the time difference, Yugi. You shouldn't overwork yourself.// Yugi sighed. //I just feel restless. I wanna make sure Kaiba's okay as soon as I can...// Yami smiled a little at his other self. //You care too much for others sometimes...alright, if it makes you feel any better, we'll look around for an hour// //Okay....//
When Yugi left his room, he was surprised to find Ryou and Tea up, both wandering the halls.

(A/N: Nothing along the lines of romance, people.....just needed to let you know.......)

"Ryou? Tea? What're you guys doing here?" Tea turned to him and said, sleepily: "We couldn't get any sleep......flying in a helicopter must work like caffeine or something...." Ryou nodded, then yawned. "So what're you doing up, Yugi?"

"I'm just restless, that's all. I want to find out where Kaiba and Pegasus are as soon as possible."

Tea nodded agreeably. "I talked with Mai a little before she went to bed. She said something about Kaiba going to the dungeons before he disappeared..." "Well, then let's check there......" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was only a few minutes later, the trio was peering into the gaping hole in Pegasus's dungeon laboratory. (Well, ONE of the laboratories, anyway.)
Ryou turned to Yugi and Tea "Do you think that maybe Kaiba's down there." Tea blinked. "I dunno......Mai said something about this hole....she said that she tried calling Kaiba's name down there a couple of times, but she never got a response...."

"Well, does anybody have some sort of a flashlight?"

Ryou reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a keychain, containing one small, black flashlight. "Here you go, Yugi..." "Thanks, Ryou." Yugi flicked it on, and shined the light towards the looming darkness..... But the hole was so deep that the flashlight barely showed the trio anything...... Yugi moved the light back and forth, scanning the array of things that he saw down there. "I don't see anyone...."

"Well, let's just yell out for him a few times, just in case..."

"Okay, Ryou..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaiba was trudging along when he stopped for a second. He blinked and turned around. He propped Pegasus up against the water pipe, then tried to listen.... Is someone calling my name?..... Kaiba listened for one more minute, then shook his head. I'm becoming delusional....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yugi shook his head. "No good.....I guess maybe he's not down there......"

Tea shrugged. "It's a possibility. But why is there a humongous hole in the floor?"

"Well, look at the rest of the room, it's a pigsty. Pegasus hasn't been keeping anything else straightened up, so the floorboards must have rotted through and he hasn't fixed it up yet."

"I guess so.......well, we still haven't checked the rest of the dungeons, so let's get started..."

"Right." "Right."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three teens searched the dungeons for about ten more minutes before they found the second laboratory. This one was also filled with tons of machines, but someone had mad sure that this one was a lot neater than the other laboratory.
The room had several desks, each with small piles of papers on top. In the center stood all the machines, but only two of them stood out prominently. Each was a glass chamber. On the left stood one, empty, with several knobs, buttons, and switches inside. On the right stood the other, with closed doors. The glass on this one was frosted over, so no one could see what was inside.
Yugi scanned the room and shook his head. "Nope, Kaiba definitely couldn't be in here."

He looked to where his companions were just standing. Then he noticed that both of them were fumbling around with the machines. "You GUYS???? What're you doing???"

Ryou shrugged. "Just being thorough. Might as well find out what these machines are for, while we're here." "Ryou, come on, we're here to find Kaiba."

Ryou shrugged and walked back to Yugi. Tea, however, ignored them. She walked inside the chamber on the left and began to fumble with the knobs. "Hey, do either of you guys know what 'HC' or 'CM' means? It's labeled next to some of the knobs......" "Tea, I really don't think you should be fooling around with that...."

"Oh come on, Yugi, what's the harm? Pegasus runs a game company, this is probably some sort of virtual reality machine......"

"Still...."

"Oh come on, Yugi..."

She looked at two of the knobs and twisted them all the way to the right. Little bar meters above the knobs began to glow red. Yugi sensed Yami shifting in his soul room.... //Yugi, let me out, I don't like this....It's that aura from befo-...// Before Yami could finish his thought, Tea had pulled on one of the switches, and the glass chamber had shut its doors, trapping her inside. Tea looked bewildered. "Wha....?" Soon, a small vent from the top of the inside of the chamber began to let in a flowing stream of smoke......Tea began coughing hard. Yami took over, then ran to the chamber and attempted to open the glass doors.....Soon, the smoke was clouding up the whole chamber, blocking any view of Tea.....but Yami and Ryou could hear her screaming inside.......
Yami was still prying at the glass when the doors slid open by themselves, and Tea fell out, stiff and pale. Yami caught her and immediately felt her wrist for any signs of a heartbeat....telling him what he had known the moment that the chamber had opened.... "She's dead........."
For what seemed almost forever, Yami held Tea's limp corpse, weeping, unable to accept something that had happened so quickly, yet so tragically. Ryou knelt next to him, trying to think of something to say, but only being able to stare blankly at Yami's tear-stained face.....
Ryou was in a daze, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. He felt unable to do anything but watch and listen to the world, not knowing what to do or say. His senses were acute, but his mind was so numb that he couldn't completely understand what he was sensing. Which may explain why it was him and not Yami that dimly heard the sound of clanging metal and retreating footsteps........