*CHAPTER 8*
~Ryou's POV~
Even if I live to be one hundred years old, I never want to lay eyes on another beach ever again. Give me the desert, the mountains—somewhere far, far away from the salty waves and spray, if you please. The Great Plains sound like a lovely travel destination…miles and miles of land for as far as the eye can see.
Perhaps I've developed an unfair bias against the ocean. After all, how could one who barely escaped its suffocating clutches come away from the incident without developing some form of partiality against it? Still, I'm not ashamed to say that I would have much rather been wandering the sun-baked canyons of Death Valley that stormy night at the water's edge.
White-capped walls of water smashed against the sandy shores with a ceaseless din of rushing, roaring and hissing. Foam flew high into the air and floated back down into the writhing mass of gray-brown ocean with each wave that broke. Cold, heavy raindrops splattered against my face and my hair lashed against my cheeks, whipped into a crazy dance by the wild wind.
I stood, hugging my arms to my chest in an attempt to conserve what body heat I could. Unfortunately, the action did little to aid my predicament; my teeth still chattered so badly I could barely speak.
Yuugi stood to my left and he looked every bit as miserable as I felt. His soaked hair hung limp in his face and clutched to the back of his neck. I would have laughed at the sight if my face hadn't been so frozen.
To my right was Jounouchi. Aside from being sopping wet, he seemed to be unaffected by the rain. His arms didn't even sport a single goosebump as he wrung the seawater out of his shirt. A hidden benefit of being a machine? Maybe.
Kaiba hovered behind us, quietly stretching his wings. (Can things get any stranger? I wondered. Mai as a mutant assassin named Jezebel, Jounouchi as a robot and now Kaiba as some kind of Blue-Eyes White Dragon crossbreed….) His face was an unreadable mask, as he glared at each of us in turn.
Jezebel rounded out our pathetic little group. She was busy extending and retracting her claws from her fingertips out of…annoyance? Anger? Sheer boredom? It was impossible to tell which.
Before us loomed a barrier of rocky cliff wall that looked so unstable the idea of scaling it was dangerous under even the best of conditions. Now, slick with rain and treacherous wind, climbing over it was out of the question.
"Well, this complicates things," Jezebel finally muttered. "Looks like we're stuck here until the storm calms down."
"Whaddaya mean 'we're stuck here'?" demanded Jounouchi.
"Precisely what I said, kid. These cliffs" (she jabbed a finger at the wall of stone in front of us) "circle the whole beach. They go all the way out into the water. So—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up a second!" Jounouchi held up a hand and Jezebel fell silent. "Out into da water? As in we're gonna be goin' swimming to get off dis beach?"
"It's not far at all. Thirty…forty meters at the longest. All you've got to do is make it around the rock wall and—"
"Jou—" Yuugi began, but Jounouchi wasn't about to let the subject drop.
"Why didn't ya just take us there in da first place? Huh?"
Jezebel clenched her hands into fists and snapped, "Next time you try navigating through the goddamned hurricane, dumbass! You should be glad I even managed to get us here at all!"
Jounouchi (thankfully) decided not to push Jezebel any farther and instead turned around and said, "Hey, Kaiba, you don't think you could fly us up dere, do ya? I mean since—"
"No," came the reply in a tone that left absolutely no room for argument.
"So what are we going to do then?" I questioned. "We can't just stay out here in the rain until the storm passes."
"Well, as I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted," answered Jezebel with an acidic glare at Jounouchi. "There are caves all around the base of these cliffs. Any one of those will suit us well enough. Now if you would follow me…."
She led us across the beach, past a multitude of hollows that were little more than shallow scrapes in the wall of stone that blocked our way before finally settling on a hole that extended back into the cliff face a good twenty feet.
We had no sooner walked into the cave (the ceiling was so low I had to stoop to make it through the entrance) when Kaiba rounded on Yuugi with, "All right, time for some explanations."
"I'll say it's time," snorted Jounouchi. "So uh…what's with da wings and tail? Where'd those come from?"
Kaiba gave him a look that could have melted steel and Jounouchi wisely went quiet. Satisfied, Kaiba turned back to Yuugi.
"Well…we're…somehow we managed to…uh…jump ahead in time a few years." Kaiba raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Emboldened, Yuugi went on, "This is the year 3145. None of us know how we got here, but we do know how to get back to 2004."
He paused and still, Kaiba didn't interrupt. "See, we met this sorcerer named Dante who told us he could send us home if we could dethrone an evil man who everyone calls the Ruler because he rules over the entire world. So we hired Jezebel—I know she looks like Mai, but really, she's not—to help us. She's an assassin, you know."
He paused again, and Kaiba still made no response. "So now all we've got to do is get into the Ruler's castle—oh, did I mention he's protected by the most advanced security system ever? That's why we need to find this duke named Casper. He has a laptop that we can use to hack into the security system. And then, all we have to do is kill the Ruler and Dante will send us back home!"
Kaiba waited a moment before inquiring, "Are you finished, Yuugi?"
"Yes. I think I've covered everything."
"And you expect me to believe that drabble?"
"Well…yes, it's the truth."
Kaiba laughed a mirthless laugh before stating, "If you think I'm crazy enough to believe a story as outrageous as that, you are stupider than I was willing to give you credit for, Yuugi. Now why don't you tell me what this is really all about? Because I am not in the mood for jokes."
After at least an hour of convincing and a more in-depth account of (most of) what had happened to us thus far, Kaiba finally believed us—although I think it was more out of a necessity to have some sort of explanation rather than actual trust.
The only question he had for us once we'd finished speaking our piece was, "So why would I look like this? The three of you still look normal. Why should I be any different?"
"Maybe it's for the same reason that Jounouchi would be a robot in this time," I suggested.
"The mutt's a robot?"
"Hey, Kaiba, I'm not—ow!" hollered Jounouchi. He clutched at his arm and glared at Jezebel as she calmly retracted her claws. "I'm not a damn toy, you know!" he snapped as he eyed the bloodless wound. "That still hurts!"
"It got the point across, didn't it?" Jezebel sniffed.
Jounouchi looked as though he wanted to offer some sort of reply, but before he could get a word out, a voice from outside the cave shouted, "Is someone in there? Hello?"
The voice had a very strange effect on Jezebel—she stiffened, her eyes went wide with surprise (?) and her ears twitched. "Isaac, is that you, you worthless, good-for-nothing, lazy sack of—"
"Aha…hello, Jezebel. Is that any way to talk to someone who's come to rescue you?" the voice lightly inquired.
"Rescue?" shrieked the assassin. She leapt to her feet, very nearly bashing her head on the roof of the cave, and exploded back out onto the open beach. Her exasperated voice echoed back to us, "You call this a rescue, do you? I see you've managed to wait until the storm ended to make your grand heroic entrance!"
"Is it just you then?" Isaac asked, undaunted.
"I have a few clients with me that need to speak with your master."
"Is that so?" A very recognizable white-blond head poked into view and poor Yuugi looked as though he was about to have a heart attack. Looking directly at us with a set of friendly, amethyst-colored eyes was Malik Ishtar.
Not the same Malik we all know, I reminded myself. This is somebody completely different, like Jezebel, Dante and Anita….
"Well, don't just sit there in that hole," he laughed. (Malik Ishtar…or rather, Isaac actually laughed a happy, real chortle.) "Come out here if you want me to take you to the duke."
Yuugi quickly recovered enough to mouth "Don't," to Jounouchi, who looked as though he was ready to start ripping out Isaac's internal organs and the four of us crept out of the cave and back onto the beach.
The storm had disappeared while we'd been huddled inside the cave and now watery sunlight bathed everything with a white-gray glow. The waves were little more than mild swells that timidly lapped at the shore. Only the faintest trace of breeze remained, barely enough to waft the salty smell of the sea to our noses.
"Now then, Jezebel, I'll have you know that my late arrival can hardly be blamed on me," Isaac said as he began making his way across the beach to a decent-sized canoe that sat beached on the golden brown sand. "Master Casper saw your ship when you were near the shore, not me. He's the one who waited until the storm was over to send me to look for survivors."
"Gee, what a great guy," Jounouchi muttered. "That was sure considerate of him. The bastard."
Luckily, Isaac didn't hear Jounouchi's remark as he pushed the canoe into the shallow water and held it there, gently bobbing in the placid surf. "Ladies first," he stated with a wink at Jezebel.
The assassin rolled her eyes, but jumped into the canoe and took a seat near the back. I slid into the seat in front of her, none too pleased to be seeing another boat so soon. By the time Kaiba, Yuugi and Jounouchi had climbed aboard, our space had become rather cramped. When Isaac stepped into his place at the front, I found myself with Yuugi's elbow in my back, my arms pinned to my sides and Kaiba's wings in my face. The boat tipped and rocked if anybody made even the slightest movement as Isaac rowed out and around the rock wall. We glided forward at a pace that seemed jerky and sudden without the benefit of a sail. In all, it was a very uncomfortable (but thankfully, short) ride.
We hit the shore on the opposite side of the cliffs with a light bump and the six of us piled out of the canoe and onto a narrow strip of beach that disappeared into a dense stand of palm trees and ferns. Isaac pulled the little boat all the way up to the edge of the tropical plants before motioning for us to follow him.
The walk through the tropical forest was a long and boring one. Most of it was spent picking our way through dense tangles of creeper vines and other vegetation that hung in our way. Our path was at a steady incline that was easy to climb for the first mile or so, but tiring soon after that. When we finally emerged from the jungle and caught our first sight of the duke's home it was so sudden we were all stunned—except Isaac, who continued to chatter on as he had throughout the entire trek.
To say the duke lived in a mansion would be understating it. The place was large enough to be considered a small palace, looming several stories high. The thatched roof alone must have taken acres and acres of grass to build. But for all its size, it was graceful and airy, with an abundance of colored windows and intricate carvings at each door and window frame.
We were standing at the edge of what looked to be some sort of an orchard, filled with uniform lines of orange and cherry trees. "All these fruit trees you see here were sent to the Master from Sir Dante himself," Isaac proudly announced. "They've got special enchantments on them so they'll grow in our climate."
Wow, I thought as we followed Isaac through the orchard and over a bridge that spanned a koi pond the size of a lake. Talking about your over extravagance….
The inside of the palace was, if possible, even more ornamented than the outside. Tapestries and paintings lined every wall. Persian rugs lined every spare inch of floor. Sculptures stood in every room. It could have been the world's biggest art museum.
Isaac led us through a series of hallways that sported so much gold, marble and masterful artwork it was enough to make your eyes ache. Finally, we arrived at a set of mahogany doors.
"Wait here for just a minute, all right?" Isaac whispered before slipping through the doors and into the room beyond. Though his voice was muffled by the heavy wood doors, we could still hear him say, "Sir, we have visitors. Would you like me to send them in?"
"What? What?" a second voice blearily demanded. "Visitors?" The voice took on a pouty tone. "Send them away. I was taking my nap."
"But sir—"
"No, no, no! I will not have it! Send them away!"
"They've come from—"
"I can't hear you. I'm sleeping."
There was an exasperated sigh and Isaac poked his head out of the doors. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "The Master won't see any visitors for the time being. If you want to wait a few hours and—urk!"
Isaac was cut short as Jezebel shoved him out of her way and squeezed her way into the room. The rest of us quietly followed suit (though Yuugi paused to help Isaac to his feet and apologize for Jezebel) and received yet another surprise to add to the ever-growing list.
Sitting in a throne that could just as easily be mistaken for an easy chair was yet another familiar figure. He was tall; taller than any of us by several inches, and pale. His sleek, white hair hung around his shoulders and shined even in the scantly lit room. Aside from the conspicuously absent Millennium Eye, Casper could have easily been Pegasus J. Crawford's identical twin.
Now it was Kaiba's turn to give a new acquaintance a murderous glare. He was quivering with barely-suppressed rage at the sight of somebody who so closely resembled his former adversary. Yuugi looked completely shell shocked and Jounouchi was quietly repeating under his breath, "Must…not…kill…."
It was Casper who first broke the spell by nervously shifting in his seat and stammering, "J—Jezebel! What…what a pleasant surprise! How have you b-been as of late?"
Jezebel narrowed her eyes and answered, "I would be doing very well if you would pay me for the last job you hired me for."
"Oh, yes…heh…that. I was certain I'd sent your pay to you with that last cargo ship. I'm ever so sorry."
"Well, lucky for you, that's not what I came here for."
Casper cringed and timidly questioned, "It's not?"
Jezebel smiled sweetly and replied in a syrupy tone, "Oh, no. I'm only here to pick up a certain illegal laptop, that's all."
"A l-l-laptop?" Casper squeaked. "W-whatever gave you the idea I had one of those?"
"Dante told us you would have one," Yuugi piped up.
"That little slanderer! I have nothing of the sort! You…you could search this whole castle and never find a laptop! Never!"
Kaiba sighed and said, "You obviously have something to hide if you're reacting like this."
"I do not, you…you stupid mutant!" I would swear that he puckered his lip like a five year old after that last remark.
"If you'd just tell us where you're keepin' the damn thing we'd be out of here in a jiffy," Jounouchi tried.
I licked my lips and added, "We won't turn you in…if you'll let us have the laptop, that is."
"But…I…argh! Isaac, go fetch the item these wretches seek," Casper finally relented. He watched as Isaac hurried out of the room and smirked, "Although I don't know what you think you're going to do with that useless piece of junk—it won't do anything without a robot to help run it."
Everybody turned their eyes onto Jounouchi.
~Mai's POV~
I picked at the government-regulation meal for a good five minutes before pushing the plastic try aside with a sigh. Tasteless macaroni and cheese isn't all that appetizing right now, I thought. And congealed tasteless macaroni and cheese is just disgusting.
My fingers went to my neck and I lightly traced the blotchy, purple bruises there. Who was that man, I wondered to myself. Was he the one who did all those awful things to Kaiba and Ryou and Yuugi and…and Jounouchi?
I shuddered as I recalled the tubes and machines and wires that had surrounded my friends in those hospital rooms. It's not fair, I thought. What did they ever do to deserve any of that? I hope whoever did this to them gets what they've got coming to them.
An unbearable dryness began to settle in my mouth and I swallowed, trying to ignore it. God, I needed a drink. My hands twitched and began to sweat. That bottle of wine is starting to look pretty nice, isn't it?
I reached for the smoke-black bottle, but paused, my hand halfway there. No, I thought. I don't know where it came from. But surely one little sip couldn't hurt anything? No!
The bottle had appeared when I'd been in the bathroom a couple of hours ago. None of the officers could have brought it to me—they were all so strict about adhering to the rules and restrictions that they would never bring me wine. Besides that, they were so loud coming in and out of my room there was no possible way I could have missed them. The wine was not there when I'd walked into my tiny bathroom. It had simply appeared in the two minutes I'd been in there. How or why were a mystery to me, but whatever the reason, it couldn't be good.
My chair made a loud screech as I pushed it back and got to my feet. The bottle silently sat in its place at the end of the table. I quickly tore my eyes away from it and even considered throwing it in the trash to remove even the slightest temptation to open it. I'm like Pandora, I thought, still able to sense the bottle on the table behind me. Yeah, that's right. Don't open the bottle, Mai. All the monsters will pop out and get you.
I chuckled at the thought and tried to ignore the terrible parched feeling as it crept to the back of my throat. Pandora. I tightly folded my hands as though I were praying. Bottle. I jiggled my foot. Monsters.
"All right, time to stop being silly about this," I muttered, turning back to the bottle, still resting innocently enough at the far end of the table. "You want a drink, so have a drink. You're a big girl. You can handle it."
That much decided, I reached for the bottle for the second time in as many minutes…and froze with my hand on the neck. Someone's outside my door. "Stop it," I whispered. "Don't start getting paranoid." They're watching me. "No."
They're coming to get you, Mai. They're coming. He's coming. Coming to take you away. I shivered and grabbed the bottle so tight my knuckles went white. Coming to get you.
"I'm coming to get you, bitch."
That voice, that deep, gravelly voice. I knew that voice. I would never forget that horrible voice. It was the man with the golden eye. The man who wanted me dead. He was here—never mind how he was here—just outside my door.
I wanted to curl up into a little ball and cry. I was weak with fear, sick with it. But somehow, my panic-fogged brain managed to form a plan. A feeble excuse of a plan it was, but under the circumstances, it was the best I could come up with. Silently, I crossed the room, wine bottle in hand to stand to the right of the door.
"You're gonna die, you goddamned bitch. Hear me? I'm gonna kill ya."
I shivered, but I held my ground as the lock on my door began to click. I could hear the tumblers sliding into place as he worked. He'll be in any second.
The wine bottle was heavier than I'd expected it to be, but I tightened my grip on its neck as I silently waited for the door to swing open.
There was a loud scraping noise as the last tumbler fell into place and the man let out a grunt of triumph. I held my breath. Here he comes….
The door was thrown open hard and it smashed into my free arm and head. I gasped with pain, but bit my tongue, not about to cry out and give away my hiding place. A set of heavy footsteps barreled through the door and I pulled together every last scrap of courage I had left to burst out of my hiding place and swing the wine bottle as hard as I could.
My aim was dead on. I'd expected the bottle to shatter when it hit his head. After all, that's what always seems to happen on TV. However, there was only a dull thud as it smashed into his face. The man; that huge, strong man that had the power to kill me crashed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut and stayed down.
I darted out the door and slammed it shut. I heard the automatic lock whir back into place as I tore down the long, empty hall, but felt absolutely no comfort from the sound. He'll be out of there soon enough.
I couldn't go home, I couldn't stay at the police station—but I knew exactly where I needed to go. I'd noticed something about that golden eye that the man wore, something so painfully obvious I couldn't believe I'd missed it earlier.
That eye is on that pyramid necklace that Yuugi Mutou's always got around his neck, I thought as I raced out of the police station and onto the bustling streets of Domino City. There's got to be some sort of connection. I have to find Anzu Mazaki….
Author's Notes: Jackknife 20 is back! I'm not dead! And before you start throwing rotten fruit at me for not updating for…erm…four months, please allow me to offer a short explanation:
school + sports + music + SAT + college applications + an ungodly amount of homework = one very tired, very stressed, very uncreative Katkid
Now then, sorry about the (ridiculously long) delay. I will be updating this story a bit more often from now on (I hope).
Special thank you's go out to Ouvalyrin, Cherii (twice!), Dragon's Venom, Ryou Bakura Obsessor, Rishai Bakura, AmunRa, ArmaGirl, MercilessTantalus, and restlesspirit for all your reviews and encouragement! You guys are absolutely wonderful!