*CHAPTER 9*

~Jounouchi's POV~

            I love action movies.  Terminator.  Jurassic Park.  Star Wars.  The Matrix.  You know, blood and guts, good guys kicking ass, bad guys being asses.  Where the world is all high-speed car chases, adrenaline-packed shootouts and stunts so wild they're enough to make your eyes bug out.  Of course, sitting there in the theater watching actors and stuntmen playing out one of those slick, cool stories is something completely different from actually living one yourself.

            First off, there isn't any popcorn.  In fact, there isn't any nifty little concession stand at all.  But I suppose I shouldn't complain about that.  After all, it would be pretty hard to enjoy a king-size Reese's Pieces and jumbo Coke while you're busy being scared shitless.

            Yes, there isn't any popcorn or candy or pop.  There isn't any air conditioning, or comfy seats, or ticket stubs to tear into little bitty pieces and leave on the floor for the janitor to sweep up.  Which is why I wished more than anything else that I was sitting in the theater, watching those actors and stuntmen acting out our little adventure rather than being a part of it myself.

            We were a mere five miles away from the Ruler's castle; as close as we could get without triggering a bazillion alarms and getting ourselves shot before we could blink.  Kaiba had been clicking away at the laptop Casper had given to us for over an hour (How can he type with those claws? I wondered), and from what I could tell, he had only managed to make the screen flicker a couple of times.  He was also starting to look very pissed off.  Or confused (although when Kaiba gets confused, he generally gets pissed off, too, so it may have been a combination of both).  It wasn't the greatest time for Yug to say, "Hey, Kaiba, make any progress yet?"

   Kaiba mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like "piece of shit system" before answering, "No, Yuugi.  Let me concentrate."  I felt like hauling off and decking that asshole.  He sounded like he was talking to an annoying two year old; short and condescending.

            "You know, maybe we should take what Casper said into consideration," Ryou suggested from his corner of the camp.  "He did say it wouldn't do anything without a robot to help run it, and we do have a robot."

   Jezebel sighed, exasperated, and replied, "I doubt that fop knows anything more about computers than I do.  But hey, anything's worth a shot, I guess."

            "What do you think I'm gonna do?" I blurted at the exact moment Kaiba snapped, "I can handle this myself!"

            "It can't hurt anything to try, can it?" Ryou pushed as he coiled the black extension cord that had come with the laptop into knots.  "I mean, maybe it really won't work unless we try this."

   There was a pause as each of us digested that last bit, and then Kaiba wordlessly ripped the cord out of Ryou's hands, shook the kinks out of it and snapped one of the ends into the laptop.  "All right, mutt, get over here," he ordered, holding the other end of the cord at the ready.

   I did what any sane person would have done under the circumstances.  I balked.  "Eh heh," I nervously tittered.  "Where exactly is dat thing supposed to go?"

   Jezebel rolled her eyes and brushed back the hair behind my right ear before grabbing my hand and guiding it to a small, round hole.

            "Oh," I said.  "OK."  What else is there to say when you find out you've got a hole in your head that you never knew anything about?

   Of course dere had ta be a damn hole in my head, I thought as I walked over to Kaiba.  Makes perfect sense.

   Kaiba furiously shoved my hair out of the way and I braced myself (for what?) as he brought the cord up to the hole in my head.

            "Wait a minute," Yug shouted and Kaiba paused, the cord millimeters away from my head.  "Jou, are you sure you want to do this?"

   I put on what I hoped was a convincingly nonchalant smile answered, "Yeah, Yug.  'Course I do."  No I don't; I'm about ready to piss my pants.  Quit tryin' to give me an out.

            "But what if something goes wrong?"

   Damn.  "What's there to go wrong?" I brightly inquired.  Electrocution, brain damage, pain in general…oh yeah, let's not forget death while we're at it….  "Go ahead." I encouraged.

   I felt the cord slide into the hole and dully heard it click into place.  I had time to give a shaky smile and say, "Well, dat wasn't too bad" before I was flying through the air at a billion miles an hour.

   The trees, the sky, the dirt path we'd been sitting on, the tall grass that pressed on either side of the trail disappeared in a confused jumble of green, brown and blue.  The whole world turned into a sickening blur of psychedelic colors and my stomach danced an Irish jig.  I tried to close my eyes, but the wind held them open.  I tried to scream but the sound got stuck in my throat.  I couldn't hear, I couldn't breathe, for crying out loud.

   Then, BAM!  As suddenly as it had started, it stopped.  I landed sprawled on my back on a cold, hard surface, panting and shivering and wondering what in the hell had just happened.

   From far away, I heard Yug screaming, "Jou!  Jou!"  A remote echo in my head.

            "Yug?" I questioned, painfully climbing to my feet.

            "Jou!  What happened?  Are you all right?"  Yug again, but distant, a weird buzzing in my brain.

            "Yeah.  I…I think so."  I glanced around, searching for any sign of my friends and saw nothing but an endless expanse of emptiness.  Figures, I bitterly thought.  "Where am I?" I inquired.

            "I uploaded you into the computer."  Kaiba this time.

   Wow, thanks a lot.  That made everything crystal clear, I thought.  "So…uh…now what am I supposed to do?"

            "Wait.  I'll access the Ruler's system."

   Another nauseating kaleidoscope of movement and colors, and I was surrounded by miles and miles of…file cabinets.  Yes, you heard right.  Ordinary, everyday file cabinets; each two drawers high and a metallic brown-white color.  I had just registered this fact when I was sent flying down an aisle of cabinets at breakneck speed.

   I squinted trying to read the labels on the drawers as I hurtled past, but immediately gave it up as my guts twisted in rebellion. 

   Damn, I dunno how much more o' dis I can take, I thought.  And then I came to a screeching halt that was so sudden it left me staggering to keep from falling over on top of the cabinet I'd stopped in front of.

            "I found the security files," announced Kaiba's voice.  "That was almost too easy."

   I stooped down to read what was written on the label that was attached to the drawer in front of me.  Defense/Security, announced the white card.  Huh, I thought as I flipped the drawer open.  This does seem a little too easy.  Oh well….

   I closed my eyes and picked a random file out of the drawer.  It was thick and heavy in my hands, filled with pages and pages of computer code that looked like nothing but a bunch of spontaneous ones and zeros.  I turned the folder over in my hands and scanned the official-looking cover sheet attached to the front.  Well, this is nice, I thought.  Seein' as I don't have a friggn' clue what I'm supposed to do next.  Guess I'll just have ta try dis….

   The stack of papers in my hand made a satisfying ripping noise as I tore them apart.  I tossed the ruined file away, and watched the jagged bits of paper flutter to the ground like confetti.  I took the next folder and ripped it apart with gusto, relishing the sound of splitting paper.  A small mountain of paper now littered the floor around the cabinet, and I plunged on to the next file, and the next, and the next, until I'd effectively demolished every single folder in the drawer.

            "OK, guys, I'm done," I announced, surveying my handiwork.  "Get me outta here."

   Pause.  Wait for wild clash of colors.  Nothing.

            "Uh…guys?"  No answer.  "Hey, guys?"  Nothing.  "Hey!"  Zilch.  "Hello!"

            "What have you done?"

   I gasped.  I knew that voice; it was the most important voice in the world to me, the last voice I'd ever expected to hear in this God-awful place.  I whipped around, hardly daring to let myself hope that it was…that it could be…her.

            "Shizuka?"

   POW!  My jaws snapped together and my head jerked back as the muscles in my neck screamed.  Uppercut, my agony-fogged mind managed to realize.

   Before I had time to recover, something jabbed me hard in the stomach and I reeled back against the cabinet, sucking air and trying not to be sick.  A small set of hands dug into my shoulders, raising me up and then smashing my head against the cabinet.  I saw butterflies of light as my vision fought to overcome the shock.  (Gee, what pretty colors, I hazily thought.)

            "Hey," I managed to wheeze as I prized the hands loose.  "What're you—"

            "You've been a naughty boy," the voice broke in.  (Her voice!  It was hers!  I knew it!)  "Naughty boys must be punished."

   There was a flash of movement at the edge of my vision and I twisted out of the way just in time to avoid the punch.  A small, bony fist smashed into the unyielding file cabinet with a resonating thud, accompanied by a shriek of pain.

   I backed a few yards away and was finally able to get a glimpse of my opponent.  It was her.  The same face, the same features, same hair, eyes, nose, mouth…Shizuka, my baby sister.

   She recovered herself and charged me, and I knew that I couldn't fight back.  I couldn't hurt my little sister; I couldn't do it, no way in hell.  I ran.

            "Get me outta here, guys!" I yelled as I weaved my way through the aisles of cabinets.

            "Jou—chi…can't…where…go?"

            "Hurry up!" I shouted back.

   A scream from behind and suddenly I was on the floor, struggling to get back to my feet without hurting "Shizuka" as she clawed at my neck and jammed her fist into my ribs.

            "What…Jou—…hap—"

   I pushed her off my back and ran, but she was so fast, so, so fast that I could never get away, no matter how hard I ran.  I heard a faint buzzing noise behind me.

            "Come on, guys!  Help—arrrgh!" I screamed as something white-hot slammed into the back of my head.  An excruciating pain flared from my temples and engulfed my head.  It was an ice cream headache times a thousand, a million, a billion.  My senses rebelled and shut down as I dropped to the floor, writhing in agony.

   My eyes leaked rivers of tears, my ears throbbed, my nose streamed, my tongue was molten lead in my mouth…I remember vaguely wondering if my head had been split in half as the fireworks behind my eyes exploded blindingly.

   There was a whistling and I felt as though I was spinning out of control through space.  But then I realized that no, I wasn't moving at all. I was lying on something soft; something covered with starchy, sterile sheets.  A bed?

   I blinked furiously, willing my eyes to focus.  Everything was white.  The air was heavy with the stench of antiseptic.  A dull, muted pain prickled over my face, my neck, my arms and my chest.  My throat was rough and raw, and something was in my mouth.  I instinctively bit and almost choked on whatever it was.  A tube…where am I?

            "Katsuya!  Oh my God, you woke up!"  Shizuka.  The real Shizuka.

   Am I…I'm in a hospital?

~Anzu's POV~

   It was late.  I was tired.  Tired of newspapers, tired of doctors and nurses, tired of phone calls…just tired.  I felt like a wrung-out sponge, empty, with nothing left to deal with being strong, solving mysteries or explosions in the middle of the night.  I just wanted to sleep.

   I'd been home alone for hours, watching TV through tear-fogged eyes.  I ached; a dull throb in my heart as I watched the sitcoms and reality shows.  It was a wearying ache that spread to my bones and my mind, and I drifted off to sleep somewhere between Friends and That 70's Show. 

   The knock on the door surprised me.  I jumped; fell off the couch to land on the floor in a tangle of arms and legs before skidding down the hall and to the front door.  I composed myself, patting down my hair and swiping at my (red, puffy) eyes before checking the peephole and throwing the door open.

            "Mai!" I exclaimed, a thousand questions running through my head at the sight of my visitor.  "Are…are you all right?  What are you doing here?"  I had to bite my tongue to stop the river of questions that wanted to pour out of me.

            "Anzu," she half-whispered.  "Can I come in?"

            "Yes, of course.  What's going on?  Are you all right?"  I scrambled out of her way and tried to ignore the ring of purple-blue bruises around her throat as she stepped inside.

            "Do you want to sit down?" I inquired.

            "That would be nice."

   I guided her to the overstuffed recliner and questioned, "Are you hungry?  Do you want anything to drink?"

   She held up her hand and quietly answered, "I just want to talk."

            "All right."

            "Look, Anzu, I…." she trailed and rubbed her eyes.  "God, this is going to sound so stupid.  There was a man who broke into my house."

   I nodded.  I'd read all about that in the paper.  But I didn't interrupt.

            "He…he tried to kill me, so I…I went to the police."

   Again, I nodded.  I knew that, too.

            "I thought they could keep me safe.  I mean, they're the police for Christ's sake!"  She attempted a feeble laugh.  "But he came back."

   I raised my eyebrows.  This was news; bad news.

            "He came back, and he still wants me dead.  But, Anzu, I noticed something weird about him."  She stopped there and focused on the Monet print hanging on the wall behind me, perhaps deciding not to talk about it after all.

            "What?  What was it?"  Silence.  "Mai, what's going on?  Why did you come here?"

            "He…you know that necklace that Yuugi always wears around his neck?  The pyramid with the eye on it?"

   I furrowed my brow.  What does that have to do with anything? I wondered.  Still, I nodded yes; I knew what she was talking about.

            "That man…one of his eyes…it was the same as the eye on that pyramid, Anzu."

   My eyebrows must have disappeared into my bangs.  "What?"

            "The man had an eye in his head that looks exactly like the one on Yuugi's pyramid necklace.  I mean, it was a real eye in his socket.  Is there…I mean, do you think there might be…maybe…some kind of connection?"

   I nodded.  Of course there was a connection.  There had to be!  But where?  How?  I was about free the flood of questions I'd kept dammed up inside, but before I could say a word, the phone rang.

            "Sorry," I apologized.  "I'll be back in a minute."  I sprinted to the phone and snatched it off the hook.  "Hello?"

            "You bitch!  You little dumbass bitch!  I told you to stay the hell away from Mai Kujaku.  You're in deep shit now, bitch.  You're in deep shit!  Do you hear me, you—"

   Clang!  I slammed the phone back onto the cradle, hand shaking.

            "Who was it?" Mai inquired from the other room.

            "A…a telemarketer," I stammered, hand still on the phone.  And then it rang again, garishly loud in the otherwise quiet house.  Leave me alone! I silently pleaded to the psycho on the other line.

   It rang six times…seven…eight….  Mai got out of her seat.

            "You going to get that?"

   Twelve…thirteen….  She was beside me.

            "Anzu?"

   Eighteen….

            "All right.  Fine.  I'll get it, then."

            "No!"

   She wrestled the phone out of my hands and I swiped at it one last time, in a desperate attempt to save her from having to confront that awful voice on the other line.  I missed.

            "Hello?"  Pause.  "Just a minute."  She covered the mouthpiece and whispered.  "It's for you.  Are you here right now?"  I shook my head and she shrugged before replying, "Sorry, Shizuka, she can't come to the phone right now."

   Shizuka? I thought.  What?  What's going on?

            "Oh, I'm all right."  Pause.  "Really?  Really?  Oh my…Shizuka, that's great!  You must be so happy!"  Pause.  "Of course we will.  Thanks for calling, honey.  I'll be sure to tell her."  Pause.  "Mm-hmm.  OK.  Bye-bye."

   Mai carefully replaced the receiver on the cradle.  Her eyes were shining; her face was glowing, delight radiating from every pore.

            "What's going on?" I inquired.

            "That was Shizuka," she replied.  "Anzu, Jounouchi woke up!"

Author's Notes: I apologize for the crappiness of this chapter.  Most of this was done at 2:00 am and edited five hours of sleep later.  But at least I got this one out a little sooner than the last one! 

  Thanks goes to Sunrise and Sunset, heatherthegreatone, Reana 1 (You read the whole thing and reviewed every chapter! 0_0 wow!), Rikki-the-Fox, AmunRa, restlesspirit, Alta-Lemur and Tuulikki.  Whew, I think that's everyone.  Thank you all for reviewing!

   Oh, and heatherthegreatone, about your questions:

   1) Jou's wounds do stick themselves back together eventually.

   2) Hmmmm…I'd kind of been hoping nobody would ask about Seto's pants….  I suppose he would have to be wearing some sort of sacrificial garment, since he woke up in the middle of one of those ceremonies.

   Hope that clears everything up!