The gang; Téa, Tristan, Duke, Serenity, Drake, Lara, and Kevin were all waiting outside of the medical wing. They were all getting irritated that they could not go in to see their friends. Then one of the staff emerged. He had a grim look on his face. He knew what he would have to tell them, and he didn't want to.

"What's going on?!" demanded Tristan, stopping his anxious pacing. "How's Yu-Gi?!"

"Yu-Gi Motou is in critical condition, but we managed to stabilize him," said the doctor.

"Will he make it? Is he going to be okay?" asked Téa.

"In all honesty, I do not know," sighed the doctor.

"Oh no!" gasped Serenity.

"It's not fair!" exclaimed Kevin. "Why does this keep happening?"

"We are doing everything we can," said the doctor.

"Can we go in and see Yu-Gi and the others yet?" asked Drake, sounding impatient.

"A few more moments…" hesitated the doctor.

"But I want to see my brother!" exclaimed Serenity. "Please let us in!"

"There is more I must tell you before you enter," admitted the doctor. "During the duel, Mr. Wheeler's vital signs have dropped considerably."

"NO!" exclaimed Serenity, bursting into tears.

"That can't be true," said Tristan. "It can't be!"

"I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you all of this," said the doctor, looking down sadly.

"I don't think this day can get any worse," groaned Duke.

"There is one more thing…" started the doctor.

"Hurry up then so we can enter," snapped Drake.

"I am sorry…we did everything we could," the doctor stammered. He took a deep breath. "During the duel, Miss Valentine flat-lined. We did everything we could…but we couldn't save her."

The group fell deathly quiet for several eternal seconds.

"Are you saying….Mai is dead?" stuttered Lara.

"…yes."

"No…that…that's impossible," stammered Téa. "It's…she…"

Serenity was crying even harder. Tristan and Duke both put an arm around her at the same moment. They glared briefly at each other, but the somber news had killed any feeling of rivalry for the time being.

"… You may enter now," said the doctor, slowly. He opened to door for them. The teens filed passed, hardly saying a word.

Yu-Gi had the bed closest to the door. Joe was next to him, both unmoving. Mai was still laid out on the bed next to Joe, but the sheet had been pulled up to cover the body. The next bed, which was Odion's, was empty. The bed by the wall was Bakura's. The curtains were drawn around it, hiding the fact that Bakura was no longer there.

"Oh, Joe!" sobbed Serenity, collapsing beside her brother's bed.

"Yu-Gi, man, you have to hang in there," said Tristan, standing beside him.

"I don't know what to do," said Téa, biting back tears.

"None of this should have ever happened," said Kevin, bitterly. He was standing in the doorway still.

Words fail to describe the looks on the faces of the teens as they looked around the room with so many of their peers in critical condition. Hopeless, depressed, miserable, mourning, didn't even come close.

Drake took a deep breath and let it go slowly. "Marik is still on the loose, and he has the puzzle. He needs to be stopped, or what we see here will only multiply."

"And what do you suggest we do?" asked Duke.

"I don't know, but we should be able to come up with something if we all put our heads together," admitted Drake.

"What we need to do is get Joe and Yu-Gi to a real hospital!" exclaimed Tristan.

"Shouldn't that emergency helicopter be here by now?" asked Lara.

As if answering, Mokuba ran in, a bit breathless.

"Mokuba? What is it?" asked Kevin.

"I have bad news," said the boy.

"I don't think we can take any more bad news," said Téa, glancing over at the beds.

Mokuba followed her gaze, then looked down. "I know, Seto told me…"

"Mokuba, where is that emergency helicopter?" asked Tristan. "We really could use it about now."

"That's the bad news," said Mokuba. "There's a storm rolling in north-west of here. It's not going to hit us, or Domino City, too badly…"

"And the bad news?" asked Duke.

"The storm is directly between us and Domino City. It is bad enough to force the helicopter back to the mainland," said Mokuba, dejectedly. "Nothing can get to us until the storm is over. We've even lost our connection with the mainland…"

"What about the repairs on this airship?" demanded Tristan. "Can we leave any time soon?"

"It won't be soon…" said Mokuba.

"Come on! There has to be something we can do! Joe and Yu-Gi need major help!" exclaimed Drake.

"Can you contact Industrial Illusions any way?" asked Duke.

"If they can't reach Kaiba Corp. on the mainland, I can't reach Industrial Illusions," admitted Drake with a sigh. "It's even farther inland."

"Are you saying we are helpless here?!" demanded Tristan.

"We doing everything we can," Mokuba said.

"That hasn't been good enough!" exclaimed Tristan.

"Calm down, will you?" asked Lara. "Yelling is not going to solve anything."

Seto Kaiba entered.

"Oh, great," groaned Kevin, casually distancing himself from Kaiba.

"This is all your fault!" snapped Tristan, changing targets. "If you would have just swallowed your pride and gotten help when they needed it, they wouldn't be so bad off now!"

"I'm not about to play the blame game," said Kaiba, glaring at Tristan before moving on.

"He listens really well…" muttered Lara.

Kaiba ignored the group and went right over to the doctor and started questioning him. They talked quietly, so no one else heard him. But before they broke off the conversation, the doctor looked down and shook his head slowly.

Kaiba turned and walked over to Yu-Gi Motou. There were no emotions on his face, no whatsoever. Seto was the only one to notice something in Yu-Gi's clutched hand. No one else seemed to be watching him, so he quickly pulled it out. Kaiba could barely contain a gasp when he recognized the object he was holding. He knew it all too well. It was Obelisk the Tormentor.

"I bet this was the only card in Yu-Gi's hand the moment he lost the duel," thought Kaiba. While his sole purpose in Battle City had been to gather all the god cards for himself, he always played by honor. He was about to (very reluctantly) put Obelisk back into Yu-Gi's deck on his duel disk. Yami Marik's entrance stopped that.

The pineapple head entered. Everyone paused what they were doing, giving him death glares. Yami Marik merely glanced at them before walking over to Yu-Gi.

"Get away from him!" exclaimed Tristan, ready to stop the rod-bearer. He got right into Yami Marik's face, not seeming to care about what happened to everyone else who had crossed him.

Yami Marik smirked evilly at him. "I have merely came for what is rightfully mine."

"Then you are looking in the wrong place!" snapped Drake.

Yami Marik ignored him, "I need the Millennial Puzzle and all three of the god cards to unleash the power of the pharaoh. I have come to claim the last god card, Obelisk the Tormentor! Now stand aside!" Kaiba discretely slipped Obelisk into his own pocket.

"No," growled Tristan, once more placing himself in between Yami Marik and Yu-Gi.

Kaiba pushed Tristan to the side, giving him room to confront Yami Marik. Kaiba responded to Yami Marik's glare with one of his own.

"According to the rules, you only get one card," said Kaiba, in a dangerously low tone. "You won Slifer, so you have no claim on Obelisk. Now get out of here before you regret it!"

"Do you think your threats scare me?" asked Yami Marik. He gripped the rod, ready to use it.

"Get out Marik," said Kaiba in the same low tone.

Yami Marik raised the rod. Kaiba had seen this out of the corner of his eyes. He grabbed it too, just above where Yami Marik had.

"How can this be?!" thought Yami Marik. "The rod…it…hesitates in obeying me!"

A physical struggle had begun. Kaiba was slowly forcing Yami Marik out of the hospital wing, not that he had far to go.

"Try anything again Marik," growled Kaiba as he shoved Yami Marik.

"You had better be careful Kaiba," threatened Yami Marik. "Or you will find yourself regretting your actions!" He turned and started to walk away.

Still enraged, Kaiba quickly took off after him.

"He still won't stop," sobbed Serenity in the hospital wing. "And he's hurt so many people…"

"Marik is dangerous," agreed Drake. "I don't think anyone should be wandering around alone until he is dealt with."

"I have to agree," said Tristan.

Mokuba looked around the room. "Where's Shayla?"

Surprised, the rest of the gang quickly surveyed the room, only to realize she had not been there.

"Where is she?" asked Lara.

"Let's see…" said Téa, thinking out-loud. "She wanted to stay with Mai while Yu-Gi and Marik dueled." A lump caught in her throat.

"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but are you looking for the blind girl?" asked one of the doctors.

"Yes."

"She was here when Miss Valentine…died," said the doctor. "She ran off then. She was very upset."

"Poor Shayla," said Téa. "I didn't think about what this would be like for her…"

"What do you mean, Téa?" asked Kevin.

"Well, she was roommates with Mai," said Téa. "They were closer than they let on…and Shayla doesn't have many people she's close with…after she lost Luther."

"Who?"

"Talk to her about that," said Téa. "I think someone should go find her."

"You're right," agreed Duke. "Especially with the psychopath still running around."

"I'll go," volunteered Téa.

"You shouldn't go alone, I'll go with you," said Lara.

"Okay," agreed Téa. "I bet she's in her room."

"We won't be too long," said Lara as the two girls left.