Have fun... ::wink::
Enjoy.
GUIDE
: Ryou to Bakura :
: : Bakura to Ryou : :
Blah is thoughts
-----
I stayed there for the rest of the day. It soothed me, and let me think over things. That was
definitely one thing Bakura and I had in common; we both prefered to think things over,
probably more so than we should. Eventually, though, I knew it was time to go back. I
decided to go back to the ship. I could always get my bag back tomorrow.
To my surprise, the ship was completely deserted. It looked as if no one had been around
since we left, which was highly unusual. I put myself on high alert; this wasn't like them
and I had a bad feeling that something was severely wrong. I did a quick perimeter check,
but didn't find anything. I went up to the helm, and there, held to the wall by one of
Marik's knives, was a note. Wary, I went over and read it. As soon as its message hit me,
I ripped the knife out of the wall and shoved the note into my pocket. After grabbing a
few things, I took off for Yuugi's.
-----
I didn't bother knocking. I burst into the kitchen and ran up the stairs. I didn't bother
being surprised that everyone was still there, in the living room, looking through my stuff.
I had come here to get some things before setting out on what may prove to be the hardest
night of my life.
"Ryou? What is it?" Yuugi asked. Not wanting to waste any more time than I had to, I
took out the note and threw it to him. I searched around, finding my hat and duster. I had
left them behind this morning in all the excitement. "What does this mean?"
"It means," I said, looking for my toolkit, "that that they're in trouble and it's up to me to
save them." I found it under a pile of my sketches and put it in my duster.
"Wait, what do you mean they're in trouble? What kind of trouble?" Anzu asked. I didn't
have time for this, but I didn't want to be short with her, either. I sighed and explained.
"Remember Pegasus? Yeah, well, he's not dead. He found us once in Morocco and almost
captured us. He's found us again and he's baiting me with them. Why, I don't know, but I
can't leave them behind. I did that once, I'm not doing it again."
"Can't you contact Bakura? You know, like Yuugi an' Yami do?" Jou asked.
"I tried on the way over, but the link's been severed. It's either being blocked or..." I
trailed off, not wanting to go there. "All I know is that I have to go to that address and
finish what was started over a year ago." I took back the note, put on my hat, and started
to leave.
"Ryou! Wait!" Yuugi said. I stopped and looked at him. He glanced at everyone, then to
me. "Need any help?" I smiled.
"Come on," I said, "let's go save the day."
-----
The address was that of an old factory that someone had started to convert to an office
building, but never finished. Scaffolding was everywhere, as was guards. We were halfway
down the block and around the corner. The entire area was deserted, giving me a sense of
foreboding. I tried once again to contact Bakura, but there was nothing. I gave the place
the once-over, then turned to everyone.
"Okay, here's what you're going to do. Anzu, I hate to ask you to do this, but do you
think you could, ah, distract them? Yuugi, you help her, okay? Pretend to have a spat or
something, I don't care what. Just get them away from the front of the building. After
we're in, you two get the hell out of there. Run and don't look back. Go back to the shop
and stay there, don't come back here, got it? These guys don't screw around."
"Got it," they said.
"Good. Now, after we're in, I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I'm not letting you
guys go in unarmed. Jou, I know you've had gang experience, it's time to put what you
know to good use. Here," I said, pulling out two knives and handing one each to Jou and
Honda. "These will come in handy. Yami, you're going to be my main back up. I know
you still got a score to settle with Pegasus, so don't hesitate to go after him with any of
your shadow abilities, okay? Just save a piece for me," I told him. He nodded. I felt a
wave of compassion for them. They were risking their lives for three people that they
didn't even like, and all because he was asking them to. "Ready? Here we go."
Anzu and Yuugi walked out, and I led the others as we moved quickly through the
shadows behind them. They were faking some sort of lover's spat. Anzu huffed at
something Yuugi had said and went up to a guard and started asking him about what he
thought or something like that. The way she was acting, I think she was pretending to be
drunk. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I had a feeling I'd be falling down laughing
over it, because the look on Yuugi's face was utterly priceless.
Whatever she was doing was working. The guard had called over to his buddy to help him
out, leaving the part of the front wide open. I hurried along, pulling out my toolkit as I
went. There was a window, but I was worried that they might have it set on a trigger.
Thinking back to what happened in Morocco, he seemed to know our methods and our
ways of thinking. If that was the case, then he knew I'd think the window was wired. I
didn't have time to second guess myself, so I decided to go for it. I sprung the lock as fast
as I could and pulled the window open a little bit. When nothing happened, I let go a
mental sigh of relief and quickly ushered the others in. I went in last, pullin the window
back into place.
I paused, trying to get my bearings. It was almost pitch black in here, and I didn't have the
benefit of Bakura's eyes to help me see around. Or did I? I could make out Yami glancing
around. "Where are we?" I whispered.
"It looks like a storage room," he whispered back. "There's boxes all over."
"Good. Lead us to the door," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. With Honda's on
mine and Jou's on Honda's, we made it to the door without incident.
I put my ear to the door, listening. I didn't hear anything. I opened the door as slowly as I
could. Peeking out, I saw a dimly lit hallway. I listened again. Nothing. I opened the door
and looked around. We were at the end of a long hallway, and another door wasn't in
view until the end of it. It was a long way to go without any cover, but it didn't look as if
we had a choice. Motioning for them to follow, I went out into the hallway.
I came to the end without incident and arrived in another empty hallway. I was becoming
suspicious by now, which I'm sure he knew I would be. If I didn't know he was aware of
my moves, what would I do? Choose the most likely direction and work my way down it.
But by now, he had to know I was on to him? What to do? I asked myself. I wish Bakura
was here, I thought. Well, he's not, so I can't do that. C'mon, Ryou, think! What was it
that he told you once? 'Sometimes you have to set off the trap to get where you want.'
That's it! I turned to the others.
"Alright, I need you to trust me. We're going to be playing into his hands. Think of this as
duel, and we're faking him out, forcing his hand. Okay?" They nodded.
"We're with you," Honda said.
I took a deep breath and checked the second hallway again. By now he most assuredly
knew I was on to him; I had to play back into his trap again. I decided that the left would
be most likely, and began working my way down it. It led to a stairwell, and I had to
choose, up or down. This was Pegasus, and I knew he had thing for castles and other tall
structures. The only reason you had tall buildings was to be up high in them. I started up
the stairs.
I bypassed the second and third floors and went straight for the fourth, and highest, floor.
There I did the same as I had earlier with this door before heading out into a wide hallway.
There were several empty doorways here, most of them leading to half-finished offices.
There were large gaping holes were windows were supposed to be, and I was on extra
high alert for anyone-- or anything, for that matter-- to come jumping out. I wasn't
surprised when nothing did. The floor was too quiet. Something wasn't right. Every thief
instinct I had was raising alarms, telling me not to take a step further. I stood stock-still in
the hallway, trying to figure out what was setting them off.
"What's wrong?" Jou asked.
"Something's not right. There should be more resistance," I replied.
"I thought he wanted us to fall into the trap? I mean, isn't that what we're doing?" Honda
said. It hit me.
"Shit," I cursed.
"What?" Yami asked.
I didn't answer him. I was too pissed at myself. Not only had I fallen hook, line, and sinker
for the whole thing, I had dragged them into it as well. Pegasus had had me figured the
whole time. He knew that I'd be too caught up in what happened to pay any attention. I
pulled out the note and read over it.
Come get your friends
To the address you'll go
The way is clear
Park your fears
At the curb
730 Shiken Lane
"Dammit!" I nearly screamed.
"What? What's going on?" Jou asked.
"It wasn't a trap, it was a ploy! This is ol' Pegs, remember? If I ever met anyone who
loved a good riddle, it was him."
"I don't get it. If we're not supposed to be here, then where?" Yami asked.
"Look at the first word of each line. It reads, 'Come to the park at 7:30.'" I felt like
beating my head off the wall. "Dammit!"
"It's seven-fifteen now," Honda said, glancing at his watch. "If we hurry, we can make it."
"No," I said. "You guys are going home."
"No, we're not. We said we'd help you, and that hasn't changed. Besides, like you said, I
still have a score to settle with him," Yami said.
"I know, but I was wrong before. This is something I have to do on my own," I said, and
something in my eyes must have told them to back down. "Thanks, anyway. If everything
goes as I hope it does, I should be back at the game shop before midnight."
And with that, I left.
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! What's gonna happen now? Stick around and find out.
See you in three days.