Bakura kicked a rock that was in his way and scowled. ' Stupid kid, why can't he learn to take care of himself?' He looked up when someone growled and stood up.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" a voice yelled angrily.
"What are you doing?" Bakura responded, taking interest when he realized where he was. Duke let go of the wire he was holding and moved out of the bushes casually.
"I was seeing if anyone was home," he nodded as if to make it more believable. Bakura rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. I don't have time for this." He moved on. Duke looked back at the game shop deciding whether or not to go back and then took off after him.
"Where are you going? Won't Ryou be mad that you're out so late?" Bakura sent him a threatening look and he stopped a moment to recover. " Well he would." Duke shrugged.
"What I do is none of your business."
"Would you be so quick to disregard me if I told you that I know where he is?" Bakura whirled around so fast that Duke had no time to react. He was pinned to a wall in seconds, wincing at the impact.
"Don't play games with me. I'm NOT in the mood," Bakura snapped. After the initial shock wore off, Duke smirked.
"How about an alliance?" Bakura looked at him crossly. "I take you to Ryou and you help me bring down Yugi."
"I have no interest in bringing down anyone...except you right now. You tell me where he is or you won't be telling anyone anything ever again." Duke sighed and shook the hair from his face, not even showing a slight sign of fear.
"I think you're in no position to be making threats. You know how much danger he's in right now and you know there isn't much time." Bakura tightened his grip and then released him. ' Damn. If only he wasn't so weak. If I could get to him I could break Marik's spell. This would be easier if Yugi hadn't taken the...' Duke started to laugh and Bakura looked at him sharply. He grunted angrily and started away again.
"I don't need your help," he grumbled. He tried using the link alone but all he received back was a hollow feeling. ' How in the world is he still controlling everyone if he doesn't have the rod? Does Marik know something that we don't?'
"He's going to die you know," Duke taunted. Bakura closed his eyes. ' No he won't. I won't let him.' He ignored him. He focused on the two millennium items that were in the area, both taking him in opposite directions, one leading to Yugi and the other to Yami. But which one should he follow? He didn't know if Yami was still waiting where they'd left him like the idiot he was or if he'd actually moved to do something. And Yugi...was he really after Ryou or was he after something else? He took in a deep breath and just chose one, hoping to God that Yami wasn't as stupid as he thought he was.
Yami blinked awake in an empty white room. When he tried to move, he found himself bound and when he turned his head to look around he found that he wasn't as alone as he'd first thought. Joey was bound in a similar manner across the room from him, leaning on a wall and so were Tristan and Tea. Tea looked badly beaten and Tristan had a black eye and a few other bruises but Joey's only wound seemed to be the one on his head. ' I guess he was lucky that he didn't have time to fight back,' Yami thought with a sigh. ' How did I ever let us get into this? I promised Yugi I'd protect them... Well at least he's safe. At least I hope so.' He tried to use the link but when he found that he could no longer call out to him he looked himself over as best he could. His puzzle was gone. Worry creased his forehead and he tried frantically to get out of his bindings, only seeming to make them tighter. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to clear his mind. Panicking wouldn't help him any right then. He needed to find a way to get out without making the situation worse, and he needed to do it quick. Ryou was still in danger as well and that had been his first priority, especially since he didn't know how much time he had left. A groan came from his side and he looked back at Joey who was waking up.
"Awe man. I feel like someone put my head in a blender and left it on all night," he mumbled. He tried to touch his head but his bindings stopped him. His eyes snapped opened. "Hey! What's going on?" he cried out angrily.
"I don't know," Yami spoke. Joey froze and looked over, noticing him for the first time.
"Yami? The last thing I remember is..."
"Marik hit you over the head and now we're here."
"I knew he was trouble. Why did you let him follow you around like that anyway? Did you forget what he did to you in Battle City?" Yami closed his eyes and sighed.
"I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I thought maybe he'd realized the error of his ways."
"Pfft. Yeah. We see how well that worked." Yami turned his head away. "Awe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Joey tried to redeem himself.
"It's okay. It is true." Yami paused. ' We need to concentrate on removing the bonds.' He turned back to Joey. "Hey, are you able to get over here?" Joey looked at him skeptically.
"Yeah...right. Let me just tap into my powers of astral projection. These things are as tight as Kaiba on a bad day."
"Can you tell if Tea and Tristan are alright?" Joey looked over and studied them.
"No, they don't look good. I don't think Tea's breathing." Yami made a noise of frustration, which made Joey look back over in surprise at Yami showing a weak side.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll find a way out of this." He started to squirm to make his way over, without much luck. "Or we could just wait until he kills us. You know CPR right?" Yami didn't respond. He was too busy trying to connect with Yugi. Even without the millennium puzzle he still felt like Yugi was close to him. That gave him slight comfort but he was still uncertain.
"Yugi...please be safe," he whispered a prayer. Joey watched him sympathetically. ' I bet Kaiba is busy typing away at his computer. I bet he's not even thinking twice about me. Why would he? I'm just a stupid toy to him... But thinking like that won't get us out of here.' Joey started to look for a way to get untied, and then decided it easier to just find a way to get to Yami. He leaned back against the wall in defeat. ' God, if only I had a brain...' Then it hit him. He turned his head and moved his body away from the wall to see behind him. ' All those silly games I used to play with Tristan really did teach me something besides how to run faster and hit harder. Now if only I can remember how I did it.'
' I can't always follow him around like he's the only thing that matters. He's NOT the only thing that matters. In fact, he's nowhere close.' Kaiba sighed and buried his face in his hands. ' So...why do I want to?' Mokuba looked over from where he was on the bed reading a magazine Seto had had on the nightstand. He put the magazine back down and walked over to the desk.
"Seto? Do you think that the thing that got Ryou is gonna get us too?" Seto looked at him skeptically.
"Mokuba, it was a person who hit Ryou and it was just an accident." ' I don't believe that.' "Nobody's 'gonna get' us." ' I don't know if that's true either.' "And when did you start talking like that? You're not five." ' That's great. Insult the kid, that'll make him feel better.' Kaiba closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands again. ' I blame that stupid mutt for this.'
"I'm just..." Mokuba shrugged and gracefully made his way around the desk. "I don't know. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning," He said reluctantly leaving.
"Well that went well," Kaiba rolled his eyes. ' He'll be fine,' he shrugged it off, looking back at the computer screen. ' I wish I could say the same for me. If only...' Kaiba shook the thought from his mind, trying to convince himself that he didn't care. He scanned the endless page of code until it all seemed to blur together. He pulled out the pill bottle from his top desk drawer again and stood up. ' Maybe I just need to get some sleep...or take a walk to clear my head.' He removed two pills from the bottle and placed them on the desk. He looked at the clock and then the doorway. His mind slipped again. ' If only I knew that he were okay... Damn him for getting under my skin like this.' Kaiba stood up frustrated and went downstairs to get a glass of water. As he passed by the front door the thought of just taking a walk came back to his mind. He looked toward the stairs as if he could see Mokuba up in his room sleeping, or at least getting to it. ' I won't even leave the grounds,' he told himself and opened the door. Yugi was cuddled up against his front steps, out of breath, with the millennium rod tightly clutched in his fist and held to his chest. Kaiba looked around the grounds for signs of his security. ' I see how well they do they're jobs.' He rolled his eyes and refocused on the panting child in front of him.
"Are you alone?" he asked. Yugi took in a deep breath and pulled himself to standing, walking past Kaiba into the mansion.
"You need your cards," he said rapidly. Kaiba turned back to watch him as he put the rod down on the couch closest to them.
"What are you babbling about?" Kaiba closed the door and followed him into the living room.
"You have to duel Marik. You have to...win... You have to...gain control..." Yugi's words were becoming more and more forced and he started around the room as if looking for something in delirium.
"Where are the others?" Yugi froze, a look that couldn't really be described overcoming his face.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that," he shrunk to the floor looking down. "Why did you have to ask that? I knew you'd want to know but I was hoping you wouldn't ask." He was starting to sound hysterical and rambled on as if he were talking to himself. "He came back. Marik's back. I knew he wasn't gone. I had this feeling but I never thought... But he is and now he's going to kill them... How did I let it happen? It wasn't supposed to happen. But he has them... He has them all and I can't... I can't hear him anymore..." Tears drifted down the sides of his face and Kaiba watched him helplessly.
"Who does he have?" he asked trying not to let his worry show any more then it already had. If Mokuba were in the room he was sure he'd be laughing at him. ' Just admit it Seto.' He could almost hear the taunting
"Ryou and Tristan... Yami..." Yugi broke into a sob. "He has Yami..."
"What about Joey?" he tried to cut the words off but they were out before he had control over them. Yugi stopped for a second to nod and wipe the tears from his face.
"That's why... You have to duel him. If you win a duel with him you regain you're control of the millennium rod and he can't use it's evil any more. I wasn't supposed to have it but you are. I know you don't believe any of this stuff but if you really truly care about Joey...you'll do it. It's the only way to stop him from returning again..." Yugi stood up. "Please Kaiba. I can't lose them this way." Kaiba took it all in and raised an eyebrow in disbelief but at the thought of a certain person getting hurt, he walked to the edge of the stairs.
"Mokuba! Grab my deck!" Still not quite understanding the logic behind all of it he'd decided to humor him. He watched Yugi walk slowly over to the couch.
"Yami? Is that you?" he said quietly. ' Great now he's talking to himself. He's the perfect picture of insanity and I'm listening to him because...' Kaiba stopped. ' Why AM I listening to him. I never would have before.' Kaiba decided it was pointless to try and figure it out. He'd already decide that anything from this point forward involving Joey wasn't worth the aggravation. It just was and that was that. Trying to decide why he felt the way he did was just another waste of mindless thought with no real consolation. He already decided that the reason why he was still standing there now, not calling his security to come escort the sad soul away, was because he'd fallen for that blonde, in more ways then he could count or understand.
"Mokuba?!" He called again. He started up the stairs. ' Where is he? I know he can't be sleeping already.' And he was right. Mokuba wasn't sleeping. Mokuba's room was empty with only one small note lying on his bed.
' If you won't help him, I will, because I know that's what you want to do.' Kaiba took in a deep breath and tried to fight off his anger. ' All of this because I was too stubborn to admit that I actually cared... Mokuba...' He grabbed his briefcase from his room and continued on to the door.
"Come on Yugi. We have a duel to win."