Chapter Eight: Oz's Decision
Kaiba and Mokuba looked at each other, and then the two started into the castle, Jou, Ryou and Yami soon following behind them. When all five of them were inside, the door closed behind them with a click!
"G-guess that means no r-rescheduling on visits, huh?" Ryou stammered.
"I'm not so s-sure about this, guys," Yami whimpered, his red eyes darting back to the door, "I d-don't think I wanna see the Wizard this much…m-maybe I better just wait outside…"
But both Ryou and Jou seized his tail and pulled him back.
"You're just a little scared, Yami, that's all," Jou reprimanded, "We all are…but the Wizard's gonna get you some courage, remember?"
"I'd be too scared to ask him for it!" Yami whined.
"Then we'll ask him for you," Ryou tried to comfort him.
"C'mon," Kaiba spoke to the lion coldly, "Just grip my hand, and when you feel scared, squeeze really hard."
"Won't it hurt?" asked Yami meekly.
"Probably," Kaiba rolled his eyes, "But I've heard it works with little kids when they're scared, and as you're whimpering just like one, it should help."
So Yami, hesitantly and with some difficulty, took Kaiba's hand in his paw.
"Thanks, Kaiba," he whispered almost inaudibly.
They journeyed down a long emerald hallway, and at the very end, there was a dark green doorway, which opened out of its own accord before Kaiba could even bring his hand up to push it.
The five stepped inside, and there was only a dark room ahead of them.
Then a ghostly, blue-greenish light appeared almost out of nowhere from the back of the room, and it started to move eerily toward them.
"W-w-what's that?" squeaked Yami, squeezing Kaiba's hand tightly.
"I d-don't know," Ryou whispered.
Flames spurted on either side of them, making them all scream, and the blue-green light changed shape to reveal a ghostly young man that was almost a spitting image of Kaiba, age and all, sitting on a gold throne.
"I am Oz, the Great and Powerful," the young man spoke in a thunderous tone that filled the whole room, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Kaiba stepped forward in a business-like way, Yami gripping ever more tightly onto his hand and Mokuba on his other side.
"I am Seto Kaiba," he stated, "CEO of Kaiba Corporation. My brother Mokuba and I-"
"SILENCE!" the Wizard roared.
Flames again lit up on either side of the room. The Kaiba brothers and Yami shrank back in fear.
"The Great and Powerful Oz knows why you have come," the Wizard continued a little quieter, but no less deadly, "Step forward…Ryou Bakura."
Ryou looked absolutely petrified, but he still clanked three steps forward.
"You dare to come to me for a heart, do you, you clinking, clanking collection of junk?" the Wizard scorned.
Flames spurted once more, and Ryou trembled.
"Y-yes, sir," he whispered, "Y-yes, your Majesty. Y-you see…a while back, we were walking down the Yellow Brick Road, and-"
"SILENCE!" the Wizard shouted again, and Ryou ran behind Jou in fright.
"And you, Katsuya Jounouchi," the Wizard turned on Jou, "Have the notion to ask me for a brain, you walking bag of farm fodder?"
Jou tried to stay far away from the fire-sources on both sides as they lit up once more, and stammered, "Y-yes, y-your Excellency…b-but I haven't a notion yet…but with a little of your Wiz-dom, I could-"
"ENOUGH!" the Wizard snapped, and Jou, with Ryou running to keep up, ran behind Kaiba.
"And you…Yami Yugioh," the Wizard turned to Yami.
Yami, who was trembling from his furry head to his clawed toes, tentatively let go of Kaiba's hand and stepped forward.
"Well?"
Yami's eyes rolled into his head, and he collapsed in a dead faint.
The others ran to him; Ryou rolled him onto and tried to find a pulse and Jou slapped his face lightly to try and wake him up.
"How dare you!" Mokuba finally lost his temper, "How dare you frighten him when he came to you for help!"
"Silence, brat!" the Wizard barked, "The Magnificent Oz has every intention of granting your requests…"Yami jerked awake. "What'd he say? What'd he say? Did he really say what I thought he said?"
"But first," the Wizard said calmly, "You must prove yourselves worthy…by performing a very small task…"
Kaiba and Jou exchanged a questioning look, before the Wizard ended the pause with the proclamation,
"Bring me the magic staff of the Wicked Wiz of the West!""B-but if we do that, w-we'll have to kill him to get it!" Ryou protested.
"Bring me his staff," the Wizard repeated, "And I'll grant your requests. Now go."
"B-but w-what if he k-kills us first?" Yami asked.
"I SAID GO!"And with that, the flames shot up around the whole room, forcing the five back into the hallway and out of the castle.
Jou and Kaiba slammed the doors of the castle, and the group gasped for breath outside.
"The Wicked Wiz?" Ryou whispered, "Is the Wizard of Oz insane?"
"There's no way we'll be able to get his magic staff," moaned Jou, "Simple task, my ass…more like a death sentence…"
"What are we going to do, Seto?" Mokuba asked his brother.
Kaiba was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "We go after Gozaburo. That's the only way we're going to get back to Domino."
"But you could die!" Jou whispered.
"99 percent chance of it," agreed Kaiba, "But I myself think a chance of going home is too important for Mokuba and me to pass up. We've no other choice."
"Well then, count me in, Kaiba," said Jou, "There's no way I'll let you two go alone!"
"Neither am I!" Ryou added.
"Add me to the roster too," Yami growled, "I may be a coward, but you're the only friends I've ever had, and from what I've heard, loyalty outweighs bravery in friendship."
Kaiba couldn't help but smile. "Thank you…all of you. And now…I believe we owe the Wicked Wiz a visit."
