Chapter Eleven: Wiz + Water Equals Disaster
Kaiba again tried to reach the locked door, trying to escape from the memories swarming in his head.
Bright light drenching the room…
Mokuba screaming…
"Mokuba," Kaiba whispered, looking back into his brother's cell to see him on the ground and motionless.
Pegasus held up a Duel Monster card, and trapped in the illustration was Mokuba.
"No…" Kaiba could barely moan, "Go away…no…"
"I did my best, Mokuba," Kaiba said to himself, thinking of his little brother.
"Your best failed you!" Pegasus laughed, "Now I summon Bickoribox! Attack Saggi the Dark Clown!"
The attack came, and Kaiba could do nothing to prevent it.
"Forgive me, Mokuba," he whispered, "I'm so sorry…"
"Go away…leave me alone…" Kaiba growled, holding his head and trying to shake the memories away.
But they just kept coming.
"Exodia, obliterate!" Yugi shouted.
Exodia attacked, and destroyed all three of his Blue Eyes White Dragons at once.
Kaiba shouted as his lifepoints went down to zero.
"AHHHHHHH!" Kaiba's scream echoed through the castle a hundred fold.
Yami had jumped three Winkie guards, and Ryou, Jou and he scrambled into their uniforms. (Mokuba had to stand on top of Yami in order for them to look like one soldier.)
"Alright…now," Jou whispered, signaling the group to sneak onto the back of the line of Winkie soldiers.
When they were all inside, the four ducked inside a side corridor until all the soldiers were out of sight.
"Where now, Mokuba?" Ryou asked as he helped pull Mokuba out of the uniform the little boy and Yami had been sharing.
"We passed the staircase up to the tower he's being kept in when we came in," replied Mokuba, before running around the corridor and toward the staircase, the others at his heels.
When they reached the door, Mokuba tried to pull it open.
"It's locked!" he moaned.
Jou looked around for something sharp, before saying, "Ryou, gimme your ax!"
The Tinman did as Jou asked, and the scarecrow slammed the ax into the door continuously, yelling, "Kaiba! Kaiba! Can you hear us?"
There was no answer; a second later, the door gave way, and they saw why.
"Shadow magic," Ryou whispered, "If we go in there, we'll never come out again!"
"Oh no…Kaiba," Jou whispered.
Yami looked at Jou, then at the magic-covered room, and made up his mind in an instant. He shoved past his friends and ran into the dark room.
"YAMI!" Ryou yelled, "YAMI, COME BACK, IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!"
Darkness all around…it seemed like it was almost climbing into his mind and heart, but Yami kept coming.
"Kaiba?" he called, "Kaiba?"
Laughs came from the shadows beyond.
"You'll never escape!" "Your soul will join us!"
Yami tried to push aside his fear and ignore the voices, but the farther he went, the harder it was to resist the memories.
"He is to be our king!" a grand lion proclaimed.
A young lion with a black, purple and yellow mane and bright red eyes looked absolutely terrified. "B-but I don't wanna be king…I can't be king!"
"Of course you can," a motherly lion assured him.
"Mother?" Yami whispered, looking around.
He shook his head. She was gone…he needed to find Kaiba.
There was a gunshot.
The young lion turned around.
"MOTHER!"
"No…" Yami felt his legs hit the floor, "No…"
The darkness surrounded him…it began to swallow him whole…
Then a barrier of gold light seemed to block him from the darkness and ended the visions.
Yami looked up, to see a stranger there.
He had black, purple and blond hair, the same colors as Yami's own lion mane, and he was dressed all in yellow.
The stranger turned to look at him with bright amethyst eyes.
"My shield will not last long, Yami Yugioh," he said without moving his lips.
He brandished his hand, to reveal
Kaiba on the floor close by. "There is your friend. You
and he both must get out of this room quickly."
Yami bounded over to the CEO and grabbed his collar in his teeth before running back toward the exit as the shield began to fade away.
The darkness started to come back…
"You'll never escape!" "Your soul will join us!"
And Ryou and Jou pulled the lion and Kaiba out into the hallway.
"Thank goodness you're alright," Ryou sighed in relief, "Yami, that was very, very brave."
Yami panted. "No…I'd call it stupid, to be frank."
Jou brought Kaiba into his lap. "Kaiba? Kaiba…say something."
Kaiba's eyes opened and blinked a couple times. "Jou…"
"Hey," Jou grinned, "Glad you're okay."
Kaiba held his head. "Mokuba…where's…?"
"Here, Seto," Mokuba said.
Kaiba looked at Mokuba for a moment, and then without warning, embraced his brother.
"Thank God…" he whispered, "Thank God…"
Mokuba pulled out of Kaiba's arms. "We better get out of here before the Wiz finds us…"
Kaiba nodded. "Someone mind giving me a hand? My leg's broken."
"Put your arm around my shoulder, and I'll help you walk," Jou offered.
Kaiba did so, and the group ran down the stairs as fast as they could for the exit…
But when they reached it, the door closed of its own accord.
"Leaving so soon?" a newly appeared Gozaburo laughed, "I wouldn't hear of it. Why, my little party's just beginning…"
The Winkie soldiers started to surround them, and the five shrank back against the wall.
"Trapped…trapped like rats," Ryou muttered.
"Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of spears," Gozaburo scorned as he came closer, his staff clinking on the marble floor with each step, "Thought you were pretty clever, weren't you? I must praise whoever decided to jump my soldiers and steal their uniforms…after all, most of my soldiers have the IQ of a chipmunk. And now…the last to die will see his three friends die before him…and his little brat brother too."
Kaiba's eyes widened, as a blue flame appeared in Gozaburo's hand.
"How about a little fire, scarecrow?" Gozaburo laughed.
He threw the fireball at Jou, who tried to duck, but his arm still burst into flame.
"AH! FIRE! FIRE!" Jou screamed in terror.
Kaiba let go of Jou's shoulder, and limping onto his good leg, grabbed a bucket of water on the floor and threw it in the direction of Jou's burning arm.
But some of it hit Gozaburo.
"WHAT? NO!" Gozaburo's eyes started to flicker, almost like an overhead lamp during a huge thunderstorm, "NO! YOU CURSED BRAT! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! Error…Malfunction…"
"What's happening to him?" Ryou whispered.
"He's short-circuiting," Kaiba realized.
And with that, the machine of the Wicked Wiz of the West collapsed, dropping the staff at his side.
White-Hair flew down from the ceiling, and kicked the motionless robot.
"He's dead…" he muttered, before smirking up at the group, "You killed him!"
"I didn't actually mean to," Kaiba admitted, "I-it's just…Jou was on fire, and-"
"Like the Winkies and my Army care?" asked White-Hair as Marik, Mahaado and Mana flew into the room too, "Thanks a lot. He was a right-old bastard anyway…were it not for his staff chaining us to him, we would've ran off a long time ago."
"The staff!" Jou remembered, "We need to bring it back to the Wizard of Oz!"
Ryou went over to pick it up, but White-Hair beat him to it, and handed it to him.
"Heya there, cutie," he muttered.
Ryou smiled. "Hi."
White-Hair smirked at him, and then he raised his voice to speak to the others.
"You know…with that staff, you now have control over my Army…and if you want to get back to the Wizard of Oz quickly, the Egyptian Armada would be glad to fly you there."
"Oh, really?" asked Mokuba excitedly, "Would you?"
"Hey, it's the least we can do," White-Hair shrugged, "Egyptian Armada…let's fly!"
And so the Egyptian Armada, along with Jou, Ryou, Yami, Mokuba and Kaiba, flew into the night sky like newly born stars, back toward the glittering Emerald City.
