(A/N) Yo yo yo! Sup ma homies? Ok, seriously, what up? Sorry we haven't updated in awhile. It's been hectic on this side of the screen. We haven't had any time to sit down and bang out the chapter. Nameless One, thankies for reviewing again. Apocalypticvortexofdoom, phew, quite a mouthful that, thanks for your review. It is much appreciated. Well, without further ado, here be chapter seven, me maties! Ok, I'm really gonna shut up now.
Past the Point of No Return
Chapter 7: This Voice I Hear
"But why are they the only ones with injuries?"
Amane slowly opened her eyes. At first, everything was hazy, but her vision eventually cleared. As her eyes darted around the room all of her memories came rushing back to her. Ryou! Bakura! Millennium Ring! Yugi! The other spirit!
Once Amane had calmed her racing thoughts, she reasoned that it would be better to lie still for the moment and listen to what was going on around her. She'd already figured out that she was back in her own tent. But why was everyone else here? Who was hurt?
Amane glanced around again and saw that it was Yugi who had spoken. But that couldn't be right. The voice was much too deep to belong to Yugi. And the person she saw was too tall to be him. Could it be…the other spirit?
"I think it is because it was their bodies that withstood the attacks. The bodies that you and Bakura now inhabit are new. The shock of that kind of separation will be enough to keep them out for hours. I've never seen anything like it before but we can only assume that these new bodies were created with materials from the originals," Ishizu said.
"What exactly does that mean?" Tea asked.
"It means that a part of the bodies of Yugi and Ryou went into making these new vessels for the Pharaoh and Bakura. Even when they do come to, they will both be very weak for a time."
"But that's only theoretical, isn't it? You said you've never seen anything like this before," Duke said.
"That is true. There is also a great chance that both boys will die."
Amane couldn't keep quiet any more.
"Die!" she shouted as she shot up from her cot.
All of the others in the tent threw anxious glances in her direction but she ignored all of them. Her eyes sought out her big brother. She saw him lying on the floor beside her cot. His head was in Tea's lap. Amane noted with shock that his shirt had been taken off and his chest had been meticulously wrapped in clean, white bandages. Blood was already soaking through the layers of gauze.
"Oh my God!" Amane cried out. She quickly threw off the blanket that covered her and got down on the dirt floor next to Ryou.
"What happened to him?"
"Miss Amane, thank the Gods you are alive," Odeon said gently from his place beside Ishizu.
"What happened to my brother?" Amane asked again, not to be distracted.
"I dueled with Weevil and sent him to the Shadow Realm. But when I took his Keystones from him one of them came to life and stabbed me in the chest. I passed out and when I came to Ryou and I had separate bodies. The same thing happened with the Pharaoh and little Yugi," Bakura explained impatiently.
Amane looked up and saw the dark spirit standing in a darkened corner, leaning against one of the poles that held up the canvas of the tent. When she glanced around again she saw all of the others. Ishizu and Odeon both stood next to the flaps of the tent. Tristan and Duke stood opposite of them. Serenity, Malik, and Jamil were grouped just behind her cot. Mai stood behind Joey, who was sitting cross-legged in between Tea and the person she had thought to be Yugi. But then she saw that Yugi was lying on the ground next to her brother. His chest had also been wrapped in bandages. His head was resting in the lap of the stranger.
Amane stared, terrified, at the man who held Yugi's head. This must be the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. Was he evil just like the spirit of the ring?
The spirit looked up at her, sensing her fear. The sadness in his eyes deepened when he lifted his hand from its place on Yugi's shoulder and she pulled back at the sight of his movement.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Amane. I am Yami. Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle."
When Amane did not reply and withdrew herself into a small ball, Yami turned his eyes over to Bakura.
"Bakura, what have you done to this girl, that she reacts this way to my presence?"
"What I do with captives is none of your business, Pharaoh," Bakura snarled defiantly.
Yami sighed and looked down at Yugi's unconscious form once more. Yugi's life force was so weak it unnerved him. Could Ishizu be right? Would Yugi die because of the power of the separation?
"No!" Yami whispered fiercely. He wouldn't let his light die, no matter what!
"Is there any way to undo it?" Yami asked Ishizu.
"We can't undo until we figure out what was done," Ishizu said calmly.
"Reverse it! I don't think so. I like this arrangement and I'm not giving up my freedom so easily," Bakura argued.
"Even if it means loosing your other self?" Malik asked angrily.
"I don't care about that fool. Besides, he's tougher than that. He'll pull through. But no way, no how am I going back into that damn ring without a fight!"
"But how could it have happened in the first place? These Keystones aren't magic are they?" Tristan asked.
"What I want to know is how Alexandra was able to get to Rex. I know for a fact that you can't cast the Millennium Rod's spell on anyone unless you can gaze directly into their eyes at least once. After that the spell is permanent and the bearer can take control of the slave's mind anytime. And-" Malik started to say.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Time out! Are you sayin' that Alexandra could take control of me or Tea if she wanted to?" Joey interrupted him.
"If she chose to, then yes, she could. It doesn't matter that it was I who originally put the spell on the both of you. Even if you do manage to break the hold or the bearer decides to release you, the rod's influence stays in your mind your entire life. It can be reactivated at any time."
Joey and Tea exchanged fearful glances as Malik continued talking.
"There wouldn't have been time for Alexandra to use the rod on him. We saw him on the beach not even an hour before the duel. She couldn't possibly have had time to do it unless she was standing right there during your duel, Pharaoh. You would have seen her! It doesn't make any sense!"
"She could have been there, Malik. How else could we have been transported to the Shadow Realm? I didn't do it and there were no other Millennium Items around at the time. What other explanation is there?" Yami asked.
"It's the Mage's Stone," Ishizu began softly. "Even with only one half on its own, it possesses great power. That is most likely the answer to all of these riddles."
But just then, the debate was interrupted by a soft whisper.
"Amane?"
Amane raised her head and looked over to her brother. To her immense relief, she saw his eyelids flutter open.
"RYOU!" Amane shouted gleefully as she flung her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're all right!"
Instantly, Ryou let out a howl of pain. Amane pulled back, remembering his injury. He tried to sit up but Tea held him down.
"Don't even think about it, Ryou. You could hurt yourself even more."
Ryou took a few shaky breaths and put his hand on the bloody spot of the bandages.
"What happened? Is- Amane- all right?" he asked in between gasps of air.
"I'm fine, Ryou. I'm right here," Amane whispered, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Can you remember anything at all?" Yami asked him.
"I remember Bakura. He took control of my body and tried to kill Amane," Ryou said. As he spoke, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut to keep the tears from falling.
"I think there was a duel in the Shadow Realm."
"That's right. Bakura fought with Weevil Underwood and defeated him. One of the Keystones he claimed from Weevil came to life and stabbed the both of you in the chest. Some kind of spell caused the two of you to split into separate bodies. The same thing happened to Yugi and the Pharaoh," Ishizu explained.
Ryou turned his head to look at Yugi. His eyes slowly drifted down to the bloody wound in Yugi's chest. From the feel of it, he had one just like it on his own chest. With great effort, he turned back to face Amane.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. It's you you should be worrying about. That's going to leave a nasty mark," Amane tried to joke. But everyone could tell that her heart wasn't in it.
"There's only one way to solve this," Yami said, his voice deadly calm.
"Alexandra?" Jamil asked.
"Yes."
"But how? The only way to get to her is to get through the island and make it to the finals," Joey said.
"We need to know more about her if we're going to fight her," Mai reasoned.
"Where are we going to get that kind of information from? All we know is that she's a girl and she runs this giant company. But beyond that, we don't know," Duke said irately.
"I know someone who does," Yami said quietly.
XxX
"KAIBA! Get your ugly face out here! We wanna talk to ya!" Joey shouted as the group entered the Kaiba brothers' camp. Two canvas tents were set up in the small clearing and the telltale circle of ashes between them said that a fire had been lit there.
"Um, Joey? Don't you think that maybe if we're asking for the guy's help it might be a good idea not to insult him?" Duke asked.
"What are you guys doing here?" a small ball of messy black hair asked as it crawled out of the first tent. When it stood to its full height, the gang could see that the black Cousin It was in fact Mokuba, dressed in a large T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.
"We need to talk to your brother, Mokuba. Is he awake yet?" Tea asked.
"Probably not. He was out really late dueling last night," he answered as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"But it's urgent. Can't you wake him up?" Tristan asked impatiently.
"Why? Seto needs his sleep. What's the big deal?"
The rest of the gang immediately parted to reveal who had been walking behind them. Yami and Amane were both standing there. Amane was helping her brother to stand and Yami was doing the same for Yugi. Mokuba cringed at the sight of the blood soaking through the wrappings on both of their chests.
"What happened to you guys?" Mokuba asked worriedly as he came towards them.
"Alexandra happened to them," Yami answered gravely.
Mokuba was about to ask if it was the same Alexandra who was hosting the tournament when he stopped mid-breath. He recognized that voice!
Mokuba slowly looked up from Yugi's pain-stricken face and into the eyes of the man who supported him. It was Yugi, but also not Yugi. Mokuba knew he had seen that face before. This was the one his brother had always dueled. The one that claimed to be a-
"Pharaoh?" Mokuba whispered.
The ancient spirit sighed.
"Yes. But you may call me Yami."
"How did this happen? I thought you and Yugi shared a body or something like that."
"That is also Alexandra's fault. Something strange happened to the Keystones and they were both stabbed in the chest," Ishizu explained for the thousandth time.
"They? Who's they?"
"Yugi and Ryou," Serenity said.
Mokuba quickly glanced over at Ryou leaning on his sister's shoulder.
"But why was he stabbed?"
"Ryou was also separated from his alter ego; the spirit of the Millennium Ring," Malik answered.
"Ryou has one of those spirits too! Where's he?"
The others quickly shoved Bakura forward. He had been lurking in their midst.
Mokuba looked the spirit over, the annoyed glare on his face discouraging the young boy from asking further questions of him.
"All right, I'll get him. Normally I wouldn't disturb him but this isn't looking too good," Mokuba said nervously.
"No need, Mokuba. I'm here," a familiar cold voice drifted out of the other tent. And just as the sun peaked over the horizon and filled the jungle with the glare of sunrise, Seto Kaiba stepped out of his tent. For the first time in forever, he wasn't dressed in his usual white trench coat. He was dressed simply in a black shirt and pants.
"I heard everything."
"And still you insult us with your denial," Yami said coldly as he stared brazenly back into Kaiba's eyes. "How can you still deny the power of the Millennium Items?"
"In today's world it's child's play to pull off a trick like this. That kid's probably just some actor you people hired," Kaiba accused.
"Kaiba, listen to yourself! Why are you so determined to ignore what's right in front of you! This is the real Yugi. My name is Yami!"
"Could you two stop shouting please," Yugi whispered.
Yami glanced worriedly down at his other half. Yugi had woken up shortly after Ryou and they were both still out of it.
"Either way, you should stop arguing. That's not why we came here," Serenity said sternly.
"If you geeks didn't come here to pick another fight than what do you want?" Kaiba asked irately.
"We need your help," Tea said.
"We need information about Alexandra Nephthys," Tristan added.
"And what makes you think I have the information you need?" Kaiba asked with a sneer.
"Because Nephthys Industries is one of your top competitors. And you wouldn't be Seto Kaiba if you didn't keep tabs on the competition," Duke said.
"You have no way of knowing that!"
"I'm in the gaming business, Kaiba. I have plenty of ways of knowing."
Kaiba closed his eyes in a moment of frustration.
"All right, fine. Suppose I do have the information you need. What's it worth to you?"
"Worth! What do you want? Money?" Mai asked angrily.
"I'd settle for a duel with Yugi, or Yami, or whatever name the idiot wants to go by. It makes no difference to me."
"Done," Yami said without hesitation.
"All right then, follow me," Kaiba said as he headed back into his tent. The others quickly piled in behind him.
Kaiba's tent was somewhat roomier then the ones the gang had gotten used to so they all managed to squeeze inside the tent. Kaiba was already seated on his cot and his laptop computer was in his lap. By the time all of the gang had gotten into the tent he was typing furiously and several printouts were flying out of a small printer that was hooked up to the laptop.
"Nephthys' rise to power is very similar to my own," Kaiba began to explain as he typed. "She came from a dysfunctional family. Her father was an alcoholic and he abused her and her mother. Her mother eventually had to shoot him to keep him from killing the both of them. Nephthys' mother did some time in jail for the murder, even though it was in self-defense. But when she was released the family had no money and Nephthys couldn't attend a conventional school. She didn't want to end up like her mother so she home schooled herself. This caught the attention of a relative of hers. Her older cousin, Jenna Nephthys. Jenna and Alexandra's grandfather was the original founder of Nephthys Industries and the company was well known to be an outfitter of all types of covert operations. The corporation's center was, and still is, located in America. New York City, I believe. The Nephthys family isn't known for loyalty. The corporation was loyal to no country. If a nation had money and wanted to do business then Nephthys Industries didn't ask questions. The company ended up in Jenna's hands and she continued dealing in the same way as her father and grandfather. But Jenna had no intention of marrying and she wanted the company to stay in the family once she stepped down. She searched every branch of her family before stumbling across Alexandra. Even at thirteen she was the obvious choice as Jenna's successor. Jenna put Alexandra through many tests and it was discovered that she already surpassed many college students at the highest level. The media called her a self-made genius. Jenna took her in and sent her to a boarding school in France for three years. Once that bit of formal education was complete Nephthys began working full time for her cousin. But about three years ago, Jenna contracted a strange virus while on a business trip in Egypt. She died from it six months later. When Jenna died she left the company to Alexandra. Once she was fully in control she announced to the world that Nephthys Industries was giving up covert outfitting and converting to a gaming industry. Nephthys has made enormous strides in the past two years. She is my number one competitor. And if you need to know anymore than that, the information is all in the printouts. I keep profiles on her and all of her top employees."
The gang stared at Kaiba, open-mouthed. It just wasn't normal to be able to spout so much history in under three breaths.
But Ishizu finally stepped forward and picked up the stack of papers sitting in front of the printer. She flipped through them quickly and immediately turned to look at Kaiba.
"Kaiba, if these are profiles why are there no pictures of the people they describe?"
"Nephthys Industries doesn't allow the public to see pictures of its employees. Even after the switch, Nephthys didn't change this policy. There are no known pictures of Alexandra Nephthys anywhere on the planet. Yesterday is most likely the first time on record that she made an appearance on camera. Nephthys is very secretive."
"Somethin' smells fishy to me. Why would a game company keep so many secrets? Maybe she never gave up spying," Joey suggested.
"Don't tell me you're just now figuring that out, Wheeler. But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at your stupidity."
"Kaiba!" Joey snarled as he balled his hands into fists. He would have launched himself at Kaiba then and there…had there been a little more room in the tent.
"Calm down, Joey. Let him finish," Yami said.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…Of course Nephthys never gave up spy work. There's no legal evidence of this, but the proof is in the pudding as they say."
"So we're up against a genius, a business woman, a gamer, and a master of subterfuge? That doesn't inspire much confidence," Duke said.
"Not only that. There will be the Elementals to contend with," Kaiba added.
"The Elementals? You mean those four we saw standing on the platform yesterday?" Tea asked.
"Yes, them. They are Nephthys' top agents. They're crack operatives. Sort of like a secret police force. Why they're called the Elementals, I don't know. But in the business underworld the four have gained a reputation as deadly assassins. They're wanted in at least ten countries for murder and intelligence operations. Again, the law can find no real evidence linking them to Nephthys Industries but the allies and targets of the company know the truth."
"But why host the tournament? You'd think a company like Nephthys Industries would be anxious to avoid public attention, not attract it. This tournament caused a lot of hype in the media world-wide," Malik noted.
"Sometimes the best place to hide is right out in public," Kaiba answered as he shut off the laptop and stood up from the cot.
"Thank you for you help Kaiba," Yami said as he and the others filed out of the tent. "This information could prove useful. We have a lot of work to do, so I think we'd better be going now."
"Wait a second, Yugi. You still owe me something," Kaiba said as he followed them out.
"Kaiba, you can't be serious. Can't the duel wait until later? There are lives at stake here!" Yami said furiously.
"No, I-" Kaiba's words were lost in the sudden gust of wind that came blasting into the clearing. A heap of branches came flying in with it and one of them smacked Bakura in the face. Not far behind the gust, a young woman came crashing into the clearing. Her blue hair was wind-blown and full of twigs and her face and clothes were covered with dirt, but Kaiba still recognized her as the girl from the boat…Alex.
"Please, don't hurt me!" she called back into the trees, clearly panicked. "You can have the Key Stones! Just leave us alone!"
"Get back here, you coward! I need help!" another voice shouted from somewhere beyond the trees.
Just then, two figures burst into the clearing. The first was Zephyr. He had his hands held up and was sending small blasts of wind at Alex. The other was Taren. A small tangle of vines also followed him out of the jungle. Taren was controlling the vines so that they had wrapped themselves around the neck of another young woman. Taranee, the girl from the beach.
"That's not good enough, girl," Zephyr said harshly as he raised his hands for another attack. "Taranee must also give up her Key Stones."
"I won't do it!" Taranee shouted from her precarious position in the vines' grasp. "You two cheated in an official duel! I don't owe you a thing!"
Alex trembled in fear, frozen to the spot where she lay, helpless in the dirt.
"What's going on here?" Yami asked.
The two Elementals turned to face the gang, seeming to notice them for the first time. Zephyr lowered his hands for a moment and the wind stopped dead. Alex watched, petrified as her assailant walked over to Yami.
"Well, well, well…what have we here? Taren, I believe this is the Pharaoh Alexandra's always talking about."
"I think you're right, Zephyr. Should we give him a proper welcome?" Taren asked.
"No. Why destroy him now with Alexandra not here to see him fall?" Zephyr continued as if Yami wasn't standing right in front of him. "She was so looking forward to seeing his demise."
"What are you doin' to dese girls?" Joey asked furiously.
"You see," Taren began pleasantly. "We double-dueled with the two of them and they lost. Now they won't hand over the Key Stones they owe us."
"That is not true!" Taranee shouted angrily. "Let go of me and I'll set your record straight you lousy, lying, ch-"
Taranee's words were cut off by Taren tightening the vines around her throat.
"I wouldn't call it cheating," Zephyr said silkily. "It's not my fault these two can't hold onto their cards."
"But…you started the wind," Alex said meekly. "I know you did."
Zephyr turned around and glared down at his quivering, would-be opponent.
"You can't prove that."
"Leave her alone, Zephyr!" Yami shouted furiously.
"Ah, you remember my name. I'm so pleased," Zephyr said as he turned back to Yami, his cool returned to him in the blink of an eye.
"Who cares what your name is. All I care about is if you can duel!" Joey shouted, recklessly raising his arm in a challenge.
"I'm with Joey. We'll duel you for the girls' Key Stones," Yami said as he went to stand beside Joey.
"Gladly," Taren responded just as quickly, releasing Taranee from the vines' choking grasp. The girl fell to the ground, coughing violently.
"LETS-" the four started.
"STOP!" Alex shouted. Tears streaked down her face as she climbed to her feet. "Sir, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, b-but he's dangerous. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."
"And I fight my own battles!" Taranee said angrily as she too rose from the ground.
"Just take the Stones," Alex said as she pulled two of her four keystones from the chain she wore. "Take this second one if Taranee will not give you hers."
"All right," Zephyr said, snatching the Key Stones from Alex and walking back to join Taren. Slowly the two walked back into the jungle.
"We will finish this later, Pharaoh," Zephyr called over his shoulder before they vanished completely.
"You shouldn't have done that. If those two cheated then you should have received their Key Stones instead. You shouldn't give in to bullying," Yami advised.
"You don't know what he can do. You didn't see it. If you knew what I know you wouldn't be so quick to challenge him," Alex said glumly.
"Stop bitching, you coward! You just lost yourself a good lead in the tournament because of those dirty cheats. And you just let them walk away with your Key Stones. I can't believe I let myself get muscled into double dueling with you," Taranee reprimanded bitterly.
"I'm sorry," Alex whispered.
"Don't be. We'll get back at dose jerks if it's da last thing we do," Joey proclaimed boldly.
"By da way, my name's Joey. Joey Wheeler, duelist extraordinaire!"
Kaiba just rolled his eyes at this.
"And my name is Yami."
Alex smiled shyly at the group.
"Mine's Alex. Alex Long."
Taranee glared at Yami for a moment before joining the chain of introductions.
"I'm Taranee Konje."
It took awhile before all of the introductions were finished up but once it was taken care of, Tea invited the two girls and the Kaiba brothers over to their camp for breakfast. Kaiba and Taranee accepted with reluctance and Mokuba and Alex jumped on the opportunity.
Ryou just sighed as Amane helped him walk back to the camp with the others. Did Tea really expect him to feed all these people?
XxX
