Notes: Yes, Valon's "parents" will get what's coming to them. Unfortunately, when that happens, that will unleash an even bigger problem. . . .
Chapter Six
Valon sighed, watching Raphael morosely as the blonde man collected the day's mail and sorted through it. The brunette boy was sitting in a plush chair, resting his elbow on the furniture's arm and cupping his chin in his hand. He found that he was extremely bored—and frightened. He did not know how to solve any of the problems they were struggling with. Right now Alister was upstairs, doing who knows what and probably fighting the Orichalcos again. And his parents were who knows where, probably plotting exactly how they would retrieve their son. Valon wished that they would just go away. And he wished that Alister had not ever been poisoned by the ancient magic force that had corrupted all three of them in the past.
Why do things like this happen? It was a question that he could not answer, though he longed to know why they had to suffer this way. It's not fair, is it? This can't be right. Alister didn't deserve this. As for himself, he wondered if he did deserve the problems he was having now with his parents suddenly appearing again. Heh, maybe it's supposed to be payback for the way I lived my life—always on the streets, gettin' in and out of trouble, beatin' people up. . . .
He had tried to live his life as best as he could under the harsh circumstances he had been thrown into, but he knew that he had always a short temper that had been a source of various problems throughout the years. He had attacked people in rage, often got angry with Alister, and in the past, victory had always been the most important thing to him. But there was a reason for that. On the streets, the loser never prospered. If one lost in a fight, more often than not, they wound up either dead or very close to it. Valon had vowed at a young age, after losing one too many battles, that someday he would never lose a fight again. Right now, victory was again the most important thing. If they did not triumph, then Alister would go mad . . . and Valon would be forced to go with his parents.
"So," he said, coming back to the present, "is there anything good, Raph?"
Raphael sighed, shaking his head as he set the spam advertisements down on the telephone table. "It doesn't look like it," he answered, but in a way he felt a certain relief because of that. Certainly he could have done without their most recent pieces of unique mail. He would much rather see spam instead of lawyers' letters and notes from Doom Reborn.
That was when the phone gave a shrill ring. Both Raphael and Valon started, not having expected the silence to be so suddenly broken. Then Raphael muttered and lifted the receiver, hoping that there would not be bad news on the other end. "Hello?"
A dark, muffled voice responded after a moment. "We have your cousin Hilda," came the shocking announcement, "and we're going after Mai Valentine as well."
Raphael almost dropped the phone. "Who is this!" he demanded. Instantly Valon perked up, seeing from his friend's reaction that this was not an ordinary telephone call.
"You don't need to know my name," came the cold reply. "But you need to know what we want." There was a short pause, as if the person was gathering his thoughts. "We're harming everyone who is close to you or, in the case of Miss Valentine, close to one of your friends." And there was a professional reason for it, Hans had to remind himself as he observed his cohort speaking on the telephone—not merely his own personal thirsting for revenge. "You see," the young man continued, "while our power is growing, there are still some critical things we need to know in order to move forward with our work. Only you and your two friends know these things, because the three of you were Dartz's most trusted and valuable warriors."
Raphael growled, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "You won't get any information from us," he snapped. "We're not going to stoop that low as to help you with your plans to destroy the world."
"But that's the thing," the caller said smoothly. "If you don't tell us what we want to know, Hilda dies. And Mai will be next." Raphael could hear the sound of the person walking across the floor. "And just so you know I'm not lying," he said then, "I'll let you talk to your cousin for a minute." There was another pause, the sound of a door opening, and then the man spoke again, but not to Raphael. "Say hello, honey."
"RAPHAEL!"
Raphael tensed, his eyes widening as he recognized Hilda's voice. Then it was true. This organization had taken her, just as another group had taken Valon in the past. The same thing had happened then, with them trying to force Raphael and Alister into telling different things about Doom or else they would be threatened with Valon's imminent death. Raphael was disgusted and horrified at such measures.
"Raphael, what were you doing all those years since you got back from the island!" Hilda screamed, sounding both afraid and angry. "These people are saying that you were part of some organization that wanted to purify the world, or some such crazy thing! And now they won't let me go until you give them some information they want!"
Raphael clutched the phone so tightly that Valon was certain it would crumble right in the man's strong hand. "Hilda, I'm sorry," he said, keeping his voice firm and controlled. "You shouldn't have been forced into this. I promise, I won't let them hurt you. . . ." But he wondered how on earth he was supposed to rescue her without giving information out. He could not allow Doom Reborn to learn anything more than they already knew. That could be the end of the world as they all knew it.
He and Alister had both opted not to tell the earlier organization anything when Valon had been taken. They knew that Valon would not want that, and that in the end, if the knowledge had been handed out, that they all would have died anyway—along with the rest of the world. So instead they had managed to trace the call and had gone to rescue their friend. But Raphael hated to remember the events that had happened next, including Valon being beaten half to death and Alister being shot repeatedly. Alister had fallen off a cliff, and for the longest time Raphael and Valon had both believed him to be dead. It had been a horrible time for all three of them. Raphael did not want to see anything of the sort get repeated.
Valon stopped and stared at Raphael in disbelief when he heard him speak to Hilda. Quickly he got up and came over, blinking at the conversation as he was able to now hear it more clearly. This sounded bad. And he doubted this was going to endear them to Hilda. Of course, if he had known at this point that Mai was also a target, he would have been much more upset.
"Well, how are you going to make sure of that!" Hilda demanded. "You're right—I shouldn't have been involved in this! It isn't my problem! Besides," she wailed then, "what will the society columns write about me if they know that this is going on! I've been abducted by a hoodlum organization and now I'm finding out that my cousin was one of them! But I should have known," she said bitterly.
Raphael was growing frustrated. Hilda had a perfect right to be angry, but he did not appreciate the way she was starting in again on how she thought of him as so very much below her. "Do you know where you are?" he asked now, deciding that the best thing for now was to ignore Hilda latest remarks. Idly he wondered what Hilda would think if she was aware that her father had taken over Raphael's father's fortune. He had never told her before, for several reasons—including that they had never been close after Raphael had returned from the island, and that she probably would not believe him even if he did try to tell her.
"It's some terrible, old warehouse!" Hilda answered, but before she could say more, there was the sound of a slap and her captor took the phone again.
"Well," he said smoothly, "so now you know the stakes. You have until midnight to meet our demands, if you don't want your dear cousin to perish. Personally, I don't really find her worth saving, but I know how you are and that you probably feel that you can't even let her die. But think about it. You say that we're going to destroy the world. If you give us the information, then we'll go about doing exactly that, in your eyes. If you don't give it us to, Hilda dies. So actually, the choice boils down to being either Hilda or the world." His voice was precise and calm, not revealing much emotion at all. He studied Hilda coldly as he spoke into the phone. She only glared back at him, frustrated and annoyed with her current predicament.
Raphael growled inwardly. "Where are you?" he demanded.
"Oh, I don't think you'll have a hard time finding us," was the cryptic answer. "Just come before midnight if you don't want her dead." Abruptly there was a click and then the incessant sound of the dial tone. Raphael snarled as he slammed the phone back into its cradle.
"What's that all about!" Valon cried, staring at his friend. "So they've got Hilda or something!"
Raphael nodded grimly, running a hand over his face. "They're going to kill her if we don't tell them the highest secrets of the original Doom, which only us and Dartz knew." But there was another problem. Not even they knew everything. Even if Raphael felt that he had to hand out information to free Hilda, there were some things that only Dartz knew. But Raphael did not want to give Doom Reborn any information at all. Already they possessed far too much power. And since he had not handed out knowledge when Valon had been taken, he would not change his methods now that Hilda was captive.
"Well, that's just peachy," Valon grumbled, crossing his arms. "So what're you gonna do, Raph? Give 'em false info?" He looked up at his friend from behind fluffy brown bangs.
Raphael slumped into a chair, running his hands through his hair. This was just too much at once. And he had to struggle to be strong while all of this insanity was going on around him. Both of his friends were dealing with various problems, and now his cousin, who had rejected him years before, was going to be killed if he did not do something. "I'm sure they're too smart to fall for that," he grunted in reply, staring blankly at the floor as he tried to come up with a plausible idea.
A sound on the stairs made them both look up. Alister was coming down slowly, his expression reluctant and cautious. He had been staying in his room again, fighting against the Orichalcos, when he had heard his friends discussing the outcome of the telephone call. And so, frowning in concern and vexation over another problem, he had left his room and was coming to attempt helping them figure out a solution.
"I could pretend to betray the both of you and join Doom Reborn," he said slowly as he reached the bottom. "Then I could manage to free Hilda." He leaned against the wall, crossing his long arms over his masculine chest.
"Yeah, and what if the Orichalcos took over and made you really betray us?" Valon snapped in reply. "Or what if Doom Reborn didn't buy your act?" He did not notice the momentary look of alarm that passed through Alister's eyes after Valon's first comment.
Raphael sighed. "We can't risk it," he said.
They remained in silence as they tried to determine what the best thing to do would be. Naturally anything they tried would be risky, but some things were more dangerous than others. Raphael and Valon felt that it would be a bad idea for Alister to pretend to betray them. The Doom Reborn members would be able to see whether the Orichalcos was controlling Alister or not, and they likely knew how close the trio was normally, so they would almost certainly know that Alister would not betray them if he was in his right mind.
Liu abruptly let out a loud meow, running out of the room. The trio blinked at her in confusion, then Raphael got up to follow her when she looked back. Alister and Valon exchanged glances and then followed as well. Liu generally did not display such behavior, so they wondered if something was amiss.
She stopped in front of the nearest clock and meowed up at it. As Raphael caught up, he frowned and followed her gaze. "Is something wrong with it?" he asked. She meowed again. Raphael shook his head and reached up to pull the clock down and examine it.
"You think the cat knows somethin'?" Valon asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's probably just some kitty whim. You know how funny cats are sometimes."
Raphael grunted. "I also know how Liu isn't," he said, removing the battery to look behind it, "and she usually doesn't get upset or make a fuss with loud meowing. She's almost always quiet, calm, and docile. . . . Eh?" He narrowed his eyes as he pulled out an unfamiliar, loose piece. It was small and round in shape, and on one side there seemed to be a grid, such as the kind that covered electronic speakers.
"What is that thing!" Valon cried, his blue eyes widening. "It doesn't look like part of the clock."
Alister, entering the room, took it from Raphael's hand and turned it over. He seemed highly intrigued as he unscrewed the two parts, revealing the intricate wiring inside. Immediately he pulled out a pocket knife, slicing through each wire. "It's nothing we need," he remarked when he was done. Carefully he set it on the table for the others to look at.
Valon glared at the device, then reached down and lifted it up. "Hey, this thing is a bug!" he declared. Having been mixed with so many gangs over the years, he had become acquainted with many such shady gadgets. He was definitely not pleased to see this one in the house. There was no telling how much of their conversations had been overheard by the one doing this.
Raphael growled. "We should have known they were gonna spy on us," he remarked, crossing his arms. "There's probably more of these things all over the house." Liu meowed in agreement. "And they were likely put here by the thief from last night." He spoke this bitterly, for the one who had done that had also been the one who was making Alister suffer. The burglar had deliberately wounded Alister with the shard of the Orichalcos stone! Raphael was disgusted.
"Well, let's find 'em and get rid of 'em!" Valon announced then, breaking into Raphael's thoughts. "Those lousy hypocrites! We can't figure out what to do if they're listening in!" With that he went back into the living room, looking for any that had been placed in there. He was extremely disgusted and annoyed by this turn of events, and furious at the one responsible. He's making my chum go out of his mind! If I ever get the chance, I'm gonna beat him good for what he's done to Alister.
Raphael looked down at Liu, who purred and rubbed against him. Gently he reached and lifted the cat up. "You'll get a reward for this," he told her, stroking the fluffy fur. Liu half-closed her eyes in contentment.
Forty-five minutes later, the bikers met back in the living room after retrieving what they hoped was all of the listening devices. Still, though, they were reluctant to discuss any plans aloud on how to save Hilda. Carefully Raphael pulled a notepad out of a crowded desk drawer and indicated that they would write messages with that.
Suddenly Valon's eyes lighted up and he grabbed the pad. "What if we did give them fake info," he wrote, "but only you did it, Raph, and Alister and I got ticked at you for doing it? Then maybe they'd think it was real info and not fake." He showed the paper to his friends, and they looked at it thoughtfully. At last Raphael wrote back, "It just might work, if we do it right." Alister looked more reluctant, but slowly he agreed as well. Raphael then took the paper, removed it from the notepad, and shredded it repeatedly—just in case their house was broken into by Doom Reborn at some point.
Valon leaned back with a sigh. "So now we've gotta figure out where their hideout is," he mused, placing his hands behind his head.
Suddenly Raphael remembered what else the caller had said. In the middle of all the other disasters, he had forgotten. "They're also going after Mai Valentine," he said darkly. He had to wonder if subconsciously he had also forgotten because of his dislike of the woman, but he frowned upon that thought. True, he did not like Mai, but he also did not like the thought that he would want harm to come to her. What he truly wished was simply that Valon would get over his immense crush on her.
Valon leaped up, going pale. "WHAT!" His blue eyes narrowed as he glared at the older man. "Why didn't you say so before!"
Raphael sighed, shaking his head. "I didn't remember, what with everything else that happened," he admitted, running a hand over his face. "I'm sorry."
Valon continued to glare as he headed for the door. "I'm gonna make sure she's okay," he declared sharply, and left. Raphael called after him, but to no avail as the door slammed behind the brunette Australian. Raphael groaned.
Alister shook his head, going to the front window and watching as Valon jammed his helmet down over his fluffy, star-shaped hair and rode off on his yellow motorcycle. "This is all we need," he muttered, his eyes flickering with red again. "Valon is so reckless. He's angry now, and worried."
Raphael growled, grabbing his coat. "We need to go out anyway. Let's make sure he doesn't do something stupid, especially if Doom Reborn is already at Mai's house." How could I have been so stupid? Alister's right—this is only gonna make it worse, especially if Valon stays mad at me. We need to stick together if we're going to have any hope of beating these madmen!
Alister nodded in agreement to Raphael's spoken statement as he left the house. "Valon could do something stupid whether Doom Reborn is there or not," he remarked, thinking of how often the boy narrowly missed getting into a serious accident.
He clutched at his forehead, feeling the Orichalcos try to get loose again. Not now! he screamed silently. This was not a good time—not that any time was good. But they were going to have to face Doom Reborn. That would be the very worst point in which Alister could lose control.
Valon knocked frantically on Mai's door once he arrived at the home she was currently renting in a suburb of Domino City. She never stayed in one place for very long, and it was likely that she would leave Domino again, but Valon hoped that she was still here now. If she was not . . . well, then he did not know what to do. She could be anywhere in the world if she was not here. Valon had been a wanderer like that himself, especially during the period after Doom when he and his friends had been separated. But now that he was back with them, he found that he had no desire to roam about—at least not very far. It was nice, having a place to come back to that he could call home—and especially, having people around who cared. He wondered how long that would remain the case, what with his parents bothering him.
He cast his blue-eyed gaze idly around the small porch and yard. Mai's convertible was in the driveway, he noted, so surely she was here! Somehow he doubted that the woman still traveled on a motorcycle. That would bring back too many memories of Doom. Valon doubted that she wanted to dwell very much on that time in their lives.
At last he heard the door open and he quickly turned back. "Mai?" he called hopefully, looking through the small crack between the door and the chain that was mostly holding it shut. He saw a startled violet eye looking back at him.
"Valon!" Mai exclaimed in disbelief. What was he doing here? Inwardly Mai worried, wondering if he was coming to again declare his love for her. She did not want to have to reject him again. The truth was that she cared about Valon dearly, but only as a friend. She honestly did not feel romantic feelings for anyone, Joey Wheeler included. She was not certain that she ever would engage in any sort of romantic relationship.
Valon grinned lopsidedly, relieved to see that she was safe. "It's me, in the flesh," he said, leaning on the outside doorframe as he sobered again. "Listen, Mai, we've got a big problem and you're gonna get stuck right in the middle of it."
She frowned, studying his blue orbs. He was serious, she could tell. "Just a minute," she said quietly, and shut the door so she could remove the chain.
As she opened it again, Valon could see that she was wearing another of her trademark purple outfits, though this time her blouse was white again and not black, as it had been during the time she had been in Doom. Valon decided to himself that white suited her better, though he was perfectly happy to see her in any color of clothing.
Carefully he explained the problem to her, at least as much as he knew, and she listened, her violet eyes narrowing darkly as he came to the latest telephone call and how the person had said that Doom Reborn would be targeting Mai Valentine.
"I guess they want you 'cause you were with us too," Valon finished slowly. He knew the memories of Doom were not easy for either of them, and indeed, he saw Mai look away for a brief moment. He wondered if she regretted ever joining Doom . . . and meeting him. He was certain that, since Doom, she had not had much contact with Yugi and the others who had been her friends. She had not had much contact with him, either. Someday, Valon wanted to ask her what she had meant by leaving the Harpie Lady card behind for him when Doom had ended, but he knew that now was not a good time.
"I guess so." Mai turned back to face him, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "But I'm not worried. After all, I can take care of myself." She gave him a characteristic wink. Perhaps it was hard for her to be around him, since she knew she could not return the feelings he held for her, but she would do her best not to show any discomfort.
Valon sighed. "I know you can, Mai, but these people are dangerous. Heck, look what they're doing to Alister." He clenched a fist tightly. "He's gonna go nuts," he said bitterly, "and Raph and I don't know how to help him." He caught sight of a bright green beacon out the window and his eyes widened. "Holy. . . ." Quickly he got up, making his way over to look out through the glass. Mai soon joined him.
"I guess that's where they're keeping your friend's cousin?" she mused.
Valon took note of how she said "your friend" and sighed again inwardly. He knew that Mai did not like Raphael or Alister very much, but he also knew that the feeling was a good deal mutual. Still, he did not want to think that Raphael had purposely forgotten to tell him earlier about Mai also being targeted. Surely it had been an accident. "Looks like it," the Australian answered, narrowing his eyes at the sight. "Alister and Raph shouldn't have any trouble finding it."
Mai crossed her arms. "You should go with them, Valon," she said quietly. "I'll be fine, but they're probably going to get into a lot of trouble." Not that you won't. She looked at the reckless boy. Valon could be as much as seven years younger than her, she silently mused, but it was not really the age difference that separated them, since Valon acted like an adult around her. The problem was simply that she was not in love with him, though if asked to explain why, she was not certain that she could give an answer. "They're your friends, Valon. They're all you've got."
Valon frowned. "You could wind up getting attacked if I left," he said. "I care about Alister and Raph, but . . . I care about you, too." He felt his insides twisting. Really, what would he do? He knew that Alister and Raphael were capable of taking care of themselves (and that Mai was, too), but Doom Reborn was dangerous. What one of their warriors had done to Alister was proof of that. Valon wanted to be able to help all of the people he cared about to be safe. Why did he have to make a choice? It was so frustrating!
Abruptly a window shattered behind them and they both whirled around. Wandering into the house were at least half a dozen strange men, each one wearing the Orichalcos stone around his neck. Mai frowned darkly, clearly not impressed by the sight. Valon clenched a fist, glaring at the intruders as he started to get extremely angry.
"What do you want?" he snapped. "If it's Mai, then I hate to disappoint you, but you're not gonna be able to get her." Mai opened her mouth to protest, but Valon stepped up to the nearest Doom Reborn warrior and grabbed his wrist when the man attempted to attack him. Valon punched him harshly in the stomach and then proceeded to send him flying over his shoulder to crash into the wall. Mai, not intending to just stand by as the fight happened, joined in herself.
Alister and Raphael, meanwhile, had already discovered the light from the Orichalcos that Valon had seen from Mai's window. It seemed to be coming from down at the docks, they noted, but going there would have to wait just a bit longer. They were approaching Mai's home, and they took note of Valon's motorcycle in the driveway. They also took note of the sounds of battle coming from inside, and the broken window.
"It looks like they have company," Raphael remarked darkly as he climbed off his own motorcycle and removed his helmet.
"And I doubt any good will come of it," Alister said, still struggling against the dark powers. He resisted an urge to moan in pain as both a wave of dizziness and a harsh headache hit him all at once. As he followed Raphael up the walkway, he stumbled and almost fell. He could feel the Orichalcos tearing at his mental defenses. It was frightening, knowing that if he was not careful, he would wind up not being in control of his own body.
Raphael turned to look back at him. "Are you alright?" he asked, regarding his friend with a deep concern. He was afraid for Alister, and for what the Orichalcos would eventually do to him. The poor man was likely going to completely lose his mind, but Raphael could not bear to think of that and so he struggled to hope that they would be able to figure out some way to overcome the darkness.
Alister looked up at him after silently berating himself. "Yes," he answered, his voice breaking as they reached the porch.
As Raphael flung open the still-unlocked door, the sight of the intense battle going on inside made both of the men annoyed and outraged. The original six warriors had since been joined by two more, and eight at once was simply too much for Valon and Mai to cope with. Valon was being beaten to the floor by four of them while the other four were attempting to drag Mai outside, inspite of her furious kicking and struggling.
Raphael growled. "This is an unfair fight, don't you think?" he said coldly to the Doom Reborn men. Even though he did not like Mai, he was disgusted by the way things were going for her now. And when he saw Valon being furiously beaten, he could barely contain himself. He ran forward, grabbing one of the attackers and throwing him to the floor. The man gave a yelp as he crashed, obviously not having expected this interruption.
And something was happening to Alister, as well. He, also, was outraged by the sight around him, and he felt anger and hatred for Doom Reborn rising up in his heart. How dare they do this? How could they be such hypocrites? They wanted to purify the world, they claimed, and there they were, allowing and indulging in such cruelty as this! He was not going to stand for it. This was the final straw. Eyes flashing, he lunged at the nearest thug, who had been striking Valon repeatedly with what looked like a golf club, and grabbed his shoulder.
Blearily Valon looked up, feeling that the pain was stopping. What's going on? he wondered in his semi-conscious state. As he tried to focus, he saw that both Raphael and Alister were there. And he saw something else, as well. The look in Alister's eyes sent a chill down his spine. He looked completely murderous.
"Leave him alone," he hissed, "unless you want to die."