Mazes Within Mazes

x.x.x

There really wasn't anything to be done except keep going. The boulder had blocked the only exit, and no matter how hard any of them pushed, it simply could not be budged. And so the group continued down the path, hoping that somewhere down one of these tunnels, they would find another way out.

They started walking in silence, though as the tunnel slanted downward and their trek took them deeper underground, the group began to talk in hushed voices, mostly to hear themselves talk so the surrounding darkness would not seem so oppressive. Bakura was the only one that remained silent, hanging back from the group and mostly lost in his own thoughts. The group seemed to have forgotten he was there, and for the moment that suited him just fine. It gave him a chance to study the newest member of their group, the blonde Egyptian boy that Yugi had called Malik.

There was something very familiar about that boy, something that he couldn't quite place. It was just a feeling, that behind that innocent and cheerful attitude, Malik was hiding some sort of dark presence.

"Well," Ryou finally said, breaking his silent contemplation, "it takes one to know one."

"Shut up," Bakura responded automatically, though he realized that Ryou was right. It was possible that Malik was hiding a fiend of his own, just as Bakura had hid his presence behind Ryou's. And possibly that would explain another little thing that was nagging at him.

Bakura's Millennium Ring had the unique power of being able to locate other Millennium Items. Since arriving on the island, Bakura had mostly been ignoring the silent, gentle prodding of the Millennium Ring. After all, he already knew that there were more items in the area, both Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, and Pegasus' Millennium Eye. He assumed the Ring was trying to point out things he was already aware of. But the Ring's insistent tugs had become stronger since Malik had joined their group.

"So… Malik has a Millennium Item as well," Bakura mused. "That does make things more interesting. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to bring him along after all."

"Malik has a Millennium Item?" Ryou question, sounding skeptical. "How can you tell?"

Bakura lifted the Millennium Ring, giving it a gentle shake. The dangling golden points stirred gently, then began to lift of their own accord. One pointed toward Yugi to indicate the Puzzle. One pointed off into the vague distance, picking up the force of the Millennium Eye. And one pointed distinctly to Malik.

"The Ring is certain. He has an Item. One that I would be happy to relieve him of."

"So what's the other little pointer pointing at?" Ryou questioned.

Bakura glanced at the Ring again, noticing a fourth point was tugging back the way they had come. "So, there is yet another Millennium Item on the island. And whomever has it seems to be following after us. This trip will prove to be very profitable indeed."

"If you're still so determined to take the Millennium Items, then how come you haven't challenged Yami to another duel?"

Bakura paused in mid-step, blinking. "What?"

"Well, you keep saying that you're going to take the Millennium Puzzle from him. And to do that, you have to win a duel against him, right? So, how come that even weakened as he is, even though you're practically guaranteed to win, you haven't challenged him again?"

"What, you want me to?"

"I didn't say I want you to," Ryou said patiently. "I'm just curious as to why you don't seem to want to."

Bakura frowned at Yugi walking ahead of him, before his gaze inevitably slid instead to Seto. "I just don't feel like it now, that's all," he finally replied in irritation.

"Uh-huh." Ryou's replied seemed all too smug to Bakura. Ryou said nothing more, but Bakura could easily feel his amusement.

"What's so funny?" Bakura demanded.

"Let's face it; deep down, you might actually be a nice guy."

"I most certainly am NOT!" Bakura protested vehemently. "Need I remind you that I not only stole your form and trapped you in a card, but I am currently in possession of Seto's soul as well, tormenting him for my own amusement?"

"Yeah, but you'll be letting his soul go," Ryou said lightly.

"Yeah? What makes you think I'll be doing that?"

"Because once you make him fall in love with you, owning his soul is a little redundant," Ryou said. "There wouldn't be a point to it anymore."

Bakura glowered. "Still doesn't mean I'll be giving him up."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll just see about that." Ryou still seemed far too pleased with his own logic, but Bakura was tired of trying to argue with what amounted to a voice inside his head, and so he let the matter drop.

"Hold on!" Mokuba's urgent whisper silenced the others of the group. "I think I saw something. Give me your flashlight!"

Seto handed his flashlight over to his little brother. The beam of light shook a little as Mokuba pointed it down one of the darkened tunnels. As the shadows were chased away, it revealed none other than Noa Kaiba, blinking and cringing at the light shining in his face. Mokuba huffed, handing the flashlight back to Seto.

"Never mind," Mokuba muttered. "False alarm."

Noa brightened when he saw whom he had come across, and it was only Bakura's dark glare that kept him from running over to tackle Seto. It didn't, however, keep Noa from gushing with excitement. "Oh thank goodness I found you, Seto! I've been looking for you everywhere! I tried moving that boulder those guys pushed in front of the entrance, but it wouldn't budge!"

Seto raised an eyebrow, momentarily torn between wanting to beat Noa unconscious with his flashlight, and finding out how the heck Noa had gotten in here if the entrance was blocked. And there was that little matter of why the entrance was blocked. "Guys?" he questioned. "What guys? Why would anybody want to trap us down here on purpose?"

Noa shrugged. "I don't know. I just saw these two guys pushing the boulder, saying something about how some guy named Bandit Keith would think it was really funny to trap you all down here."

"So how did you get down here?" Duke asked.

"Oh, there's another way in!" Noa said brightly. "I came across it… well, more like tripped and fell down it, but I found another entrance. You wouldn't believe how dank and dirty some of these passageways are! Pegasus really ought to keep his island a bit cleaner…"

"There's another entrance?" Seto interrupted him. "Show us."

"Well, it seems like the little bug is going to be good for something after all…" Bakura muttered.

Noa nodded, but looked around uncertainly. "Um…" he finally said, pointing to the passageway he had come down. "It's this way… I think…"

"You think?" Mai demanded. "You don't know?"

"Well, I was stumbling around in the dark here!" Noa snapped at her. "And there are a 'lot' of tunnels down here; you can't blame me for having gotten a little lost on my way in!"

The group let out a collective groan. Bakura folded his arms, announcing to the world in general, "I still say we should have eaten him."

"Speaking of food," Yugi said softly. "I'm starting to get hungry. Maybe we ought to keep going, and worry about eviscerating Noa later?"

"Yugi has a point," Malik agreed. "We ought to keep walking. We may not know which way we're going, but we're not getting anywhere by just standing around here."

"Make the Tomb Robber find the way," Marik suddenly spoke up in Malik's mind.

"The Tomb Robber?" Malik asked. "How's he supposed to help? He's as lost as we are."

"Think about it. The boy robs tombs, right? He should be used to wandering around in dark, cramped spaces. Plus he has the Millennium Ring, and one of its purposes is for finding things. Make him find the way out."

"Tomb Robber," Malik said aloud. "You could find the way out, couldn't you?"

"Me?" Bakura asked. "This isn't the Valley of the Kings here, you know. And I'm about five thousand years out of practice."

"Still, we've got a better chance following you than with following Noa," Seto said dryly.

Bakura blinked, a little surprised that Seto willingly showed any faith in his abilities. It was… rather touching, actually. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. I suppose it couldn't be that hard; Pegasus probably wouldn't really risk that some duelists would get lost down here and starve to death."

"Wait a minute!" Noa demanded. "Are you saying that you could do a better job of this than I could?"

"Yeah," Bakura said, "that's exactly what I'm saying. Now get out of my way."

Noa opened his mouth to continue arguing with him, then apparently thought better of it and scurried away from Bakura to join up with the bulk of the group. Bakura watched him a moment to be sure Noa wasn't going to inappropriately attach himself to Seto, before setting out down one of the tunnels.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to find the way out?" Ryou questioned Bakura tentatively.

"The Millennium Ring will point the way to the Millennium Eye. If we follow that, we'll find the way to the castle at least," Bakura replied.

"Seto will be so disappointed with you if you're wrong."

"I'm not wrong. See, up ahead, there's a light."

"Is that the way out up there?" Yugi asked, pointing to the dim light that shone up ahead. It was shadowy and flickering, and it certainly didn't look like daylight. All the same, the group was more than willing to run toward it.

The tunnel abruptly opened up into a large cavern. A dueling platform painted in dark colors sat in the very middle of the room, and surrounding it on all sides and crowding up against the walls were…

"Graves…" Noa whispered, scooting back a little into the tunnel.

Tombstones filled the small room, a fine mist wreathing about their crumbled looking structures. Unearthed bones were scattered across the path, mocking skulls staring up at the group, their unhinged jaws wide in eternally silent laughter.

"Welcome, mortals," a thin voice whispered from the dark. "Welcome to the realm of the dead. Make yourselves comfortable, for you shall not be leaving. These graves you see will soon be your own."

Joey took a hold of one of the tombstones, pulling on it. It lifted up easily from the ground, and Joey thwapped it against the wall once or twice. "These are cardboard, you know."

Mokuba poked at the pile of skulls sitting to one side. "I think these are paper maché. Pretty realistic though; think I could take a few of these home for my next Halloween party?"

"Oh, come on!" the thin voice said. A pale boy with blue hair and starved looking features climbed up onto the far side of the dueling platform, glaring at all of them with unnaturally bright eyes. "Couldn't you people at least try to be scared?"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I think Noa wet his pants," Bakura said cheerfully. "Who're you?"

"Bones," the boy said with a pout. "I am the keeper of the graveyard."

"Some keeper," Joey said. "I've gotten things caught in my teeth that were scarier than you."

"I hope you know an alternative way out of here, Mr. Bones, or this place might become a graveyard in truth," Mai said. She gestured back the way they had come. "That way's all blocked off."

Bones grinned so wide it seemed to stretch all the skin on his face taut. "I know. But I'm not the one in danger of dying down here. I know the way out, but I don't think that I'll be telling it to you. You guys can wander around down here hopelessly until you pass out for all I care."

"You work with the guys that trapped us down here, don't you?" Malik asked quietly. "What do you want?"

"Let me mind-slave him," Marik whispered eagerly to Malik. "I can 'make' him show us the way out."

Malik ignored Marik's request. Enslaving people's minds always made him feel a little sick to his stomach afterward. Besides, if the Millennium Puzzle happened to pick up on the power surge and Yugi figured out what Marik was up to… Malik just didn't think he'd be able to face the disappointment in Yugi's eyes. Marik made a grumbling comment about what a lovesick moron Malik was becoming, but obligingly fell silent again.

"Yeah, I work for Bandit Keith," Bones said, absently shuffling the pack of Duel Monster's cards in his hands. "And all that we want is all of your star chips. Every last one. But I'm willing to duel you for them. It would be a pity to have to wait a few days to take them off your dead bodies."

"You want a duel?" Joey said. "I'll duel ya. You don't seem so tough to me. You just talk big."

Joey approached the dueling platform, but Bakura caught his arm to stop him.

"No," Bakura said, grinning maddeningly. "Let me. It's been a while since I've been able to do something… truly wicked."

Joey gave Bakura a disturbed look, but Duke chimed in before Joey could argue. "Come on, Joey, you've been dueling and winning all day long. Give somebody else a chance."

Joey glanced over at Duke, then shrugged and stepped aside. Bakura took out his dueling deck and took his place across from Bones on the dueling platform. It had been a while since Bakura had been able to do something mean without having to worry about what Seto would think about it, and he was more than willing to take this opportunity to prove to Ryou (and maybe to himself as well) that he was not a nice guy.

Seto sat down as Bakura and Bones began their duel. The moment the two set down their decks and the duel began, Seto started feeling a little sick. His head pounded with an aching throb in time to his heartbeat, and his insides suddenly felt all twisted. He leaned back against one of the tombstones, taking deep, slow breaths and trying not to be sick. He couldn't even concentrate on the duel, or even the fabulous quality of the duel monster holograms. With every card that Bakura played, the pain became worse, spreading throughout his body like a fire in his veins.

"Seto?" Mokuba's soft whisper barely registered in Seto's aching head. "Are you okay?"

Seto didn't have a chance to answer, for Bakura drew another card and Seto's heart seemed to forcibly stop beating in his chest.

"You and your pathetic zombie cards never stood a chance," Bakura informed Bones. He placed down the card he had just drawn, and the lights of the dueling platform went instantly to work at constructing the hologram. "Allow me to introduce you to my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The pounding pressure in Seto's head instantly became a rush of roaring white noise. Pain lanced through his body like wildfire, and he couldn't seem to make his lungs draw in even one more breath. The whole fake graveyard swam before his eyes, blurring and melting into a wash of colors, until Seto's mind mercifully decided he had had enough, and shut down completely. In the darkness that enfolded him, there was no pain at all.

x.x.x

"What were you thinking!" Yami's angry whisper intruded into Seto's comfortable darkness. "You trap his soul in a card, then you play it in a duel without a thought to what it could do to him? You're lucky all he did was pass out; you could have killed him!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Bakura's voice snapped back. "Nothing like this happened the last time I took people's souls from their bodies. If you recall, in the last duel, Yugi, Mokuba and Seto woke up afterward feeling just fine, thank you."

"The last time, you didn't leave any trace of consciousness in their bodies," Yami retorted. "If they're empty shells, they won't feel a thing if you play their cards. This time, you left a link from the soul to the body, and playing his soul like it were a mere card obviously hurts."

"Obviously," Bakura muttered.

"If you ever try a stunt like that again," Yami growled, "I'll make being mummified alive seem like an appealing alternative."

"We're not in Egypt now, Pharaoh, and I am not one of your minions to be ordered about as you like. Seto is mine, and I'll do whatever I damn well please with him."

"Would you two kindly shut up?" Seto managed to groan. "Some of us are trying to remain unconscious here."

"Seto!" came Mokuba's happy cheer, moments before Seto was tackled by his over exuberant brother. "We thought you were gonna go into a coma or something!"

"Well, it wasn't for lack of trying," Seto muttered. He opened his eyes slowly, wincing as even the dim light seemed too bright to his eyes. "Owww… what happened?"

"Bakura played your Blue Eyes in his duel," Mokuba said. "And… and then you just kinda… passed out."

"Yeah, I got that part," Seto muttered, glancing over at Bakura. Bakura didn't look away, his expression betraying no emotion at all. "What I meant was… did my Blue Eyes win the duel?"

Bakura looked startled, before grinning slowly. "Yeah, you won."

Seto nodded, sitting up slowly and rubbing his sore head. "Help me up, would you?"

Bakura took Seto's hand and helped him to his feet, while Yami and Mokuba stared at Seto in shock.

"After what he just did to you, you're not even mad at him?" Mokuba finally demanded.

Seto shrugged. "Bakura's right; he does pretty much whatever he wants with me, and I don't get much choice in the matter. But at least this time I don't think he meant to hurt me. And I feel mostly okay now." He didn't look at Bakura as he walked past him, frowning at the empty dueling platform. "Where'd Bones go?"

"He ran off the moment he lost the duel," Yami said. "Joey, Mai and Duke ran after him, but I think he got away."

"Hey guys!" Mai called as she ran into the cavern. "Come see what we found!" She ran back down the tunnel without giving them a chance to answer, and the group hurried to catch up with her.

Joey and Duke were waiting for them down a different tunnel, by what appeared to be a pair of giant, ornately designed doors. As the group joined them, they pushed the doors open to reveal a massive room. It was dark, but they could just barely make out the shape of a very large, oddly designed dueling platform. The floors were tiled, and the walls were smooth.

"Maybe there's a light switch in here somewhere…" Joey said, stepping inside, his hands brushing against the wall to see if he could find one. The others stepped in the room after him, peering around the darkness.

There was only the faintest creak in warning, before the doors swung shut behind them, slamming closed with a resounding bang, followed by the distinct noise of a deadbolt locking into place.

"Damn it, not again!" Mai said, pounding on the door. The others helped her in trying to push the door back open, but it wouldn't budge.

There was a voice from the other side of the room, or rather two voices, speaking together. "Don't bother trying, you can't break these locks. It's time you faced the brothers Paradox!"

x.x.x

Author's Notes: Darn it, whose idea was it to make the Paradox brothers talk in rhyme, anyway? This is gonna be a pain to write in the next chapter. I do hope all my readers will forgive me for what promises to be a chapter full of very poorly written poetic verse. Anyway, until next time, ta-ta, everyone!