A Tale of Two Idiots

Chapter 34:

As they entered the Pharaohs' Palace, the boys marveled at how large it actually was. Only Cody, Marik and Malik had actually been inside before but they must've gone through the back gate or something, because none of this looked familiar. There had to be close to twenty-thousand people in there because it was packed and the room itself was gigantic. The room that they all occupied was drenched in gold and black; the walls appeared to be made of solid gold and all the curtains and table clothes were a rich, velvety black.

Towards the middle of the Great Hall was a large stage which seemed to be the most decorated of everything, due to its being draped in black sheets and neon light coming from the bottom of it and shined onto the ceilings and walls. From large stereos implanted in the walls, techno music played and people were dancing and those who weren't lined the back walls, talking and or enjoying the food tables that were holding liberal servings of every type of dish imaginable.

"Wow…!" Malik and Ryou looked at each other then back to the food tables with admiration and love in their eyes. Immediately, they were scurrying over, pushing past the crowds of people and dove into the sweets tables.

"Hey, what're you doing? Malik!"

"Ryou!"

Their yamis called after them and had to push and shove their ways to the back of the room to get to their other halves. The music was loud so when they finally did get back there, they had to practically shout in each other's ears to be heard.

"What are you two doing? We're not here to gorge; we're here to find our millennium items and the Pharaohs!" Marik frowned at Malik who was watching his lips move while stuffing his own with chocolate cupcakes and frosting-covered cookies.

Malik swallowed, "Well, I haven't eaten in I don't know how long! Yami and Yugi can wait!"

Bakura was trying to pry a few pieces of cake out of Ryou's hands, but he held on tightly. Bakura growled, "Dammit, Ryou, let it go!"

"'Kura, I'm so hungry…!"

He sighed, exasperated and then a light bulb went off in his head. He knew how to make Ryou stop eating. Bakura turned to his hikari and grinned evilly, "Oh, Ryou… Ryou, I thought you were on a diet? All that sugar is going to make you look like the British Pillsbury Doughboy."

Hurriedly, as if the cookies were poison, Ryou threw them down and cried profusely, "O-Oh…! 'Kura, h-how could you s-say such a thing…? Waahhh!"

"Bakura!" Malik rushed to his friend's side and patted him on the back whilst he let out his sorrows, "It's okay, Ryou! You're not fat, you're not!" He looked up, giving Bakura a stern glare, "And as for you, stop saying things like that, he's sensitive!"

Marik shrugged, "I thought that was pretty ingenious, actually."

"You would." Malik frowned then smiled at Ryou who was sniffling, sadly, "Hey, Ryou, you can eat all you want! All diets are on hold, eat anything you want! Ooh, look at these! Yugi Cookies!"

He pointed to a giant platter holding large cookies made in Pharaoh Yugi's likeness. Ryou's mood instantly brightened as he and Malik picked one up each and began digging in, calories and sugar intakes forgotten for the moment. They turned back around to show their yamis their frosting-covered faces and the half-eaten Yugi Cookies.

"Ha ha ha, look 'Kura!" Ryou smiled and laughed, waving the cookie around, "I'm eating Yugi!"

Bakura groaned.

Suddenly, the music coming from the speakers got lower until all that was heard in the room was the chattering and laughing of the guests until that died down as well, everyone turning their attention to the stage which was now lit with all the neon lights directed towards the center. Coming up from the stage's side stairwell was the guard who had been manning the front door, admitting people into the Palace. He stepped out onto the middle of the stage's platform and twirled the microphone in his hand.

"Alright! Hello and welcome to the First Annual Execution Ceremony! Sponsored and hosted by the gorgeous… the devious… PHARAOH YAMI!" He threw his arms into the air and behind him, a large poster dropped down from the ceiling covering half the wall with Yami's portrait. The crowd cheered, but Marik rolled his eyes. The Spike Patroller continued, "Now, we're saving the main event for a little later but right now we'd like to carry on with some entertainment booked by the Pharaoh, himself! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Hootie and the Blowfish!"

He stretched out his arm and pointed to the very back of the room by the food tables. All the lights went swiftly back to where four boys where fighting and arguing over food but when the lights hit them as well as the eyes of everyone in the room, they froze, mouths filled with sweets and frosting on their shirts.

Marik blinked and swallowed the remaining half of cupcake he had in his mouth, "Uh… Hi."

"Come on up and give these people the performance of a lifetime!" The Patroller urged and the rest of the room went into an applause frenzy when they realized they were getting a live performance. They began chanting madly.

"Hootie! Hootie! Hootie! Hootie!"

"Oh Ra, what are we going to do?" Malik grimaced, spitting out his Yugi Cookie. "They want someone to perform but we can't, we have to find Yami and Yugi!"

Ryou shook his head, "But if we don't, they'll get suspicious and think we're not Hootie and the Blowfish. They'll throw us out and we won't be able to do anything!"

"So," Bakura said, taking a large bite out of a pastry, "I'd say we're screwed. Who wants strudel?"

"No strudel! Listen, I've got an idea. Malik, you, me and Cody will go find the Pharaohs, but we'll need all these guys to be entertained, right? That's where you guys come in." Marik grinned at Ryou and Bakura who looked at each other strangely. Noticing the roar of the crowds becoming louder, Marik looked around, "W-Wait, where's Cody?"

All of them looked from side to side, searching the mobs for their friend. Suddenly, out of the corner of their eye they saw him dancing quite obscenely with a sweaty group of teenagers. Marik rolled his eyes and sharply called Cody's name. He looked up from his new friends and smiled, happily coming over to them.

"H-Hey, yous guys! Havin' a funny-fun time?" He was sweating and panting as he spoke.

Malik shook his head, "No time, we have to go! C'mon, Cody!"

"Okeydokey, artichokey!"

As Marik and Malik, now joined by Cody began to weave their way through the people, Ryou hurriedly called out, taking half a step foreword, "Marik! Malik! W-What are we supposed to do?"

Malik looked back at his friend once more before the moving groups of people covered up him and his yami, "I don't know!"

And when they were gone, Ryou looked helplessly at Bakura who shrugged, half of a cookie hanging out of his mouth. The guard's voice gained their attention once more as he called them up and Ryou and Bakura had no choice but to walk down the path that the crowd parted to make for them up to the stage. The guard held out his hand and pulled Ryou up, while Bakura got on himself.

He whispered, "Where's your band?"

"They… they had to go to the bathroom… S-So, we'll be doing this by ourselves…" Ryou said, feeling more than a little faint.

The guard shrugged, "Good enough for me. Alright, you guys! Without further ado, enjoy the show!" He then jumped of the stage, and promptly after, two mics were thrown out, one was caught by Bakura who looked at it with apprehension and the other caught by Ryou who was looking, hazily, out at the sea of people cheering and starring at him.

Music began to play from the speakers in the wall, softly then becoming louder and louder, each beat and chord more erotic than the last.

Before Ryou even knew what happened, he heard his yami's familiar voice and looked over to the other side of the stage, his jaw coming unhinged at seeing Bakura giving everyone a full show, walking across the stage, his pants' zipper undone, "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and their like, it's better than yours. Damn right it's better than yours. I can teach you, but I have to charge…!"

Ryou gulped and sighed, 'Oh well, so much for being pure…' He then proceeded to lingeringly taking off his shirt and biting his lower lip, "I know you want it! The thing that makes me… what the boys go crazy for. They lose their minds, the way I wind… I think it's time."

"AAAHHH!" Everyone went crazy for these two albino teens that were now practically stripping each other down on stage as the chorus went on.

"La la la la la… Warm it up. La la la la la, the boys are waiting…"

Panties and bras were thrown onstage and Ryou caught a pink, laced one, swung it around Bakura's neck and used it as a chain.

It was safe to say that the entertainment was being taking care of.

Now coming from the southern part of Domino City was a giant half-dead, half-possessed naked, fat man who was being controlled by the twelve-year-old younger brother of a successful CEO. But the people that hadn't gone to the party (which were the people who either couldn't make the trip due to injuries or otherwise or those who were just plain scarred of the Pharaohs), didn't know any of this and were only aware that something awful was heading their way.

So they tried to get out of the man's way, running towards home or elsewhere, but most of them didn't make it and because the boy inside was so happy, he didn't realized he was killing his own countrymen.

"Finally…" Mokuba sighed happily as people down on the ground screamed out in pain. "Something seems to be going my way! Ha ha! I thought I was like cursed or something for a while there!"

He continued to walk in place where he was stationed in the skull, and Flyswatter moved accordingly. At first, Mokuba wanted to test his limits with this new body, so he did a few exercises to see if he had full control, so he did a few jumping jacks and Flyswatter did them as he did, though it was a gross sight.

As he went about stomping down the streets of Domino, he squinted to see through Flyswatter's empty eyes. He thought he could see the Palace from here, its paint making it seem superior to the moon which hung right beside it, pale in comparison. He smiled to himself, "It won't be long now, Seto, just you wait."

The night settled all around the boy and his giant, mutated vessel, the silence thick in the air. In less than a minute, the rhythm of the night was interrupted by a low grumble. And, of course, from Mokuba's piloting spot deep in Flyswatter's head, it must've been pretty loud on the outside for him to hear it on the inside. He turned his head towards the west, the Domino Bay starring back at him, water sparkling just under the glimmer of the night.

"Oh… I guess it was nothing, then." He said and began walking in place again, asking Flyswatter to continue their march. Suddenly, the sound came again, a large, guttural growl now coming with it and before Mokuba had a chance to stop and react; Domino Bay's still water flow was disrupted by an enormous figure bursting out of it. The growl turned into an ear-shattering roar that echoed through the air, reaching a certain twelve-year-old's eardrums.

"Ahh! W-What the heck is that?"

Mokuba held onto his ears with both hands, trying to block out the sound. He tilted his head, and his eyes widened in disbelief, his hands dropping and he momentarily forgot all about the pitchy growl lingering in the air. The giant monster emerged fully from the water now, his blood-red eyes narrowing at Flyswatter.

"G-Godzilla…?" He stuttered, blinking.

The giant lizard did not waste any time in charging Mokuba, not giving him any time to figure out just what was happening. His body was exactly the size of Flyswatter's, save for the fact that Flyswatter was nothing but goo and Godzilla had an admirable build.

He tackled Flyswatter to the ground, jumping on his head and planting his hands on Flyswatter's flabby chest. Mokuba was shaken up inside; he'd been knocked from his controlling stance in the center of the cranium and flew to the back, hitting his head against the skull.

"Crap!" Mokuba whined, falling to his knees and rubbing the back of his head sorely. He woozily looked up, his vision clearing just enough for him to see the monster's horrible face starring deeper than Flyswatter's eyes, seemingly knowing that Mokuba was in there. "W-What are you doing? Get off of me, I wasn't bothering you!"

Godzilla neither understood the words nor cared. He reared back and the huge spikes lining his back lit up in a brilliant blue as he opened his mouth, and a stream of blazing discharge erupted from his throat, ripping through the air and collided with Flyswatter's face. The sheer force sent Mokuba's vessel flying back a little less than a hundred feet. They fell into a large building which fell back onto the buildings behind it, causing a sort of domino effect.

When the smoke cleared and some of the dust settled around the two disputing forces, Flyswatter's blank eyes were rolling around in his head, much like the boy who inhabited him.

Mokuba's breathing was labored as he jerked his head up from where he was sprawled out on the ground. His head was bleeding and he felt dizzy but as he looked out of his eye-window, he noticed Godzilla stopping for a moment, catching his breath.

"T-That must've taken a lot out of him…" He pushed himself off his knees as he came to his feet, stumbling back to his spot, "Well, he's killing me… I-I can't just sit back and take it…!" He rose fully and stretched out his left arm, shouting so the lizard-like giant could hear him, "Alright, Godzilla, you've messed with me long enough! No one-hundred foot, fire-breathing, Japanese reptile is going to keep be from my brother, ya got that? So, you'd better be ready, 'cause there'll be no more Mr. Nice Mokuba!"

The lizard looked up, a seemingly menacing smirk appearing on his scaly features. He roared once again, the sound lasting for minutes as it echoed, barely covering the remaining townspeople's screams of terror. Godzilla seemed ready to attack again, but Mokuba didn't give him the chance as he jumped up, flinging Flyswatter's body into the air and coming down on Godzilla's neck, using Flyswatter's chubby and cellulite covered legs to get him in a chokehold.

Mokuba smirked as he felt he had now obtained the upper hand. Seeing his opening, Mokuba's opponent reached up and clawed Flyswatter in the face, leaving deep gashes across his cheeks and nose. The shock going through the body forced Mokuba to let go and Godzilla pounced, sinking his fangs into pale booty meat.

"AAHHH!" The boy inside cried out, the pain actually coursing through his body as he was now securely attached to the brainstem. He grabbed his butt with both hands, hopping around the skull, "STOP! STOP! STOP!"

Mokuba saw nothing but red as the pain continued and he whammed his tiny fist backwards, Flyswatter slammed his fist into Godzilla's jaw which sent him sliding backwards. Immediately, Mokuba scrambled up, glaring daggers at the monster who stood again, and spit a large, bloody tooth out the side of his mouth.

Mokuba frowned and motioned with his hand, "Bring it."

Running now through the Palace's corridors and hallways, three boys were looking for two things. And they were hoping to find one of them first. Right after they had left the Great Hall, filled to the brim with people cheering for Hootie and the Blowfish, Malik thought back on the last thing he'd shouted out to his friend. 'I don't know!'

It wasn't a helpful statement, not at all, but it was a truthful one. He had no idea how poor Ryou and his weirdo yami would take care of 20,000 party-animals. And, of course, neither Marik nor Cody seemed even mildly sympathetic for the two albinos they'd left in the lion's den.

Malik shook his head whilst running behind his yami and Cody, trying to keep up. They kept turning this way and that, but every hallway in the palace looked the same.

"Marik, do you even know where we're going?"

"No! Now stop asking questions!"

"…"

"'Ey, don't worry, Patty! I know where I'm goin'!" Cody said with confidence, glancing back at the young hikari, who looked back at him, surprised.

"Y-You do?"

"Ah, yup yup! I been in here loads of times and once, when I was tryin' to find me the bathroom, I gots real lost and accidentally found this weird room! So, I went in and found all the millennium items inside." He nodded to himself, "So, I'm guessin' that if I get lost again, we can find that room!"

"Wait a minute!" Malik skidded to a halt with his sneakers on the linoleum floor. Cody and Marik turned around to find Malik with a look of horror upon his face, "You mean to tell me that you're getting us lost on purpose?"

Cody shrugged, "Well… yup."

Malik looked at his yami, waiting for him to react.

Marik looked from each of them and then nodded solemnly, "Seems logical to me."

"… I'M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!"

"Watch who you call an idiot, Malik!" His other half screamed, now fully aware that he had been insulted.

"I'm sorry, Marik, but this is ludicrous. You can't honestly expect for me to give my support to such a ridiculous piece of-"

"Hey you guys, lookie here!" Came Cody's voice from somewhere close by. Both Marik and Malik stopped glaring at each other with contempt and directed their gazes down the hallway. Cody was standing right in front of a large, golden doorway; he looked over his shoulder slightly at the two. An Egyptian Eye was over the threshold, starring down at the three of them as both Egyptians walked up behind the older man.

Marik put his hand on his hip and smirked evilly, glancing at his light, "Ah… So, what were you saying there, Malik?"

"I-I… Well… um…" He blushed, shuffling his feet.

"That's what I thought."

"Ey, look, the door's open." Cody noticed, touching the right door with his hand lightly and it moved greatly under the pressure. It opened to reveal that 'weird room' that Cody had described earlier. All three walked in cautiously and turned to Malik, smiling, "See? Told you, Patty!"

"My name isn't Patty…"

Marik came to the table in the center of the room. There were empty spaces that looked as if something were stationed there a short time ago. On the left side of the table, were two empty spots in the shape of something familiar. "The rods! Hey, Malik the rods were here!"

"Huh? Really?"

He growled, looking back at the door and briskly walking out, "And I'll give you one guess which spiky-headed, pain in the butt has it. C'mon, Cody!"

Cody took a few pieces of gold, stuffing them in under his shirt happily and wandered back out into the hallway along with Marik and Malik. They looked out and, on the other side of the passageway, saw an open doorway, leading out into the night. It swung lightly in the night's breeze as if just opened and, without saying anything, Marik turned and went out that way.

"M-Marik, where are you going?" Malik watched the rest of his yami's form leave the building and he groaned, "C'mon, Cody…"

"Eh? Oh, yup!" He smiled, following Malik as they too left the building, reaching the side garden of the Palace and they went around the side, looking for Marik who had quickly disappeared. Cody was trying to keep some of that gold he'd stuffed into his shirt from falling.

Malik looked back, "… Did you rob Yami's Palace…?"

"Ah, yup yup! I don't work for him no mores, so what I got to lose? 'Sides, these jewelies be for Heidi!"

"Huh? But… didn't you say that she told you to go away or something? That she didn't like you?"

"Eh, yup. But I figure she didn't mean none of it, she was crabby. Probably that time of the month; on the rag, y'know!"

"… Real nice."

They'd turned another corner, Malik pushing some bushes out of the way, and suddenly heard voices. They both stopped and glanced around the garden, their gazes resting not ten feet away from where they stood.

Marik was frowning deeply, seemingly yelling at the two who he stood across from. Pharaoh Yami was about two feet in front of him, smiling easily, a hint of malevolence in his eyes and his hikari standing next to him, arms folded and a rather serious expression on his face which was something that Malik rarely ever saw on Yugi. Stealing a glimpse at what was behind him, Malik's eyes widened a bit. All the millennium items, including theirs were in a neat circle on the slightly wet grass.

It was apparent that Yami hadn't seen Malik or Cody yet. They were still well-hidden. But, of course, Marik had sensed his other half by now and out of the corner of his eye, he gave Malik a meaningful look. His eye zoomed from Malik then down to the millennium items, then back to Malik.

'Ah… oh! He wants me to get the rods!' He'd finally figured it out and nodded back. He was just about to slide under the bushes and garb the rods, but fell off his balance at hearing:

"'Ey, Marik, there ya are!" Cody shouted, shuffling on over to Marik and stand next to him smiling. He pointed down to almost right behind the Pharaohs, "Me and Malik was lookin' for ya! He's right there! See?"

Both Marik and Malik froze. Yami looked down, seeing his rival's hikari on all fours, one hand outreaching for the rods but was stopped when Yami stomped on his hand forcefully, causing Malik to yelp and roll around on the floor.

"Heh. Nice try." Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"Now," Yami continued, turning his back to the boys who were scolding Cody for ruining their plan. He studied the items carefully before continuing, "You three should leave while you still can. I won't stop you… just yet, because I have work to do."

"We're not leaving without the rods!" Marik and Malik echoed.

"And we're not going to give them to you. So deal." Yugi stuck his tongue out, "And unless you leave, we're not going to save you from being eaten by the Shadows."

"The Shadows? What are you talking about, now?"

"Well, duh! What do you think he's doing?" Yugi motioned to his other half, "Why would he collect all the items? He's going to release Shadow monsters and let them eat the planet! The only ones being spared are the ones attending the party."

Three jaws were currently dangling.

"You… you're insane…" Malik said, dazedly.

Marik shook his head in awe, "That's so freaking genius."

As Malik glared at Marik, Cody spoke up, "Ya can't kill everyone! That's real mean and 'sides, who'll run McDonalds if you do?"

Yami rolled his eyes, his back still turned, "Cody, if I were you, I wouldn't be worrying about McDonalds… It's about eight o' clock, right? I'd say that the main entertainment will be beginning in about a minute or so… Who knew Heidi would be so perfect for the main event of the Execution Ceremony? Well, at least she's been somewhat useful…"

Cody blinked, "H-Heidikins?"

Yami's grin widened drastically, his voice dripping mock and sarcasm as he mimicked Cody, "Ah, yup yup…"

It didn't take anytime at all for Cody to get moving, his tennis shoes squeaking against the wet grass and his white hair flashing under the pale moon as he slid back through the door and scrambled down the hallway, calling out, "HEIDI! HEIDI, WHERE ARE YOU, HEIDI?"

Malik took a step, "Cody! C… Ugh, wait up, I'm coming, too!" He started after the man, calling back for a split second, "Let's go, Marik!"

"But! Grr…" He glared at Yugi who was smirking at him and Yami who he knew was probably holding in laughter. "I'm coming back for you two, so don't think you're off the hook!" With one last scornful glance, he turned on his heel down the hallway and after his hikari and Cody.

Yami shook his head slightly when they were gone and redirected his gaze to the millennium items on the ground. He took in a deep breath and spread his hands out in front of himself, palms facing down towards the items. Closing his eyes, a chant flowed from his lips, after a moment the words becoming more and more slurred. Yugi looked on, uneasily as all the items glowed, dimly and then brightly, shining as bright as the stars above.

The light became blinding as the portal opened and Shadows became reality.

"Yeah, sure…"

"It's true, I knew that was open!"

"Alright, then… If you knew it was open, then why didn't we get out the first day we came here?"

"…"

"Ha. You didn't know."

"Shut up."

The boys that had been in the underground cell for almost three weeks together were finally free. Thanks to Kaiba's short fuse when it comes to Joey and he still refused to admit it was a freak-accident, but that was okay because they all were free and didn't care that Kaiba was insecure.

They had managed to get out of the prisons and at least to the first floor of the Palace. Finally, they'd found the exit. A large door, open to the outside, not more than twenty feet in front of them; the cool nighttime air floating in through the open doorway and calming them all.

Joey stretched his arms wide and cheered, "Yeah! Ha ha, I can't believe we're finally free, this is so totally awesome!"

"I just need a bath…" Kaiba mumbled.

"…" Joey sniffed him, "Jeez! I'll say ya do! You smell like rotten cabbage."

"Watch it, mutt!"

Now as they neared the door, Otogi stopped and looked down the other hallway, his ears perking. "Ah…"

Tristan stopped next to him, asking, "What's wrong?"

And out of the blue, Otogi began to whimper, looking up at Tristan with wide and watery eyes. Tristan looked at him strangely as did Joey and now Kaiba. They repeatedly asked him what was wrong but then Otogi grabbed Tristan's jacket sleeve and pulled rapidly, trying to run down the hallway with him, "Do ya hear that, Tristan? It's that party! I hear music! It's that party, it's right down the hall, I know it is! Let's go, can we go, Tristan?"

"S-Stop! Otogi, no!" He and Joey pulled back on the sleeve and yanked Otogi away from it and onto his butt.

"But I wanna go…!"

He rolled his eyes and picked the teen up, throwing him over his shoulder. "Sometimes I just can't believe you. We're mere steps away from freedom from this god-awful place and you want to stay here and party!"

Otogi whined some more but was ignored. They walked out of the door together, all taking in one unified deep breath. And as they enjoyed this one small moment of piece, a sound came from the other side of the Palace wall. It was followed by a flash of golden light and then more sounds, louder this time.

Kaiba groaned, looking over, "Oh for crap's sake, what is it now?"

From behind the bushes on the side, more growls came and, one by one, strange and misshapen creatures slunk out from the darkness. Blobs of murky, dark masses began multiplying from one another and crawl onto the lawns, leaving trails of oil. As they spread out onto the lawns and into the streets, continuing on and picking up speed as they sucked life out of every moving thing, they began to circle around and look curiously at the open door from which much light was shining.

All four boys were standing in the doorway, eyes wide like deer caught in headlights.

Kaiba's eyes shifted to the blonde standing next to him for a split second. He seemed closest to the door's knob and right now, and as the monsters lost their curiosity and feral grins made themselves known, Kaiba mumbled, "C-Close the door… Wheeler, close…"

Joey blinked, looking up at the brunette, "Hah? You say somethin', Kaiba?"

The monsters began to slink towards them.

"Close the door…!" Kaiba squeaked, "Close it!"

"… Close… the door? Ooh, you mean that door, don't ya?" He pointed to the large double doors.

Globs of darkness were not crawling now but racing for the opening.

"CLOSE THE DOOR!" Everyone shouted at Joey.

"So… you're sayin'… that you want me to close this door… right here? That about right?"

"YES!"

"… Okeyday." Joey said happily and kicked the peg by the threshold, letting both doors slam shut just seconds before the Shadow monsters could've made their way inside. Once it was closed securely, the boys heard banging on the outside, and they knew the monsters wanted in. They stood in silence for a second, fearful that they might bust it open. But no, it was too strong and the only way they could've gotten in is if-

Joey looked at them then at the door, moving towards it once again, "If you guys aren't going to answer the door, then I am."

"NO!" They hollered, tackling him to the ground.

She didn't quite know where she was. She'd been taken here right after she'd left the Pharaohs' presence. It wasn't as bad as her previous holding cell, though. It was just strange and nerve-racking, not knowing what horrible thing would befall her this time. She looked down at her hands though and that thought quickly disappeared. She shook her head softly as she starred down at two hands, one with no fingers to speak of, just five bloody and half-way bandaged nubs… And the other with only two fingers that were bent and a bit scraped up.

"Well… that which does not kill me will make me stronger… or disabled…"

Looking up now, she noted the small room she was in. Gray and rather dark, with only one door but was locked. She made sure to check. And she was in no type of bondage, she could move anywhere in the room, but she was just stuck there. And what was even weirder was that there was some kind of party going on nearby. She could hear it through the walls, somewhat. When it first started she sat right next to the closest wall and put her ear up to it, listening to someone sing "Milkshake".

Now as she had been sitting in there for about an hour or so, the door opened up.

"Miss D'Angelo." One of the men looked at where she sat in the corner. There were two Patrollers who had come and while one of them seemed sympathetic, the other was eating a doughnut and nodding to the girl.

"Yeah, c'mon, time to go. C'mon, get up, don't be such a tortoise!" He narrowed his eyes at her.

Heidi stood up shakily, "Where are we going?"

Before the first Patroller could answer, the other butted in, "Why does it matter to you? You're comin' no matter what so let's go already!"

"What's your hurry?" Asked the other Spike Patroller.

"You see all those people out there? They're gonna clear the snack food tables like nobody's business and I wanna get me some more of them Yugi Cookies."

He narrowed his eyes as he helped Heidi up and the other grabbed her other arm, "Well, you'd better learn to wait, we have a job to do. I'm getting sick and tired of you!"

"And I'm getting sick and tired of carting this girl around!"

Heidi frowned at him, but went on with the two, still wondering where she was going.

"Only you can make me feel… and only you can take me there…and only you can make me feel and only you can take me there…"

Both Malik and Cody stopped running down the hall when they heard sounds. Malik had been running around, trying to keep up with the older man but he was going really fast, desperately calling out Heidi's name over and over again. He had no idea what Yami meant when he said that she was useful after all, but Cody knew that it wasn't going to be anything pleasant.

Malik looked back when he heard his name being called again and looked back to his yami coming running down the corridor, and finally skidding to a stop right in front of him. "Malik! I can't believe you ran off like that, we were about to get our rods back!"

"Well, sorry, but Cody-"

"Ey… What's that?" Cody's voice came from right behind them. They stopped and looked up at the doors that were halfway open and the sounds coming out of them. It was the Great Hall, they were back where they'd started.

Malik blinked and then gasped, "Oh, Ryou! W-We forgot, we left them in there! We've got to see what's happened, they might be in trouble!"

"But, Malik!"

But the hikari wasn't listening and ran in through the doors, pushing past the crowds of cheering people towards the center of the room. Marik groaned and told Cody to follow him, and even though he was still worried about Heidi, he nodded and they went in after Malik. After a lot of shoving, they finally caught up with him, about ten feet away from the stage, his eyes wide and law hanging.

Marik tilted his head in question, "What's wrong… Oh my Ra."

"Boy you got me doin' thangs that I would never do, and I can't stop the way I'm feelin' if I wanted to…"

"I'm crazy 'bout the way that you can make me say your name…And if I couldn't have you'd, I'd probably go insane…"

Both Marik and Malik looked up at the platform where their best friends were doing things on that stage that most people wouldn't even think of doing in private. But the audience seemed immensely satisfied and the stage was covered in undergarments, a few of which probably belonged to Ryou and Bakura.

The song went off and everyone roared with applause and calls for an encore echoed from everywhere in the room. Ryou smiled at them, shyly and looked down where he saw Malik, eyes as large as saucers.

"Oh! Hallo, Malik! Hold on, I'm coming!" He grabbed his yami's hand and jumped off stage, running over to them. "I missed you, Malik, but you missed most of our performance!"

"B-But… Um… W-We thought you were in trouble!" Malik pouted, rather confused, "I felt really bad for leaving you and I come here to find out that you were having a strip-off with Bakura!"

Marik rolled his eyes at Bakura, "I'm just shocked you didn't have a pole."

Bakura grinned, "Who says we didn't?"

"…"

"Alright, everyone! Give another big round of applause to Hootie and the Blowfish! Aren't they just the greatest?" A Spike Patroller had taken the stage once again and the crowd gave another hardy round of applause. The black lights and music had dimmed and now the florescent lighting was back on, illuminating the Great Hall. He grinned, "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for… the very reason for tonight's gathering! The Execution!"

Suddenly, the stage began to change shapes all around the man. The sides folded down to the floor, making larger stairs and the top came off, revealing more stage lights and a single noose that came hanging down, dangling from the top. It was suspended to hang right next to the man's shoulder and he then motioned towards the stairwell to the left.

"And here's the Executionee now!"

Coming up was a Spike Patroller who was holding a kicking and screaming body that was draped in a dark sheet, but out of a slit in the back of the sheet was a tuft of reddish, brownish hair. It took a bit of force, but the Patroller managed to get her on stage.

While the audience was 'ooh'ing and 'ah'ing, Cody's eyes were now wide as he watched them put the wiggling figure in the noose.

"T-That's… Heidi! HEIDI!"

Ryou's hands flew up to his mouth, "They… they aren't going to…"

Marik nodded, "Yeah, they are."

"Well we have to do something!" Malik cried out, pointing towards her, "We can't let them do this, we can't!"

Bakura put his hands above his eyes to better his view, "I haven't seen a lynching in a long time! You mean to tell me Yami came up with this?"

Cody ran forward, "HEY! LISTEN TO MEH, YA CAN'T DO THIS!"

The guards ignored him and the first Spike Patroller read off of a scroll he had in his hands, "Heidi D'Angelo. For all the disappointment and worry you've cause our Pharaohs, for all the mistakes you've made whilst working for the Spike Empire, for that bag of Pharaoh Yugi's Cheetoes you ate two weeks ago… Never again will you see the light of day or the stars of night…"

Unintelligible sobs were now coming from the tied up figure.

"HEIDIKINS!"

"Forever." The guard finished and used his pocketknife to slice the rope on the floor of the stage, letting the floorboards drop from underneath her. The noose dropped, so did she and a strangled cry followed. But all was quiet as the body hung there, barely moving from side to side from the force of the drop.

"N-No…"

"So!" Said the guard cheerfully, "Whose up for some more Yugi Cookies?"

"YAY!"