Rebirth
Chapter 9: Truth Be Told
Yuugi couldn't breathe at all staring into the eyes of the evil man who should've been deceased. Yami had said he wouldn't come back so why was he here? Was this some sort of trick to scare him? As he tried shimmying against the wall to escape he couldn't take his eyes off him. A firm hand caught hold of his arm so he couldn't move and Yuugi turned to see Keith staring down at him with a small smirk. Yuugi looked from him to Kontar and knew that there was no way he'd escape.
Kontar slowly came down and walked closer to Yuugi, studying him carefully. Yuugi tried to squirm away from Keith's grip but couldn't. He felt the same fear building within him and flashbacks of what had happened before came to him.
"And how is the dear pharaoh doing, little Yuugi?" Kontar sneered as he grabbed Yuugi's chin.
"I…I don't know," Yuugi said quietly, wincing from the pressure on his jaw.
Kontar's lips curled and he released his grip. "I guess this means you haven't seen the pharaoh in some time. Good. It'll take him a day or so before he realizes you're missing which gives me enough time to put my next move into action. You know, Yuugi," he smiled coldly bending down closely to his face, "you wouldn't believe what a nice, long rest can do to make you stronger. I've got something for the pharaoh much better than the last time. I was trying much too hard to overwhelm him and the entirety of Egypt directly, but then I realized there's an easier way to get to them."
"You kidnapped Isis didn't you!" Yuugi exclaimed.
Kontar laughed coldly. "Yes, that was me. She's in no position to try and escape anymore. She's realized her destiny and that is to be in my grasp. Right now she's doing me a great favor—allowing me opportunity to collect more of what I need. Marik is already falling for my bait. Keith gave him enough hints to lead him here to try and save his dear sister only to be to no avail. And I have already sent out a little surprise for Shadi and Bakura. Then lastly I'll need the pharaoh and you are the perfect bait once again."
Yuugi didn't understand at all—what was Kontar planning to do! He was luring all those people there, even Marik. He was going to capture all of them and…and Yuugi didn't know what he'd do but whatever his plan was it was never good.
"You'll never get away with capturing all of them! Once Marik disappears, Yami and the others will get suspicious!" Yuugi exclaimed angrily, feeling tears well up in his eyes. There was no way he'd get to hurt anyone, not if he could help it.
Kontar hesitated before bending down again and leaning close to him. "My dear, brave little Yuugi. There is nothing you can do to stop me. I will capture all of them."
"Even Bakura! He's not so easily tricked!" Yuugi said incredulously.
Kontar's lips curled upward maliciously. "Really? Well I happen to know of one weakness…"
Yuugi tried to pull back not liking the look on his face. He swallowed thickly. "What?"
"Your little friend," he sneered.
Yuugi's eyes widened with fear. "No! You…You can't!"
Kontar laughed again and gestured to Keith. "Take him and lock him up. We don't need him interfering in my biggest plan yet."
XXXXXX
They were finally able to leave the cave to Ryou's relief. With the dead body inside and being almost caught he didn't want to stay there a moment longer. Bakura had remained silent for the most part since the other night when he had said Ryou's life wasn't dispensable. He had felt something alter between them and had been trying to figure it out, but Bakura's silence hadn't helped any. For a moment, he was afraid Bakura forgot he was even there with him, until Bakura had helped him out of the water when they had reached the shore.
"Bakura?" Ryou asked tentatively. "Where are we going now?"
The response wasn't quick but Ryou waited patiently. Finally Bakura spoke, without glancing back at him.
"It would be safer if you remained at the hotel. I have another lead I want to check out but it might be dangerous," he said firmly.
Ryou looked up at the back of him in surprise, feeling hurt that Bakura didn't want him there with him. Was he just trying to protect him or was he pretending he wanted to protect him but really didn't want him there? It was so confusing. One minute Bakura would be nice to him then the next cold and distant. He wasn't sure which was the real Bakura.
Instead of asking why and possibly becoming teary-eyed because he was so sensitive, Ryou remained quiet. Bakura obviously had his reasons for not wanting him along and so far he had let Ryou come with him through their last few explorations. After all, Bakura had been the one to invite him, hadn't he? And he had said his life was indispensable so that had to mean something. If only Ryou knew what Bakura was thinking or if Bakura would at least be more open. Ryou was very good at reading people normally, but Bakura was different from anyone he had encountered before.
After a while they reached the hotel again having found no other clues that Ryou could think of. In fact, Ryou didn't even know what they were looking for. It was as if Bakura only wanted him there for the company, since he hadn't explained anything to him, but at the same time he acted as though Ryou was a burden. Ryou decided that once Bakura came back from the next lead he was looking into he would have planned out what to say to Bakura to try and get him to open up. And he would finally ask him why he wanted him there and if he was a burden or not. He needed to know…
Bakura took out the room key and opened the door waiting for Ryou to enter. Slowly, Ryou stepped inside and turned around to face him. Bakura tucked the key back into his pocket and was about to turn around.
"Wait!" Ryou exclaimed and Bakura hesitated, his back still turned to him. "When will you be back?"
Bakura glanced over his shoulder at him. "I don't plan to be any later than ten tonight. Be sure to lock the door and only answer it if it's me, understand?"
Ryou nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable at being left alone when Bakura seemed wary of something. He didn't want to tell Bakura he was scared though and cause more problems for him. Instead he stepped back as Bakura walked away and shut the door securely and locked it. It was only one in the afternoon, which meant he had many hours to busy himself with something inside the room. First he would definitely take a nap since he hadn't slept at all in the cave. Then he could busy himself with cleaning up the place. And hopefully that would use up a lot of time. Perhaps he could use the phone to call Yuugi too and let him know where he was. He hadn't seen Yuugi for some time and missed him.
Yawning, Ryou took off his shoes and didn't both with his wet and slightly dirty clothes as he got into the bed and closed his eyes. Almost instantly he fell asleep. He dreamed about many things at first—everything a blur and not making sense. He saw Yuugi flash in his mind several times before a much clearer image appeared. Bakura appeared before him in his dream and was talking to him gently. Ryou couldn't hear the words that were coming out of his mouth but he was still trying to listen intently. Whatever he was saying must've been important because he came closer and rested his hands on Ryou's shoulders.
At first Ryou was alright with the close proximity until Bakura pulled him closer as if trying to whisper in his ear. Even in his dream he felt like his cheeks were heating up and the strange feeling quivering in his stomach came back. Bakura pulled away slowly and finally he was able to hear the words.
"Be careful," he whispered softly.
Ryou wondered why he was saying that to him. Then before he knew it Bakura was bending down toward him. Without warning he cupped his chin in his hand and began to lean in. Ryou's eyes were wide with shock and he couldn't move. Was Bakura going to…kiss him? He wanted to back away and ask why he was suddenly doing this, but he felt his body move closer of its own accord. He leaned up very slightly as Bakura's lips reached his.
Suddenly he sat up straight in bed, perspiration covering his body. He was heaving deeply and his eyes were wide remembering what he had dreamed about. Bakura had kissed him—and he had let him. Was his dream trying to tell him that he really liked Bakura? Was it just his hormones coming out and invading his dream? He wasn't sure but it was the first time he had ever dreamed about kissing anyone.
Sighing and moving his hair out of his face, Ryou glanced at the clock. It was already seven at night. He had slept a lot longer than expected, which meant Bakura was coming back soon. Feeling a bit excited, he blushed and tried not to think about the dream he just had. He didn't know how Bakura would react if he found out. He decided he'd rest a little longer since it seemed to pass the time fast enough. He hoped Bakura hadn't run into any trouble during his search. Ryou lay back on the bed but was startled when a knock came at the door.
Getting up from the bed he wondered if Bakura had gotten back early. He walked quietly to the door and peered through the peep hole. There was long white hair and the same body build. It was Bakura. Smiling, Ryou unlocked the door and opened it.
"Bakur—" Ryou was cut off as the person grabbed him roughly.
The illusion of Bakura disappeared and he blinked to see the real person standing there before him: A guy with a bandana around his head with messy blonde hair and a smirk across his face. The cloth he had over Ryou's mouth smelled funny and got into his nose. Wondering how he could've seen Bakura when it hadn't been him, Ryou's eyes rolled back as he blacked out.
XXXXXX
Yami paced around the room waiting impatiently for one of his viziers to come to him with information. Something very strange was going on. Marik was no where to be found, no trace of Isis had been discovered and now Shadi was unreachable. He thought for sure Shadi remembered to come see him, after Mahado had left. He needed Shadi's help, but now he couldn't locate him either. There was definitely something wrong—he could feel it.
"Pharaoh!"
Yami stopped pacing immediately and went to the door as several viziers rushed in, including Fidil.
"What is it?"
"It's Marik! Mahado discovered his hideout where Mai was working undercover as a waitress," Fidil explained as the others nodded. "He finally got her to show him to the back where Marik supposedly was and several of Marik's men had been knocked out lying on the floor. Needless to say Marik wasn't there but there were signs of struggle in the main room."
"What does Mahado think?" Yami asked.
"He thinks Marik knocked his own guys out to try and stop tailing him," Fidil answered.
Yami frowned. "That doesn't seem like something Marik would do."
"It's the only lead we have. I mean…the only other thing would be that Marik was taken as well."
"It's just as plausible," Yami said, narrowing his eyes.
Fidil sighed, "I suppose, but what can we do?"
"Have you been able to get a hold of Shadi yet?"
Fidil shook his head grimly. "Unfortunately I've tried over and over but can't seem to get a hold of him."
Yami's eyes narrowed more dangerously. "Fidil, try and get in touch with Yuugi. Something is going on and I'm sensing something evil."
"But pharaoh…the boy shouldn't be bothered, should he?"
"I just want to be able to get in touch with him, not get him involved. And I want this done immediately," Yami emphasized.
"Yes pharaoh," Fidil said bowing.
The other viziers looked worried but bowed and walked away as well. Yami stared blankly ahead of him trying to concentrate on his instincts. They were telling him there was something going on under his nose and he didn't like it. Once he heard from Yuugi he would feel a little better about things, but something inside of him was telling him to check on Yuugi in case he was in trouble. Even though he was far away from Egypt…it was just a feeling, and it wasn't good.
XXXXXX
Yuugi banged and banged as hard as he could but the door wouldn't budge. He had to get out somehow—he had to warn Yami! Kontar was planning on kidnapping everyone this time around. How could he possibly do that? Luring Yami into a trap had been hard enough the last time so there had to be some way that he was planning on getting everyone. Not just by luring them, but Yuugi had a bad feeling he was using something else—possibly a lot more help or some kind of magic. Either way, he couldn't get away with it.
Loud footsteps were heard outside the door and Yuugi backed away fearfully. He heard keys rattling and soon the door was thrust open. Yuugi thought for sure Kontar would either want to have Yuugi dragged out to answer some questions, or be hanged up for bait. Instead, a figure was thrown inside losing balance from the force and fell to his knees. Yuugi's eyes widened immensely.
"Ryou!"
Ryou looked up, his face looking exhausted and worried. He stood up shakily, rubbing his arms which had scraped against the rough floor. Immediately Yuugi rushed over to his friend and threw his arms around him. It felt so nice to have someone there with him who he could talk to—someone who could possibly help him. Poor Ryou appeared battered though and looking as Yuugi had looked when he was trying to help Yami save Egypt the last time.
"Yuugi…," Ryou whispered.
"Shhh, it's alright. Keith didn't hurt you did he?"
Ryou shook his head weakly. Suddenly, his eyes opened widely and he pulled away from Yuugi's grip frantically.
"Yuugi they're planning to capture Bakura!" he exclaimed.
Yuugi's eyes dimmed. "I know. Kontar's planning on capturing everyone."
Ryou stared at him startled. "Everyone? Wait…Kontar? Isn't that the name of the man who Yami killed last time?"
"Somehow he survived yet again, and I don't know how!" Yuugi exclaimed incredulously. "But I have to stop him!"
Ryou nodded firmly, his eyebrows furrowing. "I'll help. But what can we do?"
Yuugi sighed worriedly. "I don't know. I've tried to escape from here but I couldn't. The only chance we have is to either wait for Keith to come check on us, or try to dig our way out."
Ryou slumped down tiredly against the wall. For several minutes they sat together in silence and Ryou pulled his knees close to his chest.
"You know, I bet that's why Bakura was worried. I think he felt like something was up and he told me to keep the door locked. For some reason, when I looked out the peephole I saw Bakura…but it wasn't really him."
"Don't blame yourself, it was probably some sort of trick," Yuugi said quietly. "Kontar's a lot stronger than I thought. I wish I knew how he had survived."
Ryou's face scrunched up in thought when suddenly his head jerked up. "Wait…! I remember something…I think…while I was fading in and out of consciousness," Ryou said, squinting as he tried to recall it. "After I was kidnapped by that man—Keith you called him—I blacked out for a little while. When I began to come to I was being carried here. A few minutes later I heard another man's voice and they were talking about something—something about the Millennium Scale. I can't remember anything else though," Ryou said.
"It's alright," Yuugi said. "Perhaps Kontar has the Millennium Scale back, but I wonder how he got it. It was being kept safely in a temple room in Yami's palace. Surely Yami would realize if it was missing."
"I think I remember something about a stolen item. Bakura said something about it. He said a man named Shadi was looking for the stolen item," Ryou said.
Yuugi sat in thought wondering what that could mean. What was going on? Had there been signs of Kontar's return all along and no body saw them? He had seen Yami kill Kontar with his own eyes and there had been nothing left but the Millennium Scale, so how was he able to come back? There had to be a way.
"Is something wrong Yuugi?" Ryou asked tentatively.
"I'm not sure…but from what I've seen and from what you've said it can only mean that Kontar's been alive for a while plotting against not only Yami but everyone else."
Ryou's eyes widened in shock. "You mean against all of Egypt again?" "That's what I'm afraid of. I'm not sure. Maybe he really did find a way to escape the Shadow Realm, but I can't be sure of that. I wish Yami were here," Yuugi added in a whisper.
Ryou glanced down at the floor being reminded once again of Bakura. He missed him terribly and was not exceedingly worried that Bakura's life was in danger. He had proved able to take care of himself and it seemed nothing intimidated him. But then why had Ryou been kidnapped? Perhaps they thought he knew something valuable about Bakura. He shivered thinking of what they could possibly do to him to get any information out of him. Luckily, he didn't know much about Bakura.
"If only there was a way to escape this place!" Yuugi said angrily, clenching his eyes shut and holding his head firmly. "I need to help Yami and I can't do anything stuck in here!"
Unnoticed by Yuugi, Ryou heard the door begin to rattle. He lifted his head and saw that it was indeed moving, but he didn't hear anybody on the other side. He glanced over at Yuugi and was about to alert him of it when he stopped cold. Yuugi was holding his head tightly with eyes shut and was whispering aloud. Tears were sliding down his cheeks as if he was actually praying to escape. The door rattled violently but Yuugi didn't seem to notice.
Without warning the door burst open and Ryou jumped just in case it was Keith again. He crawled backward but noticed that no body was standing outside the door. Yuugi hadn't noticed anything at all, which Ryou found highly surprising. Crawling over to him, Ryou touched Yuugi's shoulder. Yuugi jumped from surprise and looked at him with teary eyes.
"Look Yuugi," Ryou whispered, pointing to the door.
Yuugi looked and blinked several times as if not believing what he was seeing. He glanced at Ryou in confusion, who shrugged his shoulders. The two of them wasted no time at all and crept quietly toward the door. Yuugi was the first to peer out to make sure no one was there. He gestured back to Ryou to tell him the coast was clear and they both slipped out. Yuugi made sure to shut the door firmly so that if Keith walked by he wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary (unless he unlocked the door and saw they were missing).
"Which way do we go?" Ryou whispered as they crouched down, peering past the hallway they were in.
The underground place they were in appeared like an underground palace. It was huge! There were at least three other directions they could go and without a map there was no telling where they could end up, or even how many people were inside the palace.
"We've got not choice but to chose one and hope it doesn't lead to Kontar or Keith," Yuugi whispered back. "And there's no telling who else is helping Kontar so there could be more people here."
Ryou nodded nervously. "Which one should be chose?"
Yuugi stared at all the paths not even sure how to guess. He shrugged and turned to Ryou who looked back at him.
"Why don't we label them A, B and C," Ryou said, making a mental note in his head. "You can just close your eyes and chose one and if we need to come back we'll remember which one we've gone in."
Yuugi nodded in agreement. "All right, here goes nothing."
He closed his eyes tightly and pointed his finger. Opening his eyes, he realized he had picked path C. The two of them crept quietly on tip-toe toward the hallway Yuugi had chosen and walked down it listening for any noises that would alert them to someone else's presence. They moved slowly down the hallway and came to another area where they could turn right or left. Ryou chose right, since Yuugi said it was his turn to guess, and he made a mental note of that as well (remembering it now as Path C 1). He was thankful to have a father as an architect (or an adopted father rather), who had taught him quite a bit that came in handy.
There seemed to be no end in sight. They kept walking and choosing random paths trying to find a way out. It appeared they were getting deeper and deeper underground—Ryou could tell by the way the walls were set up. By the time twenty minutes of walking had passed his mental code was: Path C 1 b3 LX2 (which translated as Path C, 1—as hallway to the right, little b as the second path they chose going straight and 3 being the number of the door they chose. The LX stood for level X—labeled X and Y for the two levels in which they could up a flight of stairs or down—they chose down and two because of the two paths they ran into—they chose the second one to the left).
Yuugi was completely and utterly confused by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs and were walking the path to the left. Kontar had either built a maze or the underground lair was twice as big as Yami's palace. Finally Yuugi stopped walking feeling more frustrated.
"I don't know where we are anymore! I don't know up from down either."
"We're down," Ryou responded. "In fact, we're very deep underground. I don't think we should've chosen the number 3 door because it had a red piece of tape on the top of it. I think that might've meant it leads to the cellar or something."
Yuugi sighed heavily. "I'm glad your mind is still in tact. Should we just keep walking then? I mean, it doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere."
"Well, by the looks of these pipes in the ceiling there has to be a destination soon. These pipes look like water pipes so we've got to heading toward some sort of water storage unit. These pipes should lead us there," Ryou explained.
"All right…I guess there'd be no point in turning back anyway."
"We could, but it'd take a while to get back."
"You remember the way back?" Yuugi asked taken aback.
Ryou smiled. "A bit."
Yuugi blinked. "Oh that's right. Your father builds houses or something right?"
"He draws the blueprints, but yes," Ryou answered. "And…," he trailed off, glancing down at the ground feeling uncomfortable. "And he's…he's not my real father."
Yuugi's expression showed that he was slightly surprised, but his features eased up and he smiled gently. He walked close to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't need to feel embarrassed at all, Ryou. That's all right. It took me a while before I told Jou and the others my parents had died and that's why I was living with my grandpa. I remember the rumors that floated around when I was younger in middle school—and bullies used to bother me. The rumor had been that my parents were in jail."
"That's awful!" Ryou exclaimed angrily. "If I had been there…"
Yuugi laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it; it's all in the past. Once Jou and I became friends and he found out the truth he taught the bullies a lesson; trust me."
Ryou's shoulders relaxed and he smiled softly. "So…I guess I don't feel so awkward saying I'm adopted. I mean, I knew about your parents when I met you because Jou had mentioned it to me, but…well…I don't know."
"It's alright. If you ever want to talk about your personal problems I'm here, you know that right?" Yuugi said, his eyes shimmering with kindness. "I know how hard life can be sometimes, even for someone like Yami. So don't feel like talking about it is a burden on me, because it isn't. Sometimes…talking does help."
Ryou reached out and hugged Yuugi tightly, feeling relief floor through him. He didn't know why being adopted had made him feel like closing himself up. It was true he'd been friends with Yuugi since the beginning of high school when his family moved to Domino, Japan and he had transferred into Yuugi's school, but really they hadn't known too much personal facts about each other. Most of the time they just did homework together or talked about school or Duel Monsters. Now though, Ryou could tell that Yuugi was the kind of person that he could be best friends with—someone who stood beside him no matter what. And Jou, Anzu and Honda were probably the same.
When they pulled away Yuugi smiled brightly. "I was wondering where your British accent came from."
Ryou laughed, feeling much better than he had before—like he had more energy. They walked side by side as they followed the pipes down the rest of the hallway till it ended. Yuugi felt relief wash through him as he saw that it ended however there was nothing but solid wall in front of him. He blinked, wondering if there was perhaps a secret door.
"That's strange," Ryou murmured. "It shouldn't just dead end."
Yuugi stared at the wall and instantly remembered his dream with the pool of water and climbing up the wall. It was worth a shot, even if it was a long-shot. Walking forward, Yuugi banged his fists on the wall. Ryou watched him in confusion not understanding but decided that he'd try and help. Maybe there was a doorway. The both of them banged all over the wall and it was beginning to look like they were doing it for now reason. Suddenly, Ryou's fist banged onto something that sank away from him into the wall. He blinked from surprise and jumped back as the wall began to move. Yuugi was also surprised by it and glanced at Ryou nervously. He hadn't actually imagined it working, but now that it had he felt a bit fearful.
"You want to go first?" Yuugi asked hesitantly.
"How about we go at the same time?" Ryou asked, moving closer to Yuugi's side.
Nodding, Yuugi grasped Ryou's hand and together they walked through the hidden door in the wall into the other room. As if it had movement sensors, the hidden door shut once they were through. Yuugi and Ryou both jumped and wheeled around not liking the fact that it closed.
"It's okay, we can always get back out," Yuugi said hopefully.
The two of them looked around the room. It was empty. There was no furniture, just thin wood flooring. Yuugi released Ryou's hand and walked around searching for anything. Ryou too was looking, wondering where the pipes had gone. They didn't appear to lead into the room, unless…Ryou carefully bent down and put his ear on the floor. He knocked twice with his knuckles and then stood back up. Yuugi was looking at him expectantly.
"It appears the floor sounds hollow, which could mean there's a floor beneath us."
"If there is, how do we get down?"
Ryou's eyebrows furrowed and he walked over to the far end of the room and searched around. Almost hidden in the crack of the wooden floor he saw something. He bent down and tried to stick his finger into the crack.
"Yuugi, I think your finger is smaller. Could you come here?"
Yuugi came over and bent down. "You want me to stick my finger in there? What exactly am I looking for?"
"Anything. Just tell me if you feel something," Ryou said, as Yuugi squeezed his small finger through the crack.
He wiggled his finger around seeing if he could feel something. His skin brushed up against something and he tried to dig his finger down farther. He felt something cool up against his skin—something cool and small. He could touch it now and wasn't exactly sure what it was. Trying to figure out what the strange object could be, he pushed down on the top of it. Almost immediately the floor began to shake and Yuugi and Ryou both were knocked over, startled. The entire floor seemed like an elevator and was slowly moving down. Yuugi's heart was pounding as his dream was coming back to him. The same thing had happened—only he hadn't been with Ryou. It was just a coincidence though, wasn't it?
The room finally stopped moving and the walls all around them began sinking down until it was like they were on a large platform, able to see the room they had been lowered into. It was extremely large. There appeared to be machines set up all over. One of them happened to be the machine that the pipes led to, which looked like a huge container for something. Yuugi was beginning to feel like this was too much like his dream. Fearfully, he approached the edge and looked down. He didn't seem to see anything out of the ordinary, which made him slightly more relieved.
"Listen," Ryou whispered, pointing to the pipes above them. "I think water is rushing through."
Yuugi listened and waited, hearing the liquid in the pipes and immediately focused his attention on the large metal container that the pipes led to. They heard the swishing noise and the large metal container began to make some noises.
"What's happening?" Yuugi asked.
Ryou shook his head. "I don't know. I think the water is going into it."
Watching cautiously, the machine seemed to move slowly. At first Yuugi thought it was breaking maybe from too much liquid being pumped into it, but then he realized that clear tubes were being raised up from the sides of the container. A low grinding sound caused Ryou and Yuugi to look up where something was being lowered down. Yuugi's eyes locked widely onto the rectangular and transparent object being lowered to where the container was. He felt like his lungs were suddenly tied together and that it was too hard to breath. His eyes were focused so intently on it he didn't even notice Ryou was staring at him worriedly before watching along with him.
The tubes from the container aligned themselves with the transparent object. Clear blue water came out of the tubes filling the rectangular object—the same color as the blue pond in Yuugi's dream. Ryou's hand touched Yuugi's arm lightly and he pointed with wide eyes to where something was being raised from underground. It was a large, round object like a star—exactly like in Yuugi's dream, that had transparent rectangular shapes already on two of the slender beams jutting out. Yuugi moved closer toward the edge and nearly screamed as he saw Isis in one of them with eyes closed and surrounded by the clear blue liquid. Ryou too saw this and gulped nervously.
"Yuugi, what is this?"
He shook his head, unable to say anything as he watched fearfully. Without warning another slender beam from the star-shaped machine came out, only there was a familiar form on top of it. Yuugi gasped loudly, his eyes filling with tears as he recognized Marik whom he had thought was responsible before. He had probably found out about Isis' disappearance and went looking for her…but how had Kontar captured him? Marik was very clever and not easily found. Ryou stared at him not recognizing him like Yuugi but knowing that something very wrong was happening.
Marik's body was lifted up high toward the rectangular object filled with clear blue liquid that opened up. His body was dropped inside and the object shut tightly before being lowered next to Isis back down on the slender beam of the star-shaped object. The tubes had already unattached themselves and were slipping back inside the large container which held the clear blue liquid (in which Yuugi doubted was water) as the machine that had brought down the rectangular box lifted back up toward the ceiling. Isis and Marik's bodies disappeared as the star-shaped machine sank back into the ground disappearing from sight.
Yuugi's lips were quivering and tears had already dripped from his eyes. What he had seen in his dreams hadn't been just a dream…he didn't understand why but everything he had seen was beginning to come true. And if he remembered correctly in his dream everyone had been locked in the same rectangular containers: Isis, Marik, Shadi, Bakura…and Yami too. Did that mean Kontar was going to win? Had it been a premonition of some sort? And if so, how had he gotten it? And why was Kontar doing this? So many questions ran through his mind but all he could do was sit rigid and stare at the spot where he had seen the bodies appear.
"Yuugi?" Ryou whispered fearfully. "Wasn't that Isis? What's going on?"
"I can explain."
Yuugi was broken from his daze and immediately grabbed Ryou's arm as Kontar appeared above them on a different platform. He was being lowered closer to them, smiling widely.
"I see you two have escaped and have found my surprise," Kontar sneered coldly.
"What have you done to them!" Yuugi yelled, tears filling up his eyes again.
"Now, now, dear little Yuugi, if I told you the surprise would be ruined. You will find out soon enough, trust me. Until then…," he trailed off, his eyes narrowing maliciously.
Yuugi's eyes filled with fear as a clear glass wall surrounded him and Ryou on all sides. It trapped them on the platform with no way to get out. Kontar lowered himself so he could lean right outside the glass wall.
"You two should be comfortable in here for now. Once the others are lured here I can finally begin my plot to make myself stronger."
As Kontar smiled coldly at them and turned around to leave, Yuugi approached the glass wall.
"How did you survive?" he asked suddenly, blurting it out before he could stop himself.
Kontar hesitated before he turned around and smiled in amusement. "You'd really like to know, would you Yuugi? Of course you would…You're probably shocked that anyone could get away from the power of your dear Pharaoh Yami. I suppose it won't hurt to enlighten you with how I survived," he said, coming closer once again.
"Once I realized I no longer had control over Ra you can imagine how shocked I was. I could feel Yami's power growing and I was quickly trying to think of a way out. Yami had cornered me and I knew he was going to kill me so the only thing I could was use the Millennium Scale. Although I couldn't attack Yami, for that would be useless and I was exhausted as it was, I managed to transfer my soul into it so that Yami only sent an empty, soulless body into the Shadow Realm. Unfortunately by doing that I trapped myself within the item, unsure of how to escape. Without a body I couldn't just walk out, could I?" Kontar explained, as Yuugi's eyes widened.
"Luckily Keith came around. The Millennium Scale was sent to Yami's palace in his temple room for safe keeping. Keith apparently has been working for Marik all along—who I found out wasn't working for me to begin with but had his own agenda. I decided that I'd be able to get Marik back, as well as all of Egypt, and help myself all in one go. Keith had orders from Marik to sneak into Yami's palace and get a hold of any information concerning the Orb. He assumed that Yami still had it, but didn't think you did. Keith stumbled upon the temple room I was in and saw the Millennium Scale. He decided it might be nice to steal it for Marik since he couldn't find out anything about the Orb. When he picked it up I guess he heard a noise and dropped the item out of reaction. Once the item dropped it cracked allowing my spirit to no longer be trapped. When he picked it up again I was able to slip inside his body and use him for the time being.
"Through him I was able to learn all I could from Marik, pretending to work as Keith under him. I remembered that Isis had the ability to predict the future so I decided kidnapping her would be worth it. Since then I've been slowly building my empire, which I had started thousands of years ago when Yami and I were human and we were both fighting for the throne. Under his nose I was building my own palace underground and although it wasn't completed I was finally able to complete it with Keith's help. It was clear I couldn't stay in him forever since he was beginning to fight me so I bribed him with power and told him of my plan and he agreed to work for me instead of Marik.
"Once that was settled I told him I needed to get out. And it really was a wonder how I managed to get out of him and be myself again—in a way. I stumbled across the old hag that I had gone to previously who failed to set the curse upon Yami like I had asked. I forced her, with Keith's help of course, to tell me a way I could get out and she made a potion—which took an entire month of patience I might add—and it allowed me to become a spirit just like Yami was when he awoke from slumber the first day you found him. Of course after that I had to kill her or there was a way she'd leak what I did to Yami or even Marik. But she had helped me so much I buried her appropriately and framed it as a heart attack.
"Now you see I am invincible like Yami was before. I have my complete strength back and I'm no longer human—I'm a spirit, able to walk freely and do as I please without worrying about death. However, Yami is human once again since he retrieved his body from my clutches the last time so he is much more vulnerable now. And being a spirit I have learned to completely master the power of the Millennium Scale so I will not be defeated this time around!"
Yuugi couldn't even speak as he finished finding that he had gone too far. He wasn't human anymore, but he wasn't naturally a spirit like Yami had been—he forced himself through a dark potion to become a spirit. Yuugi wondered what else the potion had done to him. Had it made him more powerful—more evil? He hoped that Kontar wasn't really invincible but with him standing there stronger than ever in front of him, it was hard not to believe.
Kontar seemed to calm down and unclenched his fists, smiling coldly at both Yuugi and Ryou.
"Now that you've had your story time it's time for me to get back to work. I can't have you escaping anymore, especially since you're bound to go straight to Yami. And I won't stand for you ruining my plans again, Yuugi," he sneered.
With that, he left them completely trapped there and utterly terrified at what he was planning. Yuugi sank to the ground and Ryou crawled over to him and put an arm around him to comfort him. There was nothing they could do locked up inside except hope that Kontar wouldn't get away with it.
"Don't worry, Yuugi. Yami's pharaoh for a reason," Ryou tried to comfort him.
Yuugi sniffled, wiping at his eyes. "It doesn't matter. If he hears I'm in danger he'll come anyway. And everyone thinks Kontar is dead so they won't suspect anything out of the ordinary! I mean, he's already gotten Isis and Marik so somehow he has the power to overtake them! Even if I could get out I don't know what I'd do to stop him."
"You're not working alone any more Yuugi, I'm with you. If you were able to help defeat Kontar without Yami before then with the both of us I'm sure we can come up with something," Ryou stated.
"What can we do? We don't have powers? And we have no way of getting out of here?"
"But we can't give up either Yuugi. You're not one to give up easily so don't start now," Ryou urged, pulling him to his feet. "I'm angry at him too, Yuugi. This is not something that he should get away with. And like you have a bond with Yami, I…I have a bond with Bakura too and he's also in danger. We've got to try something!"
Yuugi blinked teary-eyed but nodded, wiping the last of his tears away. He took a deep breath and looked at Ryou with a determined expression.
"All right, what's the plan?"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thank you to all of you who have reviewed! I'm sorry I'm not going to write individual comments to you guys this time. I'm too pressured to get this up on the day I said I would. So thank you all and I hope to update this soon!