Last time..........

Bakura: Mai was in a tough spot facing Toorima and his darkside, as well as the Winged Dragon of Ra. Bi and I ran to find this Gen Iruka fellow, but before we could, Mushi and Janguru attacked us. A young man saved us from the two and we went back to help Mai. Mai was able to summon Morgion the Black Wind and destroy Ra, as well as Toorima's chances of becoming a Lilim again. She also achieved the Winged Dragon of Ra, but she gave it to me. That young man that we met earlier, he revealed himself as Gen. Now we must find Mordecai before Kaiba and Serenity do.

Chapter Fifteen: Time

Bakura, Bi, and Mai were riding in style through the borders of Ohio in Gen's black jeep. What a ride it was. They knew now that the possible Lilim that was once Mordecai resided in Illinois somewhere, thanks to the information slip of Mushi and Janguru. Bakura and Bi were sitting in the back of the jeep, while Gen and Mai were in the front. Bakura not only wanted to find Mordecai before Kaiba did, but he also wanted to save Ayana. He knew what Kaiba was going to do with her. He wanted her to merge with the destroyed, Lilith. He couldn't let that happen again. He couldn't let the woman he loved die and become one with the Beast. During the trip, Mai explained to Gen about the Lilim, the servants, and Lilith. She also explained why Kaiba and Serenity were psychotic now.

Gen now understood everything. He now knew about the incident that happened five years ago and why Kaiba was committed and what Morgion was. He now knew the name of all the servants: Twilight Dragon, Hecate, Takhisis, Lolth, Chemosh, Sirrion, Morgion, and Zeboim. Still he didn't understand why Kaiba would want to sacrifice Ayana to Lilith. No logical explanation. What was so special about Ayana that she had to merge with Lilith? Why not Serenity?

"Because Tea merged with Lilith and it was her that destroyed half the world's population." Bakura said.

"Really? So, Ayana is really Tea?" Gen asked.

"It's more confusing than that, I'm afraid. You see, when the souls were set free from the Orb of Eternity, the souls chose what form their bodies should have. Plus, the memories of the body would be altered to where they know nothing of the incident. Tea is Ayana, Ishizu Ishtar is Bi, Marik Isthar is Toorima, Weevil Underwood is Mushi, Rex Raptor is Janguru, Sylvia is Jolie, and someone else out there is Mordecai." Mai said.

"Do you guys at least know what Mordecai is now? You know, boy, girl? What?" Bi asked.

"Can't remember. It's been five years when we hid Mordecai's reincarnated form." Bakura said.

"I don't see why you want to keep Mordecai away from Kaiba, though."

"Gen, the last time the Lilim were all in the same spot, Lilith's seal was breaking. Shadi tried to kill us to prevent the seal from breaking and we killed him! We were foolish to believe that by releasing Lilith that we would be all powerful beings. Instead, it was just another excuse for humanity to be wiped away by some demon that has no face!" Mai replied.

Bi knew what Mai was saying. The last time the Lilim were together, Lilith's avatar, Black Death, led them to the seal and how to destroy it. They couldn't afford Black Death to come around again. It must not happen. Gen just continued to drive. In about a day they would reach Illinois. They were still in for a long drive.

Kaiba's gang, however, didn't have problems. They were flying in the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet that he had made before Battle City. He first rode in it with Mokuba. Poor Mokuba. Kaiba still had post traumatic visions of Mokuba burning in front of his very eyes. Why did Mokuba sell his soul to Lilith, though? It made no sense to him. Serenity knew what Kaiba was thinking and put her hand on his hand, trying to console him. Janguru and Mushi were still talking about how they were almost shot by Gen. Jolie, though, was talking with Toorima. Toorima was looking at the wounded Ayana. She looked horrible. She needed a doctor as soon Kaiba beat the crap out of her. For all they knew, Ayana was probably dead. Jolie looked at the two remaining God cards that he had left.

"Zo, Toorima, how did you manage to sneak ze Egyptian God cards?" Jolie asked.

"I challenged Pegasus for them. He said if I won fair and square that he would give them to me. Indeed he did. Now he's spreading the rumor that he was robbed. Gimme a break." Toorima said, putting Slifer and Obelisk in his deck box.

"It must be hard to have two minds in one body, huh?"

"What does that have to do with anything, Jolie? My darkside will only come out when we're dueling. We made that agreement."

"I....... I know. But...... still. It must be hard to cope with it."

"It isn't. Just as long as he keeps up with his bloodthirsty torturous dueling tactics against people like Bimusouko Senritsu and Bakura Ryou, we'll be fine." Toorima looked at Kaiba. "How much longer until we reach Illinois, Kaiba?"

"Why do you care?" Kaiba asked.

"You do want to reach Mordecai fast, right? How do we not know that Bakura and his fools are already in Illinois, huh?"

"I don't care if they are. They wouldn't have known that Mordecai was there IF two BUMBLING MORONS DIDN'T GIVE AWAY HIS LOCATION!" Serenity shouted.

Mushi and Janguru lowered their heads. They knew that it was them who Serenity was talking about.

"That's enough. No time for arguing. We need to find Mordecai and we need to -- huh?" Kaiba stopped.

He looked at his radar screen. It was flashing like crazy.

"DNA match. Mordecai." a computer voice said.

Kaiba grinned evilly, as did Serenity. Their objective was about to be complete. Kaiba quickly landed the jet in the woods near their destination. The doors opened and one-by-one, they exited the jet. Kaiba looked at Janguru and Mushi.

"You two stay here! I need someone to watch the jet and watch Meijin." he said.

"Understood." Mushi and Janguru said with a salute.

Toorima looked at the two, then at Kaiba.

"I'll stay here as well. You never know when Bakura and those other fools will come by." he said.

Kaiba couldn't help but grin. How obediant Toorima was to him for a new servant.

"Very good, Naito. You may prove to be a more loyal servant after all. Come on, Serenity, Jolie." he said.

Jolie looked back at Toorima, then followed Serenity and Kaiba. As they left, Toorima looked back at Janguru and Mushi. Now's my chance. he thought.

Not more than three hours later, the black jeep pulled up in Illinois. Mai looked at a sign that read: "Welcome to Chicago." They had made it to their destination. But first, Gen had to stop for gas. It was hard for Bakura and Bi to communicate with people at the gas station, since they didn't know English. Mai had to translate for them. Bi grabbed a bag of Baked Lays and Bakura grabbed five pieces of Slim Jim beef jerky. It took the clerk a while to translate their yen, but he had no trouble with Mai translating for him. The clerk looked at Bi, noticing her clothes were torn and her face was scratched.

"What happened to you, miss?" he asked.

"What did he say?" Bi asked.

"He was wondering what happened to you." Mai translated.

"Oh okay. Tell him that I got into a fight with some scumbag tramp." Bi smiled.

Mai told the clerk what Bi told her. The clerk shook his head.

"Gimme a break. People today, beating up on pretty foreigners. That's disrespectful." the clerk said. "By the way, why don't you tell these guys about the carnival that's in town, miss?"

"Carnival? What carnival?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, the Phoenix family is holding their annual carnival in downtown Chicago. They start it up every time it's the beginning of fall to celebrate the harvest and Halloween."

Mai told Bakura and Bi about the carnival. That's when it hit Bakura. He was thinking that maybe Mordecai would be at that carnival since he loved to use clowns and other magic cards against his opponents. Mordecai also liked Halloween, so hopefully they would find him there.

"Thank you, sir. You helped us out a lot on our mission." Bi said.

She then remembered that the man couldn't speak Japanese. Mai translated for her again to the man, who laughed.

"I'll be sure to get someone in here for a translator as soon as you leave, miss." he said.

Mai winked at the man, then they left. Gen was waiting for them at the jeep. They entered the jeep and took off. Thank God Gen prepaid for gas beforehand. Mai then told Gen of the Phoenix Carnival, giving him the idea to stop by downtown Chicago. Bi, who had pulled her CD player from the back at the gas station, was listening to a song on her CD that had put her to sleep. Bakura was looking at the Winged Dragon of Ra in awe. He couldn't believe that he had Ra now. He had used it once against Yami Marik, but it had no ATK because of Marik's traps and he lost. Gen and Mai were still talking to one another. Apparently they had so much to catch up on. It was good to see that Mai still had someone to call her lover after Lilith had killed many people including Joey. It took maybe forty-five minutes to get downtown. The streets were filled with the sounds of Celtic music, the music that Bi seemed to love the most. The song playing was familiar to Bi that was singing along.

"You were half of me......... long time ago. Oh, life could never be perfect without you. But I'm still on my way to the future. For I remember your sweet song in my mind." she sang.

"What's that song?" Gen asked.

"Oh, it's called 'Sweet Song' by Yuki Kajiura. She's very good. Now, if you excuse me." Bi said. "To the lost horizon, I'm calling your name, again and again. Though the night is so dark. A new dawn is so close to me. Sun will come and shine on all seeds of hope, bud, and bloom."

Bi just hummed the rest of the song. Mai and Bakura smiled at her. It was good to know that the reincarnated form of Ishizu, the friend that they bid farewell to when Lilith awakened, was living a more normal life. But they weren't at the carnival just to have fun. No, they were at the carnival to find Mordecai, or whomever he was now. They heard the sound of a xylophone playing. Bakura turned to see a young woman, who looked no more than twenty or so, with long black hair and blue eyes. She had her hair in a ponytail, her skin was pale, and she wore a black tanktop and blue jeans. She wore black Sketchers shoes as well. There was also chanting from a male choir, as well as a piano playing and a flute. Mai turned to see Bakura was mesmerized by this music.

"Bakura, is something wrong?" she asked.

Bakura didn't respond. The girl's music was hypnotic. It was as though she was actually calling out to Bakura and his comrades. Bi and Gen stopped to listen to the hypnotic tunes. Mai looked at the girl closely, then she saw something in the background. No, not something, someone! Three people! Jolie, Kaiba, and Serenity! They were here at the carnival! She nudged Bakura's shoulder, who snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't look now, but the Dangerous Trio just showed up." she said, pointing at Kaiba, Serenity, and Jolie.

Bakura, Bi, and Gen looked where she was pointing and saw them. There they were. Bakura glared at Kaiba. To their surprise, the three weren't even looking at them, but at the woman playing the music. Although, this time, she was singing a strong powerful song which sounded like a combo of Japanese and Latin. When she was done, she got off the stage she was on and was heading to another area of the carnival. Kaiba and his gang were following her.

"Come on, we haven't a moment to lose!" Gen said, following Kaiba.

Bakura and the others were following closely behind Kaiba, making sure he didn't see them. They were trying to reach the woman before he did. They had the suspicion that this woman was Mordecai. But just as they were getting close, Jolie turned and saw them. She stopped Serenity, who looked back at her.

"What is it?" Serenity said.

"Tell Kaiba I'll catch up after I dispose of zese fools!" Jolie said.

Serenity looked confused and saw Bakura and his group. They stopped, noticing they were seen. Serenity grinned evilly.

"Finish them off, Jolie." Serenity said, running after Kaiba.

Jolie grinned evilly and activated her golden duel disk. Obviously Kaiba had given her one in case they were being followed by Bakura. Bakura and his group stopped, they saw Jolie with her duel disk.

"Zo, fellas, which one of you wants to have zere dirrere kicked by moi?" she asked.

Next time........

Serenity: Jolie begins her duel against that wretched Gen Iruka. Just as we get our hands on Zelda Phoenix, we get ambushed by Mai, Bi, and Bakura. Jolie is able to summon her servant, Lolth the Spider Queen. Hopefully this will be enough to take out that fool! I guess we'll see who is the victim in "Apocalyptic Revelations: Passion."