Chapter Nineteen: Friends to Foes
Smoke always seems to be present in that damned room of the psychiatrist. And now he wants to give me some medication to allow me more sleep. Not sleeping well…no wonder when I'm visited by these common haunts! And he was the one who wanted me to see if any answers could be found through the dreams. Maybe I'm even scaring my doctor. I do know this; I'm not going to be controlled by some medication.
I'll get the answers myself, in my own way.
Already, one of the needed cards was in his hand. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring had found it in a room holding a collection of what looked like used weapons. Enjoying the place immensely, he had scoped out the weapons and even practiced with a few just for the sake of old times. Also, because he knew it would make his host body upset had he known. And the Spirit was highly sick of his host body.
"I need a new one," he muttered to himself. "A new body that doesn't fight me as much." Memories rose of that time when the real Bakura, Ryo Bakura, had been taking control of his body during a Monster World game, a tabletop role playing game. His pitiful host had ruined everything then. If such strong willpower were always going to get in the way of his fun…well, the thief-king wouldn't stand for it.
"Perhaps…that plan I had at Duelist Kingdom will come in handy. I can try again. I know such a young body wouldn't be able to fight me as hard. And I could even gain some control of the Kaiba Corporation and use it to lead me to more Millennium Items!"
Leaving the room then in more haste than he had been before, Yami Bakura set off to find more cards or, more importantly, Mokuba.
No doubt, the boy would be back in the starting room, and that was the direction he headed. The twists and turns he had taken remained a vivid print in his mind—such tactics remained from times robbing tombs; to find the way out of all the tricky rooms, one needed a quick, clever, and retaining mind. And that had not faded with years.
"Soon I'll be rid of this annoying body and have a far better one!"
Cackling with glee, Bakura hastened down the dark corridors, his own presence adding a fright to the area that the servants and others could not do. The servants would never harm anyone for real in the game. Thief-King Bakura, on the other hand, found a great enjoyment with pain, even his own.
Looking again at the card in his hand, Joey snapped his fingers and did a victory dance. He just had four more to go. Four more and find his friends.
"I betta get goin', den. Dis is just de Left Leg a'de Forbidden One."
As pleased as Joey was with his recent prize, he wasn't too optimistic. That spider-thing had completely freaked him out—for just a limited time!—and there was no telling what worse horrors awaited him.
"Time t' get goin' t' get more cards!"
Joey took off down the corridor with a jaunty swagger, hoping over-enthusiasm, underestimating things would make it all seem less than it was. At least then, he hoped no one would seek him out, thinking he looked like easy prey to single out and harass. After all, Joey was an expert on the cases of bullies. They singled out the weak ones.
"I gotta find Yuge!"
Yugi was, after all, the one bullies always went after.
Walls changed as Joey strode onward. Torches lit the walls, flickering and smoking like lighting up an ancient castle. Rock and stone took over the cardboard texture, and Joey contemplated examining them to see if the walls were really stone now or plastic or just painted expertly. Besides the walls and textures, the ground even turned into a near-cobblestone blend. A murmuring trace of mothballs and dampness lingered in the air.
"Someone put way too much work inta dis ding."
Slipping the card into a pocket, the teen kept both hands free just in case he needed them. And it was no time too soon.
Something went dashing nearby in the corridor next to him, and Joey stifled a yelp quickly, turning it more into a gasp. Whatever that speed was for, it couldn't have been a good thing.
"I hope my friends are all right! I wouldn't want dem t' be in trouble!"
Debating about whether or not to go see if the person needed help, Joey decided to stay where he was. After all, if it had been a servant or hired freaky thing, no reason existed for Joey to seek them out.
The light in his halls spaced out so that it looked like the corridor would never end. But eventually, he found an olden-time room bearing a huge fireplace and a four-tiered bed complete with a canopy and bolstered covers that sent Joey straight back to that virtual world Kaiba had created before.
"Stupid bath robe! Dis looks all too much like Adina's castle."
Shuddering, even with the skin rug on the floor and collection of candles on the walls that made this the brightest room on the floor, Joey nearly fell back in fake light again.
"Dis room's gotta be here for a reason. I just gotta find out why."
Scratching his head, Joey looked over the bed, the chairs, the tapestry…but nothing stood out at him. As far as he could tell, there was not even anything inside here that seemed the least bit spooky.
"Eh? Whaddya lookin' at, scrap metal?" Joey had never felt very attached to the suits of armor after the secondvirtual world where Noah had trapped them and the suit of armor Joey had seen somehow ended up in a pile on the floor. As far as he was concerned, that was where this suit of armor belonged as well.
"Time t' take ya out."
Joey approached the armor, suddenly stopping. Had it just been the flicker of the fireplace or had the helmeted head just turned slightly? What a fool he'd been! Someone was always awaiting them in suits of armor. And this suit of armor even was holding one of those blood-thirsty halberds!
"Not dis time…I know someone's in dere! Come out!"
Joey held up his fists in the appropriate defensive style, ready to change and attack at a simple movement.
The armor wasn't moving anymore. Not a single hollow clank or glimmer of the light moved on the shiny metal. But that didn't mean Joey was letting down his guard now. That armor was never going to see his back.
"Stupid metal ding! Head a tin can? Get de heck outta dat armor and fight me like a man!"
And, being so preoccupied with the threat before him, Wheeler never gave a thought to the tapestry whispering softly in a breeze all its own making. Silent boots fell behind him, and slowly, the masked figure crept up behind the young man still spewing forth profanities, threats, and taunts.
The solid stone floor did not betray the sneaker with a creak, as wood might. Even the torches were flickering so much that his movements, had the figure been so incautious as to cast shadows, were unrecognizable as a single person's. Joey had no idea of what was loitering behind him, awaiting the perfect moment to seize his throat and squeeze…squeeze…squeeze.
"Maybe dere's a card in dere!" Joey brightened up immediately, walking forward to the suit of armor and preparing to open the visor and look down its darkened depths.
Before he could take a single step forward, something strong and heavy clamped down over his face and neck, dragging the struggling victim away from the armor and into the darkness beyond the fireplace.
"Heh, three cards already. Both arms and one leg. There's a reason I'm called the King of Games."
Yugi couldn't help but feel Yami was boasting a tad too much, but he stayed quiet. The sooner they found the cards and could leave, the better. This game of Mokuba's wasn't so much fun anymore. At least, not to him. Yami seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
The other two rooms where they had retrieved the cards hadn't been as bad as the maggots. One was covered with what looked like scattered blood, but nothing horrible had happened in there. The other room had a skeleton that they had had to reach through to the ribcage to get the card. It hadn't helped that the bones seemed to have shifted when they reached in, but no fingers had been sacrificed to the dead.
"Yugi, we will soon be getting the rest of the cards!"
I believe it. But why haven't we encountered any of our friends yet?
Pondering as he walked through the halls, Yami finally concluded, "This place must be bigger than we anticipated. Have you ever been in the Kaiba basement before? Maybe there are some underground tunnels included here or something."
Most likely. They probably have a bunch of secret passages, too. The prospect of crawling and finding hidden halls would have enthused Yugi except for how tired he was of this maze by now. Over an hour had passed, and neither felt like he had reached any familiar place.
Chuckling, Yami commented, "It reminds me of the various pathways in the pyramids with all the false rooms and trap routes."
…That's reassuring, Yami.
The pharaoh only smirked and continued on his way, certain that soon, he would be smirking in the face of Mokuba (and then Bakura) as his friends stood behind him on the other side of that dungeon door.