Chapter Twenty-Two: The Perfect Plan
I've seen my brother's journal in his room, but I cannot touch it. It's not my business, not even now. My brother wouldn't want me reading it, so I must respect that. And reading it would be like admitting something I never will. Not yet.
"H-heh, heh, heh. Now I've got four!" Yami Bakura looked at his pieces, annoyed that he had three Exodia heads, but at least no one else would be finding those. "If I can't get out, no one else can, either." Grinning maliciously, his teeth glowed in the black light.
Already, he had walked through two sections of the maze that had led all to dead ends. And, encountering none of the others, the Thief-King now made his way to the starting point once more to go in a new direction, hopefully the direction Mokuba had chosen.
"The boy must have gone in one of these two directions." He suddenly looked down with a grin. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? RING! Show me where the little Kaiba is!"
With a ching, the tines all floated up, glowing, but they soon sank again, all five of them.
"RING! Find me the boy! Grrr…you should be able to track more than Millennium Items! Fine; find me the Puzzle! Maybe they're together. And, well, if not, I always wanted the Millennium Puzzle anyway."
Still loitering in the main room with the four directions to choose from, he watched a tine point to his right. But Bakura hesitated. Some business came over pleasure, and as much as he wanted the Puzzle, circumstances making it so simple to take over Mokuba would not arise again very easily. He had to use this time for that and only that.
"Fine. We'll do things the hard way. I'll just go to the right and hope I find someone in there who can tell me where Mokuba is!"
The tomb robber set off to the right, laughing whenever he heard what sounded like footsteps, and to his disappointment, no one tried jumping out at him. One servant had attempted that long before, when he was finding his second Head of the Forbidden One, and the servant ended up running.
"I haven't had this much fun in years! Three thousand years!" (1) (1): Manga and Japanese number, as opposed to the faulty 5000 years the dubbed version uses.
Eventually, his excitement wore down and common sense took over despite his best battle to keep it away. Making so much noise and running like this probably wouldn't help him find Mokuba. The boy might be one of those trying to scare the seekers. So, Bakura went back to a walk and moved by tip-toe.
For once, he had perfect timing. Ahead of him, the pale figure caught strains of a conversation flitting through the air.
"You say he attacked you?"
"Y-yes, sir. And I sprayed him with the sneezing spray, but I'm worried about what he might end up doing to others."
Kaiba sighed, wanting to roll his eyes, but he managed to restrain himself. Wheeler always ended up a problem. This time, he thought he'd enjoy pulling rank on the other young man, warning him about attacking people who only played their role in the maze.
"You're going to find him, Seto?"
"Yeah, I better, or I'll have to hire an attorney to sue him for beaten servants. Listen; you keep checking out your maze while I go find Wheeler and let him know the rules. I'll catch back up with you somewhere…eventually."
Mokuba remained quiet a moment. "…All right. If that's what you want. See you soon?"
"Sure, kiddo. Make sure no one attacks you, all right?"
"They won't. And don't be too hard on Joey. I want him to stay the rest of the night!"
"Sure, sure, whatever."
Kaiba watched his brother vanish into the shadows while the servant began leading him back to the castle-like room, anxiously rubbing his hands together. The man's hood gathered at the base of his neck instead of shadowing his face, and his eyes scanned every direction. With a final sigh and glance back, the CEO thought he saw the glimmer of the dragon pendant's green eyes.
The dart whipped into a bull's-eye, and once it had, the lights around it flashed and sparkled. A slot opened on the side of the dart board, relinquishing a Right Arm of the Forbidden One.
"Now we have five! But not five of different pieces."
Should we even think about leaving the repeats for the others? If we find them all, won't it make them more confused as to what they're supposed to be doing, such as if they get to a room that has no card whatsoever?
"Don't worry about it, Yugi. I'm sure our friends aren't that stupid. And they'll be pleased to know we went to all the trouble to get them their own cards. Not everything, like hitting that bull's-eye, was the easiest part to manage. And I doubt anyone would begrudge how we had taken the card from the maggots. Who in their right mind would get a thrill of doing that? I think we ought to keep doing what we're doing."
Yami always seemed to know his friends so well, but all of what they had done to get the cards just reminded Yugi that the Spirit of the Puzzle played games better than even himself. And that knowledge rested within him uneasily.
So, Yugi concentrated on the room they stood in, wondering why such a room existed in the haunted mansion. Sure, they had had to use real daggers as darts, but other than that, only some fake cobwebs decorated the area. Had the Kaibas run out of spooky decorations here?
Standing there quietly, Yami went suddenly rigid.
"I can't believe I've never heard that until now. Listen. Evil laughter. Something like a bubbling cauldron."
Both Yugi and the pharaoh listened intently, agreeing that they heard another of those spooky music tapes.
"Should we investigate it closer?"
Why not? We haven't been there before, that's certain. Unless things are changing on us. Or unless evil laughter and bubbling cauldrons was just later on that tape we heard before.
"I don't think they are. I recognize this place; we haven't been this way."
Wondering how Yami could possibly recognize one sable area from another, Yugi simply ceased replying. Maybe going in pyramids all one's life prepared one for such differences in…blackness.
It certainly didn't make Yugi anxious to trade places with Yami.
Down the hallway they went, the hollow whistling of the wind making them adamant that some tunnel reached outside, but still, they knew the sound came from the music. The wind slowly died until only the laughing witch reached their ears.
As the lights on the walls first appeared, their black fake flames made a difference in the utter darkness. However, as the eyes adjusted, the light didn't seem so miraculous, and everything appeared nearly as indiscernible as before. Even a low-lying cloud of fog swirled around on the ground, making his feet look like they sunk in puffy softness.
The only thing growing more distinct was the spooky tape.
Various methods of torture and murder passed through Kaiba's mind as he went after the servant seeking Joey. So many modes and all would be enjoyable to employ. Well, as long as Mokuba remained completely ignorant. And that was unlikely. So he'd have to stick with a harsh tongue lashing.
The walls grew stonier and cooler, too. Never had Kaiba been so proud of his brother as now when he saw all of the work and detail put into making this maze as perfect as could be.
The servant slowing and twitching to a half-hesitated halt at every cross of direction, Kaiba eventually strode before the man to take the lead.
"Just make sure I don't take a wrong turn."
"Yes, sir. But he's probably moved on by now."
"So stop cringing, then, and listen up, as well."
Both attuned to listening and only half paid attention to the detailed surroundings, but even half attention made one obvious of the time Mokuba had put into planning and preparing this place. Had all the servants helped him so much? How had the boy gotten it all completed in time?
No doubt, his brother would want to keep his secrets. But Kaiba could pry the answers out of him, he wagered.
"Here's the room, Mr. Kaiba." The servant gestured before the both of them. Then he stayed behind as Kaiba entered the area.
"Kid knows his history," he commented. "Even if all of these aren't always found in the same century."
Examining the canopied bed, Kaiba muttered something about that was where the sheets had gone to that the maids had noted missing. Before the skin rug, Kaiba bent down and peered at the matted fur, feeling like a member of a CSI team.
"Something was wet and dried on this."
The servant nervously moved one foot back and forth, peering back over his shoulder as if the fight-crazy teen would soon be in to attack him once more. The man had no practical use whatsoever.
"Well, it's obvious Wheeler moved on from this point. Let's see if we can hunt him down. You know the way through the maze?"
Shifting his weight, the servant nodded with a quiet, "Yes, sir."
"Then let's get searching for him. I'd like to get back to my brother as quickly as possible and see how everyone else is doing in his expert game."
Bowing, the servant paced out of the room, wisely hiding his reluctance to find the teenager, the nervousness only visible in his inability to keep his hands still. As the gloom rose and engulfed them utterly, their steps faded.
Now was his chance! Quickly, as soon as the elder Kaiba and that servant had vanished entirely from sight and sound, he dashed up to Mokuba and grabbed the boy's hair in a tight grip.
"Ah—hey! Let go!"
Mokuba tried to whirl around, but the hands had his hair in such a tight snarl at the top of his head that he could barely move at all. A low chuckle sounded behind him, and he felt one of the hands tug painfully out of his hair.
"Ring! Now we must take over this new host!"
Something bright flashed behind the vice-president of Kaiba Corporation, and something sharp and cold seemed to be held level with his neck. Thinking of knives, the boy went abruptly still.
"That's better, host. I knew you'd be better than this one I'm inhabiting now. I just hope this works."
The voice sounded suspiciously like Bakura's, but somehow, with a harsher and lower tone. Raspier, even. Beginning to tremble, the young Kaiba tried to keep his thoughts together on how to free himself from this foe.
About to bend lower and twist out of the grip, Mokuba lost his chance. The cord holding the metal implements slipped over his head and instantly, all five tines dug right into the flesh of his chest. (2) (2): From the manga, we see the Ring does this to Bakura when the Spirit gains control.
"Wh-where am I?" came Bakura's voice behind him at the same time as the grasp on his hair released.
Mokuba, however, did not hear him, more involved in what happened inside himself. Something like hands ripped and clutched as his brain. That same low, sinister voice hissed things in there, making Mokuba clutch his head.
No! My Ring's magic should work on any potential host! Not just my reincarnation!
The words seemed an obvious protest against the truth, but they made no sense to the boy. All he knew was that his head burned and his brain pounded so hard it would explode.
And Thief-King Bakura felt it, too, and he grew frightened. What exactly would happen to the both of them if he tried to inhabit someone he couldn't?
A red haze came over Mokuba's eyes as the pain reached blistering heights. Some annoying, high-pitched scream echoed in the halls, and he wished they would just be quiet…blood seemed to be dripping over his fingers where they gripped his head. Entire body convulsing, Mokuba never even felt the relentless hard floor catch him cruelly in its grasp, though the thud did stop the screaming for an instant. The pain just went on and on, and even as Bakura bent over in fear and confusion, trying to figure out how to help, Mokuba curled into a ball…the pain went on and on…and everything grew darker, colors burst behind his sight, somewhere he couldn't even see and then…and then—