The Seventh Element

Chapter 11

Taking Off

"Here is your cell miss." The stewardess said sweetly. Tea nodded and walked down the hall. She opened the hatch on the wall and boosted herself up, sliding into the narrow passage that served as a berth during the trip.

"Hi." Yami said, startling her.

"Oh good you're here." She said. "So why was Malik having you come here exactly?"

"Plava Laguna, she have Millennium Items." Yami explained. "We retrieve them, bring back to Earth. Stop evil." Tea raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Well that shouldn't be difficult."

"Evil arrive tomorrow." Yami told her. Tea let out a breath.

"Well that's a kick in teeth. Just when I think I can stop worrying, I have to start all over again." Yami smiled.

"No worries. Me, the Seventh Element. I protect life. I'll protect you. You no worry anymore. I'm here." Tea smirked.

"That was and incredibly sweet. And yet, incredibly arrogant at the same time." She said. Yami shrugged.

"Want to be sweet, Tea nice and pretty. Sorry about gun today. Friends?" Yami said, holding out his hand. Tea smiled and shook his hands.

"Friends." She confirmed. Then she registered what he had said. "Wait, you think I'm pretty."

"Attention passengers, we are now decreasing cell pressure, to put you to sleep. We will take off in 1 minute, and our light-travel systems will have a lesser effect on you while you sleep. We apologize for the inconvenience." Yami listened to the announcement.

"We sleep now." She said. He leaned over and gave Tea a quick kiss-on the lips. "Night Tea." Yami said, laying his head down. Tea sat up as much as she could in the cramped space and gapped.

"Whoa whoa! You can't just kiss me and just wave it o..." Then the decreased pressure kicked in, and Tea slumped down, asleep.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Wing B is secured Captain." The intercom beeped in the cockpit. The captain nodded.

"Roger that. Attention Wing D, passengers secured? Confirm."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Yes Captain, we're ready here." The stewardess in Wing D panted. "Mr. Rhod." Pegasus stood up.

"What, I was just getting started!" He protested.

"We're taking off soon, you'll have to assume a sleeping position before shuttle pressure decreases." The stewardess gasped. Pegasus rolled his eyes.

"Look honey, if this is gonna work, I'm gonna be the one choosing the positions here!" He snapped, getting back on his knees. (1)

- - - - - - - - - -

Bakura's phone rang, and the business picked it up.

"Yes?"

"It's me. Mr. Bakura, something's wrong." Drake blurted out.

"Shouldn't you be on the shuttle now?" Bakura asked.

"I'm not. Tea took my place. What's going on, she was arrested!" Bakura narrowed his eyes.

"Is some sort of joke Drake? Because I am certainly not laughing."

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Recharging the fuel cells, we're getting ready." The maintenance officer yelled. Two large cables hung down from the rear of the shuttle. A large truck with a giant black cylinder drove up to the cables, and two crewmen quickly connected them.

"Recharge, hurry it up!" The officer ordered. With a quick jolt from the large battery cell on the truck, the shuttle's power levels shot up to 97 percent. The maintenance officer nodded and picked up his radio.

"Fuels cells recharged, we're clearing the runway, over."

- - - - - - - - - -

"My god…I…I love you." The stewardess panted. Pegasus had worked his way up to her bellybutton before he heard that.

"Look baby, don't talk anymore, ok? It's really distracting."

- - - - - - - - - -

"I have to admit Drake, I'm a little disappointed." Bakura growled, punching up a number on his keypad. "And of all the things in this world I do not like, the one thing I hate most is being…disappointed." Bakura finished punching in his code, and his finger hovered over the ENTER key.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Not there, not there, not OH GOD!" The stewardess screamed as Pegasus found a sensitive spot on her neck. She stumbled back into the crew quarters and slammed the door behind them.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Passengers are secured, runway is clear. Standby for take off in 10 seconds." The captain said, powering up the shuttle.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Patrolling passages, looking for any stowaways." A crew member said, walking down the hall. Behind him, Malik cursed and flattened himself into the little crevice in the wall he had found. He glanced around and spied an air duct in the ceiling. Malik jumped and caught it with his fingertips, pulling the grate loose. He put a foot on a small control panel and boosted himself, pulling himself into the duct. He reached down and pulled the grate up a second before the crew member turned around.

- - - - - - - - - -

"I know sir, I'm terribly sorry, but it's not my fault, they must have gotten the wrong girl!" Drake protested.

"Agreed. Okay Drake, you can live. Come back to my office." Drake breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much sir." He said.

"But Drake, before you hang up, hold your phone as far away from you as you can." Bakura ordered. Drake frowned but obeyed the request, stretching his arm as far from his as he could.

"Alright sir, now what?" Drake asked. There was a beep from Bakura's line in response.

Then Drake's cell phone blew up.

Drake flew back a few feet, screaming in pain. He clutched his right arm and stared in horror at what had been his right hand and his lower arm, and what was now a stump that ended halfway between his hand and elbow. Drake groaned and stared at his mutilated arm and collapsed.

- - - - - - - - - -

"If it helps any, I'm enjoying myself!" Pegasus panted. The stewardess moaned and looked at his through hooded eyes.

"Really?" She breathed. Pegasus shrugged.

"I've had better, but like I said, if it helps any!" Pegasus gave a final thrust, and the woman before him screamed.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Lift off." The captain said.

- - - - - - - - - -

The shuttle bound for Duelist Kingdom lifted off the spaceport. It blew through space until it was halfway to the moon, at which point it activated light speed, and the ship blazed forward. It was early morning. The ship would arrive at Duelist Kingdom at noon. And Evil was set to arrive in less than 24 hours…

- - - - - - - - - -

Joey sneezed. Damn Tea. Joey had come to soaked and cold in Tea's fridge. He had a cold as a result. He was going to have a serious talk with Tea when he next saw her.

"General Wheeler." The man shouted. Joey and Kaiba looked up at the technician before them. "It's doing something." He said. Kaiba frowned.

"This is the first activity from it ever since it was discovered." He muttered. "What's it doing?"

"It's putting out radio waves. But the frequency of the waves is strange, it's as if…"

"As if what?" Kaiba demanded. The technician hesitated.

"It's as if it's trying to make a phone call."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Mr. Bakura, you have a call on line 2." The intercom beeped. Bakura growled.

"I told you, I do not wish to be disturbed." He snapped.

"I know, you didn't want me to disturb you, unless Mr. Zorc called. And you have Mr. Zorc, holding on line 2." Bakura froze. Zorc. He gulped and shakily reached for his phone. He lifted it to his ear.

"He...hello?" Bakura said. Something about Zorc even gave him the chills.

"It'sssss…me…" Zorc hissed.

"Bakura here sir, good to hear from you." Bakura said.

"Did I disssssturb you?" Zorc asked. Bakura chuckled nervously.

"No no no, not at all sir, I was just, um…are you busy?" He asked.

"Ssssssomewhat…I'm getting ready to make the trip." Zorc replied.

"Oh, well if you're busy, then perhaps you should go back to your preparations, and speak with me another time." Bakura suggested, eager to end the conversation.

"Oh no, Bakura…I have to make ssssure my planssss are proceeding. Have you acquired the Millennium Itemsssss?" Zorc asked. Bakura gulped.

"Not yet." He admitted. "But don't worry sir, I'll have them before tomorrow, ready to go for you. But…it wasn't easy. My…costs have tripled." Zorc growled lowly before speaking again. Bakura let out a gasp as he felt a twinge of pain in his forehad.

"Money…meanssss nothing to me…I want the Millennium Itemsssss….you will get for me, or you will die…" Zorc grated. Bakura reached up to his face and felt a warm liquid oozing down his nose. "Bakura…I will have the Itemsssss….you will get them for me…that minor injury is inssssignificant to what more I could do to you…" Zorc threatened. Bakura nodded and pulled his hand away. Blood. Warm, sticky blood was running from a gash in Bakura's forehead down his nose. Zorc said he had done it. But how on Earth…

"Understood sir…I'll go and retrieve them personally." Bakura promised.

"I will arrive there…tomorrow." With that, the line went dead. Bakura flopped back in his chair and panted. Talking to Zorc always did that to him. He reached for a cloth on his desk and wiped off his face before pressing the intercom.

"Prepare my personal transport. I'm heading to Duelist Kingdom."

1. Yes. I know. That was nasty. I'm sorry, that's how the movie goes.