Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 028
Originally Written: Tuesday, April 12, 2022 226PM to 300PM
. . . . .
Yugi's spirit stood next to Pharaoh, silent. He had never seen such a thing. He looked down at Strings' blank face. He was clearly awake, yet still. Like a dead body.
Pharaoh kneeled next to Strings. "You haven't done anything wrong, Yugi. There was nothing in his mind to shield. Nothing. If it wasn't for Marik, he would be dead. He won't move. I can't get him to. There's nothing to persuade." He covered his face with his hands.
Yugi had taken over to duel when Strings pulled out his combo with Slifer the Sky Dragon. Pharaoh froze, but Yugi did not. He gave control back to Pharaoh when he tried to shield Strings mind from Marik, and this was the result. Marik just finished using Strings to speak, and then dropped him like a sack of potatoes.
Yugi shook his head, wondering what had to happen to someone to make them...crash this way. He turned away, unable to tell Pharaoh that what he wished to do didn't make much sense.
Pharaoh eventually dropped his hands. "Blue eyes." He spoke into his duel disk. The life points meter lit up as usual. "Um, Code 112?"
"Please stay at your location. Medical assistance will arrive as soon as possible." The duel disk's robotic female voice replied. It then gave him a list of options concerning medical emergency situations. Pharaoh went through them in a calm, professional manner, answering the questions provided.
The paramedics arrived in short order. Strings' condition gave them quite a bit of pause. They asked Pharaoh quite a few questions. Many he couldn't answer, and more he could answer, but the answers didn't quite make sense when said aloud.
"This Battle City. What a mess." One of them commented as they loaded Strings on a stretcher.
"You're telling me. Feels like every criminal in the city decided to show up since it started."
Pharaoh tuned out the conversation. He pocketed the Slifer The Sky Dragon card, and turned away. It didn't feel like a proper victory. 'Marik must be stopped.'
'No shit.' Yugi replied.
Neither had thought things could have gotten worse than this. Then they ran into Bakura.
'What happened to him?' Yugi asked.
Bakura dropped to his knees, sweaty, covered in bruises and his shirt and jeans stained with blood. "I'm sorry, my Pharaoh. I couldn't-I lost a member of your court." He gasped, out of breath.
'Pharaoh, what is he talking about? We don't have a court.' Yugi scoffed, 'Least I don't.'
Pharaoh narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Who and how?"
"Joey. I lost Joey. We were ambushed by rare hunters after his duel with Espa Roba. Joey called them out, but it was my error to think that we could take them with just snipers as our backup. Please forgive me." Bakura clasped his hands.
"Do you know where they took him?"
Bakura shook his head, "No. Joey started to slow from his injuries. When I turned to help him, they knocked me out. They came like a hoard of roaches. When I woke up, Joey and the briefcase were gone."
"Did they take anything from you?"
Bakura shook his head and huffed. "Just my pride?"
Pharaoh folded his arms. "Don't fret. We'll get it back when we find Joey and the others. Are you well enough to move?"
"'The others', Pharaoh?" Bakura frowned and stood up.
"They've made their move. It's time for me to make my counter." Pharaoh walked ahead. "Pegasus is looking for Tea and Mokuba as we speak. Arkana took Solomon to the hospital. Duke, Serenity and Tristan are unaccounted for as well."
"I see. I should let you know then, that Joey's duel disk is offline. He put it in the briefcase." Bakura followed Pharaoh at a brisk pace. "I'm inclined to think that this is Marik's part of the plan, not Amane's. I'm glad about that. We can't let her get the Millennium item Marik has at any cost."
"Hm, another plan then. Blue eyes." Pharaoh tilted his head to show that he was listening.
"Marik is a sheltered child. He has yet to realize he can cause a hell of a lot of more damage by taking control of the snipers and having them open fire on everything. Quite a few ricocheted bullets off Seto's briefcase while Joey was bashing rare hunters upside the head with it. Those bullets hit their intended targets after ricocheting. Most impressive I must say."
"And Amane would think to do that." Pharaoh scowled, "What a cowardly woman. Especially when compared to Joey's bravery." From what he understood, all hospital staff treating Joey protested him stepping out of the hospital. He walked out anyway with Seto's briefcase in hand. Pharaoh looked at his duel disk, which was scrolling through options while awaiting instructions. "Send a message to Mai Valentine and Mako Tsunami."
"Please state your message after the tone. Beep!"
"Keep your eyes peeled. Rare hunters are making their attacks. Avoid them at all costs." Pharaoh kept his voice low, but understandable.
"Message sent." His duel disk replied.
"Send a message to Seto Kaiba: 'Joey is missing as well. Any luck on your end?'"
"Message sent."
"Is Seto still mostly avoiding contact with us?" Bakura asked. He had activated his own duel disk, while Pharaoh was sending his messages.
"Unfortunately. We might be on our own here." Pharaoh scowled.
"Disappointing, but expected. Two rare hunters are headed our way. Avoid or confront, my Pharaoh?" Bakura looked at him.
Pharaoh grinned a dark smile. His eyes glowed a dark purple.