Chapter Eleven

Yugi's group had been having quite the adventure. They had started by trying to go to KaibaCorp in case the brothers and the Big Five were still at the medical center. They didn't find any of them, but they did see a suspicious person heading inside the main entrance after casting a furtive glance over his shoulder.

"So what's up with that?" Joey blinked. "Who was that guy?"

"I think we should go after him and find out," Yugi declared. "It doesn't look like he was supposed to be there."

"The door probably locked after him," Tristan said. "It's way after normal office hours."

"Let's try anyway," Yugi insisted. "Kaiba and the others could even be in the main part of the building getting hurt. The doctor said they left the medical center, but they could have decided to go in the main part for some reason."

"I guess that's possible," Joey sighed. "Especially knowing the crazy stuff Kaiba usually gets involved in. The others too."

"If all else fails, we can go back to the medical center and try to sneak into the other part of the building from there," Solomon suggested. "There must be a connecting door somewhere."

"Grampa!" Yugi exclaimed. "I hope Mom never hears you say anything like that!"

"Oh, fiddlesticks," Solomon snorted. "We do need to get over there and see what's going on. As you pointed out, Yugi, someone could be hurt. If we take a round-about way to get there, it's not hurting anyone."

"Well, that's true," Yugi said slowly.

They went up to the door and Atem pulled on it. To their surprise, it opened. "That's odd," Atem remarked. "You don't suppose he deliberately left it unlocked because he's waiting for someone else?"

"Maybe some of us should stake things out here and find out," Tristan said.

"That's a good idea," Solomon said in approval. "Alright; Tristan and I will keep watch for anyone else who might enter. The rest of you go try to find Kaiba, and whoever that was who came in."

"Okay," Yugi said slowly. "If you're sure. . . ."

Tristan gave him a thumbs-up. "We're sure. Now go on!"

Joey looked around the dimmed corridors and dark offices with unease. "Man, this place really looks different at night. Kind of creepy, almost." He slowly walked ahead, with Yugi and Atem scrambling to catch up.

"Maybe we should call Téa and let her know what's going on," Atem said.

"Good idea." Yugi took out his phone and tried to dial. After a moment he frowned. "There's no answer. . . ."

Atem was concerned. "We reached Téa before. Now it's just like when we've tried to call Kaiba."

"That can't be a coincidence," Yugi said. "Something's keeping most of our calls from going through!"

"It certainly seems that way," Atem agreed with a frown.

"And I don't see anybody here," Joey said, looking back at them while he walked on. "Maybe we should call it quits and . . ." He went stiff as he slammed into someone coming from around the corner.

"Joey!" Yugi groaned.

A tall man with a silver beard and long hair stared at the group. A nametag on his white lab coat read Scott Irvine. "What is this?! Who are you people?!"

Yugi quickly hurried over to try to smooth out the mess. "We're sorry," he said. "We're friends of Seto Kaiba's and we're worried about him. He was coming down here, but we can't reach him on the phone."

Scott Irvine folded his arms. "You're friends of Mr. Kaiba's?" He sounded and looked incredulous.

"Yeah. Like, I know Kaiba always said he didn't have any friends, but he finally thinks of us as friends," Joey rambled. "Come on! You've gotta recognize Yugi, right?"

Scott started. "Oh. Of course, Yugi Muto. Well, I haven't heard from Mr. Kaiba either. If he was going to come down here, he didn't tell me."

"But you just got here," Yugi said. "We watched you go in."

"And you left the door unlocked," Joey said. "Was that on purpose? Are you waiting for somebody else to come in and meet you?"

Scott looked genuinely chagrined. "No. I shouldn't have done that." He hastened back into the lobby and over to the doors. "Are you going to stay here looking for Mr. Kaiba? If not, I should let all of you out right now before I lock this."

Tristan and Solomon came out from the shadows. "What's going on?" Tristan asked.

Before anyone could answer, Scott's phone rang. "Oh. Excuse me. I should take this."

As he answered, Joey leaned over closer than was really polite. Then his eyes went wide. "Guys! He's talking to Kaiba!" he hissed.

Tristan stared. "So his call went through when ours didn't?!"

"How very strange," Solomon frowned.

After a moment Scott hung up. "Well, it seems Mr. Kaiba is back at his house," he said. "Not only that, he wants me to come there to talk to him. When I said all of you were here looking for him, he said to bring you along."

"Okay then," Yugi blinked, still bewildered. "Come on, guys. . . ."

The group trouped out of the building and Scott went to his car parked near theirs. "Just follow behind me and we'll all get there," Scott said.

"I wonder what Kaiba wants to see him about," Tristan said.

"I suppose when we get there, we'll all find out," Atem said.

A blue car pulled up near them and Alister got out of the passenger door. "What's going on?" he asked.

They all jumped. "Oh . . . we're going back to Kaiba's place with this scientist," Yugi said.

"What are you doin' at KaibaCorp?" Joey asked. "Last we knew, you were over at Kaiba's place and being taken home."

"Yeah, well, I'm tired of being used in this scheme, whatever it is," Alister growled.

"We'll all tired of it," Valon said from the back seat. "And we wanna find out why it's happening!"

"Everything seems to center around Kaiba, so we thought we might find some answers here," Raphael said, still gripping the steering wheel.

"I really don't think you will, gentlemen," Scott blinked.

"Tell you what," Yugi said. "Come back with us. Kaiba might want to talk to you anyway, Alister."

Alister considered that and nodded. "Alright." He got back into the car.

xxxx

Lector and Nesbitt looked up when Seto finally came up the corridor, a computer print-out in hand. "Did you learn anything?" Nesbitt gruffly asked.

"Maybe," Seto said. "The computer came up with a few names to check up on. Only one of them perfectly fits the Red Hand moniker, however, and I've called him to come over." He held up the print-out. "Scott Irvine."

Lector looked at the man's profile. "I remember him. He was part of Gozaburo's KaibaCorp."

"Yes, I know," Seto said. "He worked in your department, didn't he, Nesbitt?"

"He did," Nesbitt agreed. "He always seemed loyal to KaibaCorp."

"He still seems to be," Seto said. "I just don't know if he's loyal to the extent that he would try to avenge any perceived wrongdoings against the company or the Kaiba family."

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Lector frowned. "Although considering our problems using the telephone tonight, the fact that your call went through seems suspicious, Mr. Kaiba."

"I know," Seto growled. "If that creature is really monitoring our calls, then for some reason he wanted that one to go through. I don't know what to make of that."

"Aren't you the least bit curious as to why we're standing outside the room?" Nesbitt asked.

"Hardly," Seto responded. "Either the room itself was too much for you or some of the people were." With that he started to walk past them and into the room.

Mokuba was already running to meet him. "Big brother! I heard what you were saying. You think Scott Irvine might be mixed up in this?!"

"I don't know," Seto said. "I hope not. Although on the other hand, he's our best lead, so in one way it would be nice if it was him and we could get this ridiculous mystery solved before the night's over."

"There's one thing you might be forgettin'," Lector interjected. "My cook apparently said that the mysterious person she was talking to was another of our servants."

"I haven't forgot," Seto said, "but somehow I doubt one of your servants would want to avenge wrongdoings done to the Kaiba family. Whoever that servant is, they're probably in touch with the true overseer of the plot. I suggest you make a list of all of your servants and try to decide who might be the most likely suspect."

"Already done," Gansley said smoothly as he came to the door. "Crump, Johnson, and I have been doing exactly that. We know all of Nesbitt's and Lector's servants as well." He held up several sheets of paper.

"We've been putting down any time any of them started acting weird," Crump said.

"That must be a long list," Nesbitt grunted.

"Here." Gansley handed it to him. "See what you and Lector can add."

Nesbitt took it, and he and Lector started looking through it. Every now and then, one of them would remember something else and scrawl it in.

"Maybe while we're waiting for Scott Irvine, we should go try to find that box in Gozaburo's room," Mokuba slowly suggested. He knew Seto didn't like going in there. He had revamped the entire mansion to be for them instead of for Gozaburo, but he hadn't felt like he could be in Gozaburo's room regardless. There was too much of the man's presence in there, as was the case with this room downstairs. So Seto had locked the rooms away instead.

"Maybe," Seto agreed, "although we likely won't be able to open it without the key. Still, we should make sure we have it in our possession before whoever does have the key gets it."

"That may have already happened," Yami Bakura flatly replied as he came to the doorway. "The butler could have done it."

Duke snarked in spite of himself.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Let's find out." He turned and headed up the hallway. "Lector, did Gozaburo tell you where in his room he had the box?"

"No, he didn't," Lector said. "I suppose that was one of those secrets he wanted kept to himself."

The whole group followed Seto up the stairs and to a locked room. Only Mokuba, Téa, and Lector saw Seto's hands shaking slightly as he got out the keys and selected the correct one. It wasn't an easy thing for him to enter this room again, especially not knowing how he might feel. Mokuba stepped closer to Seto, protectively. A slight smile crossed Seto's features and he finally unlocked the door, pushing it open.

The chill that swept over everyone was musty and palpable. Both Seto and Lector stared into the darkness, their eyes wide, badly shaken.

"Gozaburo?" Lector whispered.

Although Seto did not speak, it was clear that he also felt the man's presence. But then he shook his head and reached inside the room, flipping on the light. "Superstitious nonsense," he muttered. "Gozaburo is long gone. All that remains in here is a memory."

"Some cultures say that as long as you're remembered, you never really die," Crump pointed out.

"Well, Gozaburo is dead," Mokuba insisted. He looked up at Seto. "But we don't have to do this, big brother. . . ."

"No." In determination, Seto forced himself to walk into the room. "We do."

Worried, Mokuba followed. Lector trailed after him, staying alert for anything else that might jump out at them. They had returned to the real world as wandering spirits following Noa's attempt to destroy them; who was to say that Gozaburo hadn't done the same upon the destruction of the virtual world? He might be too weighed down by his anger and hatred to move on to the afterlife.

Téa, Marik, and Crump followed the others in as well. Yami Bakura stayed in the doorway, frowning, studying first the room and then the Infinity Ring.

"What is it, Yami?" Bakura asked in concern. "Is there really someone in there? . . . Besides the living people, of course. . . ."

"I don't know," Yami Bakura growled. "I could always sense the spirits of Kul Elna, and as a spirit, other spirits as well. But with this Ring, I am fully mortal and I don't have any particular sixth sense. I might sense spirits who are close to me; I have seen my sister. But I might not have any sensation about someone I have no ties to whatsoever. And the Ring is no help."

"Oh dear." Bakura gripped the edge of the doorframe, praying that some disaster wouldn't befall any of them.

Téa shivered as she helped the others look for any box-shaped object in the room. Maybe it was just because Seto and Lector thought they felt something, but she couldn't swear there wasn't something ominous in the room.

"I don't really think Gozaburo's in here," Mokuba said to her, as though sensing her thoughts. "But the room brings him back somehow. . . . I'm sure Seto's having a lot of bad memories right now." He hurried over to his brother without waiting for Téa's reply.

"The room sure brings something back," Mai muttered from the doorway. "It should be aired out every once in a while. Then it wouldn't have this chill."

Gradually, some of the others started to trickle into the room as well. But, not wanting it to become an overcrowded mass of confusion, not everyone went.

In the end, it was Mokuba who suddenly exclaimed, "I think I've got it!"

Everyone hurried over to where he was pulling a dark green strongbox out from a secret panel in Gozaburo's walk-in closet.

"Is there still something in it?" Crump wondered.

Mokuba shook it. "Sounds like it." He set it on his lap and pulled at the lid. "It's still locked, too."

"Good work, Mokuba." Seto bent down and took it from him. "I'll try to pick the lock. If I can't, I'll have to store it someplace safe until we find that key."

"Are you still planning to question Alister about the key?" Duke asked.

"Of course," Seto said. "Even if he was controlled, he might have taken it and then discovered it in his pocket later. He very well might have been looking for it, at least, since he was right by the lightswitch." Carrying the box under his arm, he brushed past everyone else and headed in determination for the door. Everyone quickly followed, and Seto closed and locked the door with a flourish.

Mokuba relaxed. The cold feeling that had persisted in that room was gone out here. "Hopefully we won't have to go in there again."

Seto thoroughly agreed.

Downstairs, the doorbell had rang and the front door was being opened by Velma. "Hellooo!" called a familiar voice.

Everyone jumped.

"Joey!" Téa exclaimed in relief. She ran to the top of the stairs. Indeed, Yugi's entire group was coming in, safe and sound, and the bikers, plus a man she didn't recognize, were with them.

Yugi smiled up at her. "Hi, stranger. Is everything okay here?"

"Yeah, except for Hobson still being MIA," Téa said. "What happened to you guys?! Why didn't you answer your phones?!"

"Us? What about you?" Tristan retorted.

"Nobody's calls went through!" Mokuba said in disbelief.

"Except Mr. Kaiba's to me," said the newcomer as he stepped forward.

"Scott Irvine," Seto said brusquely as explanation to all the clueless expressions. "Let's go in my office; we have a lot to talk about."

xxxx

Talking with Scott didn't do a whole lot for the solving of their mystery. He seemed genuinely baffled by their reports of the chaos, and though of course it wasn't a surprise that he vehemently denied any responsibility in the plot, many found themselves believing him.

He was also clueless about the contents of the box, which Seto could not open. (Alister did not have the key.) But he did have one piece of advice. "If Gozaburo locked that, you can be sure you're not going to get it open any easy way without the key. I'll bet that if you try smashing it open, it will implode."

Téa gasped. "Seriously?!"

Scott nodded. "Anything Gozaburo wanted kept secret, he would rather see destroyed than fall into someone else's hands. He had me design some of his locks for him. Don't worry; I was always careful to design them so that they would only destroy the contents and not anyone unfortunate enough to be trying to open the box."

"Well, that's good," Téa said emphatically.

"And I suppose it's too much to hope for that you designed this lock," Seto growled.

"It is," Scott said. "Too much to hope for, that is. I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba." He frowned. "Although since he had someone else design this lock, it's always possible that this other person didn't have enough morals to make it safe. I'm afraid Gozaburo wouldn't have been above allowing someone who was attempting to break into the box to be seriously hurt or worse."

"That's crazy!" Joey burst out. "What if he lost the key?! How would he get into it?!"

"He'd have to call whoever designed the lock and have them open it," Scott said.

"Well, do you have any idea who that might have been, in this case?" Seto demanded.

"I'm afraid not," Scott said. "But you might try checking with Scarlet."

"Seto's secretary?" Mokuba blinked in confused surprise. "But she wasn't Gozaburo's secretary. . . ."

"No, but she inherited all of the records when she took over," Scott pointed out. "And she was around when Gozaburo owned the company. She was a stenographer."

Seto suddenly looked thoughtful. "I'll do that." He stood up from his desk. "Thank you for coming down, Irvine."

"My pleasure, Mr. Kaiba. I just hope you catch whoever's really behind this before someone really gets hurt." Scott turned to go. "Goodbye, all."

A chorus of Goodbyes answered him.

Everyone waited until he was out of earshot before speaking. Then Crump said, "You know, I'd forgot about Scarlet being your secretary."

"Yes, and 'scarlet' is a synonym for 'red,'" Seto said.

"No way!" Téa gasped. "You think your secretary is the one behind all this?!"

"I'm not discounting the possibility," Seto said. "She could have been trying to cast suspicion on Irvine but also tossing a snarky jab at the Big Five that she was responsible, not thinking they'd be smart enough to figure it out."

Lector scowled. "I think we all got it when Mr. Irvine mentioned her name."

"Yeah!" Joey blurted. "And that whole weird fake name totally fits her too! 'Red' for Scarlet, and 'Hand' because she worked a lot with her hands, writing and stuff . . . or er, somethin' like that. . . ." He trailed off, suddenly not sure he hadn't said something stupid.

Seto headed for the door. "She may have had something like that in mind. Now I'm going to go over there and surprise her."

"She might already be gone," Yami Bakura pointed out. "I'm sure she knew you'd figure it out shortly after hearing that alias."

"Possibly," Seto agreed. "But I'm going anyway."

"And we're all coming too," Téa declared.

"I figured as much," Seto said. "She might be there whether she thinks I've figured it out or not. She might even think she's doing a good thing, if she's really using this avenging angel slant. In any case, I'm going to start off just asking her about the box's lock's designer and see where things go from there."

"So what are you gonna do if she confesses she's behind all of this?" Crump asked as they all chased Seto through the house and outside.

"I haven't decided yet," Seto said. "But I can tell you this: if she was responsible, things won't go well for her since Mokuba could have been hurt by that mystery person this morning."

Mokuba looked down. "I hope it's not her," he said quietly. "I always liked her. . . . I hate to think she'd suddenly go crazy like this. . . ."

Marik laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I just had an idea," Crump said. "Why don't you also tell her one of us kicked the bucket from one of these 'accidents'? See how she takes it."

Seto gave a thoughtful nod. "Maybe I will. That's actually not a bad idea. Decide among yourselves who's going to play dead and he won't come inside with us."

"Since I was the last one targeted, why not say it was me?" Johnson suggested.

"Fine," Seto shrugged.

It was a short drive to Scarlet's house. The limousine led the way, with all the other vehicles following. The snow had started up again by the time they all arrived.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Alister frowned.

It didn't, but Seto was determined to try anyway. He got out, headed up the walk, and banged on the door. "Scarlet!"

Several others gradually emerged from the assorted vehicles and started to wander along the property, looking for any clues as to whether Scarlet was there or if she could be responsible for this mess. All was silent until a car slowly turned onto the street, the falling snow illuminated in the headlights. Bakura glanced at it, then away. But something made him turn back.

"Yami!" he suddenly cried out in alarm.

Yami Bakura whirled and ducked just as someone in the back seat opened fire once, twice, three times. He crashed into the snow on his stomach, snarling as the cold pressed against his chest. Then the car sped up and was gone.

Bakura ran over, kicking up more snow as he went. "Yami, are you alright?!"

Yami Bakura growled. "Fine."

"So now they're instigating drive-by shootings?!" Mai cried. "This is outrageous!"

"I think those other shots were meant for Rishid and me," Marik said. He looked badly shaken. When he looked to Rishid he was even more alarmed. "Rishid?!"

The big man was clutching his right arm with a grimace. "I'm alright," he tried to assure his brother. "It just grazed me as it went past."

Ishizu was horrified anyway. "The next time it could be even worse!"

Seto was clenching his fists, his eyes burning. "There won't be a next time," he vowed. "This is going to stop." He looked down the street. "Either we were followed here or that car was lying in wait for us, knowing we'd be coming here." He looked back to Scarlet's house. "And I'm going in there right now."

He kicked the door open.