Chapter Three

As Seto got out and strode inside the building, he was greeted by the sight of mall security detaining the Bakuras. Téa was standing to the side, helplessly trying to interject things without much success.

"What's going on here?" Seto frowned.

Yami Bakura looked up. "They don't like that I was looking in all the men's dressing rooms," he said matter-of-factly. "Now they think I'm some sort of voyeur."

Bakura's eyes flashed. "Téa and I are both trying to explain, but they just won't listen!"

Téa looked to Seto in desperation. "Kaiba, he was only trying to find Lector!" she exclaimed.

Seto grunted and looked to the security guards. "He was looking into something for me," he said coolly. "He wasn't doing anything inappropriate." His eyes narrowed. "And if you don't believe me . . ."

"Oh, we believe you, Mr. Kaiba," one of the guards hurriedly exclaimed. "We're sorry for the trouble."

The other guard, despite looking less sure of that, didn't volunteer anything to the contrary. They both quickly retreated.

Bakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you," he said to Seto. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come along."

"Gone to jail," Yami Bakura flatly grunted.

"Probably," Seto said, just as flatly. "Now, let's get down to business."

"Well, Lector's nowhere in sight now," Téa sighed. "And I never did get Yugi called because we got stopped by those guards."

Bakura nodded. "Lector probably left long ago."

Yami Bakura looked to Seto. "Do you know anything further about this matter?"

"Not really," Seto said. "But there's a strong possibility that a mad scientist called Alice Portman is responsible in some way. A nurse's assistant who used to work for her was working at the infirmary. My men are trying to talk to him now."

"A mad scientist?!" Téa cried in horror.

"That's about what she amounts to," Seto said. "She experiments with bringing back the dead and then torturing them out of their minds."

"Oh my!" Bakura gasped.

Téa frowned. "But Lector wasn't dead," she protested. "He was in a coma, but . . ."

"Lector might be her target," Seto brusquely interrupted, "but it could just as easily be me. Especially if Lector is working with her. She's also gone after people who have never died that she finds especially interesting. She likes to find out what will break people and relationships."

"That's awful!" Téa cried. "I should call Yugi about this right now." She quickly dialed.

It was Atem who answered. "Hello, Téa," he greeted. "How are you?"

"Oh. . . ." Téa felt the blush creeping up her cheeks. She still hadn't decided what to do about her feelings for Atem. It was strange; normally she was so outspoken and didn't hold back on what she thought, but in this one case, she was stumped. She was still reeling every time she realized Atem was really here again and that she had another chance. But she was also very afraid of possibly ruining the friendship they had by speaking of feelings that he might not share. And . . . well, she was also afraid of hurting Yugi. He had tried to encourage them to get together, having sensed Téa's feelings, but she knew that Yugi had a crush on her. She loved him dearly as her best friend, but she really didn't feel that her feelings for him went beyond that.

Oh well. This was hardly the time to worry about any of this.

"Hi, Atem," she said, shaking herself back to the present. "I'm okay, but we've got a majorly weird problem." Quickly she explained everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes.

Atem listened, deeply concerned and serious. "So, Lector has made it back after all," he mused. "He was a great help in the Shadow Realm, and I would like to believe he is no longer our enemy, but he did indicate that he still struggles with his feelings towards Kaiba. That could certainly be a stumbling block for him now, especially if this Dr. Portman has managed to manipulate him by tapping into those deeply held feelings. Of course, we're only guessing that she is behind his disappearance from the infirmary."

"It seems like a pretty good guess, all things considered," Téa said. She brushed her hair away from her face.

"Yes, it does," Atem agreed. "Well, I'll get everyone together and we'll go out looking for Lector and this woman."

"Thanks," Téa said in relief. "But oh, please be careful! Kaiba says this Dr. Portman is really dangerous."

"We'll be very careful," Atem promised.

Téa sighed as she hung up. "I wish I could help," she said regretfully, "but I'm still on the clock. I need to get back to work."

"Actually, how do we know Lector won't come back here?" Bakura said. "After all, he was looking right at you, Téa."

"Why would he come back now?" Téa scoffed. "The other time could have been an accident. I'm sure it was. I mean, what reason would he even have to deliberately get me to see him?"

"It makes more sense than Lector just coming here for no particular reason," Seto said flatly. "He's not a mall person."

"Then I think someone should stay here with Téa, just in case," Bakura said.

Yami Bakura grunted. "We could stay, under the guise of looking for Halloween decor. Which we were still going to do anyway."

"Fine. Do that." Seto turned. "I'm going to find out what mall security has on their tapes."

They all watched as he strode off, his coat sweeping out around him.

"Sometimes I wonder if there's any place in the city where he doesn't have influence," Bakura mused.

"Oh, there's probably a few places," Téa said with a roll of her eyes. "At least this time his influence was helpful." She headed towards Mr. Thorton's store. "Come on, guys."

The Bakuras trailed after her.

Mr. Thorton was at the counter and squeezing stress dough when they got back. "Where did you go?!" he exclaimed to Téa. "We've had customers while you've been gone!"

"I know, Mr. Thorton, and I'm sorry," Téa told him. "It was an emergency. I saw an old enemy and I needed to find out what he was up to." She sighed. "But we lost him."

"An enemy?!" Mr. Thorton played with the dough more frantically. "Maybe he'll come here again!"

Bakura decided it would not be a good idea to point out that that was exactly what they were banking on. "Well," he said instead, "we'll be here. We still didn't see your Halloween decorations."

That did not comfort the high-strung man. "Oh yes, mall security was in here about you," he said, frowning at Yami Bakura. "You're a mischief-maker, just like I thought! Or maybe worse!"

Yami Bakura grunted. "It was logical to consider that maybe that enemy we were chasing was hiding in a dressing room. Therefore, I checked every one of them."

"Oh, you certainly did!" Mr. Thorton snorted.

"But Seto Kaiba cleared him of any wrongdoing," Téa interjected. "He's okay, Mr. Thorton!"

"Seto Kaiba?!" Mr. Thorton jumped a mile. "You know him?!"

"We all do," Yami Bakura said in annoyance.

"Well, that's different. I guess." Mr. Thorton drew a deep breath. "Alright, you can stay. Téa, please help them find what they're looking for."

"Sure," Téa said, and quickly herded them down an aisle with Halloween lawn ornaments.

"What a dolt," Yami Bakura muttered.

"He certainly is an excitable man," Bakura remarked.

"Yeah," Téa sighed. "You should see his office. He has every kind of product for relieving stress that's been invented."

"Oh my," Bakura said with a blink.

"It doesn't look like any of it helps much," Yami Bakura flatly remarked.

Téa smirked. "It does, actually. You should see him when he doesn't have anything with him that he can use. But the pay's good and he treats his employees well. I like it better here than at the burger joint."

"Well, that's definitely something," Bakura smiled.

"You seem to be the only employee," Yami Bakura commented. Some assorted tombstones on the shelf caught his eye and he picked up a box for a closer look.

"Tonight I am," Téa agreed, "but there are others."

Yami Bakura suddenly snorted in derision. "Do you have any tombstones that don't have ridiculous epitaphs?" He held up a box of inflatable graves. "There is no way I'm displaying something that says Hole in One or Izzy Dead."

Bakura was staring at a different box. "On the other hand, some of the ones in this set are quite chilling."

"Hmm." Yami Bakura looked. "Let Me Out. That's promising."

"That is creepy as heck," Téa shuddered.

"And there's something particularly unsettling about the one that just says Bye," Bakura said.

"Inflatables still look too cartoonish for the effect I wanted," Yami Bakura said. "But perhaps I shall take some ideas from these and craft my own."

"I am still seriously thinking that Joey will want to stay away from your place until Halloween is over," Téa remarked.

"Then he's welcome to," Yami Bakura smirked. "The whole point of Halloween is to enjoy being scared or to enjoy scaring others. Joey doesn't enjoy either thing."

"Joey would love to hide under the bed and wait out the entire night, I'm sure," Bakura chuckled.

"Oh, I'd say there's more to Halloween than those things," Téa said, placing her hands behind her to lean against a shelf. "Like, what about dressing up? Are you going to go in costume for the night?"

"Well . . ." Bakura blinked. "You know, I hadn't thought about it. . . ."

"I might," Yami Bakura grinned. "As a Pharaoh."

Téa rolled her eyes. "I should have thought of that one." But she finally smiled a bit. "You're in a pretty good mood."

"I always wanted to enjoy Halloween," Yami Bakura said. "I just never had the chance before."

"You know," Bakura said, warming up more, "maybe we could have a Halloween party at the house." He looked to Téa. "Do you think Joey would come to that?"

Téa considered it. "Oh . . . he might. Especially if I twist his arm about it." She winked. "If you guys really have a party, Bakura, I promise I'll get Joey there somehow."

Yami Bakura was giving Bakura a strange look. "A party?!"

Bakura laughed. "You have the lawn, Yami, and I'll have the party. How's that?"

Yami Bakura grunted. "It's fair enough, I suppose." He shot the boy a suspicious look. "But exactly what kind of party do you plan on having?"

"Mostly a very fun party that even Joey should be able to enjoy without getting scared," Bakura said mirthfully. "Maybe we'll bob for apples or carve pumpkins."

"Bah!" Yami Bakura retorted. "Childish activities."

Bakura burst out laughing. "Actually, Yami, there are some very talented people who make very intricate pumpkin designs. And anyway . . . of course I was thinking of having things at least a little spooky. Maybe a few ghosts and a falling spiderweb?" He smiled and winked.

Yami Bakura paused and looked at him. "You'd better have at least that," he said.

"I guess if it was up to you, you'd turn the whole house into a horror house," Téa said to him.

"I suppose. If I was planning to let people troop through the house in the first place," Yami Bakura replied. "But I will settle for the front lawn."

None of them realized that they were being watched by two people.

One was Seto, as he stood in the security room and looked at the monitors while waiting for the guard to finish going through all the tapes in search of Lector's path through the mall. He folded his arms and rolled his eyes a bit, but though he could not hear their words, he had to admit they seemed relaxed and happy. How strange it was, to see the Spirit of the Ring enjoying himself without causing destruction. Although he apparently still had at least a mischievous streak, judging from the objects he was seriously considering purchasing. But he and Bakura were behaving like the family they were, teasing and loving, and Téa was joining in like a friend.

Seto had to admit he saw the appeal in teasing, after all the times he had teased Joey Wheeler. But that had never been in the harmlessly playful way these people were going at it. And he also had to admit that he liked the feeling of knowing they and the others were his friends, even though he still hadn't confessed that truth to any of them.

He gripped his arms tighter. No one was going to take them or the others away from him, whether it was Lector or Dr. Portman or Yami Marik or whoever else might try. He would fight for them, just as he would fight for Mokuba.

It was a strange, even a bizarre, revelation, after all the times they had been at odds and he had railed against the endless preaching about friendship and teamwork. And Yami Bakura had mocked those ideas so many times. Now that Seto knew about his past and how he had lost everyone he had loved, he knew why. And here they all were.

The second person who was watching was Lector, from the monitors Dr. Portman had in her van that were patched in to the security monitors. These people cared deeply about each other, and that was a strange thing for Lector to be observing and thinking about. He had known that kind of love; he still had family back in New Orleans. But he had long ago fallen away from them, entrapped by his bitter and hateful feelings and unable to think of anything else. Then, when he had wanted to write them or call them, he had no longer had access to his body and had been unable to do so. Now he could technically go home to them, only he was being pulled into this scheme courtesy of Dr. Portman. What would happen to everyone because of it? Did he care?

"Look at that man, Lector." Portman's voice broke into his thoughts. She sounded intensely interested. Lector could pick up the crazed tone in her voice, just beneath the surface.

"What about him?" Lector retorted.

"He's from the land of ancient Egypt, granted physical form by the Ring he wears," Portman said, her eyes gleaming. "The sole survivor of an unspeakable act of evil against his village. He himself was a harbinger of evil for three millennia because of his understandable hatred and outrage, and because of a previous Ring and the evil being it carried within it. Imagine! Their spirits fused for three thousand years and he eventually ended up believing that he was this other entity. But now he's free, and he's even discovering love."

"I know all this," Lector grunted.

"And he helped send you to that other realm, where you had to wander before at last making it back here," Portman said. "You hate him, don't you?"

Lector frowned. "I don't know." In the past he would have, but the one good thing about being in the Shadow Realm was that it had finally paved the way for him to start finding himself again. He couldn't say that he held many ill feelings for Yami Bakura. He certainly didn't want to spend time trying to take revenge on him.

"But you still hate Seto Kaiba."

". . . Yes," Lector slowly admitted.

"You know, you are a hypocrite," Portman remarked. "You became so obsessed with how Kaiba betrayed you and Mokuba and Gozaburo that you never stopped to think about how you betrayed Gozaburo yourself."

Lector flinched and looked away. "I thought about it."

"But it's different if you're the one doing the betraying, hmm?"

"No!" Lector snapped. "But . . . I mean, yes, we were all in on things, but it was all about business. We were just buying up shares in the company, trying to get enough to take over, but we didn't expect Gozaburo to take it as hard as he did. And I don't think he would have if it hadn't been for Seto's trickery. He deliberately manipulated Gozaburo into defeating himself, and that was what made it so much worse for him!"

"Perhaps," Portman said. "At least, that's the excuse you've used all this time to absolve yourself of blame or guilt. Do you truly take the moral high ground and believe it, or do you blame yourself deep down but won't acknowledge it? Are you afraid of what you might find there?"

"Stop!" Lector snapped. "Just stop it!" His eyes flashed. "I never intended for Gozaburo to run away like he did, or to kill himself, or . . ."

"And what makes you think Seto did?" Portman smoothly answered. "You've made yourself believe that was Seto's plan all along, because you can't face the truth that you were just as responsible for what happened."

"Just what is your problem, Doctor?!" Lector boomed.

Portman just smirked. "You see? You know I'm right."

Lector turned away, badly shaken. He wouldn't admit to that. No . . . he couldn't admit to it. He couldn't admit to how haunted he had been when he had seen Gozaburo's stricken face . . . when Gozaburo had run away . . . when rumors had started circulating that he had killed himself. . . . He couldn't admit to that horrible guilt and horror that had twisted his insides.

It had all been Seto's fault, he had told himself instead. It wouldn't have happened if Seto hadn't cruelly manipulated the situation and tricked Gozaburo into thinking he was winning. Seto had known what Gozaburo would do if he lost. It was all Seto's fault. Not his. Not his. . . .

He slumped back against the wall of the van with a cry, shaking, covering his face with his hands.

He didn't see how triumphant Portman looked, or how her eyes gleamed with the relish of seeing a new victim start to crack.