Chapter Eleven

Crump was shocked by the sudden teleportation through space. When the ride ended, he crashed to a wooden floor and Téa crashed next to him with a yelp. Khu, who was used to the method of travel, landed on his feet standing over them.

"Okay, now what's this all about?!" Crump demanded. "What do you mean about us being your bait?! Bait for what?"

"Bait for my victims." Khu walked to the window and looked out. "Does this location seem familiar?"

Téa knelt on the floor. "Not to me," she retorted.

Crump looked around. "Oh no," he gasped. "It's Johnson's cabin in Domino Canyon!"

"What?!" Téa shrieked. "How would Khu know about it?!"

"I know about a lot of things," Khu replied. "You remember how I knew about Bakura's descendant before I met him? Let's just say it's one of the many powers I honed during my three thousand years in the Shadow Realm." He turned and walked closer to her. "I can use my staff to show me what's happening with people I know on the mortal plane, or to see locations or people that are important to them."

Téa glowered at him. "So you've been spying on everybody for years?!"

"Why not?" Khu sneered. "It was a very useful way to prepare for the day when I would get back to the real world. I couldn't emerge into a world I wasn't prepared for, after all. I had to know exactly what it was like. I've followed the modernization of society all through the ages thanks to my magic. I could even use a Smartphone right now, if I needed to."

"But I thought you wanted to take over Egypt," Téa said. "You can't do that now!"

"Oh, I'm much more ambitious now," Khu replied. "Why just take Egypt when I could have everything?"

Téa scowled. "You want to rule the world?! Haven't we had enough villains that want that?!"

"Strangely, that's what my brother said to me once," Khu laughed. "Apparently the problem went on in the ancient days a lot as well."

"You still haven't told us why we have anything to do with this," Crump said.

"Why?" Khu sneered. "I told you, I need to demonstrate my power. Why not kill two birds with one stone and eliminate some enemies while I'm at it?"

Téa and Crump each went sheet-white.

"Atem!" Téa gasped. "Yami Bakura. . . ."

"Lector," Crump realized.

"Yes!" Khu jumped back, still pointing his staff at them. "They'll all die if I have my way. The Pharaoh and Bakura have magical items and could be in my way. Lector I just want to pay back for that little stunt he pulled on me in the Shadow Realm."

"In your dreams!" Téa spat. "Atem and Yami Bakura will stop you with their magic items!"

"Well, we'll just see, won't we?" Khu sneered. "In any case, I should be able to get rid of Lector. And the rest of your associates, Mr. Crump, since they've all pledged to protect him from me!"

Crump wasn't sure whether he found that surprising or not. Nor was he in a mood to dwell on it. He was too busy reeling from the implications in Khu's deadly statements. "How the heck do you think you're going to get rid of so many people?!" he snapped. "You'd be out on your ear before you could blast that many people!"

"Not if I use another of the powers I've carefully perfected through the millennia," Khu replied. "My staff can rain widespread destruction with the dark power of Ruination."

Téa gasped in horror. "No!"

"My brother banished me to the Shadow Realm before I had the chance to demonstrate that power back in ancient times," Khu said matter-of-factly. "He won't be able to stop me now."

Crump just rocked back, staring at Khu in disbelief. "Is this really happening? It can't really be happening."

"I'm afraid it is!" Téa wailed. "And somehow, we've got to stop him before anyone else finds us here!"

"What?! You're crazy!" Crump cried. "Neither of us has magic. We won't be able to do anything!"

"How right you are," Khu said. "It's good to see that you're more reasonable than your associates."

Crump glowered. He didn't want to say so out loud, but Téa was right. One way or another, they had to find a way to stop this nutcase. He didn't want all of his friends to suffer and be killed.

Not to mention, he was sure that if this nut took over, the world would end up even worse for penguins than ever.

xxxx

Seto hadn't let himself think about anything other than rescuing Mokuba as long as Mokuba's fate was unknown. But now that the boy was safe and they were all on their way to the mall, he allowed himself to think about this other potential disaster.

He had called Mr. Thorton's store and had learned that Téa had indeed been carted out of the store by someone fitting Crump's description. And according to the horrified shopkeeper, the man had behaved very zombie-like.

Seto clenched his teeth. So Téa had been taken before Crump's soul had even been returned. But now that he had it back, why hadn't he returned Téa? What possible reason could he have for keeping her?

He looked to Lector with a jerk. The man was staring off into the distance, looking highly tense.

"Hey," Seto demanded. "Do you know why Crump would keep hold of Téa even after getting his soul back? Would he be trying to take revenge on her for defeating him in Noa's world?"

Lector started. "Maybe," he said vaguely. "Or maybe not."

Seto glowered. "I remember he seemed to have some sick fascination with her when he possessed me in that Shadow Realm place. I know he was always more interested in women than the rest of you. The rest of you were married to your work, but he wanted time to play. Just how far would he take it?"

Lector cringed to be put on the spot. ". . . I honestly don't think he would do anything inappropriate with her, Mr. Kaiba," he said at last. "He liked to look. That was all. Of course, he might try to convince her to have some fun with him. . . ."

Seto derisively rolled his eyes. "And she'd probably knock out all his teeth." He paused. "Why do you think he'd keep her?"

"Maybe if he thought he could get a rise out of you by doing so," Lector said.

Now Seto could only stare at him in disbelief. "Why would he think that, Lector?!"

"Crump enjoyed seeing the two of you interacting," Gansley finally spoke up. He, Nesbitt, and Johnson were in the limousine along with Lector, the Kaiba brothers, and Marik, but they had mostly stayed silent. It was an awkward situation for all concerned, traveling with the boy they had reviled for so long and trying to decide if they could really get past the hateful feelings they had carried for him all that time. Nesbitt especially was struggling. And from the way Seto, Mokuba, and Marik were all glowering at him, it was a struggle for them not to simply throw him out of the vehicle. Out of all of the Big Five, he was probably the one they detested the most. Trapping Mokuba in a fire was a horror none of them would forget any time soon, especially if Nesbitt never showed any sorrow for his actions.

Now, however, Seto stared at Gansley, baffled by his words. "Mostly all Téa and I ever do is argue."

"Yes, and Crump liked that," Gansley smirked. "But he also felt that Téa showed a great deal of concern for you, more than she ever even realized."

"She shows a great deal of concern for just about everyone," Seto retorted. He never had told her or Yugi or any of the others that he had come to think of them as his friends. Could Crump have picked up on that? Seto had been specifically trying to hide it from all of the Big Five, not wanting them to be able to use it against him like they seemed to think Crump was doing.

"Crump's sick no matter why he took Téa," Mokuba spat.

"Nevermind the why for now," Seto said. "Where would he take her?"

Silence fell over the limousine as everyone pondered the problem.

"There is my cabin in the canyon," Johnson said slowly. "All five of us have been up there multiple times."

"How could Crump get all the way up there with no car?" Mokuba objected.

"Let's say he could," Seto mused. "It's worth checking out, anyway. Can you think of anywhere else?"

"His house, if he still has one," Nesbitt said.

"Hmm. We're closer to that," Seto said. "We'll check there, and I'll call Yugi and tell him about the cabin." He took out his phone.

Lector let his mind wander as Seto talked with Yugi. This was such a surreal situation. He and three of his old friends were traveling with their arch-nemesis, looking for their other friend and an unfortunate girl he had taken. Dr. Portman was at large and could be spying on them, and some three-thousand-year-old zealot wanted him dead. Not just that, but said zealot was willing to murder all of them just to get at him, according to what he had been told during this car ride.

Gansley, Johnson, and Nesbitt had all told him they would stand by him and protect him from Khu. He was still stunned by that and still wondering if he could truly believe it. He had wanted to think they and Crump truly cared about him. They had been coworkers, co-schemers, allies, even business friends through the years. They had taken vacations together; Johnson had always been willing to share his cabin with them. They had enjoyed good times and had suffered through bad times. But would they risk their safety for each other? Lector wasn't sure he had ever even thought about it before. It had seemed like something that would never happen. Or maybe subconsciously, he had always figured it would be every man for himself in serious situations. He couldn't picture himself abandoning any of the others if they were in trouble, but were they as loyal in turn?

What would happen when all the dust settled? Did any of them still have houses? What would they do for work? Seto would hardly hire them back, and he didn't want to work for Seto anyway. Another betrayal could be right around the corner. That was probably how Seto felt about them too.

Seto hung up, jarring him back to the present. "Yugi and his group are going to head for the canyons," he reported. "We'll check Crump's house, and if no one's there, we'll head for the canyons too. Unless . . ." He paused. "Do any of you live closer to the mall than Crump?"

"We all live in the same area as you, Mr. Kaiba," Gansley replied.

"That's a pleasant thought," Mokuba muttered.

"You think Crump would go to one of our houses?" Johnson said in surprise.

"It was just a thought. If you're all in the same area, it's unlikely." Seto leaned back and folded his arms. "But Crump had better not have hurt Téa when we catch up with them."

xxxx

Téa was growing more and more panicked. Eventually, she imagined, the other members of the Big Five would think about the cabin and come looking for Crump. Maybe others would come with them. And then, once all his enemies were in one place, Khu planned to murder them all.

"We have to get out of here!" she hissed to Crump. "If we can head off whoever might come looking here, maybe we can keep Khu from killing them! Then they could get the upper hand with him!"

"And just how do you think we're going to get out of here?" Crump countered. "That nutcase is sure to be watching us. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the fastest runner around."

"The woods are really thick around here," Téa said. "If we could just sneak out a window, we could slip into the trees and Khu won't be able to find us!"

"Unless he can just use that staff of his to find out where we are," Crump worried. "It sounds like that thing can do everything except use a keyboard!"

Téa cringed. She had to admit that seemed to be true. "We'll just have to hope he won't be able to use it to track us," she insisted. "We have to do something!"

"Okay, I'll agree with you there," Crump conceded.

"It looks like this window can be pushed up." Téa inched closer to it. When Khu didn't reappear at the sound of the conversation, she quietly unlocked it and slowly began to raise the sash. Crump stood by, awkwardly trying to shield her in case Khu re-entered the room. But he didn't come back.

"You got it!" Crump's eyes gleamed when the window stood completely open. "Now I'm going first."

Téa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you don't know anything about being a gentleman. Not that I'm surprised."

"If I'm not his prisoner, he can't use me to hurt the other members of the Big Five," Crump countered. He dropped down to the ground.

"But I can still supposedly be used to hurt Kaiba if I'm caught right now. Is that it?" Téa hurried out the window as soon as it was free.

Crump gave a dark chuckle. "Hey, you said it, I didn't." He took Téa's wrist when she jumped to the ground. "We'd better not get separated."

Téa shivered. "Right now, I'm not sure what would be worse—being caught by you or by whatever wild animals are lurking out there in the trees."

Crump leered at her. "I can be a more dangerous animal than anything out there."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Téa shot back. "But if you try anything, Buster, you're really going to wish you hadn't. A lot of guys have learned that dance moves can hurt pretty bad if applied just right."

"Lucky for you, I'm more worried about certain people right now." Crump pulled Téa towards the nearest stand of trees. "Let's go through here. I know how to get to the road from here, and everyone else will have to come up the road to get to the cabin."

"Fine!" Téa stumbled over the hill and some rocks, but she managed to stay on her feet as she hurried along with Crump.

Slipping into the darkness of the trees was a relief. Once Khu couldn't see them even if he looked out the window, Téa started to relax. But she stayed on her guard for another reason; when she was with Crump, she couldn't be too careful. She could feel how tense he was even in his grip, however, and she had to admit to a bit of surprise.

"You really care about those guys," she realized.

"They're more my family than my real family ever was," Crump grunted. "I don't want that nutcase to go trying to kill them."

"Not even Lector? I thought you were mad at him." Téa stepped on a twig and cringed at the noise.

"Of course I'm mad at him," Crump shot back. "That punk! But that doesn't mean I want anything to happen to him!"

Téa blinked in surprise. "I didn't think any of you had that much humanity left, except maybe him."

"There's a lot you don't know." Crump froze. "Is Khu following us?!"

Téa paused. "No, I don't think so." She frowned. "I don't hear anything."

"Okay then. Let's keep going. The road's this way." Crump kept determinedly pushing through the trees and brush.

"I hope you really know what you're doing," Téa moaned.

Khu, meanwhile, was back at the cabin, examining the open window. But instead of trying to follow, he just sneered.

"Go ahead and try to get away," he laughed. "You're playing right into my hands, you fools."

xxxx

Bakura was worried. They had briefly checked all of the Big Five's houses, to no avail. Now, out of other ideas, they and the limousine's occupants were all heading for Domino Canyon to check Johnson's cabin.

Bakura was worried about Téa, of course. Being alone with Crump sounded terrible. But he was also worried about his dearest friend. Yami Bakura had been oddly silent through most of this stage of the adventure. Bakura looked to him now in concern. "Yami, are you alright?"

"Fine," Yami Bakura grunted. "It's Téa we need to worry about."

Bakura slumped back. "Yes, but with Khu at large . . ."

Yami Bakura growled. "I'll deal with him eventually. The Pharaoh probably wants a piece of him as well."

Bakura sighed. "Yami, you're gripping the steering wheel so tightly your knuckles are white. . . ."

". . . I knew I'd have to face him in the real world again eventually. But I had hoped it wouldn't be for a while yet." Yami Bakura glowered into the distance. "He could turn up again at any time, especially with this obsession over killing Lector. We might run into him again tonight."

"I wonder what he really wants," Bakura said softly. "It must be more than just that."

"I couldn't care less, except for how it might affect us. And I'm sure it will."

Bakura looked out the window as they traveled up the winding canyon road. It always made him nervous to see a deadly drop-off on one side of the car. At night it was even worse. With so little light, there was always a part of him that worried about the possibility of driving off the road and over the cliff. But Yami Bakura being a good driver was a comfort, as was the presence of the limousine and its lights directly ahead of them. Still, it was a relief to get past that part and go deeper into the canyon, where there was protection on both sides.

"We're coming up on some pine trees," Bakura noted. "And . . . oh my, there's people running out of them into the road!"

Seto's chauffeur slammed on the brakes up ahead. Growling in frustration, Yami Bakura also threw on the brakes. As everyone began exiting their vehicles, Crump and Téa ran over to them.

"Crump?! What on Earth is going on?!" Gansley demanded.

"That Khu nutcase brought us here to Johnson's cabin!" Crump exclaimed.

Téa nodded in agreement. "He wants to get everyone there so he can use some freaky magic power that will kill everyone at once!"

Mokuba gasped. "Seto!"

Seto just stared. "A power like that couldn't really exist," he objected. It couldn't . . . because that was too horrible. Wasn't it bad enough that weapons could do that, without bringing magic into the mix?

"Are you willing to trust that it doesn't?" Marik countered.

Seto wasn't. ". . . Wait a minute," he realized. "Yugi's group should have got here ahead of us. They may be at the cabin right now!"

"Oh no!" Téa cried.

Immediately Seto dialed Yugi's phone, silently praying for an answer. None came. He growled, shoving the phone back in his pocket. "Alright, let's go up to the cabin," he decided. "We can't take the chance that . . ."

A horrific explosion up ahead on the hill interrupted his sentence and bathed the night sky in a brief cacophony of colors.

"Oh my gosh!" Téa shrieked.