.:Chapter eleven - The Great Escape:.
A soft, echoing sound resounded throughout the ventilation system as Mariku crawled his muscled body down the main passageway. He continued his mostly quiet movements until he came to a fork in the path. He tilted his head to the side, looking down either direction. Both were just as dusty as the one he was on, and dark. And it sure was awful cold in there, too. His hands were numb, as were his nose, ears and feet. Giving a small shiver, he turned his head and listened carefully to both ways. From the right all he heard was the humming of the air-conditioning. But to the left, he heard talking. It was muffled, but it was definitely talking.
And so, he made his decision.
The only drawback to this was that the vent-line he'd gone in was a lot smaller and more cramped than the others. He could barely get through it. His shoulders scraped against the metal linings, causing a harsh chill to run along his spine. The whole situation was making his body feel sick and indecisive. But he had to go on.
As he neared a soft light, he hit a bolt with his head, causing him to release a hiss of pain as his hair got caught. He lifted his hands as best he could and tried to untangle himself, but it was no use. It hurt his limbs terribly to have to bend the way they were, so he finally just sucked in a breath and yanked his head forward, making a sound of displeasure as his cornflower hair was ripped out. It was only a small clump, but it still hurt.
He desperately tried to keep his movements as quiet as he could, but that was hardly possible. His foot jutted out and slammed against the wall of the vent, causing a horrible sound to come out. It was almost like it was crying out its agony at being so roughly struck. Mariku jerked his foot back, listening to the loud echoing that remained. He winced. He moved his eyes so they were looking ahead. He could see the figures of humans, standing around and talking. They suddenly shifted, and the noises from their mouths ceased.
"What was that?" one asked.
"Sounded like something fell in there." another replied.
It was then the three forms looked to each other, asking the silent question in unison.
Mariku could almost feel their suspicion starting to sink in, so he slammed his foot against the same spot again. The beings all turned back to look.
They wouldn't be able to see him, Mariku knew, unless they got something to stand on and peeked in with a light of sorts. He was safe from peeping eyes at the moment.
Waiting for a short period of time, like before, he banged the poor metal lining again with his foot. He waited, counting out the seconds, before doing it again.
Finally, the humans spoke up again.
"I think something must be caught in the fan," was the voice of reason.
"Hey, I'll go check it out." another said.
"I'll help." the second answered.
"I'll just follow you guys. I need some more coffee." the third added, somewhat humorously.
Mariku could see the other two stare at the third, before they all left, talking amongst themselves. And for good measure, Mariku smacked the side again, before scuttling forwards, trying to ram the vent cage open so he could exit into the room.
It wouldn't budge.
And so, the alien got a sudden idea. He made his way backwards, since there was no room to turn around, and stopped when he came to his forgotten lump of hair. He reached up painfully and started trying to turn the bolt so it loosened. When it finally started to, his hair fell from it. It took a few moments, but he was finally able to get the screw out of its wedge. He moved back to the vent cage and started pressing the screw against the lining of it. When he was able to see light spill through, he knew that the bolt was now lodged in a way that made the cage bend off of its track. He grinned and then slammed against it. Nothing happened, so he pressed his feet hard against the sides of the vent and then pushed as hard as he could forward.
The vent cage shuddered and fell off.
The bronzed man thanked the deities that the other bolts that were holding it on were old, rusted, and loose.
Gently he started his crawl out. But then it hit him. If he kept moving forward, he would fall on his head, since there was nothing to grab onto to prevent such a thing from happening. But he couldn't turn around and go out feet first... He growled low in his throat, deciding that he would just have to take a few bruises.
There was a heavy thud as he hit the floor.
Thankfully, he missed hitting his head, but he did land on his arm wrong. Shaking off the pain, Mariku looked around the room, eyes taking in everything. There was nothing in here but a few desks and chairs. Scattered papers laid everywhere, but nothing like that would be of any use to Mariku.
Opening to door, he looked around, seeing no one. He made his way down the hallway, bare feet not making any noise. Something caught his eyes as he passed a room. There was a small television-type screen with a keyboard resting before it. He recognized it as what he'd seen other people typing at as he'd passed other offices earlier.
Making sure no one was around he slunk into the room. There was a black screen with a colorful box shifting into different angles floating about. He frowned and tilted his head. How strange.
He reached out his hand and rested it on the oval object that fit in his hand nicely. The screen suddenly went away. He was left with a large view of folders. He frowned, scrolling down through the list. Nothing in any of them even rang a bell in his head. He clicked out of the window and then looked around on the main screen.
It was then something caught his eye in a way that made a plotting glint come forth.
"Why, hello there, pretty thing..." he purred, smirk slowly working onto his features.
And it was there that he began on his long journey of messing up everything in the core computer's files.
---
Yuugi stepped under the shade of a thick-leafed tree, not really taking much notice as he stared around at everyone around him. The new information was burning into his mind. If Yami truly had no right in to be in this country, and no way of knowing he was safe to be around...
No! he cried in his mind. I let Yami sit close to me, play my videogames with me, sleep in the same house as me, and eat next to me. I even let him hug me! Even though it wasn't really a hug, but still!
There was just no way Yami was harmful to anyone. He would have been able to tell.
He sighed and looked up, not having realized that he'd even looked down to begin with.
But if the three had no information on them period... then... how did they get into Japan...? And how many other people had gotten in without right? It caused a shudder to run through him. His trust in the running of security sure dropped.
Suddenly he heard a familiar shout.
"Yuugi! Oi, Yuugi!"
The star-haired boy turned, seeing a stock of dirty-blonde hair attached to a scruffy-looking teen come barreling towards him. He instantly recognized the male.
"Jounouchi-kun!" he greeted, letting the other ruffle his hair fondly. But slowly the boy's excitement on seeing his friend began to fade. His eyes glazed and he looked very solemn.
The blonde noticed right away. "Hey, man, what's wrong?" he asked, the concern of a tender older brother washing over him. Something bad hadn't happened, right? But then... No, Yuugi doesn't act like this unless something's really bothering him...
Yuugi turned his gray eyes up to meet his best friend's honey ones. "Jounouchi-kun... Something's happened..."
---
He couldn't believe this. He just couldn't believe this. Now he was alone and had no idea where everyone else was. Ryou sighed, resting his head in his hands. He sat forlornly on the curb of some street, having searched around for his friend. He used the singular version of the word, because he was referring to Yuugi, not those other three indecent creatures. Well, he hadn't really met Yami that well, so he didn't know about that guy.
But, if one wanted to get technical about it, he wasn't alone. In fact, he was surrounded by hundreds of people hustling and bustling about. And Malik. But Malik didn't count anymore. The fair-haired boy was too angry at his Egyptian companion to really think about him at the moment.
That's right. He had finally admitted to himself that he was now utterly completely over the boy. Yup. No more crushes for him.
If only it were that easy.
He lifted his hand and rested it over his heart, as a lovesick lover would do. Why couldn't Malik get past his own thick-headedness? It hurt so badly to even think about what the tanned teen had said to him... He hadn't meant it to hurt Ryou, but it had. It had, so much that the said boy had run off and left the very confused Malik back at that small little store.
And he had looked away for only a few moments, and Yuugi, the three strangers, and the police were gone. He was sure that they were down at a station, but he didn't exactly know precisely where that place was.
He sighed and rested his hands on his cheeks, so he could hold his face up.
Today sucked.
---
Mariku had just finished when he heard faint voices. His head shot up and he quickly got away from the computer, leaving the room in a scramble. Once he found his way back to the room he'd come out of the vent in, he quickly used a table to boost himself up so he was able to reach the vent cage. But... Oh, no! He'd broken it. He quickly looked down and then picked up the item, pressing it up against the vent, making sure it would stay (even if someone so much as banged on the wall it would fall back down), and then got off the table and turned towards the door. The voices were too close. He jogged over to the opened door of the room, and hid behind it. He could always plea insanity, or say he had simply gotten lost. But... then if they brought him back to where he was supposed to be, then... Oh, he'd figure it out when it happened!
Two of the three men had come back into the room, talking in an annoyed manner. "They didn't even check it out for us," one muttered.
"'Well, I don't hear anything,'" the other mocked, making a face.
Mariku began to sweat. As soon as the two were far enough in, with their backs to the door, he made his move and ran. Surprisingly, they didn't see him.
"Have to find a way back... Yami and Baku-Baku must be so worried!"
He heard another set of voices and then stopped. He made sure the coast was clear before making his way into an empty room. He quietly shut the door and then looked back. Aha! There was a vent! And all vents lead to the same place, right?
And so, he moved a chair up under the said escape route and began to work on getting the screws out.
---
"Will you stop that?" the Prince hissed, glaring at the white-haired male beside him. Bakura had been tapping his foot constantly against the floor, and the never-ending movement made Yami quite annoyed.
The culprit glared heatedly at the other, but the tapped ceased.
The questioners hadn't gotten much of anything out of them since Mariku left, and the silence was becoming increasingly more awkward. The door suddenly opened the there stood the woman officer, looking like she was in a huff. Her hands were on her hips and her face was slightly red.
"He'd been in there nearly ten minutes! One of you come and get him out of there." she snapped, earning a raised eyebrow from both Bakura and Yami. Knowing Mariku, though, he was causing more trouble than his little trip was worth.
The standing officer agreed and left with her, now having to listen to her rant.
The tri-hair-colored man leaned back into his uncomfortable chair and sighed, rubbing at his temples. This was going to be another long day, wasn't it?
Suddenly, all of the three occupants of the room heard a loud clunking going by above them. All of them stared, listening to the echoing clangs. The officer frowned and stood, staring directly at the vent pipe going through the room against the ceiling.
Suddenly it clicked what that might be.
Yami turned back to share another look with his irritating companion. "That can't be good, can it?"
If that really was Mariku, then there was absolutely no way that he would be able to get back in time to make it look like he'd just happened to stay in the same room for those long minutes.
That was it.
They were finished.
And Mariku would be the first to fry.
.:Chapter end:.
...Yeah. So basically nothing happened in this chapter. But I suddenly got the urge to write, and got this all out in one day. WHEE.
So, what do you all think's gonna happen? I love hearing what everyone thinks! Please review!
Cecilia