Chao- It always seems like climatic, intense parts go through this mind and yet the everyday or transition scenes take forever to write!

"Talk."

"Think."

/Mind link./

Chapter 2: Concern and Investigation

At the Turtle Game shop, everyone was quiet. What more could be said after fining out such terrible news?

Yugi was filled the most with anxiety. Someone he knew was going through a hard time. Mokuba may be in trouble and Kaiba was going through such a pain alone. Yugi assumed someone else was at work. He wanted to help out the Kaiba brothers anyway he could. He shut his eyes and clinched his fists tightly. He wanted to discuss something with his partner.

/Yami! Do you sense any darkness within Domino City?/ Yugi quickly asked his partner. The spirit shut his eyes for a moment as he searched for anything out of the ordinary.

/I'm sorry, but I do not./ Yami replied.

/Then we need to get to Domino Hospital as soon as we can!/

/Hold on Yugi! We don't know for sure if Kaiba's younger sibling had been involved with some sort of magic./

/And what if he had been? Kaiba doesn't believe in any of this magic and Mokuba could be in real danger!/

/And if so, then we may also be walking into a trap./

Yugi grunted with annoyance. He knew his yami was right. There was a possibility this could all be trap. Someone could be out there who wanted to use this opportunity to seize the Puzzle. There was another possibility someone wanted to take control of Kaiba Corp, as did Pegasus from Duelist Kingdom.

/Then what can we do?/ Yugi finally asked after calming down. Yami walked over to his light and placed his hands on Yugi's shoulder and answered, /We need to be prepared./

/How?/ Yugi inquired, becoming a little frazzled once more.

/We can go over to the hospital and check on the Kaiba brothers. We should take our decks with us. We don't know what could happen./ Yami instructed. Yugi nodded his head.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Joey asked, "So what's the plan?"

Yugi opened his eyes and saw his friends had formed a circle around him. They all waited patiently to see what Yugi and Yami planned. Joey and Tristan had a serious look on their face as did Tea, but in her eyes, there was also concern for the young boy who was in the coma.

"Yami said this could all be trap." Yugi began with everyone becoming tense, "So he and I are going to Domino Hospital to see if there's anything strange behind this event."

"What about us?" Tristan question not wanting to be left out of the occasion.

"Yeah," Joey agreed, "You want us to be sitting ducks and not do anything?"

Everyone drew their attention to the blonde with a look of surprise written on their expression.

"What?" Joey asked, "I'm not going for Kaiba! But I do feel bad his brother got mixed up in this and I won't let my own buddy here fall into a trap!"

"We're all going!" Tea exclaimed.

Yugi knew there was no stopping his friends after they make a powerful decision. The small teen stood up and looked over at his transparent, darker half. Yami nodded his head and was prepared for the event at hand with their friends by their side.

"Alright," Yugi said, "Let's go!

Everyone rushed over to the familiar hospital building. Outside the vast, white structure with hundreds of windows, the group could see vans and reporters out. They all knew this event was big news that would cause ratings to sky rocket but now was not the time to gaze over. They all comprehended their mission that needed immediate attention.

/Wait,/ Yami instructed to his partner.

/What is it?/ Yugi asked.

/I do not sense the presence of either of the Kaiba brothers./

/What do you mean?/

/I do not think they're here. With all these reporters outside, I suspect Kaiba does not want to be on camera with a story revolving around his brother in this condition./

/I see… This does make them look like characters in a TV drama./

"What's up, Yug?" Joey asked as he realized that his friend had fallen behind.

"Yami says neither of the Kaiba brothers are here." Yugi explained.

"Then where are they?" Tristan asked the obvious question on everyone's mind.

Where else could a teen with a multi-million dollar company be when he's younger brother could be in danger?

xxx

A teen with brown hair was sleeping alone in a big, comfortable, leather chair within a giant room.

Dream

A young boy with brown hair was in a pitched black room. He felt his entire body ached from a very long day filled with studying various, challenging subjects. A light shined and the young boy looked over to see a bed. It had a deep blue cover sheet and a large, fluffy pillow. The boy was drawn to the bed and desired to rest.

He walked over and with each step, his body would scream in agony and begged to stop working and collapse on the ground. The young boy continued on. As he finally reached the tempting mattress, he gazed upon its softness and admired it. He grabbed one edge of the sheets and was about to let himself on it. Suddenly, the bed vanished.

"What!" the young boy cried out.

"No sleep!" yelled a hazy tall person with a book in one hand and a whip in the other.

"You must continue on with your studies, Master Seto," another person said as more than one began to appear. The boy was confused but mostly scared.

"I did what I was told," the boy informed wit backbone, "I think it's time I got some sleep!"

"There is no time for such trivial things," one shadowy person explained.

"As your tutors, we must insist Gozuburo Kaiba gets his money worth," another person stated. The boy wanted to sleep but these people would not let him.

"What is the capitol of Mexico?" one instructor asked.

"How does one find the circumference of a circle?" inquired another one.

"Name all the words in the English alphabet that start with the letter 'A'." a third one said.

The boy yelled in agony, "No more!"

"Seto!" cried out a young voice. The older boy looked over to see his brother with a sad look on his face.

"Mokuba!" the older brother yelled.

"There's no time for fun!" the first tutor informed. He pointed his finger to the smaller boy and as he did, the young boy fell to his knees in pain.

"Mokuba!" the boy with brown hair screamed once more, "No more!"

End Dream

A light giggle filled the room. Kaiba woke up in his chair with a startle. He had wanted to forget about the torture he had been through done indirectly by his step-father.

"What? What am I doing here?" he mumbled to himself as he straighten his body up. He did not feel any pains within his physique as he was use to dozing off in big, leather chairs. He looked over at his computer screen to see web pages open to information, charts, and pictures about people falling into comas.

"Oh, that's right… I was able to get Mokuba out of the hospital, away from those leeches, and had the doctors agree to make a special house call… Mokuba!" Kaiba quickly stood up and sprinted for his door as memories from the other night poured into his head. The door was locked so Kaiba would not be disturbed. As he picked at the locked and tried to pull the handle, the door was stuck.

"What," he grumbled impatiently as he attempted to pull it once more. Still, the door did not open. At that moment, Kaiba heard a tiny giggle.

"Who's there!" he demanded to know as he spun around. To his dismay, there was no one in the large, empty room, only the CEO and his computer. For a second, the teen felt very small. He was in a giant room with the latest edge of everything available.

Perhaps that is why men work so hard; they burry themselves with their job so they can feel big, but the ironic part is they continue to feel small as they buy giant material possessions. The teen shook his head. He went back to his battle with the door and finally won.

He quickly ran down the hallway towards his brother's room. With each step he took, Kaiba could feel the familiar hallway becoming longer and his brother's room fading away.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba called out as he quicken his paced. He was surprised to see the door was still open as he finally made it. He was right in front of the door but shield his face for a moment with his hand as he blocked off a bright light. As the blaze slowly faded away, the CEO could see a group of people surrounding his brother's bed.

"Who's there!" he called out with anger. He had ordered his employees not to allow anyone in Mokuba's room.

"Hello, Kaiba," greeted a small teen with tri-color hair. After Kaiba's eyes adjusted, he was able to see he's rival as well as the group of friends associated with his usual opponent.

"What do you want?" Kaiba spat in anger at having his peer in his home uninvited.

"Hey!" Joey called out displease at the way his friend was being treated, "Is this how you treat all of your guests?"

Kaiba grunted as he ignored the blonde. He asked Yugi, "How did you get passed security? I've told them all specifically to not allow anyone in."

"Even friends?" Yugi questioned. Kaiba grunted once more as Yugi answered, "We told them all we were friends and not concerned with sending any information to the media."

There was silence in the room. Kaiba was unsure of what to say but his expressions clearly stated he did not want any of them to be there. Mokuba was his brother. He was Kaiba's concern and no one else's. Having a brother fall into a coma was family business. Kaiba swallowed a hard lump in his throat before stating, "This does not involve any of you."

"We know that," Yugi agreed. Joey was growing impatient. He did not want to go through an old western stare down between two enemies.

"Hey! Rich Boy!" he insulted the taller teen, "Don't you know Mokuba could be in real danger?"

"Don't tell me what I already know!" Kaiba argued back, "I doubt any of you being here is really doing my brother any good."

Joey marched his way closer to the teen he did not like, "That's not what I mean and you know it!"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed with disgust. Yugi stepped foreword as he did not want a fight to break out.

"Kaiba," Yugi said calmly, "We know how busy you are with having to run a company as well as doing everything you can to protect your brother."

The CEO settled down for a moment as he continued to listen, "Please, let us watch over him. He'll be in good hands with all of us here."

Kaiba's eyes were drawn away from his rival to his brother. He watched his sibling as though Mokuba was only sleeping. Deep down, as much as Kaibia hated to admit it, he knew Mokuba trusted Yugi and his group of friends. He remembered how Mokuba went to them while he was trapped within a videogame. Kaiba placed the only person he cared for in front of his pride. He turned his back away from the group and said, "Fine. You can stay."

The group sighed with relief as they were glad they could help. Before Kaiba left he warned, "If any of you are here because you believe some sort of stupid magic is behind this, then leave now."

The door was shut as the teen walked out.

"Sorry about that everyone," Joey said feeling sheepish, "I really didn't wanna start a fight with Kaiba."

"But you always are asking for one." Tristan commented.

"Shut it!" Joey spat back.

"Everyone! We need to focus!" Yugi called out. Everyone was quiet as they waited for further instructions about what to do.

Tea was watching her childhood friend carefully. She notice he was acting a little different. Not only was he the only one who can talk to Kaiba in an impassive way, he was taking charge without the assistance of the former pharaoh.

However, she was not the only one who noticed this. Within the walls of the Puzzle, a certain spirit had taken note of this as well. He observed his partner was acting differently, especially after they had arrived.

Flashback

"Well, do rich people go to an even fancier hospital?" Joey asked after finding out about neither of the Kaiba brother's still being at Domino Hospital.

"I highly doubt that." Tea sighed with Yugi agreeing, "I believe that action will just cause more attention."

"Yep, stuff that Kaiba definitely will want to avoid." Tristan concurred.

"Then where do we go from here?" Joey growled, becoming irritable.

Yugi closed his eyes as he tried to think. His body was tensing up, along with everyone else's. For every minute that passed, Mokuba could be in an even worse situation.

/Let's think about this situation logically./ Yami announced to his partner. Yugi nodded his head, /Kaiba wants to be able to take care of his brother …/

/Kaiba also does not want to be caught by anyone else, namely the news reporter./

/I guess moving to another hospital will be out of the question… That will most likely cause the reporters to notice an ambulance or helicopter. Who on Earth would miss something so obvious?/

/Not to mention moving a body that has fallen ill will be difficult and dangerous./

/With each minute going by, Kaiba's gonna wanna act fast!/

/He may want to go where he can be alone with his brother and no one else./

Yugi shut his eyes tightly as he was becoming frustrated as he had his mind conjure up any possibilities. He wanted to help out someone whom he saw as a friend. He knew the same pain Kaiba felt from being locked within a house alone. He flashed his eyes open as he exclaimed to Yami, /I think I got it!/

The spirit listened carefully to his partner, /I think Kaiba may be back at his mansion! He can have many security guards there and be left alone with his brother! He has a lot of money so he could pay any amount of cash and get doctors to make house calls./

Yami nodded his head and smiled, /It's worth a try./

"What now?" Tristan asked breaking through Yugi's concentration. The small teen opened his eyes and announced, "I think Kaiba took himself and Mokuba back to his place."

"Really?" Joey asked, surprised his theory was wrong. Yugi nodded his head and illustrated his idea, "Kaiba doesn't want anyone else to treat his brother so poorly. He must have locked himself and his brother back over at his place."

"Alright! So we're off to Rich Boy's mansion!" Joey exclaimed. The group nodded their heads and went off in the direction they needed to go. Their feet pounded against the ground with their arms moving back and forth. Eventually they made it to a giant house that had its giant gate closed shut and guards standing by. Yugi took a deep breath and was the first one to approach.

"Halt," one of the guards ordered, "No one is permitted into the house!"

"He's not a no one!" Joey argued, "He's the King of Games!"

"Still," the other guard protested, "Master Kaiba has ordered for only doctors to be allowed in."

"We're not here to give any information to the news media, if that's what he's afraid of," Tristan disclosed. The look in the eyes of the two taller teens were filled with tense as they were ready to fight.

"We're his friends," Yugi stated with confidence and no fear. The guards were feeling uneasy about the teens not taking orders. They were about to pull out their guns when another man in a suit and shades stopped them.

"He's telling the truth," the man said.

"Mr. Roland," one guard gasped.

"Yugi Mutou and his friends really do know Master Kaiba." Roland informed, "Let them go through."

"But," the other guard protested in fear of disobeying his boss's orders.

"Perhaps they can help out Master Kaiba." Roland explained.

Both guards nodded their heads and opened the gate. Once it was unlocked, the group boldly stepped through and were lead by the man named Roland. The group observed how wide the front yard was. There were many plants cut into shapes of animals. There were also many statues as well. Their faces gave off an eerie look.

As they were getting closer and closer to the mansion, Yugi looked up to an attic window and thought he saw someone. He was unsure about what he was seeing as it was dark outside and there was almost no lighting coming from within that particular room. The teen then noticed his spirit friend appeared beside him.

/What's up?/ Yugi asked his friend.

/Yugi, I sense something strange within this house./ Yami answered.

/Magic?/

/No… more like something… supernatural./

/Did you happen to see-/ Yugi cut himself off when the figure he thought he saw was no longer in sight.

/See what?/ Yami asked as he looked up to the same spot.

"It's gone!" Yugi gasped within his mind, "Maybe I'm just seeing things."

/Never mind./ Yugi mumbled as he placed his focus back to his mission as he walked along side with his friends into the Kaiba mansion.

The group first walked into a large, extravagant room with a vast, mahogany table and several chairs that complimented it. There was a gold chandelier with many light bulbs that shined like diamonds. Everyone was led down a long hallway with many huge portraits of scenery of the outdoors. They all took noticed of all the servants who were properly dressed.

"Do not mind them," Roland announced to the employees, "They are here for Master Kaiba and Master Mokuba."

Just then, the lights shut down. The group was taken surprised by the action.

"Can't he afford the electricity bill?" Joey spat.

"I apologize for the incident," Roland said as he ignored the guest's comment.

The group stopped walking for a moment and waited for the lights to turn on. Because they were unaware of all the settings of the furniture in a house, it was best just to stay put. Yugi leaned against a wall and waited.

He then heard a little girl's giggle. He turned around and waited for his eyes to adjust. When they had, the teen did not see anyone there. He was quiet and reminded himself this was Kaiba's place and no one else's.

/Something wrong?/ Yami asked with Yugi only shaking his head. Yami looked away from his partner and looked over at his friends. They all waited patiently for the lights to be turned back on. He smiled as he reminded himself everyone was hear voluntarily, especially his lighter half.

One of the servants came back with a flashlight. She and Roland led the way to where Mokuba was placed. The group continued on. The former pharaoh felt as though something was not right since he was not moving as far as he should. He turned around and gasped when he saw Yugi clutching his head.

/Yugi!/ Yami called out. He ran over and grabbed his light by his shoulder's with a firm grip, "What's wrong?"

After calming down Yugi gritted through is teeth, "Nothing… just a… headache."

Yami sighed when he did not feel anything else bothering his partner.

/Do you want me to take over?/ he offered. Yugi took in a deep breath and declined, /No, I'll be fine./

/Are you sure?/ Yami asked double checking on his light. Yugi nodded his head, /This is about finding out if the Kaiba brothers are in danger./

The teen walked quickly in order to catch up with his friends. Deep within, Yami could feel as though something was wrong with his partner, but he was unsure of what it was.

The lights finally returned and everyone was able to see clearly. They finally made it to their destination. They were glad their vertically challenged friend's theory was correct about where Mokuba was. But being right can lead to unhappiness. The group's heart sank when they saw a young boy looking as though he was only sleeping.

"We can take it from here," Roland explained to a maid who was currently watching over the young boy. She nodded and left the room.

"We'll be fine here," Tea explained.

"Where is Kaiba anyways?" Tristan asked after seeing so many people, and Mokuba, but no other Kaiba.

"Master Kaiba is doing some research in order to help Master Mokuba out," Roland informed then left the room. Yugi walked closer to the bed. His eyes were filled with sadness.

/Do you sense anything?/ Yugi asked Yami who appeared. Yami's eyes were filled with dismay.

He lowered his head and said, /I'm sorry, Yugi. You were correct. Mokuba's soul is no longer with him./

End Flashback

"So what now?" Joey asked wanting to know the next step.

"We need to find out where Mokuba's soul went." Yugi explained.

"And how do we do that?" Tristan asked ready for action.

"By finding out who might be involved and where Mokuba's soul was moved to." Yugi continued with the plan.

Tea and Yami watched their friend carefully for their felt as though something was wrong with the smallest of their friends.

To be continued…

Chao- That's all for now! Please review!