Chapter Eight
Mai was staying on the lookout for anyone she knew. She was really hoping to find Joey, but when she saw Duke's car parked at a McDonald's, she wasn't about to pass that up. Anyway, for all she knew, Joey was with Duke. She parked next to the other convertible and got out.
"You be good," she told the Baby Dragon, who chirped.
But going inside proved unnecessary.
"Mai?!"
She spun around at the sound of Serenity's amazed and joyful voice. The girl was running outside, her hair streaming behind her. Still inside, Duke, David, and Tristan were visible watching her.
Mai's heart clenched. Seeing Tristan was probably not going to go well. But at least here was another friendly face. "Serenity," she smiled. "How are you doing, hon?"
"I'm worried about Joey," Serenity said, "but I'm so happy to see you!" She paused, blinking in concern. "Um . . . it really is you, isn't it, Mai? I mean . . . you're not some illusion the Big Five put here to torture us?"
"So they're the ones doing this?!" Mai exclaimed. "I promise, Serenity, I'm really me." She gave her a bittersweet look. "I should have come back with you and Duke and David and your friend Snakes after our little European and Egyptian adventure. I was too afraid to face my demons and I chose to keep running instead."
"The only thing that matters is that you decided to come back now," Serenity smiled. "Joey's going to be so happy! I just hope we can find him soon. . . ."
"Hey, Mai." Now it was Duke speaking. He came out of the door with several sacks. "It's . . . really good to see you." He was clearly surprised. "What made you finally decide to come back?"
"It's a long story," Mai said. "I'd kind of like Joey to be here when I tell it. . . ."
"That's fine," Duke said. "He probably deserves to hear it the most."
"Would you like something to eat?" David asked. "We brought extra, just in case we ran into any starving friends along the way."
Mai smiled a bit. "I'll take a raincheck on that for now, but we'll see how I feel later." Her stomach knotted as Tristan stepped outside and gave her a cold and searching look. "Hi, Tristan. . . ."
Tristan just kept studying her. "I guess you're probably going to say you finally became a good enough Duelist to warrant coming back."
Mai sighed. "I deserved that. But no, Tristan, I didn't. I realized that was just stupid and I should come back anyway."
"Well, Joey will be thrilled," Tristan said.
"But you're not, huh?" Mai said with a wry and knowing smirk.
"I just want to make sure you won't be hurting Joey again," Tristan said. He set the sacks he was carrying on the hood of Duke's car. "You know what Joey ended up thinking after you forced him into that Orichalcos duel?"
Mai felt her stomach drop even more. "I . . . I'm not sure. . . ."
"He decided that he'd been a bad friend!" Tristan spat. "After all he'd done for you, trying to save you from Yami Marik, nearly getting killed for you, and he thinks he didn't do enough. You sure had a lot of nerve, repaying him by joining a nutcase bent on destroying the world and not caring if you joined in as long as you had power!"
Mai flinched.
"Tristan, wait," Serenity protested. "Mai wasn't herself. She was sick. She didn't even know what she would have to do to get that power until the Orichalcos had already poisoned her!"
"Like she would have cared if she had," Tristan shot back.
"I want to think I would have," Mai said quietly. "But I don't blame you for not trusting me, Tristan. You have every right not to. Every one of you does. I'm surprised that any of you want anything to do with me."
"Friends forgive, Mai," Serenity said softly.
"And you really helped us out of more than one jam," Duke said. "I'll admit that I might not trust you either if it hadn't been for that."
David stiffened. "And I think this conversation is going to have to be put on hold, boys and girls."
"Why?" Tristan asked, his voice clipped.
"Because there's a flock of flying monsters barreling right towards us," David exclaimed, pointing towards the sky. Dragons and other winged beasts almost appeared as a black cloud against the overcast backdrop.
"Oh no!" Serenity yelped.
Mai's Baby Dragon chirped, undid the seatbelt, and spread his wings, prepared to take off and try to defend Mai and the others.
Mai looked to him. "You've sure got a lot of spunk. But there's no way you'll last against all of them!" She frowned. "I wonder if we can summon monsters from our decks, like the first time the Big Five tried sticking people in a game. . . ."
"I think things work different this time around!" Tristan cried.
"Well, this can't hurt." Duke had spotted something trying to hide behind a potted tree just to the side of the door. "I think it's a Crawling Dragon."
"But those can't even fly!" Tristan yelped.
"They can still breathe fire," Duke said. He looked to the Crawling Dragon. "Will you help us?"
The Crawling Dragon roared and stepped out.
"That's two." But Duke frowned, looking around. "We still need more. . . ."
"Right now, it looks like this is all we're gonna get!" Tristan exclaimed. "Look, I'm going to take Serenity inside."
"Not unless everyone's going inside," Serenity insisted.
"Serenity, this is no place for you!" Tristan protested. "Gah!" He grabbed her and dived out of the way as a Curse of Dragon tried to blast them.
"It's no place for anyone!" Serenity said. "I can't go inside and be safe if everyone else is staying outside!"
"Honestly, going inside sounds like a good idea right now," Duke frowned. "Unless they try to knock the building down on our heads. We might stand a better chance driving off in the cars. And you should come too, Tristan. Just leave your motorcycle here."
"Okay, okay!" Tristan jumped into the backseat of Duke's car, grabbing the food as he went. "But do you really think holograms could knock a building over?!"
"Do you really want to find out?" Duke countered.
". . . Good point," Tristan conceded.
Mai headed for her car. "You four go one way and I'll try to lead some of these creatures off in another direction."
Serenity looked to her with a start. "But Mai . . . !"
"It's the least I can try to do," Mai said with a sad smile. "But don't worry; I'll be back." She gave Serenity a thumbs-up before getting into her car.
Serenity bit her lip. "Be careful," she said softly. "You just came back. It would be too horrible if anything happened to you now. . . ."
Duke brought an arm around her shoulders. "Mai can take care of herself. She lost her way for a while, but now that she's found her way back, she won't let the Big Five ruin it. Anyway, she has that spunky Baby Dragon to protect her."
"That's true," Serenity said.
"So let's go." Duke ushered her into the car, where David and Tristan were already waiting. Then he jumped in and took off at his usual speed.
Tristan yelped as he crashed into the inside of the door. "I'd almost forgot how much I hate riding with you!" he cried.
"Yeah? Well, right now, going fast is our best course of action!" Duke countered.
Tristan couldn't disagree.
xxxx
Gansley's underwater world was eerie yet fascinating. As the group continued through the fake water, various fish and other Water type Duel Monsters swam past.
"You know, I could enjoy this a whole lot better if I didn't have to think that some gross creature is probably going to jump out at us," Téa moaned.
"Or that the water's gonna start churning up again," Joey frowned.
"I doubt they'll try the same trick twice," Yami Bakura said. "Not when there are so many other options open to them."
"Maybe we'll run into one of your lizards," Joey said. "That'd be nice. Better than a shark or a . . . yaaaah!" He jumped a mile as a huge grinning face filled with teeth floated past him.
Seto rolled his eyes. "It's just a Pot of Greed, Wheeler."
Joey snapped to. "Oh! Right." He grabbed it. "Let's see what's in here!"
"Just don't fall in yourself," Téa remarked as Joey put his entire arm into the deep pot.
"Ha ha. You'd better just hope ol' Joey shares what he finds in here!" Joey straightened, pulling out a shiny, reflective object that almost looked like an accordion with sharp points. "Uh . . . what the heck am I supposed to do with this?"
"That's a Mirror Wall," Marik exclaimed.
"A portable one?" Joey blinked at it.
"You can unfold it when you need it and it'll grow big and act just like it does in Duel Monsters," Mokuba said.
"And I can carry it around in the meantime and it won't be like glass? That's handy." Joey stuffed it in his pocket and reached into the jar again. "Let's see what else is in here. It's . . . ugh, it's kind of stuck. . . ." He tugged on the object. "And now I'm kind of stuck!"
Yugi came over. "Joey, how did you get stuck?!" he said in disbelief. "This opening is really big!"
"I don't know!" Joey wailed. "But you can see I can't get my hand back out of here!"
Mokuba facepalmed. "Only you, Joey."
Yugi peered into the opening. "It looks like whatever's in there is pulling on your hand."
"Oh great!" Joey exclaimed. "Next thing you know, it'll try to eat it!"
"My fail-safes would prevent that from happening," Seto insisted.
"Unless the Big Five removed the fail-safes," Atem frowned in concern.
"And they totally would! Gah!" Joey frantically shook his hand and the pot. "Get it off me!"
"Calm down, Joey!" Yugi grabbed the pot. "I think I can reach in here and . . . yeah, here it is!" He pried Joey's hand free of the insistent Duel Monster and pulled out a frog.
Joey stared. "That's what wanted to chow down on my hand?! What is it?!"
"Des Frog," Yugi said. "Actually, this is a really good catch, Joey! He has 1900 attack points!"
"Oh yeah?" Joey perked up. "Awesome! Who'd think this little guy could pack such a punch?"
"After what you just came through, I wouldn't think you'd be so surprised," Téa deadpanned.
Joey scowled. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in."
Yami Bakura smirked in a bit of amusement, but quickly sobered. This had been a harmless diversion, but the Big Five were no doubt planning something sinister. Maybe this would be when they'd launch it, while everyone was distracted.
Bakura came up next to him. "What is it, Yami?"
"Nothing yet," Yami Bakura growled. "Unless something might be about to sneak up on us."
"Like that huge stingray?!" Joey suddenly gasped.
Everyone jumped a mile.
"That doesn't look like a stingray!" Téa cried. "It looks like a swimming dinosaur with wings and a tail!"
"Phantom Dragonray Bronto," Bakura realized. "It's a very useful monster to have, really. If it's friendly, we should try to get it on our side."
"I'm pretty sure that other thing isn't friendly!" Joey yelped.
"Another frog?" Téa sighed, her hands on her hips.
"No!" Joey shot back. "Fortress Whale! And he's pointing all his firepower at us!"
That was more than enough reason to panic almost everyone. They scattered, desperate to escape the barrage. Yami Bakura, however, stood in annoyance. "The Red Eyes Black Dragon has more attack points," he called, "and so does Dark Necrofear as long as she's equipped with Lucky Iron Axe. You're in no danger!"
"Only it looks like all Water monsters are getting a field power bonus!" Joey yelped. "Fortress Whale's more powerful than Red Eyes!"
"But still not Dark Necrofear," Yami Bakura insisted. "Attack!"
Dark Necrofear moved to lunge at the new enemy. Fortress Whale's cannons erupted in the next moment. The ocean floor rumbled as some of the ammunition hit it. Joey flew off his feet and floated ahead in the fake water.
"Oh man! Now what—an underwater earthquake?!" he cried.
Marik grabbed on to Revival Jam. "The ground is opening up!" he said in horror. "Don't let yourself be swallowed in one of the cracks. There's no telling what will happen to you then!"
"Thanks for the warning," Joey exclaimed. He swam desperately to get past the newly formed fissures. Revival Jam struggled in Marik's arms, wanting to get away, but Marik held fast.
"You might not re-form if you fall into the earth and are lost," Marik told him. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
Revival Jam insisted on wiggling out of Marik's grasp anyway. He quickly swam ahead, almost disappearing into the water's nearly identical color.
"I'd say Revival Jam just wanted to give you a better chance of getting away," Yugi smiled. "He knew you could swim better if you weren't holding on to him."
"I guess so," Marik said. "But I hope he'll be alright. . . ."
"What happened to Dark Necrofear?!" Bakura exclaimed.
"She defeated the whale," Yami Bakura said. "There won't be any more ammunition to dodge."
"That's good, 'cause we're barely managing with the first round!" Joey cried.
As they pushed ahead, the water abruptly fell away and everyone, human and Duel Monster, dropped to the grass. Shocked, they lay there for a moment as they tried to decide what had happened now and what to do about it.
"Hey," Mokuba said then, "the water's still over there!"
Everyone looked. It was indeed. It shimmered and stood, climbing into the sky as a great wall. Revival Jam hopped out of it and plopped next to a relieved Marik.
"Obviously we must have cleared Gansley's section and now we're in Johnson's," Seto said. "It doesn't look like he changed the existing landscape much." He eyed the grass and hills and steep cliffs.
"So . . . what does that mean?" Téa asked uneasily.
"Most likely, that we need to watch out for other problems, such as Duel Monsters that might be prominent in meadows and woods," Seto said.
Yugi nodded. "There's probably a lot of Insect and Beast type Duel Monsters here."
Joey suddenly shuddered. "H-Hey, you don't think Johnson extended his section all the way to Cooperstown, do you?"
Seto rolled his eyes. "That pathetic ghost town? What would he want with it?"
"Atmosphere?" Joey suggested.
"I don't think ghosts are Johnson's style, Joey," Mokuba said.
"No, but he likes to use people's weaknesses against them," Seto said. "If he knows Wheeler is afraid of ghosts, he might exploit that."
Joey stiffened. "Hey! I am not afraid of ghosts!" he boomed.
Yami Bakura gave him an entertained look. "Oh? You're not?"
"I . . . just don't like them very much," Joey mumbled. Shifting nervously, he added, "Present company excepted. I think."
"Hmm. I'm just as mortal as you, for the moment," Yami Bakura said. "But thank you for the kind words. I think." He smirked and gave a mock bow.
"Let's just start walking," Atem interrupted as he walked past the thief. "Hopefully there will be no need to go to Cooperstown to complete Johnson's stage of the game. If I had to guess, however, I imagine he is controlling it since it's in Domino Canyon."
"I've gotta admit, that's one place I've never wanted to visit," Téa said. "Not that I believe that all the stories people say about it are true."
"You mean how it always looks like people have just been there five minutes ago when no one is there at all?" Bakura said. "I must say, that's quite disturbing. There's no way it could really be true, though . . . could it?"
"Of course there's a way," Yami Bakura snorted. "All of you know so little of the supernatural. I could tell you exactly how it could be true. But I'm sure you don't really want to hear it."
"You got that right!" Joey snapped. "Why do you always have to mess with people's heads, even when you're tryin' to be 'good'?!" He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.
Unconcerned, Yami Bakura just shrugged. "It's harmless."
"Tell that to my nerves!" Joey boomed.
"Come on, guys, don't fight," Yugi pleaded. "We need to all be united on this."
Yami Bakura walked on, with Bakura close at his side. "Of course."
Joey tensely watched as Dark Necrofear followed them. ". . . So does your monster have any official backstory?" he wondered. "You know, how she got where she is, why she doesn't talk, what's up with the creepy broken doll. . . ."
"Are you sure you would want me to tell you?" Yami Bakura countered.
". . . No," Joey retorted.
Téa placed a hand to her forehead. "Oh brother."
Even though everyone knew there was going to be trouble, no one expected what suddenly happened. As one of them stepped down, a horrific explosion ripped through the area. The ground on which they were standing split in two, violently rumbling as each part formed into a separate steep cliff. Those who were standing right near the crack tried to jump away to safe ground. Some were successful. Some were not.
"Help!" Téa shrieked as she plummeted downward.
Seto caught hold of her wrist. She looked up, stunned as he began to pull her up.
Yugi had also lost his balance. He yelped, desperately clawing for the ground or the grass.
"Yugi!" Atem cried in alarm. He wasn't close enough.
Joey was, and he snatched Yugi's shirt. "You've saved me more times than I can count, Pal," he said. "Now it's my turn to save you."
Yugi sighed in relief. "Thanks, Joey," he said, relaxing when he was drawn up and over the edge of the precipice. He slumped into the grass.
No one knew that the disaster with the cliffs had just been a distraction. But as Yami Bakura moved forward to inspect the damage, a blast exploded near his feet. He looked up with a start. A Duel Monster was silhouetted on a higher peak above him, a ball of energy in hand.
"Who are you?!" Yami Bakura demanded.
The Duel Monster responded by throwing the sphere. Yami Bakura dove out of the way, snarling angrily. Dark Necrofear ran out in front of him, her axe in hand.
"Yami!" Without warning Bakura was there, tackling his friend around the waist. "You're going to have your second chance. I promise!"
A second blast hit from another direction, apparently fired from a second Duel Monster. Bakura screamed in pain. Yami Bakura hit the ground hard and lay dazed. Then Dark Necrofear swung her Lucky Iron Axe at their enemies and it was all over.
It was several more minutes before Yami Bakura stirred, fully coming back to the present. He blinked, blearily watching as he moved his hand slowly over the grass. It looked different than before. Startled, he roused up more fully and stared at it. His hair, now longer, swished across his back as he moved. The shock of what had happened had caused him to subconsciously switch forms. Now he resembled Bakura's older brother.
Bakura . . .
"Bakura, where are you?!" he called.
Blue and purple legs stepped in front of him. He looked up with a start. Dark Necrofear bent down, a handful of charred scraps in her hand. Although normally deadpan, now the regret and sadness in her eyes was obvious. Yami Bakura stared at her, then down at the remnants. They were unmistakable. In horror he reached out, taking the pieces of Bakura's shirt into his own hands.
"No," he whispered.
A dark fire came into his eyes. A Duel Monster had done this, no doubt under the Big Five's orders. Bakura had been killed saving him from a deadly blast, and this was all that was left of him. Now the Big Five would pay, and pay dearly. He would never forgive them for this.
But he would never forgive himself, either.
xxxx
Returning to consciousness hurt. He moaned, almost mirroring Yami Bakura's actions as he ran his hand across the cold floor. His soft brown eyes slowly opened. "Oh . . . what happened?" he mumbled. "And . . . what am I holding?"
It was a card of some kind. He blinked, staring down at it in confusion. "The Change of Heart?"
A frown crossed his features. He hadn't had his deck with him. This card could have only come from the augmented reality world they were in. He must have somehow picked it up just as he was being teleported out. And considering which card it was, did that mean he could use it to temporarily mind-control someone?
He shuddered. He hardly wanted to do that.
Slowly and shakily, he sat up. He was all alone in what looked like a conference room, laying on the floor near a long, oval table. Above him, screens playing out scenes across the city were on all sides of the room. Although there were no apparent walls or doors, there was a definite enclosure. He could not move beyond the screens.
"What is this?!" he cried. "Where am I?! I have to get out!"
A flash of white hair on one of the screens brought his attention sharply upward. Yami Bakura was staring in horror at the scraps of cloth in his hand. From his heartbroken expression, it was obvious what he thought they were.
The viewer reached behind himself. His sweater and shirt were both torn, exposing his back to the cold room. And now that he realized it, the exposed skin hurt. But that was hardly important.
"Yami!" he called in desperation. "Yami, I'm alright!" He placed his hand on the screen, tears pricking his eyes. Of course Yami Bakura could not hear him. And from the look coming into his eyes now, the Big Five would all be regretting this latest cruelty very soon.
"Oh Yami. . . ." Bakura sank to his knees, his fingers slipping down the screen onto the next one. "Yami, I'm alright. . . ."
But there was no way for him to get the message out.
