Notes: Just a friendly reminder that I've always supported the localization in the dub. I set Domino City in Oregon.

Chapter Ten

Seto had been silent for a long time as they wandered through Domino Canyon in search of Johnson, Bakura, and Yami Bakura. There was no trace of the Bakuras, and Johnson was probably laying in wait, hoping that any moment they would stumble across him so he could torment them further.

At least they had picked up some more help. He had found a Battle Ox and Yugi, a Berfomet. They would be valuable in battle. And from the looks of things, Téa was discovering what looked like a Shining Friendship. Seto rolled his eyes. Hopefully she could find some power-ups for it.

The longer they looked without finding the Bakuras, the more Joey's enthusiasm and determination were waning. He had mostly stopped calling for them, and from his expression, he was starting to doubt they were okay.

Seto wasn't sure what he believed. He still felt Yami Bakura was likely alright; he could scarcely imagine that character being taken down so easily. But what if the Big Five were not after the Ring? If they weren't fully aware of its powers, maybe they wouldn't care if it was destroyed. On the other hand, regardless of what they were aware of, it didn't seem likely that it could be taken out of the picture very easily either.

Seto really had to wonder why it seemed that every time he had something good to contribute to the world, every force on Earth tried to find ways to stop him from bringing it forth. The Big Five, Gozaburo, Noa, Dartz, Siegfried, Yami Bakura, Marik. . . .

Strange too, how Marik had become so close to the family. Seto had certainly been leery of him at first. So had Mokuba. But once Mokuba had trusted him, Seto had slowly started to try to see him as Mokuba did. Saving them from the fire had clinched it, especially since that had just been a freak accident and not something Marik could have engineered, as he had the events surrounding him pretending to be a friend during Battle City.

And Yami Bakura. . . . Seto still didn't like or trust him. It surprised him a little that Joey and Tristan were feeling so much better about him. But considering the reasons why they had started to feel that way, maybe it wasn't so strange. Yami Bakura had done a lot to help during the recent misadventures, particularly how he had repeatedly risked himself to help Tristan and Marik. Seto had seen the still-healing scar in his side from the poisoned knife. Perhaps, if Yami Bakura risked himself to help Mokuba, Seto would begin to be willing to forgive him for the past.

Not that he wanted such a situation to arise. Mokuba had been targeted far too often already. But with the Big Five at large, Seto was constantly afraid he would be targeted again. It made a horrible sense.

Up ahead, Joey's shoulders slumped. "They're just not here," he said despondently. "Aurgh!" He messed up his hair.

"It's really so important to you to find that thief?" Seto said.

Joey looked to him with a start. "Of course it's important!" he snapped. "He's one of us now. Besides, even if he wasn't, we wouldn't want him to be layin' somewhere hurt!"

"Does he even want to be one of you?" Seto wondered.

"Eh. I don't know about that," Joey admitted. "But he is anyway!"

"Hmm," said Seto, and walked on.

Yugi looked to Atem. "What are we going to do, Atem? I think we're getting awfully close to Cooperstown. . . ."

Atem frowned, tense. Around his neck, the Infinity Puzzle was starting to blink off and on. "I'm sensing supernatural energies," he admitted. "Very restless and disturbed ones at that."

Berfomet growled.

"You know," Yugi remarked, "he has a lot of personality for a hologram. . . ."

"Naturally," Seto said. "That's how I designed all the Duel Monsters. And I'm sure the Big Five turned the free will option on, so they'll act even more real."

A chill breeze swept over the group as they moved forward. Up ahead, through the trees, the edge of an old town was visible.

Joey started to quake. "Oh no. It's really it! We're in Cooperstown! Let's turn around and go back."

"Even if our friends are here?" Atem returned.

Joey scowled. "They wouldn't be here! They couldn't be!" His shoulders slumped. "But yeah, we've gotta check."

"If that thief is here, he shouldn't have any problem with the place," Seto remarked. "He was bragging about knowing exactly what could be causing the town to appear as though people were here five minutes ago when they weren't."

"Just because he knows doesn't mean he could successfully fight it," Yugi said.

As they moved forward, a small wind-up toy came out from under a bush and walked up to Joey. When it hit his shoe, it stopped and fell over.

"Gah! It's starting already!" Joey wailed. "It's only gonna get worse from here!"

"That could have been a prank, Wheeler," Seto retorted. "One of the Big Five could have made that happen!"

"Perhaps, but people have reported such things happening in Cooperstown for years," Atem said.

Téa gulped. "What else happens?" she quavered.

"Oh . . . tables with piping hot food on them, music playing, lights coming on . . ." Yugi gulped. He had to admit, he was growing more uneasy the more he thought about everything he had heard about this bizarre ghost town through the years.

Marik jumped in surprise as Revival Jam wobbled frantically and then leaped into his arms. "Revival Jam is afraid," he realized.

"That really doesn't instill me with confidence," Joey whimpered. "What the heck could scare a plasma monster?! I thought those things really didn't have any personality!"

Now Revival Jam rocked back and forth in anger.

"Now you've insulted him!" Marik exclaimed.

"Okay, okay! Sorry!" Joey rolled his eyes.

"Let's not argue," Atem interjected. "We have to check the town for the others. Let's just do it." He headed forward in determination.

Joey gulped. "Aren't you even a little bit scared? Or at least intimidated?"

Atem paused. "After everything we've already been through? . . . I am, a bit. But I won't let that stop me."

"Me either!" Téa declared, marching forward.

The others hurried after them. "Hey, wait up!" Mokuba called.

The smell of delicious food soon got to Joey. He ran to the nearest window, practically plastering himself against it. "There's a whole kettle of some kinda stew on the stove!" he announced.

"So what?" Seto retorted. "Don't tell me you're foolish enough to try to eat it."

Joey scowled. ". . . No! It'd probably disappear the moment I'd try to take a bite!" He backed away from the window, reluctantly.

"Or worse, it might poison you," Marik frowned.

"It is over a hundred years old," Téa remarked.

"Over a hundred years old?! Come on! It's fresh right now!" Joey snapped.

"Or at least it looks that way," Yugi said. "I wouldn't trust any food in this town, Joey."

Joey sighed, his shoulders slumping. "You're right, Yug. We can't chance it." He overdramatically trudged away.

"We'll get some real food when we get out of here," Marik said, patting Revival Jam as he advanced down the dirt road.

"Yeah, and when will that be?" Joey countered.

Téa looked around, suddenly even more tense. "Hey . . . isn't another of the rumors about this place that the people who wander in can get trapped and not be able to leave?"

"Obviously someone has to leave or there wouldn't be anyone to tell about the cooking stew and the ghostly wind-up toys," Seto said, sarcasm fairly dripping from his voice.

"Yeah, but what if some people just kind of disappear and never come back?" Mokuba worried.

". . . You know, I think I'd rather face some Zombie Duel Monsters than this town," Yugi remarked. "At least with Duel Monsters, you always know where you stand. With this place . . . who knows anything?"

"I sure don't," Joey moaned.

"I never thought you'd admit it, Wheeler," Seto smirked.

Joey stiffened. "Heeey! I never said I meant I didn't know anything in general!" He shook his fist at Seto.

"Guys, please," Yugi begged. "We have to focus here!"

Joey sighed. "Sorry, Yug. This place is giving me the creeps and I'm worried about the guys. You know?" He looked away. "I guess I just want to focus on something else."

The piercing ringing of the schoolhouse bell startled all of them.

"Maybe that's Bakura!" Téa hoped. "He could be locked in the bell tower and is trying to get our attention!"

No one really believed that. But still, they had to grasp on to any bit of hope. They all ran for the schoolhouse, trying to ignore the gently moving tire swing out front and the open books and ink wells on every desk inside. But it was impossible to ignore.

"Come on! This is seriously messed up!" Joey cried. "So kids disappeared along with the rest of the town?!"

"The rumor has it that the whole town was cursed for their attitudes towards the local Native American tribes and a visiting voodoo priestess," Yugi said. "I was never sure if I really believed it, but . . ." He bit his lip. "It's starting to look like it could really be true."

Marik hurried ahead of the rest of them and up the stairs to the bell tower. The bell was still ringing; everyone had to shout to be heard. But the instant Marik reached the top of the stairs, it stopped. He stood, staring in disbelief at the rope for the bell. It was still vaguely moving back and forth, as though whoever had been ringing it had just up and run away now, but the room was empty.

"Marik?" Mokuba called. "Is Bakura up here? Or Yami Bakura?"

"No one is here," Marik told him, and he had to admit to a shiver running down his spine as he stepped aside for everyone to see.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Joey burst out. "Who was ringing the bell?! It was loud enough to wake the dead!"

"Do you have to phrase it like that?" Téa groaned.

Yugi stared at the rope. "Guys, I think we need to get out of here right now. Our friends aren't here. I'm sure of it! And I'm not even sure the Big Five have anything to do with this town. We haven't seen one Duel Monster except the ones we brought, and they're all scared! Berfomet won't even come up here!"

"And Shining Friendship won't get off my shoulder," Téa said.

"Red Eyes is just flying around and won't come down," Joey said.

Seto had to admit that Battle Ox was very tense. He had come, but he looked ready to swing his axe at anything that moved.

Revival Jam wobbled in Marik's arms.

"I'm afraid you're right, Yugi," Atem said. "We should all leave now, while we still can." He turned to lead everyone back out of the schoolhouse.

"What I'm wondering is if we can," Joey shuddered. "What if it's already too late?!"

"Please don't say things like that," Téa begged. "It can't be too late!"

xxxx

Johnson didn't seem at all intimidated by Yami Bakura's outburst. "I see," he said, completely calm. "You're going to send me into a world of nightmares? What evidence do you have to present for your threat? We are in a world the Big Five controls. What can you even do to come out on top?"

"I won't present all my 'evidence' at once," Yami Bakura said. "But if you think to intimidate me with that little detail, you are wrong. You and all of your colleagues will pay for what has happened!"

"I would like to see you try," Johnson said, pushing up his glasses. "Proceed."

"We shall play a game with high stakes," Yami Bakura said. "If I win, your power will be automatically destroyed and your section of the city will return to normal. You will not be able to take control of it again. If you win, I shall remain here, not a threat, until someone else defeats you. And if you try to cheat and go back on the terms, my Infinity Ring will punish you." It was a daring move, really. He had no idea if the Ring would obey him. But when it was supposed to be used for good, he couldn't think it would disobey. Bringing any of the Big Five down would certainly be good.

"Hmm." Johnson appeared to be thoughtfully considering the challenge. "Well, since you have no hope of winning, I agree. Only if I win, I will claim your Infinity Ring to ensure you won't be a threat. That, I believe, will render you a wandering spirit once again."

"We'll just see about that," Yami Bakura snarled. He was enraged, but trying to keep himself in check. He had to have a clear mind in order to bring Johnson down, after all, and he was fully determined to bring Johnson down. The man had killed or arranged the killing of Bakura in cold blood, and then had dared to mock the boy's innocence by pretending to be him. Yami Bakura wouldn't stand for it. And now that the Ring had been put up as part of the stakes, he certainly couldn't afford any missteps. He had lost to Yami Marik on the Battle Ship. He could not lose to Bakura's murderer.

As the duel got underway, Johnson tried using many of the tricks he had used against Joey, which Yami Bakura remembered from his shadow's witnessing of the duel in the Millennium Puzzle. Yami Bakura's temper was being stretched to its limit. Whenever he managed to get in a good trick of his own via his network of traps and effect monsters, he was coolly pleased. And disabling some of Johnson's most powerful continuous spells and traps was certainly a triumph. Johnson would not be using Leading Question or Sinister Justice on him. Johnson, however, was only very briefly disturbed by this.

"I must congratulate you," he smoothly said. "You beat two cards Joseph could not. But tell me, would you be so fired up to beat me if someone else had perished? Joseph or Tristan, perhaps?"

Yami Bakura growled. No, he couldn't say he would have been. He wasn't a bleeding heart protector like Atem. But . . . on the other hand . . . if any of the others had died, he would have known it could have been Bakura and still could be, and that would have fired him up to beat Johnson.

After all, when it came to Bakura, he was indeed a bleeding heart protector.

. . . And, even though he wasn't close to the others, he still would have been angry for them to be so senselessly killed. It was a strange epiphany, especially after their troubled past, but as soon as the thought came to him, he knew it was true. Now that he was not poisoned by Zorc, he was, ever so slowly, coming to care about them.

"I don't know why you care so much about that boy anyway," Johnson went on. "You were once a very formidable antagonist, but now you've gone soft."

"Oh, you think so, do you?" Yami Bakura's visage twisted. "I am still formidable, and you will regret incurring my wrath!"

"What is it you fight for, exactly?" Johnson wondered, unknowingly voicing some of Yami Bakura's current thoughts. "Surely you're not like the Pharaoh Atem, fighting for justice and the protection of others."

"Right now I am fighting to avenge the innocent life you deliberately destroyed, and that is good enough," Yami Bakura retorted. "But defeating you would be justice."

"You have no guarantee that you'll even get what you want if you win," Johnson said.

"I'm quite sure you'll try to find a loophole," Yami Bakura said. "But I am equally sure that you will fail!"

The Infinity Ring glowed in response to that statement.

"I see," said Johnson. "So you plan to use the Infinity Ring to enforce your terms if you win. Do you honestly believe an item of magic could overpower a world of technology?"

"If it could, Domino City would be normal by now," Yami Bakura said. "But I know the Ring can go after you. You may be using a body generated by technology, but underneath it you are still a wandering spirit."

"Guilty as charged," Johnson said. "However, I have hardly used all of my tricks yet. You may still lose this case."

Yami Bakura growled. "No matter whether I win or lose, you will lose as well. If you manage to take the Ring from me, it will not obey you. You will try to use it for ill purposes and it will turn against you. You will be the one incinerated!"

"An interesting defense," Johnson said. "Let us proceed and see who is right."

"By all means," Yami Bakura said, his voice dripping dangerously with warnings and hatred.

xxxx

Both Dark Magicians looked up as the group came through the doors and approached them. "Hello," said the Dark Magician.

"Hi!" chirped the Dark Magician Girl.

"Uh, hi," Duke greeted. Trying not to think about how surreal and weird this was, he said, "We were wondering if you guys could help us."

"With what?" the Dark Magician asked.

"With beating the creeps who've taken over the city!" Tristan blurted.

"Please," Serenity begged. "Our family and friends are caught up in this and they might be hurt. We don't know where to look for them, and when we try, evil Duel Monsters attack us!"

The Dark Magician perked up. "Of course we'll help you," he said. He set the fedora aside and grabbed his usual head covering.

"But can we come back to the market after we're done?" the Dark Magician Girl wondered. "I've never seen such a large shop!"

"Uh . . ." Duke looked to David. He was still afraid that the Big Five had accidentally opened a rift and connected their dimension with the Duel Monsters', but did that mean the Duel Monsters would linger after all the Big Five members were defeated?

"We'll talk about it after the bad guys are stopped," David said.

The Dark Magician Girl seemed to accept that answer. "Okay!" She waved her staff and transformed back to her blue and pink clothes.

"I wonder what the deal is with the Duel Monsters, if these guys are real," David hissed to Duke as they all walked back outside to the car. "I mean, is there just one of each kind of Duel Monster, or are there a whole bunch of the same kind?"

"You're asking me?" Duke twirled his hair around his finger. "All I really know is that the original Dark Magician was one of the Pharaoh's servants. This one here doesn't exactly act like a Pharaoh's servant. He hasn't even asked about Atem. If I had to guess, I'd say that there's one real Duel Monster for every card of them that exists, or something."

". . . That would be a lot of Duel Monsters," David said.

"No kidding," said Duke.

"But would that mean there's only four Blue Eyes White Dragons?" David mused.

"Honestly, I don't know and I don't care," Duke said. He climbed into the car. "Everyone, get in!"

"Oh, so this is a mechanical carriage," the Dark Magician commented as he got in the back with the Dark Magician Girl. "We see them every now and then."

"Uh . . . where?" Tristan finally had to ask.

"In our world," the Dark Magician Girl cheerfully answered.

"The Duel Monsters world must be a really interesting mix of past and present," Serenity said. "There's cards based on old cultures and modern ones."

"You could come and visit sometime, if you want," the Dark Magician Girl offered.

"Thanks," Duke said. "We'll have to see." He started to drive around the parking garage in search of the exit. "We have a Crawling Dragon and a Lady Panther guarding one of the ways out. They're friendly, but there's other Duel Monsters that chased us all the way in here. There may still be some of them waiting outside."

"We'll be ready," the Dark Magician said.

"So, how did you cross over to here anyway?" Tristan asked.

"This strange portal opened up and we started going through," the Dark Magician said. "It's probably still open."

"Then I was right," Duke frowned. Louder he said, "Are the Legendary Knights still around in your world?"

"Of course," the Dark Magician said in surprise. "They serve our cousin, who rules the land."

"You mean another Dark Magician Girl," Duke supplied.

"Yes," the Dark Magician Girl smiled.

"That must be some family tree," David said.

"It sounds like the Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny situation on Pokemon," Duke remarked.

Now they were approaching the exit. The Crawling Dragon roared, seeing them coming, and stepped aside. The Lady Panther also roared in greeting.

"Well, they don't seem upset," David said. "I think. I guess we can take that as a good sign?"

Indeed, the skies seemed free of enemy Duel Monsters as they came out from the parking garage. The Magicians, however, remained tense and on the alert.

"Maybe they gave up and went home," Serenity hoped. "Let's concentrate on trying to find our friends!"

"Negative. First you will have to face me."

Everyone jumped a horrified mile.

"Oh no!" Duke gasped. "Nesbitt!"

The man who stepped out in front of the car was only vaguely familiar, but the voice was instantly recognizable and could never be forgotten. It was most certainly Nesbitt.

Tristan snarled. "You're gonna pay for what you did to me in Noa's world, you creep!" He stood in the car, shaking his fist at the loathed enemy.

"Does that mean you intend to duel me again?" Nesbitt returned. "Didn't you have enough punishment the first time?"

"My game's improved a lot since then," Tristan said. "You bet I'm dueling you again!"

"What's going on?" the Dark Magician blinked. "We're stopping for a duel?"

"This is one of the five creeps who caused all the bad Duel Monsters to come after us," Duke said. "If we stop him, some of their power will be crushed."

"Then we're in," the Dark Magician promised.

"So . . . who's dueling?" David wondered.

"You volunteered, as I recall," Nesbitt said.

David stared at him. "You heard that?!"

"Affirmative. We're watching all of you." Nesbitt took out his Duel Disk and deck. "I have no qualms of dueling multiple people at once. It shall be four against one."

"That sounds seriously unbalanced to me," David said.

"Except that we barely won last time," Serenity said softly.

"Then maybe four will give us more of an edge," Tristan said. "And our new Magician friends."

Duke was not pleased. He still didn't want Serenity or David put in danger. Or Tristan. The stakes had been bad enough the first time around. Now it was far worse. "And the loser dies?" he said coldly.

"If it's any of you," Nesbitt said. "You will each have a separate lifepoint counter, as before. Anyone whose lifepoints drop to zero will die. Of course, if I lose, I will merely be defeated. I can't be killed when I'm not using a real body."

"Well, bring it on," Tristan said. "Things are gonna be different this time, Nesbitt. None of us are going to die."

"We shall see," Nesbitt replied.

Overhead, above the bubble, thunder boomed.