Chapter 10: One... Two... and Three!
Once inside the human-sized bag, Yugi contemplated whether or not he should attempt to escape the island prison like this.
'If I wait a couple more days, I'll finish digging the hole, but... what if someone new arrives to replace Pa Li Ah? Chances are that this newcomer will somehow discover the loose brick wall... and in a rash act, might let slip my secret! Can't risk that, but still... should the gravediggers suspect that it's a live body inside this sack rather than a corpse... I shall attack with this knife that I stole.'
'Hopefully, my alibi will hold up for at least an hour... which should be more than enough time for me to escape this place. I doubt that any of the other prisoners would walk by here, as the cell I'm in is located in a dark hall. The soil that will be above me shouldn't be too heavy, as I can lift-- Is that...?'
Almost without warning, two sets of footsteps were immediately heard across the corridor. Yugi then stiffened his body as to trick the two men that would bury him soon. As Yugi's body was raised above the cell floor, he heard the two gravediggers grumble to one another.
"Jesus! The old man's pretty heavy for being so emaciated," said the first gravedigger.
The other replied, "I heard that the weight of the bones increase by about a pound each year." The second man started the tie Yugi's feet.
The first digger said, "Don't do that, rookie. When I did that years ago for some other guy, we had to carry even more weight."
"Alright, then. I'll tie the legs once we get to the 'burial site'."
The two men began to lift the body waist-high, with some difficulty.
"Gah! He's heavier than we thought! Then again, the warden ain't paying us extra for this. So, we better hurry it up... I've gotta get back home to my wife and kids, man."
"Yeah, hey... speaking of kids, where's the kid?" asked the other.
"I saw him head towards the courtyard; said something about wanting fresh air. Seems like a nice guy. Too bad I treated him roughly when I first met him, but oh well."
Almost ten minutes later, Yugi's body was carried on some sort of frame, or canvas with wheels. Once he was outside, he felt the cool night breeze pass through the small slit of the bag. Soon, he believed that he was to be buried beneath the grass, dirt, and soil, but...
THUMP!
'Ow... that kinda hurt. What the hell did I land on?' wondered the young man.
"Shine the light this way, man," said one of the gravediggers. "Or I won't be able to find the damn thing!"
'Perhaps, he's trying to find a shovel?'
"Ah, found it!"
"Let's just hurry it up, there's a storm coming soon, rookie."
"Fine, fine... let's just... do this now... here," said the gravedigger, as he was placing something heavy next to the 'corpse'.
"Com'on, rookie! We haven't got all night! Now, tie the rope around the priest's legs, and attach the ball too. I want to get the hell outta here fast."
"Alright, alright! I'm tying as fast as I can. But still, I wouldn't like to be in the priest's shoes tonight."
"Yes... for surely he'll get wet." And then, the two men heartily laughed together at the joke.
'What does he mean... by getting wet? They could possibly not know that it's really me inside this bag, right?'
Through the open slit, Yugi saw someone walking towards the 'jolly' workers. The warden, holding an umbrella appeared quietly behind the gravediggers.
"I hope that the two of you aren't having too much fun. You better hurry, because we don't have all the time in the world. Or do we...?"
"Sorry, Warden, but it's just that the joke almost made us forget about the storm that's coming up."
Then, it started to rain. The gravediggers began to lift the bag once again. And much to Yugi's surprise, he felt as if he was being swung back-and-forth.
'Why am I being swung like this? Did they already dig a hole for me?'
"On the count of three, then, rookie?"
"Yeah, I guess so, Aniki."
In unison, the two men said, "One... Two... and Three!"
'Oh, no... this can't be true.'
By the time he was released by the two gravediggers, Yugi realized what was happening. He felt himself plummeting downward dozens of feet below. His descent was drastically increased by the unknown object that was attached to the rope that binded his legs. Right when he plunged into the cold sea, his violent cries were immediately blocked out by the seeping water.
Although Yugi was shocked, and was choking on sea water, he held his breath to save what little air he had left. Then, using his knife-hand, he rips the bag apart, and cuts the rope that bound his legs. And just in time too, as he was about to die by asphyxiation.
Once free, Yugi quickly rose to the sea's surface to regain lost air/oxygen. But, to avoid being seen by his captors, the young man dove under the water again. Moments later, he rose again, this time for certainty.
'Just barely survived that...'
Before he was arrested and sent to this political island prison, Yugi was an average swimmer. But, thanks to Pa Li Ah's teachings, he learned how to swim much better. Yugi swam for about an hour. Fatigue started to set in.
At that moment, a nearby boat, full of duelists, sank because of the rough storm that appeared recently. 'Damn... and I was about to hitch a ride on that too...'
Not long after, cramps began to rear their ugly head. Apparently, both the cold sea and the duration of Yugi's swim took their toll.
'Looks like this is it... the end of my life on Earth. If only I could go to Heaven after I die... perhaps I should've not cursed at God before...'
'But, still, I'll pray to Him right now then... as my prayer might be my last words...'
And with that, Yugi slowly closed his eyes, and waited for his time to come. Hours later, he was awakened by someone.
The stranger asked, "Hey, you okay, man?"
Yugi started to open his eyes. "What the-- where am I?!"
"You're on a boat, my friend," said a hooded & robed figure in broken Japanese.
'Rare Hunters...? How ironic that the very people who tried to kill me before now becomes my savior(s).'
Feigning unfamiliarity, Yugi said in fluent English, "Ah, I see that, Mr...?"
"My name is Keith Howard. I am the leader of this group, the Rare Hunters. And who might you be?"
'Strange... he didn't recognize me. Did I really change that much in prison?'
"I am an unfortunate duelist who is probably the sole survivor of that boat that sank last night." Yugi pointed at the remains of the incident.
"Ah, a duelist, eh? We could always have another one," said one of the others.
"I say we test him!" exclaimed a muscular brute. "Give this man a deck & duel disc, and we'll see if he's worthy to join us! That's right, I'm challenging you to a duel!"
Yugi confidently said, "All right, but I better warn you. I was known as the best on that boat."
"We'll see, punk!"
Yugi exclaimed, "Time to duel!"
"Huh? That's old... Time to get your game on!" said the brute (A/N: the new phrase from Gx, which I kinda have a love-hate relationship with).
About ten minutes later, Yugi soundly defeats his opponent without losing a single lifepoint.
"That can't be! Looks like, you're in, kid."
Then, some number of miles away, blaring alarms could be heard from the island prison that Yugi just escaped from. Keith intently stares at the newcomer with uncertainty. As the leader contemplates...
"It's probably because someone escaped from that prison," said Yugi calmly.
'Even if he is from there... it doesn't matter, as I've gotten a fine duelist!'
As the boat moved away to parts unknown,Yugi walks towards the one who first spoke to him."Oh, by the way. What day & month is it?" he asked as Keith placed the black robe over him.
"The twenty-eighth of February."
"What year? Please tell me, as I nearly went insane last night during the storm."
"Are you kidding me, man? It's the year 2012!"
'My God, I've been in prison since 2005; for exactly seven years!'
When he first went in prison, Yugi was seventeen, and now left it at the age of twenty-four; and turning twenty-five in June. He might as well have left the island in his mid-twenties. Because of the three or four people who betrayed him, Yugi's youth and innocence was stripped away. In short, he had what was called, a Quarter-life crisis. With this is mind, Yugi secretly rekindled his oath for vengeance...