Author's note: AAAAWWWWW YEAH! It feels good to get reviews & favorites! Thank you so much for leaving those lovely little tidbits :) You guys are amazing & you help keep the inspiration flowing. For those who write stories, I'm curious if you can relate to my writing process. For me, most of the major points in my plot are so easy to write, while fleshing the inbetween is really really hard-then going back and making sure everything flows together and there aren't any mistakes...blah blah blah! Long story short, I have things written out of order so I know what's going to happen and not just crapping it out as I go! I know I mentioned how the next couple of chapters were gonna go buuuuut that didn't pan out like I said-ignore previous statements because this is how it's gonna go down, so here's the next chapter for ya! Disclaimer: I OWN NO YUGIOH CHARACTERS-I OWN MY CHARACTERS & THE WORLD I'VE CREATED SO HA! Also, I do not know the inner workings of the Egyptian authorities so don't take what I write as truth.
Chapter 8 : Lost & Found
Ryou slumped in the big armchair in their hotel room, sighing and rubbing the back of his sunburnt neck, annoyed at himself. 'Why didn't I pack any sunscreen? We only traveled to one of the hottest deserts in the world..' They just got back from a failed attempt to access the dig site. He had to admit he'd been a little intimidated at seeing all the guards stationed out there. Ishizu and Odion had gotten them as far as the roped off pit before a number of armed Egyptian soldiers made them turn back with the threat of arrest. Poor Ishizu had not taken too kindly to that, and Ryou almost wet himself when her screaming match with the sergeant forced Odion to drag her away.
Joey angrily tore open a fruit bar, "That dude was an asshole! He shoulda let us in!." He tore off a piece with his teeth, chomping angrily-probably pretending it was the sergeant's head.
Teá chugged a water bottle, "I agree, we had all the permits and everything! They should have butted out and let us go in for their stuff instead of getting it for us." She made angry quotations with her fingers and mocked the soldier's snarky attitude.
"Right, and then they had da NERVE to bring us all the stuff that we didn't even need! My back hurts from loadin all those trash-heap boxes.." Joey rubbed his back and pouted, looking for attention from his lying down position on the floor. Ryou gave him a sympathetic look, which seemed to appease him.
Looking over at the bed, Ryou saw Yugi lying back looking blue. He felt badly that their friend was missing and the dig being destroyed...but he was also really bummed for Yugi. He assumed the King of Games felt responsible for what had happened, even though he couldn't have prevented it. The guy's other half had probably rolled over in his grave-literally and figuratively-when his resting place blew apart. A thought that made Ryou incredibly uncomfortable. You think he'd be more comfortable with the aspect of dead people seeing as he had an unhealthy obsession with the spirit world, but really, they scared him. Spirits and corpses were two different things. What if the Pharaoh's body was down there hanging out of his sarcophagus? Eesh. What if ..whoever took Marik woke him up and now he's hell bent on revenge?! Just limping around in the dark! The mental image of a wrapped-up-and-rotting Yugi look-a-like crawling out of the sand filled his mind. He visibly shivered at his grotesque thoughts. His imagination was a burden at times...
Joey noticed, "What's up with you?"
"Oh n-nothing, just got a chill that's all." Ryou stammered out.
Joey shrugged at his answer and reached in his bag to open another fruit bar. Rebecca came out of the bathroom with a cool rag draped over her shoulders.
"That sun gets me everytime I come here. My old sunburn has a new sunburn! I need some aloe stat."
Ryou perked up, "Oooh do you have any? I could really use some."
"I think so, I'll go check my bag. Be right back. Anybody else need anything?" She asked. They all shook their heads and she left.
The room was silent for a few moments, and Ryou began to feel tired. His eyes had begun to droop when a frustrated groan startled him awake. Looking at the source of the noise, he found Yugi running his hands through his tri-colored hair distractedly.
"Guys, we have to find our into that dig site. Just sitting around waiting like this is gonna drive me crazy!" He ranted, flinging himself back onto the bed.
Ryou gave him a sad look, "Yes but how? Those guards aren't letting anyone in. It could be too dangerous for people to go down into the site itself. Ishizu herself said they had to be pulled out cause the ground had shifted. Perhaps the floor of the Valley is too unstable."
Teá didn't look convinced, "I highly doubt that, before we left those soldiers were coming out of the pit with all the boxes of Professor Hawkin's and Ishizu's work stuff like nothing was wrong. The ground must not be that shaky if they're busy snooping down there. I think they know something freaky went down and now they're trying to keep it under wraps."
Ryou shuddered again when she said 'wraps', again seeing a mummified Yugi twin crawling like a spider at him. He mentally squeed and gulped.
Yugi sighed, "Well, it's possible that could be the case. The thing that makes me mad is that without getting down there to see if there's any clues we have nothing to go on. We don't even have a starting point to even begin looking for Marik! And the worst part is the longer he's gone the less likely we will be able to find him.." There was a collective gasp throughout the room. Everyone looked stunned at his words.
Rebecca came back into the room, noticing the heavy silence. "Umm, what did I miss?" Her question went unanswered as they all continued to stare at Yugi.
"Whoa Yuug, way to stay on the positive side of things.." Joey said sarcastically, sitting up to look over at him.
Yugi sighed, "Sorry guys..It's not that I want to think that way, but it's the truth. Look, what do we know so far? There was only one attacker. A female. She ransacked the site, broke into the pyramid-which we still don't know what she did or took from there- and caused some kind of portal to open up to escape through. Marik didn't just vanish into thin air, Ishizu said they saw him get pulled through the portal. He was taken by force." He leaned up onto his elbows, "Everyone knows the first 48 hours are crucial to finding someone if they've disappeared or have been taken, after that you may never find them again.. Even in this case, I'm willing to bet our odds are the same, if not slimmer because he got snatched up by some superchick with ninja skills. We NEED to get into that site, because we're running out of time."
Ryou hung his head sadly, knowing that he was right. Normally Yugi could see the good side of any situation and rarely ever put things in such a negative light. Hearing him speak so darkly spooked him. The direness of the situation stood out clearer than ever. He hoped that wherever Marik was he wasn't getting hurt or worse…
Joey leapt to his feet, "Then what are waiting for?! We need a plan! Think guys!"
Teá chucked the now empty water bottle, bouncing it off his head, "Why don't you stop yelling and help us think Joey!"
"Nyeehhh I'm tryin, but I'm not good at coming up with ideas! That's your job! My head hurts just deciding what pair of underwear to pick everyday!" He yelled, waving his fist in the air, "It's not like the guards take water breaks where we can just waltz on through to the pyramid!" Ryou's head popped up as he thought about what Joey just said.
"They do. Wait! The soldiers do take breaks!" They all looked at him confused, "They may be soldiers but even they have to take shifts, otherwise it would be the same people standing there all day and night. They'd be exhausted! We need to find out when they switch shifts and if it's all at once or in sections."
"Okay, but where are you going with this?" Yugi asked.
"If we can find out when the guards change shifts, then maybe we can come up with a plan to sneak in and out of the pit before they notice. Even if it's just five minutes, at least we'll have a small chance to find any clues."
Rebecca gasped and ran out of the room at lightning speed. Her quick departure surprised everyone. Teá was the first to recover.
"Okay so there's a loophole in their line of defense. We could get in, sure, but how about getting back out? Even if we had an hour to look around the site there's still a big chance that we'll get caught."
Yugi nodded at her implication, "Yeah, I don't know about you guys but I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of doing jail time in Egypt."
"That all depends on how long it takes the guards to switch. Worse comes to worse we do what that girl did. Cause a distraction to give us cover to get out." Ryou said confidently. It could work, and theoretically it sounded like a good idea. He gave himself a little mental pat on the back.
Rebecca burst back into the room, making them all jump. Her laptop open and her typing furiously as she walked in. "I think Ryou's onto something here. I've been pulling up satellite images and live feed from cameras stationed outside the military base to give us a better idea on what we're dealing with." She plopped down on the bed next to Yugi.
They all gaped. Joey sounded amazed, "You can do that?" To which she looked at him and rolled her eyes back to the screen.
"Joey, did you forget I'm a master hacker? Legally I can't, but I did anyway so let's take a look, shall we?" They all crowded around her to look at the screen, watching in amazement as she started breaking codes and bringing down firewalls and digitally waltzing right into the base's computer mainframe. Video shots from multiple camera angles caught armed soldiers and pencil-pushers alike milling around the base. A few clicks later and she had located a time clock for all the soldiers listed as on duty in the surrounding areas.
"Rebecca you are incredible!" Yugi exclaimed, in awe of her brilliance.
She blushed lightly, "I know. You could just kiss me, couldn't you?" He chuckled and hugged her from behind. She continued to click away, "Ooh what do we have here? Looks like Ryou was right! The soldiers change shifts every eight hours. Next shift change is tonight at eleven. Bonus points for Mr. Bakura as everyone changes shifts at the same time!" They all high-fived him. "There's over forty guys so that will give us at least 15 minutes to get in and out. Being that it's happening at night we'll have a better chance at not being seen but that's still not enough time."
Joey gave Ryou a hard pat on the back, "So we go with Albino's idea! Create a distraction!" She brought up a new window and began to type furiously.
"So we need something to capture the attention of about fifty people-soldiers and nearby citizens alike, and keep them busy for at least thirty minutes-let's say forty to be safe-for.." She did a mental head count, "seven people to get in and get out. We're leaving the Gramp Squad out of this but Ishizu and Odion have to come, they'll have a better idea of what to look for. It's nighttime...we should all wear dark clothes...c'mon, give me something good!" They all stared as a list of options popped up onscreen. They all read through the page, confused scowls dominating their faces. It appeared to be a chat room of people listing off different causes of strategic distractions, mostly from conspiracy theorists debating how major events could or have been caused in the past or using today's technological advancements, even how-to guides on creating chaos with simple household products. Certain words or phrases were highlighted all through the list, like government, faulty wiring, private sectors, poison and diversion.
Yugi blinked, "What in the...Is that…? Is this some kind of online conspiracy generator disguised as a chat room?"
Rebecca looked at him over her shoulder, "Something like that, it might help us come up with something since we have limited resources."
Joey leaned forward, squinting through the list again, "Looks like Ninja Chick beat us to the most obvious one..setting the damn place of fire and make it look like an accident."
Teá pushed his face back so she could see, "I'm not too upset about that actually, I'd be worried about setting ourselves on fire by accident. Looks like our next bet would be using some kind of fog to limit line of sight. Anybody remember to pack their smoke bombs?" They all groaned at her sarcastic humor.
Yugi blanched as he read through the rest of them, "Trojan horse method is out since there's only seven of us and we have no wooden horse, and we're not the mercenaries so intimidating brute force is out. We don't have an arsenal so going in guns blazing is also out. I don't feel I could stomach poisoning the water source...I'm not seeing a better option."
They all groaned as their master plan slowly started to fall apart. The possibility of getting into the dig site fading away.
Rebecca closed the laptop, "Okay well let's not lose hope! We have about ten hours to come up with a plan. I suggest we keep a tight lid on this until we can work out the kinks. Agreed?" They all echoed back "Agreed."
An unexpected knock at the door had them scrambling around trying to appear natural and not like they were attempting a break-in heist.
"Come in." Yugi fought and failed to keep the tell-tale guilty squeak out of his voice.
Odion and Ishizu strode in the door and looked around at their too-nonchalant faces. "Everyone, I came to apologize for my behaviour earlier, I grew upset so quickly I lost my head for a minute." They all chattered at once that it was okay before falling eerily silent. "Is.. everything okay in here?" They all nodded simultaneously. Ryou could tell she wasn't buying that.
Her eyes narrowed and scanned the room before zeroing in on him. He sat in the armchair, legs crossed and twiddling his thumbs. She came to stand a couple feet in front of him. The closer she got the warmer his face started to feel. Guilt swam like a horde of hungry sharks in his gut. He was determinedly staring a hole into the ceiling above her head. 'Tight lid tight lid tight lid..' Ishizu gave everyone another assessing look, to which they all avoided her eyes as she slowly focusing back on the albino. 'Damn it all, I'm not good at keeping secrets!'
"Strangely enough I came up here for another reason other than to apologize. I've had an odd sense of foreboding since we came back from the Valley of the Kings; you could say it's similar to what I had when I had the Millenium Necklace. I've always trusted my gut, and I can't help but feel as if something is up with you five.." He could feel his resolve shaking. 'Shit she knows!' Behind Ishizu he could see Joey narrow his eyes at him, head moving side to side almost unnoticeably.
"Ryou?" Her soft voice had him breaking out in a sweat, "Is there something I should know?" He didn't look at her as he shrugged and shook his head no. "Are you sure? I'd be awfully put out if I find there's something up and you didn't tell me. I'd be quite upset if not one of you told me," She addressed the whole room, "..especially with our current predicament, and my missing brother..well I'm sure you all understand I'm under a bit of stress and wouldn't be able to handle another surprise."
Bloody hell. That was low! Why was he always the first one targeted?! His resolve was shaking apart more and more as the seconds ticked by. He wondered if she could see him physically quaking under her accusing stare. Ishizu finally looked away and came to stand just next to the chair, gently patting his shoulder.
"Perhaps I'm wrong. All this uncertainty has taken it's toll I guess. You are our friends, and I trust you'd come to us if you knew anything." Ryou made the mistake of meeting her eyes again, she gave him a small smile-so trusting. He was slowly but surely breaking.
"W-w-well um there might have b-been a couple of ideas that w-we were t-tossing around.." He was stammering and his face had to be a nice shade of cherry. He cringed as her grip on his shoulder began to tighten.
"Oh? And what would these ideas be, if I may ask?" Her face remained calm but he could feel the oncoming wrath. Odion grunted, startling everyone and remind them of his presence. His boots thumped heavily on the floor as he too moved further into the room, crossing his arms and giving each of them a dark look. Ryou's eyes darted around asking for help but they all looked away guiltily. 'Traitors!' He tried to get his voice to stay steady.
"Oh you know, j-just an idea we were t-talking about, nothing serious of course..just a silly thought." He mentally cursed himself and his weak will. He really needed to learn how to lie like a regular person!
Ishizu's eyes narrowed and her smile slid away, "Mmhmm, care to elaborate?" Her tone was anything but curious-it was demanding. He felt like a very small child who got caught doing something he shouldn't. Everyone held their breath as they watched him slowly crumble under her.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, "Hehehe you're gonna laugh! We had th-this crazy idea t-to sneak into the dig site while the guards were changing shifts! Haha like c-cause a distraction and j-just slip through hahaha! To look for clues! Is-isn't that just so funny?!" His nervous giggling cause them all to break and groan at him. Ryou wanted to sink into the floor as Yugi face-palmed with an audible smack, and Joey looked about ready to blow a gasket. Ishizu's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
"WHAT?"
He could hear the gang giving him crap under their breath. He swore he saw Joey punch a pillow. Great. Now he felt guilty for trying to deceive Ishizu and not keeping his lid tight in front of his friends. He tried! He really did! But his red, sweaty face had given the game away. 'Guess this is why I'm always the first one..' He pouted, teary-eyed.
Yugi jumped in to save him from further shame, "Okay yes, we were talking about breaking in but that's all-just talking! I mean, that's as far as we got. We were going to tell you when we had a real game plan down, I promise. We're sorry for trying to keep this from you, but we're desperate! We have to get in that pit-into that pyramid. Or what's left of it anyway. It's the only way we can get any idea on just where Marik was taken."
Ishizu paced angrily in front of the beds, "I knew it! I knew you were up to something! I'm extremely unhappy that you all tried to lie about this plan of yours, and don't think for a second that there won't be any consequences for this. I have half a mind to involve your grandparents, you two!" They all cringed; Yugi and Rebecca both went pale, "However, I agree that desperate times call for desperate measures. Our brother is in danger, and there is a possibility we could find something there that would point us in the right direction. That being said, this plan you've concocted sounds too risky. Have you even considered what will happen if you are caught trying to get past Egyptian authorities? You are not children anymore. You will be hauled off to jail, and in case you need reminding this part of the world is not lenient when it comes to punishment."
Teá piped up, "We did think about it, and we get it, it's not a pretty picture. But what choice do we have? Rebecca did some seriously impressive snooping and we know when and how long the shift change will be, so if we can come up with something to help us get in there and back out with some evidence don't you think that the risk is worth it? Yugi said it earlier, we have nothing to go on at the moment and Marik needs us right now."
Odion finally spoke, "Actually, about not having any clue, that's not completely true…" He gave his sister a sideways glance. She nodded and reached into her pocket, as they all watched with curious looks. She pulled out a long, delicate chain with a bright stone pendant dangling from the bottom.
"I didn't think much about it earlier, but now I realize this may be important to our search. Just before Marik disappeared he tried to fight off that woman to get the book back. I found this in the sand after the portal closed, glowing like it was alive with power. I assume she was wearing this, and if you look closely," She handed it to Yugi who inspected it, "you will see there are tiny engravings on the metal bit that's holding the stone. I don't know what we can learn from this but it's the only shred of evidence I have to prove that he truly vanished through that door of light." Ryou noticed her voice shook ever so slightly as she again recalled Marik's kidnapping.
Yugi went to hand it back to her, but she shook her head. "I have no idea what those engravings might mean, but maybe you can help uncover the mystery surrounding this stone. As for your plan, perhaps we can help with that." Yugi carefully pocketed the necklace.
Odion nodded, "You say you need a distraction?" Rebecca spoke up and quickly filled them in on their best-case scenario. "Yes, I think we can definitely help you. I must warn you all, this has the potential to go very, very wrong. We're going to be exposed to men and women who fear another attack, and it's safe to say a few of them could be quite trigger-happy. This side of the world works differently, and threats come in any shape or size. If we are seen as a potential enemy they will shoot first and ask questions later. I want your word. Should anything happen-anything that suggests we are in over our heads, that you will do as I tell you to and get out. Am I making myself clear?" His deep voice left no room for argument and he eye-balled each one of them till they all swore they would. "Very well, I'll need the guys to come with me. We're making a run to the, erm..store."
Ishizu stopped them before they could move, "I also want your promise. That none of you will attempt to put yourself in harm's way, for whatever reason. You may not see it as such, but I asked for your help, and therefore I feel personally responsible for your safety. I mean it, Marik is tough and I have complete faith that he can hold his own until we find him without you intentionally putting your lives at risk."
Yugi nodded, "I promise, we'll be careful. And we're gonna find what we need. Something's telling me that the answer is in that pit. I just know it!"
Ryou jumped up with Joey and Yugi, as Ishizu called the girls to the other room to begin going over details and preparing a private lunch to discuss matters when the boys came back. As they followed the tall Egyptian out Joey bumped his shoulder into Ryou, causing him to look back at him incredulously.
"WEAK man, you're friggin weak!" He pointed a finger right in his face, and Ryou's jaw fell open. Yugi giggled at Joey's teasing.
"Oh did you really just-? She was breathing down my neck! You would have broken too!" He protested, looking to Yugi for back up, finding the shorter just shaking his head in mock disappointment. Odion rolled his eyes and entered the hallway, walking out of the hotel with them right behind.
Joey continued his berating all the way to the car, "For shame Bakura, for shame!" Ryou huffed in annoyance and sat in the back of the Jeep, slamming the door in Joey's face. The blond just climbed in next to him and gave him a shit-eating grin. Ryou's face didn't reach a normal color until they got back from the store. Which turned out to be a black market in a very unsavory alley...
Later that night…
"Guys, I don't wanna sound like a little bitch but maybe this isn't such a good idea." Yugi whispered out from their lying down position on a tall cliff lookout point. He, Ryou and Joey were all hiding in the dirt at a level they could see the whole Valley without being seen themselves.
His stomach felt all knotted up and his hands had been sweaty since they arrived. After dinner the gang (plus Ishizu and Odion) had bid Grandpa and Professor Hawkins goodnight and prepared to leave as soon as the sun disappeared. They all donned black clothing, head to toe, and much to the guys' displeasure had added black 'hijabs' to make it hard to identify them. The head scarves were a thick material and Ishizu helped everyone adjust them so that only their eyes peeked out. Once they realized they slightly resembled real ninjas (but not really) they felt better about wearing them.
Yugi could feel Ryou practically vibrating next to him, his teeth chattering together barely audible over the noise of the soldiers stationed all around the pit.
The whitenette gave off a high-pitched whisper, "D-does anyone e-else t-t-think this is a t-terrible idea?! Who the b-bloody hell th-thought of this?!" He ducked his head down into his arms.
Yugi's eyes bulged at him, "What! It was your frickin idea!"
"Well I t-take it back! L-let's go b-back to the hotel a-and think up a new one!" Yugi had to lean his head down to hear him, as Ryou had whispered through his arms.
"SHHH! Ya morons! Odion said noise carries through the wind! Pipe down and man the fuck up! It's almost time to move!" Joey hissed.
Yugi gave him a glare-ready to fire back a smart retort but stopped, finding Joey visibly trembling as well. He was so full of it! They were ALL scared shitless right now! After going back and forth on different strategies for a proper time-consuming distraction for two hours they came up with something...well, crazy. And if they were found out, expensive as hell to make go away. But if it worked they would have ample time to search the dig site. He silently prayed it would, and took deep breaths to calm his nerves. He wondered if the girls were just as scared. His eyes wandered over to another cliff outcropping about a hundred feet away where he knew Teá and Ishizu were also hiding.
Looking at Joey's wrist watch, he could read the digital numbers read 10:55 pm. Five minutes to go. Looking up, he watched the skyline's still blackness..waiting... They were quiet as they watched soldiers calmly milling about, talking in groups or sitting and just watching. Luck was on their side as there wasn't any sign of uniformed men in the actual pit; they simply stood guard like living police tape around the entrance.
10:58. Two minutes. Off in the distance they could hear the sound of multiple military Jeeps headed their way. 'Right on time..' Yugi's heart rate started to pick up. Just behind the line of headlights they could see a tiny green light slowly getting closer and closer. To anyone who actually noticed, it might have like a far off plane. For them? It was Phase One.
They could see the Jeeps all spread out along the lip of the pit, half the soldiers gearing up to head out while the others moved to settle in. Yugi's phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out he opened a text from Rebecca..
B ready 2 move! -RH
He quickly typed an 'ok!' back and stowed it back in his pocket, nodding at the other two. They scooted back from the ledge and crouched down like sprinters. It was completely silent on the ledge, disturbed only by their shaky breathing. Joey's watch hit 11:00. pm. 'Here we go..'
Suddenly, noise began trickling up to where they were hiding. Loud voices giving way to shouted commands as the green light hovering in the distance zoomed up on the site. Soldiers took up arms and prepared to fire as the enormous drone floated back and forth, green lights shining brightly and camera lens capturing the whole scene-creating a live feed to Rebecca's computer. The drone looked like a flying war machine, humming as it's flight blades maneuvered it through the air. A huge dude who looked to Yugi like the man in charge stood on the top of a Jeep hood and yelled orders while his hands waved for guns to point at the unidentified flying object. It hovered toward the east, drawing all eyes away from where they were about to move out from.
Yugi drew another deep breath, "Alright! Get ready! Rebecca's about to smoke these guys out!"
Sure enough, the second he finished the drone gave off a WHIIIRRRING noise and a hatch opened, unleashing a seemingly endless shit storm of cheap firework smoke bombs all throughout the mess of Jeeps, soldiers and tents. The melee caused the soldiers to panic and open fire, gunshots rang through the night as the drone veered left and right-backing up and drawing the soldiers further away from their posts. The situation had taken its first terrifying turn. Yugi's heart felt like it would jump right out of his chest as his ears filled with the echoing TICH-TICH-TICH-TICH of machine guns. Adrenaline coursed through his body and sweat dripped into his eyes.
Joey screamed, "NOW!" and the three of them bolted forward and JUMPED-over the cliffside-skidding down the rock and sandy incline as fast as gravity allowed. Yugi half ran-half slid on his butt, throwing his arms to the sides to keep his balance. More yelled commands and gunfire filled the air along with dust and sand as a thrumming BOOM vibrated the air. Phase Two. It went pitch dark. The only thing giving off any light was the moon shining brightly in the sky. Yelling turned to frightened screams as all communications, all the lights, vehicles, walkie-talkies, EVERYTHING with any sort of electricity shut down. Yugi's feet finally hit flat ground, once again amazed at Rebecca's ability to literally create chaos with just a damn laptop. Joey and Ryou stumbled upright just behind him and they raced to where they knew the pit dropped. His heart thrummed in his chest, mind focused only on finding a ladder and getting to low ground as fast as possible, and not choking on the smoky blackness surrounding them with bullets whizzing through the cloudy air.
"How mad do ya think Kaiba's gonna be when he finds out we jacked one of his drones?" Joey huffed.
"If I had to take a guess? He'll probably kill us-OOMPH!" Yugi ran headlong into something warm and soft tumbling right on top of it. He quickly scrambled off trying to put as much distance between him and whatever might wanna shoot him.
"AGH! Who is that!?" Teá's voice cried out. Yugi was on her immediately, clamping a hand on her mouth and pulling her to her feet. 'Found the girls early but oh well!' He shoved her forward, following the sound of Joey's and Ryou's footsteps. They ran until Joey almost fell off the side of the pit-Ishizu's hand snaking out of the darkness and pulling him back.
A panicked whisper fell from her lips, "We have less than 30 seconds before the lights turn back on! Find the ladder now!" A cry behind him made them all freeze. Ryou had stepped too close to the edge and had disappeared down into the pit. Yugi flattened himself on the edge and looked down.
"Ryou!" He called as loudly as he dared, but no answer could be heard over the sounds of fighting. He blindly felt around the edge, hoping by some miracle the ladder down was there.
Joey whistled, "Found it! Let's go!" He didn't wait for them before sliding down the ladder. Yugi ran to where he heard Joey's voice, the girls hot on his heels and they felt the edge until it was found and scrambled down the ladder. Once Yugi had helped them down they were blinded as the lights around the pit came back on. 'SHIT.' They all froze for a second until they realized that they were surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke of all different colors. Yugi almost laughed out loud in relief, they were completely obscured from view. Of course, they couldn't see either. 'Cause things just can't go according to plan!' He latched on to Ishizu and Teá so they wouldn't get separated and moved forward, head swiveling side to side in search of Joey and Ryou.
"You girls get to the pyramid and start looking, I'm going to find Ryou." He said turning and walking back towards the ladder.
"NO. We'll find him together, just stay with us!" Teá cried, snagging his arm and tugging him back.
"We don't have time for this! Go! I'll meet you there!" He went to wrench his arm away but a voice stopped him.
"No need! I got him! Get movin!" Joey appeared out of the smoke supporting Ryou, who panted heavily. Yugi breathed another sigh of relief that he wasn't severely injured, just a sprained ankle. They all made a quick dash to get to where the pyramid was. Ishizu started moving rocks and sand to uncover anything that might help. The group searched for about two minutes before Ishizu looked up. Bits of the night sky peeked through their temporary cover. It was eerily quiet in the actual pit, but the raging fire storm continued in the distance up on the Valley lip. The smoke bought them some time but Rebecca's drone was keeping the eye of everyone off the pit. For how long though, was anybody's guess.
"We need to hurry, we're running out of time!" She worked faster, trying to cover more ground.
They all kicked it into high gear, spreading out to locate anything and everything that might be a clue. As the fog slowly cleared they could see stone, pottery, scorched tent fabric, splintered wood beams all strewn about and sticking out of the sand. Joey yelped as he tripped over what looked like a sword handle caught between two huge stone blocks. Teá sifted through debris, eyes darting up every three seconds-her face pale. Ryou climbed up on a piece of the pyramid that hadn't fallen apart.
"Hey! You guys gotta see this!" He slipped off and dropped down out of sight. Yugi hustled over and his mouth dropped at the sight. He was looking down into what appeared to be what was left of the floor of the pyramid-at least that's what he assumed given the cracked, flat stones still mostly intact beneath the mess. Gold and silver, jewels and chains, tattered bits of cloth, weapons.. riches of every kind that had been hidden away for the past 5000 years now sat littered across the sand and rubble. He stood stunned as Ryou walked around inspecting everything.
"Y-Yugi?" Ryou's scared voice floated over to him, his friend's ashen face turning to look over at him. His eyes were wide-terrified-as he pointed down at something big near his feet. Yugi hurried over, trying not to trip over all the debris.
"Ryou? What's wrong? Did you find some..thing.." He went quiet. His eyes widened too, and a faint buzzing noise filled his ears. He barely registered the sounds of his friends coming up behind them as he fell to his knees next to the cracked, upper half lid of a magnificent sarcophagus. Even with all the smoke and dust and crumbs of sandstone, there was no hiding the intricate details, the sheer beauty of the ancient coffin lid. His lid. The Pharaoh's sarcophagus lid. Things went from too real to surreal in what seemed like a second. 'I can't believe it's really him!' He gently traced the golden image of a king's face at the top. 'Atem..' Yugi felt his breath catch. 'Where is the rest of the it?' The smoke was clearing more rapidly now, and he knew they'd have to leave soon.
Ishizu sniffled, "Oh Gods, this is awful. How could she? This beautiful resting place…"
Yugi felt a lump rise in his throat as he looked around for the bottom half, seeing it lying a few feet away under more debris. He moved over to it and began clearing the mess away.
"Yugi what are you doing? Look, we're not going to find anything in all this, there's too much. We have to go before we're seen." Teá whispered loudly.
"No." He said, pulling away more stuff to reveal the bottom half of the lid-and a second lid lying just beneath it at an awkward angle. It was open! "His resting place has been destroyed. I'm not leaving him. If we wait for permission to get in here his body will have turned to dust." He didn't need to turn around to know they all looked panicked.
"Joey walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Look man, I know this is bad, but you can't pull his..his mummy outta there. We have to leave before we're seen! We've already been here too long-"
"I said no!" Yugi shook him off and pushed the top lid off to the side.
Ishizu came up on his other side, "Yugi we can come back. We'll make a new plan and come back-or we can call everyone we know and force them to let us in here to get him out."
"Then go! I'm not leaving without him." His voice firm but the lump in his throat grew at the thought of abandoning the Pharaoh. Hell no was he about to let his friend just rot out here. He didn't deserve this-didn't deserve any of this! He was meant to be left in peace! Dammit, where was the justice!
"Don't you understand? We can't leave him like this! It's.. It's not right! Don't ask me to!"
Ryou's trembling voice sounded close to tears, "Yugi, they're right! We can try again. We'll never make it out of here with him!"
Yugi ignored him as he shoved the second lid completely off, "Yes we can and we will, if I have to sling him over my back and carry hi-" He lost his voice as he stared down into the main part of the sarcophagus. Joey and Ishizu saw first, and gasped. Teá and Ryou stepped closer and looked down in shock.
It was empty. No body. No clothing. Not even any shred of binding cloth. Disbelief jumbled Yugi's thoughts. He felt tears fill his eyes as spill over down his cheeks. 'No! This...this can't be..'. It didn't make any sense. Yugi fell to his knees beside the empty burial box. Emotions swirled inside him-blocking out all coherent thought. Everything seemed to just blur around him. He barely registered Joey talking to him, hauling him to his feet and pulling him up the ladder and out of the pit. Or being tugged along as they all bolted toward the rendezvous point, where Rebecca and Odion waited in a borrowed military Rover. They all climbed in and jetted away just as shouts were heard coming towards them. They blew past a small fire in the sand about a hundred meters away; the drone had been shot down and now lay a flaming pile surrounded by cheering military men.
Yugi just sat stunned. Dread seeping slowly into his bones. He had seen the way the sarcophagus had been left. There was no way a mummified body would have flown out, even during the explosion. If it had that would've been the first thing they noticed. It had been emptied earlier. But that's impossible...wasn't it? He couldn't be gone. Atem was gone! Why? Why? Ishizu and Odion saying the mystery woman had been in the pyramid replayed over and over in his head. His heart hurt. Pounding roughly in his ribcage-like someone had defiled his own body and paid him the ultimate disrespect! Tears continued to fall down his face as horror, sorrow and anger filled his whole being. The pieces slowly coming together as they drove farther away from the chaos and closer to safety. They had looked for clues and found one. Crushed, he let his head fall into his hands.
Marik hadn't been the only one spirited away.