Chapter Ten

Hans sighed in relief as he left the doctor's office. Thanks to Elsa, he was alright, but in definite need of rest. For a brief moment he thought that might actually be possible . . . until he saw all the worried expressions of those who had come with him.

"I'm alright," he said. "But is it something else? Has something else gone wrong?"

"A whole lot has gone wrong!" Scotch said sorrowfully. "Dr. Raven went for the clock tower as soon as you fell, and that was too soon! He found it was a fake and got so mad he activated his control over Lawton!"

Now Hans felt weak. He grabbed for the nearest wall. "Oh no. . . ."

"Lawton went on a rampage and ended up kidnapping Malcolm, Kalin, and Radley," Anna continued sadly as she went over to Hans. "And he's taken them to New Orleans."

Hans stared at her in disbelief. "New Orleans?!"

She nodded. "Now everyone is trying to hurry and get there too. Dr. Raven said the real clock tower has to be brought tonight or they might be killed."

"And he'd have Lawton do the killing," Hans realized. He took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll prepare to leave. How soon will everyone be ready?"

"They're getting ready now and talking to Mr. Kaiba about using one of his private jets," Elsa said. "They're hoping to leave within the hour."

"We should go as soon as possible," Hans agreed.

"You need to rest, though," Anna fretted.

"But I'm the only one who can wield the clock when it's bound to me," Hans pointed out. "I'll have to go."

"Yeah. . . ." Scotch shifted worriedly. "We've just gotta save them!"

"And I promise we will," Hans said. "I owe Mr. Ramon and Mr. Kessler a great deal, and I don't want Lawton's brother harmed either. And . . ." He trailed off.

"You're hoping to save Lawton too," Anna said softly.

"Yes," Hans said. "If it's possible at all. . . ." He hadn't thought he could feel any more overwhelmed with his problems. Now they were a hundred times worse. How would anything ever get fixed? How would anyone be saved, especially Lawton?

He clenched a fist at his side. Even if it seemed impossible, he couldn't give up. Lawton deserved for at least one person to fight for him. No matter what evil he had done in the past, he had been good to Hans.

Elsa gave him a kind smile. "I think it's possible," she said. "Come on, let's all get ready to go."

He smiled in gratitude. "Yes. Let's."

xxxx

Kalin groaned under his breath as consciousness started to return. Knocked out twice in one day. . . . He really hated when that happened.

And where was he now? Unlike before, he didn't seem to be waking up in the same location. This felt hard and cold and damp.

The sound of soft breathing next to him was suddenly startling. At least one other person was with him. . . . He reached out, touching leather and soft, smooth hair. He didn't need to see to know who was with him.

"Radley!" he rasped, keeping his voice low. "Are you alright?"

Radley started. "Huh? . . . Ugh, were we unconscious again?" He shifted, brushing the hair out of his face except for that one piece that always fell back.

"Yeah," Kalin said. "I don't know where we are." He took out his phone, surprised it was still with him.

"Try using GPS on us," Radley suggested.

Kalin did, and then stared. ". . . This can't be right. It says we're in New Orleans!"

"What?!" Radley quickly retrieved his phone and soon had the same result. ". . . Oh brother. I wonder if everybody's with us or if we're just special."

"It's probably just us," Kalin said. Something crashed in a nearby room. ". . . And maybe one or two others."

"I'm gonna try calling Scotch," Radley said.

To their shock, the call connected. "Radley!" Scotch cried. "Are you okay?! Where are you guys?! Everybody's worried sick and we're trying to get ready to go to New Orleans on one of Kaiba's jets . . . !"

"Hey, we're okay," Radley soothed. "We're in New Orleans, alright, at least if our phones haven't been tampered with. We're in some old building or something. I think it's on the waterfront or near the swamp."

"Is Lawton there with you?" Scotch asked. "I mean, is he making you call, like a ransom thing?"

"Nah, he's in another room," Radley said. ". . . I think with someone else. Who all's missing?"

"You and Kalin and Malcolm!" Scotch said.

"That figures," Kalin grunted. "Lawton wanted to take Malcolm for some reason."

". . . Is he hurting Malcolm?" Scotch asked.

"I don't know," Radley said. "Something fell over, but it sounded like a chair, maybe."

"Well, I'd better go or he might catch you and be mad," Scotch said. "But keep in touch!"

"We will if we can," Radley promised as he hung up.

He sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket and folding his arms in exasperation. "Well, this is a fine mess Lawton has gotten us into."

Kalin pushed himself to his feet. "Let's try to figure out exactly where we are and if there's a way out. Which I'm sure there's not."

Radley smirked dryly. "Yeah." He got up too, shining his phone's flashlight around the room. "It looks like some old warehouse, maybe. I don't see any doors, except the one where Lawton and Malcolm probably are, and there's nothing here we could heave at the windows. We've been locked up good."

Kalin tried all the windows, even though he was sure they'd be locked and they definitely were. "That doesn't give us many options. Maybe the way out is in that other room. We need to try to ambush Lawton and get past him."

"Ambush him? In his state? Kalin, that is never gonna work," Radley sighed.

"When the Enforcers ran out of options, the only things they had to work with were things that were never going to work," Kalin said. "Sometimes they figured out how to turn things in their favor."

Radley was still not in favor of it, but he knew Kalin was probably right. "Okay," he said. "We can try. We've gotta get Malcolm anyway if we're trying to bust out of here."

Kalin didn't look happy about that, but he knew Radley was right. "We'll just wait in the shadows near the door," he said. "Sooner or later Lawton will come back to check on us."

Radley nodded. "We don't wanna make any noise to bring him out or he'll be expecting an attack." He took up a position near one side of the door. Kalin claimed the other side.

From these positions, they were able to hear some of what was going on in the other room. Someone was pacing the floor. Judging by the heavy footfalls, it was probably Lawton.

"Okay, Malcolm," he said. "So everybody's on their way now. Since they don't have our . . . special means of transportation, they'll probably get here in two or three hours if they can just take off in one of Kaiba's private planes. That gives us plenty of time to get further acquainted. See, I don't really feel like I know you anymore."

"I don't want to talk to you," Malcolm retorted. "You've just taken over Lawton's mind!"

"I'm really me," Lawton insisted. "This voodoo business just enhanced what was already there."

Kalin tensed. That was how he had felt about the Dark Signers' power while he had held it. It had only been after coming back to himself that he had realized how fully it had warped him. With Lawton, though, it was much harder to discern where the voodoo stopped and Lawton began. He wasn't acting that much different from how he had behaved during the majority of their interactions.

Radley honestly wasn't sure either. The Lawton he had talked with over the past day had been different, very tired and done with everything but fully into trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. He hadn't wanted any part of the voodoo then. But maybe actually experiencing how much stronger it made him, he had undergone a change of heart back to how he had been in the past.

"I still don't believe you were fibbin' when you said you cared about me again or when you said you were sorry for how you'd done me wrong," Malcolm said. "We were close once. Why can't we be again?"

Lawton laughed. "I only felt that way because I was so fed-up with everything. I thought maybe you'd be a nice crutch for a while."

Radley cringed. He remembered all too well the devastation and hurt of interacting with Dark Signer Kalin. Even knowing Kalin was under a spell, the things he had said had still dug deep. He could imagine how Malcolm must be feeling.

"I'm not gonna talk to you anymore," Malcolm said.

"Am I hurting your feelings?" Lawton jeered. "Good!" He walked towards the door. "I'll just go see how the others are doing."

"What'd you take them both for anyway?" Malcolm snapped.

"I wanted Radley and I also wanted to make Yusei and Kalin suffer," Lawton said. "Now Yusei's worrying and Kalin and Radley get to fret about how I'm going to off them. Will it be together? Or will I get rid of one first and make the other watch? There's so many choices."

Radley's stomach turned. Even in the darkness, he could sense Kalin tensing.

"You're not gonna let any of us go, are you?" Malcolm realized. "Even if you get that darned clock tower!"

Lawton laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. It's just a matter of when, not if." He opened the door and stepped out. "Where are you two? Are you still sleeping it off?"

They jumped him from both sides. Radley tried to press the pressure point on the back of Lawton's neck while Kalin attempted a knock-out punch.

From inside the room, Malcolm watched in disbelief. "That's not gonna work," he warned.

"Well, we have to try something!" Radley said.

But indeed, neither attempt so much as fazed Lawton. He stood there laughing before casually throwing first Radley, then Kalin to the floor.

"I was always formidable, but now I'm practically indestructible!" he bragged. "Your pithy attempts don't even daze me!"

Kalin growled, pushing himself up on the floor.

"You have us for several hours," Radley said. "What are you going to do to us?"

"I'm still working on that," Lawton said. "Don't be so impatient to die."

"We're not," Radley said dryly. "We're impatient to find out how you plan to do it so we can start working on a plan to escape."

"You'll never escape, I can promise you that," Lawton grinned.

"I don't even know where the door is," Malcolm said morosely. "It's probably boarded up or something."

"Then how did we get in?" Radley countered.

"Teleportation," Lawton said proudly. "One of my new powers thanks to Dr. Raven. We just instantly blinked from one place to another."

"Why am I not surprised," Radley sighed.

"Too bad we couldn't enjoy the trip," Kalin grunted half-sarcastically.

Lawton just laughed. "You three just get deeper acquainted while I think about how I'm going to kill you. It has to be something good."

"Here's a novel idea," Radley said. "Why not honor the agreement and let us go if they bring you the clock?"

"They don't really plan on bringing me the clock, though," Lawton pointed out. "I'd be an idiot to think they really would. So if they're not going to keep their part of the agreement, why should I?"

"Oh, because it would give you warm fuzzies inside to do something right for a change?" Radley replied.

"You never change, Radley," Lawton snorted. "Always with the quick wit. Too bad it won't make one bit of difference with me." He turned to walk off.

Radley sighed. "Yeah, that really is too bad, isn't it," he muttered.

Malcolm just groaned. "We are doomed as long as we can't get through to him!"

"Are you really sure getting through to him would improve our situation any?" Kalin said flatly. "He just doesn't seem much different at all from what we're used to."

"He was different," Malcolm insisted. "I know it wasn't a con! I know it!"

Radley managed a sad smile. "Then I think about our only recourse is to keep praying for a miracle while you try to get through to him. Kalin and I would never have any luck with that."

"Yeah, I guess not," Malcolm said in resignation. "Hans might be able to help too, though. Lawton really cares about him."

"Really?" Kalin grunted.

"He does!" Malcolm insisted. "But . . . he's dead, so . . ."

Radley shot Kalin a guilty look. Dr. Raven still believed Hans was dead, so Lawton apparently did too and had told Malcolm. And for Hans' own safety, they didn't dare tell Malcolm or Lawton otherwise right now.

Kalin understood. He said nothing as the seconds ticked by. With each one, they came a little bit closer to their doom.

If there was any hope of that miracle, it grew dimmer and dimmer.

xxxx

Hans was soon packed and ready to go with the rest of the group, and they all traveled to the airport and to Seto's available jet. Unlike at the meeting, this time Seto was there and planning to come with everyone else. He stood at the open door as they all came onboard.

"I'd say welcome, but it doesn't seem appropriate given our circumstances," he said to Hans and the Arendelle group.

"It's still nice to hear," Elsa said.

Seto nodded. "Your Majesty. I'm sorry that something like this is bringing us together tonight. I'll try to help make sure it's all over with as quickly as possible." He looked to Hans, his eyes clearly shouting Don't screw this up! even though he didn't say it out loud. Even Seto Kaiba wouldn't be rude around royalty . . . unless they gave him a reason to be.

Hans nodded. "We'll all do our part, I'm sure," he said. He certainly hadn't missed Seto's look or its meaning.

Anna was still worried.

"You need to rest as much as possible on the flight!" she said as they went to find their seats.

"I know," Hans assured her. "I will. But I also need to try to figure the clock out. I have no idea how to tap into its powers. Will it just react to the dark magic on its own and activate? Do I have to put my will into it to make it work? I just don't know." And it was really quite overwhelming and terrifying to think about. He had never been a magic user and now suddenly it seemed he had to become one for one night. Dr. Raven had to be stopped, and that included breaking the control over Lawton.

Could it even fully be done? Hans didn't want to believe it couldn't be, but it was all so strange and so worrisome. What if the corruption had sunk too deep to be completely eradicated?

"Well . . . there's lots of people here with magic objects," Anna said helpfully. "I'm sure someone will know what to do. . . ."

Hans smiled wanly. "I hope so. This is all new to them too."

Yusei sighed, staring out the window. What was happening to Kalin? Was he alright? At least he and Radley had been alright when Scotch had talked to them, but who knew what had happened since then. He didn't trust Lawton at all in any scenario, and when he was controlled by dark magic it was even worse.

"Kalin will be alright," Akiza said kindly, resting a hand on Yusei's.

Yusei looked to her. He appreciated her attempt to comfort him, but he was still worried. "Lawton has always had it in for us and Radley," he reminded her. "What if the dark magic intensifies those feelings?"

Akiza really couldn't say it wasn't possible. It sounded very possible to her, sadly.

"I'm sure he and Radley know how to deal with Lawton," she said.

"Lawton always has some new terrible surprise every time we meet," Yusei said. "You know as well as I do that he would have won more than once if something incredible hadn't happened to thwart him."

"Maybe it will again," Akiza replied.

Yusei sighed. "Maybe." He would certainly be praying for that.

"I have been talking to my sister Evangeline," Lector spoke up. "If we end up staying overnight in New Orleans, she wants to welcome us all to her and Angelique's home."

"It's a great place, except for all the ghosts," Joey gulped.

Scotch's eyes lit up, while Biff looked horrified. "Ghosts?!" they both exclaimed.

"What's it like?" Anna asked.

"It's very large, a Southern plantation home with three full levels as well as an attic and a basement," Lector said. "Unfortunately, some areas are off-limits to varying extents because the spirits don't appreciate guests."

That certainly didn't sound ideal, but Hans wasn't about to criticize right now. "Would she know anything about these voodoo magic items?" he asked.

"I asked her," Lector said. "She doesn't, but Angelique does. Angelique is Dr. Raven's niece. She said he often spoke of them and was trying his hardest to acquire all of them. She only knew him to have two of the set in the past."

"And now he has all except the clock," Hans said in dismay.

"He has certainly been working hard on his quest ever since his release from prison," Lector said.

"What are we going to do when we get to New Orleans?" Hans asked in concern. "How will we handle the meeting with Lawton?" He hesitated. "They probably still think I'm dead. That's why Dr. Raven believes he can use the clock now. On the one hand, I need to stay hidden for that reason until the moment I'm going to use the clock myself. But on the other . . . I wonder if there's any chance I could get through to Lawton and break the control over him just by appearing and talking to him."

"Maybe," Yugi said slowly. "If Malcolm's not able to do it, I'm not sure you can."

"I'm not sure either," Hans said.

"We know friendship's powerful, though, Yug," Joey said. "If it was because of Hans that Lawton started to soften, maybe he wouldbe able to get somewhere with him now."

"That's true," Yugi agreed. "But on the meeting with Lawton, Hans, I think you should stay hidden at first while we talk to him. We need to find out if the hostages are okay and try to make sure he lets us see them before we move ahead with anything else. Then maybe you could come out with the clock and try to get through to Lawton."

"And if he just won't have it, then I'll have to try to blast him?" Hans sighed. "I don't even know how to use it. Does that book say anything about how to do it?"

"Unfortunately, no," Johnson said. "But it implied that once it's bound to someone, it will do their will just from them wanting it to be so."

That sounded ridiculous, but Hans wasn't about to argue. "And what about all of the rest of you?" he said. "There must be some reason why your attacks all fail. Are Dr. Raven's artifacts really that much more powerful than any others?"

"You wouldn't think so," Nesbitt growled. "And our rings are definitely supposed to activate in any worldwide magical crisis. I can't believe this doesn't qualify."

"Mr. Kaiba wasn't with us before, though," Lector mused. "Perhaps with all of us together, they will work again."

"You can sure hope, at least," Duke said.

"Perhaps it's not that Dr. Raven's are more powerful, but that he knows how to activate more abilities than we do," Atem mused. "We may have more to unlock about our items."

"And it's not likely we'll be able to undergo a crash course on the flight," Yami Bakura growled. "Honestly, though, our items beat Zorc! I can't believe Dr. Raven is more powerful than Zorc, no matter how many abilities he has."

"Maybe one of the abilities he has is suppressing or weakening others' items," Atem suggested. "Then he could give the illusion of being more powerful even if he actually is not."

"That's all well and fine, but how would we counter that?" Gansley grunted.

"Overwhelm him from all sides?" Hans suggested. "He can't divide his attention in indefinite ways, or we can hope not. If we give him too much to do, he surely can't suppress all of the items."

Atem looked thoughtful. "Yes . . . that might work."

"Let's hope it will," Seto grunted. "It sounds like he's been two steps ahead of you this whole time." He paused. "And I know this isn't something any of you want to hear, but I really don't trust that Lawton will keep his hostages alive during our whole trek."

Discomfort and distress swept over the group. Indeed, they were all worrying and wondering the same thing, but had not dared speak of it.

"I really don't believe so either," Yami Bakura said. "But there's not a great deal we can do about it from here."

"Just pray, I'm afraid," Bakura said.

"And we will, and pray hard!" Téa determined.

Everyone consented to that under the circumstances and a very heartfelt prayer was offered as the jet continued to travel through the night sky.

xxxx

Unfortunately, Lawton definitely did not seem in the mood to have his corrupted heart softened. For some time he had been walking around the warehouse, touching walls and beams with a thoughtful sneer. His prisoners could only watch uneasily.

"What do you think he's up to?" Malcolm worried.

"Probably planning a torture chamber," Kalin said flatly.

"Are you gonna try talking to him anymore?" Radley asked Malcolm, who heaved a sigh.

"It hasn't done any good all the other times," he said morosely. "But I can try." He got up and walked over. "Lawton?"

Lawton barely glanced at him. "This place is pretty old, isn't it."

"Yeah, I'd say so. Maybe a hundred years, even." Malcolm shifted. "Lawton . . . don't you feel bad at all about Hans? You were trying to protect him, to find out who was after him, and now he's dead! Those shadow people working for the witch doctor murdered him, and yet you're just accepting that fella's power without so much as a how do you do! That's exactly what you didn't want!"

Lawton ran his hand along an old beam, not even batting an eye at a splinter. "Sure, I wish he hadn't died. But this power'll give me more than being his manager did."

"You really seemed to like working a decent job for once," Malcolm said. "And you told me how you regretted getting swallowed up in hate. Do you remember that? Are you really going to tell me you didn't mean it?"

Lawton laughed. "Of course I didn't mean it!" He casually plucked out the splinter and flipped it away. "How many times do I have to tell you it was all an act?"

"I don't believe you," Malcolm insisted.

No one was expecting the sudden burst of rage. Another green ring swept out from Lawton's body. This time everyone hit the floor to miss it, but it struck the beams of the warehouse. It shook and groaned as particles started to rain down from the ceiling.

Lawton sneered, his expression grotesque and twisted. "Well, maybe you'll believe this! I'm bringing this place down on your heads!" He pushed hard on two of the nearest beams. They cracked and snapped, and a horrific rumble thundered through the building.

Radley froze in terror. It was impossible not to think of things like mine shafts collapsing. The few times collapses had happened in his mine, they haunted him. He had feared it happening in Malcolm's mine when he had been a prisoner there, although thankfully it hadn't. But it was still a horror to him. Now he and his dearest friend and their former enemy were about to die in such a disaster.

Malcolm shrieked. "Lawton! No, don't do this!"

"It's already done," Kalin said grimly. "We have maybe five minutes to somehow find a way out of here." He grabbed Radley and Malcolm. "Come on!"

No one protested. They took off running while Lawton just stood there, his maniacal laughter ringing through their ears.