Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.

My readers are patient, and I appreciate every single patient individual who waits for these chapters.

Considering how this site is going...I'm going to do my best to complete it here before it's just inaccessible. Maybe later on, I'll post it anon on ao3 or something, for posterity. It would be a very dead dove, don't eat sort of story, and I'm not sure of the reception it would get there.

If you are still reading, thank you! It means a lot.

Enjoy!

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Landmines

Albert had flung himself into view before anyone in their group could stop him. If D had even taken more than two steps in his direction, the impromptu decision the man had launched into would have been for naught—they both would have been spotted. Thus, the boy hung back, much to the surprise of those who gaped slack jawed or mouthed negatives toward the fragile human that stumbled down the roadway in the dark. Nothing more could be said. All attention was falling in their direction.

Yet, given a second's distraction…

D looked to Arthur, who nodded to him. The pair began to step backwards into their own pockets of shadow once the doomed conversation began. Back up was always necessary.

"Hello?" Albert called tentatively in Bulgarian. He stood a few feet away from the guards, not that it would be much help in a world of vampires.

"What's this?" D heard the guard to the right mutter to his friend before stating, "Why are you wandering around at night, stranger?"

"I was with my group, but we were attacked by bandits," Albert lied, "I couldn't see where they went, and I've been wandering for some time. Is there any way you, or whoever owns this place, would let me stay for the night?"

"You could stay as long as you like," the guard to the left said, waggling a brow. He was promptly waved off by the guard on the right, who stepped forward.

"Don't mind him, miss. Certainly, our lord could offer you a night's stay. He is not here presently, but he will be soon."

"Thank you," Albert said, and with a touch of irritation added, "although, it's sir, not miss."

"Playing at being tough? I like this one," the leering guard said. "Saucy little—"

"Enough!" the one that seemed to be in charge snapped. His elongated canines glinted in the moonlight. "You disrespect our master with this talk. Let me take you to an available room, then."

Even as the guard extended his hand, the other took a step forward in contradiction to this nicety. The burning eyes of the creature shone with unchecked hunger and a focus so homed in on the quickened beating of their compatriot's heart that D doubted his focus was anywhere else. The scent of blood and decay was pungent even to the nose of a human. They ate well here, but apparently not enough. That, or this behavior belied a certain breed of greed that could bring upon self-ruination.

Taking a step back, Albert's face showed the pallor of regret and fear, and he rubbed at his neck with a quavering hand. Nerves or some hope of protection let it remain at the crook of his neck while he continued the conversation. "Maybe I should look elsewhere."

"Nonsense. He'll not bother you. I'll not let him. You will be safe until the Lord of this castle returns."

"Oh?" Albert asked with an audible gulp and a nervous chuckle. "Only until he returns?"

The more reasonable sounding guard opened his mouth to speak but only a strained gasp of surprise exited from his throat. Steel shone, silvery and bloody as it poked from between the armor he wore, the sound of the sword's strike hitting the world in a lagging tear while D switched stances to slice upward with a great leap. The blade cut down swiftly after, and again, quartering the night creature as the pattering of blood slapping the pavement hit the ears of those in the proximity like a video whose sound was a second off.

The brazen one leapt to attention amidst the second swing, but too late. Arthur pounced, tearing away the offender's throat. With a great twist, what remained of the head was thrown to the darkened road for one of their own to douse with holy water. The heart of the vampire rested in Arthur's other hand, and he stared down at it in sorrow before destroying it.

"I…uh…thanks," Albert said once the remains lay upon the ground in varying states of decay. His legs rocked, unsteady in the midst of his attempts to keep control. The scent of adrenaline was strong, but the sound of his rapid heartbeat was stronger.

"No problem," D replied shortly. He flicked his wrist and watched as the blood slid clean off the metal, pausing because while gory, he thought it looked sort of cool. "Although, it seems that our plans may have had the same end result," he added, absentmindedly.

"To be fair, I hadn't planned on it going like this," he said, head now resting in his hands.

"While I disagree with D, and that this might have been the best distraction," Arthur began while raising an eyebrow, "how did you plan it going?"

"I don't know, I…damn…being with you all I guess has made me forget just how awful people are sometimes. That the whole London thing wasn't some unfortunate coincidence, and it's not just the cult-y types—"

"They're pretty cult-like," D pointed out. His eyes now scanned the grounds, hoping their situation was not like the one he had with the strange ship in the desert. He did not see anything that looked like it was capable of recording, but if it were embedded?

"I'm just saying. My old town…what Bakura had to have gone through in our city, what I know he went through…I'd almost forgotten…I almost…"

"Those weren't people," Claire said, waving the tip of her sky-facing rifle side to side from its resting place against her shoulder as she ambled forward. The rest of the party followed, although Theo kept the other two children within the brush to the side of them. Her green eyes narrowed as they fell upon the closed door, disinterested in the rest of what Albert had to say. Nor did she seem to note the flicker of hurt on D's face. "Now let's figure out the best way to screw these bastards over and get our friends back."

"Language," Theo reminded tiredly. "Although I agree."

Stamping down the growing ache in his chest and forcing his stoic, stone-like expression to seal his face once more, D clicked his sword back in place. "Two guards at the front entrance. No other visible accessible entry points from the outside along this set of walls. More guards in the back that have yet to be alerted. If my memory serves me, my father relied on keycards for security items and actual keys for aesthetic or low-threat situations. I'm betting keycards will be required past the lobby."

"The chances of this being your father's place is slim, though," Arthur interjected.

He eyed the vampire with such a lack of emotion that the other took a step back in alarm. A withering gaze would have been better. "It doesn't matter. Everyone looks up to him. His will, his interests—that will be the norm for his followers. Wasn't it so for you? Keep the visual at the peak of elegance bordering gaudy, build to obtaining the most state-of-the-art technology possible, ensure everything is accounted for. I'm hoping this is still the case…" He paused to press his ear to the door. Nothing moved from within the room immediately after it.

When he removed it from the metallic faux wood, he explained, "If there's a reliance on an automated security system, then I can break it like I did when I intended to free Bakura. We should enter now, before anything is found amiss. Search the guards' pockets. They'll have low-level clearance, but that's more than enough for what we need right now."

Indeed, plastic keycards were found amongst the remains, and with little fanfare, the offensive party entered the building. Everyone, save for the trio that remained outside as lookouts, had a position as they advanced into the lobby. D once more was at the head, much to the other adults' chagrin, but he and Arthur were the only ones familiar with the layouts that were so in style for their enemies—and D was the only one familiar with taking a computer system offline. No matter how swift he was, he would need the clearest path to his target—and he trusted everyone else to be his backup.

The lobby lay empty, a great expanse of waxed hardwood shining with the minimal light that came from false flames on the stylized chandelier. Glass tiling accents encircled portraits and alcoves containing lush plant-life where mirrors may have benefitted the room. There was a blend of furniture and hangings in blacks, reds, deep browns, and golds that gave the space a cloying sense of richness—and somehow a claustrophobic feel. It was an assault upon the eyes in only a way that the truly wealthy could manage.

Gesturing to the left, D then raised two fingers. Two individuals lay behind a nearby closed door. Arthur nodded in confirmation and added his own tally by pointing forward down the attached long hallway before them and raising his full hand to count five along that path. Jounochi, in turn, nodded his head back to where D had made his first count. Better luck lay that way.

Claire began setting up her spot, kneeling and checking her rifle one last time. Albert kneeled beside her, taking position as the last-ditch protection of the girl if it came to that. D and Jounochi flanked the doors while Arthur gripped its handle and swiped the keycard through the slot just above it. A light clicked green. The sensor beeped. With that, he swung the door open.

They had expected guards, and guards they had found—just not in the manner they expected them to be in.

Within the ostentatious parlor room were two guards seated upon a dark and velvety chaise. These pair, in various stages of undress, were poised mid-kiss. They appeared human. Their guns rested atop a low table that acted as a midpoint between the back of the room and the door itself. Apparently, they were off-duty, or at the point just before beginning it. Either way, a stolen moment had been interrupted.

D stood frozen in his spot. His hand remained clinging to the handle of his katana; his mind seemed to move with a sluggishness he was unaccustomed to. He saw the cheeks of both parties redden, but nothing registered. There was an emotion welling within him that he could not name. He could not guffaw, or shout indignantly, or demand answers.

He just stared. Stared and wondered where he was. Questioned why he was there.

It was Jounochi that made the first move. Placing a finger to his lips and taking advantage of their stunned reflexes, he advanced enough that even if they had lunged toward their weapons, they would not have reached them in time. They stared, the woman's eyes shifting back and forth, her mouth quivering as if she was debating whether to alert those nearby. The man leaning over her had his legs bunched, prepped to leap if he did not find their party's actions dangerous enough.

"Don't," Jounochi breathed, "Or we will end you."

The threat snapped the boy out of his stupor, and he blinked rapidly to rid himself of the strange stalling of his own body. It was not an aggression he was used to hearing from the blonde, and he thanked the jarring nature of it. His weapon was now pointed at them; the guards recognized that uncanny speed, for both of their jaws slackened in fear.

"But we don't have to," the man continued, offering a soothing gesture with his palms facing them. "Just tell us where our friends are, don't alert anyone, and we will leave you be."

"We don't even know who you are!" the woman hissed. She covered herself with a bare arm.

"But you know where the most recent detainees are," Arthur said. The pair shrunk back further into the chaise, knowing him for what he was, as well. "Simply tell us, say nothing, and we will leave you be—just as my friend here says."

"Or don't and see what happens."

The guards chose not to press their luck any further and talked. While they were able to tell them the room that these new prisoners had been relegated to—B2-RM127—they could not provide the means of getting there. Apparently, that was above their pay grade. The room would be two levels down, with the upper levels being the general living area for the "ruling" lord and their entourage—during the night. Then those in charge would retire somewhere in the lower levels to rest during the day, but the pair doubted that it was the first or second level. Also, the man added, that was when they were present. Currently, those who ran this castle were off completing some other duty. They only took care of the upper floors, so neither were aware of what this task was.

They were thanked for their honesty, and then promptly knocked out by Arthur, who took to tying them up in their own clothing. He shushed the surprised chastisements with a distracted wave and tossed one of the guns to Jounochi, who had to catch it, lest it clatter to the ground and create more means of alerting the five others further on in the castle. The other weapon he passed to Albert once they had made their way back to the lobby and shared the paltry amount of intel they had gathered.

Now it was time to either bypass the other guards or face them down in a relatively loud battle. While the second option was less favorable since they did not know how many remained to guard the lordless premises, they were prepared to go through with it if necessary. D scanned every corner for security cameras and was shocked to find none. Were they not installed yet? Or was this area just seen as less important? He decided on both as the answer. There would be cameras installed, but the no-doubt low inventory meant they had to be placed elsewhere for now.

'All the better for us,' he thought to himself.

The main issue for a simple bypass was clearance. Since the guards they had met had been the daytime variants of the slain one's outside, neither keycard would be sufficient to access the lower levels of the elevator. This lay just beyond the door that held the laughing conglomeration, with one within definitely being of the vampire variety based on their nigh imperceptible footfalls.

D and Arthur planted themselves across from each other on opposite sides of the ornately decorated wall, while Jounochi, Claire, and Albert held the back, each facing a separate direction—any place they may possibly be ambushed from. The boy watched Arthur mouth a plan that would require the vampire to break through the wall and risk his dying if it went awry, and he vehemently mouthed a negative back at him. That would require a lot of force and sound with a possible end result that could get them all killed. Offering his own suggestion (causing a distraction loud enough to pull at least some of their opponents out into the open) was rebuffed as being too trusting that there was only one vampire, and that the vampire would either be low-grade enough not to notice them, or too far back in the line to be of much use unless they tore through their own to get to them. To top it off, Arthur gestured, if they managed to get past their front line, a gunshot would alert more than just those in the room.

D glowered at the man and prepared to counter that his own idea would have created just as much trouble. 'If we could just get one out…' he thought while pointing an accusing finger at Arthur, before pointing at the door and miming an explosion with his hands.

As luck would have it, the door swung open amidst this silent "debate", and a new pair emerged. Both again were human (so many humans aiding the vampires' objectives, D mused, having pulled his arms back with a whiplike speed), with one being a guard while the other was a scientist, marked by their white but stained lab coat. This person rubbed at their dark, unshaven chin thoughtfully, discussing something movie related with the other. The boy did not recognize the name of this movie, or the premise, but did notice that under the coat was a graphic t-shirt of people in various colors of unitards and helmets with something that ended with "—angers" before they turned, presenting the unblemished white of the back of their coat. The door leading into the more dangerous room swung closed behind the pair. Suddenly, the boy was struck with an idea.

Crouching low, he snuck up to just between and behind the pair and eyed what was visible—pockets, belts, key rings—anything that could be of use to them. He heard some shuffling behind him and figured it was the human portion of the party readjusting so if the others turned, they would not be so easily spotted. He was primed to be sorely disappointed until he caught sight of an off-looking shift of the fabric of the scientist's shirt. It pointed to something minor jutting out on the left. He fell back a step and silently hoped that what he had learned would keep him from sight just long enough to grab for what he thought it was.

Leaning with the man's shifting and keeping pace strained his balance, but D felt a thrill of accomplishment as his hand brushed along the pantleg without alerting either of his prey, and he refused to let out a breath of a laugh when his fingers unclipped what he knew was either a keycard or an ID (or both!) with little fanfare. He swiftly backtracked his steps, watching the pair reach the very elevator that they would want to use. He crossed the fingers of his right hand, clutching what was in his left to his chest, and willed that they would continue not to notice. The scientist's hand moved to his belt, only to be shooed by the guard, who procured something from their own. There was a beep, a rattle of mechanical movement, and a ding, and then the pair were gone from sight.

D allowed himself to breathe just then, a slow and measured exhalation. He turned to the others with one of his rarest beaming smiles—he had done it!—and saw a wash of anger, disbelief, and excitement face him. Even for the negative reactions, the moment stoked his sense of pride; he was capable, and a real asset, no matter what monstrosity he had been born as. A feeling that Bakura would have been all too familiar with slid around in the back of his mind. It was a sort of muted approval from some unknown source, but it flowed through him so pleasantly that the warning alarm from the entity in his hand went completely ignored.

He stood, carrying that feeling close to his heart, much like the card that was in his hand. D looked down and grinned even wider. It was exactly what they needed! Holding the card up, he pointed at it and offered a pre-teen's self-assured I-did-it look for good measure.

"That was so dangerous!" Jounochi mouthed while Arthur waved wildly in his direction to return to their spot. Albert just gaped at him, and Claire had released her hold on her weapon to give him two big thumbs up. D wanted to ride this intangible feeling for as long as he could and was ready to ignore the earful he was going to get as he walked back to his little party.

That was until he heard the shifting from the other room. The jiggle of the door handle about to turn clanged in his ear like so many cymbals crashing to the ground, promptly wiping off any confidence that remained of his expression. His bloodless face turned toward the door that began to swing from its jamb—

"Really, I think that they're just being overzealous," one of the remaining three said as they exited the room. Distractedly, the armored woman brushed aside a strand of brown hair before plopping her helmet atop her head.

"That's not for us to decide," replied her compatriot. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder back into the room while messing with a set of keys in his other hand. "That's his job."

D held his breath and all muscle movement still, folded in the corner between wall and ceiling just above the door. His dark eyes were wide and full of horror. If even one of them looked up, he would be caught. He could still be caught if the last one—the vampire—decided to make his own exit. There would be no hiding it. Perhaps the creature could smell him even now.

He had to calm down. Pressing his palms flat against the ceiling to equalize the pressure between them and the points where his feet met just above the dressy doorway, he felt the synthetic card dig into his left hand and wondered if he had made the correct decision after all. Yes, he told himself, he had. Next time, though, perhaps it would have been better to listen in to the conversation, rather than bicker with a full-grown adult. For now, he just pinched his lips shut with his teeth and watched them for any sudden movements. He did not know if the others had managed to hide, or if they were all frozen in place. He had heard shuffling from that area, but that could have meant anything.

The door swung closed behind this pair, leaving who was probably the main officer holding down the fort until the lord returned inside.

"Anyway, you'd think that they'd figure out the world was changing," the one just below him continued. "Why they'd put up such a fight is at least a little suspicious."

"That and they don't speak our language," the female guard said, still facing the other way. She was struggling with her chinstrap. "And they have such strange names…"

D's eyes widened at this. They had to be talking about the very people he and his friends were looking to save. How much damage had the captives done in order to be such a hot talking point…or was there not much to speak about so far from another city? He wished he could think on it more but being in his precarious position he needed all of his attention to be focused on getting out of their view before they saw him.

Shifting his left hand, he placed the card between his front teeth and reached out just in front of him. Touching the ceiling once more, he felt for the ridges in the wood and pressed his fingertips into them. He then reached out and did the same with his right hand. Being in full diagonal, he lifted his right heel to twist his body to where he now faced away from those who were below him. He sat there for a moment in absolute silence.

"Mai is strange, but not that strange," he heard the male voice say.

"I kinda meant the other one."

Good. They had not noticed. He returned to focusing on maneuvering the tips of his shoes up to the ceiling as well. To any normal individual watching, it would be a strange—if not unnerving—sight: two guards engrossed in work gossip while a strange child hung from the ceiling just above them like a spider upon its web, or a lizard clinging to the rungs on its cage. For a second only his hands had been points of contact, and being so young, he had shuddered from the force he needed to use in order to maintain what looked like an upside-down push-up, or plank. Paired with the fact that he now crawled along the ceiling, away from this pair in a defiance of gravity that would make any physicist weep, if anyone had taken note and run screaming for their life, it would not have been unwarranted.

'Don't hear me, don't hear me, don't hear me…' he willed at the guards below and the being within the room.

With each shift, he worried that the being on the other side of the door would hear him now that they were alone in that room and undisturbed. He worried that the others would catch a glimpse out of their peripheral vision. Still, he moved, knowing that he had little choice but to do so.

'Don't see me, don't see me…' he begged, his legs now hanging into the hallway as he crept up the slightly higher portion of the wall in the other room. If he managed this, he would be able to pull himself out of sight. Internally, he swore. Every instance had been like dodging landmines on a battlefield. Not wasting any time, he swung up both of his legs and hung on that bit of wall, still not breathing. D waited.

Nothing. They were now talking of other things, although they had yet to leave the hall.

He let out a shaky breath of all too human emotion and pulled in as much air as he could before shimmying around to where once again, he pinned himself between ceiling and wall.

The visual that greeted him filled him with a mix of horror and hilarity.

Every one of his accomplices were staring up at him from their less-than-ideal hiding areas, gawking—Albert and Claire from behind the low cabinet, Jounochi from D's old position, and Arthur from the place he had not moved from.

"How?" mouthed the girl, pointing up at him with a close-to-the-chest finger.

He shook his head, not only unwilling to explain himself, but also because he could not have explained it with any brevity. How did one fully discuss an instinctual recognition that it was just something he could do? At the very least, explain it in any satisfactory way. He had been scared. He had looked up and had just known he could because he had done something like it before.

"Anyway," he heard the male guard say, "I'm going to grab something to eat. Want to come with me?"

"Might as well, since Elena is probably too busy with Andrey right now."

The voices continued but began to fade as they moved down the hall. Every intruder waited with bated breath to see if the pair would turn around and spot them.

"Don't they have a job to do?"

"In like fifteen minutes. Are you really shocked to hear it?"

There was a ding as the elevator came to their floor once more.

"Whatever happened to the whole 'no workplace romance' thing?" the other guard asked, annoyance creeping into his voice.

He could have cried in relief. These were such terrible guards.

"Management hasn't said anything about it yet…"

"They're going to make us all look bad!" the other complained. "Meet me down there, I'm going to have a word with them."

"Oh, gross."

"They shouldn't be so blatant about it, then."

"Whatever," the woman guard said, "I'll meet you down there. You have fun with that eyeful."

The doors slid open, and D could hear one guard enter the elevator as the other tromped down the hallway towards his position. The elevator doors closed just as the guard passed the threshold of the lobby's entrance, and easily spotted Albert and Claire in their meager hiding place. The guard's mouth opened as the sound of the pulley system began its work but was quickly struck silent by Arthur's strong arm wrapping around his throat. In an instant the soft guttural gagging ceased from under the vampire's hand that covered his quarry's mouth. He was gently carried into the room with the other guards and then they all faced each other once more.

"We will carry you," Arthur mimed. "Whoever is in there may hear you."

'We've been lucky so far,' D thought to himself as he lifted Claire onto his back. It was a little awkward with the way she held her rifle, but he understood her desire to keep it at the ready, and once he had her piggybacked, they were able to silently stalk to the elevator. For his effort, Arthur carried the two understanding but self-conscious adults over each shoulder.

With a final check over to his companions, D then freed his left hand to insert the keycard into the little slot that would call forth the elevator. Everyone stood still, human chests aching while they tried their best to make no noise as the metallic shuddering made its way to them. He could sense Claire craning her neck to see if the vampire in the other room would take notice. Everything remained calm. Silent. Still.

The elevator dinged open, and to everyone's collective relief, it was blissfully empty. As an added plus, noted the boy, there were no cameras here yet either. Everyone entered and hovering feet found the floor once more. Complaints or half-jokes may have been in the minds of the carried humans, but no one made a sound. They had been lucky that their presence had not yet been noticed. Distraction? Lack of care? Who knew? It benefited them all the same. Yet, it was best not to tempt luck. They would not be clear until they reached another floor—where there would be new problems yet.

The buttons were standard with the raised lettered and numbered leveling; they glowed with dim frosted light, waiting for their cue. D pressed the B button to begin their descent and it brightened, hurrying the contraption to its task. The doors sealed, the whirring sound resumed, and they descended. Only then did they all breathe again although all refused to speak.

When they reached the floor, machinery just below the button pad beeped, and out slid yet another identification marker. This time D flipped the card over and waved what had simply looked like random points of black on the back in front of the red light. The light flickered green, and the cool metallic doors slid open once more to introduce them to a hallway tiled white, the walls a cool matte gray, and the fluorescent lights that hung from the ceiling spreading their harsh light over them all.

"Don't move," D whispered. "Not yet. This time, for certain, there will be cameras."

Spotting the first of them was easy enough, but it did take an agonizing moment to come up with an idea to mitigate being identified. D made a motion to snap his fingers when he thought of a solution and passed Arthur one of his wooden needles. He mimed chucking it at the lens, since the vampire had a better angle than the boy. Hopefully the speed that he and Arthur could muster would be great enough to break the camera, and that his father had not come up with some means of making a stronger glass. Destroying the camera would of course alert anyone watching the screens, but by that point, they would be moving on.

It worked; and by the slight bzzzzt noise that emerged from the electronic they hurried out of the elevator and deeper into the compound.

Pausing here and there to rid themselves of the obnoxious recorders—noting their dwindling supply of silent ammunition—they snuck down the halls. Albert pointed out that certain hallways they passed, even numbers were on the sides that faced them, while odds were on the walls closest to them. Each door had a small red light upon it just above the handle, denoting an electric locking mechanism, and no windows to peek through. Claire grumbled in annoyance that there had been no B2 button, and that they had to risk themselves so much just to get to something like another elevator. D would have hushed her, but he understood her displeasure. Clearly there were tiers of clearance—did they really need another elevator to ensure certain people lacked entry?

Jounochi was the first to spot the sign they desired at the same time that Arthur and D had skewered cameras that nearly caught sight of them. He waved his hands and pointed down an unassuming hallway; when everyone looked, they saw a sign for stairs going downward. Arthur lifted him up into the air and swung him around like one would a child who had just learned to walk. It was an absurd visual, enough to lighten the mood of everyone there.

Leaving their former route was easy enough, and hopefully the change of area would be a sufficient distraction for any possible trackers that may be pursuing them; maybe they could even risk not clearing a camera or two if they ran out of the little wooden ammunition that remained. The stairway they entered was devoid of anyone. In fact, the level they had been in previously also had been suspiciously empty of life strolling along the corridors. D assumed that the vampires were bedding down for the day, whereas the bulk of humans that resided here would be roaming up above. Not trusted enough for full clearance, no, that was reserved for the vampires, the "Nobility", but trusted enough to protect those resting bodies.

Unless they were useful, like that scientist.

Midway through their descent, D paused. There was a strange déjà vu that settled in him as he gazed down the concrete passageway and he, trance-like, ushered his friends to the door they were looking for, before claiming he would continue downward without them.

"Are you crazy?" Claire and Jounochi whispered at the same time, and the boy shook his head.

"There's…I think the main terminal is nearby. I can make sure that you can get through the rest of the way generally undisturbed. Just trust me and go!"

"And if you get caught?" Arthur admonished.

"If there are people watching, they will now have to decide who to go for. Splitting up their forces may be a benefit to us," D reasoned, holding back an antsy shifting of weight, wishing to follow that nagging urge. "Also, I might be able to open the door for you if the lock on it is like the others. In fact, I might be able to save any other prisoners that may be in here."

Arthur sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "Well then, I am coming with you."

"No," the boy said, surprising even himself with the answer. "I…I need you to keep everyone safe. You're all capable!" he added in a rush, looking at Claire's scowl and Jounochi's furrowed brow, "but it's true that there are a lot of things that we are not aware of here. What I'm proposing only works because I have an idea of where to go. This is textbook architecture for my father's labs, if not a little modernized and incomplete. Let me go now, before we waste any more time arguing about it."

"And if your father happens to show up?"

D pursed his lips as he directed his full attention on Arthur. "Please, just…mind yourself and keep them safe."

The grey hallway took on a different atmosphere as D raced down on his own. He hopped three, four, or even nearly the entire set of stairs before the next landing. Anything to create distance and assurance that they would come through on the end of their begrudging bargain. They had all been displeased, but when the boy had leaned over and explained that he could delete certain files that might have something to do with Arthur's hypothesized current location, and that there was a good chance that those in the lower levels may know Arthur by appearance while the upper levels' may not—not to mention D had a higher chance of being received with some positivity…there had been a slight change in the adult vampire's tone.

What he had not told him, is that this deeper area may be bio-locked.

Would it lead to a high risk of being captured? Yes. D could not ignore the danger he was placing himself in; but his friends were in trouble, and he needed to do something to rescue them. Being alone ensured there were no more disputes about his actions, too. Plus, there was less of a chance that they would be captured with so tempting a target that he was.

"This is a stupid move," his hand cut in.

"You say that about every move I make," D replied flatly.

"Because you make stupid moves."

"I thought you'd be happy about this," the boy whispered with a snort, "you hate my friends, and probably wanted me to go 'home' all along."

"Hey, I never said I hated them. I just said you weren't safe with them, and that you may want to take a bite out of a couple of them. Honestly, at this point, I'll take whoever can keep you from getting yourself killed."

"Just shut up."

"Fine. It's not like you're listening."

With a sour little pinch of a frown, D pressed on. At each sealed entryway he would pause, opening the great doorways to peek inside. He stared down about three hallways in this manner before hitting the one he had been looking for. This hallway was lit not by fluorescent lights, but by something akin to a faux candle. Dim light flickered on darkly painted walls; a homey environment to those damned to live solely by night. D felt the area looked lonely and sad—but there was a lack of the discomforting assault that the rooms above had provided. Here was a place of business, not one of unease.

He wondered what floor the scientist and guard had gone to but figured neither would need to come down here. One, there must have been other labs that had computers at their disposal up above. Two, the computer that would be at this level would be less useful for tests: this would be the mainframe of their system. Lastly, this corridor had no doorways save for the one he could perceive at the very end. The one, which he had correctly surmised, that had a glowing pad just beside the door. A clear indication that it was meant for the higher ups—and the highest up.

This flat display also had a point where all five fingers would rest. His hand being too small would have caused an issue if it were scanning for fingerprints, but there were 5 small holes on the face of this contraption. He could tell small needles would pop up once the proper pressure was placed, and that it would read whatever biological material it managed to gather on its needles. He sucked in his breath, preparing for the discomfort, and placed his right palm against the advanced lock.

There it was. Five small pricks, all along the outer edges of his palm. It would have been slightly more centered for an adult hand, but with as fast as he healed, either option would have meant little to him. The machinery whirred, clicked, whirred again, and made a series of snapping and clacking sounds in its acceptance of his DNA. The little red rectangle of light switched to green, and D wasted no time in pulling the door open.

What greeted him was the large computer screen belonging to their main device with additional monitors winging either side. No one currently resided in the cushioned computer chair, but that was not odd to the boy. There was no need for someone to be down here unless they were of great importance, or all other systems had failed, and the main computer was needed to bring everything back up to speed.

Or…perhaps…to tear it down.

D swung himself into the seat knowing that the task before him would be difficult. He had not been through his father's passwords for some time and did not know if he would have felt the need to change his favored ones after his son's first attempt at disruption. He did not fear that his father would lack access, however. The more he heard, the more he saw, he knew that only those that truly opposed his father's will would be averse to keying him into everything. Cracking his fingers to play at being human with himself, he began testing the waters.

After two fails and knowing the risk of locking himself out and alerting the base, the boy turned away and began rifling through the area for some hint. Some scrap of paper. Anything to let him know his guesses were on the right track. Unfortunately, the drawers were empty save for general tallying sheets and there were no hints etched into the back of the computer tower or otherwise. A dead end.

With a groan, D flopped back into the chair and stared hard at the ceiling. He had to think! People were depending on him!

What would his father have done? He had a passion for the past and did not let go of things easily. The aged vampire had also regaled how important it was to learn from past failings as well, and if that book that Bakura and he had read together contained even a minute shred of truth to it, then his father had a valid reason to do so. Well…valid was a strong word to use…and now that he thought of it, his mother's name…

D tapped his heel against one of the wheels, a little ball of darkness huddled within the dimly lit control room. There had been a few passwords of his father's that had some variant of his mother's name in it. Separated by other codes and numerical options of course, but he had seen them; and those he had seen were used in more than one place. Especially if the vampire was particularly sentimental about an area. Was he sentimental about this no-named remainder of the past? Was he hopeful about what it could become? Did something about this place make him think of her?

Well, it was worth a shot.

D typed in with a thoughtfulness that begat pecking at the keyboard, closed his eyes to pull forth a memory, and completed his entry. He then snapped his attention to the screen, which to his quiet joy, showed that his assumption had been correct. Specific files lined the featureless background of blue, and the boy began to smile. A different type of nostalgia than the one that he felt for the simpler times with Bakura hit him then; this was a reminiscence that made D almost miss the way his father would beam at him when he had done something particularly difficult right. "A wonderful show!" he might have exclaimed. "Can you replicate it?"

In this moment, D could, in fact, replicate his former mess, if he could find any part of the virus that remained in the system. It did hinge on this network being connected with the one in Japan. A tall order considering the state of things. He would need to poke around a bit to see if it were so.

It did not take long to see the route he would have to take. However, before accessing the area that he needed to be in, D caught sight of a file folder within the drive that read: Internees.

"It wouldn't hurt to look," he muttered aloud.

"You sure you've got time for that?" his hand asked. The boy lifted it to glance at the face upon his palm, while clicking on the folder with his other hand in response. There may be information available to see what the vampires knew of their captive friends and how far he had been tracked. Having signed in as his father, he would have access to all of it.

"Be stubborn," came the embittered response to his move.

It was true that he had access to all the files. All of the files. Clicking through them became a rapid-fire nightmare. D's expression soured when he realized he could be stuck there all day and still not come across what he was looking for. For all he knew, his friends could be running into a trap while he dallied. Yet…the chance for this information!

And so, he searched for a file he knew existed. If anything had been connected back, his friends would be linked to that file.

156234-D.

The file popped up, and D noted with muted excitement that it rested in the main network drive. This computer was connected to the main network!

Within it lay even more files. D clicked the top one labeled 156234-D Info and saw Bakura's face load up on the left-hand side of the document's layout. Taken before the worst had happened to him, the picture showed the face of a young man staring blankly at the camera, a hint of fear in his eyes. Here contained every piece of information his father had pulled from Bakura, willingly and unwillingly. Age, height, blood type, schooling, interests, a slew of medical records that had their own links to separate documents—experiments and their ultimate conclusions—and names of friends and surprisingly of his sister. To the boy's horror, some even had their own files attached.

211520-D. A picture of Yugi, and a developing file on him. 211521-D. Here was a picture of Jounochi with lines of duties that must have been related to his time in the food and supply runs for Domino. 210465-D. The link presented a picture of Kaiba, the number denoted his file was older than either Yugi's or Jounochi's. His father must have been watching Domino City for some time. 373241-D. What could only be a recent picture of Mai with a near empty entry that simply stated: Ally to 156234?

On all of them there was a single word followed by two letters, a directive that made the boy swallow audibly.

Capture. HP.

Thankfully, there also was a lack of information on anyone else that ran with their high priority group. D did see his own file linked, specifically under the label of Ward, but he had little interest in reviewing his own past, however hazy, at the moment when more important things were at stake. Perhaps he would get the chance to look into it at a later date. Currently, there was another ID number that held his attention with what little time he allowed himself to peruse the system. A feeling of ice sliding into his stomach hit him. 184634-D. It sat beside his sister's entry in the spot saved for family, unattached to any name. Another photo popped up; this time of a man with hair that held a blue-grey tinge. That freezing stone-like sensation in his stomach sank ever lower and heavier. He may have never met this man, but he knew that face.

Bakura Osamu the name read. When the boy scrolled further down for more insight, he found a bit of text before the vital information laid itself out. Note: While subject was found roaming north in Hungary, may be relative. Look into.

His father must have never gotten to it. Or, the boy feared, it no longer had been necessary.

The document continued to describe the man as not particularly noteworthy (to which the boy took offense to for Bakura's sake), an archaeologist that held a doctorate in world archaeology, who had been a curator for some unknown now defunct museum (it appeared that this must have been where the other man had been less inclined to share—but why?), and had been on the move from one of the dig sites he had been visiting in order to return home. Home also was not elaborated on.

D further examined the description of the man's average build, and numbers which he figured had been from a blood test. This man seemed relatively healthy if that were the case. Then came the familiar lists of tests and links to longer documents and or connecting files. These tests were dated, and if D was correct in his own comprehension of the passing time, the last entry for the man had been back when they had been trying to acclimate with traveling in their first foreign land…

With a shaking hand, D scrolled back up, realizing he could have saved himself the trouble of learning any of this. If he were still alive, where the date of birth would be there would be a question mark beside a hyphen. While he waited for that line to reappear, he tried to drum up reasons for backing out of the experimental process. Bored? Lack of funding in the sector? Other problems? However, he could not muster a proper guess; not with all the other possible experiments going on at the time. Even during the rebuilding process, his father and his compatriots were still pushing the boundaries of science if the numbers were anything to go by. This might have been attached to the main network, but the boy realized now that his father's notes were sporadic and could easily draw the conclusion that if he were to open the related files, it would be other vampires…maybe even humans…performing the experiments. It was not as if he had been there every time Bakura had been under the knife.

Although, it had been most of the time.

He stopped scrolling and that awful feeling reached its point. Cold, hot, heavy, unmoving. There it was. A question mark where the birthdate was supposed to be, but beyond that dash there was a date: November 17, 2003. Failure.

"Oh, Bakura-sama," D muttered in a dry sob. Exiting out of the file, he returned his attention to finding the remnants of the virus somewhere within the main system. This revelation left him deflated, but he still had a job to do. With the way that "joke" had been developed it would have been near impossible to fully scrub without a massive system overhaul and restoration. Something even the vampires did not yet have the time or complete manpower to do. Backing up the uninfected files would have been a nightmare alone. However, even as he thought all of this, his mind kept ticking back to the awful reality of how, once again, another thing had been torn away from that man that he admired and loved most.

How was he going to tell him?