THE THIEF
With a top speed of 28 knots, or approximately 32 miles per hour, it would take the St. Charleston ferry five hours to get to its first destination, Nobilis Island. Nobilis was a popular tourist destination, and as such, a number of people on the ferry were on their way to the island. While there, the ferry was going to pick up more people to take them to the mainland, with the first destination after leaving Nobilis Island being Salamandra City.
In total, it was estimated that the trip would take approximately thirty-six hours.
That was fine by Yuka. It gave her more than enough time to prepare herself for her eventual duel against the Salamandra City gym leader, Cole Colter. As she, Hugo, and Shelly sat in the ferry's dining area waiting for their dinner to be brought to them, Yuka booted up her duel pad to look up information on Cole.
"Looks like Cole Colter uses a Volcanic deck," she said as she scanned Cole's duelist information.
"Better be careful with those," Hugo cautioned. "Volcanics specialize in using cards called Blaze Accelerator to deal effect damage when a monster is destroyed."
"I'll be fine," Yuka said as she shut her duel pad off. "I've already got two gym badges in pretty easy victories; I'm sure the rest of the badges are going to be easy to get too."
"Someone's confident," Shelly said.
"Nothing wrong with that," Hugo said. "It's being overconfident that you have to watch out for. Try to keep your confidence in check, Yuka."
"What, you think I'm going to lose?"
"Duel Monsters is a game of skill as much as it is of chance," Hugo answered. "You could draw a brick hand at the start of the duel while he's got the most optimal hand he could want and there you go, you've been OTK'd or even FTK'd."
"You're worrying too much," Yuka said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"With good reason," Shelly put in. "The remaining gym leaders probably aren't going to be as easy for you to face as Alice was."
"I easily beat Flynn Hartmann too," Yuka said.
"Look, Yuka, we're not trying to be on your case about this," Hugo said. "We're just trying to help you."
"I know," Yuka said. "And believe me, I appreciate it, you guys. But if I'm going to face the rest of the gym leaders, I can't be thinking about losing. I need to go into each match with the mindset that I'm going to win."
"I guess you've got a point," Shelly agreed. "Just be careful, okay?"
A few minutes later, their food arrived: A chicken cesar salad for Shelly, spaghetti and garlic bread for Hugo, and a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for Yuka.
"Can you believe that old guy earlier?" Hugo asked after a few minutes of quiet eating. "You know, the old guy who you dueled, Shelly?"
"You mean how he wanted to buy my Blue-Eyes White Dragon off of me?" Yuka asked. "I mean, if he wants one so bad, he can just go to a card shop or buy one online. Besides, if I lose even one of my cards, I won't be able to keep gathering gym badges."
"Yeah, you said something before about how you'd be disqualified if your deck list changes," Hugo mused.
"You can't change your deck at all, Yuka?" Shelly asked.
"Not even by a single card, Shelly."
"That's kind of strict."
"It has to be that way to avoid any possible cheating," Yuka explained. She washed her food down with a drink of grape soda. "Well, I think I'm going to go back up to the top deck for a bit. See you guys later."
"Later, Yuka," Hugo said.
"Bye," Shelly said.
As soon as Yuka was out of earshot, Shelly turned back to Hugo. "Are you sure Yuka's going to be okay for the next gym duels?"
"I sure hope so," Hugo answered. He booted up his duel pad, searching for the official rules for the Duel Monsters Championship League. "Let's see here...Oh. That's disheartening."
"What is it?"
"It says here that a duelist is only allowed two losses during the qualification process," Hugo read. "That means that Yuka can only afford one loss against the gym leaders. I'm pretty sure Yuka already knows that, but if she doesn't..." His voice trailed off.
"We can talk to her about that later," Shelly said.
#####################################################
"Those two are worried about nothing," Yuka said to herself as she walked down the hall to the elevator leading to the top deck of the ferry. She knew they were just trying to help her, and even though she said she appreciated the help, she'd have been lying if she said she wasn't just the slightest bit annoyed by their worrying.
Every duel that Yuka had been part of so far, she'd won. Two gym duels, one tag duel with Hugo, and the duel earlier against that weird guy who tried to woo her earlier; with her Blue-Eyes White Dragons, she had nothing to worry about. Sure, she knew that if she lost twice during the gym challenge that she wouldn't be allowed to continue qualifying for the Duel Mosnters Championship League, but that was just it; she had no plans of losing.
There were only a few more meters to the elevator; she'd go topside, play a few duels, and then call it a night.
Yuka felt a sharp pain as something hit her hard in the back of the neck. She stumbled forward, arms outstretched as she tried to catch herself before hitting the floor.
And then...
Darkness.
########################################################
It had been more than an hour since Yuka said she was going topside. Hugo and Shelly followed Yuka not long after she said she where she was going, and in that entire time, they hadn't seen her. There was no sign of Yuka, neither her nor any of her monsters.
"Fifty people up here, and she's not one of them," Hugo said. "You'd think we'd have seen her by now; her red hair would kind of stand out."
"Her Blue-Eyes White Dragon would stand out," Shelly said. "You think she went to her room?"
"Before or after coming up here?"
"Does it matter? We should at least check."
They rode the elevator back down and made their way down the hallway to Yuka's room. Hugo pounded his fist on the door, hoping to hear an answer from the other side.
"Yuka! You in there?" No answer. He knocked on the door again. "Yuka! It's Hugo and Shelly! Come on, answer!"
Shelly grabbed the doorknob and turned it; it barely budged. Of course; the door was locked, and only Yuka's ticket could open the door. She joined Hugo in knocking on the door for a moment, only to be answered with silence.
Hugo put his ear against the door and listened. "I don't hear any water running, so she's probably not in the shower. I don't hear a TV, either."
"Hugo, I don't like this; something's really wrong," Shelly said. She was starting to feel anxious. What if something terrible had happened to Yuka? What if that old man Ernest did something to her to get her Blue-Eyes?
"Yeah, I agree," Hugo said. He looked around, not sure exactly what he was looking for. He soon spotted a security camera in the corner of the ceiling. "Maybe that camera saw something?"
"That would probably require us getting into a security room," Shelly guessed.
"Then let's find a security guard."
It took them twenty minutes to find a security guard, doing his rounds on the deck below the one their rooms were. The guard's white uniform clashed with the red and brown of the hallway, and the jingling of the keyring on his belt was the only sound they could hear outside of their footsteps.
"Hey, Mr. Security Guard!" Hugo called.
"An 'excuse me' would have worked just fine," the guard said. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, we're trying to find our friend Yuka but we don't know where she is," Hugo answered.
The guard pressed a button on the radio clipped to his shoulder. "This is Security Guard Medeiros. Be advised, we have a missing person situation." He turned back to Hugo and Shelly. "When did you last see your friend?"
"In the dining room," Shelly answered. "She said she was going to go topside to duel for a bit, but we didn't see her there."
"And we don't think she's in her room, because she wasn't answering the door," Hugo added.
"She probably returned by now, though," Medeiros guessed. "Let's go check."
Hugo and Shelly led him back to Yuka's room. The door was still locked, and there was still no answer when they knocked on the door. Medeiros took the key ring off his belt and put one of the keys in the knob, turning it and opening the door.
"Yuka!" Hugo called as soon as the door was opened. "You in here?" No answer. A quick look around the room showed that no one had been in here for a while; the only sign of any occupancy was Yuka's backpack.
"Are you sure this is your friend's room?" Medeiros asked.
"This is her bag," Shelly said, picking the bag up off the bed. "So she was in here, but that was before we went up to the dueling deck earlier. Hugo, how long ago was that? An hour?"
"Maybe two," Hugo said. "I did see a camera in the corner; maybe that saw something?"
"It's worth a check," Medeiros said. "Come on, you two; let's go to the security room. Maybe the footage will show what happened to your friend."
######################################################
Yuka's head hurt. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened; it felt like something hit her in the back of the head, hard enough to knock her out. After that...After that, she didn't know. As her eyes slowly opened, she found that the place she was now was pitch black, save for the very thin sliver of light poking through the bottom of what she guessed was a door.
She also noticed that something was over her mouth, something adhesive; maybe it was tape of some sort? She couldn't be entirely sure if she couldn't see. It felt like the same adhesive material was binding her wrists and ankles, her arms bound behind her back, her ankles tied together.
As she finished coming to consciousness, she heard faint voices on the other side of the door, voices that steadily got more and more faint as, from the sound of things, they moved away. She tried to make a noise, but the adhesive substance on her mouth kept her from even screaming.
Yuka looked around, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. As she looked, she could see the handles of what she guessed was brooms and mops; a yellow wheeled bucket was on the floor by her feet; she could see a hose connected to a sink less than a foot from her. She was in a janitor's closet.
The voices were gone now, but someone had to be close, right? Someone would probably hear her if she started making some kind of noise. But with her arms and legs bound, and with very little room to move, there were very few options for her.
Well, there is one thing I can do, Yuka thought as she looked at the door. She took a deep breath through her nose, shuffled to turn her body so her shoulder was facing the door, and threw herself forward, hitting the door as hard as she could. Yuka felt the pain of the impact against her shoulder radiate down her arm. The door was much sturdier than she'd first thought.
Even that one shoulder charge was enough to hurt. Her shoulder was sore, but Yuka knew she couldn't give up. Someone was bound to hear her if she kept it up. So, she slammed her shoulder into the door again, harder this time.
Watch me cave my shoulders in before someone finds me, Yuka thought as the pain spread through her arm.
##########################################################
The security room was located just below the bridge of the ship. Hugo and Shelly followed Medeiros through the door labeled "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY". The room was laid out with various desks and lockers with a line of small televisions along the back wall, each screen showing the view from a security camera.
"Hey, Medeiros," another security officer said, "making any headway on that missing person you called in about?"
"Working on it," Medeiros answered. "Right over here, kids; let's see what camera that was."
They made their way over to the screens. Medeiros scanned the screens, looking for the right one. To Hugo and Shelly, they all looked very much the same, the only difference being the angle. That, and some of the cameras were in the kitchen and the dining room areas.
"Which one are we looking for?" Hugo asked.
"This one right here," Medeiros said. "Looks like this one's in the corridor as your rooms. Now, what time did you last see your friend?"
"I think it was about quarter till eight," Shelly said.
"Okay, then we'll just rewind the footage to that point and see what happened after that," Medeiros said as he wound the footage back to the appropriate time.
The three of them watched the footage for a few minutes. After some time - it was just before eight, according to the time stamp on the footage - they saw Yuka round the corner, making her way to the elevator that led topside. Yuka wasn't alone, though; there were two men behind her - it was hard to tell exactly what they looked like with the footage in black and white, though they could see that one of the men was wearing a dark beanie cap.
They watched as the man in the beanie cap hit Yuka in the back of the head, dropping her and knocking her out.
"Yuka!" Hugo and Shelly both cried as the watched the footage.
"Look," Medeiros said as the footage continued. "The hatless guy; what's he doing?" They watched as the man without a hat removed the deck of cards from Yuka's duel pad, only to put it back after flipping through it and removing one card.
"Looks like he took one of her dueling cards," Hugo observed.
They continued to watch as one of the men produced a roll of duct tape, using a strip to cover Yuka's mouth before binding her wrists behind her back and binding her ankles together. The men then picked Yuka up and put her into a nearby closet.
"So that's what happened," Shelly mused. "Those creeps. When I get my hands on them..."
"You and me both, Shelly," Hugo muttered angrily.
"Easy, you two," Medeiros said. "First, let's get your friend out of that closet."
They made their way back to the hallway with their rooms, where they could now hear a loud banging coming from one of the closets. Medeiros pulled his keyring off his belt and unlocked the door, pulling the door open -
And letting Yuka fall out onto the floor.
"Yuka!" Hugo called. He hurried over to Yuka, kneeling next to her and rolling her onto her side so he could remove the tape from her mouth.
Yuka gasped as the adhesive strip was pulled off her lips. "Ow! Stings."
"Are you okay, Yuka?" Shelly asked. She started to unbind Yuka's wrists.
"I've been slamming my shoulders against that door for I don't even know how long," Yuka said. "I can't feel my shoulders or my arms anymore."
"Just take a few minutes," Hugo said. He started to unbind Yuka's ankles. "You're going to be okay, Yuka."
Yuka lay down on the floor, her arms splayed out at her sides. "I don't even know how I ended up in there."
"We saw the whole thing on a security camera," Shelly said. "Two thugs knocked you out and stuck you in there, after taking one of your cards."
"One of my cards?" Yuka repeated. She sat up and took her dueling deck out of her duel pad. "It looks like they're all here," she said as she flipped through her deck. "Wait..." She flipped through her deck again. "One, two...Oh my gosh. I'm missing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
Hugo and Shelly shared a glance. "I guess we know who those thugs were working for," Hugo guessed.
"What are you talking about?" Yuka asked.
"There's only one person we know who wanted your Blue-Eyes," Shelly said. She turned to Medeiros. "Medeiros, we need to have a serious talk with one of the other passengers on this boat. His name is Ernest St. Germain."
"Are you sure?" Medeiros asked.
"He told me his name when we dueled earlier," Shelly replied. "And he showed interest in Yuka's Blue-Eyes White Dragon; he even offered to buy it off her. So, logically, that would mean that he hired, or at the very least asked, those two thugs to attack our friend and take her card for him."
"That slimy old scumbag," Yuka growled. She balled her hands into tight fists. "When I get my hands on him -"
"Easy, kid," Medeiros said, holding up a hand to silence Yuka. "Here's how this is going to play out. Since these are some pretty serious allegations, with the evidence to back them up, this is a situation that goes directly to the captain. So I'll take you three to the bridge, and then we'll call for Mr. St. Germain and his thugs - we may be able to identify them if we take a closer look at that footage - and then we'll talk about this with the captain and let him decide."
############################################################
It took nearly forty-five minutes after they arrived at the bridge for Ernest St. Germain to arrive, followed by two men, both in their mid-thirties, one in a black sweatshirt, the other in a white t-shirt and wearing a black beanie cap.
"Thank you for joining us, Mr. St. Germain," the captain, Captain Daniel Greene, said as they closed the bridge door behind them. "And your associates. I believe your names are Theron Sherman and Roman Ellison."
"I still don't know why you called us all the way up here, Cap," Theron, the man in the beanie, said with an irritated tone to his voice. "I was just about to go to sleep."
"Your sleep can wait, Mr. Sherman, because this is important," Captain Greene said. He looked over to Yuka, who was standing with her friends over by the main window. "Now, it's come to my attention that the three of you are involved in a conspiracy to steal private property from one of the other passengers. Is that correct?"
"Even if it were, what makes you think it was us?" Roman asked.
"So, you mean to say, Mr. Ellison, that it wasn't you and Mr. Sherman in the security footage I was shown attacking Miss Yuka over there?" Captain Green asked sarcastically. "Mr. St. Germain, do you mean to tell me that you didn't show a particular interest in one of Miss Yuka's playing cards, enough to hire these two to take the card for you?"
"If I may ask, Captain, what is this about them attacking the girl?" Ernest asked.
"Answer the question, darn it," Captain Green growled.
Ernest sighed. "Yes, it is true that I envied the young lady's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. I'm a collector, and that card is one that I don't have in my collection. However, I would never ask anyone to attack the girl for it."
"And yet, they did!" Yuka yelled. "They knocked me out, tied me up, and threw me in a janitor's closet! I got the bump on the head and the sore shoulders to prove it!"
Captain Greene just stared at Ernest and his two cohorts, his arms crossed, as he waited for one of them to speak up.
After a moment, Roman finally spoke.
"Okay, yeah, it's true that the old man here asked us to get the card from the kid. He also said to get it by any means necessary. Even paid us each quite a bit of cash for the job."
"Be that as it may, I never wanted you to hurt the girl," Ernest snapped at him.
"Then maybe you should have told us that, gramps," Theron said.
"I think I've heard enough," Captain Greene said. "Where is the card now?"
"Gave it to the old man," Theron said.
Captain Greene turned to Ernest. "Mr. St. Germain, give Miss Yuka back her card."
"No," Ernest said. "I'm sorry for the harm my associates inflicted on Yuka, but I'm not giving the card back; it's going to my collection."
"You slimy son of a -" Yuka started. Hugo clamped a hand over her mouth, silencing her, while Shelly looped her arms around Yuka's shoulders, holding her back.
"Mr. St. Germain, I don't think you realize the seriousness of the situation," Captain Greene said sternly. "Even though you say it wasn't what you intended, the fact is you still conspired to attack and steal private property from another passenger - a minor, at that. When we get back to the mainland, you and your associates are going to be in some serious trouble, because you can guarantee that this is going to be reported to the proper authorities."
Ernest rolled his eyes, before pulling a checkbook and a pen out of his pocket. "Okay. We can sweep this all under the rug and forget it ever happened. Just tell me how many zeroes you want me to write on this check."
Yuka pulled away from Shelly and Hugo and stomped over to Ernest. "You slimy son of a Kuriboh! You think you can pay us off and that'll be enough to make us forget what you did to me?"
"Yes," Ernest said without hesitation.
Captain Greene put a hand in front of Yuka, stopping her in her tracks. "She has a point, Mr. St. Germain. This is not a matter of money. And let's not forget that you're clearly trying to bribe me, the captain. You can add that to your rapsheet. Now, this is the last time I'm going to ask you: Give Miss Yuka back her card, before I rip open each and every pocket you have and take it from you."
"But," Ernest started, "it's a card that -"
"That you don't have in your collection, we get it!" Yuka cried. "Go online and buy one; you've clearly got the money! Now give me back my Blue-Eyes White Dragon before I beat it out of you, old man!"
Ernest was silent for a few seconds. He closed his eyes as he put his checkbook and pen away. He then reached into another pocket and produced a Duel Monsters card. He handed it to Yuka, face down.
"Face up," Yuka snarled. "I want to see that it's the right card." Ernest begrudgingly complied, turning the card face up, revealing it to be a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Yuka snatched the card from Ernest and held it close. "Thank goodness. Back where it belongs." She turned to Captain Greene. "Thank you for your help, Captain."
"One of my passengers was attacked and robbed," Captain Greene said. "The situation called for it."
"Miss Yuka," Ernest said. "For what it's worth, I really am sorry that my associates attacked you."
"Apology not accepted," Yuka said with quiet fury. "Espeically since it doesn't sound like you're sorry for stealing from me."
"In fairness," Ernest said, "as you said that I can just buy a Blue-Eyes White Dragon online, surely you could as well?"
"It's not the card, it's the principle!" Yuka yelled. "My father gave me this card before he died! It's got sentimental value to me! All my cards are special to me! And the fact that you're clearly not sorry for taking it from me is seriously making me consider taking you topside and throwing you into the bay!"
"Let's not go that far, Yuka," Hugo said. "I mean, yeah, the scum deserves it, but that's not really going to solve anything."
"Your friend's right," Captain Greene agreed.
One of the navigators came over to Captain Greene, a cordless phone cupped in his hands. "Uh, Captain? You're needed in the lower deck. A security guard says he found a suspicious item and needs you to take a look at it."
"What kind of suspicious item?" Captain Greene asked.
The navigator leaned in closer and whispred the answer into Captain Greene's ear. Shelly watched this as it happened; she could just barely see the navigator's mouth, but the movement of his jaw was enough to tell her that he was saying only one word, maybe two. Paying closer attention, she could hear a single word being uttered to the captain:
"Bomb."
Shelly's eyes went wide with shock. She turned to Hugo, nudging him with her elbow to get his attention.
"Don't freak out," she whispered to him, "but the guy talking to the captain just said something about a bomb."
"There's something I need to take care of on the lower deck," the captain said. "Miss Yuka, you and your friends are free to go. Mr. St. Germain, you and your two associates are to remain on the bridge until we reach the mainland, where you'll then be handed over to the proper authorities. Do you understand?"
"What we understand," Theron said, "is that the 'suspicious item' your security guard found will ensure that we don't reach the mainland."
"What are you talking about?" Captain Greene asked.
Theron and Roman both reached under their shirts and produced matching blank facemasks. From their pockets, they produced two matching black duel pads, which they strapped to their arms and activated.
"Because," Roman said, "we're going to make sure that you don't get to our little toy and stop it."
"You two," Shelly said grimly. "You're with the Cultura Mortis!"
"Took you long enough to catch on, Runaway," Roman said.
Yuka and Shelly both stepped forward, their duel pads ready. "Hugo, Medeiros, you guys go with Captain Greene and stop that bomb! We'll deal with these two!"
"You got it," Hugo said. "Come on, let's get going!"
As Hugo, Medeiros, and Captain Greene left the bridge, Yuka and Shelly activated their duel pads. All four duelists set their life points to 8000, drew their first five cards, and said "Let's duel!"