Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Love and Pain ❯ What happened here? ( Chapter 17 )

Gimmie a I! Gimmie a DON’T ! Gimmie a OWN! And gimmie a YU-GI-OH!

What does that spell? You lawyers went to college, you figure it out!.

Ok after much deliberation and frustration I have now officially decided to delete the sequel and start all over again!. This time I am putting it into the Yugioh section. It will be a lot better, I swear on the holy book itself! *holds up Yugioh manga and places right hand on it* But what shall I call it? How about HEROS CONSOCIO! It means heroes unite! (I think. Can someone who understands Latin get back to me on that?)

Anxious faces stared up at the kind, sweet looking doctor. If this were a less stressful situation, the people belonging to those faces would have gotten along with the doctor quite magnificently. But this situation was stressed out to the max. The life of a dearly sweet (deep DEEP down) friend was hanging in the balance as if the doctor held his sentence. ‘This is just too much’ Yugi thought to himself as he stared at the wrinkled face of the physician. ‘I think I wanna leave now’ Mai started eying the exit again. She didn’t want to hear what was going to come out of that doctor’s mouth. He was looking at them with a look of either compassion or pity and it was kind of unnerving. “I just want to say this now”. The Doctor started. The five faces he could see started to fall, and he could hear some kind of thud, as if someone was banging their head against a stone wall. He shook his head to try and clear the noise and continued. “Mr. Wheeler was quite a perplexing case, it seems as if he was intoxicated by some foreign substance, but we couldn’t identify the material that was intertwined with his lungs, blood and nervous systems. It seems as if this strange matter had just appeared from nowhere!”. As he finished, Tristan’s face clouded over with such intensity that everyone else flinched. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ Duke wondered. This question was answered as Tristan faced the doctor “Why did you speak as if Joey has gone? What happened?”. All the others paled. THEY hadn’t thought of that! Tristan’s face was as dark as night as he stared down the doctor. The doctor quickly composed himself, and continued. “Oh excuse me, I spoke like that because…. The illness has quieted down for some reason”. Those who faced the doctor lit up slowly, because they had prepared themselves for the worst. Most of them felt warm relief rushing through them. Yami just felt warm blood on his head. ‘He is still… with us?” Asked Mai (I REALLY dislike using that four letter word. People say that if you do say that word, someone else in this world really DOES cash in their chips!) The doctor turned to regard her “No need to sound so surprised, young lady. Your friend seems to be quite the stubborn guy. He should be able to recover. That’s if…”. He trailed off.

“If what! Well speak up!”. People surrounding the group turned to stare at the speaker. It had seemed that Y/B had taken over Bakura’s body just to make that very comment. The doctor was very surprised to hear that out of someone who had introduced himself so politely even under crisis. That and that the strange thudding noise had finally stopped while he was talking. “Well, It just that Mr. Wheelers immunity system was going all out just to keep this strange illness at bay. He is severely weakened and so if this should happen again, it might just finish him off. Also, Mr. Wheeler has not so far woken up and is unresponsive. He will need to stay in for awhile”. The physician went to leave, but was stopped by one final thing to say. “It is really quite touch and go here. Since none of the staff here know what illness has invaded Mr. Wheeler, your friend is basically on his own”.

“Joey will not be alone, not when he has us”. Yugi spoke up “Will we be able to come and see him?”.

“Only family members at this time I am afraid. Otherwise, come back tomorrow”.

“He lives with My family, Do I count?”. Tristan asked him, ready to fight for the right to stay with his friend. Not that he needed to. The doctor smiled at him.

“Of course, you count as family if he is living in your home, your parents should count as his guardians”.

“Well, my mother will be glad to hear that. She has thought of Joey as her own flesh and blood practically since the day we met him”. Yugi was interested. Neither Tristan nor Joey had ever spoke of the day they had met. ‘It was too painful’ they had said. ‘What exactly happened that day? I guess it is just another mystery to add to the list’ He mused as the doctor left. Bakura stood up. “I think that is our cue to leave guys”. He smiled as he looked over to Yugi who smiled back, grateful that the main danger had passed. Duke heaved himself off the wall he had been leaning on “C’mon Yugi, since you live over by my way, I guess I can give you a ride”. Duke had fetched his car earlier.

“Thank you Duke, I would not of liked walking home by myself”. Yugi looked towards Tristan “Will you be alright here by yourself Tris? Maybe you should call your mother”.

“That’s a good idea Yugi, I need to tell her what the doc had just said. And don’t worry, I promise to call you guys if anything happens even in the middle of the night and your grandpa wakes up and gets all annoyed at me until he finds out why I rang”.

Yugi truly grinned for the first time in ages. “Well, Okay. I guess I will see you here tomorrow then”. He waved as he and Duke left the building. Mai waved back, and then turned to the boys.

“Well, as much as I want to stay right now, I really need to get home and catch some shut eye. Bakura? You need a ride?”. Bakura jumped at the golden opportunity. He and Y/B needed to talk to her about Tea and Kaiba. This chance might not happen again. “Yes Mai, I have really had enough of running to places. Goodbye Tristan, I hope that this will be the end of our troubles”. They left also.

“Me too, Bakura, Me too” Tristan sighed as the doctor came back to show him to Joey’s hospital room.

######

As the dodge viper pulled out of the parking lot, Bakura was debating with himself on how he should approach the subject. He decided to do it the direct way, so that he might have a chance of surprising her into an answer.

“Mai? Please tell me where Tea is right now”. Bakura requested once they were on the main street.

“Why do you guys keep asking me this questions? I can’t tell you!”. Mai made a hard right turn. Bakura landed against the door hard. (geez should have thought about putting your seatbelt instead Bakura)

“Look, Valentine, we might have told that uppity pharaoh that it isn’t dangerous, but the truth is, it’s life threatening. Her uncle is dangerous even for a abuser-slash-rapist-slash-murderer”. Y/B appeared in the backseat. Bakura snapped his seatbelt on just in time.

The tires screeched as Mai put on the brakes. Car horns started blaring “What was that about a murderer?”. She asked shakily.

“He has been involved with quite a few murders in his day”. Y/B crossed his arms and put his nose up. Mai started moving forward again. “And he didn’t kill them all with plain old guns and daggers either. Guns weren’t around in his day”.

“He must be quite old then”. Mai switched to the next lane and stopped at the lights. “Maybe the old geezer would stress himself out and die of a heart attack”.

“He is older than I am. By at least five or six years”.

“Whoa, that is old”. ignoring the glare that the statement had earned, Mai glanced up at the lights. “Wait a minute, are you saying that this guy killed them all with magic or something like that?”.

“All except for the one friend I had in those times. He killed her with a dagger, sure it was a ritual dagger, but still ”.

Mai had two thoughts in her mind at this particular moment, one was fighting with the other. The need to keep her friends secret a secret, and the need to find someway to protect her from some nut case with magical powers. The light turned green, and she moved on. After lasting this long, her resolve broke and she decided to give them a small hint. They could easily figure it out, and she wouldn’t break her promise.

“Oh that is so sad. Listen, I can’t tell you guys where she is exactly, but I can give you a general location, Ok? I mean, I hold my friendship promises very dear”. When both nodded, she continued as she pulled into their street. “The mansion she is staying in right now is one on the coastline. It has big grassy fields and A crystal clear waterfall with towering trees”. ’Damn’ she thought ’I shouldn’t have said anything about a mansion. Now they would probably figure out whom she’s staying with’. Bakura thanked her as she pulled into their driveway. As the two of them got out, Mai said this “She needs all the support she can get right now. Try to be understanding”. ‘There I go again’ she sighed. Mai looked behind her car and waved to the guys.

While she pulled out, both boy and spirit stared at each other in confusion. What the heck did she mean by that?.

#####

Darkness. It was the very first thing that came to her senses. She was surrounded in it. Next came the sense of feeling. Oh yeah, she could feel it all right. The searing pain all over her body. ‘Where am I?’ was the first question that came to mind. Other things could also be felt. She was cold. A breeze drafted across her feet. And some kind of moisture clung to her. She was on a cold stone floor. She was also strangely heavy. ‘okay, So I am in some place that is dark, cold and damp. Maybe the basement?’ Hearing came back to her in a rush. It came to her so quickly, she almost winced when the wind whistled. ‘ugh, I guess I have a headache’ Tea thought as she put her hand to her head. Or at least tried to. Her hands and feet were bound together. ‘oh great. I bet that I am in the bottom of Seto’s deepest darkest basement. The one that the bodyguards only come down to once a year to check for intruders or something like that’ Smell returned to her now, and the stale air surprised her. ’Or maybe I am in a closet that hasn’t been opened for years’ She concluded but as the last sense of sight slowly edged its way back to her eyes, Tea saw that it was much bigger than a closet. And it wasn’t totally dark neither. Bright computer screens lined the walls in the creepy-looking place, flickering soft light over her body, which didn’t seem to be hurt too much except for the scrapes and bruises that lined her arms, legs and- ’oh no! the baby!’ She twisted and turned, trying to see her stomach, The panic intensified as she saw that something was in the way. ’I can’t see my tummy’ she whined as she wiggled. The thing that was blocking her sight wiggled also. ‘What the …’ She trailed off as she realized. And then she started screaming, in her head because she was gagged. But if she didn’t have one, you could probably hear it at the game shop, which is across town. But then if Yugi had heard it, that would kind of spoil the story then, wouldn’t it? So she has to be gagged. Its for the good of the fanfic, really. ‘My stomach!’ she cried in horror ‘ the baby grew! How could this happen?’. Trembling to the toes, with salty tears running down her face, Tea tried to remember what had happened after she had opened the door. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. ‘I had decided to go and see Joey, no matter what’ She started. ‘I grabbed my things, and opened the door, When I had taken a few steps out my room, I saw… Him. Those eyes, all glowing at me. He said SOMETHING, and then he grabbed my arms. I kicked him and when he let me go I screamed, but no one helped me, I saw Brawn out cold, unconscious or..or worse, He can’t be can he? He can’t have killed him could he? O.M.G Brawn, I am so sorry’ She broke down and cried until some of her pain and misery had left her. And then she continued. ‘He started to hit me again and again, all over my body but never on my stomach’ She remembered. ‘Oh my gosh, He knew, he knew about the baby. But how? He hadn‘t seen me since…That time. And then he hit my head and knocked me out”. She gasped. ‘I have got to find a way out of here, where ever it is. I can figure out what happened to me later. But why did he come after me? I never did anything to him!’ With her tears gone and anger coursing through her veins, Tea started to try and wrench her hands loose of the rope that bound her.

######

Soft hands shook him awake. A cleaning maid stood over him, with worry in her eyes. His team of bodyguards stood behind her.

“What are you doing down there? What happened? Where is Master Kaiba? And young sir? Look at this mess, do you think I am going to clean this all by myself?”.

Brawn sat up in a panic. Where was his boss? Then he remembered. “Mr. Kaiba went with his brother to the hospital. They are fine. Well, except for young sir, he hit his head badly”. He sat himself against the wall. His head hurt like thousands of horses had raced the Kentucky derby on top of it. The hallway he was in was littered with bullet holes on the walls and junk on the ground.

“Was anyone else hurt? You and the other bodyguards were all knocked out of it. Your arm looks as if it was bleeding badly. What exactly happened?”. The maid started checking him for other wounds. His arm hurt pretty bad and he flinched when she touched it. At least it was getting a scab over it. Brawn tried to remember what had gone on last night? What time was it? A quick glance at the clock told him it was 9 in the morning. The chimes that came along with the clock confirmed it. He shook his head to try and clear it.

“I was upstairs, I was patrolling the halls where Master Mokubah had fallen and well, this crazy eyed guy just blew in, and started heading up the stairs”. He was forgetting something important he just knew it. But what was it? His boss was safe and sound. He hadn’t even been there. “When those downstairs tried to stop him, He just blew purple smoke into their faces. I ran to this set of stairs and met him in the hallway just outside Miss…. Damn it!”. Brawn leaped up suddenly. He had just remembered what he had forgotten. “What’s the matter?” The maid cried in alarm as he ran towards the bedroom. The other body guards went pale as they too remembered. They had been so worried about their boss that they had forgotten. “Miss Gardener!?” Yelled Brawn as he jumped into the door way. It was empty and Brawn felt sick. “Who?” said the maid as she came up behind him, followed by the others.

As Brawn turned to face them all, he had never felt so helpless in his life. One of the nicest people he knew was in danger. Not to mention the fact that if Mr. Kaiba ever found out about this he and the other bodyguards would need protection themselves. But he needed to know, Mr. Kaiba was his boss. It was his job to inform him of any intruders, regardless of the consequences. He punched the door frame, And then spoke to the others.

“Spread out!”. He snapped. “Figure out what exactly you saw before you lost conscious ness. See if it will help you in any way. I want somebody to search the security cameras, find any clues from that. Then the rest of you,. search the grounds.”

“And what will you be doing sir?” The maid couldn’t help but ask.

“I will be busy getting myself fired by Mr. Kaiba”.

#######

Cold ice blue eyes stared into warm brown ones.

Of course, Seto Kaiba was sleeping with his eyes open, so he didn’t really see. It was kind of a habit that he had ever since he was small. Mokubah Kaiba didn’t carry the same trait though. The small boy had just awoken to find himself in this bleechy colored room. ‘The walls here are so gross’ Mokubah thought. ‘But what am I doing here anyway? The last thing I remember was falling. Did I hurt myself? I wonder if Tea is still staying with us? Ow, my head hurts so bad. I hate this place. Oh, well maybe I should wake up Seto and get him to tell me what is going on’. That was going to be a challenge though, Seto was a pretty heavy sleeper unless he had his faithful alarm clock that could still take punishment after all these years. What else could get him to wake? Nothing would probably get through to him except… Mokubah turned on the evil smile as he leant close to Seto’s ear and whispered. “Seto.. Hey Seto!”.

“Whaaumm?” Came the sleepy reply. He wasn’t quite awake yet. Mokubah grinned wider as he leant in closer.

“Hey Seto, Yugi is here and he wants to duel you! And he has a real lame bunch of cards!”.

“Uh-huh”.

“He says that if you beat him in this duel, He will grovel at your feet and proclaim you king of games!”. There was a sudden whoosh as the head flew up in record time, nearly striking Mokubah on the nose . The younger Kaiba fell back on his bed as Seto quickly stood up and tossing his head smartly, yelled. “YUGI! I accept your challenge!”. This was too much for Mokubah and he started laughing his head off. It took Seto a few seconds to realize he had been duped. Then he noticed his little brother on his bed laughing so hard he was gonna wet himself.

“Huh? Oh you little monster I am so gonna strangle you!” Seto moved towards the bed, then took a real good look. A genuine smile graced his face. “You’re awake!”. Swinging his arms around his little brother, Seto hugged him so tightly that Mokubah thought that he was going to suffocate. “Uh, Seto? I know that wasn’t exactly the best way to wake you up and all, But do you think I really deserve to be strangled?”. He gasped and his big brother loosened his grip slightly. “Sorry Mokie, I was pretty relieved to see you up”. Mokubah was slightly confused to hear that his brother was worried. This couldn’t be his big brother could it? Seto always kept a cool head, no matter what.

“What happened? Last thing I remember was falling”. Seto flinched slightly at this. ‘He just had to ask that first’. He breathed out slowly, thinking of someway as to not tell him that he had been pushed. It would just scare him. Maybe if he told him his point of view, his brother would fall for it.

“Well, I’m not sure, I hear this enormous crack, Kinda like thunder and someone says that you fell down the stairs. An ambulance brought you and me in to the children’s hospital. The doctors gave you an operation to fix your head”. Seto let go of his little brother and sat down back on the chair. He looked quickly at his watch. “Hmmm, 8:59, Tea should be up by now, she is a bit of an early bird. Maybe I will call her soon. Tell her you woke up”.

Mokubah was instantly interested. “She is still at our house? How long have I been asleep?”. This was new. Normally Seto hated having Yugi and his friends around him for more than one second than what was needed. Maybe Seto and Tea had become good friends too (amazingly naïve, isn’t he?)

Seto patted him on the head “Too long kiddo, About a day and a half. Today’s Thursday. Yes Tea is still staying with us for now, she came up to see you yesterday about lunchtime and didn’t leave until five o’clock. She had to go to bed early. She still isn’t feeling to good”. ‘And yet she can put her own troubles behind her when someone is in trouble too. I saw and heard her fear with my own eyes and ears, she just swallowed it and came here to see us. She is pretty good at hiding it. I only noticed because I know to look for those kind of things. It must come from all these years that she has lived with her uncle’ His fists tightened ‘Who I am going to find and destroy myself’. Mokubah glanced at him with worry in his eyes. His brother suddenly looked very freaky. Like he did when he lost a duel to Yugi.

“What’s wrong Seto?” Seto quickly calmed himself down. He didn’t want Mokubah to know about what Gishiro had done to Tea. Not now and not ever. ‘He is too young for that’ he decided.

“Just a bit angry at whoever built those stairs, nothing for you to worry about while you are recovering. I think I will call her now”. Just then his faithful cell phone rang. “Hmmm, must be ESP”. Mokubah smiled as Seto reached for it. “Seto Kaiba speaking”.

“Mr. Kaiba, It is Brawn speaking”.

“What is it Brawn?”. Seto was annoyed. Only one person had the right to call and interrupt him right now. And it certainly wasn’t Brawn.

“Sir, we had a intruder last night”. He was trying to delay the inevitable. His boss was going to kick his butt.

“WHAT! Did you catch him?”. Had Gishiro shown up again?. Seto squeezed his phone tightly. Now Mokubah was worried. ‘If my bro is, I probably should be’ he reasoned.

“No sir, we did not. He knocked us all out with an unidentified gassy substance. We only just came to a moment ago when a cleaning maid that had been on leave came back”. The bodyguard was doing his best to avoid the next question that came up, but a lot of good that did him. He wanted to tell his boss, yet he didn’t want to tell his boss for a very good reason. He needed this job. Right now though, Seto wasn’t thinking about jobs.

“What about Miss Gardner? Is she unharmed?” Mokubah looked at him in alarm. Seto had forgotten that he was there. He quickly ducked out of the door, and shut it behind him. ‘Please be safe Tea’ He pleaded silently. “Well, what about Miss Gardner?”. His voice rose in desperation. All the people in the B ward were staring, but that was the last thing on Seto’s mind.

“Well, Sir… I would tell you the answer to that if… I knew where she was”. Brawn was met by silence. Seto was way past yelling at his employee. He felt like he was going to pass out. The cell phone was nearing cracking proportions now “How could I let this happen? I practically promised that I would help and protect her for G’s sake!” He obviously didn’t realize that he was still on the phone to Brawn who had actually expected the next thing to come out of his boss’s mouth to be the f word. (both f word’s would actually fit right in here). His boss didn’t normally blame himself, just incompetent employees. Seto had doubled over and was supporting himself with one hand while the other was clutching the cell phone to his ear. “Are you okay Mr.?” A small five year old with a huge head bandage was staring over at him. “ I’m fine kid”. Seto gasped as he stood up straight. “Brawn?” He said to the kind man, who braced himself for the worst. “Yes sir?”.

“This is what is going to happen. You are going to tell my new chauffer to bring the car over here and I also want you to keep searching for her with everything we got. Find her and I won’t fire any of you”.

“I already took the precaution of calling him sir. He will be there in five minutes. And just one more thing”.

“What is it?”. Seto was now opening the door to Mokubah’s room. It wouldn’t be fair to leave his brother without some explanation.

“The intruder that came ? He wasn’t anything like what you and Miss Gardner described when you saw that man on the tree outside her window”.

That was not what Seto had been expecting. “Are you sure? Never mind, I will see for Myself when I get back there. Mokubah just woke up so I know he will be Ok.” Then he hung up before Brawn could say anything. “Mokubah, I have to leave, there is something wrong at home. I will be back soon okay?”. His brother nodded as he pulled up his blankets. “Just promise me that you will find her Seto”. He wasn’t that stupid. He knew what was going on ( just not the fact that he had been pushed down the stairs and his friend Tea had been raped by her uncle and was now pregnant and all that kind of stuff). Seto walked as calmly out the door as he could manage.

######

Brawn was heading to the top secret extra security room.

“Are we fired?” One of the others asked Brawn as he came striding down the stairs.

“Not as long as we find her”. Brawn grimly sat at his console. He was going to do the best that he was capable of, for more of the sake of Miss Gardner than his job’s.

######

‘This hospital room really stinks. The colors really suck’. Mai thought as she looked down at Joey. He lay still in his bed, never waking up so far from the mystery ‘illness’ that had struck him down. Life support machines were connected to him, and the little line that showed he was alive was still going strong. Mai sighed out loud, that being the only noise in the room. She had gotten a call from Serenity, who had assured Mai that she would be arriving in Domino tonight, and would be staying with Tristan‘s mum. It was about twenty past nine in the morning of a school day, yet almost all those who could come were there. Yugi was sitting closest to the bed, his eyes never leaving Joey’s face. Tristan looked so tired from looking over him all night. Bakura was standing by the door, talking with his yami. Speaking of whom, Mai was starting to regret her decision about giving them that clue, for every so often they would give her a searching glance. Duke wasn’t here just yet, because he had to stuff to do at the shop he owned, but he was coming. ‘Man, I hope that Bakura didn’t spill the beans about that clue, Yugi will never forgive me if he ever found out. And Yami? Well he will just give me a trip to the shadow realm. C‘mon Joey, wake up and tell Bakura yourself, so they could help her and I wouldn‘t have to break an important promise to a friend and not take another trip to the shadow realm. I so don‘t wanna go there‘. Her cell rang, jarring her out of her thoughts. Glancing at her screen, coz she got caller id, she saw that it was Kaiba’s number (DON‘T ask me how she got it and DON‘T ask me what it is. Seto Kaiba does NOT need crazy fan girls ringing him). ‘Why would Kaiba be ringing me? Unless…’ “Something is wrong“ she finished out loud. Everyone looked at her “What’s wrong?”. Yugi asked. “Yeah it seems as if you have just received some bad news” Y/B was starting to get on her nerves. Not that she could do anything about it. He could give her a trip to the shadow realm too. “It’s nothing, I just didn’t expect my mother to be ringing me now, we only talked just last night. It must be important. She‘s sick you know”. She fibbed as she left the room, and closed it. Right outside, by the ward desk, Mai answered the phone.

“Hello?”. Kaiba answered.

“Where do you live Valentine? I’m coming to pick you up right now”. He sounded a little frazzled. Maybe the stress of having his brother in hospital was getting to him.

“What? Okay, Kaiba what happened?”. He was definitely scaring her. You would always expect Seto Kaiba and Yami to lose their temper at something, not get worried about it. But these last forty eight hours had changed a lot.

“She’s missing. Someone knocked out all of my guards last night and they woke up just now to find her gone”. ‘Um ok, that explains why he is so worried. Wait a second. Did he just say…’

“O.M.G” Mai was going to faint, but in a hospital, that would have caused a lot of ruckus. People had a tendency to over react here. “Alright I‘m coming, but I am not at home. I’m at the hospital”. She walked further away from the room her friends were in, and headed for the exit.

“You know, I just pulled out from there, you could have told me sooner. Driver, turn back. Where exactly are you?”. It sounded as if he was slowly getting over his panic and the usual Seto Kaiba bossiness was showing through once again.

“In the adults medical. Joey was magically poisoned at school yesterday”. Mai walked out of the building.

“Wheeler was poisoned? Huh!”. There were too many coincidences for Seto here. But he was still convinced they were only coincidence. He would never believe in magic, especially since bad stuff always seemed to happen to and in front of him, never the good things. That only happened to Yugi for some reason. And also, it was only Wheeler getting poisoned. The mutt always got himself into trouble.

“Don’t be like that! Anyway, Bakura and Y/B have almost figured out what is going on here. They keep asking me questions. I haven’t told them anything useful but they are getting kind of close. They say the uncle is some dude Y/B met 5,000 years ago who murdered a friend of his with a ritual dagger”. Mai searched the entrance to the parking lot for a limo. She was silently begging the almighty himself that he would grace Kaiba’s vehicle with turbo power.

“If I weren’t so against superstitious nonsense like that, I would almost believe it”. As he said that, Mai spotted a fancy navy blue limo sporting the Kaiba Corp logo. It was speeding through the entrance like it was on caffeine. Another fancy looking car came in slowly after it, and found itself a parking lot a few meters away from Mai.

“Okay, I think I see your limo Kaiba, (you THINK? Just how much more proof do you need? I mean, would anybody else DARE to impersonate HIM?) I just hope Tea is okay”. Mai hung up and started for the limo. If she had looked into the open window of the fancy car, she would have noticed Duke Devlin looking back at her in shock. Instead, she nodded to the chauffer, jumped in and let him close the door.

######

Joey’s hospital room was gonna a lot louder. Loud footsteps echoed as someone ran down the hallway. Tristan was pissed. “Don’t they have any consideration for others?”. He grumbled. But he stopped as Duke ran past, and nearly skidded into the wall at the end. He quickly checked the name thing-a-ma-bobs and ran back.

“Yugi! Tristan! Bakura! I just saw Mai get into a limo belonging to Kaiba!” Duke burst out with as he entered the yellow-walled room. The head nurse gave him a withering look, which earned her a blush of shame from the rich game shop owner. The others couldn’t have cared less. They had given him their utmost attention.

“What!” Bakura said “Why?”. He quickly closed the door again. The nosy nurse didn’t need to hear this.

“I dunno, but before she got in, I heard her say these exact words In to her phone: Okay, I think I see your limo Kaiba, I just hope Tea is okay”. They all leaned forwards with this news.

“So she is in danger! I knew it! So much for your: ‘She would tell us if it is dangerous theory!’” Yami burst out of the puzzle with a glare in Y/B’s direction.

“Oh come off it pharaoh, I didn’t think that it would be that serious!” Y/B snarled. He then added in a whisper to Bakura ‘Now they know, Ugh, so much for saving her’.

“Hey wait a minute, how come Mai told Kaiba where Tea is and not us?”. Yugi was feeling kind of miffed right now. His rival knew before he did. That was so not fair! (ugh, why did I make him out to be such a ditz?)

Y/B rolled his eyes. “Oh geez, pipsqueak. I bet that Kaiba probably found out and is just trying to help”.

Yami just glared harder “Found out WHAT! And don’t call my aibou a pipsqueak!”.

Tristan chimed in “Come to think of it Bakura, didn’t Mai give you guys a ride home last night? What did she tell you?”. The non albino people surrounded the duo.

“Well, um you see…” Bakura stuttered, and Y/B rolled his eyes again. ‘It’s all over now’ he thought. His Hikari couldn’t tell a lie if anything depended on it. Last night was probably a phenomenon and would never happen again.

“What is it Bakura?”. Yami knew who just to ask, Bakura was about to crack.

“Oh, alright!”. Bakura burst out, and Yami and the others smiled knowingly. ‘You can always count on Bakura to tell the truth’ they each thought in their own minds. Y/B sat down with his head in his hands.

“The thing is”. Bakura began. He swallowed and gathered his courage. “Tea wanted to protect US”.

“What?” Four voices spoke out. Y/B’s head jerked up. Did his Hikari somehow find out away to keep the secret?.

“Well, after we pulled out of the hospital, Y/B got Mai to talk. And Mai said that Tea does indeed live with her uncle. But apparently they don’t get along too well. In fact, on Monday night, Her uncle kicked her out of the house and Kaiba was the one who found her. He said that if she helped out the cooks, coz you know she is a good chef, that she could stay with him. Only, her uncle found out and he has been trying to get into the mansion. He never liked her, but he wanted his cook and cleaner back. Luckily Kaiba and the guards have been keeping an eye on her huh?”.

Everyone else stared at him, Y/B included. Finally Yami spoke. “That does make sense”. he said slowly. “But how did Mai find out?”.

“Apparently She figured it out and confronted Tea about it on Monday. She poured out the entire story, and made Mai promise not to tell us. She was afraid that her uncle would be following us around and ya know?”. The others nodded. Duke decided to say something. “Sorry for putting you on the spot like that Bakura”.

“Yeah”. The others chimed in. “That’s okay guys, you were all worried. I was too, until I had it all explained to me”. Bakura smiled and they all smiled back. Except Y/B who muttered “notice how they didn’t apologize to me”.

######

“What is the situation?”. The sharp voice of their boss jarred the bodyguards out of their concentration. ‘Oh, crap. Now we’re gonna get it’. This common thought was shared by those at whom the question was directed. Brawn tried to keep his voice from showing his frustration and fear as he replied. “We have so far put together an account on what we saw that matches what is on the security video tape. We have not, however, found out what had happened after the intruder had knocked Miss Gardner unconscious”.

“He knocked her OUT?”. A new voice came from behind Mr. Kaiba. It seemed that he had brought the friend of Miss Gardner. After checking with his boss that he was in fact actually expected to answer, He looked at her and said “Yes, the numerous blows to her head and body finally caused her to go limp”.

“Did he hit her on the stomach?”. ‘Now that is a weird question’ Brawn stated. He noticed that his boss had stiffened at this question as well. ‘There is something more here’ he thought. “It seems that the body blows ranged on her limbs and shoulders”. The busty blonde sighed in relief, but Mr. Kaiba punched the nearest desk/ “Damn it! He knows!”. At this comment, Miss Gardner’s friend swore loudly. “But how could he know? We were always careful about who we said it in front of! Not even these guys and Mokubah knew!”.

Now this was sparking Brawn’s interest. “It may be rather forward of me to ask this sir, but what exactly are you two talking about?”. Mr. Kaiba was about to yell at him, he could tell, but Miss Gardner’s friend stopped him. “Maybe if he knows a bit more of the situation, he could help us out a lot more”.

Mr. Kaiba considered this for a second. Then he nodded. “Come with me, Brawn. The rest of you keep searching”.

#######

As soon as Kaiba had left with Brawn, Mai turned to the guards. “May I see the security footage? I might know the person”. The tape of last night came up on screen almost immediately, first a hooded dark figure came rushing into the house, waving his arms almost maniacally. A purple mist wound itself around his hands, and as the bodyguards came running from all hallways, he directed it at them. The bodyguards succumbed, and the hooded figure hurried up the stairs. Mai shuddered, but kept looking. The figure had reached the top of the staircase. With out glancing in either direction, the dark being headed immediately down the hall where Tea’s room was. ‘He knew exactly where she was, how the heck did he manage to find his way around inside?’ Mai quickly gasped as on screen, Brawn came charging down from the other staircase. As Kaiba and Brawn themselves came back from out side, Mai watched the latter fight on screen.

He was quite good at fist-fighting, kinda like Joey was, but he was knocked out of it in ten seconds flat. The hood had come off, but his back was to the camera, all you could see was.. A wig of black hair. You could tell it was fake, but you couldn’t see the real color. As the figure continued down the hall, Mai knew what was coming next. ’Oh, no please no’ she thought, as though she could change the events simply by wishing it. Kaiba himself had an iron grip on the door handle. But still the events continued. Tea’s door opened and she came out, not noticing who was coming. She was wearing her cardigan “She was coming to see Joey”. Mai realized . Kaiba snorted, but the door handle was slowly cracking under his grip. On video, Tea glanced up. Her eyes widened in terror as she saw who was now in front of her. ‘She recognized him’ Seto thought.

He lunged and grabbed her by the arms. She kicked him as hard as she could in a place all men could appreciate. “Go Tea!” Mai murmured softly, Seto heard her and echoed it in his mind and heart. (wait a min, did I just type heart? Cool). The good feeling didn’t last long though, as the figure started beating her everywhere, except her stomach. Hot rage boiled within Seto, and there was a loud crack as the steel door handle splintered. (yes a steel door handle was in splinters, it shows how enraged he was). She fought back, but succumbed quickly to a shot of purple gas. Once she was out of it, the figure bent over and picked her up. “Get your stinking hands off her”. Seto muttered and Mai looked at him for a moment, then turned back to the screen. She shouldn’t be playing matchmaker right now. Tea was in trouble. The person kissed Tea on the head, and Mai could hear a growl coming from the doorway. There was a shuffling noise as the bodyguards edged away from their boss. But that was quickly forgotten as the person turned and stared directly at the camera. Both Seto and Mai spluttered in surprise.

“It‘s impossible!. It’s him!!!”. Seto growled. The bodyguards edged further away.

“But he was imprisoned in the shadow realm! We all saw it! Even if not all of us believed it!”. Mai added with a reproachful glance at Seto. He glared back. He would never ever believe in that place, even if he had supposedly sent there.

“Sir, I take it you know this fellow?”. Brawn asked.

“Yes, he is one of the lowest things in the galaxy”. Mai answered instead. “He is a dark side to a good person. His name is Yami Marik”.

Oh, my gosh this is like, the longest chapter ever! 8 pages! I can’t believe it! Well I guess you people kind of knew who our mystery attacker was huh? I need to somehow make it sound more mysterious ay?