"Honda-kun, I'm so glad you could come over!" Yuugi smiled at his friend, who grinned in return. It was a little forced, though; Honda obviously wasn't himself without his partner, Jounouchi, around.
"You got yourself a pretty sweet place here, Yuugi. It must have some great grub!"
"Sure, you can stay for dinner." Yuugi patted his stomach. "The chef likes to try out new recipes, now that he has an extra guest. The Kaiba brothers tend to keep to a rigid schedule of certain dishes. I feel like I've been putting on weight!"
"Talking about the Kaiba bros., how are they doing?"
"Kaiba-kun is very worried about Mokuba-kun. Despite all the doctors giving him a clean bill of health, he now wants me to ascertain that Mokuba-kun is completely okay and not suffering from any trauma because of the attempted kidnapping."
"Yeah," Honda said as he scratched the back of head. "Concerning that, I have some bad news."
"What is it, Honda-kun?"
"Bakura Ryou was arrested for the crime," Honda said, "but..."
"Bakura-kun?"
"You know him?"
"He was in our class at Domino High!" Yuugi was shocked. "Don't you remember? He was a transfer student and sometimes watched us play games in class. I don't think he ever really interacted with the others, he kept mostly to himself. I completely lost sight of him after high school."
Honda frowned. "I first thought it was nonsense, but now I think that Jounouchi was right with all his talk about everything and everyone in this case being interconnected. It's like a damn spider web."
"Bakura-kun is incapable of committing a crime," Yuugi said, determined. "He's kind and good-hearted. Something is terribly wrong, Honda-kun!"
"You could say that again," Honda retorted dryly, "because he escaped from his holding cell not two days later."
"What?"
"He disappeared into thin air, Yuugi. Police all over the city are looking for him. It's possible that he'll try to kidnap one of the Kaibas again."
"But... why?"
"We don't know. This case has so many loose threads, so many connections and links, that it's hard to get a good overview. We don't know how to put everything together. However, the fact that Bakura was a classmate, might explain at least this connection: he knows you, and through you, he knows Kaiba..."
"But Bakura-kun would never do something like that..." Yuugi couldn't believe it. "Have you heard anything from Jounouchi-kun yet?"
"No." Honda shook his head. "He's undercover, Yuugi. We alerted him of Bakura's escape, but that was the most we could do. We have to wait until he contacts us. I do hope he makes progress with the Pharaoh. It's all Ancient Egyptian hocus-pocus to me."
"The Ancient Egyptian culture is really fascinating, Honda-kun."
"That's because your grandfather was an amateur-archaeologist who practically raised you to become an Egyptologist."
Yuugi smiled forlornly at the memory of his grandfather. "He had a great fondness of everything Ancient Egyptian, yes. He loved to explore and he has been present at multiple excavations. He broke off his last trip rather abruptly."
"He had to take care of you, I suppose?" Honda said, his voice sympathetic. "You were so young when your mother died, Yuugi. Your father wasn't around, so it was logical for your grandfather to come back to take care of you. He couldn't do that from an excavation site in Egypt."
"His journal is fascinating," Yuugi said, not wanting to touch upon the loneliness he had felt after his mother's death. "I never took the time to read it, until now. Here, he writes about his last trip to the Valley of the Kings, where he discovered the tomb of a nameless Pharaoh. Something happened in that tomb that scared the living daylights out of him, because he went back to Japan and never spoke about Egypt to anyone but me."
Honda nodded, even though he didn't understand why Yuugi was telling this story to him. Yuugi turned the fragile journal around to show it to him. "My grandfather could read hieroglyphs. He mentions the removal of the Pharaoh's name in the tomb; that's a very grave thing to happen, as the Ancient Egyptians believed that when your name was removed, you were denied entrance to the afterlife."
"Wow."
"It could've meant that this Pharaoh was a very bad person... or that someone else has usurped his throne. The tablets my grandfather found in the tomb however, spoke of great deeds and nothing but awe and respect for this Pharaoh in particular."
"Maybe someone was jealous?" Honda offered.
"We probably will never know. But here, if you continue to read this, my grandfather has also described tablets mentioning a holy tribe, Tomb Keepers, who vowed to protect the Pharaoh when the darkness returns. This Pharaoh apparently managed to vanquish that darkness and I first thought that it was some kind of metaphor for an enemy, or an invading army... 'darkness'... here, he referred to it as 'Zorc'."
"Zorc?" Honda repeated, incredulously. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, my grandfather copied and translated the hieroglyphs on the tablets as detailed as possible," Yuugi said. "'A great darkness has befallen'... 'the creator of darkness and despair, Zorc'... why, Honda-kun?"
"Pegasus, Dartz and even Kaiba hired bodyguards from a company called Zorc Security. Maybe the owner took his business name from this obscure Ancient Egyptian reference." Honda didn't sound like he believed it himself. "Do you know if Kaiba has rehired men from Zorc Security?"
"Kaiba-kun has replaced everyone on security detail," Yuugi answered. "I don't know where the current bodyguards come from, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were high-trained special agents who can kill you between two breaths."
"Private forces," Honda muttered. "All right, I'm going to talk to Kaiba about Bakura. I'll be back shortly - don't you start dinner without me!"
Jounouchi deposited the check in a safe at the local branch of a national bank. He couldn't cash it anyway. He didn't know where the money was coming from; if it was resulting from whatever criminal activity or money laundry operation, he would dirty his hands as well. Who knew where the Pharaoh got his money from; besides, it was evidence. He would leave it at the bank until he could give it to Ushio; the captain would know what to do with it. He was about to leave the bank when his cell phone rang. He picked it up.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Hey Jounouchi," a well-known voice on the other side greeted him, "I've got news for you. I heard you're best buds with the Pharaoh, right?"
"Sure, Keith," Jounouchi said as he searched out a place where he could talk without being overheard. "News sure travels fast."
"You got that right. Listen up, Jounouchi... we're best buds too, right? You and me. Friends. I helped you out, now I need your help. I want to call in my favor."
Oh crap. This was going to be messy. "Sorry, I can't introduce you," Jounouchi said, lightly. "I didn't speak to the Pharaoh in person. Only his bodyguard."
Keith snorted. "Not even I would think that you got to see and talk to him personally," he said, "Mahaado would kill you before you could even set a step into his direction."
Jounouchi agreed with the American, even though he didn't say it out loud. The bond between Mahaado and the Pharaoh was much more intimate then he could've ever anticipated and the bodyguard was a very loyal, forceful protector. "Let's talk business. Remember the Ryuzaki gang?"
"Yeah, what about them?"
"They're planning another heist," Keith said. "It's pretty big and they need help. A shipment of artifacts and... a lot of other stuff arrives tonight at the harbor."
Drugs, Jounouchi would wager. From what he learned from Hirutani, the Ryuzaki were big on drugs and their leader was probably looking for some kind of redemption, as their latest heist had consisted of a large number of fake and worthless artifacts. All that the Pharaoh cared about were the artifacts - he either tolerated or simply didn't care for the extracurricular activities.
"Help, huh?"
"I recommended you, my friend, to help out this evening at the docks. The goods need to be transported."
"All right," Jounouchi said. He didn't have much of a choice. He quickly checked his watch. "Do I have time enough for dinner?"
"You better eat up," Keith said rowdily, "It's going to be a long, hard night." He finished the phone call by giving Jounouchi instructions on how to reach the docks and what he needed to do. After he hung up, Jounouchi decided to go back to his motel, get something to eat and a couple of hours of sleep, but not before he phoned in the news about the heist through 'Miho', the secured phone line with Hirutani.
In the dead of night, the Domino City docks looked quite creepy. Jounouchi parked his car behind a warehouse and sauntered over to the working place. Keith was standing out like a sore thumb with his bandanna in the colors of the American flag around his head. He wasn't wearing sunglasses for a change; Jounouchi had expected him to wear them despite the late hour.
"Glad you made it," he grinned. "We've got a lot of work to do." He pointed to the men crawling all over the docks. It was quite a big operation; apparently customs had been paid off to turn a blind eye. "There's a lot of shit that needs to be moved." Keith leaned into Jounouchi. "Check the boxes thoroughly," he said, keeping his voice low. "If you find any good items, give them to me."
Jounouchi played dumb, nodded and left for one of the big sea containers, at least 12 meters long and almost 3 meters high. Keith didn't even hide the fact that he wanted Jounouchi to double-cross the Ryuzaki gang; stealing from them would be the dumbest thing he could ever do. Still, Jounouchi made sure to get the hell away from Keith. He entered the large container and ignored the men walking in and out, and the ones busy checking and unloading goods from big, metal boxes: high-tech electronics, both for domestic and corporate use, a lot of knockoff iPads and iPhones based on leaked designs and a lot of gadgets. Jounouchi had expected drugs, he didn't know the Ryuzaki gang dealt in electronics. Well, whatever. He wasn't going to risk his cover by stealing a crappy, cheap knock off Samsung. He ventured further into the container, climbing over boxes and crates. In the back, more crates and boxes, stacked and piled together. He discovered a bundle of paperwork; the inventory lists, with all the signatures and stamps forged. Jounouchi heard voices and recognized Keith's harsh one immediately. He was issuing orders as if he was the one running the entire operation. "Tetsuyo, move those crates to this corner. Hey, you there - careful! If you break one of these plasma screens, you're going to pay for it yourself!"
Jounouchi retreated even further. Keith Howard was an opportunistic idiot and he wanted to stay away from him. Everything seemed to go smoothly, but Jounouchi had tipped off his colleagues about this heist. He had received no reaction, but it wouldn't surprise him if Hirutani was going to let this go. Sometimes you had to throw the small fry back to catch the real, big fish. Jounouchi climbed over another stack of wooden boxes. He reached an open space and his attention fell upon a small, rectangular box, wedged between two crates. Curiously, Jounouchi reached for it. The small box was dusty and covered with sand. It looked very old. It had a shipping list attached to it; Jounouchi took out the document and read, in poorly translated Japanese, that this was a shipment for the National Museum, containing a golden artifact from Deir-el-Medina. Intrigued, he pried the box open, careful to not get splinters in his hands or fingers. The box was filled with packaging material, those typical foam peanuts used to prevent damage to fragile objects during shipping. Jounouchi sunk his hands into them, searching for the artifact. Hissing, he withdrew his right hand as he cut himself; befuddled, he stared at a small drop of blood forming at the edge of the cut. He pulled out the artifact with his left hand, slowly. It was a golden... rod, with a sphere mounted on top of it, and on both sides of the sphere was a winged ornament, its edges razor sharp. He gasped. On the sphere was the same, stylized eye as on Isis' necklace and Bakura's Ring. But whereas Isis' necklace had been pure beauty, this... thing was pure evil, he could feel it. No way Keith, or anyone else, was going to get his hands on it! Quickly he put it back in the box.
"Hey Jounouchi! What are you doing back there? You got something?"
Fuck! Jounouchi heaped the foam peanuts on top of the artifact and rammed the box back into its original place. "Nothing!" He straightened himself and turned around to face Keith, only to stare into another, very familiar face.
"Jounouchi-daimyo," Marik said mockingly, with a demonic grin on his face that bared his teeth like a predator. "What a surprise!"
"You know him?" Keith asked, his voice shrill. "He's just a low-tier lackey! I asked him to help out because I could use all hands on deck."
Malik showed up next to Marik, his face dark and gloomy. "We know him," was all that he said. Jounouchi's mind raced a mile a minute. What was he supposed to do? He had calculated the risk of running into the Ishtar brothers sooner or later, but he hadn't expected them to show up at a Ryuzaki heist. What were they doing here? Why weren't they with their own gang, the Rare Hunters?
"You touched something that belongs to me," Marik said. "I can feel it. You touched it, you dirty, dirty lowlife peasant. It won't work for you. It's mine."
"Marik, we don't know-" Malik started, but Marik stared at him with his creepy pupil-less eyes and he shut up. Keith looked from one to another.
"What's going on here?"
"Take out your gun," Malik said, regaining his confidence. "Point it at him. He's a cop."
"What?" Keith turned red in the face, frantically trying to save his own hide. "A cop? I knew it!"
"You knew nothing," Marik said coldly, "you know nothing. The shadows are awakening, and they're fucking hungry!" He came straight at Jounouchi, reached for him and shoved him aside as if he weighed nothing, not even allowing him the time to get into a fighting stance.
"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?" Greedily, he grabbed the box and tore it apart. He fished out the artifact and cradled it to his chest like a newborn.
"Marik," Malik said.
"What does your sister think of all of this?" Jounouchi asked. "You're robbing her museum, you ungrateful idiots!"
The next second, Marik lashed out and the tip of the sphere's wing cut Jounouchi's cheek open. He staggered backwards. From the corner of his eye, he could see Keith waving his gun around. This was bad, this was really bad. He was going to get killed if he didn't come up with a solution fast!
"Leave my sister out of this." Malik spoke with a trembling voice. It wasn't excitement, it was... fear. Marik was getting out of control now that he had the artifact - no, his Item, Jounouchi was very sure of it. Marik's face was distorted, a mixture of hunger and excitement, licking his lips after he had drawn blood. Jounouchi's knees locked up. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. He was driven into a corner, no way out, literally standing with his back against the wall. To Jounouchi's dismay, Marik separated the Item, taking the cover off of the shaft, revealing a razor sharp blade.
"Pretty Isis-sister has gone too far," he hissed, lifting the Item up. Fuck, he was going to stab him through the eye! "Do not mention her ever again!"
"You're not the demon," Jounouchi said, his breathing erratic. "You are a Tomb Keeper! You have vowed to protect the Pharaoh!"
It didn't have the desired effect. If anything, Marik got incredibly angry. He screamed something unintelligible and jumped at Jounouchi. Pain exploded in his shoulder as the blade tore through flesh, muscles and bone. He cried out and fell to the hard floor, adding to the pain and intensifying it tenfold. He gasped for breath and his body curled up into the fetal position. Blood soaked his shirt and he heard rambunctious laughter. Marik closed in on him, ready to stab him once more. Trembling, Jounouchi tried to move his arm in an attempt to retrieve his gun. Why hadn't Keith shot him yet? Someone screamed, and it wasn't him or Marik. Loud noises, gunfire, echoing in the large container. All hell broke lose: a cacophony of voices, yells and screams, people shoving each other around, and Jounouchi couldn't make any sense out of it. Had Hirutani and his men arrived, busting the Ryuzaki gang? His vision started to blur. He was going to bleed to death, he needed medical attention. Jounouchi didn't know where Malik and Marik had disappeared to, and Keith was nowhere to be seen either. Excruciating slow, he managed to get on his knees. Everything hurt. The metallic scent of blood reached his nose, making him feel nauseous. He didn't want to faint. He wasn't going to die in a sea container on the cold hard floor, damnit! If he could just straighten himself and retrieve his cell phone... Every movement send waves of agony through his body, but he refused to cry out again. He wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing Jounouchi Katsuya cry like a baby for mercy! His fingers went into his pants pocket. He breathed heavily. Oh Gods no, now he was pushing his phone further down! Who designed these fucking pants to have such tight pockets? Jounouchi fumbled, all the while fighting against the blood loss and the pain. He started to get dizzy and he blinked. No, focus, focus! The loud noise seemed to have died down, but another sound came very close to him. Footsteps, strangely enough. He could hear them despite everything else. Someone coming to help him? He turned his head into the direction of the footsteps. He struggled to look up. Now he was sure he was losing it.
"Yuugi," he said, as he recognized his friend. What was he doing here? "Yuugi, call an ambulance. My shoulder... he stabbed me... I'm losing too much blood..."
A purplish light was visible behind Yuugi, but his facial features were obscured in the dark of the environment. His typical hair was unmistakably recognizable, though.
"Yuugi, my phone..." His eyes slid close. It was just too much effort to keep them open. Jounouchi tried to look at his friend one more time, one last time. For a brief moment, he wondered if this was what Amelda had seen when he was about to lose consciousness. This blurred vision, so much darkness yet with hints of red and gold... and then Jounouchi knew no more.
When he opened his eyes again, Jounouchi shot up straight in his bed, gasping out loud. His heartbeat went up furiously and he felt dizzy. He calmed himself down by inhaling and exhaling slowly. He wasn't in any danger. Even more so, he wasn't in any pain. His body didn't hurt at all! Someone had dressed him in a simple beige garb, a long nightgown with short sleeves. Jounouchi pulled it down to look at his shoulder. No scar. No mark. He was sure the rod had gone through and through, the nasty dagger piercing through flesh, skin and bone. The cut on his cheek was gone as well. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and his feet touched a heavy rug, its hair tickling the soles of his feet. The room was sparsely furnished; aside from the bed, there was only a tall dresser and a cupboard. Jounouchi opened the door of the cupboard and found his clothes, neatly cleaned and folded, along with a new shirt. His gun was missing. He dressed himself, meanwhile wondering where he could be. This wasn't a hospital room. The porcelain basin on the dresser contained cold water and he used some to splash his face. Jounouchi put on his jacket and shoes and wondered if the door was locked. It was a silly hunch, but he had an inkling where he was... but why would he have been brought here, of all places? He went to the door, put his hand on the handle and opened it. Silence. He was in the same hallway, but on the other end from where he had eavesdropped on Mahaado and the Pharaoh and witnessed them kissing each other. The mansion breathed the very same warm, welcoming feeling as before. Jounouchi closed the door behind him at the same moment a door further down the hallway, opened. To his relief, it was Mahaado, carrying a basin in his hands. The bodyguard wore completely different attire: a long, sleeveless garb that reached his ankles, adorned with a golden belt and golden shoulder pads. On his head, he wore a crown-like piece that held a cloth, like a veil, covering his hair. They locked eyes with each other, Mahaado looking slightly startled; he had obviously not expected Jounouchi to be up, let alone to see him like this.
He collected himself quickly and walked up towards him. "You have a remarkably strong body," he said, with a bit of respect in his voice. "It made the healing process much easier and simpler."
"You look very different," Jounouchi said, not in a sarcastic way. Mahaado pursed his lips a little.
"It's my traditional dress for when I attend to the Pharaoh."
"Attend? Is something wrong with him?"
"He is resting. He had to sustain me while healing you, Jounouchi Katsuya. He saved your life."
Jounouchi's eyes went wide. "Then I have to thank him!"
"Later, perhaps." Mahaado brusquely turned away. "He must rest now. Follow me downstairs."
Obediently, Jounouchi followed Mahaado downstairs, into the kitchen. The other man dumped the contents of the basin into the sink and set it aside.
"So... you're going to tell me everything about what happened last night, right?" Jounouchi asked.
"You should eat first." Mahaado pulled the cloth from a basket, revealing bread, cheese, grapes, bananas and a small jar of fruit jelly. "And so should I. Healing always drains my energy."
"You're inviting me for lunch?"
A small smile escaped Mahaado, curling his lips. "You are persistently positive, Jounouchi Katsuya."
"Could you do me one favor?"
"You may name your favor, and I shall see if I can fulfill it."
"Please call me just Jounouchi, all right? I'm used to it."
"Jounouchi," Mahaado nodded at him. "Very well."
"May I call you Mahaado, or is there any other name you prefer?"
"Mahaado will do just fine."
"All right. Do you have something to drink?"
"I can make tea, if you like."
"Awesome." Jounouchi left the man to do his preparations while he took the large basket to the wooden table in the kitchen, along with two plates. His stomach grumbled as he sat down. Mahaado soon joined him with cutlery (no chopsticks, but Jounouchi didn't mind), cups and the pot of tea. He poured the tea, in nothing the stern bodyguard anymore, but a sympathetic, caring servant. Jounouchi didn't know why he deserved this kind of treatment; his curiosity was killing him. He left it to the other to start talking, however. First, they made short work of the contents of the basket; the bread was deliciously soft yet crispy, the fruit fresh and the cheese and jelly had a full, rich taste to it. It wasn't anything like Jounouchi's usual kind of lunch, but it all tasted great. On his fourth cup of tea, he leaned back into his chair and stared at Mahaado, who had eaten with much more grace, unlike Jounouchi stuffing his face.
"I should thank you as well for saving my life," he said.
"I follow the Pharaoh's orders," Mahaado said. "He wanted you to live." So, back to the tough, badass bodyguard again, hmm? Jounouchi wasn't about to give up. He liked the caring, helping Mahaado much better than the stern, distant Mahaado.
"He's a wise man."
"Very much so." Mahaado sipped his tea. "I live to serve him."
"How can a Pharaoh be alive in this year and era?" Jounouchi asked bluntly. Mahaado fidgeted with a crust of bread.
"He is not," he finally admitted. "And neither am I."
"What?"
"You do not understand, Jounouchi, but I will explain to you, as best as I can. But before I answer your questions, you will answer one of mine."
"Ask away," Jounouchi said.
"Why did you call the Pharaoh 'Yuugi'?"