Jounouchi ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the building, with a shrieking Yuugi in his arms. For such a small guy he had quite the overbearing energy to kick and punch him, albeit there wasn't much force behind it. As soon as he was outside, Jounouchi put Yuugi back on his own two feet but kept a firm grasp on his arm, as he was afraid Yuugi would run right back into the building.
"Stay here!" he said.
"I have to go back!" Yuugi tried to free himself from Jounouchi's grasp, to no avail. "He's still inside! Mou hitori no boku!" He coughed violently. Sirens were audible and not a moment too soon; sky-high flames surrounded the building and people could be still inside. Jounouchi shivered, despite the overwhelming heat spreading through the air. Between the flames, he could make out Osiris' silhouette; the Sky of God Dragon was still in play, hovering over the destroyed dueling arena.
"You stay here," Jounouchi said. "I'll go back and see if I can find the Pharaoh, all right?"
"I can't ask that of you, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi said. "I'll go!"
"You stay here!" Jounouchi repeated. He wondered why he was so crazy as to offer to go back in the first place. Was it because of the bounty on the Pharaoh's head? He took off his shirt and covered up the lower half of his face. From the corner of his eye he saw Honda herding people together into safety, and he was sure Otogi was helping out somewhere as well. So far it didn't look like there were any fatalities, most people were coughing severely or showing minor burn wounds. He was relieved to see the first medical units arrive at the scene, closely followed by the fire department unit. Jounouchi took a deep breath and ran back into the building. The few people still inside clung to him in their panic, and he directed them to the way outside. As he ventured further into the burning building, he chastised himself mentally for being so reckless. It wasn't too late to turn back… a haunting thought popped up in his mind.
Where was Kaiba? Had Otogi managed to get him outside? Surely, the CEO would've realized how dangerous it had been to stay inside the building, wouldn't he? Jounouchi would never forgive himself if he had to bring Mokuba bad news. Despite his makeshift mask, he had to cough and his eyes started to water from the intense smoke. His vision was blurred by the hot air, distorting any clear view. Debris blocked his way and he climbed over it, his chest heaving with the exertion. Smoke and intensifying heat made it difficult to orientate, but there he saw the large red mass of Osiris' body. Where was the Pharaoh? He wasn't on his side of the field… was he buried under the debris, was that why Osiris was still hovering in place? Jounouchi finally spotted Atemu on the floor. The Pharaoh had crawled towards Marik who was lying face down, unmoving, to pick up the cards strewn all over the dueling arena, leaving a blood trail in his wake. No sign of Bakura. Jounouchi hurried towards the Pharaoh and grabbed him forcefully at the shoulders, eliciting a cry of pain from the smaller man.
"Leave the cards!" Jounouchi yelled. "We've got to get out of here!"
"No! Let go of me!" Atemu's protest was weak.
Jounouchi ignored him and hauled him upright. "Can you walk?"
From the way Atemu clung to him to keep his balance, Jounouchi deduced quickly that walking was out of the question. The Pharaoh's burnt and bloodied right leg was hard to miss, and Jounouchi was rather surprised that Atemu could bleed and feel pain. It made him almost look…human. He held his arm funnily cradled against his chest as well, the fabric of his shirt burnt and crinkled. He was in enough pain right now that Jounouchi almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Atemu was worth a bounty of a staggering fifteen million genz, and he wasn't about to let go of him.
"Hold on!" Jounouchi lifted the Pharaoh up and slung him over his shoulder, ignoring the undignified yelp. Mustering up all of his energy, he took a sprint, zigzagging between large chunks of debris, towards the exit. He kept his eyes peeled for other people, should they be in need of help, but fortunately he saw no one. Panting and wheezing, Jounouchi made his way outside for the second time. The entire area was swarming with firemen and paramedics attending to the wounded. Yuugi ran over to Jounouchi, his face expressing shock and fear. He took off his jacket and rolled it up as a makeshift pillow, supporting Atemu's neck as Jounouchi carefully laid him on the ground. Dazed and confused, the Pharaoh was lucid enough to immediately search out and take Yuugi's hand. Yuugi took it and put his other hand over it.
"Mou hitori no boku, you're injured! You need to go to the hospital!"
"No, aibou, please," he said. "I want to stay with you."
"You need medical attention," Yuugi said. "I..."
"Do not leave me," Atemu said and panic resurfaced in his eyes. Judging from his raised voice and increased erratic breathing, there was no telling what kind of shock he was suffering, and what he could do in this frantic state. Jounouchi didn't want him to flip out and summon Ra or any other God in his current frame of mind. He grabbed a paramedic mid-run by his collar and shoved him towards Atemu.
"This one is going into shock!" he said. "Sedate him!"
"I can't do that without proper analysis!" the man answered. "How…"
A very low, deep rumbling sound behind them paralyzed both the paramedic and Jounouchi. The dim lights surrounding them were blocked by a large mass, and Jounouchi didn't have to look over his shoulder to know what was going on. He shivered all over from Osiris' hot breath in his neck. The paramedic was brave enough to turn around, but he started to shake violently at the sight of the two-mouthed dragon. "Oh God, oh God…!"
"Mou hitori no boku," Yuugi squeezed his hand, but he received no reaction. Atemu was looking at him, but his eyes were unfocused. Yuugi slowly let go of his hand and straightened himself. He caught the attention of the paramedic, still shaking like a leaf.
"Give him something to sleep," he said gently. "I'll deal with Osiris."
"Yuugi, don't!" Jounouchi wished he had brought along his laser gun, even though he wasn't sure it'd be effective against the God at all.
"Osiris isn't going to hurt you or me." Yuugi showed a confident smile. "He only cares for his Pharaoh, and he knows we saved him." He took a step forward and Osiris immediately moved its giant head, the lower mouth still open, the razor sharp teeth protruding, able to kill a man and shred him within seconds. "Osiris," Yuugi said as if talking to a friend, "don't worry. Your Pharaoh is safe, see?" He blocked the God's view however, just as long as it took for the paramedic to examine Atemu and administer a mild sedative. The man called for his colleagues to bring a gurney so that Atemu could be transported to the medical unit. Under Osiris' watchful eye, the paramedics helped Atemu onto the gurney and stabilized him. "See? He's in very good hands and we're going to take very good care of him," Yuugi said. "You have my word, Sky of God Dragon. Now please, return to where you came from. Everything's going to be all right."
Jounouchi held his breath as Osiris stared at Yuugi, but his menacing rumbling had stopped. More so, the God closed its lower mouth and in a freakish kind of way, it seemed to nod, and the next second, it disappeared. Jounouchi released his breath again, only to be alarmed when Yuugi all but collapsed, coughing and wheezing.
"You should go with him to the hospital," Jounouchi said. "You inhaled too much smoke!"
"I'm fine, I just need a drink of water," Yuugi coughed, but Jounouchi already called for the paramedics to stop. He tugged at Yuugi's arm, without the force he used previously. "No, Jounouchi-kun, I'm fine! What about you?"
"I'm in better condition than you are," Jounouchi said. "Yuugi, it was very dangerous back there, extremely dangerous... and he was holding onto you while the whole building came crashing down. Don't you think that…" He was interrupted by Yuugi's coughing and one of the paramedics returning. "Take him with you," Jounouchi all but commanded. "He needs medical attention too."
Yuugi gave up on protesting but before he left with the medical unit, he turned around.
"Jounouchi-kun, thank you for everything you have done," he said.
"No, thank you," Jounouchi said. "If you weren't able to calm that…thing down…"
"Stop by the Game Shop whenever you have time." Yuugi showed him a tired smile and stepped into the medical unit, almost automatically searching out Atemu's hand, the Pharaoh on the gurney, his eyes closed.
Jounouchi closed the doors and watched the unit leave. A shiver went through him, and this time not from the recent events. It was cold at this time of night, and he had used his shirt as a make-shift mask, the fabric saturated with soot. Well, he could always take a shower to wash off the soot, freezing was a whole another thing. Reluctantly, he put the garment back on, just at the moment that Honda and Otogi walked up to him.
"Man, was that the Pharaoh?"
"Yeah," Jounouchi said. Fifteen million genz, wheeled away from him, out of his reach. He had to wait for another opportunity; this hadn't been the right moment.
"The fire is under control," Otogi reported. "We can go back inside, or what's left of 'inside'. There's no more danger of the building collapsing."
"What about Kaiba?"
"I think he's digging through the debris in the hopes to find a God Card," Honda said, incredulously. He tilted his head. "Are you all right?"
"Could be better. At least I don't have any burn wounds."
"Maybe you should also go to the hospital and get a check-up…"
"Later," Jounouchi said, rather brusquely. He wanted to talk to Kaiba and went back into the ruined building, followed by Honda and Otogi. To his surprise, a bunch of people he didn't recognize were rummaging amidst the rubble and debris, some of them were even setting up huge construction lights.
"I know what you're thinking," Otogi whispered in his ear. "It took me a while to spot them too."
"Kaiba's clean-up crew," Jounouchi muttered under his breath. He had dealt with them a couple of times before; a bunch of tough guys with no remorse or any conscience. They 'cleaned up' in any way possible, dealing with the shadiest of Kaiba's business. His bounty hunting teams were already secret and off the record, his clean-up crew was somewhere in the deepest, darkest abyss of KaibaCorp.. It was of no use to delay the inevitable. Jounouchi ignored everyone but his own teammates for now. All three of them stepped into the destroyed dueling arena, looking for more survivors, if any. Two men of the clean-up crew, clad in ominous dark-blue uniforms, were standing next to a body. Honda turned it over.
"This one is dead," he said, noticing the unnatural angle of Bakura's head, barely connected to his neck.
"I've got a dead one too." Jounouchi checked the heavily burnt, flaky and torn skin of Marik's body. He didn't need to search for a pulse. The intense heat of Osiris' blast and Ra's blazing phoenix form had melted the Duel Disk into Marik's arm along with the golden bracers on his wrist. Jounouchi couldn't help himself and rolled Marik onto his side to look at his face. Even in death, he looked like he was reveling in the pain of dying. Jounouchi shivered.
"So, it's you, loser," a disdainful voice rolled towards him. He didn't bother to look up. The inevitable had come sooner than he thought.
"Ushio, so nice to hear you again," he said. "Long time no see."
A loud snort. "Oh yes, like you're really fucking happy to see me."
"Where's your fellow asswipe?" Jounouchi asked crudely.
"Right here," another voice spoke up, lighter, but still rough. "Leave the bodies to us."
"Keith Howard," Honda said as he came to stand next to Jounouchi. "Scum of the universe."
"We get done what you can't get done," Ushio grinned wickedly, wiggling his massive eyebrows. "You seem to be having trouble with a certain five million genz bounty, I hear. If you take much longer, Kaiba's going to give the job to us."
"We've ran into trouble, yes," Jounouchi said, wondering why he was justifying himself to the likes of Ushio. He'd love to see him cross paths with the Pharaoh and see what he could 'get done'. However, judging from Ushio's words, Kaiba hadn't mentioned the bounty on said Pharaoh's head to him or anyone else. Ushio and Keith were notorious for their love of money; they'd do anything for the right amount. Jounouchi didn't give the other man the chance to continue the conversation and walked over to Kaiba's side, the CEO digging frantically through the rubble. He didn't have a scratch, not even a smear of soot on his face.
"Kaiba, I…" Jounouchi started.
"Jounouchi, where is he?" Kaiba bit at him. "Where is it?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kaiba straightened himself and stared Jounouchi straight in the eyes. "You know very well who and what I'm talking about."
"I couldn't get him," Jounouchi said, lowering his voice. "He's injured."
"I could've provided him with all the medical care he needed." Kaiba gritted his teeth. "Twenty-five million genz, Jounouchi."
His jaw went slack. "Kaiba, you're insane!"
The CEO pursed his lips. "I saw him take it, before the ceiling came down. He took the God Card. He has both Ra and Osiris in his deck. I want him, Jounouchi. Don't make me regret my offer!"
"All right, all right." Jounouchi put up his hands in defense. "I'll take care of it. Kaiba, you should return to your brother. Mokuba is very worried about you."
"I'll send him a message that it's going to take me another couple of days," Kaiba replied. "I'll make sure the Pharaoh can't leave Vertregg 12, so you can bring him to me."
"That's nuts," Jounouchi said. "You can't lock down an entire planet just to…" His voice trailed off. He had already seen the truth in Kaiba Seto's eyes, and anything he would say, would just cement the CEO's craze in his pursuit of the Pharaoh. Jesus fuck. This was one hell of a mess if he'd ever been in one.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Light… daylight. Calm, serene. His head felt heavy, a weird numbing sensation and he moaned. Someone touched him. A smaller hand rested upon his own, warm and gentle. Atemu managed to turn his head; it took all of his energy.
"Aibou," he said, showing a genuine, relieved smile as he saw Yuugi. His smile faded quickly however, when he saw who was standing next to him. He promptly flew into a coughing fit.
"Atemu-san," the girl said and leaned forward to put a glass of water to his lips. He wanted to bat her away, but he could barely raise his hands and he had no other choice but to allow Anzu to help him drink. It was humiliating, but he didn't even have enough energy left to get worked up about it. "Careful, not too hasty."
"You scared us so much." Yuugi patted his hand. No gentle strokes. Patting. Slight panic started to well up in him. "You woke up in the medical unit and started yelling. The paramedic had great difficulties getting you under. Something with your physical… he used a difficult word. You didn't need surgery, but your injuries are pretty bad."
"Injuries?" he repeated. Why refused his brain to cooperate? Anzu put her hand on Yuugi's shoulder and said: "I'll go get some more water. Would you like something to drink?"
"Could you get me a water too?" Yuugi beamed at her.
"Sure." Anzu left the room and immediately Atemu reached for Yuugi's hand, grabbing it tightly. Something was stuck on his hand… no, his wrist. Atemu frowned. It looked like a wristwatch, a weird kind of bracelet, but it was embedded into his skin. He picked at it. "Don't, mou hitori no boku. It's a continuous control element, a CCE. If you remove it, it'll set off an alarm."
"An alarm..? I do not understand…"
Yuugi didn't elaborate. His eyes rested upon Atemu, but lacked the total devotion he had shown before. Atemu's panic increased, though he managed to not show it on the outside. He couldn't have lost at the last moment, he simply couldn't have! He had to salvage all that he could.
"Aibou…"
"Yes?"
"Are you mad with me?"
"I am, mou hitori no boku. You didn't play fair. Your battle phase was over and you didn't have a magic or trap card on the field to invoke the summoning of Osiris. You denied Bakura-san his turn. A lot of people got injured. And somehow…" he hesitated, "…somehow I have the feeling it's not the first time."
"Aibou, no…" Atemu tried to get up and gasped when pain shot through his body. "Ah!"
"Please, lie down." Yuugi pushed him back into the pillows, and Atemu took the opportunity to put his arms around him. Gently yet firm, he unhooked Atemu's arms. "You have to take it easy."
Atemu looked at him, insecurity crossing over his face for the first time. Yuugi pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead. "Don't worry, everything will be all right. You should make a complete recovery. The doctor said you need to rest a lot."
He reclined into the pillows and admitted momentarily defeat. It wouldn't be wise to impose himself on Yuugi anyway; he could see the other was mad and disappointed with him. He had made a serious mistake. He needed time to think and reformulate his strategy. Not everything was lost; Yuugi still touched him and still called him 'other me'. If only that woman hadn't been here! He cleared his throat.
"Marik… Bakura?"
Yuugi looked at him, a sorrowful expression in his eyes. "I'm sorry, mou hitori no boku. They're dead."
"What?"
"They didn't make it out of the building."
"Where are they? Where are their bodies?"
"Incinerated." Yuugi shivered.
"They were burned?" Atemu couldn't help it, his voice went up a notch.
"It's standard procedure for the deceased who either don't have proper identification or tags or are registered in the ICDR, to be incinerated," Yuugi explained. "If the government can't track down living relatives to claim the body, this is what they do… It's a little strange though. Usually the government takes ample time to investigate, but this was apparently some kind of special urgency procedure…. I'm so sorry, mou hitori no boku," he repeated, "even though you weren't the best of friends, I understand that..."
"Where are their synthfusers? Did you get them?" Atemu gasped as he tumbled over his own words.
"Their what?" Yuugi looked puzzled. "Nobody was allowed to see the bodies, and their possessions were automatically claimed by the government. Mou hitori no boku, you should rest. You're getting upset."
"Where's mine?" Atemu asked, his voice almost shrill.
"Oh, you mean that black square thing attached to your belt? I took it with me," Yuugi said. "It came loose when you were in the medical unit."
"I… what about Malik? Ryou?"
"I don't know where they are. It was such a chaos, such a commotion. I'm sure there are somewhere safe." Yuugi didn't sound too convinced. "The damage to the warehouse and the business district is great and a lot of people got injured," he stressed once more. "No ships are allowed to leave or to dock, for some reason. A lot of people want to ask you questions, mou hitori no boku." He avoided looking at the CCE attached to the other's wrist. "Even the doctors, and there's someone keeping watch outside your door."
Atemu looked at him, trying to push down the panic that was about to overwhelm him. A dead Marik and Bakura wasn't the biggest of his problems. Not even the God Cards were as important as keeping Yuugi's trust and love, and right now, the other was all but a distant planet away from him. He had to touch him, he had to be with him before other people could get access to the other half of his soul - especially Anzu. The distance, the wall that Yuugi protected himself with wasn't impossible to break down, but it was there, the distrust and disappointment, and it scared him.
"Aibou…" it was a barely recognizable, weak mewl.
"Rest now, my Pharaoh," Yuugi said and gave him another chaste kiss on the forehead, brushing a few golden bangs out of his face. He withdrew quickly as the door opened and Anzu entered the room again, carrying two bottles of water. Atemu forced his panic down and closed his eyes. He had no other choice but to rest and recover. He would win Yuugi's body, mind and soul back soon enough. For now, he had a lot to think about. He could hear Yuugi and Anzu talking softly, next to his bed. The sound of one of the bottles being opened. It was a weird sensation that his body was tired and he could feel himself drifting off. He didn't have to start completely anew. He was still ahead of the game, with two pawns down. He truly was the King and soon he would have his Kingdom again.
"Two for Ethgar Lan?" The young boy checked the shipping manifest on the clipboard as he watched the two coffins load on board of his transport vessel. "That's odd," he commented. "Usually they come from Ethgar Lan in a box, not go there."
"You think you're funny, squirt?" The man with the dirty blond hair and a bandanna in red, white and blue colors on his head stared at him with disdain. "Just put the stamps in the right place, bureaucratic asshat, so we can leave this fucking place."
"S-sorry, sir!" He apologized and quickly placed the appropriate stamps. The KaibaCorp logo was visible on the freight letter and he was so nervous that he stamped all over it. "Here you are."
The other tall guy with the black hair and bushy eyebrows grabbed the papers. "We're tracking you on your route," he said gruffly.
"Yes sir," the boy said and all but saluted. He boarded his ship and gave the commands to close the cargo hold. He was told to go straight to Ethgar-Lan, the infamous prison planet. He had flown this route before and he specialized in special deliveries, but he had never transported coffins. He received permission to launch, on special orders of KaibaCorp.. His fingers trembled slightly when he initiated the launching procedure. Was the extra money he made off of this, worth it? A million genz sure was a lot of money… but he shivered all the way to Ethgar Lan, despite turning the onboard thermometer up to maximum heat and he knew the answer to his question as soon as he had taken off. No. It wasn't worth it. He wished he hadn't taken the money. He wished he had never accepted this particular cargo.
He wished he could stop the maniacal cackling and laughter that seemed to come from nowhere.
End of October
To be continued in Last Months of the Year trilogy, book two: November
Chapter 29 |