Summon The Dragon

Body

Next chapter - sorry for taking so long. I've had the worst case of writer's block with this......

BTW, the Industrial Illusions complex is based on the place where I work - wooden floors, stairways, torn-up entranceway and all. And yes, I do often use the shortcut through the restroom (also known as the "secret passageway.") And the "stairway to heaven" is the one from the mailroom in the basement to the third floor - it actually works out to four and a half stories worth of stairclimbing - more like the stairway from hell, in my opinion. ;-).

Warnings for some cursing and failed magic - and wnessness.......

Disclaimer - they ain't mine, except for Jada, of course. (Any guesses as to who Mad Dog, Paigey, et al, really are :-)?)

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"And I thought the Sage's castle was big----" Paigey said softly.

"This ain't the half of it," Jada said, turning into an entrance marked as Gate 3. "There's another complex over that way and another down closer to the Kado River." They had just arrived at the sprawling Industrial Illusions complex just as night was descending upon Domino City. "These buildings here were built in 1939 - I'm not sure when the South Complex was built." As she spoke, she parked in a space underneath a light pole. The lights were just coming on, glowing a dull yellow as they came up to full power. "Come on."

Paigey followed. The structure looming in front of them was massive, squat, gray and imposing, with what he took to be some kind of metal shielding over the small windows. It reminded him of the orphanage where he'd spent several unhappy years after the death of his grandfather, before he was taken in by the Dark Sage. He shivered, hugging his long coat tightly around himself. All at once he felt quite cold. The Sage had told him this would be an easy atioation to fix - break the Mind Crush and get hold of the Golden Eyes. The Mind Crush, however, had proved unbreakable, they still hadn't located the Golden Eyes, and, worst of all, no-one seemed to have factored in the Trapezoidhedron until too late-----Paigey himself wouldn't have known about it had Mad Dog not overheard two of the police officers discussing the strange case when they'd first gone to serch for the Chosen One.

Jada led him along the walkway in front, then veered off onto a narrow path bordered on one side by a bright-orange fence. It skirted an area of torn-up concrete and construction. "They were supposed to have that entrance reopened by the middle of November. Considering that it's now close to the middle of December---" She shrugged. The path led between two of the massive structures, which loomed threateningly over their heads, eerily lit by the yellow glow of the outer lights. He followed her up a small ramp to a set of narrow stairs that ended at a massive set of red doors. "Wait a sec----" She paused, fished in her bag and pulled out something that looked like a dueling card, except it was slightly smaller and obviously laminated. He watched as she swiped it through a white slot near the door, then smiled when a green light beeped on. "Great. It still works." She opened the door and led him inside.

~*~

Dr. Towanda shook his head as he looked at the various readouts. "I've never seen anything like this. I don't know what's going on." He turned to confer quietly with Dr. Yakamoro.

Yugi, huddled on a chair next to the gurney, gripped his grandfather's limp hand tightly. He'd never been so scared in his life. Yami was outside in the waiting room, talking to Joey and Seto, who'd arrived with the Englishman not long after Jada and Paigey had taken off.

"Hey." Mad Dog said softly, squeezing Yugi's shoulders. He'd stayed with the little duelist, reluctant to leave him alone, even in this seemingly impenetrable hospital. "Whatever happens, we're here, little guy."

"Arigato---" Yugi managed a wan smile, then, wanting to change the subject, asked, "Are you and the others really from the Shadow Realm?" The two doctors had walked over to the nurses' station.

"As you call it, yeah. We call it the land of Rhye," Mad Dog said, sitting down in the other chair.

"What's it like there?" Yugi curled up in the chair a bit more, hugging his knees without letting go of his grandfather's hand.

"It's a lot greener there, I'll tell you," Mad Dog said. "Is your world nothing but steel and concrete?"

"Not all of it. We're just in the middle of Domino City," Yugi told him. "Some of it's really pretty." He paused, then asked, "Who's the Dark Sage?"

"The Dark Magician's older brother," Mad Dog replied. "Really decent sort of fella, actually. He sent me along to sort of keep an eye on Mystery Boy. Keep him from getting in trouble." He grinned. "Don't get me wrong, Paigey's a brilliant magician. He just doesn't have any sort of common sense." Nor did the Dark Mystic have much practical experience.

"Neither does Jada." Yugi almost managed a smile.

"I've never understood how Jada can be so intelligent and so simultaneously unclued," Yami said, coming back in.

"Clueless," Yugi corrected gently.

Yami picked his small koi up and kissed him softly, then sat down with Yugi cuddled in his lap. "I love you, little jewel."

"I love you, too--" Yugi whispered, nestling closer as they settled down to wait it out together. Mad Dog smiled a little, thinking that the two of them would have been nauseating if they hadn't been so cute.

~*~

Jada reached the third floor landing, somewhat out of breath. "I forgot to warn you about the stairway to heaven part---"

Paigey, accustomed to stairs from the Dark Sage's castle, was peering up a fourth flight that was blocked off with a yellow plastic hazard chain. "Why are these forbidden?"

"They go up to the roof," Jada said. "Guess they don't want anyone taking a swan dive from up there." She opened another red door. This one opened into a narrow wooden-floored, low-ceilinged hallway that ran perpendicular for about fifty more feet before opening up into a far wider hallway, again at a 90 degree angle. Jada, however, led them through another door about five feet ahead, down a short, even narrower and lower-ceilinged carpeted hall lined with offices that opened up into a hall about ten feet wide with a ceiling a good thirty feet above their heads, festooned with pipes and cables and lit by dim flourescent lights hung on long heavy chains.

Paigey shuddered. "Those won't come loose, will they?"

"They haven't yet," Jada replied, leading him across the hall and pulling open a door marked WOMEN. "Come on. No-one will notice."

He followed her through that door and out the one immediately opposite it. They found themselves in yet another high-ceilinged hallway. She led him down that hall a bit, to an aisle marked "X", where she opened yet another door - Paigey had never seen so many doors in any one place, save for a maze - into an office suite.

"Pegasus?" she called, walking in and heading for an enclaved office. "Pegasus, are you--"

A black-clad, hooded figure exploded out of the office, crashing into her and sending her reeling back into Paigey. She recovered and grabbed at the stranger's arms, grappling with him for a moment until he pushed her away, hard. She stumbled back and landed on her rump. Paigey, having recovered his senses by then, lunged forward, sending a blue blast of pure force after the strange figure - only to have it rebound in a shower of cerulean sparks and strike him full-force instead. He was thrown back into the wall with brutal force, crumpling to the floor as their assailant fled.

"Paigey!" Jada scrambled over to him. "Oh shit, Paigey--" He was out cold.
~*~

Yugi, half-asleep in the security of his Yami's arms, was startled awake when Yami started, looking around.

"What is it?" he said, amethyst eyes wide.

"I don't know, koi. Another disturbance---" Yami said, looking around sharply.

"As as usual, I didn't feel bugger all---" Mad Dog grumbled, looking around as the Golden Warrior came in. "Yo, Percy, did you feel anything?"

"I could hardly have missed it---" the Warrior said.

Yugi pressed closer against the pharaoh. /Yami, I'm so scared --- what if Ji-chan -- what if he -----/ Poor Yugi couldn't even think the word, much less say it.

Yami held his little light closer. //Shhh. I'm here. I'm here, koi.//

~*~

Darkness. Throbbing head. Something rough beneath his cheek --- had they gotten him, beaten him up again, left him in some dim hallway? Why had the Elder Gods seen fit to take his grandfather, the only family he had? He tried to open his eyes, but a bolt of incandescent pain went through his head. He moaned softly.

"Paigey?"

He flinched as something wet dabbed at his forehead, opening his eyes and finding himself looking into the concerned face of the girl --- Astarte? She exhaled noisily with relief, turning and looking at the elegant, crimson-clad, silver-haired figure behind her. "He's awake." Pegasus had returned just in time to witness Paigey's painfully failed attempt at stopping the intruder. He was surprised the Dark Mystic was even still alive, never mind not badly hurt.

"Thank the Gods---" he said, kneeling on the floor with them. "How did you know something was going on?"

"We didn't exactly. You weren't answering your cellphone so we came to see if you were okay," she replied.

He smiled, obviously touched by her statement. "I let the battery run down somehow. Foolish of me." He looked over at Paigey, who had managed to lever his arms underneath himself and make at least a token effort at sitting up. "Are you all right? Jada told me what happened."

Paigey nodded, wincing at the pain in his head. "More or less." He hadn't realized the unknown thief usinusing a Mirror Force spell until about a split-second too late.

"Did they take anything?" Jada asked.

"I didn't even look." Pegasus got to his feet and went back into the office suite. He returned a moment later. "Whoever it was knew what they were looking for. They took several prototype cards."

Paigey's head shot up and he winced. "Which ones?"

"Odd ones, mostly - Black Dog, Four Sticks, Carouselambra - and one we never released called the Golden Eyes Black Dragon," Pegasus replied.

Paigey slumped back against the wall, closing his eyes. "We're too late----"

Pegasus looked from the obviously distressed Dark Mystic to Jada and back again. "What's going on?"

"It's kind of a long story-----" Jada said.

"It's my fault. I failed---" Paigey said softly, his voice muffled.

~*~

"How can you eat at a time like this?" Seto said, looking at Joey, who was snarfing down his fourth hot dog.

"I'm nervous, okay? I eat when I'm nervous---" Joey replied, his mouth full. They were still in the lounge adjacent to the ICU.

"Will you please speak more softly?" Yami scolded. "Yugi's asleep." The doctor had chased them out of the ICU about half an hour ago. Yami had finally managed to soothe his small koi into a troubled sleep despite Joey and Seto's affectionate bickering and Mad Dog's incessant pacing. The Englishman was standing by the blurred, streaky-looking window, looking out at the lights, while the Warrior stood in the doorway waiting for Jada and Paigey to return.

"Here they come," he said quietly after a moment.

"About time!" Mad Dog said, quite loudly, startling Yugi awake.

Yami shot Mad Dog an irritated glare, his Sennen Eye flickering briefly, then pulled his koi onto his lap. "Beloved?"

Yugi shook his head like a kitten, dazed and confused. "Y-Yami?" He couldn't think where he was or why for a moment.

"That weird ninja dude got there first---" Jada said, coming in.

"And the Presidio has gotten hold of the Golden Eyes Black Dragon----" Paigey finished glumly, coming in behind her. He was still weak-kneed and shaky from the rebounded dark magic attack, although his headache had mercifully faded. He sank down on the nearest chair and put his hands over his face.

"It wasn't your fault," Pegasus added, coming in behind them. "Do stop blaming yourself, Mystic. It isn't at all healthy." I, ll pll people, should know.

"Yeah, how were you supposed to know he was playing the equivalent of a card face down?" Jada said, sounding like she'd told him the same thing about thirty times before, which she probably had, by actual count. "Pharaoh Fern Head over there has screwed me over with that trick about a bazillion times."

Mad Dog looked at Yami, his eyes alight with amusement. "Fern Head?"

Yami groaned, burying his face in his aibou's similarly-spiky mop. "And historians wonder why the ancient kings wore those elaborate headpieces."

Paigey didn't look up for a moment. Finally, he raised his head. "I haven't failed entirely. I can still try to break the spell that holds the Chosen One's grandfather."

"Yo, Pageboy, bad idea---" Mad Dog interjected. "You yourself said the Sage had no clue what Presidio did."

"But somebody has to try---" Paigey said, getting to his feet, none too steadily.

"Are you sure you're up to it? That was a hell of a knock on the head you took," Jada said worriedly.

He nodded.

~*~

They waited until none of the medical personnel were in view, then Yami closed the curtain around the cubicle. Paigey, over at Solomon's bedside, closed his eyes, pressing his fingers against the older man's temples, murmuring softly.

"What's he doing?" Yugi whispered to Yami.

"It's a spell designed to counter a Mind Crush," Yami replied, then frowned. "Wait. Something's not right---" As he spoke, Solomon shuddered and thrashed, letting out a loud moan. The heart monitor jumped - then abruptly went flat. Yugi cried out. Yami cursed sharply in ancient Egyptian and shoved Paigey aside, breaking the Dark Mystic's concentration and sending him stumbling back. He put his hands on Solomon's temples, speaking something in another language, Sennen Eye flaring. The heart monitor resumed its steady beeping as Solomon's body settled back into the mattress with a sigh.

"Is he---?" Yugi, unable to watch, had hidden his face in his hands. He looked at them through his fingers fearfully, violet eyes wide.

"The spell cannot be broken that way!" Yami snapped at Paigey. "Have you no sense?!"

Paigey stared at them, horror dawning in his face as he realized what had nearly happened. He tried to speak, couldn't, and bolted out of the cubicle.

Yami leaned on the bed rail, breathing heavily. "He lives, beloved. I restored the spell, as I cannot break it." He shook his head. "Whoever did this is an evil soul, indeed. The spell is deliberately cast so that any usual attempt at breaking it will result in its acceleration instead." He was quiet for a moment, then looked up. "I should not have shouted at Paigey the way I did. He had no way of knowing until it was almost too late."

~*~

Paigey had retreated to a dark corner near a stairwell, across from a window that cast only darkness into the building. He slumped against the wall, hands over his face. The Pharaoh was right. He had no sense. He really had failed. Big time, as Astarte -- no, Jada -- would have said.

"Paigey?"

Reluctantly, he looked around. It was the Chosen One, looking up at him with concerned violet eyes. "It's all right. Yami fixed it back like it was." He sighed.

"I failed you---" Paigey said shakily, covering his face again.

"Mystic, I was wrong. I should not have blamed you. None could have seen how that spell was twisted until it was almost too late," Yami said, joining them. "The fault is not yours. I apologize."

"No, it was my doing---" Paigey quavered, his voice muffled.

"Paigey---" Yugi started, but before he could finish the thought, a swirl of deep purple sparks erupted from the floor, swirling upwards and coalescing into the form of an aged but still vital man clad in flowing purple robes and a familiar peaked hood. In his right hand he held an elaborate staff with a crystal ball affixed to one end. Paigey looked up, startled, then let out a little cry and crumpled to the floor.

"Twisted, indeed. Even I did not see it," the purple-clad man said, shaking his head. "You are percipient beyond your years, great Pharaoh."

"Great Sage, I--" Yami started, but the Dark Sage shushed him with a smile and a wink before kneeling by his distraught apprentice. Paigey, somewhat to their surprise, had broken down in tears.

"Paigey, please---" the Dark Sage said, his voice gentle, slightly teasing. "You will lead the Pharaoh and the Chosen One to believe that I intend to beat you."

"B-but I almost killed him!" Paigey sniffled. "And I failed to retrieve the Golden Eyes---" He got control of himself with an effort and looked up miserably at them, his dark eyes stricken.

"And were it not for you, we would not know about the Trapezoidhedron, and would thus be at even more of a disadvantage," the Sage replied. "Paigey, if there is any fault, it is mine. I sent you into this before I knew the full extent of the situation, and thus sent you and the others in unpred." d."

"I failed you---" Paigey sniffled. "Forgive me."

"I cannot forgive you if you have done nothing that calls for forgiveness," the Sage scolded gently. "And you have most assuredly not failed."

Paigey sniffled, but didn't reply. He couldn't look up. Yugi, impulsively, went over and hugged him. "Paigey, it's okay. Really. You did everything you could. I'm not mad at you."

"Guys, what's going on?" Jada had just come around the corner, accompanied by Pegasus and Mad Dog. "Did it -- oh shit, he's okay, isn't he?" She put a hand over her mouth, looking around as Seto and Joey came over, along with the Warrior and the Englishman.

"What is it?" Seto said.

"He lives. But the spell cast upon him is one that cannot be broken by the usual means," the Dark Sage replied, getting to his feet and helping Paigey to his. He put a comforting arm around his still-stricken apprentice. Yugi went back to his Yami's side, wondering about the abrupt change in Paigey's demeanor. He's almost as insecure as --- well, as I am......

"So what are we going to fucking do?!" That was, ourseurse, Mad Dog.

The Sage considered it for a moment, then looked at the Englishman. "You, the High Priest and his consort need to find the holders of the other Millennium Items - the Rod, the Tauk and the Ring," he said. "Make certain they still hold them, and keep them safe. I do not know what the Presidio intends next. I shall take the others back to the Shadow Realm, to my home. From there we can figure out what to do."