BeautifulWeddingFlower(formerly known as VioletBaggans)'s note: Hey guess what? I wrote did chapter! Uh huh. And Eggy edited it! We're such a team! Lol. Enjoy, folks.

Eggy's note: Yeah, I pretty much skipped behind and added pretty words for this chapter. XD And yes, VB is now BWF, which should explain the change in the summary. Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: See previous

"I can't believe I had to ride in her purple car all the way over here," Duke mumbled. "Seriously, Taylor, you're cold."

Tristan snorted and pushed his bike up beside Mai's lavender car, which was parked in front of Yugi's house. "It would have been more awkward if you rode with me, Devlin. Imagine what people would say if they saw you dry humping my ass as we sped through the streets."

Duke sputtered indignantly and opened his mouth to retort, but Mai smacked them both upside the head before he could say anything that was as stupid as the things coming out of Tristan's mouth.

That was sheer talent, seeing as she was reapplying her lipstick with her other hand, balancing a compact mirror on her knees. "Shut up, both of you. Next time, Devlin, you're walking."

He scowled. "I get it. You two are prejudiced. You have something against boys with long hair, right?"

"No, of course not," Mai said distractedly, focusing back on her lipstick. "We like Ryou just fine."

Duke rolled his eyes and plucked the tube out of her hand.

"Give it," Mai said, "or it's going on your face."

Duke looked at himself in the mirror and seemed to seriously consider it. "You win," he said finally, depositing the tube in Mai's outstretched hand. "What are we doing, then?"

"Someone's got to get clothes for Atem and Yugi," Mai said. "Crisis or not, they don't have to stink. Why don't I run inside while you two bozos go see if any of the neighbors saw anything yesterday?"

Duke and Tristan looked at each other and shrugged. "Okay," Tristan said. "Don't get lost, by yourself, Duke."

"Bite me."

Mai sighed and watched them head off in opposite directions, presumably to knock on the neighbors' doors and bother them. Then she trotted inside the empty house softly, her boots clicking on the floor.

As Mai was trying to remember where Yugi and Téa's room was, something shuffled upstairs. Mai froze, and then backed out as silently as she could.

"Duke!" she hissed as soon as she got outside. "Get over here!"

"Huh?" Duke peered at her from across the street. "What's that, Mai?" he shouted. "I can't hear you!"

"Shh!"

"What?" Duke said, leaving the front porch of some unfortunate neighbor.

Mai pressed a finger to her lips and motioned inside with one hand. "There's someone in there. Upstairs."

"Well, then we'll surprise them," Duke said firmly. "It could be the guy who kidnapped Téa. We'll ambush him. C'mon."

Duke and Mai slipped out of their shoes and carefully tiptoed up the steps. Of all the days to wear heels, Mai thought ruefully. I need to learn how to think this stuff through.

"On three, we'll run in," Duke whispered. Mai nodded and held her heels tighter.

Duke glanced over his shoulder and held up one finger, then another, and finally—

"Three!"

"AIII!"

With identical battle cries, Mai and Duke jumped into Yugi and Téa's master bedroom.

Their entrance shocked a man with bright red hair up out of the dresser drawers, sending him stumbling across the room. "Son of a—!"

Mai shouted and launched at the man with her heel, but he came up with a frying pan and smashed it into the side of her head. She dropped limply to the ground and didn't move.

"Shit! Where the hell did you get a frying pan?"

Kitchen, duh. Duke snatched up Mai's abandoned heel, ducked the first swing of the frying pan, and attacked with all the power of a bright red stilleto.

Randomly, Duke found himself hoping that Yugi and Téa wouldn't mind the fact that he was getting blood all over their carpet.

"Oh yeah! That's why you don't mess with Duke Dev -!"

Then the man hit him in the back of the head with the frying pan.

With one final glare at his unconscious attackers, the man stole quietly out of the window with Téa's things, escaping once again.

Granted, he was escaping into suburbia, but it was a start.

"Sir, the police have already searched the house. There isn't even a fingerprint we can go on."

"Bullshit!" Joey snarled, slamming his hands down on the table. "They must have left something!"

"Joey, if there's nothing there, there's nothing there," Yugi sighed, rubbing at his temples. "Arguing with the lady isn't helping."

Joey growled and pushed away from the counter angrily. "I can't take this."

Yugi watched him storm out of the police station and slamming the glass doors behind him roughly. he winced and shot a half-apologetic smile at the woman. "I'm sorry. He's more worried about this than I think I am."

"I understand," the woman said sympathetically. Her expression almost made up for the fact that she probably said the same thing twenty different times a day. "I really do. I wish there was more we could do, Mr. Mouto. I'm sorry for your tragedy."

Twenty-five. Probably before lunch.

"But these men left nothing that could help," the woman was saying. "We're looking into it with all our resources."

Sure you are, Yugi wanted to say. That's why my wife is still missing. But he didn't, because that was rude. It was rude and unfair, because really, this woman knew him about as well as she knew every other person who came into this station. It was her job, and she was doing it. So Yugi swallowed his retort, forced a smile, and bid her a polite goodbye.

He did swipe one of the mints sitting on her desk, though.

The fact that they were complementary anyway did not mean a thing.

He left the police station and found Joey leaning outside against a railing, smoking a cigarette.

"I hate cops," Joey said after a minute. "I just really hate cops."

"Does Mai know you still smoke?"

Joey took one last deep drag and dropped it on the ground, crushing it under his shoe. "I've been trying to quit. Anything?"

Yugi shook his head and slid to the ground, feeling very much like a lost teenager again. Why did you have to leave, Yami? he thought bitterly. Things were so much easier when you were here. You'd know what to do.

Don't doubt yourself Aibou, a deep and highly amused voice whispered in his ear. Yugi looked around, but the familiar words were already gone, lost to the wind.

Yugi sighed. And now I'm going crazy. Man, this day is a blast.

His moping was inturrupted when Joey's phone rang shrilly.

Yugi raised an eyebrow in at Joey's pointed ignoring of the cellular nuciance. "You gonna get that?"

Frowning, Joey dug the phone out of his pocket and groaned when he saw the caller ID. "It's Tristan."

"Answer it," Yugi murmured.

Joey rolled his eyes and flipped open the phone. "What is it, Tristan?"

Yugi focused his attention somewhere towards the distance, playing with a piece of lint on his pants.

Then, a moment later, Joey shouted, "What?"

Yugi jumped. "What—?" he repeated.

"What do you mean you found them in Yugi's bedroom unconscious?"

He heard Tristan shout over Joey's curses, which was a feat, seeing as they were steadily increasing in volume. "Look, you idiot, someone knocked them out! I've taken them to Domino General…get your ass over here!"

"What?" Yugi said again, totally lost.

The line apparently went dead, because Joey swore one more time and snapped the phone shut. Using one hand to drag Yugi to his feet, he said, "Mai's hurt. We gotta get to the hospital."

"But what about—"

"Yug', there's no time! Mai's hurt!"

Yugi took a deep breath and whooshed it out against his bangs. "Okay. I'll just call the others on our way there."

Joey let go of his jacket and ran to his car, jumping into the driver's seat and failing to start it in one smooth motion as he fumbled for his keys. "Get in, Yugi!"

Yugi stared at Joey for half a second before climbing into the passenger side awkwardly. When had Joey become a character in Need for Speed? He sighed and pulled out his phone to call Ryou as Joey hit the gas and sped toward Domino General Hospital.

"I wanna play Mario Kart!"

"Tough luck! We're playing Kurby!"

"Mario Kart!"

"Kurby!"

"Mario Kart!"

"Kurby!"

"Mario Kart!"

"Kurby!"

"Enough!" Serenity finally cried over the bickering kids' heads, throwing her bridal magazine down. "Enough! Time out for both of you! I want you to go in opposite directions of the house and amuse yourselves quietly for one hour. You can come out when I say so."

Suddenly sullen, Atem and Amane parted, glaring at each other as if to say, You started it.

Sarah smirked at her knitting, and Ryou rolled his eyes, returning to his novel. For a moment, all was silent and peaceful, until from opposite ends of the house, the yelling started, fueled by an indignant, childish squeek of outrage.

"I told you I could beat you in Mario Kart!"

"That's not fair! I wasn't ready!"

"What did I say about being alone!" Serenity stormed out of the room, and Ryou had to hold his laughter in as he and his wife listened to the normally soft-spoken woman scold the two kids.

"Give me your Gameboys now and go read or watch TV alone for an hour!"

"But Aunt Serenity…" Atem whined.

"No buts. Now."

There was audible grumbling from Atem at the horrible indignities bestowed upon him. A minute later, Serenity reappeared, threw the red Gameboy she had pilfered onto the couch, and stalked off in search of Amane.

Sarah turned to Ryou and grinned. "She's going to be a wonderful mother one day," she whispered.

"To an only child," Ryou whispered back.

When the house had fallen silent again, and Serenity had at last sat back down and picked up her magazine, Ryou's phone rang.

"Who could that be?" he muttered, pulling it out of his pocket and holding it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ryou, it's Yugi. Something's come up, and apparently Mai and Duke got hurt in my house. We're on our way to the — JOEY, YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US! SLOW DOWN! Ack, watch out for that pedestrian!"

Ryou coughed.

"Sorry," Yugi said a moment later, sounding out of breath. "We're on our way to the hospital, and we're going to meet Tristan there."

"Oh. Um. Do you…do you want us to meet you there as well?" Ryou asked.

"No, just keep an eye on the children, okay? If we need you we'll call. Thanks, Ryou, and tell the girls I said hello."

"Oh…okay…. Um…Yugi?"

But Yugi had already hung up. Ryou sighed, brushed a lock of hair out of his face, and smiled reassuringly at the two women staring bemusedly at him. "They're going to the hospital. Mai and Duke got hurt."

"What? How? Do they want us to come?"

"What about Tristan?"

Both women blushed and avoided each other's glances.

"I have no idea," Ryou said, "and no, they want us to stay here. Yugi says hi."

There were three seconds of total silence before Amane's voice came out of the back room. "Can me and Atem play together now?"

"No!"

"… Drat."