Chapter Five

It was a relief to learn that Tristan was alright. Upon receiving the message, everyone exchanged hope-filled glances and leaned back in the limousine, pondering their next move.

"Maybe we should leave Tristan alone for a while if he just got through talking to the bikers," Joey said. "He probably needs some time to think over what they were talking about."

"We could talk about getting rid of the bad ghost," Melody said, gently touching Mr. Muffin's nose. "We've all been so worried about Tristan that we lost track of that."

"Yeah, that's true," Crump frowned. "We completely forgot that maybe all of us could launch an attack on the thing, like we did with Gozaburo!"

"You could?!" Melody perked up.

"Well, all of the magic users," Lector said. "We would need Yami Bakura to help us."

Melody sighed. "Melody thinks her parents would rather try the exorcism first instead of magic. . . ."

"Exorcisms usually only work on malevolent ghosts," Evangeline said. "But it sure sounds like that's what you've got!"

"Mom and Dad might be home by now and we could talk to them," Melody said. "We could go back and see."

"Okay," Téa said. "I just hope Tristan really will be alright."

"It sounds like the bikers gave him a lot to think about," Joey said. "This'll probably help in the long run."

"Now if we could just figure out what would help the ghost problem," Evangeline sighed. "If only the basement ghost is malevolent, the others will probably stick around no matter what we try."

"Nothing has helped yours?" Melody asked her with a frown.

"Unfortunately, not yet," Angelique said. ". . . Well, we did get rid of the actual malevolent spirit, but all the others are still there. Sometimes it's alright living with them, but usually I wish they were gone too."

Evangeline gave her a sympathetic look.

"I guess this is a problem that everyone who's been in the house has had," Johnson spoke.

Melody shrugged. "Probably. We don't know anyone who lived there before."

They pulled in at her house and the front door immediately opened, revealing a man and a woman standing in the doorway. The women held a sheet of paper.

"Looks like they found the note," Joey said. He opened the car door and everyone began disembarking.

"Melody, what is the meaning of this?!" Mrs. Nosaka exclaimed. "You wrote that the ghost in the basement is more furious than ever and not to go down there!"

"Um . . ." Melody got out of the car with Mr. Muffin. "He got mad when he saw one of Melody's friends from school. Melody asked them to come help about the ghosts!"

"Oh, well, that's just great," Mr. Nosaka retorted. "It sounds like they were a big help!"

Yugi flushed. "We're sorry about any trouble we caused," he said. "We did find out who the ghost is and why he was mad at our friend. . . ."

"Does that help get rid of it?" Mr. Nosaka interrupted.

"No," Yugi said slowly.

"Since the spirit is clearly malevolent, we were considering an exorcism," Atem said.

The couple looked at him as though he had sprouted antennae. "You know how to perform exorcisms?" Mr. Nosaka looked doubtful.

"No, but we would call someone," Atem said. "We didn't want to do it without your permission."

"It sounds like that by now, there isn't a whole lot of choice," Mr. Nosaka said.

"If this really might work, then we would welcome it," Mrs. Nosaka said. "We haven't known what to do about this mess. It was extremely upsetting to realize we'd moved to a haunted house and had no way out."

"Yeah, I wonder why that keeps happening to people," Crump said. "Why do the ghosts always wait to come out until the place has been bought? You'd think they'd come out to try to prevent a sale!"

"Since when does anything ghosts do make sense?" Nesbitt scowled.

"Do you know someone to call?" Mr. Nosaka asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Atem said. "We would have to choose someone at random from the telephone directory."

"Hey, maybe the priest at our church could do it," Joey said. "I don't remember his name, though. But Serenity might."

"I kind of hate to bother Serenity tonight, when she's worried about Duke," Yugi frowned. "Maybe if you remember the name of the church, Joey, we could look it up and it would list everyone there."

"Yeah, we could try that," Joey said.

"As long as you have some qualified professional, we're willing to try it," Mr. Nosaka said. "But what if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll have an even more ticked-off ghost," Crump gulped.

"It seems too risky," Mrs. Nosaka objected.

"We're not sure what else to try, though, Ma'am," Crump said, "and if you saw how it was acting tonight, you'd know we've gotta do anything we can to get rid of it!"

Mrs. Nosaka sighed in resigned exasperation. "I guess that makes sense."

Melody brought the phone book. "Here's this," she announced, and handed it to Joey.

"Oh, great. Let's see here . . ." Joey flipped through the pages. "Aww yeah! This is it." He pointed to a listing. "I'll call the pastor and see if he can come."

"I hope we won't regret this," Mrs. Nosaka worried.

Mr. Muffin meowed.

". . . Alternately, or if he can't make it, we could try the kind of all-out assault we used on Gozaburo," Gansley said slowly. "But we would need to contact Yami Bakura for that."

"What would that kind of 'all-out assault' entail?" Mr. Nosaka asked.

"All of us magic users using our powers on the thing," Crump said, displaying his ring. "That's how we got rid of Evangeline's malevolent ghost. But I wonder if that worked because we knew the guy and he was deliberately out to get us. . . ."

Mr. and Mrs. Nosaka exchanged a look.

"I think we'd feel better trying the exorcism first," Mrs. Nosaka said. "The priest would be a professional in this situation."

"That's fine with me," Crump said. "We're just pointing out another possibility."

Joey started to dial. "Well, hopefully this'll work. . . ."

Everyone else certainly hoped so too.

xxxx

Bakura leaned back from the table with a smile as he placed his napkin on the empty plate. "That was a very nice dinner, Father."

"It was, wasn't it," Mr. Bakura mused. He eyed Yami Bakura, who had eaten with marginal manners—a true Christmas miracle. Mr. Bakura hadn't been home in a while, and though he had wanted to make it back for Christmas, he had quite dreaded what the lawn would look like this year. But thankfully, Yami Bakura hadn't decorated it with zombies and ghouls celebrating Christmas or some other demented thing and had let the boy adorn the yard with more traditional trappings—for the most part. There was at least one skeleton in a Santa hat. Mr. Bakura had just groaned and shook his head at that.

Yami Bakura licked the last gravy off of his knife and fork. Well, one couldn't expect him to have complete manners after several millennia of none. . . . "For once, there was plenty of rare meat," he said.

"Oh Yami," Bakura chuckled.

Oreo, seated at the table with a small saucer of turkey, purred as she finished the final bites.

"So, what has really been going on since I was here last?" Mr. Bakura asked. At the same time, he wondered if he really wanted to know.

Bakura didn't look like he wanted to talk about it either. "Well . . ." He scratched his cheek. "Sometimes it's been quite peaceful. . . ."

"Which means that at other times it hasn't been," Mr. Bakura sighed.

Bakura gave a helpless shrug. "You know how things are, Father," he said.

"Only too well," Mr. Bakura frowned.

Yami Bakura grunted.

". . . Have you made any new friends?" Mr. Bakura asked.

"Well . . . there have been some," Bakura said slowly. Explaining who they were, on the other hand, wouldn't be so easy. A troubled boy from another dimension's future, his friends, other dimensional versions of themselves and the others. . . .

"And they're not scared away by the Thief King here?" Mr. Bakura dryly queried.

"No, not really," Bakura awkwardly chuckled.

"One of them is another version of me," Yami Bakura muttered under his breath with a dark smirk.

Mr. Bakura almost dropped his fork. "What?!"

"It's a very long story," Bakura said apologetically.

"I don't think I'm up for hearing it," Mr. Bakura sighed. "I can barely manage one of him. How would anyone manage more?!"

Yami Bakura laughed. "So it's not hard to comprehend that there are alternate dimensions, only that there are alternate Thief Kings."

"Something like that," Mr. Bakura agreed.

Oreo murred.

"Why is the cat eating up to the table anyway?!" Mr. Bakura exclaimed, as though it was only dawning on him now that she was.

"Well, it is Christmas," Bakura smiled. "Oreo is family and should sit here with us."

Mr. Bakura gave him a Look. "And I imagine she's been sitting here all the time I've been gone, too," he said.

Bakura scratched his cheek. "Um . . ."

"She is the lady of the house," Yami Bakura smirked, still obviously enjoying the teasing. But he had a point; Oreo was the only female living there.

Oreo closed her eyes in bliss, clearly agreeing.

Mr. Bakura shook his head. "Alright, alright."

". . . How long will you be able to stay, Father?" Bakura asked. He hadn't dared to ask before, and he still quite dreaded the answer. But he still needed and wanted to know.

"I'm staying through the holidays," Mr. Bakura firmly insisted. "And I'm hoping to stay on longer, if the museum doesn't need me to travel."

Yami Bakura's look said I'll believe it when I see it. He would have said it aloud if Bakura hadn't been there. The evening had been pleasant and he didn't want to spoil it.

Mr. Bakura's resigned expression said that he understood the silent message and felt the skepticism was justified.

"Maybe we could go out walking and see the Christmas lights around town?" Bakura hopefully asked.

"It would be more logical to take the car," Mr. Bakura said.

"It's snowing," Yami Bakura pointed out.

"True, but it's not deep," Mr. Bakura said. "It's a cold night, so we'd be able to cover more ground by driving."

Bakura beamed. "Then I'd be happy to do it that way, Father."

They all headed out to the van, Oreo included. Bakura placed the cat inside his coat and she snuggled close and peered out over the top, purring. Shaking his head, Mr. Bakura started out through the snow.

They had traveled through several blocks of beautiful light displays before Yami Bakura grunted in annoyance. "There's Tristan trudging through the snow," he announced, pointing at the sidewalk. "And he doesn't look pleased about it."

Bakura stared. "Oh my. Please pull over, Father!"

Mr. Bakura sighed but did, and Tristan looked up in surprise.

Bakura opened the passenger door. "Tristan, are you alright?! What are you doing out here?!"

Tristan sighed in exasperation. "I don't even know anymore." He looked longingly at the warm van. "What are you guys doing?"

"Looking at lights," Bakura said. "Why don't you come with us and we'll take you home?"

Tristan didn't hesitate for long and he was sliding open the big door. "Thanks."

"Do we really want to know the details of this exploration?" Yami Bakura grunted.

"Probably not." Tristan settled into the seat and pulled the seatbelt down. "Just . . . more trouble with Duke."

"Oh dear," Bakura frowned.

"Yeah," Tristan muttered.

"You're right—I don't particularly want to hear it," Yami Bakura remarked.

"Yami," Bakura scolded.

"I don't really want to talk about it again either," Tristan said, "so it's fine."

"It's always more of the same thing," Yami Bakura said. "When we've heard one argument, we've heard them all."

Tristan scowled. "It is a broken record, isn't it."

"Quite," said Yami Bakura.

That did not improve Tristan's mood. But as they continued to travel, he found himself paying more attention to the lights than when he had been walking and that finally did start to soothe him. By the time they reached his house, he had quite relaxed.

"Well, here we are," Bakura said slowly.

"Thanks." Tristan undid the seatbelt and climbed out.

"Will you be alright, Tristan?" Bakura asked.

"Oh yeah," Tristan said. He sighed. "Really, things don't look so bad now."

Bakura smiled. "Christmas has a way of being able to put things in perspective."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Tristan started up the walk. It was only when he reached the porch that he realized he hadn't mentioned anything about the ghosts. But oh well; if Yugi and company decided to involve the Bakuras after all, they could do that themselves.

He unlocked the door and went inside.

xxxx

Lector sighed and leaned back wearily in the limousine. Joey's pastor wasn't available to come for the exorcism until tomorrow, so everyone had mutually decided to leave it at that and headed for home. Tristan had arrived safely at his residence, so Téa had called to let Seto know on their way out. By now everyone had been returned home except Evangeline and Angelique, and Lector had another proposal for them.

"Why don't you get your luggage and come back with us?" Lector said to them as they arrived at the Royal Hotel. "It wouldn't be an inconvenience at all; I would love to have both of you staying with us while you're here."

"Well . . ." Evangeline looked to Angelique and then back to Lector. "If you're sure, Démas . . ."

"Absolutely," Lector insisted.

"Yeah!" Crump added. "It wouldn't be right for you to stay in a hotel instead of with us!"

Evangeline smiled. "Okay then."

Everyone got out and headed inside to help bring down the luggage. Crump eyed the fancy carpets and walls in approval.

Nesbitt was much too occupied with his thoughts. Lector looked to him in concern as they walked. "What's on your mind, Nesbitt?"

Nesbitt grunted. "I just wonder if that girl is going to be safe there overnight. That thing in her basement was filled with complete and total malevolence!"

"I know," Lector said. "We tried to convince them to take out a hotel suite for the night, but her parents insisted they'd be alright if they didn't go in the basement. I don't know what more we can do if they don't want us to try ahead of the priest."

"I suppose we could contact Yami Bakura anyway and try to pass him off as a professional as well," Gansley said. "But he never had much luck with Evangeline's ghosts."

Johnson nodded. "He might only incite that being further."

"For that matter, we don't know the exorcism will work!" Nesbitt growled.

"Yeah, it's really too bad the Ghostbusters aren't real," Crump said. "They could capture it if nothing else!"

"I always found the fact that they capture ghosts and contain them rather concerning," Johnson intoned. "Especially after the time all of us spent as disembodied spirits."

"It was weird, but the containment unit seemed to be a portal to another dimension," Crump said. "Maybe it was like the afterlife or limbo."

"Trust Crump to know the ins and outs of 1980s cartoon lore," Johnson smirked a bit.

"1980s cartoons were classics!" Crump defended. "They probably mean more to some generations than things like Bugs Bunny!"

No one offered a reply to that. Crump's sadistic sense of humor meant that he liked Bugs Bunny too.

By now they had arrived at the girls' suite. Evangeline unlocked the door and headed inside. "We left our bags just inside the door," she said.

Lector smiled and picked up hers, while Crump took Angelique's. "Alright then. Let's go."

Evangeline touched her brother's arm and looked to Nesbitt, who was still clearly worried. "It's sweet you're so worried about Melody, Mr. Nesbitt," she said. "But I'm afraid I'm at a loss myself after seeing how vicious that spirit is."

Nesbitt shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know there's really nothing that can be done if the parents want to wait for the priest," he grunted. "But it seems so foolish when we know we might be able to do something ourselves!"

"Yeah, if Tristan hadn't blown a fuse, we probably would've thought of that right away," Crump frowned.

"Only Yugi didn't want to bother Yami Bakura since Mr. Bakura's father is finally home," Lector said.

"Well, so there's nothing we can do," Crump sighed.

"Just wait for the priest in the morning," Gansley agreed. "Then we'll step in if that fails."

Nesbitt didn't look satisfied, but he said nothing more.

xxxx

Everything was quickly busy when they arrived at Lector's house and Crump suggested taking the girls on a tour of the house. They were very interested, and while Lector took charge of said tour, Nesbitt took the opportunity to slip out of the house and drive back to Melody's home. He was taking a chance, he knew, but he hated the thought of leaving that hapless family in the house overnight with something so vicious it had tried to choke both Duke and him. He had to try to get it out, even if that was going against the parents' wishes of trying the priest first.

He parked slightly down the sidewalk and then moved along the Nosakas' lawn to the corner basement window. That wasn't exactly where they had been attacked, but it was close enough.

"I know you're there," he snarled low. The spirit should still be able to hear. "Come out and face me!"

It only took moments for the cold to begin curling around his body. "You're so foolish that you would come back alone?!" Brutus mocked.

"I had to," Nesbitt retorted. His ring started to glow.

Brutus had more power than Nesbitt had anticipated. He fought against the ring's magic as Nesbitt forced it on him, back and forth, with Nesbitt using all of his strength to finally push the spirit away from him.

Now he could see a vague outline of a hateful man in the wisps of mist. "You . . . are more formidable than I thought," Brutus hissed. "But not good enough to vanquish me, just to weaken me." He sneered. "And I've had a victory too."

He vanished, leaving Nesbitt gasping and breathing hard in the crisp winter air. He had indeed pushed himself to his limits. If Brutus was weakened, maybe that was enough to protect the Nosakas for tonight, so it hadn't been in vain. . . .

He brought a hand to his forehead as vertigo swept over him. He fell backwards into the snow with a groan.