The Return of Cyanide

by RandomNinjaMetal

Bakura and Noa become pawns in Pegasus, Siegfried, and Tenma's latest plan to gain control of Kaiba Corp. But Seto's not going to give up his company that easily... Every chapter of the original story, now republished.

And here it is, republished, the longest complete story I've ever written- other than some minor edits, it's all as it originally was. That means the original author's notes are still here (everything after this top author's note is from when it was first published), as well as my sloppy attempts at writing technical stuff (the denial of service attack portion of the story bugs me now that I know more about computers) and a slightly slaughtered version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! R continuity. You see, back in 2005/2006 when I was writing this, all I had to work from was a small amount of somewhat inaccurate fan translations of the R manga, as well as tons of raw untranslated scans of it in the original Japanese. So, while I now know that, for example, Tenma is NOT Pegasus's brother, that was my thought at the time. So I'm leaving that stuff in. How funny it is that, at one point in my author's notes, I beg the readers to contact Viz and ask for an official R translation, and we are only now getting one...

A few other things that I'll disclaim to prevent people sending me messages saying I got things wrong: Sieg is gay in this story because... well, I think that 90% of the viewers of the KCGP story arc will agree with me that he is as gay as they get. Tenma's gay because... well, it worked at the time, although since then, I've seen further into the R manga and am fairly sure he's straight. As for Bakura, I took some fairly heavy liberties with the extent of the ring's powers for the sake of the story- with that, it's based more off the original manga than the anime, since the 'putting souls into inanimate objects' thing was further expanded on there. Also, I use the Ryou means Ryou Bakura, Bakura means thief king Bakura convention a lot in here. Yes, I know that canonically, both guys are called Bakura, but this just makes it easier to follow who is doing what in a written format.

One final thing I need to cover: when editing this, I noticed an unfilled plot hole- how does hospitalized comatose Noa body have the memories of what his virtual self had been doing? Oops. My explanation? Perhaps they were reuploaded to his body before he was moved to the hospital or something? If I could rewatch the last few episodes of the Virtual World arc, I'd probably be able to think of a better explanation, but at the moment there are many miles between me and those DVDs.

Okay, I think I covered everything. Please enjoy, and don't let the stiff writing of the first chapter bother you too much- it relaxes as the story goes on.

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 1:

It was cold and it was raining and Ryou Bakura wished desperately that he didn't have to walk all the way back to his apartment without a coat or an umbrella. Wondering why he had gone to school without them, he resolved to pay better attention to the weather forecasts in the future. Hugging himself in an attempt to cut the amount of water that actually reached his skin (it didn't work), he started to run.

Unknown to Ryou, he was being watched. As he started to run, the taxi that had been following him slowly sped up. The man in the back seat made a motion to the driver, who pulled the car up to Ryou's side, matching his speed. Ryou Bakura turned suddenly, sensing the presence in the car. As the window rolled down, Bakura approached it. But this wasn't the same Bakura…

"Well, well, well," said the Spirit of the Ring, "If it isn't Pegasus J. Crawford. What do you want? I hope you aren't going to ask for your eye back- Not happening. Even if you me ask politely." He leaned on the window, white hair dripping on the carpet and upholstery.

The man in question slid a few inches away from the window to avoid being dripped on before smiling at Bakura. "Why no, actually, I was wondering if you were interested in gaining two more millennium items."

Pegasus hated Bakura. He had stolen his millennium eye and left him for dead, which he probably would have been if his brother hadn't decided to pay a surprise visit and found his unconscious body. Yakkou Tenma then brought him to the hospital and donated blood. He had stayed with him and helped him regain his health, as well as deal with the day to day duties of running Industrial Illusions when Pegasus was too weak to work. His health was still far from perfect, and he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as he spoke to the being that had made him this way. But it was necessary. Bakura was part of his plan…

Bakura was unsure of Pegasus's motives, but as he had no reason to be nervous, he grinned. "Why Pegasus, how did you know that I'm collecting them?" he said, sarcasm glaringly obvious. He reached through the window and unlocked the door, letting himself in. Pegasus moved over farther, wishing he had possessed the foresight to have worn something that wasn't 'dry clean only.' "Alright then, let's discuss this," he said, and, noticing how much the wet was bothering Pegasus, he leaned over and wrung his fluffy hair out over a portion of the seat that had been mostly dry.

Reminding himself not to show any of his real emotions- that would give Bakura the upper hand- Pegasus forced another smile. "Of course, I wouldn't just give them to you. You'll have to do some work to get them."

"What and where are they? I doubt you have them on your person."

"What? The tauk and the rod," Pegasus answered, noticing how Bakura's eyes widened at the second. "As for where, locked in a high security vault under the Kaiba mansion."

Bakura paused to consider this. "Why," he wondered to himself, "would they be with Seto Kaiba? He hates anything that he can't explain- magic in particular. All the same, with the power of the millennium rod…"

Turning to Pegasus, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Your mistake was in telling me that. Now, why should I even wait here with you when I could go steal them now?"

"It's simple. You may be an accomplished thief, but that was back in ancient Egypt. Kaiba-boy's house is not only protected by walls and guards, but also by sophisticated electronic equipment. Now, I happen to have two of the best hackers in the world in my employ, and your thieving skills are unmatched. Further more, you have one more trait that makes you ideal for this job… Unless I am very much mistaken -which I never am-, your millennium ring can seal a portion of your soul in an inanimate object, correct?"

Bakura nodded. "What are you thinking, Pegasus?"

Pegasus lowered his voice. "The final security measure is the Kaibas themselves. They aren't stupid. They know that you can't be trusted. In order to get past Kaiba-boy and young Mokuba, you'll have to pretend to be… someone else."

Bakura smiled. It was a rather unnerving sight. "Well, this sounds… interesting. But what do you want out of all of this? I was under the impression that you hated me."

"That's right, Thief. I personally can't stand you. But I'm willing to assist you in gaining the millennium items… If you will help me gain KaibaCorp."

Laughing, Bakura held out his hand. "You've got a deal, Pegasus!"

---

On the other side of the city, someone else was in equally good spirits. Seto Kaiba, teenaged president of Kaiba Corporation, was closing a deal with a plastics company. As he left, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hi, Niisama!" said a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mokuba," acknowledged Seto, smiling.

"So how did the meeting go? Did you make the deal with the supplier?"

"The president was an absolute idiot. He's going to lose a lot of money with this contract. But, it will cut down the cost of Duel Disk manufacture by nearly thirty percent!"

"Niisama, that's awesome! You're the greatest!" Mokuba exclaimed.

After a minute or two more of conversation, the two brothers hung up. Seto had intended to do a little more paperwork before heading home, however, his plans were quickly thwarted by a small electronic beep from his computer- he'd just been emailed. Seto looked at the screen and cringed.

Sender: rose_by_any_other at mailserv dot com Subject: Are you very busy?

Rose, as Seto called it, had been the bane of his existence for the last week. Once or twice a day, Seto would get an email like the one above. Within the next few minutes, several thousand copies of the same email would be sent to every email address in KaibaCorp, effectively crashing the mail servers. Seto had tried blocking the address, both with his internet provider's controls and his own specially wrote program, but somehow this had no effect. His attempts at tracking the address to an individual computer or user were also fruitless. Clearly, the person behind this was more than just some bored kid. Frustrated by his own helplessness, he did the only thing he could. Picking up the phone, he called the head of the technology department. "Rose is about to launch another denial-of-service attack. Make sure all the essential computers and the email server are disconnected from the internet."

"Yes sir!"

Seto then turned off his wi-fi and waited. "What the hell!?" He stared at his screen, confused, as the same beep from before announced the arrival of email. Less than a second later, the same error message popped up-

Server Overloaded: Unable to connect at this time.

"Damn it, how could Rose have gotten to the email server? It's not even connected to the internet!" Looking at the floor, he suddenly remembered the cable connecting his machine to KaibaCorp's internal network- which should have been impossible to access from an outside computer. This, however, was the only possibility… Once again, he called the tech head. "He must have somehow delivered the mail by hacking into our internal network from one of the pc's that's still connected to the internet!"

"Then, sir, are you saying that the only way to stop this is to completely disconnect KaibaCorp from the world wide web? That would bring business to a standstill! Not to mention, once the press found out-"

"The press won't find out!" Seto snapped. "No one is going to tell them. I am going to find out who is doing this and stop them myself!" He slammed down his office phone, then pulled out his cell phone again, hitting redial.

"Mokuba? I'm sorry, but I'm going to be home late tonight…"

---

Domino wasn't a truly large city, but it was big enough to have one luxury hotel. The rooms were the very image of elegance- clean, tastefully decorated, with still life paintings bowls of fruit on the walls. One suite on the top floor, however, was nearly unrecognizable. Three rooms worth of furniture had all been shoved into the kitchenette, with the exception of the two small tables that had been in the main room. These, as well as several folding tables that had been brought in from outside, were covered with computers, transmitters, and other high-tech equipment. The floor was a mess of wires, and even more had been taped to the walls, covering the tacky, elegant paintings out of necessity, since several times had floor wires been tripped on and tape was the quickest solution. The curtains had been closed, the doors were always locked, and the 'do not disturb' sign had been hanging on the door for a little over a week now. If the maids had ignored it and came in, they might have thought spies were using the suite for some covert surveillance project.

Not that that idea was too far from the truth.

At the moment, one person occupied the suite, sitting in front of one of the computers. Although the relative mess of the rooms bothered him considerably, Siegfried Von Schroeder was in a very good mood. With a satisfied smile on his lips and a look of concentration in his eyes he finished typing and hit enter, then leaned back, watching the program he had created send out thousands of copies of a certain email. His amusement was interrupted, however, by the sound of a card key being swiped. The door clicked, then swung open.

"Darling!" Sieg exclaimed, stepping gracefully from his chair and rushing to the door, his long, pink hair fanning out behind him. Yakkou Tenma and Croquet entered the room, both carrying several bags. When Tenma saw Sieg, he shoved his bags into Croquet's already overloaded arms and grabbed his lover's hands.

"It's been dismal without you, my beloved," Sieg complained.

"I missed you too, Sieg," Tenma said, oblivious to the fact that Croquet was about to drop the bags. As he finally managed to get them all balanced, he hurried into the crowded kitchen, both to put away the groceries and to escape the lovey-dovey chit-chat being exchanged by the two men in the other room.

"For goodness sake, they've only been apart for about an hour…" he muttered. "Sometimes I wonder if this job is worth the paycheck…"

For a little over a week, this suite had been home to Pegasus J. Crawford, his brother Yakkou Tenma, Siegfried Von Schroeder, and Croquet. As a base for 'Operation Steal Kaiba-boy's Company,' (the 'operation' named by Pegasus, of course) the suite was more than serviceable. It had enough room for all the equipment Tenma and Sieg would need to hack the Kaiba's security system, was reasonably close to the company's HQ, and was fairly inconspicuous. As living quarters for the group, however, it failed horribly. Pegasus, Tenma, and Sieg were all rich and not exactly used to functioning in a tiny, cluttered space with only a one-person staff to boss around. Although Tenma was relearning to deal with things for himself, the other two were about to die from the sheer 'rusticness' of the situation. Croquet was fed up with cooking and cleaning ("not in the job description" he had complained), and to put it simply everyone's tempers were a bit short. Good thing they all thrived in tension.

Back in the main room, Sieg and Tenma (still holding hands) were looking down at the computer screen. "I see you're tormenting Kaiba again," said Tenma, amused. "Didn't my brother ask you to stop?"

"Dear Pegasus has no faith whatsoever!" announced Sieg loftily. "He only wants me to stop because he thinks Herr Kaiba will trace the attack back here. Impossible! He may be a genius when it comes to technology, but he's helpless compared to the world's two most gifted hackers."

Tenma smiled, looking Sieg in the eyes. "Meaning us?"

Sieg smiled back. "Exactly. Besides, I grow so bored here alone. If you, my beloved, weren't always out running errands," he lowered his voice, "maybe we could find other methods of amusing ourselves?"

Tenma nodded. "I like that idea." The two leaned in to kiss- but the 'magic moment' was interrupted.

"Really, you two. Behaving like that when we have a guest!"

Tenma and Sieg quickly stepped apart, embarrassed, as Pegasus J. Crawford entered the room, followed by Bakura's darker half.

"Ah, brother, good to see you!" Tenma began, before turning his attention to Bakura. "So you found him. And I take it he's agreed to help us?"

Bakura ignored Tenma and turned to Pegasus. "Are THESE the two great hackers you promised? They look just as stuck in the eighteen-hundreds as you do."

Sieg was pissed that anyone could dare suggest his fine fashion was over a hundred years out of date. He gave no outward signs of his annoyance, however- instead, he made a mental note to add Bakura to his enemies list. "I assure you, Herr Bakura, that our skills are without parallel!"

Bakura sighed. Pegasus had better know what he's talking about.

"Well, now that everyone is here, we might as well get down to business," Pegasus began, sitting in a leather computer chair. "The plan is as follows- Bakura will infiltrate the Kaiba family, gain their trust, and find out exactly where the items are hidden. While he's at it, he will marshal control of KaibaCorp from Seto and deliver it to us. Finally, my esteemed friends will hack through the security, allowing Bakura's own skills to get past the guards and non-electronic security devices to obtain the millennium items. Is everything clear?"

Bakura shook his head, amused. "And how am I supposed to 'infiltrate' the Kaiba family? I doubt it's even possible to gain Kaiba's trust enough that he would give me his precious company."

Pegasus smiled- the sort of creepy, evil grin that could give you nightmares for a month. "My dear Bakura, we are going to give you a new body."

"What the hell?!"

Enjoying Bakura's confusion, Tenma brought up an image on the computer monitor. It seemed to be a feed from a security camera, looking down at a white-gowned figure in a hospital bed. The young man had green hair… "Meet Noa Kaiba. Comatose since he was a little kid. You are going to reanimate him."

End Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Yes, Tenma is one of Pegasus's brothers. This is in the Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga, which is not yet in the US in any official form, but scanlations can be found on the web. Read em, it rocks. Write Viz and tell them you want to read it. If enough of us do, they might translate it officially!

Next, the 'denial-of-service' attack! Yeah, that's something people actually do! I'm not an expert on that sort of thing, though- I learned about it from a book on hackers and stuff. So if you are a hacker type reading this and laughing because I didn't describe it perfectly, my apologies. I did my best. On that subject, the address used in the story was obviously made up. Don't email it, just in case it is real.

Thanks for reading my latest and peace out! Next chapter- Bakura thought he was getting an empty corpse- unfortunately for him, Noa's mind is still active! How will this affect the plan?

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 2:

After their strange adventure in the virtual world, Mokuba Kaiba had became rather understandably attached to his comatose 'other brother.' For this reason, the mindless corpse-like body had been transferred to a very expensive hospital that was located conveniently between the Kaiba mansion and Mokuba's middle school, where it would be visited once a week by the youngest Kaiba. Today, however, a visit of a different nature was about to commence…

"Master Pegasus, are these outfits really necessary?" Croquet complained.

"Of course! If we walked into a hospital in our usual finery, we'd be too recognizable and our plan would be ruined! No, for this once, we must dress like commoners!" Pegasus answered.

Unfortunately for the group, they probably would have attracted less attention in their normal foppish attire, as they had a somewhat skewed idea of how to dress normal. Pegasus forced Croquet to wear a plaid shirt and denim overalls. Paired with his designer shoes and sunglasses, it gave his the look of some sort of deranged wannabe farmer. Pegasus, who had spent far too much time with American children while doing market research, was looking ridiculous in baggy pants, an Old Navy t-shirt that was a size or two too small, and a backwards baseball cap over his platinum hair.

Tenma and Sieg had went out to a thrift store together and had dressed in what they had found, under the misguided assumption that everything in the thrift store was considered 'normal.' Tenma had purchased a brightly colored raincoat that had been very much en vogue back in the early nineteen eighties and put it on over his regular clothing. Sieg hid his attention-getting pink hair under an equally attention-getting black hooded cloak, giving him the look of either a cult leader or a Halloween reject.

Bakura alone was dressed in his normal clothes- however, when he saw the rest of their outfits, he almost wished he wasn't- this was a rather embarrassing group to be seen with. Maybe he should have brought a paper bag to cover his head with…

As they approached the front desk at the hospital (gaining plenty of odd looks in the process) and asked for the room number of their 'cousin' Noa's room, Mokuba left his school and began to walk home. Unlike most of the population of Domino, Mokuba loved the current bad weather. It meant more chances for school closings. All the same, his mood had been less than perfect that day ever since he found out the extent of KaibaCorp's hacker problem. Knowing that Seto would be working late that night, Mokuba decided there was no reason why he shouldn't stop by the hospital and see Noa again. Feeling a little happier, he increased his pace.

Back at the hospital, the five 'visitors' entered Noa's room. As they prepared to get down to the task at hand, their mood changed completely from their usual silliness to a seriousness more befitting the occasion. Bakura looked down at Noa's seemingly lifeless body with an appraising stare. Although no one in the room would have known it, Noa looked very different than his avatar in the virtual world. His real life body had aged, looking every bit Seto Kaiba's peer. His green hair was a bit longer due to the infrequency of hospital haircuts, and his skin was pale from the near complete lack of sun. The body looked very frail- Bakura noted that with considerable annoyance. He then asked an important question.

"I wasn't in the virtual world. How the hell am I supposed to know how Noa Kaiba acts?"

Pegasus narrowed his eyes. "From what the hospital records say about the extent of the brain damage, it is possible that a good deal of his memories will still be intact. You should be able to access them. However, there is also a small chance… a chance that Noa might still be conscious in there. Of course, he wouldn't be any sort of threat to you, Bakura. You're used to being an, uh, guest in someone else's body."

"It's a small chance that I'd rather not take. I was looking forward to having a body of my own… But I suppose I don't have much choice. I'll still do it." Bakura approached the hospital bed, everyone else backing away. Tenma, Sieg, and Croquet looked away. Pegasus watched. The work of the millennium ring was disturbing to watch, but for one who was used to seeing such dark power it was not a problem.

Pegasus dearly wished be still had his millennium eye- he was very curious as to what was going on inside Bakura and Noa's heads at that moment. Suddenly, Bakura's eyes went blank and he began to fall backwards. Sieg caught him, and layed him across the bottom of the hospital bed.

"What happened?" Pegasus demanded. This had not been in the plan.

"He's still breathing," Sieg answered, examining Bakura. "Maybe this takes a lot out of him?"

"It shouldn't," Pegasus knew that, over time, using a millennium item could be tiring, but this shouldn't have caused any such effects…

"He's waking up!" Tenma said suddenly. All attention went back to Noa. His eyes were open.

"Bakura? Did it work?"

Inside Noa's head, Bakura's soul was struggling to establish itself. Slowly, he became aware of everything… He could feel his influence spreading until the entire body seemed to be in his control. As a test, he commanded the eyes to open. For a moment it was blinding, but as his eyes slowly adjusted he could see the ceiling above the hospital bed, and, once things came into better focus, the faces of Pegasus and his group. Further testing his control, he pulled air into Noa's lungs and forced it back out, forming words in the process. "I'm here. It worked."

A wave of relief moved through the group. Tenma and Sieg hugged, while Pegasus shook his hand. Bakura cringed. He didn't quite have perfect control over the hands yet. This was going to take some practice.

Bakura forced Noa's body to sit up, and it was then that he noticed the figure draped across the other side of the bed. He laughed, or at least tried to. Something else he was going to have to practice. "It seems I transferred more of my spirit than I had intended to. I suppose my host will be able to enjoy some time to himself while I am busy obtaining two more millennium items."

Ryou Bakura stirred slightly. "Croquet," Tenma ordered, "get him out of here. If he wakes up now, he'll ask too many questions."

"Yes sir," Croquet answered, privately wishing he had became a lawyer, or a doctor, or even a janitor. Anything, as long as it didn't involve being at the beck and call of a bunch of psycho foppish weirdos.

Lifting Ryou Bakura's body off the bed, he managed to get him positioned so that it looked less like he was dumping a corpse and more like he was helping a sick friend. He then left the room and deposited Ryou in a chair in the waiting lounge on the first level. Exhausted from the effort of carrying someone who weighed nearly as much as he did, Croquet then returned to Noa's room. Inside, he found Bakura complaining.

"This body is so weak! I can barely compel it to move! I can hardly sit up, much less walk!"

"Of course it's weak," answered an irritated looking Sieg. "Its muscles haven't been used in what, seven or eight years?"

"Ah! Mr. Croquet is back!" exclaimed Pegasus. "Then we should be going so the doctors can come in and find the medical miracle- and call Kaiba-boy."

"Wait a second," interjected Bakura. "I'm not accessing any of Noa's memories. How am I supposed to pull this off?"

Pegasus dismissed this with an impatient flip of his hand. "Then fake amnesia and learn as you go along. But the memories might still be in there. Poke around in his mind while you wait for the doctors. Good luck, Bakura. We will be in touch soon."

Bakura watched as the four men left, then did his best to get comfortable in the hospital bed. Closing his eyes and relaxing his hold on Noa's body, he once again busied himself with his mind. "I did think," he mentioned to himself, "that there was something in here that I couldn't reach. Maybe that was his memories…" In some ways, he thought it would be sort of fun to pretend to have amnesia- but, with so much riding on this deception, he decided it would be wiser to make available all the possible resources, even if that meant spending a lot of time poking around in someone else's mind.

"And here it is!" Bakura thought, triumphantly. Although the portions of the brain associated with the various motor skills and such were easy enough to access, one area seemed to resist his entry. Whether it was the force of some leftover of Noa's will or simply brain damage that kept him out, Bakura was determined and slowly managed to force the area to open itself up for his inspection. This ended up being the problem.

"What on earth…" muttered Bakura. He felt something- it seemed to grab hold of his consciousness and pull itself past him. He pushed his mind into the newly opened portion of Noa's brain and smiled to himself.

Noa's memories were like an open book that he could peruse at his own leisure. But first, he wanted to figure out what it was that he had felt a few moments ago…

Suddenly, without Bakura willing it, Noa's eyes opened.

"I can… move again!" a voice thought. And it wasn't Bakura's.

"Oh shit… Noa's still here…" Bakura thought. "This is going to cause some problems."

"Who's there?" Noa thought.

Forcing his influence back over Noa's body, Bakura answered, "Your new landlord."

End Chapter 2

Author's Note-

Thank you for reading!

Next Chapter- Not only is Noa back, but things are further complicated by the fact that his many years in his virtual world have left him somewhat unstable. Plus, Mokuba Kaiba shows up unexpectedly, before Bakura has had a chance to properly go through Noa's memories. Can Bakura be a convincing 'big brother?' All this and more, next time.

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 3:

"This is the last thing I need…" thought Bakura, irritated, as he forced Noa's consciousness back.

"What's going on? How did this happen? And who are you?" Noa demanded, sounding completely disoriented.

"It seems," Bakura thought, "that when I opened that part of Noa's mind, he was able to use me as a bridge…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your questions," answered Bakura, loosing some of his patience, "are starting to get on my nerves. In short, I'm using your body so I can get to Kaiba and the millennium items hid in his mansion."

"What!? I won't let you use me!" Noa shouted, angry, before trying to regain control. A strange 'battle' occurred, but Bakura won easily. He was used to holding back an unwilling host. All the same, the strength of Noa's will surprised him. But then something happened that surprised them both.

- - -

On his way through the hospital, Mokuba said his usual greetings to the staff before heading to his brother's room. Cutting through a waiting area, he noticed someone he had not been expecting to see.

"Bakura?" said Mokuba, walking over to the older boy, who appeared to be sleeping in one of the chairs. At the sound of his name, Ryou stirred, then sat up, confused.

"Mokuba?" he asked, looking around. The room was completely unfamiliar. "What am I doing here?"

"That's what I was about to ask you," said Mokuba, shrugging. "You mean you don't remember?"

Ryou shook his head.

"Sir?" Mokuba called to a passing nurse. He approached them, smiling.

"Well, hello Mokuba. Here to visit your brother again?"

Mokuba nodded, glancing at Ryou and flushing slightly. Only his Niisama had known about his visits to Noa. Changing things back to the intended topic, he asked, "Do you know why this guy is here? Did he hit his head or something?"

"No," the doctor answered, "he was here to visit someone, I think. Someone helped him into that seat a few minutes ago… Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I'm ok, I remember now. I was just tired," Ryou said, faking a laugh. As the doctor walked away, Ryou muttered, "It must have been him…" But, when he looked inside his mind, the thief seemed to not be present… Not sure if he dared to hope, he pulled the millennium ring out from under his shirt and lifted it off… with no resistance. "He's really gone," he said simply, not really believing it.

During this moment of discovery, however, Mokuba's attentions were elsewhere. "I'll see you later," he called over his shoulder as he continued on to Noa's room. Ryou paused, then rushed after him. Putting the ring in his jacket pocket, he decided to keep this to himself for the moment. At least until he found out what had happened. Trying to catch up, he hoped Mokuba would have a cell phone with him so that he could call Yugi, one of the few people who would understand the situation.

"Mokuba, wait-"

Mokuba hadn't heard him. He pulled open the door to Noa's room and stepped inside- only to see Noa sitting up in bed, eyes open. Noa turned and looked at him, surprised. "Mokuba!?"

"Noa!" Tears in his eyes, Mokuba ran to the bed and flung his arms around his brother. "Oh god, you're ok!"

As Ryou rounded to corner and entered the room, several things happened simultaneously. The first- Ryou could feel it. The presence of the one who had enslaved him. There was no doubt whatsoever in his mind. The second- a very surprised Bakura looked from the young boy who was hugging him to his previous host and thought one word, "Shit." The third- inside their shared consciousness, Noa returned to the fight for control. "Mokuba!" he thought, desperately, "That's not me! Get away from him!" But he was unable to do anything. Bakura's hold over his body was at the moment too strong for him to break.

"Mokuba…" began Bakura, looking back down at the raven-haired Kaiba. Regaining control of the situation, he tried to act as he imagined anyone would in such a situation. "What has happened? I just… woke up."

"Bakura," Mokuba exclaimed, causing him unconsciously to tense Noa's body- had he been found out that quickly? before realizing Mokuba was talking to his prior host. "Don't just stand there, go get a doctor!" Ryou nodded and rushed off.

"Mokuba!" his mouth shouted suddenly, pushing the younger boy away. Somehow, Noa had regained control, but only for a second. As Bakura repressed him yet again, he cursed to himself before saying quickly, "you go too! I… uh… feel faint!" Mokuba's eye's widened, and he nodded, running from the room.

Bakura allowed himself to fall backwards on to the bed, exasperated. "You fool!" his mind screamed at Noa, "you nearly blew it! Don't do that again!"

Noa ignored him completely. "I have to find a way to warn Mokuba so he'll stay away from me… How could I have came to be possessed by this unholy demon?"

Laughing, Bakura exclaimed, "Demon! I like that! Not quite though." He paused once he realized that Noa was still paying him no attention. "Hey, Noa, you still with us," he asked, snickering. Getting no answer, he decided to spend his time productively by going through his memories. But as he moved his consciousness toward that portion of the brain, Noa suddenly decided to take an interest in the Thief's doings.

"Stay out of there, Lucifer! You can take my body, but I won't let you have my mind!" For the umpteenth time, Noa fought for control. Feeling his grip slip, Bakura clung on, giving up on entering his memories for the time being.

The door flew open, and suddenly filled with doctors and nurses. As the mental battling continued, tests were administered to Noa's body as the doctors tried to figure out the cause for the sudden change.

- - -

Pegasus J. Crawford, Yakkou Tenma, and Siegfried Von Schroeder were in a marvelously good mood that evening. So far, everything was working out exactly as they had hoped. Pegasus sat alone in the crowded main room of their hotel suite, enjoying a glass of wine to celebrate (not that he really ever needed a reason) while Tenma and Sieg were off in the tiny bedroom, probably engaged in activities Pegasus preferred not to contemplate.

"- doctors are completely baffled," concluded a newscaster on a streaming radio feed that was running from one of the computers. Pouring himself more wine, Pegasus yelled for his help. "Mr. Croquet! Come shut down-" He stopped speaking when the computer made a little electronic beeping noise. Forcing himself to get up, he walked over and sat down, reading the text on the monitor.

I am in the mansion. The hospital released me when they were done with the tests, providing I come back tomorrow. My new host, unfortunately, is still here and has been nothing but trouble. Efforts to gather information from him have been unsuccessful. I am beginning to believe he has snapped- insists that I am the Christian devil. Seto Kaiba is heavily suspicious and doesn't believe anything I say, however, much progress has been made in gaining Mokuba Kaiba's trust.

-Thief

Pegasus smiled, hitting reply.

Keep up the act and do not waver from your story. Keep working on Noa Kaiba, if he has gone insane then use this against him. Continue with efforts on Seto Kaiba- he'll come around, I think, if you continue to be kind to Mokuba. Good luck!

-PJC

Clicking the 'send' button, Pegasus began to stand up. He then noticed Croquet, who was still waiting for instructions from when he was called earlier. With a sigh, Pegasus said, "Really, I thought I asked you to be cooking us dinner. Will you please get back to work?"

Croquet nodded, and left. As soon as he was back in the kitchen and out of earshot, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. "It's me again. My employer is driving me insane… I think I'm going to kill him… that or quit."

On the other end of the line, his therapist said in a soothing voice, "We talked about this. If you are so unhappy, why don't you try talking with your employer? I'm sure he is a very reasonable man at heart-"

Croquet laughed, cutting her off. "It's clear that you don't know Pegasus! Reasonable is the last word anyone would use for that eccentric fop."

"Mr. Croquet!" Pegasus called from the other room, "It's past nine thirty! Where is our food?" Hanging up after a hurried goodbye, he went back to work, trying to remember the relaxation techniques he had learned.

"Stress…" he muttered, chopping vegetables and squinting at a cookbook.

In the bedroom, Tenma sat up in bed, scrolling through the text on his laptop's screen. "What's this…" he said to himself, reading for a moment before jumping out of bed and hurrying into the other room, shouting, "Pegasus! You have to see this!"

Standing up, the elder brother entered the room. "What?" he asked, looking around. Noticing Sieg's only half clothed sleeping form laying on the bed, Pegasus rolled his eyes. "Is that what you wanted to show me? I don't quite share your interest-" Tenma grabbed the laptop from the floor where he had left it and handed it to his brother.

"We have a huge problem."

After reading for a moment, Pegasus narrowed his eye. "Indeed."

- - -

In a spacious office near Seto Kaiba's room the young CEO sat alone, trying to concentrate on the long strings of code that he had printed out. Finally giving up for the evening on the 'Rose' problem (there had been another attack that day), he returned to his room and got ready for bed. After pulling on his pajamas and laying down, he permitted his mind to wander to the other big problem he had to deal with: the sudden reappearance of Noa.

"How am I supposed to deal with this?" he wondered. "If Noa decides to take Kaiba Corp, I'm not sure if I could legally stop him." He had further doubts, too, as to Noa's recovery. "The doctors had assured me that, even if he miraculously woke up from his coma, his body would still be paralyzed from the extensive damage to his spinal cord." That was, indeed, the most baffling thing. The tests that had been ran at the hospital showed no physical change whatsoever had occurred- the spine and the nerves it contained were still ruined. Noa was a medical anomaly. In his state, it should be completely impossible for any sort of self-propelled movement to occur.

Seto's restless mind kept him awake, and before he knew it he was climbing out of bed and wandering silently down the hall to the guest bedroom that Noa was, for the moment, staying in. A light under the door confirmed that he was still awake. Ignoring a strange, irrational dread he opened the door…

End Chapter 3

Next chapter- Bakura is going to have to hurry and win Seto's trust- it turns out that the Kaiba's are going to go to America to do business while the mansion gets some remodeling. Will he be able to convince him to let him stay home and "watch the business?" Also, how will Bakura cover up his true identity once Seto speaks with Ryou and starts putting two and two together? All this and more, next time.

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 4:

The body of Noa Kaiba sat in the relative darkness of his room, a single lamp the only source of light. Typing quickly on a tiny laptop computer, Bakura explained his current situation to Pegasus. After hitting 'send', he leaned back in his chair and focused on the inner world of his new host's mind…

"Hey Noa!" he shouted cheerfully, "Thank whoever taught you to type for me… your hands are far quicker than my old host's." Typing, like the rest of Noa's motor skills, was now as simple for the thief as it would have been if he had been taking lessons his whole life.

Noa didn't respond to Bakura's taunting. He had been silent for the past few hours, ever since Mokuba Kaiba had went to bed. The two had been playing chess- that is to say, Mokuba was playing chess, Bakura was desperately trying to remember the rules from the few times he had seen Ryou play it, and Noa was mentally screaming for Mokuba to "get away from this evil being!" Needless to say, between lack of skill, distraction, and Mokuba's own ability, Bakura had lost horribly. That had ended up working in his favor, however- the youngest Kaiba seemed thrilled to be winning against his 'brother'. And of course, the key to gaining Seto Kaiba's trust was through keeping Mokuba Kaiba happy.

Bakura went back to his recent task of trying to get into Noa's memories. So far, he had not been questioned on anything that happened in the virtual world, and as of this point Mokuba was still too elated at having his brother back to really notice that his personality wasn't quite the same. But, the thief knew this luck wasn't going to hold out forever- sooner or later, one of two things would happen. Either he would unknowingly slip up and do something so completely un-Noa-like that Mokuba would figure him out, or, he would be forced into a business conversation with Seto and reveal how little he knew about economics and that crap. Either way, he was sunk. Seto Kaiba already suspected his 'brother' wasn't quite who he claimed to be… the last thing he wanted was to have that idea validated.

When Seto opened the door, his first impression was that Noa was sleeping. Shaking his head, he headed over to the table from which a lamp was creating the light he had seen under the door. When he reached out to turn it off, however, he noticed that Noa's eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling from his spot on the bed. "Noa?" Seto asked, halfway hoping he had lapsed back into his coma. That would make things a lot less complicated…

Seto jumped when Noa sat up, the movement sudden and graceless. Turning to Seto, he exclaimed in a panicky voice, "Help me! I'm-" he stopped.

"What!?" But even as he watched, Noa changed. Instantly calming down, he laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, it must have been a nightmare," he said, laughing some more. Seto was deeply freaked out, but he turned on his usual smirk.

"Scared of the dark? Is that why you left the light on?"

Noa smiled. "Me? The dark? Noooo."

Something about his smile seemed odd to Seto. Familiar… but definitely not Noa. Still, he kept his poker face.

"Then turn the thing off. It wastes electricity." The eldest Kaiba turned to leave, but paused. "By the way," he said over his shoulder, "I hope your English skills are passable. We're taking a trip to America on Wednesday; we'll be there for a month or so. Business."

"A whole month?" Noa asked, clearly displeased.

"That's right, Noa," Seto answered, then added sarcastically, "in less you have other plans." He laughed as he left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Noa's body flopped backwards onto the bed again. Bakura was not happy…

"Damn it!" he exclaimed mentally. "A month! I have no intention of going to the U.S. for a month!" While Noa's body slept, the Thief was busy planning how he was going to get out of the trip. His captive audience remained silent.

- - -

"I don't understand," Siegfried said between sips of coffee. "How is this a problem? He can take control of KaibaCorp just as easily in America. All that matters is that he is with Herr Kaiba."

It was the following morning, and as Pegasus's group ate breakfast they discussed the current situation. Tenma's laptop sat open on the table, displaying Seto Kaiba's personal calendar for the following month. It had been made on Microsoft Outlook- a program that was full of security holes, making it ridiculously easy for Tenma to hack in. It was here that the business trip had been discovered.

"You must remember," Pegasus explained (using a mildly condescending tone that Sieg resented), "the whole reason the Thief is doing this for us is because he believes Kaiba-boy has two millennium items hidden below his mansion."

"I see…" Sieg said, "and Bakura is not the patient type, correct?"

"He might get desperate and do something idiotic, like try and break into the cellar unaided. If he gets caught, our chances with KaibaCorp are ruined," Tenma agreed. "On the other side of things, if he succeeds in getting past security, he'll see that Kaiba has no more millennium items than we do and our bluff will be called. Problems for us either way."

The group sat in silence, thinking. Pegasus glared at the teacup he had been drinking from. Maybe something stronger would help him think clearer…

"I've got it!" Sieg exclaimed suddenly. "There's a way we can use this to our advantage. What if Mokuba and 'Noa' were left in Japan instead of going to America? Then, if some sort of crisis came up, Mokuba would have the power to temporarily take lead of the corporation until his elder brother returned."

Nodding, Pegasus said, "I know where this is going. We would then have an easy time of convincing the trusting Mokuba to let his dear 'brother' take the reins. And then, Kaiba Corporation would be as good as ours! I like your thinking! But," he narrowed his remaining eye, "it's unlikely that Kaiba-boy is going to leave those two behind. We know from Bakura's email that he doesn't trust him."

Across the table, Tenma smiled. "I have an idea…"

- - -

That evening, Seto Kaiba once again sat alone in his home office. This time, however, he was in a considerably better mood. The past hour had been dedicated to testing a program he had wrote that day. "The next time Rose decides to play games with KaibaCorp we'll be ready," he muttered. "He's going to regret the day he decided to mess with me!"

His gloating, however, was interrupted by the ring of his cell phone. Annoyed that someone would bother him in his moment of triumph, he answered with more than the usual amount of venom in his voice. "Hello?"

"Someone from the government just called. He wants to see you, so I sent him to the mansion," answered one of Seto's secretaries.

"The government? Well, isn't that just lovely," Seto muttered sarcastically before hanging up. "I wonder what it is this time." As much as he hated the government and its regulations for fair practice of business, he knew it would not be in his best interest to ignore them. So, with much irritation, he headed downstairs to the entrance hall, where he waited impatiently. Ten minutes later, Seto heard a knock and flung open the door.

"Hello sir," said the man who was standing outside. After inviting him in, the eldest Kaiba and the government guy sat down in Seto's office. Looking over the visitor, Seto noticed that he didn't look like one of the usual suited bureaucrats. He didn't look any older than the eldest Kaiba, and was dressed in a practical set of work clothes. His long, blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he wore sunglasses. Oddly enough, he had a goatee- how many years ago did that go out of style, anyway? A cardboard tube, such as was used for the transfer of oversized paper work, was in his right hand. Seto wondered what this was about.

"Mr. Kaiba, correct?" he began. Seto nodded, noting the man's accent. He continued, "I'm from the county building commission. Just recently, when working in the archives, I found these…" he pulled out the original architect's plans for the Kaiba mansion, neatly rolled in the cardboard tube. "I took a quick glance out of curiosity, and was rather shocked. There are several glaring code violations that need to be addressed. This is an unsafe house!"

"I don't have time for this! I'll deal with it next month-"

"I'm sorry sir, but national law states that these problems should be addressed as soon as they are discovered. The county can send a team out as early as Wednesday… We'll be completely unobtrusive, you won't even notice us, I assure you! Although," he added with a smile, "we'll need to have a member of the Kaiba family here to sign some paper work. Legalities, you know how it goes…"

- - -

After all arrangements were made, the government man left the mansion and jumped into the back of the non-obtrusive work van that was parked outside. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have noticed the small sticker on the windshield that indicated its status as a rental, and that the back contained plush seats rather than tools. After sitting down, the 'government worker' smiled at the other occupants of the van. "What an idiot! I don't even think the disguise was necessary- he didn't recognize me at all!" exclaimed Siegfried Von Schroeder.

"Wonderful!" said Pegasus. "So this means we can count on Kaiba-boy's visit to America being a solo effort?"

Sieg nodded before turning to Tenma, who was also sitting in the back. "Darling, will you help me remove this ridiculous make-up? I feel so silly in it…"

Reaching out to stroke Sieg's hair, Tenma said, "Really? But you make such an attractive blonde. Besides, we can't get the dye out without a sink."

Sieg leaned his head on Tenma's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I suppose I can wait, then… Although-" he ripped the goatee off- "This would have drove me insane…"

"I agree, you look so much nicer without it," said Tenma.

As usual, Pegasus tuned them out as their flirting continued. Croquet, who wasn't quite so used to it, had more trouble, and his driving suffered from the distraction. For the millionth time, he wondered why he kept this job.

Chapter 4 end

Author's note:

Pegasus and co are playing with fire, aren't they? Risking Bakura's wrath? He's a scary guy… Uh, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought!

Next chapter- The next phase of 'Operation Steal Kaiba-boy's Company' has begun! Planning was the easy part… now they must actually put things into action. However, a phone call from Ryou Bakura puts everything in jeopardy. All this and more, next time.

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 5:

"…and as our business in the states can't wait, I want you two to stay here," Seto Kaiba explained to his brothers. Mokuba shook his head.

"But Niisama! I wanna come with you!"

"Mokuba, I need you to stay here with Noa, in case he… relapses," Seto answered, not mentioning the fact that he didn't trust Noa enough to leave him at the mansion alone. He would have liked to have taken him with him to America and kept an eye on him himself, but Mokuba wasn't old enough to be able to legally sign whatever paperwork the government needed for the house repairs… Damn government…

The body of Noa Kaiba nodded. "This works for me." Pegasus's group had emailed him the details of their new plan, and his initial irritation with Seto's business trip had turned to anticipation- couldn't he just shut up and leave? "How much longer?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Seto glanced at his watch. "I'll depart in five hours…"

- - -

"I win again!" Mokuba exclaimed, grinning at the teen on his right. "Are you even trying?"

Mokuba and 'Noa' had been playing a racing videogame for hours, and Bakura was more than tired of it. Seto had left hours ago, and if Mokuba would leave him alone for a minute, he could tell Pegasus. "Isn't it your bedtime, Mokuba?" he asked, letting a little of his irritation into his voice.

Mokuba looked down. "Well, sorta… but if Niisama isn't here, can I stay up later?"

"No, Mokuba!" Bakura said, losing his patience.

"Alright, Noa! Goodnight!" Bakura tolerated a hug, then watched the youngest Kaiba leave, making sure he actually had gone to bed before approaching one of the Kaiba's many PCs. It sat idle, that irritating screen saver with the 3-D pipes making the thief feel a little ill. "Good riddance," he muttered, as he moved the mouse to make it go away before bringing up the internet and emailing Pegasus through the secure account the hackers had set up for him.

Seto Kaiba has been gone for some time now, and he called about thirty minutes ago to let us know he has arrived in the US. Mokuba has gone to sleep. Now would be the ideal time to strike…

-The Thief

As Bakura tried to click 'send,' Noa's mind, which had been wonderfully quiet all day, decided to step in, preventing Bakura from clicking. An argument began inside his head…

"Oh yeah, sure, be a good host all day, then suddenly decide to come out now? You're a convenient one, aren't you?" Bakura said sarcastically. What he didn't want to admit was that he had been caught off guard- it was a bad sign whenever Noa was able to control himself, even for a moment. If things got messed up now, right when he was so close to fulfilling his end of the bargain…

"Satan! I command you, in the name of the father, son, and holy ghost, to leave my body immediately!" Noa mentally shouted.

"Wrong guess. Better luck next time," Bakura answered, pushing his way back into control once again. He felt physically spent. Not good, he thought privately as he finished with the email. It was so much harder to fight off a host when he didn't have the power of the Millennium Ring. After logging out, he flopped down on the couch, desperate for but incapable of sleep.

- - -

Pegasus, Tenma, Siegfried, and Croquet sat in a circle around one of their computers, only half awake, waiting for the email that would launch the next stage of their plan. "Maybe Kaiba changed his mind… or maybe the plane crashed before it reached the US," muttered Tenma drowsily. "That would save us the trouble of creating our own 'disaster…'"

"But where's the fun in that? I've been looking forward to this since we first made the plan…" answered an equally drowsy Sieg.

"Good point… It is going to be nice, creating enough chaos that he can't deal with it from the US…"

"If this works out," Pegasus, the most awake of the group, added, "I'll give everyone raises…"

"That'd be nice…" Croquet said to himself, stifling a yawn.

When the computer beeped and displayed a new email, all eyes snapped open, tiredness forgotten. Pegasus read it hurriedly, then turned to the anxious group.

"Gentlemen, Kaiba-boy has reached America!"

Forgetting their usual dignity, Tenma and Siegfried jumped up and hugged, shouting enthusiastic little 'Yay!'s.

"A raise!" shouted Croquet happily, hugging Pegasus with enthusiasm nearly equaling that of the two lovers.

Pegasus, somewhat startled, pushed him away after a moment and said, "Mr. Croquet, if I had known a raise would make you this happy, I would have given you one years ago!"

Tenma snickered.

Ignoring Tenma and wiping away a tear, Croquet answered, "I've been underpaid for so long… Nothing would make me happier than a raise! How much?"

"I think an additional five cents an hour should be sufficient."

While Croquet wondered why he worked for such a stingy guy, the two hackers got to work. Tenma brought up his laptop and moved a program he had created onto a USB memory key, making several final checks on it before giving it to Sieg. Sieg, who had been logging onto hotmail under Mokuba's name (his password had been laughably easy to guess- 'Niisama') attached the file to an email addressed to Seto Kaiba's personal account. "Will you do the honors?" Tenma asked Pegasus. With an evil laugh, Pegasus clicked 'send.'

- - -

Seto Kaiba sat in his hotel room, drinking his third cup of coffee. It might have been night in Japan, but the day was just beginning in America, and Seto's first meeting was in an hour. Unable to stop a yawn, Seto glanced longingly at his bed. Maybe, if he could postpone the meeting another hour or so, he could get in a short nap…

With every intention of emailing the head of the plastics company he was to be meeting with, Seto opened his laptop. Afterwards, however, he decided to send Mokuba a quick email- as close as they were, he already missed him desperately. However, when his personal email loaded, he was surprised to see an email from 'BlueEyez-' Mokuba's screen name. "You shouldn't be up this late…" Seto muttered.

There was an attachment- Seto started it downloading as he read the email.

Niisama, I need your help with something. Not long after you called, the tech department's head came over and told me there was a bug in the duel ring server. He made a patch for it, but he didn't have clearance to directly mess in the server's programming, so he wanted me to implement it. I didn't know how! So could you, Niisama? I attached it. Lots of love and huggles!

Mokuba

Seto glared at the message critically. "Since when does Mokuba say 'huggles?' His whole writing style is odd… This could be a fraud." Seto checked the address of the sending computer- yes, everything seemed right. "Of course, there's always the chance that Noa sent this, and I don't trust him in the slightest…" But, even if he did have some sort of malicious intentions, Seto doubted he would sabotage his own company. He remembered Noa's desperate attempts to regain KaibaCorp- yes, no matter what else Seto thought of him, he knew Noa wouldn't hurt their company.

Still feeling slightly wary (although far too tired to do anymore checking), Seto remotely connected to the DRS and launched the newly downloaded patch's installation program. He then lay down for some much needed sleep.

- - -

Back in Domino, it was a little before twelve and most of the city was sleeping. Four men, however, were very much awake. In the center of Domino Park, Tenma and Siegfried were dueling. Or, at least trying to.

"And so, I play Rainbow Bridge, which raises Brunhilde's attack-"

"No you don't! I play Magic Jammer, and-"

"Wait just a second!" Pegasus exclaimed, snatching the cards out of Tenma's hand. Pulling out one monster card, he waved it at his brother. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this!"

Tenma cringed. "Pegasus, you already took two of my best cards. At least let me have The Devil's Dread-Root!"

Pegasus shook his head. "Sorry, dear brother, but I can not allow you to use illegal cards!"

"But they aren't illegal! Just because I made them-"

"Not only made them, but made them against my will- Sorry!"

There was no arguing with Pegasus, so Tenma gave in and turned his attention back to a rather irritated looking Sieg. "Where were we? Oh yes, I was about to destroy your strategy-" Suddenly, the holograms of their cards vanished.

Pegasus laughed. "Perfect! This is too easy! Our virus worked!"

"What, and you thought it wouldn't?" asked Siegfried. As pleased as he was that things were going well, he still wished he could have finished his duel.

"Let's get back to the hotel!" Tenma exclaimed, eager to cause more chaos. He had written the virus so that it not only crashed the DRS, but also opened a backdoor into KaibaCorp's main computer system. With the level of control this gave them, they really could just take the company- but, of course, they needed to make this look legal, for the sake of their public image.

"I'm in such a generous mood," Pegasus said, "that I think I'll give you another raise, Mr. Croquet."

"R-really? How much more?" Croquet asked desperately.

"You can add yet another nickel to your hourly wage!"

As the group headed back to their hotel, Croquet wondered why he even bothered to get his hopes up, while Tenma made some very vulgar jokes about who gave who 'raises.'

- - -

The ringing of a telephone pulled Seto from sweet, sweet sleep and back into harsh reality. "What do you want?" Seto answered, far too tired to be civilized.

Their was a pause, then a familiar voice asked hesitantly, "Kaiba?"

"Yeah, that's me," Seto replied, already thinking this conversation was a waste of time.

"This is Ryou Bakura… There's something really important I should tell you. I should have said something a while back, but I was enjoying my freedom far too much… And so I guess I'm saying something now-"

"Get on with it," Seto growled.

"Noa… isn't Noa."

Chapter 5 end

Author's note:

A quick explanation that I should have given earlier- When does this fic take place in relation to the cannon? This must be sometime after Battle Ship (because of Noa), however, it's before KaibaCorp Grand Prix (aka Kaiba Grand Championship) since Seto hasn't been reacquainted with Sieg. This is within the anime storyline rather than manga, since Pegasus isn't dead. As a result of this, Tenma didn't turn into an absolute psycho. Which technically means he shouldn't have his evil god cards, but… Well, it's a fanfic. Please ignore slight inconsistencies.

My writing style seems to have made a slight shift, which irritates me greatly. I'll try and correct this next chapter. I also made a dumb error and put stuff from this chapter in the preview for chapter four. Please forgive my sad self.

Next chapter- With KaibaCorp's computer systems getting worse by the minute, Mokuba tries to contact Seto. Too bad his cell phone doesn't seem to be working. And after Ryou Bakura tells Seto the truth about 'Noa,' Seto begins to figure out what's really going on. But is he too late to stop Bakura from taking his company and delivering it to Pegasus? All this and more, next time.

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 6:

"Damn it! Someone is going to die today!" Seto Kaiba exclaimed angrily as he hung up the phone. He couldn't believe what Ryou had told him- but in so many ways it made sense… But what he still couldn't understand was why Bakura would want KaibaCorp- unless he was working with someone. And Seto was very aware of the number one person who was after his company. Not only that, but Pegasus did have some experience with freaky supernatural stuff…

Grabbing his cell phone, Seto dialed the number of his brother's. He had to warn Mokuba, then possibly have some of his servants 'detain' the false Noa.

- - -

"Darling," Siegfried said sweetly to his boyfriend. Tenma looked up from his computer screen.

"What is it?"

"Herr Kaiba is trying to contact the mansion. Should we stop the call?"

Tenma nodded. "Of course! In fact, maybe it would be for the best if I disabled his phone completely…"

- - -

Seto didn't understand it- he could tell that the other phone was ringing, but after three rings it suddenly stopped. It didn't even do that much when he attempted to redial. He gave up after several tries. All this was doing was further confirming his theory- he knew that one of Pegasus's employees, Yakou Tenma, was not only a dangerous computer hacker but a phreak (phone hacker) as well. "Damn you, Pegasus!" Seto exclaimed angrily as he returned to his computer. At least he could email Mokuba.

A message had appeared on the screen-

Patch has been downloaded and installed to the Duel Ring Server.

Seto could have hit himself. "Of course! That suspicious email!" Praying that, for once, he was wrong and that the email really was a message from his brother, Seto tried to remotely connect to the Duel Ring Server again. He groaned when another message appeared onscreen-

User Seto Kaiba is not authorized- You may not connect.

"I knew it! They changed the password!" The KaibaCorp CEO stared at the screen as the full meaning of this hit him- Pegasus now had control of his company's primary computer system.

Worse than anything else was the realization that he was trapped- if he went to the authorities and told them that KaibaCorp's main computer system had been hacked Pegasus would be forced to pull back- at the expense of his company's image. Yes, Seto had to find a way to deal with this himself.

- - -

Mokuba Kaiba had been in the middle of a very pleasant dream- he was in an arcade with his Niisama, and they were standing in front of one of those crane games where you pull stuffed animals out with a claw thing. Seto had just won a stuffed penguin, and he gave it to Mokuba. Right as his dream self was saying 'thank you Niisama!' he was suddenly woke by the ring of his cell phone. Irritated that anyone would wake him up from such a nice dream, Mokuba sat up and yawned, then reached for his phone just as it stopped ringing.

"Oh well… If it was important they'll call back during the day," Mokuba muttered before laying back down. He had scarcely closed his eyes when someone banged on his door. "Whaaaat?! This had better be something that really can't wait!" he threatened, pretty pissed by this point.

"Mokuba-sama, we've been completely locked out of the main computer system!"

"What!?"

"And we can't seem to contact Kaiba-sama!"

"WHAT!? I… I'm coming!" Mokuba quickly got dressed, trying to wake himself up. He just couldn't believe this!

As Mokuba left his room he noticed Noa leaning against the wall. "I heard what was happening. I'm coming too, I know even more about our computer system than you do!"

Mokuba doubted it, but appreciated the emotional support of having his other brother there. The two Kaibas drove quickly to the main office and ran to the heavily air-conditioned room that contained the main computer system.

"Well," Bakura mentally told his host, "let's see if Pegasus's lackeys know what they're talking about."

"Let me use that," 'Noa' snapped at one of the technicians, pushing him out of his chair and taking it himself. He glanced from the keyboard to the screen before him, which displayed the same 'wrong password' message as Seto had seen earlier. Taking a deep breath and trying to look like he knew what he was doing, the thief closed the program and started typing the strings of code that he had spent the previous hour memorizing. Everything was responding exactly like the Tenma's email had said it would, and soon he was able to turn, smiling, to Mokuba and the technicians and declare, "I'm in."

"How did you manage?" demanded one of the techs, "we're highly trained and we couldn't even crack it! How could a kid who just woke up from a coma break into the system when we couldn't?"

"Because I know KaibaCorp better than anyone! I'll handle this, and the rest of you can get back to trying to contact Seto." The techs paused, and he added, "just because I'm in doesn't mean I've fixed the system, so give me some peace so I can get at it!" the techs and Mokuba nodded, leaving Bakura alone with the computers.

A message box appeared on screen a few minutes later- Good job! Now that they've been suitably impressed with your 'computer skills,' the transfer of control to you should be any time now.

Bakura shook his head and typed Only if they can't contact Kaiba. How are we supposed to prevent that?

He waited a moment, then the response appeared You let us worry about that.

- - -

Pegasus was bored. As the initial adrenaline rush wore off, he was beginning to see the more unpleasant side of the plan. Stretched out on the hotel bed staring at a laptop screen, Pegasus shouted to the main room, "why do I have to monitor all the emails being sent to and from KaibaCorp? I thought you two were going to deal with all this boring computer stuff!"

In the other room, Tenma looked away from his computer screen to shout back, "we already went over this! I'm hacking Kaiba's hotel record, and Sieg is copying the contents of the KaibaCorp computer network. Someone has to keep an eye on the emails." Mentally, he added that next time Pegasus should hire them some help…

Pegasus returned, "why can't we just make Croquet do this? It's easy enough!"

Embarrassed, Sieg answered, "I sent him out ten minutes ago. We thought we were at the point where he should collect that item we'll be needing. It'll be a while before he gets back."

"But this is sooooo boring!" Pegasus complained.

Tenma sighed. He loved, even idolized his brother, but sometimes he could be so melodramatic…

Pegasus grudgingly returned his attention to the messages on his computer screen, most of which heavily technical emails about their current tech problems. On occasion, he would see exactly what he was looking for- someone trying to email Kaiba, in which case Pegasus would delete the message before it could be read. The success of their plan depended entirely on the eldest Kaiba being unreachable.

"Next time I try to take someone else's company I'll enlist Gekkou and Leon too…" Pegasus muttered, deleting an email from Seto to Mokuba.

- - -

Mokuba was panicking. All attempts to call or email his Niisama were unanswered, and one of the techs had just informed him that Seto's hotel had no record of him even checking in.

When he told his other brother the news, Noa hugged him and said, "I hate to have to say this, but it seems that Seto is missing. And I can't imagine what would keep him from contacting us… There's a chance he could be-"

Mokuba shook his head, "No way! Niisama's alright, he has to be!"

"All we can do is keep working," Noa said.

Mokuba smiled weakly, "you're right, I should get back. Thanks, Noa." The youngest Kaiba left.

"What do you think of that, Noa?" the thief asked his host. "It's only a matter of time until dear little Mokuba draws the obvious conclusions- that his 'niisama' isn't going to be back anytime soon. He has to act as president in his brother's place, and we both know he isn't emotionally or mentally ready for such a responsibility… Good thing he has me to give his power to!" He laughed.

Inside their shared mind, Noa angrily shouted, "Lucifer, you evil demon! I won't let you take KaibaCorp!"

"You can't do anything to stop me, Noa," Bakura answered, but privately he was worried that Noa would try to take control again. He didn't understand why, but his own hold seemed to be slowly weakening.

- - -

Ryou Bakura was sleeping when the front door of his apartment was forced open. The sound woke him up, and he grabbed the phone, but he hesitated to dial. Was it a burglar, or something else..?

End Chapter 6

Author's Note-

I didn't make it up, 'phreak' is the real term for a phone hacker. What's a phone hacker? Let's just say they never have to pay long distance bills, but if you annoy one you might be paying for calls you never made.

I feel so vindicated! I knew Pegasus and Sieg had to be friends! On the last episode, during the special version of the song "Eyes" that they play (cause it's the last!), it shows what all the characters are doing after the show, and when it shows Pegasus, Sieg and Leon are in his office! So they're friends! Or… at least… they're making a business deal… which is what looks like is going on. But still! They made the deal cause they're friends, that has to be it!

Next chapter- Mokuba plays right into Pegasus's hands when he surrenders control of KaibaCorp to Noa. With their plan a success, Pegasus and co decide to cut Bakura out of things- and he's not too happy with that. The wrath of both Seto and Bakura, next time!

Cyanide and Champaign

Chapter 7

"We can't just give up on him! We know he at least landed in the US," Mokuba said desperately to the group of KaibaCorp employees that he had been speaking with.

"That's not what we are getting at, Mokuba-sama," the man on his right said quickly. "No one is suggesting we give up on trying to contact Kaiba-sama, all we're trying to say is that, in view of this whole catastrophe with our computer system, it would look better for our public image if we don't have a missing CEO! Reporters have already been calling asking for a statement on the non-functional duel disks. It's perfectly within your power to take the top spot in your brother's absence. Or, you could name someone else, like one of us, as President."

Mokuba looked down. He knew that, for the sake of their company's image, someone would have to take Seto's job temporarily. As vice-president, Mokuba could make the decision as to when this was necessary, and he knew that this was exactly the sort of situation that Seto had had in mind when he gave Mokuba the power to choose a temporary successor. As much as he hated to do it, Mokuba understood that he had to do this.

All the same, he certainly didn't trust just anyone to both effectively run the company during Seto's absence and voluntarily relinquish control when his brother returned. Certainly not any of the employees- but there was one person…

- - -

A few minutes later, the door to the main computer room opened and Mokuba entered. Bakura quickly straightened up- he had fallen asleep leaned over the computer desk, his hands still on the keyboard. It had, after all, been over twenty four hours since he had gotten any real sleep. Sighing, Bakura wondered if he was about to have to listen to another 'oh no I'm worried about my Niisama' speech, but was surprised to hear instead, "Noa, do you think you could run KaibaCorp for a day or two, just until we get back in contact with Niisama? Cause you know, it would look better to the public if-"

Elated, Bakura cut him off. "Definitely! What a good idea! Let's go do the paperwork so this is official!" Grabbing Mokuba's hand, he started dragging him toward the VP's office.

Mokuba was a little surprised- he hadn't quite expected such a strong reaction. Remembering how desperate Noa had been in the virtual world, Mokuba got a slightly uneasy feeling. Had he made the right choice? Could he really trust Noa to return the company to Niisama?

By the time they reached Mokuba's office and the paper work was removed from the file, Mokuba was very nervous. All the same, he filled out the forms and signed them, then passed them to Noa to do the same.

Oddly enough, Noa seemed slightly hesitant to sign… almost as if someone was holding him back. And once he finally did sign the forms his handwriting seemed forced and sloppy. On the last page of paperwork Noa seemed to return to normal, but it was enough to further make Mokuba doubt his own judgment.

Grinning down at the documents, Noa laughed. "KaibaCorp is mine now, to do with as I please!"

Mokuba recoiled. "WHAT!?"

Noa stood up, crossing his arms. "Of course, now you've outlived your usefulness. And I can't have you trying to get in my way at this point, can I?"

Mokuba stared up at him, disbelieving. "Noa… what are you talking about?"

"You haven't figured it out? I'm a better actor than I realized!" he answered. "I'm not Noa. He didn't wake up from his coma, he just got… reanimated, so to speak."

"I don't believe you! This has to be a joke, right?"

Bakura grabbed Mokuba by the arm and pulled him out of the office. "I don't have time to deal with you right now, I need to finish this so I can get the millennium items you and your brother have hidden under your mansion!" He yanked open the door of a storage room and shoved Mokuba into it, ignoring the vice president's protests, slamming the door shut and wedging a tacky potted plant between the doorframe and doorknob to prevent Mokuba from getting out. He paused a moment, listening to the muffled sound of the youngest Kaiba shouting that they didn't have any items hidden. "Like I believe that," Bakura muttered. He then turned and ran back to the office to grab the paperwork before hurrying back to the techs who were working several levels below.

"I want you to schedule me a press conference," Bakura said, waving the paperwork in their faces. "I advise doing it quickly, or else you'll all get the sack!" he threatened. "I'm your president now!"

"Yes sir!"

- - -

About three hours later, the door to Pegasus's hotel suite opened and Croquet stepped in, looking rather ruffled. Tenma snickered. "What happened to you?"

Doing his best to look dignified, Croquet replied, "I had more trouble than I expected in obtaining the Millennium Ring."

Sieg laughed as he asked, "What, was Ryou Bakura too tough for you? Pegasus should have known better than to send an old man-"

"I am not old-" Croquet began, but was cut off when his boss entered the room.

"Oh good, you're back! And I take it you have the item?"

"It's in the car-"

"You left the Millennium Ring in a rental car in a parking garage? It's almost as if you want it to get stolen! Your incompetence never ceases to amaze me, Mr. Croquet!" Pegasus shook his head, then turned to his brother. "Yakou, will you go get it?"

"Sure, Pegasus," Tenma answered, smirking at Croquet as he left the room.

Desperate to redeem himself, Croquet said quickly, "There's something else I need to tell you."

Pegasus glanced at him, clearly certain that whatever it was couldn't be that important. "Oh?"

"When I was driving back, they said that KaibaCorp's president just finished giving a press conference a few minutes ago-"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Pegasus demanded, rushing over to turn on the TV and switch it away from the cartoons it had been playing last and over to a 24 hour news channel. Sieg got up from his computer and hurried over to watch, while Croquet ran into the kitchen to pull out his cell phone and call his therapist.

On screen, a wrinkly news anchor was saying "-we'll be rerunning highlights from the KaibaCorp press conference, as well as our analysis on their situation and new leadership."

Pegasus jumped up. "Did you hear? He said new leadership!"

Sieg stood as well. "In other words, it must be Bakura!"

As Noa's image suddenly filled the screen, both men quickly sat back down, attention completely on what was happening on TV.

"As you all undoubtedly know," Bakura began, "Kaiba Corporation is currently in dire trouble. Our former CEO is missing, and our poorly secured computer network has been destroyed by hackers. As a result of this, the duel disk holographic gaming system has ceased to function. In the face of all of this, I must be realistic and put the good of the company before my own interests. Thus, I have decided to accept a take-over bid from Industrial Illusions, the company that manufactures-" the rest of his sentence was cut off by Pegasus and Sieg's enthusiastic cheers.

"I can't believe it! Kaiba Corporation is officially mine!" Pegasus shouted, jumping up and down like a child. He grabbed Sieg's hands and the two of them engaged in a rather undignified dance around the room. This was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking loudly on the door, at which they immediately composed themselves.

"Tenma has a card key-" Pegasus began quietly.

"And we told the maids to stay out," Sieg continued.

"No one else knows we're here," Croquet added as he rejoined them.

"Except Bakura," Pegasus finished. They exchanged uneasy looks.

Pegasus had never had any intention of helping the thief obtain the millennium items- he had simply made up the story about their being hid under the mansion to convince Bakura to cooperate. The idea had been that they would simply force him back into the ring once he had fulfilled his duties.

Nervously, Sieg whispered, "should we open the door?"

Nodding, Pegasus whispered back, "we'll just have to meet Yakou in the garage. If Bakura tries anything, or starts to suspect… I trust you know what to do?"

Croquet nodded, placing his hand lightly over the gun concealed under his jacket.

- - -

Irritated, Bakura continued pounding on the door to Pegasus's suite. "They'd better not have ran out on me at this point!" he said to his host.

Inside his mind, Noa said smugly, "you've underestimated the Kaibas, Lucifer. I'm telling you now, things aren't going to work out like you think."

"Doesn't matter to me what you say. As soon as I get the millennium items from the mansion I'm returning to my old host, and you'll be back in a coma, unable to tell them who had possessed you. I'm perfectly safe!" Bakura told Noa as he continued knocking, trying to tune out his host's slightly crazed laughter.

The door opened so suddenly that Bakura was unable to stop his fist quick enough, resulting in his nearly punching Pegasus. This didn't seem to bother him, however, as he grabbed Bakura's hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Excellent job, Thief! Marvelous! I knew you were the right man for the job!"

"Cut the crap, Pegasus. There's no question that I'm going to honor my end of the deal- the question is whether or not you're ready to help me."

Smiling disarmingly, Pegasus nodded. "Of course! We were just getting ready to go to the mansion and disable the security systems for you. Care to join us?"

Bakura nodded. "Good," Pegasus said as he left the room and started walking down the hall, "then follow us."

Although he followed the group on their way out of the building, Bakura had his guard up. Something about their manner seemed suspicious- particularly Pegasus's grey-haired underling, who kept touching a spot on his jacket as though he was checking that something was still there…

It was a strange realization to Bakura when he realized that, if Pegasus wasn't being honest with him, there was little he could do about it. Without the Millennium Ring he was powerless- Noa's body was still frail from its years comatose, whereas Pegasus's group, particularly Siegfried and Croquet, were all reasonably strong men.

Noa, who had been listening in on that line of thought, started laughing. "You are in sooo much trouble, Lucifer."

Bakura, trying to hide his own nervousness, snarled back, "Shut UP!"

- - -

Parking garages are unpleasant enough in the best of conditions, and in the early hours of the morning they fall high on the list of places any reasonable person would choose to avoid. This, however, was not a particularly reasonable group. All the same, Pegasus shivered slightly as they walked through the shadowy rows of cars, wondering if the homeless looking man they had seen near the entrance was a drug dealer. Sieg was unsettled as well- he had recently received one of those chain emails filled with dire warnings about all the places murderers hide, number one on the list being parking garages, which made him worry about Tenma- what had taken him so long? Croquet's worries came from a trashy novel he had read as a teenager in which a rapist waited in parking garages while his intended victims got out of their cars. Bakura already had enough to worry about.

Initially, a wave of relief passed through Pegasus's group when they saw the Chevy Impala they had rented parked at the end of the row. This changed when they noticed that, oddly enough, Tenma was just sitting in the back seat with the window down, leaned back almost as if he was asleep.

Sieg started to run, but Pegasus grabbed his arm. "Wait, something's not right here-"

Pulling away, Sieg exclaimed angrily, "Obviously! That's why we need to make sure he's ok!" He started running toward the car again- but stopped when the far passenger door opened.

"I'd be lying if I said it was good to see you, Pegasus," said Seto Kaiba as he stepped out of the car, holding his ever-present briefcase.

"You're too late, Kaiba-boy. You're company already belongs to me!" Pegasus said gleefully. "I hold all the cards- there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Not quite," he said, smirking. With a sudden, quick movement, he lunged forward and thwacked Croquet with his briefcase, knocking him to the ground. Before anyone could react, Seto grabbed Croquet's concealed gun and pointed it at Tenma. "You really need to hire some better people, Pegasus," Seto laughed. "Now, up to this point Tenma's only been knocked out. But if you make me any madder than I am…" he put his finger over the gun's trigger to make his point.

Bakura, who had remained quiet until then, started walking slowly toward Seto. "I don't care what you do to him," he said, glancing at Tenma, "But I do have my own stake in this… Remember, Seto, that even if through this you force Pegasus to revoke his claim on Kaiba Corp, it will return to me! The paperwork is all perfectly clear and legal. But, I'll give it back to you on the condition that you give me the millennium items you have hidden in the mansion."

Seto laughed. "Is that how Pegasus got you to work for him? He told you I had millennium items? I promise you, Bakura, I have no interest in those things. I thought that was obvious enough."

Bakura turned to Pegasus. "Is this true, Pegasus?"

Pegasus shook his head. "Kaiba-boy's just lying to you, Thief. Of course he doesn't want to admit to having them-"

"You can't trust them, Bakura," Seto said. "I don't know where you thought they were going to take you, but look in the car, what Tenma was holding when I knocked him out."

Sieg cringed, and Pegasus sighed. "And so ends another perfect plan…" he muttered.

Careful not to get within the gun's line of fire, Bakura looked through the car's window and saw beside Tenma's hand was indeed the millennium ring. Mentally putting it all together, Bakura turned back to Pegasus. "I see now… You're using me, and now that I'm no longer needed for your plan, you intend to force me back into the ring… That puts me out of the picture and conveniently puts Noa Kaiba back in his coma." With a menacing smile, he asked, "Do you think I like to be manipulated?"

"Just remember, Thief, that you are every bit as helpless as we are at the moment," Pegasus said.

"Not quite. I have an advantage-" Bakura suddenly turned and bolted. Seto pointed the gun, but found he couldn't shoot. Although at times ruthless, he couldn't bring himself to do anything that would upset Mokuba… and shooting the body of Noa Kaiba definitely fell into this category.

"Oh well…" Seto said darkly as he turned back to Pegasus's group. "All this means is that you'll not only have to release control of Kaiba Corp but also formally reinstate me as the CEO first. Which of course, you'll be more than happy to do…" He waved the gun once again at the unconscious Tenma.

"You win, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said, resigned. "I do have one question though… You at least owe us an answer to it."

"I don't owe you anything, Pegasus," Seto sneered, "But go ahead, ask."

"How did you find us? Everything else in the plan went perfectly!"

"Simple enough. Noa told me the name of your hotel, which he had heard Bakura mention. He sent an email a few hours ago, while Bakura was sleeping at the computer," Seto answered.

Sieg shook his head, saying, "But that doesn't make sense! We were monitoring all of the emails coming out of KaibaCorp- if Noa had emailed you we would have known it!"

"Not if he sent the email through the same secure network that you used to communicate with Bakura," Seto answered, enjoying the Sieg's shocked expression. "He'd left it open when he nodded off." Ignoring their curses, Seto leaned casually against the rental car. "Well then, Pegasus, as nice as this talk is, I think we should continue it in the car while you drive me back to my company's headquarters… You've got a considerable amount of paperwork to fill out, after all."

As Seto got in the backseat, Pegasus's group turned to look at each other. "After all of our planning," Sieg began.

"And all of our hard work," Croquet continued.

"To be thwarted by sleep!" Pegasus finished miserably.

"Hurry up!" Seto exclaimed out the car window, and the other three rushed to get in. As they pulled out of the parking garage in the dim early morning light, they noticed it was raining.

Again.

End Cyanide and Champaign

Not Author's Notes-

"This is the end of Cyanide!" Pegasus exclaimed happily to the other characters and readers. "There are a lot of things to be said, but since author's notes suck we kicked the writer out and have decided to say them ourselves!"

"We should have done this from the beginning," Mokuba agreed, "I never liked the author anyway, she made me such a minor character. She sure loves me though. Anyway, here's some vaguely interesting information that we forced her to tell us so we could share with you."

Seto, who had been typing on a laptop as he tried to repair all the damage that Tenma and Sieg did to the KC computers in the story, looked up and said, "Some of you readers might have been wondering why this story was called 'Cyanide and Champaign.' Actually, the title was supposed to be 'Cyanide and Champagne,' as in the drink, but the idiot typing the title put her faith in MS Word's spell check function and didn't recheck it herself. It took her about three chapters to realize she had used the wrong word. Of course, if she was using Kaiba Corp software instead of Microsoft, she would have figured this out a lot quicker."

Bakura, back in his old host, added, "The title itself doesn't mean much, she just thought it sounded cool."

"It made her think of us, the enemies of the story," Tenma explained, sitting on a couch with his arm around Sieg. His other hand held a cold compress to the bruise on the side of his head where Seto had hit him with the briefcase. "It sounds classy, but it's not something you'd actually want to drink."

"Just as, despite our wealth, good looks, and stylish fashion you wouldn't want to have anything to do with us!" Sieg added, leaning on Tenma.

"When this story was first being wrote, I was going to be a major character," Noa said, irritated, as he assisted Seto with fixing the computer system, "But that idea got scrapped and I ended up being the slightly insane non-character that I was."

Mokuba, hugging his Niisama, said, "Anyway, this was the longest thing the author ever wrote, and she loves it and wishes it wasn't ending. She appreciates any form of feedback!"

"Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed Cyanide and Champaign!"

THE END