Hello one and all. It is I, HiKari, coming to you with the much anticipated fanfiction event of the fall season. Now, I'm sure you're all EXPLODING with excitement and can't bare to read even a sentence of an author's note, but I am just letting you know that this story will alternate from Seto's and Mokuba's POV, and the way you can tell it's Mokuba is by the -M- and the way you can tell it's Seto is by the -S-

So now, without further ado, I present to you the sequel to "Captivity"

This is "Consequences of Apathy"

Chapter 1: Horrors We Keep To Ourselves

-M-

Falling. I found that only the worst is yet to come when someone is falling or has fallen. It makes people more vulnerable, it gives a feeling of failure, and worst of all… wait, was I just monologuing? Did that mean that… I was alive?

I opened my eyes and my vision became clear. I was alive! But when I turned my head and saw my brother lying there, I instantly became worried. I got up and shook him, urging him to awaken and open his eyes.

"Nii-sama! Wake up!" Thankfully Seto woke up right after that, opening his eyes and sitting up as well. "Are you okay?" I asked. Seto rubbed his head before turning to me.

"I've been in better shape, how about you?" I sighed with relief, at least he was being sarcastic. That was always a good thing.

"I'm fine…" I looked around, trying to take in the reality of our current location, "I think." Seto got up and I did the same. It appeared as though we were in the middle of some kind of forest. The trees surrounding us stood up high, blocking out most of the light except in small patches. There was a cool breeze that blew through the forest, but it didn't help to calm our nerves.

"One minute we're falling through a random hole, and the next minute we're here…" I looked up at my brother, "Do you think we're actually trapped in this place?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind, and I'm sure that green haired punk is the one to blame for all this." Seto started walking down the dirt path that we had been standing in the middle of, it would most likely lead deeper into the forest. "Come on Mokuba, we should probably get moving. Standing here probably isn't the thing to do here." I followed my brother's lead as he had asked and we continued into the forest.

As we were walking, I couldn't help but wonder what Noah could possibly want with us. And how he even knew us. Sure, we were pretty famous back in Japan… but a random underwater base in the middle of the ocean? Was that where he lived? Nothing made my sense, I had to ask Seto for myself.

"I understand how the Big 5 would want to kill us and use our bodies to… yeah, I'm not really sure what it is they're trying to do, but Noah… who is that guy anyway? And what's he after anyway?" I looked up at Seto, but he continued on without looking in my direction.

"I can't be sure," He replied, "I'm guessing he wants what's mine, just like the rest of the world. But what I don't understand is how Noah managed to build this place, I'm sure he isn't capable of doing it on his own."

"Maybe the Big 5 helped him?" Seto stopped and turned towards me.

"Psh-as if those goons could ever amount to anything. No, I'm sure it was someone else. Those five are too stupid to be able to do anything like this," Which I agreed with for the most part, considering how moronic they were, "There must be some other source backing them up, this is probably just another attempt to take over Kaiba Corp." As much as I hated it, Seto was probably right. The reason anyone did anything to us was because of our company, that damned company.

Kaiba Corporation was a great company, a company to be proud of. When Seto took over he had changed the place and converted it from a military company to a gaming company. The company itself symbolized the struggle we had endured under our step father's control, the fight we had fought all our lives. But at the end of the day, when everything is said and done, was it really worth all the consequences it came with?

I shook these thoughts away and tried to focus on the current issue. "Do you think we'll be able to escape?" I asked, a little afraid to hear the response.

"Whoever made this based it off of my creation. I'm sure there's an emergency exit around here somewhere. We just have to find it." I looked up and smiled at Seto, before running ahead.

"We'll find it! I'm sure we will!" I stated happily. But even as I ran, even with Seto's reassurance, there was nothing that I could be certain about in this place. This kid… Noah… Seto and I didn't know anything about him, and the worst part was, we didn't know what kind of power he possessed. For all we know, the game might've already been lost.

But I tried to set aside these thoughts and kept running on ahead. We would eventually have to run into something at some point, we couldn't walk forever. We walked on for possibly a half hour or so, not really talking to one another. I would glance up at Seto from time to time, trying to figure out what he might be thinking about.

Seto was such a calm and collected person. He knew how to keep his emotions aside from the problems he faced. I knew the real Seto, I knew he had emotions, but even I would sometimes forget. His emotions were hard to see a lot of the time, and he would do things in particular ways to keep them in hiding.

This was never much of a huge deal, considering I was the only one Seto really trusted when it came to his emotions. He had opened up to me plenty of times in the past since I was his brother. But… after what happened. At Duelist Kingdom… when it all went wrong. Seto knew something was up, that something had happened.

But I had refused to tell him. Seto kept trying to find out for weeks and week, but I would never give in. I was simply unwilling to tell him such horrors that I had been subjected to. After all, what would've been the point? What's done was done… nothing could change that. He couldn't protect anymore, because I had already been broken in many ways. That was when he hardened a bit more, and I saw less of his emotions.

I began to slow my pace until I was no longer running but walking. I tightened my fist by my side, pinching myself to the point where it hurt. I hated myself for not being able to tell Seto, because in a way, that was the reason he had stopped showing me his emotions. Seto felt I had lost trust in him, and so somehow, he had lost trust in me. We appeared to be okay, but emotionally, our relationship was breaking. I didn't know where we were or if we would ever get back to normal again, all I knew was that I was incapable of telling him what had happened. I just couldn't do it.

All my thought suddenly froze with the sudden sight of a wooden door up ahead. It was just… floating there. It wasn't attached to anything, it didn't seem. It was just standing still in mid air.

"Woah, Nii-sama, check that out!" I said, running up to it.

"Mokuba, don't touch it!" Seto commanded. I stopped just as I stood right in front of it. My brother ran up from behind me and was examining it with his eyes.

"Do you think it's the emergency exit, Nii-sama?" I asked, looking up at my brother. Seto eyed with skepticism.

"I'm not sure, but I guess we have no other choice but to find out," Seto pushed me behind him and used his other hand to twist the knob, "Remember to stay right behind me whatever happens. Got it?" I nodded, even though my brother hadn't been looking. With a small tug, the door opened and a bright light shown through. I covered my eyes and wasn't able to see anything, until the light seemed to go away.

When I re-opened my eyes and I was surprised, almost shocked to see what I saw. It was a lone building, surrounding by an iron gate. I gasped when I realized that this was…

-S-

"The orphanage… we grew up in," Mokuba said with a quiet voice.

"It's a trick," I barked instantly, "Just like everything else in this place. But the only thing I'm curious is to how Noah knew about this place." We walked through the doorway and it disappeared from behind us. I stared at the place with no sorrow or nostalgic feelings. What's done is done, the past was gone. I had trained myself to be unaffected by such things.

And showing me the dump of an orphanage was simply not going to do it. This Noah guy must've been a real moron to think I was going to get roughed up just by seeing this.

"I thought I would never have to see this place again," Mokuba said in a dark voice.

"I told you Mokuba, it's just a virtual illusion. It's not real," I said harshly. I knew that the days we spent in the orphanage were still hard on him, but I couldn't have Mokuba falling for Noah's tricks. He had to stay just as strong as me and realize these virtual images could never affect us.

"Well, it still brings back bad memories," Mokuba stated gravely, "I'll never forget the first day we came here. It was the worst day of my life." I opened my mouth to say something in response, but then we heard a voice from afar.

"Welcome boys." We both turn around and our eyes open to see two boys standing in the entrance of the gates. A small boy with long black hair, looking at the car that was driving away from behind him, and a somewhat taller boy with short brown hair, holding his hand. The two boys… were us.

"What…?" Mokuba wasn't sure what to say or how to react.

"That kid… he must've figured out how to tap into our memory banks and digitally replay certain events in our lives." Mokuba said nothing. All we could do was stare, stare at our younger selves, stare at the children we had once been. But then, all to quickly, the scene changed once more and it was sunset. We turned to see a small boy, sitting on a swing, all by himself staring at the ground. It was Mokuba.

"Mokuba." The younger Mokuba looked up just as my younger self had walked in, "Where have you been? I was looking all over for you." The younger Mokuba looked away for a moment, avoiding eye contact.

"I was just out here… thinking about Mom and Dad." The younger me walked over to him and placed his hand on the small boy's head.

"Let's go for a walk." The younger Mokuba's eyes filled with tears, and suddenly the scene changed again. The younger versions of us were walking along the bridge, talking to one another. I remembered this talk all too clearly, for it was the day I accepted to take all and full responsibility for Mokuba's life and safety. In a way, it was the day I became a father.

"I'm sorry, Nii-sama. I just couldn't stop thinking about how things use to be when Dad was alive. I just wish things could go back to the way they were," The younger Mokuba said, wiping the tears that began to escape from his eyes. The younger me placed his hand on his shoulder, his brother stopped and looked up into his face.

"Mokuba, don't cry anymore. I know how you feel. But we're not stray dogs or garbage. Don't worry about our parents, they didn't mean for this to happen and they're in a better place," The smaller Mokuba was staring up at the younger me with wide eyes and amazement. "I'll make sure you live happily. From no on, I'll be your father. I'll protect you no matter what. So wipe away those tears, always be on your guard. You'll never make it if you show weakness."

As the scene began to close, I thought I caught eye of Mokuba staring up at me. I glanced back down at him, but found he was still focused on the event that was playing out in front of us. Mokuba sighed, and I almost jumped from the sudden sound being made. It was… painful, almost, to see what we had to regain. What we had to grow up from and simply put behind us. But most of all… it was hardest with Mokuba. I knew that.

And then it happened again. We switched scenes, and now we were standing right by the orphanage. I looked through the window and was able to see my younger self and younger Mokuba sitting across from one another at a small table. We were playing chess. Our favorite pass time in those days. It was the only thing that kept our minds distracted from the internal pain we felt inside.

I was good at chess. No, not just good. I was great. Maybe it was my knowledge of my own skill that led me to persue Gozaburo Kaiba for the first time. The T.V. flashed on, and my younger self could be seen staring at the television screen with great interest. Gozaburo Kaiba came onto the screen and was shaking hands with someone, while holding a check under his arm. The news team announced that he would be donating the money to a local orphanage.

When that was announced, I made a plan and had acted accordingly. I was going to get adopted by that man and make a better life for myself, but most of all, for Mokuba's sake. I wasn't going to settle for anything more or anything less. From that day forward, I was dead set on achieving that goal.

Again, it happened. That the scene changed. We were standing in the opposite direction then from what we had been standing in. We watched as a limousine pulled up in front of the orphanage, and Gozaburo stepped out of the car. I couldn't forget that day, it had changed my life forever. The very first day I met my step father.

Mokuba and I watch in silence as Gozaburo walks by, and the younger versions of us pop our heads out of the room he passed by and stare at him. The younger Mokuba clings to my child self, shivering in fear from the sight of the man we would soon call step father.

"Today is the day I'll keep my promise," My younger self said, "That guy is the head of Kaiba Corporation and he's our ticket out of here. He'll adopt us. I'll make him." The scene then proceeded as accordingly. I challenged Gozaburo to a game of chess, set the conditions, and we had begun. To Gozaburo it was just a game, but for me it was a matter of life and death. Even as I watched this, I felt the feelings re-emerge.

The fear, the worry, and the absolute need for concentration I felt in that moment. I had used everything I had and everything I knew to try and win. I knew what was at stake, and failure was not an option. Especially not with Mokuba watching by my side. He needed me to win, I needed to get him out of here.

"That was the day we were adopted by Gozaburo…" Mokuba said quietly.

"That was the day I won Gozaburo at his own game and gained a future for us," I responded. I kept my eyes on the figures in the room in front of us, trying to disengaged my old feelings and keep control of my head. This was nothing to get emotional about, it was just a virtual image and nothing more.

Suddenly Mokuba turned and ran for the door, gripping it tightly.

"Mokuba! Wait! What are you doing?" I called, urging him to stop. He froze, his hands still tightly wrapped around the handle of the door.

"I liked the way things were! If the past can be changed, I want to make it so that you're still able to smile!" I was about to order him to come back once more, but upon seeing his face, I saw he was serious. I was a little taken back by his reaction, but instead I took a few steps towards him and held out my hand.

"Calm down--this isn't the past. This is just an illusion made by Noah! He's trying to tear us apart!" Mokuba turns away from me and forces open the door. A huge rush of air blows past him, and he screams as he begins to fall. I ran as fast as I could I thrust my arm downward, just in time to grab him by the arm. Down below him was utter darkness, and the raging waves of the ocean.

A/N:Well, there you had it. The first chapter to my epic sequel. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a disappointment. After weeks of various opinions and thoughts, I finally decided to go with my gut on how to write this one. It seems that the best way to write any story is to close your eyes and just write it as it is. So that's how I did it. I'll probably continue this format for the rest of the story, alternating between POVs and such, but hopefully it isn't too confusing or annoying. Thanks for all the messages and time you guys spent helping me figure this out! I hope to hear from you all soon!

P.S: I do realize that the writing style that I did can get a little confusing and odd from time to time, but I ask your forgiveness and promise that it'll get better. It just takes about a chapter or so to get me back into the first person writing style, since I'm very use to writing in third person. Just letting you know.

P.P.S: If you noticed, or if you didn't, I took some scenes from the Japanese version of some of the flashbacks. Like the thing where Seto told Mokuba he would become his father, that was all basically in the Japanese version. It was just so cute, I had to screw the 4kids and go with that! Okay, now I'm finished.