A/N: Instead of working on anything that I've started, I obviously need a new WIP. So here. WARNING: THIS FIC HAS SOME VIOLENT SCENES, STARTING IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH ABOUT OR TRIGGERED BY OR OTHERWISE NOT INCLINED TO READ VIOLENCE, PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE.
Seto rolled over for the upteenth time, the sheets and covers long since tossed off his body. Sweat glared on his forhead, matting his bangs in place, a harsh contrast to the goosebumps covering his legs as he shivered uncontrollably. He moaned a little in his sleep as he grasped out for something, anything, and found purchase on an extra pillow. He curled around it protectively, holding it as though his life depended on it. Mokuba, asleep in the next room, had no idea how much trouble his brother was in.
He reached an arm above his head, only to be stopped by the pull of a chain, the scraping of metal against stone grating on the ears. He blinked open his eyes to a dark room, the only light being two torches set up at the base of a throne. Upon the throne sat his dopleganger, only now he wore fancier robes of gold and blue, the intricate patterns matching the design of the crown upon his head. At his waist was the familliar Millenium Rod, but around his neck was the Millennium Puzzle, the sign that Kaiba was before the feet of the Pharaoh.
A dark figure approached from behind the throne, and soon the light illuminated his silhouette. Although humanoid, the man had a dog's face, turned impossibly to the side. "Pharaoh, your embalming was not ritualized correctly, and this thing became your reincarnation." A pair of golden scales and a feather appeared. "Shall I judge him now so that my father's namesake can begin his life anew?"
Kaiba turned to face Anubis, a glare present on his face. "How would a loser of a God judge me?" he spitefully returned. "Even if you were real, your domain is of the dead. I am quite alive, despite these fever dreams."
Anubis chuckled. "You shall pass into my domain soon enough, boy. I can feel your presence coming to me already."
Kaiba snarled. "Never," he warned. With every ounce of will in his body, he strained against the chains, and suddenly they broke with a flash of light.
He was up in a second, attempting to run away, and so a spell was all that Anubis could get off. He fired at Kaiba's back, and the other crumpled into a heap, hit dead on with the curse. The god turned to the Pharaoh to apologize but saw deep understanding in the other's eyes.
Whether it was Anubis' or the Pharaoh's voice Kaiba heard before he woke, he didn't know. All he knew were the words, "That should teach him."
The first thing he noticed when he woke up was the smell. Sour, but sweet, the smell of rotting apples, he thought. Why would I be around rotting apples? he thought, blinking his eyes open to see what was going on. The blue dumpster in front of him looked muted, and the rest of the allyway was a weird sepia color, full of tan and yellow. An impossibly loud bang from his right resulted in him snapping his head in that direction, and he saw another blue dumpster being emptied into a blue garbage truck. He went to rub his eyes, thinking there was something wrong with them, only to realize that he couldn't reach, and that his hands refused to ball.
This had to be the worst migraine in the world. He tried to moan and was surprised when it came out as a whimper. What the hell is going on? he wondered, trying to determine why his mouth would make that sound. It sounded pathetic, and dog-like. He was Seto Kaiba. He never whimpered.
He opened his mouth to call for Mokuba and the resulting bark had him jumping to his feet rapidly. He barely registered that he was on all fours, being too surprised by the revelation to do anything about it. Why did I just bark? he wondered.
Crunching gravel sounded loudly from his left and he saw a huge figure walking towards him. He could smell everything about him, that he had some sort of cheap colonge on, that he was already sweating through the smell of cheap soaps and deoderant (appropriately masculine in scent), that he had recently passed gas, and that he was a smoker. The man's skin was almost a gray color, his hair a faded brown, his clothes a washed away blue. And he was blurry, just like everything else around Seto.
"Come here, puppy," came a scratchy voice, and Seto stared at him in terror. Was he a dog?
He could feel the back of his neck prickling, and an unbidden growl escaped his throat as the man continued to approach. That was fine with Seto. The last thing he wanted was the man thinking that he could pet him.
He backed away and frowned. "Hey Stan," he called back towards the front of the truck. "We might need to call animal control, there seems to be a lost puppy here. Musta been getting scraps from the dumpster."
That offended Seto. He would never eat anything coming from a dumpster, even in this form. He growled some more in displeasure. The man raised his hands and backed away, looking to his side.
Seto could hear the faint sound of a dialtone and realized that this 'Stan' was following through with the stranger's suggestion. He froze for a second, unsure what to do. Then he realized that if he wanted to reunite with Mokuba, or even stay alive, the pound would not be the place to do it. So he barked in warning and charged his left, running away from the man.
The world he was running through was unfamilliar. It seemed from the smell of things he was now running down a line of restaurants, just opening for the morning. But none of it was recognizable. He could barely read the signs, even though they were in huge letters, perhaps because the contrast was off.
It wasn't like the signs he could read were all that familliar anyway.
He stopped running in front of a cafe, panting and out of breath. Intense concentration showed that the name of the establishment was "J. Z. 's." He tried to stop panting, but his body wouldn't allow him. It was pathetic.
Loud crunching alerted him to the group of six people heading toward the cafe before he saw them. He could have run again, but by now was exhausted and not willing to do so. He slunk back against the side of the building, hoping to not be noticed.
"Hey look, a mutt," one said, pointing. Seto bristled. Not only was he spotted, but he was no mutt! He was Seto Kaiba! He growled unconsciously.
"Look, it thinks it's tough," said another, approaching Seto. Now he was growling consciously.
"Should we teach it a lesson?" asked a third, looking to a fourth, as though he were the leader.
The other smiled cruel and calculating. "Yes," he replied. Seto wasn't used to being on the receiving end of such a smile, but he recognized it immediately. These people were cruel.
He tried to will his body to run away, but he was surrounded on all sides and it was too tired to actually evade the group of humans. He was scooped up by a pair of strong hands then dropped unceremoniously against the wall, surrounded on all sides. Before he could really get his footing, a foot connected with his side, kicking him into the wall. His head bounced off and his vision blurred even more than it had initially. A yelp escaped his mouth.
The yelp was pathetic and Seto concentrated on making no more noise. If Gozoboro had been any indicator, making noise would only edge the boys on.
For now that seemed right. The leader seemed pleased with the noise and had gone in to kick Seto himself. The blow landed squarely on Seto's nose and he smarted. He could feel something wet dripping down his snout and he whined. Why couldn't he control these noises? He was so good at it as a human.
"Let's skin him alive," suggested the leader, grinning maddly and picking him up by the scruff of his neck. Seto growled. He didn't like this, and he could understand the words. The boys flicked open their knives and began advancing. "I get the first cut," he claimed, handing Seto to the boy to his left.
Seto tried to bite the new person, finally having access, only to feel the knife cutting into something really sensitive on his hindquarters. He yowled in pain and turned his head, noticing a giant cut in his tail. A second strike and the tail was severed, the bone separated by an expert flick off the knife. Blood gushed from the wound, and Seto passed out.