Black Out
Akira Kaiba saved her work then stood into a deep cat like stretch. A low rumble outside drew her attention to the darkened sky. Her soft voice was strained, "Another storm is coming. I pray that we'll all survive it."
"Hey, Akira, whatcha thinking' about?"
She whirled around with a startled gasp then gripped the back of her chair to regain her balance. Concern flooded Mokuba's face as he hurried to he side. Akira took deep breaths in an attempt to calm her frazzled nerves. "I-it's okay, Mokie. I-I'll be okay. I-I just didn't hear you come in."
"You were deep in thought, Sis. Seto sent me to get you before the storm gets too bad. Yugi and the others should be all ready for us by now."
Confusion clouded her eyes. "For what?"
He placed his hand on his hips. "Don't tell me you forgot about your birthday party!"
Akira rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous laugh. "Okay, I won't. Let's go find Seto!"
"C'mon, that's as bad as forgetting Christmas!"
She shrugged as she strode out of her office. "While most of memories have returned in the past months, there are still gaps like certain dates and other stuff."
"What stuff?" He asked as she knocked on the CEO's office.
"How can she tell you, Mokie, if she can't remember?" Seto asked dryly when he joined them in the hallway.
"Uhhhhh…good point."
Akira shifted restlessly in the small box as her knuckles slowly turned white with her death grip. She closed her eyes when the elevator creaked on its descent. 'Breathe in…breathe out….just breathe.' A soft, warm hand closed over hers to carefully pry them from the cold bar. Akira found reassurance in Seto's eyes and finally felt herself relax when he pulled her into his arms. Her breathing calmed as she listened to her brother's heartbeat until the elevator finally stopped on the main floor.
"See, Akira, you're okay. Now let's get back home before the storm worsens. I've already made plans for our guests to stay the night."
"Thanks, Seto, for everything."
AKAKAK
"You've got to open this one first, Sis." Mokuba begged with puppy eyes. "It's from Seto and I."
Akira accepted the small box then unwrapped it. Her eyes misted when she opened the duel card locket to reveal the last picture that had been taken of the three siblings together. The memory of that long ago summer day flashed in her mind. Mokuba had somehow gotten blue cotton candy in his hair, which Seto had tied to pry out. Akira had just dissolved into laughter when their real dad had taken the picture. It was their last day with him before he died. A tear dripped onto their comical faces when a small hand wiped away the rest of her tears.
"Big Sister?"
She smiled then ruffled his hair before she slipped it over her head. "I'm fine, Mokie. I was just remembering the day Dad took this picture and how Seto tried so hard not to laugh. Your expressions were so priceless that I laughed until my sides ached."
Their friends' expressions turned to shock when Seto laughed at the memory. "Dad could barely keep the camera steady cause he was laughing so hard. I cracked after the fact, but poor Mokie was still upset over the loss of his sugar fix!"
"Hey! You try having sticky stuff in your hair then have those who claim to love you laugh at you." Mokuba pouted.
"Not our fault you weren't laughing, Little Bro." Akira chuckled then hugged him. "I'll treasure it always like that memory."
Joey grinned. "It's good to hear you guys laugh again. Now open mine."
Her cheeks turned a light pink as she opened another small box. She lifted the lid to find a Duel Monsters card. "Tides of Friendship."
Brown eyes sparkled when Akira smiled. "I know you're not as inta Duel Monsters like your brothers, but when I saw it I thought of you. Think of it as a part of me in your deck and our friendship whenever you use it."
Her sapphire orbs danced in a way they hadn't in years. "Always, Joey, as long as I have breath. Kami, that was corny. Let's say I use this card to beat you later in a duel, Joey."
"You're on, Akira, but we'll see if you can take on a Battle City Finalist."
"Just because I don't compete doesn't mean that I haven't even on your level." Her eyes darkened a bit. "In fact they tried to reinvent my life around Duel Monsters with their virtual system and the warrior deck they gave me. Though they failed, I still enjoyed the game even after I refused to compete for them. They wanted to use my skills for their own mean so I was forced to fake amnesia concerning the game and the fools bought it. Even Kenji doesn't know that I kept only certain cards and traded the rest in to rebuild my deck."
"Hn, interesting." Seto said. "I wonder what their motives were. Of course, Gozoboru didn't know that I even liked Duel Monsters until I was a young teen. I hadn't been dueling too long before I claimed my first title and then he was gone soon after. Still, what could they gain by turning you into a high ranked duelist?"
"It's simple, Seto, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out." Noah said mockingly as he walked into the room.
"Huh what?" I'm lost. How did Noah…" Tristian trailed off in confusion.
Noah smirked as he touched the card locket that hung from his neck. "My locket has certain modifications that allow me to exist without holoprojectors in the real world. Kinda like the doctor on Voyager, just a lot more sophisticated."
"Uhhh okay." Tristian scratched his head.
"What were you talking about, Noah, before Taylor interrupted?" Seto asked him.
"They must of wanted her skills to get close to influential people like Pegasus for takeover reasons."
"This is getting confusing." Yugi sighed.
"No doubt. I'm ready for cake then a friendly duel." Joey interjected.
"You're right, Joey, the subplots aren't really as important as trying to anticipate the villain's next move." Akira said darkly then forced a smile. "For now I plan to enjoy this interlude."
Mokuba grinned when the blue frosted cake was brought out. "In that case, Sis, make a wish!"
Tears shimmered in her eyes as she watched the blue tendrils of smoke swirl above their heads as it carried her wish away. Then again, she found it hard to believe in fairy tails since she had lost faith in wishes long ago. The rich chocolate did little to calm her fears as the storm raged outside. Another rumble of thunder sounded when they stepped into Seto's duel room where Akira and Joey put on their duel disks. She activated the remote holoprojectors once she took her place opposite Joey after their decks were shuffled.
A smirk graced her lips when she drew her five cards. "To start, I'll summon Ninja Girl in Defense mode then I'll place two cards face down to end my turn."
"Nice, but my Alligator Sword is stronger, so I'll use it to attack your Ninja." Joey responded.
"You activated my trap card, Ring of Destruction, which destroys your gator and a few of your life points."
"Hmmph. I expected as much, so I'll place one card face down. Now let's see what ya got."
Her eyes sparkled with the card she drew. "Alright, I'll sacrifice Ninja Girl to summon Silent Knight in defense mode."
"You're jokin', right? Sounds more like a bad carol to me." He laughed when a dark knight took the field.
She shrugged. "Guess we'll see after I place one card face down. Next."
"Looks like we're about to have a real sword fight once I play Stop Defense, then summon my Flames Swordsman in attack mode. Attack her Knight!"
"Not so fast. I activate Magic Mirror, which reflects your monster attack to your life points!"
"Oooh, that's gotta hurt!" Mokuba grinned." Cream him, Akira!"
"Hey, Mokuba, I thought you were my friend." Joey teased as he ended his turn with two facedown cards.
Several turns later, Akira took her opportunity to take out the rest of Joey's life points. "I'll sacrifice my two monsters to summon Silver Dragon in attack mode. Since it's not strong enough yet, I'll use this magic card to increase its strength. Silver Dragon, destroy Red Eyes and the rest of his life points!"
When Joey's life points dropped to zero, he screamed in pain as electricity traveled up his arm. Everyone yelled his name as they were plunged into darkness. Téa screamed in the chaos that ensued while Seto yelled, "Quiet! Everyone calm down. The generators will come online shortly."
"Are you okay, Joey?" Yugi called fearfully.
Harsh coughs broke the sudden silence then came a shaky answer. "Yeah, Yug. Just had quite a jolt from my duel disk. Good thing I wasn't outside or that woulda really hurt."
Once the lights came back on, everyone gasped in shock. Beside the duel disk on the floor was Akira's locket. Seto reacted first. "Roland, have security check the perimeter. They couldn't of gone far."
Tears blurred Mokuba's eyes as he cried, "Akira!"
Seto hugged him tight and Joey clenched his hands angrily. "We will find you, Akira!"
AnDon't own Voyager either.