Chapter Nine: The Beast Within

Pharaoh brought himself up from the ground, tugging Tristan onto his feet as well by his jacket. The abomination that was the hybrid between Kaiba and Blue Eyes White Dragon watched with mild interest as Pharaoh held out his hand and the Dark Magician's staff spread forth in a flash of violet. Following his lead, Tristan held out both his hands and, with a quick burst of silver and a few whirs and clanks, Cyber Commander's machine gun materialized in his grasp, already loaded with an ammunition belt.

"Kaiba, listen to me," Pharaoh commanded, tightening his grip on his wand. "You can't allow this creature to continue controlling you; it's far too dangerous!"

The hybrid emitted a strange cross between a chuckle and a growl, shaking its head pitifully.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Tristan asked.

"I believe it means Kaiba isn't able to respond." Pharaoh narrowed his eyes at the hybrid. "This Blue Eyes White Dragon's essence has complete control."

Kaiba/Blue Eyes mockingly clapped in affirmation.

"That explains why he's not exactly chatty at the moment…" Tristan muttered.

Pharaoh shifted his staff to one hand and twisted its tip to face the Kaiba/Blue Eyes creature. "I don't understand why you're repressing Kaiba and forcing his body to attack us, but if you insist on continuing, I'll be tempted to free him from your control myself."

Kaiba/Blue Eyes simply sneered and turned its back to him.

"I'm guessing he's not interested in fighting us," Tristan deduced.

"Who or what is it that you want, then?" Pharaoh demanded to know.

Kaiba/Blue Eyes twisted back and, with a sly sneer, pointed out the charred opening. Though she'd managed to fly somewhat farther away, the flash of Téa's golden wings remained in view, rapidly flapping under the strain of the additional weight put on by Joey's limp figure.

"What do you want with my best buddy?!" Tristan cried, aiming the barrel of his firearm directly at the creature. "He just slammed Kaiba, not you!"

"I believe that's the point, Tristan," Pharaoh replied. "Kaiba's anger towards Joey is the reason why this creature manifested. These essence powers of ours have some sort of connection to our emotions; the greater our rage or concern or love, the more uncontrollable they become. It's the reason why Joey burst into flame after Kaiba made that remark about his father, for instance."

"So, that last comment Joey made really ticked Kaiba off, then?"

"So much so that the essence is now maintaining control over his body, and Kaiba has become a mere spectator inside his own self," Pharaoh nodded. Turning back to the hybrid, he snapped in conclusion, "And I suppose you wish to pursue Joey just to keep both Kaiba's rage and your control over him alive, don't you?"

The dragon hybrid flashed a fanged grin. He raised one hand into the air and snapped his fingers.

Glass shards rained down from the ceiling as the lights shattered, crackling electricity bursting out of their recesses. Bolts of lightning leapt from the former fixtures at Pharaoh and Tristan, thrusting the two off their feet and tossing them onto the ground. While lying stunned on the floor, Pharaoh watched as a wall of shimmering white swept before his vision. The accompanying rush of cool wind jolted him up to a sitting position; his eyes widened as they saw Kaiba/Blue Eyes rapidly gliding through the air, aiming at the golden wings flapping against the cerulean sky.

Pharaoh pushed himself up from the ground, wincing at the sharp shards that dug into his palms, and screamed out the opening, "Téa, look out!"


Téa glanced up from her unconscious friend, fearfully tightening the grip she had on the pits of his elbows. A soft sound had reached her ears, the mere brush of an echo passing by. Pharaoh? She caught just a hint of anxiety in his faint voice; was he sending her a warning?

"Ugh…"

The grunt from Joey's limp figure drew Téa's attention from the fading cry. She looked down and watched as Joey's eyes slowly fluttered open, dazedly glancing around before they met hers. "Didja get that truck's license plate?" he muttered.

"That wasn't a truck that hit you, Joey."

"Sure as hell felt like it."

A jagged crackle of white-hot electricity suddenly shot past the two. Téa shrieked as the lightning stung the bottom tip of her right wing, lurching down for a moment as the sharp pain drew her attention from flying. White lightning…Kaiba's following us!

"What the heck?!" Téa was suddenly tugged further downwards, narrowly dodging another lightning bolt that crashed past, as Joey squirmed with shock and horror in her arms. The downward lurch had finally brought to his attention the fact that they were flying far above the mansion's lawn.

"Joey, stop moving!" Téa chided him, "You're gonna slip right out of my hands!"

Obediently coming to a stop, he looked up at Téa and snapped, "What the heck are we doin' up here? What are we tryin' to fly away from?!"

Téa came to a hovering halt and pirouetted in the air, turning Joey to face the approaching creature his last insult had unleashed. "That."

Joey's eyes widened upon seeing the soaring CEO's face and hands covered with shimmering white skin, and his mouth curved up in a fanged, brutish grin. "Just when I thought Rich Boy couldn't get any uglier and nastier—"

"Joey!"

Kaiba/Blue Eyes' grin broadened, pleased by another insult to add to the real Kaiba's anger. It stretched out a palm towards him, a crackling orb of lightning forming in its center. Joey quickly glanced up at Téa and screamed, "Go! Go! Go!"

Téa twisted around and swiftly dove towards the ground; quick snaps of electricity rang in her ears as the orb of lightning thrust through the spot where she'd hovered moments before.

Joey heaved a sigh of relief. "That was way too clo—"

The end of his comment was lost under Téa's shriek as a jagged bolt of lightning crashed down before them, the mix of blinding light and searing heat much too close for comfort. Though it quickly vanished, she pivoted away from where the bolt had landed, only to be blasted with another rush of burning air from a second coming down inches from her face.

"Rich Boy!" Joey screamed up at Kaiba/Blue Eyes as another jagged bolt crashed down from behind, "You keep tryin' ta fry us and I'll burn you so bad hell will feel like paradise when you get there!"


The rapid pounding of Pharaoh's heart against his chest intensified as crashes of electricity rattled the mansion's walls. He tightened his grip on the silver and emerald staff. "Kaiba must have caught up with Joey and Téa!"

"Damnit," Tristan snapped, "where the hell is this place's exit?"

Pharaoh desperately glanced up and down the stretched-out hallway, aiming for even a spark of recollection as to which way they needed to go. In their blind panic for their friends, the two were continuously turning through the labyrinthine corridors only to find themselves facing doors at the end of short halls, not the open space before the grand staircase leading to the foyer and the outside.

"Aren't servants supposed to always be listening at doors or something?" Tristan hissed under his breath. "Where are they now that we need to get outta here?"

"Perhaps we should attempt to call them instead of losing ourselves entirely in this maze," Pharaoh suggested.

"Uh, wait a sec—I don't think we want them to see these." Tristan pointedly held up his machine gun.

"No, we don't."

In accordance with their desires, the Dark Magician's staff vanished in a flash of violet light, followed closely by the machine gun with a flash of silver and soft whirs and clicks. Pharaoh cupped his hands to his mouth and called down the corridor, "Is anyone down there?"

They waited. For a minute, the only response to Pharaoh's cry for help was the faint echo of his plea that quickly vanished down the corridor. Then, with a soft click and creak, a door further down the hall slowly swung open. A child with long, ash-colored hair peered around the doorway, his dark eyes wide with surprise.

"Mokuba!"

"Yugi?" Mokuba Kaiba stepped into the hall, slamming the door shut behind him. "How did you guys get here?"

"Your brother didn't tell you he was bringing us with him?"

Mokuba sadly shook his head. "Seto hasn't told me much of anything lately. He's been acting weird these last two days."

"Weird in what way? Has he taken up any strange habits?" Pharaoh's mind went back to Kaiba's perpetual shielding of his face from view.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since the night Kaiba Corp was attacked." Defiantly curling his hands into fists, he ranted with increasing speed: "I wanted to visit him in the hospital, but he told the doctors to not even let me come near his room! And when he called and told me he'd been released, I wanted to pick him up in the limo, but he practically screamed 'no' and told me to just come straight here on the next flight to California and lock myself up in my bedroom!"

"Did he tell you why?"

"He hung up when I asked." Mokuba looked directly into Pharaoh's eyes, the black orbs touched with a tinge of sadness. "You saw him, right? What's wrong with Seto? Why won't he even let me come near him?"

"Ah…Mokuba…" Pausing, searching for what on earth he could say, Pharaoh finally replied, "I don't think it's our place to explain it. All I can say is it's probably for the best that you stay away from him for the time being."

"No kidding," Tristan muttered under his breath.

Mokuba continued staring into the king's eyes, hoping they'd reveal what was wrong with his older brother. But Pharaoh wouldn't allow even a touch of worry to tinge his violet orbs.

"I knew it!" The two jumped, startled by Mokuba's sudden outburst. "I knew something was wrong that day! I should have ignored him when he told me to go home; I should have asked him what was going on the minute I saw him having his Blue Eyes put into the safe!"

"Mokuba, calm dow—" Pharaoh stopped. "Wait, what was that?"

"The cops came to Kaiba Corp that day before the attack," Mokuba explained. "After they left, Seto called me up to his office and told me that I just had to go home, no questions asked. When I was heading to the elevator to go back down and get my stuff, a guard came out of it and went straight down to Seto's office. I saw Seto give him a briefcase with his entire deck inside and tell him to lock it up before the doors slid shut. And I mean his entire deck—he put all three of his Blue Eyes on top before closing the case!" He sadly glanced down at the floor. "I just left because I knew the situation had to be serious if Seto was letting his Blue Eyes out of his sight."

"Kaiba put his three Blue Eyes into that case?" Pharaoh repeated.

Mokuba hesitated. "Well…I was all the way down the hall and didn't get that good a look…" Deep in thought for a few moments, he finally nodded with self-assurance and concluded, "But Seto took them right out of his jacket, and those three are the only ones he keeps that close to him all the time!"

But…how…Pharaoh was utterly baffled. How did Moreau fuse Kaiba with the Blue Eyes White Dragon if he didn't even have his Blue Eyes—

"It swiped my Blue Eyes White Dragon card…"

"Just go back home and tell the old coot that his card went towards a good cause."

"My God…" Pharaoh murmured to himself. "That essence's hostility…it all makes sense now…"

Mokuba blinked in confusion. "What makes sense?"

Snapping out of his reverie, Pharaoh cried, "Please, Mokuba, can you direct us to the front door? It's extremely important!"

"Uh..." Puzzled with the seemingly random question, Mokuba pointed down the hall, "Around that corner, second left, then first right, but—what's wrong?"

He yelped as Pharaoh quickly brushed past him, with Tristan following on his heels. The King of Games called over his shoulder, "Don't worry, Mokuba! I think I know just what's wrong with your brother now!"

Mokuba stared after them as they twisted around the corner and vanished. Only after their footsteps had faded did he finally snap out of his shock and realize aloud, "Why are you heading outside? Isn't Seto in his office?"

As Pharaoh and Tristan dashed down the grand staircase, their weapons reappearing in their grasps in flashes of violet and silver, Tristan cried out, "Yug, do you seriously know what's wrong with Kaiba?"

Pharaoh nodded. "This situation has been so startling that it made us forget the reason why we went to Kaiba Corp that night in the first place!"

"What's this have to do with that doctor's freaky henchman stealing Grandpa's Blue—?" Tristan froze at the mansion's pair of front doors, a light of realization dawning in his eyes. "Wait, you mean…" He frowned in bewilderment. "But that matters?"

"Absolutely." Pharaoh shoved one of the mahogany doors open, stepping into the afternoon sunlight. "I'll explain after we help Joey and Téa; we must find them before that essence can—"

Smack! A golden-winged figure was flung onto the mansion's walkway, wisps of smoke rising from its feathers. Pharaoh and Tristan dashed forward and quickly knelt beside Téa's limp figure; Pharaoh lifted Téa to a sitting position, staining his hand with crimson lifeblood as it touched an oozing burn on her shoulder.

"Ahh…" Téa glanced up at him, a dazed glaze spread over her eyes. "Pharaoh?"

"Téa, what happened? Where's Joey?" Pharaoh cried.

Téa weakly lifted her arm and pointed at a shimmering white and orange speck jerking across the sky. "Kaiba…I tried hiding in the clouds until you guys came, but he just flew out in front of us and fired…Joey was so ticked he jumped right out of my hands and latched onto him…"

While Pharaoh and Tristan each lifted one of Téa's arms around his neck and helped her to her feet, the three watched the shape of ivory and flame swoop down from the sky, crashing just a few feet away into the expanse of verdant blades. Joey sat up on his knees on Kaiba/Blue Eyes' chest, removing the arm he'd locked around its neck to steady his shaky grasp on Flame Swordsman's towering blade. He wildly waved the sword above Kaiba/Blue Eyes' face. "Stay down, ya goddamn freaky fusion thing!"

With a feral snarl, Kaiba/Blue Eyes reached up and grabbed Joey's sword as it swung by; the blade rang against the pearl-white skin on his palms, leaving not even a nick on the ivory coating. He tossed the blade and its wielder above his head, slamming Joey flat on his back onto the lawn.

In the moments Joey lay stupefied on the ground, Kaiba twisted onto his front and pushed himself onto his feet, bringing his spread-out wings into his back like a shimmering white cloak. He thrust an open palm towards Joey's sprawled figure, a crackling bolt of electricity bursting forth. Joey yelped and quickly rolled away, the lightning singeing the patch of grass where he'd laid ashy black.

Using his sword for support, Joey brought himself up from the ground. When he looked up at Kaiba/Blue Eyes, he narrowed his eyes at the sight of a fanged grin on his shimmering face. "You think this crap you're pulling on us is funny?"

The creature let out a strange cross between a snicker and a growl in response.

"You sonuva…" Joey pointed his blade at Kaiba, a fiery spark bursting out of its tip and spreading all the way down to the hilt. Feigning a yawn, Kaiba/Blue Eyes opened his palm and an orb crackling with searing white electricity appeared in its center.

"Joey, wait!" Pharaoh cried as Joey raised his blade, "That's not really Kaiba attacking you, it's the Blue Eyes essence!"

Joey froze, sword poised directly above his head. "What? Lemme get this straight—Rich Boy's gone, but now this thing's here and tryin' ta kill us instead?" He snarled. "There's one dream of mine shot ta hell…"

"Kaiba hasn't disappeared in entirety, Joey; he's being repressed by the Blue Eyes White Dragon essence. His anger towards you is allowing it to maintain control!"

"Anger towards me? Rich Boy's the one that ticks me off! What'd I do ta make him so…" He stopped as the memory of what happened before he'd been knocked out rushed back to him. "Oh. The whole 'you let the psycho get away' thing…"

Kaiba/Blue Eyes sneered and pulled the electric orb back.

"Whoa! Wait a sec!" Joey lowered his blade to the ground, hissing in anger and resignation. I hate Kaiba's guts, but I'm not gonna sink so low that I'll thrash him ta bits while he's under this nut's control. "Rich Boy, I fess up, all right? Rubbing that mistake of yours in your face was just plain nasty, so forget I ever said it. Now chill out before this essence thingie does something that you're gonna regret!"

"Seto!"

Everyone twisted to face the mansion as Mokuba's anxious voice floated out the front door Pharaoh had left open in his rush to Téa, followed by approaching clacks of hurried footsteps on parquet wood. As though the child's cry had struck him, Kaiba/Blue Eyes lurched back and slammed onto all fours, concealing his shimmering face from view by turning it towards the ground.

As Mokuba rushed out the open doorway, Tristan lunged one hand at him and Pharaoh screamed, "Mokuba, wait!" The little one simply dodged Tristan's outstretched arm and went straight to his older brother's curled-up figure, so focused on reaching Seto that he didn't even notice the weapons grasped in the others' hands or the wings curled into Téa's or his brother's back.

"Seto!" Mokuba came to a jolting stop before Kaiba's kneeling figure, slamming onto his knees in order to meet his eyes. "Seto, I know something's wrong! You had your Blue Eyes locked up, you wouldn't let me see you when you got out of the hospital, and your office is a total wreck! Seto, I'm worried about you, and I know you'd be freaking out too if something happened to me! Please just tell me what's wrong!"

Silence. Then, slowly, deliberately, Kaiba/Blue Eyes lifted his head and looked directly into Mokuba's eyes. Mokuba gasped at the glimmer of white scales, and the terrifying fanged grin etched across his brother's face, his blue eyes shimmering with crazed joy.

"S-Seto?" Mokuba trembled with horrific realization that this creature was not his brother.

Kaiba/Blue Eyes lunged out his free hand and snatched Mokuba by the collar of his shirt, standing up so that the child's feet dangled above the ground. Mokuba desperately clawed at the iron grip, but Kaiba/Blue Eyes simply snickered at the feeble attempts to scratch through the shimmering white scale around his hand.

"Let go of him!" Pharaoh cried, pointing Dark Magician's staff at the hybrid.

Kaiba/Blue Eyes twisted around and thrust the younger Kaiba directly in the staff's path. With the hand still grasped around a crackling orb, he lifted a finger and wagged it at Pharaoh, his tongue clicking out a 'tsk, tsk' in mock disappointment.

Pharaoh snarled and lowered his staff. This beast, he had to remind himself, was aiming to torture Kaiba, and wouldn't hesitate to use his younger brother as a human shield.

"Hey! Rich Boy!" In desperation, Joey pulled down an eyelid and stuck his tongue out at Kaiba/Blue Eyes. "Pbbbt. Why doncha come back and face me, ya bratty freak?!"

Kaiba/Blue Eyes didn't even bat an eye at his insult. He had no need for the true Kaiba's anger towards Joey to sustain him anymore. He'd found a much greater source of rage and worry: The mere thought of someone inflicting harm on Mokuba Kaiba.

Sneering, Kaiba/Blue Eyes again pulled his hand back, aiming the electrical orb at Mokuba Kaiba's heart.

"Seto…" Mokuba's tears splashed onto the white skin around the hand that clutched him. "Please don't…"

Kaiba/Blue Eyes brought the orb down.