Here's the next chapter.
[[[blah blah blah]]]- Heba to other Hikaris (mind link)
Enjoy!
Chapter 10- Brother
Yugi instantly froze. He knew that voice all too well, but he couldn't believe that he was here right now.
Yami was shocked when Yugi's grip on him lessened and was even more shocked when Yugi let go of him completely. Yami fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air as he had a hand around his throat, thankful to be able to breathe normally again.
Atemu noticed this and motioned for Yami to get out of there.
Yami glanced up at Yugi, who was stock still. Taking the chance, Yami moved away from Yugi and got over to where Atemu was with Marik, Bakura, and Seto.
"You okay?" Seto asked.
"I've been better, but I suppose I could have been worse, too." Yami said. He looked over at Yugi. "Now what?" Yami asked.
"I don't know." Atemu said.
Joey, Tristan, Tea, Ryou, Malik, Serenity, and Mokuba all made their way over to them.
"Not to state the obvious, but should we be trying to get out of here?" Tea asked, wanting to get out of that area before Yugi came after them again.
"We would love to do that, Tea, but you seem to be forgetting one minor detail." Bakura said.
"What?" Tea asked.
"That damned shield Yugi has around the tower prevents us from leaving!" Bakura hissed.
"You don't have to act like that!" Tristan shot back.
"Not the time!" Seto growled.
Meanwhile, Yugi was frozen.
'He did come here. I knew that. I can't believe I missed this. I-I don't know what to do now.' Yugi thought.
Do not fret, Master. We are here to help you. We will aid you while he is here. We will not allow him to fool you as the others did. You have our word on that.
'What can I do? What should I do? Maybe I can trust him.' Yugi thought.
NO! You must not trust him! He will only betray you as the others have! We are the only ones you can trust!
"Yugi!"
Yugi looked up and found himself facing a person in the shadows.
Yami, Atemu, and the others looked up as well.
"Who is that?" Tristan asked.
"I don't know. I can't see them very well." Bakura said.
Atemu struggled up to his feet, and Bakura, Marik, and Seto followed his lead.
"I sure hope that that is not someone who plans on helping Yugi with all of this." Serenity sad fearfully.
"No. I don't think they are." Yami said.
"How do you know?" Joey asked.
"That's the same voice that yelled before when Yugi dropped me. Whoever it is told Yugi to stop." Yami said.
"Doesn't mean they are on our side." Bakura said.
"Wouldn't they have just let Yugi kill Yami if they wanted him dead, though?" Mokuba asked.
"Unless whoever this is wants to kill Yami themselves." Marik said.
"You're a real pessimist, you know that?" Malik said, looking at his boyfriend and Yami.
Marik shrugged. "It's the truth." Marik said.
Ryou looked over at the figure. 'What's this feeling?' Ryou asked. He looked over at Malik. "Malik, do you feel that?" Ryou asked.
Malik looked over. "Feel what?" Malik asked.
"Concentrate on the link." Ryou said.
Malik did, and his eyes widened. "No way!" Malik exclaimed.
"What?" Yami asked.
Yugi was oblivious to the conversation going on. He was concentrating on the person in front of him. Yugi swallowed thickly. "H-H-Heba?" Yugi asked lowly.
Slowly, the figure walked out of the shadows.
This person looked like an exact duplicate of Yugi although he had tanned skin like Atemu, Malik, and Marik. He wore a pair of black pants with a tank top on. He had on boots and wore the collar around his neck like Yugi did.
The boy, Heba, smile. "Yes. It's me." Heba said.
The group gasped in shock.
"Who the hell is that?" Joey asked.
"I'd rather know why he looks so much like Yugi." Seto said.
Ryou's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "That must be it!" Ryou said.
All eyes turned to him.
"What are you talking about, Ryou?" Bakura said.
"Tea and I both thought that we saw Yugi in the mall, but maybe it as this other guy we saw. It would be an easy mistake." Ryou said.
"He makes an excellent point." Marik said.
"It would also explain why we never sensed any Shadow magic in the mall. Whoever this is doesn't have it." Seto said.
"But who is he, and how does he know Yugi?" Serenity asked.
"That's an excellent question." Ryou said.
Yami looked over at Atemu. "Atemu, he looks like-" Yami started.
"I know." Atemu said quietly.
"What?" Tea asked.
"He looks exactly like Prince Heba from ancient Egypt five thousand years ago." Bakura answered solemnly.
"From your reign, Yami?" Tea asked.
Yami nodded.
"Who was Prince Heba? A brother of yours?" Tristan asked.
"No. Not exactly." Yami said.
"Heba was my husband. He died a year before the deal with Zorc came. He died of what is now known as tuberculosis." Atemu said.
"And he looks just like him?" Serenity asked.
"Yes. Whoever this is, he looks exactly like Heba." Atemu answered.
Yugi wasn't sure what to think. "How are you here? Why are you here?" Yugi asked.
Heba smiled. "Well, I flew over here on a plane, for starters. As for why I'm here, it's because of you, Yugi. You're why I'm here." Heba said.
Yugi shook his head. "No. You shouldn't be here." Yugi said.
"Yes, I should. Five months ago, when you called me and told me everything that had been happening, everything that happened that night, I knew that I should not have listened to you and just come on out here, but I decided that I would listen to you for once in my life." Heba said. He gave an ironic smile. "Sadly, the one time I do listen to you is the one time that I should not have listened to you." Heba said.
"This isn't your fight, Heba." Yugi said.
"It is my fight, Yugi. You are my brother, and I am here because of you. I want to help you, Yugi. I know what kind of pain you are in. I heard it all in your voice when we talked. You could never hide anything from me. You know that." Heba said.
Yugi looked at Heba. "Why did you bother to come?" Yugi asked.
Heba took several steps toward Yugi and ended up right at Yugi.
Yugi never made a move away from Heba or tried to stop Heba from getting any closer.
Once right at Yugi, Heba raised a hand and put on Yugi's cheek. "You are my brother, Yugi. You are my twin brother. I love you, and there is nothing that you can say or do to make me change my mind. I will always be here when you need me, Yugi. I came here to help you." Heba said.
Yugi's dark eyes slowly lightened, revealing a bit of the amethyst that had once resided there.
"How did you know where to come?" Yugi asked.
Heba smiled. "You're not the only Hikari in the family." Heba said.
Yugi understood. "You are a Hikari as well." Yugi said.
"Yes. A Hikari without a Yami." Heba said.
"Better no Yami than one that hurts and betrays you." Yugi said.
"Yugi, please stop this. You are better than this. You are not a killer. You are not evil. You are not vengeful. You are not hateful. This is not you." Heba said.
"I died that night." Yugi said.
"No. You didn't die that night. You were hurt. You destroyed. You were broken, but you never died. I know that." Heba said.
"How do you know that?" Yugi asked.
"Because I can see a part of you still there. I know you had the chance to kill Yami, and I know that you didn't take the chance to kill him. Deep down, you don't want to kill Yami." Heba said.
"Yes, I do." Yugi said.
"Then why didn't you?" Heba asked.
"Because I was weak then. I know what to do now." Yugi said.
"Is it you, or the Shadow magic that knows?" Heba asked.
Yugi was silent.
"Yugi, you can't let the Shadow magic control you. I know that you are hurting from all this. I know that Yami hurt you badly. I know that you want him to pay for what he's done. Hell, I want him to pay for what he let happen, but this is not the way to go about it." Heba said.
"What am I supposed to do then?" Yugi asked as tears filled his eyes. "Let Yami go off and live his life as if nothing happen. Let him be happy while I'm crying myself to sleep every night. Let him feel safe while I feel haunted, scared, and terrified. Let him live the life I wish I could live. One where I am happy and unscarred." Yugi said as the tears fell.
Heba wiped the tears away. "I'm not saying trust him. I'm not saying forgive him. All I am saying is that wanting someone to die, wishing for their death, trying to kill them, is not who you are, Yugi. Deep down, you know that." Heba said.
Yugi took a deep breath, trying desperately to stop the sobs that wanted to get out.
"Yugi, you are not alone. I am here. I won't leave you again. I swear to that. I am staying for good. I am staying in Japan. I will be here to help you. I will support you." Heba said.
"Until you find your Yami." Yugi said.
"No, Yugi. Even if I find him, I won't leave you. I am going to be here for you." Heba said.
Yugi was silent. His eyes were turning more and more amethyst as if the darkness was slowly dissipating.
No! Do not listen to him! You know he speaks only lies! He will leave you the moment he finds his Yami! You will mean nothing to him! Do you not see? He distracts you from fighting those who have harmed you! He has sided with them!
Yugi looked at Heba. "Why did you come back now?" Yugi asked.
"Because I knew that you needed me." Heba said.
"Because you wanted to save them." Yugi said, his eyes starting to darken again.
Heba looked at Yugi and felt his heart clench as the darkness filled his brother's eyes once more. "Yugi, please. I stopped you from killing them because I know that that is not what you want. I know that. You don't want to kill, Yugi." Heba said.
"So I'm just supposed to let them get away with everything that they have put me through? I'm supposed to forget it all?" Yugi asked.
"No, Yugi. Don't forget what happened, but killing them won't solve anything. You know that." Heba said.
"I'm not so sure, Heba. Right now, I see that you are protecting the people who have destroyed my life." Yugi said.
Heba now knew that reaching Yugi would be a lot harder than he had hoped it would be. "Yugi, please. Don't do this. You are my brother. I love you. You know that you are the most important thing in my life." Heba said.
"And yet, you protect them." Yugi said.
Heba took a step back. "I'm protecting them for you, Yugi. I know that this isn't what you want. You are not really like this." Heba said.
"Heba, the person you once knew has long since been destroyed. If you want to be my brother, then stay out of my way. If you choose to protect them, then I have no choice, but to consider you my enemy." Yugi said.
Heba had feared this ultimatum was coming. He knew that he would be forced to protect them, and he had known that by choosing to protect them, he would most likely become Yugi's enemy in the process. 'Damn you, Yami! You let things get so out of hand that it has lead to this. I am so going to murder you for all this!' Heba mentally growled, ready to kill the man that he partially blamed for his brother's current predicament.
"What is it, Heba?" Yugi asked.
Heba knew what Yugi wanted to know. "Yugi, you are my brother, and I love you. I always will. Nothing will ever change that." Heba said. A white light glowed around his hands. "I don't want to fight you, but if it is the only way to stop you from killing them, then I will fight you, Yugi." Heba said. A pair of Sais formed in his hands.
"So be it." Yugi said. He formed a sword from Shadow magic and struck out at Heba.
Heba used the Sais to block the attack.
The others were shocked.
"Hold on! How the hell was he able to do that? I thought that only Yamis and Hikaris could form weapons from thin air like that!" Tristan said.
Malik whacked Tristan in the back of his head.
"Ow!" Tristan exclaimed.
"We don't form them from thin air! We form our weapons from our magic, dummy!" Malik snapped.
"But he's right. This person is a Hikari." Atemu said.
"That's what I figured he was. I could sense that he was a fellow Hikari." Ryou said.
"How did he get Yugi to stop for a time, though?" Serenity asked.
"They know each other, and I would hazard a guess that that is Heba." Ryou said.
"What?" Bakura asked.
"Okay. No offense meant to you, Atemu, but Heba would be dead." Serenity said.
"Yeah. It has been five thousand years." Seto said.
"I'm not talking about Atemu's Heba. I'm talking about Yugi's Heba." Ryou said.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yami asked.
No one understood what Ryou was talking about.
"Ryou, once more. With clarity." Malik said.
"Okay. After Yugi started living with us, we would talk a lot. He told me that he has a twin brother named Heba Mutou who lives in Egypt. Yugi mentioned they were identical twins." Ryou said. He motioned to where the two were fighting. "I have a feeling that that is Heba, Yugi's twin brother." Ryou explained.
"Wow. Talk about a coincidence." Bakura said.
Yugi brought his sword down at Heba, but Heba blocked Yugi's sword with his Sais. Heba then forced Yugi back and struck out with one of his Sais, but Yugi ducked out of the way. He went at Heba and rammed his elbow into Heba's stomach, causing Heba to stumble backwards. Yugi then struck out with his sword, but Heba ducked and rolled to the side out of the way before he jumped up and kicked at Yugi. Yugi dove to the side and then charged at Heba, bringing his sword down at Heba. Heba held his Sais up and blocked Yugi's sword.
"Yugi, please. We can figure this out if you would just stop." Heba said.
"No. I am done waiting for them to care. It's been nine and a half months, and they never once acted like they cared about me." Yugi spat.
"I know that, Yugi, but this isn't the way to deal with it! You can't just kill people like this! It's not who you are!" Heba said.
"It is now." Yugi said. He then forced Heba back before he sent a ball of Shadow magic at Heba.
Heba moved to the side out of the way, and the attack hit the ground. He then formed a ball of Shadow magic in his hand and sent it at Yugi.
Yugi, however, sent a ball of Shadow magic and destroyed the attack Heba had sent.
Heba growled. [[[I can't believe that this is happening. I can't believe that I am choosing to protect those idiots over helping my own brother. Yami had better hope Yugi injures me to the point that I lose my memory because when I get my hands on him, he is a dead man!]]] Heba thought, thinking of all the different ways he could kill Yami. He then went back at Yugi.
Ryou looked at Malik.
Malik looked at Ryou.
Both gulped.
"What's wrong with you two?" Bakura asked.
"Yami, I hate to tell you this, but I think you are a dead man." Malik said.
"Why?" Yami asked.
"You're not going to let Yugi kill him." Tea said.
"Not why we're saying that." Ryou said.
"Then why?" Tristan demanded.
Atemu looked from the fighting brothers back to the two Lights. He grimaced. "Ryou, do me a favor and just answer my next questions with a yes or a no." Atemu said.
"Sure thing." Ryou said.
"Is that the reincarnation of my husband from five thousand years ago?" Atemu asked.
"Yes." Ryou said.
"Does he have his memories of ancient Egypt?" Atemu asked.
"Yep." Malik said.
"Is he Yugi's twin brother?" Atemu asked.
"Yes." Ryou said.
"Now for the biggie. Does he know everything that has been happening with Yugi?" Atemu asked.
"Yes. From Yami's starting to date Tea right up to now." Malik said.
"Yami, you're on your own." Atemu said.
"What? Why?" Serenity asked.
"Because I am a dead man." Yami said.
"And Atemu?" Malik said.
"What?" Atemu asked.
"I think that we have found your Hikari." Ryou said.
Yugi sent a wave of Shadow magic at Heba.
Heba barely managed to get out of the way in time. He look up only to see that Yugi was gone. 'What?' Heba asked himself.
A blast hit Heba and sent him crashing to the ground. Heba winced.
Yugi stood over Heba. "I never thought that my own brother would turn his back on me." Yugi said angrily.
"Yugi, I-" Heba started.
"You chose to protect them, which makes you the enemy." Yugi said.
"Yugi, I don't choose them over you. I choose them because that is what you really want. You don't want this, Yugi. The Shadow magic is clouding your judgment." Heba said.
"The Shadow magic is allowing me to see things clearly for the first time." Yugi said.
"Yugi, I-" Heba started.
"No more, Heba. The next time we meet, family will mean absolutely nothing to me. You will be the enemy, and I am not going to hold back." Yugi said. He then vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.
Heba leaned back and sighed. 'Great. Now, my brother has been turned against me. I am going to murder that man if it is the last thing I do.' Heba thought.
"Heba, are you okay?" Ryou asked.
Heba looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm not hurt. It's my heart that's wounded." Heba said.
Ryou and Malik helped Heba up.
"How did you know who I was?" Heba asked.
"Yugi told me about you. I'm Ryou Bakura, and this is Malik Ishtar." Ryou said.
"Oh. Yugi mentioned you both to me. I'm glad that Yugi had you two to help through all this." Heba said.
"He's our friend. We were glad to do it." Ryou said.
"So, we've got another runt on our hands." Bakura said.
Heba looked back. "And you must be Bakura, Ryou's Yami." Heba said.
Bakura blinked. "How did you know that?" Bakura asked.
"Because Yugi told me that you always called him runt, half-pint, or something else referring to his height." Heba answered.
"Well, you are both short." Bakura said.
Heba shook his head.
"I ignore him. We all do." Marik said.
"Hey!" Bakura protested.
"Ignore them both." Malik said.
"Thanks for the advice." Heba said.
"So, are you sure you're not hurt?" Malik asked.
"No. I'm not hurt." Heba said.
"We're glad that you're okay." Atemu said.
Heba then looked at Atemu and felt like he was looking into the past. He knew that Atemu was the man he had been married to back in ancient Egypt, although he didn't know how he was back.
It became silent.
Heba smiled. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Até?" Heba asked.
"Five thousand years." Atemu replied.
Bakura and Marik started to act like they were going to make gagging noises until Ryou and Malik elbowed them in the stomach, telling them with their eyes not to interrupt the reunion.
Atemu walked up to Heba. "It's been far too long, Heba. I've missed you." Atemu said.
"I've missed you, too." Heba said.
Atemu couldn't resist. He wrapped his arms around Heba and hugged him.
Heba happily hugged him back. "I'm glad that I've found you again, Até." Heba said.
"So am I, Little Star." Atemu said.
"Little Star?" Bakura asked.
Ryou whacked him in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed.
Heba ignored Bakura and looked up at Atemu. "How are you back?" Heba asked.
"It's a bit of a story. The short version is that after Yugi won the Ceremonial duel, Yami decided to stay, and the gods allowed me to stay as well since I had given my life during the battle with Zorc." Atemu said.
"Well, I'm glad that you're here." Heba said.
"As am I." Atemu said.
"All right! Enough with all this mushy crap! I can't take it anymore!" Marik exclaimed.
Heba sighed. "They're right. We have other things that we have to deal with." Heba said.
"I know." Atemu said.
Atemu and Heba now felt as if they were complete. They knew that now that they had found each other, their hearts no longer felt like there was a hole in them.
Bakura then started to look around. "Hey. Where are the others?" Bakura asked.
"Seto took the others on back to the mansion since we were able to. They should be safe inside the shield." Atemu said.
"Why'd they go back?" Malik asked.
"They just decided to go back." Atemu said.
"Liar." Heba said.
"What?" Atemu asked, looking at his newfound Hikari.
"You had Seto take them back to the mansion because you were afraid of what I would do to my dear brother-in-law when I got my hands on him." Heba said.
"Okay. Maybe that is why." Atemu said.
"Atemu, there is no way in hell that you are going to keep me from giving that man a piece of my mind! After all that he has done, I think that I have a right to let him know exactly what I think of him!" Heba snapped angrily.
"Um, Heba. You know that us Hikaris have a link now." Ryou said.
"So?" Heba asked.
"We heard your different ideas on how to go about killing Yami." Malik said. He smirked and added, "You had some great ideas."
Heba sighed. "That was me dealing with my anger. I swear that I have no plans on killing Yami." Heba said.
"Darn." Bakura said.
Atemu looked at Heba. He knew Heba rather well, and he knew that Heba was never one who had good control over his anger. "Heba, you and Yugi are as different as night and day. You'd rip Yami apart limb from limb." Atemu said.
"So, dismemberment is out?" Heba asked.
Atemu glared.
Heba sighed. "I promise that I won't kill him. I won't promise that I won't hurt him in some way, though." Heba said.
"How do I know that you won't end up killing him?" Atemu asked.
"I promise I won't, and if you think I'm going too far, stop me." Heba said.
Atemu sighed. 'He knows I don't have a death wish.' Atemu thought.
"You've got to let him have his piece." Bakura said.
"Fine. Let's go." Atemu said. 'May the gods have mercy on Yami.' Atemu thought.
Bakura used his Shadow magic to teleport them out of the area.
Hope you liked it.
Next: The group gets a few answers.
The poll is still up. I will take it down some time today. So, vote if you haven't.
R&R.