A/N: I'm sorry for not posting this Friday night. I had no free time whatsoever. I literally got up, went to class, then work, then drove home to find friends over at my parents' house so I couldn't hide away and write this. So I wrote it now. Good news, Marik gets to be the awesome tease we all know and love and Kaiba gets to finally, indirectly meet Akhnadin.

Boredom, Nightmares, and Questions

He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. Well, he would have rubbed his head if his hands had not been tied behind him. Annoyed, he tugged his wrists, testing the bonds holding him; zip ties, fabulous. Exhaling, dark purple eyes rolled and he slumped back, his blonde head thunking against the wall. So it had not been a dream; he had been captured. To make matters worse, the lights in whatever room he was in were off.

Marik groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as a headache pulsed behind his head. He did not need this, not now, not with his Shadows cut off from him. As he was now, he would not last more than a week at most without his Shadows. They were too much of a part of him. His soul was too broken to survive like this without the Shadows to hold him any more than that. The headache was a sign that already the effects of prolonged separation from his link to life were beginning to make themselves known.

He shifted to a more comfortable position, grimacing as the blood began to pump back into his legs making them tingle and twitch uncomfortably. He hissed in frustration, falling abruptly silent when he heard muffled laughter nearby. Damn it, he was too used to relying on his Shadows if he could not sense someone else in the room. He cursed.

"Rather colorful vocabulary you have," the other person said.

"Oh, you have no idea how impressive my repertoire can be," Marik said forcing himself to smile.

"I'm sure."

The voice was definitely masculine and sounded older than the Shadow Thief's. That meant this was either another accomplice or perhaps the big man himself. Either way, that left Marik at a disadvantage. He had no idea who the man was, what he wanted, and no Shadows to access and aid in his escape. All he knew for certain was that this man, or at least the person in charge, was a Shadow user of considerable power, insane, and wanted to use Marik as insurance for some meeting or whatever.

"Where are your Shadows, boy?" the man asked.

Marik refused to answer that. Instead, he countered with his own question. "Mind explaining how kidnapping me gets you anything?"

"You weren't my preferred choice, but the opportunity presented itself and the end result will be same."

"And that result would be?" Marik pressed, twisting his wrists again, feeling the tight zip tie pinch his skin.

"Nothing to concern yourself about," the man said dismissively.

Well that was useful. Not.

"Well," Marik sighed. "This is certainly boring."

"You talk quite a bit, boy," the man said.

"I'm bored. Of course I'm going to talk." Marik shrugged as best he could giving his situation. "I hate being bored. It's my worst enemy."

"I see." Silence. "You are not afraid."

"Not particularly," Marik said. "I've seen worse." He laughed. "I've done worse. It comes with the territory of being the head of an international crime ring. Don't tell the Justice twats, would you? I've got a nice income as it is. Losing that is not exactly preferable."

"I see."

Marik hummed. "So."

"You really do talk quite a bit."

"Like I said, bored. Now, care to explain why the theatrics?"

"I beg your pardon?" the voice demanded, an offended tone leaking into it.

"Rejected," Marik snarked. "I mean, me I understand. I'm naturally theatrical. The Pharaoh too." He smirked into the darkness. "Bakura too, now that I mention it. Especially in bed." He moaned, rolling hips at the thought of his lover. "Mm, yes. Very theatrical. And fantastic with his hands. Has a tongue from the gods too, I might add." He snickered at the disgusted noise he heard from the darkness. "What? Jealous?"

"Hardly," the voice snapped.

"Fine," Marik said. "I don't have to kill you then."

"Excuse me?"

"Rejected. Didn't you hear me before?" Marik laughed. "For a theatrical villain, you're not very sharp of hearing. Age getting to you?"

The voice sniffed and suddenly a hand slapped over Marik's nose and mouth, clamping his head against the wall. It was startling, but hardly worrisome. Then he realized he could not breathe. Then the panic hit. The hand was blocking both his nose and mouth, preventing from exhaling or inhaling. His eyes bulged and his body wriggled, kicking blindly for his captor trying to escape and snag a breath.

"To think Set must deal with lowlifes like you," the voice growled, barely heard over the roaring blood in Marik's ears. "Disgusting."

Barely a minute later, Marik slumped against the wall, silenced.

:Set.:

Kaiba flinched and tried to wriggle away from the voice.

:My son.:

Seth whimpered and curled up in a dark corner of Kaiba's mind.

:You've grown so well. You look the same as when I last saw you.:

Kaiba twitched and felt one of his hands curl into a fist. :Get. Out. Of. My. Head,: he said, forcing the Shadows to create clear, distinct words and not the usual emotions he was more familiar at sending.

The voice laughed. :You learn fast, Set. Your mind was always sharp.:

Kaiba growled. :Get. OUT!:

:I wish to trade.:

He could not respond with individual words or phrases, but Kaiba made very clear what he thought of that idea. To his mortification, the voice chuckled.

:Not even for a fellow Shadow user? He has spirit, but something has removed his Shadows. I wonder how long he'll live without that connection renewed.:

Kaiba hesitated. Marik was not his persay, but he was a member of the Shadow Court and the Pharaoh would kill him if he did not rescue the Priest if he had the chance.

:Speak,: he said, forcing his Shadows to form the word.

:Meet me for coffee tomorrow. I hear you're fond of the drink,: the voice said, to Kaiba's surprise, more than a little perturbed by the implication. He could not form words to respond but the voice understood his Shadow query. :How about the Starbucks close to the park. I hear it's popular with people your age.: the voice said casually, as if discussing the weather with an old friend. :Come alone.:

Kaiba felt Shadows he now recognized very clearly reach out for him, flinching away and fighting down the urge to scream when they almost touched him. Seth quivered and begged him to refuse. But he could not refuse. Marik was a member of the Shadow Court and therefore under his protection the Regent.

:Marik,: he forced himself to say.

:The boy will be joining us of course,: the voice replied. :This is a trade after all.:

Kaiba jolted awake, sitting up straight in bed disturbing Mokuba and causing Roland to draw his gun, anticipating an attack. Mokuba opened heavy eyelids and tugged at his big brother's shirt.

"Ni-sama?" he asked, sleep garbling his words.

Kaiba hesitated, calming himself down by force. "I'm fine," he said. It was not a lie; he was physically fine. "Just a nightmare." It was definitely a nightmare, a nightmare that would never end.

Kaiba nodded to Roland who holstered his weapon but watched him carefully, clearly seeing through his boss's weak lie and disapproving of it. Avoiding his bodyguard's gaze, the CEO of KaibaCorp lay back down next to Mokuba and tried not to shake as both his and Seth's fear merged together. He slept fitfully after that.

"Seth is Set!" Superman yelled as he ran into the Lounge on the Watchtower. The whole team, with the sole exception of Green Arrow, was present exchanging information while they had the chance.

Batman spoke first with a very intelligent question. "Excuse me?"

Clark calmed down and stood tall. "I know who Seth is. He's Set, the Egyptian god of chaos."

"How can you be sure?" Wonder Woman asked. "The Egyptian pantheon Set is from was mostly deified humans, not actual gods."

"Look," Clark said turning to the Amazon princess, "you told us to keep an eye out for anything regarding the pantheon this Court serves. I think we can safely say it's the Egyptian pantheon and I'm willing to bet Set's involved."

"Besides," Hawkgirl said, "You said Set is the Egyptian god, not Seth."

"Seth is the Greek pronunciation for Set," Clark said.

"But why would they use the Greek pronunciation instead of the Egyptian?" Green Lantern asked.

"They are." Superman looked at Batman significantly.

After a moment, Batman's eyes grew large under his cowl. "Seto."

Clark nodded.

"Wait a sec," Flash said. "Confused. I get they sound similar but how does 'Seto' equal 'Set?'"

"They aren't Egyptian. They're Japanese. 'Seto' is the Japanese pronunciation for 'Set.' They aren't hiding it at all."

"There's more." The group turned back to Superman. "Set is considered both strong and dangerous, often associated with confusion and unexplained events. He was also a 'powerful ally to the pharaoh.'"

"Yami," Hawkgirl murmured.

"That still doesn't explain the King," Flash countered. "What's his role in all this?"

"Aibou."

"Say what?" Flash asked, turning to stare at the previously silent Martian behind him.

"The Pharaoh called the King 'Aibou' after the Shadow Thief attacked," J'onn said calmly.

"It's Japanese for partner or accomplice," Batman said.

"And yadonuushi-somethin'-er-other?" Flash asked.

"Yadonushi," Batman corrected. "It's means 'host' or 'landlord' depending on how it's used."

"Kaiba," he paused, "Seto mentioned someone called Shaadi not caring about the Thief and his yadonushi," Flash explained.

Green Lantern sighed. "How many are in this Court anyway?"

"Three Triads, that that's nine plus Yami, Yuugi, and Kaiba. That's all we know of anyway," Flash said, counting them out on his fingers.

Batman tensed, eyes wide as something finally snapped into place. Diana noticed his discomfiture first. "Batman," she asked, "are you alright?"

Yami Yuugi."

"What about them?" Superman asked.

"Not them, it," Batman said, eyes narrowing. "The Pharaoh's and King's names, Yami and Yuugi; they're Japanese for Dark and Game. Yami Yuugi means Dark Game.

"Shadow Game," J'onn said quietly.

"The Egyptian god of chaos and Dark Game ruling a Court of Shadows," Diana muttered.

"And Green Arrow's tangled up in this mess," Clark said darkly. "I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to think this is going to have serious repercussions."

"Don't forget something scared Set bad enough for him to vanish in a way even the Pharaoh and the King couldn't track," Hawkgirl added.

"Perhaps," J'onn said, drawing everyone's attention, "Yami and Yuugi are the same."

"How so?" Hawkgirl asked.

"When I touched their minds, I could not tell them apart save for the darkness surrounding the Pharaoh and the light surrounding the King." Golden eyes blinked. "And you must admit, they act more as lovers than siblings."

"Yeah, I did notice that," Flash said, shifting uncomfortably. "It's like incest on steroids. They couldn't keep their hands off each other even with all of us there."

"I doubt it will get better with Marik's lover coming," J'onn said sardonically.

"Marik's lover?" Green Lantern asked, straightening. "You mean Ryou Bakura?"

J'onn tilted his head slightly. "I…believe so. Yuugi heard Shaadi was coming and had Marik tell Ryou and Bakura to go with him."

"Ryou and Bakura?" Lantern said, eyes large. "But Ryou is Bakura's first name."

"Yuugi spoke of them as two separate people," J'onn said, watching his friend with mild interest.

Flash dropped his head in his hands despondently. "This is way too complicated for me to deal with right now."

J'onn gazed at his friend in sympathy. "If it helps, I found out why the Court calls you a false descendant of Ra," he said, turning to Hawkgirl.

Shayera crossed her arms. "I'm all ears."

"According to Yuugi, the Thanagarans buried in the disturbed tomb you and Green Lantern investigated once ruled an empire. They tried to conquer a nation ruled by a Pharaoh who resisted them. This Pharaoh created a," J'onn hesitated, "dark power which he used to push the Thanagarans back, but died before he could finish the job. The Thanagarans weren't defeated until after the Pharaoh's nephew took the throne."

"Why the nephew?" Hawkgirl asked curiously. "Wasn't there a prince?"

J'onn nodded. "Yes, but he died fight an enemy described as 'too great for any to fight alone.'"

"I'm guessing this dark power is this Shadow magic," Batman said, not liking this news one bit.

"That would make sense," Superman agreed, nodding. "But what I want to know is what this enemy the second pharaoh defeated was that was so great even this Shadow magic couldn't repel. If the magic was strong enough to hold back an invading army led my Thanagarans, then what was so powerful that it ended in the Pharaoh's death?"

"And where is this in mythology?" Green Lantern said. "I'm not familiar with Egyptian mythology myself but I don't remember ever hearing anything about any of this. You think history would have at least mentioned something like that."

"Maybe it was, just not in a way you or I would have noticed," Flash said.

"The popular Egyptian pantheon is made up of mostly deified humans, like I said. It's possible the Egyptians at the time deified them because the things they did were too great to be perceived as possible for humans to accomplish."

"Like some of the Greek mythologies," Superman said, catching on. "Okay then, what do we know about Egyptian mythology other than Set being to god of chaos? I know of a few other gods like Anubis and Ra, but not much else."

"Diana," Batman said. "I'd like you to bring your gods in on this. This seems like something they might need to helo us deal with in."

"I'm surprised you're asking me to do that," Wonder Woman said.

"Believe me, so am I," Batman muttered. "But they may have information we need to fight whoever's behind this."

"Set, you mean?" Green Lantern said.

"I do not believe Kaiba is guilty," J'onn insisted.

"So you've said," Batman said. "But the facts are not putting him in a good light."

"Well, we are still just assuming Kaiba is Set," Flash said. "Technically, we don't have any proof so this s still speculation; wild speculation, actually."

"With a strong basis in fact," Batman countered.

"But still speculation," Flash said, waving a finger at the dark superhero.

"Perhaps we will get the proof we need soon," Clark said thoughtfully. He turned to J'onn. "You said during the Shadow Thief's attack, Marik Ishtar was taken."

"Yes," J'onn said, nodding. "The Shadow Thief said Marik was insurance for a future meeting," he continued.

"With who?" Lantern asked.

J'onn shook his head. "I do not know." Golden eyes slid to his friend. "But I would assume the enemy."

"An enemy of the Shadow Court," Hawkgirl muttered. "This should be interesting."

"Apparently, the Court has something the enemy wants," J'onn said.

"Yes," Green Lantern said. "We heard over the transmission. Any idea what it is?" J'onn shook his head. "Do you think the Shadow Court knows?" Lantern pressed.

J'onn thought for a moment. "I am unsure."

"Alright then, that just leaves one more thing," Diana said. "Who was this Mahaad person the Shadow Thief mentioned?"

"He is a summon," J'onn said. "He protected the King spoke the language of magic the other Shadow rulers do."

Superman's blue eyes met J'onn's. "So like the clowns Kaiba summoned when he battle the Shadow Thief?"

J'onn nodded. "That would make sense." Superman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. J'onn hesitated before speaking once more. "There are a couple more things I wish to mention."

"What's that?" Batman asked.

"When the Shadow Thief spoke to Yuugi, he called him Pharaoh, not King." J'onn blinked. "Perhaps there is some significance to that."

"They do look a heck of a lot alike," Flash said. "Freaky twin lovebirds."

"Also, Kaiba referred to Yuugi as not the Pharaoh's half," J'onn added.

"Half?" Hawkgirl asked. "Half of what?"

"I do not know. I was…hoping you would," the Martian said.

"Great," Batman grunted. "More puzzles." He glanced back at J'onn. "And the other thing?"

"Apparently, Kaiba had some sort of reaction when he tried to transport Mokuba, Green Arrow, and his companion to join us after the Shadow Thief's attack."

"What kind of reaction?" Batman asked.

"I watched in the memories of Arrow's companion," J'onn said. "Kaiba collapsed, shaking and struggling to breathe. Nothing we did could snap him out of it until his brother called him." J'onn's eyes narrowed. "But it was his face that fascinated me."

"Why?" Hawkgirl pressed.

Jonn turned to her. "He looked as if he was going to faint from pleasure."

"Pleasure?" Flash gasped, echoing his companions' thoughts in shock.

J'onn nodded. "He looked as if he could not decide whether to be terrified or…" He blushed and looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Orgasm."

When he looked back, the League looked like they were caught between awe and disgust. J'onn shifted and cleared his throat again.

"Well," Flash said, recovering first. "On that note, I'm going to bed. Alone. To sleep. Bye." He bolted out of the room in a blue of red and yellow.

"I think I'll join him," Hawkgirl said, shuddering.

"We all should," Batman said, shaking off his momentary shock. "It looks like we'll be having a long day tomorrow."

"What about Noa?" Superman asked. "Won't he tell the Court what we said?"

Batman smirked and pulled out his portable electronic jamming device. "I doubt it. Good night, Clark."