HE couldn't believe his luck!

The target came back, alone this time, trying to be silent. The kid was doing a decent job of it, but it didn't matter because he'd already been spotted…too bad he didn't realize that he had more to worry about than carnival security.

He was hard-pressed to contain his excitement when the target came close. He had to wait…had to make sure he didn't botch the whole thing all to hell. And so he kept quiet, kept still, as the target hit the switch and watched the body he thought to be fake fall until the rope snapped tight.

The target was distracted by the decoy.

The predator made his move.


There was a strange, overly-complex harness holding the body in position, and Mokuba was having a hard time keeping his cool. It was exceedingly frustrating, both that he was in this position to begin with and that it was being difficult.

It didn't help any that Mokuba was claustrophobic. It was okay when he was with somebody else, if he had Seto or another friend to distract him, but the air that had been so refreshingly cool before was now stifling…the air conditioner had been turned off for the night, evidently.

It might have been his imagination, but he thought he heard movement. Turning around despite telling himself that it was nothing, that he was just being paranoid, he grunted with frustration when he saw nothing.

He went back to work on the fake corpse.

When he discovered the wires jutting out from the elbows, which was obviously the way they made the arms point forward as if they were reaching for you, Mokuba groaned again in frustration. Of course…couldn't be simple, could it?

He tried to remove one of the wires, and when it wouldn't budge, he pulled in a sudden fit of anger, signifying the loss of his patience, and he heard a strange, papery crackle as the arm was ripped off.

Even in the dark, he could see the knob of bone.

This was no dummy…no fake…

…It was a real corpse.

He drew in his breath, probably to scream, but it never came.

A hard crack sent white-hot pain through his head, and he fell into total blackness.


Noa came up to Joey and Tristan, Yugi at his side. "Hey, guys!" he said breathlessly; he was running.

"Hey," Joey said, lifting a hand, "where's Kaiba?"

"Off at the car to talk to Kevin about something. Why?"

"Good…so he'll be gone for a bit."

"Uh…okay?"

Joey jerked a hand toward the funhouse. "Moku's in there, gettin' somethin' for us."

"…What?"

"Cool it, kid. We didn't give 'im much of a choice." Tristan glanced at his friend. "Joey saw this dummy corpse in there, and he wanted it. So he sent Moku in there to get it for him."

Noa frowned. "…Why?"

Joey shrugged. "It was cool. And Mokuba's small. Quieter."

"How long has he been in there?"

"Like…ten minutes."

"I don't like it. I'm gonna go get him."

"Why?"

"If Seto comes back and finds out Mokuba agreed to help you steal something, he's gonna be mad. It's Mokuba's birthday; he doesn't need to be grounded."

He walked into the exit of the funhouse without another word to the pair of teens.


The interior of the funhouse was dark and humid. It made Noa uncomfortable. It was too warm for what time it was, and he wanted to get out as quickly as possible. "Mokuba?" he called out softly, barely more than a whisper.

Nothing.

He walked through the entirety of the funhouse, not seeing any of it, calling out his black-haired brother's name every few steps. When he reached the entrance and found nothing, he searched more thoroughly, finding a back entrance down a side "hall." He ended up outside, looking up at the moon, with still no sign of Mokuba.

He wasn't too concerned. It was obvious that Mokuba had just left without getting his prize. Noa found himself smiling at that. Good. Mokuba hadn't stolen anything. He was glad for that.

He walked around and looked at the three teens waiting by the exit. "Well, he must have left, because he isn't in there. Let's go find him before Seto comes back. Tristan, you stay here. Yugi, Joey, we'll split up."

Each nodded.

Tristan waved as the other three set off to find Mokuba.


"Where are the others, Taylor?" Seto asked, crossing his arms.

"Around."

"Don't fuck with me; I'm not in the mood. Where are they?"

"I don't know. They ain't here, so how 'm I s'posed to know?"

Groaning, Seto looked away. "Idiot…fine."

"Hey, don't go callin' me an idiot. Didn't know it was my job to keep watch on everybody. You're the oldest of us, Kaiba, why ain't it your job to know? Don't throw it on me."

"You're older than me, you slack-jawed imbecile…Whatever, Taylor. Say what you want, I don't really care. I want to get home…I have a headache."

Seto raised an eyebrow as Noa rushed up to him, breathing harshly, his face dismayed. "S-Seto! We can't find him!"

"Him? Him who? Can't find who?"

"Mokuba! We can't find Mokuba!"

The alarm finally went off, and Seto clenched his teeth, fisted his hands, his eyes glazing over like ice. "…What…?"

"He was with Tristan and Joey and Joey wanted to get something from the funhouse and so he sent Mokuba inside and I looked for him and he wasn't there so we split up to find him and he--"

"Stop," Seto said, straining to keep a calm tone over the hysteria in his mind. "…Just...stop."

Noa stopped babbling and struggled to gain his breath. The poor boy looked close to crying. Seto felt a pang of sympathy for him, but it was hardly anything compared to what else he felt.

This…this…was not…good.

When Joey came sprinting up to them, Seto's eyes blazed with sudden fire.

The impact of his fist to Joey's face sent the blonde flying over Yugi and sprawling on the ground. Noa, Yugi and Tristan all stared in shock as Joey strained to sit up, nursing a broken nose.

"What the fuck is your problem, Wheeler…?" Seto hissed through clenched teeth.

"I godda broken dose…" he said, speech garbled from his injury as he glared up at the young CEO. "Whad da hell was dat!"

"No less than you deserve, you idiot! Where the fuck do you get off using my brother for your moronic schemes!"

"Don' ged so freaked already, Kaiba…we don' know anything happened do him…Id's only been, like…half a hour."

"YOU GODDAMNED MORON! MY BROTHER IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF KAIBA-CORP! YOU DON'T THINK THAT IF HE'S MISSING IT'S A BAD SIGN!"

Joey managed to stumble to his feet, taking a step back.

"I could have bought you whatever the fuck you thought was so goddamned important that you sent my brother to steal it for you, you son of a diseased whore! Now he's gone and you expect me not to get freaked!"

"Seto…" Noa whispered. "It looks bad, but…he's right. We don't know anything's wrong, yet…"

"I do! I know what's wrong! You fucking morons are always telling me to give you another chance, to open up to you and be friends! Well, what sort of chance did you expect! I left my brother in your care, Wheeler, I trusted you to keep him safe! I knew someone was probably planning to kidnap him at this goddamned hellhole - turns out I was right - and I trusted you! I LEFT MY CHILD IN YOUR HANDS AND YOU LOST HIM!"

Joey Wheeler had seen the CEO of Kaiba-Corp angry before. Of course he had; Kaiba hated him. He'd seen enough of Kaiba's anger to know what it looked like.

…This wasn't what Joey knew.

None of them had ever seen such raw fury in the teen billionaire's eyes. His eyes were so hot with rage that they could have melted diamond. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white and his fingernails dug into his palms so hard that the skin broke and blood began to flow.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Seto spoke again in a somewhat normal tone. "…I received an anonymous email a while back that said: 'The fun's about to begin. Will you be there?' along with a riddle…the answer was: 'Ferris Wheel.' I'd thought that meant if I stayed away from that particular ride, everything would be fine. That's why I let Mokuba go off on his own without me…I let him stay with you, his friends…and what do you two do? You send him into a dark, closed-in space to steal something…I'm not a paranoid parent; but he's a constant target; you both know that, and this time the threat was imminent. I thought I could trust you two to watch him…Now I know how foolish I've been. I've made two mistakes tonight…the first was trusting myself…the second was trusting you…"

His voice wavered. He was extremely close to snapping again.

Turning, Seto pulled a phone from his pocket. "Roland…Mokuba's gone missing. Yes…everything. Now. Yes. Good."

He turned and looked at Joey again. "If I find him here, I'll pay any medical expenses…if I don't…then feel lucky I'm letting you live."

Without another word, Seto left the three of them and set off to find his brother.


Well, you didn't think the whole story would be happy and fun-filled, did you? Fluff isn't my strong suit; I can't make an entire story filled with it. And so, the suspense comes to fruition...sort of. In any case...if you don't hate me now for this...wait a while. You just might change your mind.