~*~*~*~*~
"I want Mokuba to stay close to you."

"Kaiba," Yugi said, in Japanese as quiet as Seto's as they moved through the crowd of English-speaking teens. Tea was still gallantly trying to hold up a conversation on dancing with Kitty, even as they lined up for dinner with odd dishes and odder kids. Mokuba made a grab for some pizza, jumping back when the kid he collided with suddenly became three. Another teen displayed an ice rose to a feral young girl, who sniffed at it and dunked it into his soda. "You're being rude."

Seto's face didn't change.

Right. Seto. Polite. Sometimes those two words don't always go together....

//More like never, aibou.//

//Yami!//

The impression of a shrug filtered through his bond. Along with it came a grudging respect; one who had once been pharaoh could not help but appreciate the iron grasp on power Seto had established with Kaiba Corp. And the measures needed to keep it.

//Measures that should have been sufficient... for anything but this. Let me speak to him, Yugi.//

Yugi glanced around the room. No sign of Jean. //Be careful....//

//Always.//

A shimmer of gold, and he was in his soul room. Listening, seeing, but not in control.

//Be careful, aibou. And try not to kill Seto, please.... //

~*~*~*~*~
Yami opened his eyes, taking in the crowded dining room. Drinking in sounds, scents, the sharp tang of garlic on his tongue from air filled with pizza sauce. He had free access to Yugi's thoughts, unless his hikari chose to block him, but senses were never as sharp as when he held the body directly. Sometimes it was... dizzying.

Concentrate. "You don't think you can protect him."

Seto started, water sloshing over the edge of his glass before he could put it down. "You enjoy that."

Yami smiled. Few could tell the difference between himself and Yugi holding control. Yet for all his professed disbelief in magic, Kaiba knew in an instant. "Well?"

"No." Blue eyes were dark, twilight slipping toward night. "They've seen me play my card. The next attack won't be in a room with a holographic projector."

"And you're so certain there will be a next attack?" Yami arched a brow. "Solomon believes Xavier is a good man."

"I don't care what Solomon Mouto believes." Seto's eyes narrowed. "We've been manipulated. We're surrounded by teenagers with hazardous abilities. Something set that girl off. And three of Xavier's so-called teachers aren't here."

Yami nodded. Kaiba might see potential enemies where there were true friends, but Yami could not ignore the CEO's ability to calculate the odds. "Take Mokuba, then. Tea as well, if she'll go." He suppressed a smile at the thought; Kaiba would likely have to haul the plucky brunette out draped over his shoulder, fists pounding his trench coat all the way. "There's no reason for all of us to remain in danger."

Seto shot him a look that could have cut glass. "I have a contract."

And more than enough lawyers to break it, if you truly wished, Yami thought. But you won't leave Yugi in danger, will you? Not while you can disguise it as a selfish act. Ah, Kaiba... you'll never master the heart of the cards by denying your own heart.

//Don't, Yami. Please? He's been hurt so much already....//

Reluctantly, Yami held back the words that might have stripped Kaiba's soul bare. //As you wish, aibou. But this deception aids no one.//

//Yes, it does,// Yugi insisted. //Can't you see? Every time we show him he can trust us, we get a little closer. But if you push him, we might lose him for good.//

And that would break Yugi's heart. "I assume you also have a plan," Yami observed.

"Hmm." Kaiba's head inclined, just a trace of a nod. One finger tapped his metal briefcase; a case Yami knew might contain anything from duel-disks to a laptop stuffed with the latest hacking programs. "It will take some time."

Yami looked up at the taller teen, gauging his condition with a trained eye. Taking in the slight darkness under blue eyes, the not-quite-rigid set of shoulders. You know Kaiba. He's likely been programming since he arrived. "After dinner."

Seto's eyes narrowed.

"Don't be a fool, Kaiba. You can't invade their systems on an empty stomach. After we eat, Tea and Yugi can help distract our hosts. And the later the hour, the more likely you'll be able to infiltrate without rousing attention." With a glance to Tea's side table, Yami played his trump. "Mokuba's waiting for you."

"Hmph." But Seto's fingers drifted toward his locket, just brushing the back of the card. Mokuba....

Yami kept his expression still. Well, well.

//Yami, is that-?//

//Kaiba. Reaching out to his heart,// the ancient spirit acknowledged. //You're wiser than I knew, aibou.//

But the moment passed, chill slamming up around Kaiba's mind solid and final as a glacier.

//Ow!//

Yami held back his flinch, feeling that chill slice across the thin thread that linked them to Kaiba. //Aibou, he's hurt you-//

//It's... okay.// A wince echoed down their bond. //I'm okay.//

//You are not!// Shadows were a breath away; all Yami had to do was reach out-

//Yami, no! He doesn't know what he's doing.//

Yami bit back a snarl. //He should.// Damn Kaiba; how clearly must he paint the truth for the man? Sometimes he wished he had crushed Seto's mind in their first duel, as he'd crushed so many others who'd wished Yugi harm.

But... Yugi hadn't wanted that.

Cold. Vicious. A thirst for power that could never be quenched.

That was Kaiba, as the CEO had been that dark day he'd dueled Solomon; the day he'd shown Yugi what true hurt was.

Orphan. Big brother. So desperately alone....

That, too, had been Kaiba.

And it had saved him.

I don't want to hurt him, I just want to stop him. I just want him to see. I just want....

To show him the Heart of the Cards.

So Yugi had wished. And Yami had honored that wish, using his shadow powers to crush that pernicious evil out of Seto's spirit. Leaving Kaiba to find his own path, if he could. If he dared.

//I won't give up on Seto, Yami. I won't. Not now, not ever.//

//Nor will I, aibou,// Yami told his hikari softly, heading for Tea's table. //I swear to you.// No matter how much I want to drop him off a pyramid.

Yugi laughed.

~*~*~*~*~
"...So that's the contemporary piece requirement for Julliard? Whoa." Tea laughed, feeling a flutter of nervousness. "This might be tougher than I thought."

Kitty grinned, jabbed an elbow her way. "But you still want it, huh?"

"I've always wanted to dance." It'd been her dream for as long as she could remember; the desire to reshape air with fluid motion, to paint feeling in flesh and bone. A dream to bask in the blaze of lights as she performed, to see faces charged with joy and awe and wonder. Duel Monsters was fun... and sometimes scary, and all-too-often downright weird since the Millennium Items had appeared. But dance was everything.

"Is this seat taken, brave lady?"

Tea rolled her eyes, looked up. "Of course not, Yu-"

Saw the hint of ruby in violet eyes, the curl of lips that managed to combine arrogant confidence and wary curiosity all in one.

Yami.

Tea felt her throat go dry. "Of course not." Oh boy. Oh, brother.

What a view....

Mentally, she thwacked herself in the head. That was Yugi's body she was looking at, as Yami claimed his chair; Yugi's black sleeveless shirt, and blue jacket, and chains... Yugi had definitely picked up more chains since Yami had made himself known to them-

Not helping, brain.

Short version, this was her best friend. Who was sweet, and innocent, and not any older than she was, no matter how gracefully Yami slid into polished wood. She was not going to do anything to wreck that.

But Yami doesn't do things without asking....

A nudge beside her. "Hey, breathe, girlfriend," Kitty murmured.

"I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Like Jean is when Scott's playing footsie, and they think we don't know," Kitty murmured back. Grinned at Yami, and peeked under the table. "Ooh. Nice boots."

"Thank you." Yami eyed his slice of pizza suspiciously. Tapped the point with a finger, as if testing cheese and crust for sharpness.

Oh boy. Tea couldn't decide whether to burst out laughing or crawl under the table. Guess ancient Egypt didn't have pizza... Yugi, do something before we have to explain!

"So, what's with you and Kaiba, anyway?" Kitty munched into her slice, dark brows arched in curiosity. Glanced across the room, where Mokuba was chattering away with Kurt, Seto a silent presence beside them. "I mean, there's some weird vibes off you two, you know? One minute you look like you want to kill each other, next you're two against the world. And don't tell me it's a guy thing."

"It's definitely... not a guy thing." At Tea's subtle nod, Yami followed Kitty's example, though with a shade more grace. "We're duelists. We've fought beside each other, and against each other."

"A lot of against each other," Tea put in, daring to relax her death-grip on her cup. Maybe they could pull this off after all. "Yugi usually wins."

"But not always. He's good." Yami smiled; the one that quivered Tea to her toes, and sent enemy duelists scampering for cover. "When Kaiba puts his heart into it, there are few foes he cannot defeat."

"Yeah. If you can live with his tactics." Tea scowled into her soda, remembering a castle rooftop, a fateful choice that had shaken Yugi to the core... and made them all realize that Yami was, always and forever, not Yugi.

Cold blue eyes. A trench coat flapping in the wind. Kaiba, standing behind his rotting Blue Eyes, back to the edge of the abyss. I don't have a card that can defeat you, but I do have a strategy....

"He was fighting for Mokuba's life and soul, Tea," Yami said softly. "I would have done the same."

I know, Tea thought, remembering a convict's gun to her head, and a blindfold, and a confident voice that had left a lighter where it was certain to fall. That's what scares me.

"Soul?" Kitty's brown eyes were wide.

"Ah... well-" Tea stalled.

"Did you really mean that?" Kitty got in. As if she were half-afraid to say the words. "Something went after Mokuba's soul?"

Yami frowned. "Why do you ask, Kitty?"

"Because..." the slight brunette swallowed. "Look. I know this is going to sound crazy. But a while back, something came after Ororo...."

~*~*~*~*~
"Tabitha!" Striding through the wasteland of Boom-Boom's mind, Xavier searched for answers. Dimly he was aware of his body in its wheelchair, the fine line of sweat across his brow from hours of sifting through whirling thoughts. "Tabitha, where are you?"

Malicious laughter rang through the wind. "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe... kill the prof, and who will know?"

Xavier leapt aside as bolts of lava rained down. Glimpsed the mutant's face in smoky clouds, empty of all but hate. "Tabitha, we're your friends! We're trying to help you!"

"Help me get it back? I don't think so!" Fire leapt up around him, a deadly circle of gold and darkness.

The flames are not real, Xavier told himself. Not real! "Get what back?"

"I'm not telling...."

He ducked through the flames, seizing cloud in mental hands before it could flee. Grasping whatever might remain of the girl's conscience. "You will tell me!"

"Won't work!" Cloud giggled, a translucent image of the blonde's tufted hair. "Won't work won't work won't work...."

Nothing. No conscience. No morals.

No soul....

Xavier shook off the superstitious notion, grimacing as fire closed in. He was running out of strength. And time.

He gripped cloud, forcing it solid, seizing Tabitha's mind directly. Hating himself as he did so; to hold her this way was to risk injury, danger, death.... "Tell me!"

"The light!" Cloudy hands batted at him; unable to free herself, unable to stop struggling even as the effort tore her apart. "Don't bring back the light!"

Pain, struggle, shredding-

Gasping, Xavier reclaimed his body.

"Professor!" Jean's slim hands on his. Jean's mind wrapping around his own, defending him from the lava of hate.

"I'm all right, Jean." Xavier forced down a cough, steadied his voice. Met the six gazes scattered about the infirmary around Tabitha's sedated form; his three head teachers, his two best students, and a wide-eyed Rogue. "I just - need a moment."

Logan snorted.

Storm had her hand over Tabitha's still fingers, pensive. "Take what time you need, Charles. Something tells me this problem will require all our efforts."

"It's the psychic, isn't it?" Jean shuddered. "You found that - that hole inside her?"

"Hole?" Beast inquired, furry brow raised. "The blood test showed traces of an unknown biological compound, but I found no evidence of injury."

"Nor would you. It's a mental injury, not a physical wound." Xavier drew a breath, considering how best to phrase this. "It's as if every moral impulse, all that we would think of as Tabitha's conscience, has been crushed out of her."

Scott whistled. "You can do that?"

"I couldn't, no," the professor admitted. At times, he sympathized with his young students. This was not a comfortable aspect of his powers to speak of. "I can control a mind, yes; as I tried to control Tabitha, by strengthening her ethics, her sense of right and wrong. But... there was nothing left to add my strength to."

"She was just having fun." Rogue's voice was small, barely audible from where she'd huddled on herself in an infirmary chair. "She was wrecking everything... she was going to try an' kill Kurt... and she was just having fun." Her voice broke.

"There's an impulse in all of us to harm others, Rogue," Xavier acknowledged gently. "It's part of being human. We only fail if we yield to it. Jean, Rogue, please keep an eye on Tabitha." He activated his wheelchair. "The rest of you... I believe I can assemble a picture of our opponent."

The vault of Cerebro slid open. Xavier rolled up to the computer, activating the FACES program with a few keystrokes. Nose, eyes, ears....

"Nobody I saw," Logan grumbled, crossing his arms as a twenty-something face with a cold sneer coalesced on the screen.

"Yet I have." Storm gazed at the monitor. "Charles, this man was on the grounds!"

Hank growled softly. "And you didn't notice?"

"He... seemed to be one of the students." Ororo's blue eyes widened. "Charles, have I-"

Xavier swept a swift probe through her mind, feeling none of that horrid absence. "No, Storm. He may have deceived you, that's all."

"Did he touch you?" Hank pounced. "The compound in Tabitha's blood must have been introduced somehow."

"No. No, he didn't," the weather-witch recalled, relieved. "But he did touch Kaiba."

Xavier probed for the memory, seeing through Storm's eyes. Contact - speech - surprise- "Yet Seto resisted him."

"How?"

"An excellent question, Storm." Xavier reached out, searching for that steel trap of a mind. Carefully; he had no idea who or what had assaulted Kaiba in the past, but the young man had considerable mental defenses. It could just be old habits, from emotional abuse. He certainly shows signs of that. Yet, given what we know of his history with Yugi.... "Well."

"Charles?" Logan scowled.

"It seems our hired programmer suspects our motives."

"I could've told you that," Scott said darkly. "And now Kaiba's got some of our security codes. What's he up to?"

"What I should have anticipated." Xavier regarded Cerebro's screen, debating what action to take next. "Going on the offensive."

~*~*~*~*~
That should do. Laptop stored away, Seto headed up to his guestroom. It would take some time for his virus to work its way through Xavier's secure files, searching for any mention of keywords like Kaiba, Seto, Mokuba, Yugi, Tea, Yami, or Millennium Item. But in an hour or so, he should have a better idea of what the man's true plans were....

A sound from his room. Mokuba. Giggling.

Curious, Seto opened the door-

And caught a face-full of pillow.

"Oops."

Yugi. Definitely Yugi.

The culprit stood with another small pillow in hand, just having ducked under Mokuba's swipe. Tea had buried Kurt off to the side, a two-fisted wielder of pillow and plush unicorn. Kitty was on the assault with a throw-pillow and afghan, looking like an improbable fuzzy retiarius of ancient Rome.

And all of them froze.

"Big brother...." Gray-blue eyes ducked aside from his, fixed on the fingers clenched on that ill-aimed pillow.

Do I look that heartless? "It's all right," Seto said coolly, forcing his fingers to loosen. Wishing he could force flesh and bone to ease, that he could walk over and brush back long black hair and tell his brother everything would be fine. If we were alone... but I can't. "Don't let me stop you."

Stripping off his trench coat, Seto hung it on the back of the closet door. Reflexively checked that his deck was safe in a hip pocket; no sense in taking chances. Now, to find a quiet corner and wait for his program to do its work....

Thump.

You wouldn't dare, Mouto. Slowly, Seto turned.

But Yugi still held his pillow.

Mokuba, though....

Tea was biting her lip. Kitty was frozen, afghan half-furled over her shoulder, watching them all. And Kurt was nothing but wide eyes under a pile of cushions.

I can't. If we were alone....

Yet he couldn't look away from the gentle question in Yugi's violet gaze. The shy hope in Mokuba's eyes; hurt, wary, but never giving up.

One chestnut brow lifted. Regarded Yugi's pillow in his grasp.

And set the laptop down.

"I believe that was a challenge."

~*~*~*~*~
"What is that noise?" Janus sneered quietly, as he and his touched made their way up the mansion's outer wall, concealed under a cloak of distraction. No sense in drawing attention. Yet.

"Kids." Claws impaling the window ledge, his tracker's teeth gleamed in the night. Lank blond hair fell past Sabretooth's shoulders, swinging into feral eyes. "Tasty."

"Not yet. Not until I'm done with them." Janus' lip turned up. This one was so easy to control. His evil had surged up with barely a touch, crushing the feeble impulse toward good in an instant.

"That's Kaiba's room." Bobby Drake's gaze was blank, chill as the ramp of ice he'd summoned to walk up the wall.

Janus eyed him carefully; relaxed, confident that his hold was unbroken. Now this one... this one had fought. For all the good it had done.

"Six inside." Half-wolf in form, Rahne Sinclair tilted her furred head, listening to footsteps. "He's coming near us." She sniffed. "Kitty and Kurt are in there."

Janus smiled. So they'd have to go through a pair of mutants to grab his target.

All the better.

~*~*~*~*~
//Darn! I thought we'd be able to keep him away from the computer longer.//

//We did well to distract him this long, aibou.// Lounging in the shadows of his soul room, Yami watched Kaiba withdraw from the game. Saw the flash of hurt and resignation, before Mokuba dropped into a pillow-strewn heap on the guest bed. //You could never expect him to ignore his own duty.//

//I know. I was just hoping...// Yugi put a gentle hand on Mokuba's shoulder, shifted it into a cheerful hug when the boy turned his way. //What did you think of Kitty's story?//

//A shaman, trying to steal Ororo's soul to have his revenge on the wind-rider?// Unseen, the pharaoh's spirit nodded. //I've seen such before. Ororo has a brave nephew. And a lucky one; shattering a Dark talisman such as that jewel should have unleashed a fatal backlash.// Yami reached outward, brushing his powers over the light-and-shadow presence that was Kitty Pryde. //I believe I know why it did not.//

Yugi's eyes widened. //She's-//

//Like you, aibou. Yes. Like Kaiba, if the man ever dared admit it. The shadows are hers, if she would but call them.// Stalking the maze of his soul room, Yami smiled ruefully. //It's no wonder she still feels guilty.//

//But she didn't know! How could she have stopped him?//

//It's the heart that knows, Yugi. And the heart that hurts-// A flicker of shadow caught Yami's eye; something dark, moving on the edge of Yugi's vision. //Aibou? What is that?//

Ice shattered the window inward. Claws struck through, seized Kaiba even as he tried to twist aside. A huge, leather-and-fur clad man forced his way through the shattered window frame, snaggle-teeth growling in Seto's face before a claw-tipped backhand slammed Kaiba unconscious.

Kitty gasped. "Sabretooth!"

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Light, and shadows, and the Puzzle's magic in his hands-

And an arm like a tree trunk, sweeping him across the room.

Yami rolled with the blow, feeling claws scrape skin. Sensing the darkness, the hate, the lust to kill- "Mind Crush!"

Shadow magic swept out from his hand, striking for the heart. Sabretooth choked. Stumbled.

Shook his head, and kept breathing.

Gods! He isn't human!

Kurt was a puff of dark smoke and a rolling ball of blue-and-chestnut fur on the floor, trying to throw off a werewolf girl whose teeth snapped at his throat. Mokuba threw a radio at a purple-haired stranger, startling him just long enough for the boy and Tea to duck his grasping hands. Kitty squirmed free of a block of ice, phasing through the frost-wielding young man's blasts of cold. "Scott! Logan!" she yelped. "Anybody! Help!"

Strategy formed in a breath, a rush of shadow magic to Yami's hands. Take out the werewolf, and Kurt can get the noncombatants out of here-

Ice shackled Yami's wrists, chill spreading down to anchor him to the floor.

"Well, well. My touched didn't tell me about you." Purple spikes of hair and a gloating smile, blackness oozing from the stranger's palm onto Yami's collarbone. "I wonder what you'll do in my collection?"

Stunned, Yami felt barriers falling in his mind, shattering despite every magic he summoned to hold them. A roar of demons, a hiss of mist and darkness-

The Shadow Realm!

And claws of thought reaching out from it, tearing at him to unearth the light half of his soul.

//YAMI!//

//Yugi!// Yami tried to grip his hikari fast, clutching light to him, fighting back the shadows. //Aibou, tenshi, hold fast to me!//

//Yami....//

Darkness roared.

Silence in the puzzle. Silence in his heart....

"No!" Fury swept him; fury he'd almost forgotten in the heart of Yugi's innocence. The rage of a pharaoh denied; the black anger of one who held the power of the Shadow Games. "This shall not be!"

Glass and ice shattered.

~*~*~*~*~
Professor! Kitty shrieked mentally, covering her face against that blast of shadowed fury. Wishing she could cover her mind against that horrid memory of Yugi blurring, like two stereo images going out of focus; one innocent, one grim and determined as Logan in the middle of carving up the landscape. Translucent hands gripping each other, before clawed shadows tore the lighter one away.

Phasing wasn't helping; she still couldn't breathe. Couldn't drag in air past the heat, the rage, the untainted desire to crush mind and life from a grinning, purple-haired mutant-

Smack!

And fury - fell apart, tri-colored spikes knocked aside by Sabretooth's blow.

That was Yugi, Kitty realized, using the Professor's techniques to shrug off the aftermath of projected rage. Oh my god... that was Yugi?

Growling, the feral mutant moved in for the kill-

"No." Darkness backed that word, echoing through her skull.

Sabretooth snarled. "Janus-"

"Leave him. I want Kaiba." Janus turned his smirk on the two normal kids scrabbling for the door. "Both of them."

//Kitty, what-//

Talk later! Run now! Kitty hurtled over ice, planting a solid boot in Janus' chest before she phased through him. She didn't know why this guy wanted Mokuba, but she wasn't going to leave even a cold fish like Seto Kaiba at his mercy. Ick... sticky. Professor, get Logan-

A smear of black clung to her skin as she tumbled to the floor, sucking at her, trying to soak in. It hurt, it hurt....

Hands grasped hers, ignoring the fact that she was intangible. "Deny it." One cheekbone bruised, Yugi's darker half stared into her eyes, gaze pure, glowing ruby.

But... I.... The smear was darkness, it was the worst of her, it was crushing all it meant to be an X-Man. She couldn't fight it....

"You can. You will! You are of Shadow, not of Darkness! It shall not have you." The fury was back; but wrapped around her, supporting her, offered freely as a bloody sword in the midst of the battlefield. "Deny it!"

//Kitty! I can sense what he's doing. Whatever he's offering, refuse it! He's tampering with the very fabric of your mind. This is the darkness in Yugi, you can't trust it!//

Opposing forces were tearing at her self; shadow's grip, Xavier's familiar pull, Janus' choking darkness. And the dark was winning.

Ruby; and now a gleam of gold, a Horus eye in the shadows. "You have the strength, Kitty! Take it!"

//Shadowcat, listen to me! You can't allow him to-//

"Get. OUT!"

Darkness shattered off Shadowcat, left her shaking and tangible on the floor. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe.

But she was herself.

"Seto!" Mokuba's wail; Kitty lifted an aching head in time to see Sabretooth sling Kaiba's limp form over his shoulder. Mokuba was shivering, frost coating his shirt; Tea was trying to break out of socks iced to the floor. "Stop! Leave my big brother alone!"

"Don't worry, little one. You're coming too. Though not... intact...." Smirking, Janus reached for the boy.

Tea grabbed for him, falling short with an ominous crack of ice-sheathed ankle. "Yami, help!"

Eyes narrowed, Yugi's darkness swept up a hand-

Howling, chestnut fur launched itself between Janus and the shadow.

Rahne! "No!" Kitty struggled to move. As if she could stop him. As if darkness would listen to mercy-

Rage folded on itself, pulled the blow; slammed the she-wolf into the wall, not through it. Yami swore, staggered.

Bamf! "Got you!" Grinning, Kurt wrapped his arms around Mokuba, stuck his tongue out at a fuming Janus-

Gasped, and froze, as Janus snatched his wrist.

The bedroom door slammed open. Cyclops' crimson blasts started redecorating the room, shot off a piece of Sabretooth's furs as the snarling mutant hauled his tall victim out the window, shattered ice as Bobby covered Janus' escape. White chunks hurtled through the air as Jean reached out with hand and mind, blocking the window before Bobby could slip out himself. Logan snarled in behind them, whipping past to slice Tea free of her icy bonds.

But Kitty only had eyes for the blurring around Kurt. Not the one-into-two that had hit Yugi; this was a fracturing, a shattering of the wholeness that was her friend into dark and light-

And the light was swept away.

Cyclops fired again, dodging as Bobby turned ice blasts on him. "Kurt, go!"

Bamf!

"No," Kitty whispered. Blinking away exhaustion as the fight blurred. Professor! You've got to find Kurt! You've got to stop him!

//He's perfectly safe-//

"He's not, Xavier. As you would know, did you bother to listen to one with eyes to see." Yami's hand was warm on hers, lifting her to unsteady feet. "Take me to him."

Kitty blinked. "Tired...."

"I know." Violet eyes were grave, only a hint of ruby in their heart. "But the light in your friend has been sent to the Shadow Realm, and Mokuba is in grave danger."

"Teleports," Kitty mumbled, leaning on the shorter teen as they ducked a stray table lamp sailing out of the ongoing riot. Rahne had come around, and she and Logan were mixed up in what sounded like the world's largest dogfight. Dimly Kitty could feel the Professor's urge to shake off this all-too-attractive darkness. "Could be anywhere...."

Violet narrowed. "Then we require your assistance, Professor."

//I don't know what you are, Yami, but if you think I'll allow you to tamper any further with my students' minds- Good Lord!//

And for an instant, Kitty was seeing through Beast's eyes in the kitchen; seeing Kurt, and a shaking Mokuba....

And the silvery, deadly gleam of a knife.

~*~*~*~*~
"Put it down, son."

Panting, Kurt held his weapon to tender skin, debating what to do next. He'd felt the tearing, felt the freedom, felt Janus' loathing of the small, struggling being in his arms. Kill, don't kill, maybe just maim...."I don't think so."

"I know you don't want to do this, Kurt." Beast stood still, dishtowel forgotten in one hand, ready to move. Dark eyes gauged angle and distance, trying to calculate a solution that would end in anything but blood. "Put the knife down."

//Do as he says, Kurt! Stop this!// A sober chill crept into the Professor's thoughts. //Or I'll be forced to stop you. Any way I can.//

Kurt laughed. "You couldn't stop Boom-Boom."

//But I will stop you, Kurt. If I must shatter your mind to do it- No!//

Too late. Kurt felt the Professor surge forward, clamping on his arm, tearing at him with telepathic command.

But the blade was already dimpling skin, all he had to do was push-

Another voice swept through the Professor's thoughts, riding them like a wave. Familiar, yet not; the same dark confidence he'd stood behind when Tabitha had tried to kill them all. "I challenge you...."

Shadows froze the world.

Why won't my arm move? Kurt's gaze swept a room gone gray, a teacher halted on the edge of a lunge, tears frozen mid-fall from his captive's face. No breath, no sound... nothing but footsteps, echoing closer. Why can't I move?

"Time is different here." Tired footsteps made their way toward him; Kitty, brown eyes wide at the difference in the world, and....

Kurt blinked. Shadow. Like me. But not. "You're... not Yugi."

"No." Ruby gleamed in the violet gaze. "You can't kill Mokuba, Kurt." A hint of smile tugged at his lips. "Not until you play a game with me."

"This isn't a game, Yami!" Kitty burst out.

"Oh, but it is. This is the Shadow Realm, Kitty. And no one leaves it who hasn't won." Yami shuffled his deck, handed a card to Shadowcat.

Monster Recovery? Kurt frowned, still straining against whatever was holding him in place. Nothing. As if his arms couldn't even get the order to move. Is he kidding?

"Don't lose this." Yami's gaze was grim. "Find Kurt. Find the others if you can, but find Kurt. And come back to me."

"But Kurt's...." Kitty stopped. Listened.

Kitty... A wisp of his own voice in the wind. Someone, anyone, help me....

Kurt paled. No. No, she couldn't. She couldn't bring it back! "No!"

He could move. If he dropped Mokuba, he could move. He could reach her. And he still had the knife-

Yami's hands closed on his arm, twisted him aside. "I'd think you would want to hear the rules first."

"Rules? Who cares about rules?" Kurt tried to teleport, to knife that betraying Shadow-kitten through the heart as she ran through the shadows. Nothing.

Yami smirked. "I do."

Kurt growled, tried to stab. Missed! "You're crazy!"

"You're far from the first to think so." Ruby was overtaking violet. "It's simple. We'll each draw from my deck. I'll draw once. You can draw twice, if you choose... but you must draw blind. High card wins."

"Two cards?" Kurt snorted. "And you get one?" Why would anyone put themselves at that much of a disadvantage?

"Oh, I'll have two. But my second card will only activate if I win." Multicolored hair tilted. "Shall we play?"

Kurt wet his lips. It doesn't matter. You've still got the knife. And he's tired; feel his hands shake, holding you back? All you have to do is stall long enough, and you've got him. "Why not?"

~*~*~*~*~
Run. Just run.

Ignore the shadows that were and weren't the mansion. Shut out the thought of Yami facing down Kurt's darker side with nothing but cards and a mocking smile. Follow that whisper in the wind, that weird, waking sense that said Kurt is here....

"Kitty, help me!"

Shimmering mother-of-pearl in the darkness. A glint of rainbow winking through a misty grove of blasted trees. A translucent light ducking shadows with claws and fangs, bleeding brightness into the dark. "Kurt!"

Shadowcat leapt at the nearest set of ruby eyes, driving shadow down with a kick and a crackle like frost-brittle leaves. "Kurt, come on! We don't have much time!"

Light squirmed out of the pile of creatures, wrapped itself around her in familiar warm curves of arm and tail. "You're here. How?"

"Explain later." Kitty dodged a swipe of clawed darkness, took off before that rustling in the air could zero in on them. Not that that'll fool them long. Not with Kurt glowing like a Cape Cod lighthouse. "Did you see anybody else?"

"I didn't see anybody!" Two fingers closed on her shoulder, weightless and solid at once. "There was just - Janus touched me, and-"

"Gotcha. Okay, we do this the hard way...." If she could just figure out what the hard way was. How do I find loose bits of people's souls?

"Kitty." Glowing eyes sought hers. "Something terrible is happening, isn't it? I can feel it. Janus is using me to do something horrible."

"Part of you, yeah." Peering through the gloom, Kitty strained for a glimpse of light. "Don't sweat it, fuzzy. Yami's got it covered." I hope.

"Yami?"

"Long story." And he's going to tell me if I have to phase his toothbrush through his head. "God. This is hopeless. The shadows are so thick... I can't see anybody!"

The tail tightened around her waist. "You saw me."

"Not 'til I was almost on top of you - oh, duh." Kitty resisted the urge to smack herself in the head. It was hurting enough already. "Keep an eye out, okay?" Deep breath. Believe. You've got to believe, or this won't work.

Closing her eyes, she listened.

~*~*~*~*~
Furred fingers snatched a card from Yami's deck. Grinned. "Silver Fang!"

Howling, the magical wolf appeared. Kurt gasped.

Yami smirked at the teenager's start. "Surprised? This is a Shadow Game. Everything we do here is real." Inwardly, he was anything but amused. Silver Fang wasn't the strongest of his monsters, and if Kurt were as avid for the Duel as others claimed, he'd know that. Heart of the Cards, guide me!

Eyes closed, he drew.

Yes.

Nodding slightly, Yami regarded his opponent. "It's your move."

Kurt tore his eyes from silver fur, eyed the card still face-down. "You're not even going to look?"

"No." Yami crossed his arms. Smiled. "Choose. Draw... or face me as you are."

Hurry, Kitty. I can't stall the Game much longer.

~*~*~*~*~
"Help me... please... dinna leave me here alone, in the dark...."

Rahne.

Up, down. Up, down. Don't think there's anywhere level in this place.... Panting, Kitty leaned against a standing stone to catch her breath.

Kurt stared, eyeing the ring of bluestones suddenly in their path. "Where did that come from?"

"Got me. Looks like... postcards of Ireland... done by Da Vinci on downers...."

Intangible fingers brushed her forehead. "You have a fever!"

No duh. "It's... this place. I don't think... it likes me much." How did Yami stand it?

He's a Shadow. He's part of here. Sort of.

You could be, too....

"Kitty!" Light and warmth, pouring through the hand on her face. "You have to stay awake!"

Right. Stay awake. Find Rahne. Find the others....

"Rahne!" Kurt, keeping one hand on her shoulder, as if he were afraid she was the one who might fade away. "Rahne, over here!"

"K-kurt? Is't you?" Grass rustled underfoot; a glowing, bleeding werewolf lurched out of the protective ring. "Lad, I'm so tired. And I keep seeing these... horrible things...."

"I know. I know! But we're going back. We'll stop it." Kurt clasped Rahne's paw-like hand, drew her over to Shadowcat. "How do we get out of here?"

Kitty shook her head. "Have to find the others...."

Paired fingers shook her. "We can't find them if we lose you, too!"

Point. But- "I don't know. Yami brought me here." Almost unconsciously, she drew out the Duel Monsters card. "Kurt. What's this do?"

"Monster Recovery?" Kurt peered at colored cardboard, eyes wide at the purple glow that surrounded it. "You don't see that one much. It brings all of your monsters back to your hand...." His jaw dropped. "Rahne! Grab onto Kitty!"

The shape-shifting mutant backed up. "Have y' all lost yer minds? 'Tis a card game!"

"Not to Yami, it's not!" Spending the last of her strength, Kitty lunged-

Just before shadows took them, she felt fur.

~*~*~*~*~
Kurt's dark half studied his card. Bit his lip.

Decided, and drew.

Silver Fang vanished in a mournful wail, replaced by a gleam of armor, a whinny of a mighty steed. "Gaia, the Fierce Knight!"

"Well played." Yami acknowledged. "But not enough." He turned his card over, revealing a figure with robes of night and a smirk to equal his own. "I summon the Dark Magician! Dark Magic attack!"

The dark mage threw out a violet blast, shattering Gaia and knocking Kurt from his feet. "But... you didn't even look...."

"A good duelist knows his deck." Let this have been enough time. The Game is over. I can't hold us here much longer. Yami knocked the fallen knife away, took Kurt's shaking hand. "Activate Monster Recovery!"

And shadows cleared, and the world snapped back into motion.

"Kurt, don't-" Reflexes moved faster than thought, and Beast stuck his arms out just in time to catch an unconscious Kitty. "What in the world?"

Mokuba had one hand to his throat, staring at his former captor... who'd somehow reappeared five feet away, writhing in Yami's grasp.

"She did it." Yami let out a relieved breath, eyeing the translucent lights clinging to Shadowcat's hands. Reached out to the nearer, set his will, and pulled. "By the power of the Millennium Puzzle, I bid you - return!"

Light flared in Kurt's eyes. He shivered.

And collapsed onto Yami's shoulder, sobbing as if his heart had broken.

~*~*~*~*~
Ow....

A scent of dust, exhaust fumes, chill concrete. The same chill pervading his cheek where it rested against a wall, sore chin propped on an aching shoulder.

Seto winced, not quite ready to open his eyes. Did I fall asleep at the keyboard again? Mokuba usually takes me home-

Clink.

Wait. That was steel.

The same steel waking nerves told him was clamped around his wrists.

Kaiba clamped panic down, forced it to yield to cool calculation. Wait. Listen. Think. They'd been... at Xavier's institute. He'd just been about to check the search program, some grizzly of a man had burst in the window-

//Ow....// Something shifted in the back of Kaiba's mind, like an unexpected lump under the covers of his bed. Something that felt warm and bright and comfortable as an extra blanket thrown on for a winter night. //Yami?//

What on earth? That couldn't be what it sounded like. It simply couldn't.

//KAIBA?//

The CEO swallowed. I'm in hell....

//Kaiba, it's all right! I'm not going to hurt you.//

Of course not. Wasn't that what delusions always said?

//Kaiba-//

Trying to shut out that impossible voice in his head, Seto opened his eyes.

Hmm. Not much of an improvement.

Chipped, institutional-yellow paint on echoing walls. Oil stains darkening the concrete floor. A set of handcuffs chaining him to a steel pipe; chill, rust-stained metal that ran up into darkness. Some sort of underground parking garage?

Smack!

Ah. And the requisite leather-clad, grinning goon, bruising his knuckles for his master's pleasure. Seto smirked, ignoring the pull on a bleeding lip. Please. You'd think they could come up with something unique.

//Normal?// Shock, in the voice that just... couldn't be Yugi's. //You think this is normal?//

You dealt with Pegasus, Seto snapped back, before he could think twice. Two more glazed-eyed teens hanging back, probably a few more out of sight. And lurking in the shadows, a moving mass that had to be the grizzly. Not good odds. Abusers are all alike. It's as if they read from the same script. Break bones, hearts, souls....

A hand grabbed his chin, oozing something black and burning. //Is this unique enough, Seto Kaiba?// Alien thoughts. Alien voice, sneering and hurtful in his brain. //I can make it so much worse....//

"Really." Kaiba let his gaze lift, meeting the purple-haired kidnapper with the same boredom he'd turn on a hapless underling. "So you read minds. I'm hardly impressed."

//You will be!// Shadowy claws reached into Kaiba's thoughts, rending, tearing.

Pain. He could deal with pain. Gozaburo had taught him that. Pain was the enemy, but it never won unless you yielded to it. All you had to do was let your mind go blank, and endure-

//Stop, oh Yami help, it hurts it hurts-//

Yugi.

Seto flung his mind around that pain-wracked presence, shielding it with memories of Mokuba, and waves crashing on the shore, and the fierce exultation of summoning a Blue Eyes to the field to destroy your enemy. One breath more. Hold one breath more, and one more-

Purple hair was damp with sweat, and there was a wild look in his captor's eyes. "I am Janus! Master of darkness. You should be groveling at my feet!"

"How perceptive of you." Breathe. Keep breathing. Kaiba left his gaze somewhere in the middle distance, unwilling to let on that the room was making slow circles around him. "A bit more work, and you could make a living with carnival readings."

This time the world went red. Blood, my blood, running down the walls. Mokuba's blood....

No. Mokuba.

"Ohh...." As if from a great distance, Janus chortled. "I think I've found your little flaw...."

Mokuba, bleeding on the stained concrete. Familiar eyes glazing over, staring accusation at the big brother who'd once more broken his promise to be there, to protect-

//Kaiba! Seto, hang onto me!// Small hands, grasping him in the midst of bloody horror. Familiar hands, a duelist's hands, full of warmth and light and waking, shaky anger. //It's not real, you know it's not real! Yami promised he'd watch out for Mokuba. He promised!//

Yami. Pharaoh. King of Games.

One of the few creatures that had never lied to him... and never failed to retaliate against evil.

Don't look. Don't see. It is not real, it cannot be....

"Yami." Blood faded, left a ghostly image of his brother's broken body superimposed over Janus' frown. "The boy with the puzzle. How did he break my control?"

He would not throw up. He would not. Steeling himself, Seto glared at the telepath. "I have no idea."

"Now, that would be a lie, wouldn't it, Kaiba-boy?"

Die screaming, you bastard!

Cuffs jerked Seto to a halt, shattered the image of Maximillian Pegasus and his tormenting cartoon rabbit into a far less cultured face. Out of reach, Janus snickered. "Oh you've got all sorts of interesting little buttons to push, don't you, Kaiba-boy?"

Seto dragged in air. Rattled his cuffs down the pipe, so he could stand with something approximating dignity. "Pegasus had more power than you'll ever see in a lifetime, cur. And infinitely more style-"

Shadows and pain. The haunting loneliness of being trapped in an enchanted card, alone with nothing but the knowledge he had failed, he had failed and Pegasus had everything....

And darkness covered all.