~*~*~*~*~
"Huh. Not as tough as you like to think, are you, Kaiba-boy?" Janus felt the teen's face, searching for presence in the silence, something more to torment....

Nothing.

Very odd. This wasn't a simply unconscious mind; this was a no one home mind.

Or possibly not that odd after all. Kaiba had met telepaths before; no one had scars like that who hadn't been tampered with mentally. Faced with familiar torments, his mind had likely just taken the easy way out and shut down.

Sabretooth stalked behind him, rough laughter growling in his tone. "If you broke him, I get the pieces."

"Not yet," Janus said sharply. Not until he knew why Yugi's dark side had denied his control, and how Kurt had suddenly shattered it. Kaiba's thoughts had been an insane mess when he searched them; something about two spirits in one soul, ancient Egyptian artifacts, and shadows coming to life. Shadows like mine? He knew those shadows that came at his call, yanking darkness to life, crushing light away.

Shadows that had slipped through Kaiba like air.

Why, why he couldn't reach Kaiba's darkness? It should be there. It should be in full control of the programmer, allowing Janus to use him as he saw fit.

It should be. Yet the deeper he reached, the more elusive Kaiba's dark side seemed.

It's as if the child has no darkness....

Ridiculous. "You've taken the proper precautions?"

"I couldn't track us down here. Wolverine won't have a chance." Fangs gleamed. "And if you can keep that freak Xavier from getting a mental lock, none of the others can get close."

"Good." He knew how wounded minds behaved. For now, Seto was unreachable... but give it an hour, maybe two, and poor little Kaiba-boy's mind would sneak out to check the outside world for dangers. All he had to do was wait.

Meanwhile, he had three of his touched to win back.

~*~*~*~*~
Warmth wrapped around Kitty's hands. One was a familiar pair of furry fingers; the other, a weightless paw wrapped around Yami's card. "Kitty?"

Kitty frowned. That was Kurt... but what was Rahne doing by her bed? "Five more minutes, Mom...."

"Kitty, please, ye've got to wake up. I - there's two of me! And outside you and Yami, no one seems to know I'm here. But I'm no' so sure Yami will for much longer; the Professor's in a fine fit!"

"You've entered my home under false colors. Kept your mind shielded from me. Taken two of my students into another dimension and literally gambled with their lives. And I sensed you tampering with Shadowcat, Yami. God knows what damage you've done." The Professor's voice held a tight rage Kitty had rarely heard, even when the New Mutants had nearly wrecked the X-Jet on a joyride. "Do you truly expect me to believe we can trust you?"

"Kitty was in deadly danger, Xavier. Far greater danger than you realize. She holds the power of shadows, and darkness such as Janus' loathes that more than light." Yami's boots clicked over the infirmary floor. "And as for using deception... who invited my hikari here under the pretense of friendship?"

"Pretense-!" Scott. And from the sound of it, Cyclops was about ready to flip up those glasses and do some serious damage.

"Everybody," Kitty cleared her throat, "Knock it off!"

"Kitty!" Kurt wrapped her in a hug as she sat up. Kitty tried to smile back, feeling her breath catch as she saw Rahne's translucent form gripping her hand... even as Rahne's solid self was lying unconscious on another infirmary bed, watched by Storm and Rogue. "We were so worried!"

Looked like it. Everybody was here. Tea in a chair, one ankle swathed in ace bandages, arms wrapped around a wet-eyed Mokuba. Scott was between Yami and the Professor, Jean's hand on his shoulder. Beast was looking over Bobby and Tabitha's limp bodies, frowning at a medical chart. Even Logan, pushing through the infirmary door with a growl and a shake of his head toward the Professor. "Sorry, Charles. Lost 'em down the road. Smells like they took a van." He turned a speculative look on Yami, rattled off a quick question in Japanese.

Something about Sabretooth? Kitty thought, listening hard for the few bits of English scattered in the flow of words. Whoa. Wait. Logan knows Japanese?

Yami scowled, one fist clenched. Answered, short, sharp, and angry.

A silent laugh vibrated Logan's frame. "I think I like you."

Mokuba looked up. "But - my brother?"

"He's alive." Yami's tone held no doubt. "As is Yugi. I would know if they were not."

"Yeah, right. Your 'heart of the cards'." Scott rolled his eyes. "The Professor looks over everything that comes through those doors. There aren't any weird energies in pieces of cardboard, or we would've heard about it. We've seen people suppress their mutant side before. Even build up a whole other personality for it. And there's no way Kitty is holding the 'light half' of Rahne's soul...."

"That - that up-tight blind senior-" Rahne sputtered.

"Weren't any of you listening to me?" Kurt blurted. "I told you what I saw!"

"And what you say you saw was yourself trapped in a realm of shadows, even as you say you also were actually attempting to injure Mokuba under Janus' influence. Your memories are clouded," Xavier said regretfully. "Janus' psychic abilities must have tampered with them. You were not in two places at once."

"Oh yeah? What do you call this?" Kitty brandished her grip on Rahne's hand.

"Kitty...." Scott looked at her fingers, shook his head. "There's nothing there."

"Nothing we see, at least." The Professor's face shed anger like water, suddenly shocked. "Kitty? May I see what you remember?"

If it'll stop those two from trying to kill each other? Kitty thought, gaze flicking from Scott to Yami. Yami's head was cocked slightly to the side, a silent challenge Cyclops was dying to take up. Eye-beams versus shadow magic... oh, she really didn't want to see this. Poke around, Prof.

A gentle touch ruffled through memories of shadows, Kurt-who-wasn't, Yugi and Yami torn apart by blackness....

The Professor's fingers clenched on his chair. "I believe you all should see this."

Kitty watched the flinches as memory transferred, the outright shock on Scott's face, the fear on Tea's. "You're a mind-reader," the brunette stammered. "Like Pegasus."

"I assure you, I've never stolen anyone's mind." Xavier frowned. "If Rahne truly is here, why didn't you aid her as you did Kurt?"

"She's been away from her dark half longer," Yami replied, moving to Kitty's bedside. "I didn't want to risk harming her by tearing her from Kitty's grasp." He held out a hand. "Are you willing to return, Rahne?"

"Y' have to ask?" Pearly tears trickled down the young shape-shifter's face. "I didn't want to hurt anyone, truly I didn't."

"I know." Right hand gripping her ghostly paw, Yami placed his left over her heart. "Be home, Rahne. Be well."

Light shimmered across the Puzzle, sifted over fur like sun-struck glitter. Rahne sighed in her sleep, angry lines easing from her face.

Jean touched the furry face. "Is she-?"

"Whole, yes. I sense her conscience reforming. Though her barriers are still low. Should Janus attack again, she'll have little defense." Xavier's face was grave. "So. Kitty's tale is the truth, then. Janus split you."

"In a way. Janus' power allows him to call forth the darkness in a soul, leaving it in control as he crushes the light into the Shadow Realm." Yami's hand brushed the Puzzle. "But when my aibou was threatened, I was already in control. Janus merely - took Yugi from me." Violet eyes hardened, glinted ruby. "We must find him."

Mokuba was pale. "But if Yugi's in the Shadow Realm...."

"He's been there before. He's not helpless." Yami gazed at Xavier. "You know where to start looking for Janus?"

The Professor leaned back in his chair. "I have an idea where we might start our search, yes."

"Might?" A dark brow arched.

"It will be difficult," Xavier went on levelly. "If Janus is controlling him, he won't want to be found." His gaze swept the Japanese trio, taking in cold fury, brotherly fear, Tea's wry anger. "Yet Janus kidnapped Kaiba, rather than control him... and despite what we've seen, none of you three seem to believe he could control Kaiba. Why?"

"My big brother isn't controlled by anybody!" Mokuba said defiantly.

Tea bit her lip, looked away.

"Open your mind," the Professor murmured. "Thank you, Ms. Gardner. Your memory's quite clear."

Tea glared at the telepath. "Snoop!"

"When I must." The Professor's eyes narrowed. "So. It was you."

"In a way." Yami's gaze never faltered. "Janus controls a soul's darkness. And I crushed the darkness from Kaiba long ago."

Okay, Kitty thought, hearing the nervous chuckles from her fellow students. Where did I miss the sign that said "Twilight Zone"?

The Professor didn't seem to like the detour either. "That's impossible. You can't simply remove the more malign instincts of the human mind. You'd destroy it."

"You confuse instinct and darkness, Xavier. A common mistake... and frequently, a fatal one." Yami's smile was wry, playful as a cat with a tender mouse. "Removing your darkness would kill you, Xavier. Your spirit is bound to light, facing away from the ways of darkness; to strip it of that balancing evil would destroy you. But Kaiba walks the path of shadows, answering only to his own honor. Janus could no more control him than he could me." The dark half shrugged gracefully. "We must find Kaiba first."

"You're not going."

Ruby gleamed in violet. "Xavier-"

"Young man, Kitty and Kurt were each exposed to Janus' toxin once, they're not metabolizing it well, and they are both, dare I say it, larger than you." Beast called up a chemical structure on one of the infirmary computers. "Between Janus' attempt to take you and your contact with Kitty, you've been exposed twice. Your blood is saturated with the poison." Dark eyes met ruby, grave. "Another dose could kill you."

"And I have no assurance you're not truly still under Janus' control." The Professor's tone was level and cold as polished marble. "You're not leaving this infirmary."

You and what army, Professor? Kitty thought wryly. She saw Yami scowl, Storm tense, Scott raise a threatening hand-

Logan matched gazes with Yami. Gave the darker self one minuscule shake of head. Mouthed something she couldn't hear.

And Yami seemed to deflate, leaning against an examination table as if it were finally too much effort to stand straight. "Find them quickly, then."

Say what?

Tea and Mokuba were wide-eyed; Mokuba looked at the Professor with as much suspicion as his older brother had ever mustered.

"Good." Scott gave them a smug smile, gathered the troops with a wave of hand. "Let's go!"

But Logan hung back a moment as the others left, crossing the room to murmur in Kitty's ear. "Ten minutes. Look after him." He straightened, glanced at Kurt. "And let him look after both of you."

Huh? Kitty blinked as Logan vanished out the door, let Beast run a few reflex tests and declare her relatively healthy. Felt the almost-subliminal tremor in the floor that indicated the underground hangar was in use. Ten minutes? Until what?

Watching the clock, Yami nodded. Cast a glance Tea's way.

The brunette winked. Murmured something to Mokuba. Who looked up with such forlorn hope, it hit Kitty like a punch to the heart.

"Poor kid." Kurt rubbed his eyes tiredly, evidently considering the merits of sacking out right on her infirmary cot. "I wish there was something we could do for him."

"Dr. McCoy?" Mokuba gave their coach and head of the infirmary a shy, questioning look. "What's going to happen to Seto?"

"Well...." The blue-furred teacher cleared his throat. "The toxin does break down over time. He should be fine. Here, let me show you. How are you in biochemistry?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I know what caffeine looks like."

Distracted, Beast started calling up infirmary files. "Is that normally part of the curriculum at your age?"

"No. But Seto was trying to explain why he lives on coffee...."

Tea rose from her chair, grimacing as she tried to put weight on her foot. "Rogue? Could you... I mean, I need-" She blushed. "A little help?"

Gloved hands caught her. "Yeah, yeah, c'mon. Stay off that ankle, will you? Dancers," Rogue muttered. "Don't have the sense god gave a football player."

Yami stood, not a trace of his earlier weariness evident in his stance. Walked casually over to Kurt and Kitty.

And held out a hand.

~*~*~*~*~
Darkness. Pain. Fear.

//Kaiba?//

No. Yugi wasn't here. No one was here....

//Kaiba, take my hand. Trust me. Please.//

Impossible. There was just - black. Never-ending, unrelenting; not even the pinpricks of stars.

Stubborn anger touched him; a bright blaze that called up memories of a pier, and a brainwashed glaze in Wheeler's eyes, and Malik's mocking laughter. //You call yourself a duelist? I challenge you, Seto. Take my hand!//

Seto braced himself against the dark, flailing for his opponent. No one... no one challenged him and walked away....

Shadows faded, shifting into forms of sunlight, blowing curtains, a laptop humming quietly on a desk. A familiar desk, every crack and flaw of the wood as comfortable as the back of his hand.

And an all-too-familiar head of spiky, tri-colored hair, leaning on crossed arms where Yugi was perched on the backwards chair. "Kaiba?"

Seto blinked. My bedroom? "This isn't real."

"It is. Sort of." Yugi shrugged, puzzle gleaming in the sun. "It's your soul room. Though I've never ended up in someone else's soul room before...."

I know this place. Seto paced the perimeter of the room, noting the odd sense of quiet. No birdsong. No traffic. None of the sounds that should leak through the window from Domino City. Just a gentle wind, and peace, and refuge from pain. "I used to come here," he murmured, half to himself. "When I couldn't get away." When Gozaburo truly lost it, and - no. Don't think about it. He glared at the shorter teen. "This isn't real-"

"It is!"

"-And even if it were," Seto ran over his protest coldly. "What would you be doing in my mind?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go!" Stubbornness creased violet eyes. "Janus has some kind of shadow powers. He threw me out of the Puzzle. I tried to hold onto Yami, but I couldn't! I felt the Shadow Realm sucking me in...." Yugi shivered, chafed bare arms. "I just tried to hold onto something familiar. I thought I'd grabbed Yami. Instead I get you."

Ridiculous. Ludicrous. Insane.

Which pretty much summed up a typical day, when Millennium Items were involved.

All right. Play along with the insanity. "And what am I doing here?"

"He was hurting you!" Yugi crossed his arms. "I pulled you down here with me. It should look like you just passed out."

Passed out? From that pitiful excuse for a madman's feeble manipulations? Of all the insults-

Yugi winced, hand up as if to ward off a blow. "Kaiba, would you stop that? He was - he was trying to break parts of your mind, parts I don't know how to fix. Parts I'm not even sure Yami could fix. I'm trying to help you!"

Seto paused. Something was moving inside his anger. Sorrow. Shock. Determination not to be hurt.

And none of it was his.

Damn! "Janus," Kaiba gritted out, whirling toward the door.

"Wha- no, he couldn't have. I hid us." Yugi frowned. Touched the puzzle, and reached out.

Searching, hiding, swirling shadows to conceal them from the enemy....

Darkness rushed past the outer hall, bewildered and angry.

"We're okay. He doesn't know we're here." Yugi smiled, looking almost as determined as his darker side. "For someone who can throw spirits into the Shadow Realm, Janus doesn't know much about magic."

Magic. Of course. The situation had lacked only that to be completely and utterly insane. "You'd better check again. I can feel something trying to tamper with my mind." Yet it didn't feel like Janus. It felt warm, and pure, and comforting as the sound of Mokuba's sleeping sighs in the night.

And it was close. Very close.

I'm going to find it. Whatever it is. And then I'm going to kill it.

"...Oh." Pink brushed Yugi's cheeks. "I - ah - really hope you don't try that, Kaiba. Fighting inside a soul room gets a little messy."

Kaiba fought down the urge to stare, bug-eyed. He can't mean what I think he means. "No."

"We're in the same body." Yugi advanced on him, slowly, hands out and empty. "We're sharing the same mind."

"No." He had to move. Why couldn't he move?

"Right now, we're part of each other." Fingers closed over his, never doubting he would let them. As if Yugi knew he craved that grasp. Welcomed it. "Please don't be afraid of me, Seto."

I can't.

I must.

I want - no! I have to be alone. It's the only way to be safe, to keep Mokuba safe. I don't want-

It burns....

"That's your magic, Seto. Reacting to mine." Somehow spiky hair was nestled under his shoulder, a slim arm wrapped around his waist. Holding him, as no one but Mokuba had held him in more years than Kaiba cared to remember. "If we could tap it, maybe we could get out of here... but I don't have the real Puzzle. Or my deck."

You might have magic, Mouto, but I certainly do not- Kaiba bit back the words, scowling. He didn't want to hurt the trusting young soul. Much. "Get me back out there."

"But we don't-"

"Surprise is better than magic. I know Yami's taught you that." Kaiba checked his shirt cuff for the lock-picks he'd started carrying since his brother had been chained and kidnapped. I have them. Whether he still had them in the real world, he wouldn't know until he got there. "Whatever he's using on me... on us... is toxic. We need to get out, and we need to get out now."

"Seto...." Yugi reluctantly stepped back, looked up to meet his eyes. "It's your body. It's your choice. But - be careful?"

"Hmph." Kaiba arched a cool brow. "Do I look like Wheeler?"

"Kaiba...."

Yugi's voice faded as Seto forced himself out of the room, stepping into black. Tingling, sore, arms held up at a steel-bound angle....

Ow.

Careful. Eyes closed. Listen. Footsteps there, and there, compare it with the mental image of the underground room as he'd seen it - yes.

Fingers working a pick out of his sleeve, Kaiba went to work on the first cuff. Get this off, forget the other, just get loose from this pole and run.

Preferably turning one purple-haired mutant into toothpicks as he went. But that could wait. Much as Kaiba wanted to personally obliterate the man, Janus was a telepath. Better to let the annoyed Egyptian Pharaoh and his Millennium Puzzle take that fight.

A hideous scream rang out from the far corner. "My werewolf! They've taken my werewolf!"

Kaiba suppressed a smirk. Yami was aware and rational, it seemed. And now he'll be coming for you, Janus....

"Sabretooth, stop him!" the mind-reader snarled.

Crack!

Head ringing, Kaiba felt the grizzly tear the pick from his hand. Damn telepaths.

"Naughty, naughty, Kaiba-boy. Did I say you could leave?"

Seto licked away blood from his torn lip, glared hate at the illusion of Pegasus. But for all its seeming solidity, it was an illusion. Just a copy of the man he hated, and a poor one at that. "I doubt such an original thought ever entered your mind."

"Who needs to be original?" The mocking red suit blurred, turned thin and dark. Accent shifted as well, from Pegasus' American sneer to chill, too-familiar Japanese. "You are what I make you, Kaiba. And only what I make you. Never forget that!"

Gozaburo.

No.

His adoptive father stood before him, dark brows drawn down in a contemptuous scowl, riding crop dangling from one clenched fist. Leather whipped up, slashed down-

No. No! This can't be real!

But the pain was real, and the searing heat on his back sharp as yesterday. Leather thickened, turned sodden with blood. Crimson dripped from Gozaburo's hand, thickening into shadow.

Shadow creature... but Gozaburo never touched magic. Not even when I-

No. He would not remember. He knew what had happened. Gozaburo had finally threatened Mokuba, Seto had countered with the plain fact that he now held Kaiba Corp, moved to throw the bastard out a window, and the ousted chairman had had a heart attack from the shock. That was it. That was all!

But the terror was back, and Seto could feel darkness whispering his name. Call us... come to us. We can stop the pain. We can stop the fear. Call us, yield to us, and he'll never hurt you again.

No. No, he wouldn't. He couldn't. The price would be his heart.

Call us!

Save Mokuba!

Kill him!

And the darkness was creeping in, the darkness that had sealed him to loving nothing but power, until a fateful duel had shattered half his soul....

//That's it!// Frightened warmth wrapped around Seto, pulling him away from nightmare. //Kaiba, I'm taking over!//

~*~*~*~*~
Crushing nightmare into the teenager, Janus licked his lips. Beckoned his newfound Shadow closer, ignoring the hasty clatter of feet as Sabretooth and his other touched backed as far from moving darkness as they could get. Luscious hate. Intoxicating fear. Writhing self-hatred. All the dark emotions he could feast on, so tantalizingly out of reach....

And light swept through the fingers of his mind, and Kaiba was gone. What?! Not dead. That fool's too stubborn to be dead.

No, the boy was breathing. And... conscious?

"You're awake," Janus growled, seizing an ear as the boy tried to slump. "Who are you?" Not Kaiba. Not a chance in the world. Not when he'd slipped the net of Kaiba-boy's fears like gossamer.

Not with cold blue eyes turned so... innocent. For the first time that night, Seto Kaiba truly looked his age.

"You've got to send it back, Janus." Even the voice was different. Softer. Gentler. Yet no less filled with fierce determination. "Send it back to the Shadow Realm. Now. Before it destroys you."

"Send it back?" Janus snickered, stroking the Shadow by his side. Chill, so beautifully chill. So eager to do his bidding, for the privilege of hurting innocents. "Dream on." Seize him!

Dark curled around his victim, guiding Janus' thoughts inward. He licked his lips, anticipating the lovely feast of hate. He'd seen this innocence in Kaiba's memories; Pegasus had savaged it, and the common thugs of a child's life, and a wild-eyed madman wielding gold that bent and warped the closest of friends against each other. Here. It must be here....

Sadness. Pity. A fierce, unwavering determination for justice.

And not a trace of hatred.

What-?

Shadow recoiled with a hiss, shaking like wind-rattled leaves. Sapphire eyes watched it retreat, blue blazing brighter than flickering light could account for. //Yami, find us-//

Janus shook the teen, slicing the awareness of shrouding darkness into his mind. "He can't. No one can. Not while I hold this place as mine - Yugi." He chuckled then, a delicious thought coming to him. "But if you really don't like my friend, there's no need for him to stay." //Go. Seek. Kill!//

Sinking into the shadows behind a crate, the Shadow vanished.

Chain rattled. "No!"

"Oh, yes." //And you know right where I've sent it, don't you, little Yugi? Pity your poor friends... because we won't!//

Silence.

"Gone again." Janus dropped the limp form in disgust, noting how even unconscious, Seto's grace kept him from further injury. "Just wait. A little more time, a little more strength, and I'll hunt you out no matter where you've hidden."

But in the meantime, he had new friends to call.

~*~*~*~*~
Twenty, nineteen, eighteen.... Strapped into his seat in the jet, Logan counted off the seconds.

//Logan? Why are you counting?//

With a trick of mental discipline Charles had taught him years back, Wolverine turned his thoughts toward their target. "So you think this Stanley Baxter we're looking for is Janus?"

"The facial recognition algorithms show a close match," Xavier nodded. "And the young man's... past records are certainly dubious enough to indicate it's likely."

Huh. Leave it to Charles to understate it. Weirdness spotted Stanley's police records like ink. Arrested who knew how many times, jailed only once, freed in a breakout by prisoners everyone thought had better sense....

And wanted on at least one count of attempted murder, when one of the guards had gotten in his way. This could get ugly.

"So we start in the areas he's been sighted in and look for anything out of the ordinary," Scott summed up. "While you and Jean look for his mental signature, Professor."

"Indeed. Though I believe-"

The communications system warbled. "Storm," the weather-witch picked up.

"They're gone!"

Bingo. Logan checked the clock. Either Yami'd been running slow, or whatever he'd cooked up for a distraction had held Beast longer than it should have.

Charles turned a look of dawning comprehension Logan's way. "Hank, what-?"

"Oh, no," Jean groaned. "They didn't!"

"I'm afraid they did, Jean. All three of them. Tea and Mokuba pulled as neat a double-team as you've ever seen, I strongly advise you to not turn your backs on those two... and when I looked up, they were gone."

"You knew." Scott's tone was dark. "You knew Yami was going to bust out of there."

"And if he had to, he was going to walk right through you, Cyclops," Wolverine stated bluntly. "This way, we're all heading after the real bad guy."

"With Kurt and Kitty in our line of fire!" Gripping the controls, Storm looked ill.

"They're safe, 'Roro." Wolverine growled, trying to figure out a way to put what he knew into terms his more peaceful associates would understand. Anyone who tried to kill Sabretooth - not knock him out, not disable, just stop the killer's heart right then and there - showed the kind of cold determination Logan wanted on his side. "Did you look at that fight, when Charles showed it to you? He pulled that hit on Rahne!"

"That's supposed to make us feel better?" Scott pounced. "You heard the Professor. He's Yugi without a conscience-"

"No. He's not." Wolverine stared down that unwinking lens. "He's Yugi's partner. He knows this Shadow Realm Janus is messing with." He didn't bother to look at Charles. "And he knows Kaiba's living on borrowed time."

Jean arched skeptical red brows. "We don't know that, Logan."

"The hell we don't," Logan snapped. "Janus doesn't know his ooze isn't going to work. He's going to dose Kaiba again. And again. Until he kills the kid." And I wouldn't want to be in Janus' shoes if the idiot does. Anybody who'd left Sabretooth limping probably only needed one clear shot.

Xavier's eyes narrowed. "Be that as it may, I will not allow Yami to risk two of my students further." Touching the tips of his fingertips to his forehead, he concentrated. "Kurt. Kitty. Hear me...."

~*~*~*~*~
//Hear me....//

Standing on the road outside the institute driveway, Kitty shivered. She was cold, she was tired, and she was about to get the worst chewing-out of her life. Why did I think this was a good idea?

Kurt looked up at the stars, trying to minimize the visual clues the Professor could use to find them. "We are so dead...."

"A mind-reader has great difficulty finding what he doesn't know." Drawing two cards from his deck, Yami smiled. "Ah. Old friends. This trick is more in Bakura's line than mine... but with willing assistance, it should work well. Will you trust me?"

Kitty swallowed. Traded a glance with Kurt, as they both felt the Professor latch on. "Just make it fast!"

The Puzzle glowed, sparking blue and rose light from one card, a swirl of forest greens from the other. "Dark Magician Girl! Celtic Guardian! Come forth!"

Say wha-

Blue and rose enveloped her.

~*~*~*~*~
Gone!

Jean Grey reeled back from the shock of familiar minds vanishing, swept out of reach by shadow and light. Kurt! Kitty!

"I believe they're alive." The Professor drew a sharp breath. "But - I've lost them."

"How?" Storm demanded.

"We had them. Then something shifted, and-" Jean shook her head, red hair flying. "Professor, what was that?"

"Yami." The Professor's gaze was dark. "His mind is... old. Full of traps. Of shadows. He's hidden them from us. Somehow." He glared at Logan. "And precisely why should I have 'seen that one coming', as you so blatantly put it?"

"He told you he didn't like mind-readers. He knows you don't like him. He definitely knows Janus is going to be keeping an eye out. You think he'd be loose if he thought either of you could catch him? Or anybody he brought to help?" Logan snorted. "Charles, you're dealing with something that's older than I am. He knows tactics."

Cyclops' fist headed for the wall, stopped just short of bruising. "You couldn't have told us any of this before?"

"You weren't listening."

"Presume," Storm said coolly, hovering over the outskirts of town, "That we are listening now."

"We don't know where Yami is, Ororo." Logan arched a thick brow. "But we know where he's going."

"So if we find Janus, we find Kurt and Kitty," Jean said, trying to put up a brave front. Recalling that vast sense of light and power and the readiness to do battle, sweeping away all she knew as her friends.

"Or whatever he's made them." Xavier's hands clenched on his seat. "Yami has a great deal to answer for."

~*~*~*~*~
Celtic Guardian rose in a whisper of leather and green cloak, sword glinting in the starlight. He had been summoned, along with another of the Pharaoh's magical allies, yet there seemed to be no battle-

"Kurt." Yami's hand rested on his gauntlet, urging him to sheathe his blade. "It's all right. The battle is yet to come."

Kurt. Yes... here and now, he was Kurt. A cascade of memories came with the name; classes, faces, the cold shock of knowing he was Mystique's abandoned son, mixing oddly with the sure knowledge of the sword by his side, the endless battles he'd fought down the millennia in the Shadow Games. This is so weird. "Kitty?"

Yes. That kneeling, dazed swirl of short pink and blue skirts, one hand touching her tall, armored hat, the other clinging to her blue-and-gold wand... was Kitty.

Dark Magician Girl. We're not usually on the battlefield together, but I know you so well. We fight when the need is greatest; and though we often perish, our blows turn the tide.

"No one's going to die today." Yami's hand gripped his; firm, reassuring. His smile was warm. Daring. Familiar. "The power and memories of the Celtic Guardian will mask you from Janus, and Xavier, as Yugi once shielded me from Pegasus. They're searching for two humans, not an elf and a magician."

Elf? Kurt gulped. Sure, Kitty called him fuzzy-elf. But he was a human. A mutant. Not a creature out of mist and magic.

"It's only for a time. I promise."

Kurt looked at him askance. "Are you telepathic?"

"No. But I can sense some thoughts. Especially when they're rooted in my own deck." Yami helped him lift Kitty to her feet, granted her a quiet smile. "Are you well? This was a stronger magic than I usually call."

"Um... can I get back to you on that?" Kitty glanced at the length of her skirt, blushed. "Who came up with this outfit?"

"I believe it may have been the Dark Magician." Yami didn't quite laugh.

"Yeah, that's Djet's sense of humor, all right-" Kitty stopped, wide-eyed. "I remember him." She looked at the deck in Yami's hands. "I remember all of them. Gaia, Silver Fang, the Soldier of Stone...."

Koumori Dragon, Feral Imp, the Summoned Skull, Kurt thought. And others; allies, traps, spells to heal, hide, and slay. He knew the magic dwelling in that deck, augmented by the Puzzle's ancient enchantment.

"And well you should." Yami tucked the cards away. "I can sense that Kaiba is alive. But I can't find him. The Puzzle doesn't have that sort of power, not over one who's never admitted he's my friend." A gold-touched brow lifted. "But you carry the magic of the Dark Magician Girl, Kitty. And we've faced Kaiba's deck before."

"The Blue Eyes White Dragons," Kurt blurted. He remembered them. Their grace. Their power. Their dying forms on castle battlements, heads falling to his blade, before Yugi had ordered him to stop-

Kitty whistled. "Talk about your auras that ought to glow in the dark." She lifted her wand, scribed a swift, sapphire sigil in air-

Watched it flair, glowing fiercely toward downtown Bayville. "Bingo!"

~*~*~*~*~
Feet swinging as he sat on the infirmary table by Rahne's sleeping form, Mokuba watched Rogue slouch in another chair, fiddling with her spiked collar. Why spikes? Yugi and Seto like leather, I know, but all that sharp metal... ouch.

"Are you listening, young man?"

Mokuba jerked upright. "Uh, sure?"

Dr. McCoy scowled at him and Tea. Clawed fingers tapped against the blue-furred arm, an impatient drum half out of time with various heart monitors. "Of all the ill-thought, hastily-conceived, melodramatic plans the two of you had to come up with-"

The twelve-year-old tried not to yawn. The infirmary lights were dim, just warm glows near Beast's workstation. It was getting late; or getting early, as Seto sometimes said. Running from bad guys always made him tired. And frankly, he'd heard Seto chew out security guards with more flair when his big brother was running on no sleep, one eggroll, and a headache....

What was that?

Mokuba shivered, sneakers still as gray-blue eyes searched the shadows. Something had moved in the back of the room. Something that shouldn't be there.

Something that, from the chills running laps down his spine, shouldn't be anywhere.

And from the quick clasp of Tea's hand on his, she felt it too.

Mid-lecture, Beast stopped. "What is it?"

Tea started easing out of her chair, wincing as she put weight on her bandaged foot. "We have to get out of here."

"We have to hit the lights." Mokuba dug into his vest pocket, glad once more that Seto wouldn't let him out of the Kaiba mansion without a miniature set of emergency supplies. Flashlight, check.

Darkness squirmed, just out of the corner of his eye. A tentacle of night swept over Bobby Drake's sedated form. Drew the ice-casting mutant upright with blank, night-black eyes.

"Bobby!"

Mokuba grabbed Beast's arm, held him back as the tentacle oozed toward Boom-Boom. "Uh-uh. That's not Bobby."

Rogue backed up toward them, pale as her makeup. "What the hell is that?"

Mokuba swallowed, memories of dark and emptiness rising up like restless ghosts. "It's a Shadow."

"Now would be a really good time for the lights," Tea said tightly.

"Indeed." Beast reached for the switches nearest him-

And for the second time that day, the infirmary power went out.

~*~*~*~*~
Cyclops rubbed his fingers over the seat arm as Storm set them down near their target. Watched Jean as she concentrated, a faint smile creasing pink lips. "Are you sure?"

Eyes still closed, the telempath nodded. "He's pretty sure we can't find him. So we looked for the place where we couldn't find anything."

Right, Cyclops thought dryly, looking out the windows toward the run-down underground garage she and the Professor believed was Janus' base. Look where you can't see. Makes perfect sense.

"There is a certain unmistakable feel of emptiness to a thick shield," the Professor observed. "Have a little faith, Scott."

"I'd rather have my teammates back. In one piece." He cut a glance at Logan as they disembarked, daring the older mutant to contradict him. He didn't care how much Wolverine liked the guy. Yami was dangerous.

Who'd have thought a little kid like that was hiding a killer?

The Professor could sugarcoat it as "darkness" all he liked. When it came to Sabretooth, Scott knew the kinds of things that made Logan happy. Most of which involved mass destruction.

Storm took to the air; Xavier withdrew back into the jet, sealing the door against potential intruders. The rest of them fanned into a loose group, searching for any sign of guards. Wolverine took point, sneaking toward the nearest door, claws not yet out.

Let this guy be dumb, please let this guy be dumb, Scott prayed, as they drew closer without rousing defenders. He'd really had enough of twisted, too-bright people like Magneto, and Mystique, and even the Brotherhood. Was it too much to ask of the universe for this one bad guy to have a sudden attack of stupidity?

//Hank! This is hardly the time-//

//I am sorry to bother you, Charles-// Even through the Professor's transmission of Beast's radio call, Scott could hear the glassy crash. //But we have a situation I didn't want you walking back into - Amara! Now!//

Lava beating back ice; about five of Jamie swarming a dead-eyed Boom-Boom; Tea, Mokuba, and a host of sleepy New Mutants slashing at shadowy tentacles with flashlights, flares, and a torrent of inventive Japanese curses. Scott blinked away the images, wondering why his neck was prickling. It was quiet. No sign of a watcher. And from Wolverine's scowl, the door was unlocked.

He felt the Professor's sharp worry. //We'll send someone back-//

//We'll handle it, Charles! Have some faith in your students.// Fire, and a shriek - and the hiss of Tea's fire extinguisher, smothering a smoldering rug.

He's right, Professor, Scott pointed out, seeing Jean look longingly at the jet. He couldn't blame her. The younger kids were in danger. Every instinct shouted at him to go home and protect them.

Except that instinct was wrong. If that's some kind of shadow - it's got to be Janus. We've got to stop this at the source.

"Good call, Cyke," Wolverine murmured. Sniffed the air as Storm descended, making an all-clear sign. "Sabretooth's in there. And six or seven more. Janus. Kaiba... doesn't smell too healthy. We better be quick." Thick brows drew down. "Something's screwy. Sabretooth smells scared."

Sabretooth? Scared? Good lord, Yami couldn't possibly have gotten here before they had-

And shadows surged over them.

~*~*~*~*~
A patch of subtle green rustled in the ground floor of the garage, unfolding into a trio hiding under the Celtic Guardian's cloak. Kurt stared at the shadows swarming out the open door, hearing Wolverine's guttural snarl, a thump of crates hurled by telekinesis, the distinctive whine of Cyclops' eye-beams. Swallowed, and drew up the rear as his companions snuck across the garage's down ramp, closing the steel fire-door quietly behind them as they entered the stairwell leading down. "They went right past us?"

Yami's laugh was quiet, barely ringing off gray-painted steps. "You are wearing an elven cloak."

Point. Though he'd never seen that power come into play in the game-

Kitty swung her staff in front of Yami, catching the dark half as he stumbled. "Kurt!"

"I'm all right," Yami muttered, trying to shake off Kurt's hand as the Guardian held him upright. "We must keep going."

"You need a breather," Kitty said bluntly. "Multiple teleports take it out of anybody. Your aura's faded."

Ruby eyes closed; the spirit sighed. "And it will only continue to worsen." Yami met their gaze frankly. "Since we bonded, I've never been severed from Yugi for so long. Without his energies to sustain me, without his living mind to call me out... the Puzzle drags at me. Trying to reclaim me." He gestured to himself. "And without a spirit to hold this body to life, Yugi will have nowhere to return to."

Kurt sucked in a breath. "Why didn't you tell the Professor?"

Weary sorrow touched ruby. "Would he have believed me?"

"Um, that would probably be... no." Kitty admitted. Tensed. "What's that?"

Kurt jerked around, feeling a prickling chill crawl down his spine. Sensing old instincts rise, claim hold on mind and hand; an enemy was here, the battle was about to be joined-

Shing!

Silvered steel sang through shadow, slicing away the talons heading for his heart. Kurt felt a laugh rise up in his throat, turned it into a deceptive swirl of cloak and another deadly thrust of his blade. Mother of Forests, there were so many shadows.

"Dark burning attack!" Kitty struck out with blue and rose light, vaporizing tentacles in a cone before her staff.

Yami was hanging back behind them both, Puzzle bright around his neck, ducking and striking hand to tentacle as they battled down flights of stairs. From somewhere he'd produced a pocketknife that now glowed with the Puzzle's golden light, searing where it struck shadow.

Shadow magic, the Guardian's memories told Kurt. For all his power, the Pharaoh has little defense against living shadows. That's why he called you.

Or rather, why he'd called the Guardian. But it was getting harder to tell the difference.

And darkness swarmed up the steps, and there was no more time to think.

~*~*~*~*~
Fingers, rubbing his cheek. Brushing back chestnut hair, gentle as a beating wing. "Seto. Please wake up."

No. If he stayed here, he was safe. Everyone was safe. If he stayed here, he'd never call the shadows again. Mokuba would never see. Mokuba would never know his big brother, the one he loved best in all the world, was a....

Murderer. That's what you are, Seto Kaiba. Nothing more.

You learned too well from Gozaburo, after all....

"No!" A hot, salty drop splashed onto his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that happened to you. But it's over, Seto. He can't hurt you anymore. Please come back to me."

A bitter laugh parted Kaiba's lips. Yugi? Worried that Gozaburo would hurt him? "I killed him." Murdered him, and fooled everyone into believing he'd dropped dead of his own black heart.

Even myself.

"It wasn't murder!"

Blue eyes snapped open, glared at the smaller teen. "How would you know? You weren't there!" No one was there. No one would dare cross Gozaburo Kaiba to protect them - to protect Mokuba. No one but a fourteen-year-old with bloody hands.

Yugi didn't flinch. "There was a man. Before you came to our school. I don't even know his name. He attacked me." Yugi swallowed, light from the soul room's windows casting shadows over his face. "And Tea."

No, Seto thought, feeling a flutter of unfamiliar fear through the black guilt engulfing him. Please don't let... that have happened. Not to Tea.

Why did he even care?

"Yami took over. Challenged him. And... killed him." Yugi's hands clenched. "I didn't try to stop him."

"But...." That was your yami. Your darkness. Your defender.

"I could have stopped him," Yugi said quietly. "Even then. Even when I didn't know he was... more than just part of me."

I could have stopped the shadows.

"But I didn't want to."

I hated him so much. For what he did. For what he was going to do.

"Someone had to stop him."

He was going to kill everything I loved.

"So I just - let loose."

And Seto could see the crumpled body of the would-be rapist, eyes wide and dilated and dead, feet away from Tea's unconscious form. Felt the dark thrill that was Yami triumphant, the ebb of deadly shadow magic from his hands. Another challenge met, another challenger destroyed, and the Shadow Games eager to his call....

"I didn't know we were going to kill him." Yugi kept a grip on his shoulder, drawing him back from the memory. "And you didn't know you could kill Gozaburo. You were trying to stop him. No matter how much you wanted to kill him, you didn't know you could!" Wide eyes bore into his, pure and sincere as flawless amethyst. "It's not your fault he died."

Seto swallowed dryly. "But I did kill him." And it could happen again. The Shadows... I can still feel them.

"But you didn't call the Shadows. Not this time. Janus did. Janus...." Yugi's grip weakened; he swayed.

Seto caught him, absently noting that odd sense of burning had faded. Yugi still felt warm in his arms, but comfortably warm. Like pressing up against the mansion's fireplace bricks in his favorite spot, a bare inch away from where they'd be too hot to touch. "You're cooler."

"Can't be," Yugi murmured. "Magic never goes away. You must have just shifted yours to fit better...." Tri-colored spikes flattened against his shirt.

No. I don't have magic. I don't know magic. I was not a priest in ancient Egypt, I do not know the weight and heft of shadows like my own program code.... "You're ill." Kaiba felt the same sickness pressing on himself; a lurch in his senses, a clarion call of alarm from his distant body.

"He's killing us." Violet eyes were fever-bright. "Kaiba, please. We have to get out of here." Small hands gripped his. "You have to believe."

I don't-

Trusting warmth, nestled in his arms. Leaning on him. Counting on him. As Mokuba had always counted on him.

I don't want you to die here.

And... I don't want to die here.

Seto swallowed. "Yugi, I don't remember - I don't know-" Damn, he couldn't get the words out. "Spells. I don't-"

"We won't need spells. Not if we're fast enough." Yugi's smile was warm comfort, edged with a glint of daring. "Yami's magic, my magic, is of Shadows. We need the Puzzle to channel it. But you're a sorcerer, Seto. A Duelist. You always have been." Yugi's hand squeezed his. "Just reach for the Heart of the Cards."

Teeth fixed in his lip, Seto closed his eyes and reached out. Mokuba... my Blue Eyes....

Lightning, and a roar, and a snap of unfurling wings.

~*~*~*~*~
Here. Yugi's got to be here. The Dark Magician Girl seared shadows out of existence as the Celtic Guardian sliced through the stairwell lock. She could feel the cord of magic that bound her Pharaoh to his lighter half thrum, the bond trying to reestablish itself in the midst of chaos. It was singing, high and faint in her astral senses, reinforcing threads stretched too thin with an even finer link. A link whispering of sky, and lightning, and three dragons' hearts.

Kaiba. A grin stretched her face, fed her magic with the strength of sudden hope. Yami was right. Find one, find both.

//Who - what-?// Shocked realization. //Kitty?//

Uh-oh. She knew that probe. Just as she knew the percussive thump of Cyclops blasting his way down the spiraling garage ramp, the crackle of Storm's ball lightning driving back shadows with actinic light.

//My god, what has he done... Scott! They're down there!//

No time for subtlety now, not with the Pharaoh fading fast. The Guardian kicked open the door in a clang of steel, slashing shadow away from them as Dark Magician Girl sought Kaiba's familiar, white-scaled auras.

Auras that flared, anger and love and magic flinging one entity into burning, physical life.

"Blue Eyes White Dragon, arise!"

~*~*~*~*~
Rolling down the ramp, fang to bared fang with Sabretooth, Wolverine caught a stink of illness. A tang of adrenaline. A furious shout-

Ozone smashed into enhanced senses, tore the two foes apart, choking and gasping for air. Logan shook his head clear, snarled, prepared to leap on his mortal enemy-

And stopped.

Biggest damn lizard I ever saw....

Not that lizard even vaguely applied to the lithe shape of silver-white that curved between its master and the Shadows, shattering Kaiba's chains with one massive claw. Wings furled and spread, beating air laced with static; sapphire eyes glared down, wide and wild and furious as Kaiba's own.

For once in his life, Wolverine wondered if he might be in over his head.

Sabretooth swiped at him, and Logan shook off the fear. Block, block, slice; hook an ankle under one of Jean's thugs before he got too close to the telekinetic-

The fight came in flashes, then; bits of images, filtering past berserk rage. Storm, hurling glowing balls of static at cringing shadows, letting bolts dance between herself and the shaking light fixtures. Cyclops cutting loose with force beams at Shadows and thugs alike, some splashing off hardened blackness to cut walls and ceiling. Jean tossing Janus' stray thugs around like telekinetic tenpins, powers yanking a steel locker open before jamming semi-conscious gang-bangers inside. Kurt and Kitty - that was Kurt under the leather armor, though his scent seemed different somehow - clearing a path for Yami with blade and rose-hued fire.

Yami's scent was ill. Exhausted. Absolutely, utterly enraged.

And he was headed toward the snarling dragon like a heat-seeker sniffing B-52 exhaust.

Even lost to berserker fury, Logan felt a chill. Whatever he's gonna do, let him have good aim.

~*~*~*~*~
Dodging eye-beams, Shadows, and flung magic, Yami laughed. Yugi's presence tugged at his bond, bright and defiant and furious. Almost as furious as Kaiba himself. So much for "I have no memory of magic".

The dragon snarled, scaled head swiveling to fix on Janus. His razor-fanged maw opened, light building in his jaws. *Torture my holder, will you?*

"White Lightning!"

Shadows wailed and perished, sucked between their summoner and his enemy. Janus shook behind a stray, oil-stained crate, staring up in pure disbelief. The Blue Eyes snorted, sucked in breath-

Halted, glancing down at his caller. *Seto?*

Yami caught the bloodied CEO as he fell, easing him down to cool concrete. Eyed the power-torn ceiling for one long moment before he dragged Seto's lanky form a few feet back. Wounded, feverish... oh, aibou, he's hurt you so.

//Yami?...//

//Yugi!// Yami clutched Seto to him, shutting his eyes against the Puzzle's glow. He felt the bond begin to reweave itself, thread by fragile thread. Felt the odd echo that was Kaiba's mind wrapped around his hikari, stubborn anger holding his dragon here, warding them from the ongoing battle, even as his body failed.

Odd. But never mind it; he had Yugi. And his hikari's strength was filtering in, hushing the Puzzle's insistent call. //My tenshi, my own. I was so afraid I'd lost you.//

//...Don't let him get away.//

//Never.// "Janus!"

His shout stilled the world, slowed ruby beams and mutant lightning to faded gray. Janus stared, barely noticing the Shadows wrapped around his arms, jaw agape as he saw allies and enemies alike stutter into stillness.

Welcome to the Shadow Realm. Fool. "You started this duel when you sent Tabitha against us," Yami said grimly, Seto still nestled in his arms. "And now, I'll finish it." Dragon. Here stands one who harmed my hikari, and your master. Will you aid me?

*What is it you plan, Pharaoh... ah.* The long tail lashed; white wings spread with a raging hiss. *You would have me stand aside?*

I have never lied to your master, Yami thought coolly. And I shall not lie to you. Will you trust me, great one?

Fangs bared; the scaled neck bent reluctantly down. *...Yes.*

"The rules are simple." Yami lowered Seto gently to the floor. "The way to the door is clear. No one will touch you. Either of us may move - once - anywhere we like, and touch any one person we choose, save each other." Dark brows drew down. "I'll even let you move first."

Janus glared. "This is a trick."

"It's no trick, Janus." Yami smirked as he felt the mutant pry at his mind, sensed Yugi shuffle his own thoughts into the path of the probe. Thank the gods, his aibou had no clue of his plans... and with a mind-reader involved, knew better than to ask. "Choose your move. But choose wisely."

Janus' eyes narrowed. Glanced to the stairwell. Noted the clear path, the powerful foes helpless to stop him.

And - slowly, almost against his will - turned back to Kaiba.

In the Shadow Games, your true nature is revealed....

Anger leaked from the unconscious CEO like red mist, drawing Shadows like a blood trail.

Janus licked his lips. Strode roughly across the garage floor, gaze daring Yami to stop him.

As if I would break my own rules. Twice a fool.

Went to one knee by the luscious fount of rage and pain, and seized Seto's arm.

"You've lost."

"What?" Janus tried to pull back. Yanked harder, muscles straining against empty air. "Let go of me!"

"You made your move. But Seto isn't one person right now, Janus." Yami smirked, feeling the Horus eye flare brightly on his forehead. "You broke the rules. And for that... you pay the penalty."

Reaching back, he tapped the Blue Eyes.

"You said no one would touch me!" Janus shrieked.

"Hmm. So I did." Ruby eyes gleamed. "White Lightning!"

Roaring, the dragon reared back. And blasted the shattered ceiling.

Right over Janus.

Tumbling slow and gray through the Shadow Realm, concrete-sheathed steel fell.

Shh-thuck.

"You chose your own fate, Janus." Yami regarded the glazing eyes, the spreading pool of blood under purple hair. "No one will touch you. Not to harm you... and certainly not to save you."

Breath rattled in Janus' throat. The twitching body slumped, releasing a misty form that screamed as Shadows seized it - then shattered.

Yami sighed, feeling the mortal world return. Sensed the Blue Eyes fade back into Seto's deck, confident his duty was done. Heard the fight die, the whispers, the shocked protests, as those about him realized what lay in their midst. "Game over."