Chapter 6: Came and Got the Two Dead Boys

Looking around, Seto sighed and decided there was nothing for it.  He couldn't sit in his car all night and he couldn't go home.  He really didn't think he was up to seeing Mokuba after last night's 'incident'.  Getting out of his car, Seto locked it up and walked over to the door of the nightclub.  He had heard it was fairly new and, Seto shuddered at the word, 'hip'.  However, it was crowded.  Too crowded, perhaps, but a crowded bar wouldn't notice him.  Walking over to the entrance, Seto pushed past the throbbing mass of people, and finally made his way inside.  He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but he was still mildly surprised.  It appeared he had stumbled onto a gay bar.  Shrugging, Seto turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Marik, Seto remembered.

"You look a little lost."  Marik shouted over the roar of the club.  "Take a seat."

Shrugging, Seto sat down opposite of Marik and looked around.

"So, Seto…I'm surprised that you left Mokuba alone for the night.  You two seem really close."  Marik shrugged, looking down at his drink.  "I'll bet you were the type of big brother who was always protecting his little brother."

"Yes.  My brothers and I all grew up very close; we were all each other had.  Noa was more of a studious person, however.  He was very smart, but he never thought he was smart enough, so he was always studying.  That's why I was usually the one who hung out with Mokuba and protected him."

"I'm a little drunk you know."  Marik sighed in an off-handed manner, breaking the 'silence' which had fallen between the pair after Seto's admission.  "See over there?  The pair with weird hair? That's my partner and his boyfriend.  And dancing near them?  I mean the albino pair next to them, not the girly boys to the left.  That's my fuck-buddy and his new boyfriend.  DAMN IT!  WHY THE HELL AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T GET THE GUY I WANT?!"

"You're sick."  Seto sniffed, with obvious disgust.

"Yeah, well, so what?"  Marik snapped.  "I'd like to punch you, you know that, ice cube?  You're so damn cold and reserved as if nothing would ever break you.  Hn.  What would you do if I did punch you?"

"I'd send you home, you stupid, inebriated cop.  I don't believe in allowing my emotions to rule me."

"I think you're right."  Marik laughed.  Rolling his eyes, Seto stood up and turned to leave.

"What would you do if I hit Mokuba?"  Marik asked suddenly, and Seto spun around to face him.  "Maybe I ought to find out."

Pulling his fist back, Seto grabbed Marik's collar and punched Marik in the face.  Leaping over the table, Seto shoved Marik to the ground and began to pummel his face in.

"Hey; hey look over there!"

"Fight!"

"Who is it; who's the brunette?" 

"Break 'em up!" 

"Jesus!  He's not even fighting back!"

"Oh my God!  There's a fight!" 

"Luke, look at this!" 

"He's gonna get killed!" 

"John, over here!  Isn't that Marik?"

"Twenty bucks on the brunette!  Is that blood?!" 

Voices began to shout and soon a group of people had gathered around the fight and a pair of bouncers were pulling Marik and Seto apart.

"What's going… Marik?  Seto?!  What happened?"  Devlin asked as he made his way over with Bakura, Ryou, Yugi and Yami following him.

"I started it.  At least, I threw the first punch."  Seto growled.

"You were the only one to throw a punch," Devlin frowned. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I would if your thug here would let go of my arms."  Seto snapped and the bouncer let him go.  Shrugging his shoulders, Seto rolled his eyes and left the club, leaving a ripple of whispers in his wake.

Marik rubbed his face and glared at everyone who was standing around, but soon the crowd had broken up and had gone back to what they were doing before.  After a minute, Devlin helped Marik stand before going back to his duties as owner and manager.  Bakura had already left with the rest of the crowd, and he had taken Ryou with him, leaving Yami and Yugi with Marik.

"Yami, I'm tired.  I'm going home, alright?"

"Fine.  I'll start going in a minute.  I'm just going to help Marik clean himself up."  Yami sighed and kissed Yugi's forehead.

"Later."  Yugi smiled and he disappeared into the crowd.  Turning back to Marik, Yami sighed and wet a napkin with some of the water that had condensed on the outside of Marik's drink.

"You sure pissed him off."  Yami sighed.  "You're just lucky your nose isn't broken, you dumbass."

"Yami?"

"Yeah?"  Yami asked, as he looked Marik in the eye.  Grabbing Yami's chin, Marik crushed Yami's lips against his own.  Closing his eyes and tilting his head slightly, Marik kissed Yami harder, taking advantage of Yami's surprise, but he missed seeing Yugi coming back towards them.  Seeing his boyfriend lip-locked with another, Yugi stifled his cry as he quietly slipped back into the crowd, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

Suddenly pulling away, Yami punched Marik in the jaw and wiped his mouth. 

"What the hell is your problem, Marik?  I knew you slept around, but… God!  Are you really such a slut or are you just drunk?"

"I'm not a slut, Yami."  Marik laughed.  "I'm just not picky about who I burn off my frustrations with."

"Well, find someone else."  Yami snapped.  "I'm taken."

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

Mokuba threw a long T-shirt and a pair of loose shorts, before lying down on his bed.  He wasn't feeling well at all; in fact, ever since Seto had almost smacked him, Mokuba had been feeling queasy.  He was terribly worried about Seto and he knew that the recent events were going to eventually take their toll on Seto.  Rolling onto his side, Mokuba closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

Looking around, Mokuba found himself in a large courtroom, like the kind you saw in movies.  He was sitting in the audience, but he was the only one in his section.  He looked around and saw that the priest, Joey, was sitting with Seto, who had been shackled to the table.  They were talking to softly for Mokuba to hear, but he could tell that they were upset.  Mokuba looked up at the judge's stand and saw it was a tall figure, who's face was hidden behind the shadows of a large medieval looking cloak.  Standing up, the Judge pulled back his hood, and Mokuba could see that the Judge's face was a skull.  Letting out a scream of terror, Mokuba fell off his seat, but no one else moved, or even seemed to hear Mokuba.

The Judge opened his--its--mouth and Mokuba could hear its voice, which sounded like a gunshot, or a scream.

"Seto Kaiba.  You are guilty of murdering, in cold blood, your adopted father Gozaburo Kaiba."

"No!"  Mokuba screamed.  "No!  He did it to save me!  Stop!  STOP!  LISTEN TO ME!"

But no one heard him.  No one noticed.

"I sentence you to death."  The Judge continued, with a laugh, which sounded like shattering glass.  Standing up, Seto waited for his shackles to be unlocked by an invisible hand.  Joey and Seto followed the Judge to a door.  Looking around, Mokuba hoped the small gate and ran after them.

"Stop!  Don't kill him!  PLEASE!  Someone!  Hear me!  DAMN IT!  It's not his fault!  Seto!  Seto, come back!"  Mokuba pleaded, but Seto had already been placed against a wall.  Taking up a rifle, the Judge pointed it at Seto.  "NOOO!!!"

And fired.

Screaming and closing his eyes closed, Mokuba heard Seto groan and there was the sound of another gunshot and a body hitting the ground.  Opening his eyes, Mokuba ran over to Seto's bleeding body and rolled him over.

"Seto?"  Mokuba whispered, and Seto's eyes cracked open.

"Mok-UGH!"  Seto grunted in pain.

"Didn't you hear me?  Why?  Why did you do it?"

"I… keep you safe."  Seto laughed, before grimacing.  "Couldn't let…"

"Seto?"  Mokuba asked, as Seto's eyes drifted closed.

"So tired."  Seto sighed, and Mokuba felt Seto's body shift, before Seto's face went slack.

"Seto?  SETO!"

"He's dead, and it's your fault."  Joey's voice told him.  "Why didn't you save him, Mokuba?  Why?"

Opening his eyes with a gasp, Mokuba looked around and found himself back in his room.  Sitting up in his bed, Mokuba pushed his hair out of his face and let out a sigh.

'I can't keep this up.'  Mokuba decided.  'I need to do something.  Either I burn that tape and side with Seto, or I turn the tape in and go against him.  Oh, God.  GOD!  That's it!'

Rolling out of bed with a thump, Mokuba pulled on some outdoors clothes and a sweater before pulling on a set of slip-on shoes.  Grabbing the wrapped up tape, Mokuba ran down the stairs and out the door.  Shivering at the cold, Mokuba bent his head down and kept going until, he saw the church up ahead.  He kept his eyes on the ground, knowing he was in a bad area, and Seto would be furious if he found out.  He felt the guilt nip at his heels, as he started up the steps, almost running into Joey, who was just starting home.

"Mokuba?  Mokuba, what are you going out here?"

"Joey?  Can we… talk?"

"Sure, but can't it wait?"

"No.  I need to ask you now, or I won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Uh, fine, but does your brother know you're here?"

"I left him a note."  Mokuba lied with a shrug.

"Oh, well, if you're sure.  Tell you what.  There's a late night ice cream place a bit from here.  Why don't we go there and we can get something while we talk.  Sound good?"  Joey asked and Mokuba nodded.  "Cool.  My bikes just 'round the back.  Come on."

"Your bike?"  Mokuba asked as he followed the older boy.

"Yea, my motorcycle."  Joey smiled as they rounded the back of the church and they walked onto the parking lot.  Tossing Mokuba the helmet, Joey got on, and motioned for Mokuba to get on too.  "Hold on tight."

Turning the key in the ignition, Joey waited for Mokuba's hands to clamp around his waist before he hit the gas and pulled out of the lot.  They drove for a few minutes before they reached the ice cream shop and Joey parked.  The pair walked into the shop and Joey bought a vanilla cone for Mokuba and a coffee for himself.

"So, what's up?  It is kind of late, you know."  Joey asked once they had gotten a booth in the back.

"You're a priest right?  I mean, you've got the answer to all those moral questions and all, right?"

"Uh… I don't know about all.  Can you be more specific?"

"Is it wrong… to disobey?"

"Okay.  I don't know exactly what's going on here, but… yes.  Sometimes, under certain circumstances, it may be all right to disobey orders.  Could you give me a few details?"

"I want to help someone, but they told me not to interfere."

"So don't."

"But… they're going to get hurt if I don't, and I want to help.  Is it wrong to want to keep someone safe?"

"No.  If you really think they're in trouble, you should help them.  Sometimes it's okay to go against another person's wishes if it's for their own good."

The pair sat in silence for a moment as Mokuba finally finished his melting ice cream and Joey drank the last of his coffee.

"Do… do you think you can help me?"  Mokuba asked after a moment.  "I need a ride… to the police station."

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~         

"Does anyone in this damn station even realize what time it is?"  Marik muttered as he stumbled into the station.  His head was clearing up a bit, but he was still a bit tipsy from being drunk and smacked around a few times.  Handing Marik a cup of coffee, the receptionist pointed to a conference room a few doors down the hall.

"The two men are in there."  The receptionist sighed and Marik nodded.

"Where's Yami?"

"I don't know.  We tried calling him, but no one's picking up at his apartment.  Should I send someone over?"

"No."  Marik sighed.  "He's probably just too busy screwing his boyfriend to bother with us anyway.  I'll talk to him… tomorrow?  Yes.  It's only ten till midnight, but still."

Shrugging, Marik took a sip of his coffee and walked off towards the conference room.  Opening the door, Marik blinked in surprise as he saw an unfamiliar blond man and Mokuba.

"What's up?"  Marik asked.  "Aren't you out a bit late, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Kaiba?"  Joey whispered in confusion.

"Mokuba, please.  Anyway, it's important."  Mokuba shrugged, not hearing Joey's question.  "I… I know what happened to Gozaburo."

"But how?"  Marik asked, a little confused.

"It doesn't matter right now.  Here."  Mokuba sighed as he pulled the wrapped tape out from under his shirt.

"It's not my birthday, and my name isn't Rebecca."  Marik frowned.

"I had to disguise it some how.  It's the security tape for my Gozaburo's office.  You…" Mokuba swallowed.  "You need to know the truth.  Not the crap my brother and I have been feeding you."

"Thank you."  Marik nodded.  "You need a ride?"

"No need."  Joey replied swiftly.  "I'm taking him home."

"Right."  Marik shrugged.  "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Mokuba."

"You won't tell anyone where you got that, will you?"

"I'll record you as anonymously donated."  Marik agreed and Mokuba let out a deep breath.

"Thank you."

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~         

"Mokuba?"  Seto called, hurrying down the hall as he heard the front door open.  He had been worried when he had come home to an empty house, and he had been wondering if he should call the police. 

"Mokuba, is that you?  Oh, thank God.  Where were you?  I was so worried; I almost called the police!  Next time, at least leave a note!  Are you hurt?  Were you scared?  Did anyone hurt you?  Did something happen?  You weren't hurt, were you?  Oh, I'm so glad you're all right!"  Seto rambled as he knelt down to look at Mokuba.  Pushing Mokuba's hair off his face, Seto gave him a once over for injuries, and felt his forehead to make sure he hadn't caught a fever or a cold.

"Hey."  Seto whispered, as Mokuba sniffed.  Mokuba hadn't taken his eyes off the floor and Seto was beginning to get even more worried that something was wrong.  "You feeling all right?  You look a little pale."

"I'm sorry!  I didn't want to be like Noa.  I had to do something!  I had to!"  Mokuba wailed as he threw himself at Seto's chest, tears streaming down his face.  "I'm so sorry.  So sorry."

"Mokuba?  What's wrong?  Hey, are you all right?"

Shaking his head, Mokuba simply hugged Seto tightly and wouldn't speak.

AN: Seto's a little OOC at the end of the chapter, but come on!  He and Mokuba have a fight and then Mokuba disappears.  Naturally, he freaks out.  Besides, a lot of things have been going on so Seto's a touch paranoid.