From Darkness To Light: Back to the Past
By Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, I wish I did 'cause then I'd be rich. Since I'm not, suing me would be pointless.
Summary: Mokuba is finally free from his grounding, just in time to see Seto's Kaibaland tournament come to a close. But something strange happens as the holograms begin to act funny. And the one who's after Seto finally reveals himself.
*_* - Personal Thoughts
/_/ - Yugi to Yami
\_\ - Yami to Yugi
(_) - Voice to Mokuba
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It had been a full week since Mokuba had last seen the light of day, and the boy eagerly waited for his elder brother to lift the punishment. The long haired boy had only been allowed out of his room for school and the restroom, and he was seriously getting sick of looking at the same four walls. The worst part was he didn't even remember what he'd supposedly done to deserve this.
*Not that it'll matter in another three minutes,* the younger Kaiba thought, looking at his clock as he waited for Seto to come home. Next to the boy sat his private deck of duel monsters cards, the only fun thing he'd been allowed to have the whole week. *Ah well, I had been meaning to spruce up my deck for the longest time.* Soon, there came a knocking at the boy's door, as in walked his elder brother.
"Well, today's the day kid," Seto said, smiling. "I bet you're excited to finally be a free man."
"Yes!" Mokuba practically screamed. Seto walked over to Mokuba's window looking outside at the night sky.
"And what better day to end a term of imprisonment then on a Friday. The only question remaining is whether or not you've learned your lesson," said the elder Kaiba, trying to remember the speech their real father had used on him when he'd been punished.
"Of course, Seto," Mokuba said, lying. How could he possibly learn a lesson when he didn't even remember running away from school?
"Very well then, consider your grounding lifted," the young CEO said, and then added. "And don't you ever scare me like that again." With a laugh and a jump for joy, Mokuba charged out of his room, no doubt to call his friends and make plans, leaving his elder brother behind.
"Thanks, Seto," the boy called back. Seto smiled, glad to finally see his younger brother back to his normal self.
*So this is what it's like to raise a child. No wonder Dad had so many gray hairs,* Seto thought as he exited the room. It was at that point that a chill came over the teen. *What was that about?*
********************************************
Kiz Retall, the Dark Eyes Illusionist, watched the sphere across his staff as the scene between the brothers Kaiba played itself out. His Meda-Bat spy was doing well staying out of sight, the sorcerer had to admit. Finally, something had been able to stay on Seto Kaiba for a length of time without being destroyed.
"I see your spy survives still," came a harsh voice that made Kiz cringe. The spellcaster turned around to stare at the owner of the voice, the master of the darker regions of the Shadow Realm, the mighty fiend Zoa. The blue demon's huge legs strode over to his magical servant, his almost human face smiling at Kiz and showing off his rows of sharp teeth.
"M... M... Master Zoa... I did not hear you arrive," Kiz said. "To what does your humble servant owe this most honorable visit?"
"Simply checking on the progress of your project, it has after all been three weeks since you were given this... Opportunity."
"Yes but it's only been five days on earth. You must have more patience, oh master of the night."
"I have had patience for over nine hundred thousand years," Zoa said, beginning to loose his temper before calming down. "Still you apparently have been having success. Be warned though, both the Fusionist and the Witty Phantom failed in this same mission, and paid for it with their lives. Do not believe that simply because you use a pawn to run the risks that you are immune to such a fate."
"You have nothing to fear, sir, my Meda-Bats have never failed me. We are simply waiting for the most opportune time to snatch the elder Kaiba. But one has to wonder why a mere human would so interest one as powerful as you."
"That mere human is quite possibly a reservoir for the greatest source of energy ever to exist on this world," Zoa said, turning to leave. "And with such power at my command, not even those three meddling gods will have the power to stop me. Now, proceed, and dare not fail me."
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Mokuba's eyes opened onto a scene of almost stark tranquillity as he found himself sitting next to a fish filled pond. The sun shone brightly overhead as the younger Kaiba heard the happy sound of children laughing. The boy stood up just in time to feel a warm wind smack right into his exposed chest. He cast a glance over at the pond, and was quite startled to see his reflection. He looked almost six years younger! While this might had sparked the boy's curiosity, at the moment Mokuba was more distressed at the fact that he was out in the open and almost naked. The raven haired boy looked down to find that he was no longer wearing his favorite red and yellow shirt and blue jeans. In fact, save for a simple loincloth made from some kind of animal skin wrapped around his waist, he wasn't wearing anything. Mokuba's arms flew to cover his tanned body an embarrassed look coming over his face as he thought about complete strangers seeing him in such a state. The boy needn't have worried, however. As he looked over in the direction of the voices, he found what he was wearing was not uncommon here.
Before him, a group of about fifty people went about their lives in front of a big cave set at the foot of a mountain. Children about his age, or at least his age here, played near the mouth of the cave, under the watchful eye of the adults. The whole scene screamed of a primativeness that made Mokuba think of a caveman exhibit he'd seen during a school fieldtrip. All were barely clothed, many in the same outfit Mokuba currently found himself in, and he could just make out tools that looked to be made of stone. Cautiously, the younger Kaiba began to walk to the cave, only to feel a strong hand grip his bare shoulder.
Startled, the boy looked up to see the one person hadn't expected, Seto. Or at least he looked like his elder brother. This Seto looked only about a year younger than Mokuba remembered, and his brown hair was longer and messier. Mokuba also notice his "brother's" body was more muscular and he looked hairer too, with the beginnings of a beard and mustache on his face. That's when the young Kaiba noticed what else was in the young man's other hand; a spear with a sharp stone head; a bloody head. Mokuba had only to look where the spear pointed to see the reason it was bloody, as a freshly killed boar lay on the ground.
Cave-Seto looked almost disapprovingly at the young boy before him, grunting as he gestured back to the boar. Mokuba timidly walked over to the dead animal, almost expecting it to jump up and try to gore him. Cave-Seto grabbed the animal's hind legs, then looked back at Mokuba, as if expecting something from him. Once more the teen grunted, obviously not understanding why the boy didn't want to touch the corpse. Finally, Mokuba grabbed the animal's front legs, grunting under the weight as he tried to lift it.
*Figures, I'm in a six year old body, I have a six year old's strength.* The raven haired boy did successfully manage to lift the boar, though he could feel his partner taking most of the weight. The two humans walked with their burden down the hill towards the cave and it's people in a trip that took only about fifteen minutes. As the two entered the cave community, Mokuba was startled to see a very big man with a bushy beard walking up to them. The man looked over the animal the two held between them before taking their burden from them. He smiled at both Mokuba and Cave-Seto, then gestured for the older to follow him as they took the carcass away, leaving the younger to himself. This did not last long, however, as two delicate hands wrapped themselves around his bare chest as a warm body pressed into his back.
The boy turned around to find himself staring at a smiling woman who promptly kissed him right on the forehead before picking him up in her arms and carrying him away. In any other setting, with anyone else, Mokuba would have immediately begun to struggle, trying to wiggle his way out of the woman's grasp. But here, now, the boy could feel no reason to fight against her. For some reason, he felt safe in her presence, safer than he had ever felt, even with his own brother.
*Who is this lady?* Mokuba thought. *And why does she seem so... familiar?* Mokuba tried to ask these questions directly, but when he tried to form words, all that came out of his mouth were simply grunts and murmurs. So, he contented himself by looking over his carrier. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement. Long, jet black hair similar to Mokuba's own framed her face which held calm and serene eyes as blue as the ocean's water. Her body was well built, strong, and obviously well taken care of. Her skin was clean, not covered in the grime the boy would have expected from someone living in the caveman days. Carefully, she sat down on a flat rock near the cave, setting her living cargo down in her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair lovingly. Mokuba closed his eyes as he laid back against her, a relaxed and contented feeling come over him as she stroked his head.
*Mommy.*
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Mokuba's eyes snapped open, the bright sunshine coming through his window hurting his open irises.
"Where did that come from?" Mokuba asked himself, sitting up in his bed. He looked around, as though making sure he was back home, and back in his proper clothes. Satisfied everything was back to normal, Mokuba looked at his clock to discover it was half past seven. "AAHH, I missing my shows!" the raven haired Kaiba yelled, diving out of bed as he tore downstairs, heading for the kitchen. A pot of coffee was being prepared and Mokuba could hear the sound of the TV in the living-room. Quickly, Mokuba pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and a box of Coco-Puffs from the pantry and poured a bowl, racing through the living room. Seto sat on the couch watching the news as he drank his coffee. Mokuba plopped down next to his brother, looking at him expectantly. For a few minutes, Seto pretended not to notice his younger brother, finally acknowledging the boy's presence when Mokuba cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Oh, you're up?" Seto said, trying his best to hide his amused smirk.
"Yes," Mokuba said, eyeing the remote in the young CEO's hand. "Um Seto, are you gonna be on long?"
"Why? Do you need to use the television?"
"It's Saturday morning," Mokuba stated trying to remain patient. *Can't he see that we're losing valuable cartoon watching time?!*
"I see."
"Can I have the remote now?!"
"This remote?"
"Seto!!" At this the elder Kaiba laughed at his brother's outburst before handing him the remote. Happily, Mokuba switched the channels on the big screen, and Seto was treated to the inane sounding end theme of a cartoon. In truth, the KaibaCorp CEO was not overly found of cartoons, particularly since his experiences on Duelist Kingdom, but for his younger brother's sake, he tolerated them. "Nuts, I missed the first episode of Digimon."
*Gee, now you'll only get to see three episodes this morning,* Seto thought, smiling at his brother's enthusiasm. The elder Kaiba looked at his watch, then back at his younger brother, a twinge of sadness passing over him as he realized he still had appointments to keep. He missed such opportunities to spend time with his beloved brother. Still, business was business, and the sooner he got this done with, the sooner he'd be able to have his own fun. Seto got up from the couch, not the least bit surprised Mokuba didn't even notice he was leaving as the boy began to sing along with his show, spraying chunks of cereal everywhere. In truth Mokuba was halfway through his cartoon before he even noticed Seto was gone.
*Oh well, guess I'll see him at the tournament finals with Jack and Shale.*
************************************************
Meanwhile, at Domino City Museum, Isis Ishtar walked down the empty hallways of the building. While it did greatly please her to see the museum full of patrons clamoring to learn more about ancient civilizations, the serene quiet of the museum when it was empty helped her to concentrate on other matters. At present, what occupied her mind was the explosion of darkness energy she had felt barely a weak ago. She had attempted to use her Millennium Necklace to find out what had happened to rupture the Shadow Realm so badly. But something, something with tremendous power, had blocked the item's time piercing gaze, even going so far as to send a backlash of energy that almost fried the necklace. Of course the Egyptian had tried again, but for some reason, it was as if the entire event had been wiped from all memory.
Isis looked up to find she had wandered into the section of her museum dedicated to prehistoric times. Though not nearly as large as her Egyptian wing, this section was blessed with many ancient artifacts that had been found in Domino City itself, a glimpse into the way the city had looked so very long ago. The wielder of the Millennium Necklace's eyes fell upon an exhibit that was supposed to show a typical day in the life of a caveman. She was surprised to see a different exhibit that what she remembered. Normally, there was a blonde haired woman caring for an infant in front of a cave while a man, possibly her mate, battled with a sabretooth. Now, a woman with long black hair sat on a rock holding a six year old boy with equally long black hair. Nearby stood two hunters, returning with a boar.
*I guess they finally decided the old exhibit was a bit cliche,* Isis thought to herself. That was when she noticed something. The woman's hand was moving, ever so slightly, stroking her son's mane. And the child's bare chest was expanding and contracting as he breathed in relaxation. *Are they... alive?* With such thoughts in her head, Isis moved closer to the exhibit to examine these strange people who seemed to have taken up residence in her museum. As she got closer, however, a black sphere of energy appeared behind woman and child and, much to Isis's horror, out stepped a hitotsumi giant, complete with a massive club. The woman looked up in horror, grabbing her child as she dove for cover. The cyclops was quick, smashing rocks to rubble with his club as he cornered the two. The elder Ishtar reached into her robes, quickly drawing a dueling deck as her millennium item activated, hoping she would be in time to save the two. The club came down, and Isis did not need her item to tell her she would not make it in time. She averted her eyes to keep from seeing the result of the attack, only to be blinded by a brilliant light.
Isis looked up to see the exhibit was now exactly the way she remembered it. There weren't even any markings where the giant had struck the rocks. That was when the museum curator noticed a beam of light shooting from the eye of her Millennium Necklace, heading straight into the cave. This was soon followed by a second beam of light originating from behind the woman. She looked to find it coming from the eye etched into a golden rod held by a white haired Egyptian boy wearing many golden chain necklaces around his neck. Behind
him stood two nondescript men in black robes, hoods covering their faces.
"Malik...," Isis said. "It is good to see you again, my brother, but I do wish you wouldn't stoop to such childish pranks to gain my attention." At those words, Malik Ishtar seemed almost to be insulted.
"Lamentably, I was not the originator of that truly inspired little drama we just saw," Malik said.
"Then why have you returned to Domino City?"
"The oddest thing. About a weak ago one of my followers was in Domino City on business," Malik said, lifting up an ancient stone ax as though examining it. "You can imagine my surprise when the connection between my servant and myself was rather violently broken. When I tried to re-establish contact, I found there was nothing to make contact with. Then I find out that Domino City has experienced an involuntary... renovation?" So saying, Malik points the stone ax at his sister. "Care to shed any further light on this puzzle?"
"Alas, you know more than I at this point, I didn't even know a rare hunter was involved. All my attempts to try to read the past of the event have been blocked."
"Blocked?"
"Yes. And now this whole episode at the museum," Isis said. Her brother moved over to the cave, his two shadows following him as he examined the cavern.
"Any idea what IS in here?"
"It was the home of a tribe of caveman that lived in this area during the prehistoric era. It was where we got most of our exhibits and, due to it's scientific value, it was preserved and used as an exhibit in the museum. As far as I know, though, it's been fully excavated. There should not be anything in there but paintings."
"And yet both our millennium items seem to want to go inside," Malik said as he began to walk into the opening. "I believe I shall indulge mine, what about you sister?" With those words, the two Ishtar siblings entered the cave.
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Mokuba lay on top of an inflatable mattress, floating in the middle of the pool in his backyard. Sunglasses sat on his face as he let himself soak up the bright rays of the sun, his hands behind his head as he felt himself going to sleep. An alarm clock sat on one of the deck tables, ready to alert the boy to when he was supposed to be at Kaibaland. For the life of him, Mokuba couldn't think of why he'd been feeling so tired over the recent days. Slowly, his eyelids drooped down under his glasses. Valiantly, the boy tried to stay awake, but soon, the only sound that could be heard from the pool was a soft snoring.
**************************
As Mokuba's eyes reopened, found himself back at the mouth of the cave, still sitting in the lap of the woman he had dubbed his "mother". Or at least the mother of whatever character he was supposed to be in this dream. That was when Cave-Seto came walking up, a slab of meat in his hands that he presented to the woman. Once more the cave-lady kissed Mokuba's head, setting him down on the ground as she went to take the meat. Suddenly, another hand grabbed the food, snatching it out of Cave-Seto's grip. Mokuba looked to see who'd done something so rude, and was extremely distressed to find himself looking into the face of Gozabura.
The younger Kaiba scrambled to hide from the evil man. Cave-Seto tried to retake the meat, only to be knocked away by the adult. The Cave-Lady, on the other hand, simply took the food from the Cave-Gozabura, scowling at him as she did so. Mokuba watched as the caveman got a familiar angry look on his face, squeaking in warning as he pulled back a fist. Cave-Gozabura never got to throw his punch, however, as a bigger hand grabbed Cave-Gozabura's wrist. Mokuba looked to see it was the same man he'd seen before, the one who'd relieved both Cave-Seto and himself of their burden. Next to him stood a withered old man leaning on a knarled stick, a long beard coming down to his feet. Both did not look overly pleased with Cave-Gozabura, and the big hunter growled, effectively telling the smaller man to leave. Mokuba watched Cave-Gozabura from his hiding place, only feeling safe when the evil man was finally out of sight.
*So much for this place being paradise,* Mokuba bitterly thought. *Who invited that loser into my dream?*
(He was there before, you just don't remember him.) Mokuba was a bit startled that someone had heard him, especially since he'd thought he'd only been thinking to himself. The boy looked around for the source of the voice, but both Cave-Seto and the elder hunter seemed preoccupied with each other, and his "mother" had taken the gift of meat over to the fire. Once more Mokuba tried to ask a question out loud, only to hear grunts and mumbling come from his lips. (You can't talk because you don't know how,) came the same voice from earlier.
*Yes I do,* Mokuba thought back, a bit harshly, as though he was defending his intelligence against someone who thought him a simpleton. *Who are you?*
(I am...)
"Clint Thompson, your Eye in the Sky, reporting live from T-Block Drive..."
*********************
Mokuba looked up from his raft, a bit confused as to his sudden change in surroundings. Memory came back to him soon, however, as he looked over to his clock. The red numbers read clearly three o'clock as the annoying voice of a traffic reporter yelled over the speakers. The young Kaiba rolled over, falling into the water as he swam like a frog over to the clock, roughly smacking the machine to turn it off as he pulled himself out of the pool. He had only about an hour to get to Kaibaland on time, and that also included stopping to pick up his friends at their respective houses. Quickly the raven-haired boy grabbed his towel, drying himself off as he ran into the house, slipping a little on the linoleum. Up the stairs and to his room, stopping only briefly to toss his now soaked swim trunks into the bathroom to dry. He threw open his closet and... was immediately dismayed at what he found.
He stared directly at the only clothes he had left, his least favorite uniform. A pair of uncomfortable khaki pants, a ruffled white loop and button shirt, and a fur-lined, red cape/coat with a drawstring around the neck that was almost two sizes too big for him. This was the uniform his adopted father, Gozabura, and for a brief time even his elder brother, had insisted he wear in public to make himself look presentable.
*As long as I have to have you in my home, you will not embarrass me by looking like some piece of street trash.* Gozabura's words still rang through Mokuba's mind, stinging him. He was very well aware that Gozabura had not wanted him at all and would have been much happier if Seto had lost the chess match and been forced to leave Mokuba behind at the orphanage. It had been the same every time. Prospective parents eagerly looked forward to adopting a genius child, but if he came with the extra baggage of a little brother, no way. The young Kaiba sometimes wondered just how many good homes he'd cost his elder brother.
*And then when we finally do find a home, it turns out to be a nightmare,* Mokuba thought to himself. Slowly, Mokuba reached into the closet, pulling the aforementioned clothes out, shuddering a little at their feel. Quickly he got dressed and examined himself in the mirror. The uniform still fit the same way it had before, tight pants and shirt, with an overly loose jacket, all combining to make him look like a small, helpless toddler. *I look like a toddler in this.* For the briefest moments, the boy considered going to the hamper and pulling out something he'd already worn, but immediately discarded that plan. As much as he hated wearing this ridiculous get-up, the thought of embarrassing Seto by showing up in something that was smelly and unwashed made him feel worse. Silently, the boy descended his stairs, finally ready to leave.
*****************************************
It was a big day at Kaibaland, the second annual celebration of the beginning of one of Seto Kaiba's grandest schemes, the Battle City tournament. Every year since then, Kaibaland had played host to a much smaller Duel Monsters Tournament. The grand prize for this little game was a check of ten thousand dollars. The catch, you had to beat none other than Seto Kaiba himself to take home the prize, a fact that insured a healthy amount of competition.
The CEO of KaibaCorp smiled as he looked at the standings. He recognized a few names from the earlier tournament, but for the most part, these were new up and coming duelists.
*Good, the old crop was getting boring,* Kaiba thought to himself. He smiled again, remembering last year when a young blonde girl, possibly only a year younger then Mokuba, had simply handed the arrogant duelist, Bandit Keith, a shut-out defeat. Even Seto had found himself laughing as the girl squealed and giggled to her teddy bear, even going so far as to point out when Bandit Keith had used his wrist bands to switch cards. The elder duelist had had to be escorted out of the park, he'd been so mad. *What was her name? Rebecca something?* It didn't really matter, she wasn't here this year. Nor for that matter, was Bandit Keith.
The final match of the tournament drew to a close, Seto looked to study the teen who would be his opponent. He was a cocky one, with spiky brown hair, and a ridiculous purple outfit on that read "To be the best, you must beat the best" on its back. He openly pointed out the flaws in his opponent's deck, though he himself used only a basic beatdown deck. Finally, the other's score came down to zero and the match ended. Seto Kaiba began to clap as he walked out to the arena floor.
***************************************
Meda-Bat watched the elder Kaiba carefully, and so to did Kiz Retall. The teen certainly seemed perfectly normal to the dark spellcaster, despite what Zoa said.
*Oh well, if that egotistical fool should prove right, I'll be more than happy to take that power from him and give it to my master,* Kiz thought to himself, glancing over at a small alcove with a curtain drawn around it. Suddenly, the view from the Meda-Bat shifted, leaving Seto Kaiba and refocusing on a member of the crowd. The Dark-Eyes Illusionist immediately recognized the new target, it was Mokuba Kaiba. If Kiz had lips, he would have laughed. The boy looked ridiculous. Suddenly, a voice sounded in Kiz's mind.
"Watch him carefully." The illusionist recognized this voice, it was a voice that filled him with both fear... and admiration. "The brother's Kaiba are important."
"Why?" Kiz asked.
"You need not that information, simply do as I tell you and you will be richly rewarded." For the life of him, Kiz could not see anything terribly interesting about the little rat. He looked almost identical to every other ugly human in the crowd. Still...
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Seto stared out over the arena, looking at the three monsters that had been assembled before him. Two La-Jinns and a Bistro Butcher, all 1800 creatures, and all pretty much impossible to remove, especially thanks to the Imperial Order trap that prevented all magic form being used. The elder Kaiba was beginning to regret choosing not to use his normal deck instead of the watered down one he currently had as he looked out at the hapless Dragon Searcher that stood between him and his opponent's monsters.
"So this you're the World Champion, huh?" the boy began to taunt. "Somehow I expected more from someone of your reputation." So saying, the boy drew another card from his deck, smiling as he saw it. "Well, since you're not gonna give me a challenge, I guess I'll just use my trump card here and collect my prize." So saying, the two La-Jinn's disappeared as a Dark Magician appeared on the field. "Dark Magician, Dark Magic attack." The elven sorcerer raised his hand, sending a wave of energy at Seto's Dragon Searcher, blowing it to smithereens. The Dark Magician smiled at Seto as the boy then attacked with the Bistro Butcher, dropping the World Champion's life points to a thousand. This did have the beneficial effect of letting Kaiba draw two more of his cards, unfortunately, neither of them was very good.
*Just my luck, all my good cards are at the bottom of the deck,* Kaiba thought as he looked at the three cards in his hands. Only one monster and two traps, and the monster was a simple Krokodilus. Seto looked over in the crowd where Mokuba and his friends sat, he just knew his younger brother was behind the weak monster's appearance. *Maybe I can use a bluff.* With those thoughts, Seto Kaiba lay down Krokodilus in attack mode, as well as setting a magic card face down. That's when he noticed something as he stared at the Dark Magician. The spellcaster was not looking at him, or at the Krokodilus that had appeared on the field, but rather was looking into the crowd. His face was no longer the expressionless mask Seto had programmed him with. He looked almost... afraid. Then the KaibaCorp CEO looked at his own monster. Krokodilus was grinning, a big toothy grin, like he knew some secret he was simply dying to spill. His eyes too were on the crowd. Seto looked over, wondering what they were finding so interesting. He was quite surprised to find that the object of their attentions was Mokuba.
The long haired boy leaned over in his seat, wearing that horrid outfit Gozabura had gotten him, looking for all intents and purposes like the perfect fan. But there was something off. He was grinning, an almost menacing grin Seto had not seen on his face for the longest time.
*Is he trying to scare the duel monster?* Seto asked himself. That was when he noticed Krokodilus's attack point value. It had tripled, climbing from a puny 1100 to a very muscular 3300. On the other side of the field, the Dark Magician's attack power had dropped to a mere 100. *What's going on? There must be a glitch in the system.*
"Hey, what's this?" Seto's opponent said, noticing the new differences in their monsters. "There's no way this can be right, what's going on?!"
"Krokodilus, clean his clock!" called Mokuba from the audience. Normally, all this would do nothing. It took a command directly spoken into the microphone of the podium to get the holograms to do anything, everything else was simply ignored. This time, however, Korkodilus leapt forward, his claws and jaws rending the Dark Magician to pieces and lowering the boy's life points by 3200.
"That's no fair, your cheating!" the boy yelled.
"No, there's obviously something wrong with the system," Seto Kaiba said as he switched off the battle arena. "As such I'm going to have to postpone this match."
"That means you forfeit, I win by default."
"If you wish to interpret it that way, I could care less," Seto said as he walked away, casting a glance to where Mokuba was staring at him.
*********************************************
Of course, these events were not lost on Kiz Retall, who had watched the match with little actual interest. At least, until the so-called hardware problems occurred. It was rather interesting that just as the elder Kaiba was going to lose, his monster had suddenly had a power surge.
*And yet, it was not from him that I sensed that power,* the Dark-Eyes Illusionist thought, his gaze falling on the patch of black hair that had screamed at the beast warrior. *Could Zoa be wrong?*
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Mokuba had returned home, more than a little dissatisfied with the way his day had turned out. He'd been hoping for a truly spectacular duel for his brother, but had been instead been treated to a display of technical difficulty. And to top it off, he'd been seen in public in that awful outfit. Shale and Jake had almost burst with laughter when they'd seen him in that ridiculous cape. The younger Kaiba had been lucky neither one had brought a camera. The last thing he needed was hard evidence that he ever wore this thing. To make matters worse, he had returned home to find all his clothes cleaned, pressed, and neatly folded on his bed, waiting for him to put them up. The twelve year old looked out of his window, just in time to see a very familiar head of pink, blond, and brown spiky hair walking past his house.
"Yugi?" Mokuba said, wondering why the reigning King of Games was in his neighborhood. "He needs to get himself a bike or something if he wants to travel this far from home." With those words, Mokuba turned away, getting ready to put up his clothes. Suddenly, he gripped the edge of his nightstand as his legs began to feel weak. Quickly he regained his composure, his eyes shifting into their red and black form. He looked out the window, but Yugi was gone. Silently, the boy reached into his nightstand, pulling out paper and pen as he jotted down a quick note. Solemnly, the boy moved downstairs, tacking the not to the door of his brother's home office before he walked out the door, his cape flapping in the wind.
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Well, that's it for now. I know, I know, this chapter was a little boring, and there wasn't much action, but it was meant to set up for the next chapter. So now what happens you ask? Why did the duel system go haywire? What will Malik and Isis find in that cave? You'll have to wait until next time, when it's Mokuba vs. Yami. Oh, and before I forget, thanks to Mystical Sand for the website, it was a big help. As always please read and review, your reviews help me make my story better. Well, until next time, see ya.
By Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, I wish I did 'cause then I'd be rich. Since I'm not, suing me would be pointless.
Summary: Mokuba is finally free from his grounding, just in time to see Seto's Kaibaland tournament come to a close. But something strange happens as the holograms begin to act funny. And the one who's after Seto finally reveals himself.
*_* - Personal Thoughts
/_/ - Yugi to Yami
\_\ - Yami to Yugi
(_) - Voice to Mokuba
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It had been a full week since Mokuba had last seen the light of day, and the boy eagerly waited for his elder brother to lift the punishment. The long haired boy had only been allowed out of his room for school and the restroom, and he was seriously getting sick of looking at the same four walls. The worst part was he didn't even remember what he'd supposedly done to deserve this.
*Not that it'll matter in another three minutes,* the younger Kaiba thought, looking at his clock as he waited for Seto to come home. Next to the boy sat his private deck of duel monsters cards, the only fun thing he'd been allowed to have the whole week. *Ah well, I had been meaning to spruce up my deck for the longest time.* Soon, there came a knocking at the boy's door, as in walked his elder brother.
"Well, today's the day kid," Seto said, smiling. "I bet you're excited to finally be a free man."
"Yes!" Mokuba practically screamed. Seto walked over to Mokuba's window looking outside at the night sky.
"And what better day to end a term of imprisonment then on a Friday. The only question remaining is whether or not you've learned your lesson," said the elder Kaiba, trying to remember the speech their real father had used on him when he'd been punished.
"Of course, Seto," Mokuba said, lying. How could he possibly learn a lesson when he didn't even remember running away from school?
"Very well then, consider your grounding lifted," the young CEO said, and then added. "And don't you ever scare me like that again." With a laugh and a jump for joy, Mokuba charged out of his room, no doubt to call his friends and make plans, leaving his elder brother behind.
"Thanks, Seto," the boy called back. Seto smiled, glad to finally see his younger brother back to his normal self.
*So this is what it's like to raise a child. No wonder Dad had so many gray hairs,* Seto thought as he exited the room. It was at that point that a chill came over the teen. *What was that about?*
********************************************
Kiz Retall, the Dark Eyes Illusionist, watched the sphere across his staff as the scene between the brothers Kaiba played itself out. His Meda-Bat spy was doing well staying out of sight, the sorcerer had to admit. Finally, something had been able to stay on Seto Kaiba for a length of time without being destroyed.
"I see your spy survives still," came a harsh voice that made Kiz cringe. The spellcaster turned around to stare at the owner of the voice, the master of the darker regions of the Shadow Realm, the mighty fiend Zoa. The blue demon's huge legs strode over to his magical servant, his almost human face smiling at Kiz and showing off his rows of sharp teeth.
"M... M... Master Zoa... I did not hear you arrive," Kiz said. "To what does your humble servant owe this most honorable visit?"
"Simply checking on the progress of your project, it has after all been three weeks since you were given this... Opportunity."
"Yes but it's only been five days on earth. You must have more patience, oh master of the night."
"I have had patience for over nine hundred thousand years," Zoa said, beginning to loose his temper before calming down. "Still you apparently have been having success. Be warned though, both the Fusionist and the Witty Phantom failed in this same mission, and paid for it with their lives. Do not believe that simply because you use a pawn to run the risks that you are immune to such a fate."
"You have nothing to fear, sir, my Meda-Bats have never failed me. We are simply waiting for the most opportune time to snatch the elder Kaiba. But one has to wonder why a mere human would so interest one as powerful as you."
"That mere human is quite possibly a reservoir for the greatest source of energy ever to exist on this world," Zoa said, turning to leave. "And with such power at my command, not even those three meddling gods will have the power to stop me. Now, proceed, and dare not fail me."
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Mokuba's eyes opened onto a scene of almost stark tranquillity as he found himself sitting next to a fish filled pond. The sun shone brightly overhead as the younger Kaiba heard the happy sound of children laughing. The boy stood up just in time to feel a warm wind smack right into his exposed chest. He cast a glance over at the pond, and was quite startled to see his reflection. He looked almost six years younger! While this might had sparked the boy's curiosity, at the moment Mokuba was more distressed at the fact that he was out in the open and almost naked. The raven haired boy looked down to find that he was no longer wearing his favorite red and yellow shirt and blue jeans. In fact, save for a simple loincloth made from some kind of animal skin wrapped around his waist, he wasn't wearing anything. Mokuba's arms flew to cover his tanned body an embarrassed look coming over his face as he thought about complete strangers seeing him in such a state. The boy needn't have worried, however. As he looked over in the direction of the voices, he found what he was wearing was not uncommon here.
Before him, a group of about fifty people went about their lives in front of a big cave set at the foot of a mountain. Children about his age, or at least his age here, played near the mouth of the cave, under the watchful eye of the adults. The whole scene screamed of a primativeness that made Mokuba think of a caveman exhibit he'd seen during a school fieldtrip. All were barely clothed, many in the same outfit Mokuba currently found himself in, and he could just make out tools that looked to be made of stone. Cautiously, the younger Kaiba began to walk to the cave, only to feel a strong hand grip his bare shoulder.
Startled, the boy looked up to see the one person hadn't expected, Seto. Or at least he looked like his elder brother. This Seto looked only about a year younger than Mokuba remembered, and his brown hair was longer and messier. Mokuba also notice his "brother's" body was more muscular and he looked hairer too, with the beginnings of a beard and mustache on his face. That's when the young Kaiba noticed what else was in the young man's other hand; a spear with a sharp stone head; a bloody head. Mokuba had only to look where the spear pointed to see the reason it was bloody, as a freshly killed boar lay on the ground.
Cave-Seto looked almost disapprovingly at the young boy before him, grunting as he gestured back to the boar. Mokuba timidly walked over to the dead animal, almost expecting it to jump up and try to gore him. Cave-Seto grabbed the animal's hind legs, then looked back at Mokuba, as if expecting something from him. Once more the teen grunted, obviously not understanding why the boy didn't want to touch the corpse. Finally, Mokuba grabbed the animal's front legs, grunting under the weight as he tried to lift it.
*Figures, I'm in a six year old body, I have a six year old's strength.* The raven haired boy did successfully manage to lift the boar, though he could feel his partner taking most of the weight. The two humans walked with their burden down the hill towards the cave and it's people in a trip that took only about fifteen minutes. As the two entered the cave community, Mokuba was startled to see a very big man with a bushy beard walking up to them. The man looked over the animal the two held between them before taking their burden from them. He smiled at both Mokuba and Cave-Seto, then gestured for the older to follow him as they took the carcass away, leaving the younger to himself. This did not last long, however, as two delicate hands wrapped themselves around his bare chest as a warm body pressed into his back.
The boy turned around to find himself staring at a smiling woman who promptly kissed him right on the forehead before picking him up in her arms and carrying him away. In any other setting, with anyone else, Mokuba would have immediately begun to struggle, trying to wiggle his way out of the woman's grasp. But here, now, the boy could feel no reason to fight against her. For some reason, he felt safe in her presence, safer than he had ever felt, even with his own brother.
*Who is this lady?* Mokuba thought. *And why does she seem so... familiar?* Mokuba tried to ask these questions directly, but when he tried to form words, all that came out of his mouth were simply grunts and murmurs. So, he contented himself by looking over his carrier. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement. Long, jet black hair similar to Mokuba's own framed her face which held calm and serene eyes as blue as the ocean's water. Her body was well built, strong, and obviously well taken care of. Her skin was clean, not covered in the grime the boy would have expected from someone living in the caveman days. Carefully, she sat down on a flat rock near the cave, setting her living cargo down in her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair lovingly. Mokuba closed his eyes as he laid back against her, a relaxed and contented feeling come over him as she stroked his head.
*Mommy.*
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Mokuba's eyes snapped open, the bright sunshine coming through his window hurting his open irises.
"Where did that come from?" Mokuba asked himself, sitting up in his bed. He looked around, as though making sure he was back home, and back in his proper clothes. Satisfied everything was back to normal, Mokuba looked at his clock to discover it was half past seven. "AAHH, I missing my shows!" the raven haired Kaiba yelled, diving out of bed as he tore downstairs, heading for the kitchen. A pot of coffee was being prepared and Mokuba could hear the sound of the TV in the living-room. Quickly, Mokuba pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and a box of Coco-Puffs from the pantry and poured a bowl, racing through the living room. Seto sat on the couch watching the news as he drank his coffee. Mokuba plopped down next to his brother, looking at him expectantly. For a few minutes, Seto pretended not to notice his younger brother, finally acknowledging the boy's presence when Mokuba cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Oh, you're up?" Seto said, trying his best to hide his amused smirk.
"Yes," Mokuba said, eyeing the remote in the young CEO's hand. "Um Seto, are you gonna be on long?"
"Why? Do you need to use the television?"
"It's Saturday morning," Mokuba stated trying to remain patient. *Can't he see that we're losing valuable cartoon watching time?!*
"I see."
"Can I have the remote now?!"
"This remote?"
"Seto!!" At this the elder Kaiba laughed at his brother's outburst before handing him the remote. Happily, Mokuba switched the channels on the big screen, and Seto was treated to the inane sounding end theme of a cartoon. In truth, the KaibaCorp CEO was not overly found of cartoons, particularly since his experiences on Duelist Kingdom, but for his younger brother's sake, he tolerated them. "Nuts, I missed the first episode of Digimon."
*Gee, now you'll only get to see three episodes this morning,* Seto thought, smiling at his brother's enthusiasm. The elder Kaiba looked at his watch, then back at his younger brother, a twinge of sadness passing over him as he realized he still had appointments to keep. He missed such opportunities to spend time with his beloved brother. Still, business was business, and the sooner he got this done with, the sooner he'd be able to have his own fun. Seto got up from the couch, not the least bit surprised Mokuba didn't even notice he was leaving as the boy began to sing along with his show, spraying chunks of cereal everywhere. In truth Mokuba was halfway through his cartoon before he even noticed Seto was gone.
*Oh well, guess I'll see him at the tournament finals with Jack and Shale.*
************************************************
Meanwhile, at Domino City Museum, Isis Ishtar walked down the empty hallways of the building. While it did greatly please her to see the museum full of patrons clamoring to learn more about ancient civilizations, the serene quiet of the museum when it was empty helped her to concentrate on other matters. At present, what occupied her mind was the explosion of darkness energy she had felt barely a weak ago. She had attempted to use her Millennium Necklace to find out what had happened to rupture the Shadow Realm so badly. But something, something with tremendous power, had blocked the item's time piercing gaze, even going so far as to send a backlash of energy that almost fried the necklace. Of course the Egyptian had tried again, but for some reason, it was as if the entire event had been wiped from all memory.
Isis looked up to find she had wandered into the section of her museum dedicated to prehistoric times. Though not nearly as large as her Egyptian wing, this section was blessed with many ancient artifacts that had been found in Domino City itself, a glimpse into the way the city had looked so very long ago. The wielder of the Millennium Necklace's eyes fell upon an exhibit that was supposed to show a typical day in the life of a caveman. She was surprised to see a different exhibit that what she remembered. Normally, there was a blonde haired woman caring for an infant in front of a cave while a man, possibly her mate, battled with a sabretooth. Now, a woman with long black hair sat on a rock holding a six year old boy with equally long black hair. Nearby stood two hunters, returning with a boar.
*I guess they finally decided the old exhibit was a bit cliche,* Isis thought to herself. That was when she noticed something. The woman's hand was moving, ever so slightly, stroking her son's mane. And the child's bare chest was expanding and contracting as he breathed in relaxation. *Are they... alive?* With such thoughts in her head, Isis moved closer to the exhibit to examine these strange people who seemed to have taken up residence in her museum. As she got closer, however, a black sphere of energy appeared behind woman and child and, much to Isis's horror, out stepped a hitotsumi giant, complete with a massive club. The woman looked up in horror, grabbing her child as she dove for cover. The cyclops was quick, smashing rocks to rubble with his club as he cornered the two. The elder Ishtar reached into her robes, quickly drawing a dueling deck as her millennium item activated, hoping she would be in time to save the two. The club came down, and Isis did not need her item to tell her she would not make it in time. She averted her eyes to keep from seeing the result of the attack, only to be blinded by a brilliant light.
Isis looked up to see the exhibit was now exactly the way she remembered it. There weren't even any markings where the giant had struck the rocks. That was when the museum curator noticed a beam of light shooting from the eye of her Millennium Necklace, heading straight into the cave. This was soon followed by a second beam of light originating from behind the woman. She looked to find it coming from the eye etched into a golden rod held by a white haired Egyptian boy wearing many golden chain necklaces around his neck. Behind
him stood two nondescript men in black robes, hoods covering their faces.
"Malik...," Isis said. "It is good to see you again, my brother, but I do wish you wouldn't stoop to such childish pranks to gain my attention." At those words, Malik Ishtar seemed almost to be insulted.
"Lamentably, I was not the originator of that truly inspired little drama we just saw," Malik said.
"Then why have you returned to Domino City?"
"The oddest thing. About a weak ago one of my followers was in Domino City on business," Malik said, lifting up an ancient stone ax as though examining it. "You can imagine my surprise when the connection between my servant and myself was rather violently broken. When I tried to re-establish contact, I found there was nothing to make contact with. Then I find out that Domino City has experienced an involuntary... renovation?" So saying, Malik points the stone ax at his sister. "Care to shed any further light on this puzzle?"
"Alas, you know more than I at this point, I didn't even know a rare hunter was involved. All my attempts to try to read the past of the event have been blocked."
"Blocked?"
"Yes. And now this whole episode at the museum," Isis said. Her brother moved over to the cave, his two shadows following him as he examined the cavern.
"Any idea what IS in here?"
"It was the home of a tribe of caveman that lived in this area during the prehistoric era. It was where we got most of our exhibits and, due to it's scientific value, it was preserved and used as an exhibit in the museum. As far as I know, though, it's been fully excavated. There should not be anything in there but paintings."
"And yet both our millennium items seem to want to go inside," Malik said as he began to walk into the opening. "I believe I shall indulge mine, what about you sister?" With those words, the two Ishtar siblings entered the cave.
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Mokuba lay on top of an inflatable mattress, floating in the middle of the pool in his backyard. Sunglasses sat on his face as he let himself soak up the bright rays of the sun, his hands behind his head as he felt himself going to sleep. An alarm clock sat on one of the deck tables, ready to alert the boy to when he was supposed to be at Kaibaland. For the life of him, Mokuba couldn't think of why he'd been feeling so tired over the recent days. Slowly, his eyelids drooped down under his glasses. Valiantly, the boy tried to stay awake, but soon, the only sound that could be heard from the pool was a soft snoring.
**************************
As Mokuba's eyes reopened, found himself back at the mouth of the cave, still sitting in the lap of the woman he had dubbed his "mother". Or at least the mother of whatever character he was supposed to be in this dream. That was when Cave-Seto came walking up, a slab of meat in his hands that he presented to the woman. Once more the cave-lady kissed Mokuba's head, setting him down on the ground as she went to take the meat. Suddenly, another hand grabbed the food, snatching it out of Cave-Seto's grip. Mokuba looked to see who'd done something so rude, and was extremely distressed to find himself looking into the face of Gozabura.
The younger Kaiba scrambled to hide from the evil man. Cave-Seto tried to retake the meat, only to be knocked away by the adult. The Cave-Lady, on the other hand, simply took the food from the Cave-Gozabura, scowling at him as she did so. Mokuba watched as the caveman got a familiar angry look on his face, squeaking in warning as he pulled back a fist. Cave-Gozabura never got to throw his punch, however, as a bigger hand grabbed Cave-Gozabura's wrist. Mokuba looked to see it was the same man he'd seen before, the one who'd relieved both Cave-Seto and himself of their burden. Next to him stood a withered old man leaning on a knarled stick, a long beard coming down to his feet. Both did not look overly pleased with Cave-Gozabura, and the big hunter growled, effectively telling the smaller man to leave. Mokuba watched Cave-Gozabura from his hiding place, only feeling safe when the evil man was finally out of sight.
*So much for this place being paradise,* Mokuba bitterly thought. *Who invited that loser into my dream?*
(He was there before, you just don't remember him.) Mokuba was a bit startled that someone had heard him, especially since he'd thought he'd only been thinking to himself. The boy looked around for the source of the voice, but both Cave-Seto and the elder hunter seemed preoccupied with each other, and his "mother" had taken the gift of meat over to the fire. Once more Mokuba tried to ask a question out loud, only to hear grunts and mumbling come from his lips. (You can't talk because you don't know how,) came the same voice from earlier.
*Yes I do,* Mokuba thought back, a bit harshly, as though he was defending his intelligence against someone who thought him a simpleton. *Who are you?*
(I am...)
"Clint Thompson, your Eye in the Sky, reporting live from T-Block Drive..."
*********************
Mokuba looked up from his raft, a bit confused as to his sudden change in surroundings. Memory came back to him soon, however, as he looked over to his clock. The red numbers read clearly three o'clock as the annoying voice of a traffic reporter yelled over the speakers. The young Kaiba rolled over, falling into the water as he swam like a frog over to the clock, roughly smacking the machine to turn it off as he pulled himself out of the pool. He had only about an hour to get to Kaibaland on time, and that also included stopping to pick up his friends at their respective houses. Quickly the raven-haired boy grabbed his towel, drying himself off as he ran into the house, slipping a little on the linoleum. Up the stairs and to his room, stopping only briefly to toss his now soaked swim trunks into the bathroom to dry. He threw open his closet and... was immediately dismayed at what he found.
He stared directly at the only clothes he had left, his least favorite uniform. A pair of uncomfortable khaki pants, a ruffled white loop and button shirt, and a fur-lined, red cape/coat with a drawstring around the neck that was almost two sizes too big for him. This was the uniform his adopted father, Gozabura, and for a brief time even his elder brother, had insisted he wear in public to make himself look presentable.
*As long as I have to have you in my home, you will not embarrass me by looking like some piece of street trash.* Gozabura's words still rang through Mokuba's mind, stinging him. He was very well aware that Gozabura had not wanted him at all and would have been much happier if Seto had lost the chess match and been forced to leave Mokuba behind at the orphanage. It had been the same every time. Prospective parents eagerly looked forward to adopting a genius child, but if he came with the extra baggage of a little brother, no way. The young Kaiba sometimes wondered just how many good homes he'd cost his elder brother.
*And then when we finally do find a home, it turns out to be a nightmare,* Mokuba thought to himself. Slowly, Mokuba reached into the closet, pulling the aforementioned clothes out, shuddering a little at their feel. Quickly he got dressed and examined himself in the mirror. The uniform still fit the same way it had before, tight pants and shirt, with an overly loose jacket, all combining to make him look like a small, helpless toddler. *I look like a toddler in this.* For the briefest moments, the boy considered going to the hamper and pulling out something he'd already worn, but immediately discarded that plan. As much as he hated wearing this ridiculous get-up, the thought of embarrassing Seto by showing up in something that was smelly and unwashed made him feel worse. Silently, the boy descended his stairs, finally ready to leave.
*****************************************
It was a big day at Kaibaland, the second annual celebration of the beginning of one of Seto Kaiba's grandest schemes, the Battle City tournament. Every year since then, Kaibaland had played host to a much smaller Duel Monsters Tournament. The grand prize for this little game was a check of ten thousand dollars. The catch, you had to beat none other than Seto Kaiba himself to take home the prize, a fact that insured a healthy amount of competition.
The CEO of KaibaCorp smiled as he looked at the standings. He recognized a few names from the earlier tournament, but for the most part, these were new up and coming duelists.
*Good, the old crop was getting boring,* Kaiba thought to himself. He smiled again, remembering last year when a young blonde girl, possibly only a year younger then Mokuba, had simply handed the arrogant duelist, Bandit Keith, a shut-out defeat. Even Seto had found himself laughing as the girl squealed and giggled to her teddy bear, even going so far as to point out when Bandit Keith had used his wrist bands to switch cards. The elder duelist had had to be escorted out of the park, he'd been so mad. *What was her name? Rebecca something?* It didn't really matter, she wasn't here this year. Nor for that matter, was Bandit Keith.
The final match of the tournament drew to a close, Seto looked to study the teen who would be his opponent. He was a cocky one, with spiky brown hair, and a ridiculous purple outfit on that read "To be the best, you must beat the best" on its back. He openly pointed out the flaws in his opponent's deck, though he himself used only a basic beatdown deck. Finally, the other's score came down to zero and the match ended. Seto Kaiba began to clap as he walked out to the arena floor.
***************************************
Meda-Bat watched the elder Kaiba carefully, and so to did Kiz Retall. The teen certainly seemed perfectly normal to the dark spellcaster, despite what Zoa said.
*Oh well, if that egotistical fool should prove right, I'll be more than happy to take that power from him and give it to my master,* Kiz thought to himself, glancing over at a small alcove with a curtain drawn around it. Suddenly, the view from the Meda-Bat shifted, leaving Seto Kaiba and refocusing on a member of the crowd. The Dark-Eyes Illusionist immediately recognized the new target, it was Mokuba Kaiba. If Kiz had lips, he would have laughed. The boy looked ridiculous. Suddenly, a voice sounded in Kiz's mind.
"Watch him carefully." The illusionist recognized this voice, it was a voice that filled him with both fear... and admiration. "The brother's Kaiba are important."
"Why?" Kiz asked.
"You need not that information, simply do as I tell you and you will be richly rewarded." For the life of him, Kiz could not see anything terribly interesting about the little rat. He looked almost identical to every other ugly human in the crowd. Still...
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Seto stared out over the arena, looking at the three monsters that had been assembled before him. Two La-Jinns and a Bistro Butcher, all 1800 creatures, and all pretty much impossible to remove, especially thanks to the Imperial Order trap that prevented all magic form being used. The elder Kaiba was beginning to regret choosing not to use his normal deck instead of the watered down one he currently had as he looked out at the hapless Dragon Searcher that stood between him and his opponent's monsters.
"So this you're the World Champion, huh?" the boy began to taunt. "Somehow I expected more from someone of your reputation." So saying, the boy drew another card from his deck, smiling as he saw it. "Well, since you're not gonna give me a challenge, I guess I'll just use my trump card here and collect my prize." So saying, the two La-Jinn's disappeared as a Dark Magician appeared on the field. "Dark Magician, Dark Magic attack." The elven sorcerer raised his hand, sending a wave of energy at Seto's Dragon Searcher, blowing it to smithereens. The Dark Magician smiled at Seto as the boy then attacked with the Bistro Butcher, dropping the World Champion's life points to a thousand. This did have the beneficial effect of letting Kaiba draw two more of his cards, unfortunately, neither of them was very good.
*Just my luck, all my good cards are at the bottom of the deck,* Kaiba thought as he looked at the three cards in his hands. Only one monster and two traps, and the monster was a simple Krokodilus. Seto looked over in the crowd where Mokuba and his friends sat, he just knew his younger brother was behind the weak monster's appearance. *Maybe I can use a bluff.* With those thoughts, Seto Kaiba lay down Krokodilus in attack mode, as well as setting a magic card face down. That's when he noticed something as he stared at the Dark Magician. The spellcaster was not looking at him, or at the Krokodilus that had appeared on the field, but rather was looking into the crowd. His face was no longer the expressionless mask Seto had programmed him with. He looked almost... afraid. Then the KaibaCorp CEO looked at his own monster. Krokodilus was grinning, a big toothy grin, like he knew some secret he was simply dying to spill. His eyes too were on the crowd. Seto looked over, wondering what they were finding so interesting. He was quite surprised to find that the object of their attentions was Mokuba.
The long haired boy leaned over in his seat, wearing that horrid outfit Gozabura had gotten him, looking for all intents and purposes like the perfect fan. But there was something off. He was grinning, an almost menacing grin Seto had not seen on his face for the longest time.
*Is he trying to scare the duel monster?* Seto asked himself. That was when he noticed Krokodilus's attack point value. It had tripled, climbing from a puny 1100 to a very muscular 3300. On the other side of the field, the Dark Magician's attack power had dropped to a mere 100. *What's going on? There must be a glitch in the system.*
"Hey, what's this?" Seto's opponent said, noticing the new differences in their monsters. "There's no way this can be right, what's going on?!"
"Krokodilus, clean his clock!" called Mokuba from the audience. Normally, all this would do nothing. It took a command directly spoken into the microphone of the podium to get the holograms to do anything, everything else was simply ignored. This time, however, Korkodilus leapt forward, his claws and jaws rending the Dark Magician to pieces and lowering the boy's life points by 3200.
"That's no fair, your cheating!" the boy yelled.
"No, there's obviously something wrong with the system," Seto Kaiba said as he switched off the battle arena. "As such I'm going to have to postpone this match."
"That means you forfeit, I win by default."
"If you wish to interpret it that way, I could care less," Seto said as he walked away, casting a glance to where Mokuba was staring at him.
*********************************************
Of course, these events were not lost on Kiz Retall, who had watched the match with little actual interest. At least, until the so-called hardware problems occurred. It was rather interesting that just as the elder Kaiba was going to lose, his monster had suddenly had a power surge.
*And yet, it was not from him that I sensed that power,* the Dark-Eyes Illusionist thought, his gaze falling on the patch of black hair that had screamed at the beast warrior. *Could Zoa be wrong?*
***************************************************************************
Mokuba had returned home, more than a little dissatisfied with the way his day had turned out. He'd been hoping for a truly spectacular duel for his brother, but had been instead been treated to a display of technical difficulty. And to top it off, he'd been seen in public in that awful outfit. Shale and Jake had almost burst with laughter when they'd seen him in that ridiculous cape. The younger Kaiba had been lucky neither one had brought a camera. The last thing he needed was hard evidence that he ever wore this thing. To make matters worse, he had returned home to find all his clothes cleaned, pressed, and neatly folded on his bed, waiting for him to put them up. The twelve year old looked out of his window, just in time to see a very familiar head of pink, blond, and brown spiky hair walking past his house.
"Yugi?" Mokuba said, wondering why the reigning King of Games was in his neighborhood. "He needs to get himself a bike or something if he wants to travel this far from home." With those words, Mokuba turned away, getting ready to put up his clothes. Suddenly, he gripped the edge of his nightstand as his legs began to feel weak. Quickly he regained his composure, his eyes shifting into their red and black form. He looked out the window, but Yugi was gone. Silently, the boy reached into his nightstand, pulling out paper and pen as he jotted down a quick note. Solemnly, the boy moved downstairs, tacking the not to the door of his brother's home office before he walked out the door, his cape flapping in the wind.
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Well, that's it for now. I know, I know, this chapter was a little boring, and there wasn't much action, but it was meant to set up for the next chapter. So now what happens you ask? Why did the duel system go haywire? What will Malik and Isis find in that cave? You'll have to wait until next time, when it's Mokuba vs. Yami. Oh, and before I forget, thanks to Mystical Sand for the website, it was a big help. As always please read and review, your reviews help me make my story better. Well, until next time, see ya.