Target: Destiny

Chapter Eleven

qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp

A silver-haired soldier entered the gathering room of the main ship with a small microphone in her hand. Bakura, Malik, Jounouchi, and Malik's new second-in-command, Fenyang, were seated on the couch, looking over some paperwork. All four looked up as the transmissions officer bowed and held out the microphone.

"My king, it is from the capitol, the palace, to be specific," she told him. Bakura accepted the microphone, attaching it to his head, and the soldier backed out of the room. Bakura planted the speaker in his ear and adjusted the endpiece to rest in front of his mouth. The tele-comms interfered with the tracking signal of the main ship, so everyone onboard was required to use the somewhat ancient microphones. This was a problem Earth was supposed to be working out, but Bakura wondered if they still would.

"Bakura speaking," he said gruffly. He listened for a moment, then sighed. "All right then. Put her on." He slumped back against the couch and propped his feet up on the black oak coffee table in front of it. Within a minute, Malik could hear crying coming from the other end of the connection. Bakura winced. "I'm sorry, princess, but I can't come back right now. ...No, she can't bring you to me. ...No, you need to do what Aunt Careen says. ...He is? Okay, well, put him on."

Malik smiled slightly. It would seem that Ryoko was missing her dear father after a week and a half. All four men heard Ryoko screaming in the Bakurian language at someone in the background. Bakura assumed it to be Baku since the toddler could not understand Standard Universal as well as Bakurian yet.

"What are you doing to your sister?" Bakura demanded when the boy got on. "Don't do that. ...Boy, I'm going to bust your ass if- Okay, you do exactly what Aunt Careen and Aunt Mai say. ...No. ...If you're so bored, ask Ryoko to play with you." After a moment, Bakura chuckled. "Well, if you're desperate enough, you'll just have to play dress-up with her. ...Geez, okay, put her on."

Bakura smacked his palm to his face and shook his head. Malik raised a brow inquisitively. "Ryoko is mad because Careen won't bring her to me, and Baku is mad because he's bored, but Ryoko only wants to play dress-up, and Careen has something to tell me."

"Hello, Careen," Bakura greeted tiredly. "He did what? The little bugger didn't tell me about that. ...If he gets into my sword collection again, you are encouraged to whip his butt. ...Yeah. ...Okay, here he is." Bakura removed the microphone from his head and handed it to Malik. The blond placed it on his own head.

"You must miss me terribly," Malik boasted by way of greeting. Suddenly, his arrogant smirk faded, and his face burned red. "You slept with who! ...Raptia! Put him on. I'll kill that bastard. He's supposed to be gay!"

Bakura glanced at Fenyang and Jounouchi who whispered "uh oh." Malik slammed his hand down on the coffee table, causing the Earthling to jump a foot. "Careen, that's not bloody funny! Do not ever make a joke like that again! ...Oh, yeah, ha-fucking-ha. ...Well, of course the little brat thinks it's funny; he's three!"

The three men not on the microphone stifled their laughter with their hands. Careen to Malik: one to zero.

qpqpqpqpqp

Anzu was in the midst of a fitful sleep when formidable hiss of a vortex portal opening up shook her awake. She struggled to bend her head to her shoulder to rub any remaining sleep out of her eyes. After a moment, Anzu wondered if someone actually planned on coming through the portal. Chisara had already crossed the room to investigate and seemed as if she wanted to go back through the portal.

"Don't you dare!" Anzu yelled. "You've already gotten yourself into trouble by going into portals you weren't supposed to."

The kitten moved back a bit when someone finally came inside the small room.

"You're going to get in trouble!" Anzu hissed.

Mokuba waved his hand and closed off the portal. He padded over to Anzu and made quick work of releasing her from her chain.

"I don't think your brother will be dumb enough to believe you fell for my little trick twice," she pointed out with a frown. Mokuba sat her down and leaned her against the wall. She did not think her arms had ever been so sore her entire life. Her wrists were swolen from the cuffs, and her shoulders felt as if they had been pulled from their sockets. Anzu had already been held prisoner for nearly four weeks; she wondered if she was ever going to get to leave.

"Seto is gathering our magicians. My brother says your husband is supposed to be here any day," Mokuba told her.

Anzu's hopes rose. "Thank God."

Mokuba eyed her silently. "Why don't you want to marry my brother?"

The Earthling stared at the young boy pitifully. He obviously still did not understand what his brother had done to her, how he had torn her away from her family and put her and her unborn child in danger. "Mokuba, I have a family, and I love my husband."

"Does he love you, too?" the twelve-year-old asked.

Anzu nodded fervently. "Although he is an idiot sometimes, yes, he does love me."

Mokuba scooted closer to Anzu, pulling out a small sack of assorted dried fruits. She smiled gratefully. The room was silent for a few minutes as the boy hand-fed the Bakurian queen. Surprisingly, Mokuba pulled out a piece of meat after he was done feeding Anzu and handed it to the black panther sitting in her lap. The kitten snatched up the meat, growling as she did, and stalked off to a corner of the room to eat her food where no one could possibly steal it from her.

"Where did you get your kitty?" the ebony-haired Ascenian wondered aloud.

"On planet Yamisha, about nine years ago."

He shrugged. "Never heard of it. Hey, when are you supposed to have your baby?"

Anzu smiled happily. Mokuba was suddenly a bundle of questions, but she was happy to divulge information about her dear unborn child.

"In a week and a half," she replied, patting her stomach. "Want to feel the baby?"

"You can feel it?" Mokuba asked in awe. She nodded. Hesitantly, he held out his hand and tenderly touched her abdomen. He quickly withdrew his hand. Anzu smile reassuringly. He reached out again, resting his hand on her swolen stomach. He gasped, amazed, when he felt the baby kick.

"Is it a boy or girl?"

"I didn't find out," she responded. She expected his surprise. Nowadays, a simple home test could reveal the gender of a child just a few weeks into the pregnancy. She continued, "I found out ahead of time with my first two children. I wanted this one to be a surprise."

"Are your two other kids babies?" he asked as he leaned in curiously.

"Well, I have an eight-year-old daughter named Ryoko, and a three-year-old son named Bakura," she told him. Before he could respond, the room fell into darkness as a shadow was cast over the tiny window on the far wall. Mokuba stood and crossed the room to the window to investigate.

"It's ships. A bunch of them."

Anzu looked over at him. "Ships?" she echoed, hardly able to contain her joy. The boy nodded. He half-turned back to her, holding out his hand.

"I'm sorry, but I have to put you back," he said as he lifted his hand. Wordlessly, she floated up a few feet before the cuffs were re-attached to her wrists. Without another word, the boy summoned a vortex and disappeared through it quickly.

A few minutes later, another vortex opened up, but it was Seto Kaiba who stepped through this time. His smile was sinister. "The hero has arrived," he informed her smugly. She could not imagine what he had to be smug about.

"I'm sure he's not alone. You don't stand a chance, you know," she pointed out, scowling.

Seto's smile widened. "Mokuba was in here, wasn't he." It wasn't a question.

"No!" Anzu fired back angrily. He obviously did not believe her, but he didn't seem upset about it.

"I'm sure he's told you quite a bit," the Prime Minister continued. "You know, when I created him, there was so much lost that I had to compensate with much of my own magic. He doesn't even know how powerful he is."

"Why are you telling me this?" Anzu asked quietly, an upsetting feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. Seto didn't reply, but instead disappeared back through his vortex. Anzu stared at the spot where he had been, contemplating his words. Finally, she strained her neck to see out the window; however, she could only see the sky which was still shadowed over.

Suddenly, an unexpected pain jerked in her abdomen. She looked down the length of her body, realization dawning on her. Oh, please, God, no.

qpqpqpqpqp

"So," Malik concluded as he motioned with a finger on the map, "since we outnumber the Ascenians greatly, we should be able to easily overcome them on ground by moving in from the east and south where their villages are less. However, Aisu air force units will hover low for any extra assistance needed. The Lasyupians, obviously the strength, will be the force of the invasion along with three-quarters of the Bakurians. The remaining Bakurians will be snipers in remote areas focusing in on the palace."

The Aisu president, Lasyupia king, Bakura, and the commanders nodded in acknowledgment of their duties.

"Question," Fenyang said, raising a finger. "What is the casualty policy?"

"Eliminate only those who oppose you. Others will be taken hostage until further notice from either myself or Malik," Bakura spoke up.

"Understood," he replied, bowing his head and placing his right fist over his heart. The other men present followed suit with Bakura returning the gesture.

After everyone had left the meeting room of the main ship except Bakura and Malik, the younger of the two cleared his throat.

"I won't bother asking you not to go in there after her," Malik began. "But, let me go with you at least."

Bakura considered his cousin's proposition for a moment before finally nodding his appreciation. The two men exited the ship silently, each lost in their own thoughts. Fenyang met them at the bottom of the ship's ramp.

"My king, general," he began, "it seems the Ascenians won't go down without a fight." He motioned behind him. A mile or so away, an electrifying purple force field could be seen. It appeared to rise up from the ground and completely circle the palace and the closer surrounding villages.

Bakura cursed. He had not wanted things to be hard, but it seemed difficulty was now the only option they had.

"The little buggers are all pulling together for their little barrier. How cute," Malik sneered.

"You've got to be shittin' me," Fenyang said in disbelief, a pair of binoculars pressed up to his eyes.

"What is it?" Bakura demanded sharply. Slowly, Malik's second-in-command pulled the binoculars away and held them out to the king.

"See for yourself, your majesty," he said, still in shock.

Bakura took the proferred binoculars and held them up to his eyes. He looked through them, seeing nothing but the barrier. Then, he realized what had shocked the older man.

Standing on top of the highest tower of the ivory palace was a single person. He glowed bright purple, and electricity surrounded his body, jumping off of his very aura. His long hair was flying in the wind created by his power, and his arms were outstretched. He could be no older than twelve. And he was upholding the force field barrier all by himself.

qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp

Lots of 'uh ohs' in this chapter! Well, stay tuned to see what happens next.