AN: You know the drill…I don't own Yuigoh.
Crawford's Angels
Chapter 2: The First Angel
Seto Kaiba sat before his desk and hammered away at his computer. His mind wasn't on his work though, that was all meaningless to him since...he reached down instinctively to touch the card shaped locket that he wore around his neck.
Mokuba, his little brother; It had been exactly one year that he'd vanished. One full year and Seto had fallen into a depression to end all depressions. The only thing keeping him going was the feeling that Mokuba was still alive out there. Still fighting and trying to get back to Seto. He would find him. Deep down, he knew that he would do it. At the beginning he'd been optimistic, what fool would ever dare to try and steal his little brother. He'd rip their hearts out and feed it to them when he caught the bastard that took Mokuba.
But days turned into weeks, and weeks to months...and now a full year had passed. Seto stopped typing and put his hand to his face. He couldn't think; there had been no word from any of the detectives he'd sent out to find his brother. Nothing at all to go on. No ransom note, no reason for Mokuba to go missing. He was there one day and gone the next like a vision.
Tired, and completely exhausted from his inner struggles, Seto turned off his computer and walked down to the lobby of his office. As he passed through the doors to his waiting limo he spotted a blue Dodge Viper parked across the street. Something about it made him nervous, and he motioned to one of his assistants. The man nodded and started to approach the car, but before he even got within ten feet of it the Viper pulled out and sped off in the opposite direction.
Seto watched this with his brow narrowed. He didn't like it. But he was too tired to care at the moment, and got into his limo. The drive home was silent, as was every thing now in his life. He wanted out of it, the routine of the whole thing. He wanted to be out there looking for Mokuba. But he couldn't leave. Not with five members of his board going after the company. He sighed and closed his eyes.
Upon reaching home he walked in without even a hello to the butler that met him at the door. He climbed the stairs to his room, not caring if he had any dinner, and decided to go straight to bed. However, when he went into his room he found himself to tense when he touched the door knob.
There was that feeling again, the same one that he got when he saw the viper. Someone was watching him, waiting for him. Seto was not a man to be scared, so he pushed open the door with a hard BANG! Inside he stared around the dark room, and suddenly saw something move in the darkness.
"Who's there!" he asked, his voice sounding fierce.
"I'm here," a voice replied, and Seto saw the lights flick on beside him. He turned and saw a girl with hazel green eyes, and dark brown hair. She smiled at his stunned look, "Seto Kaiba, my name is Elysia Spencer, and I'm here to make you an Angel."
Seto stared at the girl that was in his room. She smiled again at him seeing his surprised expression. He looked her over to be sure she was really there. She had a pleasant face, and a nice shape. This strange girl was dressed in an orange business suit, and was quite petite. Slowly the shock wore off and it was replaced by a slow burning anger. He glared at the girl and spat.
"What are you doing in my house!"
"As I said," the girl replied. "My name is Elysia Spencer, and I'm here to make you an Angel."
"Yeah, well in about two seconds I'll make you a ghost!" He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her from the bedroom. "Now GET OUT!"
"Mr. Kaiba," stated Elysia, her smile wavering, "I'm here with a proposition for you..."
"How did you get into my house?"
"You're butler let me in, I told him that I was here on business, which I am..."
"I'm going to have to fire him." Seto gently dragged her down the staircase to the front hall.
"You certainly have a grip," Elyisa said calmly when they stopped by the door. "But allow me to show you something before you throw me out."
She pinched a nerve in his wrist and his hand went slack. To Seto's surprise she grabbed his wrist and twisted it just so, sending a ripple of pain up his arm and bringing it around his back. Spencer leaned close to his ear as she spoke.
"Now, as I said I'm here on business, no more, no less. My boss has been watching you for a while now, Mr. Kaiba, and he has asked me to give you an offer that will benefit you in the end."
"Huh," Seto growled. "Oh really, and does your boss tell you to go and attack people in their own house?"
"No, but I don't particularly like being man handled so..." she released him and Seto stood up. What she didn't know was that he could have easily gotten out of her grip, and lay her out flat. But that would have done no good; he wouldn't have known what she was up too. Spencer pulled from her pocket a card, and handed it to Seto. "Here, if you are interested in learning more, just type in the numbers on the bottom of the card, and we can talk."
Elysia headed for the door and paused before she left, "I trust that you will consider it, Mr. Kaiba."
Seto shut the door behind her and looked at the card. It was a plain white business card, with a silver angel on the front. Below was a set of numbers, and a website URL. He sniffed at it, crumpled it up and shoved it roughly in his pocket. He wasn't tired anymore, and decided to get something to eat.
Elysia sat in her car, and watched the large mansion. She'd changed out of her suit, and now was in black jeans, and a black turtle neck. Her mind wandered back to the young man that was inside, and his eyes. His picture had done him little good; he was far more attractive in person. But his eyes, they were so sad and haunted, like there was nothing going on inside his heart at all. A huge storm of anger, and rage.
"So you saw him?" the voice from behind her made her jump. She turned about and faced the green eyes of her partner, Ryuuji Otogi. Spencer snorted.
"Yeah I did, and what are you doing here?"
Ryuuji snaked his body around the driver's seat and grinned, "You keep trying to leave me behind. Isn't that sweet."
She gave him a shove, "Not that sweet. Besides I thought you were busy with other business."
He playfully poked her ear. "I was, and I finished it. Besides, who can resist hanging out with a pretty girl in a dark car?"
"Don't even think about it. Just because you're a year older then me doesn't mean you can…" Spencer stopped when she looked at him and a real smile played on his lips. She sighed and sat back. Why did her boss have to go for good looking guys anyway? Probably that obsession with that old tv show.
She had just closed her eye when the laptop made a beeping noise and she opened it up. "Spencer."
"Well?" came the voice of her boss from the screen.
"Not good, he freaked when I met with him," she explained and told him about the situation with Seto. The man frowned.
"You should have done it in public," he admonished her. "You will try again."
"I gave him my card, balls in his court now." She explained and he nodded. Her boss glanced over at Ryuuji who waved at him. "Ah I see you have company. Shall I leave you two alone?"
"No," she blurted out, and he laughed.
"As always Elysia-dear, easy to spook," he paused and grew serious as if he was listening to something. Elysia looked at Ryuuji who tensed. He could read their boss's body language.
"Humm…seems Croquet detected some low level reception in the area."
Elysia hit two keys on the keypad and brought up a small screen that showed activity of bugging devices. She frowned, there was quite a bit of it.
"I don't like this," she said to her boss. "Seems a bit strange that he...hold on, who's van is that?"
Pulling up across close to the mansion was a large black van with the lights off. Liz watched as two men jumped out of the van. They were dressed completely in black. Ryuuji slipped behind her.
"Something's happening," she told her boss. "I think...this isn't good. They've got guns!"
"Get him out of there now, Spencer," the man ordered. "If I'm right about this, then that boy's life is in danger."
No duh, she thought and shut the computer down, and shoved it into a slim backpack that she threw over her back. She jumped out of the car and hid by the wall. Ryuuji grabbed her by the arm.
"I'll distract them for a while, get the main staff out. You get him. Meet me at the bridge okay?" He whispered in her ear adding, "Besides what guy can resist a strong cute girl."
"Shut up," she spat back and watched him slide away from the hiding place. The men were busy getting their gear ready, and she knew she only had minutes to get to Kaiba. She climbed up the wall, and jumped down, then raced across the lawn of the large estate.
I just hope I'm in time. She thought.
Inside Seto sat at his kitchen table. He stared at the paper, there was nothing else to read, and found himself falling to sleep. His mind hurt, and it was wandering again. As he slipped off he started to dream.
He was back in the orphanage with Mokuba. There was a large decorated tree, so it had to be about Christmas time. In his hand he held a small gift from a person that he couldn't see.
"Give it to your brother," the faceless person said. Seto smiled and nodded. He handed it to Mokuba.
"Merry Christmas, Mokuba." And Mokuba smiled back happily. Seto watched as his little brother ripped open the brightly wrapped package. Then Seto felt something was wrong, he didn't know what, but he didn't want Mokuba to take the lid off the box.
"Mokuba wait," he tried to say, but his voice came out dry like dust. His little brother opened the box and several ribbons sprang out and wrapped around him like coiled snakes! He yelled and saw that Mokuba had dropped the box. A giant black hole had come from inside and was sucking up everything in the room.
"Mokuba," he screamed as he saw his little brother dragged down into the hole. "Mokuba hold on. I'll save you! Just hold on!"
"Big Brother!" Mokuba screamed to him as his little body was dragged down into the typhoon. "Big Brother help me!"
"Mokuba!" Seto called out, struggling to get out of the ribbons. It was useless, he was going no where! He cried out again and saw Mokuba claw at the ground.
"Seto help me, Seto, Seto..." his voice echoed off and Seto watched in horror as his little brother disappeared into the vortex. The world went black but he still heard his name being called.
"Seto...Seto..." said the voice.
"Mokuba," he murmured, and someone touched his shoulder. He snapped awake and whirled around, grabbing hold of the person who touched him. To his amazement it was the Spencer girl that he had thrown out earlier. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she quickly composed herself.
"What the hell are you doing back in here," he shouted, and she shoved her hand over his mouth.
"Shush," she hissed. "Listen you're in danger, I have to get you out of here."
"I think you got that wrong, lady," Seto said angrily. "You're the one in trouble."
"Don't be stupid," Spencer said and looked out the window. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and pressed a button on the arm of the glasses. Using the night visions she saw three men wandering around the back, with sniper rifles. Suddenly they took aim and she grabbed Seto throwing him down on the floor. "Down!"
The windows exploded, riddled with several bullets, as both young adults covered their heads.
"Shit," Seto cursed and grabbed Liz by her wrist. "Come on!"
"Where are we going?"
"Down, below the mansion." Seto explained as he pulled her to a study and pulled at a book. Elysia had to laugh that it was an original James Bond novel.
"Oh what a unique choice," she rolled her eyes and chuckled. Seto ignored this and dragged her down to the lower levels. He let the retinal scanner allow him entry into the room. Spencer gaped at the large computer that was situated inside the small room. Seto brought it online, and she pulled out her small Laptop.
"What are you doing?" He asked hotly.
"Patching into a network that can give you anything in the world you need," Elysia explained, and Seto rolled his eyes. He had no time to play games. Rather he started up a defense program. The whole thing would attack the intruders.
"Let's see them get past this," he said to Spencer who watched as several VR simulated monsters appeared before the men. Their screams echoed all around the house. But several ignored the beasts and broke past this first defense. The alarm system and electric shock field took over, but that did not detour the men. They busted down the door, and Elysia went back to her computer. She typed in a few words and instantly the entire computer system was down loaded onto her small lap top.
"We've got to get out of here," she insisted. Seto shrugged her off.
"I'm not abandoning my house!"
"But what about you're brother..."
Seto paused and stared at her, "How do you know about..."
"Mokuba..." she finished, and gave him a plaintive smile. "I know a lot about you Seto Kaiba, and I know that with my help you can find you're brother. You just have to trust me."
Seto shook his head, and she grabbed him by the collar. "LOOK YOU ARROGENT FOOL! Those men have guns; they will kill us if they find us. And you will be of no use to your brother dead."
Seto looked at her softly and said, "I'm already dead."
"No you're not," She insisted. "Believe me."
Seto shook his head, "I'm not leaving."
"Even if I tell you that I have resources that can locate your little brother..." said Spencer, and she gave him a little smile. Seto seemed to finally take this in, for a second she saw hope flash in his blue eyes.
"Can you?"
"Yes."
He got up and stated to the computer, "Self destruct sequence. Wipe the systems clean."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" the computer said nervously.
"Yes." The computer turned on a count down sequence. Seto grabbed Elysia by the wrist again and led her to a wall, where he pressed a small button and a secret door was revealed. He explained to her, "Takes us back up to the outside."
Spencer nodded, and followed him up to a trap door that he pushed up. Seto crawled out first, and then helped Lyisa out. She pointed to the wall. "We can take my car."
They dashed across the lawn and scaled the wall, only as they got to the top they were thrown back. The blue viper exploded in a ball of flames!
"DAMN IT!" she cursed and Seto pulled her to her feet. Where the hell was Ryuuji
"This way," he led her to the garage, and inside. There were several cars and vehicles. She mentally noted that where one small sports car should have been was an empty space. Thank god he got out, Elysia though as Seto grabbed the first set of keys he found and ran to a sleek looking motorcycle. He flipped Spencer a helmet saying, "Get on."
She complied, and sat on the back seat. He was just revving the cycle up when the garage door opened and two of the men that were after them stood in the entrance.
"Hold it right there, Punks..." said one of the men, and Seto smirked.
"I don't think so," he shot out of the garage forcing the men to dive for cover as Liz gripped tightly around his waist. Shouts followed them, and Elysia glanced back to see the van take off after them.
"Shit," she cursed again. "Can you get them off our tail?"
Seto nodded and turned down onto the freeway. He dodged in and out of traffic, causing several cars to veer out of the way. Seto looked up and saw that the van was taking the upper road that followed the highway. He knew that both crossed by a bridge. Smiling he said to her, "Hang on, I just got an idea."
"What do you mean?" Elysia asked and Seto veered off the highway onto an exit. Spencer caught a glance at the sign over head. HanshiBridge, straight ahead. Lysia gulped and held on tighter, and Seto shifted. Her grip wasn't all that tight, but something about her made him feel slightly uncomfortable in a way he'd never really felt. He ignored this and zoomed over the ash fault. The van, he was sure it was right behind them now, followed like hound tracking a fox.
"Come on, you morons. Keep up with me." he said to himself and Liz glanced back. She ducked her head and pushed Seto down with her as the men opened fire upon them. The bullets spacked the ground and Seto weaved about trying to avoid them. These guys were not crack shots, but they were good. Ahead loomed the bridge, and Liz swallowed.
"It's a draw bridge?"
"Uh-huh."
"You're gonna jump it?"
"If I can, yes."
"Okay." She gripped tighter and held her breath. Seto mentally crossed his fingers and zipped up the bridge just as it was rising. He gunned it, and the cycle shot over the opening and landed with a hard TUMP on the other side. Seto skidded to a halt at the bottom and they watched as the Van tried to make the jump, only to go crashing into the water below.
With a mighty splash it disappeared under the waves. Seto kicked the bike into gear and they rode out further away from the center of town. When he felt they were far enough from the river, Seto slowed the cycle and pulled over to the side of the rode. He rounded on Spencer and demanded a full explanation.
"I think my boss would be better equipped to explain," she said and turned on the laptop. To Seto's surprise the screen stayed blank but heard a voice say to him.
"Good evening Seto Kaiba, I owe you a thanks for saving my assistant here."
Seto stared at Lysia and then asked the voice, "Okay, who are you and what do you want?"
"My name is Charles, and I want you to work for me. I know about your brother Seto Kaiba, and know how your heart aches to find him. I know the pain of loss. That's why I want you're help. I want you to become an operative for me. To help people who can't be helped by anyone else."
"And what does any of this have to do with me?" Seto asked annoyed. His life was practically ruined. Someone wanted him dead, and there was no where to turn.
"Everything, Kaiba-boy," explained Charles. "You see if you help me, I will help you find your little brother. I mean you no harm, and I intend to give you all my resources to find him. My only request is that you work for me. Agreed?"
Seto thought about this. If this man, Charles, was being honest with him he could use him to find Mokuba. But he'd never worked for anyone in his life; still he'd suck down his pride to save Mokuba in an instant. He turned back to the computer and said.
"Fine I'll work for you, but we do thing my way. And you don't dictate to me!"
"Done!" said Charles, and Lysia turned the computer to face her. "Elysia, my dear, give him the badge."
"What badge?" Seto asked, and Liz pulled a pin from her pocket. She place it into his palm and he saw it was a solid gold pin in the shape of a Duel Monsters card with wings sprouting from it.
"Congratulations, Seto Kaiba, you are now an official Angel." She said smiling at him.
