Disclaimer: WookieeBeta does not own Yuugiou. Except in her stranger dreams.
Warning: Language.
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
Chapter Eighteen: Don't Hang Up
By WookieeBeta
Previously on CLCA:
"Kaiba speaking," he said tersely.
"Nii-sama!"
Kaiba stiffened. "Mokuba? Mokuba, what's wrong? What's going on?" His brother's voice was panicky, high and shrill and quick, and he sounded like he was trying not to cry.
"Everything, Seto, everything's wrong," the boy sobbed. "Marik escaped from the institution, and the Big Five have Yuugi's body and are holding Ryou hostage, and I think they killed Bakura and maybe Malik too, and Anzu and Honda and Otogi are all being mind-controlled again, and you're not here and I can't find Jouno anywhere and Seto I'm just so scared!"
Scared was an understatement; he was obviously terrified.
"Okay, Mokuba, take a deep breath," Kaiba said. "Just calm down. I can't do anything unless I know exactly what's going on, so you're going to have to tell me. Okay? Deep breath, and just don't worry...just don't worry, okay? Mokuba? Mokuba, you there?"
"I'm here," he whispered weakly. "Okay, Seto, I'm calm now...what do you want to know?"
"First, I want to know exactly where you are."
"I'm - I'm in your office," came the answer. "I'm sitting behind your desk, using your phone."
"Okay. Good. That's good, Mokuba, that's very good. Where are the Big Five?"
There was a moment of hesitation. "They're in Yuugi's body somewhere," he said. "I think they're still at Ryou's apartment, but I'm not sure..."
"All right. What about Marik?"
"No one knows...no one knows, Seto, that's what scares me..."
The elder Kaiba took a deep steadying breath and advised Mokuba to do the same. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Carefully, he talked his brother through giving him the rest of the details; yes, this was very, very, very bad. The only people that could possibly help at the moment were Jounouchi and possibly Sugoroku, and the former was missing in action.
"Okay, Mokuba, here's what I want you to do," Kaiba explained. "Pick up the phone on the other side of my desk and call the Kame Game Shop."
"I...I don't remember the number," Mokuba said shakily. He sounded like he was going to panic again. "God, Seto, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Shhh, that's okay...it's okay, Mokuba. I can find out for you. Just give me a minute." He held the cell phone against his ear with one hand and clambered back out of the sub, one more time. "Mouto," he said into the stillness. "Mouto, I need your help. I need to know your phone number."
"What? Why?" Yuugi asked, obviously confused.
"Just tell me what it is," he snapped. There was half an instant of silence, and then the unseen duelist rattled off a string of numbers.
"S-Seto?"
"Yeah, Mokuba?"
"Is that...is that really Yuugi you're talking to?"
"Yes, Mokuba, it is."
"Where are you, Seto?"
"I'm inside Noa's underwater building right now," he said.
Mokuba let out a little screech. "Are you all right! How did you get there? What are you doing? Are you okay?"
"Calm down! Calm down, everything's fine, I promise - I'm a lot safer than you are right now. I just want you to calm down, okay?"
He could hear his younger brother breathing on the other end of the line. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm calm. What's the number?"
Seto gave him the number, and told him to ask for Sugoroku.
"Okay...it's - it's ringing, the phone's ringing," Mokuba said. "What should I say?"
"You're going to tell him that you need him to come pick you up from my office because I had to take the car on a sudden trip, and that you need a place to stay tonight, okay? He'll say yes."
"...okay..."
"And when you get in his car, you're going to explain everything to him the way you just explained it to me, and he'll take you somewhere safe."
"Okay..."
Kaiba gave a small sigh of relief. Finally, both of them were calming down a bit. "Hey, Mokuba?"
"Yeah?"
"You know I love you, right?"
"Yeah...I love you too, Seto. Oh! Sugoroku-san? I - I need a ride from my brother's office, can you pick me up...? He had to - had to leave, and he took the car... Yes, thank you! Thank you!" There was a moment of silence, and then Mokuba said, "Nii-sama?"
"What is it, Mokuba?"
"Should I hang up?"
"No, Mokuba. I want you to stay on the phone until Sugoroku gets there. And then I want you to take the spare cell phone from my desk drawer and keep it with you. Okay?"
"Spare cell phone...got it," the raven-haired youth reported. Kaiba heard the sound of a drawer closing.
"Good. Now turn it on."
"On...right. Seto...I'm still scared..."
"Just keep talking to me, Mokuba. Pretend I'm sitting right next to you. Just keep talking to me."
"Okay...just keep talking...okay... Jouno took me to the Game Shop a few days ago and let me buy some new cards. I know you don't like me to go there - you're not mad at me, are you? God, Seto, I'm so sorry, don't be mad - "
"I'm not mad at you, Mokuba," the brunette reassured him. Heavens, no, I'm not mad - I just wish I was with you, instead of halfway across the world trapped in a giant submarine with no hope of reaching you in time to do anything... "What cards did you get?"
"Nothing - nothing good," was the reply. "A few magic cards, and a new trap card called - Seto!" His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper.
All of Seto's nerves suddenly went on the alert, triggered by the terror in his brother's voice. "What? What's going on, Mokuba?"
"There - there's someone at the door... I think it's Sugoroku..."
A silent sigh of relief. "Then go with him," Kaiba said.
"But, Seto... I can't... I think there's someone at the window, I can hear them moving around, Seto I'm scared...!"
"It's okay, it's okay, shhhh," the elder brother said in as soothing a voice as he could muster. His skin was crawling; his gut was twisting in on itself; he wracked his mind for solutions. "From where you're sitting, can anyone at the window see you?"
"N-no," was the unsteady answer. "Unless they saw me getting the other phone, I don't think they know I'm here..."
"Okay. That's good. That's good. Now...er..."
"Seto?"
"Yes?"
"You don't know what to do, do you?"
Kaiba sighed. "No, Mokuba, I don't."
"You're scared..."
"Yes, I am. I'm terrified. But I don't want you to hang up, Mokuba, do you understand? No matter what happens, I don't want you to hang up."
"...okay..."
"All right. Which end of my desk are you at? The one with the coffee cup, or the one with the lamp?"
"Coffee cup."
"Even better. Unless my secretary moved it, there should be a big potted plant not too far away. Is it there?"
"...yeah. Yeah, it is."
"I want you to crawl behind it."
"But Seto, the phone - !"
"I want you to hang up, crawl behind the plant, and call me on the cell phone. I'm going to walk you out of my office and into the hallway, away from windows. Okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'll...call you right back."
"Okay. You do that."
"I love you, nii-sama..."
"I love you too, Mokuba." The tall brunette couldn't help but wince when he heard the line go dead. He leaned back against Smith's sub and allowed himself to sink weakly to the floor, not caring who saw him.
A/N: Many thanks to Glastea, who was kind enough to leave a review! Just a heads-up: I've just switched to an Apple, which doesn't have Word yet, and I'm going to be out of town all next week, so updates may be sporadic for a while. The Blogspot link listed on my profile has the complete fic (listed as "What Happened After"), but be warned - it's being edited as I go, so it's not entirely accurate. As the change in title shows. sweatdrop
