Arashinobara: This chapter is dedicated to the lot of you for contributing on the many occasions when I ran complainingly about like a chicken with its... uhhh... feathers cut off? (Hn. That didn't make sense, did it?) But special thanks and love and adoration goes to Hem Ntjr Seth, whom I love and respect very much, and who helped nitpick the first chapter as well as being a constant source of light in my – ahem. Yeah. Thanks also to Chocolate-Obsessed simply for existing, and to Anime-Blade for her amusing little reaction when she read this through for me.

Summary (the non-dramatic one as opposed to the non-non-dramatic one that I attempted to lure you guys in with): Alcatraz is due to explode in under an hour, the blimp isn't operational and Kaiba sends his brother to the surface as he stays below to buy everyone a little more time. During his own escape, however, Kaiba stumbles across a long forgotten remnant of Gozaburo's monstrosity. (Oh, heck, it's still dramatic, isn't it? Bite me. :P)

The Eye of the Beholder

A Yuugiou fanstory by Arashinobara

Part Two – Storm Rising

Kaiba's POV

T – 00:43:04

My arm hurt, and I was extremely pissed off.

The last tremor had sparked another collapse, and it had taken down about six metres of hall. Unfortunately, I had been standing almost directly under the initial fall, and though I had managed to escape any real injury, my shoulder had been dislocated when I'd fallen incorrectly –

– and to top it all off, my tumble had crushed the fucking radio.

Mokuba must be freaking out right now. I hope he had the sense to stay put – it wasn't like he could even reach where I was. Checking that the two lockets were safely around my neck, I sighed in relief. Both of our lockets and thumb-prints would have been needed to deactivate the detonator, though only one of our 'prints would be needed to alter the time. Mokuba would kill me if I lost his locket, though – the picture in it was part of the original.

Satisfied that I wouldn't be suffering a case of death or maiming at the hands of my younger brother, I probed gently at my shoulder and grimaced. It was definitely dislocated. 'Great.' I looked up as the ceiling above me rumbled ominously, and only just manage to duck out of the way as another three feet of it caved in.

'This is insane,' I thought vaguely, clutching at my shoulder. 'Kinda fun, though. Except it would be nicer if I hadn't been working with only one arm.'

Well... first things first.

Grabbing my wrist, I braced myself against a wall. Forcing my arm to relax, I gritted my teeth – and pulled hard.

When my vision cleared, I was lying with my cheek plastered to the floor, and almost hyperventilating from the pain. "Shit," I hissed, heaving myself into an upright position. So much for that. To pop my shoulder back into its socket, I needed someone to help me... unless...

I was running out of time. I had maybe thirty minutes left now, and I'd need both hands to pilot. Taking a deep breath, I stood slowly, and turned to face the opposite wall. Leaping forward to build momentum, I couldn't help but flinch back just before I slammed into the plaster surface injured shoulder-first.

Just before I blacked out, I heard a sickening pop.

I wasn't sure how long I had been out for, but coming to, I stumbled to my feet and quickly took off at a run down the hall even as I rotated my shoulder in order to prevent it from stiffening up. It was throbbing like shit, now, but at least I could use it.

Turning my thoughts towards escape, I tried to figure out what the fastest route to my jet would be; it wasn't like I could use a lift now, seeing as the entire place was collapsing around my ears. Trying to remember the shortcut that cut through the old labs, I made a left turn and hurried on, halting abruptly as I was suddenly faced with a pair of heavy steel doors.

Swiping my locket through the card key panel and typing in a master override code, I stepped through the opening doors before breaking into a light jog. I was perhaps halfway down the hall when I heard the doors behind me shut with a loud hiss and clang. I wouldn't have thought too much of it if I hadn't heard another two slams occur in quick succession, sealing off the exit behind me, and presumably the two in front.

Then the anti-intruder security systems activated, plunging me into darkness broken only by the periodic blinking of the red siren-lights.

'I just have no fucking luck today, do I?'

As I swore long and colourfully, fumbling about in the partial darkness, the island supercomputer's cool, female voice spoke over my profane tangent.

"Intruder in section JV246, hall 01. Security systems on manual. Intruder in section JV246, hall 01. Lockdown completed."

A couple of minutes later, I had calmed down and was thinking rationally again. Attempting to disable the security systems would be a waste of time. After all, I'd helped to design them, and they were proof against anything from the feeble-minded hacks that had often been hired to steal information from the Kaiba Corporation of old, to someone like... well, myself. Or Gozaburo.

As much as I hated to admit it, I wasn't going to be able to get out.

'Not that way, at least.'

Feeling my cheeks itch, I touched a hand to my face only to realise the insane grin stretching my face. I probably looked like Mokuba on one of his caffeine highs, but I could care less at the moment.

There had to be some tanks of compressed oxygen around here. And a roll of magnesium ribbon. And a nice, thick table – behind an even thicker wall – that I could hide behind so I wouldn't be blown to pieces by a force roughly equivalent to that of a small bomb, made all the stronger by such an enclosed area.

Because even though the reaction in question could very well collapse the rest of the complex on top of me...

I grinned fiercely, and keyed open the nearest door as the alarms blared anew.

"Thirty minutes to detonation... evacuate all facilities immediately."

Fubeta's POV

T – 00:37:57

Under the employment of Seto-sama and Mokuba-sama, I had come to realise that dealing with the Kaibas as a team was something you didn't want to do. Seto-sama was the larger, the more intimidating, the one with the frightening intellect and fearsome reputation, and you would be so busy keeping an eye on him that you'd most likely have missed Mokuba-sama's subtle contributions and sly manipulation.

By the time you realised that the big-eyed kid with the sweet disposition and gentle voice was as big a threat as his imposing, cold-featured elder brother, you'd probably have wandered too deep into the brothers' trap to get out without first gnawing off a leg.

They were masterful at manipulation, and though both had reputations – one for being a ruthless businessman, and the other an innocent, unassuming kind of child that thought the best of every situation and every person – after you saw Mokuba-sama browbeat Seto-sama into eating the last breakfast roll, you quickly became disillusioned.

Maybe that was why Isono's family and mine were now the only staff working full-time in the Kaiba Mansion. My wife Minako had looked after Seto-sama during his coma, and had managed to grow rather attached to him. Personally, I think she'd just enjoyed mothering over him while he hadn't been able to reject her fussing.

However, even she had been rather disconcerted when days stretched to weeks, and weeks to months. The idea that someone with as strong a will and indomitable a bearing as Kaiba Seto could stay a vegetable for the rest of his life was vaguely obscene. Though upon his waking he had immediately raked the lot of us with his displeasure and fury, it had been a great relief to see him returned to his old self... but there had been a rather significant change.

I liked it.

In my opinion, fire suited him ever so much more than ice did.

Of course, the waking, the subsequent yelling and throwing of objects before his storming off 'to the rescue' had left Minako in quite the snit. "He can be such a prickly child," Minako had said to me, miffed that Seto-sama had just run off to find his brother without giving himself any kind of proper recovery time. "Sometimes I think what he needs is a good spanking."

I disagreed, and told her so. Such things only applied to children of disobedience and disorder. While Seto-sama was hardly the epitome of order (you'd think someone with his reputation would know not to put his ties in the sock drawer), he hadn't done anything to disobey. Rather, as employees under his rule, we were the ones who owed him our obedience.

Which was why I was now waiting calmly for Mokuba-sama's appearance as Isono panicked enough for the both of us. Eventually, I got irritated at his nervous shuffling, and told him to round up the other passengers and get them into the helicopter. Glad for something to do, he hurried off, but not before making me promise half a dozen times to radio him as soon as our employers arrived.

It was Mutou Yuugi-kun, however, that first spotted my dark-haired young employer jogging briskly out of a cloud of plaster-dust. Eyeing Mokuba-sama in concern, I ran to meet him as he hailed me. "Fubeta!"

"Mokuba-sama!" I replied, relieved he looked relatively uninjured. Unnerved when I didn't glimpse Seto-sama's tall form shadowing his younger brother (because if it wasn't Mokuba-sama trailing after Seto-sama, it was the other way 'round) I gave voice to my worry. "Where's Seto-sama?" There was a brief pause in which everyone took note of the tall brunet's absence. A lump of cold dread rose in my stomach. 'Surely...?'

Isono broke the awkward silence. "Mokuba-sama, did he –?"

"You were only told to anticipate my arrival," Mokuba-sama snapped, much to everyone's shock. "Is the 'copter ready for take-off?"

"Mokuba-sama..." Isono hesitated, and nodded.

"'Niisama gave us forty minutes. We've probably got about half an hour left. Isono, give me your radio. Everyone else get on the 'copter now, and make sure everyone's on board."

Isono and I watched silently as the Battle City finalists and their companions filed onto the helicopter, the two of us mentally checking off faces and names. Hearing Mokuba-sama's impatient call, I closed my eyes and sighed.

"We have to go, you know."

Isono's reply was terse. "We can wait another ten minutes at least."

"Isono... there are children aboard... and Mokuba-sama, too," I reminded him.

His tone was bitter. "Kaiba Corporation will lose profits from this tournament. We're going to lose the blimp, and even Duel Disk sales won't..." he exhaled. "Seto-sama was supposed to have fun."

I had no response to that. When Mokuba-sama called again for us, both Isono and I boarded the helicopter. Isono paused on the step, looking back. I knew he was searching for a tall, mahogany-haired brunet, impossible to miss in his dramatic black, white and wine-hued ensemble.

Feeling the helicopter's blades start up, I swallowed the lump in my throat, and didn't look back.

"Thirty minutes to detonation... evacuate all facilities immediately."

Kaiba's POV

T – 00:23:48

One thing that usually came along with being a guardian was the privilege of grounding your charges.

I thought it was bullshit.

If I ever tried doing anything like that to Mokuba, the brat would worm his way out of it using a combination of wheedling, logic and sulking. Of course, the wheedling was generally excuses and justification, the logic was often annoyingly correct, and the sulking was more him ignoring me and doing his own thing until matters at Kaiba Corporation managed to fuck themselves over to the point I needed my Vice President to help me straighten things out, but...

I was pretty damn good, but when our father had died, I'd hardly been cut out to be a parent for a brother five years younger than myself. It was the world against us, and Mokuba was strong. I wanted a partner, not a child, so the obvious solution would be to teach what I knew to Mokuba, and trust that he'd come through.

And he had. Thanks to my younger brother's frighteningly convincing deception, Gozaburo had been completely taken in. What I'd done was easy stuff – manipulating people four times my age while possessing less than a quarter of my intelligence was nothing to be really proud of. But Mokuba... sometimes even I'd wondered if his tears were real, or if he was still on my side. In retrospect, that had been good, because it'd made my own reactions all the more convincing.

Of course, all the doubts were gone now. But when I did spare a thought on the subject every now and then, I'd reflect that maybe I'd taught him a little too well. It was surprisingly easy to admit that I didn't like how Mokuba could read me better than I could read him. Sometimes I worded my intentions and thoughts a little less... sanely, just to get more of a reaction.

'Ha. All that shit about sinking myself into the sea...' my mouth tightened and I snorted, blinking irritably through my goggles as I eyed the magnesium wick I'd set up. 'Well, it did sound rather suicidal, but... hn. Gozaburo is such a bastard. Where are those fucking matches?'

The dull, silvery magnesium ribbon wound around the counter and out of sight; standing, I traced its passage out of the room and followed it into another lab where I'd pushed several oxygen tanks against a wall. It was to these that the metallic ribbon led.

At first, I had been unsure if the magnesium flame would be enough to burn through the thick tanks to set off the explosive reaction. In the end, I had resolved it would have been entirely too risky to spring a leak; the gas' compressed nature promised a volatility that earned a healthy amount of respect from me.

I hadn't been able to stop grinning since I'd thought of blowing up the labs in which I had first learned to make explosives. Every now and then, I'd catch my expression in a reflective surface, briefly contemplate how moronic I looked, then decide it didn't matter. No one could see me, being as the security cameras weren't exactly on surveillance right now.

I briefly considered turning on all the gas taps as well, but decided against it. After all, I only wanted to make a hole in the wall into the next lab, not bring down the entire building on top of me. As absolutely thrilling as that would be, Mokuba would be pretty furious if I never returned his master access card to him.

The computer's voice chimed another warning.

"Twenty minutes to detonation... evacuate all facilities immediately."

'Cutting it a little close, ne?' I thought. The idiotic grin was back on my face, and I struck the match, watching interestedly as the sulphur head caused a brief flare before the flame began to eat at the wood.

'This is it.'

I watched the wick burn a short-lived, glowing trail through the floor where the magnesium-fuelled flame passed over, and on sudden impulse, stood and thumbed off all the light switches so that the only light in the room was the bright, whitish blaze and its reddish, serpentine succession.

Soon, the glow dimmed from view as it wound around the doorframe and out of sight. I blinked rapidly several times, realising my mistake in turning off the lights as purplish sparks danced in my vision. Grumbling, I tore open a wrapped pair of earplugs and popped them into place, snapping my fingers a few times to check they were in properly. I wasn't going to survive this insane venture only to find my eardrums had been destroyed by the explosion.

As if on cue, the world tilted crazily with a muffled boom, and I found myself flat on my back, covered in plaster dust, my hand itching as it lay in a pool of spilled chemical. Crawling out from beneath the table and grimacing as my injured shoulder throbbed in complaint, I coughed and flinched as I stumbled up and out of the lab, my gait smoothing as my legs steadied. Tearing the cracked goggles off of my face and throwing them randomly over my shoulder, I followed the trail of scorched metal marking the magnesium fuse's passage, tripping once or twice, regaining my balance only in time to skid on rubble.

Then I was treading carefully through a room charred black, coming to a sudden halt in the hole I had blown through the wall into another laboratory and –

Stopped.

I felt vaguely light-headed, though I wasn't sure if it was a by-product of the disgust I felt, or something else entirely. Perhaps it was fear, and anger, and a little bit of...

I licked my lips. Forced moisture into a dry mouth. Was acutely aware of the seconds ticking away, made note of the exit on the other side of the high-ceilinged laboratory.

Tried not to pay too much attention to the sickly yellow light emitted by the cylindrical containment unit in the middle of the room.

Tried not to think about how the sick thing had my face, my body, my arms and hands and legs and toes and hair and fuck, if it woke up, I was fairly sure that its eyes were the same colour as mine.

"Impossible," I said, and I wasn't sure who I was addressing. Gozaburo, perhaps, or even the creature

my past

slumbering peacefully in a foetal position, the transparent plastic-glass-something-material of what was obviously a nutrition tank serving as its twisted womb.

And because I could, because I spotted the hairline flaws criss-crossing from where a displaced part of wall from the explosion had impacted...

The twisted pipe was cool in my hand. Heavy.

Perfect.

I hefted it. Felt the weight. Sighted the not-womb's largest flaw – its weakest point.

"Fifteen minutes to detonation... evacuate all facilities immediately."

The glass shattered.

...was warm. Hadn't been warm in so long.

Heard a sigh, felt itself being lifted.

Shifted, just a little, to press its face into the heat. So much heat, where it had been so cold before...

And a voice, frozen and furious and puzzled and confused all at once, murmuring words it knew but could not understand:

"The best laid plans of mice and men," Father murmured, eyes hard and arms withholding comfort, "often go awry."

'Gang aft agley,' it thought happily (this was happiness, was it not?) and slept.

Arashinobara: Well, I guess that's it for now. I was kind of disappointed about the feedback I got last time (lowest ever, go me!) because I think this is an interesting style I've attempted and I like it. I liked the thoughts that went into it, and I'm not sure if it was the summary or whatever that people didn't like. /shrugs/ Either way, I hope you enjoyed it this time 'round, and will hopefully read and review and follow the rest of the fic (hotdamn, I hope this one gets finished...).