A/N: This is a bit shorter than I meant for it to be but I got sick and...yeah... I hope you enjoy it though. I love writing about the Shadows. It's so much fun.

Chapter 6 summary: In which Kaiba mourns a loss and Arrow thinks multi-planar geometry might be the answer.

Mourning and Geometry

Arrow could barely believe his eyes. One minute Mokuba had been hanging from Kaiba's hand, the next he had been falling to the ground with Helios holding him protectively, and now they were gone. There were no tell-tale bodies broken on the rubble below, nothing. They were just gone.

Worse, Kaiba was not taking it very well at all. He was screaming for his brother and struggling to free himself from Arrow's vice-like grip. The vigilante had a firm hold on his Regent and the cable preventing them from falling but neither hold could last forever, especially under the strain Kaiba was putting them under.

"Lantern!" Arrow called out. "Lantern!"

"On it," came the reply from just above the vigilante's head.

The next thing Arrow knew, the weight from Kaiba's struggling body was relieved and his own feet rested on the base of a sphere made of solid green light. Unfortunately, the moment Kaiba touched the solid green light, he threw himself bodily against the sides, pounded it and kicked it screaming the whole time. Arrow had no choice but to wrap his arms around the frantic Regent, pinning Kaiba's long arms to his sides, to prevent his friend from hurting himself further.

"Stop!" Arrow commanded, trying his best to hold on to his struggling friend. "Stop! Kaiba. Kaiba, stop!"

The young man refused to listen. "Mokuba!" he screamed followed by a rush of unintelligible Japanese. Mokuba's name was tangled in the jumbled mess of foreign syllables and desperate struggles.

Arrow just held on and waited until Kaiba was forced to calm down enough to catch his breath. He saw J'onn fly off in the direction the bullets fired at the Regent had come from and the vigilante sincerely hoped the Manhunter found the culprit. But Arrow's thoughts were halted abruptly when he noticed Kaiba was beginning to slip free from his grip. The captive Regent managed to shift just enough for the vigilante's fingers to dig into the bullet wound in his right shoulder.

Kaiba gave a horse cry of shocked pain and tensed up allowing the vigilante to force him to his knees and hold him there until Green Lantern could lower both of them down to the ground below. The instant the green light shielding them vanished, Kaiba broke free of Arrow's loosened grip and rushed to the debris pile, digging through the rubble and calling for his little brother by name. It was heartbreaking but it had to stop. Kaiba was wounded and bleeding and if he was not treated soon, he could lose the use of his arm partially or entirely or worse, bleed out and die.

Arrow scrambled to his feet and began to run after Kaiba when a flurry of cream fabric and black hair cut him off and surrounded the Regent. He stopped and stood back watching as Ishizu wrapped her arms around her Regent and held him, speaking quickly in Japanese sprinkled with what sounded like Arabic and hieratic. Slowly, slowly, she was able to calm him down enough to grab his head and pull him to her chest where she held him gently but firmly.

Kaiba fell to his knees, shaking and sobbing, still calling his little brother's name. Ishizu knelt by his side, adjusting her grip so Kaiba's head rested against her breast. Her fingers tangled in his soft brown hair, petting him gently as she pressed her lips to his scalp. She continued whispering soothing words in a mixture of languages while Kaiba clung to her and wept.

Several cameras began snapping photographs and it annoyed the hell out of Arrow. "Diana!" he called, gaining the Amazon's attention. "Get them out of here now," he commanded, pointing to the onlookers.

Normally, the princess would have resisted being commanded by a man, but in this case she wholeheartedly agreed with the vigilante's sentiment. She drew her lasso and lashed out, snapping one of the cameras out of a young girl's hand.

"Get out of here," she yelled. "Call the police if you're going to use your phones."

"Or better yet," Green Lantern said, activating his ring and creating a wall of solid green light, "back off." The wall moved, forcing the people behind it to stumble back to a decent distance and held there, prevented from moving forward.

"Thanks," Arrow said. "Hold it there."

"No problem."

Arrow turned back to Ishizu and Kaiba, unsure of what to do.

"Leave them," Shaadi said, coming up beside the vigilante. "She was the only one other than Seth who survived the massacre of the original Shadow Court over 5,000 years ago. If anyone can calm him, it is Ishizu."

Comforted by Shaadi's advice, Arrow stepped back. "Let me know if anything happens," he said to the Adviser who nodded calmly. Turning away, the vigilante began helping Wonder Woman and the survivors. "How many casualties?" he asked the Amazon Princess.

"No dead, seven injured, two seriously," she glanced at Kaiba and Ishizu, "and two missing." She looked around, furrowing her brow. "The ambulances just arrived and are loading the two seriously injured people away."

"Are they children?" Arrow asked hesitantly.

Wonder Woman shook her head and Arrow heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "Elderly. It's two adults, one man, one woman. They were standing closest to the explosive device. They should recover. The injuries are mostly burns and scrapes. My guess is, the bomber knew the building well or was at least familiar enough with it to place the device at one of the joints holding the balcony up. When it blew, the balcony went with it."

"So it was strategic but not necessarily meant to take lives," Arrow said.

"That would be my guess. It could be a strike at the event itself or the hotel or a specific person at the event," she said glancing at Kaiba significantly.

Arrow was already shaking his head. "Ishizu said the sniper and the bomber were two different perpetrators."

"Maybe they were," Dian admitted. Sky blue eyes met his sternly. "But maybe they were two different perpetrators working together for the same goal."

The vigilante winced. "I was afraid you'd say that," he said softly. He turned back to where Kaiba and Ishizu still sat. Kaiba seemed to have recovered enough that he was no longer sobbing into the Priestess's chest. Instead, he and Ishizu were kneeling with their foreheads resting against one another. Ishizu was speaking softly and Kaiba was nodding slowly, hesitantly in acknowledgment of her words. Shaadi had also approached and placed one hand on either of their shoulders.

There was a tug on Arrow's Shadows and he opened his Shadow sight to see what was happening more clearly. The horizon of power that was Seto Kaiba pulsed like a heartbeat. Shaadi stood next to him, his misty Shadows hovering, floating across the fields like smokey wisps. Ishizu knelt by Kaiba's side, cradling his head gently, lips pressed to his hairline. Her Shadows ebbed and flowed, piercing through the fields like a rushing river, lapping softly at their feet, disturbing Shaadi's misty Shadows.

Together, they painted a melancholy picture. It felt calm and...balancing. Arrow never even noticed when his own Shadows began to weave with the others'. Kaiba's head lifted and turned towards the vigilante, crystalline blue eyes gleaming eerily in the brilliant darkness just like they had when they first met face to shadow. Kaiba's form split in two, the second form standing above the Regent.

Seth.

Ishizu and Shaadi also turned to face Arrow, their eyes gleaming deep tanzanite and amber as if lit from behind within their dark, shadowed faces. No one said anything, but Seth held out his hand in a silent gesture of welcome and Arrow felt his feet begin moving forward without his conscious thought.

He felt grass, reeds, and swirls of sand swish across his boots. The misty fog parted before him like a veil and the Shadowy river burbled in his ears. The soft sounds were loud in the otherwise almost complete silence. It was a strangely peaceful, powerful feeling that filled this place...un-place...

Arrow's eyes roved, meeting each of the other Shadow users' before finally settling on Kaiba. He knelt so he could be even with his Regent. No words were said, none were needed. Kaiba touched his Shadows with his own, drawing them into the mesh of Shadows already present. It was calming.

They were reaching, seeking, searching for something...someone...

Mokuba.

:He's alive?: he gasped.

Kaiba's sapphire eyes gleamed with renewed hope as Seth knelt to join them followed closely by Shaadi. Seth's eyes, just a shade or so lighter than Kaiba's, sparkled as his Shadows merged with Kaiba's, weaving in such a way as to almost be indistinguishable from his Ka's. Kaiba and Seth began reaching, Ishizu smoothing the way, finding the weaknesses in the fabric of the Shadows and spilling through. Shaadi filled the Shadows, brushing everything, slipping through every nook and cranny. Seth and Kaiba flew through the misty, watery Shadows.

Arrow caught a hold of Kaiba's Shadows and was swept away into the search. He felt a faint twinge as he reached his distance limit, then it was gone. He blinked and realized he had somehow accidentally hitchhiked onto Seth's Shadows. He felt Seth's momentary surprise coupled with Kaiba's followed quickly by pride. They surrounded him, keeping him with them and guiding him. He felt like a leaf on the gust front of a powerful thunderstorm. The dawn-dusk of Kaiba's horizon pulsed like rumbles of thunder.

The vigilante focused on watching the places around them as they searched. He looked for the familiar grounding roots he associated with Mokuba's Shadows. For some strange reason, he kept getting glimpses of them, hints, whispers, but nothing solid. He had no idea where they were or how far they had travelled but he felt like they never got closer or farther away.

Why? Why was this?

Distance did not work like that. Space did not work like that. He felt like they were running parallel to Mokuba. It was maddening.

Parallel.

Distance.

Space.

...What if they were looking at this the wrong way?

He slowed down, dragging Seth and Kaiba back. He felt Kaiba's annoyance tempered by Seth's cautious curiosity. Ishizu and Shaadi slowed as well but did not stop reaching out in their search. Ishizu's river of Shadows created a pothole of slow moving water under Arrow so he was standing on the Shadow water. The water in the pothole swirled almost curiously beneath the vigilante's feet and Shaadi's mist slithered up Arrow's crouched from. Kaiba tugged against Arrow's Shadows, trying to break free of the inadvertent hitchhiker but Seth held him back, studying the vigilante closely.

This was a hunt. Mokuba was the prey and Arrow, Kaiba, Seth, Ishizu, and Shaadi were the hunters. Space had no reason here which meant distance did not work the same way it did in reality. If that was true, then what about the other planes? Arrow and his fellow Shadow users were searching for Mokuba on an imagined X-Y axis grid when they should probably be using an X-Y-Z axis grid. Length, width, Arrow looked down below his feet, and depth.

Without thinking, Arrow dove into Ishizu's Shadow water. He felt her surprise but ignored it, continuing on. The water was dark but gleamed a deep tanzanite mingled with sapphire. It was just enough to barely see by. He swam down, not knowing where he was going, just that he had to try to get there.

Down.

His chest began to ache.

He was not holding his breath. He breathed in the Shadow water.

Another stroke, deeper, there was something... just there... roots... He propelled himself downward with another stroke of his hands. Closer. A kick, two, three.

A root.

He grabbed it and pulled...

But coughed and instantly came back to reality and the bright, cloudy light of Starling City surrounded by rubble, dust, the faintest hint of drizzle, the Shadow users, his companions from the Justice League, and a dizzying, headache-inducing disorientation. He staggered, lost his balance, and fell back onto his bottom dropping his head between his bent legs, hoping to ease the dizziness. A hand rested on his shoulder, shaking him. It took him a minute for his senses to adjust to the sudden change and for Arrow to realize he was being spoken to.

"Arrow. Arrow!" Wonder Woman called.

"Easy, my friend," Shaadi was saying.

"Kohai."

Arrow's eyes flew open, pinning Kaiba with them. "We're going about this wrong," he said quickly. "We need to go down."

"Down?" J'onn's voice asked. "What do you mean down?"

Arrow did not break away his gaze from Kaiba's. "You were looking across this plane using length and width. We need to use depth."

"That's why you dove into my depths," Ishizu whispered, her dark eyes wide.

"Do you have any idea how wrong that sounded?" Green Lantern said raising a sardonic eyebrow at the Priestess.

"You mean, we need to think in three dimensions," Kaiba said, speaking for the first time.

Arrow nodded, clutching his head when the faint nausea returned. He spoke again when he recovered. "Think about it," he said. "It felt like we weren't getting closer or farther away from him. It felt like we were staying in one place. What if he hasn't moved? We just..." he paused and looked around him helplessly, "don't see him."

"Could he be in the Shadow Realm, perhaps?" Shaadi offered as an explanation but Kaiba shook his head.

"No, we would have found him if he was there," the Regent said.

"Who?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Or he would have found us," Ishizu said.

"He who?" Green Lantern asked.

"I saw his Shadows," Arrow insisted. "I almost caught them but I..." He threw up his hands in helpless frustration.

"Whose Shadows?" J'onn asked.

"So another world?" Kaiba said.

"World?" Green Lantern gasped.

"But how is that possible?" Shaadi breathed. "Neither of them should have the ability to travel between worlds."

"They?" Wonder Woman asked.

"But they do," Ishizu said. "We travel to the Shadow Realm all the time."

"And the Shadow Realm permeates all the multiverses you said," Arrow said, staring directly at Kaiba.

Blue eyes narrowed. "Other than the Shadow Realm, I've never traveled to another world willingly or otherwise. None of us have." He hesitated. "I don't necessarily know how."

"Why not do it like we almost did just now?" Arrow asked. "Only...say, while holding Court or while actually trying to go to the Shadow Realm?"

"If we hold Court," Shaadi said softly, eyes flickering to Kaiba and Ishizu, "then it could be possible. But you could not set aside your Decks. You would have to hold them the entire time and treat the Court like casting your consciousness into the Shadows in preparation for Shadow Travel."

"And then actually go to Court mentally, spiritually, and physically," Ishizu said, eyes growing wide at the idea.

"It's worth a try," Arrow said.

Kaiba remained silent as his thoughts raced. His eyes dropped to the debris before lifting to stare at the decimated place the now destroyed stone and metal balcony once hung. His eyes returned to Arrow's carefully.

"I'll have to call Obelisk," he said. "In case things go wrong, he can help guide us, keep us from hurting each other or ourselves." Arrow nodded. "It would help if Mai was here," Kaiba sighed.

"Can you call her?" Arrow asked.

"Yes, but I need to inform Yugi and the Pharaoh first. If we're going to try something like this, they should be made aware and be ready for any fallout that might happen."

"Agreed," Shaadi said.

"We'll all need to rest before attempting this," Ishizu said firmly. "It would be best if we were all at our full strength, just in case." Everyone nodded.

"Good," a new voice said, startling everyone from their thoughts. Arrow whirled to where John Diggle stood nearby watching the eclectic group with his arms crossed. "Now that you've all come to a decision, mind filling in the peanut gallery?"

Arrow had the decency to flush. He glanced at his Shadow user comrades awkwardly before standing and brushing himself off. "We...may have found Mokuba."

"He is not dead then?" J'onn asked hopefully.

"No, he's alive," the vigilante said firmly.

J'onn's eyes softened and he smiled. "Good."

"I would know if he died," Kaiba said, standing as well. Ishizu and Shaadi joined him. "He's by brother, my Keeper, and a fellow Shadow user. I would feel his death."

"You certainly were acting like he was dead," Diggle commented.

Kaiba looked around at the site wearily. "He vanished? I... I could no longer feel him. Plus, I just watched him fall..."

"Helios is with him," Ishizu said gently, resting a hand on her Regent's arm. "He will keep Mokuba safe."

"Good," Diggle said relieved. "Do we know where Mokuba is now?"

"That's where it gets complicated," Arrow sighed.

"He's in another world," Diana said. "And you want to go there and find him."

The part-time vigilante dark eyes widened in shock. "Oh, this just keep getting better and better."