A/N: I'm uploading this now but I'll finish editing it tomorrow. I'm exhausted right now. Enjoy some Helios and Mokuba with some Kaiba and gang.

Chapter summary: In which Helios and Mokuba get picked up, Kaiba is furious, and Seth is in a bind.

Mutants, Healing, and Frustration

They flew but not as far as people would have expected. Helios had learned that once something drastic happened and the prey escaped, the hunters tended to circle further and further outward and very rarely came back to where they started. It made things somewhat easier for them to hide. It helped to be years older than the average person sometimes. Experience was everything.

Or so Helios thought. Euos had landed on the top of one of the bright skyscrapers. The lights helped muddle Helios's and Euos's inner glow. Mokuba pressed closer to the Titan seeking the warmth he radiated. They had decided to wait until later after the sun rose to make a break for it. If the flew towards the rising sun, they could lose their quarry in the blinding light, light that would not bother the solar Titan.

It was unfortunate that he would not get that chance.

The wind had started to howl and while it did not bother Helios or Euos, it did bother Mokuba. Eventually, Helios had no choice but to glide back down to the ground. His golden gaze flickered around the area before he reined his steed towards the river. They needed shelter. He could feel the cold front approaching, the clouds already moving overhead.

It seemed they would have to stay here for the day or ride through the rain. Once again, while it would not bother Helios, Mokuba would suffer. Mokuba was what mattered in this. Mokuba could die, Helios could revive.

"That was a mighty fine trick you pulled back there," a voice called, freezing Helios's blood.

Euos tensed, tail swishing, ready to run should he need to. Mokuba leaned around the Titan's body to see the person who had spoken. After a moment, Helios also turned and saw the strange human who could produce knives from his skin standing in an alleyway nearby. He made no sudden moves, just stood there and watched them.

Now that he was closer, Helios could see the man's features clearer. His face was rugged like a mountainside and his black hair was rough cut and mussed from the fight. Sideburns and a scraggly beard with a hint of a mustache adorned his face. He wore a black outfit consisting of a long sleeved jacket and pants. A small emblem of a red circle with an "X" in the center was visible on the his collar.

The man shifted his feet causing Euos to shake his head and step back. The man raised his hands slowly indicating he meant no harm and remained where he was. "I'm sorry you got involved," he called. "Are you and your friends alright?"

Helios did not speak but he nodded, the arm holding Mokuba close to him tightening slightly. The young Shadow user squirmed so he could have a better look at the strange man, cocking his head to the side slightly in interest.

"Who're you?" Mokuba demanded.

The man's lips quirked upwards in a wry smile. "A friend hopefully," he answered. "That power you used back there, was that a mutant power?"

"Mutant?" Helios asked. The man nodded and Mokuba looked up at Helios curiously. The Titan met the man's eyes carefully before asking, "If it was, what would you do with us?"

"Nothin'," the man said. "I don't like forcing people to do anything." He kept his hands up and took one slow, calculated step forward. "But if you want, I can take you to a place where you can be safe."

"Safe from what?" Mokuba asked. "You mean the people you were fighting?"

"Yeah, them," the man said. "But also other threats. Mutants aren't exactly..." He shrugged. "Well, you know."

They did not know but given the circumstances, it would probably be best to act as if they did. "We're looking for my big brother," Mokuba called. "We... Something happened and we were separated. Can you help us find him?"

The man tilted his head and nodded thoughtfully. "I can try. But I know someone who may be able to help better than me," he answered.

"Who?"

"He's also a mutant," the man said. "He's got a place where we can be safe and he can help you look for your brother from there."

"And you swear no harm will come to us?" Helios demanded.

"Not unless you attack us first," the man said firmly. "We don't like starting fights we can avoid."

"Helios," Mokuba said softly, lifting his eyes to the Titan's pleadingly. "He can help find Ni-sama."

Helios winced. He was beginning to understand why Kaiba always gave in to his little brother whenever the boy gave him that look. It really was efficient at tugging his heartstrings. He still felt wary of the stranger, not to mention the circumstances, but Mokuba was right. The man promised to help them find Kaiba and that as well as keeping Mokuba alive were his main priorities right now.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Very well. We accept." Euos tossed his mane and neighed, stamping the ground in anticipation of another good run. "How do you plan to get us there?" Helios asked. No need to bring up the fact Euos can fly if he did not have to.

At that moment, a loud roar of an aircraft filled the air. The man grinned and pointed to it. "That."

"Will my horse be able to come?" Helios asked.

"Ah," the man hesitated, eyeing Euos cautiously. "Probably won't fit."

The Titan nodded and dismounted. "Then he will meet us at our destination," he said, helping Mokuba down after him.

"I doubt that," the man muttered but Helios ignored him.

"Euos," the solar deity said softly in ancient Greek, "when I arrive, I will come into the light so you can find me. Come in your own time," he said gently, scratching the soft hair between the stallion's eyes. "I will wait."

Euos, well used to this, simply dropped his head and stood obediently while his master and Mokuba hurried over to the oddly shaped aircraft. Helios cast one last look over his shoulder to his loyal friend before the metal door slammed closed behind them and they surged into the sky. Only then did he turn to see who else was in the craft.

He gripped Mokuba's shoulder protectively when he saw the woman who controlled lightning standing behind the pilot. Her clear blue eyes bored into him from a lovely tan face framed by long white hair that fell past her shoulders. She wore a black suit similar in style to the first man but she also wore a cape that hung loosely from her shoulders.

She gave them a cursory look before meeting the first man's eyes. "I assume you forgot to introduce yourself," she said in a chiding voice similar to that of a mother's. Her voice was delicate and well enunciated belaying the power Helios knew she controlled.

The man winced but turned to the Titan and Mokuba awkwardly. "Call me Logan," he said.

Mokuba studied the man closely before extending his hand. "Mokuba," he said.

Logan hesitated a moment of before taking the offered hand and shaking it gently. "Mokuba," he repeated. "That Japanese?"

Mokuba brightened and nodded enthusiastically. "Hai!" he chirped. "This is Helios," Mokuba said, pointing to the Titan beside him. "He's Greek."

"Greek, uh?" Logan asked before taking the Titan's hand more cautiously. "Never been there. Hear it's nice."

Helios clasped Logan's hand firmly. "It can be at times."

"Don't worry," the woman said, stepping up to take Logan's place giving him a wry smile. "He's not much of a talker. I'm Ororo Monroe."

"Monroe-san?" Mokuba asked.

"San?"

"It's an honorific in Japanese," Logan said. "It's the equivalent of mister or miss."

"You speak Japanese?" Mokuba gasped, a smile forming on his cherubic face.

Logan nodded, a careful smile growing on his face. "A bit, yeah," he said.

Helios felt sympathy for the poor man. Anyone Mokuba focused his trademark looks on very rarely got away without Mokuba getting what he wanted. And it looked like Logan was falling for it. Interestingly enough, it also appeared as if the man was aware of what was happening and was not sure how to deal with it.

Luckily for Logan, Miss Monroe stepped in. "I suppose that'll do then," she said with a soft smile.

Mokuba flushed happily and Helios sighed. From the looks of things, he and Mokuba may have found themselves allies. He only hoped their luck held out. A casual glance at the driver's face in the rearview mirror and Helios was met by a young man wearing an interesting visor. The pilot quickly looked away and Helios wondered if it was difficult to see with that visor on.

"So," the only other person present said. "Now what?"

"Now," the pilot said calmly, "we go back to the school."

"School?!" Mokuba cried. "But you promised you'd take us to a safe place! School is hell."

Helios bit his lip hard to hold back his laughter but his shoulders still shook. He had to cover his mouth with his hand when his breath started coming in gasps. The others seemed to relax at the Titan's obviously humorous take on the younger boy's comment. The pilot even smirked.

"Don't worry kid," he called back to them over the roar of the engine. "I think you'll like this school. It's a lot cooler than it looks."

Mokuba sat on one of the seats along the wall and sulked. "It'd better be."

Helios sighed and simply grabbed one of the handle bars along the ceiling and braced himself as the ride began to get bumpier courtesy of the disturbed air from the approaching cold front. Or was it the warm front now?

He carefully made his way to the front of the aircraft aware of the eyes watching him closely. He made sure to keep his arms and hands in full view at all times as he leaned close to see through the windshield curiously. They were fast approaching a line of clouds that he instinctively knew was a warm front. But that meant they were traveling a lot faster and further than he first anticipated. How far away was this school anyway?

When he voiced the question aloud it was the young girl who had yet to introduce herself who answered. "A ways," she said simply.

"It'll be a couple hours or so," Miss Monroe said. "It's on the east coast."

Helios nodded thoughtfully and murmured, "I see."

Kaiba sat bolt upright the moment he felt Arrow slip his watch. Numerous emotions and thoughts filled his head at once but most notably were shock followed closely by unrefined fury. He leapt to his feet and spun to face the opening to the alcove glaring out into the desert sun with hate filled eyes. Whoever dared to take what was his would pay dearly. He would make sure of that.

"Kaiba!" someone called, yanking his arm viciously.

He glared at the perpetrator for several seconds before realizing it was Mai. He forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. He needed to be in control for this. Lashing out in anger would do him no good. He had to track his prey, regain what was lost, and think of a fitting punishment for the thief.

"Kaiba, what's wrong?" Mai demanded, her violet eyes gleaming with worry.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Something's happened to kohai," he hissed. "He's gone."

"Gone?" Lantern gasped. "Where did he go?"

"If I knew that then the thief would be dead, Lantern," the Regent snapped.

"Kaiba!" Mai said. "What about Shaadi?"

Kaiba felt his Shadows reaching out in all directions, searching, seeking, feeling for his Adviser. It bothered him how faint Shaadi's Shadow signature was. That meant he was likely unconscious or injured or both. Thankfully, because Shaadi was a member of the Court proper, his Shadows, no matter how faint, were still strong enough for Kaiba to get a close enough lock on his position.

"Lantern," he said as calmly as he could. "I know the trip here was...less than convenient. But do you think you can handle a potential fight right now?"

Lantern's green eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in determination. "I can." He held up his clenched fist, his Green Lantern ring gleaming in anticipation.

"Then take Mai's hand and get ready to fight," Kaiba commanded. He took his Sorceress's other hand. "Mai, don't let go."

He waited just long enough for Mai to tighten her hold on his hand indicating she and Lantern were ready before drawing his Shadows, thanking every deity in existence the Shadows were just as active here as on his home world, and Traveling. It took slightly longer than he would have expected both because he was unfamiliar with the terrain and flow of energies and Shadows in this world as well as because Shaadi's signature while strong was still not as strong and sure as he would have preferred. It worried him.

He tried to get as close as he could and managed to do so fairly well, but not close enough. When he and his group materialized from the Shadows, it was in the shadow cast by a large, black SUV. Gunshots were ringing through the air as was the sound of gasping and a soft thud.

Kaiba turned and saw Green Lantern on his knees breathing hard. He felt briefly sympathetic but he was more focused on the more immediate need to find Shaadi and Arrow. "Take care of him," he commanded Mai. "Stay Shadowed."

He did not wait for his Sorceress to obey, feeling her draw her Shadows around herself and Lantern, cloaking them in an inky blackness that only direct light could penetrate. It was nowhere near as powerful as the Regent's but Kaiba could not spare his Shadows at the moment. He was too busy reaching out with his Shadows for his Adviser.

A moment later, he felt Shaadi's presence grow stronger directly to the left and in front of a metal, cylindrical trailer...which was just kicked horizontally into the path of the oncoming bullets by a single woman. Kaiba yanked his own cloak of Shadows over himself when he recognized this woman. She was the very same who came through the rainbow light that forced his group into this godforsaken place in the first place.

He narrowed his blue eyes furiously, but pushed his anger aside. Shaadi was more important. Shaadi was his, this woman was nothing but a distraction. At least this female-nothing managed to do something useful. When she kicked the trailer forward it covered Shaadi's body in natural shadow allowing Kaiba to both sense him more clearly and Travel directly to his side.

He quickly vanished and reappeared in the trailer's shadow beside Shaadi. His Adviser was coughing and struggling to breath. His chest was strangely collapsed like it had been dealt a crushing blow and his face and hands were covered with narrow cuts and glass shards. Something had crushed his chest and tossed him through a window. It made Kaiba livid.

But anger could wait, healing had to happen now. He quickly cast the Trap Attack Guidance Barrier to protect him and Shaadi from any stray fire. Then he reached for his holster and pulled out his Deck. He quickly shuffled through his cards searching for something, some card that could help Shaadi. Gift of the Mystical Elf could restore some of Shaadi's life but not nearly enough to matter, plus he would have to summon a monster for it to work in the first place. Solemn Wishes could work but he would have to chant it over and over for it to heal the amount of damage done. That would waste too much precious time.

He was prepared to do just that anyway when he felt a tug from his Deck. He almost ignored it but figured what the hell, why not? He shuffled further and found a card he had only recently added to his Deck as a permanent addition, the Spell card Emergency Provisions. This was exactly what he needed.

He quickly pulled out his Mountain Field Spell card and added it to his small hand including Attack Guidance Barrier, Solemn Wishes and Gift of the Mystical Elf. He sent a quick prayer to Obelisk that this would work before chanting in hieratic, "Emergency Provisions."

He felt his heka drain from his a bit faster than anticipated but he could deal with that. His Adviser came first. He felt the drain from the already active Attack Guidance Barrier Trap, the other Spell and Trap cards in his hand ,and now as Emergency Provisions drained him of more heka to activate and channel fresh, healing heka into Shaadi roughly the equivalent of 4,000 life points, 1,000 points per Spell or Trap. He placed a hand gently on Shaadi's crushed chest feeling the bones begin to move and reassemble into their correct places.

Shaadi winced and groaned. Kaiba quickly covered the Egyptian's mouth to muffle his cries of pain. He knew the healing process was agonizing but he could not afford to catch any more unwanted attention then what they already had. He could feel Mai's Shadows tug worriedly on his own. She was concerned about Green Lantern. This new world was turning out to be less hospitable to him than to them. There could be a scientific reason behind it but he did not have time to think about it at the moment.

A dark hand clamped on the Regent's muffling wrist and squeezed hard. Kaiba released a sigh of relief. Shaadi was beginning to breathe and his pained squirming was easing. Eerie orange eyes opened and focused on the Regent, the clouded pain fading from them leaving them clear. His now healed chest heaved as he took deep, filling breathes into his newly whole lungs.

Kaiba helped his Adviser sit up slowly noticing the gunfight had stopped around him. He blinked and looked around. The healing process had taken less than a minute but it had felt like forever. The people from the black SUVs were making their way towards the building, one running around behind it. The woman who was cosplaying a character from Dungeons and Dragons stalked forward like she owned the place.

And naturally that was when she noticed Kaiba and Shaadi. Her sword was already drawn and she charged them but Kaiba did not worry. His Trap still held firm, sparking when it was struck and forcing her to redirect her attack on one of the other people nearby. The woman inadvertently attacked by the force of the Trap was of Asian decent and obviously knew how to handle herself.

She immediately dodged and aimed her weapon at the confused brunette cosplayer before they both turned back to Kaiba. The inky Shadows embraced Shaadi hiding his form from view with a dark film of Kaiba's creation. For several seconds no one moved, then a cry echoed from behind the building, male and familiar.

Arrow.

Kaiba quickly dropped his Trap and Shadow Traveled the short distance back to Mai, practically tossing Shaadi into her waiting arms before Traveling again. He worried about Lantern but was relieved with the way the metahuman was able to recover and attend Shaadi. Then he was back in the Shadows embrace, slithering through the dirty bar and out to the outer wall at the back of the building.

He was welcomed by the sight of a spare part graveyard half covered by a rusted metal roof held up by two metal poles. A woman with long red hair falling elegantly over her shoulders was seated calmly behind a man wearing black gear and bullet proof vest on a motorcycle. On a similar motorcycle next to the duo was Arrow.

Kaiba manifested as fast as he could directly in front of the group startling all three of them. "Kohai," he called.

Arrow stiffened but made no move to answer his Regent's call while the woman eyed the shadow enveloped figure who appeared before her like magic. Kaiba reached out with his Shadows and felt Arrow's Shadows muffled, restrained by something sickeningly sweet and lush like silk rope. It was disgusting and a desecration of the darkness. The Shadows should never be bound in such a way. The only explanation for this occurrence was...

"Who dares claim you as their's, kohai?" Kaiba hissed.

The woman whispered to the man in front of her, "Take me somewhere grand, deserving of a ruler." She reached out and grasped Arrow's arm firmly and added, "A Queen."

"I know just the place," the man in front of her said.

"Kohai," Kaiba commanded. "She is not your ruler. She does not own you."

"On the contrary," the woman said with a sultry grin, "I most certainly do." Kaiba shifted to an attack stance but never got the chance to react. He heard the familiar bang of a gun firing then the painful thud as a bullet struck him, followed by the urge to sleep.

Seth raged and took over Kaiba's body the moment he felt his Ka's soul lose consciousness. Unfortunately, he did not have control for more than a second before he was forced to dodge two oncoming motorcycles.

"Arrow!" he cried.

He could try to summon a Monster to pursue them but he was not a Ka and his heka was already significantly drained from Traveling to this world, Traveling several times within this world, casting several Spells and Traps, and now aiding Kaiba's soul, attempting to keep him alive and scanning his soul and body for wounds. He was surprised to find none.

He was tired, exhausted, drained and whatever the bullet that hit him was, it was not a normal bullet and something was trying very hard to drag his soul into unconsciousness as well. He would be damned before he let that happen. But he could not risk Shadow Traveling back to the Sorceress and Lantern. He was too weary and did not trust himself with that level of submergence with the Shadows in this state. It was too dangerous.

A gun cocked behind him and he counted yet another strike of this godawful, unlucky, Osiris accursed day. He turned slowly and was greet by the all too familiar sight of the unknown cosplayer woman and her sword held threateningly at his neck. He glanced down at her blade then up into her brown eyes. She was a warrior, Seth could appreciate that.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "First you appear within the Bifrost despite not coming from Asgard, then at the side of a wounded man, now here just as Lorelei escaped our grasp. Name yourself!"

"Lorelei," Seth whispered. The strange name oddly accented on his tongue. "You speak of the red haired woman."

It was not a question and this armored woman did not deign to answer it. The man behind her, a regular looking man with a high forehead and close cut light brown hair holding a gun, however, did.

"Yes," he said, his voice calm almost conversational. "Any idea where she went?"

Seth studied this man and the people behind him. They wore uniforms similar to that worn by the man who sat in front of the red haired woman on the motorcycle. The Ba remembered feeling Arrow's subdued and bound Shadows, perhaps the other man was also suffering from a similar bind.

"Are you with her or against her?" he asked in turn.

"Against," the brunette woman hissed. Her eyes flashed with unconcealed hatred and pent up frustration.

Seth did not release his hold on the enshrouding Shadows but nodded. "Then it appears we have a common enemy," he said slowly. "She has taken one of mine." He narrowed Kaiba's eyes dangerously. "I do not take too kindly to people touching my things without my permission."

Seth would probably regret claiming ownership of Arrow when Kaiba woke up and found out about this, but it was the better alternative to these people finding out about his existence. Speaking of, his vision began tunneling. Whatever was in that bullet combined with the magical and physical drain was finally beginning to take a more thorough effect.

He reached out to Mai, tugging her Shadows weakly. She responded by immediately Shadow Traveling to his side startling the armored woman and her companions. Seth ignored them and spoke softly in mumbled Japanese, "Don't let them know about Lantern yet. Have him follow us if he can."

The metahuman could be their ace for the time being. Mai seemed to understand nodding as Seth staggered. Damn it. It was too soon.

"Cover me," he gasped, then black.