I had this done yesterday but I fell asleep before posting it. That's why I'm a brilliant spazz. Huzzah.
Act IV:
Mokuba and Shizuka woke up to find themselves with their legs chained. They had no idea where they were except that they were in some sort of dark room. There seemed to be a piano or something similar in the room, leading them to think that they were in a club of some sort. In fact, the air smelled like cigarette smoke and booze. Mokuba couldn't feel the weight of his locket anymore. He vigorously searched his person but couldn't find it anywhere.
All of a sudden, light flashed in their eyes. There before them was the old man. He was dressed quite strangely. He wore a toga and laurels on his head. In his hands was a lyre. As he walked, the old man plucked the strings of the lyre, making beautiful sounds. It was a haunting melody that made the two afraid of what might happen.
"Are you two scared?" Kinnac asked.
The two were so afraid that they couldn't find it in their voices to speak.
"You need not be. I will soon send you to rest."
Kinnac started playing his melody.
Angelic Creation, Namely Light
A rock ballad
/Kinnac/
Natural Light, Mosaic Light
Child of the morning, known as the angel Lucifer
Apocalyptic Light, Michael's Light
Child of darkness, also androgynous
Fiery Light, Heavenly Light
Manifesting as the hierarchy of Heavens
Illusory Light, Eternal Light
Phantasmic Deception, Capricious Birth
Hail Nyx, Erebus, Uranus, Thanatos
(Mokuba and Shizuka started to feel something weird in their bodies. It felt like throwing up but it was much more violent than that.)
Shining bodies, all of them spherical, gynous
Just as if born with every miracle, gynous
The pleasure principle, the nirvana principle
Death's inevitability, dubbed "The Light"
Without having to have lived
Phenomenon of mobile life
In the cerebral universe
Shape of floating life
Glory, ephemery, hope for eternity
Incomplete returning to the primitive beginnings
(Mokuba and Shizuka's eyes started to roll up in their heads. Their bodies started shivering as if cold.)
Male/female, positive/negative are the two parts of me
Up/down, left/right are the two parts of me
Front/back, Heaven/Earth are the two parts of me
Angel and Demon are the two parts of me
The center is hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow
Mokuba and Shizuka's mouths opened against their own accord and green mist spewed from it.
"What beautiful souls." Kinnac mused. Kinnac reached out to take the souls but was repelled by some unknown force.
"What the hell?" Kinnac growled.
The green mist that Kinnac called a soul turned blue when he tried to reach out for it. It made him angry.
"Why can't I collect their souls?" He mused. Then his brain came up with the answer. "Could it be that their souls are protected? But why?"
He looked at Mokuba. "Well, that kid is the brother of the High Priest, Set. So that makes sense." Then he looked at Shizuka. "But why is she protected? There is no way that the High Priest's influence could extend that far. She's not his family. In fact, only a familial bond is strong enough to resist a soul stealing technique."
Kinnac looked intently at the girl. "Who the hell are you and who is your family?"
Kinnac scoffed. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll get them too."
Kinnac took one last look at Shizuka's near-lifeless face and took off to execute his plan.
It was a body. Jounouchi and Kaiba were standing over a dead body. But it wasn't like any other dead body he had ever seen. Jounouchi remembered last night when a guy collapsed after singing. The body looked just like that guy. The color was gone from his face. In fact, it was better to say that there was no color. It wasn't even white. It was clear. From the distance that they were standing, they could see right through the skin and see the innards and organs.
"What the hell is this?" Jounouchi whispered, unable to find his voice.
"It's a dead body." Kaiba responded to the whispered question. Although his own voice was calm, inside he was trying to calculate what could make skin react like that. It didn't make sense and that bothered Kaiba. He liked the world to have a logic to it. The clouds move because of the wind. The tide is controlled by the moon. The moon gives off light because it reflects the sun's light, etc. This body confounded his logic. And, to be fair, this wouldn't the first dead body he's seen. Kaiba Seto probably has seen his fair share of bodies. Hell, he was sometimes indirectly the cause of maybe one or two of them. But this was strange.
"I know it's a dead body. But why can we see through its skin?"
Kaiba had no answer to that. "For the time being, we need to call the police. This is their responsibility now."
Jounouchi had to agree.
Unconsciously, Jounouchi shivered. It wasn't because of the could or even because he saw the dead body. It was just, for some reason, there was something wrong in the world. The blond couldn't place it so he let it swim in the back of his mind.
Kaiba finished calling the police and snorted. He wasn't going to sing a witness aria when the police arrived. After the police call, he called Izuro. He wondered what Mokuba is doing right now. As the phone was ringing, Kaiba got impatient. His nose twitched and there was a slight tapping of his feet. Something wasn't right.
"Izuro." Kaiba whispered. "Answer the damn phone."
"Izuro." Jounouchi smiled snarkily. "Is that your boyfriend or something?"
"It would be too bad for you, considering your song."
The blond winced. So he remembered. But, then again, this was Kaiba. He didn't bother looking at the brunet.
Kaiba took apparent joy from Jounouchi sulking. "What's wrong? Does the puppy want a bone?"
Jounouchi looked steamed, about ready to explode. Kaiba just watched him as the blond was pushed more to the edge. It was delicious torture. Kaiba had to admit that the blond was quite amusing.
Jounouchi tried to calm himself. He knew that Kaiba was trying to make him angry and to start a fight. But he wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction.
It was then that he remembered his current mission. It was to find the source of the singing. Besides the weird dead body, Jounouchi couldn't find anything. But more importantly, he didn't want to sing another duet with this self-righteous bastard. Time to go back to the store.
Kaiba thought it was strange that Jounouchi didn't rise to his taunting and threaten to kick his ass. Even though he knew that he could take the blond in a fight, not having the mutt continue the taunting was weird and intriguing at the same time.
And now the blond was walking away from him. What a guy. He's trying to create a gap between them. Adorable. But Kaiba knew that he could get under Jounouchi's skin. A constant drop of water can inevitably wear down a rock.
As Jounouchi was walking back to the Game Shop, he felt a familiar sense of foreboding. It was Kaiba, no doubt about it. He was following him. "What the hell is your problem, Kaiba?"
"It's just so much fun to tease you."
Jounouchi was about to respond when he felt a sudden pain in his heart. He collapsed to his knees. It felt like someone was trying to rip his soul from him. The blond coughed up blood.
Kaiba's eyes widened. This was unexpected. "Hey, what the hell." Sure it wasn't the most loquacious of responses but a guy coughing up blood right next to you is just something one can't ignore, can they?
As suddenly as the pain came, it subsided. Jounouchi got up from the ground. There was a look in his honey colored eyes that Kaiba couldn't quite place. It was the look of seriousness mingled with determination. What the hell was happening?
"Shizuka." That was the word that came out of the blond's mouth. With that, he ran in the direction of the Game Shop.
Kaiba followed after him. It was like his feet moved of their own accord. Why the hell was he following the blond? Perhaps it had something to do with this bad feeling that was starting to swim inside him. There was something wrong. The bodyguard that he placed to secretly watch over Mokuba was never late with his reports and he always answered the phone when called. So why wasn't he now? Could it be because of a dead battery or something that trivial? Or maybe it was something else.
Kaiba refused to dwell on what he didn't know but what he did. The last report from Izuro was that they were downtown. None of this was making sense. Mokuba was hanging out with the stupid blond and the stupid blond's friends. Why was it that he was heading downtown then?
Instead of thinking, Kaiba decided to take action. He dialed another number on his cell and waited for an answer.
"It's Kaiba. Run a GPS signal from Mokuba's locket and give me his exact location in two minutes. When you find him, have a car pick me up."
For some reason he couldn't fathom, Kaiba grabbed Jounouchi's shoulder.
"Come with me."
The blond was about to protest but there was something in the way that he was grabbed that didn't allow him to protest. He followed Kaiba like the obedient dog that the bastard always claimed he was.
A car came speeding in the direction. It started to slow down as it came towards them. A door opened automatically and Kaiba shoved Jounouchi inside. With the two of them inside the car, it sped off to their destination.
"What's the deal?" Jounouchi asked.
"Something happened to Mokuba. Apparently, he's not answering his phone and the bodyguard who I sent to tail him isn't answering either."
Jounouchi scoffed. "You had a goon follow your brother? What a guy."
Kaiba glared but otherwise said nothing. "Are you that dense? Mokuba was with your sister."
That was the key phrase. Jounouchi's amber eyes widened. Then he looked away. Kaiba noticed the change in the atmosphere. "What's the matter?"
"To tell you the truth, I feel like something awful just happened."
Kaiba scoffed, not wanting to make his own fears known.
Yuugi and the others returned to the Game Shop. Their search had been unsuccessful. As they recounted their fruitless search for the source of the singing, they noticed that three people haven't returned yet.
"Has anyone seen Jou, Mokuba or Shizuka yet?" Honda asked, immediately worrying about them.
All of them answered in the negative. This caused them to worry.
Yuugi closed his eyes and contacted the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. "What do you think of this?"
"Perhaps you over-thinking things." Yami tried to cheer him up.
"I guess. But I have this sense that something is wrong."
"I know. Me too. That's why we have to find the source. That way, we can stop everyone from getting hurt"
Yami gave Yuugi some confidence. Yuugi smiled brilliantly. "You're right."
Yuugi opened his eyes and looked at everyone. "Let's believe in them and wait here."
The others agreed, silently praying for their safe return.
Kaiba and Jounouchi were on site where the GPS signal was originating. But neither could find Mokuba and Shizuka. Kaiba was on the phone shouting. "Are you sure that the signal is coming from here." He yelled, frustrated and nerve-racked.
Jounouchi was looking for something, anything that proved that Mokuba and Shizuka was here and still alright. But there was this gnawing feeling inside him. He tried so desperately to fight it but somewhere, deep inside, the blond knew that something bad had happen to the two of them.
As he was looking for a clue, he noticed a brown, card-shaped object on the ground. He looked to pick it up and noticed that it was a necklace of some type.
"Kaiba." Jounouchi called out him.
Kaiba stopped to look at the blond. There was a frustrated look on his face but that dissipated when he noticed what Jounouchi was holding in his hand. It was Mokuba's locket. He would recognized it anywhere. The brunet walked to the blond quickly and snatched it from his hand.
Kaiba opened the locket and recognized the picture of his younger self and suppressed the torrent of emotions welling inside him. He closed his cell phone and breathed slowly to regain his composure. It wouldn't be a good thing to try and find Mokuba with muddled emotions.
Kaiba's cell phone rang again. Kaiba answered it. The person on the other line spoke only to Kaiba. Jounouchi couldn't hear what the person on the other line was saying. But as the person was speaking, the blond saw Kaiba's sapphire eyes widen.
"He's in the hospital?" Kaiba shouted.
Jounouchi immediately feared the worst.
"I'll want to speak to him immediately. I'll have my driver get me to the hospital."
With that, he closed his phone. He saw Jounouchi walking to him but he ignored him.
"Mokuba is in the hospital?" The blond asked.
"The bodyguard I assigned to Mokuba was put in the hospital. Apparently, he was stabbed."
"I'm going with you." Jounouchi told him.
"No you are not." Kaiba responded.
"He might have information on what happened to my sister."
"If I find her, I'll send her to you." Kaiba told Jounouchi.
Jounouchi grabbed Kaiba roughly. The brunet saw an intensity in the blond's amber eyes. It shone like fire. For the first time since their one-sided rivalry, Kaiba wondered if Jounouchi was going to hit him. Of course, Jounouchi always threatened that on a daily basis but this is the first time that Kaiba felt anything close to worry. He was worried about his sister. He understood that.
"Threaten me all you want. I'm not taking you. Finding my brother is my only priority." Kaiba brushed off Jounouchi's hands... or at least tried to do so. But the blond's grip was firm.
"I don't care that you don't love me." Jounouchi's hands shook as he did that. "I can live with that. But I will not let you put me on the sidelines while my sister is in danger. I will not lose her again. I will not let you put her on the line."
Kaiba looked at Jounouchi with regard to his situation. He understood the need to do something, anything to save what one deems is precious. Kaiba admired that quality in the blond above all his others. Kaiba sighed and took Jounouchi's hands in his own. Jounouchi blushed, which was unusual considering the situation.
All of a sudden, Kaiba threw Jounouchi to the ground. "You'd get in my way. I won't let you put my brother in danger."
With that, Kaiba walked to his car, leaving a tearful Jounouchi on the cold ground. Kaiba stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "I'll find your sister for you as well. Don't you worry."
As the car pulled away, Jounouchi looked in the direction of the departing vehicle. "Damn you, Kaiba." He shouted while sobbing. He didn't know what hurt more: that his sister was in danger or that Kaiba rejected his help. Jounouchi ran in the direction of the Game Shop, desperate to get something that would help him find his sister.
Kaiba's car reached the hospital in under 5 minutes. He walked quickly to the information desk and asked for Izuro. The receptionist directed him to where he was staying. As Kaiba strode to the room, he was stopped by the doctor who treated his bodyguard.
The doctor told him that Izuro was stabbed by a knife laced with a strange poison. It wouldn't kill him because it didn't pierce any vital organs or severed any arteries or major veins. However, there was a paralyzing agent in the poison that left him bedridden until it made its course through the body.
Kaiba nodded and asked if his bodyguard could talk. The doctor answered him in the affirmative.
Kaiba stepped in and approached his bodyguard. A respirator was attached to his face and a dialysis machine was hooked on one of his veins.
Izuro looked at his boss with sorrowful eyes. "My deepest apologies." The bodyguard breathed.
"What happened?" Kaiba asked.
"I was watching master Mokuba from a distance, just like you asked when suddenly, a guy appeared behind me. He said something about interfering with his plans and then he stabbed me. Or maybe he stabbed me and then said that. I don't remember."
"Aren't you trained to protected against attacks from behind?"
"I am, sir. But this guy didn't make a sound. It was like one moment he wasn't there and the next, he was."
Kaiba scoffed in his mind. He knew what Izuro was trying to say. Magic. How ludicrous. Before Kaiba could ask another question, Izuro slipped into sleep. The CEO could ask no more questions now.
Kaiba growled due to his lack of information. He stomped out of the hospital.
Kinnac's preparations were complete. He started to strum his lyre. As the music started to play, magic flowed from the instrument. His message will soon be conveyed.
Jounouchi was right in front of the Game Shop. The sun was about to go down. He saw Honda's motorcycle in front of the Shop, which meant that Honda was in the shop. Suddenly there was a light that started to appear in front of him. Jounouchi felt fear when he saw this. Instinctively he knew that this was connected to his sister's disappearance.
Yuugi and the others were waiting nervously for Jounouchi, Shizuka and Mokuba to return when suddenly a light appeared without warning. Yuugi switched to the ancient Pharaoh who called himself Yami. This was now his situation.
Kaiba had called a chopper to pick him up from the hospital. He needed to backtrack where Mokuba had been and calculate where someone would take him. That would be the best option for now. Kaiba assumed that this was a kidnapping ransom situation and that the person or persons involved will contact him. As he was about to board the chopper, a light appeared in front of him. Kaiba couldn't explain it but he wasn't going to call it magic. Anything but that.
Kinnac smiled. Connection complete.
He spoke through the magic, making sure that his message reached everyone that it needed to reach.
To the ancient pharaoh, the high priest Set and the boy who released me, I greet you all warmly. I wonder if you are enjoying the hijinks right now, everyone singing their songs and revealing their innermost secrets. I hope you find this rather amusing.
Jounouchi growled. "What the hell did you do, you bastard?"
Oh blondie, I'm getting my revenge.
Yami and Kaiba's thoughts turned to who could this person be talking to by addressing that person as blondie. They both thought of Jounouchi.
Back to what I was saying. I have something that belongs to blondie and the high priest. I wonder if you can guess.
Jounouchi growled. "You bastard. If you hurt her...
"I will make you wish you were dead." Kaiba finished Jounouchi's threat.
Yami and the rest of the group could only guess what this person had until they came up with the solution. "Mokuba and Shizuka." They gasped.
The three could hear the light chuckle.
Wow. The two of you were in sync at that moment. Are you lovers or something?
No one responded.
Oooh. Tough crowd. Well, it seems as though I can't take their souls as I originally planned because they are protected. At least for the moment. And so, I issue a challenge. A duel monsters' challenge, in fact. The pharaoh, however, is my main concern. So the challenge is given to all three of you. You will bring your decks and the priest will bring the devices that calls the monsters into this world.
Kaiba ascertained that when the light was speaking to him to bring the Duel Disks.
The challenge will be at the Club DV8. Please be there. Oh, and Pharaoh, you better not bring your friends. Otherwise, you will forfeit the competition.
With that, the light vanished. The three who were challenged called out to the light but it was in vain.
Jounouchi clenched his fists. He will save his sister. But, then he thought of Kaiba. It seems as though he was coming. The thought of it filled him with something that wasn't love, hate or anything he had ever felt before. He couldn't place it. Perhaps it was dread. The blond was worried that something might happen to them
No, I won't let that happen, he thought to himself.
Patting his pocket, he felt that his deck was on him and so, he was ready. He saw Honda's bike in front of him. Honda would forgive him this later but he might get hit before then. That was fine. Honda would understand.
Yami sighed. It seemed as though the person who caused the singing was after him. He figured as much.
"What are you going to do?" Anzu asked him. She was worried. She was still getting used to the feeling that Yuugi confessed to liking her. But how did she feel? She didn't want him to go but she knew that he would.
Before Yami could answer, Yuugi took over their body. "I'm going to challenge him and make him stop the singing."
As soon as Yuugi gave his answer, the gang heard screeching wheels outside. Honda recognized it as his motorcycle. He ran outside to see a familiar tuff of blond hair on his bike, riding off into the distance. It was Jounouchi. Apparently he took his bike which means that he knows about his sister.
"I'll go with you." Anzu told him
"Me too." Otogi joined in.
"We'll cheer you and Jou on." Honda chimed in as well.
Yuugi shook his head. "I don't want you going with me." With that, he got up from his seat and started to walk out the door.
Anzu grabbed Yuugi's arm. There were tears swelling in her cerulean eyes. "Please."
Yuugi gently put his hand on her face and caressed her cheek. "Don't worry. I'll come back." He smiled before disengaging Anzu's arm and walking out the door, closing it behind her.
Anzu felt the pain of loss already.
Kaiba told the pilot to take him to Club DV8. The brunet knew that his deck was on him. He would never leave it at home where someone could take it. He also knew that the had a bunch of Duel Disks on the choppers.
But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he would have to take the challenge with the mutt and the midget. He didn't like it. He didn't want them to interfere with him saving his brother.
His thoughts turned to Jounouchi.
You know, you'd be a lot more fun to hang around if you didn't have that stick up your ass.
That's what he said to him. For some reason, that bothered him now. In the wake of his brother's kidnapping, Jounouchi was someone who understood what he was going through. In fact, there was something about the blond that irked him, stoked him, challenged him. The blond was a fire and Kaiba started to realize the blond's value to him. Why now?
Perhaps Kaiba realized that this could be a trap. They could be walking to their deaths. For that reason, that unnerved him.
"No". he thought. "I can handle anything. I will save my brother."
He thought to Jounouchi again. The thought of the blond dying or having something happen to that sister of his was something he couldn't allow. He couldn't stop thinking about it. As he flew to Club DV8, Kaiba couldn't help but burst into song
Walk Through the Fire
/Seto/
I touch the fire and it freeze me
I look into it and it's black
Why can't I feel? My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back
(Kaiba's thoughts turned to Jounouchi.)
And through the smoke, he calls to me
To love him like a burning flame
To play that part, or maybe break his heart
To me, it's all the same
So I will walk through the fire
'Cause where else can I turn?
I will walk through the fire and let it...
(As Jounouchi was riding towards Club DV8, he felt the onset of a song coming. He didn't have the concentration to prevent it and ride to the Tower so he let it happen.)
/Katsuya/
The torch I bear is scorching me
My love of Kaiba has me down
The more I try, the more he does deny
And that just makes me frown
But still I'll walk through the fire
I guess I'll never learn
And I will walk through the fire and let it...
(Anzu, Honda and Otogi, worried about Jou and Yuugi's well being, allowed their worries to be set to music.)
/Anzu/
What's this feeling coursing through me?
Can I be in love with Yuugi?
Is this why that I feel so much fear?
/Hirito/
What if those two can't defeat it?
/Ryuji/
Dummy, have you seen them eat it?
Anyways, why are we standing here?
/Anzu, Hirito and Ryuji/
Our hearts aflamed
We'll go cheer on the King of Games
And we will walk through the fire...
(Yuugi was running down a desolate road, infused with magic from the spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle. Everything was moving like a blur as a song started to well up inside him)
/Yuugi/
So once again, my cross I bear
Off I go to save the world
But all this pain, all of it is in vain
If I can't get the girl
(Kinnac now had all of their hearts connected. It was now going to be easier to take their souls later.)
/Anzu/
How can we stop all this madness?
/Kinnac/
So one by one, they come to me
/Hirito/
Maybe if we use all our fists
/Kinnac/
The glaring redness as their guide.
/Katsuya/
Why does everything just go awry
/Ryuji/
Can things go back the way they were
/Kinnac/
Was maligned
/Hirito/
I think this line's mostly filler
/Kinnac/
Now four souls intertwine
/Seto/
I still don't know the reason why
/Kinnac/
And I'll have what's inside
/Seto, Katsuya/
But these endless days are finally ending in a blaze
/All/
And we are caught in the fire
The point of no return
And we will walk through the fire
And let it burn....
(Kaiba's chopper was in sight of Club DV8. He could see a skylight installed on the building. It was perfect for his entrance. After throwing down a rope ladder that the chopper had equipped on it, he readied the gun that he carried on him at all times.)
Let it burn....
(Jounouchi saw the glass windows of the club. He was going to bust through them with the bike.)
Let it burn....
(Yuugi chose the back entrance. Calling on Yami, the teen was given magic to break down the door and whatever magics was protecting it.)
Let it burn!
All three of them broke inside the club at the same time, Kaiba through the skylight descending on a rope ladder, Jounouchi and his motorcycle crashed through the window, and Yuugi busted down the back entrance. In front of them were two chained figures and an old man sitting between them, playing a harp. They recognized that person immediately as the one responsible for all of this.
Kinnac smiled. "And so it begins."
In the song, Walk Through the Fire, Kinnac is singing his own verse in row. He's singing the same song but it's suppose to be in sync with the others singing. So I aligned his verses center and the others are left. That's what up with that.
That's Act IV. There is one more act to go. The thrilling conclusion of Once More, With Feeling. I need to do some research but there will be a big duel in the final act. I am not sure if I am going to update this immediately to finish this story or wait until I get through a cycle of my other stories. We'll see.
Until then,
Sparky Out