Starlight Luster: Thanks so much for your review! It seriously made me happy, I loved the fact that my chapter made you squeal with happiness. That was just too sweet. I'm like that too, hahaha, gosh, thank you so much. Yeah, Joan and Seto… their like two peas in a pod. You're going to love this, hahaha. Thanks again!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I tend to have a couple spelling errors here and there. I really need to learn how to proof read my stuff. I love editing, but I hate editing my own stuff. It's like the most painful thing ever for meX.X Yeah, a lot of people didn't get the tackling part. It was just supposed to be a push down rawr tackle, not a semi-romantic tackle. And the mark thing was a political joke, I knew it would be kind of a stretch. A McCain fan carved a backwards J into another activist or something so I felt like putting that in. It was somewhat silly, I agree. I didn't think many people would get it. The title is in reference, really, to both of them to some extent. More Mokuba, then Seto really, but yeah. The fact that Mokuba hasn't told Seto what happened to him is really the core of the problems within their bond. It's just in so deep that they don't really realize it somewhat/don't want to realize it. Seto was surprised by his younger self's determination because he's just remembering how determined he was, and he's feeling like 'wow, I was so determined to do this, and yet, I didn't even foresee what would become of the end result' kind of thing. You are right, I do need to work on my descriptions. I'm always trying, hopefully I'm improving somewhat with each update. Anyways, thanks for the review!

Rena Redhead: I'm tempted not to reply to your review… just because you haven't reviewed the third chapter. RAWR! Just kidding, I shall anyway. It always surprises me the things you like about my chapter. You tend to pick up on the things that usually get overlooked by my other readers, like Seto's calming words and Seto's concern with Mokuba's safety rather than finding out the secret. I don't know, I like it… and it also leads me to believe that you're a spy. But that's another story. Hahaha, thanks again for your wonderful review! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4: Beauty and the Beast

-M-

I gasped and looked all around. What had just happened? Weren't we just in Gozaburo's house? Clapping could be heard echoing in the distance, and a spotlight much like what we had been standing in had lit up. The same kid that had trapped us here appeared standing over it, looking very pleased with the reactions on our faces.

"Ah, yes, you two are a sight for sore eyes," Noah said with sarcasm. He refrained from clapping and then put one of his hands on his hips, looking at Seto. "You had a pretty tough life, didn't you Seto?" Noah asked. I looked up at Seto to see what he would say, but he stayed strong.

"What the hell do you want with us, Noah? What are you trying to do?"

"I just wanted to refresh your memory a bit… I know you like to dig yourself into a hole of denial all the time, so I felt this would be a good chance to remind you of your past." Seto glared at him, lowering his head in a way that darkened his eyes from his bangs.

"What do you hope to gain from doing this?" Noah lifted his hand and held up his index finger.

"How about I ignore your question and ask you this…" Noah's eyes narrowed, "How was it that Gozaburo died on that dark night a long time ago?" I could feel Seto's body tense and I became frozen for a moment with the thought. Our step father… his death… it was a dark subject, and a scary one to remember. Especially considering had happened…

"What did you say?" Seto asked, trying to calm himself down. "How do you know about that?" Noah's eyes widened and his smile became more crazed then ever. I wanted to cling to my brother in that instant but refrained from doing so.

"You will be punished for what you have done, Seto…" Seto took a step forward.

"Who are you, Noah?" Noah gave a loud laugh.

"Just wait for the punishment with a pleasant heart… and until then…" Noah began to fade away into the darkness, "Enjoy the show." Seto and I began to fall through the ground and back onto the pathway in the forest.

"Hey, you guys came back. Where were you?"

"Somewhere I never want to be again"

"Oh, that one dungeon place again?" That wasn't the best thing to say. My body tensed and I glanced up at Seto to see how he reacted. He looked confused for the most part, but had a look that told me he would want to know more. This wasn't good. I tried making unnoticeable movements to get the message across, but she didn't seem to pick up.

"Dungeon place?" Seto asked.

"Yeah," Joan was staring at me oddly, she really wasn't getting the message, "He was on the island with the guy who had silver hair and-" I did the only thing I could do, pick up the closest rock I could find and chuck it at her. Luckily the rock just barely missed her head and bounced off of her shoulder. Now she looked more mad than confused.

"What was that for??" Joan asked, "Do you have problems with random violent outbursts? First you tackle me, and then you throw rocks at me. That's not normal kid, I hate to tell you, and that's not how you make friends." Either way, Seto had or was beginning to figure it out. He didn't look happy.

"She's talking about Duelist Kingdom, isn't she?"

"No! Not at all…"

"Why does she know about what happened on the island?" Joan was looking back and forth between Seto and me, confused. It was odd seeing this; last time I had encountered Joan she didn't seem this clueless. Was this because we weren't in the Shadow Realm anymore?

"By what happened, do you mean how he got beat-" I took up the next closest rock to me and held it up in the air in a threatening fashion.

"Do I need to throw another rock at you?!" Joan would've responded if Seto hadn't turned my way. I was hoping this wasn't going to be the intervention moment; I didn't want it to happen. At least not right now.

"Why does she know and I don't? I'm your brother, Mokuba, why would you trust her more than me?"

"Nii-sama, it's not like that at all. She doesn't know."

"She does know Mokuba, I'm not stupid. I demand to know how she can know, but I can't!" I wasn't going to be able to get out of this; that was clear. But what was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say in return? I wished Seto was a less stubborn person; it would've made this whole situation a lot less difficult.

"Guys, I'd hate to ruin this brotherly fight you got going here, but if I were you, I'd move."

"Why's that?" Seto spat back, not even looking Joan's way.

"Because if we don't; whatever that is will kill us first." Seto and I turned our heads at the same time and saw some sort of monster charging towards us. It resembled some sort of prehistoric creature, or some kind of turtle. It had a shell on its back and spikes coming out of the sides of the shell, as well as on the front of its head, and its eye were blood red. The monster was running on all fours, and it didn't look the least bit happy.

"We need to get out of here," Seto said, stating the obvious. Joan was already way ahead of him, running in the opposite direction of us. Seto grabbed me by the arm and dragged me as we took off running. I tried my best to keep up with him, always occasionally looking over my shoulder to see where the creature was. Unfortunately it had chosen to chase us instead of Joan, so it had become a race against death.

"Nii-sama, it's gaining on us!" I yelled, taking another look back over my shoulder. I was hoping he would tell me he had a plan soon, because the monster looked like it was starting to gain speed. I stared up at my brother in worry. "Nii-sama!"

"I've got a plan," Just the words I needed to hear, "Follow me." Like a spaceship, Seto had lifted off without warning and managed to jump onto a branch on a nearby tree. He held out his arm from below, "Grab my hand!" He commanded. I nodded and leapt forward, taking hold of his hand.

"It's coming closer!" I screamed.

"Don't worry, I've got you. I'm going to pull you up." Seto grasped the base of the tree and with the other hand held onto my arm tightly as he pulled me up. I had never been so happy to have a prodigy as my sibling in my entire life. I turned my head to see the frustrated look on the monster's face, but instead I felt an incredible pain shoot through my back. Seto's hand had slipped off my arm and I went flying.

I went spinning through-out the air, before crashing onto the ground hard. My body felt all out of order, and I was unable to keep myself steady. The world felt like it was spinning beneath me… what happened? I put my hand to my head and tried to regain my central balance.

The dizziness finally stopped after a few moments and I looked up. I was about to let out a cry, but I put my hand over my mouth and was able to stop myself. The creature was standing right in front of me, his eyes focused on only one thing and one thing alone. Me.

-S-

This wasn't good. This was not good. Although it was my nature to think logically in almost all situations, this was one of the few exceptions I had. My brother being in trouble would distort my sense of logic temporarily until his safety had been regained. That was why I had to act now, in whatever way possible.

"Mokuba!" I yelled, running along the branch before jumping as far as I could off the branch and in front of where Mokuba was on the ground. I faced the beast head on, I felt like a warrior or a gladiator of sorts. The only thing I needed was a weapon of some kind.

"Nii-sama, wait-"

"Mokuba, get out of here while you can. I'll distract him while you get away." This was starting to sound a little too much like a warrior movie but I had no time to think about that. I had to think of a way to distract this animal. I looked back and saw that Mokuba hadn't moved from where he was. "MOKUBA! I told you to run! Didn't you hear me?"

"I'm not going to let you get hurt!" I hated it when Mokuba tried to be the protective brother. The truth was, I was the older brother, so by nature's law, I had to be the protector. I wished Mokuba would see that sometimes.

I looked around on the ground, picking up the first rock I could find and chucking it as hard as I could at the beats in front of me. The rock flew through the air and hit him dead on in the eye. The monster roared in pain, jumping back a little from the blow. Mokuba was standing beside me now, and staring at me like I was a moron for doing such a thing.

"What do you think you're doing?! That's only going to make it madder!" I turned towards Mokuba.

"It was to distract him so you could get out of here, now do as I say and go!" The beast let out a battle cry and came charging forward. I grabbed Mokuba by the shirt and forcefully pushed him to the side and out of harm's way just before the beast struck. It titled its head down and hit me head on in the stomach. Its spikes had added an extra punch in its attack but the first thing I felt was the shock wave blast through my entire body just before I had been sent flying through the air.

The other pains in my body didn't quite become evident until my feeling of flying had stopped and I had skidded onto the ground. I rolled onto my back and tried to hold in my urge to scream. The pain was incredible, but my years of training by Gozaburo seemed to prove to be even more painful. I had been trained not to show pain, so any time I would experience it, I was to hold it in and say nothing.

I tried to breathe in air but my lungs seemed shot. I curled up into a ball, trying to gasp for air but finding it a hard to do. My body was naturally beginning to panic, but finally my logic had kicked back in. I calmed myself down and let my nose take in all the air I needed. But that was before the pain began to set in.

My stomach was throbbing in pain. I rolled onto my back and grabbed the ground beneath me. I hurt. I was hurting so bad. Worst yet, I was spiraling now. Why was everything so bright? I heard something coming near me. Was it the beast? My eyes were still sealed shut, and I had felt no need to open them. Something was close by. I opened one eye and saw Joan and Mokuba standing near me. Mokuba had dropped to his knees.

"Nii-sama! Are you okay??" Oh no, I had to get up. I couldn't let Mokuba see me in this condition. I couldn't let him think I was too week. I pushed myself up with my hands.

"I'm fine…" I grunted, gritting my teeth. I was in so much pain. I eyed Joan; her sword was drawn, which didn't make me feel better about the situation. I let out a low growl. "I thought you ran off, what are you doing back here? And why is your sword drawn? Do you plan to fight me?" Joan looked amused by my reactions. I hated it when people didn't take me seriously.

"ANSWER ME." I yelled. Mokuba jumped back. I slammed my fist onto the ground, "Well??"

"I'm not going to fight you, are you crazy? That thing almost killed you," Joan said before chuckling, "That was a stupid move on your part." I was getting so frustrated with this person. Who did she think she was?

"Oh, and I was suppose to stand by and watching that thing pummel Mokuba? And I think you want a fight. Get over here and I'll teach you a lesson." I moved onto my knees and rose to my feet. I was stepped forward to approach her, but immediately lost my sense of balance and fell down. I could hear Joan laughing now, I was about to explode. "What's so funny?!"

Joan knelt down beside my face, grabbing my cheek with her hand and pulling at my face like I was a small child. "Aw… big brother Seto is getting very angry."

"Get off me!"

"That's no way to talk to someone who just saved your brother."

"What?" I looked at Mokuba.

"It's true Nii-sama. That monster came to get me right after it hit you, and it would've got me too if Joan hadn't stepped in. She used her sword and, well… yeah. It won't be bothering us anymore." What? Joan had… saved Mokuba? She had done what I had failed to do originally? I was beginning to hate this character more and more as I got to know her. What was she after?

"Look, you can thank me later. Right now, we should probably find a place to hide. At this point, we can't be sure what else is out there." I glared at her. Who said she could be the leader of this? The situation didn't even involve her; Noah was after me in the end.

"Thanks but no thanks, Joan. I can handle this by myself."

"Oh really? You can barely walk. Just get over yourself and let me help you." Joan reached down and grabbed my hand to pull me up, and I graciously refused by pulling my arm away from her. Joan rolled her eyes. "You're a child, you know that?"

"I don't want your help, I don't need your help, and I want you to leave us alone. Go back to wherever you came from!"

"At least try to act like a sixteen year old. I mean, honestly, you're embarrassing yourself and Mokuba. What kind of big brother are you?" That was it. That was the finally straw. Suddenly, my physical strength had come back and my pain was out of my mind. I jumped back to my feet and lunged towards Joan. My hand shot out and grasped Joan's neck, my fingers tightened around it. There was a sudden silence all around.

"I'm not afraid to break your neck if I have to." Joan raised her eyebrow. Her smirk had disappeared, and her eyes were serious. At least she figured out that this wasn't a joke. But now she was looking down on me, as if I had only disappointed her more. I wanted to choke the life out of her, but I heard a small gasp from nearby and turned to see Mokuba staring at me. He was… afraid. He was afraid of me.

"Alright then, if you think you can; do it. I dare you to break my neck. Kill me." My eyes glanced back at Mokuba. He was still frightened, and after Joan's statement, he looked even more horrified. I was ashamed that she had forced me to sink so low. That she had made me scare the one person I had just tried to protect. My grip loosened and my body began to return to its pained state.

My legs gave out and I began to fall, but Joan had shifted her position so that my arm had been pulled around her neck. I hung by her side, unable to fight back or get away from her. I sighed in defeat, letting Joan secure my body in her hands and walk forward back towards the forest.

"That's what I thought," Joan said, "Come on Mokuba, let's go." Joan dragged me along, with Mokuba walking on the other wise, away from me. I let me head hang down, staring at the ground. What had come over me? I didn't know what to think of this place. The other question that came to mind was what Noah was planning to do next. What more could he possibly throw at us to pull my brother and I apart?

A/N: Hello, hello my fellow readers and reviewers. Long time, no update, huh? My bad, sorry about that. You know how the story goes blah blah blah, school, blah blah blah, I was having a baby, blah blah blah, I was sleeping. Yeah, excuses are all the same, but I can't say I have a more creative one then; I have to apply to college. But yes, onward to what I wanted to say. I was a little hesitant to write that last scene with Seto choking Joan, I felt like that was a little border line OOC, but I dunno. It came to mind and when I wrote it, it seemed okay. So hopefully that wasn't too out there. Anyhow, thanks for all the reviews and keep on rocking!

P.S: I also forgot to say sorry for the changing of the name of the creature/beast/monster thingy in the chapter. I don't know why, but it seemed weird to keep calling it one thing so I decided to change it up a couple times. Hopefully it didn't get annoying/confusing. Goodbye for real this time!