MythCreatorWriter: Dang, we weren't the same age before? Gosh, now I feel young… ;.; But anyhow, onward to the story. I'm glad you're getting into it and that the Mokuba scene was epic! This next scene is gonna be a Mokuba scene from when he is brainwashed, so it'll be a little tricky, but I think you'll like it a lot! Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: You love me? DOES THAT MEAN WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED?! No, I'm kidding. But thanks for putting the wonderful thought in my head…:] No, I'm joking again. But seriously thanks… for the review! Hope you like the chapter!

SereneShadows: Awww, you're going to be 17 soon? What a young-in! How adorable! No, I'm kidding. We're all big kids. Although, its kind of funny because I'll be looking online to apply to certain programs and it'll have separate things for teens and for adults and I'm always sitting here like "Okay, click on teen… NO WAIT, am I an adult now?" It's very confusing! But fun all the same:] Thank you for the birthday wishes! Oh, believe me deary, you're going to have many, many favorite episodes in this story! This is the arc we all know and love! Thanks for your wonderful review!

AmePiper: Hi baby! I know you've been feeling sick, and I'm so terribly sorry that you have :[ I know you weren't able to review, but baby, stalking your pictures online is all I would ever need to keep going. It's like staring at your face is enough to make the review just right out of the album I'm looking at!! You're one pretty kitty, and I hope you feel better soon! I heart you like the sun and moon do, and when no one's looking, they make passionate love together! Enjoy!:3

Chapter 16: Separate but Hostile

-M-

I sat there, staring blankly. I was lost, confused… and angry. Even though I looked and seemed calm, and I was very enraged. It was better to be angry than sad. Replacing pain with anger was the only way I could feel better about anything and everything that had happened. Noah had showed me the way and I had taken his offer willingly.

I could hear Noah harassing someone in the back ground, but I couldn't quite understand all that was being said. I would hear little pieces of the conversation, but I found it hard to concentrate and follow the information that was being converse between the two.

"It's time you learned the truth…" I heard Noah say.

"What truth?" I phased out of the conversation again, drifting in my own thoughts and feelings which I felt I had no control of. Every time I even tried to think about Seto, I found myself fall into a mental block. Before I knew it, I was drifting again in an ocean of endless and meaningless thoughts.

Where was I? Oh yes… here. With… Noah. Right. Wherever Noah was, I would be. If I was in that place with him, then I would be safe. I heard a door open, and two other beings were present in the room. It sounded like someone I knew… or at least someone I once knew. I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything.

"Does this mean anything to you, Kaiba?" I heard the unfamiliar and unimportant voice asked.

"Hmph. It must be a trick. It's a picture of my step father." That voice in particular… it gave me pain to hear. I twitched a little, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Noah continued to talk to them regardless. I wish he wouldn't. I wish we could get away from this place. I tried to run, but my body felt frozen in time and space.

"Gozaburo… is Noah's father?!"

"Surprise, Seto. We're step brothers. You see, Seto… you were never supposed to take over. My father only adopted you to train me; you were nothing to him from the very beginning. And that's the story of how an orphan with no class because the president of Kaiba Corp."

"That can't be true." Another uncomfortable feeling took over. Who was this person that kept talking? Was it Seto? Who was Seto? I moved my head slightly and tried to force my arm up, but it was no use. I was still immobile. I wished Noah hadn't left, I hoped he would come back soon. I felt lost without his constant control over me.

"Oh but it is. And I plan to take you down and reclaim the empire that was rightfully mine."

"It doesn't make sense. If you're my step brother, how was it that I never met you?" I was still clueless about what this all meant. I could hear the words being said, but I didn't understand their meaning. I felt very less than and clueless, I hated being stupid. I wanted to get out of here…

"That's part two of my story…" The screen in front of me came on again. My eyes looked up, and I saw three people in a pick up truck being chased down by monsters. Monsters…

Those were duel monsters. I didn't remember the people in the van, but I knew the duel monsters chasing them. One was a Nightmare Penguin, another was a Judge Man, another was a Robotic Knight, next was a Jinzo, and the last one was a Deep Sea Warrior. It gave me some comfort and joy at least remembering that much. For me, remembering that was all I needed to know to calm myself down from this immobile and brain dead state I was in.

"Looks like I have a situation to attend to. I'll be back to finish business with you later."

"Come back! You're staying right here!" The voice echoed one last time before he had vanished from the room. Now I felt even better without that Seto person around. Noah approached me once more, and I couldn't be happier. He walked over and knelt in front of me.

"Now Mokuba, I have some business I must attend to, but you stay right here in the mean time, okay?" I looked up at him and shook my head.

"Don't," I whimpered, my body beginning to shake uncontrollably. I didn't want to be left alone again. I was scared of being abandoned. What if he didn't come back to me? What if it was all just an empty lie? I couldn't deal with loneliness again… not after what happened.

"Shhhhh, Mokuba…" Noah grabbed my two hands gently and held them gingerly in his hands. Suddenly felt safe again as he began to stroke my palms lovingly. "I promise it'll only take a minute. I just need to dispose of the Big 5, and then I promise to come right back to you. Can you promise that you'll be good while I'm gone?" I nodded slowly. With Noah around, I found that I was able to move my body once more.

"Good," Noah said. He stood up and turned back towards the screen. "I promise to only be a minute." A bright light flashed and suddenly he was gone when I re-opened my eyes. I stared blankly into the darkness that surrounded me once more. I was alone again… always alone in my head. I was 11 years old… I needed someone to take care of me, someone to love.

But no one was around. Just like in the orphanage, when no one wanted me. It became clear that I was a failure. There was nothing about me that was worth fighting for; there wasn't one person who wanted to do that fighting. I would rot in the orphanage for the rest of my life being picked on and hated…

"Nii-sama, why did you turn that family down?" What was this that I was hearing?

"I'm not leaving this place without you." That voice… I remember it, and then I remembered the pain…

"You won't let them separate us?" I saw an image in my head of a memory long forgotten. I couldn't make out many details. But I saw a face. I saw… a smile.

"I'll never let them do that. Nothing will ever keep us apart." I saw that smile and I thought of Seto. But when I thought of Seto, the good feelings went away. I didn't make the connection. The promise and that Seto stranger couldn't have been the same person, could they? I was so confused. I didn't want to be in this place.

Another bright light; and Noah re-appeared in the room.

"Sorry I took so long, I just had a couple of morons to take care of."

"Nii-sama!" I cried, jumping to my feet and running towards him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I was so scared I'd never see you again!" I buried my face in his shoulder in an attempt to keep myself from crying. Noah gently stroked my hair in comfort.

"Don't worry Mokuba," Noah cooed softly, "It's going to be alright. Nothing will ever keep us apart." My head jerked up and I stared into his eyes. He didn't sound the same but… could he have been the one that had said those kind words I had heard in my head from a memory that had been lost in my mind?

I looked into his face and saw… a smile.

-S-

I stood there, staring deeply at the picture in my hand. Gozaburo and Noah… were father and son? None of this was making any sense. This wasn't adding up… it couldn't be real.

"Kaiba?" I heard Yugi call out as he ran towards me, I turned my head and looked down at him, "Do you think that what Noah said could be true? About you guys being step brothers?"

"Noah's story is nothing but one big lie designed to mess with my head," I stated sternly, "The supposed conversation he had with Gozaburo would've taken place over six years ago, which should be when this was taken by the imprinted date. But look closely…" I handed the picture over to Yugi as he looked down at it. His eyes widened and he gasped, looking up.

"Noah looks the same as he does now!" Yugi said in exclamation.

"He hasn't aged in six years?" Tea asked, stating the obvious.

"That's kind of creepy…" Serenity said, shuddering a bit.

"But it does show that Noah's tale was a lie…" Joey started looking all around the terrain we were standing on.

"Hey guys, can we keep moving? I mean, I love solving mysteries and all, but I think its best if we keep on our feet."

"Joey's right, let's go." We spotted a nearby road and began to follow it. It was our best bet after all, considering the location we were in. But I couldn't help glancing at the picture every once and a while and pondering what kind of trick Noah was trying to pull here. Part of me really did want to believe it was a lie, but another part couldn't help but wonder that there was the smallest of possibilities that it wasn't a lie…

We continued to walk on, and soon his friends became confident enough to try and converse with me as we did.

"So Kaiba, are you and Noah really step brothers?" Duke asked. I gritted my teeth and stopped walking. The rest of the gang did so as well.

"That's none of your business."

"But that does give us an idea of why he brought us here." God, I wished Yugi wouldn't share all his thoughts out loud.

"Yeah, Noah wants to prove to his step dad that he's the better son!" Joey said, stating his own little part of the obvious. I hated them all so much…

"So to prove himself and boost his power, he teamed up with the Big 5 to defeat us… now he's holding Mokuba captive to weaken Kaiba." I turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. I didn't want to hear them talk about anything related to my brother. Even with this new and mysterious discovery, it couldn't distract me from the real reason I wanted to defeat Noah.

"I'm out of here," I grumbled to myself as I continued to walk along. Suddenly Tea ran up from behind me and stood out in front of me, her arms stretched out and her eyes focused on me.

"Hold it right there, Kaiba." I stared down at her, angered and annoyed.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"If you're leaving, that's the problem!"

"Stand aside. I already told you people that this is family business so stay out of it." I raised my arm and gently moved her to the side and began walking past her. She bounced right back and stood in front of me once more. I rolled my eyes. When was this girl going to quit? She had her arms stretched out like she was trying to stop a tank or something.

"Don't waste your time, Tea. Just let him go," Joey advised from behind me. I stared down at her sternly as she looked up at me with determined eyes. I couldn't help but ponder just how many people would misinterpret this very encounter and actually believe that this was love at first site. Didn't Tea even realize that I could care less about her thoughts or opinions? She really was wasting her time.

"You might be too selfish to figure this out, but if you haven't noticed, we're ALL trapped here as a result of your family business!" Tea looked down in sorrow before looking back up at me, this time looking hopeful and desperate for an alliance, "Don't you realize we can help you find Mokuba?"

I turned my head. I had heard enough of this. Saving my little brother wasn't like doing a chore or doing homework, it was a life's duty and it was a life long priority for me. This wasn't something just ANYONE could do; it was what I had to do as Mokuba's brother, as his guardian. I wouldn't be able to look at myself the same way if I had broken the promise I had made all those years ago to my brother back in the orphanage.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Mokuba is our friend and we want to help him!" I sensed another presence nearby, which meant a distraction to get away from these people.

"I think you've got bigger problems to deal with!" Everyone turned around to see Tristan; or at least, Tristan's body standing atop a cliff near the road. As they all continued to gawk at the site of their friend's body, I slipped away silently and began walking down the road once more.

I was so glad to finally have them out of my hair at last. I would finally have some peace and quiet without any interruptions for me to think. It was annoying enough having them discuss every single little detail of the situation we were in. Those were the kind of reason I liked to be alone. Or at least with…

I stopped and looked by my side. Somehow I had expected Mokuba to be there, even though I clearly knew he had been captured. I suppose I just wasn't use to traveling on my own. It seemed that over the years Mokuba had always been by my side, always ready to go whatever distance I was willing to travel. He would've done anything to be by my side through thick and thin and now he was gone…

I looked up and saw a large, stone flight of stairs in front of me at the end of the road. I assumed that I would have to climb these stairs to get to where Noah was. My eyes narrowed as I approached the stairway and began going up the side of a mountain. I thought back to Yugi and his friends clashing with the Big 5, but felt that if anyone could handle himself, it would be Yugi. I had bigger things to worry about.

I couldn't help but think back to what Noah had told me and that scene we had watched. Noah's story had to be a lie, he claimed that the man who adopted me was his father, but based on the facts he had told, that would make him the same age as me, which couldn't be true. He's clearly just another stuck up kid. I couldn't help but ponder if maybe it had been the Big 5 that had put him up to all this. They would go to any lengths to bring me down… but I know they're much too dumb to come up with a plan like this.

There must be something else to this story, a piece of the puzzle that is missing from my grasp. When I did find that piece, this whole story would become clear in my mind. But for now, I had to find Mokuba and rescue him from Noah's control.

And when I do, I'll show Noah that no one disrespects my family… and gets away with it.

A/N: Hi guys! Kari here with another grammar concept! Or, well, I wish I was… I like my Spanish class. Okay, that was random. BUT BACK TO THE POINT!:D So, I hope you liked the chapter, I especially loved the first part, which I feel I have a bit of an explanation to give. The first part of the story with Mokuba's POV I realize is very choppy and somewhat out there, but I was really trying to get this lost, confused, and just plain depressed sort of tone for him. I mean, because Mokuba is brain washed, so I felt like it was the appropriate sort of mind set he would have. Also, for Seto's part, I wanted to apologize for the generic-ness of it and how a lot of the lines are the same from the show. You guys may not notice it, but I do try to change up the way they say some things unless it's a really epic line, but for this chapter… it was really hard so I just put it in the way they had it in the show. Wow, this is long. Anyhow, thanks for reading!

P.S: To all of those who are WAITING IN AGONY for a Severance and Forlorn update, I have started on Chapter 5 and I'm working my way slowly to completing it! I'm sorry for the wait.