Chapter 10

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"Kaiba, Really? Joey's going to kill you." Tea said, throwing her hands in the air. She had been shouting and didn't care if Kaiba or Yugi heard her. What she had to say made sense.

"Nothing's going on, we've been working together to survive. I... I trust him." She admitted. Kaiba and Yugi could hear the entire ordeal. He could practically hear the anger steaming out of Tea.

"He's insane! All he cares about is himself. He's probably just using you to satisfy some primal urge or to annoy your brother. Why would you fall for that?"

"I don't know what your history is with him, or what Joey's is. All I hear all day is your side. No one ever stops to try to listen to his. You are my friends, but he's a human being too. Hasn't anyone considered him?" Yugi glanced up at Kaiba while they listened to the girls argue. He was leaning against the cave wall with his arms folded. His expression was unreadable, but Yugi could tell their words were effecting him.

"Considered... He's a monster. He ripped up Yugi's grandpa's prized possession in front of him. He's only ever treated us like dirt. Serenity, you can be nice, but don't get involved. He'll just hurt you. He's not worth it." For a moment Serenity looked as if she was starting to agree with Tea, but her last sentence... She snapped out of it and linked eyes with Tea.

"Who are you to judge who is or isn't worth it? He might not be worth it to you, but I hold higher worth in people. Everyone deserves at least a little decency. He hasn't done anything too horrible to me. I trust him, and if you really were my friend, you'd trust my decision. I'm not forcing you to be nice to him, but I refuse to treat him the way you and my brother do. Even Yugi understands that. He's always nice to Kaiba-"

"And Kaiba's always horrible to him. Do you understand? It doesn't matter how nicely you treat him, if he's not getting anything out of it, he'd rather throw you to the wolves than help."

"That's enough." Kaiba was getting sick of her trash talking. He was mostly used to bad reps in the tabloids, but this was getting annoying. He stepped back out into the chamber where Serenity and Tea stood. Tea spun to face his voice, offering him a glare and Serenity looked like a scarred lamb behind her. "You got your talk, now it's my turn." He said meeting and returning her glare. Tea paused for a moment, looking pleadingly at Serenity, then moved around the bend to Yugi. Kaiba knew she would try to listen in, so he took Serenity's arm and moved her as far from the bend as possible. "Serenity, I want to know who cause those scars." He stated plainly. He wasn't in the mood for a long argument, but this was the type of unforgivable crime that he just couldn't let go of.

"Kaiba... I cant tell." She said again. It was getting more and more frustrating.

"You said you trust me. Was that a lie?" He looked her in the eye and she shook her head. "Then let me know. Tell me. I can make it stop. I can make it go away." He said, his eyes softening as he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. Her eyes had unfocussed and he could tell that she was deep in thought. When his fingertips brushed against her skin, it was like a volt of electricity through her. Her face reeled back as she jerked away, an instinct long embedded into her. He remembered a time where he couldn't bear the thought of someone touching him either. Sometimes he still couldn't.

"I've only ever told one person before... It... It cost them their life..." She admitted and his blood ran cold. Whoever was doing this had taken a life. If they were willing to kill to keep this secret... Kaiba feared the worst for her.

"I'm not just anyone. I'm not that easy to kill. People try it all the time, and I'm still here... Please." Serenity's eyes shot back to his. She had never heard him say please before. He had only ever demanded information. He was serious and she felt. Comfortable. What made him care so much? What changed in him that made him so... sweet?

"It was a cop." She started, unable to hold his gaze as she broke the rule she feared the most. "I told a police officer. He came with me to the house to investigate... and he killed him. Then... as a punishment..." Tears lined her eyes as she spoke and she buried her face in her legs, sitting in a fetal position. "he killed her... my mom. In front of me." Kaiba's heart stopped. He had seen physical abuse, but to witness something so brutal... so life shattering... How did she make it?

"Serenity, he cant hurt you here. Tell me. He wont know what hit him. Who is it?" He prompted again. He couldn't keep still, waiting for a name, something, something for him to be able to do.

"It's... my father. Joey doesn't know. Dad... Dad let him move out on his own so long as I didn't tell him. As long as I keep this a secret, Joey can be free of him. If he finds out I told anyone... He said he'd kill him." She wept. Kaiba had no control over himself. He pulled her against him and held her close, hugging her and muttering soothing words to her.

How could something so fragile and sweet endure such torture. The emotional and physical damage, the threats, the stress, and still, she put on a smile every day. She thought only of others. He envied her. Her strength and constitution. He had fallen to the abuse. He became cold and distant. He pushed everyone away, for fear that they would hurt him as well. Caring about people has only ever hurt him or them, and either way, he was tortured inside for it. And here, in his arms was a girl willing to befriend even him. Someone who had shown only cruelty and hate to her closest family and friends.

"He wont find out. Not until it's too late. I'll make sure of it. But we have to get home first. I'll need your help." Serenity was once again shocked by him. "You trusted me. I'm going to trust you." She could sense a hesitation in his voice, but his words comforted her nonetheless. She nodded and smiled up at him and he could feel his breathing slow. She did things to him, and he was actually alright with it.

"Are you two done already?" Tea said, barging in as Kaiba had done to her. She stopped for a moment, seeing Serenity's face buried in Kaiba's chest and shot her a disapproving look. Yugi finally came out, respectfully nodding to them and smiling. Kaiba glanced over him once. What Serenity said was true. He had only ever been kind to him, and though he respected him as a rival, he was cruel to him as a person. Perhaps he was being unfair. Tea on the other hand, he could care less about. She preached friendship and practiced hate.

"Hey Kaiba, How did you get here?" Yugi asked as he moved next to the two. Kaiba rose, bringing Serenity up with him.

"We fell in." He said plainly, glancing up at the light flickering in. Yugi laughed and Tea rolled her eyes.

"No, I meant, how did you get to the island." He said, fixing his mistake.

"I caught a few sea pokemon. They're big enough to carry all of us." He said proudly. One of which was a dragon that he was especially proud of, even if it was a little clingy. "How... do we get out of here?" He asked, glancing up at the light again. Yugi smiled and gripped his own pokeball.

"That's easy, c'mon out." He beckoned and his pokemon appeared. It was the oddest thing to see. A humanoid type pokemon with a fox like head and a thick tail holding a spoon stood before them. "Can you get us all to the surface?" Yugi asked his pokemon. The creature nodded and Yugi called everyone over to gather around it and once they were in place, a flash of golden light blinded them momentarily and when vision returned, they were on the surface of the island.

"That's... a powerful pokemon." Kaiba observed. His competitive side wondered if he had more powerful pokemon and who would win in a fight, but he shook the thoughts out of his head until at least the entire group was reunited. They walked towards the water when Kaiba paused. When they all reunited... Serenity would have her brother. He wouldn't be allowed near her. He didn't want to cause an argument. He didn't want to drive a wedge between them. No. Once they were all together, it would be just him and Mokuba. Like it should be. At least until they got home. Then he had something he needed to do.

The sun was high in the sky and Kaiba figured it was around noon. They had enough time to maybe hit two more islands before it got dark. He pulled out his two pokeballs and called forth his turtle like pokemon and dragon. He turned to the others and smirked as they looked up at the creatures in awe.

"You two ride the dragon. This one... Has trust issues." He said slowly moving to the large finned creature. He petted it's head and called for Serenity to approach it. "She's nice. She wont hurt you." He said soothingly to it and it hesitantly allowed her to touch it.

"You're... Beautiful." She said and the creature responded happily. He knew it wouldn't take much for it to warm up to her. She was just so likeable. He helped her climb atop it, then mounted it himself. The dragon allowed Yugi and Tea to board it under Kaiba's shout and glare. It took his commands, even though it was at least fifteen times his size. They rode past the next island on to a larger one the farthest to the north. The smaller islands they passed had no signs of life and had barely any ground to search.

The island they landed on was half mountainous and half forest, like the first Kaiba and Serenity had washed up on. There were no recent marks or paths on the beach but Serenity had spotted a hammock hanging from one of the trees closer to the shore. As they approached it they saw that it was woven from long thin leaves, and the poor thing had seen better days. There was a large hole in the middle, as if someone fell through it and Serenity smiled.

"This has Joey written all over it." She said, lifting the broken seat. Yugi laughed and Tea nodded. Kaiba led the way through the forest, but it was easy to navigate. The trees were thinly spaced and the beach on both sides of the island were in sight. The Mountain had many caves carved into it by one thing or another, and Kaiba figured that was where they would be staying if they were in fact there.

Once at the foot of the mountain, they heard a screech from somewhere deep inside the caverns. The group looked among themselves and then back towards the mountain.

"What do you think-" Tea started, but a series of screams cut her off. The group was definitely there. Kaiba was the first to charge forth. If something was fighting them, he had to be there. He couldn't let anything happen to Mokuba and the creatures in this world were powerful beyond words. Yugi and the girls followed, calling their pokemon to the field.

Yugi's pokemon consisted of the small bundle of vines that had tripped Kaiba in the forest, a pink rhinoceros with large ears and the teleporting pokemon with the spoon. Tea called hers and honestly Kaiba would have laughed if the situation was different. She had two small pink creatures that looked like marsh mellows. One held a small microphone and the other had black tipped ears. She decided to keep her seahorse in it's ball, as it was natural to the sea and had trouble moving without water. Kaiba sent out his Spearow and Charmander but kept his two sea pokemon inside. Serenity let out Ember, Pidgy and the small fox.

Now that they had proper protection they made their way into the winding caverns. It looked like all of the caves were connected, but the labyrinth of tunnels made it impossible to know where they would end up. The constant noises and screaming helped them find the right tunnels to go down. The earth around them became warmer and warmer. Kaiba was a full ten strides ahead of them and when he stopped and suddenly turned back they all barely had time to react. He dove to the side, grabbing Serenity and shielding her body with his. Yugi and Tea were right behind them but dove to the ground as a column of fire blasted out past them. The angle of the blast left everyone unharmed, but Kaiba did get a little singed.

"It's in there." He said, facing the section of tunnel he had just fled. He started to step back but Serenity's hands were still gripping his shirt.

"Be careful." She knew him already. He was planning on entering first.

"You too." He said, lingering a moment longer then moving around the bend. Serenity glanced down at Yugi and Tea, helping them to their feet, then moved into the area that Kaiba had run towards.

"Lets go, he'll need backup." She said, finding a strength she didn't realize she had. Inside, the chamber was huge. It opened into a large circular room where the floor broke away into a huge pit about fifteen feet in. The room was hotter than hell and upon further inspection lava was flowing through the walls into the crevasse below.

Flying over the pit full of lava, a giant bird of flames was spraying fire across the fifteen by forty foot stretch of land that was reachable. Joey, Mai Mokuba and Tristan ran, dodging the blasts and commanded their pokemon to retaliate. They could recognize Joey's scythed pokemon, along with a Starmie that apparently belonged to Mai, and Tristan's Pinsir and Mankey. With the rest of them was a small turtle controlled by Mokuba, an armadillo like creature and a stone rhinoceros, controlled by Joey, a cougar like cat following Mai's orders and some sort of burrowing creature added to Tristan's group. Kaiba grabbed the pokeball with his dragon in it and called it out.

"Douse that bird." He commanded coolly. The dragon appeared behind him and immediately let out a burst of water at the bird. It dodged nimbly and the dragon continued it's assault. Mokuba ran to Kaiba, hugging him, then turned to his small turtle.

"Get it!" The little Kaiba cried, and it began to spurt water streams at the bird along side the dragon. Mai followed suit with her Starmie and between the three of them, they were able to actually hit the bird. Unfortunately it looked like it didn't do much at all against it. The battle raged on, forcing Tristan Joey and Yugi to remove their bug and plant pokemon from the fray. The Charmanders and Serenity's fox were also called back as their attacks seemed to do absolutely nothing to the bird. It screeched, swooping to attack Kaiba's dragon, it's largest perceived threat. The bird rammed the water dragon against the cavern wall, knocking it near unconscious. Kaiba called it back just as the bird slammed it's razor sharp talons down on where it was.

"Sleepy time! Sing it a song, sweetie." Tea called to her pink puff ball with a microphone. The pokemon began to sing as Tea, Yugi and their respective pokemon covered their ears. Kaiba decided it was better to follow suit and ask questions later. He Bumped Mokuba, hinting that he should do the same and glanced over the others. Mai had already covered hers, but Serenity had her arms full with her Pidgy, who had been struck down when the fire bird swooped, and Joey and Tristan were busy yelling orders.

Those that covered their ears couldn't hear the song, but the effects became obvious after only a moment. The pokemon and people who could still hear slowly began to fall, one by one, until they were all asleep. The fire bird fell out of the air, threatening to crush Kaiba and Mokuba, but Mokuba was ready. Before the pokemon could hit them, the pokeball clicked open, trapping it inside. The thing struggled for an eternity, the subconscious power of it already too much for the simple contraption to handle.

Finally, the light faded, and Mokuba got a new pokemon.

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Another update and the group is back together again. What do you think so far? Let me know.

Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya