Skin

by Usagi Squared

Jonouchi Katsuya will always look out for his friends, no matter how weird things get. That means he will keep on fighting, whether facing maniacs with freaky powers, monsters from a childrens game, or the fact Kaiba's a girl. Wait, what? Warnings inside

91. Chapter 90

Morton's Fork

---

The night sky had only just begun to fade on the ruined city they stood in. Crumbled buildings littered the ground and towered above them like the ancient remains of a long forgotten land, and as what was left of the ocean's water dripped across the ground beneath the bridge the blond found himself staring out at where a tunnel had now just appeared. It was strange; and not the tunnel either. He felt almost like he knew this place after all, and yet despite that feeling it seemed so completely foreign that he couldn't wrap his head around any of this. That while the carvings were in his mind the buildings were not, and that the buildings themselves were older than even his memories. As it was, the past few incidents were so completely confusing, battling each other in his mind for importance and relevance...

For one thing, Ren was Malik. An ironic choice in names given that his mind kept trying to convince him the word meant 'name', but nonetheless, they were still one and the same. He was almost certain of that fact, and though Honda (who now that he thought about it, was having a much worse day than he) had been unable to find any proof that did not change his mind. Ren was Malik, plain and simple. He had the same eyes, and was travelling with Anzu, whom he had been possessing constantly throughout the evening... Something that looked to have backfired upon entry into the game. He could have said something. What kept him silent however, was the same problem Honda had; how did he prove to them that he knew? Prove to them that the snake that had as of yet done nothing wrong was in fact an ally? Particularly with how... Civil the snake was acting at the moment. He couldn't tell if it was a ruse or not at some points even; after all, no one would fault the snake for not having fun right? No one would mind if the snake didn't show endless curiosity for whatever they were talking about, or if it didn't cheer and fight alongside them.

Yet he was... Absolutely ecstatic outside of the horrifically gruesome sights they'd seen along the way. Hell he was acting like a kid at some points of the journey thus far... And it was actually scaring him, to tell the truth. It was unnatural after all, to think that the same one who had forced him into a 'to the death' match with his friend would be the same 'thing' that was innocently chatting it up with everyone they traveled with. Not to say that the childish 'so, are we cool now' that Honda responded to with his teeth wasn't amusing of course... And as it was, 'Ren' as he was called was quickly spat out and apologized to after the others glared at him, but seemed to show no other discomfort than slight rug burn from the wires. But the question was...

Well, would Malik do that he wondered? Really..? It was like someone was actually screwing with their heads... More than he already suspected, more than what he'd thought possible

He sure as hell knew that this 'Noa' guy was messing with Seto's after all, given the look on the woman's face as she left. Given the memory that they'd seen, and the momentary slip in tone as she spoke with Daimon. There was probably only one thing saving her there, and it was the fact that when she spoke with a low tone it sounded male... It wasn't nearly as easy to spot as her false one granted. But it still passed. At the moment though, no one was commenting on voices, nor were they commenting on anything else that had been possibly seen or heard, such as Daimon's faded and broken 'O... ou...' that he'd recognized as an 'ojou'. Instead, they were staring off at where the woman had vanished into darkness. "...Yugi," the blond began after a moment, convincing himself of the same words he whispered, "Don' worry abou' S... 'Bou' Kaiba," he corrected, looking away from the tunnel as his friend stared past in agreement.

"What he said," Otogi added with a nod as he pointed off to the tunnel in gesture. "He should be fine if he made it this far on his own right?"

"Yea... Not to mention," came a somewhat annoyed mutter as Anzu rolled her eyes at her partner. "I'd like to leave!" Yes, he probably would wouldn't he... In fact, Katsuya noted with a blank stare, the serpent was already making his way over to the truck at that moment.

A slight growl came from the side in response to the statement, the others turning as Honda's bizarre and round head opened somewhat to complain. "Before we deal with that," he protested, a few tendrils of wire gesturing to himself. "What about me? I want my body back..! I mean... I feel worse than those weird-ass dogs in Blade!"

The others stared, frowning as they mentally and unwillingly compared the gaping mouths their mind. Yea... This would be something to get rid of. "That's a good point," Shizuka muttered, adjusting her grip on the dog as she watched the head close up. "We need to fix this... It can't be comfortable can it," she asked, the dog merely laying its head on her arms in response.

Oooohhhh... He had a feeling that Honda had a few more words than 'comfortable', not that he would say anything just yet... Wait until he thought he was safe. Then he would strike. Yessss... "Ahhhh... Shizuka~" Katsuya tensed somewhat as the dog continued to make himself comfortable, hand twitching as he resisted the urge to kick him out of the girl's arms. "You're so considerate," the puppy sighed, rubbing its head against the woman's robes as she stared somewhat blankly. "So much nicer than Otogi, and that snake-prick..." Uh... This wasn't his territory any more. "Y-erf!"

The dog was pulled up by the collar, Otogi in question giving him a pointed glare. "Word to the wise," he warned, before dropping the dog as it yelped in shock, "The 'snake' might not hear you, but I'm right here."

"Erf! Hey! Watch it!"

Otogi merely rolled his eyes, Shizuka holding her arms close as the dog took his seat. "So, he said after a moment, looking to the others. "What now..?"

A short sigh cut off any thoughts of response, the others turning to the source as Yugi stared down the tunnel. "Hnnn..." The boy narrowed his eyes, wind blowing just slightly across the ruins and into the hole before him before he made his decision. "...I can't let him go alone," he eventually said, turning to the others to share a 'look' with Katsuya before pulling out his boomerang in case of attack. "I'm going after him."

"Ah- After sh- After he told us not t' come," Katsuya questioned, the boy merely walking off already as his friend protested. "AH- Yugi! Hang on!"

"Yugi," Anzu shouted, running after as Ren turned from his place far off toward the truck, "Wait for me," she continued as she stumbled on her robes with her staff in hand, "I'm coming as well! Just hold on!"

"W- You too Anzu?" The woman also didn't answer, merely vanishing into the darkness as the blond sighed. "Man... What's with that..."

"Hey! I'm still up here! She can't just leave me here! Our lives are tied together here," came Ren's faint and distant shout, "That's no fair!"

Yes, well, as it turned out she just did so... There was nothing to do about it really.

The others stared down the tunnel for a moment after Anzu's form completely vanished, eventually looking away while the same cold breeze continued to blow. "Do... Do you think we should follow them," Honda asked, looking up from the ground as the others turned to stare. "I mean... There's not much else where we can go," he added, shaking his head as his tail thumped the ground.

"Really? ...Wait. ...How do you know that," Otogi muttered confusedly, before Katsuya's response cut him off.

"Ehh... They'll be fine on their own," he said honestly, scratching his head as the others looked back. "'Sides," he added with a slight smirk, starting on his way back toward the truck, "Gotta find yer body righ'?"

The others nodded, a cheery 'erf' coming from below as Otogi snatched the dog up under his arms. "That's right- like you said," he continued as the dog's tail wagged slightly in anticipation, "They're perfectly capable of-"

"I'm going too," Shizuka decided, pausing briefly as she ran past from grabbing her spear out of the truck. "When you think about it," she continued, backing up somewhat as she faced the boys, "Wouldn't Ota have gone this way with Honda-han's body?" ...Ah...

The boys blinked, turning to each other somewhat awkwardly. ...That... Was a good point. "Ahhh... That is... Yea... Well," Otogi muttered, before Katsuya sighed and shook his head.

"Ahhh... Heh! What th' hell," the blond laughed, "I guess tha' works," he 'admitted', before a shout from the ruined wall at the side distracted them.

"Hey hey... Don't forget me either," Ren hissed, falling from over the railing as he slithered over with wide eyes. "I'm here too! Don't you leave me behind either!" The others blinked, watching as the snake hurriedly wound his way over to the group with panting breaths. "I'm... I'm coming too you know..!" Huh... ...That sounded almost scared...

But whatever. The blond shook his head, scooping the snake up with his stick as the serpent gave him an odd, but clearly thankful nod in response. "Oddly trusting," muttered the ghost in his mind, Katsuya watching as the cobra coiled and came to rest at the top of the staff. "Any particular reason?"

Well... The snake trusted him didn't he? Besides... How did that saying go he asked himself with a slight smirk, 'friends close and enemies closer' or something like that? Well, his staff certainly applied... "Alrigh," he laughed, turning to face the tunnel with a grin, "Le's- ... Uh..." O... Kay...

Where did the tunnel go? "...The... The tunnel," Shizuka muttered, eyes wide as they looked over the empty ruin space in shock. "It... It vanished... Just vanished."

Silence settled over the crowd for a moment, before the dog under Otogi's mouth began to squirm and shout with outstretched panels and tendrils. "AWWWWWWW! FUCK! I'll never get my body now!"

"Gh- Shut your mouth," Otogi roared, dropping the dog and backing away as he paled, "That's scary as hell!"

"THIS ISN'T FAIR," his friend wailed as he ignored the request. "DAMN IT!"

"Seriously," the dancer argued, "Shut your mouth, NOW!"

Hahhhh... And they told him he got into arguments to easily... "Well. This sucks," Ren muttered from the staff, the blond merely groaning as he smacked his head against a bare patch of wood on the stick.

"That, 'Ren' would be puttin' it ligh'ly..."

---

"Oh darn it... I forgot Ren!"

Yugi gave a somewhat wry smile as his friend turned to look back down the road they were on, the entrance shrouded in darkness as she fretted over her 'partner's missing form. Truth be told he had to admit to himself, after what happened on the truck between the serpent and Honda, he wasn't too upset about the snake's absence. There was something off about him... Something dark, and sinister despite all actions arguing otherwise, and although Honda hadn't been able to offer any proof of the serpent's identity all they had to counter his own attempts to support the matter were words themselves. And given Jonouchi's discomfort on the topic, and how quickly he'd cut it short and simply stayed out of it...

Well, he had a bad feeling this was another one of his 'abilities' kicking in, and regardless of what sort of 'vision' his friend had gotten, he couldn't help but think of his conversation with Ishizu. Of the chilling and tragic story she'd told of her brother. 'Isn't it strange,' he told his other self as he mulled over this, narrowing his eyes in silence, 'That the snake Anzu has bears hieroglyphs on its back, in the same fashion Ishizu said her brother had?'

"Yea... And Honda made a good point about eyes as well," the spirit of his lighter half continued, a wave of unease coming from his side of their bond. "Malik has violet eyes I think; in addition," he continued with a nervous swallow, "The snake sounds somewhat similar to him... Or at least, similar to 'Namu'," he added. "But why hasn't Anzu noticed that? She was the one who met Namu wasn't she? So why not recognize him?"

Why indeed he thought to himself, before opting to pay attention to the road ahead. Lights could be seen far in the distance, the straight road going on and on and on again as they walked, having given up running for the moment. "This road goes on forever," Anzu muttered, frowning somewhat after a long span of silence. "How much farther do you think we have until we reach the end?"

Yugi turned from what had been another conversation with his lighter half, blinking as he was pulled from idle comments concerning birthdays and lost memories. "Ah-" Oh. That was a good question actually... He looked back to the front, shaking his head. "I'm not sure," he admitted, continuing to walk through the dark before pausing as something caught his eye. Something small... "Ah... Hang on..!" The boy broke into a run, a small light visible in the distance as his friend chased after with an alarmed shout. It was definitely a light he told himself, boomerang sheathed on his back once more. And as they approached it slowly it grew in intensity and shine... Becoming larger... And larger...

And then with the same abruptness as before he'd begun he skidded to a stop, eyes wide as he came to that which the light illuminated. "Ah- it's a crossroads," the 'light' Yugi shouted, gleaning the sight from his other's memories as he swallowed. "But which way..."

"Which way do we go," the other finished, eyes somewhat wide as he repeated the question in his mind. "Whic- Ah! Anzu," he shouted with a jolt, watching as his friend barrelled down the left path with no worries for what lay beyond.

The woman continued at her steady and hurried gait, looking back with a smile as the boy coughed. "This way," she called out, her friend hurriedly running after her with wide eyes as he was slowly left behind. "Kaiba went this way!"

"But... How do you even know that," he responded incredulously, the woman merely winking in response.

"It's woman's intuition of course!" Woman's intu-

"Ah-... That sort of thing really works," he asked almost blankly, turning to look at the woman as she nodded.

"Of course!"

"...Um..." His lighter half laughed somewhat nervously, likely rubbing his head mentally at the moment. "...No... No it doesn't... But don't tell her I said that," he added, Yugi's confused expression turning into a somewhat forced smile as the boy laughed. Ahahahaha, but then what if they were wrong about this!

A blinding light appeared at the end of the tunnel with those thoughts, Yugi's attention pulled from his mental arguments amid himself as he stared. "Ah- light," he gasped, the woman beside him merely laughing at his surprise.

"I told you it was the right way," Anzu cheered, gesturing for him to follow. Well... Yes, he supposed so, but- "Come on," she continued, running into the light, "Let's go!"

"A-Ahh! W-Wait! Anzu," he protested, face reddening slightly, "You're faster than me, I- ...I..." The boy paused, slowing to a walk as his vision cleared. "...This place..." Light faded out as the pair stepped out into what almost looked to be a section of the black forest, great tall firs and pines standing above them. It likely wasn't that famed wood of course... Not with the light in the area and the path that sat there, but it was plain to see that this was a location that was well out of the way of civilization. "...Where is this place," he muttered, narrowing his eyes in thought as he stepped forward.

"It doesn't look like anywhere in Japan," his light responded, also confused at the imagery he was receiving. "What else do you see though? Maybe it's just something I forgot..."

Something he forgot? ...Well... There was a path he noted, stepping forward on the somewhat smoothed soil in silence. Anzu was already walking slowly ahead on the path in fact, looking around with wide eyes at where they'd found themselves. "Yugi... Look," she whispered, pointing through the trees as the boy came closer, turning a corner to stare. "It's a mansion..."

And what a mansion it was... The enormous building before them resembled a castle almost, easily standing at an appearance that rivalled Kaiba's own in regality, or at least it had. A mansion in the middle of the woods... And ruined too, with a rusted gate bearing a large rose-like symbol across the front and peeling paint beneath walls of thick and uncontrolled ivy. The gate itself hung half open as it was, as though broken from the inside. And before them, the building sat in clear disuse beyond mere paint and plant problems, former splendour stolen away and left to sink the building into a haunting state of disarray. All in all even his memories did the building no justice he realized, and it was with those thoughts that his partner's voice came to mind. "...Other me," his lighter half whispered, hesitantly probing the back of the boy's thoughts. "Can I..."

'Of course,' he responded, switching back with the boy without even asking what the question was as his vision was filled with darkness yet again. "I have to thank you for letting me out for a little... Despite the circumstances, there are parts of this that I've enjoyed quite a lot."

'Haha... Not a problem,' the light Yugi, again in control of the body responded, laughing somewhat as he moved to join Anzu at the gate. 'You needed a break right..?'

"Right," his partner responded somewhat sleepily, before sinking into a more 'dormant' state.

"...It's so big," Anzu muttered, standing beside her friend before jumping as she looked down to the boy. "A-AH! Yugi- You switched..."

The boy flushed, bowing somewhat in apology as he rubbed his head. "Erm... Haha... Sorry Anzu," he said with a nervous smile. "I probably should have said something I guess..."

The woman shook her head, laughing quietly as she held her hands out in a calming gesture. "No... No it's fine," she coughed, the smile somewhat forced in lieu of the shock. "Just a little bit of a surprise, you know?" The woman continued to smile despite this however, looking to the mansion with a nervous swallow as she held her staff close. "...This building... Do you think Kaiba went inside," she asked, unconsciously moving to grip her arms tightly alongside the staff.

Maybe, he thought nervously, an odd feeling radiating from the building's form. But rather than say so the boy frowned, biting his lip and shaking his head. Or maybe not. "I... ...It feels like we shouldn't go in," he said quietly, friend turning to stare confusedly as the boy continued. "I don't know why," he whispered, "But I... I don't think..."

A sound came over the air before Anzu could respond... A soft one, very soft, almost quiet enough for them to miss it completely...

-shk... Shk... Shk...-

That sound...

A frown came over his face as the sound faintly rumbled from inside the house, a wind seeming to pass from the building itself. "Do... Do you hear that," Anzu asked, the boy nodding hesitantly as the sound grew louder.

"It sounds almost like crying," commented his other, the unease of his partner having pulled him back to attention. It did...

Maybe it was crying... "A baby then," he asked somewhat, before stepping closer as the sound altered in level and pitch. This sound... The boy's eyes narrowed in confusion, a hand brushing against the gate as he tapped it inward. "Or maybe..."

"A woman," his friend finished, following after her friend before hesitating. "...You don't think it's another of Noa's tricks do you," she asked, swallowing nervously. Maybe, he thought to himself. But...

"Aibou," his partner whispered worriedly, "I know that she isn't the type to succumb to this point, but you don't think that maybe... Inside this mansion..." That maybe it was... Her?

Yugi swallowed at the thought, stepping forward to push the gate to the side completely as his friend stared. "We should go see what's wrong," he said almost nervously, looking back with shivering eyes as he bit his lip. "Just in case..!"

The woman beside him stared, before nodding and following the boy's lead despite her obvious confusion. "Right," she said with a nod, the pair moving up toward the mansion's massive doors to push inside. "It can't hurt I guess," the woman continued, wincing as a large creaking noise rang through the foyer before them.

Upon entering the mansion the scene of a typical abandoned home met their eyes, thick dust clouds springing to the air as Yugi coughed and waved a few motes from his face. Marble floors were completely grey now, and above them, spiders had made their home along every corner available with cobwebs clinging to their bodies as they stepped inside. "Gh- Kah-ah..."

"Unng... This place hasn't been used in a long time," Anzu wheezed, using her sleeves as a mask of sorts as they walked forward through the musky air. "Just whose house is this do you think," she continued, looking to her friend as the boy frowned.

"It's definitely not Kaiba-san's," he responded confidently, walking up the stairs as the sound of crying seemed to increase in volume and intensity both. "Her mansion is shaped differently, with two separate wings on either side... This house is more of a 'block' I think."

"Well... We definitely don't know any one else with houses like this," the woman muttered, poking her head into one of the rooms as they went down the hall upstairs. Slight coughing came over the air as she ducked back out, waving a cloud of dust from her face with a wince. "Hnn... Just where is that crying coming from," she asked aloud, looking up and down the hall with narrowed eyes.

Yugi frowned, shaking his head as he glanced back from the room he'd been checking himself. "I don't know... It's not in this one," he added, looking back into the dusty bedroom as he sighed. Nothing but un-used and white-sheet covered furniture, with a thick layer of dust over each one. "Did you find anything," the boy asked, a hopeful smile coming over his face.

"Nope," she answered, closing another door as the smile dropped. The woman moved on to yet another room as the crying continued, biting her lip in annoyance. "I thought it was the right one, and I think there was even a rattle but... Well," Anzu sighed, "It was just empty..."

Hnnn... That wasn't good.

-Shk... shhk... Shku... shk sk... Nsk...-

The boy looked down the hall as crying continued, slowly walking toward the next room with a wide-eyed frown. "Anzu," he whispered, the woman following behind as they came toward the door. "Over here... I think it's-"

The door creaked open, and with a rush of wind everything changed. Sun floated through the window, a slight breeze blowing against the curtain. Rather than white sheets covering the furniture there was warm and comforting blankets, picture laden tables, ticking clocks... 'Rota,' a nervous voice called out, slow and steady as though approaching a rabid hound about to strike or flee. 'Rota,' the shaking voice of a middle aged man begged, 'Listen carefully... Please... Just don't... Don't do this,' he wept, form unseen as a chair sat in the center.

Yugi froze as he and Anzu attentions moved to the chair, walking in to stare at the sloppilly dressed woman before them. Steady tears were running down her face, with wide eyes and a broken smile in place. She was an extremely tall young woman, that was certain. Fair in appearance, with hair that was as pale as Noa's own despite foreign appearances telling her otherwise. But it was not her face, nor her beauty that caught their eyes as a man who sounded almost like Gozaburo begged her to listen to his words.

It was the gun she held to her chin, as shaking hands made to squeeze the trigger at any moment. 'You're insane,' she was whispering, shaking her head. 'Completely... Insane..! Dead... They're... All dead... All...'

'Rota please just put it down,' the man in the background continued desperately, both of the teens in the room simply staring in shock as the woman shivered.

She shook her head again... And again... And again... 'He's gone... My boy is gone! And now my baby... I... I'm not letting you talk about how you can bring him back... I am not letting you tell me he's in some kind of... Special 'machine',' she cried, crazed smile still on her face. 'I'm not... Because you... You took him away, you killed him, just like you killed my baby...'

'Rota... Listen to me Rota... That was a miscarry, that wasn't your fault... And no one saw that car,' he wept, 'No one... But please just put the gun down Rota, we can talk later... Please,' the voice wept.

"Oh my god," Anzu cried, tears dotting her eyes. "She's going to-"

'I'm sorry... But I want to see my son again... If you're telling the truth... You'll put me in that machine with him, won't you?'

'Rota... Rota listen, ROTA... ROTA!-'

The bang echoed through the air, Anzu letting out a slight choked scream as she covered her mouth and shut her eyes. With the explosion of the bullet 'Rota's head had blasted back on her neck, body erupting into mist and dust as the gun fell on the ground and vanished with it. Yugi and the others both stared in shocked silence even after the scene was gone... After the man's screams echoed through the room, after the blankets and sunlight were replaced with dust motes and white sheets.

"That... Who was that," Anzu whispered with a swallow, breathing heightened to an alarming extent despite all attempts to calm down from the scene. "She looked almost like Kaiba, she- Oh my god was she-"

"It wasn't Kaiba-san's mother," he said weakly, standing numbly in the room as he continued to stare at the curtain cloaked chair. "Kaiba-san... He was adopted remember," he choked nervously, "And Mokuba said she died giving birth to him..."

"But then who was that," the woman whispered, backing up and away from the door and chair before bumping into a table at the side. "Gh! Nnn... ...That... Who was it..."

Yugi slowly turned, shaking his head as Anzu continued to shake off her shock with no success. "I... I don't know," he said with a swallow, staring toward the mostly empty table. "I don't...

"...Aibou," his other self whispered softly, "What's that thing on the table..?" The table..? The boy blinked, walking over to where his friend stood to look at the object his partner spoke of. On the table...

The boy reached out, grabbing the object in question with somewhat narrowed eyes as he looked it over. "A picture frame," he muttered, Anzu looking over her friend's shoulder as the boy hesitantly wiped it clean of dust. "Then this must be- Aaa-Aaaaahhh..!"

"H- This is-"

Yugi and his friend both stared at the picture with wide eyes, the former almost dropping it in shock. "That's... That's Noa," Anzu whispered in shock, eyes wide as she looked at the image. "And beside him... That's..."

"Kaiba Gozaburo..."

---

On the ruined plain of collapsed buildings and stone, Katsuya and the others had been having an interesting time to say the least. After the tunnel had disappeared, a fog had begun to set in mere moments after the fact, bringing with it a depressing air and a cool wind. An unanimous decision had been made to get back to the truck as clouds began filling the air as well, and shortly after starting the machine up, it had even begun to rain. For a moment, he'd been set to grumble and duck under his cloak, the others making to sit under the canopy in the meantime.

And then the 'field' appeared, and suddenly they were all too eager to sit on the uncovered half to watch water spill on the 'glass' above. "Woaaaaaahh... That is cool," Honda muttered as he sat on one of the benches, Ren somehow managing to find himself coiled around the puppy's neck as they both watched the 'ceiling' absorb each droplet that struck it. "What is that," he muttered, "A force field..?"

The others merely looked up at the field and shrugged, staring with wide eyes as a pale, green-tinged film appeared overtop of them to block any and all rain as it fell. "I dunno," Katsuya muttered, shaking his head as he forced himself to pay attention to the roads. "I mean... It looks like somethin' outta a sci-fi 'r somethin'," he muttered, swallowing nervously.

"There's more stuff back here too," Otogi added, he and Shizuka both studying some sort of 'screen' at the back as the truck trundled up the cliff to reach a dam and bridge. The vehicle moved to travel from the stone ground to the smooth and paved highway, rain continuing to spill as they slowly made their way onward. "It wasn't on before," the teen was continuing, "So we thought it was a table but..."

"But what," Katsuya asked, turning back to look as the other humans stared at the device in question. "What is it?"

"It's some kind of... Map," Shizuka said with slight surprise, tapping the screen as various portions were either enhanced or brought to the background. "It's a GPS system I think... I can even tell where Anzu and Yugi are," she added with surprise, before frowning. "Erm... Though since everything is connected through those 'doors' we keep finding, that's largely useless right now..."

At this Honda walked over to peer at the map himself, rearing on his haunches and sending a few 'feelers' up to stare at the screen as the others stared. "Cool," he muttered cheerily, the others swallowing in unease as the tendrils moved across the map. "It really is like something from a sci-fi!"

"Alright... No offense or anything," Otogi laughed nervously, "I mean... I get this wasn't your choice of appearance, but..."

"Honda-han," Shizuka asked somewhat nervously, a few feelers turning in the air to point toward the two, "Are you sure there's no other way for you to see..?"

The dog turned completely, head still resembling a metal 'sphere' of sorts as he 'shrugged'. "Pretty sure," he admitted with a slight grimace. "I think I had eyes before but... Well..."

At this, Ren frowned, sliding up from where he'd settled around Katsuya's staff to examine the dog's 'mouth'. "Hn... Maybe it's something I did," he muttered, the dog's fur bristling in response

"Ah- It better not be," Honda growled, his passenger hurriedly fleeing to a safer location with a short 'eep'.

"Ahh! Just saying," he hurriedly shouted in defense, laughing somewhat nervously. "Maybe there's someway to just change it! I mean, hell," the snake continued as he frowned, "Did you even try making it look like that mask thing?"

Honda paused, Katsuya as well turning back as the truck slowly moved down the road ahead. "...That... Ah..."

"That's a good point," Otogi muttered, blinking a few times as he and Shizuka both took seats near the map. "Until you turned on Ren," he continued quietly, "It looked like a muzzle of sorts... After that... Well..."

A short silence seemed to settle with those words, the dog looking down a moment as an odd 'hnnn' sound came from him. "Well... That's true..." He looked back up, a few more tendrils curling through the air as he continued to grumble. "But even so, what do you think this is, some sort of 'thought trigger'?"

As Ren managed yet another of his impossible shrugs the others stared, Shizuka the first to answer. "Well... It can't hurt to try right," she said, pulling her legs up to sit cross legged as the truck stopped along the side of the bridge.

"I guess," Honda muttered, Otogi in the meantime looking to the front with a frown.

"Wait why are we stopping..?"

Katsuya hopped back into the trailer, smirking as he leaned back against the 'map desk' with a laugh. "Hah! Like hell I'm missing this," he said with a grin, giving his currently in-human friend a thumb's up. "Alrigh' Honda, let's see what happens!"

"Oi oi, you say that like I'm going to explode," the dog whined, cringing somewhat as his tail abruptly stopped its slow wag. "...And... So does the look on your face..."

"Nihan," the blond's sister warned, narrowing her eyes as her brother continued to grin.

"Shizuka, he's been sittin' in yer arms f'r a few hours, I'm not gonna jus' sit back an' smile about it."

"W- H-HEY," Honda shouted, yelping as his 'mouth' again opened wide. "What does that even mean-"

"You know," Ren offered somewhat smugly, chuckling from the side as the dog continued to growl, "You might want to try now."

The dog stared, as though considering a third option on dealing with the snake before nodding. "Right... Um... Thinking of dogs then," he muttered, the serpent at the side seeming to grin.

"Aaaaand." he asked, the dog snarling in response.

"Stuff it snake-boy, I'm thinking!"

The snake in question hissed, shaking his head in mock hurt. "Really," he 'moaned', "So mean and-... Ah-" Ren blinked, looking up as Katsuya pulled him forward on the staff without any warning. "Hey... What's with that," he asked quietly, hanging upside down from the stick as it was brought back to an upright position.

"Trus' me, I gotta feelin' yer safer up fron'," he told the snake, Ren in question making himself comfortable on the bridge railing at the side as he was dumped there. "Now..."

As Honda sat before them it seemed nothing was happening. There was merely silence in the air, a small breeze passing them by as the dog held completely still. After a moment however, a change occurred. A shift in the metal, a bend in the form as small dents began to appear. Fur melted out from the metal, a small snout pointed forward, and as pricked ears pointed to attention a pair of eyes opened. And then closed... Opened... Closed...

A few more blinks and the dog 'yawned', stretching somewhat as it stood again. "Well," Honda said with another yawn, shaking himself and looking around. "I don't feel any different, so-"

"Ah- Honda," Otogi coughed, shaking his head as the dog continued to look about the trailer. "What are you talking about?"

The dog turned, now 'normal' head staring up with a slight frown. "What do you mean, 'what am I talking about'," he growled lightly, "Nothing happened, that's what!"

Nothing? "Honda-han," Shizuka said from the side, grabbing her spear to let the puppy see its off colored reflection as she laughed. "You're kidding me... It worked perfectly," she continued with a smile, "You look perfectly fine!"

"Not t' mention 'adorable'," Katsuya chuckled teasingly, receiving a fairly unamused sigh from the ghost in his mind. What! It was true!

Honda for his part, seemed to have ignored the comment in lieu of the positives however, tail even wagging as he stared in the spear head. Sitting, standing, sitting; he could barely contain himself! "Ah- AHAHAHA! This is great," he cheered, finally jumping to his feet as he barked. "Well... I'm still a dog of course," he added with a cough, "But this is awesome! I don't have that head thing to worry about any more!"

Another cough met the air, the others turning to share looks before looking back at the puppy. "Ahh... Hang on," Otogi muttered, "Are you sure about the..."

"Of course," Honda argued, sitting down again with a nod. "Just watch; aaaaaaaAAAAA-"

"AAAAUGH! AUGH!" The others pulled fairly disgusted faces as the flesh and blood head seemed to split, the feelers and tentacles still quite present within the now organic mouth as teeth jutted forward. "AUGH! Close your mouth," Otogi screamed, looking away, "Close your mouth!"

"W-What... Hey, it can't be that bad!"

"Are you kiddin' me," the blond responded, holding back a wave of virtual lunch, "Tha's worse than even b'fore..."

"H-Honda-han," Shizuka said nervously, "P... Please keep your volume down from now on..."

The dog hurriedly pulled the sides of his mouth back in at that, a clear expression of shock and worry on his face as the others sighed in relief. "Eh... Sorry about that..."

"It's fine," Otogi coughed, looking back to the 'map' for something to distract himself with as he pushed the image of the 'mouth' from mind. "Just... Don't... Open your mouth..."

"Alright," he said calmly, "I'll-"

"Ever," Shizuka added quietly, the dog faling forward on its front.

"Okay," Honda muttered, "I-"

"Seriously," Katsuya continued, hopping into the front, "Or I'll shoot y'."

"Gh- I got it alright," he snarled, mouth flying open again as those watching pulled faces.

"GH- Honda-han," the girl muttered, the dog below closing up once more.

"Right... Sorry."

"Hahhh..." Otogi leaned back on his seat, shaking his head. "At least we know how this works now," he muttered, shaking his head with a sigh. "Better than dealing with things like Kaiba's stupid hips..."

"Uh..." Katsuya coughed, looking back with narrowed and confused eyes. "'M sorry, what? Yer gettin' confused abou' what?"

The teen frowned, turning from his seat. "Oh come on... You can't tell me you didn't see his HIPS in the last fight," he protested, the blond's eyebrows raising somewhat at the reminder. "They... They were like..." He made a curved gesture with his hands, the others staring rather blankly as he fussed. "W- Come on! Do you have any idea how creeped out I am about this," Otogi shouted, hands shaking as he looked to the others. "It... They weren't normal!"

The others shared awkward looks for a moment, eventually looking back with blank stares. "...Well... Not sure about everyone else but... I didn't see anything like that," Honda muttered after a moment, looking over at the others. "...I mean... What the hell are you talking about... ...Did you guys see that kind of thing?"

"Nope," Katsuya said quickly, as Shizuka gave an honest shrug from the side. "Nothin' at all," he hurriedly continued, "Yer losin' it Otogi."

"I... I'm not losing it," he snarled, gripping one of the sides of the railing.

Shizuka smiled somewhat wryly, shaking her head. "Sorry Otogi-han... But I really don't think..."

"Ah- You too," the teen cried, looking to the girl. "Really..?"

"Well it's not like anything you're saying makes sense!"

"Heeeeey guys," Ren asked from the side, the serpent's head bent over the side of the bridge as he coughed. "I think I spotted something and... Um... You should probably look. Right now." The others turned, watching as the snake abruptly drew back and scooted off to the truck. "Or maybe we should just leave. That would probably be better," he continued in a slight panic, sliding back into the truck as Honda moved to take his place at the bridge.

"Weird, I don't see anything..."

"Leave," Shizuka asked as Honda muttered about nothing being there, "What are you talking about..?"

"Leaving, living, they sound the same right," the snake responded, the others raising their eyebrows.

"Oi oi," Katsuya muttered in agitation, "If you don' explain what th' hell you're talkin' abou', I'm gonna dissect you damn it..!"

At this a scream suddenly broke through the air, Honda jumping back as his mouth opened wide to compensate for the amount of noise being made. "AAAAAA- AAHHH! ROUF! ROUR! ROU-ROU-ROU-ROU... ROURF!"

"Hondaaaaa," Shizuka moaned, ducking down as the teen had another momentary 'canine relapse', head splitting open to the others.

"Honda, if you plan on impressing someone," Otogi muttered dryly, "You're not doing a good job of it..."

"GH- The snake was right," the dog exclaimed in a panic, mouth thankfully closing somewhat as he scrambled about the bridge railing.

...They agreed! "Eh?" The others blinked, Otogi hopping out of the truck with a blank stare as he went to inspect the location himself. "What do you mean, 'right', you said yourself you didn't see-"

"That was before, this is now! There are monster's in the water," he continued in panic, "MONSTERS DAMN IT!"

Otogi hurriedly pulled back as the alien and fleshy head opened yet again, eye twitching as the dog's many feelers again began flailing centimetres away from him. "Gh... H-Hey, calm down..! That's disgusting..!"

"How am I supposed to calm down," the dog whined fearfully, "We're screwed! I saw at least four pairs of eyes in there, we can't take down those things!"

"Ahh... Four monsters," Shizuka asked, her brother merely growling as he hopped out of the truck to snatch the dog by its collar.

"Y-erf!"

"Tch... You're th' monster y' moron! Now shut your mouth!" The dog did as told, Honda giving a somewhat nervous swallow as he was tossed back to the truck.

"Hey, I don't know about you," Ren called from the rear of the trailer, "But we were both telling the truth... Oh hey, that reminds me," the snake added, looking over to Honda as he laughed. "What was it you said earlier by the way," he asked as he grinned, "That it'd be a 'cold day in hell' before you agreed with me?"

"I swear to god I'm going to swallow you whole," the dog snarled, Shizuka's face twisting at the thought.

"Ewwwwwww..."

"Damn it Honda stop scarin' my sister!"

"I'm not scared," she muttered, "I'm nauseated..."

"Are we going to go back to looking for the others now," Otogi asked 'idly', leaning against the truck with a yawn, "Because while the rain might have stopped, it's still pretty wet out here, and I'm wearing leather so-"

"Shhhhhhh," Ren hissed, the teen blinking as the serpent continued. "I'm waiting to see how long it'll take before they notice that noise..."

"...What noise?"

As Otogi asked Ren about 'the noise' the others froze, Katsuya and Honda both turning to look over the bridge rather slowly as the water began to move. The dog was dropped immediately, loud howling barks tearing through the air as it fled while the others jumped back from what were now raging seas. "H-HAHH! What th' hell!"

"ROU! ROUF ROUF ROU," the dog barked angrily, "ROUROUROUROUR-

"Honda not now," he growled, the puppy yelping in surprise.

"AH- Sorry!"

"Hehehehehe..." Water burst from the waves below, spiralling higher and higher into the air until it formed a massive and swirling platform of water above them. There were four monsters there... The 'Psycho Shocker', hands placed on the water's surface in some sort of control motion... The Judgeman, a massive gavel in his grip, teeth ground and sharp. A penguin, gripping a whip in its fins, and a fish-like warrior with a spear... "Found you," the four called out all at once, their identities made known simply with those words

Katsuya continued to stumble back before hitting the truck's side, the others swallowing nervously as the four hovered before them. Oh shit... Oooohhhh shit... "Y-You guys again," he protested, Otogi and Shizuka both gripping their weapons tightly as the monsters hovered in the air.

"What... We already defeated you," Otogi shouted, knives in his hands as he took a stance on the side of the truck, somehow able to keep his footing on the railing. "What do you want?"

Chuckling echoed from the monsters above, each one merely sneering as they laughed. "Hn! Isn't it obvious," the Deepsea Warrior, voice recognized as 'Oshita' asked. "We're here for your bodies!"

"Bod- Hey! You can't do that," Ren shouted, poking his head out from the trailer despite what looked to be nervous shivering. "Like the dancer-guy said," he continued, Otogi deciding to ignore the nickname momentarily, "We beat you all fair and square!"

"And I want my body BACK," Honda added as he snarled, those above apparently ignorant of the mutation his head continued to show. "I don't even have one to give, you can't take mine AGAIN!"

The four above them merely stared, narrowing their eyes if visible at all. "Hnn... True," Oshita muttered darkly, "We lost to your friends... But that doesn't mean we can't have a re-match..." A re-match..?

Shizuka paled at the words, stepping back somewhat before bumping into a turret-like structure on the side of the truck. "N-Nihan," she said with a swallow, "I know there's technically five of us but..."

"Only three of us can fight," Otogi finished, clenching his daggers tightly. "And only two of us can properly duel, with none of us having that kind of advantage," he finished, gesturing to the water.

Yeaaaaa... Levitating water was kinda out of their reach. The blond swallowed, looking up as he stepped forward. "Tha's fine," he said clearly, adjusting his grip on the staff in his hand. "You two jus' sit tight... I'll handle it!"

"Uh... You're gonna fight four people at once," Ren asked incredulously, the ghost apparently agreeing.

"Chabar," he muttered with a cough, "I understand your math skills are less than favourable, but you should probably take my advice when I say... Reconsider. Right now," he added flatly.

Katsuya ignored the two, instead staring the monsters down with his staff in hand as they chuckled. Hmp! He'd teach them to laugh at him. "Heh... So! Who's first then," he said with a grin, cracking his knuckles as he moved into a fighting stance. "Fish-guy? Penguin? Maybe even you Oka, not tha' we don' know how that's gonna end," he added with a dark smirk

He probably should have realized something was wrong when the monster's continued chuckling, given that the monsters had drawn back further to prepare a series of attacks. "Ohhhh... There won't be any ridiculous games of cards this time," Oshita chuckled, twirling his spear as a small pillar of water arose from the platform created. "We'll be taking a more direct route..."

"Wh... What..." As Katsuya froze the first attack was made, Daimon throwing a hand forward as the blond paled.

"TSUNAMI," the cyborg roared, the 'pillar' blasting forward in the form of an enormous beam of water.

"Ah- STEEL GUARD," came Shizuka's voice in defense, a ray of light blasting from the end of her spear. An immense sheet of glass appeared at the end of it, gleaming before them as it forced the raging waters up and around them. "Gh... Nihan," she shouted, the glass beginning to crack after mere seconds, "This spell won't last long..!"

"And there's no way we can take these four down as it is," Otogi added, knives fading from existence as he hopped in the trailer with a swallow. Katsuya nodded, running for the drivers seat as he turned the keys.

"Got it," he called out, "Let's g-"

-Bssssssst- What.

"Uhhhh... Not that I'm much for trucks," Ren offered with a higher than normal tone, "But that didn't sound healthy." Gh! No shit he thought to himself, tell him something he didn't know!

"How about it's not a truck," offered his ghostly stowaway, the blond grabbing his head as he chose to focus on more important matters. Come on... Come on!

-bsssssst- ... -bssssssssst-

"Aggggg... C'mon y' piece of CRAP," he hissed, turning back as the others attempted to hold their position and shield from the back.

"Ngh... Not much longer," Shizuka cried, the others biting their lips as the girl broke into a sweat. "Hah... N-Nihan," she continued, "You need to hurry! It takes five seconds for me to re-set the shield..!"

"Aggggh- I'm goin' I'm goin'," the blond shouted, smacking the steering wheel with a snarl. "NOTHIN'S WORKIN'!"

"Damn it... This would be so much easier if we had everyone else here," Otogi shouted, spinning a knife in his hand as Shizuka shook.

"Well we don't," Honda countered angrily, "And I'm about as useful as dirt here..."

"Yea," Ren snorted, "Seeing how even killing you wouldn't do anything to them."

Ah. Katsuya reached back, snatching the dog up before it could respond to the comment as a flash came to mind. An explosion... A shout... Rushing waters and thundering skies. And if he didn't move now..."...Ahhh..! Screw it," he snarled, turning back as the others stared.

"Wh-Wh- What the hell! Jonouchi," Honda protested, the blond reaching over the side, "What are you-"

"Got a feelin'," he shouted, gripping the collar tight as the dog flailed in his grip, "You better not fail us Honda!"

"Fail us," he shouted incredulously, the blond pulling the puppy back with grit teeth. "What are you talking aboAAAAA-AAAA-AAAAAHHHHHH! FUCK YOU JONOUCHIIIIIIIiiiiii!" As the dog sailed through the air Katsuya went back to work with grit teeth, the others shaking off their shock at the sight to turn on the blond.

"N-NIHAN," Shizuka protested, her shield faltering as the Big 5 also paused in confusion. "What are you-"

"Jonouchi," their friend cut in, "You just THREW HONDA-"

"DAMN that's a good toss," Ren shouted cheerily, the others in the trailer fixing him with a frown. "Well it was."

And a couple seconds later, there was a 'damn good explosion' too to the other's surprise. As the dog flailed, falling forward, something had happened, that much he knew. A program... Something Noa had already laced in his mind. Something he'd seen...

And about half way through the start up of the truck, that 'something' activated. "-ASSAULT MODE ACTIVATED-," a robotic tone announced, Honda's already open mouth locking into place as he curled in the air. "-FIRING-"

"Firing," one of the monsters shouted with a start, a glowing light developing at the end of Honda's throat.

"Gh- This is one of Noa-sama's-"

A mushroom cloud seemed to erupt in the air, the engine finally roaring to life as Katsuya turned to look at the side. Nothing but dust and smoke.. Along with a speck flying back in the distance. "C'mon," he muttered, the others silent at what had apparently just been their friend's second death as the blond swallowed. "C'mon," he whispered, "We ain't leavin' till y' get here..."

"H-Honda-ha- AHH!"

"Gggggg... Jonouchi!" The group's eyes widened for the most part as a distant 'spec' cleared up, paws flailing in the air as he sputtered. "Pleh! Glach!" More choking and sputtering came from the distance, along with the slight whirr of a 'helicopter' as what looked to be the metal panels of the dog's head spun in a circular motion. "I swear it if that hadn't of worked," he snarled, tendrils and wires lashing in rage amid the spins.

"Wh- HE FLIES," an incredulous roar from the back called out.

"Not now 'Ren'!" The blond stuck his staff out as the dog latched onto the side with the wires, smoke beginning to clear from the air as the truck tore off on the highway. "We ain't outta here yet..."

The others blinked, frowning. "Not out of here," Otogi muttered, looking back at the disappearing cloud. "But that explosion..."

"Nihan," his sister whispered confusedly, "How did you even know that explosion would-"

"Would be some kind of cannon from my face? I don't know," Honda shouted with a swallow, "But as much as I'd like to know why, I can tell you that's not going to kill them! All I did was destroy the platform!"

"But isn't that how they travel," the tallest of the group muttered, Katsuya not looking back to check.

There was a short silence, Shizuka's gasp answering the question for them as she gripped her spear. "Um... I don't think so," she whispered fearfully, pointing through the 'back window' of the canopy trailer. "Look..."

"...Oh. Shi-"

"HURRICANE," came a rage filled cry, Shizuka's spear hurriedly pointed through the trailer window as she swallowed.

"Nn! STEEL GUARD!"

As those in the back turned around to focus on the battle, Katsuya already knew what they could see. And as he continued to drive down at top speed, he really wished that there was a cave somewhere up ahead.

---

The tunnel she traveled in had become... Something else she noted during the travels along what was a former highway. It had roughened, turning into a cave- Not even that she told herself as she stepped through the dark, stones seeming to vanish as she continued on. She was simply walking through a void, and had been since taking the right-hand path off the highway. Nothing but darkness, endless darkness, along a path she somehow knew to take.

She was not alone though. Not completely she realized soon enough, sword in hand in the windless air. 'He's mine now,' a voice whispered, brushing against her ear as an uncontrolled shudder came over her. Narrowed and paranoid eyes flicking to the side with each sound as the whispers passed her by, seeming to almost bear solid form. 'Mine,' the whispers were repeating, 'I have him now...'

The woman grit her teeth, continuing down the 'hall'. She had to ignore it, she told herself. Ignore the mutterings and keep going...

'I've always wanted a brother,' the voice was muttering, Seto closing her eyes with a growl.

Shut up...

'How about a sister as well,' it asked as she covered her ears,

Shut up..!

'Or perhaps you'd like to stay here instead...' Gh..!

"Ngh... Let him GO," she shouted into the darkness, breathing rapidly as she momentarily paused in her run to bring her hands to her sides. "Hah... Hah..." Tired... She was attempting to ignore it but she was... Tired... "Hah... ...Hah... Tch..." First the crossroads, then this... "Taunting me like this... Why don't you just face me now," the woman snarled, tightening her grip on her sword.

"Hnn... Like this?" Seto's blood ran cold as she turned around, Noa's smirking form visible before her. He...

He was right there..! "You..." Only a moment's pause and her energy returned, face flushing red as the woman steadied her resolve. "You MONSTER," she snarled, pulling her blade forward and charging the boy. "HRA-H!"

"Gh-!" As the blade connected the woman's scowl fell, replaced with horror as what shifted into her brother's body stumbled backwards. As white clothes became the very striped t-shirt he wore in the real world, light hair darkening to a black mop. No... "Hn-nn... Nee-sama," he rasped, blood spilling from the long and well placed wound, dribbling from his mouth with each breath, his nose, staining the hand he'd brought to the wound in pain... "Why..."

"Ahhh..." No... "AAA-AAAAAAAHHHH-..!" NO! The sword clattered to the ground as she stumbled back, the body falling to burst into flames before her very eyes as she screamed. "M-MOKUBA!"

"Oooh... Sorry about that," a smug voice muttered, Seto turning yet again as the 'real' Noa stood before her. Wide eyes merely stared with horror and shock as the boy continued to chuckle, breathing quickened as she struggled to regain composure. "Honestly though," he muttered, the clothes he wore identical in appearance to that which 'Mokuba' had been wearing seconds before, "That hurt! You should be careful with that thing," he continued, chuckling darkly as he brought up a bloodied hand. "Someone will get hurt..."

"You... ...You..." This... This... No words could describe this boy! None at all, even demons would be considered compliments! There was still blood on her hands, blood on her sword... Blood on the clothes of the boy before her, her 'brother's face still burned into her mind... "What did you do with my brother," she hissed, eyes still wide from the shock of what she'd 'almost' done. "Where have you taken him!"

The boy before her tilted his head, the smirk still in place as he watched the woman panic. "What did I do," Noa asked, "Absolutely nothing... But I suppose a reunion is order," he continued, snapping his fingers as all light, including himself, vanished from the area. "So here we go then..." Wh...

What- "H- Hnn!" The ground vanished from beneath her feet, knocking the wind from her lungs as she sank downward. "H-HAAAAHHHH!" Falling... She was falling now, and- Ah-! "Gh!" The woman landed with an abrupt 'thump', unable to hide the grimace that it resulted in as she groaned. "Hng..." This placed... "Noa," she spat, pulling herself to her feet with still ragged breaths as she looked around, "If you think that doing this will save you from what I intend to do with you once I escape, I-"She cut herself off as she looked to who was standing behind her, eyes widening as the boy's partially armored form met her gaze. "M-Mokuba..." He was alright... He was perfectly fine, he was alright..! He was standing there, simply staring from beside a cough... Which meant... "Gh... Noa," she hissed, looking to the side as she attempted to locate the fiend. "Do you honestly think that by taking my brother you 'surpass' me? That this somehow makes you a better 'person'?"

"Ooooh not at all," the boy answered, appearing at Mokuba's side as the woman glared. "One of your former employees were the ones to do this... Not me. If anything," he continued with a smirk, crossing his arms as Seto sheathed her blade and walked toward them, "You should be thanking me for saving him..."

Thank him? Hn! "As if I would do that," she spat lowly, before moving to grab her brother's arm. "Come on Mokuba... Let's get away from this maniac and-" She paused, receiving a tug instead of a 'glide' from the arm as expected. He wasn't moving..? "...Mokuba..?" The woman turned back, frowning as she held her loose and protective grip on the boy. "...Mokuba what's wrong," she asked, her brother pulling his arm back as he stepped away. Why was he... "We need to leave," Seto repeated. "Come on... We need-"

"I don't want to," he said plainly, the woman's eyes widening as her brother shook his head.

Why... "But why... Jonouchi, Yugi, myself... All your friends are waiting," she told him, "I'm waiting, I've been looking for you..!" And she'd found him, while everyone else wandered elsewhere, found him because she cared-

"I want to stay with Noa-niichan," the boy said plainly, sister continuing to pale. Nii... Chan..?

The woman's somewhat calm if not confused expression fell flat, Seto turning on Noa with grit teeth. "You... Sick BASTARD," she spat, eyes wide as she pulled out her sword once more. "What kind of 'brainwashing' is this," Seto roared, pointing down to her brother as the boy at her side frowned. "You have no right to play with my brother's mind... Un-do whatever you've done NOW!"

As Mokuba flinched under the shouts, ducking away, Noa sighed and shook his head. "Hn! Just when I thought you couldn't be more accusing... I haven't done anything to him! You said it yourself didn't you," he sneered, the taller of the three shaking in rage. "'Hypnosis can't make you do what you absolutely don't want to'... Which means this was his decision," the boy continued darkly, "Plain and simple..."

His decision... But it couldn't be! It wouldn't, this wasn't... Mokuba wouldn't do that! "What the hell are you going on about," she growled threateningly, sword shaking some what as she stared the boy down. "I know damn well that this is your doing... Reverse it- NOW!"

"Hahhhh... You really are a fool aren't you..." What? "We heard everything from your battle you know," Noa told her, crossing his arms with a look of 'knowing' as the woman stiffened. "Every single thing you said and Daimon said. We know you used Mokuba for your own selfish gain, and we know what you did," the boy hissed, lips curled back with distaste. "Which reminds me... Mokuba," he asked 'curiously', a bitterly sweet smile on his face, "Did you ever get those stocks back..?" Gh... The stocks?

The stocks were owned jointly, they weren't- Slowly, her face continued to fall, the woman staring at her brother's still and determined form as she was met with an expression of calm rage. "Mokuba... You believe those words," she whispered in horror, pointing toward Noa as she stepped toward him. "You believe DAIMON, the one who sent you to Pegasus?"

The one who did so because of what she'd done to him, a nasty voice hissed in the back of his mind, the woman hurriedly banishing the thought. Noa chuckled from the side as he watched the exchange, narrowing his eyes with a shrug. "Well... Are any of those words false..?" F-

The word caught Seto off guard, the woman's eyes frozen on her brother's face. False... To even ask such a question would mean... "...You... You can't really believe him," she whispered, shaking her head. "You can't..."

For a moment, she thought she saw something in her brother's eyes. Something small, subtle... Forgiveness perhaps, or even (if it had to be) pity. But in an instant it was gone. Gone and replaced with that same stubborn frown, Noa placing a hand on the boy's shoulder as he spoke. "How pathetic," he chuckled, the two turning to walk away as the shorter glanced back. "She's completely terrified that you've abandoned her... We should just leave," he continued, Mokuba nodding in agreement. Gh...

All of this... "Are you so desperate to 'surpass' me," she hissed, sword glowing with heat in a mere instant as her rage returned. "Are you so eager to 'defeat' me in my own life that you would do this?"

"Defeat," Noa repeated, a humored smirk on his face. "Hnhnhnhnhn... You know, I realized long ago that you were a proud woman, despite all the hiding you do in your life... But to think. You're so conceited and arrogant to the point you're nothing more than a joke!" Gh... This little, disgusting,- "Of course I 'win' over you," the boy was continuing with a laugh, he and Mokuba taking a seat on the couch before them. "You were nothing more than a 'failsafe' after all..." A...

"A failsafe," she hissed, eyes wide as the sword went dull once more. "What do you mean, FAILSAFE?"

At this Noa gained a look of faux-surprise, bringing a hand to his face. "Oh? He never told you then?"

"HE?" Who was 'HE'!

Chuckling filled the air, and a dark look came over the boy's face as he looked over the woman's fretting form. "You... You were never supposed to last this long; that's the truth. You should have died long ago... As for the rest... I think all of you deserve to see that, don't you," he said somewhat louder, Seto looking back with wide eyes. 'All'?

A door had appeared in the darkness... It had opened just a crack, right as Noa said those words in fact, and as two figures stepped out she quickly made to shield her voice and tone from those before her. "H- Yugi," she shouted in surprise, watching the worried boy run forward.

"Kaiba-san," the boy shouted, hurrying toward the woman with something tightly gripped in his hands. "We thought you might have come this way..! We've been looking for you," he continued, "And-"

"Kaiba," Anzu continued, swallowing somewhat nervously as she gripped her staff and stood to the sides. "There's... There's something you need to see..." Something she needed to-

The woman narrowed her eyes, before looking down as Yugi held out a picture out toward her. "Kaiba-san, we found this in another area of the world here... I'm not sure completely," he continued quietly, "But is that man-"

"Gozaburo," the woman hissed, taking the frame with narrowed eyes as she looked over the man's form. A younger version, and dare she say, possibly less 'bitter' about whatever it was that so caused him to scowl all the time she knew him. "And beside him..." Seto turned, wide eyes looking to Noa as the boy smirked, the couch and Mokuba both vanished from sight while her back was turned. "You... How can this-"

"How about we watch a short video," the boy said 'cheerfully', eyes narrowed with mirth as the others frowned. "Watch..!"

'Who is this..?' The area had melted completely, revealing what looked to be a young boy's bedroom. The walls were oddly sparse despite this, the room kept meticulously clean... No toys littered the ground, no clothes hung out of place. At the side however, next to a dog's bed, was a computer of sorts, a young boy pulling an image from a printer and staring at it as those watching looked over it themselves. That boy...

Noa. Identical to his present self in every way, save for a set of pale pyjamas in the place of the outfit he wore now. The picture he held in his hands was more alarming however, being the exact pair of 'profile images' that had been taken upon adoption for their health information and schooling. Pictures of herself and Mokuba, age ten and five... 'That is the one I've chosen for you,' Gozaburo was saying, his face on the screen of the computer in what was obviously a web-cam chat. 'He looks like you, doesn't he?'

The boy nodded, placing the picture at the side of his desk as he stared to it. 'Exactly like me,' he stated after a moment, before looking to the man in silence.

'And he's just as smart; possibly smarter than you. So how about it... Care for a challenge, before we put the process underway,' the man asked, Noa seeming to perk up immediately as the dog at the side yawned.

'Of course,' he responded, Seto momentarily frowning as the 'process' was mentioned. 'Of course!'

'Good! Prove to me you surpass him... And not only will your wish to come home be granted,' he said cryptically, the boy's eyes widening with anticipation, 'But you'll get to meet your new little brother...'

A brother? 'Ah... The baby that Kaa-chan was going to have,' he asked, grin widening further. There was a slight grimace in Gozaburo's expression with those words she notied, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. A wince, but nonetheless the man nodded in agreement.

'Exactly,' he told him. 'Exactly.'

There was a small bit of silence, and Noa's expression as well seemed to fall somewhat as he studied his father's face. 'I see. ...Thank you... Tou-chan...' Tou... The video cut off, faces falling in shock as the last word rang over the air.

"E-EHH," Anzu remarked with a shout, the scene melting into space as they turned on Noa with wide eyes. "T-TOU-CHAN?"

"What..? What is this..!"

Noa smirked, hands stowed in his pockets as the three continued to pale and sputter with confusion. "Hnhnhnhn... I told you already; this is the 'truth'. My name is Kaiba Noa," the boy said coldly, "First and only son to Kaiba Gozaburo. My father... He wanted to make sure I was up to par in my studies," he 'explained', shaking his head. "Wanted to test me, challenge me to prove I was worthy of returning to him... So he took you in," the boy continued, looking up to the woman somewhat darkly. "You who resembled me in every way... Of course," he trailed off, shaking his head, "I would imagine things changed sometime after 'that day'..." 'That' day..?

"What day," the others were muttering, Seto narrowing her eyes as she herself asked the question in her mind. "What day is he talking about," Anzu whispered, "I don't understand..."

Yugi as well frowned, the boy before them sighing as he shook his head. "Oh don't bother asking," Noa chuckled, arms crossed as he hovered before them. "This one's managed to forget all about it... A pity that. Because you've always been the 'Back Up'," he sneered, a wicked grin on his face as he began to laugh. "The 'Fail-Safe', the 'Last Resort'... And if you hadn't have killed my father before I could prove myself you wouldn't even exist!"

Killed- That again? Seto continued to stand in tense silence, narrowing her eyes. "Then... The reason we're here," Yugi said with a swallow, the tallest of the three merely frozen at the moment, "The reason you pulled us in..."

"Exactly! I'm going to prove myself the better of us," Noa announced, "Once and for all... And while I'm at it," he chuckled, narrowing his eyes, "I'll be getting myself reacquainted with those of the 'real world' to prepare for my 'prize'..." Wh... This... All of this...

"Impossible," Seto hissed, eyes wide as she regained her voice in the face of all that was occurring. "This is NONSENSE! Even if this was true, and you were set up in some sort of 'challenge'," the woman snarled, "There's no way you could possibly be related to him, in any way!"

"And here we go again," the boy muttered, rolling his eyes. "Here they told me you were smart... Now just why would you say-..." He paused, a sudden 'click' echoing about them. "Hnnn..."

A shimmer of light appeared in the air, a small boy appearing to Noa's side as the taller of the two turned. "Wh... Who's that," Anzu muttered, frowning as the boy stood with a blank expression in place, white clothes nearly blending in with his skin. "Who-"

"Noa-sama," the boy said blandly, his creator turning with a frown as the child's white wings folded in. "Subjects Jonouchi Katsuya, Kawai Shizuka, Otogi Ryuuji, and Betas 01 and 02 are each under fire from the defeated members of the 'Big 5'. Are there any actions you wish for me to take," he asked, Noa merely gritting his teeth as the child explained the brief situation.

"Hn! Such a pain," he muttered, the others frowning as boy scowled and looked back. "Well! It looks as though I have other things to deal with... Seto," he said with a smirk, looking to the woman as she gripped her blade tight. "We'll be speaking again later it seems... Until then," he continued with a sneer, chuckling darkly, "Safe travels."

What... "Tch... You're not getting away this time," she hissed, running forward to swing her sword toward the vanishing boy. "NOA-! You aren't- H-" Her next foot fell forward completely as screams cut through the air, wind rushing past her as darkness surrounded both herself and the others behind her. "Gh- Damn it..! NOAAAA!"

"W-WHERE DOES THIS THING EVEN GO," a panicked woman behind her screeched, Anzu barely gripping her staff as they fell.

"I don't know," her friend responded loudly, shaking his head. "I-" Yugi's voice cut off as darkness shrouded him from view, a panicked scream coming from Anzu as they fell.

"H-Hah... Y-Yugi," she shouted, eyes wide as empty space met her instead of warm violet eyes. "YU-" The woman as well was cut off, her own form enveloped in black as Seto grit her teeth.

Tch... So she was next was she..? Darkness closed in toward her, and as she continued to scowl she nodded. Fine then. "Bring it on," she spat, gripping her sword as more darkness covered her vision. "Noa."

And the world went black, her thoughts ending right there.

---

"Anyone see a sign for a hotel," the snake on the side of the trailer asked as they fled the charging monsters behind them, a majority of the others turning from their 'posts' as Ren made his odd request. It was really bad enough that Shizuka's only effective 'offensive' spell was too powerful for her to cast more than once. And also upsetting enough that Otogi's own attacks did next to nothing from a distance, particularly compared to that 'Wemko Bombard' Shizuka had blasted toward the opponents.

But he could really live without these weird comments the snake seemed to pull out of his hat. "A hotel," Honda repeated, 'mouth' still pulled back from where he'd been firing 'lasers' of sorts out the back of the trailer. "We're running for our lives and you look for a hotel?"

The snake rolled its eyes, sighing as it collapsed back on the cushion. "Hn! You guys have no music tastes... This is the last time I try joking around with you guys." Hahaha, of course... Something they'd never heard of.

"Hn... Well if y' see one anyway lemme know," Katsuya muttered from the front, hurriedly swerving to the right to avoid a blast of ice from Otaki's whip, "Could use th' sign f'r cover..!"

"Hnng... I'm sorry I can't do more than defend," Shizuka said with a wince, another shouted 'steel guard' blocking an attack from hitting as Otogi busied himself by hurling throwing knives at the beast. "I know that when I fired that 'Bombard' attack it looked good but..."

"Hey, don' be sorry," her brother responded proudly, "You're savin' all our asses here..."

"What we should be sorry about is not having anything for a decent long range attack," Otogi added in response, yet another wave of knives falling just short the distance their opponent's were at. "Tch... This is a real pain," he hissed with narrow eyes. Yea... Tell him about it...

"Well there's got to be something here," Ren hissed, slithering behind Honda as the dog again paused his 'firing' to speak.

"Define something," he snorted, 'mouth' closing only somewhat as the serpent stared. "Because as I recall, you're more useless than me."

"Nice way to insult yourself there Honda," his friend called from the top, the dog nodding.

"Thank- WAIIIIIIT-"

Ren again rolled his eyes, sliding up to one of the turret looking devices on the side of the truck. "I'm just saying; these look like guns," he said with a frown, "So you'd think they'd be guns! You guys didn't even try using them though!"

"Well in that case," the dog retorted, returning to his firing, "Let us know when you can aim one snake-boy."

At this the snake gave a rather childish hiss, blowing his tongue out at the dog."Hn! As a matter of fact," he shouted somewhat angrily, wrapping around one of the handles as he pulled back, "I think I-"

-BROUM!-

The snake jumped as a shudder passed through the air, the 'bullet' fired forming an enormous hole in the highway as Katsuya screamed. "A- AHH-AAAAA-AAAHH! What th hell!" The truck rumbled and clattered about as they were driven off road, the blond looking back with wide eyes before turning back to pay attention to the rock-littered desert about them. "H-Hah..! Jus' what w's tha'!"

The others said nothing, instead momentarily turning to the turret Ren had before scrambling for them as Shizuka held the defense. "Of course," Otogi shouted in agravation, pulling on and aiming it toward the opponents as he stood along and almost outside the truck, "Now they work!"

Ren seemed to beam with those words, shaking his head smugly as he grinned. "Well! You can all thank me la-"

"Move," Honda barked, pushing past the serpent.

"A- What the- You don't even have thumbs," he protested, "How are you-" The snake cut himself short as the handles were gripped in a few of the feelers from Honda's neck, looking decidedly nauseous about the entire deal as he stared.

"You were saying," the dog said smugly, Ren giving an involuntary shudder as he backed away and listened to the bullets released toward their opponents.

"Hihhhhhhh that's never leaving my head," he muttered, curling on the bench with a swallow. "Never..."

-BROUM!-

Another rumble charged through the air, shudders passing through the ground as Otogi and Honda both fired as much as possible at their opponent in retaliation. It mattered little what they did after all; regardless, the opponent would continue his attack. "Gh... Nihan," Shizuka was shouting from behind, the monsters following them seemingly unaffected by whatever they threw toward forward, "I can't last much longer..!" Gh...

"Jus' a little more," he assured the girl, spinning the wheel rapidly as one of Daimon's 'Thunder Shot's destroyed the ground ahead of them. "Jus' a li' more," he shouted with a swallow, "We'll be al-"

"THUNDER SHOT!" Shit.

The explosion that occurred likely happened when the attack struck the place directly in front of the truck, needless to say. The resulting charge overpowered the machine, sending smoke every which way as the power forced their vehicle upward, screams coming from those inside as the truck toppled to the ground and tossed its passengers violently about. "Gh- GHHAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Y-ROUUUUUU-R!"

The truck came to a rest, skidding along the ground... And all about them dust filled the air, coughing coming shortly afterward as stones fell around them in a sort of twisted rain. "Gh... Kah... Kah! O... Otogi," Katsuya shouted, the teen and Honda both having been knocked up into the air under the strike on the truck. "Otogi, Shizuka... Honda! Are you... Are you..."

"I'm fine," Otogi wheezed from a distance, slowly pulling himself from the ground with a cough before sending them a thumbs up. Despite the clear shock he had in falling from so far he seemed relatively fine, grabbing a nearby rock for support. "Hah... It's just a bruise," he continued, before looking to the side. "...Shizuka..?"

"F-Fine," she responded with a wince, climbing out of the trailer with her spear in hand. "I'm-"

"Hnhnhnhnhn..." The five shuddered as they looked up, Ren scurrying around Shizuka's ankle as the four monsters slowly approached. Daimon was the first, the Psycho Shocker landing to the ground to tower above them as he walked forward. "Now... Which one should I take," he 'wondered' aloud, chuckling darkly in response to the nervous looks he received from the siblings and 'pets'. "I could take one of you boys of course," he muttered, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the blond. "But then there's the girl..."

"Ah- W-WHAT? But you guys 'r all... Well, GUYS," Katsuya shouted incredulously, shaking his head in confusion. "What th' hell!"

"Trust me," Ren laughed, before collapsing with a groan. "This could be wor-"

"Gh- Daimon," a second voice snarled, a penguin running up to the man with narrowed eyes. "I saw her first damn it! The young girl is mine," he squawked, barely coming to the cyborg's knees, "MIIIIIINE!"

"I take that back," the snake muttered, hiding back around Shizuka's ankle.

Daimon turned on 'Otaki', expression unseen thanks to the lenses and respirator. "Hn! I thought you were taking the other woman," he sneered, the penguin showing no more response than rage as he spoke.

"That's right! All the girls are mine," he retorted, before finding himself getting strangled by the man as he squawked. "G-GLK!"

"You moron... Just how the hell do you think that would work," Daimon hissed, the penguin merely continuing to flail.

"I'd MAKE it work!"

"You-"

"What's wrong with the both of you idiots," Oshita spat, the fishman stepping forward. Otogi was thrown to the 'group' by a silent and towering 'Judgeman' Oka in the meantime, the remaining of the four turning as Otogi wheezed. "Fighting right now... We don't have time for that kind of idiocy!"

"Ah- But, Oshita-"

"I said no," the old man sneered, cutting Otaki off and pointing to the three humans as their 'pets' glared. "Now take a body and go," he continued hurriedly, "We can pick up the fourth on our way out before Noa-"

Blinding light suddenly pierced the sky, those on the ground looking up in shock as two figures in white appeared. One resembled a girl, one he recognized that had no name... And the other... "Gh- Seraph," Katsuya hissed, eyes wide as Ren looked up himself.

"Eh... W-Who are..."

"OH! It's the girl I saw when I woke up," came a surprised bark, the sentence ended with a fairly high-pitched 'aru!'. Briefly the blond turned, frowning. Honda knew the girl?

...Probably not important right now. The two programs looked down, expressions blank enough to almost appear disappointed in the ones below. "Daimon Kogoro, Chikuzen Oka," the boy began, the Judgeman and Psycho Shocker both swallowing.

"...Shuzo Otaki, Konosuke Oshita," the girl continued, the others staring in unease as the duo continued. "All four of you are in violation of the agreements made with Kaiba Noa-sama in regards to your possible 'escape'," she said clearly, a number of the crowd gawking at the words.

"K-Kaiba!"

"Hang on," Honda yelped, shaking his head, "They're related-aru!"

A short span of silence came with that, Otogi narrowing his eyes in slight confusion for a moment. "...Actually," he muttered, "This explains alot..."

There was no response to that, though Shizuka soon turned as she realized her brother was still silent. "Nihan," she said somewhat confusedly, "You don't seem surprised..."

Katsuya swallowed, choosing to not answer to the statement. "I'll explain later," he muttered after a few seconds, backing up against the capsized truck as he gripped his staff. "For now, I gotta bad feelin' abou' this..."

As you should, he thought he heard someone say, Noa appearing between his two programs with that very thought. "N... Noa-sama," Daimon sputtered, stepping back from the humans he'd cornered as the light-haired boy narrowed his eyes from above. "We-"

"Will be speaking about this elsewhere," the boy said coldly, gesturing to his 'programs' as both they and the monsters vanished without warning, the only signal to their leave being two bows from both children. "Now then," he continued, crossing his arms in thought. "You five..."

The 'five' in question tensed, looking up as Noa smirked. "N... Noa," Katsuya hissed, gritting his teeth. Just what did he want now?

"Hnhnhnhn... You lot should be thankful," the boy said with a grin, apparently amused by the agitation in the air. "I just saved all your lives... That puts you in my debt, doesn't it," he asked, the smirk growing sinister. Debt..?

"Gh- Seein' how you tried t' kill us first," he snarled without thought, "I'm sayin' hell no!"

"Yea," Honda shouted up in agreement, Noa having briefly appeared to consider saying something before being cut off. "I don't even have a body anymore now! Hell, what IS this thing anyways-aru," he called up, mouth open and 'flailing' as the others stared uncomfortably. The flaps stiffened to the sides, teeth facing forward on twisted mouth roofs and bottoms as the now tongue-like wires flailed through the air. "What kind of twisted freak are you-aru, sticking me in this thing!"

Noa appeared to stare with slight surprise at the dog's head, blinking a few times in what looked to be honest shock. "Ohh... Well that's interesting," he muttered, receiving a snarled growl in response. "I told her to up the 'threat level' in your programing," the boy continued quietly, "But I hardly expected this..."

"A- PROGRAMING," the dog snarled, hurriedly snatched up by Shizuka as he scrambled to find someway up. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, PROGRAMING!"

The boy again gained a nasty smirk, chuckling as he began to fade in the desert air amid the passing breeze. "Hnhnhnhnhn... You'll find out eventually... I'll have to congratulate Kisara though," he continued, a menacing gleam appearing in the boy's eyes. "Despite being almost entirely incomplete, you're quite the diamond in the rough..."

"H-Hey," Honda muttered nervously, a slight whine escaping him as his mouth closed. "Stop talking about me like that-aru..."

"Yea," Ren added from Shizuka's ankles, "You'll make him blush."

"WHY YOU-"

"HnhnHAHAHAHA!" Mad cackling tore their attention back to the sky, Noa shaking his head as the attentions of those below were pulled upward yet again. "Hnhnhnhn... How amusing..! I might just let you leave simply because of this!" Yea, because they wanted to be permanent sources of comedy right? "Hnhnhn... Your game is hardly over yet though," the nearly transparent boy warned, narrowing his eyes as a door appeared far past him in the distance sands. "But I think I'll leave it at that... For now," the boy finished, finally fading from sight completely, "I have a few things to deal with... Ja-ne..."

Gh... Hihhhhh... Katsuya gave a shudder as the small boy vanished, the others shaking their heads in variant forms of unease in attempts to resume some form of normalcy in the already bizarre realm. "What a creepy kid," Otogi muttered, Ren nodding in agreement as Shizuka pulled both he and Honda up in her arms with a small frown.

"At least the 'Big 5' are gone," she said quietly, before turning as a shout came from by the door.

"Heeeey! GUYS!" Ah... That was..! The others followed Shizuka's gaze, eyes wide as a familiar if not oddly coloured head of hair came into view. "GUYS," the 'normal' Yugi shouted, running forward as the others followed behind him at a walk. "Guys," he repeated, "Are you alright?"

"Ah- Yugi," Katsuya responded with a grin, the usual 'waist tackle' coming after a moment before he answered the hug with a noogie and a laugh. "Hah! Y' made it!"

Anzu as well ran over, Ren and Shizuka both coming over with a smile as the serpent slithered out from the younger woman's arm. "Maaan! Took you long enough," the snake cheered, 'hopping' onto Anzu's arm before coiling into a comfortable position on her shoulder. "It's just not the same on a trailer bench..!"

The woman rolled her eyes in response to that, before looking to Shizuka and studying her expression a moment. The girl hid most of her unease well... Most, being the key word of course. "Hey... Are you all doing alright," she asked optimistically, both the girl and the dog nodding in response.

"Yea... We're fine," she said confidently, a small smile on her face as she again nodded. "Just a little shaken," the girl continued as a knowing nod was received in response.

"Heh... But besides that," Honda laughed, "We're better than ever-aru! Like my new look," he added with a grin, his friend shaking her head with a slight laugh.

"Very cute," she answered, the puppy's fur bristling in response. "Nice to see your voice matches the face."

"Gh- Voice? And I don't look 'cute'," the dog snarled, "Why does everyone keep saying that!"

As arguments and reunions continued Katsuya and Yugi looked back toward the exit of the door, where Seto was slowly making her way forward with a near-completely hidden expression of blank thought. There was something in her hands... A picture frame he noted, walking over with his friend as he waved. "...Oii... S... Kaiba," he called out somewhat, receiving no answer as Yugi pressed on with the conversation.

"...Kaiba-san," he began, the others turning their heads to tune in on whatever it was going on. "...You said that Noa couldn't be Gozaburo's son but... Why," he asked, the woman giving a blank and agitated glare in response as she tossed him the picture.

The somewhat glassy image was clearly visible to the others, light-haired boy standing beside the black-haired form of a younger Gozaburo. "How old would you say he is in that photo," Seto asked plainly, the others leaning over to stare closer at the image.

"...He's the same age he is now," Shizuka responded, before her frown was hurriedly replaced with shock. "Ah- But didn't that man have grey hair at the city? Hair takes at least a few years to go from black to completely grey..."

There was no response concerning Gozaburo's appearance on the field 'hours' before, Seto merely nodding as she narrowed her eyes. "That's right," she said plainly, a slight scowl on her face. "That picture was taken before my time, by at least six years and possibly more."

"But then Noa hasn't gotten any older at all," Otogi muttered, narrowing his eyes. "And that would mean..."

That would mean something very bad... "...You know something of this, don't you," the spirit in his mind hissed with those thoughts, Katsuya staring as the others muttered comments of confusion. "You knew something about this boy, before we even got here..."

Yes, he thought with a slight grimace, yes he did... "What on earth does this all mean," Anzu was muttering, crossing her arms. "If he hasn't aged-"

"Noa's dead," he said bluntly, the others turning as he looked away awkwardly. "...He died almos' twelve years 'go," he added, biting his lip.

It was probably with that line that his hole really started getting deeper.

---

"You five truly are sad pieces of work," Noa snarled, pacing around the darkness of 'space' as his pawns each stood before him. Each of them were on their knees, having fallen from some immeasurable height within the dark to reach this point, and as they slowly recovered the boy continued. "I give you chances of life with clearly specific conditions, you agree, and then the moment you lose you decide to go around behind my back and 'try again'... Now I wonder how that should make me feel," he muttered darkly, the four 'adults' of the five each tensing as Ota stood off to the side in mild amusement. "After all... Ota at least had the decency to win before he pulled any of that," he spat, the 'teen' wincing somewhat at the comment.

"Ota-" The four turned, each one scowling as the now teen smirked from the side. "Hn! Nice to see you're getting used to your body," Oshita growled, receiving a wider grin in response.

"Well, it's my right isn't it," he 'asked', narrowing his eyes with mirth. "I beat the owner of this body," he continued, "Therefore, it's mine to keep..."

The men tensed, Otaki in particular shaking. "Nggh... But you still lost your match," he moaned, slamming the cane in his hands on the ground as he stood to his feet. "It's not fair at all!"

"That's right," Daimon snarled, pointing an accusing finger forward at the smirking teen. "We fight against real opponents, while you take down some poor beginner so you can see your so-called family?"

Ota narrowed his eyes, turning on the men as Noa watched in slight amusement. "Please," the man spat darkly, "At least I have one." The teen continued to glare at his 'partners', crossing his arms as he went on. "Besides... While I might now be only a year or so older than them, I still won quite fairly; the deal was to defeat a single person to get their body," he argued, "Not win a complete match!"

Hnn... And now this was getting boring... "Gh- It was supposed to be with duels in mind though," Oshita hissed, unaware of the annoyance increasing on his 'employer's part. "Not-"

"SILENCE!" The men tensed, each turning toward their 'boss' as the boy stared down almost apathetically. "You've convinced me," he stated calmly, the four of the five brightening considerably as Noa went on. "I'll give you another chance. Your goal," the boy told them as a screen hovered before them with the information, "Is to defeat Mutou Yugi; he's defeated Seto time and time again after all... So if you five can prove yourselves capable of defeating him," he continued with a smirk, "I'll grant the remaining four of you a body of your choice... As for you Ota," he added, the former technician swallowing nervously as attention was brought to him, "I'll release your mind to the real world without question, rather than forcing you to wait for my own success."

Ota instantly looked up with surprise, a slow nod coming from the teen as he muttered something in thanks. "I... Thank you, Noa-sama," he whispered, bowing his head. "Thank-you!"

"We won't fail you Noa-sama," the others continued,

"We'll do our best," they chorused, "We won't disappoint you..."

"Hnhnhnhn... Wait until the duel's end to tell me that," Noa said with a smirk, beginning to fade away as he stepped back. "Now... I'll give you five minutes to sort out your tactics... After that... Good luck."

---

He supposed, for the moment, that simply coming out and saying 'Noa's dead' was probably not the best way to start this conversation looking back on the two seconds prior.

At all, really.

"...Repeat that," Seto said almost coldly in response to Katsuya's words, the blond clenching his staff tightly as he made to explain.

"I... On Chris'm's," he began, looking back to his friends with a deep breath, "When I w's decoratin' th' house w' Hobson, I had t' help feed th' horses. One w's th' one that y' never took," he said with a nervous swallow, "Th' 'mad' one... An' it b'longed t' Noa when he w's alive. I... I don' get everythin'," he continued, shaking his head and looking at the ground as he attempted to think of how else to explain, "But s'pposedly if this kid was alive he'd be 21, 22 by now," he muttered, "And... ...Hah..."

The blond sighed, cutting himself off as the others looked from him to Seto to gauge the woman's response. For the moment, she wasn't saying anything... Merely staring at him with an odd expression on her face, eyes narrowed and 'twitching', as though the woman were debating whether or not to say something. Finally however she moved to leave, walking around Yugi and Katsuya both with narrowed eyes as the others stared. "A- Kaiba-san," Yugi called out, turning around as the woman walked off. "Kaiba-san," he repeated, "Wait-!"

"..." The woman paused, both boys continuing forward as she frowned. "...What do you want," Seto stated somewhat coldly, Katsuya moving forward to stand in her way as she glared.

"Well I'm jus' wonderin' why y' suddenly wanted t' leave once I mentioned I knew who Noa was, tha's all... He's got Mokuba righ," he asked seriously, the woman giving no answer as he frowned. "So I'm guessin' yer goin' after 'm again then, jus' like las' time," he continued, hands outstretched in a 'wall' gesture.

The woman narrowed her eyes, distaste evident on her face as she looked over the teen. "Get to the point," she growled, the blond crossing his arms as he did so.

"You wanna help Mokuba," he stated almost obviously, "An' so do we. He might not be my brother," the blond continued, jabbing a thumb to himself in gesture, "But he's th' closest thing t' one I've got."

"Not to mention," Anzu added, the others walking up to stand behind Seto as well, "He's our friend. We were all brought here as well," she continued with a frown, "And not just you... You can't say that we aren't involved, and that we have to 'but out' of this!"

The woman narrowed her eyes, looking back with a fairly intense glare. "Then it looks as though you're about to be disappointed," she muttered, adjusting the grip of the sword still in her hand before again stepping forward to leave. "Because that's exactly what I'm saying now."

"Really now," Anzu's partner asked dryly, Seto giving little reaction to the presence of a talking snake. "And just where are you going to go then?," Ren asked.

"None of your business," she responded, pushing past Katsuya as she continued her way forward. "Now leave me alone."

Damn it... "Tch- Jus' let us help y' already," Katsuya shouted, gritting his teeth as the woman again turned her head back to leer at the blond. "Jus' stop actin' like an idiot an' let us help!"

"Yes, because that will convince him," Otogi muttered under his breath, Honda looking up from Shizuka's arms.

"Eh... He's done things for worse from what I heard," he commented, friend turning with wide eyes.

"Really..?"

Hahhhh... Not now damn it..! As Seto stared Katsuya took another step forward, a look of determination on his face as he continued his attempts to make the woman stay. "S... Kaiba," he called out, a small breeze blowing through the dusty highway. "C'mon... Jus' this once! I won' ask again after this, I swear!"

"Hn! As though I would believe that," she snorted, moving to walk away yet again as a breeze blew over the lonely desert road. "Besides... You have other problems," the woman called out, pointing her sword to the side as they turned.

...Other... Problems..?

As dark chuckling came over the air they looked up, swallowing nervously. Above on the cliffs it seemed there was a shadow after all... A tall, familiar shadow of a friend whose body was no longer his own, a distraction that proved more than enough for Seto to make her leave. And as a series of monsters appeared around the teen, the crowd had to restrain themselves from charging right there...

Some with less success than others. "Gh... AOUR! ROUR-ROU-ROU-ROURRRrrr... ROUF! ROUF!"

"Honda-han," Shizuka cried, ducking back from the flailing wires, "I'm right here..!"

"AH-" The dog coughed, mouth hurriedly closing back up. "Sorry, Shizuka..!"

"Gh... Ota," Katsuya shouted up, clenching his fists as the teen looked down. "What do you want?"

'Ota' merely smirked, crossing his arms. "Depends; in his case," a less familiar one of the 'Big 5's voices stated, "Probably to visit his little bratty children... In mine," 'Oshita' as the voice seemed to identify, "I'd like to get back to my job and wife. Oka on the other hand has a sister to care for. Otaki," he continued, "A dream, and Daimon a grudge... We're all here," the voice spat, hurriedly joined in by four other altering tones, "Every last one of us!"

"Gh... They're all in there," Otogi repeated incredulously, the dog in Shizuka's arms looking as though he was going to have a stroke.

"Bastards... GIVE ME MY BODY BACK ARU!-"

"H-Honda-han," she shouted once more, "Every time you do that, your face-"

"...S-Sorry! I-"

"Hnhnhnhnhn..." Chuckling came from the body before them, the Big 5's body narrowing their eyes as the group stared. "As much as we'd love to watch you torment yourselves over this," the body laughed, "We have business to attend to. Mutou Yugi," they shouted fiercely, the boy in question swallowing somewhat nervously. "We, all at once, challenge you to a battle... With the bodies of each of your friends at stake," they finished, before the expression changed to a lecherous and cruel smirk for a single voice to call out. "Hnhnhnhnhn... And when we win," a somewhat oddly accented form of their friend's voice muttered, tongue running along his lips in a rather frightening gesture, "I'll be taking that mage for myself..."

"Gh-! O- Otaki," Anzu hissed, the woman tensing as her snake did the same.

"Hihhh... The penguin freak," he squeaked, drawing back in disgust. "AuaaAAH!"

"Ah- Freak," Otaki hissed, before his tone and expression again switched to something else entirely. "Hn! An accurate description," chuckled the voice identified as 'Oka', those below holding their heads in confusion as the personalities constantly switched.

"AAAAUGGHHH! My body is not a microphone -ARU!"

At this the others nodded in stony agreement, Yugi swallowing as he stepped forward with narrowed eyes. "You... I accept your challenge," he stated, pulling his boomerang out as he took a more battle ready stance across from the somewhat distant cliff. "But if I win," he continued with a shout, "You have to return Honda-kun's body!"

"...Hmp! Very well then," the Big 5 muttered after a moment of silence, a variety of emotions briefly flashing over the man's face. "That won't be a problem... Now then-"

Katsuya ran up to join his friend's side at that point, cutting the voices above them off as he scowled. "Oi oi oi- b'fore tha', I gotta say something..." The body looked down, narrowing his eyes as the blond continued. "You five are fightin' all at once righ'," he shouted, staring up as the teen slowly nodded. "Well that ain't exactly fair nyh? Let me fight y' as well, got it," he demanded, the soon to be opponent seeming to pause in consideration.

"Ah... Jonouchi-kun," Yugi muttered, the others staring as well.

"J-Jonouchi..."

As the rest of the group blinked in slight surprise the blond smirked, looking over to the dog in his sister's arm with a grin. "Hey; it's your body at stake here," he said with a laugh, shaking his head. "I can't jus' sit on th' sidelines righ'?"

"AHHH! Jonouchi..! Thankyouthankyouthank-ar- Y-rf!" A quick thump sounded through the air, Ren frowning from where he sat on the shoulder closest to Shizuka. By all appearances, it looked as though he had smacked the puppy with his tail, and as his tongue flicked in and out Honda growled more than loud enough for the serpent to catch his anger.

Not that he cared of course. "Your crying was getting on my nerves," he said bluntly, the dog at the side breaking into a snarl and a roaring bark.

"G- Why you..!"

"Hnnn..." The 'five' above on the cliff seemed to frown, before a smirk similar to that of his former opponent came into view from those paying attention. "Well," 'Oka' said plainly, the others looking back up as their opponent nodded slowly. "I suppose that's fair... With this," he continued calmly, "It's more similar to a one-on-one match outside the duel after all thanks to that..."

The crowd blinked, narrowed eyes looking up in confusion. One on one... Well, not counting 'Ren', there would be Otogi, Anzu, Shizuka and Honda remaining but... "Ah... 'outside'," he asked almost hesitantly. And that meant..?

Oka grinned, arms crossed as he explained from the cliff's top. "Well... For each player there can be only one deckmaster at a time after all," he chuckled, a finger brushing his nose despite there being nothing there. "And there's five of us here... So while one of us face you," the teen continued with a gesture, "The rest of us will be challenging your friends... In combat only," he said darkly, the crowd swallowing nervously. Only combat? H-Hey... C.. Come on now...

"I... Is tha' ev'n allowed," he hissed, clenching his fists as the others held back shouts of rage.

"Hnnn... So we'll all be fighting then," Otogi muttered, knives appearing in his hands. "This might actually help you guys out," he decided with a smirk. "If we knock out one of them in the middle of the fight," the teen offered in defense, "They won't be able to duel properly right?"

"I'd like to think so at least," Ren muttered, hood partially flared in agitation as he stared at the teen above. "But even then..."

"We have one more demand for this duel," Oka announced, the decided duelists looking up again with narrowed eyes as the crowd continued to listen. "This is a two on one match... Ordinarily all three players would have 4000 life points," he explained calmly, "But against a pair of professionals, that's hardly fair..."

"So what do y' wanna do then," the blond below snorted. "Double yours?"

An odd look appeared in Oka's eyes, and his smirk grew as he pulled out a pair of revolvers from his sides. "As a matter of fact," he announced, skidding down the side of the cliff as the others hopped back to put space between themselves, "I do... Now," the lawyer shouted, snapping his fingers as domes of light swirled into the air. "Pick your cards."

Alright then...

It was on!

---

AN: Hoooly- the chapter is normal sized again! As in... 16-17k-ish. (The super chapters all hit 25, with the notes obviously somewhat longer to cover that and bring the total update count to 30k.) This is probably because there's no duel here, and I wasn't stupid enough to start on Yugi's and Jonouchi's in this one.

Because that's what's next; and you won't be getting any shots of Kaiba throughout it. You will get lots of nice art when that happens though, so look forward to that.

As you might have guessed, my work was postponed due to snow again; as it's gone now though, I finally do start working for real on Monday, so chapters after this will be slow and patience eating. ...At least I'm honest?

The weather is calling for snow again... This had BETTER NOT HAPPEN.

On the bright side, I tend to get lots of ideas when I do things like lawn work and cleaning so... Yea.

Oh! In the meantime, go listen to Torinoko City from Miku Hatsune... It's pretty VR-ish (at least until you hit the romance and realize that the song is about... Well... Romance.)...

As for everything else, there is, due to the quick update this chapter, a coloured surprise for one of the next chapter's deckmasters.

Now, onto everything else!

Anonymous Review Responses

Hahaha, that'd be pretty cool RandomProjects… If a troper did that…

I don't count, that would be turning my fanfic into a horrible thing of self-promotion… Bawwwwww…

Any ways, it's not that they couldn't see the duel, it's that they couldn't see her at the end. Ordinarily, her Red-Mage costume is quite unisex, as the tunic and leather not only push down on her breasts (which are obviously no longer tied down with binding), but don't conform to her hips and waist, instead simply falling down, and being belted inlace just above the hip-line…. Which is how she wears pants now, with a second belt on top, to create the illusion of a more masculine waist. (Not so much now though.)

With the Blue-Eyes upgrade however, there was a problem; one, her cape was gone, something that naturally draws attention both to her top, but also away from her hips. In addition, the Blue-Eyes deckmaster uniform has a corset; which REALLY conforms to her waist, despite compressing her breasts to a severe extent.

Thankfully, Blue-Eyes also radiates light; she literally became too blinding for anyone to see her properly. This is actually what saved her here; though Otogi could see the hips, and Jonouchi as well, everyone else was more concerned with the match… And Yugi already knew. Honda, on the other hand, couldn't see; the light overpowered the sensors in his feelers.

As for Malik, he's not saying squat, whether he knows or not. (He was on to her with Otaki's 'bitch' comment though.) Also, as they were about five hundred meters away from Seto at the time, they didn't hear Daimon's words, not clearly at least; though it helps that his ribs were kinda crushed before that point.

And hahaha! Yep; it's about time someone noticed, even if it's a programming deal. Very true though; Honda isn't listened to that much…

Poor Mokuba indeed… It took a lot of work, that scene; it seemed far too quick to me in the anime, and far to… 'what is he, 7?'. Mostly because of Mokuba's normally unshakable faith in Seto, which, of course, both canon and fanfic counterparts of her can attest to; Mokuba might have 'naturally' come to the decision, but there was still lots of manipulation involved. Glad you like it so far; trust me, it gets worse (Better?)…

As for the 'who knows', that refers to Jonouchi's knowledge of Seto's gender. It's been implied before, but Mokuba pretty much clung to Jonouchi not only because he was nice, but also because it was the first guy his sister's age 'in the know'…

Translation: Mokuba's a shipper on deck. And also a matchmaker.

Glad you like the humanization there! For some reason though, I keep honing in on Ota… And while normally this would be great, his character is starting to grow on me, and he's supposed to die in like… Three chapters.

It's very unsettling, as at least with Noa I've known all along that he's a character I like that I will have to kill. Ota was supposed to be a character I hate that dies and is never touched again. DARN IT.

And OMG Iona, I JUST finished that episode… Stop making me smile spontaneously! -snrk-

Noa is very very very selfish… Probably helps that he's a twelve year old with no ability to really grow naturally; everything he learned and matured through was INTERNET. That can't be good. You're very right; these two are pretty well 'past-future' mirrors to the other, with Seto on the path to recovery while Noa represents everything she could have been; because after all, while both are/were pricks, Noa is MUCH more charismatic about it as opposed to Kaiba's former 'do this or I shoot you' ones. Hihhhh…

Glad you like all the turns and such! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Until next time!

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that screams for more holographic nonsense! And also looks forward to 'Zexal', which starts broadcast in Japan this month.

Today's title is another rule, called 'Morton's Fork'. Basically, the character is presented with two options… Chose A, and something bad happens. Choose B, and something similar or identical happens, but for a different reason.

For example; if you had a choice between 'saving money by not buying a horse and being robbed by bandits when walking home' or 'spending your money on a horse and then having it stolen by bandits when riding home', then either way, when you get home you have no money and no horse. That's a Morton's fork.

Anyways, it applies here because, despite there being a fork in the road, with Yugi and Anzu going one way while Seto takes another, the end result is the same; they get creepy Noa interactions and in addition find themselves on a long desert highway. ….

Hotel California anyone? (And yes, that's what Malik was talking about. Silly Malik, making references to HELL.)

When Honda references 'Blade', he's specifically referring to the vampiric dogs that appeared in one of the movies.

Admittedly another inspiration for that head. (Mostly because of how damn much I loved that tiny little pomeranian vampire.)

The 'idle conversation' by the way was Yami wondering when his birthday was; it's not the same as Yugi's of course, but as he has no memories, he doesn't know when it is.

I wonder when it is... (-hinthinthint-)

Originally, it was in fact a baby they heard crying in that mansion; Anzu was also the one to suggest running in, so there's your first dialogue change. But here's the question…

WHAT WAS WITH THE BABY CRYING? Seriously, they wound up running around the house until they found a dusty rattle and a picture of Gozaburo and Noa. What was with that… There was... No other meaning to that baby. None.

'Shk', the sound I used for crying here, comes from 'Shiku', the onomatopoeia for crying... Specifically, 'sad crying', the one that you're trying to keep quiet, or simply snuffling and sniffling with.

For loud crying, and whiny crying, it's 'Gyaa'.

Damn straight I gave Gozaburo a wife with a name. But wait? A german wife! And a rose!

WHAT DOES IT MEAAAAA- you probably guessed already, but I'm not telling until the end! Also, for some reason whenever you get foreign marriages in anime and such, it's either with a german or an english woman… Occasionally french too. Still.

The point is, you very briefly see her (the mother) carrying Noa's photo out from the funeral video... She's veiled in the Japanese though, so the edit in the dub was a little 'eh'. In the Japanese, she has a hairstyle that's ironically quite similar to the one I've been doodling... Or at least, it looks that way on the bottom. (Though I have yet to scan in a comparison...)

It is probably far more professional looking in reality, but the point is, by the time that gun went off her hair had grown and she was crazy.

I'd be crazy too if my husband told me our son was in a computer.

On another note entirely though, what happened to her? Did she... Divorce after Noa's death or something? I just don't... AGH.

But Noa you're not using hypnosis; you're cheating and increasing brain chemistry reactions to your will! In other words, part of why Mokuba is so willing is because his emotional side was being flooded and tampered with. NOA YOU PRICK!

And he's doing this to EVERYONE too; basically, he's making it impossible for them not to have an emotional response and hide it, or at the very least, making it excruciatingly difficult. Jerk.

Keep in mind, this is the most BASIC of what he can do; the brain runs using constant electric signals to neurons. If he alters those, he could change everything about a person… Hihhhhhh...

In the anime, the scene Seto and the others watched involved Noa and Gozaburo… In the same room. Now unless Gozaburo decided to program a fake him to act as him in that world for whatever reason, I would say that was Noa being silly.

So, hence the web-cam system; because that's… Pretty much how it worked for them too.

Honda's 'aru' tic is based on something in the anime. As his time as a robo-monkey went, he added more and more 'ooki' sounds to his sentences, the sound being the onomatopoeia for a monkey. Anzu comments on it later on during the next duel in fact (It was somewhat replaced with the scene above for the reasons below), and it's only then that Honda realizes he's pretty much losing it.

'Aru' by the way, isn't the onomatopoeia for a dog's bark. That would be 'wan', but 'aru' sounds better here.

You know what this entire body snatching deal reminds me of? The ring of the hell in Dante's Inferneo that is reserved for 'fraud'. More specifically, one of the areas of that circle reserved for thieves; in it, victims are chased by snakes and lizards, and 'just as they other people's substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here, and the snake bites make them undergo various transformations.'

For some reason, a lot of other people interpret this as the people turning into whatever the heck bit them, and the process going on and on and... Yea.

Whatever. BODY SNATCHING!

What! More fighting? Even while the duel is happening.

Well I'm not having them sit around doing nothing! In other news, the episodes covered here originally had a few shots of what Yami Malik was doing. However, since nothing else happens concerning him for ten more episodes, I moved the scenes to a later chapter.

Otherwise, we would be waiting for a VERY LONG TIME.

So yea. Any ways, as the next duel took... Lots of episodes (three. So I guess it's not lots but still), and I'm throwing in additional fighting, you might have a 'double post' on your hands. Because chances are, I will type all of it...

And then gawk at the length before chopping it in two.

In other news, Oka's tapping his nose out of habit; if you wear glasses you already know why, but even without them there, it's a constant habit to go up as though to adjust the damn things... Even though they're gone.

It's a little weird actually, and it doesn't help me deal with not doing it when I'm typing about it. (Like talking about itches; feeling itchy now?)

FanArt and My Art

In which spaces are removed and links are given!

So we have just one thing for you today, namely the coloured version of one of the deckmasters appearing in the next chapter. I figured I mind as well do it now, since my time will be cut down A LOT starting this week. Enjoy!

Deckmasters: Dark Flare Knight - - And just wait until I hit the Mirage Knight! And the Dark Magician Knight too, now that I think about it... ...Actually, Yugi has quite a few other deckmaster drawings to get done. HMMM.