A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Original Beta: White Swan

A/N: Wow all the stuff I have to clean up...

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It was an unassuming large, two story white building, with windows high above and large doors for huge trucks to move in and out. There was a high chain linked fence with electrical barbed wiring at the top of it to deter would be thieves and a small parking lot that was mostly empty with only a pair of cars belonging to the security guards one could assume.

It was the business district, with connections to the offices without being the offices, an area of Domino where most companies relocated the manufacturing parts of their industries. The same held true for Kaiba Corp; a larger, more pronounced building next door served as the low-end aspects of manufacturing the Duel Disks that duelists used, as well as other devices that Kaiba had thought up. The only way to know that this building belonged to Kaiba Corp at all was the simple KC design on the sign that rested above the front doors. That was ok though, it served its purpose as the one place that Kaiba liked to work on his inventions in relative peace, without being at home, while being close enough to the offices that if he was needed he could be at HQ in less then 30 minutes.

Though normally in this sector of town the only time a limo would appear was when the company president did a company wide inspection, as in all things Kaiba was a bit different. So no one ever batted an eyelash when the sleek white limo that belonged to Kaiba Corp's CEO came slipping past the dull gray of the average city. Red tinted with the slowly dipping sun with hues of purple and dark blue the limo bypassed slumbering buildings, pausing only twice, once to have the gates opened and when it parked in front of the doors. Before Isono had the chance to even open his own door, Anzu and Bakura were already outside of the limo and running towards the doors.

Only to nearly face plant into the doors that didn't open like one would have expected. Leaving them turning to watch as Isono walked up to them with all the cool calm steps of a regular day. As though Mokuba hadn't sent out a call for help, though it was possible that Isono hadn't been told. Maybe he just thought he was to pick them up and bring them here. Isono slipped a key card through a small card reader to the side that allowed the doors to open before returning to the waiting limo, while the pair of teens ran into the waiting room.

"You made it!" Mokuba's anxious face appeared on one of the television screens that were embedded in the wall before them. "Take the hall to your right, go down to the end of the hallway and it's the last door on the left."

Without another word the pair followed the instructions, turning and making their way down the hallway, the ghosts leading Bakura the whole way. The walls were stark white, the tiled floor held the gloss of being waxed, with florescent lights above lighting the way with the only sound being of footsteps. It was eerie after having been in a hospital with a similar sterile format, yet surrounded by people only to now have such a feeling of emptiness all around. It was haunting to say the least, which only intensified the feeling of concern over Yugi that Anzu and Bakura felt. The wax on the floor had the pair skidding so hard that Anzu collided into Bakura, sending them both into the wall.

"Oh! Sorry Bakura, are you all right?" Anzu asked as she righted herself while checking on Bakura.

"I'm fine, Anzu, you're not heavy enough to hurt me," Bakura replied politely in his quiet way as he pushed his hair back. It was then he noticed that the Lady ghost was eyeing Anzu in that 'does she have potential' sorta way. "No!" he told her flatly as he followed Anzu into the room where this supposed accident had taken place.

The room was very large, and accommodated a large machine in the center of the room. It was much like a mutated pillar, with wires and cords extending from it to the four cardinal set pods that seemed designed for people to sit in them. Indeed they could already see Yugi sitting in one of them, sound asleep by the looks of things. He was facing outward on the left hand side of Mokuba, where the pint sized Kaiba was working nonstop on the computer, Kuriboh sitting on his head watching the screen the younger Kaiba worked on.

The computer system was hooked in between two Pods, the one holding Yugi while the other held Kaiba, while ever attentively before Yugi's pod was Mahaado, looking rather solid one might add, yet the magician was motionless in his position before Yugi. The whole atmosphere of the room was cold with the air filled with an unheard hum of tension it felt. Just the sight of people seemingly sleeping in pods, and Mokuba appearing, even from this distance, to be just short of panicking. Working at the computer as quickly as someone so young could.

Maybe that was the thing? Seeing a small child in a state of panic that should have been the providence of the adults. Knowing that there was no adult to comfort or reassure Mokuba because Kaiba was also in one of these pods. Despite the fact that Mokuba had gone through enough that this shouldn't have been 'that' bad. The childs' barely contained distress quickly seeped into the two teens as they entered the room. If what was going on was enough to upset 'Mokuba', the child with absolute faith in his older brother? Things couldn't have been good.

"Mokuba?" Anzu quickly walked up to the younger kid who merely looked up at her through the reflection of the computer screen before resuming his typing.

"Sorry that I couldn't call the others, but I don't have Jounouchi's number, he never has it on file. But that's beside the point, all day Yugi's been playing this Role Playing game my brother and I invented, and everything was going fine…"

"Man Yugi's fast! He's already at the last level, and it's only been nine hours," Mokuba leaned back in his seat as he watched the stats scroll by, a soda in his hand and Kuriboh on his head. "Say Kuriboh do you think everything went ok with Honda's surgery?"

The Kuriboh looked down as Mokuba looked up, giving agreeing type sounds that could only come from a monster with no discernible face other than Its big, yellow eyes. But at least with its limbs they could play, a crumpled up sheet of paper made as good as any ball to play catch with. "Hey Kuriboh? I think I'm going to spoil dinner," with that Mokuba hopped out of his seat, the Kuriboh now hovering after him with plans for the Ice Cream machine.

With a final glance at the monitor, Mokuba walked out of the room and was down the hallway towards the machine before he noticed he wasn't exactly being followed. Well not as swiftly, turning around he found Kuriboh on the ground walking after him in an awkward stilted way, apparently the monster didn't have knees. Amused at how cute this was, Mokuba kept walking till he was about to reach the snack machine when suddenly Kuriboh reacted to some silent cue. Instead of It's normal calm, cheerful disposition the little monster rose up into the air and began rushing back towards the room they left Yugi in.

As they got closer they began to hear a voice in the room, the voice proving to be Mahaado. Which was already odd, because once they had explained what Yugi was about to do, and that 'no' he was not allowed to place himself in the game as one of the monsters. He had opted to, as he put it, go back to sleep until needed.

"I am here Pharaoh, what do you have need of me? Pharaoh why will you not speak to me? Have I done something wrong?"

Mahaado had his hands on the glass that separated him and the outside world from Yugi, but the fact that he had awoken on his own and was here alarmed Mokuba. The kid rushed over to check on Yugi with a glance at the screen and saw that Yugi's vital signs were rising rapidly. Blood pressure, breathing, brain wave activities, as though he was under severe stress or fear. But the screen Yugi 'should' have been looking at was the 'game over' screen; Yugi should have been released from the pod so Mokuba rushed to the pod.

He quickly pressed the release button expecting the world to follow normal protocol and let the pod open. While within the pod Yugi looked to be trying to rip his arms free of the metal straps. Yet this was a VR game and he should have been aware of the headset around his head. But he didn't appear to be trying to talk inside the pod, just struggling to free his arms. If he wanted to take the headset off he was capable of leaning over and pulling it off with a hand.

But he wasn't trying to take it off.

Which only got to a point where Mokuba feared that Yugi was about to hyperventilate right there in the pod. His feet were just as active as his arms as he tried to kick out from the chair as well. So Mokuba quickly pushed the emergency release button, certain that it would work.

Mokuba ran to his seat, pulling on the headphones and making a direct call to his brother's cell phone. Meanwhile he desperately tried all the codes he could think of to try and force open the pod. Nothing worked, even as he told his brother of the situation, and when his brother's own text began to run along side then overtook Mokuba's as Kaiba began working on the codes from HQ. When nothing they did work, Kaiba left the office and arrived personally like a white clad heat seeking missile.

"We've been locked out," Kaiba finally announced to the three in the room as he sat back for all of a moment before he got up. His expression ever as stern, the CEO pulled out his deck and began shuffling before he walked to the pod on the right side of Mokuba. "Log me in."

"Big Brother!" Mokuba's eyes were horrified at the thought of putting his older brother into something they couldn't even free Yugi from.

"This program is my responsibility. If I can't save Yugi, then it's no better then scrap," Kaiba informed his little brother before logging in.

That was the last bit of communication between the Kaiba's after that, Kaiba was now as trapped Yugi. Mahaado stayed by Yugi's side while outside the pod, his expression one of stoic guardianship.

"I know that Pharaoh said not to enter this game, that I needed to stay apart so it can be tested. However; Pharaoh summoned me, and yet no longer in fact he seems to be asleep so I shouldn't be here. How am I being summoned if Pharaoh is asleep?" Mahaado asked, his voice giving away his confusion and worry given the situation.

"We don't know what's going on Mahaado. Wait, he's asleep?" Mokuba asked as he tried to fathom what happened. Yugi wasn't supposed to be sleeping, the VR system was for a person when they were awake. Unless he was in a similar state as 'sleep' which a trance which might be possible. As he sat there thinking, it was possible that visuals could have put Yugi in a trance and in response Yugi had summoned Mahaado. Only now he was too deep, in a state between sleeping and waking his mind trapped somewhere.

But wouldn't Mokuba have been able to see the change in the coding? Trying to be helpful Mokuba explained how the game worked, the concept of computers capable of creating a world that Yugi could see and intact with. Sighing, Mokuba pulled out his own little starter deck and looked at his own Dark Magician card. He doubted his own magician understood enough to explain to Mahaado. But nothing was happening in the game or around them and worse yet, Yugi suddenly curled up on himself before slamming himself back against the seat before giving the most anguished scream Mokuba had ever heard. It wasn't like the Game Shop, it wasn't pent up anguish that was released in a scream where all Mokuba heard was heart-breaking sorrow. This was a scream where the sorrow was slowly being canceled out by a growing anger until it was a scream of outrage.

"I'm getting no feedback from my Brother besides the normal biofeedback that automatically starts when the pods close. I don't know what to do, I can't tell what's going on inside there, but…" Mokuba tried not to look upset, while Yugi's two monsters sole focus was Yugi.

"There are two remaining pods…" Anzu hugged herself the room felt cold to her. It was bad enough that Yugi was trapped in a Virtual Reality game, but a game was a game, and Yugi would overcome it. They just had to get him out, and even if that took time, it was still going to happen.

But Kaiba was all that Mokuba had left. If something happened to the CEO while he was trying to save Yugi, what would happen to Mokuba? She could see that Mokuba was trying to be like his brother and act like he had everything under control, but after having run into the Kaiba's biological cousin, it only made her worry more about the youngster. What would happen if Kaiba didn't wake up? Would his biological family try to reclaim Mokuba so they could take over Kaiba Corp or just sell it, take the money for themselves and dump Mokuba back into the orphanage?

"Wait! You can't be suggesting that I let you into the game as well?! I can't even get my Big Brother and Yugi back!" Mokuba actually hopped out of the chair, looking up at the pair in growing concern.

"Can you think of a way to keep us in contact with you outside of using the system?" Bakura asked, his brown eyes on the eerily silent magician.

Mokuba was clearly upset with the idea of telling the older teens anything about the game, he didn't want to risk anyone else but that warred with his own fear for his brother. He looked at the screens with their information, but he turned his attention back to the pair when he felt a more slender hand grip his shoulder gently.

"Mokuba, we need to help them, if there's been some new development since Kaiba went into the game, he needs to know just as much as he needs the help. Even if he doesn't want to admit it, if this is something unexpected there maybe traps in there that he doesn't know about…" A card slipped past their eyes as a series of Duel Monster cards fell between Mokuba and Anzu. Bakura began snatching cards out of the air, with this put upon expression on his face.

"Oh don't mind me, they're just trying to make me happy," Bakura's voice was tightly polite.

"At least they're making an attempt?" Mokuba offered; looking up at the white hair teen while Anzu began collecting the cards that fell around her and Mokuba.

"Indeed."

"Well they noticed the decks and decided I needed one," Bakura explained.

"Where did they get it?" Mokuba asked looking up curious as a card suddenly lost its random fall and fell on his nose, balancing itself there.

"Oh now seriously," Bakura grumbled as he went and removed the card on Mokuba's nose, only to be distracted by something to the side of the boy. Alarmed he turned his attention to Yugi who was now jerking in the pod in reaction to something. While Anzu and Bakura rushed to Yugi's side, Mokuba rushed to the computer system, analyzing the information that came to the screen.

"He's losing life points," The small boy informed them, unable to suppress the growing fear in his voice.

"Meaning?" Bakura asked as he worked on getting the deck neatly stacked in his hands.

"I… I don't know, he could have fallen someplace, a monster attacked him…" Mokuba offered as he gripped the keyboard uselessly.

"Tortured?" Bakura suggested the idea wasn't far fetched to his mind.

"He's angry, I feel the Pharaoh's anger and my presence does not comfort him," Mahaado's voice startled Anzu, who had forgotten the Mage's presence, yet Bakura had not.

"He can sense you?" Bakura asked in concern at the idea that Yugi's emotions and life points implying a battle in the game.

"I… He called with a heart full of rage and grief so I am here, however; he doesn't seem to be aware that I have arrived. As though I am still far away."

"Do you know what this game works?" Bakura asked in Ancient Egyptian and was answered by the shake of the head. "Though you're at his physical body, Yugi's mind is trapped within a machine, if he thinks that the VR world is real, then it doesn't matter that you're here because you're not in the machine as well."

"Mokuba, give me a deck to use, we're going in," Anzu's voice broke over everything, resolute with her decision. "We're going to find out what's happening in there."

"Give you a deck? I can't just hand over some pre-made cookie cutter deck and expect you to use it Anzu!" Mokuba countered, as he stood there shocked at such a request.

"My deck isn't strong enough on its own," Anzu replied her eyes pleading with the boy to understand.

"Anzu, if Yugi's life points drop to zero… I don't think we can save him. I can't send you into a game with a deck that can't handle whatever is in there, I just can't!" Mokuba argued shaking his head strongly against the idea.

"Did Yugi bring his Deck of Silence?" Bakura suddenly asked, the name invoking the memory of all those Silent named monsters that Yugi used in the Ceremonial Duel.

"Yeah, but he didn't use that one," Mokuba answered, for a moment confused why Bakura brought it up before it hit him. "NO! You can't be asking that I let Anzu use it!"

"How bad have things gotten Mokuba? Your brother is very stubborn, if it was going to be easy, he would have already retrieved Yugi and escaped. At the very least you should let me in, if something happens to me the ghosts will at least get revenge."

Something about the quiet way Bakura said that seemed to affect Mokuba the most, as the boy was suddenly reduced to tears. "I can't!" The older teens looked at each other in alarm before Anzu knelt down before Mokuba so she could see his face. "Mokuba please we can't waste time arguing, but if they told you something…"

"Whoever they are, they've let me see the internal clock and a few other things. At 3:57 our time, the game time suddenly switched to 11:24 pm, then at 5:12pm our time the internal clock switched to 7:36am. When my Big Brother arrived here at 5:30pm and subsequently entered the game the internal clock had moved forward to 6:17pm. But my brother had a few short spasms right after he entered the game; all I can get is life point readings and knowing the time shifts. The mind is a powerful thing; if the shock in the mind is powerful enough the body follows through even though the body was unharmed," it was a sentence proven when Yugi began to thrash again inside his pod. His left arm stayed oddly pressed against the armrest of the seat, as though someone was holding him down while his body thrashed.

"We don't have time, Yugi needs us Mokuba," Anzu plead with the younger Kaiba when her eyes fell upon a deck resting near the work station Mokuba had been using. She quickly snapped it up as Bakura walked to an empty pod.

"Mokuba, Yugi has been trapped in the form of a near ten year old child for a very long time, his body has been put under the stress of sudden growth as well as his mental calibrations had to be redone. He's in an awkward state as it is, with his body having been pushed beyond normal limits, even if he was used to or developed a tolerance towards pain due to the bullies in his life. He's in a very physically weakened state; he probably can't take half of the abuse they can dish out onto him. He could very well die if we do not do something now. Please let us in the game," Bakura argued with a hauntingly calm rational voice.

'Are you trying to make up for what happened all those years ago? Are you trying to protect that little Pharaoh?' Anzu wondered as she began shuffling the deck in her hands, even as Bakura did the same.

"I'll show you," Mokuba reluctantly gave in as he rushed about, showing where to put the decks into place before going back to his seat with the two older teens now in their spots. "Please don't die, and save my Big Brother and Yugi."