Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Hands as pale as death reached out and grasped his wrists pulling his blood covered hands away. Another set began working almost feverishly to check the wound and chattering voices in a tongue not native to his kept rattling off words. Yet slowly the garbage they were churning out began to make sense.

"Out of the way! Let the Medics through!"

"Mr. Kaiba you need to be somewhere safe."

"Lord Kaiba knows what he's doing, don't second guess the CEO!"

"He's losing a lot of blood."

"Mr. Mouto? Can you hear me? I need you to respond if you can hear me."

"Out of our way! Get the stretcher..."

Ambulance crew members quickly lifted Yugi and slipped the stretcher under him before lifting him up on the flat surface. Kaiba didn't bother listening to the cackling toadies around him, instead he followed them with all the terrible fixation. His eyes were locked on his Pharaoh as the crew ran the stretcher on its wheels down a path towards a side door. There was the occasional flash of light, the sounds of voices that began to fade behind him as he pursued the medical team.

Do something...

Those two words beat themselves into the world around him, the sky above them seemed to pulse with those two words. His heart felt as hollow as the skull on a poison warning label with the two cross bones used to beat the skull. The squealing of the wheels and the pulse of hurried footsteps did nothing to distract the words that kept playing in his mind.

Which in turn was a background song to the guilt and accusations that Kaiba felt in his own mind. As his mind tried to process the fact that they were even in the midst of doing this. That the normally sharp awareness of his surroundings had failed him so much so that he didn't read Yugi's actions properly in time. A bitter reminder, perhaps, of his inferior status as a duelist was now raised to a whole new level.

Cursing himself as he realized that Yugi had planned this. Somehow that mewling kitten had learned of this plot and had acted on his own. Never bothering to inform Kaiba despite having access through Maha. Every clue, every warning sign was in that office, and Kaiba was, once again, too slow to recognize the writing on the walls despite it being painted in neon shades of blood. Because of course after three thousand years he hadn't learned. Never to trust Atem to believe in his followers.

Was it hard to have faith...?

...in traitors?

Wearing black leather again despite this being an announcement, it was completely out of character for Yugi. The long stares out of the limo's windows were probably last looks at a world he was never going to see again. The sheer cavalier way he teased Kaiba about Maha, that casual playful indifference that kept Kaiba steamed enough not to focus. The conversation with Yugi's father, the exact 'wording' Yugi had used when he made his promise to Mokuba. He even had the sheer gall to trick Kaiba into thinking that leaving Mokuba at home was innocently planned. Had the boy been at the shooting...Once again Kaiba failed to pick up on 'any' of it.

Arrogant still Kaiba was two steps behind, not realizing until it was far, far, too late that something was going on. Once again something needed his focus and attention and instead Yugi took charge while Kaiba was absent. Every. Damn. Time! When he was needed the most he was letting people down. He didn't even need to ask where Yugi would have gotten the knowledge that an attempt would even be made.

The brat may have not had criminal connections, he may have lacked the sources of directly criminal elements to know. But he had 'one' source of information, one source that he would be willing to listen to and give thought to. No matter how many times Kaiba had told him, shown him, PROVEN to him, that trusting that source was a waste of time.

Isis.

Isis and her damn ability to see the future. She would have been able to see, and she would have been duty bound to tell Yugi what she saw. It had to be her, and her damn foresight. All the while Kaiba had kept Maha close to him. The magician never could hear and report back on what was going on about those meetings.

If he had.

Seto would have had a chance.

If he hadn't let all the foolish friendship talks that Yugi had gone on and on about like a broken record for over a year get to him. If finally, 'finally' understanding why he lost his best friend and given the chance to just 'talk' again didn't over take his common sense.

Then again, if he wasn't so damn stupid, if he actually could be as intelligent as he tricked the world into believing... Maybe he would have bothered to realize that he was looking at a damn shooter. That there was no reason for a window to be open up there in the first place. With those idiots who had kidnapped them before still on the loose.

Why couldn't he pick up the clues fast enough?

Yugi's eyes were open again as he was rushed along, but despite that they moved aimlessly, dazed. He had lost so much blood, yet when his eyes rolled upwards they noticed Kaiba. Lips that were almost as pale as his skin quirked as though he was trying to smile. Even his eyes seemed painfully calm. Reinforcing all the more that Yugi had been aware of what was going to happen and allowed it.

What had been going through the brats' mind the whole time?!

Yugi closed his eyes as he was being rolled away rapidly by medical professionals yet it seemed to take forever. The stone walls on either side were cold as they were dark, the squealing of the wheels on the gurney was grating on Seto's nerves. Relentless squealing and rattling with a background chorus of women wailing into the darkness. There was blood all over the fabrics and medical staff, while they were rattling off information. Pulse rate dropping? Of course it was dropping he had been shot in the chest!

Seto wasn't a medically trained even Maha's attempt at healing magic had been poorly taught, so why would he understand anything? Ahead of all of them light spilled inward from the outside. There were faint shadows of people holding the doors open as the group continued running along. So many footsteps beating on the stone floors as though they were racing death. Which was why they had to go ahead of him, he had already brought death down on Yugi once before, and now once again. Better for the medical team to win the race, let them reach where the life saving equipment was.

"Sir? Sir, I shall get the helicopter ready," a voice spoke behind Seto before quickly charging ahead past everyone into the light. Well if he was running towards it, it only confirmed that it wasn't the light at the end of the tunnel into death. Which was reassuring to a part of Seto. The announcement was televised, and even though he couldn't be there, Mokuba would have seen it..

Mokuba...

Would have seen...

Mokuba was probably a hysterical mess back at the mansion and soon enough Isono would be there to pick the child up. If Isono even knew what was going on or not he was going to have to grab a hold of Mokuba and get the child in the limo. But go where? Back here or to the hospital? Yet none of Yugi's geek squad was here either, and that might have meant they went to the mansion and were with Mokuba. Given Yugi's nature it probably was what he set up, so that Mokuba wouldn't be alone when this went down...

Yugi had promised a 'next time' to Mokuba while knowing he was about to go onto a stage and take a bullet. What if Mokuba 'had' come along? How would the child have handled watching Yugi taking that bullet? Or would the shooter have gone after Mokuba and used his death as a message to Kaiba if he missed the elder Kaiba? But if that was the case 'why'?

Why did Yugi opt to only wear his leather top and not a bullet proof vest? Why not call upon security or alert someone that this was going to even happen? Why not entrust this information to Seto? Even if he just came to, there was a 'reason' that they could communicate through Mahaado! Yugi knew he was going to be shot and yet opted not to wear any type of protection or get any type of protection put into place. With such thoughts in his head, Seto was forced to try to reverse what Yugi had planned out and figure out where this came from.

Yet what was the point? It wasn't going to take the bullets out of Yugi's chest, it wasn't going to take the feelings of self blame and torment that now resided in Kaiba's head. Though as the light from the outside fell on Yugi, his already pale skin looked worse, like a sheet. Were they just allowing him to spill his blood all the way down the tunnel back to the arena?!

Ahead of him there was a helicopter already whipping the air up around it, a loud wail building up as the medics approached. Like grieving women about to scream about the newest death in the area making Seto's ears near bleed. All the while the medical team ran up and worked with quick efficiency to get everything loaded up onto the medical helicopter.

There was no time spared, Seto reached for the helicopter when another hand reached out and grabbed his wrist pulling him away. The affront of being touched by a stranger caused him to turn around to wrest his hand free from the stranger. Which provide to be another white clad medical emergency healer. The man rambled on in that bizarre language reaching to grab Seto again only for to Seto jerked back away again.

The wind that was whipped up via the helicopter pushed away the medics' words, allowing Seto to just fixate his glare on the fool. Even as he felt the weight of the machine behind him as it started its defiance against gravity and go aloft. But above and to the north west of Seto, he could see a familiar helicopter in a holding position as Fugata waited for the medical one finish its departure.

The medic look confounded and another ran over; between the two of them they 'finally' began to make sense.

"Mr. Kaiba you need to be checked over! We need to make sure you haven't been injured, after all the shooting was aimed at 'you'." The first one, a generic looking black hair, brown eyed medic with nothing really to stand out from his fellow insisted.

"Please just come to the ambulance at the very least!" his fellow, who could have been his brother they were so indistinguishable, added.

Beyond them was another medic who seemed to realize that Seto wasn't moving and grabbed a smaller kit, only to see the KC logo on the helicopter. She seemed resigned, as though she realized he wasn't going to come to them, and they weren't going to get the chance to do a check up.

So instead she merely ran forward calling out, her voice barely able to be detected over the wind, "Are you going to the hospital too Sir?"

The helicopter began to land behind Seto, while he gave the female medic a curt nod in answer. At least she had the intelligence to put two and two together and not try to delay him with idle 'check ups'. Why would he need one? Yugi took the bullets, not him. There wasn't a mark on his body! While behind him he felt the weight of the helicopter touch down, pushing away the medics in the force of the wind. While he stood there unaffected by its force, the wind showed how pretty pathetically below most people were compared to him.

Barely grounded, Seto whirled around and pulled himself up into his own helicopter. For a moment of clarity he realized if he tried to take the controls himself he wouldn't get anywhere. There was some small remaining faculty within his mind, warning that flying right 'now' would be a terrible error of judgment. So instead he sat and buckled himself into the seat while his eyes roved over the smears from his hand turning the silvery gray of the seat belt into something crimson.

Outrage at the defilement of a KaibaCorp helicopter made him begin to check around him for where the stain could come from. His head jerking up and in a harsh voice, and the first real words he had formed since his speech he called out.

"Who has been in here?"

Fugata tilted his head to the side a bit, looking behind him at his boss through those heavily tinted sunglasses. "No one Lord Kaiba." Before turning his attention back to piloting the helicopter after the medical craft as it flew towards the hospital.

Seto glared at the back of the seat before dropping his eyes back to the stain on the strap, not even bothering to ask who this 'Kaiba' person even was. Instead he resigned himself to sit back and wait until they reached the temple.

"Lord Kaiba sir? Do you need something to wipe the blood off your hands, sir?" Fugata called out, the roar of the helicopter drowning the emotions leaving only the force needed to be heard.

Seto blinked, before looking down at his own hands and realized that the red liquid was drying but still faintly smearing on things.

Oh.

He stained the seat belt.

Looking back on his hands he looked at how it stained into his skin, vivid reds to a soft shade of pink. Which looked wrong because his hands were supposed to be darker, he was so pale now and it didn't exactly make sense. Though some rational part of his mind wanted to argue the point that he watched someone who he knew and cared for get shot in the chest. Not just shot, but shot 'twice' and those bullets were meant for Set.

He was going to have to wash his hands as soon as he got a chance, but at the moment, he just wanted to rest. It was just madness to whip a kid to near death and leave him lying on his bed to bleed out. As though the thought that maybe said kid was going to die never even came up in their thoughts. Not only that this was the Princes' favorite servant, proof evident in how said Prince was currently the most inconsolable child he had ever seen.

The Prince had been despondent the whole time going to sleep sniffling and Set, because it was shameful to him not to, was cleaning and tending to Maha's back. Again. That meant the whole back, from the shoulder blades down to the tops of his knees in fact. Just the load of scars that Maha had was insane, it was a testament to how often and how hard the guy had been beaten.

But the beatings, bad though they were, only were made worse by the fact that the healers were instructed 'not' to take care of these wounds. More over Maha was forbidden to learn the healing arts, and apparently survived only by the grace and mercy of the Goddess Isis. Though the restriction on wound tending only applied to 'healers' for which Set himself was not one. Hence he had gathered a large bowl to fill with clear water and began, what turned out to be, a long arduous task of washing, cleaning and bandaging Maha. By himself no less.

Seto had been a fool to believe that what he saw that first day was the 'only' time it happened. Remembering the incident in the baths was still etched into his mind given how many 'more' scars there were on Maha. But just as much as the scars were etched, so was the image of the Prince, standing with stubborn resolution to protect his precious Maha.

The Prince shielding the humble servant...

Fugata piloted the helicopter in stoic silence. Occasionally glancing over to check on his boss as the silence stretched on. True Lord Kaiba wasn't a chatty person to start with, but this? Fugata had no idea when young Master Mouto had come to speak with him and Isono that this...

"I'm sorry, you want us to 'not' bring young Master Kaiba?" Isono asked, seeking clarification as he looked at the list.

The teen looked at Isono then at Fugata with a sad smile crossing his face. "No, I want you to pick up my friends, I'll have the order of who to pick up and where to take them written out for you soon. Pick up Mokuba along with them," Yugi explained.

"Why? Why should we obey you when Lord Kaiba is our boss?" Isono asked for which Yugi nodded.

"Because we three know how Kaiba is, and I'm concerned that his life is in danger. If it is, they'll both be safe. If I'm wrong, well I'll have a pair of irate Kaiba's on my hands," Yugi answered with a impish smile and a small shrug.