Random Talk: Oh boy, actual new stuff for this fic! After 10 years, there is actual progress!

I have made an AO3 account where I have been cross-posting. This includes older works, only the text is updated for grammar and to clarify things. The plot points haven't changed, but if you wish to read a more up-to-date version, I have the story linked on my profile. For this one in particular, a lot of the text changed to tone down how many crack lines were here along with some removal of unneeded stuff.

As I was typing the rest of the story, my friend who helps edit these pointed out that it is going to get confusing for the reader which Noah is which. It's not so bad for the characters as they are usually just addressing one at a time. For your sake, the virtual one is Noa and the "modern day" one is Noah.

There will be moments that two people are talking to one another and the only way you can tell who is who is the text format. How to tell them apart is by this:

"speak" Heero talking to Kaiba (mentally)

"speak" Kaiba talking to Heero (mentally)

Mirror Image

Chapter 10: Know Thy Enemy

Jonouchi was pacing in the room as soon as he said those words. Thoughts raced through his head so fast it would have made his younger self's head spin. Bright side of going through being a teen twice was that he had a mind of an adult. Right now, all these thoughts were leading to one thing: Mokuba had been taken, and the most likely person who did so was not making him happy.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" Noah asked with a glare. "If Mokuba is hurt-"

"He won't be, at least I think," Jonouchi assured. "If my hunch is right, Hirutani got him shortly after he helped with the presenting of the prize. There might even be footage of it. If I'm right, then he'll be with Heero and Seto."

"So he'll be fine," Duo said with a grin.

"You found Seto?" Noah asked. "And who are you all to know about him?"

"It's a long story," Quatre said with a smile. "You could say he's our friend."

"We should ask how you know about him," Wufei asked with a glare.

"The existence of Seto was kept on a need-to-know basis," Noah explained. "The whole project was kept from investors, even after he woke up. We had someone keep an eye on him to give us updates. Mokuba and I used to read his and his brother's journal when we were younger so we wanted to make sure he was okay."

"Back to the subject at hand, this is where the 'I think' comes in," Jonouchi sighed as he flopped on to a nearby couch. "Seto tends to do stupid things when Mokuba is involved. He would, and has, done anything to makes sure Mokuba is fine."

Kaiba gritted his teeth at the site of someone who looked like his little brother when he was younger. Even the outfit was similar to what he wore at one point that it was unnerving. While he had seen the boy at the tournament, seeing him there made him panic. All he could think was that this was his Mokuba. Heero's voice couldn't reach the other as he tried to remind Kaiba that this wasn't his brother for real.

"Kid was easy to grab," the man laughed with a smirk. "Just sitting around, waiting for his brother to come get him."

"Let him go!" Kaiba yelled. "He has nothing to do with this!"

"I'll make a deal," the man said. "We'll let the kid go if you come with us."

There was silence while Kaiba thought about their situation. While there was a possibility they would go back on their word, they still might be able to get close enough to switch control and Heero be able to rescue Mokuba. Nodding to himself once Heero confirmed his understanding of the plan, Kaiba gave what Jonouchi called his "patented-Kaiba-glare-of-death." The man smiled at Kaiba's nod thinking he was complying. He watched as Kaiba raised his arms and slowly walked towards him. No one noticed the subtle change in Kaiba as he shifted to Heero.

Grabbing one of Kaiba's metal cards, Heero threw it at the head of the guy holding Mokuba, causing the child to scream as the guy let go dropping dead. It was obvious Mokuba led a comfortable life as he stood in shock at the sight, something Kaiba's little brother would just shrug off after kicking the body.

"Run and don't look back," Heero said, his voice having echoes of Kaiba coming through. "Return to the stadium and tell Jonouchi what is going on. We'll catch up later after we handle these losers."

Snapping out of his shock, Mokuba took a good look at his savior. He knew right away who stood before him and what he was capable of. With a small nod, the child ran out of the building. Some thugs tried to chase after only to be hit by more metal cards, killing them almost instantly.

With their attention on making sure Mokuba escaped, neither Heero nor Kaiba noticed someone sneaking up from behind. With a quick jab of a syringe, their body stiffen before going limp. The last thing either saw before passing out was Mokuba running out the door to safety.

While it was agreed by everyone that looking into various security cameras was their best option to find Mokuba, Duo and Jonouchi couldn't stand not doing something more active. The two of them decided to take to the streets to search for not only Mokuba, but for Heero and Kaiba (depending on who was in control at the time). Noah decided to take a similar method and went with his team to find his brother. Both parties had their phones ready to get updates from the makeshift control center as the ex-pilots went through all the footage to find any hints of where the child might have gone.

"So, why exactly are we heading to an abandoned warehouse?" Duo asked as he followed Jonouchi.

"If this guy is anything like the Hirutani I knew, he's going to like setting up shop in a warehouse," Jonouchi said. "The closest one is this way, and happened to be where one of his favorite locations used to be."

As they got closer to their destination, Jonouchi noticed a mop of black hair that he recognized anywhere off in the distance. Without saying a word, the blond changed course only to run faster than before. Duo, being confused, had no option but to follow after. The raven-haired child soon caught sight of the two before running towards them. With a solid tackle, arms wrapped around Jonouchi's waist.

"Jonouchi-san! You have to help him!" Mokuba cried out as tears soaked Jonouchi's shirt. "He told me to run and tell you what happened, but I know he's in trouble! Please, help him!"

"Shit, he's being stupid again!" Jonouchi growled. "Take us there, kiddo, and my friend here will help out."

Mokuba nodded and proceeded to pull Jonouchi's arm in the direction he had just come from. Jonouchi and Duo followed the child as the three ran as fast as they could. It didn't take long to arrive at a rundown warehouse, the exact one Jonouchi had suspected they had to look. With a simple motion, Jonouchi signaled to Mokuba to stand behind them. Duo led the group, bringing out his gun in case, as they slowly headed to the entrance. The young adult stopped at the doorway to listen for any noise inside. When Duo didn't hear anything, he held up a hand to tell the other two to stop before entering cautiously. The sight before him was something he had seen many times before, but not what he was hoping for. Jonouchi peeked in before turning towards Mokuba to comfort the child so he wouldn't see the gruesome sight.

Various bodies were scattered about, all dead from first glance. It was obvious that this was Heero's work from how precise each death looked to be. Kaiba might have taken over at some point based off the metal cards Duo had seen the other personality use earlier. The problem was that none of the bodies were of their missing brunet. That could only mean one of two things: either they escaped and was on their way back to their command center, or they were taken. Pulling out his phone, the braided ex-pilot placed a call to his first contact for the mission.

"Hey, Quat?" Duo said when the other answered. "Please tell me Heero is already back or that you have eyes on him at the very least."

"Shit, that guy took out so many of my men and he didn't even need a gun!" the purple-haired man growled as he punched the side of the van. He couldn't keep up who was in control by the end, but whoever it was now knocked out in the back of said vehicle. They were now on their way to their main base where their leader was waiting for them, hopeful for good news.

"Hey, Boss? Why does the big boss man even want him?" his underling that was driving asked. "How does kidnapping some kid that fought in the war even going to help him take over the world?"

"This 'kid' was one of the Gundam pilots and has a split personality of sorts," the leader replied as he rubbed his face in exhaustion. "Dunno how they're going to convince him to work with us. Hell, I don't even know what the plans are after this! I was just told get him and that using the Kaiba brat would help. Even got a script of sorts to help rile him up to act all stupid. Shocked it even worked."

"Shit, are we screwed?" another lackey asked as he monitored the unconscious body in the back. His voice had a sense of worry that spread to the others. "Like, wouldn't the others come for him? Some sort of war buddies sticking together?"

"That's why we go into hiding after we drop him off at HQ," the leader explained. "I'm sure we won't get blamed if we do it. We wait for things to die down and we get to live like kings after the rest of the plan goes through."

It didn't take long to make it to the abandoned military base and pull into one of the huge hangers. While normally empty, there was a private jet waiting for them with a hooded figure by the steps. Parking their van, their leader got out with a few others from the back. They left the side door open to show their still unconscious prey.

"I see you are still keeping an eye making sure they are still knocked out," the hooded figure said loudly. "Good, we can't have them putting up a fight during transport. Thank you, gentlemen. We'll be taking them from here on out."

Two more hooded figures came out of the jet and walked up to the van to gently grab the sleeping form. Everyone else watched awkwardly as the three disappeared into the jet while the first hooded figure just stood there. The purple-haired leader coughed to gain everyone's attention.

"If all is good, we're going into hiding while there might be heat on us. That brat managed to escape so he could point us out. There is the matter of the reward we were promised."

"Ah yes, your reward," the hooded figure laughed before snapping his fingers. Within seconds, the van exploded while some of the men still inside. Those that weren't inside looked in horror as they could hear the screams of those not instantly killed from the bomb.

"What gives!? We've given our lives for the Neo Rare Hunters and this is how we get repaid!?" one lacky yelled in shock.

"While we appreciate your loyalty, you are all now loose ends," the hooded figure said as he turned his back to the others to enter the jet. Several gunshots filled the air as one by one the group was killed.

Heero was the one to wake up first, finding that they had been moved to some sort of jail cell. While he wasn't bound, his mind was unusually foggy. It was obvious that they were drugged and had been constantly so for who knows how long. Thankfully Heero was the first to awaken as he was better at giving the illusion of still being unconscious. First things first, they had to make a plan.

"Seto, wake up. We got captured."

"Hng... Shit... Hopefully Mokuba got out okay."

"We should be more worried about ourselves. No handcuffs or chains, but I did get a glance of the room. Nothing here except the bed we're on and a metal door."

"Can't work with that information right now. We just have to wait to find out more."

"I know you are awake," a voice echoed from a speaker. "Feel free to pretend longer if that makes you feel better. I rather you be rested while we prepare the ceremony. Honestly, gaining enough souls is so much easier when you have a war compared to slaughtering an entire village. All we needed was a source to the Shadow Realm. So why don't you rest Kaiba while Heero behaves and doesn't do anything stupid."

TO BE CONTINUED

Random Talk: The major hold up was that I didn't want Kaiba and Heero get captured so soon since I wanted a stupid slip-up that causes it. I realized as I started this chapter that having Mokuba being used as a pawn would make everyone be more cautious so there wouldn't be another chance like this. That would mean I would be moving faster than I originally wanted as I wanted to drag this out a bit more. Oh well!