Shadow Rising

Yay. Another update without months in between. Aren’t you all happy people? Okay, well, maybe not everyone, but I’m sure at least some people are.

******

Nui sat cross-legged in front of a small metal bowl, mumbling under his breath. The bowl had been filled with some sort of strange-smelling herbs, which the evil pharaoh had set alight. Mokuba watched from the corner where he was tied, wondering what he was doing.

“Whatever you’re trying, it’s not going to work.” He announced confidently. Nui ignored him, mumbling a few last phrases and looking pleased as the smoking plants suddenly burst into a high blue flame.

“If you’re going to give me the whole ‘my brother’s going to come rescue me’ speech, forget it. Now that I have my powers back, no one can stop me.”

“Yugi can. He stopped Pegasus, and Marik, and…” Nui rolled his eyes.

“Well, they were different. For one thing, I have no idea how to play this duel monster’s game you keep on going on about, nor do I have any intention of learning. Giving up your plans just because you lose a card game. Really, how foolish.” (AN: All right, much as I like Yugioh, I really had to throw that in eventually. It is kind of true.)

“Why exactly did you kidnap me, anyway? I don’t have any powers, so it’s not like you can absorb my abilities or anything.”

“My plan requires a virgin sacrifice.” Nui answered, carefully cleaning up the components to the spell he had just cast.

“So, you thought I was a virgin…” Something in the boy’s voice made Nui look over.

“You’re not?”

“Don’t tell Seto, since he would probably be pretty upset if he found out. He thought he was protecting me by letting our stepfather rape him, but he did go after me a couple of times too.” Nui cursed colourfully in his native tongue, earning a confused look from Mokuba. That made the brat useless, then. And to think that he had listened to his prattling on for so long. At least he had learned something about his potential enemies. Well, he had known he couldn’t stay here for much longer anyway. He could actually leave any time now, now that he had his powers back. And what to do with the brat. He wasn’t important enough to bother with, really. If they found him, then fine. If they didn’t, well, as far as he was concerned, that was fine too.

Leaving Mokuba tied where he was, Nui moved carefully through the passageways, down an old one he had found not long ago that led to the yard outside the gate. It was a little bit of trouble to climb over the tall fence, but he managed it, finally standing on the walkway outside the mansion’s grounds.

The only question now was, which way should he go? He had no idea of the geography of this strange place. Deciding at random, he started down the street towards the downtown area.

******

“There’s still no sign of him.” Yugi commented, as the group met up in the living room once more. Kaiba was out of the rod again, at the moment glaring furiously at an innocent coffee-table, his anger not in the least abated by the nap. Set stood next to him, his arm curled loosely around the CEO’s waist, both a warning and an offering of comfort. Kaiba was ignoring both at the moment.

“Ah! When I find the punk who’s causing all this trouble, I’m going to knock him silly.” Jounouchi growled suddenly, punching the air. Honda nodded.

“I’m with you, buddy. We’ll teach him not to go around kidnapping innocent little kids.”

“You two are both idiots.” Kaiba growled at them. “You probably couldn’t beat up a child between the two of you.”

“Oh yeah? Want to try me, you stuck-up prick?” Joey snapped back. Set frowned, considering. It was clear his Little Dragon needed to cool off some, and a duel might be just the thing to get him back into a better mood. It was worth a try, at least.

“It wouldn’t be worth the effort.” Kaiba said, smirking. “You probably fight the same way you duel. Miserably.”

“Why don’t you two go have a duel and settle this while we think up a plan.” Set suggested. Jounouchi blinked, then grinned.

“Hell, yeah. I’ll mop the floor with you this time.” Kaiba just rolled his eyes.

:Go, Little Dragon. It will make you feel better.: Set commanded.

:Stay the hell out of my mind. And get your hands off me.:

Set chuckled softly, amused by the predictable response. But Kaiba did move to head out of the room.

“Come on, then, Mutt. I’ll beat your scrawny little ass again.”

“You know,” Ryou said, once they were out of earshot, Honda having left as well to find a bathroom, “I think they actually get along fairly well.”

“Hikari, sometimes your innocence astounds me.” Bakura stated.

“No, Ryou’s right. It’s just that neither one of them want to show it, so they fight and insult each other.” Anzu smiled. “Why else would Kaiba keep on agreeing to battle Jou?”

“Because he gets a thrill out of beating his ass all over the playing field?” Marik suggested, watching as Malik fiddled with some sort of controller. The huge wall TV suddenly came alive, it’s screen covered in snow.

“This doesn’t look like the TV remote.” Malik mumbled, frowning at the controller. A picture appeared on the TV, the reception too bad to make out what it was.

“Wow, with all the money he has, you think he could get a decently working television.” Bakura muttered. The screen suddenly cleared, showing the image.

“Noa!” Yugi exclaimed, staring. The green-haired boy stared back at him, blinking for a moment.

“Yugi?” He asked, looking back and forth between him and Yami, seeming confused. Everyone else in the room was silent, either shocked or confused, depending on whether or not they had become Noa’s would-be victims.

“So you did survive the explosion.” Yami stated, considering. “Did your father, as well?” Noa shrugged.

“I don’t really know.” Noa answered. “This is a back-up copy of me I made while I was switching out of Mokuba’s body and sent to KaibaCorp’s computer banks.”

“Who exactly are you?” Set queried. Now it was Noa’s turn to stare in shock at him, obviously thinking he was Kaiba.

“You don’t remember me?” He asked, and Yami sighed, starting the introductions and explanations.

******

“Blue Eyes, White Lightning Attack.” Jounouchi growled as the attack wiped out the last of his lifepoints. The monsters disappeared and they were left alone in the arena.

“You lost, as usual.”

“Yeah, but I’ll beat you next time. Then you won’t even be the second best duelist in the world.” The blond crowed, looking pleased with himself. Honestly, and no one was ever going to discover this if he had his way, he could have won the duel, had he wanted to. But he had figured it would make Kaiba feel better if he figured he could still defeat him, so he had let him win. Seemingly, it had worked, at least somewhat, since Kaiba wasn’t trying to burn holes through everything with his vision any more.

“Hey, let’s go see if Yugi has figured out a way to find Mokuba yet.” He suggested, grinning brightly and acting the fool as he always did. Once, that had actually been the way he was, but now it was just an act, mostly. He was willing enough to serve as the amusement when things got messy and tempers got strained. Even if that meant getting insulted by everyone and anyone. If people were laughing at him, then at least they weren’t crying. And he knew he was good enough to stand with the best, so his confidence didn’t suffer any.

Suddenly, a small screen on the wall lit up, showing a familiar face. Jounouchi yelped and backed away, while Kaiba turned to glare. Noa seemed as unaffected by the look of death as everyone else did, and Kaiba was beginning to wonder if he was losing his touch.

“We found Mokuba.” The boy told them, and Kaiba’s look changed instantly to shock and worry. Instantly, he moved to leave the room, Jounouchi following close behind.

******

The arena was a fair distance from the living room, but Kaiba made the trip in record time, only stopping when he saw the black hair. Mokuba jumped out of the chair he was sitting in and ran over to his brother, hugging him tightly.

“Where were you?” Kaiba asked. “Are you all right? Who kidnapped you?” Mokuba laughed, glad to hear his brother’s voice again.

“We have been discussing that.” Yami stated, standing behind the chair Mokuba had been sitting in. “Apparently that kid that showed up Halloween night is actually an ancient Pharaoh.” Set scowled.

“You people are all crazy. And I suppose he wants to take over the world and is going to duel us all to do it.” Kaiba snapped, being sick and tired of all these repetitive plots.

“Actually, he doesn’t duel.” Mokuba told him, and Kaiba blinked, surprised. Well, that was new. A villain who didn’t duel. How strange.

“Mokuba said that this Nui said he was looking for some powerful force.” Yugi continued and Kaiba rolled his eyes. That part, at least, sounded familiar.

“Nothing’s ever going to be normal with you idiots around, is it?” He snapped, standing, though keeping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Anzu sighed.

“I wish things would be normal. Sometimes I wish Yugi was never given that puzzle, or had never put it together. But he was, and he did, so there’s no use in fussing about it.”

“Yeah. Besides, it will be fun to kick this little punk’s ass. He’s a kid, how much trouble can he cause?”

******

“You will be my loyal servants, and obey me, and in return, I will grant you power beyond your wildest dreams.”

“Yes, Pharaoh.” The two thugs said obediently, their eyes blank. After a moment, they seemed to wake up, blinking at the boy who stood before them. But the mental suggestion Nui had planted had rooted deeply, and neither of them questioned why they were obeying a child.”

“Go, bring me the millennium items. And the wielders as well. They will serve as suitable slaves.”

“Yes, My Pharaoh.” The pair intoned, dropping deep bows and leaving the room. Nui laughed evilly. It was good to be king.

******

Yeah, not so much action here, really, I suppose. For anyone who’s wondering, yes that part about Gozaburo creeped me out too. Dirty old pervert.
Anyway, yes, Noa’s back, although I’m not sure how big a role he’ll play. Mostly I just feel sorry for the poor kid. And sorry for anyone who would have liked to have seen the duel played out. My knowledge of duel monsters is limited to what I’ve seen on the anime, one card game, one magazine with a few articles on it, and a couple times spent playing the various video games. Not enough for me to reliably write out a duelling scene.
If anyone else wants to do it, though, and has the ability, feel free to do so, and I can insert it in, giving the author credit for it, of course.
Anonymous Sister of the Author: I’m not quite sure which author you’re the sister of, since I’m pretty sure you’re not mine, cause one’s too young, and the other’s not interested in anime, unless you mean in a figurative kind of way, perhaps, like as in we’re all sisters and brothers and such, but that not being important, and entirely off-topic, yes, he is. The getting the yami pissed at him part, I mean. I can’t tell whether he’s going to die or not, because that would be spoiling things for other people. Hope this update was quick enough. ^___^