Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Fourth God ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

The Fourth "God"

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"Perhaps you are right. I've had a pretty easy life so far, I guess… Not at all like you. For example: I never had to worry about optic beams… I've only been blue and furry since I was born!"

~ Nightcrawler to Cyclops, X-Men # 109, Home are the Heros!, page 8

Chapter Eight

Kitty's eyes followed Bakura as he walked away, "Should we go after him?"

Honda shook his head 'no' and tugged on Anzu's arm, "Come on, let's just see the exhibit. He'll have walked around enough to get his thoughts straight by the time we get done, if not before. Right Anzu?" He knew from experience that it was better to just let his friend wander then to bug him. Bugging him would only get him more depressed and that was never a good idea. Besides, Hiroto wanted to know more about Kitty and her power. And he refused to think about Ryu's darker half being back.

The brunette female nodded and linked arms with Kitty, "You're going to love the section with all the jewelry…"

*****

The spirit of the ring, also called Khaibit by his less than repituble friend Malik, scowled in discust, "The baka sent me something similar. Only he wanted to barrow my two Items for a few days before giving all the Items to me. I don't know how he found out about me having the Eye, since even the Pharoah no bakayaro doesn't. But he did."

Malik grinned and flipped through another couple of pages, not really paying attention to the book he had read five times before, "What's really funny is that he thought I'd want all the Items. I've never really been interested in them, execpt for the puzzle. If he thinks he knows what will atract my intrest, he's a fool."

Khaibit closed the internet window and opened a new one, typing in an address for a site that sold spy equipment, "What gets me is that he sent me the same e-mail three times. If I didn't respond to it the first time, what makes him think I would respond to it a second time? Come here."

"Why?" the blond asked even as he stood and padded barefoot to stand behind the chair his friend sat in.

The theif pointed to the screen, emphisizing a particularly interesting picture, "The description says it can pick up sounds from three hundred yards away and is only half as big as the model most militarys use. That's almost twice the range of the one we have now. And this wearable pulley system they have is perfect for climbing walls…"

Malik leaned agianst the back of the chair, one hand moving his friends' long hair out of the way. After a moment of thought, he took the mouse from the spirits' grasp, earning him a growl, and clicked on different image a little further down the page, "I think I like this more than either of those."

The spirit grinned from ear to ear, irritaiotion gone, "And once again you prove yourself worthy to by my accomplice. That is a wonderful little devise. Let's put in an order, shall we?" The spirit didn't even wait for an answer before starting to type in the order informaion. He, of course, used Ryu's address and Malik's credit card.

The blond didn't stop him, he was used to spending money like it was nothing, because to him, it was. Instead, he padded back to his bed and lay across it, opening the drawer of the table on the other side. After rumminging for a moment, he pulled out a few pieces of gold jewelry and a brush, "So, where are we going tonight?"

"Ryu wants to go to the Kareoke bar with Honda, Mazaki and the exchange student. I figured we could head there and pull some shit before hitting the clubs for easy marks. My stash of cash has started to get low and I don't feel like calling up 'Daddy' to get more," The theif answered, shutting down the computer and swiviling the chair around so he faced Malik, who was putting in his earrings. Khaibit didn't like Ryu's father, for all he was the one that gave the ring to Ryu. There was something about the man that got on the spirit's nerves. Maybe it was the way he treated his host. The man was never there for Ryu, not that the spirit really cared, but Ryu's loneliness because of it was always there. Almost solid in its intencity… annoyingly so.

*****

Yugi waved goodbye to Jounouchi and Rebecca as he and the others left the convention. He, Jamie, Jou and Becky had had a great half hour playing in the Virtual world. To both his and Katsuya's surprise, they hadn't played in the scenario with the Legendary Dragon. They instead got to try out the demo version of Kaiba's newest adventure. Jou's only complaint was that the girls were wearing too much. And that was saying something since the newest adventure took place in ancient Rome. Rebecca was quick to point out that the garments were not to period, but instead were what was commonly accepted as being period. Naturally no one really cared, but Yugi indulged her anyway just because she was his friend. After they left the scenarino, Mokuba had gotten Yugi to give him the address of the Institute so Seto could come and 'visit'. Terrorize and antagonize and intimidate were all better word choices that Mokuba didn't use. He used 'visit'.

Just before they left the convention, Jou slapped his forehead and moaned, "<Ah, man, Yuug… I almost forgot. Anzu wanted me to give you something… Well, give Yami something anyway. Now where did I put it?>" The blond started digging through his pockets, making a big deal out of finding whatever it was. It took him a minute, but he finally found what he was looking for and held it out to Yugi.

The small boy took the gold necklace and raised an eyebrow, "<An empty cartouche?>"

Jou shrugged, "<She said he could put his real name in there where he remembers it.>"

"<That's a great gift. Tell her we said thanks,>" Yugi replied, putting it on. Neither of the boys noticed Logan giving them a sharp look from where he was listening at the door.

Then Jou elbowed Yugi and pulled a video cassestte in a nondescript box from the back of his trousers, "<And this here is for the both of you. Enjoy!>" With that, Katsuya waved and headed back into the convention. A minute later, his screams of, "<Keep'em away!>" could be heard flitering thorugh the noise of human voices and girlish shrieks.

*****

Warren Worthington the Third waved politely to a couple of girls who had reckonized him as the heir to a fortune and hastily climbed into the Limo that had pulled up for him. With a great sigh of relief, he leaned back against the leather and let his wings streach out just a bit. Not enough that his driver would notice, but enough that they weren't too cramped. When he got home, he'd be able to dive off the penthouse rail and soar unobsereved for a while. With that to look forward to, he could endure the car trip home.

The driver pulled away from the curb just as Jounouchi went back inside the Con. Warren gave the kid a glare through the tinted windows and then closed his eyes. He really hadn't expected to win, but he did resent losing.

Twenty minutes later he opened his eyes and glanced outside. The neighborhood was totally unfamilar to him. He opened the window between himself and the driver, "Carson? Where are we? We should have been home by now."

The driver turned around and revealed himself to be James Thompson, his father's business partner. James smiled, "Acctually, your father asked me to take you to the airport. He had to make a last minute flight and wanted us to meet him there. He has something he wants to tell you in person."

Warren sported a dumb look for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he slouched in his seat, "Oh… Figures. Just when he's finally in town, he has to go and leave again."

James gave a small, indulgent laugh and turned back around, "He has a company to run. It's what keeps you clothed and fed, you know?"

"He could do that if he were a garbage man," Warren grumbled to himself and stabbed the button to close the window between himself and James.

*****

During the ride home, Yugi was mostly quiet on the outside as he and Yami had an internal conversation about the tomb Professor Hawkins was escavating. A conversation interruppted by the sudden activation of the Millenium Tahk. Yugi went rigid as a small gasp escaped his lips. Kurt and Jamie noticed this and the blue furred one reached over to shake the boy, "Yugi? Are you al-" His sentence cut off as he touched Yugi and joined the vision.

The two were falling through a night sky. Below them, rushing to meet them, was a scene that could have come from an Egyptian based movie. Men in golden jewelry and robes of the finest linen stood in a circle chanting. In the middle of their circle, lit by torch light, was an alter with the distinct figure of Yami lying upon it, eyes closed. He was dressed in Egyptian finery befitting a Pharoah.

Kurt let out a held breath as their decent stopped just above the alter. He looked to Yugi, who seemed oblivious to his precence as the boy's wide eyes were locked on the figure of Yami.

With a gasp, Yugi and Kurt came out of the vision. The sudden rush back to reality causing them to both suck in air like it was water in the desert. When Kurt came back to his senses, he realized Logan had pulled the car over and they were currently surrounded by the concerned faces of the others.

Scott was the first to speak when it was clear that the boys were aware, "What happened? Jamie says you spaced out Yugi, and then Kurt did the same."

Yugi looked up at the team leader with wide, innocent eyes that blinked in confusion, then looked back down at his puzzle. Kurt leaned back and slowed down his breathing to a more calm rythem, "It was… I don't know. It was strange."

Yugi was more preoccupied with his darker half, /Yami? Are you there?/

There was no answer.

/Yami?! Answer me!/

And still silence from within as Yugi let out a pathetic, desarate plea, /please?/ A tear slipped down his face.

Scott shook the small boy, forcing Yugi to look up at him, "Yugi? What's wrong? We need to know what happened and we can't help if we don't know."

Another tear fell and Yugi answered with a hollow voice, "He won't answer… I can't feel him…" The loneliness was overwhelming. He hadn't realized how much he depended on Yami's presence. It seemed to have been an eternity since he had last been without it. But now it was gone. And he was alone. Completely alone. No support from that great piller of strength within. No comforting warm presance. Gone, all gone. A tear fell from his near vacant eyes, "Yami..."

Logan shook him lightly on the shoulder, so as not to hurt him, "Kid? What's the matter? What happened? What about your brother?"

Yugi's eyes slowly swiveled up and focused on the Canadian's face. Complete loss and hopelessness poured from them as puddles threatened to spill. He hiccuped and the dam broke. A thin, keening wail escaped his lips as he fell forward into Logan's chest. The Canadian, to say the least, was baffled and very much out of his element with a sixteen year old clinging to his chest and crying his eyes out. Awkwardly patting Yugi's back, he looked helplessly at the others, who were staring in shock at the boy.

Logan cleared his throat and addressed Kurt, "Hey, do you think you could bamf the kid back to the Institute? See if Charles can make something of this? We'll meet you there in a half hour."

"R-right," Kurt replied. "Sure. I can do that. Yugi?" The german reached over and touched the boy on the shoulder, acting like the small boy was made of porcilin. "Yugi? We're going to the Institute, okay?"

Yugi didn't seem to hear him. He just kept crying. With a worried look at the others, Kurt teleported the two directly into his room. He knew it the best and with that long of a distance to teleport between, he needed to know his destination. As they bamfed out a small gold piece fell to the bed of Jeep. Logan raised an eybrow and picked it up, examining it curiously. It didn't look anything he was famliar with any of the children wearing, but smelled like Yugi and Yami. He would ask the kid about it when they got back to the mansion.

*****

They both arrived gasping for breath, Yugi's intakes interspaced with moans and hiccups. Kurt tried to focus and direct his thoughts, ~Professor? Please... I... He... Yugi needs... I don't know. But he's hurt somehow.~

Xavier responded, slightly bewildered and surprised, but willing to help as always, ~Calm down, Kurt. Yes... Good... Now, tell me what the problem is.~

~Well, we were in the car, driving home and talking. Then Yugi went all still and stiff. We tried getting his attention, but we couldn't. So I touched his shoulder and... I don't know, it was veird. I felt like I was falling and the next thing I know, Logan had the car pulled over and Scott was shaking me. Then Yugi said something and Logan shook his shoulder and then...~

~I can see the rest,~ the Professor interuppted. ~Do you have enough energy to bring him down to the Med Center? That's where I am.~

Kurt nodded, not that Xavier could see, and pushed himself to his feet. Yugi's moaning and hiccuping had stopped and the boy was now curled in on himself, the puzzle held tightly to his chest. Kurt touched his shoulder and once more bamfed through the institute. When they arrived in the Med lab, Kurt colasped to the floor. The effort of both bamfs getting to him. Yugi was lucky enough to land on a bed. Hank helped his fellow blue-furred breathren to a bed of his own before seeing to the Japanese boy.

Yugi didn't seem to have registered the second bamf. Hank rolled him onto his back and snapped his fingers in front of the kids' face. There was no response and the scientist turned to Xavier, "Do you think you can get through to him while I get his vitals?"

Charles nodded and wheeled himself to the head of Yugi's bed, then closed his eyes in consentration. Before, when he had tried scanning the boy, sheilds tighter and stronger than an adimantium cage had protected Yugi's mind from any access. But now it was like cutting through air. Xavier didn't have to work at all to get inside and within less than a second was standing on the mental plane within. Yugi's image of himself was standing between two doors. One looked fairly modern and was wide open; it looked into a room full of toys and games. Innocence radiated from it like a wave of heat. The other door, the one Yugi was pounding on and yelling at, looked old and had a stylized eye carved upon it. It was also shut tight and somehow radiated darkness.

Xavier reached out and touched Yugi on the shoulder. The boy shreaked, jumped and turned to face the man all at the same time. Wide eyes brimming with tears and fright took in the image of the professor as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing, "W-what? How? W-why?"

Charles dropped his hand and sent out soothing emotions in an attempt to calm the boy, "I'm a mutant, remember? My power is that of seeing into and communicating via the mind. I haven't been able to do this before because previously you and your brother have had such strong sheilds up."

Yugi looked at the closed door and lifted a hand to gently touch it, "…Yami." His hand fell and he looked at what could be considered the ground, "He's been keeping our minds sheilded. Just in case-" Yugi cut himself off and looked away from everything, rubbing his arm nervously. "Why are you here?"

Xavier took a step forward and touched the old door for a second. He could feel a dark presence behind it, trying to get out. It puzzled him but instead of asking about it, he answered Yugi, "I'm here to make sure you're all right. You didn't seem affected by Kurts' bamfing you all over the place. And to find out what happened in the car. Kurt is a bit confused about it and you apparently experienced a shock. Care to explain?"

Yugi blushed and a feeling of 'messing up' washed over the Professor, "Well… see…It's hard to explain. But, um, to put it simply…Yami and I… We… um, we had a vision. Kind of like seeing the future, only not." Yugi's hands drifted to the pendant around his neck and he started to fiddle with the chain. "It was more like… seeing the past… or part of the past…"

The pendant looked odd to Xavier. Somehow it just didn't look correct. He also truly noticed for the first time that it was decorated with a stylized eye. The same eye that was on the old door. After a moment of study he realized what was wrong, "Your pendant… It's broken."

Yugi started, "Huh? Wha-?"

"Didn't it used to have a point on the bottom?"

The small boy looked down and lifted it up, "The puzzle?" His eyes went wide once more in realization. His head swiveled from the pendant to the old door and back again, "Oh Gods! Yami!" Then he was gone.

Well, he was still there, it was his mind after all, but he was no longer retreated into it. Leaving Xavier to examine it or leave it as he pleased.

*****

Yugi sat up quickly on the bed and started patting down his clothes. Hank jumped back in surprise and in an effort to save himself from being knocked in the chin by the boy. Yugi was suddenly wide awake and energenic. The boy hopped off the bed and started patting down his clothes in a perfect immitaion of what Katsuya had done earlier. As he searched through pockets, he got more and more frantic, muttering "Where is it?" over and over again. His urgency increased so much that he took off his jacket and shook it out violently. When that yeilded nothing more than several loud fwaps, he reapeated the process with his shirt.

*****

Xavier left Yugi's mind as the boy's jacket came off. He could have stayed and found out every memory the boy had. But he had his own morals and they wouldn't let him pry into the secrets Yugi obviously wanted to keep. Instead, he rolled himself back around the bed as Yugi shook out his shirt in panic and fright. The Professor glanced over at Hank, who was nonchalantly picking up a video tape Yugi had pulled out from inside his jacket. Said boy was now sitting on the floor, misery pouring off of him. Xavier tilted his head at the television as he caught Hanks' eye. Perhaps a distraction would jolt Yugi enough to get him to talk. As it was, the Professor got the distinct immpression that the boy would probably just sit there in his own dejection otherwise.

McCoy popped the tape in the player and after some fuzz, a teenager's face appeared, taking up the entire screen.

"<Hey Yuug! Guess what? This isn't the tape you wanted to barrow. Guess you could figure that out on your own, but I thought I'd tell you up front,>" the face spoke in Japanese. Yugi stood up in surprise as Katsuya's voice boomed through the room. The boy grinned all goofy as the camera turned around and showed a school hallway, "<But this'll be just as good. I promise. Anzu suggested we send you something to remind you of us besides e-mail and I thought, what the heck?>"

The camera panned around the hall, stopping on a group of girls and then zooming in on their backsides. Nothing could be seen for awhile but blue skirts, "<Like I said, just as good…>"

A female voice answered as the skirts were replaced by a pink jacket and blue bow tie. "<Jounouchi Katsuya, what do you think you are doing?>"

The camera panned up to the girl's face, "<Hey Anzu! I'm making a video to send to Yugi and remind him that we're all still alive.>"

Anzu got a surprised look, "<Really? Oh, that's a great idea! Hi Yugi! We miss you!>" She waved into the camera as Jou zoomed back out. "<I hope you're having fun. And that Yami's doing okay. Ishizu's research still hasn't turned up anything new. But she did say the God cards were very important and…>"

"<Aw, Mazaki… He knows they're important. He wouldn't have risked so much in Battle City if they weren't. But come on, this isn't a 'remind-Yugi-of-his-responsibilities-video', okay?>" The camera tillted around crazily as Jou used hand motions to express his displeasure. In the background the bell rang and Anzu yelped and ran for class, her feet could be seen in the camera lens as Jounouchi took a more sedate pace and turned it back around to focus on himself, "<Don't you worry about nothin while you're over there Yuug.You hear me? Not the God Cards, not Kaiba, not the Mellinium items, not even weather or not I'm ever going to let you see that video. You enjoy yourself… Me, I have to get to class. I'll add more to this later, promise.>" The tape went dark for a moment before Jonouchi's face filled it once again.

Hank stopped the tape, deciding to let Yugi see the rest on his own, and then put it on rewind. Xavier turned his attention back on Yugi who was looking down at his puzzle, now cradled in his hands. The Professor shook his head, it seemed his idea to shock the boy out of his depression hadn't worked. He would just have to wait until Yugi felt like talking.

*****

Twenty minutes later, Yugi was sitting on the bed in the med lab, still cradling his puzzle and still not talking when Logan and the others walked in. The other chlidren going over to see if Kurt was alright and Logan walking over toYugi, "Hey, kid… You all right?"

He didn't get an answer and a moment later shrugged and turned around, "Fine, don't talk. By the way, you dropped this." He tossed the small piece of gold he had found into Yugi's lap and headed for the door.

The boy's eyes went wide and his heart started to beat faster. Gluping nervously, he picked up the final piece of the puzzle and clicked it into place, oblivious to the precence of the others. He also didn't register their stares as a glowing, stylized eye appered on his forehead and the eye on the puzzle flashed breifly. His eyes glazed over and a few locks of his bangs seemed to defy gravity for a minute before they settled back into place. Yugi grinned happily and hugged the puzzle to his chest as he retreated into his own mind once more. Yami's door was wide open and the spirit stood waiting for his other half. The small boy rushed into his arms hugging him tightly. Yugi blubbered appology after apology and Yami answered each with his own apology and denial that Yugi was at fault over anything. Both ignorant of the secrects they had just revealed.

Xavier raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Logan as he wheeled out of the med lab, "It seems our young guests have a few things they forgot to mention."

The Canadian grunted and lit a cigar, "I say we force it out of them. I don't want any more surprises."

"I don't think that would be wise. They are obviously hiding far more than we thought, but for all we know, that could be as much for our protection as it is for theirs."

"I'd rather know, and besides, I think they're lying about being brothers."

"And why would that be?"

"Because one of their friends said something about remebering Yami's real name."

"Pardon?"

Logan blew a smoke ring and pushed the button for the elevator, "At the convention Yugi ran across one of his friends. A kid called Katsuya. The boy gave Yugi a gold necklace with an ID tag that was empty. Said it was a gift from someone named Anzu. For when Yami remembered his real name. Wouldn't one of them know that? Even if they were separted at birth and found each other later? Wouldn't Yugi have heard stories of his long lost brother? And why wouldn't Yami go by whatever name he was given by the people that raised him? Why would he need to find out his real one?"

Xaiver wheeled himself off the elevator and into the hall that led to his office, Logan following, "You are right, my friend. That does not make sense. Perhaps you are right that we should force them to reveal what they are hiding. But if we do, we should do it subtly, gently. We don't want them to decide to run on us. With how well Yami evaded you, I don't think it would be that hard for them to hide."

Logan pushed open the door to Charles' office, "I have an idea…"

*****

Yugi left the sactuary of his soul room and came to in the med lab. Kurt was sitting on a bed opposite him, staring in curiousity, his inducer off and his tail waving idly behind him. No one else was around.

Yugi sat up and looked around at the darkened room, "What happened? Where is everyone?"

Kurt grinned, "Finally! You're awake! What happened was you passed out or something and no one could get through to you. So they let you rest for a few hours-"

"A few hours?! I was out that long?"

"Yes," the fuzzy elf nodded, "and since I was told to stay in bed and nap, I decided to stay and wait for you to wake up."

"Why did you have to nap?"

"Because I pushed myself too hard with my bamfing. I have never teleported that far before. It exausted me."

Yugi mouthed a silent 'oh' and pushed himself off the bed. His stomach gurggling as he landed and he gave Kurt a sheepish girn, "You said I was out a few hours… I don't suppose dinners' already been served, has it?"

Kurt laughed and got off his own bed, "I don't think they'll mind us scrounging in the kitchen for a meal. Come on, lets get some food!" The blue one grabbed Yugi's wrist and bamfed them into the kitchen where they throughly raided the fridge before heading to bed. Kurt had an early morning Danger Room session and Yugi had a late morning one.

*****

Well, this chaper was a little bit shorter than the others. About a page or so, but I hope you enjoyed it. It took me deleting and re-writing it about tewnty odd times before I was satisfied. The secrets Kitty learns and Logan's plan come into light next chapter. I don't know how long that will take to write as I'm probably going to have to change it's outline slightly because of how I ended up re-writing this one. The whole puzzle breaking thing wasn't planned but just kind of happened. The story demanded it happen while I was writing, and I can't deny the story it's demands. And I couldn't have it come out bad, either, could I? So, sorry for the wait. I hope you will think it was worth it.