Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Fourth God ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

The Fourth "God"

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

Written by Rogue Moon

"…Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness

I need to calculate

what creates my own madness

And I'm addicted to your punishment

And you're the master

And I am craving this disaster…"

~Poppa Roach, Getting Away with Murder

Chapter Fourteen

…o…

            Seto Kaiba called his secretary and had the woman cancel all his appointments for the next week. He had been able to trace Warren's phone call to a warehouse near the docks of Domino. There was no way he'd be able to get there before the kidnapper had moved his hostages- if he moved them- he was on the other side of the world after all. But Mokuba was already back home and could send some of their security force to check it out. If he was lucky, his men would find Anzu and Warren and beat the tar out of whoever had taken them both. If he wasn't lucky, then maybe his men would at least find some evidence as to where the guy moved them.

            Kaiba started to shut down his laptop when it beeped with an e-mail alert. The billionaire decided to check it before leaving for the airport. After scanning through it he ran another search on his computer to try and trace it. Whoever had sent it, however, had covered their tracks and he ended up in a loop that would take more time and a more powerful computer than he had access to at the moment. Growling to himself, Seto shut the computer down and got in his helicopter, his destination changing from Domino, Japan to Bayville, New York.

…o…

Anzu woke up in pain, the last thing she remembered was walking down the street next to a strangely quiet Ryu. Her face was pressed against leather as whatever structure she was in vibrated, emitting a motor-like hum. Attempting to open her eyes, the brunette found that she couldn't open her left one without more pain flaring across her face. A gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it. The pain stung worse than a twisted ankle, something she was far more used to.

            "Awake are you?" An unfamiliar voice questioned from beyond her small range of vision. "Good. We need to talk. Ryu has divulged a great deal of information, but somehow he is able to resist whenever I ask him about a certain… subject. One I know you have had dealings with yourself…"

            Anzu tried to turn her head so she could see the person talking, but couldn't twist her body enough to do so. She had been tied down very securely. Hissing in yet more pain, she replied with a couple questions of her own, "Where am I? Who are you and what have you done to Ryu?"

            The voice chuckled as the vehicle, it had to be a car or something, started to bounce, "Truthfully, I'm not too sure where we are. Somewhere over China, I believe, it's hard to tell when you're a few thousand feet in the air. My name is of no consequence and as for Ryu… That will soon matter to you as little as I want it to matter…"

            The owner of the voice stepped in front of the girl and knelt down so he could look her in the eyes.

…o…

            Kaiba was an excellent pilot, but couldn't do a lot about shrinking the distance between himself and his goal. It took him longer than he wanted to find the school Yugi was staying at and land on its vast front lawn. If he hadn't been in such a bad mood and so focused, Kaiba might have appreciated the layout of the grounds. Might have.

            Barely waiting for his helicopter to shut down, the millionaire jumped out of the cockpit and stalked to the front doors, suitcase in hand. He went to knock, but someone had heard him coming and the door was opened before he had the chance. Seto found himself looking down at a short, stocky man with wild black hair and muscles galore.

            "Can I help you?" the man asked in a gruff voice, not trying to hide the suspicion in it.

            Kaiba's eyes narrowed in annoyance, "I'm here to see Yugi Motou."

            The man's eyebrow rose as he looked past the boy, "That's a no Helicopter Zone."

            "So sue me. Is Motou here or not?"

            The man gave Kaiba a slow once over and then opened the door enough for the boy to enter, "Follow me."

            The room he led Seto to was a salon filled with people. Kaiba recognized some, aside from Yugi, but had never met the others. Not that he cared about any of them. Ignoring everyone but his rival, Seto stalked around the room and put his laptop on the coffee table in front of Yugi. The billionaire turned it on, found the e-mail he wanted and turned the machine to face the other, "Explain."

            Yugi sighed and held up the Millennium Rod, "This is yours."

            Seto gave the item a glare, then pointed at the computer, "I don't have time for your magic mumbo-jumbo. Tell me why I got this e-mail and why Anzu's involved when you have what this guy wants."

            "Then make time for our magic mumbo-jumbo, Kaiba," Yami replied from behind the C.E.O. Seto spun, his eyes wide. He looked back at where Yugi had been and found his rival looking up from his spot on the couch. Whirling back, he stared down at Yami. His mind raced and seconds later he turned back to Yugi, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What's the meaning of this?"

            Yugi sighed as Yami sat down next to him and handed him a glass of ice. The tea had been a bit too hot for the boy, "Kaiba… How is it that you can so thoroughly deny what lies in front of your eyes? You would disbelieve the existence of real magic until it slits your throat, and even then, scoff at the illusion while your spirit watched your body get buried before the afterlife forced you to enter whatever gates you believe in, wouldn't you?"

            The C.E.O. dismissed the idea before giving it a chance and focused again on the e-mail, "Whatever. Explain this message."

            "You're being very rude, you know," Yami replied with a smirk as Yugi sipped his tea. "You march into someone else's home and make demands and don't even introduce yourself… Tsk, tsk, Seto… I know you were taught better."

            "If you don't want to explain, then say so," Kaiba growled out as he slammed his laptop shut and turned to leave, "When Anzu asks why it took so long to find her, I'll happily tell her it was because you refused to help."

            "We never said we wouldn't help," Yugi murmured. "We just think you should be a little more polite. As for the e-mail…" The boy shrugged, "I haven't a clue as to how to help with that."

            "You didn't even read it."

            Yami raised an eyebrow as he rattled off the contents:

 " 'Mr. Kaiba,

 By now you will have found out that a one Anzu Mazaki has not been home for a good twelve hours. She has not called anyone, not shown up for dance practice, nor has she gone to see your beloved little brother, Mokuba. And she definitely didn't check in with you over lunch as she does every day. If you want her back you must consult the King of Games. It is with him that my quarrel, and my goal, lies. Not with you.

            Sincerely,

Mesmero.' "

            Yugi finished the contents of his cup and placed it on the table, once again picking up the Rod, "Forgive me if I did not get the words exactly right, I only saw the letter for a brief instance. Now, will you please take this? It rightfully belongs to you."

            Seto gave his rival, both of them- he'd figure out how they pulled that off later- an appraising look as he thought things over, "If I take the damn thing, you'll quit bugging me about it right? And you'll help me figure this ransom out, yes?"

            "Hai."

            "Fine," Kaiba took the Rod, tucking it into one of his trench's deep pockets. "Now if you don't know what this guy is talking about, could you at least direct me to a computer so I can backtrack the e-mail?"

            Yugi looked at Logan, Logan glanced at Xavier and the bald man seemed to think it over for a moment before getting the older boy's attention, "I suppose we could provide one as you are a friend of Yugi's and obviously have a vested interest in this new development. There is one on that roll-top desk that you may use."

            Kaiba nodded his head and sat down at the desk, opening it up and finding the component box. When he found it, he in turn opened that up and hooked his laptop to it, then turned the unit on.

            Logan's eyes narrowed as he watched the boy, "What are you doing, bub?"

            "Linking the PC's to give my laptop access to more memory and computing power," the boy replied without turning around. "I need to trace the e-mail past the server it was sent from and to the actual IP address. To many free-web servers out there… Once I do that, I can pinpoint the physical location of the PC that it was sent from. To do all that, I need enough power. My laptop is better that the best on the market due to the modifications I've added, but it still needs access to more computing power to pull off a trace this convoluted. The data-path goes form one web server to the next, sometimes hitting the same one several times in a row. It's like a tangled string. Whoever this Mesmero is, he knows how to cover his tracks…"

After a suitably long silence as the others watching Seto got bored, Khaibit spoke, "So are all of you freaks like that Katherine girl. You walk through walls and stuff?"

            "Who are you calling a freak?" Yami responded before anyone else had a chance. "If I remember correctly, you used to walk through walls all the time. Including the day we met and you tossed my father's mummy down a canyon."

            "Yeah… that was fun," The spirit answered wistfully. "I miss those days."

            Yami glared, "You're nuts."

            "Did you figure that out on your own, or did prissy-pants millionaire boy help you out?"

            The Pharaoh gave him a look that promised a great deal of torture before he turned his attention to Xavier and the others, "Please forgive my friends. You were saying?"

            The bald man raised an eyebrow, "You have chosen some… eccentric friends. As for Mesmero… He is a mutant that has crossed our path before. When we first met him, he took control of Jean and Kurt, making them steal several rings that we later found out could be combined with a jeweled rod to form a key."

            Yami nodded, "Yes. That was for the first door."

            "We then encountered him just after he stole from an associate of ours, Warren Worthington. He stole one half of the Spider Stone. We followed him across the ocean to the museum that held the other half. The two were joined and unfortunately, the spider that was formed was subsequently destroyed."

            "You destroyed the Guardian?"

            Scott snorted, "No. Mags did."

            Khaibit leaned back, a huge grin splitting his face, "All he needs now are the Items and the Accursed One will be freed. No wonder he's ransoming Mazaki."

            "What are you so happy about?" Evan asked, "Didn't you say he has your… whatever?"

            The spirit frowned at the kid, "His name is Ryu Bakura. And yes, Mesmero does have my Landlord. And no, I'm not happy about that. What I am happy about, is that once he gets his hands on the items, my soul will no longer be spilt in two. I'll be whole again and won't have to deal with the whimp anymore."

            Malik crossed his arms, "The real question is weather or not he knows the spell."

            Khaibit shrugged, "So we take a picture of your back and e-mail it to him. Then he'll know for sure."

            Malik took the pillow he was leaning on and smacked his friend in the face with it.

            "That is out of the question," Yami replied. "Even if he has the Items, as long as he doesn't know the spell, he cannot open the last door."

            The spirit of the ring growled, "What do you mean? He'll complete the ritual and join our souls as they are meant to be. If you want to damn your soul after that, then go right ahead. But if the only way for me to be whole again is to drag your ass and all the items to where ever the hell he is and let him do the bloody ritual, than I will. I like pain as much as the next guy- more so, in fact-

but I'm tired of being two places at once. I'm tired of being without a real body and I'm bloody well tired of being alone in that fucking piece of metal! I will be whole again!"

…o…

           &nbs p;           

            A few hours after Seto arrived and was finally able to trace the e-mail- not that it helped having come from a public library twelve city blocks from the empty warehouse Mokuba had his men thoroughly search- the X-Men and their guests were still unable to figure out a course of action to take regarding Mesmero. The little facts they had did nothing more than point to somewhere in Egypt as the location they needed to find. Egypt was a big place. They needed a little more to go on before sending the team to investigate.

During the discussions and arguments and preparations for dinner, Malik and Khaibit had somehow slipped out of the house. Instead of racking their exhausted brains in further attempts to figure out where Mesmero was, everyone concentrated on finding the two troublemakers. Yami, Yugi and Ishizu, knowing the two the best, figured they'd go where there was a crowd. Dance clubs, movie theaters, bars and even the mall were all good places to start. Logan, at first upset about having to play babysitter with the twins and their guests while they looked, was more than happy to lead the search party when he found out the insane ones had hot-wired his bike.

…o…

            As soon as they entered the mall, the two kelptos scouted for easy marks. It was an excuse to get some native cash, but mostly they did it for amusement. Quite often in the streets of Domino, Malik would play the part of the 'idiot tourist' while Khaibit acted as his 'tour guide'. The laughs they had gotten off that and, of course, the money was worth the embarrassment. This was a new country with new opportunities and the two would play their parts perfectly.

            Malik was the first to point out someone, "How about that other white-haired freak?"

            Khaibit scowled, "What other white-haired freak?"

            "The one standing next to that big, fat guy and the ugly kid with bad hygiene who's opening a new pack of Duel Monsters cards."

            "Sounds perfect."

            The two grinned at each other and then Malik started to wander off aimlessly toward the trio while Khaibit stood talking in front of a display window, pointing out items and saying their English names as if he was explaining something to the non-existent person next to him. The blond made a show of looking around wide-eyed and bewildered before he let his eyes focus on the boy with the duel monsters cards. The others with the boy were already looking him over suspiciously when he walked up to them and started speaking in his native tongue, asking them where he could buy some of the cards, just in case one of them could speak Arabic. The three looked at each other and shrugged, completely baffled by the language.

            Malik asked the same question again and started picking up the cards the ugly kid had laying on the bench next to him.

            Khaibit took that as his que to come over and 'salvage' the situation, "Pardon me, I do hope my friend isn't bothering you. Come on, Malik, let's go."

            Malik pointed excitedly at the cards and rattled off some random words.

            "My friend wishes to know where you bought the Duel Monsters cards," Khaibit sighed, "He's a big fan of the game and wants to get some English cards for his collection."

            The ugly kid's face lit up at that, "Really? You like to duel? You want to? Does he have his deck? Does he want to duel?"

            Khaibit blinked and then grinned before rambling off some gibberish to Malik who shook his head vigorously and pulled out his 'fun' deck as he sat down on the other side of the bench.

            "My friend would love to play," Khaibit grinned as he pushed the other white haired boy out of his way so he could sit next to the blond, "Excuse me, I'll need to translate for Malik."

            The boy frowned and then shrugged, "We'll be at the food court, Toad. Meet us there when you're done."

            Toad waved and exchanged his deck with Malik to be cut. After doing so he pulled out a coin, "Heads I go first, tails you go first."

            Khaibit dutifully translated before asking, "What rules?"

            "Latest tournament rules," the boy replied as the coin landed on tails. "Looks like you go first."

            "Malik draws then places one monster face down in defense mode and then places three cards face down on the field. Your turn."

            "I draw and then I…"

            "During your standby phase, Malik activates his trap: Solemn Wishes."

            Todd frowned, "Fine. I put two cards face down and then I summon Jinzo #7. He can attack directly so you have to take 500 points direct damage. Your turn."

            "Malik draws. During his standby phase, he activates his trap: Non Aggression Area and discards one card as the price."

            "I chain the activation of my traps: Gravity bind and Skull Invitation."

            "Malik then flips his monster into attack mode. Poison Mummy's flip effect is activated. Take 500 points direct damage. He then activates his magic card: Pot of Greed. He then places a second monster on the field in face down defense position. Because of Gravity Bind, he cannot attack. Your turn."

            "I draw one card and place it face down on the field. I can't summon anything because of your trap, but I can have Jinzo #7 attack your life points directly. So you take another 500 points damage. Your turn."

            The blond snorted and muttered some Arabic under his breath.

            "Malik says your deck is the stupidest one he's ever seen. Gravity Bind decks are so old news. He draws and then summons Old Vindictive Magician to the field and flips the one he placed there last turn. His second Magician's flip effect is activated and he destroys your monster. You have no Monsters on the field so Malik has both his Old Vindictive Magician's attack you. Take 900 points damage. Your turn."

            "Tell him he's a fool if he thinks he's going to win just because he's in the lead now. I draw and then summon a second Jinzo #7. He attacks directly so your friend can just take the 500 points. Your turn."

            Khaibit translated and Malik pretended to be insulted.

            "Malik says you're the fool. He draws and places one card on the field in face down defense position. He will forego attacking this turn. Your move."

            "I draw and then play Infinite Cards. Jinzo #7 attacks directly. Your turn, idiot."

            The blond rattled off a quick sentence and shared a conspiratorial grin with Khaibit.

            "Malik wants to know if you had the chance to watch any part of the Battle City Tournament. He draws and then equips his first Old Vindictive Magician with Ax of Despair, increasing the monsters' attack by 1000. He then places one monster in face down defense position. He then attacks with his Old Vindictive Magician. The one that has 1450 attack, of course. The Magician wipes the floor with your Jinzo #7 and you take 950 points of damage from the attack and another 300 from your own trap. His second Old Vindictive Magician attacks and since you have no monsters on the field, you take 450 directly from him. Lets see… That leaves you at 4600 and Malik is still at, what? 8700? Yes, that's right. So did you get to see any part of the Battle City Tournament?"

            "Screw you. Yeah I saw some of it. Why?"

            "Malik wants to know if you got to see any part of the finals."

            "Maybe. I draw and place a card on the field. Your turn."

            "Not attacking? Oh wait, you have no monsters. So sorry. Malik draws and places a card on the field. He then attacks with both his Magicians for a total of 1900 points damage."

            "I flip my trap: the Emperor's Holiday. It negates the effect of all equip Magic cards. I only take 900 damage."

            "That still leaves you at 3700 while Malik is now at 9200. Solemn Wishes is a wonderful card. Malik ends his turn."

            "I draw and then activate Raigeki."

            "Nice move, too bad Malik activates his trap: Magic Drain."

            "Too bad for you, 'cause I can just discard this Pot of Greed to keep Raigeki in play. There go all your monsters and you take 300 points for each. Plus 300 for that Ax you have equipped to one of them for a total of 1500."

            "So you can count. Amazing. I would have pegged you as having no education. But you're now down to 3100 while Malik is still at 7400."

            "I'm not done. I summon 8-Claws Scorpion and have him attack. Your friend takes another 300. Now I'm done. Ha!"

            Khaibit and Malik chuckled to each other and the white-haired one kept talking, "So you do have some talent. Malik draws and oh, my! There goes his life points! Now he's at 7600.  He then summons Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier in attack position. Your turn."

            "You can't attack! Ha! Gravity Bind is still a great card! Ha!"

            "We can't attack. But neither can you, unless you want to lose that monster, of course."

            "I can't attack with him but I can with one I just drew. I summon Ooguchi. He can attack directly for 300 points. I then end my turn."

            "Ooo… Scary. Malik draws and then sacrifices his Garvekeeper's Spear Soldier to bring out his Patrician of Darkness. Your turn."

            "I draw and summon Leghul. I have him and Ooguchi attack your life points directly."

            "So sorry, but I'm afraid you forgot to read the fine print. Malik's Patrician has an effect. One that lets Malik choose whom your monsters attack. And I'm afraid they've changed their mind and are going to commit suicide by attack the Patrician of Darkness. And since he's in attack mode, you take the difference in damage from your life points. So that's 1700 points from each attack that gets gouged from your life points. Which means you lose."

            Todd glared at the two, "You cheated, didn't you?"

            "Not at all," Malik replied for himself, startling the boy. "I'm just a lot better, even when I'm not trying. You see, I'm the second best player in the world. Only one person has ever beaten me in a duel. If you had seen Battle City, you would have known that."

            The two thieves stood and stretched. Malik gathered his cards and Khaibit dug through the wallet he had snatched. Frowning at the lack of cash and only one credit card that he couldn't use, he tossed the near-empty thing into Todd's lap, "Tell your friend to get a job. There's no excuse to be that flat-assed broke."

            The mutant blinked as he opened the leather square to find Peitro's face smiling up at him from a New York driver's permit. When he looked up to find the two hustlers, they were already lost in the crowd.

…o…

            Wolverine watched his prey exit the movie theater and head down the sidewalk to a nearby café. The Canadian had caught their scent entering the building almost an hour and a half earlier. A quick conversation with the ticket changer had revealed that two kids matching the troublemaker's descriptions had bought tickets for 'Zombie Bloodbath', an old cult classic that had several shows from 6pm to midnight. Logan decided to wait for them, calling the others on the search to let them know the kids had been found. A half-hour after that, the search party had regrouped in a restaurant across the street, taking the opportunity to have dinner and a nice evening out before wrangling in the other two.

            Logan got the rest of the groups' attention. Ororo paid as everyone left and followed the kids a few minutes later, cutting across to the other side so it didn't look like they were tailing the two. They all gave up trying to stay hidden when the ground under their feet trembled and knocked them down. In the street ahead of the troublemakers were the Brotherhood, and they didn't look friendly.

….o…

End Chapter Fourteen

"Zombie Bloodbath" is an actual movie. I don't know what company produced it, but it belongs to them. I only used it because I have a friend that was cast as one of the zombies and I needed the name of a really bad B movie to have Malik and Yami Bakura go see. And when I say 'really bad', I mean REALLY bad. The movie is good for a quick gross out or a good laugh.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend: the zombie girl with the flannel shirt.

Congrats to the two people who correctly guessed Rama-tut's origin: Talythia Starseeker and Yoruko

They got first look at this chapter.