Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Fourth God ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )

The Fourth "God"

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

Written by Rogue Moon

“Remy, this is Eugene, Quill and Winston. They actually thought they could break into the headmaster's study, steal a copy of today's computer science test, and not get busted.”

“Oh... oh my. Stealing.... very bad.”

~Kitty Pryde and Remy LeBeau

Gambit #10; “Hath No Fury Part 1 (of 3)”; page 3; published 2004

 

***000***

Chapter Fifteen

Khaibit dived out of the way of Toad's darting tongue, face contorted in disgust, “Are you actually trying to lick me to death?”

“What? You aren't into the Toad? Everyone likes getting some tongue with the Toad,” the mutant called back, happily pissing of the hustler as he bounded over head and onto the wall of a nearby building.

The other hustler, the blond one, was attempting to stay on his feet as the ground shook beneath him and Quicksilver ran circles around him, occasionally jabbing out with a punch to the gut. “How you like picking a fight with me now?” the speed demon laughed as he continued to harass his victim.

Freddie Dukes, the Blob, rushed Ba-khu-ra, trying to flatten him into the nearest wall with his stomach. The thief dodged again, grabbing a hold of a nearby lamppost and shimmying up it. Toad lept from the building he was on and tackled the thief just as he got to the top, pulling them both to the pavement below.

Showing no signs of having been injured by the fall, the white-haired boy flipped Todd off him and over his head with a rolling kick, before kicking up to his feet and once more dodging Dukes as the boy came charging in a straight line for him.

The ground shaking stopped as Malik fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and groaning. Blood trickled from the edge of his mouth and the skin around his left eye began to swell. He had the Eye on him. In his pocket. He could replace his own with it, start the Game. Show these fools exactly what they were messing with. But he kept hesitating. Losing his eye like that... Was it worth it just to hurt these fools?

His hand lowered to his pocket, his fingers grazing the cool metal.

A flash of red shot past him, hitting the blur of the white haired speed demon and launching him thirty feet down the street. The other three terrorists stopped and began cursing.

The X-Men, in proper formation and with Yugi and his friends following, were heading right for the brotherhood.

Toad hopped up onto the light post the thief had been trying to scale and yelled at the boy scouts, “Mind your own business!”

“It's our business when you go beating up on regular humans,” Cyclops called back, the X-Men still approaching, if a bit more cautiously now that Quicksilver was back up and they couldn't see Avalanche.

“They stole my wallet! We're just teaching them not to do that again!” Pietro replied, speeding over to the lamppost and leaning against it with his arms crossed.

That made Cyclops pause, “They what?”

“Stole my wallet, One-eye! At the mall a couple hours ago. Took forever to find them again so now we're teaching them a lesson!” He smirked at the look the boy scout gave. They hadn't expected that. Shrugging he turned away, “We're about done here anyway. We gave them a good pounding. See ya later, X-Babies!”

Quicksilver dashed off, a blur that disappeared from sight almost immediately. Toad waved to the group, “Hey Yugi! See you at school tomorrow! Can't wait to duel you again!” He then hopped off like nothing out of the ordinary had happened and Dukes followed along behind him asking about what food they had in the fridge.

Scott and the others gathered around Malik and Khaibit. The first now being helped to his feet by the other. Cyclops crossed his arms and gave them a glare, “You stole his wallet?”

The thief shrugged slightly, “Didn't take anything. Not that he had anything to take. His credit card and ID were useless and he didn't have any cash.”

Logan came up on their other side and popped his claws, holding them up to the white-haired boy's neck, “Where's my bike, bub?”

The two kelpto's paled a bit and Malik had the presence of mind to answer, “Mall parking lot. Section G, row 32.”

A rumbling growl left the short man as he sheathed his claws and stalked off.

The other X-Men had no real sympathy for the two as they helped them to the cars and back to the institute for medical assistance.

***000***

Over the skies of Iran the private jet flew. Ryou Bakura sat in his seat, staring blankly at the wall, eyes lifeless. His body shook, as if hit by something. Mesmero's eyes narrowed and watched him. The boy's body shook again and a gasp escaped him, followed by a low groan of pain as his body collapsed forward, a bruise beginning to form on the exposed skin of his arms and neck. As if he had just been hit in the back by something.

The tattooed mutant frowned at this, seeing a weakness he hadn't realized existed in his tool. The boy wouldn't be able to fight for him now. If it wasn't for the Ring around his next, the albino freak would be completely useless.

***000***

When they got back to the institute, Marik was treated for his injuries and both of them were given as harsh a lecture as Xavier could give them under the circumstances. They were still young, not even legal adults and while he wished he could set them straight, they were not his responsibility. And he got the distinct impression that whatever he said would be promptly ignored once they left the room.

The house guests were granted rooms for the night, until a plan of action could be decided on. Ishtar sharing a room with her brother and Shadi while Khaibit was put in the same room as Yugi and Yami. A trundle brought in for the night. Seto stayed up all night in the lounge, pouring over his computer in an attempt to find any evidence in cyberspace as to where Anzu and Warren had been taken.

Xavier and Jean took turns on Cerebro, attempting to find Mesmero's mutant signature, or Angel's. Being that the billionaire had a physical mutation, it would actually be harder to trace. His 'powers' were always considered 'active'. But unlike Wolverine, who's healing factor triggering would alert Cerebro, Warren had no other abilities. His wings, his flying, would not be picked up by the machine as easily because of how passive his mutation was.

The rest of the Mansion residents did their best to get a good nights rest, hoping the morning would bring the answers they needed.

***000***

The covered jeep rolled over the rocky ground that steadily inclined downwards into the Valley of the Kings. They were only stopping in the Valley for supplies and news of the 'new' dig site that had been found further south. It annoyed Mesmero that En-Sabah-Nur's resting place had been found before he was ready for it to be.

Some fool had gone playing on the mountain. Hod-rodding around on his four wheeler. Gotten himself stuck in a hard to reach crevice. The same one that led to the chambers that kept the first one safe.

Mesmero was so close to opening the final door and freeing his master. He would not let some archaeologist undo all his hard work. But he would have to play it safe. The dig master would have to be put under his command. And that would be easy enough. It was work he would need to do afterwards, with the others on the dig team and the Egyptian national news and museum teams that would come to monitor and document the discoveries made.

He flicked his eyes at his driver and the tanned mutant grinned cockily, trapped in a dream that he was on the ultimate heist and would need to play his part well as they finally pulled up to a check point at the bottom of the entrance to the Valley. The driver shifted his cap to hide his eyes as he leaned out the window and spoke in perfect Arabic to the curious woman who came to greet them.

His smooth voice enchanted her and she was happily letting him run his fingers over her hand like a lover would while she told him every little thing she could about where to requisition supplies and which sites were under supervision and when the government would be sending new teams to document the various digs. He even got her phone number, despite being married and a mother of two. Giving the back of her hand a faint kiss, he finally drove off to help those in the car 'confiscate' the necessary supplies.

Mesmero disliked the suave, demon eyed mutant. But he was very good at what he did. Perhaps it was how the man's personality always shown through, always fought for control. Even when enthralled and under the telepath's spell. It was a constant struggle to keep the man from breaking free.

Yes, that was the problem with the Cajun thief formally employed by Magneto. He wasn't a strong telepath, barely registered as one. And yet, his mind was as slippery and deft as his tongue and hands were around women and a good lift. It gave Mesmero headaches that he shouldn't have had to worry about.

***000***

Morning came and the somber dezians of the Xavier Institute got ready to go about their normal routine. Seto ignored them, downing coffee after coffee while he stayed glued to his computer. Malik and Khaibit were not morning people and groggily drug themselves down to breakfast with the rest.

Yugi and the rest of the X-Men left for school, nothing having been found during the night. It would be a long and worrisome day for them.

After the children left, Yami and the other priests sat down with Xavier, Ororo, Hank and Logan for a long discussion. Storm made refreshments for the group, aided by Ishizu who insisted on helping prepare the meal for her Pharaoh The atmosphere was a pleasant one, only slightly strained by the presence of Malik and Khaibit. It would have been worse had they been more awake.

Xavier indulged himself in a cup of tea before beginning the talks, “Yesterday, you stated that Mesmero would need not only the Items, but the spell to activate the ritual. The young gentleman with white hair then mentioned something about taking a picture of someone's back. Could you please explain this further?”

Yami nodded, casually stretching himself on the couch and waved at the blond Ishtar, “Malik? Could you please show them your back?”

The boy nodded and stiffly sat up, removing his shirt, wincing a bit at the pain from injuries he had gained the day before. On his back, covering it in its entirety, was an elaborate 'tattoo' of hieroglyphs and pictures of the three god cards.

Logan let out a growl. He reckonized the markings very old scars. Like they had been carved into the boy's back. Malik yawned again, oblivious to the sympathetic looks he was getting from the teachers.

Yami simply ignored them. What was done was done. Calmly he explained, “That is the spell that will release the final door and rejoin the souls that were sundered to seal En-Sabah-Nur within his prison. It is a ritual spell, requiring one priest for each item and a sacrifice to seal the act in blood.

“When it was first completed, my life and that of Ba-khu-ra were the blood sacrifices for it while my trusted high priests conducted the ritual. They used the power of the Four Gods: The Sky Dragon of Osiris, The God Judge of Obelisk and the Winged God of Ra. The most powerful of Shadow Monsters,” he pointed to each of their pictures in turn, then pointed to himself, “And the final God, Ra himself made flesh. Not only was my blood used to power the spell, but my soul as well.

“Had the ritual been done properly, I would not be here before you. Yugi would not have been born. And Mesmero would not be able to awaken the accursed one.”

He sighed deeply, “But my high priests did not wish to lose their Pharaoh So they brought Ba-khu-ra and altered the ritual. Spilling both our blood upon the stones and splitting our souls. Dark from Light. Casting the dark halves into the items to be sealed for all eternity that the accursed one never be freed.”

Regret and shame overcame Ishtar and Shadi's faces and Yami smiled at them. “It was more than a lifetime ago. Your souls have been reborn that they might correct their error.”

Xavier cleared his throat, “And how do you believe that can be done? Even if I could condone the sacrifice of a life to conduct the ritual again, from what I understand, it would only reverse the seal and unlock the final door.”

“Hai. We would have to open the door before we could seal him forever. And the only way to do that would be to cast him into the Shadow realm and destroy the Sennen Set. Destroying the only doors between our two realms. Without opening the final door, all we can do is ensure that Mesmero is stopped and then take up guardianship of his resting place to ensure no others become willing or unwilling pawns in his efforts to free himself. That is the only way to correct the error without hurting innocents.”

“I see. Do you remember where he has been sealed?”

He shook his head, “No. I was... rather drugged at the time. I remember the ceremony and looking up at the stars as my life drained from me. I remember my soul being sundered... but I do not remember where I was at the time. And even if I did, the world has changed greatly since then. Many of the great cities I once walked are nothing more than dust, or worse, buried under fifty feet of sand never to be seen again...”

He paused, his brow furrowing as something nagged at the back of his mind. //...all sorts of Duel Monster carvings on its walls...this really weird ceiling...//

His eyes widened and he sat up straight. The others looked at him, eyebrows raised on almost every face as he moved to Kaiba's computer.

“I need you to do a search of the Egyptian Museum's database of dig sites. I need to know what new sites have been found this past month.”

The millionaire scowled at him and pushed the boy back a few steps, not liking anyone over his shoulder like that. He then pulled up a new window, finding the page he needed, “Hold on. They don't have the information in the publicly accessible pages. It's going to take me a moment to get into... there. Five sites. Three in the Valley of the Kings, one just south of it and one closer to Giza.”

“What kind of descriptions do they have for reference?”

“Site 5809 b; shaft tomb-”

“Not that one.”

A glare at the interruption before he began on the next, “Site 5809 c; minor necropolis-”

“Not that one either.”

The millionaire went silent, clenching his fists and moved on to the next, “Site 5809 d -”

“Not that one.”

Kaiba spun around, “Stop interrupting me Motou.”

Yami glared at the man and took a deep breath, “Please continue.”

“Site 5900 a; Pre-First Dynasty Entrance Hall-”

“That's it. That's where he's taking Anzu. That's where En-Sabah-Nur is sealed.”

This time Kaiba didn't get upset. He happily hacked the database for all the information on the dig site as he could.

***000***

The X-Men returned from school and were told to get ready to go immediately. They would be heading to Egypt once everyone was in uniform and to the hanger.

Xavier, Ororo and Logan had grilled Yami as politely as possible about how he new that the dig site was the right one after making his declaration. He had to explain about Yugi and he meeting Rebecca at the Convention. About what she had said about her grandfather leading a new dig. Professor Hopkins was still active in the business, despite being as old as Yugi's grandfather. A man valued by other archaeologists for his knowledge and experience.

After much debate amongst the adults of the X-Men, they finally decided that it was worth checking out with as much force as possible. Just in case.

***000***

“Where is your other half?” Mesmero asked of the white haired boy.

“Flying.”

“Flying where?”

“I do not know. I can only see that he is in a plane. There is land and water below him in equal measure.”

“A coast somewhere. But are they coming here?” he mused to himself as the dig team moved around the room, preparing the old tomb for the coming ritual. “Best make sure they do. We're almost ready to start.”

He smiled and waved to a mutant under his spell. Warren took the unresisting wrist of Ryou Bakura and led him to one of the two sacrificial alters. When the white haired boy lay down, the winged man strapped him down as Anzu had been to the other stone alter that stood five feet away.

A final table had been set up. Nothing more than a flimsy card table, really. Laying on it, face down was the trouble maker of a mutant. Mesmero had finally opted to just knock him out so he wouldn't have to waste the energy to keep him under control. Blood trickled down the man's sides, let loose from several dozen knife marks as another vacant eyes tool of Mesmero carved into his skin.

The mastermind moved to Ryou's side and smiled down at the boy, releasing him from his mental spell, but keeping the Shadow Magic in place for the moment. As the soft brown eyes fluttered once more with life, the man lifted the pendant, a knife going to the rope that held it around the albino's neck as he whispered to the waking child.

***000***

Khaibit screamed, his hands clawing at his hair as pain and fear flooded him. The plane shuddered. Logan let go of the wheel for a second in shock. The all out scream of the white-haired kid had startled everyone. Malik was the first to get to Ba-khu-ra, trying to calm him down, Yugi was next and the rest of those attempting to help were pushed back by Jean and Scott.

The screams stopped a moment later, leaving the boy wide-eyed and panting as if he had just run a thousand miles without stopping. His hands clenched the seats, clinging to the fabric as his body began to fade from existence. His terrified eyes met Malik's amethyst ones, “He's there!” he gasped out. He had to tell them before he was gone. “He took the ring! He's there!”

His final words were nothing more than a whisper despite how he screamed them into the darkness that was consuming him.

“The ritual has begun!”

***000***

End Chapter

 

Apologies for the shortness of this chapter in relation to the others.