Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson November ❯ reflections ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: WAHHHHAHAHAH! I own nothing!

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Seto Kaiba was in shock, more in shock then he'd ever been in his life.

Why now? Why now had he realized the impact of having Mokuba involved in the situation he was in? Why hadn't he gotten it thought his skull that he was putting himself and his little irreplaceable brother in danger?

He should have kept his nose out of everything.

He should have left the mind games to Yami Bakura. He wasn't cut out to do anything with magic… he wasn't cut out to do anything that involved the supernatural.

He ran his fingers thought his hair; sweat streaming down his face mingling with tears on his cheeks.

He hadn't thought it was possible to feel so hopeless…

To feel so afraid that things could be pulled out from under him when he had least expected it.

This was the third time his brother had been taken from him by force and he didn't like it one bit.

He chewed his lip, tasting the salty taste of salt on his tongue, the taste of blood.

He could sense that the others were in the room sitting with him around the computer. He knew that they hadn't left him to wallow in his misery. He could feel Joey's hand on his shoulder; he could feel the light touch as if it were a crane full of bricks instead of a simple hand.

It had shocked them all; Mokuba's kidnapping.

Yami Bakura was still pacing about the room, eyes narrowed, hands clenching and unclenching as if he were strangling someone.

Bakura was staring blankly at the computer, which had turned off by itself for some reason, trying to figure out a way to mend the disaster but had been unable to figure out a way to mend anything.

Noa was twiddling his thumbs, looking ready to yawn out of complete boredom, not caring about Mokuba any more then he would have cared about dust under his fingernails.

It was too much for Kaiba to stand the coldness of the room. He couldn't take it.

He wanted to run and scream and rage out of control, but he couldn't get the strength to work its way to his stiff limbs. He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't…

But it was all true.

There was no escaping the awful truth.

He gritted his teeth, making up his mind.

He was sick and tired of panicking, sick and tired of being afraid. There was nothing left to loose now, no one except Joey, and he knew that Joey could take care of himself easily. He wouldn't let his enemies push him around any more. No more mind games.

He looked up, eyes focused on Yami Bakura; ready to take action.

" What can we do now to cause as much damage as possible without hurting Mokuba's chances for survival?" He asked, voice a growl of anger and rage.

Yami Bakura frowned at him, startled by the brashness of the statement and yet not all that surprised by it.

He crossed his arms, shaking his head.

" There's nothing to do except waiting. That, and staying away from all portals of transport into this world."

Joey clenched and unclenched his fists.

" And what exactly are those?" he asked.

Yami Bakura shrugged, gesturing to the computer screen.

" Stay away from all computers, keep away from all things that pick up images."

Noa nodded, closing his eyes.

" You guys are being foolish. There's no way for this to get any worse then it already is. With Mokuba in there with them, they've got perfect bargaining rights. We all know that your not going to risk the death of your precious little brother, and they already know that they don't have the pharaoh to deal with anymore; thanks to that Tristan guy and his little flunkies. We've already lost, or should I say, you've already lost."

At that, Joey moved forward, swatting Noa in the face with one clean shot, leaving a nasty red welt across his cheek. Noa jerked back, clutching his face in pain.

Yami Bakura nodded in agreement with Joey's decision, moving forward to grab Noa by the hair, forcing him to look him in the eye.

" You little whelp, you'll help us even if I have to force you to. You owe us your miserable life and I intend to make you pay us back in full." He snarled into Noa's face, making Noa pull back even further.

Even calm Bakura seemed willing to do the same thing, for he stood up, as if meaning to go over to where Noa was, to smack him with as much strength as he could.

He seemed to restrain himself, and instead decided to frown at Noa, trying to guilt trip him into behaving.

Kaiba stood up, dusting off his pants, face consorting with rage.

" You know Noa, if your so concerned with being left alone, we could just dump you ass into some place where slithering losers live… I could send you to an orphanage to rot, just like that… without another thought… leaving you there to die because no one will take you… I'll make sure of it. And the moment you even get hope again, I'll be there to take it away, to mash it into a thousand pieces until you feel how everyone else feels… until you are willing to do whatever it takes to end your horrible little worthless life."

Joey nodded, glaring at Noa, who tried to look away but was forced to watch them by Yami Bakura.

Noa sighed, locking eyes with Kaiba head on, refusing to break eye contact.

" You have to understand Seto, I haven't exactly got what you would call the perfect life, and I've only just been allowed to continue living. I'm rather reluctant to waste what little life I have left, but if you wish for me to understand everything you believe you feel right now, your wasting your time. I've already spent years exhausting every possible way to escape that virtual world… I'm not going to let you just leave me to die- at least you have the friends to back you up… it makes you look so much more like a hero then I ever could be by wasting your time trying to annoy Gozaburo… maybe if I had something to loose, I'd be just like you … but I'm not."

Kaiba snorted in disbelief, shaking his head.

" If you think having friends makes someone a hero, your wrong. The only thing that makes you a hero is knowing when to do the right thing, no matter the cost."

At that, Noa smirked.

" oh really? So what your saying is, if you were to do the right thing you'll be a hero… but didn't you ever stop to think that doing the right thing means essentially killing you little brother to achieve the greater good of keeping the population of Japan out of Gozaburo's grasp. Would you be willing to loose everything you ever cared about just to do the greater good for everyone else?" he asked, pushing Yami Bakura away from him with one arm.

Kaiba frowned.

" You've got a rather twisted sense of justice Noa." He growled.

" But it's true dear Seto. If you were to do the only option to save the world, you'd have to leave Mokuba to Gozaburo for all eternity. You know I'm not lying. Think about it and you'll see the entire truth in a matter of moments. There is no perfect way to save everyone. It's kill or be killed… even the villain knows that… you can never win." Noa chuckled darkly, amused by the paradox.

Kaiba clenched his hands in anger, slamming one fist into the desk's top with such force the computer trembled.

" Your lying Noa."

Noa raised an eyebrow, a look of amusement plastered across his eyes.

" Me? Lying? You really think I don't know what I'm talking about?" he clasped his hands together, stalking to the doorway, pushing open the door. He leaned against the wall face half in view.

" Seto, you couldn't possible comprehend what you've gotten yourself and your little friends into… you've got to make a choice… either let them come here and pray for a miracle or find another way to destroy the system with Mokuba in it. It's your choice Seto. It all depends on what you mean to do… for you don't really know if they'll keep their word and not kill Mokuba themselves in that world… what makes you think that you can trust them?"

With a cold laugh, he left the room, leaving the others to muddle with his words.

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Joey sighed, turning the taps on in the bathroom.

He had planned to wash his face, maybe take a shower but now there was too much buzzing busily around in his brain like a nest of wasps.

He knew in his heart that Noa had been right with every word he'd spoken.

There would always be casualties when fighting villains; the hero's never had a purely clean victory.

He leaned forward, resting against the sink; feeling the cold damp countertop press itself against his chin. He heard the water from the tap pitter-pattering in solitary confinement, the cool beads of liquid turned to diamonds as the light from the overhead lamp caught them in its glowing beams.

The mirror fogged up a little, condensation workings its way across the smooth reflective surface with lovers ease, leaving a milky fog on the silver surface.

Why did things always have to go from good to bad, he wondered; turning off the tap with lethargic pain.

Nothing made sense any more, not since that first fateful day when he'd met Seto Kaiba.

He'd day dreamed for hours at a time about being with Kaiba, about being wrapped in his arms. Dreams about sleeping in on weekends snuggled against a grumpy yet warm hearted Kaiba, who loved him more then anything in the world. Those dreams had been his only hope for happiness while living with his father. The abusive bastard had tried to beat every happy moment from his soul, but those dreams his father could never take away. He'd never believed in his entire life that it could come true. But at such a cost…

His first day meeting Kaiba hadn't been much of a picnic.

Sure, he'd had some physical contact, but being thrown head over heels into a garbage can hadn't exactly been what he'd expected.

Somehow, he'd managed to piss Kaiba off rather badly and he wasn't even sure (looking back on it now) if he had indeed made Kaiba angry. Maybe Kaiba had only been faking it… but seeing the look of absolute hatred in his eyes had made him think otherwise. It had been scary, locking eyes with Kaiba back then, on the first days he'd known him. Somehow though, he'd over come those cold eyes and had managed to light a fire beneath Kaiba's feet, keeping him on his toes.

At first, it had all been a game. A sick twisted game just to get Kaiba to talk to him.

He'd taunted Kaiba, mocked him, drawn silly stick figures with likenesses to Kaiba and had stuck them up all over school in an attempt to get his point across occasionally; hell, he'd even once stuck flowery stickers all over Kaiba's locker, but he'd never ment to make Kaiba truly angry.

And now…

Things were so different.

Kaiba loved him… he loved Kaiba…

But it had taken so much to accomplish… so much pain…

He banged one clenched fist on the counter, wishing he could have gone back and fixed mistakes he'd made when his friends had been alive.

He should have played more games with Yuugi.

He should have spent more time with Serenity and his mother… he should have told her he loved her, his innocent little sister… he should have told his mother he loved her as well…

He should have goofed around with Duke more, he should have talked with Yami about things… but he'd never done any of it…

And now look at what he'd gotten…

They were all dead and gone… all gone and dead…

Noa was right.

Being a hero wasn't worth it if everyone you loved died.

He looked up at the mirror, seeing his tired face in the silver swirl. He looked tired, almost hazy in the small circle left without beads of condensation on it. The light cut down to the very bones of his face, making him seem almost skeletal.

He reached up, touching his face lightly with one hand.

What did Kaiba see in him?

He couldn't see anything worthwhile in his face…

He certainly didn't look like a super model…

He pulled at his cheeks, making them tint pink.

He stared at himself, picking out every fault and mistake on his flesh.

His nose was too big, he thought.

His chin was too weak.

He dug his fingernails into his cheek, leaving crescent moon shaped red blotches.

He was hideous.

Who was it he was even looking at?

He'd seen pictures of himself and he looked nothing like this.

He frowned, noticing that his eyes didn't look like they usually did.

He didn't remember having red maroon eyes…

Maybe it was just the light.

He reached out and touched the mirror, seeing his scaly claw hands scratch the precious glass.

At that, he pulled back from the mirror, shocked out of his mind.

His reflection smiled at him, pearl white fang-like teeth hanging over his lips.

That wasn't him.

It couldn't be him.

He looked away from the image and stared at his hands, seeing no claws… no reddish black scales gloved his fingers…

He stared at his reflection, enthralled by its horror, shaken yet curious.

The reflection moved of its own accord, crossing its arms; leaving the sharp claws easily seen in the light.

The mirror…

The images was moving…

The images wasn't him…

Joey backed up from the sink, bumping against he door. He clawed for the door; unable to find it in his haste, then froze in terror when the reflection began to push itself out of the mirror.

It seemed to take hours; dragging its deformed demonic body from the silver glass, its claws scraping the walls leaving gouges in the paint four inches thick.

It breathed deeply, nostrils flaring, eyes locked on Joey's, its hair suddenly growing in length, untamed by combs and scissors.

It wretched itself up and out of the glass, feet smashing the toilet from force uncontrolled by its body; then wiped its leathery tail about with a slapping motion, shattering the sink. It wore rags for clothing, cloth that barley covered its deformed legs, leaving its hideous arms revealed.

Joey slid down the door, trying to squish himself out through the molecules of the door.

The thing smirked, the teeth vanishing inside its mouth; looking like a mirror image of Joey's face.

" Y…you."

Joey stuttered, eyes widening.

" Yes…" it, responded, leaning forwards so that their noses touched.

Joey felt its breath on his face, felt one of its clawed hands lightly touch his shoulder; panicked, he tried to draw back, but it was inescapable.

" Me…" it smiled, sitting down; pushing Joey's legs out of the way so that it could lay its large body down on the cool floor.

Sitting on its tail, it leaned forward again, tapping Joey on the nose with a single claw, making the blonde go cross-eyed.

A light laugh escaped its lips as Joey began to tremble.

" I can't believe that I have finally escaped that horrible place…" it smiled, leaning forward ever so slightly, face pressing against the side of Joey's neck.

He could feel its silky hair stroking against his skin, shivering out of disbelief.

The monster chuckled into Joey's ear, ruffling his hair with one hand.

" and I happened to find you… my dearly departed body… well, descendant, if you will."

Joey felt his heart rise up into his mouth.

" W…What?" He stuttered.

The monster pulled back, taking his face in its hands with the gentlest of ease.

" You're my ticket to getting a fresh… a better body. Yours, in fact." It smiled grimly, smacking Joey in the back of the head with its tail, knocking him unconscious.

The last thing Joey saw before blacking out was the mirror.

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Yami Bakura shivered, looking around the room for a sign of what he had felt.

He was in the living room, standing against the door. He had decided to wait for Joey to come out of the bathroom, wanting to get him involved in a plot he had hatched.

But now, he sensed that something had gone wrong.

The millennium Ring glowed eerily against his chest, the prongs pointing all towards the doorway.

He heard a lurching scraping noise, as if someone was drawing his or her nails down a chalkboard…

A frown peppered his lips.

He peeked around the corner, seeing what he had never expected.

A creature looking almost exactly like Joey was staggering its way down the hallway carrying a limp and pale Joey tucked under one arm like a sack of potatoes.

Yami Bakura sneered at it; seeing that it wasn't even paying attention to the area it was walking in. He smiled to himself, hoping that no one else would be wandering around.

Then he made his move.

He stepped out into the hallway, clearing his throat loudly, drawing its attention instantly.

It whirled, crimson eyes locked on Yami Bakura's face, a snarl forced out of its mouth.

" YOU! TOMB ROBBER! How dare you stand in my way-"

" Hand over Wheeler… or you'll face my wrath… that and the wrath of Seto Kaiba." Yami Bakura drawled sternly, holding out one hand.

The half human creature snarled again and swatted at him with its tail, knocking over a side table.

" you lie! Priest Seto is in that infernal compooper. He isn't around to see anything…" it snapped.

Just as Yami Bakura had expected, Seto Kaiba came storming out from the living room behind him, freezing when he took in the entire scene.

The demon seemed to have frozen as well, for it nearly dropped the limply hanging Joey to the ground in its horror.

Kaiba moved forward, reaching out as if to grab Joey from its arms, but stopped when Yami Bakura held one hand out to stop him.

" Seto Kaiba meet the former Joey Wheeler… or should I say, the demon Wheeler." He drawled.

Before either could say another word, the demon lunged forward, shoving Yami Bakura out of the way and into the wall, winding him and trapping him with its girth.

It reached out, touching Kaiba's face, making the young C.E.O gape in horror at it.

" You really him… aren't you… your priest Seto's reincarnation… you belong to … you belong to.." it fell silent, holding Joey's body out to Kaiba to Yami Bakura and Kaiba's surprise.

It looked down at the floor, ashamed by what it had done.

Kaiba cradled Joey in his arms, his heart beating a million miles an hour like a run away freight train. He thanked Ra that nothing had happened to Joey, shifting the blond to one side; protectively holding his Koi.

He looked up at the monster, feeling a certain amount of pity for it, then squeezed Joey tightly to his side, thankful that he was safe.

" why did you take him - and for that matter, how did you get into my house." Kaiba growled softly, cerulean blue eyes narrowed in frustration as he saw Yami Bakura fighting to free himself from the tail's entrapment.

" and let him go. He's not a problem."

The creature nodded, sneaking a look at Kaiba before releasing the fuming Yami.

It clasped its hands together in front of itself, looking sheepish, shuffling nervously from foot to foot making the hall shake.

" I came in through the window in that strange white ceramic room… I… sort of… wrecked it when I came in through to this world… I took him the boy because I wanted to switch bodies with him, so that Priest Seto would like me better - so I could please him - but now I see that I shouldn't have done it - " it came to a stuttering halt, hanging its head.

" I only wanted to make him - you - happy."

Kaiba frowned, looking to Yami Bakura for help. The Yami seemed to be calculating something; he was tapping his chin thoughtfully, as if having just realized something.

Joey stirred in Kaiba's arms, moaning in pain but not opening his eyes.

Kaiba glared at the creature.

" And you would have done anything - ruined the life of your predecessor just to make your own selfish needs come true -" he stopped, sighing and shaking his head.

" Please… please forgive me… I wouldn't have hurt him… I would have switched bodies with him… I wouldn't have done anything horrible…" the creature begged, tears starting to swell in its eyes.

Kaiba felt torn.

He could understand completely the reason the creature had tried to take Joey, but he felt a sting of anger burn in the pit of his stomach. Even he would not have dared to steal someone else's life just to better his own.

Yami Bakura snapped his fingers suddenly, making the creature and Kaiba jump out of nervousness.

The fiends' tail swatted around, nearly sending him into the wall again.

" alright. I've got a solution." He said triumphantly.

" a solution?" the creature asked, half turning to look at the Yami.

" yes you moronic fool, a solution. We can make a deal with him. We make him a new body and he helps us get little Mokuba back safe and sound." The Yami smirked at his own ingenuity.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

" you seem to be getting into a rather pleasant mood when it comes to helping others - are you alright in the head - are you the right Yami Bakura?" he asked, frowning.

Yami Bakura flipped him off, snorting angrily. He swatted at the monster's tail, which had been creeping of its own accord toward him, knocking it away.

" I'm rather surprised by my own kindness today. Perhaps it is because the infernal Pharaoh is dead." He mused to himself, ignoring a horrified look from the creature, who looked afraid suddenly.

" the Pharaoh is dead? When did that happen? It's impossible-" it began, then stopped when Kaiba shifted Joey once more, closer to his chest.

" Yami's been dead for a while now. Tristan Taylor, one of the guys working for Gozaburo Kaiba had him killed. He would have killed all of us if he hadn't decided to leave when he did at the school." The C.E.O turned away, stalking into the living room, where he lovingly placed Joey on the couch.

" alright. We'll build it another body, but it's got to help us get my little brother back. And it's not leaving that hallway. I've had enough of things destroying my house." Kaiba growled.

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Joey groaned, waking up with a pounding headache.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling a light cold sweat on his skin.

What had happened?

The last thing he could remember was seeing a horrible creature worm its way out of the mirror in the bathroom, then being hit on the head.

Had it all been one horrible nightmare?

Maybe he'd slipped and smacked his head on the sink or something, he thought, sitting up.

He noticed Yami Bakura sitting in a chair near him, the Yami's eyes narrowed.

" Ah, Wheeler. I see you've woken up finally. Your lucky, I thought that it would have taken longer. Your brain has the strangest capacity for being hit in the head and surviving. This has to be the fifth time I've seen you survive being beamed in the head by a creature -"

" I'm not a creature you monstrous Tomb Robber! You ungrateful wretch-" something snarled from the hallway, its voice making the room shake.

Joey's eyes widened in horror at the sound of the voice speaking in the hall.

It hadn't been a dream…

It had all been horribly real.

He turned and stared bug eyed at Yami Bakura; mouth half hanging open in mid speech, but the only thing that came out of his lips was a garbled " argheyah."

The Yami simply shrugged, rolling his eyes.

" yes, it's real, and it's been annoying me for three hours. Your lucky you were unconscious; I on the other hand had to listen to it ranting and raving every three minutes. I don't understand people sometimes; you'd think that if someone like me, a devious murderous thing, was being taunted and harassed that the idiot doing the taunting would shut up and stay silent. But no. it just keeps talking and talking. Did you do that when you were younger, or is it simply a genetic defalt that wasn't passed on to your family?"

Joey shook his head blankly, unable to process the idea that a creature was sitting out in the hallway. He wasn't even sure that he believed that it had been inside his mirror and had clawed its way to freedom. He wasn't sure he wanted to believe that any of it was true, but, judging by the look of complete boredom on Yami Bakura's face, it had to be real.

" I…" he froze in min speech once more, trying to order his words into something that would be understood by any human being, but the only thing he could think about was the simple fact that the creature was working on the side of Gozaburo Kaiba.

" Why…"

Yami Bakura shrugged lightly, shifting in his seat. He tossed a glance to the opening to the hallway and chuckled.

" It's waiting for a new body. Kaiba's making it one in exchange for it helping us get back Mokuba."

Joey felt as if someone had smashed him upside the head with a sledgehammer.

" Eh?" he finally managed to garble forth.

He felt suddenly more worried then he'd been before.

" But -"

" Yes, yes, your butt will be involved in this situation most likely, but I'm not really into discussing this any more then necessary. " Yami Bakura growled, examining a fingernail.

Joey's eyes filled with flames.

" Not that you jerk, I ment why are we trusting it to keep its word? What makes Seto so sure that it'll let us all live, or for that matter, what makes him so sure that it'll help us get back Mokuba? Noa isn't going to do anything, and we made a deal with him."

Yami Bakura shrugged again, examining another nail.

" Don't kill the messenger Wheeler, I never forced him to agree with my plan. He sort of decided it himself."

Joey jumped up from the couch and seized the Yami by the bangs, latching onto the two pointy spikes on the top of the Yami's head.

" You suggested this!?"

Yami Bakura winced and swatted at him, striking Joey across the nose.

" leave my hair out of this." He growled, pushing Joey back onto the couch.

" It's a technicality Wheeler. He wanted a body and I simply suggested that Kaiba make him one. Besides, it's not like Kaiba would have done anything if he knew that it was dangerous. He made sure that that thing won't do anything to you, thus being the reason I'm here sitting in this ra forsaken room. If you think it was my choice to sit here and listen to that bloody thing out there ramble on and on, you've got another thing coming." He growled.

" I'm not a thing, cretin! I'm Priest Seto's lover- he won't stand for you insulting me that way-" the creature shouted angrily.

Yami Bakura snorted again, staring sharply at Joey to get his point across.

" That thing out there is sort of like your Yami. So in a technical sense, it's Yami Wheeler. Mind you, I'd have preferred that it never came out of that mirror, but it's your fault there. Didn't I tell you to stay away from anything that captures images? You never listen, do you wheeler." He grumbled.

Joey gaped at him, mouth hanging open again.

" How's that possible? I don't have a millennium item-"

" Yes you do." Yami Bakura snapped impatiently, rolling his eyes.

" The millennium Puzzle's now in your possession. It's only natural that the Pharaoh would have locked his best friend into the item's inner sanctum. He probably locked your Yami into one of the rooms he wasn't able to open. And besides that, now we've got yet another Yami to deal with. Yami Kaiba's out there along with Yami Merick. Neither of these things have occurred to you, have they Wheeler?" He sighed, shaking his head.

Joey shook his head, feeling numb with shock.

Two new Yami's? TWO?

His own and Kaiba's?

It was impossible…

But he knew that it had to be true.

Now there was a problem. They had so much more to deal with. He'd thought that Yami Merick was a problem, but a Yami Seto Kaiba? That had to be worse.

The Yami's always seemed much more sadistic then their Hikari's, and if his was as crazy as he suspected it was, the Kaiba one would have to be a million times worse.

He shuddered, thinking about what it would be like.

Maybe it was cruel and horrible, dressed in black leather with spikey hair, like all the other Yami's.

No!

He smacked himself in the head.

He couldn't think about what the Yami would look like… the image of Seto Kaiba in black leather had been enough to drive him to thoughts he would have preferred not to be incorporated with an evil sadistic monster.

But then again, he mused; the Yami might not be as evil as he suspected it to be. Maybe it was a kinder gentler Seto Kaiba…

Even that seemed to boggle his mind.

How much kinder could Kaiba get?

Deeply involved in his thoughts, he didn't notice that Yami Bakura was glaring murderously at him.

" Wheeler! Ra-Damn you, listen to me when I talk!" he snapped, rising to strike Joey in the head when the monster in the hallway made a hissing noise.

He froze, looking from Joey to the hallway; then his eyes widened.

They had forgotten about Noa…

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TBC. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews!! I'll write more when I can, I've just had too much school work.

* what will Noa Kaiba do when he sees the giant monster sitting in the hallway? And what will become of Mokuba?