Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Gods And Men ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Of Gods and Men

A Yu-Gi-Oh! /Stargate: SG-1 Crossover

Written By RogueMoon

Chapter Six

...o...

~Then~

Ate mu was late. High Priest Seto absently tapped the Millennium Rod against the side of his chair as his mind went through all the ways he was going to punish his Pharaoh without actually touching him. Glares and rolled eyes stopped working years ago, when they were still children... and threats of pushing him into the Nile on one of their fishing trips were punishable by castration at best, should the wrong person overhear. Now, the priest would have to get creative...

"He is the one who summoned us," Karim, a lower ranking priest of Ra who held the Scales in his hands, said quietly, "One would think he would be here by now. And dinner is about to be served..." The man's thin stomach rumbled in emphasis.

Isis, holder of the Necklace, gave the man a glare, "Our Pharaoh will be here when he chooses to. It is our duty to do as he commands and if that means waiting, then we must wait. Without complaining."

"High Priest Isis... Please save your lectures for another day," Shaada, the holder of the Ankh, sighed. "If we did not take our duty seriously, than we would not be here. But we should be allowed to voice our complaints should we wish to. Even the gods would not deny us that basic right..."

"Yes they would."

All eyes focused on the source of the soft voice as Atemu stepped into the room. The young Pharaoh looked over the five occupants as he summoned the Shadow Realm to encompass them and block out unwanted eyes and ears. The darkness surrounded them as they bowed and Atemu spoke again, "Where is Akunadin?"

"He is doing his duty at the Great Temple of Ra, my Pharaoh," Isis answered as she straightened. "He said our Lord summoned him in a dream."

"Is that so?" the Pharaoh replied quietly as he took slow steps along the boundaries he had set. Summoning the Shadow Realm was still new to him. Shimon had taught him everything he could before passing the Rod to Seto. That hadn't been a lot. Now, six months after becoming Pharaoh, Atemu was rather adept at the process, but still not confident enough to do so without double checking his work.

Satisfied that he had set the parameters properly, the Pharaoh turned his attention to his fellows, "Then we shall discuss this without him. Isis? I need you to try and see the future for me. Not my future..." Atemu said quickly and held up his hand to still her protests. It was common knowledge that the Eye could not see anything except basic actions , such as eating and sleeping, for those who held the items. "I wish for you to try and see Lord Ra's future."

"Our Lord? But he is a God, my Pharaoh. Surely I cannot foresee the future of a God..."

"That may be true. I still ask that you try."

"As you wish," Isis bowed her head and started concentrating on the necklace and on Ra. The others in the room watched as the item started to glow, its light brightening the shadows around the woman. A moment later the light went out and Isis gave a sigh, "It would not work, my Pharaoh. I am sorry."

Atemu shook his head, "No need to be. I knew the possibility of success was close to none. I was just curious as to his success... As you all know, I have just returned from my own visit to the Great Temple. Our Lord has informed me that he and his temple will be leaving Egypt soon. The demons of the north have become too powerful for our Lord to send others. He must see to them personally. He will not leave his children completely alone. His boat will still sail across the sky each day, but we will no longer be able to speak with him personally. We will no longer be able to visit his physical countenance. His temple and most of his attention will be focused on protecting his mortal children from these demons... I am to rule as Pharaoh, as is my role as his Son and Servant. Lady Hathor in her form as Skhemet will be joining our lord in battle."

"This is most strange my Pharaoh," Seto spoke. "Lord Ra is the Supreme God. How can demons possibly be more than a nuisance to him? And if they are, why must he go? Surely the great Bastet, his most loyal warrior and defender, can see to the problem. She protects him every night when a part of him must travel the tuat and guide the souls to the next life, does she not?"

Atemu smiled sadly and looked upward, "A question I posed to our Lord when he told me of his intent. One to which he replied that my duty was not to complain, but to obey without question. He... emphasized that."

The Pharaoh shuddered and closed his eyes as the memory of the pain ran through him. Ra had ways of inflicting damage without leaving a mark. Atemu had, of course, seen others punished in such a way, but had never thought he would be on the receiving end. The Pharaoh had endured pain before, yes. But pain brought to such an extreme? To where one couldn't even think, couldn't tell if the screams they heard were their own or not? Never had Atemu thought such pain was possible. He had never imagined that others had suffered such torture.

When he opened his eyes, he found his priests staring with worried eyes. The Pharaoh gave them a smile, attempting to reassure them, "I have the blood of Ra in my veins and know better than most mortals the truths of Ra's power. He has reasons for what he does even if our minds cannot readily comprehend them. I should not have questioned him.

"Lord Ra will leave in two days time. That is all I summoned you for. You may leave," Atemu finished as he dismissed the Shadow Realm, letting the darkness melt back to whence it came as his preists stepped from the room. All but one. "What is it, Seto?"

The tall man crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, his unusual ice blue eyes staring at his childhood friend, "Lord Ra is our God. He sees all and knows all."

"I know this, High Priest," Atemu returned coldly, his eyes flashing in annoyance. "Is there a point to your observation of the obvious?"

Seto smirked and turned to face the door, pushing it open as he answered, "Because he sees all and knows all, I sometimes wonder what kind of game he is playing with our souls. And I wonder what piece I am. Even more I wonder what piece my Pharaoh is. Because if we are all pieces on a board, then what part does the King of Games play?"

The priest left before Atemu could return an answer. Three hours later, as he readied himself for bed, he still had not thought of one.

...o...

Ba-khu-ra stared at the man before him, false humor shaping his lips into a smile as the demon outlined the job he needed done. It had been this demon that saved his life the day Kurueruna had burned. Or so he said.

The demon had approached the thief king years ago, telling a story about keeping Ba-khu-ra's soul from leaving his body and healing the deadly wound. If not for the fact that the thief could feel the presence of the demon, he would never have believed the man. Ba-khu-ra's strange ability to heal twice as fast as others was also a pretty convincing argument.

"For this job you will need the power to separate your ka from your ba, for it is your demon bound ka that holds the magic you need," the hooded man whispered into the silence of the shack. The man always wore a hood and never let the thief see anything more than his mouth and beard and the very tip of his nose. "I can grant you this, but it will be painful..."

The thief king took a swig of whatever alcohol the demon had brought. It burned going down on the first drink, by the third it just felt good. Ba-khu-ra leaned forward, purposely breathing on the man to annoy him, "Nothing is as painful as what the Pharaoh's family has put me through. If it will help me gain my revenge, then I am always willing."

"Good. It begins now," the hooded one leaned back, his face still covered, as the shadows around them deepened and became solid. Not even the thief's screams could escape and the only thing echoing through the remains of Kurueruna, was the cold night wind.

...o...

~Now~

"Could we possibly discuss this elsewhere? Such as back at the temple?" Marik asked as his eyes focused on something behind SG-1. His interruption gave them enough time to look around and conceal what weapons were out before one of the dig workers called over to them as he ran up to Sugoroku.

The newcomer ignored everyone but the elder Japanese man, "Dr. Motou! I'm so glad I found you. I couldn't believe it when I heard you were here. And on such a momentous day, too!"

"Have we met?" Sugoroku asked, squinting up at the man as he tried to place the face, knowing it was familiar.

"Only on paper, I'm afraid," the man replied with an English accent and a bow. "Konnichi wa. Bakura Gregory desu. Hajimemashite."

"Doozo yoroshiku," Motou replied, pleasently surprised. "Nihongo ga wakarimasu ka?"

"Hai, sukoshi dekimasu. My wife, God rest her soul, was Japanese. I picked up some of the language, along with the family name, when we married."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Bakura. Ryou-chan speaks highly of you. Now what was it you wanted to see me for?"

"Ryou?" The man blinked, confused for a moment. " ...Oh ...Ryou ...You know my son?"

"He's one of my grandson's very best friends."

The man smiled absently, filing away the information for remembrance later, "That's wonderful. I'll have to write him and tell him about meeting you. Anyway, Professor Cameron and myself would be grateful if you could help us examine the sarcophagus that was just unearthed. From the looks of the hieroglyphs adorning it, it pre-dates the second dynasty."

"But supposedly the pyramids weren't build until the fourth dynasty, much less the funerary complex..."

"Exactly!" The man looked over the others and waved, "It's nice meeting you all. I'm sure we'll be able to talk later. If you'll come with me, Dr. Motou?" Gregory led Sugoroku by the arm towards the discovery, avidly discussing the significance of the hieroglyph style in relation to the dynastic something or other.

Silence reigned the group as they all slowly turned to face Ryou, only to see him peeking out from where he had hidden behind Teal'c, "Is he gone?"

"Ryou-kun!" Yugi exclaimed, staring at his friend in disbelief. "Why did you hide? I thought you wanted to see your father!"

The albino pulled on his hair nervously as he looked at the ground near his feet, "Well, I do... But he seems busy and I don't want to interrupt his work... Besides I can still talk to him before we leave and it's not like it would matter if I did or not." Ryou's voice took on a somewhat hysterical tone as he went into his own little world, "He doesn't even know I'm staying with the Ishtars, much less that I'm in Egypt... It's not like he really-" The boy was cut off as light encompassed the remainder of the survey group, leaving Shadi by himself next to a broken wall.

The Arab's eyes narrowed as he pulled out a cell phone and hit the speed dial. A few rings later, a female voice answered. Shadi closed his eyes, "Ishizu... I have reason to believe the Pharaoh is in grave danger, but to help him we will need someone with resources beyond ours. I would be most grateful if you could gain the assistance of Seto Kaiba..."

...o...

"-cares... He doesn't even sign my birthday cards anymore... Eric does that... I bet he doesn't even know how old I am!" Ryou continued to rant quietly to himself, his attention so focused on being angry that he didn't notice his new surroundings.

Yugi and Marik immediately went on alert as they found themselves once again on the alien ship. SG-1 took note of the change, got their bearings, and relaxed. They had nothing to worry about.

The three boys disappeared in another flash of light and Thor appeared before the remaining humans, "Greetings, O'Neill, Major Carter, Teal'c. Dr. Jackson, please forgive my previous miscalculation. The three adolescents are now unconscious and properly restrained so that I may remove their memories of our prior encounter."

Jack held up a hand, "Um, not that I mind the save or anything, Thor. You know I love you guys and all, but could you- maybe- explain what's going on? What you're doing here, what we're doing here, that sort of thing?"

"General Hammond has requested my assistance in removing the symbiotes from the children," the short creature replied, extending his arm to point at a viewscreen. "However, I have mistakenly taken the wrong ones and must rectify the situation by altering their memories."

"Oh, no," Jack replied looking at the screen, "you got the right kids. They admitted to being snake heads."

"That is impossible, O'Neill," Thor replied, blinking slowly. "There is not a Goa'uld symbiote within any of the adolescents' bodies."

SG-1 stared. Then blinked. Then stared some more.

Jack cleaned out his ear with his pinky finger, "Come again?"

"None of these children are host to a Goa'uld," Thor repeated and brought up a second picture, this one showing basic internal scans of the three boys.

"That's impossible," Carter whispered as she stepped forward to examine the pictures. "They admitted to being Goa'uld. Well, not Marik. But the other two... Their eyes glowed!"

"And the short one's voice echoed," Jack added, going into a descriptive of the conversation; Sam and Teal'c adding affirmatives when appropriate. "They were holding Daniel like a prisoner and talking in some language I couldn't understand. I'm not sure what they were saying, but it was obviously a threat of some sort. When I stepped in and saved his butt, the other two went to guard the short one and we ended up exchanging pleasantries and learning that they used to serve Ra and-"

"Jack!" Daniel interrupted, getting his friend's attention as he stepped up to the screen and pointed, "It's the puzzle."

"Huh? Puzzle?"

"The Goa'uld aren't inside the kids. They're inside the puzzle." Questioning looks from everyone in the room prompted the linguist to continue, "Think about it. The thing lit up just before we teleported off the ship and when Yugi was talking to me. When he said he used to serve Ra, it lit up again and an eye appeared on his forehead. Dr. Motou said he found it in the false tomb of Atemu, didn't he? What if it wasn't the false tomb? What if it was the real tomb and the Goa'uld was sealed inside the puzzle just like Osiris was sealed in the canoptic jar?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, "I thought the doctor said the puzzle wasn't put together when he found it. Wouldn't the Goa'uld have been dead because of that?"

Daniel opened his mouth, couldn't think of anything to say, shut it and crossed his arms, "Its the best I'm going to come up with on short notice, okay? Seriously, can't we consider the possibility?"

"Sir, he's not that far off," Carter responded in Daniel's defense. "Granted it's only about half the size of the canoptic jars that stored Osiris and Isis, but it is still within the Goa'uld's ability to adapt such a technology to a smaller, more useable format. I mean, we've been doing that for years. Computers that could only process in dos and store 100 bytes of data used to be the size of this room. Now we have twenty-five gig hard-drives that fit in the palm of our hands. The possibility that the Goa'uld could fit one of their own within a object of that size, or even have them control a host remotely is something we should definitely look into. If they had this technology 5,000 or so years ago, it stands to reason that they still have this technology. We need to test this theory if only to eliminate or- worst case senario- verify that possibility. I don't even want to think about what it would mean if the Goa'uld can take control of hosts through a remote device. The battlefield completely changes if they-"

"Fine!" Jack held his hands up in surrender, "how do we test this theory?"

"We get the puzzle off Yugi and one of us tries it on," Sam stated matter-of-factly. "So far the only indication of any influence upon a host has been through physical means. The Goa'uld may be in control, even remotely from the puzzle, but it could just mean the host needs to be in physical contact with the item or at least close proximity, which would explain why Ryou was affected. And I haven't seen Yugi take the puzzle off once, even when he was asleep."

"Well, Thor, you heard them," O'Neill addressed their host. "There anyway you could get that huge necklace off the short kid and bring it here?"

Thor tilted his head and pressed a button on his chair. The gold pendant appeared in the familiar flash of light, along with a table to hold it.

Jack smiled, "Well, unless either of you boys wants to parade around in five pounds of gold... Carter? Feel like a new piece of jewelry?"

Carter shook her head and picked up the chain it was on and gave Daniel a look, "I hope this works or I'm going to feel like an idiot." With a sigh she placed the chain around her neck.

As soon as the puzzle settled, the Eye of Ra lit up and a corresponding eye appeared on Carter's forehead.

...o...

Seto Kaiba- genius billionaire and owner of almost half the city of Domino, Japan- glared at his phone. Of all the people in the city, of all the electronics in his headquarters, of all the things he owned, this was the item that annoyed him the most. Granted it kept him in communication with a great many people who happened to be very important and all... But sometimes, such as now, he wished the damn thing had never been invented; that Alexander Graham Bell had never heard his assistant talking on the other end of that stupid wire.

Kaiba had just finished speaking with both his brother and Ishizu Ishtar on a three-way conference. Had it been only Ishizu, he could have ignored both the request and the call. But the woman knew how to get what she wanted and exactly who to go through to get it. She went through Mokuba. The one person Seto could not ignore.

Somehow the two had convinced him to use his satellite network- built specifically to track the locations and interactions of his company's duel disks- to locate Motou, Ishtar and Bakura. According to the satellite network, Yugi and Marik were on the Ishtar's land, just south of Cairo. Ryou, for some reason, was 75,000 miles above the Earth's surface. In orbit.

This was the real reason Kaiba was annoyed. The call and tracking request were nothing major. Bringing to his attention a glaring error in his perfect system, was the problem. Seto had spent months personally programming the satellite network. Hundreds of tedious hours that he could have been using for other, more satisfying projects. Like stomping Motou's ass into the ground with his superior tactics and Duel Monster might. And now that system dared to make a mistake?

"I don't think so."

...o...

The next thing Sam knew, she was standing in a room of darkness punctuated by two doors: one wide open and the other adorned with a stylized eye and shut tight.

Walking to the open door, Carter felt safe. Familiar things peaked at her from all the corners. Here a report on wormhole physics, there a half finished letter to her brother. On one of the tables were a cluster of pictures: a five-inch group shot of SG-1 at Daniel's apartment when they celebrated his birthday a few years before; a three-inch shot of Jacob and Sam hugging on one of their infrequent weekend trips; an eight by ten of Jack holding up an empty fishing line, a grin plastered to his face; and a wallet-sized picture of her latest boyfriend.

"Where... am I?" Sam whispered to herself as she entered the room. The place was amazing. A table in the middle of the room had five half-finished projects, each with their own neatly kept notepad and pile of parts and tools. They were projects Cater had put on hold due to more pressing matters. On the left side of the room was a bed that had never been slept in. Instead, notes and pictures had been piled on top in neat bins that were labeled by type and date. The pillow that should have been on the bed was sitting atop a comfortable stool on the other side of the center table. Right where Carter could grab it and use it when her eyes got too heavy to keep open after working on one of the projects.

"This place is... perfect," Sam laughed in disbelief.

"Only to you," a voice spoke from just behind her, beyond the door. Spinning, the scientist found herself face to face with... herself. Or rather, a darker, more shadowed reflection of herself. Behind the clone, Carter could see the hallway and the other door cracked open just enough to let someone squeeze through.

"Who are you?" Sam questioned her other.

The reflection smirked and crossed her arms in a very un-Carter like manner, "I am the King of Games."

Carter raised her eyebrows, "King?"

The image looked down at herself, and then at Sam, shrugging, "That is the title. Whether or not I now wear the image of a woman, is of no consequence. Although... This could prove to be an... interesting opportunity..." The woman poked herself in the chest, a curious look on her face.

"Hey! Stop that!" Carter snapped, suddenly very embarrassed.

The woman raised an eyebrow and stuck her hands in her pockets, "Why am I here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Sam returned, crossing her arms.

The woman tilted her head in curiosity and entered the room. Sam felt herself pushed to the side, her will overpowered. It felt exactly like when she was possessed by-

"Jolinar," the image whispered and came to a stop. "You have been a host to a Goa'uld before? No... Not a Goa'uld... A Tok'ra?"

Carter felt the creature sift through her memories like a someone looking through their mail: glancing at the sender's address until coming across a piece that looked interesting and then opening that just to skim through it before tossing it to the side.

Abruptly the image stopped and backed out of the room, bowing at the waist as she left, "I apologize. It seems we both have secrets that have led us to misunderstandings. Please forgive my intrusion. If you will free Yugi and return to him the puzzle, all shall be explained."

The woman retreated through the other door and shut it tight behind her.

...o...

Ba-khu-ra slowly opened his eyes, careful not to move any other part of his body and to keep his breathing even. No need to alert the alien that he was awake. No need to make him more of a target for probing than his companions. Marik was farthest from him, on a bed or table a good six feet away. Yugi was between them on a similar table/bed. Neither appeared to be restrained, but the puzzle was gone.

Obviously the alien had seen the Puzzle in action and had no doubt removed it to keep Yugi from activating it's abilities. But apparently the alien hadn't noticed the Ring. Most likely because Ba-khu-ra had drilled it into Ryou's head to keep the thing hidden beneath his shirt. After all, there was no reason for the boy to bring more attention to himself than he already did, what with the white hair and all. Ryou was far too easy a target as it was. The less he was noticed, the better, as far as Ba-khu-ra was concerned.

Closing his eyes once more, the thief took a deep breath and readied himself for the burst of pain that was coming. The alien hadn't noticed the Ring, but it was only a matter of time before the three were stripped down to get probed and then have their brains sucked out. Ba-khu-ra had to ensure that the Ring could not be removed. That meant having it bury itself in Ryou's chest, and that was rather painful. Biting down on the inside of his mouth to keep from yelling, Ba-khu-ra told the item to merge with him.

Once that was over with, the thief took a dive into his mind and headed for what had been dubbed his 'soul room'. Though he and Ryou shared a mind, they had their own little places to retreat to when they wished to be alone. Shadi had called these focused places in the mind a 'soul room' and the name stuck. Ba-khu-ra's soul room was covered in sand that swirled in a howling wind over a mud brick enclosure that was just big enough for someone to sleep in. Ryou had once called the place desolate, but the boy hadn't stopped visiting every few nights. Ba-khu-ra found it peaceful and suspected Ryou did as well.

Ryou's soul room was just as desolate as far as the theif was concerned. It was all nice and tidy, everything keep perfectly clean and neat. Outwardly, it looked exactly like the boy's bedroom back in Domino. But instead of the black and white rug, there was a giant photograph of Ryou's father. Instead of pictures of family and friends, the frames held empty glass. And instead of clothing in the dresser and closet, there were boxes upon boxes upon boxes. All filled with letters. One letter for every day that had passed since the accident. Each letter was addressed to Amane: Ryou's sister. Ba-khu-ra had even helped write a few of them, when his host had been too tired to finish, too exhausted from dealing with school work, his father, bullies, etc. An all around depressing room.

Entering the hallway that represented their shared mind, the theif tread lightly to Ryou's door, pushing it open with little effort. Ba-khu-ra could see his host asleep in the bed. Scowling, the theif crossed the room to wake Ryou up. The trip took longer than it should because 'Kura stopped to jump up and down on the 'rug' of Ryou's father, taking care to really dig his heals in when he landed. It was one of thief's favorite pastimes... At least when Ryou was asleep, "This for having to think longer than one second about who Motou-san was talking about! And this for not telling us you were in Egypt! This is for hurting Ryou and in turn hurting me! And this is just because I can! Ha! Bastard!"

Feeling much better about life in general, the thief finished making his way to Ryou's bed and shook his host's shoulder, "Wake up!"

Ryou mumbled something about a test and snuggled deeper into the sheets as cobalt scarabs crawled across his body and attempted to jump on Ba-khu-ra, a blue dust falling in their wake. Stepping back in disgust, the thief stomped on the few that attempted to come at him from the floor. The alien had drugged them.

Everything a person saw in their soul room wasn't real. It was just a mental representation of their mind put together in a recognizable form. Scarabs represented life in Egyptian mythology. Bakura senior had told Ryou that before the accident, when he still cared enough to talk to his son. So whenever Ryou was sick and took some medicine, a flood of gold scarabs always flew into his room to fight off the infection which usually took the form of mosquitoes and gnats.

The thief had since learned that Ryou interpreted all drugs as scarabs and the ones that made him pass out were always blue. The ones that fought infection were always gold. Ba-khu-ra had the ability to flood Ryou's system with gold scarabs, causing the boy to heal faster that he normally would. The thief decided that this was a good time to do so and summoned a swarm of gold to fight the blue.

...o...

Sam found herself looking into the most beautiful eyes she had ever known. Then a hand passed in front of her face and the eyes backed away to reveal Jack's face, "Hello? Carter? You okay?"

"Um, yes, I think so," she replied and removed the pendant, putting it back on the table.

Jack backed up further and stared at the puzzle, "So... what happened to you? You spaced out for a moment there..."

"Well... There was this room with two doors and this woman who looked exactly like me."

"Really?" Jack smirked, getting ideas, "Two Carters?"

Sam nodded, "She told me to give the puzzle back to Yugi and, I quote, 'all shall be explained'." Carter decided to leave out the part where the woman was feeling herself up. From the look on Jack's face, he'd enjoy the imagery far too much. Besides, it just wasn't his business.

O'Neill tilted his head in thought, "This woman have a name?"

"The King of Games."

"What?" Daniel and Jack asked at the same time while Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

Carter nodded, "I asked her who she was and she said she was the King of Games. She looked exactly like me, sir. I think that... she might have been a mental representation of the Goa'uld."

"Ah... So... Thoughts, anyone?"

Daniel smiled good-naturedly, "We could take turns wearing the puzzle until the Goa'uld agrees to talk."

Jack gave a sarcastic smirk and then turned to the rest of the group, "Better idea?"

Carter shook her head and Thor blinked slowly, offering no help.

Teal'c voiced a thought, "Perhaps we can question YugiMotou with the promise of the puzzle's return should he cooperate?"

"Now that's an idea!" O'Neill replied, "We can blackmail him!"

Sam stared, "Sir! I don't think that's necessary. This King of Games was definitely Goa'uld and could have easily tried to hold me hostage. She... He... Whatever it is, didn't. Let's give the guy a chance to explain. If we don't like what we hear, we can always take the puzzle back."

Jack rolled his eyes and muttered something rude before smiling, "Fine. We'll be nice and give the kid his puzzle back. But if he tries to kill us all, don't say I didn't warn you." Shaking his head and praying to whoever would listen, he turned his attention to his favorite alien. "Say Thor, old buddy, old pal... I know we're taking up more of your time than we should and I do appreciate that, but do you think you could get the short kid up here for us to talk to? Please?"

Thor pressed yet another button on his chair and Yugi appeared on the floor, laying facedown and unconscious.

Jack tapped the kid's side with his foot, "How long until he wakes up?"

"The sedative I gave him will last one standard Earth hour," Thor replied calmly. "I cannot administer an antidote without causing sever damage to his body as his immune system has been altered and is subsequently weaker than I anticipated. The resulting dispersal of the sedative upon reacting to the antidote would be too much for his body to handle in his current state."

"Oh... So... Should we give him the puzzle now, or wait for him to wake up?"

Carter shrugged, "We might as well return the puzzle now. Goa'uld can control the host body while it's unconscious. So far the King of Games has acted enough like a normal Goa'uld that there's no reason to believe it can't take control."

Jack hung his head and bent over to pick the kid up, "Alright... He's heavier than he looks. Teal'c, help me out here, will ya?"

"How has his immune system been altered?" Carter asked as the two heavy weights maneuvered Yugi to a sitting position against a nearby wall.

Thor brought up a second display, this one showing a strange collection of moving objects that the scientist found vaguely familiar, but couldn't put her finger on what they were. The Asgard pointed to a cluster of the objects, "This group is comprised of over 100 nanites of Furling design. They have taken over the child's immune system. They have also invaded the rest of this child's major organs. I am not sure how these came to be in his system."

"Over 100 nanites? Wait, what is this a picture of? What system?"

Thor had the image zoom out, "that was an enhanced picture of a single blood cell within the child."

Carter stared, "a single blood cell. Sir! Don't put that puzzle on Yugi just yet!"

"What? You're the one who wanted to give the kid a chance to explain... Make up your mind! Women..." O'Neill complained as he put the puzzle back on the table. "What made you change your mind, anyway?"

"Sir... just give me a minute, okay?" Sam turned back to Thor, "You said it was of Furling design? How did a bunch of Furling nanites get inside of a human boy?"

Thor blinked and tilted his head, "I suspect their technology arrived on Earth many centuries ago and these children have somehow come in contact with it. The Furlings worked hard to make their technology more helpful than harmful. The nanites will not harm the child. Had I known of them before, I would have administered a more appropriate sedative."

Jack exchanged a look with Daniel and Teal'c before popping in a comment of his own, "So, not only did these kids get their hands on Goa'uld technology, they got their hands on Furling technology? Does anyone else find that too strange to be a coincidence? Anyone? Don't be shy now, raise your hands."

The rest of SG-1 raised their hands in unison.

...o...

End Chapter Six

Sorry for the delay on this. I’ve been busy with real life and other online projects- I’m making a fan site for Vampire Game, had to find a new beta reader for this, and have been working my butt off with all the display changes/new realeases/holiday sales going on at work. Febuary and March are busy months for video games.

I'd like to thank everyone who asked to beta this, you all did great jobs and if I thought I could get away with fifteen people beta-ing this, I would. However, that would make getting the story out take a lot longer than it already does.

Jen and Olivia are my two new beta readers for this. Jen did the most awesome job with the spelling/grammer check and Olivia helped me get my Carter-voice more, um, Carter-like. She wasn't assertive enough the first time around. ^.^

Hope you like!