Chapter Text
Kaiba woke up slowly for once. Sleep lingered on the edges of his consciousness, tugging him back into oblivion. It did not help that the bed was soft and warm and a comforting weight was pressed up to his chest. He opened his eyes, wincing as the afternoon sun shone directly on his face. Well, that explained why he woke up. He would be annoyed if he had not been aware that he had work to do.
He shifted, unfolding from the curled position he had slept in, freezing when he heard a tired groan and felt something cuddle into his chest. Blue eyes opened fully and stared down in front of him to see a mop of messy black hair tucked under his chin. Mokuba had latched onto him and refused to let go even while asleep. It was adorable and Kaiba found it harder to fight back a smile than it usually was.
So he did not fight it. The smile was small and unsure from years of disuse, but the emotion was true and heartfelt. He squeezed his treasured little brother close, wanting badly to stay in bed longer like this. He may have felt mostly rested now thanks to his nap but he knew there was no way he was completely caught up recharging his soul. Unfortunately, life and its troubles waited for no one, not even Kaiba Seto.
Reluctantly, he worked himself free of his brother's embrace. He was quietly amused at the way they had managed to entangle themselves in each other, their clothes, and the blankets. It was a right mess. When he finally wriggled free, he carefully replaced the vacant place he once occupied with a pillow and a clump of still warm blankets.
He made to stand when something tugged him back. Blue eyes glanced back and sparkled when they saw Mokuba's fist holding onto the edge of Kaiba's trench coat, preventing him from escaping. Huffing a soundless laugh, Kaiba slipped his arms out of the long, purple sleeves and laid the coat down over his brother. He placed a brief kiss in his brother's messy hair before standing, finally free.
The Isono cousins had not moved since the brothers fell asleep and Kaiba could not help but be impressed at their loyalty. He brushed a hand through his hair, knocking the stray strands back into a semblance of order and stretched, rolling his shoulders with satisfying pops. He placed a hand on each of the men's shoulders in a show of respect, grateful to Ra these two men had stumbled into his life. They certainly made his crazy life somewhat easier to handle.
Rubbing his neck, he walked into the bathroom to wash his face and force away the lingering exhaustion. He was feeling the jet lag no matter how hard he wanted to deny it. There was just something innately wrong when his body screamed at him that it was night and he should be sleeping but the sun shining brightly outside argued the point with brilliant proof. He rubbed his eyes with a damp washcloth he soaked in hot water and wrung out and glanced in the mirror.
His black shirt and pants were rumpled but still decent, there were the beginnings of shadows under his eyes but nothing too noticeable yet, and there would probably be a bruise on his side under his clothes were his Deck holster had dug into him since he forgot to remove it before he fell asleep. Speaking of holsters, Kaiba checked his belt for his gun holster. He did not see it and stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom looking around until his eyes settled on the familiar weapon still in its holster lying on the far bedside table.
That was stupid of him to forget to take it off before sleeping, especially with Mokuba so close. Kaiba must have been much more tired than he originally thought. He met Fuguta's eyes and nodded his thanks, receiving a nod return. He double checked his appearance in the mirror, making sure he was somewhat presentable, before striding confidently to the door leading to the suite. His eyes glanced one last time at Mokuba, still asleep on the bed and curled around the Seto-substitute, before stepping out into the common area, closing the door quietly behind him.
The sight that met him would have thrown him for a loop had it happened less than five years ago, but now it just felt annoying. Yugi was curled in a ball in one of the armchairs near the window with his head resting in Yami's lap. The Pharaoh was sitting on the chair arm propping up Yugi's neck and running an absent hand through his other soul's hair while his eyes were distant. Kaiba could distantly feel the slither of Yami's Shadows on the edges of his senses but did not think much of it. Marik was sitting quietly upside down on the couch with his feet up against the wall and shuffling through his cards with an unreadable expression on his face.
Kaiba had to do a double take for Marik, staring at him for several seconds in confusion. He could not feel the Egyptian with his Shadows at all. It was as if there was a huge hole where Marik should be. It was disconcerting.
Turning away from the lunatic, Kaiba glanced around at the other people occupying the room. The Justice League certainly stood out amongst his fellow Shadow users like lighthouses on the sea at night. The telepath was sitting in the far corner of the room watching everyone with his eerie eyes that rubbed Kaiba the wrong way. The pet bird was sitting on the bench with her back to him and preening her feathers, a necessary evil for feathered wings but it still felt too prissy for him to take. Speedy was surprisingly flicking through his phone, probably on Facebook or something like that.
Naturally, it was Yami who saw him first, but he said nothing. He and Kaiba merely acknowledged each other's existence before returning to what they were doing. The telepath noticed him next and followed his movements with his alien eyes. Kaiba met the gold eyes with his own before deliberately ignoring the Martian and moving to the coffee pot. He needed something strong to wake him up.
"Sleep well?" Shayera asked, seeing him finally.
Kaiba did not look at her nor did he respond to her. Right now, his sole focus was getting coffee. There was no way he was speaking to anyone until after he had at least one cup. It was a routine no one, not even Mokuba had been able to break him of. Luckily, he did not have to brew a new batch, the black gold was still hot and steaming. He walked right up to the coffepot sitting on the counter by the door to the hotel suite, grabbed the plastic handle, and poured himself a cup, filling it to the brim. He set the pot down and took his first sip, the heat burning his throat and warming up his vocal chords. He sighed in relief.
"Awake yet?" a deep voice asked in fluent Japanese.
Kaiba turned to face the room and leaned back against the counter sipping his coffee. Blue eyes glanced up and met crimson mildly before lowering back to his black coffee. Yami snickered.
"Does he talk?" Shayera asked, not happy with being ignored.
Blue eyes glared at her before flickering back to the coffee in his hand. Yami took pity on her and answered for the businessman. "He does, just not until he's had his coffee," he said in English.
Kaiba stuffed his free hand in his pocket and settled into a more comfortable position leaning against the counter and actually studied the details of the room and its occupants. Noticing the kohl lining Yami's and Yugi's eyes, he removed his hand from his pocket and tapped the skin under his own eye in question.
"Yugi held Court before you got here," Yami said. "We didn't have time to change before all of you arrived."
Kaiba narrowed his eyes and lifted his head, staring at Yami steadily.
"Just his Triad," Yami assured him. "He wanted to contact his friends."
Kaiba rolled his eyes and let his shoulders droop as he relaxed again. He raised an eyebrow waiting for the Pharaoh to continue.
"Bakura made it to Japan safely, although he's causing quite a bit of trouble and driving both Honda and Otogi up the wall." Kaiba snorted and Marik's lips twitched up in a faint grin. "Anzu was not able to stay in contact for long because she had a performance, but she had news from Mai."
Kaiba sat up again in interest, still sipping his coffee.
"She's arrived in California but is otherwise still on the road. She plans on getting here either late tonight or tomorrow depending on traffic and such."
The CEO nodded and slouched again, glancing at Marik significantly. Yami's eyes darkened in reply. Blue eyes flickered away, gazing around the room absently while his Shadow senses carefully avoided touching the gaping hole that should have been Marik. His gaze settled on a couple bags piled behind Yugi's chair and paused. He nodded to the luggage with his chin in question and raised an eyebrow when Yami chuckled.
"Jounouchi's here."
Kaiba choked on his coffee in unpleasant surprise and stared at the Pharaoh in horrified shock. Seconds later, the hotel room door swung open forcing him to dodge closer to the wall out of the way. Unfortunately, this pinned him in the tiny empty space in the corner between the counter and the door, but at least his coffee had not spilled all over him. A few drops did burn his hand though.
"Hey Yug'!" the person called from the doorway. He stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him revealing a very ruffled Kaiba in the corner glaring at the back of the newcomer's head. Wild blonde hair was haphazardly combed so it swept across the lightly tanned face revealing bright eyes and an energetic smile. The person paused in surprise, noticing the other people in the room.
"Wait a sec," he said dropping the grocery bags and pointing accusingly at Yami, "you didn' say anythin' about company!"
"We weren't really expecting company," Yami said apologetically.
"Ya coulda called," the blonde groaned. "I have mah pho- UFF!" He stumbled forward clutching his head before whirling around to see what hit him. "Wha' the hell?"
Kaiba stood at his full height of six foot two inches, dark and glaring at the idiot in front of him, fist still raised from striking the back of the dumb blonde head. The cup of coffee sat empty on the countertop next to him having just been chugged by the furious CEO. Blue eyes flashed angrily as he said one, single word.
"Lapdog."
The resulting rush of Brooklyn-esque cursing in both English and Japanese was surprising to those not already used to this kind of reaction. The blonde flailed and jumped at Kaiba only to be caught by a single hand placed squarely on his forehead by the CEO. Kaiba just stood tall and unmoving watching the blonde rage and flail and yell at him, held at bay by his hand. After a few seconds, he pushed the blonde's head away and flicked the forehead earning him a surprised cry. Kaiba smirked, refilled his cup with coffee, and swept past the wounded blonde.
"Kaiba! You bastard!"
Kaiba casually sidestepped and watched passively as Jounouchi fell past him, the force of the thrown punch that did not connect carrying the blonde too far forward. Jounouchi wobbled as he struggled to regain his balance.
"Still as uncoordinated as ever," Kaiba commented. "Poor puppy. Paws too big for your body?"
"I am not a fucking puppy!"
"Stop antagonizing him, Kaiba," Yugi said, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he woke up, messing up the kohl.
Kaiba just shrugged and sipped his coffee, choosing to ignore the stupid dog for the time being. Jounouchi growled at him before stomping back to the entrance to pick up his dropped groceries muttering obscenities.
"Jounouchi," Yugi called, smiling at his friend. "Did you get any-"
"You bet, buddy," the blonde said, grinning and giving the King a thumbs up. "Strawberry flavored."
Yugi cheered and caught the small box Jounouchi tossed at him. He popped open the top and pulled out a stick of strawberry pocky, popping it into his mouth like a lollipop. "Sorry about not texting you," he said around his mouthful. "I forgot."
"Ah, don' worry 'bout it," Jounouchi said, waving away his friend's apology. "I'll pop these into the fridge and you c'n in'rduce me."
"Is that a Brooklyn accent?" Flash asked, still reeling from the confrontation he just witnessed.
"You betch' yer ass it is," Jounouchi said, grinning. "My dad grew up there 'n kept th' accent."
"You are American?" J'onn asked curiously.
"Japanese-American. My mom's Japanese and my Dad's American. I got dual citizenship," the blonde said, posing proudly. "Wasn' easy, but I'm jus' too cool fer them ta resist my charm."
"You mean they couldn't handle your idiocy," Kaiba snarked.
Jounouchi's mood instantly darkened as he visibly fought to control his temper. Yugi sighed, leaning on Yami's lap and watching the exchange in fond exasperation.
"Jounouchi," he said, drawing his friend's attention back to him. "This is Barry Allen, Shayera Hol, and J'onn Jonzz from the Justice League."
"Uh..."
"Flash, Hawkgirl, and the Martian Manhunter," Yami clarified.
"Seriously?!" Jounouchi practically bounced with excitement. "C'n I have you guy's autographs?" Kaiba groaned audibly. "No one as'ed you, ya jerk."
"I'm confused," Shayera said, eyes jumping between Kaiba and Jounouchi. "Aren't you two friends?"
Kaiba barked a laugh. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Me? Friends with that asshole?" Jounouchi yelled, pointing to Kaiba in offense. "When pigs fly."
"You'll get more than that if you don't lower your voice right now, puppy," Kaiba growled.
"Oh yeah? Newsflash. I don' take orders from you."
"Unless you want me to hang you out the window by your toes, you'll shut up." Blue eyes narrowed in warning.
"Why?"
"Because Mokuba's sleeping."
Instantly, Jounouchi calmed, crossing his arms. "Fine."
"Humans are strange," Shayera muttered.
"Indeed," J'onn agreed.
"You have no idea," Marik said, grinning at the two fellow Shadow users in dark amusement.
"Yeah," Jounouchi said, turning back to the Egyptian. "'Bout that. Why's the crazy lunatic here?"
"I'm not crazy."
"Psycho, then."
"I'm not psycho either," Marik said, raising hard purple eyes to Jounouchi's but refusing to move from his unusual position on the couch.
"Coulda fooled me."
"Calm down, both of you," Yami said, voice low but authoritative. "You're being rude to our guests."
"My guests, you mean," Kaiba grumbled. "I'm paying for this after all."
"Are you the Knight?" J'onn asked.
"Wha?" was the blonde's elegant reply to the unexpected question.
"The King said his Knight was out shopping," Shayera clarified, nodding her chin to the groceries significantly. "Is that you?"
"Oh, yeah. Yep, that's me. I'm th' Knight," Jounouchi said with a cheerful wink, puffing his chest out proudly. Kaiba could not resist to temptation and poked the blonde's belly causing him to collapse in on himself coughing. "Bastard."
"Mutt."
Before things could crumble out of hand again, Flash intervened with a question of his own. "So, no offense or anything, but aren't you a bit too young to be a Knight? Honestly, you're all a little young for this. Where are your parents? Who's in charge? This honestly feels like a bunch of rich kids playing house."
Everyone fell silent. Jounouchi wilted and looked away while Yami and Yugi held hands, eyes shadowed. It was Kaiba who spoke.
"We're a lot older than we look, Speedy. The only family I acknowledge is Mokuba and the Shadow Court and I'm in charge here simply because I'm paying for this. You got a problem with that? The door's over there. If you don't take this seriously, again the door's over there. Quite frankly, other than my kohai, I don't care what the rest of you do so long as you don't get in my way."
Jounouchi started. "Kohai?"
"The vigilante can use Shadows," Yugi said, a smile finding its way back onto his face.
Jounouchi pumped his fist in the air. "Awesome. Yugi's a great teacher."
"He's mine," Kaiba hissed, glaring venomously at Jounouchi.
The Knight paled in surprise. "Oh." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, where is he now?"
"He's currently downtown at some sort of event," Yami said, eyes slightly hazed with concentration.
"You're tracking my kohai?" Kaiba growled.
"With his permission," Yami said, heading off his Regent's fury. "I want to observe how the Shadows in this city respond to him."
The Regent crossed his arms and glared. "Next time, tell me before you start influencing my orientation, Pharaoh."
"I'm not influencing," Yami said, mildly offended.
"That's not important right now," Yugi said, waving the imminent argument aside. "Kaiba, what did you mean in that message you sent us? You took a nap before we could ask."
Yami's eyes widened as he remembered. "Yes. You said you thought the Games were decoys?"
"Decoys?" Flash said, still fiddling with his phone. "As in...a trap or something?"
Kaiba shifted, eyes drifting to the bedroom where Mokuba still slept. "It makes sense. Shadow Games aren't normally played over things as petty as the one that idiot bitch started."
"She's not a bitch," Shayera interrupted. "She has a name."
"A name I refuse to acknowledge," Kaiba snapped back. "Her stupidity very nearly ended in the senseless murder of two people and the loss of both their souls as well as her own in the process."
"Souls?" J'onn said in surprise.
"People who do something like that are nothing and no one to me," Kaiba said, ignoring J'onn's question.
"Regent," Yugi said abruptly. Blue eyes instantly whipped to his. "Please," he continued softly in Japanese.
The two stared at each other before Kaiba finally huffed. "Fine. Yes, I think they're decoys."
"Decoys hide things. What would they wan' t' hide?" Jounouchi asked, scratching his head.
"If it were me," a new voice said, drawing everyone's attention to the couch, "and I wanted something or someone, I would do something I knew would get attention to draw out my target." Marik kicked his legs down so he finally sat upright in a sprawled out position on the cushions. "Then I would lead them to me, not the other way around. The hunter can too easily become the hunted if they aren't careful. Let the prey come to you then strike when they're too busy or distracted by something else to react fast enough." Violet eyes met Yugi's. "Just like I did to you."
Yugi sat up, face shadowed by uncertainty. "But we weren't here. We were on the other side of the planet."
"But you still came, didn't you?" Marik countered. "If a Game is played, someone from the Shadow Court is guaranteed to show up and investigate." Marik's eyes darkened as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "But only the Inner Court investigates repeated Shadow Games or Games that end in particularly vicious and public destruction."
"My thoughts exactly," Kaiba said.
"They want you then?" Shayera said, beginning to understand watching the monarchy carefully.
"Okay, so," Flash said, setting his phone in his lap so the screen leaned against his stomach and clapping his hands, startling most of the others, "you guys got any enemies?"
Marik laughed. "Get in line."
"I'm rich, powerful, and young. I didn't get that way by being nice," Kaiba said.
"I don't have the best history either," Jounouchi said, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"No one from the Shadow Court does," Yami said. "We all have enemies, many of whom would love to see us dead."
"At least most of the ones we're aware of are already dead or out of the way," Marik said.
"Out of the way?" Shayera asked, her wings twitching suspiciously.
"Lost in their own minds mostly," Marik said, waving a hand casually. "I'm not particularly merciful with people who hurt my own."
"Says the lunatic," Jounouchi muttered.
"I am not a lunatic!" Marik ground out, eyes burning holes in the blonde's oblivious head.
"I know you're not, Marik," Yugi said soothingly earning him a grateful look.
"No," Yami agreed. "Just a Dark."
Marik snickered.
"A Dark?" J'onn asked, tilting his head curiously.
Kaiba grinned at the telepath. "You should listen to your telepath more often. He seems to be the only one of you capable of noticing the important things."
Flash shrugged, again fiddling with his phone while Shayera narrowed her eyes under her mask.
"Dude," Jounouchi said, watching Flash. "What're you doin'? Playin' Candy Crush or somethin'?"
"Flappy Bird," Flash muttered after a moment.
Jounouchi jumped. "Seriously?" He crossed his arms and sulked. "Lucky. I foun' out about it too late t' get it."
Flash shook his head in sympathy.
"Dark?" J'onn pressed.
"I'm a Dark oriented Shadow user, the Priest of the Dark Triad headed by the Pharaoh," Marik said, leaning back in the cushions.
"That is why he was the one to pass judgement on you," J'onn said.
"Yes."
"Does everyone in the...Shadow Court have an orientation?"
"Yeah," Jounouchi said. "Well, most o' 'em do. I know one who doesn't. Well, 'e does but...neve'mind. It's complicated. Anyway, I'm a Light. I'm the Knight in the Light Triad."
"Headed by the King?" Shayera asked.
"Yep. Got lucky like that," the blonde said, winking.
"Does anyone other than Arrow fall under Kaiba's orientation?" she asked, eyeing the tall CEO.
"Yes," Marik said. "It's not uncommon for a new user to answer to the Neutral Triad until their powers become more noticeably leaning one way or another. But if you mean people who remain Neutral, then yes. Lots."
"Anyone we've met?" Flash asked, eyes flicking up from his phone.
"Arrow," Kaiba said. "He's mine."
"Other than him?" Flash clarified.
"He won't change to another orientation?" J'onn asked.
"No," Kaiba said definitively, answering J'onn's question only. "He's mine." Blue eyes moved to Yugi's. "So is Shaadi, I might add. Care to tell me why you ordered him to take the Thief to Japan without notifying me first?"
"He was worried about Bakura's wellbeing, like I said before," Yugi said, brows furrowing.
"Shaadi doesn't worry about hardly anyone's well-being, least of all the Thief's and his yadonoushi." Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Yadonuushi?" J'onn asked, mispronouncing the word.
Yami cast his eyes down in thought. "You're aware of the theft of the dagger from the Priestess's exhibit."
"Yes. She contacted me the moment she found out."
"The thief was a shadow user capable of utilizing shadows that could not be sensed by our Shadows," Yami said, seriously.
"What?" Kaiba gasped.
"You never told me that," Jounouchi said, staring at Yami in shock.
"I didn't know until recently. It was brought to my attention by Marik and given a name by Arrow," Yami said, glancing at the blonde apologetically. "I suspected the thief was a Shadow user beforehand-"
"As did Ishizu and I," Marik said.
"But they could not track them for some reason. And now, we believe this same shadow-user-who-is-not is here in the city," Yami finished.
"Ishizu?" Hawkgirl said, recognizing the name. "The curator of the museum exhibit?"
"Yes," Marik said.
"Wait, you're Ishizu's little brother?!" Flash cried.
Marik stared at Flash as if he was stupid. "Yes." The superhero practically wilted. "Why?"
"Nothing," Flash muttered pathetically.
Shayera rubbed her friend's back comfortingly. "At least you got to meet the brother," she said, nudging Barry's side playfully. The speedster just groaned and went back to fiddling with his phone.
"You mentioned this thief had a name," Kaiba said, returning to the subject. "What was is?"
"His name is Shadow Thief, if he's who I think he is," Shayera answered before Yami could. "Green Lantern and I have fought him before."
"He was the one responsible for disturbing the tomb in Egypt before all this began," Yami said. Yugi sat up ramrod straight in shock and even Kaiba seemed disturbed by the news.
"Sick bastard," Jounouchi muttered.
"Not really, considering who was buried there," Marik said. "That particular tomb is not treated with much respect by my people."
"It's a Pharaoh's tomb, i'n't it?" the Knight asked.
Marik scoffed. "Depends on who you ask. They called themselves rulers and were worshiped as gods, but my people refer to them as the 'false descendants of Ra.'" He stared directly at Shayera. "Like our friendly birdy over there."
Shayera visibly bristled. "That's the second time you've called me that. Why?"
"Becau-"
"Kaiba," Yami interrupted, eyes hazed as his mind was elsewhere. "Arrow needs you."
The Regent straightened. "Why?"
"I-," he tilted his head curiously, and Yugi joined his Shadows with the Pharaoh's, "I believe he's been cornered by Luthor if I'm reading the other person right."
"Damn," Kaiba snapped. He glanced at the bedroom door again, regretting having to leave his brother alone again. "I'll find him."
"I can send you to him if you want," Yami offered.
"No need. I can find him." True to his word, Kaiba reached out with his Shadows, easily tracking his kohai in the a place where the city's own Shadows kept close to the one they considered theirs. He brushed Arrow's Shadows, smirking at the twitch he felt in return before vanishing.
"Show off," Jounouchi mumbled.
/Sent: 5:23 PM
Received: 5:23 PM
From: Flash
"You get all that?" /
/Sent: 5:23 PM
Received: 5:23 PM
From: Batsy
"Yes." /
/Sent: 5:23 PM
Received: 5:24 PM
From: Flash
"Good, cuz it's getting hard to keep this up. Almost got caught." /
/Sent: 5:24 PM
Received: 5:24 PM
From: Batsy
"I heard. I've got it all on record. Take a break. Report back later." /
/Sent: 5:24 PM
Received: 5:24 PM
From: Flash
"Thx." /