So I know there are A LOT of vampire AUs out there for Yu-Gi-Oh! (Unfortunately, many of them are on the… bad side of… bad.) I hope that this one is will be a bit more stimulating than the typical. It may have a bit of an Anne Rice atmosphere to it, if I do say so myself.

There are some side notes I would like to state. First of all, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, nor do I make any profit from my fanfiction, nor would I want to.

Second, I will be using a mixture of both the English and Japanese names. (You will see how and why).

Third, Yami and Atem are the same character (as they SHOULD BE), but… so is Yugi. All one character (more or less). (You will see how and why.)

Fourth, this will probably turn into a Prideshipping fic. Am I sorry…? Not really. Am I sure…? Not really. I'm still playing around with some of the plot.

Fifth, I will be using anime characters that are not technically canon… *dun dun dunnnn* That's right… filler characters! The HORROR!

And… on to the story!

Chapter 1: Devilish Tongues

A chattering voice echoed through the receiver. Seto Kaiba's molars ground together. "Mr. Pegasus would like to have a personal meeting with you, Mr. Kaiba…"

Blue eyes glared up at the ceiling. "Proxies and emails aren't working for him any more?"

The secretary on the other end paused. "Well, he says that a face-to-face meeting would be more productive…"

"For whom? We've been productive enough. There hasn't been a single miscommunication." The pads of his long fingers drummed on the desk rapidly. Their shadows danced in the slanting light of the setting sun.

The secretary's breath huffed into the receiver. "He just wants to discuss some things with you in person. Even you have to admit that some things cannot be communicated without?"

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. Knowing Pegasus, he would urge for this meeting to happen no matter how much Kaiba fought against it. It wouldn't be surprising for the CEO of Industrial Illusions to hold their partnership hostage to get what he wants, no matter how inane said desires may be. "Fine. Just this once."

"Mr. Pegasus is only available for meetings after seven o'clock in the evenings for the next two weeks. Will that work for you?"

Kaiba snorted as he swiped through his schedule. "It'll have to. Thursday next week is the only time I'm willing. Eight o'clock sharp."

The clicking of a keyboard warbled over the receiver. "Um, Mr. Kaiba?"

His breath hissed through his teeth. "What?"

"Mr. Pegasus would also like to request the meeting be held at his office in I.I.'s headquarters."

His molars ground together again. "Fine."

"Thank you for your time and consideration. Have a nice evening, Mr. Kaiba."

"Hn."

Click

Kaiba leaned back in his seat and rubbed his forehead. "Shit." If KaibaCorp wouldn't profit so much from this partnership…

On the other hand, Industrial Illusions would, as well. Pegasus had as much on the line as Kaiba himself. One would think that he would be a little less obstinate, a little more giving. But, Maximillion Pegasus had always been more… eccentric than most. (Kaiba could go as far to say that Pegasus was a fucking lunatic.) So normal behavior was out of the question in all circumstances.

A growl rattled between his jaws. His fingers twitched on the desk. He picked up the phone, drew his arm back, hissed, and slowly, painfully set it back down. Throwing the damn phone wasn't going to solve anything. No matter how much of a good idea it seemed at the time.

His email pinged, and he exhaled slowly through his nose. The app opened, and the subject line blinked at him.

Manufacturing Issue

His next tap sprawled the text across the screen, and his eyes followed the lines. Immediately, he closed down the screen and opened the dial pad. The ringtone trilled in his ear, and his jaw gritted back and forth.

"Hell-"

"What the hell do you mean the manufacturers reneged on the contract?" he snapped.

"Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. They aren't willing to go through with their end of the deal."

"Sue the shit out of them. Then buy them out. We won't have to fucking worry about it anymore." He ended the call, and, that day, he needed to get a new phone. Apparently, walls and airborne technology didn't get along well together.

"Jesus Christ, Mokuba. You're going to eat us out of house and home."

The teenager shrugged. His long, wild raven hair shifted with the motion. "I'm hungry. And it's not like we actually have to worry about food."

"I was not a bottomless pit like you are when I was that age. You're a pig," Seto grumbled.

Mokuba shrugged again. It was a wonder his shoulders weren't permanently lifted. He sat at the island counter and stabbed his fork into a piece of fish. "How was your day?"

Seto hissed. "It was shit. A manufacturer reneged on a contract."

"Gonna sue the shit out of them?"

Seto's blue eyes snapped up. "Language, Mokuba."

Mokuba arched an eyebrow.

Seto's eyes narrowed. "Do as I say, not as I do."

Another shrug, and faint lavender irises rolled toward the ceiling. "Well, are you?"

"Yes. Of course."

"And then you're going to buy them out while they aren't worth a sh-" a piercing glare cut him off, "- dime."

"Naturally."

"Then you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Seto smirked. When he stood up from the island, he ruffled Mokuba's hair. The dark, glossy locks slipped through his pale fingers with ease. "I also have a meeting with Pegasus next Thursday."

"Gross," Mokuba said, and shuddered. "That guy always gives me the creeps."

"Hn," Seto grunted in quiet agreement. "How was school?"

"It was pretty good! We did some really cool experiments in chemistry. I don't know if you noticed, but the silver nitrate stained my fingers," Mokuba babbled before he shoveled more food into his mouth.

"Your fingers aren't stained, it means that the skin cells are dead. Were you wearing fucking gloves?"

"Yeah, I am not a dunce. I think it happened when I was taking them off."

"Be more careful next time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing's gonna happen to me."

Seto shook his head and took a few steps to the doorway. "I'm heading to my office. Make sure you wash your hands a couple more times, you moron."

The car purred and thrummed rhythmically. The city lights streaked by in the dark, sleek windows. One hand slung over the steering wheel, Kaiba settled back in the driver's seat. It wasn't too far of a drive to I.I. from KaibaCorp. No point in having one of his staff drive him there. Nobody but Seto Kaiba drove Seto Kaiba anywhere, anyway. (Except when Mokuba was practicing, but Seto was all but driving when he sat in the passenger seat.)

A glowing spire of a skyscraper pierced the night sky. Industrial Illusions.

He pulled into the company's personal parking garage. A harried, despondent worker allowed him through the gate upon surveying his identification. Kaiba glided into the nearest unmarked parking space and exited his vehicle.

The dim lights fuzzed the edges of the images before him. He blinked and strode to the door. The light on the panel next to it flickered green, and the lock audibly clicked. The door swung inwards before Kaiba could even touch the handle. "Hn." He crossed the threshold.

Where KaibaCorp's interior was all sleek, clean lines, Industrial Illusions was made of a opulent, indulgent forms. It was classical, deco, and modern architecture melding into a lavish, warm environment.

The aesthetics were pleasing, definitely. But the ridges and flourishes were superfluous and impractical. Especially for a professional space.

Two guards stood ready just into a small foyer. The nerves in Kaiba's spine prickled. Their faces, the parts that weren't covered by ridiculous sunglasses, were gaunt, pale, the shadows of the cheeks grey. Kaiba fought the locking of his knees and surged forward. His heart fluttered, a trapped bird, in his ribcage. He breathed slowly, steadily to combat it.

"Mr. Pegasus is already in his office. This way," the monotonous voice of the guard on the left informed.

Kaiba nodded once, stiff curt. The two black-clad men turned, and Kaiba followed them through the doorway. Now, they passed through a great lobby. The ceiling vaulted high above, and despite the ethereal, dare say heavenly atmosphere, the skin on the back of Kaiba's neck pickled. Three sets of footsteps echoed loudly through the enormous room. Despite the hour - which, for an corporation, was not too late - it was deserted.

Perhaps nearing the elevator was when Kaiba noticed it. The dichotomy between the men in from of him the footsteps he heard. His ear twinged, and he fought the urge to whip his head back. There were two more people behind them. Two more guards, Kaiba assumed. Pegasus seemed to be trying his best to intimidate him.

One guard pushed the button for the elevator with a pallid, oddly shadowed hand. The doors opened immediately, and the five pressed inside. The two men behind were indeed guards. The doors closed, and the elevator began its ascent.

Kaiba's nose wrinkled. Stale, cold air seemed to waft off these men. He nearly shrank away from the icy auras emanating from their forms. Fortunately, the ride was short and quick. The doors slid open, and Kaiba found himself staring down nome other than the man himself.

Maximillion Pegasus.

Long silver hair obscured half of his tanned face. The visible amber eye grinned from behind steepled fingers. "Oh, Kaiba-boy. Eight o'clock, right on the dot."

"Punctuality is a virtue. Pegasus." He waved a hand over his shoulder. "Can you call your dogs off now? Intimidation isn't going to work for whatever you have in mind."

Pegasus threw his head back and laughed. "Indeed, it won't, Kaiba-boy." He flicked his fingers dismissively. Two of the guards left the room, the others retreated to the corners. Pegasus gestured to the seat before his massive mahogany desk. "Sit, why don't you. All of this standing is making me anxious."

"Hn." Kaiba crossed his arms and approached the back of the chair. His blue eyes locked onto the it before they cut back up to the man in front of him. "What do you want so badly that you need me here in person?"

"An in-depth discussion about our partnership, and the resulting profits." The corner of Pegasus' lip lifted into a smile. "Among other things."

Kaiba's nose wrinkled and his lip curled into a snarl. "I don't have time for your games, Pegasus."

"Sit."

Kaiba remained standing.

Another hearty laugh. And the discussion began.

Kaiba felt like growling in frustration. Nothing that hadn't been discussed before. Nothing that couldn't have been discussed via proxy or emails. This was a waste of time. Precious time. A dull, throbbing ache settled into the back of his skull. With every passing minute, it grew in intensity, until it was a sharp spike needling his brain stem.

But something about the air was changing. Thicker, heavier. Everything blurred around the edges, and the breath felt like molasses in his lungs. His lungs heaved, and he sank into a chair. "Peg… Pegasus…"

Pegasus' laugh was distorted. "Oh, Kaiba-boy. So resilient. I was wondering when it would finally get to you."

Kaiba's body went limp against the chair, and he couldn't stop his vision swimming or his eyes rolling about deliriously. "Wh-What have…"

His eyes slid over the man before him, saw a tan hand brush aside silver hair, the glint of gold. He groaned weakly. Pressure built in his head. His brain was going to explode and leak out of his ears.

A click of the tongue. "Come now, Kaiba-boy. Don't be so difficult. We are so close, and yet you still resist so strongly."

Squeezing his eyes shut barely gave him an edge over the pain. "Y-you bastard."

A growl rippled through the room. It was heavy, warbled, deep, shuddering. "I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. I rather like you, Kaiba-boy. Oh, what am I saying? I've wanted this for a very long time."

Kaiba's bleary eyes watched the red-clad figure loom up. A golden eye. The other burning into a sulfurous yellow. Even in his delirious state, the image seared itself into his mind. Jaws gaped opened, distended, a yawning abyss of flesh. Teeth like needles. Gray flesh slithered out, hovered in air, glistened, swayed like some serpent. The end opened, a wicked flower blossomed.

Pegasus, now some long-tongued monster, perched upon the top of his desk. His shadow loomed over. Kaiba squirmed and twitched. In his mind, he was running away. But his body wouldn't listen.

Then, the cobra struck. Fangs sank into his neck, and he whimpered at the pain. He could feel the undulation, the suction.

It was draining the life out of him.

End part

All will be explained in due time.