"Seto!" He called into the microphone. He could see his brother's face on the screen as determined as ever. He knew that he could not dissuade him now that he had made the decision. But still, Mokuba felt that he had to try.

"Seto, we haven't even tested the prototype!" His heart was racing as he felt panic rising within. He had to stop him. He heard his brother speak to him, but the pounding of fear within his mind made his words a blur. He saw the system lights turn green on the panel before him.

"Seto! Seto!" He nearly screamed at the image of his brother on the screen. The final light turned green and flashed—ready for launch. He saw his brother's hand move to the controls in the ship.

"Promise me you'll come back." He whispered, feeling hot tears welling in his eyes. His brother's eyes flicked to the camera one last time and a small smile flickered over his lips. In that smile, Mokuba knew that he agreed to that promise. He would do all the could to make it back.

On the screen, Seto Kaiba pressed the code for launch. The ship fell away from the station and hurtled toward the planet below. The screen shifted from his face to the view outside the ship as it fell. Mokuba stared, tears still unshed, at the planet leaping up toward him. A golden light flashed, blinding him briefly, and when he looked back at the screen, there was nothing.

"SETO!" he screamed, tears now falling freely down his cheeks. He could not breath; the air felt too heavy, oppressive.

"Mr. Mokuba," one of the technicians called for his attention, but he could not move. He only stared at the dark screen, hoping that he could see his brother again if he only wished hard enough. "Mr. Mokuba, Sir."

"What?!" he yelled at the technician, who jumped at the fury and pain in the young man's voice.

"I, um…" the technician struggled under the weight of Mokuba's grief. "You should know that we did not register any sort of explosion nor do we read any debris. It looks like the test was a success."

"Test?! This wasn't a fucking test. Tests don't usually send the people who designed them into other dimensions!"

"Be that as it may, sir, it does seem as if Mr. Seto was indeed sent to another dimension."

"Find a way to get him back." Mokuba ordered as he stormed out of the control room. Everyone he passed throughout the building kept their distance as he wove his way through the labyrinth of corridors in the research and development area of the building to the elevator that would take him to the top floor.

He stepped through the door to his office and his phone pinged. He wiped away the tears that steadily streamed down his face as he pulled the device out. Among the various emails and messages regarding the day to day operation of Kaiba Corporation, he had a notification that Seto had transfered all of his company shares to him, making him the de facto head of the company.

"Dammit." He spat, the anger washing over him once more. He realized that Seto had planned for this. It had been three years since the Pharaoh had departed to… the realm of the dead? Some other dimension? Mokuba did not know. Since then, Seto had grown more and more distant and lost. He had given Mokuba more and more responsibility with the company as he retreated, but Mokuba had not realized just how deeply the obsession had rooted. A year prior, Seto had reassembled the Millennium puzzle and tried to have Yugi bring the Pharaoh back. The attempt nearly destroyed the world, and Mokuba had to watch as his brother vanished before him into another dimension for the first time. The Pharaoh eventually did return, ever so briefly, and his mere presence set everything right once more. But that is when Seto found the cube and started on this foolish crusade to meet the Pharaoh once more.

Mokuba punched the wall.

"I can't do this without you." He yelled, hitting the smooth surface once more. "I'm just a kid, Seto. I'm not ready for this." He leaned heavily against the wall. It was cool against his forehead, soothing his anger, but leaving an emptiness within that ached. He slid down the wall until he could curl his knees to his chest. He knew that Seto had been preparing him to take over the company, and that Seto was not much older than he was when he took over Kaiba Corporation, but Mokuba still did not feel up to the task.

"I'm not as smart as you are, Seto. I… I don't know what to do." He leaned his forehead against his knees and let the emptiness consume him.

Mokuba ignored all requests for his attention. There was nothing so critical at this moment that it could not wait. The company would survive a few hours without him, he decided. He was stiff from sitting on the floor when he decided to stand. The way the sun streamed through the window made him realize that he must have sat there most of the day. He stretched as he stood, watching the golden bands of light illuminating the floor.

Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the office and to the room next door. The space was meticulous as ever. Seto had never allowed anything to be out of place. Many people said it was a cold, sterile space, but those people did not know his brother. Mokuba walked across to his brother's desk. He stroked the top of it, smiling at the perfect arrangement of tools that sat there next to a picture of him and Seto from one of the rare moments when they were brothers first, and everything else came second. He had not even realized that a picture of them had been taken from that day. It was from Mokuba's twelfth birthday, and Seto had spent the entire day just with him, doing whatever he had wanted. He looked so happy in the picture. It brought forth another onslaught of tears. Suddenly, the room felt oppressive and Mokuba had to escape. He hurried from his brother's space and locked the door behind him.

He tried to dry his eyes and stem the flood that threatened to fall with every step he took. By the time he reached the street below, he felt he had achieved some measure of success, but he still felt lost. The valet asked if he needed a car, but he waved him off dismissively. He needed to walk, to clear his head. It was something that Seto never understood, how movement helped him think. Seto always tinkered with things when he needed to think, but Mokuba could never sit still and had a difficult time multitasking with things so complex as inventing new technology and solving problems. So he walked. And thought. He tried to figure out how things would work now that Seto was gone. Not gone, he reminded himself, in another dimension. But he could not be rational. He felt that Seto would chide him for his inability to compartmentalize his grief, but it was not something he could simply set aside. So he walked on, without a goal or destination. His phone kept pinging at him, so he turned it to silent. He did not want to be disturbed and did not think he could handle company business right at this moment.

Eventually he found himself in front of a small game shop across town.

"Yugi." He said, looking at the light through the door. Night was beginning to fall and the street lights were starting to come on. He knew the store would be closing soon, but he could not bring himself to move. So he stood there, staring, thinking. His brother would probably disapprove, but aside from himself, Yugi was the closest thing Seto had to a real friend. He had also helped Mokuba out on a number of occasions. He felt the tears threatening again. As he reached out for the door, he heard a voice call to him.

"Mokuba?"

Mokuba turned to see Yugi standing, surprised, on the sidewalk a few feet away. He was bathed by the streetlight's glow, which made him shine like the Pharaoh had that day the world almost ended. Mokuba noticed that he once again wore the puzzle around his neck.

"Mokuba, what's wrong?" Yugi closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder. Mokuba realized that he must have seen the tears in his eyes, as Yugi blanched when he looked at him more closely. "What happened?" Mokuba saw so much of the Pharaoh in him, in how he had grown the last few years, but his eyes were kind and gentle and completely Yugi's.

"Seto…" Mokuba sniffled. "Seto's gone." He managed to get the words out in a whisper. As he did so, he felt Yugi wrap his arms around him protectively and pull him close. Mokuba could no longer stop the flood of tears as he cried on the shoulder of his brother's rival—and only friend. He could not be sure, but Mokuba thought he felt a few tears fall that were not his as he gave into his grief and mourned his brother.