Chapter 10

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"I expected more strength from you Noah." The voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The group looked around but the Kaiba's knew exactly who it was. "You obviously don't have the same determination to be free that I do. I guess this will be your true final resting place, son." Noah blinked a few times and slowly the form of Gozaburo Kaiba appeared before them.

"You... You forgot about me a long time ago... How..."

"You're supposed to be dead..." Seto added to Noah's confusion. The elderly man laughed.

"So was he." He nodded to his son and the boy calmed himself, removing the shock so he may think more clearly.

"What are you doing here?" Noah demanded, a little put off that his private world, his sanctuary, had been so carelessly entered.

"I'm getting a body." He looked over his shoulder at his son before moving rapidly into Seto. Immediately Seto fell to his knees struggling with an unseen force.

"Wh... What is this?" Noah's eyes moved rapidly around, but was focusing on nothing.

"What Noah? What's going on?" Mina looked between Seto and Noah, trying to understand, but everything was happening so fast. Mokuba rushed to Seto's side, trying to help the panicking boy, while Mina sat uselessly at Noah's side.

"He's sending a transmission, no multiple transmissions... but why... He's sending bombs to the capitols of fourteen major countries! He's starting a war!" Noah's eyes widened, but he couldn't find the strength to move. His body faded in and out, but remained perfectly still.

"Can you stop them?" Mina asked desperately.

"...No... I'm... I'm trying but..." He growled in frustration before his eyes snapped to Mokuba. "It has to be done manually." His body then disappeared, and Mokuba went still. He turned to Mina and glanced down before slowly moving away.

"Noah... no... Mokuba...you're... you cant! Noah, you cant just leave us here! Noah!" It was too late. The boy's form had already disappeared. Mina tried desperately to calm Kaiba, but he just growled and grunted, in seemingly excruciating pain. "Seto? Fight Seto... Don't give up. Seto... I love you... Please..." Mina pleaded. The moment she spoke the words, he finally straightened.

"Love me?" It was a mocking tone. He looked at her through amused eyes. "Then why don't you give me a little kiss?" He reached for her, but she shot back. It wasn't Seto anymore, he had lost the struggle. Gozaburo Kaiba had won.

Suddenly the area around them flashed a bright red. The new Seto before her looked around in a mixture of anger and confusion. He was silent for a moment then,

"What.. he's going to kill you? He would really risk you?" He said to her, glancing around the virtual world.

"Wh-what?"

"The little... he is my son after all... He's set the bombs manually. Their new destination... is you. Well, it's this place, but you don't know how to get out, do you? I do." He slowly began fading away when Noah appeared, jumping through him and ripping Gozaburo from Seto.

"Take that door! It'll lead you back to the blimp. Get out of here." He said, clinging to Gozaburo's back.

"But what about you?" She tried, but Seto, now back in control, wouldn't let her get her answer. She was almost through the door when she looked back at Noah, who smiled one last time before she was standing in front of the blimp. She rushed into it with Seto as all the others from the tournament poured towards them. It looked like Noah set them all free. "Seto... But Seto, what about Noah? He'll die!" She begged, but he shook his head. There was no time. He pulled her aboard and closed the hatch. He had to make it to the deck.

Once inside he sat, firing up the engines. He yanked his hand back as a spark of electricity zapped him, but ignored it and continued on. The thrusters kicked in as the blimp picked up the missiles on the radar. They had little time to move. He pushed the throttle into full forward gear and the blimp took off, leaving the doomed vessel bellow it as Mina wept again for her friend.

"Set a course for home." Seto commanded, raising from his seat as another took it. He moved towards Mina, who was looking down at the compound below them, and reached out to her. He almost made it before something made his blood freeze over.

'Don't touch her.' It was Noah's voice. But it was coming from inside his head, as if he thought that exact line in Noah's exact voice... but he hadn't thought it... it was something else. 'At least not while I'm in you.'

'Noah...' Seto thought quietly.

'Yes... I uploaded a copy of myself into the blimp. I downloaded myself into you while you plugged in your security key.' The zap... 'I... Cant remain in this form long. I... I need you to download me into a virtual world. I'll tell you how. I'll never bother you, or Mina again. I'm just... not ready to die.' Seto did feel some pity for him. He supposed he could do him this favor.

'I have a virtual world set up already. It's... a game. People will be playing in it.' The image of Noah being exceedingly happy flashed through his mind.

'I will get to interact with real people?' Noah asked, almost like a child asking if it was time to open Christmas presents yet. Kaiba stopped himself from smirking. He almost reminded him of Mokuba.

'Yes.'

"Seto?" He glanced back as Mina entered his room. He hadn't wanted to be around her while Noah was inside him. Hoping to appease the slowly fading boy in his mind. He just had to make it back to the lab. They were almost there. Any minute now they would be landing, but he knew she would find him first. He knew she wouldn't wait.

"Yes?" He asked, rising as she moved towards him, but made no attempt to go to her.

"Are you alright?" She did close the distance between them, but only up to a foot.

"Tired." He said shortly.

'You're not going to tell her about me?' Noah asked flatly.

'No.' Seto responded in thought.

"Do... Do you think... Noah got out?" She asked him hopefully, ripping his thoughts from the boy in his mind. He remained quiet for a long time, and Mina was beginning to look at him as if he had said no. He was waiting. He was waiting for Noah to speak, but the boy was also silent.

"Do you love him?" Seto finally spoke. Mina looked over him for a moment and smiled.

"He was my best friend, and... at one point yes. I loved him. I still have him in my heart, that will never change, but... I love you Seto." He could feel the boy's heart breaking, but he suffered wordlessly.

"He did escape." Seto said quietly. Mina's eyes shot to him and Noah uttered a confused 'Huh?' "He... His mind is downloaded into mine. I'm going to put him into my virtual world. He'll get to talk to people from all over the world. You... can even visit him." Seto didn't like saying it. He didn't want any residual feelings for the boy to rip her from him, but he couldn't let her go on line that. He didn't want to see her hurt. Not ever.

A thin layer of tears lined her eyes as she looked over him in shock. He glanced at the floor, guilty that he hadn't said it before. He had told her, though. Something he didn't want to do. Something he wasn't planning on doing at all. He told her. There was no going back now. The blimp's reverse thrusters engaged and the aircraft slowed and prepared for landing. It was only a matter of time now.

Once on the ground, Kaiba flipped open his cell and dialed the lab, making sure the preparations were being met. He then called his office, letting them know to set up the battle stadium atop Kaiba Corp Headquarters. They would use that instead of battle tower. He just didn't have the stomach to fly again any time soon.

The capsules were open and ready, and with the help of Noah, Kaiba was able to rewire and program one of them to download consciousnesses. He ran the program, waited a moment, then destroyed the pod. He didn't need that technology getting out into the wrong hands. He moved to the pod next to it and entered the game, overriding the initial welcome and placing him straight into the virtual world. Mina had been waiting there for him.

She glanced to Seto and smiled. She was face to face with Noah. Her best friend. Seto's competition. They spent over an hour in there before Seto needed to leave. He had a tournament to finish. He frowned when Mina decided to stay behind, but decided to trust her.

He came in third. Third place. In his own tournament. He couldn't exactly push the blame onto anyone other than himself. He wasn't focused. All he could think about was her... If she was still with Noah. If she never wanted to leave him. Would he be able to let her go? He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, then put on his best fake smile as he gave his congratulations to the winner publicly. He moved to the elevators, and pressed the button, no longer willing to wait any longer. As the doors opened he stopped.

"I heard... you came in third place." She was standing there in the elevator, with him, not Noah. "Are you alrig-" He squeezed her against him. She chose him. She still chose him. It's all he wanted. She giggled as she pulled away slightly, looking into his eyes. He leaned down slowly, giving her time to object, but she only stepped into him, closing the gap. A kiss. A simple, passionate, loving, perfect kiss. He never wanted it to end.

She didn't either.

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The end! Wow... that's all I really have to say about this one. I liked what I did with it, even if it did seem a little rushed...

Read, Review, Enjoy~Love You!