Chapter 21

Cutting Deep to Heal Faster

Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything YuGiOh. I just own my characters and Dark Mage of the Sea owns hers.

To understand what happened in the last part of this chapter, read chapter 23 of River.

When a sentence is **like this**, it's sign language. When a sentence is ~like this~, it's phoenix speech.

Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, my coauthor and best friend.

Once in the air, Kaiba retreated into himself. His mind was racing. 'Not only is KaibaCorp being taken over…Tiki has been kidnapped by Doma.' He mentally scoffed. 'What a dark irony…to realize how much Mutou Tiki means to me by having her taken away.'

Sitting across from him, Mokuba looked sad. "Nii-sama, it…it can't be true. I can't believe Yugi lost and Tiki was kidnapped. I can't…!"

Without opening his eyes, Kaiba said, "That only means one thing: he's a regular man. And you know my philosophy: I don't deal with losers."

Mokuba knew that but was still worried. "But what about Tiki? Who knows what those bastards are doing to her!"

Kaiba tensed up. "If that poor excuse of a brother can't save her…" he looked up with narrow eyes, "…then I will."

Mokuba was taken aback by Kaiba's determination to save Tiki. He then remembered Kaiba's outburst when Joey blurted it out and the "yes" on the "do you have an answer?" paper. The child was able to put two and two together. 'Nii-sama is in love with Tiki. That has to be it.'

He was about to bring it up when he noticed something. Going to the window, he lit up. "Nii-sama, look! It's an aurora! It's so pretty."

Kaiba looked out the window and saw the aurora. But he knew this was not right. "Why is it suddenly appearing?"

Just then, the pilot came on the intercom. "We are about to hit some turbulence. For your safety, please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened."

The brothers sat down but kept staring at the aurora. Kaiba remembered, "When Duel Monsters started to appear, so did auroras."

Before he could continue, the lights started to flicker on and off. Concerned, Kaiba used his coat communicator. "Captain, what is happening?" He was met with silence. "Answer me, captain!"

Worried, Mokuba offered, "I'm going to take a look."

He and Kaiba started to head to the cockpit but stopped when they realized there was no one else onboard. As the lights turned off, a familiar voice came over the intercom. "Inch' e patahel, Kaiba? Is something bothering you?

While they did not understand what the first question was, they recognized the Armenian accent. Kaiba cursed him, making Alister chuckle. "About time you figured it out, Kaiba."

Kaiba shouted, "Where are you, Alister?!"

Mokuba, however, was thinking about something more important. "Nii-sama, the cockpit!"

The brothers ran up and saw they did not have a pilot. Mokuba grew more scared but Kaiba noted, "The plane is on autopilot."

Alister's voice rang out. "Wrong! I'm not there. I'm over here."

Kaiba grew more annoyed. "What the hell is he playing at?"

Kaiba and Mokuba walked around the plane, trying to find Alister. All the while, Alister's voice kept teasing them over the intercom. Finally they found the Armenian in the plane's board room. "Seeing you again brings a smile to my face, Kaiba Seto."

Kaiba demanded, "What did you do to my crew, you bastard?"

Alister snickered. "I don't care about people who have nothing to do with us. Such innocents shouldn't be near a battlefield. Besides, they were never here in the first place. With Doma's power, doing such a thing as creating the illusion of people is a parlor trick. Now…down to business: shall we pick up where we left off?"

Mokuba remembered what Alister said about his little brother last time. "Don't do this, Alister! You fighting my brother is a mistake!"

Alister stood up and gave the child a hard look. "This is revenge…pure and simple."

Mokuba was discouraged but Kaiba scoffed. "Whatever your intentions are, I don't care. In a duel, he who is calm and collected shall come up on top. That is…he who is strong."

He walked forward, ignoring Mokuba's pleads to not do this. He lowered the table and chairs and said, "I accept this duel."

Alister scoffed. "Like you had a choice. Kaiba, the moment your soul is ripped from your body…is the moment Mikey will be at peace!"

Alister made the first move, summoning Science Soldier (DEF 800). Kaiba summoned X-Head Cannon (ATK 1800), who quickly destroyed the soldier. Alister this time summoned Cyber Soldier of Darkworld (DEF 1200) and set a card face down. Kaiba summoned Y-Dragon Head (ATK 1500), who reduced the Cyber Soldier to dust. X-Head Cannon then attacked Alister directly, lowering his life points to 2200. But Alister smirked in triumph, which Kaiba did not notice as he set a card face down. As he drew, Alister stated, "I expected nothing else from you, Kaiba: summoning two monsters and directly attacking me. I suspect your monsters have more to show. However…if that's true…this place is a little too cramped. Let's make some more space…shall we?"

Realizing what card Alister just drew, Kaiba yelled, "Stand back, Mokuba!"

Before Mokuba could react, Alister played the Seal of Orichalcos. Mokuba was knocked into the stairs, the plane started to slowly nose dive (the Orichalcos' power turned off the autopilot), and the Seal brought Kaiba and Alister on top of the plane. Kaiba glared at Alister. "Bastard…"

Alister's dark aura started to cover the entire Seal. "This tainted card will awaken the darkness in your soul. See you in Hell…or, as Mikey and I called it, home."

Kaiba glared until he could no longer see Alister.

Coming to, Kaiba found himself in a basement full of crates. Looking around, he heard small voices with Armenian accents from above: "Hurry up." "Be careful." "Wait for me."

Three children came down into the basement; one looked like Mokuba with short hair. Kaiba mentally shook his head. "No…this is nothing more than occult nonsense."

The three boys put their supplies (three box meals, three cans of beans, and two bags) on a nearby crate. The Mokuba doppelganger noticed, "Oh, you're awake, mister."

His friends sat down and started to eat from the cans of beans. The blonde said, "If you're awake, leave. This is our spot; we're not sharing it."

Kaiba focused on the crates. They had soldier helmets and grenades littered around them. "What is this garbage?"

The boy in overalls said, "Ain't garbage! We got them from the streets. Useful things are dropped in war."

The blonde silenced his friend, calling him Dennis. Kaiba looked to his right and saw those crates had rifles in them. "They drop things like this?"

The blonde shrugged. "Who cares? We're planning to give them to people in the city. We have to protect ourselves; that way, the enemy can leave and this war will end."

Kaiba listened but his attention was drawn to a chessboard. "Chess…"

Before he could remember his history with the game, the Mokuba doppelganger chirped, "You play chess?"

Creeped out by how much the kid looked like his brother, Kaiba asked, "What's your name, kid?"

The doppelganger smiled. "Yuan."

The blonde said, "Yuan, if you're not going to eat, go back out there and collect more weapons. It'll make up for the pathetic collection you got so far."

Yuan tried to protest but the blonde was adamant. Having enough, Kaiba started to leave. 'This is nothing more than an illusion…that's all this is. Alister is just using these to mess with my head.'

He left the building, which turned out to be a ruined church, with Yuan following him. The buildings around the church were just as, if not more, destroyed. Kaiba had to take pause. Worried, Yuan got in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Kaiba did not answer and kept walking. Following on a nearby wall, Yuan explained, "Tony and Dennis lost their parents to the war. Not just us: half the kids living here are the same. But I'm lucky: I still have Tony and Dennis."

Kaiba started to grow enraged. 'Alister, why are you showing me this?!"

Yuan remembered, "You know how to play chess, right? That chess board is mine. Play with me?"

Kaiba was taken aback by Yuan's nonchalant attitude amidst a terrible war. Jumping off the wall, Yuan innocently drew a chess board in the dirt and set up bullets and shell casings as the pieces. Once the pieces were in place, Yuan moved a small shell casing forwards a few squares. Unfortunately, what Yuan was doing was reminding Kaiba of when he and Mokuba used to play in the orphanage. Yuan giggled. "Your turn."

Shaking the memories, Kaiba started to play. But their game was interrupted by the sound of a missile flying by and an explosion and fiery cloud from the missile making contact. Yuan shot to his feet. "That's where the church is!"

Yuan ran back with Kaiba following. To the child's horror, the church was destroyed. "Tony! Dennis!"

Tears in his eyes, Yuan tried to go to the church but Kaiba grabbed him. "Stop, it's too dangerous!"

Yuan turned to protest, making Kaiba see Mokuba for a brief second. Suddenly four tanks approached behind them, all having the KaibaCorp symbol. Having enough, Kaiba said, "This is nothing more than an illusion! I will not believe this, Alister! End this now!"

With that declaration, the four tanks fired and destroyed Y-Dragon Head. Looking around, Kaiba saw the church was destroyed but not in fire and Yuan was gone. Glaring at Alister, he said, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Creating such an illusion!"

Alister numbly stated, "Oh, that wasn't an illusion. That actually happened. That kid you had…he was killed by military fire soon after the church destruction. Sad to say, such a sight is not rare here. Mikey died in a similar way. Anyway, let's continue our game."

During the illusion, Alister had played KC-1 Clayton (the biggest tank) and the trap card Tank Corps (the three tank tokens). KC-1 Clayton had 500 ATK for every token; with the three, it had 3500 ATK. Thanks to the attack, Kaiba's life points dropped to 2000. Alister then played a card face down and ended his turn. Kaiba lowered his head for a moment, feeling his rage grow. His mind was on Yuan, especially since Yuan was Mokuba's doppelganger. Now more furious, Kaiba played Monster Reborn, bringing back Y-Dragon Head. He then summoned Z-Metal Tank (ATK 1500). With all three monsters on the field, they combined to make XYZ-Dragon Cannon (ATK 2800). Discarding a card from his hand, Kaiba activated its special ability, destroying Alister's Tank Crops and lowering KC-1 Clayton's ATK to 2000. Then XYZ-Dragon Cannon attacked and destroyed KC-1 Clayton, reducing Alister's life points to 1400 and breaking the illusion. Alister almost smirked. "I can feel your anger. The proper reaction when faced with war!"

Not wanting to think about what he witnessed, Kaiba growled, "I'm just battling! This is a duel!"

Alister smirked. "To you. To me, it's reality. But, even after that hell, I am still praying: praying for a world without weapons…a world at peace, without war…but that's a fantasy. No matter what we do, there will always be a Kaiba Gozaburo somewhere, causing destruction. Reality is weapons will stay and humans will always fight. Therefore, the only thing we can do is destroy this kind of world! From the ashes of this world, a new world without conflict will be born! One day, I realized that…no, Doma showed me that this is the only solution! For that to happen, I need your soul!"

Kaiba glared but was distracted by the plane nosediving. Seeing Mokuba was not in the stairwell, he hoped the child was in the cockpit, trying to fix their trajectory. As if annoyed, Alister loudly cleared his throat. "We're in the middle of a duel here! This next card will send you to your grave!"

While he was worried about Mokuba, Kaiba knew he was stuck. 'Mokuba…do whatever you have to. I'll be there shortly.' Tiki's smile flashed through his mind. 'I can't die here…I have someone to save!'

Alister played Junk Dealer, a card that would allow him to summon up to two machine or warrior type monsters from the graveyard in attack mode but with half their ATK. With it, he revived Science Soldier (ATK 900 thanks to the Orichalcos and Junk Dealer) and Cyber Soldier of Darkworld (ATK 1200 thanks to the Orichalcos and Junk Dealer) and then summoned Cypher Solder (ATK 1850 thanks to the Orichalcos). He then played Soldier Revolt. Thanks to his three monsters, Alister made XYZ-Dragon Cannon, Kaiba's face down card, and every card in Kaiba's hand go to the graveyard. Finally, Alister played Sky Union, allowing him to sacrifice his three monsters to summon Air Fortress Ziggurat (ATK 3000 thanks to the Orichalcos). Kaiba was so shaken by the sight of the aircraft carrier-sized, covered in guns monster, he did not hear Mokuba return (the child managed to get the plane level thanks to calling Roland and getting help). Alister smirked. "A much fitting monster to kill you with. This monster cannot be affected by magic or trap cards. Oh, and for every end phase, a Robot Token will be special summoned, which is what you'll be forced to attack. Kaiba…this will be my tool to exact my revenge!"

Kaiba glared. "Shut up! Sentimentality does nothing to me!"

Upset, Mokuba cried out, "Stop it, both of you!"

Kaiba sternly said, "I'm sorry, Mokuba, but if I don't defeat him, our dream won't come true."

Mokuba realized, "You mean…Kaiba Land."

Kaiba nodded and focused on Alister. "No matter who or what it is, I will defeat anyone who gets in my way…" he remembered Tiki's giggle, "…both in work and life."

He played Pot of Greed, drew two cards, and played one face down. Alister chuckled. "Looks like the cards you relay on hate you. When Ziggurat attacks, you will lose! As for your dream…don't make me laugh. Kaiba Land? Someone who was raised by Gozaburo is incapable of bring happiness to others."

Mokuba shook his head feverishly. "You're wrong! Nii-sama is nothing like Gozaburo! Kaiba Land is something we wanted before we even knew Gozaburo existed!"

"That's enough, Mokuba. He's too set in his ways; he won't understand."

Alister smirked. "You got that right. Just like you can't understand what Mikey and I saw in the hell we called home. Oh well, such things aren't important in the grand scheme of things. Time to end this! Time to make your soul bring an end to everything!"

Ziggurat attacked Kaiba directly. But Kaiba was ready with Magical Trick Mirror: while it was useless on Ziggurat, it did replicate Junk Dealer, letting Kaiba summon Judge Man (ATK 1100 thanks to Junk Dealer) from his graveyard. Judge Man was destroyed by Ziggurat but Kaiba managed to survive with only 100 life points left. When another Robot Token came onto Alister's side of the field, KaibaCorp helicopters flew by. Mokuba lit up. "Roland's rescue choppers!"

One helicopter went to the side of the plane, showing Roland inside. While Kaiba was pleased Roland was there, he heard Alister breathing heavily. 'I know that look…'

Remembering the Azerbaijan attacking his camp with KaibaCorp helicopters, Alister screamed at Kaiba in his PTSD. The Orichalcos' power surged, destroying the plane's windows and causing the plan to depressurize. As Mokuba held on, the plane disappeared into a cloudbank; the only way to get an idea of where it was was Ziggurat. Once away from the helicopters, Alister glared at Kaiba. "Take off that mask you hide behind, Kaiba! You see beauty in such weapons and you dare to speak of Kaiba Land?! No matter how nice your words appear to be, you are no different than Gozaburo! Hell, you are no different than those murderers I had to run from! Someone like you will never understand how hard life is for innocent people like us!"

Kaiba did not answer verbally. 'If only he knew what kind of hell my life was. As for me being Gozaburo…'

"I consider you a miracle. Any other person would have turned out very differently after all that abuse you endured. But you rose above it…I see it. … The reason why I'm in love with you…is because, when I look in your eyes, I see more than a man who shunned the world because of what was done to him. I see a men who, even though he's been tough trials and tribulations…was able to rise above it."

Kaiba mentally smirked. 'Wait for me, Tiki.'

He activated Soul Exchange, sacrificing the Tokens to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000). Alister almost rolled his eyes. "What's the use of summoning Blue Eyes? If I get another monster, this duel will be over!"

Kaiba retorted, "If you get one."

Alister drew and got a magic card. "One lucky bastard."

He played the card face down and ended his turn, getting another Robot Token. The Token was quickly destroyed by Blue Eyes. Kaiba set a card face down and ended his turn. Alister drew and smirked. "Yes…yes…! This spells the end for you!"

He played Toy Robot Box: by discarding a card, he got three more Robot Tokens. He then used one to summon Spell Canceller (ATK 2300 thanks to the Orichalcos), a card that also negated all magic cards. "This is the end for you, Kaiba! Ziggurat and Blue Eyes will destroy each other and then I'll attack you, killing you once and for all! But don't despair! Your soul will be used to bring forth a new world!"

Having enough, Kaiba got an idea. "Will you really destroy everyone?"

"Yes!"

"Really? So, just as your brother and parents were murdered, you plan on doing the exact same thing to every parent and brother?"

Alister tensed up and started to sweat. "Th-That's not how it is. This isn't murder; this is a reset. I have to make things back to zero before rebuilding everything! That's how we can create peace without wars!"

Kaiba smirked. "You call it a reset. If Mikey was still alive, would you still be doing this? Would you still want to reset everything?"

Alister paled. "S-Shut up! You're the one who killed him and you dare talk about him?!"

Kaiba's smirk grew. "You're wrong. You are the one who couldn't save your little brother!"

Alister grew white. "What…are you…?"

"Do you need me to spell it out for you? You were the one who failed to save your younger brother. Based on that fact alone, you are the loser. You want to reset the world? You are just howling, you dog!"

Alister started to shake in anger. "Kaiba…you are the only one…I can never forgive!"

Off Alister calling its name, Ziggurat aimed its guns at Blue Eyes. But, before Alister gave the attack command, Kaiba said, "If I had been in your shoes, Alister…I would have never let my little brother die! No matter what!"

Alister was shocked to silence as Kaiba activated Tyrant Wings, giving Blue Eyes new wings, 400 more ATK, and the ability to attack twice. Blue Eyes attacked Ziggurat, reducing it to a fiery rubble. Alister was left with 1000 life points as Kaiba pointed out, "You don't have any monsters to defeat me with."

Alister hissed, "So what? It matters not: this plane won't last any more than a few minutes." He smirked. "If we keep this up, you and I will go to Hell together!"

Kaiba could hear the engines failing and realized, "That's why you haven't declared turn end: you're buying yourself some time. You told me you wanted to put an end to this!"

Alister stated, "That's exactly what this is: our end."

Kaiba growled, "You wanted suicide by duel, didn't you?"

Mokuba was horrified. "Alister, don't! If you do this, your brother would be sad!"

Alister looked at Mokuba for a moment before shaking his head, as if trying to calm himself. Kaiba said, "Loser dog…right down to your blood."

Alister glared, his eyes almost in tears. "You said you would save your brother. But can you really do that?"

"I can and I will."

"You're an idiot! I have three monsters on my field and you only have one! It's impossible for you to defeat me, win the duel, and save Mokuba before this place crashes!"

"Then let's keep dueling! I will not let Mokuba die! I will defeat you in the next turn!" Kaiba's mind then flashed to Tiki making her confession. 'Then…I can focus on saving her.'

Alister had his doubts but said, "Then show me. Turn end."

Kaiba declared, "Witness the power of a True Duelist and one of the Chosen Ones!"

He drew and played the Fang of Critias. He then transferred Tyrant Wing to Critias, creating Tyrant Burst Dragon, a monster that can defeat all monsters on the opponent's field and cause damage to the life points. But Kaiba was not done: he combined Tyrant Burst Dragon and Blue Eyes White Dragon to create Blue Eyes Tyrant Dragon (ATK 3400). The new dragon attacked and destroyed Alister's monsters and life points. Admitting defeat, Alister whispered, "Not bad, Kaiba."

The Orichalcos shrunk around Alister, returning the plane to normal. Mokuba ran up to Alister but knew he could do nothing. Alister looked up at the child. Standing and smiling the first genuine smile he had in years, he gave Mokuba Mikey's action figure. "It's all right, Mikey…"

With that, his soul was taken. Mokuba was shaken but his and Kaiba's attention went to the plane when it started to tremble. "Stay here, Mokuba!"

Kaiba raced to the cockpit. Grabbing the airplane's tiller, he tried to steady the plane. "Alister, I'll show you I fulfill my promises. To save Mokuba…and to save her. Tiki…I'm not a believer but pray for me."

As he focused, he did not notice his Duel Disk glowing. Finally, he got the plane level; what he did not know was that Timaeus, Hermos, and Critias were outside, helping the plane along. Finally, he brought the plane down in an emergency but safe landing. Sighing in relief, he rejoined Mokuba. "Let's go, Mokuba."

Mokuba asked, "We're not going to leave Alister, are we?"

Kaiba took a moment before going over and picking up Alister. But he did smirk at Mokuba. "Don't offend me like that."

Mokuba smiled softly, recognizing the teasing tone. When the door opened, Kaiba saw the group of friends below. His eyes zeroed in on Yami and glared at him. "You…"

He jumped down and laid Alister out. He did his best to not look at Yami as KaibaCorp rescue helicopters started to come in. Joey realized, "That guy's part of Doma."

Tristan asked, "You won, didn't you?"

Kaiba scoffed. "Of course. More importantly, why are you all here?"

Yami explained, "The three dragons led us here. Kaiba, it appears we're destined to fight together."

Kaiba felt tempted to yell at Yami again. 'He loses someone precious to both of us and he's daring to ask for my help? I can get Tiki back without him. But…I suppose there are strengths in numbers.'

He turned away and smirked. "I don't believe in fate. But you groupies might be useful in this 'certain situation.'"

Just then, Roland came out of the rescue helicopter and ran up to Kaiba. "Master Seto! Master Mokuba, you're both safe! Master Seto, I have bad news!"

In the board room, Dartz and the scarred woman next to him received the news they had been waiting for: Dartz now owned KaibaCorp. The woman smirked at Dartz as he stood up. As "she" spoke with a hollow-sounding voice, the black choker with two Orichalcos stones glowed. "Excellent. One step closer to achieving our goals."

Dartz stood proud and tall in his triumph. "Thank you…Lady Queen Tima."

"Tima's" smirk widened.