Author's woes: Trying to keep commentary to a minimum for this. The chapters took me way longer to create because the original source webpages for Alister's and Kaiba's decks had been obliverated for two years and no one had bothered to re-upload the lists. The episode play by plays were still there, but it'd be almost as tideous to read the episodes as it would be to watch episode by episode. I probably wrote the battle for part one at least twenty times. I'm just too tired to give more depth for this part.
Alister's Deck Notes: I'm lucky to have found the complete listing on a website and YouTube. Since I've never played the card game, it's been hard to figure out what cards to supplement his deck. (I hate tokens...) I believe I used the wrong website for the research, but I decided without any help (I know no one who plays YGO), I was more lenient with it's edit to include YGO:GX cards. Please don't hate me for that?
Kaiba's Deck Notes: A lot of Kaiba's decks, through websites were the "trading card game (TCG)" versions. I did manage to find his Battle City Finals deck list from the anime, but past that, there were none. Most I found were user created versions of his "final anime deck". But, "final" could be his GX deck, for all I know, as they all included KaibaMan. Due to my lack of knowledge of the TCG, I wrote the duel a little more stiffly than I would have liked.
Author's Notes: The chapter title was named after a song MASH-UP on YouTube. "As long as you Love me vs Love you like a Love song" by: earlvin14 , /watch?v=I-lggR_OVdE
Trust me, I'm not a Justin Beiber fan. But, the song's awesome. I tend to have imagined Justin's lyrics as Alister and Selena's lyrics as Seto.
Next chapter will be the "Seto Kaiba Chapter".
And, "Screw the cannon! I author this fic!"
Chapter 33 - As Long as You Love Me like a Love Song (Part I)
They got out of the limosuine and went into the Kaiba Corp building. The clacking of their feet echoed off the laminated floors. Téa could barely see a thing, as the only light available in the room were from the windows and the red lit emergency exits. She was wearing her yellow SPIRIT shirt with a black skirt and black flip-flops. After they entered the elevator, Kaiba took off his lace and inserted his pendant into a slot before replacing it around his neck. The elevator started to move towards the top floor.
"Seto, you don't have to do this."
He did not look at her, "I don't have to do this? Doing this is not a choice for me."
"YOU don't have a choice!? The richest man in Japan DOESN'T have a choice?"
"I do."
"So, why are you still going to fight him? Just call this off and let's go home."
"I'm tired of him blaming his life sorrows on Mokuba and myself. I'm also not going to let him get away with insulting you, like that."
"Seto! Please, don't-!"
He looked down at her, "Do you honestly want to be with him over me? Because if you do, then you're wasting my time!" His eyes were like daggers; she never answered.
The doors opened and Téa grabbed his arm, "Seto, no-!"
He pulled his arm away from her, "Let go of me!"
After he left, Téa covered her face, "How could he be so mean? What do I do?" She cried for a while before she left the elevator to catch up with him, until she heard a voice behind her.
"Téa," a heavy raspy voice said behind her.
She stopped and turned around, "Mokuba?" She saw a young man with skin that was naturally dark tanned, about Joey's height, a long black coat, and he had a bang with long jet black hair cascading down his back. His black button eyes twinkled as he let out a small smile. She could have sworn that she was looking at Seto's face. "Mokuba!?"
* Start Flashback *
Seto was talking about his trip and was not liking that his girlfriend was looking him over while they were in bed together, although it was Valentine's Day. "Well, if you're going to stare, then you're only allowed to look at is this one," he showed her his right hand and used his opposite index finger to trace along the outside of a specific scar, "That's my favorite one." She looked at it, then back at him in question. "There was this one kid: Jimmy. He only picked on young kids. He never bothered me too much. Everyone thought he was as dumb as he looked, but he was one of the few who knew that there was no point fighting anyone as physically able as I was, for fun. That and he also observed us long enough to know that I gave everything to Mokuba. One day, Mokuba was sad because the bully tore his teddybear." He took her right hand into his left and started pressing her fingers against one of the pads of his fingers, "See? Can you feel that?"
"No."
"Now?"
"Oh! Just barely."
"It faded over time, but it used to be a big callus. That was for Mokuba, too." He paused, "It was my first time sewing, so I didn't do the best job of fixing that bear, but Mokuba was happy that he was unable to hug the stuffing out of it."
Téa was beaming, "If you had children, would you sew their dolls back together?"
"What I felt wouldn't matter as I wouldn't have time for that."
"But, you made time for me."
He smirked, "I did?" He checked his watch. "I better go," Seto started to sit up.
"But, the sun's not up, yet." She started to blush.
* End Flashback *
Kaiba was walking through the arena entrance. He saw Alister waiting on the opposite dueling platform, "Well, well, Alister. So, you decided to show up, afterall". Téa and Mokuba observed as Kaiba entered and all of the smoke streaming out of the hallway entrance around him.
"But, big sister, he danced with you and he dresses like a prince." "...he said that he already had a girlfriend. And, he told me that she was a really pretty princess. And, I knew it was you!"
"He DOES look like a prince," Téa thought to herself. As Téa remembered what Abby rambled to her during her first night at Kaiba Land, she started to wonder if Seto considered her his princess. And, that it might be the reason for this fight.
"Mokuba!"
Mokuba pressed a button to stop the smoke, "Sorry, Seto." Kaiba looked annoyed by Mokuba's random addition of having smoke puff everywhere. As his brother walked by, he asked, "Are you sure you want to use this, Seto?"
Kaiba stepped onto the blue dueling station and looked down at him, "Why wouldn't I? Now, commence this duel."
"You got it, Seto." Both sides of the dueling platform started to rise.
Téa did not get what was going on, "Mokuba? Why did you ask him if he wanted to use this one?"
"This was originally built for use in Japan. But, he also had a second design and shipped the original here. We did not get time to test this one beforehand." Téa was still in shock. Mokuba's voice did not sound as much a like as Seto in person, as he did over the phone, but they looked a like. In fact, Mokuba was hotter than his brother. He started to look over the platform, "The truth is, neither design has been working and that's the reason we sent one to America. This was the less reliable model and he wasn't going to visit America much, anyway. We never asked about it's functionability because the one in Japan malfunctioned so much."
"Let's duel," Alister and Kaiba said in unison. Both duelists draw five cards and start with 4000 life points.
Alister gulped as he thought to himself, "This hand is not good." He momentarily looked up, "My move," and he drew a card. "I'll use GRACEFUL CHARITY. I get to draw three cards, then disguard two cards." After Alister draws three cards, he sends two of his trap cards to the graveyard. "I summon CYBER SOLDIER in attack mode! Take his life points!" Cyber Soldier of Darkworld comes into play with 1400 attack points and 1200 defense points. After the attack of 1400 strength, Alister has 4000 life points and Kaiba has 2600 life points. "I end my turn."
Kaiba drew a card and Mokuba noticed his hesitation, "If this doesn't work, I'll be considered a laughing stock". He glanced at his cards, "I'll use WHITE DRAGON RITUAL with VAMPIRE LORD to ritual summon PALADIN OF WHITE DRAGON! Then, I'll use his ability to tribute it to my BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!" Before Blue Eyes White Dragon fully formed, Kaiba felt a blast of air hit him. As the pixels cleared, he expected for everything to be shut down. Instead, he saw Alister's card from from across the field. It was the DE-SPELL card.
"Graceful Charity was as faithful to me, just as I've been to Téa."
"I use POT OF GREED," Kaiba drew two cards, "I'll place one card face down and end my turn".
"It works," Mokuba said softly.
"What did you say," Téa asked.
Mokuba turned to her, "This duel station was so reliable in being glitchy, that it could never generate a Blue Eyes. But, since it got disspelled, that means it was successfully summoned. So, our engineers fixed something."
"My turn, right? I place one card face down in defense mode and tribute Cyber Soldier to summon DANCING FIGHTER OF THE STEEL FAN, in attack mode!" Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan comes into play with 2200 attack points and 1850 defense points. Téa gasped at the sight of that card. "And, I'll equip him with SWORD OF DRAGON'S SOUL, giving him an extra 700 attack points. That sword also destroys ALL dragon type monsters that battles him." Téa gasped and started to run out of the arena. "Téa!"
Once she reached the hallway, she pushed her back against the wall to hold herself up. She tried her best to stifle her tears, "That card... If Seto loses, then it'll be all my fault."
* Start Flashback *
"Al?"
Alister turned to look at Téa, "Hmm?"
"I'm sorry about-." She shook her head. She forgot that he had told her to forget about the fight between them, involving Rosalia. "I want you to have something." She held up her left hand, the silver charm bracelet with the star charm hung from it. She was holding a Duel Monsters card.
"What's this?"
"Please, take it. It took me a while to find someone who had this card. And, I won it...for you."
Alister took the card out of her hand and looked it over. It was: Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan. "You dueled someone for this?"
"Yes."
He looked up at her, "It's a nice card, Téa. But, why give this to me?" She started to blush. The way she was looking at him... How could he ever doubt the reason why? "Thanks, babe."
* End Flashback *
"Téa!"
"Quit stalling. I don't have all day and we still have a duel to finish."
"What!? You don't even care about her feelings?"
"This duel isn't about her feelings and you know it."
"Yes, it-."
"Spare me, the drama. This duel is an invention of your own dellusion. My girlfriend would never settle for a such a pathetic, self-absorbed prick, such as yourself."
"Self-absorbed? That's funny hearing that from you, Kaiba."
"I don't blame you for being jealous, as you would never be able to date anyone nearly of my calibur. Why do you think you have nothing to show for your life's pain, yet I do mine? It's because you choose ridiculous short-cuts as the solution to what bothers you. This duel, is just another short-cut that won't get you what you truly want. And, when that happens you'll have yet another 'woe is me' story which no one will care about. I know this because I see you more of the type that spends his spare time dreaming about playing NECROVALLEY."
"Huh?"
Mokuba smirked, "My brother just called you 'gay'."
Kaiba continued, "If I were you, I'd would quit this duel and get myself a good therapist. If the duel ends now, I'll pay for your first ten sessions. But, something tells me that that would not be enough for you."
"Of course not. But, that's because I'm not planning on leaving tonight without Téa." They saw Téa walking back into the arena and Mokuba started walking towards her. Kaiba could not get her out of his life, even if he tried. Téa trusts him and he does not know why. Kaiba liked that she was predictable. Well, ...up until now.
"Your loss."
Téa felt Mokuba's hand on her shoulder, but she could not look at him, "Mokuba, ...you have to help me make them stop this."
"Téa, look at me!" Téa did so. "Téa, this fight isn't about you! Seto and I inherited the name: Kaiba. Until we give up that name, we'll have to fight everyone who challenges us. EVERYONE! This isn't going to end when Seto wins. And, it still won't end if Seto ever loses. Seto has no choice, but to fight." He looked at his brother, then back to her, "Téa... Since they're not going to stop, there's only three choices for you to make." She looked at the duelists. "If you choose Seto, then it'll be like this for the rest of your life. Seto EARNED this life. If you don't want any part of that, then let my brother know."
Téa looked between the two men as she thought to herself, "He means that I have to choose Al, Seto, or let this fight's outcome decide who I love?" What Téa did not get was that the actual three decisions were: to let the fight decide, she decides for herself, or she walks away from it all. Alister pulled out a box and opened it. Inside was a gold ring with an intense pink diamond solitaire. The diamond looked to be roughly two carats.
"This guy's a pure pauper. What did you do? Stumble unto Peaguses's cash while you were searching for his deck?"
Alister smirked, "You mean you don't believe that Dartz, paid me well for capturing souls for him? Don't you think that if I had enough money to buy Kaiba Corp, that I couldn't buy Téa a 'modest' size ring? In fact, I could buy your Corporation all over again and still be able to buy her a ring three times it's size. Right, dear?"
Téa, "Alister-!"
"You're right. Make that at least FIVE times the size." Kaiba started laughing. Alister looked mad, "What are YOU laughing about?"
"You'd think she'd choose YOU over ME because you bought her a piece of coal? Don't insult my girlfriend! I'm able to give her something bigger than you could ever buy," Seto smirked.
Alister sweats, "Was that a penis joke?" Téa and Mokuba also sweats.
"I don't NEED to make penis jokes! I have money!"
"I can afford anything you can! She'll choose me, in the end, because I've been giving her what you haven't all of this time."
"You're lying!" The way Alister smirked at him, Kaiba knew he was not lying. Kaiba quickly turned to Téa. She could see a look of disbelief in his eyes; his thoughts were racing. Seto's imagination was running wild.
* Start Flashback *
The doors to the vault opened and Téa and Seto stepped inside. Téa could not believe that she was standing in one of Kaiba Corp's card vaults. "I have all the cards that anyone could ever want, to make themselves the strongest deck ever."
"Seto, a strong deck isn't about numbers, it's also about heart."
"There's a difference between heart and being naïve."
"I rather get all of the cards I need on my own, then receive 'hand outs'."
"Nothing's ever been handed to me."
"You can't possibly-."
Seto gave her a nasty look, "Nothing's ever been handed to me." Téa did not believe him. "You think taking hand outs make someone a weak person? Over time yes. But, you know who's an even weaker person? A person who's afraid of losing that one thing that they believe makes them powerful. You want to know who is the weakest? The person who refuses to use their power to help himself. Are you telling me that having money makes me weak?"
Téa turned away from him, "I have enough heart and faith in myself to make my own fortune, without anything being offered to me."
"Suit yourself. But, you won't have this opportunity, again."
She smiled at him, "I'd rather miss that opportunity; I'm grateful that it's just me and you right now."
"You're naïve, if you think offering this means anything."
She was still smiling, "It does." She walked up to him and placed her hands on his jacket, as she looked up with blue eyes.
"Let go of me." He sighed. She never listens to a word he says. His eyes and mood softened as he looked her and wondered about the future. And, Seto wondered if Téa also felt that they still had feelings for one another. Little did he know, that in their near future, that Téa would cross a line with Seto by endangering his brother's welfare.
* End Flashback *
"Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan, take his life points!"
"I reveal my trap card! FIEND'S SANCTUARY!" Fiend Sanctuary token comes into play with attack points equal to Alister's life points.
"That card won't defend your life points, Kaiba!"
Kaiba smirked, "Why did you think that I was trying to do that?" Damage resolves from Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan hitting the token of Fiend's Sanctuary: Alister takes battle damage as the difference between Fiend's Sanctuary attack points and Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan's attack points. Fiend's Sanctuary's attack points decreases with Alister's life points. Kaiba has 2600 life points and controls Fiend's Sanctuary [ 1100 / 0 ]. "Any more ameature moves, Alister?"
Alister has 1100 life points, controls Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan [ 2900 / 1850 ] and one face down magic card. "You only lucked out with that moved. I end my turn."
Kaiba drew his card, "I summon LORD OF D and since he is a DARK monster, I will triple his power with NEGATIVE ENERGY GENERATOR." Lord of D's attack points triple from 1200 to 3600 and is now a 3600 attack and 1100 defense point monster. "Now, Lord of D, take out that Dancing Fighter!" Dancing Fighter of the Steel Fan is destroyed by Lord of D and Alister loses 700 life points. " Your Dancing Fighter is no match for any of my cards. Now, I suggest that you surrender to me now and take the advice I so kindly gave to you, for free." Alister did not respond. "I choose not to pay Fiend's Sanctuary's upkeep and end my turn." Fiend's Sanctuary is destroyed.
"You know what they say, Kaiba," Alister drew his card, "It isn't over until the fat lady sings." He looked at his card and smirked. "I summon TOY ROBOT BOX! And, I'll combine those tokens with SKY UNION to summon AIR FORTRESS ZIGGURAT!" Mokuba and Téa gasped. After it was summoned, the lights became slightly dimmed. AIR FORTRESS ZIGGURAT [ 2500 / 800 ] and a robot token [ 0 / 0 ] in defense mode both come into play. "Now, I'm going to end this duel! Air Fortress, attack!" Air Fortress Ziggurat's cannons fire at Lord of D and the playing field fills with smoke. Alister looked at Téa, "I was going to wait for a more scenic place, but I was wondering if it was all right for me to propose to you in front of Air Fortress Ziggurat." Alister heard Kaiba laughing and looked towards him. He clenched his hand and pointed at Kaiba, "What's so funny!? Only a man who doesn't love Téa would laugh at losing this duel!" The smoke formed a ring and Lord of D [ 1200 / 1100 ] jumped out of it. "That's impossible...!"
"Apparently, you're so obsessed with my girlfriend that you forgot that you were dueling the best duelist in the world! So much so, that you failed noticing that I saved my dragon lord with INTERDIMENSIONAL MATTER TRANSPORTER."
Alister's angered face turned into a smirk and cooly said, "That's fine Kaiba. Even if you DO summon all of your Blue Eyes White Dragons next turn, you're in no position to win against Ziggurat." Alister's grin grew wider, "In fact, go ahead, ...summon them. I can't wait to defeat them and see you at your most disgraceful."
"Are you done?"
Alister has 400 life points and Kaiba has 100 life points. "Why, yes. I'm going to end my turn. I can't wait to see your dragons, Kaiba."
It was Kaiba's draw. Who was Téa? A young woman who was more trouble than she was worth. Kaiba was fighting because his girlfriend got insulted by some guy who wanted to pin all of his life's woes on Mokuba and himself. The guy's woes were enough of a reason to fight; it will never stop for the Kaibas. The ironic thing is that Kaiba, himself, insulted Téa quite a bit before he started to like her. He had to DEAL with the fact that she became Mokuba's friend. Their ideologies were different. When it came to relationships, she was an optimist and he was a pessimist. He saw that Alister was serious enough about her to propose. Kaiba knew that Téa wanted to get married and he remembered how she cried when he told her that he would never marry her, this past Easter. What Seto could give Téa was bigger than Alister's engagement ring, but he knew what Téa wanted was something Kaiba refused to give to her. Were things bad enough between them for him to let go, so that Téa could have what she has always wanted? Seto held his hand over his deck. He looked down, as he was not sure what to do.