YU-GI-OH! Forever

A fan-fiction by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: Yawn…the only thing I own is this fanfic, not the original Yu-Gi-Oh story or characters. I also own some of the cards inspired by Kazuki Takahashi's great work.)

CHAPTER 37

ON THE WAY TO KAIBACORP

While the duel between Seta and Raven continued, on the other side of town Honey's limousine was racing toward the Kaibacorp building. Inside that limousine, in the back seat Yugo and Kyo were sitting on one side, and Honey was sitting opposite them.

"You said you would explain this whole thing to us," said Kyo. "So, please tell us what's going on."

Honey nodded and wiped her eyes. "I assume you know about the details of the Kaiba-Pegasus feud?" she inquired.

Yugo and Kyo nodded. "Everybody knows that Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusions have been corporate rivals since well over fifteen or so years ago," remarked Yugo.

"Yes," said Honey, nodding again. "Well…that was about all the feud entailed, until twelve years ago."

"Why? What happened?" asked Kyo.

"I was still very young when it happened, so I don't remember all of the details, but I will tell you what I know." Honey cleared her throat. "You remember I told you that Pegasus adopted me?"

"Yeah," said Kyo. "So, what about that?"

"Well, both my brother and I were adopted by Pegasus after our parents died." Honey sighed sadly. "He was a good father to us…raised us willingly, as though we were his own flesh and blood, and because of that Raven and I are entirely indebted to him."

Yugo looked searchingly at her. "What…happened…?"

Honey swallowed hard. "Well…my mother and father were on board a private jet from Cairo, Egypt, returning to the States. There were about fifty other people on board…all invited to view an archaeological find that had been recently uncovered by the famous researcher, Rebecca Hawkins. The exhibition and transportation for these people…were both funded by Pegasus. Mom and Dad were longtime acquaintances of Pegasus, so they had VIP passes to be there with all those important people.

"Well…what happened was…the plane crashed. Everybody on board was killed."

Kyo stared in astonishment. "Killed…? Gee…I'm sorry."

"That's not the end of the story," Honey continued. "Soon after that, the relatives of the dead passengers filed a lawsuit against Pegasus for negligent homicide. They were accusing Pegasus of hiring drunk pilots to fly that plane. Pegasus denied the charges, and the case went on for several long months, and Pegasus was in danger of losing millions in compensation to the families of the victims. But in the end, the US Supreme Court cleared Pegasus of all blame, and it was declared that he and his employees were in no way responsible for the tragedy."

"So why is the feud still going on, then?" Kyo wanted to know.

"That, I found out some weeks ago," said Honey. "I found out the reason when I accidentally stumbled upon a journal of his. Evidently, Seto Kaiba was the main person responsible for that lawsuit. His wife and brother were among the passengers on board that plane."

"So…Seta's mother and uncle were…my God…" Kyo slowly ran a hand through his hair.

"You got it." Honey smiled an unhappy smile. "To this day, Kaiba and Pegasus have been even more bitter enemies because of that. But the worst part of it is…Raven's taken the whole dispute to heart, and has taken an intense dislike to everything the Kaiba family stands for. Because he can't directly confront the senior Kaiba, my brother has taken Seta as his rival, determined to defeat him in Duel Monsters to make a statement to the world – that the Pegasus family is better than the Kaiba family."

"So that's why you wanted to defeat Yugo so badly…you wanted to prove that Raven could still be the number one candidate to defeat Seta," Kyo said thoughtfully.

"Yes. If I could prove that Seta's only real rival is Raven, then my brother could keep the hope alive that one day, he'd be able to defeat Seta." Honey sighed.

Kyo adjusted his glasses and fixed a hard stare on Honey. "So, if that's the case, why do you idolize Seta like you do?"

Honey's cheeks became flushed. "Well…that's because…"

"It's because she likes Seta."

Kyo started at Yugo's brusque manner, and Honey blushed in embarrassment. But when they both looked at him, they sensed that something was very, very wrong. "Yugo…?" Kyo questioned.

Yugo's eyes were overshadowed by his bangs, but his mouth was set in a grim line. "Isn't it obvious, Kyo? Evidently this girl holds some admiration, and even affection, for Seta. She doesn't care about the family feud, even if her brother does. But she probably can't say anything about it because she's afraid of what everyone else who's involved in this quarrel will think." He then looked up and fixed her a burning stare. "Am I right?"

Honey hung her head. "Y-yes."

Kyo's brow furrowed. "Yugo…what's come over you all of a sudden…?"

Yugo did not answer that. He reached over and tapped the partition glass. "Driver, how much further to Kaibacorp?"

"Another ten minutes, sir."

"Good." Yugo settled back in his seat, crossing his arms, a vicious scowl on his face. Seeing the look on his face, Kyo and Honey decided that right now, silence was more than golden.

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OUTSIDE KAIBACORP, AT THE SAME TIME

While Honey's limo sped toward Kaibacorp, the crowd was still cheering on Seta and Raven's duel. Raven currently had 4500 life points; Seta had 4200. Raven had nothing whatsoever on the field, and he had no cards in his hand. Seta, on the other hand, had King Dragun and Rare Metal Dragon together on the field, though he also had no cards in hand. And it was now Raven's turn.

Slowly, carefully, Raven drew his card. "YES! Now here's something I could definitely use!" he exclaimed. "I activate Pot of Greed to give me two more cards!" And he drew another two cards.

"Now, this is what I'll do," he continued. "I'll set one monster facedown, and also I'll set one card facedown. Then I'll end my turn."

Seta drew his next card. "I activate Monster Reborn to summon one of the monsters I discarded with my Graceful Charity's effect earlier – the Cave Dragon (ATK 2000, DEF 100) in Attack Mode!" He then brought forth the dragon, blowing smoke as it readied for battle. "Now, my Cave Dragon, attack and destroy his facedown monster!"

The Cave Dragon took a deep breath, then blew a huge blast of smoke at the facedown monster. But when that monster was flipped face-up, to Seta's surprise it turned out to be another Banisher of the Light (ATK 100, DEF 2000)! The fairy deflected the attack, pushing the dragon back in the process!

"Dammit!" Seta snapped. "Well, I'm not gonna stand for this! Rare Metal Dragon, destroy that monster right now!"

Again the Rare Metal Dragon rolled into a ball, running over the Banisher and destroying him completely. But Seta didn't intend on stopping there. "And now, King Dragun, attack directly!"

King Dragun attacked, hitting Raven hard and severely reducing his life points to 2100. "There!" said Seta, totally exasperated. "Are you done now, punk?"

"Not by a long shot!" said Raven, drawing his next card. Then he stared long and hard at it, and chuckled. "Well, well, well…"

Seta glared at him. "So?"

"Well, it's time for me to finish this." Raven's voice was filled with utmost certainty. "First of all, I'll activate my facedown trap card, D.D. Dynamite! This will inflict 300 points of damage to you for every card of yours that has been removed from play!"

A huge bundle of dynamite suddenly emerged on Seta's side of the field—and exploded! Since, up until now, Seta had six cards removed from play, the damage was tallied and he lost a total of 1800 life points, putting him at 2400! "GODAMMIT!" Seta exploded, now completely furious.

"How does it feel, Seta, to know that you're so close to defeat?" Raven jeered him. "Does it hurt? Does it feel humiliating? Well, this is exactly how I've felt all those years, you bastard! And now, it's time for you to feel the humiliation of defeat that I've had to feel all this time because of you!"

Then Raven held up the card in his hand. "Now, I will remove one Light monster and one Dark monster in my Graveyard from play to Special Summon my ultimate monster…come forth, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (ATK 3000, DEF 2500)!"

Banisher of the Light was a Light monster, and the D.D. Scout Plane was a Dark monster, so those two were swiftly removed from play. As Raven performed this action, suddenly a giant knight wielding a huge sword and shield, with black armor glistening with other colors here and there, appeared on the field. "This is the monster that'll end this duel!" Raven said boastfully. "Now, my Envoy of the Beginning, attack and destroy the Cave Dragon! Black Luster Sword!"

The Envoy of the Beginning readied his sword and rushed forward, slicing the Cave Dragon in two and reducing Seta's life points to 1400. Then Raven chuckled. "My Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning has two effects," he told Seta. "And I'm going to use one of them right now! If he destroys a monster in battle, then he can attack once more in a row! Now, my soldier, destroy King Dragun!"

Again the Envoy of the Beginning rushed forward, slicing downward with his sword and killing King Dragun, further reducing Seta to a mere 800 life points. "Next turn, it ends!" Raven declared gleefully. "Now I end my turn!" And as he said that, D.D. Scout Plane's effect brought it out of play again and back on the field in Attack Mode.

Just at that moment the limousine finally arrived. Not waiting for the driver to come and open the door, Honey opened it herself and, stepping out, was astonished. "It's…almost over…" she whispered. "And…Raven summoned THAT monster…"

"Hmmm…" Kyo came out beside Honey. "It looks like your brother may actually have a chance of winning this…"

Coming out after them, Yugo said nothing. The grim look was still on his face.

"I have some bad news for you, you little puke. There isn't going to be a next turn for you – count on that!" Seta spat venomously as he drew his next card.

"And what're YOU going to do about it? Even if your Rare Metal Dragon destroys my D.D. Scout Plane now, it still won't be enough to wipe out my life points completely!" Raven scoffed.

"Just watch and see." Seta's lip curled in a nasty smile. "For now I activate the magic card, Raigeki—to destroy every single monster on your side of the field!"

Raven's eyes widened in realization and horror as the message sank in. "Oh shit!" he shrieked.

"Now, there's nothing to stop me from finishing you off completely!" Seta laughed victoriously. "Rare Metal Dragon, finish it now!"

Rare Metal Dragon once more rolled into a ball, rushing toward a terrified Raven and striking him, knocking him down. His life points went down to 0 with this action. "NOOOO!" he screamed.

"Pft." Seta shook his head as the Rare Metal Dragon's holographic image disappeared. "I keep telling you, Raven: you can never beat me."

Hearing the crowd cheering for Seta, Raven punched the ground in aggravation. "This isn't possible! I was so close! So close to redeeming Father's good name!" he wailed. "So close to defeating you!"

"And again I say it: I don't give a shit about your father's quarrel with my dad." Seta's tone was firm. "You got a problem with what my father did, take it up with him—don't try picking on me, or else you'll get hurt."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" Raven shot at him. "How can you possibly understand how I feel, you son-of-a-bitch? You don't know what it's like to be a loser – to lose something precious to you!"

Seta's jaw tensed—but before he could say anything in retaliation, suddenly a hand shot out from the crowd and roughly grabbed Raven by the shoulder, pulling him around. Astonished, Raven saw only a blur as a solid fist connected with his face and sent him sprawling. "What the…!" he howled in pain as he held his broken nose.

Equally shocked, those in that part of the gathering turned to see who was responsible – and then just as quickly stepped back. Seta, too, couldn't believe his eyes. "Yugo…?"

Breathing heavily, Yugo slowly stepped forward, the blood from Raven's nose dripping from his knuckles. He reached down and grabbed Raven by the front of his blazer, slamming him into a nearby lamppost and pinning him there. Still holding his nose, Raven bellowed, "What the hell's your problem, kid!"

"Shut up and listen, shit-face." Yugo's voice dripped poison and his eyes glared daggers at Raven. "Do you have any idea how many people have been hurt because of this whole goddamn feud? You're not the only one who's suffering, you dumbass—think of your father, think of your sister—and yes, think about the Kaiba family, too!"

His voice dropped to a bitter whisper. "Maybe you don't realize it, but you're not the only person who lost someone important that day…and all you're doing is aggravating the wounds of everyone who was involved in that tragedy, everyone who lost a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a best friend, a lover on that plane. Yeah, that's right—your sister told me everything. And I'll bet she's tried to tell you over and over that what you're doing is stupid and immature…and all you're doing by keeping up this quarrel into the next generation is hurting her more and more!"

Raven's eyes widened upon hearing this. "…what…?"

"What, it hasn't sunken in yet?" Yugo went on, still in that bitter whisper. "Honey has suffered greatly…she's even gone so far as to sacrifice a lot for you, you ungrateful jerk-wad. Even to sacrifice the affection she feels for another, because she loves you and wants to support you…but you're not making it easy for her, are you?"

Raven's eyes were still wide open…then they sunk downward in shame. It was at that point that Kyo stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on Yugo's shoulder. "Yugo…you've made your point," he said softly. "Let him go, please."

Trembling slightly, Yugo slowly relaxed his grip on Raven's blazer. Raven himself slowly sank down, still leaning on the lamppost, until he was sitting on the sidewalk. Now tears were in his eyes. "I'm such a fool…" he whispered.

Honey walked over to her brother and knelt down beside him. She cradled his head into her arms. "Shhh, shhh, shhh," she consoled him. "You're not a fool, Raven. You're one of the strongest people I know. Who was it that stood by my side after Mom and Dad died? Who was it that promised to always protect me? Who is it that continues to look out for me even now?" Gently she stroked his hair. "Raven…you're quite possibly the best big brother anybody could ever ask for. That's all I ask of you…nothing more."

Seta stood nearby, looking down at the siblings. Slowly a melancholy look came over his face. "Yugo…" he said quietly.

Yugo turned his head slightly to look at him.

"Um…this person you speak of that Honey…you know…" Seta was struggling for the right words, and Yugo could see that.

"Yeah, Seta. You should know the answer to that." The blond boy nodded. Seta looked at him, then lowered his eyes and chuckled.

"Yeah…I guess you're right, then…a lot of anguish has been caused by this." Seta sighed and covered his face with one hand.

Kyo looked down at Raven. "Raven…nobody's asking you to be friends with Seta, but please, for Honey's sake…put a stop to this."

Raven just sat there and sighed heavily. Then he glanced up. "You…so you're Yugo Muto, huh? The guy who defeated Seta?" he asked Yugo.

Yugo nodded.

Raven chuckled. "I don't know why you decided to turn preacher and judge on me, but…I guess it's what I needed." He winced and held his broken nose. "I just…I need some time to think about all of this."

Yugo nodded again. Now Raven stood up with some difficulty and began to head for the limousine. Then he paused and looked back. "Honey…?"

Honey nodded. "Yeah…I'm coming, bro." Then she turned to Seta, who looked back at her. "Seta…"

"Yeah?"

Now she walked up to him and looked him dead in the eye. "Of one thing I'm confident—that one day, my brother will definitely beat you. I only pray that it's for the right reason." She then pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to him. "I've wanted to do this for so long…you'll know what to do with it." And with that, she turned and headed back to her brother, taking him by the arm and leading him back to the limousine.

With the duel over, the crowd was now dispersing. Seta looked down at the paper Honey had given him, and then blushed. On the paper was a phone number.

"What're you gonna do with that?" asked Kyo, adjusting his glasses.

Seta chuckled and pushed it in his pocket. "That's for me to know." He then turned and walked back into the Kaibacorp building. "Right now, I have GOT to get inside and finally have breakfast. I've been denied it for a little too long by now."

"Of course." Kyo grinned, then turned to Yugo. "Okay, Yugo, let's go. Jenna and Miki will have our hides if we get back to the house and their food's cold."

Yugo nodded slightly. "Yeah."

Kyo looked searching at him. "Hey…you OK?"

Now Yugo's hair overshadowed his eyes again. Then he looked up and smiled a little. "I'll live."

Kyo patted his friend on the back. Together they began to walk the distance back to Yugo's house.

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neomage: Sigh…I really wanted this to be a sentimental chapter, and it looks like I was successful, too. And yes, I nearly forgot—the Toon Defense trap card that Honey played last chapter is actually from the Japanese Pegasus Structure Deck—it's not an English card. You'll very likely see more of those cards come into play as the story progresses. And now…next chapter, a brand-new adventure begins! Keep reading!

UPDATED 30/08/2005: Thanks to cantdueldontaskme for pointing out the tiny error in this chapter. I have revised it and corrected it, so…thanks again!