Chapter 35 - As Long as You Love Me like a Love Song (Part III)

"Do you want me to let you go," he started to think, as he looked her in the eyes. He remembered what she told him long ago: "Seto. It's unfair to have me make a decision about us without your opinion". "Forgive me, for never being strong enough to tell you my opinion about us." Seto looked down as he rested his hand on the deck. Everyone was shocked that he drew a card. Even if Seto quit, he would never be normal. He was an untrained prodigy and learned things quite easily. Even if he could hide it, he was still smarter than most. Even if he could hide it, he was still good looking. Even if he could hide it, he was darker skinned. Even if he could hide it, he was at least a foot taller than the average Japanese person. Even if he could hide it, he was more athletic than most his height. Seto was taught not to apologize for being a 'Kaiba'. Why apologize for being 'Kaiba' if he could not hide any other single thing about himself? When he spoke, people listened. When he spoke, Téa's heart pounded. He placed down the card he drew, "First, I'll use SILENT DOOM to return Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard to the field. Next, I play CARD OF DEMISE and will restack my hand." Kaiba drew cards until he had a full hand. "Then, I'll equip my Lord of D with THE FLUTE OF SUMMONING DRAGON to summon my other two Blue-Eyes White Dragons." Once the other two dragons were set, the wall panels opened to reveal a panoramic view of the city. Seto displayed the POLYMERIZATION card, "Once my dragon attacks, this duel is over, Alister!"

"AWESOME," Mokuba yelled. He turned to Téa and Alister, "Seto was inspired to make these dueling platforms after seeing the Egyptian god cards. They were specifically made to achieve the highest quality Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon you've ever seen!"

Alister held out a hand, "Wait! Before you play that Dragon, I have one question to ask."

"It's a little too late for you to beg for mercy," Seto replied.

Alister turned to Téa, "Before he plays that dragon, …do you know what he did to get each one?" Téa shook her head. When she met Seto, he already had three. She knew that after Seto had defeated Yugi's grandfather, Seto tore Mutou's card to pieces since no one was allowed to duel with no more than three of the same monster card and only four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards existed. Alister had asked her a great question, since she never questioned Seto's history with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. "One from America, one from Germany, and one from Hong Kong. He killed at least two of their owners." Téa's eyes went wide with shock and she covered her mouth. He paused before adding, "And, he was cowardly enough to watch the third one commit suicide."

Téa gasped and turned to Kaiba, "Seto? Is that true?"

* Start Flashback *

Kaiba used his thumb to motion at his own throat as he taunted, "Yugi! Use your card to slit my throat!"

Téa looked across the field to her friend, "That look of the other Yugi, he choose to throw Kaiba over the edge!" She started to run to him, "Yugi! Yugi don't! STOP IT! Yugi, return to normal!" Yugi came forth to stop his guardian, then fell to his hands and knees. Téa stopped in front of him.

"I win. Burst Stream!" After the melting fusion of the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons destroyed the Celtic Guardian, Seto stepped down from the ledge as the victor. His intuition did not let him down. "To lose is to die."

Yugi was on his hands and knees and was crying, "I couldn't do it. If I continued the game, then Kaiba would've died."

Téa started to cry as well, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Yugi. But, you did the right thing."

Kaiba stated from across the way, "I knew you would show weakness in the end, and I won, Yugi. If you had the cold-heartedness to push me off that ledge, you'd have won. It's foolish to care about a duelist's safety."

Téa quickly spun around, "No! You're wrong! The one who lost the game, Kaiba, is you!"

"Huh?"

"Kaiba, ...you bet your chip of life as if it were nothing! When you realized you would lose to Yugi, you placed yourself on that ledge because you gave up. And, cowards always lose to themselves!" Kaiba let out a breath. He did not know how the words out of the mouth of a naïve teenaged girl were hitting him so hard. "You're the real loser, Kaiba, because real courage is protecting that chip in your hands no matter what. Yugi protected your chip instead of winning. I don't know how many friends you have, but I would say none because you couldn't even face yourself if you lost. I wish I knew what someone did to you to make you think your chip of life as being worthless, Kaiba. How did you get to the point that your heart coward at life until you believed that you were better off dead? Tell me? Tell me?!"

He threw his gained starchips up and caught them in his fist before walking away with his briefcase. He had received the additional starchips needed to enter Pegasus's castle. It did not mattered to him what she said because he was an expert at exposing weaknesses. And, he was going to use all of his dueling talent to get his precious brother back. Regardless, it was the first time Seto Kaiba noticed Téa Mazaki.

* End Flashback *

Kaiba never looked at her. He hesitated before answering, "It's true. All three owners were killed before I possessed them."

Disappointment started to cross Téa's face and her eyes started to water, "Seto..." She was surprised at how awful Kaiba was.

"I use polymerization to fuse my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons into Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, in attack mode!" Before the casting was complete the lights went out, but the duel platform was still running. Téa could see the duel platform lighting up Seto's face. He was looking at her, but she could not tell what his eyes were telling her. Mokuba did, though.

Within Seto's mind, he started to think about the future. Should he have Téa by his side? Would it be like how they were in Kaiba Land together? Maybe the opposite was true. He thought about them leaving a restaurant and all of the paparazzi taking pictures of them. The hands of random men reaching out and grabbing her hands; her smiling at the handsome new suitors. Who was that asshole that Téa was just with? The CEO of the biggest gaming company in the world! Sounds lame…huh?

"...." The dueling platform started to flicker, Seto blinked and looked down. The power faded for the entire platform. Red lights flashed and a siren was buzzing of a critical power failure as power started to fail for the whole building. The electric grid for the entire city failed, then a white light flickered in front of Kaiba. Téa and Mokuba looked up as they saw the flickering become a ball of light that streaked into the sky. It manifested and the only light to be seen within the blackness of New York City was the light of the ferocious BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON that was flying over it. Kaiba never looked. He was staring at where his opponent was. Next, all of the cards on the board came back on, then the dueling platform lit up, again. "I have you exactly where I want you: trembling in front of my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba has 100 life points, holding one card, and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [ 4500 / 3800 ]. Alister has 400 life points with one face down magic card, one robot token [ 0 / 0 ] and Air Fortress Ziggurat [ 2500 / 1000 ] on the field.

Téa could not bear to watch Blue Eyes White Dragon destroying the representation of Dyna Dude or vice versa. She had to stop the fight. "I love you!" They both stopped and looked at her, as well as Mokuba. Téa fell to her knees, "Please stop…. Seto, I love you."

Alister clenched his hand, "You don't MEAN that!" Téa could not look at him. "TÉA!" She could not answer him. His hand started to relax and his voice became softer, "You don't mean that." He paused as he looked away, then back at her, "You can't mean that. I don't believe that."

She lifted her head and looked at Kaiba, "Seto…." They stared into each other's eyes.

Kaiba looked at Alister, "Be thankful, that you're being spared of me finishing you off."

Alister quickly glanced at Kaiba, then back at Téa, "Téa-!"

"She's not interested, Alister," Mokuba yelled.

Téa put a hand on Mokuba's wrist and he relaxed as he looked at her. She looked at Alister, "Go home, Al."

"No."

She felt sick to her stomach, "Go home, Al!"

"No!"

"I'm staying with Seto."

He was stunned and asked with disbelief, "Is that what you really want?" She hesitated for a long time before she nodded. He knew that they all were looking at him and he could not bring himself to do it. As he rested his hand on the deck, he looked into her eyes while regretting every moment. It was an eternity. "Just say something, baby. You know I'll never let you down, as long as you love me. I'd never let you down because I know that I love you." Suddenly, he felt that his heart was sinking with the dueling platforms. He could not believe that she gave up on him. Seto started to walk over to Téa. Seto helped Téa up and put his arm around her waist as he walked away with her and his brother. Téa turned her head and saw Alister slumped over the dueling platform. She wanted to say good-bye, but it did not matter. She could see his body, slumped over and shaking. Heartbreaking…like watching a dying stray dog. Téa turned back around and continued to cry.