A/N I hope this chapter makes up for the last few XD
The sun baked down on the tiny island. It could even be considered a beautiful day had it not been for the events unfolding. Out on the sunny shore a black clad figure emerged from the water, dragging a body with him that he dropped without care onto the beige sand.
Seto Kaiba bent over, holding onto his knees, trying to catch his breath. Little droplets of water rained off him, falling to the sand creating darkened dots on the fine surface.
He straightened his back looking over his shoulder at the burning wreckage he had escaped from.
He went through the events in his mind, upset at how close a call that was.
When Hobson had instructed his men to take Kaiba away, they clearly had no idea just what or who they were dealing with. He walked with his hands cuffed behind his back, he did not even attempt to turn around to look at Lara as he was escorted out, it was the hardest thing he had ever done.
With rifles held ready, they led him to the military yacht docked in their small marina. It was old. A relic from Gozaburo's tenure. Kaiba was forced to walk aboard the vessel and was roughly ushered inside through the entrance on the deck at the stern.
Once inside, the big burly leader and one of his underlings forced Kaiba into a chair that was bolted into the floor. Two men pointed their guns at him while another re-cuffed him through the chair so that he could not escape.
Once they were certain he was not going anywhere, one of the men disappeared below and he was left with three men dripping with malintent.
Kaiba did not care. He had a plan to take them down but he needed a little time. He pulled out the paperclip from within his sleeve and carefully straightened the metal. The last thing he needed was to accidentally drop it. He felt around the handcuffs locating the keyhole and gently pushed one end of the metal into it, bending it one way and the other before attempting to pick it open.
"Tough break Kaiba," the leader said.
"What are you getting out of this?" Kaiba asked. The answer meant nothing to him, he just needed to keep them talking so they would not pay any attention to what he was doing.
"Paid. It really is nothing personal. Part of the job." He shrugged.
"You might need another job," Kaiba said.
"I like this one and soon each of us will be deployed to a different part of the world where we will lead our own teams, take riches for ourselves."
"And answer to a madman."
"Hobson's not that bad. If he wants to rule the world that's fine by us." They were completely indifferent to the atrocities that would be committed.
"No megalomaniac has ever succeeded," Kaiba said lowly. While they spoke, he managed to free one wrist and quietly worked on the other. "I take it you have these armies in place then?"
The man chuckled. "Why are you so interested? It's not like you're going to be around when it happens."
"Call it curiosity," Kaiba replied.
The man looked at the men around him and shrugged. "Guess it makes no difference. Hobson has plans to gain the allegiance of various armies around the world."
"So that would be a no." Hearing that was a relief to Kaiba. His altruism was always limited, but he would never subject anyone to Hobson if he could help it, and the world held Mokuba and innocent children who would needlessly suffer even worse than he had. The thought was repellant.
Before anyone could respond, the guard who had left earlier returned. He stood in front of Kaiba with his gun held loosely in his right hand, pointing to the ground. Kaiba knew in that moment what he had to do. He freed his other wrist and held onto the cuffs to stop it from making a noise.
"The timer has been set for five minutes," the man reported. Kaiba looked at the watch on the guard's exposed arm, he had to act fast.
"Hear that Kaiba, less than five minutes and all this goes boom," the leader said with sadistic delight. That was all Kaiba needed to hear.
He launched himself off the chair grabbing the man's rifle bearing hand with one hand and simultaneously tugged him back by the scruff of his neck with the other putting him off balance and no longer in control. Kaiba sent a spray of bullets at the heads of the three men in front of him before they had the chance to react, dropping all of them instantly. In the same movement Kaiba let go of the hand and shirt, and firmly held the guard's shoulder and chin bending and twisting violently in opposite directions, snapping the man's neck.
Kaiba looked around the cabin, spotting a lifejacket that he put on the dead man and hoisted him over his shoulder. He went out onto the deck through the port side door, took a look at the watch once more, three minutes left, and pulled the cord to inflate the jacket. He tossed the lifeless body overboard before diving into the water himself.
When he surfaced, he looked around to see where the body was and swam to it. He gripped the back of the jacket and swam away from the doomed vessel, trying to get a safe enough distance away before it blew.
Kaiba looked at the man's watch again, there was less than a minute. Just as he took a lungful of air the naval yacht exploded in a massive fireball. Kaiba submerged, pulling the body over his head to protect himself from the jettisoned debris.
Pieces of the boat rained down all around him as he moved through the water and only once he knew that he would not risk injury, did he come up for air.
He quickly swam the rest of the distance to the closest shore and that's where he found himself now.
Kaiba needed to get to Lara and stop Hobson. With most of his guns dead, he would be easy enough to pick off.
Kaiba steeled himself for whatever he may find inside. He picked up the dead man and walked to the entrance where he held him up to the retina scanner and peeled back his eyelid. The door slid open and Kaiba dropped the body where he stood and walked in.
He did not want to call out Lara's name and give himself away but he was desperate to find her. He looked in every room he came across but the place was empty. Deserted.
Eventually he found himself in what could only be the living quarters. Every room was open except one. He tried to pull it open, it rattled but would not budge. He had no time to waste so he continued on, and in the last room he looked into, he found Hobson. The older man had his back to the door while he tinkered inside a drawer. Kaiba walked in, his footsteps loud enough to be heard. He saw the switch on the table and silently picked it up.
"Took you long enough to get back." Hobson turned around and whatever he was going to say next, died in his throat. One look at Kaiba and he knew his men were gone. It pleased Kaiba infinitely to see the growing spark of fear in the cruel man's eyes. He held the ends of the switch and snapped it in half over his knee, tossing the pieces aside.
"Sorry for the delay. Someone blew up the boat." Kaiba glared at the man in front of him. It was obvious Hobson was uncomfortable, his eyes kept darting to the door.
"Where's Lara?" Kaiba growled.
Hobson huffed a laugh. "Where do you think? Probably enjoying the company of Kemo and his friend.
Kaiba's features darkened. He was menacing. Hobson had never quite seen the power of his creation. All the torment Kaiba had withstood over the years turned him into a force fueled by anger and vengeance, but having Mokuba and Lara in his life controlled that. Now the need to protect them unleashed his full fury. Brimming with years worth of agony to draw on, Kaiba was beyond reason.
"Hobson." The tone of his voice was dangerous.
Hobson made a mad dash for the door and Kaiba followed him with his eyes. There was no way he was getting away. Kaiba followed him with long powerful strides. The short man ran up, towards the roof but he just was not getting away from Kaiba fast enough, who was always behind him. Finally, he burst out onto the roof, where an old Kaiba Corp. helicopter stood. He could not make it to the machine because Kaiba threw the door open right behind him.
Hobson turned around to face Kaiba, he needed a weapon but there were none around him and with Kaiba advancing, all he could do was back away.
Lara slid the phone into her pocket and took a deep breath. She needed to find Hobson. Steeling herself for the task ahead, she turned to face the wall of monitors. All the breath left her body when she saw the scene unfolding on the rooftop.
"Seto." She breathed, stunned. It took a moment but her brain kicked into gear and she flew out the door, running as fast as her long legs could carry her.
She hoped that she was running in the right direction, she was following purely on instinct; but when she found the staircase leading up, she knew she was on the right track.
Lara ran up the stairs two at a time until she came up to the metal door that led to the rooftop which she flung open. She shielded her eyes from the bright assault of the sun, and then she saw him. A stark figure in black against all the bright concrete, Kaiba. Her body literally sagged in relief.
Kaiba did not see her, he was advancing on Hobson like a predator ready to take down his prey. Hobson looked around wildly but there was nothing to use and no one to save him.
"There's no switch here Hobson," Kaiba taunted. "Not so ferocious without a weapon, are you?"
Hobson did not answer. He kept walking backwards with each step Kaiba took. Lara could see that it was not far to go before he either fell or ran out of rooftop. She wondered what Kaiba would do to him once he had Hobson in his grasp.
"You know, lots of people think I killed Gozaburo, I didn't, well push him that is; I made him kill himself. Just like you will. Of course he got lucky, but you won't." Even though his voice was even, his eyes screamed malice.
Lara watched the two men before her unsure of what to do. She wanted to protect Kaiba from doing anything he might regret, but he was owed his vengeance and if she were him, she would not want anyone to take it away from her.
Just as Lara had predicted, the back of Hobson's foot hit the ledge, but instead of trying to find a way around Kaiba, he stepped onto it. There was nothing to stop his fall now. Nothing but the man who wanted him dead.
"Seto you don't want to do this," Hobson said trying and failing at sounding confident.
"Yes, I do," Kaiba growled.
Hobson nervously moved his foot but there was nothing behind him and he lost his balance, his foot slipping against the edge and in a heart stopping moment, he fell only just managing to grab onto the edge with his fingers. His short stout body working against him.
"Seto you can't let me fall! I took care of you and Mokuba," Hobson begged.
Kaiba barked a humourless laugh. Lara could not look away, her feet slowly carrying her towards them. Hobson saw her approach and tried appealing to her.
"You have to help me Lara!"
Kaiba turned around at the sound of her name. Relief washed over him in waves, seeing that she was okay. Well, relatively okay. He took in her appearance and felt the heat rise within him.
She snorted. "A Von Schroeder ever help someone loyal to Gozaburo Kaiba?!"
"I'll survive this. I'll survive and come after all of you!"
"I doubt it," she said flippantly. Lara noticed Kaiba looking at her and she halted in her steps. There were no words for the happiness she felt seeing him there, it was enough to shatter the fragile control she had. Her eyes welled up and she ran into his arms, hugging him tightly.
She could feel him against her body but still could not believe that he was there. The explosion playing on her mind like a broken record.
She kissed him roughly as if trying to make sure he was real despite having watched him for the past few minutes.
"I thought I lost you," she cried, her voice breaking.
"It's not that easy to get rid of me." He smirked. Lara laughed through the tears, she could not remember a time ever being this thankful. Her tears fell freely now and Kaiba brushed them away, pressing his forehead to hers.
He looked down at Hobson who was still struggling to hold on. It struck him as funny that he was now in a similar situation as he was with Zigfried, but the biggest difference was that then, a part of him really did want to save his enemy for Lara's sake. He would do anything for her.
"We've got to go Seto. This place is going to blow." She pulled away from him but he did not let her go. Instead he inspected her appearance. He held her chin, tilting her head so he could take a better look at her bloody lip and he lightly ran his fingers down her shirt noticing where all the buttons had been ripped off.
"I'm fine Seto," she said softly.
"Where's Kemo?" Kaiba narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping registers.
"He's dead, or dying."
Kaiba frowned in confusion.
"He has a shattered kneecap and elbow and a bullet through his stomach," Lara informed him.
"That's my girl." He smiled proudly.
She pulled out her phone and for the third time that day, called Mokuba. He answered quickly but she could hear the strain in his voice.
"Hey Mokes, I have Seto. He's fine," she said quickly. He would have been as distraught as she was and she needed him to know everything would be fine.
"I knew it!" He exclaimed. "I told you to have faith in him."
"Yes you did, but we're not out of the woods just yet. Beck, how much time do we have left?"
"Just under forty minutes, Lara."
"Okay. We'll be at Pegasus's when it detonates. I want us to have something solid to show exactly where we were."
"Are you sure using Pegasus as an alibi is a good idea?" Tea asked.
"Don't worry, Pegasus will be amenable if he knows what's good for him," Lara responded. With the mood Lara was in, she would happily destroy Pegasus for his past transgressions and she had a feeling he knew it could come to that.
"If you're sure," Mokuba said.
"I am. We'll speak later." She hung up and grabbed Kaiba's hand. "We have to leave now."
"Seto! Pull me up!" Hobson ordered as if he had any power at all.
Kaiba exhaled loudly, his lip turning up. "No. Hobson, you're not Gozaburo. He was much smarter than you and I defeated him; what made you think you stood any chance against me?" He turned around to leave with Lara.
"You can't leave me here!" Hobson shouted.
"Watch us," he growled. The two of them ran back into the base leaving the sadistic man hanging off the side of the building. His arms were on fire and his tired grip was bound to give, but he could not pull himself up.
Lara and Kaiba ran out the entrance they had come through earlier. She tossed the gun that was still tucked into her jeans, into the sand and made for the helicopter, both climbing in and strapping themselves to the seats as quickly as humanly possible.
The rotors began to spin and soon they were rising up into the air. They flew low over the base, and could see the speck that was Hobson but the vicious downdraft from the craft caused his hold to finally give way and they witnessed him fall, landing heavily on his back. He twitched his head about but it seemed like he was unable to move. He would never move from that spot again.
With one last look at the man, they rose high into the air and head for Duelist Kingdom.
"What sort of detonation?" Kaiba asked.
"There are two missile silos beneath the island and I got Rebecca to activate them. We're blowing them in their containment unit."
"That will destroy the island."
"Yes. I also told her to crash the satellite."
"Good."
A few minutes later they were touching down in the courtyard just as they had done the day before, but now, they looked a lot worse for wear.
While it was Croquet who opened the door for them, Pegasus was the one waiting outside to welcome them in. Kaiba pulled off his damp black sweater and handed it to Lara who quickly put it on. She was grateful to have something with which to cover herself. She turned up the cuffs on the long sleeves and with a sigh the two of them left the chopper.
"Oh dear, Lara. What happened to you?" Pegasus asked with genuine concern.
"A lot."
"Let's go inside. Perhaps you need a drink." Pegasus led her in with Kaiba following closely.
"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?" she asked.
"Well of course! Everywhere. Watch this. Croquet, leave us, we're not to be bothered," he said in his theatrical way; his butler come security obeyed and Pegasus was left alone with Lara and Kaiba.
"You can't ask us about what happened on that island but there is going to be an explosion soon and just to be safe, we need you to be our alibi to say we were conducting business here." Lara watched for a reaction from their host. She did not want to threaten him into helping but would if she had to.
"Fine. Perhaps we should sit somewhere one of my cameras will capture you. But first, I need to do something. Just wait here." He left the room, closing the door behind him.
She glanced at her phone. "Eighteen minutes."
"Relax. I take it you have Rebecca pulling as much information as possible from that place," Kaiba said.
"Yes. We'll see what it says when we get back." The door opened and Lara stopped talking. Pegasus walked back in holding a white frilly blouse.
"I won't ask what happened but I'm sure there is a reason why you're wearing Kaiba-boy's sweater. I think if you're here on 'official business' you should look the part. This belonged to my darling Cecelia." Pegasus handed the blouse to Lara. It was not her style but she was so grateful. "You may keep that, just treat it with care."
There was a softness in Pegasus's eyes and smile that touched Lara deeply.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome. Freshen up then meet me out at the pool deck," he instructed and left Lara and Kaiba alone.
She pulled off Kaiba's sweater handing it back to him and shrugged off the useless shirt she was keen to get rid of. Lara put on the blouse, tied the bow around her neck and ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it look less tousled.
She kissed Kaiba and the two of them left the room with Lara darting into the powder room to splash some water on her face. The result was not great, but it was better than she looked before. She rejoined Kaiba and they made to join Pegasus who had a laptop set up on a patio table in the sun.
Both Lara and Kaiba would have their faces captured on the security footage but additionally, they were facing the direction of the island.
Pegasus pulled up a live satellite feed of the island and pulled his chair closer to Lara. None of them said a thing as they waited patiently for the destruction. For the moment, all that was on screen was a densely vegetated land mass. All the holograms were still in place.
Finally, the moment was upon them. They watched closely as the projections flickered and died and all that was left was dust. Patiently, they waited for the dust to settle. These moments felt like they lasted years. Eventually they saw it. A crater that filled with water. There was nothing left but a small crescent like formation at the one rocky edge of the island.
The islet was rocked by several huge explosions as the missiles went off first but then triggered all the ammunition stored in various parts of the base.
It was the end of Hobson and his men, but there was still lots for Kaiba to take care of.
The two of them stayed another hour at the castle before flying home to Domino. After everything, all they wanted was to see their family.
