Dark themes, blood and violence ahead, be careful and enjoy the chapter
KC helicopters arrived at the most luxurious hotel near their previous destination, when Isono took out the reservation notice signed with Mokuba Kaiba name the receptionists welcomed them warmly and proudly and shifted them to the VIP section, Seto tried his best to hide his pain, not able to sit nor stay still, he kept on roaming around, after a while, Isono came back along with some workers and two electronic keys, two normal keys
"Everything is ready Sir but why two suites?"
Seto "the second one is for Bakura, Isono you must stay with him all time, keep two or three persons from the private unit alongside, never leave for a moment, even in the toilet, provide him with food and water under one condition that the private unit do it, never remove the isolating goggles, if he resisted in anyways, increase the nerves anesthetization, be careful he is very fast and sneaky understand?"
"I understand sir, the private unit report came in, they said he never resisted since we brought him, in fact, he lost consciousness just when we reached here, rest assured boss he will never get out of my sight"
Seto nodded thanking Isono calmly, when they reached the suite, he made sure everything meets his boss utmost comfort then closed the door behind him, the moment he was alone, the mask fell out, he slowly walked to the wide table and leather fancy chair then put his arm on it to support his weight, a wave of fresh pain struck made him put his hand on his mouth and cough harshly, his lungs burning for air and heart failing at pumping enough blood, his stomach twisted violently spitting some blood, he looked at his blood-covered palm shivering and wondering.
"If something happens to me now, Mokuba will never forgive me! Ending up away for four years is incomprehensible! does that mean I stopped ageing in that dimension or it means that I lost four years, I must hold on until I find a solution, If I had only achieved my goal anger and shame won't be eating my chest like now"
When the pain calmed a bit, he used the opportunity to bring a special tool-set in a leather bag Isono has left for him and sat on the chair, he took out the quantum cube from his waist silk bag observing its deactivated dull appearance and trying to ignite a spark in it to no avail. Though his laptop is usually light he found it so heavy right now while taking it out alongside what looked like a pen-shaped electric soldering iron, he connected it to the laptop and turned it on, he put on special goggles brought the cube near and pressed in the middle of the electric small tool between his fingers, a beam dashed out scanning the symbols and tiny squares carved on the cube frame for any electrical or electromagnetic waves.
"No use! me and Mokuba once tried to decipher its codes but we couldn't, right now it's almost a piece of junk, I wonder if its recession has anything to do with the thief imprisoning him or there's something else... I am missing!?"
He couldn't focus, feeling his coat and suit suffocating him, he took it off and unzipped the front zipper down to the middle of his chest dying to breathe, overwhelmed by pain he gave up and decided to ask for urgent help, he stood on his feet unable to support himself, cheeks red and forehead sweating heavily while attempting to regain balance only to fail miserably, he fell down on his side, head on the chair as senses blacked out suddenly.
00000
In that bright silver and blue hall, he surpassed the initial shock and asked Kuriboh to bring them some games from his soul room so they can play off their anxiety till that awkward small old room Kisara spoke of opens up and his mind is clear and ready to count all this stupid disaster possible outcomes and choices, however, when the second short-circuit hit the hall, floor and walls shook violently around, made it clear that any kind of comfort is currently far from reach. The adrenaline coursing suddenly through his body made his nerves tense and crimson eyes wide with fear rethinking current events, that's when realization hit him
"If what Kisara said is right and I am in Kaiba's soul room, then these accidents can be a warning!"
When the electricity did not come back, he put a hand on his temple, blinked a few times till shining golden sparks replaced his crimson orbs lighting the way around him through darkness, he reached for the tablets on the office and tried turning them on one by one as he now knows that they are a part of Kaiba's life, when he saw their signal is weak, pixelating or the videos are cut suddenly, he was sure of his speculations
"Kaiba's brain is falling apart, this means his physical body is in danger!"
after closing his eyelids, He put one hand on his heart and the other pointing and middle fingers on his forehead trying his best to link his brain waves with the big boss.
"Please Lord let me succeed!"
he gritted his teeth till nerves on his forehead popped searching for any kind of weak heart gaps he could sneak out from, not more than a few moments his prayers were answered disappearing into golden specks.
The little tool that Kaiba once tried using to scan for any kind of electrical waves started buzzing, the cube is again filled with energy shining while its walls turned transparent revealing a flaming golden core floating in the middle, rays of leaking energy materialized him present in the physical world, crimson eyes opened scanning the area until it fell on the motionless laying figure on the chair, a small blood trail seeping down from his mouth and nose.
He rushed over trying to touch his shoulders concerned only to go through him as if he is nothing, he stared at his transparent palms shivering, he really is reduced to nothing but a spectrum trapped in the cube, and if this goes on, he will never know what exactly had happened to Kaiba.
he noticed the shining cube with the golden core, by thinking a little he simply was able to define it as his own consciousness that keeping him connected to the world while his body is away.
"I need a vessel right now! Maybe ... I can take over his body, and ... and transfer his consciousness to the cube, but then, I might be affected by his sickness, still it is worth the try, he never managed to take a break since he came to my world, on the other hand, I did rest for a while I ... I should be able ... no, I must do it, I must believe!"
He swallowed hard; raised a hand on Kaiba's head and put the other hand on his forehead, he focused on transferring their minds, praying he could make it"
After some time the core in the cube started changing colours from golden to purple-blue one, blue collided with yellow energies changing Kaiba's body, eye shape, hair, features and skin tone while the body mass and length stayed the same. He blinked then opened his eyes sweating heavily, the moment he moved his head a little, all sick sensations overwhelmed him, he gasped trying to make an effort and grasped on the chair emptying his feelings while a wave of fresh pain struck him,
"It'... s ... worse than expected, m...my muscles ... are ripping"
Meanwhile, when Kuriboh returned he found no trace of his master which nearly gave him a heart attack, when he found a golden gap in the roof of Kaiba's mind room he crossed it angrily without a second thought, made it out through Atem's chest, started blaming and shouting at him cutely for leaving him behind in that cold room
"kuri kuuuuurii!
Atem pained voice tone got mixed with his shouting at the little one "SILENT!"
Kuriboh froze from shock as his master rarely yelled at him, only then he noticed the situation, all his fur hairs stood up, scared and confused he started splitting randomly, bumping into each other or fail to unite again, blabbering and crying
"Calm down!" Another shout ripped his throat that he was forced to bite on his arm to silence the screams, pained tears on verge of escaping " so... y...you can help!"
Kuriboh calmed down immediately sitting down and crying waiting for his master to tell him what to do, Atem raised his finger slightly pointing at the cube on the table above his head, Kuriboh nodded immediately and flu up to push the cube, it landed slightly out of reach, when crimson eyes tried to focus, he saw five cubes instead of one as a result for his high fever and headache, no matter how much he tried he could not confirm the right one, Kuriboh saw that clearly so he acted fast and split to three, two of them moved their master's arm and the third made sure he touches the cube.
when he finally touched it a wave of enormous energy exploded out isolating them completely in a special field, all the furniture and stuff froze as time stopped in everything but him and Kuriboh. Little by little the pain subsided; he was able to catch his breath, Muscles relaxed, heartbeats stabilized, vision cleared a bit. he looked at the crying furball and gave him a tired small smile made Kuriboh jump and fly from happiness hugging his master and asking in his own language what happened? those two really share a special bond of understanding each other no matter what.
"the cube isolated the mass of body from the current dimension flowing time and place, we now exist in a special atmosphere that allows the body to surpass the catastrophic changes of moving from one dimension to another, slowly at its own pace, it seems my friend that this small cube holds much more power than we imagine, as humans our abilities to adapt are enormous, what happened to Kaiba is that his organs were ageing at a rapid speed in order to meet with the laws of this dimension causing irregular expansion and raptures. If we didn't do something he would be dead before the next sunrise."
Kuriboh nodded happily then helped him stand on his feet, he staggered to adapt only to hit his head by the table above him unaware yet of his current Height.
"Ah! The length difference between us is insulting! I totally forgot I am in Kaiba's body now!"
Kuriboh silenced his giggles barely by asking his master a question "kuru krrui kuri ku?"
"A good question indeed! how did I know the cube is capable of this? Well... intuition, I think? anyway, we will talk about this later, we only have 24hours to raise his immune system resistance and strengthen his body, after that the cube effect will wear off, however adaption should succeed by then, you will help me right!?"
Kuriboh put his paw on his chest ready, Atem smiled at him tiredly "without you Kuriboh I would have been finished long ago! Now first things first: where are we?"
He looked at his surroundings curiously, it was a very spacious hall, which had a king-sized gorgeous bed, two cupboards on the side, leather couches, an elegant eating table, four chairs, the office he is now at and a fancy chair, a big closet and a small fridge with the bathroom at the end of the room, he walked to the table to see, a kettle, and some empty glasses, empty plates, tea or coffee and some tissues, everything he or Kuriboh touches enter the special field and works normally.
on the tissues, he read the name of the hotel "Perfect! we are in a hotel, let's search for food and medicines, worst case scenario we would have to ask the receptionists."
Kuriboh went to the small fridge existing in the room, taking out all kinds of foods and drinks while Atem searched the cupboard beside the bed, he opened it and found an elegant first aid iron box, he opened it finding it weird as this box definitely not a normal one for it has many more tools and medications, he smiled sarcastically remembering it is VIP class suite, he took out a thermometer, picked out different normal medications and read their prescriptions, what attracted him the most were the capsules packages, they all have some kind of beehives or bees small decorations on, noticing the logo he found out they all were produced by the same company, he chose some normal pain killers, antipyretic, and anti-vertigo"
"Good it is all in English, that leaves us needing only, food and drinks"
Before he finished Kuriboh came to him with a bunch of goodies and drinks in addition to his fur all covered in chocolate
Atem laughed at him "look at your sticky fur! Couldn't you wait until I fed you myself you tricky little ball? Let's finish eating and I will wash you."
They sat together on the carpet beside the windows watching the calm night sky, empty streets, silent cars and street lights, he found it weird being here again! he ate following the instructions and took all required medications, after a while, he felt hot which made him sighs comfortably as his temperature must be going down,
"let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned"
He stood up and walked through the special field as all things are moving super slowly, he reached the bathroom and searched for something baggy to wear until he found a satin white robe, he asked Kuriboh to help by unzipping all zippers in the suit, it took him a while removing the sensors and wires or checking for any buttons till he was finally able to take it off
"I can't believe how on earth he could endure such rough clothes for such a long time!"
He entered the bath-tub alongside Kuriboh and decided to take a warm and simple shower, he filled half of it with hot water and sat with Kuriboh on his lap, while he washed him gently, he noticed rather a nasty scar on Kaiba's arm, he thought it was hallucination as a side effect of the pain killers so he tossed it aside, when Kuriboh was finally clean, he showered quickly and left the bath. As he wore the soft and baggy robe his vision started blurring, this time he knew it was the pain killer so he dried his hair and Kuriboh's fur with the hairdryer and put on some perfumes fast, hugged him tightly and walked together to their bed, he laid properly on the mattress, beside him on the cupboard stood the quantum cube safely. When eyes of the tired body gave in, the blue core in the cube got replaced with the golden one and Kaiba's body changed back to normal.
His spectrum formed above Kaiba's head, listening to his calm breathes and looking at his innocent features made him smile kindly and proudly as the big boss is now safe and sound, the transparent cube walls closed returning to normal leaving only dim waves to keep the field activated while Atem turned to golden specks into it
0000
Crimson eyes opened widely to find himself where he was before surfacing, he was stunned by the whole change in the atmosphere of that silver shining hall to a more vibrant and warmer mood, the once lost details of the pictures carved on the walls are now shining with the smallest and finest details. He picked up one of the tablets to check its validity, when all were working just fine, he smiled warmly and decided to take a tour around Kaiba's actual mind and soul room.
When getting near the wall pictures he read underneath each one a special title; The first picture had a memory of Seto's and Mokuba's happiest moments together with a title called (the happy children) the next one collected all victorious moments for Kaiba corporation, Kaibaland opening called (wining by strength, strength above all)
The third picture was of Seto and Mokuba from when their parents were still alive called (the child behind the mask) and the fourth one was surprisingly for him and Seto from the last duel, called (the free boys) what moved him was the fifth picture for Kisara under the name (the protecting child)
"so he recognizes Kisara's existence after all!? there is very gentle and positive energy flowing around, I never knew Seto would finally admit that memories from the past are what makes us who we are in the present and future, I never thought I would find such warmth in his heart"
He reached the mysterious room that Kisara warned him not to leave until it's open, and finally, it cracked open, the moment he put a hand on the door handle curiously, he pulled it back to his side and took a few steps back
"the negative energy leaking out is tremendous, as... as long as the room is open everything should be fine! I better get back to my room, currently, I am in no need for more problems"
He turned his back and took a few steps to the exit, but before he could make it far enough a grip from the darkness grasped him harshly and pulled him all the way back in then shut the door and locked it with many traditional and electronic locks, he turned back to face the aggressor when he found a dark and cold gloomy blue room, the walls covered with torn portraits, broken games on the floor, old devices full of dust and torn duel monsters cards everywhere, fear made its way through, but a tingling sensation where the grip held him shifted his concern, he looked at his arm to find a grossly pitch-black mark with a green burning seeping liquid covering his wrist and growing up.
"Ah... this is... gross and it hurts like hell! Lord! What is going on at this crazy place?"
A grey light coming from an old television in the middle of the room caught his attention, he held his wrist and stood up when a voice froze him coming from the TV
No matter how much you try, if you don't solve my three puzzles, you will... not... get... out! Better hurry up, you only have ten minutes"
He went to TV to know the owner of the voice, it was a man in his early fifties, he never saw or knew before, in front of the TV he saw a box full of colourful pixels.
"put this puzzle together"
His vision doubled as there are many tiny pixels "I need a reference or it is nullified!"
It seemed he didn't have much of a choice as he suddenly out of nowhere got hit brutally on his shoulder by what appeared to be a bamboo stick, he hissed and put his hand on his back, swearing that he heard the sound of the hit in his head before it actually hit him
"Behold! what you look for surrounds you! only eight more minutes left"
"surrounds me?"
though he only whispered these words, still he got another hit that jolted his back and shuddered his whole being, he prostrated on his head hissing until the pain subsided, no matter how much he looks around he could not find the source of hitting.
"Fewer words more improvement!"
He decided to focus on the puzzle silently rather then getting hit again, he scanned the area more carefully until noticing the damaged portraits on the walls have changed and put together again as blurring pixels, he tried his best to decipher the details to no use, that's when he saw a portrait which has the same colours as the pixels puzzle between his hands
"That's it, I think I understand it"
he wasted no time and started constructing something similar to the portrait he doubted, his perspicacity and quick wit in games helped him put it together before the time runs out.
"Tn...tn, your time has finished! Penalty game awaits whoever fails!"
the pixels revealed their details both in his puzzle and the actual chosen portrait, which described a tall silver tower that he saw somewhere but can't remember where. He opened his mouth to protest only to find words escaping, the puzzle and the portrait he chose matches perfectly so why exactly did he fail!?
Before thinking any more, he heard the sound of ten lashes till one brutal hit collided with his back, slitting his already marked hand from shoulder to wrist and throwing him on the cold floor mercilessly, He rolled to the side hugging the wounded arm, sweating and shivering violently unable to catch his breath, he never bled though the wound area shone brightly gold, the hit felt like someone hitting him in the same area hundred times then threw him on thrones; pain-filled crimson eyes opened, seeing another puzzle forming itself in front of the TV horrified him.
"You have ten minutes to form meaningful sentences out of these letters"
he tried his best to stabilizes himself and crawled on his knees to check the box filled with many letters in a language unknown to him,
"I am starting to doubt that whoever playing this dirty game has never set a solution, to begin with! and I have no choice "
the only readable thing about these letters that some of them had tiny and shining crystals decorating them differs in shape and sparkle from one another, but to his eyes, those crystals were so familiar yet under this much stress he could not comprehend the connection, he closed his eyes calming his painful heartbeats and thinking of something links this puzzle to the previous one besides being all about collecting fragments to construct one meaningful shape.
"I remember that tower now... It's Alcatraz! and those crystals; I am sure they were decorating the titles of the pictures carved on the walls outside"
Again, he wasted no time and split the shining letters from the normal ones, as the last letter with a crystal was sorted, they all shone together revealing letters he finally understands.
"All I have to do now is form the same titles out the hall"
before he started to arrange letters, he remembered the last time he copied the reference
"Wait! Alcatraz was old Kaiba corporation last great symbol, he exploded it alongside his past, I constructed the tower puzzle straight up, might I have constructed the tower destroyed instead?! damn it! does that mean this room forms his current reality while the pictures outside form his past! How broken is he if that's the case?! damn it, damn it, what the hell do I have to do now?!"
"you only have three minutes left!"
"I must try, I have no other option... I am going to reverse the words!"
(the happy children are the sad children) (wining by strength, strength above all, means losing is failure, failure is death) (the child behind the mask is the selfish and greedy child) (the free boys are the prisoned boys) (the protecting child is the coward child)
"your time has finished" he closed his eyes swearing he would not endure another hit
"congratulations you sadly have passed, the last puzzle has no time, but don't be fooled as all things are limited"
He exhaled deeply, the next thing he saw was the whole room being lit and all existing portraits constructed themselves to form a story, a story not many know and surely Seto Kaiba had made sure to keep a secret from almost everyone, Atem was taken by the sudden changes so he sat there silently and watched.
The story began with a little boy hugged tightly by his loved father and a baby held gently by his loved mother together as one happy family until one day an accident occurred killed their parents, later on, their relatives by blood plotted an evil scheme and deprived the little boys of their family wealth and threw them in an orphanage, leaving the older brother to take care of his baby brother though he is also only a child, that marked the start of Seto and Mokuba hell on earth.
Atem eyes reflected sadness, feeling all the emotions as if they were his "after all, this room is really a part of Seto's soul!?"
one day a famous businessman, whose name was written on the card pinned to his jacket, Gozaburo Kaiba visited that orphanage, he was also a well-known chess championship.
Seto was known for his intelligence since early childhood so he plotted a plan after studying all that man movements and challenged him in a match, should he lose it, he must adopt them both, eventually Seto won, afraid of losing his reputation Gozaburo adopted them.
"this the same man the challenged me on the TV! What does that exactly mean?!"
Atem was shocked by the kind and loving nature of Kaiba and Mokuba before he and Yugi meet the monstrous version of them, luckily the puzzle has already decided to build itself to answer his curiosity.
It discerned that Gozaburo has raised the brothers in a military gruesome way especially Seto who he chose to be KC heir, he always would assault him either verbally or physically before he even completes his first ten years, sometimes he would put a collar on his neck and drag him by it forcing him to study. Other times he would cuff his small wrists, forcing him to write bad things about himself as an act of deep humiliation that would damage him mentally forever if he should fail to complete what he was ordered to do. he would also order him to do rough unsuitable exercises for his age and should he fail, hit by a thin bamboo stick brutally on his shoulders or tiny hands is his only fate.
later on, when Seto revealed that his dream is to build Kaibaland Gozaburo confiscated his games, he never dared to say anything as he was always threatened to be expelled out of the family or he would harm Mokuba who was locked away in a lonely suite, with no human, animal, fairy or creature to play with except for the cards he drew and the legendary dragon that visited him in dreams; Atem understood now, the hits he took unjustly were only a simulation of Seto's past.
Time passed until one day, Gozaburo caught Seto asleep while he should have been studying ten foreign books without any kind of dictionaries or assistant, he ended up hitting Seto on his shoulder brutally and while the little one was resisting he has been thrown on one of the bookshelves with a sharp corner that slit his arm from shoulder to wrist, though blood started gushing Gozaburo was unfazed moreover he brought a puppy and sat on the chair, he put the newborn puppy in front of Seto and finally bared his fangs
Gozaburo "what's wrong with all the whines and cries? do you mean to tell me that my efforts in making you stronger have been useless? Do you think that I didn't expose your little plot to force me into adopting you? I admit that you are a clever boy, but you are not capable of saving your brother nor inherit a pinny, see that little puppy you hid away from me, I won't treat your wound unless you slit its throat with your own hands by this knife, world domination is with power not by games bullshit,
Atem watched silently as Seto's hands were shivering, heart quivering and whole-body shuddering with helplessness, he screamed one last painful time, killing his mind with the little puppy. His body entered in a shock unable to sustain the great amount of blood he is witnessing, finally, darkness was mercy enough to make him pass out.
Crimson eyes were wide with shock and disbelief, his heart boiling with rage, feeling helpless, vulnerable and humiliated, though it was only a simulation yet it has taken a dangerous great toll on Atem consciousness.
The next thing Seto knew that he woke up to find his hand bandaged, he laughed insanely as any signs of sanity, kindness or empathy were killed, Atem began to see the psychopath he met at the beginning, sadly till this very moment, he sometimes sees that side.
since that day he was scheming silently with his younger brother to backfire his foster father revenge camouflaged with love, after a few years, Seto began to improve in Gozaburo eyes and as some kind of happy birthday reward 2% of Kaiba Corp. was given to Seto and later 2% to Mokuba, days passed on and with the help of the traitors in Kaiba corp. Seto was able to own 49% while Gozaburo had 51%, they sat around the table of destiny to settle the scores, Mokuba betrayal was the K.O which announced that Kaiba corp. now belongs to Seto Kaiba.
As Gozaburo's legacy states that strength above all and losing is death he ended up losing one of his biggest life games to the weapon he built with his own hands, he jumped from the highest floor in Kaiba corp. dying with his own twisted legacy.
Though Seto Kaiba has directly changed KC from a military company to a games company, he unconsciously inherited his father's twisted legacy and dominated the world under the camouflage of games through the only way he deals with things; (wining by strength, strength above all)
To Be Continued...