Chapter Seven: Bad Intentions

The street cameras readily documented the chase. Yugi, sprinting like a cheetah on the savannah, KaibaCorp employees trailing not too far behind. Yugi, sliding over the hood of a moving car and landing upright, unharmed on the other side.

And then the armed men started firing their stun guns.

Yugi hardly staggered, only kept pushing forward.

But the men nearly hit innocent pedestrians.

Kaiba snarled, holding his forehead in his hand as he watched them try to engage an incredibly dangerous organism in the middle of one of the busiest sectors of Domino City.

The beast could have taken over at any moment.

Yugi could have killed them all.

Yugi led them, like some sly animal, right into a trap. The industrial district was practically abandoned. It made the perfect place for a gruesome showdown - plenty of space, plenty of things to climb on to get a better vantage point.

Kaiba furrowed his brow. The beast itself obviously wouldn't care about innocent bystanders getting hurt - its escape from the KaibaCorp laboratory demonstrated that in gory detail.

Yugi had some control.

Kaiba switched off the feed before he could witness the ensuing bloodbath.

His phone trilled loudly in his pocket. He quickly answered. "Do you have him detained?"

"No. Doctor Bakura is no where to be found. He never came through the gate and he isn't on the plane, though he was amongst the boarding passengers."

"Fucking hell," Kaiba hissed. The situation was getting worse and worse. "Get to his home. His address should be on file. The organism might bring him to a familiar space."

"On it."

"Be careful. These things are incredibly dangerous. If at all possible, do not engage him until you are certain the capture will be successful," Kaiba warned. "I need to go. I have a mess to clean up."

The door slammed open with a deafening bang! and Gozaburo Kaiba jumped where he was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Seto stormed in with all the ferocity of a blizzard.

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't realize how much of one, Gozaburo," Seto snapped, roiling with rage.

"You do not speak to me like-" and then papers were hitting his face and scattering all over the floor.

"Six more men are dead because of you," Seto snarled. "Many more could've been. They engaged the symbiote right in the middle of a fucking rush hour."

"It needs to be captured at whatever cost -"

Seto's voice raised higher, ringing fiercely off the sterile walls. "These things aren't going to let you take them! They will fight, tooth and nail, and no one will escaped unscathed. You are obviously losing your grip on reality."

Gozaburo stood up, unsteadily, but drew up to his full height. He was still an inch shorter than his adopted sun. "I am your father and your fucking meal ticket, boy, and you will treat me with respect. In my absence you have grown too-"

"Not anymore," Seto hissed, a sharp, smiling sneer twisting his lips. "You were never my father, and you no longer have any standing with KaibaCorp."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"I'm saying I bought fifty-two percent of the shares. And now the board is on my side, too. I am majority owner, and they have ejected you from your role as CEO and president and have put me in your place, old man." His eyes were alight with a cold fire that made the back of Gozaburo's neck sweat. "You might want to show your boss a little more respect, Gozaburo."

"You couldn't-"

"Well, I did. Next time you want to pull a stunt like this, you'll have to go through me. You should consider yourself lucky that I didn't fire you, old man." Seto whirled again, waving dismissively over his shoulder. "You might want to clean up those papers."

Gozaburo could only sit in shocked silence. And then he fumed.

"Fucking brat doesn't know what's coming to him."

The wind screamed by as they were in freefall. With a loud thud, they landed on the next rooftop and continued pelting along.

Where are we going?

"We can't return to the apartment. They might have already sent men there."

Panic surged through him like waves pounding a cliff. What about Joey?

"We will have to trust that he's okay. I doubt they would engage without us returning."

I don't know if I can trust that. They were more than willing to try and get us in the middle of a crowded street. What's stopping them from kidnapping Joey and trying to torture information out of him?

The beast hummed, but it ignored him.

Nothing. There was nothing stopping them from harming Joey. But what choice did they have? If they returned to save him, then he would know something, and it might incite more violence that could've been avoided.

It was like Schrodinger's cat. Without them present, Joey was both safer and in more danger than with them there.

The only place I can think of is Grandpa's. We can at least stop there to regroup.

Another hum, but then the beast was veering, changing direction, crossing the street in one mighty leap, and they were heading for the game shop.

Why are people from KaibaCorp after you? Yugi asked, wanting to fill the silence and really, really wanting answers.

"They are the ones that brought me here. They released me from my prison. But the host I had was insufficient. I was dying, and they were not about to let me out anytime soon."

So you broke out, Yugi finished, remembering the man in the alleyway, torn to hell and riddled with glass shards.

"It was life or death, Yugi. You cannot blame me for fighting to survive."

I… I don't, Yugi thought, and it shocked him that he was genuine. He couldn't judge the beast for doing what came naturally to it. Like he wouldn't judge a cat for eating a bird, or a lion for taking down a wildebeest.

"The situation we are in is beyond the spans of your human morality, beyond the functions of the laws of this society. We are in a gray zone, and you must come to terms with that."

I… I know.

"Good."

But I still just want it to end.

Kaiba dismounted his motorcycle and set his helmet on its seat. He stared up at the apartment building. It could've been worse, but he still found himself wrinkling his nose in distaste.

Hopefully, the symbiote brought Yugi back home after the incident in the industrial district. He stormed up the steps. He apparently had to buzz himself in. Yugi's file in his memory easily came to mind.

He lived in apartment 10.

He pressed the button.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

Kaiba sneered. "Wheeler…"

"Kaiba? What the fuck do you want?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes skyward. "I don't have time for this. Is Yugi home?"

A snort crackled over the old speaker. "What the hell do you want with Yugi?"

Kaiba's teeth gritted hard. "Listen, idiot, this is a fucking life-or-death emergency. Where is Yugi?"

"Woah, woah. Calm down. You might be a prick but ya never lied to me. Yugi should be in class right now." A pause, and Kaiba's mouth dropped open, but then Wheeler was talking again. "Uh, actually he should be out of class and home by now. Or at least on the bus."

Kaiba exasperatedly rubbed his face. He would've been better off trying to follow the street camera feeds. Although it seemed the symbiote preferred to travel via rooftops.

"I mean, I guess your best bet is trying his grandpa's place. Ya remember the game shop, right? Anyway, do you need me to call Yugi for ya?"

"No," Kaiba immediately snapped, surprising himself. "Don't call him."

And then he was turning away and storming back to his motorcycle. With a splutter and a roar, he was off.

"Kaiba? Hey, Kaiba? Ya just walked away, didn't ya? Fuckin' rude-ass weirdo."

Sugoroku was getting the mail when they dropped down from a nearby rooftop. He looked up, his eyes got as big as saucers, and that was the first time Yugi ever heard his grandpa scream like a little girl.

Jesus Christ! You're going to give him a literal heart attack! I told you we should've switched out a couple blocks back!

The beast didn't seem anything, but it felt like it was sheepish, which was going to have to be enough. The cold receded back inside him, furling like wings. He stumbled forward. "Grandpa!"

But those violet eyes were looking at him in horror, and he was still reeling back until he was against the front door of the game shop. He was wailing in incoherent Japanese.

"Grandpa," Yugi called beseechingly in his grandfather's native tongue. "It's just me." He reached forward, but Sugoroku reeled back, and hot tears stung Yugi's eyes. "Grandpa…" he whimpered. "Please believe me."

But Sugoroku was only shrieking things about evil spirits and demons.

"Grandpa!" Yugi cried, his cheeks hot and wet. But the old man only fumbled the door open and slammed it close behind him. The lock engaged with a loud click. Yugi tugged on the knob, sobbing, but it seemed his efforts only made his grandfather's sounds of distress louder. Yugi sank to his knees. "Grandpa!"

He weakly beat his fist on the door, but he crumpled further, watched his tears sink into the pavement.

His sobs wracked his body, and the horror on his grandfather's face, his terrified wailing, echoed through Yugi's senses. He curled up there, right in front of the door, hugging his knees and trying to smother his tears.

Something poignant resonated deep inside him, and, he realized, it was guilt, and not his own.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there. But suddenly, the door was opening, and rapid Japanese was echoing and then something grainy was thrown on him.

Salt.

His grandfather was throwing salt on him.

Yugi sobbed, wrapping tighter around himself.

Sugoroku thought he was a demon.

Yugi dared a glance up.

Sugoroku was glaring at him distrustfully through the glass. Yugi slowly sat up, pressed his hand to the window. "I love you, Grandpa," he said, just loud enough, in quivering Japanese.

He slowly stood up, and stepped away, his hand falling from the glass. With one last tearful look over his shoulder, Yugi walked to the sidewalk.

"I don't know where to go now," he whispered, voice quivering, hands shaking as he brushed the salt from his shirt.

The beast didn't respond.

Yugi's phone started ringing. It was Joey. He turned it off.

Maybe it would be better if he just disappeared.

This is all your fault.

The beast didn't respond. The rumbling of a motorcycle echoed from around the corner, and Yugi ducked into an alleyway.

Kaiba came roaring up to the Kame Game shop. He parked quickly and strode up to the door. Something crunched, gritty, under his foot, and he looked down.

Salt. He frowned. It was lining the door step. It made him think of those ridiculous paranormal thriller movies that Mokuba liked to watch. He stepped over it and moved to open the door.

It was locked. "Mister Muto!" He called, thumping his fist on the door.

Sugoroku, looking much older than Kaiba remembered - though it had been several years since last they saw each other. He was scowling, an expression so strange on the normally-smiling face.

Sugoroku opened the door and glared about before gesturing Kaiba to come in.

Kaiba frowned, but he shook it away. He didn't have time to worry about the old man's senile behavior. "I'm looking for Yugi," he began, and, at the name, Sugoroku recoiled.

"Yugi is gone," the old man hissed. "A demon has eaten him and taken his place."

Kaiba stared down at him, wide-eyed.

So the old man had seen the symbiote, presumably. That explained the salt on the doorstep.

Wheeler had been right. Yugi did come here. But his grandfather had turned him away.

"I assure you, it's not a demon," Kaiba replied.

Sugoroku huffed. "Easy for you to say. You have not seen what I have seen, boy."

Kaiba arched an eyebrow. "I have, actually, and you're wrong. That's still Yugi," Kaiba said monotonously. "Well, mostly."

Violet eyes narrowed at him. "Explain."

"My father was dealing with… some nefarious things. He found these organisms. They're parasites. They latch onto people to survive. One escaped the lab and infected Yugi," Kaiba said slowly. "My father's men have been chasing him all around the city and he's been trying to find a safe place to hide." A rather stinted synopsis, but there you have it.

Sugoroku's eyes grew wide, and he turned away, holding his hand up to his mouth.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you; in this state, Yugi's incredibly dangerous. I have every intention of saving Yugi, but I need your cooperation to find him. Has he come here today?" He asked sternly, although he already knew the answer.

"Y-Yes," Sugoroku stuttered. "Are you saying this is why he's been acting strangely lately?"

Strangely? "Yes." Kaiba wanted to ask for more details, but he didn't want to give away his advantage of seeming to know more than he really did. "Has he been looking… sickly?"

"Well, not quite. Just, different, I suppose," Sugoroku muttered. "I…" he sighed. "I didn't let him in. He was here not even five minutes ago. He… he was crying…"

Kaiba frowned at that. "He's been through a lot. Crying is a rather mild reaction."

Sugoroku was shrinking into himself. "I turned him away… He needed me…"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "I don't have the time for your pity party. Did you see what way he went?"

"... towards Second. Left. You may be able to catch up to him."

"I doubt it," Kaiba muttered. "If you weren't such a superstitious old coot…" but he trailed off and shook his head again. Sugoroku flinched. Kaiba's shoulders heaved with his sigh, and he dug into his pocket to pull out his card. "If you see him again, call me. Immediately."

Sugoroku took the card in trembling fingers. "I will."

Kaiba turned to leave.

"Bring him home safe," Sugoroku said quietly.

Kaiba didn't look over his shoulder, just turned his head slightly. "No promises."

From atop a neighboring building, they watched him exit the game shop.

"You know this man?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. Seto Kaiba. I went to school with him."

"Kaiba? Yugi, he could be an enemy. Those men - the ones who want us, they were from KaibaCorp."

Yugi frowned. "But…" He knew from the news that Seto did work at KaibaCorp now. "... that doesn't mean he's our enemy."

"His father was in direct control of the project that brought me here."

"He hates his father," Yugi whispered, remembering conversations with Mokuba, the younger of the two Kaiba brothers.

"We need to take him out. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"We're not killing him. Innocent until proven guilty. I just want to talk to him," Yugi murmured. "Maybe we can get things sorted out."

"Sorted out how?" the beast asked, but allowed Yugi to use his powers to climb down to street level again.

"I don't know," Yugi hissed. "Maybe get it to where we aren't being chased by armed men anymore?"

Yugi waited in the dark of the alleyway. Kaiba was quickly walking down the sidewalk, but Yugi managed to whisper "Kaiba!" right in time.

The tall young man whirled, blue eyes narrowing, then widening when he realized it was Yugi.

"Yugi," he said, and then he turned on his heel to approach the alleyway. Yugi retreated several steps back. "I've been looking for you."

The beast's unease lapped at the edges of Yugi's mind, but he staunchly ignored it.

Kaiba paused, eyes lingering on Yugi's face, and Yugi suddenly remembered that he was smeared with tears that he never wiped away. He swiped his shirtsleeve over his face. "Sorry. I'm a mess."

"Hn," Kaiba approached, but let a considerable amount of distance stay between them.

"Do… do you know what's going on…?" Yugi asked quietly.

"More than you do, actually," Kaiba replied monotonously.

"Why did KaibaCorp men attack me earlier today?" And cold pulsed through Yugi like a threat. Stop that.

But Kaiba took another step back. Blue eyes cautious… and afraid. "Those weren't my men. They were Gozaburo's."

"You father's…?"

Kaiba sneered. "That man isn't my father. You don't have to worry about him, either. I've ousted him. He's got about as much power in KaibaCorp as the average chicken does after today."

Yugi sagged with relief, but the beast was still on guard.

"He was dangerous, unhinged," Kaiba continued. "He was putting far too many people in danger."

"What do you want with me, then?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba took a careful step forward. "Yugi, that parasite is dangerous. I know you can't fully control it. And I know you don't like violence. Come with me." And, for the first time Yugi ever saw it, that impassive stone face was emphatic. "We can help you."

But the beast's paranoia was overwhelming. It had Yugi shaking, feeling it as if it were his own. He stumbled back, shaking his head.

"Yugi, the longer you're out here, the more chances he'll have to hurt somebody." A grave tone that beset Yugi's heart with coldness. "I know about the mugger, Yugi. I know what it did to him. And I know you would never do something like that."

"He has a fucking gun, Yugi!" the beast snapped, and Yugi found himself crouching like an animal in the alleyway, shaking, whimpering.

"Yugi -" another cautious step forward.

"Stay back!" Yugi cried, voice shaking and bleeding in and out with another tone that wasn't his own. "S-Stay back. It knows you're armed, Kaiba."

Surprise, and then forced into blankness again. "Yugi, it could be killing you. Right now, as we speak. It eats its hosts away. We can't be sure how much you have left before it thinks you're useless and moves on to someone else, someone who can't temper it so well."

Yugi's inhale was so sharp it hurt his lungs and throat. He tried to move forward, but the cold was wrapping around his limbs and holding him in place.

"He's lying, Yugi!"

"It won't let me move," Yugi whimpered. "I want to, Kaiba. I'm scared."

"I know you're scared. A lot has happened in the last couple of days. But, Yugi, it's not the only one. There's another one out there, right now. If you come with me, the city will be a lot safer."

The beast froze, and then suddenly it was overwhelming, pushing at the edges of Yugi's mind with agonizing force. Yugi held his head, and he couldn't hear his screams, but he could feel them in his throat.

"We are leaving!"

And then they were towering, rippling with power and frenzy.

Kaiba gasped, reeling back, reaching for his hip.

A growl that seemed vibrate the very buildings around them, and the beast was surging forward, jaws parting.

No! Yugi cried, feeling the collar of Kaiba's shirt in their monstrous hand. The gun went off, but the bullet went cracking off into some bricks; the beast had batted the gun out of Kaiba's hand as if swatting a fly.

Closer, Yugi could taste Seto's fear on his tongue, and his terrible cry rang in his ears.

NO! He's my friend!

"Friends don't try to kill you, Yugi," the beast snarled aloud. And he lunged.

No! And the screamed rippled through the slimy black coating his skin. Kaiba dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and they reeled back, thrashing this way and that in the fight for control.

Kaiba groaned from where he was crumpled on the ground, and he slowly propped himself up. Blood was hot on the air, and it made Yugi panic more.

Instead of creating another point of contention, the beast was off, scaling the walls and disappearing over the rooftops.

"Whatever. We have more important things to worry about now."

The surveillance team shared a glance. There was no sign of Reiji Bakura. Perhaps they were too late, and he'd already left. Or perhaps he never returned home.

Perhaps they'd been wrong the whole time, and Doctor Bakura was still in Cairo. Kaiba had said not to engage… but shouldn't they at least check the home for signs of life?

So, they basically drew straws, short straws suiting up and arming up to approach the apartment. Still, they tried to remain inconspicuous - Doctor Bakura's file said he had a son that lived with him in the apartment, and they didn't want to spook the kid.

So, they approached, and knocked politely but firmly on the door.

But then they smelled it.

Blood. A lot of it.

They shared another glance, then looked back to where the rest were in hiding.

One turned his chin into his lapel. "Sir, we smell… blood. It's pretty bad. Permission to enter?"

"Go ahead. Remain on guard."

The door was rather easy to knock open; it only took a couple of concerted efforts to bust the deadbolt through the doorframe.

And, despite being well-trained professionals, the gore on the inside of the apartment nearly made them vomit.

"Dear god…"

Blood and viscera, everywhere. The walls, the ceiling. Pooling on the floor in a thick, coagulated sludge.

Bit of… human littered the floor, shredded by so many jagged teeth. Splinters of broken bones. It was unmistakable. Someone had been devoured.

Kaiba groaned in pain, gingerly touched his bleeding lip, and grimaced at the scrapes on his palm. His wrist, the one with the hand that held the gun, throbbed. It was probably sprained or broken. Either way, it hurt like a motherfucker. He leaned back against the wall of the alleyway and tried to breath through the agony.

"Jesus Christ," he hissed. His heart still fluttered like a caged bird in his chest.

It would've killed him. If it weren't for Yugi, it would've bitten his head off right there.

Friends don't try to kill you, Yugi.

Could they communicate internally?

He laughed mockingly at himself. He was in no state to be puzzling over this.

And then his phone was trilling. He leaned his head against the hard brick and groaned. He contemplated not answering it, but it was probably important.

So, he leaned forward, cradling his injured wrist to his stomach, and dug into his jacket pocket for his phone.

"What?" he breathed.

"Doctor Bakura returned home before we began monitoring. There's… well, it's a bloodbath inside the apartment. We're not sure whose… remains are there. The organism is gone now."

Today fucking sucks.

END PART