No matter how hard he tried to justify Tea's situation, Kaiba still felt solely responsible for her condition. How could his technology fail her? It was supposed to take her out of her comatose state completely unscathed, but instead, it backfired on her. The confidence Kaiba had in his technical skills were quickly diminishing along with all hope that Tea would recover.

"Seto? Are you okay?" Mokuba asked as he adjusted his position on the sofa in Kaiba's home office. He was flipping through television channels and looked bored out of his skull. "You've been staring at your monitor for quite some time."

"Yeah, I'm just reading something, Mokuba," he lied.

"Okay…." Mokuba flipped through a few more channels before shutting off the television and hopping off the sofa. "It's almost twelve-thirty. Don't you think you should get some rest?"

Kaiba nodded, "In a few minutes."

"Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight." Mokuba left his brother alone to his thoughts.

Kaiba folded his hands and place his chin on the tops of his fingers, thinking intently about Tea and the virtual world. Things had drastically changed. It was like Tea was an entirely different person. The optimistic, cheerful girl was now replaced with a clinically depressed wheelchair patient who was having an exceptionally difficult time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This wasn't the Tea he had witnessed in the virtual world, but rather the aftereffects of a person who was in a coma for nearly three years.

Kaiba spun around in his chair and faced the window, staring out into the night, not really computing what he was seeing. His mind was elsewhere, and it would remain that way until Tea's circumstances were better.

What could he do to fix this? How could he make it up to her? He racked his brain for answers, but nothing came.

Spinning back around toward his desk, Kaiba funneled through some paperwork. All of it was on Project Tea, and he was beginning to regret ever agreeing to make it his sole focus in the first place. The pain the project had caused was starting to wear on Kaiba, making the work harder to get through, not to mention the irony of the name.

Damn… if I could just make this project disappear…

A glimmer of light from the opposite side of the room caught Kaiba's attention. He hadn't realized that the fireplace had been turned on. Mokuba usually turned it on but must've forgotten to turn it off on his way out.

The glow of the soft orange light seemed to captivate Kaiba, sending him into a trance-like state. He didn't move, didn't blink, just stared at the fire as if it were calling out to him. Kaiba thought of how commanding, passionate and powerful fire was. It was an element derived from energy and fueled by will-power, a commonality he shared with the element. However, there was one attribute Kaiba was missing when it came to fire and that was destruction. Kaiba wanted to create, not destroy. He wanted to make the world a better place with his advances in technology, but he had destroyed one person's life in the process of pushing his creativity to its limits….

If I could just make this project disappear….

Never in his life could he recall a time he wanted to abandon one of his projects, but this time it was different. He owed it to Tea. There was a price he had to pay, and if that price meant sacrificing his hard work, well damn, he'd do it for her.

He gazed into the fire, the vibrant orange flames calling out to him with some sort of hypnosis power, rendering Kaiba to feel as if the flames were trying to tell him something. The cracking and burning of the logs heightened his senses and he immediately snapped to attention the second he noticed their crisp, charred ends and blackened strips of bark.

He pushed himself out of his chair and stood up. His heart felt as if it were going to jump right out of his chest and he tried breathing deeply through his nose. Still, the idea that struck him was one of pure insanity, but perfect nonetheless. Not only would he be able to make it up to Tea and forget about this whole project, he would be minimizing the risk of other people getting hurt after using the virtual world.

With creation comes destruction, and with destruction comes a new creation. Kaiba just needed to rebuild his idea from the ashes. That way, everybody wins.


Pulling up his black sleeve, he read his watch. It was about quarter to four, giving Kaiba just enough time to put his plan into action before sunrise. He drove just another few miles before parking his car in an abandoned parking lot just a few blocks away from the Kaiba Corp. laboratory where the virtual world project was being held. Thankfully, his entire project was in one area, making the task at hand much easier to accomplish.

Reaching into the back seat, Kaiba grabbed his laptop, flipped open the top and typed in a quick code. He counted down the minutes on is watch while glancing from his computer screen to the laboratory a few blocks down.

Three… Two… One…

A green light flashed on his watch and computer screen simultaneously. A countdown box appeared on his laptop, giving him only fourteen minutes and fifty-six seconds to execute his plan. He glanced at his watch to make sure the countdown screen was in sync with the countdown on his computer. By five in the morning he needed to be back in his vehicle and driving as far away from this place as possible.

Kaiba closed the lid of his laptop, set it down on the front seat, and grabbed a piece of black cloth, a pair of black gloves, and a handgun from his glove compartment. The weapon wasn't intended to be used, but just in case he came across any security guards. Thankfully, he knew where they were and that they were only standing guard from outside the building and not within it.

Swiftly, he put the gloves and ski mask on. His eyes were the only visible area on the ski mask and he was thankful for the grey colored contacts he chose to wear, hoping to conceal his identity even further. Despite the plan being quickly drawn-up, Kaiba wasn't about to risk anything. This plan had to work.

Jumping out of his car, he wasted no time in opening his trunk and pulling out the equipment he needed to get the job done. A gallon of gasoline, a box of matches, and a fake Kaiba Corp. ID badge. He clipped the badge to his waistband, shoved the matches into his front pocket, and grabbed the red carton that was full of the sloshing, flammable liquid.

The trek over to the lab was shorter than it expected. The gallon of gas was heavy and the bright red container was quite visible even at night. Thankfully, no one was out and Kaiba could easily make his way over to the building without being noticed. He hid behind a nearby dumpster the moment he saw a security guard walk by the outside of the lab. When the coast cleared, Kaiba moved to begin his break in efforts.

Scanning the fake Kaiba Corp. ID badge, Kaiba snuck into the building through a back door without being spotted by one of the security guards. Before he moved any further, he checked his watch. Roughly ten minutes left to execute his plan before the security cameras would turn back on. He needed to finish this mission off as quickly as possible.

The hallway was long and winding with narrow corners and turns, making the place seem like a maze, but Kaiba knew the way, and there was nothing stopping him from pursuing his endgame.

At long last, he stopped in front of the door that led to the virtual reality room. He had been here many times before, but the moment he fought off the doctor brought back the strongest memories. Even then, he was attempting to save Tea. Time had passed but nothing had changed. But this time would be different. This time he wouldn't screw up. This time he'd destroy his life's work, the very thing that had destroyed her life.

This is the price I must pay.

He let go of a heavy sigh before swiping his ID badge over the entry scanner. A cold, dry blast of air assaulted him as he opened the door, and he had almost forgotten how different the environment in this room was. The room was pressurized, which would work to his advantage. Due to the pressurization of oxygen within the room, the flames would ignite quickly, resulting in a fast burn.

Kaiba swallowed hard, examining the room and his creation one last time. He was sad to see all his hard work go to waste…. But it was time. The project had not only failed Tea but it had failed him as well. It failed to heal her, failed to keep her by his side… He closed his eyes, remembering the passion they shared in the virtual world. Without this creation, he wouldn't have these memories to haunt him.

His thoughts were enough to propel him to act, and he began dousing the virtual world pods in gasoline. Moving throughout the room, he doused everything he could find, computer and medical equipment, control panels, oxygen masks, anything worth burning.

After everything was splashed with the flammable liquid, Kaiba threw the empty container toward the middle of the room and made his way to the door, gripping the handle with an unrecognizable amount of strength. A liberating confidence rushed through his veins and he couldn't help but smirk at the action he was taking. It always felt good to take matters into his own hands. After months of being back in the real world, he was finally taking back control of his own life.

Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed the box of matches and carefully took out a few at time, wrapping his gloved fingers around them tightly as he struck the box. They lit, brighter and hotter than he expected. The flames quickly consumed the tiny wooden match sticks and Kaiba was forced to throw them across the room before they burned through his glove.

It was like slow motion, watching the tiny flame fly through the air and make contact with the floor, bursting into an even larger flame, eager to consume everything within the vicinity, including Kaiba.

He shrieked as he shielded his eyes from the explosion before dashing out the exit. He ran down the long hallway with lightning speed. The right side of his body felt scorching hot and he glanced at his arm to see that his clothing had caught fire. He patted it out with his other hand but felt the flames searing through his black clothing, creating a pathway to his skin.

Another explosion erupted from behind him and he knew the pressurized room was doing the trick but was going to make his getaway more problematic. This entire laboratory would be up in flames in less than five minutes and he had to get from the building to his car in less than three.

"Ahhh!" He screamed, falling to the ground. The flames had eaten away at his clothing and were beginning to devour the flesh on his right leg. He patted out the flames but heard another explosion, and this time it sounded closer. If he didn't focus on getting out now, he never would.

He stood up— still on fire— and ran toward the back door he had exited from. With shaky hands, he scanned his key card a few times before it took, pushing his way out the back door. Through all the commotion, he heard a tiny beeping sound escape from his watch and he knew that that meant his time was up. The cameras were back online.

Shit!

He ran past a burly-looking guard who was monitoring the flames from about fifty yards away.

"Hey! You!" The guard shouted. Kaiba ignored him, not even looking back to see if he was chasing him. Kaiba zipped through alleyways and side streets to avoid being caught until he found his car. Before departing, Kaiba ripped the burning pieces of cloth from his body to avoid the rest of him catching on fire. There was a stinging feeling near his ear and without thinking, he ripped the ski mask off his head, chucked it to the ground and stomped out the small flame.

The sound of metal hitting concrete made the tiny hairs on Kaiba's neck stand up. His handgun had fallen out of its holster during his vicious stomping. He was about to reach down and pick it up when he heard the shouts of a couple security guards. They were sprinting toward him from about a block away. Kaiba had to leave now!

After making sure there was no other part of him on fire, Kaiba launched himself into his vehicle and started it up, making a speedy— and squealy— getaway.


Mokuba Kaiba's phone rang so loudly that he could've sworn there was a siren going off in his bedroom rather than his phone ringing. The blaring ring woke him from his slumber and he glanced at the time before answering. It was only a couple minutes after six. Who in the world would be calling this early in the morning?

Mokuba grumbled before answering, "Hello?"

"Sir, it's Roland."

Mokuba sat up in bed. "Roland? I'm sorry, I didn't recognize your number on the caller ID."

"That's because I'm calling from the Domino City Fire Department."

The young man's eyebrows knit together in disorientation, "Is everything alright?"

"Afraid not, sir. I was notified by a couple Kaiba Corp. security guards that the laboratory containing your brother's virtual world technology was burnt down about an hour ago."

Mokuba was now wide awake. "What!?"

"The fire department arrived shortly after the incident but unfortunately the building could not be saved…."

Mokuba felt his breath catch in his throat, almost as if he'd forgotten to breathe. He didn't want to ask, but he had to know, "Is my brother okay? He wasn't in the building, was he?"

"I haven't gotten ahold of him yet, sir. You were the first person I called."

"Why?" Panic crept up into the younger Kaiba's voice.

"Because you're Kaiba Corps. interim CEO, sir."

Mokuba's tone became jumpy, along with his nerves, "I know that! I mean, why haven't you tried to contact my brother?"

"Well…" Roland was at a loss for words, almost as if it were obvious, "Isn't he at the mansion with you?"

Mokuba ignored the question, "The firefighters didn't find any," he swallowed hard before saying the word, "bodies?"

"I-I don't believe so, sir. Of course, the police and fire department will conduct a comprehensive investigation."

Mokuba was silent. He decided to take it all in. Seto's hard work… burnt to the ground… What would he say? Would he be mad? Would this distance the rift that was growing between them?

"Mr. Mokuba, sir?"

Mokuba snapped back to attention, "Uh, yeah Roland?"

"I can try and contact your brother for you?"

A door slammed down the hall that made Mokuba almost want to jump out of his skin. "N-no, th-that won't be necessary, Roland. I'll meet you at the lab—or whatever's left of it—in roughly an hour if I can beat traffic."

"Take your time, sir."

Mokuba hung up, leapt out of bed and quickly guided his feet into his slippers. In a flash, he hurried out of his bedroom and into the hall. He rushed to the balcony, looking down toward the front entrance. No one was there. His eyes scanned the upstairs hallway and halted when they locked onto a beam of light escaping from underneath a closed door on the farthest end of the upstairs wing. Mokuba recognized the room, a guest bathroom that neither of the brothers had ever used. Mokuba couldn't even recall what the décor looked like.

The solid bottoms of Mokuba's slippers slapped against the hardwood flooring as he raced toward the door at the end of the hallway. As he got closer, the sound of forced coughing echoed throughout the end of the wing, and Mokuba wondered if the person on the other side of the door was even his brother at all. What if Seto was still asleep and the person in the bathroom was a burglar? But of all places to rob them from, why the bathroom?

Mokuba stopped running just at the edge of the threshold and meekly piped up, "Seto?"

The coughing fits ceased.

"Seto? Is that you?"

An immense pause put Mokuba on edge as he waited for a response.

"Yeah, Mokuba…. It's me," came the reply from the other side of the door.

"What're you doing all the way on the other side of the wing?"

There was another long pause before Kaiba spoke, "I'm not feeling well. I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh? Is that why I heard coughing?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay? Were you throwing up or something?" Mokuba asked, still unsure as to why his brother had decided to use this bathroom.

"Yeah…" There was a ruffling sound from behind the door. "I had some bad tuna yesterday."

"But you don't eat tuna."

"Yeah, and this is exactly why," came the snide reply of his brother. Another round of rummaging sounds emerged from behind the door.

"I'm sorry you're sick but I have bad news. Roland just called. The lab where Project Tea was being held…." Mokuba took a beat. He wasn't sure how to explain the situation without Seto flying off the handle in some way. Maybe it was a good thing he was ill right now? "Well, it's kinda gone." Mokuba flinched, preparing for the worst of responses.

"What do you mean?" Kaiba's voice was less demanding than Mokuba thought it would be.

"The lab was burnt to the ground very early this morning. Firefighters and police officers responded, but they arrived too late."

"So…?"

Mokuba took a deep breath, "I haven't been to the scene yet, so I don't know every detail, but it sounded as if nothing was salvageable."

Kaiba lacked a response and after an uncomfortable silence enveloped between them, Mokuba felt inclined to throw in an apologize, "I'm sorry, Seto… I truly am. I know you worked so hard on this project but I promise you we will start over right away and begin redesigns once you feel better—"

"—Mokuba," his brother's voice was icy, "let's just focus on the present. What time are you heading over to the crime scene?"

"Right after I get ready." Crime scene? Mokuba was sure he hadn't mentioned the fire being a crime.

"I'm going with you." More ruffling.

Mokuba's eyebrows knitted, "Uh, you're sick, remember?"

"I'll be fine."

"How am I supposed to know that? You haven't even opened the door to talk to me this entire time."

After a few more disheveled ruffling sounds, the bathroom door swung open. Kaiba shrugged his shoulders, "See? I'm fine." He walked right past a baffled Mokuba and down the hallway back toward his bedroom.

Mokuba snuck a quick peek into the bathroom before following his brother. There were no signs of illness, but maybe Seto had flushed the evidence away? Still, not a single can of ginger ale?


It was half past seven when the Kaiba Brothers arrived on the scene, stopping just before the 'DO NOT CROSS' yellow crime scene tape. There were onlookers gathered around, gawking at the large building that was once Kaiba's laboratory, now just a pile of dusty ashes, still smoking. Kaiba wondered why all these people were here. Didn't they have jobs to attend to? Why did they need to gawk at his handiwork?

On the other side of the yellow caution tape, the police were dodging past debris, pointing and discussing possible scenarios with the fire department, and questioning a couple Kaiba Corp. security guards who had been on duty during the incident. Kaiba instantly remembered one of them, the larger of the two men. From afar, Kaiba watched as the burly man spoke with great expression, describing his testimony of the incident. The police officer simply nodded, taking vigorous notes on his small notepad.

"Roland! Over here!" Mokuba waved, trying to get the older man's attention from the other side of the caution tape. Roland was a little over forty yards from the brothers, but he promptly whipped his head toward them at the sound of Mokuba's shrill voice. He gestured for the man he had been talking with to come follow him, and they made their way through the thick of people to grab Mokuba and Kaiba from the crowd. The Kaiba Brothers ducked under the flimsy caution tape and made their way toward Roland, away from the rubbernecking crowd.

Roland bowed his head toward Mokuba, "Mr. Mokuba, sir," then to Kaiba, "Mr. Kaiba, sir, I'm glad you both could make it over here on such short notice."

"Of course, Roland, now what do you have for us? Anything new since we last talked?"

The corner of Roland's mouth dipped down, "Unfortunately, not too much. We still don't know the source of the fire yet, but we are questioning a couple of security guards who were on duty early this morning." Roland slanted his head to the side, nodding to the police officer taking notes and talking with the burly guard. Kaiba looked over at them once again and felt his insides curl. What if the guard recognized him? Would he dare accuse his employer in front of all these people?

"Mr. Mokuba, Mr. Kaiba," The man who was with Roland held out his hand, "Lemm, Chief of Police."

Mokuba was first to meet the chief's handshake, "Nice to meet you."

Kaiba shook the chief's hand after Mokuba. It was bizarre being behind his brother with every move he made but after what he'd done, maybe it was best he appeared in the background.

"We're terribly sorry that something like this happened to your laboratory, Mr. Kaiba," Chief Lemm expressed, "I promise you, we are doing everything we can to figure out the source. Roland told me there was an important project located within that building that you put your heart and soul into."

Kaiba grit his teeth at the chief's words. My heart and soul is the reason I destroyed it in the first place.

"We will do everything we can to salvage whatever is not damaged."

Please don't. Kaiba forced his appreciation and smiled stiffly. He felt like his body was about to break out in a cold sweat at any given moment. He hadn't predicted these people would be so determined to fix what he had desperately destroyed.

"Chief Lemm!" A young officer, probably a rookie, came running up from behind the group. He was holding a clear, gallon-sized, plastic bag with what appeared to be some form of evidence. Kaiba squinted to see what the young officer had in the bag. His body froze the moment he saw what it was.

No, no, there's no way that could be mine!

"Yes, officer!" Chief Lemm turned to let the young man into their little huddle. The young man seemed so out of breath, like he'd come from an area further away from the crime scene.

"Early this morning you had asked me to identify the serial number this weapon belonged to." He held up the bag so they could see. Inside the plastic bag was a handgun.

Kaiba felt his stomach drop, like he'd just jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. Small, silver scuff marks were identifiable along the edges of the gun and Kaiba instantly remembered the moment he had dropped it.

"As you know," the young officer continued, "it was discovered in an empty parking unit just a few blocks north, in the area that the security guards chased the unknown suspect."

"Yes?" Chief Lemm urged impatiently, "Go on."

"Well, the weapon has been identified and…"

"And?" Chief Lemm was tapping his foot now, his patience growing thin.

The young officer swallowed nervously, sending a few side glances toward Mokuba, Roland and Kaiba. "And… It's registered under…" He sent the Kaiba's another few glances before lowering his voice and directing his comment only toward his superior's ears, "Well, I-I don't think we should be bringing this up in front of them."

Anger was evident upon the senior officer's face, "You were the one who brought this up so urgently, officer. If it's so damn important then I suggest you spit it out already!"

Nodding profusely, the young officer quickly inhaled and exhaled. He anxiously scanned them all one last time before saying, "The weapon is registered under Seto Kaiba."

Their heads turned to stare at him with shocked eyes and ajar mouths. He didn't even want to take the time to analyze the unique looks on all their faces. In that moment, all Seto Kaiba could think of was…

Shit…


A/N: Well shit. Here we are. Here I am. Back from the dead, or at least that's what it feels like since I've been MIA for almost two months. Yikes! I'm so sorry! As an apology, I wanted to make this chapter beefy so hopefully you guys have something to gobble up! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tea wasn't in it for a few reasons. One being that, when I outlined this chapter, she never fit into it. And two being that I think the audience (and I) needed a small break from her character. She's been a downer and I get that it gets to people. She will return next chapter, I promise!

On a personal side note, I just wanted to thank you all for sending me your well-wishes on my trip to Mexico. I had a WONDERFUL time, and as a thank you for your unending support, I wanted to invite you guys to follow me on Instagram! You can see some of my pictures from my trip and get to know me a little bit better on there! (Only if you're interested, of course.) Follow me shaybaybaymarie and I'll try to follow you back!

Thanks for all the love thus far! Hope you are all excited for more!