Author's Note: Hi guys! I'm sorry for the awful delay-right now I'm in college (university for you non-americans) and I'm taking 18 credit hours. The other day my friend kept talking about this thing called sleep. I'm not sure what it is, but apparently I need more of it. Despite the long wait I'm not giving up on this story, but updates are going to take a while. At the moment I'm lucky to have the time to do a page at a time (usually it ends up just being a few paragraphs or a couple of lines of dialogue) because I don't have time to do much of anything other than scramble to get class work done. Please just hang there-if you've like the story so far you won't want to miss what I have planned for the (hopefully) near future. Also, I apologize for any errors that you might find. These days I'm pretty exhausted and don't have a ton of time to edit.
An interesting thing about this chapter is that there was no way to get around switching POV. Of course, I'm not complaining-I really enjoy writing his POV. I just wanted to warn you because I know that frequently switching point of views can get a little confusing. Anyway, on a different note: This chapter is going to be interesting. If you don't believe me, please read on!
Thanks to everyone who has stuck by this story so far. Hopefully you'll continue to like what you see. Also, thanks to all who read and reviewed the filler chapter. Should I keep it up?
-TheEagerScribbler
The Story so far: It's been twenty years and Yugi and the gang have all made lives for themselves. Bakura finds his way back out of the shadow realm and shows up in domino for revenge. The items resurface and their rightful holders are left trying to find a way to defeat a man allied with darkness itself. In the process Yugi has nearly been killed, his daughter Akari has been kidnapped, and he has been forced to both participate and initiate a shadow game. Now that all of the item holders are finally gathered they have a plan to rescue his daughter. Now it's time to see if they're up to the challenge of facing the shadows…
Chapter 15: His own worst enemy
Yugi's phone alarm went off at exactly noon the next day. He sent a text to the gang signifying that it was time for them to make their move. He and Tea were going to be taking to take a back way that they had mapped out. They hoped that it had enough twists and turns that they would be able to shake off anyone in pursuit of them.
"I've got my deck." Tea said.
Yugi would rather that she not duel at all, but it might be necessary. He nodded. and said, "And I've got mine. I think we're ready to go." It had been decided that all of them would try to get there at approximately 12:25. If they weren't it was to be assumed that somebody had been attacked and they were supposed to go looking for them. Yugi's route was the longest, but also the safest and had the least traffic, so they thought that with a bit of luck they should be able to make it without being too terribly late.
He held the door open for his wife and locked the door behind him before they began to walk briskly to their destination. Yugi thought that he spotted a man in a cloak but wasn't sure. "Just keep walking at a normal pace,"Tea had said. "We'll stick out too much if we try to run. Keep your head down and keep your eyes away from them. Just walk quickly while you're doing it." Yugi nodded and managed to round a corner before the man turned around.
"That was a close one," Tea panted.
"Yeah, I know. We're just lucky that he wasn't paying attention to us." Yugi said in agreement. Yugi began mentally preparing himself for the next game. If for some reason Bakura's cronies managed to corner them he would be ready. Their plan hinged on each of them getting to Domino Deals Motel in tact so that they could be unified. The puzzle was good at bringing people together, and they needed it there.
Tea took his hand and began to drag him away. "Come on Yugi, we should probably get going."
"Tea, promise me something."
"What is it?"
"Promise me that if something happens to me you'll take the puzzle and run."
Her eyes grew wide with horror and she latched onto his arm so hard that he wondered if her hand was going to become permanently attached. "Absolutely not Yugi! We're a team. I can't just leave you!"
To be honest Yugi didn't want to think about that possibility any more than she did, but he had to. "Look Tea, this puzzle is too powerful to wind up in the wrong hands. No matter what happens the puzzle needs to be safe!"
"But-"
"No Tea. We don't have a choice. It's our duty to protect this puzzle. We're not the only one's who'll suffer…"
"Hey, I think I see them!" A deep voice shouted from a near bye area. Yugi grabbed his wife's hand and together they ran as fast as they could. They ran a jagged path that only a native to their beloved city could navigate without getting lost. It was a deviation from their regular path but it should keep them safe enough from everyone but Bakura. He hoped that speed could make up for the shadows that dotted their path. Shadows in the shape of wicked jaws and monsters with teeth and claws projected on to the walls of the buildings that they passed by. Was it all in his head? Had been spending far too much time thinking about Bakura and fearing the worst? The human imagination was a powerful machine that could trick itself into believing all manner of terrible things that were not true. But, what if it was Bakura? They could not risk the chance so they sped up so that their pace matched is the pounded of his heart.
The buildings around them became riddled with shadows and the formerly bright street became dull and grey. If he strained his ears he could swear that he heard the chattering and menacing laughter of a duel monster that he could not place. Their journey had turned into something straight out of his childhood nightmares."
"What's happening?" Tea panted. "Can he really do that? I don't remember the ring being so powerful."
"I don't know. Let's just keep running. We'll find him where we're heading, I'm sure of it. It's getting progressively worse the closer we get to Domino Deals- he must be waiting for us." Yugi growled.
"We should be close. I didn't get a good look at any signs, but I think we're about two streets over."
By some miracle they managed to shake off the men clad in robes and found themselves staring at the motel. Just a few more measly steps would put him in the same room as his daughter. He was just a few steps away from where she was, but for some reason he felt an overwhelming impulse to run the other way. He looked at Tea, "You feel that?"
"I thought it was just me!" Then she gasped. "Look up."
"Why?"
"Just do it." She said in a near whisper.
He looked up and saw what she was talking about. entire second floor of the motel was engulfed in shadows. If he focused his eyes he could see monsters lurking around the building. Were they going to fight their way into the building? They glared at him menacingly but made no move to attack.
"Let's go." Tea was the one to shake him out of his thoughts and head towards the door. Yugi could hardly bring himself to enter but Tea was the one to charge ahead. Sometimes he thought that Tea was truly the bravest of all of them-she just didn't make a show of it like Joey or put one hand on his deck as they moved just in case they needed to defend themselves and moved to walk in front.
"It's me they're after." Strangely enough, the monsters let them walk past them. Why are they there if they're not doing anything? Yugi reached for the door but he was literally unable to reach it. He had been afraid of that. Who was the game against?
"Come join the party. I see you've brought me a delightful gift. You really should join me Yugi-this should be most entertaining."
Bakura was sitting regally in a desk chair as Seto and Mokuba faced a man that Yugi had never truly seen in the flesh.
"You." Seto snarled. "What are you doing here?" Mokuba had only seen his brother that angry a few times. The ferocity in his sneer and the fire in his eyes meant that the man before them would be lucky to leave the room outside of a coffin. The impossible man standing in the room with them gave the same, stern expression that he had supposedly worn in life. His eyes were narrowed and his lips were perpetually turned downward. There was no mistaking that he was the former patriarch of the Kaiba family.
"Gozaburo." Seto growled.
"I have to say that I am most impressed with the way you hold yourself. You've come a long way from the pitifully weak child that approached me that day. Now you are a true Kaiba."
Yugi couldn't help but cringe. For the first time in years Seto looked like he was ready to kill. In recent years few people had managed to ruffle his feathers so much. "Who's the girl? Robbing the cradle Seto?" He looked right at Aiko who was standing on Seto's other side side.
"Shut up! I don't trade insults with dead men. The girl is none of your business-you're clearly here because you have a bone to pick with me! Bring it on old man!" Seto yelled!
Gozaburo frowned. "I see that I neglected to teach you to bite your tongue. We're not so different you know-we're even nearly the same age now."
"The only thing we have in common is that we both use the Kaiba name. I'm happier, more successful, better liked, more powerful than you ever were, and unlike you I'm not an unfeeling bastard! Tell me, by what measure are we alike?"
Gozaburo burst into sinister laughter. "All of those things are superficial my boy! Deep down in our core we're the same, and now I'm going to prove it to you. I challenge you to a game!
Seto smirked. "You do realize that's what I do best, right?"
"We'll see Seto, we'll see. I suppose it's finally time to see what my heir is truly capable of!" Not for the first time Yugi found himself marveling at the skill that it must have taken in order to create and sustain such interesting and such personal illusions. Gozaburo looked far more solid than he expected and Bakura didn't seem to be lifting a finger.
The shadows twisted and wove together to form a hallway. "It's time for you to meet your fate! If you can find your way to the other side you win.
"I don't believe in fate, but if that's what it takes, so be it." Yugi knew that nothing good could possibly be waiting for Seto behind all of those doors.
Seto's Pov:
Fearlessly Seto walked down the hall and opened the first door. He was standing in front of Yugi's gameshop and it all seemed so real. He could hear teenagers arguing over something trivial in the distance and the delighted squeals of children as the played together so vividly that it could not possibly have been conjured up by even his imagination. It hadn't changed much, but it was obviously some sort of imitation of the past because the poster on the window advertised cards that he hadn't seen in serious competitive duels in years because they were too weak compared to modern cards. Despite all of the noise he didn't see anyone at all except for a boy in a trench coat. It was him as a teenager, and he was holding the ripped blue eyes card. Seto eyed the card with disdain and regret. "You make me sick." Seto growled.
"No, you make me sick." The other Seto growled back. "You've gone soft, but where has that ever gotten us? In this world you must have the strength to take what you want, otherwise you're just another lamb to be slaughtered. Is that what you've become Seto? A cute, fluffy, little lamb?" The young Seto sounded like he wanted to gag on the word 'cute'. "Father was a real bastard, but he did have point when he said, "If you don't have a use for your opponent's weapon take it away from them. That's exactly what I did."
Seto snatched the cards from the boy and held them almost reverently. Now that he had the rod and had to listen to the constant yammering of the Priest, his connection to the card felt even stronger. He could almost feel the lifeforce of the Blue Eyes and felt fiercely protective of it. "Listen here you little brat-that is not what you did. You stole a card from a helpless old man and nearly killed him. You probably wouldn't have even cared that he had diedthat
Seeing such apathy on one's own face was disturbing. Those violent, ruthless, empty days seemed like they had happened a lifetime ago. As an adult he had spent years trying to rebuild his reputation and erase the image of himself as a cold and calculating child and instead build the image of a fully mature, capable leader. This past version of himself, this perversion of himself was no longer him, and had not been him since that fateful game where the Other Yugi had mind crushed him. He had Bakura's number now-getting through his illusions shouldn't be hard, especially considering the he would not allow his past to destroy him.
"I don't do this often, but considering that we were once the same person I suppose it doesn't count-you were right, at one point I wouldn't have cared. But here's the difference-the person that I am now would and I am not ashamed of that because it means that I've finally managed to escape his shadow!"
"That's not true. You fake it- you may do it well, but you still fake the way that you should feel in order to save face. You really couldn't care less even if it happened today!" Some small doubts began to surface but he slammed a lid on them. He could not allow for them to surface .
"I have heard enough! I will not be reprimanded by a boy too young to even shave. I am at least twenty years older than you and have had the opportunity to learn from life experiences which you cannot even begin to my sight-I will not allow you to waste my time more than you already have!" He commanded with as much force as he could. His voice had scared men with far worse reputations than his current self. Surely it would banish the ghost of his past? Of course he was right, he usually was. If Yugi's experiences were a good indicator of Bakura's intentions this so called, 'game' was meant to test his strength and make him doubt himself. Bakura had clearly underestimated him.
He walked down the street until he saw the next doorway. He was younger still. This time there was no trenchcoat, just fake smile plastered onto his face. He had not yet become a master of deception. Seto could remember that smile-he had not yet become a master of deception and only bothered to wear it while he was still living under Gazaburo's thumb.
"Hello." The boy asked with false innocence.
"Hello," Seto said dryly as took the boy in. If the last counterpart was there to play on his his fear of becoming like his stepfather, what role did this one play?
"Would you like to come inside?"
Seto couldn't think of anything that he'd like less. He was currently standing on his adopted Father's doorstep and the last thing that he wanted to do was step inside and interact with the man or this undeniably unsettling version of his former self. He did not want to remember the cold, white marble floors or the spartan falls and functional furniture. He did not want to remember the carpet where he often found himself sitting while stealing those few precious moments with mokuba. Why on Earth would he want to remember the place where he was tormented? The first thing Seto did when he got the money was remodel the entire place. It would have been impractical to live elsewhere, but that didn't mean that he couldn't change it.
"No I will not. Just tell me what you want." Seto said bluntly.
"Are you absolutely sure that you would not like to sit down? Or maybe a drink. Father will be home shortly if you have a meeting with him." He really wished that they'd stop saying that-for all that Kaiba had mastered corporate politics he did not lie.
He couldn't remember himself ever being so coy. "Let's cut the crap. We both know why I'm here."
The boy eyed him critically. "Of course. You're me, but older. You must be about father's age now, correct?"
"I suppose. You can't be older than fourteen, so I suppose that's a fair assumption."
"Well then older self, please explain how you've gotten so soft?"
Whatever he was expecting, he didn't expect that. "You've gone soft. You're intelligent, but being soft makes you incompetent. You're not fit to lead Kaiba Corporation." It was clear that the boy was utterly disgusted by his own actions.
Seto had never wanted to throttle a child more than his past self. He had been called a number of things over the years-Cruel, selfish, heartless, ruthless, spoiled, hard, impertinent, and cold were among the many accusations that had been thrown at him either on the air or in articles published on various sources, but never in his life had he been called soft or incompetent.
Had he gone soft? He tried to think back to when he had just finally managed to establish Kaiba corporation as his own and realised that there were few things that he wasn't willing to do to protect the company and his brother. You don't become the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation by being nice. Still, he couldn't help but thinking back to a week before any of this magic nonsense had reared it's ugly head. He had made the decision to acquire Future Incorporated and had vehemently refused the suggestion to blackmail the corporation. Now it looked like Industrial Illusions was about to out buy them. Yes the acquisition would be a good asset, but he didn't want it enough to try to outbid Industrial Illusions on this one. Could his momentary lapse of judgement cause him to go soft?
Seto knew that he had to justify himself to noone, but for some reason that ridiculous child was making him feel defensive. If he were the sort of person who was slave to his own impulses he'd already be yelling at him. He however, knew that it would get him nowhere, especially with himself, no matter how twisted it was. From a distance it was easy to dismiss a shadow game as being all illusions, but when you yourself are the participant it suddenly becomes difficult to distinguish what is reality and what is not, and the boy standing directly in front of him seemed very real.
"You are a child, so I suppose that it is only reasonable that you have trouble comprehending the importance of public image. If you keep your business clean there is no risk of others being able to use it as a weapon against you. I am a public figure-any scandal could be enough to damage sales. Once you have the chance to mature into a fully capable adult you'll understand." He used his words as precisely as a surgeon's scalpel, a skill that that he had picked up over the years. The implication was he was too young or too immature to do something were all it would take to antagonise him. "Listen to me carefully-I'll even speak more slowly if it will help you better understand what I am about to say-my methods have changed because I no longer need crutches in order to a damn good job at what I do. Blackmail, threats, cruelty-they're all just crutches for people too weak and too incompetent to lead. I am neither. In the two decades since I have taken over Kaiba Corporation our profits have tripled, we have become a household name, and Kaiba Corporation is the Standard for gaming technology. I have surpassed our father a long time ago."
His past self still played the image of the obedient, innocent schoolboy in his old Domino High School Uniform.
"Well, then I suppose that I'll just have to…" He trailed off and pulled off the locket. He picked it up, took the picture out, and tore it in half. "There, now that this is gone you can be free from distractions. I just want to help you, of course."
Seto didn't hear anything he said after the picture was torn. His ears pounded and he saw red. "You are not me. Now get the hell out of my face or I swear on my blue eyes that I'll murder you where you stand!" Seto meant it too. If this weren't some sort of test he might have snapped. Despite living in a mansion and being one of the richest men in Japan he still counted the necklace as the most valuable thing that he owned. No version of himself, not even when he was still angry and hardened after finally getting out from his step father's thumb would ever even consider harming it.
He left in a huff and briskly wandered through the house until he found the next door. He knew that it had to be there. Wasn't that how those things work? You need to defeat the boss in order to get to the next level? The first door turned out to really be a broom closet, and the one after that really was the library. He could go through the many bedrooms of the residence but he realised that Bakura wouldn't put the door in anything as insignificant as a broom closet. So he went straight to the belly of the beast-to Gozaburo's study. It where Gozaburo worked when he wasn't at the office, and Seto had made it his own sanctuary. To him it was fitting- if you have the crown why not take the throne?
The office was as it was in his predecessor's time-all dark wood, a heavy desk near the window, and wall lined with bookshelves that featured miniatures of his designs."Predictable." Seto muttered. Bakura was sitting on the top of the desk as he examined one of the models that had been on display. "Having fun yet?"
"I'm not, but I suppose you are."
"It's more than just entertaining-It's a window to your soul. Since it won't be around for much longer I might as well enjoy it, right?"
"If you're just here to rattle me it's not going to work." Seto was fed up with his nonsense so he he did the only thing that's worked with other self important men with large egos-he walked out. Seto reached towards the door he was greeted by himself at seventeen. They were standing in his familiar office-it had been updated slightly, but for the most part is was clearly recognizable as his office. The man behind the chair was him at sixteen. Was this was he was supposed to be so afraid of? He was supposed to be afraid of a lecture from a teenager? The thought was almost laughable.
"Have a seat."
"What, you're going to fire me now?"
"Believe me, if you were my employee I would fire you. Look at you, spending your time with silly little girls that you aren't even related to and completely dropping off of the professional dueling circuit. When was the last time you came out with anything truly innovative? Right now I have plans for new inventions while you stare at that computer screen trying to figure out how to improve on something that's already been done! How long are you going get by on your old successes and your old reputation? You're no longer fit to run this company." He growled. "So I'll do it for you." His reputation from his teenage years still lingered despite the passage of time. He was still thought of as a duelist despite that he rarely had time to duel. People still thought of him as the same cold, cruel, sarcastic young man that he used to be. What had he really done for the corporation since his twenties? They used to be leaders in innovation and now...now they were on the the tenth generation of duel disks, and there were countless knock off duel disks, although none of them could hold a candle to the real thing. For as long as he could remember he had been a leader, an innovator, if he couldn't be that…just who was he? A knot tied up his stomache as he realized that maybe he was right...he'd fire himself too. He had become weak and complacent.
He pulled a gleaming silver knife out of a desk drawer and played with it. "All I need to do is get rid of you and take over your body. Who knows? I bet nobody will even know the difference."
Seto moved to the right at the same time his past self lunged forward to stab him, knocking over a large stack of papers that scattered all over the room. "You really should know better than that." He knocked the knife out of his hand before he could even realize what was happening. "You're a pitiful imitation of me. My weapon of choice would have been that gun in the second drawer of that desk." Far too many people had tried to murder and kidnap him for him not to be cautious.
"I need the body in good condition."
Seto cocked an eyebrow. "In that case you'd better get rid of that weapon you're concealing with your trenchcoat. Not that you'd win."
"I might not be able to kill you with a bullet, but I can still incapacitate you." As the resounding crack of gunfire hit his ears he tried to dodge it but his response was a fraction of a second too slow. It probably wouldn't kill him, but it hurt like hell. When he looked down red began to bloom on his shirt, but then it began to quickly darken to purple. "What is this?" He gasped. "What have you done?"
"It's the shadows. When you prove too weak to resist I'll have your body."
"When hell freezes over!" Seto spat.
"I'll bring a coat." He deadpanned. "In order for the acquisition to be complete there's one thing left to do."
"Let me guess, another game." Seto said dryly. "You can tell Bakura that this is getting old."
"No, not a game. A test. If you can't protect Mokuba you don't deserve this body. So instead we'll play a high stakes game-rescue Mokuba and you win. Lose and I'll take over Kaiba Corporation using your body. If you win I'll stop the progression of shadows and you can leave with your soul."
Bracing himself, he stood up and prepared himself to win. "I won't lose, but sure, I'll humor you and play you little game."
When he looked up he a saw a ten year old Mokuba pleading with him in wide eyed terror from the inside of a cage that was dangling over a pit of shadows. "Save me big brother!"
Seto knew it wasn't real, but every instinct told him that he needed to rescue that boy using any means necessary. Mokuba had been put in danger countless time because of the choices that he had made from the time that he was small, so his true goal, the one that took priority over everything else, was protecting him. It had become as automatic as each breath he took because he was his big brother."Like I'd stop now." He scoffed. Seto had vowed when he was still a child that he would always protect him, and he had no intention of breaking it. This was the real test, and he would not allow himself to fail.
Author's Note:
Sorry for this really long gap between updates with only about ten pages to show for it. Hopefully this makes up for it. Originally I was going to combine chapter 14 and the material that will be in chapter 15, but I decided that it was just too much for one chapter.
Please read and enjoy, and thanks to all of my readers and reviewers, chapter 15 will be out as soon as possible.
-The Eager Scribbler
