Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.
Note: Just need to answer a few questions. Seto and Mokuba are basically just watching what is happening to their alternate selves right now. They see everything that has happened to them in the last chapter as well as in this one. The alternate Mokuba does not know about Gozaburo yet.
Roads Not Taken: Chapter 9 At Kaiba Corp"He's escaped! Has Kemo reached the mansion yet?" one executive asked.
"No. We'll have to summon the boss of the game anyway," another man stated. "We'll make sure our plan succeeds. Once it defeats Kaiba and Yugi in the virtual world, we can destroy their minds ourselves without having to rely on Kemo to kill them."
~`~`~`~`~`~
Kaiba, Mokuba, and Yugi arrived back at their starting point hoping to find a way out.
"We defeated the game. Shouldn't it just let us out of here?" Mokuba asked.
"You still have one challenge left. We know there's nothing in your deck at present that can defeat our boss monster Kaiba," came the voice of one of his employees.
"It doesn't matter," the young CEO calmly replied. "The sacrifice never happened. That means you can't bring whatever monster this is out."
The voice laughed. "We reprogrammed your whole game without your notice. Everything here molds itself to fulfill our desires. Do not forget who is really in control of this situation now Kaiba," it said as the Gate Guardian appeared before them.
Kaiba and Yugi stared in shock for a moment. This was a rare and powerful monster. Given more time, either would have found a strategy to destroy it, but they also had to keep Mokuba safe. Yugi was about to suggest they try to retreat and work out a plan to defeat this creature when a Labyrinth Wall appeared around them, entrapping the players at the center of a huge maze with the monster.
"This isn't fair!" Mokuba yelled. "We won. Let us out already!"
Unheard by the three players, one executive said, "This child is getting on my nerves. Let's have the Gate Guardian destroy him in the game. We will just spare his mind once the other two are defeated so that we can use him to take over the company."
Before the older boys could react to their current situation, the trio saw the monster before them glow with energy, and then an electrical wave shot towards their youngest member.
"Mokuba!" Yugi and Kaiba ran to protect him, but Yugi was just a little closer. He pushed his little brother out of the way but could not escape the attack himself.
Yugi began to fade away as Mokuba rushed back to him. "Big brother! I didn't mean to get in the way," the child whispered. "Don't go."
"It's okay." Yugi forced a smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay close to Kaiba. He'll protect you." With that, he vanished.
Mokuba fell to his knees. He bit his lower lip and sniffled as angry tears ran down his cheeks. Kaiba summoned his Battle Ox in defense mode. He needed to stall for time to develop a strategy while the enemy got ready for a second strike, and he needed to keep the younger boy calm. Kaiba went over his brother and knelt in front of him. "Get up kid. Don't let them see your weakness. I promise you, I will defeat this game."
Mokuba stopped crying and got up. "How? Will Yugi come back then?" he asked.
Kaiba didn't answer. One of his executives began to speak. "He cannot defeat us, little Mokuba. Soon his company will be ours, and you'll never see either of them again." With that, a harsh gust of wind came, not towards the Battle Ox, but straight for the older boy.
Mokuba saw it coming and, afraid of losing someone else he cared about to this twisted game, pushed him away in time, only to be hit himself. Part of the child's mind did not really expect to be hurt. He imagined the wind would blow him far away somewhere, but the attack actually felt almost like a sword piercing his skin and only caused him to fall backwards under the pain. Kaiba caught Mokuba before he hit the ground and turned to face him. "Why did you do it?" he asked.
"It was my fault that Yugi disappeared. I couldn't lose you too, big brother." He managed a weak smile and continued, "I know you'll beat this thing. I know everything's going to be alright." Then the child vanished as well.
"Mokuba!" Kaiba called out as he fell to his knees. It was in that moment that he realized just how much he had lost. How much he truly loved his younger brother. With this revelation, came the full force of his shame in failing Mokuba yet again.
There was a chance that if he defeated the Gate Guardian and won the game, his brother would be revived in the real world, but he could not be completely sure. What if the traitors had another scheme in case they failed here? What if Mokuba was hurt? What if they had already killed him somehow? Then all that was left for him now was to avenge his brother. Kaiba formed a plan. He had to act quickly before Suijin's special attack came after him. His idea was risky. It had never been accomplished before, but he had to take that chance for Mokuba. He would not let himself be defeated here if there was still even the slightest possibility that he could be reunited with his brother.
He pulled out all three Blue Eyes from his deck, along with a Polymerization card. At his command, the Battle Ox returned to his deck, and the three dragons that took its place on the field fused into one creature with three separate heads. Kaiba had wanted to wait to perform some tests and use this monster to defeat Yugi in their next duel, but it was more important to act quickly now to find a way to save Mokuba.
He called out, "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, destroy the Gate Guardian!" A beam erupted from the three mouths, aimed directly at the monster. The Gate Guardian glowed a light blue before a tidal wave erupted from its body. However, this had no effect on the last remaining player as his own creature's attack proved more powerful. Kaiba's fused dragon, with an attack power of 4500, easily demolished the game's boss. The Gate Guardian shimmered and began to vanish. Kaiba heard his five executives scream in either defeat or agony. Then his world started to fade as he felt himself being dragged back.
~`~`~`~`~`~
In the real world, the three players woke to find Joey and Tristan fending off the guards at the door while Tea stayed behind the control system trying to find something, anything, that would be of immediate help to them.
Kaiba instantly sprang to the machine and pressed a button which lowered a steel door in front of the guards. Before it was about to come down, Kemo finally managed to slip his arm past Joey and Tristan. The guard, realizing that he would never get in before the door reached the ground, took the chance of shooting his gun blindly into the room. The bullet would have hit Mokuba, but Kaiba dived towards the child and shoved him out of the way in time. In doing so, he was shot instead and instantly crumbled to the floor, unconscious.
By now, the steel door had come down all the way, and Joey and Tristan stood guard. Tea called for an ambulance on her cell phone. Mokuba kneeled by Kaiba and took his hand, unaware of everything else that was happening around him. "This is all my fault," he began to cry. "Please don't die. Please. Not now." Yugi sat on his knees behind his brother. He wrapped his arms around Mokuba's waist to comfort him, and they waited for the ambulance to arrive.
To Be Concluded