Chapter 19: Victorious Stalemate
"Shit!" Seto cursed as he slammed his foot into an unsuspecting trash can, sending the cylinder object clear across the alley.
"Keep making noise Seto; let 'im know where we are so he can get us first," Amelda muttered as he continued to scan the area with his night vision goggles.
"You're lucky that I didn't hear whatever it was that you said," Seto snarled. "Speaking of what you said, you said that they were here."
"Yes. As in 'past tense'. As in 'they were here'. They're not here now."
Seto narrowed his eyes. "So what in the hell are we doing here?"
Amelda turned around, raising the goggles from his eyes. "Look; I'm tracking them down, alright? It's one of my specialties, and what you wanted me to do. So why don't you stop being a fucking noisy child and shut up long enough for me to do my job."
Seto crossed his arms and heaved a frustrated sigh. "Jounouchi could be dead by now."
"I doubt that. The hooded man's not going to kill him. He just wants your attention so you can come to him."
Seto said nothing.
Amelda shrugged his shoulders as he replaced the goggles over his eyes and picked up where he left off. "Man, you really don't like me, do you?"
"I absolutely despise you."
"You know, I had no intentions of killing Mokuba."
"And yet you kidnapped him, and made a game out of it. In fact, since our encounter you treated it like it was all one happy fun little game, with your selfish freedom as the prize."
Amelda continued at his task. "Do you know why I'm on the run, Seto?"
"That's 'Kaiba', and yes. You apparently assassinated a few political officials from your homeland."
Amelda nodded. "Right. But you see, there was a reason for it. They were the ones responsible for the war that destroyed my homeland. They sent in the tanks, the militants, the weapons, and took away all the things I cared about. The courts may have exonerated them since they had all that influence, but that was fine; I made sure that they paid for their crimes."
"So, you basically did it because you hate war. I don't like it anymore than you do, but to kill the masterminds behind it creates more problems than it solves."
"No shit! I got the law on my ass now! From other countries, no less—I'm sure Varon and Rafael told you about one of them being here thanks to that tournament going on."
"You're so fucking selfish." Seto frowned, turning away. He looked up at the starry sky, his breath visible due to the cold winter air.
Katsuya...I know you're going to be okay. Just give me some time.
"You know, maybe you're right," Amelda stated, running a hand through his crimson hair after having removed his goggles. "Maybe I am fucking selfish. Maybe I didn't think things through. But the way I see it, if my reason is for the best and I don't have any regrets for acting out the way I did, then I can sleep at night."
"That's not making you any less unlikable."
"Kaiba, what I'm saying..." Amelda stopped. He inhaled deeply, his teeth gently biting down on his lower lip, as he fought with himself over what to say. "Forget it. You hate me as is, so I'm not going to continue this discussion of personal morals and reasons and shit."
"You do as you like."
Amelda glared at Seto. "Christ, boy; what makes you such a scathing bitch anyway?"
For the first time, Seto smiled at Amelda. "Me."
Amelda raised a puzzled brow. "Is that so?"
"You're not even the first to refer to me as one, just so you know."
"Doubt I'll be the last, either," the assassin muttered as he cracked his knuckles.
"You're not wearing your goggles. Where are they?"
Amelda glanced over his shoulder. "Huh? Oh, right. West. They're apparently west."
"'Apparently'? That doesn't sound like a definite answer."
Amelda blinked at the brunet. "Look; I spotted two figures on a rooftop. It's either them, or some adventurous couple having a nice rooftop fuck, but I doubt anyone is that stupid to fuck on a rooftop in the winter!"
"You really haven't been in this city long enough."
"Man, you really are a misanthropist."
"I prefer to term 'realist', thank you very much."
Amelda stifled a laugh. "Yeah, 'realistic pain in the ass'—hey!"
Seto kicked a discarded beer can at Amelda. "You said west, right? Let's get going." He dashed ahead.
The assassin shook his head. "Jesus, I am really amazed that nobody's tried to kill him sooner..."
A pair of amber eyes slowly fluttered open.
Tall buildings beneath the dark night winter sky. That was the first thing that Jounouchi saw as he regained his consciousness. He winced as he suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck.
He tried to reach for the ground so he could sit up, but no matter how hard his arms struggled, he was unable to do so.
The hell...?
Jounouchi wriggled some more, but consciousness soon completely set in, allowing him to feel the rough texture of a rope that was binding his wrists.
"The hell?!" Jounouchi repeated out loud as he tried to glance over his shoulder.
"I had a feeling that you would try to attack me as soon as you had the chance once you woke up, so I had to take some precautions," a voice stated.
Jounouchi whirled his head to his right. "Where are ya?"
"I'm to your left."
Jounouchi whipped his head to his left. Sitting atop an air conditioning unit was the man that kidnapped him roughly an hour ago.
"Given your stamina and all, I figured you'd be awake pretty soon. He should be here soon, too." The hooded man looked over to his right.
Jounouchi shot a hateful gaze at the hooded man. "Go fuck yerself! When I find a way to get outta here, I'm gonna fuck you up."
The hooded man shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure you're really pissed. Mind you, I would be too if I were kidnapped..."
"Yeah; yer calm now but just ya wait, punk."
The hooded man turned around and rested a foot at the edge of the building. He smiled.
"Hey! Hey! I'm talkin' to ya!"
He appeared to ignore Jounouchi as he continued observing the city streets below.
"Fuckin' asshole! If yer just gonna ignore me, I'm gonna keep on shoutin'!"
His lips then relaxed from its smile as he continued to scan the area.
"Thinkin' ya can kidnap me, the Steel Brawler!? Yer such a fuckin' pussy; not even puttin' up a fight!"
Suddenly, the hooded man leapt from the edge and grabbed his katana, unsheathing it so inhumanly fast that Jounouchi wasn't even aware of the sword having been unsheathed until he noticed that the very edge of the blade was barely hovering below his right earlobe.
The hooded man sneered. "Listen...Katsuya Jounouchi, right?"
Jounouchi was too paralyzed by surprise and fear to make a coherent reply.
The man shrugged as his sneer vanished. "Well, listen for just a second...I really don't have any intentions of killing you; you know that. I'd like to think of myself as a decent enough guy in that aspect. However, I am not above disfiguring you—and believe me, it's not a very pleasant experience. Now, if you don't keep your mouth shut until Seto arrives, I will have to cut out your tongue. Do I make myself clear?"
Jounouchi very slowly lowered his head by a scant.
The sadistic smile returned as the man sheathed his sword in one motion. "Good. Now, all that's left to do is wait."
"Then consider it done."
Jounouchi looked up; he smiled. The man turned around. Standing across from the pair was none other than Seto and Amelda.
"Kat—!"Kaiba quickly replaced his smile with a disapproving glare. "Jounouchi! How the hell did someone like you manage to get caught?" He rested his hands on his hips. "Were you too stoned to put up a decent fight?"
"'Jounouchi, are you okay?! For the act of kidnapping you, I will proceed to break this bastard's arm'!" Jounouchi imitated Seto's deep voice as he rolled his eyes. "Man; I didn't do it on purpose! Besides, what the hell is Amelda doin' here?" He paused as he blinked rapidly, his thoughts in motion. "Did ya get caught by Amelda?"
The hooded man snorted as he interjected. "Caught? By him?" He jerked his thumb at the redheaded assassin. "I'd certainly hope not! He's not even employed by me anymore, thank goodness. Worst thing I ever spent my money on, and I've been to those really cheap ramen dives downtown."
"He's with me," Seto reluctantly answered as he turned his gaze to the hooded man.
"So finally Seto Kaiba and I meet face-to-face. I guess that means I won't be needing this anymore." The hooded man flicked the photograph towards Seto. Seto held up his right index and middle fingers and caught the photograph as if it were a fly between chopsticks.
"I had a really hard time obtaining a picture of you...it's hard finding a photo of the current Kaiba Corp CEO when there's no photo to find in the first place!" The hooded man eplained with a shrug.
"I don't care about how you obtained this," Seto snarled as he crushed the photograph in his clenched fist. "I'm really fed up with you people attacking the ones closest to me just to get my attention. If you wanted me that badly in the first place, you not only should have done it yourself, but you should have gone soley for me."
The hooded man nodded as he rested a hand on his chin. "Actually, I agree."
Seto blinked. "I...what?"
"Sending Amelda was a mistake. I managed to con him into this ordeal by claiming that I knew how to get the law off his trail. Really, I did this because I wanted to see just what you were capable of...and I was highly disappointed in the results. You put up a very lackluster showing, only to be saved by the blond in the end."
"That's 'Jounouchi' to you, assclown!" Jounouchi called.
Seto scowled. "How did you even know of my fighting ability?"
"That's for you to find out. If you refuse, I will have to further persuade you by taking Mokuba as well."
"What?! How did you know—"
"There's a hell of a lot that I know that you don't know that I know." The hooded man smirked. "We're going to play a little game."
Seto shook his head. "I have no time for this bullshit. We're going to fight. No—Hey!"
Amelda had shoved Seto aside, a small throwing blade in his hand. "Just a second; I demand some answers from this bastard! I don't know what you said, but I saw you looking at me for a moment. Just what was my purpose in all of this anyway?!"
The hooded man sighed. "Amelda, I will explain that later; promise. Now may I please continue?"
"No...no, you may not." Amelda motioned to throw the blade.
"Idiot, don't—!" Seto tried to grasp Amelda's wrist, but Amelda had moved much faster, the blade already thrown and speeding towards the hooded man's throat.
The hooded man didn't even flinch as he brought his arms up and clapped his hands together, catching the blade in between his hands. The tip of the blade was a mere half of an inch from his throat.
"Are you done with the melodramatics, Amelda?" The hooded man inquired with no amusement in his tone. He lowered his arms, his right hand nimbly balancing the blade between his ring finger and pinky finger. "I'll be sure to give you an explanation as well; after I finish speaking."
"Then hurry it up," Seto growled.
"As I said, we're going to play a little game," the hooded man suggested as he looked directly at Seto. "It's a simple game. All you have to do is knock me down. Amelda and Jounouchi--assuming he ever gets out--are welcome to play since you apparently aren't capable of defeating someone on your own these days, Seto. But just to clarify, it is you that must knock me down."
"That's it?" An unimpressed Seto rested his hands on his hips.
"Well, if you manage to knock me down, I will reveal myself to you. My identity is the prize."
Seto crossed his arms. "Hn. A very uninteresting prize, but I suppose referring to you as "mother fucker" would get old after a while. I accept." He twirled his left arm over his right, extending it in front of him as he held his right close to his chest.
The hooded man nodded with approval as he raised his fists. "Great. Just remember, this is one of those 'easier said than done' sort of things."
"So? Let's just do this—" Seto felt a hand tapping his shoulder. He turned around, shooting a mean glare at Amelda. "What is it, Amelda?"
"Uh...I just wanted to know what the hell he just said, 'cause you know, I don't speak Japanese," Amelda answered as he slowly stepped back.
Seto nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Basically, that hooded punk wants me to knock him down. He says you and Jounouchi can attack him, but in order for me to find out his identity, I have to be the one that knocks him down."
"Ah." Amelda reached for his jackknife. "Sounds pretty easy."
The hooded man lowered his fists for a moment. "Wait!"
"Now what?" Seto demanded impatiently.
"I forgot to return Amelda's little toy." He threw the weapon back with much force; Amelda was unable to see it until he suddenly felt something prick him on his upper right arm. He noticed the small blade protruding from it.
"Aghh!" Amelda cried as he instantly clutched at the small blade and slowly began to pull it out.
Seto didn't remove his eyes from the hooded man. "So, what's with the sword? Is this not a fair fight?"
The hooded man twirled the sheathed blade in his grip. "Normally, I'd keep this sword around as it would give me some advantage, but considering your disappointing display when it comes to fighting, it would be an insult for me to use it." He rested it on the ground. "So--shall we begin?"
"What's holding you back?!" Seto answered rhetorically as he rushed towards the hooded man. He turned in mid-step and swung his left leg around in a roundhouse kick.
The hooded man held up his left arm and blocked the attack. "Ooh; that attack was strong enough to make anyone blocking it stumble back a few steps...funny that it didn't even make me stagger."
Seto sneered. He attempted a knife-hand strike that was aimed at the man's throat. The man dodged his head to his left to evade the strike; Seto tried again but the man dodged each strike in a side-by-side motion, sighing as he parried the fifth attempt with the back of his left hand and thrust his right palm forwards, striking Seto directly on his chest.
"Jesus!" Jounouchi exclaimed in disbelief. I've seen Seto use a move like that before...but it never knocked anyone back like that!
Seto was also in disbelief; the force of the blow had knocked him back twenty feet. He clutched his chest with his left hand as he forced himself to breathe, but instead sputtered and coughed. He could taste the slight tinge of blood on his tongue.
"Well; if the roles were reversed I'd have had your name and face by now," the hooded man taunted as he walked over to Seto. He watched as Seto glared back at him with hate-filled eyes.
Seto back-sprang onto his feet, and immediately commenced with a swift toe kick. It struck the hooded man on his chin, forcing him back. Seto then bent his right arm, his elbow facing outwards, and rushed in with an elbow strike.
The hooded man had recovered too soon. He grabbed Seto's wrist and forced his arm to go straight. Seto was surprised by the maneuver.
"Listen, you're not trying to fight me; you're trying to kick my ass. That's not what I came here for," the hooded man stated sternly as he frowned.
"Hn!" Seto forced his arm back, releasing it from the hooded man's grip.
The hooded man chuckled. "Just fight me. Knock me down, and you'll understand everything. How hard can it be?"
Seto took a deep breath; he coughed due in part to the injury that he sustained at the start of the fight. He raised his hands into Aikido stance once more.
The hooded man nodded as he raised his arms into his Judo stance. "Right; just like that. I want you to prove to me that I'm wrong when I say that you were nothing more than a waste of effort, and merely refuse that should have been tossed aside ages ago. Prove yourself to me, and you'll earn the prize."
Seto frowned; he grew tired of the hooded man's attitude. He closed his eyes.
He's right; though. So far, I've made some very careless mistakes, against a very careful and precise opponent. He's like nobody I've ever faced before, either. I can't afford to fuck this up; he could very well kill me.
"Hey; what're you waiting for?" the hooded man called, his fists still raised. "It can't be that hard to think of a way to knock me onto my ass."
Seto grimaced. He's trying to get me upset again. This is the same kind of tactic I would attempt on Jounouchi to coerce him into doing something stupid...and now he's doing it to me, and it's working. I think Jounouchi's mannerisms are finally infecting me. He moistened his lips as he barely dodged a knife-hand strike; however it managed to graze his upper left arm.
As the two fought, Amelda took the time to crawl towards Jounouchi, a jackknife in his mouth and a makeshift bandage around the small wound the hooded man inflicted upon him earlier. He glanced over at the fighting pair to ensure that he wasn't being noticed before closing the distance between himself and Jounouchi.
However, Jounouchi noticed and his eyes widened to a rather panicked expression. "Don't ya go near me, ya fuckin' homicidal maniac! I'll...I'll kick ya!" He thrust his right leg at the approaching assassin.
Amelda spit the knife out onto this hand. "You're lucky that I can't speak a proper retort in your language, blondie." He flicked the knife, exposing the blade. "Hold still."
Jounouchi flinched as Amelda approached him with the knife. Amelda heaved a frustrated sigh as he pointed at Jounouchi's bound wrists. Jounouchi glanced back at it and nodded as he realized what Amelda really meant, staying as still as he watched Seto's battle.
Seto rolled to the side, barely avoiding the hooded man's dropping heel kick. The man's heel impacted against the ground; he whipped his head and noticed Seto standing to his feet. The man smirked.
"You have more speed than I do; I'll give you that." The hooded man's smirk was replaced by a frown. "Running away won't save you."
"Running away and staying alive long enough to land an effective strike are two different strategies," Seto reminded as he clutched his left upper arm.
"Yes; but considering the number of hits I've gotten off of you versus the number you've gotten off of me...I guess you're going with running away?"
"Maybe you should just stop talking and start paying closer attention." Seto rushed towards the hooded man once again. The hooded man shook his head as he prepared for a defensive counter-attack. Seto motioned to perform a high-striking kick by raising his left leg in the Left Flamingo; the hooded man raised his arms across his face in an effort to grab the kick.
Seto smirked. He suddenly turned on his right heel, using the momentum in a low-spinning sweep attack with his left leg, the back of his heel striking the hooded man's left ankle. The hooded man staggered at first, but as he desperately tried to maintain his balance, he stumbled and began to fall.
"So there, mother-fucker." Seto snarled as he extended his right arm, holding up his middle finger—a gesture he had often seen Jounouchi use.
The hooded man rolled his eyes as he thrust his left arm out, propping himself up on the ground, and thus preventing his fall.
"Son-of-a-bitch...," Seto muttered.
"Oh yeah; I almost forgot that I'm just as agile and fast on my feet as you are." The hooded man pressed his weight on his left hand, and kicked up to propel himself into a backflip, landing in a crouching position. "Convenient that I remember that, eh? It was a good try, attempting to fake me out. I just wonder if you can get away with a surprise strategy again."
"Won't know until we try, then!" Amelda shouted as he struck the hooded man on his back with a dashing knee strike, forcing his head to whiplash forward—the hooded man clutched his hood so as to prevent it from falling back as he fell onto his knees.
"Must you always fucking interfere?" Seto demanded.
"Hey; there was nothing in the rules against my participation," Amelda reminded as he rested his foot on the hooded man's back.
"Yes; but only I can knock him down if he's going to reveal himself!"
"Would you calm down? I have him right where we want him. Just run up to him and punt 'im, and this mess will be done and over with."
Seto gnashed his teeth together; he clenched his fists so tightly that the blood had drained from his knuckles.
"You're both taking too long with your bickering," the hooded man suddenly said as he reached back with both hands, grasping Amelda's ankle.
Amelda looked down, shocked at the sudden move. "What the--?!"
The hooded man spun around, forcing Amelda to spin off of his back; Amelda crashed onto the ground shoulder-first.
"That's definitely going to leave a nasty little scrape," the hooded man jested as he returned his gaze to Seto. "Now then, where was I?"
Suddenly, he felt a driving force crash into him from behind, forcing him to stumble several steps towards Seto. Seto sneered as he approached the hooded man, stepping onto the man's left knee and propelling himself over the man. Seto then used a right kick to strike the hooded man on the back of his head, forcing the man to crash onto the ground face-first.
Jounouchi ran up to Seto as the brunet landed. "Hey-hey; how was that fer a diversion?"
Seto exhaled a relieved sigh as he clutched his left arm once again. "That headstrongness of yours certainly can prove advantageous when you want it to be."
"Uh..." Jounouchi trailed.
Seto's eyebrows lifted in annoyance. "Then let me translate it into words you'd understand: 'Yer hot streak jus' fuckin' saved my ass, man'."
"Oh...ya coulda spared me the textbook words and said that second one outright, ya know!" Jounouchi exclaimed as he scratched the back of his head. "And were ya jus' makin' fun of how I talk?"
"You did the same thing to me earlier." Seto smiled with amusement.
"Yer lucky yer so hot," Jounouchi muttered as he briefly turned away to spit. "By the way, that move ya did...ya jacked that from that Who-ah-rang guy!"
"Jounouchi, for the last time: 'Hooah-wrong'. It's not that hard. Besides, the move I used proved effective," Seto replied with a slight shrug. "I'm just so glad that you're okay."
Jounouchi smiled. "No worries, man. That guy's just a pussy. He wasn't gonna do nothin' to me."
"Wait; so he jumps in and gets praised. I jump in, and I get yelled at? What the fuck?" Amelda demanded as he sat up, clutching his shoulder.
"I don't like you," Seto reminded bluntly.
"Hey; go a little easy on 'im, huh? If it weren't for 'im, I wouldn't have been able to get that free shoulder-ram setup off hoodie-boy over there."
Seto bit his lip as he turned to Amelda. "Thanks," he muttered.
"Well; I feel a little better now, at least." Amelda brushed his hand across his pants. "So, what about him? You knocked him down, right, so he has to reveal himself."
"That's right," Seto agreed in his native language. "So? Let's have it. Your name, and your face."
"Right, right," the hooded man sighed. "It was my fault for allowing Jounouchi and Amelda to play along, but them's the breaks, right? As I promised, I will tell you my name and show you my face."
"And answer some of our questions, I hope," Amelda added as he gripped his jackknife.
"Questions? Well, we shall see if we can get around to that," the hooded man shrugged his shoulders once again.
"Just get it over with already," Seto growled between heavy breaths. Jounouchi cracked his knuckles, and Amelda tightened his grip on his jackknife.
"All right. But please; allow me the courtesy to properly introduce myself, as I feel that I owe you all that much." His sadistic smile was visible as he raised his hands to clutch his indigo hood. He pulled it back in one swift motion.
It was as though all time had stopped. Neither Seto, Jounouchi, nor Amelda could properly react to the sight that lay before them; the revelation of the mysterious hooded man was simply too shocking for an immediate reaction.
Jounouchi had to glance at Seto and then back at the opposing man, then back at Seto and back at the man again.
Amelda suddenly realized that he had dropped his jackknife, but was too shocked to bend down and pick it up from the ground.
Seto continued to stare directly at the man, his expression a combination of utter disbelief, disgust, and even...fear.
"Impossible..." Seto whispered. "This can't be."
What had been first revealed when the man removed his hood was a pair of devious sapphire eyes that had pale violet "eyelash" tattoos at the corners of his sockets. Soon he exposed his sienna bangs, which hung around his face similarly to that of Seto's save that it was less tamed; the rest of his hair was jet black and tied back into a ponytail.
"As I said," the revealed man stated with that sadistic smile, "Allow me the courtesy to properly introduce myself to all of you. My name is Noa Kaiba."
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS
There you have it! The identity of the hooded man has been revealed as none other than Noa Kaiba, the estranged brother of Seto. If you've noticed (and I'm sure you've noticed quickly), this rendition of Noa is a LOT different from that which you've seen in the Yu Gi Oh anime—whereas the anime Noa was a kid (and a non-living one at that), this one's an adult—who's very much alive and whose talents could easily rival, if not defeat Seto's own. He's going to be Seto's toughest opponent, and you'll be reading more about him in later chapters. Also, I apologise to the Noa fans in the audience if you're upset by how much I've changed him. I meant no disrespect!
Readers to address: Nyako-chan: The winner of the match between Paul Phoenix and GunJack was Paul. I mean, come on: this was Tekken 3, where Paul was infamously cheesy. grins I probably didn't mention it, so if anyone else was curious—there you go.
TsuyaKK: Jounouchi has never had any formal martial arts training, though his style could best be described as a mix of basic Karate and boxing. Who knows; maybe Seto could coerce Jounouchi into taking up an art or two.
Anyway, thanks again for reading and reviewing! As always, I appreciate the support, and I'll be reading more fics (I haven't forgotten! I WILL get to y'all eventually! sweatdrop ) soon!