Disclaimer: Were Yu-Gi-Oh to belong to me, this disclaimer would not be here. Being that it is, feel free to infer that it does not, has not, and likely WILL not ever belong to me.

Author's Notes: As you've probably noticed, a lot of my stories got pulled down for being script format. I'm very sorry to all you people who enjoyed my humor stories, especially the Fairy Tale Collection. I was fortunate enough to save all your lovely reviews before that story got deleted, and I'm glad you all liked it. I may decide to archive them somewhere else that does allow script format, but I'll make that call later. Feel free to E-mail me about stuff as well.

At any rate, this story is a dual birthday present. The first is for Lady Jia, who is celebrating a birthday, and the second is for Seto Kaiba, the most misunderstood bish in Yu-Gi-Oh, whose candle-day is the twenty-fifth. So what I've planned is this: this first chapter, a first-person piece from Seto's point of view, is dedicated to Jia, who inspired it in the first place with her quirky ideas. The second chapter will be posted on Seto's birthday, as my way of giving him some love for all the abuse he tends to take.

What follows is a look at Seto's take on the events of the Battle City Finals. It WILL have spoilers for the end of Battle City. If you have not seen this far, or don't want to know what happens, please don't read the rest of this story. If you're good, then continue! And a very happy birthday to you, Jia no hime!

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Yu-Gi-Oh!

End Of The End

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As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't a bit surprised when Yami Mutou won the Battle City crown.

I suppose I knew from the very beginning that he was going to defeat me. The power that surged through me when I first gripped Obelisk the Tormentor may have clouded that realization for a while, but somewhere in me I still always knew. Everyone else did, too, but when have I ever cared about someone else's opinion?

But the twisted realization is that not only did he win my tournament, I helped him achieve that victory. It wouldn't have been possible without me. My hand sent my card flying through the air to his hand, to his deck, to his draw when he needed it most. I gave him what he needed to bring about victory. A victory that, supposedly, saved the world.

If you asked Ishizu, I'm sure she'd tell you it was destiny that I did it. That five thousand years ago, Yami was the pharaoh and I was his priest, and not only were we rivals, we were friends. She'd say that destiny had commanded me to read the ancient text on the Winged Dragon of Ra, decipher how to defeat it, and then provide the single card necessary for the pharaoh to win.

I don't believe a word of that. But let's pretend for a moment that I did.

The part I hate most about Ishizu's banter is that it makes me out to be some kind of lackey. I, the High Priest, was the second most powerful man in the land of Egypt at the time. Second, of course, to the pharaoh. Now, in present day, I provided the reincarnated pharaoh with the tool he needed to defeat his foe. Second-best once again.

He'll probably be the gracious one when he finally talks to me, smiling and offering his hand and saying "I couldn't have done it without you..." while his friends look on. Couldn't have done it without me. Right. Of course he couldn't have done it without me. But does that make a difference in the end? Not a chance.

That's like cheering for the blacksmith who forged Excalibur. When has anyone remembered his name? Sure, everyone remembers King Arthur, the majestic conqueror, and everyone remembers his mighty enchanted sword. Sometimes even the knights are remembered...Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain...but what about the man who made it all possible? What would Arthur be without his Excalibur? Nothing more than a boy playing war.

I forged the sword. I gave him his weapon. And no one will remember me.

He's wearing his crown now, mingling through his group of friends and getting their congratulations as he passes. The crown on his head is the crown that was supposed to be mine; the title he now holds was supposed to be my title as proof of superiority over my stepfather and he. I had it made especially for this tournament, sparing no expense. I wanted my crown to be regal and beautiful, as well as a mark of superiority. I wanted my rule to be absolute.

I tried it on once, when I was alone in my office. I disabled the security cameras and closed the drapes, just so I could be sure no one was watching, and then for a brief moment, I allowed myself to put that beautiful mark of authority on my head.

The experience was...not what I was expecting.

When I'd won my Duel Monsters titles, I'd felt like I was wearing a robe of authority. I was blanketed in power and everywhere I looked, I saw people inferior to me. These were my subjects, the people who wished and dreamed they could have what I did, but knew they never could. I looked at all my defeated opponents and felt a surge, a thrill of pride when they looked at me with such jealousy and dismay. There was always that feeling of achievement that drove me forward and intoxicated me with its potency.

But this...this was just me, standing in an empty office with a piece of metal on my head.

Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, I loved the look of authority I had when I was wearing it. But that feeling of dominance over all was conspicuously absent. There was nothing special about this thing on my head, nothing but a hollow image of myself in the mirror and the odd twisting feeling in my stomach, knowing that I was nothing more than a child playing dress-up.

The crown means nothing without the achievement behind it.

But wait...that means...that could mean that...

See, the one thing I always hated about losing to Yami was that he took away my feeling of control. For a while there, before Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom, before that duel with Exodia, I really felt that I had control of my life. I could manage my company and the Big Five, I had Pegasus as a business partner, and I was feared and respected by duelists everywhere. I'd chosen my dragons as my signature monsters, and just the mention of "Blue Eyes" was enough to send more timid duelists running. The ones I'd defeated made comparisons between the way I acted when I dueled and the dragons themselves, their voices quaking in fear when they whispered that I had the fury of a Blue Eyes White Dragon and eyes to match.

Then along came Yami, and...

Heh. Well, in the words of the rhyme, "All Seto's monsters and all Seto's men couldn't put his soul together again."

In the moment my soul was shattered, so too was my delusion of confidence. Any threads of control I'd held slipped from my grasp like grains of sand, and the shards of my former life left bloody gashes in my skin as they tumbled to the ground.

Yami left me there with a few cryptic words of triumph, humiliated for the first time in my life in front of my dearest little brother. He left me all alone in a dark, scary place with the scattered pieces of my heart around me. There were weird noises coming from the outside-place, but I was sitting in a little circle of light and I was pretty sure the scary things wouldn't try to get me while I was there. All the little pieces of the puzzle were inside the light-circle, anyway. I could just stay there in the warmth and work on it whenever I wanted, and when I didn't I could just sit there in the light and daydream. The ground was smooth under my little overalls, and when I closed my eyes I could pretend I was in the middle of a dragon's forest, all alone in a meadow somewhere.

For the first time in my life, I could just...relax.

It was peaceful for a while, but then I finished the heart-puzzle and returned to my old life. But still, a part of me knew that the person calling himself Yugi Mutou had taken something away from me that day, and that I couldn't rest until I'd regained it.

He's made his way over to me by now, and I can see his little fan club gathering closer out of the corner of my eye, wanting to hear what he's going to say to me.

The crown I'd prized so much looks strange sitting on his brow, as if he'd be more suited to a headdress than a dainty circlet of metal.

He's holding out my card.

Whatever will I do?

"Thank you, Kaiba," he says quietly, staring at me with those odd crimson eyes of his. This isn't Yugi now, controlling their shared body. This is Yami I'm speaking to. The pharaoh I supposedly served five millennia in the past.

"And what have I done to be thanked for?" I reply coldly, crossing my arms over my chest.

He wasn't expecting that, I don't think. He seems to stumble for an answer for the briefest of moments, then finds that air of authority he must've perfected when he was pharaoh. "You gave me the card I needed to defeat the Winged Dragon of Ra," he answers, looking up to stare at me again.

I wonder what he's thinking right now. Does he see his former priest when he looks into my eyes? Is he mentally judging my answers, comparing them to ones given in the ancient past?

And then, suddenly, everything falls into perspective for me.

"Why, pharaoh," I murmur, voice positively dripping with sarcasm, "Here I thought you believed in destiny. If I truly am who you say, and the past is as Ishizu described, why in the world would you thank me for the loan of that card? If you needed that card to win, and destiny says that you would indeed win, that means my humble actions were predetermined. Obviously I had no choice in what I did, isn't that right?"

I hear a gasp to my right, and a cry of surprise from Yami's friends. Gee, I guess none of them expected me to have the audacity to talk back to the mighty king of everything he does.

Seeing no reason to stop with my rant, I gladly continue. "How lovely that crown looks on your head, pharaoh. It must feel familiar to you, having such a brand of power. Pity it's such an empty victory."

Yes...it's all suddenly so clear to me. The control he'd wrenched away from me could be claimed again in a single, perfect instant...and I was never one to pass up a perfect opportunity.

I just wonder why I hadn't seen it before.

"Whadda ya mean, "empty"?!" Wheeler demands, taking a step towards me. What an obedient little lap dog he is, trained to defend his masters. "You're just jealous that he won and not you!"

"The salvation of the world certainly makes it meaningful," Ishizu adds quietly, her eyes searching mine for my intent.

Foolish woman. She should know better. I long ago learned how to mask any emotion I felt, unless I deemed it necessary to show it off.

"If I believed that the fate of the world really rested on that," I respond with a shrug. "Who's to say? Obviously it's not going to happen now. And if your beloved destiny is real, what's the point of all the fuss? He was destined to win. The world was never in any danger, as far as I'm concerned."

"Ungrateful jerk," I hear Tristan mumble, off to the side. But since when have I ever cared about what any of them say?

"So you saved the world, my great and powerful pharaoh Yami." I bow deeply, mockingly so. "And you have a scrap of metal, a bunch of flowers, and three obscenely powerful cards to show for it. Bravo, you."

"You didn't brush off the God Cards so lightly during the tournament, Kaiba," he replies calmly, but I can tell I'm trying his patience. How sad that even the wise and powerful King of Games can't guess my revelation.

"It's absolutely wonderful for you. Now you have the three most powerful cards in the game of Duel Monsters at your disposal. No one in the world will ever be able to beat you. Congratulations."

I can see him mulling that over...and suddenly his eyes widen in almost horrified recognition. Ah, good. You've finally figured out what I know.

You and I play for different reasons, Yami no Yugi. I play the game of Duel Monsters to achieve, to prove my greatness and worth. Winning is the meaningful part of the game in my eyes. Occasionally, I'll duel with Mokuba, but that's just for fun, so he can build up his experience. Any other time, I play to win.

Why do you play, wise and powerful pharaoh?

"That's right. You now have the cards at your disposal to win without breaking a sweat. And you'll have amateurs with delusions of grandeur going up against you by the dozens, trying to win those precious cards from your hands. But you can beat them easily now, can't you. Disgustingly easy. But do tell me, pharaoh, where is the fun in dueling if you can win within four moves? Where is the challenge in that?"

Yami looks stunned now. His eyes are wide and horrified by my words, and it appears that the card I loaned him is about to tumble from his hand. His friends, too, are shocked into silence. Mokuba is staring at me, but I can't read his reaction to my words as well as I can to the others.

"What makes that crown of yours anything more than a piece of metal, pharaoh?" I inquire softly, staring directly into his blood red eyes. "The authority it holds is a treasure that must be won, and the domination it offers is domination only over those who were defeated to achieve it. What kind of prize is it to rule over weaklings and amateurs?"

"But there's still you," Yami whispers, just as softly, and suddenly we're the only two people in the universe. Nothing else matters. Just his eyes and his smile and his crown...

His worthless little crown.

"I'm not stupid, pharaoh. What gain is there for me to duel you if the three God Cards offer you an assured win? Unlike you, I fight for the thrill of winning, not the thrill of dueling. And if I have no possibility of winning, why would I waste the time in dueling you?"

"You are my ancient rival...to this day, you remain the only person who has ever given me a real challenge in dueling. Would you give up on me so easily?" He looks sad...dejected...lonely...

Hmmm...perhaps he and I were something more than rivals once...

"I won't play a game I can't win, Yami." Aha. The first time I've called him by name. He'll remember this. "When you find a new one for us to play, when we're on equal footing, you let me know."

And with that, I turn and leave the Battle City Finals behind me for good.

What do you know. I finally beat him at something.

Who's in control now, hmm? Who is in control now?

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To Be Continued...

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And there you have it! Please leave a review telling me what you thought, whether it's good, needs work, whatever. Joey the Flame Swordsman and Flamina, the Angel Minion of Fire, will obliterate any cruel, nasty, or otherwise unpleasant reviews. This work is mine and mine alone, so please don't plagiarize, either. Having said all that...PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!