Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Another chapter!  Huzzah!  I'd say we're about halfway through "D&tD", and once I'm finished, expect one fan-fiction for each of the categories listed in my "favorites" list in my profile.  Also, before we begin, I'd like to mention a few events that did happen in my anime/manga fusion continuity.  They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:

Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events.  Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

I want to run away,

I want to know the truth

I want to know the answers,

I want to shut the door and open up my mind.

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 7: When It Rains, It Pours

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            "BLUE EYES, ATTACK HIS DARK MAGICIAN!!!" Seto Kaiba  cried.  Following its master's command, the silver dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of white electricity.  The blast was aimed at the violet-armored Dark Magician.  As the whit bolt came careening towards its target, however, Yami Yugi shouted, "Activate face-down card!"

            With that, a card behind the Dark Magician flipped up.  "I'll activate my trap card Mirror Force!"

            From the card came a wall of crystal.  Emerging in front of the Dark Magician, the crystals absorbed the bolt of energy, and reflected it back at the ferocious dragon.  "Your Blue Eyes is finished!" Yami Yugi declared.

            "I wouldn't jump to conclusions if I were you!" Seto said. 

            With that, his own face down card flipped up.  "I activate Matter Transport Device!" He said.

            From the card emerged a strange cannon-like machine.  Emitting a rainbow-colored light onto the Blue Eyes, it managed to shrink the gigantic dragon and pull it into its nozzle.  This caused the reflected blast to miss its new target, and once it had passed, the silver dragon returned to the field.

            Jounouchi looked to Kisara.  "Guess you were right.  Kaiba is pretty interested in keeping the Blue Eyes safe." He said.

            However, the silver-haired girl paid no attention to Jounouchi.  She was focused solely on the match.  "This is too weird…why is she so attached to Kaiba and the Blue Eyes?" he wondered to himself.

            Jounouchi acknowledged that most of Kisara's current affection to Kaiba came from her previous life with Priest Seth.  Still, he wondered about the Blue Eyes' connection to her.  As for Kisara, she pondered over everything that had happened thus far.  "If these memories that Yugi's God Cards are playing back for us are true, that means that the spirit of the sennen puzzle murdered Seto's...no, Seth's little brother back in Ancient Egypt.  Still, that doesn't make sense.  From what Yugi told me, the pharaoh was the good guy.  Why would he be a murderer?" 

            As Kisara pondered over the intricacies of the situation, the battle between Seto and Yami Yugi continued.  "Now it's my turn!" Yami Yugi said. 

            "Not so fast, Pharaoh.  There is one last piece of memory for you to witness!" Seto said.

            Yami Yugi looked up at his opponent.  He knew from the edge in his voice that this memory was also unpleasant.  "Seto, I do not know everything about the ancient past, but I do know I would never mur…" he began.

            "SILENCE!" Seto interrupted.

            "You 'know' nothing!  The ritual you used to save yourself from my revenge wiped your memory clean, Pharaoh!  Do not deny what you can not understand!" The blue-eyed boy said, trembling with fury.

            "Ritual?"Yugi asked the ancient spirit.

            However, he noticed that Yami was not listening at all to him.  "Yami?" he asked.

            The spirit did not respond.  "Yami, is something wrong?" Yugi asked. 

            After a long silence, the spirit responded.  "Yugi…Kaiba  is right.  I don't remember my past at all.  I can't say for sure if I did murder his brother."

            Shortly after Yami finished, Yugi chortled slightly.  This angered Yami.  "Yugi, this isn't a joke!" the spirit snapped.

            Yugi immediately stopped chortling.  "Yami," he said, "I know that it's not a joke, but after all we've been through, all we've done together, it's not important what Kaiba says."

            Yami looked confused.  "What do you mean?"

            Yugi looked up at the spirit, his eyes conveying his admiration and love for the former pharaoh.  "I mean, you may have been a murderer three thousand years ago, but you aren't now, and that's what's important.  Kaiba's thirst for vengeance is putting people in danger, and you and I both can't let him do that.  Whatever crimes you may have been guilty of don't matter anymore; you're a different person now than you were then."

            Yami pondered this for a while.  It was true; his amnesia could very well have changed him from a murderous villain into a nobler person.  However, that very nobility was what was eating away at Yami now.  Just because he had been given a new start did not change what he had done.  How could he simply shrug off such an atrocity?  How could he blame Kaiba for what he was doing, especially since he knew he would act similarly in his shoes?  "Yugi…" he started.

            Yugi, however, cut him off.  "I know what you're going to say, Yami.  I know YOU.  And that's why I can't let you just surrender.  I…" The young boy stopped here, his eyes tearing slightly.

            "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you…" he finished, brokenly.

            Yami put his hand on Yugi's shoulder, almost instinctively.  "Then I will not surrender." Yami said.

            With that, Yami Yugi at last returned his attention to his enemy.  "I will not lose, Yugi.  I promise, I'll win…for you." He said.

            With that, he prepared to make his move.  However, just as he prepared to watch the next memory unfold, the entire shadow bubble fell apart.  The last thing anyone saw before the memory world collapsed was Seth talking to a tall, bearded man with the sennen eye.  "Who dares to interrupt my Shadow game?" Seto barked. 

            "Isn't that a Kaiba Corp. helicopter?" Honda observed.

            Indeed, the intruder was indeed a copter marked with the Kaiba Corp. logo.  "SETO!"  A voice from the copter cried out.

            "That voice…it can't be…" Seth thought, shocked.  "Mokuba?" He asked through Seto's body.

            "That's my name, don't wear it out!" the raven-haired boy joked. 

            "Mokuba, what are you doing here?" Jounouchi asked.

            The younger Kaiba brother didn't answer Jounouchi.  Instead, he was engaged in a staring contest with Seto.  At last, Seto broke the silence.  "Mokuba, you have to leave, immediately!" he shouted.

            Seth still couldn't believe his eyes.  His brother, or at least his reincarnation, was alive and well.  It didn't matter that wind from the twirling copter blades was beating into him like a hammer, or that his shadow game had been disrupted.  Mokuba was alive, and that was all that mattered.  Still, the pharaoh was also there, and Seth knew that meant trouble.  "No way!  I know you're not really Seto, so why don't you just let him go?" Mokuba demanded.

            Seto's eyes widened.  "He knew instantly that I was in control of Seto's body…he really is my little brother." He thought, smiling at the raven-haired boy's ingenuity.

            "You're as smart as I remember you, Mokuba." Seto said.

            Mokuba's face turned grim.  "Maybe I didn't make myself clear: Get out of my brother, NOW!" he shouted.

            Deep within the corridors of his own mind, Seto Kaiba knew his chance to act was now.  If he didn't do something soon, he knew he would lose his last hope of beating Seth.  Distracted as he was by Mokuba, Seth didn't notice his modern-day self sneak up behind and grab him.  "NO," Seth shouted, "don't do this!  You're giving the pharaoh just the opportunity he needs!"

            "Thanks for the warning, but I can protect my own family!" Seto said, throwing Seth up against the wall. 

            As he slumped to the ground, Seth uttered a final warning.  "Mokuba…isn't the only one…in danger…"

            With that, the priest passed out.  At last, Seto had regained control of his body. 

            Dropping the sennen rod, Seto fell to his knees.  Immediately, Kisara rushed to his side.  "Are you alright?" she asked.

            He grunted slightly, gripping his forehead with the hand he had once held the golden rod in.  As he returned to his feet, he took note of how Kisara was sure to rise at the exact same pace, not bothering to mask that she was ready to catch him should he falter.  To his own surprise, Seto did not find the urge to protest, as he usually did when anyone offered their help to him.  "What is it about this girl that makes me feel this way?  I know that, in the ancient past, she was the servant to my own ancient self, but that doesn't explain why she makes me feel…different." He pondered.

            Finally, Seto was able to stand.  Mokuba landed the helicopter nearby in a large open space.  Thanking his lucky stars everyone had been avoiding the area due to the shadow game, leaving the area open to copter landings, Mokuba quickly hopped out of the grounded helicopter and ran to his brother, almost knocking the elder Kaiba back to the ground again as he leapt into a hug.  "Seto!  You're OK!  I knew you could beat that spirit that possessed you!" the boy rejoiced.

            Seto grinned at his younger sibling.  He looked over to Yugi.  "I must…apologize…for any inconvenience my body may have caused during Seth's period of control." He said in his usual monotone, fumbling on the word "apologize" ever so slightly.

            Jounouchi blinked in shock.  It took him a few moments to fully absorb what had just occurred.  "Whoa, hold on.  Did Kaiba just apologize?  To US?" he blurted.

            Anzu whacked him on the shoulder.  "What planet are you on right now?" she hissed in frustration.

            Seto looked down at the rod in anger.  Picking it up again, he began to storm off.  Yugi, who was now back in control of his body, shouted after him, "Kaiba, where are you going?"

            The young CEO looked back at Yugi.  "I'm going to give the Ishtars a piece of my mind!" he said.

            Suddenly, a familiar voice filled the air.  "Ah, don't leave yet.  I won't have anyone to play with!"

            Yugi recognized the voice immediately.  "Bakura!" he said.

            As if on cue, the white-haired boy leapt from the sky as if out of thin air.  With him, a tall man in a white robe followed.  His face was hidden in the shadows of his hood.  Kisara looked over at him.  The possessed boy met her gaze.  "I believe you have something I want…" he said, dark energy crackling around his hand…

To be continued…