Disclaimer - Not mine.
Warnings - Character death, mutilation, and a few swear words.
I won.
Finally, I was on the top. I won against Yuugi, finally. And fairly. In at least one thing, I had been the first. Not Yuugi. Yuugi lost this game; though, I'm sure it's one game he would not desire to win. But I had won, and in the end, it was a bitter victory.
Did I mean to win the game of life?
Unfortunately, no.
Pity.
Mokuba should be waiting for me, Kaiba Seto thought vaguely, fingers twisting a key into the knob of his door. He refused to knock today and make someone come and open it for him. Today he was in a good mood, for a single reason (And one that would affect many other people, should his plans work out). Maybe he would take Mokuba out to some restaurant, or maybe they would go to the zoo. Anything his little brother desired to do would be great.
Seto stepped in quietly, booted feet clicking against the smooth, tile floor. Cobalt eyes glanced around, and a thought of worry slashed through his brain. It was quiet. Empty. He couldn't imagine why; usually maids and servants were bustling around, constantly having to cook this, dust that. He, however, dismissed it. Maybe they had gotten together and decided today was going to be their off day. They had done it before; they all got one day off a week, and it was any day they desired (Of course, only Isono lived at the Kaiba Manor; everyone else went home somewhere around six. Isono, however, was one of those people that loved their job, and cared deeply for his boss. Needless to say, he also got paid the most). One Saturday, they had all decided they wanted to go out together and do something. So, now, they chose one day a month to get together. Perhaps today was that day, and they were just off, goofing off.
But still, worried thoughts crashed against the insides of his brain. One thought was Find Mokuba. Another was Get a gun. And yet another was Don't panic. He didn't want to run, and happen to run across a maid (No matter how firmly he desired to believe in his theory), but another part of him wanted to run like Hell, and grab his brother and hold him in his arms.
He settled for yelling. "Mokuba! MOKUBA! Isono! ISONO!" he yelled, voice threatening to teeter onto a high-pitched, frightening standard. He was scared, and would admit it to no other than himself. Mokuba, Gods, why wasn't Mokuba answering? Where was Isono? Why wasn't Isono heeding his employer's call?
It was deadly silent, save for the CEO's heavy breathing. Seto was frightened, wanting to run up the staircase to his brother's room, and at the same time scared at what he might find. But finally, brotherly instincts over-powered him. He would loose his brother, never! That was a game no one could him at, not even Motoh.
He ran as fast as he could, feet banging and clanging against the marble staircase, the noise racking against his eardrums. It echoed against the scary silence of his home, nearly bringing him to tears. No, no, no! Where was Mokuba? Where was everyone? Damn it, WHERE WAS EVERYONE? This was a new level of fear he had never had before, even when he had lost to Pegasus, locked in the deep recesses of Darkness. This was the ultimate fright, spook, and phantom. One he had never considered possible.
Where is Mokuba?
"Mokuba?" he breathed, barely above a whisper, and still disappointed when no answer beckoned towards him. He bounded down the hallway, feet still clashing and clanging against the room. Why wasn't Mokuba concerned about the racket his niisama was making? Why was there no call down the hall, saying excitedly, 'Welcome home, big brother! Is Kaiba Land still on track?' And why wasn't he saying so, so he could finally announce his biggest success? The light-hearted, gleeful, 'Yes!'?
Finally, he'd found his brother's room. However, he was stopped in his tracks, staring at the door with wide eyes. That smell. It was the most disgusting smell he had ever had the displeasure of smelling. The day Mokuba had come into the world, in exchange for their mother. That day his father and stupidly stepped into the road, the red mess tainting the perfect black of the asphalt-
"Oh no."
That simple phrase summed it up as he stared at the door, as sobs started jerking in his thoat. No, no! It can't be. Maybe that damn dog died, and Mokuba was somewhere else in the home-
But what if it wasn't?
Nearly at the edge of tears, Seto wrapped his fingers around the doorknob, turning it unsuccessfully. It was not because the door was locked, however; it was because he was scared to death. After a second or two of unsuccessful tries, he suddenly ripped the knob as hard as he could, and heard the splintering of the wood surrounding it. No matter, however, for it opened at his force and he stumbled forward.
"Moku-"
Kaiba Seto thought he would die. He had lost the one game he knew he would never loose.
The sight was disgusting, and it suddenly led to the uncomfortable gagging in the CEO's throat, and tainted food that had been recently half-way digested returned to the world from whence it came, and it spattered against the carpeting
(The only carpet because Mokuba wanted a soft floor to sit on and be happy and to play video games and to read books with his great big brother)
and destroyed its beautiful white. All he could do was stand there and puke, puke so hard he thought he might choke on whatever came up. Finally, even standing was impossibility, and he fell to his knees into his own bile.
He never thought he would ever see his perfect little brother like he did that day. It was the one thing that should have never happened, the one game he shouldn't have lost. His amazing brother, torn and so horribly mutilated, blood pouring against the carpets and crusted against his such perfect black hair. He was positive that if he came upon closer inspection, he would easily tell the difference between the mutilated organs and systems and devices vital to the human body, all poured out onto the carpet. But he would never. Never should he dare.
And that was when he heard the laughing.
Seto heard the cackled above him as he sat on all fours, hunched over into his own bile, scared to look up and even more frightened to steal another glance at the destruction of his little brother. Instead, he choked out a word that should have been a sentence.
"...Who..."
The cackle turned into a light chuckle, and the voice rang out gleefully, "Three guesses, and the first two don't count."
("Guess what I got for your birthday, Big Brother!"
"What is it, Mokuba?" Of course, he knew what the present was. Mokuba knew exactly what Seto wanted this year for his birthday, and Seto knew that Mokuba had gotten him. Of course, Mokuba probably also knew that Seto knew what had been given him, because of what was announced next.
"Three guesses, and the first two don't count.")
And Seto threw up even more than he thought humanly possible. He thought he saw a little blood in there, too, and it was a sick humor that no one should have been subject to.
"Huh. I guess our little CEO's not very good looking at blood, huh?" the golden-haired boy said mockingly, violet eyes scanning over the back of the taller, brown-haired boy. "It's a real pity, huh? He put up a fight when he found out what I'd done with your servants and stuff, but in the end, I guess even a Kaiba can't win, right?"
The brunette shook, combined with the sickness his mind had driven him into and the utmost fury at Yami no Malik. But he wouldn't stand up, and look his demon in the eye. Couldn't. The blonde had driven him to the edge of insanity, and now he knew. He knew that he would win one final game, even if the only one that mattered had been lost.
"But you know what," Yami no Malik announced, the next thought as if he could read the other's mind, "I know one game you can win, even if it means you've lost to me. You can beat the Pharaoh and his runt of a host, this one final time. You're going to win the game of life, you know? And you'll be out of my hair, for the Rod to finally be fully mine. I can accept all of it's powers then and only then."
("Kaiba-kun! This belongs to you! You know that!"
"Shut up, Yuugi. I don't want the damn thing, and you know that. I don't believe in you Egyptian fairy tales, and I never will."
"But Kaiba-kun-"
"Look, how about this? When I beat you, I'll get you out of my hair and then the Rod can fully be mine. I'll accept it then and only then.")
"Are you ready, Kaiba? Anything you want to say before it's lights out forever?" teased Yami no Malik, and Seto could hear the nasty sadistic thoughts behind the question. "Because I'm not going to send you to the Shadow Realm. Too many people tend to come back. I'll send you to Hell, and you and your little brother can rot together forever."
Seto was going to choke out a well deserved 'Damn you,' but his consciousness left him first. He never woke up.
SOS: And... wha-la. Ideas for more chapters welcome, but not guarenteed to be used. Flames are used to fend off the dog down the street that hates me.