a/n: We're off with a bang in chapter one! Just make sure you read the prologue, or you'll understand nothing. NUUHHHTINGGG. Seto already gets some action in this chapter, what a surprise. :P Keep with me here! Also, lots of real world references to people, things, or series can be found in the story.. can you catch 'em all? GO, PIKACHU! shot

He winced again as another shockwave rattled the mansion--what was left of it, anyway. It sounded like someone's Zoid just got obliterated nearby. The now-ruined Seto Kaiba was huddled in one of the lower levels of his home. All he could do for now was wait things out.

The threads of a tear in his shirt were being picked at nervously, fingers avoiding the spots of dried blood that stained it. How did things turn out this way? A few years ago, nobody would have dared such a thing on any country, including Japan. Nobody would have dared to even think of turning any weapons against his towering company building.

That had all changed.

Germany had become the center of technological development quickly. It was something Seto could never have predicted nor prepared for. Zoids were the new rage, and Duel Monsters became old hat. His holographic technology couldn't compete against the massive fighting machines that every little boy dreams of having. And because nobody else had any idea how to build contraptions quite like them, whoever was running things in Europe was now raking in millions, billions all the time.

He watched as his mighty empire came crashing down around him. Quite literally, too, but we'll get to that later. All he had worked for was quickly slipping through his fingers, falling just out of reach. Not to say that he gave up when faced with this new challenge. Hesitantly, he began to revert his company back to what it had originally been, creating weapons, guidance systems, tracking devices, and the like to upgrade these Zoids with. But this turned out to be a failed venture in the end.

Seto stopped going to his office for twelve hours or more every day; in fact, he stopped going altogether. There was nothing for him to do but plan out

what to do next, how to keep Kaiba Corporation from tanking. Juggling this, his newly formed relationship with former rival Yami, and soon the mysterious disappearance of his brother, it didn't take long for stress to begin winning out.

In fact, things had been going more than well for him before all of this Zoids business had started. He and Yami had, albeit quite awkwardly, confessed feelings of love to one another, and after that, things seemed blissful. After German began to slowly take over the market, the King of Games had been of great comfort. Losing Mokuba only a few weeks ago had been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

In the span of a year, he had been reduced to this.

His eyes narrowed at the thought, at the memories beating at the inside of his skull. They had known things were getting more dangerous. More dangerous skirmishes. Deadlier battles. It became nearly so that one could not walk outside without fearing for ones life. But this was Domino, and things in Domino weren't going to easily come to a stop. People were nervous, yes, but it didn't stop them from doing what they normally did day after day. Besides, whoever heard of a Zoid battle in the middle of a downtown city? They surely had nothing to fear.

Mokuba had never come back from school that day. It was something Seto looked forward to everyday, Mokuba coming in through the door, shrugging off his backpack, smiling and greeting his big brother, then off to do whatever homework he had. But he was gone, almost like he had been swept off the face of the planet. Nobody had seen him when school had ended, and while searches were conducted everywhere, there was no trace of the teen.

Yami saw less and less of Seto after that. It was always the first twenty-four hours that were most important, and after ninety-six hours, hope was waining. He stayed up in his room, refusing to come out for much of anything, simultaneously worrying about Mokuba and worrying about his company.

It was highly doubtful that anyone could have seen what was to come next.

The takeover was all over the news, of course. Europe went down without much of a fight, surrounding nations next, the Americas being devastated when the war turned overseas... There was a new dictator in Germany, and his army of powerful Zoids the likes of which nobody had ever seen made sure that nobody was out of the reach of his greedy fingers.

And then there was one.

Nobody quite knew the reason why the little island country of Japan was the last left standing. There wasn't anything particularly about it that would make it hard to conquer. Nevertheless, it was the last, and it was to be one of the worst battles.

They came swiftly in the daylight, showering the city in a hail of firepower. Citizens ran for their lives, praying not to get crushed; buildings exploded into flame and rubble. And there through his window, he saw it all. It came crashing down, tumbling down without mercy and with much haste. The glass shattered, the metal twisted, and the concrete broke apart. His life came down in a few blasts. The company lost the war today.

Yami was out there. He was out there, somewhere, and Seto had to find him. It was a stupid and reckless move on his part, but anything, he'd do anything to keep from losing someone else he loved.

The master duelist had died a rather slow death in Seto's arms. Being partially crushed by debris from a collapsing building was not a particularly fun way to go, especially after having been dug out by Seto and dragged off to a hopefully safer place. The hospital had been destroyed--if not, then it soon would be, that was for sure, and people were far too busy worrying about their own hides to stop and help.

After realizing that Yami was in fact gone, no chance of being revived, Seto had raced back to the safest place he knew. Where else could he really go? The lower levels were reinforced and hard to penetrate. And since all the other countries had been taken over, he couldn't fly anywhere for a safe haven. It was just him now.

Only him.

They were getting closer. He pondered about just how much of the ground level was left, if anything. His eyes shot up then back down again. Best not think of that. He wasn't going to go down without a fight, that was for sure. If they penetrated the upper levels and reached his hideaway, then he'd fight back. He was determined that, should it come to that, he would go the way of Mokuba, Yami, and his company.

There was more explosions, more shaking, more bullets blasting and lasers shooting, when suddenly..

It all stopped.

Everything.

The screams of terror. The cries of the dying. The roars of triumphant Zoids and the shouting of their masters. The world just flatout died for that solitary moment of time, and Seto was alone in it.

Crunch. The electronic steps of a looting robot sounded down the hallway. It hissed and swiveled its streamlined head, scraping at the reinforced steel door with its sharp metallic claws. It headbutted the barrier, then backed away, opening its mouth wide. Streams of light were sucked into its tiny mouth. It stood still, allowing the flaps on its legs and tail to unlock themselves. The deadly spinning drills rose from its back and collected electricty from the air. Several seconds later, it fired, blowing apart the door and a massive chunk of the wall, too. It jumped through the hole and scanned the area with its acute red eyes. Spotting a tuft of brunette hair in the corner, it advanced on the cowering CEO, but did not attack. Instead, it lowered its head and retracted the glass window protecting the pilot. A lithe figure leapt from the seat and onto the floor. Whoever he was, he was probably one of the people in charge - he wore the signature jet black military attire the invading Germans sported, swastiskas sewn into the shoulders of the form-fitting top. He wore many medals and badges and a cap topped his head, the brim shadowing his eyes and decorated with stars. There were five of them, indicating he was of the highest rank possible. His hair was long and.. pink, and he too had the pale skin computer geeks so proudly displayed. Blemish-free, of course. The slacks were tight, the belts were numerous, and the laced boots high. In his hands, a whip, on his face, a smirk. To be honest, he looked like more like some sort of bondage master than a commander in chief.

"My, my, my," he purred in a mild German accent, mostly to himself, though loud enough that Seto could hear. He tapped the tip of the whip against his lips and smiled. "I wonder where Herr Kaiba is hiding, Fury. Could he be over there, you think?"

The Berserk Fuhrer Z tossed its head and grunted. Siegfried laughed. "Impatient as always. But I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little longer. Because you see, today is a special day.."

Siegfried flexed the whip a little. "I can't help but think that he's forgotten.. and if that's the case," he approached Seto's hiding spot, boots clicking against the cool tile, "we're just going to have to awaken his memory.."

It was no use trying to hide. Seto realized that whoever it was--why did that voice sound so familiar?--was just playing games. He scampered backwards a little, feeling the ground around him while keeping his eyes trained on where the body would eventually appear. There had to be something he could grab, use as perhaps a weapon of sorts to fend off the pilot. Risky, but if he could somehow take out the pilot, he could hijack the Zoid. And from the sounds of things, this was a very powerful one.

Damn. Nothing. There was nothing but the walls behind him and tile around him. It was going to look like he was retreating, trying to find a place to run, a new place to hide. A Kaiba never runs away from anything. A Kaiba doesn't back down, even in the face of defeat.

This was one hell of a defeat, then. What was going to happen to him, anyway? It was surprising enough that he wasn't just gunned down like most of the others. This person, this oh-so-familiar man seemed determined to keep him alive at the moment. Little was known anyway about what happened to the captives, as there were hardly ever enough people left over to give descriptions of what had happened, and nobody who had been taken by the army alive had ever been heard from again.

He wondered if this is how Amelda felt when war raged across his country. Trapped, cornered, defenseless, and all alone save for one and his Zoid... This was not a good day for Seto.

Siegfried chuckled, halting momentarily. "Was that a whimper I heard back there?" he said, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "Ah, well, it matters not. Fury?"

"Grr, grr.."

"Let's see who's behind door number two, shall we?"

The Zoid snorted its contemptuous reply and leaned back for a moment. A grappling hook shot out from underneath its lizard-like body and wrapped around Seto's leg, forcefully prying him from the wall and dangling him in the air in front of Siegfried. He clapped his hands together in glee and giggled.

"Oh, yippee skippee! My very own Kaiba doll!" he shreed, narrowing his eyes and brandishing a wicked smile. "Just what I've always wanted.. you'd make a very nice trophy on my wall, you know. But little boys like you.."

He slowly removed his cap, revealing light blue eyes belonging to the mysterious hacker from the Grand Prix. "Are much too pretty to kill. I think I'll find another use for you, my little puppet.."

Seto gasped--he would've reeled back if he could have, but hovering in the air as he was made it rather difficult. The mastermind behind all of this, the destruction, the inventing, the upheaval of democracy around the world, was—

"Siegfried...!" He shook his head. "No, no, no, I heard they locked you away! I heard you couldn't even move or do anything after the tournament! How are you here? Now? And...with all of this!"

It made sense, then, why death was not for him right now. Revenge was the name of the game, and Siegfried wasn't planning on losing this time around.

"Hahaha.." Siegfried threw his head back for the sake of clichéd maniacal laughter. "..ha. Thanks for the opportunity, Seto, I needed that. Now, what was it that you were saying?"

Siegfried's sneer was enough to send chills down anyoe's spine. "You haven't the faintest idea how long I've been waiting for this day, you pitiful, pitiful fool.. did you honestly believe you could lock me away and push me aside as if I were nothing?"

Siegfried backhanded him harshly, half out of amusement and half out of all the frustration that had built up in his head over the years. "No! No.. I don't /think/ so. I wasn't going to let you get away with ruining my life. No one interferes with my company. No one. You're nothing more than an ignorant copycat who simply got lucky! But now.. oh, now, Herr Kaiba.. everything you see, everything you think.."

He clenched a fist and glared hatefully at the one who caused him so much humiliation. "It's all mine. This entire world is under my control, and I'm going to make you suffer most of all.."

His fist started to shake and a menacing growl crawled out of his throat. "You're scum.. complete, utter scum. Choke him!"

More hooks snaked out of the gaping hatch and fastened themselves tightly around Seto's throat. "How dare you.. who EVER gave you the audacity to think you could send me to some asylum and ignore me! Was it your wretch of a father, you pathetic orphan child! I can see why no one wanted you!"

The commander calmed himself down and closed his eyes. No; he couldn't lose his cool. Seto would only enjoy it, to see that he inflicted such suffering. He'd have his fun later. For now.. "Apologize," he said coldly. "Do it of your own will, or I'll beat it out of you."

His hands immediately went up to his neck and tugged at the bindings in a futile fashion. "Is that all?" Seto growled, flailing and fighting a bit and hoping that by doing so, he'd land a kick or two on Siegfried. "That's all you want, an apology? Tch..."

The metallic grip around him tightened slightly. "I didn't put you into that place! I didn't lock you up god knows where to live out the rest of your life stuck inside your poor, fucked-up head! I'm not going to apologize for--" He had to pause and catch his breath. The hooks had a vice-like hold on him. "For being able to move on with my life!"

One might've expected Siegfried to.. well, blow up at Seto for this outburst of defiance, but all he did was smile.

And then after that, he caught Seto's foot and twisted Seto's ankle in one swift, painful motion.

"Would you like to try that again, Herr Kaiba?" he asked softly. "Or should I make this a matching set? You're the last free person on Earth, darling.. don't tell me you're going to waste your time trying to belittle the person who enslaved the rest."

Seto gave a sharp cry that dissolved into pitiful whimpering. It certainly made him rethink trying to do much of anything against Siegfried right now. "Better than just giving in to you, isn't it?" he finally replied. "It's better to fight than to just become a slave! You didn't think you'd take me down quite that easily, did you? Shows just how narrow-minded you are..."

"Haha. What a joker you are. You say that now, but you'll find yourself changing your tune soon enough. Your brother was a screamer, too.. but unlike you, he was a good boy. He knew when to be quiet. Not that it did him any good.."

Siegfried smirked and turned away from Seto, glancing out the lone window at the piles of rubble that were once Domino. "I'll destroy this place," he said nonchalantly. "I'll destroy any happy memories that were once in it. I'll burn all the pictures so you have nothing to remember him by. I'll buy out what's left of your company and I'll take everything in your bank accounts. I'll melt everything you've ever invented for scrapheap, I'll mutilate the records, and I'll sell all your stocks and pocket the leftover money. I'll shred your deck and hang YOUR dragons over MY fireplace. Your birth certicificate will be gone. I'll make sure it'll be like you never existed. Like you never made a difference."

He faced the former CEO once more and fingered the locket hanging from his neck. "I'll take this, too. You'll be like everyone else.. a soldier under my command who knows nothing but orders. Now, how does that sound?"

His voice went quiet, disbelief filling it. "No, you didn't...you couldn't have..." If he could have moved his head, he would have been shaking it again. "You...it was you... Mokuba..."

He blinked blankly a few times before narrowing his eyes. "You took my brother away from me!" he roared. "What did you do to him! Tell me what happened to Mokuba, you slimy son of a bitch! Tell me...!"

The fists at his sides shook violently. "You've taken...everyone I loved. You've demolished my company." An odd little smirk appeared on his face. "You've finally beaten me. That's what you always wanted, right? There you go. You're the winner, Siegfried." It disappeared from his face as fast as it had come. "What more do you want from me!"

"Not if you talk to me like that, you big meanie," he sniffled, snapping the locket from its string and clicking it open. "Aw.. would you look at that? Two brothers eternally bound by love. It makes me so happy, I could kill something. Preferably you."

He crushed the locket in his hand and left the broken shards fall to the floor, the photographs slipping out of their frames and following suit. Siegfried crushed them underneath his foot and smiled. "What more do I want from you? Oh, only total submission. And perhaps a box of that pocky candy.. it's absolutely scrumptious, I must say. If anything else, you Japanese bigots are good for making decent snack food. But strategy? Please!"

He snorted and tossed his hair over his shoulder. "Twenty-one years of age, and you're still a child. A true prodigy would've seen through my tactics far sooner. And you call yourself a Kaiba!"

"...Bastard," spat Seto. "You bastard. Just because you have some petty little grudge against me doesn't mean you should just go enslave the world whenever you feel like it! I think that time in your lonely little cell made you worse. You were far better when you weren't planning world domination. What makes you think I'll submit to you, hm?"

Siegfried blinked. "Um, because I will torture you to no end until you do? I believe that was somewhat of a 'duh' question, as the Americans say. And it did make me worse. You made me worse. This is the price you're paying for it."

His eyes half-lidded as he absentmindedly traced a thin finger along the brunette's jawline. "Such a perfect body could be put to much better means, don't you think? Stop resisting me." The finger changed its path and ran slowly down Seto's neck. "Everyone else knows their place but you. Must you be the lone rebel I have to squash?"

"Death would be preferable." He squirmed, uncomfortable with the direction this conversation had gone in and far from able to get out of reach. "You know me. I hate to play the martyr, but if that's the role you're going to force me into, I suppose I'll just have to play it out until the end, won't I? Maybe you got the others to give in to you, but maybe they were just weaker!"

"Hn. What's the matter? Don't like me touching you?" Siegfried grasped his chin sharply and leered. "Death is far too satisfying for someone like you, I'm afraid. When that day does come, it will be drawn out as long as possible, and I will be there to witness it. I could kill you today. I could kill you tomorrow. And with the technology I have, I could make you live forever.. only to suffer all the while. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Siegfried maintained his grip. "Weaker? It is a pity your brother's not available to hear you say that. That's what he told me. He believed with all of his heart you would come to save him.. heheheh. His skin made a decent lampshade."

"...Stop that...he... I couldn't..." He couldn't save his own brother. Again. There were no second chances this time. "You're...a monster... I'm going to kill you for this. I'll find a way. Even if I have to take you down with me, I'm going to find a way. And you're going to regret ever having done any of this. Now get the fuck off me!"

"I'm sure you will," said Siegfried, patting Seto on the head in a patronizing fashion and chuckling. "And while you're doing that, you can try to survive at my personal academy I'll be sending you off to and avoid getting yourself raped. The latter seems doubtful, but the former.. will most certainly prove interesting. Good night, darling.."

Siegfried roughly sealed Seto's lips with his own. It was wrong, so wrong.. and yet there was something tantalizing about it that..

..Seto had no time to think about. The sneaky bastard had injected something into his neck. His limbs went limp and breaths came shallowly, if at all. Unconsciousness would follow.

turn endudaNEXT TIME!

The Blue-Eyed Soldier! Just keep it together, Seto..