Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
A/N: Well, this is the second to last chapter of this fic, so I'd like to give you guys the opportunity to suggest possibilities for my next project. I've got something in my other fandom I'd like to work on, but I always try to have stories for the Yu-gi-oh fans going, as well as DYDOM.
Even if you don't have ideas, review, okay? Reviews make quiet the author's paranoia. It really means a lot that people enjoy my stuff. And I'm coming up on my 2000th review on so that means one lucky, wonderful reviewer is getting a gift fic!
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Big brother…" Mokuba walked over to where Seto sat slumped in his chair, head in his hands. "It's all right, we can still build Kaiba Land. You haven't broken your promise to me."
"Don't worry Mokuba, I'll keep my promise no matter what." Seto tried to smile at him. "But I've lost this game. Battle City was my master plan, and it failed. All I did was let Yami and their allies win another tournament and get duelists to respect them even more." His fist slammed down on the table. "Even the Blue Eyes… I can't see a way out, Mokuba."
"Big brother." Mokuba put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "I'm sure they won't… they gave me back, right? And they gave you back to me. If Yami hadn't put you into that coma… I was really mad, but it really helped you."
"All I've had, all this time, Mokuba, is my mind. My spirit. And I can't even trust them anymore. I made a huge mistake before they came, and what if I made some other mistake because of them? I should have cheated, Mokuba."
"Don't say that!" Mokuba grabbed his arm. "You're Seto Kaiba! You… you used to cheat." He hung his head.
"You were ashamed of me. I made you hate me." He'd failed everything.
"I'd never hate you! I just hated what you'd become." Mokuba hugged him. "I went to one of their training sessions."
"What!" Seto turned around in his chair and stared at him. "When did you do this? Mokuba, it was way too dangerous!"
"I wanted to help! Learn about them!"
"It's propaganda! What if they…" No, he'd checked Mokuba for spells daily. He closed his eyes and checked again.
"It made a lot of sense. Gozaburo hurt you! He caused wars and no one stopped him! You'd do a lot better job running the world, Seto. Isn't that why you wanted to build Kaiba Land in the first place? So you could make sure there was someplace people could go to have fun without having to worry or be sad?"
He wouldn't listen to anyone else saying this, but Mokuba… "It doesn't matter now. I lost the game."
"You lost? What does that mean?"
"If I had won, all of them would have been… I don't know. They're ghosts, spirits. Maybe, if I had the power, if I'd been able to keep Otogi on my side, I could have exorcised them. I would have stopped them from taking over the world. I would have kept them from taking over me. No, not 'them.' Seth." He clenched his fist. "I knew what he wanted out of this game from the start. He wants me."
Mokuba's eyes widened. "What will he do to you?"
"I don't know." Seto scowled. "Yugi, Ryou, Isis... They all seem so happy. Too happy. No one can be that, that… satisfied. Like they have everything they've ever wanted. But Yugi's not a puppet, he took on my games himself at Death-T before you faced Yami and he won."
"Yami and Yugi seemed… they promised me you back, and they delivered." If he trusted anyone but Seto, it would be them. "Seth gave me back."
"I know." He sighed. "Part of me wants to trust them. And that scares me. I've never wanted to trust since our parents died. No one but you, Mokuba. Part of me…" He looked at his hands. "Is still that kid who wants an adult to look up to. To take care of me." He scowled. "Is that why I lost? Because I wasn't focused enough?" He wanted to rip out his traitor heart.
But they all talked about truth coming out in games, and this one was saying that he should trust Seth. After all, they had both played by the rules, hadn't they? Seto had no illusions his inexperienced powers could keep Seth from just taking him. He'd had dreams about it.
Seth wanted him to join him out of his own free will. That mean he would still have a free will after joining them, right?
He'd lost. He knew how this game magic worked. His own powers would betray him.
Seth.
He remembered Seth's face when he had shredded Gozaburo's soul after defeating him. Rage. Rage on Seto's behalf.
Part of him hated him for doing that. That had been his battle, should have been his vengeance.
Part of him… had thrilled to see someone fighting for him.
He remembered, early on, when he had fought Seth. Felt their powers touch. It was hard to stay in the same room with him.
It was too nice. He felt safe. Comfortable. Complete?
He laid his head in his hands. "I don't control my own destiny anymore." Not that he had any right to, after how he had gotten screwed up and almost killed Mokuba. "He's stronger than I am. He could even…" he shook his head. They had made him care about Mokuba again, surely Seth wouldn't take that away?
Unless he wanted Seto to only care about him.
Mokuba hugged him. "I have powers too. If he does anything to hurt you—"
"If he wanted you dead, you would die, Mokuba. Promise me you'll stay safe, whatever happens to me."
"But Seto—"
"Promise!" There was his old fire, his old self. It scared Mokuba, who nodded.
"I just want to help you, big brother. I want to protect you too!"
Seto hugged him. "I know."
"Seth's a game master, right? So he won't… he'll want you to be strong. You can't be strong if your mind is… not right." Mokuba tried to convince them both.
"You're right. If I think about it coldly, logically," his eyes hardened. "Everything he's done points to him wanting me, and Kaiba Corp, to join them willingly, use my resources to back them. He's put a lot of effort into that when if he wanted me as a puppet he could have done that right at the start. Especially since from what I understand about what we are, he's… drawn to me as much as I'm drawn to him. Only he's not fighting it."
"But you're afraid." Mokuba hugged his brother.
Seto grimaced. "Yes. I've lost, and he is much more powerful than I am. It's the possibilities that worry me, Mokuba, not the probabilities."
"Maybe you should think about the good things."
Seto smiled slightly. "If this is for real… then, well. Even at my worst I was never enough of a megalomaniac to want to take over the world. That was Gozaburo. I hated war and weapons. But a bloodless coup appeals to me. To build a world in which you and all those like you will be safe. Yes. I want that."
"Everywhere would be Kaiba Land." Mokuba smiled cheerfully.
Seto laughed. "Thank you, Mokuba. Now you'd better go."
"I don't want to go. I want to stay here and make sure he—" Mokuba protested.
Seto shook his head. "No. I don't want you to see me surrender. Let me keep that much of my pride." Also… he didn't want Mokuba here if this ended up a battle.
He didn't know if he would rather die than be… he didn't want Mokuba to mourn him.
"All right." Mokuba hugged him again.
"And no eavesdropping," Seto cautioned him.
Mokuba grimaced. Seto had known he would be planning something.
"Now go." He hugged him what his paranoid side was thinking of as one last time.
Mokuba nodded, headed for the door. He turned around once and smiled at him before he left.
Seto sat in his chair reading reports. Surprisingly, Kaiba Corp's sales hadn't been hurt by Battle City, they had actually risen.
Well, they wouldn't want to harm their new acquisition, would they?
The phone on his desk rang. "Yes?" He said, pressing a button.
"Mr. Seth from Industrial Illusions is here to see you, sir."
"Send him up."
This was it.
Seth walked in and smiled at him.
"Let's not beat around the bush. I lost."
Seth nodded. "Yes."
"So what now?"
"What do you want to happen?"
"I wish you had never woken up."
Seth raised an eyebrow. "But we did. I thought you were a practical person, Kaiba-san?"
"Why are you calling me Kaiba-san now instead of just Seto?" He'd taken the liberty before. And now he'd won.
"It's a sign of respect. You'll have to forgive me, I had a translation spell but not an understanding of Japanese culture." Seth shrugged.
"What do you want?"
"Isn't that obvious? The game is over and I want to claim my prize. I want you to join us."
"As what?"
"As whatever you wish." Seth shrugged. "You could share my position as leader of our forces but I think you would be more interested in organizing the new world."
"I want power and authority equal to yours."
"That's a given." Seth shrugged. "You are me. I certainly wouldn't want myself to be a pawn. Not when you are so valuable to the new world."
"I'm you. I don't like that idea, but I have to admit it's true." He summoned light to swirl around his hand. Seth's powers rose to answer.
It felt as wonderful as it had every other time he had met him. "There's no other explanation. Unless you've manipulated me into feeling this." But they hadn't. Unless they had spells more subtle than even light could illuminate. Which, he was pretty sure, was impossible.
Seth shook his head. "Kaiba-san, we are both men of the world. Why would I deny myself you for so long unless I wanted what only waiting could give me?" He took a step forward. "I wanted you. I wanted my own soul. I wanted to be compete, not divided. Why would I bind and cripple myself?"
"You're saying what's bad for me is bad for you."
"Yes. I would hate to be bound. It would be injustice, and you know we cannot stand for that. Why would I do it to myself?" He held out a hand. "Do you want to wait more?"
"I don't have more time. I lost."
"I could give you more time. You could stay on the sidelines and watch as we build the new world. See the results of our means and judge us that way, if playing this game has not taught you enough. But I would hate that. For there to be something that determined my future that I have no hand in. To stand by and do nothing while people need me, need what I can do."
Seto nodded. "The golden rule."
"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you?" Seth nodded. "I cannot stand to see you unhappy. You are afraid of me now." He walked up to Seto.
Seto almost flinched, wanting to withdraw his powers. He kept them up.
He might need them to defend himself, and… if he did give in, if he did join Seth, then their powers would be shared. He might as well get used to it. Judge how much it affected him so he could keep his head and not be drugged by it.
He felt the knots in his back start to relax. No, he had to stay awake. Stay alert.
"You are as brave as I am. I don't like to lose."
"Neither do I. But I've lost."
"Haven't you learned from Yami and Yugi that there is always another rematch?" His hand touched Seto's cheek and he smiled, his eyes half-lidded.
Seto watched him, trying to read how much he affected Seth. If he had power over him, then… this might be bearable. "If you're me, there's no point to fighting you."
"It only weakens us. I have been distracted by our battle from the plans for the main one."
"At least I've done that much for the world's freedom."
"The world's oppression, you mean. Don't try to tell me you have faith in those in power. You don't want anyone with power over you. Where was the government when Gozaburo beat you?"
"No one helped me but me." He found himself leaning forward slightly towards Seth. This close, the pull was like a magnet.
He'd done everything he could to keep distance between them when they had fought.
He didn't want to let anyone close. Once he let someone close… like Mokuba. "Where were you?"
"Trapped in a talisman instead of by your side. If I had been there, well." Seth smiled. "Gozaburo's doom would have come earlier."
Their faces were only separated by a few inches now. He could see Seth's eyes, different from his own only in the make-up. It looked interesting.
Admit it to yourself, Seto. He looks beautiful. Like all your dreams, right there in front of you. Nothing stopping you from taking them but fear.
He was this afraid of him… because of Gozaburo. He didn't want another Gozaburo.
That bastard had scarred him this deeply? He was this afraid because of HIM?
Did he want to let a dead, destroyed man who he had already beaten years ago run his life?
He was Seto Kaiba. He got what he wanted. Nothing would keep him from victory. He was afraid of nothing.
He leaned forward the rest of the way and kissed Seth roughly, hands holding his head in place so he couldn't escape.
Seth moaned against his lips and kissed back with far more finesse. Seto's eyes narrowed and he kissed harder.
This game he wouldn't lose.