When vengeance goes too far

Chapter 5: Kaiba's soul

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! They are the property Kazuki Takahashi, Shonen Jump, Konami and Shueisha comics

It was raining in torrents in Domino City. The rain seemed to fit Kaiba's mood exactly. Ever since Mokuba had yelled at him and made it obvious that he hated him now, Kaiba was depressed. In fact, he was more than depressed, he was devastated, exactly what he had intended to do to Serenity Wheeler after she humiliated him. He sat in his limo on the way home from work. He was unusually quiet for once. Normally he was either planning to himself or working away on his laptop, but he was doing neither. Though he kept up his usual facial expression, his quietness was enough for the limo driver to realise that something was amiss. Not that he cared; it was just that his curiosity had gotten the better of him. However, he was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Mokuba," Kaiba, thought, "Why?" He just couldn't understand why Mokuba would desert him. Sure, Kaiba admitted that not all the decisions he had made and not everything he did in the past were all good, but in Kaiba's mind, he did all those things for them, to keep them out of poverty. It was his initial idea to be adopted by Gozaburo. He was desperate to get out of the orphanage that he decided to just go with the next person that showed up at the orphanage, which just so happened to be Gozaburo Kaiba. Kaiba remembered that he was so desperate that he never considered what kind of person Gozaburo was. Before that day, he had looked up to Gozaburo as the World Chess Champion. When he came to the orphanage, Kaiba had thought that it would be a good idea for him to adopt both him and Mokuba. So, he challenged him to a chess game and having seen Gozaburo play so often on TV, he had been able to memorize all his strategies and develop counter-strategies. However, as he discover, Gozaburo's niceties were all just to gain publicity. The real Gozaburo was a cold-hearted, ruthless and cruel tyrant that did anything to make sure he stayed on top. Gozaburo even had certain people killed and Kaiba had seen that some, a small minority of Gozaburo's activities were illegal, but Gozaburo was able to use his great influence and money to pay off the authorities.

"Maybe it was a mistake to force Gozaburo into adopting us," he thought as the limo came to a halt at the entrance to the Kaiba mansion. It was something that he told himself since day one when he found out just what sort of person Gozaburo really was. Idles weren't the people their worshipers portrayed them as, it was a lesson that Kaiba learned the hard way. Many people had looked up to Gozaburo because of his status as the champion of chess, but Kaiba wondered just how many people knew the real Gozaburo. None of the people that looked up to him knew. Only his house staff and employees knew the real Gozaburo. It was sort of like his status as the number one duellist before Yugi beat him. Many people had looked up to him as duelling champion and when those unlucky enough to be his next opponent duelled him, they were given a rude awakening into reality. Some of them, as he remembered Mokuba saying had hung up their decks, afraid to duel again.

"Could Mokuba be right?" Kaiba continued in his thoughts. He got out of his limo and went into the house.

"Sir," came a familiar voice, "Master Mokuba called and said that he won't be coming home this evening. He said that he's staying at the hospital with Yugi Moto and his friends.

The voice belonged to Hobson and Kaiba cringed. He hated the fact that Mokuba considered the "geek" squad his friends. He felt that their talk of Egyptology and other so-called mumbo-jumbo were rubbing off on him. However, in his current state, Kaiba didn't feel like protesting, especially after what Mokuba said to him.

"Thank you Hobson," was all he said, "Just leave it be for now. I'm a bit tired to deal with it at the moment."

Hobson just stared in surprise. Normally Kaiba would've probably have gotten back in his limo and gone to the hospital to bring Mokuba back. However, he'd decided to let it be. Hobson knew how Kaiba felt about Yugi and his friends and he was surprised that Kaiba would allow Mokuba to hang with them, but judging from the look on Kaiba's face, Hobson wondered if perhaps Mokuba and Kaiba had a falling-out, which was unheard of.

"Guess there's a first time for everything," he thought. He knew better than to pry. He maybe Kaiba's butler and most trusted hitman, but that didn't mean he was safe from his wrath. After all, he had been Gozaburo's butler before Kaiba was even adopted and he did assist Gozaburo in shaping him into the person he was today and Hobson knew that Kaiba hated every minute of it. Just one wrong word and Kaiba could easily decide to get his revenge.

However, Kaiba went up to his room and lay on his bed. He took his locket and opened it up. It had the picture of a younger Mokuba in it and he was smiling. "Mokie," he said. He sighed and suddenly slipped into unconsciousness.

The next thing Kaiba knew, he was in a black void of nothingness. Everywhere he looked, it was pitch black and yet, he found that he was able to see his hands when he put them in front of his face as clear as day.

"What the?" he said, "Where am I? Wasn't I just lying on my bed?"

He furiously looked around and saw nothing but darkness.

"Oh please," he said regaining his composure, "This must be a freaky dream."

"Is it?" came a familiar voice; a voice that Kaiba despised and hoped would never have to hear again.

He spun round and saw his stepfather, Gozaburo. However, there was someone standing next to him, a man that Kaiba never seen before, though he did get a sense of déjà vu when he studied him. The man had a slight resemblance to Pegasus, but it was only a slight one. He had white hair, a white moustache and beard, a semi-light, semi-dark blue eye and a brown tan to his skin. Kaiba gasped. The man looked as if he was from somewhere in or near the Middle East. Kaiba guessed Egypt since so many people kept pestering him about how he was a priest in Ancient Egypt. The man wore a brown robe with the hood over his head, but was shocked Kaiba the most was the fact that this man had a familiar item where his left eye should be.

"The Millennium Eye," Kaiba, said, "But how, I thought Pegasus…" He stopped in mid-sentence wondering who this man was and how he came into possession of the Millennium Eye.

"Hello Seto," the man said, "It's been five thousand years or so hasn't it?"

"Who are you?" Kaiba, said, "And why are you with that man?" He pointed to Gozaburo.

"I an Aknadin, father of your five thousand-year-old self."

"You've lost it old man," Kaiba said, forgetting about his current situation with Mokuba.

"Has he Seto?" Gozaburo, said, "I found some of the stuff he told me about you very interesting."

"Great," Kaiba, said, "Another Egyptian loony and this time, he's brainwashed my stepfather into believing that mumbo-jumbo. Not that I care about you, it's just that I'm sick and tired of hearing those Egyptian fairytales. Some Egyptian woman has already brainwashed Yugi Moto and his friends into believing that that a pharaoh lives inside his pendant and at times he is the pharaoh. What a load bull. Talk about schizophrenia."

"Oh really," Aknadin, said, "Haven't you noticed anything strange about this Yugi character?"

"Strange?" Kaiba, said, "Are you off your rocker? Anyone with common sense would know that with the "geek" squad, everything's strange."

"You're in denial Seto," Gozaburo, said, "You know, before I revealed myself in the virtual world, I had read Noah's mind after he tried to steal Yugi's body and I found some interesting images. Apparently, Noah had received images from Yugi's mind and most of them were of a stone tablet and himself dressed as a pharaoh. Aknadin here told me about himself and life in his time and who the pharaoh was."

Kaiba just raised an eyebrow. No way, this was all just one big lie, a set up to try and undermine him.

"Are you sure of that?" Aknadin, said, "You mean that you're so stupid that you fail to notice the height difference whenever this Yugi claims to be the pharaoh, that you don't notice the more serious look and deeper voice?"

"I certainly did," Gozaburo, said, "In fact; it was like there were two people sharing the same body. I would've passed it off as schizophrenia, but schizophrenia doesn't alter your height, nor does it deepen your voice."

"Just tricks and illusions," Kaiba said.

"How?" Aknadin, asked, "How can they be tricks and illusions?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to answer, but realised that he didn't have an answer. He just said it just so that it wouldn't bother him and he never thought about how his explanation worked. How did Yugi grow taller and then shrink again and how could his voice get deeper and his face get more serious? When he first met Yugi, he saw him as a shrimp that was an easy target for bullies and he was a target for bullies, so much so that Kaiba had dubbed him as a bully magnet and it was all due to his size. However, since he had gotten that pendant of his, things had gotten weird. Yugi was still bullied, but the bullies normally ended up in comas and when they woke up, they had gone through a personality change. Since it didn't concern him, Kaiba never gave it much thought. However, when he forced Solomon into a duel and then Yugi challenged him, he remembered that it was the first time he saw the "transformation", if you could call it that. He had noticed that the Millennium Puzzle, as Yugi called his pendant was glowing. He never gave it much thought. However, when Yugi defeated him, he felt that he lost more than just a match, he felt like he lost part of himself. Sure he was still the same duellist as before, but he still felt that something was missing. He remembered that before he duelled Yugi for the first time, he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted, even kill people, but now, he found the idea of killing someone appalling. At best, all he could do was devastate them emotionally, which is exactly what he done to Serenity. Kaiba wondered that if whatever part of him that he lost after his loss to Yugi was still with him today, would he have killed Serenity in retaliation for his humiliation? Though he kept a straight face, the idea that he could've possibly killed Serenity was frightening. He also remembered when he actually defeated Yugi. Yugi technically had the duel won, but Kaiba threatened to kill himself, though he just backed up to the edge and said that the shockwave from the attack would send him off, since he had backed up to the edge of the castle, it was technically a suicide scenario. Kaiba hated it. He hated that he had to cheat in order to win. If the public realised what he had done, it would've squashed his reputation, but his brother was at stake and though he knew that Yugi probably would've rescued Mokuba anyway, his pride prevented him from accepting his help. He wanted to be the one that beat Pegasus and save Mokuba. However, at first, Yugi seemed pretty willing to just kill him, but he apparently had a change of heart. Kaiba remembered that when Yugi ordered his Celtic Guardian to stop, his voice was no longer deep and he was shorter.

"No way," he thought, "That's nonsense, isn't it?"

"You're in denial Seto," Aknadin, said, "You're unsure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Shut up," Kaiba said.

"Gozaburo said, "What are you afraid of Seto? Do you fear the past? Is that why you want to forget it?"

"Maybe the reason you want to bury the past is because that deep down, you know that you are friends with Yugi and you want to bury it because it makes you weak," Aknadin said.

"There's no harm in admitting it," Gozaburo, said, "I taught you that friendship is a sign of weakness."

"Shut up!" Kaiba, shouted, "I don't want to hear it. Yugi and I aren't friends, we were never friends, nor will we ever be friends. Just let the shrimp live in his delusional world. The day we become friends is the day I forgive you for the torture you put me through."

Gozaburo chuckled.

"And I'm proud of my achievement," he said, "Sure, you may have ousted me from power and forced me to kill myself after I downloaded my mind into Noah's virtual world, but like Mokuba said, I was successful in shaping you into what I wanted you to be. You're just a younger version of me. You have the same devious, conniving mind that made me so powerful and as I found out, you actually surpassed me when you ousted me from power over Kaiba Corp. I have to say that although I was angry and devastated, part of me was proud of you. You used the same tactics I used and that I should've seen coming, but you outdid me and although I hate you for ousting me, I'm proud in the sense that you have become so ruthless, just as I wanted you to be."

Kaiba was shocked. He hated it when people compared him to his stepfather, but now the person that was comparing him was his stepfather himself.

"I'm nothing like you," Kaiba protested.

"Oh really?" Aknadin, said, "You use the same tactics he taught you. You may be better at it than him, but it's still the same tactics and it's the same ruthless attitude. I have to say that I was surprised at this. Five thousand years ago, I offered you the position of pharaoh because I was the previous pharaoh's brother, thus the pharaoh's uncle and I felt that I should've had the throne. However, I was getting old and my reign would've been short, so I decided that you, my son should be pharaoh and you turned the offer down and yet, five thousand years later, you overthrow the leader of a modern-day organisation that isn't as important as royalty."

Gozaburo said, "I have to say that I too was surprised. You turned down an offer to lead a whole kingdom and yet you ousted me, a leader of a single organisation that has no ruling power whatsoever over the world."

"Thanks for the history lesson," Kaiba, said, "But you've just proven that your full of it. That tablet said that Yugi and I were supposed to have been fighting over the throne."

"After you refused, I decided that if you wouldn't follow me willingly, then I'd force you into becoming pharaoh," Aknadin, said, "You see, you destroyed my physical being, but my soul persevered so I invaded your mind and took control of you and fought the Pharaoh, but that Blue Eyes White Dragon betrayed me. I would've won if it were not for that."

Kaiba said, "Nice try, but I'm not convinced."

"But you are aware that something's not right with Yugi Moto and that you have become like your modern-day stepfather," Aknadin, said, "Deny it all you want Seto. I know that deep down, you know the truth. The more you deny, the harder it'll be. No wonder you lost your modern-day brother."

"How'd you know about that?" Kaiba growled angrily.

"We are spirits," Gozaburo, said, "And we watch over the living, though we reside in the Shadow Realm, we still see into the world of the living."

"Enough," Kaiba, said, "Get out of my sight both of you."

Aknadin and Gozaburo looked at each other and nodded to each other.

"As you wish," Gozaburo, said, "Our mission here is accomplished anyway. You now realise that perhaps everything you try to pass as nothing more than tricks and illusions is actually real. Like Aknadin said, deny it all you want. You'll just make things harder on yourself."

Aknadin looked at Gozaburo and said, "Come Gozaburo, I'll tell you about how to extract a ka from within a person."

"I'd love to hear it," Gozaburo said, as both of them faded from Kaiba's sight.

Kaiba said, "Thanks goodness. The last thing I need is superstitious nitwits."

Suddenly, a light appeared in front of him and he had to cover his eyes to shield them from the brightness. He saw two more figures and at first he thought that Gozaburo and Aknadin had returned to pester him some more, but he suddenly noticed that one of them was too small to be an adult and the other had the silhouette of a woman. When the light faded, he saw that the small figure was none other than Noah.

"Oh great," Kaiba, said, "More bad news."

However, the woman, he did not recognise, though like with Aknadin, he had a sense of déjà vu studying her. She had long light blue hair and blue eyes that looked somewhat familiar to him. She were a brown robe that looked as if it was the normal attire for a primitive peasant in ancient civilisations.

"Greetings Seto," Noah, said, "Miss me?"

"What is this?" Kaiba, said, "Is it "Let's annoy Kaiba as punishment for making the Wheelerette's life a living hell" time?"

The woman glared at him and said, "That is nothing to joke about Seto. You really hurt that girl bad and you are here as a consequence of it, as is losing your brother's support."

"Just who are you?" Kaiba, said, "And you will address me as Kaiba. Only Mokuba may address my by my first name."

"Why?" the woman said, "It's not your original surname, so why address you by a surname that you stole?"

Kaiba growled.

"Easy Seto," Noah, said, "We're here to help you get Mokuba back whether you want it or not and when you're done here, your life will hopefully be a whole lot happier."

Kaiba said, "Okay, that's all fine and dandy if you think I'll accept help from you Noah, but who is this woman, your adoptive mom?"

That earned Kaiba a slap in the face from the woman.

"No, I am not Noah's stepmother," the woman said, "My name is Kisara and I am the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Author's notes: Wow, imagine that for a cliffhanger. Kaiba's met with his five thousand-year-old love. Just what will Kisara and Noah do with him and what else awaits Kaiba in this dream world? I felt that Kaiba meeting his stepfather and his five thousand-year-old father would be a real shocker for him. However, as usual, Kaiba denies that he believes in all the magic stuff. I know that it may seem like I'm going off track here, but this is essential to the story. Kaiba is on a journey to discover himself so he can apologise to Serenity and her family and really mean it, are all, Kisara did say that he was there as a consequence of devastating Serenity emotionally. I've decided that the dream sequence will go on till chapter seven. Anyway, till next time.