Seto had never felt more sympathy for Xanxus than the moment he was staring down the one underage duelist who made it to the finals. He knew there was a strong possibility he had half-siblings...but nothing could have prepared him for staring down Ieyasu Sawada or his Guardian.
He saw far too much of the braying jackass known as Iemitsu in the kid, and the sheer amount of arrogance the ten year old duelist had pissed him off. Even Xanxus wasn't this bad, but then again Xanxus' arrogance was tempered through his life on the streets and the actual power to back it up.
Then he saw the Vongola half ring on Ieyasu's hand and made the decision then and there to give the Varia an out.
He knew that it must grate on Xanxus to know the famiglia was destined to ruin within his lifetime, and that the heir was a spoiled brat much like that arrogant bastard Iemitsu.
However Seto also knew the Varia's laws...he had looked them up in an effort to curtail some of Xanxus' hatred of him, right up until his retirement.
The second the finalists were chosen and they headed to the island of the Shimon famiglia (Enma had been more than happy to help, mostly because his sister loved Duel Monsters and it meant free publicity for his father's business) Seto was going to call the Varia elite direct and offer them an out from having to live through Iemitsu's stupidity twice over.
Xanxus was loyal to the Vongola...however nothing in his honor said that he had to put up with such stupidity when there was another Vongola Boss (just not in charge of the famiglia who had taken him in) willing to give him his freedom back.
Spotting Bakura, Seto hid a smirk. He subtly walked over to the teen, and he knew the spirit was in control. He really needed to find a way to give Bakura his own body.
"Since you held up your end of the bargain, I'll let you in on the other society once this is over. And I might have a job for you to really spread your notoriety among the underworld if you're interested."
"I'm listening," said Bakura.
"The brat who managed to make it to the finals. The ring he's wearing is part of a very important set. I plan to overthrow the group his father is part of as the top dog of the underworld and I'll need the rings to back up my claim later," said Seto quietly.
"What's in it for me?" asked Bakura.
"I'll set my special team to see if we can't get you a body of your own, rather than borrowing one," said Seto. "Cloning is a very real possibility, it's just that I need to acquire the necessary materials to pull it off. Worst case scenario Mukuro teaches you how to possess others and fully take over their body... no one is going to care if some random idiot disappears permanently."
"Why haven't you offered this to the Pharaoh then?" asked Bakura, openly intrigued.
"Because I recognize a predetermined destiny when I see one, and if I were to offer that for them then I want to be sure the gods or whomever is driving his fate won't simply force him to send him to the afterlife where he belongs," deadpanned Seto.
Bakura was definitely interested now. So far the other male had been completely on the level with him, and it was far more respect than he was used to getting from a fellow criminal.
Then he turned his attention to the undeniable brat.
"How are you going to deal with him?"
"I'm rigging the machine so I face him on his first match in the finals. I'm going to completely crush him as a warning for stepping foot into my turf," said Seto with a growl.
He idly wondered if that was his Cloud secondary talking or the fact he was pissed beyond belief that he had to deal with the second coming of the braying jackass.
As sad as it was, the almost heartless hitman Reborn had been the closest thing to a father he had in any of his lifetimes. And that included his current one. He was a complete and unrepentant bastard who took far too much amusement in humiliating those who allied with him, but the simple fact was that he had been there when Seto needed him to be as a chaotic bastion of support.
Iemitsu and Gozaburo had only seen him as a tool for their own benefit, and it had been obvious from the get go there was no actual affection from them.
Anzu got on the stage, still in her magical girl costume. A very happy Haru had been part of the team designing it, and was delighted that her hobby would soon become her job.
Sure, she would start as an intern, but Seto had zero doubts she'd end up running the department sooner or later.
Hana and Kyoko were going to be joining the company soon too. Both of them had similar reasons for doing so...protection and to keep an eye on Ryohei, who was seriously considering the offer Kaiba had given him regarding bodyguard training, which was a profession that would allow him to make some money off his love of boxing.
Kyoko would become part of the PR department, where her cheerful demeanor and easy-going personality would give her a chance to network and act as the media darling of the company. Hana would enter the legal side, with the obvious caveat that she act as Kyoko's personal protector.
Though he would openly admit, the expression on the three girl's faces upon learning the famous Yugi Muto was actually a girl was hilarious.
Seeing he had the second match, Seto had to viciously repress the evil smirk on his face.
He'd have to save it for when he faced his dear half brother. On the plus side, he wouldn't have to stay in hiding for much longer.
Ieyasu sneered at Seto Kaiba, the weakling who was beat by a complete nobody like Muto. The former champion had allowed his fangs to dull, there was no other explanation.
Nearby, Muto was openly frowning and seemed to be comparing him to Kaiba. He couldn't figure out why, they were nothing alike.
"Is it just me or does that kid look a lot like Kaiba for some reason?" said Jounouchi quietly.
He really didn't like that Ieyasu brat...he was a hundred times worse than Rebecca had been. And something about him grated on the new senses Kaiba had woken up rather forcibly. He could only settle them by sticking close to Yugi.
"You noticed it to?" said Honda.
Yugi was frowning.
'Yami, is it me or does Kaiba look particularly eager to crush him as painfully as possible?'
"It's not you," said Yami. He was frowning for the same reasons as Yugi. Considering the story Kaiba had told them before, there was a high possibility this Ieyasu was his half-brother or part of his birth family. Judging from the look on Mokuba's face, that possibility went even higher.
Yugi and Yami winced at the way Kaiba utterly destroyed Ieyasu...he had toyed with him for almost an hour, before utterly crushing the kid with a god card they didn't even even realize he had.
"There's definitely something going on," said Yugi.
Since her duel was up next, she couldn't find out what exactly had Kaiba so riled up.
It was only later when she was looking for him that she found out the truth.
Inside the room...
Xanxus was as intimidating as ever, but he was definitely interested in Seto's offer, so that was a start.
"You're saying that there's a way for you to give us an out that will let us tell the Ninth generation to go fuck themselves?"
"Your contract stipulates that the Varia serves the Vongola. It makes absolutely no mention of having to serve the Vongola Boss," said Seto.
Xanxus had an unreadable expression on his face. Seto was patient though.
"The only problem is that the laws also stipulate that we can't offer our services to anyone in the Alliance," said Xanxus. "Nor are we allowed to swear ourselves to anyone who needs us to increase their own power just to afford us on the payroll. The Vongola would have to be the don of a famiglia capable of paying for our salaries without having to contract us out for it."
"And if there was a group lead by someone of Vongola blood more than capable of paying the Varia's salaries who wasn't part of the Alliance?" asked Seto.
"Depends on the don," said Xanxus. "And what sort of group they are."
Seto couldn't help the smirk on his face.
"Would you willingly follow someone who's hired Varia services before the group was officially made?" he asked.
Xanxus sat up at that, his limited intuition purring.
"Oh?"
Seto gave him a list of names and dates. Squalo, who was listening in on the side, recognized a few of them immediately.
He stared at him.
"VOI! You're that brat who hired us a few years back to wipe out your old man's support base, and had the miser brat get blackmail on the ones you didn't kill!"
Seto snorted at that.
"The idiot couldn't tell a Quality gun if it shot him, and sold subpar wares to low level trash and claimed it was profit," said Seto flatly. "The only reason I bothered playing the 'good son' was to hide from a braying jackass who couldn't be bothered to do a proper investigation on his wife's death and claimed that he had lost both. I refuse to let the incompetence of the Ninth generation plague me further."
Xanxus stared him down, assessing him for a good long while. Then something that was almost terrifying if you weren't used to it happened. He started laughing. Long, hard and with no little amount of vindictive mirth.
"So the lost cub turned out to be a dragon in disguise. You have my attention now, trash," said Xanxus. He had dismissed the proposal Kaiba had given him out of hand, as he was still loyal to the Vongola.
However if what Kaiba was implying was true, then the Varia could make a completely clean break from the Vongola without actually violating their laws. They would have to prove he was of Vongola blood of course, but that was a small matter compared to the Varia saying "Enough" to the Ninth's bullshit and leaving.
"Voi... if we did join up, then what exactly would you do with the Varia? The White Dragons are considered a neutral sanctuary group," said Squalo.
"Does the term 'nuclear deterrent' appeal to you?" said Seto smirking. "What better way to keep the biggest fish in the pond known as the underworld from trying to strong arm us into handing people over than to have the biggest, baddest group of combat oriented Quality on our side to give them a reason to back the hell off or else? I could care less about the power struggles of various groups... I only made mine so I wouldn't be dragged into that headache."
"And what of the inevitable power vacuum of the Vongola's collapse?" asked Xanxus.
"If they hadn't been so incompetent or if the Ninth had the brains to actually hand over power once his sons were old enough, then the might still have reigned as the top dog of the Cosa Nostra. As it is, the sheer weight of their stupidity means that their time is about to draw to a close. So long as someone of Vongola descent holds the rings, the world will continue to spin. Perhaps at some point they might regain their power, but until that point I have no intention of leading them," said Seto flatly. "By this point any real power they had was chipped away once people realized the Ninth and Iemitsu's incompetence. It's only held together because the Varia has been there to clean up the mess those idiots created for themselves."
Squalo and Xanxus blinked at the backhanded compliment Seto had given to them quite deliberately.
"Trash... I think I like you," said Xanxus after a moment. "Prove you're worth our time and I'll consider the alliance you suggested."
The call ended, and his intuition purred. There was a high probability Xanxus would take his offer and finally be free of the Ninth's lies.
Seto also knew of the one listening in from outside. He allowed Yami to come in.
"What was that about?"
"My cousin. He was adopted under false pretenses, and had to endure a ridiculous amount of nonsense from his fake father. All because they wanted his powers, not the man in question. And when he confronted them about it, they imprisoned him from his closest allies for eight years and lied about the truth. I'm just giving him an out before he's forced to clean up after a spoiled brat's mess."
Seeing Yami didn't get it, Seto sighed and explained it in another way.
"Imagine a king found a street rat raised in the slums with a power that normally only belongs in the royal family, declared that he was the boy's father and then raised him as a prince without telling him the full truth. All because he didn't want that power outside of royal hands. Then imagine the heirs ahead of said prince started dying off, and people start talking about installing him as the crown prince instead...only for the boy to discover he's not royalty in the first place, just a distant cousin that had slipped through the cracks and unable inherit. And when he confronted said king, the man imprisoned him under false charges and claimed the prince attempted to lead an insurrection, but in reality the prince was simply tired of the lies and wanted the truth from the king in question."
Yami winced.
"So that man would be the prince?"
"And the 'king' is the leader of a mafia group that didn't even have the balls to legally adopt him. And took offense when he turned out to be a vicious tiger instead of a pampered pet like his own sons...which included taking over an entire group of elite assassins."
That wince was even more pronounced.
"So why contact him?"
"That brat Ieyasu is the current heir of the group. There's no way a dragon like Xanxus would tolerate following orders from him, and he would have almost certainly lead a large chunk of his group away from the people they're stuck with. Except now he has options which would allow him, his people and the men who work under him to make a complete break without losing anything to the group they're with now."
Yami looked intrigued...then again as a true king he would be. He was openly fascinated and was ignoring the whole "criminal empire" aspect of it.
Oddly enough, even Yugi sounded interested.
Seto had the strange mental image of Yugi being replaced by Daniela Vongola, except instead of leading the group she was openly supporting her husband from the sides as a full member.
He mentally shook off the comparison...though there were worse mafia donnas to be compared to. Like Luce, for instance.