Seto wasn't the least bit surprised when Ieyasu demanded to duel Yugi. He was pleased that the brat took the bait and agreed to a double duel though.
"So you're going to duel us with a brat?" he sneered, gesturing to Lambo. Yugi was openly frowning at the state of the child...it was clear the poor kid had been abused.
Ieyasu openly kicked the boy, glaring at him.
"You stupid brat, how many times have I told you not to follow me around?"
Seto however remembered something from his past life. He wouldn't put it past the Bovino to do the same thing as before.
"Hey Lambo...did your family tell you that the only way you'd be allowed back with them would be to kill Reborn?" he asked.
Lambo nodded.
Seto hooked a thumb towards the observation platform.
"Reborn is on the platform up there. If you want to try your luck, feel free. This is likely to be very boring for you," he said. Lambo brightened, and took the fact Ieyasu didn't try to stop him as permission. Seto sent a mental message to the Mist duo above them.
He knew Chrome and Mukuro would take care of the little cow...there was no way he was letting the kid go back to Italy with this brat.
He took it as a good sign that Hayato frowned a bit at the way Ieyasu treated Lambo.
Seto waited for the perfect opportunity to challenge Ieyasu directly for possession of the ring. The best way to make his claim on the Vongola Sky ring was to challenge the so-called heir and defeat him. Not that he really cared about what the Vongola would say about the matter, but it was the principle of things. It wasn't like the dons inside the ring would ever tolerate Ieyasu as the next head of the family.
Finally, his intuition told him it was time to play his trump card against his half-brother.
"I should have expected your ability to duel was as subpar as your ability to lead. After all, you were incompetent enough to lose the Sky ring," said Seto.
Ieyasu snarled at him.
"Where is my family's ring?"
Seto's smirk was downright evil...as he calmly reached around his neck to pull off a necklace that had been mostly hidden by his shirt. He broke the chain and easily pulled off a familiar ring.
"That belongs to the Vongola!" snapped Hayato.
"No, it belongs to whomever has the proper bloodline and the best qualifications to be accepted by the remnants inside. Besides, everyone knows that Ieyasu is merely a replacement for the one that braying jackass Iemitsu lost due to his incompetence."
"Don't talk about my father that way!" said Ieyasu hatefully.
"I think you mean our father...not that he's ever had a real claim to the title when it came to his first born," sneered Kaiba.
To the shock of Hayato and Ieyasu, Seto easily slipped on the Vongola ring...and set it ablaze.
"You...how are you able to use the Vongola ring? Only someone of Vongola blood is allowed to wear it!" said Hayato in shock. Everyone knew the rings would react badly if someone who wasn't worthy of it put it on. Just look at what happened to Xanxus!
"The only unworthy one here is that pathetic replacement you call a Boss. Perhaps I should properly introduce myself...my original name was Tsunayoshi Sawada," said Seto sneering at them both. "I find it amusing that my idiotic father couldn't be bothered to properly investigate what really happened to his first born after my mother was killed in the accident. Even Reborn was able to track down the truth once he noticed something was off. Then again, Iemitsu's reasoning skills have always been subpar at best."
Ieyasu was in deep shock. Iemitsu had told him of his older brother, but claimed Tsunayoshi had died with his mother.
"That's impossible!"
"Changing the intake records of an orphanage outside Namimori is easy if you know what you're doing. And Sawada is such a common surname," shrugged Seto.
Then he did something to really mess with his half-brother's head. He used the hand that was still blazing with Sky flames...and removed the trick he used to make his hair stay flat. He found having spiky hair annoying as it made him look too much like that fool Giotto for his liking.
Cold, hard recognition hit both the mafioso... Seto had long since known he bore a striking resemblance to the Vongola's Primo. Not surprising, considering he was the man's reincarnation.
This was going to be far too satisfying.
Ieyasu snarled, his focus off taking the god cards and defeating Yugi now on defeating his apparently still alive older brother and reclaiming his position.
Anubis wasn't about to let a spoiled brat stand between him and his victory against the Pharaoh. Ieyasu looked like he was having a heart attack as Anubis forcefully removed himself from the boy's body. Ieyasu crashed against the ground, however he recovered admirably enough to glare at his elder sibling.
Hayato looked torn as to what he was supposed to do. He knew he was supposed to defend his Sky, but he also wasn't allowed to help his Sky against another Vongola Sky. It had been painful enough when he had to stand aside while Ieyasu challenged Xanxus for the right to be the heir.
"I am going to end you and take back my ring!" snarled Ieyasu.
"Just try, trash," said Seto sneering. "Yami, I'll leave the undead psycho to you."
Yami nodded, understanding this was an internal matter between heirs.
Outside the Pyramid of Light...
"Holy shit," said Jounouchi in disbelief. "Is that Kaiba?"
Mukuro looked at the screen, then snorted.
"He finally quit freezing his hair," he commented. "I almost forgot how fluffy he looked."
Mokuba snorted. His brother did look rather fluffy, and he had forgotten entirely his brother used to have such spiky hair like that.
"What is that orange stuff he's using?" asked Jounouchi.
"That would be Sky Flames," commented Fon.
"Not surprising. The only way to insure that no one challenges his claim on the ring is to defeat his half brother in battle. Unfortunately for Ieyasu, Seto didn't have the luxury to take his time and every incentive to learn how to defend himself from challengers very quickly," said Reborn.
In his past life, Seto had no siblings before him and had to deal with the home tutor from hell (aka Reborn) who wouldn't give him the choice to back out. He learned very quickly it was either become a mafia boss, or die trying. Reborn would accept nothing less. And he rarely had a chance to rest between trials.
Add in the fact that most of his enemies brought a lot of firepower to kill him, and he had to get stronger, really fast.
"Any idea where Yugi is?" asked Fon.
"I think she got trapped in the Puzzle. Whatever that giant is, he seems to be absorbing their flames during battle...and considering how much Seto has, that will only mean trouble," said Mukuro.
"I'll go check on her. Mukuro-sama?" asked Chrome.
"I'll keep an eye out for you," said Mukuro.
Chrome leaned against the wall. She used the only opening she could find, and astralized.
What she found was rather fascinating really.
"So this is Yami's soul room," said Chrome to herself. She followed the feel of Yugi's Sky flames to the source, only to find a very freaked out girl.
"Chrome! Thank the gods," said Yugi with relief.
"What's wrong?"
"Mummies! I followed Yami to a room and a bunch of mummies showed up!" she said irate.
"...Aren't mummies really flammable?" asked Chrome.
Yugi paused in her freaking out...before looking very much like she wanted to hit herself.
"Will flames work the same way as actual fire?"
"Oddly enough, they do," said Chrome.
"Right, let's go burn some mummies," said Yugi annoyed. She really wished she had thought of that earlier. She could only admire the efficient way Chrome ripped apart the undead pests with her trident.
After this headache, she was going to ask her boyfriend for advice on how to defend herself. Her first thought was to run after encountering the mummies, and she hated the fact she was of little use helping Yami in his own mind. She had seen Mokuba using his knives a few times, and wanted to have some way of her own.
The two of them systematically wiped out the mummies...and then Yugi managed to find the dagger inside the sarcophagus and used to crack the eye showing the duel outside.
Seto, sensing a change in the pyramid of light, used Yami's attack on the 'card' and generated a massive blast of sky flames. The double attack caused the pyramid to shatter around them, and Yugi found herself outside Yami's room at last.
Ieyasu looked like hell...Seto had wasted no time in defeating his younger brother. To be fair, Ieyasu had never really trained in how to fight seriously because after the deaths of the other heirs he had assumed there was no one in his way. By the time he was old enough to understand his position, the other three had died and Xanxus was still an ice block.
Hayato was clearly torn. He opted to carry his boss out of there, unsure how exactly he was going to explain this to the Vongola later.
"Hayato, I do have something to say," said Seto, before the teen left. "Do you really think your mother would want her legacy to be remembered like this? For her son to be treated as less than because of the circumstances of your birth?"
Haytao bristled.
"What do you know of my mother?" he snarled.
"Lavina Gokudera, a rather noteworthy pianist who had the misfortune to fall for an idiot. And let's not forget that your own father encouraged your older sister Bianchi to deliberately poison you with her horrendous cooking, to the point you can't even look at her without passing out."
Hayato stared at him in shock, mostly because Seto knew a lot about his Storm from his past life.
"I'm sure your mother would rather you be with a group that wanted you for you, and not because they wanted an extra flame-active in their group they can control. Are you really happy with the Vongola?" asked Seto calmly. "Or are you just with them to satisfy your own ego?"
Hayato's expression was conflicted. He managed to get Ieyasu into the car and drove off, but the conversation would stick in his mind for much longer.
As if to diffuse the tension, Kisara flew from her perch on Mokuba's shoulder to Seto's...and promptly tried to bite his head. He really had to wonder if she was teething or something.
Ieyasu, once he was coherent enough to talk, was furious. So much so he didn't really notice that Lambo had failed to join them.
"That...that bastard!" he snarled. "Wait until grandpa hears about this!"
Hayato winced, mostly because he had a sinking suspicion about how the Ninth would react to this news.
In Italy...
The Ninth wasn't angry. No, he was furious. Not only had Ieyasu lost the ring, but he had never expected young Tsunayoshi to still be alive.
This could not have come at a worse time...Xanxus had been making moves that suggested he was up to something. The Vongola could ill-afford a second coup.
Now they had to contend with a Don of Vongola blood that was outside their control and already had their own group. One who had successfully claimed the Vongola Sky ring, if Ieyasu was to be believed.
As if his day couldn't get worse, Coyote came into the office looking grim.
"They're gone."
"What do you mean, they're gone?" demanded Timoteo. He had sent his Storm to retrieve the other half rings. It was past time Ieyasu had a full set, and he hoped that having a full set of proper guardians would give him an edge against this unexpected challenger.
"The rings are gone, both halves," he said grimly. "I think the theft must have been recent too."
Timoteo felt every bit of his age. This was a disaster beyond any expectations. And his intuition was gleefully telling him it was going to get far worse.
Lambo didn't seem the least bit bothered that his 'sky' had abandoned him. However, just as Seto predicted the moment he started throwing a tantrum, the infamous ten-year-bazooka came out.
To the shock of anyone who hadn't already experienced it before, Lambo went from a bratty abused five year old...to his fifteen year old self.
Lambo blinked when he switched with his younger self, before a broad smile came across his face.
"Nii-san!" he said with open relief.
"Hello Lambo," said Seto warmly. Mokuba was just confused, as were Yugi and Jounouchi. Yami was recovering from his duel...it had drained him considerably.
"Uh...what just happened?"
"Lambo's family created a device that allows you to switch with your older self ten years from now. Or, if it gets into the hands of that damn idiot trio again, can send you farther back into the past."
Mokuba suddenly gave Seto an odd look.
"Why do I get the feeling you were hit with the modified version?" said Mokuba.
"I was. Which is why that damn thing is going to be locked and hidden from the idiot trio until I deem is safe enough for them to learn we have it in our possession," grumbled Seto. "I am not going to deal with going through puberty a third time, thank you very much."
"Thanks for getting me away from that stupid Ieyasu. I thought the jackass was bad, he's like Iemitsu 2.5 only worse," said Lambo annoyed. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to wait for my younger self to run into you?"
"You're home now, little brother," said Seto. He glanced at his watch. "Two minutes left, so I'll make this brief. How long until Kisara's teething habit goes away?"
Lambo snickered.
"At least a year and a half, but it doesn't go away fully. She still tackles you when excited, but she doesn't use your head as a teething toy. Also, she's particularly fond of cod," said Lambo, before he disappeared. His younger self looked considerably happier and had a grape sucker as big as his hand in his mouth.
"Nii-san, what are we going to do with him?"
"He's going to be staying with I-Pin and Fuuta. He'll be part of the secondary defense for the civilians," said Seto without hesitation.
"Secondary defense?" repeated Jounouchi.
"In the event of a major fight, the secondary defense is to hide among the civilians to act as protection. They aren't allowed near the actual fighting, but are still trained just in case. It's a safeguard in the event that the main force fails, so that they can help the civilians evacuate," explained Mokuba. "Considering Nii-san is overly paranoid regarding protecting the noncombatants, the odds of anyone actually getting close to the civilians are really low. It means that the main fighters like Nii-san can focus on fighting without worry."
"In short it means they feel useful without actually being in the line of fire," translated Seto. "Last time Lambo was expected to act as a shield for the main fighters, which I protested to because of his age and skill level. So I came up with the idea of using him as part of the secondary defense which still fit the so called 'role' my advisers demanded he play."
As if he had needed a reason to loathe Iemitsu. Forcing a kid who hadn't even hit puberty to act as a shield for his big brother was a new low. So he had used the incident with Mukuro as a reason why he created the 'secondary line of defense' to pacify the Ninth and the jackass.