Heya!

Sorry for the long wait, I've had many delays IRL and Ffnet is not very easy to work with at the moment, so there has been a lapse between the update on AO3 and here. Hope that you'll enjoy if you haven't already read this on AO3!

CHAPTER 13

Seto strode to the lab, not looking back once to check if Jonouchi followed him. He knew the rookie would be there. The prospect of discovering a piece of a top secret project in development would be too tempting to pass up, especially if said project included him. And in any case, he was still his employee and was obliged to follow. So no point in checking. No point in thinking about it either, no matter how thrilled the brunet felt – to his utter dismay, but it was not worth dwelling upon –.

He made a beeline for the first pod and lied down in it in a swift motion, switching on the Neurons. When he was ready to get transferred, he spared a quick glance towards the general direction of the blonde, noticing his confusion and a spark of recognition in the his demeanor. Right. Last time they were here, it was when Seto's former associates had imprisoned him into his own virtual RPG world, and the nerd gang had had to go help him. Looked like the mutt did not remember too fondly of the pods. Who would? They were primarily aimed at messing with your brain, after all.

He nodded towards the terminal that would connect his mind to the Duel World. He would give his employee something to do to occupy himself, at least.

"Keep tabs on this while I'm in there," he ordered, before he initiated the program and felt himself drown.

The scenery had been refined and NPCs greeted him placidly as he got uploaded in front of the shop once again. He had visited the place not so long ago, and yet the small differences were very visible to him. Maybe this was a sign that it would not be like last time. He would burn the entire vicinity if it were.

A memory of the last fiasco flashed in front of his inner eye and his insides churned with something strange for an instant, but his reason quickly killed whatever it was. Soon enough, to his immense satisfaction, he found the debacle did not affect him so much now that he was back there. Of course, Yami would not pop up in front of him, as he was currently being checked one last time, but Seto realized he did not care whether the virtual replica of the pharaoh could be challenged again one day or not. He was slightly bothered that they had lost precious hours of work to revise the duelist's coding, but that was that.

He had more important matters at hand, anyway. He noted that, for maybe the first time since he had known the mutt, he was the one seeking him out for a duel, not because he wanted to throw him a bone to pick, but because he actively wanted to challenge him. The irony of the situation made the corners of his lips quirk up. He expected the result to be worth the effort, at least.

And there he was. The fairly recognizable form of the former yankee came into view near the fountain, precisely were Yami had been last time. Seto frowned. Irritation mixed with the after-taste of past disappointment resurfaced, but he did not care for that. He took a deep breath and rationalised. Maybe the developers had chosen this particular spot for characters to spawn, before they scattered freely into the virtual world. It was easier to control for the moment, as characters were not proved fully reliable yet, and it would be changed in the next steps once they had been approved. It could not be a sick joke on him. No need to fret.

He relaxed as his brain found perfectly understandable reasons for the strange occurrence, and the CEO squashed the uneasy feeling as irrelevant. In any case, Jonouchi was there, and he had a duel to play. Seto did not let himself expect too much, but he could not help it. After the terrible performance of the virtual King of Games, this had to work and he would stubbornly cling to that certainty. He knew no one more predictable than the mutt. It was bound to work as it should.

The retained design for the duelist was the appearance he had until the destiny duel, which felt both normal and yet completely foreign. The virtual blonde wore his signature green uniform and old beaten sneakers, and his fiery gaze turned to Seto with a cocky gleam in them, striking the CEO with an odd sense of familiarity and strangeness. It was as if he met an old acquaintance after years of thinking they were dead. As if the teen in front of him was a ghost. And yet he felt right, as if the actual Jonouchi out there, with all his smooth and classy countenance, was the fake one.

Seto sneered and corrected his thoughts. He would not let himself be confused. This was Jonouchi, but a fake one, and that was also Jonouchi, the real one. End of story. He was in here to challenge the virtual other to a duel, beat him, and vent off his growing frustration with the world. Nothing more.

Once his duel disk deployed, the blonde reacted and his face scrunched up in disgust.

"Kaiba!," he growled, "knew ya'd be there ta bug me! I'll crush ya big time!"

This simple tirade, recorded and recomposed after the former yankee's usual taunts, filled Seto with a rush of adrenaline despite the fact that it was the dumb mutt. It had been a long time since he had had some normalcy in his life. This finally felt right, and only now did he realise how much he had craved it.

He shuffled his deck and put it in its slot with a knowing smirk.

"I would like to see that, mutt. You can try."

Jonouchi snarled and took his distance. The duel arena materialized around them, with smooth holographic lines surrounding the area and cutting them off the rest of the world. Their life points counters blipped into life, and the dedicated slots for monsters, spells and traps shimmered faintly on the floor between them. Seto was at least satisfied that this had been correctly coded. Then the coin was flipped and decided he would go second, and he could draw his first hand.

His smirk grew. He already had a Blue-Eyes, with a possible combo to pull out with it on his first turn. He could not wait to see if the third-rate duelist he was facing, for all his shiny deck and calibrated AI, could resist him long enough to be funny.

Twenty minutes later

They were on their third duel, and Seto had yet to win. He did not really mind, though, to his complete, stunned incredulity. If anything, he felt thrilled and more determined than ever. It had been so long since he had felt that alive, even though he knew it was not real, that he was unable to stop now.

The first duel had been quick, with Super Jono pulling out a series of combos so perfectly orchestrated that the defeat had not even tasted sour for an instant. He had exploited the synergy of his cards and the speed-based rhythm of duels in Duel Links, in a way that had left Seto powerless to respond. The CEO had not stood a chance, but he found he felt more impressed than angered. He had to admit that he was not accustomed to having only one main phase and three slots for each type of cards. His last tries against Yami had not been enough for him to develop and test out his strategies, for he had not had to apply any strategy with the level ten deck of the former avatar. By the time he had taken the whole thing back in stride, his life points had already been wiped out. His opponent was taunting him with it, though he had kept his bragging at an acceptable level, and Seto had let him. For once, he would recognize that it had been well played. The bot looked way better than the actual duelist even.

The second duel had been a combination of tough luck and still perfect dueling from his adversary. Seto's hands and draws were not systematically shabby per se – the coding prevented that –, but he had not drawn the right card a the right moment, and his strategies had been countered with nice moves from Super Jono, who used his deck's potential to the fullest. It was satisfactory to finally meet some resistance, even if coming from the third-rank mutt. More than that, it was fun. Seto was entertained, and he would certainly not give that away. His blood pumped faster in his veins, and he grinned. He felt great, and it had taken a month of developing a blonde punk to achieve that, but well. He did not look a gift horse in the mouth and surfed on this high while he could.

It had been a close defeat, and the stakes were now higher. He knew the decks. He knew the AI's standard strategies. He would win this round and relish in Jonouchi's discomfiture and anger. After all, the blonde could be talented and lucky all he wanted, he was best when defeated and reduced to a laughable heap of furious barking. This would be the icing on the cake. So far, he had not disappointed, and he could not begin now.

With a swift combo, Seto's Blue-Eyes blasted the other's dragon in a blinding flash of light, and Super Jono's life points crashed to zero. After letting out a scream, the virtual duelist panted and wheezed, while the victor stood proudly, ready to take in the final reward.

When he got a grip on himself again, the blonde straightened and sighed.

"I lost...," he said dejectedly, his eyes filled with sadness and disappointment. Then, without missing a beat, an amused glint replaced all trace of them, and he added, "But I s'pose it was meant to be. I'll be sure to win, next time!"

He grinned dumbly to the CEO, who stood there staring at him, incredulity painted all over his face. It sounded so surreal at the moment. It was as if the programme had suddenly mistaken Kaiba Seto's six feet, lean form for Mutou Yugi's measly five feet and spiky hair. Which was stupid. It had recognized him before, why the change now.

Glaring, he fired back, "I highly doubt that, mutt. You were meant to lose and never win again. I doubted I would get more from you, anyway."

He tried to ignite some standard reaction from the teen, something that would assure him that it was indeed Jonouchi, albeit the virtual one. His developers had only used quality recordings and data on the selected duelists, they could not have missed the blonde's way of acting around Seto. And they had not, since the previous interactions had been as expected until then.

But no. The damn brat simply tilted his head questioningly to the side and blinked.

"Well, you can't know. I've won two times!"

Again with that goofy, happy smile. Not even proud or bragging anymore. For a moment, Seto refused to believe the damn AI dared treat him so unlike the real, predictable Jonouchi. It was a farce. This could not happen. This had to work as it should. The contrary could not happen!

"Hey, you alright?"

Oh, now the punk was concerned. Maybe he was pitying him. Seto reeled at the thought. He would accept pity from no one, especially not from a stupid AI who could not work properly.

"I'm fine," he hissed, glaring at the unmoved duelist, readying himself again. "I want another duel."

The blonde snorted, honey eyes flashing with challenge. That was more like it.

"Alright, bring it on!"

Ten minutes later

The AI was definitely acting up. The last two duels proved it. Super Jono had won the fourth, teasing lightly on Seto's true skills, but he had sounded... polite. No, not polite. He was more bordering on indifferent, joking almost out of obligation. Worse, when the brunet had won the fifth, last duel, the other's reaction had been cordial. Accepting. Dismissing. Like he had not been defeated by his self-designated archnemesis. Like he did not care about him at all, whereas normally, it should have been the other way round. The CEO should have enjoyed his acting like his fallen opponent was not worth the dirt under his feet, he should have been delighted to reaffirm his authority and superiority. He should have had fun.

And yet, all he had was a cold dismissal, and polite goodbyes. Super Jono kindly told him they were finished with their duel, so he had better do some other things, like standing there staring at the fountain. He turned away from him. Ignored him. Like he, too, could not be bothered to stay and fight until the end.

The realization sent the brunet's mind into haywire. This could not happen. Atem had already had the gall to abandon him, and his avatar had been nothing less disappointing. That cowardice had been the proof of the ancient king's self-righteousness, but Jonouchi was nothing like this. He was too damn straightforward to run away.

The real Jonouchi could not resist rubbing Seto the wrong way. He would never cease being his dumb, upstart, fiery, fighting self. In the order of things, in every universe, every dimension, every version of himself, the third-rate duelist would never be anything else than what the elder Kaiba knew he was. Unbending. Relentless. Daring to the point of foolhardiness. And exasperatingly, unmistakably here. Always coming back, and never, ever going away, even for all riches in the world. He would have rather died than backing from a challenge. The idea could not cross his empty head. He was a permanent thorn in Seto's side. He had to be. Had to...

He wanted to reach out to the duelist and shake him so hard his teeth would fall off, but he refrained from doing so at the last minute. This was a virtual person, an image. There was no use abusing it. It meant nothing more than what its – fucking, stupid – program dictated. It was a waste of time.

But out there, in the lab, there was the actual mutt. That damn, irritable, educated monkey, who dared hide himself and act as if he had always been the perfect employee. Jonouchi Katsuya was not himself. It was not funny anymore. The brunet realized that, if he did not do anything right this instant, he would lose the last normal person who could match his dueling skills. That was unacceptable. He would not allow it, and if he had to thrust some sense into that thick dog skull himself, then so be it.

With a roar, he initiated the disconnection process, his blood thundering in his ears and his breath short. His brain began scheming for possible ways to get the mutt back. To have him as himself again. To shake him out of his tiresome act of tasteless submission.

Punching him would be ineffective. The former yankee was used to physical violence, so common in his world that it did not affect him anymore. It would be the same for verbal abuse, especially now that he had become a bodyguard-in-training. Seto did not know what sort of training the blonde had undergone to get his nerves of steel, but he now seemed impervious to barbs. How bothersome.

Come on, think. There had to be other options, out of his zone of comfort. Maybe even out of theirs both. At this point, Seto was willing to try on anything. He had to hit a sour spot, somewhere unexpected, somewhere no one would have thought him of going. What could offense the mutt so, that he would blow a fuse in a matter of seconds? Think, for fuck's sake.

The Duel Links world disintegrated in a myriad of pixels. A loading screen showed him the progression of his disconnecting, while he racked his brain for a strategy. Once he would be out of the pod, he would face Jonouchi. He had to take him by surprise, leave him no time to react. The blonde was a seasoned fighter, he had to take his street smarts into account. Enter his living space quickly, impose and conquer in a heartbeat. He had to unsettle him. But how...?

Just when the bar hit hundred percent, an idea popped up, so crazy that it made his head spin and his resolve harden. There was only one way to disconcert that punk enough to ignite his wrath. The plastic lid of the pod opened with a wheeze, and Seto sprang into action.

Katsuya was miffed. How was he supposed to keep tabs on his boss, when all he could read was gibberish-gibberish-some more gibberish-gibberish-motherfucking gibberish? Was there even Japanese somewhere in a corner of this mind-crushing alignment of nonsense?

To his immense, debilitating relief, a window opened itself in front of the indecipherable stuff, and IKaiba provided him with an actual log of event in palatable, coherent sentences. Bless Ra for his brilliant friend. He fired a quick 'thx' on his phone, before he followed the chain of event with mild interest.

It appeared that Kaiba was enjoying himself, somewhat. Or that he was getting stubborn with anger. Duels came one after another, and in total his boss played five duels in about thirty minutes. Huh. Guess he really needed to duel. Question is, why against a virtual version of me?

This made no sense to the rookie. The only opponent Kaiba had ever acknowledged was Atem, and later maybe Yugi. He, for his part, had always been small fry in the eyes of the brunet, so it was more logical that he waited for the King of Games to be fully operational, was it not? Frankly, he had come to accept the CEO's quirked way of dealing with his ego, since anything lower than Atem in terms of skills were worthless, period. It was so simplistic a logic that it was not even offensive. And even if it was not actually like this, Katsuya did not care to go deeper.

That aside, he could not help swelling with pride when he saw that Super Jono won three duels out of five, meaning that the 'mutt' was not so much a street rat, after all. Well, the duels had been won by an AI, but that was not the point. It was purely symbolic. Maybe he could convince IKaiba to record the duel log for him to keep? That sure would be nice. It was not often that Kaiba Seto lost at his oh-so loved game.

Also, those Red-Eyes cards looked brilliant. The rookie wished he could afford them one day. Maybe after he moved, he could indulge in some shopping down the card games aisle? Grandpa would sure be glad to see him, it had been a long time since he last paid the old Mutou a visit.

The screen flashed with a new command, and his attention reverted back to it. Kaiba was disconnecting. So soon? Was he rage quitting? Was there any Kaiba-tantrum to clean after?

The answer would come soon. The pod opened harshly, and a feverish Kaiba sprang out, so quick that Katsuya did not register the movement until the other was on him. Like, literally.

And in a blink, he found himself with six feet of barely contained fury pressed against him. And the impossibility to breathe.

Never in his tasks had it been specified that he could have had his nose pinched and his mouth covered with his boss's. For once in his life, the rookie was shell shocked.

His brain shut down. It would be of no use for a while.