*19* Jounouchi *19*

I was busy trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess when the door opened and the lights flickered to life. Two men were approaching, the one who had captured me and someone I didn't know. He was wearing a black suit and he held himself up high, I could tell that he was probably the boss of this operation. Neither of them said a word until they were right in front of me.

"And you're sure this soul is strong enough? I am tired of them breaking apart during assimilation." Suit said.

"Yes, he's the one we found." The other said causing Suit to look at me.

"Ah, I am sorry we had to cut your life short but I couldn't wait for you to die to take your soul." He smiled, "Once you are assimilated, you will live forever." He said. I had no idea what he was talking about but he was nuts. "Speaking of cutting his life short, have you dealt with the others? I don't want to leave any loose ends." Suit said, turning to his lackey.

"Of course, the Domino Police Department has dropped both cases thanks to my buddy. There is one more survivor but we are taking care of him now." He said.

"Good." Suit said. "I don't need an investigation messing up all I've done."

Wait? Did he mean the investigation into my death and Yoshi's suicide? If that's true then what he said about ending my life early… "You did this to me!?" I screamed, I knew he couldn't hear me, at least I thought I did because he looked at me again and said.

"It was for a noble cause."

"Bastard."

"I've been called worse." He said "Don't cause any trouble and this won't be painful for you."

"When should we being the process?" the other man said, ignoring the fact that his crazy boss was talking to a ghost.

"As soon as I have the access codes to Kaiba Corp's secret facility. Now that Gozaburo's step son is dead we have the matter of dealing with the younger step son, but that shouldn't be too hard." He said.

As if, Mokuba was a strong kid. I thought.

"Seto Kaiba is dead?" the other man asked. "But we never found his body."

"Yes, that had me worried as well but it was confirmed this morning." The boss said, "The younger Kaiba was too distraught to deliver the news but it's in all of the papers."

"Why don't we just assimilate him now and take down the younger Kaiba?" the man asked.

"Because, I want to use the machine Gozaburo designed after stealing my plans. I want to use his designs to take down Kaiba Corp. Once those stupid Americans put an end to the little Kaiba no one will stop me. I will make Japan one of the world's strongest superpowers."

This man was nuts. I had to stop him somehow but I wasn't sure how. I wish I could get in touch with Kaiba somehow. I had to settle for getting all the information I could out of these fools. I wasn't going down without a fight. I clenched my fists at my sides and felt a surge of energy, one I had never felt before, and suddenly the light above my tube popped.

Suit looked at the damage and then at me. "I told you not to cause trouble." He said and then turned to his lackey, "You sure this can contain his energy?"

"I'm sure, he can break as many lightbulbs as he wants, he's not getting out of there." Said the man.

"Since you've never captured a soul this strong before, let's just be safe." Suit turned to the computer next to the tube and flicked a few switches. Before I knew what was happening a familiar pain ran through me. It was the same sound I heard just before I was caught. I tried covering my ears but it was no use. I felt the energy leave my body in a flash.

"Don't you worry, I'll turn the machine off once I need you again. We'll keep you in a low energy state until then." Suit said. "Sweet dreams."

There I was in the middle of the most important duel of my life. I was fighting for my chance to face Kaiba in one final battle, not to prove I was the best but to prove that I was a worthy advisory. I had trained tirelessly with Yugi for months and I knew I was ready. I only had to beat this final opponent.

"Draw your next card, loser." He called from his dueling platform across the stage. He was trying to bait me with insults. Everyone knew how to get the better of me but I trained more than just my dueling skills. I counted to ten in my head and my anger left me.

"Go Jounouchi!" I could hear my friends within the sea of voices and I felt energized. I remembered all the things I ever learned from Yugi and… Atem. I was ready. I drew my card and ended the game quickly.

The crowd went wild as I stared down at the cards in my hand in shock, I was down to two-hundred life points and the cards in my hand were not going to save me. It was the heart of the cards. I turned to the crowd and waved before turning my attention to the VIP box seats. I pointed at Kaiba. You're next.

I was due to duel Kaiba in a few hours so I had time to talk to meet my friends. It was nice to see them again, it had felt like ages, I wondered why because I had just seen them a few days ago. I shrugged off the feeling that something was off and met up with them at the food court.

"That was awesome, Jounouchi." Honda wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a tight, but manly, hug.

"I knew all your hard work would pay off." Anzu said. "HE would have been proud to see you." She said, it was getting easier for her to talk about Atem; that was good; I hated seeing her in that kind of pain… Loving someone you can never have…

At that thought I felt a sharp pain in my chest. What was that? No one seemed to notice but it was a very real and heavy pain.

"Now Kaiba has no choice but to acknowledge you." Yugi said.

"Kaiba." I said his name and the pain grew slightly. "This feels like the end or something. I've finally done it."

"Not an end. A new beginning." Honda said. "You won't be able to deny your feelings anymore."

That was a weird thing for him to say. "What?" I asked but he ignored me.

"This is your chance to have something people search for their whole lives." Yugi said.

"Love knows no distance or time." Anzu added.

"What are you guys talking about?" I said but they were gone and I found myself floating in darkness until a bright light flooded my vision. After my eyes adjusted I could see Kaiba's silhouette. "Kaiba?"

"You did it Jounouchi." He said as he readied his duel disk. "We won't be using an arena for this. This is between you and me." He said. "But first, do you have something to say to me?"

"I… do." I took a breath as I readied my duel disk as well. "I love you, Seto Kaiba." I said and it was surprisingly easy.

"Good. Let's duel." He said wearing a smile I had never seen before. "Prove to me that you are worthy of my heart."

"Don't you worry about that." I said before drawing a hand of cards. "This will be fun."

"Agreed."