Hey guys! My computer was being a pain and deleted my work, so I had to do this whole dang thing all over. Luckily, it's one of my favorites, so it'll be enjoyable to write, especially since it's a duel between Atem and Seto. Now, this duel is not gonna be like the manga or the anime. You're gonna find out real quick! There is also a littlekuriboh joke, I just had to put on there lol. This duel is also using the Prototype duel disk in expert mode, so the rules are weird. Review please!
Pegasus was smiling in amusement after watching Yugi and Joey tag-team duel with the Paradox Brothers. Not only did they escape the labyrinth, like Pegasus had planned, but Yugi had figured out the trick behind the two doors. Who would've thought Yugi could be such a conman? Now him and Joey had gathered 10 star chips and were headed toward Pegasus' castle.
There was still Seto to worry about. Apparently he stuck around with the group to help out Atem from the gunshot wound until last night. Seto was more than likely on his way toward the castle. Unfortunately, Pegasus never received any details on Seto's whereabouts from last night, except that he was probably at the castle by now. There was also a big commotion last night.
Bandit Keith was only a slight problem. For one, he came to the tournament illegally and earned his star chips by stealing them from three likely boys. Pegasus would've normally disqualified him by now, but he wasn't the first one to enter illegally. Joey Wheeler also entered, seeing that he never signed up or paid for the trip in the first place. He was just given two star chips and earned his way from there with Weevil's duel glove, also given to Joey. Pegasus found it amusing for Bandit Keith to enter into the final four, especially since he had a score to settle.
While sipping his wine, Pegasus heard running footsteps by three of his employers. He turned his chair and faced them with a questionable look.
"Mr. Pegasus... it's Mr. Kaiba, he... has one of your employers hostage," one of the employers said while panting.
"Oh my. I suppose that should be expected. Tell me, how did Kaiba-boy get a hold of one of my employers?" Pegasus asked curiously, seemingly amused.
"He came by last night, sir," the second employer replied.
"He asked to enter into the castle to see you, but you were asleep. He knocked one of our guards down and held a gun to his head. Mr. Kaiba's in the guest room, right now, with the hostage," the first employer explained.
"Very well, I'll contact him right away," Pegasus agreed with a dark chuckle.
Meanwhile, in the guest room, Seto was sitting on a comfy chair, having one of Pegasus' guards' head stuck inside the brief case, and using it as a footstool. Seto was waiting for Pegasus to arrive, since one of his workers was held hostage. Seto had to show a smirk at the thought, the last time he held a hostage was Death-T. He had Solomon Moto as his hostage, since he wasn't very happy about what Seto was planning for the tournament. The funny thing was, originally, Death-T was created for him and Atem to have a more challenging game, then they grew too close.
The guard was struggling with his head inside the briefcase and sweat pouring down his face. It was a good thing that Seto removed his cards before sticking the guy's head in there. Now, if there was blood to be spilled, Seto didn't have to ruin his cards. A screen popped up beside Seto, which showed a picture of Pegasus.
"Kaiba-boy, you disappoint me, holding one of my best employers hostage," Pegasus said mockingly.
"Enough of your bullshit, Pegasus! I demand you return Mokuba immediately or you'll have one less employer working for you," Seto threatened as Pegasus chuckled in amusement.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus shrugged with his usual smile. "You see, the key is still in his large intestine."
"ENOUGH! YOU'RE NOT TAKING CONTROL OF MY COMPANY AND YOU'RE CURTAINLY NOT PLUNGING THAT DAMN KEY OUT OF HIS ASS!"
"I'm afraid you won't have much of a choice, Kaiba-boy. Your company's close to going out of business, your employers have turned against you, and your brother's in a bit of a pickle. I can put your company out of bankruptcy and I can have my virtual hologram dueling system."
"After kidnapping, forcefully buying my company, let alone Atem entering this tournament?"
"Hm, I can see your frustration, but I need that holographic simulator for something extremely important, which is confiscated information."
"You're not getting my company and you will return Mokuba!" Seto threatened, seething through his teeth.
"I suppose we can't agree then. Tell you what, how about a duel? If you win, I will bring back Mokuba-boy and cancel the tournament. Problem solved," Pegasus bargained with a huge smile.
"And if you win?"
"Then nothing changes. Well, almost nothing," Pegasus smirked as he showed a duel monster card. Seto raised his eyebrows, then turned pale when he saw the picture on the other side. It was Mokuba! "That's what happens to anyone who loses a shadow game against me. Mokuba-boy was trying to save Atem-boy. Cute, isn't it?"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU SEALED MY BROTHER'S SOUL IN YOUR DAMN CARD?" Seto yelled in anger.
"The same will go for you, if you lose and, you know, I never lose," Pegasus smirked as Seto glared deeply. "There's also one more thing you must do before you duel me." Seto kept his deepened glare. "You must duel and defeat Atem in a duel."
Seto raised his eyebrows, before laughing mockingly, saying, "That's it? I was thinking of defeating him after dealing with you and your assholes, but if you want me to duel him that bad..."
"Ah, but you also must win as well. If you don't, well... I just might save this blank card for my duel against the winner of this tournament," Pegasus smirked as Seto showed a glare.
"I don't f***ing care what you use that card for, because I will defeat you!"
"I clearly doubt it, Kaiba-boy. After all, you do share his name on your left hand," Pegasus pointed out as Seto clasped over his left hand, covering Atem's name. "I'm guessing that was an effect from a mind crush. I've heard those can be very effective, especially if the pieces aren't placed together. Those names reflect the pieces to your heart, Kaiba-boy. It's just too bad you never gained that piece from Atem-boy."
"ENOUGH! I'LL DUEL ATEM, BEAT HIM, THEN YOU'LL SEE ME IN YOUR F***ING CASTLE KICKING YOU F***ING ASS FOR MESSING WITH MOKUBA AND KIABA CORPERATION!" Seto promised in anger.
"Don't forget to bring 10 star chips," Pegasus reminded as Seto showed a handful of ten star chips.
"Got 'em while your pesky Player Killers tried for force me in a duel. He's probably on the side of a cliff by now," Seto smirked.
"SPLENDID! At least my employers did some good, right?"
"Kiss my ass, Pegasus," Seto replied before releasing his foot from the guard as soon as the TV turned blank.
"Th... Thank you, thank you," the guard thanked happily.
"Just get out!" Seto shouted as the guard ran out of the room.
Seto packed all his duel monster cards back into his brief case. After that, he walked out of the guest room and right outside the castle. He stared at his left hand that showed Atem's name written.
"Pieces to my heart, bullshit!" Seto muttered before looking down the stairs below the staircase to the castle.
Seto knew he had to stop Pegasus from taking control of Kaiba Corp. and the only way was to duel him and win, despite him having the ability to read peoples' minds. Hopefully, with this technology of the prototype duel disk, Seto just might be able to prevent Pegasus from reading his mind. Not only was it made to where the hand cards were to be placed inside the duel disk, but they appeared in holograms, if one was given the option to. There was also a possibility that the distance would be away from Pegasus' mind-reading rang. This was perfect for preventing Pegasus' mind reading abilities. It was also the only way to save the company from Pegasus' control.
Seto remembered when he first gained control of Kaiba Corp. from Gozoburro Kaiba. Seto remembered the abuse and torture he had to put up with, because of Gozoburro. He was very cruel, and used the same tactics on Mokuba. The boys were molested and tortured till their breaking point. Seto never regretted taking control of Kaiba Corp. He saved himself and Mokuba from the cruelties of their step father. That was how they both learned to run a company. That was how Seto learned to never trust anyone, not even make friends. They would only be in the way of making the company successful. This was something not even Atem would understand.
Atem wasn't trained to run a company. He went through torture, but ones that were done by making wrong choices. The only abuse that wasn't his choice, was made from Joey's drunkard father. Atem once told Seto, while they were playing at the Game Shop, of the torture he went through with Joey's drunkard father. The times he was raped and beaten, along with Joey. Their innocents were gone from there. Seto thought it was funny how Atem was open enough to tell something so personal. Then again, he also told Atem a few personal stuff he never even told his employers.
Seto then noticed he was smiling while thinking this. How long has it been since the last time he smiled? Seto swore he could kill puppies with his smile. He never really truly smiled until he met Atem. He was the only one who could make Seto more happy than he's ever been, every time they played. He was hoping that when dueling and beating Atem, maybe he could feel that happiness again. Then, Seto remembered that this happiness he felt was the very thing he caught as a weakness, a soft spot he found for Atem. He wondered if it was the reason Atem called them friends.
At the bottom of the steps, Seto caught a group of friends running up the staircase. They froze in place when they saw Seto on the very top. Atem ran from the group and stood in front of Seto.
"Seto," Atem muttered.
"What the hell do you want, Rich Boy?" Joey asked demandingly. "Let us through?"
"Surprised someone like you could get this far, Wheeler," Seto mocked as Joey's head boiled.
"WHY I OUGHTA..."
"Joey, calm down," Atem warned as Hanaski and Tristan held Joey back. Atem turned his head to face his friend. "Did you see Pegasus?"
"Yes, he says the only way I can save my brother is to defeat him in a duel, but to do that, I have to duel and defeat you," Seto explained as Atem gave a smirk.
"So, one of us has to go against Pegasus. Very well, I accept," Atem accepted.
"NO WAY, ATEM! You've already got ten star chips! You can't just risk them!" Joey glared.
"It's fine, Joey. Both Seto and I have a plan to stop Pegasus and rescue Mokuba. One of us has to go first and maybe dueling will settle that," Atem said with a gaming smirk.
"Very well," Seto smirked before turning to the right. "Follow me."
Everyone followed Seto to the right porch of the castle. Him and Atem stood across from each other, each on the edge of the castle where the forest was shown below. Seto threw Atem a duel disk prototype he made to use against Pegasus. Atem placed the glove part of the duel disk into his left hand.
"You already know how it works. I'll be playing this in expert mode for our duel," Seto explained as Atem smirked widely. They both took their disk and placed their monster card inside the disk part of the Duel Disk before throwing it. Atem played Curse of Dragon while Seto played Ryu-Kishin Powered. Automatically, holographic cards appeared in front of Atem and Seto, including their monsters. Atem gasped at this. "I think you discovered my other features to this new technology. I'll go first, so my Ryu-Kishin attacks that card!" Ryu-Kishin beamed at one of Atem's cards, which was Fernal Imp. Atem's life points stooped to 1700. Atem gasped at this. "In this mode, you can have your monsters attack your opponent's cards as if they were monsters in attack mode. Of course, that also has a higher risk of dying, but my instincts told me you had a weak monster."
"Then I believe it's my turn," Atem smirked. He was getting pumped up in his battle. "My Curse of Dragon attacks your Ryu-Kishin!" Curse of Dragon blasted huge fireballs at Ryu-Kishin, leaving Seto with 1600 life points. His monster card flicked off the duel disk before Seto drew a new card and reeled his duel disk to his hand.
"Now, I summon Swordstalker!" Seto declared as he threw the duel disk and Swordstalker appeared. "I use Swordstalker's special ability to absorb the attack points from his fallen comrades!"
"SHIT!" Joey responded as Swordstalker's attack points changed to 2400 and attacked Curse of Dragon.
"Not so fast!" Atem smirked as his holographic cards turned and showed the card Shift. "I use Shift to replace Curse of Dragon with a stronger monster, Dark Magician!" Curse of Dragon disappeared and Dark Magician appeared in its place. "Now, he can attack your Swordstalker!" Dark Magician attacked Swordstalker and it was destroyed, leaving Seto with 1500 life points.
Seto showed a smirking smile and said, "You know, I almost forgot how fun it is playing against you."
"Same here," Atem agreed as Seto drew a new card.
Seto reeled in his duel disk and declared, "I summon La Jinn the Genie of the Lamp in defense mode! Your turn!"
Atem drew a new card and declared, "Dark Magician, attack the Genie!"
"TRAP! ANCIENT LAMP!" Seto said, activating the trap card from his holographic cards. Ancient Lamp hid La Jinn the Genie of the Lamp as Dark Magician's attack hit the lamp and backfired at one of Atem's cards. "This hides my Genie and repels your attacks back at you!" Atem's life points were now 1200.
"Atem, are you okay?" Joey asked worriedly as Atem lifted his head up and laughed like a little kid.
"Okay? I feel GREAT! I'm having a blast!" Atem replied happily.
"Now, I can see why Atem likes Seto so much," Ryan smirked as everyone eyed their white-haired friend.
"What do you mean?" Hanaski asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Seto is Atem's match at his level of dueling, like Mai is with Joey. A win can go for either of them. You can say that neither of them are stronger than the other. Seto, to Atem, is a real challenging player. The type that makes him want to play harder than he's ever played before. Both of them are pushing themselves to their limits, making each of them stronger the more they play," Ryan explained as everyone raised their eyebrows at the two rivals.
"My Genie returns from the lamp and since it's no match for your Dark Magician, I'll attack one of your cards!" Seto declared as La Jinn the Genie of the Lamp attacked Atem's Swords of Revealing Light. "Then, I shuffle my Ancient Lamp into my cards!" Ancient Lamp's holographic card turned around to face Seto before shuffling into the cards that faced him. "Pick a card, any card."
"Damn, how is Atem gonna beat that combo?" Tristan asked while rubbing his chin.
"He'll figure out something," Hanaski said with furrowed eyebrows.
"My turn!" Atem declared before drawing his next two cards. "It's time I finished that combo by playing my spell card, Eye of Truth!" Atem's holographic card turned as Seto gasped while watching his cards turning to face his opponent. Atem gasped as soon as he saw Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "SHIT!"
"Blue-Eyes? Holy f***!" Joey responded.
"But why hasn't that ass played that mother f***er yet?" Ryan wondered with furrowed eyebrows.
"He's up to something, I just know it. That's his soul card!" Joey said while furrowing his eyebrows.
"I play Mystic Box!" Atem declared as one box appeared with Ancient Lamp and another with Dark Magician. The box that held Dark Magician stabbed swords all around it and opened to reveal Ancient Lamp all skewered. The other box, that originally had Ancient Lamp, revealed Dark Magician. "Now, your Ancient Lamp is history!" Dark Magician smirked at Seto before sticking its tongue at him. The CEO President shook his fists in frustration.
"I think he knows you," a mysterious voice of a young woman said. Seto rose two eyebrows wondering how Dark Magician would know him besides him being Atem's soul card.
"Dark Magician, do your stuff!" Atem smirked as Dark Magician waved his wand and destroyed La Jinn the Genie of the Lamp, leaving Seto with 800 life points. "I'll put your life points to 0 before you start fusing three Blue-Eyes!"
"We'll see. Don't underestimate me, Atem. I may've been out of it in Death-T, but not this duel. I am perfectly stabled," Seto smirked before reeling his duel disk into his hand and drawing. He placed a card on the disk before throwing it back. "I SUMMON SAGGI THE DARK CLOWN IN DEFENSE MODE!"
Saggie appeared in its defensive position. For some reason, Atem felt there was something wrong about this picture, even Yugi could feel it. Atem drew his next two cards. They were a good draw and he showed it with a smirk up his lips.
"I summon Gaia the Fierce Knight!" Atem declared as Gaia the Fierce Knight appeared boldly on a horse. "GAIA, DESTROY THAT CLOWN!" Gaia the Fierce Knight galloped along and destroyed Saggi the Dark Clown. As soon as it was destroyed, little pixels of mist flew into Atem's deck, leaving Atem a gasp.
"GOT CHA!" Seto smirked as Atem watched Gaia the Fierce Knight disappear, including Dark Magician. "By destroying Saggi, you activated my Crush Card. This makes it to where all your monsters with attack points of 1500 or higher are destroyed."
"SHIT!" Atem responded as Seto laughed maniacally.
"NOW YOUR DECK IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED!" Seto smirked devilishly.
"DAMN! HOW IS ATEM SUPPOSED TO FIGHT WITH LOW LEVEL MONSTERS?" Tristan asked in frustration.
"He'll think of something," Joey promised with folded arms. He cupped his mouth. "COM'N ATEM, BEAT THIS CHUM!"
"I will!" Atem promised before drawing two more cards. One of his monsters was Summoned Skull, which he automatically sent to the graveyard. "I play Silver Fang in defense mode!"
"It's useless, Atem! You can't defeat me with low level monsters!" Seto smirked as he drew his next two cards and reeled in the duel disk. A huge smirk appeared on his lips. "I summon Battle Ox! Battle Ox, destroy Silver Fang!" Battle Ox charged up to Silver Fang and sliced it in half before it disappeared from the field.
Atem peered at his hand in front of him. Non of them were the cards he needed to take on Battle Ox, let alone Blue-Eyes White Dragon. There had to be a way to beat Blue-Eyes White Dragon, especially if Seto was planning on fusing his three monsters together. Atem wasn't planning on giving up that easy. He drew his next two cards and came up with a strategy.
"I place Griffor in attack mode!" Atem declared as Seto raised two eyebrows at the monster. "I also equip my monster with Horn of the Unicorn to give my monster a little boost." Griffor's attack points were now 1900. "Griffor, attack Battle Ox!" Griffor shot fireballs and destroyed Battle Ox, leaving Seto with 600 life points left.
"Way da go, Atem!" Joey cheered as Seto chuckled darkly.
"So, you defeated my Battle Ox. I almost wanna thank you for it," Seto smirked as Joey's head boiled.
"UGH! DOES THIS ASS EVER SHUT UP?" Joey complained.
"Before I draw, I'll play this spell card Gift of the Mystical Elf, which gives me some life points that I just lost," Seto smirked as his life points raised to 900. He drew two new cards and his smirk widened, then turned into a laughter. "Now! It's time for you to face defeat!" He reeled his duel disk and placed a Blue-Eyes White Dragons before throwing the disk back. "I SUMMON FORTH BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!" Blue-Eyes White Dragon emerged before shooting lightning balls at Atem's Griffor and leaving Atem with 100 life points.
"I'll place Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode," Atem declared with narrowed eyes.
"It's time I showed you the fate of defeat!" Seto smirked as he showed his cards Polymerization and two Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Atem gasped as the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons merged together and created a huge white dragon with three heads. "BEHOLD, MY BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!" Everyone awed in amazement at the dragon. Seto laughed maniacally in excitement. "What do you think? Isn't she beautiful? My ultimate dragon, my Kisara."
"What, do you have a dragon fetish?" Atem asked in a teasing matter as Seto glared in annoyance.
"NO! I swear you're so annoying!"
"Oops, did I touch a nerve? Maybe you should run home and cry to mommy. Oh, that's right, you don't have one," Atem smirked while pointing at Seto as his head started boiling.
"I swear, if you act like a pestilent child, I'll..."
"LOOK AT ME, I'M SETO KAIBA! I HAVE A DRAGON FETISH AND CAN'T HANDLE HAVING FRIENDS BECAUSE I'M SUCH A BITCH! SCREW THE RULES, I JUST F***ED A DRAGON!"
"THAT'S IT, MOTO! YOU'RE F***ING DEAD!" Seto yelled angrily. He turned his head toward his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "ATTACK HIS CARD!" Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon burst lightning balls at one of Atem's cards, which luckily was a spell card. "A stupid spell card. Aw well, it doesn't matter. I won't lose."
"Com'n Atem! Hang on there!" Tea cheered as the smoke from the blast disappeared. Atem looked up with a huge smirk.
"He's still goin'!" Hanaski said excitedly.
"Of course! When I duel Seto, I always want him to get at it at his ultimate strength!" Atem smirked excitedly.
"Same here! Let's see which one of us will survive this duel!" Seto said with energy in both duelists' blood.
Atem drew his next two cards and declared, "I'll add two more cards and end my turn!"
"Then I'll destroy your stone man!" Seto smirked as Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon blasted lightning balls at Giant Soldier of Stone and it blew to dust. Atem as Seto kept laughing. "There's no card in your deck that can defeat my ultimate Blue-Eyes!" Yet, Atem kept his smirking face. He wasn't willing to give up and in reality, he was having a blast of his life. Seto could feel the strong energy inside Atem as he drew his next card.
Atem peered at his card and a smirk appeared on his face. He giggled, "Seto, I just drew the ultimate card that will not only help take down your Blue-Eyes, but also be your worst nightmare. Also, I'm going to enjoy this sooooo much." Atem reeled his duel disk in and put the monster card in the slot before throwing it on the field. A small fur ball little monster appeared on the field. "I PLAY KURIBOH IN ATTACK MODE!"
"WHAT THE F***?" Joey responded as Atem showed a wide smirk.
"WHAT THE HELL, ATEM? IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE?" Seto asked infuriated as Atem laughed mockingly.
"What if I told you that this monster could beat your Blue-Eyes?" Atem asked smirkingly. "Though, let me warn ya, size isn't everything and neither is this monster. Yugi chose it for my deck, which he found in the garbage. Though, many people underestimate its powers. I hope you're not the first one."
"But that puny thing has 300 attack points!"
"So? Here, how about this to show ya what I mean?" Atem smirked as he revealed his spell card Multiply. "Multiply duplicates monsters with 500 points or less." Kuriboh split into two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, then many more until there was a huge wall of Kuribohs. Everyone was turning bug-eyed, even Seto. "Even though it has a low attack strength, it has a special power that can overwhelm strong monsters like yours."
"NONSENSE!" Seto yelled. "BLUE-EYES, ATTACK THOSE PATHETIC MONSTERS!" Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon shot a huge blast at the wall of Kuribohs as Atem kept his devilish smirk. The Kuribohs kept multiplying and his life points weren't touched. Seto's eyes widened. "WHAT THE HELL?"
"They explode at touch. Like mines. I tried to warn ya, but your pride got in the way," Atem shrugged casually as Seto shook his fists.
"YOU F***ING SON OF A BITCH!" Seto snapped as Atem stuck his tongue out and shot raspberries. "You mother f***er!"
"Your Blue-Eyes can't destroy me! It's beaten by a monster! That's a level wa-on!" Atem sang with the "Nannie, Nannie, Boo" tune. All of his friends gawked up laughing.
"Oh f***! This must be f***ing humiliating, even for you, Kaiba," Ryan mocked in laughter.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Seto yelled in humiliation and frustration. "This is what I hate about you, Atem! That smirking smile and acting like some immature freak!"
"You're only saying that, because I just f***ed you up," Atem smirked before it grew wider. "Now, to f*** your dragon up." Seto gasped as three cards showed up on Atem's holographic cards. They were Living Arrow, Polymerization, and Mammoth Graveyard. "Since you like fusing monsters, I decided to give you a taste of your own medicine. I'm fusing Mammoth Graveyard with the Living Arrow card using Polymerization. With that, I can also stick Mammoth Graveyard with your dragon girlfriend." Mammoth Graveyard merged with Living Arrow before slamming right through Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon like clay. "The issue comes in with the mixture of yin and yang. They don't always go together like Yugi and I do. In other words, for every turn, your girlfriend loses 1200 attack."
"ALRIGHT! NICE GOIN' ATEM!" Joey cheered.
"Yeah, look, Kaiba looks more f***ed up than than my brother's evil spirit," Ryan mocked, pointing at Seto Kaiba, who was melting like a snowman.
"I'M NOT DONE YET!" Seto glared. "ATTACK, ULTIMATE DRAGON!" Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon attacked the wall of Kuribohs, but they kept multiplying, once again. Atem smirked while giggling in pity.
"Your little blasts can't do squat for you, Seto," Atem smirked. He drew another card. "I draw one card and end my turn."
Seto watched blankly as he felt the sting of not only, one, but two of his hands. He watched in horror of his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon slowly dissolving and melting from Mammoth Graveyard being stuck to the monster. Seto knew if he lost, he would lose more than the company. Inside the melting dragon, he saw his brother Mokuba inside there.
"Seto! B... Brother... helulululp!" The Mokuba illusion cried from inside the melting dragon.
Seto felt himself tremble as he stared at his hands before glancing up at Atem. And illusion of Pegasus appeared behind Atem, two hands on each shoulder. Seto stared blankly at this illusion as Pegasus laughed in mockery.
"If you don't win, I might just save this blank card for the winner of the tournament," the Illusion Pegasus smirked before laughing evilly.
"SETOOOO!" Seto heard the voice and saw in the melting dragon of not just Mokuba, but Atem as well. His soft side for Atem was worse than he thought.
"Helulululp uuuuuussss!" Mokuba screamed before both of them drowned into the dragon.
'I can't lose!' Seto thought to himself. He knew he couldn't. It didn't matter if Atem was truly his friend or not and if he was, Seto knew well that Atem was the only friend he had. 'I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES! This is not about just my company anymore!' If Seto had not learned to control his emotions from the inside, he would be in bitter tears right now. He couldn't show his true feelings during this desperate situation.
Atem noticed something odd in Seto. He seemed... lost. It was as if he was about to lose something precious to him. Something was on his mind, something big. Atem remembered when Seto challenged him how he mentioned that he had to win to save Mokuba. Still, Atem was planning on saving him too, wherever he was. Him and Seto were just dueling to see who would be facing Pegasus and save Mokuba... right? Was there more?
"Seto, are you okay? You look pale!" Atem asked in concern. Seto lifted his head and narrowed his eyes.
"I'm fine, just continue already!" Seto lied, holding his emotions in.
"Then I'll banish my Kuribohs and place out Celtic Guardian!" Atem declared as Obnoxious Celtic Guardian appeared boldly. "ATTACK ULTIMATE DRAGON!" Obnoxious Celtic Guardian charged toward the melting dragon and cut off one of its heads. Seto was left with only 400 life points left.
Seto showed a face that held no emotion as if he was an emo kid. He looked behind him, counting the number of stone squares. He stepped on top of a curtain square, which made Atem turn cock-eyed. What in the world was Seto trying to do? Atem had a bad feeling that the fun was now over. Something was going on!
"I lost 500 points from that attack," Seto said, with a voice that showed no emotion. It was empty and cold. "There are five steps before I fall off this castle." Atem's eyebrows rose, realizing the outcome that was about to take place. "Every 100 life points I lose, I take one step backwards. I just lost 500 life points." Seto stepped back five steps and was at the edge of the castle. "I have nothing more to lose. I lost my brother and my company. After this, I'll lose everything, unless I defeat Pegasus. If you hit me again, I'll step back one more step, and then die."
"SETO, STOP F***ING WITH ME!" Atem yelled infuriated. "IS WINNING AND DUELING PEGASUS REALLY THAT IMPORTANT TO GIVE UP YOUR LIFE? YOU KNOW I'M GOING AFTER MOKUBA TOO!"
"YOU CAN'T WIN AGAINST PEGASUS, ATEM! HE'S UNSTOPPABLE! ONLY I CAN WIN AGAINST HIM!"
"I WILL WIN, SETO!" Atem promised, his fist shaking. "JUST TRUST ME!"
"Atem, you want the right to duel Pegasus?" Seto asked coldly. "THEN TAKE OUT MY LIFE! You shouldn't waste your time caring about people's lives, that's why I don't have them!" Atem furrowed his eyebrows. "If that were me, I'd push you off right the edge." That was a lie! Seto had to ignore the intense sting on his left hand while drawing his next card. "I PLAY MONSTER REBORN TO RESERECT THE BLUE-EYES YOU DESTROYED!" A head of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon appeared in between the melting dragon. Though, this head wasn't melting. "SLIT MY THROAT WITH YOUR CARDS!"
Atem glared at Seto coldly. Atem felt hurt and betrayed. He slapped his hand on his deck to surrender the duel. Even though he was an ass, he wasn't a murderer. Especially not toward one that was acting suicidal. He said, "game over, you win, Kaiba." This was the first time, Atem called Seto by his last name. The holograms disappeared and Atem shoved the duel disk glove out of his hand and threw it back to Seto roughly. Atem walked toward his friends.
"Listen, forget about that ass," Joey encouraged.
"One more thing!" Seto said, but Atem kept walking, ignoring his rival. Seto knew right away that Atem was infuriated with him for this act. Before Atem could move any farther, he felt the back of his jacket being pulled and was knocked over to the ground. Seto grabbed Atem's star chip glove and pressed a button that removed the star chips from the glove. When they clanged onto the floor of the castle, Seto grabbed a handful and threw them over the castle before Joey could stop him.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU..." Joey shouted in anger as he charged in to sock Seto in the throat, but his fist was grabbed and he felt himself being thrown down onto the ground. Seto smirked with a dark chuckle.
"Work on your fighting skills, Wheeler," Seto smirked. Atem picked up his three remaining star chips.
"Kaiba," Atem muttered as Seto turned his head. "I'll NEVER forgive you."
Seto felt that sting in his left arm again. He hurt Atem and he knew it, but it was worth it right? Atem's life was in danger and Pegasus would've trapped his soul anyway. So... why did Seto feel... hurt as well? He walked quickly toward the door and opened it, using the ten star chips he stole from the Player Killer. Seto was met with one of Pegasus' employers.
"Mr. Pegasus is ready to duel. He's giving you until sunset to set up your deck," the employer said.
"Let me use a restroom," Seto demanded as the employer showed him to the men's room. Seto went inside and locked the door. As soon as the door was locked, he punched his fist against the mirror, hearing the crashing sound of the shards. Some of the pieces falling into the sink, but the mirror showed huge hole of cracks the size of a fist.
Seto fell on his knees and stared at the bleeding marks on his fist. What had he done? Seto found himself asking himself this for no reason at all. His vision was also getting blurry and he felt some water on his face. Seto used his free hand to wash it off while trying to find out where that water came from. Then, the answer was clear when he looked at himself in the mirror that was not broken. That drop of water made a line from his eye. Was he... crying? Seto grabbed the outside part of his eyes, feeling the sharp pains of his fingernails, but he didn't care. He couldn't take this pain anymore! It was too unbearable.
Seto had to admit it to himself. He lost his pride in that duel! That's why Atem was angry at Seto. He lost his pride and played with his rival's... no, the only friend he had, he played with his emotions. Seto was meant to find weakness within Atem, but instead found weakness within himself. The ultimate weakness wasn't Seto's soft side for Atem, no. The ultimate weakness was his fears. The fear of losing the game... Mokuba... and Atem.
No words could be said.
Flightfoot: Or Panik at least. He was a bit on the extreme side. At least the Paradox Brothers were more fair. Though still, they did try to trap the kids in a cave and tried to con play them. Still, I wouldn't have minded that and Atem doesn't have that big of a problem with that.