MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, usually I feel a little queasy too when I think about how alike Seto and Gozaburo are in reality. It's kind of scary. I do think that Gozaburo is truly a blackened human being, kind of like Hitler or Sadaam Hussein. Just those kind of guys who were bad to the core, ya know? I think, when it comes down to it all, the major, major different between Seto and Gozaburo is the fact that Seto has a sense of honor and greater good that Gozaburo never seemed to have. Because when it comes down to it, Seto is a good human being. He just has a VERY hard time showing it. Actually a lot of what I'm saying right now will be coming up in this very chapter, so be excited!:) I laughed when you thought he was going into the Batcave or whatever, but then frowned when you said "Oh…" to Noah. Is Noah not exciting anymore? Hahaha. Oh, and Gozaburo doesn't care about Noah, I forgot to add this in to my last chapter even though I really should have; I wanted to put in at the beginning of my last chapter the word "Scapegoat" and put in it's definition too. Because basically Mokuba is a scapegoat that Gozaburo just wants to be able to pound. Don't ask why, I suppose it goes into the fact that he's just a Japanese Hitler. Anyway, I should probably end this now, but thanks for your review!

Princess7Strawberry: Oh, well I'm quite the quick updater, you'll soon find as you continue to read my story. I know I've been kinda lagging lately(5 days actually is a slow update for me, if you talk to any of my other reviewers, but I think I like having this much time to write up a chapter) but yeah, usually I'm a very fast writer! No prob, reviewers like you encourage me to write review replies! Actually, I remember the first time I started writing review replies(that's another thing you'll learn about me, sometimes I go off on short, random stories while writing replies) I was reading this awesome story and the writer would include review replies like I did(although the writer would only do it once and a while, not every chapter like I do) But I remember reading his short one line reply to me and feeling like the coolest kid in the world! So I started doing it myself because I thought, 'Well, my reviewers are cool and should feel cool too!' So that's why I do them:3 As for the rest of your review, I was also in a dark place when YGO first came out, and sometimes I feel it's the only thing that got me through those dark times. I think I actually posted once, it's deleted now, a poem just about how YGO saved me from pretty much everything. WOAH, this is getting long! Anyhow, I'm really glad you're liking the story and that you're digging my original back story as well. Thanks for your review and enjoy!:D

WhiteAsukalover: Oh no is correct! D: Thanks for the review!:p

KatrinaKaiba: Hahaha, okay, so I have to tell you; when I read the first part of your review, I was actually really scared that you were mad at me! I started thinking to myself, 'Oh crap Kari, now you've really done it! You've pissed a reviewer off, what the hell are you going to do? You thought it would never happen, but it did.' Random thoughts like that. Then my reaction was 'Phew' when I read the rest of it. I really thought you were mad at me, lol! Thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter!

Sonny131: If you thought that last chapter was good, wait until you sink your teeth into this one!:D Thanks for the review!

Lace Kyoko: Oh my gosh, I'm Seto Kaiba like that too! It's hard for me to cry as well, and if I do feel like crying… man, I just don't like it! Gozaburo is a failure McFailFail. But I better run soon so you can read the chapter. Thanks for the review!

QuidditchWorldChamp: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Thanks for your review!

AmePiper: Yay for Ame's reviews!!!:3 I loved them all! You have this godly ability to compact both constructive and complementary comments into such small reviews! Seriously, I felt all of those reviews were so fulfilling and awesome! I didn't feel that they were unhelpful at all! Now my review reply will also have to be small and compact considering how long so many of my others are that I feel I might not even get to the story. In that one review where you said "Broke Mokuba" I was just like "hahaha, it's like breaking a squeaky toy, you can never quite get it to squeak again once you break it" and it made me chuckle in a sketchy sadistic way… hahaha. And I should seriously consider keeping a record of how many times people call Gozaburo an asshole or a bastard, because it's starting to be a lot! Don't worry, I have THEE greatest epic death planned out for Gozaburo, don't you forget it;) And baby, if it was legal and if I was sober, I would marry your voice so fast you wouldn't even be able to say "Bloody hell, that's fast!" in your sexy ass voice;) And dang, was that line, 'Do I haunt you in your sleep?' really in chapter 6? Gosh, how forward;.; Hahaha, anyways, I'm sure my inbox is chalk full of all your other reviews and I can barely wait to see them! Thanks so much for all of your great reviews, I hope you don't hate me for updating again!:p

Warning: This chapter does tend to get a wee bit violent. Please keep away all small children, or simply children who resemble Mokuba in general. I don't think this chapter is too graphic, but it is a bit violent! Just a warning for all of you!

Ten

Running and running. That's all he could do. Putting one leg in front of the other in a fast motion had become an automatic process for Mokuba. He no longer had to think about it anymore. It was probably because the only thing he could really think about was the rather large, 45 year old man chasing closely behind him. Mokuba was almost positive that the man had the intention of killing him, which only made the young, 6 year old boy run faster. It was a miracle he hadn't been caught yet.

"GET BACK HERE!" Mokuba ran faster at the sound of Gozaburo's voice. It seemed his footsteps grew louder and louder by the minute. The old man was catching up to him. Gozaburo was going to catch him! Mokuba tried to make his body run faster, but it was no use. His body couldn't go faster. This was it. It was done. Mokuba found that his body had begun to grow tire as well, and his legs started to lose their strength. His body began to slow, and the end was near.

Mokuba looked up to see a slightly ajar door at the end of the hallway. And that was all Mokuba would need. Something told him if he could get through that doorway, make it to the other side, and close the door… he would be safe. He could be safe. It was a chance, only a chance. His body continued to decrease his speed as his legs grew more and more tired.

"ALMOST HAVE YOU!" Gozaburo declared. Mokuba looked up. He was almost there. He was almost… Mokuba's mind went blank. It was like the entire scene vanished from his vision and from his head. Mokuba no longer felt like he was running from anything anymore. Mokuba felt as though he were having one of those crystallizing moments where his whole life flashed before his eyes.

But oddly enough… all the flashbacks were about Seto. He thought about the orphanage… about the plans to make a theme park for orphans all around the world… the way his brother use to smile before they came to this place. A billion thoughts and images were flashing through Mokuba's head, and every single one of them was about Seto. Mokuba's older brother… his best friend. In a way Seto was his father. The only father Mokuba could really say he ever had.

Seto…

"GOTCHA!" Mokuba snapped back to reality, just as he tripped on his own two feet and fell to the ground. His face smacked against the floor, and his arm was twisted in an awkward direction. Mokuba yelled in agony from the pain in his arm. Mokuba's eyes opened… his head had landed in the middle of the doorway. He had almost made it. He almost made it. He heard the roaring footsteps again, and suddenly Gozaburo appeared hovering over him.

"You're a quick little bastard, aren't you? Well, not anymore." Gozaburo grabbed Mokuba firmly by the twisted arm. Mokuba yelped again with pain, only to receive a big slap to the face from Gozaburo. Mokuba could feel blood trickle down from his nose. "Oh Mokuba… did you really believe you were going to be able to out run me?" Mokuba was quiet, trying his best to muffle his own screams of agony considering how much pain he was suffering from Gozaburo holding him up by the arm.

"Did you??" Gozaburo yelled. Mokuba flinched as he did, he could feel tears wetting his eyes. Gozaburo thrust Mokuba up and twisted him around, throwing him against the wall. Mokuba yelled again. Gozaburo walked over to him and kicked him in the side. "You've been running on my last nerve, you know that? I was trying to be open minded, I was trying to be forgiving… but walking into MY basement where MY-" Gozaburo hesitated for a moment. Mokuba looked up at the man with curiosity. What had been down there?

Gozaburo must've had a third sense because when he looked down into Mokuba's eyes, it was like he was able to read Mokuba's very thoughts. The question Mokuba asked in his head seemed to anger Gozaburo so much that he kicked him in the stomach once more, but from a different angle.

"MY things… Look buddy, if I was you, I'd lay there, sit tight, and take what I'm about to give you. You were never meant to be adopted. You serve NO purpose in this company or what it stands for. As far as I'm concerned, you're WORTHLESS," Now Mokuba let his tears flow freely, but he wasn't sure if it was from Gozaburo's words of from the pain, "But if you take this… I might just give you another chance to prove your worth. After all, you mean nothing… so what is there to lose?"

"LEAVE him ALONE." And out of the darkness came a new light. Out of the corner of his eye, Mokuba knew exactly the one person who dared to defy Gozaburo's command. Mokuba couldn't believe it, but at least he knew exactly who had come to his rescue. Now all Mokuba could find himself wondering was what the consequences would be if he were to interfere…

"Excuse me?" Gozaburo turned around to see a small and noble ten year old standing on the other side of the hallway. He was tiny in size, but his eyes burned with a fire ready to cause all sorts of havoc. Seto Kaiba had been through with dealing with Gozaburo. This was it.

"I won't stand by and let you hurt my brother anymore. If you're that desperate for a good beating, why not beat on me?" Mokuba's head lifted up and looked over at his older brother, terrified. Didn't Seto know what he was getting himself into? The fact that he was defying Gozaburo guaranteed he would be getting a harsh beating already, but to challenge him like that? Mokuba had a feeling Gozaburo would take this opportunity to beat Seto down to a pulp.

Gozaburo turned around to face his step son, and began to laugh.

"YOU'RE telling ME to beat you up? Seto, I thought you were smarter than that." Seto's eyes were trying to focus on Gozaburo, but kept wandering back to Mokuba, whom still lay against the wall on the ground. Seto looked at his younger brother sternly and took a deep breath as Gozaburo inched closer to him.

"Mokuba, get out of here. Save yourself while you still can." Mokuba got up from the ground, but didn't plan on running.

"Nii-sama, no. I won't leave you alone with him. Let him hurt me and you run." Gozaburo froze and turned back towards Mokuba. It brought him such joy just hearing the argument between the two brothers. It would make the beating so much more enjoyable.

"I'm not going to argue with you, Mokuba. Get out of here."

"No way, I'm not going to leave you. You should run."

"Mokuba, I am you're older brother, now get out of here!" Mokuba was a little in shock to hear his brother yell at him with such a loud tone. Seto had never once yelled at Mokuba in his life. The desperate fear could be heard quivering in his yells. Seto was scared. Mokuba hadn't seen it before in his life, but his older brother was really scared. That was the cue that told him he had to leave, that it wasn't a fight worth sticking around for.

"Hold it right there," Gozaburo stated just as Mokuba was about to make a run for it. Gozaburo swung his leg around and smacked it right into Mokuba's leg. Mokuba froze up in the air just before falling to the ground in pain. Mokuba curled up into a fetal position, screaming in pain as he held his leg. "You wouldn't want to miss the show, would you?" Gozaburo asked to Mokuba.

"It'll be the first time Seto will truly learn what it means to lose to someone simply better than him." Seto growled in anger and began shouting.

"I WON'T LOSE." Seto jumped forward and latched his arms around his step father's neck from behind him. Gozaburo's body swayed a bit from surprise, but Gozaburo quickly regained control of the fight. Gozaburo locked his arms in place, just as he threw his back into the wall, crushing Seto's body that was stuck in the middle. Seto yelled in pain and let go of Gozaburo's neck. Gozaburo pulled away and let Seto slide to the ground.

"Rule number one for fighting an opponent, always take into account the person you're facing's strengths and weaknesses. In this case, I'm taller and stronger than you." Seto was back up on his feet, though, fuming with rage. The anger that was boiling inside was the only thing that kept him going as he ran in to strike Gozaburo once more. Gozaburo shook his head in shame, not at all fazed by Seto's charging attack. "That's rule number two, Seto."

Seto dove forward to hit Gozaburo in the chest head on, but was greeted with Gozaburo's fist in his own stomach. The punch hurt even more than the last time Gozaburo had struck him there, Seto could feel trickles of saliva mixed with blood trickle down the sides of his mouth. Seto remained frozen in his pained position, Gozaburo's punch still locked into Seto's stomach. "The second rule being, never attack an opponent out of rage. If you get angry in a fight, you're more likely to make an obvious mistake and have your own attack turned against you."

Gozaburo pulled back his fist and let Seto drop into his arms. Seto's entire body was paralyzed; his brain couldn't seem to force his limbs to move. Gozaburo held the limp body by the shoulders, with his feet dangling onto the ground. Mokuba was still in massive pain, but had been watching the fight… in horror. But now, it seemed, it was all over and that Gozaburo had ended the fight for himself. Mokuba was just glad it was all over.

Gozaburo bent forward and whispered into Seto's ear, "This will be your final lesson when it comes to fighting; expect no mercy from the victor if you should lose in any sort of fight." Gozaburo switched from holding Seto's shoulders to holding both side of Seto's skull before bashing his knee right in the boy's face. Just as Seto was coming back from his second blow to the stomach, his face was greeted with Gozaburo's knee, and his body thrown against the wall, along side the same mess that was his second brother.

Gozaburo didn't seem to tire at all from the fight, calmly straightened his tie and suit. He glanced down at the two mangled boys that were leaning against the wall. Mokuba had moved over to where his brother was, hovering over him with tears down his face, asking Seto if he was okay. Gozaburo didn't say anything more, and left them alone in the hallway. Mokuba stared at his brother, softly shaking him to see if he would awaken.

"Nii… sama…" Mokuba choked out between sobs, "Nii-sama… please…" Mokuba buried his head in his brother's sleeve, "Don't be dead… don't be dead…" Mokuba continue to whisper what he thought were hopeless wishes to his older brother as he lay passed out on the floor. But after a couple moments, Seto's eyes finally fluttered open. His vision was blurry at first, but he sat up.

"OW!" Seto yelled, when he had first sat up. His body was in massive pain, especially his skull and stomach. Seto wasn't sure which hurt more. Seto felt his forward, his wound immediately stung with pain when he had. It was already beginning to swell. Seto looked at his shaking hands, before turning towards his tear-stained brother. "You… okay?" Seto asked, out of breath. Mokuba began sobbing even more, hiding his face in his brother's sleeve again.

"How can you ask something like that when Gozaburo did such terrible things to you?" Mokuba choked out. Seto let the boy cry for a while, using his right hand to gently pet his brother's arm in comfort. "I'm scared Nii-sama… I'm so scared… If he keeps doing this to you, I'm scared you might…" Mokuba sobbed so more, as he realized he was at a loss of words. Seto knew exactly what he was insinuating though, and Seto could understand his brother's fear.

"We have to keep fighting, Mokuba… that's all we can do now. I got us into this mess, and… I'm sorry for that, but… now that we are, we simply can't runaway. We can't continue living our life by hiding away from our problems; we must face them head on to win every battle." Mokuba understood that his brother had always been just as determined as he was stubborn, but he couldn't help but wonder if his brother realized this situation was so much different than anything else they had ever faced.

Didn't Seto realize what Gozaburo was doing to him?

"Nii-sama, I just don't see why we can't runaway just this once…" Mokuba pleased in despair, "This is too much, and we shouldn't live like this." Seto turned his head towards Mokuba, and despite the horrid condition his entire face was in, Seto's wounds didn't distract Mokuba from looking directly into his eyes for the first time in a long time. His eye color had changed from the bright blue that they use to be.

Seto's eyes use to remind Mokuba of the roaring waves of an ocean on a beautiful, hot summer's day. But his eyes were, instead, a darker, icy color. As if winter had comes and frozen over the entire ocean, completely changing it from what it was or used to be. It frightened and confused Mokuba.

"I'll tell you why, Mokuba. Because life is a game and if you're not in it to win it, then you might as well pack up and go home." Mokuba's heart seemed to stop the moment he had heard those words come out of his mouth. He had… heard that phrase from somewhere, from someone. Mokuba had an idea of who it might be, but… he didn't want to say it. It scared Mokuba to even believe it.

The brothers said nothing to each other, and continued to sit against the wall in the hallway until their strength had returned to help them to get up. But Mokuba's mind would keep going back into circles about his brother's transformation, about what he was becoming. The reason Seto didn't want to runaway was because he couldn't runaway. All the pieces were falling into place and pointing towards the fact that Seto was turning into the very man he despised.

He was starting to become Gozaburo.

A/N; Uh oh, spaghetti-o's! Okay, WOW, that comment really didn't flow with the sentence I just left right there. But man oh man, wasn't that INTENSE?! That was crazy! I have been working on this chapter for a while now, and it seems like it really came together well! At the same time, it was slightly frightening. Oh, and I hope this chapter wasn't TOO graphic for any of you guys. I didn't think it was since it only took two blows to knock Seto to the ground, but still, you never know who has a weak stomach out there! Anyways, so next chapter we should be moving a bit more forward in time, possibly a year or so, so watch out for that. I think I'll mention it at the beginning of the chapter to let you know, but I felt this was a good place to sort of jump forward in time a bit to some later years in the Kaiba Mansion. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked the chapter!

P.S: I always write a P.S… I wonder when I'll just be satisfied with the note I write. Anyhow, so I was quickly skimming my chapter and I came across when Gozaburo said "GOTCHA!" and immediately thought of Gozaburo dressed up as Ash and Mokuba dressed up to look like Pikachu! It was both frightening and adorable at the same time!:3 Sorry, that was random.