MythCreatorWriter: OH THANK GOD, there are only two reviews for this chapter. Awesome… that means I can sleep sooner(lol, I feel like I literally JUST talk to you! It's so weird writing this reply now because usually I'm replying to a comment you made a couple weeks ago but now it feels all new! But that could be the lack of sleep kicking in right now, hahaha) And I just killed a bug too(NOT THAT I STALK YOUR TWITTER OR ANYTHING, lol) I'm such a goof:p But anyway, back to the review of the matter! Awwww, you remembered that duels kill my soul!(and using my lingo is also sort of an amazing thing to see) But yes, it is a duel, but Gozaburo is a much more interesting character than Generic McGenericson Big Five member. You'll see what I mean by the end of this chapter, don't worry. I didn't take too much extra time. Remember, this is my interpretation of the series or rather, how it should've gone. And I've had all these ideas and interpretations in mind for years now! But maybe back then I spent some time. And if you loved what I did with Seto's head in the last chapter, you'll thoroughly enjoy what I did at the end of this chapter!(it's not long, but I'm sure you'd find it delightful) Thanks again for the review! I'll probably be replying to your PM… tomorrow morning;.; See ya!

WhiteAsukalover: HELL YEAH! Someone's going to throw down a face down!(I may have to kill myself now…) Hahaha, thanks for the review!

Chapter 28: No Other Option

-M-

"Hello?" My head popped up and looked around. Nothingness. Again with the nothingness! I was surrounded by white, there was nothing around, it was empty, and it was bright… I was getting annoyed just describing the damn place! And where was I? I couldn't deny it… I was in No Man's Land… AGAIN! How did I know? Well… it was kind of hard NOT to know. The place looked like a blank Word document.

"DAMMIT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, thrashing about with anger. I wasn't one to use such language nor would my brother ever approve of it, but I was alone in this god forsaken place and it was all because of Noah. He had lied to me and tricked me. He had taken my body and was probably halfway across the world with it by now. And I was stuck here… alone.

I was so fumed I didn't even know what to do with myself. I started flailing my arms and legs in the air, kicking around what would've been dirt had there been any to begin with, and yelling other kinds of obscenities my brother would've grounded me for the rest of my life for saying.

"MOTHER-!" No, I decided not to say that one. I was growing tired by this point and had already drained myself of a lot of energy by consisting kicking and jumping all over the place for the past ten minutes. Finally I stopped and let my arms drop to my sides. I had mentally proclaimed that I was done and began to catch my breath. I couldn't believe it… that jerk… that complete and total-

No. I wasn't going to say that one either. I felt like I was done… for now. I had cooled off a bit at this point. My head turned and looked all around. There was nothing here. And there was no one nearby. I really was all by myself in this place. My anger was soon replaced with sorrow. The last time I had been here, at least I had been with Seto. Somehow just having another human being nearby had made things… better, just having someone to talk to was comforting.

But I was here now, and I would be forced to live out the rest of my days all by myself. I felt the anger well up again as I thought back to the conversation Seto and I had had last time we were in this place. How we had our fight, which had led up to us talking to each other, really talking… and things between us were okay again, they were finally okay and then THIS happened! Things were looking up until I got stuck here! Why couldn't Noah had been telling the truth, why couldn't he have just let us out of the virtual world like he said he would?

I just wanted to lie down and cry, but I knew it wouldn't help. Nothing would, I was stuck. Possibly for the rest of my life… possibly for the rest of eternity! I started to spiral in a whirlwind of depressing thoughts. I thought about how Noah looked, that he had kept his same body for the past six years without growing up because he had been trapped in this place. I assumed that the same would happen to me, too.

But I didn't want to be eleven for the rest of my life! I wanted to be able to grow up, hit puberty, get a girlfriend, go to a dance, have a first kiss, get a job, go to a party… I wanted my Nii-sama. I didn't want to live out the rest of my days without him. I didn't want to be all alone…

"Hey there." I jumped at the sound of another person's presence. At first, I was scared to death because I got this sudden idea that it was Seto who had been listening to me the whole time and now he was here to punish me for the curse words I had said earlier. I twisted around quickly and was surprised to see who it was. In fact, I was speechless, I was in awe. It just… took me by total surprise. "Miss me?"

"Saint Joan?" Joan smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"I've actually been promoted. Its Guardian Angel Joan now, but my friends call me GAJ for short. It's got a nice ring to it, don't you agree? And check out the outfit it came with!" Joan did a little twirl in front of me to show off her new appearance. I looked down. She was no longer wearing armor anymore, but instead she was dressed in an elegant, white dress, laced with a bright gold. She had a cape attached to the front of her dress that split up in the back to make two scarves that were loosely wrapped around both her arms. "I think it makes me look somewhat feminine, don't you agree?"

Outfit changes were the last thing on my mind. I was more confused about other things like what was she doing here? The last time I had seen her was in one of those many virtual forests Seto and I had traveled through, after we had been attacked by that one beast we encountered. Then she had just up and left us there, without rhyme or reason. Where did she go? Why had she left us in the first place? I started getting mad again.

"Where have you been?!" I yelled.

"Woah, that's no way to greet an old friend. Didn't your brother teach you better?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child! Tell me what's going on! And why are you even here? Why did you leave me before??"

"Jeez kid, I'm sorry. If you recall, your brother was the one who wanted me gone." That wasn't a good excuse. My brother wanted everyone gone. Seto didn't like a lot of other people. But that was beside the point, this was serious.

"Don't give me that! You abandoned us!"

"Hey, it's not like you were alone. You had your brother that time. He's capable of protecting you, isn't he?" I rolled my eyes. Joan obviously wasn't listening to what I had to say. And at that point, I was so frustrated I didn't really care. I came to realize that getting angry wasn't going to get me out of here. So I did what I felt was reasonable; turned around and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Away from you, what do you think? We could've really used your help back when we were lost in that forest, but I guess that just provides proof that you have no intention of helping me… ever. You're probably just another virtual simulation from my memories, anyway, sent here by Noah to mess with my head. Well no thank you. I'm getting out of this place even if it kills me." In a flash, Joan swished in front of me and landed on the ground. I stopped for a split second.

"Hold on for a sec, will ya? I'm here to help you. After all, they didn't promote me to Guardian Angel for nothing." Her facial expression seemed genuine, but I wasn't buying it, not one bit.

"Oh really? Well how am I supposed to know you're not working for Noah? I bet you're just trying to trick me so that I'm stuck here forever. I'm not falling for it, not this time." I ended it on that note and started moving forward. But Joan continued to stand in my way. I attempted to peacefully walk around her, she refused. No matter where I tried to walk, she moved right in front of me. This carried on for another few seconds before I got fed up with it.

"Can you back off? I'm trying to find my way out of here!" Joan laughed at me. Apparently this was a funny to her. I got angrier. She laughed harder.

"Ya know, you look really dumb when you're mad," Joan said with a chuckle, patting me on the shoulder like I was a small child. I became fed up. I grabbed her hand and threw it off my shoulder. Now she was the one that looked pissed.

"Hey, back off!" My face was welcomed with a slap. "Jeez, I'm in a dress! You would think you'd treat a lady with better manners…" I rolled my eyes. Joan was so full of herself. It was like giving her a new dress and a new 'promotion' made her queen of the No Man's Land. What a stuck-up brat. Joan could sense this and got more irritated.

"You know what? Fine, do whatever you want. I don't care, I'm leaving." I chuckled at her feeble attempt to make me feel bad. I didn't care if she left, in fact, I would be happier anyway. Joan was being no help at all.

"And where are you going? There's nothing around, going off to party with all your other duel monster friends?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. Joan twisted around, her hands balled into fists.

"No, but I am getting out of here. And if you would like to get out of here too, I would suggest you follow me."

"How am I supposed to know you're not just tricking me or leading me astray?" I asked. Joan stopped and turned around once more.

"What else do you have to lose? Like you said, there's nothing here. So you can either walk around aimlessly or follow the only lead you have." She had a point, unfortunately. I sighed with frustration; again with the wandering and the following. How annoying.

-S-

When we reached the basement level of Kaiba Corp. the elevator doors opened up, and Gozaburo was the first to walk out. I purposely made sure to keep a good amount of distance away from him; it seemed the habits I had picked up as a child were still going strong in many ways as I walked behind the very man that instilled them into me. I tried to look straight ahead, but my eyes kept wandering back towards Gozaburo.

There he was, the man that had ruined my life, walking at a reasonable pace in front of me. If I wanted, I could bash him over the head and beat him till he was black and blue. Or I could tackle him to the ground, use the very tie he was wearing to strangle him until he suffocated. I could've done many things, walking behind this aged man. After all, now I was no longer a child, but nearly a grown man myself, practically the same size as my abuser. I imagined each homicidal thought, slowly and delightfully.

But I didn't act upon any of these impulses. I was better than that; at least I had liked to believe. But after everything he had done to me… after all he had put me through… it would've only seemed fair to do the things I was thinking and yearning to do. It would've been the pay back he had never received; the fact that he had killed himself just wasn't enough for me.

I felt like he deserved more than taking his own life. I suddenly wished it had been who had taken his life instead.

"So Seto… what are you think about? I'm sure you are mentally preparing yourself for our face off in a duel, are you not?" Gozaburo said without looking my way.

"I don't need to do any sort of preparation to defeat you, Gozaburo. I'm the best there is at this game and you're a fool for challenging me to begin with." I could hear Gozaburo chuckle. The homicidal thoughts returned immediately as he spoke.

"The best there is, huh? I could believe that… although I wasn't alive to witness your success, news finds its way into the virtual world. You were quite the champion. That is… until a certain someone beat you." I imagined punching him, kicking him, making him bleed all at once… but I didn't. I couldn't show him my frustration; I couldn't lay all my cards out on the table. Gozaburo was just trying to break my focus. I wasn't going to let him do that. I took a deep breath.

"Even the greatest duelists must accept defeat," I said in a calm manner. I wasn't even sure if that was a quote of mine or an actual saying, but I was hoping it would force Gozaburo to move onto another topic as we made our way towards the dueling stadium.

"Ah, I see…" Gozaburo said, clearly unconvinced, "And what of young Mokuba? Is he still around? I'm surprised the boy isn't here right now, hanging on your every word like the lost little puppy that he is." My eyes shot open. No, he wouldn't dare. I had to keep my cool; I had to keep telling myself to stay calm…

I decided the best course of action would be nothing. I was going to say absolutely nothing and then maybe he would stop talking…

"I suppose he would be eleven at this point, wouldn't he? Hm… interesting" I heard Gozaburo begin, I could sense what was coming next, "I do hope that boy has gotten a bit smarter with age. Do you remember the day he learned about the dangers of fire? What a silly little boy he was at five… Tell me Seto; have those burns of his healed yet?"

I grabbed one of Gozaburo's arms with my hand and used my other arm to slam against his neck. Within seconds, I had him pinned up against the wall.

"Don't you EVER talk about my brother again, you hear me? DON'T ever talk about what you did to him, you twisted old man. If you even utter his name again, I swear to god, I will-skin-you-ALIVE." Gozaburo was grinning with sick pleasure, he had made me snap. He had shown he was better than me, because he was in control. When I made this realization, I quickly took back my arm and stepped back. Gozaburo cracked his neck and rotated his shoulder a bit, but he was fine overall. More pleased than anything else.

"I see your still attached to that no good brother of yours. You're still and will always be weaker than me, Seto. As long as Mokuba exists, you will never truly be able to be stronger than me. It would've been better if you had just let him die all those years ago…" I felt the urge to lunge at him again, but I didn't. I knew I shouldn't.

"That's enough, Gozaburo," I spat through my gritted teeth; I walked past him and stopped just as I was right in front of him. I looked back and glared, "Save it for the dueling arena. There, we can determine who is truly the strongest." Gozaburo smirked. I turned away and kept walking forward, functioning purely on the anger I felt towards Gozaburo and nothing else. One thing was for sure, though.

I was going to kick Gozaburo's ass.

A/N: Hey guys… so I'm not as excited about this chapter… not that it wasn't good, I feel like it was really good. But… it's one in the morning right now… and I really need to get to bed. I suppose you could say this is one of the many joys of summer time… and I do consider it a joy! I'm just soooooo tired right now. Well anyways, I know this took somewhat longer than the last chapter to get posted and I'm not sure what to say about that right now, but I do thank you all for reading and do pardon me if this doesn't make a lot of sense! Your reviews are welcome. I mean, appreciated. Hahaha, good night!