"No need to worry, gentlemen," Pegasus assured the Big Five over video conference. "The girl is secure here, and even if she were to escape my castle—which is highly unlikely—where would she go? This is an island populated by my employees and a few duelists. She's not going anywhere."
"Even so, do not take any risks with her," Johnson said with a scowl. "If we lose her, we lose control of KaibaCorp, and I'm sick of being bossed around by those Kaiba brats."
"People like Noah Kaiba don't deserve to run a company," Leichter added, his expression unpleasant.
"I completely agree with you, good sirs," Pegasus said with a charming smile. "As soon as I receive everything you have concerning the Solid Vision technology and its most recent breakthroughs since we signed our deal, she'll be released into your custody immediately and control of the Kaiba Corporation will be yours."
"It's still being compiled. Once that's done, it will be transported to you immediately," Crump said, looking irritated that Pegasus had kidnapped Adina before they did. But, they were businessmen, and as such were accustomed to negotiating deals and getting what they want.
"Excellent!"
"You do realize, sir, that the program still needs development," Nezbitt pointed out, looking incredulous, as if he doubted how useful the technology would be to Pegasus as it was.
"I am well aware of that. Very soon, I will have both of its creators under my thumb, so you needn't worry about me. Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I have a tournament to run." With that, Pegasus hung up on them before they could say anything else. He rose from his chair, grinning cruelly. "This is just too easy."
"...She must be somewhere, though. Little girls don't just disappear into thin air, you know. They'll find your sister any minute, I'm sure."
Noah Kaiba remained catatonic in his wheelchair, staring into empty space. Whether or not he could hear the words of his nurse was anyone's guess. Would he remember them when he woke up? Did he feel any concern about his sister, or was his mind too absent for anything to register with him?
Deep within his soul, Noah Kaiba was struggling through an experience he could only describe as hellish. It felt like his very being had been torn asunder. He'd lost the part of him that reveled in the pain of others, the part of him that wished to emulate his father, the part of him that felt anger and hatred and aggression, the part of him that enjoyed violence. The part of him that would do anything to win.
Ah, but what did it mean to win? He'd clearly lost his duel with Seto, but his rivalry with Seto was far from over. The rules for the duel were clear and indisputable, but the rules for a rivalry were quite the opposite: vague, undefined, nebulous. He could still win.
At the moment, though, he was not thinking about Seto or victory. With his darker half, the half that hid his humanity, separated from himself, he was forced to deal with the pain and emotion and vulnerability that he'd suppressed for so long. He was forced to remember how his own father had hurt him, how he'd cried and begged for mercy, causing his father to teach him that only dogs begged. He was forced to admit that in the dark of the night, when he was alone and everything was still and silent, somewhere deep within he ached with loneliness. He was forced to admit the fact that he envied Seto.
Seto had friends and a little brother that loved him. Seto was smarter than him. Seto knew what he was doing with his life. Seto was respected by the people around him.
Noah wasn't respected, he was feared. He made people fear him because he didn't know how to make them love him. Deep down, he was just a small scared child that wanted to be loved. His father had beaten his lessons into him, molested and defiled him without regard for his son's pain. His mother had been distant and silent because she'd also been screwed up by Gozaburo's behavior. Adina was the only one who'd escaped their father's abuse, but her innocence and happiness had grated on Noah in the past, making him bitter and angry. Why was he the only one to suffer like this? Why couldn't he be happy like everyone else?
If he couldn't be happy, then he would make others suffer too—
That was when he was struck with more pain, the agony increasing as a visceral empathy was forced upon him. He felt all of the pain he'd ever inflicted on others, but he felt all of it at once.
No! Hurting others was not the answer… The pain began to ebb, and he could breathe easily again. Hurting others was not the answer.
"How are you today, my dear?"
Adina looked up from her coloring book and glared at the man who was holding her prisoner. "Let me go!" she demanded, her small fists clenched around her crayons in determination. "My brother won't let you get away with this!"
Pegasus chuckled before grinning down at the girl with a patronizing look. "I'm sorry, dear, but your big brother isn't doing much of anything these days."
Adina's eyes watered as she was reminded of her brother's state, and she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Pegasus closed the door behind him as he entered the room completely, stepping forward to lift Adina into his arms. He handed her his handkerchief, and without a reason to protest, she accepted it and used it to dry her eyes.
"Don't cry, Adina," he purred, but his words didn't have any positive effect on her. "You won't be alone up here for much longer."
"Really?" she asked hopefully. "You're going to let me go?"
"Oh, of course not, silly goose!"
She wilted, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"Now, don't look like that! Chin up, sweetie pie. I'm going to be bringing you a little friend tomorrow, so you'll still be here, you just won't be alone." He set her down again and turned to leave, but now he'd caught her attention.
"Who else is going to be here?" she asked boldly. She was entitled to the information, after all, wasn't she.
"A little boy named Mokuba." Pegasus left Adina with an expression of dismay. She still remembered how she'd met Mokuba: on his birthday, he'd been at work with his brother at KaibaCorp. Seto'd had a meeting, so he brought his brother to the old shooting range in the basement that was no longer used, letting him sit there with paper and colored pencils for an hour while he was away. She'd gone down there to cry, upset because Noah wouldn't spend any time with her and she'd started to feel dreadfully lonely. Mokuba had heard her crying and befriended her. He'd taught her how to make paper airplanes.
That gave her an idea. She carefully ripped a page out of the coloring book and wrote an urgent message on it in crayon. She needed to warn Seto that Mokuba was going to be kidnapped too. She didn't want her friend to be taken by the bad men, even if she did feel lonely and wanted him here.
She tore out several more pages and wrote the same message, then she started folding them carefully, just as Mokuba had shown her. She got a few papercuts, but it was worth it. She flew them out the window, doing her best to make the go far. Some of them were lucky and were caught by a breeze, then carried over the woods until it was just a tiny dot. She watched the last one sail away for a few moments, then went back to her coloring book to make more.
"Thank you for taking us to the park, Mrs. Bakura." Mokuba beamed up at his surrogate mother.
"You're most welcome, Mokuba," she replied. She really didn't mind letting Mokuba stay with them for a few days. His sunny disposition was a blessing, and Amane needed the company besides. She did need to keep an eye on them, though. When Amane had told her mother about their kiss, Miya had told her that they should wait until they were older before they did that again. She could only hope that Seto had told Mokuba the same thing—and that the children listened to them.
"Mrs. Bakura, what are those men doing over there?" Mokuba pointed to a pair of tall, broad men wearing suits and dark sunglasses. They stood on the street corner, doing nothing as far as Mokuba could tell.
"Don't point, Mokuba," she said quickly, pushing his arm down. "It's rude."
"But why are they at a park if they don't have any kids with them," Mokuba asked, looking up at her curiously.
"That's not our business, okay?"
"Okay."
Mokuba turned his attention back to Amane, holding out a hand to her that she accepted with her own and a smile. He glanced up at Mrs. Bakura, waiting for a moment when she was looking away so that he could peck Amane on the cheek. She turned scarlet, but quickly returned the gesture before her mother was looking again.
Mrs. Bakura glanced down at the kids again before looking back at the crosswalk signal. Mokuba winked at Amane, making her giggle. Mokuba's sweet charm never failed to give her stomach butterflies.
"You're insane," Duke muttered, glaring at his captor with potent loathing.
"Mmm, I'm afraid not, Dukey-Boy," Pegasus crooned, looking down at the teenager, his Millennium Eye glittering. "Just a man with a plan, and you seem to have gotten yourself caught up in it." He let his eyes travel over Duke's lean form. He'd handcuffed his prisoner to the foot of the bed because it was the first opportunity that had presented itself. Now, Duke was kneeling on the bed because it was the most comfortable way for him to rest with his restraints. The position forced him into a submissive bow, however, that grated against the genius' sense of pride.
"I can't believe you," Duke growled, furious with himself for being tricked, furious with Pegasus for making Duke trust him. "How could you do this?"
Pegasus laughed, the sound cold and chilling. "You don't even know what I'm doing, Dukey-Boy!" He chuckled again, pulling a blank card out of his pocket. "But, I suppose I can tell you, since you won't be around to stop me. I'll give you the short version, though. You see, after my lovely wife Cecilia died, I was devastated. I received this"—he lifted away his hair to fully reveal the Millennium Eye, making Duke's expression twist in disgust—"and suddenly had access to vast amounts of power I didn't know existed. I discovered a way to bring her back. I need, among other things, five souls. You, my boy, have volunteered yours." He began to stride closer to his prisoner.
"I have done no such thing!" Duke protested, throwing a hard kick in Pegasus' direction, catching him in the stomach and knocking him to the floor.
"Oh, that's it, I've had it with you!" The creator of Duel Monsters stood, rubbing his aching backside as he continued, "I was going to keep you around for a bit so that you could work on a project for me, but I don't think it's worth it. You're much more useful to me this way." Pegasus lifted his hair away again to reveal his golden eye and aim it at Duke. A bright flash of light, and a few moments later, the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters fell limp and soulless on the bed. The card in Pegasus' hand was no longer bank, for it now contained an image of the shocked teenager, his eyes wide with betrayal.
"Well, that takes care of that," Pegasus said aloud to nobody but himself. He straightened his jacket and smoothed back his hair before turning and exiting the guest room he'd given to his now-soulless guest.
As he stalked down the hallway, he tucked the card into the inner pocket of his coat.
"One down, four to go."
Author Notes: Mokuba's quite the little Casanova, isn't he? ;) For some reason, I've always imagined him as being dangerously charming when he gets older. So, I think that's an update on all villains currently active: Noah Kaiba, Pegasus, and the Big Five. Yes, Mokuba's kidnapping is inevitable... It wouldn't really be a YuGiOh fanfic if Mokuba didn't get kidnapped, now would it? Jk. XP I'm sorry, Moki, you know I love you. And hey, at least he's not alone this time!
Please review and tell me what you think! Please answer this question, if you have the time: Would you like to see all of the duels in detail, or just the really important ones?
Also, anybody up for some angstshipping fluff? I'll even season it with some angst for you! ;)