"I think they're long gone," Ryou said with a sigh as he and Marik stopped to catch their breath. He was disappointed: it wasn't fair of them to withhold their star-chips from Ryou after he beat them in a fair duel.

"Look, over there!" Marik said suddenly, pointing to a pair of gold sparkles on the floor several yards in front of them. He approached them, Ryou following somewhat reluctantly, and picked them up, turning to the other with a triumphant smile.

"Looks like they dropped a couple of star-chips." He held them out and dropped them into Ryou's open palm. As the shorter teen secured the star-chips in his dueling glove, Marik watched him with sad eyes. "We might be able to find an official when we get out of this cave. If we tell them that your star-chips were stolen, surely they could do something about it."

"No, it's alright," Ryou replied with a shake of his head and a weak smile. "I'll just win another duel to get the last few star-chips. It's less trouble than trying to get my star-chips from Bonz."

Marik pulled Ryou into a tight hug, the other sighing a little and nuzzling against his companion.

"Don't let it get you down, okay?" the Egyptian teen murmured, receiving a nod from the other. Marik kissed the top of Ryou's head, sending warmth through his lover's body all the way down to his toes. As Ryou shifted his feet to stand closer to Marik, he felt one of his feet sink into the ground and a strange clicking noise.

"What was that?" Marik asked as he lifted his head to look around. Then they heard a rumbling off in the distance and looked back the way they'd come. A giant boulder was just starting to come into view as it rolled their way. The two panicked and released each other as they started to run down the tunnel, hoping to outrun it somehow.

"Where did that thing come from?" Marik was as surprised as Ryou.

"I think I activated a trap," Ryou answered in embarrassment. He'd looked at Marik as he answered, which might have been a bad idea, because right after he finished speaking, he stepped on his own shoelace and tripped. Marik shouted his name as the other teen was crushed under the boulder. Marik forced himself to stop, outraged at this turn of events and waited for the boulder to catch up to him. He threw a fist at it, thinking that it would be futile, but his fist dented the boulder and made it pop in a loud explosion of air. Blinking in surprise, Marik looked down and saw the shreds of balloon and the round speaker.

"It was fake?"

Marik looked up and saw Ryou push himself up off the floor, dusting off his hands as he approached the other. Marik threw himself at Ryou in another hug, making Ryou laugh light-heartedly.

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Me too." Ryou kissed Marik's cheek, giving him one last squeeze before releasing him. "Come on, let's figure out how to get out of here."

They kept walking for a little while longer, then came to what looked like the entrance to a maze.

"Oh great, we'll never escape," Ryou said with a despairing sigh, but in the next moment, one prong of the Millennium Ring began to glow gold and point towards the path on the right. Ryou blinked at it in surprise.

"Is it… showing us the way out?" Ryou asked hesitantly.

"That's possible," the other answered, hesitant to trust anything the Millennium Ring tried to tell them.

"The magic of the Ring is more than just the spirit, right?" Ryou glanced up at Marik with a questioning look, and Marik nodded. "I don't suppose it could do us any harm to follow it, then. I mean, even if the spirit is the one doing this, he would benefit from telling us how to get out. After all, if we stay trapped here forever, then so is he, right?"

"I guess we have nothing to lose by following his directions," Marik conceded.

"Then let's go!"

"You're not going to get away with this Pegasus!" Seto shouted at the sky, Adina's letter clenched in one hand. "I will rescue my brother!"

"I'd like to see you try, Seto-Boy." Pegasus chuckled to himself as he watched Seto on the video feed from his security cameras. He sipped his wine thoughtfully, then called out, "Croquette, send me Kemo. I have a mission for him."

"Right away, Mister Pegasus." Croquette bowed at the waist and left at a brisk pace to do his employer's bidding.

Pegasus sipped his wine again and sighed, watching as Seto started to stride purposefully towards his castle. Seto wasn't actually supposed to find out about Mokuba's kidnapping just yet. He'd planned on revealing it when all four finalists had entered the castle, and he'd been confident that Yugi and Seto would be among the finalists. He'd only found out about Seto bearing the Millennium Rod after he'd stolen the soul of Yugi's grandfather, and it had made him wonder which one—the Puzzle or the Rod—was more powerful. So, in order to determine this, he'd planned on pitting them against each other in the semi-finals. Whoever bore the more powerful Millennium Item was sure to win the duel, and the winner would then go on to beat the other finalist and finally duel Pegasus himself, betting not only his soul and his title, but also his Millennium Item. And if that plan didn't work out, there was always the option of manipulating Seto into working on the holographic technology for him.

Adina's little stunt with the paper air-planes, though, changed things. His guards had found them that morning on the ground beneath her window. They'd picked all of those ones up and disposed of them, as Pegasus ordered, and he'd moved Adina and Mokuba to the dungeon as a punishment. He hadn't realized that she'd actually sent some of her letters so far out into the island.

"You have a mission for me, Mister Pegasus?" Kemo asked as he entered the room.

"Yes. Kemo, I need you to apprehend the current Duel Monsters champion and bring him here to me. My security system has pinpointed his location, so you should have no difficulty finding him."

"Yes Mister Pegasus. Right away, sir." Kemo bowed deferentially and left the room to acquire the target's location from one of Pegasus' security agents.

Pegasus turned off the security video feed and turned on his favorite cartoon: Funny Bunny. He sat back in his chair with a smile, prepared to enjoy himself as he waited for Seto to arrive.

You need to calm down, Seto.

Calm down?! Seto was outraged. So you think I should just calmly accept the fact that my brother was kidnapped while I was gone at a card game tournament? I should just calmly accept the fact that Adina was kidnapped after I put her brother in a catatonic state?

You shouldn't blame yourself for what he's done.

I don't blame myself for what he did, Seto mentally scoffed as he walked briskly towards Pegasus' castle. But I could have prevented this just the same.

You couldn't have prevented this, Seto. We don't even know what all of this is about. Get a hold of yourself before you do something irrational.

I'm not going to let anything stop me from rescuing Mokuba, and if that means I have to be irrational, so be it. Seto pulled the locket out from under his shirt and popped it open, looking at the picture of his brother when he was even littler than he was now. I promise to rescue you, Mokuba. At any cost.

Some prices aren't worth paying, Seth pointed out in a solemn, quiet voice.

Mokuba's life is at stake! the brunette snapped angrily. And nothing's more important than my little brother. I promised our mother on her deathbed that I'd take care of him, and I will. He's always looked up to me, and I won't disappoint him. Not now, not ever.

A rustling in the bushes that was too loud to be a squirrel startled Seto, making him stop and look around. He closed the locket and dropped it under his shirt as he called out, "Who's there?"

"So you're the kid who beat Kaiba, eh?" A man stepped out from behind a tree, and Seto recognized him as the announcer from yesterday when they'd gotten off the boat. "You're coming with me. Consider it a personal invitation from Mr. Pegasus himself." With that Kemo lunged toward Seto, aiming a punch at him. Seto's battle instincts kicked in and he ducked the other's fist, jabbing his elbow hard into the man's ribs, effectively winding him. Seto grabbed the front of the man's suit and threw him over his shoulder so that kemo sprawled on the ground, stunned from the impact.

"Actually, you're coming with me." Seto smirked as he twisted the man's arm behind his back and hauled him up by the back of his collar. He was glad that he was strong and had experience fighting, because otherwise, he would have been dragged away like a ragdoll. "You are going to help me find Mokuba, wherever Pegasus is keeping him. And You're going to start by getting me into that castle." Seto lifted his gaze to the castle that peeked out above the tree cover, narrowing his eyes with determination. As he started leading his hostage towards the grandiose castle, he could feel Seth's disappointment in the back of his mind.

It was self-defense.

I know, Seth sighed, sounding unhappy. Seto could tell that he was holding back, but he was too preoccupied to be concerned about it right now. He wasn't going to let an ancient spirit stop him from doing everything he could to save his little brother, even if the spirit was himself in a past life.

Seth could see the trajectory of these events far more clearly than Seto could, and he feared that he wouldn't be able to talk some sense into Seto before he made a terrible mistake.

"Don't cry, Adina," Mokuba pleaded as his younger companion started to sniffle. "We're going to be okay." He scooted closer to her over the dirty stone floor of their cell and hugged her reassuringly. He felt bad seeing her upset like this, and he was trying to do what he thought Seto would do for him in this situation.

"Can you promise that?" she asked, barely restraining the tears that threatened to flood her cheeks.

"My big brother won't let us down!" Mokuba proclaimed. "He promised to protect me, and he never breaks a promise. That means that he'll rescue us no matter what it takes!"

"I wish my big brother was like that." Adina started to cry, and Mokuba hugged her more tightly, taking pity on her.

"My big brother could be your brother too, if you want," he offered innocently. "And I know he won't rescue me and leave you behind." He picked up his locket and opened it, showing her the picture of Seto as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "See? My brother gave this to me to prove that we'll always be together, even when we're apart. He's a good person, and he would never dream of leaving you behind."

"Okay, I believe you," Adina whimpered, still looking terrified. Mokuba closed his locket and gave her another hug. While he didn't like being here anymore than she did, and he didn't doubt the fact that Seto would come to save them, he didn't know how long it was going to take. That worried him more than anything else.

It took over an hour for Seto and Kemo to approach and sneak into Pegasus' castle. But when Kemo set off the alarm, Seto dashed off, feeling certain that he had a good idea of where he was going by this point. After sneaking past some of the guards-and knocking others unconscious when necessary-he could tell that he was getting close. Seth didn't comment much, unless it was to point out something that Seto hadn't seen or to warn him of an approaching guard that Seto didn't notice. Seth was disturbed by this turn of events, but Seto was flat-out furious. He only became more so when he found Mokuba and Adina Kaiba.

"Mokuba, are you alright?" He went up to the edge of their cell and gripped the bars, his eyes large as he realized that both children were chained to the wall by their ankles in addition to being imprisoned in a dark, dank dungeon. His fury was growing quickly, and Seth was just glad that he'd never told Seto that the Millennium Rod contained a hidden blade. He was afraid of what he might do with it now if only he knew it was available to him.

"Seto! It's you!" Mokuba looked overjoyed.

"Yeah, it's me," Seto replied softly, a small smile gentling his features. For just a moment, all of the anger left him. Knowing that his little brother was okay meant more to him than anything else.

"I always knew you would come rescue me," Mokuba said with a grin, a hand going up to grip his locket. "I always believed in you." The raven-haired child jumped to his feet and tried to run towards his brother, but cried out as he was held back by the chains and fell to his knees.

"Stay still, Mokuba. I don't want you to get hurt," Seto said quickly, his smile fading as easily as it had appeared. "Just hold one minute to pick the lock, and I'll get you both out of there."

"Okay!" Mokuba seemed cheerful, as if he'd already been freed.

"Thank you, Seto," Adina said in a small, quivering voice.

"You're welcome." He dropped to his knees in front of the lock and pulled a paper-clip out of his backpack's side-pocket. He straightened it out using his teeth and inserted it into the locking mechanism along with the narrowed end of the Millennium Rod, working at the lock as best he could.

How do you know how to pick locks? Seth asked curiously.

It's a long story, and I'm short on time. Ask me again later. Seto's response was brisk, but mostly because he was trying to focus on completing his task while using tools that were not quite ideal.

"Well, well, isn't this adorable? Two brothers, reunited at last."

Seto looked up warily as he heard Pegasus' voice, glaring at the CEO as he approached them. He clapped his hands in a mocking applause, making Seto's fury flood his mind all over again. He glared at the billionaire and stood up, eyes narrowed not only in anger, but also in fear. After all, this was the man who felt no qualms about treating children like hardened criminals. There was no telling what he might do.

"Pegasus."

"I knew you'd come for your little brother eventually. That's why I sent you an escort." Pegasus chuckled in a way that made Seto grit his teeth. Nothing about this was funny. "However, it seems you prefer to do things your own way."

"Oh, did you now?" Seto growled, unaware of the way Mokuba and Adina started to huddle together in their cell, terrified of their captor. His grip on the Millennium Rod tightened. "Then tell me something, Pegasus: Did you foresee what I'm about to do to you for hurting my little brother?"

"Actually, I predict that you won't lay a finger on me." He smirked as Seto scowled.

"Oh really?" Seto raised the Millennium Rod and tried to blast Pegasus with Seth's Shadow magic, but Pegasus was quick to retaliate, their forces meeting in the middle and glowing brightly in the dim tunnels. The children cried out in fear, awe, and surprise, neither of them truly understanding what was happening right now. Seto was strong and determined, but he was also much less inexperienced at wielding magic than Pegasus was. The older man overpowered him, knocking Seto to the floor as the teen cried out. Pegasus chuckled, and his Eye started to glow again. Seto closed his eyes against the blinding light, but when he opened his eyes again, he was shocked by what he saw. Mokuba and Adina had slumped to the ground, unconscious and, as far as Seto could tell, lifeless.

"Mokuba!" he cried out. "What have you done to them?" Seto demanded as he stood somewhat shakily, affected by the use of magic more than he'd anticipated.

Pegasus began to laugh like a maniac, further angering the teenager. It was then that Seto noticed that Pegasus was holding up a pair of Duel Monster cards, both with gold frames, like monster cards. As he watched, the image of a frightened Mokuba appeared on one card, and a horrified Adina appeared on the other.

"You monster!" Seto shouted, reveling in anger as he tried to shut out the fear he felt. "What have you done? What have you done to them?!" Seth ached with pity for Seto, knowing that there was nothing he could say to make this better.

"Just a little magic trick," Pegasus answered casually, further infuriating the brunette.

"Tell me now." Seto's voice was fierce, his glare like that of a dangerous predator. "What have you done?"

"I've ensured your cooperation, for you see… I've sealed their souls in a place where the locks can't be picked." Pegasus giggled again, pleased with himself.

"You're insane! You're not human!" It took all of Seto's strength to keep himself from assaulting Pegasus right there and then.

"And there he will remain, Seto, until you beat me in a duel." His sly smile made him look like a caricature snake.

"Duel? With you? Now? Fine! I'll do anything!" Seth winced at Seto's choice of words.

Pegasus shook his head and teased, "Not just yet, Seto-Boy! First, you need to earn the privilege to challenge me. And you can only do that be beating Yugi in a duel."

Seto gaped at him, and started to ask, "Yugi? What does he have to do with—"

"And if you can't win against him," Pegasus continued, interrupting Seto and making the Duel Monsters Champion feel further degraded. "Mokuba's soul will stay mine forever!" He laughed again, sounding giddy with elation, the sound deepening Seto's new-found hatred for the man.

"I'll do whatever I have to," Seto said in a low voice. "I'll be back." He gripped the Millennium Rod tightly in one hand as he walked away stiffly, his mind burning with a desire for revenge.

"Oh yes, my little Champion," Pegasus crooned to himself, now alone in the dungeon with two unconscious children. He started t stroll in the other direction, back towards the main part of his castle as he sang to himself. "You'll be back, soon you'll see, you'll realize that you belong to me~"

Seto was just one of many pieces in his game, and he was playing his part perfectly.

Author Notes: Who do you think will win in the duel between Yugi and Seto? Will Seto use the strategy that canon Seto Kaiba used?! Let me know what you think will happen in a review! Or, just tell me what you think, because reviews are the lifeblood of an author like me. ^_^

Disclaimer: Some dialogue adapted from episodes 20 and 21 of the English dubbed anime, Season One.