Welcome to Season Three: The world turned upside down.
In Solomon Mutou's minivan, mild panic had broken out. Marik was comforting his crying boyfriend in the backseat, and Yugi bit his lip in concern.
"Should we go back and help them look for Mokuba?" Anzu asked, her concern apparent.
"No."
"No?" Marik echoed his sister in confusion. "What do you mean, no?"
"Mokuba's not missing," Ishizu said, staring straight ahead in the passenger seat, one finger pressed to the chain of her necklace. "He's been taken."
"Then we should tell Seto–"
"He knows," she interrupted, sounding much too calm to Ryou's ears.
"It's Noah again, isn't it?" Yugi's voice trembled, but the set of his eyes proved it was not out of fear.
Yugi was angry.
The Pharaoh was enraged.
Yugi didn't know what to do with their emotions, so he closed his eyes, hands balled into fists, and shook.
Has Noah still not learned his lesson?
The Pharaoh's question echoed in Yugi's mind without answer.
"I need to see Kenji."
Ishizu's words sounded far away to Yugi, as if he were immersed in water and she was outside of it.
"Take us to the Bakuras' home as fast as you can, Solomon."
The phone buzzed and Duke's face paled.
"Seto." He swallowed. "He sent a picture." The phone was pressed back to its owner's hands.
The picture confirmed beyond doubt what Seto had instinctively known, but he studied the image anyway.
Mokuba was standing between the desk and the window of the executive office, rope wrapped around each of his forearms, binding them together. Seto tried to take comfort in the fact that the rope wasn't directly biting into his brother's skin; the fabric of his shirtsleeves provided a layer of protection. Mokuba's hands were curled into small fists, his mouth closed in an expression of defiance.
But Seto could see the tears standing in his eyes. He was probably terrified, probably questioning how this could have happened to him when his brother was so close by.
Nothing bad was supposed to happen to Mokuba when Seto was around.
Nothing.
Especially not this.
The world around him was disappearing. There was only Mokuba, bound and frightened and too far away.
Seto.
Seth's voice could pierce the haze, but all he saw was red.
"Take his phone away from him."
Something about Joey's voice compelled Duke to obey. He snatched the phone out of Seto's hand and immediately slid to the other side of the backseat, out of the brunette's reach.
"Delete the picture, Duke."
"Don't you dare."
"I know you, Seto." Joey gave Seto a quick glance from the corner of his eye. "You'll torture yourself with that image."
"It's evidence. You can't delete it."
The silence between them was tense.
"I'm keeping the phone," Duke declared, sliding it into his back pocket. "For now."
The compromise only slightly eased the tension in the car.
The teenagers were waiting in the living room while Kenji, Solomon, and Ishizu were alone together in the Bakuras' guest room. It was the same room where Kenji and his wife had once treated Seto's wounds.
Now they discussed his fate.
"I've studied this situation for hours," Ishizu explained. "I've gone through every possible scenario and I know for a fact that your suggestions will get Seto and others killed."
Ishizu knew that these men believed in the Shadow Magic. She knew that they believed in her Millennium Item. So why were they disagreeing with her counsel now, when it mattered most?
They wanted to act. They wanted to call the authorities. They wanted to rush to the rescue.
But these were all the wrong paths if they wanted anyone to stay alive.
"You can't seriously expect me to sit idly by while a child is in immediate danger!"
Kenji wasn't used to raising his voice, especially not against a woman. He was a gentle man by nature, but his hero complex could bring out the best—and the worst—in him.
"More than one child, actually. They're all children!"
Kenji crossed his arms, hands gripping his sleeves. He wasn't used to feeling this way; he wasn't used to being told that people he cared about were in danger and the only way to help was by doing nothing at all.
"You've been studying this scenario for hours?" Solomon queried, one hand stroking his beard as he thought.
"Yes." Ishizu was relieved that at least the older man was starting to understand. "I had to let Mokuba be abducted because it was going to happen one way or another. I made sure it happened in a way where he wasn't injured."
"There had to be a way to stop this," Dr. Bakura muttered.
"There was a way, but that choice was made by someone else." Ishizu made a conscious effort to stand up straight. She had to seem confident, not just be confident. "Now we have to work with the cards we've been dealt."
Solomon nodded. Perhaps the game analogy had cinched it for him, but he was convinced now.
Ishizu turned back to the younger of the two men. She considered him a friend more so than his son. He had also been her savior. But he wasn't perfect.
"Kenji Bakura." Ishizu hoped that using his full name would show how serious she was. "You need to listen to me."
She was determined to be heard.
"I'm listening."
"This isn't like when you got shot," Ishizu asserted, trying to keep her voice steady. She was certain that he still remembered that incident and how her own uncertainty and indecision had put him in peril. "I know what I'm doing this time. I'm going to keep as many people safe as I can, but you have to trust me."
The room was silent for a few moments, then Kenji's shoulders relaxed and he uncrossed his arms.
"Okay."
Kenji had chosen to trust her. He wanted to take charge of the situation the way he had when he found this very woman terrified and at the mercy of her father. It had worked back then, but if she said that wasn't how to win this battle, then he needed to believe her. He took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"What do you need from me?"
Joey parked on the street in front of the entrance to the KaibaCorp skyscraper, ignoring the signs that forbade anyone from doing so—just as Seto was ignoring Duke's warnings as he exited the still-moving car.
"We don't have any time to waste."
Duke and Joey rushed to catch up to him, reaching the front door just as it closed behind their friend.
"We need a plan!" Duke called out as he yanked the door open to follow him.
"I have a plan." He didn't even look over his shoulder. Long strides and steady steps took him closer to Mokuba.
"You walked right past the elevators," Duke called after him, trying to get his attention.
"That's not the fastest way to his office." Seto pushed through a pair of double doors behind the receptionist's vacant desk as Joey caught up to him, Duke only a few paces behind. "It's the elevator in the back."
"How do you know that?"
"This one goes directly to the hall outside his office, and it's faster."
Duke's question didn't need to be answered, so Seto gave it no attention. Duke didn't try to push for an answer, though. Now wasn't the time.
The elevator was already on the ground floor so they didn't need to wait for it to arrive. The three teens filed inside and Seto punched the button for the top floor. The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend.
"You said that you have a plan?" Duke breathed, checking his pockets for anything that could be deemed useful. He kept mace on his keychain, but realized with an inward curse that he'd left it in Joey's car.
"I do." Blue eyes looked dark as night when he turned his head to face Joey. "You were right."
"About what?"
"Noah's obsessed with me." Seto's mouth was drawn into a hard line. "I'm betting all he wants is to trade Mokuba's freedom for mine."
He looked back at the sealed elevator doors, alert for the moment when they began to open, even though they were nowhere near the top of the skyscraper.
"He's obsessed with you?" Duke repeated, confused.
"Oh yeah, I guess you weren't there when–"
"There's no time to explain," Seto interrupted. "We need to focus."
"Okay. What's the plan if you're right and all he wants to do is trade you guys?" Joey asked, a knot in his stomach.
"That depends on if he's armed or not." Seto removed the Millennium Rod from his belt loop, pondering its potential as a weapon. The rounded head of the scepter was heavy enough that it might do some damage, but the scepter might be damaged as a result.
That won't be necessary.
Seth showed Seto a vision that made his jaw clench.
Why didn't you tell me sooner that this thing has a knife?
Because you didn't need to know. Now you do.
"What do we do if he's not armed?" Duke asked, nervous about his own unarmed state.
"You get Mokuba out of the way and call the police while Joey and I fight him. We keep him from running away or calling in support until the authorities arrive."
Joey nodded. He'd do anything Seto asked of him, especially if it was for Mokuba's sake.
"And what if he's armed?" Duke pressed. "What if he's not alone in his office?"
"Then we give him what he wants." Seto's voice was cool. "We make the trade and once Mokuba is safe, I kill Noah."
"Seto?" Joey couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I'm going to kill him." His grip on the Millennium Rod tightened. "It's the only way to end this."
"You don't mean that," Duke breathed, but fell silent when those burning blue eyes turned on him.
"I'm dead serious."
"You can't—"
"Why not?" Seto turned on Joey now. "He's proven that he's going to do whatever it takes to get to me, and he's not going to stop. Mokuba's never going to be safe as long as he's alive. I showed him mercy, and that was my mistake. I need to make this right by ending him."
Mercy was a mistake.
I tried to do the right thing, and this is the thanks I get?
Seth had no answer for him. He was equally furious at Noah for Mokuba's abduction, and equally confused that what had seemed like the just course of action had backfired so terribly.
There is no justice in this world.
The words almost left Seto's lips with the force of his conviction, but his jaw was too tight for any sound to escape.
"We'll do whatever you say," Joey said quietly, his voice rough. He hated the thought of Seto in Noah's clutches, but he could hardly criticize the plan without an alternative to offer him.
The brunette just nodded in acceptance of his words.
"There's a remote-operated deadbolt on the office doors, so we shouldn't let those doors close behind us, or else he could trap all of us inside."
"How do you know about that?" Duke asked, but Seto ignored him.
"Odds are high that he's armed. I don't think he's going to put anything to chance. The fact that nobody else seems to be in the building might mean he's not using any of his hired muscle this time, but I could be wrong." A pause, and Seto glanced at Joey. "This is the elevator where he and I first met."
"When was–"
"Not now."
Duke was annoyed at his questions being shut down, especially because he wouldn't have these questions if Seto didn't keep dropping new information. Mostly he was curious about the history that Seto and Noah shared, the history Seto had never mentioned to him before.
The elevator slowed and stopped. Seto's body tensed. The doors opened and he stepped out first, knowing exactly where he was going.
How many times before had he walked the path from this elevator to the executive office?
Stay focused, Seto. Don't think about him now.
Are you scared?
Yes.
Knowing that he wasn't alone in the feeling was a marginal comfort.