So, here we are: chapter 40. That feels like a significant number. A good portion of this chapter is simply a refresher course on the major, Kaiba-centric notes of the Duelist Kingdom storyline, so for those of you who are intimately familiar with that particular arc will find a lot of it little more than an exercise in dialogue. I promise that there is a specific reason I'm going over this information.

I've been waiting to write this particular scene. It feels pivotal.

Let us begin.


Yami was lying on the desk now, with his legs straight up in the air against the wall, while he moved his arms around with proverbial gusto. He seemed absolutely devoted to not paying attention to how ridiculous he looked.

". . . But then, I can tell none of you believe a word of what I'm saying," the spirit eventually said, just loud enough that his audience flinched with some amount of chagrin. "You have an image of Kaiba in your heads, and the one I'm painting for you is nothing more than a cheap forgery. So, instead of me telling you how I spent my time with my Kaiba . . . how about you tell me about yours? Weave a tapestry for me. After the first duel, what happened?"

"Well, like I was sayin' to ya first time," Joey said, relishing this chance to take the conversation in a more comfortable direction, "Kaiba lost the game, Yami pulled this . . . magic thing on 'im, and we all went home. Kaiba paid the hospital bill, then Gramps went home. While later, Pegasus—you know Pegasus, right?" A nod. "Good. So Pegasus invites Yugi to a tournament he's holdin'."

"Duelist Kingdom," Yami said. His countenance seemed to darken. "Yes. I know it well. How did it go?"

"Good? I guess? I dunno. Some behind-the-scenes shit happened, you'd have t' ask the kid about that. Guess Pegasus decided to play Bond Villain with Kaiba's board of directors."

"The Big Five." Yami perked up at this, almost grinning. He gestured for Joey to go on.

"Yeah. Those fucks. Anyway, this guy, used to be Mokuba's bodyguard. Turns out he's in on this scheme, right? So he up and kidnaps the kid. Waits 'til Kaiba's off soul-searching or something to do it."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Soul-searching? Are you being literal?"

". . . No? I dunno. Way I hear it is, Kaiba was real fucked in the head after losin' to ya. So he says to Saru-what's-it, the bodyguard. He says he's going off by himself for a while, so keep an eye on the little guy. I mean, fuck, that's his job, right? Only that's not how it went down. He brought the Moku-man to Pegasus."

Yami spun around, hopped down onto the floor, and began to pace about the room, his limbs going through the rest of the group at every opportunity. He said, ". . . Interesting. Kaiba took the loss so hard that he left his throne. To meditate, perhaps. And . . . Saruwatari? Is that the man to whom you're referring as the little Kaiba's bodyguard?"

"Yeah."

"Saruwatari delivered the boy to Crawford . . . and this was during the tournament? Or beforehand?"

"Before."

Yugi spoke up: "Pegasus kept Mokuba in his castle. As a guest at first. That's what he told me, anyway. But Mokuba escaped. I guess the Big Five had a deal with Pegasus: if he could beat me in an official Magic & Wizards match, they'd use the blow to Kaiba's reputation to kick him out of his position at Kaiba-Corp, and then hire Pegasus to replace him. I guess if I had business experience, maybe they'd have wanted me. Basically they wanted the best gamer in the country. But they also wanted somebody who knew how to make money."

"The little one wanted to ensure that that didn't happen," Yami guessed. "He wanted to get you disqualified before ever getting the chance to face Pegasus in the arena."

"Right."

The spirit chuckled. "Clever boy. Tenacious. So he escaped the castle and found you."

"Yeah. He was only . . . what, seven? He couldn't really play the game yet. The match was kind of pitiful, really. But—heh. He was actually playing me, not the game. Waited for the right moment, then just stole my star chips out from under my nose. Figured he would disqualify me that way."

"My guess," Yami murmured, "is that he knew full well that he wouldn't best you legitimately. After all, you triumphed over his beloved Niisama. That is not a trophy easily won. Little Mokuba wouldn't want to defeat you; it would only make Kaiba feel worse."

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. Maybe. I mean, probably. So anyway, Yami talks to Mokuba for a while, convinces him to trust us. He says that the boy Mokuba took his deck and chips from, to challenge me, he's getting disqualified. Mokuba says he'll give everything back."

"So we go back to the dock, where this kid's gonna get thrown off the island for somethin' he didn't do," Joey put in, "and here's Saruwatari, lookin' all snide. He grabs the kid, so Yami challenges him to a game. Says if he wins, Mokuba gets to go free."

Yami frowned studiously; the amusement seemed to have drained completely out of his face, leaving it stark and rather dangerous. "Go on . . ." he murmured slowly.

"'Course, Saru doesn't play," Tristan said, "so he has a stand-in. Says it's Kaiba's ghost. Says Kaiba died out at his summer home or whatever, and his spirit is back to get revenge. And the guy looked like Kaiba! Seriously! Even had his deck."

Yugi nodded. "Yeah. That's the part that bothered me. Anyway, that match was . . . ugly. I think Kaiba, the real Kaiba, somehow managed to worm his way into Pegasus's network. I'd stake my left arm that he helped me win that match. But by the time we finally got rid of the imposter, Saruwatari and Mokuba were gone. Vanished."

Yami sighed heavily. "I was afraid of this. In this solitary instance, your version seems almost identical to my own. Not that I faced Kaiba's ghost. The man I faced wasn't as theatrical as that. Which is well and good, since I would have killed him. But he did have Kaiba's dueling deck."

The others all exchanged looks. They'd never heard Yami speak in such a cavalier way about killing anyone; they'd never heard Yami talk about killing anyone, period. But there was no questioning the seriousness of this threat. This spirit's eyes were blazing.

"I suppose I am ultimately to blame," Yami muttered bitterly. "I do wonder at my own logic, staking the little Kaiba's life and welfare on a duel. Certainly it was tradition in my court, but the duels back home were . . . well. Much more serious."

"Kaiba pretty much said the same thing to me 'n Tris once," Joey said suddenly. "Back before things changed, I guess you'd say. He thought it was pretty retarded, y'know, to challenge Saru to a duel. We should've just clocked his ass and took the kid."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "I have a question for you, my friends. Answer me truthfully. From the deepest depths of your hearts. Do you believe yourselves to be better people, fundamentally, than Seto Kaiba? Think, please, before you answer."

A few moments passed in silence. Yami turned to Téa first. She said, quietly but firmly, "Yes. I do."

Tristan was next. "Yes."

Then Yugi: ". . . Yes."

Joey: "Nope."

Yami quirked an eyebrow at the blond, and the others all looked at him. Joey was still lounged out on the floor, leaning against the wall, and he stared earnestly at the ancient king. Yami asked, "Why do you say that?"

"I could say I do my job, I pay my bills, I contribute to society, blah, blah, blah. I'm a good person, I've reformed myself, I've escaped the trappings of my past. All that shit. Got no shortage of self-esteem over here. But here's something else I am: I'm pretty good at judging people's characters. Takin' what I know about Kaiba, and Mokuba, and what I been seein' from the, ah, Yagamis—shit, I don't match up to that."

"You're always shortchanging yourself, Joey," Téa said softly.

"You're always shortchanging Kaiba," Joey replied evenly, and Téa flinched. "Look, don't get me wrong. Don't . . . misread me, like Yami said. I'm not sure what I think o' Kaiba, by 'n large, a'right? But how many twenty-something billionaire single parents do you guys know? And don't go tellin' me he's not good at his shit, 'cuz you know better. If Kaiba didn't do a good job raisin' his kid brother, Mokuba'd be a fucking wreck, the shit he's been through."

"Amen," Yami said softly.

"And KC's still the biggest goddamn name in gaming since Nintendo. So . . . no. The only gauge where I beat Kaiba is in bein' a nice guy. And nice don't get you nowhere by itself." A beat of stunned silence. Joey added, "I'll deny all o' this in court. Don't go gettin' ideas. But since we're being all full-disclosure tonight . . ."

Yami actually smiled. "Well. I'll admit, Joseph, I'm impressed." He turned to the others. "On that note, however, I will ask a question of you." His gaze locked on Téa. "You have always been protective of Yugi. Stood up for him when bullies reared their heads. You have a soft spot for the young and helpless. Isn't that so?"

Téa nodded. "Yes."

"So why is it, if I may ask, that while Yugi and, ah, your Yami were dueling this ghost Kaiba, fighting for the young one's freedom, you did not tell anyone when Saruwatari disappeared with him? Surely you did not expect a man who kidnaps children to stay true to his word? Surely you kept an eye on them to make sure?"

Téa looked stunned; her mouth opened, and she struggled to speak.

Yami frowned. "And you, Tristan? Did you not spend your teenage years fighting for your life on the 'mean streets' of Domino? Could you not have stopped Saruwatari, before he vanished, as you call it, with little Mokuba? Or did you expect a seven-year-old boy to look after himself, while in the hands of a behemoth with a gun?"

Tristan, too, was speechless.

Yami looked down at Joey. "Anything?"

Joey started chuckling. "Not a goddamn thing." He held out his hands as if in surrender. "We were stupid kids, punishing a little boy 'cuz we thought his brother was a douchebag. We didn't really give a flying fuck what happened to Mokuba 'cuz he stole from Yugi, and that made him an enemy. We were too busy watching the fancy holograms, feelin' good about ourselves."

Yami sighed. "Honesty. It's refreshing. I'll give you that. But do me a favor, my friends. The next time you start thinking that Kaiba is a villain, or that he owes it to any of you to redeem himself, recall that he has been breaking his back to care for little Mokuba ever since the boy's birth; and recall that there was a time, not so long ago, when you couldn't be bothered to look at him."

". . . You're kinda protective of Kaiba, aren't you?" Tristan asked after a moment.

Yami shrugged. "I am fond of my Kaiba, and he has actively attempted to murder me. I'm ready to put your Kaiba on a pedestal and take him up as my new patron."


When I first watched this anime, the portion of the "Kaiba's Ghost" story where Mokuba disappears just felt like natural progression. Pegasus was a bad guy. Of course people he would hire can't be trusted! And after all, if Mokuba hadn't been taken away and thrown in that dungeon, then Seto likely never would have dueled Pegasus at all, and if he hadn't done that, well, I wouldn't be here right now.

But the thing is, I've been writing and thinking about this series for nearly 15 years now, and I've been questioning why the hell that happened for a good portion of those years. Okay, so Yami wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Mokuba and his captor to make sure the kid was okay. He was dueling.

But the others? They were so wrapped up in the match that they just . . . forgot that Yami was fighting for the freedom of a little boy? Sure, maybe they didn't know Mokuba too well, but his safety is the ENTIRE REASON FOR THAT MATCH.

I always figured that Yami would be angry that his friends just let the kid fall back into the enemy's hands, when it's obvious that two of them (Joey and Tristan) were more than capable of overpowering Saruwatari. Remember the scene before this match, when Tristan just up and throws the guy over his shoulder? You want to tell me that the two of them, working together, couldn't have helped Mokuba escape?

So, there you go. The reason for this chapter's existence. It might be considered filler, considering it doesn't exactly inform the primary plot, but I contend that this is an important facet of Yami's (and Joey's) character.

And with that, I bid you adieu.