I imagine, on some level, that these new chapters will end up feeling different than previous installments. Part of that just comes from me being older. I was 26 when I started this little spinoff. I turn 37 this year. It's been ten years, and a not-insignificant part of that time was spent … dealing with a lot of shit.
All this is to say, a part of why the story feels different to me, at least, is because I'm older now.
But also, I'm actively moving toward plot resolution now. The first half of this tale was me playing around with dolls in my sandbox, so to speak. "Ooh!" I thought to myself. "What if Seto got to meet his parents?"
Now there's, like. Stakes and shit.
As a result, this back half might seem Very Fast-paced compared to the front half.
I apologize if this is jarring. But there's only so much I can do, given all that's happened during this story's creation. I can only hope that it's an interesting ride.
.
There was something new in Yugi Mutou when he next stepped into the Kaibas' front parlor. Something had tempered him; steeled him. No longer was he a cocksure gambler prepared to risk everything for the thrill of the game. His arrogance had been stripped down a bit. If Yuki hadn't already known better, she would have guessed he was scared. Rattled.
"Good morning," Yugi said, bowing his head. He sat when Valery gestured, gathered himself. "As I believe you have been told, I've a new strategy with which I intend to proceed. No longer is this a game of wits. No simple matter of outmaneuvering a tyrant." He gestured randomly. "If you will forgive me this metaphor, our strongest piece has been taken. We are, undoubtedly, on the back foot."
Realization sparked in Kohaku's face. "You . . . honestly didn't expect him to get hurt. Did you?"
"I did not," said Yugi. "I underestimated just how bold our enemy would be. How reckless." He shook his head, looking disgusted. "I will be forthcoming with you: I do not believe that Gozaburo Kaiba's mission here is as simple as securing an heir. I think it was merely a pretense. Whether he had that motivation at first, and has simply changed course, I do not know. But I fully think that I have been outwitted."
"What makes you say that?" Yuki dared to press. "If he doesn't want our son, what does he want?"
"Allow me to explain," Yugi said, gesturing again, like the very air was annoying him. "The resources he has poured into this . . . project. Let us start there. Just to send his people into this world, as I did, he has had to sacrifice many. I used blood to channel the power necessary to work the spell that brought you here. Gozaburo has done the same. However, in order to strengthen his soldiers, he will have taken much more than a symbolic offering."
"Symbolic offering," Kohaku repeated. "When you had Mokuba make a . . . a blood pact, I guess. That's what you're talking about."
"Precisely." Yugi nodded. "The more blood offered up to the gods, the stronger the magic. I took only enough to protect your bodies and your minds during the trip between worlds. I'm sure you understand that mortal beings are not meant to travel through such spaces. The blood was used to bolster you, so that you would not enter into this world as . . . ribbons of skin and muscle. If you had tried to come here on your own, without young Mokuba's blood, it would have torn you to pieces."
"So, what did he do?"
Yugi sighed. "He wished for more than mere protection. He wished for power. He wanted his agents to be more than human, more than themselves. He wished for them to have strength beyond nature, and in the name of that wish he did not simply take blood from his servants. He can't have. It isn't enough."
"You're saying he's killed people," Yuki guessed. "Human sacrifices. That's what you're getting at, right?"
"Correct," said Yugi. "The men that he sent here to . . . deal with us, and to secure young Sotaro, paid for their passage with a great number of innocent—and, perhaps, not so innocent—lives. But, more than this, I believe this whole affair is not merely a matter of your son. Sotaro is a part of it, to be sure, but only a part."
"What else could he want?" asked Valery.
Yugi glanced over at the older woman. "You are a native to this world. You know more than we, regarding Seto Kaiba and the man who built him." Kohaku flinched; Yuki did not. "What do you think Gozaburo Kaiba might want, in this world, in this Domino City, which he would kill to obtain?"
Valery frowned, opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. Something sparked in her eyes. "He wants this Kaiba Corporation."
Yugi nodded. "Seto Kaiba has taken his father's resources and transformed it into a true empire. The power, influence, prestige, all that he has managed to pour into this city has rendered everything Gozaburo Kaiba could ever have done into a footnote. Gozaburo Kaiba couldn't have dreamed to do with his name and station what his son has done."
"That's why they did what they did," Yuki murmured. "They acted like they were coming after us, so that Seto would protect us. So that everyone would be focused on us, and nobody would think to protect Seto. They always think to protect Seto. By making it look like they wanted Sotaro-kun, they turned everyone's attention away. This . . . this is precisely what he wanted."
"Seto wasn't saving us at all," Kohaku said, then flinched again. "No. That's not true. He did save us. They wouldn't have cared if they had killed Sotaro, or us. But Seto was their target. They didn't fail their mission. They succeeded."
Yugi nodded. "I believe so. Yes."
Kohaku flexed his jaw, ran a hand over his face, then drew in a breath. He let it out. "So. This strategy you have. What is it? What are we going to do now? We can't ask Seto for more help. We can't press him to do more than he has."
"Agreed," said Yugi. "He has shed blood for this cause, the same as his brother has. I will ask no more of my friends." He sounded more honest than usual; his mocking lilt was nowhere to be heard. Not today. When he said friends, it sounded sincere. "No. But there is something I must ask of you, and I need you to resist the urge to deny me. I need you to understand that the only reason I am asking this of you is because of just how dire our situation has become. I take no pleasure in making this request, and I would not make it if I saw any alternative."
Kohaku and Yuki shared a suspicious look. Yuki was the first to turn her attention back to Yugi. She said, "This is our problem. It's always been our problem. It wouldn't do to have all these other people make sacrifices for us, only to refuse when asked to help ourselves. What is it? What do you need?"
Yugi cleared his throat, rubbed his hands against his pants, and said:
"I need you to give me your son."
