Koya was based on the Wasteland field. A post-apocalyptic themed zone that was designed to resemble a more steampunk survivalist area. Its disarray was organised and designed to look like a disaster zone, but in a visually appealing way that kept the brown and grey paths clear and gave the visitors plenty to look at.

It was the only area in the park where the ruined parts of tanks and other military vehicles from Alcatraz had been allowed to remain, as they fit the theme, and it saved time in construction.

Not that Seto was paying attention to it, or the sounds of the finals coming from the stadium, as he shot past the Ordeal of a Traveller, a stone temple escape rollercoaster, past the carefully fenced off Survival Instinct stunt driving arena and the dinosaur- themed Jurassic Impact nightclub, one of the few places on the island that allowed alcohol and which he wasn't old enough to enter past 9PM.

Instead, his gaze was locked on his target: the artistically run down Pyramid Turtle event stage, whose ebony roof was deliberately knocked off its back pillars, so it sat at an angle and whose raised platform didn't actually have holes in, but had optical illusions making it seem that way.

And the woman there awaiting his arrival.

Kaiba's fury only increased as he turned the last corner and the Pyramid Turtle event stage came into view, revealing the sheer number of his hired guards surrounding it.

Ishtar had some audacity in taking them from him. And he would absolutely destroy her for ripping his brother away, there was no doubt about that.

Exiting the vehicle and stalking over, his wrath only increased when he could see the smug, prideful expression on the face of the one who dared to mess with him, his family and his dream, but couldn't see his brother.

The guards, his guards, stopped his approach, drawing their weapons and turning them on him in a synchronicity that told him that they weren't in control of themselves.

"Where's Mokuba?" He demanded from his position beneath Hanaq, activating his Duel Disk before he could even get close.

"If you want your brother back, you'll duel me." Ishtar's response had his hands clenching. "One and one, me and you. We need to duel for third place anyway."

"You really think you can defeat me? The World Champion?"

"Former World Champion. Yugi's defeated you how many times now?"

He barely held in the snarl the jab caused, the wounds his pride had taken during the semi-finals still smarting.

"You're not Yugi. You're not even a blip on Yugi's radar. The moment you faced anyone with any hint of real talent, you got crushed." Kaiba snarked back, a rush of pleasure rushing through him when her eyes narrowed, and her lips pursed. "Hand over my brother and release my men and you won't have to be embarrassed again."

"You won't embarrass me. You don't stand a chance against me. Not while I hold Ra." Hanaq gestured to her men, who parted like the Red Sea to allow the island's ruler through to their Queen.

"You're nothing without it. That's why you wouldn't hand it over to Kujaku, even though it belongs to her now," Seto shot back. "But I'm not scared of it, and I'm not scared of you."

"Then make your move and start your demise."

His opening hand proved that his deck was furious. With its might, he wished he had second turn because he could end the duel immediately.

Still, there was no way the bitch would recover from it, he was certain, and soon his brother would be back where he belonged.

"I summon Lord of D." The dragonic armoured Spellcaster arrived on the field with such a displeased expression that it mirrored that of its Duelist. "And I play two Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing me to call forth all three of my Blue Eyes White Dragons!"

The trio of opal-scaled, sapphire eyed dragons arrived, snapping and snarling at their opponent, clearly wanting to take a bite out of her.

"Your move."

"And now the fun begins." At Hanaq's chuckle, Shadows erupted out, consuming her side of the field and dragging Seto into a dark world. One he knew far too well from his encounters with Yugi; one where the worst was very much possible.

"What's the terms?" He snapped, trying to hide how much the swirling miasma around him made his head ache and his stomach churn.

"Oh, it's really simple," she chuckled. "If anything I'm going easy on you, compared to what I've done to Yugi's little army."

"Yeah right, just spit it out."

"Fine, fine. If you lose, you have to sacrifice the most valuable thing you possess in this moment, which, I believe, is this island. Your personal kingdom. Full of your guests, who the Shadows can consume."

"Why should I give that up? You don't have anything half as…" Kaiba trailed off, horror and realisation hitting him.

"Don't I, Kaiba?" Hanaq smirked at the widening of his eyes, the momentary shakiness of his stance. "I'm pretty sure I have something just as valuable to you. Something that the darkness will happily consume, should I lose."

With that, Mokuba stepped from behind a pillar, dull eyed and moving like a puppet on a string.

"Mokuba!" There was no response from his brother, making Seto turn on Hanaq, "Let him go."

Seto's snarl only delighted his opponent.

"Even if I did, which I won't, the Shadows will take the most valuable thing we possessed at the moment they were called. It wouldn't save him."

Seto nearly crushed his cards in his grasp as she drew her first card.

There were twenty-one thousand, four hundred and forty-seven people on this island, himself and Mokuba included. Losing this duel would be giving up all of those souls to the Shadows. Including, possibly, Yugi.

Not that he considered her a possession of his. She wasn't even his guest. If this was his Kingdom, then her presence here was more a Challenge between rival nations, than a welcoming of a foreign guest. She was a Queen in her own right. He had no control over her.

All they had between them was that he was her rival, and she was the one worthy of standing against him. Even if it meant having to deal with her motley band of losers.

Even without counting them, that was still thousands upon thousands of people that would be gone, possibly forever.

But winning…

His gaze was locked on his brother. The brother who he'd sworn to keep safe. To raise and look after as if he were Seto's own son.

The brother who he'd failed so hard.

If he won, Mokuba would be gone.

"I activate Gravekeeper's Servant." His opponent's call barely registered as Seto tried to process what the hell he should do. "Meaning you have to send a card from the top of your deck to the graveyard any time you want to attack."

"I already have what I need to win." Seto's snap was sharp.

"But do you want to?" His opponent shot back with a cruel upturn of her lips. "I set three cards face down and set a card in defence mode. It's your move, Kaiba. You're going to have to choose soon. Your brother, or your Kingdom?"

"I activate Pot of Greed." He responded, still trying to think. He couldn't lose. He just couldn't. Not because of how many people were on the line, but because letting this absolute monster win would be surrendering his pride and his life. "Lord of D, attack her defence monster!"

It flipped face up, revealing a green-grey robed man with a serpent staff, who unleashed a burst of green at Seto as it shattered. It slammed into him, knocking him backwards and ripping 500 lifepoints away.

"I activate Rite of Spirit." Hanaq's call irritated Seto. "Bringing back my Gravekeeper's Curse."

The moment it hit the field in defence mode, it flung another ball of energy at its opponent, knocking another 500 lifepoints away.

"Blue Eyes, send it back where it came from!"

The Curse didn't stand a chance against the wrath of an absolutely furious Blue Eyes White Dragon and shattered into a million pieces.

"Blue Eyes! Attack her directly!"

"Magician's Circle!" Hanaq's second face down card flipped up, revealing one of Yugi's favourite tricks. One that worked well with Hanaq's deck since the Gravekeepers were Spellcaster monsters. "Which I use to summon Gravekeeper's Visionary from my deck!"

The 2000 attack point Gravekeeper appeared on the field, then gained another 200 attack points for the Gravekeeper in Hanaq's graveyard.

"Of course, you also get to summon a Spellcaster with 2000 or less attack."

Seto only had one more in his deck and called up a second Lord of D., giving him more than enough attack points on the field to end the duel here and now.

"Are you still attacking?" Hanaq asked, taunting him to lash out.

"Of course I am. Blue Eyes, put her wolf-boy down!"

The White Lightning Burst slammed into the Gravekeeper, who only survived it because Hanaq discarded a card. Her lifepoints, however, took the hit, dropping by 800.

And then Visionary's attack rose again, to 2400.

"It won't survive again, you have no cards left in your hand! Blue Eyes!"

His third dragon unleashed a burst that finally managed to get the Visionary off of the field, costing Hanaq another 600 life points.

"And Lord of D. attack her directly!"

Hanaq let out a pained grunt as the Spellcaster who was still carrying the flute, slammed it into her stomach, dropping her lifepoints to 1400.

"I told you. I'm not afraid of you." He growled out as he set a card face down, "And I'm going to get my brother back."

"You're going about it the wrong way, then," Hanaq rolled her eyes. "Unless you think you can personally drag him out of the darkness?"

When Seto didn't respond, she drew.

"I play Card of Sanctity." The card, which allowed them both to draw until they had six cards in their hand, refreshed the duel, "First of all, I play Monster Reborn to bring back my Visionary."

The jackal-masked Gravekeeper retook the field with a smug grin that Seto wanted to punch off of his face, at 2400 attack points.

"Then, I play Polymerization and fuse the Spy and Oracle in my hand to create my Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist!"

Seto's eyes narrowed as the white haired young man took the field, his golden jewels shimmering in the light. His attack was revealed at 3400, since he gained an extra 100 for each level the monsters used for its summon had, and the Visionary's attack grew by another 400, putting it at 2800.

"And finally I activate Necrovalley!"

The Wasteland around them faded away, replaced by the sands of Egypt and the blazing hot sun. Both Supernaturalist and Visionary grew again, their attack rising to 3900 and 3300 respectively.

More than enough to take out Seto's dragons. Or worse, his Spellcasters.

"This is over, Kaiba." She smirked. "Supernaturalist, attack his Lord of D.!"

The spellcaster's staff glowed brightly before it launched a burst that should have destroyed its opponent easily, only for it to slam into a wall that consumed it.

"What?"

"My face down card, Draining Shield." Kaiba told her as his life points climbed by 3900, to 5200. "Negates your attack and gives it to me as lifepoints."

"That won't save you. Visionary, destroy a Spellcaster. Take your pick."

Visionary didn't bother with the magic. Instead, it decided to slam its huge fist into the face of one of Seto's Lords, who couldn't tank the hit, costing Seto 2100 life points.

"Your move."

Seto internally grimaced. His Draining Shield had saved him this turn, but it wouldn't save him again. Her monsters were just too powerful.

Not that he knew if he wanted to win. Not when the cost was so high.

He had the cards too. He had Polymerization. He could fuse his Blue Eyes White Dragons together to form Blue Eyes Ultimate and crush her.

His gaze turned to his brother, who hadn't moved or reacted once since the duel had started. He knew what logic dictated. He knew what he should do. What his deck could allow him to do. What the cards in his hand were poised to do.

He even knew he had a chance at saving his brother later, if he could harass Yugi into bringing Mokuba back for him.

But it was only a chance. There was no guarantee. If Yugi couldn't break the Penalty, or Seto got to her too late, Mokuba would be gone.

"I switch my remaining Lord of D and my three dragons to defence mode."

He couldn't do it. He couldn't risk killing his brother.

"You're weak, Kaiba. You care too much."

"Shut up." Kaiba hissed out, his whole-body trembling in his fury, "You have no understanding of the true bond between siblings. Mokuba and I have walked through hell together. We've been at each other's sides since before you even dared to disobey orders. And I know that no matter what happens to me, he'll make it. Because he's stronger than you, stronger than your brothers, and stronger than whatever you've done to him!"

Hanaq opened her mouth, only to stop and turn to stare at her captive, whose hands were balling and unballing, tears trickling down his face, as he fought Hanaq's control.

"I made him a promise. That I would become a person worthy of him. Him and the card he drew for me. The card that inspired my whole deck. And I will never let him down. Just as he could never let me down."

Hanaq felt her control over the younger Kaiba waver and falter, allowing Mokuba to take a step towards his brother before she clamped down on that connection, retaining her control over him.

Having seen the tears and the step, hope bloomed in Seto's chest. He could free his brother. He knew it.

Fury flared. This woman, who didn't even deserve to be called a Duelist, dared to keep his brother from him, when she couldn't even be trusted to protect her own siblings.

After all…

"You're so caught up in your revenge on the Pharaoh, you've forgotten your brothers are here too! They're guests in my 'Kingdom' too. You're the one who's sending them into the darkness if you defeat me. You're the one willing to offer them up!"

"They're mine. Not yours!"

Seto was pleased to see fear twist her features as she snapped back at him.

"The Shadows won't…"

"They're going to take anyone I considered mine at the start of the duel, right?" Seto sneered, pleased to have her on the backfoot. "They're my guests, in my theme park. You win, you sacrifice them."

After all, Shadow Games had to be fair.

"Or you can break the Shadow Game and end it now, and no one has to lose anything."

Hanaq's breath came in short pants and her eyes were so wide that Seto honestly thought that they were going to pop out of her head. She hadn't considered that when she'd started the game. She hadn't thought that by taking over the island and taking every soul on it, she would be ripping away the lives of her siblings.

Perhaps she should…

'I won't let you give up that much power for their lives.'

Hanaq suddenly found herself bound, the Shadows that'd been fused with her soul when the demon had saved her life holding her fast and preventing her from stopping the demon moving into control of her vessel. She fought but his grip was too tight, his bindings too complete to be able to stop him from drawing a card.

'Let me go!' Her shriek merely made the demon snicker as he considered her hand.

"My brothers betrayed me."

Hanaq's voice spoke, but it wasn't Hanaq's words and tears gushed down her cheeks as she realised she had no way to stop the creature from killing Kaiba and ripping out the souls of her brothers.

"They're not worth my time any longer. And I'm not going to waste time with this duel, either. I activate Double Summon!"

Kaiba took a step back as Gravekeeper's Heretic took the field only momentarily, only to be tributed alongside Visionary and Supernaturalist, for a total of 9500 attack points.

'You told me they'd be free! You promised me they'd be safe!' Hanaq begged as she struggled and fought but couldn't twist free as the great golden orb of the Winged Dragon of Ra appeared in the sky.

'You should have listened to the Thief Queen. Why would I give your brothers anything, when I could take the Pharaoh's soul and the souls of everyone here in one fell swoop?' The creature whose power had warped her soul cackled.

The demon ripped the hieratic language from her head to chant Ra's summoning song. The Divine Beast unfurled slowly, as if resisting every last moment of the summoning, but couldn't stop itself being conjured.

"I'm going to kill you, Kaiba. You and everyone here." Zorc promised, "Ra, burn the field!"

His lifepoints tumbled by 1000 as Ra unleashed its flames upon Kaiba's side of the field, burning Seto's dragons to ashes and erasing Lord of D. Its effect was too potent to be stopped by Lord of D's protections.

"I activate Cloning!"

Seto's voice shook, barely audible through the flames, but the card flipped face up and light shot skyward, forming a silvery version of the Divine Beast stood opposite.

One who also had 9500 attack points.

"Cloning allows me to copy your monster, but it doesn't directly target." Seto stated, staring the demon-controlled woman down, unaware that within her own shell she was screaming and crying for the duel to stop. "So, I get my own Winged Dragon."

"Clever, Kaiba, but you can't win unless you want to lose your brother."

"No, but you don't have enough lifepoints to destroy my monster, so we're at an impasse."

"No. We're not." The demon's snicker made Seto's eyes narrow. "There's a way past your clone. I pay 399 lifepoints, and add them to Ra's attack points."

The golden Winged Dragon on her side of the field grew a little hotter as its attack rose to 9899 attack points.

As Hanaq's lifepoints dropped to just 1.

"Now, destroy his fake!"

Seto's clone didn't stand a chance against the might of a God, even a God who was fighting every moment. The sheer heat of the flames drew a pained scream from Seto as his life points dropped to 1001.

And drove Seto to his knees, the ache of the false God's burns nothing compared to the agony of the true Divine Beast's wrath.

"Niisama!"

Too focused on keeping his host from doing something stupid, the demon missed that the fear for his brother allowed Mokuba to slip his mental leash until the boy was rushing past him and barely avoided being burned by the God's flames as he dove to his brother's side, offering support where he could.

"It doesn't matter. He's still MY tribute. And next turn, Kaiba, this duel ends."

"Don't do it, Niisama." Mokuba shook his head at his brother, able to feel the trembling that Seto was trying to hide, "I'm not…"

He trailed off as Seto pulled him into a hug that was so tight it took his breath away.

The younger Kaiba hugged back, certain this was it and willing for it to end that way, when it would protect his older brother.

There was a tremor in Seto's arms as he let his brother go, and Seto's lips shivered, even as he gave his brother a small, soft smile and patted him on the shoulder, before rising to his feet.

Mokuba's eyes widened as, despite his brother's glare at his opponent, his shoulders were hunched, and his movement was slowed.

"I summon Sagi the Dark Clown and tribute it to activate Enemy Controller!"

"What?"

The demon was now the one left taking a step back as his God Monster was yanked to Kaiba's side of the field, just like Marik's had been, and he was left facing down 9899 attack points of pure rage.

9899 attack points aimed directly at the demon's single lifepoint.

"I could end this now." Seto stated coldly, with a voice so level, Mokuba knew he was hiding his emotions. "I could be as cold, as heartless, as you and strike down my own brother."

"Niisama?" Mokuba's voice trembled as he realised what Seto was about to do.

"You haven't defeated me. You haven't earned this victory. I could strike you down here and now and you'll always know that the only reason you get to walk away, is because you were a coward who had to hide behind my brother to get what you wanted."

"No…"

"Mokuba." Seto's voice shook for the first time in Mokuba's life, "Yugi and her friends don't belong to me, they never have. They'll be safe. Go find them. Tell them what's happened."

"Niisama, no!"

Mokuba's plea didn't stop his brother.

As the fireworks exploded over the stadium, Seto couldn't help but be glad that he had, at least, lived long enough to see his theme park, his dream, officially open…

"I end my turn."

The Winged Dragon let out a furious, mournful bellow as it returned to the side of the demon.

Leaving Seto defenceless.

Certain of his complete and utter victory, Zorc didn't hesitate.

"Ra, destroy them both!"

Seto had just enough time to push Mokuba from the stage, before the flames consumed him with a deafening roar, wiping out his lifepoints, ending his life and dragging the whole island into darkness.

As the flames died down and Hanaq regained control of her vessel, Mokuba couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe as Hanaq stalked forward and he was forced to watch his brother's burned, lifeless body be kicked off the platform by the demon-possessed witch that had taken him hostage, and hit the floor with a dull thud.

Seto was gone…

The Shadows that skittered along the floor flooded forward, only to melt away, uninterested when there was nothing left for them to feed on.

Seto was GONE…

The shrill, despairing shriek that emitted from the child pierced the silence that had fallen, as Mokuba launched himself forward and curled over his brother's body, tears pouring down his cheeks, trying to protect Seto from any more harm.

Seto was gone, because of him.

No.

No!

He denied it.

Seto had promised.

Seto had promised!

Promised that he wouldn't leave Mokuba to run Kaiba Corp.

Promised that he wouldn't leave him alone.

This… this wasn't right.

Wasn't possible.

"Give him back!" Mokuba howled, his gaze every drop his brother at his most furious, his most vicious, "Give him back to me!"

"Even if I wanted to, which I don't."

The sheer ice in the voice of the woman who'd murdered his brother, hid the sheer wrath that boiled away under the surface, all of it aimed at the demon wrapped up in her soul.

"Your brother gave his life to save yours. He's dead. There's no way back from that. Not even for Kaiba Seto."

That… that was wrong.

Mokuba knew that was wrong.

Yugi.

Yugi had come back.

Yugi had died and come back at the docks. Yugi's friends had brought her back.

So there HAD to be a way. There HAD to be.

He just needed to get Seto to them.

"Then give me Isono back. Give me some guards so I have the chance to bury him with dignity. He can't hurt you anymore." Mokuba's voice trembled as hard as his body as he made his demand, holding onto the very, very slim hope that his brother could be saved.

No matter what it cost him.

"You know I can't fight you. You have the island. You have the guests. What harm does it do now?"

Hanaq bared her teeth as she considered the child's plea, her own guilt and grief pounding into her and making it hard to think.

Her hands stretched out as she felt the sheer power that the life energy of the thousands upon thousands of souls granted her, surging through her veins and mingling with the demon given strength.

Power that could be used to overwhelm the Pharaoh who had escaped the wave because Kaiba didn't consider her 'his'.

Hanaq knew she should never have given herself to the demon. She wasn't a person. She wasn't a soul. She was nothing compared to her brothers. She'd been born from the need to protect them, born from the wrath of a sister who'd been betrayed while trying to save those she cared about from the worst fates they could imagine.

And by surrendering to Zorc, by letting him get so much control over her that she'd sacrificed the souls of her own siblings for a plan she no longer cared about, she'd betrayed them worse than they had ever failed her.

She couldn't save them now. Not and save herself. But she could allow a child to bury his brother with the dignity that the demon would deny her own siblings.

It wasn't like it would matter in the end, if the demon got his own way.

"Fine."

With a wave of her hand, Isono and two more guards, enough to load Seto's body into the emergency vehicle and get wherever Mokuba needed them to go were released from her control.

As Isono stepped past her, hurrying to the side of the boys he'd done so much to aid, she slipped something in his pocket, hoping that he'd notice and that it would allow the Pharaoh to undo what she had done to her brothers.

Because the demon wouldn't let her undo it herself.

"Mokuba."

Her sneer was cruel as she played her role to her fullest, hoping that it would encourage him to make the Pharaoh do what was needed.

"You have an hour before I tear the Pharaoh to shreds and this world burns. So run."

Unaware of the battle going on within the witch, Mokuba didn't hesitate, snapping out orders to the confused and stumbling men.

If he had an hour, he was going to make the most of every second. Starting with heading to the stadium, where Yugi and her people were.

The moment he and his men were clear, Hanaq reached out to the vessels of those whose souls had been ripped so cruelly away.

It was time to send her ultimatum.