#(also i bet this is one the only times Seto can go: mokubas little 'friends' have a use LOL

[universestreasures]

@shacchou Sent: Actions Speak Louder Than Words (Accepting)

care, sender takes care of receiver when they're sick. (for Mokuba)

Everything happened so suddenly that he honestly couldn't realize it before it was too late. Mokuba had woken up that morning not feeling too well, his forehead feeling a bit warm and his throat slightly dry, but it wasn't enough for him to really register he was 'sick'. It was only after he got to school that the symptoms started to get worse, the fourteen-year-old overheating and couching rapidly before eventually passing out on the floor beside his desk.

He was then brought to the nurse's office with help from his schoolmate Akatsuki and his buddy monster Byakuya. The human happened to be walking in the hallway towards the restroom at the time of the incident and quickly rushed in to help his friend upon hearing the commotion, the ninja monster manifesting in a flash from his card to help carry the youngest Kaiba brother as well. Such good friends both of them were. Mokuba would owe them one later.

It was after the nurse began her examination that the son of the Cho-Tokyo police commissioner managed to snag Mokuba's cell phone from his locker. How did he unlock it? Well, that was a ninja secret for Akatsuki to know and for his big brother to never find out he used.

Regardless, he knew he was in the right by using it in a situation like this. The ninja was well aware that those associated with his friend were hard to contact through means other than directly through a secure line like that phone, and they certainly should be informed of what was going on in a timely manner. So, he took it upon himself to do the school's job of contacting both Seto Kaiba and Isano about the situation, his voice laced with urgency as he retold what had happened to the best of his ability.

Not too long after making his call, the suited bodyguard arrived inside the nurse's office. He had been temporarily reassigned as Mokuba's chaperone by the Kaiba Corp CEO after pulling a reckless act (as Seto would call it) one day following a Buddyfight at Castle. So, naturally, he had stationed himself outside the school grounds since they did not permit him entry during most times of the day. His presence there wasn't surprising. What was surprising was who came barging in not too long after the suited man's arrival.

For Seto Kaiba, the most powerful man in the entire city, appeared in the flesh before them all, the sight almost causing the poor nurse, and probably the rest of the school's staff, a heart attack of panic. Isano, knowing his boss's preferences well when it came to matters pertaining to the younger Kaiba in situations like this, prompted everyone else, including the nurse, to leave the room. That left the two brothers alone, with one of them unconscious and having a fever that was astronomically high.

What ended up awakening Mokuba not too long after his brother's arrival wasn't the commotion that said arrival had caused. It was instead the fact that his body felt suddenly a bit cooler because of a wet rag that Seto had placed on his forehead, a technique Mokuba can faintly remember their father using when he was little. Purple hues slowly begin to open as his consciousness returns, with this blurry vision slowly focusing on the sight of his brother who was looking over him.

"Big...Big brother...? Is that...you...?" Mokuba's voice was weak and strained, as if scissors had been applied to his throat. A few coughs escape him next, his body warming up and his heart rate starting to increase as a result. "Wha...What happened...? Last thing I remember was...being in math class..."

His head tilts up to examine his surroundings, not quite recognizing the room. This was the first time he's had to visit here, which was a good thing. He, along with pretty much everyone else around the boy like the staff, Mochi, or his brother, were usually better at catching when he was starting to get sick like this. Though, considering how busy things had been as of late for everyone, it made sense his subtle symptoms earlier had managed to sneak under everyone's noses. What was important was he was getting help now before things got even worse.

"Wait...Am I...still at school? And...how did you...how did you know I was-" He is stopped by his own coughing again, his voice echoing throughout the small room with an intensity unlike any other sickness he's ever had.

[ayma-nidiot]

In the White Light - Prideshipping fic Chapter 6

Also on AO3.

Chapter 6 – Like A Red Rose

Huh? Where am I? Kaiba had reawakened in a place that didn’t appear to be his plane. To add to his confusion, his surroundings seemed unusually… tall. So, Alister has send me to a giants’ world, has he? Another hallucination… I know I’m still on the plane!

Just then, three boys began to storm in from the trap door above. “Oh boy, oh boy, some food! Finally!”

“Say, Tony, maybe we can play chess after dinner!”

“Okay, Dennis, I’m up to it! We deserve a break after what we’ve gone through.”

Is that… Kaiba had to do a double-take at the third boy who entered. He looks just like Mokuba…

“I don’t know about Aaron up there, haha!”

Aaron felt hurt by Tony’s words, but he eventually noticed Kaiba sitting on the table. “Oh? What a cute little dragon!”

L-Little? Kaiba growled and attacked, but all that came out was a tiny ball of light.

“Aww, he’s so cute!” Aaron picked Kaiba off the table and started to pet him. “Can we keep him?”

Brat! …Huh? Kaiba looked into a mirror nearby. Sure enough he was in dragon form, but no bigger than a housecat. Aaaah! I look like one of Pegasus’ toon monsters!

“No can do, man. We can’t afford dinner for four!”

“Hmph!” Defying his friends, Aaron picked some food off the tiny dining table and fed it to a barely willing Kaiba.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Dennis nearly threw a fork at Aaron. “You’re going to pay for that!”

“And we mean literally,” Tony added. “How about you and your new pet go get us dessert. Hahaha!”

Without thinking, Kaiba snapped back, “Are you brats always this friendly?”

“Whoah!” Tony dropped his spoon. “He can talk!”

You and me both, Kaiba thought, not impressed at his pipsqueak-sounding voice.

“Okay, we’ll get your stupid dessert!” As Aaron carried him out, Kaiba gave the boys one last snarl before they crossed the trap door. I won’t fall for any of this, Alister!

“Wow, a dragon that can talk!” Aaron sounded amazed as he walked out. “Maybe when you grow big and strong, you can finally squash KaibaCorp! All right, I’ll go find you some food while I go look for dessert, too!”

Ugh, don’t remind me… For once, Kaiba could keep his power-hungry tendencies in check, and was thankful for it. “Say, Aaron… When did all of this KaibaCorp nonsense start?”

“I don’t really know… It feels like it’s been forever.” Aaron jumped onto a nearby ledge. “Let me think… Gozaburo bought out our land about a year ago, then when we refused to move, he started attacking. That’s when I met my friends… I know they seem mean, but they work really hard just to find me something to eat. I kind of owe it to them to return the favour.”

“Oh, I see…” Kaiba frowned, feeling a little ashamed. My father… What a repulsive man he was.

“Hey, are you okay, little guy?” Aaron stopped walking.

“It’s… It’s nothing.” It’s also a good thing that I’m not wearing my usual clothes, complete with the KaibaCorp logo.

“Well, if you insist.” Aaron continued down the ledge. “We shouldn’t stay in place for too long, or Gozaburo’s men might find us. A lot of my old classmates had to go hide… I hope they’re okay. It’s a good thing us kids are so small, haha!”

Alister, I think I’ve learned a long time ago that my stepfather hurt you! I’ve seen enough!

Aaron’s next words disturbed any further thoughts. “Say, do you want to play chess when we get back?”

“Huh? Where did that… Er, of course! I was the best when I was young.”

“But you’re already young.”

Crap… Well, I’m not lying. “Wait… Aaron, look over there.” Kaiba nudged his head to his right, indicating a tower of smoke.

“Oh no! That’s where the hideout is! Quick, uh… What should I call you?”

“Seto is fine.”

“Let’s go, Seto! We have to save my friends!”

“Wait! It’s too dangerous!” Kaiba tried to break free and stop Aaron, but that only made him tighten his grip.

When he arrived at the scene, the entire hideout was in flames, and all Aaron could really see was the frame of the building. “Oh no! They might be trapped!”

“No!” Kaiba released himself from Aaron’s hold and pulled him by the collar, vigorously flapping his wings.

“Please, Seto!” Aaron’s voice sounded different this time.

“Mokuba?” Kaiba stared at the brief mirage of his younger brother before he could hear tanks nearby.

“Aah! It’s KaibaCorp! Quick, we need to find a new hiding spot!”

“Grr… Face me, Alister, you coward!” With a loud roar, Kaiba could not only feel himself grow, but also turn back into a human. “Let’s finish this duel!”

The mirage of Aaron disappeared, with Y-Dragon Head and X-Head Cannon taking its place. But the former didn’t last long, as with a quick blast, one of the tanks had taken it out.

“Hahaha! Feeling the burn yet?” At last, Alister had shown his face.

“What burn? Your mind games aren’t working anymore! See, your little illusion you call a ‘friend’ is already gone!”

“But it is no illusion. You see, those were my three best friends growing up. We also had a pet cat that Aaron and I particularly loved. He was one of the few happy moments in our lives back then… We all looked out for one another, and the cat even brought us a few scraps of food every now and then. But he died trying to protect us from a tank, and that’s when the tanks ran my other friends out of town!”

“…”

“So now you’ve had a taste of my past, and you’ll see how it feels to be attack by the tanks that ruined my life. Oh, and by the way, I thought I’d like to mention what’s happened in our current reality. I just used a trap card called Tank Corps, powering up my KC One Crayton and giving it 1500 extra attack points. I had more than enough to defeat your Y-Dragon Head and inflict 2000 life points of damage on to you. So now, I place a card face down. Your turn!”

“My Y-Dragon Head is down but not out! I use Monster Reborn to bring it back! Now say hello to XYZ Dragon Cannon! And thanks to its special ability, I’ll discard one of my cards to get rid of one of yours! Your Tank Corps is gone!”

“Oh!” Alister turned around as he watched the tanks around him blow up, leaving only the KC One Crayton in its place.

“Now, XYZ Dragon Cannon, attack!”

With six blasts of light, the XYZ Dragon Cannon struck its foe, creating a storm of light that took everyone back to the real world.

“Hm. I should have expected this brutish behaviour from you. You really are just like your father after all! That’s why… That’s why I’m going to end you today, so that people like you will get the suffering they deserve, and the less fortunate can live in peace!”

“Shut up, you- Aah!” Kaiba wobbled as the plane started to nosedive. Oh no… Mokuba! He’s in the cockpit!

“I wouldn’t worry too much about your brother if I were you. It’s a shame you can’t even protect him… Now you know how it feels. And you’ll suffer even more when I take your soul, then that of your precious pharaoh!”

Kaiba blushed, but still keeping up his usual anger. “What the hell do you know?”

“You saw what he did back there… He sees you as nothing but an enemy, a monster to save the world from. Do you really think he could ever fall for you?”

“That’s none of your damned business!”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.” Alister drew another card.

Despite how concerned Kaiba felt for his brother, Mokuba could handle the plane fairly well, even though he was so small. “Oh! Roland, am I glad to see you!”

“Mr. Mokuba! What’s the matter?”

“There’s no time to explain… Seto and I are on a plane that’s about to crash land! You gotta send help!”

“On it, sir!”

“Mr. Mokuba!” Another one of KaibaCorp’s employees came onto the video call. “I’ll help you fly the plane! Just follow my instructions word-for-word, got it?”

“You got it!”

“Push the buttons on the right…”

“Uh huh.” After following a few more instructions, Mokuba had barely averted the mountain ahead. “Yay! Now I can just put the plane back on autopilot and go see if Seto’s okay.”

Meanwhile, Alister felt so confident in himself, despite the heavy hit he just took. “I summon Kinetic Soldier in attack mode! I play Junk Dealer to bring back Science Soldier and Cyber Soldier of Dark World back with half of their original attack points! Next, I activate my trap, Soldier Revolt, to destroy all of your in-play cards and the cards in your hand when I have these three monsters on the field! Next…”

“There’s… a next?”

“You bet there is! I now play Sky Union… Now get ready for my strongest monster, the Air Fortress Ziggurat! Not only is it strong – both naturally and from the Seal – I can summon a Robot Token for every turn it’s in play.”

“This is nothing…” Kaiba drew one of his cards – one that hurt him badly in the duel with Yami Yugi, but one that he couldn’t be more thankful for now.

“Seto! Please, stop this duel!”

Ignoring his brother’s pleas, Kaiba continued, “I use Pot of Greed to draw two cards. I place one card face down, and now my turn is done.”

“And so are you! Air Fortress Ziggurat, attack his life points directly!”

“Not so fast! My face down card lets me use your Junk Dealer, and I protect my life points with Judge Man!”

“So? You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

Kaiba could hear the faint sound of choppers in the distance. “The only thing that’s inevitable here is my rescue – and your doom.”

“So you even hide behind your army of cronies like Gozaburo! Raaaaa!” Alister’s anger grew more profound, increasing not only the Seal’s power, but also damage to the place.

“Forget about that snake! I’ll make sure you do with Soul Exchange! I know I can’t take your Ziggurat, but I can take the tokens! Then I use these tokens… as tribute for one of my strongest monsters! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

“Seto, don’t!” Mokuba cried.

“Ngh…” Upon playing this card, Kaiba’s back pain and nausea started to set in.

“You know if you use that card, you could go mad again, right?” Alister teased. “Then you’ll turn back into a dragon and feel the pain when the pharaoh attacks you again. So you’re not going to win either way! It’s either become that dragon the pharaoh hates or lose your soul to the Seal of Orichalcos!”

With a strong mind, Kaiba managed to wear his pain off. “You’re wrong. I’ve made a vow today that I will stay strong and not let the curse take me again. But enough about me… Our monsters now have an equal attack power of 3000.”

“Hmm, such fighting spirit!” On his seventh turn, Alister spoke up, “I activate Toy Robot Box, discarding three cards to summon three more robots! I’ll use one of them to activate my Spell Canceller.”

“So stopping violence… with more violence. Maybe you’re the one who’s like Gozaburo. What would your brother say?”

“Y-You know nothing, cur! Now, my Ziggurat, attack his-”

“A wasted effort. I activate Tyrant Wing, giving my Blue-Eyes 400 attack points!”

“Way to go!” Mokuba cheered.

Mokuba… I’ll protect you. “Now I can take down your Ziggurat!”

Now I’ve only got 1000 life points… Alister thought as he began to lose hope. “You’re going to lose…”

“If you didn’t notice, you’ve got no monsters, and I’ve got my Blue-Eyes!”

“I didn’t mean the duel… If I have to lose my soul to Orichalcos, then I’m taking you and your fucking little brother with me!” Alister declared as the plane’s propellers stopped.

“You will do no such thing! I summon… The Fang of Critias! He fuses with my Tyrant Wing and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to create… The Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon!”

“No… No, it can’t be!”

“Tyrant Dragon, destroy those tokens and eliminate the rest of Alister’s life points!”

“Hah… Hah…” Alister panted as he fell to the floor in defeat. “I’ve… lost.”

“Alister!” Mokuba fully expected what was to come next. “No, don’t go!”

“Mikey…” Alister stretched out his hand with the Dyna-Dude action figure in it. “Mikey, forgive me… I’m not a good older brother… So I deserve… this…”

“Alister…” Even after everything Alister did to him, Mokuba couldn’t help but shed a tear for the man who just lost his soul.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to worry about him! This plane’s about to crash!”

“Th-Then we’ve got to do something!” Mokuba led Kaiba to the cockpit. “No! What are we gonna… Seto, look at your Duel Disk! It’s glowing!”

“Yug, look, your Duel Disk is glowing!” Joey alerted from several thousand feet below.

“Yours, too! Ah! Timaeus! Hermos!”

“Look!” Téa was the first to notice the crash-landing plane. “The dragons are saving that plane!”

“We’ve got to go see!” Tristan suggested. “Hurry!”

As the friends got closer to their destination, Yami Yugi noticed the third dragon as well. “It’s Critias! Could it be…”

“Yug, watch out! The plane is crash landing now!”

Aided by the dragons and the soft lakeside, the plane landed with only minor damage – something that Kaiba was certainly thankful for as he exited.

“It's...” Téa pointed. “It’s one of Kaiba’s planes!”

“Hmm?” Kaiba noticed Téa, Joey, and Tristan first. “Oh great, if it isn’t the Dweeb Patrol. What are you doing here?”

“Listen, rich boy, we’re the one who should be asking questions. Who is that you’re carrying?”

“…Just some guy I dueled on this plane.”

“By the looks of it, his soul… It got lost to Orichalcos, didn’t it?” Téa remarked. “Then… We’ve got to get him to the hospital, too.”

“‘Too?’”

“It’s a long story, but Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor lost their souls, too,” Tristan replied. “And all for some petty revenge.”

“Anyway, we were looking for you! Especially Yug over there, he was pretty eager to see you again.”

“Yugi… He’s here?” Kaiba felt the butterflies again – but they were the good kind now. “L-Let me see him!”

And just like that, Yami Yugi revealed himself to Kaiba once more, staring at him with a pleasant silence.

“Yugi…” Kaiba could feel his heart pounding as he took a step forward.

To his surprise, it was Yami Yugi who took the first approach – and a very emotional one at that. “Kaiba… Oh gods, Kaiba, I thought I had lost you for good!”

Kaiba didn’t know what to make about the fact that a pharaoh – a revered king – just knelt in front of him while crying.

“I’m… so glad… I thought I had failed to save you… I thought I had… Eh? What are you doing?”

In the midst of his thoughts, Kaiba had given Yami Yugi a strong hug, bringing him back to his feet in the process. That’s right… Ever since our first duel, I have felt this way. Even more than a rival, pharaoh… You are…

“…beautiful…” Kaiba pushed the long golden bangs out of the way to get a better look at Yami Yugi’s eyes. His eyes… I thought they were purple before, but they glow like a red rose.

“What? Kaiba, this isn’t funny- Mph!”

Any insignificant thoughts Yami Yugi might have had at that moment were stifled in Kaiba’s kiss.

[kaibagirl007]

Since I Saw You Last

(Standalone story for Kaiba’s return in my RPverse with @dragontamer05)

Mokuba stood in Domino’s airport, gazing out of the windows as he watched the huge commercial jets taxing along the runways towards their terminals. He was aware one of those planes had arrived from San Francisco and that it carried his brother and Pegasus amongst the passengers on board. 

How long had it been since he’d last seen them in person? A year? More? A quick calculation in his head revealed that it was close to 15 months since the raid on the Kaiba mansion which had resulted in his brother being forcefully institutionalised by his command. 

His stomach somersaulted at the memory of that difficult day. It had been a heart-wrenching decision to make, but one that had paid off and helped pull his brother back from the darkness of despair. Or at least that was what Pegasus had assured him, as he’d yet to actually interact with his brother for himself. I hope he doesn’t hate me for what I did…

“Mokuba Kaiba!” 

The familiar stern voice of his brother sounded behind him, and Mokuba turned to see the duo he’d been there to greet standing just a few metres away.

“Who gave you permission to grow so tall?” A soft smile materialised on Kaiba’s face.

Happiness filled Mokuba’s heart; his brother looked so much healthier than the last time he’d seen him. The genuine smile he saw also suggested there were no ill feelings being harboured. “Welcome home, Seto.”

The two brothers came to stand opposite each other. It was a bit of a weird feeling now that the height difference between them was only a few inches instead of a couple of feet. There was also a weird sense of just how they should greet each other further. Were they too old/grown apart for hugs? Was a handshake too formal? Would a clasp on the shoulder be a perfect balance?

Kaiba was the one to make the next move as he stepped forward and pulled Mokuba into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry… for everything. I’m so, so, sorry,” he apologised before burying his head in his brother’s shoulder and began to cry.

“Me too,” Mokuba teared up as he spoke and hugged his shuddering brother tightly. Things could have turned out disastrously for them, but there was no hate or resentment for how each had treated the other during his sibling’s breakdown. 

Pegasus watched from the sidelines as he gave the brothers space for their emotional reunion. He knew that Kaiba still had a sizeable recovery ahead of him, but was well on his way to achieving it. And it was all thanks to Mokuba’s trust in the advice he had provided him with which had made such a turnaround possible. 

—

“We could renovate the place…” Mokuba suggested as he and his brother stood in the entrance hall of their mansion which had not been lived in for over a year now. “Maybe, knock down another wing if that would help?”

Kaiba silently shook his head in disagreement as he glanced around the huge open space. Even on the first day Gozaburo had brought them both here, he hadn’t felt as small and overwhelmed as he did now. His eyes came to rest on the bullet hole in the wall which he’d accidentally caused a couple of years back. “There’s too many memories.”

Pegasus had warned the younger brother that the other might not want to settle back in the mansion, so Mokuba wasn’t shocked by the reluctantly at all, especially since it wasn’t uncommon for his brother to want to destroy elements of their past in order to move forward. “So what’s the alternative? You wanna knock the whole thing down and rebuild?”

“No.” Kaiba had finally come to realise that destruction had never solved things for him in the past, and he had no reason to believe it would anytime soon either. “There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the mansion itself, it’s just not for ‘us’ anymore… We’ll move out and find someplace else to live… That is, unless you already have,- or would prefer,- a place of your own?”

“As amazing as the Mutos have been for letting me live with them, I’ve really been looking forward to moving back in with my ‘slightly taller’ big bro.” Mokuba smiled, unable to resist making the playful tease and received an amused smirk as his reward. “So… if we’re moving on, I take it we’re selling this place?”

“That’s not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of donating it to the city on the grounds it is used for something Domino is in need of.” 

“Like what exactly?” 

Kaiba gave a shrug of uncertainty. “Refuge for the homeless? Hospice? Rehab centre? Psychiatric hospital?… Something that will benefit those who are vulnerable, overlooked or ignored, and in need of the most help.”

A proud smile graced Mokuba’s face. “Is this part of that big plan of yours?”

“Plan?”

Oops! Mokuba winced a little at having accidentally let the cat out of the bag. It was too late now, he owed an explanation to the confused face staring at him. “When I spoke with him last month, Pegasus let slip that you’ve been working on some kind of secret project. He wouldn’t say what it was exactly, but described it as ’an aspiring goal’ for you to ‘focus on and achieve’… Is it not connected to that?”

“No, it’s… something else.” Kaiba wasn’t at all annoyed with what had been said but was a little hesitant to share details. 

“It’s not a space elevator, is it?” Mokuba comically frowned. “Because honestly, that idea is-“

“Dumb?” 

“I was going to say ‘overly eccentric’, but if you’re okay with describing it as such, I guess ‘dumb’ works too.” Mokuba mimicked his brother’s soft laughter.

“It’s not a space elevator,” Kaiba assured with an amused grin still in place. “It’s more down-to-earth than that. And it’s not going to be kept as a big secretive project either. It’s simply in an early conception stage at the moment, but I will tell you what it is if you truly want to know.-”

“Of course I do!” the teen blurted out rather enthusiastically. He then tried to regain some composure. “I mean, ‘yes’, I’d like to know what this aspiring goal of yours is.”

Another smile at seeing the excitement sparkling in those grey eyes level with his own. His brother may have grown by an unbelievable amount, but that joyful temperament hadn’t changed at all. “I plan on building an academy that specialises in teaching its students all about Duel Monsters. There they will learn everything required to become a pro duelist.”

“That sounds so cool.” Mokuba’s grin grew even wider. Already he could see the change in his brother’s newly acquired attitude, yet his obsession with the game hadn’t wavered in the slightest; he should have known a future goal would involve it somehow. “I bet it’s going to be a huge success.”

— 

The Kaiba Dome was at full capacity as 50,000 people had gathered to see the rematch they’d all been waiting for. Seto Kaiba Vs Yugi Muto; two of Duel Monsters greatest duelists. But just who would be the victor? 

Both duelists used revamped decks which featured unseen cards and introduced a new summoning method,- synchro,-  via a newly designed and sleeker-looking duel disk. For nearly an hour they duelled, each giving it their all. Eventually though, one of them won out…

“You made them BOTH new cards?!” Mokuba exclaimed as he sat in the control room with Pegasus as they watched the duel play out.

“Of course. It would have been extremely unfair to produce the support cards for your brother’s dragons and expect Yugi-boy to go without.”

“He has a whole bunch of ‘new’ Magician Girls now, I don’t see why you had to make him ‘that’ card!” A finger was forcefully pointed towards Exodia the Legendary Defender as it tore through his brother’s Giant Germ, thus winning the duel despite the remaining life points and two powerful dragons on the field. “It’s way too OP!”

“I assure you Moku-boy, both decks are balanced. Whilst Yugi had to stall until the time was right to be able to play such a card, your brother was able to swarm the field at practically every turn.”

“Yeah, but… he still lost.”

“Only by a very thin margin.” Pegasus studied the teen’s saddened face. “You don’t need to worry. Your brother’s a changed man, he can handle this… Besides, the duel and its outcome isn’t this evening’s focal point. He has something else up his sleeve that the crowd is bound to go crazy for.”

He does? Mokuba wasn’t sure what had been planned as he continued to stare at his brother kneeling on the stage in defeat. The only thing he could remotely think of that might excite the crowd to such a level was the announcement of the duel academy. But since he knew that to still be in the very early stages, he doubted as such. Just what are you up to, Seto?

Down on centre stage, the winner made his way towards his rival. “Hey, um… you okay?” Yugi asked nervously as he now stood over the other whose bangs were obstructing his face.

“I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed,” Kaiba assured before he cracked a wide smile and looked up at the victor before him. “Good game. That’s the most fun I’ve had in years.”

“You certainly kept me on my toes.” Yugi offered his hand to help the other up. “Those support cards and that new dragon of yours are amazing!”

“I guess those Magician Girls of yours aren’t too shabby either,” Kaiba admitted as he took hold of the offered hand and rose back up onto his feet. “Your winning monster, however… let's just say, I’ll be glad to never see another Exodia card for as long as I live.”

An exchange of laughter was shared between the two friends. 

“Are you ready for the next part?” 

“Not particularly,” Yugi grimaced. Although they were currently being watched by thousands of spectators, it was only when faced with looking out amongst them that he felt uncomfortable.

“I’ll make it swift.” Once Kaiba had received a nod of approval, he reactivated the mic on his lapel. “Everybody here in the stadium tonight, let’s have a big cheer for the undefeated King of Games: Yugi Muto!”

The whole stadium whooped, clapped and cheered for the winning duelist.

“Th-th-th-thanks.” Yugi stammered as he sheepishly waved at the crowd.

Noticing the other’s growing discomfort, Kaiba gestured towards the nearest stage exit for Yugi to take whilst he worked on gaining back the crowd’s attention for the final phase. “He’s a tough opponent to beat, that’s for sure… but he can’t hold that title forever. Maybe one day I’ll succeed in claiming it for myself. Or perhaps there’s an aspiring duelist amongst you all here in the stadium who will step up to the challenge before I get that chance to do so? 

“One thing’s for certain; the only way to achieve such victory will be with a Kaiba Corp Duel Disk! You’ve marvelled at the wonders of the 2.0 this evening, and in just a month’s time, you too will be able to own the latest tech my company has to offer! 

“But that’s not all… No launch of an improved duel system would be complete without new Duel Monsters cards, some of which you have witnessed here this evening! Without further ado, here’s a look at just what you can expect in the very near future…” Kaiba cancelled his mic once more and the lights turned off to plunge the stage into darkness. Okay, this is it. I hope you’re watching wherever you are.

Looking directly up above him, Kaiba saw the 3Dimensional holographic commercial projected in the air for all to see. The new booster set’s title,- Dawning New Era,- was displayed and a happily chirping Kuriboh bounced along each word before sprouting a pair of wings and flew out towards the audience. 

In the winged fluffball’s wake, an army consisting of a brand new archetype,- Elemental Hero,- burst onto the scene. Several of the warrior type monsters fused together to create new monsters. The warriors then de-fused and re-fused with different members of their archetype to make even more fusion monsters, thereby demonstrating the diversity to be had with its many combinations.

Union monsters V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult were next on the scene. As well as their own unique fusion monster, it could also combine with the previously released XYZ Dragon Cannon to form a mighty mechanical menace that was a force to be reckoned with.

The Apple and Lemon Magician Girls materialised in a shower of sparkles and then summoned the Berry, Kiwi, Chocolate, and Dark Magician Girls to team up and vanquish VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon. They then made way for the newly added tuner and synchro monsters.

Goyo Guardian, Gravity Warrior, and Red Wyvern momentarily held the spotlight amongst the fresh batch before the incredible Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon stole centre stage. Beneath the dragon, the Master, Priestess, Protector and Sage With Eyes of Blue made their appearances…

Confused murmurs began to hum throughout the stadium as the duel monsters’ images faded from view. What would be the point of releasing monsters that specially provided support for a card which was unobtainable to them? Blue-Eyes White Dragon was Seto Kaiba’s monster and his alone. Unless…?

Lightning started to crackle and form in the darkened space. 

Kaiba reactivated his mic. “How many of you will welcome this truly majestic creature into your deck? She’s served me well, and will soon provide widespread aid. Please give it up for one of the game’s strongest cards as she’s about to make her general release debut, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

Before long, his faithful dragon made her appearance and let out a fierce roar that caused immense excitement in the crowd of 50,000. Worshipped and adored, she would soon aid her power to those duelists in need of it. No longer would she be confined to the stone tablet and a sole deck, but free to roam wherever she pleased via the many decks her card would soon become a part of. 

It wasn’t the complete fulfilment of his ancestor’s prophecy, but it was a start; Kaiba’s peace and acceptance of the concept of destiny which he would no longer fight or deny. Whatever would be, would be, so who was he to worry or intervene?

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 33:  ᵇˡᶦᵐᵖ ʙʟɪᴍᴘ  BLIMP ԀꟽI⅂ꓭ

I usually don’t really do these during weekdays but lets just say today was a day where I felt the need for a healthy distraction.

Ah, it is episode 33. There are...so many episodes in a Yugioh season, guys. I was just not aware. But, here we are at episode 33 and we are finally going to start the finals.

For reals this time, no one’s going to get engaged, no one’s going to randomly murder a bunch of people. We are officially starting the finals this episode.

Sort of.

Man, Kaiba and his butterfly-wing shoulderpads. Sometimes it just looks like he’s just going to gently flutter away.

Also in this stadium with Kaiba and Mokuba is Marik and Odion, who is just as confused as to where the hell everyone went and why the hell Mai just flew by being carried off by a ninja in a jet pack. The hours it must have taken to wait for Yugi’s crew to walk 2 single blocks was enough time for Marik to formulate yet another back-up plan. I want to say this is plan #9.

It’s a good thing Pharaoh can’t read anymore, considering that Marik’s just walking around in a crop hoodie with a tattoo that just reads “SEASON 2 SPOILERS, PHARAOH, DO NOT READ” in hieroglyphs.

But if you wait long enough, even Yugi and his friends will accidentally wander the correct direction and actually show up.

(read more under the cut)

Not a joke, this is actually an unfinished public works project, congratulations, Kaiba Corps, there is nothing that Kaiba won’t try and then fail at, at least once.

Anyways, this shady-as-hell unfinished stadium seems kind of like a good place to get murdered and then tossed into a cement slab. Which honestly, would have been a very likely end to this season, considering what we have been through so far.

Marik decides to sneak around the bleachers, probably on all fours so no one would spot him, jump out a window, and then come in through the front door like he’s not been here this entire time. As he did, apparently he made everything very, very windy. In fact, everyone with a millennium item brought with them a spooooooky gust of wind except I think Yugi, who is probably too short to pull that one off.

Yugi did manage to get the vibe of “something bad is coming” before Marik entered the field, but like...there’s so many bad things at this point, Yugi. So many people that could be. It feels like that might be half the cast. You could say that at any given moment in this season and be absolutely right.

So, after possessing Tea for a second, for...some reason? Did she need threatening? Anyway, after doing that, Namu is in with the gang because literally nothing will prevent Yugi from becoming a friend with you, especially if you are trying to hide the fact that you just tried to kill him by drowning him in the ocean.

Funny how instead of them asking how the hell Namu got away from cultists, they have to fixate on the mystery of “is Bakura good at cards!?” because, and I kinda forgot about this, I guess they don’t remember the last time they saw Bakura play. How far up their own ass is Yugi and Joey to assume that just because Bakura doesn’t brag about cards all day, that Bakura hasn’t been equally good at cards? They kind of deserve this.

Yeah and PS Kaiba absolutely did not check the satellite to get the DL on why the hell Bakura got so many cards. Dayjob Saruman I guess went home for the evening so...although that shadow game was definitely being recorded on a computer, we’ll never know what that mess looked like on Kaiba’s end. Like there’s just three duel disks covered in ectoplasm hanging out in the cemetery and no one seems to have noticed?

Like for a competition that was huge about security and tech, they only seemed to watch the God Cards players and then Mokuba randomly monitored Joey Wheeler for some reason. That was it. That was all the people the Kaiba’s cared about.

So although Marik and Odion and Bakura could probably take on everyone right now. Like riiiight now. They decide not to because, well, I nearly forgot about someone that I was really looking forward to seeing again, that’s right, my favorite boy!

AW THERE HE IS!

to quote one of my actual favorite earworms,

Where has this big boy been hiding!? He’s freakin ginormous, but apparently he was just hiding behind a soft cloud or something, in anticipation of this grand reveal in a very sketch unfinished stadium that’s probably being used to bet on bum fights.

Mokuba gets excited for the first time since...I don’t remember if Mokuba’s ever actually been excited before. Like I’m digging through my memories here and no, Mokuba’s been mostly abducted, angry, bored, or scared, this is the first time he’s exuded that pure pre-teen energy.

PS a blimp’s max flying height is 1500 ft, and what surprised me the most about this was realizing that this entire time we’ve been watching this show, we’ve been getting measurements in US metrics. Didn’t realize that before today.

Also, on my wikipedia deep dive into blimps, I found out that like...this is probably not a “blimp,” but actually a semi-rigid airship but...I’m gonna keep calling it a blimp. Don’t @ me, blimp fandom on tumblr.

It’s so good to see more Blimp. Even though...probably the worst place to throw a tourney? Like...how many people are you even gonna fit in there? Like...is this televised? I mean I don’t know how Kaiba’s marketing works for this, honestly, he took over every TV in the city to get people to join this tourney, and now that it’s in full swing no one can watch it?

Whatever, it’s a blimp.

Duke Devlin is still here, despite the fact that I don’t think he’s going to do anything for the rest of this season. I guess they had to promote that gameboy game so his face will just be in the background always although as a dice player he um...he has no purpose here.

In fact it makes no sense, he works with Pegasus who straight up killed Mokuba and Kaiba like a month ago, why are they just letting him on their airship? Whatever.

I dunno, maybe there’s more that Duke will do eventually, but he just seemed like a replacement for Bakura at first--and Bakura’s back now, so why’s he still here?

Ishizu is here, and while every other time we’ve seen Ishizu, she’s been talking our ears off, the one time she should probably say something, she instead decides to lock herself inside her bedroom and avoid everyone.

I guess she was mostly avoiding Marik so they don’t have a sibling laser fight in the hull of a Blimp. That would have made things so awkward for Yugi and Bakura. Especially Yugi, who still doesn’t know that thing around his neck shoots freakin lasers.

Props the background artists who had to draw billions of small little buildings AKA the worst background in the world to draw. I will go through hoops to avoid drawing even a single building, but to have to sit down and paint just a whole page of buildings that someone’s going to smack a foreground on anyway? Mad respect. If you look closely you’ll see that this artist had to use a ruler and perspective and other annoying tools that take up time and energy. Even using editing tools like using blocks of black color to imitate the look of rooftops and crowded structures, it probably took them a few hours to make the background that went in a .2 second scene.

They’ll probably reuse these buildings later, don’t get me wrong, but oi, I feel for them in my carpel tunnel bones.

Seto keeps telling Yugi that they’re rivals but I don’t think anyone on this show other than Joey thinks of Seto as much of a rival at all. You almost feel a little bad for him, like he’s in a weird...hate triangle, but very much on the loosing end of it.

Next we get a good look at Kaiba’s interior design decisions, and much like his mansions, it’s a lot of very unexpected soothing pastels. Like this is a lot of seafoam blue. How can someone so angry make something so grandma-zen? Is it actually Kaiba’s grandmother who is just slapping down all these paint chips when he’s not looking? I mean it’s got muted pink stools even, with a makeup station.

Tea, Tristan, and Duke have no rooms to go to because they aren’t actually part of this competition, so they’re just squatting around until they’ll probably all end up crashing with Mokuba, the only other person who is not dueling in this competition. Reminds me a lot of the first week of college, where everyone is just coasting dorm room to dorm room and there’s like 10 people there who actually don’t actually go there but want to hang out with their high school friends and they just end up sleeping in your room for 7 days until they read your other friend’s diary, get hella indignant, and then storm off back to California. My apologies to my Freshman year roommate who had to put up with all that girl drama.

And because it’s this show, the men and their bottomless stomachs decide to raid the smallest little mini fridge and you wouldn’t believe what takes up about 1/4 of it

There is so many cheese wheels in this Japanese show, guys. So, I felt like doing a quick google search of Japan and Cheese and it’s just a bunch of ex-pats talking about how the European cheeses most of us are familiar with is harder to find in Japan. So, maybe that’s why? It's a status symbol that he can find round cheeses?

But even if you can only get your hands on a 30$ Swiss wheel every so often (because that really is just Swiss cheese, like lets be real.) how much Swiss cheese can one man eat??? Especially since, looking closely, there is not a single baguette here. No man can eat that much cheese without a bread!

Sorry, stuffing your face full of free cheese you pulled out of your friend’s mini-fridge is also giving me vivid flashbacks to my Freshman year of college.

Also little edit--just realized that flag is flipped 90 degrees from French so that’s probably a Holland flag? Although I looked up European flags and there is...none that have that color order so I don’t know which country they were originally going for.

YO I just realized there’s no curtains on any of these pelvis-height level windows. So, you can’t sleep because of the lights, and you can’t change into pajamas because like--the whole city will see.

Kaiba does seem like the type that would on purpose not install any curtains on any of the windows he’s ever owned, though.

Keto is gone, and now we just have Roland, who is probably too terrified to ever abduct the Kaibas by picking them up by the neck with one arm.

Anyway, in case you were wondering--since the show has decided to make a huge fuss over card prep time--how can they prep for a card game if they only have the cards they brought with them and they don’t know what the other people are even playing or which person they’re playing first?

Kaiba did nothing. He sat there and thought “If Yugi doesn’t even put that God Card in his deck this entire tourney will be absolutely pointless.”

Mai took little sips of milk. Probably paired it with Swiss cheese. Just a huge bite out of a wheel of Swiss cheese.

Odion never found the refrigerator.

Marik took a nap on this bed that looks like it’s just made of foam. Why is this the only one on the show who’s like “Youknow, I should sleep at some point.”

And Yugi’s prep involved talking to himself a whole lot, which explains why none of his friends wanted to stay here for that. I doubt very much Yugi kicked him out of the room. He was probably like “no, stay, stay” in that high pitched-low pitched voice combo until they were like “nooooo I don’t want to be present for your daily seance checkup byeeee.” while slowly backing out of the room.

Yo remember that time we were worried about Bandit Keith stealing the puzzle?

Apparently...Pharaoh could have just sort of done that dizzolving thingy and appeared right back on Yugi’s neck.

And remember that time Yugi handed that puzzle to Joey?

Apparently...Pharaoh could have just sneezed and then bam--right back around Yugi’s neck.

Like remember any time this season that we’ve been like “Oh no, the puzzle! We’re gonna lose it!” no that...that was never a problem.

I mean to be fair when it’s dismantled it might not work but um--apparently you can’t lose an item after it’s decided it likes you. At all. Which is kind of weird because Pegasus totally lost that eyeball, and aren’t all these items property of Pharaoh anyway?

I’ll try not to think about it as this rule seems to only really apply to Bakura. 

Anyway, next week--I’m pretty sure the finals are indeed actually starting next week. I could be wrong as I have been every single episode but maybe--probably--the finals are actually going to start. We shall see.

[serena-inverse]

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Darkside of Dimensions reaction

I will not call this a review- it’s more a KEYSLAM OF FEELINGS that I need to get off my fangirl chest while I’m still super hyped from the screening!

Cut for spoilers!

Okay so- first of all going to the screening was fun. As I’m waiting in the queue to get my ticket (while trying to discreetly look around and see if any YGO cosplayers came along) there’s a group of 3 teenage boys behind me and I catch some of their conversation.

“Dude- I can’t see the movie listed? Do you think they’re not showing it?”

“No man, it’s just too ‘indie’ so there not bothering to put it on the board. It’ll be on, trust me, I check before we came.”

At this point I’m internally going !!!! because maybe they’re going to see Yugi on the big screen too??? And then one of them adds really nervously-

“Oh man, what if they say we need like, a kid with us to go see it? What if we’re too old for a YGO cartoon?”

And I’m just smiling and trying not to laugh because you poor thing- I am 10 years older then you and going to see this movie by myself. You will be fine. I nearly said something but in the end decided against it because I didn’t want to embarrass them. XD

And then their was the lovely experience of buying my ticket! I was kinda internally bracing myself, paranoid that I was going to get ‘looks’ from the person on the desk? (ah social anxiety, always popping up right when I don’t want you). In fact I found myself talking to a girl about my age, who BEAMED when she heard what I was going to see, and gushed that she REALLY wanted to see it today too but she had to work! She even made a point of telling me that I should make sure to get my goody bag when I enter the film (I had no idea they were giving away freebies) and hoped I enjoyed myself!

So yes, that was lovely! (btw- in the end no YGO cosplayers were spotted- I was sad)

Now ONTO THE FILM ITSELF- my thoughts.

I LOVED the ‘going to school’ scene. The characterisations were so on point. Joey’s wild bike ride into school is exactly the sort of thing I could see him doing, and I loved how Tristan grabbed onto his bike at the last second and helped him turn it so they could JUST make it through the gates in time. Those two love to give each other a hard time but they are also just RIDICULOUSLY in-synch when it comes to the crunch.

Yugi still walking to school with Tea but now being shy about meeting her at his house was C-U-T-E.

Oh look at Bakura, still dealing with the fangirls.

That scene of the five friends talking about their dreams on the school roof was ADORABLE. I love how they’re all so supportive of each other. Bless these children.

Joey cannot be separated from his duel disk- god these kids are too cute.

‘I can’t believe you got it confiscated for polishing it during class’ ‘I don’t know- it took guts to do it during our maths final’ omg Joey you did not.

‘I know that guys been in our class all year- but what’s his name?’ Guys forget his name just look at his hair and you know he’s going to be a main character.

JOEY GOT HIS DUEL DISK BACK! *throws confetti*

Very sweet moment of Yugi missing Atem and supportive friends being considerate about it and telling him it’s okay. ;A;

JOEY LEAPING THE FREAKING BRIDGE TO HELP SOMEONE HE BARELY KNOWS FROM 5 BULLIES. THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS GOLDEN RETRIEVER. #EVERYONE NEEDS A FRIEND LIKE JOEY.

DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THE KAIBA CORB CONSTRUCTION SIGN HAD A CHIBI BLUE-EYES WEARING A LITTLE HARD HAT??

Oh look the kid with main-character hair can make people vanish and summon a freaky army of glowy eyed demon children.

Kaiba is just being so EXTRA throughout this whole movie and I LOVE IT.

Kaiba is battling Atem and I’m immediately calling that this is one of his holograms.

CALLED IT

‘Even his perfectly coifed hair- that was the hardest part’ *PRIDESHIPPING*

Okay but Kaiba crunching his water bottle and immediately demanding that the person who created it is to be fired because ‘no KC product should be so flimsy’ I just- SDFDSFDSDFS

Aww look, Joey’s letting Tristan fix his precious duel disk- he really does trust him.

DUKE. SHOWED. UP. \0/

NOW. WHERE. IS MAI?

.........The dog mascot turned out to be Joey doing a part time job. OF COURSE IT WAS. WHAT IS IT WITH THIS SERIES AND PUTTING JOEY IN A DOG SUIT?? (I cannot speak I keep referring to him as a golden retriever)

SETO HAS HIS BLUE EYES JET. *ticks that off on the YGO movie bingo card* Also Mokuba is adorable- have I mentioned this yet? Because he is.

...........Did Seto just get hit with magic strong enough to warp/destroy dimensions and just SHRUG IT OFF.

I’m dying- this is the most powerful magic in the world and Seto just swatted it away like BITCH DON’T TOUCH THIS. Diva’s face is priceless.

I mean I know his new super duel disk was supposed to be doing something too but...come on we all know it was all just Seto’s willpower/ego right? 

MORE DUELING.

.......Seto’s strategy seems to be SUMMON MORE DRAGONS.

Seriously how many OP’D versions of blue eyes does this man now have in his deck?

THE THOUGHT OF LOSING AND NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE ATEM AGAIN WAS ENOUGH TO LET HIM SUMMON A FREAKING GOD FROM THE OTHER SIDE. #HE HAS IT SO BAD #THIS MOVIE COULD BE A PRIDESHIPPING FIC

Lets give it up for Seto ‘I need alone time to deal with this puzzle so I’m gonna build a FREAKING SPACE STATION you can only reach by SPACE ELEVATOR’ Kaiba. #King of being EXTRA.

More mystical/tragic backstory stuff keeps being revealed about Diva and his sister/their family. I really wish I could say I cared but I...really didn’t? I felt so indifferent about Diva and his plight. I just wanted to get back to Yugi, the gang, and the Kaiba brothers.

BABY BAKURA IN A FLASHBACK NOTHING COULD BE BETTER THEN-

I TAKE IT BACK WE NOW HAVE BABY YAMI-BAKURA IN A FLASHBACK. THIS IS THE BEST LOOK AT THE TINY HOMICIDAL SOCIOPATH GO.

I just noticed Joey’s duel disk is SIGNED slay me.

Joey’s trapped in a memory world that’s disintegrating around him. I’m so betting that a ‘friendship’ memory turns out to be so strong it’s ‘unbreakable’ and saves him.

IT. WAS. A. MEMORY. OF. YUGI/ATEM.

I really wanted Yugi/Atem to like hold out a hand and pull Joey to safety though?? I mean the dramatic posing was ACE don’t get me wrong but I wanted hand holding.

Personally I read this scene as Atem taking advantage of the fact Joey was between the living and the dead (dying?) to reach out and give him a nudge in the right direction. It gave me so many feels but I REALLY WISH HE’D HELD OUT HIS HAND AND WE’D GOT TO SEE JOEY GRASPING IT AND ATEM PULLING HIM UP.

JOEY THANKED YUGI MY HEART

.........Did Kaiba just shoot down a jet WITH A PERSON INSIDE IT with his blue eyes???

I didn’t read that wrong right?? THERE WAS A PERSON IN THAT JET AND SETO BLEW IT UP. I DIDN’T SEE A PARACHUTE.

*squints* ...Did Seto set that jet up to crash just so he could shoot it down directly over his stadium with his dragon and show off how AWESOME his new system is?

................okay then I guess the movie is just glossing over that.

omg. Kaiba’s speech.

I can’t.

‘I’ve never settled fro mediocrity and neither should you’

‘this world is poorly designed. If someone from my company had made it I’d fire them’ I’M DYING

YUGI BEING A BAWSE DAYUM.

I just noticed all the kids in the crowd cosplaying as duel monsters. That’s adorable.

DUELING.

Kaiba and Yugi dueling yay!!

Seriously how many OP’d version of blue eyes does Kaiba have?

I LOVE THE NEW DARK MAGICIAN GIRLS.

‘You’re fighting me with fruit?’ (all the audience laughed)

‘....You really don’t like dragons do you?’ (more laughter)

I get the feeling the voice actors really enjoyed themselves making this movie XD

Yugi tries to gently show Kaiba (Kaiba who at my current count has: ripped up an ancient landmark, invented a new duelling system, kidnapped a teenager, held a tournament and built a SPACE STATION and millennium puzzle solving robot just to see Atem)  that, sorry buddy Atem is really-super gone.

Kaiba immediately REJECTS THIS. #he really REALLY has it bad.

MORE DUELING.

Diva + Ring = Much badness.

See I couldn’t see Atem coming back from the dead just for a rematch with Kaiba (sorry Kaiba) but ‘the world is ending’? Yeah, that seems serious enough.

‘I believe in ....the heart of the cards.’ MY HEART.

HE’S BACK!!!!!

..........He’s not going to say anything is he.

HE’S SERIOUSLY NOT GOING TO SAY A SINGLE THING??

I mean, I get it, this is all supposed to show that Yugi is now the main character and stands on his own but but but but BUT-!!!

AT LEAST LET THEM HIGH FIVE.

;A;

‘He’s fine, he wishes us will’ these hedgehog babies are so close they can communicate so much with just a nod #puzzleshipping

‘You had your bond with him, and I had mine’ #BACK TO PRIDESHIPPING

Everyone’s graduating and growing, yay!!

.........Except Kaiba. What is Kaiba doing?

omg.

Omg.

He is not.

He is NOT doing what I think he’s-

*INCOHERANT SCREAMING*

And those are my thoughts!

[ayma-nidiot]

In the White Light - Prideshipping fanfic Chapter 23

Also on AO3.

Chapter 23 – Awakening

“Ugh… Too dark,” was Kaiba’s initial reaction to the ethereal space in which he floated. “So all my enemies were right. I did end up in hell after all.”

“That’s a little mean, Kaiba,” spoke a voice Kaiba had only heard once or twice. “I don’t think Atem would be happy to hear you call his bedchamber ‘hell.’”

“You are-” Kaiba awakened, and suddenly his surroundings changed to the royal bedchamber. To his sides were Mahad and some elderly man. At the foot of the bed stood a man who looked like Kaiba, except his chestnut locks flowed down his chest, and he had darker skin. “Mahad. And…” Kaiba tried to make out the other two men, but in his sleepy daze, he had a hard time doing so. “I think I remember you guys from the vision quest… Wait! You’re Atem’s father, Aknamkanon, aren’t you?”

“It feels nice to be remembered,” replied Aknamkanon with a warm smile.

Kaiba gave his doppelganger a sidelong look. “Okay, this is weird… You’re… um…”

“Seto. My name is Seto – just like yours.”

“Well, nice to meet you all.” Kaiba pulled the covers over him, leaving only the upper half of his head exposed. “Now, if you would be so kind as to let me have some sleep. In fact, I feel no shame in telling you that I plan to spend the rest of the day sleeping.”

“…Is that really what you want, Kaiba?” Aknamkanon asked. “Wouldn’t you rather go see my son, instead of spending the rest of your life with three people you hardly know?”

“…” Kaiba remained speechless for a spell as he slowly peeled the covers off. “…Am I dead?”

“Yes and no,” Mahad answered. “Right now, you are teetering on the edge of death. Even as we speak, your allies are calling to you.”

“My… allies?” Kaiba fully sat up and listened for voices beyond.

“Hahahaha!” sounded Zorc’s voice. “So much for the ‘power of Horakhty!’ Now… After I kill you, pharaoh, the royal bloodline will be no more!”

“Eyaaaaaah!” screamed Atem’s voice. “Unhand me, dark one! … Raaaah!”

“Ah, you’re just like a fish, struggling right before it gets gutted. You won’t be free for long!”

“You’re wrong…” spoke Rex. “Come on, Kaiba, don’t go extinct now! Not after I was just considering you a friend!”

“Hah! I don’t recall giving the so-called ‘ultimate’ rival of the pharaoh permission to die!” exclaimed Weevil.

“Sniff… Sniff…” Mokuba cried. “Big bro… You’re my only family. You’re all I got left! Don’t die…”

“If you die, I’m gonna kill you!”

Tristan’s words were answered with what sounded like a slap – and a scolding from Joey. “Tristan, come on! Kaiba, don’t listen to him! If I, the person you hate most, want you to live, then damn straight you better live!”

“You saved me from being killed by that Rare Hunter! Please, let me return the favour!” shouted Téa. “I know you don’t like the concept of friendship, but can you believe in it just this once?”

“Blue-Eyes White Dragon… Lend Kaiba your strength…” Kisara appeared to be praying with Isis and Mana.

“I know you and the pharaoh beat me handily during Battle City, but that’s in the past now,” added Marik. “Right now, I – and all of my home country of Egypt – need you.”

“My other self.” Seto spoke to his future incarnate sternly. “I can no longer return to the world of the living. But you can. Go be with Atem again and be his hero. And if you see my father, tell him I wish things didn’t have to end up like this.”

“Can you tell my brother that I wish the same?” Aknamkanon requested. “That if I had known how hurt he was this whole time, that I would have done something about it?”

“Seto…” Kaiba wiped a tear from Seto’s face. In so doing, the priest – along with Mahad and Aknamkanon – faded, and imbued their ba into Kaiba. After a moment of contemplation, Kaiba leapt out of the bed. “Everyone… Thank you. But this will be the last time I do something generous for you all!”

_________

“I… I…” All this time, Atem could not think of a proper thing to say to Kaiba – until now. “No. I refuse to believe the man I love is dead.”

“Well, pharaoh, as you say in the modern world, ‘the proof is in the pudding!’ The only thing better than watching Kaiba die is watching you-” Zorc’s good mood dropped in an instant. “No… No, it can’t be!”

“Ah… My love?” Atem watched as Kaiba arose from the ground in half-shifted form, bathing the surroundings in a warm light. “He’s… Kaiba has revived!”

“HAHA!” Zorc cackled. “I can just as easily send him back from whence he came!”

“…” Kaiba, enveloped in a magical barrier, easily repelled the attack Zorc launched at him – as well as the many more after that.

“Impossible! How can none of my attacks harm you?”

“Because I have the support of my friends, as well as some… help from beyond.”

“Father… Mahad…” Atem shed a happy tear.

“I’ll not let history repeat itself…” Without fully transforming, the sapphires across Kaiba’s body glowed to generate a Shining Neutron Blast. “Not on this day.”

“Gaaah!”

Zorc relentlessly sent out a flurry of attacks at Kaiba, but all were in vain as the Shining Neutron Blast consumed him. “These wounds… No! I refuse to accept death! I refu-”

Rex waited a while to speak, almost as if to make sure Zorc was really dead. “Huhuhu. We won’t be seeing him again.”

“Yeah. Hehehe. That fartknocker’s history. Hehehe.” Weevil laughed – that is, until Kaiba suddenly fell on top of him. “Y-Yeowch!”

“Now you know how it feels…” Joey remembered well the first time he learned of Kaiba’s shapeshifting powers. “Bet he’s even heavier than back then.”

“I can still hear you, Wheeler,” Kaiba responded while still laying supine.

“So. Is he really gone?”

“Yes, Wheeler, Zorc is really gone.”

“Then…” Yugi turned to Atem with a sorrowful look. At this point, the pharaoh picked Kaiba up princess-style and led everyone back to the palace. “Now that ancient Egypt is at peace, we have to go now, don’t we? Back to our own time?”

“Aww, man, I wish I could have at least stayed for some more free food!” Mokuba whined.

“And maybe for a few cute girls, too…” Tristan thought aloud.

“Actually… It’s not time for you to go just yet.” Atem’s words quieted everyone down. “There’s one thing left for me to do before you all leave.”

“Ooh, do we get some souvenirs for the ride home?” Rex asked excitedly. “Like food?”

“And rare cards? Er, I mean, artifacts?” Weevil hoped.

“I’ll see to that before you go, but I had something else in mind.” Atem turned back to Yugi. “Yugi, I am not entirely confident that you can fare out in the world without me. Not after we’ve been together for so long.”

“What? But you saw me in that fight against Zorc’s army! And I’ve dueled plenty of times without your help! Doesn’t that duel with Bandit Keith ring a bell?””

“If you are that confident, then…” After laying a barely awake Kaiba on the throne, Atem picked up his DiaDhank from the table nearby. “Duel me, right now, in this sacred throne room.”

“What? Pharaoh, that’s crazy!” Joey would have none of it. “Don’t you think we should rest first? We kinda just fought a climactic battle against-”

“Very well.” Yugi took his deck out of his pocket and attached it to his Duel Disk. “I accept this challenge, pharaoh!”

“Yug, are you sure about this? You’re not tired? Not even a little?”

Yugi tried to hide the fact that, indeed, he was so tired he wanted to take a nap right there on the ground. He could tell from the look in his eyes that Atem felt the same; he had to be, after singing the Pharaoh’s Incantation for so long. “No, I’m fine. Just because I’m barely 150 centimeters and 40 kilograms doesn’t mean I can’t handle a bit of rough work.”

 “It will not be a Shadow Game,” Atem spoke. “Nevertheless, you should know that I expect nothing less than your best strategies.”

“Oh man…” Rex watched curiously as the duelists readied their dueling devices. He perked up his rabbit ears to hear the words they exchanged. “Watching two Yugis dueling is a bit… uh, weird.”

“We’ve seen a guy with a dragon head for a dick, and you’re calling this weird?” Weevil poked Rex with a spider leg.

“Now, Yugi, hit me with what you’ve got!”

Yugi assumed from Atem’s valiant declaration that he would have the first move. He had a mediocre first hand, but believed in the heart of the cards anyway. “I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode! I’ll set a card face down. That’s about it.”

“Oh, Yugi.” Kaiba groaned from the throne. “I know that Celtic Guardian is one of your symbolic monsters, but that’s all it is: symbolic.”

Unlike his boyfriend, Atem knew better than to underestimate Yugi. “I activate the magic card Double Summon so that I may Normal Summon twice this turn. I call forth Light Effigy and Flamvell Magician!”

“It doesn’t make sense… Why would Atem have a Light Effigy in his deck when most of his monsters are of Dark attribute?” Joey commented.

Atem continued, “If the levels of my monsters are the exact level of the monster I want to summon, and the materials are correct, then I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster from my deck.” He looked to Rex. “I’m sure that you of all people know what a Synchro Summon is.”

“Huhu. Thank you, thank you.” Rex did a mocking bow, then sat back down.

“Using Light Effigy and the Tuner Monster Flamvell Magician, I Synchro Summon this monster! Avenging Knight Parshath!”

“It’s beautiful!” Téa said of the armoured fairy that appeared in the arena.

“Avenging Knight Parshath! Attack the Celtic Guardian!”

“Not if I can help it! Here’s a card that has helped me – us – time and time again!” Yugi revealed his face-down card. “Swords of Revealing Light! I don’t think I need to remind anyone here what it does.”

“…Go ahead with your turn, then.”

This will help! Yugi drew Silent Sword Slash. But even if I equip Silent Swordsman with this card, he’s still no match for Avenging Knight Parshath. I just hope I can last as long as the Swords of Revealing Light does. “I tribute Celtic Guardian so that I can Special Summon Silent Swordsman in attack mode!”

I remember that card, Atem thought as he drew Thousand Knives. His special ability allows his attack to go up by 500 points during each of Yugi’s standby phases. If I can summon Dark Magician before his attack gets too high… then I can use my Thousand Knives spell. “I summon Berry Magician Girl in attack mode! Turn end.”

It’s tempting to use this card, Yugi spoke of his newly drawn Change of Heart. But if I gain control of Avenging Knight Parshath and attack Berry Magician Girl, Atem will just summon a Dark Magician. “I’ll just end my turn, then, while my Silent Swordsman’s attack goes up to 1500.”

“Oh my gods, the tension is killing me!” Rex whined. “Come on, where’s the action?”

“Watch it,” Joey warned. “Many of these guys’ duels are like this, Rex. Just be patient, and the action will come.”

“Hmm…”

Yugi had to squint, but he could see a hint of a smile in Atem’s face as he set a card face-down. It was now his turn again. Cost Down isn’t going to help me right now… But at least my Silent Swordsman can defeat the Avenging Knight Parshath now! “I equip my Silent Swordsman with Silent Sword Slash, giving him an attack boost of 1500 points! Then… There goes your Avenging Knight Parshath!”

“And there goes your Swords of Revealing Light! Oh!”

“Pharaoh? You okay?” Yugi asked with concern, as Atem stared at that card with wide-eyes for a good two minutes.

“…I reveal my trap Magician Navigation! I can Summon Dark Magician from my deck, as well as this card… Say hello to Palladium Oracle Mahad!”

“Goodness…” spoke Yugi. Golden armour covered most of Mahad’s body, and only a hint of the High Priest’s original beige robes could be seen.

“My friend… You live again.” Atem knew it wasn’t necessarily true, but he didn’t care. “Now that I have a Dark Magician in play, I can use my Thousand Knives spell to destroy your only monster on the field – the Silent Swordsman!”

“Yeah, go ahead and do that. Because you’ve just activated my Silent Swordsman’s special ability! If he’s destroyed, I Special Summon any Silent Swordsman card from my deck, and I choose Silent Swordsman Lv. 7!”

“Very clever, Yugi, very clever. You could have easily used Silent Swordsman’s ability to negate the spell altogether, but you were wise enough not to.”

Yugi smiled at this praise, then summoned Silent Paladin in defense mode, and could thus add Silent Swordsman Lv. 3 to his hand from his deck. “Pharaoh, forgive me for this, but… My Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 will attack your Palladium Oracle Mahad!”

“…You are forgiven. Especially since I can Special Summon another Dark Magician from my deck, thanks to Palladium Oracle Mahad’s special ability.” Atem spoke no more as he simply set a trap face-down, then turned it over to Yugi.

This duel is going in my favour, but knowing Atem… I’m sure that he’s got a card in his deck far more powerful than Dark Magician. “I will now attack the Dark Magician you just Special Summoned!”

“That was not smart, Yugi. Reveal Trap Card, Shield Spear! My Dark Magician’s attack power is raised by 400 points for a turn! You can’t take back your attack once you’ve declared it, which means that your Silent Swordsman Lv. 7 is destroyed.”

“I’m… I’m fine…” So Yugi said, but in his mind, he knew he wasn’t. Silent Paladin was his only monster defending his Life Points now, and she didn’t have very good defense.

Atem sighed upon seeing the card he drew. “Well, you won’t be… after I summon Skilled Blue Magician and activate the spell Magicalized Fusion! With this card, I can even use monsters from my Graveyard – namely my Flamvell Magician and Palladium Oracle Mahad – for a Fusion Summon! Dark Magician may be one of my strongest monsters, but I have one that is mightier still…”

“Oh my gods… What is that?” Tristan spoke of this new spellcaster monster, with four arms that generated four magical circles.

“This is the greatest of all spellcasters… Quintet Magician!”

Weevil rubbed his eyes. “Am I reading that attack counter correctly? That thing’s got 4500 attack points? It could squish my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth in an instant!”

“My new monster’s special ability is even more fearsome, Weevil. You see, I used five different magicians for its Fusion Summon – Berry Magician Girl, Dark Magician, Flamvell Magician, Skilled Blue Magician, and Palladium Oracle Mahad. With his four arms, Quintet Magician destroys all of your cards, Yugi!”

“All… of them?” Yugi finally gave in to his weak knees.

“Since all of your cards are destroyed, I can attack you directly and end this at last!”

“…No. You will do no such thing.” Yugi fumbled with the card he set on his Duel Disk. “Not yet… Thanks to our good friend Kuriboh.”

“Hehehe…” Kaiba couldn’t help but chuckle at this surprisingly weak but useful monster. “After all this time, you still keep that puffball in your deck. You’ve got more cojones than I thought, Yugi. But can you get yourself out of this mess? You got more Kuribohs in that deck of yours?”

“No.” And I don’t have a single card in my deck that can overpower that Quintet Magician…