Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Forgiveness ❯ Playing Around ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: I loved the "Anyone else!" line (in reference to who Mokuba should have gone to for help instead of Yugi), but I still don't own Yu-gi-oh.

Sorry! I should have updated this last weekend, I really meant too, but it was just too crowded in the computer lab for me to concentrate! I have my wonderful laptop now though, so I should be updating regularly again. Sorry about all this, people!

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The Big Five had not followed them into the project room. As they had suggested that Seto test out the project, he proceeded to do just that, getting in the capsule and having Mokuba turn it on. It was odd.

The Five had been walking behind him all the way there, but he hadn't felt an instant of fear. Ever since Gozaburo, he'd had an irrational fear of adult men with power. Dealing with the Five, with other businessmen made his skin crawl. He had nightmares of his associates pulling out whips and proceeding to punish him for daring to act like he was their equal, as Gozaburo had so many times.

He'd refused to give into his fear, meeting face-to-face even when he could have gotten away with videoconferencing, but after meetings, when he'd managed to retreat to his office, he'd curled up in fetal position in his chair and done breathing exercises until he was back under control.

The psychiatrist he'd gotten under his control had managed to help him get his hands on helpful drugs, and the suggested imagery of beating up the threat had been helpful as well. The feeling of satisfaction at the thought of crushing the bastard's windpipe helped him maintain his trademark smirk during the inevitable meetings. And he could take advantage of his power and responsibility to press the button on the cell phone he'd designed to make it pretend to ring during meetings so he could step outside to `take the call' when he couldn't take it any more.

No one knew. Not even Mokuba. And if anyone did find out, he'd kill them.

Except Yami.

Yami wasn't afraid. He'd killed Pegasus in an instant, and he could do the same to any other who threatened him. And as long as he loved Seto, he would do the same for him.

So as Seto had walked down the hall, Yami's laughing presence in his mind, he hadn't feared the Five at all. Even though they were trying to fulfill his nightmare and punish him, even though he knew they'd set up a situation where they were sure they held all the cards, Seto had Yami.

Seto was safe.

He'd never felt safe as long as he could remember. Safety was something for Mokuba, brought with sweat and held-back tears and blood. So much blood.

When he was young, he'd had to look after Mokuba. His father cared, he understood that in an academic sense, but the man had failed.

He'd been too busy mourning his wife to look properly after the rest of his family. He'd practically ignored Mokuba, whose birth had cost him the wife he'd loved. He'd tried to not hurt the boy, to act like he cared, but it had been Seto who had been the father.

And then the man had abandoned them for real, dying of his grief.

And their relatives took their money and abandoned them as well. In the orphanage, he'd had to protect the young, weak Mokuba against bullies. He'd usually won, but one time a group had ganged up on him and… but he'd hunted them down afterwards, one by one, and made them far too scared to ever try again. The thought still made him smile.

He'd been told it was hard to find someone willing to adopt two kids, so he'd have to make them want him enough that they'd take Mokuba too. So he'd studied and gotten the reputation of a genius, but they still just wanted him.

And then Gozaburo had come.

He'd been so excited that his idol was visiting the orphanage! He'd devoured the man's chess books, read to Mokuba out of them. And so he'd made the gamble. But he knew, on some level, that he couldn't lose. That his heart was in the game.

If he'd lost… everyone would have known, and lost their fear of him. A group would have gotten together, and… the possibility had only been an academic one, however.

He'd beaten the world champion chess Grandmaster.

He'd even managed to convince himself the hate in the man's eyes had just been a trick of the light.

He felt Yami wrap comfort around his mind as the game began. Yami hadn't spied, but he'd felt Seto's sadness.

Hmmm. They'd improved the loading sequence at least.

As he landed in forest the game began.

He sent his plan to Yami and received his agreement. Seto was going to spring the trap. If he couldn't handle it himself, Yami would rescue him.

Rescue.

Before, the word would have been anathema. He rescued himself. There was no one else who would do it for him. And to let someone have that power over him, to show weakness…

But Yami wouldn't hurt him. He was safe.

Didn't you normally need more than one exposure to something to get addicted to it?

Unless it's something really addictive.

As he walked down the path in his realm, he started humming to himself. Just for the hell of it.

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Yami began to turn this Virtual World into a Shadow Game. Given that it already incorporated Duel Monsters, and had been created by one with latent magic, it was practically one already.

He smiled. In creating a true game, one that incorporated his heart, Seto had created for himself a powerful ally in this.

A game was, by its nature, meant to be fair. With the power he gave it, the game shaped itself to undo the cheating interference of the Five.

It also shaped itself to be difficult, however. A game wanted, by its nature, to challenge. But in a fair fight, he would always win.

Especially in a Shadow Game, against such slime.

And now the first step took place.

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Mokuba watched on the screen. He knew Yami would try to help, but… the Big Five must have rigged the game, otherwise they'd know there was not way Mokuba's Nii-sama would lose. Seto was the best!

Still… Seto had won the last battle, but…

Mokuba leaned forward in shock. Seto! He was being captured!

"Ah. Right on schedule."

Mokuba whirled around and stared at Yami. "What do you mean?! Why did you just let him get captured?!"

"Because that's how the game's supposed to work."

"Huh?"

Yami gestured at the screen. "The stuff Seto just did was basically the tutorial sequence. The plot of the game is that the main hero's friend is captured. That part is the tutorial. Then the main hero sets out to rescue him, gathering a party along the way. Once he breaks the captive free, they then proceed to fight their way out of where he was being held, and defeat the priesthood that captured him in the first place."

"Oh." Mokuba said. "So you had to let it happen?"

"Indeed." Yami looked at him questioningly. "Do you want to be a party member?"

"Yeah!" Mokuba said excitedly. Then he looked crestfallen. "But I don't have a deck."

"Don't worry; I'll buy one for you. I already loaded the one I constructed from Seto's cards." Yami smiled. It was nice how loyal Mokuba was to Seto. It was fair, to let Mokuba help rescue Seto, in partial repayment for how often Seto had rescued him.

"But, how do I get into the virtual world?" Mokuba asked.

Yami cocked his head, listening. "Seto says there are more pods at Kaiba Land."

There was a banging at the door. "What's going on?" Mokuba asked.

Yami chuckled. "The Five Fools sent some flunkies to capture you now that they think Seto's out of the picture. I'm keeping them out. You might want to get out that way, though." He nodded towards an air vent. "Seto says you know your way around in there."

Mokuba grinned. "Seto's encouraging me to play in the vents? Sweet!" He started to climb up. Once he got in he waved back to Yami.

Yami waved and smiled as Mokuba disappeared into the vent and then he disappeared into the game. He'd better get started winning Gold Cards to get Mokuba a good deck. Now what to buy…

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As Yugi and his friends approached the Kaiba Corp Building, they saw Mokuba running toward them. When he saw them, he screeched to a halt.

"Yugi." He said, his fisted hands resting on his hips.

"Hi, Mokuba." Tea said. "Where are you going?"

"Hi, Tea." Mokuba became marginally less hostile. Tea was decent. At Death-T, she'd been the only one of Yugi's friends to not just assume that Seto had done all that because he was psycho. Not that he'd been exactly sane at that point, before Yami had helped him, but he had reasons for why he was that way! "Uh… I'm just going to Kaiba Land to check some stuff out. I am a Vice-President, you know!"

Yugi stepped forward. "Where's Seto? He's letting you wander around alone?"

Mokuba winced. Yes, Seto was acting a little paranoid now, since Mokuba had been kidnapped. He'd doubled Mokuba's security at school. But what was Yugi insinuating, that Mokuba wasn't capable of looking after himself? He'd escaped from Pegasus on his own, after all. "He's my big brother, not my bodyguard. And he's really busy `cause of being gone so long. And so am I. See you!" He started running again, before they could delay him anymore.

Behind him, Yugi and his friends looked at each other, and began to follow him.

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Seto woke up and looked around. Yup. The sacrifice hall. The Five Fools, Yami's name for them was good, hadn't changed the design. He wondered if… ah. There he was.

"So. You're awake, Seto Kaiba." The Witty Phantom was standing there, reciting his lines with a bored look on his face.

"I know, I know, you're going to sacrifice me to the Mystic Dragon and I have no hope of escape."

"Oh good. I don't have to say it. When you get out of here, could you please rewrite my lines? I'm supposed to sound smart and clever, not stupid. That's what Witty means." The Phantom made puppy dog eyes, although the effect was rather spoiled by the hidden smirk.

"Um… did the Five Fools fuck with your AI?" Seto was confused. He hadn't designed the Phantom to have a personality, besides taunting jailor.

"No. I'm a Duel Monster, and this is a Shadow Game, so…" The Phantom trailed off, looking for a way to explain it. "Well, in magic, the name is the thing, right? So if a collection of syllables can be a person, how much more easily can a 3-d portrait of a guy? So, I am the Witty Phantom. Nice to meet you." He took off his hat and bowed gracefully.

"This is a Shadow Game?"

"Exactly. And you've got Him on your side, so you'll be out of here in no time." The Phantom sighed. "Sorry I can't untie you, otherwise we could play Senet or something. Want to do a riddle contest?"

"Sounds good. Him?"

"Him. The Nameless Pharaoh. The best Shadow Mage of all time. What, you don't know? Tsk tsk." The Phantom shook his head. "You've been around him all this time, and you didn't recognize your own half-cousin?"

Seto blinked. "Huh?"

"You're the reincarnation of a High Priest of Set. Your fathers were half-brothers, according to the Dark Magician. I used to work for you. Not that I knew about all of this then, of course. You summoned me to kick ass, not to gossip."

Seto thought fast.

It seemed… right. To be connected to Yami. But cousins was a little… but only half-cousins, and the Egyptians didn't care about that sort of thing, right? So… had Yami loved him then?

He asked Yami.

--?-

He sent what he had heard. Yami didn't know, he didn't have any memories.

"Do you know anything else?" He asked the Phantom excitedly.

The Phantom sighed. "Not much… he ruled, he kicked ass, then there were these battles against some… things that weren't Duel Monsters and he sacrificed himself and his name to stop them. You lose your name, that's supposed to be it, so everyone was surprised when he showed up again… but that's really all. Sorry."

"It's alright." Yami was happy to have found out that much.

"So. Riddles? Who goes first?"

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Amarin Rose: Um… I'm going to stop this story pretty soon after the Legendary Heroes Arc ends. Sorry. I might do a flash-forward chapter though. But I'm going to have Yami helping Seto during that in DYDOM? Although that one's going to be Y/Y, Seto/Seth.

Ash: Sorry!!!!!!

Sasameyuki: Yes.

Zoe: Yes!

Hikari Tsuki Chi: Indeed.

Chibichiri: Ha ha ha! I am immune to event the strongest of puppy dog eyes, those of Yugi, who has been pleading to me to let him and Yami make up and make that dream a reality.

Nenya85: You are the master of YY/S. I am very complimented that you enjoy this.

Hihana: Wait and see! But no, they won't need saving.

Y-n-Y: :evil smirk:

LadySaturnGirl: Sorry!

Innocent: Exactly.

Silverwing147: Wait and see!

Kawaii Chibi Yami: `Cause Yami has major protective instincts.

Dogmatrix: Yup, and thanks.

Silvershadowfire: Yes, he is! And I am so original! No one guessed what I was going to do!

Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: Sorry!