Nothing Lasts Forever

TITLE: Nothing Lasts Forever
AUTHOR: Fyrbyrd
CATEGORIES: Drama
RATING: R
WARNINGS: M/M
SPOILERS:
PAIRINGS: S/YY
SUMMARY: Five years have passed and Yugi is freed, and he wants revenge.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, they own me.

Author’s Note: Ha ha, someone told me to stop writing, as if! I’m evil through and through. But to set things straight, Yugi is my favorite character, ever. Having met Dan Green (his dubbed voice) recently was the greatest thrill. Most of my stories have him at the center, not all, most. So there! Oh and this is mainly for Amy!

Nothing Lasts Forever
By Fyrbyrd

He stepped out of the elevator into the parking garage expecting to find his limousine waiting for him. Instead he stood In the cold wind of the winter’s day, already dark with the heavy weather. Then suddenly all light disappeared from the garage, only a few small emergency lights shone, and the wind howled outside, what could get in the exits blew papers around and made his coat swirl about him. He heard a sound that was not connected with cars.

“Who’s there?” he called.

And there in the gloom he saw a dark figure approaching him, a figure wearing an unusual duel disk. The figure came to a stop and waved a hand, light appeared around them, but no where else and a duel disk appeared on his arm, one of his own. The sudden appearance rattled him a little but after knowing Yami, he had learned to believe that a form of magic did indeed exist.

“Who are you? Why do you want to duel me?”

The figure said nothing and he could see none of the face under the black robes they wore. Even when the hand attached a deck to the duel disk, he could see nothing.

“Do you think you can beat me! I am the world champion and have been for the past three years! No one has beaten me in years, you will not succeed!”

Still there was no answer from the robed one. He turned to go to the elevator, but found himself hitting an invisible barrier.

“What?” he felt along it and could find no way out.

He turned back. “I don’t know who you are or what you want but –“

The figure lifted the duel disk.

“You want to duel me?”

The figure stood ready.

“Very well, I will duel you, if only to find out who you are and what you want.”

Seto Kaiba pulled his deck from his inside pocket and set it into the duel disk. They began to duel. Even with his formidable Blue Eyes White Dragons, Kaiba found himself matched in every move, and the computer voice was unnerving him.

His dragons were destroyed by well equipped monsters, and when they were both down to several hundred life points, the other destroyed him with a Drooling Lizard, much to his horror.

“This can’t be!”

A laugh emitted from the dark robes, a hand rose and he fell, unconscious.

When he came to he was still in the parking garage, the lights had returned, but every alarm in the place was going off. Several off his men came out to find him on the ground; they helped him to his feet.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“The vaults sir, someone got into the vaults and was able to open one of the draws.”

Kaiba grimly followed them to the vaults; they were supposed to be the most secure vaults in the world, only he had all the codes for them. But there seemed to be no break in. Someone had indeed opened them. He went in to see which draw had been accessed. The draw still lay open, but it was not a draw he used for anything he deemed important. The only thing that had been in the draw had been… The Millennium Puzzle.

“Comb the city, find Yami and bring him to me!” he ordered.

‘How did he do this? He lost his powers… And why would he do this? Is it to get back at me?’

“Lock this up and shut off that noise,” he said, “I’ll be in my office.”

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Kaiba had not recognized all the cards that were played against him in the duel. A lot of them were familiar to him as cards Yami would use, but not all. Yet Yami knew how to adapt quickly and he had access to a card shop…

He hadn’t seen him in over three years, not since he had regained his crown as World Champion and he had broken all ties between them. Yami had demanded the puzzle back, but Kaiba had refused, had told him he would have to find a way to get it back himself. Had he done that now? From what he had heard about Yami in the past few years he rather doubted it. But who else would want to steal the puzzle? Who else knew he had the puzzle in his possession? Then he realized that the duelist had taken his swipe card, still, they would not know the codes.

That was the question. He was sure only he and Yami knew that the puzzle had been locked away. Yugi’s old friends had never contacted Yami; they never knew what the pair had done to the small duelist. Never knew of his betrayal. There was no one else…


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The knocking at the door got Solomon Mutou up and opening it angrily. “What do you want, the store is closed and I want to get my rest.”

“Where is your grandson?” demanded the men in suits and sunglasses at night.

“I don’t know, he doesn’t live here any more,” he answered not letting them get more than a foot in the door.

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t seen my drunken grandson in more than a year. He was drunk and rude and violent. He didn’t care about anything but getting his hands on more money to buy whatever could numb him to the world. Your boss destroyed him, why would you want to find him now?”

“He stole something from the boss and the boss wants it back.”

“Well the boss will have to look elsewhere, he is not here, I have no grandson. Now remove yourselves from my premises before I call the police.”

Kaiba’s men pulled back from the door which was them slammed in their faces and the locks sent home. They decided to report back to Kaiba.

“We didn’t find him sir. Mr. Mutou said that he hasn’t seen him in a year, he has been reduced to drink and theft to survive.”

“Then go down to the places those people hang out and find him.”

“Yes sir.”

They headed for all the places the worthless of society chose as their home. Dark alleys, the poorer parts of town, the docks. It seemed everyone knew of Yami, he was an easy stand out with the spiky tri-colored hair of his, he stuck to alcohol and not hard drugs, but he earned them through prostitution. Which meant he could be anywhere. But they were armed with Kaiba money, and down there money could buy you anything, including the right information.

They turned into a dark alley and there at the end in the headlights they could see a pair. An unmistakable head of hair bobbing back and forth, giving head to a client. He pulled back with the intrusion of the lights. The client hurried pulled away, zipped himself up and ran. Yami still on his knees could hardly move as the pair dragged him to his feet and to the car.

“Gods, he stinks,” said one as they bundled him half drunk into the car.

“You’re from that bastard, aren’t you?” muttered Yami as he half fell into the seat between the pair in the back.

“Mr. Kaiba has been robbed and he naturally thought of you.”

“Me? Rob?” he laughed, he held out his hands which shook, “I’ve known a thief before, maybe you should ask him if you can find him, I can’t hold much for long, unless it’s a cock. I’m good at that, it’s all that bastard left for me.”

His hands had roved over the groin of one of his captors, but he was quickly pushed away and hit a few times, “Leave me alone you freak.”

“Yeah, freak, that’s what I am. Don’t belong here, that’s for sure.” He remained quiet through the rest of the trip to Kaiba Corp.

Before they took him upstairs to see their boss, they took him to one of the staff locker rooms were there was a shower and they forced him into it to get rid of the smell. His clothing was torn from him and quickly disposed of. Once out of the water, they at least allowed him to dry himself and gave him an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt to put on, before they led him upstairs to see Kaiba.

Kaiba was sitting behind his desk when they came in.

“Leave him.”

“But sir –“

“I will be fine, he won’t touch me, he knows what will happen if he tried.”

They left Yami standing unsteadily at the desk, eventually he had to hold onto the edge to keep his feet.

“What the hell do you want of me now? I’ve kept away; your goons did a nice job of reminding me the last time… “

“Someone has taken the puzzle.”

Yami suddenly straightened, “What! How? I though you had it in those gods damned vaults?”

“I did. I haven’t been near them since then. But someone challenged me to a duel and got my swipe card from me.”

“Challenged you? It wasn’t me. I have no deck; if I did I would have sold it.”

“No, I can see it wasn’t you. You’re nothing but a lousy drunk whore.”

“Yep, that’s me. Just what you made me.”

“I told you I would do anything to get back what was mine.”

“Yes, you did. So you made me betray Yugi, played me along until you knew exactly how to beat me and did just that. You turned me into a drunk; it was all a part of your plan. But someone’s beaten you, haven’t they? They beat you for that swipe card and got into the vaults. Well, it wasn’t me, lover. Someone else knew what you did five years ago, or found out in the meantime. Better be afraid Kaiba, looks like your crown might be at stake again. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll be going. Thanks for the shower.”

Kaiba watched Yami move unsteadily to the door and did nothing as he left. The former master duelist was not the person he had dueled, he was too unsteady. Maybe he had better investigate Yugi’s former friends.

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No one made a move to stop him as he left the Kaiba Corp building. It was very cold out, at least the rags he had had on his back had kept him warm. Now all he had was a t-shirt on, and he was too far away from his flop to dig through the other rags to get something warm. He’d have to find something soon or he’d die.

He’d been walking for a while, huddled into himself, when he looked up to see a familiar sight, The Turtle Game Shop. He moved quickly to the door and knocked. He heard muffled grumbling coming from within, then the door was pulled open,”I told you I knew nothing… Yugi!” He helped Yami into the shop and quickly closed the door. “Gods, you’re freezing, let’s get you upstairs.”

Yami allowed the old man to take him into the warmth. Later on he found himself tucked into Yugi’s bed where he promptly succumbed to the comfort and slept.

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A shadowed figure sat at a desk working, hands carefully piecing something together, stopping every now and then as if listening. Outside the wind howled and snow was slowly falling from the sky. The last piece fell into place and the object glowed brightly. The person holding it almost dropped it, but held it out as the brightness faded and a ghostly figure emerged…

Not far away Yami shot up straight and cried out, “Yugi!” He looked around his former friend’s room, then closed his eyes. Yes it was there, he could feel the energy. He lay back as a tear rolled down his face; all he could do was wait…

“Thank you, my friend. I told you you could put the puzzle back together again. It’s been a long time.”

“You were right about the duel; I enjoyed beating Seto very much.”

“I knew you would.”

“Yugi, I don’t want to hurt him.”

“I know, and you won’t have to, I can promise you that.”

“What will you do now?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Yugi, I—“

“No, you have helped me get this far, all I want you to do now is keep out of it. Go back to your school so that Kaiba doesn’t know you’ve been here. Just leave the puzzle here, it will be collected soon. I’ll see you again.”

“As long as you are sure, Yugi?”

“I’m sure, now go.”

The robed figure left quickly.

Yugi looked down at the puzzle that had been his prison for five years. “I know you can hear me, come. 275 Wilson Street, Apartment 74.”

The one he spoke to got up, dressed quickly and quietly left.

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Kaiba was looking into the computer reports before him. Tèa Gardener had remained in America after marrying a fellow dancer, they already had one child and another on the way.

Tristan Taylor and Devlin were in America also, had been there for two years they were looking into adopting a child as other same sex couples were doing, or hiring a surrogate.

That just left Joey Wheeler… He had seen Wheeler at the last Championships, he had beaten him, but there had been no mention of Yami in the little that they spoke to each other. Joey had been there when Kaiba had beaten Yami and took his crown back. Yami had not wanted the other’s comforting words, and Wheeler knew he was already half drunk at the time. He knew of Yami’s habits once he had taken up with Kaiba. One mention of Yugi had Yami tearing off and away, not to be seen for months, before he disappeared.

Wheeler still played the circuit, and he was currently in Europe, had been for months. And was that weekend playing in a rich tournament. So it could not have been him.

“Then who?”

His head shot up, and in moments he was calling for his car, leaving the building.

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The door opened to his touch and he went inside. There on the desk in plain view sat the Millennium puzzle, he closed the door behind him. Then suddenly the room darkened and he fell to his knees.

“Gods, Yugi, forgive me. I have long regretted what I did.”

“Oh I can see that. Nothing but a common drunken whore. They would have laughed to see you like this in Egypt, hey Pharaoh? Bakura would have laughed his head off to see you groveling like this, but he’s gone and Ryou’s free. And now so am I.”

Yami finally raised his head to look up at the ghostly figure that stood over him. He gasped at what he saw.

“What’s the matter, Yami? Does my appearance startle you? Are you surprised?”

“You look like –“

“You! Yes, Yami, I look like you. You see unlike you, I didn’t sleep while I was locked in the broken puzzle. I have changed in those five years. I learned how to use the power of the puzzle, Yami. I know how to use the shadow magic.”

Yami’s head dropped, he shook, his alcohol addicted body craving more.

“Who’s the weak one now, Yami?”

“Are you going to take your revenge? Anything has got to be better than this.”

“Oh yes, you’ve been very remorseful, haven’t you?” said Yugi sarcastically. “You let Kaiba fuck you, ply you with liquor, let him walk all over you, before he tossed you out, a used whore. No, I’m not going to hurt you, Yami. You can suffer enough on your own, but that is my body that you’ve harmed, when you surrender it back to me, it will be in better condition. And you will surrender it to me, you’re mine now, you’re not going anywhere. Now go into the bedroom and stay there, another visitor is approaching, once he is gone, we have much to do.”

Yami unsteadily got to his feet and obeyed. Somehow he knew he would not be able to escape, he could see the power in Yugi now and he feared it.

Yugi slipped back into the puzzle as his second visitor entered the room slamming the door behind him.

He saw the puzzle on the desk and moved to pick it up, an invisible wall stopped him and he heard the words, “Mirror Wall.”

“Who’s there?”

Yugi appeared out of the puzzle.

“Yami, what the hell are you up to?”

Yugi smiled, “Yami is up to nothing right now. I don’t think he’ll be up to anything for a long time.”

“Stop playing around—“

“I can assure you I am not playing around. I just grew up a little. What’s wrong Kaiba; don’t you recognize me after five years?”

“Yugi?”

“And they call you a genius.”

“How?”

“You’d make a really good guppy right now Kaiba. Did you forget the story of the Millennium items that they were made to trap the shadow power inside? I made use of that power Kaiba; I didn’t go to sleep like the Pharaoh did. I learned how to use the power. And I leaned quite a lot in five years.”

“Who got the puzzle for you?”

“My new partner.”

“New partner?”

“Oh yes, there is someone else involved and you will see them later.”

“What do you want?”

“Revenge, what else?”

“So you want to kill me?”

“Oh no Kaiba. I don’t do things like that. You will bring about your own downfall; I might just… help it along a little.”

Kaiba laughed, “Yeah right.”

Yugi smiled coldly. “You will see Kaiba, now leave. I only got you here to see that I am back, so that you can know that you own doom is upon you.”

“And Yami?”

“I already have him; you won’t be able to use him as you did in the past. He’s not even a player anymore, you saw to that. This is between you and me, and my partner. Don’t come back, I will be gone. If you want to find me, I will be at home, where I belong.”

Kaiba laughed at him.

Yugi shattered the Mirror Wall and made sure the pieces hit Kaiba. With blood streaming from a cut on his forehead, Kaiba looked back at him, the laughter replaced by anger.

“You would do well not to laugh at me, Kaiba. I’m not the forgiving little Yugi you knew before. This time I don’t care what happens to you, this time I would let you fall.”

Kaiba swallowed at the reference to what had happened at Duelist Kingdom.

“Go. NOW!” ordered Yugi plunging the room into an icy darkness as the door opened behind him and he was physically pushed out but the force of the magic. The door slammed shut behind him and he knew he would not be able to open it. He decided to leave for home. He wanted to try and figure out who the mysterious partner was.

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Yami looked into the mirror having to admit that he looked much better. With Yugi blending with him again he was able to get over his addiction to alcohol, eat again and generally take care of himself better. Yugi had demanded it. He made Yami do all the work, forcing him out of the bad habits he had picked up in the years he had spent on the streets. The only difference was that Yugi would not speak to him unless he really had something to say. Yami knew he had not been forgiven for what he had done. He really didn’t deserve to be forgiven either, he knew that. But he hoped. Yugi was the one in control now, and only he had access to the shadow power in the puzzle. Yami did what he was told to do very willing to admit that he was afraid of his other half. Knowing full well that it was his fault entirely that Yugi was like this now. He hadn’t thought Yugi was that strong, but he had been proved wrong. He was afraid and he knew Kaiba was afraid too.

They knew all about the surveillance on the shop. Knew that a car trailed them wherever they went. Knew that Kaiba tracked all his phone calls and tried very hard to hack his computer. He wanted to know who Yugi’s partner was. But Yugi was not stupid enough to contact them. Yami was never told who the partner was, and Yugi was damn sure he was not going to tell the one who had already betrayed him once.

The only thing Yugi let Kaiba see openly was that he was playing again, that he was improving his game. And all the games he played, he never lost one. Yugi played to win and there was only one person he wanted to beat now.

Kaiba let his obsession with Yugi return, never realizing that he was neglecting his business, leaving things in the hands of those he should not have. Turning decisions over to the only person he trusted, but should have done himself.

“Seto, please. You’ve got to pay better attention, things are not going well with our off shore gaming businesses. Four of them have been taken over by this Trojan Horse Corporation and your people cannot find out who the owners of it are. I’m going back to school Seto, this is too much for me, you’ve got to get yourself back in gear,” said Mokuba.

“Back to school? No you can stay here; I don’t want you going back to America. I want you here, I’ve got the World Championship coming up again and I’m sure Yugi’s going to enter.”

“We’re back to the same place we were years ago. I thought you got over all that once you won it from him three years ago.”

“That wasn’t him!”

“What do you mean it wasn’t him, Seto? Of course it was him, there’s only one Yugi Mutou.”

“No there isn’t. The one I slept with was not Yugi Mutou, his name was Yami, and it was Yami I beat. Always Yami though all those years.”

“You’re not making any sense here Seto.”

“It doesn’t matter. This time I have to beat Yugi, nothing else matters.”

Mokuba sighed, “It will matter if you lose everything to the Trojan Horse Corp. Then you will lose everything you have.”

“I will not lose, not the Company and not to Yugi. He will not have his revenge on me!”

“Revenge?”

Kaiba realized he had gone too far. “For beating him back then.”

“I thought you said it was this Yami guy that you beat?”

Kaiba slammed his hands down on the desk. “I thought you said you were going back to school.”

“You are losing it Seto, first you want me to stay now you want me to go. Well I’m not going to sit by and watch you go crazy again. I’m going.”

Kaiba did not answer his younger brother, who sighed heavily and left the room. Mokuba was no longer a little boy, he was almost as tall as his brother, his long black hair tied back in a pony tail. He was already in college proving to be just as smart as his brother, and majoring in business. He hadn’t planned on studying it, but he was talked into it by an old friend, the same friend that had coached him in Duel Monsters. Thinking about friends, Mokuba decided to make a trip before he went back to school.

The limo stopped outside the Turtle Game Shop, and Mokuba got out and moved quickly to the door. Behind the counter he found Solomon Mutou.

“Hi Mr. Mutou, is Yugi home?”

“Mokuba, it’s been a long time. Yes, he’s upstairs, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”

Mokuba smiled and hurried up the stairs. “Yugi,” he called out as he went.

Yami found himself unceremoniously shoved out of the body he shared with Yugi, and the link shut off.

“Mokuba, I’m here in the living room,” he said.

Mokuba bounced into the room, Yugi stood up, but still Mokuba towered over him. “Man you’ve grown.”

“Yeah, I’m almost as tall as Seto now… Oh sorry, still a sore point I see.”

“Always will be. He’ll know you’ve been here.”

“I know, he’s so paranoid. Back to his old obsession with you again. I’ve had it with that; I’m going back to school.”

“Will you be back for the championships?”

“Yep. I’ll be here. I am going to enter this year.”

“That will surprise your brother.”

“Oh, he won’t know it’s me, I’m going to disguise myself.”

“Good. I know you’ll do well.”

“I have to, you know.”

Yugi nodded.

“Look, I’d better go. Can’t have him racing over here to rescue me or something.”

Yugi laughed. “More like to kill me for luring you over here.”

“Be careful Yugi, I think he’s lost it.”

“Don’t worry Mokuba. All plans are in place, he will lose his crown this year.”

“Whatever you say Yugi, gotta go, bye.”

“Bye, Mokuba.”

He watched the younger Kaiba leave, his eyes narrowing as he saw the men in the car across from him watch the limo leave.

“Soon,” he said to himself.

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“Mr. Kaiba, the Trojan Horse Corporation has already gained 49 percent of your company, and is gaining in popularity in all the games that they are releasing. They already have full control of two of your theme parks and have their eyes on the rest. When are you going to do something to stop them?”

“Have you found out who the company members are?”

“Yes sir, but it is believed that they are a front for someone else.”

“Then find out who this person is and go after them.”

“But sir –“

“I gave you an order, carry it out. I have the World Championships to worry about and that is all I am concerned with at the moment.”

They left him as he looked at his computer, showing him the names of those entered into the Championship. He knew Yugi’s name would be there, but so was Joey Wheeler’s. Wheeler had won the European Championship and he could no longer be treated as any threat. There were names that he did not know, qualifiers from different countries, and a few that used a game name, not their real names, so he had no idea who they were, and there was not a lot documented about the overseas qualifiers. He’d have to wait and see who these players were, when they arrived.

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Kaiba was rushing around getting everything together to go to the World Championships, when Roland appeared at the door.

“Sir, sir you’ve got to listen to me.”

But Kaiba’s mind was elsewhere, he grabbed up his deck briefcase and moved to go.

Roland got in front of him and physically stopped him, “Sir, the Trojan Horse Corporation now has 51 percent of your company!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, that is not possible. The only way that could happen is if Mokuba gave up his shares and he would not do that.”

“Sir I called his school, he’s not there, he’s been gone for a week, they don’t know where he is.”

Kaiba stopped for once and thought, “You think he’s been taken and forced to give up his shares?”

“Yes sir, we do.”

“Then find him. You know where I’ll be.”

Roland let him go, shaking his head. There was a time Kaiba would have pulled out all stops to find Mokuba himself, this time all he seemed to care about was getting to the game and defending his title. He didn’t seem to care that his company was not in his control anymore, or that his brother was missing!

Kaiba got into his limo and headed for the venue where the Championships were being held. He wanted to see the competitors that he knew nothing about. He only had to compete in the finals, being the reigning champion. It was as if he had not even registered in his mind the other things happening around him, he could be losing his company and his brother, but he was only concerned with winning the game. Had Yugi scared him that much, that he didn’t care about anything else but defeating him?

Yugi was in an upper level of the venue when he watched Kaiba’s limo arrive. He was holding onto the Millennium puzzle, beside him the spirit of Yami stood with him, looking between the two.
He was scared too, Yugi hid so much from him now, he had no idea of what Yugi was planning, only that he was determined to win, determined to beat Kaiba once and for all. He knew that something else was going on, but he did not know what, he was still not trusted and wondered if he ever would.

Yugi smiled to himself, glad to see Kaiba there. He looked over to a black robed figure and nodded slightly. If anyone was watching they would not have noticed it. The robed figure nodded back and left.

“Who was that Yugi?” asked Yami.

“My partner, Yami. The one who saved me. The one who showed me more friendship than you ever did, even more than Joey and the others. You will find out who it is soon. He will make it to the finals. In the end there will be Kaiba, Joey, my partner and me. We’ll just have to see who makes it to the end, won’t we?”

Yami bowed his head. “How is this getting revenge?”

“Another thing you will have to wait and see.”

“Yugi, I would never betray you again. I got involved in something that was a lie to begin with. I thought Seto loved me, when he was just using me.”

“And you we using me, Yami. My body was convenient to you, you blocked me out when you wanted to, and because I am doing the same to you now, you don’t like it. I don’t know what I am going to do with you, Yami. I won’t lock you in the puzzle now that I know what it is like. I may be very angry at you and I may not trust you yet, but I will not do that. When all this is over, I will decide what is best for us. Right now, just stay out of it. I told Kaiba you were no longer a player in all this and I meant it. So if you don’t want me to block you out now, shut up and watch, there’s going to be a lot happening over the next couple of days. A lot happening.”

Yami pulled back. He had gotten himself in this mess; if he wanted Yugi to trust him again he had better do as he was told.

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Everything went as Yugi had said it would, in the end there were the four remaining players, Yugi, Kaiba, Joey and the robed one who called himself Paris. Kaiba was set against Joey and Yugi against Paris, with the former to duel first.

With an hour before the match, Joey finally had a chance to catch up with his friend.

“Hey Yug, long time no see.”

“More than you realize, Joey.”

“What?”

“I’m saying that it has been far longer than you think.”

“I still don’t get what you mean.”

“I know Joey, and that’s the problem. For five years how many times did you talk to me?”

“Ah well, umm, let me think here. Umm, every time the championships came up. I tried to catch you after you lost to Kaiba, but you disappeared and I couldn’t find you and I had to get on to America not long after that.”

“I didn’t lose to Kaiba, Joey, Yami did. Five years ago I tried to speak to you but you were away. Five years ago, something happened to me and there was no one there for me.”

“Something happened to you?”

“Did you know that Yami and Kaiba became a couple Joey?”

“Ah no, when was this?”

“While you were touring.”

“So if they were a couple, where were you?”

“Good question Joey. Where do you think I was?”

Joey seemed to ponder that, but soon found himself totally confused.

“Look Yug, I have no idea.”

“No you don’t do you. You were supposed to be my best friend, but you never even noticed that I was gone. You didn’t even know about Yami and Kaiba, you only cared about touring and playing? How’s Serenity?”

“Oh she’s fine; she’s getting married in a few months… Shit, Yug. You are right. I have been only thinking of winning for the past few years, I only kept track of my sister and not my friend, well not all my friends. I did see a lot of Tristan and Duke, but only because I spent a lot of time in America. I even saw a little of Tèa and her family…. I’m sorry Yugi; I let you down didn’t I?”

Yugi sighed. “No Joey, you had your own life to lead, but I wish you had noticed that something was wrong here. Things went horribly wrong for me Joey…. But it’s better now. I want to wish you well with your duel against Kaiba; I know you will give him a real challenge this time.”

When Yugi made to move away Joey grabbed him, “Hey wait, aren’t you going to tell me what happened?”

“No Joey, you don’t need to know, all you need to know is that is that I still consider you as my friend. I know you will do your best in the duel.”

“Of course I will, I want to beat you for once you know.”

Yugi just nodded but he remained serious. “I’m only here to win Joey and there’s only one person I want to face, and I will win on my own too.”

“You mean without Yami?”

“Yami and I haven’t played together in five years Joey, that’s not going to change.”

Again Joey was confused.

“You’ve got a game to prepare for Joey, and I have one too. Paris is good and I can’t wait to face him.”

“You know this guy?”

“Yes Joey, I know him very well. He’s my closest friend.”

Joey jerked at that. He really hadn’t been a good friend to Yugi in the past few years; it was only natural that he found another. “So you know who he really is?”

“Yes Joey, I know who he is. He will reveal himself only if he loses.”

“After your duel?”

“Yes Joey, that is what I am planning on. He will play his very best and no matter what I will be proud of him.”

“You coached him didn’t you?”

“He’s my partner, of course I did. I’ll see you later, Joey.”

Yugi turned away and they were passed by Kaiba’s loyal servant, Roland. He hurried to the room Kaiba was using and went in without knocking.

“Mr. Kaiba you have to listen to me, the Trojan Horse Corporation has taken control of your company. They are ordering you to a meeting of the board tomorrow.”

“Didn’t I order you to find out who was in charge of this company before it got this far?”

“Yes sir, you did. But we were not able to learn who the principle is, their identity has been well hidden, all attempts to hack into it failed.”

“Once I win this and the next duel I can concentrate on getting my company back on track, these fools will not defeat me and neither will Yugi.”

Roland gave up on trying to talk his boss into doing anything before the meeting. The only thing that mattered to him now was staying the World Champion; nothing else was going to distract him from that. He never even asked about his brother.

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The duel had been going on for hours, both duelists countering the moves of the other, neither able to get ahead. Joey had frustrated the hell out of Kaiba, and he knew it and enjoyed it. Three others were enjoying it too. The best moment had been when Joey had destroyed Kaiba’s Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with a Trap card. But that was not enough in the end; Kaiba wiped out his life points and won the game.

Kaiba left immediately, ignoring everyone who got in his way, his eyes only on Yugi and their next game.

“Damn I should have seen that coming,” said Joey as he resignedly left the field. Despite the loss he was still in a good mood from the earlier triumph, the look on Kaiba’s face when he lost his dragon was priceless, worth the defeat in itself.

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Kaiba sat and watched the duel between Yugi and Paris. Paris played very much like Yugi and he suspected that the other player either studied Yugi hard, or learned from him. And the way he was dressed remained him of the duel that had freed Yugi from the puzzle. Though he knew the other had used magic to win that game and defeat him. Could they be one in the same? Could this be Yugi’s partner?

Yugi edged ahead of his opponent, and though Paris tried to fight back, he finally succumbed to Yugi’s experience.

Yugi walked over to his opponent beaming. “That was fantastic, you’ve done really well, better than I expected. I’m really proud of you. One day you will be good enough to defeat –“ Yugi turned around and looked up to where Kaiba was seated, and Paris removed the robes he wore, “your brother.”

Mokuba stood revealed and they both looked up into the face of the shocked elder Kaiba.

/Mokuba was your partner?/ asked Yami.

//Yes Yami. Once I mastered the Shadow magic I looked around for someone to help me. Someone that came to the Kaiba Corp building and would be willing to help me get free. I scared the hell out of Mokuba the first time I spoke in his mind, but he soon came to believe that everything I told him about what his brother and you had done to me was true. He’s as smart as his brother, might have followed the same path if he had not believed me. But he saw Seto’s obsession, he’d been through it before. He saw what Kaiba did to you once he didn’t need you anymore. And Seto had no time to teach him to play Duel Monsters better. I did that while we tried to find a way to free me. As we went along we learned that I could use the magic through him sometimes. He beat his brother once with a little help from me, he got the swipe card from Seto and we had figured out where the puzzle was and what the combination to the drawer was. Mokuba put the puzzle together with my help; it would have taken anyone else years like it did for me in the beginning. He at least cared about what had happened to me, though he still loved his brother and I couldn’t fault him in that, he helped me to survive, and I helped him to teach his brother a lesson.//

/A lesson?/

//That is still to come, you will see.//

“Come on Mokuba, let’s go relax. I still have to face your brother in the final.”

“Sure Yugi. That was fun, thank you.”

“Anything for you, my friend.”

They walked off together.

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Kaiba could not believe it. His brother was Paris; his brother was Yugi’s partner? His brother had beaten him in a Shadow Duel and taken the puzzle from him? Why?

He had watched them walk off together, happy. Even though Yugi had beaten him, Mokuba was happy? Hadn’t he taught him that winning was everything? Hadn’t he taught him how to play the game?...

His mind went back…

“Will you teach me to play like you Seto?”

“When I’m not so busy, Mokuba.”

“But Seto, the company is doing fine at the moment; can’t we spend some more time together?”

“The company could do better; you forget I still have to compete with Pegasus’s company.”

“But Seto –“

“Not now, Mokuba,” he almost shouted.

Mokuba disappeared after that and never asked again…

“Damn. I put the company before him, so he found someone else to teach him. My very worst enemy.”

He looked down at the arena, “But I will beat him in our duel, this just makes me want to get him more. I will pay him back for everything.”

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Yugi could see that Kaiba was angry at him as he stepped up to his place on the arena. They shuffled each other’s decks and stood glaring at each other. Very few people knew just how much this duel meant to them both. Kaiba did not want to lose his crown and Yugi wanted his revenge.

“Clever move with my brother, Yugi.”

“Knew you would not like it.”

“Let’s duel; I look forward to beating you.”

“Not going to happen this time, Kaiba.”

They raised their duel disks and the duel began.

Just as in the duel with Joey the two were evenly matched, until Yugi was about to draw a card and announce his move.

/No Yugi,/ said Yami in their mind.

//I told you to stay out of this.//

/But I was in this same position three years ago, Yugi, and I used the same card as you are about to and he destroyed me with a magic card. He hasn’t played that card yet and we know he has two face down. Yugi please, I know what I’m talking about, if you want to beat him, don’t do this, think of something else. Please trust me./

‘Trust you,’ thought Yugi, ‘After what you did to me.’

/Please Yugi. You weren’t there three years ago. I’m not lying to you. Don’t you think I want you to beat that bastard for what he did to me as well? For what he made me do to you?/

Yugi sighed. Yami was right, he had not been there three years ago, and Yami did want to pay Seto back for what had happened, to both of them.

Yugi pulled back from what he was going to do and set another card instead. He saw the look in Kaiba’s face, the look of a victory snatched from him too soon.

Kaiba fumbled over his next move and Yugi took full advantage, wiping out his remaining life points in one move. Kaiba stood stunned looking at his hand, not wanting to believe that once again he had been defeated. Yugi turned his back on him and walked away; Mokuba stood there and congratulated him.

“I think he’ll need me now,” said Mokuba looking up to the arena, Seto still had not moved.

“It had to be done, Mokuba.”

“I know. Will you be okay?”

Yugi smiled, “I’ll be fine, really. Something else happened in that duel that I wasn’t expecting. I’ll see you tomorrow as we agreed.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Mokuba turned and left to help his brother.

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Yugi ducked away from all the hype. He had not gone into this for that. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to do in the future. His revenge on Kaiba was almost complete.

He hurried home, avoiding all the crowds using the skills he had picked up with the Shadow magic. He collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. “You’ve not said anything.”

“I didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“We won because you stopped me playing that card.”

“We?”

“You wanted to pay Kaiba back too.”

“And it’s done now.”

“Almost.”

“Almost?”

“We have one last thing to do.”

“Then what? What about… us?”

“I told you I would not destroy the puzzle, Yami. I couldn’t do that.”

“So what does that leave for, us?”

“I don’t know yet, Yami. All I know is that we are definitely stuck with each other.”

“Is it such a bad thing?”

“I don’t know yet Yami. I don’t know.”

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Somehow Mokuba had been able to get his brother to go home. They had had to work hard to duck the press, who not only knew he had lost the duel, but that he no longer had control of his company.

It was only on the trip home that Seto had spoken.

“You played very well, Mokuba…”

“Yugi was a really good teacher.”

“How?”

“He reached out to me. I heard him calling to me each time I went to Kaiba Corp. At first I thought I was going crazy. But then I saw you dump Yami the way that you did and the voice still called to me. It got stronger and stronger and I just had to find out what was going on. So I gave in and let Yugi contact me. I didn’t understand it all in the beginning, and it took a while for it all to make sense, but in the end I believed him when he told me what you and Yami did to him. It helped that when you were with Yami that he never wore the puzzle. And later when you dumped him I had someone trace him and they told me that he did not have the puzzle anymore, but as far as anyone knew he had not hocked it. Something like that would have attracted notice because Yugi used to wear it all the time. I used to think you might suspect something was up when I came home from school so often, but you didn’t. Sometimes I think you didn’t even notice me anymore. You were the World Champion again and that was all that seemed to matter. You were forever trying to keep track of the best duelists out there so they would not become a threat to you, because you knew you had destroyed Yami, that he would not be back to challenge you. And Yugi was locked up in your vaults; he’d never be able to get to you. Or so you thought. It made me angry that you were ignoring me. It made me angry what you had done to Yugi, even what you had done to Yami. So Yugi coached me while we tried to find a way to free him. Yugi was my friend, like he always had been, even in the past he was a good friend to me. Even to you until you betrayed him. He wanted to humiliate you today, but in the end he didn’t. He could have done much more than beat you today, Seto.”

“He beat you too.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t take it personally. He was proud of me Seto, were you?”

His brother remained quiet.

“Roland has told me about the meeting tomorrow. I think you had better go and face the music. You might have lost everything, do you know that?”

“The only way the other company could have gotten control was if you gave them your shares. Did you?”

“Yes, Seto, I did. And you will find out why tomorrow at the meeting. That’s all I’m going to say about all this.”

Kaiba felt the anger rising in him, but what Mokuba had said earlier made him keep his mouth shut. He would wait and see what would happen at the meeting that was so important to Mokuba.

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“Where is my brother?” asked Seto the next morning as he prepared to leave for the meeting.

“He has already gone, sir,” answered Roland.

“Did he say where he was going?”

“No.”

“Do you know if he was expected to go to this meeting?”

“No sir, I know nothing about who will be there.”

Kaiba huffed at that and hurried out to his limo.

The meeting was taking place in his own building. Unknown to anyone the other company had taken an office there.

But even as he entered the place he was struck by how bare the place was, there was no secretary there to announce him, no desk, nothing, just another door. Still feeling angry he marched through the door, there was a long board room table there and around it were only three seats. The lighting above the large seat at the end of the table was dark and he could not make out who sitting there. In the centre seat was his brother and there was an empty chair in front of him.

“What’s going on here Mokuba?”

“Sit down Seto.”

He refused; he looked like he wanted to go after the one at the end of the room.

“If you want to save your company sit down.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it glaring at the tone from his brother.

“Kaiba, it was my intention to destroy you and your company today, but your brother has asked me not to. But if I do this there will be some conditions attached.”

Kaiba got to his feet, the voice was the computer voice again, the one used against him when Mokuba dueled him and took the swipe card.

“What kind of conditions! No one takes over my company to blackmail me into doing things for them!”

“This isn’t blackmail,” said Mokuba.

“Then what is it?”

“For me it was to teach you about paying attention to what is really important in your life. I used to think that I was the most important thing, then the company. Somewhere along the way that changed. I wasn’t as important as the company, then later the company was not as important as you keeping your World championship. You always acted more like an adult all the way when we were growing up, but you turned out to be the biggest child of us all.”

“You were blinded to everything that you didn’t care who you hurt along the way, as long as you were the winner in the end. You haven’t even seen how you hurt your own brother. He used to go along with anything you did, would have done anything for you. He asked for one thing and you were too busy or too obsessed to help him. I wanted to destroy you. I wanted to make you hurt as you have hurt others… The conditions are these. You can keep your 49 percent, but that is all you will ever have unless you can prove to us that you can change yourself for the better. Condition one is this, you will retire from playing Duel Monsters, but you will support your brother in his endeavors in the game.” Seto had opened his mouth at the word retire and stood with his hands on the desk, but shut up. “Condition two, you will pay more attention to the job you do best, which is running Kaiba Corporation and inventing new games and gaming systems. And you will allow the changes made by Trojan to live along side them, as well as listening to the inventor of those new games. After all they have proved to be better than yours,” said the shadowed figure.

“Don’t be ridiculous I will not do this.”

“Why not Seto? Don’t you get it yet?”

“Get what?”

“Trojan Horse, think about it. And the name I played by.”

Kaiba glared at his brother, but his mind was racing. Trojan Horse, a computer virus…? Name? Paris? A city in France?... Or the hero of…. Troy. Wooden horse… Mokuba.

“You did this. You are the Trojan Horse Corporation?”

“Thickheaded as usual,” muttered Mokuba.

“And I helped him in that too, Kaiba. He’s as smart as you are, but he’s got something you don’t,” the computer voice said, “He’s got a heart that knows how to love and it’s only his love for you that stopped me from wanting to destroy you utterly.”

The figure got up and moved into the light. “What you did to me and Yami is unforgivable. And I will never forgive you. But because I care a great deal about Mokuba, and because he cares too much for you, I won’t.”

Kaiba fell into his seat.

“Defeating you yesterday will have to be enough for me. You see I’m retiring too. I don’t want to play anymore. You took away five years of my life. You turned my other half into a drunken whore after betraying us both. The Trojan Horse Corporation is in both Mokuba and my names and it will stay that way. You will stick to the conditions we have made for you, the Trojan Horse will fall under Kaiba Corporation, and we three will be the principles. I’m not letting go Kaiba, Mokuba and I have the majority and we are going to keep it. I need some time to learn what I want to do with my life, but then I’ll be back, Seto. I’ll be back to take my place in our company, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

“Please Seto, you owe us,” said Mokuba.

Kaiba looked like he was going to explode, especially when Yugi made his appearance and when he said he was not going to let go. But then he… laughed.

When he stopped, “Well played. Now I know why you are the King of Games, Yugi. I learned to be a bastard from the best in Gozaburo Kaiba. I don’t want Mokuba to be like us, though I can see now that he does have to balls to take me on like he has. I will always play to win, but I seem to have neglected the person I love most in this world. Fine. I’ll live by your… conditions. But I won’t say I’m sorry to you Yugi, because I’m not.”

“I didn’t think you would be. But remember this,” Yugi waved his hand and the room darkened leaving only him and Seto in the room. “I command the Shadow magic now; I won’t hesitate to use it if you step out of line and hurt someone again.” Kaiba couldn’t move he felt like he was being held in a vice. “I could use my influence with Mokuba against you too. Don’t forget that, don’t ever forget that.”

The room became light again and Mokuba looked between the two of them, knowing something had passed between them without his knowing. “Ah did I miss something?”

“Sorry Mokuba, I had to make a point. I’m sorry; I could hold my anger only so far. Which reminds me, don’t forget his anger management sessions.”

Mokuba saw his brother turn red with just that, “Oh I won’t. I think I’ve got balls enough to get him to them.”

That was it, he could take no more. Kaiba turned and stormed from the room.

Yugi walked up to Mokuba. “He’s going to try and talk you out of all this, you know that don’t you?”

“Course I do. He’s my brother, the person I know the most in this world. But I haven’t lived with him all these years and not known how to wind him around my finger either. It’s just the secrets that he kept from me that piss me off.”

“Then make sure he knows you’re pissed off with him. You can be stronger than him Mokuba; in fact I always thought that you were.”

Mokuba smiled and reached for his friend, they hugged. When he pulled back. “You said you needed to work out what you want to do?”

“Yeah, I do. I did lose five years of my life in all reality. I mean I got to know you and we became closer, but I wasn’t ‘alive’, I was a spirit. And I have a spirit residing in me that betrayed me too. I have two souls that I have to live with somehow and I need to find out how. Does that make sense?”

“I think so. There is you and there is Yami, and you two have to live together, no matter what. But he betrayed you and hurt you and you loved him too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You’ll find a way, I know you will. You said I was strong, but that’s nothing compared to you. Go have a good holiday, you’re part of Kaiba Corp. now, you can do anything you want to do, go anywhere you want to go, and I’ll see you when you get back. Don’t worry about me. I know how to switch Seto off and anyway, I’ve got school to finish. Big brother doesn’t have a degree, but I’m going to get one. If he gets back on track, he’ll have the company back running smoothly for us. I’ll just keep reminding him that you and I are equal partners and that we have the 51 percent, and that he has to get it out of both of us, not just me.”

Yugi smiled and Mokuba followed his brother from the room.

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Yugi was packing for his holiday. His grandfather had an assistant to boss around that actually did the chores he assigned him, so he was happy even as Yugi told him he was going on a trip.

“So where are w-- you going Yugi?”

“Well, I want to see the world like Joey has. I want to catch up with the others in America. And I also thought I’d like to see, Egypt.”

Yami gasped, “You’d go there?”

“It’s where our… partnership started after all.”

“Partnership?”

“We are bound together Yami. Do you want me to lock you up in the puzzle forever?”

“Of course not?”

“Then I have to learn to live with you again.”

“Were you serious about working at Kaiba Corp?”

“Yes. My love of games got me into this. I may not feel like playing at the moment, but it’s a part of my life, a big part of my life. Something I’m good at.”

“Would you really have put me in the puzzle forever?”

“Nothing lasts forever, Yami. You ought to know that. And yes, I was angry enough to do that once, but like I said, I couldn’t do it. You might have been asleep in all the time you were locked into it, but I wasn’t. How could I know that you wouldn’t either? I loved you once, Yami.”

“I know. And I dismissed your love. I really regret that now, but that is hindsight. I’ve got to get you back to just liking me yet.”

“Very true, Yami. But we have a long time together. A lifetime.”

“A new lifetime?”

“I hope so.”

THE END

For those that don’t know Mokuba is Japanese for wooden horse.