Chapter Text
Seto Kaiba walked with big steps and a high pace over the street. His blue eyes and the tight grip on huis suitcase revealed how angry he was. He glared at the building ahead, one of the buildings housing his duel arena’s.
As he walked to the building he saw some familiar faces and he groaned, those dweeps were the last ones he wanted to see right now.
“Kaiba!” Yugi said, raising his hand to wave. “What brings you here?”
Seto didn’t look at Yugi. “Someone stole a Blue Eyes White Dragon from me,” he growled, walking to the door.
“Say what?” Joey said.
“Are you deaf, Wheeler?” Seto snapped as he turned to face the blond friend of Yugi. “I said someone stole my card and I’m here to retrieve it.”
“How d’you know it’s here?”
The stupidity of Joey annoyed him even more than ever. “Because the thief played the card, I can check what monster is played where and I told my people to look for my Blue Eyes.” He decided he had wasted enough time answering stupid questions and he walked into the building. Of course the dweeps followed him, they probably thought they could help him, or some nonesense like that.
“How did they steal it?” Yugi asked.
“I don’t know, okay!” Seto exclaimed as he turned to Yugi, glaring vicously at him. He really didn’t know and it frustrated him to no end. How had someone been able to break into his house and steal one of his precious cards?
The small teen backed away under the glare, muttering an apology, but both Joey and Tristan stepped up to protect him.
Without another word, Seto walked to the second arena and opened the door. The duel was still in progress and there he saw the holographic image of the majestic Blue Eyes White Dragon. His Blue Eyes White Dragon. He looked and the man with the blue cap on his head standing at the duel table of the arena. He brought a phone to his ear. “I’m here, discontinue the duel.”
The second after the order was given, the holograms disappeared and the lights on the duel tables died out.
“Hey, what the hell?!” the man with the blue cap exclaimed. “We paid to duel here!”
“I will offer your friend a refund,” Seto stated, glaring at the man. “And you will give me back my card.
“Hey,” the other duelist said, “you said Kaiba gave you that card!”
Seto’s eyes narrowed. “You said I gave you the card?”
“Well, we traded,” the duelist with the blue cap defended himself.
“We did not trade! You left me Exodia and took my Blue Eyes White Dragon! And I want my card back.”
“What is your big deal, Exodia is stronger.”
“I hate Exodia,” Seto growled.
“Only because you were defeated by it,” Joey stated.
“Shut up Wheeler!” Seto glared at him. “I don’t care how powerful Exodia is, I want my Blue Eyes White Dragon back. She belongs with me!”
It was silent in the arena. Seto breathed heavily, as if he had been running. He hadn’t meant to say that, but it was true. They belonged together. His hand formed a fist. They belonged together and he would let no-one take her away from him. Everytime he saw his dragon he didn’t just see the powerful monster it was, it reminded him of her, that girl with the long white hair. The girl that had been with his ancient Egyptian counterpart. That girl that had appeared in his dreams and helped him through a nightmare when he got shot. He rubbed the place where the bullet had entered his body, even though it happened some time ago, he could still feel it when he thought about it.
“Sure,” Joey said in a hushed voice, “he thinks the card belongs to him. Damn rich boy, he’s obesessed with that monster.”
At the same time as Joey said that to Yugi, the man with the blue cap looked at Seto. “Hey, this card wasn’t made for you, you just bought them. These card don’t belong to anyone.”
As they spoke, Yugi looked at Seto’s back. Both of them hadn’t heard what he had, Kaiba had clearly said ‘she belongs with me’, not ‘it belongs to me’. It was an odd way to say he owned a card from a game. And since when did he see the dragon as female? The card never specified it was.
With a determined look on his face, Seto stepped forward. He would get his card back, one way or the other. When the man took the card in both hands, he stopped. This guy held the card exactly as he had when he had tore the fourth card of the Blue Eyes, the card belonging to Yugi’s grandfather.
“One more step and I will rip this card.”
“Don’t,” Seto said, feeling his heart get heavy. “It’s a priceless card. I will give you back your Exodia if you give me back my Blue Eyes.”
Yugi watched the scene in astonishment, Kaiba seemed so unlike himself. The prospect of seeing the card ripped somehow stripped him from his usual confidence. “We have to get it back,” he whispered to his friends.
“Say what?” Joey said. “Maybe he should experience what it feels like to have a precious card ripped before your eyes. He did the same to your grandfather.”
That was true, Solomon Moto, yugi’s grandfather, had cared for his Blue Eyes White Dragon card, the fourth and last card of that monster in the entire game. And Kaiba had ripped the card after he won it in a duel, so that the last Blue Eyes could never be used against him. But Yugi knew it wasn’t the same thing, his grandfather treasured the card because it was a gift from a friend. Whatever reason Kaiba had to be so connected- It dawned on him, that was it. He felt connected to the card. The Tablet of Lost Memories that Ishizu had shown the pharao, and therefor him, had the Blue Eyes on it as well. And the priest shown on it looked exactly like Kaiba, there was an ancient connection between him and the Blue Eyes White Dragon.
“Look,” the thief said, “we’ll make a deal. Pay me a million and I’ll give you back this card.”
Seto didn’t even blink when he heard that number. “Fine,” he said, his face completely blank. He took a checkbook and a pen from his pocket and scribbled the numbers on it. He ignored Yugi and his friends staring at him, but he knew it was more money then any of them would ever have and he would pay it for one card.
The man with the cap just looked at the checkbook with greedy eyes. After hearing him talk he just knew Kaiba would be willing to spend a lot of money to get his card back, of course he took advantage of that.
“Here,” Seto said as he ripped the check from the book and held it between two fingers as he extended his hand. “Give me my card and this is for you.”
The thief quickly walked over, holding the card in his hand. He reached out to take the check, but the moment his fingers touched the paper, Seto grabbed his wrist, pulled him closer and hit him in the stomach. The man coughed and wheezed with big eyes and Seto forced him down on his knees, pulling his arm on his back. With his other hand he grabbed the man’s neck and forced him down even further until he lay on the ground.
“Listen carefully,” Seto said, after putting his knee in the back of the thief and lowering his head so that he could whisper to him. “I will not tolerate anyone stealing anything from me. You will give me back my card and I will let you go with just a warning. Take it again and I will break the bones in your hands, beginning with your fingers. I will break them one by one. And when that’s done, I will ruin you.”
“You’re a psycho,” the pale thief spat. “Over a stupid card?”
Seto narrowed his eyes. “Since you took the time to take it from me, you don’t consider the card stupid. And this is just a matter of prinicple, I will not tolerate anyone stealing anything from me, be it my most worhtless card or a protoype I created. Consider this a warning, don’t steal from me ever again.” He brought his lips closer to the ears of the thief. “If my card will go missing again, you will be the first I seek out, whether you did it or not.”
Without another word, Seto took his card back and got up. He threw the cards of Exodia in front of the thief’s face. “Here you have your Exodia back. Leave now, you’re not welcome in anything that carries my name.” Having said that, he left the arena.
Outside Mokuba and Roland were waiting for him, they had arrived not long after Seto and had waited in the hall for him to finish his business. Seto’s eyes moved to Roland. “I want his face added to our facial recognition software, I don’t want that man coming close to my home or my business ever again.”
Roland nodded and promised to do so.
Seto started walking again, with big steps he crossed the hall and walked towards the doors. Mokuba had to walk fast to keep up with his brother. “So you have her back,” he said, but his brother didn’t reply. He hadn’t really expected an answer anyway.
“Yes,” Seto finally said. “I have her back.”
It was true he had three Blue Eyes White Dragon, but he couldn’t stand the thought of any of those in someone else’s deck. The thought she could be used against him was unbearable.