Work Text:
The sound of his opponent’s life point counter hitting 0 was music to Kaiba’s ears. The robed nobody from Doma dropped his cards and fell to his knees; he seemed to be pleading with something, but Kaiba couldn’t understand him. Then, just like the other duels he’d seen, the hologram of the Seal of Orichalcos closed around him, flashing briefly. When the light cleared, he fell to the side, head bouncing off the concrete with a dull crack.
“Hmph. These are the kinds of people who are trying to take over my company?” Kaiba retrieved his deck from its slot in his Duel Disk, placing it carefully in his briefcase, before walking over to his unworthy opponent’s passed out body. “What a joke,” he continued, nudging the unconscious man with his foot. He had landed on his right arm, meaning the thing he called a “Duel Disk” was on full display. His monsters had fallen to the ground, torn by gravity from their previous slots, but one card remained in its place: the Seal of Orichalcos itself.
That card… He squatted down, retrieving the card as best he could without touching the perversion of his greatest invention. The writing wasn’t in a language he could recognize, but he knew what the card did. 500 extra attack points, the ability to summon monsters in the spell and trap card zone, a seeming-invulnerability to being destroyed by card effects—it was a game-changer.
Amelda’s words at Pegasus’ castle flashed through his mind: whoever loses the Duel loses their soul . But that was nonsense, clearly. So this fool couldn’t handle his Solid Vision technology. That didn’t mean he was soulless. Kaiba didn’t even believe in souls.
Mokuba believed it , a traitorous voice sneered in his head. As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, Mokuba did seem concerned for him whenever he dueled while this card was in play. He didn’t want to upset his brother, of course. But something about that card...it almost called to him. The afternoon light glinted off the sickly green symbol in the center, making a shiver race down his spine.
Kaiba had long set out to have the most powerful deck in Duel Monsters. A deck full of cards that no one else could stand to battle. He’d thought that retrieving all three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards was enough, but clearly, he was mistaken. This card promised true power. And he would need all the power he could get if he was going to keep Kaiba Corporation out of Dartz’ slimy hands.
He opened his briefcase back up, slipping the Seal in with his deck. No, he and the scrub lying motionless on the street hadn’t set up an ante prior to the duel, but he wasn’t going to be needing it anytime soon. To the victor go the spoils. The nagging voice reminding him of Amelda’s warning was banished to the back of his mind; with this card, he didn’t need to worry about losing any Duels, even if it did take the loser’s soul.
Before he could leave, he noticed a glint of light from the man’s neck. Right, he had been wearing a cord with a stone pendant that was the same color as the Seal. Kaiba squatted back down, grabbing the necklace without much thought. Again, something about it called to him— metaphorically, of course.
He wasn’t hearing whispers from the stone. That was just the wind.
Kaiba couldn’t say he hadn’t dueled on a plane before. There were many opportunities to practice his strategies during flights, against himself or Mokuba or members of staff who sort of knew the game.
Dueling on top of a plane? That was new. Especially one that was actively crashing. He glared at Amelda, standing across from him with a wicked smile on his face. He had that wrong Duel Disk on, like the other Doma henchmen. It still made his skin crawl to see his personal invention turned into something else.
“Let’s duel,” Amelda said, before activating the scythe on his arm and drawing five cards. Kaiba did the same, the wings of his own Duel Disk flaring out the way he had designed. When he looked at his starting hand, however, the discomfort vanished immediately.
“I’ll start us off,” Kaiba said, a grin of his own forming, “with a card I think you’ll recognize.”
“Seto? When did you get that card?” Mokuba’s voice came from behind him, but Seto didn’t have time to answer. It was time to see what this card could do.
“I happened to defeat one of your other goons, and he left me a present. Let’s see how it feels when the card you people seem to worship is turned against you!”
“Seto, no! It’s too dangerous!” Mokuba cried. Seto turned around briefly, locking eyes with his brother. “You heard what Amelda said, one of you is going to lose your soul!”
“Mokuba, I know what I’m doing,” Kaiba said, putting as much reassurance into his voice as he could manage. Then, he pulled the card from his hand, and activated the field magic slot on his Duel Disk. Putting the card into the slot was easy; it almost didn’t seem like he was the one doing it. “I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!”
The slot shimmered briefly, the way it did when any card was played. The stone Kaiba had taken to wearing around his neck glimmered as well. Then, pain shot through his body, originating in his core, then racing through his nervous system. Every part of him felt like it was on fire. A scream was ripped from his lungs, his eyes screwing shut reflexively. His mind was full of nothing but pain and green for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, the pain subsided, replaced with...oh, he could get used to this. He was flooded with a sense of power, exactly the kind of power he’d always been seeking. All this time, all his searching, and what he had been looking for was contained in this one card? Kaiba only wished he’d found it sooner.
His eyes snapped open, and he surveyed the field. The Seal was surrounding them, but rather than feeling trapped, the way he had in his first duel against Amelda, he felt excited . The Seal wasn’t a prison, it was an arena, no different from the colosseum he had created for his Duel against Yugi in Battle City.
Finally, Kaiba locked his gaze with Amelda, lips curling into a smirk. Amelda’s eyes were wide, and his hand was shaking minutely. “What’s the matter? Afraid of your own precious card?”
“I’m not scared of you,” Amelda said, but the worried look he gave his cards said otherwise.
“Lie to yourself if you want, it won’t make any difference when I crush you.” Kaiba paused, pretending to deliberate over his cards, before placing another in attack position. “Now, I summon X-Head Cannon!”
The Solid Vision machine roared to life, settling into place on the field, before its makeshift eyes were overlaid with a red glow. Its attack point counter ticked up, moving it from 1800 to a respectable 2300. That much attack power, without having to tribute a thing… He knew he made the right decision.
“Is that all you got?” Amelda was clearly trying to be tough. It wasn’t working; he was looking between his cards and Kaiba’s face rapidly, hands only shaking worse now.
“You’re lucky; I can’t attack this turn. That will soon change,” Kaiba said, setting two cards face down. “I end my turn. Let’s see what you have planned, if anything.” He laughed, long and loud, the way he did when he crushed Duelists before Yugi had come into the picture. Oh, this was going to be fun.
A direct attack from Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Amelda’s life points hit zero. There was no way he could withstand 5000 points of damage, even if Kaiba hadn’t already wiped the floor with him. He sank to the ground with wide, empty eyes. Clearly, he was terrified. Kaiba loved it; delicious shivers of power were still coursing through him, and that on top of the thrill of victory made for a rush like he’d never experienced.
“How… How could I lose?” Amelda’s broken voice only made Kaiba’s mood soar higher.
“Because I’m better than you,” he said, superior and haughty. Blue-Eyes Ultimate hovered in the air behind him, all three heads roaring, a red gleam in their eyes overtaking their namesake color. “I told you, I wouldn’t let my brother die. That’s why I won. And, more importantly, why you lost. ”
As though on cue, the Seal shrunk, casting a sickly green pallor on Amelda’s face. “Miruko… I’m sorry,” he choked out, arms limp by his sides. He looked so pathetic that Kaiba couldn’t help but laugh. And he kept laughing, even as the light flashed and Amelda slumped fully to the floor, apparently lifeless.
Well done , an unfamiliar voice whispered. Another soul for the Leviathan. Kaiba’s brow furrowed; everyone talking about mumbo-jumbo must have gone to his head. Oh well, that was no reason not to gloat.
“Looks like apologizing wasn’t good enough, was it?” He sneered down at the unconscious body before him, wretched Duel Disk trapped underneath his torso where he couldn’t see it. “That’s another difference between us, scrub. You’re all talk. I do what I set out to do.” Taking a step, he meant to prod Amelda with his foot, checking for signs of life. He was halted by a small hand tugging on his coat.
“Seto!” Kaiba turned on his heel. His interrupter was, of course, Mokuba. He’d completely forgotten about his brother, lost in the haze of the Seal’s power. Mokuba’s face was wet, and his eyes were red and puffy. “Seto, what’s wrong with you?” His voice was thick, too. “You didn’t even try to save him, and now, his soul is gone!”
“Of course I wasn’t going to save him,” Kaiba said, prickling at the accusation. “I was trying to save you. Besides, you know that nonsense isn’t real. He just fainted from Solid Vision, that’s all.”
“But, Yugi—”
“I don’t care what Yugi said,” Kaiba snarled. He immediately regretted it when Mokuba flinched, hands coming up to cover his face. Where did this anger come from? He knelt down; his left arm, suddenly twice as heavy, dangled by his side, the hard plastic corner of his Duel Disk digging into his thigh. “Mokuba, I’m—”
He was interrupted by the plane hitting a bump of turbulence, sending both he and Mokuba tumbling to the ground. Right. The plane is still crashing. Kaiba got to his feet, then pulled Mokuba up. Mokuba shoved his hand off his wrist as soon as he was upright. Then, he fixed him with a hard look; was he disappointed? Angry? Hurt?
“Let’s go, we don’t have much time,” he said, sounding far older than his years. Kaiba swallowed the lump that had gathered in his throat. Rather than say anything, he nodded, receiving a sharp nod in return. Then, they raced to the cockpit together, not holding hands, though Kaiba knew Mokuba probably needed the support.
All the while, the Seal of Orichalcos still burned from its spot on his Duel Disk. And, in a lair deep within a tower in the middle of the ocean, someone laughed, long and loud. A Legendary Knight, wielding the card which will seal his demise. I must admit, even I couldn’t see that coming.