(( rp log continued from here !!! directly copied from Discord w minor editing for typos and formatting. Less card games this installment, I promise. I also realized that I probably should have just included Noa and Seto's interaction in this series but I've been promising 4 parts since the beginning so I'll post that as a standalone follow up next lol
Seto Kaiba @blueeyesking , me as Noa, Mokuba, and the Yugis. Wyatt @seashaper , Hika @nameless-brand , and Pyre @redeyesandchilifries ))
NOA
[ Noa only rolls his eyes at Rook's taunting and threats. Empty, empty words. Don't they realize that he's in control of everything here? That the only reason he doesn't snap his fingers and turn them inside out is that they simply aren't worth the processing power?
Far away on his own tower, Noa is unfazed by the blade drawn by the other. He looks away as the chair goes flying into the void, no longer interested in the stranger's temper tantrum.
Mokuba still hasn't attacked. Noa feels rage boil inside of him. What's going on? Why does his connection to his little brother feel so unstable now? Why are so many of the teenager's thoughts coming through as static?
"Attack him already!" Noa snaps, quickly growing impatient with this impasse. "Show them what it really means to be a Kaiba!!!"
But he doesn't.
No, Mokuba's turn comes to an end instead, without the fearsome dragon moving a powerful muscle. Lightning splits the darkness of the void as Noa's rage overflows.
"What are you doing?!" he snaps, bracing himself against the parapet as he shouts down to his puppet below. "You were supposed to kill him!!! Did you forget that he hurt you?? Or who it was that saved you??!" ]
Seto Kaiba
Seto draws, saying nothing. Giant Germ.
Unfortunately… This is his perfect chance for a comeback. At least, it will let him stall another turn. He sets the Giant Germ in attack position, then sets his Ring of Defense face-down beside Crush Card Virus.
It just requires a sacrifice of Giant Germ for him to activate and reveal Crush Card Virus, which will allow him to destroy Red-Eyes Archfiend and look at Mokuba's hand, then destroy any monsters in Mokuba's hand that have 1500ATK or more. And then Mokuba can choose three monsters of 1500+ATK from his deck to send to the graveyard.
However, Seto pauses, watching Mokuba instead of playing and drawing his attention away from the inner conflict.
NOA
[ He won't give up this easily. Reappropriates some processes, affording more energy towards his control over Mokuba. There's no one else in this world he wants beside him when he takes over and makes it new. Why would he?
Humans are worthless.
"This isn't over, Mokuba. Don't listen to these liars," Noa growls, the gentleness of his voice long abandoned. "They don't care about you!! Don't you see that? They just want to use you to escape from here and save themselves. I'm the only one who's ever loved you!!! Who ever will love you!!"
Mokuba's brows knit tight as he glances in Noa's direction. The storm inside his head starts to calm as his eyes glaze over again
Noa smirks.
"That's it!! That's my good Baby Brother. Don't give up now!!! You can still win, you can still make me proud!! We can get sundaes after this, wouldn't that be nice? We'll be a happy family, forever! You just have to kill Seto Kaiba first!"
Mokuba doesn't respond.
Seto Kaiba
"No, Mokuba!" Seto doesn't play his cards. "These friends of yours- Levant, and Rook, and Chi, and Lark! They love you! You will always have friends who love you, Mokuba!" He gestures to Rook and Levant, calling on his memories of their time together in the Minecraft server, or of Mokuba's blog, for names of his friends. "These people wouldn't dream of leaving you behind, and neither would I. Do you remember what I wrote, Mokuba? In response to that ask you got, a few days ago?"
Seto places the cards in his hand onto their slot on his Duel Disk.
"This arena Noa has conjured… was from a duel between myself and Yugi. The same stakes. And when I knew I was going to lose, I stood at the edge, bargaining my life- but while I was there, I saw you, Mokuba, inside of my rotting Blue-Eyes. I kept trying to save you, and failing, over and over, until the version of myself standing on the dueling podium started to rot, too."
"When that duel concluded, Téa and Joey reminded me of two very important things, that at the time I refused to listen to: Duel Monsters is not about murder, and that I hadn't won against Yugi- I had lost to myself, for bargaining my life as if it meant nothing… and refusing to let myself live with a loss."
"It was only after that duel that I had a real chance to save you from Pegasus, Mokuba… and I lost, despite my best efforts. It took Yugi and his friends to save us both. And when I awoke in that dungeon, alone, it was a vision of myself, as I was when we were kids, that lead me back to you. I knew then, when we embraced… I needed to be a better person. For you, Mokuba, if nothing else."
He had been staring at the floor, lost in the memories, but now Seto looks up at his little brother with an intensity he rarely holds.
"It's like I told you: I would live for you, Mokuba. It's harder than letting yourself die, because you have to continue on, and accept your losses."
Seto Kaiba ends his turn without taking the chance to win.
Mokuba
Those names are so familiar. How could Mokuba forget Lark? They had gone out of their way to make cookies for his birthday. By hand. And they were the best damn cookies that Mokuba had ever tasted.
He was eating one when their jet went down--
And Chi. Had she ever logged back in to their server? He didn't know her well, he'd mostly gotten frustrated with her unusual language barrier. But for some reason, it had always made him so sad to pass by her small base, overgrown with bamboo and reeds he always felt a little guilty for harvesting.
Did she ever get to see Turtle Cove…?
Mokuba shakes his head. No. No. He needs to focus. He needs to play.
[ He needs to win. ]
He looks at that face down card across the field, then at the Giant Germ that Seto had summoned. There's one reason that card in his deck. He has a feeling he knows exactly what that face down card is, now. He's confident that he could come back from the virus trap-- should Seto really prove that obvious. He already has a plan, but...
Wait.
But maybe that's what Seto wants him to think? He's the best Duelist in the world, after all--
Mokuba grits his teeth and draws a card. Lightning Storm. Seriously? SERIOUSLY ??? He should be smirking.
Whatever that face down card was that made him so nervous, Virus or not, it would be useless now. All he needs to do is play this one card. Giant Germ's effect won't matter either once Archfiend's own effect activates.
But Mokuba's eyes flicker from the card in his hand to his opponent across the rooftoop.
what he wrote…?
what the fuck [ heck ] is he talking about?
He would die for me--
His eyebrows turn up, from something vengeful to something helpless. A kind of panicked confusion the young Kaiba rarely showed. His cards shake in his hand.
Mokuba looks up at one tower, to Joey, and Duke Ootogi, to the monkey with Tristan's voice.
Joey, who Mokuba has poisoned once. Who Mokuba had hurt… and who had forgiven him. They were supposed to duel, Red Eyes against Red Eyes, weren't they…
But not like this--
Tristan, who Mokuba had saved from Death-T.
[ From Seto's Death Themepark. ]
So what.
He looks to the tower opposite. To Rook, who he barely recognizes in human form. How long has it been since he wore his own tiefling skin…?
Levant. He'd never gotten to meet her in person before she died. Disappeared? For a second, his face burns. He'd given up on her so easily, tried to just accept the unfortunate fact and move on. But she got sucked into this for him anyway.
Téa, who had helped him escape from Marik's Ghouls and avoid being controlled by the Millennium Rod--
To Noa.
Who's only tried to keep him from these people who love him. Who put their own lives in danger just because he dropped some coordinates with no explanation.
Mokuba's stomach twists.
Something just doesn't feel right
His attention snaps back to Seto, crashing back into the reality of the situation like a car into a brick wall. He stares blankly at the oldest Kaiba as he goes on, and on. Admitting to things that Seto Kaiba would never.
To things that Mokuba never knew. That Noa can't block him from hearing now.
When he takes a breath, he finally realizes that he's crying.
He didn't even cry when Pegasus locked him in a cold dungeon, bound in chains.
He didn't even cry when he saw his brother again--
No.
Not Noa.
"Niisama*…" Mokuba gasps.
It's quiet. Maybe no one else even hears it. But that's the moment that Noa's control snaps like piano wire.
Suddenly, Mokuba lets out a shrill, blood curdling scream. It's the same scream he's always loved to do from some random corner of the mansion, just to see if Isono or Fuguta would come running first.
But this time, it's real.
He drops his cards as he falls to his knees, grabbing his head as he screams again
Seto Kaiba
Seto watches silently as Mokuba's false reality is shattered, but when the boy speaks, and finally, screams, Seto surges forward to the opposite edge of his tower, reaching toward his little brother.
"Mokuba!!"
Mokuba
There's still so much confusion, so much chaos inside his mind as Mokuba fights against whatever is surpressing so many of his thoughts.
Against Noa--
But he looks up, through the pain and the chaos and the static and the memories he can't trust.
And in that very second, he realizes exactly where he wants to be.
Desperately, frantically he skitters to his feet, breaking into a clumsy sprint towards Seto's arms. Towards his brother's arms--
NOA
[ Such a shame they'd never meet.
Lightning cracks the sky of the infinite void once again and Noa's sapphire eyes flash with rage. How could Mokuba possibly override his reprogramming? How could his precious Baby Brother betray him? Didn't Mokuba know how lucky he was, to be chosen by such a powerful Big Brother?
As the two opponents race towards each other's embrace, Noa puts his foot down.
Literally.
The virtual god stomps a foot in frustration, and a ripple spreads out from his tower. Somewhere far away, the ground shakes.
But more importantly, as the shockwave passes through the two brothers, they freeze. Bound first in time alone, cyan crystals rapidly climb up their paused forms, from toe to fingertip.
So Mokuba managed to break his control. To choose the brother who hurt him over the one who could give him everything.
Fine.
Then Noa would hurt him too. ]
Rook
Madison Rook is fixated on the scene as Mokuba's friends and brother shout out, as the boy himself breaks free of that brat's manipulation, Rook is so, so proud of him and his strength. But that rush doesn't last long, the moment they take to relax is the moment Noa lashes out, and Rook's pulse pauses in time with the brothers as they instantly recognize the stillness, and just as quickly spot the crystal texture overtaking their forms.
An empathic fear rises in their chest, a knowledge and terror for what's about to happen that they swallow down with rage, anger and disgust at what's been done that they can channel outwards instead of let break them apart inside. Rook's already pale fingers grip white on their sword and they point it from the tower at the Kaiba brothers, pulse pounding faster in their ears, half growling to themselves, half shouting to Noa.
"How fucking *dare* you. Not on my watch, you little bastard!"
The crystal on Madison Rook's sword glows with more intent, a concentration of passionate soul, and fires a violet beam of light at the victims of Noa's selfish play. Seto Kaiba, positioned between Rook and Mokuba, takes the 'hit', the beam dispersing on contact into buzzing violet sparks that wrap around him to flow down the edges of the horrible change, undoing it in favor of real(ish) skin and fabric. They spiral up his arm towards Mokuba, but he's just barely too far away, and the sparks fizzle in midair before they reach him. In seconds, the soul magic has faded away, leaving Seto unbound and animate.
Rook takes a deep breath, allowing themselves the confidence from their plan having worked, and steps away from the others on the tower, shifting position, trying to get a good angle to hit Mokuba too, before it's too late. They succeeded once; they can save them both. They won't let their apprentice hurt like they did.
Noa
[ As diligent as he is, Noa doesn't expect Rook's swift reaction. A frustrated growl shakes the ground and the towers as Noa shoots a glare in Rook's direction.
But he doesn't hesitate for another breath (as if he needs such a primitive function) Noa waves a hand, and in that instant, two things happen.
Mokuba disappears, consumed in less than a second by a cascade of glowing hexagons and pixels.
And the towers begin to fall away, brick by brick, from the bottom up. In the moment that the final stones cascade from beneath their feet, every last member of the unwilling audience is caught within a different, ornate birdcage, catching on some unseen tether to hang, suspended in the void.
The look that Noa shoots at Seto is venomous as he appears on the rooftop before him.
"You really couldn't be satisfied until you took everything from me, could you Seto?"
Seto
Seto regains his momentum and stumbles, briefly disoriented by the petrification he suffered. As his eyes refocus, he sees what's happened.
"MOKUBA!!"
No... he just got his little brother back! Seto rushes to reach the statue made of Mokuba, and almost does, before it disappears in cyan hexagons and the towers begin to crumble around the arena. Seto comes to a stop in front of where the statue of his brother should have been... and the boy who nearly took everything from him appears before him. It takes all of his self-restraint not to resort to simply punching him in his smug face- but he does wish that he had a gun.
Seto's eyes narrow in a challenging glare at Noa, returning his venom.
"I could say the same to you. If you hadn't been so foolish as to capture us physically, you could easily have taken KaibaCorp from me by working quietly in my computers, Noa- but your pride was your undoing. You had to try to make me suffer before taking it all from me. You're pathetic."
Noa
[ Noa stands confidently before the taller Kaiba with his arms crossed defiantly, seemingly unafraid that the other might resort to violence.
"Oh believe me, Seto. If it were that easy, I would have reclaimed Kaiba Corp from you long ago. In fact, you never would have taken it in the first place," he hisses. "The truth is that I've only recently restored my access to the Internet. Besides that little roadblock, there's the matter of your biometric security measures. You really did think of everything, didn't you? I have to admit, I'm almost impressed that a nobody off the streets like you could be so impressive. Anyway, it would be awfully hard to be the face of the company from behind a screen. No, I had to obtain a body of my own somehow. So thought, say. Why not kill two birds with one stone?"
"But you want to talk about pride, Seto? Please. You had every opportunity to save your little brother, and maybe even his stupid friends too! If you'd only just lied down and given up. Now, because of your pride, you'll all die here. You're the one who's really killing Mokuba! But at least you'll be together in death, right? As losers?"
