Chapter 5: Christmas Future: A New Era.

"I've been waiting for you Seto Kaiba!"

"What are you doing here?  How did you get in here?  Who are you?" Kaiba shouted to the visitor.

"I am known as Shadi, but tonight, I am the Spirit of Christmas yet to come." He said, which made Kaiba began to examine the man.  He was dressed like Ishizu save for the turban on his head and that instead of a necklace, it was a Key around his neck.  The Millennium Key to be exact.  Kaiba then smirked.

"Let me guess, Ishizu sent you here didn't she?  She won't rest until she gets me to believe in that hocus-pocus nonsense!"

The Egyptian sighed, "Come Mr.Kaiba we must take a look at your future, the future that your path will lead you to."

"As much as I'd like to go with you, I'm a bit tired right now. So thanks, but no thanks."  Kaiba went to walk away but the door slam shut before he could reach it.  He tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"You don't appear to have any choice in the matter!" Shadi informed the CEO.  "Come, there is much to be seen!"  With a flash of the Millennium Key, he and Kaiba were gone.

…

Shadi and Kaiba were in a snow-covered yard behind a white house along with a white picket fence at the front of the yard.

"Why are we here?" Kaiba asked.

"Patience Mr. Kaiba.  You'll soon see the answer for yourself." Shadi says as the two went closer.  Kaiba's eyes then went wide.

"That's…that's Kisara!" He gasped as he saw her lighting up the candles with a red handled lighter.  She was wearing a Red silk rope that was held up by a green silk sash, which was wrapped around her waist.  In addition, she was wearing Red stockings and Black High Heeled pumps.  "Why is she dressed like that?" He asked the Egyptian, but no answer.  "Tell me…why is she dressed like at…Slut!  Maybe because she believed so much in that Christmas nonsense that it got her nowhere, and the only way she can make ends meet is as a prostitute!"

"On the contrary, Kisara is very successful in life!"  Shadi explained.  "She's a kindergarten teacher at Domino High, and takes a weekend job as a nurse."

Kaiba sighed, "She always enjoyed helping others."  He remembered the time he, Kisara, and Mokuba were at the sandbox at the Orphanage.

"So what do you want to be when you grow up?" A six year-old Mokuba asked the 12 year-old Seto and the 11 year-old Kisara as they were building a sand castle.

"Well…" Kisara looked down.

"Come on Kisara!" Seto encouraged the young girl.

"I want to be a teacher." She said.  "Not just any teacher, but a kindergarten teacher." A smile formed on her face.  "I remembered, when I used to live with mommy, that in class, the Teacher was very kind, sweet, and generous.  She always made sure that we knew what we had to learn and always explained it in a way that we all could understand.  I hope someday I can connect that well with my own kids."  She turned to the brunette boy.  "How about you, Seto?"

The eldest of the three smiled proudly.  "My dream is to make a place where all orphaned kids could have fun, and would never feel sad again!"

"Like Disney World?" Kisara chirped.

"Something like that!  And I'd call it, 'Neverland!'"

Mokuba blinked," Seto, I think 'Neverland' is already copyrighted."

"Okay then, no matter what it's called, everyone will want to go there and be so happy, nobody would ever want to leave!"

"And I'll help you, Big Brother!" Mokuba declared.

"And I'll be your first visitor Seto!" Kisara chirped.

Those were good times, Kaiba thought.  He just couldn't understand why he never set his dreams into motion.  He figured that it was because he was too busy.  But back on the subject, why was Kisara dressed like that, it's not like she had a husband or boyfriend right…right!?"  He went up to the limo as he took a closer examination of the Blue-haired girl who had now walked into the kitchen.

"I wonder what's taking him so long…" She said as she walked out with a tray with a turkey on top.  She then placed it on the table which, aside from the candles, it contained plates and two champagne-filled wine glasses.  "He usually doesn't take this long to get home."

"Who is this person she's waiting for?  Who is this person who's she dressing up like that for?" Kaiba asked, but when there was silence, he screamed. "TELL ME!"

The sound of a door unlocking is then heard as she quickly rushed in front of the door.  "He's home!"  Kisara cheered as the door opened.  When Kaiba saw who walked in, his eyes went wide. "Oh you got to be kidding me!"

Tristan walked in as he placed his brown trench coat on the coat rack.  He eyes then went wide at what he saw.  "Kisara?

"LOVERBOY!" Kisara rushed up and jumped into Tristan's arms.

"Kisara…is with him?  KISARA IS WITH WHEELER'S RUNNING BUDDY?"

"It appears that after sometime, Kisara and Tristan got together." Shadi explained to the CEO as Tristan looked over at what appeared to be at least his girlfriend.

"So…what's with the outfit or lack thereof?" He asked.

"Well…it's Christmas Eve and I have a little present that I want to give you!" The Blue-haired girl grinned as she motioned towards her robe.

"But you know that Mokuba's coming over later!" Tristan reminded

"It's 5 O'clock now!  My brother and the rest of my family won't be here until around 8!  That should give us three hours of quality time." She gives the brunette a kiss on the cheek.

"Mokuba's her brother!?"  Kaiba outburst. It was bad enough that Kisara was with one of "The Geeks," but the fact that Kisara said that Mokuba was her brother was crossing the line.  Mokuba was his brother.  HIS!

"Do to some unfortunate events to your life, you lost custody of your brother.  Kisara's foster parents then adopted Mokuba into their family." Shadi explained once again.

"But how, how did I lose custody of him in the first place!?  What the hell ha-Oh don't even think about it!" Kaiba seethed, seeing Tristan "unwrapping" his "Chirstmas present."  "Lay your hands off her Monkey Boy!"

"They can't here you, Mr. Kaiba." Shadi reminded.  "You do not exist in this world.  These are just shadows of what has yet to happen.  If you must know why Tristan and Kisara are together.  One might say that since you took the way the one that he loved dearly, it was only right that Tristan did to same to you…"

"Who did he love that I took away?" Kaiba scoffed it off, "I don't want to see anymore of this crap!" He declared as the robe dropped from Kisara.  Leaving her in black and red lingerie.

"Uhh…this is going to be harder than I thought…" Tristan sighed.

"Hmm?" Kisara blinked at the Brunette.  "Is something wrong, Love?"

"Kisara…" Tristan began.  "How long we've been together…5 years, right?"

Kisara nodded as Kaiba twitched.

"FIVE YEARS!?  MY KISARA HAS BEEN DATING THAT SPIKE-HEADED MONKEY BOY FOR FIVE FUCKING YEARS!?" He screamed.

"Well…" Tristan was having a hard time saying what he wanted to say as went through the pocket of his black jeans. As soon as he got what he was looking for, he dropped down to one knee.  Needless to say, Kaiba was horrified.  "Kisara Wilson…"

"Yes…?" Kisara's eyes went wide…she had a good idea what it was leading too.  As well as Kaiba…

"DON'T DO IT!  DON'T YOU DARE DO IT!" Kaiba threatened, "I'M WARNING YOU, TAYLOR!"

"Will you marry me?"

"Say no Kisara…if you have any decency in you, you will dump that chump like the yesterday's trash he is!" Kaiba said, almost in a desperate tone.

"…" Kisara went silent.  She had a shocked expression on her face.  Soon…tears began to pour from her eyes.

Tristan sighed, 'Oh man, I made her cry…' He thought.

"Taylor will pay for making her cry…" Kaiba seethed

Kisara's tears had reached her cheeks when she made her decision. "…yes…"  This caused both boys eyes to blink.

"Huh?"

"What?"

Kisara jumped into Tristan's arms, "Yes, I will marry you Tristan Taylor!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kaiba dropped down to his knees.  His future was already not looking so bright.  First he found out that he lost custody to Mokuba, who was now Kisara's brother?  Speaking of her, she then found out that not only was she dating Tristan, the only person besides Joey and Pegasus that he had a strong grudge against, for five years, but was, as of now, engaged to marry!  "This future can't get any worse…"

"Come Kaiba, there is more to see!" Shadi grabbed Kaiba's hand as with a flash of the Millennium Key, they were gone.

…

"Now why are we here?" Kaiba asked as they were in front of an Orphanage.  The same Orphanage Kaiba and Mokuba were sent to.

"Just take a look at that group of people, and you'll find your answer."  Kaiba recognized the three of them who were bringing in the Christmas tree.  One of them were Akio.  He really let his hair grow out as it was now shoulder length. Also he had developed a nice build.  Mokuba did tell him that Akio constantly played soccer.  He was probably the captain of the Domino High Soccer team.  Another one of them was George, the fool who dared to mock him that Christmas Eve.  He apparently lost some weight, but was still big.  He probably played on the Football team.  And the third one he knew all too well.  His ebony hair was trimmed a bit, but it was still fairly long.  He had the same built as George, but out of the three of them, he was the shortest of all, with George still being the biggest and tallest.  Kaiba definite knew who he was.  He was Mokuba Wilson, formerly Mokuba Kaiba.  For some reason…he had a sad look on his face.  A look of guilty, maybe.

"You still think about him, do ya?" Akio asked as the brought the tree inside.

"Huh?" Mokuba replied.

"You think about Kaiba don't you."

Mokuba scoffed, "No I don't."

"It's written on your face basically." George chuckled.  "You can't forget about your brother that easily…well…brother by blood anyway."

"That's right.  We were brothers…by blood.  But not anymore…" He sighed, "You all told me about him.  They all told me about him…"

"It's not your fault man!  None of what's happened is!"

"It is George, can't you see? They were right about Seto!  Seto was nothing but a heartless bastard who didn't care about anyone's well-being." Mokuba sighed.  "I always told them that they were wrong, that they didn't know anything about him!  But I was the wrong who didn't really know him.  They were right.  Joey was right, Tristan was right, Tea was right, Rebecca was right, Serenity…" The mentioning of her name made a few tears appear.  "Serenity was right too!  They were alright about him…that heartless snake in the grass..."

Kaiba's eyes were wide as he felt a huge kick in his heart.  Hearing those mean things that Mokuba said about him tore him up inside.  "Mokuba…" He said softly, a bit sadly.  "What did I do…what did I do to make you hate me so much…"

"Yugi was beginning to come around on how he felt about him…after what happened five years ago!  But I still defended Seto!  But that was until that one night."

"What did I do at that one night!" He looked at Shadi, tears in his eyes.  "TELL ME!  WHAT DID I DO TO GET MY LITTLE BROTHER TO HATE ME SO MUCH!?"

"When I asked him why he didn't do something!  Why didn't he do something to help them, to help her!  He just said that it wasn't his problem!  That's when I got angry.  I asked him again, he told me not to bother him with such nonsense.  I couldn't take it any more.  I let him have it.  I told him how much he has changed.  I told him how much he was no longer the man I always looked up to, and how Gozaburo changed him, and I wished that we were never adopted by that man, he…" More tears came from his eyes.

"Don't do it man." Akio advised, seeing how much the memory was upsetting his friend.

"He hit me!  He knocked me down and he yelled at me.  He yelled at me saying that if I wasn't born, our birth mother wouldn't have died, and our birth father wouldn't have gone insane and killed himself and we wouldn't have been adopted by Gozaburo since we wouldn't be sent to the orphanage for him to adopt us in the first place!"

"THESE SHADOWS ARE A JOKE!  I WOULD NEVER TREAT MOKUBA THAT WAY, YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!" Kaiba screamed at the Egyptian.  It was one thing for people to compare him to Gozaburo, but saying that he would hit his brother was going too far.

"I have no power over what is shown.  These are the results of that path you have chosen." Shadi informed the CEO.

"If Kaiba were here right now I would kick his ass…" George said, setting down the tree, as he then cracked his knuckles.

Mokuba and Akio stood the tree up as the three of them now looked at it.

"Well buddy, at least you won't turn out like him!" The redhead said to his friend.  "You had something that Kaiba never had and never will: Friends."

"That's right 'Mokie! Now why don't you be a friend and loan me a few bucks!" George asked.  "I'll pay ya back Friday."

"Oh George…" A female's voice scolds as a young lady walks in carrying a box of Christmas ornaments.

"Jezz Sakura, can't a guy get hungry?"

"In your case, you're always hungry!" Sakura stated.  Her green hair has grown out a bit as it was now waist length, but she still kept it in a ponytail.

"Hey, I can't help it!  I'm a growing boy!"

"Mokuba…" Kaiba sighed, his face contained some dried tears as he looked at Shadi.  "I don't want to be here anymore…"

The Egyptian nodded.  "Come Kaiba, we have one more place to visit…"

…

Kaiba sighed as he was in front of Kaiba Corp. If there was any place he knew that couldn't be changed, this was the place.  It was his mighty building that stood tall, along with the three statues of his Blue Eyes White Dragons standing tall and proud.  Kaiba blinked again. That statue in the middle.  That wasn't of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but a Red Eyes Black Dragon!  In fact none of the statues were of a Blue Eyes.  The one of the right was of a Flame Swordsman, and the one on the left was of Jinzo!  What the hell was going on here?"

"Shadi, what the hell's going on here?"

"Why don't we take a look inside?  You're questions will be answered then." He replied.

"Fine…" Kaiba muttered as he and Shadi entered the Building.  Much to his horror!  "Christmas decorations?  I thought I told those fools that I didn't want any Christmas decorations in my company!"

"Oh it's not your company anymore..." Shadi informed.

"What?" Kaiba blinked.

"Your company is under new ownership." He explained as the two walked into the Elevator.

"Of who?" Kaiba asked as they go up in the Elevator.  "Tell me who's the bastard who stole the company from me!"

"Why don't you see for yourself?"  Shadi suggested. "See who's the new CEO of this company."

They've made it to the final floor.  Of course, the workers on the floor were oblivious that Kaiba and Shadi were heading towards Kaiba's office…well…former office.  "Let's see who's the snake who stole my company from me…" Kaiba hissed as he opened the door.

In that office was a man who was at 21 years of age.  He had shoulder length blonde hair that was in a ponytail, as well as a goatee.  He was dressed in a blue suit with a black tie.

"Isn't he a little young to be a CEO?" Kaiba asked.  "Maybe he's a child prodigy or something…"

"Do you not recognize him?"  Shadi asked.

"Do I have to?" Kaiba replied back.

"You should." Shadi then informed.  "That is Joseph Wheeler!  Remember, he had vowed vengeance against you!"

"Wheeler?" Kaiba was in shock, but then smirked.  "Even more proof that this is all one big scam to scare me!  For one, Wheeler's not even smart enough to work at this company, let alone be the CEO!  Haven't you checked out his grades?" Kaiba scoffed, "He'd be lucky if he could actually graduate!"

"Precisely.  But his anger, his rage, his entire disdain for you motivated him to work harder, to push himself to become smarter, so he vowed to work until he was smart enough to bring you down."

Kaiba sneered, "That'll take a lifetime…"

"It's amusing you said that.  Joseph had almost given up just about everything.  Dueling, his friends…  After Serenity's death, nothing was the same for him."

Kaiba blinked.  He had forgotten about Serenity's situation.  "You mean that-"

"She passed on Christmas Morning." Shadi informed.  "Take a look at his desk."

Kaiba walked around and looked onto the older Wheeler's desk.  Along with a picture of his friends, there was one particular picture that drew him.  It was of Serenity at a beach, wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit.  She was smiling, as the picture itself was surrounded by a golden frame.  "He really must love his sister a lot…"

"He did… This company is no longer known as Kaiba Corp, but as Timeless Serenity, in memory of his sister." Shadi informed as the door opened.

"Mr. Wheeler!" Roland walked in.

"What is it Roland!" Joey asked.  Kaiba noted that Joey didn't have the Brooklyn Accent. 'At least he doesn't have that ridiculous accent anymore…' He mused…or at least he would if he wasn't angry about this future.

"Miss Gardner is here?" He informed.

"Tea's here already?" Joey blinked, "Alright, send her in!"

Roland nodded as he left and after he was gone, a familiar brunette walked in.  "Hey Joey!"

"Hey Taye!" The blonde greeted her, but not even bothering to look up as he was busy signing a few more documents.

"Joey…"

"Look, if it's about the money to pay for your tuition at that dance school, don't worry about it!  Like I said, consider it a Christmas gift!"

"Yeah…a gift FROM MY MONEY!" Kaiba yelled.

"Oh, it's not about that, Joey!" Tea giggled as Kaiba looked at her.  Her hair was longer as it reached down to her shoulder blades. She was wearing a Black sports jacket over a blue top, which brought out the color of her eyes.  As well as a matching knee-length skirt, black stockings, and black high heeled pumps.  Joey may have been laid back as a CEO, but appearances were still crucial if you were to date the CEO of Timeless Serenity, formerly known as Kaiba Corp. "I was wondering if we were still going over to Yugi's?"

"Yugi's?" Joey blinked.  "Look, no offense or anything, but I do have a mansion that we could have the party at!  Give Yug a break, if ya will."

"Yeah…MY MANSION PROBABLY!"

"But Joey, it's tradition!  We all spend Christmas Eve at the game shop!" Tea protested, which made Joey sigh.

"Alright, since you put it that way…"

Tea leaped up and gave the blonde a hug, followed by a kiss, not really a passionate one, but one with emotion nonetheless.

"Since when did they begin to date?" Kaiba asked Shadi.

The Egyptian replied, "During those long days Young Joseph Wheeler took studying and working, Tea Gardner was always there to made sure that he didn't work himself too hard.  She gave him something that helped him remember and remained true to himself, instead of having his heart become cold. Something that you didn't have obviously…

"If there's anyone we should be remembering every single day of our lives, it's Serenity.  After all, she's the reason why we have what we do have today..." Joey reminded with a sigh.

Tea place a hand on his shoulder, "Don't think about that Joey.  You had to do what you had to do!  Kaiba was the one who tossed you to that ladder which…which…"

"Don't say it, Tea!" Joey said, becoming a bit teary-eyed.

"Oh look!  Wheeler's about to cry like the little puppy dog that he is!" Kaiba scoffed, "What a baby!  This is the guy who's supposed to take over my company?"

"It's not your company anymore…" Shadi reminded him once again.

"Well…if there's anyone who, if feeling sympathetic, should fee sorry for, it's Kaiba.  I mean, his life was already going downhill before the lawsuit.  But afterwards…" Joey shook his head.  "Ole Moneybags was basically destroyed.  First went his fortune, then his company.  But that's not all!  Mokuba had already broken all ties with him.  All the people he had used and stepped on mocked and laughed at him! And then…" He looked at Tea. "You ever heard what happened to Kaiba?"

Tea shrugged, "Not that I know of?"

"Word on the street is that Kaiba went insane from watching Funny Bunny cartoons and committed suicide!" A snicker came from the new CEO.  "How the mighty have fallen indeed…"

"No way!"

"That's what I heard."

"You're loving this, aren't you Wheeler…" Kaiba hissed before turning to Shadi.  "I can't really be dead, can I?"

"Why don't we see for yourself." Shadi suggested as with a flash of the Millennium Key, they were gone again.

…

"Behold…this is where your fate will lead you!" Shadi pointed to the tombstone, which Kaiba walked up to.  The bushes were in the way, so the name of the person who lied there couldn't be seen.

'This can't be true…this can't be true…" He said to himself as he moved the bushes out from the way.  After he saw the writing, Kaiba's eyes when wide as he was now petrified.  "No…"  He shook his head.  "No, this can't be…"  Kaiba looked at the tombstone again, but much to his horror, it said the same thing.

Seto Kaiba

1980-2003

"I can't be dead…" Kaiba panicked as he glared at Shadi.  "THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!  I DON'T BELEVE IN THESE HOCUS-POCUS FAIRYTALES!  I'M NOT DEAD! I'M STILL THE CEO OF KAIBA CORP, MOKUBA IS STILL MY BROTHER! ALL OF THIS IS JOKE!  JUST SOMEONE'S SICK IDEA TO GET ME!"

For the first time Kaiba saw a glare more frightening than his as Shadi advanced towards him.  "Open your eyes Seto Kaiba!  You had chosen the path to follow, and this is the future you have chosen!  All of your actions in the past and the present have led to this!  Now there's no turning back, ACCEPT YOUR FATE!"

At that moment, a scaly, white, blue-tinted claw reached from the grave as it grabbed onto Kaiba's leg.  As he looked back, Kaiba heard a familiar roar.  "No…it's not possible!"  The body that went with the claw came out from the grave as it was revealed to be…a Blue Eyes White Dragon!

"This dragon represents the card that you've stolen and ripped apart, the card that once belonged to Solomon Moto!  You actions have been unforgivable!  You stole an elder man's card and almost sent him to his death!  You used everyone you could to get on top, including your brother Mokuba.  You drove away the only girl that ever truly loved you!  And you caused the death of a young girl all to avenge your wounded pride!  Now, you will suffer the consequences!"

"No…" Kaiba said as he then done something that he never had done in his life.  Not since meeting Gozaburo…

He begged.

"Please…don't do this…" Tears began to come out of Kaiba's eyes as the Blue Eyes sunk into the grave, and bringing the unfortunate Brunette with it.  "Give me another chance.  Please… I'll change! I'll be nicer to everyone…even the geeks!  I'll do anything if you just spare my life please!"

The Egyptian was not moved by Kaiba's desperate plea for another chance at dragon was now back down, as well as it's captive's lower body.  "Prepare to spend a life of eternal darkness!"

"NOOOO! PLEASE I PROMSE TO CHANGE! DON'T DO THIS!  DON'T DO THIS!" Kaiba extended his hand, wanting Shadi to pull him back up.  "I SWEAR!  I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL CHANGE!  EVEN IF IT KILLS ME I'LL BE A BETTER PERSON!  I'LL BE NICER!  I'LL BE MORE SENSITIVE! I'LL ACCEPT CHRISTMAS INTO MY HEART!"

"It's too late, Kaiba!" Shadi informed as Kaiba head and arm was the only thing not deep inside the grave.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

Kaiba opened his eyes as he was staring up at the ceiling of his home office.  "Wha-What?" Kaiba blinked. He was back at home…but how?  Wasn't he just being dragged into his own grave a moment ago?  "It must be a dream…" The CEO figured as he got up from the knocked over chair as he went over to Mokuba's room.

"Mokuba, wake-"  Kaiba was stopped when he saw that his brother's room was made up neatly.  Mokuba wasn't there.  Where was he?  Kaiba then remember, he was spending the night over at Sakura's. Kaiba checked the calendar and time on his computer.  It read:

Sunday, December 25 2003  7:45AM

Okay, next chapter will be THE last chapter.  After that, things will get back to normal.  For those who are expecting the next chapter of "A Different Beat," I'm having a bit of a writer's block, so yeah it's going to take longer than expected.  What's worse than having writer's block for a new chapter is having writer's block when trying to restore a lost chapter.

Preview for the final chapter:

"Seto?" Mokuba's eyes blinked in shock.

"That's right Mokuba!  I decided to come, isn't that what you've wanted?"

"Yeah…but…it's early in the morning."

"As they say, 'the early bird catches the early worm!'" He smiled.  "So, where's this sister of your friends that really wanted to meet me!"

Mokuba blinked as he then grew a huge smile.  "Oh Seto, you're really gonna want to meet her!  And when you do, you're gonna be glad that you came here today!"

"Really…"

Chapter 6: Christmas: NOT a complete waste of time!