Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion ❯ C33 A Plan Set into Motion ( Chapter 33 )

C33 A Plan Set into Motion

 

Although he couldn't understand why, DTKaiba had easily noticed that he seemed to stand out compared to the other versions of him. They dressed similar to each other.....and none of them looked remotely like him. `That's because I'm superior.' he thought.

But, that wasn't the point. He had a game to win.....and standing out in a crowd was not going to help in this particular case. Which meant, he would have to somehow blend in with the other Kaiba's. It was the reason he had all ready been avoiding cameras and not yet connecting the computer with Kaiba Corp's security system. If there was any chance that his outfit could give away his possibility of betraying them, he couldn't afford that to happen.

 

He also had to make sure the way he dressed didn't confuse his workers. If he was supposed to look like the other Kaiba's, it's no wonder they were all looking at him strangely, since he was so different in appearance. This would ensure the help didn't turn on him or accuse him of being an imposter. The last thing he needed was having them question if he was the `real' Kaiba or not, while in the middle of his plan to take out the others.

 

So, checking his spare closet, he found a few pairs of silk clothing and slacks, as well as some casual boots. There was also a dark blue trench coat, and a black one. Deciding on which new style to go with, DTKaiba decided on the black one, with a silk shirt, pants and shoes. Then going to the office shower, he also washed all the dye from his hair, to look as normal as the others as possible. He got dressed in his new clothes and looked himself over. It was so strange looking at himself in the mirror with his own natural hair-color. He felt like it had been ages since he saw himself like that. He in fact despised it, because it reminded him of what he looked like back when he was in the orphanage.......weak, and pathetic. He hated being reminded of those days.

 

`It doesn't matter......this is all mine, now. And nothing can take it away from me!'

 

Heading back to his office room, DTKaiba now hacked into the system again, this time unlocking all the security of Kaiba Corp and putting it into the control of the computer. He gave a cold sneer at that, then picked up the phone.

 

“Lab 4 here.......Smith speaking.” a man said.

 

“Is the virtual reality machine ready?” DTKaiba asked.

 

“Absolutely, sir.” Smith answered.

 

“Good.” DTKaiba said and hung up.

 

Then with another call, a man answered, “Security.”

 

“You have the room ready as I instructed?” DTKaiba asked.

 

“Yes, sir......all ready.” the man said.

 

“Excellent.” DTKaiba repeated and hung up. DTKaiba then stood, and walked over to the huge picture window. He skimmed across the window's edge, entranced for a moment as he wondered if this was the very window that Gozaburo launched himself from. He glanced casually outside at the city surrounding him below.

 

“Yugi........soon you will be mine.” he said coldly, waiting in a barely contained anticipation for his greatest rival to come. He grinned coldly, thinking, `And I'm going to have one version of me take you over completely, before I destroy him as well. Somehow, you escaped me in Death-T. But, perhaps trapping you forever helpless in a machine could be just as amusing.......' DTKaiba then cackled again.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Tristan arrived at Kaiba Corp, with Angie and Seto. Seto looked around nervous, thinking of Joseph Kaiba again. He didn't understand why Kaiba acted so strange, nor why Yugi and the gang acted so friendly around the guy. He was the coldest most ruthless person he knew. He was sure it had to be an act, and Kaiba was just `pretending' to be nice to fool them all. If only Mokuba was here, he was sure his brother would know what to do. Seto had in fact begged Tristan and Angie to find Mokuba first before going here, but they insisted he was sick. Seto didn't remember him being sick, but then Mokuba didn't say too much to him, anyway. One problem about his tough younger brother, the kid always looked down on him like a burden.......they never did get along well. But when it came down to it, Mokuba was still there to help him out.

 

“Can I help you?” the secretary asked, looking them over.

 

Tristan approached, saying, “Yeah, the name's Tristan.......uh, what's your name?” he smiled, giving her a wink.

 

The secretary didn't look very impressed, as Angie quickly shoved him aside, saying, “We're here to see Kaiba.”

 

“What?? Kaiba?? I don't wanna see him!!” Seto cried, as Tristan quickly grabbed a hold of him, to shut him up.

 

Eyeing them with disinterest, she asked boredly, “Do you have an appointment?” tempted to call security. The only reason she didn't yet was because she was told to look for an odd group coming in to see Kaiba. Now she had to make sure they were the right ones.

 

One could never be too careful, after all.

 

“He's expecting us. I'm Angie, this is Tristan, and this is, uh......well, a friend of ours.” Angie said, deciding not to mention his name, to be on the safe said.

 

The secretary looked at the list, and said, “I'm sorry, I don't see your name.”

 

“Wait a minute! He was expecting Yugi to be with us!” Tristan finally blurted.

 

This seemed to perk the secretary's attention, as she asked, “Do you mean Yugi Motou? He is on the list. But, is he with you?”

 

“Uh.......he's going to be here in a little while. Could you just tell Kaiba that we're here with our, uh.....special guest? He should know what we're talking about.” Angie said.

 

The secretary sighed, and paged Kaiba's office. They heard him snap on the other side coldly, “What is it?”

 

“Mr. Kaiba, Yugi's friends are here to see you, sir.” the secretary answered.

 

There was a moment's pause, before Kaiba asked, “What do you mean, Yugi's `friends'? Where's Yugi??”

 

Tristan suddenly jumped at the speaker, saying, “Hey Kaiba, it's Tristan. Listen.....Yugi should be coming up in a little while. He just stopped at your house first to make sure there's no other, uh.......well you know, `special guests'.”

 

“He WHAT???” Kaiba boomed over the speakerphone, freezing Tristan with fear.

 

“Uh, well since you had something to reverse the problem, Yugi just thought it would be good to make sure there are no stragglers......you know?” Tristan swallowed nervously, not enjoying being around Kaiba, when he was in a bad mood.

 

While....Seto had been listening to the voice on the other side, thinking, `He doesn't sound like Kaiba. Something weird is really going on. Maybe this whole thing is a big dream.......that would certainly explain things.'

 

He then looked around the office aimlessly, looking for something interesting to stare at. As he did, he stopped at some large statues of Blue Eyes White Dragons. Seto's jaw dropped, whispering, “Wow......I wish I could see one of those cards.” He knew that Joseph Kaiba had those cards....but he never used them, always keeping the four of them stored up. The very thought of it pissed him off, `One of them belonged to Yugi's grandpa......he had no right to take it!'

 

Seto's attention was returned, as Tristan said, “Hey Seto, wake up! We're going!”

 

“Uh.....going where?” Seto asked, wondering what he missed after zoning out.

 

Angie said, “Kaiba said we could come up and see him. Come on!”

 

“Shouldn't we.....`not' trust this guy? I mean, he `is' Kaiba.....right?” Seto asked.

 

Tristan laughed, saying, “He's not who you think he is, and I think we can trust him with this. He's just trying to help fix the problem.”

 

They were led by security to the elevator and brought to one of the higher levels of the building. From there, they were brought to the lab, where a virtual reality system was set up. This large version was a massive machine with pod-like chairs encircling it. Tristan said, “Huh? What are we doing here?”

 

Angie was equally curious about this, while Seto had absolutely no clue where he was. From behind the vast machine, DTKaiba came out with the most eerie smile on his face, rubbing his finger across the unit with almost personal admiration. He then looked towards them, saying, “It's quite a design, isn't it? Made from my own personal genius, of course.”

 

“Uh.......you don't seem like the Kaiba from this world.” Angie said.

 

The calm cold smile never left his face, as he said, “Maybe that's because I'm not. But there's no cause for concern about that. After all, whichever one of us you deal with, we will always have the brains and power to handle any situation.......including this one.”

 

“That may not exactly be true......I think this version of you might be an exception to that idea.” Tristan said, directing his example towards Seto.

 

DTKaiba glared over at the longhaired bum in front of him. The long hair looked a lot like Mokuba's hairstyle, only a dark chocolate brown. The guy looked at DTKaiba dumbfounded, saying, “Uh.....you don't look like Kaiba to me.”

 

DTKaiba looked unamused, asking, “Are you sure this person is even a version of me? He looks nothing like it.”

 

Seto blinked, wondering what this guy was talking about. `A version of him? What is he talking about? Is he saying that......that, I'm him???' Seto began to draw his face closer to DTKaiba, in order to better study him.

 

But that seemed to greatly annoy the man, as he harshly shoved him away, snapping, “Get out of my face! Idiot!” DTKaiba then turned his back on them, adding coldly, “Put him in one of the virtual reality pods, and make it quick. I have things to do.”

 

“Uh.......why in there?” Tristan asked.

 

“I had the machine modified, so it can find his dimensional pattern, and bring him to where he belongs.” DTKaiba stated.

 

“Oh......okay.” Tristan said. “Come on, Seto.”

 

“Dimension......what? Yeah, uh.....I guess so.” He shrugged, having no idea what they were talking about, and just followed along.

 

As Tristan helped Seto into the unit, Angie turned and asked, “But if this can take you home, why didn't you send yourself back?”

 

“Simple......I wanted to make sure any other possible versions of me were taken care of first. Since the original Seto Kaiba has not yet been seen, someone has to be here to handle the job.” DTKaiba answered with disinterest.

 

DTKaiba then moved behind the machine, turning it on to allow KaibaS1 the freedom to transfer himself into anyone sitting in any of the seats. But, right after activating it, he also typed in quickly, “Don't take over this one......I have a better idea. Why don't we have you instead take over the pointed-headed one? We can then use you as the perfect spy to help us gather the others at the mansion.”

 

“Why the change of plans? This one was supposed to be mine.” it replied to him.

 

DTKaiba typed in, “You're right....there was a change in plans. Yugi didn't come over, like we expected. He went over to the mansion, instead. I need someone to get close to them in order to make sure they're not suspecting anything. Besides, do you really want to get into a version of yourself that looks like some stupid longhaired freak? The other ones are much more presentable......we can give this one to the other computer version. If you go over there as one of Yugi's friends, you can stall them - giving us time to get security over there and finish dealing with the problem at hand.”

 

“Fine, I don't care what I get right now, as long as it's something......”

 

DTKaiba then pressed a now flashing button and stepped away from the console, saying, “This is going to take a little while. In the meantime, why don't you two make yourselves at home?”

 

Before they could say anything, some guards came in and surrounded the two. They looked shocked, as Tristan asked, “What the hell is going on??”

 

Angie snapped, “Kaiba, what is the meaning of this??”

 

“Exactly what I told you......I plan on getting rid of all the other problem appearances that came up, one way or another. And there is no way I am going to let you two nobody's interfere.” DTKaiba answered. Then with a smirk, he added, “In fact, I plan on your pointy-headed friend to help me.”

 

“Help YOU? I don't know what your plans are, Kaiba....but there is no way I'm helping you!” Tristan snapped. Quickly, the security knocked the guy out. Angie cried out to him, but was held fast by the other security, as Tristan was dragged to another pod on DTKaiba's command.

 

DTKaiba then sneered, saying, “I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter. Though I normally prefer to do things myself, I decided this time to recruit a few allies to my cause.....”

 

Angie looked afraid, asking, “What do you mean?”

 

“You'll see in a minute.” DTKaiba said, watching with his own twisted interest. As Tristan was hooked up, the machine came to life.......

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Tristan could feel himself being sucked into the machine. `This must have been what it felt like to the others, when they got stuck in that machine by the Big 5!' Tristan thought.

 

Before Tristan knew what happened to himself, he was on his hands and knees on solid ground.....it even looked like the similar adventure game that the others were in. There was a fantasy kingdom ahead, and forest behind him.

 

“By all means, do make yourself comfortable.” Kaiba's voice said, suddenly behind him.

 

Tristan whirled around to see someone that looked just like the normal Kaiba, except he too wore a white trench coat.......kind of like the one that was hitting on Joey earlier. “You're not the same Kaiba that shoved me in that seat. Where did you come from? And......where is this?”

 

“You're inside of the Kaiba Corp's mainframe computer. This is the original Virtual Reality program that was made by me, before it was permanently decommissioned......after the Big 5 got a hold of it, that is.” KaibaS1 said.

 

Tristan looked around, saying, “But.......what am I doing in here?”

 

KaibaS1's eyes narrowed, saying, “Understand, this is nothing personal.....but I have a job to do.” KaibaS1 then touched him, and he felt himself leave his body, as this other version of Kaiba took over.

 

`Now what to do with you?' he thought. He couldn't put Yugi's friend into anything that could endanger the computer, or threaten their mission. KaibaS1 then came up with a rather evil thought in mind. It was cruel......but so worth it.

 

“Here......you can stay in this form, for now.” he mused. With the snap of his fingers, Tristan took on the form of an acrobat monkey.

 

The monkey looked around, muttering, “Hey (oo-oo!), what happened to me?”

 

A mirror appeared before Tristan, as Kaiba smirked, “I thought it would be fitting for you. Since you've already taken on this form before, I thought you'd feel right at home......”

 

“I......I look like some kind of robotic ape!!” Tristan spazzed out. “What do you mean I looked like this before?? I was never an ape! Are you crazy? Just put me back!!”

 

“You weren't? Interesting.......this universe must be based more in past, then. Well.......give it time, you'll see soon enough.” KaibaS1 smirked. In an instant, KaibaS1 took the form of Tristan, shocking the little monkey even more.

 

The robot monkey spat out, “Hey! That's me! Give me my body baack!!!” Tristan cried out, jumping and leaping. But the `new' Tristan didn't stick around, instead leaving the computer system.......leaving poor monkey all alone, with no idea what to do. He finally gave up, feeling pitiful. “I'm all alone......what do I do, now?”

 

“You're not all alone.” a little Kuriboh hopped over.

 

“A talking Kuriboh?” Tristan asked.

 

The Kuriboh shook his head, saying, “No......my name's Philmore. I was playing a virtual world game at Kaiba Corp arcade, when I suddenly appeared here. At least there's someone else to talk to, now.”

 

Tristan groaned, feeling just as helpless.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Though unconscious, Tristan seemed to tense up for a minute then relax. After that, Tristan opened his eyes. Angie stuttered, “T-Tristan? Are you okay??”

 

DTKaiba nodded for the guards to back away from the pod, allowing Tristan to get up on his own, once the machine released him. He stood and looked around.

 

The rush was so intense. KaibaS1 wanted to do everything right then and now. He even had the weird urge to want and hug the other self for helping him get this chance to be human again. But, he couldn't.....no, he wouldn't. His pride would never allow him to act so unlike himself, especially not in front of another version of himself. He would not humiliate himself that way, nor show any sign of weakness. He looked himself over casually, then glanced over at the woman. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to DTKaiba, asking, “Who is this? I don't recognize her among Yugi's friends.”

 

“Wh-what are you saying, Tristan? Don't you recognize me? It's me.......Angie!” she blurted out.

 

DTKaiba answered, “He is not the person you knew him as anymore, girl. He is yet another version that was trapped in this world, but in the computer. And now he is going to help us gather all the intruders that had taken over my mansion.”

 

“You mean......that's another Kaiba??” Angie asked in horror. Yet, she noticed as he glared coldly down at her, that it was the same look of disinterest one would expect to see from Kaiba. Except......he was in the body of Tristan.

 

“I don't think I know what you mean.” DTKaiba smirked evilly. “After all, there is only one Seto Kaiba, and that is me. Let's just say this is no longer Tristan, but a loyal servant ready to do my bidding.”

 

“Don't push it.” Tristan snapped at him.

 

DTKaiba paid no heed to Tristan though, saying to the guards, “Take her away and lock her up.”

 

After the guards left, he turned to Tristan, saying, “It's best to play this role for your own good `Tristan'. We don't want to confuse our security, when we begin to gather up the supposed `Kaiba imposters'. If we begin to convince them there is more than one me, there will be problems with loyalty. We don't want them second guessing themselves, when they get the order to capture the others.”

 

Tristan nodded, realizing it made sense. “Fine. I'll go to the mansion in order to lead them to think their friends are in no danger here, and try to keep them there, as well. And while I'm there, I'll try to see what they're up to. Perhaps they figured out how this happened, and have an idea how to reverse it.”

 

“Don't forget, Yugi was told that I figured out how to reverse it. If you question them on it too much, they might get suspicious.” DTKaiba said.

 

Tristan smirked, saying, “Maybe you forgot who you're dealing with. I am already aware of that......I'm no amateur.” Tristan looked away, saying, “What about you? Philmore should be getting here soon.”

 

“Don't worry about that. I'll wait for him to show up, and place him into this other thing's body. He can then have the time to go get himself cleaned up somewhere, while I show back up to the mansion with the guards to start gathering everyone up.” DTKaiba said. Then with a smirk, he added, “Keep in mind, you don't look like yourself. They'll expect you to smile more. You're going to have to dummy yourself up a bit, too.”

 

Tristan shook his head, offering his own smirk. “Hmph......how hard can it be to `act stupid'?”

 

Then with a more stern look, DTKaiba added, “Be careful of Mokuba.......he'll suspect.”

 

Tristan paused, hearing Mokuba's name. He had forgotten about him for the moment, so engrossed in this new body. `Of course.... Mokuba. I wont be able to be near him while I'm here. If I do, he may figure it out. He knows me too well.' Tristan nodded, “I understand. I'll simply avoid him, and try to stay close to Yugi's little cheerleading group.”

 

“Sure you can handle it? You know how close you are to your brother.” DTKaiba teased.

 

“It wont be a problem. Besides, when I get back, I'll have my own brother to see.” Tristan then turned away, and walked out of the room.

 

As he left, DTKaiba smiled coldly, thinking, `That's what you think.......fool.'

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Now that Yugi, Joey, and Tea had entered the living room, they noticed the one on the laptop wasn't the only on in the living room. Another Kaiba was sitting on the couch on the other side. And everyone's eyes widened, as he leaped up, saying happily, “Yugi! What are you doing here??”

 

“It's getting weirder......” Joey muttered.

 

Tea picked her jaw up, as Yugi tried to figure out why MKaiba seemed so different.

 

/Perhaps it simply the dimension he's from, aibou.....like the Seto that greeted us at the game shop./

 

/Yes, that would make sense./ Yugi agreed.

 

He then politely smiled at him, replying, “We just got here to check on Mokuba.”

 

“.......oh.” the other looked down, suddenly nervous for some reason.

 

As they talked, JKaiba got up, saying to MEKaiba, “Take over.” letting him take control of the laptop.

 

MEKaiba didn't argue for once, not wanting to seem immature in front of Yugi, pretending that they were in full control of the present situation.

 

Yugi's group then jumped, seeing two more Kaiba's suddenly come into the living room from the stairs they had come from, acting as if this was all perfectly normal. As they did, SMKaiba shook his head, stating, “Nothing.....no files.”

 

“Files?” Yugi asked.

 

VWKaiba glared at the three, and asked, “Who invited Yugi in?”

 

JKaiba glared at MEKaiba who stated calmly, “Yugi says he has information about this matter.”

 

They turned back to look at Yugi. Both then remembered Yugi's question. But while VWKaiba believed it's best to offer as little as possible to a potential opponent, SMKaiba didn't seem to think that way and replied, “We were looking for files to see if the original Kaiba had any information on how this happened, and how to possibly reverse the problem.”

 

Yugi then said, “But, why would Kaiba have any paperwork on it? It's not his fault.”

 

VWKaiba crossed his arms, asking, “Is that so? Then whose fault is it, Yugi??”

 

“Uh.......” Yugi looked down, acting guilty. “Actually, it's kinda my fault.....I guess.”

 

“See? I told you.” MEKaiba smirked triumphantly, as he typed on the laptop.

 

JKaiba scowled for the moment, but his focus quickly returned to Joey. Joey was obviously still nervous about him, since he looked back with suspicion and fear, seeming very nervous from his stare.

 

`You're really not mine.....are you?' he thought, as it all finally began to sink in. Mokuba was right. It wasn't his Joey's fault at all. That's the reason he couldn't find the history on there relationship. There really was none.

 

Barely a hint of a smirk then came to his face as he thought that if that really wasn't his Joey, then why not have fun torturing the poor mutt, and see what he was missing.

 

So, JKaiba calmly approached Joey, leaning literally right next to him against the wall, making Joey even more nervous and jumpy. Then JKaiba turned and smirked down at Joey, as he brought a hand up, beginning to play with some strands of Joey's hair, finally stating, “Is that so, Yugi? Then please do explain how it is possible that you created multiple versions of us......”

 

“Yahhh!!” Joey cried out, jumping away from JKaiba fearfully.

 

Some of the Kaiba's were confused by JKaiba's behavior. But SMKaiba and MEKaiba understood, remembering what he had said earlier, and scowled in distaste. But despite their disapproval, the way he was making Joey spazz out they had to admit was rather amusing.....making them unsure if JKaiba's behavior was presently good or bad. So, for now they all remained neutral to themselves, saying nothing on it for the moment.

 

A sweat dropped down from Yugi, as he muttered, “Uh......well, it was because of the Millennium Puzzle.” Yugi then looked down at his feet, saying, “It's kind of a long story.”

 

“We have more than time.” SMKaiba stated.

 

“Okay. Well, you see.....another Kaiba was here before. Actually, he called himself Seto Yagakamiya. Anyway.....in his world, it seemed that the other me was able to understand and control the power of the Millennium Puzzle.” Yugi replied, as he looked down at the puzzle, cradling it as a precious item.

 

“This is already beginning to sound ridiculous.” VWKaiba said, rolling his eyes. The last thing VWKaiba wanted to hear was yet another story about ancient Egypt, or so he believed was coming.

 

While, MEKaiba impatiently snapped, “Just get to the point of what happened!”

 

“Okay, well.......” Yugi began, but stop to hear Joey yelp again and quickly moved away, after JKaiba had teasingly skimmed his finger down Joey's arm.

 

Yugi glanced strangely at JKaiba again, but said, “Okay, well......as I was saying before, Seto asked that I used the Millennium Puzzle to try and bring him home. I told him I wasn't comfortable to try, but he insisted, and.....”

 

“......and now there's more of us.” MEKaiba finished, assuming what was about to be said.