A/N - Happy Anniversary Dukie (SEE!I didn't forget!) :P
"ATEMU!"
Blue eyes snapped open at the sound of own his voice calling out a person's name in his dream. Pale hands rose in front of his face to rub his tired eyes. Even after six hours of sleep, much longer than the brunet normally got, the fatigue had not disappeared from the young male's body.
'It was only a dream,' his intellectual mind told him. 'Too much work is stressing you out.'
"Ha!" came his no-nonsense reply. Work was his life; it wouldn't be the cause of unwanted dreams.
Sitting up, Seto reveled in the quietness of his bedroom. Soon his day would be busy as there was work to be done. A man with his power was always on the go, which left little time for relaxation.
Unfortunately for Seto his quiet, peaceful, relaxation time was cut short thanks to the blaring of cheesy pop music blaring out of his radio alarm.
With a growl, the brunet swung his arm over and had his hand crash down onto the device. His younger brother, Mokuba, had to have been in there playing around with it again since Seto certainly didn't listen to that type of music. In fact it was normally programmed to play no music at all as it was supposed to play only an annoying beeping sound when the alarm went off.
As silence once again filled the room, Seto slid out of bed, strolled over to his bay window and flung the curtains open so that he could stare out at his massive property while sun streamed into the room. Being the CEO of his own company at eighteen was a definitely a good thing.
A thin smile crossed Seto lips as he thought of that day two years ago when he confronted his adopted father for control of Kaiba Corporation, only to have the man jump out one of the highest windows of the building. That had been a good day.
Turning away from the window, Seto began to quickly dress in his school uniform, blue slacks and jacket buckled up to his neck. As CEO of his own company Seto could have opted to become a part time student but that would have taken an extra year and the young brunet was an impatient person. Instead he chose to attend the High School closest to his work, Domino High, where he was allowed to work on his company during class since he was a genius. With his superior intelligence it was the best arrangement possible because he couldn't drop out completely as he wanted to be a good role model for his brother.
With a sigh, Seto grabbed his briefcase and left his room, heading downstairs for breakfast. If the cook knew what was good for her, the food would already be on the table by the time he got down there.
"Good morning Niisama!" his younger brother, Mokuba, chirped as they met at the top of the stairs. The 13-year-old was dressed similarly to his brother but wore black instead of blue and had his jacket undone. "Happy Birthday!"
"Hn." Seto had forgotten that it was his birthday; a day he loathed. The first person that said 'Happy Birthday' to him besides Mokuba would live to regret it.
"I got you something," Mokuba happily said as he produced a small, neatly wrapped box from behind his back and handed it to his older brother.
With a sigh, Seto tore off the wrapping and opened the small box; inside was a lone Duel Monster card, a popular card game that Seto excelled in. Picking up the card with his slim fingers, Seto stared at the picture on the card. It was a dark skinned humanoid male, with spiky tri-colored hair, intense crimson eyes and wearing a simple white kilt and shirt. However the odd thing about the young man was the black dragon like wings which protruded from his back and the dragon's tail that snaked around his right leg.
'He has a sad look in his eyes…' Seto found himself thinking as he stared at the person on the card. The half human, half dragon creature seemed vaguely familiar to him.
"It's the only one of its kind," Mokuba proudly explained. "Pegasus made it in hopes to annoy you, figuring that you wouldn't be able to get it; but I found out about it through a source in his company and acquired it for you."
Seto snorted. Pegasus J. Crawford, owner of Industrial Illusions and creator of the Duel Monsters card game would have definitely pulled a stunt like that simply to amuse himself. The silver-haired American certainly had an odd sense of humor and Seto often wondered how Pegasus' wife put up with him.
"Dragon God of Darkness," Seto murmured, reading the writing in the card. Interesting, the monster had attack points of 4000 but had to be specially summoned by sacrificing a light and dark dragon. On the plus side however, if the card was on the field, Seto could summon his beloved Blue Eyes White Dragons without sacrificing. Since the only Blue Eyes card that Seto didn't have was ripped in half and thus not useable, having the card would not benefit anyone beside himself. "Thank you Mokuba."
The younger Kaiba brother beamed as Seto slid the card into a pocket before continuing on his way down to where breakfast would be waiting. The tall brunet would add the card to his deck later once they were finished eating.
Making their way to the breakfast room, Seto was pleased to find a maid placing the food down on the table right on time. He had no time to wait for things like breakfast in the morning.
Seto and Mokuba ate quickly. As a rule, Seto refused to be late for school, preferring to arrive before everyone else so that he could take his seat in the back of the room and not be bothered by the other students.
Having only toast, Seto finished before his younger brother and once the area in front of him had been cleared, he picked up his briefcase from where it had been sitting next to him the entire time on the floor and plopped it down on the table. Opening it up he pulled free his Duel Disk that was attached to the top portion of the metal case. Taking his new card from his pocket, Seto flipped through his deck until he found a card that he could replace. He then returned the Duel Disk to his briefcase and pulled his laptop out of the bottom part of the metal case.
While Mokuba continued to eat, Seto reviewed some documents for Kaiba Corporation until it was time for them to leave. A limo dropped Mokuba off at his junior high school before taking Seto to the local high school. With his briefcase in tow, Seto headed toward his classroom, which fortunately was void of all students. Settling down at his desk in the back row, Seto pulled out his laptop once more and returned to his work.
Gradually, as time slowly ticked by, Seto's peers began filling the room. The young CEO however ignored it all. He hated his fellow students, as most of them didn't understand that he an enormous amount of work to do each day. There was a particular shaggy haired blond that took great delight in bothering him each day.
"Hey Kaiba!"
Seto flinched slightly at the sound of his name being called but other than that he continued focusing on his computer. The best way to deal with the aggravating blond was to ignore him for a few minutes, as it would anger him further.
"Can't you hear me Kaiba? I want to duel you!"
The fingers that had been dancing across the keypad paused slightly as Seto tilted his head upwards to glare at the annoying blond who had a fist clinched and was holding it up in front of him. "Dueling you is a waste of my valuable time Bonkotsu."
A growl escaped the blond and he had to be held back from attacking Seto by his friend who had pointed brown hair. "Let me go Honda!"
"Give it a rest Jounouchi!"
"Settle down you idiots!" hissed a short haired brunette called Anzu. "The teacher is coming!"
Jounouchi, Honda and the rest of the students quickly sat down in their seats while Seto went back to his work. At least now he would have some peace until the end of Homeroom when they would change teachers.
Seto silently worked on his laptop while the other students paid attention to the announcements, he didn't care one way or another what was going on with school events. Six more months and he'd be graduated. Then he could work on his company full time and never associate with the other students again except when they were taking his order in a restaurant.
A smirk crossed Seto's face as he shot a quick glance at Jounouchi who was busy whispering to his tri-colored haired friend, Mutou Yugi. Some students wouldn't be qualified enough to work in restaurant where he would eat. Instead they'd be working in a low class, fast food place.
Homeroom gradually morphed into their first period as they had the same teacher for both. It was English and fortunately for Seto he was fluent in the language. This allowed him to continue with his work while the others attempted to read out of a child's comic book.
Time quickly went by for Seto, who barely noticed when the class ended and their teacher disappeared. In the spare time between one teacher leaving and the other arriving, the shaggy haired blond hurried back toward where Seto was peacefully working.
"I said duel me Kaiba!"
Again however Seto ignored him and eventually the same girl from before scolded Jounouchi until he sat back down.
The rest of the morning went by smoothly without any issues; Seto was not further bothered by the students and was allowed to work in peace. Two minutes before the lunch bell rang, Seto packed away his laptop and was on his way out the door as soon as the bell began to ring before any annoying individuals could corner him.
During the lunch period, Seto headed to his office; every day the limo picked him up on time and drove him the short distance to the Kaiba Corporation headquarters a few blocks away. Seto would work all throughout the lunch hour before ordering the limo to take him back to school; things were always perfectly timed so he got back to class right as the bell rang to indicate the next period.
Seto continued to work in class throughout the afternoon as well. At one time his teachers had attempted to get him to pay attention to the class but they had long since given up on foolish idealistic dreams. Seto had proven long ago that he could work while in class and still maintain perfect grades. It had been over a year since the last teacher had tried to stop him and that ignorant woman had quickly found herself unemployed.
Time rolled by as the rest of the students were busy with their studies. Finally the last bell of the day rang indicating that it was time for the students to either head to their respective clubs or to go home. Seto of course would be going straight to Kaiba Corporation.
"Duel me Kaiba!" he heard the shaggy haired blond yell behind him.
"Hn." Seto had enough. Every opportunity Jounouchi had he would challenge Seto to a duel; things would end now.
Slowly Seto turned around and pointed at the blond. "Bonkotsu, you asked for it."
Placing his briefcase on the ground, Seto opened it and retrieved his Duel Disk. Attaching the device to his arm, Seto freed his deck and began shuffling it; across from him at the right distance, Jounouchi was doing the same.
Both returned their cards to their disks and then extended their arms so that the device could open up. "Duel!" they yelled and quickly drew their five cards.
"I'll go first," Jounouchi declared as he drew another card and then studied all of them for a few seconds while trying to think of a plan. The blond was quick to remember however that his best strategy was having none at all. "I play Wyvern no Senshi in Attack Mode! Turn End!"
"Hmph." Seto was unimpressed. It wouldn't take long for him to finish Jounouchi but he hoped he'd get an opportunity to test his new card. "Draw!"
A smirk crossed Seto's face when he saw the card he had drawn, Shi No Deck Hakai Virus; unfortunately it would have to be another day when he saw his new card in action.
"Blood Vorse!" he called out placing the monster in attack mode. He then placed two cards face down. One was the trap card he had just drawn and the other the magic card Shuushuku. Once Jounouchi attacked he would use the magic card to shrink his own monster and then spring the trap infecting the blond's deck so that he would not be able to use any monster over 1500 attack points. "Turn End."
A drop of sweat rolled off Jounouchi's forehead; the duel had just started and already he knew he was losing. He knew at least one of the two covered cards was a trap and at the moment there was nothing he could do about it.
"Go Jounouchi-kun!" his best friend Yugi yelled from the sidelines where the short duelist was standing with their other friends Honda and Anzu.
"You can do it!" Anzu called.
"Don't lose!" Honda added.
Jounouchi grinned; there was no way he could lose with his friends at his side. "Draw!" he yelled and then took a quick glance at the card. "Yes! I sacrifice Wyvern no Senshi to bring out Jinzo Ningen Psycho Shocker!"
"What?" Seto watched in horror as his virus card disappeared from the playing field.
"Psycho Shocker, attack!"
"Reverse Card Open!" Seto yelled shrinking Psycho Shocker down to half its attack points. Easily his Blood Vorse then defeated it, lowering Jounouchi's life points to 3300.
"Grr…" Jounouchi growled before placing one card face down. "Turn End."
"Draw!" Staring down at the card, Seto gave a small gasp when he saw the picture of the humanoid dragon, he could feel the electricity pulsing from the card; quickly he formed a plan. "I sacrifice Blood Vorse to summon Kaiser Glider. And I play from my hand Shikoku no Dragon. Attack!"
Both dragons flew at the helpless Jounouchi for a direct attack but unfortunately the shaggy haired blond was prepared. "Magic Card Activate!"
Four furry, horned creatures popped in front of Jounouchi as Scapegoat was activated. Harmlessly, Seto's dragons attacked the cute creatures delivering no damage to Jounouchi.
"Turn End," Seto spat. His ego was singed after being outsmarted by the dim-witted duelist.
"Draw! Shikkoku No Hyosenshi Panther Warrior in Attack Mode!"
Sacrificing one of the two remaining scapegoats, Jounouchi had Panther Warrior attack Seto's Shikoku No Dragon dropping the CEO's life points down to 1100.
"Yay!" came the cries as his friends celebrated. Jounouchi now had a huge lead.
"I play Little Winguard in Defense and end my turn."
"Draw!" Seto yelled out before playing a magic card. "Shisha Sosei!" Back from the Graveyard came the Shikoku No Dragon.
"Jounouchi-kun! Kaiba-kun is up to something!" Yugi yelled from the sidelines. He knew that Seto would not bring back such a weak card for no reason. "He has a plan!"
"Well…bring it! I'm ready for you Kaiba!"
Seto smirked. This was the moment he was waiting for. "I sacrifice Shikoku No Dragon and Kaiser Glider to play Dragon God of Darkness!"
Dark clouds formed in the sky and a crack of lightning thundered as Seto laid the card down on his duel disk. The Earth shook as the schoolyard trembled and all the students who had been watching ran off with the exception of Yugi, Honda and Anzu.
On the playing field appeared the half-dragon creature. His wings fluttered as he hovered in place and he took a glance over his shoulder to look at Seto with intense crimson eyes. In the brief moment their eyes met, the brilliant CEO could have sworn the creature was real.
"What the…?" Jounouchi said on the other side of the field. "Umm…Yugi…?"
The short student however shook his head. "I've never heard of that card before."
"I invoke the Dragon God's special ability to special summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Seto yelled. "Horobi no Burst Stream!" The remaining scapegoat was blasted from the field. Then Seto called upon the Dragon God to attack, somehow already knowing the name of monster's attack. "Child of the Gods!"
A blast of purple-black fire erupted from the outstretched hands of the half-dragon creature, frying Panther Warrior. Jounouchi's life points dropped to 1300 and he as only left with Little Winguard on the field.
A triumphant smirk crossed Seto's lips. "Turn End."
"Don't give up Jounouchi!" Honda called.
"Draw!" Jounouchi yelled with determination. The odds were against him but he would not give up. "Shisha Sosei!" Psycho Shocker returned to the field from the Graveyard. "I then sacrifice Psycho Shocker and Little Winguard to bring out Red Eyes Black Dragon! And with Red Eyes I play the magic card Tenshi No Saikoro and the magic card Nails of Bain!"
The impressive dragon appeared in front of the blond along with a blue dice that began to roll. The number the die landed would be multiplied by 100 and then added to the Red Eyes attack points, which was already increased by 600 points due to the Nails of Bain magic card.
Holding his breath, Jounouchi yelled out in celebration as the die landed on 5; the Red Eyes Black Dragon now had attack points of 3500. "Attack the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
Seto growled as his beloved dragon disappeared from the playing field and his life points fell to 600. It didn't matter though. The duel would be over soon.
"Turn End," Jounouchi said with a grin while his friends cheered.
"Draw!" Seto didn't even bother looking at the card he drew. "Child of the Gods!"
"Reverse Card Open!"
Seto scowled as the annoying blond played the magic card Akuma No Saikoro and the devil holding the red dice appeared. He had been stupid to walk in such an obvious trap now he had to worry about the magic card lowering the Dragon God's attack points lower than the 3000 that the Red Eyes Black Dragon was currently at.
"Come on!" Yugi hollered.
Lady Luck however was with Seto as the die harmlessly fell on 1. With triumphant glee spread across his face, Seto watched as Jounouchi's life points fell to zero. "Mwahahahahaha!"
"He almost had you that time Kaiba!" Anzu scolded but Seto was too busy laughing to hear her.
"Shut up Kaiba!"
"Leave it alone Honda, I'll win next time," Jounouchi told him. "I know about that Dragon God thing now and won't be caught off guard."
"Kaiba-kun where did you get that card anyway?" Yugi asked. He was the only one out of their group who didn't hate the CEO.
"Mwahahahaha!"
"Yugi ask him tomorrow," Jounouchi grumbled as he grabbed his backpack, turned around and began walking away. "He's too busy in his victory celebration right now."
Hurrying after their friend, Yugi, Honda and Anzu scurried off.
"Mwahahahahaha!"
After a few minutes Seto had finally calmed enough to gather up his cards still on his Duel Disk and return the device to his briefcase. He was still chuckling softly to himself as the joy of kicking Jounouchi's ass and seeing his new card in action was more than enough to make up for being late for work.
Adjusting his school uniform Seto was about to head off to the limo when a voice halted him in his tracks.
"I take it we did well."
Snapping his head downward, Seto found that the Dragon God of Darkness now stood in front of him, barely coming up to his chest.
That wasn't right; Seto had turned off the Duel Disk and both it and the card were packed away in his briefcase.
A smirk crossed the Duel Monster's face. "It's good to know that I've still got it."
Notes: - Those who read my LJ know how much "fun" I had with the duel. I don't think it turned out too badly except for the fact that the only attack name I could remember was for the BEWD. I suck at remember attack names except for BM, BEWD and the God Cards. Fortunately the duel was between Seto and Jou who always have short duels (since Seto is so good and Jou...well...yeah...).
-If you couldn't tell I used the Japanese names for all the cards. That's simply what I'm use to since I've seen the anime 5 billion times, lol. All the cards used by Seto and Jou are ones they always use in their duels.
-Dragon was the one who came up with the ideas for Atemu's card, which was so nice of her since the most dueling I know of is from the anime (even with the manga I tend to speed read over any huge duels especially when Yami or Kaiba are not in them).
-Fun Fact: Those little comic books they were using in class to study English was actually something from my own High School when I was studying French. Ususally they're around 12-20 pages and have word dictionary in the back. Sad to say one year I learned more French from those comic books than I did from my French teacher. Seriously if there was a worst teacher of the year award she'd win hands down as she only showed up half the time to teach and half the time when she did show up she'd claim she was ill and sit at her desk the entire time with her head on it. Of course my mark ended up dropping (I had only gotten As in French until that point) and she ended up telling my parents it was I wasn't applying myself. After that year I ended up dropping French becasue I refused to run the risk of having her again (I also did not take Drama when I was going to because she also taught that).