Hey guys! My first fan fiction. I do not own Yugioh or the characters. So basically based on ages of characters the time line that 5ds gives to explain what happened just doesn't add up. And before I had finished 5ds I sort of made a story in my head about what I thought happened. And I think it makes a lot of sense. But you'll have to disregard some of the stuff from 5ds. But with this story, there will be a lot of chapters. And I'll just warn you that in the beginning the plot will move slowly and will be more focused on the characters and how they've changed (or haven't changed) with time. Later on there will be more action and explanation.

Regarding characters, this is set 17-20 years after the original series ends, so the main characters are 37-40.

Also regarding the characters, with their ages it is likely that most of them have settled down, however, there are only a few characters that I will actually talk about regarding relationships and families. I prefer leaving it open to the reader to decide what they want to happen with relationships. So I don't write any pairings. And even when, on the rare occasion, I do mention relationships, I don't think I'll be using names, so you can think whatever you want.

And when I have a line

Like that, it means that I'm flipping between times. For the beginnings of chapters, I'll try to make it clear which time frame it is.

Sorry that was on the longer side but I thought you should know all that. Please enjoy :)

Chapter 1

Seto Kaiba stood at his window looking over the city. What had happened? Immediately surrounding the Kaiba Corp building was a pristine utopia. All of the top citizens of the city lived within the small vicinity: businessmen, lawyers, professional duelists, the elites of society. But looking out of the window from nearly the top floor you could only see the city slightly. On the border surrounding the city were a series of waterways and swamp. Small islands of ratty slum communities dotted the surrounding lake. Kaiba felt sick looking at it and made his decision. He scowled at his reflection in the glass and turned around swiftly, remembering the events of 3 years ago.

Kaiba had been standing at his old window, much as he was standing at the new one now. Whenever he had to make any sort of personal decision he would sit down and concentrate on his work. And when he stopped he often found that he thought much more clearly and could figure everything out. But after an hour of working he now stood at the window running his long fingers through his brown hair, just as unsure as ever.

It wasn't often in his 37 years that he had felt unsure of anything. In fact, the last time he had not been entirely confident about anything was 5000 years ago when he was running around ancient Egypt, unsure what was real and what was his imagination.

He gave his reflection a slight smile. Had it really been 17 years since then? And yet his reflection hadn't changed. Perhaps his face was more rigid and his shoulders slightly broader, but he still held the same thin figure and the same icy eyes. Old acquaintances often approached him; people he seldom recognized; people whose appearances, voices, and personalities had changed with time. But they always recognized him. And nine times out of ten, the first thing they said to him had something to do with the way he hadn't aged or that he looked just as he had at the first KC Grand Prix. In a way it was fitting. He had arguably been 37 since he was a kid. By the age of 16 he had raised a child and was the CEO of a company. He had his own mansion, cars, a college education, and was one of the most powerful men in the world. He hadn't gained any new adult responsibilities that he didn't have when he was a teenager so why should he look any older?

Just as his appearance, hardly anything else about him had changed. He was still the powerful intimidating CEO of Kaiba Corp and he still only truly loved Mokuba at the time being. One of the few changes was his wardrobe. He didn't wear crazy, gravity-defying, studded trench coats with belts on his arms and legs anymore. He still had the coat and he still wore other trench coats. Some were even just as flashy, just more… age appropriate or professional. He couldn't exactly find the right words. And he still wore the white suit he had during the Grand Prix. Only now he had added to the suit collection. Right then, in fact, he was wearing a new light grey suit complete with a white shirt and metallic silver tie. As always he looked dashing. Aside from his wardrobe, what changed was that he rarely saw the gang. Kaiba still preferred being alone, apart from a few close friends, and only saw his old 'pals' on occasion. One of those had been rather recently, only a few months back, when Wheeler came to his office all dressed up with his hair combed and neat. Kaiba laughed at how nervous Wheeler had been. And he had had good reason to be nervous too. After all, he had been asking Kaiba for money to pay the rent. Kaiba chuckled; so much like Wheeler. 'Ok Seto, stop reminiscing and focus.'

Just then Kaiba heard a small rattling and turned to see the framed picture on his desk shift. The room went silent and the frame stopped moving. Kaiba lifted an eyebrow with his head still turned towards his desk. He turned and walked to his desk and pick up the picture frame. He held it up to his face and looked at the picture of Mokuba closely. He placed in down on his desk again and put his hands on his hips as he blew the hair out of his face. Then he heard the rattling again, it lasted for a few seconds and then the shaking came. Kaiba nearly fell to the floor as he was jerked away from his desk. He maintained his balance as the building shook and began making his way to the door. Kaiba didn't think as he stumbled during the shaking through the door to his office. The shaking gradually subsided and an alarm rang

"All evacuate the Building. All evacuate the Building" A security officer came storming through the door to the stair well and another two came from around corners on the floor.

"Mr. Kaiba sir, we must evacuate." And the four rushed to the stairwell, where they climbed 2 floors to the roof. A 4th guard was in the helicopter preparing to take off. The 3 guards and Kaiba hopped into the helicopter, put on head sets and were off. As they were taking off, Kaiba saw the building begin shaking once again. This time the shaking was more intense and it didn't stop. He looked down at the city as building crumbled and smoke and debris rose into the sky and blocked out the view so he could no longer see the crevasses forming in the street. Kaiba looked back over his shoulder to look at the Kaiba Corp Building. To his surprise, as he looked he saw the building collapsing. In all the movies, building collapse slow, but the building was gone into the dust before he could think to look away. It didn't bother him that his building was falling, it had fallen before. But if he had been one floor lower when the quake hit... He shook his head and looked away. He looked back down at the city but all he saw was dust.