Mokuba stopped in the middle of the dark maintenance hallway leading to the stadium elevator. Confident in the brief moment of privacy, he turned to his companion. "Yugi, before we go out there, I just wanted to thank you for doing this again. I know you hate this kind of thing."
Despite the dark environment, Mokuba could practically hear Yugi roll his eyes. "Mokuba, stop. I may not enjoy all the fanfare, but it's part of the job. I'm happy to help you out on this."
"Yeah, but are you sure you're okay with using this new duel disk? I can't guarantee it's going to be safe."
"Listen, Mokuba. In all the time you've known me, have I ever backed down from things like this when it was for my friends? I miss your brother too, and I'll gladly take this risk to help him get back. That answer won't change, no matter how many times you ask."
"You know, Yugi, it still amazes me how Seto and I ever managed to make a friend like you. I don't know if we can ever thank you enough. I'll try to keep the opening ceremonies short so you can get out of the spotlight as soon as possible. See you in a couple minutes!"
With that, Mokuba nodded and stepped onto the elevator that would take him up to the center of the stadium. The fifteen-year-old used the ride to gather himself for what was about to happen. It had been a long year and a half to get to this point without his brother—but hopefully, this project would end all of that. After two months of trying to stabilize the company and then another year of dealing with the fallout of the virtual catastrophe, it was finally time to get Kaiba Corporation back into the public spotlight. In the old days, a KaibaCorp tournament would have drawn global attention—and Seto would have found some spectacular way to open the ceremony that would probably involve a jetpack or a technological dragon. Now, Mokuba could only hope this relatively simple tournament and opening ceremony would be the first step to get back to that point. He might never be able to live up to the example of his brother, but hopefully after today, he wouldn't have to.
As the elevator emerged in the center of the stadium, Mokuba took heart at the roar of applause from the crowd gathered to watch the proceedings. Apparently, the return of Kaiba Corporation to the gaming world was already bigger news than Mokuba had dared to hope. As the elevator descended back down, Mokuba activated his microphone and addressed the crowd.
"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the KC Phoenix Invitational Tournament! I'm sure you are all aware of how the state of Kaiba Corporation and Duel Monsters have changed over the past year and a half. When my brother disappeared, we lost one of the game's greatest, both on the dueling field and off it. Thanks to Seto Kaiba, Duel Monsters went from a popular American card game played on tables to a global sensation played with Solid Vision constructs that made the monsters real. Considering his disappearance and subsequent issues with our Duel Links system, Kaiba Corporation was forced to take a step back from the dueling field. However, I feel like the best way to honor my brother's legacy was to get back to the world of dueling, and that's the purpose of this tournament."
He paused for a second before continuing in a more somber tone. "Of course, my brother was never one to focus on the past, always looking towards a brighter future where he could share his love of the game with the world. Still, for all I can try, I will never be him. Instead of focusing solely on the future, I'm going to mix a celebration of the past in with the promise of tomorrow. Later, you'll be seeing sixteen of the world's best duelists battle it out for an automatic qualifying spot at the upcoming Duel Monsters World Championship. These duelists will all be using the latest version of the Duel Disk system, which will be released globally tonight."
Mokuba could hear the excited murmuring of the crowd at this surprise announcement, which only got him more excited for what would come next. "However, like I said, this tournament isn't about the present- it's about the past and the future. Considering that, I hope you enjoy the opening ceremony- where you'll get to see beta versions of the next generation duel disk as I use my brother's deck in a pre-errata exhibition match against the King of Games himself!"
The audience for the tournament settled into stunned silence for a few seconds before it burst into thunderous cheers as the elevator returned and Yugi stepped out. While Mokuba didn't show it, internally he felt like sighing in relief. Seto may have been a natural at being the center of attention, but even after all this time he still wasn't used to it. However, he supposed he needn't have worried- with Yugi not dueling much in public anymore, everyone would be happy to see the King of Games compete in person.
To the crowd, this was more than just a chance to see the World Champion duel- it was a chance to relive history. It might not be Yugi versus Seto, but it would be a match involving Yugi and a Kaiba. Mokuba had worked it out with Yugi to use more of the cards from his earlier career to drive home the nostalgia factor- and Yugi had agreed once he learned the true purpose of the new duel disks. Of course, to the two participants, this duel would have a more personal meaning. In this duel, Yugi would be using more of the cards from his time with the Pharaoh so each of them would be dueling in memory of someone currently in the afterlife.
Mokuba tuned out most of Yugi's speech to the crowd as he prepared himself for the upcoming duel. In an exhibition match, it wouldn't really matter who won or lost—but Mokuba still needed to make a good showing. After all, he was dueling with Seto's cards- and thanks to the Heart of the Cards, this would be his best chance to connect with Seto's spirit. While it would probably be in bad taste to beat Yugi with Seto's deck when Seto had never managed it himself, Mokuba didn't want his brother's spirit to be disappointed with a humiliating loss either. Seto never gave less than his best, so Mokuba wasn't going to be holding back. As soon as Yugi finished speaking to the crowd, he turned towards Mokuba and the young CEO returned his older friend's nod.
"It's time to duel!"
In unison, the two held up their arms, and their duel disks sprang to life. Unlike the older models, these new ones were significantly smaller- only slightly larger than a Duel Monsters card itself. Whereas Seto's last model had been able to generate holographic cards to use in the duel, Mokuba had instead opted for a different design- one that fit better with Industrial Illusion's new mandate that people use physical Duel Monsters cards to duel. Instead of creating a holographic card, the new model created a playing surface out of hard light. It resembled the design of the duel disk that came out back with the Battle City tournament- but this one was significantly lighter and gyroscopically stabilized so it would be projected in front of the player regardless of the angle they held their arm. Since they weren't able to safely expand on Seto's design for a full virtual reality created by the duel disks, Mokuba had decided it was well past time that someone using a duel disk wouldn't be forced to hold their hands at an awkward angle just to keep their duel disk upright.
As both of their life points clicked up to 8000 and they drew their opening hands, Mokuba smiled across the field at Yugi. "I gotta say, I'm looking forward to this. Let's give these people a great show. You're the champion here, so why don't you go first?"
Yugi nodded back. "Fine by me! Let's duel!"
As he drew his first card, Mokuba made sure to check over his hand. It seemed his brother's deck was really going all out for him- his opening hand was Vorse Raider, two Blue Eyes White Dragons, Polymerization, and Paladin of White Dragon. He practically had what he needed for summoning the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the first turn. Seto had always been one for dramatic openings, and it seemed his heart was reaching out to Mokuba through his cards. He was so engrossed in his hand that it was only Yugi's voice that brought him back to the duel.
"I'll set one monster in defense mode and add one other card face down. Your turn, Mokuba."
In the back of his mind, Mokuba heard Seto's voice chiding him for getting distracted in the middle of a duel. He really shouldn't have let the Blue Eyes in his hand take his focus. It was a good thing Yugi's opening move was so simple, so at least the distraction wouldn't cost him long term. Not wanting to call attention to the delay, Mokuba silently drew his next card—Luster Dragon 2. It was a fairly powerful card, but not exactly one that was useful in this situation. Despite being so close to summoning Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, five of his six cards were things he couldn't play yet. Still, with only one useful card, it at least made it easy to determine what to play. "I'll summon Vorse Raider, in attack mode!"
A holographic card appeared in front of Mokuba, and with a clang the blade of an axe hit the ground as the muscular Beast-Warrior walked out of the card as if it were a doorway. Now, Mokuba just had to decide his next move. Yugi's face-down card was worrisome, especially since Mokuba didn't have anything to protect Vorse Raider. However, with nothing else he was able to summon at the moment he knew he couldn't just pass his turn and let Yugi tribute his monster. He'd have to risk that Yugi's monster had less than 1900 defense points, and also that Yugi's facedown card wouldn't be able to destroy his monster.
"Vorse Raider, attack his facedown monster with Bloodlust Slash!" With a snarl, the Beast-Warrior ran towards the card, slicing it in half with his axe. The destruction of the card revealed a brown fuzzball cowering in fear. Mokuba sighed in relief as he recognized the Kuriboh. Not only did this mean his Vorse Raider would win the battle, it also meant Yugi wouldn't be able to surprise him later with Kuriboh's effect to avoid damage. Vorse Raider promptly impaled the little Fiend type on his axe, sending it to the graveyard, but a ball of yellow energy remained as Yugi just shook his head.
"Sorry, Mokuba, but by destroying my monster you activated my trap card. Since we're using pre-errata cards, I can use my Soul Rope even if a monster is destroyed by battle instead of with a card effect. I'll pay 1000 Life Points to special summon my Queen's Knight in defense mode!" It was a bit awkward hearing Yugi explain the card so much, but Mokuba knew it was necessary for the benefit of the crowd who wouldn't all have known what Soul Rope did before it had been re-released with a more limited effect.
As the trap activated, the ball of yellow energy stretched from where Kuriboh had been destroyed back to Yugi's deck, and the red armored warrior appeared on the end of the rope walking out to the field where she crouched down behind her shield. Mokuba saw Yugi wince as his life points clicked down to 7000, and felt bad for engaging in a duel knowing these new duel disks would drain energy with each life point loss. However, Yugi had agreed to this duel knowing this condition, and considering the current field situation Mokuba knew he'd be losing some of his own energy soon anyway.
Moving to his Main Phase 2, Mokuba set his Polymerization card hoping to potentially bluff Yugi into thinking he had a trap as he considered his future moves. Since Yugi had summoned Queen's Knight, it was likely he had King's Knight in his hand. That meant Jack's Knight could be special summoned next turn, and while that move wasn't as devastating as it would have been in the past when Yugi still had the Egyptian God cards, it would still involve some major damage. By sacrificing Jack's Knight with an attack on Vorse Raider, Yugi would open Mokuba up for 3100 damage- and with his current hand Mokuba would need a lucky draw just to be able to play anything next turn. Still, there was nothing else he could do, so he ended his turn and prepared himself for the onslaught.
Yugi started his turn and immediately played the card he drew. "I activate Pot of Greed!" Luckily, this was a very common card that just about everyone had used before the latest tournament ban list had included it, so Yugi didn't need to explain this card to the crowd and just drew the two cards. However, he hesitated after seeing the cards he drew and turned back to Mokuba. "I admit, this wasn't the move I had planned to make, but since I just drew Watapon, I get to special summon it." The fairy type appeared on the field, though it didn't remain for long as Yugi played his next card. "Since this duel is about celebrating the past, it only seems right that I summon an old friend. I sacrifice Queen's Knight and Watapon to summon my Dark Magician!"
Despite the situation, Mokuba couldn't help but smile as the purple-robed Spellcaster appeared on Yugi's field. It wouldn't seem right to have Seto's deck duel against Yugi without the Dark Magician making an appearance. Yugi had even agreed to use a different copy of the Dark Magician than he usually did- the Pharaoh had taken Yugi's original copy of the Dark Magician with him to the spirit world after the ceremonial battle along with the other cards in his deck, leaving Yugi to switch to a newer Dark Magician card that was depicted as wearing black armor. However, the most famous card art would always be the purple robes, and since this was all about trying to recreate a duel between Seto and Yugi Mokuba hadn't felt bad about giving Yugi an older copy of the card as a gift.
When a blast of dark magic from the Dark Magician's staff disintegrated Vorse Raider and took 600 of his life points with it, the smile faded from Mokuba's face at the energy drain. While it wasn't severe, it was stronger than he had anticipated. Losing such a small fraction of his life points shouldn't have been this noticeable. Of course, it was hard to determine if this was a positive or a negative. If his calculations were off, it might mean the whole experiment was doomed to failure- but increasing the amount of energy put into generating the signal might just also make it more likely to reach its destination. Yugi ended his turn, and as Mokuba drew his next card, he realized it was time to let everything ride on the hope that the increased drain meant the latter situation instead of the former.
"I suppose I should apologize to everyone here. I mentioned I was using my brother's deck, but that wasn't completely accurate. I did include one card that my brother never used- but I think it fits in with the overall theme. After all, Yugi, if the cards have their own spirits, and duelists put their souls into their decks, it's only fitting that I should include this spirit in this deck. I'll summon Kaibaman in attack mode!"
The warrior type monster appeared with a dramatic flaring of his trenchcoat, but Mokuba could feel the surprise emanating from the crowd. The monster was clearly based off a ten-foot tall Seto Kaiba, only with long red hair and a helmet shaped like a Blue-Eyes head. All in all, it looked more like a caricature someone would see at a Kaiba Land grand opening- assuming Seto wasn't on the same continent to see it. Only Yugi didn't look surprised, since he had known this was coming. Still, for the sake of the crowd, Mokuba loudly announced his next move. "Now, I think it's time to activate my monster's special ability. Kaibaman, would you do the honors?"
The duel monster responded with Seto's voice as he drew a duel monster card out of the folds of his coat. "Well, Yugi, it's about time you tasted defeat, and I've got the perfect monster to do it. I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" He held the card aloft, and as he did this he was consumed by a pillar of bright light. With a majestic roar, the Blue Eyes White Dragon burst forth out of the prominence. It landed with enough force to shake the ground and turned its azure glare on the Dark Magician.
The crowd burst into cheers at the sight of one of the most famous monsters in the game, and Mokuba allowed himself to revel in the moment as well. Regardless of how the rest of the duel went, he had just pulled off a move with the highest chance of success in accomplishing his real goal. While these duel disks weren't that far beyond the previous standard to the outside observer, this prototype was built with the input of two main sources: the data they had analyzed from Aigami's Cosmic Cube, and a relatively new acquisition of some source code from Scott Irvine's old Kingdom game.
Since Seto had taken the physical Cosmic Cube with him on his trip to the afterlife, Mokuba had initially been unable to push through the barrier between dimensions. Luckily, a new hire had managed to outlast the bounds of her non-disclosure agreement after working for SIC to develop Kingdom, and even better, she remembered some of the code—specifically, the unusual aspects that didn't fit with a typical virtual reality game, but that did fit if you wanted to tap into the powers of darkness within a human heart to summon what may or may not have been an extradimensional demon.
That hadn't quite been the intended goal for Mokuba, but he had been able to repurpose that code into something that would be able to draw on a human's energy and send a message across the dimensional barrier. It wouldn't be anything in particular, but Mokuba had hoped that the feeling of the cards Seto was closest to—and one based directly on him—would send a message Seto couldn't ignore. Mokuba knew his brother wouldn't have taken this long to defeat the Pharaoh in a duel, so there must be something else keeping him trapped in the afterlife- and perhaps this duel would provide Seto with a connection he could use to find his way back to Earth.
Mokuba was snapped out of his musing when Yugi smiled at him. "I'm glad it came to this. I've missed seeing Blue Eyes on the field, even if it does mean I have to duel it. Of course, I'm sure Kaiba wouldn't be happy just seeing the card get summoned- how about we keep the show going?" Mokuba just nodded back. While the Kaibaman/Blue Eyes combo was the most likely move to reach Seto, the duel had to go on. It wouldn't hurt to put every little bit of energy they could into repeatedly sending the message.
"Okay, Yugi, just remember you asked for it. Blue Eyes, White Lightning attack!" The dragon let out a plaintive roar as it turned its destructive breath on the opposing Spellcaster, who tried to defend himself by surrounding himself in a green bubble of protective magic. Mokuba could almost feel the sadness and regret coming off of the more lifelike than normal hologram and knew what it was feeling- it was both mourning for its missing master and sorrowful that it had to once again fight against a well-known ally. Mokuba understood the sentiment, but since this was ultimately a duel without real stakes and had the potential to bring Seto back, he hoped the dragon would forgive him.
Of course, even with monster spirits able to express more emotion than normal, the duel disks still enforced the rules of the game, and the Dark Magician's shield cracked under the onslaught, letting the lightning blast destroy the Spellcaster and taking Yugi down to 6500 Life Points. With no other moves available to him, Mokuba ended his turn.
Yugi nodded and drew to start his turn, but he merely added the card he drew into his hand and set a monster that had been in his hand in defense mode before ending his turn. Seeing this, Mokuba guessed that Yugi was in a similar position to what he was- he must have had a hand full of cards that weren't useful at the moment. There weren't too many monsters that Yugi had that could realistically protect him in this situation- the only ones that came to Mokuba's mind were the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and the Old Vindictive Magician. The first one would be annoying in that Blue eyes wouldn't be able to destroy it, and the second one would be problematic in that attacking it would let Yugi destroy his Blue Eyes. Of course, if he chose not to attack Yugi would just be able to use that effect next turn anyway, so it wasn't like he gained anything by delaying.
However, his worrying proved unfounded when he drew his next card. Mokuba grinned outright. "I hope you aren't relying on your defense monster to save you, Yugi. I activate White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing Luster Dragon 2 from my hand to summon Paladin of White Dragon!"
Storm clouds entered the dueling field as the ritual activated, and a warrior in gold-trimmed armor and draped a blue cape walked up to a sleeping emerald dragon. The warrior seemed to offer his sword up to the sky before plunging it into the sleeping beast at the exact moment a bolt of lightning struck down, obscuring everything in blinding white. When the light faded, the warrior was riding on what appeared to be an immature Blue Eyes, denoting the ritual monster had finally been summoned. With the fanfare out of the way, Mokuba entered his Battle Phase.
"Paladin of White Dragon, attack!" The warrior pointed towards the face-down card with its sword, and the dragon let out a tiny blast of lightning that destroyed Yugi's card with much less fanfare than previous battles- thanks to Paladin's effect meaning it was destroyed without flipping it face up. However, since it was important to know which cards went to the graveyard, the duel disks still projected a transparent image of the destroyed monster, and Mokuba took a moment to recognize the female spellcaster his monster had just destroyed.
"Wait, was that Magician's Valkyria? I'm pretty sure the only time I've ever seen you use that in a duel, the Kaiba Dome ended up getting destroyed. Should I be taking the time to broadcast our evacuation strategy?" Yugi and Mokuba both laughed at the joke, although Mokuba was somewhat serious. The duel that destroyed the Kaiba Dome was thanks to the cursed Pyramid of Light and some unexplained plot by an ancient Egyptian sorcerer, but considering the fact that most of the times Seto and Yugi were dueling in the same area some sort of megalomaniac or ancient magic tended to get involved, it wasn't something Mokuba would ever rule out. Especially considering that this time around, it would be pretty easy to view what he was doing as meddling with supernatural forces, which would not be good for KaibaCorp's image if too many of the details got out. Yugi seemed to be of the same opinion, as he just nodded to Mokuba for him to continue his turn. Mokuba responded by ordering a direct attack with his Blue Eyes, and the dragon responded by firing a ball of lightning that dropped Yugi all the way down to 3500 life points.
When Yugi recovered from the blow to his life points, Mokuba continued his turn. "As I'm sure you know, my Paladin has a special ability, and I'll use that now to summon another Blue Eyes from my deck!" A bolt of lightning arced down from the sky, consuming the Ritual Monster. With a triumphant roar, a second Blue Eyes appeared in its place, giving Mokuba two of his brother's signature monsters. However, the younger Kaiba wasn't done yet. "Well, Yugi, now things are really starting to look like one of your old duels with Seto. Still, something's missing, so I guess I'll just have to raise the stakes further. Luckily, I have just the card for it. I activate Polymerization!" Mokuba discarded the third Blue Eyes, emptying his hand but allowing him to bring forth what at many points in time had been Seto's strongest card- the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The three holographic Blue Eyes flew together in a burst of light, and the three headed dragon flew down and shook the air itself as it landed with a mighty roar.
The crowd all cheered at the spectacle, but Yugi just sighed. "As great as this moment is, Mokuba, I'm afraid it won't last very long. You spent all your resources to get that one monster out without a way to protect it. Sure, I'm not going to be able to defeat it in battle, but all it takes is the right card and I'll get around it another way."
Mokuba just smirked. "I know, but I just couldn't resist. There's really two options here. Either you can't take out my dragon, or you end up going back to the old 'draw the exact card you need for a dramatic comeback' route and then I can start doing the same." To the crowd, this was just usual banter- but when Yugi nodded, Mokuba knew he got his message across. Regardless of it could be considered a fair move or not, Mokuba wanted Yugi to come at him with his best.
As Yugi closed his eyes and focused for a few seconds, Mokuba just smiled at the miracle he was about to witness. Seto may have scoffed at it as supernatural nonsense, but Mokuba knew the Heart of the Cards was in some ways a tangible force that lead players to draw cards helpful to their strategy at a higher rate than the statistics suggested. While such a thing was hard to quantify, Mokuba felt he ranked right up there with Joey in terms of getting a favorable draw. However, there was a level beyond that, where instead of just drawing a helpful card, a duelist could literally change fate to alter the next card they drew.
So far, Mokuba had only witnessed three people who might be able to claim the ability to destiny draw. The first was his brother, although with Seto's attitude Mokuba doubted he even realized what was going on. The second had been the Pharaoh- who was explicitly a sorcerer and had ancient Egyptian magic backing him up. The third person was the one standing across from him on the dueling field- though Yugi didn't like to use his skill in tournaments and claimed he wasn't able to use it repeatedly. Because of this, Mokuba enjoyed watching the skill in action whenever he possibly could- even if it was being used against him.
Yugi's eyes snapped open as he drew his next card, and without even looking at it he announced his next move. "Now, I banish my Kuriboh and my Watapon from my graveyard!" The two fluffballs briefly appeared on the field before turning into two orbs, with Kuriboh becoming a ball of darkness while Watapon became a ball of light. The two orbs flew at each other, and they seemed to struggle for dominance. "By combining the powers of light and darkness this way, I am able to call on the power of chaos to open the door to a new universe and summon one of my most powerful creatures." With this, the combined orbs suddenly exploded, sending what looked like miniature stars across the arena and leaving behind a holographic recreation of a nebula in its wake. At the center of this all crouched a warrior in jet black armor, who rose from a crouch to stare down the three headed dragon across from him. "Behold, Black Luster Soldier—Envoy of the Beginning!"
Mokuba could sense the awe of the crowd, and he didn't blame them. "Aren't there only five of that card in the world? How long have you had that in your deck?"
Yugi responded with a grin. "I got it right before the Grand Championship. Since you banned the god cards in that tournament, I needed to add something powerful to my deck. It's just too bad I had to discard so many cards in the duel with Leon- I had a lot of surprises ready in that deck."
Mokuba just shook his head. "Okay, I can understand how Seto or I would be able to easily get a hold of just about any card in the world, but the fact that you managed it while being just an ordinary high school student sometimes defies belief."
Now it was Yugi's turn to roll his eyes. "I highly doubt people would consider my life as a high schooler ordinary, and that was even before I first met your brother. But enough reminiscing- I think it's time to get on with the duel. Say goodbye to your Blue Eyes!" Yugi's soldier stabbed his sword into the ground, sending a shockwave from the blade along the earth in the direction of the fused monster. Light and dark energy danced along the dragon's skin, until suddenly with a plaintive wail it disappeared from existence entirely.
While Mokuba was aware of exactly what had happened—thanks to knowing about the card as well as the technology in his duel disk clearly displaying every card effect as it entered play—the crowd was left in the dark until Yugi explained his move. "It might come at the cost of not being able to attack with my Black Luster Soldier this turn, but that's a small price to pay to banish any monster on the field. Now you're wide open, and I haven't used my normal summon yet this turn. I'll summon King's Knight in attack mode, and use him to attack your life points directly!" The royal warrior appeared on the field and immediately charged towards Mokuba, slashing him with his sword and bringing his life points down to 5800.
Mokuba couldn't help but keep his hand from shaking a little bit after the last attack- even though it was only 1600 life points, the direct attack had taken a lot more out of him than he expected. He was in awe that Yugi seemed so in control of himself after taking a direct blast from a Blue Eyes—which in theory was almost twice as devastating. It just gave him all the more reason to need a really good draw here—without any cards in his hand or on the field, he needed something good or he'd find out exactly what a 3000-point hit felt like.
Yugi signaled for Mokuba to start his turn. Trusting in his brother's deck, Mokuba drew his next card—and couldn't help but smile. It wouldn't really turn this duel around, but he had at least drawn something that would protect most of his life points. "I'll set this monster in defense mode, and since that's all I can do, that ends my turn."
Yugi started his next turn, drawing a spell or trap card and setting it to the field. "Well, I hope your facedown monster has something good to protect you, because if not, you're going to be down to 500 life points. I sacrifice my King's Knight in order to summon Dark Magician Girl!" The crowd cheered at seeing another of Yugi's most famous monsters, although some of the more experienced players were confused at Yugi's earlier statement. Sure, Dark Magician Girl was stronger than usual thanks to the Dark Magician in Yugi's graveyard, but that still didn't add up given Mokuba's current 5800 life points. Mokuba, who knew much more than just about anybody in the crowd, was able to recognize why Yugi's math might be correct- but also felt more than a little smug because he had the perfect counter for this move. Sure enough, Yugi started his battle phase, calling out, "Black Luster Soldier, destroy his facedown monster with your Chaos Blade!"
The warrior's blade radiated with the power of darkness as he slashed Mokuba's facedown card in half—but a clown shape was visible for only the briefest of moments before there was a loud whoosh of air and the clown-shaped balloon started rocketing around the arena, to the laughter of a second clown that had suddenly appeared on the field.
"Sorry, Yugi, but you remember Peten the Dark Clown, right? He just refuses to let a little thing like his destruction make him leave the field. He just ends up banished and replacing himself with another Peten from my hand or deck."
Yugi only nodded. "That may be true, but your clown only has three lives, and he's losing them all this turn. After all, my Black Luster Soldier can attack twice so long as he destroys a monster by battle!" The warrior's blade was coated with light energy this time as he slashed apart the second Peten card- but the second clown burst into candy while the third Peten was summoned to the field, laughing as the soldier stepped out of the remains of the piñata. However, the last clown fell silent when he was staring down a magic wand that had been shoved in his face by a Dark Magician Girl who didn't look amused at his antics. Her Murky Burning attack obliterated the last clown—though that used up Yugi's last attack for the turn, meaning Mokuba's life points were safe for now.
As he started his next turn, Mokuba knew he'd need something special with his next draw. Peten had been perfect for stalling—and had the benefit of thinning his deck in the process—but Seto had never been one to play defensively. As such, his deck didn't have as many defensive plays as most other tournament-level decks did, so Mokuba knew he couldn't stall out for long. He'd just have to trust in his brother's deck to let him do what Seto so often did when facing a seemingly insurmountable obstacle: find a play that took whatever overwhelming force he was facing and overwhelmed it with an even larger force.
Mokuba closed his eyes and drew- and on seeing his monster he couldn't help but smirk at Yugi. "I believe when you summoned your Black Luster Soldier, you said you summoned the power of chaos to create a new universe. Well, it only seems right that I do the same in order to end that universe. I banish Kaibaman and Vorse Raider from my Graveyard in order to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon—Envoy of the End!"
The two banished monsters briefly appeared before following the same steps as had happened with Yugi's summoning—but this time the orbs of light and darkness shot up into the air and disappeared into the distance. The departure was only temporary, however, as a new object quickly came shooting back to the ground, looking like a green meteor. It hit the ground with an explosion of green flames- and as the meteor shattered, the dragon that had been contained within spread its wings and roared out its challenge to Yugi's monsters. Mokuba felt like it was almost a shame to get rid of such a powerful card immediately after summoning it, but with Yugi's facedown card he couldn't risk attacking into a Mirror Force or a Magic Cylinder. That only left him with one option—an option that once again left him without any cards, but had the distinct advantage of taking away all of Yugi's cards as well.
Mokuba's life points decreased to 4800 as the dragon breathed out its emerald flames, but this time instead of being merely a cosmetic effect the flames of chaos consumed everything on the field and in both players' hands. While this amounted to only the dragon for Mokuba, Yugi lost his two monsters, his facedown Magical Hats, and the Polymerization and Multiply that had been in his hand. The flames also burned away over half of Yugi's Life Points, dropping him down to only 1700.
Finally, the flames fizzled out, taking with them the lights of the various duel disks. The lull in the action lasted just long enough for Mokuba to start to regret that particular bit of programming, regardless of how much it fit the theme of continuing a duel after the end of everything. "Well, Yugi, that obviously wraps up my turn. I think I did pretty well playing just off of the top of my deck, so why don't you see how you like doing it?"
Yugi smiled back. "Trust me, this isn't the first time I haven't been able to use any of the cards on the field or in my hand. I'll be just fine." He drew his next card, and in just as confident of a voice as earlier declared, "well, I guess it didn't work out for me this time. I'll end my turn."
Mokuba couldn't believe his luck. Yugi almost never drew a card that he couldn't use—especially towards the end of duels. With no cards on the field and only 1700 life points, he was now wide open- all Mokuba had to do was draw a decently powerful monster and he'd become the first Kaiba to ever beat Yugi in a fair duel.
As he drew his next card, though, Mokuba realized he should have been a little more specific about his request. He had asked for a decently strong monster, and the deck had exceeded expectations and gave him what was arguably the strongest monster card Seto Kaiba had ever used- and that included Obelisk and Critias. However, for all of its power, the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon wasn't exactly helpful in this situation, where the only card that could help him summon it was currently banished from the game. Just like Yugi, Mokuba was forced to end his turn without playing a card- though at least unlike Yugi, Mokuba had enough life points that he was fairly confident he would be able to have another turn even if Yugi summoned a monster. It turned out he needn't have worried, though, as Yugi set the next card he drew in his spell and trap zone before ending his turn again.
Now it wasn't quite a guaranteed victory, but Mokuba could still potentially win by drawing his Spear Dragon or his X Head Cannon. He caught a glimpse of purple as he drew his next card which immediately dashed those hopes, but on closer look this might have been even better. Yugi wasn't likely to be able to defeat him next turn, and if Mokuba got to his next turn this card would practically guarantee his victory. He set the trap face down and then ended his turn, confident he could take whatever Yugi was about to dish out.
That confidence lasted even though Yugi drew his next card and then gave Mokuba a smirk that had thus far been strictly reserved for when Yugi was about to make his winning move. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring my Dark Magician back to the field!" The appearance of the purple-robed magician on Yugi's field was the first warning to Mokuba that things likely weren't going as well as planned. After all, Yugi could have revived either of the Envoys with that card, both of which were stronger than Dark Magician and had powerful effects to make them even more dangerous. The only reason to bring back Dark Magician in this scenario would be if Yugi had a combination that would be more dangerous that required Dark Magician to pull it off.
"I can see you trying to guess why I did that, but don't worry if you don't get it right. It's time to use another couple of cards I didn't get to showcase at the Grand Championship. First, I'll activate my facedown card- Dedication through Light and Darkness!" Yugi's Dark Magician created a magical circle around himself, and pulses of light and darkness obscured everyone's view of the sorcerer. When it cleared, standing in Dark Magician's place was a new monster that looked exactly like the Magician of Black Chaos Yugi had used earlier in his dueling career. Yugi just smirked as he continued to announce his move. "By sacrificing my Dark Magician, I've summoned my Dark Magician of Chaos. And now that I've summoned him successfully, I can retrieve one spell card from my Graveyard. I think I'll take Monster Reborn, and use that to revive the Dark Magician I just sacrificed!"
Once the second spellcaster appeared on Yugi's side of the field, Mokuba knew he had to scrap his plans. He couldn't withstand a direct attack from both of Yugi's monsters, so he was forced to take action.
"I activate my trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! By paying half my life points, I'll be able to summon any of my banished monsters to the field." Mokuba's life points dropped down to 2400, but Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Kaibaman, Vorse Raider, and two copies of Peten the Dark Clown appeared on his side of the field, with all but the Blue Eyes being played in defense mode.
Yugi nodded. "I was a little worried about what your trap card might be, but now I see it isn't a problem. You really should have summoned your dragon in defense mode, though. My current monsters might not be able to beat it, but the card in my hand can. I'll sacrifice my Dark Magician and my Dark Magician of Chaos in order to Special Summon my Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"
The two spellcasters on the field were consumed by pillars of black fire as the black-armored sorcerer appeared on the field. Mokuba could only gulp- this card was arguably one of the strongest cards Yugi had ever used. Even post-errata, it was difficult to deal with, thanks to having 3200 attack points and the ability to negate the activation of any trap card. The pre-errata version was so much worse. "When my Sorcerer engages in battle, he's able to decrease the attack of your monster by 500 points for each Spellcaster of mine that was sent from the field to the graveyard. So, you can say good-bye to your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
The spellcaster twirled his staff, bringing forth ghostly images of his Magician's Valkyria, Dark Magician Girl, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician of Chaos. The departed magicians each pointed their staffs at the three-headed dragon, creating bands of magical energy that restrained the dragon and dropped its attack down to 2500. This left it too weak to defend itself against Yugi's ultimate monster. The Sorcerer summoned forth a stream of black fire which shot towards the helpless dragon. Mokuba's heart wrenched at the dragon's scream as it was consumed by the fire, leaving it a mercy when the hologram finally faded away.
Mokuba's life points ticked down to 1700, and when Yugi ended his turn, his remaining monsters were banished after Return from the Different Dimension's effect wore off. This left the younger Kaiba brother with precious few options. Still, there was at least one small sliver of hope. Since Blue Eyes had been destroyed by battle, it had gone to his graveyard instead of being banished at the end phase. This meant it would be easier to summon back—and if he summoned it, he would be able to summon Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. With an immunity to other effects and 5100 attack points due to all the dragons in his graveyard, Blue Eyes Shining Dragon would win him this duel. All he needed was to draw Monster Reborn, and he could still win this. He reached out to his brother's deck and drew- only to get a different Spell card that would still help.
"I activate Card of Demise! Now I'll get to draw four cards, at the cost of having to discard my hand in five turns. Since this duel probably won't last that long, it's a price I'm willing to pay." Mokuba drew slowly, trying to coax whatever mileage he could get out of the Heart of the Cards.
The first card was The Flute of Summoning Dragon, which was essentially worthless right now. Next came Ring of Destruction, which would have been able to force a draw under normal circumstances but was useless as long as Yugi had his Sorcerer. Then came Y Dragon Head, which would only turn this duel around if he could somehow protect it long enough to summon XYZ Dragon Cannon. It all came down to this last card—which ended up being Tyrant Wing, a trap card dependent on controlling a dragon and therefore doubly useless at this point. With no other options, Mokuba set his Y Dragon Head and ended his turn.
Now the only hope for victory was that Yugi wouldn't summon a monster with 1700 or more attack points. This hope was dashed when Yugi drew and summoned his Beta the Magnet Warrior. As soon as this happened, Mokuba knew the duel was over. He was dimly aware of Yugi announcing his moves—as well as the sight of the Sorcerer of Dark Magic roasting his Y Dragon Head—but none of it really sank in. He even barely felt the punch of Yugi's Magnet Warrior as it drained the last of his life points—only feeling the attack as an end to his chances to communicate with Seto. The crowd burst into applause at Yugi's victory, but Mokuba tuned that all out as he walked to the center of the field for the handshake. He switched his microphone off as he walked, and Yugi took the hint and switched his off as well.
"Do you think it worked, Yugi?"
"I'm sure it did, Mokuba. Couldn't you feel it as you dueled? Once you summoned Blue Eyes, I could feel his presence more sharply. We made the connection, and now he just has to follow that to find his way back. You know he'd never let anything stop him from getting back."
"Thanks again for doing this. It does feel like Seto's a bit closer to home- maybe he's just waiting for the most dramatic moment to come back. Guess I better get ready for the rest of the tournament, though. I'm sure he'd never let me live it down if I couldn't put in a decent showing at my own event. I probably won't have a chance to say this unless it's across the dueling field, but can you make sure to wish Joey and the others luck for me?"
"No worries. Good luck to you too—hopefully we'll get a chance to duel again at the championships."
Author's Note: Thanks to all of you for reading through this! This story idea had been kicking around in my head since Dark Side of Dimensions came out, and this duel in particular has been scripted out for months. However, I had it sitting in draft status for far too long and hadn't written anything after writing out half of my NaNoWriMo story last year, so I wanted to finally get something going to try and get back in the creative mood.
So, this duel that was originally an early chapter of a long story got converted into a one-shot. Don't worry if you're excited for more, though—getting this written (and the excellent help from my beta reader Quinnec) met its purpose of getting me back in the writing mood, and I'm already starting to work on the next section of the story. It will cover the events of the tournament itself, and set the stage for the main plot to kick in. The overall story will likely be published as a series instead of one long fic.
As a note on continuity, I like to take a broad strokes approach that lets me combine aspects from the manga, the anime, the movies, and the video games into a single timeline. If you have any questions about some of the events I reference or would just like more of the background details (such as the full timeline, the reason for the story's title, or any character's full deck list), feel free to send me a PM and I'd be happy to respond.