Spoiler alert! This takes place after the new film so it references the end of the film right at the beginning of this chapter.
"Seto, I really don't think you should do this…" Mokuba said pleading with his older brother even though he knew it would never work, "…it hasn't been fully tested".
Finally, placing the quantum cube down, Seto responded, but it wasn't what his brother wanted to hear, "Don't worry Mokuba, you're in charge now".
With this the Kaiba Corp Space station floating high above the Earth connected by a silver string tethering it to the earth, appeared to be bathed in a gold light. Seto then pointed the small but powerful craft down into the silver elevator shaft and with no hesitation accelerated down into it.
She reached inside the umbrella stand and pulled out what looked more like a lance than anything that would shield her from the weather. A crack of thunder outside convinced her to take it above the others as the wind would destroy anything else she could use. When she booked her trip the forecast predicted extremely hot and dry conditions the entire two week period. Odd for Egypt to have this much rain. She opened up her phone and read half of a message that started worryingly with 'Hi Cerys, I don't know whether you really should or….'. "No!" she shouted at her phone, "Not after working towards this research trip and all the money I spent getting here, no way am I taking a rain check!". She pulled on shoes she knew could be ruined, grabbed her keys and slammed the door behind her and set off towards the expedition's four by four. Driving out of Luxor was fairly easy as most people had chosen to stay inside away from the lashings of rain but as soon as the city opened out towards the desert did she see the extend of the storm. Cerys pulled out the walkie talkie and clicked the button on the side twice "Hey, Professor, Professor Ayasaf are you there?!". No response, suddenly a crackling came from the radio and only the laboured breath of her mentor could be heard. Picking the receiver up again she grabbed its side and shouted through to him "Don't worry I'm coming to get you!". Hitting the accelerator Cerys pushed on in to the storm.
When Seto arrived he could not discern where he was as the heavy rain completely obscured his vision through the windows. Pushing open the top of the cockpit he leaped out and immediately began observing his surroundings. In the distance there seemed to be a strong white light shining through the dense weather. "There you are pharaoh" a steely determination filled his face and Kaiba set off towards, what he though was, his most important duel yet.
When Cerys arrived at the site she only just managed to put the handbrake on before leaping out in to the cold and dark night. Luckily the crew had left the floodlight on and it was easy to see through even these apocalyptic conditions. The first port of call was the main research tent where the five researchers, including herself and the professor managed most of their work. "No one…" she whispered to herself as the surveyed the disconcertingly empty room. The only other logical place he could be was the dig site. The site was what they originally believed to be another ransacked tomb however on closer inspection it seemed to hide an underground temple. The door to the temple had only been discovered a week ago however they were well on the way to opening the main chamber that had not been opened for over 5000 years. This fast progress was mostly due to the increasing fanaticism of the professor. Upon finding the temple entrance he seemed as surprised as the rest of the team however then he began to become more and more protective and eventually obsessive over his find. She knew then that he could be nowhere else but the central chamber.
Cerys ran through the temple unable to sometimes marvel just for a second at some of the fine examples of wall painting inside. In the wide beam of her LED torch whole rooms seemed to light up reflected across the gilded walls. Finally she made it to the doors, they were as large and grand as those on the largest cathedral. The light from her touch barley reached the top, whilst this was due to the size it was also due to the lack of batteries in it. Placing her hand firmly against the cold granite door she tried to push it open and found it easier than expected. Immediately she saw the slowly flickering light and the body of Professor Ayasaf convulsed next to it. Intertwined between his fingers, blood still oozing from the skin under his fingernails, was a dull but still noticeably gold object.
Seto approached the site and cursed to himself as he realised that the cube hadn't taken him back to where the pharaoh was but to only around 10 years ago. He entered the largest tent in the complex and looked for something that would indicate where and when he was. The technology around the site was poor compared to anything Kaiba Corp made; even their water bottles seemed poorly designed. Finally he found a laptop, "Looks like something Wheeler would use" he said as he opened the lid. The screen immediately flashed to a half written article the indicator still blinking at the end of a sentence. However it was the note stuck to the screen with a small sketch on it that made even Seto Kaiba double back in surprise. "Never thought I see this again…maybe" he said pulling the note off of the screen. Suddenly it dawned on him, maybe he was in the right place after all.
Cerys reached over to check his pulse when suddenly she heard heavy footsteps inside of the large chamber. Looking up the first thing she saw was the navy blue duel belts on each leg that stuck out underneath the bright white coat which was a whole other fashion statement. Before she say anything to the mystery man who was walking confidently towards her he got there first. "I must warn you before you even try to get in my way, my deck is the most powerful there is so get ready to lose"
"Now hold on a second-" Cerys began to say but was quickly interrupted again.
"Stop wasting my time, either duel me or just accept your inevitable defeat"
Now her patience had ended, "No, now cut the crap and tell me why you are here and who you really are!". The man had finally come face to face with Cerys and adjusting the softly glowing machine on his right arm and crossing his arms confidently replied, "I'm Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp and the only person who will beat Yugi Muoto"
"Who? , look that doesn't matter, we need to get this man to a hospital", she reached down to check the Professor's pulse, he was still alive but barely. Seto had walked passed her and looking over her shoulder saw him staring in to the sarcophagus before turning to face her and shouting "Where is the Millennium Puzzle?!"
"What?, No you need to help me", Seto stormed towards her and grabbed the lapel of her coat and again shouted "Where is the Pharaoh, I haven't crossed space and time to have it wasted by the likes of you now tell me or duel me!"
"Fine!"
She regretted her decision almost immediately; by the time the echo had finished its journey around the chamber she was starting to panic and Seto had walked away and begun fiddling with the device on his arm.
"Lets duel dweeb and if you make any friendship speeches I swear a will beat you in to next week"
Cerys locked eye contact with him for a few second before asking what he meant by duelling. "What do I mean by duelling?!. Its Duel Monsters, everyone knows this game Pegasus mad sure of it Yugi made sure of it and most importantly I made sure of it!"
"So…" she said looking at the items in his hand, "…it's a card game?"
"It's THE card game dweeb"
"And I have never heard of it, wherever the hell you came from may know it but thee is no such thing here and the millennium objects, or whatever, don't exist either! " Seto noticeably flinched and then seemed to go back to his steely looks. He replaced the cards in to the thing on his arm and started towards the Professor. Seeing this as a threat Cerys launched herself towards the Professor tripping over the uneven floor and landing with one hand over the gold item the Professor was holding.
It all seemed to happen so quickly. Suddenly the professor seemed to disintegrate in to gold dust. The dust seemed to hang in the air for a second before becoming a ball of gold light that shot in to the object that the professor was holding and now that she was.
"I would drop that thing now, last time I saw it really messed with one of the geek patrol" She looked in to the eye inside the triangle and went to place it back where the Professor disappeared and found herself unable to do so. Before Cerys could say to Seto that she couldn't place it down a sudden searing pain made it's way up her arms from the object she was holding. After a second the pain became too much and the world faded to black.
Seto watched in horror as the girl's grip tightened on the Millennium ring and a gold fire appeared to run through her veins seeping in from the ring. Suddenly she threw her head back and screamed and then stopped a few seconds later. Whatever the ring was doing had not stopped though and three gold rectangles appeared to burn in to her flesh. There was a flash of light and images appeared inside the squares that reminded him of another trio. As soon as it begun it had ended and Seto was left in shock. A sudden rumble and falling of debris told hi that it was time to leave. Those markings though, they were so similar to duel monsters that he could not overlook it. With this he threw her over his shoulder and ran out of the temple never looking back.
Outside the rain had stopped and the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon. He found the ship easily in the distance and placed the girl behind his seat in what little space there was and begun the return process that he never thought he would have to do.
Seto knew he had to find the Pharaoh but he also knew that any sign of new rare and powerful cards had to be investigated and eventually owned. The only way he could do this was through her.