The streets were cold, for it was the middle of winter. Fog hung across the streets, obscuring vision. Bakura and Yugi walked side by side, duel disks clamped to their wrists.

''Yugi, I can hardly see anything in this fog...'' Bakura tried wafting the fog in front of them away with his arm

''it's alright Bakura, just a little long...''

Yugi's sentence was cut short by a screech of brakes, followed by piercing lights shining through the fog. A black limo pulled up beside Yugi and Bakura. Tinted windows obscured the driver's face as the door swung open: to reveal: Mokuba. The face of Kaiba's younger brother was familiar. This was his way of saying ''I want to see you'' without actually leaving his office.

''hey, Yugi, my brother wants to see you!''

''let me guess, he wants to duel me, am I right?''

Mokuba shrugged, ''don't think so. This is on business. We already dispatched a group to get Joey and Tristan. Don't worry about them''

''if you say so'' Yugi turned round to Bakura ''come on then'' he smiled, and pulled Bakura into the car, yanking the door shut behind them.

The building was immense, with tall chimneys billowing smoke. It wasn't an expensive duel dome, or a tall elaborate office complex, but an enormous warehouse. A doorway opened, revealing 3 armed guards, which filed out, followed by Joey and Tristan, both wearing their Dueldisks.

''yug'! You're here already?!'' Joey was happy at the sight of one of his best friends standing there.

''come on Yugi, this is pretty awesome!'' Tristan remarked as he beckoned both Bakura and Yugi towards them

They all walked back through the doorway, leaving Yugi and Bakura in shock, open mouthed and speechless.

The room was filled with computer control panels lining the walls. The middle of the room was dominated by a large dish, with aerials protruding out of the ground, all pointing towards a deep purple ball, hanging in the air. Smaller white spheres circled that, the only exception being one Red one, larger than the others orbiting a steady path around the circumference of the circle. If it was a planet, then that red sphere could be a moon of some kind.

Kaiba stood facing away from Yugi and his friends, staring up at the mysterious ball. He wore his usual outfit; white cloak with metal attachments and a black shirt.

''Kaiba!'' yugi shouted out across the room '' what's the meaning of all this?! ''

He turned and scowled. ''I figured you ought to know what we're researching... and what we found out. ''

''and that is?''

''the truth about your Egyptian God cards. What they really are''

Kaiba walked towards a computer terminal and brought up a large hologram of the Winged Dragon of Ra, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Obelisk the Tormentor, in all their glory.

''you see yugi, Kaiba Corp have been researching since the beginning of The Battle City tournaments, about what these things actually are... or were''

''what's the meaning of this? Bakura spoke up

''oh, they're more than just trading cards. Why do you think obelisk's effect was to combine with the other two? And all their attack, defence and effects are based on their original Egyptian counterparts. And their spirits have enchanted those three cards. It's obvious the Egyptian Gods were part of something far bigger. They combine to produce an unlimited attack strength. And the way all their power seems to be the same, it's awfully suspicious.

The image flickered to Ra, zooming in on its head. You see, they appear to have a similar trace of energy from each of them. ''We can be certain of this if you just place your cards into the machine. With this knowledge at our disposal, we would be able to deduce where the Gods originated from. This Sphere above us is what we managed to achieve after our duel using the Egyptian gods during the battle city semi-finals. The residue energy left behind was gathered, and brought to this research centre, where we managed to harness it. Last week, this sphere formed, almost like it's like a planet, or world of some kind. Our sensors detected 9 more sources of power, similar to the Egyptian gods''

''so you want me to use my Egyptian gods to find out for you? Well, I refuse'' yugi glared up at Kaiba

''you don't have a choice'' Kaiba smiled maniacally at him, the guards around him brandishing their weapons.

''fine'' Yugi plucked the 3 cards from his deck and slowly took steps towards the terminal where the card slots were. He gently placed them down, and stepped back

''thank you for your cooperation, Yugi.'' Kaiba pressed the button that retracted the cards into the device.

And that's when it all happened.