Chapter 4

"Mokuba!"

The boy grinned at her shock. "Yup!"

"But how . . . when . . . what?" Kira could hardly form a coherent sentence. "What's going on?"

Mokuba looked to the ground and shook his head, "It's a long story. I escaped from Pegasus Castle so I could save Seto. I thought I would have to do it myself, but then I saw you dueling." He looked up and laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Strange place for us to meet, huh?"

Kira couldn't find anything to say. The shock still hadn't worn off. Six years prior she had convinced herself that she would never see the two brothers again. Yet here one was, still the same as she remembered despite the change in age.

Kira bit her lip and steeled her emotions. Memories of their last encounter resurfaced, reminding her of why they hadn't spoken in six years. Kira wanted to leave and forget all about this meeting but now she owed Mokuba for helping her, and she already promised to pay him back.

I've already agreed to stay so the sooner we do this, the sooner we get this over with, she thought. Then I can go save my family and I won't have to see Mokuba or Seto ever again.

She finally looked to Mokuba. "We should leave this area before one of those guys finds us."

Mokuba nodded and led the way into the underbrush to find a different path. As they walked he began to explain his situation.

"You remember how we were adopted, right?"

Kira nodded. "Yes, that chess player lost to Seto. I never liked him."

"Me neither. He was even worse after we left the orphanage. Anyway, he owned this big company and a few years back Seto took it over and changed it to a gaming distributor. Pegasus' company is our biggest rival and now that Seto's gone, Pegasus is trying to take it over. Our board of directors agreed to hand the company over as long as Pegasus made sure Seto was gone for good. The other requirement was that Pegasus or someone working under him had to defeat Yugi Muto in a duel to restore Kaiba Corp's good name."

They came out onto a path and Mokuba chose to go right.

"So you and Seto own Kaiba Corp?" Kira tried to clear some of the confusion.

"Uh-huh."

"You said Seto is gone? Where did he go, and what for? And what does Yugi have to do with this?"

Mokuba looked questioningly at her. "Don't you know? Seto was the world champ at duel monsters, until Yugi beat him. Seto was so upset after the duel that he left. Even I don't know where he is. Since he's disappeared Pegasus has moved right in. That's why I'm here on the island. Pegasus' men kidnapped me because of some corporate law that says a Kaiba family member has to control the company."

"Guess I'm just really far out of the loop." Kira shrugged.

Mokuba shook his head. "How do you play in a major duel monsters tournament and not know who the game's best players are? You might end up having to duel one of them."

"That's a long story too," Kira answered. "This is my first professional tournament, and I'm only participating out of necessity. My neighbor taught me how to play a few years back. I really only dueled against him and some of his close friends. But recently my adoptive father has gotten into some legal trouble. He's a doctor and a patient accused him of malpractice to try and win some money off of him. He's been fighting a legal battle for almost a year and his license has been revoked so he can't even work anymore. He's having a hard time paying the legal fees and our money supply is running low."

"Then my neighbor was invited to this tournament. And since he didn't want to come, he passed the invitation over to me so I could try to win the prize money for my father. So, really, I'm not even supposed to be here."

Kira smiled sadly. "It was a fluke of fate."

Mokuba grinned. "A lucky one for me. But back to business; I was on my way to save Kaiba Corp when I found you, and I need your help 'cause I think you'd be better at it than me."

"I'll do whatever I can, but don't expect too much good to come of it," Kira said.

"Well maybe. My idea was that, since the agreement our executives made with Pegasus makes it so that Pegasus has to beat Yugi in a duel, if someone else beats him first and disqualifies him from the tournament then all bets would be off. I was on my way to get a deck so I could duel him myself, but since you already have one and know how to use it more than I would I was thinking you could duel Yugi instead."

Kira stopped walking.

"I don't think I could do that, Mokuba," she said. "I'm not even in the same league as duelists like your brother and Yugi. I would definitely lose. Is there nothing else we could do?"

Mokuba shook his head, eyes pleading. "Not while we're stuck on this island. Please, Kira. I need your help. I don't even play duel monsters that often. But I watched you dueling earlier and I know you can win. Please."

Kira bit her lip. There was no way she could agree to such an impossible proposal. She had her own goals to attend to and losing wouldn't help her get any closer to achieving them.

Mokuba was watching for her decision. She sighed, realizing that she had dug herself into a hole that she wouldn't be able to get out of.

"Well Mokuba, I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. If dueling Yugi is the only way, then duel him I must."

Mokuba grinned. "Alright!"

"But first," Kira sat down on the side of the path and opened her backpack. "I'll have to modify my deck. How does Yugi duel? What kind of strategy does he use?"

Mokuba sat beside her as she took out her deck and spare cards. "I don't really know. He kind of just comes out from behind when you least expect it and pulls off some amazing move that wins the duel."

"So he uses a sneak attack approach. I use that one fairly often myself." She began switching out a few cards. "A more direct strategy is needed to counter it, then. I'll have to hit him hard and hopefully take him out in the first few turns. Oh, I'll have to raise my defenses as well, to keep from being caught off guard."

A soft silence surrounded them as Kira worked through her new strategies. She glanced briefly at Mokuba. The boy smiled widely at her in return. Kira wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation. She knew she should have just left Mokuba after what he and his brother had done to her, after the betrayal they had handed to her. She did make a promise to help him, but it would have been very easy to excuse that. She could have just walked away; she could have left the past where it was supposed to be. She could have abandoned Mokuba, let him know what that felt like. Kira could have done that but was that really what she should have done? Had she made the right choice?

An exclamation from Mokuba broke into her reverie.

"Wow, I'm almost glad I got kidnapped! If I hadn't been on the island we would have completely missed each other." He paused for a second before throwing his arms around her.

Kira jumped slightly and dropped some of her cards.

"I really missed you," Mokuba continued. "And Seto has too. We thought you were gone for good."

He pulled away and looked up into her wide grey eyes. "Promise me we won't get separated again. I want us to stay best friends this time."

Kira's heart melted. Mokuba's plea was so sincere she knew he couldn't possibly harbor any ill will for her. And she was suddenly reminded of all of the fun she had with him when they were younger. Maybe she had made the right decision. Maybe they could start over . . . .

"Alright, Moki," she said, finally using his old nickname. "I promise to stay by you and be your friend for as long as you want."

Mokuba grinned widely and stooped to pick up her dropped cards. He passed them over to Kira. "Can I help?"

"Nope. I'm all done," Kira said, putting her deck back where it belonged. She stood and her companion followed suit. Mokuba took the lead again as they started back on the trail.

"Do you know where to find Yugi?" Kira asked.

"Not really, but the island isn't that big. He has to be somewhere close by."

"Hopefully," she added.

They ended up taking two more breaks along their walk. A wave of fatigue would suddenly wash over Kira and she would need to sit down almost immediately. Mokuba was very accommodating and had no trouble waiting for her to regain her strength.

The second stop they made was at a dueling arena, number 146. Kira leaned against the wall of the arena with closed eyes and heavy breathing.

"You still have a lot of trouble with that, huh?" Mokuba said softly as he stood before her.

"Yes. Sometimes I think it might be getting worse, but now it's only because I've been doing a lot." Kira smiled sardonically.

Voices suddenly filtered to them from somewhere down the path. Mokuba tried to see who it was and caught a glimpse of something that glinted in the sunlight.

"Kira," he said. "I don't think we have to look for Yugi anymore. He's just come to us."

Kira nodded and opened her eyes, moving to stand. She left the arena to wait a few feet from it for her opponent. There was no sense in going too far.

"Will you be ok?" Mokuba asked worriedly as he stood beside her.

"I'll have to be."

The group of four approached and a gust of wind blew through the clearing. Kira suddenly felt rather dramatic as her long white coat billowed in the breeze in the same moment that Yugi and his friends noticed her.

"Who's that?" A boy in a brown trench coat asked.

"Hey, isn't that Kaiba's little brother Mokuba?" That came from the only girl of the group.

"Yeah, wonder what he's doing here," the blonde said.

They stopped with Yugi in the lead a few feet in front of Kira.

"What are you doing here Mokuba?" Yugi asked. "And who's your friend?"

Mokuba glared at his brother's rival. "I'm here to make you pay, Yugi, for what you did to my big brother and my friend Kira is going to help. She's one of the best duelists around and won't have any trouble crushing you now that you don't have Exodia."

Kira looked sideways at Mokuba for his last comment. She thought he was exaggerating a bit too much but addressed Yugi instead. "That's right, Yugi. I challenge you to a duel."

Yugi said nothing and only looked between her and Mokuba. Kira began to think that he would decline. She could feel her hands shaking at her sides and hoped he wouldn't notice. She forgot why she had decided to challenge him in the first place. Every second that passed made the idea seem less and less prudent. Kira silently began wishing that he would refuse, that he would say she was too weak to bother with and continue on his way.

"Don't do it, Yug," his blonde friend warned. "There's something fishy about this girl. I mean, who in their right mind would want to help that jerk Kaiba?"

Kira said nothing. She couldn't let them know that she agreed with the blonde. She would rather lose her dueling deck than have to deal with Seto ever again. She had been upset with Mokuba but the animosity she felt for Seto was ten times that. Seto had promised more and left her with less. She was only helping him because it would help Mokuba too, and it would certainly make the younger boy happy. Kira had always marveled at the bond the brothers shared; how Mokuba was the only one who could be completely happy with Seto's austere personality and always give the elder brother a reason to smile in the process.

"It's ok, Joey." Yugi smiled at his friend before turning a serious face on Kira. "I accept your challenge."

"Good." She nodded, secretly disappointed, and headed toward one of the platforms, trying to keep herself steady. She still felt the need to sit down but there were more important things that were waiting to be done first.

Yugi mounted his own platform, the blue one, after convincing his friends that he knew what he was doing.

"How many star chips will you wager?" Yugi asked. Kira furrowed her brow as she caught a difference in his voice. There was a new authority and confidence in his stance and speech that sent a thrill of fear through the girl. She knew with a sudden certainty that she would lose. Kira had wanted to help Mokuba to show him that she meant what she said about their restored friendship but the knowledge of Yugi's experience and talent threw what little confidence she had out the window.

"Five. I'm t-taking you out of this competition for-for good." Annoyed at the weakness in her voice, Kira threw five of her six chips into the tray. She regretted not being able to get the star chips she won in her last duel but the circumstances had been against her. Kira wanted to at least try to win for Mokuba. Even if she lost she still had one star chip left, enough to stay on the island.

Yugi agreed and also placed his star chips in his tray. He drew his cards as the machine powered up, giving them 2000 life points.

Kira leaned heavily against the edge of her placement mat. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she gripped the table for a moment until it passed enough for her to draw her five cards.

"You first," she called to Yugi as she tried to blink her eyes back into focus.

"Alright," he shouted across the field. "I'll begin with the Celtic Guardian in defense mode." Yugi slapped his first card down. The warrior appeared, kneeling defensively. It had an attack of 1400 and defense of 1200.

Kira gasped in a few deep breaths, trying to concentrate on the match. It took all of her mental strength to keep from grasping at her aching chest. There was no need to arouse concern over her physical condition, especially among her enemies. It would be the perfect reason for them to take advantage of her and her weakness. Kira's vision finally cleared again and she glanced over her hand.

"One magic card. I'll also summon my Mirage Dragon." Kira stated shortly. Her dragon appeared on the field, transparent and snake-like in appearance. Its stats were 1600 attack and 600 defense points.

"Mirage Dragon, destroy the Celtic Guardian!" Yugi's first monster fell.

Yugi paused as he took his next turn. He turned his gaze to Kira. "Tell me, why are you fighting for Kaiba? It wouldn't help him to have someone else beat me in a duel."

Kira shook her head at her opponent. She was almost feeling back to normal. "That's where you're wrong. Pegasus is trying to take over Kaiba Corp and he needs to defeat you in order to do it. But if Mokuba and I can disqualify you first Pegasus won't be able to carry out his plans."

"Pegasus wants Kaiba Corp?" Yugi repeated, surprised. Kira nodded as Mokuba took up the explanation, giving Yugi and his friends the same information he had shared with her.

After a few minutes the duel continued. Yugi set a magic card and played his Beaver Warrior in defense mode.

Kira picked up two extra cards as she played her Pot of Greed magic card. She then ordered her dragon to attack.

"You walked right into my trap," Yugi announced with a small victorious smirk. He flipped his magic card face up. "My Spellbinding Circle magic card will stop your dragon in its tracks."

Kira looked unfazed and the dragon continued its attack, destroying the warrior. Yugi seemed a bit more than surprised.

"What? My trap had no effect," he murmured. His friends on the sidelines also made protests at the turn of events.

"It seems even the experts don't know everything," Kira noted. "That's Mirage Dragon's special ability: no trap cards can be activated while he's on the field."

"That ends my turn," she finished. Kira's voice was strengthening with each move. Maybe she could win, maybe she could keep catching Yugi off-guard. Then again, maybe he was luring her into a false sense of security so he could bring out a powerful monster when she least expected it. Or maybe he was just testing the waters, analyzing her strategies and using the first few turns to come up with one of his own. In any case, Kira knew to stay alert. Only time would tell the outcome of the duel.

Yugi took his turn.

"I play the Mystical Elf in defense mode." The Mystical Elf was too well fortified for her Mirage Dragon with a defense of 2000.

Kira drew her next card. She immediately placed it on the field. "I summon the Lord of Dragons in defense mode." The well-armored warrior remained kneeling, its attack and defense at 1200 and 1100. Kira also flipped over the magic card she had left on the field. "And I'll use him to activate my Flute of Summoning Dragon, which allows me to move two dragons from my hand to the field."

Kira removed the two dragons from her hand, placing her Luster Dragon and Hyozanryu on the placement mat. The Hyozanryu was the stronger of the two with an attack of 2100 and defense of 2800. It was a pure white dragon with a long horn jutting from its forehead.

"Now Hyozanryu, attack the Mystical Elf," Kira announced to end her turn. This was the third monster of Yugi's that she had taken out, even though he still hadn't lost any life points.

"I was expecting a bit more from the person who beat Seto," Kira told Yugi honestly, taking in his frustrated look. "I hope you have something planned."

"Don't listen to her Yug!" Joey interrupted. "You're still in this. I know you can win."

"Yeah, show her what it means to have faith in the Heart of the Cards," Tea added.

Yugi nodded to his friends, turning back to look at his deck with renewed determination. Kira took the moment to look to her own supporter. Mokuba grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. She smiled softly back at him.

Kira returned her attention in time to see Yugi's eyes light up at the card he had drawn. He began to speak to her, saying something about having a heart, but Kira lost focus again as blackness overtook her vision and dimmed the sounds entering her ears. She gripped the table in front of her again, feeling the world sway treacherously. She had been standing for too long, the exertion adding to her already weakened state. Not to mention she hadn't eaten since early that morning.

She clenched her eyes shut tightly and when she opened them again light was tunneling through, her area of sight growing with each passing second. She began to hear more clearly as well and just caught Yugi's voice as he made to finish his turn.

"Now, my Knight, destroy the Mirage Dragon," he commanded. The mounted warrior rushed at Kira's first dragon, spearing through it and making the first deduction of life points. Kira's counter dropped to 1100.

She finally caught on that Yugi had brought Gaia the Fierce Knight to the field. He had announced it while she was trying not to faint.

"Kira!" Mokuba called to her. Kira continued to blink the darkness from the edges of her perception and turned to her friend in time to see him look to Yugi.

"Yugi, you have to stop the duel! Kira's sick, she has-"

"No Mokuba."

Mokuba faced Kira again, shock and worry apparent on his face.

"That's not important," she continued, face hardening. There was no way she was going to give her enemy that advantage over her. "I'm just fine and I'll prove it."

"But Kira . . ." Mokuba mumbled partly to himself. This wasn't what he wanted to happen but he knew that Kira had a stubborn streak almost as bad as his brother's. There would be no way for him to convince her to back down now that she had started.

"Mokuba, is she going to be okay?" Tea asked, also showing concern.

"Yeah, she doesn't look so hot," Joey added.

Mokuba stared at the ground for a moment before looking back up at his friend on the platform. " . . . I don't know."

"Yugi's not going to stop her either." The others turned back to the duel at Tristan's observation. Yugi stood calmly on his side of the field, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for Kira's next move. His brow was furrowed, but his friends on the ground couldn't tell if it was from concern or concentration.

Kira drew her next card and pulled a different one from her hand. "I'm always going to be one step ahead of you, Yugi. I know how you play and I'm not going to give you a chance to pull one of your surprise attacks."

Kira was mad. She was sore at her illness for rearing its ugly head at the worst possible moment and her anger flowed out into the duel. Her nervousness was almost completely forgotten, lost beneath a swell of pride and frustration.

She slapped a magic card onto her placement mat. "I activate Shield and Sword. This card makes all the monsters on the field switch their attack points with their defense points. And I made sure to have one monster with a defense higher than his attack."

"Hyozanryu, attack Gaia the Fierce Knight," Kira commanded. Yugi lost 700 life points in one fell swoop and he didn't look happy about it. He was still leading though, 1300 against 1100.

Yugi's ire quickly disappeared as he began his turn, eying the card he drew almost victoriously. Kira noted that he didn't have a very good poker face.

"I'll begin by placing the Koumori Dragon on the field, on the defense," Yugi announced. His dragon was dark blue with an attack of 1500 and defense of 1200. "I also set two magic cards."

Kira let her confusion show. With that expression on his face she had thought he would pull out some amazing combo attack, but he had done almost nothing.

I bet those magic cards are part of a plan he's got going. Too bad I don't have anything to counter it, she though, drawing her next card. She was pleased with the result. Wingweaver's just what I need. But I wouldn't dare play her alone. I have to wait for a card that will boost her power.

Kira eyed her opponent across the field. Then again, do I really have time to wait?

She passed her turn.

Yugi began his. "I summon the Dark Magician." His royal purple and gold clothed spellcaster had 2500 attack points and 2100 defense.

"Now I activate Brain Control." He flipped over one of his magic cards. "This card allows me to take control of one of your monsters for an entire turn. I'll use it to seize control of the Lord of Dragons." Kira's spellcaster rose, switching to attack position.

Kira glowered. She couldn't really tell what he was doing. Lord of Dragons was her weakest monster on the field. Perhaps he knew about the Lord's special ability. Really, the Lord of Dragons was the only monster Yugi could take control of since his ability negated spell and trap cards targeting dragon-type monsters.

"Lord of Dragons, attack the Dark Magician," Yugi commanded Kira's monster.

"What?" A simultaneous response from everyone present followed his statement. Yugi made no reply aside from a small smirk as Kira's monster moved to destroy the Dark Magician.

Yugi flipped his remaining magic card face up. "Since an opposing monster has begun an attack I can activate my trap card: Mirror Force."

So he did have a trap card after all, Kira thought. No matter, I still have an ace up my sleeve.

The Mirror Force activated, splaying bullets of explosive energy across Kira's side of the field. Her monsters were destroyed but she lost no life points.

Yugi's friends began a round of cheering at his success but Kira cut them off early. "It's my turn. I told you, Yugi: I'm always going to be one step ahead of you."

Kira would have liked to save her strongest card to be certain that she would win, but another wave of fatigue was beginning to wash over her and she knew she would have to finish the duel as soon as possible. She slapped her next card down on the field.

"I summon Wingweaver in attack mode." Kira took a moment to gloat at her opponent's shock. Dueling always brought out her more competitive side. She pointed across the field to the Dark Magician.

"Wingweaver, attack!"

She heard Yugi's counter drop even as her vision faded again. His friends were dismayed but Yugi confidently began his next turn.

"Swords of Revealing Light," he called across the arena.

Kira couldn't see the glowing swords light up the field. She tried desperately to blink away the darkness, to regain control. It overpowered her this time. Kira stopped blinking, not sure if her eyes were open or closed, and fell into the silent haven of oblivion.