Chapter 10

New Game, New Rules

Author's note: just to not get in trouble, I should remind everyone that I don't own anything that has to do with YuGiOh. I just own my characters and Dark Mage of the Sea owns hers. This and Chapter 10 of River will go hand-in-hand since they happen on the same two days.

Thank you, Dark Mage of the Sea, my coauthor and best friend.

At Domino Airport, a plane from Egypt landed and passengers started to disembark; a small group was among them. A group of four security men and a woman approached three men in suits at the terminal. The woman wore a cream-colored, off-the-shoulder dress with black designs on the rims of the sleeves and collar, golden ornaments in her long, black hair, a golden tiara/headband, and a golden necklace with an Egyptian eye in the center. The head suit said respectfully, "We personally thank you for choosing Japan to host your exhibit. Welcome."

The three suits bowed, making the woman smile. "Thank you for your welcome."

Standing up straight, the head suit hesitantly said, "I've always wanted to meet the Egyptian archaeological expert. Thank you for taking great care with this exhibit."

The woman closed her eyes for a moment. "'No matter what, we should never sing about the eras where successive generations are filled with hostility.'" The suit was confused, making the woman smile. "Excuse me: old saying in Egypt. I do hope that this Ancient Egyptian exhibit will be a success."

With that, she and her security walked away.

Later that day, Kaiba was busy working at home. On summer vacation already, Mokuba wanted to get dinner but, because Kaiba had work, the child turned on the TV to kill time. He found a press conference with an Egyptian woman named Ishizu Ishtar, who was in Japan for an Ancient Egyptian exhibit. The woman Ishizu smiled a warm, wise smile. "Hello, citizens of Japan."

When the announcer said that Ishizu was going to display a lot of pieces from Egyptian history, Mokuba leaned forward to listen. Ishizu explained, "I am here to put on public display in Domino City an Ancient Egyptian exhibit."

A reporter shouted his question, "What exactly do you plan to display?"

Ishizu smiled kindly. "It is a very special exhibit. One item is a mural of the eighteen Egyptian dynasties and the Pharaohs who ruled them. This will mark the first time these items have been abroad."

Getting excited, Mokuba looked at Kaiba. "Nii-sama, this is so cool! The first time to be shown around the world!"

Kaiba did not look up from his screen and kept typing. "Boring. I have no interest in the past."

Mokuba raised his eyebrow. "Really?" He then smiled. "Looks interesting to me…the exhibit, I mean."

Kaiba said nothing; he did, however, make a mental note to give Mokuba some money so that his little brother could go to the exhibit. He suspected that Mokuba would whine about it but the elder was too busy with his new project to do anything else, especially now since he tested out of school. Just then, his phone rang. Without missing a beat in his work, Kaiba answered. "What?"

The operator said, "You have an Ishtar Ishizu from the Egyptian government on line one. She said she would like to speak to you."

Kaiba looked at the television, where Ishizu at the press conference said, "We hope everyone enjoys the exhibit during its run here. I ask that you all come visit as soon as possible."

Kaiba was puzzled. Why did the woman at the press conference want to see him?

Later that night, Kaiba was driven to the Domino Museum. Once there, Kaiba got out and told his driver, "Wait here."

The driver bowed obediently as Kaiba went up the stairs and into the building. Ishizu and two of her security were waiting for him. Standing straight out of respect, Ishizu greeted, "Welcome. It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Kaiba. I must say, I am impressed with KaibaCrop's remarkable strides in the gaming industry."

Just then, the other two security stood in front of the door. "Ma'am, everything is going as instructed. No one shall enter."

Kaiba gave Ishizu a hard look. "You have a funny way to greeting the president of a powerful company. If you doubt me in the slightest, I shall leave now."

As Kaiba turned to leave, Ishizu nodded. "Pardon. I hope, though, that you will understand my reasoning for this. This is a military strategy but it is done to protect the artifices. You see, there are certain people who are disputing with the Egyptian government about the artifices."

Smirking, Kaiba turned around. "You have my attention…for now."

Ishizu gestured behind her. "Thank you. Come."

Kaiba followed as she started to walk. As they walked through the exhibit, Ishizu explained, "We are the Bureau of Egyptian Archeology; we were formed in 1857. In a way, you could say that we were formed to protect artifices from grave robbers. At the moment, we are currently observing excavations similar to this around the world."

Bored with the lecture, Kaiba stopped. "If you came to me hoping I would dig up mummies for you, you are sorely mistaken. My only interest is building high performance silicon chips for electronic game design technology. A bunch of rocks from thousands of years ago…does not interest me in the slightest. In fact, the only reason I came tonight is what you told me on the phone earlier: the rare cards you told me about. If you are trying to insinuate that you lied to me to trick me into coming here…"

Ishizu almost chuckled but held in her laugh to not aggravate Kaiba further. "Then I shall cut to the chase. I do know that you have a keen interest in Duel Monsters. Well…what would you say if I told you that the cards you hold closest to your heart originated in Ancient Egypt?" Seeing that she had Kaiba's attention, she continued. "Maximillian Pegasus…the famous game designer who created the modern version of Duel Monsters.

Kaiba growled. "Pegasus…!"

Ishizu calmly stated, "What would you say if I told you he created Duel Monsters after visiting Egypt? Especially since that fact is not well known…" Kaiba said nothing, making Ishizu chuckle. "Come with me. I believe it's time for a change of scenery."

She continued to walk and Kaiba followed, growing more and more impatient. They eventually made it to a forbidden section of the museum. Leading him downstairs, Ishizu told Kaiba, "There are two palettes in the room up ahead that I believe will be of interest to you. The palettes originated from the Mortuary Temple of the pharaoh who ruled during Egypt's 18th dynasty. They hold the origin of Duel Monsters."

Kaiba scoffed but he still walked into the darkened room, eventually standing in front of a stone palette. Ishizu turned on the light; looking at the palette, Kaiba's eyes widened. "What the hell…?!" While the palette was severely damaged from age, there were a lot of familiar figures on it. "They look like Duel Monsters!"

Ishizu walked up behind him. "Correct. This is what inspired Pegasus to create Duel Monsters. If you'll allow me the time, I will now explain the details of the past between us humans and the monsters we now call Duel Monsters. Like many past cultures, Ancient Egyptians believed misfortunes were caused by evil spirits and that the spirits prayed on the fear and suffering that already existed in people's hearts. After a while, the Pharaoh and his royal court used their magic to trap the spirits, sealing them in stone tablets. Over time, however, the evil began to grow in the tablets. When this was discovered, a small group of priests started to rebel against the king and the royal court. They used the evil spirits in the tablets; as a result, war broke out." She walked to the next palette. "Come look at this one. This is what I wanted to show you. Look at it long and hard…be like Pegasus and do not miss a single detail."

Waking up from being hypnotized by the first palette, Kaiba joined Ishizu and looked at the palette, murmuring, "Don't ever compare me to Pegasus."

Ishizu ignored what he said and continued, "Just like Pegasus did, I am positive you will find some sort of inspiration from this image."

Kaiba looked at the palette and studied it carefully, hoping to find something to prove Ishizu wrong. Twice as tall as Seth, it was truly a sight to behold. At the top were wings. Below the wings were the three creatures surrounding a pyramid that looked like Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, which appeared to be radiating light. Below them were two creatures in Battle. Below them were two men reaching out to each other with their hands above a fire. Behind the two figures were two tablets. The rest of the tablet was covered with hieroglyphics. As he studied it, he was stunned to notice one of the figures on the palette looked exactly like someone he knew very well. "Yugi! And above him! The Dark Magician!"

Ishizu pointed out, "The one standing beside the Pharaoh…according to our records, he is known as the 'White Beast Controller.' The creature above him…there is no doubt what it is: the Blue Eyes White Dragon." Kaiba looked at the creature and was that Ishizu was right, adding to his surprise. Ishizu continued, "As you see, the Pharaoh is controlling the Magician of Dark Magic and one of his priests, the White Beast Controller, is confronting him with his Dragon. This palette shows a battle, or a duel as it would be called today, that took place thousands of years ago. What's also depicted in the battle are the Millennium Puzzle and another similar item. There is a legend that states that, when all seven of these powerful items come together, an unfathomable power will be unleashed. The legend is still being told today. The most important thing, though, is the duel between the evil priest and the righteous king…a duel that still continues to this day."

Gripping his briefcase, Kaiba growled, "I don't believe it…this…palette…I refuse to believe it!"

Ishizu turned to face Kaiba fully. "Mr. Kaiba…I do not know what you are thinking that keeps you from seeing the truth, but this truly is reality. Please…come. Please accept the truth with an open heart."

Kaiba backed away. "This is nonsense!"

Ishizu's necklace started to glow, making Kaiba freeze. The light grew brighter and brighter until Kaiba had to shield his eyes, screaming in pain. When he opened his eyes, he found himself floating above a throne room. Based on the architype, the throne room was ancient Egyptian. There was the Pharaoh sitting on his throne, staring at the court. On either side were a man standing, both dressed like the man standing opposite to the Yugi-lookalike on the palette, 15 men (supposedly priests) sitting on their knees behind the men, and three stone tablets on either side of the men. The man on the left called out, "I call upon the divine sun god Ra! I summon thee; become my servant and protect us!"

Kaiba did note that the man sounded exactly like him but he brushed it off as a trick Ishizu was playing on him. The men behind the priest glowed blue and started to chant. One tablet stood up and a faded holograph of a purple dragon. The opposing priest pray out to Ra, "Deliver unto this evil priest and his evil followers your divine judgment and righteous punishment!"

One of his tablets stood up and a blue dragon appeared. Kaiba immediately recognized it as Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress. He peeked at the Pharaoh. The king looked exactly like he did on the palette. While his eyes were shadowed, Kaiba knew it was the same king on the palette because of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck and the hair. The priest who summoned the Winged Dragon stated, "All-Mighty God, deliver unto them your divine judgment!"

The Winged Dragon attacked the purple dragon, destroying it. Suddenly lightening appeared and destroyed five of the praying priests behind the Kaiba-sounding priest. Kaiba could not believe what he was seeing. "What is this…?"

Ishizu's voice rang out. "This vision is a duel that took place 3,000 years ago."

Kaiba blinked and found himself on his hands and knees on the museum floor. As his brain processed what happened to him, Ishizu calmly said, "This palette describes the 18th dynasty, the dynasty I've been studying for some time. The names of the Pharaohs that ruled in that dynasty were recorded here; in other words, it is their identities."

Sitting up, Kaiba looked at the palette and noticed the part Ishizu was looking at: one part of the palette's bottom was destroyed. "Pharaohs, you say?"

Ishizu silently sighed. "Unfortunately, no one knows about this particular Pharaoh. His name was destroyed and all records of him do not exist; they were either destroyed or lost throughout history."

Suddenly Kaiba felt himself being drawn into the palette and found himself back in the vision. This time, his lookalike raised a tablet and unleashed La Jinn. Seeing this, the opposing priest said, "I will now summon another servant and merge the two together to protect the Pharaoh!"

As the priests behind him chanted, he summoned Fairy Dragon and merged the two dragons to create Kaiser Dragon. The priest prayed, "God, bestow your almighty vengeance on them!"

Kaiser Dragon destroyed La Jinn and five more kneeling priests were destroyed. The Kaiba lookalike glared at the Pharaoh. As the Pharaoh looked at him, Ishizu's voice told Kaiba, "In other words, he is the only king who has been completely erased from Egyptian history. Egypt was ruled by a nameless Pharaoh 3,000 years ago."

Finding himself back in the museum, Kaiba stood up, stabilizing himself by putting his hand on the wall. He glared at Ishizu, growing angry. "I am tired of listening to your bullshit! I've had it with your nonsense!"

Ishizu looked at him. "Very well. But allow me to show you one more vision."

Kaiba tried to tell her to stop but her necklace glowed faster than he could speak. Staring down at the vision again, his eyes focused on his lookalike, who proudly proclaimed, "In the name of the divine god Ra, we will conquer this fortress! By the will of those who reigned supreme and left our living world! The kings and us! For the title 'king' is more fitting to us! To realize this, I will now pay tributes to God!"

He summoned Mystic Horseman and Battle Ox and prayed, "God, bestow upon us your mighty strength! Take these sacrifices and show us your divine form!"

Mystic Horseman and Battle Ox disappeared in a bright light and a new monster appeared, one Kaiba recognized immediately. "Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The Pharaoh stood up from his throne as the Kaiba lookalike said, "This is our true victory! God, grant us your power!"

The White Dragon destroyed Kaiser Dragon and all six of the tablets on the opposite side. Smirking at the fire created by his dragon, the Kaiba lookalike laughed evilly. "We are God!"

The Pharaoh looked on in shock. Gasping, Kaiba looked up to find himself back on his hands and knees before the palette. Ishizu stated, "This is what I believe: fate itself leads the souls of the Pharaoh and priest depicted here, making them battle to this day. After 3,000 years, their battle lingers on."

Catching his breath, Kaiba stood up and angrily grabbed his briefcase. "What bullshit! I overestimated you; you've wasted my time with your crazy talk!"

He started to walk away but Ishizu's words stopped him. "Very well. Let's move on to the main subject of our talk tonight. I assume that you are still interested in those rare cards I mentioned over the phone. How would you react if I told you that Pegasus himself was the one who hid them away?

Kaiba immediately turned around. "What did you say?"

Ishizu looked at the palette. "Look at the top, the three. From right to left: Obelisk the Tormenter, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. The Three Gods…or, as they're now called, the God Cards."

Kaiba looked at the three. "God Cards?"

Ishizu nodded. "Pegasus created these rare cards after viewing his palette." She turned and looked at Kaiba. "You might have heard rumors about them. They say that whoever has all three cards will become a legend among duelists and be granted the highest title of duelist…the 'King of Kings.'"

Kaiba grew serious. "You are right: I have heard of them. The God Cards can be used for good or evil. If used by evil, it is rumored that they can take the lives of both duelists. They are the most prohibited cards…also known as the ultimate weapons."

Ishizu nodded. "Correct. They are so powerful, even Pegasus was afraid of them. He grew so afraid that he asked us, the Bureau of Egyptian Archeology, to seal the cards in different locations in the Valley of the Kings. However, they were stolen by a…certain someone."

Kaiba asked, "Who?"

Ishizu's eyes narrowed. "The Rare Hunters."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "The what?"

Ishizu calmly said, "They operate in secrecy around the world. They seal rare cards by stealth or by force and sell them on the black market. I even recently heard a rumor that they had started making counterfeit bootlegs of the rarest cards. But that's not important: we need to get the God Cards back before the worst can happen. This is the sole purpose of us hosting this Ancient Egyptian exhibit: searching for the whereabouts of the God Cards. It is my belief that this palette can attract duelists from far and wide."

Kaiba almost smirked at what Ishizu was implying. "So you intend to make this town a Duel Monsters battleground? I must admit, that is brilliant. The Rare Hunters are bound to gather in flocks if there is a large gathering of duelists." He then did smirk. "My Blue Eyes…"

Ishizu stepped forward. "One final thing…this."

She held out a blue Duel Monsters card. Kaiba's eyes widened when he read the name. "Obelisk the Tormenter!"

Kaiba studied the card as Ishizu explained, "Out of the three, this was the only card that was not stolen. In order to retrieve Slifer and Ra, I am entrusting you with Obelisk."

Kaiba stared at Ishizu long and hard. "You're entrusting ME with this card?" He smirked. "What makes you think you can trust me that much? After all, what's stopping me from retrieving the other God Cards and keeping them?"

Ishizu stared back at him just as hard and said three words: "I trust you." Kaiba scoffed and turned to leave, putting Obelisk in his coat pocket. As he started to leave, Ishizu called out, "Mr. Kaiba!"

Kaiba paused and growled, "What is it now?"

Ishizu calmly said, "We've been fighting this battle for 3,000 years. So please…!"

Kaiba scoffed with a smirk. "Don't worry; I definitely plan on going after the Rare Hunters." He then turned serious. "However, I have one condition."

Ishizu said, "What is it?"

Kaiba turned to leave. "Do not EVER speak to me about this king and priest battle or any of your occult crap in front of me ever again. The past means nothing to me."

With that, he left. On his way home, Kaiba stared at the God Card and laughed, feeling the card's power filling him up. He now knew what he had to do.

On Sunday, Kaiba was in the research and development department of the Collectible Card Games Division, standing in the dueling testing arena. Watching him from the observation box, Mokuba said over the speaker, "Nii-sama, we're ready in here. Start anytime."

Kaiba looked down at his Next Generation Duel Disk. 'The final test…'

He put the disk on his left arm and extended his arm. The two blades closed together, making a long arm blade, before moving to the left side of his disk. When the blade clicked into place, the blade activated, showing five slots for monster cards; underneath were slots for magic and trap cards. Kaiba studied his Duel Disk. 'This doesn't need to be thrown ever turn; when a card is set, the date is scanned immediately, thanks to our satellite system that is connected to KaibaCorp's main computer.' Taking a deep breath, he stared straight again. 'Yugi, you are the only one worthy enough to be called a rival. When this new Duel Disc is complete, our battle can be renewed! Those duelists on that ancient mural…I don't give a damn if that is you, Yugi! This is my time. All I care about is fighting you, my future's enemy! Just wait, Yugi!'

The ceiling in front of him opened and a dueling robot was lowered down to his level, making Kaiba smirk. He put his deck into the deck holder and remembered his exchange with Ishizu when she gave him Obelisk. 'A deck with the first God Card…this test is more than just a test for the new Duel Disk; I want to see what power Obelisk holds.' He said verbally, "I must see if this card is stronger than a deck with three Blue Eyes White Dragons."

His smirk widened. The workers in the observation box activated the dueling robot and he held out his arms to let the solid vision projectors launch from his Duel Disk. The dueling robot and Kaiba drew five cards and Kaiba growled, "Bring it!"

The robot drew a card and put a card face-down in defense mode. A hologram of a face-down card appeared in front of the robot. Kaiba set a card (the card appeared in front of him) and summoned Battle Ox (ATK 1700). His Duel Monster attacked the face-down card, revealing a Cyber Jar (ATK and DEF 900). The robot activated Cyber Jar's special ability, destroying Battle Ox. The robot and Kaiba then drew three cards, knowing that Cyber Jar's special ability also dictated that all monsters level four and lower had to be summoned immediately. The robot put two cards face down on the open field; Kaiba summoned Maha Vailo (ATK 1550), Dark Zebra (ATK 1800), Boar Soldier (ATK 2000), and Hitotsu-Me Giant (ATK 1200). Taking its turn, the robot revealed its two monsters (Aqua Madoor (ATK 1200) and Wall of Illusion (ATK 1000)) and used Kaiba's new rule against him: it sacrificed the two monsters and summoned a Blue Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000). As the dragon appeared on the field, Kaiba felt a twinge of fear but quickly recovered. "Blue Eyes…you're finally here!"

The dragon roared at him as Kaiba started to calculate his next move. "Was needing enough monsters to sacrifice the reason Cyber Jar was used?"

The robot ended its turn. Kaiba knew why as he peeked down at his set card. He smirked. 'This is truly tactics level max…truly amazing.'

Kaiba sacrificed Hitotsu-Me Giant to summon Dragon Seeker (DEF 2100). Knowing how powerful Blue Eyes was, Kaiba knew he had a chance with Dragon Seeker's special ability (all dragons are destroyed when switched to attack mode). He smirked. 'Now what will you do?'

The robot set a card face down and summoned Lord of Dragons (ATK 1200), guaranteeing Blue Eyes' safety. Kaiba could not believe it and put every one of his monsters in defense mode. The robot played The Flute of Summoning Dragon. Kaiba paled; he knew what was happening now. The Lord of Dragons played the flute, allowing the robot to summon the other two Blue Eyes White Dragons. 'Damn…all three!' he growled.

The robot finished its turn by playing its face down card, Polymerization, and creating the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (ATK 4500). Kaiba almost had a heart attack: he was facing his own creation. To his relief, the robot ended its turn, as another of Kaiba's new rules was that fusion monsters could not attack on the turn it was created. Suddenly afraid, Kaiba stared at the monster before smiling softly. "Beautiful…"

Mokuba's voice rang out. "Nii-sama, it's too dangerous! Stop the duel!"

Assuming that Mokuba just found out that Kaiba removed the safety from the duel, the brunette ignored the child. As he looked at the Ultimate Dragon, he imagined Yugi standing in front of him, facing the monster. 'Is this…the fear you feel when we duel? But…no matter how many times you feel it…you ignored it and faced me. You did so…by believing in your cards. That is the greatest enemy a duelist has to face…our fear: the evil we must face!'

Mentally nodding, he drew and smirked widely at the card: Obelisk the Tormentor. "Come forth!"

He sacrificed Dragon Seeker, Boar Soldier, and his face down monster from earlier. In their place was a towering blue monster that was muscle-bound, had wings on its back, appeared to be made of a stone-like material, and had horns on its head and shoulders. Kaiba smirked. "This is my ultimate weapon…Obelisk the Tormentor!"

Obelisk (ATK and DEF 4000) towered over the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Having studied the card extensively, Kaiba activated its special ability: Obelisk grabbed Maha Vailo and Dark Zebra and absorbed them into the jewel on its forehead, making it more powerful. As electricity started to surge around Obelisk, Kaiba took no notice and said quietly, "Forgive me, Ultimate. I will lay you rest by the almighty hand of God."

He ordered Obelisk to attack. To his silent amazement, Obelisk destroyed the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and the dueling robot itself with a single punch. With the duel over and the robot in flames, Kaiba held his Obelisk card, feeling the power overwhelm him. "Incredible! Two God Cards left…with all three, I can defeat anyone, no matter how strong! Then will I become the true King of Duelists!"

He started to laugh, almost overcome with the power of Obelisk.

Later that night, Kaiba boarded his helicopter and headed towards Downtown Domino. He had made an anonymous announcement a few days ago over the internet and was confident that a lot of duelists had taken the bait. He radioed one of his workers, "How many are there?"

A voice sounded in his headset. "There is a large crowd here."

Kaiba smirked. "Good."

With that, he played the message he recorded yesterday. As he kept flying, he passed his own face on the screens, who started the announcement. "Fellow duelists, listen up! In one week's time, in this very city, KaibaCorp will be hosting a Duel Monsters tournament! There are two requirements to joining the tournament: you must have a deck of 40 cards, including one rare card, and…" the screen showed the duel disk on his arm, "…you must possess a duel disk. Duels will be played by Battle City rules, with an ante rule: the loser must give the rarest card in the deck to the winner. In other words, the final champion will have the rarest cards from everyone."

To his delight, he timed his exit perfectly: he reached Domino Station as soon as his announcement ended. Activating a live feed for the screens and telling the pilot to lower them, Kaiba stepped out of the helicopter and looked over the crowd. It did not take long for him to lock eyes with Yami. 'I knew you would show up, Yugi. We'll settle this once and for all with this battle!' He then verbally announced, "The stage for the tournament will be all of Domino City! In one week, this town will become Battle City!"