Chapter 13-Dark Secrets of the Past
As darkness hovered over the skies above Domino, the gang returned to their respective homes, leaving Omi and Dojo at the Game Shop waving them off. Yami and Yugi sat upon the large sofa, Yugi watching the Pharaoh as he sat staring into nothingness, Vicky stood beside the door, watching the pair while Grandpa sat in on of the armchairs close by, resting his eyes now and again. Omi slammed the door before turning to the group.
"Where is Seto?" he asked.
"He went to take Kaiba's limo back, it's pretty late and he thought it'd be risky leaving it here" Vicky sighed. "We're not really sure about who is true. Even with the Shadow Realm closed, there are others that could contribute to helping Bakura escape".
"This 'Shadow Realm' you speak of" Omi started. "What is it?"
"A dark realm where evil rules and lives are destroyed. It's used for Shadow Games, meant to crush the minds and souls of those who lose" Yami summarized.
"Sounds a little like the Yin-Yang world" Omi muttered.
"The Yin-Yang world?" Vicky asked.
"Yes, there are two Shen Gong-Wu that can be used to enter" Omi explained. "The Yin yoyo and the Yang yoyo. If you exit with only one, your good is locked away and trapped within the realm and you become entirely evil. I know, I've been there and done it. Only if both yoyos are together when you leave can you remain normal".
"You don't think there could be a way to travel between them, do you?" Vicky asked.
"No, there is no other way out, only by possessing at least one of the yoyos. It's an unpredictable place, but I know that much" Omi sighed.
"So the Yin-Yang world is out of the question. The Shadow's Realm's locked. The Millennium Items are with us, there's no other way!" Vicky called. "Bakura can't come back".
"But he will" Yami mumbled.
"You mean you can feel him planning it?" Yugi asked.
"Yes. I don't know how he'll pull it off, but he's finding a way" Yami muttered.
"This isn't good, if he can find a way out, even when its permanently locked, he can get out anytime, it'll never end!" Yugi moaned.
"Then this time, we'll have to finish him off once and for all...well, once and for all?" Omi called.
Vicky watched the boys talk about the cause of the mental collapse of the group, their holidays controlled by the thought of fighting Bakura, when and where, still unknown. She sighed and turned out to the window, Seto was making his way back.
"Guys, Seto's coming" she called.
Omi then opened the door, allowing Seto to enter, the former CEO walked past and slumped into the second armchair opposite Grandpa and sighed.
"Did you try and reason with Kaiba?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah. Who knew I was such an obnoxious sod?" Seto growled.
"Well, I best not say but-" Yugi started.
"I know, Wheeler" Seto sighed. "And maybe the rest of you".
"Not me or Yami" Yugi replied. "I heard Yami after beating you in Battle City, he said you were just angry, he considered you a friend".
"Really?" Kaiba asked.
"Yeah. You helped us through the hardest times and were there most of the times we needed you. And you always found time to insult us" Vicky mumbled.
"I hate myself" Seto sighed.
"It'll be OK" Yugi insisted. "We'll beat Bakura and your world will be restored to what it really should be".
Yami looked at Seto with a smile, the same sort of thing had come out of his mouth on the first night that Seto was in the present day world. Seto smiled back at the Pharaoh before looking back to Yugi.
"Thank you Yugi. Don't mind my present day self, I was always jealous. You were once some little shrimp who everyone picked on. Then you got such great friends after solving the Millennium Puzzle. I didn't have friends, people were afraid of me when I became the President of KaibaCorp and Gozaburo disappeared. I hadn't had the best start in life and since fear was all that kept friends from getting close, I ended up hating the world".
"It's OK, Seto. I understand" Yugi whispered. "I was feeling angry and lonely myself before I solved the Millennium Puzzle, Tea was my only friend and well, life still didn't feel worth living, right?"
"Right" Seto replied.
"You felt that strongly?" Vicky asked.
Yami made no sound, he appeared to be in another trance, but a conscious on this time around, having the urge to stop Yugi before he dug too deep, he decided to listen. Having had the impression that he had brought misery to Yugi's life, he now found himself listening to Yugi pour his heart out about the even worst past before the Pharaoh's arrival.
Next morning...
Seto, Yugi, Joey, Bakura and Duke made their way towards KaibaCorp, ready to face Kaiba again. Back at the Game Shop, Grandpa had once again closed the shop. Omi, Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay worked on their Wudai skills whilst Yami, Serenity, Tristan, Tea, Destiny and Vicky worked on their own things. Contacting the American superheroes, checking the Millennium Items or sorting out their own decks, Tea then remembered something from before Yami's existence was even known.
"Hey, Tristan. Remember Hanasaki [1?" she asked.
"I think so, wasn't he the one whose family was hooked on that 'Zompire' stuff?" Tristan replied.
"Exactly, he loves American superheroes! He'll know how to find a way to contact the Power Rangers. I mean, they're as close you're gonna get to real-life American superheroes!" Tea exclaimed.
"Awesome. Destiny, let's ask Hanasaki" Tristan commanded.
"OK, see you later guys" Destiny called.
The two then rushed out of the building, heading out to the opposite direction of KaibaCorp. Meanwhile, the posse of boys facing Kaiba, made their way to KaibaCorp's base. Seto led the way, providing a message that they too were his guest as Yami had been only days ago. All remained quiet, fearing that the depressed and angry Seto Kaiba was the one leading the gang through once again, for fear of losing their job. Seto then led the group into the elevator and deja-vu began to take hold, feeling exact same frustration yet ability to restrain it as he had before. As the doors opened, they made their way towards Kaiba's office once again, Yugi stood before the group, placing his hand on the handle felt the same sensation, a voice simply whispered in his head, Yami's voice, was it?
"I'm sorry, Yami"
Yugi cringed slightly and released the door handle, why was it that both he and Yami touched it, a flash of the future was revealed to them? Yugi then exhaled, trying not to draw attention to his withdrawal and then pulled the door open before anything else was shown to him to mentally knock him around.
"Kaiba!" he called.
He entered the office, no-one was there, Yugi growled, suspecting that due to the vast amount of times someone from the group had arrived, the CEO had up and disappeared. The group walked in further, looking at the large empty room. Yugi raced to Kaiba's desk, a phone number was left on the desk, Yugi then picked up the phone and dialled the number, as the phone rang he began to wonder why it was there and Kaiba was not. No name was on the scrap of paper.
"Hello" Kaiba's voice growled.
"Kaiba!" Yugi called.
"Not again, what is it with you and playing make believe?" Kaiba asked. "Just give it up!"
"It's not make believe, where are you?" Yugi snapped.
"Mokuba's ill, I'm at home trying to take care of him" Kaiba explained. "But if this keeps up, he won't get much rest. The number was for Roland to call me on!" While Yugi argued with Kaiba, the receptionist appeared in the corridor, Seto pushed the others into the office and closed the door.
"Mr Kaiba, I saw you bringing Yugi Muto and his friends. Is Mokuba feeling better? I have some paperwork come in that need your signature" she blathered.
"No! Please, they only came to help me gather a couple of bits that Mokuba asked for" Seto lied.
"Oh, OK" she sighed. "I'll make sure that it's ready for when you need it, sir".
She then left, Seto slipped into the office to see the others yelling at Kaiba over the phone, he sighed. Getting the present day Kaiba on side was not going to be easy.
[1 Hanasaki appeared only in the Shadow Games era before Duellist Kingdom, his entire family obsessed with the American 'Zompire' comics. He became Yugi's friend and disappeared after Death-T (Kaiba's Theme Park of Death).