Several minutes before the helicopter landed at the port of Tokyo, Deep Blue and an associate of his walked with a brainwashed Zakuro and Minto around a warehouse that jutted out onto the water slightly and had a space inside where a boat could be moored. It was here that the duel would take place. The catwalk above had a path that crossed over above the water in the warehouse, and two trap doors that could drop a person into said water were on the path. Next to each trapdoor was a life point counter and a timer set for 45 minutes.

As the four of them walked below, the associate, a familiar face to Tokyo Mew Mew named Gateau du Roi, approached Deep Blue from behind and told him, "Master Deep Blue, I believe we not only have all of Tokyo Mew Mew coming here, but also Mutou Yugi, Jounouchi Katsuya, and Kaiba Seto, as well as the latter's brother."

Deep Blue was pleased by the news. "Excellent. They'll all get a front row seat to the deaths of Fujiwara Zakuro and Aizawa Minto. As for Akai Ringo, well, she falls into play elsewhere."

Gateau, confused as to what he meant, asked Deep Blue, "Ringo? Why?! I've wanted to murder that brat ever since she almost killed me!"

"There's more to her," Deep Blue instructed to him. "Do not bring any harm to her. You will find out soon." He then turned back to Zakuro and Minto. "As for you two, you will now serve as my pawns. Zakuro, I order you to crush Ichigo with all your might, and kill her."

"I shall," Zakuro, brainwashed and with dulled eyes, gleefully replied. "Master Deep Blue, you will not be disappointed in my results. Momomiya Ichigo will be slaughtered."

...

Later on, in front of the warehouse, the gang all met up. Retasu, Purin, Ringo, and Berii had come along with Ryou and Keiichiro, while Hime and Noda came separately. Malik had also come on his own accord, worried about the scenario Deep Blue was setting up. As the gang all practically crashed into each other and greeted one another, Malik interrupted them all with an important message. "Everyone, listen up!" As everyone turned their attention to him, the Egyptian continued. "If my guess is right, Deep Blue wants to use a similar trap I once did against Yugi and Jounouchi in the original Battle City! This will be incredibly dangerous, and the duel will be timed!"

"Whatever it is," Yugi replied to him. "We'll face it together."

Dark Ichigo nodded. "Correct. Before we go in, I need to do one last thing. My partner has done this a lot, but me? Not so much..." She then grabbed a hold of her pendant and kissed it, aiming to transform. "Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorphose!" In a flash of light, Dark Ichigo had transformed into Mew (Dark) Ichigo, and as she looked over hew new outfit, she remarked, "See? I can do that, too."

Ryou, dumbfounded at Dark Ichigo's ability to transform, replied, "Okay then... We'll have to study that later. Anyway, the message we got was to come to this warehouse."

Then, the front double doors of the warehouse swung open and slammed on the wall outside, interrupting him. They opened to reveal Zakuro, who had an aggressive and crazed smile on her face as she stared down Dark Ichigo. As the rest of them looked, they saw that she held a struggling port worker in his uniform in her hands by his neck up in the air. He was struggling to free himself and breathe, and was unsuccessful in doing so. "Hello there, Ichigo... I've been waiting for you..." A sickening crack of bones was heard, followed by the port worker going limp as Zakuro dropped his now lifeless body onto the ground. "I could not help but satiate my rage by taking it out on that guy. If you came earlier, he might have lived. Now that you're here, I order you to face me in a duel!"

Purin yelled out in fright as he clung to an equally frightened Retasu, "Zakuro, no!" The entire gang was visibly disturbed and horrified by the murder that had just been committed in front of their very eyes.

Dark Ichigo replied, horrified by the display of brutality, "I know you've been brainwashed by Deep Blue! The real Zakuro wouldn't murder an innocent man for mere blood lust! I cannot duel you under these circumstances! This isn't the duel we made a promise to have! You told me you wanted to face me in a fair fight to win back your Infernal Flame Emperor!"

Zakuro callously laughed in response, ignoring her plea in its entirety. "If you refuse," Zakuro replied back to her as she stepped aside to reveal a Ghoul behind her holding another port worker hostage while aiming a gun at his head. "My associate over here blows this guy's head off with a pistol. Now, again, I order you to face me in a duel!" The port worker was crying profusely, begging for his life.

Dark Ichigo sighed, realizing another innocent life would be taken if she refused. "If that's what you're threatening, Deep Blue, then I accept your challenge to duel Zakuro."

Zakuro smiled and turned back to the Ghoul. "Let him go." The Ghoul nodded and complied, allowing the port worker to run out of the warehouse and right past the gang, screaming for his life. "Now," she continued. "Ichigo, follow me to the catwalk, where we will arrive at the Duel Arena of Death by Drowning!"

...

The whole gang gathered on Dark Ichigo's side of the catwalk, while a Ghoul, Minto, and Zakuro stood on the other side. On the path that connected both sides, Zakuro and Ichigo stood in taped-off squares that indicated the trap doors. As Dark Ichigo looked around, Zakuro instructed to her, "Now, here's the deal. Next to us are ankle weights. These are really heavy, and will drag you down in the water. Don't bother trying to move in them, because they're just that heavy. Each trap door has a life point counter and a timer. Inside each life point counter is a key to free your legs from the weights. There exist two conditions that will cause death. In the first, the winner of the duel will have their life point counter open up, and their timer will reset, giving them 45 seconds to free themselves. In the second, if the duel reaches the 45-minute mark, neither life point counter will open, and both duelists will fall into the water and drown to death."

Dark Ichigo, now even more so worried about the circumstances of the duel, asked Zakuro, "What happens if I try to change my mind and refuse this duel?"

"This happens, " Zakuro replied with a snap of her fingers.

Immediately, Minto emerged next to Zakuro, carrying a gun in her hands. Instead of aiming it at someone else, the brainwashed bluenette cocked it and aimed it at her own head. She threatened Ichigo with a gleeful smile, telling her, "Say you're gonna refuse the duel again, and I pull the trigger. It's that simple." The threat to commit suicide startled the entire group behind Dark Ichigo, who now realized there was no turning back from the duel. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Dark Ichigo, enraged, yelled for Deep Blue, calling out to him, "Deep Blue, stop this madness at once! Please! This is incredibly dangerous!"

Kaiba, also enraged at what the tournament had become, yelled out, "This is not a tournament-sanctioned duel! I order you to cease at once, Deep Blue!"

"If you try to stop me," Minto replied, now speaking on Deep Blue's personal behalf. "I'll pull the trigger and kill Mew Mint. If that doesn't bother you, I also have another way of keeping your mouth shut. Take a look at the text notifications on your company cell phone, Kaiba Seto."

"Why's that?" Kaiba then whipped his cellphone out from his coat and did as Deep Blue asked. What he found shocked him, and Mokuba reacted the same way when he checked his own cellphone. Both got the same message from an encrypted number, presumably Deep Blue, which Kaiba read out in horror. "We... We have a bomb at your company headquarters back in Domino City on the upper floors. If it goes off, it will cause enough damage to make it collapse. The Ghoul with Zakuro and Minto has a burner phone that can trigger it?!"

"Indeed I do," the Ghoul replied, holding up a cell phone of his own. "Resist the duel, and we blow up the Kaiba Corporation headquarters."

"Now that I got you guys to comply with me," Minto spoke once more. "I no longer need to use this vessel. Even so, I will make sure you all continue to suffer. This suffering is not even half of what Cyniclonkind has suffered from being led by soft and nonaggressive leaders like the Nameless Empress! We have for far too long tolerated those who do not deserve life, such as you pathetic humans, hence why I had to reemerge and take charge. Even though my follower base may be smaller because of those who stabbed me in the back just as I was about to win the first time, we are still powerful. As for Mew Mint, I'll let her watch this duel of fates, under the supervision of the Ghoul, of course." Minto then closed her eyes and collapsed as she was freed from Deep Blue's brainwashing before being picked up and dragged by the Ghoul. As she awoke, she found that she had been handcuffed and legcuffed by the Ghoul while she had passed out. "Huh? Where am I?"

Dark Ichigo shouted to her as she woke up, "Minto! Just hold on! I gotta duel Zakuro!"

"Huh?!" Minto looked around and saw that the Ghoul from before was holding on to her, frightening her. As she tried to kick him, he tackled her to the ground, ending her physical resistance. "Damn it, let go of me!"

At the same time, the timers began on the catwalk path, counting down from 45:00. Zakuro sinisterly told Dark Ichigo, "It's time to count down to your much well-deserved death! Now, let's begin the duel!"