Chapter Seven

For a moment everyone stood in confusion in the lobby, looking around at the different pathways. Everything seemed deserted for the night, except for Rebecca's voice on the intercom. But she hadn't said anything more and now the group was starting to feel awkward.

Joey leaned down to Yugi. "Hey, Yug . . . what's goin' on here?"

Yugi could only give a helpless shrug. "I don't know. . . ."

"Maybe she's looking at us through that security camera up there," Nesbitt grunted, indicating a camera suspended in the upper corner.

"Oh great," Joey scowled.

Crump moved over to Lector. "You know, I was thinkin' about what Kalin said about a Dark Signer bein' fueled by their anger and hatred. That kinda sounds like how we ended up when we were stuck in virtual reality."

Lector's eyes flickered with sorrow at the memories. "It does," he said. "We lost almost all sense of self and were consumed by our revenge and desperation."

"Well, it probably wouldn't help, but maybe we should tell Kalin about that," Crump said.

Lector nodded. "We should."

But it would have to wait, as footsteps echoed down the hall and suddenly a frantic woman ran out, her white lab coat whipping around her and her long blonde hair streaming loose behind her. She stopped in front of the group, tears filling her green eyes. "Yugi," she whispered. She focused on the short boy but didn't move, instead staying where she was to simply take in the sight of him.

Yugi shifted, still not sure how to react. "Um . . . hi, Rebecca," he finally stammered.

Rebecca bent over, her hands on her knees, as she looked at Yugi more closely. "Even though you're not the Yugi from this time, I'm so happy to see you again!" she choked out. "It's been so long, these past 17 years. . . ."

Then, without warning, she straightened abruptly and was all business. "So, what are all of you doing here?!" she demanded. "How did you get here?! Are you really from this world or another dimension?!"

"Wow," Carly remarked. "She would actually make a pretty good reporter." She clasped her hands, regarding Rebecca with empathy. "I don't think I could hold it together this much if anything happened to Jack and I finally got to see him again. . . ."

"We came through a portal that opened in time and space," Atem said, rescuing Yugi by stepping forward to take over the conversation. "I believe we're from an alternate dimension. We came because we wondered if there was any chance that your Yugi and the others who are missing might have fallen through a temporary dimensional rift."

"We've had experience with that kinda thing before," Crump added.

Rebecca sighed. "That's exactly what I've been hoping ever since it happened," she said. "I quit my job and started researching everything I could on alternate dimensions. Grandpa helped a lot. But still, after all this time, I'm no closer to finding any answers." She stared as the rest of Atem's words processed. "A portal just opened? I've been trying to make one open for years! How did you just get one to open?!"

Yugi awkwardly rubbed his head. "Well, in our world, it just happens from time to time. We think maybe it's pent-up magical energy that suddenly overloads and pokes holes in the space-time continuum because of it."

"Which sounds utterly ridiculous when you put it like that," Yami Bakura grunted.

"We have a magical object that can open portals, though," Téa spoke up. "We could try to use it now, but we'd have no idea where to begin."

"Just trying it anywhere would be better than nothing!" Rebecca declared. "And it's more progress than I've made in 17 years!" She sighed. "You really must be from an alternate world. There was never anything like that here. And the Pharaoh never came back." She eyed Atem.

"We suspected as much," Atem consented.

"Do you have this object with you right now?!" Rebecca wanted to know.

"It's being held by friends on the other side of the portal," Atem said. "We do it that way in case the existing portal closes and the others need a way of reaching us."

"That makes sense," Rebecca said. "Well, then, I'll come with you to get it!"

Yugi shifted. "The portal's in Satellite, though," he said. "And it's in the worst part. Do you really want to go there?"

"I've been there before, extensively," Rebecca replied with a wave of her hand. "I conducted all kinds of tests at the blast site." She pressed a button on the wall and the doors opened. She stepped through in determination. "We'll take my van."

"Okay, if you're sure," Yugi said slowly. "But . . . you know, you might not find anything to help. . . ."

"It's worth trying." Rebecca wavered. "Yugi, I've been so lonely without you here. . . ."

Yugi looked down. "I'm sorry. . . ."

"Is Professor Hawkins still around?" Téa asked.

"Thankfully, yes," Rebecca said.

"He must be gettin' on by now," Joey said in surprise.

"He's in his nineties and still as brilliant as ever!" Rebecca defended.

". . . What about my grandpa?" Yugi quietly asked. Solomon was older than Professor Hawkins and had more health problems. With the twin shocks of losing Yugi and Domino City torn in two, would he really have been able to withstand it all?

Atem frowned and laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder. Yugi must have been worrying about that all along but had pushed it aside to help the others, including him. He should have thought about that.

"He's alive, Yugi," Rebecca kindly told him. "But he's always bemoaning that he survived and you didn't."

Yugi stared at the ground. "Poor Grampa. . . ."

It was as they reached the large white van that Kalin started to step away from the group. "You've found someone you know now," he said. "She'll be able to help you better than I could. I should go."

Lector started. "But where will you go, Mr. Kessler?"

"I don't know," Kalin said. "Away from here."

Rebecca turned to look at him as she opened the van door. "Who are you anyway?" she asked.

"Kalin Kessler," Kalin said. "I told them about this time and brought them over here. But I should really go."

"You don't look like you have anywhere to go," Rebecca frowned. "What's the rush?"

"I don't see that there's any more I can do," Kalin insisted.

"Wouldn't you kinda like to see how this all turns out?" Crump suggested. "If you go away, you might never know. It's not like we'd know how to reach you!"

Kalin had to smirk. "You're just using that as an excuse. You don't want me to leave because you're worried what I'll do to myself."

Crump shrugged. "It's a good enough reason!"

Rebecca looked both impatient and confused. "What's the matter with you?" she frowned at Kalin. "Are you suicidal or something?"

"No," Kalin said. "Suicide is far too simple an answer. It's over too quickly. I need to suffer long and hard for what I've done."

Rebecca finally slid into the driver's seat. "Well, suit yourself. I have to go see what this portal-opening device is so I can try to save my Yugi and the others who were lost."

"Are you serious?!" Carly squealed in alarm. "How can you be that unaffected when someone says something like that?!" She pointed wildly at Kalin and suddenly did a double-take. "Wait, Kalin Kessler?! Didn't Jack talk about you?! Weren't you his friend?!"

"In the past, yes," Kalin said. "Those times are long-gone now; I saw to that."

"If you want to talk about this, do it on the way!" Rebecca exclaimed. "I've been waiting 17 years for some smidgen of hope that Yugi might still be alive! Now I finally have it!"

Everyone started to climb into the van. Lector lingered, regarding Kalin with worry. "Please come with us, Mr. Kessler," he implored. "If you're looking for a chance for redemption, maybe this will be it."

Kalin looked doubtful, but he finally nodded. "Alright. I'll come . . . for now." He got in with Lector and Rebecca immediately shut the doors. She sped off almost too fast for comfort.

"Yiiikes!" Joey yelped as he fell forward. "Give us a chance to get settled first! Don't they still have speed limits in this time?!"

"Of course," Rebecca said. "But they've increased a lot since the arrival of Turbo Duels."

"What the heck are those?!" Joey struggled to get back in the seat and grabbed for the seatbelt. He forced it down just as Rebecca zoomed around a corner.

"Dueling on motorcycles!" Carly chirped. "It's so cool! Jack was the champion of Turbo Duels until Yusei dethroned him in the Fortune Cup this year."

Everyone except Kalin and Rebecca stared at Carly in varying levels of utter and complete disbelief.

"Dueling on motorcycles?!" Téa yelped. "How is that even safe?! You can't duel and concentrate on driving at the same time!"

"Of course not," Rebecca said. "The motorcycles go on Auto Pilot during duels."

"You can't even face your opponent if you're on a motorcycle," Seto grunted. "What's the point?"

"I don't know, honestly," Rebecca shrugged. "It's probably mostly daredevils who Turbo Duel. Some people still duel the old-fashioned way."

"I would hope so!" Téa exclaimed.

"Hmm. I suppose the Pharaoh and I performed the first Turbo Duel in ancient Egypt, on horseback," Yami Bakura remarked with a smirk.

Atem grunted. "That was different," he objected. "You forced me into that duel! I was hardly doing it for the fun of it."

". . . Don't you duel anymore, Rebecca?" Yugi asked.

Rebecca stared ahead at the bridge as they approached it. "I don't have time," she said. "And I don't really care anymore either. All I care about is getting you back."

"But . . ." Yugi looked down. "If that's not possible . . . if I'm really gone . . . I'd never want you to give up dueling because of me. You loved it so much. . . ."

"It doesn't have the same thrill anymore. Not without you." Rebecca drove over the bridge, still staring stubbornly ahead at the factories and smoke-stacks of Satellite. "Dueling is just a childish hobby. And I'm not a child anymore."

"It sounds like she still feels like a grown-up can't enjoy things for kids," Joey muttered. "Not that Duel Monsters is for kids. Did she forget how it started?!"

"Or maybe she was soured on dueling because I was going to a duel when the reactor exploded," Yugi suggested. Louder he said, "Is that it, Rebecca? Is that the real reason you don't want to duel anymore?"

"Well, it doesn't help," Rebecca admitted. "I mean, think of all the times you and the Pharaoh put your lives on the line to duel in life or death stakes and you came through it! And then there's a duel of no particular consequence and that's what takes your life!" She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. Tears slipped from the edges of her eyes and she didn't even try to hide them.

". . . I'm sorry, Rebecca," Yugi said sadly. He felt so helpless in this surreal situation! "But . . . you know how much I love dueling. I hated having to play duels for such high stakes. I always wanted to be able to play duels just for fun, like we used to before we ever met Pegasus or Dartz or any of the other bad guys."

"And you didn't get to!" Rebecca cried.

". . . Rebecca, do you blame Kaiba for what happened?" Téa had to ask. "Or do you know if . . . I did?"

"I don't feel that great about him, I'll tell you that," Rebecca scowled. "You didn't blame him, no. We actually had an argument about that right before you left for New York. You kept insisting how no one felt worse than he did and he blamed himself enough for everyone."

"I'm sure that's true," Téa said softly.

"What about me and Tristan?" Joey asked.

"You haven't been on that great of terms with him," Rebecca said. "But we've never liked each other that much either, so I'm not sure if you blame him or not."

Joey cringed. "We still haven't got over that?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Some people's personalities clash too much to get along. Opposites attract isn't always the truth."

"I can get behind that," Joey said.

Silence fell as Rebecca drove the last stretch to the site of the disaster. Nesbitt hesitated, then looked to Kalin. "All of us have been thinking," he said gruffly. "Your story of what one is like as a Dark Signer sounds like what happened to all of us when we were trapped in virtual reality. You said that's public in this time. We lost almost all sense of self in there. It felt like the only thing we kept hold of was vengeance."

"That does sound similar," Kalin agreed. "And you attacked the innocent. It's hard for me to grasp that any of you could find forgiveness for what you did."

"We have, though," Lector said quietly.

"But you still didn't degrade so far as to attack those you cared about," Kalin continued. "Lector made sure no one went after Mokuba. And none of you turned against each other."

"You always have an answer for everything," Joey said. He frowned. "I guess that's really how I felt too. I let my friends help me and I tried to push back how I was feeling, but it was always there. I kept hating myself for feeling like a failure or getting mind-controlled. It always felt like my case was different than other people's and no one got that. But I kept picking myself up with my friends' help and going on, no matter how I felt inside."

"That's the same with me," Nesbitt said. "You can't just give up on life! No matter how much you hate yourself, you have to keep trying to make a go of it. To just wallow in your self-hatred and go away hurts your friends more than if you stayed and tried to work through it."

"What you're saying all sounds good and even logical," Kalin said. "But both of you still have strong ties to your friends. You didn't ruin all the ties you had. To go to my friends after what I did and expect or even ask for forgiveness would be wrong. I can't be that presumptuous."

"I thought I'd ruined all the ties I had many times over," Nesbitt growled. "I still can hardly believe I didn't. They still love me and they still want me around. They don't think I messed everything up irreparably."

"Because we see the good in you as well as the bad," Gansley said.

Lector nodded. "And because we realize that 99%, if not 100%, of the time, you never mean to be hurtful. You're just so emotional that things come out that way."

"I never heard you quote percentages before, Lector," Crump commented. "He's right, though!"

Kalin sighed and leaned back against the seat, looking out blankly at the bleak scenery they were passing as they neared the pit. "In my case it was different, though. I absolutely meant to cause harm and be hurtful. That consumed me and drove me even before I became a Dark Signer."

Carly shifted in her seat. ". . . When I tried to interview Yusei about the Dark Signers, he said you were a troubled kid and Roman Goodwin took advantage of that." She gave Kalin a smile. "He doesn't hate you, and I'm pretty sure he forgave you. You really could go back to him!"

"It's a nice thought, at least," Kalin said.

Rebecca pulled up to a halt by the pit. "Okay, here we are," she said brusquely. "Now, show me where the portal is!" She pushed up her glasses and got out of the van. It was soon clear that she was very deliberately not looking at the pit and wanting to avoid doing so in every way possible.

Yugi quickly exited the van and hurried over to her. "I think you can see it," he said. "It's kind of like a ripple in the air . . . oh!" He stumbled and fell through it, where he found himself staring at his stunned loved ones on the other side.

"Yugi, what's going on?" Tristan frowned.

"Well, we brought Rebecca," Yugi said. He awkwardly climbed through the rest of the way. "She wanted to see the portal-opener and see if it could be used to save everyone. But um . . . I need to warn you guys before she comes over. . . . Um . . ." He shifted and stammered, soon going completely red.

"What on Earth is it, Yugi?" Solomon asked. "Not just anything could embarrass you to this extent!"

"Rebecca's married to me." Yugi spoke in such a low whisper that everyone had to strain to hear it.

". . . Did you just say what I thought you said?!" Tristan exclaimed.

But before Yugi could reply, Rebecca was climbing through to the other side. "Alright, now let's see . . ." She trailed off, just staring at the beauty of the KaibaCorp grounds and buildings as the winter sun began to rise. "Oh. . . ." She swallowed hard and turned away with a shudder.

"Rebecca?" Yugi stepped closer to her. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "It's just . . . it's been so long since I've seen how Domino City used to look. . . . It's so beautiful . . . so innocent and happy. . . . I . . . I miss it." Her voice caught in her throat.

". . . I can't imagine what it's been like for you, seeing how horrible it's ended up," Yugi said. "I could hardly stand it just for the time we were over there. To think of living in that world day after day for 17 years . . . ! You're so strong, Rebecca."

"Strong? Me?" Rebecca wiped at her face and turned back to face Yugi. She sounded lost and alone, like the child she had been when they had first met.

"Of course," Yugi smiled. "You've always been one of the strongest people I've known."

Rebecca managed a smile too. "That's just like you, Yugi."

The rest of the group was coming through the portal now too. Carly brought up the rear, and she let out a loud squeal at the sight. "Ohmygosh! Old Domino City is amazing!" She spread her arms wide.

"It sure is," Téa said. "I can never take it for granted again." And now she was even less sure that she ever wanted to leave, even to study in New York City as she had planned for so long. Everything and everyone she loved was right here. And she had heard about a new, prestigious dance school that was being built in town by a former Broadway star who wanted to teach aspiring dancers. It wouldn't exactly be like studying on Broadway, but . . . maybe that was something she would like to consider, once it was complete. It might be a way to have the best of both worlds.

Serenity smiled at Carly. "Hi," she greeted. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Carly Carmine, a reporter." Carly stared at her. "Are you Serenity Wheeler-Devlin?!"

Serenity went red and Duke quirked an eyebrow. "Um . . . well, just Serenity Wheeler right now," Serenity said. Out of the corner of her eye, she could clearly see Tristan trying to control himself from losing his temper. She sighed to herself. That was not what he needed to hear right now . . . although she couldn't help feeling a thrill at the words. Apparently in Carly's world, she and Duke got married. That was something she hoped would become the case in this world too.

"Oh! Of course!" Carly gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry, I just told you some of your future! I know people really aren't supposed to do that! I mean, I always look at my future, but that's just for today, not years later. . . ."

"In this case, we don't mind," Duke said as he drew an arm around Serenity's shoulders.

Serenity smiled and nodded in agreement. "Definitely."

"Okay!" Rebecca suddenly spoke up. "There'll be time for reminiscing later. Where is this portal-opener?!" Her hands went to her hips.

"It's at the Kaiba Mansion in a safe," Seto replied, his voice clipped. "We'll have to go there."

"Let's do it then," Rebecca said. She headed for the limousine.

"She doesn't seem too different to me," Duke remarked in an undertone as everyone followed.

Yugi chuckled and scratched his cheek.