Notes: Thanks so much to MoonlightTyger for helping me to figure out a different way to open a portal near the end! Earlier, the alternate worlds referenced are, in order: manga verse, Reshef of Destruction (a video game), Nightmare Troubadour (another video game), and of course the infamous Toei anime!

Chapter Eight

The ride to the Kaiba Mansion was tense, except for Carly's enthusiastic exclamations about everything and her excited questions about old Domino City. While others tried to answer her, Téa mostly stayed silent, her hands in her lap.

Seto looked to her after a moment. "I'm surprised you haven't really said anything about this information that we're married in this other dimension," he grunted.

Téa flushed. "Well . . . it sounds like things turned out so sad for us, though," she said. She wrung her hands. "I don't want that to happen here. We should be able to be happy."

"As long as that future doesn't come to pass, we should be," Seto said.

Téa shifted. "You haven't said anything about that detail of our future either," she said. "Does that mean you're . . . okay with it?"

"After everything we've been through, why shouldn't I be?" Seto countered. "But I want it to work out here."

Téa perked up, encouraged. She had worried that Seto was too upset about Mokuba to focus, and that when he did, he would object to the thought of their futures being set in stone. He definitely didn't want to believe that, and yet he was alright with thinking that they became much more seriously involved in the future? Téa smiled. That was more than she could have hoped for.

How strange, that that actually was something she wanted. In the past, it certainly wouldn't have been. She and Seto had come so far. . . .

. . . And so had this other set of them. They shouldn't throw away everything because of the tragedy that had befallen them.

She bit her lip. If anything happened to Mokuba here—Heaven forbid!—would that also end the relationship here? Mokuba would always be the most important person in Seto's life. It was incredible that Seto had let any of them in as much as he had, and that he even felt alright with Téa's feelings for him and the idea that they were married in this other world. But she could never hope to be more important than Mokuba. Would she even want to be, knowing how close the brothers were? She certainly didn't want to come between them.

"This is all pretty heavy, huh?"

She looked up with a start at Mokuba's voice. He was looking at her in all seriousness and sadness.

Téa sighed. "Yeah, it really is. There's so much to take in, and so much hurt and sorrow. . . . I'd like to talk to that other Kaiba, but I know we should probably do all we can here first and try to get back the other you."

Mokuba looked down. "I want that to be possible, Téa, but maybe it's really not. Rebecca's been looking for 17 years. Can we really find something she couldn't in all that time?"

"I don't know." Téa stared out the window at the beautiful sky and trees and buildings. This Domino was so much different from the Satellite sector they had just left. But could she ever get the image of that other Domino out of her mind now? It might always haunt her.

The limousine pulled up in front of the Kaiba Mansion and Seto abruptly got out, heading for the porch. As everyone else followed, Téa held Mokuba back. "Um . . . Mokuba . . . I know this is probably a stupid question, but . . . if anything ever happened to you, do you think your brother would never be able to get over it at all, even if I was here to try to help him?"

Mokuba sighed. "I'd like to say Yes more than anything. I want Seto to be okay no matter what happens to me. But . . . I know it wouldn't be true. No, he could never get better . . . just like I never could if it was him."

Téa sighed sadly. "That's what I thought."

By the time they caught up, everyone was already inside and Seto was opening the safe in his home office. The large group stood around awkwardly as they waited.

"You're the last person I thought would willingly have any magical objects," Rebecca remarked.

"I wouldn't say it's 'willingly,'" Seto grunted. "I'm holding on to everything we've found because the Pharaoh thought my safe would be the most secure place." He soon found the candle-holder and held it out. "I don't know how this thing works," he said flatly.

Atem took it. "I'll handle it. Thank you, Kaiba."

Carly squealed. "Ooh, this is going to be so amazing! I just hope it works and we can find what happened to the others . . . if, you know, they're not dead. . . ."

Atem took a deep breath and concentrated. The candle-holder began to glow, and as Atem waved it through the air with a crescent motion, time and space rippled and a portal opened.

Rebecca ran towards it. "Can you control what dimension gets opened at all?!"

Atem sighed. "Well, in this case I suggested it open a portal to the alternate dimension we've visited before. We know our counterparts there already, so I thought it might be a good place to start. But if you don't mind, Rebecca, I'll go through alone and speak with the Yugi over there. I opened the portal to land in the Game Shop."

Rebecca stopped running and frowned at him. "Why?"

"You can't deny it will be quite a shock to him when I tell him what we're after," Atem said, "and even more of a shock if you come with me. I'm not positive the Yugi in this dimension has ever met you at all."

". . . Oh." Rebecca stepped back. "Go on then."

Atem nodded in acknowledgment and looked to Yugi. "I'll be back as quickly as possible," he said.

"Okay," Yugi said. "But if that me doesn't know anything, what will we do?"

"Well, I'm certain that if the missing are over there, they would have spoken to Yugi or your grandfather by now," Atem said. "We'll start trying random dimensions if this one doesn't work." He climbed into the portal before anyone could protest.

Another loud silence reigned for a few moments before Carly suddenly broke it. "Um . . . who is he, anyway?" she asked Yugi, who froze.

"Oh. . . . Well, it's a long story," Yugi said with an awkward chuckle.

"I'm sure we have the time," Kalin grunted.

And they definitely did. By the time Atem returned, Yugi and the others had explained all about Atem and his return from the afterlife, as well as some of the other unique features about their dimension. Elated, Carly was writing everything down.

"You're not really gonna try to publish all that, are you?" Joey asked her in disbelief.

"Well . . ." Carly shrugged. "I'll wait and see how everything comes out here first. My editor would probably think I was crazy, but . . . it sure would make a good story."

Yugi's attention was now elsewhere. "Atem!" he exclaimed. ". . . It didn't go well, did it?" He took in his friend's dejected expression.

"Not really," Atem sighed. "That other Yugi has no idea of any such people falling into that world. He wished us luck looking."

"So let's keep going!" Rebecca cried. "There must be countless dimensions! But I'm going with you into the next one!"

Atem just nodded. "Very well."

xxxx

The next hours were long, exhausting, and fruitless. The group lost track of how many dimensions they tried, all to no avail, and when at last they collapsed on Seto's couches and chairs in discouragement, most were shaken to varying extents about the oddities they had experienced.

"Can you believe that world where we had to perform in some kiddie show at Kaiba Land?!" Crump exclaimed to his friends.

"It will take me a while to reclaim my dignity just from seeing that," Gansley intoned.

Joey snarked. "Aww, come on! That was awesome! You guys playin' your Deckmaster characters and gettin' clobbered by Kaibaman? . . . Yeah, I see what you mean there." He sank deeper into the couch.

"The kids seemed to like it, though," Nesbitt remarked. "We were either doing it out of desperation for money or for the kids."

Lector smiled a bit. "Nesbitt, you are far more soft-hearted than you want to believe."

"Yeah, and what about that world where you guys were dueling people at Noa's old underwater base?" Mokuba said. "Seto had taken the place over and fixed it up and gave you jobs there."

"Probably on your request, Mokuba," Lector said.

". . . And let's not even talk about the world where Kaiba had green hair," Téa shuddered.

"Let's not," Seto scowled.

Joey shivered. "Those Kaiba brothers are gonna give me nightmares for weeks!" he moaned.

"You're telling me!" Mokuba declared.

"I have enough material now for a whole series of articles," Carly said in exhaustion, "but will my boss like any of it?"

Kalin just shrugged. "You'll just have to ask him."

"But out of all the worlds we saw, none of those people knew anything about my Yugi and the others!" Rebecca wailed. She turned away. "Thank you for trying anyway, but it doesn't look like it's going to work."

Mai scoffed. "There has to be an easier way to go through these places!" she said in frustration. "I don't think we have to give up, but we need to do this more efficiently."

"Oh, and just how are we going to do that?" Tristan scowled.

"If this was the world of the Ninja Turtles, we could invent some kinda device that would scan all the dimensions for specific people," Crump said.

"But it's not," Seto grunted.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that, Crump," Gansley remarked.

Crump shrugged. "Hey, it was a fun show," he defended. "The 1980s were great for kids' TV!"

Lector chuckled softly. No one was about to point out that Crump had already been an adult during that decade.

No one that is, except Rebecca. "Why were you watching kids' TV?" she snorted.

"You know, one lesson you've never learned is that growing up doesn't mean you havta stop enjoying some things," Crump said. "Honestly, sometimes kids' TV is better than anything else that's on!"

Rebecca wasn't impressed. "But you're an intellectual, an accountant, an environmentalist, and a researcher into cultures of the world!" she protested.

"You know how many kids' TV shows have environmental messages?" Crump smirked.

Rebecca threw up her hands in disgust. "You're hopeless!"

Crump just laughed. "So are you!"

A knock on the door brought everyone's attention up.

"Now who the heck could that be?" Joey blinked.

Seto's maid Velma soon appeared at the doorway with two green-haired children, one with pig-tails and one with a ponytail. "Um . . . I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Kaiba, but these little ones said they havta see you and all your friends. . . ."

Mokuba blinked. These kids looked around the same age as him.

Seto quirked an eyebrow. "Who . . ."

Carly leaped to her feet. "Luna!" she exclaimed.

"They're from your world?!" Joey stared.

The pig-tailed Luna gave an awkward wave. "Hi. . . . I hope you won't think I'm crazy, Mr. Kaiba, but . . ."

"This is so amazing!" the boy, who looked enough like her to be her twin, burst out. "We're actually standing in the Kaiba Mansion! Can you believe it, Sis?! When have we ever got to get into the Kaiba Mansion in our world?! Let alone to actually see Mr. Kaiba?!" He looked to Seto. "Can I have your autograph?!"

"Leo!" Luna scolded in dismay.

Seto got to his feet. "What's this all about?" he demanded. "Why did you want to see me? I hope it was about more than getting my autograph."

"A lot more," Luna insisted. "You see, I . . . I can communicate with the Duel Monsters Spirit World. . . . The leader, Ancient Fairy Dragon, was a prisoner for a really long time, and Leo and I finally set her free. Now that she's been able to look around her world again, she realized something else wasn't right. She contacted me last night while I was sleeping and told me to come talk to all of you about it. . . ."

"Duel Monsters Spirit World?" Yugi blinked. "Ancient Fairy Dragon? I thought Dark Magician Girl ruled the Duel Monsters' realm. . . ."

"Well, there's different regions," Luna explained. "Ancient Fairy Dragon rules another region."

"I've never even heard of that Duel Monster," Yugi said in surprise.

"And . . . Spirit World?!" Joey trembled. "Do you havta be a spirit to go there?!"

"No, not always," Luna said. "I've gone there body and soul sometimes."

"Let's get to the point," Seto grunted, folding his arms. "What was so important that Ancient Pixie Dragon wanted you to come to me?"

"Ancient Fairy Dragon," Luna corrected. "She said she'd found several residents of my world in her world, but she isn't sure how to get them back home!"

Rebecca spun around. "What?!" she cried. Hope flashed in her eyes. "All this time we've been looking in other human dimensions, but my Yugi is in a monster dimension?!"

"We don't know for certain who's being talked about," Gansley cautioned her.

"Well, she talked to them and they said they'd been there since the reactor exploded," Luna said slowly. "There's four humans and a cat."

"What?!" Yami Bakura snorted. "As if the cat would still be alive all these years later! She would have been getting on in years when they fell through the dimension rip!"

Bakura held Oreo on his lap and stroked the soft fur. "It was really her? Did they age over there at all?"

"They'd aged," Luna said. "The cat had been given some kind of magical amulet to live longer because she was pure in heart."

Bakura smiled. "That's wonderful!"

Oreo merowed in approval.

Now Seto and Mokuba were at attention as well. "So it's actually true?!" Seto exclaimed. "The other Mokuba is alive?!"

"And the other Yugi?!" Atem quickly added.

"How on Earth do we get them out?!" Bakura cried.

"Well . . . I might be able to do it," Luna said. "But I need the help of everyone who has magic. . . . I've never been able to actually open portals to there before; I just get taken there."

"What about the portal-opener?" Joey frowned. "Why wouldn't that work?"

"This is a different kind of dimension," Luna said. "It's not a regular one. It usually really is a Spirit World, so it's kind of an afterlife plane. It's pretty rare for anyone to be there body and soul."

"So it's really the Duel Monsters' afterlife?" Yugi realized.

"I guess you could call it that," Luna said.

Rebecca frowned. "You're sure they're really alive there?! What if they just got sent to the wrong afterlife for some stupid reason?!"

"They're alive," Luna promised.

"Well, everyone who uses magic is right here," Yugi said. "Why don't we try to open it now?"

That was quickly agreed to, and while Luna concentrated, Atem, Yami Bakura, Seto, and the Big Five all focused on activating their magical objects. But no matter how they tried, nothing happened.

"Aurgh!" Joey finally yelled, messing up his hair. "It's not working! Why isn't it working?!"

Luna hesitated. "Well . . . Ancient Fairy Dragon said the one called Yami Bakura told her to get everyone connected with them who use magic, but she didn't actually say she only meant here. . . ."

Atem stared. "He may have meant everyone in your world?"

Luna nodded. "Ancient Fairy Dragon told me about the open portal to this world and said I should come over, but I wonder if what we need is both sets of you using your objects. . . ."

"And Yami Bakura and the Duel Monsters using their magic from the other side?" Atem mused. "Perhaps people on both sides of the portal have to be trying at the same time for this to work, when it's such a unique circumstance."

"Oh wow," Yugi cringed. "It's going to be really hard to get everybody together . . . especially the other Kaiba. . . ."

"Well, we have to try!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Let's go back over there and find the other Big Five and Seto! Maybe Seto will come out if he hears me!"

"Or he might think it's a cruel trick," Tristan cautioned.

"I probably would," Seo said. "But if I realized it wasn't, I would absolutely come out to see Mokuba . . . even one that wasn't mine."

"So we're also going to finally meet the Seto Kaiba in our world?!" Leo spoke up. "This is going to be incredible!"

"It's not a pleasure trip, Leo," Luna scolded.

"If we can help bring back his Mokuba, it'll be a big pleasure!" Leo insisted.

"Well, I can't argue with logic like that," Téa smiled.

As everyone headed for the front doors, Luna weaved her way around to Kalin. "Kalin!" she greeted with a smile. She sobered as she continued, "Why did you stop writing?" When the Dark Signers had been restored to life, it had been Luna who had interacted with Kalin for a few moments. At first he had kept in touch with her after he had left, on her request, but after only a couple of messages, the notes had stopped.

Kalin looked down at her. "I thought it was better if I stopped. I'm not the kind of person you should have for a friend."

"You're a good person!" Luna insisted. "And Yusei really misses you."

Kalin's eyes flickered slightly. "Does he understand why I can't come back?"

Luna frowned. "He knows why you feel you can't," she said. "But he doesn't feel the same way."

Kalin sighed. "Let's forget about my problems for a while. We need to see what can be done about this mess."

"I know, but . . . I wish we could see about your problem too," Luna said with a sigh of her own.

"I don't know how to see about my problem," Kalin replied. "These people have been trying to help me too, but . . ." He shook his head.

"You just feel too bad about yourself," Luna finished.

"Yes, that's accurate," Kalin said in some surprise. He hadn't expected a young child to be so insightful, but then again, Luna was a Signer. She had been picked for a reason.

By now everyone was outside and crowding into the limousine. Joey scowled as he was shoved up against the inside of the door. "Hey, you think maybe we should take two cars back to the portal?" he said.

"Works for me," Crump said.

Téa looked to the twins. "You two really walked a long way to get to Kaiba's house from the portal," she said in concern.

Leo nodded. "And a long way to get to the portal from our house! But it had to be done."

"Yes," Luna said softly in agreement. "It did." She stared out the window. "I just hope we can help about this problem. . . ."

"I'm sure you can," Téa told her. "You've already helped! We never would have known where to go if you hadn't came."

Luna smiled a bit. "Then I'm glad we did."