Author's Notes: There's always something so bittersweet about posting the last chapter of a story. *sniffs*

X

"...listen…I'm telling you. You got this zombie, right? And it's running right at you. Except it's going crazy fast, I'm talking Usain Bolt, like…40 miles per hour-"

"Actually, I think the fastest that Usain Bolt ever ran was 27 miles per-"

"Okay but no this zombie isn't actually Usain Bolt-"

"But what if it was, though? Now that would be scary!"

"Can we pretend like this zombie is Usain Bolt?"

"...okay so, right. Usain Bolt the Zombie is charging straight at you. And he's only, like, twelve feet away and approaching fast. What do you do?"

"Hightail it outta there, of course!"

"Right, so, that's what I'm saying," she said. Yugi was standing bent over her shoulder, rubbing his chin. He took one card from her deck and placed it at the front. "How are you going to outrun Usain Bolt the Zombie unless you start practicing right now?" She continued in a flustered voice. "I'm telling you, join a track team. ASAP, STAT, statim! Also! Archery, permaculture, kayak classes? They're your best friends."

"Archery?" Tristan said, setting her phone down on the table. Upon noticing its cracked screen, he had insisted on her letting him repair it. Now, several tiny parts and wires lay spread across Yugi's grandfather's table. "Why archery? Couldn't I just use a gun to defeat a zombie?"

Yugi took another card from her deck and placed it near the first one, the intention clear: use them in this order. She placed the first card on the table and looked at Tristan. "Okay yes but humor me this: you raided your neighbor's house and got a bunch of bullets, right? But they're all 9mm and you don't have a gun that fires 9 mm rounds, and everywhere else has been thoroughly scavenged. There goes your firearm. But! But! With the right archery class, you'll know how to make all the components of a bow and arrow from scratch."

"I see your point," he said slowly. But Bakura was having absolutely none of this murder by bullet/arrow business.

"Well, hold on," he said. A gaggle of women passed by the door, looked in, and upon seeing Bakura began to whisper and giggle amongst themselves. "What if the zombies are vegan or vegetarian and they don't really want to eat you? Or maybe they're pisca...pestac….pesto…oh, smack, what's that word?"

"Pescatarian," Duke offered.

"Yes, that thing! Then there's really no use in killing them, right?"

"Sure," Joey said. "Then just offer them the fish in your goldfish tank and be done with them, easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"No, not my goldfish!" Bakura cried.

"Wait, hold on," Tea said, leaning forward. Marie had had her eye on Tea and Yugi throughout the morning. The two of them gave her major LowDown Love Vibes. "What if we're not thinking this through?" Tea continued. "What if zombies aren't the problem and instead we get something like crazy, mutated animals that break out of the zoo?"

"That's easy!" Marie said. "Just take the last train to Australia and watch them battle it out with the creatures over there! Like King Kong versus Godzilla!"

They all laughed. Marie threw down her second card, effectively annihilating Joey's defense points. "Can you say KO, Wheeler?" She exclaimed and Joey grinned.

"Not really part of my lingo, sweetheart," he said. "Round two?"

"Sorry, can't. My ride's gonna be here soon."

"Are you going back to KaibaCorps," Yugi asked, just as his grandfather walked in.

"Sure am," she said.

"What's it like working for that douchebag, Seto Kaiba?" Joey asked.

"It has its ups and downs, with emphasis on the latter," she admitted.

"Seto Kaiba?" Yugi's grandfather said curiously. "Isn't that the kid who kidnapped me for the fourth Blue-Eyes card? And then tore it to pieces after defeating me in a holographic duel?"

"He did what now-"

Yugi laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, it's a pretty long story. But...no hard feelings, right, gramps?"

"Well, you know, it's not every day that you get kidnapped by a Duel Monsters World Champion," he said, pressing his hands on his lower back and giving a luxurious stretch. "I suppose I can scratch that off my bucket list."

There was a heavy thumping noise from outside the building. People began to run past the door, screaming and pointing at the sky. The group of friends stood up and ran to the door. Marie glanced at her watch. 3:45.

"Shit," she hissed as she stood up. She pushed past them and walked out onto the street, staring up at the sky.

"Look!" Joey said. "It's a bird! No, it's a plane! Wait, no, it's-"

"A KaibaCorps helicopter," Duke said, highly impressed. "Were we expecting a visit?"

"Nope," Marie said. A makeshift ladder descended from the innards of the helicopter and unfolded, swaying, in front of her. She put her foot on one of the rungs and grabbed onto the rope. "It's my ride," she called down to them as the ladder began to pull her up. "See ya guys later, right?"

"Right! See ya later, Marie!" Yugi called up to her as the wind from the helicopter blades whipped his hair around his face.

"See ya later." Tea called as she jumped up and down. "Try not to get eaten by any KaibaCorps zombies while you're out there!"

"And give Kaiba a good punch in the gonads for me, will ya, pal?" Joey called and she smiled.

"Aye-aye, captain! Hey, turn your TV on to channel four, alright?"

She climbed into the helicopter and tumbled into her seat. She was quick to fasten her seat belt just as the helicopter took a sharp turn and launched itself through the sky. The pilot - a blonde woman with electric blue eyes - looked back at her and grinned.

"Oh," Marie said in surprise. She recognized her as the woman who had let her into Kaiba's office so many days ago. "It's you."

"It's me," she said over the sound of the helicopter. "Are you surprised?"

"Well-"

The pilot turned away from her and adjusted her hold on the yoke. "I do more than open doors for Seto Kaiba, girl. Hold on tight to something. Things might get a little bumpy."

X

They landed only a few moments later. Upon stepping out of the helicopter, Marie had immediately been whisked away by a group of stylists. They had pinned her hair up, applied a neutral foundation of makeup, and ushered her into a black leather suit faster than a Nascar pitstop crew. Then, she was moved into a renovated warehouse filled with hundreds of cameras pointing towards a makeshift stage where she was to await further instructions.

Mizumi was standing on the stage in the exact same suit as her, shouting directions at a seemingly harassed worker as she gestured to the light fixtures and cameras. She saw Marie sitting in the rafters and quickly looked away, but not before Marie could see the embarrassment in her green eyes. A little bit farther from the stage, Seto sat with his arms crossed as a stylist dusted a makeup brush across his cheek. Once again, he would be addressing Domino City live with news that was bound to shake things up. With the makeup that had been applied, he easily looked about ten years older. Marie understood what the stylists were going for: here was Domino City's very own prodigal son who had toiled tirelessly within his business. This was no hotheaded kid with too much time and money to spare, as the tabloids were fond of saying. No, this was Kaiba, elegant and intelligent: an inspiration for rising entrepreneurs everywhere. At that moment, he looked how she imagined he would when he was thirty, sitting in front of his fireplace as his kids ran around the house, dreaming up some new scheme and thinking back on old ones. It was quite a lovely image.

She yawned, stretched, and ran her hands over her face. One of the stylists noticed and ran over, fussing and cursing her smeared makeup. She sat in a heated silence as they undid the strip of plaster from her chin. Her injuries from Mizumi's attack were already beginning to heal over. They had been superficial, admittedly, and yet enough for the stylists to go into complete freakout mode. She was so busy thinking about Mizumi that she didn't even notice the woman walk up and push the stylist out of the way.

"Here," she said, digging in her purse and retrieving a circular tube of foundation. Marie watched her, completely still and careful to hide her dislike, as Mizumi twirled her brush through the powder. Then, tongue between her teeth, Mizumi leaned forward and began to work on Marie's face. It was the first time that she had seen Mizumi up close and without her signature sunglasses. Seeing her face was strange, as if Marie was looking at a different, much older version of her. Her eyes narrowed as she worked, causing a set of crow's feet lines to extend around the corners of her eyes. Mizumi must have laughed a lot when she was young. There was something gentle and even a little apologetic beneath the heavy layers of makeup on her face.

Her brush swept across the nick in Marie's chin and Marie hissed. Mizumi immediately pulled back and simply stared at her for a long time. "I'm sorry," she finally said, dropping her hands to her side. "For…" she gestured at the reddened scratch and then sighed in frustration. "I just...sometimes...you know?"

Marie realized that she hadn't been apologizing for irritating the cut, but rather apologizing for causing it in the first place. It was the best that she could ever hope to get out of Mizumi. She gave her a cold smile.

"It's okay," Marie said tepidly. "Really. Don't worry about it."

"You're a good kid."

"I know. Thanks, Mizumi."

Mizumi nodded, bit her lip, and then readjusted the strip of plaster on Marie's face. Mokuba walked up behind her, carrying the newest Duel Disk in his hands. He had put on a charming white suit for the occasion and had his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail.

"Ready for your fitting, Mizumi?"

"God, I've been ready since you got here. Are you gonna do it?"

Mokuba shook his head. "Nope. I'm doing Marie's. Annie's got you covered."

"Right-o, kiddo." Mizumi brushed her hand through Mokuba's hair and then jogged down the stairs. Mokuba watched her leave with an annoyed expression before gently patting his hair back into place. Marie leaned forward and he gently began to fit a device over her ear. Mizumi had stopped in front of Kaiba. As Marie watched in surprise, Seto stood up and pulled Mizumi into a hug.

"I know what you're thinking," Mokuba said without having to glance behind him. She squirmed as he wriggled the device along her ear. "After today he'll probably never see Mizumi again. None of us will."

"Narry a fuss or fanfare," she said. A moment passed between Seto and Mizumi before the latter finally pulled away, wiped her eyes, and then climbed onto the stage. "What is it about her, Mokuba? Aside from the Helen of Troy facial features and the animal magnetism and obvious boob job. I just can't figure it out."

"Mizumi is the daughter of one of the matrons who worked at our orphanage. I'm sure he's told you about her, you know, the one who gave us Moon Pies? She visited the orphanage a lot when her mom was working and eventually she and Seto developed a crush on each other. They swore that they would get married when they got older."

Something about this didn't exactly sit right with Marie. She had done her internet sleuthing and was well aware of Mizumi's age. If she was correcting in assuming Seto's age when he was in the orphanage, then there was a slight discrepancy between him and Mizumi to the tune of seven years. There was a glaring weirdness involved that she didn't feel was right to speak on, not then, not lest she seemed paranoid.

Mokuba laughed, oblivious to her discomfort. "They even gave each other fake rings and everything. But then Gozaburo - our adoptive father - came and took us away. But that didn't stop Mizumi. She applied to a boarding school near where we lived and moved out of the country, just to be near Seto. Gozaburo put Seto through the wringer in preparation for taking part in KaibaCorps but Mizumi always had his back. She used to sneak into the mansion and help him study until they both passed out from sheer exhaustion."

"And then what happened?"

Mokuba fastened the duel disk to her arm and tested the strap. "Well, Seto and I moved back to Japan but Mizumi stayed at the boarding school because she had been offered a job. Seto took control of KaibaCorps and they eventually lost touch. And then...one day she reappeared. I guess Seto never wanted to lose her again and so he proposed to her. I think he must have bought the ring when he took over KC in anticipation of her coming back. But the problem was...she was already engaged to someone else."

"Ssssshhhiiiittttt," Marie hissed. The tea was flowing and it was piping hot.

Mokuba nodded. "It broke Seto's heart, really. All that time spent waiting for her...I hated seeing him like that. It changed him, a lot. Mizumi called off her engagement and swore that she wanted to marry him instead, but he was no longer interested. His heart was broken beyond repair. And ever since then, they've been in limbo with her wanting to try again and him...well, my big brother's been through too much to risk his heartbreaking again. So you see why letting her go is such a big deal to him...I mean, to us. Even though she can be downright wicked sometimes, I care about her, too. In a big sister sort of way. She's been Seto's backbone for as long as I can remember."

This definitely changed the way that she saw Mizumi, in a way. She looked back over at her, standing on the stage with a halo of light around her head and a scowl on her face. Just then, she saw her through the eyes of the Kaiba brothers: no longer Mega Mizumi but the super-charged, lioness, dedicated Mizumi of their childhood. Her deceit with Arronaxx had dealt a deeper blow than Marie could have ever imagined.

"Ms. Marie, ma'am, we're ready for you," an attendant said. Marie jumped out of the chair and brushed the wrinkles out of her suit. Mokuba gave her a once over, smiled, and then held out his thumb.

"You look great," he said as she began to walk away. "Oh, and Marie? There's a reason why my big brother chose you and Mizumi to model his new Duel Disks. He cares about you both, more than you think. He likes for strong, independent thinkers to be the face of his company. "

"What about you," she said, turning back to him. "Shouldn't you be on stage with us in your spiffy little church suit?"

Mokuba grinned and shook his head. "Nah. I prefer to run things from the shadows. If I look away from my projects for even one second, the entirety of KaibaCorps will fall. Mizumi's not the only backbone that Seto relies on."

With that, Marie hopped on stage and took her place beside Mizumi. They had both been fitted with the newest, unreleased version of Kaiba's Duel Disks which they held diagonally across their chests. The lights blared to life above them. There was a hush as all cameras swiveled around to face them. Kaiba stepped onto the stage, his low heels clacking loudly against the polished wood. He looked over his shoulder at the two women standing at attention behind them. His face was set in its purposefully blank public relations expression but she could tell that he was proud.

"3...2...1...action!"

"Attention people of Domino," he said in a grand voice, throwing his arms out. "It is I Seto Kaiba! And once again I am going to change your lives!"

Mizumi and Marie held their duel disks out to the camera with perfect synchronicity. A series of blue screens lit up before Marie's eyes. A holographic-based form of technology was highlighting a row of sample duel monsters cards. It was the coolest and spiffiest thing that she had ever seen and she was right there, modeling it for the entire world to see

Kaiba continued, his voice growing louder and brasher. He was excited now and proud of what he had done. Even though she was behind him, she could imagine the exact Lunatic Smile that he was wearing at that moment. "With my new bleeding-edge, beyond state of the art of technology, your reality will become even more real! This is the new generation of Duel Disks! You're welcome Domino City, you're welcome world!"

The camerawoman signaled 3 2 1 with her fingers. Then the lights dimmed, leaving Kaiba with his hands outstretched like a magnificent bird of prey. He was panting heavily as he dropped his arms. The crowd of people began to clap, shouting out praise and compliments.

"Quiet, you sniveling sycophants," he said and they immediately stopped clapping. He turned around and graced the two women with an easy smile. "So? What do you think?"

"At the risk of being called a sycophant as well as a psychopath, I'd have to say you did a damned good job, Seto," Mizumi said.

"Hear, hear," Marie added, shaking his hand. "Nine outta ten."

"Why not ten out of ten?"

"It was missing that signature Kaiba flavor, the je ne sais quoi. Maybe you should have tried insulting your audience, that would have been more on brand."

He snickered, still holding her hand. Mizumi watched them for a moment in silence before turning on her heels and walking away. "Good riddance," she said. "I have a plane to catch. Laters, Seto. Try not to trip over that massive ego swinging beneath your belt."

With that, she waved her hand over her shoulder and disappeared beyond the doorway. Kaiba watched the door as if wondering - or maybe hoping, Marie thought - that she would come back. It was never easy to stop loving someone, even if they did you dirty. But whatever was in his mind passed, Mizumi did not come back, and he turned back to Marie.

"Boasting about my accomplishments to a worldwide audience made me hungry. You down to take a trip to Taco Bell in my Charger or what?"

It was the single most Kaiba-esque sentence that had ever been spoken in the entirety of forever. She laughed and snatched his keys from him. "Member I said that you'd owe me after blaming me for taking your key? Yeah, I didn't forget about that."

"Well fuck me for doubting your memory."

Do you want to, she was on the verge of asking when suddenly her phone rang. She stepped away from him and held it to her ear. There was live music blasting from the other end and then a round of rowdy laughter.

"Hel-lo my baby, hel-lo my honey, hel-lo my sweet, bubble-cheeks ragtime muffin," came Ryo's voice from the other end. She could tell that he was drunk as hell and extremely giddy. "Just saw you on the news a couple seconds ago, hun, lookin' all cute 'n shit. What were you doing, trying to take Angelina Jolie's part as the tomb raider? Now I see why Kaiba's always trying to clap them cheeks."

"Oh my god," she muttered. Kaiba was only standing a few feet away from her. No doubt he had heard the racy comment. "How are you? You doing okay?" She asked as she moved away from him.

"Hold on, honey-" Ryo moved away from the phone and called something out. There was another round of laughter and then glasses clinking. "Damn, these people out here know how to party! Hold on, say hi to Sokka-"

"Hi, Sokka," she said. A shy male voice answered back and then giggled.

"Sokka's mon homme de l'heure or maybe it's hombre de la hora. Either way, he's real special. He's the kinda scholar that'll make your mama holler, if you know what I mean. Or...maybe, make your dad holler, if you get my gist." Ryo giggled again. "Anyway, gotta go, princess. I love you and thanks for everything. I'll talk to you soon. Do svidaniya!"

He hung up the phone and she laughed before pocketing it. She slipped her arm through Kaiba's and, much to her surprise, he didn't mock her for it. They walked down to the garage. A valet stood next to the car with Laika's leash in his hand. The dog gave an excited yelp and began to bound around in circles when she saw them.

"No way! Hi Laika!" she said, bending down and letting the dog place several quick, slobbery kisses along her cheek. Kaiba put his hand out and Lakia jumped up and pawed at the front of his pants.

"Aren't you one hell of a good girl," he said, massaging her ears. "Can't get Taco Bell without bringing you along, now can we?"

She pressed a button on the keychain. A cool red car flashed its tail lights, illuminating its brand new license plate that spelled out SETOFNK. She slid into the front seat and looked around in amazement.

"Good evening, Seto Kaiba," the electronic voice said as Kaiba slid into the passenger seat. The valet opened the door and Laika jumped in the back, all googly eyes and thrashing tail. "Neil Diamond, sir?" The voice asked.

"How about something a little more upbeat this time," Marie said back. "I'm not in the mood for anything tame."

"New voice detected...waiting for your response, Mister Kaiba…" the car said.

"Save Marie's voice in your memory database," he said, crossing his legs and folding his arms across his chest. "You'll be hearing it a lot more in the future."

This made her heart jump but she didn't show it.

"Saving…saved," the electronic voice said. "Now what was it that you wanted me to play, Ms. Marie?"

"Something tame," she said, pulling Kaiba's sunglasses from the ceiling compartment and twisting around to set them on Laika's snout. "Something fit for a brand new person who makes the same old mistakes."

"I think I heard you say Tame Impala," the computer voice said. "New Person, Same Old Mistakes."

She grinned and revved the engine as the music began to play. Kaiba curled his fingers around the doorhold and Laika howled with glee. Marie reversed out of the parking space, cut through the garage opening, and they soon were out, flying through the Domino City night.

X

Ending Notes: Gosh, I'm really wanting to post the sequel. It'd be a murder-mystery type deal with more dueling, more of the regular gang, and a whole lot more of Seto being Seto.

But for now? This is The End.