CHAPTER 30: UNFORBIDDEN
BARGAINING: The 1956 science fiction film, "Forbidden Planet," earned its place on cult classic movie lists the moment it coined the phrase, "Monsters from the Id!" A starship arrives on a distant planet to rescue the sole survivors of a previous expedition, a scientist and his lovely daughter. (As an aside: why do scientists on remote planets always have lovely daughters in need of rescue?) After ignoring the usual warnings of imminent death, the crew of the second starship is surprisingly surprised when the warnings start coming true. The crew races to figure out how to fight a monster they can't see, one that seems to be able to take shape wherever and whenever it pleases, and whose appetite for death is both insatiable and unstoppable… until they realize the monster isn't coming from the outside.
MORAL: As Atem once noted, the demons that duelists face aren't all contained in their decks. So, maybe Forbidden Planet has a point: our internal fears – and the monsters they create – are the hardest ones to face.
Kaiba, Mokuba and Atem weren't the last to arrive at Yugi's house. It had been a strategic error, and ordinarily Kaiba would have been annoyed at having to bother with small talk while waiting for the Ishtars to arrive. But he was distracted by Mokuba's beaming face, by the way his brother stayed close to him, by the way Atem was included in Mokuba's spill-over happiness.
Atem walked over to Yugi and Honda. Kaiba wandered towards Mai. He managed to greet her and ignore Jounouchi so smoothly that Jounouchi couldn't quite tell if it was deliberate. Jounouchi nodded, then turned his back in a much more obvious show of disinterest.
"I can't wait to get this act on the road so I can finally get to work beta testing Duel Links. I assume you have a plan to get Shadi to appear," Mai said in greeting.
"It's a shame we can't record the confrontation. The viewership would be through the roof," Kaiba observed.
Mai raised an eyebrow, "You don't need extra-dimensional threats to get ratings. In case you forgot, 'Dueling with Style,' is currently your #1 show. And it brings in a much-needed female audience. Remind me again: how much have sales of Duel Disks to girls gone up since it started airing?"
Kaiba smirked. "Point. Let's see if you can top yourself with the latest batch of shows I've greenlighted."
Jounouchi jumped into the conversation. "Hey! Hold on a minute! You mean that show Mai told me about, the one showcasing up and coming duelists…"
It was Kaiba's turn to raise an eyebrow. The effect was slightly spoiled by the heavy fall of his bangs. "Who did you imagine was producing a show on duelists? The choices were really down to me or Pegasus."
"So you… so you…" Jounouchi sputtered.
"Okayed the project. Mai's ideas are usually successful. It seemed a reasonable risk." Kaiba snorted. "I run a business, not a charity. You're the last person I'd dream of offering a break."
Jounouchi scowled. "Okay, then, moneybags. As long as we got that settled."
Mai tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm glad you boys decided to play nice before you started a pissing contest on Yugi's living room rug."
Kaiba rolled his eyes, managing, without moving, to absent himself from the conversation.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Thanks, Mai. I really appreciate it," Jounouchi said, revealing a pair of puppy dog eyes that rivaled anything Mokuba could produce.
Mai shook her head. "It's a good thing you're cute."
They turned to the door as the buzzer sounded. Kaiba moved back towards Atem and Mokuba as Yugi went to the door.
"You ready?" Jounouchi asked quietly.
Mai flashed him a smile and nodded.
Rishid, Isis and Malik walked in. Mai stiffened for a moment, then faced Malik, her chin slightly raised.
Malik responded to her challenge. He walked over, coming to a stop a couple of feet away. "I'm…"
"Are you going to tell me it wasn't you?"
"No," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I should have said something earlier instead of chickening out and waiting for a chance, but…" He looked down. "I have… I am…"
Mai nodded. "Got it."
Malik drew in a breath, bowed and went back to his siblings. Rishid started to put a hand on Malik's shoulder, but Malik shook his head. Rishid leaned down as Malik said quietly, "I'm not the victim here." Rishid nodded and straightened. Malik drew in a breath, then released it. Despite his words, he took comfort from Rishid's silent presence.
Isis glanced at Mai, then turned away; it hurt to look on Mai's brittle beauty. She remembered Mai from the Battle Blimp… tall, confident, impossibly blonde, inexpressibly lovely. She had been one of Malik's final victims. Isis shook her head. They had all made choices and had consequences to live with. And none of them could foresee the future.
"I believe I have some information," Isis said. She outlined her conversations with Shadi.
Honda pulled out a pencil and notebook and started writing. "So, his aim is to send Atem home and he thinks he has the power to do it, somehow. That fits in with the things Diva said. It's good to have confirmation."
"What else do we know about the Items or how Shadi planned to use them?" Anzu asked.
Everyone – except Atem and the Kaiba brothers – looked at each other and shook their heads, as if they were still in high school and Anzu was a teacher who'd just asked a question no one had studied.
Honda chewed the end of his pencil. "Not much. The Ring is gone. We know where the Eye and the Necklace are – and the Puzzle of course. So that just leaves the Scales, the Key and the Rod."
"We have the Rod," Kaiba announced.
"What? How?" Honda asked.
"And when were you going to get around to telling us, you jerk?" Jounouchi shouted.
Kaiba took a step forward. "I just did. The rest of it is none of your business."
"Until the next time you decide to mess with dimensions and space and shit and it becomes our business. Again," Jounouchi shot back.
"Can you two give it a rest?' Anzu snapped. "We need information not insults." Anzu's gaze sharpened. During their exchange, Kaiba had moved so he was standing between Mokuba and the rest of the group, half-hiding his brother from sight. Anzu's voice softened. She shifted slightly so she could see Mokuba's face. "Has anyone talked to Shadi? I keep feeling like we're missing something."
Mokuba tugged on Kaiba's sleeve. "Nisama," he said quietly.
Kaiba frowned. "You're my vice president. Trust your judgment."
Mokuba stepped forward. Everyone swiveled to stare at him. "Shadi came to my office at Kaiba Corporation. He gave me the Rod. He wanted… he thought… he..."
"It's okay, Mokuba. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to," Anzu said. "But, if there's anything you can remember… what can you tell us about him as a person?"
Mokuba frowned. He was used to reporting conversations word for word, but this was different. He glanced at his brother. Kaiba nodded. "Shadi thought our friendship was holding Atem here. He was pissed about that, like it wasn't supposed to happen, like Atem was supposed to forget all about us, like we were nothing," Mokuba said, his voice rising. He drew in a breath, exhaled and continued, "He talked about the past a lot. He remembered my brother… well, not my brother… the guy from Egypt. They were friends. He was mad at the pharaoh for coming back to see my brother, for turning his back on all his friends in the Netherworld." Mokuba shrugged apologetically. "Shadi said it, not me."
Atem nodded. "It's okay, Mokuba. I understand."
"I think he was jealous… like Atem had gotten everything he wanted and threw it away." Mokuba frowned. "Shadi liked talking."
Isis nodded. "I noticed that as well. He visited me more often than any strategic interest would warrant."
Anzu sighed. "He sounds lonely."
"You got jet lag or something? Shadi's the bad guy here," Jounouchi protested.
"He still could be lonely," Anzu insisted.
Yugi added, "I mean, he did adopt a bunch of orphans in Egypt. And Diva loved Shadi. It sounds like Shadi took care of them."
Anzu smiled at him gratefully.
"It was a murder cult!" Honda shouted.
"Well, yeah… but..." Yugi started.
"Which one of us had Shadi invade their mind?" Anzu snapped at Honda. "So how about listening to me? Even way back when we were in high school, he sounded like he'd been alone so long, that he'd forgotten anything else existed."
"What are you saying?" Atem asked.
Mai rolled her eyes. "She's saying you should take a break from thinking of him as a cartoon villain and start thinking of him as a person."
"You really think that'll work?" Jounouchi asked Mai.
Mai drew in a breath and released it in a theatrically loud sigh. "How should I know? I never even met the guy."
"Any guesses on why Shadi's handing Millennium Items out like candy?" Honda asked. "And why he hasn't hit Domino?"
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to remind you idiots that my Chrystal Cloud network is protecting the city?"
"Then how did he get into your office, big guy?" Jounouchi shot back.
"Shadi said that he couldn't stay more than a few minutes without being caught." Mokuba flushed. "Not unless I helped by dropping the network."
Jounouchi nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. Giving you an Item means either you'd drop the network or whatever and help, or that Kaiba would get so mad he'd drop it himself just to take a shot at Shadi."
"Now that we know how to get him here, any idea how we're going to hold on to a guy who can walk through walls?" Honda asked.
"I don't think we'll need to hold him," Atem said. "The last time we met, he wanted a penalty game. I think the same is true today. How else could he hope to force me to leave or to forget my friends?"
"So, you're the bait. Great. You sure you're ready?" Jounouchi asked.
Atem flashed his cocky grin. He knew the right answer. "Of course." Atem ignored Kaiba's snort. He turned to Kaiba and asked, "Can you selectively drop it in one location? One of your labs for example?"
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Of course," he mimicked. "Why?"
"Shadi wants to send me back to the afterlife. His strategy has always involved getting inside of people's heads. It's only fair that we provide the proper setting… and maybe remind him of all he's been missing."
Bakura stepped forward. It was the first time he'd spoken. "I can help with that. I designed the role-playing diorama where you played the Spirit of the Ring in the Memory World. I didn't even know why I was doing it. But this is my choice. I'd like to be part of ending this for good." Bakura paused. "I saw Shadi's home through the Spirit of the Ring's eyes. I can remember how much he longed for a place he hated. I can recreate it well enough to remind Shadi of a place he loved."
"For a place Shadi loved…" Atem's voice trailed off. There was a piece of a puzzle there, but as he turned it over in his mind, trying to decide where it fit, it vanished. He shook his head and refocused on the conversation.
"I can do whatever coding you guys need," Mokuba volunteered.
"Great, we have a place. Now all we need is a plan," Honda said.
Jounouchi laughed. "When have we ever bothered with one of those? We're going to waltz in there, the kid's going to drop the shields…"
"That's Star Trek," Honda muttered.
"Whatever. We're going to duel and wait for all hell to break loose. Just like always. The Team Supreme is back!"
"These items are all being collected here for a reason," Isis said. "The last time, they opened a door."
"More fortune telling?" Kaiba asked.
Isis smiled. "Logic."
Kaiba frowned thoughtfully. "Shadi probably knows by now that Pegasus has given us the Eye, but he's also likely to believe that the Necklace and the Rod can be used to help him in some way." He glared across the room, daring anyone to speak. He grunted in satisfaction at the resulting silence. "The cautious thing would probably be to balk him of his wish." Kaiba threw back his head and laughed. "But caution is only for those who can't see victory even when its light is shining them full in the face!"
"I hate it when he does that," Jounouchi muttered.
The conversation petered out after that. The Ishtars went along with Bakura and Mokuba to the Kaiba Corporation computer lab. Kaiba went with them before heading off to his office.
The gang looked at each other, suddenly realizing this might be one of their last days together, deciding to spend it together.
The next two days sped by alarmingly fast; each hour reminded Atem that they were racing towards a confrontation, heading for the moment when they learned what happened when you called in a god's promise.
Atem arrived back at the mansion as evening turned into a final night. The Kaiba brothers were barely ahead of him. Kaiba had run through a final check of Mokuba's coding; everyone had declared the illusions perfect.
Kaiba and Atem went to bed early. Atem sighed as they got into bed, still clothed. Only one night remained. Atem shivered. Kaiba's arm came around him. Atem leaned against him, never more grateful for Kaiba's habit of preferring actions to words.
"We face Shadi tomorrow. There's only one way to end tonight," Kaiba declared.
Atem smirked and sat up, facing Kaiba, eyes gleaming. "I agree."
Kaiba gauged the space between his bed and the wall. It was large enough for a monster or two, but cramped for a full duel.
"You could knock out the wall by the time I come back," Atem suggested.
"That doesn't help us right now," Kaiba pointed out.
Atem shook his head and smiled as he watched his joking comment sail straight over his rival's head.
"We could go down to the computer lab," Kaiba continued.
Atem nipped Kaiba's shoulder. "I'm comfortable here. We could always use cards."
"Cards?" Kaiba repeated as if the word was unknown.
"Yes. Those little rectangular pieces of paper with pictures of duel monsters on them. Hard enough to occasionally throw as weapons."
"I know what cards are! They're the raw materials for holograms!" Kaiba hesitated. It would feel strange to draw his Blue Eyes White Dragon in a duel on his bed, a duel without stakes, when he was going to call her to the field tomorrow in the biggest duel of his life. He remembered Kisara telling him that the next time he summoned her, he would know she was with him. He glanced at Atem, who was silent as well.
"We could use Mokuba's cards," Atem suggested.
Kaiba's eyebrows drew together. "Mokuba doesn't play."
"No, but I have it on very good authority that he buys you booster packs. I can't imagine you filling your deck with common cards, but I don't believe you're throwing them out either."
"Of course not."
"Then it's time they saw a duel."
"Selecting a deck is a necessary component of dueling. What kind of match could we have with a bunch of common cards picked at random?"
"Afraid?" Atem asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Never! I'll meet you anywhere and in any way you choose!" Kaiba roared, ignoring the way his body flushed with something beyond anticipation of their duel.
Kaiba went to his desk and brought back a large box. He set it on the bed between them.
Atem's eyes gleamed at the sight of the neatly banded stacks. He chuckled as he inspected a couple. Kaiba had sorted the monster cards by summoning methods and had separate stacks for spell and trap cards.
"This is perfect!" Atem declared.
"For what?"
"I want to do something I've never done before – play Duel Monsters with all the abandon of a 10-year-old with his first deck." Atem smirked. "Or in your case, like an overly serious, dragon-obsessed 10-year-old."
"Get on the floor," Kaiba said as he shrugged out of his coat and slid off the bed. He sat, cross-legged on the rug.
Atem grabbed the cards, joined him and raised an eyebrow.
"Since we're going old school, the only way to play is on the rug." Kaiba grinned as he remembered showing Mokuba how to build a deck. He could hear the raised voices of the orphanage staff yelling at him and Mokuba to stop laying on the floor like a pair of stray puppies, threatening to take away their cards if they didn't get up immediately.
Kaiba and Atem each counted out 20 Monster, 12 Spell and 8 Trap cards and then shuffled them, still face down. Kaiba didn't bother commenting on the procedure, unless rolling his eyes counted.
"So, it's down to the luck of the draw," Atem said as they placed their decks in front of them.
"I don't believe in luck," Kaiba declared.
"Of course, you do. You just believe it'll be bad. Anyone who delights in defying fortune as much as you do has to believe it exists."
Atem drew his first five cards and set Doron.
Kaiba rolled his eyes at the discount ninja on the card's face. "Pegasus really phoned some of these designs in, didn't he?" Kaiba drew a hand as well, grinned and placed One-Eyed Shield Dragon in attack position. The dragon and Doron had equal attack points. He set a face down card and ended his turn.
"I can't believe you drew a dragon in your first hand," Atem groaned.
Kaiba nodded smugly. Kaiba couldn't remember the last time he'd dueled with nothing on the line. Even at the orphanage, he'd been fighting for pride, to prove they were going to make it, that he was better than everyone else. Looking at the monsters in his hand, it was hard to feel like any real stakes could attach to a duel played with this random assortment. He threw back his head and laughed. "So, this is going to be the battle of the fish cards."
"Fish cards?" Atem asked as he equipped his monster with Assault Armor and attacked.
"Not so fast," Kaiba said, turning over Absorb Spell. He smiled as his Trap card transferred the additional attack points to his monster. "The orphanage gave booster packs as rewards sometimes. I managed to scrape together a deck." Kaiba shrugged. "Mokuba's good conduct prizes helped. Then some family donated a whole box of their discards that we all could use to play with. They were weak cards, some other kid's duplicates. I used to call them, 'small fry.' But Mokuba was too young to understand what that meant, and when I tried to explain, he ended up calling them 'fish cards.' And the name stuck." Kaiba laughed. "With us at least. No one else had a clue what we were talking about."
Atem nodded, transfixed by the sight of Kaiba smiling as he talked about his childhood. He drew a card with a flourish worthy of a holographic coliseum and set Niwatori in defense.
Kaiba laughed.
Atem stiffened in mock outrage. "How dare you insult my cards!"
"Sorry," Kaiba said, sounding singularly unrepentant. "But the sight of you dramatically throwing down a giant chicken…" Kaiba dissolved in chuckles.
"All duel monsters are worthy of respect. Even giant chickens!"
"At least it's not Kuriboh," Kaiba muttered. He drew a card, groaned, and set Chu-Ske the Mouse Fighter in attack position.
"Ah yes, a mousie is so much more dignified than a chicken," Atem murmured.
"At least my monster is awake!"
They went through a few more rounds in a companionable silence, their life points slowly dropping in tandem, until they were tied at a mere 100 points.
"You keep using spell cards to enhance your monsters rather than sacrificing them for more powerful ones. A risky move," Kaiba observed. "Are you tired of feeling like a card put in play to lure out the opposing monsters and then discarded when its turn is over? Ready to grab your fate in your own hands, where it belongs?"
"If God stands in my way, mow him down?" Atem asked.
Sonic Duck was already on his side of the field in attack position. Atem added a face down card and ended his turn.
"Always," Kaiba answered
Atem smiled. "It's easier done when you don't know the gods in question."
Kaiba snorted. He drew a card, smiled, and sacrificed Hunter Dragon for Flame Champion. "This should end the debate," he said smugly as his monster attacked.
Atem smiled with false sweetness. "Defiance is your trademark. I prefer to rely on faith and mercy." Atem turned over his face down card, revealing Counter Heart. The Trap card lowered Flame Champion's attack points by 300, erasing the last of Kaiba's life points in the battle phase.
Kaiba stared at the cards as though he'd just lost a championship match, not a game played on his bedroom floor with a deck picked at random. It was still a loss. Another loss. In his first game since his return from the Netherworld. Since his first win.
"If you dare to pretend that my victory at your palace was a fluke…" Kaiba hissed.
"What? No! Seeing you prove everything I believe about you – that I've always believed – was a memory that will live in me even if the Netherworld turned to dust and blew away." Atem sighed. "Just once, when you're reacting to some contemptuous thing I've said or done, I wish it was something I'd actually said, instead of whatever lines you write for me in your head. If you want to insult yourself, go ahead. But leave me out of it."
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "I demand a rematch!"
Atem smirked. "Of course, you do. When this is over, come and claim it."
Kaiba's mouth was suddenly dry. He swallowed hard, then flicked out his tongue to moisten his lips.
Atem pressed his advantage. "When this is over, what else do you want?" He held up a hand. "Not what you need, or what's strategic, or even what helps you to best maintain your pride. The question really is as simple as it sounds."
"I want something to look forward to." Kaiba paused. "You'll come back?"
"If I can. That's what I want, too, Seto."
Kaiba grinned. "Luckily, it's not the only thing I want." Kaiba scurried over, long legs flying. He scooped Atem up and half carried, half heaved him on the bed. Atem laughed as he bounced on the soft mattress.
Kaiba launched himself on the bed, landing on top of Atem, knocking the wind from them both, tumbling his Blue Eyes White Dragon plushie to the floor. Kaiba raised himself on his elbows, and looked at Atem, serious now. "I once said that we win so that we could love ourselves in the moment of victory."
"I remember."
"I thought I was building a future. I built a prison instead. I marched into solitary confinement, locked the door and told myself I was finally free. Until you appeared and the walls started to crack, regardless of how fast or hard I tried to shore them up. Then Alcatraz exploded, the door blew open and I had nowhere to go. By the time I'd gotten my bearings, you were gone as well. And all I knew was that I had to find you."
"You almost died."
"No. I came to life. None of it was a mis-step. It was a road."
"Our road. I didn't see it either, even when I was walking its first steps. Everything – who I was, what I wanted – was drowned in duty and destiny. I thought my life was valuable only as long as it was lived for others."
They smiled uncertainly at each other.
"I'd like to think that we were both wrong," Atem whispered. "I'd like to hope we've both grown, that we can learn to live for more than victory or even obligation."
Kaiba raised two fingers to his forehead in salute. "That's a path of battle worth walking."
He lowered his head to Atem's face and kissed him slowly, almost chastely, as if they were in his holographic cathedral, as if Atem was a statue, made for a pilgrim's devotion. But his kisses warmed Atem from stone to flesh, heated by a more earthly reverence. Kaiba traced Atem's face, re-learning the already familiar features by heart. He undressed Atem slowly, as though unveiling a treasure. Kaiba continued to kiss and stroke Atem down the length of his body, both memorizing every inch and putting his earlier studies into practice.
Atem moaned and clutched the sheets, twitching on the bed, unable to hold still, each shudder revealing anew how unlike a statue or a hologram Atem truly was. Kaiba drank in every unguarded moment; Atem's eager response brought Kaiba to life as well, reminded him that life was meant to be seized, that it was meant to be shared.
Atem had been a disembodied ghost. If this was his last night, he wanted to spend it like this, intimately aware of his own body and Kaiba's. But being touched was only half the story and Atem wanted a full tale told. He wanted, as he always wanted, to shake Kaiba out of his own sense of control, to leave him a whimpering, unstrung mess. He reached up and stripped Kaiba to equal nakedness.
Desperation had always been the string that bound them together… to be seen, to be heard, to be known. But desperation was no longer enough, Atem realized with a sudden clarity. He didn't want an imperishable memory to take to the afterlife, to hoard as a treasure. Desperation had been transmuted to a raw, piecing need, a comet that devoured everything in its path and yet refused to die.
Atem would always be hungry for Kaiba's touch, for the way Kaiba held him to earth, for the way Kaiba remained his rival through each fierce exchange, for the way their world dissolved when they came together. Atem surrendered to that moment now, uniquely himself and utterly consumed.
They were positioned front to back. Atem couldn't see Kaiba's face but he could picture it so clearly: Kaiba's eyes narrowed to unseeing blue slits, his features twisted into almost comic absurdity except for the wild, aching vulnerability they revealed.
Kaiba started by shouting Atem's name, then lost the ability to form words. Vowels and consonants blended into keening howls, answered by Atem's choked cries, by the jerk and thrust of their bodies.
And then their bodies stilled, their voices softened to low murmurs - or in Kaiba's case, slightly guttural grunts. Kaiba rolled on his back and pulled Atem into his arms, unwilling to let go. Atem shifted so his head was on Kaiba's chest, so that he could return Kaiba's embrace.
"You'll return?" Kaiba asked as if no time had passed since he'd asked that question earlier in the night.
"It's what I want as well," Atem reassured him.
Kaiba grunted and tightened his hold. "That's good because I'm holding you to that rematch."
"Any time, anywhere. You can even claim it in the Netherworld, if you want."
"Is that an invitation?"
"I want to share my world with you." Atem grinned. "And dimensional travel works both ways."
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I see. It's a challenge."
"Not to mention, there's a dragon waiting to see you again."
Kaiba laughed. "You want me so badly, you're bribing me?"
"Just planning ahead. I'm willing to bet you're already trying to figure out how to bring…"
"Do you think I'm an interdimensional Uber?" The words were playful but an edge was back in Kaiba's voice.
Atem's eyes narrowed. "I was thinking of Mokuba."
"Were you?" Kaiba asked, all lightness gone. "Are you sure you weren't thinking of Yugi?"
"Yes, I'd like to see Yugi. I'd like him to see my home as well. You're never going to be my only tie to this world." Atem leaned up and kissed Kaiba on the lips. "But each time we part, I'll count the hours until we are reunited. That, I promise and gladly."
Kaiba returned his kiss. "Travelling with more than one person," Kaiba mused. "I'd definitely be one up on you if I managed that."
Atem chuckled. His laughter faded when Kaiba didn't respond. Atem glanced at him, wondering if Kaiba had found a new way to brood. Kaiba smiled back absently, his eyes still fixed on something Atem couldn't see. Atem smiled and snuggled closer, listening as if he could hear the sound of Kaiba's brain whirring, his mind already rewiring his Dimensional Cannon. It was, Atem thought as he fell asleep, a good sign for tomorrow, and he, at least, believed in omens.
.
Thanks to Bnomiko for editing this very messy chapter!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really wanted the scene where Atem and Kaiba are making love to call back to earlier times, while showing how much their relationship – and what Atem wants – has changed. Earlier, Atem had wanted an imperishable memory; he thought it would be enough to carry memories of Kaiba back to the afterlife. I wanted this scene to reject those earlier thoughts, to show that Atem realized memory would no longer be enough.
Fish Card Note: In the early 2000s, before there were accurate subtitles, there were the HK DVDs, which were at times, unintentionally hilarious in their translation errors. In the flashback scene in Noa's Arc, when Seto sees the cards that Mokuba has smuggled in to him in their first night in the mansion, he smiles and says, "These are fish cards!" Since they weren't actual fish (one of them was a giant chicken), I tried to figure out an in-universe solution for why Seto and Mokuba would refer to weak or common cards as fish cards, and settled on it being Mokuba misunderstanding Seto using the term small fry (or little fish) as a dismissive way to refer to weaker cards.
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