(A/N: Hey, everyone! My it has certainly been a while. Sorry about that. Now that I have a job it leaves me more exhausted than I would like most days. That and I haven't really had the time to review Noah's Arc (haha see what I did there?) so that I can properly outline this version of that arc. But, at the very least I can provide you with a simple chapter that'll at least get the ball rolling so here we go!)
Chiaki woke up that morning with a yawn and a stretch. Her leg was feeling a bit better, though numb from all the medication Mikan had injected into it. She grabbed the crutch by her bed to at least help her out of bed until she felt stable enough to walk on her own. She showered, brushed her teeth and put a change of clothes on that she had stored away in her bag. Only then did she leave her room and wander down the hall for breakfast. It seemed she was the last one up as everyone else was sitting down and eating.
"Morning, Chiaki!" Ibuki exclaimed happily. Chiaki smiled when she saw Ibuki. She and her classmates were sitting down and eating together at the same table. Even Hajime was with them. He and Nagito were separated by the combined forces of Mahiru and Gundham sitting together in between them.
Hajime got up from his seat and approached Chiaki. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.
"Well-rested, thank you. What time is it?"
"Almost ten in the morning," Hajime said. "The next round starts in four hours. Want some help getting breakfast."
Chiaki smiled. "Thanks for the offer, but my leg is feeling a lot better. I can get some food on my own."
"Well, if you need help, call for me or anyone else. Your classmates are really nice, Nagito aside."
Chiaki sighed, but smiled. "Don't let him get to you, he's…different."
"Don't worry, I've got a thicker skin than you might gauge at a glance."
Chiaki smiled and then went to go load up her plate of pancakes, bacon, eggs and more. She looked around the room at the other tables. Yugi and his friends were sitting together at one table and even Mai and Celeste had joined them. Byakuya was off sitting by himself, as was Marik. Espa sat with all of his brothers. However, the strangest thing was Kaiba allowing Makoto and Komaru to sit with him. Granted, they were on the opposite side of the table and not talking to him, but the mere fact that Kaiba let them dine with him, considering that there were other options, made Chiaki smile.
She sat down with her friends and started eating. About an hour passed before Kaiba stood up and strode to the center of the room, nodding to Roland who was waiting by the corridor.
"Attention all remaining Battle City finalists. Mr. Kaiba would like a word with all of you, so pay close attention!"
The remaining competitors, and several others, including Chiaki, all turned their heads in Kaiba's general direction, though only Joey continued to stuff his face throughout Kaiba's speech.
"First, I want to congratulate all of you that have made it this far. However, don't rest on your laurels just yet. In about four hours, we will be landing on Kaiba Corp. Island and the second round will begin without any delays. To ensure that, we will begin determining the brackets for round two."
"Nyeh?" Joey asked, swallowing his eggs. "Aren't we just gonna shrink brackets like a normal tournament?"
"Just what sort of plebian tournament do you take Battle City for, Wheeler?" Kaiba glared.
"Exactly. Kaiba wouldn't arrange a tournament this grand without making it stand out. He is an ultimate after all," Nagito stated.
"The peanut gallery can be quiet," Kaiba snapped. Nagito sighed nervously. Kaiba then looked around the room and pulled a blue and white 20-sided dice out of his pocket, with the head of a Blue-Eyes representing number 20. "For the eight remaining finalists, we will each take a turn rolling this die on the floor. The number you roll will determine your order for the next round. In the event of a tie, if it would determine the placement in a bracket, there will be a re-roll to determine order for those that tied only. But with a twenty-sided die, I doubt we'll be seeing much of that."
"Oh, so like this," Duke said, taking out a piece of paper and sketching things for Yugi and his friends to understand. If two finalists roll the same number, and the order of numbers from other finalists would put them in two different brackets, they'd have to re-roll to see who ends up in what bracket." He then sketched another bracket. "But if they roll the same and end up in the same bracket, there's no cause for a re-roll."
"Thank you for explaining what's probably common sense to anyone graduating from middle school," Celeste said snidely.
"Rolling order will be in the order that the finalists advanced to this round, which means…" Kaiba threw the die at Yugi, though it was the Pharaoh in his body still, "You're first, Yugi."
Yugi strode away from the table to the center of the room where Kaiba backed away towards one of the buffet tables so that the die had less of a chance of rolling against his foot.
"What should we aim for, pal?" Yugi asked his friend.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps something in the middle. It would give us a greater chance to go up against a larger spread of opponents," the Pharaoh communicated telepathically.
"But wouldn't that give us less of a chance of facing Marik?" Yugi criticized.
"So then, we should aim for one extreme or the other?" His other half asked rhetorically. "Very well." Yugi lobbed the die towards the ground as it rattled on the floor of the blimp and came to a stop on the number 1.
Marik chuckled in the background and Kaiba picked up the die.
"Perfect!" Yugi cheered. "That means the next lowest roll after ours automatically has to duel us." I just hope Kaiba or Marik decide to take the bait.
Yugi returned to his seat and Joey got up next. Kaiba begrudgingly handed Joey the die. Joey shook it in his fist. Yug did a good thing rolling a low number like dat. Now all I gotta do is get a high number and he and I both got a shot at the semi-finals. Luck don't fail me now! "Joey lobbed the die high into the air as it rolled and bounced against the wall before rolling backwards and landing on 18. "Awrite! High roll, baby!"
"That means Yugi and Joey won't duel each other no matter what anybody else rolls," Tristan stated.
"Thank goodness," Téa said with a sigh of relief.
"Awww, and here I was looking forward to seeing you two dweebs pick each other apart in a real duel," Kaiba chuckled.
"Laugh it up, rich boy," Joey said. "I'll see you in the sem-finals." Joey then returned to his seat.
Nagito then walked up and received the die from Kaiba. He didn't bother thinking about what to do. He just carelessly rolled the die and let his luck take care of the rest. He got a 7.
"Wow, what a low roll. At this rate, I'll get to duel the King of Games himself!" Nagito exclaimed happily.
"Think we're prepared for a truly skilled Exodia player?" Yugi asked his partner.
"I sure hope so," his other half replied.
Nagito returned to his seat and sat down.
Now it was Marik's turn. With a devilish grin, he hurled the die at the wall and let it roll along the ground until it ended up under one of the tables. Makoto lifted up the tablecloth, since it was his table the die had landed under and looked at the number: 13.
Yugi gasped, "Oh no. That means Joey and Marik will be dueling."
"So what? I ain't scared of some Egyptian freak. Let me at 'em!"
"If anyone will be facing the foul scourge Marik Ishtar, it will be someone whose astral powers are able to match his," Gundham said. "Let me have at the small dodecahedron of fate, grandmaster of ceremony."
"You can have the die," Kaiba said with a glazed look, handing it to Gundham.
"Foul object of fate, let loose the dogs of war and bring me my fated match!" Gundham slammed the die on the ground as it ricocheted into the ceiling and landed on the ground, rolling towards the wall. Gundham got what he bargained for. He rolled a 16. He laughed. "Excellent! Most excellent! Seems you and I will be fated to do battle, Grave Keeper! Prepare yourself! I shall avenge the Dark Queen!"
Marik only chuckled sinisterly, unbothered by Gundham's bravado.
"Next," Kaiba stated.
"O-oh. Th-that's me," Makoto gulped. He walked over to Kaiba and received the die. However, as he contemplated what to roll for, he stepped on his shoelace while pivoting on his heel. He tripped backwards, the die flying out of his hands and rolling in between two tables towards the back of the room.
"Um, does that count?" Makoto asked nervously.
"Did your Swords of Revealing Light mishap?" Kaiba asked.
Makoto just smiled nervously.
"Well, what's it say?" Tristan asked, given Yugi's table was the closest to the die.
Mai got up to check. "It's a four," she said.
"Then…that means…" Makoto gaped.
"Makoto will be dueling Yugi?" Téa asked.
"Unless Hajime or Kaiba roll a two or a three, but that's a very narrow percentage," Celeste said and then smiled. "Good luck, Mr. King of Games."
Makoto got up and swallowed. Duel Yugi Mutoh? The Yugi Mutoh. Well, at least I got to the quarter-finals, Makoto thought as he returned to his seat, shaking with nerves.
Hajime got up and accepted the die from Kaiba. Sturdier in stature than Makoto, he actually had time to think on the current situation. Right now, thanks to Makoto, the matchups are him versus Yugi, Nagito versus Marik, and Gundham versus Joey. Thinking about it rationally, Makoto might be my easiest competition, but no matter what I roll, I won't be able to duel him unless Kaiba rolls a two or a three to face Yugi. All right, what are my other options then? I could duel Joey Wheeler, but that's also a slim chance and he's a renown finalist. Gundham's another opponent more my speed…and I actually have a much greater chance of facing him. Yeah…all right…I'll duel Gundham! Hajime rolled the die along the ground, but luck was not on his side today. The die came to a dead stop on the number 10, cutting Nagito off from Marik.
Nagito let out a deep sigh. "Yup, that figures."
"You're taking this surprisingly well," Chiaki said.
"Well, I had such good luck the day before, it only figures it'd catch up with me eventually," Nagito continued to mope. "Oh well, there's always next round, unless Kaiba makes a lucky roll."
Hajime handed the die back to Kaiba and Kaiba held it firmly in his fist. He pondered how to make his roll. Let's see, my potential opponents are Yugi, Komaeda, Marik, or Wheeler. To duel Yugi, I'd have to roll a 1 through 4, and if I rolled a four, Naegi would have to beat me in the reroll To duel Komaeda, I'd have to roll a 4 through 10 and then lose the reroll to Hinata or win the reroll against Naegi. To duel Marik and take aim at the Winged Dragon of Ra, I'd need to roll a 10 through 16 and either win the reroll against Hinata or lose the one to Tanaka. And to duel Wheeler, I either have to win a reroll of a 16 against Tanaka, or roll anything 17 or higher. So I can either take aim at either Egyptian God Card, Exodia, or claim what originally belonged to Togami, the Wicked Dreadroot.
Kaiba thought about this harder. While I'd love to duel Yugi for Osiris the Sky Dragon, now isn't the time. It would be unsportsmanlike to kick the King of Games out of the tournament so early, Kaiba thought with an arrogant smirk. And I'm quite honestly curious how well Naegi will fare against Yugi. He managed to win against Sweet Orchid and Ishizu, so the kid's more than just raw luck. Meaning, I absolutely cannot roll anything lower than a 4.
Kaiba looked at his other competitors. If I dueled Komaeda, I'd be faced with unstoppable luck and the power of Exodia. There's also Marik and the Winged Dragon of Ra, but I don't know a lot about Marik's deck yet, so I think I might pass on dueling him for one more round. That just leaves it between Komaeda and Wheeler. If I duel Komaeda, that puts Hinata against Marik and Tanaka against Wheeler. And while And knowing Wheeler's dumb luck, he'll somehow manage to squeak by Tanaka by, Kaiba thought mockingly, believing in the heart of the cards. His fist tightened. Well then, it's settled. I know who I have to duel.
With a sharp, piercing gaze, Kaiba didn't roll the die as much as he did throw it, the object whizzing past Joey's ear, ricocheting off the wall, then the ceiling and slamming down onto the ground where it bounced towards Kaiba's foot and came to a stop within a yard of his shoe. The number: the head of the Blue-Eyes, a perfect 20.
"Show off," Joey bemoaned.
"Wait, doesn't that mean you're going to be dueling Kaiba?" Téa asked.
"Yeah? Well then rich boy just made the biggest mistake of his life," Joey said, placing a fist filled with determination over his heart, "Cause I'm going to show Kaiba what Joey Wheeler's truly made of."
"Please, that was no "mistake" or "accident", Wheeler," Kaiba said. "I chose to duel you because I want you out of my tournament where you don't belong once and for all!"
"Well, I wouldn't say Joey doesn't belong in the tournament." Everyone was surprised to hear this coming from Nagito of all people! "But, you are right that Joey doesn't outright stand a chance against you, Kaiba. You're an Ultimate and he's not. After all," Nagito said, looking at Hajime. "A normal duelist, no matter how skilled, doesn't stand a chance against an Ultimate. They're just stepping stones for someone else's hope."
Hajime only glared.
"The next round is scheduled to begin within a few short hours," Kaiba said. "Please take the time to modify your decks as needed to help you deal with what you think your opponent will throw at you. Dueling isn't just about your own skill, it's also about knowing your opponent and how to counter what they have. I want to see that from all of my finalists. So, I expect to see you Yugi, and you as well Naegi, on top of dueling arena in no less and no more than four hours for the first duel of the day."
Yugi's competitive gaze fell on Makoto, but Makoto could only glance back with feebleness and uncertainty.
"We should have a talk with Makoto," Yugi said. "He may have gotten past Ishizu, but he's in way over his head if he gets any farther."
"Agreed," the Pharaoh responded. "We cannot let him duel Marik, at any cost. I already know that we won't be able to protect Gundham either."
"Let's take a minute to compose our deck then," Yugi said. "Oh and, uh, you can have this one if you want pal."
"Thank you, Yugi, but are you sure? You did surprisingly well against Celeste."
"Yeah, but dueling takes a lot more out of me than it takes out of you. Besides, Makoto needs to understand what he's getting involved in. He may not listen to someone his age, but he might listen to a sagely ancient pharaoh from ancient times."
The Pharaoh smiled. "Perhaps he might."
After breakfast was over, Joey sat in his room, looking at all the cards he had collected since the day he started playing Duel Monsters. Each one was found or bought using whatever money Joey could scrounge together and not a single yen piece was spent from the money he won from Duelist Kingdom.
But now, Joey was to face, in only a matter of hours, his greatest challenge yet: Seto Kaiba, the World Champion. Joey looked at some of his cards: Ancient Lizard Warrior, Armail, Kojiocky, Tiger Axe. Just looking at them and then picturing Kaiba's smug laugh as they were all blasted to smithereens by his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, made Joey rub his hair raw in aggravation.
"Arrrgh, it's no use, I don't got a single thing to throw at Kaiba. I don't have special tricks and dueling know how like that Chiaki gal to take down his best monsters. All I got is guts." Joey held up Flame Swordsman. "And a fat load of good that'll do me in the face of power like Kaiba's Blue-Eyes."
"If that's the attitude you're taking, then you've already lost," a condescending, yet very conservative voice spoke from the doorway to Joey's room.
Joey looked at his visitor. "What do you want, Frenchy?"
Celeste walked into the room and sat down across the table from Joey. "I just thought we hadn't completed our lessons," she said, looking at him with a sharp piercing gaze from behind her red eyes. "It was fun at the start, but now your opponent is Seto Kaiba." She slapped her palms on the table edges. "We must be more vigilant than ever."
Joey leaned back in his chair, groaned and sighed.
"Excuse me?! I'm taking my precious time to help you grow and learn as a duelist! If you dare to think my help is worthless, then—"
"It's not that I don't think it's worthless," Joey said as he slouched forward, "It's just that I'm not that kinda duelist, ya know? If I'm gonna go at it with Kaiba, I need cards that work for my playstyle. Everyone's their own unique type a duelist, ya know? Lookit Mai, she's got her Harpies and Yug's got a whole bunch of combos and monsters. And me? What do I got? A bunch of low class warriors that couldn't duel their way out of a paper bag against the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I've got guts and heart, but that may not just cut it against Kaiba."
"I admit, how you got this far on luck and gimmicks is anyone's guess, but that's what makes you such a marketable story," Celeste said with a smile and a chuckle, "The underdog rises to fame and seizes glory. It's like a sports flick."
Joey merely sighed.
"If it's better cards you're after, I might be willing to…part with a few of mine."
"What? Really?" Joey asked enthusiastically, only to backpedal and grow skeptical. "Wait! Hold up. What's the catch?"
"Catch?" Celeste asked, with a surprised expression. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Frenchy. Everything with you is two-faced."
Celeste laughed. "Joey, I truly do mean this gesture as a sign of goodwill." She folded her arms. "Quite frankly I can't stand Kaiba's smugness either. If you put him in his place," she smiled. "That would simply be picturesque. But," she said, "I don't intend to give these cards away for free."
"I knew it," Joey retorted.
"But the price isn't steep," Celeste chuckled. "You just have to be my servant for the next two hours and I'll gladly shower you with ten helpful cards."
"Tha..that's it?" Joey asked. "You don't want anything else?"
"Nope. Just having a sturdy, muscular gentleman to dote on me and my every whim is all I need, but since I can't find one on this blimp, I suppose you'll have to do."
"Well thanks I, heeeey, wait a minute!"
Celeste only chuckled. "So, do we have a deal?"
Joey sighed and thought about it for a minute. "All right fine, but you better hold up your end of the deal, or I'll open a window and throw you out of the blimp."
Celeste chuckled. "Joey, I am a woman of my word."
"Uh huh, sure you are," Joey said in disbelief. "So, what can I do for you first?"
Celeste turned her chair around. "You can start by rubbing my shoulders. I'm very stiff back here."
"Oh, uh, no problem."
Joey stood behind Celeste, put his hands on her petit shoulders and ended up clamping down too hard, hurting her.
"Ouch! You brute! Gently!"
"Well excuse me, princess! I'm not exactly a grade-A masseuse."
"Ugh, fine. Forget the massage then. Make yourself useful and make me tea. There should be some black tea bags in one of the cabinets above the fridge."
"Uh sure, tea I can do."
Some time passed as Joey brewed Celeste her tea. Meanwhile, Celeste looked at Joey's cards. His magic and trap cards aren't terrible. It's his monsters that need improving. However, I think I can truly improve Joey's deck with a little bit of tweaking. I don't know if it'll be worthy of beating Kaiba, but it will at least help him stand a better chance than he does now.
"Here's the tea," Joey eventually said, putting the kettle on the table.
"Ahem," Celeste said, clearing her throat.
"What?" Joey barked
Celeste indicated her empty tea cup with her index finger.
"What?" Joey asked again.
"Ugh! Pour it, you incompetent fool!"
"Jeez, fine, you want me to get you a chair cushion too. Maybe rub your feet while I'm at it."
Celeste chuckled. "If you were a better masseuse perhaps." She let Joey pour her tea and then sipped it. "Mmmmhmm," Celeste commented.
"What? Is it bad?"
Joey's answer was Celeste splashing the hot tea in Joey's face.
"Agh! What the heck, you psycho?!"
"It's two degrees too cold," Celeste said. "Do it again."
Joey wiped his face off with a paper towel, steam still rising from his forehead. "How about you take your tea kettle and shove it up your—"
"What's all the shouting for?" A familiar, mature female voice asked.
"Oh, hello Mai. Finished adjusting your makeup so that you look like you're still in college."
Joey could've sworn he heard the growling of two ferocious tigers. One aimed at Mai. One aimed at Celeste. However, he figured it had to be his imagination.
"At least I have beauty to show off," Mai said. "Unlike some of us whose pale complexions could only attract zombies and ghosts of equal hideousness."
Celeste smiled sweetly to hide how deeply Mai's words had cut, but she was not so easily discombobulated. "Oh, so we should all be like you and become a pair of blue eyes away from becoming gyarus."
"Wha—I'll have you know this is my natural hair color!"
Celeste hissed and looked at Mai with almost a sense of pity. "Oh, that's tragic," she commented.
"Why you vicious little—" Mai attempted to lunge at Celeste to strangle her.
Fortunately, Joey found his voice and decided to speak up. "Whoa, hey, easy there," Joey said, getting in Mai's space, one hand on her wrist, the other on her shoulder. "Let's not do anything we're gonna regret, ya know?"
Mai pulled herself free of Joey's grip and pulled on her jacket. "Who's regretting anything? I just see a brat that needs punishment."
"Oh, do you want to throw down, right here at the table?"
"Uh, ladies, this is my cabin and I kinda need to prepare for my duel with Kaiba. Could you just maybe—"
Both Celeste and Mai gave Joey angry glares that made him feel two feet tall.
"N-never mind."
As Celeste and Mai used Joey's cabin to get off a grudge match, Makoto and Komaru were sitting together in his room, Makoto looking at all of the cards at his disposal.
"Definitely should use a Mystic Space Typhoon," Makoto said, "Maybe a Giant Trunade while I'm at it, but…no, I might need that space for a counter trap."
"Makoto, do you actually think you might have a strategy to topple the King of Games?" Komaru asked, sounding a little excited at the prospect.
"Honestly, I don't think I stand a chance," Makoto said. "But I've got to at least try, right? Yugi's one of my heroes. I want to at least give him a challenge."
"Well, just do your best. No one can ask for more," Komaru said.
Makoto nodded.
Just then, the door to his cabin open, revealing Yugi, although the Pharaoh was currently using his body.
"Ah, Yugi," Makoto gasped, quickly putting away his deck. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you about our upcoming duel," Yugi said. "I sincerely think you should forfeit."
"What?" Makoto asked, looking surprised.
"It's not that I don't want to duel you, Makoto, but this tournament is far more dangerous than anything Kaiba could've possibly fathomed."
Makoto gulped. "Y-you're talking about Marik, right?" Makoto asked.
"Makoto, I think you're a very talented duelist. You even managed to overcome the wielder of a millennium item with nothing more than pure skill, but I'd rather take the path of least resistance to Marik. Please understand. The sooner he's put down, the better."
"I…I don't know," Makoto said, not really sure what to say. "Let me think about it, all right?"
"You don't have to give me an answer now," Yugi said. "But at least consider forfeiting. You can even wait until the duel actually starts, if you need that much time."
Makoto nodded and then Yugi left the room, the door automatically closing behind him.
"Makoto, are you really going to give up?" Komaru asked.
Makoto looked apprehensive. It was true that it was a miracle that he'd gotten even this far. And it was true he didn't stand a chance against the King of Games. And if by that same miracle he squeaked by, could lightning strike a third time and allow him to beat Marik and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Makoto shivered in terror and his blood ran cold as he remembered what happened to Mahiru and Sonia.
What should I do? He wondered.
As Yugi left the room, he then made his way to the infirmary, where Bakura had now taken Chiaki's place in bed next to Sonia. Mikan was watching over both of them.
"O-oh, Yugi," she gasped, surprised to see him. "D-did you come to check on Bakura?" Mikan asked.
Yugi nodded. "How is he?"
"Neither he nor Sonia's condition has improved. Is there really nothing I can do?" Mikan squeaked.
"Until I defeat Marik, they'll never be able to escape from the Shadow Realm," Yugi said and approached the window. He gazed out at the passing ocean below and blue skies and white clouds above.
Mikan started to cry.
"Mikan?" Yugi asked turning to look at her.
"I can't believe I'm so useless at a time like this. I have two patients and I can't do anything to wake them up. I even tried using my most powerful smelling salts and nothing's working. Please tell me there's at least something I can do to be useful, Yugi!" Mikan exclaimed in fright.
The Pharaoh, unsure how to handle the situation, switched control back to the real Yugi, who said, "I think you're doing everything you can, Mikan. I'm sure when Bakura and Sonia do wake up, they'll be very happy to know that they were under your care. And while it's true you can't do anything to wake them up, you at least know how to keep them comfortable and healthy while they're completely defenseless. So, thank you, Mikan. I hope that if something happens to anyone else, you'll be able to look after them too."
"N-no one's ever said anything so nice to me before," Mikan sniffed. "Th-thank you, Yugi."
"Ah, well, I'll say plenty of nice things to you if you want. After all, it'd be great if we can be friends."
Mikan yelped. "Y-you want to be friends…with me?"
"Sure, why not?"
Mikan looked like she was going to cry. "Th-thank you for being so nice to me, Yugi."
"Any time, Mikan. Anyway, I still have to go prepare for the finals. I'll, uh, see you later."
"Sure, okay! And, um, if you need anything, you only have to ask, okay?"
Yugi nodded and then headed off.
"Harpie's Feather Duster destroys all your spell and trap cards. And then, Elegant Egotist to summon Harpie Lady Sisters. And then with Grave Arm, I destroy your Crimson Sunbird, allowing my Harpies to attack you directly. That brings your life points to 0. I win!"
Celeste growled, scooping up her cards. "So what? We said best eight out of fifteen and that was only the thirteenth duel. It's six to seven."
"Then get ready to lose again," Mai said with a smug smirk. "When it comes to the battling in the sky, you'll find no better duelist."
"Oh? Is that so? I'd say Gundham clipped your wings pretty good, don't you think?"
"Says the girl that lost to Yugi Mutoh," Mai commented. "You're not the only one that could push the now King of Games into a corner, huh."
"Shut up. Shuffle your deck. And duel."
Completely ignored by the two women, Joey sat on the couch glumly as he tried to use the space between his legs and to either side of him to figure out how he was going to beat Kaiba. Fortunately, his misery was interrupted by an announcement.
"The first match of the Battle City Quarter Finals will be taking place shortly. Will Yugi Mutoh and Makoto Naegi, please report to Deck 0. All other participants and guests stand by in the main hall."
"We'll put this on hold," Celeste said, swiping up her deck.
"Sure, it postpones your humiliation for a bit longer."
"Can you two finish your grudge match elsewhere after we're done. Some of us actually in the finals would like to strategize."
The situation was only now catching up with Mai and Celeste, both showing embarrassment and awkwardness in their own ways as they shuffled out of Joey's room to tag along with him to watch Yugi duel Makoto.
All of the finalists, former and current, showed up to watch as Yugi and Makoto stood on opposite sides of the arena. Makoto looking nervous as he faced the elevator. Yugi, letting the Pharaoh have control, had his back to it, facing the bow of the blimp. He looked confident and ready.
"This should be a breeze for Yug!" Joey exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Makoto's neither Kaiba nor a Millennium Item holder." He then shouted to his friend. "You got this Yug! Take him down!"
Yugi gave Joey a smile and a thumb's up and then faced towards Makoto who still looked nervous.
"Think Makoto stands a chance, bro?" Mokuba asked.
"Doubtful. Naegi's good, but he's not that good. It's not a question of whether or not Yugi will beat him, but how long he'll last."
"Come on, Makoto!" Komaru cheered, pent up with her fists by her shoulders. "Eyes front! Face forward! Give it everything you've got! If you're going down, it'll be in a blaze of glory!"
"Is that your answer, Makoto? Are you going through with this duel?" Yugi asked.
"Well, I—" Makoto started to say only for the whole blimp to lurch and vibrate. Makoto and Yugi were thrown to their feet onto their backsides.
"Engineering, what the hell is going on?" Kaiba asked, activating the radio in his collar.
"Sorry, sir. We appear to have hit some unaccounted for turbulence."
"Well fly out of it!" Kaiba snapped.
"We can't!" The lead pilot exclaimed.
Kaiba growled. "Roland! This duel is on hold until dueling conditions are safe! Lead the contestants away!"
"Yes, sir!" Roland exclaimed and lowered the arena so that all of the passengers could get somewhere safe.
Kaiba then ran to the cockpit with Mokuba, shouting, "What the hell is going on?"
"We've lost control of the blimp, sir. It's changing course on its own."
"Impossible!" Kaiba declared. "How can this be?"
"I don't know, sir. It's like the autopilot is reprogrammed."
"Then shut it down and do it right now!"
"Mr. Kaiba!" Chihiro exclaimed, running into the room.
"Fujisaki, good timing. The auto-pilot is malfunctioning. I need you to do something about it."
"Yes, sir!" Chihiro exclaimed and sat down at a computer station in the large cockpit. The young programmer then began tapping into the programming controls of the Kaiba Corp autopilot. The blimp then lurched again. "Ah! Oh no!"
"What's the matter?"
"The auto-pilot is in a state that leaves it locked for editing by an outside source. It won't respond to any of my commands."
"Outside source? Are we being hacked?"
"I'm checking now," Chihiro said, using a second screen to scan for outside interference while still trying to rework the auto-pilot. "In the meantime, I'm going to build a completely new auto-pilot code and see if I can't supersede the current one."
"Excellent thinking. See that it gets done."
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, I got a hit on the hacking!" Chihiro exclaimed. "The source is nearby, but…no way? Under the water?"
"There's an underwater hacker all the way out here looking to prey on my KaibaCorp Battle City tournament. But how did they get in? KaibaCorp security is state of the art."
"I'm checking that right now," Chihiro said. "What? But how can this be?"
"What did you find?" Kaiba said, now interested enough to approach Chihiro for a closer look. "Wait a second, these are KaibaCorp access keys and they weren't recovered or requested for, but actually already on file."
"A sting operation?" Chihiro wondered aloud.
"Maybe," Kaiba pondered aloud. Dammit! I was careless! I didn't think something like this would happen right under my nose. But who has the access codes to redirect a KaibaCorp aircraft and has in-depth programming knowledge to hack past our security mainframe?
"Mr. Kaiba, your orders?" The lead pilot asked.
If this was just some random computer geek, I'd ignore the situation and keep making for KaibaCorp island. But if there's a disgruntled former employee, or worse, remnants of Pegasus' attempted takeover trying to derail my tournament and my company, it's not something I can just ignore. "Contact HR and tell them to make a message to the public that we're having technical difficulties starting the tournament and will be an hour behind schedule. Offer two free booster packs to any spectator that files a complaint for the inconvenience."
"Yes, sir," Roland said, shuffling away.
"Mokuba, put me on speaker."
"You got it, Seto."
When Kaiba was hooked up to the PA system, he stated, "Attention all Battle City Finalists and guests. Battle City is temporarily being postponed due to a technical issue. All passengers are requested to remain calm and not interfere with official KaibaCorp activities in order to ensure that Battle City is put back on track as soon as possible."
Upon hearing the announcement, Yugi and his friends, who were corralled into Yugi's room for safety and comfort, had some choice words for the announcement.
"I don't like this," Joey stated. "Something stinks about this whole situation."
"Should we go ask Kaiba what's going on?" Duke proposed.
"But he said we shouldn't get in his way," Serenity said.
"Let's ask Chiaki for help," Téa said. "She seems to be on good terms with Kaiba. Maybe she can get us some answers."
"Good thinking Téa," Yugi said, currently using his own body. "I'll go talk to her."
As Yugi shuffled out of his room and headed for Chiaki's room, he found Chiaki approaching him. "Oh, Yugi, there you are," Chiaki said.
"Chiaki, I was just about to go find you."
"You want me to talk to Kaiba about what's going on, right?" she asked.
"I would appreciate it."
"I was about to ask you to accompany me. You're one of the few people I know that Kaiba tolerates. Besides, in this type of situation, a protagonist should always get the aid of an ally talking to a disgruntled symbol of authority."
"I'm not sure what you mean, but if that means you'll help, let's go."
Yugi and Chiaki headed for the cockpit, right at the time that they heard Chihiro declare, "We're being hailed!"
"On screen!" Kaiba shouted.
"They're not giving us a choice," Chihiro responded as a shadowy silhouette that look vaguely like Kaiba's appeared on the monitor above the controls. The silhouette then transformed into a young boy with two shades of greenish blue hair.
"Who is that?" Yugi asked.
Kaiba looked back at Yugi and Chiaki. "What are you two doing here? This is a restricted area."
"Sorry," Chiaki apologized with a serious expression. "We just wanted to know what was going on."
"Oh, let them stay," the figure on the monitor said. "After all, this concerns all of your passengers, Seto." He then gave the three duelists and the rest of the people in the room a smug smile. "I'm putting a full halt and stop on your little tournament."
"You'll never get away with this, you creep!" Mokuba exclaimed.
"Ah, Mokuba, please watch what you say, all of the speakers have been hacked into. The passengers can hear every word," Chihiro said.
"What?" Mokuba gasped.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just a programmer, not a hacker. There's nothing I can do at a time like this," Chihiro apologized.
"Your programmer is right, Mokuba. Besides, it's too late to say I won't get away with something I've already gone and done."
"Who are you?" Chiaki wanted to know, glaring at the boy.
"My name is Noah. And I have quite a long, complicated history and vengeance to strike upon Seto."
Chiaki took a few steps forward, throwing out an arm. "If you're making Kaiba your enemy, then that makes me your enemy too!"
"Awww, how brave? Is that your girlfriend, Seto?"
"Please, Nanami is just an acquaintance that doesn't know when to stick her nose where it doesn't belong," Kaiba said.
Chiaki looked disheartened. "But…"
"Nanami, I appreciate the bravado, but this is a KaibaCorp matter, stay out of it."
"But this is a KaibaCorp matter," Noah said in a mocking tone. "Didn't you hear me a moment ago, Seto? This concerns all of your passengers, Seto, not just you."
"Chiaki! Kaiba!" The presence of one Hajime Hinata was now in the cockpit.
"Hinata, this is a restricted access zone!" Kaiba barked at him.
"That doesn't seem to be quite so big a deal for our intruder," Hajime pointed out in a calm, controlled tone. "We can hear everything. Sorry, but if you consider the current situation sticking our noses where it doesn't belong, I'm stepping up too."
Kaiba turned to face Noah, arms folded. "All right, Noah, if that's even your real name. How do you have KaibaCorp access codes? Who's paying you off?"
"Why spoil the surprise?" Noah asked. "The fun is just beginning." He then cut communications.
"Brat," Kaiba grumbled under his breath.
"What should we do, Seto?" Mokuba asked.
"Oh, we're going to play Noah's little game, and we're going to win!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Mokuba, get Naegi. Yugi, get me Ludenburg and Valentine."
"What? Am I not to be involved in the ongoing proceedings?" A calm, condescending voice said from the doorway.
"Togami," Kaiba said.
"Too proud to ask for the help of a Togami, I see," Byakuya said, entering the room.
"Hmph, if everyone heard all of that, you would've chimed in even if I hadn't given a formal invitation," Kaiba smirked.
"Naturally," Byakuya said. "And I'm going to win this game and prove to you that I am actually superior to you, Seto Kaiba."
"Do whatever you want," Kaiba said, glaring at the ocean. All right, Noah. Bring it.
Kaiba's eagerness to get this over with was met by a giant gray fortress rising up out of the ocean.
"That's certainly a dungeon if I ever saw one," Chiaki said, staring at it.
"Mr. Kaiba, um, I don't know how to say this, but…" Chihiro stuttered.
"What?" Kaiba inquired.
"That's our destination," Chihiro said. The blimp was forcefully, but gently, pulled inside an open hatch on top of the fortress. The blimp was now in a dark hangar and all of its flight capabilities were locked.
"Noah is going to pay for messing with KaibaCorp," Kaiba said. "Him and whoever he's working for or with."
By this time, many of the other passengers were now in the cockpit, along with Yugi, Chiaki, Hajime, Byakuya, and the Kaiba brothers and their staff. Only Marik, Ishizu, the injured Odion, and the soul stolen Sonia and Bakura were not present. Mikan had only left the infirmary just so she wasn't lonely regarding the proceedings.
That's when Noah's mug appeared on the monitor again. "Thanks for dropping in, Seto. Time for you and all on board to exit the ship."
"Is that so?" Kaiba asked. "What if we don't?"
Noah laughed. "I'm afraid at this point, refusal is not an option." Suddenly a bunch of hanging turret guns came out of the walls and took aim at the blimp.
"Eek!" Mikan yelped.
"Your skill at coercion is a bewitching spell most foul," Gundham commented.
Kaiba, saying nothing, headed for the staircase to leave the blimp. Chiaki got in front of him, arms thrown out wide. "Out of my way, Nanami. Unless you want another injured leg."
"Noah said we should all exit," she stressed. "You're not doing this alone."
Kaiba shoved her arm aside. "Don't tell me what to do." However, Chiaki firmly grabbed his coat in defiance before he could get too far. "Nanami, let go. This is my battle and I'm going to face Noah alone! Do you hear me, you little runt? This is between you and me! Any questions?"
Kaiba's answer was the guns firing off in sync around the blimp. "Care to reconsider?" Noah asked after the firing had stopped. "Please be so kind as to exit the ship with the others."
"Holy crap! This is like some hostile show takeover!" Ibuki shouted. "But where's the adoring audience and the free snacks?"
"This isn't a show, kiddo. We've all been taken hostage," Mai said to her.
Everyone was surprised when Mikan approached the monitor.
"Tsumiki?" Kaiba asked looking at her.
"E-excuse me?" Mikan squeaked, doing her best to speak up.
"Hmm? You have something to say?" Noah asked, looking at her from behind his computer screen.
"U-um, w-we have sick and injured people on board. A-as a nurse, I-I can't leave the ship. A-and…I-I don't think you would want to be considered a murderer by forcing a nurse away from the station of her patients."
"And no doubt the Crusader of Evil himself, Marik, will try something while we are away," Gundham said. "If we all left the ship, it would be chaos."
"How can you two bargain when he has guns pointed straight at us?" Mahiru exasperated, worried for the safety of her friends.
"Now, now, it's not an unreasonable request and I don't consider myself an unreasonable individual," Noah responded. "I'll take all of those willing to exit the blimp, with or without Kaiba's consent. All the others can stay behind, provided they can give a good reason other than "I don't want to."."
"I'm staying here with my brothers," Espa said. "One of them is too young to even speak."
"Very well," Noah stated.
"Serenity, you stay here where its safe. Mahiru, can you look after her for me?"
"Yeah, sure, run off headlong into danger and leave your sister behind like a reckless idiot," Mahiru said snippily. "But yeah, I'll look after Serenity."
"Thank you, Mahiru," Serenity said, hugging her around the arm.
Gundham chuckled. "I and my overpowering aura shall protect our vessel from harm as well as the slumbering passengers from the foul Marik Ishtar," Gundham said. "If he should try to unleash his dark powers and bring about chaos, I, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, will be there to stop him."
"Then, Komaru, you should also—"
"What? No way!" Komaru exclaimed, fists pumped. "I'm going!"
"But—"
Komaru chuckled. "Come on, you can hardly do a thing without me backing you up. And…I still want to talk to you about your postponed duel if we get the chance."
"Fujisaki," Kaiba commented.
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Stay here and try and continue rewriting the autopilot and fixing our blimp. I want to get back in the air as soon as possible."
"Ah, Yes, sir! I'll do my best!" Chihiro declared.
"I trust this is acceptable?" Kaiba asked Noah.
"I have no problem with it. Its a fruitless endeavor after all. You're stuck here until I say so. Now then, if there are no further arguments, the rest of you are to exit the blimp and make your way towards the directed facility," Noah said, indicating an opening automatic door.
"Mr. Kaiba!" Two staff members tried to approach, but were dissuaded by Noah's guns.
"You two goons can wait on the blimp. This invitation is to duelists only."
"Then we should send you back to the blimp," Duke whispered to Tristan. "You're no duelist."
"No one has to know that, dice boy," Tristan responded.
Mahiru gulped. Glad I stayed on the blimp.
As the group walked away, Serenity held onto Mahiru tightly. "Will Joey really be safe?"
"He'll be fine…I think," Mahiru said. "I-I mean, he's a great duelist, right? He wouldn't leave you behind only to end up doing something stupid."
"The Golden Underdog certainly will not do something rash," Gundham said. "And as long as I am on this blimp, neither will Marik." His eyebrows then twitched. "Speak the devil's name and he shall appear. What foul sorcery have you up your sleeve agent of calamity."
Mahiru immediately used Gundham as a shield upon seeing Marik.
"Now, now, my dear, I don't intend to cause any harm, not right now anyway. This situation is quite interesting, don't you think?"
"The fact that we share a belief is a pact most foul. State your intent now, Marik," Gundham demanded.
"I just told you, I have no intentions in mind. But I wonder, what could occur while our masters of ceremony are away."
"Cur! You dare invoke the wrath of the Supreme Overlord of Ice?"
"Watch your tongue," Marik said, holding up the Millennium Rod. "There are many things I could do to you fools besides send you all to the Shadow Realm." Marik lowered the rod. "But I'm feeling generous for the moment. I think I'll take a pleasant stroll while our captor is occupied with your friends."
"You will not be leaving our hallowed vessel whilst I am the gatekeeper," Gundham told him. He began letting his scarf flap upwards behind him as his battle aura intensified. "Not unless you wish to throw down with one hundred percent of my full power!"
Marik laughed. "Your power pales in comparison to mine, fool. But I shall pardon you for now. Pray that I do not become bored with the situation or things may change." Marik then walked away laughing.
"Esper, will you guard watch with me?"
Espa nodded. "Marik isn't getting anywhere near the others."
"Big brother."
Espa leaned down and put a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Go with Mahiru, Mikan, and Serenity, okay?" he requested.
"You three should make yourself scarce behind the veil of medical sanctity."
"Huh?" Serenity stated.
"I think he means we should hold out in the infirmary until the others get back," Serenity said. "And I agree. Let's go."
"I need to stay here though," Chihiro pointed out. "Mr. Kaiba wants us back online as soon as possible."
"Please be careful, Chihiro," Mahiru told the programmer.
"You can count on me," Chihiro said with a smile.
My apologies Dark Queen, Gundham thought, thinking of Sonia. But you'll have to hold on for just a little longer. My battle with the fiendish Marik Ishtar may have been postponed, but I swear that I'll rescue you soon enough! I bet my very soul on it!
While Gundham and Espa Roba teamed up for security detail aboard Kaiba's aircraft, Kaiba, Yugi, and the rest of the group finally made their way out of the hallway Noah had forced them down, finding them face to face with some familiar faces for the head of KaibaCorp. They were five men all dressed in suits of varying heights, hair colors and facial hair styles.
"Surprised to see us?" One of them asked. "Did you ever think we wouldn't come back for revenge, Seto Kaiba?"
"Holy crap! A whole bunch of suits that have it out for Kaiba! Next thing you know they'll pull out Tommy guns and give Kaiba's head to his widow!" Ibuki exclaimed, panicking.
"That'd make sense if Kaiba even had a girlfriend," Joey commented.
"The peanut gallery can be quiet," Byakuya said. "Don't you know who those men are? They're the Kaiba Corp Big Five, Gansley VP of Business, Crump the CFO, Head legal aid Johnson, Chief Technical Engineer Nezbitt, and the man that could've succeeded KaibaCorp if not for Kaiba himself, Leichter."
"Byakuya Togami," Gansley, the gray haired man in the center, said, "You truly are an honored guest."
Byakuya chuckled. "Oh, how could I forget such faces when you asked me of all people to help you with your little scheme against Seto Kaiba the last time?"
"Explain, Togami," Kaiba barked.
"Naturally," Byakuya smirked. "Did you honestly think that the Kaiba Corporation could thrive without a firm hand holding the reigns. If you were going down, the Big Five thought they might have some other peon take over to make the Kaiba Corporation even bigger. But I told them to get lost." Byakuya contemptuously looked to the side. "Corporate battles are tiresome, especially when they're on someone else's dime." He pointed at Kaiba. "If I was going to take you out, it would be in direct confrontation. Subterfuge like that just isn't my style, especially since I was not involved to begin with."
"Don't think we're going to give you the same offer," Gansley said.
"Please, you couldn't bribe me with anything I could possibly want. In fact, your impeding in my own quest for knowledge on how to become a better duelist." Byakuya glared and made a fist. "You're also wasting my precious time, something I simply cannot accept. So let's have it. What are you and Noah up to so that I may stop it and focus on more important matters?"
"You five shouldn't even be around anymore!" Kaiba shouted, throwing an arm out. "Your minds were destroyed when you failed to eliminate me with my own virtual reality game!"
"Destroyed?" Chiaki questioned.
"They were trapped in virtual reality," Mokuba said. "It's kind of a long story."
"A story I'd rather forget. Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you creeps for kidnapping us?" Mai demanded to know.
"Settle down," Kaiba said with a calm tone of voice. "But Valentine has a point. If you five walk away from this situation right now. I'll pretend this never happened and not blow up this facility the first chance I get."
"That's not going to happen," Gansley said. "We've wandered cyber space for too long wondering how we would get revenge on the likes of you, Seto Kaiba."
"We finally found our answer when our minds came in contact with Noah," Crump said.
"Once we discovered we all shared a common enemy in Seto Kaiba, naturally, Noah then uploaded our minds to his system," Johnson stated.
"So you guys are virtual?" Téa asked.
"I defeated you once," Kaiba scowled, "And I can easily do it again."
"We plan to give you every opportunity to do so, Mr. Kaiba," Gansley said. "But we've devised a new game with Noah's help."
"Games…" Chiaki said, looking angry. "How dare you use games to hurt people, especially, Kaiba!"
"Nanami, enough!" Kaiba barked. He then glared at the Big Five. "What kind of game are we talking about, you snake?"
"Oh it's a game, you're quite familiar with, Mr. Kaiba," Gansley said. "It's a Duel Monsters tournament, a virtual Duel Monster's tournament. Except there are no brackets. It's a free for all. And you're all invited to participate."
"But you're problem is with Kaiba, why involve the rest of us?" Makoto wanted to know.
"Our minds have been trapped in this virtual prison for so long," Crump said. "We've lost our bodies."
"But if we defeat you in Noah's virtual arena," Johnson said. "Then we'll return to the real world in your bodies."
"No one's taking over my body again!" Joey exclaimed.
"But that's not all," Leichter said, finally speaking up. "There are other interested parties in this showdown and they'll be participatin' as well. From employees you've cast aside, to some interested parties that want Seto Kaiba rubbed out of the picture permanently. Oh, that reminds me," Leichter said and looked straight at Hajime. "You there, boy. Hajime Hinata, correct?"
"How…do you know Hajime?" Chiaki asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
"Why it's quite simple really," Leichter said. "In addition to being able to escape to the real world in your bodies, the Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee has an interest in their little guinea pig. So, how about an update, boy? How is the Five Headed Dragon you were so generously given as a sign of good will, treating you?"
That's the connection! Kaiba exclaimed.
"Hajime has the Five Headed Dragon?" Joey exclaimed.
"Hajime, what are they talking about?" Chiaki asked.
Hajime balled a fist. "I'm not sure what this all about, but I'm not going to standby and let you just demand the actual physical bodies of my friends. If it's a duel you're looking for, I'll take on any single one of you."
"A valiant answer, but it won't matter much soon," Johnson said. "Well now, I hope you all enjoy your stay in our virtual world."
"Hold on!" Kaiba shouted. "What are your connections with Hope's Peak's Steering Committee. What does Hinata have to do with all of this?"
"If you're so curious, you'll have to win your way through our game and find out," Crump said.
"Indeed. For now, it's time for all of you to enter our virtual world."
Suddenly, there was a flash of light and then nothing, but silence.
(A/N: I think I'm going to end the chapter here for now. I'm going to be doing a bit of skipping around and outlining while I figure out the flow of a few duels. Yugi's duel with Gansley is going to go pretty much unaltered, so we'll be skipping straight to Crump's duel, but he won't be dueling Téa. I've told a few of you who he'll be dueling—along with a joke I've been planning for this particular duel, but for the rest of you, you'll have to wait and see. And yes, it is another girl.
But beyond the arc itself, a lot of reveals came this chapter, including the lineup for the second round of the Battle City finals. So let's all put our hype meters on max and get ready for what I hope won't be a long arc. If all goes according to plan, this particular arc shouldn't run longer than 17 chapters at the maximum, 12 at the bare minimum. But until we keep moving forward, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)