Rebecca keeps mumbling, sweating and squirming in her sleep. Yugi is holding her hand, tightly, a worried expression on his face. The two grandpas have gone to the kitchen to prepare a compress for the bloody spot on the girl's forehead. They have also called an ambulance.

Tea is just watching. She, too, has a sad expression on her face, which Yugi interprets as worry about Rebecca. However, Tea is sad for a totally different reason. The way Yugi is holding Rebecca's hand. The way he cannot take his worried eyes off her. The way he is sweetly whispering stuff to the blonde girl. It is so obvious!

Yugi is not just worried about this girl the way he would be if anyone else had a similar accident. No! Tea can see it. Even if Yugi himself has not realized it yet, Tea can see it. It took the brunette so long to figure out her feelings for her childhood friend. And now that, after all these years, she finally knows how she feels, it is too late. Yugi's heart is elsewhere!

Tea knows it is terribly selfish and cruel to feel that way at a time like this, with everybody else concerned about the younger girl's health. She knows she is a terrible person. But she cannot help it.

'It is too late,' Tea whispers, sobbing and wiping a tear.

Yugi turns to the taller girl and gives her a confused look. 'Did you just say something, Tea?' he asks.

'No, nothing important,' the girl answers amid her sobs with a dismissive gesture.

'Don't cry, Tea. I'm sure Rebecca will be fine,' Yugi tries to console his female friend, having no idea about the real reason she's crying.

'Thanks, Yugi. You're so kind,' Tea runs out of the room, not wanting her friend to see her like that anymore.

Meanwhile, Rebecca is being tormented by a nightmare. Memories of the recent past blended with fantasies form a dream.


The airplane Rebecca and her grandfather were on has landed at the Domino City airport. The precocious girl is excitedly running around, her long, loose hair waving gracefully.

'Wow, this is so different from an American airport,' she comments.

'Stay close to me, Rebecca,' her elderly guardian runs behind her, slightly worried. 'Or else you might wind up lost.'

'I want to pee,' Rebecca complains, tapping her feet alternately in impatience, trying to hold the urine in her bladder.

Arthur sighs and looks around. He spots a restroom. 'Fine, go there,' he points at the door. 'I'll be waiting for you here.'

'Okay, gramps,' Rebecca quickly pecks him on the cheek and then hurriedly runs over to the restroom.


In the airport restroom, Rebecca exits the cubicle she has been occupying. 'Ahh, that was a good wazz,' she comments, patting her crotch, with her eyes closed and a smile of relief, even though there is no one here to hear her.

Or is there?

The girl suddenly realizes that a group of men are exiting the other cubicles. They all are dressed in black, hooded cloaks that cover them entirely. Have they been hiding here, waiting for her?

'What the...' Rebecca gasps, but since, for all her precociousness and Mai's influence over her, the 12 year old girl doesn't know many expletives yet, she stops, unable to find a word to finish that sentence with.

The men are blocking the exit. Rebecca gulps. What do these freaks want from her? Are they going to kidnap her? She has heard several stories about kids her age or younger who disappeared under similar circumstances, never to be seen again. Will she... (gulp)... will she become one of those kids? Will she never see her grandfather again?

'Who are you? Leave me alone,' she yells, unsuccessfully trying to conceal her fear and hold back a tear.

One of the aforementioned men takes a step forward and removes his hood, thus revealing his face. Rebecca doesn't know him, but we do! Marik!

How did he know he would find her here? And, moreover, how did he know she has come here for Yugi? Well, truth be told, it was a combination of the exceptional organization of the Rare Hunters' worldwide web and immense luck. One of the Rare Hunters' executives, who had been assigned the task of online spying on famous duelists all over the world, managed to hack Rebecca's email account and read a message she had sent to a girlfriend of hers, saying she was going to meet Yugi and challenge him to a duel.

Marik extends his arm, with the Millenium Rod glowing.

'What is this thing?' the girl cries.

'Do not fear, Rebecca,' Marik says, with a fake smile of compassion. 'We shall not kidnap you. You will go back to your grandfather and act the way you normally do, until I give you further orders.'

True, Marik doesn't have to actively control a person 24/7. The Millenium Rod can, so to speak, go into autopilot mode, during which the controlled person resumes their everyday activities, so that their loved ones will not suspect anything, though the controlled person is still not aware of doing any of those things, since their consciousness remains buried even when the rod is in autopilot mode.

'Wha... what do you mean by further or...'

Rebecca never managed to finish the sentence above. Her concsciousness is buried deep in her subconscious. This glowing, golden artifact is her last clear memory.

Then... darkness and unconsciousness. With occasional flashes of cloudy consciousness. Blurry images. Fuzzy sensations.

Wait, is she being kissed? And is that boy kissing her... Yugi? And... and... oh, God, what is this newfound, pleasant sensation? Rebecca had never imagined that making out with a boy feels so good. Suddenly, Yugi transforms into an unidentified, charming prince. But Rebecca keeps making out with him all the same.

Then the dream is replaced by another.


Rebecca is now six years old. She's wearing pink, fairyprincess themed pajamas. Her hair is tied in two neat pigtails. She is holding and caressing her teddy bear. She is lying in her bed, with her grandpa reading her a fairytale.

'... and so, the evil queen died of jealousy, Snow White married the prince and they lived happily ever after,' Arthur finishes the story, kisses his granddaughter on the forehead and turns off the table lamp. 'Now go to sleep, my little angel.'

Rebecca closes her eyes, smiles and purrs, 'When I grow up, Teddy, I'll meet a prince too and marry him. And we will live together in a sugar palace. And I'll take you there with me, Teddy!'

Arthur chuckles as he exits the room, closing the door behind him.

Once again, the dream (which was also one of her childhood memories) is replaced.


Rebecca is once again her 12 year old self and making out with Yugi. She is taking off her upper garments. And it feels so good!

'This... is my prince,' a voice says inside Rebecca's head.


Back in reality, Rebecca slowly opens her eyes and smiles at Yugi. 'You are... my prince,' she says weakly.

'Rebecca!' the boy gasps. 'You are awake, at last. I have to call your grandfather.'

Yugi is about to stand up and walk out of the room, but Rebecca, despite having just awakened, musters the strength to tighten her grip on the boy's hand, thus stopping him. Yugi gives her a confused look.

'You kissed me,' Rebecca smiles.

Yugi's eyes bulge in terror. Oh, my God. She knows! Now she's gonna tell her grandfather. And Yugi will certainly be prosecuted for grooming. And he will end up in juvie, where the bullies are twice bigger and more aggressive than those who give him a hard time at school. And he... (gulp)... and he will be stigmatized for life. His grandpa will probably renounce him and kick him out of his apartment. Oh, my God, his dreams of a career as a duel monsters champion are ruined!

'Re... Rebecca,' the panicked boy stutters, trembling. 'Please, let me explain. I was...'

'No need to explain, my little princeling,' the girl interrupts him sweetly. 'Just kiss me again.'

However, Yugi keeps babbling. 'Rebecca, please, I know you're anrgy, but let me explain. I... WAIT, WHAT?'

Silence. Rebecca has an expression of felicity. Yugi's eyes are still widened. Is this girl serious?

'You are my first kiss,' the blonde insists. 'Therefore, you are my true love. You are the fairytale prince I have been waiting for all my life. Lean and kiss me, my love.'

OMG, she's serious! Yugi blushes. 'Umm, Rebecca,' he awkwardly strokes his nape, trying to break free of the girl's grasp. 'I think you are still dazed because you have been in a coma or something. Let's just... forget about that unfortunate incident. Okay?'

Yugi runs out of the room, leaving Rebecca purring in happiness. 'Yugi chan,' she whispers as she lapses back into slumber.


'Gentlemen, let our secret meeting begin,' Leichter unnecessarily announces.

Once more, the Big Five are discussing how to resolve their problems.

'So, has anybody found a way of getting rid of Kaiba?' Johnson asks, without much hope nonetheless.

'I have,' Leichter speaks again and stands up in order to draw his partners' attention to him. 'As you know, Kaiba took control of KaibaCorp five years ago, when, with our help, he formulated a plan to overthrow the former president, Gozaburo.'

'And then, when he took over, he sidelined us. Way to thank us, President Seto!' Crump remarks sarcastically.

Ignoring that comment, Leichter carries on, 'So, as you remember, Kaiba managed to take control of the company when his stepfather gave him 2% of the company's shares as a birthday present. Eventually, with our help and the money he made himself through morally questionable methods, he managed to gather 49% of the shares, knowing that, at the crucial moment, his brother would give him his own 2% of the shares.'

'Why are you telling us things that we already know, Leichter?' Nezbitt sighs boredly.

'Because I discovered the reason that Kaiba has been depressed lately,' the second in command in the company strikes the table with his palm. 'It seems that, for some reason, his brother has decided to cut him out of his life.'

The other four executives gasp. A short silence follows.

'So, if I got it right,' Gansley breaks the silence, 'you suggest that we near Mokuba so that he gives his 2% of the shares to us.'

'Precisely, Gansley,' Leichter nods with a smile. 'Seto himself has 49% of the shares. It is the certainty that his brother will always vote in his favor that has enabled his decisions to outvote those of the other stockholders in meetings and elections of board members so far. So, now that Mister Mokuba, for whatever reason, has renounced his brother, if we approach the young boy and convince him to vote in our favor from now on and if, in the meantime, we manage to buy 49% of the company shares, we will totally dominate KaibaCorp.'

'It sounds an awesome idea, Leichter,' Johnson sighs. 'Except that not even all five of us together are rich enough to buy 49% of the shares, even taking into account the recent decrease in the company's stock value due to the president's indifference.'

'We will, thanks to someone who will help us,' Leichter insists.

'Who?' Crump asks, although Leichter was about to tell them anyway.

'A really powerful ally,' Leichter continues as he stands up and walks over to a curtain. 'The founder of a heresy. Someone with countless supporters around the world, many of whom are immensely rich. Someone with inconceivable power in the global underworld. Someone whose organization can hack its way into the databases of practically any bank or company.'

Leichter pulls the curtain. 'Gentlemen, say hello to the leader of the Rare Hunters.'

Marik takes a step forward and removes his hood. 'Hello, fellows,' he greets them with an ominous smile.