Once more, the Big Five have assembled in a dark room to discuss the latest events. They all seem troubled.

Leichter forms a pyramid with his hands. 'Gentlemen, I think you all can understand that this unexpected upheaval renders our plans a lot more... complicated.'

'Are you referring to Mister Kaiba's decision to sign over his company shares to his younger brother and then disappear?' Crump asks.

The other three members of the Big Five sigh, annoyed at their short, chubby peer stating the obvious.

'In any case, now that Mister Mokuba Kaiba owns 51% of the shares, trying to track down the other, less powerful owners and blackmailing them into selling to us is of no use,' Gansley says.

'Who's stating the obvious now?' Crump thinks, annoyed, not being brave enough to speak this thought out loud, though.

'Let us try to look on the bright side of things,' Nezbitt suggests. 'At least now our target is a single person, close to us, rather than a lot of unknown people around the world.'

'And you think that makes our job easier, Nezbitt?' Johnson sighs. 'It is incomparably more difficult to blackmail a person as powerful as someone who owns 51% of one of the greatest, most influential corporations in the world. Take it from me, a gifted solicitor who knows countless dirty methods of winning a case in a court of law and has got Kaibacorp out of all kinds of legal trouble, especially during the reign of the now deceased Mister Gozaburo Kaiba.'

'Then we have to find another way of getting rid of Mister Mokuba Kaiba,' Nezbitt deduces. And, forgetting about formalities for a while, he carries on, 'Come on, fellows, think. He's just a child. How hard is it to trap and eliminate a brat? We have to come up with something.'

Leichter turns to Marik, who has been standing next to him all along, caressing his Millenium Rod. 'Mister Ishtar, we apologize for the inconvenience,' he says politely. 'We admit that Mister Kaiba ceding his property to his brother was something we hadn't anticipated, but I assure you we shall find a way of dealing with this issue as soon as possible.'

However, Marik doesn't seem concerned at all. Even though the Big Five haven't realized it, he is smiling, as if he's saying, 'It doesn't matter, gentlemen. Either way, in the end, I'll get what I want.'


Pegasus is sitting in a comfortable seat in the helicopter taking him to his private island, where, a few weeks ago, the eventful Duelist Kingdom tournament took place. This time, he's not going to that island to play mind games with potential victims. This time, he's going there for a totally different reason. To meet Ishizu!

Ishizu Ishtar! Pegasus believed he would never see her again after the last time they collaborated, in burying the God Cards into their eternal slumber, thus preventing any aspiring thief from ever getting their hands on them.

How come that woman suddenly remembered him after all those years? What does she want from him? Is it possible that the God Cards... No, Pegasus does not even want to think about it. If those cards fell into the wrong hands, it would be a disaster. Pegasus regrets making those cards in the first place!

Despite his worries about the matter above, Pegasus suddenly remembers Mai. He's still sad about the way they parted.

Then he remembers Cecelia! He takes out of his suit chest pocket the photo of her. He has been carrying that photo with him all the time ever since she died. He didn't quit that habit, even when he and Mai began getting more... intimate with each other. Of course, he never told Mai that he's still carrying this photo around! He's afraid that his current lover would misunderstand this need of his. Then again, would this really be a misunderstanding? Would it be really unreasonable of Mai if she got mad at that?

Pegasus looks at the photograph. A tear rolls out of his eye. (His natural eye, that is; not the millenium one!) 'Oh, Cecelia,' he whispers. 'I'd like to know how you feel about all that... all those things that have happened in my life recently.'

Of course, the photo does not respond.

Pegasus sighs, tormented by uncertainty. Is Cecelia mad? Is she happy? Maximillion so wishes he knew!

When his first lover passed away, he swore that he would never let any other woman touch him, that he would remain true to her for as long as he lived. He swore it out loud countless times the day of her funeral, when he was standing above the open coffin.

'Oh, Cecelia, will you ever be able to forgive me?' Pegasus talks to the picture of the woman again. 'Believe me, my love, I really wanted to stay true to you till the day we reunited, either in the afterlife or in case I managed to resurrect you. But this life is so long. It turned out to be so hard... and tormenting to make the journey in this world all alone. And... (hesitation)... and I love Mai. In a different way from the way I love you. She cannot replace you in my heart, just as you cannot replace her.'


Mokuba is sitting at his office. The office that used to belong to his older brother. A 12 year old kid that has suddenly found himself one of the most wealthy and powerful people on the planet! Any other boy his age would jump for joy in his shoes. Yet Mokuba cannot feel an ounce of happiness. Without Seto, nothing matters in this world.

Mokuba was only 5 years old when their parents died. He has practically no memories of them. For as long as he can remember, Seto has been to him his brother, his father and his mother at the same time.

The boy takes out a photo of his brother and looks at it. It's a photo taken years ago. It depicts Seto as well as himself playing in a sandpit, at the orphanage they stayed before Gozaburo adopted them. They're building a sand castle. Seto is looking at the camera and smiling.

Who took that photo? Mokuba does not remember. Nor does he care. What he cares about is that, back then, as opposed to nowadays, Seto would still smile from time to time.

'Oh, Seto,' the boy whispers and caresses the photo. He recalls Kaiba telling him (that day) that, someday, they would escape their miserable life at the orphanage and be very rich and live at a mansion, happily. And, as it turned out, his big brother was almost right after all. Almost! True, they escaped the orphanage. True, they became immensely rich, way more than they needed. But he was wrong about the 'happily' part; for the Kaiba brothers have never been happy since the day Gozaburo adopted them.

Sometimes, Mokuba wonders whether it would have been better if Gozaburo had never visited their orphanage that cursed day. If they had never been adopted. If they had never become rich. If they had never entered the high society world, a world full of enemies, cruelty and backstabbing. A world that took away from Seto his insouciance, forcing him to be alert 24/7, to constantly live in fear of losing his power. A world that brought to their lives Pegasus and the Millenium Items, those demonic, Ancient Egyptian artifacts that became the reason that Seto is now gone forever.

Mokuba sobs. If he could go back in time, he would change only one thing: He would do everything he could to prevent Seto from challenging Gozaburo to that stupid chess match that day. Mokuba so wishes he could go back in time and do that.

A sound interrupts the boy's thoughts. It's the sound of the door slowly opening.

Mokuba's eyes widen. 'Seto?' he whispers, full of innocent, childlike hope.

No, it's not Seto. It's the Big Five!

Leichter takes a step forward, in order to speak on behalf of all five of them. He closes his eyes, places his palm on the chest and bows. 'Mister Kaiba, our sincere condolences for your brother's disappearance.'

Correcting his glasses, Johnson carries on in his peer's place, 'We want you to know that we all are deeply sorry for your loss. It's a loss to everybody in Kaibacorp. However, as sorrowful as we all feel, we have to keep running the company.'

Gansley continues, 'Which is why, as the new president, you have to come with us and test the new game your brother developed shortly before the Duelist Kingdom events.'

Mokuba stands up. The last thing he cares about right now is the company's affairs. He's about to tell all five of them to scram, when the golden ring underneath his clothes momentarily glows. The next moment, the boy's expression has totally changed!

'Take me there,' Yami Mokuba says, with a malicious smile.

The Big Five look at one another and exchange brief, meaningful smiles. This was easier than they thought after all!

'Follow us, Mister Kaiba,' Leichter beckons to the boy.

The Big Five walk along the corridor leading to the elevator, with their steps resonating.

Yami Mokuba walks behind the Big Five, with his hands in his pockets. He represses a chuckle. He knows those five scumbags are up to no good. Thanks to his Millenium Item, he knows. Though he does not know exactly what they are planning; the Millenium Ring cannot read people's minds as Pegasuses Millenium Eye. Instead, it can see inside people's hearts. And Yami Mokuba can see that the hearts of those five people are rotten to the core. The spirit of the Millenium Ring can almost smell the stink coming from their souls! Therefore, he knows that, whatever they're up to, it is something not good at all.

Poor mortals! Little do they know that they cannot hurt him. Little do they know that what is walking behind them right now and looking like a normal boy is actually an avatar of Zorc Necrophades, the manifestation of primal darkness. How can five mortals destroy darkness itself? Fools! Little do they know about what's coming to them. Yami Mokuba would almost feel sorry for them if he had feelings!


The Big Five enter the testing chamber, along with what they believe to be a normal boy from the modern world.

'Sit, Mister Kaiba,' Johnson gestures to the pod, with a fake smile of politeness, his glasses shining menacingly for a moment.

The boy sits in the pod and the lid closes.

Crump pulls the lever.


Mokuba finds himself in a forest. He looks around, confused. What happened?

The last thing he remembers is sitting in his brother's office.

What is this place? How did he end up here?

Suddenly, a huge, twin headed dragon emerges from the trees' foliage.

The boy screams in fright, but his screams are drowned by the dragon's roar.

The beast takes aim and breaths fire.

'SETO!' Mokuba desperately screams as his holographic body is engulfed in flames.


In the real world, Mokuba's head falls out of the helmet.

'It's over, gentlemen,' Leichter declares with a triumphant smile. 'Mister Mokuba Kaiba shall not bother us anymore. In his office, we will find all documents we need to take possession of KaibaCorp. With both Kaiba brothers out of the picture, the company is ours!'

The Big Five raise their respective fists and cheer simultaneously. For a while, the chamber is flooded by their creepy laughter.

Suddenly, Gansley gets serious. He draws the attention of his four peers. 'Come to think of it, we did not need the help of Mister Ishtar after all. And he knows too much! What are we to do with him?'

'Don't worry, Gansley,' Leichter comforts him. 'I'm one step ahead of you!'

On cue, Marik steps out of a shadow in a dark corner of the chamber. 'So, gentlemen, it seems we have succeeded,' he declares, stroking his Millenium Rod.

'Yes, we have,' Leichter smiles meaningfully. The next moment, he pulls a gun!

'Are you going to kill me?' Marik chuckles, not scared at all.

'Precisely,' Leichter gives him a creepy smile. 'Good thing you're just a nutjob with no family. Nobody will ever search for you. It will be easy to get rid of your corpse. So, any last words, hoody?'

Before Marik can respond or react in any other way, a voice is heard: 'You never asked me whether I had any last words to say. How rude of you!'

The Big Five gasp and turn around. Mokuba! And he's now wearing a mysterious, golden artifact!

Leichter is so shocked that he accidentally drops his gun. 'C-can't be,' he yells. 'You were supposed to have been trapped in the virtual world forever.'

'True. Mokuba is trapped in the virtual world forever indeed,' Yami Mokuba smiles. 'But I'm not him. And now, before I send you into oblivion, I want to thank you for ridding me of the annoying soul that originally resided this body. Now go to Hell!'

The boy places his hands on the ring, which glows once more. The next moment, all five businessmen drop unconscious.

'Enjoy your eternal stay in the Shadow Realm!' Yami Mokuba cries and laughs like a madman.

Eventually, he remembers the other man in the chamber, the one that has a Millenium Item.

Marik and Yami Mokuba exchange suspicious looks.

'Who are you?' Marik asks.

'I could ask you the same thing,' Yami Mokuba replies.