There is a commotion on the ground floor of the building. A crowd is gathered around the three corpses. Three people that seemingly fell from the heavens! Two men dressed in black cloaks and a voluptuous, blonde woman.

The hall is resonating with whispers. Who are those three persons? How exactly did they end up here? Where the hell did they fall from? Well, in any case, it seems that all three of them are now dead.

A cry louder than any other cry currently heard in the hall causes everyone to turn their eyes to the newcomer, a boy with multicolored hair in a unique hairstyle; he is descending the stairs, 2-3 at a time!

'MAI!' Yugi cries, frantically looking around.

'Do you know them, kid?' a nameless man asks the duelist, pointing first towards Lumis and Umbra (whose corpses are lying next to each other, with a pool of blood around them) then towards Mai (whose body is floating in a fountain).

Yugi gasps. The fact that Mai fell into the water by no means gives him hope; in case you don't know, falling into water from such a height is as harmful as falling on concrete!

'Mai...' the boy who became the Duel King in another timeline whispers, with his eyes widening.

'I don't know about her, but the two dudes are dead,' the nameless man continues. 'One of them was still alive a moment ago and he mumbled something like god dammit Nappa...'

'I don't care about those bastards!' Yugi snaps, shoving the startled man aside and running over to Mai.

Without caring whether his clothes get drenched, Yugi gets into the fountain, with a loud splash that causes many more people to turn their heads to him. 'Mai, say something!' he cries, with his eyes full of tears, shaking the woman's body, although he knows full well that she's definitely dead.

Wait, did I say 'definitely dead'? Spoke too soon!

Mai opens her eyes, albeit weakly. With a groan, she turns them to Yugi. 'Something,' she says in a raspy voice, finding the strength to be sarcastic for all she has gone through.

Yugi's eyes bulge in pleasant shock. His eyes fill with tears anew, except that, this time, they are tears of joy. 'Mai!' he screams and hugs the still weak woman in the water.

'Yeah, I'm still alive, honey,' the female duelist chuckles, managing to stand on her feet. 'At least until you drown me in here!'


Yami Mokuba is pacing the room, with Marik casually sitting on the floor with his back resting against the wall.

The blond man caresses his Millennium Rod, seemingly without a care in the world. The possessed preteen boy is still pacing the room.

'Once more, we failed,' Mokuba sighs, with his arms behind his back. And, punching the wall in frustration, he repeats what he just said, in a much louder voice this time, 'WE FUCKING FAILED!'

He feels the pain in his knuckles. Darn. At such times, he misses the days he shared his bodies with their original owners. Back then, he could punch a wall, then go back into the Millennium Ring and let the original owner of the body resurface and voila... the physical pain became his host's problem!

Rubbing his aching knuckles with the other hand, the boy turns to Marik, who slowly stands up. Mokuba growls; his partner's nonchalance is exasperating.

'You see, that's our difference, partner,' Marik chuckles, as if he had read Mokuba's last thought. 'After a failure, you just wail like a crybaby, whereas I forget about it and move to the next plan. Because, as opposed to you, I am always one step ahead of my failures. I always have my next plan prepared in advance.'

'And what is your next plan?' Mokuba sighs, crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the floor.

Instead of verbally responding, Marik causes a vision to appear right above the Millennium Rod. A blond duelist is walking on the Battle City streets. Joey Wheeler!

'So, we kidnap that bozo?' Mokuba wonders, still not sure what his partner is getting at.

'As I said, I am always one step ahead, partner,' Marik chuckles, with the vision above the rod disappearing. 'I have already sent my men after him. I will join them soon. But first, I want to say something to the Pharaoh!'

And, with those words, Marik starts controlling Lumises dead body, causing it to stand up.


'But... how... how did this miracle happen?' an elated Yugi asks Mai as the two of them are exiting the water.

The drenched woman places a finger on her chin. 'I'm not sure,' she answers, pensive. 'While I was falling, I really believed that I was going to die. And then, at some point, time seemed to be slowing down. I was falling really slowly. It was as if...'

Mai makes a pause, trying to find a way to properly word what she's going to say next. Some people nearby approach. They comment that maybe she's injured. That maybe she has internal injuries. They suggest that she stays here until an ambulance arrives. Both Mai and Yugi ignore the aforementioned people.

Finally, the woman carries on, 'It was as if I was floating!'

Yugi is staring at her in awe.

'During that time, I saw a woman floating next to me,' Mai says. 'Or should I say a young girl. A young, teenage girl. She was dressed in rags, but she was beautiful...'

At this point, Mai realizes how she worded that last sentence, takes a gag expression of embarrassment and turns her eyes to Yugi. 'Umm, no lesbo, by the way,' she feels the need to make clear.

'I know, Mai,' Yugi chuckles, as the two of them are walking towards the exit of the building. 'Tell me about that woman.'

Mai regains her serious expression and, staring into space, she carries on as she walks, 'She was beautiful in a way that seemed out of this world. At first sight, her hair was white as that of an aged woman. Actually, though, her hair was a rare silver color. And her blue, piercing eyes...'

Mai stops again, not sure how to continue.

'Did she say anything to you, Mai?' Yugi prompts her to try to remember.

The female duelist places her finger on her lips. 'I think she was like, worry not, Mai, I shall not allow you to die. And then, she told me something about how defeating you at the Duelist Kingdom made me a piece of destiny, how I am needed for the salvation of the world. And, in the end, she told me her name. I think it was... Kisara.'

'Kisara,' Yugi whispers, baffled. Who or what might she be?

The duo are about to exit the building when a distorted voice causes them to stop in their tracks. 'Don't go yet, pharaoh!'

Yugi and Mai gasp and turn around. Lumis is standing in front of them. His eyes are glowing with a yellow light.

The people around are running and screaming in terror, believing that he's a zombie.

'Marik!' Yugi cries angrily, clenching a fist. 'When I get my hands on you, I will...'

'Not yet, pharaoh,' Marik makes the dead body he's controlling chuckle. 'The time isn't right yet. For the time being, you want to rescue your friends, Tea and Joey, don't you?'

'Yes, I do,' Yugi yells, with his fist still clenched. 'And I will... wait, did you say Tea and Joey? Have you kidnapped Joey too, bastard?'

'Affirmative,' Marik chuckles through the dead body. 'If you want to see them again, you will find them at the port.'

And, with those words, Marik lets the corpse that has outlived its usefulness fall on the floor with a thud.

Yugi turns to his partner. 'Mai, we need to go to the port. NOW!'

An alert Mai nods. Nevertheless, she walks over to Lumises corpse. To Yugi's surprise, she crouches and takes two locator cards from the dead duelist. 'These are for you, Yugi,' she holds out her hand, with a solemn expression. 'No matter how sadistic and sickening that duel was, it was still a Battle City duel. It would be a shame if you didn't get the locator cards you deserve, especially since you need only two more to qualify for the finals.'

Yugi sighs. Not in the mood to argue with Mai about how he doesn't care about the tournament before he makes sure his friends are okay, he does her a favor and takes the locator cards.

Next, the two of them run out of the building.


Joey is walking on the street, with his hands behind his head and a bored expression on his handsome face.

He notices that the streets are not as crowded as they used to be. It seems that, by now, most duelists are out of the running, so they have gone home or something. Perhaps the eight people that will participate in the finals have already been decided.

Joey wonders who they might be. Well, he is one of them, that much he knows, since he is holding six locator cards in his hands!

And he bets his pal, Yugi, and that annoying woman, Mai, will definitely make it to the finals too. Joey can't wait to fight either of them!

And that Rebecca brat must already be in the finals too; as much as Joey dislikes her, he has to inwardly admit she has what it takes to qualify.

That makes four duelists. But who can the other four be?

Before he can further think about it, the blond boy hears a voice. 'You look troubled, lad. Perhaps you wish me to tell you your fortune.'

Joey turns and sees a fortune telling counter in front of a dark alley. The person sitting at the counter is dressed in a black cloak with a hood the shadow of which is totally concealing his face.

'Umm...' Joey scratches his head, undecided.

'Don't worry, lad,' the mysterious person encourages him. 'It's free of charge!'

Joey's expression becomes suspicious. Free of charge? Ok, definitely, something feels wrong here!

'Umm, no thanks, dude... or chick! I'm not interested.'

The blond duelist is about to turn around and run away. That moment, though, he realizes that he's surrounded by many more men, all of whom are dressed in black cloaks concealing their faces. Like those guys that attacked him and took his Red Eyes Black Dragon the other day. Can they be... (gulp)... Rare Hunters?

'I'm afraid, you have no choice, lad,' the man sitting at the counter chuckles.

Joey sighs, trying to hide his unease. Fine, let us play their game.

The blond teenager sits in front of the counter.

'Let's see,' the mysterious man drawls, speaking slowly for the sake of drama. 'I can see... I can see...'

'Just get it over with, dude,' Joey rolls his eyes.

'I can see frustration in your heart, lad,' the mysterious man continues. 'You try to be haughty, but you always end up ridiculing yourself. And you hate it!'

Joey now seems taken aback. What the... can this freak be a real psychic?

'A part of you genuinely stands by your friends' side. A part of you will always protect them.'

A solemn Joey nods.

'But!' the mysterious man raises a finger. 'Another part of you hates them!'

Joey gasps, with his eyes widening.

'Don't close your eyes to this part of yourself, lad,' the mysterious man continues. 'You were always jealous of Yugi. And Mai. I mean, you beat her at the Duelist Kingdom, and yet she was the one that won the tournament, whereas you became a laughing stock because those stubborn referees disqualified you for the sake of a stupid bureaucratic rule. Who can blame you for hating them? Those people are more successful than you without deserving it. People you know you could have defeated if you had been given the chance. I, too, would hate them. Anyone would hate them in your shoes.'

Joey lowers his eyes. Darn, everything in his head is so confused. His eyes back to the fortune teller. 'What do you want, dude?' he asks, with a grim expression.

'I am your friend, Joey,' the man caresses a golden artifact that he has just produced. 'I want to help you. Let me help you.'

The man removes his hood, revealing his blond hair and sinister eyes. 'Together, we will put those mean people in their place, Joey. Together, we will get back your dignity, your pride, your honor.'

Joey is gaping at the blond man. Is he right? Is it possible that a part of him, albeit a little part of him... hates his friends? Oh, gosh, he hates th... The next thing Joey knows, Marik's rod glows with a yellow light.


Yugi and Mai arrive at the port. Joey is standing there, as if he has been waiting for them. His eyes are lowered.

'Joey!' Yugi exclaims happily. 'Thank God, you are okay!'

Joey raises his eyes. The expression in them is ominous. 'I'm no longer Joey, pharaoh,' he declares in a distorted voice.