And so, the duelists got on board and the KaibaCorp aircraft took off.

'Wow, this room is groovy,' Duke Devlin comments, looking around in awe.

'Heh, duelists like me, duelists who have qualified for the quarter finals of one of the biggest tournaments in the world, deserve only the best,' Joey brags.

'Even though I believe you got so far only due to dumb luck,' Tristan teases him, 'I agree with Duke. This room is awesome!'

Joey's male besty starts bouncing on the king size bed while Tea makes herself comfortable in a swivel chair.

'Get out, guys,' Joey yells angrily. 'This is my room.'

Still playing with the swivel chair, Tea sticks out her tongue. 'And where are we supposed to sleep, Mister Know-It-All?' she rhetorically asks.

'Neither know nor care,' Joey keeps yelling, pointing towards the door. 'You shouldn't even be in this airship to begin with. Besides, I need to concentrate and mentally prepare myself for my next duel.'

Tristan jumps off the bed. 'Is this really the reason you want us out?' he asks meaningfully. 'Or do you and Duke want to be left alone so that... you know... bow chicka wow wow...'

Tea giggles. Joey blushes.

'Why don't you go to disturb someone else?' he asks. 'Yugi, for example. He, too, has a room at his disposal.'

'We can't do that, Joey,' Tristan gasps sarcastically, with his palm on his chest. 'Yugi needs to concentrate and mentally prepare himself for his next duel.'

'So do I,' Joey sighs.

'Except that, as opposed to you, Yugi actually has a chance of winning this tournament,' Tea winks with a teasing smile.

Joey growls.

'Personally,' Duke interjects, 'I think Mai is the favorite. At my shop's grand opening, I played a dungeon dice monsters game against her. And even though she lost, she played impressively well, considering it was her first time playing that game. I'm telling you, that chick has got natural gaming instincts! Furthermore, let's not forget that she's the reigning Duel Queen.'

Joey's angry expression is replaced by a calm but serious one. 'Speaking of Mai, I think I should pay her a visit. Let's go find her room.'


The janitor's closet. Yes, even in the KaibaCorp's aircraft, there is a janitor's closet! There is a janitor's closet everywhere in the world!

This is where Rex and Weevil are trying to make themselves comfortable right now. The only place in this ship where they are sure nobody will find them.

Wait, what about the janitor?

Come on, have you ever seen a janitor? I said there is a janitor's closet everywhere in the world. I didn't say there is a janitor as well!

With their coat tossed nearby, they are sitting on the floor... umm, not really doing anything. Just waiting.

This is going to be a long, tedious and uncomfortable night. But it's so worth it. Because tomorrow, they are beginning a brand new, vastly improved life!


Joey knocks on the door of Mai's room.

While waiting for the woman to open, the blond duelist is lost in thought. Why is he here? The hell he knows!

Come to think of it, he never got to apologize to Mai for that sadistic duel he played against her the other day, when he was brainwashed by that Marik creep. But is this really the only reason he has just knocked on her door?

Is he really over her? Aargh, everything is so confused in his head right now!

In any case, Mai opens. The two duelists exchange serious looks.

'Hi, Mai,' Joey breaks the silence, raising a hand.

'Yeah, hi,' Mai replies. She does not look surprised to see him or anything. On the contrary. She looks as if she has been expecting him.

More silence.

'Umm, look,' Joey awkwardly strokes his nape. 'I want to apologize for what I did when I was under Marik's control...'

'It's ok, Wheeler,' the woman sighs. 'I may not be fond of you (she's lying!), but that doesn't mean I'm gonna hold you responsible for something that was obviously not your fault.'

A smile forms on Joey's face, slowly and tentatively. 'Oh... so... are we cool?'

'Yeah,' Mai answers indifferently. 'I mean, as cool as we were before that incident, which, come to think of it, is not that cool...'

'You could've just said yes,' Joey yells with a gag expression of anger.

Mai giggles. Next, she gets serious again. 'Joey, listen. I think we both know that what we started when we dueled at the Duelist Kingdom is not resolved yet. That sadistic, sickening duel did not mean shit. Sooner or later, maybe in this tournament, we shall face each other again, in a real duel, for the first time since the Duelist Kingdom. And then, we will determine which one is truly the better duelist of the two of us.'

'Which is me of course,' Joey boasts, pointing at himself.

'Dream on,' Mai disagrees.

Joey is about to retort, but Mai interrupts him, 'Anyway, don't sweat it, Wheeler. Come in. I've got a surprise for you.'

'Really? I love surprises,' Joey squeals, forgetting about his recent, earnest self for a moment and going back to the comic relief character he used to be.

The male duelist enters the room. Mai gestures towards a tan skinned woman dressed in an archaic outfit.

'Joey, this is a good friend of mine, Ishizu.'

'Hello,' the other girl places her palm on her chest and shyly bows.

'No need for such formalities, Isa,' Joey laughs heartily.

Ishizu blushes with annoyance. Isa! Right away, he gave her the same stupid nickname that Mai calls her by. Those two are like each other a lot more than they think!

'Anyway,' Joey casually turns to Mai. 'Your friend seems a nice person, Mai, but was that the surprise you were talking about?'

'Not at all!' Mai winks with a meaningful smile. And, in a louder voice, she calls out, 'Serenity! Your stupid brother is here! Come out, please.'

And come out she does!

A curtain moves and Joey's sister, who has been hiding behind it so far, walks towards the other three people.

'Serenity,' Joey gasps.

Mai leans towards Ishizu. 'I was sure this was exactly what he would say,' she whispers to the tan skinned woman.

The two females share a laugh.

Serenity looks towards where she believes her brother is standing and smiles at him, though she cannot see him. 'You should thank Ishizu for that,' she explains. 'She is the one who convinced me to come.'

'Huh?' Joey, who was about to hug Serenity, gasps. His eyes to the Egyptian woman. 'But, how? Did you know my sister?'

'No,' Ishizu shakes her head and then proceeds to produce her Millennium Necklace.

Joey gasps. 'This is a Millennium Item,' he cries.

'And you are Captain Obvious,' Mai rolls her eyes.

'I stopped using it some time ago,' Ishizu explains. 'Because it seems that it cannot predict the future accurately anymore. Even so, from time to time, when it has a message for me, it will glow, thus prompting me to put it on once more and listen to it. And its last message was the following: If Serenity attended the Battle City quarter finals, she would regain her eyesight!'

'WHAT?' Joey exclaims. 'But... but how is this possible? The doctors said that...'

For all her timidity, Ishizu dares to interrupt him, 'Look, I don't want to give you too much hope, Joey. As I said, I don't think this thing can predict the future anymore. But you never know...'

'Oh, Serenity,' a sobbing Joey hugs his equally sobbing sister. Now he has one more reason to try his best. So that, when his sister can see him again, she will see him as a winner!


'ATTENTION, DUELISTS,' the voice of a security guard speaking through an installed loudspeaker resonates throughout the airship. 'The lottery that will decide the matchups for the quarter finals shall take place in five minutes, in the main hall. All the participants are requested to be present.'


And so, with the use of a lottery machine, the pairs of the quarter finals were decided.

In the first duel, Mokuba Kaiba will face Robert Schmeichel. As soon as that was announced, Robert went pale. Some people (including Yugi) noticed this, though nobody could explain it.

In the second duel, Marik Ishtar (actually, Odeon!) will face Mai Valentine. Mai turned towards the person whom she believed to be Marik and swore she would make him pay for his crimes. Odeon remained serious and unresponsive.

In the third duel, Yugi Muto will face Joey Wheeler. The two lifelong friends instinctively turned to each other, surprised. Sure they have wanted to face each other in an official duel. They have wanted it for so long. It could have happened at the Duelist Kingdom, had it not been for some unpleasant twists of fate. However, they would rather their fated duel took place later, after they have successfully dealt with Marik and the spirit of the Millennium Ring (wherever the latter is). Anyway, since fate wants them to duel now, both of them promise to do their best.

In the fourth duel, Rebecca Hawkins will face Namu Bliss (actually, Marik!) The unsuspecting preteen girl kindly smiled at the man who brainwashed her a few weeks ago. Marik smiled back.


Everybody is now at the arena on the top of the aircraft. The first duel is about to begin. Mokuba Kaiba versus Robert Schmeichel. Robert Schmeichel versus Mokuba Kaiba.

The two duelists are standing on the arena, across from each other, with their respective duel disks ready for battle.

Mokuba has a determined smile on his face. He can't wait to find out how good this blond guy is.

Robert seems inexplicably upset, as if he's about to faint!

Next to the arena, the spectators are watching. Yugi (currently in his Yami form) has his arms crossed and an alert expression on his face. So, is Mokuba possessed by the spirit of the Millennium Ring or not? Will he pull any 'Shadow Realm' stunts in this duel or not? Well, we're about to find out.

Robert turns his eyes towards the audience. He spots Seto Kaiba. The brown haired tycoon is not his usual, collected self. He seems as upset as his blond partner, maybe even more.

'Seto... do you really want me to do this?' Robert asks.

'I... (gulp)... I don't know,' Kaiba answers, with a lost expression.

'Hey, are you deaf, man?' Mokuba's voice brings his opponent back to reality. 'The referee has just tossed the coin and it has been decided that you will go first. So quit stalling and play your cards.'

Robert gapes at the annoyed Mokuba. 'I-I'm sorry,' he stutters. 'I quit.'

'WHAT?' everyone in the stands cries.

Mokuba raises an eyebrow. Sure he's glad he has qualified for the semi finals so easily, but, seriously... what the hell just happened?

Before anyone can ask him anything, Robert walks away, back to his room.


Robert is back in his room. He collapses on the bed and burst into tears. Kaiba, who has followed him, is standing next to him, shaking his head in despair.

'Fighting Mokuba... fighting my own brother...' the former tycoon mumbles. 'This is the only thing I cannot do.'

'And neither can I,' Robert stands up, running his fingers through his hair. 'Because you and I, Seto Kaiba, are the same person!'

Kaiba is no longer here. He never was. He was just a hallucination. Robert Schmeichel is Seto Kaiba!

When he went missing and left everything behind, with the money he had kept for himself, he had a plastic surgery. And transformed himself into Robert Schmeichel!

Seto and Robert are literally the same person. Either they win together or they lose together. Either they survive together or they die together.

And now that they have failed to win this tournament, now that they have failed to be strong, to prove their worth, to get back their brother's love, they no longer have a reason to live!


Hello, fellows.

Unfortunately, a few days ago, something unexpected and unpleasant happened in my life. Because of that, for the next several months (at least), I will neither have the time nor be in the right state of mind to update this fanfic.

Since I had already begun writing this chapter when that unfortunate event happened in my life, I pressed myself to finish this chapter, because I didn't want to deprive you any longer of that revelation about Kaiba and Robert. But, as of now, the story goes on hiatus.

So, since I won't see you again for a long time, Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.