Cairo sighs as she puts away her wand. Another soul has been returned to the Shadow Realm. The souls that she has been coming across recently have been easy to send back. They are the weaker of the bunch. She wonders if there are any more stronger souls out there that she has to worry about.
"As long as they don't get in touch with this Dartz guy I should be fine," she says, thinking back to Nubia and Hasani. Then it hits her. Hasani hasn't been captured yet. He was able to escape when she managed to get him out of her body when he tried to possess her. "Well that's just great. And I don't even know who or what he'll possess next." She slaps her forehead and groans, sliding her hand down her face.
Ebo, who is standing in front of her, meows and she looks down at him. His eyes are fixated on the sky and she follows his gaze. A rainbow pattern shines in the air. "Normally such things would be deemed beautiful. But with everything going on, I suspect it has something to do with this beast everyone has been talking about."
A private airplane with the initials "KC" fly overhead, descending quickly, almost as if it's out of control and Cairo arches an eyebrow.
In another area, Téa and Yami are witnessing the same exact thing. "Pharaoh look!" Téa yells, pointing at the plane.
"Is that Kaiba's?" Yami asks, watching fearfully as the plane begins to nosedive toward the ground.
"Oh no! It's gonna crash!"
Meow.
They both turn around and see Ebo sitting there licking his paws and washing his face. Téa looks at the cat questionably. "If you're here then that means…" A sudden gust of wind blows and they both shield their faces as Cairo whooshes past them, flying into the sky toward the plane.
Yami looks up and gasps in realization. "Cairo!"
From inside the plane, Kaiba sits in the cockpit, trying to land the plane safely. But his attempts are failing and panic starts to set in. It all started when he and his brother were ambushed by Allister who had taken over the plane. He challenged Kaiba to a rematch, but ultimately lost his soul against Kaiba's legendary card. Moments after the duel, the plane started to lose control.
"No…this can't be how it ends," he says between clenched teeth. He gasps when he sees a little girl at a further distance, floating in front of the nose of the plan with her arms outstretched and her hands out. "What the—?" He grunts as the plane makes impact with her hands. Although she has caught them, the plane continues to go in a downward spiral as she attempts to slow them down.
Mokuba joins his brother in the cockpit. "It's that girl we saw at Pegasus' headquarters!" he exclaims.
Cairo glances back, seeing the ground quickly approaching and she grits her teeth, pushing against the nose of the plane to slow it down. "A little heavier than I expected," she says with a grin. And on top of that, her stomach begins to growl. She didn't get to eat all her free food at that town where she won the arm wrestling contest. She groans. "Not now, tummy."
She closes her eyes before opening them, revealing her glowing purple eyes as she kicks her strength up a notch. She manages to slow the plane down just enough as her feet hit the ground, sliding back a hundred feet until they finally come to a complete stop.
"She did it!" Téa exclaims.
"Now there's something you don't see everyday," comes a familiar voice. Yami and Téa look to their right to see none other than Joey and Tristan standing at a distance.
"Joey! Tristan!" Téa calls out.
Joey and Tristan turn at the sound of their names being called. "Eh? It's Téa and Yugi!"
The door to the airplane opens, revealing Mokuba and Kaiba carrying Allister. "Oh great, the dweebs are here," Kaiba says with dread when he sees the pharaoh and the others waiting for him on the ground. He jumps down and places Allister on the dirt.
"Whoa. Did you guys duel on top of a moving plane?" Joey asks with shock.
"Maybe I did," Seto says. "Don't you geeks have someone else to annoy?"
"Kaiba, we can't do this without you and you know it," Yami says. "So please. Accept your destiny and help us stop this evil."
"If I had a dime for every time you've used the word destiny, I'd be even richer."
Mokuba looks over and sees Cairo walking from the front of the plane, dusting off her hands and clothes. "It's you!" Mokuba says, running up to her. "Thank you for saving us."
"Anytime," she replies, cracking a smile.
"You've come back!" Téa says as the rest of the group except Kaiba join her and Mokuba.
"You guys really can't stay out of trouble, can you," Cairo says. She had intended on not involving herself on matters revolving around the Orichalcos, but they were making it extremely difficult not to.
"Trouble is kinda our thing," Joey jokes, placing a hand behind his head. "So does that mean you'll stick around?"
Cairo hums, looking up with thought and folding her arms. Mokuba's phone rings before she can give an answer and he places it up to his ear.
"Hello…Yes…What?! How is that possible?"
"What is it Mokuba?" Seto asks.
"Dartz brought every single share of Kaiba Corp," he informs his brother to everyone's shock.
"What?!"
"The only way I think they were able to do it is by hacking into our accounts. But how'd they get past our security systems?"
"We're obviously dealing with someone powerful."
"What now?" Tristan asks.
"We need to get to the museum and decipher those ruins," Yami replies.
"My research team is already there," Kaiba tells them. "And they should be forwarding me images any moment now."
"So you made sure your team got there before Dartz did."
"What did you expect? Come on you guys. You know my brother is always one step ahead of everyone," Mokuba brags as Kaiba pulls out his laptop and types up a few things. The images finally come through, but the quality isn't all that good.
"I guess this is the best they could get," Kaiba says before smirking. "No matter. We'll just have to pay a visit to Kaiba Corp."
"Are you serious?" Téa says. "Dartz probably has a trap waiting for you there. Would it be a good idea to go?"
"The only way we can process these images fast enough is by using the technology that only Kaiba Corp has. So we have no choice."
Yami nods in agreement. "Kaiba's right."
"Okay, so now that that's settled, who's all going?" Joey asks.
"Kaiba and I will go," Yami replies before setting his eyes on Cairo. He walks over to her and she looks up at him. "Can you transport the others back with the Professor, Duke and Rebecca?" She nods and flings her wrist, causing a light portal to appear beside them.
"Holy cow," Mokuba says, amazed by everything that Cairo is capable of.
"Once they step inside, they will be teleported to them," she says.
"Well you heard the girl. Let's go!" Joey yells.
"Be careful you guys," Téa says.
Once they leave, Cairo makes another portal appear. This one will take the pharaoh and Kaiba directly to their destination as well. Yami gets down on one knee. "Thank you Cairo. What will you do?"
She looks away. "Well…" she starts off, not quite knowing the answer herself. She feels so conflicted. She knows what she should be doing, but her heart is telling her to stick around and help out however she can. Yami waits patiently for her to respond, although Kaiba is doing otherwise. He steps into the portal without a second thought, leaving the both of them behind.
"I just don't know…"
"I know what Tristan said is still bothering you." She quickly looks at him. How does he know that? "But I trust you. And so does Téa and Joey and Duke. Tristan will come around."
"You…trust me?"
"Of course," he replies, a smile forming on his lips. "I may not remember every single little thing about our past, but your present actions tell me that you want to do good in the world. And before the darkness took over all those years ago, you wanted to do the same."
Cairo's eyes widen and her heart drops. She takes in a deep breath to keep herself from getting emotional. It means the world to her that he sees her as good in his eyes. "Thank you." Is all she manages to say to keep things short. She knows he has important things to do. "You should go. I'll go be with the others in the mean time."
"Cairo…" She nods with a smile.
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Kaiba and Yami run down a tunnel they accessed by gong down a manhole. It is lit by dim lights on either side of them and there is an elevator door up ahead.
"Where are we going, Kaiba?" Yami asks in between breaths.
"We're taking a shortcut. It's an underground passage to my central computer designed for emergencies," he replies as they finally reach the elevator doors. He takes a card out of his pocket and swipes it to open them. "Now if Dartz's brute squad is guarding the area, they'll never see us go inside." The elevator heads up and all Kaiba can think about is how Dartz was able to take control of his company. He vows that Dartz will not get away with making a mockery out of him.
A huge thump that comes from the top of the elevator causes it to stop and the lights within it to turn off. "Who's there?" Yami yells as they both look up.
"I don't want to stick around to find out." Kaiba uses the duel disk on his wrist to jam into the buttons in the elevator and they both manually open the doors. They aren't expecting to see a room full of duel monsters, all of them having the Seal of Orichalcos on their foreheads.
"Kaiba. You realize these monsters aren't holograms, don't you?"
"If you're suggesting that we're surrounded by real monsters, you're as insane as the lunatics that took over Kaiba Corp!" Kaiba shoots back in denial. "These things can't be real!"
"They are. Believe me. Somehow a doorway has been opened up and monsters for a parallel universe have entered into our world," Yami explains before smirking. "Unless you have a better explanation."
"I think you're nuts. But this is no time to argue."
They rush down the hall, preparing their duel disks to defend themselves against the monsters. "I call forth my Celtic Guardian!" Yami summons and his monster equipped with a sword appears.
"Go Vorse Raider!" Kaiba yells and his monster along with the pharaoh's hold up the evil monsters in just enough time for Kaiba to swipe his card at a nearby door and they enter safely inside. Or so they thought. The next room has two Orichalcos Soldiers guarding the entrance to Kaiba's computer. They both stop in their tracks and Kaiba grits his teeth. "We don't have time for this!"
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Back at the trailer, Rebecca types away at her computer. After being in contact with Kaiba and the pharaoh regarding their plants to go to Kaiba Corp, she has been on standby to receive the images. Joey, Cairo and Mokuba stand in a huddle behind her while Téa and Tristan are elsewhere, attempting to get help from the police regarding the Orichalcos.
"Come on, what's taking them so long?" Joey asks, getting impatient.
"I hope they were able to get to my brother's computer okay," Mokuba says with concern.
A message comes up on Rebecca's laptop and she clicks on it. The images and information that they have been waiting for have finally come in. "I guess they were able to make it there after all," Rebecca says and she delves deeper into the images. A symbol pops up on her screen. "Hmm…let's see. That symbol looks really familiar."
Mokuba looks closely and gasps in realization. "I've seen that before too! My brother has told me of this company called Paradias. It's a secret financial organization. No one's ever seen them, but rumor has it they control a small piece of every company in the world."
In the lab, Kaiba slams his fist down on the desk. "No! It is them!" he yells after seeing the symbol on his screen. "You don't know what we're up against. The President of Paradias is Dartz!" An image of Dartz wearing a purple suit appears on the screen and Yami narrows his eyes.
"That's him…"
Joey crouches down next to Rebecca. Finally they have more information on this Dartz person and Joey is determined to make him and his henchmen pay for all the pain he's caused. "Quick Rebecca. While you still have it up. Where is the location of Paradias headquarters?"
"Let's see," Rebecca says and she types in a few things before the address comes up on her screen. "Got it!"
"Here I come you creeps!" Joey yells and he runs toward the door and places his hand on the knob.
"Joey wait," Cairo says. "Would it be wise to charge in there without a plan?"
"Oh I've got a plan alright. And that's beating their sorry butts!" And with that he runs out, slamming the door behind him.
As he runs down the street, Valon watches him from on top of one of the building's roofs and he readies his duel disk. "Time to show Joey Wheeler who's boss."
Cairo drops her head. "Well I tried," she sighs.
"Joey's been known to rush head first into things without thinking," Rebecca says, shaking her head.
Meanwhile, Téa and Tristan run back in the direction of the trailer. After trying to inform the police as to what is happening, it turns out that they have been under Dartz's spell, sporting the Orichalcos seal on their foreheads. That's when they made a run for it.
"We have to tell the others," Téa pants as they stop off at a safer distance.
Before Tristan can respond, he sees Joey rushing off in the opposite direction where they're going. "Hey Joey!" Tristan calls out. "Where are you going?" But his friend doesn't answer and Tristan groans. "I'm gonna see if I can catch up with him. Téa, you head back to the trailer and let everyone know what's going on."
"Right," Téa says. "Be careful."
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Cairo sits crossed legged on the bench next to Rebecca, watching with fascination as she types on her computer. Before coming here, Cairo has never seen one before in her life. Mokuba sits across from them with his eyebrow raised. Being around computers and technology is something he is very accustomed too. It is a huge part of his life. So the fact that Cairo is wowed by just a laptop confuses him.
"Sheesh Cairo," he says. "You act as if you've never seen a computer before."
"I have not," she replies, lifting her finger to tap her chin. "We didn't have such technology growing up."
"Eh? What do you mean? You look to be around our age,"
"Don't let looks deceive you, Mokuba," Rebecca cuts in, not breaking any eye contact with her screen. "She may look young, but she's actually close to 5,000 years old."
Mokuba blinks a few times and his mouth goes agape. "Wait, what? That's not possible."
"So is a little girl saving a plane from crashing with her bare hands."
"Touché."
Cairo hovers over one of the buttons on the computer. "What does this do?" she asks innocently, pressing down the button with a music icon on it. The music blares over the computer speakers, causing them all to cover their ears with clenched teeth. Rebecca clicks the mute button and sighs in relief.
At the same time, Yami and Kaiba step into the trailer and Mokuba smiles. "You made it!" He jumps out of his seat to approach his older brother. "We were worried about you guys for a second there."
"We're fine," Kaiba assures him. "And now that we know who we're up against, it time to crash their little party."
"Well we better get there quick," Rebecca says. "Joey went up to their headquarters on his own."
"We have to get there before he does," Yami says.
"He better not do anything stupid," Kaiba growls in annoyance.
The next person to step in the trailer is Téa who tries to catch her breath after running all the way back. "Bad news guys. Dartz has gotten control over the police too, so we're on our own."
"Wait, where's Tristan?" Rebecca asks. "Wasn't he with you?"
"He saw Joey and ran after him," Téa tells them. "I'm not sure if he was able to catch up to him or not."
Cairo looks out of the nearby window, a bad feeling overcoming her. It isn't safe for Tristan to be out there on his own. As much as he has said bad things about her and accused of her being evil, she still can't help but be concerned. She gets up and walks over to the door. "I'm going to look for him."
"Cairo, it's not safe," Yami says walking up to her. "I can't risk anyone else putting their lives in danger."
"But it's even more dangerous for Tristan," she points out.
"I hate to say it, but she has a point," Téa says.
"Trust me," she says, looking up to him.
"Promise me you'll be careful," Yami says and she nods before running out.
"Sounds like we need to get a move on then," Duke says, coming out of another room and overhearing the conversation. "I'll drive."
In another part of the city, Tristan leans up against a light post, wiping the sweat off his forehead. A failed attempt to follow Joey has left him exhausted. He doesn't know where his best friend is headed to, but from the glimpse he saw of him, Joey looked determined. He sits down on the sidewalk and sighs, not knowing where to go from here. "I think I'm lost," he says to himself.
He hears a growl coming from behind him and he cringes, slowly turning around until he is face to face with an Orichalcos soldier.
"OH NO!"
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There's a picture of Cairo on the story's cover now! I just did a quick doodle, but at least after all these years, you know what she looks like now lol. Let me know what you think and leave a review!
