It was Christmas Eve, and a blond-haired Joey Wheeler was sitting at
his desk at his new job, frantically counting money. The snow was falling
in the icy wind outside, and the draft began to enter through cracks in the
window. Joey sneezed.
"Get back to work!" his boss, who was also counting money, yelled.
"Y-yes, Kaiba," Joey said, quickly rubbing his hands together and grimacing. "But can I have a little heat here? I'm freezin.'"
Kaiba looked at Joey. "If you work faster, then you wouldn't be cold, you idiot!" He got back to counting the stacks of bills on his desk.
"Big brother, can we go home now?" a little voice said from behind him. It was Kaiba's little brother, Mokuba. "I'm hungry."
"No, Mokuba. There's a lot of work to be done," Kaiba said, not looking at him at all. Mokuba retreated.
All of the other Kaiba Corporation employees had gone home, but Joey remained because he was making up the hours that he had spent in school. He needed the money because his little sister, Serenity, had been born with bad eyes, and the time had come when it would soon be impossible to repair her eyes, even WITH surgery. He had won three million dollars at the Duelist Kingdom, but the price of the surgery went up suddenly when one of the few specialists in the world that could perform the surgery had died.
Finally, when the late afternoon died into the night, Joey was finally able to go home.
"You probably want to take the day off tomorrow," scoffed Kaiba. "Go ahead, but this is no paid vacation time or anyting. And you have to be here the next day - 8:00 sharp!" He jabbed his finger into Joey's chest. "If you're late, I will take the first shot at firing you, you hear me?"
Joey put on his scarf and hat. "Yes, Kaiba," he said sadly. He left and disappeared in the blizzard.
* * *
That night, Kaiba was about to open the door to his mansion, when, all of a sudden, the face on the door knocker started talking to him!
"Seto Kaiba . . ." the door knocker said.
Kaiba jerked away. "Ah?" His eyes widened.
"What's wrong, Seto?" asked Mokuba, tugging at his brother's trenchcoat.
The door knocker went back to normal. "Nothing." He opened the door, and the two Kaiba brothers walked in.
* * *
"You are to have the porridge that the servants left us and then go to bed," Kaiba instructed his little brother. (The servants had all went to their respective homes to spend Christmas with their families, much to Kaiba's dismay.)
"But Seto," Mokuba protested. "It's Christmas. Can't we have something a little better?"
Kaiba slid a bowl of porridge across the table to his brother and looked away.
A few minutes passed, and Mokuba had gone to bed for the night. Kaiba was sitting on a recliner in the lounge of his mansion. He was all alone, and the room showed no signs of the upcoming holiday - no tree, presents . . . anything.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang . . . and the telephone rang . . . and the lights flickered on and off.
"What is going on here?!" Kaiba shouted. "I must be going crazy. That porridge!" He decided to go upstairs and go to bed as well.
* * *
When he got into his bed, Kaiba suddenly heard the sound of chains. Clearly, something was headed towards his room. Thinking it was Mokuba, Kaiba began to yell.
"I told you to go to bed!" Kaiba shouted, sitting up in his bed.
But the door never opened. Instead, the chain noise began to sound as though it was coming from somewhere inside the room!
"W-Who's there?!" Kaiba exclaimed.
"I am a spirit from the past," a deep voice said.
"What the -" Kaiba looked around and finally saw a transparent being standing near his dresser. The being was a slightly short, skinny, mysterious fellow with magenta, yellow, and black spiky hair. He had serious, almost evil, eyes. "Yugi!"
The spirit shook his head. "I am not Yugi Moto."
"If you're not Yugi, then who are you?!" Kaiba asked the spirit.
The spirit shook his chains, which had the Millennium Puzzle hanging off one of its ends. "Don't worry about that. You SHOULD be worrying about what will soon come upon you."
"W-what do you mean?"
"During the course of this night, three spirits will be paying you a little visit, Kaiba," the spirit explained. "Expect the first one at about one o' clock." He laughed a little and then disappeared.
"Wait!" Kaiba yelled, but it was too late. The room was once again empty. Thinking that it was just a figment of his imagination, Kaiba went to sleep.
* * *
The clock struck one, and Kaiba wearily looked around, still half- asleep. He didn't see anything.
"So it WAS just an empty threat!" Kaiba said in relief.
But suddenly, a spirit appeared in front of him. He looked much like the one that had come before, but this one was shorter and had larger, more innocent-looking eyes.
"Yugi!" Kaiba said.
The spirit nodded. "You're right, this time," the spirit said. "Although I am not QUITE Yugi. I am his spirit when the dark side takes over."
"What?!" Kaiba asked. "Never mind. Leave me alone!!" He drew the covers over his head.
The spirit shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kaiba, but I have come for a very important reason."
Kaiba sat up in his bed and reached for a drawer in his dresser. "You want to duel me, is that it??" He took out his dueling deck. "I've got an arena in the basement. We can -"
The spirit shook his head again. He grabbed Kaiba by his trenchcoat.
"I can't believe you sleep in this thing," the spirit said, with a slight bit of sadness in his voice. "Come on, Kaiba."
The spirit and Kaiba were soon levitating. They ascendended through the window, which Kaiba had left open to allow the cold air to come into his room.
Kaiba's pupils became very small. "What is going on here?" He rubbed his eyes. "Argh!"
The spirit smiled as they flew higher and higher. "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past, Kaiba."
"What are you talking about? There are no such things as ghosts, Yugi!"
The pair began to descend. "I'm gonna show you something from your past."
"But why??"
"Because you have changed over the years, Kaiba," the spirit said. "Look over there." He pointed.
Kaiba looked, and sure enough, he saw the orphanage that he and Mokuba were sent to after their parents died in an accident.
"Ah," Kaiba said. "Why have you taken me here, Yugi? Tell me!"
"Let's go inside," the spirit said, smiling. They passed right through the door, which made Kaiba even more nervous. He saw a shoddy- looking Christmas tree in one corner of the orphanage and two children sitting together at a small table in another.
* * *
Kaiba saw the younger version of himself, smiling, sitting next to his little brother. He took a small package out of his pocket and put it on the table. He pushed it gently to little Mokuba.
Little Mokuba's eyes lit up. "Thank you, big brother!"
"Merry Christmas, Mokuba," the younger Kaiba said, smiling.
Kaiba's little brother slowly opened the package, trying to conserve the wrapping paper and ribbons. Inside was a necklace with a Duel Monsters card hanging off the end.
Mokuba hugged Kaiba. "Wow! This is great!" He put it around his neck. At that point, the younger Kaiba revealed that he was wearing a necklace just like it. "How did you get these?"
Kaiba blushed. "I've been saving that money since before mom and dad died."
"Oh."
Kaiba opened the card at the bottom of the necklace and showed that it was empty. "I know there's nothing inside now, but I'll take care of that soon, little brother."
* * *
The surroundings suddenly changed, and now Kaiba was looking at Kaiba Corporation.
"What now?" Kaiba inquired. The spirit took him inside.
* * *
Kaiba saw a younger version of himself. Next to him was his adoptive father. He was showing Kaiba how to handle stock. Little Kaiba looked overwhelmed.
"Dad, it's Christmas. Can't I go and play?" Kaiba asked his father.
His father got mad. "I can't let you go until you learn to speculate the value of Kaiba Corp.'s stock during an inflationary recession."
Little Kaiba sighed and looked out the window. He saw his little brother playing below in the snow. Then, he turned back to the numbers. "All right, dad." Kaiba suddenly had a determined look on his face.
* * *
"That was when you accepted that you would always put business over love," the spirit said, looking Kaiba in the eye.
Kaiba looked away. "No! I would do anything for Mokuba! I would even put him over my company business!"
* * *
Suddenly, Kaiba was back in his bed. Again, he thought that everything that had previously happened to him was all a dream. But, an hour later, an evil laugh awoke him.
"Who's that?" Kaiba asked, looking around. He saw another spirit near the window. This one looked a lot like the spirit who first came into the room, the one he thought looked like a more serious-looking Yugi.
"Are you ready, Kaiba?" the spirit jeered.
Kaiba sighed. "I know the routine." He got up and walked over to the spirit. Soon, they were flying outside like he had before.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present, Kaiba. And I don't mean Christmas present," the spirit said. "I will be showing you what is happening this Christmas."
"What's the use in that?" Kaiba said.
"You'll see," said the spirit, smiling coyly.
The two landed in front of Joey's house, which looked perfectly mediocre. Two cars were parked outside. They stood in front of the window to see what was going on inside, and they were able to hear everything as well!
* * *
The Wheeler family was gathered around the dining room table. Joey was sitting next to his father. On the other side of the table was his little sister, Serenity, and her mother.
Joey's father stood up. "Before we eat, I'd just like to say that I am glad that we have decided to spend this Christmas together, as a family."
Serenity stood up, but in the process, she knocked over the glass of water in front of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry, mom and dad."
Joey's mother quickly wiped up the water. "It's okay, honey. Go on. What were you going to say?"
Serenity smiled. "I just wanted to thank you and dad for making this one of the best Christmases in a long time for me and Joey." She took extra care in sitting down.
The family began to eat. The dinner looked mediocre, if not a little skimpy. Although Joey normally ate food like a machine, he was being careful as to not eat more than his portion. He actually ate slowly to make sure he didn't finish before everyone else.
Joey's mother had to help Serenity do a few things during the meal, such as spoon her gravy. But all in all, it was a wonderful dinner.
* * *
"What's wrong with that girl?" Kaiba asked the spirit. "Can't she do things on her own? She looks perfectly capable!"
The spirit looked into the window again. "She is slowly going blind. Soon, she won't be able to do ANYTHING without help."
Kaiba looked at the girl through the window. "Isn't there something that Joey the dog can do to stop it?" Kaiba was silent for a moment. He suddenly remembered that Joey had told him about his sister when he hired him. "So THAT'S why he was so desperate for a job!" Kaiba was silent for a long time. "She's going to go blind . . ."
* * *
"Don't worry, Serenity," Joey said to his sister, who was having a little trouble scooping her pudding correctly. "When I finally get enough money from my crummy job with Kaiba the jerk, we'll get your eyes fixed. If I can overcome Duelist Kingdom, I can handle a little work. You'll see."
Joey's mother sounded concerned. "We don't have much time left, son."
* * *
Next thing he knew, Kaiba was lying in his bed again. He opened his eyes and was instantly spooked by a cloaked figure that was floating in front of him.
Kaiba sat up and stood alongside the spirit. "This must mean that you are the Ghost of Christmas Future," he said quietly. The cloaked figure nodded vaguely.
Once again, Kaiba and the latest spirit flew through the air. When they stopped, Kaiba's eyes widened.
"Why have you taken me here?!" Kaiba asked, looking around at the cemetery around him.
The cloaked figure said nothing.
Kaiba bent down before a tombstone and brushed some dust off of it. "According to this tombstone, I'm dead! But this can't be!" He jumped back.
The scene changed around them. They were now in front of the Kaiba mansion.
* * *
"It's almost a shame to see a prominent man like Kaiba die so early," someone said, laying a flower on the doorstep. It was Bakura, from school.
"Yeah," little Yugi said. "Kaiba may have been a creep, but he was pretty much considered the top duelist in the world."
"Kaiba was such a jerk!" Tristan commented, kicking the doorstep. "He never cared about anybody but himself."
"Yeah!" Téa chimed in. "He never helped anyone! And now look what has happened!"
Yugi and Tristan looked sad. "Yeah, poor Joey," Yugi said, looking at the ground.
"Sorry I'm late," Joey said, coming up the road. "But . . . you know."
"Yeah," the other three said. Joey was late because he was with Serenity, who was now totally blind. He was her official caretaker. She had been without her vision for almost half a year now, and it made everyone sad to know that she would never be able to see her brother's face ever again.
"You didn't have to come, buddy," Tristan said. "In fact, you SHOULDN'T have."
"Aw, come on," Joey said. "It's not Kaiba's fault. Just forget about it."
A little voice piped up from behind the gang. "I'm sorry."
"No, Mokuba, it wasn't your fault," Yugi said. He put his hand on the young Kaiba's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Mokuba said quietly. "I HAVE to be okay, because I'm next in line to run Kaiba Corp. I'll try to be a little more considerate than my brother was." He turned to leave, waving goodbye sadly to his only friends.
* * *
"No!" Kaiba exclaimed. "It can't end this way! Tell me, spirit, that this isn't going to be the way life will turn out! The girl went blind! And everyone hates me, even my little brother!! I didn't mean to neglect him!!!!"
The cloaked figure said nothing.
"I'll change! Please! Mokuuubbaaa!" Kaiba yelled.
The cloaked figure suddenly took off his hood, revealing his identity. It was himself, as a priest.
* * *
It was morning. Kaiba woke up with several beads of sweat on his forehead. He went to his window. He saw little Yugi walking through the street. He was on the way to Tristan's house.
"Tell me, Yugi, what day is this?" Kaiba inquired from above.
"Eh?" Yugi said, looking up. "What's gotten into you, Kaiba? It's Christmas Day."
"Oh, good," Kaiba said, breathing a sigh of relief. He quickly ran to his dresser and returned to the window. He threw down a small stack of money. It hit Yugi on the head.
"Ow!" Yugi said, rubbing his head.
"That's for you," Kaiba said, trying to smile. He threw down four more little stacks. "Give those to your little friends."
Yugi picked up the stacks and turned to leave. "Uh, thanks so much, Kaiba." He shrugged and went on his way. He couldn't wait to tell his friends how Kaiba had somehow gone mad.
Kaiba walked joyfully downstairs, where he found Mokuba at the breakfast table, eating porridge left-over from last night.
"Put that away!" Kaiba yelled.
"But I'm hungry," Mokuba said.
"I know," said Kaiba. "We're going out to buy the biggest turkey we can find. And I'm going to try my hand at cooking it!"
Mokuba's eyes lit up.
* * *
The next day, Joey showed up to work almost an hour late.
"Why are you late, Joey Wheeler?!" Kaiba demanded.
Joey looked a little cross. "I know I'm late, Kaiba, and I know you're gonna fire me, so I'm gonna make this easy: I quit." He turned to leave.
"Wait," Kaiba said. "Before you leave Kaiba Corporation, I'd like to give you a little monetary gift. How much do you need?"
"Huh?" said Joey. His eyes lit up.
The End
"Get back to work!" his boss, who was also counting money, yelled.
"Y-yes, Kaiba," Joey said, quickly rubbing his hands together and grimacing. "But can I have a little heat here? I'm freezin.'"
Kaiba looked at Joey. "If you work faster, then you wouldn't be cold, you idiot!" He got back to counting the stacks of bills on his desk.
"Big brother, can we go home now?" a little voice said from behind him. It was Kaiba's little brother, Mokuba. "I'm hungry."
"No, Mokuba. There's a lot of work to be done," Kaiba said, not looking at him at all. Mokuba retreated.
All of the other Kaiba Corporation employees had gone home, but Joey remained because he was making up the hours that he had spent in school. He needed the money because his little sister, Serenity, had been born with bad eyes, and the time had come when it would soon be impossible to repair her eyes, even WITH surgery. He had won three million dollars at the Duelist Kingdom, but the price of the surgery went up suddenly when one of the few specialists in the world that could perform the surgery had died.
Finally, when the late afternoon died into the night, Joey was finally able to go home.
"You probably want to take the day off tomorrow," scoffed Kaiba. "Go ahead, but this is no paid vacation time or anyting. And you have to be here the next day - 8:00 sharp!" He jabbed his finger into Joey's chest. "If you're late, I will take the first shot at firing you, you hear me?"
Joey put on his scarf and hat. "Yes, Kaiba," he said sadly. He left and disappeared in the blizzard.
* * *
That night, Kaiba was about to open the door to his mansion, when, all of a sudden, the face on the door knocker started talking to him!
"Seto Kaiba . . ." the door knocker said.
Kaiba jerked away. "Ah?" His eyes widened.
"What's wrong, Seto?" asked Mokuba, tugging at his brother's trenchcoat.
The door knocker went back to normal. "Nothing." He opened the door, and the two Kaiba brothers walked in.
* * *
"You are to have the porridge that the servants left us and then go to bed," Kaiba instructed his little brother. (The servants had all went to their respective homes to spend Christmas with their families, much to Kaiba's dismay.)
"But Seto," Mokuba protested. "It's Christmas. Can't we have something a little better?"
Kaiba slid a bowl of porridge across the table to his brother and looked away.
A few minutes passed, and Mokuba had gone to bed for the night. Kaiba was sitting on a recliner in the lounge of his mansion. He was all alone, and the room showed no signs of the upcoming holiday - no tree, presents . . . anything.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang . . . and the telephone rang . . . and the lights flickered on and off.
"What is going on here?!" Kaiba shouted. "I must be going crazy. That porridge!" He decided to go upstairs and go to bed as well.
* * *
When he got into his bed, Kaiba suddenly heard the sound of chains. Clearly, something was headed towards his room. Thinking it was Mokuba, Kaiba began to yell.
"I told you to go to bed!" Kaiba shouted, sitting up in his bed.
But the door never opened. Instead, the chain noise began to sound as though it was coming from somewhere inside the room!
"W-Who's there?!" Kaiba exclaimed.
"I am a spirit from the past," a deep voice said.
"What the -" Kaiba looked around and finally saw a transparent being standing near his dresser. The being was a slightly short, skinny, mysterious fellow with magenta, yellow, and black spiky hair. He had serious, almost evil, eyes. "Yugi!"
The spirit shook his head. "I am not Yugi Moto."
"If you're not Yugi, then who are you?!" Kaiba asked the spirit.
The spirit shook his chains, which had the Millennium Puzzle hanging off one of its ends. "Don't worry about that. You SHOULD be worrying about what will soon come upon you."
"W-what do you mean?"
"During the course of this night, three spirits will be paying you a little visit, Kaiba," the spirit explained. "Expect the first one at about one o' clock." He laughed a little and then disappeared.
"Wait!" Kaiba yelled, but it was too late. The room was once again empty. Thinking that it was just a figment of his imagination, Kaiba went to sleep.
* * *
The clock struck one, and Kaiba wearily looked around, still half- asleep. He didn't see anything.
"So it WAS just an empty threat!" Kaiba said in relief.
But suddenly, a spirit appeared in front of him. He looked much like the one that had come before, but this one was shorter and had larger, more innocent-looking eyes.
"Yugi!" Kaiba said.
The spirit nodded. "You're right, this time," the spirit said. "Although I am not QUITE Yugi. I am his spirit when the dark side takes over."
"What?!" Kaiba asked. "Never mind. Leave me alone!!" He drew the covers over his head.
The spirit shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kaiba, but I have come for a very important reason."
Kaiba sat up in his bed and reached for a drawer in his dresser. "You want to duel me, is that it??" He took out his dueling deck. "I've got an arena in the basement. We can -"
The spirit shook his head again. He grabbed Kaiba by his trenchcoat.
"I can't believe you sleep in this thing," the spirit said, with a slight bit of sadness in his voice. "Come on, Kaiba."
The spirit and Kaiba were soon levitating. They ascendended through the window, which Kaiba had left open to allow the cold air to come into his room.
Kaiba's pupils became very small. "What is going on here?" He rubbed his eyes. "Argh!"
The spirit smiled as they flew higher and higher. "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past, Kaiba."
"What are you talking about? There are no such things as ghosts, Yugi!"
The pair began to descend. "I'm gonna show you something from your past."
"But why??"
"Because you have changed over the years, Kaiba," the spirit said. "Look over there." He pointed.
Kaiba looked, and sure enough, he saw the orphanage that he and Mokuba were sent to after their parents died in an accident.
"Ah," Kaiba said. "Why have you taken me here, Yugi? Tell me!"
"Let's go inside," the spirit said, smiling. They passed right through the door, which made Kaiba even more nervous. He saw a shoddy- looking Christmas tree in one corner of the orphanage and two children sitting together at a small table in another.
* * *
Kaiba saw the younger version of himself, smiling, sitting next to his little brother. He took a small package out of his pocket and put it on the table. He pushed it gently to little Mokuba.
Little Mokuba's eyes lit up. "Thank you, big brother!"
"Merry Christmas, Mokuba," the younger Kaiba said, smiling.
Kaiba's little brother slowly opened the package, trying to conserve the wrapping paper and ribbons. Inside was a necklace with a Duel Monsters card hanging off the end.
Mokuba hugged Kaiba. "Wow! This is great!" He put it around his neck. At that point, the younger Kaiba revealed that he was wearing a necklace just like it. "How did you get these?"
Kaiba blushed. "I've been saving that money since before mom and dad died."
"Oh."
Kaiba opened the card at the bottom of the necklace and showed that it was empty. "I know there's nothing inside now, but I'll take care of that soon, little brother."
* * *
The surroundings suddenly changed, and now Kaiba was looking at Kaiba Corporation.
"What now?" Kaiba inquired. The spirit took him inside.
* * *
Kaiba saw a younger version of himself. Next to him was his adoptive father. He was showing Kaiba how to handle stock. Little Kaiba looked overwhelmed.
"Dad, it's Christmas. Can't I go and play?" Kaiba asked his father.
His father got mad. "I can't let you go until you learn to speculate the value of Kaiba Corp.'s stock during an inflationary recession."
Little Kaiba sighed and looked out the window. He saw his little brother playing below in the snow. Then, he turned back to the numbers. "All right, dad." Kaiba suddenly had a determined look on his face.
* * *
"That was when you accepted that you would always put business over love," the spirit said, looking Kaiba in the eye.
Kaiba looked away. "No! I would do anything for Mokuba! I would even put him over my company business!"
* * *
Suddenly, Kaiba was back in his bed. Again, he thought that everything that had previously happened to him was all a dream. But, an hour later, an evil laugh awoke him.
"Who's that?" Kaiba asked, looking around. He saw another spirit near the window. This one looked a lot like the spirit who first came into the room, the one he thought looked like a more serious-looking Yugi.
"Are you ready, Kaiba?" the spirit jeered.
Kaiba sighed. "I know the routine." He got up and walked over to the spirit. Soon, they were flying outside like he had before.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present, Kaiba. And I don't mean Christmas present," the spirit said. "I will be showing you what is happening this Christmas."
"What's the use in that?" Kaiba said.
"You'll see," said the spirit, smiling coyly.
The two landed in front of Joey's house, which looked perfectly mediocre. Two cars were parked outside. They stood in front of the window to see what was going on inside, and they were able to hear everything as well!
* * *
The Wheeler family was gathered around the dining room table. Joey was sitting next to his father. On the other side of the table was his little sister, Serenity, and her mother.
Joey's father stood up. "Before we eat, I'd just like to say that I am glad that we have decided to spend this Christmas together, as a family."
Serenity stood up, but in the process, she knocked over the glass of water in front of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry, mom and dad."
Joey's mother quickly wiped up the water. "It's okay, honey. Go on. What were you going to say?"
Serenity smiled. "I just wanted to thank you and dad for making this one of the best Christmases in a long time for me and Joey." She took extra care in sitting down.
The family began to eat. The dinner looked mediocre, if not a little skimpy. Although Joey normally ate food like a machine, he was being careful as to not eat more than his portion. He actually ate slowly to make sure he didn't finish before everyone else.
Joey's mother had to help Serenity do a few things during the meal, such as spoon her gravy. But all in all, it was a wonderful dinner.
* * *
"What's wrong with that girl?" Kaiba asked the spirit. "Can't she do things on her own? She looks perfectly capable!"
The spirit looked into the window again. "She is slowly going blind. Soon, she won't be able to do ANYTHING without help."
Kaiba looked at the girl through the window. "Isn't there something that Joey the dog can do to stop it?" Kaiba was silent for a moment. He suddenly remembered that Joey had told him about his sister when he hired him. "So THAT'S why he was so desperate for a job!" Kaiba was silent for a long time. "She's going to go blind . . ."
* * *
"Don't worry, Serenity," Joey said to his sister, who was having a little trouble scooping her pudding correctly. "When I finally get enough money from my crummy job with Kaiba the jerk, we'll get your eyes fixed. If I can overcome Duelist Kingdom, I can handle a little work. You'll see."
Joey's mother sounded concerned. "We don't have much time left, son."
* * *
Next thing he knew, Kaiba was lying in his bed again. He opened his eyes and was instantly spooked by a cloaked figure that was floating in front of him.
Kaiba sat up and stood alongside the spirit. "This must mean that you are the Ghost of Christmas Future," he said quietly. The cloaked figure nodded vaguely.
Once again, Kaiba and the latest spirit flew through the air. When they stopped, Kaiba's eyes widened.
"Why have you taken me here?!" Kaiba asked, looking around at the cemetery around him.
The cloaked figure said nothing.
Kaiba bent down before a tombstone and brushed some dust off of it. "According to this tombstone, I'm dead! But this can't be!" He jumped back.
The scene changed around them. They were now in front of the Kaiba mansion.
* * *
"It's almost a shame to see a prominent man like Kaiba die so early," someone said, laying a flower on the doorstep. It was Bakura, from school.
"Yeah," little Yugi said. "Kaiba may have been a creep, but he was pretty much considered the top duelist in the world."
"Kaiba was such a jerk!" Tristan commented, kicking the doorstep. "He never cared about anybody but himself."
"Yeah!" Téa chimed in. "He never helped anyone! And now look what has happened!"
Yugi and Tristan looked sad. "Yeah, poor Joey," Yugi said, looking at the ground.
"Sorry I'm late," Joey said, coming up the road. "But . . . you know."
"Yeah," the other three said. Joey was late because he was with Serenity, who was now totally blind. He was her official caretaker. She had been without her vision for almost half a year now, and it made everyone sad to know that she would never be able to see her brother's face ever again.
"You didn't have to come, buddy," Tristan said. "In fact, you SHOULDN'T have."
"Aw, come on," Joey said. "It's not Kaiba's fault. Just forget about it."
A little voice piped up from behind the gang. "I'm sorry."
"No, Mokuba, it wasn't your fault," Yugi said. He put his hand on the young Kaiba's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Mokuba said quietly. "I HAVE to be okay, because I'm next in line to run Kaiba Corp. I'll try to be a little more considerate than my brother was." He turned to leave, waving goodbye sadly to his only friends.
* * *
"No!" Kaiba exclaimed. "It can't end this way! Tell me, spirit, that this isn't going to be the way life will turn out! The girl went blind! And everyone hates me, even my little brother!! I didn't mean to neglect him!!!!"
The cloaked figure said nothing.
"I'll change! Please! Mokuuubbaaa!" Kaiba yelled.
The cloaked figure suddenly took off his hood, revealing his identity. It was himself, as a priest.
* * *
It was morning. Kaiba woke up with several beads of sweat on his forehead. He went to his window. He saw little Yugi walking through the street. He was on the way to Tristan's house.
"Tell me, Yugi, what day is this?" Kaiba inquired from above.
"Eh?" Yugi said, looking up. "What's gotten into you, Kaiba? It's Christmas Day."
"Oh, good," Kaiba said, breathing a sigh of relief. He quickly ran to his dresser and returned to the window. He threw down a small stack of money. It hit Yugi on the head.
"Ow!" Yugi said, rubbing his head.
"That's for you," Kaiba said, trying to smile. He threw down four more little stacks. "Give those to your little friends."
Yugi picked up the stacks and turned to leave. "Uh, thanks so much, Kaiba." He shrugged and went on his way. He couldn't wait to tell his friends how Kaiba had somehow gone mad.
Kaiba walked joyfully downstairs, where he found Mokuba at the breakfast table, eating porridge left-over from last night.
"Put that away!" Kaiba yelled.
"But I'm hungry," Mokuba said.
"I know," said Kaiba. "We're going out to buy the biggest turkey we can find. And I'm going to try my hand at cooking it!"
Mokuba's eyes lit up.
* * *
The next day, Joey showed up to work almost an hour late.
"Why are you late, Joey Wheeler?!" Kaiba demanded.
Joey looked a little cross. "I know I'm late, Kaiba, and I know you're gonna fire me, so I'm gonna make this easy: I quit." He turned to leave.
"Wait," Kaiba said. "Before you leave Kaiba Corporation, I'd like to give you a little monetary gift. How much do you need?"
"Huh?" said Joey. His eyes lit up.
The End