Chapter 1
He floated silently up behind a large ship. Treading water, he peeked around the edge. For some reason, he was hesitant to move into the open.
His eyes were first drawn to the sky. It seemed to be opening up; a huge meteor was visible behind dark clouds. Abruptly, it plummeted toward the duelist closest to him, who quickly activated a trap card. Mako's eyes were automatically drawn to that duelist, and his heart gave a quick skip. Yugi Moto!
He sought out the opponent, but at first believed he made a mistake. Joey Wheeler? He'd moved quickly. It seemed strange that he was dueling Yugi, in any case; he would have thought that the two friends would wish to go to the finals together.
But as he watched, Yugi seemingly ordered the attack to go to- himself? Why would he make such a foolish move? He lost the young duelist then in a cloud of smoke.
Suddenly, his eyes darted back to Joey. The boy was behaving strangely; staggering around as if moving through a cloud. He became aware of a glowing golden symbol on Joey's forehead- the same signal that was on Yugi's Puzzle- which was now around Joey's neck! How odd.
A burst of light erupted from Joey; when Mako looked again, the symbol was gone. "Yuuu-giii" Joey was crying. He tore the Puzzle from his neck and threw it speedily at the smoke still clouding around Yugi. The Puzzle flew by a chain; Mako followed it to see that the other end must be attached to Yugi! A second chain was lying on the dock where Joey had once stood.
He didn't have time to be confused. Seemingly following some signal, a giant anchor fell from its suspended position above the duel straight into the ocean. Mako finally caught a glimpse of Yugi- he was being dragged across the dock and- what!- into the water!
Acting purely on instinct, Mako dove. Below him, he saw Yugi struggling in vain, writhing in the water. Mako gave a desperate kick, and that last spurt caught him up with Yugi. Clenching his muscles, Mako grabbed at the chains and snapped them. Yugi had gone limp, so he grabbed the boy and towed him up to the surface again, praying that Yugi would last.
When they broke into the air, Yugi's body wracked with coughs, and Mako thanked the gods as he towed the other behind the ship again. "M-mako?" Yugi coughed, and Mako glanced down. "Mako Tsunami?"
Relieved that Yugi was okay, Mako smiled warmly at him, but suddenly his face darkened. "Yugi? What in the seven seas happened?"
A shout echoed across the water: Joey's voice. He was urging 'Kaiba' on; Mako assumed it was Battle City's creator, Seto Kaiba. Yugi appeared concerned.
At Mako's gentle questioning, Yugi began an explanation. It was wild and incredible, but Mako found it hard to dismiss. What else would possess someone to attempt murder? By drowning them in the sea, no less. His eyes narrowed furiously as he thought about his father. Drowning was not something to be trifled with.
He began to turn his gaze back to the Duel, but something huge rumbled through the air. The sea became choppy and dangerous in the space of a heartbeat, throwing up harsh waves into his face and rattling the two boys around. Mako hurriedly grabbed onto the back of Yugi's shirt, keeping them close together.
"I don't believe it," Yugi murmured, his face starkly pale. "I don't believe it. They won, they can't win, we can't let this happen… We have to save the world…" All of a sudden, his eyes shot open wide, and his voice grew deep and sad. "We've failed…"
And then he fainted. Mako clutched onto him grimly, scrutinizing the scene at the dock. Kaiba was down on one knee, his entire body shaking, whether in anger or fear Mako couldn't tell. Téa was straining against her bonds- he noticed for the first time that she was imprisoned, but screaming at the top of her lungs. Four teenagers stood immobile on the dock, their faces frozen in expressions of fear. Two of them had been in Duelist Kingdom, one as a cheerleader, the other as a duelist. The third Mako recognized as Domino's newest successful entrepreneur, and the fourth was a young, frightened girl with bandages over her eyes.
And in the middle of it all… in the middle of that billowing smoke, the screams, the storm- that was a sight Mako would never forget.
Though he didn't know it at the time, the two duelist's names- or at least, the names of their hosts- were Marik Ishtar and Ryou Bakura. They were standing next to each other, laughing in creepy tones that floated across the sea and sent shivers up Mako's back. Together, they wielded the three God Cards.
And thus the world fell…
"You should be glad you're not out there," Mako said grimly, crouching down and offering a bowl of soup to Yugi.
The boy stared at it blankly before slowly accepting, and starting to sip. He was propped up against the far wall of an old, abandoned warehouse near the docks where Mako had found him. Mako claimed that Yugi should stay out of the way until he felt better, but both boys knew Yugi couldn't go out there under any circumstances. Marik and Bakura believed he was dead… For now. If they ever learned otherwise, he'd be hunted down and killed. And they'd finally have the Puzzle for real- and they were powerful enough as it was.
"What's going on out there?" he asked weakly. He was still sapped of his energy from his duel with 'Joey'.
"They've taken over the world," Mako said flatly. "That sounds like a line from one of those space creature movies. Except there aren't any movies anymore."
Yugi paused, trying to digest that. "What?"
Mako heaved a sigh and leant back, balancing on his haunches. "No more technology," he whispered. "No more Duel Monsters, except for the Hunters. They've brought back civilization thousands of years."
Yugi stared at him in horror, unwilling to accept the news. He felt as if he'd been hammered over the head. "No more technology," he repeated, trying to understand it. It was too large, too overwhelming a concept to understand. "No more… Duel Monsters?"
"It's become a tool of the Rare Hunters," Mako said grimly. "And a plaything for the wealthy."
Yugi blinked several times, his hand snaking to his deck to grasp it reassuringly. "This can't be," he said in a choked voice.
Mako nodded, understanding how hard it was to hear this. Bad enough to witness it. It had to be impossible to accept something of this magnitude second-hand. He walked away, letting Yugi finish his soup in silence.
Later that day, he brought Yugi outside for the first time.
After five whole minutes of stunned silence, Yugi turned in a full circle. In a dull voice, he asked, "Where did the city go?"
Aside from old wooden structures- like the warehouse they'd been hiding in- Domino was gone. Leveled to the ground. All the buildings had been torn apart. Even now, scraggly-looking people in the distance were working to re-erect primitive huts made of wooden scraps. The arcade was gone, all traces of it banished. Grocery stores had been converted to open-market salesplaces. KaibaLand was utterly vanished, leaving only a smooth green-grassy plain in its wake. And the Game Shop was gone. That was what hurt the most. Yugi swallowed over a lump in his throat. Normally, it was impossible to see the Game Shop from the docks. But he could see for miles in every direction. Because…
There was nothing there.
"Yugi."
Yugi turned to look at Mako. The older duelist's face was wracked in pain. "They're taking over the world," he restated, wringing his hands together. "I have to find my father." Yugi's eyes widened, and then their gazes clashed. "It's more important than ever now!" Mako finished determinedly.
Yugi blinked rapidly; his eyelids were stinging. He wasn't ashamed to cry, though. Not anymore. "Good luck, Mako…"
Yugi had thought that might be the last conversation they ever had. But Mako had returned once more, bringing Yugi one final meal: a crusty loaf of bread. And in the darkness of the night, right before he'd fled, he offered Yugi a last piece of advice:
"Leave Domino. Find a place to hide and stay hidden. Wait for the right time to strike- even if it takes a hundred years."