Chapter Six.
Mokuba was restless as he lay in his bunk. It had been nearly a week since they set out from earth and now it was finally sinking in. Until they reached the new world, this ship was home. He missed his old room back on earth where his toys and clothes and his nice soft bed were. Well, where they used to be. Now those things were all packed away in the cargo bay. He had nothing to do except his job as Communications Officer and Co Captain of the Blue Eyes Two. To make matters worse, until they reached the new world, he was the only child his age around. Well that wasn't strictly true. Rebecca was his age, though she didn't act it, but she on the Pegasus.
"Still." Mokuba said to himself. "It couldn't hurt to call her up." He decided now would be best time to do since his brother was asleep and the ship was on auto pilot. He'd be the only one on the bridge. Mokuba got up and as quietly as he could, he snuck out of his and his brother's room. He traveled up the corridor and through the secondary hatch to the Bridge, and found it deserted, just as he'd hoped. "Now to contact the Pegasus. There's sure to be someone up over there. Their systems are not quite as advanced as ours so they'll need someone to make course corrections manually." He put the headset on and turned the radio transmitter on to the Pegasus's frequency. "Blue Eyes to Pegasus, Blue Eyes to Pegasus, come in."
"This is the Pegasus." Came a sweet reply. It was Rebecca, she was up, and evidently it was her watch.
"Yes." Mokuba said to himself. "She's up."
"Hello?" Rebecca asked.
"Oh, um hey this is Mokuba Kaiba, remember me?" He asked her, not knowing what else to say.
"Duh, of course I remember you, we're stuck up here in space together." Rebecca replied. "Now what's up, this channel is for official business, incase you've forgotten."
"I uh, well, I just wanted to call over to the Pegasus and asked how everything was over there." Mokuba said. Rebecca didn't quite know what he was talking about. How were they? They were fine, I mean, why wouldn't they be?
"We're all fine over here." She said hastily. "Nice to hear from you, goodbye."
"Hey wait!" Mokuba shouted, "I uh, how are Yugi and Tea doing after their wedding the other day?" Rebecca became really annoyed now.
"They're just fine, they're on their…" She chocked on the words. "Honeymoon and why do you Kiaba's care about how Yugi is anyway?"
"Hey please don't be that way." Mokuba pleaded with Rebecca. "I'm not like my brother, I really like Yugi, he's my friend. He's helped me out of some really tight jams and he's been there for me when things looked bleakest. I really am worried about you guys over there, even though my brother may not be, and I'm lonely." He admitted to her.
"Lonely?" Rebecca hadn't expected this. "Lonely for what, you have everything in the universe to keep you from being lonely, and besides that; you've got all your ship's crew to keep you company."
"I mean I'm lonely for someone my age." Mokuba replied.
"Some one your age?" Rebecca finally got it now. She forgot sometimes that she was only a child. Even though she had been a college student back on earth, and she'd been as mature about things as some grown ups were, she was still just a kid. When it came right down to it, she supposed that in a way, she was lonely too.
"Yeah." Mokuba told her. "You know, our age?"
"So what do you want to talk about?" Rebecca asked him finally.
"Well, I hear that you're a pretty good duelist." Mokuba said.
"Yeah, I used to be, but not anymore." She replied.
"Why is that?" Mokuba asked.
"Because, I threw my deck away." She told him.
"Threw it away!" Mokuba exclaimed. "That's terrible. No duelist should ever throw their deck away, that's one of the first things that my brother, Seto taught me about Duel Monsters."
"I know, it was stupid of me, but I was mad. I wasn't thinking straight. I even threw away the card that Yugi gave me after our first duel." Rebecca began to cry and poor Mokuba didn't know what to do.
"Hey don't cry." He tried to tell her, but now Rebecca's tears sounded uncontrollable. He wished he'd never said anything, and he hated himself for making Rebecca cry. Then Mokuba had an idea. "Hey, meet me at the docking hatch in thirty minutes." He said to her.
"You're coming over?" Rebecca asked, surprised, and with a sniffle.
"Yeah, I'm going to come over and help you put together a new deck." Mokuba said then turned off the radio.
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Rebecca didn't know what was going on. Mokuba had said he was coming over to their ship, but how, and why? He said that he was going to help her make a new deck, but with what, and why would he do that for her? They barely knew each other, and it wasn't like they were friends, or anything like that. All Rebecca could think was that something pretty strange was going on.
----------Scene Break---------------
Mokuba slipped down to the cargo bay and from there he took a large crate of duel monsters booster packs which had been packed away by his older brother who hoped to capitalize on the cards when new generations of young duelists would be born on the new world. Pegasus too had stashed away crates upon crates of cards and even brought alone his manufacturing equipment so that he could start his business up again on the new world.
"Here we are." Mokuba said lifting what on Earth would have been a box weighing five times what he did. Here in space though, there was no gravity, and in an environment like that Mokuba had the strength of ten fully grown men. He carried the crate down to the loading hatch where the Blue Eyes One was docked with the ship. It had been refueled and was just waiting for someone to take it out again. Once the crate was loaded, Mokuba climbed into the cockpit of the small shuttle and disconnected the docking clamps. The Blue Eyes One fell away from the Blue Eyes Two and soon it's boosters were aglow as it headed over to the Pegasus.
----------Scene Break----------
As promised, Rebecca was waiting for Mokuba by the docking hatch aboard the Pegasus. She didn't know why she was waiting for him though. She felt a little silly, like she waiting for a date to arrive, and when she thought about meeting Mokuba Kaiba as a date; she became even more embarrassed to the point of calling the whole thing off. She wanted to send him back to his own ship when he got there. She wouldn't even let him in but then arrived and when she saw his face through the porthole she just couldn't say no. Rebecca opened up the hatch and stood back as Mokuba lifted the crate high above his head and floated up and out of his shuttle.
"Hi." He said to her.
"Hi." Rebecca replied.
"Well, here I am, and I brought some booster packs." Mokuba pointed out. He opened the crate and the tiny packs of cards came floating out of the box. "Is there somewhere we can go to kind of look through them and see what we can come up with?" He asked.
"There's the cargo hold." Rebecca answered. They each took an arm load of cards and floated down the corridor to the cargo hold where they set up for a long night. They sat there for hours looking at cards and tearing open booster packs. Hardly saying a word to one another until one card or another caught their attention. Then, after a while, Rebecca had a question for Mokuba. "Mokuba," She said, "Do you like me or something?" Mokuba looked up and blushed as he tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't frighten Rebecca off. The truth was he did like her a lot and he wanted to tell her but he was afraid.
"Um, well…" He began. "I uh, sort of do."
"Sort of?" She asked him.
"Well, more than sort of." He said turning beat red. "I kind of like you a lot."
"Wow." Rebecca said, astonished. "I didn't think that you were into girls yet Mokuba." She told him. "As much as you hang around your big brother, I thought for sure that you were one of those spoiled rich kids who just like to play with their million dollar toys."
"No way, I'm not like that at all, Rebecca. I do really like you. I just have been afraid to say anything since we don't really know each other that well." He was being so sweet to her. Rebecca felt kind of guilty because deep down inside of her heart she knew that nothing could ever be between them. She was still in love with Yugi and even though he was married to Tea, she couldn't help but dream.
"Gosh Mokuba, I'm sorry." She told him, trying to be honest. "I just don't like you the same way that you like me." Mokuba heard the words but at first he didn't understand them.
"What do you mean?" He asked her.
"I mean that I'm still in love with someone else. Even though I can't have that person right now doesn't stop my hoping and wishing. You see someday he's going to get tired of his perky brown haired flame and when that day comes, I'm going to be there for him." She told Mokuba.
"You mean Yugi." Mokuba said. "Wow you're so sure about that. Don't you think that's a little too weird?"
"Weird?" Rebecca was outraged. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, Yugi's so much older than you." Mokuba reminded her. "What can you possibly have with him? I mean if you think about it, that's kind of sick, and he's not ever going to go for it." This just made Rebecca angrier and so she flung the cards in her hand at Mokuba who fell back stunned and hurt. Not hurt physically, but emotionally, he was crushed.
"You want to run your mouth rich boy then go ahead but I'm going to listen. Just because you have everything else doesn't mean that you can have me!" Rebecca declared.
"I didn't think that I could buy you." Mokuba said trying to recover. "Please just give me a chance Rebecca, I'd make a better boyfriend than Yugi would, you'll see. Just give me a chance." He pleaded.
"There's only one thing that you can do to prove that you're every bit as good as Yugi." Rebecca informed him. "You have to beat him in a duel. Then and only then would I ever consider going with you Mokuba Kaiba." Rebecca's face was stern and hard but still so cute. Mokuba couldn't resist. He reached over and grabbed her then without even asking her permission, he kissed her on the lips. It wasn't a hard kiss like a punk would kiss a girl but a long, sweet, passionate kiss. One that made Rebecca's blood rush to her head and her cheeks turn red.
"What…what was that for?" She asked when he let her go.
"That's just a preview." Mokuba said. "I'm going now to challenge Yugi and once I beat him, you'll be mine." He said with determination. Mokuba reached down into his pocket and found his deck. He took some of the booster pack cards and slipped them in just before darting out of the cargo hold and down the corridor to Ship's crew quarters where Tea and Yugi were sleeping soundly in their bunk. Everything seemed peaceful until Mokuba stormed into the room with a huff, waking everyone, and astonishing the crew of the Pegasus with his challenge. "Yugi, you and I have business to conclude!"
"Business, what business, Mokuba?" Yugi asked groggily.
"That's just for yours and my ears Yugi, step outside, and let's talk about this for a moment." Mokuba said to him then waited for him to comply. A confused and astonished Yugi got up from his and Tea's bunk and started towards the door while everyone else lay there dumbfounded. They knew that Seto Kaiba could be a really determined guy when he wanted something but they had never seen this sort of behavior out of Mokuba Kaiba. They were about to find out though that the same passion which ran through the older brother's vanes ran through the younger.
"What, a duel!" Yuig exclaimed from out in the corridor. Just then Rebecca came running up to stand behind Mokuba. "What this all about you two?" Yugi wanted to know.
"It's about love." Mokuba said and Rebecca blushed again. "It's about how I can only have Rebecca's love if I beat you in a duel so lets' go." He said. "I've got my deck and I'm ready to go when you are." Yugi still didn't understand what Mokuba was saying to him, but he saw how determined he was to duel him, and he realized that there was no way to satisfy Mokuba until one of them failed on the duelist platform.
"Very well, Yugi, let's duel him." Yami said.
"Are you sure about that?" Yugi asked.
"Can't you see the pain and the want in Mokuba's eyes, Yugi?" Yami pointed to young Mokuba was holding back tears and then to Rebecca who was obviously confused about her own feelings at the moment. "They are both hurting inside and maybe this will cure them both." Yami said.
"Okay, but I still don't understand what's going on, are you saying that Mokuba is in love with Rebecca and he thinks that the only way he can have her affections is to beat me in a duel?" Yugi asked.
"Not just you, Yugi, but us, together." Yami explained.
"Okay, I get it now. It's kind of silly, but I understand how love can drive people to do some silly things. Let's do this for love." Yugi said.
"For love, and we'll make a fair duel, Yugi. We'll give Mokuba everything that we gave his brother."
"Okay." Yugi said to Mokuba. "I'll duel you." Mokuba could hardly believe his ears but when he had his okay, he felt like a man at last. He was no longer a young boy, but an adult who was fighting for his one true love. "Where shall we duel?"
"Outside of course." Mokuba said. "In space where there's room for you to use those Egyptian God Cards."
"The Egyptian Gods!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Mokuba, don't, those things have incredible powers. You'll never be able to defeat them!" "My brother can beat the God cards, so can I. Besides, beating the Gods is only one part, I have to beat Yugi's heart of the cards. I'm dueling for you though Rebecca. I'm sure that I'll win."
"Oh, how sweet." Tea commented from inside the crew quarters.
"Hey man, these are just kids, what's the big deal about?" Tristan wondered.
"YUGIOH!" Yugi cried as he and Yami merged for their duel with Mokuba.
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The fleet came to a halt again and both Mokuba and Yugioh met outside in the darkness of space with their respective crews watching from the windows and portholes inside the Pegasus and the Blue Eyes Two. Seto Kaiba stood on the bridge of his ship, poised to see if his little brother could do what he could not, and that was beat the King of Games at his own game with his own heart of the cards.
"Are you ready?" Pegasus asked from the bridge of his ship. He would be the official referee.
"I'm ready." Mokuba replied.
"As am I." Answered Yugioh.
"Then let this duel begin." Pegasus said. "Young Mokuba Kaiba will go first."
"Fine, I play one card face down on the field and another in defense mode. Now I end my turn." Mokuba said. Yugioh looked at his deck and felt the heart of the cards, it was against him this time.
"How can this be?" Yugi asked himself. "The heart of the cards is with Mokuba this time. I'm sure of it."
"Because he's dueling for love." Came Yami's voice from deep within. "His is the more righteous cause." Yugioh knew at that moment he had lost the duel before he even laid down his first card. Still, he'd promised Mokuba a fair fight, and that was what he was going to give him.
"I draw one card and place three face down cards on the field. Now I summon Koumori Dragon to the field in attack mode and end my turn." Yugioh was not about to attack first, not by a long shot, but was fully prepared incase Mokuba decided to attack him on the next turn.
"Well, Yugi didn't fall for my trap, but this time he'll have no choice but to attack me." Mokuba schemed. "I flip summon the Masked Dragon in attack mode." Mokuba announced after drawing a card from his deck. This did not make sense to Yugioh. Mokuba could see that his their dragons were not of equal strength. Mokuba's Masked Dragon was only 1400 attack points strong while Yugioh's Koumori Dragon was 1500 attack points.
"Very well, I draw and I attack! Koumori Dragon attack his Masked Dragon and destroy him!" Yugioh commanded Koumori Dragon flew forward though space at the red and white dragon on the other side of the field. Just then though, Mokuba activated a trap card.
"Mask of weakness!" Mokuba declared and the purple, horned mask appeared on the Koumori Dragon's head and drained it's attack points by 700.
"Dust Tornado!" Yugioh cried flipping over a trap of his own. The mask of weakness vanished. Koumori Dragon's attack points went back up to 1500 and Mokuba's Masked Dragon was destroyed. But then suddenly another set of dragons appeared on the field before the Koumori Dragon and they each had 2000 attack points. Together they destroyed Yugioh's dragon and with it his life points went down from 8000 to 7500 "How can this be?" Yugioh demanded to know.
"When my Masked Dragon was destroyed, Yugi, I was allowed to summon another dragon type card from my deck and I chose Troop Dragons. Then I equipped them with this quick play magic card, Dragon's Gun Fire which, increased their attack points each by 800. Two Dragons against one is really an unfair advantage when you think about it but that's just what you get when you stand in the way of love!" Mokuba declared. "Anyway, I lay one card face down, and that's my turn. So now it's up to you to move this game along."
"Hmm." Yugioh would have to plan his next move more carefully. "I draw, and play Mystical Elf in Defense mode." Mokuba's life points were at 7900 and Yugioh's were at 7500 so already Mokuba had taken a slight lead. Without the heart of the cards on his side, Yugioh feared that he would loose this duel.
It was Mokuba's turn now and his Troop Dragons were now back down to their original attack and defense points which was 1200. He couldn't beat Yugi with those but another monster in his hand would do quite well.
"I sacrifice Troop Dragons to summon Luster Dragon #2." Troop Dragons disappeared and then suddenly a huge emerald green dragon appeared. "And just so you don't get any funny ideas about going after my life points with anything, Yugi, here's another troop dragons from my deck."
"How can you summon two more monsters once you've sacrificed two already?" Yugioh wanted to know."
"Because when Troop Dragons is sent from the field to the graveyard, another set of Troop Dragons is automatically summoned to the field. Now go my Luster Dragon, attack his Elf!" The Gigantic emerald dragon opened it's jaws wide and spewed fire at this Mystical Elf who would have been destroyed if Yugioh had not played yet another trap card he'd placed face down on the field on his first turn.
"Magic Cylinder!" He declared and the cylinders appeared in the Elf maiden's hands. The Luster Dragon's attack went into one cylinder and came blasting out the other, straight back at Mokuba.
"Shift!" Mokuba Cried and flipped his own trap card over. The redirected attack swerved away from Mokuba's life points and back at his dragon. The Dragon was destroyed but his life points were safe.
"Yugi, that was too predictable." Mokuba said sounding more like his brother with every card played. "You promised me an honorable duel. Let's see some of the same determination you dueled my brother with."
"Mokuba, why are you dueling me?" Yugioh asked him again.
"Because, I want to be Rebecca's boyfriend and the only way she'll agree is if I beat you at this duel. I know that sounds kind of corny but that's what she said. Now I have to win or I'll never be able to be with her. I draw." Mokuba looked at his diminished hand and wondered what he could do next. He had two dragons on the field, he could summon another monster but what could beat Yugi's Elf? "Here we go, the card my brother gave me for my birthday. The Judge Man." He said and sacrificed his Troop Dragons to summon him. Another set of Troop Dragons appeared right beside of the Judge Man and then Mokuba equipped them with the Gravity Axe-Grarl which allowed him to summon yet another high level monster. Guardian Grarl.
"So now you have four monsters on the field." Yugioh said as he summed up the odds. "This does not hold well for me."
"No it doesn't and this will prove my love for Rebecca." Mokuba said. "I attack with all four monsters. First with Judge Man to destroy your Mystical Elf!" He declared. The Judge Man attacked and the Elf was destroyed. Then Yugioh's life points took serious blows from Mokuba's two Troop Dragons.
Yugioh lost 1700 more life points and he would have lost 2500 more than that from Guardian Grarl if he had not flipped over his last trap card.
"Spellbinding Circle!" He shouted and Mokuba's fourth monster was restrained.
"We're not done yet Yugi." Mokuba said and placed another card down on the field. "Monster Reborn!" He declared and from his graveyard returned his Luster Dragon #2.
--------Scene Break--------
Everyone was watching the duel as it unfolded before their eyes. Tea, Joey, Serenity ,Mai, Tristan, Ryou, Duke, Kaiba, and Rebecca. She couldn't understand how Mokuba could be dueling so hard for her of all people when they hadn't known each other very well at all. How could he already love her so and why had she said such hurtful things to him before?
"Wow, this is so romantic." Tea said wiping a tear from her eyes.
"Who are you guys betting on?" Joey asked everyone. They all said
"For Yugi, of course." But not Tea. She said that she was cheering for little Mokuba.
"What?! Mokuba?!" They all exclaimed. "Why him?"
"Because guys, he obviously cares about Rebecca so much that he's willing to go out into the hazards of space to duel for her affections. Besides if he wins then maybe Rebecca will leave Yugi alone." Rebecca could understand how Tea felt. She wouldn't want anyone clinging to her guy either. Then again, she didn't exactly have a guy. All she had was…Mokuba. It finally hit her like a bolt of lightning from the sky. She had Mokuba's heart.
------Scene Break-------
Seto Kaiba watched from his ship as his little brother was creaming Yugi. This delighted him, in the fact that he'd trained his brother so well, and that he actually beating Yugi.
"So much for his precious Heart of the Cards." Kaiba snickered.
------Scene Break-------
It was Yugioh's turn, he drew a card, and played Exchange. It was a bit of a risk considering that in his hand was the Winged Dragon of Ra, a powerful Egyptian God who's power was well known to both the Kaiba Brothers. If Mokuba chose that card then he would have just enough monsters on the field to sacrifice to summon him. He and Mokuba floated over to one another and handed over their hands for each other to take one card from.
"I'll take Jar of Greed." Yugioh said.
"And I'll take The Winged Dragon of Ra." Mokuba said. They returned to their respective places on the field and the duel continued.
"Now I place one card face down on the field and summon from my hand Giant Soldier of Stone." Mokuba had Yugi on the defensive and he knew it. Now was the time for Mokuba's finest hour. He would be victorious.
"Fist Yugi, I'm going to play this card, Soul Exchange which means that I can sacrifice one of your monsters in place of my own and I choose to sacrifice my Luster Dragon with 2400 points, Guardian Grarl with 2500 points, and your soldier of stone with 1300 points to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra with 6200 attack points.
------Scene Break-------
No once could believe it. Mokuba had done the impossible and was about to defeat Yugi with one of his own Egyptian God Monsters. Both Rebecca and Kaiba were awe struck. This was the pivotal and the defining moment of Mokuba's career as a Duelist.
"Go Mokuba, Finish him off!" Kaiba yelled over the radio to his little brother.
-------Scene Break-
"Yugi, it's been fun dueling you but for Rebecca, for my brother, and for myself, I must finish you off." Mokuba said.
"I understand." Yugi replied and readied himself for the finishing move.
"Go Winged Dragon of Ra, attack his life points directly!" Mokuba commanded and the great beast did so. Ra roared and then spouted fire balls at Yugioh who was sent flying back against the hull of the Pegasus. His life points were gone.
-------Scene Break--------
No one on either ship could believe what he or she had just seen. There was now a new King of Games and it was Mokuba Kaiba. He'd won the duel and more than that, he had in deed won Rebecca's love, and her admiration. She hailed her new hero with pride and leaped for joy at his triumphant return for her in the Blue Eyes One.
"Oh Moky, you were wonderful!" She cried when she saw him again. Rebecca threw her arms around Mokuba's shoulders and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Mokuba was in heaven and it could be seen on his face the way he was turning beat red.
"Well Mokuba, good duel." Yugi said, now normal, little Yugi again. "I think that you forgot something out there though." He handed Mokuba a card and when he saw what it was, Mokuba nearly freaked out.
"Yugi, I can't take this!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked down and there in Mokuba's hands was the Winged Dragon of Ra.
"You earned it Mokuba. You beat me, and that's something that not that many people can say, so please take this card." Yugi told him. Mokuba took out his deck and slipped the Winged Dragon of Ra into it. The Deck seemed to glow with the power of this new monster.
"Gosh Yugi, I don't know what to say." Mokuba told him.
"Say goodbye." Kaiba said as he came aboard the Pegasus. "We're leaving these losers now Mokuba. Tell you girlfriend to pack her stuff. "
"Pack my stuff?" Rebecca asked. "You mean I have to come over to your ship?"
"You don't have to, but you can if you want to." Mokuba told her. Rebecca looked around at her friends and then at her new love.
"Okay, I'll go pack." She said and floated off to the crew quarters where her things were stashed.
"You know Seto, you don't have to be so cold." Serenity reminded him. "Besides which, she doesn't have to stay over there anymore than I do."
"Fine, whatever, but Mokuba and I are going back to our ship." Kaiba stated then took his little brother by the hand.
"Sorry guys." Mokuba said and then followed his older brother to the hatch. Rebecca and Serenity just barely made it in before Kaiba closed the hatch and disconnected the Blue Eyes One from the Pegasus's hull.
"Well. There they go." Yugi said watching the small shuttle fly off back to it's mother ship.
"Yeah, they looked so happy together. Mokuba and Rebecca." Tea said. "Speaking of happy couples, you and I have a honeymoon to get back to." Yugi blushed as Tea led him off seductively towards their cabin and the others just smiled.
Mokuba was restless as he lay in his bunk. It had been nearly a week since they set out from earth and now it was finally sinking in. Until they reached the new world, this ship was home. He missed his old room back on earth where his toys and clothes and his nice soft bed were. Well, where they used to be. Now those things were all packed away in the cargo bay. He had nothing to do except his job as Communications Officer and Co Captain of the Blue Eyes Two. To make matters worse, until they reached the new world, he was the only child his age around. Well that wasn't strictly true. Rebecca was his age, though she didn't act it, but she on the Pegasus.
"Still." Mokuba said to himself. "It couldn't hurt to call her up." He decided now would be best time to do since his brother was asleep and the ship was on auto pilot. He'd be the only one on the bridge. Mokuba got up and as quietly as he could, he snuck out of his and his brother's room. He traveled up the corridor and through the secondary hatch to the Bridge, and found it deserted, just as he'd hoped. "Now to contact the Pegasus. There's sure to be someone up over there. Their systems are not quite as advanced as ours so they'll need someone to make course corrections manually." He put the headset on and turned the radio transmitter on to the Pegasus's frequency. "Blue Eyes to Pegasus, Blue Eyes to Pegasus, come in."
"This is the Pegasus." Came a sweet reply. It was Rebecca, she was up, and evidently it was her watch.
"Yes." Mokuba said to himself. "She's up."
"Hello?" Rebecca asked.
"Oh, um hey this is Mokuba Kaiba, remember me?" He asked her, not knowing what else to say.
"Duh, of course I remember you, we're stuck up here in space together." Rebecca replied. "Now what's up, this channel is for official business, incase you've forgotten."
"I uh, well, I just wanted to call over to the Pegasus and asked how everything was over there." Mokuba said. Rebecca didn't quite know what he was talking about. How were they? They were fine, I mean, why wouldn't they be?
"We're all fine over here." She said hastily. "Nice to hear from you, goodbye."
"Hey wait!" Mokuba shouted, "I uh, how are Yugi and Tea doing after their wedding the other day?" Rebecca became really annoyed now.
"They're just fine, they're on their…" She chocked on the words. "Honeymoon and why do you Kiaba's care about how Yugi is anyway?"
"Hey please don't be that way." Mokuba pleaded with Rebecca. "I'm not like my brother, I really like Yugi, he's my friend. He's helped me out of some really tight jams and he's been there for me when things looked bleakest. I really am worried about you guys over there, even though my brother may not be, and I'm lonely." He admitted to her.
"Lonely?" Rebecca hadn't expected this. "Lonely for what, you have everything in the universe to keep you from being lonely, and besides that; you've got all your ship's crew to keep you company."
"I mean I'm lonely for someone my age." Mokuba replied.
"Some one your age?" Rebecca finally got it now. She forgot sometimes that she was only a child. Even though she had been a college student back on earth, and she'd been as mature about things as some grown ups were, she was still just a kid. When it came right down to it, she supposed that in a way, she was lonely too.
"Yeah." Mokuba told her. "You know, our age?"
"So what do you want to talk about?" Rebecca asked him finally.
"Well, I hear that you're a pretty good duelist." Mokuba said.
"Yeah, I used to be, but not anymore." She replied.
"Why is that?" Mokuba asked.
"Because, I threw my deck away." She told him.
"Threw it away!" Mokuba exclaimed. "That's terrible. No duelist should ever throw their deck away, that's one of the first things that my brother, Seto taught me about Duel Monsters."
"I know, it was stupid of me, but I was mad. I wasn't thinking straight. I even threw away the card that Yugi gave me after our first duel." Rebecca began to cry and poor Mokuba didn't know what to do.
"Hey don't cry." He tried to tell her, but now Rebecca's tears sounded uncontrollable. He wished he'd never said anything, and he hated himself for making Rebecca cry. Then Mokuba had an idea. "Hey, meet me at the docking hatch in thirty minutes." He said to her.
"You're coming over?" Rebecca asked, surprised, and with a sniffle.
"Yeah, I'm going to come over and help you put together a new deck." Mokuba said then turned off the radio.
------------Scene Break--------------
Rebecca didn't know what was going on. Mokuba had said he was coming over to their ship, but how, and why? He said that he was going to help her make a new deck, but with what, and why would he do that for her? They barely knew each other, and it wasn't like they were friends, or anything like that. All Rebecca could think was that something pretty strange was going on.
----------Scene Break---------------
Mokuba slipped down to the cargo bay and from there he took a large crate of duel monsters booster packs which had been packed away by his older brother who hoped to capitalize on the cards when new generations of young duelists would be born on the new world. Pegasus too had stashed away crates upon crates of cards and even brought alone his manufacturing equipment so that he could start his business up again on the new world.
"Here we are." Mokuba said lifting what on Earth would have been a box weighing five times what he did. Here in space though, there was no gravity, and in an environment like that Mokuba had the strength of ten fully grown men. He carried the crate down to the loading hatch where the Blue Eyes One was docked with the ship. It had been refueled and was just waiting for someone to take it out again. Once the crate was loaded, Mokuba climbed into the cockpit of the small shuttle and disconnected the docking clamps. The Blue Eyes One fell away from the Blue Eyes Two and soon it's boosters were aglow as it headed over to the Pegasus.
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As promised, Rebecca was waiting for Mokuba by the docking hatch aboard the Pegasus. She didn't know why she was waiting for him though. She felt a little silly, like she waiting for a date to arrive, and when she thought about meeting Mokuba Kaiba as a date; she became even more embarrassed to the point of calling the whole thing off. She wanted to send him back to his own ship when he got there. She wouldn't even let him in but then arrived and when she saw his face through the porthole she just couldn't say no. Rebecca opened up the hatch and stood back as Mokuba lifted the crate high above his head and floated up and out of his shuttle.
"Hi." He said to her.
"Hi." Rebecca replied.
"Well, here I am, and I brought some booster packs." Mokuba pointed out. He opened the crate and the tiny packs of cards came floating out of the box. "Is there somewhere we can go to kind of look through them and see what we can come up with?" He asked.
"There's the cargo hold." Rebecca answered. They each took an arm load of cards and floated down the corridor to the cargo hold where they set up for a long night. They sat there for hours looking at cards and tearing open booster packs. Hardly saying a word to one another until one card or another caught their attention. Then, after a while, Rebecca had a question for Mokuba. "Mokuba," She said, "Do you like me or something?" Mokuba looked up and blushed as he tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't frighten Rebecca off. The truth was he did like her a lot and he wanted to tell her but he was afraid.
"Um, well…" He began. "I uh, sort of do."
"Sort of?" She asked him.
"Well, more than sort of." He said turning beat red. "I kind of like you a lot."
"Wow." Rebecca said, astonished. "I didn't think that you were into girls yet Mokuba." She told him. "As much as you hang around your big brother, I thought for sure that you were one of those spoiled rich kids who just like to play with their million dollar toys."
"No way, I'm not like that at all, Rebecca. I do really like you. I just have been afraid to say anything since we don't really know each other that well." He was being so sweet to her. Rebecca felt kind of guilty because deep down inside of her heart she knew that nothing could ever be between them. She was still in love with Yugi and even though he was married to Tea, she couldn't help but dream.
"Gosh Mokuba, I'm sorry." She told him, trying to be honest. "I just don't like you the same way that you like me." Mokuba heard the words but at first he didn't understand them.
"What do you mean?" He asked her.
"I mean that I'm still in love with someone else. Even though I can't have that person right now doesn't stop my hoping and wishing. You see someday he's going to get tired of his perky brown haired flame and when that day comes, I'm going to be there for him." She told Mokuba.
"You mean Yugi." Mokuba said. "Wow you're so sure about that. Don't you think that's a little too weird?"
"Weird?" Rebecca was outraged. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, Yugi's so much older than you." Mokuba reminded her. "What can you possibly have with him? I mean if you think about it, that's kind of sick, and he's not ever going to go for it." This just made Rebecca angrier and so she flung the cards in her hand at Mokuba who fell back stunned and hurt. Not hurt physically, but emotionally, he was crushed.
"You want to run your mouth rich boy then go ahead but I'm going to listen. Just because you have everything else doesn't mean that you can have me!" Rebecca declared.
"I didn't think that I could buy you." Mokuba said trying to recover. "Please just give me a chance Rebecca, I'd make a better boyfriend than Yugi would, you'll see. Just give me a chance." He pleaded.
"There's only one thing that you can do to prove that you're every bit as good as Yugi." Rebecca informed him. "You have to beat him in a duel. Then and only then would I ever consider going with you Mokuba Kaiba." Rebecca's face was stern and hard but still so cute. Mokuba couldn't resist. He reached over and grabbed her then without even asking her permission, he kissed her on the lips. It wasn't a hard kiss like a punk would kiss a girl but a long, sweet, passionate kiss. One that made Rebecca's blood rush to her head and her cheeks turn red.
"What…what was that for?" She asked when he let her go.
"That's just a preview." Mokuba said. "I'm going now to challenge Yugi and once I beat him, you'll be mine." He said with determination. Mokuba reached down into his pocket and found his deck. He took some of the booster pack cards and slipped them in just before darting out of the cargo hold and down the corridor to Ship's crew quarters where Tea and Yugi were sleeping soundly in their bunk. Everything seemed peaceful until Mokuba stormed into the room with a huff, waking everyone, and astonishing the crew of the Pegasus with his challenge. "Yugi, you and I have business to conclude!"
"Business, what business, Mokuba?" Yugi asked groggily.
"That's just for yours and my ears Yugi, step outside, and let's talk about this for a moment." Mokuba said to him then waited for him to comply. A confused and astonished Yugi got up from his and Tea's bunk and started towards the door while everyone else lay there dumbfounded. They knew that Seto Kaiba could be a really determined guy when he wanted something but they had never seen this sort of behavior out of Mokuba Kaiba. They were about to find out though that the same passion which ran through the older brother's vanes ran through the younger.
"What, a duel!" Yuig exclaimed from out in the corridor. Just then Rebecca came running up to stand behind Mokuba. "What this all about you two?" Yugi wanted to know.
"It's about love." Mokuba said and Rebecca blushed again. "It's about how I can only have Rebecca's love if I beat you in a duel so lets' go." He said. "I've got my deck and I'm ready to go when you are." Yugi still didn't understand what Mokuba was saying to him, but he saw how determined he was to duel him, and he realized that there was no way to satisfy Mokuba until one of them failed on the duelist platform.
"Very well, Yugi, let's duel him." Yami said.
"Are you sure about that?" Yugi asked.
"Can't you see the pain and the want in Mokuba's eyes, Yugi?" Yami pointed to young Mokuba was holding back tears and then to Rebecca who was obviously confused about her own feelings at the moment. "They are both hurting inside and maybe this will cure them both." Yami said.
"Okay, but I still don't understand what's going on, are you saying that Mokuba is in love with Rebecca and he thinks that the only way he can have her affections is to beat me in a duel?" Yugi asked.
"Not just you, Yugi, but us, together." Yami explained.
"Okay, I get it now. It's kind of silly, but I understand how love can drive people to do some silly things. Let's do this for love." Yugi said.
"For love, and we'll make a fair duel, Yugi. We'll give Mokuba everything that we gave his brother."
"Okay." Yugi said to Mokuba. "I'll duel you." Mokuba could hardly believe his ears but when he had his okay, he felt like a man at last. He was no longer a young boy, but an adult who was fighting for his one true love. "Where shall we duel?"
"Outside of course." Mokuba said. "In space where there's room for you to use those Egyptian God Cards."
"The Egyptian Gods!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Mokuba, don't, those things have incredible powers. You'll never be able to defeat them!" "My brother can beat the God cards, so can I. Besides, beating the Gods is only one part, I have to beat Yugi's heart of the cards. I'm dueling for you though Rebecca. I'm sure that I'll win."
"Oh, how sweet." Tea commented from inside the crew quarters.
"Hey man, these are just kids, what's the big deal about?" Tristan wondered.
"YUGIOH!" Yugi cried as he and Yami merged for their duel with Mokuba.
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The fleet came to a halt again and both Mokuba and Yugioh met outside in the darkness of space with their respective crews watching from the windows and portholes inside the Pegasus and the Blue Eyes Two. Seto Kaiba stood on the bridge of his ship, poised to see if his little brother could do what he could not, and that was beat the King of Games at his own game with his own heart of the cards.
"Are you ready?" Pegasus asked from the bridge of his ship. He would be the official referee.
"I'm ready." Mokuba replied.
"As am I." Answered Yugioh.
"Then let this duel begin." Pegasus said. "Young Mokuba Kaiba will go first."
"Fine, I play one card face down on the field and another in defense mode. Now I end my turn." Mokuba said. Yugioh looked at his deck and felt the heart of the cards, it was against him this time.
"How can this be?" Yugi asked himself. "The heart of the cards is with Mokuba this time. I'm sure of it."
"Because he's dueling for love." Came Yami's voice from deep within. "His is the more righteous cause." Yugioh knew at that moment he had lost the duel before he even laid down his first card. Still, he'd promised Mokuba a fair fight, and that was what he was going to give him.
"I draw one card and place three face down cards on the field. Now I summon Koumori Dragon to the field in attack mode and end my turn." Yugioh was not about to attack first, not by a long shot, but was fully prepared incase Mokuba decided to attack him on the next turn.
"Well, Yugi didn't fall for my trap, but this time he'll have no choice but to attack me." Mokuba schemed. "I flip summon the Masked Dragon in attack mode." Mokuba announced after drawing a card from his deck. This did not make sense to Yugioh. Mokuba could see that his their dragons were not of equal strength. Mokuba's Masked Dragon was only 1400 attack points strong while Yugioh's Koumori Dragon was 1500 attack points.
"Very well, I draw and I attack! Koumori Dragon attack his Masked Dragon and destroy him!" Yugioh commanded Koumori Dragon flew forward though space at the red and white dragon on the other side of the field. Just then though, Mokuba activated a trap card.
"Mask of weakness!" Mokuba declared and the purple, horned mask appeared on the Koumori Dragon's head and drained it's attack points by 700.
"Dust Tornado!" Yugioh cried flipping over a trap of his own. The mask of weakness vanished. Koumori Dragon's attack points went back up to 1500 and Mokuba's Masked Dragon was destroyed. But then suddenly another set of dragons appeared on the field before the Koumori Dragon and they each had 2000 attack points. Together they destroyed Yugioh's dragon and with it his life points went down from 8000 to 7500 "How can this be?" Yugioh demanded to know.
"When my Masked Dragon was destroyed, Yugi, I was allowed to summon another dragon type card from my deck and I chose Troop Dragons. Then I equipped them with this quick play magic card, Dragon's Gun Fire which, increased their attack points each by 800. Two Dragons against one is really an unfair advantage when you think about it but that's just what you get when you stand in the way of love!" Mokuba declared. "Anyway, I lay one card face down, and that's my turn. So now it's up to you to move this game along."
"Hmm." Yugioh would have to plan his next move more carefully. "I draw, and play Mystical Elf in Defense mode." Mokuba's life points were at 7900 and Yugioh's were at 7500 so already Mokuba had taken a slight lead. Without the heart of the cards on his side, Yugioh feared that he would loose this duel.
It was Mokuba's turn now and his Troop Dragons were now back down to their original attack and defense points which was 1200. He couldn't beat Yugi with those but another monster in his hand would do quite well.
"I sacrifice Troop Dragons to summon Luster Dragon #2." Troop Dragons disappeared and then suddenly a huge emerald green dragon appeared. "And just so you don't get any funny ideas about going after my life points with anything, Yugi, here's another troop dragons from my deck."
"How can you summon two more monsters once you've sacrificed two already?" Yugioh wanted to know."
"Because when Troop Dragons is sent from the field to the graveyard, another set of Troop Dragons is automatically summoned to the field. Now go my Luster Dragon, attack his Elf!" The Gigantic emerald dragon opened it's jaws wide and spewed fire at this Mystical Elf who would have been destroyed if Yugioh had not played yet another trap card he'd placed face down on the field on his first turn.
"Magic Cylinder!" He declared and the cylinders appeared in the Elf maiden's hands. The Luster Dragon's attack went into one cylinder and came blasting out the other, straight back at Mokuba.
"Shift!" Mokuba Cried and flipped his own trap card over. The redirected attack swerved away from Mokuba's life points and back at his dragon. The Dragon was destroyed but his life points were safe.
"Yugi, that was too predictable." Mokuba said sounding more like his brother with every card played. "You promised me an honorable duel. Let's see some of the same determination you dueled my brother with."
"Mokuba, why are you dueling me?" Yugioh asked him again.
"Because, I want to be Rebecca's boyfriend and the only way she'll agree is if I beat you at this duel. I know that sounds kind of corny but that's what she said. Now I have to win or I'll never be able to be with her. I draw." Mokuba looked at his diminished hand and wondered what he could do next. He had two dragons on the field, he could summon another monster but what could beat Yugi's Elf? "Here we go, the card my brother gave me for my birthday. The Judge Man." He said and sacrificed his Troop Dragons to summon him. Another set of Troop Dragons appeared right beside of the Judge Man and then Mokuba equipped them with the Gravity Axe-Grarl which allowed him to summon yet another high level monster. Guardian Grarl.
"So now you have four monsters on the field." Yugioh said as he summed up the odds. "This does not hold well for me."
"No it doesn't and this will prove my love for Rebecca." Mokuba said. "I attack with all four monsters. First with Judge Man to destroy your Mystical Elf!" He declared. The Judge Man attacked and the Elf was destroyed. Then Yugioh's life points took serious blows from Mokuba's two Troop Dragons.
Yugioh lost 1700 more life points and he would have lost 2500 more than that from Guardian Grarl if he had not flipped over his last trap card.
"Spellbinding Circle!" He shouted and Mokuba's fourth monster was restrained.
"We're not done yet Yugi." Mokuba said and placed another card down on the field. "Monster Reborn!" He declared and from his graveyard returned his Luster Dragon #2.
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Everyone was watching the duel as it unfolded before their eyes. Tea, Joey, Serenity ,Mai, Tristan, Ryou, Duke, Kaiba, and Rebecca. She couldn't understand how Mokuba could be dueling so hard for her of all people when they hadn't known each other very well at all. How could he already love her so and why had she said such hurtful things to him before?
"Wow, this is so romantic." Tea said wiping a tear from her eyes.
"Who are you guys betting on?" Joey asked everyone. They all said
"For Yugi, of course." But not Tea. She said that she was cheering for little Mokuba.
"What?! Mokuba?!" They all exclaimed. "Why him?"
"Because guys, he obviously cares about Rebecca so much that he's willing to go out into the hazards of space to duel for her affections. Besides if he wins then maybe Rebecca will leave Yugi alone." Rebecca could understand how Tea felt. She wouldn't want anyone clinging to her guy either. Then again, she didn't exactly have a guy. All she had was…Mokuba. It finally hit her like a bolt of lightning from the sky. She had Mokuba's heart.
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Seto Kaiba watched from his ship as his little brother was creaming Yugi. This delighted him, in the fact that he'd trained his brother so well, and that he actually beating Yugi.
"So much for his precious Heart of the Cards." Kaiba snickered.
------Scene Break-------
It was Yugioh's turn, he drew a card, and played Exchange. It was a bit of a risk considering that in his hand was the Winged Dragon of Ra, a powerful Egyptian God who's power was well known to both the Kaiba Brothers. If Mokuba chose that card then he would have just enough monsters on the field to sacrifice to summon him. He and Mokuba floated over to one another and handed over their hands for each other to take one card from.
"I'll take Jar of Greed." Yugioh said.
"And I'll take The Winged Dragon of Ra." Mokuba said. They returned to their respective places on the field and the duel continued.
"Now I place one card face down on the field and summon from my hand Giant Soldier of Stone." Mokuba had Yugi on the defensive and he knew it. Now was the time for Mokuba's finest hour. He would be victorious.
"Fist Yugi, I'm going to play this card, Soul Exchange which means that I can sacrifice one of your monsters in place of my own and I choose to sacrifice my Luster Dragon with 2400 points, Guardian Grarl with 2500 points, and your soldier of stone with 1300 points to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra with 6200 attack points.
------Scene Break-------
No once could believe it. Mokuba had done the impossible and was about to defeat Yugi with one of his own Egyptian God Monsters. Both Rebecca and Kaiba were awe struck. This was the pivotal and the defining moment of Mokuba's career as a Duelist.
"Go Mokuba, Finish him off!" Kaiba yelled over the radio to his little brother.
-------Scene Break-
"Yugi, it's been fun dueling you but for Rebecca, for my brother, and for myself, I must finish you off." Mokuba said.
"I understand." Yugi replied and readied himself for the finishing move.
"Go Winged Dragon of Ra, attack his life points directly!" Mokuba commanded and the great beast did so. Ra roared and then spouted fire balls at Yugioh who was sent flying back against the hull of the Pegasus. His life points were gone.
-------Scene Break--------
No one on either ship could believe what he or she had just seen. There was now a new King of Games and it was Mokuba Kaiba. He'd won the duel and more than that, he had in deed won Rebecca's love, and her admiration. She hailed her new hero with pride and leaped for joy at his triumphant return for her in the Blue Eyes One.
"Oh Moky, you were wonderful!" She cried when she saw him again. Rebecca threw her arms around Mokuba's shoulders and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Mokuba was in heaven and it could be seen on his face the way he was turning beat red.
"Well Mokuba, good duel." Yugi said, now normal, little Yugi again. "I think that you forgot something out there though." He handed Mokuba a card and when he saw what it was, Mokuba nearly freaked out.
"Yugi, I can't take this!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked down and there in Mokuba's hands was the Winged Dragon of Ra.
"You earned it Mokuba. You beat me, and that's something that not that many people can say, so please take this card." Yugi told him. Mokuba took out his deck and slipped the Winged Dragon of Ra into it. The Deck seemed to glow with the power of this new monster.
"Gosh Yugi, I don't know what to say." Mokuba told him.
"Say goodbye." Kaiba said as he came aboard the Pegasus. "We're leaving these losers now Mokuba. Tell you girlfriend to pack her stuff. "
"Pack my stuff?" Rebecca asked. "You mean I have to come over to your ship?"
"You don't have to, but you can if you want to." Mokuba told her. Rebecca looked around at her friends and then at her new love.
"Okay, I'll go pack." She said and floated off to the crew quarters where her things were stashed.
"You know Seto, you don't have to be so cold." Serenity reminded him. "Besides which, she doesn't have to stay over there anymore than I do."
"Fine, whatever, but Mokuba and I are going back to our ship." Kaiba stated then took his little brother by the hand.
"Sorry guys." Mokuba said and then followed his older brother to the hatch. Rebecca and Serenity just barely made it in before Kaiba closed the hatch and disconnected the Blue Eyes One from the Pegasus's hull.
"Well. There they go." Yugi said watching the small shuttle fly off back to it's mother ship.
"Yeah, they looked so happy together. Mokuba and Rebecca." Tea said. "Speaking of happy couples, you and I have a honeymoon to get back to." Yugi blushed as Tea led him off seductively towards their cabin and the others just smiled.