Seti sat on the edge of Ryou's bed, flipping through the pages of the ancient book. As he did so, one section caught his eye. He read the small passage in that section and chuckled to himself. "So that's the secret that Salazar hid from us for so long. I assumed that it would be something incredible, and apparently I was right. I still need the power of three Millennium Items. I already have two. It's only a matter of getting the third Item."
Seti closed the book and got up from the bed. He concentrated and the triangles on the Ring pointed to the window. Seti went to the window and looked out. "Yes. It's closer than I thought."
Seti placed the ancient text in one of Ryou's old backpacks and slipped it onto his back. He walked over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. After moving a few clothes, he found the Millennium Eye at the bottom. The spirit placed the Eye in his pocket and walked out of Ryou's room, after grabbing his deck as well.
Jason could feel himself falling again. Except this time, it wasn't a dream. The darkness that surrounded him was real. He could feel its cold presence slipping deep into the corners of his mind, trying to drive him insane with images of his worst nightmares. Jason reached down deep, and felt the force inside him. He used that force to expel the images from his mind and banish the shadows, leaving himself in an empty, black space.
'Okay. That went smoothly,' Jason thought as he staggered to his feet and looked around at his surroundings. "I can probably survive in here by staying connected to the Millennium Ring, but I'd need the actual Ring or some other Millennium Item to escape."
Jason looked around and saw nothing but a dark world. Shadows crept across the landscape, carrying with them the spirits of those who are tortured for all time. "This place looks exactly like the place where one would go for a Shadow Game. If that's the case, then maybe I can manipulate it with the Ring's power." Jason began to concentrate on controlling the shadows from the inside.
Seti looked up at the tall, glass building in front of him. The Millennium Ring glowed briefly, then, pointed at the top floor. He pulled the doors open, walked inside, and went up to the receptionist's desk, where the secretary was sitting. The spirit leaned on the counter and looked down at the young woman reading her book. "Where is the elevator?" he asked.
"Down the right hall, second door on the left," she responded without looking up at Seti.
The dark man turned and walked down the hall, then, got on the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. The car moved at a quick pace, which was perfect for Seti's impatience. He couldn't wait to get his hands on his next victim. The elevator soon stopped at its destination and the doors slid open. Seti strolled out into the hallway and looked around.
It was a simple hallway with a carpeted floor leading to a set of large golden doors. At the end of the passage, in front of the doors, there were two men in suits, who immediately approached Seti. "Can we help you? Because if you don't have an appointment, you can't be on this floor," one of the men said as he began to reach for his gun.
Seti simply reached into the Ring and used its power to dispatch the two guards with a blast of shadow energy. He had no time to deal with pathetic mortal such as those. The spirit continued down the hallway and pulled the doors open. Seti was slightly blinded by the bright lights in the room, but his eyes immediately adjusted to the light.
Statues of Duel Monsters lined the walls on either side. A large window overlooked the city at the other end of the room. The tranquility of the area was only broken by the sound of rapid typing coming from behind a large black chair at the back of the room. Seti snapped his fingers and the typing stopped.
"Can I help you with something? And try to make it fast. I'm very busy right now," came the smug voice from behind the chair.
"You have something that I want, and I'm going to take it," Seti responded in an equally haughty tone. Seti placed his hands on his hips and stood waiting for the response he knew he was going to get.
The chair swiveled around and Seti met with the fierce blue eyes of the young man in it. The man stood up and walked around the desk to face Seti. "And what makes you think that you can take whatever you it is that you want?" the man asked.
Seti closed his eyes and smirked. "Well that's simple. Because I'm a better duelist than you."
The man laughed scornfully at Seti, then, crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "Let me give you a piece of advice: walk away before you get embarrassed. You're not even in my league."
"Sounds to me like you've underestimate my skills. You've been doing that a lot lately, haven't you, Kaiba? You underestimated Yugi not once, but twice and you lost in your own tournament because of it," Seti retorted, knowing that it was just what he needed to set the man off. It happened to be one of his strong suits to know just how to piss people off.
Kaiba grimaced as he remembered the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Yugi near the end of Battle City.
The two duelists stood atop the massive tower on the secluded island. It had been a long tournament, culminating, for the moment, at that very point, and at that moment in time, one of the two duelists was about to be crowed the winner, and one was about to lose it all.
Yami Yugi threw his hand out, palm flat and fingers spread wide apart, as he yelled his command to his mighty fusion monster. "Dark Paladin, destroy his Blue Eyes and wipe out the rest of his life points!"
The monster raised its blade, charged with the energy from the Diffusion Wave Motion spell card that Yami played, and it unleashed a torrent of power, obliterating the three massive silver dragons opposite it with shockwaves of energy.
"No! I will not be defeated in my own tournament!" Kaiba screamed as his monsters shattered and vanished, taking with them the Battle City crown that he rightfully deserved since day one.
Kaiba gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down on the desk with a resounding thud that echoed through the small office. "Fine! You want to duel, then get ready for the most humiliating moment of your life!"
Kaiba reached behind his desk and pulled out two devices. They were a metallic gray color with two blades, one shorter than the other, on either side. On top of the blades sat a round part with two slots, one over one of the blades, another that extended out over the blonde's fist and was covered by a red plastic holder. A clear black counter sat on the round part. He tossed one of the devices to Seti.
"Not in here, though. It's muchtoo impersonal for my tastes. Duel me on the roof of the building," Seti said. "There, you can look down on the world as you lose," Seti added with a smirk as he slipped the Duel Disk on his arm. He turned and walked towards Kaiba's private elevator, but stopped abruptly. "Oh and Kaiba? Be sure to bring that Millennium Rod with you," Seti said without turning around.
He continued to walk towards the elevator, leaving Kaiba in a state of confusion. "How do you know about the Rod!" he demanded. Seti didn't answer him. He got on the elevator and headed for the roof. 'Who does that fool think he is! I'm going to crush him with the power of my Blue Eyes White Dragons! Then we'll see who's underestimating who.'
Seti got off of the elevator and walked out onto the roof. The wind blew slightly, and the morning sun shone down on the building. It was still early, around ten o'clock, meaning that there was plenty of time left in the day for Seti to work his evil plans. The dark spirit walked to the other side of the helipad and waited for his opponent. 'At last, it will be completed. This fool will be no challenge to me.'
The elevator doors opened again and Kaiba stepped out. He walked over towards Seti and took his place on the helipad. The breeze blew again, whipping around Kaiba's short brown hair and long white duster elegantly behind him. "You made a big mistake by challenging me. I'm going to crush you," he said as he held up his Duel Disk.
Seti chuckled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well, if you duel as proficiently as you talk, then I might actually break a sweat," Seti responded calmly.
Kaiba clenched his fists, but calmed down and let his anger slowly diminish. "Whatever, big-mouth. This duel will be by Battle City rules, got it?"
"Of course," Seti said as he thrust his Duel Disk out in front of him. "I just hope that you've still got your touch. After all, losing to Yugi can put a damper on your skills and your confidence, can't it?"
Kaiba ignored him as he opened his Duel Disk with a flourish. The holographic projectors launched from the bottom of the devices, and the two blade-like sections of the Duel Disks snapped together to their ready positions.
"Let's duel!" the two shouted simultaneously.
(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 4000)
"I'll start this off. I place two cards face down and a monster in defense mode. That ends my turn, so let's see what you're capable of," Kaiba said. The three brown backed holograms appeared on the field in their respective order. Seti looked at them, and scoffed as he drew from his deck.
"Oh you'll see that and more. I, too, shall place a card face down and I'll also summon Opticlops (1800/1700) in attack mode." In a bright flash, a large, muscular brown demon appeared on the field.It loweredits head and pointed its long menacing hornat Kaiba's defense monster. "Now, Opticlops, attack his face down monster!"
The demon charged and ran through the monster, a small clown dressed in baggy jester's clothes with a mask. The monster immediately shattered from the attack and Kaiba smirked. "You destroyed Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200), whose special effect allows me to remove him from play and summon another Peten from my hand or deck in defense mode."
Kaiba pulled the card from his deck and placed it on the Duel Disk. Another dark clown appeared on the field with a quickbow and a laugh. "Fine. I end my turn," Seti said, unimpressed by Kaiba's tactics so far.
The young CEO drew and added the card to his hand, deciding to save it for a later time in the duel. "Now, I'll sacrifice Peten the Dark Clown to summon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200) in attack mode!" Peten became engulfed in a brilliant flame and out of the fire a large, golden dragon that resembled a giant falcon rose. The glowing monster floated down next to Kaiba. "Next, I'll activate Peten's ability again, and bring forth another dark clown, this time in attack mode."
Kaiba placed a card on the Duel Disk from his hand this time and a third Peten appeared on the field with a taunting, yet jester-like dance. Seti continued to appear unimpressed by Kaiba's moves, even though the CEO had the overall monster advantage. "Now, Kaiser Glider, attack the Opticlops with Phoenix Flare!" The golden dragon opened its mouth and unleashed an intense flame, reducing Seti's demon to ashes.
(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 3400)
"Now my Peten will attack your life points directly!" Kaiba declared. The dark clown pulled a sharp dagger from under its shirt and rushed at Seti, stabbing him in the heart.
(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 2900)
"I hope you enjoyed that, because I assure you that it will happen again," Kaiba declared with his usual sense of overblown confidence.
The CEO ended his turn and Seti drew. In spite of Kaiba's new, more impressive monster, Seti still remained unconcerned. He picked two cards out of his hand and played them in rapid succession. "I place another card face down and summon Giant Orc (2200/0) in attack mode!" A burly bone-gray ogre wielding a long, thick club materialized on the field where Opticlops once stood. "Now, Orc, attack Peten!"
The monster charged at the small clown and swung its club over its shoulder, ready to deliver a mighty blow. "Not so fast. Reveal trap card, Negate Attack! This card will stop your monster dead in its tracks," Kaiba intoned as his face down hologram flipped up.
"You're so predictable. Activate counter trap, Trap Jammer. This card negates any trap activated after an attack is declared. So the clown still dies," Seti said with satisfaction clearly lacing his voice. A vortex opened in front of Peten, but quickly vanished leaving the monster no protection. Seti's Orc swung its club around and battered the dark clown with bone-crushing force. Kaiba's monster flew back and shattered.
(Kaiba: 2300) (Seti: 2900)
"You will pay for that," Kaiba hissed. He wasn't as upset that he lost his monster, as he was that Seti would dare to call him predictable.
"I'm sorry, did you say something. I couldn't hear you over the sound of your life points dropping like a stone," Seti teased.
"Are you through, or are you going to make petty attempts at teasing me for the rest of the duel!" Kaiba shouted, clearly annoyed by Seti's superior playing thus far.
"No, I'm not done yet, so be patient. My Giant Orc switches to defense mode after each attack and stays that way until after my next turn. Now I'm done," Seti said as his hulking monster tightened its grip on its club and moved into a defensive position.
Kaiba quickly snapped the top card off of his deck. "I'll place a card face down and summon my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode!"
A large yellow machine monster appeared. It had a small black head with narrow yellow eyes sitting on top of a think armor-plated yellow body and a black floatation sphere for a lower body. The menacing cannon barrels on its shoulders were pointed directly at Seti. "You walked right into my trap card. I activate Dark Removal!" Seti declared.
A large black cross rose from the ground next to Kaiba. Black ropes shot out from the cross and lashed Kaiba'snewly summoned monsterto it. "What have you done to my X-Head Cannon!" Kaiba demanded.
"I removed it from play for three turns. I certainly hope it wasn't a key part of your strategy," Seti said sarcastically.
Kaiba could start to feel the rage inside him building again. He couldn't believe that this no talent rookie waltzed into his office, challenged him to a duel, and was now showing him up as if he were nothing. "Kaiser Glider, destroy the Giant Orc!" Kaiba screamed.
The golden dragon blasted a wave of radiant flame almost as intense as Kaiba's rage at the Giant Orc, destroying it on impact. "Now if he were in attack mode, you could have done some damage," Seti said, continuing to tease Kaiba.
"Just shut up and duel without the comments," Kaiba snapped before he ended his turn.
"With pleasure. I'll draw, set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Seti said, after making the simple play. With it, he hoped to get rid of Kaiser Glider and put a nice dent in Kaiba's life points.
"Then it's my go," Kaiba said as he drew his next card. "I place one monster face down and have Kaiser Glider attack your defense monster."
Kaiba's dragon tore through the hologram with its blazing flame. A large tomato appeared, then, vanished in the fire. "You destroyed my Mystic Tomato (1400/1000), whose effect allows me to summon a weaker dark monster from my deck. And I choose Gantu the Tortured Demon (0/1900), in attack mode!" Seti declared. A tall, cloaked demon rose from the ground. It moaned painfully as it stuck a twisted, flaming arm out from under the cloak. 'I might as well make some use out of that fool's deck,' Seti thought as Kaiba laughed at his play.
"I can't believe that you expect that thing to save you. With zero attack, my Kaiser Glider will reduce it to ashes." Kaiba smugly folded his arms as Seti's new monster groaned again.
"I'm not interested in its attack, but if you were a real duelist, you'd know that," Seti said, eliciting a scowl from his opponent. "I'm activating its special effect. When Gantu is normal summoned in attack mode, I can destroy one monster on the field and do direct damage to your life points equal to the destroyed monster's attack. And I choose Kaiser Glider!"
Gantu reached out with its deformed arm and grabbed Kaiba's monster by its throat, squeezing it until the dragon shattered. Kaiba smiled and pointed at his face down card. "Face down card open, Stone of Purification," Kaiba declared. A large ruby appeared in front of Kaiba and glowed brightly.
(Kaiba: 4700) (Seti: 2900)
"Very clever Kaiba. Using the Stone of Purification card to change the life point damage to life point gain was a good move, but not good enough to win the duel for you," Seti said.
"You can ramble on all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to beat you. So take your turn."
"We'll see about that," Seti said as he drew. "I'll just put this monster on the field in defense mode and switch Gantu to defense mode. That ends my turn."
Kaiba drew, then, tossed his head back and laughed maliciously. He was certain that his next play would at least shut Seti up for good and prove he was the best. "Now, it's time to show you why I'm the best. First I activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards." A large, green pot appeared on the field. The face on the pot twisted into an ugly grin and two transparent hands rose from inside it, holding up two cards. Kaiba drew two cards from his deck, bringing his hand to three cards "Next, I'll activate D.D. Designator. This card allows me to call one card name. You must show me your hand, and if you have that card in your hand, you must remove it from play. But if you don't I have to remove one card in my hand from play."
Seti smirked and shook his head, whipping Jason's blonde hair around it. "Let's just hope that you can call it right," Seti said with more of his trademark sarcasm.
"I've got a better idea. I call the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba snapped back, pointing at Seti's hand.
Seti laughed, then, fanned out his hand to show Kaiba. "I have no such card in my deck, let alone my hand. You alone possess the only Blue Eyes White Dragons in the world, so why would you call something so foolish?"
"Just watch and learn," Kaiba said as he removed a card in his hand from play. "I activate my face down trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! At the cost of half of my life points, I get to summon all of my monsters that have been removed from play. So return to me X-Head Cannon, both Petens and Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!"
(Kaiba: 2350) (Seti: 2900)
'Y-Dragon Head! He must've removed it from play with D.D. Designator. He's smarter than I originally gave him credit for,' Seti thought.
The cross disappeared from behind X-Head Cannon and the two dark clowns reappeared with twin laughs. Next to them appeared a red, floating mechanical dragon with long wings and glowing yellow eyes. "Next, I'll flip over my face down monster, the Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)." The face down hologram card flipped up and a large tank-like monster appeared. Large tracks rested at the sides of the monster's yellow body and it had a large yellow sphere for a head with a clear sensor that served as an eye. "Now, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank, combine yourselves into one!"
The three monsters transformed and combined until they were all one monster with X-Head Cannon on top, Y-Dragon Head as the torso, and Z-Metal Tank on the bottom. Seti chuckled. "Well, that's an impressive monster you've got. But can it get the job done?"
"Oh, it can. My XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600) can do that and more! But I'm afraid that's not all I've got. For my normal summon, I sacrifice both my dark clowns to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" The two clowns were engulfed in a stream of light that shot down from the heavens. A large, silver dragon emerged from the light and unleashed an earth-shaking roar, before taking its place next to its master and folding back its massive wings. "Now who's got the advantage?" Kaiba asked, though he was certain of the answer.
"It doesn't matter about your monsters. I've still got a few tricks left up my sleeves," Seti declared. He knew that this was the best that Kaiba could do for the moment, so if he got past it, he knew he could win.
Kaiba glared at Seti and held up a fist. "Your tricks mean nothing to me, because now, I'm going to wipe you out in an all out blitz! So get ready, because it ends here and now!"