Gema J. Gall: Goodie! Now that Nightmare Penguin has fulfilled his uses in the story, we get to have fun with him!
Star: Do you want me to send a recon unit in to retrieve him?
Lady Akhana: Nope, we're already on it.
DC Kantel: Yippie! Fresh meat for my piranha bunnies and vampire shadows!
Fox Demon: And my shadow foxes!
Moonlady: Umm…does someone want to stop them before they drive the prisoner mad and we loose any chance of getting information out of him?
E-100 Alpha: I would, but I want to keep all of my limbs.
Imp Is Insane: I sorta want to see the leader of the penguins in pain. giggle
Bakurakrazie: The penguin guy was right, insanity is contagious.
Pharaoh Light: Luckily we have mustard!
Pharaoh Dark: And lots of it!
Demon of Shadows: So, when will they get back with the prisoner?
Kitty Tigri: Don't tell me you want to join Demon Child and the foxes?
Dark Fox: What's wrong with that?!
Seadragon1012: I hope it means there will be a battle soon! I want some action.
Gema: First we need to plan.
Akhana: No, first we have to hide all hot cocoa from you.
Livi: Well…would there be a battle if we brought down the leader?
E-100 Alpha: Yes, because the penguins would be infuriated and attack us.
Pharaoh Dark: Yes! This would be the perfect chance to test the new security system.
Pharaoh Light: And the new weapons!
Phantom1: New Weapons? I want to see!
DC Kantel: I'm sticking with my summons.
Cloud Dragon: We all shudder…
Moonlady: They're here! They're here!
In enters Blackbelt Timmy, Diamondlance, and Master of Dimension dragging Nightmare Penguin aka Crum
Master of Dimensions: We brought him, as asked.
Blackbelt Timmy: He tried to 'resist arrest' so we had to…play hard.
Fox Demon: Yay! starts to summon shadow foxes
Livi: Eh-hem! We're supposed to question him first!
Dark Fox: We are? pout
Nightmare Penguin: You kids! Let me go! You won't get away with this!
Diamondlance: But we already have!
Group pulls out an assortment of mustard weapons
Nightmare Penguin: NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAN/ No, Ammit is NOT from the new Yu-Gi-Oh! movie. She is a mythical beast from real Egyptian mythology, so look her up on the web.
Noah appeared rather suddenly back in the surveillance room. Shayla was more than a bit surprised, she hadn't gotten used to his teleportation even when she suspected he was about to do it. She didn't need to be able to see to be able to sense the tension around him.
"What did that hacker friend of yours do?!" he demanded.
"Huh?" asked Shayla, a bit taken back by the question.
"What was that monster that just invaded my virtual world?!" demanded Noah.
"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," replied Shayla.
"You're lying! I know you know, so tell me!" demanded Noah, who was mostly angry because he had been scared.
"I can't lie," replied Shayla. "And that's the truth. The truth does not change based on who believes it and who doesn't."
"You obsession with 'truth' is getting tiring, especially since you are lying!" snapped Noah. "I don't know why you are trying to hide it, it can't be to protect your friends, after all, they've completely forgotten about you. Looks like you're no one's friend." Noah was in a rotten mood, and was now taking it out on Shayla.
"And brainwashing someone to like you is any better?" asked Shayla. "That's just sad." Noah didn't reply, a bit taken back by her response. He had expected her to be more upset, not counter with a very direct hit. "Mokuba is a really sweet kid. You can't use him like this! It's wrong!"
"Fine, don't answer my question about the hacker, I'll find out on my own!" snapped Noah. "This world is mine, and no one will toy with me here!"
"I still am not sure about the details of your connection to the Kaiba family, but I think that this form you've taken now is not your true form. However, you still act exactly like a little kid, just like a spoiled brat, even though you should be older than me, you definitely don't act like it."
"I will not be insulted like that!"
"I am simply stating facts."
"You had better learn to control your tongue, because you are going to be stuck in this virtual world with me for a long time!" snapped Noah as he vanished from the room completely.
Shayla slowly released her breath. She knew she was in trouble, and she had no idea how to get out of it. The only thing she was sure of was that she was on her own. The others had completely forgotten about her in their concern for everyone else.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"If you think robot monkeys can't barf you're wrong," shouted monkey Tristan. Joe was holding him upside down by his feet and shaking him, causing his gears to rattle around.
"Tristan, just clam down, this could be the only way to save us from this place," replied Joe, turning him right side up.
"Torturing me is going to save us?!" yelled Tristan, desperately trying to break free of Joe's grip.
"Look, you may hold the secret to escaping form Noah's virtual world," explained Joe, perfectly calmly, which further infuriated the ape-transformee.
"Just don't do any permanent damage," said Kevin.
"Now you're back to thinking I work for Noah!? It's me! Tristan!" raged monkey Tristan.
"Everyone knows its you trapped in there dude," replied Duke, giving Joe a steady look. "But we figure that your robot body was designed by Noah it may hold some clues about how to get out of here."
"I don't think Noah would be that careless," said Drake.
"I just can't believe we are still stuck here," said Lara. "Especially after all the duels we won."
"Noah isn't going to let us out," said Duke. "So we're on our own."
"So give us some answers baboon boy!" demanded Joe, once again shaking Tristan upside down.
"Quit grabbing, there's nothing…!" protested Tristan. But before he could finished, Duke walked over and opened a hatch he had spotted on monkey Tristan's back.
"Hey! Check it out! It's a secret compartment," exclaimed Joe, now turning Tristan face down so he could examine the buttons inside. There was six of them, each labeled numerically. Joe pressed #5. "Let's try this."
Joe set Tristan on the ground. Tristan's four paws locked together and tiny wheels popped out of them. Then, as if being controlled by a remote control, Tristan started wheeling around Joe and Duke like an out of control Indianapolis driver.
"What's going on!?" screamed Tristan. "Someone stop me!"
Duke and Joe looked mildly surprised. Everyone else was trying to repress laughter.
"Let me handle this okay!" said Duke, snatching Tristan up by his neck. He flipped open the hatch again and selected a button. "Two is my lucky number."
The top of Tristan's monkey head opened and two small propellers shot out.
"Something tells me it's not mine!" yelled Tristan as he shot into the sky, screaming.
Téa had to duck as he flew straight at her. Then he turned, and started circling Yu-Gi and Serenity like a hyperactive moth circling a flame. When he came after Kevin, Kevin instinctively swatted at him. The blow connected and sent Tristan nose-diving into the desert floor.
"Monkey sleep now…" said Tristan, dazed.
"That didn't work…Maybe there's some kind of code…" said Joe, picking up Tristan again.
"Try a better number next time," complained Lara.
"Hey guys, maybe this red button is the one," said Yu-Gi, examining the buttons with Joe. He pressed #6.
"Initiating primate emergency escape sequence," said a feminine computer voice.
"I think we hit the jackpot," said Yu-Gi.
"Finally! Reality!" exclaimed Kevin.
Tristan was hunched down on the ground, staring forward. Then, his digital monkey eyes started glowing. They lit up the area in front of him like a spotlight. A large oak door fazed into existence in the light.
"Activating virtual destination matrix. Gateway revealed," said the computer voice.
"I'm starting to have second guesses about this guys," said Drake.
The door swung open on its own, enveloping everyone in a bright light. They all shielded their eyes as the desert around them dissolved entirely.
"Program complete," said the computer voice as the light faded.
They were no longer standing in a barren wasteland with no signs of civilization. Instead, they were in the middle of what could be classified as a small, high tech town. The teens were between three life-size Blue-Eyes, White Dragon statues. Directly in front of the was a large, colorful arching gateway with a big neon sign over it. But besides themselves, there was no other sign of anyone being present.
"'Kaibaland?'" read Téa. "What's that?"
"Another example of someone's ego?" volunteered Kevin.
"Oh? So this is what Kaiba is up to?" smirked Drake. "It's always good to know what the competition is planning."
"But this isn't reality," said Lara.
"What kind of emergency escape is this?" asked Duke, sounding a bit ticked.
"Maybe we have to find the exit in this place somewhere," suggested Yu-Gi.
"Yug, you're the only person I know who would find the good in being trapped in a virtual illusion of Kaiba's imagination," said Joe.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSeto Kaiba was still exploring the backlots of the park. He was rather intrigued by the fact that he was walking in a place he had only dreamed of. He would almost come close to enjoying himself if it wasn't for the fact that his brother was in serious trouble.
"Noah may have tried his best to create my Duel Monster's theme park, but this is just a virtual rip off. That kid is incapable of an original thought, everything in this entire virtual world is copied off of something, and most of it is stuff I have created," thought Kaiba.
He walked to the back of the backlots, where an underground train track was laid. He paused there.
"Blue-Eyes, White Dragon train approaching the platform," announced a computer voice. There was a low rumble that caused the ground to tremor as a subway train shaped like a stream-line Blue-Eyes approached. "Stand behind the white line and please let all passengers off the vehicle before boarding." The doors slid open automatically, only a few feet in front of where Kaiba was standing. "Welcome to Kaibaland, please watch your step."
"At least he got this right," said Kaiba as he stepped onto the train without hesitation.
"Come in and stand clear of the closing doors," said the computer. The doors slid shut behind him.
"This train had better lead me to Mokuba," thought Kaiba, taking a seat and crossing his arms. The train sped away from the platform and into a dark, underground tunnel.
"May I have your attention please," said Noah's voice, over the PA. Seto's eyes narrowed. "All passengers who have stolen family empires from their rightful owners listen carefully."
"Noah," grumbled Kaiba, looking crosser.
"Prepare to exit at the next stop," said Noah, though it was an order, not a request.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxNoah turned to Mokuba. He had returned to the living room after his argument with Shayla. Now he and Mokuba were sitting on the couch, watching the group from the screen. Though it was more like Noah was watching and Mokuba was staring blankly ahead.
"Don't believe a word he's saying," Noah told Mokuba.
Mokuba's eyes pulsed red slightly. "Yes sir, not a word. You're my only brother Noah." Noah put an arm around him and smiled evilly up at the screen, watching Seto Kaiba.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"It looks like some type of Duel Monsters amusement park," commented Yu-Gi as the group roamed the empty grounds.
"Remind me never to waste my money here," said Joe.
"Kaiba is going to have some major copyright issues if he plans on opening this place without talk with Industrial Illusions," said Drake.
"Don't worry, it's just a virtual park," said Kevin. "Gosh I miss reality…"
"We'll be getting out of here soon," said Téa. "There has to be an exit around here somewhere."
"Hey, where is Tristan?" asked Serenity, looking around.
Monkey Tristan was wheeling his way right into the restricted section of Kaibaland, which Seto Kaiba had left wide open. Tristan was no longer in control of his robotic body, the computer program had taken over.
"There he goes!" exclaimed Joe, pointing.
"Now what?" groaned Lara.
"Follow him!" exclaimed Yu-Gi, running.
"As long as we don't have to go back to the stairway room," said Drake as everyone else started running.
"Slow down, will you robo-chimp!?" yelled Joe.
"He's fast for a midget!" exclaimed Kevin.
At that moment monkey Tristan stopped and wheeled around to face them. "Halt, intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder Alert," said a new, lower computer voice. "Unauthorized personnel are forbidden to enter."
"Forbidden to enter?" echoed Kevin.
"The exit might be here!" exclaimed Téa.
"Halt, intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder Alert," repeated the computer voice. "Unauthorized personnel are forbidden to enter."
"And just how are you going to stop us you little metal twerp?" asked Joe.
"You have been warned intruder," said monkey Tristan. He raised his front paws. The hands rolled back and two guns took their place. He aimed them at the teens.
"Thanks for the warning!" yelled Joe, who was already running. He clobbered the miniature monkey, sending it flying into the wall. Téa and Serenity gave him the same look they had given him when he attacked Nesbit in Tristan's body in the warehouse district.
"Hey Tristan? You okay?" asked Serenity, walking over to him.
"What's going on?" asked Tristan, shaking his head. He had no idea he had been overridden in his own computer body.
"Maybe it's better you don't know," commented Téa.
"Come on girls!" called Drake. The rest of the group was running ahead.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxKaiba was still riding in the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon train, slowly simmering as he continued to think about everything Noah had done and all the danger Mokuba could be in.
"Attention you fool," said Noah. "You are now leaving Kaibaland."
A large, dark hole appeared in the tunnel, though it was hard to discern from the darkness around it. The train shot right into it. Tracks that had no been there before materialized as the train continued on. Kaiba looked out of the window. The train was now a story off of the ground. The ground looked like the inside of Mt. Saint Helen. Lava pits darted the landscape in all possible directions. Several rocky platforms rose out of the molten rocks. On one of the large ones, Noah was standing, watching the train's arrival.
"Welcome to your final destination…for eternity," said Noah. The train stopped and Kaiba got out, glaring daggers at Noah. "Don't mind the lava pits below, the molten rock is only 2000 degrees." The train continued on and vanished out of sight.
"Noah…" Kaiba started, his hands clenching into fists.
"Ah, right on schedule Seto," continued Noah, smirking. "Please watch your step. I wouldn't want you to burn to smithereens before our duel."
"Look, I want my brother back right now! You cowardly little runt!" yelled Kaiba, who was on a rocky mesa about fifty feet from Noah.
"He's my brother now," replied Noah.
"Noah, watch what you say," said Kaiba, raw fury tainting his tone.
"Mokuba hates you!" snapped Noah. "He'll be much better off when I scatter your mind throughout cyberspace!"
"That will be merciful compared to what I have planned for you!" Kaiba shot back.
"You won't be around much longer, Seto!" growled Noah. "And it's time for me to do what I've been waiting to do for years! Time to prove to myself and prove to my father that I am superior to you in every single way!"
"If you're so great, why I am the president of Kaiba Corp.?" retorted Seto.
"Because of an unfortunate twist that never should have happened," answered Noah. "I'm about to correct that mistake. Gozaburo Kaiba is my father, not yours! He always intended to pass his company on to me!"
"Keep dreaming kid"
"It's true!" shouted Noah.
"Who are you?" demanded Kaiba. "I saw your home movies." Noah seemed a bit surprised by this information. "And you owe me some explanations!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxKaiba wasn't the only one who had found the home movies. The rest of the group had just stumbled across them as well. They had crowded around the ancient projector and were watching with curious amusement.
"What's all this?" asked Yu-Gi as the scenes kept changing.
"Beats me…" replied Joe.
"I want some popcorn," complained Kevin.
"Listen, they're talking about Noah," said Téa, hushing them so she could hear better. "This must be some kind of old home movie."
The happy scenes suddenly gave way to the somber scene at the church.
"They look pretty upset," commented Yu-Gi.
"That's Gozaburo?" asked Lara.
"What are they down about?" wondered Joe.
"If we're going to save him we have to act fast," came Gozaburo's voice from the projected.
"Save him? Sounds to me like Noah was in some sort of accident," commented Téa.
"You might be right, but what does all this have to do with this virtual place?" asked Drake.
"It isn't a clue about the exit, that's for sure," replied Duke.
"And I'm no closer to getting my body back," complained Tristan.
"Yes, we have to keep looking for the Kaibas and Tristan's body," said Serenity.
"Yeah, let's get going," agreed Yu-Gi.
They reentered the main hall of the restricted area of Kaibaland and spread out a bit, looking for anything that might help them. They didn't have to wait long.
"Hey guys, I found something!" called monkey Tristan. He was standing in the back, looking down at the subway tracks. "Check it out, train tracks."
"Huh?" asked the group as they filtered over.
"Don't tell me you guys are thinking of following those tracks," said Téa.
"Better than following bear tracks," joked Kevin.
"Have any other ideas? We have to find Kaiba and Mokuba, get my body back, and get out of here," said monkey Tristan. He jumped down onto the tracks. "So come on."
"Let's go," agreed Yu-Gi.
"Do you think it's safe to walk around on those?" asked Lara. "We don't know what might be coming."
"Don't worry, trains are always late," replied Duke.
"Still, maybe we should wait for it," commented Téa.
"How do we even know there is a train?" asked Kevin. "Nothing works normally in this world."
"Let's not stand around all day talking about it," said Joe.
"Who needs a train when you've got one of these babies!?" called Tristan. He had scrambled a bit of a ways and was jumping up and down on an old wooden mining trolley that was half hidden in a fork in the tracks.
"Nice score Tristan!" cheered Joe
-x-x-x-x-x-
The group had quickly piled onto the trolley. Duke and Drake were at the teeter-totter like pump, urging the vehicle to pick up speed. They were now buzzing down the tunnel. It seemed fast because they had no walls to shield them from the wind, but it was barely even half the speed of the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon train.
"What do you say we slow down a bit?" asked Yu-Gi.
"Are you kidding me? Speed up you wimps!" exclaimed Tristan,
"Easy for you to say, Mr. My-arms-are-too-short-to-drive," replied Drake.
"Want me to take over?" asked Joe.
"NO!" exclaimed most of the group.
"You aren't allowed to operate any vehicles after the incident with the truck!" snapped Duke.
"Guys, I really think we should slow down," said Serenity.
"You do know where the brakes are, right?!" cried Téa, tightening her grip around the base of the pump. They had come to a slight downhill incline and were picking up speed faster than ever.
"Yeah! Anyone ever see one of these things before?!" asked Yu-Gi, who had dug his fingers into the cracks between the boards.
"Not me," replied Lara, who was gripping Drake's legs.
"In TV once," commented Joe. He had one arm around Serenity, and the other was gripping the side of the trolley.
"This is real life, Joe!" yelled Téa.
"Well, I wouldn't call this real, this is only a virtual world," replied Kevin, who was clutching the base with her.
"This looks like a brake," commented Joe, reaching for a lever that was just a little to his left. He started to pull up on it.
"Wait!" cried Duke, who was still sore from being thrown several yards out of the back of a truck.
There was a loud screeching noise and sparks started to fly from the back of the vehicle. Slowly and gradually the trolley began to slow down. The lights in the tunnel were not flickering passed as quickly.
"Hey, it's working!" exclaimed Joe.
"Do you mean you did something right for once?" asked Tristan, who was holding onto the metal bar around the brake's lever.
SNAP! The sparks stopped. The metallic screech was replaced by the sound of metal falling to the tracks and rolling away. Everyone's eyes suddenly doubled in size.
"How cliché! The brakes broke!" cried Lara.
The group screamed as the trolley plummeted into the darkness with no way to stop it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You want the truth, Seto?" asked Noah. "Are you sure you can handle it? Well, you won't be here much longer anyways, so what's the harm?" He shrugged. "It's true; I haven't aged in years. In fact, this isn't really me. The real Noah is up there." He pointed up into the sky. "Behold your true step-brother." A large glowing sphere was coming through the clouds, almost like a mini-sun. But as the light faded from it, it was clear it was not at all like the sun. It was a metal sphere, almost like the inside of a computer wrapped into a ball.
"Explain yourself!" demanded Seto.
"That giant metal sphere above us is a shell to protect my living brain," answered Noah. He then started laughing insanely.
"Did you say your brain's up there?!" gaped Kaiba.
"That's right," said Noah. "It's hardwired to a computer that projects a virtual image of me. But things weren't always that way."
Kaiba didn't reply. He finally managed to tear his gaze away from the sky and leveled an icy glare on Noah. Noah ignored that and continued talking.
"I used to be a normal kid, a normal kid who had everything. As the only child of a multi-millionaire I was afforded every luxury known to man. My father's servants waited on me hand and foot. I was groomed for success from the time I could walk. Mathematicians and scientists from around the world lined up for the chance to teach me, the son of the world's most powerful man. Musicians, champion athletes, they were all lured to our front door by my father, Gozaburo Kaiba, with the sole purpose of raising me into a well-educated, well-rounded, future president of Kaiba Corp.."
Noah paused for a moment, sizing up Kaiba for his reaction. If the aqua-haired boy was expecting much emotion out of Kaiba, he was in for a disappointment. Kaiba's icy glare had not changed one iota.
"So you see, Seto, it was me who was destined to rule my father's company, not you, and I would have, had it not of been for a freak accident. What happened to me is of little importance." He waved his hand dismissively, as if he was trying to dismiss it from his own mind. "The point is, my body was rendered useless. But my mind was still as sharp as ever. So my father used his company's cutting edge technology to save me. He linked my mind to a central computer, transforming my brainwaves into magnetic pulses; every part of my mind was digitized and downloaded into a mainframe computer. It was the end of y former life and the beginning of my new life."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxShayla sat, listening, because there was nothing else she could do. Her hands had gripped her backpack tightly, to keep them from shaking. It was harder for her to act like she wasn't afraid when no one else was around. Everything that Noah said was only helping to unnerve her more. That added to the stress that everyone else was in danger of a serious crash was causing her nerves to tie into knots again.
"Noah is completely a brat," Shayla said to herself. "He is also completely insane…but the worse part is…he is completely telling the truth…I am in so much trouble…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Soon after that you came along," continued Noah. "Originally father adopted you to motivate and challenge me, as part of my training to take over Kaiba Corp.. But that was no longer possible. I was extremely powerful in cyber space, but with no body of my own, I couldn't serve as the future president of my father's company. Until now!"
"Why now?" asked Seto, coldly.
I exist as only as a digital file in a super computer built by my father, but as soon as I defeat you in a duel, proving once for all that I should be running Kaiba Corp. I'll upload my mind into your body. Then I'll fulfill my father's wishes by taking over the company," answered Noah, smiling rather evilly.
Kaiba looked him over for a second, then burst into laughter. It wasn't good-natured laughter, or even laughter that comes from enjoyment. It was a cold laugh. "You expect me to believe that? Noah, please. The only think more ridiculous than that story is you out-dueling me."
"Let's go," said Noah, holding out an arm so a duel disk could form on it. "There's no better way to prove my power over you then by defeating you at your own pathetic game."
"I've heard enough! Is that clear?!" growled Kaiba. "I rebuilt Kaiba Corp. from the ground up on my own terms, with no help at all." He true mood, anger, was showing through without any barriers. "That company is what it is because of me! No one else could run it! Especially not some kid!"
"Really?" asked Noah. The lava in front of them suddenly shot into the air like a geyser. Kaiba suspected it was Noah showing off. However, both duelists remained perfectly calm.
"I'll show you real power! Let's go!" snapped Kaiba, activating his duel disk. It swung around his arm and clicked into place.
"All right, then choose your cards Seto."
"I already have!" retorted Kaiba. "And I've already chosen my Deck Master." He picked a card out of his deck. "Say hello to my friend, Kaiser Seahorse!" His Deck Master was blue and violet colored. It looked like a knight that had been given armor shaped off of a Seahorse.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting, Seto," said Noah, as if he was savoring the moment. "Time to lose it all! "
"Let's duel!" they both said.
"I'll go first and now…" said Noah, drawing his hand.
"His first mistake was taking Mokuba, his second was challenging me, the fool," though Kaiba, venomously. "Let's see what you got 'step-brother.'"
"With pleasure!"
"Enough talk, I'm going first!"
"Always with the demands, Seto."
Kaiba glared at him and put one card on his duel disk. "I summon Giant Germ to the field in attack mode!" His viral monster appeared in front of him in a small flash of light. It wasn't a very attractive monster to begin with. Things that got killed crossing the highway look better. It's attack was 1000. "Then I play this card face down."
"This kid is in way over his head," thought Kaiba. "As soon as he attacks me, I'll activate my Crush Card and infect his entire deck. This duel will be over soon and I'll win Mokuba back."
"Then I summon Kiron the Mage to the field!" announced Noah. His first monster appeared. It was a human monster, wearing gold and violet robes and carrying a large staff. Its attack was 1800.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxThe teens were still screaming and clinging to each other as the out-of-control trolley continued to vault down the subway tracks. They had no way of knowing how far they had gone, or what was coming ahead. It was all they could do to hold on, let alone prevent a collision.
"This can't be good!" exclaimed Joe.
"You are never allowed to touch a vehicle again!" snapped Drake.
"I'm going to be sick," moaned Duke.
"I am sick…" said Lara, who was looking a little green.
"I think I left my stomach back at that last turn," complained Téa.
"Just hang on guys!" called Yu-Gi.
"What's that?!" gasped Kevin as a spot of light directly in front of them began to grow with increasing speed.
"I don't…" started Serenity.
She never got to finish. Suddenly, the trolley was engulfed in a bright light. The tracks fell away. A large hole opened up and the trolley shot through it. The group was airborne. The screaming was renewed as they all felt briefly weightless for a second before the trolley came crashing down. It shattered when it hit the rocks below, leaving the duelists bruised in new places. They slowly began to stir, trying to shake of the adrenaline from the ride. They were on a small rocky platform surrounded by lava. Two other duelists watched them; one amused, one surprised.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Yu-Gi, struggling to his feet.
"Define 'alright,'" said Joe, nursing his right arm.
"I'm alive, if that's what you mean…" said Duke.
"I don't think I have room for any more bruises," complained Lara as Drake helped her to her feet.
"Hey look!" exclaimed Yu-Gi, who had been visually exploring the area that they had landed.
"Where are we?" asked Serenity.
"Beats me. But I don't think we're in Kaibaland any more," answered Téa.
"I haven't seen this place before…" said Kevin.
"Hey, look over there guys," said Drake, pointing to the duel in progress.
"Kaiba versus Noah!" gasped Yu-Gi.
"No way!" exclaimed Joe.
"It's about time that twerp started to grow a backbone," commented Drake.
"Two jerks dueling, this ought to be interesting," said Kevin.
"Be careful Kaiba!" called Yu-Gi.
"Yu-Gi…" growled Kaiba.
"Looks like the fan club has arrived," said Noah, nonchalantly. "And just in time to witness your last duel, Seto, and my rebirth into the real world as the new leader of Kaiba Corp.."
"Oh no! He can't let Noah win!" gasped Yu-Gi.
"Should we care?" asked Kevin.
"If Kaiba wins, we're stuck with him. If Noah wins, we have to put up with that brat. I can't decide what's worse…" said Lara.
"Come on guys! He's trying to help his brother!" exclaimed Serenity.
Noah and Seto had turned their attention back to duel, ignoring whatever snide comments the new arrivals had to make.
"I now activate Mirror of Truth!" declared Noah. "This card let's me reveal one of your face down cards and destroy it! And my choice should be obvious, even to you Seto, because you only have one card face down!"
A strong zephyr picked up the face down Crush Card and flipped it up. It lingered there for a moment before it was blown to atoms.
"Crush Card, I see, you were trying to infect my deck," said Noah. "Well, you failed! And now, Kiron, attack his Giant Germ!"
The mage raised its staff. Bright, swirling energy cumulated there for a moment, before rushing forward and obliterating the Giant Germ. Kaiba raised an arm to shield himself from the blast. However, his life points were still effected, dropping his down to 3200.
"The good thing about my Giant Germ, it makes a quick recovery," said Kaiba. The bits of the Giant Germ hadn't even vanished before they pulled together again, forming a new Giant Germ.
"That was close…" said Joe.
"He still lost life points, though," said Serenity.
"He's not the only one! Look!" exclaimed Duke. Noah's life point counter was moving too, stopping him at 3500 life points.
"What happened?!" gasped Noah.
"That would be Giant Germ's second special ability," said Kaiba with a small smirk. "but now I tribute my Giant Germ to summon Vampire Lord!" His new monster had hair the same color as Noah's. Its skin was a very pale violet color. It wore a violet outfit with red trim, complete with cape. Two point fangs stuck over its lips. Its stats were 2000 and 1500.
"I thought he was supposed to be a dragon duelist," commented Kevin.
"You want a true dragon duelist, that would be me," said Drake. "And unlike someone else here, I actually have manners."
"That last part is definitely true," agreed Kevin.
"Now, Vampire Lord, attack Kiron the Mage!" ordered Kaiba. Vampire Lord spread it's wing-like cape and numerous bats materialized and flew around Kiron, sending it to the graveyard. The vampire was starting to infringe on Myotismon copyrights. As Kiron was eliminated, Noah's life points dropped to 3300.
"Since I did damage to your life points, Vampire Lord's special ability is activated," Seto. "One of the cards from your deck is sent directly to the graveyard, Noah."
Noah shrugged and slid one card into his graveyard.
"That fanged freak won't be causing me any more trouble," said Noah. "Because I activate the magic card Fissure! That magic card destroys your weakest monster, and since you only have one, your Vampire Lord is sent to the graveyard where it belongs!"
Kaiba said nothing as his monster disappeared from the field via a large hole in the ground that had formed under its feet.
"Kaiba has no monsters guarding his life points!" gasped Téa. "That's bad!"
"So we're cheering for Kaiba?" asked Duke.
"He's the lesser of two evils," said Kevin, at length.
"I summon Aerith to the field!" announced Noah. "Now, attack Seto's life points directly!" His newest monster charged forward, right over the lava pit. Kaiba cringed back a bit as the monster attacked him. He lost life points equal to Aerith's attack, 1800, bring him down to 1400 life points. "I play this card face down and end my turn."
"Go Kaiba!" cheered Yu-Gi.
"Show that little green-haired twerp who's boss!" added Joe.
"I guess we're cheering for Kaiba…" said Lara, slowly.
"Yeah, Kaiba can't lose until I duel him," replied Drake.
"You're going to have to wait," said Kevin. "I want to take him down first."
Noah was laughing. "This duel is almost over! I have over double the amount of life points you do!"
"You'll never get away with this Noah," growled Kaiba. "I'd rather see my company crumble to the ground than fall into your grubby little hands. Kaiba Corp. is mine! You got that punk?"
"You stole it! I'm just taking back what belongs to me!" yelled Noah.
"Keep dreaming kid!" retorted Kaiba. As he spoke, his Vampire Lord rose out of the earth. "One thing about vampires; they don't die. My Vampire Lord will return at the start of every turn because of its special ability, Immortality."
"All right, I never thought that I'd be routing for Kaiba! Let's go, rich-boy!" called Joe.
"Yeah! Crush his so we can get out of here!" added Duke.
"And get my body back!" added Tristan, which was hardly intelligible from the monkey noises he was making.
"I can't be beat. We're in my world and I make the rules," said Noah, glaring across the field.
"Listen, you may think that you created this Virtual World, punk, but all you did was rip off my system," replied Kaiba, coldly.
"That's sad when you're ripping off something Kaiba made," said Drake.
"What else would you expect from a brat like that?" asked Lara.
"I now summon Slate Warrior to the field!" announced Seto. His fiend appeared beside his Vampire Lord. Slate Warrior's stats were 1900 and 400. "Vampire Lord, attack his monster!"
"Not so fast! I activate Earthshaker!" countered Noah.
"Earthshaker?" asked Serenity.
"Just watch," said Drake. "That card can be trouble."
"First, I select two monster types, then you chose one of the two and all monsters of that type on the field are destroyed," said Noah.
"I know what it does," glowered Kaiba.
"Then you should know what two types I'm going to chose," said Noah, eyeing up Kaiba's two monsters. "I chose fiend and zombie! Now you have to pick one of those and those monsters will be destroyed." He laughed. "Either way, you'll be destroying one of your own monsters!"
"If I chose fiend, I lose my Slate Warrior, but if I chose zombie, I lose my Vampire Lord," thought Kaiba, considering his options. "I chose zombie!"
The ground began to shake violently, causing the lava pits to ripple, wave, and crash dangerously close to those present. The Vampire Lord was once more swallowed by the earth.
"Why did he do that?" asked Duke. "That was his stronger monster!"
"Because Vampire Lord will return at the start of his next turn," replied Yu-Gi.
"I get it," said Joe. "He actually planned to do that. Kaiba may be a pain in the butt, but he knows how to play Duel Monsters."
"Slate Warrior, attack Aerith!" ordered Kaiba. His remaining monster charged forward, slicing Noah's warrior in half. The loss cost Noah 100 life points, bringing him down to 3200.
Noah looked up from shielding himself from the attack. "I activate Giant Flood!"
"What does that do Yug?" asked Joe.
"Better question, what's that?!" gasped Kevin.
A wall of water was rising in the distance and fast approaching them.
"It's a tidal wave!" gasped Tristan.
"Let's get out of here!" exclaimed Joe.
"We can't!" protested Téa. They were stuck on a rock island in the middle of a lake of lava. The tsunami was bearing down on them.
"Brace yourselves!" exclaimed Drake, who had thrown his arms protectively around Lara.
The wave crashed, submerging the entire magma-covered area for a moment. Everyone held their breath and tried not to be swept away as the water rushed around them. The water receded. The land had colored, making the area look like it had been hit with a small meteor show. Some places were still steaming, and craters spotted the landscape.
"I'm going to rust," complained Tristan.
"That little punk knows exactly how to make himself annoying," grumbled Lara.
"Anyone got a towel?" asked Téa.
"I never did tell you what my Deck Master was, Seto," said Noah. He held his hands up and a large wooden boat rose out of the small lake that lingered behind him.
"That boat is your Deck Master?!" gasped Kaiba.
"Yes, and now watch as I activate one of its special abilities," said Noah. All the monsters from both graveyards, as well as Kaiba's Slate Warrior were bobbing into the boat. It had opened a large hatch in the front and the Duel Monsters drifted inside. The boat then sealed itself up.
"Are you wondering what happened to all your monsters?" asked Noah, grinning.
"It crossed my mind," replied Kaiba, dryly.
"From now on every monster that is sent to the graveyard will be rerouted and sent into Shinato's Ark," said Noah. "There it will remain a passenger until I need it."
"What does that mean, Joe?" asked Serenity.
"I don't know," said Joe.
"I don't think it's legal," said Kevin.
"Not according to any of the rule we made," glowered Drake.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"How ironic," said Shayla to herself. "Noah chose an ark for his Deck Master. There's only one problem. Shinato's Ark isn't a monster! It's a ritual magic card! I don't know what Noah is trying to pull, but there is no way that can be right, not even according to his own twisted rules. This duel needs a ref, badly. I know my scales would be acting up if I was there…If I was there, I could probably help… Being stuck here is all my fault…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxKaiba started laughing, which further annoyed Noah.
"You find this funny?" asked Noah, his eyes narrowing.
"I find you pathetic," chortled Kaiba. "Thanks to Giant Flood you have no monsters on the field or in your hand."
"How does Kaiba know if Noah has monsters in his hand or not?" asked Duke.
"Because Giant Flood also effects each player's hand," said Drake. "It completely clears the in-play field of monsters."
"Spear Dragon!" announced Kaiba. His blue dragon appeared. It bellowed once, raising its pointed snout to the sky. Its attack was 1900 while its defense was 0. "Attack his life points directly with Cyclone Blast!"
"Ha!" laughed Noah. A ball of light shot out of the ark. It stopped directly in front of Noah and took a form, that of Kaiba's Vampire Lord, crouched down in defense mode with its cape closed around itself. Spear Dragon's attack nailed the Vampire Lord, disintegrating it.
"What was that?!" demanded Kaiba.
"That is another special ability of Shinato's Ark," said Noah. "I can summon any monster on board to protect my life points!"
"No way!" gasped the group.
"He has got to be making this up!" exclaimed Lara.
"You still lost life points, thanks to Spear Dragon's special ability," said Kaiba as Noah lost 500 the difference in Spear Dragon's attack and Vampire Lord's defense.
"You're forgetting one thing, Seto," said Noah. "We're dueling in my world and I control everything around us."
The boat rose several feet out of the small lake. Then, all of the residual water in the craters just disappeared. It wasn't like it evaporated rapidly; it simply ceased to exist. Grass grew over the rocky landscape. Grass turned into flowers, flowers turned into bushes, and bushes turned into trees. Within a mater of moments the landscape had been transformed into a lush forest.
Kaiba's blue eyes darted around frantically, ready for anything, ready for any kind of danger. Everyone else was staring, a bit awe-bounded.
"What, are you feeling frustrated because you finally realize that I'm more intelligent than you?" Noah asked Kaiba, pointing to the metal sphere which was still in the sky.
"Not even in a false reality are you smarter than me," shot Kaiba.
"What is that thing?" asked Kevin, staring at the sky.
"I thought you were supposed to be the expert about this place," said Duke.
"I haven't seen anything like that before," replied Kevin.
"Ditto here," agreed Joe. "What's Noah trying to pull this time?"
"It won't be good for us, whatever it is," said Drake.
"My intellect is limitless!" Noah snapped at Seto. "The super computer that houses my brain has an endless amount of databases incorporated into it!
"What's he mean by that?" asked Yu-Gi.
"It sounds like Noah's brain is up there," said Téa, eyeing the sphere warily.
"That database has been growing every day since I arrived!" Noah continued. "I've absorbed facts and figures for six years. I am the smartest person alive. You don't stand a chance, Seto. Soon I will escape this virtual prison and take over Kaiba Corp. like I was always meant to! And my intelligence will allow me to run it ten times better than you ever could!"
"Pity all those smarts fail to give you wit, charm, or charisma!" shouted Lara.
"What a brat," commented Téa.
"Noah needs a good kick in the seat of his pants," added Joe.
"But one thing was missing," continued Noah, ignoring their comments.
"What was that?" asked Kaiba.
"The one thing I was never able to achieve as a human, my father's trust," replied Noah.
"That's sort of sad…" said Yu-Gi.
"Come on, don't tell me you are starting to pity Noah, after all he's done to us," said Duke.
A loud bellow vibrated the landscape.
"What was that?!" gasped Serenity.
"Look!" exclaimed Kevin, pointing to a large reptile that was lurking a patch of lush ferns.
"A dinosaur?! This is just like that demo!" gasped Joe.
"Now to summon a monster appropriate for this environment. Meet my Giant Rex!" yelled Noah. A dinosaur type monster appeared in front of him. This monster was primarily orange. It had a large orange and violet fin running down its back. It stood hunched over on its back legs. Its attack was 2000.
"Giant Rex, attack his Spear Dragon!" ordered Noah. The dinosaur roared and attacked the Spear Dragon with its teeth and claws. The dragon disappeared. Since it's special effect moved it to defense mode, Kaiba lost no life points.
Kaiba started laughing again. It wasn't a good-natured laugh, it was the same cold laugh as before, the laugh that was designed to provoke.
"I missed the joke," glared Noah
"Behind your 'super human intellect' is nothing but a spoiled little brat," retorted Kaiba.
"Is that so?" asked Noah, his eyes narrowing.
"For your entire life people just handed things to you," said Seto. "But I had to work for what I have. Kaiba Corp. is mine because I earned it. And the fact that you think you can take it away from me by winning one duel proves what I thought about you from the start."
"And what's that?"
"You're nuts! You've spent one too many years trapped in that bubble in the sky."
"So, you think I'm insane for wanting to claim what's rightfully mine?"
"I think you're insane for trapping mine inside a virtual computer system and forcing me to duel you, to prove to your daddy you're not the failure he thinks you are," countered Kaiba. "Well, I'm here to prove that you are! There's a reason why I'm in charge of Kaiba Corp. and you're not."
"Why's that?!" demanded Noah, anger flaring in his tone.
"Because I'm the best man for the job! I'm more fit to run that company than you'll ever be! Deep down your father always knew that!" argued Kaiba.
"This is getting way too weird," said Téa.
"I don't believe they're arguing about that," said Duke.
"I do," said Drake. "They're both more hard headed than a brick wall."
xFlashbackx
Noah was laying his bedroom. He bolted up from the bed, a scared look on his face. He looked around, trying to calm himself down.
"I must have been sleeping for days, last I remember I was in the hospital," he said to himself. He double-checked his surroundings. It all seemed familiar. "Wait a sec! Maybe it was all just a dream! Father!" He leapt out of bed happily and raced for the door. But when he tried to open the door, the knob wouldn't turn. "Hey, what's going on. I'm locked in! Father! Hello!" He started pounding on the door.
The answer he got was like nothing he could have expected. A large screen rolled down from the left-hand wall. Noah watched it, surprised mingled with confusion. Gozaburo's image appeared on the screen. Behind him was one of the developing labs at Kaiba Corp..
"Huh? What's that?" asked Noah, walking over cautiously. "Father! I had the weirdest dream! I was in the hospital and everyone was…"
Gozaburo looked down and sadly shook his head.
"Huh?" asked Noah.
"I'm afraid it wasn't a dream," answered Gozaburo. "There was an accident…and you were in bad shape. Your body's gone, son."
"But how?!" gasped Noah.
"My team of scientists and researchers tried to save you but nothing they did would help. So it turned to my technicians and computer engineers and they found a solution," said Gozaburo. There wasn't a lot of sympathy in his tone. In fact, he sounded completely emotionless, as if he was simply stating facts that weren't connected to him.
"W-w-what do you mean?" asked Noah, who now sounded afraid and confused. He slid to his knees.
"You'll understand in time," said Gozaburo.
Noah looked like he was about to cry. But he heard something from his left. A small brown puppy was barking happily and wagging his tail, looking up at Noah with bright dark eyes.
"I created this dog for you son, you and he exist in a different way from the rest of us," said Gozaburo.
Noah started an explanation for the duelists. "I soon discovered the meaning of my father's words. He created a new world for me to live in," said Noah.
The scene changed, he was now walking in a virtual park. All the people he passed smiled and greeted him by name.
"But this world was far from perfect," narrated Noah.
Noah from the past walked up to an ice cream vendor. "Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, I know it's your favorite," she said with a bright smile.
"No thanks, not today," said Noah, looking over the menu.
"Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, I know it's your favorite," repeated the vendor. "Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, I know it's your favorite."
"The virtual environment I lived in was full of glitches. I knew some improvements needed to be made," narrated Noah.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Happy birthday son. I trust you enjoyed your trip to Mars?" asked Gozaburo. They were once again talking in Noah's room, via the gigantic screen. Noah was still wearing an astronaut suit from the experience.
"Yup. It was by far the greatest birthday I've ever gotten, father. How many kids can say they've been to Mars?" replied Noah with a smile. "Of course, the whole thing was just a virtual experience in my mind." He tapped his forehead with his pointer finger.
"I soon noticed a change in my father's attitude toward me," narrated Noah to the duelists.
"Hold on a second, we can't celebrate without Sam," said Noah from the past, bending down and picking up the puppy. But its fuzzy brown head was now covered in a spiky silver mask.
"What on earth is that?" gasped Gozaburo. "Noah, explain."
"I just altered it's programming. I got bored, so I decided to reengineer Sam into a robot," said Noah. Gozaburo gasped. "And that's not all. I've been working on a few other projects that you might be interested in. I figured out how to improve the capabilities of the Virtual World you created for me. All we have to do is connect our computer network to other systems all around the world."
"I see, and you thought of this little plan all by yourself?" asked Gozaburo. He didn't sound happy at all. "I must say, for the first time I'm impressed."
"That's it, I'm cleaning out Industrial Illusion's entire database when I get back," said Drake, crossing his arms.
"That Gozaburo is an even bigger jerk than Noah," muttered Lara.
"You'd be surprised how much I've learned," continued Noah from the past, the flashback conversation continuing regardless of what the spectators said.
"I can see you've come a long way," said Gozaburo, monotone.
"So, do I have what it takes to run Kaiba Corp. one day?" asked Noah, happily.
Gozaburo made an undistinguishable noise in the back of his throat.
"Is that a yes?" asked Noah, smiling. "You do have to admit that this virtual existence had done wonders for my intellect. I'm the perfect candidate to take over this company."
Gozaburo had already turned and was walking away with his back to his son. "Let's ah…discuss this further some time in the near future."
xEnd Flashbackx
"But that discussion never happened," said Noah, tersely. "Soon father began focusing all his attention on his new family." He narrowed his eyes on his step-brother. "As for me, my father began to visit less and less, and finally he choose to ignore me completely. He didn't believe that Kaiba Corp. could be run properly by a virtual president."
"Noah, Gozaburo didn't give up on you because of your virtual state, I think he knew that no matter how much knowledge you gained, you'd always be a spoiled brat, expecting to get ahead in the world without making any effort at all," said Kaiba, coldly. "As despicable as your father was, he knew the value of hard work. It was his own determination for power that got him where he was. And as much as it pained him to admit it, Gozaburo knew that I was the best man for the job of Kaiba Corp. president. And as for you Noah, his real son (Kaiba pointed to the metallic orb in the sky) you were better off isolated in a computer world out of everyone's way!"
Now it was Noah's turn to laugh provokingly. "That could quite possibly be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Come on now, my father wanting you to be president?"
"Why do you think he created that digital dump for you? You were in the way," said Kaiba in his favorite tone.
"You actually believe my father put me here to focus his attention on you? Seto, you always thought you were top. Of the three Kaiba brothers, you're the low man on the totem pole," countered Noah.
"You're confused Noah, that's your slot," replied Kaiba.
"Why don't we ask Mokuba what he thinks?" asked Noah, smirking. "Shall we?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxMokuba was watching the duel as well, staring blankly at the screen from the virtual living room. On an invisible command from Noah, he stood up, his eyes pulsing red.
"Help Noah," said Mokuba in a dazed voice. A large oak door materialized behind the couch and Mokuba started walking towards it. "My one true brother…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"The more and more I hear, the more and more I am convinced Gozaburo Kaiba isn't worth all of this grief," thought Shayla. "I wouldn't want respect from someone like that. Hmm…Even without the Millennial Scales, I'd be convinced Kaiba and Noah were related. Their egos give it away."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Enough of this nonsense!" snapped Kaiba. "I activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards! Then I activate my Deck Master's special ability!"
"I wonder what his Deck Master does…" said Duke.
"Kaiser Seahorse lets me summon a light monster for once less tribute. So, I can summon my Different Dimension Dragon without sacrificing a monster!" His newest dragon appeared in front of him. It had a snake-like body with four wing-like projections. Its head ended with four points as well. It wavered through the air like water. Its stats were 1200 and 1500.
"I then play these three cards face down," said Kaiba, sliding three cards into slots on his duel disk.
"What's Kaiba thinking? Noah's dino can blast Kaiba's dragon into the Stone Age like last time," asked Joe. "Noah can win this duel his next turn! Not good."
"Kaiba's no fool, I'm sure those face down cards are part of his plan to win this," said Yu-Gi.
"Different Dimension Dragon also has summon special abilities I wonder if Noah knows about," added Drake.
"I don't think I could stand it if Noah wins, so Kaiba had better have a plan," said Duke.
"What an amateur move Seto," said Noah. "You're just going to make it easy on me. Now I can prove once for all that I am superior to you!"
"Just try!" snapped Seto.
"Fine, I activate the card Deepest Impact!" declared Noah. That cut both of their life points in half, bringing Noah down to 1400 and Kaiba down to 700.
The sky above began to toss and turn a deep violet color. Comets began to fall from the sky, once again covering the land in craters. The teens gasped and some even screamed as they tried to avoid the falling fireballs. The Giant Rex bellowed as the meteorites crashed around it.
"Scientists say it was a comet that brought the end to the dinosaurs and brought in the Ice Age," said Noah. "So I think it is only fitting that I activate Ice Age Panic!"
The now smoldering, destroyed forest was instantly frozen. Ice covered all the remaining trees and built up over the stones. Glaciers formed. Snow began to fall and a cold, tearing wind began to blow. This caused everyone to shudder and huddle together for warmth.
"This is getting weird. Call me crazy, but if you ask me that boy ain't right in the head," said Joe.
"You're not the crazy one," said Kevin, looking at Noah.
Ice also built up on the monsters on the field, freezing them solid. They burst into data bits.
"Such is the price to pay for advancement," said Noah, dismissing the loss.
"Duel Monsters deserve more respect that that!" snapped Yu-Gi. "You can't merely destroy them at a whim! You need to respect your deck if you ever want to win!"
"I don't need a lecture from you!" snapped Noah. "These monsters are just pawns in the game of power! And now I will summon the most powerful monster of the Ice Age! Last Tusk Mammoth!" A large elephant like Duel Monster appeared in front of him. It had shaggy brown fur and two large tusks. However, its attack was only 800.
"I have yet to be impressed," said Kaiba. "For all your talk about the past and advancement, it seems to be doing you little good. News flash Noah, the past is history and there is no point in dwelling in it."
"You should know better than anyone that the past can't be escaped!" snapped Noah.
"You're pathetic," said Kaiba. A multi-colored swirling vortex opened in front of him and his Different Dimension Dragon returned to the field. "My dragon has the ability to travel between dimensions, meaning it can return to the field after every turn." He smirked, enjoying the surprise on Noah's face. "I switch it to defense mode."
"Get ready to lose it!" snapped Noah. "Last Tusk Mammoth, charge!" The massive beast did so, causing the frozen earth to tremor because of its weight.
"Noah is attack a monster stronger than his?!" gasped Tristan.
"He's replying on his monster's special abilities," said Drake.
"I activate Ring of Destruction!" yelled Kaiba, one of his face down cards flipping up. "This card destroys your monster, dealing direct damage equal to its attack points to each of us!"
"But Kaiba only has 700 life points! He'll lose!" gasped Serenity.
"Don't worry, he wouldn't have activated it if it would cause him to lose," Kevin told her.
"Now I activate Ring of Defense, which protects my life points!" shouted Kaiba, another card flipping up.
A large green collar with several cones formed around the neck of Last Tusk Mammoth. The collar self-destructed, taking the mammoth out with it. Noah gasped as the all of the energy of the explosion was directed his way. He was forced back several feet by the blast. His life points dropped to 600.
"All right! Nice move Kaiba! Way to put that little runt in his place!" cheered Joe.
"You almost have him beat!" called Yu-Gi.
"Cream him!" added Lara.
"Save it!" Kaiba snapped back at them.
"Why do we bother?" asked Kevin to no one in particular.
"You're not going to win Noah," said Kaiba, his tone as cold as the ice around them. "I move my Different Dimension Dragon to attack mode. Then, I discard one Thunder Dragon from my hand in order to get two out of my deck!" Two cards floated out of his deck as he snatched them. "Then I activate the magic card Polymerization to fuse them together into the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" His newest monster appeared from the blur of the two Thunder Dragons merging together. It was bright orange and stood on two bony legs that ended in wicked claws. It had a needle-like horn at the end of its nose. A second mouth was embedded in the back of its neck. Its stats were 2800 and 2100.
"Woah!" gasped the spectators.
"It's a fusion monster, it can't attack this turn," said Noah.
"Yes it can, because I activate the Quick Attack magic card!" said Kaiba. "Now my dragons, attack his life points directly!"
"Yes! Kaiba's going to win this!" cheered Joe.
"Ha! Noah has no monsters guarding his life points!" added Kevin.
"That's not a good thing!" gasped Yu-Gi.
"What do you mean?" asked Duke.
"Seto! You forgot about my Deck Master's special ability!" said Noah. Two bright orbs of light from the ark leapt in front of the incoming attack.
"Oh no!" gasped Lara.
"I didn't forget," smirked Kaiba. "In fact, I counted on you using your Deck Master! Now I can activate Dragon's Rage! This card has to be used when a dragon is on the field. Then, I can do damage to your life points even though your monsters are in defense mode!" He laughed. It wasn't a cold laugh, but it still wasn't a happy laugh. "Now I can wipe out the rest of your life points and end this family feud." The Different Dimension Dragon's attack connected, destroying one of the monsters Noah had specially summoned. Thanks to Dragon's Rage, Noah was down to only 400 life points.
"Yes! Kaiba's won!" cheered Serenity.
"I'm going to get my body back!" added Tristan, waving his monkey paws in the air.
"We're going to get out of here!" said Drake and Lara.
"Finish him my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" ordered Kaiba.
Before the monster could attack a small column of light formed in front of Noah, a vortex. Mokuba appeared in it, hovering in the air for a moment before the light faded. He landed lightly, his feet crunching in the snow. He stood in front of Noah, his arms outstretched, defending him.
"Don't do it!" yelled Mokuba.
"What's going on?! Mokuba! What have you done to him, Noah?!" demanded Kaiba, who sounded horrified. "Mokuba…"
"Whoever you are, if you want to attack my brother Noah, you'll have to go through me," said Mokuba.
"Mokuba! Snap out of it!" gasped Kaiba.
"Mokuba's brainwashed! By Noah!" exclaimed Joe.
"That's just sick!" exclaimed Kevin. "He can't just mess with someone's mind like that! Mokuba is just a kid! Noah can't just play with his life like that! How can Noah stoop so low as to turn family against each other! Kaiba might be a jerk, but that is no reason for Noah to use Mokuba like a pawn! It's wrong! Noah should have lost! Hiding behind a hostage is nothing but raw cowardice!"
"I agree with you completely," said Téa.
"Noah is scum," spat Lara.
"There's no words for what Noah just pulled," said Drake, his red eyes narrowing and his lips pressing tightly together.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Not Mokuba…" murmured Shayla. "He is the nicest one here. He doesn't deserve to be used like that. I need to be there. I know I could somehow use my scales to show him the truth. Mokuba needs to be freed from Noah's control. Noah has gone way too far this time! What he is doing is completely, totally wrong. Virtual has replaced virtues in this place. Noah just needs to accept his loss and leave Mokuba out of this!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxNoah laughed. "That's right Mokuba! Protect me from Seto Kaiba! The stranger that's trying to tear you and I apart!" He pointed an accusing finger across the dueling field at Seto.
"Stranger…" echoed Mokuba.
"Mokuba! It's me!" called Kaiba, who seemed at a loss for words.
"Mokuba has chosen sides based on his own free will, Seto. Looking back, maybe you should have treated him with more respect. I'll give him the support you never could," said Noah. Kaiba was fuming. Any sane person would have run scared from the look he was giving Noah. "It didn't have to be this way, but you left me with no choice. Now you have a decision to make. Forfeit this duel and step down as president of Kaiba Corp. or continue with your final attack and risk losing Mokuba for good. His fate is in your hands."
"Noah! Grow a backbone!" shouted Drake, his red eyes burning with anger. Noah's actions had managed to appall everyone present. "That's blackmail and extortion! What you are doing is nothing short of criminal! If you were really so superior, like you claim to be, you wouldn't need to resort to tricks like this! That proves you are nothing more than a pathetic coward Noah! You are just a bratty little kid who's cheating because he can't win any other way!"
"I will not be insulted like that!" snapped Noah. "Mokuba made his own choice! And now Seto has to make his!" He turned his attention to his opponent. "So what will it be? Will you win this duel or forfeit your title as Kaiba Corp. president?"
"If Kaiba attacks Noah now he'll be attacking Mokuba also," said Yu-Gi, who sounded anxious.
"Seto, what's it going to be? Mokuba or control of Kaiba Corp.?" asked Noah. Though it was more like taunting than asking. "Decide! You choice will impact the rest of your life."
"Noah, I'm only going to say this once," said Kaiba in a tone that was pure animosity. "Release Mokuba now. This is our fight. Is that clear? He has nothing to do with this!"
"There you go, disrespecting Mokuba again," scolded Noah. "Acting like his opinion means nothing. Tell him Moki."
"Give Kaiba Corp. to Noah, now!" said Mokuba.
"I don't believe it!" gasped Yu-Gi.
"Drake's right! That's extortion!" yelled Duke. "You keep talking about how you'd be a better CEO than Kaiba, but if you plan on running a company like you are running this duel, you are in major trouble! The real world never bends to the threats of a coward! Your better off in this virtual world Noah, were you can control everything to your whim like the spoiled brat that you are! The real world doesn't function like this, and I can guarantee it will come back to haunt you! So you had better shape up or you'll only prove Kaiba right; that you were better locked away in isolation in this video game!"
"Mokuba has made his position quite clear!" snapped Noah. He turned back to Seto. "Are you going to attack me or not? If you do, just remember you'll be striking Mokuba!"
"You punk!" bellowed Kaiba, his hands clenching into fists. He wanted nothing more than to inflict as much pain as possible on his step-brother.
"Hey! That's not fair!" yelled Joe. "Let Mokuba go and face Kaiba like a man! You aren't proving nothing by brainwashing Mokuba into standing in front of you! You're one pathetic duelist, Noah! You can't win when you follow the rules so you make up new ones, and when that fails you chicken out and hide behind a kid! Why don't you just admit that you lost?!"
Noah ignored him, though flames of anger flickered in his eyes. "Well Seto? Attack and you'll win the duel, but at what cost?"
"I don't like this one bit, but Kaiba has to attack him and win this duel! If he lets Noah win then we all lose!" said Duke.
"This is just sick!" snapped Téa. "Noah has just been toying with every one of us since we got here! This is getting way out of control! And now he's trying to tear a family apart! That's beyond wrong; it's inhumane! Just because he can control everything here doesn't mean he has the right too! People have the right to make their own choice! He's violating Mokuba's free-will for his own gain! That's absolutely heartless!"
"What's it going to be, your victory or your brother?" Noah asked Kaiba.
"It's not right," sobbed Serenity. "Kaiba was so worried about Mokuba, and he was trying so hard to find him and…" She couldn't continue. She shuddered a bit, as if she was trying to ward off more than the cold. Now it was monkey Tristan's turn to hug her.
"All right kid, I'll end my turn," replied Kaiba with gritted teeth.
"I thought so," replied Yu-Gi.
Noah started laughing insanely again. "Seto! I knew you were too weak to go through with your attack! You can't possibly run a company like Kaiba Corp. effectively if you're so quick to give in to your competition. Excellent work, Mokuba. I couldn't ask for a better brother."
"Any time," replied Mokuba, turning to look at Noah with a smile.
"What a team, now let's finish this stranger off, shall we?" replied Noah, acting overly friendly towards Mokuba.
"Yeah! Let's go! That creep doesn't stand a chance!" cheered Mokuba.
"You heard the boy, Seto," gloated Noah. The fury on Kaiba's face was indescribable.
"Noah!" called Lara. "Don't you dare try to play innocent! Everyone here knows that you brainwashed Mokuba into liking you, so drop the act! You only continue to prove how immature and inferior you are! It absolutely pathetic that you have to brainwash someone to like you. Then again, that's the only way anyone would like you. Then you hide from losing like a little kid would! You'll never be able to run a company like that! And you'll never be able to win a duel by relying on deception!"
"It's my turn!" growled Noah, drawing a card. He was glaring hard at the spectators, but they were all returning the look with harsh ones of their own. "I'll start by activating the third special ability of my Deck Master, Restoration of Light!"
"How many special abilities does that boat have?!" gasped Joe.
"As many as that cheater thinks he needs to win," glowered Drake.
Shinato's Ark pulsed. Then, monsters began to appear on the top deck. Every single monster that had been drawn inside the ark was now standing on the stern. Then, in a flash of light, they were all gone, removed from play.
"For every monster in Shinato's Ark that I remove from play, I gain 500 life points," explained Noah.
"Unreal! Noah had twelve monsters in the ark!" gasped Lara.
"I want to know where the heck he came up with the idea for that special ability," said Drake. "Nothing like it is on the card."
Noah gained 6000 life points, bringing him up to 6400.
"He'll never beat us now, Noah!" cheered Mokuba.
Noah smiled and put an arm around him, "not with a mere 700 life points."
"Noah! You'll never win this duel!" shouted Yu-Gi. "You have to have respect to win; respect for your monsters and even respect for your opponents! Duel Monsters are not pawns any more than people are! You cannot hope to gain victory this way! It takes a turn heart to bring out the power of the cards, and you are destroying your own heart!"
"Guys, is there a way Kaiba could still pull this off?" asked Tristan, managing to talk with minimal monkey sounds. "I don't want to be stuck this way forever."
"There always is a way," said Yu-Gi. "He just needs to consider all of his options."
"I hope he can figure something out, because if Kaiba doesn't, we're all stuck here!" exclaimed Duke.
"I hope he wins," said Téa. "Someone has to show Noah that he can't act that way."
"I activate the Dark Hole magic card!" exclaimed Noah. "This destroys every monster on the field! And since they would be sent to the graveyard, they get rerouted into Shinato's Ark!"
"He just filled his boat up with monsters again!" cried Téa.
"That means he can use one of the ark's special abilities again," added Yu-Gi.
"That little twerp just won't quit!" grumbled Joe.
Seto Kaiba seemed preoccupied with other things. "How could Mokuba be forced to turn against me?! Maybe I have been too hard on him…" He remembered the time Lector had talked about, when he had yelled at Mokuba for supposedly slipping information to Gozaburo. Kaiba raised his head and shouted, "Mokuba! We're a team, remember?! You were always there for me!" The fight he had with Mokuba was only half of the story. Mokuba had still come through for him in the end and give his two percent of stock right to Kaiba, forcing Gozaburo to lose control of his own company. "We defeated out step-father together! I couldn't have done it without you!"
"Very touching Seto, but Mokuba is on my team now," said Noah. "And together we're going to take everything you have! Mokuba is my brother! He doesn't even remember you!"
"Kaiba! Listen to me!" called Yu-Gi.
"No thanks," said Kaiba. However, he turned around to face the short duelist when he spoke and did not turn away when he dismissed the help.
"But I can help you Kaiba because I've been through this before," said Yu-Gi. "Remember when Joe was brainwashed by Marik and turned against me? You can get through to Mokuba the same way I got through to Joe. The answer is in your deck!"
"Let's go, you have a duel to lose!" snapped Noah, impatiently.
"Think again kid," retorted Seto, turning back around to face him. "Not only am I going to win this duel, I'm also going to win back my brother! So watch this!" He drew a card and looked at it, but frowned.
"Ha! Looks like you didn't get the card you needed," laughed Noah.
"I move my Different Dimension Dragon to defense mode and end my turn," said Kaiba, his monster reappearing as soon as he drew.
Noah laughed some more. "That's the move of a desperate man. There's nothing you can do to stop me! I've already won this duel! Your body is as good as mine. Then I'm going to escape to the real world and reclaim what should have been mine from the start." He paused, thoughtfully. "It's time for a change. I think I'll warm things up a bit and bring an end to the ice age. After all, this is my virtual world, I control everything here."
Ice began to melt and grass grew again. A few trees also grew, but the landscape did not transform into a forest like last time. Just beyond the tops of the trees skyscrapers rose.
"I recognize that place! It's downtown Domino!" gasped Duke.
"These scene changes are starting to give me a headache," complained Téa.
"At least we aren't freezing any more," said Serenity.
"What's that?" asked Kevin, examining the skyscrapers. One seemed to stand out. It was angular with a ring around the top.
"It's Kaiba Corp.!" exclaimed Joe.
"Explain yourself now!" demanded Seto.
"Must you always be barking orders?" asked Noah. He didn't wait for a response. "Well, since that's your company, I thought you'd like to see it one final time! You see, once you lose and I take over Kaiba Corp., I'll change it back to the way it was. And if you don't remember, this should refresh your memory. Just like so many high tech battle vehicles that were produced by the original Kaiba Corp., my Gradius Flyer can cause an enormous amount of damage."
This monster did not materialize in a flash of light. Instead, it flew onto the field from somewhere in the virtual city. Gradius Flyer was a high-tech looking fighter jet. It was streamline, with places for the weapons to stick out. Its stats were 1200 and 800.
"Then, I equip it with Cyclon Laser, which raises its attack by 300!" announced Noah. "Then I add the magic card, Matter Leveler, which gives Gradius Flyer 100 attack points when it attacks!"
"It's now stronger than the Different Dimension Dragon," commented Drake.
"This duel is getting so close it's making me nervous," said Téa. "But Kaiba has to win this!"
"Gradius Flyer, attack his monster now!" ordered Noah.
Seto Kaiba shielded his eyes as a laser blast blew his Different Dimension Dragon into the next dimension. His life points dropped to 600. But then a vortex opened in front of him and the Different Dimension Dragon returned to the field.
"What was once your monsters advantage is now your downfall," gloated Noah. "It will keep returning, allowing me to destroy it again and again!"
"He has a point there, Yug," said Joe.
"Yes, but if Kaiba draws a powerful monster, he can still turn this duel around," replied Yu-Gi.
"I end my turn," said Kaiba, sourly.
"That's the move of a man who has give up. I knew you were no match for my superior mind. And once I defeat you, everyone will know as well. Then I'll finally run Kaiba Corp. as I was always meant to!" shouted Noah.
"Noah had no right to talk," said Lara, her eyes narrowing. "Kaiba is far from giving up, and he hasn't had to cheat to keep this duel going. Noah's just a runty little boy who was unfortunately born without a backbone. I take that back. He's nothing more than a virtual brat. In reality, he's nothing!"
"Someone needs to belt him a few times," agreed Duke.
Kaiba leveled his freezing gaze at Noah and snapped, "You control this little virtual fantasy land, but there's no way you'll make it in the real world."
"We'll see! I'm aware of what it's like in the real world!" shouted Noah. "After ruling this digital universe, I have no doubt that running Kaiba Corp. will be a simple task, one that I was raised to do for my entire life! That is until you came into my home and took everything away from me! Well, now it's my turn to take everything from you! I took your brother and next I'll take your identity!"
"Give me a break Noah!" yelled Drake. "The real world can't be compared to this computer program! The real world won't form according to your tantrums! You'll never be able to run a company, trust me I know, because this virtual world has made you soft and spoiled you worse than you already were! You're not ready for reality; you couldn't handle it. And the more you try to prove that you can, the more you fail."
"Silence!" demanded Noah. "I play Gradius Option, which allows me to create another Gradius Flyer!" An undistinguishable blob of metal appeared in mid-air next to the first jet. It then twisted and melted, forming an exact replica of the Gradius Option beside it.
"Attack, my Gradius Flyer!" ordered Noah.
The original one fired a blast that obliterated the Different Dimension Dragon. Kaiba gasped as some of the flashback came dangerously close to him. This attack dropped him down to 500 life points. The dragon reappeared from the void a moment later.
"I can't keep this up much longer," thought Kaiba, grimacing. Virtual attacks still hurt in this world, and he was now struggling.
Noah turned to Mokuba and smiled. "Our enemy will soon be gone. I hope you're enjoying the show."
"Mokuba…" said Seto, softly.
"Seto, it's no use, he's with me!" replied Noah. "How does it feel to lose your only friend?" He laughed. "Now let's get back to your destruction."
The Different Dimension Dragon was again destroyed by the attack of the second Gradius Flyer. Kaiba tried to repress a cry of pain as the heat from the blast washed over him. It knocked him off of his feet. This time his dragon hadn't been in defense mode, so it cost him life points, bringing him down to 500.
"This isn't over yet," said Kaiba, struggling to his feet again. His life points were at 400.
"Look at the mighty Seto Kaiba now!" laughed Noah as Kaiba struggled to compose himself.
"Snap out of it, Mokuba!" yelled Kaiba. "I need you in order to beat him!" there was a hint of pleading in his tone.
"I don't think Kaiba can last much longer dueling like this," said Duke. "If the attacks don't wipe out his life points, they might just knock him out."
"Noah's games are sick," grumbled Téa.
"What's the matter Seto?" taunted Noah. "Feeling down? You're one attack away from total annihilation.
"I'm not done!" snapped Kaiba, trying not to groan in pain.
"Come on Kaiba! Squash this kid!" called Joe.
"You can win this! I know you can!" added Yu-Gi.
"Noah doesn't deserve to win this!" shouted Kevin.
"It will take more than a few attacks to keep me down. It's my move now," said Kaiba, bitterly.
"What a shame, you should know that sometimes its best to stay down," said Noah. "The sooner you give in to my power the lesser suffering you'll have to do, Seto. Mokuba realized that fact."
"You're the one who never learned to stay down you cheater!" shouted Lara.
"Mokuba! I know you're in there! Noah is hypnotizing you with lies!" yelled Yu-Gi. "Kaiba is your brother, not Noah! He's never let you down!"
"Ugh…" groaned Mokuba, slightly. He shook his head a bit.
"Look inside your heart and you'll remember him!" continued Yu-Gi.
"Seto…?" asked Mokuba, sounding dazed.
"He's just trying to break us apart, Mokuba," Noah said to him.
"Mokuba! Listen to me! Don't let Noah poison your mind! We're family and no one can ever change that," called Kaiba. "You and I have always been there to support one another and always will be. There's something I've never told you…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxShayla sighed and leaned against the bars of the cage. She was anxious about the outcome of the duel too, but mostly she was concerned about Mokuba. She had a chance to save him, and she had failed. She was also starting to feel lonely. It hurt her to think that the others had completely forgotten about her. And now that Noah was gone, Shayla couldn't banter with him to take her mind off of that fact.
"I hope they remember me soon, because I'm completely trapped here. I don't want to be forgotten in this place. Loneliness hurts too much, and I never want to go back to it," Shayla thought. "Though I can't say I'm too thrilled about hearing more about Kaiba's past. It's not the kind of thing I want to get dragged into any more than I already am."
"I hope he can reach Mokuba, though. Mokuba doesn't deserve to be used against his brother like that. He and Kaiba are really close, and that bond can't be destroyed! Family is important, I know, even though I never had one myself…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Mokuba, you once saved me!" called Kaiba. He didn't care who heard, that was irrelevant. What was important was that he reached his brother, at any cost. "When we were kids, when Gozaburo Kaiba adopted us, he was merciless, forcing me to work for hours without rest. I was exhausted and ready to give up, when you inspired me." Kaiba was remembering the time Mokuba had smuggled his deck back to him, hoping Mokuba would remember to. He especially wanted Mokuba to remember the drawing he did of the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon. "By making that card for me you encouraged me not to give up. It gave me something to strive for! I swore that day to be a person worthy of possessing a real Blue-Eyes!"
"I remember making that card. I knew how much Seto wanted that card, I thought if I drew one for him he'd remember his dream of owning a real one someday," thought Mokuba, through the haze of Noah's lies. "And I secretly dreamed Seto and his Blue-Eyes would fly me as far from my step-father's house as we can go." A single tear fell from his eye. "I remember…" Mokuba groaned slightly, trying to break free from Noah's trickery.
"That's right!" called Kaiba. "I know you can't forget about me! You're strong, and I know you can break through his mind games! Never give up! And never let anyone control you!"
Mokuba struggled even more. "Never…give…up…"
"Mokuba! We can do this! You and I together!" shouted Kaiba. He drew a card, starting his next turn and smiled when he saw what it was.
"This is all so sweet," cooed Serenity.
"Kaiba almost broke through to Mokuba!" cheered Tristan.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I don't think I'll ever be able to understand Seto Kaiba. He always acts like such a jerk, then…then he changes, like he did now. Those times he's really noble, and he actually seems like a pretty decent guy," thought Shayla. "I can't make any sense of it, except he's the most two-faced person I've ever known. I don't know why he wants to act so mean all the time, when he is capable of being so civil." She paused a moment. "And why do I let it bother me so much? Why do I always end up trying to make sense of Kaiba's mood swings?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I activate my Deck Master's special ability again!" declared Seto. "I tribute my Different Dimension Dragon in order to summon my Blue-Eyes, White Dragon!" There was a powerful surge of wind and a bright flash and the Blue-Eyes appeared where the Different Dimension Dragon stood just moments before.
"Yes!" cheered the crowd.
"There it is…It's the monster I drew for Seto," said Mokuba, sounding more awake by the moment. "The one that he always wanted… I tried my best to help him get it. Now, thanks to my help, he has one in his deck! I remember!" He shook his head, eliminating the last bit of control Noah had on him.
"Mokuba!" called Kaiba.
"Seto! You're my brother!" exclaimed Mokuba.
"He's our enemy Mokuba," growled Noah.
"Too late! Mokuba is back with us!" taunted Joe.
"That is so sweet!" exclaimed Téa.
"He did it!" cheered Serenity.
"And when Mokuba moves away Kaiba can blast Noah!" added monkey Tristan.
"It warms the heart!" said Lara, hugging Drake.
"See you later you phony!" Mokuba said to Noah. He jumped off of the slightly raised platform Noah was dueling on and started to make his way to Mokuba.
"Now's your chance Kaiba!" called Yu-Gi.
"Attack with your White Lightning!" ordered Kaiba.
The Blue-Eyes, White Dragon bellowed and opened its mouth. Raw energy collected there, before the dragon released it, blowing both of the Gradius Flyers to scrap metal. Noah was reduced to 4900 life points.
"Yes! Kaiba knew that when the original Gradius was destroyed, the copy would be as well!" cheered Yu-Gi.
"Yeah, he knows Duel Monsters, but his people skills need work," commented Drake.
"Well, with Mokuba out of the way, Kaiba can crush that punk now," said Kevin.
Noah was now glaring across the field at Kaiba. "I activate my Deck Master's special ability by removing all the Duel Monsters in it from play! That increases my life points by 2500!" This brought him up to 7400.
"That kid is good at one thing though," said Lara. "Stalling."
"It doesn't matter how many life points you have Noah, because this duel is going to end this turn," said Kaiba.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Noah.
"I activate the trap card Last Turn!" declared Seto. "This card can only be activate when I have less than 1000 life points. We both select one monster and only one. All other cards are sent to the graveyard. Then, the two monsters battle until one is destroyed. The person with the remaining Duel Monster is the winner of this duel."
"This is a big gamble," said Drake.
"I hope Kaiba knows what he's doing," said Téa.
"My monster will by my Blue-Eyes, White Dragon," said Kaiba.
"Then I choose my Deck Master, Shinato's Ark," said Noah. His boat floated onto the field.
"White Lightning!" ordered Kaiba.
His favorite monster fired its beam right at Shinato's Ark. The ark burst like a bomb had gone off. Smoldering bits of wood fell to the ground.
"All right!"
"He did it!"
"Way to go, Kaiba!" cheered the teens.
Noah started laughing, and laughing hard. It was an insane laugh.
"Yes, you destroyed Shinato's Ark," said Noah. "But you have unleashed a power far worse!" A golden sphere was floating where Shinato's Ark had once been. It slowly unfolded itself, revealing itself to be a large Duel Monster. "You have released Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" His newest monster wore a white, pale green, and lilac robe that flared out at the bottom. Four golden wings sprouted out of its back. Its skin was silver-grey, almost like it had been spray painted that color. Its face was set like a mask. Its stats were 3300 and 3000.
"Shinato, attack his Blue-Eyes!" ordered Noah. Shinato put its hands together and formed its own beam of light. It blasted the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon to dust. Kaiba was thrown to the ground from the blast.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"What the heck is Noah trying to pull?!" fumed Shayla. "Shinato's Ark is a ritual magic card! It's not a monster! I guess if they wanted to consider it a monster, it would have 0 attack and defense points," Shayla said, though she didn't like it. "And Kaiba's Blue-Eyes destroyed it…What does Last Turn say? 'The player whose monster remains alone on the field at the End Phase of this turn wins the Duel.' But they both could only choose one monster…Noah never should have been able to summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane! Even if he wanted to summon it using Shinato's Ark, he didn't follow the rules for activating a ritual magic card!"
She paused again. There was still something that didn't seem right. "Wait a minute! If Kaiba had summoned his Different Dimension Dragon instead…It still would have been able to destroy Shinato's Ark. Different Dimension Dragon would come back to the field because of its special effects, so Kaiba could summon it and not break the rules of Last Turn like Noah did. And Different Dimension Dragon can't be destroyed by a monster with more than 1900 attack points! So even if Noah was able to summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane within the rules of Last Chance, it never could have destroyed the Different Dimension Dragon! Of course, the dragon couldn't destroy Shinato either…so…what did Last Turn say? 'Any other case results in a draw.' So, since neither Shinato nor Different Dimension Dragon could destroy each other, they'd be in a stalemate. Kaiba is no amateur duelist, he had to know that about Different Dimension Dragon…That means he had to intentionally summon his Blue-Eyes over the Different Dimension Dragon!"
"But…why did he do that?" she asked herself, since she was alone. The answer dawned on her. "Mokuba…he did it to keep Mokuba out of Noah's grasp. Kaiba threw to duel to save his brother. That…that…that's amazing. Kaiba just proved he has a heart, that he cares about someone more than his love of power and victory."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Seto! No!" cried Mokuba, running to his older brother.
"Ha! Did you see that father? I have finally proven I am better that Seto Kaiba!" shouted Noah. "I am superior! Kaiba Corp. is mine! But I don't think I'll use your body, when I have so many I can choose from." Noah floated up into the sky, until he was even with Shinato. He then began sinking backwards until his body was being enveloped by his Deck Master. "Now, for one final order of business."
"This is not good," said Kevin who was watching Noah with wide eyes.
"Now what is that twerp trying to pull?!" demanded Joe.
Kaiba ignored all of Noah's comments. They didn't matter to him. Only one thing mattered. Mokuba was running towards him. He had won his brother back, and that was more important than any duel.
"Seto!" called Mokuba.
"Mokuba…" said Kaiba, smiling genuinely ever so slightly.
Mokuba had just about reached him. Kaiba pulled himself into a sitting position, extending a hand to reach his younger brother.
"So long, boys!" shouted Noah from within Shinato. He pointed a finger at the two Kaiba brothers. A lightning blast shot out, covering them. They both barely had a moment to gasp out in surprise.
"No! What did you do?!" yelled Joe.
The other teens raced over to the Kaiba brothers but it was too late. Both of them had been completely petrified. Seto and Mokuba were now only mere statutes.
(AN/ xbursts into tearsx)
"Oh my gosh…" gasped Lara.
"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Kevin, waving a hand in front of their faces. But, as expected, he got no response.
"That punk!" snapped Drake. "This is no way for a duelist to act! You're nothing bu scum, Noah!"
"Kaiba was a creep, but he didn't deserve this…" said Joe.
"It's not fair, it's not fair," sobbed Serenity, hugging monkey Tristan tightly.
Noah laughed. "I always thought they were a bit hard headed, so I turned them into statues. They're so close, and yet they'll never reach each other, how tragic. I think I'll call my artwork, the Wonderful Brotherhood." He laughed again. "Because that's exactly where their brotherhood got them!" A single tear fell from Mokuba's stone eye.
"It can't be!" cried Yu-Gi. His anger caused the Millennial Puzzle to activate. Yami took control.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I don't think there are any words for that atrocity," thought Shayla. "Noah can't treat people that way! It's more than wrong; it's evil! Noah lost the duel fair and square, but the he resorted to deception and cheating! Something has to be done about this. Those acts cannot be allowed to continue. Justice, that's what we need. There has to be something I can do instead of sitting here! I made the mistake of doing nothing once, I don't want to repeat it, especially since I now know that people might get hurt if I don't. I have the Millennial Scales for a reason, so it's about time I learned to put them to their proper use. And I can't think of a better way at this time then to stop that arrogant, lying brat and somehow free Kaiba and Mokuba! Then, I'll know how to use them to save Mai when we get back to reality. I just need to figure out how to get out of this cage." She began to feel around the metal that surrounded and imprisoned her, searching for anything she could do to escape.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Noah!" called Yami Yu-Gi. "You think this proves you're the best? I think it shows your father that you're a coward."
"What are you talking about, Yu-Gi? I defeated Seto in this duel fair and square!" snapped Noah.
"Fair my eye!" shouted Téa.
"Guess again!" yelled Yami. "You think kidnapping Mokuba and using him as a shield is fair?!"
"You think I cheated?!" challenged Noah.
"No, we know you cheated!" shouted Lara,
"You are guilty of the same foul play you once scolded the Big 5 for!" continued Yami. "Something you said your father would never allow! Kaiba could have easily defeated you but he chose the safety of his little brother over his victory and that makes Kaiba a stronger person that you will ever be! All you've proven here today is that you are a weak little boy who needs to cheat to get his way! As far as I'm concerned, you didn't win this duel." He bent down and picked up Kaiba's card. They had slid, forgotten, out of his duel disk when he had reached out of Mokuba. "But I have a proposition for you. Kaiba has 400 LP left, let me take his place to finish this duel fair and square!"
"That's the most foolish challenge I have ever heard!" shouted Noah.
"So you accept? Or you afraid I'll defeat you and prove once and for all that you are weak!?" asked Yami. He was busy shuffling his cards in with Kaiba's deck.
"Are you sure you should be touching Kaiba's cards?" asked Kevin, remembering how Kaiba had gone off on him.
"I'd be crazy not to accept!" said Noah.
"You are crazy," said Drake
"Yu-Gi, don't be an idiot!" called Joe. "He's got over 7000LP! You only have a measly 400."
"Joe's right for a change!" added Tristan.
"Are you sure Kaiba is worth this risk?" asked Duke.
"Once I defeat you, Yu-Gi, I'll turn every one of you into stone," said Noah, trying to intimidate everyone.
"Just try it!" challenged Joe.
"We're not afraid of you Noah!" called Drake.
The rocks under Noah and Yami began to separate from the ground, raising them fifty feet in the air on a floating rocky platform.
"I think we need a little privacy, don't you?" asked Noah
"You're just afraid we're going to kick your butt, literally!" shouted Lara.
"You had better not try any more of those tricks, Noah!" threatened Kevin.
"Come on Yu-Gi, don't let him freak you out!" called Téa.
"If you lose, you set us all free," said Yami. "In the name of Kaiba and Mokuba, let's duel!"
"With pleasure Yu-Gi, and may the best duelist win," said Noah, clearly not meaning anyone but himself.
"You're on!" shouted Yami, activating his duel disk.
"And when I win, you and your friends will be prisoners of my world forever!" shouted Noah.
"You're not going to win, so you can forget that idea right now!" shouted Duke.
"We're all right behind you Yu-Gi!" added Tristan, mixing in some monkey chatter.
"Please win this!" called Serenity.
"Taking his place was a mistake!" said Noah from inside Shinato to Yami.
"Listen Noah, you over-powered Kaiba using deceit and betrayal!" glared Yami. "You used your virtual technology to turn him and Mokuba into stone! If you think that makes you a superior duelist you are sadly mistaken!"
"Believe what you wish, but as soon as I am done refreshing my deck with new cards you and your friends will meet the same fate as Seto and Mokuba," said Noah. New cards were floating into his duel disk even as he spoke.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"That can't possible be legal!" shrieked Shayla. "That rotten little cheater!" Her Millennial Scales pulsed beside her, ready to be used. But she did not know how to channel the power that ran through them. There were times when it would burst out, but that wasn't the same as her having control over her Millennial Item.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Yu-Gi's been involved in some pretty tough duels against some whack jobs in the past, but this duel definitely takes the cake. Not only is Yu-Gi almost out of life points, he has no monsters on the field. Noah just merged himself with his Deck Master," said Joe.
"That means Noah can crush Yu-Gi with one attack! And I'll be a robot monkey statue!" complained Tristan.
"It also means that if Yu-Gi can destroy Shinato, he wins the duel," said Drake.
"Yu-Gi, we're all here for you! And I know you can save Mokuba and Kaiba and get us out of this place!" called Téa.
"Put that brat into his place!" shouted Lara. "Like make him stand in a corner or something."
"Show him how a real duelist duels!" added Duke.
"Blah, blah, blah, lets do this," said Noah, sarcastically. "Then I can silence your cheerleaders by turning them into statues. But just to be fair, I'll let you go first."
"You think you can control us like pawns! But I'm going to end your game!" said Yami. "I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts to the field in defense mode!" His first monster looked almost like a brown were-wolf that was halfway through transforming. Though it did have two cream colored goat's horns. It also had wicked claws. Gazelle had 1200 defense points.
"That's it?" taunted Noah. "This duel is going to be over quicker than I thought!"
"If Noah draws a monster, Yu-Gi's history!" exclaimed monkey Tristan.
"Oh no!" gasped Téa.
"Well, Yu-Gi is rather lucky when it comes to stuff like this," said Drake, even though he did look a bit tense.
Noah drew his next card. The smirk disappeared from his face.
"I can tell you didn't get a monster," said Yami with a slight smile.
"Yes, but I can still do this!" snapped Noah, raising the hands of Shinato. Six bright orbs formed a circle in front of him. "This is the Divine Ring of Shinato, and it will obliterate you!" The orbs shot forward, pelting the ground. Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts bellowed in pain and vanished.
"Are you okay, Yug?!" called Joe.
"I'm fine," replied Yami. Then he looked down. The numbers on his duel disk were moving. "What's this?! My monster was in defense mode!" He was now down to 200 life points.
"That's one of Shinato's special abilities," gloated Noah. "If it destroys a defensive monster, you lose half of your life points!" Yami's violet eyes narrowed. "Shinato also has another special ability. I gain any life points you lose!" Now Noah had 7600 life points.
"Like that guys needs any more LP?!" exclaimed Tristan.
"These Deck Master rules are crap!" growled Drake. "They take away from the true purpose of Duel Monsters!"
"You know, you're right Drake," said Duke. "Noah has to be making these rules up as he goes along."
"Come on Yu-Gi! You have to beat him!" called Téa. "We all believe in you and we know you can win!"
Noah laughed. "You don't stand a chance, Yu-Gi! You'll never get me down to zero life points. Then you and your pathetic cheerleaders are going to be permanent stone fixtures in my virtual world. All because you're trying to save someone who didn't even like you in the first place."
"Kaiba and I have quite a bit in common," replied Yami. "We are both participants in an ancient struggle that dates back 5000 years. And Kaiba and I both have something else in common, something you'd know nothing about."
"Really? What might that be?" asked Noah.
"He duels with honor and respect," answered Yami.
"Is that so? And you think that makes you both superior to me?" retorted Noah.
"It makes us human," replied Yami.
"Well you won't be human for long!" shot Noah. "As soon as I blow away what's left of your life points, you'll all be motionless objects!"
"Better than being a spoiled virtual brat!" yelled Lara.
"Kick his tail, Yu-Gi!" added Duke.
"I play one monster face down in defense mode," said Yami, ending his next turn.
"Then I play Yata-Garasu!" announced Noah. This monster looked like an oversized black crow. Its attack was 200 and its defense was 100.
"That's a spirit monster!" gasped Drake.
"Huh? Spirit monster?" asked Joe.
"It's a new type of card that Industrial Illusions just released," said Drake. "Dad had just finished designing them when he slipped into a coma…"
"Sorry man," replied Joe. Drake dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand.
"Now, I will attack your face down monster!" exclaimed Noah. He raised Shinato's hands again and the Divine Ring formed. The orbs struck Yami's face down monster. Yami shielded his eyes as his monster was revealed to be the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. When the smoke from the attack faded, Yami's monster was still standing.
"What?! How can that be?!" gasped Noah.
"Obnoxious Celtic Guardian cannot be destroyed by a monster with more than 1900 attack points, and you have over 3000!" explained Yami.
"You might have survived this turn, but you won't last much longer," growled Noah. "I now activate Spring of Rebirth, which gives me 500 life points each time a monster is returned to my hand. Now, Yata-Garasu, return!"
"There you go breaking the rules again!" called Yami. "You can't merely recall a monster to your hand!"
"When Maximilian Pegasus was designing the game of Duel Monster his travels brought him to the mystical orient. Here he learned of the legendary spirit monsters, beings with other worldly powers. So he based a series of cards on these beasts, giving them the ability to return to their owner's hand after every turn," explained Noah. "How dare you accuse me of cheating, Yu-Gi?!" His life points were raised to 8100.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"That's because you are a rotten little cheater," said Shayla. "You'd be disqualified from any normal duel, Noah. This duel badly needs an official."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxYami drew his next card. "This is one of Kaiba's monsters!"
"Come on Yug, show him who's boss!" called Joe.
"I play this monster face down and end my turn," said Yami, putting the card he just drew onto his duel disk.
"Yu-Gi! Come on! You can't win this by defending!" called Duke.
"Yu-Gi will win," said Serenity, confidently.
"I play another spirit monster, Asura, in attack mode!" announced Noah. This monster wore an embroidered kilt-like piece of clothing and multiple golden pieces of jewelry. Its skin was the same color as Shinato's. But what stood out about it was the fact that it had six arms, all with a curved sword. Its stats were 1700 and 1200.
"Asura has less than 1900 attack points, so it can destroy your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" said Noah. "Asura, attack now with Daggers of Demise!"
His monster responded by throwing all six of the swords it carried at Yami's monster. They all hit their mark, impaling the elfin warrior. The Obnoxious Celtic Guardian burst into data. Luckily, it was in defense mode so Yami lost no life points.
"There's one thing I forgot to mention," said Noah. "Asura has a special ability as well, Multiple Attacks!"
"Multiple Attacks?!" gasped Yami.
"Oh no!" exclaimed the teens.
"Asura can attack every monster on your side of the field in the same!" laughed Noah as his monster prepared for another attack.
His spirit monster once again threw all six swords at the face down card hologram in front of Yami. The card flipped up, showing that Noah had impaled a Cyber Jar.
"Ha! That's one of Kaiba's monster!" said Yami. "And when a Cyber Jar is flipped, its special ability activates!"
"Oh no!" cried Noah as the vacuum like force from the Cyber Jar began to pull Shinato into it, and Noah along with Shinato. "What's going on?!"
"Cyber Jar destroys all monsters on the field!" explained Yami.
"Yes! Way to go Yug!" cheered Joe.
"And with his Deck Master gone, Noah automatically loses!" added Drake.
"And getting blasted by Cyber Jar is exactly what that brat deserves!" said Lara.
"Yay! You won it!" called Téa.
"Banana splits all around!" cheered Tristan.
"That will have to wait until we get back to reality," said Kevin.
"We can finally escape this place!" added Duke.
"Ugh! No!" Noah continued to scream. "REVERSAL!"
The entire field was engulfed in a bright explosion as the Cyber Jar self-destructed. But when the smoke cleared, Shinato was still standing, back away from the field in the Deck Master's position. Noah fell out of it and collapsed onto the field in the duelist's position.
"What happened? Why is Shinato still there!?" asked Duke.
"I thought Yu-Gi just won the duel," commented Serenity.
"He did," replied Joe.
"Don't tell me Noah invented another Deck Master special ability," groaned Lara.
"What is that punk trying to pull now?!" demanded Joe.
" I guess Yu-Gi didn't win the duel…" said Duke, dejectedly.
"Noah is starting to give me a headache," complained Drake.
"He's been giving me a headache," said Kevin.
"Reversal is another one of Shinato's special abilities," Noah said to Yami. "During a battle, Shinato can be returned to its place on the sidelines for the remainder of the duel."
"I can see that," said Yami. "However, there's more to Cyber Jar's special ability. We each must draw five cards. Then, any monster with four stars or less that we draw is automatically summoned to the field."
"I know what the card does!" snapped Noah.
"I summon Sangan and Gamma the Magnet Warrior in defense mode!" announced Yami. His first monster looked like a pink sphere with way too many large eyes. It had squat green arms and legs. Gamma was a monster made up of metallic spheres and U-shaped magnets. "What monsters will you summon, Noah?"
"I have no monsters," growled Noah.
"All right! That means he's wide open for a direct attack!" cheered Joe.
"It's going to take a direct attack with all the life points Noah has," commented Duke.
"This is the turn around, Yu-Gi!" called Kevin. "Time to spank that twerp!"
"Yeah! Show him no one messes with the King of Games!" added monkey Tristan.
"It's my turn now," said Yami. "I tribute Sangan and Gamma in order to summon the Dark Magician!" His favorite monster appeared from the swirling energies of the two weaker monsters. The Dark Magician's stats were 2500 and 2100.
"Let's see Noah get passed that!" laughed Lara.
"And since Sangan was sent to the graveyard, I can activate its special ability," said Yami. "I can select a monster with less than 1500 attack points from my deck and add it to my hand! And I chose my Big Shield Gardna!"
"See that Noah?! That's how a real duelist duels, without cheating!" called Joe.
"That's a lesson you badly need to learn!" added Téa.
"Yeah, now finish the lesson and cream him!" shouted Kevin.
"Show the brat what Duel Monsters is really about, Yu-Gi!" called Drake.
"Dark Magician, attack his life points directly! Dark Magic Attack!" ordered Yami.
The Dark Magician raised its staff and fired a wave of dark energy straight at Noah. The young duelist hardly seemed to wince as his life points dropped to 5600.
"Yu-Gi, how dare you humiliate me like that?" growled Noah.
"Humiliate you?!" exclaimed Yami. "It's you who humiliated Kaiba and Mokuba so that you could prove to your father that you are superior!" He glanced down at the two unmoving forms of the Kaiba brothers.
"I am! No one's better!" shouted Noah. "I deserve to be rewarded for my unsurpassable power!"
"Maybe when you get off of Huggies ©," laughed Lara.
"And I thought Kaiba had a huge ego…" commented Kevin.
"You must earn respect, not demand it!" snapped Yami. "It's true, perhaps your father should have recognized your talents, maybe you have been treated unfairly. No one deserves to be locked away in isolation the way you were by your father." He pointed at the still hovering metal orb in the sky. "However, that's no excuse for the way you've been treating us Noah!"
"That's enough out of you, Yu-Gi!" shouted Noah.
"It must not be enough if you still haven't gotten it through your head!" exclaimed Joe. "You're nothing except a big cheater! The only reason you've lasted this long is because you cheat!"
"Why don't you go back to the nursery and suck your thumb?" called Lara. "That's the only place you belong!"
"Yeah, you can throw your tantrums there without causing us any grief!" added Duke.
"You can't win this duel by playing fair, so why don't you just admit it and let us all go?" asked Kevin.
"I've heard just about enough out of Yu-Gi's little pep squad down there," thought Noah, viciously.
"Your sick games have gone on too long! I want my body back!" said Tristan in monkey.
"Yeah Noah!" added Serenity. "We had a deal that Tristan would get his body back if we beat the Big 5, so keep your end of the bargain!"
"You had better keep your bargain with us!" said Téa. "When Yu-Gi crushes you, you had better let us out!"
"So, quit being a disgrace to the game my father created!" snapped Drake.
"Your friends are pathetic," Noah said to Yami. "They don't seem to realize you can't win. I guess they're more clueless than I thought."
"Come down here and say that!" challenged Joe. "I bet you're just jealous because Yu-Gi has friends and you're just a spoiled little brat who angry at the world because someone stuck you in a computer with no one to hang out with except your sorry self."
"I'd be mad at the world too if I was Noah and I had no one but myself to hang out with," agreed Kevin.
"I think your friend made his point, so I think It's only fair that now I get a chance to make my point," said Noah, fuming. "I've heard your loud-mouthed friends insult me for too long! So take this!"
Noah pointed directly at the sky. The sky turned completely dark for a moment, just like it was the middle of a violent storm. Suddenly, the clouds released a large bolt of lightning. The lightning struck down in the middle of the group of spectators. It hit Kevin. The force caused him to lose his balance and he started to fall backwards. However, it was no ordinary bolt of lightning. Kevin's body started to turn to stone from the feet up. A moment later when the light died away, Kevin was a statue, just like the Kaiba brothers. Most of his weight was on one foot, as he was falling backward. An expression of complete surprise was frozen on his face.
"Kevin!" gasped the group, running to him. But there was nothing they could do.
Noah laughed. "Much better. That was so much fun I think I'll transform you all into stone, one by one for every turn I take. What do you say?"
"I say, I'll rearrange your face you little brat!" snapped Joe, raising a fist.
"Change him back! He's not part of this duel!" demanded Téa.
"You gutless runt!" shouted Drake.
"If this doesn't prove what we've been saying about you all along, I don't know what will!" added Duke.
"Silence! Or you'll be next to go!" ordered Noah. "Since you're all so confident that Yu-Gi's going to win, I've decided to put your fates into his hands. So with every turn that Yu-Gi fails to defeat me, another of you will be turned to stone frozen in time with a look of despair on your face, because Yu-Gi failed to save you. And Yu-Gi, you'll be left in the middle of a circle of motionless statues which used to be your friends."
Yami chuckled.
"What's so funny?!" demanded Noah.
"You're nothing but a child," replied Yami. "Six years may have passed, but I'm afraid you haven't matured at all. You're a weak boy!"
"I am strong!" snapped Noah.
"Not strong enough! Just look!" said Yami, gesturing to his friends below.
"Come on! You can still beat this lame-o!" called Joe.
"So don't you even think about giving up this duel!" added Téa.
"He's just throwing another tantrum! You can't let him get away with this!" called Drake.
"Now you know you have to win, to get all of us back!" added Serenity.
"We all know you can win this, Yu-Gi. We haven't give up yet, so you can't either!" said Duke.
"Make that creep pay for everything he's done!" said monkey Tristan, chattering away in chimp.
"Show him the heart of a true duelist!" yelled Drake.
"This can't be! How can they still have faith?!" gasped Noah.
"Noah! You wouldn't be surprised if you had the chance to experience true friendship! You're just bitter!" called Yami.
"The only thing I know about friendship is how to destroy it!" shouted Noah.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Listen to them," thought Shayla. "That's true friendship. They're there, supporting each other no matter what. I should be there too. I want to be, regardless of the risk. I want to be with my friends. I want to be a better friend. I should have tried to find them. What was I thinking then?"
"I know…I was afraid. I've been scared stiff since the Battle City finals began…No, it's been even longer than that. Since before I had that nightmare helicopter ride. I've been scared since Battle City began. … I am so sick of that feeling. The others have just as much reason to be afraid as I do, but they're not scared. They're still going on strong in the face of danger. I need to pull myself together and get a grip. Being terrified isn't going to help me or anyone else. I need to put my fear aside and do what needs to be done. That's the right thing to do. How could I have forgotten? 'Good has to do nothing for evil to win.' It's time I acted for justice and put aside my fear."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I activate my Next World magic card!" announced Noah. An intricate Indian carpet unrolled in front of him.
"What is this?" asked Yami.
"I think you might find something very interesting on my carpet," said Noah. Woven into the pattern was the image of the Dark Magician.
"My Dark Magician?!" gasped Yami.
"Next World lets me summon a monster with the same number of stars as one of your monsters on the field. So I summon my Yamata Dragon!" exclaimed Noah.
This spirit monster was off white in color. It had a dragon build, though it didn't have any wings. It was a hydra, with eight heads. Each head had its own pair of blood red eyes. Its stats were 2600 and 3100.
"Dragons represent honor and nobility. They are divine creatures. Noah doesn't deserve to have one in his deck," grumbled Drake.
"Yamata Dragon, attack the Dark Magician with 8 Headed Flame Attack!" ordered Noah. All heads of the Yamata Dragon fired a blast like molten lava at the spell caster. The Dark Magician was incinerated. Yami's life points dropped down to a slim 100.
"Come on Yu-Gi! Don't let this kid push you around!" called Téa.
"Yeah! We're all behind you!" added Joe.
"Don't worry, that card has to return to his hand now!" shouted Drake.
"Don't give up!" said Tristan.
"They're right, everyone is counting on me," said Yami.
"Go get him Yu-Gi!" called Duke.
"The safety of all my friends depends on my victory, so lets get on with this duel," said Yami, who sounded like he was still trying to shake off the last attack.
"Give it up," said Noah. "My Deck Master's special ability gives me the life points you lost, and Spring of Rebirth gives me 500 more life points when my Yamata Dragon returns to my hand." As he spoke, his dragon vanished off of the field. Noah's life points rose to 6200.
"To start my turn, I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" declared Yami.
"What's going on?!" gasped Noah as glowing white swords fell into place around him.
"You cannot attack for three turns," explained Yami.
"Way to go!" cheered Joe.
"That gives you three turns to drain off all those life points he has!" added Lara.
"We knew you could win!" shouted Duke.
"I know summon Kuriboh in attack mode!" said Yami. His puffball monster appeared where his Dark Magician once stood. Its stats were only 300 and 200. "Attack his life points directly!"
The Kuriboh raced forward and slashed at Noah with its short claws. He lost 300 life points, bringing him down to 5900.
"I hardly felt a thing," bragged Noah. "I have so many life points that that little piece of fuzz barely made a dent. You'll never beat me with pathetic attacks like that."
"I have to end my turn," said Yami.
"You know what that means!" laughed Noah. "Since you didn't beat me, I get to turn another one of your friends to stone!"
He once again pointed at the sky. The storm clouds returned and a bolt of lightning shot down at the teens. They all ducked and cringed, not knowing who it would strike. It hit Duke. His whole body jerked back and began to stiffen. He was petrified leaning backwards. His mouth was open in a silent scream.
"Duke! No!" gasped Joe.
"Oh no! That kid made a stiff out of Duke too!" cried monkey Tristan. He had leapt out of Serenity's arms and raced up Duke like he was a tree. Tristan waved a paw in front of Duke's face, but got no response.
"Noah! You're sick!" snapped Lara.
"You won't get away with this!" shouted Téa.
"I already have!" laughed Noah as he drew a card. He put one card on his duel disk. "I play this face down and end my turn." He couldn't attack because Swords of Revealing Light still bound him.
"I want to summon my Dark Magician Girl, but I need to tribute a monster to do so. I could use Kaiba's Deck Master's special ability, but it only works on light type monsters, and Dark Magician Girl is a dark type," thought Yami as he examined the card he just drew. "I guess I'll have to do something else."
"I play Big Shield Gardna in defense mode!" announced Yami. "Then I move my Kuriboh to defense mode." This monster looked like a hairy barbarian wearing simple blue armor. It carried a gold and blue shield that was bigger than it was. That's because its defense was 2600.
"Is that all, Yu-Gi?" smirked Noah.
"…Sadly, yes," said Yami, who truly sounded sad.
"Say good-bye to another one of your friends!" shouted Noah, again pointing at the sky.
This time the thunder his monkey Tristan. Tristan hardly had time to protest before his entire robotic body seized up.
"Don't let him win, Yu-Gi!" gasped Tristan. He was so light the blast actually picked him several feet off of the ground. When the energy receded, he fell to the ground, petrified in mid-jump.
"No! Tristan!" gasped the teens.
"I'll get you back Tristan," said Yami. His gaze leveled at Noah. "Noah this has got to stop!"
"This will stop when I win! By then you'll all be trapped here!" shouted Noah.
"Not Tristan!" gasped Serenity.
"Give the poor guy a break! You already made him a monkey!" protested Joe.
"Grow a backbone Noah!" shouted Drake. "You're duel is with Yu-Gi, so leave us out of it!"
"Quiet, he might decide to go after you next," cautioned Téa.
"Hurry up and beat that punk, Yu-Gi!" called Lara.
"My turn!" snapped Noah, glaring at the remaining teens. He also frowned at the swords around him. "I play one monster face down in defense mode, and one magic card as well. Two more turns and I can attack you and wipe out the little life points you have left!"
Yami drew his next card and frowned. "I play this face down…"
"Isn't there anything he can do?" asked Serenity, who sounded worried.
"Most strategies take time," said Drake. "Noah's demands are unreasonable for a duel, the coward."
"Well, we can't quit routing for Yu-Gi just because Noah says so," stated Joe.
"That's right! We can't give up on him," agreed Téa.
Noah had pointed at the sky again, calling another thunderbolt down. This time he was targeting Drake. Drake barely had any time to react. He had just started to throw his arms up defensively when his entire body was paralyzed. He stood, looking half ready for action, completely petrified. The only thing that survived was the pseudo-Millennial Gauntlet on his arm.
"Drake?!!" cried Lara, horrified. She looked at her boyfriend, as stunned as he was for a moment. Then her emotions quickly turned to anger.
"Noah!" she shrieked. "You'll regret that!" With that she turned and started to run towards him. How she attempted to pull of what she planned is a mystery, since he was floating above the ground. But before she got far, Joe managed to grab her by the arm and stopped her. "Let me go! I'll kill him! He won't get away with this! I'll murder him! I'm going to cut his heart out and shove it down his throat! I'll make a noose out of his own intestines and strangle him with it! I'll…"
"Lara! Calm down!" said Joe as he desperately tried to restrain her. Everyone else was slowly backing away. The violet-haired girl had a violent side they had not known. Though Noah had did the exact thing to make her absolutely furious.
"Remind me never to make her mad…" Téa said to no one in particular.
"I am sorry, Lara," apologized Yami.
"I think I know how this duel is going to end," gloated Noah as he drew a card. "I'm going to win this on my next turn, then you and your friends will be turned to stone."
"…and force him to eat his own liver!" continued Lara.
"Lara…" called Serenity, tentatively. But Lara was too mad to respond.
The duel continued as Lara continued to invent ways to disembowel Noah.
"I activate Pyro Clock of Destiny!" declared Noah. "This card speeds up the count by one turn." The Swords of Revealing Light vanished from around him.
"But it hasn't been three turns!" gasped Yami.
"That's what Pyro Clock of Destiny does," said Noah. "Now, I Flip over one of my monster cards." The monster was revealed to be a female monster called Otohime. She wore a clingy, shimmery blue outfit with matching cape that showed off her legs. Her stats were minimal at 0 and 100.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"You didn't just?!" fumed Shayla. She was feeling the same anger Drake had felt when Noah brought Yamata Dragon into play. It was the same way she felt when the Big 5 used a female monster. "Get your grubby little fingers off of her…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"By flipping Otohime over, I activate her special ability," said Noah. "That allows me to force one of your monsters into attack mode!"
"Oh no!" gasped Yami.
"And I choose your Kuriboh!" said Noah as the lintball stood up straighter, though it was hard to tell.
"But if Noah attacks, it will wipe Yu-Gi out!" exclaimed Joe.
"You have to stop him!" called Téa.
"And then I'll use his eyeballs in a stew!" continued Lara.
"Now I tribute both of my monster to summon a creature you are very familiar with," said Noah, scowling at Yami. "Return to the field, Yamata Dragon!"
"Oh no!" gasped Serenity.
"Yamata Dragon, attack his Kuriboh now with 8 Headed Flame Attack!" ordered Noah. His monster once again fired a powerful sequence of molten fireballs at Kuriboh. Yami was lost in the smoke created from the attack
"I win the duel, now you and your friends are trapped here forever!" bragged Noah. "I've finally proven my point. See Yu-Gi, no one is superior to me!"
"You wish!" snapped Joe.
"Yu-Gi!" cried Téa.
"Then I'll use his head for a dart board!" continued Lara.
The smoke cleared from Yami's side of the field. "What's the matter, Noah? You look shocked."
"You should have lost the rest of your life points…" said Noah, stunned.
"Take a closer look Noah," said Yami. One of his trap cards was flipped up in front of him.
"Yes! Way to go Yug!" cheered Joe.
"Nutrient Z can only be activated when I am about to lose 2000 or more life points," said Yami. "It gave me 4000 life points right before your attack hit!" When the numbers on his duel disk stopped moving, he had 1800 life points left.
"Grrr…." growled Noah.
"You can't beat me that easy Noah! Thanks to my cards and thanks to my friends!" called Yami.
Noah laughed insanely. "Your friends will soon be nothing more than mute stone statues trapped forever in my virtual world! Your friendship is meaningless here! Your friends are seriously misguided by putting their trust in you. And I'll prove it when I beat you and escape to the real world, leaving you all trapped here. You'll all soon be nothing but motionless statues in cyber space!"
"You're full of a lot of hot air for someone so small!" snapped Joe.
"It doesn't matter what Noah does to us, we're still supporting you, Yu-Gi!" called Téa.
"Thanks to my Deck Master's special ability, I gain the life points you just lost," said Noah as his life points increased to 8200. "Then I activate Sebek's Blessing, which gives me back half of the life points that I lost last turn." This brought him up to 10500. "Then, Yamato Dragon will return to my hand, causing Spring of Rebirth to give me 500 more life points!" He now had 11000 life points total.
"He has so many life points…" moaned Serenity.
"Don't give up sis. I'm not giving up and neither is Yu-Gi," said Joe, who was still holding struggling Lara.
"And when I'm done with that I'll burn the marrow off of his bones!" she continued to fume.
"This is getting out of hand," thought Yami as he watched the counter on Noah's duel disk. "I have to beat Noah and set us all free before its too late!"
"It's my turn now," said Yami. "I play Alpha the Magnet Warrior in attack mode." This monster was one of two counter parts to Gamma. It was made of silver disks and U-shaped magnets. Its stats were 1400 and 1700. "Alpha, attack his life points directly!" His newest monster fired an electro-magnetic pulse at Noah. It caused the aqua-haired boy to put a foot back to keep his balance, but Noah hardly seemed to feel the attack itself. His life points dropped to 9600.
"Yu-Gi, give it up, you can try to attack me all you want with your inferior monsters, but you'll never be able to dent my life points," said Noah.
"This duel is far from over," said Yami, coldly.
"It is for one of your friends!" said Noah, pointing at the sky once more. A ball of thunder formed and shot down at the teens.
At that moment Lara had managed to break free of Joe's grip and continue her charge against Noah. The lightning caught her before she had taken more than two steps.
"You won't get away with this!" she shrieked at Noah as her body seized up on her. She was frozen in her charged, leaning forward as if she was about to attack whatever walked in front of her. Her face was set in a furious expression.
It would be a lie to say that the remaining teens weren't a bit relieved that she wasn't going to kill someone, but they were still appalled by Noah's cruelty.
"Lara…" Serenity said, trailing off.
"I don't think I can watch much more of this," said Téa.
Now it was Joe's turn to look ticked. "Yu-Gi's going to shut this place down; then we'll all be free. So threaten whoever you want Noah!"
"Whoever I want?" asked Noah, smirking. "I guess that includes your sister, Serenity. Fine. If Yu-Gi doesn't win this turn, she's next!"
"What?!" gasped Joe. Serenity paled considerable.
"Enough Noah!" barked Yami.
"You still have a chance to save them Yu-Gi," said Noah, coyly. "All you have to do is beat me. If not, then too bad. Your friends will be a bunch of stiffs forever!" He again laughed, getting pleasure from making others suffer. "Now I summon Inaba White Rabbit to the field!" This monster looked like the animal, a white rabbit, except for the fact it was clinging to an elaborate incense burner. Its attack was 700.
"Your monster is weaker than mine," commented Yami.
"That doesn't matter!" said Noah. "Attack, Inaba White Rabbit!" His monster leapt forward like a bullet, too fast to be seen. "Inaba isn't targeting your monster. It's targeting your life points!"
"Oh no!" gasped Yami as he looked around frantically for the spirit monster. Suddenly Yami gasped in pain as the monster attacked him from the left side. He managed to keep his balance, but only just barely. His life points dropped to 1100.
"Now, Inaba, return to my hand!" ordered Noah as his monster disappeared from the playing field. "That gives me 500 life points, plus 700 more from what you just lost!" Noah now had 10800 life points.
"Come on Yug," said Joe, anxiously. He was now holding his sister tightly, as if he was trying to protect her with his own body.
"I play this card face down," said Yami as he started his next turn. A card hologram appeared directly in front of him. "Then I tribute Alpha the Magnet Warrior for my Dark Magician Girl!" His female version of the Dark Magician appeared. She had a feminine, sky blue version of the Dark Magician's armor and carried a staff like he did. Her attack was 2000, but her special ability allowed her to gain 300 attack points since there was a Dark Magician in the graveyard.
"It's not enough…" moaned Téa.
"There isn't a monster strong enough to take out all of Noah's life points with one attack," said Joe, sadly, hugging Serenity tighter.
"Dark Magician Girl, attack Noah's life point's directly!" ordered Yami.
The Dark Magician Girl raised her staff and did as she was told. Noah instinctively raised his arms to protect himself, though again he felt minimal pain from the attack, thanks to his massive life point cushion. His life points dropped to 8500.
"Is that all?" mocked Noah. "Too bad Serenity." He pointed at the sky again. The clouds grew dark as they released a blast of thunder.
"Joe get back!" exclaimed Serenity as she pushed her brother away. The lightning struck her, petrifying her with her hands still out from shoving Joe.
"Serenity!" cried Joe, running back to her. But he was too late. He slid to his knees, stunned. "No, Serenity…"
"Joe, I am so sorry," apologized Yami, who did sound depressed about the newest loss.
"If you really cared you wouldn't have let that happen," said Noah. "Now, I'm going to bring an old friend back to the field. Remember Inaba White Rabbit and its special ability?" Inaba again appeared in front of Noah.
"I do, and I am glad to see it again," smirked Yami. "Because now I can activate Dark renewal! This card allows me to sacrifice your monster along with mine to bring a spell caster back from the graveyard, and I chose to bring my Dark Magician back!" Inaba and Big Shield Gardna instantly disappeared from the field. A large coffin appeared next to the Dark Magician Girl. It opened at the Dark Magician stepped out. He smiled at his female counter part and she smiled back, though her attack points dropped back down to 2000.
Noah glared at him, since he was now unable to attack his opponent's life points directly. "I play one card face down and end my turn."
"You have no monsters and your life points are wide open for a direct attack!" said Yami. "This is the going to be the start of your downfall! Prepare to release me and my friends from your twisted game. I activate Dark Magic Ritual. This magic card lets me summon a high level monster, but at a price. I'll send Valkyrionthe Magnet Warrior from my hand to the graveyard in order to summon the Magician of Black Chaos!" His newest magician appeared beside the Dark Magician. It had spiky black hair that stuck straight out. However, it was covered by a double conical hat, shaped much like curled horns. It too carried a staff. Dark face paint decorated the area beneath its eyes. It wore a primarily black jumpsuit, though everything was trimmed slightly in dark magenta and blue. Its attack was 2800.
"Wow! Yu-Gi's never had all three of his dark magicians on the field at the same time!" exclaimed Téa.
"This is the break he needed!" cheered Joe.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Come on Yu-Gi! I'm cheering for you too!" thought Shayla. She had tried to find a way out of the cage she was imprisoned in, but she couldn't. There wasn't even a door on the thing. It was simply two metal sheets connected by bars. "I know I haven't been there for you guys before, but I am now, in part. And I'm going to do better to be there for you guys when you need it. First I'm going to keep my promise to Mai and not let her go through what she's going through alone. Then I'm going to learn how to use my Millennial Scales to save her. I'm not going to run from everything any more. I am going to stop being afraid so I can do what needs to be done." Easier said than done.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Attack with Triple Dark Magic Attack!" ordered Yami.
His three spellcasters put their staffs together and raised them high. Three twirling beams of magic shot forward, heading right for Noah.
"I activate Chaos Barrier Field!" shouted Noah. "This card pits your strongest monster against your weakest!" The Dark Magician Girl appeared in front of Noah.
"My Dark Magician Girl?!" gasped Yami.
The Dark Magician's attack peeled away, leaving the Magician of Black Chaos's attack charging right at Yami's Dark Magician Girl. The attack blasted her straight to the graveyard. Yami dropped to 300 life points since it was his monster that was destroyed. Noah gained what he lost, bring him back up to 9300.
"He stopped my Triple Dark Magic Attack," gaped Yami, softly.
"Bravo Yu-Gi, bravo," complimented Noah. "You have put on such a great show I see no need to continue. So I'll transform your friends back to normal and we can end this duel."
"Don't toy with me," growled Yami.
"Serenity…" said Joe, softly. Yami wasn't the only one Noah was toying with.
"I ask only one little favor from you Yu-Gi," said Noah. "Forfeit the duel and admit that I am superior to you. It seems like a small price to pay for your friends' safe return, isn't it?" Yami hesitated, like he was actually considering the offer. "Of course Seto and Mokuba will remain as they are and stay with me."
"You slimeball!" snapped Joe.
"Watch what you say," cautioned Yami.
"You'll be next," warned Téa.
"You can't play with people's lives like this…" said Joe. "Yug, you can beat this little twerp fair and square and end this sick game!"
"But what if I am defeated?" asked Yami
"You won't lose Yug!" called Joe.
"I don't remember asking for your opinion, you fool, so say goodbye!" shouted Noah, again pointing at the sky. Joe didn't even have time to react before his whole body was turned to stone from the feet up. A shocked expression froze on his face. His whole body was tense as he tried to pull away from the attack.
"NO! Joe!" screamed Yami.
"Not you too!" cried Téa, who was all alone. "Noah! You think you're really tough, don't you?!"
"Why yes," answered Noah.
"You're just a spoiled brat who's got no guts! When things aren't going your way you keep changing all the rules until they are," shouted Téa.
"Do you think I really care what you think of me Téa?" asked Noah. "I've already proven that there's no one who's better than me. Now it's up to Yu-Gi to admit the same. Then I'll gladly reverse the damage that has been done."
"I have some disappointing news for you; I still plan to win!" shouted Yami. Noah's newest atrocity only seemed to fuel him.
"You do?! Then suit yourself! I tried to make things easy for you, but you choose the hard way!" shouted Noah. "I play one monster face down in defense mode. Since there's no way I can lose, there's no harm in showing you the card I'm about to play, so get ready. When your turn starts, I'll use Ground Breaker to bring back one of my spirit monsters, a little critter known as Inaba White Rabbit. He possesses 700 attack points, which is more than enough to wipe you out. Once it attacks you directly, you're finished." He slid the card into one of the empty magic slots on his duel disk. "Now make your final move Yu-Gi."
"You haven't won this yet, Noah!" called Yami.
"I already have! Now I activate Ground Breaker!" declared Noah. The ground shook and spit Inaba White Rabbit out of the graveyard right into Noah's hand. "You won't last once I summon this to the field!"
"Too bad you won't be able to!" snapped Yami. "Because now I activate Card Destruction. This magic card forces us to discard our entire hand and draw a new one! Your Inaba White Rabbit is back in the graveyard where it belongs!"
"I knew you could still win this!" called Téa.
"Now, Magician of Black Chaos, attack his face down monster!" ordered Yami.
His magician did as it was told. When the blast hit Noah's monster, it was revealed to be another Otohime. She was instantly sent to the graveyard.
"Too bad, you activate her special ability, which allows me to force one of your monster to change battle positions," said Noah. "So I move your Dark Magician to defense mode. Then I activate the card Vessel of Illusions to bring her back to the field in defense mode. You won't win this Yu-Gi. You don't have any more good moves left, and you hardly have any friends left. Soon they'll all be nothing both silent statues! So you can start saying your good-byes to Téa now."
"In your dreams you creep!" shouted Téa. "Yu-Gi's going to crush you! Then he'll set us all free! You hear that!"
"Tea…" said Yami, surprised.
"I'll spare you for one more turn. So you can witness Yu-Gi's defeat and see just how wrong you are," said Noah, laughing. He drew a card to start his next turn. "I play Change of Heart to take control of one of your monsters. And I think I'll chose your favorite monster, the Dark Magician!"
The Dark Magician got a dazed look in its eyes and crossed the field to join Noah's side. Yami looked horrified.
"Now I have two monsters to tribute, in order to summon the strongest spirit monster of them all, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi!" shouted Noah. This monster looked like a muscle builder had been engulfed in flames. Its stats were 2800 and 2900. "Then I equip it with Flaming Fist, which increases its attack points by 200! Now, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, attack the Magician of Black Chaos!"
A wave of solid fire swept across the elevated dueling area. The Magician of Black Chaos was instantly incinerated. Yami felt it too and collapsed from the heat. His life points dropped back down to a sliver at 100. He struggled back to his feet, breathing hard.
Noah laughed, again enjoying another's pain. "Now I play the card Spiritual Energy Settle Machine! This allows me to keep my Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi on the field at the end of the turn! You won't be able to summon a monster strong enough to beat it! Ha!"
Noah also gained the life points Yami lost from that turn, bring him up to 10,000. It was now 100 life points versus 10,000. Noah had a powerful monster on the field, while Yami had no monsters period. Virtually everyone had been turned to stone. It didn't look good. Yami was also struggling to stay on his feet. Virtual duels were as devastating as a Shadow Game.
"You might as well stay down Yu-Gi, its all over," gloated Noah.
"Don't listen to him Yu-Gi!" called Téa.
"Silence!" ordered Noah, pointing at the sky. The bolt of lightning struck her, petrifying her from the ground up.
Téa held her hand up as if she was reaching for her friend. "Yu-Gi, I still believe!" she called before she was completely turned to stone.
"Téa!" gasped Yami. The pressure got to him and he completely blacked out.
"That should quiet things down a bit," said Noah. "If you could speak Yu-Gi, I'm sure you'd admit now that I'm the better duelist. You have no monsters in play, no cards in your hand, and no friends to cheer you on, you're all alone now Yu-Gi, there's no one left to support you."
/That's not true!/ called Yu-Gi to Yami.
/Yu-Gi…/ said Yami, still sounding a bit dazed. Yu-Gi was standing over him/
/As long as I'm here, you can't be alone. I'm not the only one who's here, come on,/ Yu-Gi said, extending a hand. Yami reached out and took it. There was a bring flash of light and they both entered Yami's soul room.
"You have to do is look inside your heart and inside your mind and you'll that your friends are never far. They're all right here," Yu-Gi said as he led Yami to one of the many doors in his soul room.
"I don't see anyone," commented Yami.
"In here," said Yu-Gi. He opened it and they both entered. The room was completely empty and completely bare.
"I've never seen this room before Yu-Gi," said Yami, who sounded a bit puzzled.
"It holds your recent memories," explained Yu-Gi. Figures began to form in the room. They were all of his friends, looking how they normally looked, smiling.
"Joe! Téa! And Tristan! Kevin! Duke and Serenity! Drake and Lara!" gasped Yami. "I think I understand now."
"As long as our friends are in our thoughts, they'll never be too far away," said Yu-Gi.
"Hear that pal? We'll always be right here in your mind, not matter what," said Joe.
"That's right," agreed Téa. "You may not remember your ancient past yet, but you still remember us."
"We said we got your back and we meant it," said Duke.
"You really didn't think we were going to leave you alone now, did you?" asked Tristan.
"We're still cheering for you, even though you can't hear us," added Lara.
"We all have complete faith in you," said Serenity.
"Like you're always telling us, you have to have faith in your friends and your deck," said Drake.
"You just can't give up now," said Kevin. "You have one turn, and one turn can change everything."
"That's true. But I'm afraid I have nothing left to fight with," said Yami, sadly.
"That's pathetic! Are you telling me my future is in the hands of a quitter?" snapped Seto Kaiba, walking up from behind him with Mokuba.
"Kaiba! Mokuba!" exclaimed Yami.
"You can't let that little punk Noah win this duel Yu-Gi," said Kaiba.
"I know…"
"Then get back in the game and face him like a man. Remember, you have my cards too. With the power of my deck in your hands you can't lose," said Seto.
It then dawned on Yami what he was talking about. "There may still be a chance. It lies in Kaiba's deck!"
(AN/ Congratulations! This is the precise spot of page 200 of Shayla's Story 3!)
"Don't mess up. You only got one shot left," warned Kaiba.
Yami turned around in a slow circle, looking at the faces of all of his friends. They all had complete confidence that he would still win the duel. Yet another figure approached him when he had completed the circle.
"Shayla?!" Yami gasped. "Where have you been?!" He had completely forgotten about her in all the chaos, but his subconscious mind had not.
"I've been cheering for you too, even though you haven't heard me," she answered.
"So go out there and win this!" added Mokuba.
Yami woke up. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted. "I will save my friends, just watch me," he said to Noah as he stood up.
"You still insist on humiliating yourself, don't you?" taunted Noah.
"I won't stop until you're defeated, Noah!" countered Yami as he drew a card to start his next turn. He instantly slid it into his duel disk. "I activate Card of Sanctity! This card allows us each to draw until we have six cards in out hands!"
"Yu-Gi," he heard Joe say.
"We're all here," said Téa.
"Draw six cards," said Tristan.
"One from each of us," said Drake.
Yami could clearly see each of his friend standing around his deck with their hands over it. They all selected a card off of the top and handed it to him.
"I hope this helps," said Serenity as she handed the card to her brother.
"That's right pal," said Joe as he passed the card to Yami.
"Don't quit," said Mokuba, who drew the next card and handed it to his older brother.
"Take this," said Kaiba as he passed the card to Shayla.
"I know you'll use it well," she said as she handed him the second card.
"Here you go," said Téa, giving Yami his third card.
"This one is for you," said Tristan, drawing a card and passing it to Duke.
"Now give that brat a spanking!" said Duke as he handed the fourth card to Yami.
Lara was the next to draw, "You'll need this." She passed the card to Drake.
"Show Noah what friendship is all about," said Drake has he handed Yami the fifth card.
"This one ought to come in handy," said Kevin as he handed the last card to Yu-Gi.
"We're with you, Yami," said Yu-Gi as he handed his alter-ego the final card. "No matter what."
" The hearts of all of our friends are in these six cards," thought Yami. He turned his attention back to Noah. "I feel sorry for you Noah. Thanks to the support of my friends I'm about to defeat you, that is something you will never understand."
"You're bluffing!" challenged Noah. "I have a hundred times as many life points as you, and your friends are nothing more than rocks!"
"Their hearts are with me, and they're going to help me bring down you!" shouted Yami. "First I activate Monster Reborn to bring back the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon!" Kaiba's favorite monster reappeared on the duel field with a loud bellow. "Since we continued this duel from when you and Kaiba left off, the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon is still in the graveyard since you destroyed it with Shinato!"
"It's still not enough," said Noah.
"I'm not done yet! I now activate Polymerization to fuse that Blue-Eyes with the two in my hand to create the Blue-Eyes, Ultimate Dragon!" shouted Yami. The air around the Blue-Eyes, White Dragon shimmered as it sprouted two more heads. Its attack was increased to 4500. "This is the strongest monster in Kaiba's deck, so I only think it's fitting that it's the one to bring you down!"
"You can't attack me this turn! It's a fusion monster!" snapped Noah.
"Yes, under normal circumstances. But I activate the magic card Quick Attack, which allows it to attack this turn!" said Yami. "Blue-Eyes, Ultimate Dragon, attack the Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi with Neutron Blast!"
All three heads of the fusion monster pulled back and fired an intense beam at Noah's spirit monster. Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi was reduced to ashes. It took 1700 of Noah's life points with it to the graveyard, bringing him down to 8300.
"You still haven't won! And it's my turn!" snapped Noah.
"No it's not," said Yami, smiling. "I now activate De-Fusion, splitting the Blue-Eyes, Ultimate Dragon into the three Blue-Eyes, White Dragons that were used to create it!"
"Oh no!" gasped Noah.
"Attack with Triple White Lightning! For Kaiba and Mokuba and all my friends as well, Blue-Eyes, White Dragons attack! Wipe him out! This madness is finally over Noah!" ordered Yami.
"No! Wait! There must be something I can do!" cried Noah.
"You've been exposed as the frightened child you truly are," said Yami as the attacks connected, completely covering Noah in heat and light. His life points hit 0.
"That's impossible! I can't lose!" gasped Noah, falling to his knees.
"You just did! So my friends are now free!" called Yami.
As he spoke the stone around his friends fell away, reviving them.
Téa gasped. "Yu-Gi! You did it!"
"Serenity!" exclaimed Joe, instantly running to her.
"Joe!" she called back, embracing him.
"Lara?! Are you okay?" called Drake, hurrying to her.
Lara spun around, a bit dazed. "Drake!" She ran to him and hugged him tightly, kissing him soundly. He returned the favor.
"I'm back to normal!" cheered monkey Tristan. "Well, almost…"
"Are all the girls okay?" asked Kevin, looking around.
Even the Kaiba brothers recovered.
(AN/ Yippie! xhuggles Kaiba plushie and stops cryingx)
"Seto!" exclaimed Mokuba, finishing the two steps to him.
"Mokuba…" said Kaiba as they embraced as well.
"Well, it looks to me like everything is back to normal around here," said Duke. "It must mean Yu-Gi won the duel."
"What? What duel?" asked Kaiba, looking around.
"Your duel," answered Téa. "Yu-Gi took over when you and Mokuba were turned to stone. He combined your deck with his deck to beat Noah."
Kaiba looked at his deck, realizing it was empty. "My deck?! He dueled…using my cards?!" growled Kaiba, on the border of fury.
Kevin, having experienced it first hand, quickly put distance between himself and the CEO.
The floating rocky platforms supporting Yami and Noah were slowly lowering to the ground.
"You've been defeated Noah! Not just by me, but by all of us!" said Yami. "For it was only with the support of my friends that I was able to win this duel and the more you tried to destroy that friendship the stronger it grew."
"This isn't how it was supposed to happen at all," moaned Noah, who showed no signs of getting up.
"Listen to me Noah," called Yami as the platform hit the ground. "You have been all alone in this virtual world for six years, it's distorted your mind."
"He's right," thought Noah. "I have been stuck in this digital wasteland for too long, Maybe I despise Yu-Gi and his friends so much is because they share a bond I have never experienced. So I tried to eliminate their friendship to show them what it's like to be me. But they'll never understand." He raised his head a few hairs."No one will…my life was stolen from me…"
"After my accident my brain was digitized into one of my father's super computers, only to be forgotten about," Noah continued to lament. "He promised me everything and left me with nothing!"
"It's not fair!" shouted Noah. "I should be the president of Kaiba Corp.! I would be if Seto hadn't robbed me of my life! I want it back!"
"Who's the one who's robbing who's body?" challenged Kevin, who had been listening.
Noah jumped to his feet and charged Yami. He put his hands on Yami's chest and began to force his way in side, like two overlapping holograms.
"And I'll start by escaping to the real world in your body! From now on I'm you!" shouted Noah as he tried to take over Yami's mind. However, it wasn't that easy. Noah was met with flashes of ancient Egypt, as well as the power of the Millennial Puzzle."What…what's this?! Who are you?" But the only answer he got was more images of Yami as the pharaoh of ancient Egypt and visions of all of the Millennial Items. "Answer me! Your mind is full of secrets!"
"I can see the secrets in his mind as well!" gasped Yami as he looked into Noah's memories. He could see all of them, laying unconscious, in virtual pods in a high tech looking room with steel walls.
Against one wall was Mokuba, Kaiba, Shayla, himself, Joe, and Kevin. Against the other was Tristan, Serenity, Duke, Téa, Drake, and Lara.
"That's us! But where are we?!" wondered Yami. "What have you done?!"
"Let me in!" demanded Noah. But there was a bright surge from the Millennial Puzzle. It shoved Noah back about fifty feet.
"What are you?! You're not like the others!" exclaimed Noah.
Yami was saved from answering when his friends raced over.
"Yu-Gi! Are you okay?!" called Téa.
"Enough with the rotten tricks already!" growled Kevin.
"Try touching me!" threatened Joe, raising a fist.
"Violence is not going to get us out of here," said Serenity.
"Yeah, but it would definitely make us feel better," commented Duke.
"You have failed Noah, so it's time to set us all free!" said Yami.
"And give me my real body back!" added monkey Tristan.
"So you want your body back?" asked Noah, chuckling. "Your real body is exactly where it's been since you arrived!"
"What does that mean?" asked Lara.
"Enough of the games Noah!" demanded Drake.
"Don't you get it?" retorted Noah. "There are no 'real bodies' in my world. Everything here is virtual that means all of you as well."
"I don't get it," said Joe.
"No surprise there…" muttered Tristan in monkey, which saved him from being pounded.
"I do," said Drake. "We're not only trapped in a virtual world, we're all a part of it as well."
"Exactly," said Noah. "Your real bodies are strapped in cyber pods that are hardwired to my virtual stimulator. So everything you've experienced here has only happened in your minds."
"That's why it seems so real here. Our minds are being tricked into seeing things that aren't really there," commented Téa.
"Of course!" exclaimed Kaiba. "When the floor opened up we didn't fall into a virtual vortex. We were knocked unconscious and locked in your cyber stimulation pods."
"And what about me?" asked Kevin. He was ignored.
"Well, it's about time you keep your end of the deal and let us all out of here, Noah!" said Lara.
Mokuba had squirmed his way through the crowd and was looking around. He frowned, not seeing what he was looking for. "Hey guys, where's Shayla?"
"Huh?" asked the group, all of them looking around.
"She isn't here!" exclaimed Joe.
"Who? Is someone missing?" asked Kevin.
"Yeah…" replied Duke.
"Has anyone seen her?!" demanded Kaiba.
"Not me," replied Serenity.
"Not since we got here," added Lara.
"Absolutely no one has seen any sign of her?" asked Yami.
"Not at all," said Drake. "I guess we forgot about her in the confusion…"
"Yeah, we were all so worried about finding everyone, the finding Tristan, then hunting down Kaiba and Mokuba…" Téa trailed off.
"You mean she could still be anywhere, wandering in the virtual nightmare?" groaned Joe.
"She could be in major trouble!" said Tristan, half in chimp.
"I hope she's okay…" said Mokuba.
"All right Noah, where is she?!" demanded Kaiba, turning his icy gaze on the green-haired kid.
"What? You mean the blind girl?" asked Noah, apathetically.
"Where is she?" growled Kaiba.
"She hasn't been here since the beginning," lied Noah. "No one was interested in taking over a body with an imperfection like that, so I let her go back to the real world."
"Imperfection?" asked Kevin.
Kaiba was steaming, though the others could not figure out why. "That's a lie! Where is she?!"
"Kaiba, calm down," said Téa. "What Noah is saying makes sense."
"He's lying," said Kaiba with gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off of his step-brother.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxShayla's jaw dropped. "I really don't believe this. Of all people there, the first one to notice I am missing is Mokuba! I guess that shows who really is worried about me." She bit her lip. "Guys, don't buy Noah's lie. I'm still trapped here, just like you are. Listen to Kaiba for once."
She suddenly stiffened. She could hear footsteps approaching. They were heavy and unfamiliar, though she could tell they probably belong to a man.
"I've had enough of this," the person growled. Shayla could tell by his voice that her first instincts had been right. The stranger was a man. He walked right up to the control panel and began to press a few buttons.
Shayla was about to ask who he was when he muttered to himself again.
"Noah, your failures will not be tolerated. It is time for me to take control!" he snapped.
Shayla involuntarily gasped. She recognized the voice, even though it was one she had only heard from virtual play-backs.
"Gozaburo Kaiba…" she thought, blown away. "Oh no…Oh no…Someone help. I am in so much trouble!"
The virtual world began to react as Gozaburo commanded it. The sky grew an unnatural violent violet color. Shayla could hear the duelists gasping in surprise and bewilderment. They were all in trouble.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAN/ This is official the longest chapter I have EVER written. never again! I really should have turned it into two chapters, but I couldn't stand see Kaiba as a statue that long! And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! J