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Fanfic Chapter 116: Prelude to Terror
Episode Basis: A Virtual Nightmare & Isolated in Cyber Space: Yugi vs. Big 1 Pt 1
"Long-range radar detected aircraft approaching, attempting identification."
"Identification confirmed, Kaiba Craft 3, owner: Seto Kaiba, President of Kaiba Corporation."
"Not for long, begin ascent!"
"Turbines powered, vertical lift charged, beginning ascent."
"Interface with the navigation system and alter its course to us."
"Acknowledge."
On board the blimp, Yugi Moto sat up in his bed, holding the Millennium Puzzle. "I didn't get an ounce of sleep last night," he complained. "Marik's cruelty knows no bounds. He sent Bakura to the Shadow Realm, someone who wasn't a threat! But Bakura was only the latest of Marik's victims. First his servant Odion fell, and then he trapped Mai's mind in the Shadow Realm." Yugi placed his Millennium Puzzle around his neck. "I can't just stand by and wait to see who's next, I have to…" A fierce shake ejected Yugi from his bed. "What the heck…"
The jolt also shook Joey out of bed, though having two other bodies in it with him certainly contributed. "What the heck?" He turned to Duke and Tristan who were still sound sleep. "Hey, wake up, guys!" But the two were still sleeping. "Hey, get up, you lazy bums!" When they still wouldn't wake up, Joey resorted to desperate measures, namely flipping over the mattress and sending the two crashing to the ground.
That woke them up.
The jolt also woke up Harold, who didn't really realize that he had fallen asleep in his chair. "What was that?" He asked.
"Harold?" Harold jumped a little; he had forgotten that Serenity was here too. She had fallen asleep on the bed. What happened last night came back to him. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, Serenity, it feels like the blimp is being attacked!"
After her and Yugi's encounter with Yami-Marik, Tea had joined Kevin with keeping watch over Mai. She was asleep up until the shaking of the blimp. She jumped up, "Kevin, did you feel that?" But Kevin didn't respond. Kevin was still sleeping at the end of Mai's bed. "Guess not."
"Sir, the blimp is being pulled off course," the pilot told Mokuba.
"Well you better get us back on course before Seto finds out."
"What's going on?" Too late, Kaiba had already arrived on the bridge.
"The ship is turning on its own," Mokuba explained.
"Get it under control now!" Kaiba commanded the pilot.
"Is something wrong?" Yugi asked as he, Joey, Tea, Tristan, Harold, Amara, Duke, and Serenity ran onto the bridge. Kaiba was too busy trying to get the ship back on course to reply.
On the dueling platform, Yami-Marik looked out with an amused glance. It seems like there's someone else who wants to bring these fools misery. How interesting.
"The auto pilot isn't working," the hapless pilot reported. "I don't know what to do, sir."
"Look, I pay you good money so you better do whatever you have to do to get us back on course to Kaiba Corp. Island!"
"Kaiba Corp. Island?" Harold asked. The Duelists and their friends turned to see an island with a strange tower at the center surrounded by stone rubble.
"That island looks like a piece of junk," Tristan commented.
"Hey, show some respect," Mokuba snapped. "That 'piece of junk' is where Kaiba Corp. first started."
"So that's where the finals are going to be held?" Serenity asked.
"Yes," Kaiba confirmed.
"What's with the rubble?" Amara asked.
Mokuba's face grew solemn, "That's all that's left of the old Kaiba Corp."
"Come again?"
"Kaiba Corp. wasn't always a gaming company. Our step-father, Gozaburo, set it up as an arms dealership, producing any type of weapon imaginable. He was going to use them to become the most powerful person on Earth, maybe even take it over. The island used to be his central base until Seto took control and tore down all the weapon-making facilities. In place of the corporate headquarters, he constructed that Duel Tower."
"That's enough, Mokuba, don't tell them any more," Kaiba ordered. What happened between my step-father and me is family business and ancient history. I command an empire that dwarfs my step-father's. And once I'm crowned the world's greatest Duelist on top of that tower, I'll be out of his shadow forever.
Kaiba seems to have a problem with his step-father, Yugi thought. I wonder why.
"Sir, someone's hacked into our navigation system," the pilot reported. "They've changed the destination coordinates!"
"That can't happen; our system is state of the art! Block him right away!"
"I'm trying, sir."
Suddenly the airship took a dive sending everyone to the ground.
"What's the big idea?" Tristan asked.
"Can you say lawsuit?" Joey snapped.
"I won't let my triumphant return to Kaiba Corp. Island be ruined by some computer geek!"
Suddenly the view screen overhead dissolved into static and a male's voice came on over the speakers, "Greetings, Duelists." The screen showed an image of a boy probably a bit older than Mokuba with green hair and eyes. He seemed to be dressed in a white shirt.
"Identify yourself!" Kaiba requested.
"Barking orders as always, Seto," the boy sighed. "I've been observing you for some time and now it's time to put you in your place. The first order of business is to put an end to your little card game."
"Look, kid, I don't like repeating myself so tell me who you are before I really get angry!"
"Oh, very well, you may call me Noah. You and I go way back, Seto."
"You guys know him?" Amara asked Mokuba. Mokuba shook his head.
The view screen switched to the ocean. A large fortress surfaced It was probably about twice the size of a battleship. A hole opened up and the blimp started to descend.
"Let us go, Noah!" Yugi pleaded.
"No use, Yugi," Joey said. "That runt has us right where he wants us… just wish I knew where that was."
Yami-Marik chuckled. If there was one thing he loved, it was seeing others put in danger. The only thing he loved more than that was to cause danger to others.
The airship landed in a docking bay deep within the fortress.
"As soon as we land, I'm going to make that brat pay."
"I wouldn't mind getting a crack at the kid myself," Tristan said punching his palm.
"Chill, guys, he's just a kid," Duke said.
"A kid with the type of technology you might see on Star Trek?" Amara asked skeptically.
She's got a point, Kaiba thought. No way this little runt could've plan this all by his self, he must've had help.
"Are we going to be okay, Joey?" Serenity asked.
"Don't worry, sis, we'll be all right as long as I'm here."
"All of you stay out of this," Kaiba instructed. "This is my airship and I'll get us released. We'll be on our way soon."
Noah's face came on the monitor again. "Now, Seto, it's time for you and your friends to exit the ship. And don't try anything I have automatic weapons trained on you at all times." As if to emphasize his point, the weapons aimed directly at the open hatch.
"Everybody, stay here," Kaiba instructed again. "I'll handle this alone."
"But Seto," Mokuba protested. "We don't know anything about this kid, how do we know he won't shoot you on sight!"
"I won't subject anyone to any needless danger."
"I think it's a little too late for that, Kaiba," Joey said.
"You hear me, Noah? You'll deal with me and me alone!"
Noah's answer to that was to fire a laser directly at Kaiba. If Harold hadn't set up a shield in time, Kaiba would've been fricasseed.
"No, everyone will exit the blimp now."
"Looks like we don't have much of a choice," Amara said. The kids exited the blimp. Two Kaiba Corp. employees tried following but Noah's lasers stopped them.
"This invitation is for Duelists only," Noah's voice said over a PA system.
"Yeah, right, Tristan's no Duelist," Duke said.
Tristan bopped him on the head, "Nobody needs to know that, Duke."
"Let me handle everything and we'll be on our way quickly," Kaiba told his "followers" as they went down a hallway.
"Oh get over your self," Joey said. "We're all in this whether any of us like it or not."
"Joey's right, Seto," Mokuba said. "Noah trapped all of us, so he intends to make all of us a part of this no matter what you say."
"Continue straight ahead and towards the door," Noah instructed. A door up ahead of them parted revealing a bright flash of light.
"Serenity, you better stay here," Joey advised.
"But Joey, we're a team," Serenity argued. "There's no way you're going in there without me."
"She's better off with us anyway, man," Tristan said. "At least we can protect her from danger."
"It's a lot better than being back there with Marik and…" Harold froze in his step. He whispered, "Guys, Ishizu and Kevin are not with us."
"It's better off if Noah doesn't know about them," Kaiba whispered back. "We'll deal with one psychopath at a time."
"Kevin isn't a psychopath," Harold argued. "He's has a strong sense of filial duty, like you."
"Actually I was talking about Marik," Kaiba said dryly.
"Oh."
"What do you with us, Noah?" Yugi asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Noah replied. "In the mean time, proceed into the other room where my associates will elaborate. They're especially anxious to meet you, Seto."
"You're just so popular today," Amara said dryly.
The group stepped through the door into an empty hold. The doors shut locking them in darkness. Suddenly bright lights were turned on and five men were silhouetted against the backlights. They were all average-looking, in business suits.
"Surprised to see us again, Mister Kaiba?"
"It can't be," Kaiba gasped. "I got rid of you!"
"Who are these clowns?" Amara asked.
"These are the creeps who tried to take over Kaiba Corp. and sell it to Industrial Illusions," Mokuba explained.
"Aren't they also the ones who locked Yugi, Joey, Mokuba, and Kaiba in some sort of virtual reality game?" Harold asked.
"That's right. Gansley…" Mokuba pointed to a pudgy balding man. "Crump…" Crump was a short guy with a moustache. "Johnson…" Johnson was a tall guy wearing glasses. "Nesbitt…" Nesbitt was also average looking. "And Lechter…" Lechter had a brown goatee and a devilish shape. "Also known as the Big-5."
"The Big-5?" Amara questioned.
"These creeps have been nothing but bad news," Mokuba explained to Amara, Duke, and Serenity. "First thing they did was try to sell us out to Industrial Illusions…"
"For our plan to succeed, Kaiba must be taken out of the picture... permanently."
"However, there is a catch: as per the corporate bylaws, only a Kaiba heir can legally take control of Kaiba Corp."
"To that end, Pegasus, we recommend you kidnap Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba. He may control Kaiba-Corp. but we will control him."
"Do this for us, and we will lay all of Kaiba-Corp.'s technology at your feet."
"Agreed," Pegasus said. "The elder Kaiba will meet with an unfortunate accident and the younger one will be captured."
"Then they tried to get rid of Seto by trapping him in his virtual reality simulator pod."
Kaiba's virtual pod sparked with electricity. Mokuba could hear his brother scream out.
"Big Brother," Mokuba cried opening the screen. "Are you okay? Say something!" But it was no use, Kaiba was knocked out.
The doors closed and the blast shield lowered into place trapping Mokuba in the room.
"Your brother's fondness for technology has always been his weakness," Gansley said appearing on a monitor.
"What did you do?" Mokuba demanded to know.
"Seto should've heeded your warning, Little Mokuba, but now it's too late. His mind is imprisoned in his own game, thanks to some modifications that we made."
"Sabotage!" Mokuba realized.
"And now, you're our prisoner again and soon, nothing will stop us from seizing full control of Kaiba Corporation."
Mokuba knew he had to do something. He quickly ejected his brother's deck from the scanner.
When the guards entered the room, they found Kaiba's the only body there. Mokuba had escaped into the ventilation system.
"How could you five be around?" Kaiba asked. "I beat you creeps in my virtual game!"
"Attack, Dragon Master Knight!" Kaiba commanded.
"With Dragon Saber Blast!" The monsters belonging to the two rivals each let out a huge energy burst which intermingled with each other and together, struck the Mythic Dragon. The Kaiba Corp. Executives actually cried out in pain as the monster was destroyed.
"After Yugi and I beat their Five-God Dragon (1) with our Master of Dragon Knight (2), they were imprisoned in the virtual world."
"Yes, after you brats beat us, we wandered cyberspace for eternity," Gansley explained. "Until Noah hacked into the Kaiba Corp. mainframe and discovered us. Once we realized we shared a mutual enemy in Seto Kaiba, Noah uploaded our minds into his computer mainframe. And now, we're going to get our revenge on all of you!"
"I've defeated you corporate crooks once before and I can do it again."
"You'll have your chance," Nesbitt said. "Because we have devised a new game with Noah's help. A Virtual Duel Monsters Tournament."
"What the heck? We're already in a middle of a tournament!" Amara argued.
"Why do you want to duel us?" Yugi asked.
"Ever since Kaiba trapped us here, we could no longer return to our original bodies," Crump explained. "So we've decided to take bodies of others instead."
"And Noah rather insists that we duel you for them," Johnson added.
"Nobody's taking over my body again!" Joey shouted.
"It's time to pay a little visit to our virtual dueling arena!" There was a flash of light and everyone felt like they were falling through a blue tube. When they looked up next, they were in jungle surroundings.
"How'd we get outside?" Serenity asked.
"We're not," Kaiba said. "It's just an illusion."
"You sure?" Tea asked. "It certainly smells real."
"Sorry, that was me."
"Tristan, gross!"
A lour roar erupted through the jungle scaring most. "I don't like the sound of that," Mokuba said.
A huge dinosaur burst through the forest. Its roar matched the roar they heard earlier.
"And I don't like the look of that," Joey said as everyone backed out of the way.
All except Kaiba that is.
"Kaiba, get out of the way!" Yugi shouted. But Kaiba stood firm. The dinosaur raised its claw and brought it down on Kaiba.
It passed right through him.
The dinosaur let out another roar and scampered away.
"You think you can intimidate me, Noah?" Kaiba asked. "I was writing better virtual reality programs when you were still in diapers!"
Tea reached out to touch a flower but her hand went through it. "Hey, it's just a hologram." She then looked up and saw Kaiba dressed in the blue outfit he wore at Duelist Kingdom. "Uh… Kaiba, did you just change your clothes?"
"That's not Kaiba," Yugi said nervously. Tea looked over her shoulder and saw Kaiba in his black and silver outfit. She looked from one Kaiba to the other, and then she freaked and backpedaled to the others.
"Relax, it's just a cheap copy," Kaiba said.
"A copy of yourself?" Harold questioned.
"I used to make virtual copies of myself to duel against all the time."
"Why would you want to duel yourself?" Duke asked.
"Who better?"
"Gee, Kaiba, you're the humblest guy I know," Amara said dryly.
Serenity screamed brought their attention. A huge man carrying several swords came out of the trees.
"It's a Duel Monster!" Harold gasped. "A real life Duel Monster!"
The Virtual Kaiba squared off against the Duel Monster.
One of the Big 5's voices came over a loudspeaker. "It's time to demonstrate the new rules of our tournament. For this tournament, we'll be using the Deck Master System."
Amara snickered. "Card deck, you perv," Harold scolded swatting her on the head.
"For our sample duel, this 'Virtual Kaiba' will duel Total Defense Shogun (3) Virtual Kaiba's Deck Master will be Blue-Eyes White Dragon (4)." The dragon appeared besides Kaiba and a little behind him. "Total Defense Shogun will act as his own Deck Master. Now, let's duel!"
(VK: 4000)
(TDS: 4000)
"First I summon Lord of Dragons (5) in attack mode!" Virtual Kaiba began. A large human wearing dragon-scale armor appeared. "Next I'll play Flute of Summoning Dragon allowing me to summon two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons." The two dragons appeared in front of the third one. "Now I'll move my Deck Master to the playing field." The Blue-Eyes White Dragon that was standing besides Kaiba flew in front of the other two.
"So the Deck Master remains at the Duelist's side until it's called to the field," Yugi deduced.
"I play the magic card Polymerization fusing my three dragons together to form the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (6)!" Kaiba's three-headed dragon roared over Total Defense Shogun but the Shogun showed no fear."
"Being Virtual Kaiba's Deck Master gives this dragon the ability to attack immediately," Gansley explained.
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Total Defense Shogun with White Neutron Blast!" All of the dragon's heads let out a stream of energy.
"However, Total Defense Shogun has his own special ability: Total Defense Barrier!" A shield was set up around Total Defense Shogun. "This can reflect an attacking monster's attack right back at it." The White Neutron Blast doubled back and destroyed the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "When the Deck Master is destroyed, the player controlling it automatically loses the duel regardless of life points."
(VK: X)
(TDS: 4000)
Virtual Kaiba screamed as he dissolved into bits of data.
"Tah-tah, Virtual Kaiba," one of the Big-5 said. "Consider that a premonition of things to come, for when one of you loses a duel, one of us will take over your body!"
"I'll take you corporate has-beens down once and for all," Kaiba declared.
The jungle faded back into the cargo hold. "Huh, how'd we get back inside?" Amara wondered.
"You were never 'outside' to begin with, it was all a hologram," another Big-5 member said. Most of the others gasped, "That's right, kiddies, you're trapped and the only way out is to beat all five of us!"
"You're going to wish you never challenged my Big Brother," Mokuba said.
"Yeah, we're going to send you old farts right back to the nursing home," Joey added. He then turned to Serenity, "Don't worry, Sis, we'll win."
"When it comes to Games, these five have bitten off more than they could chew," Harold said. "Our dueling prowess will overwhelm them."
"You've said it, Harold," Yugi agreed. "If we all stick together, the Big-5 won't stand a chance."
"Count me in," Tristan agreed.
"Me too," Duke added.
"Hold on, guys, he never said which of us will be dueling," Tea pointed out.
"You all will," the Big-5 said. "And the first five of you to lose will give up your bodies and your minds will remain trapped for all eternity! Don't you get it? Your chances for survival are 0! It's only a matter of time before we're free from this prison."
"You're going to regret saying that," Kaiba threatened.
"Yeah, you jokers are going down!" Joey added.
"Actually, it's you who is going down." A hole opened up under Joey and he fell through.
"Joey!" Serenity cried. But before she could reach him or even go after him, the hole closed up. "Bring back my Brother!" Serenity demanded.
"Before the dueling begins, we have to separate you all, to get rid of whatever hope you have. Now, let the Virtual Wars begin!" Tea was the next to be drawn into a hole.
"Tea, no!" Yugi called out.
Serenity was next. Tristan and Harold rushed over to help her but only ended up falling in themselves. A larger hole opened up under Duke and Amara and Kaiba and Mokuba.
"Seto," Mokuba cried.
"Don't worry, Mokuba, those fossils will pay for this, and Noah too!"
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Five-Head Dragon (Five God Dragon)
Level: 12
Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 5000
DEF: 5000
(2)
Name: Master of Dragon Knight
Level: 12
Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 5000
DEF: 4000
(3)
Name: Total Defense Shogun
Level: 6
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1550
DEF: 2500
(4)
Name: Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Level: 8
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Light
ATK: 3000
DEF: 2500
(5)
Name: Lord of Dragons (Lord of D.)
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1100
(6)
Name: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
Level: 12
Type: Dragon/Fusion
Attribute: Light
ATK: 4500
DEF: 3800