.:. We've landed right outside Kaiba Corporation headquarters." One of the men tells Kaiba. As the plane's engine winds down. Next to them they can see Kaiba Corporations main office, the skyscraper stretching into the sky completely dark. "Good." He says shortly. "But I thought you said they'd changed the whole system?" Tea asks him. "And you couldn't get through?"
"That might be so but I've still got a master account that should be safe. I need to break into the main computer room to set it up though." "Oh." Tea says. "Do you need any help, Seto?" Mokuba asks. "No. I'll do this on my own." Kaiba returns to his brother. "But-" "I'll be fine, Mokuba." He tells his brother, mussing up his hair. Mokuba laughs and ducks out of his brother's reach. "Still…be careful." He tells his older brother, and Seto smiles at him.
"Kaiba I think you should take someone with you." The Pharaoh says. "You don't know what's up there, and with all that's been going on-" "I don't need any help." Kaiba says to him. "You may find otherwise. The systems are all down and encrypted now." The voice of a new person says behind him. "Huh?" he says, turning around. "Who are you?" he asks, looking at her.
"Rebecca Hopkins." She says, giving him a thumbs up and a wink. "Computer whiz and kid genius." "Rebecca, how did you find us?" Joey asks her surprised. "I traced the link from the laptop." She told him. "It was easy to figure out what was going on after that."
"I don't need some grade schooler tagging along." He tells her. "Grade school? I'm already out of college!" she says angrily. "Whatever." He says. "You're not coming and that's all that matters, shrimp." Kaiba tells her walking towards the entrance.
"I'm coming with you." The Pharaoh says, walking beside him. "Whatever." Kaiba says again. "Just don't slow me down."
They reach the entrance of the building and Kaiba pulls out his laptop again. "I need to hack into the system. Even the door and elevator codes have been changed." He says, noticing Yami's confused look. Moments later the doors swish open. Quickly pulling out his laptop's cord from the building he shouts, "Let's go."
They hurry into the building before the doors shut and it is entirely black about them. There are no lights on, anywhere, and only the lightning flashing outside offers them small bursts of light to dodge fallen objects.
"It's a mess in here." The Pharaoh says. "Thanks for stating the obvious." Kaiba says. "And stay quiet." He tells him. "A little worried, Kaiba?" the Pharaoh asks him. "I saw some unidentified figures on the next floor. I'd rather we not announce it to them that we're coming." He says, pushing the elevator button. The doors open swiftly, and they are let in. Kaiba pushes another button and the elevator descends underground. The elevator buttons blink as they travel downward, to level three.
The doors open and they are greeted with the forms of many duel monsters, each crippled and hideous as the ones the Pharaoh had seen in his visions. One leaps at them and the Pharaoh pulls out his duel disk. "Go, Celtic Guardian!" he says as the monster erupts and blocks the attacker. "You might want to do the same." He nods to Kaiba. "Right." Kaiba says. "Go, Battle Ox!" and another monster joins the Pharaohs as they run down the long hall to the next elevator.
The Pharaoh turns, watching the battle as Seto pushes the button to open the doors. He pushes it again when nothing happens. "Those fools changed the code for this one too. It's separate from the others; I didn't think they'd realize that. I have to hack into the system again." He works on his laptop, trying futilely to open the elevator.
"Almost have it?" the Pharaoh questions as he ducks to avoid a monster, kicking another in the face as it comes at them. "Not yet. We definitely aren't working with amateurs." Seto says. The Celtic Guardian takes a blow and disintegrates, Kaiba's Battle Ox sharing the same fate. They back up against the door as they see the wave of creatures come towards them.
Suddenly the doors open. "Get in!" the Pharaoh says, dashing inside and pulling Kaiba in just as the monsters approach the door. "Not bad for a shrimp, eh?" they hear over the loudspeakers as the doors close, a claw reaching through. Seto swings his laptop at it and it shrilly howls, but removes its hand. The elevator descends again.
The Pharaoh laughs at Seto's irritated expression as they lower to the last level, assuming it was because Rebecca had ended up using her computer skills. The doors opened and they stepped directly into a large room. "Identification." A computerized voice says. "Seto Kaiba." Kaiba said. "Voice identification affirmed. Hello, Mr. Kaiba." the voice said and the room hummed to life. "Shut down new system, reboot with old master system." Seto says as he begins walking towards the main terminal. It stood in the center, a large circle with many buttons. All around the room were large screens. Plugging his computer into the terminal and inserting a disk into a slot, he uploads the pictures onto the mainframe. "Cross reference information with every database on the planet." Kaiba orders and the screens decorating the room fill with pictures of hieroglyphics, ancient images, and old forms of writing. Boxes zoom in over places in the tablets every now and again, magnifying and reconstructing the images pixel by pixel, but at a rapid pace.
"Pause!" Seto shouts and the screens stop. "Rewind." He says again, and at his voice the computer begins going through the images just played backward. "Pause!" he says again, his eyes narrowed and jaw set as he looks at the screen. "What is it, Kaiba?" The Pharaoh asks. "That symbol. I've seen it before." The Pharaoh looks up at the screen and gasps.
"That's the symbol of the Seal of Orycalcos!" he says, shocked. "It's not only that." Seto says. "That's the symbol for a company. It is believed to hold a small piece of every company around the world. That's the symbol for the corporation that took over my company!" he shouts, banging his fist down on the terminal.
"Who is it?" Yami asks, narrowing his own eyes. "They say he has many names, but most of us just call him Dartz." The image of a man in a purple suite with long hair appears on all the screens. The Pharaoh gasps again. "The man from my vision!" He recalls the sight of the man grinning evilly atop his black serpent.
They hear maniacal laughter as the room around them disappears and they find themselves floating above the stars. "Hello Kaiba." They hear and the image of a man comes into view. "And Pharaoh. How nice to see you in the flesh." He says, sniggering a bit. "What have you done with Yugi?" the Pharaoh demands. "And get your filthy claws away from my company!" Kaiba shouts, clenching a fist.
"My, my, so quick to anger aren't we?" Dartz says. "Oh yeah?" Seto yells, "Fang of Critias!" "One dragon isn't near enough to stop me." Dartz says. "Then how about two?" the Pharaoh says. "Eye of Timeaus!" His own dragon materializes and joins that of Seto's.
"Hello Timeaus. How is that eye?" he says, jeering at the dragon. Timeaus snorts and aims a blast at him. "I'm afraid not today." He says to the dragon, shielding himself from the blow. "I'll be waiting for you." He says to the pair as he fades away along with the atmosphere and they find themselves back in Kaiba's building.
"I'm going to get that man if it's the last thing I do." Kaiba says, taking up his laptop. The Pharaoh follows him as he shuts down the room and restores the security. He pushes the second button from the top on the elevator. "I need to get something from my office." He tells the Pharaoh as he raises an eyebrow. They ride up in silence and step out of the elevator.
There is a large sound, and the ground shakes beneath their feet. Seto rushes over to his desk and removes another suitcase, a silver one, and hops back to the elevator. He pushes the next one on the top. "Care to explain why we aren't going down?" Yami asks him this time. "Do you feel like facing all those animals again?" Kaiba asks him. "Not really, no." the Pharaoh says. "But I don't see how we are going to do anything on the roof."
The doors open to the rooftop as they step out. Kaiba's personal Blue Eyes White Dragon jet gleams in the moonlight. "Hop in." he tells the Pharaoh, opening the cockpit. "I don't believe you know how to fly a plane?" he asks him. "Can't say I do." The Pharaoh says as Kaiba stretches out the jet's wings. Another boom can be heard below them and the building shakes even worse. Above them a black shadow winds its way through the sky. "You don't have enough time to take off!" the Pharaoh tells him as he sees the ground beneath them begin to crack. "Just trust me on this." Kaiba says, and as the building lurches towards one side the dragon slips off the building, the wings slowing it's descent to the ground. "Brace yourself for a crash landing." Kaiba says as he levels the stick. The pair does and lands right outside the building.
"If nothing else you can drive." The Pharaoh says to Kaiba, hopping out and rejoining the small cluster outside the building. "What was that?" Mokuba says, running up and giving his brother a hug. "I'm not sure, but it appears Kaiba Corporations has caught fire." He says as flames lick the building and fire sirens scream streets away.
"Where's Joey?" Yami asks as he notices his friend's absence. "The moron found out where the office of the Orycalcos is held." Tristan says, bracing himself against his knees, out of breath. "So the idiot took off." "Where is that office?" the Pharaoh asks. "It's only a few blocks away." Rebecca says, showing them on a map on her computer. "Well then let's meet him there." Yami says. "Let's go."
"Would if we could," Tea begins. "But he ran into that Valin fellow and went off chasing him on someone's motor bike." They hear a shrill scream a bit off. "Oh, we almost forgot. The bundles of Joy." He says. "What do you mean?" the Pharaoh questions him again. "There are monsters everywhere!" Tristan tells him. "They're super tall and look like they're made out of stone. Some of them look a little like whatever you were fighting in that circle, Pharaoh." Tea tells him. "What's worse is they're going around stealing people's souls!" she finishes as they hear another scream. "We need to find Joey and fast." Tristan says.
"Lead the way." Yami tells them as they begin jogging towards the direction. "Coming, Kaiba?" he asks. "I don't hang out with the loser squad." Kaiba tells him. "I'm going to get back my company." He says. "C'mon Mokuba." And Mokuba trots along behind him as he starts off. "Don't you think we should have all three dragons together when-" "No, I don't." Kaiba says. "I think that you should mine your own business and keep your nose out of mine." Kaiba tells him.
The Pharaoh sighs. "If you wait we'll be there when we find Joey." He tells him and hurries to catch up with his friends that were waiting on him down the street.
Meanwhile, Joey was in a heated battle with Valin. "Why are you after me so badly?" Joey demands. "Because as soon as I get rid of you, Wheeler, Mai can move on with her life! She's been like a caged animal since you hurt her, but once you're gone she won't be like that anymore." Valin says, pointing an armored finger at him. In fact, Valin's entire body was covered in armor. It had been his dueling strategy. Joey was still playing conventionally, however.
"A caged animal? What I did to her? You're the ones that brainwashed her!" Joey says as their monsters collide, one of his breaking down one of Valin's. "After you beat Mai she's done nothing but think about it. She can't move on with her life. As soon as you're out of the picture, then she can concentrate on other things." Valin repeats. "Like you perhaps?" Joey asks him and Valin grits his teeth. "Maybe." Valin says.
"You're a real piece of work." Joey tells him, shaking his head. "Where did you come from?" "From a detention center." Valin says as he takes out another one of Joey's monsters. "What?" Joey asks. "I didn't really expect you to answer that." He tells him.
"Well I did." Valin says, continuing. "I was framed when I was ten for shoplifting. Nobody would believe me that I hadn't done it, so I decided that fine, I'd do what everyone thought I did. Well they caught me then and the next time and the next time. Eventually they just shipped me off to a center, rather than deal with me."
"Ay…here we go." Joey says, covering his face as he realizes he's about to hear another sob story. "But I was too tough for those centers, kept getting into fights. So they would pass me from one to the other, until they finally ran out of places. They decided to try another alternative then. The head of my last center took out a pack of duel monsters cards and gave them to me, telling me that troublesome students would be taught to take out their anger on their opponents in these matches. I learned fast and beat everybody on the island. They couldn't believe it when I showed them all the cards I'd collected." He says.
"That's when I met Dartz. He heard about what I was doing and told me he'd offer me a job. I'd do anything to get out of the centers so I accepted. I've been working for him ever since." "So the guy gave you a job and you think that makes it okay to go around collecting people's souls?" Joey asks him. "He believes me that I never did that first theft." Valin says. "Dartz is okay in my book." "They've brainwashed you too!" Joey says.
"This is about Dartz this time." Valin says as another piece of armor envelops his arm. "This is for Mai. I'm getting rid of you on my own choice so that you can't hurt her no more." "Wheeler's mine, Valin, and you can stop the hero act. You aren't helping anyone." They hear Mai say from above as she appears. " 'Ello, love." Valin says to her. "Here to cheer me on?"
"Stop wasting your breath." She says. "I'm the one that's going to take down Wheeler." She says. "Not if I get him first." He tells her. "Will you all stop arguing about who's going to kill me?" Joey says on the other side of the field.
"Wheeler you better make sure you survive this 'cause I wanna be the one to take you down." Mai calls over to him. "It's nice to see you too, Mai." Joey says. "Stop the chit chat, Wheeler." Valin calls across. "This duel's still on."
A few streets away the group wanders through the streets. Above them they see a bright green light and watch as the Seal falls over a building." "Joey!" Tea shouts. "Come on, We've got to hurry." The Pharaoh says as they pick up their pace.
Meanwhile, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba are walking the streets on their own when they come to an auto dealership. Sports cars line the windows as Seto picks the lock on the front door, pushing it open. Mokuba runs in and they look at the various vehicles. "Wow!" Mokuba says as he spots a fiery red convertible. "Look at this!" he tells his brother. "I like this one."
Noticing the key in the ignition and assuming it had been out for a test drive, Seto climbs in the driver's seat. "Hop in." he says, shifting the car into gear as he turns the ignition switch. Mokuba is buckling his seatbelt when an employee comes up to them that must have been working late.
"You can't just drive this out of here!" the employee says, rushing up to the driver's side and waving his arms at them. "Huh?" he says as Seto shoves a thin piece of paper at him. "I think this will cover it." He says, as he floors the gas pedal and takes the car out through the still open front doors. The employee blinks as they drive out, returning his eyes to the paper to see that it was a check, filled out, the amount one hundred thousand dollars.
"I have to admit, this is the best duel I've ever been in." Valin tells Joey as he tries to catch his breath. Both are wearing suits of armor now, and both out of breath. "I'll say the same for you." Joey says. "But you realize, I still can't let you win." Valin says. "I don't plan on losing, pal." Joey says back at him. They stand. "I can't believe it, they both think they're fighting to save me." Mai tells herself as she watches them clash again and again. "How pathetic and stupid." She says with a "Humph." and diverts her eyes from the battle as they smash against each other again.
She turns back though when she hears Valin shout "This is the end for you, Wheeler!" and "I disagree!" Shielding her eyes from the extreme burst of light, she looks back as the blaring light clears. Valin sits on the ground, his life counter zero. Joey stands, his own not much higher, but still the victor.
"Valin!" Mai says, worriedly hopping down to see him as the Seal spins. "You fool! Why did you do that?" "I can see why you can't stop thinking about him, Mai." Valin says, giving Joey a thumbs up. "The guy's got heart. He's a good duelist." He looks at Joey. "It's up to you now, Wheeler. Save Mai…for the both of us." He says. Joey nods his head at him as the Seal draws around his adversary, the green light reaching towards the sky, his soul with it.
"You idiot." Mai says, dropping his form on the ground, the sadness gone from her eyes and replaced by the steely iron that Joey had seen in her the day they had found her again at Industrial Illusions. "He lost his soul trying to help you!" Joey called across to her. "He lost his soul by being a fool." She says to him. "How can you say that, Mai?" Joey asks her. "Easily." She tells him. "I told you that you'd be mine." She says, opening her duel disk and drawing her cards.
"Wha?" Joey shouts surprised. "Draw your cards, Wheeler." She says angrily. "It's time to duel!" "Mai…" Joey says. "What's up with you?" he asks her. "Nothing." She says. "Now come on, and no more of this sissy stuff." She tells him. "If I were you the only one I'd be worried about saving is myself."
Exhausted, Joey took a few steps towards her. "You know what Mai, I've been thinking, and the only way I can figure I can help you is by not holding back and sending you away." He says to her. "Good." She tells him. "But I'm not the one leaving."
"Harpie Lady!"