Chapter 3: A Mission, A Challenge (Mission: Impossible theme song playing in the background). Hope you enjoy!

A few hours later, at Kaiba Mansion . . . .

Kaiba sat at his desk, working on his computer. He was checking the Kaiba Corp stocks while modifying a computer version of a dueling system he had recently redesigned. A few people had the gall to complain that the current model was too heavy to be truly portable. Kirandra stood next to the large window behind him, looking out over the city of Domino. Mokuba, as always, stood right next to his brother, watching the computer screen from over his shoulder. Duke was pacing in front Kaiba's desk.

"I still don't see that there is any good reason for me to help you," Seto was saying. "If you want to get your own cards, then do it. It's not my concern." Devlin could hold in his anger no longer, and he snapped at Kaiba.

"What's wrong with you, Kaiba? If it wasn't for Kira, you and your brother would still be locked up in that dungeon. She got both of you out of there, and you promised to help her." Devlin stood directly in front of Kaiba, and pushed aside the CEO's laptop as he spoke, so they were face-to-face. This was the Seto Kaiba he was used to seeing when he was with Yugi and his other friends. Kaiba glared at him angrily.

"Sue me," he responded evenly, pulling his computer back in front of him. "But before you do that, leave. I don't have time for this."

"Jerk." Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Seto," Mokuba said cautiously. "I kinda think you should help . . ."

"Stay out of this, Mokuba," his older brother growled. The boy back away, looking very disappointed.

"Alright, how about this? You and Kira duel. If she wins, then you help us get her deck," Devlin suggested.

"And when I win, you stop bothering me," Kaiba added.

"Exactly."

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Kira turned away from the window to face them. "But what part of I don't have my deck do you not understand?"

"Oh, yeah," Duke muttered sheepishly, as he moved toward the window. Kaiba went back to his work on the laptop. Kira walked around the desk to stand in front of him.

"Listen up, Kaiba. Listen well, and I will make it worth your time," she said. "If you help me now, like you promised, then I will duel you. The winner gets the loser's most valuable card." She had caught Kaiba's attention. As Pegasus' daughter, she was sure to have some rare and powerful cards. And he knew that he could defeat her, there would be no challenge there. Then again, she could be bluffing.

"I doubt you have anything that would interest me," he replied without looking up. The situation now reminded him of the incident with Ishizu Ishtar and the Egyptian God Card she had given him, Obelisk the Tormentor. That certainly hadn't worked out the way he planned.

"You be the judge," Kira responded, pulling a card out of the pocket of her jacket and held it front of his computer screen.

"I thought you didn't have your cards," he smirked.

"I kept this one separate," she replied. Seto again went back to his computer.

"It's just a lame Dark Magician Girl Card. Big deal."

"You don't know your cards very well. It is a Magician Girl Card, but this Magician Girl has a special ability – she's the Dragon Tamer Dark Magician Girl. She gains 200 attack points for every dragon card on the field with her, and she adds 600 points to the attack power of each dragon." Kira could tell he was very interested now, but her next statement would completely seal it. "But this girl works best with one particular dragon, which she adds 900 attack points to. And if you happen to have three of them combined, well, let's just say that even Exodia can't defeat the Dragon Tamer Dark Magician Girl if she is teamed up with the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." Seto was ready to duel on the spot, and his mind was reeling. If I have that card, I could easily defeat that little pest Yugi, and gain back my title once and for all.

"I'm in," he replied. Duke sighed loudly.

"I have a plan. What if Kira and I go after the cards, while you keep Pegasus busy," he suggested. "I'm sure the two of us can take care of the rest of his goons." Duke added optimistically.

"Great plan," Kaiba said dully. "Just what do you expect me to do to distract Pegasus?" Duke was now looking at the prototype of Kaiba's latest dueling disk holographic projector.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something." Seto got the message.

"No," he said immediately, as he crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "No way. I'm not going to waste my time dueling that creep."

"Well, if you're that worried about being defeated by him again . . ." Kira began.

"What? I'm not . . ."

"You can leave as soon as we find the card deck. Just tell him you'll finish the duel later."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's supposed to duel him." She didn't reply to his remark. Mokuba, who had been standing in the corner feeling very ignored, took the break in conversation as his chance to speak up.

"Uh . . .Seto? I guess this means we're not finishing KaibaLand . . ." he asked timidly. Kaiba frowned at the space in front of him, not wanting to look his brother in the face.

"Not today, apparently," the older brother answered, glaring at Duke and Kira. "This won't take long," he added with emphasis, hoping that they would get the point. "I've got real work to do. And a company to run." Kira rolled her eyes at his arrogance as Mokuba moved back over to his brother's side, resting his hand on the arm of the chair.

"What do I get to do? I want to go with you!" Mokuba insisted. Duke laughed.

"What are you going to do, kid? Get yourself caught by one of those suits so your big brother has to rescue you again?" he teased. Kaiba suddenly stood, turning on him and raising his fisted hand.

"Don't you EVER talk to Mokuba that way, or I will take you down, Pony-tail boy." Duke turned slightly red and opened his mouth to say something in reply, but then he changed his mind and took a step back away from Kaiba, gritting his teeth in anger. The Kaiba Corp CEO smirked. "You'd better back away," he continued, then paused. "I'll bet Mokuba knows more than you do." He then turned to his younger brother.

"Please, Seto! I really want to help!" the twelve-year old's eyes pleaded with him. "Don't go to that horrible place and leave me here alone, Seto. I'd rather be there than here without you." His older brother smiled silently. Not going to work this time, kiddo.

"Mokuba, I really need you here to oversee things from the main computer room."

"I could help, really! I won't get in the way, I promise."

"I'm sorry, Mokuba. But you'd better stay here." The young boy's face showed his disappointment.

"Okay, big brother." Mokuba replied dutifully. Then he brightened with an excited smile. "Hey, Seto! Do we get to have cool codenames, too?" he asked enthusiastically. His brother was nonchalant, simply desiring for the entire situation to be resolved so that he could get on with running his company and getting back at Pegasus.

"Whatever." He shrugged.

"Probably a good idea to use codenames, just as an extra precaution. We can keep in communication, in case one of us gets discovered or trapped." Duke stated, looking pointedly at Seto, who glared at him, then went back to his computer. "Okay, so Kaiba, yours will be . . .hmm . . ."

"White Dragon." Kira quietly suggested. Seto wouldn't admit it, but he was actually starting to warm to the idea now. Who wouldn't like the codename "White Dragon" anyway?

"And Kira, you'll be Magician Girl." Duke continued. She simply nodded. Now Kaiba was intrigued.

"Why is that her codename?" he asked.

"You don't know?" Now it was Duke's turn to shake his head. "He's kind of slow, isn't he?" he commented to Kira. She eyed Devlin warily, shaking her head slightly, as if she didn't want him to tell Kaiba. "You've seen the Dark Magician Girl Duel Monster Card, right? I'm pretty sure Yugi has one . . ." Seto nodded, scowling at the mention of his rival.

"So?" Devlin laughed.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? There's a story behind every card, some of them historical, some legend, and some Pegasus just came up with on his own. But he had a specific reason for each card he chose to make. She was his inspiration for the Dark Magician Girl Card," he explained, nodding toward Kira, who was now staring idly at the ground. Seto's eyebrows rose at this, but he said nothing. "Let's see . . we don't have to worry about sneaking into Pegasus Castle. You'll have to call Pegasus and set up the duel," he continued, speaking to Kaiba. "Kira and I will take my car." Seto wanted to ask what type of car Duke could afford to own, but he refrained. I have to win that card. If I'm going to duel that creep again, it had better be worth it.

So . . . the codenames thing is a little out of character for Kaiba, but it was Mokuba's idea. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did - please leave a review and let me know!