The gang, along with the Kaiba brothers and Duke, who had unexpectedly came back during the time Yuna was asleep, climbed onto the plane that was to take them to California. It was actually very much like Seto's blimp for Battle City, only a bit smaller. The only ones that went with the kids were Roland and Fugata, who were in charge of the control panel at the time. The teens themselves were quite shaken from learning about how the seal that had entrapped Yuna was the cause of the destruction of the lost underwater city.
Seto was frustrated with the slow blimp, but he had been able to install some turbo engines to Pegasus' luxury blimp that would make it go faster. The engines were one of the things he had to design while still under his bastard of a stepfather. He was actually startled to have been thinking and even dreaming of the man since the night before. After everything that had happened, he had thought that he would be dreaming of that High Priest or something. Instead, he was dreaming of his deceased tormentor that almost caused both Mokuba and Yuna to be killed.
When Yuna had asked him if he had dreamed of the ancient rivals and he had told her that it was Gozaboro that has plugged his mind during the night, she said that she had actually done the same. Both of them were surprised that they were dreaming of that demon, but even more shocking was that Mokuba and even Yugi had had similar dreams. Ever since talking about it, Yuna had became tense and it only increased after Ishizu warned them at the airport that they should be expecting the past ghosts to come and haunt them on their journey.
The good thing in Yuna's opinion was that the three Egyptian families that knew so much secrets were going to be far away and safe. She was going to have it thought with this much people going to meet Arthur as it was, since even her grandfather insisted that he go see his old friend but would be returning with Serenity after the trip to the professor was over, so she was glad that those who knew so much will be safe and away from those Doma guys.
Yuna just hoped that the God Monsters were alright, but she knew that that was not exactly true, since she had been feeling a bit drained ever since she woke up. She knew that it was coming from them, since that was the first thing she noticed in her dream before she saw Seto was feeling their pain from being drained of their immense energy and power. She knew that she had to get their cards as soon as possible, but she first had to talk to her grandpa's old friend and see what he found in Atlantis. He had finally found it a few weeks ago, after she had given him the precise coordinations where she believed the city had sunk. She had been right once again and she had gotten a lot of recognition from it, even though she refused to acknowledge it since it was Arthur's work and research that helped him AND her. The more information he gave her, the more vivid the dreams became until the actual position of the sunken city was revealed. It could have been called a joined effort and that's how they ended up presenting it to the world. Arthur was actually all the more happy to do it that way since Yuna's popularity brought more attention to their big discovery. Although it was not like people wouldn't show interest in the city that was only a myth for so long.
But the more pressing matter right now was the fact that those who had been most affected by Gozaboro's action had dreamed of him in the same night. Yes, even Solomon admitted to dreaming of that man, and it only put her senses into overdrive. She was half expecting the man to just walk in through some doors as if he hadn't been dead for some six years. Yuna knew that things in this world weren't as easy nor as complicated as science showed them, and she just hopped that for once, her guts were wrong and nothing bad was going to happen.
However, that was just wishful thinking since Seto was having the same feeling.
That was really too much given the current situation! They didn't need any more troubles!
The Kaiba brothers and the Mouto twins stood side by side, all four of the youngsters very tense, their instincts yelling at them to be fully alert. No one else seemed to notice and they were all really relaxed, going through some old recorded songs that Yuna had wrote. They had came across a cool song that caught their attention with it not being voiced yet, asking Yuna as to why it was like that.
Yuna had just smirked at them as she answered. ''That song is dedicated to a person that is very important to me, so only that person can sing it. After all of this, maybe I'll ask them to record it. If you wish, you can try to figure out who that person is. It's very obvious from the lyrics, but no asking for help from Mokuba or Yugi. It's a game of sorts, if you accept the challenge.''
Joey and Duke were the first to jump at the challenge and were about to play the song and go over the lyrics when it started.
Beneath the ocean, a large undersea structure is seen, and a voice on a radio confirms that Pegasus' blimp is currently 1.4 miles from their present coordinates. Another voice orders the undersea base to begin ascent.
''At last I will reclaim everything Seto has stolen from me.'' The young boy said as he looked at the multiple screens n front of him.
In that moment, everyone was jolted in the airship above, falling over each other. Joey stumbled and fell over Tristan and Duke, who had been unsuccessfully flirting with Serenity -who was silently watching the handsome CEO, and the three of them fell to the ground with a painful grunt each. Tea, whose actions were the same as the younger girl's, almost fell on her face from the turbulence. Yugi and Mokuba held on to the railings near by for dear life, while their esteemed older siblings still stood on their own, just a bit bent over in order to keep from losing their balance. Solomon, who had went to the bathroom, fell into the toilet and got stuck, yelling for help. No one heard him, unfortunately, and so he was stuck like that until someone came to save him.
The airship is turning. Mokuba tells the pilots they'd better get the ship back on course, just as Kaiba and Yuna rush up to the bridge. Mokuba explains that the airship is turning on its own, and Kaiba orders the hapless pilots to get it under control. Yugi, Joey, and the others run onto the bridge. The pilot insists that the autopilot isn't responding, and asks Kaiba what to do. Kaiba says he pays the pilot good money, so he'd better do whatever he has to do to get them back on course.
Yuna was staring at the controls, sensing that something was horribly wrong. And she was right.
She HATES when she is right about these things!
The pilot discovers that someone has hacked into their computer and changed the destination coordinates. Mokuba insists that can't happen. ''Our security is state of the art! Nii-sama designed it himself!''
Seto grit his teeth. ''Unfortunately, there's the opening at the third firewall that allows the system to copy the actions and perform them like the hacker wanted them but without damaging our system. It lasts only a couple of seconds before it sends a deadly virus to the hacker, but if they knew about it, it's enough! This was planed right from the start! It's inside information, so only a Kaiba Corp. employee could know of that little fact!''
But the airship abruptly takes a dive. The airship hits the surface of the water, tossing everyone about the ship.
''Can you say lawsuit?" Joey yells, then turns to Kaiba. "Do something, Kaiba!"
Kaiba's pretty mad, hating the fact that something like this was happening. The ship was his design, a gift to Pegasus for three years of partnership, and so for something like this to happen really hurt his pride. Especially so since Yuna was still the only one standing upright like nothing was happening. Thought it made him wonder if it has anything to do with those bizarre dreams of hers.
Then the airship's viewscreen dissolves into static, and a voice greets them over the radio. A boy's face appears on the screen. He had light aquamarine bangs, the rest of his hair a bit darker color. His hairstyle was almost identical to Seto's, and he even had blue eyes like him, only just a bit lighter that if you don't look closely enough, you would have thought that the color was the same. Their depth were also very different, this boy's eyes seemingly shallow in comparison to the CEO deep sapphire pools. He looked about a year older than Mokuba and he was obviously wearing a white turtleneck top that was similar to the one Seto used to wear in his preteens, during the time he was under Gozaboro and until the end of Duelist Kingdom. The only difference was that the outline of the fabric wasn't a gold-yellow, but a light violet color, almost like Yugi's eyes.
''Identify yourself!'' Seto demanded. He didn't like this green-haired kid, but he didn't know why yet. Something about him was just rubbing him the wrong way, but he'll figure it out sooner or later. After all, he is a genius.
The boy snickers cruelly, like he just kicked a puppy. ''You're always barking orders, like the mutt from the streets that you are!'' Everyone gasped at the treatment of the most powerful teen in the world, knowing that his adoption into the Kaiba family was a touchy subject. Yuna was instantly beside her childhood friend, not sure if all traces of Gozaboro's influences were gone from her love's soul. But this kid ... Something in him made her not able to hate him for his words and she couldn't figure out why! ''I've been observing you for some time, Seto, and it's time to put you in your place. From now on I'll be calling the shots, and the first order of business is to put an end to your little card game that's been poisoning Kaiba Corp. for years.''
Once again, Kaiba demands the boy's name, and he introduces himself as Noah, and says he and Seto go back a long way.
Seto just looks at him as though Noah had somehow grown a second head. This kid had to be joking, right!?
Noah looks at the others, his eyes slowly going over each cautious face, resting on the Queen of Games. Somehow, she stood out even more than the tall CEO or Yugi, the kid with a starfish on his head. He stared into her red eyes for a few seconds, before addressing the whole group. ''Oh, where are my manners! I welcome you all. You are my guests, I'm afraid.''
Yugi mumbled to Yuna that Noah seems to know Kaiba from somewhere while Mokuba wondered how similar this boy was to how Seto was before.
''Since you now know that my name is Noah, I should also inform you that I was born to be superior to you, Seto.'' He laughed as he regarded the CEO with his blue eyes.
''How dare you joke with me!?'' Kaiba roared. Yuna placed a hand on his arm, but glared at Noah. The boy was insisting that they be his guests, but his eyes were always returning to her. This made Seto bristle, now understanding what made him want to throttle the little brat.
The viewscreen changes again, showing them the ocean ahead of them. A huge fortress surfaces, and the airship is drawn towards it. They shout at Noah to let them go, but Joey says the kid has them right where he wants them—he just wishes he knew where that was! A large hold opens up on top of the fortress, and the airship is made to land inside.
Kaiba was staring in shock ever since they first saw the underwater fortress, old memories of it's abilities surfacing to the front of his mind. It was one of the damn things he had had to design for his sadistic stepfather and he knew that this damn thing was as dangerous as it was big!He collected his bearings, gritting his teeth at the fact that the old bastard was still somehow making problems for him even beyond the fucking grave!
''As soon as we land, I'll make that little brat pay!''
''I want first crack at him.'' Tristan exclaimed.
''Easy, he's just a kid!'' Duke insisted.
Yuna, Seto and Mokuba snorted. The young CEO turned to the game designer. ''Yeah, just a kid with one of the deadliest weapons Kaiba Corp had put on the market six/seven years ago!''
Joey looked at the brunet, not believing what he had just heard him say. ''What do you mean, and how would you even know this thing was dangerous?''
Mokuba rolled his eyes. ''Because Seto owns the company now, and quite frankly, some six years ago ... He was the one that designed Gozaboro's weapons.''
''What!? You designed weapons!?'' The girls yelled as the Duelist rubbed his forehead.
''What do you think a genius would do for a rich, weapon-making bastard? Stand around like a pretty picture? I was the heir to Gozaboro's legacy since he had no real son, but he had adopted me mostly because of my mind. He loved to show me off like I was a trophy or something on business parties and he made me design all sorts of weapons and technology for him, usually for an hour of sleep or some time I could spend with my brother, and more often than not, for a plate of food. It didn't stop until I took over KC a little after he first met the one person other than me that could make him lose his cool. Yuna. After that, it was easy to trick the Big 5 to my side and I started buying shares of KC before I had the necessary 51%, after which he jumped out of the window at the top of Kaiba Corp. tower in Domino. Ever since then, I have been working on destroying all the weapons KC had made, and I mostly succeeded. But this one ... It has two sisters, one of which I have completely transformed for ocean researching, the other was sold to the American military. This was Gozaboro's personal floating lab, and I have never been able to find it. To think that it was this close to Alcatraz.''
He glared at the monitor, telling everyone to keep out of it—this is his (technically) airship, and he'll handle it. He thinks to himself that there has to be more to this than meets the eye.
'No way that little punk planned it all by himself!'
"Shit!" Tristan yells as he stumbles to the floor.
"What's happening?" Duke asks in a yell.
Serenity asks Joey if they're going to be all right, and he reassures her that they're safe as long as he's there.
The airship finally lands, deep within the fortress. Noah comes back on the ship's viewscreen and tells Kaiba it's time for him and his friends to exit the ship, and he's got stun phasers aimed at them to make sure they do. Kaiba tells everyone to stay there while he goes out alone, and he heads for the exit, with the others trailing after, protesting. Kaiba tells Noah he'll be coming out alone, but Noah turns the guns on them, and phaser blasts zoom by them, as Noah repeats that they all must come out.
Seto grits his teeth as Yuna and Mokba are forced to exit the safety of the airship's exit stairs come down, and Kaiba leaves the ship, followed by Mokuba, Yuna, Yugi, Joey, Téa, Serenity, Duke, and Tristan. Kaiba still thinks he's going to handle this himself and they'll all be on their way soon. Joey tells Kaiba to get over himself—whatever Noah's beef is with Kaiba, it's their problem now, too.
Noah orders them to continue straight ahead, and a door opens in the hold. A couple of Kaiba's suits, Roland and Fugata, try to run out of the ship after them, but Noah's phasers stop them. This invitation is for duelists only, Noah says. Duke says Tristan's no duelist, but Tristan says no one has to know that!
As the gang heads for the door, Joey tries to tell Serenity to stay there, but she says they're a team, and there's no way he's going out there without her! Tristan points out that she's better off with them, anyway. ''We don't know if there is anyone else on this thing, after all.''
Yugi calls out to Noah, asking what he wants with them! Noah replies that all will be made clear in time, and tells Kaiba that his associates are eager to see him. Yuna and Seto immediately step beside each other, in front of their brothers and the rest of the group. Serenity had come to think of them as the great protectors of this little group, but she could't help but feel envious of the girl that the blue eyed CEO trusted so much.
They come out into a huge empty hold, and the door closes behind them. A bright light comes on, backlighting five men in suits—it's the Big 5, the former Kaiba Corporation board of directors who tried to take over the company by trapping Kaiba in his virtual reality game some four years ago when Yuna had been in town, right after dealing with that idiot Anubis. Kaiba remembers battling them, fusing his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Yuna's Black Luster Soldier to defeat their Five God Dragon all those years ago. He was truly dumbfounded that they had ended up here after he heard that they died due to some cement falling on them when the bikers had interrupted Yuna's party.
''We wandered cyberspace for what seemed like an eternity, until Noah hacked into the Kaiba Corp mainframe. Once we discovered that we shared a common enemy in you, Seto Kaiba, Noah uploaded our minds to his system.'' Gansley said.
''We also very much hate Yugi and his friends that had helped you, Mr Kaiba.'' Leichter added.
''But, in comparison to what that little bitch did!'' Nezbitt said as he pointed at Yuna, making Seto step in front of her as if to protect her. ''What they did resembles them spitting under our windows.''
''If it hadn't been for her, whether it be six years ago or four years ago and everything in between, we would have ended up as the ones that control Kaiba Corp. and not some snobby brat like you! If it weren't for her, you would have probably waited approximately five more years to do what you have done all those years ago! And we should have never teamed up with you when a man like Gozaboro was the president of such an empire!'' Crump said.
''We could have found a way to easily take the company legally from both you and Gozaboro, but the thing is that you had a too tight grip on it from the time you took over. We are all well aware that your stepfather would have eventually break your spirit, making you his slave, but you met that girl. She inspired you to do better, to be greater! And before we could even blink, you took all of our shares that we had bought, leaving us penniless!'' Johnson said.
Kaiba suddenly laughed, the sound very familiar to how he used to laugh during the Battle City tournament.
''You're all delusional if you think that I am somehow at fault that you five are idiots! I was only eight, but we all knew that without me Kaiba Corp. would have fallen a long time ago. Even while it was still under Gozaboro! I was the one that designed all the systems, making them ART! I was the one that saved the company by always having new and efficient designs for that bastard's weapons arsenal! It was my 'homework' that brought us more money in one week than it took the entire corporation to earn in a decade! Even if Gozaboro had lived and even if the takeover hadn't been successful, I would have always stayed by his side while the five of you would have been erased from the face of the earth!'' Seto told them smugly, arrogance rolling off of him in waves once he saw them growling in anger.
They all knew that it was the truth, and the truth very often hurt like a bitch. ''After all, let's face it. A child genius will always be far more valuable than five old geezers that can be replaced with younger men. There will always be only one of me, that will weight far more than all those like you put together!''
''STOP! ENOUGH! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE OF THIS!'' Noah suddenly yelled. His image never appeared like it did before when he talked to them. The Yugi-tachi jumped in surprise, the Big 5 looked around frightened. Mokuba moved closer to his brother.
All was silent as Yuna walked out from behind Seto and stood in the middle of the room. Noah, who was watching and clutching his hands over his ears, suddenly started to calm down when he saw how calm and collected the Duel Queen was. Ever since he first heard of this girl, something in him wished to meet her, and now that he was actually in her presence, he wasn't sure why the mere sight of her relaxed him. It was just something about her aura, the air around her, that made one believe that they were safe around the girl. Noah found this very intriguing, especially since he hadn't had this level of peace in his heart for a good few years.
He watched as the girl's rival and the idiots that were in the Big 5 argue. Kaiba says he defeated them once, and he'll do it again, and they say he'll have his chance. With Noah's help, they've devised a new game—a virtual Duel Monsters tournament, and all of the gang will participate.
Yugi asks why they want to duel them, and they explain that their minds have been trapped in the virtual world for so long, they've lost their bodies. But if they defeat Yugi and his friends, the Big 5 will take over their bodies and return to the real world. Joey shouts that no one's taking over his body again!
But Noah wasn't all that interested in those morons. No, only Seto and Yuna, the worlds best Duelists and gamers and the greatest, most famous rivals anyone has ever seen, did. The two were like a category of itself, and he knew both were highly intelligent and skilled.
''It won't be easy to deal with them even when they are separate, let alone when they are together'' Noah mumbled to himself.
The Big 5 say it's time to pay a visit to the dueling arena, and everything goes wacky and virtual. The gang find themselves in a jungle. Kaiba says it's virtual, but some of the others aren't convinced—it seems very real. Mokuba says he doesn't like the sound of this, as a huge dinosaur emerges from behind the trees. Panicking, Joey tells everyone not to panic.
Kaiba stands unmoved as the dinosaur looms over him. Everyone runs and screams as its claws slash down—and pass right through Kaiba, leaving him untouched. The gang just stare at the teen that had just risked his own life to prove a point. Yuna, the only other one who hadn't moved, came to stand beside her rival. She had a really bad felling.
Kaiba says Noah can't intimidate him—he was writing better virtual reality programs when that kid was still in diapers.
Téa reaches out to touch a flower, and her hand goes right through it. Then she looks up and sees another Kaiba, this one in the blue coat he wore back in Duelist Kingdom. Téa freaks and falls on her but as she witnesses what many fan girls dream about. Two Seto Kaibas!
''Relax, will you!'' Kaiba snaps, irritated. ''It's a cheap copy. I used to create virtual clones of myself all the time to duel against.'' He may have been calm on the outside, but he was praying to whoever would listen that the copy of Yuna doesn't come out next. The outfit he had put her in was something for his eyes only.
''And just why would you want to Duel yourself?'' Duke asks, irritated by how arrogant the CEO was.
''Who better?'' Duke's eyebrow went high at the answer and was about to point out that the Queen of Games was definitely better, but Yuna had almost collapsed from laughter at the reply her smug rival had delivered. Kaiba huffed, but a smile was threatening to make it's presence known.
Virtual Kaiba faces off with a life-size Duel Monster warrior who steps out of the trees. The gang hear the voice of one of the Big 5, saying it's time to demonstrate the new rules of their tournament, the Deck Master system. Virtual Kaiba's Deck Master will be the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, while Total Defense Shogun will act as his own Deck Master.
Virtual Kaiba summons Lord of Dragons, then plays Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing him to summon two Blue-Eyes White Dragons to the field. Then he moves his Deck Master onto the field, giving him three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Yugi notes that the Deck Master remains at the duelist's side until it's summoned to the field.
Virtual Kaiba plays Polymerization to fuse his three Blue-Eyes into the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The Big 5 says that due to the Deck Master Blue-Eyes's special ability, this monster can attack immediately. Virtual Kaiba attacks Total Defense Shogun with the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but Total Defense Shogun has its own special ability, Total Defense Barrier. It reflects the attack back, destroying the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—and Virtual Kaiba. If a player's Deck Master is destroyed, the player automatically loses the duel, regardless of life points, the Big 5 explains. And when one of them loses a duel, one of the Big 5 will take over his or her body.
Kaiba repeats that he'll take them down, as the virtual world dissolves around the gang, leaving them standing right where they were before, in the empty hold with the Big 5. "You're trapped," the Big 5 tell them, and the only chance of escape is to defeat the Big 5 in a virtual duel. Mokuba and Joey shout threats, and Joey promises Serenity that they'll win. Yugi says if they stick together, moving closer to his sister, the Big 5 won't stand a chance, and Duke and Tristan agree. But then Téa points out that no one's said which of them will actually have to duel.
They all will, the Big 5 say. The first five to lose will give up their bodies, and their minds will remain trapped for all eternity!
Noah watched in amusement as the events passed, but he was very irritated with the Duel Queen didn't seem at all fazed with the situation. In fact, he got this feeling that she was somehow seeing past all the distractions and had somehow figured it all out. The thought was not a pleasant one, and he decided that he will have to keep her away from the others no mater what!