A/N: Welcome to season 3! This one might be a little shorter than the first two seasons, but we'll see.

Chapter 29

Darkness surrounded me. My heart pounded as I looked around for any sign of light. "H-Hello?" I said hesitantly. Why was I here? I hated to be alone. I did not like the dark. Would I be lost here forever? I saw a speck in the distance. I ran closer. Then I recognized the figure. "Bakura!"

My friend gave me a sad smile. "Goodbye, Samia."

I tried to reach out to him, but my hands hit glass. "What is this?"

"Samia," said a new voice.

I spun around to find Marik standing in front of a tree. The waves of despair that rolled off of him almost knocked me over. "Marik, what's wrong?"

"It's over. I'm sorry." Then he slowly sank into the tree, merging with the bark.

I gasped. "No!"

"Samia."

I turned once more. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring stood there, looking forlorn. I swallowed hard. "What is going on?"

"There is nothing you can do." I jumped back when he appeared to catch on fire. "You are too late."

"No." I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes. "That can't be true. Tell me what to do!"

"It is alright, Samia."

I did not recognize this voice. A female voice. An almost familiar looking young woman stood before me, her skin even darker than mine and dressed in Egyptian garb. I felt she was important but could not place her. "Who are you?"

"The truth will soon be known." Then she started moving backward without walking as if on a conveyor belt.

Panic arose in my chest. "No, wait!" I ran after the woman, but she kept getting further and further away. "Come back!" I reached for her and grasped only air. Then she was gone. They all were gone, and I was alone.

I awoke with a gasp. It took me a minute to realize where I was and that it was Yami who shifted under me. His fear mirrored mine. Likewise, he relaxed when I did. Then I felt another presence in my mind. Samia? said Marik. What happened?

You're here, I said in relief.

Of course I'm here. Where else would I be? I did not respond, not wanting to think about it.

"Samia, are you alright?" Yami asked softly after a moment.

"I am now," I said. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Do not worry about it. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Sort of." I held in a sigh. "I saw my friends... Those I want to help, all going away. There was nothing I could do."

"Samia..." Yami gently helped me sit up. Then he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "I promise you we will stop Marik - the evil Marik - and rescue everyone: Bakura, Mai... even the good Marik. We'll save them all together."

I gave him a small smile. "Thanks." I hugged him, and he returned the gesture. In that moment, I believed him. It felt like everything would turn out alright.

I sure hope so, Marik muttered, and I realized I had thought that so he could hear.

"We should get ready. I have a feeling we will arrive at our destination soon."

"Okay." I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I wondered where Kaiba was taking us. Knowing him it could be anywhere. What mattered more was what ultimately went down. I exited the bathroom to find Yugi all ready. I was about to speak to him when the airship suddenly shook, causing me to nearly lose my balance. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Yugi said, looking worried. "Let's go check with the pilot!" I nodded and followed him out of the room. We reached the pilot to find everyone - minus Dark Marik - already gathered around him.

"The autopilot isn't responding, Mr. Kaiba!" the pilot said.

"Make it respond!" said Kaiba.

"But it's rejecting every one of my commands! What should I do?"

"I pay you good money! Now do whatever it takes to get us back on course to Kaiba Corp Island!"

"That pile of junk?" said Tristan. I followed his gaze outside where we were approaching a small island with some sort of building in the center surrounded by rubble.

"Hey!" Mokuba protested. "Watch what you're calling junk! That's where our company started!"

"Is that the final dueling site?" Yugi asked.

"It is," said Kaiba. "I built it from the ruins of my stepfather's empire. It symbolizes the triumph of new over old."

"Kaiba Corp wasn't always a game company," Mokuba explained. "The corporation was originally set up by our stepdad to construct high-tech vehicles for war. But then Seto took over and changed all that. That island out there used to be the company's central headquarters until my brother tore down all the military factories. Then he built that Duel Tower on top of the rubble as a symbol of the new Kaiba Corp!"

"That's enough, Mokuba!"

"I think we hit a sore spot," Joey muttered.

"But that's pretty cool of you," I said. "Games are much better than war."

Even though, in this case, the result is the same, said Marik.

But his intention is totally different from his father's, and that's what counts.

"I agree," said Mokuba.

"What happened between me and my stepfather is family business," Kaiba said. "Besides, that's all ancient history. Now I command an empire that dwarfs his, and once I'm crowned the world's greatest duelist on top of that tower, I'll be free from my stepfather's shadow forever!"

"I'm not sure it works that way," I said softly.

"I've got it!" the pilot exclaimed. "Our navigation computers are taking commands from outside the ship. Someone's hacked into the main frame and changed our destination coordinates!" We all gasped.

"There's no way that's true!" said Mokuba. "The security system on this ship is state-of-the-art!"

"Our situation is worsening! We're losing altitude rapidly!"

"I can see that, you buffoon!" said Kaiba.

The sudden dive caused my to lose my balance and stumble across the room. I grabbed onto a pole in the room, which allowed me to keep myself steady as the ship moved back and forth, tossing everyone about. The ship stopped abruptly. Then we slowly moved forward.

"I don't know who's behind all this, but I won't let my triumphant return to Kaiba Corp Island be ruined by some computer geek!" Kaiba said in anger.

The airship's view screen dissolved into static. Then it beeped, and the image of a young boy appeared on the screen. "Greetings, duelists," said the boy. "There's nothing wrong with your television set. I'm in control now!"

Kaiba glared at him. "Identify yourself!"

"Always barking orders, aren't you? I've been observing you, and it's time I put you in your place, Seto! So from now on, I'll be calling the shots around here. And my first order of business is to put an end to your little card game."

"You'll never get away with this, you creep!" Mokuba said.

"Too late for that. I already have!"

"Look, kid, I demand to know your name!" Kaiba insisted.

"There you go again. Well, fine. The name is Noah, and you and I go back quite a long way, Seto!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at him, and I felt his anger rising. "All right... enough of your foolish games!"

"I'm afraid my games have only just begun, you fool!"

"What do you think he meant by that, Seto?" Mokuba asked nervously.

"Unfortunately, I think we're about to find out," said Joey. The airship moved towards some sort of underwater fortress. Was that our destination?

"I have bad news, Mr. Kaiba," said the pilot.

"What is it?" said Kaiba.

"Well, sir, it appears that floating fortress is using a tractor beam to pull our aircraft towards it!"

This is an unfortunate turn of events, Marik said unhappily. This kid is going to ruin everything. I need my body back!

Well, it's not like we have a deadline. This must be just as obtrusive to your dark side as it is to us. We can't make any progress but neither can he.

Point taken. Let's just deal with this as quickly as possible.

Agreed.

"As soon as we land, I'll make that little brat pay," Kaiba growled.

"Assuming we ever meet him in person," I murmured. The top of the fortress opened up, allowing the airship inside. Finally, we landed deep within the fortress.

"Thanks for dropping in, Seto," Noah said. "Time for you and your friends to exit the ship."

"Is that so?" said Kaiba. "What if we don't?"

"I'm afraid at this point, refusal is not an option. Thanks to my stun phasers!" Sure enough, I noticed guns outside the window. What was with this kid?

"You all stay here!" Kaiba started for the exit.

"Kaiba, don't!" Yugi protested.

Kaiba looked back at him. "Look, this is my battle, Yugi. So don't do me any favors."

"Kaiba!"

That fool, Marik growled. Samia, do not listen to him. Do whatever it takes to survive.

I know.

"I'll be coming out to you alone!" Kaiba shouted. "Any questions?"

The guns turned to aim at the ship. "Care to reconsider your decision?" said Noah.

"I can answer that for him!" said Joey.

"Now let's try this whole thing again, shall we, Seto? Please be so kind as to exit the ship, with your friends."

"Let me handle this and we'll be out of here soon," Kaiba said.

"Look," said Joey as we followed Kaiba off the ship, "I don't know what this kid's beef is with you but it's our problem now too, so why don't you just get over yourself?"

He actually makes sense, said Marik. I wondered if this was what it was like for Yugi, always having a running commentary in his head.

"Now if you'll all proceed straight ahead, we can continue this party," said Noah. We walked through a door that opened up.

"What is it you want from us, Noah?" Kaiba shouted.

"Everything will be made clear soon enough. Just continue to the end of the hallway, where my associates will greet you. They're especially excited to see you, Mr. Kaiba."

We entered a huge, dark, empty hold, and the door closed behind us. We heard the sound of men laughing. Then bright lights switched on, and saw five men before us. I recognized them as the Big Five from the Kaiba Corporation board of directors who tried to trap Kaiba in a virtual world and take over the company. What were they doing here? I thought they were trapped in the virtual world.

"Did you honestly believe that you'd seen the last of us?" one of the men said. "We wandered through cyberspace for what seemed like an eternity thinking of one question over and over. How could we get revenge for our suffering? We finally found our answer the day that Noah hacked into Kaiba Corp's main frame. Once we discovered that we all shared a common enemy in Seto Kaiba, naturally Noah uploaded our minds to his system."

"So you guys are virtual?" said Kaiba. "I defeated you once, and I can easily do it again!"

"We plan to give you every opportunity to do so, Mr. Kaiba, for we've devised a new game with Noah's help."

"What kind of a game are we talking about, you snake?"

"Oh, it's a game you're quite familiar with, Mr. Kaiba. It's a Duel Monsters tournament, a virtual Duel Monsters tournament, that is. And you're all invited to participate. Our minds have been trapped in this virtual prison for so long, we've lost our bodies. But if we defeat you in Noah's virtual arena, then we'll return to the real world in your bodies!"

Not good! said Marik.

"No one's takin' over my body again!" Joey shouted.

"Now, it's time to pay a visit to our special dueling world!" said a member of the Big Five. They all laughed. "I'm sure you'll find this world unlike anything you've ever seen!"

The room suddenly changed, and we found ourselves in the middle of a jungle. A virtual jungle. My senses told me enough to know this was not real. And when a giant dinasaur ran right up to Kaiba, he was not phased either. The dinasur slashed at him, but his arm moved right through him.

"That brat Noah can't intimidate me with cheap virtual illusions like this," Kaiba said. "I wrote better virtual-reality programs back when this kid was still wearing diapers! This stuff's amateur." Suddenly, there was another Kaiba. This one with a different outfit, though I could tell he was not real either. "Relax, it's a cheap copy. I used to create virtual clones of myself all the time to duel against."

"Why duel yourself?" said Duke.

"Who better?"

"Attention fools!" said one of the Big 5Five. "It's time for us to demonstrate the new dueling rules!"

"What do you mean 'new rules?'"

"We've created a new system of dueling especially for our tournament, so pay attention and try to keep up. In our world, we play by a new set of rules called the Deck Master System. So, watch and learn as our Virtual Kaiba battles Total Defense Shogun! First, each duelist must choose a Deck Master. Blue Eyes will be Virtual Kaiba's. Total Defense Shogun will act as his own Deck Master. Now begin!"

"For my first move, I summon Lord of Dragons!" said Virtual Kaiba. "And next, I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon. This magic card allows me to summon two more Blue Eyes White Dragons to the playing field! And now, I'll move my Deck Master to the center of the playing field!"

"So, it looks like your Deck Master stands next to you until you decide to summon it to the field," Yugi noted.

"Lastly, I'll use Polymerization to fuse my three Blue Eyes White Dragons together!" The dragons roared. "To form Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"As you can see, virtual Kaiba combined his Deck Master with two other Blue-Eyes to form a creature that's virtually unstoppable," said one of the Big Five. "And thanks to his Deck Master's Special Ability, this new fusion monster can attack immediately!"

"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, I command you to attack Total Defense Shogun directly!" The dragon roared.

"Of course, since Total Defense Shogun is also a Deck Master it has its own Special Ability... Total Defense Barrier! It blocks the attack and reflects it right back!" The dragon roared again and attacked Total Defense Shogun, but the giant duel monster deflected the attack, sending it back at the dragon and destroying him. Virtual Kaiba groaned as his life points disappeared.

"Ta-ta, Virtual Kaiba. Soon that will happen to the real McCoy! You see, if your Deck Master is destroyed, you automatically lose the duel, regardless of life points. And when each of you loses a duel, one of us will take over your body!"

"I've heard enough!" Kaiba snarled. "I've defeated you five white-collar has-beens once before, and I can easily do it again! No matter what the rules are, I'll still take you down!"

"Let us out of here, you crotchety old cranks!" Joey shotued.

"We've never even left this room, you fools!" said one of the Big Five. Sure enough, the jungle dissolved, and we found ourselves back where we started. "But make no mistake, you kids aren't going anywhere for a long while. You're trapped and your only chance of escape is to defeat each of us in a virtual duel."

"There's no way you're gonna get away with this, you stuffed shirts!" Mokuba said.

"Yeah!" Joey agreed. "We'll kick your big-business butts!"

Everyone shouted words of encouragement to each other, but I was not so confident. What if I had to duel? I did not have much experience at all. I bet you're wishing you hadn't stuck with me, I said to Marik.

Never, said Marik. Do not worry about anything. I will be with you.

"Hold on, guys," said Tea. "They never said which of us will actually have to duel."

"Good question, kid!" said another member of the Big Five. "Just to make sure that you all suffer equally, we'll be dueling against every one of you brats! Remember, we need to take over five bodies. So, the first five of you to lose will have the honor of gaining our minds while yours stay trapped here!" We all gasped.

"In your dreams!" Kaiba said.

"Ever since you destroyed our bodies, all we've had are our dreams, Mr. Kaiba. Until now! The time has come to make our dreams a reality by escaping from this virtual abyss and leaving you here in our place... for all eternity!" They all laughed evilly, making me sick.

We've got to stop them, I said to Marik.

We will, he said. They won't get away with this if I have anything to say about it.

"Our analysis shows your chances of escape are 0% and falling sharply!" said one of the Big Five. "In other words, you kids are finished!"

"Well put, Crump," said another. "It's only a matter of time before the five of us are set free from this virtual prison. Remember, when one of us defeats you, we'll claim control of your body, leaving your mind trapped here forever!"

"These crooks haven't changed a bit," Kaiba said.

"Let's start this party."

"You five stiffs are going down!" Joey declared.

"Who's going down?"

Suddenly, a hole opened up under Joey's feet, and he fell through it. "Joey, no!" Serenity cried. Before anyone could do anything, the hole closed up.

"As you can see, before the virtual dueling begins, we plan to separate all of you."

Make sure you are not alone, Marik said.

Right. I ran to Yugi and grabbed his arm to keep him close.

Stay near us, Yami said.

Tea fell through a hole next. Then when Serenity started to go, Tristan and Duke ran after her, and all three fell through the hole. "I'd say your profits are plummeting!" said a Big Five member.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried. He ran to his brother just as a hole opened up, taking them both.

"That is enough!" Yugi shouted angrily. "Where did our friends go?"

"You'll soon find out!" said a member of the Big Five.

A hole opened up below Yugi and me. I grabbed him tighter as we both fell, screaming. We landed in a crumpled heap next to each other on the ground. I did not want to move. Get up, Marik advised. This is no time to be lying around. We need to survey our surroundings and make a plan.

Yugi stood first and offered me his hand. "Thanks," I said, allowing him to help me up.

"I wonder where we are," Yugi said. "Besides the virtual world, of course. And where are the others?"

"Probably far away." I looked around the area. We were on the shore by a large pond in the middle of a forest.

"All this stuff looks pretty real. It's hard to believe that everything here is virtual."

Suddenly, a creature emerged from the depths of the pond. It looked like a giant Duel Monster! "Well, you'd better get used to this place because I'm going to make sure you never leave!" the monster said in a familiar voice. "Are you familiar with the phrase, 'it's time to duel?' Well, this is the last time you're ever going to hear it!" Yugi and I exchanged looks. What was going on? "Why, you look as though you don't recognize me, kids. Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. Well, I'm Gansley, former Vice President of Business Strategy at Kaiba Corp and the proud founding member of the Big Five! But for now, I've taken the form of the Deepsea Warrior."

"Big deal, Gansley," Yugi said. "You don't scare me! I know that behind your virtual disguise is nothing but a feeble old man. You wouldn't stand a chance in a duel against me if your life depended on it!"

"Did you say 'my life?' Yugi... once I defeat you, I'll finally have a life again!"

"What? What're you saying?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the rules of our competition already. If you win - which you won't - you're free to go. And if I win, I get to return to the real world in your body! I can't wait to be young again, but I will have to change that haircut of yours. " Gansley chuckled. "And I'm sure your friends will be the perfect fit for the rest of The Big Five." He paused. "Speaking of which..." He looked at me with an evil glint in his eyes.

He better back off, Marik growled.

"Leave Samia out of this!" Yugi said angrily, stepping in front of me.

Gansley laughed. "But she would make a great fit for one of the others."

"You are dueling me."

"Why duel one of you when I can win both your bodies at the same time?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes at him. "Gansley..."

That fiend! Marik said. He must know you're not a duelist.

But what can I do?

Run away and let Yugi deal with them?

No way!

I thought not. Then I will help you. I am a duelist, after all.

Thank you.

"Of course, if you insist on dueling separately, I will oblige you," said Gansley, "but she goes first."

This must stop, Yami said. With a start, I realized I could see him and that he was talking to Yugi, not me. Our friends are in great danger.

Yeah, said Yugi. 'Cause if they lose, they'll be stuck here! So, we have to defeat the Big Five at their own twisted game!

We need to distract him and let Samia -

No! I said. I'm not leaving you. I have to duel.

Yami looked at me in surprise. Samia? You can hear us?

And see you.

How? asked Yugi.

It must be because our bond is strong enough. Anyway, I need to duel with you.

No, said Yami. I can't risk you getting hurt.

They're going to make me duel anyway, and I'd rather it's with you.

She does have a good point, said Yugi. She is safer dueling with us.

Besides, I have Marik with me, remember? He'll help me out as well. With the four of us working together, I know we can win.

Yami dipped his head. Very well.

Let's do this, said Yugi.

I saw the two of them merge with Yami in control. "Listen, Gansley!" he said. "You and your partners won't succeed in trapping my friends here. Mark my words!"

"I take it you're dueling?" said Gansley.

"Yes," I said. "We both are."

I felt Marik's agreement. So, bring it on!