Isolated in Cyberspace Part II

'I knew a rookie like you couldn't keep up with out Deck Master duelling system!' Gansley gloated.

'I'm a fast learner!' the Pharaoh snapped. 'And you haven't won your freedom from this place yet.'

Apparently, he hit a nerve. 'Don't threaten me, you little whippersnapper! You're weak. I can see it in your eyes. You'll never make it in the duelling business, kid. So just give up now and let me take control of your body. Then I can finally escape from this virtual nightmare.'

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. 'Not if you lose. You talk a big game but you have no monsters on the field to protect you, leaving you wide open for an attack – a direct attack! Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his life points now!'

The Guardian shot forward and slashed Gansley. The businessman flinched back and ground his teeth. His life points dropped down to 2600. Then he straightened up. 'Not bad, Yugi.'

'You claim to be a successful man of business, yet you've allowed your competition to get the best of you,' the Pharaoh stated.

But Gansley chuckled. 'Well, not quite. On the contrary, I led you to do exactly what I wanted you to! Now I summon Ruklumba the Spirit King!' A green lizard-like monster appeared on his side of the field.

The Pharaoh gasped in surprise. 'But how can you summon a monster if my turn's not over?'

'Simple,' Gansley said. 'Ruklumba is one of my more profitable investments. With this card in my deck, every time I lose 1000 or more life points, I gain the ability to summon another one to the field, strengthening my staff of workers. So what was that you were saying about my success in business? Looks like I'm still one step ahead of my competition, Yugi…'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth.

'…with plenty of monsters left.'

'It's not how many monsters you have,' the Pharaoh said. 'It's how skilfully you use them that counts.'

'I've been in business a long time, and I've always had a large labour force. That gave me the freedom to fire whomever I wanted, for there was always another employee who could pick up the slack. And that's how I duel. If one monster has to go, I have another to take its place.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth again. It boiled his blood, really, treating underlings like they were dispensable. Part of it wondered if this rage came from his own time as a king. He would have, after all, have had underlings. And, judging from the continued existence of the Sacred Guardians (and the presence of Mayet), quite loyal ones too.

The Pharaoh closed his eyes. 'That's just sad.'

New Haven, CT, USA

'You shouldn't be watching that, you know.'

Shauna didn't turn around to face her mother. 'I know, but Noah's watching it.

'Nosy little punk.' Her mother grabbed the other chair in the room and sat down. 'So why are you?'

'I just…' Shauna struggled. 'I feel like if this has to be observed by an outside party, it should be observed by someone who gives a damn.'

Noel pressed her lips together.

'I don't believe it,' Mokuba said on the screen. 'I was hoping I'd never have to see this place again.'

From the look on his face, Shauna would say Kaiba shared the sentiment. 'I told you, Mokuba. This orphanage is just a virtual illusion and nothing more.'

'Well, it still brings back bad memories,' Mokuba responded. 'Why did we get sent there anyway?'

Kaiba's face tightened. 'After our parents died, there was no one left willing to take care of us. So we got dumped off here until they could find another family to take us in.'

'Ouch,' her mother remarked from behind her. 'No wonder he's so standoffish if he's known that since he was…' She paused. 'How old was he?'

'Welcome, boys,' a voice suddenly said from behind the Kaiba brothers, causing both to spin around.

'At a rough guess,' Shauna managed when she saw the boys standing between the two suited men, 'I'd say about eight.'

It took Mokuba longer to register. 'Someone's here, Seto.'

'Mokuba, that's us!' Kaiba looked – quite understandably – shocked. 'Somehow, Noah was able to tap into our memories and digitally replay events from our past!'

'How could he do that?' Noel asked.

Shauna glanced over at The Document. 'He must've found a way to design a program that interacts with your memory.'

They watched the two brothers look over to the swing set, where the younger Mokuba was suddenly sitting.

'That's right,' the current Mokuba said. 'I remember now.' The day very quickly moved to dusk.

The younger Mokuba didn't move from the swing. Then the younger version of…well, at that point, Shauna supposed he wasn't Seto Kaiba. He was Seto…something or other.

'Hey, Mokie.'

Shauna was stunned at how…normal that was. Kaiba actually looked like a normal kid. Not like the embittered adult in a teenager's body he did now. Hell, he was actually smiling. I suppose he must've gotten that way over the years. This was probably the start of the process.

The younger Mokuba looked over at him and smiled sadly. 'Hey, Seto,' he said glumly. 'How'd you know I was out here?'

'Lucky guess.' Seto walked over and ruffled his hair. 'Look, pal. Cheer up. We gotta make the most of this place.'

The younger Mokuba's eyes filled with tears.

'Come on, Mokie,' Seto said. 'Let's take a little walk.' The scene faded to black in front of the Kaiba brothers and then their younger selves reappeared walking along a boardwalk. 'Okay. Spill it. What's on your mind?'

The younger version of Mokuba rubbed the tears from his eyes. 'I miss mom and dad. I wish that they were here with us right now. It's not fair that they left us here, all alone.'

Seto put a hand on the younger brother's shoulder. The younger Mokuba looked up at him.

'Come on,' Seto said. 'No crying. Tears aren't going to help us now. There's only one way you and I are gonna get through all this. We've got to get tough. Emotions will only get in the way of our survival.' It sounded like something an adult might say.

'Tough?' the younger Mokuba asked.

'That's right,' Seto said. 'Don't expect anyone else to help us ever again. You and I are on our own now.'

The current Mokuba spoke up then, drawing Shauna's attention to the Kaiba brothers.

'I guess that was your idea of a pep talk.'

Kaiba's face was carefully blank.

The world around the Kaiba brothers flashed to black again. When the next memory faded into view, the Kaiba brothers were standing at a window. Inside the room, which looked like a classroom, their younger selves were playing chess. Seto moved his final chess piece into place.

'Sorry, Mokie,' he said. 'Checkmate.'

'Again?' The younger version of Mokuba smiled up at his brother. 'And in just five moves this time. You're, like, the best chess player in the whole entire world!'

Seto sat back with a smile on his face – an actual smile. 'Well, almost.'

'Oh, yeah? Name one person who's better at chess than you.'

'You, if you just concentrate.'

'Fine. Let's play again.'

As his younger self reset the board, Shauna noticed Kaiba look over towards the TV just behind them. Soon after they started the second game, a news report came onto the screen. It was about Gozaboro Kaiba being an undisputed and undefeated Chess Champion.

Shauna's eyes narrowed. Two and two is four.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out what happened next. So Shauna and Noel watched, neither one surprised, when Gozaboro Kaiba came to the orphanage to donate toys. Neither of them were surprised that Kaiba's younger self challenged him to the chess game with the stipulation that if Seto won, Gozaboro had to adopt them.

Shauna filled in the time glancing at the others and working on programming a little something for Duke and Tristan.

'This must be after Noah's accident,' Noel remarked.

Shauna glanced over at her. 'Why do you say that?'

'Why else would Gozaboro keep up his end of the bargain?' Noel asked. 'Those boys were just poor little orphans that he was only giving toys to for appearance's sake. He didn't have to hold up his end of the bargain. But he chose to, because by adopting a kid that handed him his first ever Chess defeat he could be sure his company would pass into competent hands. All he had to do was train him. Why would he need to do that?'

Shauna considered it. 'Point taken.'

'Still…' Noel worried her lower lip. 'Something feels off. It's like there's more to it than that.'

Kaiba drew their attention back. 'This was the day I took control of my future.'

'Yeah?' Mokuba asked sadly. 'Well, it was also the day you stopped calling me "Mokie".'

'If it wasn't for me, we never would have escaped that rat-hole,' Kaiba said. 'I turned our lives around that day.'

Mokuba suddenly ran over to the door.

'Hey!' Kaiba snapped. 'Come back! Now!'

Mokuba looked back at him. 'I liked the way it was before we got here! At least back then, you actually smiled once in a while.'

Kaiba drew back, startled. 'Wait a second, Mokuba.' He stepped forward and lifted a hand in an attempt to calm him. 'Get a grip, please. You're going to fall right into Noah's trap. He's using these illusions to turn us against each other. It's fake! The past is over.'

Mokuba frowned, but he still yanked the door open and tried to go through. Mokuba suddenly cried out as he found a cliff's edge on the other side. He dropped. For a second, Shauna's gut dropped to. Her mother reflexively jumped up. But there was only one person who could do anything about it.

'Mokuba!' Kaiba leapt forward and his hand wrapped around Mokuba's wrist.

The kid's fall stopped. 'Don't let go!'

Virtual World

'You've lost more than half your life points, Yugi!' Gansley declared. 'Soon, I'll take over your body, leaving your mind trapped in this virtual abyss.'

'You'll never get away with this, Gansley!' the Pharaoh snapped.

'Just watch me.' With a dark chuckle, Gansley drew. He smirked and played the card he'd just drawn. 'I summon Yowie in attack mode!' The card appeared on the field and flipped up. Another lizard monster emerged out onto the field. 'Of course Yowie's arrival forbids you from drawing a card next turn, making him a valuable asset.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth.

Gansley took another card from his hand and set it. 'Now, I'll play the magic card, Premature Burial!' The card in question appeared and flipped up on the field. 'All I have to do is invest a mere 800 of my life points.' His life points dropped to 1800. 'This allows me to revive one of my former monsters. Imperia, return!' The monster in question reappeared on the field. 'I told you I'd employed an unlimited team of monsters, Yugi. My workforce already outnumbers yours, three monsters to two, and my staff will continue to grow.' He sneered. 'So why don't you go ahead and launch your attack? With my three monsters on the front line, you'll never get to me!'

The Pharaoh clenched his teeth again. 'We'll see about that.'

Yugi was already thinking it over. I can't attack with Chimera again! He'll just sacrifice two of his monsters, like he did last time, to bring out Reflector Hole, causing my own monster to attack me instead of him! And even if I got rid of all his monsters and attacked him directly, he'd do what he did before – use the attack to summon another Ruklumba.

Gansley decided to mock him. 'What's the hold up? Have you finally realised that I'm unbeatable?'

'You should know that a good strategy takes time,' the Pharaoh retorted.

Gansley brushed him off. 'Nonsense. Stalling for time is a sign of weakness, Yugi!'

Maybe it was time to play his own game on him. 'That's pathetic!'

Gansley apparently decided to respond with a personal attack. 'No, what's pathetic is the monster you've chosen as your Deck Master. That floating hairball does nothing but spout gibberish!'

Kuriboh lowered his eyes and whimpered.

The Pharaoh looked over at him. 'Don't worry, Kuriboh. I believe in you. You and I can defeat him.'

Gansley sneered again. 'Then make your move!'

YGO

Duke and Tristan finally broke through the wall.

'All right!' Tristan cheered.

'Wait.' Duke looked out and then ran out onto the balcony.

'Wait what?' Tristan demanded. 'We're free, dude!'

Duke looked around more carefully. 'Tristan, if you actually looked around, you'd see that we're still trapped. We're a hundred feet in the air on some unknown virtual castle in the middle of nowhere!'

'Well, at least I got us outside!' Tristan snapped. 'Now, quit complaining and let's go find—' He was cut off by a scream.

Both boys spun around as they heard Sharee's voice yell, 'Go stand against the wall!'

They two of them shot to the edge of the balcony and looked down. Serenity was running towards the wall of the castle they were on. Sharee was a little way across the field out there, facing off against…a charging duel monster. She had yanked her denim jacket off and swung it around. As she ran around in a circle, waving her jacket. The duel monster diverted, and started chasing after the jacket.

'We gotta get down there and help them!' Tristan insisted.

'How?' Duke demanded. 'There's no way down!'

At that moment, something completely unexpected happened. A rope assembled around one of the upraised bits of the balcony – it escaped Duke what it was called. But it formed and then dropped down. Tristan was quick to hop on it and work his way down. Then, as soon he hit the ground, he went charging after the monster.

Duke quickly followed down, so he could run right over to Serenity and play the saviour.

On his way down, he noticed Sharee glance at Tristan. He was pretty sure she rolled her eyes. But she suddenly stopped and waved her jacket. Duke quickly climbed the rest of the way down. If that thing hit, she'd need help.

But once he hit the ground and turned, he saw her duck out of the way as the duel monster leapt at her. It went flying into a tree. With a loud crack, the tree doubled over and crashed into the ground. The duel monster didn't resurface. Sharee shrugged her jacket back on.

Duke smiled to himself as he went over to Serenity.

He did hear Sharee say to Tristan, 'Dude, the next time you see me baiting a charging animal that's easily a few hundred pounds, don't run at it. That's a great way to get killed.'

Point taken.

What the hell did her parents teach her?

YGO

'Now get ready!' The Pharaoh reached for his deck. But he stopped. Wait! Thanks to his Yowie monster, I can't draw a card this turn. That was right, and it was a real pain in the neck.

'It's hopeless, Yugi,' Gansley bragged. 'You're dealing with a born-strategist. Do you know how my business career began?' He lifted a finger. 'With one lemonade stand, that I stole from my neighbour. And I turned that lemonade stand into the largest distributor of frozen lemonade in the entire country. It goes to show that even when you start small, your investments can transform into an unstoppable force. Just like the ferocious team I've assembled here.'

The Pharaoh straightened up. 'All right! Enough stories.'

Gansley chuckled.

The Pharaoh considered his monsters on the field.

If I attack with my Celtic Guardian, he'll just activate his Reflector Hole to bounce my attack back at me. But, in order to use his Reflector Hole, Gansley will have to sacrifice two of his monsters first, which will weaken his defence. I have no other choice. It may cost me some life points, but that's a risk I'm gonna have to take if I wanna win this duel!

Unfortunately, true.

Well, all right. Here goes nothing. The Pharaoh called out the attack. 'Now, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his Yowie!' His monster charged.

Gansley smirked. 'Looks like you're more foolish than I first thought!' His body glowed as the effect of his Deck Master came in. 'For now, I'll sacrifice Imperia and Yowie in order to activate this!' The Reflector Hole appeared on the field once more. 'Reflector Hole, counter-attack!'

The Obnoxious Celtic Guardian flew into the Reflector Hole and vanished. The Pharaoh braced himself. Sure enough, his Guardian soon emerged and slashed across his body. Pain shot through his nerve endings and the Pharaoh was physically pushed back. This time it took longer to recover himself.

'Your life points are falling faster than the Stock Market in 1929, Yugi' Gansley boasted as the Pharaoh's life points dropped to 500. 'That makes two direct hits. Three strikes and you're out. Then you can take a nap. Surprised by how real this duel feels? It may be virtual, but it takes more of a toll on you than the duels you're used to, doesn't it?'

No…Actually, this felt kind of familiar. He'd experienced such sensations before. It'd just been a while since he'd felt it. That, and Yugi's body was certainly not primed to take this kind of punishment.

'At least you're down to one monster.' The Pharaoh opened his eyes and was stunned to see a second monster on Gansley's side of the field.

'I think you'd better count again, Yugi.'

'Oh, no! You have two monsters left! How? Explain yourself!'

'While you were recovering from the direct attack to your life points, I seized the opportunity to strengthen my team. I feel it's best to get ahead when your rival is down. So I sacrificed my Ruklumba, allowing me to summon Wall of Illusion, plus another Ruklumba.'

'You had that move planned all along, didn't you?'

'Of course I did! Now allow me to introduce you to my newest employee. Meet Wall of Illusion. What are its strengths, you ask? Well, any monster foolish enough to attack it is removed from the field immediately and sent back to my opponent's hand, so you may want to resign now, Yugi.' He chuckled.

What am I gonna do? Yugi wondered. Now that he has two monsters on the field again, I can't attack. Cause if I do, he'll just use his Deck Master's special ability to sacrifice them and activate Reflector Hole, causing my own monster to attack me instead of him. And I can't afford to let that happen again! With only 500 life points left, I'll lose the duel, and my body to Gansley, then I'll be stuck in this Cyber World forever, while he escapes disguised as me!

'Well, you gave it your best shot, my young friend,' Gansley said. 'But in the end, big business always wins. Besides, I've roamed this virtual void for too long now and you're my ticket out.'

'It's not over, Gansley,' the Pharaoh stated. 'So don't make your travel plans yet.'

Gansley sneered again. 'Keep your false hope. It'll make it that much sweeter when you plunge into defeat!' He chuckled. 'You and your pitiful Deck Master! That pathetic pom-pom is useless!'

Beside him, Kuriboh squealed in rage.

Gansley sneered. 'I'm afraid you were doomed from the start.'

'Mock me all you want, I'll never give up hope!' the Pharaoh declared. 'I trust my deck.'

'And I trust my skills,' Gansley retorted. 'I was insightful enough to assemble an unstoppable arsenal of monsters. Not that it really matters at this point anyway. I've rendered you so weak you'll be out of life points before your next turn, allowing me to finally return to civilisation, while your mind is virtually scattered throughout cyberspace!'