Isolated in Cyberspace Part I

The laughter was really grating on Sharee's nerves.

'Our analysis shows that your chances of escape are 0% and falling sharply,' Crump crowed. 'In other words, you kids are finished!'

Johnson gloated. 'Well put, Crump!'

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

Kaiba growled. 'These crooks haven't changed a bit!'

'Let's start this party!' Joey snapped. 'You five stiffs are going down!'

'Who's going down?' Gansley demanded as a hole appeared under Joey's feet.

With a startled yell, he fell. Serenity was the first to run to the hole with a cry of her brother's name. Sharee shot over and grabbed her arm before she could fall in too. Téa was next over just as the hole disappeared. She noticed that everyone else had twisted around, except Kaiba. He was looking over his shoulder, no doubt with one eye still on the Big 5.

'As you can see,' Gansley said, 'before the virtual duelling begins we plan to separate all of you.'

'What?' Téa demanded.

'Ta-ta!' Gansley crowed as a hole appeared under Téa's feet.

She fell with a cry, reaching out. Yugi shot forward to try and catch her, but he didn't move fast enough. That was the last Sharee saw because a hole appeared under hers and Serenity's feet. The younger girl screamed as they began to fall, but Sharee had fallen down shafts in her life, so she just ground her teeth and braced herself for the landing.

It wasn't that difficult.

YGO

Joey had blacked out at some stage.

When he came around, he found himself lying in the grass outside of a large manorhouse. Standing up, he looked around. Those old suits had said that they were going to duel them, so he guessed the duel must have been inside. He couldn't see any of his friends anywhere around. A line from the Wizard of Oz came to mind.

'Man, I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore.'

YGO

Téa found herself in a strange rocky terrain.

Looking around, she found herself entirely alone. This looked like the sort of place that Sharee would know how to navigate. Téa had no idea.

'Oh, great. Now what?'

YGO

Sharee rubbed her hip as she led Serenity out to a river.

'I told you I smelled river water,' she said.

'How did you know what river water smells like?' Serenity asked.

'Experience,' Sharee told her.

'So where are we?'

'We're still in the virtual world.' Sharee looked around. 'Beyond that, not a clue.'

YGO

Duke and Tristan woke up in some kind of hallway.

Tristan rubbed his head. 'Huh?' He looked around and then quickly turned and shook the other boy. 'Yo, Duke! Speak to me, buddy!'

Duke groaned as he came around. He looked around and then turned to Tristan in alarm. 'Hey, where's Serenity?'

Tristan started and cried out in alarm.

YGO

The last thing Kaiba remembered was clutching his brother as they both plummeted.

'Seto!'

Kaiba cringed.

'Are you okay?'

Opening his eyes, Kaiba looked up. Mokuba was leaning over him. Pushing himself up, he answered. 'I've been in better moods.' He took a look at his brother as he took a hold of his shoulder. 'And you?'

'I'm fine…I think.'

Kaiba gave him a quick check-over. He didn't seem to be hurt.

So they had to track down that Noah brat and the Big 5.

YGO

Noah watched the Kaiba brothers. 'Make yourselves at home. Hm. Fools. I have them all right where I want them. Each one isolated in my virtual world.' His eyes skated over to where Sharee was explaining something to Serenity. 'My check indicates Wheeler's sister has no idea how to duel, so Sharee Pertinicle can keep her company.' He sneered. 'And I'll be watching from the front row as my associates take care of business. Now…who should be the first to suffer?'

He flicked through the various teenagers.

Finally he settled on a decision and smirked.

'Ah, yes. Who better to destroy first than the infamous Yugi Moto?'

What Noah didn't know was that he was being watched too.

New Haven House, CT, USA

Shauna chuckled as she sat back with her two-minute noodles. 'What a pack of twits.'

There was a knock on the door and it opened.

'How's it going in there?' Noel asked as she walked in.

'This Noah kid's decided to start with Yugi,' Shauna said.

'Oh, it'll be all right then. Did you find out who he was?'

'I just put his face through facial recognition software. It should take an hour or so.'

Virtual World

Yugi stood on the bank of a river and looked around. 'All this stuff looks pretty real. It's hard to believe that everything here is virtual.'

A familiar voice sounded from around. 'Well, you'd better get used to this place…'

Yugi frowned and braced himself for the duel he knew was coming.

'…because I'm going to make sure you never leave.' Gansley rose out of the water in front of him, but he was in the form of a duel monster and he had a duel disk on his arm. 'Are you familiar with the phrase "it's time to duel"? Well, this is the last time you're ever going to hear it! Why, you look as though you don't recognise me, boy. Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. Well, I'm Gansley, former Vice President of Business Strategy at KaibaCorp, and a proud founding member of the Big 5.' He smirked. 'But, for now, I've taken the form of the Deep Sea Warrior.'

No, Yugi was just a little confused as to why he'd done that. 'Big deal, Gansley. 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!'

Gansley smirked again. 'Did you say my life, Yugi? Once I defeat you, I'll finally have a life again!'

'What?' Yugi demanded. 'What are you saying?'

'Don't tell me you've forgotten the rules of our competition already?' Gansley sneered. '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!'

Yugi started.

'I can't wait to be young again,' Gansley said with a laugh in his voice, 'but I will have to change that haircut of yours.' He chuckled darkly. 'And I'm sure your friends will be the perfect fit for the rest of the Big 5.'

This must stop, the Pharaoh said. Our friends are in great danger.

'Yeah,' Yugi murmured. 'Cause if they lose, they'll be stuck here.' He looked back at Gansley and raised his voice. 'So we have to defeat the Big 5 at their own twisted game.'

The Pharaoh nodded. That's right. And it starts here and now.

They swapped over.

YGO

'Listen, Gansley,' the Pharaoh said. 'You and your partners won't succeed in trapping my friends here. Mark my words!'

'Really?' Gansley asked doubtfully. 'That's if you can keep up with the new rules!'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth. 'Just try me!'

'Very well. You remember my demonstration of our patented deck master system of duelling, don't you? It begins with each of us picking a monster to serve as our Deck Master for the duration of the duel. And since I've already taken the form of a monster – lucky me – I will serve as both the duellist ad the Deck Master.'

The Pharaoh didn't like that grin on his face.

'Now,' Gansley went on, 'it's time for you to build your virtual deck.'

'With what?' The Pharaoh asked.

'With these.'

Lines of cards suddenly appeared in front of him. The Pharaoh looked at them in surprise.

Gansley went on to explain. 'Your cards aren't valid in this world, so you'll have to build a new deck from our card database. When you see a card you desire, simply touch it.'

The Pharaoh lifted his hand and began tapping cards.

'Choose wisely,' Gansley said. 'For once you make contact with the card image it's yours for the entire length of the duel.' He began taunting him. 'Careful! Don't let any gems slip by.'

The Pharaoh finished selecting his cards. 'All right. Let's begin this duel.' The deck appeared in his duel disk.

'How quickly we forget!' Gansley sneered. 'You still have to choose your Deck Master.'

The Pharaoh pulled his deck out of the duel disk and looked over his cards. He considered the Dark Magician for a moment.

And then, quite unexpectedly, the Kuriboh emerged from his card.

New Haven House, CT, USA

Shauna wasn't even bothering to watch Yugi's duel.

Even if it was a difficult one, he was still going to win. She sat back from her handiwork with a sigh. The door opened behind her again. 'What are you doing?' her mother asked her as Noel handed her a mug of coffee.

Shauna took it with a nod of thanks. 'Setting up an alarm system. If anyone gets body-snatched, this thing'll tell me.'

The monitor to her left beeped.

'Ah.' Shauna moved over to it. 'We have a match.' She set her coffee down and hit a few buttons on the keyboard. Then she froze.

Her mother walked over. 'What's wrong?'

Shauna blinked a moment and then,

'He's who?'

Virtual World

The Pharaoh and Gansley both activated their duel disks.

'I think I'll go first, if you don't mind.' Gansley drew, and then smirked. 'I summon a monster, face-down in defence mode!' The card appeared on the field in front of him. 'And that's all for now. What fun would it be if I wiped out everything you own so soon? It's your move, but realise it's only a matter of time before I eliminate all your life points.'

The Pharaoh growled.

'Poor Yugi,' Gansley sneered. 'You haven't the business skills necessary to wheel and deal with a mogul like me.'

'Listen, Gansley,' the Pharaoh snapped. 'Duel Monsters is about honour, trust, and respect, not about business skills and making deals. So save your corporate speeches for the board room and stop wasting my time.'

'Why worry about time?' Gansley asked. 'Once I defeat you, you'll have nothing but time as you spent all of eternity trapped right here! Make your move, Yugi, so I can seal this deal and escape from this cyber-world.'

'Very well.' The Pharaoh drew. 'I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!' He played the card and it appeared on the field. The Guardian emerged from the card. 'Then I'll place one card face-down.' He set the card and it appeared on the field. 'Now, my Guardian, time to slay his face-down beast, with Celtic Beast Slash Attack!'

The Celtic Guardian attacked and slashed through the card. A chicken-looking duel monster appeared. It shattered.

'Thank you,' Gansley said.

'Why are you thanking me for destroying your monster, Gansley?' the Pharaoh asked.

Gansley pointed across the field. 'The card you destroyed was Ashingray.'

'And?' The Pharaoh asked.

'When it's sent to the graveyard, its attacker must throw out one card.'

'Fine.' The Pharaoh looked at his hand. He selected Exchange and sent it to the card graveyard. 'I have plenty of other cards left.'

'But that's not my monster's only special ability,' Gansley said. 'It also allows me to summon another Ashingray to the field.' He took the card and set it on his duel disk. 'Then I can reshuffle my deck.' He took his deck and did exactly as he said and reshuffled. Setting his deck back in the duel disk, he went on. 'Such poor business planning on your part, Yugi. Had you done the appropriate research, you could have avoided this embarrassing loss.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth. 'I'm not done.'

YGO

'Aw! How cute!'

Sharee looked over to see what Serenity was looking at. There were swans in the lake they'd found as they'd followed the river. Yeah, cute until you get an aggressive one and it starts snapping at you. The longer they walked, the more Sharee was certain that Serenity spent so much time in and out of hospital before now that she had little to no normal life experience for her age.

Sharee winced.

'Maybe this place isn't so bad, after all,' Serenity remarked.

'If we were on a leisure trip, certainly not,' Sharee said.

'Huh?' Serenity looked at her. 'You think they really can steal our bodies?'

'Well,' Sharee walked to the edge of the pier and crouched down. She dipped a hand into the lake. The cold caused goose bumps to rise. Pulling her hand out, she found it wet. 'I don't know. This feels as real as the last virtual world I went into. And virtual reality worlds are a new thing. It's literally something Kaiba invented. We don't know a lot about it…so I wouldn't discount it.'

The sky suddenly darkened.

'Oh,' Serenity murmured. 'We gotta find Joey.'

'We gotta find everyone,' Sharee muttered, standing up.

Serenity looked up at the darkening sky. 'Where are you?'

YGO

Joey walked down a staircase, looking around. 'Whoa. Where am I? The last thing I remember is putting the scare into those Big 5 Sleazeballs. Now I'm stranded in some weird castle.' As he came to the bottom of the stairs, he ground his teeth. His temper was running high. 'All right, you monkey-suit-wearing pencil pushers, show yourselves so I can readjust your uptown attitudes! I know you weasels are watching, so come on out and duel! I'm not scared of your bald heads and outdated neckties, you old freaks!'

Nothing happened.

'Got that? And I don't have all day to play hide and seek either! So let's get this over with so I can get on with my life!'

He suddenly noticed something behind him and spun to find himself looking at a suit of armour he was sure wasn't there before.

'Gotcha!'

But then, slowly, he realised that it was far too short for any of them. On top of that, there was a second one on the other side of the staircase.

'Well…er, maybe not.' Joey began to feel kinda stupid. 'Don't look at me like that you oversized tin can, or I'll turn you into scrap metal so fast, your head'll spin! You got that!'

He accidently knocked it over.

YGO

Tristan and Duke ran down the hallway they were in.

'Hey, Serenity!' Tristan called.

'Serenity!' Duke called out.

'You in here somewhere?'

'We're coming to get you!'

The two boys came to a stop.

Duke growled in frustration. 'It's no use! This virtual hallway could go on forever!'

'We can't give up,' Tristan insisted. 'Serenity's gotta be here!'

'Yeah, but where?'

'I don't know. Somewhere!'

'Look around, Tristan!' Duke snapped. 'This thing must go on for miles!' It was an entirely straight hallway with no doors and, therefore, no rooms.

Tristan looked back at him. 'Look, Duke, I don't know about you but I'm not stopping until I find her! You in or not?' He took off again.

'Well, uh…I guess.' Duke took off after him.

YGO

Kaiba and Mokuba walked down a woodland track.

Mokuba broke the silence. 'Hey, Seto, I know the Big 5 want to use us to escape from this place, but what's the deal with that Noah kid? I mean, who is he? And what's he getting out of all this?'

Good question. It was one that Kaiba had been turning over in his head for what felt like hours. No answer was forthcoming.

'Uh, Seto? Did you hear me? I was just wondering who Noah—'

Kaiba stopped, and his brother stopped next to him. 'Yes, I heard your question, Mokuba. I have no answer. If I had to guess, I'd say he wants what's mine. Just like everyone else, he wants to be as powerful as I am. What puzzles me the most is how he created this place. There's no way that little punk built a virtual universe on his own.'

'Maybe the Big 5 helped him,' Mokuba suggested.

Kaiba smiled down at his brother. 'Oh, I doubt it. Those old fools couldn't pull this off.' He looked back at the path ahead and frowned. 'Granted, it's only a copy of the virtual technology that I invented. But someone else is involved, and I'll find them. It's only a matter of time.'

Mokuba smiled and nodded. 'I'll help you, Seto!' He ran ahead. 'Come on!'

Knowing his brother was safe out here for now, Kaiba followed after him.

New Haven, CT, USA

Shauna gnashed her teeth.

She knew the answers that the Kaiba brothers were seeking.

'I feel kind of sorry for him,' her mother remarked, looking at the document that explained everything. 'He had such a bright future.'

'All kids do, mom, but that doesn't change what happened or what he's trying to do to people who never did anything to him.'

'Hm.' Noel walked over. 'Why don't you tell the brothers who he is?'

'I have no way to communicate with them,' Shauna said.

'You communicated the last time they were in a virtual world,' Noel pointed out.

'That was different. I was in the prototype lab.' Shauna frowned. 'There was a set-up for communication between the real world and Kaiba's virtual world then. Whole intercom-type system.'

'So why don't you just rig up something similar now?'

Shauna blinked, stunned.

Virtual World

Gansley drew. 'Get ready to lose your mind!' He looked at the card in his hand and then back across the field. 'You know, Yugi, I'm a businessman, and in the world of business there are three secrets to success that are guaranteed to crush the competition. So listen closely. The first is build a powerful workforce! So, come forth, Imperia!' He played the card he'd just drawn and the blue lizard monster appeared on the field with a hiss. 'This lets me draw another card to increase my duelling options.' He did just that. 'Then I'll change Ashingray to attack mode,' he flipped the card, 'thus building up my workforce.'

The card on the field flipped up and the monster emerged from within.

'The second secret of success is quite a simple one: know your own resources. By changing Ashingray from defence to attack mode, I triggered its special ability forcing you to discard one card from your hand.'

The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed. 'All right.' He took De-Spell and sent it to the graveyard.

'I told you you couldn't keep up with the Big Wigs,' Gansley gloated. 'Now, for the last and most important secret of success in the business world: always keep your competition guessing. And, I assure you, you have no idea of the horrors I have in store for you!'

YGO

Tristan and Duke slowed to a stop again and struggled to catch their breaths.

'I give up, Tristan.' Duke wiped sweat from his forehead.

Tristan, at least, allowed for that. 'If we're gonna rescue Serenity, we need a new plan.'

Duke looked at him. 'Plan? It's obvious this thing was built to go on forever! It has no end!'

Tristan nodded, like he was struck with an idea. 'So what?'

'So we won't find any way out because this virtual hallway doesn't have one.'

Tristan straightened up. 'Come on. Try having a little bit of faith, will you?'

'You got any bright ideas?' Duke asked.

'Actually, I do.' Tristan walked over to a suit of armour. 'If there are no exits in this place, then all we gotta do is make one. I once saw Sharee walk into a wall to check if the last virtual world she was in reacted the same way the real world does.' He knocked on the wall. 'By that logic, we should be able to smash right through these.'

'Good luck.' Duke walked over to one of them. 'These aren't even real walls, just some computerised images that are designed to look like real walls. Sharee walking into one is a different thing. She walked into a barrier, again, designed to look like a wall. You see?'

'Look, if you can touch 'em, then they're real enough to break down.'

'Break down with what?' Duke asked.

Tristan reached over and took the axe from the suit of armour next to him.

'Whoa!' Duke was stunned. If that axe is just an illusion, how can he be holding it?

'Batter up!' Tristan swung the axe into the wall.

YGO

Téa walked through the rock formations.

'Hello?' she called out. 'Anybody out there?' She looked around and lowered her voice to normal level. 'Where am I? It's like a virtual Grand Canyon.'

Really? That's the first thing I think of?

Téa brushed it off. 'This place is creeping me out. Where is everyone? And could it be any hotter?'

A sound suddenly got her attention.

'Huh?' She looked up and saw movement. 'What was that?' Looking around, she quickly became aware of something else. 'I'm surrounded!'

Téa desperately thought back to what Sharee had told her.

'I'm used to crocodiles, and they stick to water. That way they can hide in the water and let the prey come to them. But most predators will stalk their prey. You can get out of their reach, you'll be fine.'

Wasn't really applicable to this, but it was as close as she could get.

Stay calm, and back up slowly. Téa stepped back but the heel of her shoe found a pebble. 'Ah!'

The monsters jumped at her.

'And, if all else fails, bolt and weave.'

Téa turned and bolted. 'Help me!' she cried out as she tried to remember anything else Sharee might've said. 'Yugi!'

'Weave?' Joey had asked.

'Predators are used to their prey running away in a straight line.' Sharee had waved an arm in demonstration. 'If you weave while you're running away, you can throw them off!'

Téa was about to try when one of them appeared in front of her.

The last thing she saw was a huge clawed hand coming at her.

New Haven, CT, USA

'You're not going to help her?' Noel asked as her daughter frantically worked.

Shauna looked over. Her brow furrowed. 'I can't help her, mom. I can't get anyone over there and I can't communicate with anyone.'

Noel was quiet for a moment. 'What's happening with the Kaiba brothers?'

'Huh?'

Virtual World

'Hey, Seto. What's that?' Once again, Mokuba ran ahead. 'It looks like a way out! Come on, Seto!'

Not good! This time, Kaiba took off after him. 'Mokuba, slow down!'

As they got nearer, it was clearly a door…sitting in the middle of the woods and held up by nothing 'It's probably an emergency exit, back to the real world!'

Unlikely. 'Mokuba, stop right there!' Kaiba called.

Thankfully, he did.

Kaiba moved in front of his brother and wrapped his hand around the handle. 'We have to be careful.' He slowly opened the door.

A bright light was expelled from within.

'I can't see,' Mokuba said. 'It's too bright!'

Then, a very familiar building faded into view.

'Wait a sec…' Mokuba slid closer to him. 'I know this place. It's the orphanage we grew up in. Who knew it was still around?'

Now Kaiba was angry. 'It's a trick, Mokuba. A cheap virtual illusion, like everything else. But how did Noah find out we once lived here?'

New Haven, CT, USA

Her mother had stepped outside, and Shauna was glad for it.

It felt…wrong, peering into their past like that. And Noah was doing it brazenly, forcing them to live through days long-since gone. Then again, he probably had no concept of private matters. He had no idea just how invasive this whole thing was. And he had no idea just what kind of pot he was stirring.

Shauna debated with herself for a while and then decided.

He'll be watching too. I'll watch. But only because I want someone who actually cares about them to be a witness. I won't breathe a word of it to any other soul.

Maybe she would finally understand Kaiba.

Virtual World

'We may as well close the book on this duel, Yugi,' Gansley gloated. 'Thanks to my wise investments, I can predict a major growth in power for me, while you sink deeper into debt thanks to your pathetic Deck Master, Kuriboh.'

Kuriboh squealed something, obviously trying to speak but he had to mouth to do so.

'Well, it appears your little furball has an idea,' Gansley sneered. 'Too bad he can't speak!'

Kuriboh made an angry sound.

'Stay calm,' the Pharaoh told him.

I wish I knew what Kuriboh was trying to tell me, Yugi said. He may know something about these new Deck Master duelling rules that I don't. And right now I could use all the advice I can get.

The Pharaoh ground his teeth.

'Give up yet?' Gansley asked mockingly.

'No.' The Pharaoh drew. Fortunately, it was a Polymerisation card. 'Just what I needed. Now! I play Polymerisation! Fusing together Burfermet and Gizelle the King of Mythical Beasts…' The two monsters fused together into one creature. '…to form Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast! Then I'll activate my magic card, Quick Attack, allowing my Chimera to attack your Imperia now!'

The card in question flipped up.

Chimera charged.

'An interesting move, Yugi,' Gansley sneered, 'but a very poor business decision. And now it's time for you to pay the price!'

YGO

'Explain yourself, Gansley,' the Pharaoh said.

'Remember, I've taken the form of Deep Sea Warrior. And thanks to my Deck Master ability, I can sacrifice my two monsters to create this!' The two monsters in question dissolved. In their place, a large black orb of pure energy appeared in front of him. 'Reflector Hole, bounce his attack right back!'

Chimera charged right into it and vanished.

'What?' the Pharaoh demanded flatly. Then Chimera emerged from the orb. 'No!' The Pharaoh had no time to brace himself. He was hit by his own monster. Pain shot through his body and he gave a sharp yell. He stumbled back as his life point dropped for 4000 to 1900.

The Pharaoh lifted his head, ignoring the pain in his body.

'Looks like your life points are started to collapse,' Gansley gloated, 'and before long you'll be completely drained of everything you have.'

Kuriboh moved over and squealed in concern as he staggered back. 'You haven't put me out of business yet, Gansley.'

'It's only a matter of time, Yugi. Soon me and my colleagues will destroy you and your friends in the greatest corporate takeover in history! Speaking of your friends, I wonder how they're holding up in their new environment. Think about it: those fools must be suffering even greater losses than you.' Gansley smirked. 'And you can't save them!'

He's right! Yugi declared inside their minds. We've got to end this and find them!

'One more attack to your small reserve of life points and your resources will be completely wiped out, leaving you trapped here forever!'

Gansley laughed maniacally.