Isolated in Cyberspace Part III

'Let me guess,' Gansley sneered. 'You've had enough suffering and you want to give up?'

'Guess again, Gansley,' the Pharaoh said.

'Fine. You're only 500 life points away from annihilation anyway.'

'I've been in tougher spots before. Now make your move.'

'Very well.' Gansley drew. He added the card to his hand and took another one. 'I summon Melchid the Four-Faced Beast in attack mode!' He played the card and the monster appeared on the field, emerging from its card. 'My first order of business is to take out your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! My Four-Faced Beast should have enough power to crush it and take a bite out of your life points in the process.' He chuckled before giving the order. 'Now! Melchid the Four-Faced Beast, eliminate his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian with Quadruple Smash Attack!'

Melchid sailed across the field and slammed into the Guardian. The Pharaoh's monster was destroyed.

The Pharaoh was knocked over as his life points dropped to 400.

YGO

A sting on her cheek woke Téa up. She found herself in a dark cave, with the only light coming from above. Oh, man. This is definitely not my day. How am I gonna get outta here? She couldn't see any feasible way for her to climb up. A sound from below suddenly caught her attention.

'Wait. What was that?'

Rolling over, Téa crawled over and looked down. The duel monsters below seemed to be doing something down there. A pot was boiling over a fire. One of them looked up at her with a growl. Téa started and flinched back. As she did, her face stung again. She lifted her hand to find a cut there.

This virtual world is supposed to be a total illusion, she thought. That's why I couldn't touch those flowers. So…why does my face hurt? She lowered her hand. Oh, this place is a little too real for me. I hope the other guys are better-off than I am!

Téa struggled to push herself up. 'You gotta hang in there, guys.' She raised her face to the light. 'Wherever you are out there.'

YGO

'Had enough, Yugi?'

This body was struggling to recover from the blow.

'What's that? I couldn't hear you, with your face in the dirt and all!' Gansley laughed. 'Looks like you're down for the count.'

'Never!' the Pharaoh snapped as he opened his eyes.

'Pardon?' Gansley looked surprised.

The Pharaoh finally managed to get his feet under him and rose up. 'You heard me. I'll never give up. As long as I have life points, it's on.'

'You're more foolish than I thought,' Gansley said once again as Yugi's body tried to give out on the Pharaoh. 'Even the most inexperienced people in the business know when it's time to close shop.'

Beside him, Kuriboh whimpered in concern.

'Not that it matters all that much to me,' Gansley went on. 'Your life point account will be empty soon enough, Yugi. Then I'll escape to the real world at last, once I take over your scrawny body. And it all happens when I launch my next attack.'

He's right, Yugi thought. I only have 400 life points left! And as long as Gansley has at least two monsters on the field, he can activate Reflector Hole, the Pharaoh's eyes narrowed, bouncing all my attacks back at me.

Gansley smirked. 'All right, boy. The time has now come for you to make your final move of our virtual game. Then I'll seal this deal once and for all, leaving your inferior mind trapped here in my place forever. You'll have all the time in the world to contemplate the grim horror of your future. Sounds like fun, right?' He threw his head back and laughed.

'All right. Here goes.' The Pharaoh drew and looked at the card. A Rainbow Blessing magic card? That's not gonna help me now. I need something powerful if I'm going to beat Gansley.

'Well?' Gansley said. 'Stalling won't help you. Success comes to men of action! No one ever got ahead in the corporate world by just waiting. That only leads to defeat, which is where you're headed. And to think! People call you the King of Games. If only those folks in the real world could see you right now.' He laughed mockingly.

Kuriboh moved over and started chittering, jumping around wildly.

'Not now,' the Pharaoh said. 'I'm trying to concentrate on this duel.'

Hold on! Yugi exclaimed. I think Kuriboh's trying to tell us that Rainbow Blessing may be able to help after all!

The Pharaoh looked at his card again and considered it. He then looked back at Kuriboh. Well, I have nothing to lose. I said I had faith in my Deck Master so now it's time to put that to the test.

That's right! Let's do it!

The Pharaoh smiled at Yugi and then returned to the duel at hand. 'Now I place one card face-down.' He set the card and it appeared on the field. He smiled at Kuriboh. They both turned back to Gansley. 'It's your move.'

YGO

Joey threw the doors open and stepped into another empty room.

'Let's get this duel on! You suits are wasting my time!' He looked around the place. 'So show your faces!'

Nothing happened.

YGO

Téa looked down at the duel monsters gathered around the boiling pot.

'Looks like they're getting ready for dinner.' It suddenly hit her and she gasped in fear. 'And I bet I'm the main course! I gotta get outta here, or I'll be Téa Soup.' She looked around desperately. The only exit appeared to be the hole in the rock face above her. 'But how can I get all the way up there?' It looked unclimbable.

A thick vine was suddenly thrown down and landed within her reach.

Téa blinked in surprise. 'Well, that could help.' She wondered who'd cast it down. 'Who's up there?' she called.

An unexpected animal appeared at the mouth and waved down to her.

'Hm? A…penguin? I've officially lost it.'

YGO

'I've got you!' Kaiba's heart was in his throat. 'Don't look down!'

'Too late!' Mokuba called back. He twisted around and grabbed Kaiba's wrist with his free hand.

Kaiba ground his teeth. He pulled. Mokuba was light – the benefit of him being a skinny kid – but the angle was awkward. It was much harder to pull his brother up than it really should have been. He cursed Noah and the Big 5 to the moon and back. He'd get them all for this!

'I can't hold on much longer!' Mokuba called up to him.

Kaiba finally managed to pull his brother up onto the cliff top. 'You're safe.'

They both fought to catch their breaths, more out of fear than anything else.

'Thanks, Seto.'

'This place is more dangerous than I thought.' Kaiba glared out over the edge of the cliff. 'Somehow Noah has accessed virtual software that can replicate the sensation of touch.' He looked up. 'I know you can hear me, Noah! You won't get away with this, you little twerp!'

Satisfied that his brother was safe for now, Kaiba stood up and looked around.

'I thought we had the latest virtual software, Seto,' Mokuba pointed out. 'But this place seems way more real than any cyber environment I've ever seen in my entire life. If you hadn't grabbed my arm, who knows what would have happened to me. Thank you, Seto.'

Kaiba glanced down to be sure his brother would be fine. 'I don't know what kind of game Noah's playing but it's not Duel Monsters! That punk. He doesn't know who he's up against.' He lifted his head again. 'You hear that, Noah? You'll never succeed! I'll make sure of it!'

Mokuba stood up.

'Mokuba,' Kaiba said.

'What's up, big brother?'

'No matter what you see from this point forward I want you to realise, the past is over. And I may not be proud of every decision I made, but everything I did, I did for us. So we'd have a better life. Now let's move ahead. And don't look back.'

Kaiba moved away from the cliff's edge.

'Okay.' Mokuba was quick to follow him.

'I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.'

YGO

'Yugi, the end is near. Now…' Gansley drew. 'I activate my magic card, Offerings to the Doomed.' He set the card he'd just drawn. 'Its effect allows me to destroy any monster on your side of the playing field.' The card in question appeared and flicked up. 'Say goodbye to Chimera, your last line of defence, Yugi.'

The card activated. Chimera was destroyed.

'All your monsters are gone!'

'Wrong! You forgot about the special ability of my Mythical Beast!' The Pharaoh activated the ability in question. 'Now, I can bring back one of the monsters I used to form my Beast!' A water vortex appeared and rose up. When it fell, it revealed the monster in question. 'Burfermet!'

'It makes no difference to me,' Gansley said. 'The end result will be the same once I play this card!'

'What?' the Pharaoh demanded.

'I sacrifice Wall of Illusion and Melchid the Four-Faced Beast,' both monsters were destroyed, 'to summon Rainbow Snake Eingana!' The massive serpent monster appeared on the field in a flash of bright light.

The Pharaoh drew back with Kuriboh.

'Now, mighty serpent! Put the bite on Burfermet, and the squeeze on Yugi!' Eingana attacked and ate Burfermet whole. 'So much for your defensive monster, Yugi! Your life points are wide open. I know it's a bit too late, but here's some advice: the next time you decide to swim with the big fish, pack a life jacket, because you're sinking fast!' He smirked. 'Not that there's going to be a next time. Soon you'll be trapped here.'

The Pharaoh could only hope Kuriboh's special ability was the same as his favourite defensive manoeuvre.

YGO

How does Sharee do this?

All of Téa's muscles wanted to give out as she climbed her way up the vine. It looked so easy in the movies. Heck, Téa had seen Sharee scale trees with little effort. She'd probably be racing up this vine and yelling down, jokingly calling Téa a slowpoke. But Sharee wasn't here.

Still, I'm saved. The question is: who is saving me? 'Guess I'll find out soon.'

The duel monsters suddenly roared below her. Téa twisted her head around.

'Ah! I'm busted!'

She tried to climb faster.

YGO

'Time for my finishing move, Yugi,' Gansley said. 'Farewell. Your life points have finally expired.' He laughed again. 'And who better to deliver the final blow than my favourite reptilian beast? Ruklumba the Spirit King, free me from this prison by striking Yugi down now!'

Ruklumba moved forward and opened his mouth. A beam of energy was shot out of his mouth.

'This can't be!' the Pharaoh cried.

As he felt Yugi flinch back in his mind, the Pharaoh noticed Kuriboh made a squealing sound. Then, he began to multiply. Predicting the sheer amount of smoke, the Pharaoh covered his face. The beam hit nothing but Kuriboh duplicates and his life points remained unaffected.

'What's going on?' Gansley demanded.

YGO

Yugi had quickly switched over with the Pharaoh.

Gansley didn't respond well, it seemed, to his plans not going well. 'I've had enough! I command you to destroy his life points!'

Ruklumba tried again, to the same effect.

When the smoke cleared, Yugi turned to his Deck Master. 'Nice job, Kuriboh!'

Kuriboh squealed happily.

'How is it that you're still standing?' Gansley demanded. 'Your life points should be gone!'

'My Deck Master saved me!' Yugi declared. 'Thanks to his special ability, Kuriboh formed a protective wall.'

Kuriboh squealed.

Yugi, why have you taken over for me? The Pharaoh asked.

I just figured you could use a rest. You know, to recover from all those direct attacks. One more blast could have destroyed you, so I jumped in.

Thank you. You're very brave.

Yugi looked up at their Deck Master. Don't thank me. You should thank Kuriboh. Without his special ability, we both would've been finished by now.

That's true. Some things are more powerful than they first appear.

You can say that again. Kuriboh turned out to be the most valuable monster on our side of the field. So, getting him as our Deck Master wasn't some trick Gansley played on us in order to win.

No. You're right. It was the Heart of the Cards that guided Kuriboh to us.

Yugi smiled but, at that moment, his body gave out on him.

Yugi!

YGO

The Pharaoh quickly switched back. This duel has affected you too. Let me finish this. He looked back up at Gansley. He knew just how to do it. 'All right, Gansley, this duel's not done.'

'Your furry little powder-puff blocks one attack and you think you've won?' Gansley demanded. 'I'm afraid nothing could be further from the truth! Thanks to the Deck Master Rules, now that you've activated Kuriboh to defend yourself you've introduced him to the playing field. That means I'm now allowed to attack your little furball. And according to the Deck Master Rulebook, if your Deck Master is destroyed, you lose the duel. And your Kuriboh is no match for my serpent so this duel is over!'

'Last I checked, it was still on!'

YGO

Téa finally came to the top. She pulled herself up. '…Almost there…' Hauling her upper body over the top, she took a moment to catch her breath. 'I made it!'

But she wasn't out of danger yet. She pulled herself the rest of the way out and stood up. Turning her head, though, she soon saw the duel monsters making their way up after her.

'Those one-eyed freaks are still coming!'

Téa bolted again. One of them threw an axe, that buried itself in the cliff-face below her. They then climbed up like they were spiders. Téa ran faster. 'Leave me alone! This does not look good!' What was even worse, though, was what she came to next. She had to stop very fast.

There was a very deep gorge in front of her.

'Oh, great! So now what?' Téa looked around. She could still see them coming at her again. 'They have me cornered.' She looked around some more and then spotted a way across. 'But that virtual bridge couldn't hurt!'

Téa glanced behind her to see how far back they were, and then ran over to the bridge. Her eyes went down. 'Okay…That is not a small drop.' She looked at the bridge. 'And this thing's not looking too sturdy.' She looked over her shoulder again. 'But if I don't go, I'm Cyclops chowder.'

I sure could use my friends right about now. She jammed her eyes shut. Their faces flashed in her minds' eye. Wait a sec! They are here! We formed a bond of friendship that can't be broken, no matter what! So we're never really apart from each other. I can feel them cheering me on. So it's time for me to do this! With that in mind, Téa steeled herself and took her first step.

As soon as she stepped onto it, she shuddered. And so did the bridge. That's it. Put one foot in front of the other. No big deal. Just don't look down. She cried out as the bridge was suddenly shaken, scaring her into stopping. I looked down. Turning her head, Téa saw that the duel monsters had nearly gotten to the bridge. She started moving again. Okay. Just pick up the pace a little bit. It felt like her heart was trying to pound its way out of her chest. You can do this.

Her foot slipped and Téa had to stop again. Again, she looked back. 'I think.'

One of the duel monsters had grabbed the ropes and had a foot on the bridge. Téa moved forward again. Come on, Téa. You're half-way home. She felt the bridge shaking. She knew without looking back that they'd all followed her onto the bridge. 'You freaks!' She called back. 'Stay away!'

She suddenly remembered something Sharee had told her.

'The more shoddy a bridge looks, the more likely it is to break under your weight.'

And that meant only one thing. She looked down. The ropes holding the bridge together were already straining and the fibres were pulling apart. 'There's no way this bridge can support us!' She grabbed onto part of it and hoped for the best as she forced herself to keep moving. 'Someone heeelllppp!'

Téa grabbed onto the rope and made sure she kept constant grip on it as she moved.

Then…the bridge broke.

Téa screamed, barely aware of it herself. She managed to keep her grip, though. Her part of the bridge stayed attached to the other side of the gorge. She looked down and saw all of the duel monsters crash into the water. They'd be swept away by the current next…if she was lucky.

'Well…let's just hope those fellas won't be back any time soon.' Téa began climbing back up. 'I think I've had just about enough of this place. Man-eating Cyclops freaks, collapsing bridges. No thanks.'

Seemed to be more Sharee's cup of tea.

YGO

'Make your final pathetic move, Yugi. Not that you have any options. All you've got left is your puny Kuriboh, and what can he do?'

The Pharaoh closed his eyes as Kuriboh turned and looked sadly at him. He opened his eyes again. 'Wait and see.'

Kuriboh's face lit up.

The Pharaoh smiled at him. I know Kuriboh can do this. He came through once and he can do it again! I just have to believe in him. He looked back across the field as he drew. 'You like to do a lot of talking, Gansley.' The Pharaoh looked at the card. 'Now it's my turn to give the advice.' He smirked. 'Misjudging the power of the small can be a big mistake. In business and in Duel Monsters.'

Gansley growled.

'I guess they never taught you that on your way up the corporate ladder,' the Pharaoh mused. 'So Kuriboh and I will just have to teach you this lesson the hard way – by eliminating you from this duel! And then, based on your own twisted rules, you'll be trapped in this world for eternity.'

'You're just bluffing!' Gansley snapped. 'It doesn't matter what card you just drew.'

The Pharaoh scoffed. 'Really?' He lifted the card in question so Gansley could see it.

'Is that Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight?' Gansley laughed. 'That's useless! Remember my special ability? Attack me with whatever monster you like and it still won't affect me. I'll just reflect the attack back to you! With only 400 life points to spare, you'll wipe yourself out.'

The Pharaoh's smirk stayed firmly in place. 'I wouldn't be so sure.' He looked over at Kuriboh.

Kuriboh squealed happily.

'Huh?' The overconfidence faded off from Gansley's face.

'Activate face-down card!' The Pharaoh activated it and the card flipped up. 'Behold the magic card, Rainbow Blessing! When this card is combined with Kuriboh, a great power is released.'

Kuriboh squealed as his brown fur took on the colours of the rainbow.

'What?' Gansley demanded. 'You expect to win with rainbows and fuzzballs? What kind of stunt is this?'

'All right, Kuriboh!' The Pharaoh commanded. 'Form the Rainbow Arch!'

Kuriboh flew up and created an arch, like a real rainbow, from the Pharaoh's side of the field to Gansley himself.

'What is he doing?' Gansley demanded.

'Maybe you should check your Deck Master Rulebook,' the Pharaoh suggested. 'But, first, I shall summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight in attack mode!' He set the card. It appeared on the field and Gaia emerged from within. 'And, now, to put you out of business, Gansley!' The horse reared and neighed. 'I'm afraid your monsters are not my targets. I'm aiming directly for your life points!'

Gaia rode onto the Rainbow Arc and over the top of the monsters, bypassing them entirely.

'But how?' Gansley demanded, clearly realising he was about to lose. 'I analysed every aspect of this duel!'

'Well, you seem to have missed this one. Now, my Fierce Knight, attack! Follow the path of the Rainbow Arch, and attack his life points directly!'

'No, this can't be!' Gansley protested. 'My Deck Master ability doesn't work on direct attacks!'

'Yes, I know,' the Pharaoh said. 'Thanks to Kuriboh, I was able to figure out your weakness. Prepare to be crushed by the competition.'

Gaia's lance struck him.

Gansley screamed in pain as his life points dropped to 0. 'You little brat! I was so close to winning your body, and leaving this virtual nightmare behind for good!' He screamed again.

Gansley vanished, along with his monsters.

The Pharaoh staggered but managed to catch himself before he fully collapsed. 'I'm glad that's over with. At least for now.'

He was certain this wouldn't be his last duel here.

'It's time to find our friends. There's no telling what kind of danger Noah may have put them in.' He looked up as Kuriboh returned to his side, and returned to his normal brown. He looked down at him. The Pharaoh smiled. 'Thank you, Kuriboh.'

Kuriboh squealed happily before fading from the field along with Gaia and the Rainbow Arch.

The Pharaoh stood up. He considered what his next move should be. How would he go about looking for his friends in a place controlled entirely by an enemy. Something suddenly caught his eye and he looked over. A door faded into view out of thin air. Though immediately suspicious, Yugi was as optimistic as ever.

Looks like a passageway.

Yes. But where did Noah intend to lead them next?

Let's check it out. We might find the gang.

Or they might find more trouble. Still, it looked like the only way to get any progress was to go through the door. You're right. Hopefully, that's where it leads. Our friends could be in grave danger. He turned and headed for the door. Let's just hope we're not too late.

The Pharaoh opened the door and led Yugi through.