Burying the Past Part I

Noah cackled as he rushed at the escape window in Mokuba's body.

But then he hit something. He was flung back, clear out of Mokuba's body. He landed hard on his back. 'Hey! What's this?!'

The voice from the outside rang down. 'You didn't seriously believe you'd get away with bodysnatching, did you?'

'What?' Noah snapped his head up.

'Of course not. Once I knew that this was your intent, I put up some firewalls.'

Noah's eyes widened. 'That's not fair!'

'No, it wasn't fair that you got hit by a car and your life was ended,' she said. 'It wasn't fair that your father kept you around in the state that he did and then abandoned you. And it isn't fair that you should steal someone else's life just so you can live past your time. I do feel for you, but it's time for you to sleep, Noah Kaiba.'

YGO

Mokuba Kaiba's eyes snapped open.

He sat up in the pod and looked around. He could see the others, all of them still trapped in their virtual simulator pods. Seto was, in fact, right next to him. But...what had happened? Noah had definitely possessed him. And it didn't...feel like he was possessed by anyone else. And Sharee and Yugi were still in the virtual world so they couldn't tell him.

The sound of a ringing phone got his attention.

Mokuba quickly climbed out of his pod and located the phone hanging on the wall.

He grabbed it and answered it. 'Hello?'

'Mokuba Kaiba?' An American woman was on the other end.

Mokuba switched to English. 'Yes. Who's this?'

'Noel Pertinicle. I'm Sharee and Shauna's mom.'

'Oh, right!' Mokuba looked over at Sharee's pod.

'Shauna's currently working to stop Gozaboro's plan to digitise the world,' Mrs. Pertinicle said. 'But she's not working alone, so she's also keeping an eye on the others. As a result, she's asked me to call you and tell you what just happened.'

'Yeah.' Mokuba looked back at his pod. 'I thought for sure Noah possessed me.'

'He did,' Mrs. Pertinicle said. 'But when Shauna knew bodysnatching was the intent, she set up a firewall that prevents anyone from leaving the virtual world in any body but their own. So you passed through just fine, but Noah was ejected.'

'So none of this would have worked anyway,' Mokuba concluded.

'Not at all,' Mrs. Pertinicle told him.

Mokuba looked back at the pods again. 'But what do I do now?'

'Find your brother's employees and have them ready to move ASAP,' she answered. 'Like I said, Shauna is working with hackers all around the globe to stop Gozaboro. That means it's becoming very public knowledge – at least in certain circles. And those certain circles are likely to want to destroy the entire base. Shauna is going to let the others know where the exit window is. As soon as you're all out, you all want to get outta there fast. Cause they'll wanna destroy the supercomputer in question, fast. Most secure way to do that is to destroy the entire base.'

Mokuba nodded and sighed. 'I was actually hoping we could help Noah. I mean, he's an evil jerk and he tried to bodysnatch me but...it's not his fault he's like that. What happened to him wasn't fair.'

'You've got a good heart, Mokuba,' Mrs. Pertinicle said. 'But Noah died a long time ago. And then he was broken by his father refusing to let go. Trust me, I see where you're coming from, but a dozen psychiatrists could get rich on that boy and he'd still spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital. I think the best thing we can do for him now is to give him the peace he should've been given six years ago.'

Slowly, and sadly, Mokuba nodded.

YGO

Kaiba strode through the virtual city, anger burning in his gut.

Any fool could have seen that Noah never planned to set us free. He claimed that doorway led back to the real world, but it was just another trap! Now it's time to go straight to the source, and take down the man behind all of this madness: my stepfather, Gozaboro. If he thinks his ridiculous plan to drag the entire world into this digital dump is going to succeed, then he's more senile than I thought.

Shauna had, after all, not made her monitoring and manipulations secretive, except at the very beginning. By now, she would have made the plot known. That meant when he got out, he'd be able to find the satellite in question – simply by finding out which KaibaCorp satellite was no longer active. In the meantime…

Kaiba stopped at the foot of the copy of his building and looked up with a scowl. 'I'm sure that old fool is sitting in my office right now! I've taken him down once before, and I'm planning to do it again. But this time for good.'

YGO

Joey was not taking it well.

'That scrawny little twerp double-crossed us again!' he snapped. 'I knew we shouldn't have trusted him. Now he's toast!'

'Wait, Joey,' Yugi said. 'We have to come up with a plan that makes sense.'

Joey spun around. 'Yeah, and I already came up with a plan! We shake Noah upside-down til he tells us the way out!'

'I'm gonna have to agree with Joey on this one, guys,' Duke said. 'Only Noah knows where the exit is.'

'And we're running out of time!' Téa insisted. 'Cause, pretty soon, the whole world will be trapped.'

'I wouldn't worry too much,' Sharee said.

'Why not?' Téa asked.

'Because Shauna set something up ages ago,' Sharee said, 'when the Big 5 made it clear they wanted to steal our bodies. Nobody's leaving this world in anyone's body but their own.'

'That's a relief, at least,' Yugi said, 'but how are we gonna get outta here.'

Shauna's voice suddenly came down from above again. 'I know where the real exit window is,' she sing-songed.

'You do?' Serenity looked up.

'Yup,' Shauna said. 'Noah tried to bodysnatch Mokuba but, as Sharee said, ran into my firewall and was ejected.' The second part of that sentence was said in a crisp and curt tone. 'The exit's in the arcade.'

'Then what are we waiting for?' Joey demanded. 'Let's go!'

The whole group turned and ran for the arcade.

YGO

As they ran, Yugi's mind turned over what happened. I guess I shouldn't have trusted Noah. This is all my fault.

Not true, the Pharaoh told him. You believed there's still good inside of Noah, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Well, no one else does.

Give them time. After everything he's done, it's hard to believe he could change. Noah's acts of rage were fuelled by an anger deep inside. He's a child who tragically lost his life and then was frozen in a world with nobody else and nothing. The way he responded is understandable. Not permissible, but understandable.

YGO

Sharee skidded to a stop with the whole group as something appeared in front of them.

'It's Skull Knight!' Yugi barely managed to stop next to her.

'There's a whole bunch of 'em!' Téa pointed out.

Sure enough, there seemed to be a small army of Skull Knights.

'Joey, behind you!' Duke called out in warning.

Joey turned to even more monsters.

'Where are these monsters coming from?' Téa demanded.

Soon, they were surrounded and Yugi, Sharee, Joey, and Duke formed a small protective circle around Téa, Tristan, and Serenity.

'Well!' Sharee activated her duel disk, which was suddenly on her arm. 'Looks to me like Gozaboro's making us duel our way to the arcade!'

'Then let's get onto it!' Joey declared as he and Yugi activated their own suddenly-there duel disks.

Duke had one too. 'Of course, you realise this means Noah lied about that too.'

Sharee nodded. 'Unfortunately obvious if he has to send Duel Monsters to stop us getting there.'

YGO

Kaiba slammed the door open and strode into his office – which in the virtual world was apparently Gozaboro's. All of the changes he'd made, to cater to Mokuba, had been removed and it was the big, empty space that it'd been when he'd first come into the sphere of influence that Gozaboro had wielded.

'Don't you know how to knock?' Gozaboro demanded.

'I guess you never taught me manners,' Kaiba retorted as he strode in.

Gozaboro smirked. 'Have a seat. It's time for a father and son chat.'

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and elected to remain on his feet. 'In your dreams.'

'Seto, just give in now,' Gozaboro told him smugly. 'You'll make things much easier on yourself.' He moved a bishop on the chessboard in front of him. Behind Kaiba, a screen lowered. 'Or you can choose you meet the same fate as your little friends. Take a look.'

Kaiba didn't bother.

'My army of monsters is about to wipe them out,' Gozaboro said.

Kaiba really doubted that. Gozaboro had no idea of what Yugi and Sharee in particular were capable of. And Wheeler did have an unbelievable lucky streak. Gozaboro could throw Duel Monsters at them until he was blue in the face. They would win and they would keep pressing onwards.

Of course, the image behind him would be heavily edited to reflect the opposite.

Kaiba heard the tell-tale sound of a monster being destroyed and Yugi grunting in response.

He only glanced back out of the corner of his eye and, as expected, he saw Yugi on the screen, gritting his teeth and catching his breath. He looked back at his step-father. 'Your little threats don't scare me at all. So why don't you let us go before I really get angry?'

With a chuckle, Gozaboro stood up and walked around the desk. 'You haven't changed a bit.' He stopped next to Kaiba. 'All right, I know the perfect way to settle our differences. Do you recall the chess match we had the day I met you? Well, I propose a rematch!' He gave Kaiba one of his sneering smiles.

Kaiba just smirked. 'You are not worth my time.'

Gozaboro scowled.

'Why would I want to play chess against someone who couldn't even beat me when I was just a kid?' Kaiba asked.

Gozaboro sneered. 'Hm. What makes you think I'm talking about you and I playing another chess game, Seto?'

Now Kaiba looked at him. 'Then what did you have in mind, Gozaboro?'

'Take a guess,' Gozaboro said. 'It's a game you're quite fond of: Duel Monsters!'

What? He'd never played before. He'd always called it a silly card game. Why would he want to play now? 'Really? What are you up to?'

Gozaboro smirked at him. 'You seem mad. I thought you'd jump at the chance to duel your step-father to win your freedom.'

'You thought wrong, Gozaboro.' Kaiba eyed him suspiciously. 'You can't play with my life like it's a game.'

'Well, that's exactly what you did to me, Seto,' Gozaboro retorted, 'on the day you stole the Kaiba Corporation from me.'

'How heartbreaking.' Kaiba was really getting more than fed up with this. 'You're here because I outsmarted you and took away your precious little company.'

'I'm here because the virtual world gives me limitless power!' Gozaboro snapped. 'Soon I'll use it to digitise the world. But first I'll get rid of you!'

Kaiba smirked. If he knew Shauna, she'd already dealt with that. 'And why do you have to beat me in a duel to do that?'

'To humiliate you like you humiliated me! And once I beat you at your favourite game, I'll make sure you never stand in my way again! I'll erase your mind and reprogram you as my servant! Then you'll obey my every command just like the rest of the world.'

Kaiba calmly turned away from him. 'I have never served anyone but myself. And I've never backed down from a challenge either, Gozaboro. So let's duel.'

Real World

Shauna watched all of this with a pensive expression on her face.

Then…she rolled her chair to her interface.

'What are you doing?' Noel asked.

'If Kaiba goes through with this duel,' Shauna said, 'and he will, he may not be able to get to the escape window at the arcade in time. Certain people are already attempting to hack into certain armaments caches. The people there are working against them but, sooner or later, someone's gonna slip through.'

Noel shook her head. 'It's beyond me why so many people see the need to take the law into their own hands.'

'I blame pop culture.' Shauna sighed. 'Anyway, so I'm either gonna find a different exit close to him, or I'm gonna make one.'

YGO

Meanwhile, on the blimp, an explosion got the attention of Kaiba's employees.

'We're no longer locked down!' one of them declared.

'Excellent! Now we have to find the other passengers.'

Behind them, Ishizu Ishtar watched silently. Marik.

Virtual World

The duel arena Gozaboro brought him to was strangely similar to the one he'd duelled Yugi in for the first time.

They moved into position.

'Are you prepared to humiliate yourself, Seto?' Gozaboro asked with vindictive glee.

'You tell me,' Kaiba retorted.

'Let's get started!'

They both drew their first hand.

'Now, then, I'll go first!' Gozaboro announced.

Kaiba smirked. 'And you criticise me for having no manners? Go ahead and make your move.'

'I play Painful Choice,' Gozaboro played it. 'It's a magic card that allows me to take any five cards—'

Kaiba cut him off. 'I know what the card does, you fool.'

Gozaboro glared at him.

'First you show me any five cards from your deck, then I pick one of them. That card goes into your hand. The others head to the graveyard. Now, show me your five cards already!'

Gozaboro chuckled. 'Well, someone's feeling a bit anxious. So feast your eyes on my cards. I have a strong feeling you've encountered them before.' He set down the cards and they appeared on the field. 'Take a close look. Do these five cards seem familiar to you?'

Kaiba drew back. 'It can't be! Not those cards!'

They were the five pieces of Exodia, the Forbidden One.

'Yes,' Gozaboro said. 'I have all five pieces of Exodia in my deck.'

Kaiba glared at him. 'But not for long.' Still, he couldn't help but wonder why Gozaboro had put them out for Kaiba's selection. It didn't make sense. 'Trust me.'

'We'll see about that, Seto,' Gozaboro said. 'After all, we've just begun. And I know all about your painful history with Exodia.'

So…this was all a mind game then. 'Your point? That's history. Besides, I'm about to send four pieces of Exodia to the graveyard.'

Gozaboro laughed confidently. He was definitely up to something. 'Then what are you waiting for?'

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Any duellist holding all five pieces of Exodia automatically wins, but since he drew them using a Painful Choice magic card, I can send four of them to the graveyard.

'Didn't I teach you that hesitation is a form of weakness when facing down your enemies, Seto?' Gozaboro asked pointedly.

Kaiba ground his teeth and glared at his step-father. He's up to something, I knew it. Even he's not dumb enough to throw away his best cards. But the rules were clear and Kaiba had to pick one. He point to the Right Arm. 'I'll let you keep that one.'

'Then the Right Arm of Exodia goes to my hand and the others go away.' Gozaboro put all five cards in their appropriate places. He took a card. 'Now I'll place one monster in defence mode and end my turn.' He set the card. 'For now.' The card in question appeared on the field in front of him. 'But it won't be long before you hear me say "checkmate".'

YGO

'The coast is clear!' Joey declared. 'Let's go.'

Their friends ran through.

Sharee's duel disk suddenly beeped. She looked down. 'Uh oh!'

'What's "uh oh"?' Yugi asked as they ran, covered by their monsters.

'Shauna's just given me a countdown that started at thirty minutes.'

'What's that for?' Téa asked.

Sharee frowned. 'My guess? That's how long we have to get outta here and onto the blimp again.'

YGO

'I place one card face-down and summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!' Kaiba played his cards. The face-down card appeared first and then his Raider appeared on the field. Kaiba looked across the field. He has a monster in defence mode It could be more powerful than my Vorse Raider, but then again, knowing Gozaboro, he's bluffing.

He was standing there, chuckling.

'Vorse Raider, attack now!' Kaiba ordered. 'Destroy his face-down monster!'

With a roar, the Vorse Raider attacked. He sent his axe flying through the air and it sliced through the card. Kaiba was surprised when he saw which card it was. The Vorse Raider caught his weapon as it returned to him.

'What?' he demanded. 'Why did you put Exodia's Right Arm on the field?'

'You're about to find out.'

'What are you waiting for?' Kaiba asked.

'Nothing, now that I have what I need. It's over, Seto. My move.' Gozaboro drew. 'And now I activate the magic card, Contract With Exodia.' He set the card and it appeared on the field.

Kaiba drew back, eyes wide. 'I've never seen that card before! What is that?' Had Gozaboro invented his own set of cards for the Virtual World? So he could have exactly what he needed on a whim?

'Before I could activate this magic card, I had to make sure that all five piece of Exodia were sent to my card graveyard,' Gozaboro explained. 'Next I'll give up 2000 life points, allowing me to summon Exodia Necross!'

Kaiba gasped in alarm. 'What on Earth are you talking about?'

'Seto, it's over, so prepare for defeat! Meet the most feared creature in Duel Monsters,' he spread his arms in a dramatic display, 'the mighty Exodia Necross!' With that declaration, the field grew dark. Gozaboro's life points dropped to 2000. 'It's the last monster you'll ever see, my boy!'

Five purple beams of light appeared in the darkness. They faded away to points of light.

'I've waited years for this moment,' Gozaboro went on. 'Checkmate, Seto!'

Out of the darkness there faded a behemoth of a monster. It took form from a sickly green mist as Gozaboro laughed maniacally. It looked just like Exodia but it was black in colour instead of gold. Kaiba stared up at it, taking in the dark shadow of the monster that had handed him his first ever duelling defeat.

Gozaboro laughed. 'Well, son, are you frightened?'

'Not quite,' Kaiba said. 'It looks like your Exodia Necross only has 1800 attack points, and my monster's stronger!'

'Don't judge a monster by its cover,' Gozaboro advised him with a laugh. 'Exodia Necross may be stronger than it appears, my boy. Watch this.' Then he called out a truly nonsensical attack. 'Exodia Necross, attack him now!'

'What's this?' Kaiba demanded, eyes widening. 'Why are you attacking me with a monster that is clearly weaker than mine, Gozaboro?' Exodia Necross punched at the Vorse Raider, and Vorse Raider counterattacked. There was a bright flash of light…but Exodia Necross remained there afterwards. 'Why is your monster still standing? Tell me! My Vorse Raider should have destroyed it!'

Gozaboro's life point dropped further, to 1900. He chuckled. 'It cannot be destroyed by another monster. And, in addition, it gains 1000 attack points whenever it engages in a battle.' Exodia Necross's attack points flew up to 2800.

Kaiba's eyes widened. 'Oh, no!'

'Are you beginning to understand that there's no way you can win this duel?' Gozaboro asked mockingly. 'Exodia Necross is invincible! You're finished, my boy!'

'Not quite. My move.' He drew. He may think his Exodia can't be destroyed, but he's mistaken. 'I summon Spirit Ryou!' Kaiba played the card and it appeared on the field with a roar. 'All right. Say goodbye to your monster. Now I activate my Burst Breath trap card.' The card in question flipped up. 'This lets me sacrifice Spirit Ryou,' both the trap card and the monster were shattered, 'with destroys every monster on the field with fewer than 1000 defence points. So much for your Exodia.'

Exodia Necross had 0 defence points.

But Exodia Necross was also not destroyed.

'Hold on!' Kaiba jerked back. 'Exodia Necross has 0 defence points, so why wasn't it destroyed.'

Gozaboro chuckled, a nasty grin on his face. 'Allow me to explain. My monster is granted special effects from each of the five Exodia cards in my graveyard. Listen carefully. As long as the left leg is in my graveyard, no magic card can destroy Exodia Necross. Exodia's right leg protects my creature from all of your trap cards. The left arm in my graveyard ensures that Exodia Necross is protected from the special effects of your monsters. Exodia's right arm allows my creature to gain 1000 attack points with every battle. And, finally, having the head of Exodia protects my beast from being destroyed by any of your monsters in battle.'

Kaiba jerked back. 'That's insane! The five pieces of Exodia are even powerful when they're sent to the graveyard!' I can't destroy his Exodia Necross with monster, magic, or trap cards! It's invincible…

Gozaboro threw his head back and laughed. 'You may as well give up and admit defeat! There's nothing you can do to stop me!'

Kaiba looked down at his Vorse Raider. 'I refuse to be beaten by you.' He took a card from his hand. 'I place one card face-down and switch Vorse Raider into defence mode!'

Real World

Mokuba stood at the computer console, staring at the screen.

'Seto…'

Virtual World

There was a monster directly in front of them.

'Let's fry this creep, Yug,' Joey said.

Yugi took a card from his deck. 'I summon Dark Magician!'

'I summon Rocket Warrior!' Joey pulled the card from his deck.

The monsters appeared and began to fight.

Téa turned. 'Sharee, how much time have we got?'

Sharee checked her duel disk and growled. 'Ten minutes.'