Disclaimer: If you recognise it from the show, Yu-Gi-oh, I claim no ownership.

Yes! This story is not dead. I just hit a rut.

...A very long rut.

A Virtual Nightmare

'Our final destination is in sight,' Roland announced over the loudspeakers. 'Stand by for decent upon KaibaCorp Island for the conclusion of the Battle City Finals.'

Yugi sat up in bed. He gave an internal sigh. I couldn't sleep at all last night. He picked up the Millennium Puzzle and looked at it. After everything that happened yesterday, it's pretty obvious that Marik will stop at nothing to get his hands on the ancient power of the Pharaoh, and he'll crush whoever stands in his way. First there'd been Bakura – or rather, last. But Bakura was only one of Marik's victims, and the list is growing fast. First, Mark's servant, Odion, took the fall when Marik angered the Egyptian Gods. Then Marik trapped Mai's mind in the Shadow Realm. There's no telling who he'll target next. But I'm not just gonna sit around and wait to find out. Marik's gotta be stopped or—

Yugi's train of through was just off when the blimp shook violently.

Moving fast, Yugi jumped to his feet. He pulled on his runners and grabbed his jacket as he hooked his Puzzle around his neck. Running out into the corridor, he found Sharee coming out of her own room. The fact that she had her own room actually said quite a lot, he thought. Sharee was shrugging on a denim jacket. She then tied her Millennium Bandanna onto her head.

'Sharee, what's going on?' Yugi called out.

'No idea! Blimps aren't supposed to hit turbulence, last I checked.' She winced. 'Not like this, at least. I'd say that was especially true for one belonging to Kaiba. Let's get to the cockpit!'

The two of them ran, only Sharee seeming to know the way to the cockpit. As they went, they were joined by the rest of their friends. Sharee was the first in, but Yugi heard Kaiba barking out orders. Obviously, they were trying to deal with whatever was causing the turbulence.

'Hey!' Joey yelled. 'What's up with the turbulence?'

'Yeah,' Tristan said, 'some of us sleep past five.'

Kaiba just looked annoyed at them.

'Oh, no!' one of his employees suddenly exclaimed. 'The autopilot isn't responding, Mr. Kaiba!'

The blimp turned sharply. Sharee handled the shift in the centre of gravity best, but even she struggled to maintain her balance. Yugi felt sorry for her when several of their other friends clamped onto her and Sharee had to use one of the bars in front of her to maintain her balance.

'Make it respond!' Kaiba snapped.

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

Yugi glanced over as Sharee reached into her pocket for a moment before withdrawing her hand. Oh, that's right. She's got a cell phone in there. I guess she must've seen some kind of alert to her sister.

And a good thing too, the Pharaoh added. Whoever this is has some incredible technology to do this to Kaiba, of all people. With a bit of luck, they won't see a hacker from America coming.

Kaiba growled. 'I pay you good money. Now, do whatever it takes to get us back on course to KaibaCorp Island!'

'That pile of junk?' Tristan demanded.

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

Yugi stepped forward. 'Is that the final duelling site?'

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

Yugi looked over at him, startled. 'Huh?'

Mokuba explained. 'KaibaCorp wasn't always a game company. 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 KaibaCorp.'

'That's enough, Mokuba!' Kaiba snapped.

'I think we hit a sore spot,' Joey remarked.

YGO

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

Kaiba's attention was suddenly drawn by his programmer at the controls. 'I've got it! Our navigational computers are taking commands from outside the ship.' He turned and looked back. 'Someone's hacked into the mainframe and changed our destination coordinates.'

The dork patrol, barring Sharee, gasped. Sharee, for her part, just ground her teeth.

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

'Our situation is worsening!' the programmer yelled as the blimp plummeted. 'We're losing altitude rapidly!'

Kaiba growled. 'I can see that, you buffoon!'

'Everybody hold on!'

They hit the water and everybody was thrown. Kaiba and Sharee were the only ones who managed to retain their footing.

'Is everyone all right?' the programmer asked as most of the others picked themselves up off of the floor.

Taylor groaned. 'You mean besides the whiplash and the sprained ankle?'

'Can you say "lawsuit"?' Wheeler demanded.

Ha! As if he could even afford a lawyer!

'Try the emergency override system!' Mokuba ordered.

'It's no use!' the programmer insisted as he worked frantically. 'I've been completely locked out!'

Kaiba straightened up, grinding his teeth. I don't know who's behind all this, but I won't let my triumphant return to KaibaCorp Island be ruined by some computer geek!

Suddenly the screen in front of them fizzed out. They heard the voice first: high-pitched, annoying, and gloating.

'Greetings, duellists. There's nothing wrong with your television set.' The face of a blue-haired pre-teen kid appeared on the screen. 'I'm in control now.'

'Who are you?' Sharee asked.

The kid smirked. 'What does it matter whether you know or not? All you need to know is that I'm in control here.'

'Identify yourself!' Kaiba snapped.

'Always barking orders, aren't you?' the kid sneered. '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 snapped.

'Too late for that,' the kid said. 'I already have.'

'Look, kid,' Kaiba snapped. 'I demand to know your name!'

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

'What does that even mean?' Sharee asked.

Kaiba didn't care. 'All right! Enough of your foolish games!'

'I'm afraid my "games" have only just begun, you fool.' The screen flashed and they were suddenly looking at the ocean directly in front of them.

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

Wheeler answered instead, because Kaiba was too busy watching as something rose out of the water. 'Unfortunately, I think we're about to find out.'

'What is that?' Mokuba demanded.

'Looks like a submarine-type base,' Sharee said. 'I wonder how long he was waiting.'

'I'm glad you're impressed,' Téa said. 'I don't like the look of this.'

'It's huge!' Devlin exclaimed.

'And it's still growing!' Wheeler added.

The programmer spoke up again. 'I have bad news, Mr. Kaiba.'

'What is it?' Kaiba demanded, irritated enough as it was.

'Well, sir, it appears that floating fortress is using a tractor beam to pull our airport towards it.'

'Let us go!' Mokuba yelled.

'Look, you little brat!' Taylor yelled at him. 'Enough's enough!'

Surprisingly, the most sensible thing came from Wheeler. 'It's no use, guys. That little kid has us right where he wants us. I just wish I knew where that was.'

A hatch opened below them, and the blimp began to descend.

'He's activated our landing functions, sir.' the programmer exclaimed. 'There's nothing I can do!'

As they descended, it got darker and darker.

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

'I want first crack at him!' Taylor insisted.

'Well, he's not after you, is he?' Sharee rebutted him.

'Easy,' Devlin said. 'He's just a kid.'

'Are we safe?' Wheeler's sister asked him.

'Of course we are, sis,' Wheeler foolishly said. 'As long as I'm on board.'

'Joey,' Sharee said, 'not the time for bravado.'

'That's enough!' Kaiba snapped. 'This is my aircraft and I'll handle this on my own.'

Wheeler waved it off. 'Whatever.'

I have a feeling there's more to that kid, Noah, than meets the eye. There's no way some pre-pubescent punk planned all this. It was just too much for a kid of that age. Kaiba would peg him at somewhere between ten or twelve. Even if he was gifted at computers, his brain wouldn't be developed enough for this level of long-term planning. So, he had to have help.

Probably adult help.

The blimp landed, and two mechanical arms came out of the wall. The blimp was secured in place. Bright spotlights were then shone on them. The screen in the cockpit, which had gone blank, flared to life again. Noah looked down at them with an air of assumed superiority.

'Thanks for dropping in, Seto! Time for you and your friends to exit the ship.'

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

Noah chuckled. 'I'm afraid, at this point, refusal is not an option.'

Several panels along the walls outside opened and remotely-operated machine guns popped out. All of them aimed at the blimp. Kaiba noticed Sharee look around the cockpit. Obviously, she was looking for the safest place to stand if those were fired at them. Honestly, Kaiba didn't think that any place was safest. This was, technically, a leisure blimp – not one designed for war.

Blimps in war were stupid anyway.

The dork patrol flinched back.

'Do what he says!' Devlin quickly stated.

'This kid's nuts,' Wheeler announced.

With a scowl, Kaiba turned and headed for the door. 'You all stay here.'

'Are you sure he's gonna let us?' Sharee asked as Yugi exclaimed, 'Kaiba, don't!'

'Look,' Kaiba snapped, 'this is my battle, so don't do me any favours.'

'Kaiba—' Whatever Yugi was about to say was cut off when Mokuba ran past him and stopped next to him.

Kaiba looked down. 'Mokuba, you are not to leave this ship.'

'But, wait…!' Mokuba tried to protest.

Kaiba spun around. 'Noah, I'll be coming out to you alone! Any questions?'

Noah opened fire on them. Sharee immediately dived behind the nearest computer terminal. The rest of the dork patrol covered their heads with their arms and cried out in distress. Kaiba only worried about covering Mokuba. Noah's gloating voice came over the PA.

'Care to reconsider your decision?'

'I can answer that for him!'

Loathe as he was to agree with Wheeler, Kaiba knew he had no other choice.

New Haven, CT, USA

Shauna swung the door to her computer lab open.

She was just grateful her school had decided the attack on her must've left her traumatised and she would do well to go home for a little while. They were still emailing her both her schoolwork and they expected homework from her, but it gave Shauna the chance to respond to the alert her sister had sent her.

Setting the hand-held device aside, Shauna moved over and began firing up every monitor she had.

She had a lot of them.

Underwater Fortress, Sea of Japan

Sharee walked alongside Yugi and Kaiba ahead of the others.

Yugi was, unsurprisingly, the first one to break the silence. 'What is it you want from us, Noah?'

Noah answered over the PA system. '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.'

Kaiba scowled in response to that.

Sharee shook her head. 'Don't bother. His type like to hold answers over your head as a power play. And they'll happily mock you with said information.'

'Run into his type before?' Mokuba asked knowingly.

'Naturally.'

'So, what do you do with people like this?' Serenity asked.

'Usually, it boils down to getting the information from another source or deciding not to care about the information in question. The latter isn't really an option in this circumstance.'

The door they were approaching opened in front of them.

'This is getting creepier and creepier,' Téa said.

They stepped onto a large chamber.

'Check it out,' Mokuba said as the door slid closed behind them. 'What is this place?'

The whole group looked around.

'It looks too big to be a racquetball court,' Joey observed.

'Is there anybody out there?' Téa called.

The chorus of dark chuckles in response to her question came right before a bright light exploded from the other side of the room. Sharee found herself wishing for her sunnies as she shielded her eyes. She really didn't think she was the only one making such a wish though.

'Who's there?' Kaiba demanded. 'Show yourselves!'

'With pleasure.'

The light faded down enough so Sharee could lower her arms and look. There were a group of late middle-aged men standing in front of them. Sharee didn't recognise them, but their voices seemed vaguely familiar. Kaiba clearly thought so too. His hand came down fast.

'But wait…! It can't be!'

'You should have known we'd be back, Seto Kaiba,' the man in the front said. 'For revenge!'

Hold on. Suits…Kaiba knows them…their voices sound familiar…Oh. Aw, nuts! Sharee nearly growled. 'You losers?'

The men shot her glares but ignored her for the most part.

'Surprised to see us again, Kaiba?' the man in charge asked.

'So you know these five suits?' Tristan asked. 'What's going on here?'

'Suddenly, I feel really underdressed,' Duke remarked.

Yugi was, of course, the next one to pick up on it. 'I can't put my finger on it, but something about these guys seems really familiar to me.'

'We've never seen them before, Yugi,' Sharee said, 'but we sure have heard them.'

'These are the five creeps that tried to get rid of Seto and take over KaibaCorp,' Mokuba explained. 'Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Nezbitt, and Leichter. Also known as the Big 5.'

'That's right!' Joey exclaimed in realisation. 'They trapped Kaiba in Cyberland until we saved him!'

Sharee winced. He won't like the reminder.

Sure enough, 'Almost right.' Though to be fair, Kaiba was probably in too much shock from seeing these jokers to be really annoyed at Joey. 'They were hired by my stepfather to serve as KaibaCorp's Board of Directors, but that wasn't enough power for them. So they tried to destroy me using my own virtual technology, and take over my company.'

'When those corporate creepazoids lost, they were imprisoned in the virtual world instead of Seto,' Mokuba said.

'Serves them right too,' Sharee muttered.

'That's right,' Gansley said, 'but did you honestly believe that you'd seen the last of us? We wandered through cyberspace for what seemed like an eternity.'

Sharee scoffed. 'It's been a few months, you drama queen.'

Crump glared at her as he added. 'We finally found our ticket to revenge the day that Noah hacked into KaibaCorp's mainframe.'

Johnson picked up. '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?' Téa asked.

'I defeated you once,' Kaiba stated. 'And I can easily do it again!'

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

'What kind of a game are we talking about, you snake?' Kaiba demanded.

'Oh,' Gansley said, '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.'

Sharee didn't know what to go after first: the fact that they had hijacked the blimp with some of the best duellists in the world in order to challenge them to Duel Monsters, or the fact that they said "invited" when the word "coerced" would be more appropriate. Sharee had no doubt that they wouldn't be able to turn it down.

'But why do you guys want to duel us?' Yugi demanded.

'Our minds have been trapped in this virtual prison for so long,' Crump said, '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,' Johnson stated.

Sharee could tell that had hit a nerve with Joey so she spoke up before he could. 'And then, I presume, you plan to continue your lives as per usual in our bodies?'

'Of course,' Gansley said.

Sharee smirked. 'You are going to walk around like you're middle-aged businessmen, dressed as teenagers? Just think about that for a minute.'

Gansley decided to ignore her instead. 'Now! It's time to pay a visit to our special duelling world. I'm sure you'll find this world unlike anything you've ever seen.'

There was a bright flash of light and the next thing Sharee knew, she was waking up. She pushed herself up from the dirt at about the same time everyone else was doing the same. Looking around, she took in the environment around her. Next to her, Kaiba was the first one on his feet.

'It's a jungle,' Tristan said.

Yugi quickly corrected him. 'Not quite.'

'What do you mean, Yugi?' Téa asked. 'Looks like a jungle to me.'

Kaiba was taking in their surroundings. 'Weren't you geeks listening? This environment is virtual.'

A pterodactyl flew overhead.

Serenity dived over to her brother. 'Joey!'

'Relax, Serenity,' Joey told her, even as he was practically sweating bullets. 'I know this place looks real, but it's actually just a life-sized video game, sis.'

Sharee decided not to touch that remark with a ten-foot pole.

'You sure this isn't real?' Téa asked, walking over and looking around. She sniffed. 'Because it sure smells real.'

Dude, even I wouldn't claim to know what a prehistoric jungle smells like. But now was not the time for humour.

'That was me,' Tristan said.

'Tristan!' Téa snapped. 'That's gross!'

Suddenly there was a crash and something shook the ground.

Mokuba looked around. 'I don't like the sound of this, you guys.' He looked up as a T-Rex walked past the clearing they were in. It stopped and looked at them.

'D-d-d-don't panic!' Joey insisted. 'It's just a hologram!' But he still jumped in front of his sister.

'Are you sure?' Serenity asked.

'Uh…Why? Don't I seem sure?'

The T-Rex took a step toward them. Most of the group scattered. Kaiba stayed where he was. Sharee took a step back. Every instinct in her was screaming at her to run, but she knew that was a primal response. Like Joey said, it was just a hologram. It wasn't really going to eat them. It lifted a claws paw…hand…Shit, what were they called in dinosaurs? Sharee flinched as it swiped at them.

'Run!' Yugi yelled.

'Seto!' Mokuba cried out.

The claws went right through them.

The dinosaur then turned and walked away.

Kaiba smirked. 'That brat, Noah, can't intimidate me with cheap virtual illusions like this. I wrote better virtual reality programs back when this kid was still wearing diapers. This stuff's amateur.'

Sharee noticed Téa walk over and look at a flower. She put a hand through the plant and it fizzed, like the T-Rex had done. Téa gasped in surprise. Sharee didn't see why. But what she saw next did surprise her, if only for a moment. To see a virtual version of Kaiba walk out and duel against what was clearly a wild monster wasn't something she was expecting.

It's probably to freak us out.

Obviously, this was supposed to be a demonstration of some description. They watched as the virtual Kaiba created a Blue Eyes White Dragon, only to be defeated when the monster standing next to him was destroyed instead. Immediately, from overhead, one of the Big 5 spoke up.

'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 lifted a clenched fist. '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 outta here, you crotchety old cranks!' Joey yelled.

'We've never even left this room, you fool.'

The jungle suddenly melted right back into the chamber. They all twisted around to face the Big 5 again.

'But make no mistake,' Johnson said. '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.'

Kaiba stepped towards them first. The rest of the group was quick to follow.

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

'Yeah!' Joey was quick to agree. 'We'll kick your big business butts!'

Serenity was clearly unsure though. 'Joey, wait…'

Huh, I wonder if he's so confident to compensate for her lack of confidence…

Probably.

Joey turned to his sister. 'Don't worry, Serenity. We can whip these five geezers, one-two-three. I promise we'll win, and I've never broken a promise to you.'

Serenity smiled. 'Then promise you'll be careful.'

'Deal.'

'If we stick together, they won't stand a chance!' Yugi proclaimed.

Sharee did not like the smirks the Big 5 gave in response to that.

'Don't worry,' Duke said. 'I got your back, man.'

Tristan quickly agreed, 'Me too.'

'Pass the jam,' Joey said, 'cause these guys are toast.'

'Hold on, guys!' Téa called out as a voice of reason. 'They never said which of us will actually have to duel.'

Johnson chuckled.

'Good question, kid,' Crump said. 'Just to make sure that you all suffer equally, we'll be duelling against every one of you brats.'

'Remember,' Johnson said, 'we need to take over five bodies, so the first five of you to lose will have the honour of gaining our minds while you'll stay trapped here.'

Sharee ground her teeth and readied herself for a fight while gasps came from all around her.

Kaiba stepped forward, his hand automatically shifting in front of Mokuba. 'In your dreams!'

'Ever since you destroyed our bodies all we've had are our dreams, Mr. Kaiba!' Gansley snapped. They began to grow in size, becoming giants as he spoke. '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!'

The Big 5 laughed maniacally.