The Dreamer- Rated T (Not by me)

Okay, so I read this fan fiction and it totally made me change my mind of Kaiba, so maybe he isn't so bad after all.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT by me.

*****
Chapter 1:

“Get out of my head!” Seto Kaiba shouted to no one in particular. The
CEO of KaibaCorp was alone in his office. While spacious, it was rather
sparsely furnished. A flat screen monitor was on the wall, along with
various cabinets. The only furniture consisted of a large mahogany
desk, and the chair behind it.
Kaiba pounded his fists on the desk in front of him in frustration. In every thought of his day, was her.
Not even sleep brought relief, as she even invaded his dreams. Why did
she affect him this way? He owed her a debt, yes, but not enough for
this!
He looked down at the design document on his desk. Noah’s
virtual world had intrigued him, and with Noah’s help, KaibaCorp
R&D was creating a virtual dueling arena with just a fraction of
the technology. Perhaps even his VR role-playing game could benefit
from virtual immersion.
If nothing else, it might get her out of his thoughts.

A
shrill bell rang in the hallways of Domino High School, and almost
immediately, the corridors were filled with students. Téa Gardner
stopped in front of her locker, and dialed the combination to open the
lock reflexively. She slid the weighty textbook in her arms into her
locker, and sighed with relief as she closed the door.
“What’s up, Téa?” a voice behind her asked.
“Oh,
hi, Yugi,” Téa replied. Yugi Moto had become her friend after saving
her from a street tough. Well, Yugi hadn’t done it, it had been Atem,
and Atem was more than a friend…
She fought back the tearing pain
that always accompanied thoughts of Yugi’s alter ego. Atem was the
spirit who inhabited the Millennium Puzzle, at least until Yugi had won
his freedom for him. Atem had left this world, returning to the time
and place he belonged.
“Téa, are you okay?” Yugi asked, and Téa’s attention was returned to the present.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “Just remembering Atem.”
“I
miss him too,” Yugi said. For all the pain Téa felt, Atem’s leaving
affected Yugi the most. Yugi had bonded with the spirit of the ancient
pharaoh, and losing Atem had been like losing part of his soul.
“Actually,
I came to tell you about the dance studio that had recently opened,”
Yugi continued. “That is, if you’re still interested.”
“Joe Michaels? I had really been looking forward to learning there, but the fees were just too high,” Téa sighed softly.
“Sorry to hear that,” Yugi said. “I’d offer to help, but Grandpa’s store isn’t doing so well.”
“You never told me that!” Téa exclaimed.
“I
didn’t want to worry you,” Yugi explained. “But with Battle City and
the KC Championship over, business has been really slow.”
“I’ll pick up a starter deck on the way home then,” Téa said.
“No, wait! Téa, you don’t have to…” Yugi started.
“Of course I don’t! That’s why I’m doing it. Come on, Yugi,” Téa said as she left the school.

Kaiba
had been listening from a nearby hallway, and now thought about what he
had overheard. He knew he shouldn’t have been there; after all, he had
work to do. Not only that, but every time he saw her, things got worse.
Right now, though, none of that mattered. What mattered was what he had
heard. Cash was the one thing Kaiba had in spades, and while Téa would
never accept his direct help, he could make an arrangement for her at
the dance studio. As to Solomon Moto’s store, the new dueling system he
had devised might just help, if he kicked it off with a major
tournament. Time to repay a few old debts, Kaiba thought.

Téa
looked at the factory-sealed box of cards in her hands as she walked up
to her apartment. While she enjoyed Duel Monsters, she wasn’t very good
at it, and didn’t really have the time or money to invest in the game. At least Mr. Moto won’t have to close without any customers again, she thought. And it’s bound to be better than my deck.
She walked up to her door, and fished in her purse for her keys.
Finding them, she let out a triumphant cry, and slid the key into the
lock. The lock clicked as the deadbolt retracted, and she opened the
door.
Her apartment wasn’t much, but it was home. It only had three
rooms, a kitchen/living area, a bathroom, and her bedroom all the way
in the back. However, the rooms were comfortable enough, and she didn’t
lack for the necessities. Setting the starter deck on the kitchen
counter and tossing her handbag on the sofa, she walked over to her
phone, and dialed the voice-mail box.
“Please input your security
code,” the voice on the other end instructed. It was a flat and
emotionless tone, and Téa obligingly keyed the three-digit code. “You
have one new voice message,” the voice informed her, and she waited for
the message to begin.
“Ms. Gardner? This is Stella, from Joe
Michael. You came to see our studio the other day, and wished to begin
attending our classes, I believe. I am pleased to inform you that your
fee has been paid in full, and that you are welcome to start classes
here at your earliest convenience.”
The phone clicked, and the
automated voice intoned, “End of message.” Tea set the receiver back on
the charging base, and sat on the sofa while the message sank in. She
hadn’t paid the fee, she couldn’t afford to! Could Yugi have done it?
Judging by what he had said, he couldn’t afford to either, but it would
be just like him to do it anyway. He might even feel obligated to,
after Téa bought the deck from his grandfather’s store.
She turned
up to face the wall-mounted clock and sighed. It was almost
three-thirty, and she needed to be at work by four. Her questions would
just have to wait…

Kaiba sat down at his desk, and drew a laptop
computer out of one of the drawers. Setting it on his desk, he opened
it, and pressed the ON button. With the first excitement he had felt
since his last duel with Yugi coursing through him, he waited
impatiently as the operating system logo flashed onscreen and his
desktop loaded. As soon as it finished, Kaiba immediately opened the
virtual immersion project. Mountains of code greeted him, and he began
carefully scanning for any errors. Due to the nature of the technology,
a computer crash during program execution could be potentially lethal
to the subject. Kaiba was determined to not let it happen.
A smaller
window appeared in the lower-left quarter of the screen, and the face
of Noah, Kaiba’s stepbrother, filled it. “Good day, Seto,” he said.
“Noah,” Kaiba acknowledged. “What brings you to my personal computer?”
“Why
the pleasure of your good company, my dear brother!” Noah said,
laughing. “Facetiousness aside, your project is what interested me.
Quite a faithful reproduction of my technology, I must say.”
“It should be,” Kaiba said gruffly. “After all, you did have a hand in designing it.”
“Well,
I can’t argue with that. You can stop looking for bugs, I’ve tested the
code personally. Not a single crash, even under the most strenuous
conditions.”
“Good. I’ll turn it over to production then,” Kaiba said. “Is that all?”
“Yes,
I think it is,” Noah said. “Good-bye, Seto.” Noah’s window winked out,
and Kaiba began the shutdown procedure. Sighing, he stood up, and
crossed over to a coffee dispenser. Sipping the lukewarm liquid, he
looked out the windows of his office, and inevitably, his thoughts
turned back to her, and memories of that fateful battle at Duelist
Kingdom.

Kaiba was beaten, and he knew it. His precious Ultimate
Dragon had been reduced to a mere shell, and Yugi’s Celtic Guardian
stood ready to smite it. But Kaiba couldn’t lose. Not with what losing
meant for him.
So he had forced Yugi’s hand. Standing on the
battlements of Pegasus’ castle, the shockwaves of his dragon’s
destruction would have sent him over the edge. Literally. Yugi could
have won, but it would mean Kaiba’s death.
“I’ve never backed down before, and I’m not starting now!”
Yugi had said, and he had commanded his Celtic Guardian to attack.
Kaiba had been braced for the end, the cold fingers of despair gripping
his heart.
“Yugi, no!”
The charge of Yugi’s Celtic
Guardian halted abruptly at Téa’s plea, and Kaiba was able to defeat
Yugi on his next turn. Kaiba had won, but it had been a hollow victory.
“What do you have at the end of the day, Kaiba?” Téa demanded from him after the duel.
“I have all that I need!”
had been his reply, and he repeated it now. No matter how hard he
tried, the words still seemed empty, even to this day. Not for the
first time, Kaiba wondered if he was wrong.

Chapter 2:

Téa tried unsuccessfully to blink out the sleep fog that was still in
her eyes. After not getting home until one in the morning, she had
fallen asleep so deeply that she almost fell back to sleep after the
alarm clock jolted her awake. She had fallen asleep in two of her
classes. Not for the first time she wished that she didn’t need to
work, that she could just quit and live a normal life. She stifled a
yawn as suddenly something ran into her, knocking her to the ground.
“Sorry, my fault. I wasn’t paying enough attention,” a voice from above her said.
“Neither was I,” she started, but then she broke off as she finally recognized the voice.
Kaiba extended a hand to help her up, and she took it hesitantly. “Thanks,” she finally was able to murmur.
“No problem. Are you all right?” Kaiba asked.
“Just a little…” Téa paused as she yawned mid-sentence.
“Tired?” Kaiba offered.
“…shaken,” Téa finished. “Well, tired too,” she admitted.
Kaiba gestured for them to continue walking. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Work, mostly,” Téa confided. “Because of school, I have to work the late shift, from four to twelve, most days.”
“And you’re doing this with school in the morning? I’m amazed you’re passing. Why don’t you quit?”
“I can’t,” Téa explained. “With groceries and rent and all…wait, why am I telling you this?”
“Because you’re tired and I’m listening,” Kaiba said. “You live alone?”
“Well, yes,” Téa continued. “I…don’t have anyone else to help support me.”
“I see,” Kaiba said.
“Why do you want to know?” Téa asked finally.
“I…”
Kaiba started, and then looked around at the hallway. “This is my
class. I’ll talk to you at lunch, if you can bear the thought of
sitting with me.”
“Sure,” Téa found herself saying, curious in spite of herself.
“See you then,” Kaiba said, and walked through the door.
Téa continued on to her own classroom, and mulled over the unexpected run-in with Kaiba.

Why am I doing this?
Kaiba asked himself as he sat down at one of the cafeteria tables. He
didn’t usually eat lunch at the school, especially considering the poor
quality of the food. But he had promised Téa that he would continue
their conversation here, if she decided to come.
She had saved his
life back at Duelist Kingdom, but the debt he owed her for that had
been paid. It had been during his Battle City tournament…
Battle
City had been the greatest Duel Monsters tournament of all time, but
it’s primary purpose had been to lure the Rare Hunters into a trap, and
it had worked all too well.
The leader of the Rare Hunters, Marik,
had kidnapped both Téa and Joey, and brainwashed them. Yugi was forced
to duel Joey, while Téa watched from nearby, with a massive steel crate
suspended from a crane hanging over her head. Marik had made it clear
that if Kaiba interfered, the Rare Hunter operating the crane would
drop the crate on Téa. Both Téa and Mokuba had pleaded with him to stop
the duel anyway.
“I…can’t.”
He couldn’t kill Téa. What
he could, and did do, was command one of his helicopters to ram the
crane, swinging the heavy crate into the sea, and putting Téa out of
harm’s way.
She had saved his life, now he had saved hers…
“Kaiba?” someone asked, and he looked up. Téa was standing across the table from him, with a lunch tray in her hands.
“So you did decide to come…please, take a seat.”
“Thanks,” Téa said, sitting across from him. “So what was it you had wanted to talk to me about?”
“I want to help,” he said simply.
“You…want to help me?” Téa asked, stunned.
“Yes.
I could easily assume the costs of rent and food, so you’d be able to
concentrate on school, rather than having to work until midnight,”
Kaiba explained.
“I…I’d be very grateful, but what’s in it for you? I mean, why would you do this for me?” Téa asked.
“I’ve asked myself the same question,” Kaiba admitted. “Just consider it repayment for a debt I owe you from Duelist Kingdom.”
“A debt?” Téa asked.
“Kaiba!
What are you doing here?” a voice from behind him demanded. Kaiba
turned around to face the newcomer, and found it was Joey. The other
student had set his tray on a nearby table, and his eyes smoldered with
anger.
Kaiba got up from his seat. “I was just leaving, Wheeler,” he said, pushing past.
“Yeah, you’d better, Kaiba,” Joey growled at Kaiba’s back. Turning to Téa he asked, “You okay?”
“I’m fine!” Téa replied. “All he was doing was offering to help me. You didn’t have to run him out like that.”
“Téa,
we’re talking about Kaiba here,” Joey said, as if that explained
everything. Noticing the look on her face, he added, “Look, I know how
bad things are for you, and if I could help you, I would. But Kaiba can
be trusted about as far as I can throw him. He cares about one person,
and that’s himself.”
“You still could have at least been civil to him,” Téa said. “Besides he does care about Mokuba.”
“Yeah,
but that’s because Mokuba is his brother,” Joey said. “Messing around
with Kaiba’s just asking for trouble, Téa, trust me.”

Fool! Kaiba cursed himself as he walked through the hallways. You
knew she would never accept your help, why did you even try? Forget
about her, you have more important things to worry about. As he
passed by her locker, however, he hesitated. Cursing himself again, he
took out an index card and scribbled something on it. After looking
around to make sure no one was watching, he shoved the card through the
locker vents, and continued on his way.

Téa only saw Kaiba once
more throughout the school day. It was in AP Computer Science, the one
class they shared. However, he had retreated into his usual distant
self, and rebuffed any attempts at conversation. She eventually gave
up, and had almost forgotten about it when the school day ended. Yugi
was waiting for her, as usual, when she got to her locker.
“Yugi! I had been meaning to ask you something,” she said.
Confused, Yugi looked at her. “What?” he asked.
“Did you pay for me at Joe Michael’s?” she blurted. “I got home, and a message told me the fee had been paid in full.”
“No,” Yugi said, “though I did think about it. I just didn’t have the money to pay for it.”
“I
was just wondering,” she said. Turning back to her locker, she dialed
the combination and opened it, and something fell out. Putting the
textbook in her arms away, she picked it up. It was a standard index
card, with a phone number written on the front. Across the back, it
read: Call me if you decide you want my help after all. – K.
“What is it?” Yugi asked.
“It’s a note…” Téa said, “from Kaiba.”
“From Kaiba?” Yugi asked. “Why would he leave you a note?”
“He offered to help me by covering my rent and food costs earlier,” Téa explained. “Joey ran him off though.”
“I can imagine. Did you plan on taking him up on the offer?”
“I don’t know,” Téa said.
Yugi
nodded. “Maybe you should. If he’s serious, than it would mean you
wouldn’t have to work such outrageous hours. Also, it might mean that
he’s finally coming out of his shell.”
“I never thought of it that way,” Téa said.
“Well, just think about it,” Yugi said. “I’m going to head home now.”
“Great, I’ll pick up a booster pack from the store,” Téa said, as she walked out of the school.
“No, wait! Téa!” Yugi called as he ran to catch up with her.

Chapter 3:

“We’ve finished our tests, Mr. Kaiba,” the lab
tech said as he guided Kaiba through the hallways of the Research and
Development center of KaibaCorp. “We expect to have enough models ready
for your tournament in two months.”
“Excellent,” Kaiba said. “That’s better than I had hoped for.”
“Thank
you, Mr. Kaiba. Our prototype is in this room here,” the lab tech said,
stopping in front of one of the rooms. Kaiba opened the door, and the
workers inside looked up. Seeing who their visitor was, they continued
working, this time with slightly more enthusiasm. Not that they needed
any more, as it was evident that these people cared about what they
were doing.
The device itself was vaguely like that of Kaiba’s
original Virtual Pod, and according to the techs, it worked similarly.
The duelists facing each other sat in two linked pods, and placed their
decks into a specialized reader that scanned each card, recreating them
in virtual space. The seat and helmet were designed to detect and
interpret nerve impulses, so that the duelist could “move” their
virtual body without so much as lifting a finger.
“You said you’ve completed all safety tests on the dueling arena?” Kaiba questioned.
“Yes,
Mr. Kaiba. All tests came back positive. As far as we are able to tell,
these pods are completely safe,” the lab tech answered.
“Then I’ll
test it,” Kaiba said. “Set me up against a computer opponent, make it
whomever you want.” Before the lab tech had a chance to argue, Kaiba
walked over to the prototype pod, opened the canopy, and sat in it. As
the canopy closed over him, he placed his deck in the card reader, and
relaxed against the seat.
“Mr. Kaiba, please reconsider,” the lab tech pleaded.
“You need a human test subject,” Kaiba countered. “Now stop arguing with me and get this thing running.”
“Yes,
Mr. Kaiba,” the lab tech agreed meekly. A clear visor dropped into
Kaiba’s field of vision, and suddenly, he was no longer in the testing
room. He was in an ancient coliseum, with the stands filled with
people. Standing across from him was none other than his rival, Yugi
Moto.
“You wanted a rematch, Seto Kaiba? You’ve got one,” Yugi said,
and he activated his Duel Disc. Noticing the Duel Disc on his own arm
for the first time, Kaiba also activated it. Both Life Point meters
flashed the starting amounts, and the duelists drew their opening hands.
Kaiba
began looking at his hand, but at the same time drunk in the realism of
the stage. He wasn’t in a simulation, he was there. The packed-dirt
ground was firm beneath his feet, and a slight breeze felt cool on his
face. The cards themselves felt solid, and he could hear the cheers of
the crowd. Some were for him, others for Yugi. Returning his attention
to the duel, he selected a card and played it.
“I summon Enraged
Battle Ox!” Kaiba announced, and then a flare of light jumped from the
card on his Duel Disc. It grew, and solidified into the form of the
minotaur warrior he had summoned. Again, Kaiba was impressed with the
attention to detail. The Battle Ox breathed, and he could see hairs
waving in the breeze. As the creature stamped at the ground, puffs of
disturbed dust rose from its feet. The only thing to suggest that it
was an illusion was the lack of smell.
“I summon Breaker, the
Magical Warrior!” Yugi said, and an armored figure materialized. Yugi’s
monster raised its blade in salute, and then took a ready stance.
“Breaker, attack Kaiba’s Enraged Battle Ox!” Yugi commanded, and the
warrior charged Kaiba’s monster. The Battle Ox lifted its axe to parry
the incoming blow, but Yugi’s warrior proved to fast for it, sliding
its blade easily into the Battle Ox’s unarmored gut. Kaiba’s monster
shattered into hundreds of fragments, and the force of the blow finally
reached Kaiba. The pain was so real that Kaiba had to check to make
sure he was still all there. He was whole and unharmed, or at least his
virtual self was.
Part of Kaiba wanted desperately to continue this
duel, but he had seen enough. “Terminate simulation,” he ordered, and
the coliseum was gone just as quickly as it had come. He was back in
the pod, sitting with the visor over his face. The visor retracted, and
the canopy opened once more. Taking his deck out of the card reader, he
got out of the pod and stretched.
“Welcome back, Mr. Kaiba,” the lab tech that had brought him here said. “I trust that you found the system suitable?”
“Quite,” Kaiba agreed. “Turn this over to production as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Mr. Kaiba.”

Téa
sat down on her sofa, with her cordless phone in one hand, and Kaiba’s
card in her other. She stared at it for a long time, before she finally
resolved to call. Rapidly dialing the number, she waited as the phone
on the other end rang.
“Kaiba Residence,” the voice on the other end
said. Téa was surprised to find that it was Mokuba, Kaiba’s younger
brother. “Who is this?” Mokuba asked.
“It’s me, Mokuba,” Téa answered.
“Téa? How did you get this number?” Mokuba demanded.
“Your brother gave it to me,” Téa explained. “Is he there?”
“No, he’s not. I’ll let him know you called, though,” Mokuba promised.
“Thanks, Mokuba,” Téa said, and Mokuba hung up the phone on the other end.

Kaiba
stepped out of his limo, as it stopped in front of the Kaiba mansion.
Waving the chauffer on by, he walked into the massive home.
“Seto, you’re home!” Mokuba called as he ran up to greet his brother.
“So I am,” Kaiba agreed. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” Mokuba said. “KaibaLand is running smoothly, and I know I enjoyed it at least.”
“Glad to hear it,” Kaiba said.
“Oh, and Téa called this afternoon,” Mokuba added.
“She what?” Kaiba asked.
“She called,” Mokuba said defensively. “She said that you had given her the number to the house, and I…”
“It’s okay, Mokuba,” Kaiba said. “I did give her the number. I just didn’t expect her to call.”
“If you say so,” Mokuba said dubiously. “Big brother, what’s this about?”
“I owe her something, Mokuba,” Kaiba explained. “And I think it’s time I paid my debt.
She
hadn’t left a number, but she hadn’t needed to. Kaiba was easily able
to find her number on the Caller-ID system, and he pushed the “Redial”
button. The phone on the other end rang.
And rang.
He was about
to give up when there was a click on the other line. “Hello?” Téa
asked. He opened his mouth to respond, but Téa’s voice continued. “I’m
not here right now, but if you’ll leave a message, I’ll try to get back
to you as soon as I can.” The trademark beep of an answering machine
sounded.
“Téa, this is Kaiba,” he started.

“TGIF,” Téa said
as she slumped onto the sofa. Never mind that it was technically
Saturday, at 12:30 A.M. She could have fallen asleep right there, but
she did need to get into a real bed. As she passed her phone, she
decided to check the voice mail, and was startled to find there was a
message.
“Téa, this is Kaiba. I’m sorry I couldn’t take your call
myself earlier, but I was at KaibaCorp. I should be at the same number
all day tomorrow, if you can call then.”
“End of message,” the voice-mail drone informed her.
I’ll call tomorrow, she thought. Just let me get some sleep.
With that thought in mind, she stumbled into her room, and collapsed on the bed.

It was almost noon when the phone rang. “Kaiba Residence,” Kaiba said curtly into the phone.
“Kaiba? You tried to call me yesterday,” Téa said from the other end.
“Yes,
I did, but that was because you called first. Did you want my help
after all?” he asked, with the edge gone from his voice.
“If the offer’s still good, I’d like to take you up on it,” Téa said.
“Okay. I just need to know what address to mail the rent payments too, and an account number to transfer funds for food to.”
He got down a sheet of paper, and meticulously wrote down the address and number Téa gave him.
“That’s it,” Téa said as Kaiba repeated the information back to her. “And, thank you, Kaiba.”
“Don’t mention it,” Kaiba said, and then he hung up. Why am I doing this? He asked himself once more. Shaking his head at his folly, he went to fulfill his promise.

Chapter 4:


Um…Yugi, why are we here?” Joey asked. Téa had been wondering the same
thing herself, but hadn’t said anything. It was almost a relief that
she wasn’t the only one clueless. Yugi had asked Téa, Joey, and Tristan
to come with him to the Domino Convention Center, but hadn’t explained
to her why. Apparently he hadn’t explained to the others, either.
“I
got a note yesterday inviting me to come see a demonstration of some
sort of new dueling system,” Yugi explained. “The note said to bring
friends, so naturally, I thought of you guys.”
“Ha! Looks like someone’s finally decided to show up Kaiba, then,” Joey said.
“Or it’s Kaiba’s new system,” Tristan added. “After all, he’s never satisfied with his old tech.”
“Could be, but it’s a dueling system, so it already sounds good,” Yugi said.
“Yeah, I have to agree with that,” Joey admitted. “And even if Kaiba is a jerk, I’d still feel naked without my Duel Disc.”
Téa
listened to the conversation with detached amusement. Of course Kaiba
would invite Yugi for a demonstration of any new system; Kaiba would
probably want to use it for another duel with him. And of course Yugi
would invite them to come with him. She appreciated the thought, but
neither she nor Tristan was much good at the game. She could beat
Tristan and most of the braggarts (who accused her of cheating), but
against Yugi and Joey, it was a lost cause. So she didn’t duel very
often, and the idea of a brand-new way to play the game didn’t appeal
to her as much.
They walked up to the door of the large building
that made up the convention center, and were immediately greeted by a
man in a black business suit. He had been present during Battle City,
and worked for Kaiba. Téa wracked her brain trying to remember the name.
“Welcome, Yugi,” the man said. “I trust you’re here for the demonstration of Mr. Kaiba’s new dueling system?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Yugi said.
“Of course. If you and your friends would follow me,” he said, gesturing inside.
“Thank you,” Yugi said. “Roland, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” the man said. “I’m pleased you remember.”
Roland
led them to a large room, where a few other people were already
waiting. Among the people there, they immediately recognized Yugi’s
grandfather, and Mai Valentine.
“Mai! What are you doing here?” Joey asked, going over to greet her.
“Same thing you are,” Mai replied. “Waiting for Kaiba’s demonstration to start.”
“Grandpa! I thought you were still at home,” Yugi said.
“Are
you kidding?” Solomon replied. “From what they’re talking about, this
is the next big thing in Duel Monsters! Of course, it’s not like I’m
leaving hordes of disappointed customers by closing the store today.”
Yugi
nodded gravely at the reference to the store’s plight. A sudden hush
fell over the room, as Roland called for attention from the central
stage.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Seto Kaiba,” Roland announced. He backed away from the microphone, and Kaiba stepped forward.
“Thank
you all for being here today,” Kaiba said. “Some of you may recall the
holographic dueling arena that was presented in this very room, and
more of you probably are familiar with the Duel Disc that was used in
the Battle City tournament. What I’ve brought before you today, I hope
will put them both to shame.”
“I wonder what could top that,” Yugi whispered to Téa.
“I don’t know,” Téa returned.
“If I could direct your attention to the ground in front of the stage,” Kaiba said. “You will notice two devices.”
“Hey, aren’t those Kaiba’s Virtual Pods?” Tristan asked.
“They look like them,” Mai answered.
Téa
looked at the pod-shaped devices. They did seem similar to Kaiba’s
Virtual Pod. Large enough to hold a single person, the Virtual Pods
completely immersed the user in an expansive virtual world. Kaiba’s
first game, intended for release with launch, had been a Duel Monsters
based role-playing game. Unfortunately, his own board of directors had
trapped him within his own game, and Mokuba had come to Yugi for help.
Yugi and Kaiba had been able to finish the game and return to the real
world, but the Virtual Pod had been all but forgotten.
“This system
will create a dueling arena in virtual space, allowing for
unprecedented realism and immersion,” Kaiba continued. “Monsters will
move, breathe, and act as if they are real. Your actual dueling deck
will be scanned, card for card, and be faithfully reproduced in its
entirety. But enough talk. I promised you a demonstration, and I’m
going to give it to you. First though, do we have any volunteers?”
Just
about every hand belonging to a duelist in the room went up, and Kaiba
nodded at the response. He picked two at random, and a pair of
technicians helped them into their pods. Their canopies closed, and a
bright light was emitted from the pods as visors covered the duelist’s
faces. As it faded, the two duelists just appeared to be sitting in the
pods. “Please direct your attention to the monitor above me,” Kaiba
said.
A large screen, connected by wire to the virtual pods, was
mounted on the wall behind Kaiba. On screen, images of the two duelists
appeared. They were standing across from each other, on a field of
stars. Lines of light marked the duelists’ individual playing zones,
and both were wearing Duel Discs.
“‘Unprecedented realism’,” Joey remarked. “That’s about as real as a two-tailed cat.”
“Yeah, but it is impressive,” Tristan countered.
Téa
was forced to agree as the duel began. Not only did the starfield make
for an impressive background, the cards themselves seemed to have been
torn straight from their world and dumped into the arena. Even the most
minute of details were addressed, making the cards seem to be actual
monsters and magic, not just ink on paper.
“It’s awesome, isn’t it, Téa?” Yugi said, awed.
“It’s amazing,” she agreed.
“I can’t wait to see what it’s like from the inside,” Yugi said. “If this is just what we on the outside can see…”
Téa nodded in understanding. Even she was excited, and she didn’t even play anymore!
Eventually,
the duel ended, and the two duelists came out of the pods exultant.
“Incredible!” one of them said. “Just incredible.”
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” the other agreed. “That creature was so real, I wanted to touch it.”
“I think Kaiba’s got another success on his hands,” Téa said, and her friends nodded.
“Well, now you’ve seen how it works,” Kaiba said. “Does anyone have any questions?”
Immediately, a flood of questions was directed toward him, and he calmly went through, answering each question one at a time.
“Mr.
Kaiba, when do you plan on releasing this technology to the dueling
public?” someone asked, at the end of the series of questions.
“How
else?” Kaiba returned. “KaibaCorp will be hosting a dueling tournament
using this technology in two weeks. After that has completed, pods will
be rented or sold to tournament organizers.”
“Another tournament?” Joey said, incredulous. “Doesn’t Kaiba ever get tired of them?”
“Nope. Neither do I, for that matter,” Yugi said.
“Looks like you’ll be able to see the arena yourself, Yugi,” Téa said, unable to quite keep the wistful note out of her voice.
“What’s wrong, Téa?” Yugi asked.
“Nothing,” Téa replied. “It’s just…that I would have liked to try it, if only once.”
“So why don’t you enter?” Yugi asked.
“Are
you kidding? It’s been so long since I’ve played that I probably can’t
tell a monster from a trap! I wouldn’t last the first round,” Téa said.
“Grandpa and I could help teach you to duel, and I’m sure I have some good cards I could loan you,” Yugi offered.
“Thanks,” Téa said, “but since it’s Kaiba’s tournament, he’ll just invite all of the best duelists he can find.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Yugi said, resigned.
“Yugi, shouldn’t we be getting home now?” Solomon asked, coming over to his grandson.
“Sure, Grandpa. You guys coming with?”
“I’m
coming,” Joey said. “After all, if Kaiba’s throwing another tournament,
I’ve got to make sure me and my deck are ready, don’t I?”
“And someone’s got to make sure he doesn’t spend more than he can afford,” Tristan said.
“Great. Téa, are you coming?” Yugi asked.
“Sure,”
Téa said. “I’m going to stop by my place and get my deck though. I
think I might just take you up on the offer to teach me.”

Chapter 5:

Kaiba was thoroughly pleased with himself as he left Domino Convention
Center for his home. The new system was a complete success, and his
tournament was the most eagerly anticipated event of the dueling world.

“Seto, are you going to compete in this one?” Mokuba asked from beside him.
“I thought I might,” Kaiba replied. “After all, it gives me an excuse to use my new system, and have my rematch with Yugi.”
Mokuba sighed. “Is that all you think about, Seto? Dueling Yugi, I mean? You never actually beat him.”
Kaiba
had to admit that his brother was right. Each time he faced Yugi in a
duel, he lost, except for two exceptions. There was the duel back in
Duelist Kingdom, where he would, should, have lost, and then there was
the duel held in his Duel Dome, where he would have won if not for the
intervention of Anubis. Except for those instances, Yugi had been in a
seemingly hopeless situation when the card he drew reversed the outcome
of the duel. Why should it be any different this time? Mokuba’s eyes seemed to ask.
“You’re right, Mokuba, I’ve never beat Yugi. At least not yet,” Kaiba said.
“‘Not yet,’ huh?” Mokuba responded. “So you’re still gonna duel?”
“Of course. I don’t see any reason right now not to.”
“If you say so, Seto.”
Mokuba fell silent, and Kaiba resumed thinking about his upcoming tournament.

“Good
move, Téa,” Yugi said as he looked over the field. “But, I think my
Change of Heart should help. I’ll use it to take over your Wingweaver.”
“Man, I lost again!” Téa exclaimed in frustration. “Even when I seem to have the advantage, you always turn it around.”
“Well,
he is the King of Games,” Joey reminded her. “If he couldn’t even beat
an amateur like you, he wouldn’t deserve the title.”
“Hey, I used to cream you all the time!” Téa said. “At least until…”
“Until
Yugi and Gramps started teaching me how to duel,” Joey finished for
her. “Just listen to them and you’ll be a great duelist in no time.”
“I’m
glad you have such great faith in my grandson’s and my teaching,”
Solomon said, walking into the game room with a cardboard box.
“Hey, look at what it did for me!” Joey said.
“That’s true, Joey,” Yugi said. “And you have been improving, Téa. Let’s take a look at your deck.”
Téa
obligingly handed over her deck of cards, and Yugi began looking
through it, with Solomon looking over his shoulder. “At least it’s
better than Joey’s was when he came to be taught,” Solomon commented.
“Yeah,
but that’s not saying much,” Yugi replied. “But this deck’s got a good
foundation, Téa. It’s kind of like an unpolished gem. It has potential,
but you have to finish what you started with it.”
“Finish what I started?” Téa asked. “I just put in a bunch of cards I liked because of the artwork.”
“That may be,” Yugi said. “But most of your cards happen to be LIGHT and Angel-Type monsters.”
“So?” Téa asked. “Like I said, I just liked the pictures.”
“Yes,
but you can also use some other cards that support an Angel theme,”
Yugi said. Looking over at the box that Solomon had carried in, he
asked, “Grandpa, is that the box I asked for?”
“Yep,” Solomon replied. “I’m not going to sell them anyway”
“Uh, Yugi? What’s all this about?” Joey asked. “Oh…THAT box, is it?”
Yugi
nodded. “You got one when Grandpa taught you, and it’s Tea’s turn.” He
turned back to Téa. “This box is filled with booster packs that contain
a lot of Angel-Type monsters, as well as spells and traps that help
your angels.” He put the box up on the table and pushed it over to Téa.
“Open it!” he encouraged.
“Yugi, I couldn’t possibly…” Téa started to argue, but Yugi cut her off with a gesture.
“Don’t
worry about it, Téa,” Yugi reassured her. “Just start looking through
the packs for cards that look interesting and I’ll help you build a
deck.”
“Okay,” Téa said, and she carefully opened the cardboard box.
Inside, there were packs upon packs of Duel Monster cards, and she
reached in and picked up a pack. Opening it, she started looking
through the cards. “Agent of Creation – Venus…that sounds cool,” she
muttered, setting the card aside.
“See?” Yugi said. “It’s not very hard at all. Open up another one.”
“Hey,
another Agent!” Téa exclaimed as she looked through the contents of
another booster. “Agent of Judgment – Saturn. He looks cool, though not
as pretty as Venus.”
“There’s a whole group of Agent monsters,” Yugi
explained. “Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, which represent Judgment,
Force, Creation, and Wisdom.”
“There are more of these?” Téa asked in surprise. “Do you think I could build a deck around them?”
“Of course you can,” Yugi said, “if you want to. Just look at this card,” he continued, calling a card to her attention.
“Sanctuary in the Sky,” Téa read. “So, what makes this card so special?”
“Well,”
Yugi said, “you might have noticed that your Agent of Judgment – Saturn
card needs Sanctuary in the Sky to use its effect, and that a lot of
Angel-Type monsters don’t have much attack power. Sanctuary in the Sky
protects your life points from damage whenever one of your Angel
monsters battle, meaning you don’t have to worry about summoning them
in attack mode.”
“That’s awesome,” Téa said, and she resumed looking through the other booster packs.
“Hey, Yugi,” Joey said. “You might make a duelist out of her yet!”
Yugi, Joey, Solomon and Téa all burst out laughing at that remark.

The dreams started again that night.
With
all the excitement of the last few days, Kaiba had almost forgotten
about her in the midst of the presentation of his new dueling system
and the planning for his tournament.
Kaiba dreamt he was in a place of pure darkness, unable to see the ground beneath his feet. Where am I? he wondered.
“Help!”
a voice called from the distance. The voice was feminine, and familiar,
though he couldn’t quite place it. “Help me!” the voice called again,
and Kaiba started running in that direction.
Despite the obscuring
darkness that prevented him from seeing the terrain, he was clearly
able to see whom the voice belonged to. It was Téa, and she was running
from something, though Kaiba couldn’t see what. “Help!” she cried out
again.
Kaiba ran toward her, and suddenly stopped short. It was as
if he was completely paralyzed, and watched helplessly as Téa’s pursuer
came into view. It was a man swathed in midnight black cloth, and he
carried a gleaming silver blade. “No!” Kaiba shouted as Téa ran up
against an unseen barrier, and the man continued his inexorable
approach.
The man looked directly at Kaiba, and Kaiba heard a voice fill his ears.
“There is nothing you can do, Seto Kaiba” the voice said. “I will slay Téa, and you will bear witness to it all.”
“No!”
Kaiba repeated in defiance, and a bright light pierced the darkness. “I
am with you,” another voice next to him said, and he whirled around to
face it. Standing next to him was a white haired woman dressed in
simple cloth. “Kisara?” he asked, stunned.
The woman nodded. “I will help you,”
she said, and her features blurred, becoming indistinct, and her form
grew larger. The black-clothed man drew back as a massive white-scaled
dragon took the place where Kisara had stood. The dragon that was
Kisara exhaled her lightning breath, and the light blinded Kaiba.
Kaiba awoke in a cold sweat. It was a dream, he told himself, relieved. Just a dream.

Téa
shook herself as she poured milk into a glass. She placed the glass
into her microwave, and started heating it. It was only a nightmare,
she assured herself. She had dreamt that she had been pursued by a man
carrying a bright sword, and that Kaiba and Kisara had saved her. The
microwave beeped, and she jumped at the sound. You’re getting so jumpy it’s ridiculous, Téa chided herself as she took out the glass of milk, and sipped it cautiously.
She wrapped a blanket around herself and sat down on her sofa, nursing the glass of milk, and thinking about the dream. Why would Kaiba, of all people, save me?
she wondered. Yugi or Joey, or even Atem would have made sense. Kaiba,
on the other hand despised her as a member of Yugi’s group of friends. Or does he? she asked herself. After all, he did keep his word about helping me, she reminded herself.
She shook her head softly. “You’re making too much of this, Téa,” she said aloud. “It was just a dream.”
Little did she know that across the city, Kaiba was telling himself the exact same thing.

Chapter 6:

"Are you okay, Seto?" Mokuba asked as his brother walked into the living area.
"I’m fine, Mokuba," Kaiba replied wearily. "Shouldn’t you be getting ready for school?"
"Already
done, my backpack’s over there." Mokuba pointed to a small backpack,
and Kaiba nodded. "I ought to ask you the same question, Big Bro."
"I
still have thirty minutes. That’s plenty of time," Kaiba replied,
walking over to a coffee dispenser. Ignoring the cream and sugar next
to the machine, Kaiba filled a mug and drained it. The dark liquid
tasted horrible, but the heat felt good down his throat and it had the
desired effect of clearing his head.
"I thought you enjoyed cream
and sugar in your coffee, Mr. Kaiba," Roland said as he entered the
room. "My apologies if I was incorrect."
"No, Roland. I just needed it black this morning," Kaiba said. "I think I’ll walk today as well."
"Of course, Mr. Kaiba. Master Mokuba, are you ready to leave?"
"I guess," Mokuba said, picking up his backpack. "Are you sure about this, Seto?"
"Yes, Mokuba, I’m sure."
Mokuba
looked dubiously at his older brother, but shrugged, and walked out the
door. Roland bowed to Kaiba, and followed Mokuba out.

Téa tried
to shake herself awake as she walked through the doorway of Domino High
School. "I thought I took care of that," a voice nearby said.
"What?" Téa asked as she turned to face the person addressing her. "Kaiba? What are you doing here?"
"Going to class," he replied. "Did the transfer not go through?"
"No,
it came in fine!" Téa said. "Actually, Yugi offered to teach me how to
play Duel Monsters better, and we lost track of time."
"I can see that it might," Kaiba said. "Duel Monsters is a very involving game, even if you only play for fun."
"Well, you would know…why the sudden interest?"
"Because I keep my word, Téa. I wanted to make sure that you had gotten what I promised."
"I did," Téa said, "I meant to thank you for it, but I didn’t know if it was okay for me to call the number you left me again."
"If you’d rather burn it, you can do that," Kaiba said sarcastically. "I’d rather you didn’t though," he added more seriously.
"I’ll keep that in mind," Téa replied.
"You mentioned Yugi was teaching you to play Duel Monsters?" Kaiba said.
"Yeah, I’ve got a decent deck, I think. I don’t think it could stand up to duelists like you or Yugi yet."
"Don’t
expect it to so early," Kaiba assured her. "I’ve been playing Duel
Monsters since I was 8, and Yugi’s had almost as much experience in the
game, plus what his Grandfather could teach him. You have a lot of
catching up to do."
"I suppose I do," Téa said. "And I have a lot more time to practice, now."
"Speaking of which…" Kaiba began, but just then a shrill bell rang in the hallways.
"I have to go!" Téa said quickly. "Sorry!"
Just my luck, Kaiba thought as Téa ran off. [i]Oh well, off to class.

"Morning, Téa," Yugi said as Téa ran up to her locker. "What kept you?"
"Hi,
Yugi," Téa replied. "Kaiba wanted to make sure that I got the transfer
he had promised, and wanted to know why I had been so tired, since that
was what started the whole thing."
"That took up all that time?" Yugi asked.
"Well,
I told him you were helping me to teach Duel Monsters, and that got his
interest," Téa admitted. "We talked about that until the warning bell
rang."
"Duel Monsters, or the fact I was teaching you?"
"Both, really."
"That
Kaiba can talk to you at all seems to be a good sign," Yugi said.
"Maybe someday he’ll be able to be comfortable around the rest of us."
"With Joey’s opinion?" Téa laughed. "He and Tristan hate Kaiba with a passion, and I think the feeling’s mutual."
"That’s true, but I think Kaiba’s coming around, at least."
"I don’t know…" Téa said. "I need to go to class, and so do you Yugi. We’ve only got one minute left!"

Kaiba
suppressed a yawn as the teacher launched into another lecture.
However, his boredom didn’t come from the endless flow of
incomprehensible dates and events, it came from the fact he already
knew the information.
"Kaiba," the professor said, noting Kaiba’s
attempt. "If you are so bored with the lecture, perhaps you would like
to teach the class?"
Kaiba had heard this all before. It usually put
him into the semblance of rapt attention while he still yawned
inwardly. Today, however, he stood up and said, "I would be honored,
professor. May I teach from my own notes?" As he said this all of the
other students turned to him in shock.
Surprised and outraged, the
professor returned, "Yes, Master Kaiba, you may. I will take your
seat." Kaiba picked up his laptop computer from his desk, as well as
the large college-level textbook, and walked over to the lectern.
Indignant, the professor took the seat Kaiba had just vacated.
Kaiba
waited for the professor to take his seat, and then connected his
laptop to a projector, and lowered the screen. "Master Kaiba, I did not
give you permission to use the projector," the professor said.
"With
all due respect, you did permit me to teach from my notes," Kaiba
reminded him. "Also, I am the one teaching the class at the moment, not
you."
The professor began making strangled noises, but Kaiba lifted
a hand for silence, and addressed the class. "I believe we were
discussing our failure at the Battle of Midway," Kaiba started. "If I
may direct your attention to the screen behind me, we will resume with
that event."
Kaiba opened a file on his laptop, and a
computer-generated ocean appeared on the projector screen. "The Battle
of Midway was the turning point for the war being waged between our
nation, and the United States of America. It also marked the first time
a naval battle was decided by air power alone." Two fleets of aircraft
carriers entered the screen, and Kaiba resumed his narrative. "Our
fleet was preparing for an attack, when we were surprised by the
American aircraft…"
As Kaiba spoke, the two fleets carried out a
fairly accurate re-creation of the battle. Eventually, the battered
Japanese fleet turned and fled off-screen, with the American fleet
pursuing. As the two fleets floated off of the screen, the projector
stopped, and the screen rolled back into place. "At this time, I’d like
to return the lectern to Professor Yoshi," Kaiba announced, and the
other students in the classroom got to their feet and began applauding
loudly. All except for the professor, who was positively seething with
anger at being outdone.
None of his teachers made that suggestion again.

"Did
you hear?" a student in the hallway asked his neighbor. "Professor
Yoshi asked Kaiba if he wanted to teach because he had looked bored,
and Kaiba actually did it!"
"Yeah," the other student replied. "The people in that class said it was the only lesson they learned from!"
Téa
shook her head as she passed the two students. Kaiba may be a corporate
jerk, but he at least treated his teachers with respect! As she walked
by the history auditorium, she noticed a swarm of students surrounding
someone. "Kaiba?" she asked in wonder as she saw him standing in the
center, trying to wade through the crowd of students. Téa slid into the
crowd, grabbed Kaiba by the arm, and pulled him through the crowd, and
into the outdoor terrace.
"Thanks," Kaiba panted as they stopped. "I thought I’d never get out of that mess."
"It’s the least I could do," Téa said. "What happened?"
"I
lost my temper," Kaiba explained. "Professor Yoshi offered to let me
teach, and I took him up on the offer. Evidently I did well."
Téa looked at him in stunned silence for a moment. "You…actually showed up Professor Yoshi?"
"I don’t think I’ll make the same mistake twice," Kaiba said.
"I’ll bet it was worth it to see the look on his face," Téa said. "So, what did you do?"
"We
were studying the Battle of Midway," Kaiba said. "I had made virtual
presentations of all of the naval battles of that war, and I decided to
teach from that."
Téa laughed. "No wonder it went over so well! I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole class gave you a standing ovation."
"They did," Kaiba said.
"Now
I really wish I had been there to see the expression on Professor
Yoshi’s face! I’ve heard other people say that he should resign and you
should take over."
"I have enough on my mind without having to teach
a class," Kaiba said. Like what I feel about you, he added silently.
"Anyway, I was going to leave for lunch until I got swamped by the mob
right outside the classroom."
"Well, the cafeteria’s not the
greatest place to eat, but I’m sure there’s something edible," Téa
said. "So why don’t we go there?"
"Wouldn’t your friends object?" Kaiba asked.
"Yugi won’t mind," Téa said. "And even Joey can forgive you for today, since you’re a school hero."
"I rather doubt that," Kaiba said under his breath as he followed Téa.

Téa’s right, it’s not the best place to eat, but at least it’s not as horrible as the other students say it is,
Kaiba thought as he picked at his lunch tray. Despite the fact that Téa
had brought him here and assured him that he would be accepted or at
least ignored by her friends, he had separated from her and found an
empty table. As he slowly ate his meal, he tried to puzzle out his
thoughts. Why did I do that? Kaiba asked himself. Taunting Professor Yoshi so blatantly…but it was worth the expression on his face. Kaiba chuckled as he reminded himself of Téa’s comment. And
why do I keep thinking of her? he demanded of himself. There’s no
reason I should, yet, it seems like there’s every reason. It doesn’t
make sense! He shook his head in frustration. No matter how hard
he tried, he couldn’t find any logic to his thoughts. Never had been
able to, when it came to her. And when logic fails…No! I can’t start thinking down that road, no matter what, he told himself firmly.

Chapter 7:

"Yugi, you’ll never guess who I managed to get to come with me," Téa
said, coming over to the table Yugi was sitting at, with her lunch tray
in hand.
"Um…not to be sarcastic, but who?" Yugi said, looking past her. "I really don’t see anyone."
"What?" Téa asked, and she turned suddenly. "I thought he was still following me…"
"Who?" Yugi asked again.
"Kaiba.
He had been trapped in a mob of admiring students, and I sort of
rescued him." Téa explained. "He came with me as far as the cafeteria,
but I guess we got separated later on."
"Mob of admiring students? What happened?" Yugi asked.
"Well,
you know the rumors around the school that Kaiba showed up Professor
Yoshi by teaching his class better than the professor did? It’s true."
"I heard about that," Yugi said. "I didn’t believe it though, until you told me."
"Neither did I, until I heard it from Kaiba himself," Téa said.
"What’s this about Kaiba?" Joey asked as he joined them.
"Turns out Kaiba really did teach Professor Yoshi’s class, and Téa rescued him from a mob of admirers," Yugi explained.
"Huh.
Didn’t know Kaiba had it in him," Joey said as he started to devour his
lunch. "Why didn’t you just let him find his own way out, Téa?"
"You know I couldn’t do that!" Téa exclaimed.
"Why not? You don’t really owe him anything," Joey said.
"Um…well…he did keep his promise to help me," she replied.
"You took him up on the offer?" Joey asked in shock. "And he made good on it?"
"Yes, and yes," Téa answered. "That’s why I had time to practice Duel Monsters with you yesterday."
Joey just shook his head as he turned back to his meal. "That chump actually did something for one of us?"
Téa
nodded, and Joey shook his head again. "I can’t believe that he has
that much heart in him. Of course, I still don’t trust him."
Téa
sighed in exasperation, and started working on her own lunch. Yugi and
Joey began talking about Duel Monsters, and she listened to the two
duelists with casual interest. As she did though, she wondered if Kaiba
had left deliberately, and why.

She found Kaiba at the outdoor
terrace again, after lunch was over. "What happened?" she asked. "I
thought you were following me at lunch, but when I got to the table,
you were gone."
"Téa! I...I’m sorry. I had a few things I had to
think about alone, and I didn’t want my presence to alienate you from
your friends," Kaiba replied.
"I see." Téa said. "You still look like you haven’t worked things out yet. Can I help?"
Kaiba
was silent for a few moments, as if trying to figure out what to say.
"No, I think I’ve got it," he said. "Shouldn’t we get to class?"
"We share a class this hour, so you can tell me what’s on your mind while we walk," Téa offered.
Kaiba smiled. "Okay, my turn. Why the sudden interest?"
"You
helped me through my trouble, so I can at least try to help you through
yours," Téa explained. "Besides, I find that it helps sometimes if you
just have someone to talk to, even if you never expected to be talking
to that person."
"Maybe you’re right," Kaiba said. "I’ve never had opportunity to try it though."
"There’s a first time for everything. So, what’s up?"
Kaiba
frowned momentarily, deep in thought. "I’ve been having a problem
recently," he said. "And no matter how hard I try to solve it, there’s
no logical solution. It’s as if the problem refuses to play by the
rules."
"Sounds deep," Téa said. "I can’t help you much without more
details, but maybe when you can’t find a logical answer, you should try
following your intuition. Look to your heart, and maybe you’ll find the
answer you’re looking for."
"Perhaps I’ll try that," Kaiba murmured. "It might just work…"
"Glad I could help," Téa said, and she was surprised to find she meant it.

Look to my heart, Kaiba thought as he typed at the computer on his desk. I’d
do that if I didn’t fear what I might find there…but how could she see
to the core of the problem so quickly? It’s almost as if she knew, but
that’s impossible.
"Kaiba, are you having difficulties with your assignment?" the instructor asked, coming over to his console.
"No, I’m just struggling through a mental problem," Kaiba replied.
"I
see," the instructor said. "Just don’t let your work suffer as a
result. You’re my brightest student, and I don’t want to see you fail."
"I will do as you say," Kaiba said as he returned to his work.

Seems like my advice didn’t help Kaiba that much,
Téa thought as she looked over at him. The conversation he had just had
with the instructor certainly suggested that. She saved her work and
got up from her own station, walking over to Kaiba’s.
"Hey, can you help me with something?" She asked, tapping Kaiba on the shoulder.
Kaiba looked up, startled. "Your work?" he asked.
"Yep. I’m having a little trouble with the current assignment. Could you help?"
Kaiba
shrugged and got up from his station, following Téa back to hers. "It’s
actually very simple, when you look at it," he said. "What you’re doing
here is over-thinking the problem."
"Okay, so what should I be doing?" Téa asked. Softly, she added, "Something on your mind?"
"Try this," Kaiba answered, leaning down to type at her console. "What gave you that impression?" he asked in a low voice.
"It’s rather obvious. What’s wrong?"
"Just what I told you about earlier…I still haven’t been able to figure it out, and it’s driving me mad."
"Did you want to talk about it?"
"No," Kaiba said shortly. I can’t, he added mentally.
"If
you say so," Téa said. "Thanks, I think I get it now," she added more
loudly. Kaiba nodded, and returned to his own station. What’s Kaiba got on his mind? Téa wondered as she returned to her work. Whatever it is, he wants to keep it to himself.

"Hello,
Yugi," Solomon said as Yugi and Téa walked up to the store that doubled
as the Moto’s home. Solomon was sweeping the front entryway, as he did
every day. "By the way, something came in the mail for you," he said.
"It’s in on the store counter."
"Thanks, Grandpa," Yugi said as he walked in.
"Mind if I come in?" Téa asked Solomon.
"Of course not," Solomon said. "If nothing else, you’ve been my best customer as of late."
"I suppose there is that," Téa said, and she walked into the store. Yugi was looking through a letter when she entered.
"Kaiba’s invited me to his tournament," Yugi said as Téa walked up. "No surprise there."
"So you’re going to compete?" Téa asked.
"Yeah. No matter how many tournaments are organized, I never get tired of competing in them."
"Great. When does it start?"
"Tomorrow at noon. It’s being held at the KaibaCorp Duel Dome."
"Where else? I know I’m not much of a partner, but did you want to get in some practice before the tournament?"
"Sure,
Téa," Yugi said. "I’ll go get my deck." He vaulted up the flights of
stairs leading to his room, and Solomon walked in from outside.
"So, Yugi got his invitation," Solomon said to Téa.
"At least the tournament should be good for business, right?" Téa asked him.
"Maybe. Yugi wasn’t the only one to get a letter from KaibaCorp; I got one offering to allow me to sell cards at the event."
"Wow, that must be good," Téa remarked.
"Sure is. Maybe it will put the store back where it belongs."
"Téa, I’ve got my deck ready!" Yugi called as he came back down. "So, you ready to duel?"
"Ready as I’ll ever be," Téa replied as she followed him into the game room.

"XYZ-Dragon Cannon, use Cannon Firestorm!"
A massive, multicolored machine unleashed a blast of energy at Kaiba’s opponent, and the virtual duelist’s image shattered. Another win, Kaiba thought without joy. The only one who can defeat me is Yugi, and computers can’t simulate his "Heart of the Cards".
The
virtual arena around him faded, and he found himself back in the
training room. Without the holograms that painted an environment around
it, the stark battleship-grey walls were uninviting, foreboding, even.
When it was in use, however, the room became a dueling arena anywhere
Kaiba could think of, and he could duel anyone he wished. No computer
simulation could challenge him though, as computers could only use
their established protocol. Kaiba, on the other hand, could think.
That, combined with his own considerable skill, combined to create an
advantage that even simulators he programmed could not overcome.
"Excellent
performance, as usual, Mr. Kaiba," the tech who was operating the
machinery said. "Would you like to continue against another opponent?"
"No, I’m done for now," Kaiba said. "Open the exit doors."
"At
once, Mr. Kaiba," the tech said, and the steel doors that barred entry
or exit while the simulator was in use slid open. As a precaution,
Kaiba had a manual override hard-wired into the system that only he
knew the code for, but he hadn’t needed to use it yet.
At least my dueling hasn’t been affected, Kaiba thought as he left the training room. I’ll be ready for tomorrow.
"I
thought I’d find you here, Seto," Mokuba said, running up to his older
brother. "You always spend hours in there before a tournament."
"It keeps my skills sharp," Kaiba replied. "Did you need me for something?"
"It’s Friday, and you promised," Mokuba reminded him. "Did you forget again?"
"Of course not, Mokuba. Where was it you wanted to go?"
"Well, how about home for a change?"
"If you just want to spend some time at home, we’ll go home," Kaiba said. "As you said, I did promise."
"All right!" Mokuba shouted. "Let’s go, Seto!"
Kaiba
followed his younger brother, somewhat amused as they walked out to the
car. He had forgotten his promise to Mokuba, and was glad that his
brother had thought to remind him rather than staying silent and
resenting the fact that Kaiba had forgotten. Not that Kaiba had any
excuse. Every Friday he tried to set aside time to spend with Mokuba,
though he hadn’t been able to for the last couple of weeks. He had
sworn he wouldn’t let it happen this week, and he had completely
forgotten about it! Still, Mokuba hadn’t, and here he was.
"Where to, Mr. Kaiba?" the chauffer asked as Mokuba got into the car.
"Home," Kaiba responded, taking the seat next to his brother.
"As you wish," the chauffer replied, entering the car.

The End:

Does Kaiba actually care about us? Téa wondered as she looked at the cards in her hand. First he helps me, and then tries to do something for Mr. Moto…
“Téa,
are you okay?” Yugi asked, cutting into Téa’s thoughts. Suddenly she
realized that she had taken too long to make her move.
“Yeah, I’m
fine. Just thinking. Okay, I’ll activate Celestial Transformation, so I can summon my Agent of Judgment – Saturn, and then I’ll use his effect.
By Tributing him, I can inflict damage to you equal to the difference between our Life Points, as long as I have Sanctuary in the Sky and more Life Points than you do.”
“Ouch,” Yugi commented. “Let’s see,
that brings me down to 800 Life Points, and because of that, your Agent of Force – Mars now has 3200 attack points…at least you had to give up your Battle Phase this turn.”
“Right, your move,” Téa said.
“Okay.
I play Lightning Vortex, which lets me destroy all your face-up monsters as long as I discard one card. I discard Dark Magician.”
“So much for my Agent of Force, and my Shining Angel.”
“That’s right. Now I’ll play Monster Reborn to resurrect my Dark Magician, and then play Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode,” Yugi announced. “Got anything to stop me?”
Téa looked at her hand, and at the one card left on her side of the field. “Nothing. You win.”
“You almost had me there, Téa. What was your face-down, anyway?”
“Miraculous Descent. I didn’t have any Angels removed, so I couldn’t use it to block your attack.”
“I’m lucky you didn’t. What’s on your mind though? You seemed to lose concentration at the last minute.”
Téa sighed. “I can’t help but wonder why Kaiba’s being so helpful to us. It doesn’t make much sense.”
“Good question, but I can’t exactly ask him, now can I?” Yugi said. “For now, I’ll just settle for being grateful for his change of heart.”
“I should probably do that too,” Téa agreed. “But I still have to wonder what Kaiba’s stake in all of this is.”
“Yugi! Téa!” Solomon called from another room. “Did you want to eat now?”
“Sure, Grandpa!” Yugi called back. “Did you want something, Téa?”
“No thanks. I’ll eat something when I get home. See you tomorrow, Yugi.”
“See you, Téa,” Yugi replied, and Téa picked up her cards and left.
“How’d she do?” Solomon asked as he brought in a plate of food.
“She would have won if I hadn’t drawn Lightning Vortex,” Yugi replied.
“Maybe I should ask the Heart of the Cards to go easier on her.”
Solomon shook his head. “If you didn’t do your best, Yugi, any victory she would have gotten would be false. She’s doing better, and she realizes it.”
“I guess you’re right, Grandpa,” Yugi said.
“Of course I am! I’m always right. Now eat up, you’ll need your strength for the tournament tomorrow.”
“‘Always right, except when you’re wrong,’” Yugi quoted, and he laughed as he dove into his meal.

“I wonder where Téa is,” Yugi said the next morning. He had to leave soon, and Téa still hadn’t shown up.
“Probably still getting ready,” Joey assured him. “She’ll be here. After all, she never misses a tournament we’re in.”
“I know, but something feels wrong,” Yugi replied. “Maybe it’s just nerves.”
“If she doesn’t meet us here, she’ll meet us at the Duel Dome,” Tristan said. “Like Joey said, she never misses a tournament when you two are dueling.”
Yugi opened his mouth to reply when the phone rang. “Hello?” he asked, picking up the handset.
“Yugi, it’s Téa,” Téa said from the other end. “I can’t come to the tournament today, and I wanted to apologize.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Yugi said. “Why not?”
“I can’t bear to watch you duel, Yugi, it reminds me too much of Atem…”
“It’s okay, Téa. If it makes you uncomfortable to watch, you don’t have to come.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Téa said, and the other side hung up.
“What’s wrong, Yugi?” Joey asked as Yugi walked back over to them.
“Téa’s not coming,” Yugi replied. “She says that it reminds her too much of Atem.”
“That’s not like her,” Joey said. “Oh well, we’ll go anyway.”
“Mai!” Joey called as he saw her in the registration line. “So, you got an invite too?”
“Of course I did,” Mai replied. “After all, you’re here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Joey asked furiously.
“Calm down, I was just joking. Wait, where’s Téa?”
“She didn’t want to come…I know, it’s weird.”
“Did she say why?”
“Something about watching Yugi duel reminding her too much of Atem. He meant a lot more to her than we all thought.”
“It makes sense…maybe too much sense.”
“What do you mean, Mai?”
“Doesn’t something in that ring false to you, Joey? She’s watched Yugi duel after that, though not in a tournament. Anyway, it sounds wrong, somehow.”
“You know, it does, especially since Téa promised to be
here yesterday. I’d understand if something came up in her family, but this isn’t like her.”
“Maybe…” Mai began, but she stopped short as
Kaiba stepped up to the judge’s stage. “The tournament’s starting, we should talk about this in the off-rounds.”
“Welcome, duelists, to the second KaibaCorp Grand Championship,” Kaiba announced. “Three hundred of the worlds’ finest duelists stand in this room. Only eight
will advance to the finals, and a chance at the KC Cup. I, of course, will be participating along with you.”
“Of course,” Joey murmured. “He never passes up an opportunity to have his re-match with Yugi.”
“The duels will take place using my new VI Arena technology,” Kaiba
continued. “Duelists will be immersed in a virtual dueling arena.
However, your deck will be copied card-for-card, and faithfully reproduced in virtual space. You may modify your deck in between rounds, as long as you fill out a deck change form before the start of the following round. If at any time your deck does not conform to the most recent list submitted to the judges, then you will be immediately disqualified. That aside, may the best duelist win.”
Kaiba stepped down from the stage, and one of the judges walked over to the microphone. “The first round pairings will be posted in five minutes. I suggest you use that time to familiarize yourself with the leaflet that was handed out to you on the use of the VI Arena.”
Kaiba looked out over the crowd as he waited rather impatiently for the tournament to begin. Everyone he had invited had registered for the tournament, he
had been pleased to note. There was Yugi and his friends…but where was Téa? He frowned as his gaze swept over the crowd of people. She wasn’t there, at least not that he could see. For some reason, that made him uneasy. Wondering why he even cared, he slipped into the crowd and
located Yugi.
“Where’s Téa?” Kaiba asked as he tapped his rival on the shoulder.
“She’s at home,” Yugi replied. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”
Kaiba shook his head. “It won’t feel right, dueling you in the finals without her cheering you on.”
“Doesn’t feel right without Atem, either,” Yugi countered. “Speaking of which, that’s why she’s not here today.”
Kaiba remembered the duel he had watched where Yugi had defeated his alter ego, and sent him back to the time and place he belonged. Nothing after that quite seemed the same. “Just make sure it doesn’t affect your dueling,” Kaiba said as he left.
Despite his nonchalant attitude, Téa’s absence disturbed Kaiba. Something screamed at him that the whole situation was wrong, and he was reminded of the dream he had two weeks ago. It was only a dream! he reminded himself sternly, and returned his focus to the tournament. Suddenly, the cellular phone in his pocket began to vibrate, and he pulled it out.
“Kaiba,” he answered shortly.
“Listen carefully, Kaiba,” the voice on the other end rasped. “You are going to come to the Industrial Illusions complex in the next five minutes.”
“And why should I do that?” Kaiba demanded.
“Because I have something of value to you,” the voice replied. “Just listen.”

“You won’t catch that wolf with this rabbit,” Téa said from the other end. “He’s not going to come.”
“That’s
enough out of you,” the voice said sharply. “Anyway, meet me at the old
R&D facility in exactly five minutes. I don’t think I need to tell
you the consequences if you don’t.”
Kaiba opened his mouth to reply,
but the phone clicked as the connection was broken. Five minutes, the
voice echoed in his head. Kaiba walked over to where Roland was
standing. “Roland, I’m going to leave for a while. Try to stall until I
return.”
“Yes, Mr. Kaiba. Your car will be waiting for you,” Roland replied.
Kaiba nodded, and then walked quickly to the door. Once outside, he began running.
Two
minutes, Kaiba thought as he checked his watch outside the Industrial
Illusions complex. He had only been here once, when he struck a deal
with Duel Monsters creator Maximillion Pegasus involving his first
dueling arena. He had been given a tour of the facility as a guest of
honor, but he had never expected to have to use any knowledge of the
layout again. Now he dug through his memory, trying to remember where
exactly the Research & Development room was.
And
this, Kaiba-boy, is our R&D department. I’m sure you’ll understand
that I can’t show you the inside, as duelist or businessman?
“Third
floor, room 308,” Kaiba murmured as he started running up the stairs.
Vaulting them two at a time, he reached the third floor and stopped
long enough to find out which section he was in. As soon as he had
oriented himself, he resumed running in the direction of the R&D
room. He found the door open, and the lights were off inside. He ran
in, and the lights all turned on at once, blinding him for a moment.
“With
thirty seconds to spare, Kaiba,” someone in the room said, and Kaiba
started as he recognized it. It was the voice of the cloaked man from
the dream, the one who had pursued Téa.
Kaiba’s vision began to
clear, and he saw that he was alone in the room. Off to his side, he
saw one of his VI Arena pods. It was vacant, and the canopy was open.
“Is this some sort of joke?” Kaiba demanded. “Where’s Téa?”
“All
in good time, all in good time,” the voice said. Kaiba realized now
that it was coming from the loudspeakers. “If you want to see her
again, step into the pod to your left. You should be familiar with how
it works? And hopefully you brought your deck with you.”
“And if I refuse?” Kaiba asked.
“Then I’ll simply kill Téa now, and you’ll follow shortly. Play my game, Kaiba, and you might just have a chance.”
Kaiba
got into the open VI Arena pod, and set his deck into the reader. He
didn’t have to wait very long until the visor dropped down, and he no
longer seemed to be in the real world, but the dark wastes of his dream.
“So
good of you to come, Kaiba,” the voice said. Sure enough, the cloaked
man from his dream stood across from him. Rather than a sword, a Duel
Disk was on his arm.
“Who are you?” Kaiba demanded.
“No one of
consequence,” the cloaked man replied. “But if you need a name, you can
simply call me Shadow. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? You and I are
going to duel.”
“A duel? You brought me all the way out here just for that?” Kaiba asked.
“Oh,
not just any duel. You see, I’ve managed to disable all your silly
little safeguards, like the ones that control the link to your physical
body and the emergency override. This one is a life and death
situation, Kaiba. To put it simply, if your life points reach zero for
any reason, you will die.”
“That sounds oddly familiar,” Kaiba retorted.
“Spare
me your sarcasm, Kaiba. You might be more interested to know that there
is currently a sensor that is monitoring your heart. Should your heart
stop beating, the machine the sensor is tied to will inject a small
amount of venom into Téa’s bloodstream. She will be dead a few moments
after you are.”
“You’re making a huge assumption,” Kaiba said.
“Am I?”
“You’re assuming that I’m going to die.”
“That’s
not too hard an assumption to make. After all, all I have to do is
defeat you, and then you and your little friend will die. Are you
familiar with the phrase, 'It’s time to duel?' This is the last time
you’ll ever say it!”
“Let’s duel!”
Kaiba and Shadow’s Duel Discs
snapped into duel mode, and their Life Point meters flashed 8000. “I’ll
begin,” Shadow said. “I start with the Field Spell, Mystic Plasma Zone!
This increases the attack power of all creatures of darkness by 500,
and then reduces their defense by 400. I’ll also summon the Mystic
Tomato, in Attack Position. Your move, Kaiba.”
Kaiba drew a card. “I’ll summon the Vorse Raider, in attack mode! Attack his Mystic Tomato!”
Shadow
laughed as his plant was cut in two by the axe of Kaiba’s monster.
“Very good! Except for the fact that my Tomato’s special ability kicks
in. Now I can summon any dark-attribute monster from my deck, as long
as its attack power is 1500 or less. I think I’ll summon my Legendary
Fiend!”
“Whatever,” Kaiba said. “I’ll just put a card face down and end my turn.”
“As
you’re going to see, Kaiba, this isn’t a ‘whatever’ situation. During
my Standby Phase, my Legendary Fiend gains 700 more attack points,
making his attack power 2700, more than enough to destroy your Vorse
Raider. Attack, Legendary Fiend!”
The demon on Shadow’s side of the
field struck rapidly, hammering Kaiba’s Vorse Raider into harmless
dust. Kaiba cried out in pain as his Life Point counter registered the
damage dealt to him.
“It hurts, doesn’t it, Kaiba? That’s a nice
little touch I added. Every time you lose Life Points, you lose some of
your actual life energy.”
“My…move,” Kaiba got out as he drew. “I
set one card on the field face down, and summon Manju of the Ten
Thousand Hands! This card lets me add any Ritual Monster or Ritual
Spell Card from my deck to my hand, and I choose the Spell Card White
Dragon Ritual. I then activate White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing Manju
of the Ten Thousand Hands for Paladin of White Dragon!”
“Are you done yet?” Shadow asked in a bored tone. “None of that’s going to help you against my Legendary Fiend.”
“No,
but this might. I activate Paladin of White Dragon’s effect! By
sacrificing him, I can summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!”
“Would
you look at that?” Shadow said sarcastically. “Kaiba’s big, bad dragon
finally makes an appearance. Unfortunately, it won’t help you, because
it can’t attack this turn. My move.” Shadow drew a card. “First my
Legendary Fiend gains 700 attack points during my Standby Phase, making
its attacking power 3400. That’s enough to beat your dragon to a bloody
pulp, but this card will make it more fun. I activate Riryoku, which
lets me take half of your dragon’s attack power and add it to my own
monsters! Now your dragon only has 1500 attack points, while my demon
is sitting at 4900. I think I’ll command my Legendary Fiend to attack
now. Go!”
Shadow’s fiend began to charge Kaiba’s dragons, when Kaiba
began to laugh. “What’s so funny?” Shadow demanded. “Your monster’s
about to be destroyed, and you’ll lose a chunk of Life Points along
with it.”
“You forgot all about my face-down card, it seems,” Kaiba said. “I activate my Trap Card, Shadow Spell!”
“Not
that card!” Shadow exclaimed as Kaiba’s trap activated. Constricting
black chains appeared from nowhere, binding Shadow’s monster.
“Now
your monster is paralyzed, unable to attack or defend. In addition, it
loses 700 attack points. And now that it’s my turn, the effects of
Riryoku end, returning the stolen power to my dragon.” Kaiba examined
his hand. “I think I’ll summon Peten, the Dark Clown to my side of the
field. And since he’s a creature of darkness, he gains 500 extra attack
points. I’ll also set another card face-down. Blue-Eyes, attack his
Legendary Fiend with White Lightning!” Kaiba’s dragon unleashed a
stream of electrical energy at Shadow’s demon, reducing it to nothing.
“And now that it’s out of the way, Peten, attack his Life Points with
Bloodlust Slash!”
“I don’t think so, Kaiba!” Shadow said. “I discard Kuriboh, to negate the damage from that attack.”
“Cheap move,” Kaiba muttered. “Your turn.”
“Excellent.
I use the Spell Card Snatch Steal to take your dragon from you. Then,
I’ll sacrifice it to summon Mefist, the Infernal General! Now, Mefist,
attack his Peten the Dark Clown!”
“Once again, you’ve completely
forgotten about my face-down card,” Kaiba said. “I activate Crush Card
Virus! By sacrificing a dark-attribute monster with 1000 attack points
or less, I can destroy every monster in on your side of the field, in
your hand, and that you draw during the next three turns with 1500 or
more attack points. Say good-bye to your monster, and every other
monster with 1500 or more attack points in your hand.”
“My monsters! You’ll pay for that, Kaiba!”
“I don’t think so. I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards!”
“So what?” Shadow asked. “Two cards, it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh,
it matters all right, especially when I activate Card of Demise! This
card lets me draw five more cards. However, I have to discard my hand
in five turns.”
“Draw as many cards as you like. None of them are going to help you.”
“How about this Monster Reborn card?” Kaiba asked. “I activate it to bring back my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”
“Don’t you ever get tired of that? I’ll just destroy it next turn.”
“You
won’t even have a next turn. I’m activating my Polymerization card to
fuse the Blue-Eyes on the field with the two in my hand, forming the
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!”

“Oh good, a bigger dragon to crush.”
“Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, use Neutron Blast attack!”
“I’ll just discard another Kuriboh, to make its attack useless. Are you quite finished?”
“No,
because I’m using this, De-Fusion! This card separates my Ultimate
Dragon into its three component dragons, all of which can attack you
right away. Now attack with Triple White Lightning! Try to block this!”
Shadow
stepped back as all three of Kaiba’s dragons opened their jaws wide,
and exhaled their deadly energy breath. He screamed in agony, a
terrible inhuman wail as the energy washed through him and his Life
Points were reduced to zero. He fell to his knees.
“I win. Now where’s Téa?”
“So…this
is how it feels…” Shadow coughed. “At least…I have my revenge on
you…Téa is trapped within…” He began coughing violently, and blood
flecked his lips. “Trapped…within…this world…and will never…escape…”
Shadow
laughed manically between coughs, until suddenly the laughter stopped
and he fell limply to the ground. Kaiba swore as he realized that
Shadow was dead, and he was no closer to finding Téa than he was before
the duel. A gateway Kaiba recognized as an exit portal opened behind
him, and he was about to step through when he heard a cry of terror.
“Téa!” he cried aloud as he realized whom the voice belonged to. Ignoring the exit portal, he ran in the direction of the sound.
She
was running, just like in her dream. Except the cloaked man wasn’t
chasing her, a massive black dragon was. And this time, Kaiba wasn’t
here to save her. She screamed as a jet of purple flame just barely
missed her and she dodged in the other direction. Téa shouted for help
as she ran, knowing it was useless. No one could reach her in this
virtual prison.
“Someone, anyone, help!” Téa’s voice came clearly to
Kaiba’s ears. He continued to run in the direction of the sound,
praying that he got there in time. He finally ascended the ridge that
separated him from Téa, and saw her running from a massive dragon that
he recognized as the Dark Ruler Vandelygon. Any other time, it would
have been amusing, but now he just focused on the fact that it was
weaker than his own monster.
“I summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”
he cried as he slammed the card into place on his Duel Disc. A burst of
light flared from the card and solidified into his dragon, which took
flight immediately.
“I summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” came
Kaiba’s voice from the side of the ridge, and Téa couldn’t believe her
ears. She stopped short as Kaiba’s dragon charged at her pursuer, and
Téa started running again, this time from the fight that was certain to
ensue.
Kaiba’s dragon rammed the Dark Ruler into the ridge wall,
nearly knocking Kaiba from his feet. Kaiba steadied himself as another
impact shook the ridge, this time the explosion of energy released from
his dragon’s breath attack. The Dark Ruler shrieked, a terrifying,
high-pitched noise known as the draconic death cry. Kaiba’s own dragon
returned to him, and he got on it, looking for Téa.
Téa heard the
death cry of one of the two dragons, and she devoutly hoped it wasn’t
Kaiba’s. When the shadow of wings passed over her, however, she
screamed and ran for all she was worth. She didn’t know how long she
ran for before a hand caught on her shoulder. She spun around with a
roundhouse kick at her pursuer, but he just dodged the blow easily.

“Easy, Téa, it’s just me,” the person said, and Téa suddenly recognized him.

“Kaiba?! I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…I just…”

“It’s okay,” Kaiba said. “You were scared, and thought I was one of the people who meant to harm you.”

“Something like that…” Téa said.

“The dragon chasing you is gone, and I know where the way out is,” Kaiba said. “If you don’t mind following me?”

“Anywhere

has got to be better than here,” Téa said quickly, and Kaiba nodded

agreement. Téa shrank away, though, as Kaiba’s dragon descended.

“It’s

mine, and dragonflight is much faster than walking,” Kaiba explained.

Téa nodded wordlessly, and the two of them mounted the dragon. The

white-scaled dragon took to the sky, and brought them back to the exit

portal. Kaiba dismounted, and helped Téa down. After a questioning look

at Kaiba, the dragon dissolved into light, and vanished.

The two of

them walked through the exit portal, and Kaiba awoke to the VI Arena

pod’s interior as the visor retracted and the canopy clicked open.

Retrieving
his deck from the reader, he began looking for Téa. He found her in
another part of the R&D lab, sitting motionless in another

VI Arena pod. She was looking warily at a needle positioned above her

left arm.

“Kaiba, is that supposed to be there?” she asked as she watched him approach.

“No,” Kaiba said, and he grabbed the injector, breaking it off of the machine.

“Thanks,” Téa breathed, and she went limp with relief. A few moments later, she looked up at him and asked, “Why did you come?”

“At

Duelist Kingdom, you prevented Yugi from making a decision that would

haunt him for the rest of his life. That action also saved my life. You could say I’m returning the favor.”

“Is that what you meant when you said you owed me a debt from Duelist Kingdom?”

“Yes. I also…I knew that he would have killed you if I didn’t show up, and I couldn’t let you die.”

“Because of the debt?” Téa prompted.

“Yes, at least in part…but there was also something else, something I couldn’t explain, even to myself.”

“What was that?”

“Téa,
I care about you more deeply than I ever have for any other human
being. The thought of you dying tore me apart, and I knew that I had to
prevent it,” Kaiba admitted. “I love you, Téa, and it took all of this
for me to finally be able to admit it.”

Téa was struck speechless.

It
suddenly all made sense, the offer to help, the sudden interest in her
welfare. “You were the one who arranged to pay for my classes at Joe
Michaels, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I overheard you in the hallway, talking
to Yugi about it, and I made arrangements. Since then, I’ve tried to
immerse myself in my work, and in Duel Monsters. It didn’t work.”

“And the problem you were having…God, you were talking about me, weren’t you?”

“Yes,”
Kaiba admitted. “You had offered to help me, and refusing to say
anything at all about it would have seemed rude. At the same time, I
couldn’t tell you the truth because I hadn’t admitted the truth to
myself.”

“All this time…and I never guessed…”

“I’m sorry, Téa. If you want me to, I’ll just leave your life for good.”

Is
this what you want, Téa? she asked herself. To never have to think
about this again? Kaiba had saved her life, because he loved her.

“Kaiba…” she started. Suddenly she threw her arms around him and started crying.

“Téa, what’s wrong?” Kaiba asked.

“Don’t do that,” Téa sobbed. “Don’t leave me.”

“Never,” Kaiba promised, and he embraced her.

They had been standing like that for some time when Téa cried out, “The tournament! I completely forgot!”

“So did I,” Kaiba said. “If we hurry, we might make it back in time for the finals.”

“Let’s
go!” Téa said, and she pulled him by the arm out of the complex.
Kaiba’s limousine was still waiting when the two of them left the
complex.

“Where to, Mr. Kaiba?” the chauffer asked. If he noticed
Téa, he completely ignored her. “The Duel Dome,” Kaiba replied, as he
helped Téa into the car.

The chauffer nodded, and he began driving.



“I wonder what happened to Kaiba,” Yugi said as he prepared to face Joey in the championship match.

“Me too,” Joey replied. “He seemed excited to begin, when he got a phone call and just left. Right before the first round too.”

“Well, best of luck, Joey.”

“Luck is my specialty, Yugi. But thanks, and good luck to you as well.”

Mai
wondered why Kaiba had left himself as the two friends entered the VI
Arena system. Something caught her attention at the corner of her eye,
and she stared speechless as what she saw. Téa and Kaiba were arm and
arm and walking over to the area set aside for viewing the match.

“Well, will you look at that,” she said softly once she found her voice.

“Looks like we’re in time, Kaiba,” Téa said. “I’m sorry that I made you miss the chance to compete, though.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kaiba replied. “I may not have been able to duel Yugi, but what I found instead is worth so much more.”

“I think you’re right, Kaiba,” Téa chuckled.

Kaiba smiled at her. “My name’s Seto, by the way.”

“Seto…I could get used to that.”

Both laughed at that, and they turned their attention to the duel being played out before them.

Oohh a story which makes Kaiba look good.

Who was the one who wrote it? A link would be good.

Sure, here it is:

The Dreamer

This story totally made me like Kaiba.