[STORY] F4-Programmer (Season 1: Duelist Kingdom) : #009

Episode 9: Duel with a Ghoul (Saved from Death! Magical Silk Hat)

The gang stand beside the dueling arena where the ghoulish Kaiba lookalike waits. Kemo, still holding onto Mokuba, laughs and tells Yugi he doesn't stand a ghost of a chance against Kaiba this time, because this time, Kaiba is a ghost! Mokuba tells Kemo to stop it, but Kemo says it's a fact—witnesses saw Kaiba fall to his doom. The gang all gasp in shock, while Mokuba calls Kemo a liar and demands that he take back what he said. Kemo tells Mokuba to get used to it. All that's left of Kaiba is a cranky ghost looking for revenge.

Yugi says it can't be Kaiba. He's nothing but a fake, a trick by Pegasus. He tells Mokuba not to worry. They'll win his freedom, and find his brother. Meanwhile, Pegasus and Croquet are watching the confrontation on the computer screen from the castle hall. Pegasus laughs, saying he loves reality TV. Croquet asks who Yugi is dueling, and Pegasus says it is Kaiba—what's left of him. Croquet is astonished—how did Pegasus do that? Pegasus says he can't take all the credit. He had help from Yugi. And now, to return the favor, he's going to teach Yugi a lesson about the real power of the Millennium Items. (Japanese Pegasus says, Kaiba is dead? Croquet says yes, so he's heard. Pegasus acts upset, saying that's terrible! So, he asks Croquet, you used a fake? Croquet asks if it pleases Pegasus, and Pegasus says it doesn't matter. He'll watch, for entertainment's sake. Croquet protests that it's no mere entertainment, and Pegasus says Yugi will definitely come to him. And then, he'll do away with him with his own hands. The label on Pegasus' wine bottle has been changed in the US version to show an apple, since they're pretending it's fruit juice.)

The Ghost Kaiba taunts Yugi, saying Yugi looks like he's seen a ghost. He's no longer of this world, Ghost Kaiba says, and it's all because of Yugi. He could have had it all, but when Yugi beat him, Yugi took more than just the match. Yugi took his life, and destroyed his soul. (Japanese Ghost Kaiba says he's a dead man. Since he lost to Yugi, he lost everything he had, including his life. He says Yugi dispatched him to wander through hell, and how he'll drag Yugi down there with him.) Yugi says Ghost Kaiba is nothing but an impostor, so stop the lies and start the duel. The Ghost might look like Kaiba, but there's no way he can imitate Kaiba's deck. Ghost Kaiba says it is his deck.

Mokuba calls out to Yugi to beat this guy—he's nothing but a fake. (Japanese Mokuba says he knows his brother couldn't be killed this easily.) The others agree. Ghost Kaiba grins evilly at Yugi, thinking that this time he has nothing to lose. He tells Kemo that once he beats Yugi, Pegasus can have Kaiba Corporation. All he wants is revenge. (Japanese Ghost Kaiba is silent. In voice-over, Saruwatari thinks that Yugi's opponents here won't be normal duelists. This is the first assassin sent especially to this island by Industrial Illusions for the sole purpose of defeating him. Meeting Kaiba's ghost face to face will be enough emotional trauma to insure Yugi's defeat. Then Kaiba Corporation will be turned over to Mister Pegasus.) Kaiba bets three Star Chips on the duel, and Yugi agrees.

Kaiba begins the duel by playing Hitotsu-Me Giant (Cyclops) (1200 ATK). Yugi reacts in horror, remembering that this is the way Kaiba began their last duel. Mokuba is stunned, too, saying there's a card just like that in his brother's deck. But Joey tells him that doesn't mean it's the same deck. Yugi thinks Ghost Kaiba is trying to confuse him by making the same opening move that Kaiba did, but it will have the same result. (Japanese Yugi thinks that there's no way that fake could have Kaiba's deck. This must be a trick.) He counters with Dark Magician (Black Magician) (2500 ATK) and destroys the Hitotsu-Me Giant, reducing Ghost Kaiba's life points to 700. Ghost Kaiba laughs, telling Yugi he's as strong as ever. But he says Yugi must have realized by now that he'll never win—the ghost really is Kaiba, and he'll win this time. Yugi barely beat him last time, and this time, Yugi no longer has his Exodia cards. (Japanese Ghost Kaiba says he can read Yugi's mind, just as if he were holding it in his hand. He says Yugi's thinking that maybe he has the real Kaiba's deck. And Yugi's right—this is Seto Kaiba's deck, and it holds the dead Kaiba's will within it. Yugi says it's a lie, and Ghost Kaiba says, can Yugi beat him without Exodia? Can Yugi beat Kaiba's deck?)

Meanwhile, the real Kaiba is lurking outside his mansion, hiding from guards who have his place staked out. Flashbacks show what really happened when Kaiba jumped out the window—he caught himself on the edge of the cliff and climbed back up to safety. Now, he climbs a fence onto the grounds of the mansion and pulls up a hidden trap door which leads down an underground stairway into the mansion. Entering a library, he pulls out a book to cause a hidden door to be revealed, accessed by a retinal scan. (The writing has been removed in the US version. It's called a "RETNA SENSOR" in the Japanese. The window below says, "Please show me.")

Inside is a control room, where he powers up his computer and verifies his identity by voiceprint analysis. (The words "ONLY SECRET LINE" are removed from the US version of the computer startup screen.)

Then Kaiba gets an update on what's been going on. A sassy computer voice tells him that while he was off gallivanting, a hostile takeover of Kaiba Corporation has begun. At the same time, Maximillion Pegasus kicked off his Duelist Kingdom tournament. If Pegasus or his representative can defeat Yugi, the new Kaiba Corporation board has promised to turn over control of Kaiba Corp to him. (The Japanese computer voice is very deferential, calling Kaiba "Kaiba-sama." It says that while Kaiba was away, a meeting of the Big 5 was held, and it was decided that under certain conditions, 50% of the Big 5's stock would be transferred to Pegasus J. Crawford. In the Japanese version, Kaiba's computer screen shows graphics representing Kaiba Corp stock holdings. Characters which read, "Kaiba Corporation Directors' Holdings Summary," swoop onto the screen, then off. In the US, most of this graphic is replaced by Kaiba's name repeating across the screen.)

(The stock transfer will be performed if Yugi Mutou is defeated in the Duelist Kingdom event currently under way. The words "Duelist Kingdom" are removed from the computer screen in the US version.)

Pegasus can't beat Yugi, Kaiba says. He has Exodia. But the computer tells him that Yugi's lost his Exodia cards, then goes on to say that Pegasus knows about the corporation bylaws that require a living Kaiba heir to make any change of control legal. Mokuba is Pegasus' prisoner, and with Kaiba out of the way, Pegasus will exert pressure to make Mokuba do what he wants. (Japanese Kaiba asks the computer where Mokuba is, and the computer tells him that servants of Pegasus are holding him at Duelist Kingdom. Kaiba says that Mokuba has the key to the safe containing the documents needed for takeover of their corporation. So, Pegasus has kidnapped Mokuba.)

The computer asks Kaiba what he is going to do. Kaiba says Pegasus will keep Mokuba safe, at least until after the takeover is complete. (Japanese Kaiba says he has to help Mokuba escape. But first, he has to guard against Pegasus' planned takeover.) So he has to make sure Pegasus doesn't defeat Yugi in a duel, no matter what. He's not going to give up Kaiba Corporation without a fight, he says. "It's takeover time—by me!" They'll hack into Pegasus' mainframe. Next stop: Duelist Kingdom. (Japanese Kaiba says it won't be long before someone realizes he's working from that terminal. It's a battle against time, and he asks the computer to help him. First, he has to set himself up on the Net as a common user and run a search on "Duelist Kingdom.")

Back at the duel, Yugi asks Ghost Kaiba if he's here to play head games or Duel Monsters. It's his move. Ghost Kaiba says this card is a blast from the past (Japanese Ghost Kaiba says an angel of revenge is rising from the depths of hell)—and plays the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Yugi and the others are shocked, and Joey says only one deck has that card! Mokuba wonders if what they say could be true.

Ghost Kaiba laughs, and Yugi thinks, this really is Kaiba's deck. Does that mean that Kaiba is really... ? Ghost Kaiba tells Yugi to admit that he was wrong. Then he says that not having a real body isn't so bad. He still gets to savor the finer things in life—like revenge! (Japanese Ghost Kaiba says he knows what Yugi's thinking—he's realizing that Kaiba is dead. It's impossible to imitate Kaiba's deck. This deck is his, and his Blue-Eyes White Dragon has returned from the dead to take its revenge on Yugi.) Mokuba cries out for him to shut up, and begs someone to make him go away. Ghost Kaiba says it almost breaks his heart—if he had one. (Japanese Ghost Kaiba tells Yugi to come with him down to hell.)

Meanwhile, the real Kaiba has easily cracked the Duelist Kingdom computer system, and is searching for Yugi's duel. (The Japanese computer system has located the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Kaiba asks what duel rings are currently being operated, and the computer tells him that there are twelve evenly scattered around the island. Then he asks where Yugi is dueling.) But now they run into the system's security—Yugi's data is protected, and Kaiba's computer can't crack it. (The words "Not Accessed" on the Japanese computer screen are replaced with a graphic of Pegasus' rabbit inside a circle with a line through it in the US version.)

Kaiba smiles, telling Pegasus to give it his best shot. There's not a computer system in the world Kaiba can't break into. Every computer has a back door, he says, and takes over on manual. Data from all the duels is being beamed from the island to an orbiting Industrial Illusions satellite, and back to the mainframe. (In the Japanese, the mainframe is called Millennium.) These systems are highly encrypted, but if they can force the mainframe offline, the backup systems won't have as much security. Kaiba's computer wants to know how they're going to make Pegasus' computer crash. (Japanese Kaiba says if he can find a back door into Millennium, he can read Yugi's data as it's being stored. His computer says Pegasus' company has quite a solid security system, but Kaiba says all their systems are based on the virtual system that he designed. If he can't hack it, who can?)

A crash is just what Kaiba had in mind, he says, and he's going to use their satellite to do it. His computer says it already tried to hack into their satellite, but Kaiba says his idea is different, and tells his computer to be ready with a search for the Dark Magician. If Yugi's dueling, he's sure to use that card. Then Kaiba says his plan is to bring down the Industrial Illusions satellite—all the way down. The computer takes control of the satellite's navigation systems, and they change its course so that it crashes right into the building where Pegasus' mainframe is located. (In the Japanese, they first access the communications satellite through a back door by performing a virtual purge of the security wall. The writing on the computer screen is again removed in the US version. It says, on the top right, "Access Illusion Satelight2," and on the bottom left, "Illusion Satelight2, Industrial Illusion.C, Since 1995.")

(Then, the writing on the side of the satellite is changed slightly, from "Industrial Illusion.Co" to "Industrial Illusions.")

(And the title bar, "Illusion Satelight2 Security Wall" is removed from the graphic of the purge, as is the word "Purge...".)

(Then, they use the satellite to hack into Industrial Illusions' mainframe, Millennium.)

Back at the duel, Ghost Kaiba says he won't attack just yet. Instead, he sets a card face down. Yugi switches Dark Magician to defense mode, and plays Curse of Dragon in defense as well. But Ghost Kaiba activates his trap card, Defense Paralysis (Defense Seal) to force Yugi's monsters into attack position, and destroys Curse of Dragon with his Blue-Eyes. (The real card is Stop Defense, and it's a magic card. It can only switch one opponent's monster into attack position.) Yugi's down to 1000 life points.

Kaiba and his computer are searching the Duelist Kingdom arenas for Yugi's Dark Magician, with no success. Arena 146 is the final active duel, so Kaiba says Yugi must be there, but when they try to access the duel, the computer crashes. Kaiba takes over to investigate, and discovers a virus, activated by a search for Yugi's cards. (The computer screen is changed again, to replace the blinking word "Error" with an "X" across the Dark Magician card, and also to remove the block of text beside the card. Part of the text reads, in English, "duelist kingdom" and "black magician.")

Yugi must be inside, Kaiba says, and tells his computer to get ready to go in. He blows up the access door with some virtual TNT, only to find a virtual fortress blocking Yugi's data. His computer tells him he won't blow past this door—it's impossible to penetrate without the password. Kaiba guesses that Pegasus wouldn't think anyone could get this far, and that the password is something easy—like "Pegasus." (Japanese Kaiba says it's an island prison, which, once entered, can never be left. Pegasus would use a defense that elaborate, but it won't work. The password is "Alcatraz.")

Back at the duel, Yugi wonders how he can defeat Ghost Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Kemo laughs, saying that for a stiff, Kaiba's got game. (Japanese Saruwatari says that Kaiba is rejoicing in Yugi's defeat from the other world.) Mokuba still insists the Ghost isn't really his brother. He knows his brother, he says, and he's not mean like this. His brother is his best friend in the world, and that thing's not him! (Japanese Mokuba says to Yugi, "Remember what you told me—you said my brother would come back. I believe you! My brother will come back.") Yugi wishes he could be as sure as Mokuba, but he doesn't know what to believe. One thing he does know—this duel's not over yet. (Japanese Yugi thinks that he understands, and he will believe, too. He knows Kaiba is alive, and he won't lose.)

Yugi plays the magic card, Magical Hats, to conceal his Dark Magician inside one of four top hats. Dark Magician is under one of them, but which one? Ghost Kaiba laughs, thinking Yugi's desperate to be playing hat tricks. Yugi tells him to do the math—with four hats, there's only a twenty-five percent chance he'll find the Dark Magician when he attacks. The real question is, what else is hiding beneath those hats? Joey tells Yugi way to go, and Mokuba says all right!

Kaiba was right about the password. They now have access to Yugi's data, and it was just his turn. Kaiba says he's back. (Japanese Kaiba says now is where the real duel begins. He'll show Pegasus not to underestimate Seto Kaiba. Let the battle begin!)

Ghost Kaiba says he knows where the Dark Magician is hiding (Japanese Ghost Kaiba says he'll blow the hats apart one by one), and launches an attack on one of the Magical Hats.

To Be Continued