"Yugi, you don't have a ghost of a chance beating Kaiba, because this time he is a ghost." Kemo tells the group, still in shellshock.

"A ghost?" Yugi asks, doubtfully.

"Stop it, Kemo!" Mokuba shouts. "That can't be the ghost of my brother!"

"It's a fact. Two witnesses saw him jump out a window and fall to his doom." Kemo retorts. None of the group can believe what they heard.

"WHAT?!?" Pinkie shouts. "Kaiba may have been a jerk ripping grandpa Muto's gift from a friend, but he'd NEVER feel so bad about it that he'd jump out a window!"

"Pinkie's right, you liar! Take back what you said!" Mokuba shouts.

"Get used to it." Kemo responds. "All that's left of Kaiba are your memories. Plus, a very cranky ghost looking for revenge."

"It's not him!" Yugi says sternly, refusing to believe what Kemo said about Kaiba jumping out a window and returning as a ghost."

"Well, he's certainly seen better days." Kemo responds. "Get your cards ready, because it's time to duel with the ghoul."

"It can't be him." Twilight says.

"You're right, Twilight." Yugi concurs. "That guy's nothing but an imposter. One of Pegasus' tricks. Don't worry, Mokuba. I'll win your freedom, then we'll find your brother in the flesh." Meanwhile, at the castle, Pegasus is watching the proceedings, finding the whole thing extremely entertaining.

"I just love reality TV." Pegasus says.

"Who is Yugi dueling?" the guard standing next to Pegasus asks.

"It's Kaiba--what's left of him. Or rather, the man he used to be" Pegasus responds. "The poor boy had shown so much promise."

"Wait a minute." the guard says, baffled. "If he's... and he's there... how did you do that?"

"I can't really take all the credit, Croquet." Pegasus answers. "I had help from Yugi. And now, to return the favor, I'm going to teach him a lesson about the real power of the Millennium Items." As Pegasus speaks, Yugi gets himself ready for the duel.

"Yugi, you look like you just seen a ghost." Kaiba's 'ghost' says.

"That's enough." Yugi protests.

"I am no longer of this world, and it's all because of you." the 'ghost' continues. "I could have had it all, but when you beat me, you took more than just the match you stole my life and destroyed my soul."

"You're nothing but an imposter, so stop the lies and let's start the duel." Yugi responds.

"Fine with me." the 'ghost' concurs. "This time, you won't beat me or my deck."

"You might look like Kaiba, but there's no way you can imitate his deck!" Yugi says.

"Don't you mean my deck?" the 'ghost' asks.

"Beat him, Yugi!" Mokuba says. "He's nothing but a fake!"

"Yeah. That so called ghost probably doesn't even have all of Kaiba's cards!" Rainbow adds. Soon, Yugi starts hearing the 'ghost' speaking to him in his head, saying that he knows Yugi could sense his thoughts, adding that Yugi really is dueling Kaiba and that he's dueling someone with nothing to lose.

"Kemo, once I beat Yugi, Pegasus can have KaibaCorp." the 'ghost' says. "All I want is revenge."

"That just proves that ain't the real Kaiba, let alone his ghost!" Spike points out. "I know the real Kaiba, and he wouldn't give up his own company!"

"Three stars says I win." the 'ghost' says to Yugi.

"Fine by me." Yugi answers. "That means when the duel's done I'll have six!"

"Then let's duel." the 'ghost' says as the life point counters set to 2000. "Guess I'll go first. And I'll start off with the Hitotsu-Me Giant." In no time, the monster appears, and Yugi is surprised that his opponent would choose to start off with that card.

"Is something wrong?" the 'ghost' asks. "It's your turn to move, Yugi." Yugi remembers that the Hitotsu-Me Giant was how his duel against Kaiba started.

"There's a Hitotsu-Men Giant card in my brother's deck." Mokuba says.

"Hold on, partner." Applejack quickly says. "Just because it's the same card, doesn't mean it's the same deck." Yugi thinks that if the imposter can confuse Yugi with the same opening play as the real Kaiba, the idea will have the same result as when the real Kaiba summoned Hitotsu-Me Giant.

"I'll start with this card. With an attack strength of 2500, I summon the Dark Magician!" Yugi calls as his prized monster takes the field. With one Dark Magic Attack, the Hitotsu-Me Giant is destroyed, lowering the imposter's life points to 700.

"You're as strong as ever, Yugi." says the 'ghost' with a laugh. "It's funny how things have come full circle, Yugi. Just what are you thinking in that feeble head of yours right now? I bet I know. You've come to the conclusion that, no matter what, there's no way you can win. And you couldn't be more right. Even a simpleton like you now knows that I must be Seto Kaiba. And once you accept that fact, you may as well accept defeat."

"I don't care who you are. You're going to lose to me all the same!" Yugi says in defiance.

"But Yugi, you barely beat me the last time we dueled." the 'ghost' responds. "And this time, your big advantage is..gone."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asks.

"Exodia. You've lost Exodia." the 'ghost' answers. Yugi and the others are shocked at how this supposed imposter knows about Yugi having Exodia in his deck at one point.

"Wait a second. How does he know that Yugi lost Exodia?" Twilight asks.

"You could only beat me with Exodia in your deck, and without it, you can only lose." the 'ghost' adds with a laugh. Back on the mainland, guards are protecting a mansion. This mansion is none other than the Kaiba mansion, and the man of the house, Seto Kaiba, who managed to grab a ledge after he jumped out of the window in his cottage, making the guards who were after him think he was dead, hides behind a tree, waiting to make his move. Kaiba climbs over the wall, grabs a chain in the ground, and pulls it to reveal a secret door leading down under the mansion. Once downstairs, Kaiba pulls a book on a shelf, causing the bookcase to move to reveal a door with a retinal scanner. The scanner identifies Kaiba successfully and the door opens to reveal a large computer mainframe. Kaiba powers on the computer, and the A.I. begins running the identity verification protocol and asks Kaiba for his name. Once he says it, the A.I. becomes somewhat sentient.

"I thought I've seen it all, but having to break into your own house?" asks the A.I. in surprise.

"It's too long a story for right now." Kaiba responds.

"Too long a story?" the A.I. asks. "Well, maybe I'm not in such a talkative mood myself right now."

"I'd find that hard to believe." Kaiba retorts.

"Such a smart guy." says the A.I. "While you were off galivanting, a hostile takeover of KaibaCorp has begun."

"I know." Kaiba says.

"And at the same time the takeover started, Maximillian Pegasus kicked off his Duel Monsters championship tournament at Duelist Kingdom. If Yugi Muto is defeated by Pegasus, or a competitor that represents him, the KaibaCorp board of executives, the Big Five, promised him control of the company once they merge KaibaCorp with Industrial Illusions!" the A.I. added. "In fact, the Big Five told Pegasus that if he could do all they asked him to, meaning getting rid of you and beating Yugi, whom they believe tarnished the name of the company, they would lay all of KaibaCorp's technology at his feet. For what reason he would want said tech, I don't know."

"He won't win, nor will anyone who represents him." Kaiba says. "Yugi is unbeatable. His deck has Exodia." Kaiba remembers his loss as soon as he mentions Exodia.

"Yeah, well, some time after you lost to Yugi, he lost Exodia." the A.I. says and Kaiba can't believe it.

"No way! That means, if Pegasus or anyone who represents him can defeat Yugi, I'll never get my chance at a rematch." Kaiba says, thinking about why he had to leave just before Yugi lost the only cards that saved him from defeat that day.

"When it rains, it pours." the A.I. responds. "Pegasus knows all about the corporation bylaws that require a living Kaiba heir to make any changes of control legal. The Big Five told him to kidnap your little brother so that they could complete the takeover once Yugi is defeated. Now Mokuba is his prisoner, and with you out of the way, even though he has no idea you're still around, it's likely Pegasus will exert all kinds of pressure to make your brother do what he wants, one way or another. So now you know. What are we gonna do?"

"They'll keep my brother safe, at least until the takeover is complete, so I've gotta make sure Pegasus doesn't defeat Yugi in a duel, no matter what." Kaiba says. "I'm not gonna give up Kaiba Corporation without a real fight! It's takeover time, by me. We're gonna hack right into Pegasus' computer mainframe. Next stop: the Duelist Kingdom." Back on the island, the duel continues.

"Are you here to play head games, or Duel Monsters?" asks Yugi. "It's time for your move."

"And it's gonna blow your mind." the 'ghost' says as he hold up his next card. "This next card's a blast from the past, Yugi. With the emphasis on blast." the card turns, and to the shock of everyone but Kemo, it's the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"I summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" the 'ghost' calls out as the mighty engine of destruction appears.

"Only one deck has that card!" Spike says in shock.

"Not just one, THREE!" Applejack says in just as much shock.

"That means...what Kemo said. Could it be true?" Mokuba asks himself.

"Looks like the advantage is mine!" the 'ghost' says with a laugh. Yugi is shocked that the deck this imposter has really is Kaiba's. He then starts to wonder if Kaiba really is dead.

"Don't worry, Yugi. My feelings weren't hurt when you called me an imposter. Now admit that you were wrong!" the 'ghost' demands. But Yugi refuses. "To be honest, not having a real body isn't so bad. You won't believe how much I save in food bills alone. But I still get to enjoy the finer things in life, like revenge. And I'm gonna savor its sweet taste for a very long time." Mokuba believes he's hear enough and demands in anger and sadness over his possibly dead brother that this 'ghost' goes away.

"Almost breaks my heart to hear Mokuba suffer, if I had one." the 'ghost' says. Meanwhile, back at the Kaiba mansion, Kaiba and his computer mainframe manage to break through the Duelist Kingdom computer system, as the A.I. confirms to Kaiba.

"Too easy." Kaiba says. "Okay, when it comes to computer duels, Pegasus has met his match. Now, it should be a piece of cake to find the field in which Yugi is dueling, and it's likely he in a duel as we speak."

"I'm looking. I'm looking." the A.I. says. However, turns out that access to what they're looking for has been denied.

"What did you do wrong?!" Kaiba asks, annoyed.

"Don't blame me, I've finally found the security and it's all around Yugi's duel data." the A.I. retorts.

"I should've known." Kaiba says. "Fine by me, Pegasus. Go ahead and give it your best shot. There isn't a computer system anywhere on Earth that I can't break into. Here's the thing, every computer has a backdoor, if you know where to look. And guess where we're gonna look."

"Beats me." the A.I. says.

"It'll be quicker if I take over on manual for a while." Kaiba says as he starts typing on the keyboard. "Data from all the duels is being beamed to an orbiting Industrial Illusions satellite and back down to their mainframe. These transmissions are obviously highly encrypted. If we can somehow force the Industrial Illusions computer offline, I'm sure their backup systems won't have as much security."

"Are you saying we can make their computer crash, from here? But how?" asks the A.I.

"A computer crash is exactly what I had in mind. The biggest computer crash ever, and I'm going to use Pegasus' own satellite to do it." Kaiba says with a smile.

"But I've already tried to hack into their systems." the A.I. retorts.

"My idea's different." Kaiba says confidently. "Once the computer is down, we should be able to freely access the data. Be ready with a search for the Dark Magician."

"Gotcha." says the A.I. as it loads up the Dark Magician search inquiry and stands by with it.

"Good. If Yugi's dueling, he's sure to use that card." says Kaiba.

"So, spill it already." the A.I. says at last. "How the heck are we going to use Industrial Illusions' own satellite to bring down their computer?"

"By bringing down the satellite itself." Kaiba answers. "Down all the way. Begin to hack into the computer system of that thing." The computer A.I. begins to load the schematics of the satellite, revealing that it's part of the M-class Triton series of satellites with booster rocket controls, which are online. Once the A.I. locates the satellite's orbital coordinates, it starts to breach the onboard computer security. Soon, the A.I. confirms that the hack was successful.

"Great. Now plot a crash course for the computer mainframe." Kaiba says. The computer uploads the new coordinates, nd in no time, the satellite heads down to earth, and locks on target for the computer's location in southern California, as confirmed by the A.I..

"Virus software won't stop this." Kaiba says. "Pegasus, you are on notice that the Kaiba Corporation's still mine!"

"Satellite impact in ten seconds." the A.I. says. And within that time, the satellite crash occurs. Back at Duelist Kingdom, the 'ghost' decides to hold off on unleashing the fury of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"I won't attack just yet." he says with a chuckle. "Why rush to victory when I can draw it out as long as possible instead?" The 'ghost' sets a card, prompting Yugi to think there's more to it than that. So, thinking that the facedown is a magic card, he switches his game plan.

"I switch the Dark Magician to defense mode." Yugi says. "And I summon Curse of Dragon, on the defense as well."

"Good idea, but I wish those cards had higher defense points." said Spike. "The Dark Magician only has 2100 defense points, while Curse of Dragon only has 1500. And if the Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacks, they'll be history."

"Smart playing, Yugi. Unfortunately it wasn't smart enough." the 'ghost' says as he reveals his facedown. "You played right into my hand, Final Attack Orders." Soon, the monsters go from defense to offense.

"Oh no! Final Attack Orders can switch Yugi's monsters into attack mode!" Twilight says in shock. Yugi knows that with Final Attack Orders in play, neither Dark Magician or Curse of Dragon can defend themselves. Meaning he'll have to think of another way out.

"It's time, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" the 'ghost' says with a confident smile. "White Lightning Attack!" And with one blast, Curse of Dragon is blasted away, along with half of Yugi's life points.

"Well, so much for your Curse of Dragon." the 'ghost' says. Meanwhile, Kaiba is busy looking all over for Yugi's duel.

"No Dark Magician there." says Kaiba. "Next field."

"We've exhausted almost every possibility of locating Yugi Muto." the A.I. answers. "Field 146 is the final active duel."

"Then he's gotta be there!" Kaiba says with angst. "Search field 146!"

"You got it." the A.I. responds. But when it tries to enter the field, something happens.

"What happened?" Kaiba asks.

"Looks like I've crashed." the A.I. answers.

"Reboot." Kaiba replies. And soon, the A.I. does reboot

"Back online." the A.I. says.

"Enter field 146." Kaiba says. But the same result occurs.

"No good. I'm frozen again." the A.I. says. "It's worse this time."

"Hang on. Let me see." Kaiba says as he starts typing on the keyboard. "Gotcha." he says at last. "Just as I thought. So, a virus. A good one. That means, just one thing. Searching for Yugi's cards activates the virus. Yugi's inside! Get ready to go in."

"But the security door." the A.I. protests.

"We've come this far already, and I'm not gonna blow it." Kaiba says with determination as virtual dynamite appears on the screen. "Actually, yes I am." The virtual dynamite goes off, and the door is blown away, only for a new obstacle to appear and impede Kaiba's progress.

"What's that?!" asks Kaiba in surprise.

"It's a virtual fortress." the A.I. replies. "Sensors indicate that all of the data from Yugi's duels is processed here. You won't blow your way through this thing. It's the ultimate defense. And it's impossible to penetrate without the password."

"A password." Kaiba says. "If I know Pegasus, that egomaniac would never think that anyone would outsmart him and get even this far. We're going in."

"The password?" asks the A.I.

"Pegasus." Kaiba responds with a confident smile. Back at the duel, Yugi wonders how he can defeat the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"Hey, Yugi. You gotta admit, for a stiff, this Kaiba's sure got game." Kemo says.

"That's not my brother! There's just no way!" Mokuba protests. "Yugi, you know that's not him. Everyone thinks he's a bad guy, but I know my brother, and he's not mean like this! He's my best friend in the whole world. That thing's not him! You just gotta believe me!"

"Did someone forget to tell that poor kid that after he won Yugi's grandpa's Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he tore it in half?" Rainbow asks. Yugi wishes that he could be as sure as Mokuba, but he's not sure what to believe anymore. But one thing he does know is that the duel's not over yet as he prepares his next card.

"Magical Hats, conceal the Dark Magician!" Yugi calls as four top hats appear and hide the Dark Magician, catching the 'ghost' off guard and surprising the others. "He's under there, somewhere. But which one?"

"Are you so desperate that you have your Dark Magician doing simple hat tricks?" the 'ghosts' asks.

"It's not a trick, and it's not so simple." Yugi replies. "Your move, but you better think twice before you choose. Just do the math. Four hats, only 25% chance you'll find the Dark Magician. The real question is, what else is hiding beneath those hats?" This worries the 'ghost' a bit.

"The Magical Hats is a bit of a gamble, especially when you lose two of those hats, giving your opponent a 50-50 shot at winning the duel." Twilight says. "It's a 25% chance that he'll find the Dark Magician now, but once two of those hats are gone, that means a 50% shot for him to blast away 500 of Yugi's life points."

"But you gotta admit, that's pretty clever." Rainbow says. "An old fashioned magician's trick that just might work is what I call pulling one right out of the hat!"

"And I just love magic tricks!" Pinkie says with glee. Meanwhile, the virtual fort doors open for Kaiba.

"You were right about the password!" the A.I. says. "The virtual fortress is unlocked, we now have access to Yugi's duel data, and it was just his turn."

"Pegasus thinks he can make up all the rules in this game, but he could never have imagined this brand new twist. I'm back!" Kaiba says with confidence. Back at the duel, the 'ghost' makes his choice as to which hat hides the magician.

"So predictable." the 'ghost' says nonchalantly. "I know where the Dark Magician hides."

"If you're so sure, than move." Yugi says with confidence.

"It's a shame this duel's going to end in just two more turns, starting with this one." the 'ghost' says. "White Lightning!" And with that command, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon fires a blast at one of the hats. But Yugi knows that if the attack hits the right hat, he'll lose much more than just the duel.

Author's Note

Yes, I know that Stop Defense only works on one monster, blame the anime for not applying the rules of the actual game, not me.

Therefore, thanks to one of the many readers, I switched the card used from Stop Defense to Final Attack Orders, seeing as it has the same effect as "Defense Paralysis"