After his battle with Mokuba, Yugi takes the elevator to the next level where he will engage in the final trial of Death-T: A game of Duel Monsters against Seto Kaiba himself. The spectating crowd rush to the next floor to get good seats. Yugi’s friends, Anzu and Jonouchi, are still being held at gunpoint by Kaiba’s guards. The guard tells Yugi’s friends to head upstairs as well, but first, Jonouchi swipes the security guards’ phone and makes a call. He calls Hanasaki, who is watching over Grandpa Muto at the hospital.

“The surgeon says there isn’t much hope,” says Hanasaki.

“I see,” responds Jonouchi, “Stay there and keep watch.”

(Sheesh, these card game injuries sure are serious.)

The Fifth Trial

Yugi, his friends, and the spectating crowd arrive at the arena on the floor above. Stepping out of the elevator to great them is none other than Seto Kaiba.

“Welcome to the Final Stage, Yugi!” says Kaiba.

The two gamers set themselves down at the table inside the Duel Box in the middle of the arena. Both players begin by shuffling and cutting each other’s deck. They place their decks on the table, and then the game begins. Both players begin with 2,000 life points. The first player to reach 0 life points loses. Yugi goes first.

Yugi summons Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress in attack mode (1400 ATK).

Kaiba responds by summoning Hitatsu-Me Giant (1200 ATK).

Yugi declares an attack against Kaiba’s Hitatsu-Me Giant with his Winged Dragon. Kaiba’s monster is destroyed, and since the difference between the two attack points is 200, Kaiba loses 200 life points. Kaiba’s life points fall to 1800.

Kabia summons The Wicked Worm Beast in attack mode (1400 ATK). Kabia commands his monster to attack Yugi’s dragon. Since they both have the same number of attack points, both monsters will be destoryed; but Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress has the power of flight, giving it a 35% dodge rate. It succeeds! (Because of course it does.)

(Yeah, these early portrayals of the card game didn’t have the same rules that the card game does today, such as dodge rates.)

The Winged Dragon counter attacks and destroys Kaiba’s Worm Beast. Since both monsters had the same attack points, neither player loses any life points.

“My turn is over,” says Kaiba, “but I don’t have any monsters on the field. According to the first edition rules, this means I can put a free monster in defense mode using one of the cards in my hand.”

(Another rule that’s not in the modern card game.)

Kaiba sets a monster card face down on the field in defense mode. Since the monster is face down, its identity is hidden from Yugi. Deciding to play things safe, Yugi doesn’t attack and summons a monster in defense mode as well.

“I was a champion before I owned a Blue-Eyes, and even without one, I can still defeat you!” taunts Kaiba, “I’ll prove that right now!”

Kaiba switches his monster into attack mode. The monster is Saggi the Dark Clown. With an attack strength of only 600, it has no hope of defeating Yugi’s Winged Dragon. That’s why Kaiba plays a spell card called Dark Energy. This spell card triples Saggi’s attack power, raising its attack points to 1800. Saggi the Dark Clown attacks and destroys Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress. Yugi loses 200 life points, bringing his life point total to 1600.

Strong cards alone aren’t enough to win this game, thinks Yugi, Using monsters together with spells is the key to victory!

Yugi draws a card. The card he draws is a monster known as Right Leg of the Forbidden One. It has 200 attack points and 300 defense points.

This can’t defeat Saggi, the Dark Clown, thinks Yugi, so he summons Sangan in defense mode.

“Let’s start from the left!” cries Kaiba. As each turn passes, Kaiba attacks one of Yugi’s monsters, as Yugi keeps summoning them in defense mode. Eventually, Yugi ends up with 1400 life points.

“Yugi, you disappoint me,” taunts Kaiba, “I don’t even need my Blue-Eyes for this duel.”

“Kaiba, do your cards have the power of your trust?” asks Yugi.

Kaiba doesn’t know what Yugi is talking about.

“I believe in these cards,” cries Yugi, as he draws a card.

“Gaia, the Fierce Knight!” announces Yugi, as he summons the monster to the field in attack mode.

Gaia, the Fierce Knight! thinks Kaiba, The most powerful card in the Warrior class!

Yugi has Gaia, the Fierce Knight attack Saggi the Dark Clown, and with an attack strength of 2300, Gaia mops the floor with Saggi. Kaiba’s life points fall to 1300.

“It’s my turn now!” proclaims Kaiba, as he draws a card.

“I’ve drawn the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” cries Kaiba, as he summons the monster to the field in attack mode. With an attack strength of 3000, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the most powerful monster in the game of Duel Monsters.

“Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack!” commands Kaiba, “Burst Stream of Destruction!”

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacks and destroys Gaia, the Fierce Knight. Yugi’s life points fall to 700.

Yugi draws a card. He draws an Imp monster. Yugi summons his Imp in defense mode, but with a defense state of 1000 and an attack stat of 1300, it is no match for Kaiba’s Blue Eyes White Dragon. It annihilates Yugi’s Imp.

Yugi summons a monster called Beaver Warrior in defense mode.

“Rather than put your Beaver Warrior out of its misery, I’ll draw another card,” announces Kaiba, “I’ll increase the size of my army. My next card is…Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

Kaiba summons a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field.

“On my next turn, these two will attack at the same time! Your life is over!”

Yugi realizes that since he can only summon one monster per turn, he won’t be able to defend himself against Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Yugi thinks hard. He remembers that his Grandpa is still in the hospital and is counting on him to win.

“I won’t give up,” thinks Yugi, “I’m not fighting this duel alone! Everything rides on this card!”

Yugi draws a card, and says, “I’ve drawn the spell card Swords of Revealing Light.”

This card prevents Kaiba’s monsters from attacking for three turns.

“You’re beginning to annoy me,” retorts Kaiba. He draws another card. Kaiba summons a monster in defense mode and passes his turn.

Yugi looks at the cards in his hand. He has one monster and three cards that look like pieces of a monster.

“These are junk cards,” thinks Yugi, “I don’t even know what they mean.”

Yugi thinks he has lost the game. Suddenly, he hears his Grandpa’s voice inside his head.

“Yugi, have you given up? That’s not like you,” says Grandpa’s voice, “Not too long ago, you were suffering. Remember how you got over it that time?”

“The Millennium Puzzle,” responds Yugi in thought, “I completed the Millennium Puzzle.”

“Mm-hm,” continues Grandpa, “You put each piece of that puzzle in its place. You didn’t give up. You believed in yourself and completed the puzzle, even though it took you eight years! Yugi, there is nothing meaningless in this world! Like pieces of a puzzle. The cards as well…”

Grandpa leaves, but Yugi keeps thinking about what he meant.

“EXODIA!” cries Yugi in his head, “Can it be…this deck of cards…can it really have Exodia?”

Yugi remembers something his Grandpa told him about a monster that requires five cards to summon. The cards are extremely rare, and to this day, no one has managed to collect all five cards and use them in a game. Yugi looks again at his cards. He has both legs of Exodia and the left arm. He only needs to draw two more cards in order to summon the ultimate monster.

“That’s enough, Yugi,” cries Kaiba, “You’re stalling to end your miserable existence. Draw your card!”

“Yes, I’ll draw now!” retorts Yugi. He draws the right arm of Exodia. Now, he just needs to draw the head in order to summon him.

Kaiba notices that Yugi’s facial expression has changed, but he isn’t worried. He knows that no card can defeat the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, let alone two.

“My turn,” says Kaiba. He draws a monster called Judgeman.

“Well, it’s dull just sitting here, so I’ll use the Judgeman to destroy your defensive monster.”

Kaiba has Judgeman destroy Beaver Warrior.

Yugi draws another card. It’s a monster known as the Dark Magician. Yugi summons Dark Magician and has it destroy Kaiba’s Judgeman. Kabia’s life points fall to 1000.

“Kaiba, I won’t give up on this duel until the end!” cries Yugi, “I’ll take every chance I get to chip away at your life points!”

“It’s the last turn!” retorts Kaiba, “You have no chance left.”

Kaiba draws another card.

“And the last card I draw is…the third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!!”

Kaiba summons his third Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field.

“Burst Stream of Destruction!! Destroy the Dark Magician!!”

Yugi’s life points fall to 200.

“Now, draw your last card,” calls Kabia, “No matter what card you draw, you will die!”

My last turn, thinks Yugi, My life rides on this last card! In my hand, I have four pieces of the Forbidden One. If I can get all five, I’ll be able to summon Exodia! All I need to do is draw the last card, but it’s impossible. Forty cards in my deck, five cards in my hand…what are the chances of drawing the one I need? Am I going to lose?

Yugi reaches for his deck, but the cards seem so distant. Yugi realizes that his cards aren’t far away, he’s just afraid to draw the last card. Suddenly, Anzu’s words come back to Yugi.

“If we’re every alone, we just have to think of the smiley face.”

Yugi sees his friends placing their hands over his deck: Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda. Each of them displaying the marking on their hands. Seeing the faith of his friends, Yugi finds the courage to place his hand over the deck, adding his own marking to his friends’ and completing the puzzle.

Yugi draws his card.

“My next card is…EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE!”

Yugi summons Exodia to the field.

“RAGE INFERNO! EXODIA FLAME!”

Yugi declares an attack on all of Kaiba’s monsters. With an infinite attack strength, all of Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons are destroyed. Kaiba’s life ponts drop to 0. Yugi has won the game!

“Your Blue-Eyes White Dragons were powerful,” says Yugi, “But even weak cards can join together, and together, they create an infinite power which can defeat any enemy! I win, and for the loser, a Penalty Game! It’s time for you to pay for your crimes!”

“Penalty Game! Mind Crush!”

“I’ve destroyed the part in your heart that was evil. Goodbye, Kaiba!”

Yugi exits the duel box and meets up with his friends. Kaiba’s goons still have their guns pointed at them. Jonouchi doesn’t think he can take both of them on alone, and he doesn’t want to put Anzu’s life in danger. Suddenly, one of the goons receives a blow to the back of the head. Jonouchi looks behind him and sees…Honda!

Jonouchi and Honda tag team and take out the rest of the goons. Mokuba appears and commands the guards to stop fighting. Honda explains that he kept climbing the falling blocks until Mokuba stopped them and got him out. Everyone congratulates Yugi on his victory, and Yugi is happy to see Honda again.

“Mokuba,” calls Anzu, “Can you tell me something? Why did Kaiba do all this? Why did he plan this revenge?”

Mokuba explains that when he and Seto were little, they grew up in an orphanage. One day, a man named Gozeburo Kaiba came to the orphanage to adopt an heir. Gozeburo was the president of Kaiba Corporations and a world grandmaster of chess. Seto challenged Gozeburo to a game of chess and said that if he wins, Gozeburo has to adopt him and Mokuba. Gozeburo accepted, and Seto defeated him, but Seto won by cheating. As agreed Gozeburo adopted Seto and Mokuba, changing their last name to Kaiba. Gozeburo forced Seto to study day in and day out in various subjects such as foreign languages, social studies, economics, and game strategy; but what Gozeburo didn’t realize is that he was actually creating his worst enemy. Six years later, Seto managed to take over Kaiba Corporations. Realizing he had been defeated, Gozeburo threw himself out the window.

“If he hadn’t cheated at that game that day, maybe I would still have a brother,” says Mokuba, “the way he used to be.”

“Right now, Kaiba is picking up the pieces of his heart in the darkness,” says Yugi.

Mokuba looks at his brother in the duel box. Seto has nothing but a dazed expression on his face.

“He’s reassembling the shattered puzzle of his heart!” Yugi explains, “One piece at a time, with his own strength, so that this time, he won’t make any mistakes.”

Yugi and his friends leave Kaiba Land. Jonouchi got a call from Hanasaki, saying Grandpa’s surgery was a success!

Jonouchi notices Yugi has returned to his original self.

“Hey, Yugi…,” calls Jonouchi.

“What’s up?” asks Yugi.

Jonouchi pauses for a moment, and then says, “Aw, it’s nothing.”

I knew right away what Jonouchi tried to ask me, thinks Yugi, Today, for the first time, I can remember all of the battles we fought together.

In Loving Memory of Kazuki Takahashi

1963 – 2022

May Your Soul Find its Eternal Resting Place