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Episode
GuideEpisode 120: Burying the Past, Part 1 (Exodia Necross)
Kaiba is walking alone through the streets of the virtual city. He thinks any fool could see that Noah never intended to set them free. Noah'd told them that the fortress door would take them back to the real world, but it was just another trap. (In the Japanese, the flashback memory is of Yugi's duel with the Silent Puppet. Kaiba recalls that it was one of the Battle City duels. "I almost lost myself in the sea of memory," he thinks. "Wicked Noah.")
Now it's time to take down the man behind all this madness, his stepfather, Gozaburo. He stops in front of the Kaiba Corp building and looks up, saying he's sure that old fool is sitting in his office right now! He's taken him down once before, and he's planning to do it again. (Japanese Kaiba says, "Wait for me, Gozaburo. I'll make you open the exit for us." Then he shouts up at Gozaburo, "Our battle road ends here.")
In the town square, the gang stands. (Cut from the US version is a brief scene of Jounouchi kicking a can in frustration.)
Joey says that little twerp double-crossed them again! He knew they shouldn't have trusted him. Noah's toast. Yugi protests that they have to come up with a plan, but Joey says he already came up with a plan—they shake Noah upside-down until he tells them the way out. Duke agrees, and Téa says they're running out of time. (Japanese Yugi says it's not that simple. Jounouchi protests that Mokuba is missing, too, and Otogi suspects that Noah stole his body to go back to the real world. Anzu agrees, and wonders if Mokuba is all right.) Yugi realizes he shouldn't have trusted Noah, and thinks this is all his fault, but Yami says that's not true. Yugi believes there's still good inside Noah, and there's nothing wrong with that. He recalls some of the bad things Noah's done—turning Kaiba and Mokuba, then all of Yugi's friends, to stone. Yami says Noah's acts of rage are fueled by an anger deep inside, but they can help him see the light. (Japanese Yugi asks Yami what he can say, and Yami says he's sorry, but he understands how the others feel. Noah's gone too far. Even if Yugi wants to trust Noah, it's very difficult. Yugi says he knows, but....)
Yugi says they should go find Noah and figure out how to get out of there so they can stop Gozaburo's plan. Once they're out of cyberspace, they can warn the people in the real world that Gozaburo's planning to digitize them. (Japanese Yugi says that Kaiba isn't there either. Maybe Mokuba is with him. Anyway, they should find Noah. Without him, they can't escape the virtual world.) Tristan agrees, but half of what he says is monkey chattering. Duke tells him that he's nearly all monkey now.
Gozaburo's evil chuckle is heard, as his hand places a chess piece onto a board. A monster appears in the square. Yugi says it's Skull Knight, and Téa points out that there are a whole bunch of them! Gozaburo places more chess pieces, and more monsters appear, soon surrounding the gang. One of the monsters threatens Serenity, and Joey jumps in front of her. As the monster's scythe sweeps towards Joey, Yugi pulls a card from his deck, thinking this had better work! He summons Curse of Dragon, which destroys the monsters attacking Joey.
Joey says it's his turn now, and he summons Axe Raider to join the battle.
Meanwhile, Noah in Mokuba's body is walking through the undersea fortress, thinking it's good to be back in the real world, and this body is a perfect fit. Now he can move ahead with his plan. (Japanese Noah doesn't have any dialog in this section. In the US version, Noah has been superimposed over the scene of Noah-Mokuba walking down the hall.)
Using a keypad, he enters a code to give him access to the base's Central Command, where he intends to destroy the central computer that allows the virtual world to exist, thus destroying every mind that's trapped there—his father's, Seto's, as well as that of Yugi and all his friends. Using the computer's main keyboard, he prepares the satellite to attack. (The computer announces that the missile target has been altered to the undersea mobile fortress. Japanese Noah says to Seto, "I'll blow up this mobile fortress and send you to heaven. Yugi... Father... Seto, at last I'll be the one who wins.")
Back at the virtual Kaiba Corp, Kaiba takes the elevator to the top floor to the President's office. Gozaburo tells him to have a seat—it's time for a father-son chat. But Kaiba's not having any of it. Gozaburo tells him to give in and make it easy on himself, while moving the chess pieces on the board, which cause a screen to lower behind Kaiba, showing images of the battle in the square between Gozaburo's monsters and Yugi and his friends. Yugi's Curse of Dragon has just been destroyed, and Yugi suffers from the blow.
But Kaiba's not scared. He tells Gozaburo to let them go before he really gets angry! Gozaburo laughs, and reminds Seto of their chess match on the day they met. He proposes a rematch, but Kaiba isn't interested. Why would he want to play chess with someone who couldn't beat him when he was just a kid? But Gozaburo says he didn't mean another chess game. He suggests Duel Monsters instead. Kaiba tells Gozaburo he can't play with his life like it's a game, but Gozaburo says that's exactly what Seto did to him, on the day Seto stole Kaiba Corp from him. Kaiba wonders why Gozaburo has to beat him in a duel in order to get rid of him. Gozaburo says he wants to humiliate Seto as Seto humiliated him. Then he'll erase Seto's mind and reprogram him as his servant. Finally, Kaiba says he's never served anyone but himself, and he's never backed down from a challenge. He tells Gozaburo, "Let's duel." (Japanese Gozaburo says, "I hate you so much. I hate the one who stole Kaiba Corporation and my life." Kaiba responds, "You killed yourself. How can you blame me?" Gozaburo wants to defeat Seto and show him how big the gap is between them. So Kaiba accepts.)
In Central Command, Noah is about to finish reprogramming the satellite to destroy the central computer. Just then, Dark Marik blasts his way out of the hangar. (Cut from the US version is this shot of crazy Malik wagging his tongue.)
Dark Marik laughs, saying he'll find the Pharaoh, even if it means shutting this place down. (Japanese Yami Malik says, "Destroy them all!") He raises the Millennium Rod, using it to blow up machinery all around him. Main Power goes offline before Noah can complete his work, and the magnetic locks holding the airship in place are released. Aboard the airship, the pilots realize that the ship is now free. Now they need to find the other passengers. Ishizu watches from the doorway.
Meanwhile, Kaiba and Gozaburo have gone to Kaiba Corp's dueling arena to begin their duel. Gozaburo says he'll go first, and plays Painful Choice. (Japanese Gozaburo says that the manager of a business must make decisions, and sometimes they're hard to make. Kaiba says if it's hard to decide, it may not be any good. Lots of bits and pieces are cut from the US version throughout this scene to accommodate changes in the dialog.)
He starts to explain to Kaiba what it does, but Kaiba says he knows how the card works. Gozaburo will show Kaiba five cards from his deck. Kaiba will choose one card to be put in Gozaburo's hand, and the other five will go to the graveyard. Gozaburo shows him his five cards—the five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One! Kaiba reels back in shock. (Japanese Gozaburo says, "Do you think I didn't do my research? I've made in-depth study of your deck, and I know how to defeat you.")
Kaiba remembers facing Exodia in this very arena, the first time he dueled Yugi. Exodia destroyed his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and defeated him. But that's history, Kaiba says. Anyway, he's about to send four pieces of Exodia to the graveyard. Any player who holds all five pieces of Exodia in his hand will automatically win, so why would Gozaburo send four of them to the graveyard? He must be up to something....
Kaiba chooses the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, which goes to Gozaburo's hand, while the rest of the Exodia pieces go the graveyard. Gozaburo plays a monster in defense and ends his turn, telling Seto it won't be long before he hears Gozaburo say "Checkmate!" (Gozaburo doesn't say this in the Japanese.)
Back in Central Command, backup systems have come online and the power has been restored. Noah in Mokuba's body goes back to work, saying that once the satellite attacks, the entire virtual world will shut down, along with every mind inside. On one of the monitors, he sees Dark Malik wandering through the halls wreaking havoc, but Noah says it doesn't matter. (Japanese Noah says, "Die with them.") He presses the key to initiate the destruct sequence, saying this place is history. (Japanese Noah says, "Everyone, Game Over.") The computer begins a thirty-minute countdown to attack.
In virtual Domino, Joey says the coast is clear and urges everyone to into an alley. They gather inside, saying it looks like they're safe for now—just as a reptile monster appears behind them. The others run down the alley while Yugi and Joey prepare to hold off the monsters with their cards.
The countdown has reached twenty-five minutes, and the computer warns that the virtual simulators should be evacuated. Just then, Dark Malik breaks into Central Command and discovers the satellite set to destroy the central computer. He laughs.
Grim-faced Noah rises in the elevator, remembering greeting his father happily, only to be told that he'd had his chance, and Gozaburo was abandoning him. The undersea fortress surfaces and a helicopter rises onto the deck, as the elevator door opens and Noah comes out onto the deck. It's time he left those fools behind, he thinks. He thinks about Mokuba, trying to encourage him when they discovered that they were trapped in the virtual world. He thinks Mokuba's a fool. Then Noah recalls Mokuba telling him that he thought Seto could make a body for him—Noah is their family! As he gets into the helicopter waiting on the deck, he wonders why he can't stop thinking about this. He remembers Mokuba laughing, saying, "After all, we are brothers." Noah starts up the helicopter, still trying to convince himself that brotherhood and family mean nothing to him. (Japanese Noah says, "Brothers... companions... friends... I'll blow them all up with bombs.") The computer announces that there are twenty-one minutes until the satellite attack, and Noah suddenly breaks down, wondering what he has done! (Japanese Noah says, "I...")
Meanwhile, back in virtual Domino, Yugi summons Black Luster Soldier to destroy one of Gozaburo's monsters, while Joey summons another Axe Raider. Noah-in-Mokuba has left the helicopter and is rushing back to Central Command, thinking that his brother believes in him and he can't let him down. He has to stop that satellite! But when he reaches Central Command, he's confronted by destruction. Dark Malik has destroyed the control center, and now there is no way to stop the attack. Fifteen minutes remain on the countdown.
Back at the duel, Kaiba sets a card face down and summons Vorse Raider (1900 ATK) (Blood Vorse). He attacks Gozaburo's face-down monster with Vorse Raider and destroys it—and it's the Right Leg of the Forbidden One. Kaiba doesn't understand why Gozaburo would put his last piece of Exodia on the field, but Gozaburo says he's about to find out.
Gozaburo draws, then plays the magic card, Contract with Exodia. Now that all five pieces of Exodia are in his graveyard, he can pay 2000 life points to activate Contract with Exodia and summon Exodia Necross! (Interestingly, the real Contract with Exodia doesn't cost any life points to activate.) A huge black version of Exodia rises over the field, as Gozaburo exults, saying, "Checkmate, Seto!" (Again, Gozaburo doesn't say this.)
But Exodia Necross only has 1800 attack points. Kaiba says his monster is stronger. Gozaburo attacks anyway—losing another 100 life points, bringing him down to 1900—but Exodia Necross isn't destroyed. It can't be destroyed by any monster, Gozaburo explains, and it gains 1000 attack points whenever it engages in battle. Exodia Necross's attack rises to 2800 points. (The real Exodia Necross gains 500 attack points at each of the controller's standby phases.)
Kaiba thinks Gozaburo may think Exodia Necross can't be destroyed, but he's mistaken! He summons Spirit Ryu (1000 ATK), then plays his trap card, Burst Breath, which allows him to sacrifice Spirit Ryu to destroy every monster on the field with fewer than 1000 defense points. Since Exodia Necross's DEF is 0, it should be destroyed.
But once again, Exodia Necross remains on the field. Gozaburo explains that each of the five Exodia pieces in the graveyard grants Exodia Necross special abilities. The Left Leg saves Exodia Necross from being destroyed by magic cards; the Right Leg from trap cards. The Left Arm protects Exodia Necross from the effects of monster cards, and the Right Arm gives Exodia Necross 1000 additional attack points with every battle. Finally, the head of Exodia the Forbidden One keeps Exodia Necross from being destroyed by monsters in battle. (In the US version, the Exodia pieces have been changed to show a circle behind them instead of star points.)
Kaiba can't believe it! The five pieces of Exodia are powerful even in the graveyard! He can't destroy Exodia Necross with magic, trap, or monster cards—it's invincible! (This lovely close-up of Exodia Necross is cut from the US version.)
Gozaburo laughs, telling Kaiba he might as well give up, but Kaiba says he refuses to be beaten by Gozaburo. He sets a card face down and switches Vorse Raider to defense.
Ten minutes to satellite attack. Noah is in the VR room with the gang's bodies in their pods, working feverishly from a computer station there. Yugi and Joey are still battling monsters in virtual Domino. Yugi summons Dark Magician, while Joey summons Rocket Warrior, and they attack. Red smoke rises over the city as the monsters clash.
Suddenly, they hear Noah's voice, warning them that the virtual world is about to be destroyed. In the Kaiba Corp arena, Kaiba and Gozaburo also hear the warning. Joey tells Noah to get down there, saying he'll give Noah the virtual butt-kicking of a lifetime, and Téa says he'd better let them out of there! (Japanese Noah tells them he's borrowed Mokuba's body and is now in the real world. Otogi says he's cheated them and gone to the real world by himself! Anzu demands that he return Mokuba's body, and Honda demands his own body back.)
Noah apologizes for the way he treated them all, and explains that a satellite is set to destroy the main computer. He warns them all to escape or their minds will be lost forever! (Japanese Noah says there's no time now to explain, but he'll put everything right. There will soon be a missile coming to the fortress, and they must escape before the whole fortress—including the virtual world—is destroyed.)
The satellite prepares to attack. The countdown reaches eight minutes.
To Be Continued
