Hades stood over his desk, and stared long and hard at the briefcase in front of him. It had a simple black sheen with the words "Bela Corp." pressed into the metal handle of the briefcase. Hades flicked the two locks on the front of it and opened the briefcase. It was furnished with cloth on the inside, and a small inlet was cut into the base of the briefcase where a deck of cards was placed. He gingerly picked up the deck from the briefcase's cutout and fanned the cards out in front of him. The cards had been passed down from generations and generations of Bela, for as long as Duel Monsters had been around at least. Now, this deck, and all the responsibilities that came with it, belonged to him. Of course, Hades had made a few adjustments and added a few cards here and there to keep up with the times, something his father would have greatly disapproved of. His father was dead set on keeping traditions and so forth, but Hades was never one to feel strongly connected to his family heritage. 

As he looked through his cards, his eyes rested upon one in particular. The Dark Necrofear. It was unsettling to look at, especially when he knew the connotation of this card and the real evil behind it. He shuddered. However, on some level, some part of him did enjoy the idea of using a card imbued with such power. It made [i]him[/i] feel powerful, and that was what was important. It was his utmost duty to remain powerful, perfect, and upkeep the family crest. 

He heard a knock on his office door, and he quickly put back the cards into the briefcase. "Mr. Bela?" called his most trusted associate, James. James was Head of the Technological Advancement Department, however, what that department did was far from anything to do with technological advancements. 

"Yes, I'll be right there James, one moment please," called out Hades. He grabbed his coat, which had been slung over the antique chair which sat behind his desk, and then picked up the briefcase with emphatic confidence. He took a look out of his penthouse offices window and gazed at the ever expansive metropolis for the most split of seconds, and then he continued to exit his office. 

"Ah, Mr. Bela, there you are," James said jovially, his face lighting up when he saw him. Hades was not impressed by his fake bid for friendship, but he respected the man's loyalty to the job. "There is a helicopter waiting for you on the roof, it will take you to the port. The tournament organizers wanted to send a car, but I knew you wouldn't be having any of that," he continued.

"Very astute of you James," Hades said, beginning to make his way down the hallway to the elevator. 

"Uh, Mr. Bela? Sir?" James said, rather nervously, just as Hades had begun to turn his back to him.

"Yes, James?" Hades replied, turning around to look at him.

"The uh... the matters, you asked me to uh... to attend to? I will be proceeding as normal, correct?" 

Hades looked at James without responding for what seemed like the longest time, letting a silence hang over the two of them, before replying curtly, "That is correct James." Hades continued down the hallway solemnly, stopped in front of the elevator, and pressed the up button. The elevator arrived, and a soft ding sounded in the hallway. The doors slid open, and Hades stepped in side, confidently.

***

The boat's eating hall had been rather crowded, and Hades stood in a corner of the room looking smug. He had seen the sidelong glances that people had offered him, clearly recognizing him, and recognizing the rumors about him along with it. People had their own opinion about whether they were true or not, some believed it outright, others claimed it was ridiculous, although Hades believed some of them truly did believe it but just wouldn't admit it at risk of sounding like a crackpot conspiracy theorist. He would have much rather been able to come to the island by boat on his own private yacht in comfort and luxury, however the tournament organizers wouldn't allow it. They had been lenient enough on him coming to the boat by his own means, but they would not budge on the matter of the boat. He imagined it was because they wanted to keep the location of the boat secret.

He had decided he wasn't going to eat any thing, as he wasn't willing to eat anything that his personal health trainer hadn't already given the OK on. Besides, he wasn't hungry anyways. In the mean time, he surveyed all the common rabble he was placed on this boat with. It was quite the freak show. There was a crazy woman looping around all over the place, a small runt looking character of which who's gender could not be discerned, a musician decked in an all leather get-up, and god knows how many children. Looked like his competition was going to be easy game, although he didn't dismiss the idea of some child genius running amok. He was arrogant, but he knew the type of Duelists the world could offer.

That's when his eye caught a man sitting at a table with mountains of food and a dog in his lap. He recognized the man, and if he wasn't mistaken it was Masuo Itaki. On some level, Hades related to the man as he was only a few years older than he, and also had inherited his family's multimillion dollar company at a young age. Hades smirked, knowing that his company was worth a good sum more than Itaki's. Itaki was a man far kinder than he, evidentially.