Kaiba wants to scoff, but doesn't. He instead lets his head droop forward, focusing on evening out his breathing and trying to determine whether he was experiencing some kind of mental trauma.

He remembers how it felt, to be sliced in half by the elevator, and to be stabbed in the throat with the ceramic shard. Neither situation was pleasant, but he knew they were over with now.

So then why...did it feel so real in his mind just then? Almost as if he were reliving that moment. Like the nightmares of dying at the hands of Duel Monsters, over and over.

He shakes his head violently. Now, the nightmares struck while he was awake, huh? A fitting punishment for his insolence, he's sure their captors believe that.

Finally, his lips move with purpose.

Don't waste your time. It won't stop them. Even if I didn't breathe again, I'd be put back once they fixed me.

I have died so many times. It does not matter to me anymore.

But it does hurt. Every single time.