Chapter 1: Maximilian Pegasus

The summer after their eventful meeting with Shadii had been quiet. While Yugi was starting to now feel more comfortable with the other side of him, he also noticed that less and less games were being played. The trend now was Duel Monsters.

It wasn't surprising. A revamp of the game's mechanics and play had resulted in better traps, spells, and monsters. There weren't as many of the higher-level monsters, of course, and none of the new prints had any Blue-Eyes White Dragons, meaning that Kaiba's three were the only ones in play. Many of the first-edition monsters that had no special abilities weren't reprinted, while the others were, so new players could know about any advantages they had, instead of having to read through the rules and hope for the best.

The other thing was how well the Solid State Illusions software had done. While few could get the boxes as small as the ones in KaibaLand, which fell under a patent that Kaiba himself and wasn't for sale, others like Industrial Illusions, or Capsule Monster's Paradis company, had worked to create their own arenas. Other games were also doing what they could to get into the market, though it was apparent that none could compete against KaibaCorp and the Solid Illusions that Kaiba had created.

Still, despite the money gotten from the holographic equipment and the money spent in KaibaLand, Yugi had heard that there were some problems between some of the stockholders and the primary holder, Mokuba. Kaiba being in a coma of sort and losing a public game to Yugi had, it seemed, caused a bit of a stir among the older members of the board who had remained before the grand opening.

"You should stop being so gloomy about it," Jounouchi said as she finished sweeping up outside of Grandpa's shop, "I mean, the bastard got what was coming to him."

"Jounouchi, you shouldn't say things like that."

"Well, it's true. The bastard played with fire and got burned. And after what happened with Death-T? I'm not trusting him, even if he comes back all up for repenting." She finished up and let out a breath before taking off the apron. "Well, I'm off. I signed up for the Duelist tournament in our area."

Yugi blinked, surprised. "Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

Jounouchi shrugged, looking away and appearing to be conflicted about something before giving him a smile. "I just wanted to do this on my own. Besides, I'm never going to learn unless I do it on my own."

"I guess. Still, I would've come to cheer you on."

"It's ok. If I win regional tournament, though, you can come by and cheer me then!"

Yugi frowned at the request while Jounouchi ran off. Neighborhood tournaments were normally much smaller and more intimate then regional…why would she want him to go to that one and not one where she'd be able to see him cheering for her?

A thought hit him too quickly to ignore, and he let out a sigh of frustration. Because he and Jounouchi had been spending so much time together, there was a rumor going around that they were dating. There was also another, nastier rumor that said Yugi helped Jounouchi with any game she played, which was why they tended to win.

Of course, that whole idea was just silly. Jounouchi had decent luck with some games, but she never asked for help and often figured things out on her own. The last time he had helped her was just explaining that having a Monster-heavy deck would do her no good – most Duel Monster decks had a balance of Monsters, Spells (to either help the monsters or hinder others), and Traps (to protect her own monsters or to defeat the others). She'd considered before rebuilding some of her Deck. Yugi guessed her playing in the neighborhood group, and hopefully further up, would mean her Deck was a bit better than before. His own was coming together as well, and he was doing what he could to have a balanced Deck. Mostly, and on the insistence of his other self, he built it more and more around the Dark Magician, as well as semi-powerful monsters and useful magic and ritual cards.

Truthfully, though, the Deck was less Yugi's then it was his other self's. Yugi knew how to play Duel Monsters, and was good at it in his own rights, but also had let his other side build it after they'd seen Shadii and heard about the strange shadowy figure and the run-in Jounouchi had had with the Sphinx. Bakura had also been looking more and more into the history of the Millennium Items, and seemed very worried about it.

"So far, I can say that there are probably seven of them," he told Yugi once, "Each had a specific purpose and was held by a high-ranking member of the Pharaoh's court, during the early Middle Kingdom. In a span of about two reigns, there was peace as well as a lack of tomb-robberies. However, something occurred during the rule of a lost Pharaoh, and it lead to the rise of another one, Seti or Seto. Over time, the Items slowly disappeared. There are a lot of theories as to why, but most seem to point to a power-struggle in the middle of Seti's reign. Afterwards, the Items are lost." Bakura sighed and looked down at the Millennium Ring. It was beginning to waken again, meaning he had to carry it with him in his bag, though he was certain he could leave it off and be safe for a while longer. "We know of four…the Ring, the Puzzle, the Scales, and the Ankh."

"Yami thought that someone holding two Items, even if they didn't have a spirit attached to them, might be dangerous," Yugi told Bakura, worried. "Considering how Shadii acted, and how he set up the Shadow Game…"

Bakura nodded. For all his other side had stacked the game, he'd also not tried to influence it more than necessary. At the same time, RPG games, and having a role as the DM in any of them, could easily go to a person's head. Bakura had a least one friend who was like that.

"And he called Ammut," Bakura pointed out, "that's dangerous. From what I read, only Anubis or Osiris could control him."

Yugi sighed as he came back to the present, wondering about what was to come. Duel Monsters getting so popular, and a lot of people asking about where he was…

He didn't want to really Duel anyone, especially not Kaiba. He didn't have any real quarrel with him, outside of Kaiba taking the Blue Eyes that Grandpa had. But his other side had more of a standing battle against Kaiba, wanting to prove himself and enjoying the fight. For now, Yugi would just have to hope that Kaiba would wake up someday, and that whatever contest between the other boy and his other side would be played out.

Jounouchi sighed as she got home, going into her bedroom to rest up. She'd attempted that 'Win a Million' game, and of course Yami had come out when Yugi realized the guy who ran the game was corrupt and trying to make her look bad. Of course, ITV was also run by jerks who didn't give her the money, despite her win, and so that avenue had closed.

She'd taken up Duel Monsters, and of course the first thing that had come up was that she was Yugi's girlfriend. So they'd wanted to 'see what he'd shown her' and 'how well he'd taught her' when Dueling.

It was enough to make her nearly slap some of those bastards. Yes, she was a girl and, for whatever reason, they were few and far-between in playing the game. Consider that there were some really weird rules when it came to '3D Duel Monsters' vs. card Duel Monsters, she'd done her best in going from the card game – which was mostly based on the cards you pulled and using them in combination – and the 3D version that involved if they were flying vs. ground, which element was stronger, etc. And with only 2000 life points per-game, they tended to last a shorter period of time. So the first few draws were critical, as were having good combinations.

Or, in the case of a lot of the guys she'd played, having 'kill you in a turn' card combos that they just had to pull to win. On the upside, since she did Duel Yugi and Anzu a great deal, she knew how to avoid said 'one turn attacks' pretty well, and never let her temper get the better of her.

On the downside, one of the Duelists had gotten under her skin really quickly after realizing she was 'Yugi's girlfriend' and spending most of the time asking where her 'boyfriend' was and what she was thinking.

"Duel Monsters is a boy's game. Girls don't have the brains for it."

Layla knocked on the door and came in, frowning as she looked over at the Deck that Jounouchi was working on. "I take it the Duels went badly?"

"They actually went pretty well," Jounouchi said, smiling. "I beat most of the guys there."

"That's good. So why are you here moping?"

"I…kinda got disqualified."

"Should I ask?"

"The guy was a jerk. He said I didn't have the brains to go any further in Dueling, and should leave it all to my boyfriend."

Layla frowned. "I thought you didn't have a boyfriend."

"I don't. Doesn't stop anyone from thinking Yugi and I are dating. Or that he'd tell me how to win a game."

"Wait, he said you were a crap duelist, claimed you couldn't win without Yugi there…so…why are you disqualified?"

"He may have said some things about 'teaching me' after he managed a cheap-shot to win."

"Ok…that sounds like it should disqualify-."

"I may have also beat the living crap out of him when he touched my butt."

Layla was silent for a long moment.

"I'm beginning to see why you dress up like a guy for these things."

Jounouchi smiled a bit and looked down at her outfit. Yeah, she was in her jeans, shoes, a loose-fitting shirt that had once hidden her boobs, and a jacket. Still, even with her hair tied back and a cap on, the name 'Katsuye' was too feminine to miss, and she'd considered misspelling it a few times in the past. Of course, with the community of Duelists still small enough to consist of people that knew the only Jounouchi in the area was a 'girlfriend' of Yugi, the disguise didn't really help.

"I'm getting a bit worried," Layla pointed out, sitting next to her as Katsuye undid the laces of her sneakers, "What's gotten you so upset you keep trying to get money? Normally I'd say your dad did something stupid, but he's been doing alright and managed to pay off the last of his debts. And this is getting a lot of money quickly, not enough for small debts."

Jounouchi swallowed and looked down before saying, "I'm just…getting ready for the future, that's all."

"Katsuye…"

"It's something I have to do, Layla. That's all."

"Disqualified?"

"The guys there were all talk and no show," Jounouchi muttered as they sat around the TV to watch the Duel Monsters Championship Tournament. She hadn't mentioned what happened to Anzu or the others yet, just to Yugi. She'd then had to tell Yami that going after some hack Duelist she could easily smack around wasn't worth her time.

For all that Yugi was getting used to his other side, Jounouchi was still dealing with the uneasy feeling he sometimes gave her. Yami wasn't at all like Yugi, and that always became clear to her when they had to deal with bullies and perverts. Also the fact that Yami still held that 'you owe me for Hirutani' bit whenever she got angry at him for taking Yugi's place. She didn't give a flying crap what Yami had done to the others, or why Hirutani had disappeared. She did give a crap about the other side of Yugi being shadier then some of the bastards she'd had to deal with when her father had still been in debt for gambling.

Still, since Anzu, Bakura, Honda and Miho didn't know the full extent of what had happened to disqualify Jounouchi, they just joked about how lame she was at Duel Monsters. Jounouchi took it and didn't point out that the few times Anzu had beaten her, it was with one of the two-card beat-ups that most guys used to justify their weak-ass cards. Like Haga and Ryuzaki, the two Duelists who were up for the finals. Ryuzaki used all dinosaurs and a few dragons, as well as cards to augment them as needed, while Haga was all about the card-combos and psyching out his opponents.

Jounouchi didn't like either of them, and Yugi seemed to not really care who won, seeing both as gimmicky. For all Jounouchi's deck of warrior-types, she at least tried to use others if needed, like the Time Wizard (a gambling-based card) that Yugi had given her after a match that she'd been lucky enough to win.

After watching the tournament on TV, Yugi's grandfather reminded him of a strange package that had come in the mail today. Jounouchi frowned as they looked over at it, Yugi opening it to see an 8mm video, a strange glove with some star-shaped slots on it, two star-like items, and nothing else.

"Do you have a tape player for that?" Anzu asked, Yugi nodding and going to get it as Jounouchi tried hard not to think of the tape she'd gotten a few weeks ago. She'd done her best to not tell Dad, hoping that he'd worry about it as much if he didn't know, but…

Well, even after all these years of not contacting Shizuka or only visiting on holidays, and the few times that Jounouchi had actually dressed up for said holidays, Koisaya Kawai was still a bit of a bitch to her eldest daughter and former husband. So telling her sister that the time had come, and her eyesight would officially be gone unless they raised a ton of money…nearly a million or more yen for an operation with only a 50% chance of working, if that.

The VHS player was easily set up, before Yugi put in the small tape and they waited as the static started before the white-haired American appeared on screen. "Ah, Yugi-boy! How nice to see you!" Despite the accent, the way he spoke was a bit annoying, and he seemed quite happy to talk about how sad he was that Yugi hadn't participated in the tournaments, especially after his defeat of Kaiba. He finally challenged Yugi to a game against the pre-recorded video, making everyone frown in confusion before Yugi started off the game.

The minute his first card disappeared into the screen, something seemed to happen and then—

"Grandpa!"

Jounochi blinked herself awake, confused as to what happened, before she briefly saw an image of Yugi's grandfather on the tape, right before the whole thing stopped.

Yugi isn't quite sure what happened, besides the fact that the minute his Koumori Dragon disappeared, Yami had taken over. Yami is silent beyond saying that Pegasus was using something called the Millennium Eye, making the grand total of Millennium Items reach five that they knew. He also said that Pegasus had used subliminal messages and very-rare cards, or newer ones that few had access to, in order to stall until time was up and Yami had lost.

The group had rewound the tape in the hopes it had some signs, but the thing was just static, with no sign of Yugi's grandfather. His body had been rushed to the hospital, and while his grandfather wasn't brain-dead, he was in a similar state to how Kaiba had been.

Yugi could all but feel the self-loathing rolling off his other self, though he wasn't sure if this was due to the loss or because of what the doctors had said. While his other self had started to warm to Yugi, and they talked a bit more, when able to, Yugi found that his other side was still very proud, and still very protective of Yugi and his friends. As such, Yami seemed very worried about Jounouchi and how she was acting. For the past few weeks before Pegasus' attack, she'd been attempting a lot of 'get rich quick' things, and now seemed unnaturally intent on the 'Honor of the King's Right – Great Wealth' card that Yugi had found a day after Pegasus' challenge.

There were five cards that he'd gotten, and frowning as he looked over them. Each seemed to have something about Duelist Kingdom – "Voyage to the Kingdom" had a date and time, along with a picture of a boat at a harbor. "Duelist Kingdom" was a picture of an island with various microclimates and a castle at one end. "Duelist Glove', which meant the odd leather glove he'd gotten along with the video, was also a card, the instructions saying that all Duelists had to have at least one Star Chip on the wrist band. But the last two were…well, the 'Honor of the King's Left' was blank, and it worried Yugi in a way that made him uncomfortable.

The date of Duelist Kingdom was for a 48 hour tournament over the course of a weekend, meaning he wouldn't miss much of school, at least, and it being a week away also meant he could get ready for it and build his Deck. He considers adding in Exodia from the Deck his grandfather built, but that doesn't seem like a good idea. Summoning Exodia once was enough, he thinks, and it's not really his cards. On top of that, he'd feel bad for taking the cards from his grandfather, even if it's in the service of retrieving his soul.

Jounouchi helps as best she can, and while there is little information about Duelist Kingdom, there are some rumors online about it, as well as fears about how secretive Pegasus is about the whole thing. Pegasus' life, up until a few years ago, have been almost always open. Even when his father shunned him for living with a man, and for the two running to marry in one of the few places it was legal, Pegasus was open about how things worked in his company. If anything, he spent more time doing designs for the original Duel Monsters then anything else.

But then, the man had died, and Pegasus had withdrawn for a while, letting Croquet, his trusted right-hand man, deal with the day-to-day work of Industrial Illusions while he traveled. Then, he'd returned from a trip, seemingly changed, and started to focus more on the company. He'd become ruthless, humiliating Keith Howard, attempting corporate espionage and sabotage, and now was doing a very-secret tournament with apparently only forty top-rank Duelists.

None of which were willing to talk a lot online either. Some seemed more interested in the money and not wanting competition, while others were like Yugi – they had quit for personal reasons and were now being dragged back into the fray.

Yugi wondered how many of those Pegasus had tricked, or had family trapped like he did. He didn't think it was many, but it had to be a few, at least. He also wondered about what was going on with Jounouchi, and if he should offer up one of his star chips for her to join them at Duelist Kingdom.

That would handicap us, but I don't see a problem with that point, Yugi heard his other self muse, and I would like a familiar face among the competitors. Besides, it would allow her to prove herself.

If she goes with us, she'll still be seen as my girlfriend, or that I'm helping her.

Not if we stay silent during her duels. If neither of us help the other in a Duel, then it will at least prove that we aren't helping the other. And whatever her reasoning, we still need to help her.

Yugi finally nodded, agreeing with Yami's thinking. Jounouchi had to be shown as competent in her own right, or she'd never get out from their shadow.

"You're joking!"

"We talked about it, and…I don't know why you need the money so suddenly. I'm not asking for an explanation either. We just want to know that you'll do everything you can to prove yourself," Yugi explained, holding out the small star chip. He had decided to tell her the next day at school, while Bakura muttered about possibly joining them on the trip due to wanting to know more about the Millennium Ring. Anzu wants to join to ensure her friends were alright, and even Honda was talking of going, though Miho wasn't so sure, as her parents wanted her to take care of the new dog. And as much as Layla wanted to come as well, she had obligations at the college, and all of that had to happen over the weekend.

Jounouchi is silent, as if thinking something through, before finally managing a shaky smile. "Thank you."