Shadow Gambit

Author's note: This story is based on the English dub (4KidsTV) version. Another thing is I have noticed the rules of dueling according to the show are different from the rules according to yugiohwikia. If I write a duel, I'll be following the rules according to the show. I'd also like to acknowledge my good friend Peach Wookiee for helping me come up with the title of this story.

Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters are owned by Kazuki Takahashi.

Chapter 1: Brooding Over Defeat

On the helicopter ride back home, Seto kept pondering over what he had just witnessed. He saw Yugi Muto defeat the Egyptian Gods in a single move. On the one hand, he was very impressed by it. At the same time witnessing such a feat made him feel weak since he had not been the one to come up with such a strategy.

When he returned home he decided to organize another tournament. He knew it would take a few months to organize one so he decided to get to work right away. He needed a title for the tournament so he decided to look at pictures of Duel Monsters cards on his computer to get ideas.

But looking over these cards kept reminding him of all those times he lost to Yugi Muto. First, he came across a picture of Exodia's head which reminded him of his first loss to Yugi. Kaiba had summoned his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and was sure he would win the match. But Yugi pulled off a miracle and managed to draw all five pieces of Exodia, a feat no one had ever accomplished before. He was so emotionally shaken over the defeat that he dropped out of the Duelist Kingdom tournament.

Then he saw a picture of the magic card Multiply. This reminded him of his duel with Yugi in Duelist Kingdom when he was fighting to save his brother's soul. Seto, having summoned his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, seemed to have control of the duel. However, Yugi used his magic card to multiply his Kuribohs endlessly, creating the ultimate defense. Seto may have defeated Yugi in that duel but only because he had forced Yugi to surrender. Yugi could've easily won the match, so to him it still felt like a loss.

Then he browsed the rest of the Duel Monsters cards on his computer and saw two pictures that reminded him of more heartbreak: the Dark Magician and Buster Blader. These two cards reminded him of his rematch with Yugi in the Battle City finals. Yugi had fused these two monsters together to form Dark Paladin. Because of Dark Paladin's special ability and Kaiba's dragon strategies it was the perfect monster to use against him. Seto had designed the tournament so that he would become the world champion again, but Yugi was able to defeat Seto again with the special ability of his Dark Paladin.

What he saw next pained him the most. It was a picture of Obelisk the Tormentor, a card that was once in his possession but never to be his again. He was sure that this Egyptian God would ultimately lead him to having an unbeatable deck because of its divine strength, but he lost it to Yugi in the Battle City finals. But that wasn't the only reason he was pained by looking at Obelisk. It also reminded him of the time when he challenged Yugi to a rematch after the Battle City tournament. He had summoned his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and doubled its attack strength with the magic card Megamorph. He thought for sure he had found a way to beat Yugi's three Egyptian Gods. But Yugi, being the clever duelist that he was, found a way around it. He sacrificed his other two Egyptian Gods to make Obelisk's strength infinite. Deep down he knew Yugi had already won by making Obelisk's strength infinite, but he did not want to admit this to himself so he ordered his Ultimate Dragon to attack anyway.

Seto looked at some Duel Monsters cards stacked neatly on his desk and then angrily smacked them, leaving a mess on the floor. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

Maybe I should just accept the fact that he is better than me. After all, he did come up with a way to defeat the Egyptian Gods in a single move.

But as days passed, he couldn't stop brooding over these losses and as a result couldn't focus on organizing his tournament. He just couldn't get over the fact that he was no longer the world champion. He became so upset that he refused to listen to the voices in his head that told him Yugi was the better duelist. Instead, he eventually created another thought in his head. Perhaps he could've beaten Yugi all those times if he hadn't gotten any help from his friend the Pharaoh.

No! It's not fair! All those times we faced off, someone else was doing the work for him. And yet he is known as the King of Games? That honor belongs to me and me alone. No one has mastered the game of Duel Monsters like me so there's no other way he could've beaten me on his own.

Seto called Roland into his office.

"Yes, sir. Have you come up with a title for your upcoming tournament?" asked Roland.

"No. In fact, I've decided to cancel the tournament. I have something else in mind."

"What's that?" asked Roland.

"I've decided to challenge Yugi Muto to a duel and reclaim my world championship status. Bring me by the Game Shop tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, sir," replied Roland.

The next day, Roland drove Seto in the limo to the Game Shop. When he stepped out of the limo and entered the house, he saw Grandpa Muto.

"Yes, can I help you?" asked Grandpa.

"I need to speak to Yugi, please."

"Oh, certainly. Come right in. He's upstairs."

Seto walked upstairs and knocked on Yugi's door.

Yugi opened the door to see his rival. Joey, Tristan, and Tea were also in the room. They had been playing a game of Duel Monsters just for fun. "Hey," Yugi said puzzled to see his rival. "What's up?"

"What's up is it's time for our rematch."

"Rematch? I don't understand."

"All those times we dueled, someone else was doing all the work for you. And yet you are known as the King of Games."

"What!" cried Joey. "Are you sayin' Yugi's not the true King of Games because the Pharaoh helped him in all of his duels?"

"Well Wheeler, I see you were actually intelligent enough to figure out what I was saying. Yes, that's exactly what meant. Yugi could only beat me because he had help from his friend the Pharaoh!"

"But Kaiba …we all saw him beat the Egyptian Gods and the Pharaoh in that duel. You even said it yourself. Yugi is the King of Games," replied Joey.

"Yes, I did say that. But all those times Yugi beat me, he had help from someone else. And I don't think that Yugi has enough talent to beat me on his own."

"Kaiba …like I said…Yugi came up with a way to take down all three Egyptian Gods in a single move. What more proof do you need?"

"Please…for all I know the Pharaoh could've told him the secret to beating all three Gods."

"Is he serious?" asked Tristan.

"I'll teach you to question my friend's dueling skills! Lemme at him!" Joey charged at Kaiba but was held back by Tristan.

"Take it easy, Joey. He's not worth it," Tristan warned Joey.

Seto then looked back at Yugi who looked very nervous. "What's the matter, Yugi? Are you afraid that you can't beat me without your little friend to walk you through every single move?" Seto taunted. "That's it, isn't it? You can't do anything for yourself, can you? That's why you have to get your friends to defend you because you're not man enough to stand up for yourself."

Now Yugi had always been a very shy and timid boy, but right now he could see that this was no time for being scared. Using the gift of courage he had been given from his friend Atem, Yugi stood up to Kaiba's taunting.

"Wait! Kaiba's right. All those times we fought, I had help from the Pharaoh. I wasn't doing it on my own. Kaiba, I can see that this means a lot to you, and it's only fair that I give you your rematch. And when I beat you, perhaps you will see that I am the better duelist even without the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle to guide me."

Seto grinned happily, hearing that he would get a chance to become the world champion again. "Our rematch will be one month from now in my dueling arena. I'll give you an exact date when I'm ready. I'm going to make this a huge event. I want everyone in Domino City to know so I'll give them enough time to make plans. That way everyone can see me take you down once and for all. Have a good day."

Kaiba left the Game Shop and was driven back home in his limo, burning with anticipation for his rematch.

As soon as everyone sees that Yugi can't beat me without the aid of his little friend, I'll once again be known as the world's greatest duelist.