Prologue:
Maximilian Pegasus stood across from Atem, Yugi Moto's alter ego, at the opposite end of the field. This was the battle to decide the winner of the Duelist Kingdom and the fate of not only Yugi's Grandpa's soul and those of the Kaiba brothers, but Yugi's as well. Pegasus had been certain of his victory, being that his Millennium Eye gave him the power to know Yugi's strategy the moment he thought of it, so he had put everything he owns on the line believing that he couldn't lose. Unfortunately the tables had turned and Atem was about the make the winning move. It was all over for Pegasus, he would lose everything, including his only chance to bring back his lost love, who had died many year ago. That was the reason behind the tournament. He had discovered that by gathering all the Millennium Items he could restore her to this existence and had started Duelist Kingdom in hopes of gathering all the items in one place. Atem made his move and Pegasus's life points became zero. The duel was over with Atem as the victor. The clouds of the Shadow Realm that had been all around them were beginning to subside as they returned to the real world. Pegasus could not let it end this way, could not let everything he'd worked so hard for slip through his fingers with a single battle. It a final effort he concentrated all the power in his Millennium Eye and bypassed the barricade that had been placed on Atem's and Yugi's minds. The two had merged once more instead of being two separate entities as they were during the battle. The sudden mental penetration hit them like a hammer and knocked them back, but did no real damage. What came next was the thing that did them in. During the battle Yugi's mind couldn't handle the strain of the Shadow Realm. Its destructive powers nearly killed him, so Atem took his place. Now without the shield of his friends both Atem and Yugi were fully exposed to the Shadow Realm. Pegasus used what remained of his energy to use his eye to deal one final blow to their minds. At the same time the Shadow Realm seeped in and ravaged whatever wasn't hit by the attacked. Atem lost consciousness and fell back on to the connecting bridge linked to the stadium as what was left of the dark clouds cleared away. Tea, Tristan, and Joey ran to their best friend's side when they saw his body laying still on the bridge. Tea sank to her knees next to him and began shouting desperately, "Yugi! Yugi! Wake up! Yugi!"
Tristan looked at Yugi then to the life pointed counter in the field. It hadn't been reset. What it told him puzzled him greatly. He voiced his thought, calmly even though he was freaked out and worried on the inside, "Guys, look. Yugi won."
Joey, almost at the point of crying, had gone to Yugi's side telling his unconscious friend that he would make it through this, that he had to. Joey glared at Tristan angrily and yelled at him, his voice breaking as he did so, "How is that important right now?! Are you more worried about a dumb game than our best friend?!"
Tristan let out a breath, keeping his cool, "No, Joey. What i'm saying is, Yugi won, so how did this happen?"
Tea and Joey stopped for a moment to think about this. It was strange after all. What happened in the Shadow Realm that could have done this?
Nobody had noticed Pegasus slip away while they were thinking about this, but he didn't get very far.