Twist in Time: Stairway to the Destined Gruel
"And they lived happily ever after…again."
The lights turned on as the credits started. A man wearing a red suit and who had long, whitish hair was smiling.
"Bravo. Bravo," he said. "Wonderful movie, that Cinderella III. Well, I do love my cartoons."
A knock came at the door. "Sir, it's 11:30."
"Oh, yes. I have at meeting at seven tomorrow; it's time to get some shuteye. Oh, and, Walter, I suggest you watch Cinderella III sometime before I return. I see some parallels between it and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, and I'd like to discuss them."
"Certainly, sir."
That night, Pegasus had a dream. In it, Cecilia was speaking to him.
"Maximillian, Maximillian…do you still love me?"
"Why, of course I do, Cecilia."
"Then what if I were to offer you a second chance to bring me back to life?"
"Come on, Cecilia, the very idea is preposterous. I lost to Yugi Motou at Duelist Kingdom, and the only way to restore your life was to defeat him."
"There is a way, to do that."
"But, my dear, I'm not sure I want to. Industrial Illusions is more popular than ever, and many experts believe that this success is do to the defeat of its creator by Yugi-boy."
"What do you care about more, me or your business?"
Pegasus hesitated. "You, of course," he said, nearly biting his tongue.
"Well, then here's what you must do. Alter the appellation of the monster known as Vorse Raider to Verse Reiter."
"How will that help?"
"Just do it!"
And Pegasus woke up.
He was very dubious. But he thought he might give it a try. A new set was announced: Dark Revelation 4. In it, a monster called Verse Reiter was to be printed. All monsters whose name read "Vorse Raider" were henceforth banned from tournaments.
A year passed, and Pegasus soon forgot why he changed the name in the first place. Then, as he was getting into his pilot copter to fly to meet Chancellor Sheppard at the prestigious Duel Academy, a brunette stopped him.
"Mr. Pegasus, I have something to give you."
She was stunningly beautiful. She had cheeks like Dark Magician Girl's, and wore a long flowery, yellow dress.
The brunette handed Pegasus a cloth covering a card. She turned to walk away, but then did a very temerarious thing, and kissed his cheek.
He was stunned. And watched her hips swaying as she waltzed away.
Unravelling the cloth, he saw two cards, not one: Verse Reiter and Glory of the King's Hand.
"This looks familiar," Pegasus said, trying to recollect where he'd last seen the King's Hand card. "Oh yeah…"
Suddenly, the landscape changed. There was no pilot copter; Pegasus was not outdoors. And he was facing Yugi Motou in a duel!
"What?!?" Pegasus thought. "How did I get here? What is going on?"
Duelist Kingdom…I'm dueling Yugi…my Millenium Eye is intact…Relinquished is on the field…The Pharoah?...Wait, didn't I send little Yugi to the Shadow Realm? Yes! So I'm dueling Atem. He has Dark Magician, and his friends were keeping me from seeing his cards.
But wait! I've already dueled him, and so I already know what he's going to play! Cecilia is returning! Oh, darling Cecilia!
"Now I activate Mystic Box!" Yugi shouted.
Dark Magician separated from Relinquished. Then Yugi created Magician of Black Chaos again.
Pegasus looked down at his hand. Verse Reiter was there. He drew Thousand Eyes Idol. Maybe there was a way…
He decided to experiment. After all, what could it hurt? "I summon Verse Reiter! And then I fuse him with Relinquished!"
A plaintive song was heard all about the field. "Do you hear that guys?" Joey asked.
"I thought that was just my ears ringing, but if you hear too…" Tristan said.
"Oh, I hope Yugi's okay," Tea said meekly.
Back in their enclosure, Pegasus watched as his magnificent maneuver pulled through. "This time, there will be no Kuribohs," he said under his breath.
Versus Surrendered
LV 17/ DARK/ Spellcaster
ATK: 9200 DEF: 600
Effect: In order to attack with this monster, you must remove all the cards in your Deck, Hand, and Graveyard from play.
"What have you summoned, Pegasus?" the Pharoah demanded. The new monster on the field had its head almost to the ceiling. And its breadth was greater than that of five monsters. It was very dark, and carried a large lancet, that—relative to the monster's size, was like a toothpick.
Pegasus laughed. This time Yugi would lose, and Cecilia would be brought back to life. "Versus Surrendered, attack his puny—"
But then Pegasus remembered his business. Wasn't Industrial Illusions more important to him than Cecilia? It didn't use to be—he created Duel Monsters out of despair. However, now it was his life, his raison d' etre. Maybe he should just surrender…
Outside the Shadow Bubble, Yugi's friends were starting to fret.
"He's in trouble, I know he is," Tea said. "I'm going to try to enter again." She did so. And this time, she succeeded.
"Well, should we follow suit?" Joey asked Tristan, shaking his mane.
"I'm game if you are."
They both entered the bubble. Tea was gasping. "Whoa!" Joey exclaimed. Tristan, who usually had nerves of steel, trembled in trepidation.
"Wait, don't attack!" Pegasus shouted to Versus Surrendered. Tea looked at him. Was he really calling off his monster? Did he want Yugi to win? Or was he simply worried?
It was too late. The very fact that Yugi's friends were able to enter the Shadow Bubble should've let Pegasus know that all was lost. But he didn't even notice them. They were beginning to suffocate; this was the realm of death; they should not be there.
Versus Surrendered attacked, ripping Magician of Black Chaos to little shreds with his lance.
"No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tea shouted. "Yugi lost!"
For a moment, Pegasus stood staring in horror at what he had done. That gruesome thing was grinning at him. Oh, why didn't he just surrender? What did he care about his dead wife?
Then, an energumen—Shadow Demon—passed through his body. Triumph! It said. You have defeated the little tyke! And the Pegasus who had a heart, disappeared.
"It seems you have lost, Atem. I might as well tell you your name. You'd never find it out otherwise. Now, Pharoah Atem, I want to show you the world to which I sent your little friend Yugi. It's a rather dismal one, but as you'll never be joining him—since I'm sending you to an alternate world altogether, you might as well have a looksie."
A TV screen appeared in front of the Pharoah. He saw, in black and white pictures, a tower that stood on the top of a hill.
Yugi was there, with his black, yellow, and red hair in spikes. He was looking dejected, crestfallen. He traipsed up the long, long stairway, that never seemed to end. Once, he stepped on a nail, and started screaming. He was barefoot. His only garment was a white sheet. Taking he nail out of his foot, he walked miserably up the black steps.
Hot tears ran down his face. He looked younger than he really was. "My…friends," he said weakly. He had a dim picture in his mind of a boy named Joey Wheeler, with long, blonde hair, who spoke with a New York accent. Another picture of a girl with short brown hair, who dreamed of becoming a dancer. Tea. Another of a boy with dark-brown hair, who was a sort of ganster type…that was Tristan. Thinking of them made him cry harder. Would he ever see them again?
He finally reached the top of the stairway, and entered a room where thousands of boys sat, all wearing grey burlap sacks. The floor was dirty, the boys faces were splattered with mud, their clothes tattered. They all stared at Yugi, piercingly, almost accusingly. It was his fault they were in this dismal place. It was his fault they were treated like vermin, like scum.
He walked along the dusty, malodorous red carpet laid out, toward the cook. He was hungry; felt like he had not eaten in days. The cook gave him a bowl, and into this he poured some hot, steaming, mouth-watering…gruel.
Yugi went to an empty spot to eat his miserable supper. All the boys continued to look at him, hating, condemning. He was still hungry when he had cleaned his bowl. He returned to the cook's place.
"Excuse me sir, may I have some more?"
"More! Did you hear that, boys? He wants some more!"
All the thousands of boys in the room laughed. "What an idiot!" someone yelled. Yugi turned to stare at the insulter. He looked remarkably like Joey.
"Insubordination! You shall be put in solitary confinement." And Yugi was carried off by some stout Frenchmen.
The TV screen went blank.
"Well," said Pegasus, maliciously, "you have seen the wonderful fate of your friend. And now for yours."
The last thing Atem saw before he was plunged into darkness was Pegasus's flashing Millenium Eye.
The Shadow Bubble disappeared. Peasus remained where he was. Only two people were in the room. Well, three if you counted the unconscious body of Mokuba Kaiba. "Bakura, I see you."
"Pegasus! So you have beaten, Yugi."
"Of course I did. I invented the game, after all."
"Yes, but I was sure that…"
"Silence. Now, you have two choices. You can either come down to this arena and duel me, or we can have a traditional Shadow Game, like last time."
"What last time?"
"Come on, you know the future. Last time I lost to Yugi, and you cheated me out of my Eye. Your real name is Zorc, and you merely inhabit the body of Bakura. And I now have two Millenium Items, the Eye and the Puzzle."
"Fine, then Pegasus. We shall have a Shadow Game."
"Nice choice, Zorc."
Immediately, the powers of the Ring were tested against the Eye. Bakura lost. A few moments later, Maximillian pulled the Ring off the boy's neck. Some Dark forces still seemed to cover it.
Months later, Pegasus had gathered all the Millennium Items. Even the key. Shadi was no match for him. In truth, Shadi was a weak spirit. As for Marik, he had voluntarily loaned the Millennium Rod to Pegasus because the latter had promised that he would help Marik find the last Egyptian God card.
He flew to Cairo, and arranged six of the Items, putting them in their proper places. "Now for the eye," he said, popping out the latter.
The area lit up, and there was a flash. Suddenly, a gateway was opened. Through this gateway came Pegasus's beloved. They showered each other with kisses, and went off to enjoy their wonderful lives together, as should've happened in the first place had it not been for Cecilia's untimely death.