The Other Maximillion Pegasus

by Brandon Taylor

Maximillion Pegasus has missed his longdead wife Cecilia for as long as anyone can remember. However, a battle against Marik Ishtar may give him a chance to bring her back to life... Note: The battle between Pegasus and Marik has a Lion King taste...

"The Other Maximillion Pegasus", or "To Have Loved and Lost"

A Storyline by Brandon Taylor

Based upon "Yu-Gi-Oh!" created by Kazuki Takahashi

May 1, 2004

Dramatis Personae

Maximillion Pegasus

Cecilia Pegasus

Ryou Bakura

Marik Ishtar

Shadi

Odion

Ishizu Ishtar

Yugi Muto

Seto Kaiba

Joey Wheeler

Tristan Taylor

Tea Gardner

Mai Valentine

Serenity Wheeler

Solomon Muto

Mokuba Kaiba

Preface

Back in 1996, Mr. Kazuki Takahashi brought from Japan a new gaming phenomenon called "Yu-Gi-Oh!" that had an immediate impact on the world. At first, it was confined to the pages of comic book publications, but then it evolved into a trading card game and, later, into a television series. In fact, many supermarkets today even manufacture merchandise related to this craze. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" is found on lunchboxes, clothing, school supplies—in fact, I could go on forever.

Certainly, writing a story is extremely easy in and of itself. Writing an episode for a television series is relatively easy if you have the six given elements of the television series itself. You know, the five W's and the H—that is, the "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How." We'll think of a story as a hamburger. Consider those five W's and that H as the two buns. After all, how can you have a hamburger without buns? In the same way, you cannot have a story without those six basic building blocks.

Anyway, once you have those "buns" of a story, next comes the "meat," i.e. the conflict. The conflict of the story is always a struggle between man and whatever. The conflict of any particular story is left ENTIRELY to the author. To give the story even more "spice," the author can use more than one conflict. The basic conflict for "Yu-Gi-Oh!" for example, is man against man, to take control of all seven Millennium Items.

Finally, "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all of its episodes is a work of fiction. In any dramatic work of fiction, the author has to come up with some way to end the story so that the forces of good ALWAYS prevail. If a story cannot be ended in such a way in only one episode, you then have multi-part episodes. That's where you get your "TO BE CONTINUED…" But in any dramatic work of fiction, evil NEVER wins. Do not bother to ask me why, for I have no idea; it's simply the way that dramatic fiction works.

Anyhow, once you have completed your story, you may decide to publish it. Getting your story published for a newspaper, magazine, or book is relatively easy, but if you're talking about getting it turned into an episode for a television series, all I can say is two words: "Good luck." Just how hard is it, you might ask? Well, first of all, you need an agent from the Writer's Guild of America. You can't even "get in the door," so to speak, without an agent. Do not bother to ask me why, for I have no idea, although I do suppose it has something to do with privacy laws or something like that. Second, you have to prove to the television company that you're "good enough." You have to write a story in such a way that convinces them that the story should be an episode of the television series for which you're writing. Actually, writing an episode is not too hard—provided, of course, that you have LOTS of perseverance and patience. If your first story doesn't make it, it is probable that it was simply not good enough, and you have to try again.

Okay, enough about that. Let's skip merrily on to why I wrote this, shall we?

I wrote "The Other Maximillion Pegasus" as a day-in-the-life story of, well, Maximillion Pegasus. Many long-time fans of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" know that he possessed the Millennium Eye and that while he had its awesome power he could hold souls in the Shadow Realm. (Bakura, by the way, currently possesses the Eye.) But only a few know his true motives behind all of this. His real intention was to capture all seven Millennium Items and revive his long-dead wife. See, just a few seconds after he and Cecilia were married, she died. I don't exactly know how she died, but I have a strong suspicion that someone killed her. Anyway, I can't give anything else away about the story—you'll just have to read it for yourself and tell me what you think.

Oh, and by the way: Domo arigato, Kazuki Takahashi. Thanks very much.

Our Story Begins…

We open our scene in the house of Maximillion Pegasus. We find him sitting at a table, sighing sadly over Cecilia, as usual. He is writing in what appears to be a diary.

PEGASUS, as he writes:"My darling Cecilia, nothing can fill the void in my heart left by your death. Soon, when I am powerful enough, I vow to bring you back to me."

Suddenly, he drops the pen. He apparently cannot write anymore. He begins to cry.

PEGASUS, sobbing:"Why, Cecilia, why? Why did you have to die so soon?"

VOICE OF CECILIA:"Maximillion?"

Pegasus, extremely paranoid without the Millennium Eye, jumps up and grabs something near him that he can use as a potential weapon.

PEGASUS:"Who's there? I'm armed!"

VOICE OF CECILIA:"Maximillion, can you hear me?"

He approaches the front door of his house and opens it. There is no one there.

PEGASUS, as he closes the door:"Blasted children."

VOICE OF CECILIA:"Maximillion, it's me!"

PEGASUS:"The voice! I hear it, but where is it coming from?"

VOICE OF CECILIA:"Can you hear me? Are you there?"

PEGASUS:"Cecilia? Is that you? I can hear you, but where are you?"

VOICE OF CECILIA:"Maximillion, my love, where are you?"

PEGASUS, yawning:"Oh, dear, I must be tired. Just what the heck was in that soup?"

We'll never get an answer to that question. Pegasus goes to his bedroom and takes a nap.

PEGASUS, in his sleep:"Cecilia? … Oh, Cecilia, I've found you at last! … I'm so happy to see you, my love…" (Sobbing) "If only I had died instead of you, oh, my love, my lovely Cecilia!"

He turns over and begins kissing his pillow as though it were Cecilia, but then, after several seconds, begins pulling himself away from it and spitting. Let's go inside his dreams to find out why.

The Dream Ends

Pegasus is dreaming that he and Cecilia have reunited at long last after so many years of sorrow. As he is kissing her, the scene within his dream changes into a cliff, and Cecilia becomes the nefarious Marik Ishtar. Pegasus, recognizing the change, pulls away from him and spits on the ground. He is no longer sleeping, because somehow, Marik has brought him here with the Millennium Rod. Marik is grinning evilly.

MARIK:"Something troubling you, old man? Is Cecilia on your mind again?"

PEGASUS:"Marik…? No… how can you be here?"

MARIK:"You have nothing to hide from me, Pegasus. I know all."

PEGASUS:"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you where you stand!"

MARIK:"Now, see here, Pegasus! You must understand me!"

PEGASUS:"I don't have to understand anything from you, Marik. Surrender."

MARIK:"Oh, I would, but there is one small problem." (Snaps his fingers) "Do you see him?"

Yami Bakura approaches and laughs evilly—Marik has brainwashed him. Pegasus gasps in horror.

MARIK, smiling:"HE thinks I'm the King of Games."

Odion, Ishizu, and Yami Yugi appear on Pegasus's side, and Pegasus gets a flash of hope.

ODION:"We do not."

ISHIZU:"Yugi Muto is the true King of Games."

YUGI:"You're outnumbered two to one, Marik."

PEGASUS:"The decision rests with you and you alone, Marik. Either surrender or prepare to fight."

MARIK:"Must this all end so violently? But what say, Yugi, that we even the playing field, eh?"

He snaps his fingers—and Seto Kaiba's soul appears. Marik snaps again, and Pegasus gasps in horror again, as he sees Cecilia's soul appear on Marik's side!

PEGASUS:"You fiend! What have you done with Cecilia?"

MARIK:"No lasting harm, Pegasus. I merely wanted to know how you would feel if the woman you loved deeply suddenly became YOUR WORST ENEMY!"

As he laughs evilly, the soul of Cecilia joins him. And for the first time, Pegasus knows the truth about how evil a man Marik can be.

MARIK:"So you happen to reveal your secret, eh, old man? Well, I am going to give you one chance! Tell them who is responsible for the death of Cecilia Pegasus!"

Pause.

PEGASUS:"I am."

Yugi, Odion, and Ishizu gasp in horror. Ishizu approaches Pegasus.

ISHIZU:"It is not true! Please tell him it is not true!"

PEGASUS:"I cannot, Ishizu, because it is true."

MARIK:"SO YOU SEE, HE ADMITS IT!"

Lightning flashes and thunder rumbles.

MARIK:"MURDERER!"

PEGASUS:"No! I didn't mean…!"

MARIK:"If it had not been for you, Cecilia Pegasus would still be alive! It is your own fault that she is dead! Do you deny it?"

PEGASUS:"No."

MARIK:"Then you are GUILTY AS CHARGED!"

PEGASUS:"No, I'm not!"

MARIK:"Dear, dear, Pegasus, we are in trouble again, aren't we? But this time, EVERYONE… KNOWS… WHY!"

Pegasus stumbles backward, falls off the cliff, and almost plummets to his demise, but he grabs on to the ledge and hangs on tight.

YUGI:"No! Pegasus!"

Now, as another bolt of lightning strikes, fire surrounds the entire cliff. In fact, if Pegasus were to fall now, he would fall into the flames and die a fiery death. There is a look of fear on his face—and Marik suddenly gets a sense of déjà vu.

MARIK:"Hmm. This looks ever so familiar. Where did I see that look of fear before?"

He thinks for a few seconds, then:

MARIK:"Ah, yes, I remember now! This is just the way your youngest sister looked before I killed her."

Pegasus is not enraged—it is possible he never heard about his youngest sister. Just as his hands are about to slip off, Marik catches his arms.

MARIK:"And before YOU die and rejoin your dear wife, I feel that I am obligated to reveal to you MY little secret." (Whispers in his ear) "I killed Cecilia."

Flashback

A younger Maximillion and Cecilia are at the altar, about to kiss, when all of a sudden she seemingly explodes into flames.

MAXIMILLION, sobbing:"NO!"

The scene changes to a cemetery, with Maximillion standing alone in it. He is near Cecilia's gravestone, weeping.

Back to the Present

Enraged now, Pegasus launches himself at Marik and pins him on the cliff.

PEGASUS:"MURDERER!"

MARIK:"No, Pegasus, please, no!"

PEGASUS:"TELL THEM THE TRUTH!"

MARIK:"The truth…? The truth… is overrated!"

Now Pegasus is grasping Marik's throat in a stranglehold. Marik chokes.

MARIK:"Very well…" (Chokes again as Pegasus tightens his hold on Marik's throat) "VERY WELL!" (Softly) "I did it."

PEGASUS:"I don't think some people heard you."

MARIK:"I… KILLED… CECILIA!"

The Fight Begins!

Bakura launches himself at Pegasus and knocks him down. Seto attacks Yugi, while Cecilia tries to take on Odion and Ishizu single-handed. Marik tries to escape, but suddenly, a battle cry comes from a distance. Joey, Tristan (who sounded the battle cry), Tea, Mai, Serenity, Solomon, and Mokuba have arrived! Joey takes on Marik and loses, but not before he puts up a brave fight. Seto, Bakura, and Cecilia try to help Marik, but Yugi, Odion, Ishizu, Tristan, Tea, Mai, Serenity, Solomon, and Mokuba charge them with an all-out blitz. Seto, Bakura, and Cecilia surrender, outnumbered three to one and sensing inevitable defeat.

A Battle of Words

Marik, seizing his chance, runs away, but Pegasus maintains a hot pursuit. The chase continues, until Marik eventually runs out of ground.

PEGASUS:"Murderer!"

MARIK:"Pegasus, please, be merciful!"

PEGASUS:"You do not deserve to live!"

MARIK, attempting to brainwash Pegasus:"Pegasus, I'm… not… the… enemy! Bakura is your real foe! The blame for my treachery falls on him and him alone!"

PEGASUS:"Give me one good reason why I should believe you this time, Marik. Everything you ever told me was a lie!"

MARIK:"What are you going to do to me, Pegasus? Surely you wouldn't destroy your former friend!"

Former friend?

PEGASUS, dropping his head:"No, Marik." (Pause) "I am not like you."

MARIK:"Thank you, Pegasus. You are too kind. How can I ever repay you?"

PEGASUS:"Surrender. Give me your Millennium Rod. Bring back Cecilia. Then run. Run away, Marik, as far as you can. Whatever you do, never come back, or I will destroy you."

MARIK, as he lays down the Millennium Rod in front of Pegasus:"Yes. As you wish. Have it your way… MAXIMILLION PEGASUS!"

The Battle for Cecilia

Marik picks up the Millennium Rod and, using its power, casts a deadly spell toward Pegasus—exactly the same spell that killed Cecilia. Pegasus, however, narrowly avoids it. Marik, satisfied that Pegasus is off his guard, launches himself at Pegasus. We go into slow motion and watch the two of them trade blows for several moments. Then, as we resume normal speed, Marik slashes Pegasus, causing Pegasus to go off-balance and fall, landing on the surface of the cliff. Marik charges Pegasus once more, but Pegasus is ready for him. He catches Marik's arms and throws him backward off the cliff. Fortunately for Marik, the cliff is not very high, as he is hurt, albeit not fatally, but he is unconscious for several moments. When he comes to, he sees a fuming Yami Bakura approaching him slowly, accompanied by an equally furious Cecilia and Yami Yugi.

MARIK:"Ah, my good friend."

BAKURA:"Do my ears deceive me? Friend? You yourself said I was the enemy!"

CECILIA:"That's what I heard, too."

BOTH:"Yugi?"

Pause.

YUGI:"Obliterate him."

MARIK, stuttering:"No. I can explain. You don't understand. No. I didn't mean it! No! No! NO! CURSE YOU, YUGI MUTO!"

He disappears.

Maximillion and Cecilia Together Again

The fire surrounding the cliff reaches its peak. Lightning and thunder continue, when suddenly, drops of rain start to fall and puts out the fire. The rain grows so heavy, in fact, that one would swear that he or she was living in a flood. We focus on Yugi, Bakura, Pegasus, Odion, and Ishizu. Pegasus is as miserable as ever. Though Marik has been defeated yet again, it was all for nothing. Cecilia is still dead.

BAKURA, his good side thinking:Farewell, old friend. Your power is useless to me now. (Evil side thinking) But think! With this power, we can capture the other Millennium Items and rule the world! (Good side thinking) No… no… It has to be done. Pegasus needs this power more than I do.

He approaches Pegasus, carrying the Millennium Ring, Eye, and Rod. With a squelch and a pop, the Millennium Eye comes out of Bakura's eye socket, and a normal eye grows in quickly to replace it. He hands the Millennium Eye to Pegasus.

BAKURA:"Here. You need this more than I do."

Pegasus takes the Eye and replaces it in his eye socket, still crying. Yugi is the next to approach him.

YUGI:"The time has come."

Cecilia's body appears, as if from nothingness. Shadi also appears, bearing the Millennium Key. He, Yugi, Bakura, Odion, and Ishizu form a ring around it.

YUGI, BAKURA, SHADI, ODION, AND ISHIZU:"Realm of shadows, in the midnight hour, release her soul from your deadly power."

PEGASUS:"Can it be…?"

YUGI:"You must join us. The magic of all seven Millennium Items is required to revive a person from the dead."

PEGASUS:"Must I?"

All five of them nod.

PEGASUS, reluctantly:"Oh, very well."

He joins the ring.

ALL:"Realm of shadows, in the midnight hour, release her soul from your deadly power!"

All seven of the Millennium Items glow. Yugi, Bakura, Shadi, Odion, Ishizu, and Pegasus stare at Cecilia's body. Nothing happens for several moments. Then, suddenly, we hear a faint moan. Cecilia is stirring. She awakens, although blind.

CECILIA:"What… what is this place? Where am I? Who am I? Who are you? What's going on here?"

MAXIMILLION:"Cecilia…?"

CECILIA:"Funny… I thought I heard Maximillion call my name. Where are you, Maximillion, my love, my darling?"

She opens her eyes, and the first person she sees is Maximillion.

CECILIA:"Maximillion, is that you?"

MAXIMILLION:"Cecilia?"

CECILIA:"It is you!"

MAXIMILLION:"Oh, my darling!"

They embrace, sobbing happily.

CECILIA:"I have missed you, my dear."

MAXIMILLION:"Where have you been all these years?"

CECILIA:"Waiting for you to come and rescue me."

They kiss, and we fade to black.

Maximillion and Cecilia: Finally Married

The next night…

MINISTER:"…You may now kiss the bride."

CECILIA:"Oh, Maximillion!"

Maximillion (without the Millennium Eye now) and Cecilia kiss, and everyone applauds. Tristan sounds the same battle cry as he did in the battle between Maximillion's squad and Marik's forces. As "Wedding March" plays and the traditional rice is thrown, Cecilia throws the bouquet into the crowd, and Tea makes a spectacular catch, as though she were on the Domino High School softball team.

JOEY:"Great catch, Tea!"

TRISTAN:"I've got a feeling about you and Yugi."

TEA:"I've got a feeling, too." (Blushes)

Yugi merely smiles. He, too, has a feeling.

ISHIZU:Excellent work, Maximillion. Cecilia looks good on you. You deserve her.

Maximillion turns around. Ishizu's thoughts were obviously audible to him.

MAXIMILLION:"Thank you, Ishizu. I'll try not to overdo it."

CECILIA:"Maximillion!" (Laughs; kisses him)

BAKURA:"I am certainly glad that nothing went wrong with the wedding this time around."

YUGI:"So am I, Bakura."

ISHIZU:"And I."

Odion enters.

YUGI:"Where have you been, Odion?"

ODION:"I apologize. Did I miss anything?"

ISHIZU:"You missed everything. You missed a wedding between Maximillion and Cecilia where absolutely nothing went wrong."

ODION:"Nothing went wrong, did you say?"

YUGI:"Nothing went wrong."

ODION:"Good. I feel for those two." (Pause) "Well, Yugi, Bakura, Shadi, and Ishizu, I believe it is time that I took my leave of you for now."

YUGI:"Farewell, Odion."

ODION:"We shall meet again, once something goes wrong."

He turns and exits.

JOEY, yawning:"Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

TRISTAN, yawning:"Yeah, I guess I'd better call it a night, too."

TEA:"See you tomorrow, Yugi." (Kisses him)

Yugi smiles at her, blushing. Fade to black.

Epilogue

In the Real World…

We find Maximillion awake in the bedroom at 11:45 pm. Cecilia is sleeping next to him. Once again, he is writing in his diary.

MAXIMILLION, as he writes:"Yesterday, we fought against Marik and won. Yugi, Bakura, Shadi, Odion, Ishizu, and I brought Cecilia back to life after so many long years of sorrow. Now I feel like the happiest man in the world."

He puts down his pen and closes his diary.

MAXIMILLION:These last two days were great, but I sense that tomorrow will be even better. "Good night, Cecilia." (Kisses her)

Cecilia sounds a short, faint moan. Finally, Maximillion himself goes to bed.

In the Shadow Realm…

We find Marik Ishtar, with his Millennium Rod once again (how does his Millennium Rod find its way back to Marik?).

MARIK:"I may have lost the battle, but I will not lose the war! You haven't seen the last of me, Yugi Muto! ONE DAY OR ANOTHER, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE! I WILL RULE THE WORLD!"

AFTER LONG YEARS OF SADNESS, MAXIMILLION AND CECILIA PEGASUS ARE TOGETHER AGAIN. TODAY WAS PERHAPS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF HIS LIFE, BUT WHAT WILL TOMORROW HOLD? ONLY TIME WILL TELL…

THE END

A Brandon Taylor Production

Text copyright © 2004 Brandon Taylor. All rights reserved.

© 1996 Kazuki Takahashi. "YU-GI-OH!" and all related characters and titles are trademarks of and © SHUEISHA, Inc. All rights reserved.

Afterthought

I feel that I am obligated to confess that I was somewhat late to jump on the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" bandwagon. I had never even heard of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" at the time. In fact, I didn't see the first episode when it initially aired. I was still hooked on another game craze at the time, called "Pokémon." I owe it all to my little sister, Paula, for getting me involved in "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Ironically, however, it was mainly by mistake.

See, Paula was also involved in "Pokémon." We lived in a rural area outside of town, and we had a television. Every Saturday morning, Paula would watch "Pokémon" on WB, and then we would change it to FOX to watch "Digimon." I did not even know that "Yu-Gi-Oh!" was on television at the time.

Then, one Saturday, after "Pokémon" was over, my sister did not change the channel—perhaps because the episode of "Digimon" was one she had already seen—and we watched "Yu-Gi-Oh!" due to lack of anything else to watch. It was possible that Paula was into "Yu-Gi-Oh!" before I was, because she liked the episode that was currently on the air. As for me, this was only my first episode of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" I had to learn more!

Now, every Saturday, instead of changing the channel to FOX to watch "Digimon," I left the channel on WB to watch "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Every Saturday, I watched another "Yu-Gi-Oh!" episode—and every Saturday, I liked it. Holy Blue-Eyes White Dragon! I, too, was caught up in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" phenomenon! I thought, "Heaven, help me!"

Far from berating my sister for not changing the channel from WB to FOX that one day, I suppose it is my duty to thank her, because if it had not been for her, I wouldn't even have a collection of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" game cards. In fact, when I got my first deck, and as I added to it, I gave half of my cards to my sister. I suppose that, in some strange way, I had to give them to her out of thanks.

Suddenly, in mid-2003, I had a flash of inspiration: What if I, Brandon Dillard Taylor, was in control of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" for one week? This is when I started actually writing episodes of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" I started out with a few stories, but actually watching more and more episodes began to make my stories look like crap. I tried a Halloween episode, where Yugi has to win a duel against the zombie of Seto Kaiba or else die along with all of his friends; an episode where good Yugi battles Yami Yugi; and an episode where Yugi frees Téa from the Shadow Realm—and thus from Marik's evil clutches—after which the two of them fall in love. I also tried an episode where Yugi had to face off against Spirit Monsters from Marik's deck, as well as an episode entitled "The Duels to End All Duels" or "Prelude to Armageddon," which featured Yugi against Marik to end the Shadow Games once and for all. The latter, by the way, is my Armageddon episode.

I also have a few unfinished episodes, but I lost interest in completing them any further. I look down on those episodes as the "worst of the crap." Then there are my "borderline" episodes, including my Halloween episode and the duel between Yugi and Yami Yugi. Next comes the episode where Yugi frees Téa and falls in love with her, which is, on my scale, "above average." I cannot help berating myself sometimes for throwing that story away. I remember some, but not all, of what went into the episode. Finally, there are my "all-time best" episodes, including Yugi vs. the Spirit Monsters and the final duel between Yugi and Marik.