Yu-Gi-Oh! The Bonds of Brotherhood

Theme Song: One Card Short

Life's just a game. We all wanna win.

Keep your hand a secret, unleash the monsters within!

Sometimes it's over before it's even begun.

If someone else gets hurt then, what have you really won?

I'm always one card short, always one day late!

For once I'd like an ending I can celebrate.

Stacked the deck myself, so there's no one else to blame.

I need just one more move, one final chance to prove

I can win this game.

Life's just a duel, that's how the world is made.

But are we really players, or are we being played?

I'm always one card short, always one day late!

For once I'd like an ending I can celebrate.

Stacked the deck myself, so there's no one else to blame.

I need just one more move, one final chance to prove

I can win this game.

One card short, one day late!

Give me somethin', somethin' to celebrate!

Stacked the deck myself so there's no one else to blame.

One more move I'm gonna win this game.
I'm gonna win this game.
I'm gonna win this game!
One more move, I'll win this game.


Episode Two: Training of the Underdog


During the five-minute break at school the next day, Joey was playing Duel Monsters with Téa in the classroom.

"Okay, here you go, Téa," Joey said, playing Rock Ogre Grotto #1 in attack position. "My Rock Ogre Grotto Number One is gonna knock your blocks off!"

Téa flipped over her monster card to reveal Happy Lover with five hundred defense points.

"Yeah, Happy Lover's five hundred defense points against Rock Ogre's eight hundred attack points, Téa." Joey said excitedly, celebrating too soon in Yugi's opinion. "Give it up!"

"Okay, my turn." Téa said. "I'm going to play my Breath of Life card," and she laid down the Breath of Life spell card in her Spell/Trap card zone.

"Huh? What's dat?" Joey asked.

"The holy wind wears down rock monsters." Yugi explained. "Reduces them to rubbles!"

Joey was stunned as he imagined his Rock Ogre crumbling to dust in a high wind.

"That brings your Life Points all the way down to zero, Joey." Téa said, looking delighted with herself. "Once again, I win."

Joey groaned out of frustration with Tristan saying once again: "Man, you stink at this."

"Why can't I ever win?" Joey asked Yugi later after school as the two of them stood outside in front of the school. "Teach me what I'm doin' wrong."

Just then, someone drove up beside them on a black 1996 Yamaha Virago 1100 motorcycle and stopped beside them. The driver dismounted and took off his helmet to reveal himself to be none other than Atem.

"Whoa, Atem!" Joey exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his depression. "What a sweet ride ya got there!"

"Thank you, Joey." Atem said, placing his helmet on top of his motorcycle seat and turning to look at them. "What's wrong, Joey? You look a bit… depressed."

"Téa defeated him in another Duel today." Yugi explained.

"Again? Joey, that makes five times in a row!" Atem said, a little shocked.

"Don't remind me…." Joey grumbled sadly. "Anyway, what am I doin' wrong? Why can't I ever win?"

"Well, as I've never witnessed your Duels with Téa, I can't be sure." Atem said, looking thoughtful. "However, from my observation of your one Duel with Yugi, I'd say that your problem lies in not giving support to your monsters with your spell and trap cards."

"But I don't have any spell and trap cards!" Joey said despairingly.

"That's exactly your problem, Joey." Atem said seriously. "Your Deck is way out of balance. You cannot win a Duel with monster cards alone. With no spell cards in your Deck, your monsters will be creamed every time."

"See? That's the kind of thing I need to know!" Joey exclaimed. "Atem, you gotta' help me out!"

"Sure, Joey." Atem said with a smile. "Although I've never tutored anyone except Yugi in Duel Monsters, I am prepared to offer my services to you. Are you willing to train under me?"

"YES, YES ATEM! YES!" Joey yelled, grasping the front of Atem's customized school jacket while standing on his knees. "I'll do anything ya asked—anything!"

Atem nodded and pulled Joey to his feet. "Very well. Come to the Game Shop at seven o'clock tonight for your first Duel Monsters lesson." He turned and moved toward his motorcycle. He tossed Yugi the spare helmet. "Come on, Yugi, let's go."

Atem mounted his motorcycle, the engine roared as he turned the key and the handlebar. Yugi put on his helmet and mounted behind Atem on the motorcycle seat.

"Bye Joey," Yugi said. "See ya later tonight, I guess."

"Oh, and Joey," Atem said, pausing in the act of putting on his own helmet. "Bring every single card you own. The first lesson is called Preparation, in which, you start building your Deck."

"Alright, Atem, I'll bring 'em." Joey promised as Atem put on his helmet.

With a roar, the motorcycle sped up down the road and disappeared around the corner.

True to his words, Joey arrived at the game shop at the appointed time with a rucksack full of cards over his shoulder.

"Welcome, Joey," Atem greeted his new student at the door. "Come up to our room to build your Deck."

"Study hard now, Joseph." Grandpa said as they passed him. "Atem will turn you into a true Duelist in no time."

"Right, thanks Gramps." Joey said, following Atem up the stairs to his and Yugi's room.

Inside the room was a set of bunk beds, two dressers, two desks and just one closet. The top bunk was obviously Atem's, due to the fact that his name was carved into the headboard, similarly, the bottom bunk had Yugi's name carved on it. A reference to the fact that Atem was born first, five minutes before Yugi.

"Okay Joey, spread all your cards out on the floor." Atem told him.

Joey obeyed, turning his rucksack upside down and dumping his cards out onto the carpeted floor.

Atem saw that Joey have some spell cards, some trap cards and a lot of weak normal monster cards. Atem mentally sighed, thinking this was going to be harder than he thought….

"Okay Joey, now make a Deck of forty cards. Select fourteen low level monsters."

"Uh, aren't ya gonna tell me which monsters ta pick?" Joey asked.

"No, Joey, because the Deck must be put together by the Duelist himself." Atem explained. "You have to pick out the monster cards that's best suited for you; it's like putting a piece of yourself into your Deck. Make every card you pick represent your heart and soul."

"Uh, okay." Joey said, and he looked over each and every one of his cards until he had selected his fourteen cards.

"Now select six high-level monsters." Atem said. "And you'll have twenty monster cards."

Joey obeyed, selecting his strongest high-level monsters. Just then, Yugi came into the room with a Duel Monsters' booster pack box.

"Ah, Yugi, thank you." Atem said, taking the box from Yugi and giving him a hundred dollar bill.

"You're welcome," Yugi said, taking the money. "So, how's the lesson's going?"

"It just barely started." Atem said. "You can watch if you want."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Yugi left the room to put the money into the cash register in the shop downstairs.

"Okay, now Joey." Atem said. "The monsters you've chosen are good choices, but they're all normal monsters. You can't win with normal monsters alone; you need some effect monsters too. Now, as you don't have any effect monsters and very few useful spell and trap card, and as your teacher, I have paid for your very first booster pack box, there are fifty packs in here. You're going to open them one by one and hopefully, you'll get some really good cards."

"Alright!" Joey said happily, taking the first pack and ripping it open. After a half-hour of opening card packs and exchanging monsters he'd already pick with better ones, Atem was ready to move on to the next step of the Deck building.

"Now, pick out ten spell cards and ten trap cards."

"Alright, Atem, I'm pickin' this card: Axe of Despair." Joey stated, picking the card up from the pile and putting it with the cards that will make up his Deck.

Atem nodded approvingly. "Hm-hmm, that's a good card, Joey."

Another hour later, Joey's warrior-theme Deck was completed.

"Good, now that you have your own personal Deck, let's move on to lesson two: Phases of Gameplay." Atem said, putting up six Duel Monsters diagrams, each explaining the six phases in a player's turn. For two hours, Atem talked Joey through the diagrams, explaining the basics of the game, stopping here and there whenever Joey had a question.

Now exhausted with an additional headache from taking in so much in one sitting, Joey was shuffling his Deck, trying to master the Duel Monsters Shuffle with his eyes closed. Then the cards flew from his hands as fell forward.

"So tired, must rest." Joey muttered.

Grandpa, who had taken over Atem's lessons so that he can do his homework downstairs, raised a stick. "You have no time for rest!" and he slammed the stick down on the table, causing Joey jerked up in alarm. "Did you come here to learn Duel Monsters or did you come here to catch up on your sleeping?"

Just then, Atem came into the room, having finished his homework.

"Take it easy, Grandpa." Atem said. "It is eleven-thirty, after all." He looked down at Joey sitting on the floor. "That's all for tonight, Joey. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

"Alright, Atem." Joey said, standing up, stretching and yawning. "See ya tomorrow." And he left.

A week later, after a lot of hard work and effort, Joey entered into the local Duel Monsters tournament and made it to the top eight. Though he didn't win the tournament, Atem and Grandpa were very proud at Joey's progression in Duel Monsters. And he was still working very hard to improve.

The evening after Joey's first tournament found Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Atem and Joey watching the All-American Duel Monsters Championship on TV.

The Announcer on TV was introducing the Duelists of the final match.

"Good evening, ten million Duel Monsters fans!"

"Ten million?" Atem said; standing with his arms crossed behind Yugi and Joey on the sofa. "More like ten trillion…."

"Ten trillion?" Joey exclaimed. "There's dat many Duelists in America?"

"Well, no. There should be at least ten billion Duelists in America, and the number is ever-increasing." Atem said. "But then, you have Duelists from all over the world; Japanese Duelists, Chinese Duelists, Spanish Duelists, English Duelists—Duelists all across the globe! Adding up to ten trillion and still counting…"

"Shh!" Téa hissed, "I'm trying to watch this!"

"Oh… sorry, Téa." Atem apologized gently.

"….here comes the finalists!" the announcer was saying. "Representing California, Weevil Underwood, fourteen years old!"

A kid with turquoise hair arranged in a Beatles' Haircut appeared on screen. He wore thick round yellow glasses and he was wearing what he clearly thought was a winning smile, but looks more like a leer to Atem and the others.

"Representing New Jersey, Rex Raptor, fifteen years old."

A kid with a red beanie cap appeared on screen. His hair was brown with dyed purple strands next to his forehead. His expression was serious, therefore he wasn't smiling.

"It would be me Dueling now if everything had gone well." Joey complained.

"Joey, calm down," Atem said firmly. "You did your best and you should be proud of yourself for what you achieved in such a short time. Duel Monsters is not all about winning. It's more of a quest for experience."

"And besides," added Téa. "You have done really well. Look on the bright side; you made it to the quarterfinals!"

"Dat's true." Joey said proudly.

"Yes, and we're all very proud of you, Joey." Atem said.

"Yeah, it looks like Atem and Grandpa's training's really starting to pay off." Yugi agreed. "The training was pretty tough."

"Hm-hmm," Joey nodded with his eyes closed, still smiling.

Joey's flashback was of himself exhaustedly shuffling his Deck until they slipped from his hands and scattered all over the table. He was under Grandpa's training that night.

"Grandpa…. I can't…." he said as he slumped over the table.

Grandpa raised his stick. "Oh yes you can!" and he struck the table with his stick, causing Joey to jerk up off the table. "Joey, you'll never be able to play in the tournament with this attitude of yours!"

After the flashback, Tristan leaned toward Joey.

"You were only a finalist in the town's preliminaries," he said teasingly.

Téa smiled sheepishly while Atem glared at Tristan. He's going to have to have a long talk with Tristan about attacking Joey's confidence with much teasing while he was trying to build Joey's confidence up. Tristan saw Atem's glare and fell silence.

Joey hung his head. "I'm too ashamed to see Grandpa, he trained me so hard. You too, Atem."

"Don't be, Joey." Atem said kindly, placing a hand of comfort on Joey's shoulder. "The fact that you tried your best and gave it your all is all that matters. We are very proud of you. Never be ashamed of your Duel Monsters' defeats, for you can learn from them and improve yourself and your Deck."

Joey looked up at Atem through watery eyes, he was touched by this speech and it inspires him to keep on going and show the world what he's made of.

"Thanks, Atem," he said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I promise, I won't let ya down."

"Shh!" Tristan hissed, his attention on the TV again. "It's about to start."

"Atem, who do ya think is gonna win?" Joey asked.

"Hmm, let's see," Atem said thoughtfully. "They both seem to be equal in terms of skill and strength. Weevil prefers to use combos with insect monsters and Rex prefers to use the brute strength of dinosaur and dragon cards along with combos to overwhelm his opponents.

Yugi nodded seriously. "Yep, it can go either way with those two. When they get right down to it, it becomes a matter of one of them drawing their best cards first."

"Well, my money's on Rex." Joey said. "Tristan, d'you wanna take me on dat bet?—OW!" Joey was whacked on the head from behind with a rolled-up newspaper.

"No betting in my house, Joseph," said a firm voice. It was Grandpa.

Joey turned to Grandpa, massaging his head. "Ow, Grandpa, dat hurts!"

"Good, maybe now you won't gamble in my house." Grandpa said smugly.

"Grandpa, please do not strike my student." Atem told his Grandpa firmly.

"Yeah, Joey can't afford to lose any more IQ points than he already lost from fighting a lot." Tristan said.

Grandpa suddenly looked very ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, Joseph."

"Aw it's okay," Joey smiled, still rubbing his head. "I think…."

"Oh, Atem, I'd almost forgot." Grandpa said, handing Atem a post office stamped box. "You've received a package today. I hope you haven't been using my credit card to buy Duel Monsters cards off of eBay again…"

Atem accepted the package with a confused expression.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Atem said. "But what could this be? I have not purchased anything since I won the auction on Dark Magician Girl, Skilled Dark Magician and ten other cards…"

"I thought you said you got them out of the new Spellcaster booster pack." Yugi said.

"Yes, that is where they came from," Atem said, setting the package aside. "but someone who already had those cards sold them to me on eBay."

"Yes, and that was the most expensive eBay purchase ever made on my credit card." Grandpa said, looking very annoyed. "Twelve Duel Monsters cards should NOT be worth two thousand dollars, plus shipping! And I'm STILL trying to pay that bill!"

"I'm sorry, Grandpa…" Atem said meekly. "But I assure you, I have not made any purchases from…" he looked down at the sender's address on the package, and paused in shock. "…from the Industrial Illusions…" he finished looking stunned.

"Hey, that's the company that makes the Duel Monsters cards!" Yugi exclaimed. "Why would they send you a package?"

"I don't know, but I bet it has something to do my victory over Kaiba." Atem said, thoughtfully. "As an international Duel Monsters champion, Kaiba's defeat naturally attracted a lot of attention. And don't forget, nothing stays quiet in the Dueling world, rumors and stories spread faster than wildfire."

"Eh, he's no champion," Joey said cockily. "I bet I can take 'im on, no problem."

"Never underestimate Kaiba, Joey." Atem warned. "Knowing him as I have done, he's probably working overtime to improve his Deck. My new, barely released cards took him by surprise. He didn't know how to fight against them.

"Yeah, but still… he doesn't act like a champion…." Joey muttered. "He acts more like a first-class jerk."

Atem chuckles. "Yes, I agree. He should learn to be a bit kinder, but then again, he is a ruthless businessman and that's enough to make anybody turn cold."

"Maybe he wouldn't be so cold if he had some friends." Téa said thoughtfully. "Maybe that's what he needs: Friendship."

"He would be a different person, that's for sure." Tristan agreed.

"Kaiba has always been a lone wolf," Atem said. "He prefers to operate alone in most matters. It all becomes a question of whether Kaiba would accept someone's hand in friendship…" I hope I've changed that when I removed the evil influence from his heart. Question is: how had I been able to do that? He placed a hand on the Millennium Puzzle that hung on thick silver chains around his neck. Does this Millennium Puzzle somehow give me that power? What kind of power does the Puzzle contains? Is it good or evil? So many questions remain unanswered in my mind. I shall keep the Puzzle close until I find out more about it. The Puzzle must have some ancient magic in it, how else could it hold itself together without glue, or give the wearer the ability to remove the dark thoughts and intentions from a person's heart? I will guard this Puzzle with my life, in case its' power can be used for evil purposes.

Atem came out of his thoughts just in time to see Weevil's Basic Insect equipped with a cannon pack on its' shoulder, delivered the final blow to Rex's Two-Headed King Rex, which shattered into pieces upon being destroyed.

"What?" Joey exclaimed in shock. "A big two-headed dinosaur defeated by one lousy bug?"

"That just goes to show you, Joey," Atem said wisely. "Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how small they may appear, for it could cost you dearly. In the game of Duel Monsters, looks can be very deceiving, so be careful. "

"Our victor, Weevil Underwood will now be presented with the winner's trophy and the award money," the Announcer was saying. "Here to present these awards is the honorary CEO of Industrial Illusions, Inc. and the ingenious inventor of Duel Monsters, Mr. Maximillion Pegasus!"

A trap door opened in front of Weevil and Pegasus rose up through it, holding a golden sparkly trophy. He presented Weevil with the trophy saying: "Many congratulations."

"Uh, thanks a lot," said Weevil, blushing and accepting his prize.

"I will grant you unconditional entry to an upcoming competition sponsored by my company." Pegasus told the still-blushing Weevil. "The Duelist Kingdom Tournament!"

Later that night, Pegasus' private car was leaving the area where the All-American Duel Monsters Tournament had been held, and inside the car, Pegasus was in conversation with his flunky in the backseat.

"Sir, it looks like we won't have any trouble finding plenty of elite Duelists to participate," the flunky was saying.

"I must be quite honest," Pegasus said. "None of the Duelist we saw today in the tournament really excited me. And your errand?"

"It has been delivered to the Pharaoh just as you have ordered, sir," the flunky replied.

"Is that so?"

Back at the Game Shop, Grandpa was urging Atem to open his package, saying: "Atem, I'm itching to know what's in that package."

"Alright, but what could it be?" Atem asked as he opened the box.

Inside was a pair of left-hand gloves, four Star Chips and a video tape,

"What is this?" asked Téa.

"Perhaps the video will provide us with the answer to that question," Atem suggested, taking the tape from the package and inserting it into the VCR.

Pegasus appeared on screen. "Hello there, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Pharaoh-boy."

"Hey, is dat…?" Joey asked.

"We saw him on TV," Téa said.

"It's the inventor of Duel Monsters," Grandpa said, "Maximillion Pegasus."

Yugi looked up at his older, taller brother with confusion. "What would he want with you, Atem?"

"Well, let's hear what he has to say and maybe we'll find out." Atem replied.

"I am sending this as a personal video letter to you, Pharaoh." Pegasus continues.

"Why is he calling you 'Pharaoh'?" Joey asked, forgetting that he already knew from the meeting with Kaiba in the Game Shop.

"Pharaoh is the only name I am known by among Duelists, I guess that's why." Atem replied.

"When I heard that you defeated young Kaiba, I decided to test your Dueling skills." Pegasus continued. "The rules are as followed. We'll play with a time limit. Life Points are set to two-thousand. When the fifteen minutes are up, the player with the higher Life Points wins. Sounds good?"

"Does he expect you to play against a pre-recorded video?" Joey asked.

"How stupid," Tristan agreed.

All of the sudden, everything went dark and cold. And everybody except Atem and Pegasus froze, as if they were frozen in time or they were turned to stone.

Atem turned to look at the others. "Grandpa, Yugi!" he cried. "Joey, Tristan, Téa!"

"They would only be in the way," Pegasus said with too much self-confidence for Atem's liking. "Shall we begin, Pharaoh-boy?"

Atem turned back to Pegasus, his anger was aroused against the man.

"Pegasus, what have you done to them? Whatever you did, undo it right now!" he shouted as the Millennium Puzzle glowed and the Eye of Wdjat appeared on his forehead, giving him some power and protection in this Shadow Game.

"Oh, but of course." Pegasus said lazily. "but first, you have to defeat me in a Duel."

"Fine! Start the clock and make your move, Pegasus." Atem said, putting his own Deck down and drawing five cards.

"Let the game begin." Pegasus said, as the camera zoomed out away from his face to show the rest of him in front of a Dueling mat. "I'll make the first move," he said, laying a card face-down in his Spell/Trap card zone. "That's it. Now it's your turn, Pharaoh."

"Alright, my move," Atem drew a card.

"I summon Magician's Valkyria, in attack mode!" Atem declared. "Next, I set two cards face-down and end my turn. Your move, Pegasus."

"Let me guess, your face-down cards are Magic Cylinder and Sage's Stone, right?

Atem gasped in shock. "But how—?"

"Never mind how I know, Pharaoh-boy. Now let's continue play." Pegasus draws a card. "I play a Spell card, Tremendous Fire." Atem grunted loudly while shielding his head with his arm as the big fireball hit him directly, while a smaller fireball hit Pegasus. "I guess it's true what they say: when you play with fire, you're going to get burned. You just lost a thousand life points and I, five hundred."

Pharaoh LP: 1000

Pegasus LP: 1500

"Now I activate my Trap card, Gravity Bind!" Pegasus said, turning his Trap card face-up.

"Oh no!" Atem gasped. "It's a continuous Trap card that prevents me from attacking with monsters of level four or higher!"

"That's right, Pharaoh-boy. And I know you just have a few monsters whose levels are less than four." Pegasus said, looking at the cards in his hand. "In the meantime, I summon Sonic Duck in attack mode. Like it? It's a lovely level three duck with seventeen hundred attack points. And now I'm going to play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Magic Cylinder Trap card."

Atem shielded his face from the high wind as his Trap card was destroyed.

"Now, Sonic Duck, attack Magician's Valkria!" Pegasus ordered.

Sonic Duck ATK: 1700

Magician's Valkria ATK: 1600

Sonic Duck quacked as it spread its' wings and begin flapping them, sending a rain of feathery knives at Magician Valkria, destroying her.

Pharaoh LP: 900

Pegasus LP: 1500

"Oh, this is so much fun!" Pegasus said, with childish delight. "Your turn."

Atem grimaced as he drew his card. He got the feeling that Pegasus was just toying with him and he hated being messed with.

"Alright, Pegasus, now it's time for a magic act."

Pegasus scanned Atem's mind with the Millennium Eye, and was shocked to find that his mind was like a giant maze with many doors that leads to booty traps. With his normal eye, he saw the Eye of Wdjat glowing on Atem's forehead with the Millennium Puzzle glowing as well. The Puzzle was blocking Pegasus' Mind-Probe! He could no longer see into Atem's mind!

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior!" Atem declared, summoning his monster to the field. "Now, as the inventor of Duel Monsters, you should know all about Breaker's special ability."

"Yes, he gets a spell counter upon being summoned to the field." Pegasus confirms.

"Then you know what happens next." Atem said, smiling. "I remove the spell counter to destroy Gravity Bind!"

Breaker's sword shone with a bright light and then he slashed at the air with it, sending a magical wave toward Gravity Bind, destroying it.

"Now I activate," Atem said, grinning as he held up a Spell card. "Magical Dimension!" he laid the card down. "Now I sacrifice my Magical Warrior and summon—Dark Magician Girl!"

A blond girl in a blue and pink spellcaster outfit with a blue crooked hat appeared on the field.

"Oh no! You're going to summon the Dark Magician!" exclaimed Pegasus, who hadn't forgotten Atem's face-down card.

"That's right, Pegasus, but first, with the second effect of my Magical Dimension, your Sonic Duck is destroyed!" Atem declared as he flipped his Sage's Stone card over. "And now, as you correctly stated, this card allows me to summon my Dark Magician!"

Dark Magician appeared on the field next to the Dark Magician Girl.

"Your move, Pegasus."

The Millennium Puzzle is much more powerful than I had imagined! I can't even scan a thread of thought in this boy's mind without getting hopelessly lost in this endless labyrinth! Pegasus thought in horror. Although I have more Life Points, there's still time for him to start attacking. I have to stall him.

"I'd like to propose a wager on this Duel." Pegasus said, sounding as confident as ever. "If you win, you're free to do as you please. But if I win, you will have to participate in my upcoming Duelist Kingdom Tournament."

"I'm not at all interested in your event, Pegasus." Atem said with a distasteful tone. "However, if you win, then I shall attend."

"Splendid! Oh, just think of it! Pharaoh, the one who defeated Kaiba-boy, attending my tournament!" Pegasus said happily. "Oh, this is so exciting!"

Atem smirked. "Don't count on it just yet, Pegasus. After all, you haven't beaten me yet."

"Oh, so true." Pegasus agreed, pretending to pout. "Oh, well in that case, I'll simply have to crush you, Pharaoh-boy." He draws his card and smiled like a small boy on Christmas morning. "I play a Spell card, Swords of Revealing Light!"

Atem was shocked as the realization hit him like a brick! "You're stalling the Duel, making sure I'd have fewer Life Points when the time runs out! Very clever of you, Pegasus."

"Why, thank you." Pegasus said with smile. "Now I play this: the Illusionist Faceless Mage, in attack mode."

A man with three heads appeared on the field, the middle head was faceless with only a mouth.

"That's it, it's your turn." Pegasus said calmly.

Atem drew his card and grimaced, without being able to attack, there was nothing he could do this turn.

"I end my turn." Atem said.

"I thought so," Pegasus said, smirking as he drew his card and ends his turn.

This continued for two more turns, by then, time was nearly up!

"My turn!" Atem said, drawing his card on the Draw Phase. "And now, your Swords of Revealing Light is expired!" The swords of light vanished from Atem's side of the field. "Now, Dark Magician, attack that Faceless Mage! Dark Magic Attack!"

But as the Dark Magician raised his emerald-green staff, he and Dark Magician Girl, along with Pegasus' monster, vanished.

"The game is over," Pegasus said, looking pleased with himself. "That was very close. If the game had finished, I would have surely lost to you, Pharaoh-boy.

Atem just grimaced at his defeat. If only he had a couple of more seconds to complete his attack, he would have won this Duel!

"Pharaoh, you are a lot more skillful than I had thought." Pegasus continued. "I have a strange feeling that you and I will Duel again in the Duelist Kingdom."

"And if I were to say no?" Atem asked.

Pegasus shook a finger at him. "Hm-hm, hm. Pharaoh, are you going back on your word? You've agreed that if I win, you'd participate in my tournament. But if you need persuading…." He pushed back his long sliver hair to reveal his Millennium Eye. "Then you will attend if you want to reclaim what is most dear to you."

A bolt of magic shot from the Eye and hit Grandpa! Grandpa's soul was then sucked into the TV, where he cried out: "ATEM! YUGI!""

The video letter ended, Grandpa vanished and the Shadow Realm vanished. The others came back to their senses, as if nothing happened, to find Atem crying in anguish, crying out for his Grandpa. The others then noticed Grandpa falling over sideway, senseless

"GRANDPA, COME BACK TO ME! GRANDPA!" Atem cried, tears pouring out of his eyes.

It was so rare for Atem to display this level of emotions that his brother and friends were speechless.


Author's Note:

Hey there, I hope you've enjoyed this second episode and I hope I didn't take too long. I thought that since the Pharaoh rode a horse to his Duel with Raphael, he's more likely to drive a motorcycle in the city. I hope you like that idea. Episode three is coming soon to a Fan Fiction site near you,