The Scars of Defeat
The executives who agreed to join forces with Pegasus called a meeting saying that they wanted to seize control of KaibaCorp immediately. Kaiba was still shaken by his defeat, but that wouldn't get in his way of stopping the takeover. The board of directors knew just as much and feared that if he were able to successfully rescue his little brother, then they would lose their tie to the company name. But Pegasus assured his partners that he would continue to handle the situation without any more setbacks.
Kaiba was already on his way to Duelist Kingdom thinking about the matter. I can't believe all my business associates would turn on me after a single defeat. But then again, losing to Yugi has shaken my self-confidence too, he wondered, recalling what Yugi said at the end of their duel. He told Kaiba that by believing in himself and in his cards, anything was possible.
Maybe Yugi was right, but I can't start second-guessing myself now; not when Pegasus has kidnapped Mokuba. No, if I'm going to face Pegasus, I must rely on my old dueling instincts. That's the only chance I have of freeing Mokuba. And once Mokuba is out of harm's way, I'll unleash my wrath on the vultures who conspired to take over my company. If Pegasus thought I would just sit idly by as they would dismantle my life's work, he was wrong. I'll make sure they all regret ever crossing Seto Kaiba.
With so much on the line for Kaiba, he really didn't want to take a chance at trying something new. Though he was still unsure of his old tactics being the right way, he just had to trust what he felt inside. There was no time to let his feelings get in the way.
On the island, Yugi and his friends relocated their campsite in a more open area away from the trees and the animals. Everyone except for Yugi, Max, and Bakura was asleep. Looking down at his friend's treasure, Yugi asks, "Bakura, am I seeing things, or is your Millennium Ring actually glowing?"
"If it's not, then we're all hallucinating," Bakura answered, seeing that he and Max could see it too. He remembered that the same thing happened when he first met Yugi and the others when he transferred to their school. The pointers on the Millennium Ring shined and pointed at Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. He also remembered how it happened when he first met Emily too. The Millennium Ring would point to her for a few seconds, then stop, then point again, then stop again.
"Wow, Bakura," Yugi said, a little scared and amazed at the same time. "Somehow, those pointers are able to zone in on other Millennium Items.
"But then why would they point to the castle?" Bakura asked.
"Because of what's inside the castle," he answered, "Pegasus' Millennium Eye. That's what took my grandfather's soul."
"It's all scary, isn't it," asked Max. "Pegasus grabbing souls with his Millennium Item, and I'll never forget how Bakura's Item and my jewel took all of us to the Shadow Realm." That was something none of the friends would forget, but it would be a matter of time for Max and Bakura to actually witness the power of Pegasus' Millennium Eye.
Yugi still couldn't sleep; not after thinking about what he and his friends talked about. He had a feeling that being involved in this tournament was a twist of fate because it had a link with the Millennium Items. Ever since he solved the Millennium Puzzle, playing Duel Monsters was never the same for him. It was like he could feel a strong and courageous presence within every time he was in a duel. Now he knew for sure that it was the good spirit guiding him and he hoped that the spirit would help him rescue his grandfather.
Yugi's concentration was broken by the sound of whirring. The sound woke the others up from their sleep and made them wonder what it was. Getting a clear vision, they saw Kaiba stepping out of his helicopter and wondered what he was doing here. "I haven't seen you since our duel, Yugi," he greeted.
Yugi agreed and presented Kaiba with his deck. "Here, I've been keeping it for you. Think of it as a 'thank you' for the duel you helped me win."
Kaiba thanked Yugi as he took back his deck, but not with much appreciation. "You'll be compensated for your trouble."
Since everyone was heading to Pegasus' castle, Yugi suggested to Kaiba that he should join them. But Kaiba wasn't interested. He thought that they were in it for the competition and saw it as a waste of his time. The others were aware that he was on his way to rescue his brother, but there was no point in trying to explain their reasons. Joey, however, was upset with Kaiba for his attitude and wanted to settle things with him.
Again, Kaiba thought that this was all just a game to Yugi and his friends. "Do you think I'm going to let you and your tournament delay me from finding Pegasus?"
"Forget Pegasus," Joey told him, "Now you'll have to go through me." Listening to Joey's challenge to Kaiba, the others saw that their friend had to be either really brave or crazy. Not wanting to waste any more of his time, Kaiba started walking away again. But Joey wouldn't quit. "Go ahead and run," he taunted. "Everyone knows you're nothing but a washed up has-been!"
"Joey, be careful what you say," Emily warned, seeing that Kaiba was not one people wanted to provoke.
Yugi agreed. "Kaiba may be a creep, but he's still pretty much considered the best duelist in the world."
"Not anymore," Joey debated. Hearing that, Kaiba finally stopped and turned around as Joey continued to torment him. The others continued to stop Joey and warn him that he was making a mistake, but Joey wouldn't stop urging Kaiba to duel him.
Kaiba finally accepted Joey's challenge under one condition. "Well, since you're so eager to duel me, you must agree to do it using my new invention; one that displays holographic realism," he said, holding out his briefcase.
Bluntly, Joey assumed, "Looks like an ordinary briefcase to me."
Max rolled her eyes. "Try it's in the briefcase, you moron."
Finally, Kaiba opened it and tossed one of his prototypes to Joey. "Its technology is unprecedented."
Looking at it, Joey replied, "Looks like a flying saucer."
"Don't be an idiot," Kaiba scolded, irritated. "This is a state-of-the-art dueling modulator. If you think you have what it takes to handle it, just strap it on." Joey does as told and secures it over his left wrist. "Insert your dueling deck into the card slot. A life point counter will keep track of your score throughout the match. Then simply place a card into the card recognizer. I think the rest will explain itself."
Having had enough of explaining the rules to Joey, Kaiba decided to demonstrate his first move by playing his Battle Ox, a beast with an attack strength of 1700. He swung his duel disk like a Frisbee and glitter sparked out like fireworks. Téa and Emily thought it was like something from an enchanted dream until they saw Kaiba's monster come into play. But it looked too real to be a hologram. Kaiba reminded everyone that it was a hologram of unprecedented realism.
As impressive as Joey found Kaiba's work to be, he thought this duel was going to be interesting. He played Armored Lizard in attack mode. A big mistake on his part for the Lizard's attack points were 1400. Using its Axe Slam attack, Battle Ox cut Armored Lizard in half like a piece of wood.
"This isn't for the faint of heart, Joey," said Kaiba. "It's intended to force duelists to think on their feet. If it's too much for you, maybe you should back out now."
But Joey refused to give in. The last move took him by surprise with the impressive advanced projections, but Joey kept his confidence and summoned his trusty Flame Swordsman. It was stronger than Battle Ox by a hundred attack points, but Kaiba's monster was resistant to fire elemental monsters; causing Joey to lose a hundred more life points. Kaiba wasn't surprised the very least to see that Joey's moves were just one mistake after another and figured he needed to learn a lesson in the game the hard way, so he combined his Battle Ox and Mystic Horseman together to form Rabid Horseman.
Every monster Joey played was too weak to fight and ended up being destroyed. Now he was on his knees and down to his last 400 life points. Kaiba was amused to see him this way. "That's right, Joey," he taunted, "Fall to the dirt like a whimpering dog."
Man, it took Exodia for Yugi to beat this guy, Joey wondered.
"Come on, Joey," Téa cheered, "You're the best at finding ways to come back from behind."
"Get up," said Tristan. "No way Kaiba gets away with calling you a canine."
Listening to his friends' encouragement, Joey gets back on his feet and draws the strongest card in his deck. Amazed to see Red-Eyes Black Dragon in play and defeating Kaiba's Horseman, everyone figured Joey may have just turned the duel around.
But Kaiba wasn't worried. "It's like a novice to celebrate when really, it's too soon to think you've won. True, the round may be yours, but the match is about to become mine." As Joey asks him what he means, he explains, "Your Red-Eyes Black Dragon is a powerful card, but its ferocity pales in comparison to my own beast: the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Now two rivaling Dragons were in play, but just as Kaiba said, his Dragon was 600 points stronger than Joey's, overpowering him and taking the rest of his life points.
With the others coming to Joey's aid, Kaiba continued to torment him. "I'd say my new duel disk system was quite overwhelming seeing as it's left Joey into complete and utter submission. He's moping like the frightened dog I've turned him into."
"But this is Joey," Emily told him, remembering her friend's self-confidence.
"Yeah, you jerk," Téa scorned. "Did you have to take his confidence with his Dragon? Joey was just starting to believe in himself as a real duelist."
Yugi nods. "Beating Joey doesn't give you the right to humiliate him."
But Joey told his friends to be quiet. "Don't give this creep the satisfaction."
Kaiba just scoffed. "Look, kid, do you think that if you were dueling Pegasus, he would have been any more merciful on you than I was?" He asked because he wanted to let Yugi know what he would be up against if he were to duel him. Kaiba admitted that believing in the Heart of the Cards was a powerful philosophy, but when it comes to defeating a master duelist like Pegasus, one must play by their own rules and trust their own instincts. After all, Pegasus is the man who created the Duel Monsters card game; keeping almost every known card at his disposal and knowing every strategy that's ever been played.
But Kaiba went further into detail and explained something a little mysterious. "When it comes to dueling, Pegasus uses more than skill. I've seen him use a magic powerful than any card. And so has Max," he said, turning his attention to her.
Max knew what he was talking about. She and Kaiba had been personally invited by Pegasus as his guests of honor to watch him compete in the intercontinental tournament in New York City. Pegasus was competing in the final match against the intercontinental champion Bandit Keith. They both played admirably, but Pegasus had spent most of his time toying with Keith like he did the rest of his opponents.
Max and Kaiba didn't find the match to be too interesting until they saw Pegasus do something unusual. Just as Bandit Keith was about to make his move, Pegasus scribbled some notes down on a small piece of paper and called over a kid from the audience. It was illegal for a competitor to ask for help, but Pegasus figured a child could defeat a champion and was about to prove it. He presented the boy with the notes he wrote down and joined his guests in the sidelines to watch the rest of the match.
Bandit Keith didn't find Pegasus' antics very amusing and wanted to end the match right away. He figured the card he drew would lead him to his victory and so he played it. It was Garnecia Elephantis, a mighty beast with an attack strength of 2400. The boy, Sam, read the contents on the note, telling him to play a card that had the image of a white elephant. Keith recognized the card and knew that by playing it, his opponent drained the rest of his life points. Outraged, Keith swiped the note and couldn't believe what he was reading, that the contents explained the card he was going to play and how to defeat it. Max and Kaiba had never seen anything like what they had just witnessed.
Hearing Kaiba's story made Yugi think back on his duel with Pegasus and how he was able to read all the cards in his hand. But he couldn't forget Joey and told his rival, "But, Kaiba, that's still no reason to take it out on us and turn Joey into your new system's guinea pig."
"Perhaps, but if I'm to have any chance of defeating Pegasus, hopefully these duel disks will give me the edge I need. This is war for me, Yugi. Your friend was a casualty."
Yugi watched Kaiba place his prototypes back in his briefcase and start back on his walk to the castle. Yugi still didn't appreciate Kaiba's method of fighting with brute force, but he understood his reasons. He remembered that there was also a lot at stake for his rival. "Kaiba, we may not agree with each other's methods, but we both know that Pegasus must be stopped." Hearing that, Kaiba stopped and turned around to listen to him. "I hope you succeed in rescuing Mokuba."
"And I hope you succeed in your ventures," returned Kaiba. "Let's just hope our paths don't cross again before this is all over." In many ways, they were wishing each other well and hoping they would reclaim all that Pegasus had taken from them. They also didn't want to stand in each other's way, but would that last? Yugi and Kaiba have their differences, but they also have a common enemy. Will they join together or remain apart as they fight for everything they hold dear?