-Part Three-
Chapter Fourteen: The Feeder Band
Yugi draws. "Since it's my turn now, I can summon another monster. And because the Dark Magician's attack is higher than the attack of any card in my hand, I have no choice but to play one of my monsters in defense mode. I'll also set a card face down on the field and end my turn."
"I'll attack your defense monster and end," Kaiba says after he draws a card.
"Not so fast, Kaiba. I played a trap card last turn." Yugi flips his card face up. "Spellbinding Circle activates. Now the Dark Magician's attack points are lowered by seven hundred and it can't attack," Yugi says.
"But it would still have eighteen hundred points left. It's your turn, Yugi," Kaiba tells him.
"Now that your monster's weak, I can flip Curse of Dragon to attack - with two thousand attack points - and destroy it," Yugi says, changing his monster to attack and attacking. "Now it's your move."
"So that's the power of a trap card..." Kaiba muses as he draws. "I guess I'll play Beaver Warrior in defense, try my hand at the magic and traps, and end," Kaiba says, playing Beaver Warrior in face up defense and one card face down.
Yugi draws a card. "I'll attack Beaver Warrior with my dragon," Yugi tells Kaiba.
"It's my turn to activate a trap," Kaiba says as he holds up his face down card to show Yugi. "It's Mirror Force."
"That was a good move, Kaiba. It destroys my monster instantly," Yugi tells him and puts Curse of Dragon in the graveyard.
"Okay, now it's my turn," Kaiba says as he draws. "Since you don't have any monsters or magic cards on your side of the field, I can switch Beaver Warrior to attack mode. I'll also play the Koumori Dragon in attack mode and end," Kaiba tells him.
"More is not always better, Kaiba. It's true I didn't have any monsters or face down cards during your turn... But, you have to remember not to leave your monsters exposed," Yugi says. Kaiba widens his eyes, knowing Yugi must have something up his sleeve. "I'll play this magic card - Reborn the Monster - to revive the Dark Magician. This card allows me to bring back any monster in the graveyard - including my opponent's grave. And since Reborn the Monster doesn't count toward my one-monster-per-turn limit, I can also summon Gaia the Fierce Knight in attack. If I attack your Beaver Warrior with my Magician, you lose thirteen hundred life points. And if I attack your Koumori with Gaia, your life points drop to zero."
"I guess I'm not ready to go against Pegasus..." Kaiba says as he gathers up his cards to give back to Yugi.
"Actually, you're doing better then Joey did when he was first learning," Yugi tells him with a smile.
"Hey! I did just fine when I was learnin'!" Joey protests.
After school, as Kaiba begins walking down the hallway, Yugi runs to catch up with him.
"Kaiba, wait," Yugi says between breaths.
"What?" Kaiba says and stops, the expression on his face clearly showing annoyance. He needs to get back to the mansion and can't afford to lose time.
"You do know that Pegasus is the inventor of Duel Monsters, right...? You tried dueling him in the past but couldn't win-"
"I know all of that, Yugi," Kaiba interrupts.
"Well, how are you planning to defeat him?" Yami asks calmly.
Kaiba looks toward Yami for a second in confusion before he answers, wondering what just happened to the boy standing beside him. "Mokuba told me about these things called Duel Disks. If I can use those disks and figure out this "expert mode" he mentioned, Pegasus might not be able to read my mind and I would have some chance of winning..." Kaiba tells him. Joey walks up to them.
"So you're really goin' afta Pegasus?" Joey asks in disbelief.
"Yeah. And I need to be going now, so goodbye," Kaiba says curtly.
"Hey! Aren'tcha goin' ta talk ta me any!" Joey demands.
"Not anymore than I have to. Since when do you care what I have to say, anyhow?" Kaiba asks.
"What? I care. Especially since you're goin' up against Pegasus! It was a real nice game last time," Joey says with fond memories. "I wonder if it'll turn out just as good this time..." Joey wonders aloud.
"I lost," Kaiba tells him coldly.
"Is that any way ta talk ta me on your anniversary?" Joey asks him.
"Anniversary?" Kaiba asks, raising an eyebrow.
"It's been exactly a week since your accident," Joey explains. Kaiba begins to turn to leave when Yami hands him a folded piece of paper. Kaiba looks at it questioningly.
"I wrote down the rules of Expert Mode," Yami tells him. Kaiba takes the note. He squeezes it for a second in his fist while thinking about the duel that lies ahead.
"Thanks, Yugi," Kaiba says as he walks away.
'Do you really think it will work?' Yugi asks, appearing beside Yami after Kaiba leaves.
'I don't know, Yugi... It's possible the Duel Disks can work. Neither of us truly knows how the Millennium Eye works. Maybe Pegasus can only read minds close range, or maybe he has to actually see his opponent...' Yami replies. 'The way the Duel Disks were designed could be the key to this duel. I just hope Kaiba can talk Pegasus into using them this time...'
It begins to thunder in the distance as Kaiba walks toward the awaiting limo and it starts raining just as he gets back to the mansion. Thankfully, his brother's waiting for him inside, by the front door. "Mokuba, where's those Duel Disks you mentioned this morning?" Kaiba asks him.
"I don't know... I'm not sure what you did with them after Duelist Kingdom," Mokuba says.
"You think they could be in that workroom on the second floor?" Kaiba asks his brother after a minute.
"Maybe..." Mokuba says. The brothers walk up the stairs and go to the room. The rain sprays against the large windows as they look in drawers and on countertops for the disks.
"Where would they be..." Kaiba says to himself, scanning the room with his eyes. The lightning outside flickers through the windows and about every five seconds a growl of thunder can be heard. Could he have taken them apart after the Duelist Kingdom tournament? Mokuba said that he invents things in here - what if he considered them a failure for some reason and used them for spare parts? As Kaiba considers that possibility, something in a corner of the room sparkles a brilliant red from the reflection of a bolt of lightning, and Kaiba walks over to see what it is.
"Mokuba, I think I found them," Kaiba says as he picks up the shiny plastic device.
"Yeah, that's them!" Mokuba says happily.
Kaiba walks out to the front yard wearing a black outfit and midnight blue jacket, having changed out of his school uniform. The back of his jacket blows wildly in the wind as he ignores the pouring rain and constant flashes of light.
"Mr. Kaiba, I don't think we should be flying in this weather," the pilot says over the sound of the storm and turning blades of the machine he's standing beside. "The wind is too strong and visibility is limited to a couple hundred feet."
'I have more important things to do than worry about the weather,' Kaiba thinks. "Is the helicopter ready for takeoff or isn't it?" he growls.
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba..." the pilot answers, relenting to his boss.
"Make sure we have enough gas stored to make it over the Pacific," Kaiba calls to him.
Mokuba runs out the front door toward his brother, wearing a yellow rain slicker. "Seto, you're leaving now!" Mokuba asks.
"It's the only way I can meet Pegasus's deadline," Kaiba tells him.
"But I'm not ready yet!" Mokuba complains.
"You're not going with me," Kaiba tells him. Mokuba makes a face and has a defiant look in his eye. 'I can't let Mokuba go... I know Pegasus did something before and I can't let him get his hands on my brother again...' Kaiba thinks. "It's too dangerous. Go back inside," Kaiba orders the younger brother. He doesn't take his eyes off Mokuba until he sees the doors shut behind the younger brother. Kaiba notices that the rain has let up considerably while he was talking to Mokuba. He touches his pocket, making sure he has his deck on him. He carries a heavy waterproof case in his right hand as he enters the helicopter. Seconds later the helicopter begins lifting off the ground. Kaiba looks out the window to see Mokuba back in the front yard, standing between the two rows of tall blue spruces, which are bending uncontrollably in the wind from the lifting helicopter. As Mokuba waves, his long, wet, black hair whips wildly around his face in the strong wind. Kaiba waves back to his brother as the helicopter picks up speed and swerves away from the three-story mansion.
'Here I come, Pegasus...' Kaiba thinks. The view from the window is phenomenal; he can see the whole city of Domino from their height, even though it's still raining slightly. He can see the pier on the edge of the city and the boats docked there, the tall buildings in the center - including one skyscraper with the letters KC printed on the side of it. He can also see the hospital, and the high school, too, if he looks close enough. The helicopter goes even farther up, until the buildings of the city are hardly visible. Now he can see the very curve of Japan, as though he was looking at a satellite photo. Lakes are distinctive on the brown earth and so are all the jagged edges of land reaching out into the ocean that you'd never imagine were there.
The view becomes redundant as they fly over the large ocean. Nothing but the cobalt blue of the Pacific Ocean can be seen from the window. It's not that it's an unappealing sight, with the sun shining on the water and causing it to sparkle, but it'll be the same thing for hours on end. In a couple hours, the sun will be setting, causing an even more beautiful sight; but for now, Kaiba can do some work. He gets the deck out of his pocket and adds the cards to it that he bought Sunday. He'll take this time to go over everything he can remember Yugi and the shop owner trying to teach him. He also takes out one of the Duel Disks so he can become more familiar with the machine. And he needs to memorize whatever Yugi wrote down in that note he has in his pocket.