Three weeks after the Death-T fiasco, and life was returning to normal for all of them, Seto being the only exception to that. Duke had said he'd only miss two days of work, but he'd been gone a full week now, and according to their superiors, he'd given his two weeks notice over the phone on Monday.
The current Duel Monsters regional tournament was drawing to a close, so Yugi had invited Joey, Seto, Anzu, and the others to his house to watch the championship match on TV. While Marik and Ryou played lightning rounds of Duel Monsters on the floor during the commercial break, Seto tried not to fall asleep in his chair. He'd fallen behind on sleep this week, and it was starting to catch up with him. Meanwhile, Yugi sat between Anzu and Joey on the couch, speculating as to who would emerge as the regional champion. Joey still didn't understand how bugs could beat dinosaurs, and Yugi was trying to explain to him that he should stop thinking in such literal terms when it came to Duel Monsters cards, because Duel Monsters existed in a world of its own with laws of its own.
"See?" Yugi said as Weevil Underwood pulled a move on Rex Raptor that completely blindsided him. "There's no single class of monster that's inherently better than the others; any class of monsters can come out on top if combined with the right strategy and the right magic cards."
The announcer on TV interrupted their conversation. "And now, a very special honor for our new champion! Here to present the Duel Monsters Regional Championship trophy, the creator of Duel Monsters and the president of Industrial Illusions, ladies and gentlemen and fellow duelists—I give you Mister Maximillion Pe-e-egasus!"
"Congratulations," Pegasus said graciously, smiling as he handed the small trophy to the bug duelist.
"Th-Thank you," Weevil stammered, clearly starstruck as he met the creator of Duel Monsters himself.
"And as regional champion, I invite you to compete in a bold new tournament I'm hosting at Duelist Kingdom!" Pegasus continued, looking to the camera now.
Later, as Pegasus left the stadium in his limo with a pair of his lackeys sitting across from him, he would take a moment to revel in his plan.
"Mister Pegasus, with the announcement that you made tonight, we'll have thousands of duelists flocking to Duelist Kingdom," one of those lackeys said in a flattering tone.
"Yes," Pegasus answered serenely. "An event such as this will hopefully attract those who possess the Millennium Items that I seek. Which reminds me…" He looked to his head of security.
Croquette answered promptly, "The package was delivered to the boy, just as you ordered, sir."
"Excellent!" Pegasus grinned. His plan had been put into motion; now he just had to wait for it to run its course.
In the meantime, though, Grandpa entered the room where his grandson and his friends were all gathered. "I just got off the phone with Professor Hawkins," he announced, holding a package. It had taken him this long to get a hold of him because the professor's research often took him to isolated locations with little to no cell-phone reception. "He'd given the Blue-Eyes card to his granddaughter Rebecca, and I spoke to her briefly on the phone." He turned to look at Seto now, who straightened up a bit as he gave his full attention to the elderly man. "She's only eight years old, and when I told her that the card had been ripped, she threw a bit of a temper tantrum and said she didn't want it anymore. I suspect she might change her mind at some point in the future, but until that happens, Seto, I trust you'll take good care of it." He handed the taped-together card to Seto, whose eyes grew wide.
"I–Thank you," Seto said, stunned. As he stared down at the card, his blue eyes glowing, Anzu spoke up.
"This is weird," she said, looking suspicious. "I thought there were only four of those cards in the whole world, so how did Seto get three of them? The odds are against it."
"Well, it's his soul card," Grandpa said by way of explanation. "He was destined to obtain them. The Blue-Eyes only has one true master." He winked, but none of them could quite understand what he was referring to–none of them but Marik, who smiled at Grandpa as if they shared a secret.
"Well, I guess that makes sense, if it was his destiny," Anzu admitted with a sigh, although she still seemed to find it strange.
"What's that, Grandpa?" Joey asked, pointing to the package.
"Oh, yes, this is for Yugi. It arrived earlier today, but I forgot to give it to him."
"It's from Industrial Illusions!" Yugi gasped.
"Industrial Illusions?" Joey repeated. "That's the company that makes the Duel Monsters game! Why the heck would they be sendin' a package to you, Yugi?" he asked, looking confused.
"I don't know. Let's open it and find out," Yugi said. Everyone was watching as he opened the box. The well-padded package contained a red fingerless glove with a thick metal wristband that had star-shaped holes punched in it. A plastic case containing two small star-shaped objects, and a plain black videotape.
"Some kind of glove," Anzu observed from Yugi's side.
"And stars," Joey added from Yugi's other side.
By this time, Seto had moved from sitting in his chair to standing behind the couch, his tall figure making Yugi look even smaller beneath him. "There's probably an explanation on the video," he suggested.
As Yugi picked up the video and looked at it, Joey said, "Yeah, pop it in and check it out."
"Okay." Yugi got up and went to the TV, the three closest to him following him forward. They were just as curious as him after all. All six of them were in front of the TV as Yugi pushed the videotape into the VCR. After several moments of static, an image finally became clear on the TV screen.
"Greetings, little Yugi. I am Maximillion Pegasus."
"Pegasus?!" Joey exclaimed, his jaw going slack.
"We just saw him on TV!" Anzu said in surprise.
"The famous Maximillion Pegasus sends greetings to MY Yugi?" Mr. Moto was just as shocked as the others.
"I have heard some terribly interesting things about you, Yugi," Pegasus continued in the video.
"Huh?" Yugi couldn't imagine what Pegasus had heard about him. He didn't consider himself to be all that remarkable.
"Your friend's impressive defeat of Noah Kaiba intrigued me so much, I decided to investigate his amazing dueling skills. According to my investigation, he learned how to duel from you. Well, if that's true, then I would like a chance to duel you and assess your skills personally."
"Huh," Seto grunted, a hint of pride and a hint of skepticism in the sound as he crossed his arms. "Sounds farfetched to me," he muttered. "He's hiding something."
"I agree," Ryou murmured, glancing at the brunette beside him. "The whole thing smells rotten to me."
"Right here, right now, we shall hold a special duel. We'll play with a strict time limit of fifteen minutes, and when time's up, the player with the highest life-points will be the winner! Are you ready?" Pegasus asked, his eye twinkling a little too brightly.
"Wha?" Yugi gaped at the TV.
"What?!" Joey echoed. "He can't seriously expect you to fight a duel against a videotape!"
"That's crazy!" Anzu exclaimed.
Pegasus chuckled, as though he had heard them, then looked right at them through the screen. A few strands of his hair fall aside, revealing a strange golden eye where his own eye should have been. It glinted and shone with an inner power, and the picture on the screen wavered as though seen through a heat haze. As everything around Yugi froze and time was suspended, his friends simply blacked out without sensing that anything had changed. His living room disappeared; he was now surrounded by shadowy blue clouds, just like when they'd played Monster World…
"Everything's growing dark and cold and the others aren't moving!" Yugi was starting to panic as he turned to face Pegasus again. "What've you done to them?! Where have you taken us?!"
"Hmhmhm," Pegasus answered, looking pleased with himself. "We're no longer in the world you know. But I will return you—after our game!"
"Then it's time to duel!" Yami answered Pegasus as he emerged from the Millennium Puzzle and joined Yugi. He wasn't going to let the young one do this on his own.
As they began the duel, Yami and Yugi struggled to understand what was happening as much as they struggled in the duel itself. How did Pegasus know what cards were in their hand? How were they playing a Shadow Game with him through a videotape? Why was he going through all this trouble just to duel a teenager who hadn't earned any sort of recognition for himself? Pegasus was playing with him, toying with his mind like it, too, was just a game.
"Three thousand years ago, a powerful pharaoh locked the magic of the shadow games away." Pegasus was offering the information without having been asked, which was curious in and of itself.
"What's this have to do with me?" Yami asked suspiciously.
"The Pharaoh captured these vast magical energies in seven mystical Millennium Items," Pegasus continued, ignoring Yami's question.
"Seven items? You're saying that—my Puzzle's one of them?" Yami looked down at the puzzle for a few moments. He'd known that there were more Millennium Items, but he hadn't known how many there were total. He only knew of three: the Puzzle, the Rod, and the Ring.
"Yes, and there are mystical energies locked within it—magic that could change your life forever if you only knew how to unleash it!" Pegasus seemed to be taunting him now, and it was effectively distracting Yami from the fact that there was a time limit on their game.
"But why are you telling me this?" It didn't make any sense to Yami why his opponent would give him this information.
"Why? Simply because I need you to know. But perhaps I have said too much. And since the clock is still ticking, I propose we resume playing our little duel."
They continued their duel, and while Pegasus continued to use tricky strategies, Yami was able to gain an edge on him using his Dark Magician. He was close to winning, so close, when the timer hit zero.
"Hm, well, we've run out of time," Pegasus observed with an unconcerned air. "But how close was that! If you had been able to complete that attack, I would have lost! But I didn't, did I. I have taken the measure of your talents this day, Yugi Moto, and when next we duel, we shall play for far higher stakes!" Yami shivered at the open threat.
"I'm done with your games!" Yami exclaimed just the same. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by mere words.
"Tch-tch-tch," Pegasus scolded, wagging his finger at the teenager. "You presume I'm giving you a choice in the matter." He pulled aside his hair, revealing the golden eye that resided where his left eye should have been. "But—I'm not! For I, too, possess one of the seven Millennium Items—the all-powerful Millennium Eye!"
"A Millennium eye?!" Yugi found the idea revolting.
"That's right, Yugi-boy, and now I'll show you the true extent of its magic!"
With that, the Millennium Eye began to emanate a glowing gold light, and Yami braced himself for the worst. But the Eye wasn't targeting him—the beam of light hit his grandfather, who was still frozen in time behind him. Grandpa's ghost drifted out of his frozen body and vanished into the television screen.
"You see, I have found that, given the proper incentive, anyone can be made to play my game!"
When Yami looked again, realizing nothing had happened to him, Grandpa's face appeared on the screen, calling out to him for help through the static.
"Yugi...!"
Yami's spirit withdrew so that Yugi was now fully himself once more, the confident presence gone. He gasped, confused for a moment, then realized with alarm what had happened. He felt an electric shock as he desperately tried to call to his grandfather.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Yugi cried as Pegasus chuckled to himself and spoke one last time.
"Yes, we will duel again, Yugi–how else will you ever reclaim your grandfather's soul! Hahahahaha!"
Yugi watched in horror as Grandpa's face disappeared from the TV screen, unaware of the shadows disappearing around him. As his five friends woke up from their time-frozen state, grandpa keels over behind them, unconscious. Yugi didn't notice them, though, as he frantically shook the TV set in growing panic.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
"Yug, what's wrong?" Joey asked, confused. Meanwhile, Marik was trying to regain feeling in his hands, Ryou was anxiously wondering if he was the only one who'd blacked out, and Anzu put a hand to her head. The time-freeze had affected them all differently. Seto felt disoriented, and so did Seth, who didn't seem to know what just happened any more so than Seto did.
Someone just used Shadow Magic very cleverly, Seth informed his hikari after a few moments. Only someone powerful and practiced can manipulate it in such a nuanced way.
"Hey Gramps, what's wrong?" Joey asked just then as he noticed that Mr. Moto was unconscious on the floor and rushed over to his side. "Gramps? Are you alright?" A panic gripped Joey then as he grew upset at the idea of losing the old man who'd become more of a mentor to him than his own parents.
Yugi was still overwhelmed with grief as he answered softly, "Pegasus stole his soul."
"What?!" Anzu was shocked as she joined Joey at Grandpa's side. "But how?"
"By using his Millennium Eye," Yugi answered quietly, his head hanging low as he still faced the TV, gripping it with both hands. Seto had run into the store and was dialing 911 so that they could get medical help for Grandpa—his soul may have been stolen by magic, but that didn't necessarily mean that doctors couldn't do anything to help him.
"Pegasus has the Millennium Eye?" Marik asked, his eyes wide. So that's where it went, he thought gravely. As a tombkeeper, his family had been charged with protecting some of the Millennium Items in addition to many other secrets. Ishizu, who'd come into her own with the Millennium necklace on her eighteenth birthday, had warned Marik that he would encounter someone bearing a Millennium Item a few months after arriving in Japan. Pegasus must be that person.
"Millennium Eye? What's that?" Ryou asked, speaking at last. He'd gauged from other people's reactions that he wasn't the only one who had no idea what was going on and let out a sigh of relief. The only other times he'd blacked out like that were when the Spirit of the Millennium Ring had possessed him that spring and exacted his vengeance from several of his bullies, including their gym coach. He'd been so relieved after the Monster World fiasco when all of those victims woke up from their comas. Unfortunately, they all still remembered who was to blame for their comas, and Ryou'd had to work hard to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the school year. He'd only achieved this with a moderate degree of success; he knew for a fact that some of them were still out for revenge, but hopefully they'd all be over it by the time school got back in session.
"The Millennium Eye is one of the seven Millennium Items," Marik answered, surprising everyone but Ryou. "It contains powerful Shadow Magic like the others, but each Item's powers are somewhat different."
"Pegasus said the Eye was all-powerful," Yugi commented, finally turning around and plopping down onto the floor. He was trying hard not to cry, and the moment Ryou realized this, he moved closer to Yugi and hugged him comfortingly. Yugi was grateful and clung to his friend as he fought his tears.
"Ha! No single Millennium Item is all-powerful," Marik retorted. "Either he was bluffing or he's deceived about the extent of the Millennium Eye's powers."
"The ambulance is on its way," Seto announced as he re-entered the living room.
"Thanks, man," Joey replied, looking up at him gratefully. True, Solomon Moto wasn't his grandfather, but he was the best parental figure in Joey's life, and he'd be almost as devastated as Yugi if he died. Seto nodded and crossed the room to kneel in front of Yugi. He and Marik were the calmest people in the room right now, since Ryou and Yugi were being emotional together and Joey and Anzu were still freaking out from the Shadow Magic.
"Yugi, you need to tell us what happened," he said firmly, hoping that putting an authoritative tone in his voice would help Yugi to pull himself together.
"We dueled, and he made it a Shadow Game," Yugi answered, sniffling as he turned from Ryou's shoulder to speak to Seto, Ryou keeping an arm around his friend even as Yugi's arms was still draped over Ryou's shoulders. Seto reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a tissue for him.
"Marik, wait by the front door so you can lead the paramedics to him when they get here," Seto ordered, and he obeyed without protest. He appreciated feeling useful.
Turning back to Yugi, Seto asked, "What happened during the Shadow Game? What did he want?"
"He told me about the Millennium Items… and a pharaoh…" Yugi muttered, then blew his nose into the tissue. Seto handed him another one with which to dry his eyes. "I lost the game, and he took Grandpa's soul…" He started to sob again, and he turned back to Ryou for comfort. Seto waited several moments before speaking again.
"Why, Yugi? What does he want from you?"
"H-He said that the only way I could get his soul back was to beat him in a duel," Yugi answered indirectly, accepting another tissue from Seto. "So I guess… I'm supposed to enter the Duelist Kingdom tournament. That must be what the glove and the stars are for." He spoke slowly, having trouble staying focused. "How else would I get to duel him?"
"Then that's what you're going to do," Seto assured firmly. "You're going to go to Duelist Kingdom, you're going to win the final rounds, and you're going to beat Pegasus and free your Grandpa's soul. Okay?"
Yugi smiled at Seto weakly, grateful for the calm reassurance he gave. Seto believed in him, and so did his friends. He could do this. He could pull himself together and save Grandpa.
The paramedics entered then, led by Marik. As Yugi rode with his grandpa to the hospital in the ambulance, Joey drove everyone else home, saying he didn't mind since he only had to make two stops anyways: Anzu's house and Ryou's house. From the latter, Seto would be walking home with Mokuba. After that, he joined Yugi at the hospital, offering him support and staying with him for as long as he wanted to stay there, driving him home when he was finally so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. When Joey dropped Yugi off at home, he made a solemn promise to him.
"I swear, Yug, cross my heart, that I will do everything I can to help you get your grandpa back."
Author Notes: Pack your bags and grab your dueling decks, because we're headed to Duelist Kingdom! I just hope I can do this arc justice. I'll try not to mess with the basic plot too much. ;) Once Grandpa hands over the package to Yugi, all of the dialogue is quoted from the S1 E2 English dub (entitled "The Gauntlet Is Thrown") up until the point that everybody wakes up.
Please review and let me know what you think of it, because more reviews = more chapters! In your review, you can answer this question for me (or not): Would you like to see more detail in upcoming duels, even the less important ones? I know I've been pretty vague with them lately, but I can do better if you want me to!