DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Champion VS Creator Part I

'All right!' Joey cheered. 'We finally made it. Pegasus's castle.'

'Race you there, Joey!' Tristan called.

'You're on!'

Sharee didn't see the point. They were all already running for the door. Though why they were all running, Sharee didn't know. They could just as effectively walk. She imagined it was the excitement.

The guard – Kimo, Sharee realised – stepped forward. 'Oh, no. No way you brats won ten star chips each.'

'Oh, boy,' Téa said.

'Get lost!' Kimo snapped. 'This isn't some clubhouse. It's a place reserved for the duelling elite!'

Yugi, Joey and Mai stepped forward and showed off their star chips.

'Hm,' Mai said. 'I guess that means we'll fit right in.'

'Uh…' Kimo stammered.

Joey brushed past. 'Would you mind telling housekeeping that I like my pillows extra fluffy? Thank you.'

Kimo growled.

'You're a doll,' said Mai as she and Yugi walked past. She then put her star chips into the lock. 'Last one and…' She turned the dial and the door unlocked. 'Viola!' The doors opened.

'At last, we're finally at the castle,' Yugi said. The three of them went in and Sharee, Téa, Tristan and Bakura went to follow.

Kimo got in their way. 'No, no, no! You four don't even have duelling gloves!'

Tristan, Téa and Bakura looked nervous but Sharee stepped forward, a wicked smirk on her face. 'No, but there is a higher authority on this island than Pegasus that allows us in.'

'Really?' Kimo scowled. 'And who might that be?'

Sharee brought her knee up into the bottom off his ribcage. He made a sound in the back of his throat and keeled over. Sharee, Tristan, Téa and Bakura ran past him, ignoring his pained protests and the group closed the door, locking it behind them.

'There's no time to waste,' Yugi said, leading them along the hallway.

'You heard the man, let's go!' Joey added as they followed.

They didn't stop until they came to the upper gallery. 'Hey!' Yugi said. 'Isn't that…?'

'Bandit Keith!' Joey finished. 'I can't stand this guy.'

Keith turned around and smirked at them. He put one hand on his hip. 'Well, what d'you know? If it isn't big, tough Joey and his whole crew of duelling dummies?'

'You slime-bucket! I've been waiting to find you ever since you left us trapped in that cave!' He growled and attacked him, ineffectually as Keith either dodged or blocked every punch.

'Missed me. Oops! Too slow. Can't this little grudge of yours wait?'

'You wish, creep!' Joey snapped.

'Okay,' Keith said. 'Suit yourself but the real action…' He looked down. '…is about to start.'

'The real action?' Joey asked, stopping his attacks and they all come over to have a look.

Sure enough, Sharee saw Seto Kaiba down there. He had his duelling disks and was clearly waiting on Pegasus. There was a blank look on his face though. It was something that was frequently there.

'Yeah, the world champ and Pegasus,' Keith said.

'Whoa!' Yugi breathed. 'It's Kaiba.'

'I hoped to get first crack at the old man myself, but you know they save the biggest match for last,' Keith stated.

Sharee frowned at him. 'You need an ego adjustment.'

'Wait a minute,' Yugi said. 'Are you saying those two are gonna duel?'

'That is correct.' They all turned and saw a man in a suit coming over. Sharee could guess who he was and he quickly confirmed it. 'Welcome, finalists. I'm Croquet, Chief Tournament Liaison.'

And probably the head of security.

'Congratulations on making it this far,' Croquet went on. 'Pegasus is quite taken with all of your duelling talents. In fact, he's so impressed he wanted to reward you with some entertainment. A special exhibition match. I think you'll all be quite in awe of what you're about to see. This match should give you an idea of what's in store for all of you.'

'So basically, it's meant to intimidate us, huh?' Mai asked.

'Why would Pegasus do something like that?' Croquet asked, causing Mai's eyes to narrow.

'Because he's a Grade A nutcase,' Joey said.

'Who is very lucky he's doing this in the year 1996 AD and not 3000 BC,' Sharee added, injecting a subtle threat into her statement.

Croquet cleared his throat. 'Enjoy the match.' He turned and walked away. They turned back to where the duel was going to be.

'This should be interesting,' Yugi said.

Sharee nodded and watched Kaiba's hand wrap around something as he closed his eyes, but only for a moment. When he tensed, she knew Pegasus was coming. Sure enough, he walked in the other way. She heard the chuckle before she saw him.

'Where's my brother?' Kaiba demanded.

'What?' Pegasus asked as he walked forward with his two cronies. 'No "hello"? No "how are you"? I thought we were friends, Kaiba-boy. Don't tell me that my kidnapping Mokuba and seizing control of your company has put a rift between us? It was nothing personal. Besides, it's not like I hurt your kid brother. He's perfectly safe. In fact, you can have him back if you like. Just beat me in a duel like we agreed and I'll hand him over. I mean one little victory shouldn't be a problem for the duel monsters world champ.'

Sharee scowled. As long as he's using the Millennium Eye, it is.

'I can't believe I'm saying this,' Joey said. 'But I'm not hoping Kaiba loses this duel. I still say he's a first-class jerk for everything he put us through, but I can't help but feel for him trying to get his kid brother back.'

'Far as I'm concerned, anyone who stands up to Pegasus can't be all bad,' Tristan agreed.

Every one of their friends nodded in agreement.

Pegasus looked up at them. 'Come now, Kaiba. It's so gauche to keep us in suspense, especially with in audience waiting in the wings.'

Kaiba looked up at them. His eyes widened in surprise.

'Hey there, Kaiba,' Yugi said.

'Yugi?' Kaiba asked. 'How could you be in here after I defeated you?'

'We're a lot more resourceful than we look.' Sharee answered for him. She turned her eyes to the game creator. 'While we're on that subject. Pegasus, before this duel starts, I'd like to point just one thing out.'

'Oh?' Pegasus asked. 'And what's that?'

Sharee's eyes narrowed. 'When the Millennium Items were originally forged, they were tools for justice, not torture. And that includes your Millennium Eye.'

YGO

'I should've known you'd find a way.' Kaiba turned away, smiling to himself. He looked back at Pegasus.

What Sharee had said rolled around in his head. Well, now he knew what to call Pegasus's artificial eye. Made of gold, yes, but figured it'd be an Ancient Egyptian artefact. Pegasus couldn't ever do anything normally. It must've been some kind of superstition that she was calling him on.

Kaiba knew all about Sharee's family background. He'd looked into it on the way over to the Island, to see how her sister had managed to hack in and open communications with him. The Pertinicles were a gifted family.

Pegasus looked back at him. 'If you're ready, Kaiba, I've been looking forward to this for quite some time.'

'Good.' Kaiba set his briefcase down and opened it. He picked up one of the duelling disks and threw it to Pegasus.

'Oh!' Pegasus caught it.

'You'll have no problem duelling with this,' Kaiba said.

Pegasus looked it over.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. 'Well?'

'You want to duel me with your latest contraption?' Pegasus asked. 'But I don't even know how the silly device even works. Do I spin it like a top or roll it like a ball?' He did just that and his two goons both ran after it and then brought it back to him.

'Cut the theatrics!' Kaiba snapped.

'Ooo!' Pegasus drawled. 'Kaiba means business. Okay then, how about we settle this like businessmen would? I'll agree to use your system if you'll agree to a request that I have.'

'What?' Kaiba asked.

'Nothing that will change the game, of course,' Pegasus said. 'I just want someone else to operate your little device for me.' His Millennium Eye glinted.

'I smell a rat!' Bandit Keith snapped.

Pegasus chuckled and looked up at him. 'I assure you, I'll still make all the strategic decisions. The game play won't change at all.'

'Who?' Sharee asked, her voice only just audible to him.

'So why the request?' Kaiba asked. 'Why not fight your own battle for once in your life?'

Pegasus clapped twice. 'Show Kaiba the lad who'll play as my pawn and he'll understand my request.'

When Kaiba saw what Pegasus meant, his heart restricted painfully in his chest.

YGO

'Son of a disease-ridden pooch,' Sharee murmured behind him.

Yugi had to agree. Pegasus was going to try to use Mokuba to duel Kaiba. 'That's his brother!' And there was no response in him.

'Mokuba!' Kaiba cried. The soulless body didn't respond. 'It's me.'

'Something's not right,' Yugi said.

'It's like he's been hypnotised,' Téa murmured.

Sharee growled. 'He should be that lucky.'

'I apologise if he doesn't seem quite like himself,' Pegasus said, ignoring the way Kaiba was shaking in anger. 'But I happen to find that the captives I keep are far easier to manage after I've made an extraction of sorts.'

Yugi saw it now. He looked up at Sharee. 'You were right.'

Sharee nodded. 'And I hate it when that happens.'

'You monster!' Kaiba snapped.

Pegasus chuckled. 'Now, now, Kaiba boy.' He held up a soul card with Mokuba's image on it. 'Petty insults aren't the way to get your brother's soul back.' He laughed.

Kaiba drew back.

'What's Pegasus mean?' Mai asked.

'He must've done to Mokuba what he did to Yugi's grandpa,' Tristan concluded.

'He did.' Sharee frowned. 'My father found a tomb that detailed a game Ancient Egyptians used to play, that tied into the Millennium Items. It said if you lost in this game, you forfeited your soul.'

'Isn't that ancient superstition?' Mai asked.

'Don't know.' Sharee stared down. 'I've seen some really weird things in those places.'

Pegasus laughed. 'I told you your little brother was perfectly safe and he is. But how long he remains that way is up to you. Beat me in a duel and I'll release him as promised. But fail and not only will his soul remain in bondage, but yours will join it.'

'Defeat you?' Kaiba demanded. 'I'll crush you!'

Yugi stared down. I had no idea. But Sharee had. I knew Pegasus kidnapped Mokuba, but I had no clue that he snatched his soul too. It suddenly occurred to him. Of course! That's why Kaiba went to such lengths to beat me. Guess his brother's even worse-off than we thought. Mokuba's like my grandpa now. I have to help Kaiba any way I can.

'So it's settled,' Pegasus said as the goon handed the disk to Mokuba. 'We'll use your new invention. But your brother will operate it for me.'

'Wait, Pegasus!' Kaiba insisted.

'What's the matter, Kaiba-boy?' Pegasus asked. 'This was your idea. Using your own system is sure to give you quite the advantage. What's the problem?'

Kaiba dropped his head, still shaking. 'He's been through enough already. Okay, then, Pegasus. You win. We won't use it.'

'But that's his edge!' Yugi stated.

Sharee explained it. 'Maybe so, but Kaiba can't stand duelling his own brother. To him, nothing's worth that. Just like if it was my sister and me in that circumstances I wouldn't be able to. Even more so in their case.'

'We'll duel on your terms,' Kaiba said. 'Just keep my little brother out of this.'

Pegasus knelt down and laid his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. 'So rather than duel your empty shell with a device he's perfected, he'll give me home-field advantage. Fine with me. Take him away.'

The goon obeyed and Mokuba's body was led out of the room.

'You creep,' Kaiba said.

Pegasus turned back to him. 'Watch yourself, Kaiba. You're in my world now.' He clicked. Suddenly the catwalk came apart between them and Sharee made a sound of interest. Yugi looked at her and then up. There was a…

'Wow!' Joey said. 'Check out the automated bridge.'

'Oh!' Téa saw what they were looking at. 'Forget the bridge. An entire arena's coming down.'

'That or the biggest elevator ever built,' Tristan said.

Mai looked down at the arena as it connected to the catwalk. 'This should be good. The two biggest legends in Duel Monsters going at it? This is what it's all about.' The cables that had lowered the arena disconnected and the holographic projectors came out.

Pegasus took a deck from the goon next to him and stepped up to his duelling board. On the other side, Kaiba stepped up to his own. The last of the projectors came up and each showed up with 2000 life points. Pegasus set his deck down.

'Ready, Kaiba?' Pegasus asked. 'Your brother's fate hangs in the balance.'

Kaiba pulled out his own duelling deck and set it down. Yugi was about to call down to him to remember to believe in the Heart of the Cards when he felt Sharee clap a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her.

Sharee shook her head. 'I think he knows. For this and now, we can't help him. We'll worry about it if he loses this duel.'

An echo in his head seemed to agree and Yugi nodded.

YGO

Sharee watched as the duel began.

'We've known each other for a long time,' Kaiba said. 'And now we'll see if the master is the Duel Monsters creator or the champion. You have nowhere left to hide, Pegasus!'

Sharee didn't know why Pegasus had never said he took the inspiration for Duel Monsters from an ancient Egyptian game. She knew she rarely said it because the Sacred Guardians, or rather their descendants, had asked her not to. Was it possible that Pegasus had been asked to exert the same curtesy?

They both spoke then. 'Time to duel.'

Sharee watched as they each drew five cards.

'Look at you,' Pegasus said. 'The first move and already you're nervous.' He laid a card face down. 'Here. Defence mode. Feel better? Oh, and I'll play this card too.' He laid another one down. 'I think I'll keep it face down for now, just to keep you guessing.'

Sharee didn't think so.

'It's my turn now.' Kaiba drew. He looked at his card. 'I'll lay a card face down too.' He set it down. 'And also, I play Rude Kaiser face up, in attack mode.' The Kaiser appeared on the field with a growl. 'Go Rude Kaiser. Attack Pegasus's defence card. Four Arm Slash!' Rude Kaiser shot forward and cut the defence monster down.

'Oh, no!'

Sharee thought Pegasus sounded a little too dramatic.

'I'd expect more from you, Pegasus,' Kaiba said.

'I had no idea that you had such powerful cards at your disposal, Kaiba,' Pegasus said. 'I don't think I have a beast in my entire deck that could compare with that creature.' He drew and brightened up. 'Hold on! I may have spoken too soon.' He laid the card down and a large parrot monster appeared on the field. 'Yes, here's the perfect card. Parrot Dragon. Attack. Bombarding Beak!'

'Not so fast. I played a card face down too, remember?' Kaiba asked.

'You what?' Kaiba asked.

'And I'm activating its magic right now.' Kaiba lifted the card. 'The Mesmeric Control card. It trances your monster and reduces its attack power by 800 points.' As he spoke, just that happened. 'Kaiser, Four Arm Slash! Carve up that bird!' The Kaiser attacked and destroyed the Parrot Dragon.

'Oh, no!' And again with the over-dramatic.

Sharee looked at Kaiba in time to see his eyes narrow and intuition spark across them. He knew something was wrong and good for him.

'I don't get it.' And bad for Tristan. 'Pegasus talks the big game, but duels like a kid.'

'It's almost like he's toying with him,' Mai said.

'Yeah. Wait!' Joey turned to Yugi. 'Didn't he pull this act with you?'

Yugi nodded. 'Yup. I guess he doesn't even take the World Champion seriously. I just hope Kaiba catches on before it's too late.'

'I think he has,' Sharee said.

YGO

Something's not right, Kaiba thought. This is all too easy. Pegasus doesn't even seem to be trying. I've taken out two of his monsters without him even putting up a fight. It's almost like he expected me to do it. Like he knew exactly how I was going to attack him. 'My turn, Pegasus.' He drew. 'Hm.' Another good card. But if I'm right about Pegasus and he is just playing with me, he might be able to counter it.

Pegasus was humming to himself and looking over the cards in his hand.

Kaiba added it to his hand. I'm not falling for this bit. No way. I'll just play something that I know he can't defend against. My Blue Eyes! Kaiba began to throw the card down but he didn't even get to start bringing it down.

'Stop right there!' Pegasus held his hand up.

'Huh?' Kaiba asked.

'I'd like to play a little guessing game with that card you're about to throw out on the field,' Pegasus said.

Kaiba couldn't believe this. 'A game? We're in the middle of a duel here!'

'What?' Pegasus asked innocently. 'I'm allowed to play a game. My trap card said so.'

'Trap?' Kaiba demanded.

'I played a card face down. Don't you remember?' Pegasus held up the card in question. 'It's called Prophecy and it gives me the right to predict whether the card you're about to play has an attack power higher or lower than 2000. And if I manage to guess correctly, Kaiba-boy, then the card in question becomes mine.'

'What?' Kaiba drew back. He'd never heard of this card before. 'You can't just…'

'And I think I'll prophesise that it is indeed over 2000,' Pegasus said.

Oh, no. This couldn't be happening. Kaiba felt a painful pang in his chest, like he was losing a part of himself.

Pegasus wasn't through. 'But wait…wait. Something else is coming. Yes. Yes, I see blue. I see white. Could it be…? Yes. Of course. I see the Blue Eyes White Dragon!'

This couldn't…he couldn't…

'Was I right?' Pegasus asked. 'Tell me I was right. I was right, right? Oh, I so hope I was right!'

'Enough!' Kaiba slapped the card into the transfer slot. 'Here. Take it.'

Pegasus chuckled and held the card up. 'Now the most valuable card in your deck is mine.'

Kaiba was shaking in anger. That's impossible. There's no way he could've seen my Blue Eyes before I played it. How did he know?

YGO

Yugi watched this critically. 'Pegasus must be up to his old tricks.'

'You got that right,' Joey said.

He must be using his Millennium Eye to look at Kaiba's cards, just like he did with me. Poor Kaiba. Even his great skills don't stand a chance against Pegasus's powers.

'Now I have two things you care about, Kaiba,' Pegasus said. 'Your Dragon and your brother.' He chuckled. 'Let's see what else I can take. After your turn, of course.'

'Without my Blue Eyes White Dragon I have no choice but to switch my monster to defence mode,' Kaiba said.

'Goody, now it's my turn again.' Pegasus drew. 'I'll lay one card face down on the field. And one monster face down in defence mode.' He did it as he said it. 'And I'm afraid that's the best that I can come up with.'

'My turn.' Kaiba pulled two cards from his hand and laid them on the field. Soggy the Dark Clown appeared on the field.

'Wait, I remember this move,' Bakura said.

Téa evidentially did too. 'Yeah, it's the same thing that Kaiba used on Yugi in their duel.'

'But this time Pegasus is gonna catch the bug,' Joey stated.

'I wouldn't count on it.' Sharee, on the other hand, knew enough about the Millennium Eye to follow Yugi's thought path.

'What?' Their friends looked at her.

'Pegasus knows that it's coming,' Yugi stated.

Then Pegasus went and confirmed it. 'Since you just played your Crush Card, I think now would be an opportune time to activate this.' Pegasus flipped up one of his face down cards as Kaiba drew back in shock. 'Negative Energy! It doubles your Clown's attack points. And since the Crush Card can only be hosted by monsters with less than 1000 points, my magic makes Soggy the Dark Clown too strong for the job.' The Clown's attack points rose. 'So sorry. Ah, what's wrong, Kaiba? You look so sad. I'm sure it was just a lucky move on my part.'

'Yeah, and I'm from Fairyland,' Sharee muttered.

'But you know what they say: it's better to be lucky than good.' Pegasus flipped over his other card and laughed. 'Ah, talk about luck! My Dark Rabbit.' The monster appeared on the field. 'And thanks to my Dark Energy spell, he's twice as strong. But I'm sure he's still no match for your stall-wood Clown.' The Rabbit ran forward, laughing like a demented cartoon the whole time, attacked Soggy and the Clown was destroyed.

Kaiba's life points dropped to 1000.

'Oh, my!' Bakura breathed.

Joey remarked. 'And I always thought a rabbit-punch was a wimpy move.'

'I've never seen Kaiba so shaken before,' Téa said.

Yugi gritted his teeth. 'This is bad. The duel just started and Kaiba's already a thousand life points behind.' Kaiba was losing. If he didn't find a way to trip up that Millennium Eye, both he and his brother were doomed.