(Alea's POV)
"Fine, I'll duel you, on one condition," Seto said. "We'll use my new holographic dueling system." He held up his briefcase. "It's a new high-tech dueling device that allows players the realism of arena matches in any setting," he explained.
"It looks like just a regular briefcase to me," Joey said.
"Uh, Joey, I think he meant it's inside the briefcase," I whispered.
"You moron, it's in the briefcase," Kaiba said, opening the briefcase. He took out two disk-shaped objects and tossed one to Joey.
"It looks like a freakin' flying saucer," Joey said. He was right, it did.
"This is the most state-of-the-art display modulator ever built," Seto explained.
Of course, being that I was not too tech savvy (save for with phones, cameras, and a few computer programs) and that I was pretty tired right now, what he just said was like gibberish to me.
"In English, please?" I said, irately.
Seto let out an annoyed sigh. "In other words, it's basically a virtual reality system that can be used anywhere, simple enough for you?" he said.
"Gee, you couldn't have said that the first time?" I scoffed.
"Anyway, Wheeler," he said, turning his attention back to Joey. "If you think you have what it takes to handle it, you should just strap it on."
Joey did so without hesitation. (Of course I'm not going to write the part where Kaiba explains how it works! That's just repetition of what you already know. So, I'll spare you from boring explanation). I sure hoped Joey knew what he was getting himself into. I mean, even I was a bit intimidated by Seto's dueling skills. But even so, that wasn't going to stop me from giving Joey some moral support.
"Hey, Joey," I said.
"Yeah, Lea?"
"…Kick this jerk's ass." He smiled and nodded.
(Skipping the duel!)
Man, I don't think I had ever seen such a merciless beating, even for a card game. Poor Joey seemed devastated at his loss.
"That's right. Stay down like the sniveling, defeated dog you are," Seto mocked. That asshole. What gives him the right to just insult Joey like that?
"Are you alright, Joey?" Yugi asked. He didn't seem to be so.
"I-It'll be alright, Joey," I said in an attempt to comfort him.
"My Duel Disk program has proven quite effective," Seto remarked. "Not only did its stunning realism jar Joey into submission, but now he's moping like a dog with his tail between his legs—which is exactly the way I intend to leave Pegasus."
"You ass!" Bakura protested. "What makes you think you can just crush a person's confidence like that?" He looked like he was about to start a fight with Seto, which was how he often looked when he was either really irritated or really mad at someone. Of course, as always, Ryou held him back.
"Beating Joey doesn't give you the right to humiliate him, Kaiba," Yugi added.
I decided to step in as well. "Maybe you should just stop and listen to why Joey is fighting in this tournament before you go about insulting him," I said. "You obviously have no clue how important the thing Joey's fighting for is, so you have no room to talk. He's fighting for his sister's eyesight! If he loses, she could go blind!" Granted, I barely even knew Serenity, let alone even met her, but I did know her story. Her eyesight was becoming worse and if she didn't receive surgery, she would become blind. Of course, that surgery was expensive and neither he nor his mother had the money for it. The only way they could afford it was if Joey won this tournament.
"Just lay off it, guys," Joey said.
Seto wasn't through, though. "Do you think Pegasus will be any merciful to you than I was?" he questioned. He turned his attention to Yugi. "The 'heart of the cards' may work for you, but I have to duel my own way. I can't risk trying something new—and maybe Joey shouldn't either, unless he likes life as a dog, scrounging on the scraps of past victories and begging for mercy from true duelists." Oh, how I wanted to punch his face in!
"That's not true!" Yugi protested.
"It's the kind of attitude you have to take if you want to stand a chance against Maximillion Pegasus," Seto said, looking towards the castle. "This is the man who created Duel Monsters. He has every card that's ever been made, and mastered every strategy that's ever been played. He always makes sure he has every possible advantage in his favor. If I'm to stand any chance against him at all, I'll have to play by my own ruthless rules. Open your eyes, Yugi—even with your prodigious talents, you'll be defeated like all the others. When Pegasus duels, he uses much more than mere skill."
I really wished Seto had the sense to know that there were a lot of other methods to dueling and winning than just his method. I couldn't name those methods right off the bat, but everyone was different. And quite frankly, Yugi's method never seemed to fail him. I guess I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear Seto explaining a duel that Pegasus had with someone where he won by using whatever scary skills he had.
"I don't know how he did it, but I can only hope that my Duel Disk system will give me the edge I need to beat Pegasus," Seto said, packing away his Duel Disks.
"That's still no excuse to take it out on us and use Joey as your guinea pig for your new system," Yugi said. It was as if he had taken the words right out of my mouth.
"This system could be my only way to beat Pegasus, so I had to test it," Seto argued. "This is war, and Joey was a casualty." An unjustified casualty if you ask me. War or no war, it wasn't right on any level for Seto to do what he did.
"Look, we may not agree with each other's methods, but we both understand that Pegasus must be stopped," Yugi said in an attempt to reason with him. "I hope you succeed in rescuing your little brother." Pfft. Yeah, good luck. I normally didn't think like that when it came to stuff like that, especially after the good things I heard about Mokuba, but I was in such a state of disgust with Seto that I didn't think it through.
As he left, Seto turned back and said, "I wish you success, too, but I hope our paths don't cross again." He walked away until he was out of sight. I honestly don't think I've ever held such scorn for someone (with the obvious exception of Michael and Valorie White).
"So…can we go back to bed now?" I questioned. It almost seemed like everyone else was about to collapse from exhaustion, too. "I take that as a yes," I deduced. We went back to our spots and went back to sleep, hoping that nothing else would wake us up again.
I could only imagine what the next day would have in store for us…