SailorStar9: Figured it was about time I restarted this fic before you guys hunt me down and really kill me. Therefore, with Chapter 31 uploaded, I present Chapter 32 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Disclaimer: I own nothing expect the Safiastra and Ami's dueling deck.
Chapter 32: King of Duelists
With the duel won, the group hurried off to find Pegasus.
"Where did Pegasus go?" Yuugi wondered, as they ran across the stone bridge that connected the main dueling ring to the other towers. "What is it, Anzu?" he noticed Anzu stop in her tracks.
"He's probably there." Anzu suggested. "At the top of the tower, Pegasus' secret room. But my memory's not clear and I thought I was dreaming."
"You, too?" Honda questioned. "I couldn't tell if it was real or a dream, so I didn't say anything."
"What are you talking about?" Yuugi inquired.
"Explain it clearly to us." Jonouchi demanded.
"It was real after all." Anzu nodded. "Let's go."
In Pegasus' personal tower...
"I've seen many different types of minds using the Millennium Eye." Pegasus looked at the three Soul Cards on his table. "But for there to be two minds in one body, is that the Millennium Puzzle's power?" keeping his promise, he released the trapped souls using the Millennium Eye. "Cyndia, I'm beginning to think I may have been wrong." he admitted to the portrait of his late lover. "Who is it?" he barked, his Millennium Eye warning him of an intruder. "You're a user of the Power of Darkness?" he noticed the Millennium Ring around Yami Bakura's neck.
"So, the Millennium Eye grants one the power to read people's minds." Yami Bakura sneered. "But can you read your future? Just stay put in this room for a while and you'll learn everything." he pulled out his deck. "I'll use these cards to help you out." after shuffling the deck, he dealt out the cards in a diamond formation. "This card represents your birth and youth." he flipped the right card over. "Happy Lover? You seem to have gone through happy romance. But this card is upside down. In other words, you and your lover suffered a tragic end. Seem like I guess right." he noticed Pegasus' frown. "The next card represents your current self." he flipped the middle card over. "Mask of Darkness, huh? Your current position and actions are to hide your original objectives, like a mask. In order to cover up the true objectives deep within your heart, you cooked up quite a lengthy scheme. And those true objectives..."
"Shut up!" Pegasus snapped. "Shut your mouth."
"I just drew an unlucky card." Yami Bakura ignored Pegasus. "Doma The Angel of Silence. It's supposed to be an angel but it brings death. And once it appears before you, there's no escaping your passage to the underworld." the Eye of Anubis on the Millennium Ring shone, and the five needles on the Ring pointed to the direction of the Millennium Eye, firing off a blue light beam.
Pegasus' Millennium Eye countered with a red light beam of its own.
"Is this all the power the Millennium Eye can muster?" Yami Bakura taunted.
Because of the Duel with Yuugi-boy, my mind has reached its limit. Pegasus realized.
Yami Bakura eventually overpowered Pegasus, his energy beam slamming the creator of the Duel Monster cards into the wall.
"Who are you?" Pegasus asked.
"I'm collecting the seven Millennium Items." Yami Bakura chuckled, approaching the weakened Pegasus to claim his prize. "Did you know? Once one gathers them all, you are granted a power strong enough to control the world."
"Stop it!" Pegasus begged as Yami Bakura reached to pull out the Millennium Eye from his eye socket.
With Yuugi's group...
"What?" Anzu blinked when they arrived at the staircase to see Pegasus' guards descend, with the unconscious Pegasus on one of the guards' backs.
"Croquet-san, what happened?" Yuugi asked Pegasus' butler.
"Pegasus-sama was attacked by someone." Croquet replied.
"Then, what about Grandpa, Kaiba and Mokuba?" Yuugi pressed.
"Now's not the time." Croquet cut him off and went off to make preparations.
"Just who did this to Pegasus?" Jonouchi wondered.
"Anyway, let's check the room." Honda suggested.
"That's right." Anzu agreed. "Maybe we could find some clues in his room."
"That lady sure is pretty." Jonouchi spotted Cyndia's portrait first.
"Is this..." Ami frowned, picking up the dairy laid on the table. "Pegasus' diary?"
"It's in English." Jonouchi gawked, peering over the blue-haired girl's shoulder.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ami rolled her eyes. "Pegasus is American."
"Can you translate it, Ami?" Honda requested, Yuugi picking up the Duel Monster card that had fallen out of the dairy and comparing the card's picture to the portrait on the wall.
"What do you take me for?" Ami huffed. "'To the ones who defeats me and becomes the new Duelist King, why did I create the Duel Monsters?'" she started off. "'In order to explain this mystery, I must talk about this girl.'"
"Pegasus must have wrote this just in case he lost." Anzu realized.
"Look at this." Yuugi showed the group the Cyndia Duel Monster card.
"It's the same woman as the portrait." Jonouchi remarked.
"'Cyndia, that was the name of this young woman.'" Ami continued. "'She was my lover and she passed away from this world at the age of seventeen. It has been 14 years since I first met her. My father was a wealthy man who managed casinos in Las Vegas. In the evening, import people assembled for parties. At that time, I met Dad's friend's daughter, Cyndia. We were attracted to each other. We have always talked about our dreams. I dreamed of becoming an artist, also to travel to many countries. We swore the two of us would live together. Soon after I turned 17, Cyndia died of an illness. For months, I stared at the blank canvas of my heart. At that time, I had heard about how according to Ancient Egyptian belief, souls lived on after death. Perhaps I could meet Cyndia if I used the technique handed down in Ancient Egypt. I visited Egypt with that purpose in mind. In a certain village in Egypt, I met a young man.'"
Pegasus then recounted how he met Shadi and had followed him to the basement of an empty house where the Millennium Stone was kept and was given the Millennium Eye.
"'It might have been lingering affection, but I wanted to see Cyndia once again.'" Ami continued. "'At that time, I became aware of Kaiba Corporation's Virtual Simulation System. In order to materialize Cyndia's card, Kaiba Corporation had to be mine, no matter what it took.'."
"Pegasus wanted to meet his dead lover from the bottom of his heart and was willing to take over Kaiba Corporation for that." Anzu sniffled.
"A man's true love?" Jonouchi echoed.
"What a fool." Ami sighed, replacing the dairy back. "It doesn't matter if her card is materialized; a dead person can never return to the World of the Living."
"If we don't care about Bakura and Mokuba, they'll be in danger." Honda reminded.
"And Kaiba, too." Jonouchi added.
"Let's go." Anzu led the group out.
"What are you two doing?" Jonouchi called out to the cousins. "Let's go."
"We're coming." Yuugi answered.
"This is..." both Yuugi and Ami were stopped in their tracks when Shadi appeared in front of them.
It can't be. Shadi was shocked to see the Millennium Puzzle around Yuugi's neck. It's this young man who has the Millennium Puzzle? Is this kid who stole Pegasus' Millennium Eye? I need to confirm this young man's true identity. I'll use the Millennium Ankh to look into this young man's heart. He pulled out the Millennium Key.
"Shadi, wait!" Ami called out, too late to stop Shadi from pressing the Millennium Key onto Yuugi's forehead. "Idiot." she muttered.
In the Millennium Puzzle's Soul Room...
This is... Shadi entered the two different Soul Rooms. There are two room in this young man's heart. One has toys laid out all over the floor. Doesn't look like the criminal who took the Millennium Eye. There's another room. He opened the door, only to be met by Yami Yuugi in the Soul Room.
"I didn't think anyone would come to investigate my room." Yami Yuugi greeted his unexpected visitor. "If you are brave enough, come in. a game is waiting for you."
I have looked into many humans' rooms in their hearts in the past. Shadi entered the room. But this kind of serious and cold room is like the Ancient Egyptian grave of a king.
"I don't know what kind of powers you have used to come into my room." Yami Yuugi remarked. "State your purpose."
"Answering your question is a common courtesy." Shadi admitted. "Since Egyptian times, for 3000 years, the royal families have handed down the Millennium Items. The seven items have the ability to rule the world and there are infinite number of people collecting these items. I am the guardian of the Millennium Items. Right now, I'm searching for the one who took Pegasus' Millennium Eye."
"And you think this criminal is me?" Yami Yuugi snorted.
"By looking at one's room I can sense any power within." Shadi replied.
"I see." Yami Yuugi noted. "In this heart, you've found my room. The truth has been revealed. But this is a game; a Dark Game."
"I shall accept this game." Shadi answered.
"Game Start." Yami Yuugi declared and materialized numerous mazes in the expanded Soul Room.
A maze. Shadi realized. This young man's room to hide the truth of the heart's maze.
"What is it?" Yami Yuugi challenged. "If you don't take the first step, it is impossible to start." he then vanished.
Among all the rooms, only one of them is the real room. Shadi began his search. "It's a trap." he opened a door and was almost crushed by a falling weight. This door and this door aren't it. It's not the real room. Just which one is the real room? This young man's heart: it's determined to not allow others to invade and has gotten me lost. But I must know. He stopped before another door.
"You came?" Yami Yuugi greeted Shadi once the door was thrown open.
I've come to the real room? Shadi wondered and entered. No, this is also a trap. The floor broke underneath his feet and he grabbed hold of a protruding brick to stop falling. If I fall into this deep hole of darkness, I will never be able to leave this young man's shadowy heart.
"Hold on." Yuugi grabbed hold of Shadi's wrist and pulled him up. "Other me, this is enough." he rebuked. "Release him from the game."
In response, a door opened right in front of them and Shadi led the way in.
"Counting from now, 3000 years ago in Ancient Egypt, these were stone tablets sealed under the control of magicians." Shadi explained, the pair noticing the two rows of stone tables along the path. The battle for the king's throne begins with this. Soon after the magicians were destroyed, the stone tablets and their magical powers went into sleep. Those stone tablets' legends were all recorded in a history book. After it was around humans, it soon was made into cards, and it was the starting point of the card game. What the?" he winced when 'Black Magician' materialized from his tablet. "He wants to protect this room." he realized, 'Black Magician' pointed his staff at them. "He wants to kill us. If defeated, we will be unable to leave this room. This stone tablet is the 'Blue Eyes White Dragon'." he summoned the tablet beneath his feet. "If the card completely resembles the monster's power, 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' wins over 'Black Magician'. If I use the Dark Power to make 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' appear and battle..."
"Stop." Yuugi voiced. "'Black Magician' is my card. 'Black Magician', we aren't here in this room to cause chaos." he pleaded. "Allow us to escape from this room."
What? Shadi was shocked when 'Black Magician' lowered his staff. The King's top magic wielder 'Black Magician' will listen to this young boy? Then the other young man's true identity... impossible... he realized who the Puzzle's spirit was.
Back on the staircase...
"Tell this to the 'Other You'," Shadi released himself from the Soul Room. "It was my mistake accusing him of being a criminal and stealing the Millennium Eye. In order to find the criminal, I met something unexpected." he admitted. "From today, you and the 'Other You', will unlock the true power hidden in the Millennium Puzzle. For 3000 years, you've kept this secret sealed away. That is the fate of the one who solved it." giving Ami a knowing glance, he turned. "The two of you have to watch out. Another person looking for the Millennium Items has come close. "he cautioned. "A Millennium item possessor. My name is Shadi." with that, he vanished.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.