Mai is floating. She doesn't remember how she ended up here. She can't tell whether she still has her physical body. In any case, she finds herself unable to control the motion of her... umm, spirit or immaterial body or whatever this thing she currently exists as is. It feels as if she's a feather. A conscious, light feather helplessly carried around by the wind.
Down below, she can see deserts and cities. Cities in ruins and flames. Screams of desperate, dying people are reaching her ears.
Monsters are rampaging and wreaking havoc. Giant monsters. They look like the duel monsters cards creatures holograms, except these are way bigger and Mai can tell that they are not holograms; they are real beyond doubt!
Mai can see dark skinned, well built men fighting the monsters in vain, practically throwing their lives away. The aforementioned men are wielding spears and swords and wearing white headclothes and loinclothes, being almost nude apart from that. Mai deduces that they are ancient soldiers. Ancient Egyptian, perhaps?
Mai has now reached a city larger than those she has passed above so far. It must be the capital of this kingdom. As the previous cities, it is in flames.
Mai can see a really gargantuan monster. It is black and muscular. It has red, menacing eyes, with no pupils, and two rows of sharp, deadly teeth. It also has two pairs of white horns: two horns on top of its head and two larger ones on either of its temples. A giant, serpent/dragon like creature protrudes from where the monster's... umm, manhood was supposed be. Lastly, it has two large wings on its back
Around the monster described in the paragraph above, tens if not hundreds of smaller yet equally grotesque creatures are attacking anything in sight, as if dancing a morbid dance to a rythm the larger monster is giving them.
'BOW BEFORE ZORC, MORTALS,' the black, gigantic monster bellows, its voice resonating through the city, the desert, spreading despair.
A group of people stands across from that Zorc creature. They are unarmed. Mai widens her eyes (or at least that's what she would do if she had her physical body right now). Do those lunatics have a death wish? From their attires, Mai can tell that they're important members of the Ancient Egyptian society. Perhaps royal dignitaries. Wait, those golden artifacts they're holding. Can they possibly be... the ones Yugi and his friends call Millenium Items?
One of those priests (even though her face is covered with a veil, Mai can tell she's a woman) asks another priest (a short, chubby, old man with a white beard), 'Where is the pharaoh, Shimon?'
'His majesty has decided to go to confront traitor Seto,' Shimon answers, his eyes fixed on the giant Zorc creature.
Mai mentally raises an eyebrow. Did he say Seto? Isn't this Kaiba's first name? So that priest who has rebelled against the pharaoh happens to have the same name? Strange?
'All alone?' the woman gasps. (Mai admits her voice is nice and velvet.) 'This is suicide. He is wounded and exhausted and...'
'These are the royal orders, Isis,' Shimon snaps. 'He asked us to stay here and fight Zorc. We most likely cannot defeat him, but at least we can stall him until the pharaoh...'
Shimon pauses, a grim expression on his face. There is no need for him to continue anyway. Isis can tell. The pharaoh is going to sacrifice himself. He's going to seal the darkness, along with himself, in the Millenium Items. This is the only way for Zorc to disappear from this world. The king is going to give his life to save humanity!
Shimon raises the golden artifact he's holding. It looks like a large key. The item begins glowing. 'I summon the guard of the palace, Exodia,' Shimon cries.
The ground opens up and a muscular giant comes out of the rift. His whole body is golden, except his blue mouth and red, pupiless eyes. The ogre's headcloth, loincloth, boots and shoulder pads all also are golden colored, though it's hard to tell whether the above are really garments rather than parts of that monster's body. Exodia! The duel monsters creature that only Yugi has ever summoned, Mai inwardly notes. He is shackled in chains, which are hanging down from seemingly nowhere.
'Exodia, I release you. Lend us your limitless power,' Shimon commands. On that command, the chains break, releasing Exodia's arms and legs.
'Fools. Only darkness is limitless,' Zorc bellows. 'And darkness is me!'
Exodia extends his arms forward, cups his hands together and fires an orange blast, which collides with a dark blast fired from the mouth of the snake protruding from Zorc. The beam struggle goes on and on and on. Shimon keeps his arm raised, his willpower fueling Exodia's blast. Mai notices that Shimon is sweating, trembling. The old man's expression clearly shows he's in agony. On the other hand, Zorc seems completely nonchalant.
Darn. That giant, black asshole is right. Human willpower, which is fueling Exodia's blast, no matter how great it can be at times, is finite, whereas darkness, which is fueling Zorc's blast, is timeless and infinite, having existed forever... or at least longer than anything else in the universe.
Suddenly, as if carried by a strong gust of wind, Mai floats away and reaches a palace. Or at least that's what she can tell this place used to be, before it was ruined.
Among the rubble, two men are standing across from each other. They look exactly like Yugi and Kaiba respectively, except they're wearing Ancient Egyptian clothes! Yugi (or whoever that guy is) is wearing a white garment and a purple cape. Seto is wearing a blue garment and a helmet the same color. Yugi's double is wearing the same golden pendant as the Yugi Mai knows. Seto's double is holding a golden scepter. Mai can see madness and malice in the latter's eyes.
'Your army has been defeated. Your palace has collapsed,' Seto declares. 'You are a naked king. A king in name only. It is only a matter of time before the darkness (obviously, he's referring to Zorc) defeats those fools who call themselves priests and insist on supporting you.'
Yugi does not seem upset. 'Seto... why are you doing this? Why have you surrendered yourself to the Lord of Darkness?'
Seto chuckles. 'I have surrendered myself to no one. I fight only for myself.'
'You're fooling yourself,' Yugi insists.
'Say what you want,' Seto snaps, with a dismissive gesture. 'As of now, I am the king!'
Yugi growls. There is no point in trying to talk Seto out of being possessed by the Shadow Magus. Words mean nothing right now. Yugi takes a sorrowful but determined expression.
'DIAHA,' both duelists cry in unison. Even though Mai does not speak Ancient Egyptian, she can tell, from their tone of voice and body language, that they just said, 'Let's duel' or something.
With a mild earthquake, two huge stone slabs come out of the ground and two monsters materialize out of them.
'I summon the Dark Magician,' Yugi cries. The most iconic creature in Modern Yugi's deck, a human formed monster dressed in a purple, hooded uniform that covers him almost entirely, leaving only his hands and face exposed, hovers in front of his master. He's wielding a green rod.
'I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon,' Seto cries. The aforementioned dragon appears, standing on its hind legs as usual, and shakes whatever is left of the palace with a frightening roar.
Mai is gaping. Which monster is going to win? Sure, in a modern duel monsters battle, it would be the dragon's victory, no question, since the Blue Eyes White Dragon has more ATK points than the Dark Magician. But do monster battles work that way in Ancient Egypt too? Mai doubts it.
Mai abruptly sits up in her bed, in the guest room, in Pegasuses mansion. It's been a few days since she accepted the tycoon's invitation to stay with him for a while at his permanent residence in America.
She's wearing a white nightgown which makes her look so sexy (not that she does not look sexy otherwise!) It's a garment her host gave to her on her first day here. Mai is not sure whether Pegasus bought it for the occasion or just happened to have it. And she's not sure which of the two she prefers to be the case either! I mean, the former being the case would make her feel uncomfortable, while the latter being the case would mean that Pegasus is into cross dressing, which would kinda freak her out.
Or maybe this nightgown used to belong to Cecelia. No, wait, this would freak Mai out as well! I mean, wearing a garment of a long deceased person? Yikes!
Okay, enough. Let's stop wondering about this nightgown's origin!
Mai places her palm on her chest and turns her eyes to the window. A sun ray coming into the room through the glass indicates that it has begun getting light outside. Although it's still a little too early to get up, Mai doesn't think she'll be able to get any further sleep after the dream she had.
What the hell was that dream anyway? Ever since she beat Yugi at the Duelist Kingdom semi finals, Mai feels different. It all started with that sudden migraine she had for a few moments right before her duel with Bandit Keith. Since that day, the migraines have been coming and going. Eventually, they started being accompanied by visions. And dreams! Dreams about Ancient Egypt. Mai has no idea what is happening to her.
Should she talk to Pegasus about that? No, let's not worry our kind host for the time being. Maybe it's just some sort of auto suggestion. I mean, a lot has happened in her life lately. On top of that, she heard Yugi and his friends speaking incomprehensible stuff about Ancient Egypt on the Duelist Kingdom island, so maybe all that cumulative stress is manifested this way.
Meanwhile, in some unspecified place, Ishizu, through her Millenium Necklace, is watching Mai, unbeknownst to the latter.
It seems that, after beating the pharaoh, that mortal girl gained some of his memories. Ishizu knows that, according to the ancient rules, to gain the power of a Millenium Item, you have to defeat its possessor. And while Mai didn't fight Yugi over possession of the Millenium Puzzle to begin with, which is why she didn't fully gain its power, she still defeated the supposedly undefeated pharaoh, moreover by changing the future the Millenium Necklace had predicted. That feat rendered her partly a 'chosen one'.
But how will that affect the battle against Ishizu's brother? The Egyptian woman no longer bothers consulting the Millenium Necklace to see the future. I mean, after the last inaccuracy (which, come to think of it, was not an inaccuracy but rather outright inability of the artifact to predict the future), how can she trust the Millenium Item?
Ishizu feels scared. Like a little girl. She's no longer the collected woman she used to be, the woman who had everything under control. Ever since it turned out that the Millenium Necklace cannot predict the future, she feels stripped of one of her faculties, she feels essentially disabled.
On the other hand, perhaps that should give her some hope. I mean, according to the future the Millenium Necklace had shown her, she had only a slim chance of saving her brother at the Battle City tournament, moreover, at the cost of her life.
But, if that future is false after all, maybe... just maybe...
Ishizu caresses the necklace around her neck. 'Please, Gods, hear my plea,' she whispers.
Mai is sitting in the dining room, casually, with her feet on the table. She's still wearing the sexy nightgown we talked so much about earlier.
Ahh, that was a hell of a breakfast. On the table, there are several empty plates, sloppily tossed here and there. The woman produces a toothpick and uses it to dislodge stuff remaining among her teeth after the slap up meal she had.
'What is this mess?' an annoyed, male voice is heard.
Without the slightest surprise in her eyes, Mai turns her head to look at the approaching servant. 'Good morning to you too, Cooper,' she casually says, still picking her teeth.
Cooper is one of those bald, white haired, really old, quaint servants that look as if they jumped out of some 40s film noir. According to what Pegasus has told her, Cooper has been serving the Pegasuses since long before Maximillion was born. Essentially, Pegasus 'inherited' him along with the rest of his father's fortune and possessions. Even though he seems strict, formal and somewhat cold, Pegasus has nice memories of this old guy. When he was little, he used to prank Cooper a lot, to the old man's dismay of course!
Dressed in his black, classy servant uniform, the old geezer gives Mai a disapproving look.
'I got up early, Coop,' the woman explains nonchalantly, carelessly tossing the toothpick away. 'So I helped myself in the kitchen, thus saving you the trouble of serving me breakfast. You're welcome!'
Cooper pinches his nose in annoyance. 'Take your feet off the table, young lady,' he scolds, looking at her dirty soles.
'Why?' Mai asks with a playful but provocative smile. 'Don't you like what you see?' To the servant's shock, she slightly raises her nightgown and further opens her legs, revealing her amazoness themed underpants!
Cooper blushes and turns his gaze elsewhere.
Mai giggles. She's neither a virgin nor a whore. She's a normal woman who loves to tease males that way when she's in a more relaxed mood, without that necessarily meaning that she wants to get laid with them.
That moment, Pegasus enters the dining room, having fully dressed in his red outfit.
Mai gasps. Okay, she definitely did not want that to happen! 'I'm sorry,' she whispers, blushing, as she takes her feet off the table.
'Remember, sir, guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days,' Cooper says to his master as he exits the room. He spoke that loud enough for Mai to hear it as well, but also in a voice low enough to make it seem as if he didn't want Mai to hear it. You know, for the sake of etiquette!
Pegasus chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. Next, he turns to Mai. 'So you love getting on Cooper's nerves too? Can't say I blame you. When I was little, I would get on his nerves all the time. It was one of my favourite forms of fun.'
'Anyway,' Mai drawls, still looking at the floor in embarrassment. 'I'm sorry about that. I really didn't mean for you to see it. Though I guess, being a rich man, you have seen your share of female flesh.'
'Not really,' Pegasus casually sits across from his guest.
Having relaxed, Mai places her chin on her palm and gives her host a baffled look. She knows that Pegasus is not like most rich men she met during her travels, she knows he's not the kind of man who uses his wealth as an advantage to get laid, but still she expected him to have had his share of casual affairs... or at the very least visited some brothel at some point after Cecelia's death, even if he did so just to temporarily forget about his sorrows. I mean, it seems crazy to her that a man in his mid 20s has had sex with only one woman in his life.
Mai has a sip of juice. 'You mean that... apart from Cecelia... you never...'
'Actually, I haven't done it with Cecelia either,' Pegasus lowers his eyes.
With her eyes widening, Mai spits out the juice, almost falling off the chair. 'Wait, you're... a virgin?'
'Cecelia and I had agreed to wait till our wedding night,' Pegasus blushes a little, his eyes still lowered. 'And, on the wedding night, she had the heart attack that killed her before we could... you know... consummate the marriage.'
Mai closes her eyes, places her hand on her lips and tries to repress a giggle. 'Sorry,' she says. 'I know it sounds cruel to laugh at something like that, but I just can't help it.'
Pegasus raises his eyes and gives his guest a comically annoyed look. 'Until then, we had just... you know... kissed a few times.'
Mai pretends to shoot herself. 'And after some kisses, you decided that she was the one and only for you?' she rolls her eyes. 'Welcome to the real world, Max!'
'Okay, I admit I don't have much knowledge of how the real world works,' Pegasus stands up, further annoyed. 'I was born rich, surrounded by servants and bodyguards. I have never even had a walk alone as a normal person! Even during my dates with Cecelia, we were accompanied by guards.'
Mai stands up as well. 'Then let me guide you,' she winks. 'Let's go to hit the town today. Just the two of us. Forget about your riches, your fame, your social position. Today, you're just a nameless, random person off the street.'
Pegasus gulps. 'Will it hurt?' he wonders.
Mai places her palms on the table and leans towards him. 'For starters, take off the Millenium Eye,' she says with a meaningful smile. 'As we said, the point of this is for you to see what being a normal, nameless person is like. We don't want anyone to recognize you. Do we?'
Pegasus gulps once more. Why can't he say no to that crazy woman?
