Hello, my friends, this is my 1st Tea/Mai story. I've been a fan of this ship for a while and decided to try it out since there aren't many of these stories with this ship out there. Hopefully, I can inspire more of my fellow writers out there to make their own Tea/Mai story. It'll start out in the episode where Tea duels Mai for Yugi after his rematch with Kaiba. Nothing else to say but... enjoy this 1st chapter of A Duel of Love, my friends.
After Yugi's crushing defeat at the hands of Seto Kaiba, he and his friends were standing at the entrance of Pegasus' castle, which Yugi far too broken to even speak, despite his friends trying to help him. All Yugi could think about was losing the duel against Kaiba and the length that the spirit living inside the Millennium Puzzle was willing to go to in order to win. Joey even tried ordering his star chips to Yugi, as he felt it was important to him to save his grandfather, despite the fact that he needed to help his ill sister, Serenity. But Yugi still didn't even move, making Joey grab him to snap him out of it.
That was when Mai Valentine appeared from behind them and wondered why they were standing there despite having enough star chips to get into the castle. When Joey told her why, she was disappointed Yugi was acting like it was the end of the world, as she herself felt the same way when she was beaten by Panicky, but then Yugi and his friends helped her see that it wasn't. She'd even been kind enough to let Yugi have 5 star chips that she'd won due to already having enough to enter the castle and having owed Yugi some star chips for helping her. But when Yugi still didn't take them, Mai was disappointed and thought it was pathetic... until Tea decided to duel against Mai for the star chips, which she accepted because she knew that Tea was inexperienced with real dueling.
Because of Tea's inexperience, she was mostly on the losing ends of the duel, despite putting up a decent fight. After Mai cleverly defeated Tea's Fairy's Gift card with a combination of her Harpies Lady and Rose whip magic card, Mai spoke to Tea. "If you had any idea what you're up against, Tea, you'd call it quits right now. This isn't going to get any easier, you know. Just give up and go back to cheerleading." She advised.
But Tea was not going to give up. She had Yugi to fight for... and the fact that she knew Mai's most kept secret: that she'd been alone for most of her life. She was going to show her that she wasn't alone anymore and that she actually had friends now. "No, I'm not giving up."
Mai knew what this was going to and stood up with her arms crossed. "Please. If this is going to be another speech about friendship, I don't wanna hear it. Come on, Yugi's already given up on himself. You're not going to be able to keep fighting for him, he has to fight for himself and stand up to anyone who gets in his way. And whatever's going on in his head, he has to figure it out on his own." She said, having had enough of the friendship speeches and that Tea wouldn't be able to keep fighting for Yugi forever... because he had to fight for himself and figure out whatever was going on in his head on his own. But unknown to her, what she said was beginning to bring Yugi out of his depression.
Tea decided that now was the time to tell Mai what she had been wanting to tell her for quite some time since they saved her from Panick and spoke gently and softly. "Mai, stop lying to yourself. I may barely know you, but I know from what I've seen that you treat us like this is because you've been alone for most of your life. But you have to realize that you're not all alone anymore. Why do you think we helped you when Panick beat you? Because we were trying to be your friends. You're not alone anymore. You have real friends and…" Before a tear fell from her right eye. "And... you have me." But Tea had said had provided the final push Yugi needed to finally snap himself out of it.
And it also made Mai finally realize that she had been so selfish and that she didn't have to be anymore...and that the fate of the world was far more important, and the safety of her friends. But then she mentally said to herself as she felt herself blushing after Tea said those kind words. "Tea... no one has ever been that nice to me before."
Mai smiled and decided not to use the 'Harpie's Feather Duster card and allowed Tea to win the duel using her trap card, Waboku to weaken Mai's Harpie Lady and a combination of her Shinning Friendship, Elf's Light and Silver Bow and Arrow cards.
After destroying the Harpie Lady with the Silver Lightning Arrow attack, Mai surrendered to Tea before they both got off their dueling platforms before the blonde woman gave Tea the 5 star chips Yugi needed. "Congratulations, Tea, you've more than earned these today." She said with a smile as the 2 accidentally touched hands and slowly crossed intertwined their fingers together while blushing and looking into each other's eyes before they got over the surprise and seperated their hands, with Tea holding the star chips. "Thanks for knocking some sense into me, honey. But next time we duel, I won't go so easy on you."
Tea nodded before smiling and touching Mai's hand again... to feel how soft and gentle it was. "I look forward to that, Mai."
After giving Yugi the star chips and with her and her friends walking up to the entrance of Pegasus' castle, Mai walked up to Tea and they smiled at each other. After strapping on her duffle bag, Mai held out her hand to Tea. "Wanna hold hands, Tea? I saw how much you liked the feel of my hand in yours and I did too."
Tea smiled warmly at Mai and held her hand while intertwining their fingers together again, liking the feel of holding each other's hands so much that Mai slowly put her free arm around Tea and drew her closer to her before Tea blushed and wrapped her arm around Mai's waist, making her blush as well. But, to their reluctance, they had to seperate so the others wouldn't get suspicious of what they were doing.
When they finally got to the entrance of the castle, Pegasus guard Kemo halted them. "Oh no. No way you brats won 10 Star chips each." He said, not believing that these kids all won 10 star chips. "Get lost! This place is reserved for the dueling elite.
That was when Mei, Yugi and Joey showed him their dueling gauntlets, revealing 10 star chips each on them. "Then I guess we'll fit right in." Mei said with a smirk, shocking the pointy haired guard before he stepped aside and let them pass. Mai put her chips in the locking mechanism on the door and it opened up, making Yugi and the others smile.
When Kemo saw Tea, Tristan and Bakura going in, he got in front of them, as not only did they not have dueling gloves, they weren't even Duelists at all. "No, no, no. You 3 don't even have dueling gloves."
"But you have to let us in. We're the cheerleaders." Tea said with an innocent face while Tristan and Bakura looked dumbfounded.
"Cheer what? What do you think this is, a high school football game?! No chips, no entry, you got that?!" Kemo yelled out.
That was when Mai stepped in for them, but mostly Tea. "You mean you can't do us 1 little favor, even for me?" She asked in a cute feminine voice, making the guard blush before he turned around, allowing Mai to wink at Tea and allowing her and her other friends to run past the guard as Mai hit him with her bag and before they all ran inside the castle and shut the entrance in Kemo's face.
When everyone was in, Joey locked the entrance and they all ran to the main balcony upstairs, where they found none other than Bandit Keith waiting. "Bandit Keith. I can't stand this guy." Joey said with distaste for the ruthless Duelist.
Keith then turned around and saw the gang. "Well, if it isn't Joey and his set of dueling dummies." He said mockingly.
"You creep. I've been waiting for a shot at you ever since you left us trapped in that cave!" Joey yelled before he rushed to Keith to punch him but the ruthless Duelist avoided and blocked every blow.
"Can't this grudge of yours wait? The real action's about to start." Keith informed the group, making them confused before they looked down and saw Kaiba standing on the platform below, waiting for Pegasus.
"It's Kaiba." Yugi said before Keith spoke again.
"I'd hoped to get a crack at the old man myself, but you know they saved the biggest match for last." He said arrogantly.
"Wait, you mean those 2 are gonna duel?" Yugi asked.
"Indeed." Pegasus' adviser, Croquet said as he came in and greeted the dueling finalists. "Welcome, finalists. I'm Croquet, Pegasus' adviser. Congratulations on making it this far. Pegasus is quite taken with all of your dueling talents. In fact, he's so impressed that he wanted to give you some entertainment: a little exhibition match, which should give you all an idea of what he has in store for all of you."
"So basically it's meant to intimidate us, huh?" Mai asked, making Tea, who stood at her side, secretly stroke her back.
"Now why would Pegasus do something like that?" Croquet asked.
"Cause he's a grade a nutcase." Joey answered.
Croquet chuckled at that before walking away. "Enjoy the match." He said before everyone looked down at Kaiba.
Kaiba held his card pendent in his free hand while speaking mentally and thinking of Mokuba. "Little brother, I'm here for you now, and I won't let anyone stop me from rescuing you."
That was when the doors on the other side of the platform opened, revealing none other than the creator of the Duel Monsters game: Maximilian Pegasus himself and 2 of his servants carrying a couple of dueling decks, who chuckled evilly. "At last." The old man thought to himself with delight.
"Where's my brother?!" Kaiba demanded.
"What's the matter? I thought we were friends, Kaiba boy? Don't tell me my kidnapping young Mokuba and seizing control of your company has put a rift between us. It really was nothing personal. Besides, it's not like I've hurt your little brother. He's perfectly safe. In fact, you can have him back. Just beat me in a duel, like we agreed and I'll hand him over. I mean, 1 more victory shouldn't be too hard for the Duel Monsters world champ, right?" Pegasus asked while his Millennium Eye glowed under his long white hair.
But Yugi thought differently. "That Millennium Eye Pegasus has could make it a real problem, even for Kaiba."
"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm not hoping Kaiba loses this duel. I still say he's a 1st class jerk for everything he put us through, but I can't help but feel for him for trying to get his little brother back." Joey said with sympathy for Kaiba, despite still not liking him for everything he put him and his friends through.
"Far as I'm concerned, anyone who stands up to Pegasus can't be all bad." Tristan said, thinking that anyone brave enough to stand up to someone like Pegasus can't be all bad, even Kaiba.
"Joey and Tristan are right. After all, what could be more Noble than fighting for someone that you love. I just hope Kaiba's learned to fight with his heart as well as his head." Yugi thought to himself, hoping that the Duel Monsters champion had learned to fight using his heart.
"Come now, Kaiba, it's rude to keep us in suspense, especially with an audience waiting in the wings." Pegasus told the champion, making Kaiba look at the upper balcony and see Yugi and his annoying dweeb of friends.
But this did surprise Kaiba, as he couldn't believe that Yugi could be here right now after the defeat he handed him. "Yugi? How could you be here after I defeated you?" He asked before he turned back around with an unsurprised smile. "I should've known you'd find a way."
"Well I certainly did. Yugi has passed every test that I have presented him with." Pegasus thought with a smile before looking back at Kaiba. "I hope you're ready, Kaiba, I've been looking forward to this for quite some time."
"Good." Kaiba said as he knelt down, opened his briefcase and got out 1 of his new holographic projectors and threw it to Pegasus, who caught it with surprise. "Then you'll have no problem dueling with this."
"You want to duel me with your latest contraption? But I don't even know how this thing works." Pegasus said with the tone of a child. "Do I spin it or roll it like a ball?" He asked as he rolled Kaiba's duel disk like a ball, making his servants rush to grab it.
But Kaiba wasn't having any of this nonsense. "Cut the theatrics!"
"Ooooh, Kaiba means business. Okay then, how about we settle this like businessmen would? I'll agree to use your little device if you agree to a request that I have."
"What?"
"Nothing that will change the game, of course. I simply want someone else to operate your device for me." Pegasus said as his Millennium eye glowed.
"I smell a rat." Keith said with distaste for Pegasus, as this was how he defeated him in New York City.
"I assure you that I'll still make all the decisions in the duel. The gameplay won't change at all." Pegasus assured Kaiba.
"So why the request? Why not fight your own battle for once in your life?" Kaiba asked with a bit of anger at this coward for refusing to duel him himself and having someone else do it for him.
Pegasus chuckled at that as he thought to himself. "Simple-minded fool. Despite all your titles and technical knowledge, you still haven't learned that fighting isn't the only way to inflict damage upon an opponent. A man's spirit can be broken in much easier ways." Before he clapped his hands to his servants. "Show Kaiba the lad that will act as my pawn and he'll understand my request."
That was when the door Pegasus came through opened, revealing none other than Mokuba, whose soul had been taken by Pegasus, in chains, shocking Kaiba, Yugi and his friends. "Mokuba! Kaiba called out to his little brother, who could not respond due to his body being without its soul. "It's me."
But Yugi and his friends knew that something was wrong. "Something's not right."
"It;s like he's been hypnotized." Tea said with concern before Mai reached for her hand and held it tightly.
"I apologize if he doesn"t seem quite like himself. But I happen to find that the captives I keep are far easier to manage after I've made an extraction of sorts." Pegasus said as the soulless Mokuba walked up to him.
"You monster!" Kaiba said with anger at the 1 who dared to do such a thing to his little brother.
But Pegasus just chuckled evilly as he showed the caed that contained Mokuba's soul, with the image of Mokuba looking like he was calling out for his big brother. "Now, now, Kaiba boy. Petty insults aren"t the way to get your brother's soul back. Hahahahahaha!"
"His soul?!" Yugi and Bakura asked at the same time.
"What"s Pegasus mean?" Mai asked with confusion.
"He must have done to Mokuba what he did to Yugi's grandpa." Tristan said, thinking that was most likely the case.
"Hahahahahaha. I told you your little brother was perfectly safe, and he is. But how long he remains that way is up to you." Pegasus threatened. "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. To save your brother, you'll have to defeat me."
"Defeat you? I'll crush you!" Kaiba vowed.
Now Yugi understood why Kaiba went to the lengths to beat him in their rematch. While he knew that Pegasus had kidnapped Mokuba, he had no idea that the old man had taken his soul as well, making the youngest Kaiba brother just like his captured grandfather. Yugi then knew that he had to help Kaiba in any way that how could now, especially for Mokuba and his grandfather's sakes.
"So it's settled. We'll use your new invention, but your brother will operate it for me." Pegasus said as 1 of his servants handed the soulless Mokuba Kaiba's new duel disk.
But Kaiba knew that he could not duel the only person in the world that he ever cared about, even if his soul was in Pegasus' hands. "Wait, Pegasus!"
What's the matter, Kaiba boy? This was your idea. Using your own system is sure to give you quite the advantage." Pegasus said with an evil smile, knowing he had Kaiba right where he wanted him.
"I can't duel my own brother, even if his soul is trapped in another place." kaiba thought to himself. "He's been through enough already." Kaiba said before reluctantly agreeing to duel the creator of Duel Monsters on his terms. "All right, Pegasus. You win. We won't use it. We'll duel on your terms. Just leave my little brother out of this."
Pegasus knelt down and put his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "So rather than duel your empty shell of a brother with his new invention, he'll give me the home field advantage. Fine with me. Take him away." He told his servants, who did just that.
"You creep." Kaiba said, insulting Pegasus.
"Watch yourself, Kaiba. You're in my world now." Pegasus told the world champion before he snapped his fingers and an entire dueling arena came down before connecting with the platform they were on before activating.
"The 2 biggest legends in Duel Monsters going at it? This is what it's all about." Mai said with eagerness to see which person was greater at Duel Monsters as she continued to hold Tea's hand but the brown-haired girl leaned over to Mai, wanting to be close to her, surprising Mai before he put her bag on the floor and wrapped her arms around her, which thankfully, the others didn't notice.
"Ready, Kaiba? Your brother's fate hangs in the balance." Pegasus said, grabbing a deck of cards and getting on his side of the platform as Kaiba did the same.
"Kaiba, you've got to believe in the heart of the cards! It's the only way to rescue Mokuba!" Yugi advised his rival.
But Kaiba wasn't having any of that. "Stay out of this, Yugi! I'm fighting this duel my way!"
"Just don't forget that it takes more than a strong monster and clever strategies to win this. That Millennium Eye Pegasus has changes everything. You have to-" Yugi tried to say but Joey cut his friend off.
"Yug, don't forget that Kaiba's the 1 who took 5 of your stars." He reminded him, remembering the duel between his best friend and Kaiba all too well.
"I know, but I also know what it's like to duel for someone you care about, and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything I can to help Kaiba get his brother back."
"Yugi, you're a good duelist, but I don't need your help. This is my battle to fight now, and I will win!" Kaiba vowed as he put his deck of cards on the platform.
Pegasus chuckled. "Poor fool. He needs all the help he can get."
"We've known each other for a long time. And now we'll see if the greatest duelist is the Duel Monsters creator of its champion. You have nowhere left to hide, Pegasus!"
"Time to duel!" Pegasus and Kaiba said at the same time as their life point count of 2000 showed on their platforms.
As both of them looked at the 5 cards in their hand, Pegasus could tell that Kaiba was nervous and decided to change that. "Here, defense mode." He said as he paid a monster card face down in defense mode and placed another card face down as well.
"I doubt that. Pegasus must already be planning something." Kaiba thought to himself before he drew a card, seeing that his hand held Ryu-Kishin, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Rude Kaiser, his Crush Card, Mesmeric Control and Saggi the Dark Clown. "Hmm. Blue-Eyes on my 1st draw. But I can't risk playing it until I know what card Pegasus put down. But still, that doesn't mean I can't attack with something else." He then spoke as he laid 1 card face down and played Rude Kaiser in attack mode."I'll lay a card face down, too. Also I'll play Rude Kaiser face up in attack mode." He said as the holographic Rude Kaiser came to life. "Go, Rude Kaiser, attack Pegasus' face down monster with 4 Arm Slash!" Kaiba told the monster, who did just that and destroyed Pegasus' monster card, which was revealed to be the Toon Alligator.
"Oh no!" Pegasus said with fake fear.
"I'd expect more from you, Pegasus." Kaiba said with overconfidence.
"I had no idea you had such powerful cards at your disposal, Kaiba. I don't think I have a monster in my entire deck that can compete with that creature." Pegasus said before looking at the cards and saw the perfect card. "Hold on. I may have spoken too soon. Yes, here's the perfect card." He said before playing the Parrot Dragon monster. "Attack! Bombarding Beak!"
"Not so fast! I placed a card face down too, remember?" Kaiba asked as he revealed his face down card: the Mesmeric Control card, which entranced Parrot Dragon and lowered its attack power by 800 points, bringing them down to 1200. "Kaiser, 4 Arm Slash! Carve up that bird!" Kaiba commanded the Rude Kaiser, who did just that, destroying Parrot Dragon and bringing Pegasus' life points down to 1400!
"Oh no." Pegasus said with the same take fear as before.
But Kaiba noticed that something was wrong. "Wait. Something's wrong here."
"I don't get it. Pegasus talks a big game, but duels like a kid." Tristan said with confusion, noticing that while Pegasus talked a big game, he was dueling like a kid.
"It's almost like he's toying with him." Mai added.
"Wait. Didn't he pull that same act with you, Yugi?" Tea asked her friend, remembering that Pegasus did the same thing with him when they last dueled.
"Yep. I guess he doesn't even take the world champion seriously. I just hope Kaiba can catch on before it's too late." Yugi answered while noticing that Pegasus was not taking even Kaiba seriously and hoping that Kaiba could see that before it was too late.
"Something's not right. Pegasus doesn't even seem to be trying. I've taken down 2 of his monsters without him even putting up a fight, but it's almost as if he expected me to do it...like he knew exactly how I was planning to attack him." Kaiba thought to himself, knowing that something was off about the duel, like Pegasus knew exactly what he'd do. "My turn, Pegasus." He said before drawing another card and looking at it. "Hmmm. Another good card. But if I'm right and Pegasus is just toying with me, he may be able to counter it. I'll just have to play something I know he can't defend against: my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
But before Kaiba could place his dragon on the field, Pegasus stopped him. "Stop right there! I'd like to play a little guessing game with that card you're about to throw out on the field."
"A game!? We're in the middle of a duel here." Kaiba said, not interested in games.
"I'm allowed to play a game because my trap card says so."
"A trap?"
"I played a card face down, remember?" Pegasus asked before revealing his face down card: Prophecy. "This Prophecy card allows me to predict if the card you're holding has an attack power higher or lower than 2000. And if I'm able to guess correctly, Kaiba boy, then the card in question becomes mine. And I think I'll guess that it is indeed over 2000. But wait, something else is coming. Oh yes. I see blue. I see white. Could it be? Yes, of course. I see the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." He guessed correctly, thanks to his Millennium Eye showing him what the card was, shocking Kaiba to the core. "Was I right? I sure hope I was right? Please tell me I was right."
But Kaiba had enough of this and put his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card on the transfer part of the platform before it transferred the card to Pegasus. "Enough! Just take it!" He said with reluctance.
Pegasus took the card with delight as he showed it to Kaiba tauntingly. "Now the most valuable card in your deck is mine."
"That's impossible. There's no way he could have seen my Blue-Eyes before I played it! How did he know?" Kaiba asked himself mentally.
"Pegasus must be up to his old tricks. He must be using his Millennium Eye to see Kaiba's cards, just like he did with me. Poor Kaiba. Even his great skills don't stand a chance against Pegasus' powers." Yugi said with concern for Kaiba.
"Now I have 2 things you care about, Kaiba: your dragon and your brother." Pegasus said as he put the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card in his deck hand. "Let's see what else I can take. After your turn, of course."
"Without my Blue-Eyes, I have no choice but to switch my monster to defense mode." Kaiba said as his Rude Kaiser did just that.
"Good. Now it's my turn again." Pegasus said as he drew another card before noticing that Kaiba was looking anxious. "Hmm. Kaiba's looking anxious. I wonder why? Perhaps I should look into the matter." He thought to himself before using his Millennium Eye to look into Kaiba's mind and saw his opponent's next move. "Ah, a virus card and Saggi the Dark Clown. I see. You're planning to contaminate my deck by using those cards in a combo attack. And normally a move like that would seal the match in your favor, but not today, Kaiba. Because as soon as you try that move on me, I'll be ready." He thought before preparing 2 more cards. "I'll lay this card face down and place 1 monster face down in defense mode. And I'm afraid that's the best move I could come up with."
Kaiba knew that this was his chance, not knowing that Pegasus was ready for it. "My turn. And my chance to finish this duel in 1 move." He thought to himself before he summoned Saggi the Dark Clown, infected with the Crush Card Virus. "Using this move will spread a virus through Pegasus' deck. Any monster he has with over 1500 attack points will be completely useless."
"Since you activated your Crush Card, I think now is a good time to activate this." Pegasus said as he showed his defense: the Negative Energy Spell card. "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 spell makes Saggi the Dark Clown too strong for the job." He explained as Saggi grew, along with his attack points, which were raised to 1200, which meant that Kaiba's virus was now useless.
Kaiba was shocked at this. "He had the perfect defense all set up before I even attacked! But how!?"
"Aww, what's wrong, Kaiba? You look so sad. Keep your chin up. I'm sure it was just a lucky move on my part. But you know what they say: it's better to be lucky than good." Pegasus said tauntingly before revealing his face down monster: the Dark Rabbit, whose attack points doubled up to 2200 before it attacked Saggi the Dark Clown and destroyed him, which lowered Kaiba's life points to 1000, shocking the world champion to the core, along with Yugi and his friends.
"I've never seen Kaiba so shaken before." Tea said as she held Mai tightly for comfort, having never seen Kaiba so shaken before.
"This is bad. The duel's just started and Kaiba's already 1000 life points behind." Yugi said with concern for Kaiba.
"Hahahaha! Now you see how feeble your skills truly are, Kaiba boy. I make you look like a novice, and I've only just begun to make use of my Millennium Eye!" Pegasus thought with evil delight, knowing that this was just the beginning.
"That Millennium Eye. Somehow it allows Pegasus to see all of the cards in Kaiba's hand." Yugi said, making the others look at him.
"You're not serious, are you?" Mai asked while holding Tea close to her, not believing that that golden eye could let Pegasus see what cards his opponents have.
"Wow Yuge, I know you said that eye had magic powers, but I didn't think it could help Pegasus win duels too." Joey said to his friend. " How's anybody supposed to win against that kind of power?"
"Still, I wouldn't count Kaiba out just yet. He may be behind now, but he didn't get to become champion without learning a few comeback tricks." Yugi said, knowing Kaiba wasn't the world champion for nothing.
"This is absurd! It's as if Pegasus can see my cards before I play them, but that's impossible. I just need to trust my old skills." Kaiba thought before drawing another card and placed it face down in defense mode. "No card in my hand can defeat the deranged rabbit, but at least I can protect myself from him."
Pegasus then drew a card from his deck and when he saw what it was, he asked Kaiba an unexpected question. "Tell me something, my old friend, did you enjoy watching cartoons in your youth?" Only to get a cold look from Kaiba before he explained while revealing that he was a big fan of the Funny Bunny cartoon show and how he'd spend hours in his childhood watching the hero evading the police dog.
But Kaiba wasn't having any more of Pegasus' childish nonsense. "Just make your move!"
"Hahaha. But Kaiba, that is my move."
"Your movie's a cartoon?"
"Not just a cartoon, you fool. An entire magical cartoon world!" Pegasus answered before playing his latest card. "Welcome Kaiba, to Toon World." He said before a holographic book appeared and opened up in a cartoon fashion to reveal a whole cartoon city inside it. "Let the fun begin."
"You must be kidding." Kaiba said with disbelief.
Tea and the others were in disbelief about the Toon World as well. "Toon World? Looks like some kids pop up book to me."
"I've never even heard of this whacky card." Joey added.
"Hmm. Toon World. That sounds familiar." Yugi thought to himself, knowing that something was familiar about this Toon World.
"Hey, I think Pegasus' rabbit just disappeared." Tristan told the others, noticing that Pegasus' rabbit was gone.
"So that's the magic of Toon World? You can make your monsters disappear?" Kaiba asked, thinking that was the power of Toon World.
"Hahahaha. Come now, Kaiba. Even cartoon bunnies can't vanish into thin air. My Dark Rabbit simply went to his new home. And it's a home that will prove to be the safest of places. For as soon as I close the page covers, Toon World can't be penetrated by anything. But don't worry, my rabbit won't lock himself behind those pages without paying you a visit 1st. Dark Rabbit, attack!" Pegasus said before the Dark Rabbit emerged from Toon World and destroyed Kaiba's face down monster, revealed to be the Battle Ox before it made a stupid face at the world champion and went back into Toon World. "Quite a painful chapter in your Battle Ox's life, right Kaiba boy? I'd brace for your revenge, but my Dark Rabbit already safely back inside Toon World. Perhaps the next time when he comes out to give you a thumping, you can try taking a swing at him."
Kaiba growled at this cowardly fool. "You coward!"
"Well, that's not fair." Tea said, thinking that moves like that were unfair.
"He'll keep doing this the entire duel." Yugi said with concern.
Kaiba took a card from his hand and placed it face down. "I can't attack his rabbit, so I'll just lay out this for later."
"Looks like it's my turn again and a chance to show off even more Toon power. And what better way to do it then to use a card I stole from you." Pegasus said with delight as he showed his next card: Kaiba's stolen Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"No. My Blue-Eyes!" Kaiba said with shock.
"Now I'll show you what your beast is capable of under my control. Blue-Eyes, awaken and cross the threshold into Toon World." Pegasus said as he played the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and when it came to life, it was absorbed into the pages of Toon World and came out as the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, a cartoon version of the real Blue-Eyes but with the same attack and defense points.
Kaiba was angered by this, as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon had been stripped of its price. "No! You've stripped him of his pride."
"Please, I've transformed this legendary beast into his most supreme form. Also, I've made him look much more cuddly." Pegasus said with a childish smile.
"Of all the things that Blue-Eyes is, cuddly sure ain't 1 of them." Joey said, knowing that the Blue-Eyes was anything but cuddly.
"For once, I think Kaiba would agree." Yugi said, knowing Kaiba would agree with Joey on that, despite his dislike for his best friend.
But Keith was liking this little show, despite hating Pegasus. "Let's see the 'world champ' get out of this."
"Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, attack the Rude Kaiser." Pegasus told his Toon monster, who did just that and destroyed Rude Kaiser with White Lightning Attack, but not lowering Kaiba's life points due to him being in defense mode. "How embarrassing. A world champ bested by a Toon version of his own most trusted beast. How ever did that happen?" Pegasus asked mockingly.
"Pegasus, your underhanded dueling tactics have gone on long enough. It's time someone put a stop to your cheating ways." Kaiba said with a smile while putting his present hand of cards down, confusing Pegasus. "I may not know exactly how you're cheating, but somehow you're able to see all my cards. So... I'm abandoning my present hand. Perhaps if I can't see what I'm playing, you can't either!"
"A gutsy move." Yugi said, impressed that Kaiba would do a move like that.
"How do you think Pegasus is cheating?" Tristan asked, wanting to know how Pegasus was cheating in this duel.
"Who knows, maybe he's got some hidden cameras set up in here." Joey theorized, thinking that could be the reason.
"You really think so?"
"I wouldn't put anything past that slimeball."
"Yeah. Now that Kaiba's not looking at his cards, he needs to trust more in the heart of the cards if he hopes to rescue Mokuba." Tea said like a true Duelist, despite still being inexperienced.
"Wow. You've certainly come a long way, Tea. And you've got great potential to be a duelist. When this duel's over and we get some free time before the finals, we're going to have a talk about that great potential." Mai thought to herself with a sweet smile while rubbing Tea's cheek, making her blush before she rubbed the blonde woman's hair, which thankfully, the others still didn't notice.
Kaiba then drew his next card, putting all his faith into the draw for Mokuba. "I've put all my faith in this next card, so now let it be revealed!" Kaiba said before he summoned...his 2nd Blue-Eyes White Dragon, shocking everyone, including Pegasus! "Yes, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Kaiba said, knowing now that at least he had a chance at winning.
"Incredible. That's got to be the luckiest draw I've ever seen." Mai said, impressed with the draw.
"I think that draw was more about faith than luck." Tristan said with a smile.
"You said it, bud. Kaiba listened to his heart, and it paid off for him but time." Joey agreed, smiling at Kaiba's good fortune.
"Pegasus, your card Prophecy has failed you! And now your Toon Dragon will fail you as well!" Kaiba said, knowing that with the real Blue-Eyes White Dragon, this pathetic Toon Dragon would fail Pegasus.
"Wow. I've never seen a monster go up against a Toon version of himself before." Joey said, having never seen something like a monster fighting against a cartoon version of itself before.
"Normally, this clash would end in a draw, but I don't know all the rules of Toon World, so I can't be sure." Yugi thought to himself.
But Pegasus just clapped his hands in amusement at this new development. "Oh this is going to be so much fun. A Blue-Eyes going against his Toon counterpart. There's no end to the antics that could come from this."
"Wrong! This isn't 1 of your hair-brained after school cartoons. Your Toon won't escape this!" Kaiba said, but Pegasus wasn't afraid, making Yugi and his friends concerned. "Blue-Eyes, attack with all your might! White Lightning!" Kaiba told his trusted creature, making it do just that...before the Toon Dragon dodged the blast! "No way!" Kaiba said in disbelief.
"You should have watched more cartoons, Kaiba. The cuddliest creature never gets hit." Pegasus taunted before he talked more about his Funny Bunny show and how the hero always avoided the police dog, annoying Kaiba. "And my creatures will employ the same cleverness each time you attack. Because as long as my Toon World card is out, everything I throw will be just as hard for you to pin down as my Toon Dragon!"
"That ain't fair! Just 'cause Pegasus invented the game, doesn't mean he can use some super card no 1 knows about!" Joey said, knowing that was not fair.
"Kaiba will get creamed if nothing but Toons." Yugi said with concern for Kaiba.
"Yugi, you ever hear of Toon World?" Mai asked the still learning duelist.
"Well, all I know is that it was never released to the public. It was far too powerful. I guess Pegasus must have the only 1." Yugi answered honestly while revealing what he knew about the Toon World card.
"How can anyone beat Pegasus when he has cards like that at his disposal?" Tea asked, wondering how anyone could beat Pegasus when he had powerful cards like Toon World.
"Now, where were we, Kaiba boy? Ah yes, it was my turn." Pegasus said before he talked in his mind. "Let's see. He's folded his hand, so I can no longer look through his eyes to see what cards he holds. But perhaps I can look elsewhere. You see, a duelist of Kaiba's experience has long since memorized his entire deck, every monster, every card. So I don't need to look through his eyes to see what cards he keeps, I simply need to look through his mind." He then played his Shine Palace card, adding it to Toon World. "Glorious, isn't it? Because it raises my Toon Dragon's attack power by 500 points, thanks to the light energy it absorbs from Toon World." Pegasus explained as the light energy that the Toon Dragon absorbed increased its attack power by 500 as it grew stronger than Kaiba's Blue-Eyes by showing cartoon exploding volcano biceps. "Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, attack with white lightning!" Pegasus told his Toon monster, making it do just that.
"But Kaiba was prepared for the attack and revealed his face down card. "Not so fast! I activate the magic card: Negate Attack!" He said as the white lightning blast was negated by the magic card, leaving his Blue-Eyes unharmed.
"Clever move, Kaiba. But don't forget that the defensive magic of negate attack only lasts for 1 turn while my Toon Dragon will remain." Pegasus thought to himself.
"I bought some time, but I can't hold off that Toon Dragon for long. I have to destroy that comic monstrosity now. Otherwise, not only will I lose this duel, but I'll also lose my only chance at rescuing Mokuba's soul. I have to trust in my deck...for the both of us." Kaiba thought to himself before drawing his next card, trusting in his deck for both himself and his little brother. Kaiba saw what card he drew and knew that this was his chance. "Go, Shadow Spell!" He said as he played the spell card, shocking Pegasus as chains wrapped around the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, preventing it from moving and lowering his attack power by 700 points, lowering them to 2800 and making it weaker than Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Looks like Toons don't always get the last laugh."
"How dare Kaiba imprison such a free spirit such as my Blue-Eyes Toon. It's like imprisoning joy itself. He will pay for interrupting my fun." Pegasus thought with anger before Kaiba's Blue-Eyes destroyed its going counterpart with a white lightning blast, lowering Pegasus' life points to 1200!
"All right. Kaiba did it!" Tea cheered.
"He pulled it off. Impressive." Mai said, impressed.
"Do you understand now, Pegasus? Nothing will stop me from rescuing my little brother, even destroying my own Blue-Eyes." Kaiba said with regret for his Blue-Eyes despite knowing that his brother was more important to him.
"As, Kaiba boy, your treasured Blue-Eyes mean so much to you, don't they? Well, as Duel Monsters creator, I'm truly touched by your devotion...but when will you learn that the same devotion is not shared by the Blue-Eyes? For as you will see, they are not so loyal." Pegasus said as he drew his next card: the Dragon Capture Jar trap card and placed it on the field, making Kaiba shocked as he knew what that card did before the jar absorbed Kaiba's Blue-Eyes into it and sealed it within, transferring its defense points to the jar and increasing them to 2700!
"I can't let Pegasus steal another 1 of my dragons with that jar. I have to find a way to destroy it!" Kaiba thought before he drew another card and looked at it. "Okay Pegasus, I'm playing this in defense mode." He said before placing the card face down in defense mode.
"Then for my turn... I'll place this magic card face down." Pegasus said as he took a magic card from his hand and placed it face down for when the time was right, along with bringing out the Dragon Piper monster in defense mode.
"That could only mean 1 thing." Yugi said, knowing what Pegasus was planning.
"You're planning to bring my dragon under your control." Kaiba concluded.
"You read my mind, Kaiba boy. And soon I'll make him a Toon just like I did your other Blue-Eyes, then the fun will begin all over again." Pegasus said with a smirk.
"No way. Not if I destroy that jar. I call upon the power of the Swordstalker!" Kaiba said as he played the Swordstalker and commanded it to attack the Dragon Piper. But Pegasus was prepared and revealed his face down magic card: the Doppleganger, which Pegasus had used to copy Kaiba's Crush Card virus, making Kaiba, Yugi and his friends afraid as the Swordstalker slashed through the infected Dragon Piper, spreading the card virus to the cards in Kaiba's hand and his entire deck, rendering almost all of them completely useless due to them all having more than 1500 attack points.
"I don't believe it! Kaiba just got done in by the same move that he tried to beat Yugi with." Joey said with disbelief.
"All of my cards...gone." Kaiba said with shock before he picked up the 1 card the virus didn't infect: the Monster Reborn magic card, which he used to bring back Saggi the Dark Clown.
"It's your last move, and you spend it reviving a clown? Oh right, that's all you can do with that virus still in effect. Shame, when you consider all that's on the line." Pegasus said tauntingly.
"Mokuba, I'm so sorry. I did my best." Kaiba said with regret for not being able to rescue his little brother's soul.
"Your best failed you. Bickuribox, emerge and attack!" Pegasus said before the Bickuribox did just that.
"Forgive me, Mokuba. I am so sorry." Kaiba said sadly with great regret before his final monster was destroyed, ending the Duel with Pegasus as the winner.
"There are no more cards you can play, therefore you lose, Kaiba boy. And not only did you lose this duel, you've lost your only chance at rescuing your baby brother. You let him down. But don't worry, I'll spare you the agony of carrying on in this world without him." Pegasus said evilly as he drew out a soul card from his coat and used his Millennium Eye to put Kaiba's soul into it before his image appeared on the card, much to Yugi and his friends' shock. "Hahahahaha. Welcome to your new home, a place of solitude and seclusion. And while your soul is away, your body will be my obedient servant!" He said with delight before holding the card that contained Mokuba's soul as well. "Ah, the brothers Kaiba, 1 in each hand. But even though you're so close together, your souls have never been further apart. At least when I had Mokuba locked up, you were both still living in the same dimension...but now you're world's apart! Hahahahaha." He said evilly before looking at Kaiba's now soulless body. "Take away that empty shell. Teach it to wash dishes or something." He ordered his servants, who did just that.
But Yugi and his friends were horrified at what they had just seen, along with Pegasus' evil words. "Okay, tell me I didn't just see what I thought I saw." Joey said with shock.
"He's gone too, and just because he was only trying to save his little brother." Yugi said as tears came from his eyes, saddened at Kaiba's fate only because he was trying to save someone he loved from a fate worse than death. "He was...just like us. He just wanted to save someone he cared for!" The young boy cried before looking at Pegasus with hatred. "Why, Pegasus? Who are you to toy with our friends, our families?! I won't let you get away with it!" He vowed.
"Hahahahaha! Just try and stop me, little Yugi." Pegasus said with overconfidence before he saw the Millennium Puzzle shine with a bright flash of light... before the spirit of the Puzzle took over Yugi, making Pegasus form a knowing smile. "Ah. I believe I sense Yugi tapping into the power of his Millennium item. Excellent."
"Pegasus." The spirit said with courage. "It won't be long now until I put an end to your games."
"Yugi boy, don't forget that you have to make it through the final rounds of this tournament to even earn the privilege of challenging me." Pegasus taunted.
"Rest assured that I will be at the finals, but the true privilege will be defeating you and undoing all the evil acts you've committed against me and my friends." The spirit vowed, his desire to defeat Pegasus and free his friends even stronger than ever now.
"Hahahahaha. I look forward to your finest efforts, Yugi boy. And the efforts of all our finalists." Pegasus said with delight, referring to all the duelists who made it this far. "You truly are the best of the best." He said before thinking to himself. "But even so, with the power of my Millennium Eye, nothing will keep me from victory. Not even Yugi and his Millennium Puzzle! Hahahahaha!"
There you go, my friends, the 1st chapter of my Yu-Gi-Oh story is at last complete. 8,166 words in 1 chapter is quite the treat, isn't it? Took a bit longer than I thought but it was more than worth it. I believe everyone who's seen the show will know what happens next, but I'll be adding that little talk between our future main couple as a bit of extra for you all. Anyway, rate and review, and I'll see you all soon, my friends.