Part One
Duelist Kingdom
Pegasus was just one man sitting alone, with nothing but the sound of his working computer near him. The screen stayed empty, and Pegasus worked in his head the beginnings of change, the roots of a new life for himself. He was back to nothing once again, trying to find new goals and a motivation for his meaningless life. There had been two previous cycles in his life, but they were over. Once again, he had come back from the depths of depression. He had returned to the world a morphed and changed man after wallowing through a maze of indecision, despair and pain for a year. It had happened the same way after the end of the first phase of his life when Cecilia, his wife, died of a strange disease. The second time Pegasus' life had been destroyed, this life one he thought he had worked out everything about himself and his world, had been because Yugi Motto had defeated him. Then the boy with the Millennium Ring had stolen the Millennium Eye.
In the first phase of his life, a young painter had thought the answer to everything was love. The second phase of his life, a sadistic corporate millionaire had thought his magic would bring him all the solutions to his problems. Maximillian Pegasus now entered the third phase of his life, and become a still, observing man struggling with his values and beliefs, owning no sort of motto or theme for his life to run by. Pegasus had been dragged out of his depression not by some crazy hope that the Millennium Eye would bring back his dead wife, but by the fact he had finally been released from the Millennium Eye and brought into the cold state of disillusionment. He was somewhat disgusted at what he had been when he owned the Millennium Eye. Shaadi had said he knew Pegasus was chosen by the Millennium Eye because he had not gone mad when it was inserted. That man chosen by the Millennium Eye, shifting his sour grape juice while he reflected on his past, disagreed with that now. The powers to see selective sections of time, into a person's most private thoughts and emotions, and have the power to cast souls into the Shadow Realm at will, were all too much for just one man to own. The Millennium Eye had given a torn man the semblance of a possibility to bring back someone from the dead. The Millennium Eye, combined with that kind of desperate creature, brought its own kind of insanity.
He had fallen in love with Cecilia as a child, and grown up to marry her. His entire world had been focused on that beautiful woman, his motivation to pursue painting stemming from her. After her death, he would have done anything to get her back. Pegasus had done anything to get Cecilia back. He captured dozens of souls, raped them from their bodies and cast them into the cold Shadow Realm, just to gain more power. Cecilia would have been disgusted at the second phase Pegasus, and that was why he detested himself now. He was almost glad that white haired boy had stolen the Millennium Eye from him. It freed him from magic, the hopes that he could bring Cecilia back alive, and so, Pegasus could start for himself a new life. Some might say it was pathetic a man defined himself almost wholly by a woman. That was what Pegasus had done in his first two phases, and again he was living for her, his deceased, but still shinning wife.
Pegasus was still a rich man, but he had looked at his company recently and found it a complete disaster, even by the standards of his former bastard of a self. The same men who had persuaded him to help take over Kaiba Corporations had found themselves a jackpot anyway after all their plans had fallen apart. Pegasus had sunk deep within himself, and not cared about anything, least of all Industrial Illusions. The corporate demons had swamped his company and taken it over. Pegasus did not mind so much, as he had this coming to him after ignoring his business, except for the fact that they were running it badly. Wrong choices were being made left and right, and money was being wasted in ridiculous amounts. Pegasus considered himself one of those corrupted businessmen, but his "brothers" were like bad relatives that moved in and trashed the house.
It was definite that Pegasus needed to come in and make changes quickly. He had decided to revamp the entire corporation, and create new guidelines and regulations to prevent the business from being turned into such a wasteland, even in the event Pegasus entered a depression and ignored it for ten years. He had been busy choosing new managers, modifying the stocks he held and correcting as many mistakes as he could, fixing the leaks in his company's plumbing. The screen in front of him was blank. It was a writing program opened so Pegasus could type a list of new rules disguised as a formal letter. Pegasus wanted a company that worked well, but was more honorable in the ways it worked also. He finally moved from his frozen position and began to type with a smirk. His fellow ruthless tycoons were not going to like what was said in these fancy words one bit.
Board Members and Faculty,
…Upon recent events, I have decided it is necessary to secure the position of the Pegasus family in this company. I have decided that upon my death or otherwise, an Heir will take my place and become the owner of my stock. The Heir will also hold his own specialized position before such a time may take place in order to train him or her, and to help me with my decisions in this business…
…The Heir will be of my late wife's family's line. The Heir will be announced two weeks from today at a Duel Monsters tournament held in his honor. The tournament shall progress for three days on my island, and include such famed Duelists as Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motto, if they choose to accept their invitations. Among them will be my heir, a duelist among other duelists, as Illusion's laws now require that the heir also have some knowledge of the game Duel Monsters for obvious reasons…Until then, Maximillian Pegasus
There was more in the letter, but the part about his new heir was a main section. Pegasus yawned and prepared himself for the task of choosing the Heir. He wanted the heir to be a relative of Cecilia, and while Cecilia and Pegasus had not had children (not for the lack of planning though), Cecilia had four living brothers and sisters, as well as cousins. Pegasus wanted the heir to be a duelist, to have attitude and brains. The Heir should be somewhat selfish, and needed sharp wits about him all the time. Pegasus had all ready done research and found the Heir for his corporate empire.
He brought the picture of this person up and stared at it. It was actually a picture from the last Duelist Kingdom tournament in which Yugi had beat him and taken Pegasus' title as King of Games. The Heir was young and had been a contestant in that tournament, and had made it all the way to the playoffs. He hadn't been aware of the person's relationship to Cecilia at the time, but she was actually Cecilia's younger sister's daughter. The young woman on the screen was Cecilia's niece, a fair duelist and full of attitude. She smirked in the picture, and had a daring look about her, with sharp, fair features and dark violet eyes accented by makeup. The girl didn't try to hide the fact she was quite grown up by hiding her looks, in a dark purple jacket that stayed open to a low-cut white blouse. A large mass of blonde hair waved down her back, not hiding or shadowing her face. She was deadly and beautiful, just like the trademark Harpy Lady in her deck.
She was not like his beautiful, light-natured Cecilia. Mai Valentine had a heavier, sexier nature than her aunt. He could not really imagine Cecilia running a corporation, but Mai Valentine had the attitude and cheek to stand for herself. She was no stranger to wanting things, and he knew that even now Mai was still something of a materialist, even though having money and things for herself now was more for surviving nicely, and what she did own was not taken for granted. She would receive his invitation to the Duelist Kingdom Party Tournament tomorrow, Mai not knowing that the entire thing was in honor of her until three days after she arrived.
