Part Four

Around noon the next day, Mai was eating by herself, savoring the memory of another victory. She had dueled against Joey that morning and won! He had taken the defeat with good humor, considering the fact his sister's eyesight did not weigh on the result, and that his standing on the duelist list was still above hers. The duel had been in the cold, frosty air, and Mai had been forced to wear gloves and a hat while dueling him. The arena had been placed on a high cliff overlooking the sea, and put Mai into good spirits at the view she saw during the match. Then when she had defeated him, a Christmas song had started playing from the arena, and a stand had appeared and come toward her. On it had been a crisp, laminated Lightning Harpy Lady in all of its glory. Mai promptly added the card to her deck.

Mai was looking around the inner courtyard for someone to duel. She wanted to compete against someone she didn't know, but there were a lot of recognizable faces in the lunch room. Mai wanted the person's deck to be a surprise, their strategies unknown to her, and their face and personality new and exciting. She looked at the entrance, and it opened accordingly and brought her the answer. A short figure walked in and nearly ran to the food stand, a stocking cap nearly covering his eyes. His feet were in untied, red tennis shoes, and hair long, looking nearly all indigo as it reflected the light. Mai's eyes became set on the innocent chick called Mokuba Kaiba. She knew, for all the fact he looked like some fanatic seven-year-old amateur, he had been holding his own in this tournament. She had been worried that it had all been Kaiba's doing, that Mokuba's brother had been mentoring him through the entire thing and giving him all the moves to play. Her doubts were instantly wiped away now, because she had watched Mokuba during a duel when his brother had not been in sight. Seto Kaiba did not appear as a large shadow right behind Mokuba all the time, and the boy was getting lunch on his own. With sudden insight, she realized that no thirteen-year-old trying to make it in a tournament full of older duelists would want his brother around him constantly, as it was not a way to develop a good reputation.

Mai got up and deposited her tray, and then went over to Mokuba. Mokuba looked up at her and waved as she sat down. The boy was wearing a rubber band to keep his hair out of his face, and a green vest over a black sweat shirt. His dark blue eyes were suddenly extremely serious, and being this close to Mokuba made him seem older and highly more mature. He even looked something like his brother, and he had grown since last year. He no longer just looked like Seto Kaiba's little brother, an innocent pawn in the corporate and magical worlds. It only increased Mai's want to duel him. Everyone always thought of him as "Kaiba's little kid brother." The "little" in that title was gone, and Mai had a feeling she would not be dueling with a "little kid," though kids could be deadly as the United States champion had shown.

Mokuba is edging on adolescence. I wonder how Kaiba is going to deal with it in the coming couple of years, Mai thought, deciding to warm her hands by placing them in her jacket's pockets. She sat up and got ready to introduce her proposal to Mokuba, "I was wondering, Mokuba, if you would duel me after you're done with lunch?"

"Sure!" his eyes brightened at the idea, and he looked out toward the pool, "I'm meeting Seto in a while, but I don't have anything to do until then. I was sort of planning to ask you or Joey pretty soon. Where do you want to duel?"

Mai looked at the exit and sighed. She did not want to go back outside for this duel, but there weren't that many arenas inside the castle. Mostly the duelists stumbled into the ones that did exist inside. Mokuba looked at the pool and grinned broadly, showing well cared for teeth. Mai guessed he probably knew where he wanted to duel, and she replied, "Anywhere, but make it warm."

"I heard that there is an arena in the pool," Mokuba whispered to her, making sure the people around them couldn't hear. Mai nearly squealed with delight, because dueling on the pool would be wondrous. With all the Christmas decorations around them, they would dueling right under the glass roof. Even the huge Christmas tree would be near the field. Obviously no one had figured it out, but right now an arena in the pool seemed likely. The holographic projectors were submerged, and there could be an arena right under the water. Mai looked at Mokuba once again, now thinking of him as some kind of genius…a genius who was eating rather fast.

"Whoa, slow down," she warned him, "I don't want your brother coming on to me for making you sick. We'll bring down the house all right, but there is no hurry to get this duel over with. Take your time."

About an half-an-hour later, Mokuba had finished his lunch and was ready. Trying not to make it ceremonious, both of them walked to the edge of the pool, serenely reflecting colors and lit up by lights. Just because of this setting, it would be the duel that Mai and Mokuba most remembered from the Duel Party in following years. Not many people paid attention to them, just thinking that the two were going to stare at the tree. Mokuba gave her an encouraging look that said she got to do the honors. Mai took out her deck and held it up promisingly.

"Mokuba, I challenge you to a duel," Mai clearly amplified the words so the machines that listened for those particular vibrations picked them up. Mokuba took out his deck from the pocket of his pants and held it up as well, grinning like an imp. If this didn't work, they wouldn't look like fools in front of the other duelists, because this was a common practice. If the mythical arena did come out of the pond, Mokuba and Mai would not appear idiotic at all. They would be automatic legends.

"I accept!" Mokuba's bright voice rang, and there was a startling sound. A rumble went below their feet, and gears turned audibly, alerting the other people who were eating. They all looked up and stared at the pond, Mai, and Mokuba. Mai glanced at Joey, who was sitting to the far left, and winked at him. Then she turned and gaped as well, for a magnificent sight was taking place.

The arena was popping out from the waters, and the holographic projectors were slowly growing. The giant tree moved back, and the Christmas lights turned darker, more appropriate for a duel. The background music ceased, and the waters began churning as the arena rose and their stations, one blue and one purple, bloomed above the pool's depths. All the eating duelists whispered and twittered behind Mai and Mokuba, but there was an air of silence as the arena appeared. After about five minutes, Mai and Mokuba shook hands and went around to the opposite sides of the arena. Mai entered the purple dueling station, and Mokuba was elevated by the blue one.

Mai looked around and saw a crowd was gathering. Pegasus had suddenly appeared and was clapping loudly, with a half smile on his lips. He looked perfectly amused, and announced loudly, "I was wondering when someone would figure this out. This is the best arena on the entire island, and Mokuba Kaiba and Mai Valentine are the first to use it! Good luck to both of you!"

Mai and Mokuba both shuffled their decks while dozens of duelists ran in and out, spreading the word that a large dueling arena had just sprouted in the middle of the inner courtyard, decorated in light, bows and fake pine needles. They couldn't help but be the center of attention. Yugi appeared beside Joey with a look of awe on his face, and before anyone could utter one go through of a rhyme, so did Seto Kaiba. He stared at the dueling arena in dead surprise and glared at his brother. Mokuba only waved and smiled back at him, and then turned his attention back to Mai. It was a duel after all, and his focus needed to be on his opponent, not the gaping audience.

Mai and Mokuba began the duel, Mai going first because she had won by rock-paper-scissors. Many different eyes watched them, and when Mokuba wiped out the first monster she had played, she smiled and felt rather blessed. Two duelists, wearing angel pins, played their game in a serene, peaceful environment. A giant Christmas tree twinkled and highlighted the dueling arena, while the holograms turned out to be something neither Mokuba or Mai had ever seen before. The holograms were big and life like in a way even Kaiba had never created with his own technology.

Mokuba turned out to be a very good duelist for someone of his experience. As the duel spiraled to a contest of wit and their strongest monsters, Mai seemed to be beating him. Mokuba then came out with a fusion monster that was strong enough to beat Mai, and he subtracted her remaining life points with an attack. Mai hadn't expected for him to win, but he had and owned the duel fairly. Mai felt like it had been a good duel, and began to put her deck back together when a Christmas song started to play. Mai froze and Mokuba stared at the arena, where the song was coming from. It was not background music.

A stand appeared in front of Mokuba and contained a letter. The young teen took the envelope lying on it, and the stand dropped back into the arena and disappeared. Mai looked at him in interest, as did many of the other duelists. Envelopes were rare, as they contained the most precious prizes. At the end of the Duel Party, all the envelopes would be taken by Pegasus as deeds and the rare, expensive prizes he kept hidden somewhere on his island would be awarded. Mokuba had just gotten the rights to a large sum of money, one of the Annoying Fan Girl or Midnight Warrior cards, or the Silver Millennium Time Dragon. Mokuba wisely hopped off the arena and followed Mai to a corner.

"That was a good duel," Mokuba politely shook her hand and she nodded in agreement. Seto Kaiba was making his way toward them, but neither Mokuba or Mai noticed this at first.

"Well, aren't you going to open it? You deserve whatever is in that envelope," Mai was excited for him, as she had not gotten an envelope herself before. Naturally she was curious to know the prize. He grinned and carefully opened it by edging his finger under the top until it came loose completely. Inside was a thick piece of marbled blue and gray paper, and Mai all ready saw that the words were hand written in a fancy script.

Congratulations!

You have won the Silver Millennium Time Dragon. Please see me immediately,

Maximillian Pegasus


Mokuba yelped and turned around to his brother, who was standing by Mokuba at the time. Seto Kaiba looked extremely curious himself. Mai was also extremely surprised, and guessed that the reason that arena had been hidden under the pool was because it contained the second, or possibly first, most valuable prize in the whole tournament. Mai suddenly remembered that strange scene at Pegasus's introductory speech yesterday, and felt like fate or destiny had just paid a visit. She wondered if Mokuba was destined to own the Time Dragon or something, as the events seemed to be falling like that. She shook her head and decided to leave the subject for some time later.

"Brother, I won the Silver Millennium Time Dragon!" Mokuba whispered to Kaiba excitedly. Kaiba went a strange color briefly and stared blankly at him, but took the letter from Mokuba's hands. Mai figured Kaiba might have been planning to win that card for himself, or even try to bargain for it forcefully. Kaiba could hardly do that to his own brother though. Fate had just played a wicked trick on the owner of Kaiba Corps. by giving the Silver Millennium Time Dragon to Mokuba.

"We'll go see Pegasus then," Seto answered in a raspy, dry tone like crinkling old leaves, still in shock. Mai watched them leave and brought her mini-computer on line. Mokuba had moved up a spot in the standings. The two duelists who had discovered the inner courtyard dueling arena were now tied, and Mokuba's stat text had changed color. There was also a silver glow about his entire picture, and one part read: Top Winner: Won the Silver Millennium Time Dragon. She scrolled up the page and once again found Yugi and Seto Kaiba in the top three spots, possible winners for the one hundred thousand dollars. It had been an interesting Winter Solstice.


PEGASUS walked up the stairs to his private vaults, only young Mokuba following him. He should have known the boy was going to win the dragon. It had been so obvious! As they twisted and turned along the dim, windowless and red carpeted halls, Pegasus rummaged through his brain for information on the boy and the Time Dragon. If Mokuba had been destined to win the card, there must have been more to this situation than what Shaadi would tell him. Mokuba was part of something that was going to happen soon in the future, and the only person who knew what it that was wouldn't say anything, I really want the Eye back right now, to tear through Shaadi 's head and get some answers!

The card was extremely unique, and had disturbing qualities not even owned by the God Cards. It didn't obey him very well, as he had tried using it in a duel against Shaadi after the introductory speech. The Dragon had fried one of Pegasus' monsters indignantly instead of sending the attack across the field. Pegasus really hoped the slip of a boy behind him wouldn't have trouble with the card. Mokuba did not own any kind of magic and he was still rather young, but the Time Dragon had seemed perfectly willing to lay down its holographic pride for the boy yesterday. The Dark Magician was Yugi's primary card, and Shaadi had once told him that the Dark Magician, as a real monster, would only obey Yugi or the Pharaoh spirit of his Millennium Puzzle. Shaadi also told him yesterday that Mokuba had something of a similar status with the Time Dragon. Very few people would ever be able to use that card. Unfortunately, Shaadi would not say why Mokuba could control the it. Meanwhile, Pegasus was also worried that the Silver Millennium Sun Dragon would have the same "values" as its twin did, even though he wasn't even finished the card yet.

Seto Kaiba had been extremely reluctant to let Mokuba go to the vaults alone with Pegasus. Pegasus had shown he no longer owned the Millennium Eye to Kaiba, and actually given him documents that would allow Kaiba to take over his company easily as a trust. If Mokuba didn't come back in one functioning piece, containing his mind, heart and soul (Kaiba had been very insistent about the soul), Kaiba would keep the documents and could make Pegasus and his company tumble to the ground. Pegasus had no intention of hurting Mokuba this time, and quietly led him up the winding stairs without uttering a word. They finally arrived at Pegasus' vaults, where he kept many of his valuables. Pegasus entered the code and it unlocked. He changed the code about every three days, and the one he had been using recently was "Mai Valentine."

Mokuba followed him in, and Pegasus turned on the lights. On a table, the Silver Millennium Dragon laid in a computerized safe box on a blue cushion. He gave Mokuba the box and the key, and the computer in it read the card Mokuba swiped. Mokuba was allowed access, and lifted the steel top. He looked upon Pegasus' glorious masterpiece. The Time Dragon in the picture lunged, its head and intelligent indigo eyes staring right at Mokuba, and the picture moved smoothly all the way to the tip of the dragon's far away tail. The background was black, and rainbows danced on the skin because of the specially make paper that reflected light. The boy didn't touch it, but closed the box and stuck the key in his pocket. Pegasus smiled a bit weakly, but he knew the card belonged to the winner, "It is all yours now."

"Yeah, I guess," Mokuba shrugged in an embarrassed way, and went out of the safe room, the small container in his hands. Pegasus led him down quickly and into the hands of an impatient Seto Kaiba, whose eyes shot daggers at Pegasus. The young man looked a bit frazzled with anxious worry. Seto Kaiba quickly mentally inspected his brother, and roughly handed back the documents to Pegasus. Pegasus thanked him, but didn't get a reply back as Kaiba steered Mokuba to their rooms quickly, knowing the value of what his brother held and the importance of keeping it safe.

The Silver Millennium Dragons were actually more powerful together than apart. The special effect, which Pegasus had avoided mentioning, was that if both were on the field they had an increase in attack and defense points. The Silver Millennium Time Dragon and Silver Millennium Sun Dragon were turned into five thousand attack point nightmares. It was unlikely they would ever be on the same field, with Mokuba Kaiba owning one now and the Sun Dragon still undetermined. That was something of a pity.

Shaadi walked up to Pegasus, and had that knowing look on his face. The man was a somewhat younger than Pegasus, and had glowing blue eyes set into a dusky face. As it was winter, Shaadi had abandoned his normal wardrobe for warm clothes, though the turban was still on his head. The Millennium Key, one of Shaadi's items, hung around his neck and was being held in hand by the owner. Shaadi picked up Pegasus's last thought, and knew what had happened, "Don't be so sure that the two dragons won't ever meet again. I don't yet know who the Silver Millennium Sun Dragon might belong to, but her master might be as close as one of the relatives or friends to a duelist here."

"You are speaking in riddles again," Pegasus growled, but Shaadi only smiled in warning. The man again refused to say anything more, but Pegasus finally knew fate and destiny were working in this mess. He sighed, as their meddling didn't often have appetizing, romance-type reality conclusions. The magic of the Millennium Items was not something out of a fairy tale, and neither were the results. That was why Pegasus wasn't so eager to toy with such magic anymore, though it seemed to be toying with him, even after the Millennium Eye was gone.