Chapter 8
Everything's Relative
It all started at Pegasus' castle, where a young child was escaping from one of the towers by means of a rope ladder. However, the ladder gave way as the child went plummeting to a soft landing in the trees below just before one of the guards came in with food for the prisoner. "Alright, you little runt, here's your daily gruel." he chuckled before finding the rope ladder. "Oh, no! He's gone!" he said as he looked down and found no sign of the child. Inside the dining hall, Pegasus was enjoying a drink and some cheese while reading a book he found rather amusing. "Where do these guys get all their ideas?" he asked as he chuckled. Soon, the guard from the tower came in. "Master Pegasus? A thousand pardons, sir." he said. "Gorgonzola cheese and the world's finest furit juice, along with a copy of my favorite manga comic book, Funny Bunny. Times like this are more precious to me than any other, you do realize that, don't you?" Pegasus responded, annoyed that his me time was interrupted. "But the prisoner has escaped." said the guard. "Which one?" Pegasus asked. "The boy we imprisoned in the north tower. I have our men searching the island, but, so far, there's no sign of him." the guard responded, since he was chief of security on the entire island. "Oooh. I guess he didn't appreciate my hospitality. Well, no matter, I'm sure I know exactly where our little escapee is heading. He'll seek out Yugi." Pegasus said as he pulled out a remote from his suit. "Computer, request data on the status of the Duel Monsters tournament." he added as a screen came down to show him what he wanted to see.
"Six hours have past since the dueling contests began, twelve of the participants have been eliminated, those that were defeated and lost their star chips are being remove from the island by boat." the computer said. "And what of Yugi Muto?" Pegasus asked. "Yugi Muto has, to date, gained five star chips." the computer answered. "Wonderful. I expected no less. He is determined to work his way up in the standings in order to gain entry to my castle, which is exactly what I want little Yugi to do. We'll just keep our spy-cams trained on our star Duelist. Soon or later, the little runaway prisoner will confront Yugi, for reasons of his own." Pegasus said, pleased with Yugi's progress. "Very wise, sir." the security chief said as he walked away. "Actually, the boy's escape plays right into my plans, and I do have such special plans in store for Yugi, plans I hope he'll find as entertaining as I do." Pegasus revealed with a laugh. Meanwhile, the heroic group was walking around the island, ready for another challenge, wherever it would be. "Wow, Yugi. I can't believe you've already won five star chips." Tea said. "I had a feeling that he'd manage to get that many, he's the greatest Duelist we know." Spike. "And pretty soon, you'll get the other five you need to enter Pegasus' castle and save your grandpa." Rainbow added. "I wish I had more star chips." Joey said, pointing out that he was low on stars. "Don't worry, Joey. You just need to find more opponents at your level and you'll be able to save your sister's eyesight." Fluttershy said with a smile. "I sure hope so. Serenity's really counting on me. And I won't let her down" Joey responded as he remembered the VHS tape she sent him.
Suddenly, they hear someone call out for help. "What's that?" Tristan asked. "Your answer's over there! And its name is trouble!" AJ answered as she pointed down the road as a guard was harassing a kid who was in the competition. "Hold on, kid! We're coming!" Tristan shouted as the group rushed to the rescue. "I'm on the big guy! Let that kid go!" he added as he charged in and judo threw the guard over his shoulder. "Not too shabby." he concluded, admiring his judo skills. However, the guard recovered and leapt in for a kick that landed, taking Tristan down. "I'm off the big guy." he said upon hitting the ground. The guard then proceeded to grab the young boy again. "Put me down!" he shouted. "Quit squirming, you little brat." the guard retorted. "You heard him, needle-head, put the kid down!" Joey demanded. "What do you think you're doing? Aside from abusing your power as a security guard?" Rarity asked. "This is none of your business, this Duelist lost his star chips, and the rules say he's to be kicked off the island." the guard answered. "But I didn't lose my chips in a duel! They were stolen from me! My cards, too!" the child retorted. "I don't care what lame excuse you have, kid, you need star chips to duel and you haven't got any, so you're shipping out of here. Those are the rules, those are my orders from Pegasus himself." the guard responded as he carried the kid away. "That big creep! I say we follow him!" Tristan said as he got back up. "I agree. If that child says he had his deck and star chips stolen, we have the right to investigate." Twilight concurred. Soon, the guard brought the young boy to a dock where two other guards were supervising a boat with other people on it. "Hey, Kemo, what'd you catch?" one of them asked. "Just another loser." Kemo answered as he put the boy on the boat, right next to Weevil, the first duelist to be eliminated. "Hey, buzz off! They may be shipping me out, I may have lost my Regional Championship title, but I'm still Weevil Underwood, Bug Duelist Extraordinaire!" the former champion shouted as he shoved the boy away. "But I didn't even get a chance to duel." the boy said with a sigh before the group showed up. "Hey! Hey, you!" Yugi shouted as they reached the dock. "You again?" Kemo asked as Pinkie and Rarity approached, wearing their detective attire from the past, while Twilight had to, embarrassingly, don her bowler hat again, just like she did on the Friendship Express. "We're here to investigate this particular crime." Pinkie said as she blew into her bubble pipe. "So, do you have a description of this thief looked like?" Rarity asked. "Well, I couldn't see his face, it was covered with a bandana. But he was a little guy and he challenged me in a meadow." the boy answered. "As in, challenged you to a game of Duel Monsters?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah, but as soon as I put my star chips and Duel Monsters deck down, he snatched them up and ran off with them!" the child answered. "And I'm not the only one, I heard some other guy with four star chips had three of them stolen as well." he added. "It's preposterous! You shouldn't be shipped off the island if you had your tournament belongings stolen!" Rarity shouted. "Detective Rarity is right! We'll find the thief and get your star chips and deck back!" Pinkie added. "This boat leaves in exactly thirty minutes, 'detectives', anyone without a star chip ships out." Kemo said, giving the group half an hour to find the culprit. "Then we'll get his chips and deck back before then." Twilight said with a confident smile. "No one's getting bullied out of this tournament." Fluttershy added. "Absolutely. That little thief will be caught and brought to justice. Believe us, child, you can count on us to track the thief down and get your star chips and deck back." Rarity said with confidence. "But who are you guys?" the boy asked. "We're the ones who are gonna make sure you don't get kicked out of the tournament by way of thievery. You've got three brilliant minds in the form of Detective Pinkie, Doctor Twilight and Detective Rarity on the case, and we always find our suspects." Pinkie said with a smile. "Correct, Pinkie. Now, let's head to the dueling field where the crime was likely committed and look for clues." Rarity added as they headed back to the scene of the crime.
Soon, they arrived at the dueling arena. "So, what are the brilliant minds of you and your partners thinking now, Detective Pinkie?" Tristan asked. "Easy, search for any clues and stake out the scene of the crime." Pinkie answered. "You're right, and that must be it up ahead." Yugi added as he ran ahead and sat down. "You think the thief will come back?" Joey asked. "That's right, and we can put our heads together and plan in the meantime." Yugi answered. "Yeah, but don't forget, one of those heads is Joey's so that's subtracting one brain." Tristan teased as, unbeknownst to anyone, the boy from the tower, the same boy who stole the other boy's deck and star chips, was watching from the bushes. "Aha!" the boy shouted as he leapt from the bushes. "I've found you at last, Yugi!" he added, revealing Yugi was his target the whole time. "You must be the thief we've been looking for!" Rarity said. "If he gets violent, I can handle him!" Tristan said. "I hope so, you're twice his size." Tea pointed out. "Just try me, you big dork!" the boy said angrily. "Back off, kid!" Tristan responded. "And I recommend returning those star chips and cards you stole!" Rarity added. "Hold on, I think I know what this kid's after; he wants to duel." Yugi said, confusing Tristan and Joey. "That's what you want, right? You want to duel me?" he asked. "You better believe it" the child answered before both boys took to the field. "I don't get it. Why is Yugi going to the trouble of dueling this kid when we can just take those chips and that deck away from him?" Rainbow asked. "You know, sometimes, I don't think even Yugi knows why he does half the stuff he does." Tristan pointed out. "It may seem weird, but I think it might have something to do with his Millennium Puzzle." Twilight said. "Brilliant deduction, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted as Yugi turned into his alter ego, slightly startling the thief. "Now, how many star chips will you wager?" Yugi asked. "To wipe you out, five!" the thief answered. "Then five it is, but only because I think I know why you're doing this." Yugi responded as he pressed a button to take all the star chips out of the glove. "I don't care what you think, Yugi, cause I think you're gonna lose!" the thief said as he put down the chips he stole while the Eye of Anubis appeared on Yugi's forehead, which Twilight and the other members of the Mane 6 saw for the first time. "What does Yugi see that we don't?" Tea asked. "It's a theory, but I think Yugi is looking into the soul of this thief." Rarity answered. "Whether Yugi can see into someone's soul or not, I can tell from here that that kid's gonna get his butt kicked by the recently crowned Regional Champion." Rainbow added. "Maybe, but Yugi should hurry if he plans to get those star chips and that deck back to the boat in time." Tristan pointed out. "Don't worry, Tristan. We'll get the chips and the deck and we'll be back at the dock with time to spare." Tea responded. And so, with a mighty "Let's Duel!" from both competitors, the game began. 'This is it, Yugi. Now you're gonna pay for what you did to my big brother.' the boy said to himself, remembering a moment from the day before the boat to the Duelist Kingdom left, up in KaibaCorp, with Seto Kaiba, the kid's older brother, the very moment that Kaiba left him.
'You broke up my family, Yugi, and now, I'm gonna break you up.' the boy said to himself as he readied his first card. "My first card, is the Man-Eating Plant!" he said aloud as the creature appeared. "I think I have a card that looks like that monster." Fluttershy said as she looked through her deck and found something similar. "Here it is, Darkworld Thorns. It looks similar, but it's different. Both monsters are plant monsters, both are of the Earth attribute, but his monster is level two, mine is level three, and his has 800 attack points and 600 defense points, while mine has 1200 attack points and 900 defense points." she added. "Now it's my turn. I'll counter your monster, with the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" Yugi declared as his monster took the field. "Bad choice, Yugi, my Man-Eating Plant will eat your dragon alive. So now you're finally gonna pay for what you did, Yugi, and your stupid dragon's gonna be plant food. Man-Eating Plant, attack!" the boy said. "Fireball Attack!" Yugi commanded as the Winged Dragon launched a fireball that turned the Man-Eating Plant to ash, dropping the boy's life points to 1400. "Huh? My monster lost?" the boy asked, confused as to why his monster was destroyed. "Something tells me this kid doesn't even know the first "don't" of the "do's and don'ts" of Duel Monsters, don't ever attack a monster you know has more attack points than yours." Rainbow said. "You can't win a duel by having any monster you have attack whatever monster your opponent has, and you also can't win a duel with cards that don't rightfully belong to you. How can your heart ever live in cards that belong to someone else?" Yugi said, but the boy was having none of it. "Be quiet. I don't believe in that 'Heart of the Cards' stuff you keep preaching about. Duel Monsters has nothing to do with heart, it's all about power." the boy retorted, confirming a suspicion that Yugi and Rarity had. "Yes, I can see it now. I sensed a connection to Kaiba. You're his brother. You're Mokuba Kaiba." Yugi said as the Eye of Anubis left his forehead. "An excellent conclusion, Yugi. In fact, as soon as I heard him claim that Duel Monsters is about power, I immediately remembered that Kaiba said that same thing in your duel with him!" Rarity declared, surprising Mokuba somewhat. "How did you figure it from that?! Doesn't matter." Mokuba said as he removed his hat and bandana.
"Look!" Joey said in surprise. "It IS Kaiba's little brother!" Tea added, equally surprised. "That's right, Seto Kaiba is my older brother and he's the best Duelist that there ever was. But now, thanks to Yugi, he's gone, and Pegasus is trying to take over KaibaCorp." Mokuba confirmed, surprising everyone. "Pegasus wants KaibaCorp?!" Yugi asked in surprise. "Did I just hear you right?! Pegasus is trying to take over your brother's company?!" Spike asked. equally surprised. "But Pegasus is already president of Industrial Illusions!" Twilight added. "I don't know what you did to my big brother when you dueled him, Yugi, but ever since that defeat, he hasn't been the same. He ran away because of you, and with him gone, Pegasus moved right in. The top five KaibaCorp executives known as the Big Five invited him to some kind of secret board meeting." Mokuba said as he remembered what happened, as he listened in on what Pegasus and the Big Five discussed, mainly about the Big Five looking to seize control of KaibaCorp after Seto abandoned his corporate station and merge with Industrial Illusions and let Pegasus deal with any messy details. The Big Five pointed out that Kaiba had to be permanently dealt with, but they also had to deal with the corporate bi-laws, meaning only a member of the Kaiba family could make any changes official, so they suggested kidnapping Mokuba, rationalizing that they would control him while he would control the company in name, and all in exchange for KaibaCorp's technology. Pegasus agreed, intending to make Seto meet with an "accident" while Mokuba would be captured. But, the Big Five also had one more condition for him, that being defeating Yugi in a duel in order to restore KaibaCorp's name. Pegasus already had plans to duel Yugi while Mokuba was, right on cue and command from Pegasus, grabbed up by Kemo and brought into the room. "It's all your fault! Seto deserted me because of you!" Mokuba shouted.
"You don't understand. Mokuba, your brother hasn't deserted you, he's searching for himself." Yugi responded calmly. "Liar! Tell it to my monster!" Mokuba said as he played his next card, a level four, Water attribute reptile with 1100 attack points and 1200 defense points called Krokodilus. "Go, Krokodilus!" Mokuba commanded, only for the Winged Dragon to burn it alive and drop Mokuba's life points down to 1100. "Battling me won't bring your brother back, and we want to stop Pegasus as much as you do. He's taken my grandfather prisoner." Yugi said, trying to reason with Mokuba. "That's right! Pegasus is the bad guy here, can't you see that, you crazy little kid?" Joey concurred. "You're wrong. I have to protect my brother's company and Yugi's the one Pegasus has to beat in order to take it over." Mokuba protested. "It all makes sense. Mokuba is trying to save KaibaCorp by beating Yugi in a duel, so Pegasus doesn't get to face Yugi at all!" Rarity said, putting the pieces together. "So you're telling me Mokuba wants to stop Pegasus by himself by beating Yugi before Pegasus can?" Rainbow asked. "Precisely, so that way, Pegasus can't take over KaibaCrop." Twilight answered. "That must be it!" Yugi said, but when he looked across the field, he saw that Mokuba was gone. "Hey, where'd he go?" he asked when the boy suddenly came up behind him. "If I can't beat you, I'll have you disqualified!" he said before jumping off the podium and running off. "Two of my star chips!" Yugi shouted as Mokuba started to run away. "Come back, you little thieving varmint!" AJ shouted. "Mokuba, listen to me! You'll never save Kaiba Corporation that way!" Fluttershy shouted, causing Mokuba to stop. "She's right, your big brother is just confused. After I defeated Kaiba in our duel, I opened his mind. I removed from him all the dark influences that clouded his thoughts and actions. Free of that evil essence, Kaiba is struggling. Now your brother realizes that his way wasn't the right way and he's searching his heart for answers. And you know in your heart that what you're doing isn't the right way, either." Yugi explained.
"But, then, what can I do?" Mokuba asked. "You can start by trusting in Yugi, and in all of us. And together, we will stop Pegasus. I promise you, we will bring Pegasus down if we stick together. We'll help you protect your brother's company, Mokuba, but you've got to help us, okay? You have to go back and return those cards and star chips to the kid you stole them from." Fluttershy answered. "You're right, Fluttershy, then we'll take on Pegasus together." Mokuba responded, now knowing who's side is the right side. "We've only got three minutes left until the boat leaves." Tea pointed out. "Let's get going, Mokuba." Yugi said. "Let's do it." Mokuba responded. Meanwhile, miles away from Duelist Kingdom and from Domino City, in a small cottage on a cliff overlooking the sea, Seto Kaiba was at work on a new device, still puzzling over how Yugi beat him. 'It's no use, I've gone over it a dozen times in my mind and I still can't figure it out. How was a kid who came out of nowhere able to defeat a world champion like me? I've run computer simulations, probability scenarios and quantum analysis of our duel, but I still don't have the answer. I had clearly been dominating the match, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon ripped through his forces. I was on the verge of winning, but Yugi wouldn't give up. Against all odds and with absolute faith in his grandfather's deck, he somehow drew the one card that assured his victory.' Kaiba thought to himself, remembering the moment Exodia completely destroyed him. 'I've always believed Duel Monsters was a game of sheer power, but Yugi claims that the cards have a heart. It sounds crazy, I know, but could Yugi be right? Is the Heart of the Cards really a factor that can affect the outcome of a duel? Is that how he won? The only way I'll know for sure is if I face Yugi again, and these new portable holo-generators will enable me to challenge him no matter where I find him.' he continued, when suddenly, someone banged on the door. "Seto Kaiba! We know you're in there! Open the door or we'll break it down!" a voice shouted. But Kaiba just packed two of his holo-generators into his briefcase and closed it as the door was broken down and two men in black suits barged in. "Let's go, Kaiba." said one of them. "On your feet." said the other. "Mr. Pegasus would like to have a few words with you." said the first one as they both pointed hand guns at Seto. "I bet he would, but it'll take more than you goons to grab me." Kaiba responded. "This can go easy, or we can snap you in two, wise guy!" said the first man. "You'll never take me alive!" Seto responded as he kicked the chair at the potential assassins and rushed towards the window, jumping through it. "Get him!" said one of them as Kaiba jumped through the window, which overlooked the cliff and a thirty foot drop down to the sea below. "He jumped! Nobody could survive a fall like that!" said the same assassin, thinking that Kaiba killed himself. "Looks like he did our work for us." said the other assassin. "Yeah, that just leaves the rest of the job. Pegasus was very clear he wants the deck with the deadly Blue-Eyes White Dragons." said the first assassin as he picked up one said cards from Kaiba's deck.
Meanwhile, back at Duelist Kingdom, the group was rushing to reach the boat. "Hurry, we're almost there!" Tea shouted as they ran. "We're gonna just make it!" Tristan added. "I'd think again if I were you, Tristan. Look!" AJ said as she looked out to the sea and pointed to the boat sailing away, piloted by the losing Duelists. "I told you I'm not gonna row, so quit bugging me!" Weevil shouted as the boat sailed on. "The boat! It's already left!" Mokuba shouted. "Yeah, and there's the low-life guard that shipped them out!" Rainbow added. "You're too late. Those losers are already on their way back home." Kemo said as the group ran up to him. "Hey! That's not fair, it hasn't been a full half-hour yet! It's only been 29 minutes!" AJ protested. "Tough luck, Pegasus sets the schedule here, and he's the one who ordered the boat to ship out." Kemo responded. "That's it, I'm gonna give you a flattop!" Joey shouted before Fluttershy held him back as Mokuba ran up to Kemo with the star chips he stole in hand. "You gotta call the boat back, I gotta return that kid's star chips and deck to him." Mokuba pleaded, only for Kemo to swat the chips out of Mokuba's hand. "The star chips!" Yugi shouted as they flew into the air and fell into the water. "What gives?! Two of those star chips were Yugi's!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm so sorry, Yugi." Mokuba said apologetically. "This kid should know better than take star chips that didn't belong to him in the first place, cause around here, they're valuable. Now, let's go, you. Back to the cage, this little ingrate, like you six ladies and your young purple-and-green-haired friend, is a special guest of Mr. Maximilian Pegasus. And he's been invited to attend a special dinner in his honor back at the castle. Right, Mokuba?" Kemo spoke after grabbing the boy, to the shock of the rest of the group. "Yugi!" Mokuba shouted. "Hold on! I still have three of my star chips left. I challenge you to a duel, and if I win, Mokuba comes with us!" Yugi spoke, willing to put his spot in the tournament on the line to save his new friend. "I don't know why you'd risk your chips for this punk, but if that's how you want to waste your last star chips, then meet me back at arena 146 in exactly four hours. You'll have your duel." Kemo responded.
Soon, they reached the designated dueling field. "Well, we're here, where's antenna head?" Joey asked. "Yugi, over here! Get him off me." Mokuba shouted as the group looked forward and saw him in Kemo's clutches. "Mokuba! Put him down, now." Yugi demanded. "I'll consider it, if you win the duel." Kemo responded. "Oh, I'll beat you alright." Yugi said, ready to rumble, but Kemo just smiled. "I never said I would duel, there is your opponent." Kemo said as he pointed up to one of the duel podiums, where the whole group saw a sight that shocked them all. "He's an old friend who's dying to see you again, he met with an unfortunate end earlier today, but, he's come back just to duel you." he added as they all looked and saw what appeared to be Kaiba. "What are you saying?!" Mokuba asked in shock. "Who in tarnation is that?!" AJ asked. "Is that...?" Spike began to ask before Yugi confirmed that it looked like Kaiba. "Yes, Yugi. It's me, Kaiba. And this time you don't stand, a ghost of a chance." he said with a chuckle while everyone else looked in shock.