Well, this is chapter fourteen. I know that Lord Superior's story sounds a lot like Pegasus' story, so let Kazuki Takahashi sue me about it.

Chapter 14: Instant Victory?! Yugi versus The Emissary of the End

Jason ran down the street, anxious to see where the strange light came from. As he ran he realized that if Number Two was after him, then whoever else was in charge must be after Yugi. So he decided to warn the pharaoh. He turned the corner and spotted several duelists. Jason decided to find out which way Yugi went, so he, too, could find the site of the finals. He approached the duelists.

"Excuse me. Have any of you seen a short kid with crazy spiky hair and a large gold pyramid around his neck that sort of looks like this thing," Jason said pointing to his Millennium Ring.

"Yeah I saw him run that way," one of the duelists said. "While you're here, how about a duel? I've got eight key puzzle programs and I need two more."

"I don't have time to kick your ass right now. I need to get somewhere to warn someone," Jason said as he brushed past the duelists.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to find Yugi. Jason thought he heard one the duelists saying something about him being a scared punk, but he dismissed it quickly.

'I can't afford to slow down right now. I need to find Yugi.'
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"Boy, your end is here. I claim ultimate victory with this next card. In fact, I'm so sure that I can destroy you with this next card, that I will stake my life on it," Number One said.

"Then let's see what you've got," Yugi said.

"Then here it comes. I'll remove my Hysteric Fairy and my Blowback Dragon from play to summon the ultimate Chaos monster!"

"Not another one!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Yes, you impudent little rat! I summon the Chaos Emperor Dragon – Messenger of the End (3000/2500)!"

Another beam of light, this time an ill-omened black, shot up from a large fissure in the ground.

"This is it! My final victory!"
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"Just great. Now, I'm really lost. Who the hell decided to put a damn intersection here? Yugi could have gone anywhere," Jason said.

He followed the road to an intersection and found himself in a bind as to here Yugi went. Suddenly, the blast of black light caught Jason's attention.

"Finally, God does something to help me. Ten million dollars, here I come!"

Jason ran towards the mysterious light.
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Yugi found himself blinded again. But this time, it was because of pitch-black darkness that engulfed the area. Even the Shadow Realm wasn't as dark as that place. Finally, the darkness lifted, and Yugi looked up. A huge menacing dragon stood over him. Its long mane waved in the wind of the force it's power created. A low growl and a wisp of fire escaped its throat.

"Behold my dragon, the instrument of your end. My monster has a very special ability that is very unique to Duel Monsters. I pay 1000 life points and it sends every single card on the field and in both of our hands to the graveyard, then, does 300 points of damage to your life points for each card sent. You've only got 3350 life points left, and this dragon will do 3900 points of damage. It's done! Chaos Emperor Dragon, annihilate!"

The dragon glowed brightly with a dark aura. The aura engulfed the monster, and seconds later a holographic explosion rocked the area, shattering everything on the field. Number One discarded her whole hand with satisfaction. She couldn't see Yugi through the explosion, but she was sure of victory.

"It's over. I've done it! How do you like defeat, fool?"

All that could be heard was laughter through the smoke. It was Yugi's laughter that echoed through the area.

"What's so funny over there?"

Number One checked the life point display on her duel gauntlet. It read:

(Yugi: 3650) (Number One: 3700)

"How can this be?! Not only did you survive but now you've got even more life points! How, damn it?!"

"It's simple. My trap card saved me."

"What trap card?!"

"My trap card Bountiful Sacrifice. It allows me to discard any amount of cards from my hand and gain life points equal to 1000 for each card discarded. I discarded all three, giving me 6350 life points. Then, your dragon's effect went off, doing 1200 damage less than what it would have done. In other words, I'm still in this duel," Yugi said calmly.

"Why won't you just die?!" Number One screamed.

"Face it, you're done. This duel is over."

"It's not over. I can still win."

"You have nothing in your hand or on the field, so just end your turn," Yugi said.

"Fine. I end my turn. Besides, there's no way that you can draw the right card to finish me off."

"Watch me."

Yugi closed his eyes and drew. He looked at the card and smiled.

"I activate Card of Sanctity. This card allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands."

Yugi drew six cards, then, laughed.

"It's over. I activate my Monster Reborn."

Yugi swiped the card and another beam of light came from the ground.

"I'll revive the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" Yugi's mage reappeared in front of him.

"That's not enough to finish me off," Number One said with a laugh.

"I know. That's why I have something that you might be interested in. I am fully aware of the Chaos monsters. I have been since before this tournament. And that's why I have a Chaos monster of my own."

"You're lying!"

"No, I'm not. I activate the magic card Dedication Through Light and Darkness! This card allows me to sacrifice my Dark Magician to summon my Chaos monster. So now I offer my magician as a sacrifice to summon the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

The Dark Magician was engulfed in a magical light. He dematerialized, leaving behind nothing but his aura. Another mage then stepped through the aura. His wild black hair fluttered behind him. Black sparks surrounded his body and staff as he stepped forward and stood in front of Yugi.

"He may be a Chaos monster, but he doesn't have the power to finish me," Number One said. 'Not to mention that I've got something in store for him.'

"Alone he can't beat you, but his special effect will. You see, when he is summoned, I can take one magic card from my graveyard. And the magic card I'm bringing back is Monster Reborn!"

"No! This can't be!" Number One frantically searched through her hand for something to help her, but nothing could.

"Now, I'll re-revive the Dark Magician! Return to me, once again!" The mage reappeared next to his Chaos counterpart. "Now this duel is over! My magicians, attack with Double Dark Magic Attack!" Both monsters raised their staffs and struck Number One with a blitzkrieg of dark energy. The Rare Hunter screamed out as the magical force ripped through her body.

(Yugi: 3800) (Number One: 0)

Yugi looked on as Number One fell to her hands and knees. The final key puzzles jumped into his duel gauntlet.

'Finally, I can get into the facility and free those hostages.'

A yell made Yugi look back. Jason was running toward him as fast of he could.

"Yugi! Be careful!" he yelled.

Jason ran up to Yugi and tried to catch his breath. When he did catch it, he spoke.

"Yugi. I'm glad I caught up with you. You have to be careful. There's this Rare Hunter general after you. I already bumped into this really powerful one named Number Two. Before I put him out of his misery he told me that another Rare Hunter general is after you. Her name is-"

"Number One?" Yugi interrupted pointing at the fallen woman.

"Geez, Yug. You must be one hell of a duelist to bring her to her knees like that. Well, I guess it's time. I got all ten of my key puzzles."

"And I just got mine. Let's go."

The two duelists walked past Number One, who was muttering under her breath. Jason caught some of her silent conversation.

"I was beaten by a mere boy. How could I fail him?"

Jason simply shrugged and walked up to the steel doors of the elevator shaft. He slid a computer chip out of his duel gauntlet and placed it in a slot on the doors. A mechanized voice spoke up.

"Jason Garnet. You are qualified for the finals."

The steel doors opened and Jason was about to step inside. He heard a rustling behind him though, and he turned around to see Number One standing.

"Boys," she called out. "It's over."

The Rare Hunter reached under her cloak and pulled out a gun. Yugi and Jason jumped back, but the woman put the gun to her head.

"No! You can't do that. You have a lot to live for, I'm sure of that," Yugi said.

"No, this is it for me. This defeat will live here forever," she said pointing to her head with the gun. "I can no longer serve Lord Superior. I am too ashamed to go on through this. He will destroy me for failing, so my life is over, anyway. Move forward, and face Lord Superior. Tell him that I'm sorry I failed."

"Hey, Yug. Let's go. If she wants to blow her brains out, then let's just let her. It'll be one less Rare Hunter to contend with," Jason said.

Yugi didn't like the sound of it, but he knew that Jason was right. He slid his chip into the slot on the door and registered for the finals, then, stepped into the elevator. Before the doors closed, Yugi heard the gun go off and the body hit the ground with a limp thud.

'May you find peace,' he prayed in his mind.

The elevator began to move down the shaft, and Yugi and Jason prepared to face the heart of the threat. They stood in the elevator as it went down, deeper towards the center of the building. Jason knew that as soon as they reached the bottom there would probably be Rare Hunters waiting for them. He clenched his fists.

"Yugi, I hope you're ready," he said.

"Yeah. I'm ready to end this thing."

Jason looked around the elevator, which was a little larger than any he's ever been on before, for a second.

"Hey, Yug. Where's Joey?"

"I left him with an old friend," little Yugi responded.
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"I came to this tournament to win that grand prize and use it to search for my father, not play rescue boy," Mako said. "I don't know what happened to you, but Yugi said that it was important for me to get you to a hospital, so that's what I should do. Plus I owe you for your friendship, so don't worry."

The ocean duelist continued to walk with Joey on his shoulders.
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"I saw him just before I dueled Number One and I asked him to take Joey to a hospital," Yugi said.

"And you've known this Mako guy for a while, huh?"

"Yes, I have."

The elevator began to slow down.

"All right Yugi. It's time to do this. Now remember: I'm mostly in this for the money, so don't expect me to be taking bullets for you or anything like that. You're a cool guy, but if it comes down to you or me, it's going to be you," Jason said.

"Fine by me. Just as long as you help me free the hostages."

The two duelists tapped into their Millennium Items and prepared themselves. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. A gang of Rare Hunters was waiting for the two duelists. They rushed at Yami Yugi and Yami Jason, but the two fought back. Yami Jason pushed back the entire gang with his shadow powers, and Yami Yugi froze most of them in place.

"Yugi, watch your back!" Yami Jason called out.

Three Rare Hunters grabbed the Pharaoh. Yami Jason pulled his deck out of his pocket and pulled a card from the deck. He concentrated, then, threw the card. A shower of sparks flashed and a large red Gorilla appeared.

"Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000), help Yugi!"

The monster moved forward and ripped one of the Rare Hunters off of Yugi, then, threw him into a nearby wall. Another Rare Hunter tried to attack the monster, but he was tossed aside like a rag doll. Yami Jason punched out the last one and went to Yugi.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Yugi looked back at the fire-spitting gorilla, then, back at Yami Jason with curiosity.

"Hey, it was all I could think of. What do you want from me?" Yami Jason said.

"Let's just go. We need to get to the hostages and see if we can get them loose."

The two ran down the long hallway, leaving behind all the chaos of the Rare Hunters' limp bodies strewn about on the floor.
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Lord Superior sat in his chamber drumming his fingers impatiently on the armrest of the elegant chair. It had been twenty minutes since he sent Number One out to destroy Yugi.

"What's taking that report so long? Number One couldn't possibly lose with the almighty Chaos monsters in her deck, so why haven't I heard from her yet?"

A Rare Hunter walked into the room with a concerned look on his face. He walked up to Superior, then, spoke softly.

"Sir, I'm afraid that Number Two has failed. Not only that but he's dead."

Superior slammed his fists on the console in front of him.

"What do you mean 'he failed'?!" he yelled.

"Um, that's not all, sir. Number One has also failed and she's dead."

Superior clenched his fists tighter at this news. His rage boiled to the surface. He felt like he was about to explode.

"There's one more thing. The two duelists that are in the facility, qualified for the finals, are the ones who beat Numbers One and Two. They also took out the Rare Hunters that we had waiting."

"You know how I feel about bad news, don't you?" Superior asked, calming himself.

"But, sir. I didn't-"

"No buts. This time, there will be punishment."

A large circular saw came buzzing through the darkness. Before the Rare Hunter could run, the saw made contact with his throat, decapitating him on the spot.

"Clean him up and bring those two fools to me immediately," Superior commanded.
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Yugi and Jason continued to run down the hallway. There were doors on each side of the two. Yugi went to open one and found it locked. Yami Jason opened one of the doors. There were three Rare Hunters inside. They were beating an innocent girl, screaming at her about the god card.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone who's not tied to a chair?" Yami Jason challenged.

The men ran towards him, but the Yami duelist dispatched them with a burst of his shadow energy. He walked over to the girl and untied her. Her face was a mess and full of bruises. One of her eyes was swollen shut.

"These worthless freaks! Where's the honor in this?!" Yami Jason exclaimed under his breath.

The girl stood up and thanked the two. Yugi pointed her in the direction of the elevator, after making sure that the gorilla was gone, of course.

"Come on. There's still more to go," Yami Yugi said.

The two continued to go down the hallway and free more hostages.
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"Well, he's going to be just fine with some bed rest. He should wake up soon," the doctor said. "It's just a shock to the brain. How did he get like this, exactly?"

Mako scrambled to think up a lie, since the doctor wouldn't believe the Shadow Realm story any more than Mako did.

"Oh, uh, I found him like that in a park," he said, running his fingers through his spiky black hair.

"Poor kid," the doctor mumbled as he walked out of the room.

'I sure hope that Yugi can just win this thing and get rid of these Rare Hunters before they catch up to me. Who knows, there could be Rare Hunters in hospital right now. They could be running this place.'

Mako continued to worry, this time more about himself than Yugi.
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"Is that all of them?" Yami Yugi asked.

"I think so. I don't see any more doors here," Yami Jason said.

He looked around. There was one more door that was untouched. He and Yami Yugi walked toward it. When they opened it, a large room came into view, filled with machines that were all running. The room was deserted. Yami Yugi walked up to a conveyor belt that was moving. Cards were coming out of a machine on the belt.

"They're making cards," Yami Jason said.

"Not just making," Yami Yugi said as he picked up a Mirror Force. He compared it to the one in his deck. "They're counterfeiting these cards to sell on the black market."

Yami Jason was looking around through some of the boxes and crates. He opened one and jumped back at what he saw inside.

"Hey, Yugi. Come over here."

Yami Yugi walked over to Jason, who was looking through the box. He picked up one of the cards.

"I don't believe this," Yami Yugi said. "They counterfeited Anubis."

Jason's Egyptian god card stared Yugi right back in the face. Jason took out his god card and compared it with one of the fakes. The two were almost completely alike, save for a few inaccuracies.

"But how? How did they copy my card?"

"You can find out by talking to the boss," came a gruff voice.

Yami Yugi and Yami Jason turned around to see a group of Rare Hunters, all holding guns. Yami Jason was preparing to take them out, but Yami Yugi jabbed him in the shoulder.

"They can take us to this Lord Superior person that I've been hearing about," he whispered.

The two let the Rare Hunters lead them further down the hallway. They all came to a stop at a large door that was decorated in golden patterns and jewels. One of the Rare Hunters pressed a button that was next to the doors. After a few seconds the doors opened.

"March!" one of the Rare Hunters commanded, jamming the gun into Yami Yugi's back.

The two walked into the dimly lit chamber. There were a lot of pictures hanging from the walls. They were mostly of a young man in his twenties. There was one where he was standing in front of a plane. Another was of him surrounded by a lot of women.

"Well, well, well. These are the two trouble makers that I've heard so much about," came a voice from the darkness of the back of the room. "Yugi and Jason, correct?"

"Show yourself, Superior. Let us see who we are dealing with!" Yami Jason demanded.

One of the Rare Hunters hit him in the face with his gun, causing him to drop to the ground. Yami Jason got up and spat out a little blood that slightly dripped from his lip.

"Now, that's not necessary. I will allow them to see who I am. Besides, they are going to die, anyway. So why not."

All the lights came on brightly in the room. Yami Yugi and Yami Jason blinked as the lights came on. The same young man sat in a large chair behind a glowing console. He wore a white suit with a red rose in the front pocket. A thin goatee lined his jaw and his hair was slicked back.

"What is going on here?!" Yami Yugi demanded.

"What you see before you is the glory of Lord Superior." Superior said. "Allow me to tell you my story. I am a young billionaire, surrounded by wealth, fame, and fortune. My father started the Rare Hunters organization, and I inherited it after his death. With my money and intelligence, we quickly became one of the richest and most powerful organizations on the planet."

"That's nice, but how did you become a jackass?" Yami Jason asked, earning him another pistol-whipping. Superior continued.

"When I was 24, I was on the road with my wife. We loved afternoon drives through the bay. However, this afternoon was different. There was an accident. I slammed head-on into another car. The full tank of gas proved to be very flammable. I managed to escape, but my wife was not so lucky. She was caught in the explosion. Somehow, she survived the accident, but her body was just a stone's throw away from being nothing but a couple of chunks on some coroner's table. I had the best doctors money could buy, but they couldn't save her body. It died, but her brain lived. It had to be placed in one of my machines until I could revive her in another body."

Superior pushed a button and a light at the side illuminated a glass dome. In it lay a human brain still attached to the spine. Yami Yugi groaned in disgust, while Yami Jason got up from the floor and angrily eyed the Rare Hunter who hit him before speaking up.

"Tell me something, before you kill us. If you've got all this money, how come you couldn't just buy another body or least get some scientists to build you one?"

"When I was in the accident, it wasn't long before the government became aware of my secrets. As you could tell, this isn't a legal organization. But they didn't arrest me because they thought that I was dead, as I wanted them to. Instead, the fools froze all my assets and bank accounts. I only had one that remained untouched, and that was the one I used to start this tournament. Now I could just hack into the government files and unfreeze my money, but then, the government would track me down. So I needed another way to make enough money to start the brain transplant research needed to put my wife in another body. Which brings me to you. Rumors circulated through the ranks about the fourth Egyptian god card. After Battle City, millions of duelists wanted one. We searched for years, but came up empty. But not anymore."

"But we saw the counterfeiting room, and in it there was a whole crate full of god cards," Yami Yugi said.

"Yes, one of my Rare Hunters was gracious enough to spy on your duel with that boy, and catch a glimpse of the god card's power. Also, My Rare Hunters were watching when you two first met, so we know all about the god card. However, no one will buy them without a proper demonstration. Plus, we do not know the strange text on the god card. Now, I will take what should be mine."

A Rare Hunter reached into Jason's pocket and pulled out the god card, then, tossed it to Superior, who caught it in his hand.

"Ah yes. What wonderful artwork. Pegasus outdid himself on this one. Now if you will excuse me, I've got money to make. Boys, make them eat lead."

The Rare Hunters prepared to fire on the two duelists, but Yami Jason whirled around and blasted all of them with his shadow energy. He sent each one of them to the Shadow Realm, effortlessly, then, turned his attention to Superior.

"I don't care if your wife is a mutilated freak. No one tries to kill me and lives through it," Yami Jason threatened.

"I'm afraid that there's no way that you'll be doing any killing at all, boy," Superior said.

The buzz saw swooped in from the darkness and, thanks to a leap to the side, barely missed Jason's neck. It came back around, this time coming for Yugi's head. The pharaoh ducked under it and rolled away to the side, under a machine. Yami Jason went to join Yami Yugi under the console.

"So what do we do now, pharaoh?" he asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we need to do it fast. Those things will find us eventually."

Yami Jason thought for a second, then, he came up with a plan.

"Yugi, I have a plan. But if it doesn't work, then I'm really sorry."

Before Yami Yugi could ask, Yami Jason had stepped out from under the console and faced Lord Superior.

"All right. You win, Superior. I give up. My life isn't much worth living with my mom the way she is and my dad gone." The saws moved closer. "But I don't want to die. Instead, I want to join you and your Rare Hunters."

Yugi and his Yami were both shocked, to say the least, at Jason's announcement.

"I believe that my partner, Yugi, has something that you still need, though."

Yugi stepped out from under the console and began to talk, but Jason cut him off.

"You see that thing around his neck? It holds an incredible power. Probably what you need to get a body."

"Jason! Why did you tell him that?!" Yami Yugi yelled.

"Silence! I say you take it from him, Lord Superior."

The buzz saws backed off for a few seconds. Superior spoke up.

"That is an interesting proposition that you're making. I think I'll take it. Welcome to the team. Now, for your first task, destroy that little fool."

"I'd love to, but there is one problem. You see, in order to gain the awesome power of that Millennium Puzzle, you have to beat Yugi in a duel. You do know how to duel, right?"

"Of course I know how to duel. So let's get this over with."

"Before you do that, I have a suggestion. You see, using the Millennium Item around my neck, I can transport you two to a place called the Shadow Realm. There you can duel in a shadow game. If Yugi loses, his mind will be forever banished to the shadows, sent to live in a hellish environment, which is much worse than death," Yami Jason said with an evil smirk.

Yami Yugi was about to yell at Yami Jason, but he stopped after catching a wink from the duelist.

'Oh, I get it now. I sure hope that I can pull this off,' Yugi thought. "Fine. I accept your challenge. We play a shadow game and the loser is banished to the shadows."

"Then let the games begin," Superior said as the shadows moved around him.