Yugi was observing the duel. There wasn't much else he could do at the moment, even if he had wanted to. His morning - his entire day, from the way things looked - had been planned out for him by Pegasus, starting with him being roused from his bed and escorted to breakfast by one of the ubiquitous suited men. Yugi had been a shade disappointed that Pegasus had not chosen to attend that particular meal. Despite wild conjectures, he was no nearer to understanding what had brought them all to this island than when he'd arrived in this castle, and he was starting to get frustrated.
Of course, once the dueling had started, Pegasus had reappeared with cheerful words of encouragement for everyone. Yugi could just make him out in the shadows of one of the observation platforms, the one opposite from where Yugi and his friends stood watching. He did nothing but sit motionlessly and watch, with his guard lurking at his elbow.
He doesn't look interested at all, Yugi mused. Whatever is going on, it doesn't concern Jonouchi. More and more, I get the feeling that the one he really wants is me. If that's true, then I could be in danger if I go on with this tournament...
He glanced back at the gaming table. Mai was putting up an excellent fight so far, but that didn't mean anything when Jonouchi was involved. He had shown a talent for sudden comebacks that rivaled Yugi's own, and Yugi found himself thinking that Mai's early lead was just as likely to be an indicator that Jonouchi was going to be the victor here.
I wonder if whatever Pegasus is plotting would be averted if Jonouchi won instead of me?
He decided he doubted it. Whatever Pegasus was up to, it was obvious he was prepared to go to a lot of trouble and expense for it. Doubtless this was all planned down to the smallest details. He wouldn't call it all off just because of a technicality. The only way through this problem was to face it head-on and overcome it. Somehow.
Speaking of which, that seemed to be what was going on down on the game board, more or less. Jonouchi had just managed to scrape up a spectacular combo at the last possible moment, and was now busily wiping up all Mai's harpies and tossing them to the graveyard in a manner that reminded Yugi strongly of Jonouchi's street-brawling days.
"Guess some things never change, huh?" Honda commented, echoing Yugi's thoughts.
"At least he's playing cards instead of beating people up," Anzu commented. "That's an improvement. He's growing up. I never would have believed it, back when we all started getting together."
"I don't know," Yugi murmured distractedly. "Cards can be dangerous too, sometimes..."
The match was over, with Jonouchi surviving by only two hundred life points. He and Mai got up and shook hands. They were both smiling.
"You played a good game," Jonouchi said.
"You too," she said. "I guess I have more to learn than I thought I did. You proved me wrong, Jonouchi, and that's not something every man gets to do. Be proud of yourself... but don't spread it around too much, okay?"
Jonouchi laughed. "So, I'm a man, now, huh? I thought I was a kid yesterday."
While Mai was searching for a retort, Pegasus appeared. He had descended from his vantage point and come down to speak with the players.
"Bravo, bravo! Very good show, both of you!" he said, clapping appreciatively. He bowed to Mai. "Lovely performance, my lady. You have my condolences. To be quite honest, I was rooting for you the whole time. If you will pardon my forwardness, I always did have a preference for blondes, and you bear a glancing resemblance to someone I know..."
He gazed off into space, looking momentarily sad. Then he shook it off and pasted his sunny smile back in place again.
"Here I am, dozing off, and I haven't even taken the time to congratulate the winner!" he said, bounding over to where Jonouchi had been watching with the faintest expression of envy. "Well done, my boy, very well done! This is what I love about this game - watching an underdog come up out of nowhere and prove he is every bit the equal of a seasoned champion. It moves me deeply." He plucked a lace handkerchief from his sleeve and dabbed at his eye. Yugi found himself wondering suddenly what was hidden behind that curtain of silver hair.
You never do see all of his face. I wonder why? Is he scarred, maybe? But you would think a rich man like him could pay to have that fixed...
"Er, thanks," said Jonouchi awkwardly.
"No, thank you for a truly enjoyable show!" Pegasus gushed. "And now, we will take a brief respite for lunch, and then it will be Mr. Mutou and Mr. Howard's turn to play. Won't that be fun?"
Yugi wasn't sure at all that it would be fun. He glanced around to see what Bandit Keith thought of it all, and realized for the first time that Keith was no longer there.
"Where did he go?" Anzu wondered. "He was here when the game started."
"He must have walked off while we were all looking at the game," Honda said. "Maybe he had to go to the john?"
"Well, he had better come back by the time lunch is over, or Yugi will win by default," said Anzu. "Come to think of it, can we lock him in?"
Yugi laughed a little. "I'd just as soon win honestly, if I can."
"Sure you can!" said Honda. "You've made it this far, haven't you?"
"Well, it's no good getting overconfident," Yugi replied.
"Get lunch instead," Anzu suggested.
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. Yugi and his friends made their way to the stairs that led down to the main floor, and, presumably, to the place where their meal would be waiting. Out of all of them, only Yugi was wondering what Bandit Keith was really up to.
When lunch was served, another person was discovered to have gone missing, causing the guests some annoyance and Crocketts some embarrassment. Pegasus didn't care; he had planned on eating with the rest of the group, but now he just didn't feel emotionally equipped to be sociable for another minute. Even his acting ability had its limits.
It would have been easier if it hadn't been for that woman, he thought, nibbling disinterestedly at a sandwich. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he knew he would need his strength for later, so he had ordered that something edible be sent to him. This wasn't his idea of food, but it would hold him until later. Later...
Later I will feel like celebrating. It's all drawing to a close, at long last...
He shivered a little; this was definitely not the time to have to run into that Kujaku woman. His nerves weren't steady right now; his imagination was getting away with him. With Cyndia so much at the forefront of his thoughts, seeing someone who looked so much like her was jarring. The figure was right (though Cyndia would never have dressed so provocatively in public, and would have been scandalized at seeing anyone else do it), the hair was almost right, but the eyes... Mai Kujaku's eyes were sharp and shrewd, quite unlike Cyndia's gentle blue eyes. It was a shock to almost see what he wanted so badly to see.
"Just one more duel," he said. "One more, and then I will make the Millennium Puzzle my own. Then I will take the Ring, and my work will be complete. I will save you this time, Cyndia. I won't let you slip away..."
He could see it so clearly before his mind's eye - or perhaps, his other Eye, the one that made his thoughts and dreams so much sharper than they had ever been before. He had burst out of the door of the limousine before it had even stopped moving and run up the walk to the hospital, with Crocketts scrambling behind him to catch up. He burst through the doors and ran up to the counter.
"Where is she?" Pegasus shouted, not caring for the stares he was drawing. "Where have you moved her? I have to see her! They told me she was in critical condition - I have to see her!"
"Please, calm down, sir, and I'll see what I can do for you," said the woman at the counter. "Who are you looking for?"
"Cyndia Truesdale. Please, you have to help me! I must be with her..."
The woman calmly flipped through some files. "Are you a relative of Miss Truesdale's?"
"Not exactly," he said, "but why does that matter?"
"Her status at the moment is critical. She can only be visited by family members. If you aren't a relative, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I will not leave!" Pegasus shouted. People were staring at him openly, now, but he didn't care. "I am more important to her than her family ever was, and she is everything to me! Everything! You let me in right now, or...!"
He became aware that Crocketts had placed a hand on him.
"Forgive my young charge; he is distraught," said Crocketts. "The woman in question is his betrothed. They were meant to be married, and would have, if this unfortunate illness hadn't delayed matters. He is, by rights, her husband, and therefore a relative. Let him in."
"I'm sorry, sir, I wish I could help, but unless you can produce documentation..."
"Documentation!" Pegasus lunged across the desk and seized the woman by the collar. "I love Cyndia more than anyone in the world ever could, and you want me to document it? If she dies, I'll kill myself! Is that enough documentation for you?"
The woman looked at him with frightened eyes, her face pale as chalk.
"Tell me where she is," said Pegasus.
"Sh-she's on the th-third floor, in room 347," she answered weakly.
Pegasus dropped her and sprinted for the elevator, leaving a crowd of dazed people behind him. As soon as he reached the third floor, he leaped from the enclosure and charged down the hall, pushing aside startled doctors and nurses and nearly overturning an empty gurney in the process. His eyes desperately searched the plates on the doors until he found the one he was looking for. At last, he found the door, and he flung it open. Then he stopped, gasping for air, and he stared.
Could it really be Cyndia? She was so still, so pale. Her skin had a faintly translucent quality to it, and her once-radiant hair was piled, lank and lifeless, around her drawn face. A breathing tube ran down her throat, and other tubes were affixed to her wrists, leaking mysterious fluids into her. A machine beeped at sporadic intervals. Other than that, there was a deathly hush in the room.
"Cyndia?" he said. "Cyndia, can you hear me? It's me, your Pegasus... Cyndia, you have to wake up..."
He knelt by her side, cupping his hands around one of hers. It was cool to the touch, and her skin had a strange, clothlike quality to it. It didn't feel quite real.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to leave you alone, Cyndia. They told me I couldn't keep coming back. They said you needed to be left alone, but... but I really wanted to be here for you - you have to believe me! I never would have left your side if they didn't make me. Oh, please forgive me. Please don't leave me alone! You can't die now, Cyndia, please... You promised! You said you'd marry me, and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. It was going to be just you and me. Don't you remember? We promised..."
Wouldn't that infernal machine stop beeping? It had been sporadic at first, but now it was a steady wail. He wanted it to be quiet. He wanted to talk to Cyndia...
"Why won't you answer me?" he asked plaintively. "Wake up. Please... I don't like this."
People came bursting into the room. He glared at them.
"What are you doing here?" someone demanded.
"I'm talking to Cyndia," he said.
A nurse bent over Cyndia's body and made a quick investigation. "There's no pulse. No breathing."
"Maybe we can still resuscitate her," said a doctor. "Somebody get this kid out of here!"
Someone seized on Pegasus's arm, trying to pull him to his feet, but he jerked away.
"Don't touch me!" he shouted. "You can't take her away from me!"
"It's no good," the man told him. "She's already dead."
"No! You're lying!"
"Hey, watch it!"
The man jumped backwards as Pegasus struck wildly at him. A few others reached out, maybe to steady their companion or to try to restrain Pegasus, but he wouldn't let them near. He lashed out again and again, avoiding all attempts to lay hands on him, determined to stay where he was, next to the one he loved. Nobody would take her away from him; they could not be separated now. She would get better as long as he stayed next to her.
"Somebody call security!" called a voice above the din, and someone else went racing away. Soon more men arrived, all of them bent on dragging Pegasus away. He hit and clawed at them until they'd pinned his arms to his sides, and even then he kicked and bit with all his strength, though he could no longer tell what was going on. The world had faded to a bloody red haze, and in the background was the shouts of many people and the incessant wail of a siren...
Funny thing about places you weren't supposed to get out of: the people guarding them usually weren't paying too much attention to people trying to get in, because they assumed nobody would want to. Bandit Keith had found it ridiculously easy to get into the area where the rejected players were being kept. He had waited until there was a minor disturbance, walked in, looked around a bit, and then barked at the guards until they had been forced to admit that he was indeed a finalist and shouldn't have to stay in there if he didn't want to. He had walked out again carrying a backpack that didn't belong to him, chuckling quietly.
Stupid saps, he gloated. This is almost too easy... but it's fair enough. Time for pretty-boy Pegasus to get a taste of his own medicine!
He had not been officially invited to this tournament, but he considered that an oversight. He had invited Pegasus to play a duel with him, so Pegasus should have returned the favor. Of course, there had been that little difficulty of getting hold of ten star chips, but that was easy enough to get around. He had convinced a few of these brainless twerps that he actually wanted to help them get to the top, and that they could all split the prize money. He'd helped them, all right - helped them just enough that they had collected ten star chips between them. Now they were probably all still lying unconscious in the gully he'd dropped them in after he'd finished pounding them.
With that hurdle cleared, he'd thought that he was ready for anything, but he hadn't counted on there being one additional rule. Keith hadn't heard about the two cards that had been issued to legitimate entries, and he had felt a pang when he'd heard he'd have to present one in order to be eligible to duel with anyone. He'd spent most of the night considering the problem, and he had finally come up with the perfect solution. Pegasus had provided it himself. In his eagerness to show off to the masses once more, he had chosen to keep all the disqualified players on his island. That meant that there were thirty-odd people sitting in a holding room, and all of them would have the required cards. All he would have to do was walk in and take a couple.
That was exactly what he had done. While the others were occupied with watching the other two finalists duke it out over the card table, Keith had sneaked into the holding area and apprehended a bag that looked like nobody was taking care of it. He marched into his room and upended the bag on his bed.
"It had damn well better be in here," he muttered. The odds of him being able to get hold of another bag weren't all that good.
The stuff on the bed did not look promising. He found a wallet and riffled through it, but found no money, only some movie ticket stubs, a school I.D., a library card, a couple of receipts for various things, and some photographs. One showed a man in a desert, standing over what appeared to be some ruins of some kind. Another showed the same man with a pale-haired woman, a young boy with a similar mop of shaggy hair, and a girl with shy brown eyes. The third showed the shaggy-haired boy, older now, standing with what was undoubtably Yugi and his friends. Keith laughed a little.
"So, he's your buddy, huh?" he said. "Well, sorry to have to do this to you, pal, but it's just your tough luck. I need those cards more than you do."
He fished in the back pocket of the bag, and his fingers closed around two bits of pasteboard. He drew them out with a triumphant cry; they were the cards he was looking for. He shoved them in his coat pocket, and then took a glance at his watch. The duel should be over by now, and they were likely starting lunch. He'd have to hurry if he didn't want to raise suspicion. Walking as quickly as he dared, he exited his room and headed for the dining hall.
As he entered the room, all eyes turned to glare at him. The mustached gentleman who was running things in Pegasus's absence - Crocketts, Keith dimly remembered his name to be - seemed to be in a bad mood, because he gave him a particularly vicious scowl.
"Where have you been?" he demanded.
"I got lost trying to find the john, okay?" Keith snapped. "Shit, you'd think it was a crime to have to take a dump in this place."
"That's quite enough of that kind of language," said Crocketts. "If Mr. Pegasus were here, he wouldn't allow it."
"Yeah, well, he ain't here, is he? So I can say whatever the hell I want," Keith retorted.
"Nevertheless, I am here in his stead, and I say you will keep a civil tongue or risk being ejected from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct, do you understand?" asked Crocketts. He glared at Keith over the rims of his glasses; his narrow eyes glinted dangerously. "I was against allowing you to take part in this tournament, Mr. Howard. I advised Mr. Pegasus against it from the start, but he seemed to think you would amuse him. You had best hope that he does not cease to find you amusing."
Something about that seemed to anger Keith, because he gave a snarl and turned away. He dropped heavily into the nearest vacant chair and began piling food onto a plate.
"What was that all about?" Jonouchi whispered to Yugi. "Does that Keith guy have something with Pegasus?"
"I have no idea," Yugi replied. "It sure doesn't look like Keith likes Pegasus, anyway. I wonder what Mr. Crocketts meant by that bit about finding him amusing?"
"Sounds like there's something between them, all right," said Anzu. "And it looks like you're going to get stuck in the middle of it, doesn't it?"
Yugi looked over at Keith, who fixed him with an icy look.
"What are you staring at, runt?"
"Er, nothing!" said Yugi, and looked back down at his plate. From the corner of his mouth, he muttered to Anzu, "Yeah, it looks that way, doesn't it?"
At last, lunch was finished, and Yugi was escorted away to prepare for his duel. It felt a bit lonely, being pulled away from all his friends.
But my other self is still with me, he reminded himself. He tried to take comfort in that fact.
They reached the dueling arena, and Yugi and Keith were instructed to shake hands. Yugi tried not to wince as his fingers were squashed in the older man's crushing grip. Then they took their seats, and exchanged their decks to be shuffled. Yugi ran his fingers over the cards, steadying himself with the familiar, rhythmic movements. He had shuffled his own cards so many times lately that he was certain he could do it in his sleep. There was something oddly reassuring in being able to hold his opponent's deck and see that they were just cards like anyone else's cards, and no more dangerous than a normal player's cards.
Wait a second... something doesn't feel right, here... Yugi glared down at the cards he was holding. There was something ever-so-slightly off about them, something wrong with the weight and thickness of the deck. He began surreptitiously riffling through them, counting them off in groups of five. Ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, thirty-five... what the...?
He had counted off forty cards, but there were still a few left over. That was wrong - the rules had strictly stated that they would be playing with decks of exactly forty cards. Yugi and all his friends had been searched as they boarded the ship, as had everyone else, and anyone with surplus cards had been forced to discard a few until they had the required number. Yugi had even seen one boy in the throes of utter panic, as he'd realized his deck was short one card, who had run from person to person until he had finally been able to procure the required item and board the ship. How had Bandit Keith managed to reach the island with extra cards, and why was he still keeping them even though the rules had been explained so plainly? Was it an accident, or something more?
I'm good enough against an honest duelist, Yugi thought, as he passed the cards back and reaccepted his own, but if Keith is going to cheat... maybe my other self had better help with this...
That was all the invitation he needed. A change came over Yugi: he sat up straighter, his eyes narrowed, and a sudden air of confidence came over him. Keith gave him an appraising look.
"So, you think you're ready to mix it up with Bandit Keith, huh?" he said. "Don't make me laugh. You'll be lucky if you can go three rounds with me."
"If I was lucky," answered Yugi, "I could probably beat you in three rounds. I don't think I will wager too much on luck today. We'll go for six."
"You're too short to talk that big," said Keith.
"Then let's play," Yugi retorted. "I'll even let you go first."
"Fine," said Keith. He threw a monster face-down on the field. "I set that card in defense. If you're as good as you think you are, you won't need to know what it is to defeat it."
"Then I will play Dark Magician Girl in attack mode, and send her to discover what your face-down card is! Go, Dark Magician Girl!"
The Dark Magician Girl attacked. Keith's card was flipped face-up: it was Pendulum Machine. Its defense wasn't up to the Dark Magician Girl's 2000 attack points, but to Yugi's amazement, the attack was repelled. Despite the fact that it was only a hologram, the Dark Magician Girl still managed to look baffled as she retreated.
"Hah! Don't feel so special now, do you?" Keith gloated. "My machines can't be hurt by magical attacks! What'd I hear your best card was - the Dark Magician? I hate to be the one to tell you this, buddy, but he ain't worth jack shit against me."
"I believe Mr. Crocketts told you to keep your language clean," said Yugi mildly. "The first turn is over. Your move."
Keith growled. "Looks like you haven't learned your lesson yet. I'll show you who you're really dealing with! First, I'll summon my next monster - Slot Machine! Next, I'll equip Slot Machine with 7 Completed to boost its attack by 700 points! Your stupid monster hasn't got a chance!"
Yugi cringed as his Dark Magician Girl was obliterated, and a full quarter of his life points were drained away. He was more concerned, at the moment, by the fact that he had picked up a small and curious detail about Keith's deck. Upon arriving late for lunch, Keith had hurriedly and messily devoured his meal, resulting in his getting a certain amount of crumbs on his sleeve. One of these had transferred itself to the top of his deck. It was still there.
I don't know where that card came from, but he didn't draw it from the top of his deck. Yugi stared curiously at Keith's smug expression. Why? Your monster was already more powerful than my Dark Magician Girl. You had a chance to win honestly. Why are you cheating?
"Why are you doing this, Keith?" he asked quietly.
"You want to know why?" answered Keith. "You have the nerve to ask me why? I guess you don't really know, being a stupid foreigner. You couldn't have seen what happened..."
Yugi set a monster in defense mode, and placed two cards face-down. "So maybe I'm interested. By the way, the second turn is over."
"Fine, I'll tell you," Keith snapped, but Yugi could see a gleam of eagerness in his eyes, over the rims of his dark glasses. He had clearly been bottling up anger or outrage for a long time, just waiting for anyone who would listen to him rant. "You see that guy up there? Yeah, that one looking down on us, making us play games just to amuse him," he said mockingly, shooting a glare up at Pegasus and his bodyguard. "I played against him once. He didn't want to. He thought he was too good for me - he brushed me off. The greatest player in the world, and he brushed me off like I was a little kid bugging him for an autograph! And then, and then do you know what he did? He decided he was going to show me up. He got a big stadium and filled it full of people. Got all the TV cameras and newspapers and everything going out there. We went out there and got ready to duel, and what did he do? He started scribbling on a paper, and then walked off and left me! He pulled some kid out of the audience, gave him the piece of paper, and made him duel instead. And somehow..." Keith's voice shook with anger, "that brat won!"
"Are you telling me that Pegasus somehow knew what cards you would play, wrote them down, and passed on the strategy to beat you on to a child?" asked Yugi incredulously.
"It was a setup!" Keith hissed. "I don't know how he did it, but he did it! He had to have set it up somehow. That kid was a shill, or something. They planned it ahead of time. They did it all just to make me look stupid!" Keith's expression was a study in raw paranoia. "He was just jealous of me because I was taking the spotlight off of him, and he knew he couldn't keep pretending he was invincible forever. He knew he would lose if I ever played him in a fair fight!"
"A fair fight?" said Yugi. "You intend to have a fair fight, do you?"
"Turnabout is fair play."
"What are you two whispering about down there?" shouted Jonouchi from the viewing platform. "Get on with the game!"
"Aw, shut up!" Keith yelled back.
He slapped a card on the field. "I play Guardian of the Throne Room in attack mode! But before I attack, I'll use the next 7 Completed on my Slot Machine and boost its attack to 3700! What do you say to that?"
Yugi was silent.
Go on. Get overconfident, he was thinking. Let's see you cheat your way out of this.
"Not impressed, huh?" said Keith. "Well, I'll take care of you! My Pendulum Machine should be more than enough to take out your defense card! Attack, Pendulum Machine!"
The machine dutifully attacked - and bounced back as it struck the solid body of Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone. Its 2000 attack points easily repelled the machine, and Keith grimaced as his life points dropped to 3750. To add insult to injury, one of Yugi's trap cards sprang to life: Spellbinding Circle, lowering the Pendulum Machine's attack points to 1050.
"Why, you...!" Keith snarled. He muttered unintelligible things under his breath.
"Do you have anything else you'd like to do?" Yugi inquired politely.
Keith stared at the two cards arrayed against him. Certainly his Slot Machine could take out the Giant Soldier of Stone easily, but he obviously didn't trust the other face-down card.
"Fine," he said. "I won't attack this turn... but just to give you something to look forward to, I'll use the last of my 7 Completed cards! You die on the next turn, Yugi!"
"Very well," said Yugi. "If that's what you think, I'll give you something to work for. I play the monster card Summoned Skull in attack mode! With 2500 attack points, he's every bit the equal of my Dark Magician. Let's see if his claws will rend your monster's armor. Summoned Skull, attack... the Guardian of the Throne Room!"
Keith boggled - not just because his life points had just dropped to 2900, but because Yugi had chosen to attack the stronger of his two monsters.
"What'd you do that for?" he said. "Are you crazy, or just stupid?"
"I'm not done yet," said Yugi. "I'm going to use my face-down card - Brain Control! I bring your Slot Machine to my side of the field, and I use it to attack your Pendulum Machine!"
Keith watched helplessly as his all-powerful monster appeared on Yugi's side of the field. His one consolation was that it didn't stay there long: one blast from the powered-up Slot Machine obliterated the last of his monsters as well as his life points. He let out a howl of frustration. Yugi eyed him calmly.
"You only lasted three turns, after all," he said. "Luck was with me, I suppose. You see, I make my own luck, Keith, by believing in myself, my friends, and my deck. It works better than cheating."
"Why you... you little... you took my chance from me!" Keith snarled. "This was my duel!"
"You took it from yourself," Yugi replied. "You've been cheating since the moment this duel began - a duel you entered only for the sake of revenge. If you hadn't been so fixated on your hatred and jealousy, you might have stood a chance. As it was, you were doomed from the beginning."
Keith's eyes flashed with fury. Snarling, he lunged across the table, hands outstretched as if preparing to claw Yugi to shreds. However, before he could reach him, there was an almost imperceptible flicker of golden light. It could have been nothing, perhaps only a momentary malfunction of the hologram system caused by Keith bumping into it, but when it had passed, Bandit Keith Howard lay unconscious on the table.
A moment later, Yugi slumped bonelessly back into his seat as if he'd fainted himself, but his eyes flickered open again and he looked around dazedly.
He did it. I knew he would do it, he thought, staring in faint horror at the unmoving body before him. Keith's eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. He used his powers on Bandit Keith...
People came rushing down to the dueling stage, and Yugi tried to rouse himself and arrange his features so that he didn't look too guilty.
"Oh, dear, oh, dear," Pegasus was saying. "Mr. Howard seems to have passed out. Obviously the strain of losing was a bit too much for him, poor man. He always was a choleric sort - always angry about something."
"Is he going to be okay?" asked Yugi inanely.
"I'm sure he'll be just fine," said Pegasus, as two of his men picked up the unresponsive body and hauled it away. "Since my island home is rather isolated, I took the precaution of including a medical team on my staff. They are highly trained. You may rest assured that they will give him the best care money can buy until it can be arranged for him to be sent to the mainland."
"Oh," said Yugi. With some effort, he added, "Good."
Pegasus gave him a smile that oozed sympathy. "Poor boy, you look so dismayed. That won't do at all! You won, after all, and in such style, too! Don't think it's your fault that he got a little carried away."
"I guess you're right," he said. "If you don't mind... I don't mean to be rude, but I'm a little tired now. Could I go back to my room and rest for a few minutes?"
"Of course you can," said Pegasus. "You finished so quickly, it's left something of a gap in my schedule. By all means, rest and refresh yourself, and I will send someone to fetch you when we are ready to proceed."
Yugi nodded and fled the room as quickly as he dared, trying to get away from the image of Keith's unresponsive body sprawled, still as death, before him.
He did it, he did it, he did it...
Yugi's mind was whirling. Many visions crowded into his thoughts, jostling each other out of the way and shoving new ones in, so that Yugi felt he was trying to reach his room through a huge and immovable crowd, past which he could see nothing. Faces kept springing into his memory: Ushio the hall monitor, drooling and talking to himself in a pile of leaves and garbage; Kokurano the fortune teller, who had been forced to change schools when he could no longer stand the taunts and jeers of those who once admired him; a nameless prisoner, scarred by fire until he no longer looked human; the terrified eyes of the Player Killer who was now lost in a never-ending night. All these and more filled his memory. It was a long list, detailing vividly everyone who had come to grief at the hands of the spirit in Yugi's puzzle. They had seemed like awful people, but then again, Jonouchi and Honda had bullied him as well, and they had become staunch friends. Who was to say that all those other people were lost beyond redemption, and were now fit only for shame and suffering?
He did it to protect me - to save me and my friends. If he hadn't done it, some of us might be dead by now. I know his intentions are good. I can feel it inside me - all he wants to do is look after all of us with all his strength. I just don't know if it's safe...
The worm of doubt was steadily sinking its fangs deeper into Yugi's mind. There had been a time when he would have said he'd do anything to have a friend who would stand by him at all times. Surely he had that in his other self, and because of him, he had befriended Jonouchi and Honda and Bakura, and deepened his old friendship with Anzu. He was no longer taunted and bullied at school, but treated with respect. People waved at him in the hallways and asked to play a few rounds or swap cards with him. His other self had made life better... but at what cost?
I never wanted to hurt anyone...
It was obvious, however, that his intentions meant little, if anything. His other self seemed prepared to deal out appalling damage to anyone, if they threatened Yugi or someone close to him in any way. Everyone who crossed him was punished in some way, to a greater or lesser extent, sometimes in no understandable relation to how much damage the person had done in the first place. Kokurano's intentions had amounted to rape, and he had gotten off with simple humiliation; Goro Inogashira had only tried to take the prime space at the school festival and had ended up with life-threatening injuries. Whatever the force inside the Puzzle was, he was dangerous and capricious, and it frightened Yugi that such a thing could live inside of him and rise to the surface whenever it wished.
"I know your intentions are good, but I can't let you keep doing this," he said. "It's got to stop..."
"Don't stop yet," said a voice. "You can't go halfway and quit."
Yugi looked up, and saw a shadow lurking at the end of the hall: a tall figure in a blue cloak and hood.
"Who's there?" Yugi asked.
The hooded man laughed, and Yugi recognized the sound. Some of his surprise must have shown on his face.
"Yes, it's me," said Seto Kaiba. "You should have known I'd be here waiting for you, Yugi."
"That's right," Yugi replied, as the memory surfaced. "Pegasus told me. He said you wanted to duel me again."
"More than anything," said Kaiba.
Yugi seized on this desperate hope. The vacant look on Seto's face had haunted his dreams, and the relief he'd felt on hearing that he was awake again had taken his breath away. Now the one thing he wanted most to know was whether or not what his other self had said was true: that Seto Kaiba would find his heart and rebuild it, becoming a better and stronger person. If that was true, then maybe his other self did know what he was doing. Maybe the ones he punished would wake up one day and realize that they were wrong, if they were truly redeemable.
"Then let's do it!" said Yugi. "We have time. Pegasus told me I could take a break before I go back. It shouldn't take but a few minutes..."
"No," said Kaiba firmly. "I made a deal, and I'm going to keep it."
"What?"
"Pegasus wants to duel you. I don't know his reasons, but win or lose, he promised me that I could duel you after he was done - but not before. He's too slippery a character for me to want to cross him. Duel him, beat him if you can, and then I'll deal with you. Until then, you'll just have to do without that pleasure."
He turned and walked off.
"Kaiba, wait!" Yugi called, but Kaiba was already gone. Yugi sighed.
So I don't get to find out for sure unless I play against Pegasus.
He had mixed emotions about that. He didn't trust Pegasus, with good reason, but he felt leery about letting his other self go into battle with him. Aside from a natural disinclination to let anyone come to harm, there was the fact that even being in the same room where mysterious damage came to a famous and influential person was likely to cause some problems. Yugi was afraid his alter ego's efforts to protect him might lead to more trouble than ever, if he wasn't careful.
"I'll duel him," he said. "I'll do it, though, not you," he told his other self. "You've caused enough trouble today, so just stay put."
This pronouncement was met with a tremor of objection, which Yugi ignored. Let his other self protest! It was time Yugi got some say in this matter. After all, it was Kaiba he wanted to go up against, in the end - it didn't really matter whether he won or lost the duel against Pegasus.
Yugi was in his room when the servants arrived, looking out his window and thinking. The sun was inching towards the horizon, and he was dimly wondering whether or not Pegasus meant for them all to eat dinner before the final ceremony, when there came a knock on the door.
"Mr. Mutou?" said a voice. "Mr. Pegasus will see you now."
"Oh. Okay," he said, and went to greet them. They stood on either side of the doorway, looking for all the world like bodyguards rather than servants, and Yugi wondered if they thought they were protecting him from someone, or the other way around. On the whole, he would have preferred to be escorted by Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu.
"Your companions are waiting for you in the main parlor with Mr. Pegasus," said one, apparently guessing his thoughts from the disappointed look on his face. "You will meet them there before the final ceremonies begin."
"Ah."
They marched him down to the parlor in grim silence. Yugi was glad when the walk ended, and even gladder when his escort bowed to Pegasus and vanished to wherever they came from, leaving him in the company of some slightly more communicative beings. His three best friends were already waiting for him, sitting in armchairs and sipping tea as they waited for him. There was no sign of Mai, nor was Keith anywhere in sight, not that Yugi had expected it. Of the assembled company, only Pegasus did not look impatient. He seemed perfectly at ease, leaning back in his chair with his long legs crossed, idly stirring his tea without showing any signs of wanting to drink it. His expression lit up as Yugi walked in the door.
"There you are! Here at last!" he said exuberantly. "We've all been so anxious to see how you were doing. Feeling refreshed now? Good! Excellent, excellent. Now, find yourself a seat, make yourself comfortable, and we can get down to business."
Yugi picked out a seat - not a difficult task, since there was only one left. It was the one closest to Pegasus, which made him a little uneasy. He had the eerie feeling that he was being stared at, though Pegasus's attention seemed to be on the room in general.
"Well, now that we are all together at last, you can all help me settle a little difficulty," he said. "Now, as you are aware, there are two finalists left. There are also two prizes. One is the cash prize, and the other is the right to challenge me for whatever prize you desire. Obviously one of these is more valuable than the other, and I had considered making it the grand prize, for the ultimate winner alone to claim, while giving the lesser prize to the esteemed runner-up. However, it occurs to me that one of these prizes is rather more... certain in its worth than the other. A cash prize is a cash prize, while the other could become anything from a simple honorarium to... well, almost anything. I am not sure which the two of you would prefer. So, since I know you are close friends, I will give you an option: you may either duel each other for the grand prize, or you may choose between yourselves which of the prizes you will have."
He sat back in his chair and watched Jonouchi and Yugi keenly. The boys looked at each other.
"You should have it, Yugi," Jonouchi blurted. "The grand prize, I mean. Unless you really want the cash prize. It's not like I'm asking for the money, even if I need it. I mean, I'm just saying you have a better chance of winning against Pegasus than I do, but..."
Yugi burst out laughing. "That's okay, Jonouchi. You take the money. You're right; you do need it more than I do... and I have my own reasons for wanting to duel Pegasus," he added, more quietly. He wasn't sure Jonouchi heard him, but had a sneaking suspicion Pegasus did.
"So it's all worked out? Splendid!" said Pegasus. "I will see to it that you have a check written for the full amount handed to you. In fact I shall write it out myself and hand it to you personally. As for you, Yugi-boy... the moment I've been waiting for. Now we will decide who is king of the Duelist Kingdom."
He rose from his seat and set aside his teacup.
"Come!" he declared. "There's no time like the present!"
Yugi found that he was being caught by the sleeve and hauled to his feet by his persistent host. Various other people jumped up and tried to follow them.
"No, no, stay where you are," said Pegasus. "This is between me and him. He can tell you about it when it's over."
"But-" said Yugi.
"No buts. My final decision."
Yugi was ushered out the door, leaving his protesting friends behind him.
"Why did we have to do that?" he asked.
"You'll see, you'll see," said Pegasus with a chuckle. "I have a little surprise for you - something just for the grand prize winner."
"Oh?"
"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!"
They reached the dueling arena. Yugi felt a little nervous; it was the first time he had been there without his friends to accompany him. The room felt larger than it had before, and noises echoed strangely. Pegasus stopped on the walkway and faced him.
"You're curious, aren't you?" he said. "You're wondering a very great many things about me - what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. To tell the truth, I have been very eager... very eager to tell the truth, that is." Yugi noticed that the man was trembling slightly; his hands shook as he gestured. "Allow me to confirm your suspicions."
"You did it to get to me," said Yugi. "You wanted to duel me. Why?"
"Why?" Pegasus repeated, plainly not shocked at all by Yugi's guess. "Because, dear boy, you have something I want very, very badly. Something I must have, no matter what the cost."
"What is it?"
"Oh, come now. I think you know. What is it that you alone have - you and your friend Bakura?"
"My Millennium Item!"
"That's right! Very good! You see, that wasn't such a hard question," said Pegasus, clapping mockingly. "We really were long overdue for a meeting. You see, we have a lot in common. I, too, wield one of the Millennium Items."
Much to Yugi's surprise, Pegasus raised one hand to brush back his hair. Where his other eye should have been, there was instead a piece of metal, a menacing eye of gold. Yugi stared.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Pegasus. "This is the Millennium Eye. It has amazing powers, powers that you can't begin to fathom... and now it's too late to figure it out, Yugi-boy. You're trapped now. Oh, yes, I know you knew this was a trap, so don't go acting like you're clever for having figured it out. Knowing that a house is on fire doesn't prevent you from getting burned if you go inside. Now you're in my clutches. You will never escape this room until I have what I want from you."
Yugi continued to stare, feeling anger building inside of him. Pegasus grinned back - a stretched, manic grin that twisted his aristocratic face into something subhuman, with his hair not quite covering that unnatural eye.
"So this is your true face," said Yugi at last.
He expected an airy retort. Instead, Pegasus's expression went cold and grim.
"No," he said. "This is not my true face. No one has seen my true face for seven years... seven very long years. But that time is almost over. All things will be born again, but to make that happen, I must defeat you in a game."
Something about the way he said that sent chills up Yugi's spine; he knew exactly what Pegasus was talking about.
"A Shadow Game," he said.
"Yes," Pegasus agreed. "I will keep to my original terms. If you defeat me, you may have whatever you ask - my fortune, my company, this entire island, even my Millennium Eye, if you wish. If I win, I will take the Millennium Puzzle. What do you say? I'm being quite reasonable. It's a better offer than you got from that other fellow - the one who wanted to pull your head off."
"They say you're invincible," said Yugi.
"They say the same about you. So what will it be? The King of Games versus the King of Duelist Kingdom. Two equals striving for superiority. It will be the greatest game in history."
"Since you leave me no choice," Yugi replied, "I'll do it."
"Lovely. Listen, I'm in a bit of a rush today - would you mind if we played by the original rules, to 2000 points? It would let us get things over with a bit more quickly, and I want to put this nasty business behind us as soon as possible."
Yugi boggled at him a moment; the way Pegasus talked, it sounded like a Shadow Game was of no more importance than a business meeting!
"Set whatever terms you want," he said at last. "Let's begin."
Almost immediately, he felt a rush of vertigo wash over him, and he fought it off. It subsided for only a moment before re-emerging with fresh intensity. Yugi took his seat at the dueling table with gritted teeth, struggling to keep his other self from seizing control when the spirit was fighting him with all his considerable strength. The feeling in his chest intensified and fought his way up into his brain, briefly fogging his vision. It turned itself into words.
Let me out!
No! Yugi thought back, hoping the spirit would hear him. I can't!
... You can hear me?
Yes! Listen, er... other me, this really isn't the time!
It is, the spirit insisted. Yugi, this is no ordinary duel. This is a Shadow Game. You don't have the strength to do this. You must let me help you, or...
No. If I let you, you'll hurt him. You always hurt someone when you play these games! I can't let you do it anymore!
"Are you going to offer me your cards, Yugi-boy?" asked Pegasus, cutting into his thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Cards. You know, those things we play with now and again? You're supposed to let me shuffle them, to make sure you aren't cheating."
"Oh. Right," said Yugi. He shoved his cards across the table and accepted Pegasus's in return. He began to shuffle them.
They don't leave me any choice, the voice in his head told him. I tell them what to expect. They do it anyway, because they are too arrogant to believe they can lose. It is my task to administer justice.
Did you ever think of trying a little mercy, too, sometimes?
Yugi, listen, if you lose this match... we'll lose each other.
Maybe I'm better off without you.
Yugi passed the cards back and took his own. He glared at them as if he expected them to have been tampered with.
"You know, Yugi-boy," said Pegasus casually, "don't think badly of me for doing this. When you think about it, we're both very much alike. We're both peerless gamers, we'd both do anything to protect the ones closest to us... and we're both very, very dangerous when crossed."
"I'm not dangerous!" Yugi protested.
"Oh, I think you are. I've heard a few names. Ushio, Kokurano, Imori, Sozoji, Inogashira... oh, there are too many to list! You've been a busy boy, taking down all these people."
"How did you know about them?" asked Yugi, gasping.
"Oh, I do my research," said Pegasus. "I'll be nice today, and let you go first."
Yugi checked his hand and selected his first monster. "I play--"
"Don't tell me; you'll spoil the surprise," said Pegasus. "Let's see, that would be, hmm... Skeleton Soldier, is it? Then I'll play this card to destroy all Zombie monsters on the field."
Yugi boggled. The card was still in his hand. "What kind of a turn was that?"
"I was just trying to save you a little effort," said Pegasus, with a knowing smile. "You'll see what I mean in a minute. I'll summon the Dark Rabbit in attack mode and end my turn."
Yugi drew his card and studied his hand. The Dark Rabbit wasn't an overwhelmingly powerful monster. Could Pegasus really not have any better cards in his hand? Or was there some hidden strategy involved? There weren't any trap cards on the field, so it was hard to guess what kind of plan Pegasus might have in mind. Some kind of spell, maybe?
Maybe he just got a bad hand, thought Yugi with an uneasy shrug.
He drew the Beaver Warrior card and placed it on the field, preparing to unleash an attack. Instead, he felt a sudden weakness come over him, something that seemed to affect not only his body, but his very soul. His will was shaken; for a moment, he could not remember where he was or what he was supposed to be doing.
Let me out! begged the voice in his mind.
NO! That familiar voice had jolted Yugi back to the present. I have to do this myself!
"What's wrong, Yugi-boy? A little tired? A bit disoriented?" asked Pegasus, in tones of mock sympathy. "Before you begin worrying too much about your health, I think I ought to point out to you that the dueling table isn't turned on right now."
"Hmm?"
Yugi looked down. The last time he had played, in his match against Bandit Keith, he had felt the table thrumming beneath his fingers as he played. Now it was cold and silent... and yet he could plainly see the two monsters on the field. He boggled. Pegasus laughed and reached out a hand to his rabbit, who cuddled against it affectionately.
"I told you, dear boy - this is a Shadow Game!" he said. "The monsters we summon are real. This is just how they did it in the old days, centuries ago in Egypt. They summoned real monsters from the Shadow Realm... and they paid for them with their own strength. That is what we're doing now. I enjoy it, myself, but some of my other opponents have found it rather tiresome, you might say."
Yugi, you must let me do this. You don't have the power to play this kind of game!
I'm doing okay! I just need a minute to get used to it, that's all!
"Beaver Warrior, attack the Dark Rabbit!" Yugi commanded.
The rabbit went up in a spray of sparks. Yugi leaned back in his chair, panting.
"Oh, that was nice," said Pegasus. "But how long do you think you can keep it up, hm?"
"As long as it takes!"
"Then let's try a little something more challenging. I summon the Parrot Dragon to attack your Beaver Warrior. I also play this card face-down. Your turn."
There were no cards in Yugi's hand strong enough to take on the Parrot Dragon. Yugi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached for the top card on his deck. He looked at it. He sighed with relief.
"Gaia the Fierce Knight," said Pegasus. "What a lucky draw!"
"How are you doing that?" Yugi asked.
"It's simple, my boy. My Eye sees many things that are hidden from mortal men," answered Pegasus. "Occasionally, I will glimpse things that have been, or that are present but invisible to others. Most often, however, it allows me to see into the minds of men. I can see all your cards, all your strategies, all your thoughts... even your deepest fears." He smiled. "You are in deep, deep trouble."
Yugi scowled, then stubbornly placed his card on the table. Once again, the weakness and disorientation stole over him, more strongly than before, so that he nearly fell out of his chair. The force inside him seized control, and he struggled painfully to wrestle it back into place. He was panting and sweating when he finally sat up.
"Having trouble?" asked Pegasus. "Remember, the more powerful the monster, the more effort it takes to summon it. I would keep that in mind, if I were you. You wouldn't want to strain yourself."
He's right! You can't keep doing this!
Shut up!
He ordered his Knight to attack the Parrot Dragon. Pegasus hardly looked bothered.
"You're taking this so seriously!" he complained. "Why can't we have a little fun with this, hmm? Oh, I know! Let me show you something fun!"
He drew a card from his hand and placed it on the field. Immediately, a book sprang into being, and its pages flipped open like a pop-up book, revealing a strange castle made of mushrooms and a number of trees with lunatic expressions.
What is that? The spirit seemed to have been stunned into stopping his fight, but he wasn't speechless.
I've heard rumors of that card, Yugi thought back. It's called Toon World.
What does that mean?
It means Pegasus is right. We are in trouble.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Pegasus gushed. "Like a dream come true... One thing I've always wanted is to be able to live in a cartoon. Wouldn't that be the most amazing thing? Cartoons can do anything. They can't be hurt, and they never die... it would be a perfect world..."
"I like the world I'm in, thanks," said Yugi shortly.
"Oh, but you haven't seen what my Toon World can do!" Pegasus replied. "Just watch and learn!"
He drew another card and placed it on the field. As Yugi watched in shock, it disappeared into the Toon World book before he could even get a good look at it.
"Where did it go?"
"Where do you think? It's gone where I, regrettably, cannot," answered Pegasus. "It's in there. Shy, I suspect. You'll just have to attack and hope your monster is up to the challenge!"
Yugi scowled. Fighting back the feelings of weariness, he ordered his Fierce Knight to attack, and struggled to keep his eyes focused on it as it trotted across the field.
My other self might be right. Maybe I am too weak for this... No! I have to finish this now! There aren't that many monsters stronger than my Knight; I'll be okay!
Gaia had nearly reached the Toon World, when a menacing figure sprang out of it like the contents of a jack-in-the-box. Before Yugi knew what had happened, a winged, skeletal creature had swooped down on his Fierce Knight, torn it to shreds, and retreated into the Toon World book. The book snapped smartly shut.
"Was that a... Summoned Skull?" asked Yugi.
"It was a Toon Summoned Skull! Wasn't it cute?" Pegasus said. "There are more where that came from! Any monster I play now will become a resident of the Toon World, and you won't be able to touch them!"
Is he telling the truth? asked the Spirit.
Yugi nodded a little. That's how the card works. It protects his cards and makes them nearly invincible... but it's okay! I can still win if I can just draw a good, strong monster...
No! If you try to play anything stronger than that last one, the strain could kill you!
Yugi gritted his teeth and drew anyway... and there it was: the best card in his deck. If the Black Magician couldn't solve his problems, nothing could. He prepared to place it on the gaming table, but once again, dizziness washed over him. The card felt as if it weighed fifty pounds; his arm trembled from holding it.
"What's the matter? Tired of this game already?" asked Pegasus. "I'm surprised at you! I expected you to last much longer than this, Yugi-boy! What's wrong? I get the feeling you're dividing your energies..."
With a sudden sinking sensation, Yugi realized he was right. He was fighting two battles here: both with Pegasus, and with his other self. The strain of trying to stand between both of them was threatening to crush him. But he couldn't stop now; he had already drawn the card. Very slowly, he placed the card on the table.
"I summon... the Black Magician..." he gasped.
There was a flicker over the table, and a purple shape that might have been construed as a Black Magician came slowly into view. Yugi felt his strength draining away, disappearing into some bottomless darkness. His ears were buzzing; his chest felt tight; his heart was beating weakly but too fast. Blackness was beginning to creep in at the edge of his vision. His last thought was: Save me...
Immediately, a new feeling took hold of him. It felt like he was being lifted up by strong arms, and while he was no longer in any shape to work out exactly who might be doing it, he felt certain that he was no longer in any danger of falling into oblivion.
It's all right, Yugi, said a voice. For some reason, it sounded sad. I have strength enough for this... only this.
And then he was himself again. The voice was gone, the blackness was gone, even the monsters and Toon world were gone.
"What happened?" he croaked.
"You passed out," said someone next to him, and he jumped. Yugi looked up, and was surprised to see Pegasus's bodyguard Crocketts standing over him. "Mr. Pegasus said you were having a private duel when you lost consciousness, so he sent for me to come check on you."
"Where is he now?" asked Yugi, looking all around.
"He's returned to his rooms," Crocketts replied. "He did leave a message for you, though. He said to tell you... let me see, how did he phrase it. Ah, yes: there is more than one kind of life points, but the game is always over when you run out. I am not sure what he meant by it, but he seemed to think it was important. Are you feeling all right now?"
"I... I think so," said Yugi, his mouth on autopilot. "I'll be just fine."
"Your friends are waiting for you outside," said Crocketts. "I'm sure they will be eager to hear you are well again."
He walked out of the room, apparently expecting Yugi to follow him. Yugi remained where he was for a moment, letting the truth sink in. He had used up his strength - his life points, as Pegasus had put it - trying to fight his friend and his enemy at the same time, with the result that he had been unable to summon the Black Magician. His other self had been able to save him by sharing his own strength with him, but he had not had enough to save Yugi's life and bring the Dark Magician to the playing field at the same time. He had given up the game to save Yugi's life.
He just wanted to protect me... Just like always, he was willing to do anything to protect me...
Yugi stood up and walked slowly to the door, and found his friends gathered anxiously on the other side.
"Yugi!" Anzu exclaimed. "You look awful! What happened?"
"I lost," said Yugi weakly. "I... I lost the Millennium Puzzle!"