Chapter 4: And here it comes - the very first duel of the story! (You knew it was coming, didn't you? Such smart readers!)

Arriving at Pegasus Castle in a Kaiba Corp helicopter, Seto was greeted by Pegasus' right hand man, Croquet.

"Mr. Pegasus is waiting for you. Follow me," the suited man commanded.

"Great." He muttered under his breath. "I can't wait." As he walked behind Croquet, he realized that in a way, he was actually looking forward to this duel. He could just imagine how good it would feel to crush Pegasus at his own game, sending each one of those ridiculous toon monsters of his to the graveyard. Where they belonged. I hate toons. Especially when he turns my Blue Eyes White Dragon into a toon. Seto smiled grimly. He was prepared for this – Pegasus and his little tricks didn't stand a chance this time. And defeating him could only improve his somewhat slighted reputation as a duelist.

- - - - - - - - -

"Okay, we'd better do this quick, so that we don't get Kaiba even more upset with us," Duke commented. Kira rolled her eyes.

"I could care less about what he thinks, the egotistical jerk!" Duke laughed at her outburst.

"And it took you how long to figure that out?" he asked sarcastically. "It's not personal. Kaiba's like that toward everyone. Some people you can always depend on to serve themselves, no matter who else it hurts."

"Come on, Duke. Let's just get those cards and get out of here."

"Alright," Duke replied. "Here, put these on." He handed her a pair of very dark sunglasses. "I was able to find out from Pegasus' database that your cards are somewhere in the dungeon, but fortunately for us, they're surprisingly not too heavily guarded. I have a good idea of where they are from Kaiba's surveillance system of Pegasus Castle. He may be a jerk, but he's a genius computer hacker. I still can't figure out how he set that up."

- - - - - - - - -

"Ahh, Kaiba-boy. It's been a long time, too long," Pegasus greeted. "I must admit, I was surprised when you called. Did you miss me and my little toon kingdom?"

"Can we just duel already?" Kaiba asked impatiently.

"Yes, of course. That is why we are here, isn't it? A rematch between the creator and the champion. Does my little arena look familiar to you, Kaiba-boy?" It had not escaped Seto's notice that they were standing across from each in other in the same dueling arena that had staged the Duelist Kingdom Finals, and Pegasus' defeat of the young CEO. The whole scene also reminded him of a more recent duel, against a strange guy name Alistair, who had pretended to be Pegasus, simply to get Seto to duel him. He didn't respond to Pegasus' question, but simply frowned. "What's wrong, Kaiba-boy? You're not . . .mad . . .at me, are you?" Kaiba closed his eyes to shut out the anger he felt.

"What do you expect? Am I supposed to just forget all that you pulled trying to take over my company and messing with my little brother?" He was seething with anger now. Pegasus smiled. Getting Seto Kaiba upset was fairly easy, and now his concentration would be off for the duel. Besides that, it was just fun.

"I see you didn't bring your little brother along. I'm surprised that after losing him before, you still don't keep better track of him, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus continued in a sickeningly sweet voice. Seto glared at him, but didn't acknowledge his comments.

"Let's get this over with!"

"Why, Kaiba-boy, Duel Monsters is a game. It's not a chore," Pegasus feigned being hurt. As he tried to regain his composure, Kaiba wished he could tell the game's creator exactly how he felt about his messed up hocus-pocus version of dueling. "Duel Monsters is supposed to be fun – just a nice game between old friends."

"Whatever."

"Hope you're ready for some cartoon fun this afternoon, Kaiba-boy. My adorable little toons can't wait to come out and play." Kaiba frowned and stopped paying attention to what he was saying. Here we go again – Pegasus going nuts over these stupid toons. This guy really needs help. He's definitely too old to be watching cartoons. I wonder how old he is anyway. . .

"I hope you're ready to watch your dumb toons get eaten by my Blue Eyes White Dragon." Pegasus' expression became suddenly more serious.

"Let's duel." The two said in unison.

"Alright, Seto, time to show that creep how a real duelist plays!" Mokuba said into Seto's headphones. His older brother smirked. This should be interesting, if nothing else. On the other side of the arena, Pegasus was also thinking, but not about strategy. I wonder what Kaiba-boy is up to . . .

"This is my arena, so I will make the first move. I place one card face down, and end my turn. Your move, Kaiba-boy." And the duel was on.

- - - - - - - - -

"Okay, you have to make a right turn, and then they should be in the next room. No one's coming, so you're in the clear."

"Thanks, Mokuba," Duke responded into his tiny communicator on his collar. They made the right turn and found themselves in a small room. There was a stone table with a glass cover in the center of the room, small torches lined the walls, but gave off little light. "Low tech security, huh?"

"Don't be so sure." Stepping in front of him, Kira picked up some dirt from the ground and threw it into the room. Immediately partial strands of the red laser beams that turned the small room into a maze became visible, then vanished just as quickly.

"Wasn't expecting that," said Duke, rubbing the back of his head.

"You may have been here a while, but there are still some things about my father that I know better than you."

"Guys, we've got a slight problem. I think Pegasus suspects something . . ." Mokuba said anxiously.

"What is it, Mokuba?" Duke asked urgently.

"Croquet is heading toward the left hallway. What's holding you guys up?" the boy asked.

"Lasers surrounding the deck."

"Urgh," Mokuba responded. "That's not good. We've got to come up with something quick!"

"Wait!" Kirandra exclaimed. "It's too obvious."

"What is?" Duke asked. If it was a way to get to the cards, with Pegasus' right hand man on their trail, this wasn't the time to play guessing games.

"The cards aren't here." Duke was confused and slightly irritated with her.

"And why aren't they? It looks to me like they are right there on the table, if we could get to them . . ."

"They can't be there, because that's where anyone would expect them to be."

"Umm . . . .Not following . . ."

"Oh, just come with me, I have a hunch." Kira grabbed his arm and started dragging him off back in the direction they came.

"Okay," Devlin sighed, shaking his head.

- - - - - - - - -

Kaiba was feeling slightly nervous about the outcome of the duel now. His Battle Ox and Reyukashin stood on the field defending his 2300 life points. He was still ahead of Pegasus, though only by 500. He had been baiting Pegasus for nearly the entire match, but the game's creator still had not put his Toon World card into play. Pegasus' Deranged Rabbit stood on the opposite end of the field, making a joke out of the seriousness he took in dueling. Seto desperately wanted to attack – either of his monsters had enough attack points to send that mockery of a Duel Monster to the graveyard, but one thing was holding him back - Pegasus' face down card. Kaiba looked at the cards in his hand. He had drawn two of his Blue Eyes White Dragons, Polymerization, and his Crush Card. Pegasus' Rabbit had just sent La Jinn to the graveyard, so it was his turn. Hopefully this next card will help me determine my next move. He drew swiftly, then looked down at the card. I hope Kira and Duke have that deck already. This duel could end very soon. "I play Wingbeat of Dragon! Your trap card is gone, Pegasus." Kaiba laughed. Next he would take down that annoying rabbit, and then wait, hopefully not long, until he drew his third Blue Eyes. Then it would all be over.

"Nice try, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus grinned, looking much like a child at Christmas. "A rather predictable move for you – very practical. But this facedown card isn't a trap card. It was my Parrot Dragon."

"What? No!" Kaiba did some rapid calculating and soon realized the consequences of this.

"Get ready to say goodbye to your Battle Ox, Kaiba! Parrot Dragon, attack his monster!"

- - - - - - - - -

"And I suppose you're going to tell me that he hid them in his television?" Duke nearly exploded while trying to maintain a whisper. He and Kira were standing in what looked like the play room of a young child. In the back of the room was the largest television Duke had ever seen. There were stuffed animal versions of various cartoon characters, including an extra large Funny Bunny, and another that looked strangely like a demented form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Not in the tv, Duke. But they're here somewhere. One of his little tricks. He never can do things the way he's expected to. Everything is a game to him," Kira replied thoughtfully. She slowly surveyed the room. It has to be here somewhere. Then she turned back to the Blue Eyes. "Duke, do you have a knife on you?"

"Well, yeah," Duke replied, pulling it out. "But I don't see . . ." Before he could finish, she had taken it from him and was be-heading the stuffed dragon.

"What are you doing? Oh, man, is your father going to kill you!"

"Cute, Duke. He would if I gave him half a chance, I'm sure," she responded, holding up a deck of Duel Monsters cards for him to see as she tossed the head of the Blue Eyes White Dragon on the floor. "Now let's get out of here."

"How did you know they were there?" Duke was incredulous.

"Call it a lucky guess," Kira shrugged, but he didn't quite believe she was telling the truth.

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