15. Aftermath
It was slow going back to the beach from the cave, with Tristan and Joey stopping every few minutes to trade duties of carrying Pegasus. Téa was tempted to run ahead and just leave them behind, so pressing was her urge to get back to Yugi and Rebecca's duel, but she resisted, knowing that if things were going badly, she wouldn't be in much position to do anything more than the people that were already there anyway.
Finally they could see Duel Monster holograms through the trees. Téa thought she saw Dark Magician and another monster that looked like one of Yugi's cards, but she couldn't place the name. They emerged from the trees at the opposite end of the beach from the duel just in time to see the monster she couldn't remember the name of attack a face down card that turned into some sort of red and gold shield with… was that an Eye of Horus on it? She couldn't tell before it disintegrated. Dark Magician then attacked a second facedown card that turned into some kind of robot with a huge gun turret for a head before it, too, exploded and disappeared.
"Looks like Yugi's winning," Téa commented, picking up her pace.
"Hey, what's going on?" Tristan asked suddenly, panting under Pegasus's weight. "Looks like some sort of commotion."
"That can't be good," Joey said.
Abruptly, the crowd parted and Téa saw Duke swing Rebecca around in a circle. Then her heart jumped into her chest as she saw Yugi, looking furious, dodge the ref and move threateningly toward Rebecca.
"Definitely not good," Joey repeated, and he and Téa took off at a dead run.
"Yugi!" Téa called out, but no one seemed to hear her over the commotion. Mokuba jumped into the fray, positioning himself between Yugi and Rebecca, and Kaiba came up behind Yugi, clapping his hand down on Yugi's shoulder. Yugi whirled around, breaking free from Kaiba's grasp, shouted something at him, then brought his duel disk up like he was going to call an attack.
She was almost at the edge of the cluster of people surrounding the dueling area, Joey at her heels, when to her horror, Kaiba raised his left arm and brought his duel disk crashing down on the back of Yugi's head.
"YUGI!" she screamed as he crumpled to the ground. Joey gasped beside her.
It was pandemonium as Téa pushed past several people trying to get to the middle. She saw Serenity at Yugi's side and remembered with some relief that she had some EMT training. Rebecca was nearby, straining to get to Yugi, but Duke was holding her back. Nelson and Goradon were all over Kaiba, arguing with him. Finally making it through everyone, Téa slid to her knees in the sand at Yugi's side while Joey launched himself at Kaiba. Téa blocked out the din above her, concentrating only on Yugi.
"Yugi!" Téa cried a third time, stroking his face. His expression changed under her touch, became more peaceful, and that alarmed her. Don't people look peaceful when they're about to die? she thought wildly. She looked at Serenity and choked out, "Is he okay?"
"I think so," her friend nodded. "He probably just has a concussion. I don't think Kaiba hit him that hard."
"What was he thinking hitting Yugi with his duel disk?" Téa spat, furious. "He wasn't in the duel; he has no excuse!"
Serenity reached across Yugi and put her hand on Téa's arm. "Téa, I think he did the right thing. You… you didn't see what was going on. Yugi… he was out of control, lashing out at everyone. And it didn't stop when the duel ended. He almost knocked me over, he shoved Duke, said some awful things to Rebecca and was about to attack Kaiba with his monsters."
"He didn't go back to normal when it ended?"
Serenity shook her head.
"Oh Yugi, you should never have dueled, I knew this was a bad idea," she moaned, taking his hand. This is my fault. All my fault. If I'd have been more concerned last night with what's going on here instead of making out, we wouldn't have forgotten, we could've gone back right then with better flashlights and found the stone tablets in the cave and this duel would never have happened.
A lot of things seemed to be happening all at once around her. Harrison, the purser who used to be a navy medic, appeared at Yugi's side and confirmed Serenity's opinion that Yugi would probably be fine. Tristan and Mai arrived, and Tristan explained to Harrison about Pegasus, whom they'd left lying on the beach.
"Listen Wheeler, he attacked your own sister!" she heard Kaiba say, and Téa looked up then to see Joey blanche, suddenly caught between the conflicting loyalties to his sister and his best friend. Serenity heard it, too, and jumped up to deny that Yugi had attacked her, softening the description by explaining that he had merely pulled away from her and knocked her aside by accident.
"But Joey, I think Kaiba did do what he had to do. Yugi didn't stop when the duel was over."
Téa stopped listening when Goradon and Nelson started discussing whether or not anyone should be disqualified from the tournament. Croquet, apparently, had gone with Harrison to tend to Pegasus. At some point Evan Haines, Amy Burns, and the two other crewmembers—all but Harrison, who had apparently gone to see about Pegasus—joined the fray, demanding that they stop the entire tournament if it was going to cause fights like this, but Téa tuned them out once more, intent only on Yugi. Wake up. Come on, wake up.
"He okay?" she heard a voice ask and looked up from Yugi to see Mai kneeling with her.
"I think so," Téa said dully.
As if to confirm that assessment, he started to stir. His eyes fluttered a little and he groaned weakly, "Téa?"
"Yugi?" she asked, then suddenly found herself being hauled up by the back of her jacket. She turned to find Tristan and Joey on either side of her, pulling her away. Mai got up and backed away of her own accord, but Téa struggled against her two friends. "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"Nothin' doin', not until we know he's himself again," Joey told her firmly.
"Téa?" Yugi mumbled again, then his eyes opened completely. Something like horror darkened his features and he sat up quickly. "Rebecca—OW!" he cried out, rubbing the back of his head. He looked around wildly, past Téa to where Duke and Mokuba were still holding Rebecca back.
"I'm okay, Yugi," she called back, her voice tremulous.
Téa watched as his eyes met the younger duelist's, his face a mask of pain. "Oh Rebecca! What did I do? How could I…?" He buried his face his hands.
"It's okay, Yugi, it wasn't you, I know it wasn't you. We were both out of it," she said.
"Let go of me!" Téa grunted, pulling free from Tristan and Joey and sinking back to her knees to wrap her arms around Yugi. "It's okay," she soothed. "It's over."
"No, no it's not okay," he said vehemently, jerking his head up and pulling away from her. "You didn't hear what I said. Why couldn't I stop? The duel was over! Why didn't I stop?"
Now Rebecca pulled free from Duke and Mokuba and came to kneel beside him as well. Téa expected to be pushed aside, but instead Rebecca simply knelt next to her and stretched out one hand to Yugi's arm.
"It's okay, Yugi. Really. I'm fine."
"Rebecca. I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop. I don't know why I couldn't stop."
"I know."
He closed his eyes, struggling to accept the forgiveness she was offering and Téa still didn't know what she had to forgive him for. When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the crowd around him self-consciously. "What happened? How did I end up on the ground?"
"Kaiba clocked you with his duel disk," Duke informed him.
Yugi got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. Téa and Rebecca rose with him. He turned and faced Kaiba, who was standing in a cluster of the ship's crew and tournament officials.
"Thank you, Kaiba," he said solemnly with a nod of his head.
Kaiba's eyes glinted and he smirked at Yugi. "It was my pleasure, believe me,"
"Watch it, rich boy," Joey growled, but Yugi held up his hand to stop him. Then he turned back to face Goradon and Croquet.
"No more," he said firmly, and Téa thought instantly of the Pharaoh. "This tournament ends now. At least until we get back to San Francisco."
Goradon opened his mouth to protest, but Evan cut him off. "Absolutely. This was a bad idea from the get-go. No more dueling, not while I'm in charge."
"And who exactly said you were in charge?" Goradon shot back. "I am the International Duel Monsters Tournament Commission President. I decide when this tournament ends. Not you, and certainly not any of the competitors," he finished, glaring at Yugi.
"We'll see," Yugi replied.
"The semi-finals will be tomorrow. Yugi Mutou versus Mai Valentine and Seto Kaiba versus Joey Wheeler," Goradon went on. Yugi said nothing.
Seeming to believe he'd won again, Goradon walked away. With the commotion over, everyone else started to drift off, too, and Téa went back to Yugi's side. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
He looked at her a little shamefaced and nodded. She wanted to give him a hug, but he seemed a little unapproachable, like he was too angry with himself to accept much comfort. Instead, she settled for putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and gave her a small smile, putting his own hand on top of hers gratefully.
"Yuge, we've got bigger problems than this duel," Joey said, and suddenly Téa remembered why they'd come rushing back.
"What is it? Did you find Weevil and the Millennium Puzzle?"
"No, but we did find Pegasus. He was unconscious and looked like he'd lost an argument with a vampire bat. And he had the Millennium Eye, or at least a fake one," Joey told him.
"And that's not the half of it," Tristan added. "You aren't going to believe what else we found."
By the time Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Mai finished relating the story of what they'd found in the cave to Yugi, Duke, Rebecca, Serenity, Kaiba, and Mokuba, Harrison had already moved Pegasus to one of the caves they were using for shelter by their campsite and was examining him there under the watchful eye of Croquet, Goradon, and Evan. When the ten of them arrived to see how Pegasus was, Evan tried to send them away, but Croquet insisted that whatever happened to Pegasus concerned them and Evan reluctantly allowed them admittance. Serenity immediately went to Pegasus's side and asked Harrison if she could help.
"How is he?" Yugi asked Harrison, taken aback by Pegasus's extremely pale face.
"I'm not sure," Harrison grimaced. "I'm just a medic, not a doctor. He's unconscious and unresponsive, but he's breathing okay and has a strong pulse. There are no wounds or anything indicating a wild animal of some sort attacked him or anything like that. He's looking really anemic, though, like he lost a lot of blood, but with no visible wounds, I can't figure out what did this to him."
"I'm guessing a Great Moth or Horned Saurus," Joey muttered under his breath.
"Do you know what happened to him?" Harrison asked, looking up at Joey.
"No," Joey said hesitantly. "We just found him like that."
Evan turned to Joey. "Now I want to know exactly what the hell is going on here. Where did you find him?"
"In a cave," Joey answered.
"What cave? Where? And what were you doing there?"
Joey looked to Yugi, who stepped in. "They went looking for Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood. They'd been hoarding food in a cave in the woods. Téa and I found them stockpiling some of our MREs and other rations last night."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"They told Mr. Pegasus last night," Croquet interjected smoothly. "He went after them this morning."
Yugi shifted uncomfortably, not caring for the lie, but trying to explain the truth to someone who had never experienced a Shadow Game would needlessly waste time.
Evan's gaze shifted from Yugi to Croquet and back to Yugi. "You told Pegasus? Listen, Mr. Mutou, I am the highest-ranking officer of the ship's crew among our group. That makes me the one in charge. You find out someone's stealing rations or beating up on other passengers, you tell me."
"With all due respect, you may be the highest-ranking ship's officer, but we aren't on the ship anymore. We are at a Duel Monster's tournament and Pegasus is the host. That makes him the highest ranking one here."
"No, that would be me," Goradon protested angrily, "and I really wish you'd remember that, Mr. Mutou. While I appreciate that you are the reigning World Champion—one of the reigning World Champions," he amended when Kaiba cleared his throat loudly, "I am a little tired of you behaving as if this tournament is for your benefit. I am in charge here and I would kindly request that you remember that."
Yugi eyed Goradon and crossed his arms, suddenly feeling every bit the Pharaoh. It wasn't like before, when he could feel a switch and someone else taking over. It was more like reaching into himself, into the part of himself that remembered the memories from his other self. "Oh really? Then I have a question for you, Mr. Goradon. Who chose this venue for our tournament?"
"What?" Goradon asked. "We were shipwrecked here."
"Well obviously, and we'll get to that in a moment, but what I want to know is, who decided on an Alaskan cruise? Was that Pegasus or was it you?"
"I don't see that it's any of your concern!" Goradon barked, and Yugi could see that he was starting to sweat.
"Mr. Goradon," Yugi grinned condescendingly, clucking his tongue and wagging his head. "As the president of a gaming tournament commission, you really should know that if you want to pull off a convincing bluff, you can't let your opponent see you sweat. Now I'm asking again, who chose the venue for this tournament?"
"I… this is outrageous!" Goradon shouted. "You have been trying to interfere with this tournament ever since we got here. Frankly, I expected better from you. You had such a good reputation. I cannot for the life of me understand why you would behave like such a coward, but clearly this is just another distraction, another way to try and derail the tournament."
"The tournament has already been derailed," Yugi said firmly, ignoring the "coward" bait.
"That is not your decision, and I've already called this bluff once, Mr. Mutou!"
"I assure you this is no bluff," Yugi replied.
"You can't finish your tournament if none of your finalists will compete," Mai Valentine said, stepping up beside Yugi. "I won't compete as long as we are on this island."
"Me neither," Joey added.
Kaiba remained conspicuously silent.
"Then you all forfeit and Mr. Kaiba will be declared the winner!"
"Is that really how you want to end this tournament? Is that the publicity you want for the IDMTC and the game of Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked. "And you still haven't answered my question as to who chose the venue, so who is trying to distract whom?"
"Just who do you think you are?" Goradon sputtered shrilly, his face red. "You think because you have a title you have some sort of power over me? You're just a punk college kid from a nothing town in Japan!"
"He may be just a punk college kid from a nothing town in Japan, but I'm the CEO of a very powerful international corporation, Mr. Goradon, and one that has direct ties to the IDMTC, too, and I for one am very curious to hear the answers to Yugi's question," Kaiba interjected darkly. "And for the record, I will not accept a tournament title by forfeit. I think we can consider this tournament postponed for the time being. Now answer the question."
"Who chose the venue?" Yugi repeated in case Goradon forgot.
"That was the Tournament Commission," Croquet answered at last when Goradon wouldn't. "When Mr. Pegasus went to the commission saying he wanted to host a Duel Monster's Tournament, his original proposal was for a Duelist Kingdom II."
Yugi looked at Croquet skeptically. "Duelist Kingdom II? It's my understanding that Pegasus wanted to keep his involvement in this tournament a complete secret. If it were to be held on his own private island, it would have been obvious to everyone that he was the host."
"Yes, but only Mr. Pegasus, myself, and the officers of the IDMTC knew the location. It was to be billed as an Asian cruise that would depart from Hiroshima, with ports of call in Hong Kong and China. Only after everyone was on board would the real destination be revealed."
"You mean he was going to bring us to Duelist Kingdom without us knowing it in advance?" Téa protested.
"And this surprises you how, Téa?" Kaiba said coolly. "This is Pegasus we're talking about."
"How did the venue get changed?" Yugi asked, steering them back on track.
"About a week after the initial proposal was accepted, Mr. Goradon came back to Mr. Pegasus and said that the Tournament Commission had already been working on a Duel at Sea Alaskan cruise and that they felt it wouldn't work to have two tournaments on cruise ships. If Mr. Pegasus wanted to hold his tournament this spring, it would have to be on the Alaskan cruise venue."
"And Pegasus agreed to this?" Yugi queried Croquet. "He's not exactly someone easily maneuvered."
"No," Croquet agreed, "but he was starting to worry about leaks and rethink the Duelist Kingdom venue anyway. He was very worried about being connected to the tournament in advance. And of course he found the irony of the ship's name amusing."
Yugi gave Croquet a blank look, but Téa and Rebecca both groaned together.
"What?" Yugi asked.
"I can't believe I didn't think of it before," Téa sighed.
"Chrysaor is from Greek mythology," Rebecca explained. "He's the brother of the winged horse, Pegasus."
Yugi rolled his eyes then looked back at Croquet. "So he accepted Mr. Goradon's terms."
"Yes."
Swinging his gaze back to Goradon, Yugi thought he looked even more nervous. "Then it's back to you, Mr. Goradon. Why an Alaskan cruise venue?"
"Why not?" he replied, his arms folded but his fingers drumming nervously on them.
"Well, let's do a recap of the events that have happened since we boarded the ship Saturday afternoon. Before we set sail at six PM on Saturday evening, there was a muster drill. At that time, not only were the passengers given an explanation of evacuation procedures, but the lifeboats were checked for readiness, including provisions, supplies, and fuel. Is that correct, Evan?"
"Yes, that's all part of the muster drill before we leave port," Evan confirmed.
"And everything was in order?"
"Of course. We wouldn't have set sail otherwise."
"Then sometime Monday evening, the navigational instruments in the bridge had been tampered with, setting us off course. Communications were also sabotaged, along with the lifeboat radios, search-and-rescue transponders, and position-indicating beacons, correct?"
"Yes, we discovered the navigational and communications problems at about one-thirty Tuesday morning," Evan told him. "We didn't discover the problems with the lifeboats until we evacuated the ship. That's also when we discovered they were low on fuel."
"So we were off course for an unknown length of time, had no way of finding our location or radioing for help, and the lifeboats did not have enough fuel to go very far, but by some miracle, we located this island and had just the right amount of fuel to get us here safely, but not enough to get us off again. Quite a coincidence, Mr. Goradon, wouldn't you say?"
"What are you getting at, Mr. Mutou?" Evan asked. "Because if you have any accusations to make about the sabotaging of our ship and lifeboats, then you are definitely in my area of authority."
"What I'm getting at is that it seems like such a strange string of events to lead us exactly to this spot."
"Why? Is there something special about this island?"
"Not just this island, this spot," Yugi answered Evan, but was still looking at Goradon. "And Mr. Goradon, tell me again how it is that all sixteen of the remaining duelists ended up together, separated from the rest of our shipmates by a landslide that may or may not have been an accident, on this side of the island near that cave."
"What cave?" Goradon sputtered. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I didn't arrange for us all to come over here, that was his idea!" he cried, pointing at Evan, "and I certainly had nothing to do with that landslide! I was walking with Pegasus and Croquet when that happened!"
"That's true," Croquet confirmed.
"Listen, Mr. Mutou, I'm getting tired of taking the long way around here. Are you insinuating that Mr. Goradon had something to do with us being here or aren't you?" Evan demanded.
"Ask him," Yugi replied flatly.
"I… this is outrageous! I had nothing to do with sabotaging the ship. I was on the ship! Why would I try and sink a ship I was on? And I certainly didn't have anything to do with that landslide or us being separated on this side of the island, not that I have the foggiest idea why that matters."
"Then just tell me why this venue?"
He looked like he was going to refuse until Kaiba took a menacing step in his direction.
"Oh, all right! I was bribed."