Yu-Gi-Oh Original Series

Parallel

Chapter 16

Originally Written: Friday, April 8, 2022 510PM to 604PM

. . . . .

"Uh, dude." Tristan looked at Mitsura. "There's an eye on your, you know." He pointed to his forehead.

"He knows." Bakura said quite casually.

Mokuba looked up at his older brother with an expression of curiosity.

Mitsura blinked. The dark cloud that filled the dueling arena came back into focus. "Yugi isn't gifted that way, Bakura. I can just barely shield The Spirit. Pegasus is much stronger than me."

Bakura sighed, "I figured. Pegasus is playing as though he'll die if he loses."

"Does this have to do with…," Tristan waved his hands, "all that you still gotta explain?"

"Probably. I'll explain it later."

Tea circled around and looked at Mitsura. "How do we help Yugi against him?" She frowned in determination.

"I don't know if you could, really." Mitsura frowned. "What a strange fear he has."

"Shut up." Tea snapped, "How do we help Yugi?"

"There's gotta be something we can do." Joey gripped the railing. "I don't know what Pegasus is doing, but I know cheating when I see it. And I think you're the only reason we're not like the others."

For some reason, Mai, Rebecca and Mako all blanked out in a daze. They seemed to pay attention to the duel, but had gone silent the moment Pegasus summoned the swirling dark cloud of doom.

Bakura coughed, flushing. He was shielding them, thank you very much.

"Well, thanks, but how do we help Yugi?"

"Focus on him. If you can feel him, you might be able to do something. Or Pegasus will hurt you instead." Bakura wiped sweat off his forehead.

Yugi wasn't particularly hard to find in the darkness. His terror was something else entirely. The spirit with a dark voice was apparently currently controlling Yugi. He thanked them profusely, and then asked them to look after Yugi. 'I can handle it from here.'

He took care of business quite quickly and efficiently. He went from losing, to winning by almost a landslide.

"How…?" Pegasus stared, "How?!" He stood up straighter, resting his hands on the dueling platform. "You don't play this game! You barely like it. You have no talent with your Puzzle and you don't even know what it is! How!?"

"I told you before, Mr. Pegasus." Voice smirked in Yugi's body. He stood partially sideways on the dueling platform, with a hand placed firmly on the structure. "I learn quickly. Now, let's finalize the details of my first place tournament victory, shall we?"

Pegasus sighed, and bowed his head. "Yes, of course."

The cloud of impending doom disappeared. Prizes, including checks were handed out. Before long, Pegasus and Yugi were talking as though they were old friends. Well, Pegasus was trying to.

"I hope you can forgive me, Little Yugi."

"You stole the Old Man's soul!" Yugi waved his arms. He sat on the other end of the long table. Tea, Tristan, and Joey were with him. Bakura disappeared, as did Mitsura and Mokuba. Pegasus asked to speak to him in private, and Yugi wasn't sure why he bothered. "Who steals someone's soul!?"

"It was better than the alternative, really." Pegasus brushed some strands of hair away from his eye. Just enough so Yugi could see the flash of gold where an eye was supposed to be.

Yugi couldn't think of a proper response. Pegasus suddenly looked and sounded like a dead man walking. The thought chilled him. Because who was powerful enough to put such a look on such a powerful man's face. It certainly wasn't him.

"Are you alright, Mr. Pegasus?" Joey blurted out what everyone was thinking.

"Oh, yes." Pegasus smiled and swirled his glass of wine in his hand. "The media will spin this tournament into something else, and it's up to me to save face. I am thinking of how to go about doing so, is all."

"Uh, are you supposed to tell us that?" Tea gave the others a side glance.

Pegasus winked.

The group said their goodbyes, and made their way to the loading docks to go home. Maximilian Pegasus however, made his way to his quarters, feeling tired. Bakura Ryou stopped him, however.

"Are you here for that?" Pegasus waved away his security detail.

"Well, Mr. Pegasus I am an eliminator, aren't I?" Bakura replied with his arms folded behind his back.

Pegasus nodded, "That you are. Well, a contract is a contract, and I did not fulfill my end."

"Neither did they, technically. If I'm correct, then we both know who they sent to duel in their place. I'll be back. Please wait here." Bakura spoke with confidence. Confidence Pegasus once had, and immediately lost to a teenager who didn't even play the game Pegasus himself created.

Pegasus looked in confusion as Bakura kicked open the doors to his quarters like he owned them.

"Amane!" Bakura grinned a wide smile and spread his arms. His hands glowed with darkness in a way that Pegasus hadn't seen in decades. "I'm here to chat! You haven't been responding to my letters at all. So rude!"

Meanwhile, Tristan looked around the loading docks. "Has anyone seen Bakura? He's been gone for a while." A light breeze filled the area with the calming scents of secluded beach and sea water.

"Looking for your crush, eh?" Joey jostled him, digging an elbow into Tristan's side.

Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets. "Looking for yours actually. How do you feel about 'Mom Jeans' talking up Mako again? Roar."

Joey raged. Tea laughed and scolded Tristan. Rebecca spoke to her grandfather, an explorer and researcher named Arthur Hawkins.

"Dad is not pleased you ran off like this, Seto. It took a hell of a lot of convincing him to let me come get you." Noa Kaiba rivaled Seto's height, and looked nothing like Gozaburo with his bright teal hair, blemish-free pale skin, and blue eyes. He wore a black suit trimmed with white, and pressed his hands firmly on Seto's shoulders. "Dueling is supposed to be a hobby, not a full time job."

Seto took his older brother's private verbal beating in a way that upset the voice in Yugi's head. Mokuba was glaring at Noa with a look that could kill.

Yugi however, focused on the card Pegasus had given him. It wasn't a Duel Monsters card. Rather it was more of a postcard:

'Thank you for the duel, Little Yugi. However, the next time someone persuades you to anti up your Puzzle in one, you might want to coerce them into offering up something valuable of their own. I wish you and Solomon well.'

Rebecca skipped over to him, with her grandfather in tow. "This is Yugi Muto, grandpa! Isn't he handsome?"

Yugi wondered how much trouble he would get in if he ignored her in front of Mr. Hawkins. The look of confusion on Mr. Hawkin's face answered for him.

A/N: I have no idea where the tidbits of humor came from. This story is surprisingly dark.