Some duels happen here. I don't go into too much detail, because that's kind of how I intend to approach dueling in general. I don't want to make things drag too long, and I don't know the game well enough to be particularly intricate with specific moves and chains, anyway.

It should be noted that, again, I'm using the PlayStation 4 game, "Legacy of the Duelist," to plot out my duels. So I'll be referencing cards from sets that technically aren't around yet in the current timeline of the story.

I beg that this be ignored. Call it suspension of disbelief. This game is the main reason I'm able to write duels at all. Without it, I'd be floundering in an ocean, barely able to float.

But anyway.

Let's get down to the fun stuff, huh?

1.

The first person to applaud isn't Pegasus, or Dan, or Natsumi or Sugoroku.

It's Ellie McAllister.

A gentle wave of affirmation spreads across the crowd as they clap—a couple of the older duelists let out piercing whistles—and two types of surprise visit the performers. Yugi looks delighted. His eyes sparkle, he looks ready to jump up and down and offer a jaunty bow. He sits down at the table with a little shoulder-and-hip dance.

Seto looks more like a wild animal being treated gently for the first time.

For his part, Pegasus no longer has to fight to keep the smile on his face. It takes every sliver of self-control he has to not sweep over to the table and lift up both of these wonderful, beautiful, perfect little angels and spin them around over his head. His entire being, from the tips of his fingers to the depths of his spirit, is shaking.

He can scarcely breathe.

"Remarkable," Dan murmurs, low enough that only Pegasus can hear him. "Look at him. Look what he's become. In so short a time." He shakes his head, grinning, and claps Pegasus on the shoulder. "You might just be onto something with this game, here, Mister Crawford. You might just."

Yugi wins the first game of rock-paper-scissors, and chooses to let Seto take the first turn.

"So," Dan says, still soft enough to barely be heard, "I've seen this game played, but I'm not sure I understand it. What's happening here?" He gestures.

Seto slams a card down on the table. "Blazing Inpachi! Attack mode!"

"Well," Pegasus begins, holding out his hands as though he intends to force an image into reality by sheer force of will. "As you may have caught, the players are called duelists. An individual game is a duel, and what we have here? A three-duel match."

"Right. Okay." Dan nods. "That much, I follow."

"Think of a duelist as a field general. Or, if we were going to summon up the name of the game itself? A wizard. The mantle they wear." Pegasus grins as his eye flashes to the two boys. "In general, there are three types of cards." He ticks off his fingers. "Trap cards. Magic cards. And monster cards. The duelist—wizard—uses magic and traps to shape the battlefield. To back up and strengthen their soldiers. Which is to say, their monsters."

"So," Dan is clicking a fingernail against his chin, "the key is to whittle down the duelist. Take out the leader, and the foot soldiers scatter. Cut the head off the snake."

"Precisely!" Pegasus nods enthusiastically.

"So . . . summon? Set? What's the deal there?"

"Setting a monster means putting it in a defensive position. The creature is lying in wait. Ready to spring. See how Yugi has a horizontal card there? If Seto wants to know what that is, he's going to have to have one of his monsters rush in blindly. The attack and defense values of each monster card come into play here. So, if Yugi has a highly effective shield in play here, and Seto's attack is too weak? Seto takes the hit for it."

"Hnh. I see."

"Whoops!" Yugi calls out, laughing, as Seto calls out just such an attack with his burning wood spirit. "Dice Jar!" He flicks a six-sided die across the table, which Seto catches with dexterous ease.

"So . . . what just happened there?"

"An effect monster." Pegasus holds up a finger. "A soldier with a nasty little trick up their sleeve. In this case, Seto's attack has activated the effect: both duelists roll a six-sided die. The one with the lower result takes damage."

Seto looks relieved. "Five," he says.

Yugi flashes a grin that would make a shark blush. "Six."

Seto goes pale. ". . . Crap."

"Looks like that worked out," Dan says.

"So it did."

The duel ends quickly, with a victory for Yugi. As he and Seto pile their cards together and shuffle them in preparation for the next fight, Pegasus goes over various other nuances of his company's flagship product.

He weaves an intricate picture of an otherworldly war between monstrously powerful spell-casters—the sort that would feel right at home in Middle-earth. He offers up a soliloquy on tribute monsters: soldiers making a thrilling sacrifice play to ready the field for their chief lieutenants.

When Seto almost shouts that he's sacrificing his Dragon Dwelling in the Cave and his Nin-Ken Dog to summon the avatar of his soul, Dan looks for all the world like he can actually see it.

Seto sets his new monster on the table with the grim conviction of a zealot on crusade.

A hush settles over the crowd. "Is that . . . ?"

"Holy shit, it is!"

"Hey! Watch it, man. They're kids. Language?"

"Dude, shut the hell up! That's a Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"There's only four of those!"

Dan eyes Pegasus suspiciously. "You gave him that."

"Who's to say from whence the pebbles of fate land at one's feet?"

"Uh-huh. Right."

Seto's nerves seem to have settled. The awe of his peers, the fresh apprehension on Yugi's face, the first appearance of his prized dragon at a public venue; it all seems to have coalesced into honest confidence. His eyes are bright. His grin is easy.

He's in his element.

"Take care, little one," Pegasus murmurs. "The day's not won."

Yugi draws. Holds up his new card. He looks apologetic.

"Ritual summon," he says solemnly. "It's the End of the World. And with it, comes the royal house. I sacrifice my Ritual Raven to summon the King of Armageddon."

Pegasus hisses in a breath.

It's impossible to tell whether the look that flashes across Seto's face—which is gone almost as soon as it's there—is one of devastation or hatred.

2.

"I feel like I lost track of something. Seto's told me about that dragon of his. Highest attack power in the game. Right? So . . . what gives? Why's he look like someone just shot his puppy?"

"Monsters summoned by ritual, like Yugi's, there, have . . . special abilities. Demise, King of Armageddon is a particularly devastating case in point. He can destroy all monsters on the field, other than himself, in one stroke."

"No matter how strong they are?"

"No matter.

Yugi leans back in his seat. "My turn is over."

Seto blinks. ". . . What?"

"You heard me," Yugi says. He looks supremely confident. "The king's effect is too risky right now. It's your turn."

Seto looks suspicious, inching toward angry.

"I've watched young Master Mutou throughout this tournament. His deck is comprised of a fair amount of triples," Pegasus murmurs. "Barring certain exceptions, there can be up to three copies of a given card in a duelist's arsenal."

"Yugi has multiple copies of this ritual thing?" Dan asks.

"Indeed. He's taking a grave risk here. Coming back from certain defeat to prove a point. He's giving Seto a chance to wrest his way out of this predicament, only to trap him in it again."

"Psych him out," Dan guesses. "Shake his confidence."

"Precisely." Pegasus is studying Seto's face. "However . . . I'm not so sure that's a good idea with this one. Yugi doesn't have the measure of his friend just yet, I don't think."

"I think I'm gonna have to agree with you on that."

Seto grits his teeth. Draws.

Reaches over to the small pile of cards in his graveyard. He shows them to Yugi. "I have two Dragons Dwelling in the Cave and one Nin-Ken Dog. Exactly three normal monsters. I remove my dragons from play to special summon my Knight of the Red Lotus!"

Yugi's swaggering confidence wavers.

Seto flips a magic card. "Double Summon!" Then he slams a card from his hand onto the table. "Copycat! This monster takes the original attack and defense of your king for its own!" He plucks another card from his hand. "And for my second normal summon this turn? Armored Bee!"

Yugi's swaggering confidence is gone.

"Your king's attack power is halved for this turn!" Seto snarls. "This duel is mine! BATTLE!"

Yugi's mouth hangs open, as the crowd erupts.

"Don't underestimate me, Yugi," Seto says imperially, after the cheering dies down and they gather their cards for the final shuffle of the day. "I don't appreciate it."

Yugi clears his throat, draws in a deep breath.

". . . Sorry about that. Won't happen again."

Seto smirks. "Good."

3.

Mokuba is settled against Ellie's hip, and makes a grabbing motion with one hand that might constitute a wave. Pegasus smiles as they approach, and offers a slight bow in return.

"Nii'tama! Win!"

"Yes, he did," Pegasus agrees. Dan ruffles Mokuba's hair. "Quite decisively. One more game, and we'll see who wins the whole pot." He turns his eye to Ellie. "And how does being a spectator to my little game suit you, my lady?"

Ellie's smirk has a hard edge to it, but it seems good-natured enough. "Let's just say those two are doin' you a favor with the advertising," she says, gesturing with a nod of her head to Seto and Yugi. "Just don't go thinking I'm gonna slap down the cash in my pocket for some of them packs to undergo my own journey, huh? I did my part to further the cause today." She knocks the side of Mokuba's head gently with her own temple. "You're diggin' this, aren't you, pipsqueak?"

Mokuba puts on a serious face. "Nii'tama best. Nii'tama win toor-ment."

Ellie rolls her eyes. "Oh, yeah. He's golden."

Pegasus thinks, Torment?

He curses the shiver that runs down his spine, resolves to ignore it.

"Battle!" Yugi cries out, jabbing a finger at Seto, who flips over a Dragon Dwelling in the Cave—quickly becoming a signature card for him—and the crowd offers an "Ooh" of sympathy. Yugi groans through clenched teeth and snaps his fingers.

"Dragon," Mokuba says. Then he lets out a breathy sort of sound from deep in his throat; a quiet roar. He holds up his hands like claws for good measure.

"That's indeed true, little warrior," Pegasus replies. His smile almost feels natural again. "Your Niisama has a lot of dragons in his fledgling army." Then he frowns. "Budding militia? Newfangled legion!" Mokuba giggles. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

Mokuba blinks, still smiling, and doesn't respond.

"Swords of Concealing Light!" Seto calls out, and again the spectators let out a murmur of approval.

"Seto seems to have the edge again," Dan says. "Confidence boost, maybe?"

"He knows what he's doin'," Ellie offers up. Her eyes are glittering. "Mutou kid's still on edge. He's had to change up his strategy, what with the lashing he just got. But Yagami's been on his A-game since the start of this thing." She looks at her elders with a surety that borders on contempt. "Yagami don't fuck around. If he doesn't put everything on the table, he doesn't deserve to win. That's what's rattling around in his head-case right now. I'd betcha money."

Dan frowns, like perhaps he's skeptical, but Pegasus ruminates for some time on this. He eventually nods. "I think you're right, Miss McAllister. Seto takes games quite seriously."

"Takes life seriously. S'what happens when you get kicked onto the street. No offense, there, Director Man, but nobody would mistake our little corner o' the world for a luxury resort."

Dan chuckles. "No, no, of course. You're right. Hard lives build hard people."

Mokuba grunts and points at his brother, drawing attention back to the game. He seems offended that these adults he's surrounded by aren't as enthralled with his Nii'tama's performance as he is. Even though Mokuba hasn't the faintest idea what Seto is doing, he knows that it's important.

"I didn't want to have to bring this out," Yugi says into a sudden silence. He looks around, and his gaze settles on Sugoroku. "It's a special card. I didn't want you to know about it. I figured it would be useful if I kept this little guy in my back pocket."

Seto crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

"But you're not the kind of opponent I can pull punches with, are you?" Yugi grins. He suddenly looks older than his years. There's something dancing in his eyes, and it's impossible to identify. Something secret, something unspoken.

Something . . . dark.

Pegasus's visible eye narrows. "What . . . are you hiding, Mister Mutou . . . ?"

He isn't sure if he's talking to Yugi or his grandfather.

Sugoroku nods, as if giving permission.

"I play Contract with the Dark Master," Yugi says. "In place of regular old sacrifices, I can banish Djinn Disserere of Rituals, Djinn Releaser of Rituals, and Djinn Presider of Rituals from my graveyard."

Pegasus's mouth opens. "What? Contract with . . . ?"

Seto scowls. "Eight levels," he says. "What are you summoning, then?"

Yugi chuckles. His next words will echo in Pegasus Crawford's nightmares for the rest of his life:

"I summon the Dark Master, Zorc."

The last, icy thought Pegasus has before transcendent pain lances through his left eye and, mercifully, renders him unconscious, is:

Who in the hell made those cards?!