And that's the end of Bandit Keith. Now it's time for the final duel. Pegasus verses Atem/Yugi. This duel mind shuffle will be done differently due to keeping Atem in character. This duel is going to be pretty long and the beginning has a lot of stuff going on. So, I'm gonna have to split this into two different chapters. Review please!
Pegasus left out of the gaming area to retrieve his deck. Atem knew that this was a perfect time to talk to Yugi about their plan to defeat Pegasus. They had taken turns dueling against other duelists. There were their wins and loses, but they made it to the final round. Three souls were on the line, including Serenity's operation.
Yugi's spirit appeared next to Atem, thinking of what their plan would be to defeat Pegasus. They theorized, before arriving at Duelist Kingdom, that Pegasus' weakness was the ability to read one mind at a time. It was possible for them to switch minds when Pegasus tried to read one's mind. Though, there was still the possibility of that not lasting forever.
"We need to find another weakness, brother," Yugi said.
'That's the problem. We can only find one weakness. There's also the question of how Pegasus can read one of our minds. Shadi did it by entering one of our soul rooms, he could also control a person like what Ryan's evil spirit did to Ryou,' Atem explained.
"You're right! Maybe that's what Pegasus does. He can only see into a person's soul room. That's why he can only read one person's mind at a time. Somehow his eye can barge inside someone's soul room!"
'That's possible. With millennium items, a person can enter the mind of another. Like you can enter my soul room, Shadi can enter others' soul rooms, and Ryan's evil spirit entered his brother's soul room. Though, the weakness is the same, we can only enter one mind at a time. Shadi was able to enter my soul room, but he couldn't enter both our soul rooms.'
"With Pegasus' millennium eye, he seems unstoppable, just like Shadi. Though, Shadi only used his millennium item to judge others while Pegasus is using his to gain power. If we are to win this game, we need to find another spot of weakness besides changing minds."
'What are you planning on doing?'
"I'm gonna guard your soul room and find Pegasus' weakness. If I could stop Shadi, I might stop Pegasus."
'Yugi, guarding my soul room might not be enough.'
"It's worth a try and I might be able to find a weakness, if it doesn't work."
'There's also the disadvantage that Pegasus will know what you're doing.'
"Buuuuuuut, he'll only know if my plan doesn't work. Then, he won't be able to read my mind if I try to come up with a plan. When I find a weakness, I'll let you know."
'Very well. Just be careful.'
"Good luck, brother. I'll be rooting for ya!"
Yugi transferred himself into his soul room, which he rarely did. He exited out through the door of his soul room and entered a hall gap that separated the two soul rooms. Yugi made sure that his brother's soul room door was closed. He was going to have to prepare for anything that came his way.
"I'll find a way to help you beat Pegasus, I promise," Yugi vowed.
Meanwhile, Atem joined in with his friends as they all wished him luck. While doing this, Ryan happened to have walked into the gaming area along with Mai Valentine, who had just finished packing. Everyone turned their heads and noticed this with questionable looks.
"Ryan, why are you here? I thought you were supposed to watch over Seto and Mokuba," Joey said.
"I was getting bored, so I decided to make sure that I could watch Atem kick ass while having those two soulless asses are safe," Ryan replied with a devilish smirk.
"What'd you do?" Hanaski asked as Ryan's smirk grew wider.
In the dungeon, each cell held several guards who worked for Pegasus. They all seemed soulless, nothing but a shell. In the middle of the walkway were avatar pieces to Monster World. Each of them were moving and screaming like little chipmunks.
"Help us! Help us!" One little avatar screamed.
"It's no use. We've been turned into dolls," the other avatar said.
At the gaming area, Ryan replied, "had a little fun, let's just say."
"Well, I'm just glad you could come," Atem said with his small smile.
"Like I'd want to miss this. Dueling isn't the only thing I like, I also like watching tournaments," Mai smirked.
"This duel won't be easy. Pegasus can read minds, so he'll know my cards."
"I know you and Yugi can win!" Hanaski grinned excitedly before giving Atem a warm hug.
"I know too," Atem replied before all his friends hugged around him.
"Go kick some ass," Joey cheered.
"Now isn't this sweet," Pegasus grinned widely as everyone separated themselves from the hug and Atem shot daggers at the billionaire. "Are you ready, Atem?"
"Before we start, I want to make sure we're clear. If I win, you free my grandpa's soul and the soul of the Kaiba brothers!" Atem demanded boldly.
"As promised," Pegasus promised with a nod. "But you must live up to your end of the bargain. The card you have in your pocket, the Honor of the Left Hand. You notice it's a blank, but if I win, a picture will appear."
Atem smirked and replied, "Figures. I knew when coming on this island that you'd seal the loser's soul into the blank card."
"WHAT?" Everyone responded.
"You mean if Atem loses, his soul will be sealed in that card?" Hanaski asked in shock.
"And not just him," Pegasus smirked as he showed an extra blank card. "I also saved one for his little roommate."
"Figures," Atem smirked while rolling his eyes. "You'd do anything to get that key."
"Key?" Mai questioned.
"Atem holds the key to Kaiba Corporation," Tea explained.
"Holy shit!" Mai responded.
"I guess he's so desperate, he's willing to rape his body," Ryan smirked with crossed arms as Pegasus' head turned red in anger.
Atem chuckled at Ryan's comment before saying, "I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't plan on being part of your card collection, fagot."
"Let's just get this duel on, shall we?" Pegasus glared with frustration.
"Good," Atem replied with a glare. Him and Pegasus entered the Duel Box, then shuffled their decks.
Atem was willing to beat Pegasus with everything he had. Pegasus felt extreme confidence in winning the duel since he could use his millennium eye to read people's minds. The only issue was Yugi, but Pegasus was prepared for that just in case Atem tried to pull the same stunt as last time.
"An extra rule added is that you mustn't have your eyes closed during our duel," Pegasus added as Atem smirked wider.
"Very well, I'll accept that rule and I'll still beat you with my cards," Atem agreed with confidence. He went first and drew his first card. "I'll place one card face-down, then summon my Beaver Warrior in defense mode." Beaver Warrior appeared in a defense position. Pegasus smirked and his eye gave off a tent glow.
Inside the hall to the mind rooms, Yugi noticed a glowing light appearing. He gasped when he saw the Eye of Horus zooming through the hall, sweeping through Yugi, and right into Atem's soul room. Yugi gasped at the fact that the door was wide open and not closed. It was as if this eye automatically opened the door.
"BROTHER! WATCH OUT!" Yugi cried from the hall.
At the duel, Atem heard his brother's warning. He knew right off the bat that Pegasus had just read his mind. He smirked deviously before drawing his card.
"I place one card face-down, then I play Red Archery Girl in defense mode," Pegasus declared as Red Archery Girl appeared as a mermaid inside a clam in a defense position with a bow and arrow on her back like Robin Hood. "Your turn."
Atem drew his next card, then said, "I change Beaver Warrior to attack mode, then equip Horn of the Unicorn. My monster will attack Archery Girl!"
"TRAP! TEARS OF A MERMAID!" Pegasus cried as Atem glared, watching Beaver Warrior trapped helplessly inside a bubble of water while being shocked by electricity. "Now Red Archery Girl, turn this rodent into road kill!" Red Archery Girl aimed her bow and arrow, then shot Beaver Warrior before it burst into pieces and Atem's life points dropped to 1800.
"THAT CHEATING SON OF A BITCH!" Ryan screamed with narrowed eyes.
"You felt it too didn't ya?" Ryou asked with angry eyes. "I sensed an intruder inside Atem's soul room."
"I can't believe it! Pegasus thinks he can go into people's minds anytime he wants to!" Joey glared.
"C'mon Atem, you can do this!" Hanaski cheered.
"Well, Atem-boy, it looks like your turn was a waste. There are many variables of cards to attack whatever card to attack. The road to defeat lies in little mistakes, one after the other," Pegasus smirked before giving off a small chuckle. "Let me say this: I NEVER make mistakes."
"Pegasus, shut the f*** up," Atem replied before drawing his next card. "I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode, then end my turn."
"That f***ing son of a bitch!" Tristan glared.
"Who does he think he is, a god?" Ryan glared in annoyance.
"In a sense, he is since he created Duel Monsters. To top it all off, he can read other people's minds. If I were Atem, I couldn't think of any way to win," Ryou mentioned as Ryan agreed inside his head.
"You maybe right, but Atem has a millennium item too."
"Ryan?" Mai questioned.
"Ryou brought out something," Ryan said while watching the duel. "Pegasus is the creator of Duel Monsters. In a sense, he's considered some sort of god. With his millennium eye, is there any way to beat it?"
"Ryou?"
"Atem will think of something," Joey declared.
"I believe so too. He has the millennium puzzle. If I were him, I'd try to use my millennium item to fight back as well," Ryan said.
"Ok, but can you please tell me who this Ryou is?" Mai asked with frustration.
"It's my turn again," Pegasus said before drawing his next card. "I play one card face-down, then I play Ryu-Ran in defense mode." Ryu-Ran appeared as an egg with arms and legs broken through the holes and eyes in the middle hole of the egg. There also seemed to be a gap between the top and bottom of the egg. "I'll change Red Archery Girl back to defense mode before ending my turn."
"My turn!" Atem declared before drawing his next card. Pegasus smirked devilishly as his millennium eye gave off a brighter glow.
In the mind room, Yugi kept his full body on his brother's closed mind room door. Another glow came at the end of the hall before Yugi felt his body fall into Atem's soul room. The door had automatically opened on its own. Yugi quickly stood up and used his body as a shield. The huge Eye of Horus rammed right into Yugi and he flipped right into Atem's soul room on his back.
"YEH!" Yugi cried as the whole room glowed brilliant gold. This never happened last time.
Yugi watched in horror as the items in the soul room began floating in midair. All the games, books, pictures, and symbolic objects. Yugi knew that Pegasus was going to the extreme. He wasn't just looking at Atem's cards and stratagy, but memories, thoughts, and feelings. This made Yugi more upset than he had ever been.
"BROOOTHERRRRRRRR!" Yugi cried, which made Atem flinch in reaction to his brother's cries during the duel. "Pegasus is reading everything! Your soul room is like an open book!"
"GET YOUR F***ING SHIT OUT OF MY MIND YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Atem screamed across the table. Pegasus was amused by this.
"Your bodyguard is sure doing a poor job in protecting your mind," Pegasus mocked as Atem glared.
"STOP F***ING MY MIND YOU WHORE!"
"You're worried. You fear that I'm invading your mind with no way to stop me. I can see it, Atem. You're worried that if you fail, you would fail every person you care about," Pegasus said casually.
"I'll place Summoned Skull in defense mode, then fold one card," Atem declared as Summoned Skull appeared in a defense position, then laid a face-down card. "That ends my turn."
"Ryu-Ran now changes to attack mode," Pegasus declared as a dragon hatched right through the egg with the bottom half still attached. "Now he attacks your Summoned Skull."
"TRAP! SPELLBINDING CIRCLE!" Atem declared as he flipped his trap card. The hexagram was wrapped around Ryu-Ryan and its attack decreased.
"Oh noooo," Pegasus said in a fake awestruck.
"ALRIGHT!" Joey cheered joyfully, though Atem wasn't so sure, especially since Pegasus scanned his whole mind.
"My Summoned Skull changes to attack mode and attacks your Ryu-Ryan," Atem declared with unsureness.
"I activate Trap Displacement. This reverses the trap you placed on me to your monster," Pegasus explains as Summoned Skull became trapped in the hexagram.
"NO!"
"Now Ryu-Ran attacks your skeleton!" Pegasus declared as Ryu-Ryan blew fire right at Summoned Skull and it blew away, leaving Atem with 1400 life points.
"That cheating son of a bitch! Man, is there any way to beat him?" Tristan complained.
"I'd be sealing his soul inside a doll," Ryan smirked with an evil chuckle.
"Pleeeeaaaaaase don't remind me again," Joey asked with jidders.
"Huh?" Mai wondered.
"It's a long story," Tea explained.
Atem became so frustrated and angry. Was there any way to beat Pegasus?
"No!" Pegasus replied as Atem glared furiously at his opponent. "Dueling is like the battle of two minds. If one can read his opponent's mind and tactics, he wins. You can't set your foot in my mind, but I can set it into yours."
"Kiss my ass."
"Then, I'll show you. My next card is..." Pegasus said as he drew his next card. "TOON WORLD!"
"Oh... f***," Atem muttered. "You have got to be kidding me."
A comic book appeared and sucked Ryu-Ran and Red Archery Girl into the book before turning them into cartoon versions of themselves. Ryu-Ryan popped up and destroyed Giant Soldier of Stone before hopping back into the pop-up comic book. Atem remembered this continuous spell card. All the toon monsters would be safe inside Toon World. This was the card that defeated Seto Kaiba.
"I'm sure you know about Toon World. After all, you did help me place it in Kaiba-boy's new duel disk system."
"Shut your f***ing mouth," Atem hissed as Pegasus chuckled in amusement.
"I place Red Archery Girl into attack mode."
Atem drew his next card, trying to think of a way to beat Pegasus. He declared, "I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode to destroy your Red Archery Girl." Obnoxious Celtic Guardian appeared and ran up to slash its sword through Red Archery Girl. The hands of the cartoon clam with Red Archery Girl grabbed the sword to prevent its attack.
"No normal attacks can work on this one," Pegasus explained as the cartoon clam pushed the sword and monster back. "Toon monsters have bodies like rubber and can easily dodge any attack." While Obnoxious Celtic Guardian was being pushed, Red Archery Girl aimed her arrow and shot Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and it disappeared. Luckily, Atem's life points were safe since both monsters' attack points were the same. "As you can see, toon monsters can only be defeated by another toon."
Atem felt sweat on his face and a feeling of worry. Pegasus knew all of his strategies and tactics. There was no way to win against this guy, or so it seemed. Pegasus smirked, then laid two cards face-down. Atem drew his next card, then placed his Imp in defense mode. There was no way to put his monsters in attack.
"I reveal my trap card, Gorgon's Eye. This changes all your defense monsters and when my monsters attack a stoned monster, I can deplete life points by the difference of your defense points," Pegasus explained as Atem's fear grew bigger. Atem's Imp turned into solid stone, though that would not stop yet. Not even close.
"Now, before I end my turn, I reveal Doppelganger," Pegasus said while flipping his face-down spell card. A stretchy cat appeared and took Summoned Skull from Atem's graveyard. "It looks like Doppelganger wants your Summoned Skull." The cat changed shape and transformed into a cartoon version of Summoned Skull. "I summon Toon Summoned Skull!"
"What the f***?" Joey and Tristan responded at the same time.
"Destroy Atem's Imp!" Pegasus declared as Toon Summoned Skull attacked the stoned Imp and Atem's life points stooped to 900.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Atem shouted in annoyance before drawing his next card. It was Dark Magician. He knew it was no use since Pegasus already knew Atem's cards. There was no way to beat the eye. Not even Yugi could stop this eye. Atem couldn't defend his monsters, because of Gorgon's Eye; and he couldn't attack, because of those toon monsters. Was there any way out of this?
"No, you can't defeat my eye and you can't win," Pegasus replied to Atem's personal question. "I can sense your fighting spirit fading away. Do you wish to surrender?"
"NO!" Atem replied snapply. "There's too much at stake, in case you've forgotten."
"Really? Is it the fact you're trying to free three souls or saving your girlfriend?"
"THAT IS NON OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Atem snapped loudly as his hands turned to fists. "It's true, my chances of winning are as zero as they can get, but I won't give up. I summon Dark Magician in attack mode!" Dark Magician appeared boldly with its staff in its hand. He then took another card from his hand. "Now, I play Magical Hats!" He took three more cards and shuffled them together before laying them across the field face-down. Four hats appeared and Pegasus shook his head with a small chuckle.
"I see, you're using Magical Hats to hide Dark Magician to buy some time to come up with a way to beat Toon World. Though, there's a flaw," Pegasus informed as Atem raised his eyebrows. "Your mind chooses which hat your Dark Magician is hiding."
"Wrong again!" Atem smirked. "I shuffled four cards and placed them upside down without looking at the cards, so not even I know where Dark Magician is. You can check my mind."
"Smart move, but it won't last long," Pegasus reminded Atem. "Toon Summoned Skull, attack the hat at the very left!"
Toon Summoned Skull attacked the hat on the very left end and destroyed it. Atem flipped the card, then sighed in relief when he discovered that it was just Alpha the Magnet Warrior. This strategy did work and it was easy. Still, Pegasus was right, this was only temporarily. Pegasus knew every card in Atem's hand and would soon know the next card Atem would draw.
Atem felt heat and pressure from the stress. There was no way to beat Pegasus, nothing! Atem was afraid to draw another card and he couldn't close his eyes and let Yugi choose the cards for him. Speaking of which, Yugi knew there was nothing he could do to block the eye from entering into Atem's mind. In fact, it was stuck in the mind room now. Yugi couldn't watch his brother suffer anymore. During his absents, he came up with a strategy on how to beat Pegasus that was different from Atem's.
"Brother, let me take over!" Yugi called as Atem switched right away before Pegasus could sense that he was talking to Yugi. Yugi drew the next card and quickly placed it face-down before switching with Atem.
"I... play one card face-down," Atem declared. Nobody caught Yugi changing in one split second. "I believe it's your turn."
Pegasus smirked, but then it slowly turned into a frown. He was trying to read Atem's mind, but couldn't see the face-down card. It was only the top of the card. How could this be? Atem smirked and chuckled slightly, knowing that Pegasus couldn't read his cards anymore. Yugi had placed the card down, not Atem.
'Sorry Pegasus, but my brother's the only one who knows that card. You never mentioned switching personalities in your extra rule,' Atem said from his thoughts as Pegasus' eyes blew out of his eye sockets. "You take your time to read peoples' minds. I thought that if Yugi and I could switch minds and Yugi could come up with a strategy, you wouldn't read our strategies. Our switch and back won't be enough time for you to move your f***ing eye to Yugi's soul room and even if you did, your mind scan will be lost in his maze. In other words, you'll only know what cards he has or what's in front of him. That is... unless you can find his temporary room, which will take a while for your eye to find."
"Wait, you mean Yugi placed that card face-down?" Hanaski asked baffled.
"Shit!" Ryan smirked with a small chuckle.
"It's like a double personality tag-team duel," Joey smirked as everyone cheered excitedly. 'Now, he needs to figure out how to beat Toon World.'
In annoyance, Pegasus drew his next card. Though, there was nothing for him to worry about as long as he still had Toon World. All Atem could do is hide in his hats. Though, he now was holding more confidence since he found a way to beat the millennium eye. This made Pegasus more frustrated than he had ever been.
"What are you waiting for? You have one out of three chances of destroying Dark Magician, or are you too much of a coward to trust in your own instincts?" Atem mocked.
"Hm, you serve a point, I haven't relied on my own instincts for years," Pegasus replied. "Toon Summoned Skull, attack the middle hat!"
Toon Summoned Skull attacked with lightning at the middle hat and it was revealed to be Mystical Space Typhoon, which was treated as a monster card with 0 attack and defense. Atem sent it to his graveyard with that same smudge smirk. He enjoyed the fact that Pegasus couldn't find Dark Magician. Not even Yugi knew where his soul card was.
"Missed again," Atem mocked with crossed arms. His eyebrows furrowed deeper. "As you know, every game has a winner and a loser. The winner is decided based on their judgments and instincts." He stood up and pointed his index finger at Pegasus. "You have relied too much on your f***ing eye! Without mind-reading, your skills as a duelist have been thrown off. If Yugi was to be in control of all my duels, even my dueling skills would be thrown off. That's why we duel together and not separated. You're arrogant and prideful. Seto's the same way, but at least he doesn't depend on just power, he relies on his own power and experience. If you hadn't have read his mind, you would've lost. Compared to you, Seto has more confidence."
"You little..."
"My turn!" Yugi declared as soon as he and Atem switched. He quickly drew another card. "I place this card face-down."
Atem changed back and said, "your turn."
Pegasus seemed to be sweating, which amused Atem. His and Yugi's mind shuffling strategy was working. Pegasus was nervous and not as confident as before. Atem showed a huge smirk to see if he could throw Pegasus off. He drew his next card, and then glared seriously.
"I play Magic Neutralizing Force," Pegasus said as Magical Hats disappeared, exposing Dark Magician. Atem's eyes widened and sweat poured down his face. "This wipes out all magic cards from my opponent's field. You see Atem, duelists don't need instincts, they use their brains to think without taking any risks. Now, TOON SUMMONED SKULL, ATTACK ATEM'S DARK MAGICIAN!"
Toon Summoned Skull appeared from the Pop-up comic book, ready to strike Dark Magician. Then, Atem changed to Yugi and declared, "I use Living Arrow!" Pegasus gasped as an arrow shot through Magic Neutralizing Force and Toon World disappeared, revealing all the Toon Monsters. "Didn't you know? My brother was trying to provoke you while I drew the cards."
Yugi changed to Atem and he said, "I knew mocking you would throw you off your game and try to dispell our Magical Hats..."
Atem changed to Yugi and he concluded, "because the Living Arrow card transfers any spell card from me to you."
"That maybe so, but you still can't save your mage," Pegasus smirked.
Atem changed to Yugi and he replied, "that's why I play my other face-down card. MIRROR FORCE!"
A shield surrounded Dark Magician and the attack reflected back to the Toon Monsters. All of the Toon monsters were destroyed and removed from Pegasus' field, leaving the billionaire with 800 life points. Pegasus was completely horrified. He was outmatched by the two Atem twins, who used their mind shuffling strategy to throw their opponent off.
"NO! MY TOONS! MY BEAUTIFUL TOONS!" Pegasus whined as Atem gawked up in laughter.
'WE DID IT!' Yugi shouted joyfully in his mind.
"Yep. Now, Pegasus has nowhere to hide."
Atem appeared with crossed his arms with a huge smirk on his face. All of his friends were cheering aloud for Atem's and Yugi's near victory. With their mind shuffling strategy, Yugi and Atem were unstoppable against Pegasus' millennium eye. Even Pegasus knew that as long as Atem and Yugi were together, they could keep him from reading their minds. After all, he could only read one mind at a time.
"That was great, Atem!" Joey cheered.
"Well, two heads are better than one," Ryan smirked as Ryou nodded in head in reply.
"But is it really that easy. I mean... Pegasus would've prepared for this just in case Atem did use Yugi. Don't you think it's kinda fishy if Pegasus didn't come up with something?" Ryou asked as Ryan narrowed his eyes. Ryou brought up a good point!
Pegasus showed a huge smile and a dark chuckle before clapping and saying, "WONDERFUL! SPLENDED! I never thought you'd be able to pull off something like this and now here you are. A young duelist who fought his way into the finals. You deserve a duel with the power and respect. Now, from this moment on..." Darkness then surrounded the two players, at least in their minds. For everyone else, it seemed like a normal duel inside the Duel Box. "This is a shadow game."
"A SHADOW GAME!" Atem and Yugi gasped as the darkness engulfed the dueling area.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Yugi said.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Atem replied.
"Let the shadow game begin," Pegasus smirked with a dark chuckle. 'Can you survive it?'