AN: Beta Read by Brawn1984 and Starrmastrr.
AN: I don't own Red Hood or YU-GI-OH.
Jason looked around. He knew that he was dreaming, but he wasn't sure what he was dreaming about. He looked around and noticed that he was in a corridor. He walked around and found a door. He opened it and saw a man wearing a business suit walk out of a house pushing past him, leaving the sound of crying in the background. He walked to the sound and saw his mom on the floor crying with bruises beginning to form along her body. He reached for her, but his hands phased through her. He growled and left the room, appearing out in the corridor again.
He walked to another room and saw his mom grabbing a suitcase and leaving. She ruffled his hair before she left and whispered 'goodbye'. He reached out for her, but the door closed pushing him back into the corridor. He slammed his fists against the wall and pushed away before he walked towards the next door.
He opened that door and saw his dad and a woman stumble into their apartment, very much drunk, and proceed to undress. He looked around and saw his younger self watching, and reached out to take his younger self away, but again he phased through him. He growled and glared at his dad and... Catherine. He thought her name with a venom that he saved for the criminals of Gotham. She'd ruined his life. He watched as his younger self watched his dad and Catherine have sex on the couch, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Finally, he left.
He walked through the corridor until he came to the next door, and he was afraid of what he would find. He opened the door and saw Catherine's body on the floor. His younger self called the ambulance, and he watched as she was loaded into the ambulance, and he ran to his room. Time passed and his dad came home. That's when he started playing Duel Monsters. He could escape into another world, and not have to live in his reality. He built his deck, and played when he could, but not many people noticed him because he tended to stay in the background. He left the room and walked to the next room.
He opened the door and saw Catherine's rehab room. Him and his dad would visit her on the weekends, and her dad would sneak her drugs. He tried to stop it... once. The room changed to an alleyway outside of their apartment. His father didn't stop hitting and kicking him. Not until a man arrived and pulled him off. The man leaned over him and checked him over before he kicked the shit out of his dad, and Jason was taken to the hospital. Jason left the room.
He walked to the next room and opened the door to see a training Dojo. He looked at himself on the floor as the man who'd saved him trained him in Aikido, Kickboxing, and Krav Maga. He learned quickly, and in just six months had practically mastered them. The man then taught him Capoeira, Karate, and Tae Kwon Do. It took him six months to master those, and his Sensei, the man had asked him to call him Sensei and now Jason called him his Sensei, was going to teach him Ninjutsu, and Savate. He left that room and went to the next one.
He opened the door and saw himself from almost three weeks ago trying to open the door when he saw an eviction notice. He tried opening the door, but the locks had been changed. All he had were the clothes on his back, his backpack, and his deck. He left the apartment and walked out onto the streets. He'd lived on the streets once; he could do it again. He left that room and walked to the next one.
He opened the door to see a strange box outside Kaiba corp. It had two Star Chips in it and a letter explaining Duelist Kingdom, where to go, what time to be there. He left for the docks and waited to board. When he finally boarded, he found a place to crash and sleep. He left that room and walked to a giant door that had a symbol on it. It was a crown with two crossed manacles under it.
He pushed against the door, and it slowly creaked open. He walked in and the door closed behind him surrounding him in shadows. He looked around and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. What he found in the darkness was terrifying. a large feminine figure with purple skin, red hair, and had a Sabaton, greave, and poleym going from each foot to her kneecaps. Gauntlet, vambrace, Plackart, and couter going from her hand to her elbows. Breastplate, pauldrons, and Faulds, and from what he could see she was wearing a high waist, long skirt, loincloth. Her face was skeletal, and she wore a crown on her head. She had a pair of black, demonic looking wings. He also noticed that she had chains keeping her chained to the wall.
"Who are you?" He asked.
She looked at him in confusion before confusion turned to rage and she lashed out at him.
Jason jolted awake, panting heavily.
"Are you okay Jason?" A voice asked.
He looked around and saw Mokuba sitting at the table in his room looking through his deck.
"Yeah." Jason gasped. "Just had a bad dream."
"Oh. Okay."
Jason took another look at Mokuba and noticed that he was dressed in his clothes. He looked around and saw his clothes placed neatly on the second chair around his table. He grabbed them and went to the bathroom to change. When he came out of the bathroom, he was wearing his boots, black cargo pants, charcoal grey long sleeved shirt with the red bat insignia in the center of his chest, and red zip up hoodie. He'd added Bandit Keith's shades and Panik's trench coat to his outfit, but Panik's trench coat dragged the floor, and was a little too big on him, but he didn't care.
He tossed Mokuba Bandit Keith's vest. "It might swamp you right now, but you'll grow into it."
"Okay."
"Let's go talk with Pegasus?" He said putting his duel box on his belt.
"Okay." Mokuba said putting the vest on and putting his deck into the upper left vest pocket before zipping the vest up. Jason was right; it did swamp him, but it was a nice vest, and he didn't want to take it off.
The duo walked through the castle until they ran into Croquet.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"We are looking for Pegasus." Jason said.
"Oh. I see. Follow me." Croquet said.
They followed Croquet to a dining hall where Pegasus was eating.
"Ah. Young Jason, Young Kaiba. Please sit down." The two sat down at the table. "Would you like anything to eat?" He asked. There was a glint from his left eye, and he looked at Croquet. "Bring Young Jason a hamburger with extra onions, a side of fries, a cola, and chocolate milkshake, and make sure he has a box of Cherry Pop-Tarts in his room. As for young Mokuba bring him a Chicken sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, with a 7up, a Chocolate Parfait, and a hot fudge sundae with extra cherries and send a box of goldfish to his room."
"Of course, Master Pegasus." Croquet said with a bow before he left.
Mokuba looked at Jason in awe while Jason kept a neutral look on his face.
"As you can see, I can be a most gracious host." Pegasus said.
"We thank you for your hospitality." Jason said with a nod. "Though how did you know what our favorite foods and comfort foods were?"
"I know a great many things. After you gained eight Star Chips after your first duel I looked into you, and I must say that I am impressed. After everything you went through, you are still so modest."
"Not much you can do when you're stuck on the streets except fight for your right to live."
"And do you mind me asking how you exactly ended up on the streets of Domino?"
"My dad. He was a Yakuza member, and one day I stepped out of line. He tried killing me, and if not for the man who later trained me to defend myself, I would have died. That man trained me and became my sensei. and one year later I was evicted from my apartment. I currently have no place to live, and the only things I have to my name are the clothes on my back and my dueling deck. That's why I wanted the three million dollars, to buy a place to live."
"I see." Pegasus said in a disgusted tone. "Your own father... I can't believe it."
"Yeah. My father was a bastard. My stepmother wasn't much better."
Jason felt the telltale signs of a psychic reaching into his mind, but let Pegasus believe he was ignorant. Pegasus would see the same memories that he saw, and eventually run into the... whatever that was in the back of his mind, or maybe that was the front of his mind. After a few moments of silence Pegasus made a sound before getting up.
"If you will both excuse me." He spoke. "I have to check on the tournament. Please, enjoy your food."
Jason and Mokuba looked at each other. "What was that about?" Mokuba asked.
"I'm not sure." Jason said.
They sat in silence a few minutes longer before their food was brought out, and they tucked in.
Pegasus walked through the hallway of his castle thinking about what he'd seen in young Jason's mind. The boy had, had a difficult life, but he hadn't let it make him bitter. If anything, it made him want to protect people more than anything. Pegasus reached an elevator and stepped in before hitting the down button. He stood in the center of the elevator and went down into the depths of his island. Why did Young Jason have a Duel Monsters card of all things protecting his mind? It was almost like the memories he saw were what Young Jason was willing to show him, but everything else was under lock and key. Why, and why was the 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend' protecting Jason's mind. All in all, Pegasus knew just what deck he would give Young Jason.
The Elevator stopped and Pegasus stepped off into a tunnel. He walked through the tunnel and could sense the camera's watching him for any movements that didn't match his own. He walked to the end of the hallway where a door blocked his entry. He held his right hand up to the door and the door scanned his hand before he felt a prick on his right index finger. He looked into the retina scanner before a microphone extended from the wall. "Duck Season." He said into the microphone.
The door chimed and opened allowing him entrance into the room on the other side. He walked into the massive underground warehouse where he kept his studio, and all of his cards, and prebuilt decks. He walked to his studio and sat down at the computer. He typed a command into the computer and pressed enter before the conveyor belt whirred to life and he waited patiently for the box he'd summoned.
He only had to wait a few minutes before the box slid into his studio on the conveyor belt. He opened the box and found the cards that he needed and built a deck with the cards he pulled from the box. He enjoyed make cards or building decks because it helped him think, and Young Jason was a problem that he needed to solve. When the deck was built, he put it in a deck box, and left the room after putting the command into the computer to clean up the studio. With that he left with the Deck box in hand.
Jason and Mokuba had finished eating and were wandering the castle when they came across a dueling arena.
"Is that what you're dueling Pegasus on?" Mokuba asked.
"Probably. Want to check it out?"
"Can we?"
"I don't see why not." Jason said walking towards the stairs that led to the platform closest to him, and Mokuba walked down to his side of the Arena. They took out their Dueling Decks and went to place them on the platforms when Pegasus walked in.
"Gentlemen." He spoke. "I know that you would like to duel, but this is the arena for tomorrow. Please refrain from dueling here. I do have another dueling arena if you would like to follow me."
The duo followed Pegasus to a door. Pegasus opened the door to show a dueling arena. "Here you are gentlemen." He spoke.
Jason and Mokuba looked into the room to see the Dueling Platform.
"Let's go." Jason said walking into the room.
They walked into the room and stepped onto the dueling platforms that rose up to the field.
"Enjoy Gentlemen." Pegasus said before leaving. He walked to the room Jason had been given and set the new deck down on Jason's nightstand before he left to watch the final duels of the preliminaries of Duelist Kingdom.
Jason and Mokuba shuffled their decks and set them down in the deck zone before drawing five cards each.
"Let's duel!" The two yelled in Unison.
"I'll go first." Jason said. "I'll play 'Wolf Axewielder' in attack position, and I set three cards in my Spell and Trap zone." A large warrior with wrappings on his wrists and waist appeared on the field. He wore a loincloth, and his feet were wrapped. He had tribal tattoo's all along his body. He had a wolfs head and appeared on the battlefield growling before he let out a howl that demanded his opponent's respect. He took a large axe from his back and held his shield at the ready before glaring at Mokuba. "I'll end."
"I draw, and I activate 'Red Medicine' increasing my life points to 2500." A pitcher of red liquid appeared on the field and poured out onto Mokuba's side of the battlefield increasing his life points to 2500. "Next I set a card in my Spell and Trap zone and set a Monster into face down Defense position. With that I end."
" I draw and I play a card in face down defense position." Jason said. "My 'Wolf Axewielder' will attack your face down."
"You attacked my 'Criosphinx'." Mokuba said smugly as a large centaur with the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, the torso of a pale blue man, the head of a bear, and horns that looped down stood up and roared before blocking 'Wolf Axewielders' attack and lashing out killing Jason's Beast-Warrior.
"I take 750 dropping me down to 1250, and I end."
"I draw, and I play another card in Defense position, and I end."
"I draw, and I play 'Gaia the Fierce Knight' in attack mode and activate 'Hinotama'." Jason said. A knight clad in blue armor with golden trim, red accents, and silver greaves and vambraces, wielding twin red lances riding a magenta stallion with a blond mane and tail, wearing a blue helm with golden trim and red accents appeared on the battlefield pawing at the ground.
The sound of thunder cracked throughout the room, and fireballs shot from the sky and hit Mokuba taking his life points back down to two thousand. "I play 'Shield and Sword' switching our Monsters attacks and defenses, and I attack your 'Criosphinx' with 'Spiral Spear Strike'!" 'Gaia' attacked 'Criosphinx' with his lance causing 'Criosphinx' to pixilate. I end." Jason said.
"I draw." Mokuba said. "And I play a card in face down defense position, and I end."
"I draw and I play a card in Defense position, and my 'Wolf Axewielder' will attack your left most facedown card. Axewielder strike!"
"You destroyed my 'Morphing Jar', but you also activated my 'Morphing Jars' effect. We send our hands to the graveyard and draw five cards." Mokuba said discarding his hand and drawing five cards.
Jason held up his hand to show no cards in his hand, but he drew five cards. "I end."
"I draw a card, and I set three cards in my Spell and Trap zone. Then I play 'Hieracosphinx' in attack mode and attack your 'Wolf Axewielder'." A large sphinx with the body of a lion and the head and wings of a falcon appeared on the battlefield and called out with an "Ee-cheep" followed by a rasping "kack-kack-kack-kack".
"I activate 'Kunai with Chain' increasing my 'Wolf Axewielder's attack to 2150 and switching your 'Hieracosphinx' to Defense position."
"Fine." Mokuba said glumly as the kunai's chain wrapped around Hieracosphinx. "I end."
"I draw, and I set two cards in my Spell and trap zone, and I play a card in facedown Defense position, and I attack your 'Hieracosphinx' with my 'Wolf Axewielder'."
"I activate 'Magic Cylinder'." Mokuba said flipping up a trap card.
'Wolf Axewielder' ran at 'Hieracosphinx' but ran into a tunnel. He kept running until he saw a light at the end of the tunnel and ran through slashing at whatever was on the other side. It wasn't until he finished his attack that he realized he'd attacked Jason.
"Congratulations." Jason said. "You win."
"Yes." Mokuba yelled.
"You are becoming a better duelist with each duel. Now, tell me what you learned?"
Pegasus was in his favorite dining hall with a glass of his favorite wine, a plate with a sampling of his favorite cheeses, his favorite 'Funny Bunny' manga, and the remote to watch the few remaining duelists still entered in his tournament.
He had just finished watching Joey Wheeler and Bonz duel. Bonz was a decent duelist, but Young Joey's luck held out long enough to draw the right cards. He would have liked to have seen Bonz make it farther, but it wasn't meant to be.
He changed to watch a fight with Kaiba. He'd already won two Star Chips and had just won four earning him eight in total, and now he only needed two more before he could gain entry into his castle.
"Hmm." He spoke. "Let us see how Young Jason, and Young Mokuba are doing." He said changing the screen to see Mokuba flipping a card face up.
"I activate 'Magic Cylinder'." Mokuba said flipping up a trap card.
'Wolf Axewielder' ran at 'Hieracosphinx' but ran into a tunnel. He kept running until he saw a light at the end of the tunnel and ran through slashing at whatever was on the other side. It wasn't until he finished his attack that he realized he'd attacked Jason.
"Congratulations." Jason said. "You win."
"Yes." Mokuba yelled.
"You are becoming a better duelist with each duel. Now, tell me what you learned?"
"Hmm. An interesting question. One I want to hear the answer to."
"Well, you played more strategically than our last duel, but you are still holding back. You could have played your 'Gaia the Fierce Knight' first."
"How do you know I had 'Gaia'?"
"I noticed your cards. You didn't move them, and you played the card that was in 'Gaia's place so..."
"Wait. You can count cards?"
"I guess so."
"That's amazing."
"I guess so."
"Does Seto let you help with his projects? A mind like yours would be an amazing help."
"Maybe you could tell Seto that."
"I'll do that." Jason said. "Now let's go. I figure that it will be dinner soon."
"Okay." Mokuba said gathering his deck and lowering himself to the ground."
Pegasus looked at the time and saw that it was getting close to dinner. "Well would you look at that." He spoke. "It is. How time flies when you're having fun." He walked out of the dining room and made his way to the larger dining room where he attended to guests.
Jason and Mokuba walked back to their rooms. Jason walked into his room and put his bag on the table and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. He dried them off and was just about to grab his bag when he looked at his nightstand. Sitting on his nightstand was a deck box. He picked it up and looked inside it to see a deck. He took it out and looked through it.
Archfiend General X3
Barrier Statue of the Abyss
Imprisoned Queen Archfiend
Mad Archfiend
Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning
Shadowknight Archfiend
Skilled Red Magician
Skull Archfiend of Lightning
Terrorking Archfiend X3
Vanity's Fiend
Archfiend Soldier X3
Beast of Talwar
Summoned Skull
Archfiend's Awakening
Archfiend Palabyrinth
Checkmate X3
Contract with the Abyss
Pandemonium X3
Pot of Greed X2
Archfiend's Roar X2
Battle-Scarred
Call of the Archfiend
Nightmare Archfiends X3
Solemn Wishes X3
Jason looked through it impressed. He didn't know anyone who played Archfiends, hell. He'd never heard of Archfiends until now. Pegasus made good on his word.
There was a knock on the door, and Jason walked over and opened it to find Mokuba standing in the hallway.
"Hey Jason." Mokuba said.
"You ready for dinner?" Jason asked.
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
"What are you looking at?"
"I walked in, and It was sitting on my nightstand." Jason said handing Mokuba the deck to look through.
"Whoa!" Mokuba said. "This is great!"
"I know right." Jason said taking it back when Mokuba was done looking through it. He put it in the deck box and clipped it to his belt as they walked into the dining room.
"Ah. Good evening gentlemen." Pegasus said.
"Have you heard anything about my brother?" Mokuba asked.
Jason nudged Mokuba. "It's rude to not acknowledge our host." He looked at Mokuba with a look that said. 'Don't piss off that guy who can steal your soul.'
"Oh." Mokuba said comprehending Jason's look. "Sorry. Good evening, Pegasus."
"Not a problem at all Young Mokuba." Pegasus said. "Please sit down. Your brother only has to get two more Star Chips. So, he will either be here tonight or tomorrow."
"All right!" Mokuba said a little too loudly. "Sorry." He said blushing.
"Not a problem. I too am rooting for Kaiba boy." He looked at Jason. "Did you receive your prize for making it to the castle first?" He asked.
"I did. Thank you. I haven't heard of most of those cards."
"I wasn't planning on releasing them for at least ten years. So, it's safe to say that no one, other than I, have those cards."
"Thank you."
"You can thank me by using that deck during your duels in the finals."
"I will. I will use tonight and tomorrow figuring the deck out, and I will go as far as I can in the finals with them."
"That is all I ask. Now. What would you like to eat?"
After dinner Jason and Mokuba were in Jason's room sitting at his table while Jason was looking through his deck, trying to strategize.
"Are we going to duel?" Mokuba asked. "So, you can get a feel for the deck?"
"Tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to come up with my strategies, and see if I can determine this decks Ace card."
"The what?"
"The Ace card. Every deck has an Ace card, and it's the duelist's responsibility to figure out which one it is. Like in my original deck 'Orgoth the Relentless' is my Ace card."
"Oh. I get it. What's mine?"
"That's something you have to figure out for yourself. I can give you a hint though."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Yugi's trump card is the 'Dark Magician', your brothers is 'Blue Eyes White Dragon', Mai's is 'Harpy Lady', and Joey's is 'Red Eyes Black Dragon'."
"That's no fair."
"Why don't you take some time to search for your Ace card while I strategize?"
"Fine." Mokuba whined before laying on the floor looking at his cards.
Jason began dry running his new deck. He dueled for three hours coming up with several strategies to duel to. When he finished, he looked over to see Mokuba asleep on the floor. He picked Mokuba up and placed him on his bed before picking up his deck and put it on his nightstand. He walked over to the wall and sat down. He leaned against the wall and drifted off to sleep.
"Jason." A voice said.
Jason woke up with a start only to see Mokuba. "What is it?" He asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to show you this." He said holding up a card. "This is my Ace Card." He said proudly showing Jason 'Hieracosphinx'.
"Nice." Jason said getting up and stretching, popping his back, and stretched his legs popping his legs, arms, neck, and fingers. "Why did you choose 'Hieracosphinx'?"
"Well. I have used it for a few duels, and it's helped me. So, I think 'Hieracosphinx' is my Ace card."
"Okay. So long as you have a reason it doesn't matter what your reason is."
"What's your Ace card for your Archfiend deck?"
"I don't have one yet. My Ace card in my original deck is 'Orgoth the Relentless', but I'm not sure what the Ace card in... this... deck." Jason said trailing off. He took his deck out and looked through his Archfiend deck. He picked up a card and looked at it. He thought back to the guardian in his mind. It was the exact same card. 'Why is the 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend' in my mind?'
"What is it, Jason?" Mokuba asked."
"I think this card is my Ace card." Jason said turning the card around to show Mokuba the 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend'.
"What is so good about it?"
"You have to pay 1000 life points or destroy the card, and once per turn you can pick one level four or lower fiend-type Monster on the field, and let it gain 1000 attack until you end, and Pandemonium needs to be on the field to activate it."
"How is that any good? You can only keep it on the field for two turns at most. It's no good."
"Not true." Jason said pulling out six cards. He showed Mokuba 3 'Solemn Wishes' and 3 'Pandemonium's. These cards will help me gain life points and help me keep my life points."
"What?"
"'Pandemonium' makes it so I don't need to pay life points to keep my Archfiends on the field."
"But you only have a 3 out of 40 chances of getting it."
"3 out of 41." Jason corrected."
"What do you mean?"
Jason took his 'King of Yamimakai' out of his first deck and put it in his new deck. "Also, I have other cards that won't require me to pay life points."
"Okay." Mokuba said.
There was a knock on the door.
Jason walked to the door and opened it.
"Good morning Mr. Todd." Croquet said. "Master Pegasus asked me to bring you to the tailors."
"Why?" Jason asked.
"He did not tell me. He just told me to take you and Young Mokuba to the Tailors before taking you to the dining room for breakfast while the tailor makes the alterations to your suit."
"Fine." Jason said. "Let's go Mokuba."
The two followed Croquet to a room filled with fabric of every color.
"Richard." Croquet said. "I brought your guests."
A fair skinned man with a white beard and mustache walked out wearing navy blue pants, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pincushion strapped to his wrist. "Master Pegasus told me that you would bring me two individuals for suits. It's been a while since I've been able to make anything new."
"Yes. Master Pegasus told me to bring Mr. Todd and Mr. Kaiba to you."
"Thank you." Richard said taking Jason and Mokuba by an elbow each and led them to the back.
Jason was ready to fight Richard at a moment's notice.
"Please don't." Richard said. "I am simply a humble tailor who hasn't had much time to practice his craft. True I can make clothes for the staff, but I need to make something new from time to time."
"Okay." Jason said.
"Take off all of your excess layers." Richard said. "You can stay in your pants and T-shirt, though underclothing would be better."
"All right." Jason said taking off everything but his pants and undershirt.
Richard took out a measuring tape and began measuring Jason. He took measurements and wrote them down in a notebook. When he finished, he looked at Jason. "Now. What kind of suit are you looking for?"
"What do you mean?"
"Casual, formal, semi-casual, tactical?"
"Tactical." Jason said.
"Very well. Come pick out your colors." He said leading Jason to racks with shirts, vests, suit coats, ties, and slacks.
Jason picked out a red long-sleeved shirt, charcoal grey vest, black slacks, suit coat, tie, socks, and shoes.
"Oh my." Richard said. "Are you trying to give off such a dark persona?"
"Yes." Jason said.
"Very well."
"Could you also make this fit?" Jason asked holding out his trench coat.
"I can." Richard said.
"Thank you."
"You are most welcome. Young Mokuba. You're next."
Mokuba looked at Jason who nodded and reached into the bag to show his knife. Mokuba took off his vest and sweater leaving him in a T-shirt that had a dragon on it.
Richard set to work taking Mokuba's measurements before he led Mokuba to the racks of clothes. "Which kind of suit would you like?"
"Tactical." Mokuba said. He didn't know what a tactical suit was, but if Jason was going to pick a tactical suit, then that's what he was going to pick.
Jason kept an eye on Richard, so he didn't do anything to Mokuba while Mokuba picked out a black long-sleeved shirt with a charcoal grey vest, blue slacks, suit coat, tie, socks, and black shoes.
"Thank you." Richard said. "I'll expect you back here before lunch, so you look presentable to Master Pegasus."
"We'll be here." Jason said leading Mokuba outside where Croquet was waiting for them. Croquet led them to the dining room where Pegasus was eating.
"Ah, gentlemen." Pegasus said. "Please sit down. I trust that you visited Richard before coming here?"
"Yes." Jason said.
"Excellent. He gets so few chances to let his true talent show. I thank you gentlemen for giving him that chance."
"You're welcome." Jason said.
"I plan on having the other contestants visit him. It will make him so happy to be able to make other outfits rather than just making the same outfits all the time."
"You're very generous."
"I know that I come off as being a monster, but the truth is that while I have my own reason for doing things. I don't try and be malicious, but I am because it brings me closer to my goals. Do you two have goals?"
"Yes." Jason said. "But my goals are for me to know." He only knew how to be a Vigilante. He would be a Vigilante.
"I see." Pegasus said. "What about you Young Mokuba?"
"I'm going to help Seto run Kaiba Corp, and you won't stop me."
"Mokuba." Jason said with a stern tone and looked at him with a look that said: 'Don't piss off the guy who can steal your soul.'
"It's all right Young Jason." Pegasus said. "Young Mokuba. What would you do if you lost Seto?"
"Wh-what are you saying?" Mokuba asked going pale.
"I'm not threatening Seto. I am asking you a question. What would you do if you lost Seto? What would you be willing to do if you lost Seto?"
"I-I would..."
"Would you be willing to do whatever it takes to get him back?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" Mokuba asked shakily.
"Would you be willing to take the technology to build a hard-light copy of him?"
"YES! Anything to get him back!"
"Then why would you deny me the same technology you yourself said you would use?"
Jason and Mokuba looked at Pegasus, at each other, and back at Pegasus.
"I-I..." Mokuba began.
"You're wife?" Jason asked.
"I've said too much." Pegasus said getting up. "Please enjoy breakfast. I won't be joining you for lunch seeing as I will be preparing for our Duel this afternoon." He left without another word.
Jason and Mokuba looked at each other.
"I didn't know." Mokuba said.
"No. You didn't." Jason said without any heat behind his words. "His goals make sense now though. But it's not fair to whoever he's trying to bring back."
"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked.
"What if they believed in Paradise after death?"
"What do you mean?"
"Some people believe in a higher being. A divine Being. They believe that after we die, they go to Paradise. Do you really think it's fair to rip them out of Paradise and bring them back to earth if earth will basically be sheer hell for them?"
"I don't think so."
"So, Pegasus is trying to bring someone back only for them to end up in a hell of Pegasus making."
"That sounds terrible."
"Could you really do that to Seto if he had died?"
"Seto doesn't believe in a Divine being. He says that if there were then our parents wouldn't have died, we wouldn't have been orphans, there wouldn't be any orphans, nothing bad would ever happen. He says that since all this bad is allowed to happen there can't be a higher being."
"Well, we can at least agree on that."
"You don't believe in a Higher Being either?"
"No. I can't. After everything I've been through. Everything I've done to survive. Everything I've had to do to survive. If there is a Divine Being, they would have or should have stopped it."
Mokuba looked at Jason. What could he have gone through that made him hate the concept of a Divine Being as much as his brother?
They ordered breakfast from the staff and ate before they walked back to Jason's room and sat at his table before Jason took the dueling pad out and set it on the table.
"We aren't going to use the Dueling Arena?" Mokuba asked disappointedly.
"No. I want to keep the holograms a surprise."
"Fine. Let's duel."
Both Jason and Mokuba shuffled their decks before handing them to each other to cut, and they both drew five cards.
"You can go first." Jason said.
"I set a card in Face Down Defense Position." Mokuba said. "Then I play 'Blue Medicine' taking me up to 2400 life points, 'Hinotama' taking you down to 1500 life points and set a card in the Spell and Trap Zone. I end."
"I draw, and I play 'Beast of Talwar' in attack Position and set two cards in the Spell and Trap zone. Then I will attack your Face Down with 'Beast of Talwar'."
Mokuba flipped up 'Stone Statue of the Aztecs' and sent it to the graveyard.
"I end." Jason said.
"I draw." Mokuba said. "I play a card in Face Down Defense Position and activate 'Coffin Seller'. Now, each time a monster is sent to your graveyard you take three hundred damage."
"Okay." Jason said. "Do you end?"
"Yes."
"I draw, and I play the 'Pandemonium' Field Spell. Then I play 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend' in attack mode. Next, I activate 'Nightmare Archfiends'. By sacrificing my 'Beast of Talwar' I can summon 3 'Nightmare Archfiend Tokens' to your side of the field with 2000 ATK and 2000 DEF, and each time one of them is destroyed you lose eight hundred life points."
"You lose 300 life points because one of your monsters was sent to the graveyard."
"I'm down to 1200 life points, but I attack one of your 'Nightmare Archfiend Tokens' taking your life points down by 400."
"Okay. I'm down to two thousand life points."
"Don't forget that you lose 800 life points thanks to your 'Nightmare Archfiend Token'."
"That drops me down to 1200 life points." Mokuba growled.
"I end, and thanks to 'Pandemonium', I don't lose any life points from my 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend'."
"I draw." Mokuba said. "I Set a card in Face Down Defense Position, and I switch my 'Nightmare Archfiend Tokens' to Face Up Defense Position. Then I activate 'Stop Defense' on the card I just set to reveal 'Morphing Jar', and thanks to 'Morphing Jars' effect we have to discard our hands and draw five new cards."
Jason discarded his hand and the two drew five new cards.
"I will set two more cards in the Spell and Trap Zone, and I will activate 'Red Medicine' bringing my life points up to 1700. I end."
"Excellent." Jason said. "You bought yourself a little more time with a great combo that helped you and hindered me."
"Really!?"
"Yeah. You got rid of two really good cards, but in doing so you also kind of helped me."
"Great." Mokuba said.
"That's how Duels go sometimes. You just need to learn to roll with it. Now. I draw, and I play 'Pot of Greed' which lets me draw two more cards." Jason drew two more cards and looked at them. "I set two cards in the Spell and Trap Zone, and I play 'Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning', and since I have to attack, I will attack one of your 'Nightmare Archfiend Tokens'."
"I activate 'Negate Attack'." Mokuba countered.
"I end." Jason said.
"I draw." Mokuba said drawing a card.
"And I activate my trap cards." Jason said flipping up two 'Solemn Wishes'. "Now every time I draw a card my life points will increase by 1000."
"I play 'Amazoness Swords Woman' and Attack your 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend'." Mokuba said with a cocky smile.
"Using my own trick against me." Jason said. "Aren't you afraid that I'll beat you?"
"No." Mokuba said confidently.
"Then I'm in trouble." Jason said. "My life points drop from 1200 to 100."
"Yup."
"Do you end?"
"Yeah. I end."
"I draw" Jason said drawing a card. "And it looks like the Heart of the cards does exist. I gain one thousand life points from the card I just drew, and I play 'Pot of Greed'! Allowing me to draw two more cards increasing my life points from 1100 to 3100."
"Grr." Mokuba growled.
"Next I will Gemini Summon 'Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning' in place of my normal, normal summon, and I will activate his Gemini Effect. All face up monsters on your side of the field with 1200 or less defense is destroyed, and because they are destroyed by an effect you lose half of their attack points from your life points."
"I lose 350 life points taking me from 1700 to 1350."
"Next I attack you with 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend'."
"I activate 'Magic Cylinder' directing your attack back at you."
"I'm back down to 500 life points." Jason said. "I end."
"I draw, and I set a Monster in Face Down Defense Position, and I end."
"I draw and I play 'Skull Archfiend of Lightning' in attack position. Then I attack your 'Nightmare Archfiend Token' with 'Imprisoned Queen Archfiend'."
"That takes me from 1350 to 550." Mokuba said.
"I end."
"I draw." Mokuba said. "And I lose. I don't have a monster that I can play, and by Duelist Kingdom rules, If I can't play a monster, I lose the game."
"Sorry. Good Game though." Jason said. "You were able to hold your own against me, and almost beat me. So far you are the only person who's beat me multiple times. You should feel honored by that."
"I am. I just wanted to be the first one to beat your Archfiend deck."
"You want to go again?" I still have two more strategies to try out."
"Sure." Mokuba said.
"Then let's go again." Jason said putting his cards back into his deck and shuffling it.
They dueled until it was time to leave for the tailors. They walked through the castle until they came to the tailors and walked in.
"Hello." Jason called out. "Richard?"
"I'm in the back." Richard called out. "Come back."
They walked to the back and saw Richard brushing away any lint from two suits hanging from the ceiling.
"Good." Richard said. "You're here. Change into your suits so I can make the final adjustments."
Jason and Mokuba went to separate changing rooms and changed.
Jason felt the material. It felt cool to the touch, and felt like silk, but definitely wasn't. He pulled on the red shirt, and black pants. He buttoned the shirt and tucked it into the pants and zipped the pants up and buttoned them before he put the black tie on and tied it before pulling it snug against his neck. He pulled the vest on and buttoned it up and pulled it taut against his stomach. He sat down and pulled on the black socks before pulling on his shoes and tied them tight enough in case he needed to run or fight. He stood up and pulled on the suit coat before buttoning the middle button.
He walked out to see Richard waiting for him. Richard walked up to him and looked him over.
"Excellent." Richard said. "It fits you like a glove." He took out a brush and brushed any lint off of his suit. "Here you are." He said handing Jason a newly refitted trench coat.
Jason put it on and looked in the mirror. He had to admit, he looked good.
The door to Mokuba's changing room opened and Mokuba walked out.
Richard walked over and made a few adjustments to his suit. When he was done, he looked at Mokuba and smiled. "You both look presentable now."
Both boys looked at each other before looking back at Richard.
"Now go to lunch." Richard said. "But be careful not to get your new suits dirty."
"Thank you." Jason said as he and Mokuba left the room.
Richard watched them leave before he went to the back of his workplace and grabbed a suit off the wall so he could adjust it.
Jason and Mokuba walked into the dining room and noticed that Pegasus wasn't there. They sat down and ordered lunch. While they waited, they discussed duel strategy, and when lunch came, they ate carefully so as not to get their suits dirty. They also talked about duel strategy while they ate, and before they knew it, they had finished.
They were walking through the castle when they heard something going on outside. They walked to the window where they saw Seto Vs. Yugi dueling on the ramparts. Yugi had just fused 'Mammoth Graveyard' with Kaiba's 'Blue Eyes'.
Seto stepped onto the edge of the rampart. "Don't attack Yugi. If you do, you might send me over the edge."
"NO!" Mokuba yelled. "BIG BROTHER!"
Seto looked up and saw Jason and Mokuba watching the fight.
"'Celtic Guardian'!" Yugi yelled. "Attack!"
'Celtic Guardian' ran at a 'Blue Eye's head and decapitated it. There wasn't an explosion, and Seto stepped away from the edge.
"Pathetic." Jason said as he walked away. Mokuba wasn't far behind him with his head bowed. Once they were far enough away Mokuba spoke up.
"Jason?" He asked with a lump in his throat. "Why did Seto do that?"
Jason dropped to a knee so that Mokuba could look at him. "I'm going to tell you something, and you're not going to like it. Seto only cares about two things in this world. You and winning by any means necessary. Unfortunately, he gets tunnel vision when one of those become threatened. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."
"But why?" Mokuba asked, his voice catching in his throat.
"I don't know." Jason said. "I don't know."
Mokuba looked up at Jason with broken eyes, and Jason vowed that he was going to break Kaiba for hurting Mokuba.
"Let's go." Jason said. walking to the main hall so they could wait for the others. They weren't waiting for long before the door opened and Seto Kaiba stalked into the main hall.
"PEGASUS!" Kaiba yelled. "Get out here and duel me!"
"My, my, my." Pegasus said walking into the main hall. "Kaiba boy. You made it."
"Yes. Now duel me!"
"I'm afraid I can't." Pegasus said.
"What!"
"Young Jason was the first one here, and if you read the rules then you would know that the first person to enter the main hall get the honor of dueling me. Young Mokuba has more right to duel me than you do seeing as he was in the main hall second only to Jason.
Kaiba looked at Mokuba and glared at Jason.
Jason looked at Kaiba who was glaring at him. "What's wrong Seto?" He asked.
"I was supposed to duel Pegasus first!" Kaiba yelled.
"I'm guessing that you didn't read the rule book." Jason said. "The first person to make it to the castles main hall would get the honor of dueling Pegasus, win 3,000,000 dollars, and whatever their heart desires."
"No! I was supposed to duel Pegasus first!"
"Then are you going to give me whatever my heart desires and 3,000,000 dollars?" Jason asked.
"What do you want?" Kaiba asked.
"Pegasus?" Jason asked.
"Yes?" Pegasus purred.
"What exactly are you willing to give me?"
"Well. You did mention a lot of things that you needed. A home, seeing as you're living on the streets of Domino City. The wish to never go hungry again. A full wardrobe of clothes so you don't have to wear the same two outfits all the time. Your own personalized, never before seen deck. Your own brand of clothing. A motorcycle. Though as you said, you can get most of that by yourself with the prize money."
"And what about you Kaiba?" Jason asked. "What can you offer me to give you my spot?"
"Admittedly everything but the personalized, never before seen deck."
"Really?" Jason asked. "How?"
"By giving you a job at Kaiba Corp.!" Kaiba yelled.
The dueling hall went silent at that.
"Make me your new head of security with access to your technology division and you've got a deal." Jason said.
"What!" Kaiba demanded.
"You don't have much to worry about. I won't kidnap Mokuba or try and overthrow you. Which is more than you can say for your old head of security. So how about it? Everything that Pegasus is offering me minus the never-before-seen deck and make me your new head of security with access to your technology division."
"What could you possibly want with my technology division?"
"Gadgets. Just imagine how good I will be at my job if I have a series of gadgets that no one is expecting?"
Kaiba glared at Jason.
"I've done a good job protecting Mokuba so far, and I can come up with several contingency plans to keep you and Mokuba safe, not to mention keep your technology safe."
"Deal." Kaiba said.
"Shake on it." Jason said reaching out to shake Kaiba's hand.
Kaiba tentatively shook Jason's hand.
Jason shook Kaiba's hand and looked around. "This conversation was recorded right?" He asked Pegasus.
"Absolutely." Pegasus said. "Not only that but you have two witnesses." He pointed at himself and Mokuba.
"Thank you." Jason said. "So. When do I start?"
Kaiba's smile grew smug. "When you turn 21."
"WHAT!" Jason and Mokuba yelled.
"The head of security is a very important job. I'm not going to hand it over to a teenager. Come by Kaiba Corp when you turn 21. We'll see if we have an opening."
Jason looked at Kaiba and wanted to burn him. He wouldn't because of Mokuba, but even Mokuba looked hurt by what Kaiba had done, and he did something that shocked Seto. He backed away from Seto and into Jason.
"Seto." Mokuba said even more devastated by this new light into Seto's personality. "How could you do that? Don't you know what Jason has gone through?"
"Don't bother Mokuba." Jason said darkly. "Let's just get this over with."
Jason and Mokuba walked into the overview of the dueling Arena.
Pegasus looked at Kaiba with contempt. "I hope you're happy Kaiba. Looks like you've shown your true colors. I wonder how Mokuba feels about that."
"You leave Mokuba out of this!" Kaiba snapped. "Todd was a fool for believing I'd give him a job right now. He's sixteen!"
"And how old were you when you took over Kaiba Corp? You have no friends to lean on, but at least you have a place to live and food that didn't come from a trash can."
"What do you mean, and why do you care!" Kaiba yelled.
"I do not hurt children Kaiba! Ask Mokuba about his time here. I didn't hurt him. In fact, the only thing I would have done is lock him away if you needed a little motivation, but I didn't hurt him! Yet your actions have cost Jason a place to call home, the security of a home, and fresh food."
"What are you saying?"
"I know you're not dumb Kaiba. Figure it out. Meanwhile I have a Tournament to run. You have five minutes to be ready or I disqualify you, and I'm not feeling particularly generous towards you right now." He said with a flash of gold under his hair. With that he walked away. 'Don't worry young Jason.' He thought. 'You will be getting a special gift.' His Millennium Eye shined under his hair. It was a little-known fact that when trapped in the Shadow Realm one who didn't possess a Millennium Item had their negative emotions enhanced, and he had a feeling that young Jason had a lot of pent-up anger that could be directed at Seto Kaiba. Jason deserved a bit of Catharsis.
The doors opened and Yugi, Joey, Tristan, TéA, and Mai walked into the castle. They walked into the main hall where Croquet led them to the overview to watch the duels. Jason and Mokuba were waiting to watch the duel. They noticed that they were wearing suits. Jason was wearing black shoes, black slacks, a black suit coat, charcoal grey vest, red shirt, black tie, and the same trench coat but it had been altered to fit so that it didn't drag the floor as much. Mokuba was wearing black shoes, navy blue slacks, and suit coat with a charcoal grey vest and black long-sleeved shirt.
"Hey guys." Joey said. "How's it goin'?"
"Fine." Jason said in a low tone.
"What's wrong?" TéA asked.
"Seto did something." Mokuba said quietly leaning over the edge. "He hurt Jason."
"He what!" Joey yelled. "Why I oughta..."
"The duel is starting." TéA said as Kaiba and Pegasus walked to their sides of the arena, and the duel began.
Jason watched as the Soulless Kaiba was walked off the field. Mokuba was sad about his brother losing, but he didn't understand that Seto had lost his soul. He just thought that Seto had broken after losing so many times in as many days. He wasn't the best Duelist anymore."
"PEGASUS!" Yami Yugi yelled causing Jason and Mokuba to snap to look at him. "Why do you toy with our lives! Our friends! Our families! I won't let you get away with this!"
"My, my, my." Pegasus said. "Why do you care about Kaiba Boy? Do you know what he did to Young Jason?"
The others looked at Jason.
"Jay?" Joey asked. "What did he do ta ya?"
"He held safety and security in front of Young Jason's face, and then ripped it away leaving him out in the cold."
"What?" Tristan asked.
"I see that Young Jason didn't tell you either. Very well. Young Jason is a..."
"STOP!" Mokuba yelled. "Jason! I don't know why you just let Pegasus talk about your past, but you can't let him. He can't just tell everyone who asks. I know that you are afraid of Pegasus, but you can't let that fear control you. You need to fight Pegasus like you would fight someone who hurts innocent people! Fight him!"
Something stirred inside Jason and his muscles tensed. "PEGASUS!" Jason yelled startling the others. "I am going to beat every one of the finalists, and then I'm going to beat you!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Pegasus yelled. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" He continued laughing. "Oh, my Young Jason. I look forward to our duel, but I have a special surprise for you if you lose."
"Then I won't lose!" Jason yelled crossing his arms over his chest.
"I don't doubt that you will give a good duel. It will be entertaining at the very least. Now. If you are finished yelling, follow me to the large dining room for dinner, and we will decide the order of the finals."
Jason laid awake that night thinking about the finals tomorrow. The order was Him Vs. Mai and Joey Vs. Yugi. He would have to do his best against Mai because he wasn't going to lose. He rolled over and fell into Morpheus embrace.