善良妈妈的朋友

Chapter 16

All the worse was the fact that Tea was in danger and he\'d placed her on one side of the scale, the word of the Big 5 and Maximillion Pegasus on the other, and Tea had been the one to come up feather light. For that she would never forgive him and if she could she\'d rip Tea out of his house and make her stay at her apartment, protecting her as no one else was.

More than one person at the precinct had questioned Yuri on her love for her half sister. They were even more shocked when she stated that she liked her step-mom. It just went against every culture norm there was. Hollywood had set it up that all step-siblings clashed, all step parents were evil, and that it was the duty of the first born to save their parent from the clutches of an evil family or struggle on and fight against the crimes and injustices the gold diggers and the corrupt monsters that tried to be family brought about.

It wasn\'t like that though with Yuri. Her parents had gotten divorced when she was young, having been childhood friends who confused lust and a deep bond with love. They\'d parted on very good terms and Yuri\'s mom, Kimiyo, had even been part of the wedding party when Yuri\'s father had married Charlotte. As for Tea... she was her sister. It didn\'t matter who their mothers were they were family and Yuri would do anything for her.

\'Which is more than can be said for dad,\' Yuri thought as the Taxi came to a stop in front of Kipling Chaos\' building. \'He acts like he needs to do all this for them... but Charlotte and Tea are completely down to Earth! They don\'t care about money!\' Charlotte\'s family did come from money, that was true; her grandfather had started some tool store or something in America and the family was loaded; Charlotte didn\'t bring it up often, despite Yuri\'s dad always trying to brag about it in mixed company. But Charlotte wasn\'t one of those trust fund babies one saw all the time on the news. No, she happily told stories about spending her summers bagging tape measures and bolts, her father explaining how he rang up orders as she watched on. It had been her that had insisted Tea get a job at the fast food joint if she wanted spending cash and been welcoming of the likes of Joey Wheeler when Tea and him had been friends. Where her father had only saw a punk and Yuri had worried the boy was too much of a hothead Charlotte had stated that he was much like herself, just needing a good break.

Her father though... he kept acting like he needed to make more money to keep the ladies happy. Yuri knew though that when Tea found out what her father had been willing to do in order to keep the money ball rolling she was going to be pissed. Yuri\'s sister might preach love and tolerance but she had a mean temper... Yuri had a scar on her ankle from Tea literally biting her during a fight to prove that.

That was from 6 months ago.

Adjusting her backpack Yuri tipped the driver and made her way to the door where the lobby attendant buzzed her in. She opened her mouth to speak only for the man to gesture towards the elevator that stood open and waiting.

"Mr. Kipling is expecting you."

"Of course he is," Yuri muttered; she shouldn\'t have been surprised that Kipling Chaos lived in such splendor. He might have been assisting her against Pegasus and the Big 5 but the owner of Chaos Communications was still an insanely rich man. She needed to realize that he wasn\'t doing this out of the kindness of his heart, nor was he some selfless hero; no, he was trying to save his nephew and he was just another billionaire who saw he could use her towards his own end.

The ride up was quick and quiet and when the doors opened she found herself exiting into a massive penthouse. Warm and inviting, to be sure, but one couldn\'t ignore the view; Domino laid stretched out before them, the lights of the city below and beyond making her feel like she was in the crow\'s nest of some great whaling ship, looking down at the still waters and seeing the stars reflected back at her. She tore her eyes away before the heights made her sway with dizziness.

Kipling was sitting on a couch, his leg propped up on the cushions and his wheelchair standing just beside him, ready to be used at a moment\'s notice. In one arm chair was a man that was dressed in part of a dark suit, his jacket missing and his shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal muscular arms covered in tattoos. He had a thick, brooding face with a buzz cut that was only a step away from leaving him completely bald, his caramel-colored skin and black eyes making him look all the fiercer. In comparison Kipling was wearing a dark blue dress shirt and tan slacks while Yuri had donned jeans, a hoodie, and her best running shoes; everything else she\'d need was in the backpack on her shoulder while her gun was concealed but at the ready.

"Ah, Miss Gardner, welcome." Kipling gestured at himself. "I\'d get up to greet you but I think you\'d rather get started rather than wait for me to hobble about in order to say hello." He chuckled and waved towards the other man. "This is John Baptiste, the head of my personal security. He\'ll be taking lead when we head to Duelist Kingdom."

"Hello," Yuri said taking a seat across from Baptiste.

"You were followed all of today," the muscular man said, making Yuri start at his brunt proclamation. "From the moment you left the precinct until you were 2 blocks from your apartment you were tailed by this man." He tapped at a group of photos that Yuri hadn\'t noticed were sitting on the coffee table, on depicting a tall man with brown hair that was styled in, of all things, the fashion of bull horns. "His name is Tyma. One of the Big 5\'s security agents... at least on paper."

"Should have figured I was being spied on."

"More than spied on," Baptiste declared. "The plan was to grab you in your apartment and take you to set up flop house on Canal Street. There you would have been tied up and injected with heroin; not enough to overdose but enough to knock you out. Reports would have been made to officers that are in the pocket of the Big 5 and in turn your father would have been informed that it would be wise to ship you off to America for a year or two lest you be tried and sent to prison; I do not know if the plan was merely to ruin your life or kill you in jail but either option was available to them. The plan was to place further leverage on your father to help the Big 5 in their schemes, as your actions at the precinct have filled them with fear."

Yuri sat there in utter shock, jaw hanging open before she finally shook her head and managed to squeak out, "How do you know this?"

Baptiste rolled down the sleeve of his jacket, revealing that it was stained with blood. "Because Tyma is currently downstairs, being seen to by one of my associates after I had words with him."

"By words you mean you beat him up."

"I mean I tortured the information out of him."

Yuri swallowed at that.

"Let us be clear, Miss. Gardner," Kipling said, his good humor disappearing as he shifted bit, somehow managing to be utterly intimidating even with his broken leg propped up, "by deciding to take this case as you have you have left the law behind. I know that you are doing this because of your belief in the rule of law but that is the great irony here... to obey the law you must break the law."

"You mean to get justice," Yuri said firmly. "And... I\'m willing to do that for Tea." She told the little voice in her head screaming that she was acting just like her father, deciding what laws she followed and held up and what ones she cast aside, to shut the hell up. \'Because he is doing it for himself. I\'m doing it for Tea.\'

"And I will do anything for my nephew," Kipling stated. "His father and I... I was not a kind man in my youth, you must understand. I did things to drive him away. I will never be able to make up for that... but I can do better with Edwin." He jabbed his finger against the coffee table. "Domino\'s elite hate me because I\'m an outsider. That is wrong. They should FEAR me. I don\'t want to be a part of their world and their schemes. The wheel turns, as they say, with one rising and others falling. I won\'t be part of the wheel... I will BREAK the wheel. Kaiba? The Big 5? Pegasus? They can either move aside or be broken as well."

"If you wish to leave now you can," Baptiste stated. "A guard will be given to you to protect you until this is all over. You can refuse, of course, but I do not suggest it. But understand that if we continue-"

"I\'m in," Yuri said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Kipling asked.

"Everyone else is breaking the rules for their own gain. I\'m breaking them for my sister. So what\'s the plan?"

Baptiste merely nodded before pulling out a folder. "Tonight a car will be leaving for the port, where a boat is waiting to head to Duelist Kingdom. We won\'t be on either. Instead we\'ll be leaving tomorrow evening for an airfield where we\'ll be meeting with my team."

"So long?" Yuri asked.

"Yes," Baptiste stated. "But during that time you will be giving us everything you have gathered on the Big 5 so I might begin alerting other members of the Chaos Security Forces just who we will be taking in for questioning."

"The end goal isn\'t merely saving our families," Kipling stated. "I wasn\'t being cute... I am going to shatter the Big 5, Pegasus, and everyone else that gets in my way."

Yuri nodded and opened her bag. "Then let\'s get started."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Is the fit good, sir?" the valet asked me as I examined the cuffs of my shirt. "The undershirt isn\'t too tight around the neck, is it?"

"I actually prefer it tight," I told Remo, making sure that the buttons were taken care of. "I hate feeling my stubble rub against my skin."

"I\'ll keep that in mind, sir," he said, helping me slip into the jacket that had been waiting for me. "Will there be anything else?" he asked as he ran the lint roller along my shoulders.

"No, I think I\'ll be all set. Where is the dining room again?"

"Down the hall, turn right, then down the stairs. There will be a servant waiting there to take you to where you will be having breakfast with Mr. Pegasus."

"Thank you," I said, looking at my reflection at Remo gathered up his tools and left. "Looking good, Edwin, looking good," I murmured to myself. When I\'d requested a new outfit from Pegasus I\'d mostly been being glib. Playing up the role of frustrated investigator who had to deal with an idiot that was ruining his case and thus was making demands in order to get some satisfaction. I didn\'t honestly believe that Pegasus would send a tailor after supper to take measurements or that there would be a valet waiting for me when I woke up to help me into my new suit.

It was all rather Lucifer-like: dark green dress shirt with a matching undershirt, perfectly fitted jacket and slacks, shined dress shoes, and even a pair of cufflinks (though they were non-descript). Perfect to give an air of professionalism. Of power.

Which is why I took a quiet moment to focus and make the Millennium Key appeared around my neck.

I reached up and fingered it slightly, feeling the weight of it, the coolness of the gold on my fingertips. Remembered that it had power too... and the cost. An entire village, from the oldest person to the youngest newborn, thrown into boiling pots of gold so that their lifeblood could forge the Millennium Items. Items that would then be used to help a ruler maintain control over his people, so they might believe falsely that he was a god born onto earth and that his word was always right. That the deaths could happen again if he desired it. Had Atem\'s father ever thought about them? Or Set\'s father? And what of Set himself... had he ever thought about for even a second all the people that had died just so the royal family could have a scrap more of power? Or had they merely put on their fancy clothing, decked themselves out with their gold and jewels, and continued on without ever once remembering all the blood they had shed for their wealth and power?

I willed the Millennium Key back into myself and looked at my reflection, now a bit more grim faced as the Original Soundtrack for the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime that I\'d accidently hacked the day before began to play \'A Good Man?\'.

\'I know why I got this key and I know what it\'s for,\' I thought to myself. \'To remind me... to hold me to the mark. I\'m the Guardian Devil. And I save people. And if anyone happens to be listening, anyone have a problem with that-\'

I made my way to the door, all the temptation that had come with the fancy clothes and lush living conditions thrown aside as the dying screams of the children of Kul Elna surrounded me.

\'-TO HELL WITH YOU!\'

Following the instructions the valet had given me (after debating a few moments which direction he\'d told me to go at first) I soon found one of Pegasus\' quiet female servants who led me to the massive dining room. Pegasus was, of course, seated at the table drinking a cup of coffee, two soft boiled eggs in those little egg holders sitting before him along with a few pieces of toast. Seeing that it was rather like Downton Abbey with its warming trays and serve-yourself setup I went over and selected two hash browns, a couple sausage patties, and a breakfast roll before walking to the chair on Pegasus\' right and sitting down. "Hot chocolate, if you could," I said to the footman waiting nearby. "Milk, not water."

"A rather... childish drink," Pegasus stated. "For one of your profession."

"I learned long ago that life is short. Enjoy what you enjoy and don\'t worry about what others think." I tucked into my meal, feeling Pegasus\' gaze burning into me but not paying him much attention. He wasn\'t trying to get into my mind again, which was nice even with the wall I had created, and if he had something important to say he\'d say it. I wasn\'t one for idle chit chat, especially if I was eating.

I was two seconds away from being truly rude and pulling out my phone when Pegasus finally spoke. "I was hoping, once we ate, we might take a tour of the castle. I think it would do well for your case if you saw where the God Cards had been created... and, perhaps if you have the time, you\'d be willing to advise me on what I could do to ensure that their theft never happened again."

\'Fat chance of that,\' I thought to myself. Unless I saw something completely illogical there was little chance I would be able to suggest something that would help Pegasus out. \'Of course this is Yu-Gi-Oh!. Chances are that I will discover that Pegasus\' security system is merely... a crate with some rare cards under it with a stick propping it up.\'

Instead I spoke out loud, "I don\'t see any problem with that. Any idea when we might have any more finalists show up?"

"I would say this afternoon is the most likely time, after lunch, though I wouldn\'t be surprised if it wasn\'t until sunset that we began to truly get finalists. Mai Valentine has managed collect ten-"

\'Good for you, Mai!\' I thought. Even though I\'d known that Mai was going to make it into the finals I was still proud that she had gone the distance.

"-but her battle lasted late into the night and was on the farthest point of the island. Even if she spent all day walking it will take her quite some time to arrive here and she\'ll still have to face my Eliminators."

\'Which is how Mai will get the extra Star Chips to help Yugi,\' I thought to myself.

"As for the other possible candidates... Yugi-Boy and Joey, along with the rest of his friends, are still in the tunnels though they are heading right towards the exit... and some Eliminators that will make things VERY interesting for them." Pegasus chuckled and sipped his coffee. "Kaiba-Boy is getting closer but will need to pick up the pace if he hopes to get revenge for all I\'ve done to him." He let out an amused sigh. "Revenge... the must useless of causes."

"Anyone else?"

Pegasus finally lost his smile at that as the servant returned with my drink. "Bandit Keith looks to be the most likely to arrive here. He is the one that might make it this afternoon. A pity, as I do so hate cheats, but still I suppose I can just beat him again."

"You know... after lunch perhaps I\'ll wait at the main gate to greet Keith." Pegasus raised an eyebrow at that but I merely cut into my sausage. "Give him a tour, maybe talk cards... show in the Main Dueling Hall last..."

The creator of Duel Monsters blinked at that before pressing an open hand to his mouth, laughing openly. "Oh... oh how deliciously evil of you, Edwin. I like it!"

"Thought you might," I said with a smirk even if I was frowning in my mind. \'I\'m not doing it out of some need to amuse you, Pegasus. I\'m doing what you should have done the moment you realized Keith was on this island.\' I took a sip of coco. \'Besides, this is going to work out to get things back on track.\'

Having me be the first person to take on Pegasus was... not a good idea. It would mess everything up and I needed to get canon back on track. Oh, I had the urge to take on Pegasus, to see if I could beat him... and there was a voice in my head that said that I totally could.

I shut it up by whispering back that Pegasus knew my deck and would have created cards to counter Endymion.

No, I needed to set things right and I knew just how to do it but that meant that I needed to get rid of one of the other finalists and Keith was the weak link. He\'d get tossed aside and then I could truly begin my schemes.

After we finished breakfast I shoved my thoughts and plans to the side in order to focus on the tour. I knew he wouldn\'t be showing me everything, as even with our new understanding Pegasus still would want to keep things to himself, secrets that he might use in case plans didn\'t fall as he wanted them too. And I really couldn\'t judge him for that, considering I was doing the exact same damn thing. So the dungeons didn\'t get a once over but he did show me many of the upper floor rooms. I knew that others would have been bored but I was a fan of history and Pegasus was a good story teller so it worked out well for me. And he was clearly getting a kick out of my interest as I actually asked questions about certain objects and, depending on what they were, would either tell me the story behind how he got them or why he chose to include them in his home.

"-after that I decided I didn\'t ever need to go to Holland again," Pegasus said with an amused shake of his head, turning away from the painting that depicted a field of tulips with a single red balloon floating in the sky. I chuckled out loud, allowing myself to forget for a moment that Pegasus wasn\'t yet redeemed and he was still a rather villainous man willing to torture people and steal their souls.

"You ever thing about doing hosting a TV show?" I asked as we made our way out of that guest bedroom and the painting that had inspired that last tale. "Maybe something about history? You have a good voice for narrating."

"I do?" Pegasus said, pressing his hand to his chest before considering my compliment. "Hmmm... I suppose I do."

"Right blend of deepness and smoothness, but it isn\'t dry and boring either. You know when to be serious and when to tell a joke. I could see you hosting a program about little known historical events."

"I do so enjoy studying the ancient world."

"Perhaps each week you could present a single Duel Monster card and then spend the episode explaining the myths, legends, and histories that inspired it."

Pegasus ran a finger along his chin, clearly taking to my idea. "That... is a rather interesting idea. And one with merit." He shot a side glance at me. "And this would have nothing to do with your uncle owning a TV station?"

"Nope," I admitted as honestly I kept forgetting what my uncle did for a living. "Sure, I could put you in touch but if you want to start your own network go ahead. Or you could do it online... get them Youtube moneys."

He let out a quick, sharp laugh at that, more of a \'heh\' than anything, before turning a corner and walking towards an elevator. "Something to consider. And you discussing Duel Monster cards has reminded me... I\'d like to show you something special. Something you\'ll be wanting to see to help with your case."

"Where you made the God Cards?" I asked. But rather than pressing up Pegasus hit the Down button.

"No... where they were originally stored, before I began to truly fear their power." The doors to the elevator slid shut and we began to descend. "Have you actually been around the God Cards."

"I haven\'t," I said. "But I\'ve been told they are... something."

"They are," Pegasus stated. "And not just the power they bring should someone actually use them in a duel. They... it sounds mad, I must admit-"

"Trust me, it won\'t to me," I said, cutting him off. "I\'ve seen things you people wouldn\'t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannh?user Gate." When Pegasus merely raised an eyebrow I said, "Blade Runner?"

"I\'m more of a fan of Roget Rabbit myself."

I shrugged in acceptance of that.

"The God Cards," he began again, "they are... hungry. Yes. Yes I do believe that is the right word for them. They hunger. For battle. For conflict."

"To make themselves be known," I stated. "To be remembered."

"Yes. Yes that is exactly it!" Pegasus said excitedly, clearly pleased to finally have the sensation put into words. "How did you-"

"Isn\'t that what we all want?" I asked. "During our lives for others to look at us and see us and know us.? And when we finally shut our eyes and find out what lies beyond these flesh forms to know that we won\'t be forgotten?" I let out a dark amused huff, deciding that considering the gods that were running around this world I didn\'t feel bad getting in a dig; besides, they weren\'t my God. "I have that desire. It\'s why I save people... why I saved Mokuba. When I finally die if there are gods waiting for me, be they the ones of Greece or Egypt or whatever... I want to be able to walk right up to them... and tell those barstools that I did more good on this world than they ever did before I spit in their faces."

~MC~MC~MC~

Somewhere Selene, goddess of the moon, sneezed.

~MC~MC~MC~

"A lofty goal," Pegasus commented.

"Have you seen how little they care for this world? Not that lofty at all." The elevator came to a stop and I said in a softer voice, "For it is better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven, huh?"

"Hmmm?"

"Paradise Lost. Milton. Never read but something that-"

The doors swung open.

"-stays... with... you..." I trailed off as I gazed at just what Pegasus kept hidden in his basement.

This wasn\'t the dungeons where he had kept Mokuba nor was it the ritual room that Tea, Tristan, and Bakura had seen in that bit of strange First Season Weirdness (and thinking about that caused the soundtrack to briefly play \'Hooked On A Feeling\', thanks LittleKuriboh). No, this was something far different. And special. For Pegasus had taken me down to a short hallway and a massive security door... and both my Millennium Key and my deck felt like they were vibrating at the very sight of that massive metal barrier that sat before me.

I had no idea what was behind the damn thing but the sight of so much steel was alone enough to make me stop talking.

\'Somewhere Mai and Joey are either laughing or in utter shock and don\'t know why,\' I thought to myself as I slowly followed after Pegasus.

He made his way to a keypad and typed in a code. "Not only does the code have to be put in properly but it scans my fingerprints each time I press a button," he stated.

"Clever."

"Indeed." There was a whirling of gears and a motor and the door split and slid open to reveal a second smaller door, this one with heavy metal bars across it. We had to enter what might have been a small room but was more like an alcove between the two doors, where another panel was placed. Pegasus walked up to it and held his head towards an optical reader. "Maximillion Pegasus." Another moment, a beep, and the bars began to shift down into the floor. "Scans my eye as I am speaking. If I blink it will automatically stop the unlocking sequence and force me to repeat the entire process."

"Very smart."

"You don\'t think I\'m paranoid, do you Eddy-Boy?"

"Not at all," I replied. "Not paranoid if they\'re actually out to get ya."

Pegasus merely quirked an eyebrow at that before moving to another panel, this one on the opposite side of the door. It had the outline of a right hand on it and Pegasus lifted his up, before turning towards me and placing his left hand on the censor. There was a brief moment of scanning before it changed to green and allowed him to do his right hand. "A little failsafe, just in case."

I nodded in approval, looking around the alcove. "So what do you have rigged up if someone managed to get through the first door?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Please. You wouldn\'t let them have multiple chances to get in if they got it wrong. So what did you set up."

"A moment," Pegasus said, pulling his right hand away; that scan had been far longer. "Ah, good." The second door began to open and as it did so Pegasus walked over to a spot on the wall where it appeared that a small screw had fallen out, leaving a tiny little hole. "Had I gone too slow in any of the clearances... or too fast as well... this and several other holes would have begun releasing an odorless, tasteless gas while the doors behind us slammed shut. Oh, don\'t worry, its completely harmless. Just puts you to sleep. I had Croquet test it first and after that I allowed myself to be gassed."

"Yourself?" I said in surprise.

"Of course! What if I was kidnapped? Wouldn\'t do if my fabulous person was injured trying to stop some thieves. I found it rather enjoyable... like drifting to sleep in a warm bath. And when I awoke I was rather refreshed. Ah." He turned towards the door as it finally finished opening, revealing the contents within. "Welcome, Edwin, to my card collection."

I let out a sharp quick whistle at the sight. The room was the size of a grocery store and not one of those mom and pop places. No, one where you could get your tires rotated and had a Subway inside next to an eye doctor. There were steel pallet racks throughout it with crates all lined up, nice and quiet like good little soldiers. I wasn\'t surprised at all that the soundtrack began to play for me the same music that came on the screen when the Ark of the Convenant was boxed up by \'top men\'. This had that exact feel.

Only it wasn\'t a relic of God that was held here, but cards.

\'Then again... considering this is Yu-Gi-Oh... maybe these are relics of the gods,\' I thought to myself as I followed Pegasus through the underground storage warehouse.

"The original copies of every duel monster card ever created are down here," Pegasus said. "Along with several first run duplicates. What the public knows as \'First Edition\' cards are more like 6th or 7th."

"Impressive," I stated. "And the God Cards... they reacted to being down here."

"They did. In a normal deck I found they don\'t do much, unless certain rarer cards are near them. But being down here... it caused a... reaction in them. Nearly as bad-"

"As when you attempted to have them created by your staff?" I asked. Pegasus glanced at me and I shrugged as we came to a stop in front of one set of crates. "Again, insider knowledge." \'Called \'I watched that part of the anime\'.\'

"Yes," Pegasus said, clearly unnerved not just by what I knew about the God Cards but that I was making him clearly remember events he had no desire to go over again. "Not as bad as that but still concerning. I ended up having to paint the cards myself."

"...because of the Millennium Eye," I finished.

"That," Pegasus said with a small smile, "and by removing everything connected to duel monsters within a mile radius of my studio." His smile fell. "Still, the dreams I had as I finished them... and the warning I received of their power... it all frightened me greatly. Still, I attempted to control them but I was deemed unworthy. Worst, trying to include them in my deck... it caused changes." Pegasus motioned for me to follow and he led me to a new section of the warehouse, this one far more hi-tech. The entire wall was enclosed in glass and lined with shelves and there was a computer sitting in front of it, waiting for a command. Pegasus sat down and began to type away at the keys. "Now, if you were hoping to learn what kind of deck I plan to use for this tournament I\'m afraid you are in for a disappointment. I am willing to work with you in order to return the God Cards to where they belong but that doesn\'t mean I am willing to lose."

"Of course. Take any advantage you can and don\'t give up a single one."

"Quite right." I looked over his shoulder and saw he had pulled up a directory of cards. "This system allows me to access the rarest cards in my collection, ones that haven\'t been released to the public yet."

"That... is a lot of cards," I muttered to myself.

"Oh yes. I have large plans for this game, Eddy-Boy. Large plans. And my mind seems to whirl with new inspirations for cards every day. But a fool would flood the market with all that is contained in here... I think it rather better to take it nice and slow. Release it at a trickle. My hope is that a decade after my passing Pegasus-Created cards are still being released to wide-eyed children all throughout the world. For example..." he typed in a few commands and I watched as the shelving units began to slide and shift, card boxes appearing and disappearing. I did my best though to hide my utter shock at what I was seeing.

Lair of Darkness. Zombie Horde. Onslaught of the Fire Kings.

\'Structure Decks. Every single fucking structure deck!\'

And not just the ones from my world (for other than the Industrial Illusions logo replacing the Konami Logo they were all as I remembered). I briefly saw ones fly by that had the Dark Magician, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and Harpie Lady on them. Pegasus had complete decks for every single archtype in the game... including archtypes that didn\'t even exist in the time of Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba!

"Impressive, is it not?"

"Very," I whispered in awe.

"This system even allows me to send out cards to select duelists... sometimes I like to find a duelist that suffered a tragic lose in a close match but gave it their all and send them a rare card. Just something to push them to reach for the next level. Ah, here we are." The shelves finally stopped cycling and I saw that Pegasus had brought up Illusionist Faceless Magician. Not the mage that he\'d used against Yugi in the second episode but rather the retrained version for the Duelist Pack that had been released a few months back in my world. "Originally I planned to use this card in my deck but after it came in contact with the God Cards... I can\'t describe it but I now feel a tremor of dread even with it locked behind that glass. It is getting better... now I can stand to look at it for an extended period of time... but still there is the fear that comes when gazing upon it." He hit a button and the shelves began to return to normal. "That is the power of the threat we face."

"Made all the more worrisome that Marik Ishtar isn\'t the most stable of people to begin with," I stated as Pegasus began to lead me out of the secure room. "His father did a number on him and now we\'re going to pay for it."

"Yes, it is odd how the sins of the past can come back not just upon those that caused them but also so many innocents."

I decided to not say a word about Cecelia.

~MC~MC~MC~

Bandit Keith smirked as he made his way towards Pegasus\' castle, looking down at his ten Star Chips that adorned the bracelet on his wrist. \'Soon you are going to pay for embarrassing me like you did. I\'m going to crush you like you did me... only you won\'t rise back up like I did. No... when I ruin someone I make sure it sticks! That was your mistake, Pegasus... you left me with a chance. I won\'t do the same with you.\'

He had debated rushing right into the castle the moment he\'d spotted it from the distance but in the end decided that it was better to get some shut eye and be well rested for his match against the white-haired creep. Pegasus would have only seen him with bags under his eyes as yet another thing to taunt and he wasn\'t in the mood to hear that man\'s laughter. What he wanted to hear was his own delight when he defeated Pegasus at his own game.

So instead he\'d set up camp within range of Pegasus\' castle, on a hill that had nearly a completely unobstructed view of all the land around him; only one smaller hill near what the map labeled as some docks was obscured but there wasn\'t even a dueling platform there so he hadn\'t been worried. No, Keith had been able to lie out among the stars, eating a nice supper (\'borrowed\' from Bonz and his crew) and going over his deck one more time before heading to bed. Plus... he wanted to make sure his... aids... were in proper working order.

Had another duelist tried to sneak past him he\'d have known it. But no one had and he\'d woken up refreshed and ready to get his revenge.

"Ten am... plenty of time," he muttered to himself. He had debated waiting a bit longer, see if he could figure out who his competition might be, but after that Yugi Moto kid had let slip that Seto Friggin\' Kaiba was on the island he\'d decided that it was all the wiser to just get to the castle and secure his spot in the finals.

Finally arriving at the door Keith held up his dueling glove for the attendant to see. "10 Star Chips."

"Congrats, sir. With those you have earned the right to enter the castle. You are the second to arrive."

"Yeah yeah, I know it\'s impressive- hold up! Second?!" Keith whipped off his sunglasses and glared at the collected suit-wearing man. "What do you mean second?!? I got here first."

"First today, sir. But another duelist made it here the night before."

"And who the heck managed to sneak in?" Keith fumed, outraged that someone had done the unthinkable and actually beaten him to the punch. But as soon as he thought that he dismissed that thought, realizing all at once what was really going on. "This is some trick of Pegasus\' isn\'t it? Yet another mind game he\'s trying to play?"

"No sir. Another duelist did beat you."

"Yeah right!" Keith scoffed. "Who made it in before me, Bandit Keith?"

"Me," another man said within the castle, stepping out and leveling Keith with a cool stare. "I don\'t take kindly to being called a \'trick\'." He paused, suddenly bemused. "Though they do say my greatest trick was making everyone think I wasn\'t real."

"And who the heck are you?" Keith demanded. The man was younger than him but still older than nearly all the other duelists on the island. Blond hair, round face, cold gray-blue eyes behind a pair of wire specs, dressed rather nicely in a suit minus the tie... and a dueling glove on his hand with 10 Star Chips on full display. If this was a trick then Keith really didn\'t understand what Pegasus was playing at.

"Edwin Chaos," the other man said. His accent was mid-western, utterly neutral. The \'Hollywood\' accent as Keith had always heard it called, because it was one of the easiest ones to understand. "And I made it here before sundown last night. Had a nice dinner with Pegasus and everything."

\'He must have snuck in when I wasn\'t looking... but how! And who is this guy? I\'ve heard of every major player in the Dueling world but I\'ve never heard of Edwin Ch- wait a minute.\' Keith shot Edwin a look. "You related to Kipling Chaos?"

"My uncle. You know him?"

"Of him. He got drummed out of a tournament I played in a year back. I took on the kid that beat him... not that much so I made quick work of him." Keith buffed his nails against his shirt.

"Good thing I didn\'t inherit my dueling skills from him then, I guess," Edwin stated before letting out a laugh. "Okay, we\'ve postured and proven we are bad mamajamas and able to trash talk. Want to look around and grab something to eat before we see who else is joining us?"

Keith blinked, startled by the other man\'s complete 180 before quickly getting control of himself. He didn\'t know what game Edwin Chaos was playing but he could dance to the tune a bit and see what was up. "Sure thing. Though I\'m surprised you want to be so casual." He held out his hand for a shake and Edwin grinned before going not for a handshake but a warrior\'s forearm grasp. "After all, we are going to be facing each other pretty soon."

"Pretty soon. Not right now. Until then no reason we can\'t be friendly."

\'Yeah... and it might help me figure out what you are running and how to beat it!\' Keith thought to himself as Edwin lead him to the dining room for a late private lunch; Pegasus wouldn\'t be joining them. In fact, according to Edwin, he\'d only seen Pegasus briefly but otherwise their host was waiting until the other two finalists showed up before actually honoring them with his presence. Which, in Keith\'s opinion, sounded just like the pale jerk.

"So, who\'d you face to get here?" Edwin asked as he speared some noodles with his fork; they were having a beef dish that Keith didn\'t mind at all though it could have used more spice and kick.

"Just some nobodies," Keith said with a shrug with was technically true... Bonz and his minions were technically nobody to him but stepping stones. "Spent most of my time actually trying to find people. Pegasus really didn\'t think ahead when he decided to have a tournament on a massive island." He scoffed. "Of course that his Pegasus to a T."

"Not a fan?"

"Me and him have... history."

"That\'s the lead up to a story."

"One I\'m not in the mood to share at the moment."

"Fair enough," Edwin said, holding out his hands to demonstrate that he wasn\'t going to push on that matter.

"What about you? Who did you face?" Keith asked.

"Weevil Underwood," the other man said with a shrug. "And Mako Tsunami. Nearly dueled some guy named Alto but he got challenged by Mai Valentine."

"Underwood, huh?" Keith said, arching an eyebrow. "He\'s a good duelist." \'And a better cheat,\' he mentally added. \'Nearly as good as me, all things considered. Nearly though. Still, if this guy took him down that matters. Moreso that he ain\'t bragging about it. Most other duelists would be all puffed up about taking on Weevil but this guy mentions it like he would a good sandwich he ate for lunch.\' Out loud Keith pondered, "How\'d you manage to take out Underwood? He\'s a tough nut to crack."

"Yes and no," Edwin said with a shrug, finishing off the rest of his lunch. "He has all sorts of schemes and strategies that he uses and those can be a real pickle... but if all the cards he needs to pull off those strategies are in the graveyard..." He trailed off, flashing a slight smile but refused to say anything else.

As Keith followed Edwin for a true tour of the castle (as he\'d warned Keith that it was boring to have one of the servants do it and frankly Keith didn\'t trust anyone on Pegasus\' payroll to show him around properly) his mind raised as he considered just what Edwin had revealed to him about his strategy.

\'Deck out. The guy runs a Deck Out deck!\' He quickly began to consider the ways to counter that. \'I can add more cards to my deck but that has risks too as it means that I\'ll have a hard time getting the cards I actually need.\' His fingers twitched as he considered the cards he always kept hidden in his wrist band... they\'d never failed him before but if Edwin was running a Deck Out strategy would he have enough cards to last? \'I\'ll need to think this out if I end up facing this grinning idiot... if he is my opponent I might need to rework my entire deck!\'

For a couple hours the two of them aimlessly roamed around Pegasus\' castle, Keith barely paying attention as he puzzled out how exactly he\'d beat Edwin and then take on Pegasus. He\'d assumed that destroying the competition would be a breeze and that he\'d only need to focus on dealing with his nemesis but now he wasn\'t so sure. It was only when they got to one of the ramparts that they noticed that they weren\'t the only duelists to have arrived at Pegasus\' castle.

"Heh, those dweebs managed to get out of caves after all," Keith muttered as he looked down at Wheeler and his little buddies as they gathered on the top of a tower, which connected to another via a bridge-like battlement. And standing there on the annex roof, facing them was- "Seto Kaiba!?!"

"Well, things just got interesting," Edwin said, looking down at the battle while keeping his distance from the actual edge of the rampart they were standing on.

Keith though barely heard him, his mind racing at this new development. \'Kaiba is part of this tournament? I thought that jerk was out of commission, licking his wounds after Yugi Moto defeated him!\' He would normally have found the entire thing entertaining, a chance to see the rematch of the century, but with Chaos putting doubts into his head now Keith could only think of the ramifications. Seto Kaiba in the tournament and it looked like he was going to be in the finals. And Edwin Chaos using a deck strategy he wasn\'t used to facing...

Keith smiled all the same.

\'It doesn\'t matter... I\'ll win no matter what!\'

~MC~MC~MC~

Watching Yugi and Kaiba\'s duel was rather interesting.

It was certainly more impressive than it had been in the anime, what with the monsters being fully fleshed out. It was one thing to see the Ultimate Dragon appear on a screen... another to have it looming before me, so tall it could have looked me right in the eye despite me hanging out high above the duel.

But as each of the rivals made their moves I couldn\'t help but notice that things were falling into place roughly as I remembered. While it had been a while since I\'d watched that episode I was willing to bet that Yugi and Seto were making the exact same moves as they had in the anime.

\'So odd how fate and destiny work,\' I thought to myself as Yugi fused the Mammoth Graveyard with the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, causing the beast to begin to rot. The anime had certainly made it look rather disgusting but in this world it was even more horrifying; Seto\'s Duel Disc system certainly was going for realism considering I could see muscles and bones being reduced to dripping puddles. \'I\'ve managed to change so much, affect so many things. Mokuba is now safe. Mai and Joey most likely will never become a thing. Yet as much as I change destiny seems determined to get things back on track. These guys should be having a completely different duel thanks to me altering probability just standing here... yet they have the exact same duel, just like Joey and Rex did. And Yugi nearly drew the exact same cards against PaniK. So am I really altering reality or is it just when I am directly involved?\'

Knowing the outcome of the duel I didn\'t react at all when Seto decided to risk his life and stand on the edge of the tower.

\'Then again... Renard was never seen in the anime and now he\'s met Yugi and his friends. Mokuba is with him right now and the cops are going to get involved with Pegasus. Is the Butterfly Effect wrong and little actions cause massive changes? Does the universe try and reset itself when things shift out of the way they were set? Or have I managed to not do enough damage to truly affect this world?\' I mentally scoffed. \'Leave it to me to get philosophical during one of the most important duels in the series!\'

The problem was that I had seen this duel and knew the outcome. Yes, it was interesting to see it live and in person but I knew the ending. And I\'d seen it several times. It would be like having watching \'Wicked\' on dvd and then getting tickets to the play. Yeah, there is excitement... but unless you are an utter die hard who marvels over the technical aspects then it\'s a touch of a letdown. That was exactly what I was dealing with.

\'Or,\' I thought, \'it\'s because you are antsy to get things moving to the next event.\'

Finally though Kaiba won and left Yugi in utter despair, thinking he had failed his Grandpa and no longer able to trust the Pharaoh. I wanted to run down and tell him that it was alright, that I had already freed his Grandpa\'s soul, but I wasn\'t able to what with needing to keep an eye on Bandit Keith.

"Heh, so much for short stuff being in the tournament!" Keith said with a laugh. "Now then, let\'s go see what\'s up with Kaiba-"

"Hold on," I said, nodding toward where Yugi and his friends were being led out. "Let\'s go see what happens next."

"What next? The squirt lost!"

"But the blond down there-"

"Wheeler, Joey Wheeler."

"Right. Yugi\'s friend still has 10 Star Chips. That could make things interesting."

Keith paused at that before laughing. "Hey, you\'re right! Maybe the two dweebs will begin dueling each other!" I could tell Keith wanted to see Yugi and Joey tear themselves apart, because of course in his mind friendship was a lie and when the chips were down people would rip into one another. So down we went, able to quietly watch the duel between Tea and Mai. Keith got a kick out of mocking Tea and scoffed in disgust when Mai purposely threw the match in order to give Yugi the Star Chips he needed. I honestly didn\'t pay attention all that much to what he said as I was too busy making sure that Joey, Yugi, and Mai all entered the castle before we finally made our way to the main hall.

That and wondering how Tea had gone from kicking Joey\'s ass in the game to barely knowing how to play. Someone needed to teach her how to duel again.

\'One project at a time.\'

Kemo was waiting, Joey talking a bit of smack and Kemo was trying to keep Tea, Bakura, and Tristan out when I decided it was time to be my asshole self.

"We\'re the cheerleaders!" Tea declared with a sweet smile, hands clasped together.

"Ch-cheerleaders?"

"Come now, Sally, you know what cheerleaders are," I called out as I sauntered over, Keith hanging back a bit to watch the show. "They\'re the ones that refused to date you in high school so you ended up spending all your time hiding in the bathroom eating melted ice cream and polishing your ruler."

"You!"

"Me!" I said with a happy squeak. "I didn\'t see ya last night, Kemo! I looked for you at dinner!" I walked by him, giving him a pat on the cheek. "I was worried I\'d find you in my bedroom, keeping the sheets warm. Sorry but I\'m afraid I have no interest in being bunk mates with you."

Mai wrapped her arm around mine. "Yes... I can think of other people Edwin here would want to snuggle up with."

Keith\'s jaw dropped and I blushed, rubbing the back of my head as I suddenly remembered that double entendre shouldn\'t be used when Mai was within earshot.

"Look!" I suddenly yelled, point back the way we came. "An innocent child just asking to be manhandled in a suggestive way!"

"What?" Kemo said, looking at where I was pointing... just in time for the rest of us to hurry inside and slam the door in his face.

"Got to say, bud, you have a way of livening things up," Keith said with a laugh.

Joey, suddenly realizing who was with us, whipped around and glared at Keith. "You! What are you doing here?!?"

"Same as you, Wheeler... competing in the tournament! Though I think your numbers are off..." I subtly shifted to slow Keith down while Mai, seeing the nod I gave her, detached herself from me and began to pull on Joey\'s arm, dragging him forward. "...because I don\'t think you or your little friend Yugi are going to make the cut! There are only 4 spots in the tournament... and 6 of us!"

"That is correct, Bandit Keith!" Pegasus declared, forgoing the fanfare entrance as Mai, Joey, and Yugi entered the Main Hall. Seto was pacing the floor in frustration, clearly forced to cool his heels while waiting for the rest of us to show up. "Though, as with many things in your life, you manage to be wrong all the same. First and foremost there are 5 spots in the finals. Edwin here already claimed the first slot last night."

"You did?" Tea said in surprise before realizing what she\'d said. "Uh, I mean... of course you did. I didn\'t...that is..."

"It\'s fine, Tea," I told her gently before looking towards Pegasus.

"Next was Kaiba-Boy," Seto grit his teeth at that nickname, "Mai Valentine," Mai smirked, "Joey Wheeler," Joey chuckled and beamed, "and finally Little Yugi." Yugi gave a determined nod, though he was still a bit out of it thanks to his falling out with the Pharaoh. "You on the other hand Bandit Keith... well, the music has stopped, all the chairs are filled, and you are OUT."

"What?!" Keith roared, jabbing his finger at Pegasus. "What are you on about? I got here this morning before any of these punk kids arrived!"

"But if you had read the official Duelist Kingdom rules you\'d know that only the first five people that entered the Main Hall would become finalists. You were here at the castle but... well... you got distracted."

Keith turned towards me, sunglasses flashing as his face screwed up in rage. "You! You tricked me."

"Never trust the devil, Keith. Everyone knows that." I gave him a \'what ya gonna do\' shrug. "Come on, I was way too friendly. Way to nice. And its not my fault you didn\'t read the rules."

"Then again," Pegasus said, cutting in, "rules and Bandit Keith have never gone together, have they? But I\'m afraid you won\'t be cheating your way into my finals. Guards?"

"No... no!" Keith roared, leaping over the suits Pegasus sent at him and jabbing his finger in Pegasus\' face. "You are going to give me that prize money and declare me the winner! You stole my championship and I won\'t let you do it again!"

Pegasus though showed not the slightest concern as he stood there with Keith, admittedly, merely jabbing his finger into his temple. He merely smiled casually, eyes shutting as he let out a weary sigh much like a parent might let issue forth when an unruly child refused to listen to them yet again and now found themselves racing towards disaster.

"The sea may rage all it wishes but it will never be able to make the mountain bow. And speaking of the sea-" Pegasus tapped his foot twice and we were all treated to the sight of Keith comically hanging in the air for a second before plunging through the trap hole that had just opened up under him, his scream trailing off into silence as he was physically shunted from the castle and into the ocean far below.

"Do you have those things hidden all over the place?" I asked casually as I leaned forward a touch to get a good look.

"One can never be too careful when it comes to protecting one\'s home." Pegasus cleared his throat to get all our attention before holding out his arms wide. "And with that unpleasantness out of the way allow me to welcome you all to the Duelist Kingdom finals! I have been very impressed with your dueling skills but now you will face your greatest test of all, battling against each other in order to determine who has earned the right to face me, the creator of this delightful game, in a match to determine who is the true King of Games."

"Hold on there for a moment," Joey complained, holding up his hand as he ticked off his fingers. "Yug, Kaiba, Mai, Ed, me... carry the one... subtract five-"

"We might be here for a while," Mai whispered and I snorted back a laugh; even Pegasus smirked at that and Kaiba nearly cracked a smile.

"-how are we supposed ta have a tournament with five people!? It just don\'t add up!"

"That actually is a good point," Yugi said.

Pegasus let out a long suffering sigh. "I see none of you decided to real the rule book?"

"I did," I pointed out, raising my hand.

Pegasus ignored me. "You, Joseph, along with Little Yugi, Mai, and Kaiba-Boy, are the 4 finalists that will compete in a sudden elimination bracket tournament to determine who will face me. But Edwin, by being the first duelist to claim 10 Star Chips and arrive at my castle, has earned the right to skip the tournament and has thus earned both the Glory of the King\'s Hand and Glory of the King\'s Other Hand."

"What... what does that mean?" Bakura asked ever as the others stared at me in shock.

"It means Edwin just won $3 million bucks!!!" Joey declared.

"And can face Pegasus in a duel!"

"Indeed it does!" Pegasus declared. "And should he defeat me he will take my place as your final challenge."

Kaiba stepped forward. "I don\'t have time to watch you duel that jabbering fool!"

"Is he talking about you or me?" I asked Pegasus who gave a shrug, not quite for sure himself who Seto was insulting.

Kaiba jabbed his finger at Pegasus. "I came here to duel you, Pegasus! I beat Yugi and now it is time for you and I to settle things once and for all!"

But the creator of Duel Monsters merely tilted his head in confusion. "I\'m sorry, Kaiba-Boy, but when exactly did I agree to duel you when you beat Yugi? I don\'t remember those words ever leaving my mouth. I know I am older than you, dear boy, but I haven\'t reached the age where I begin to suffer from memory loss." He shook his head, sighing sadly with all the sincerity of a viper. "No... I\'m afraid that you will have to defeat two of the three other finalists if you wish to finally face me and lose. Now it is about Edwin and I finally having our duel-"

"About that," I said, stepping forward so I was in the center of the mob of duelists and spectators. "Kaiba... you want to face Pegasus. We all know that. And you-" I looked towards the holder of the Millennium Eye, "-don\'t deny that for all your love of making him jump through hoops... the idea that you\'ll only be able to face either Seto or Yugi and not get a crack at both of them... that bothers you, doesn\'t it?" I took a step towards Pegasus. "I can see it in your eyes... you want to face Yugi. Need to. Just like you want nothing more than to take on Kaiba. Beating one will be fun... but both? Oh... that is a prize that is oh so sweet."

I could see it in his remaining eye... the flicker. The flashing gleam. I had him.

"So boys..." I said as \'Friends on the Other Side\' began to play, "let\'s make a deal with the devil."