Chapter 161: The Father of Duel Monsters—Pegasus J. Crawford
The next day. Inside the Duel Arena of the Duelist Kingdom castle.
Taking a deep breath, Yugi held his finally perfected Deck in hand, pushed open the door to the Duelist Prep Room, and stepped into the corridor leading to the Duel Arena. Turning to his right, Hayato also left his Duelist Prep Room at the same time, holding his Deck. The two exchanged glances, nodded at each other, and walked forward in silence.
At the end of the corridor was a Duel Arena that Hayato had used once before. He had faced the Labyrinth Brothers there simultaneously. Thinking about it, perhaps Pegasus had already anticipated that two Duel Kings would ultimately stand before him.
Surrounding the Duel Arena were the filled Audience Seating, occupied by people from all walks of life invited by Pegasus. Pegasus seemed to be planning to leverage the prestige of this Duelist Kingdom tournament to elevate the status of Industrial Illusions in one fell swoop, and also to satisfy the Big Five's condition of a "public Duel."
Joey, Téa, Tristan, Bakura, Sheppard, Mai Valentine — Hayato quickly spotted them in the Audience Seating. Seeing the appearance of Yugi and Hayato, they excitedly wanted to rise and cheer, but due to the Industrial Illusions staff maintaining order around them, they ultimately just waved their hands.
Hayato also found some familiar faces—
The runner-up of the Japan National Qualifiers, "Dinosaur" Rex, and the shirtless third place "Fisherman" Mako. It seemed that, apart from Weevil, these two hadn't been eliminated from Duelist Kingdom; they just hadn't managed to compete for the Top 8;
Uncle Anasas, whom Hayato had Dueled once when collecting Star Chips, and who had even sold his information to Sheppard;
Ptah Garlem, who had angrily left the castle after being eliminated a few days prior and was now glaring disapprovingly at Sheppard and Joey sitting in front of him. Hayato guessed he might have been forced by his family to come and watch the Duel?
Hayato even saw a guy who looked very similar to Chazz Princeton, though only slightly older than him. He was likely Slade Princeton, the eldest of the three Princeton brothers.
Hayato withdrew his gaze from the Audience Seating and looked at Yugi beside him—or rather, Yami Yugi. The moment they stepped out of the corridor, Hayato could sense a change in the aura of the person next to him.
After nodding in response to Joey and the others in the Audience Seating, Yami Yugi looked sternly at Pegasus, who had already ascended the Duel Arena: "Pegasus, your days of running rampant with the Millennium Eye are over. Hand over Kaiba, Mokuba, and Grandpa's soul!"
"If you desire them, you must become the winner of this Duel. You know the Rules," Pegasus said with a smile, raising a hand behind him. Croquet dutifully came forward, holding a tray on which Pegasus's Deck was placed.
Hayato turned his head and said, "I knew he'd say that." Then he stepped forward, ascending the Duel Arena on the right side, while Yugi ascended the one on the left.
Seeing them both ready, Pegasus picked up the Deck from the tray and placed it on the Duel Arena in front of him, saying in an operatic tone, "To come before me to rescue important people, Hayato-boy, Yugi-boy, your resolve truly moves me! You must have Dueled countless times to get this far, no?"
"Who knows? No matter the situation, I always solve it with a Duel," Hayato quipped, placing his Deck on the Duel Arena after Pegasus.
Yugi set his Deck down and looked at Pegasus gravely, saying, "It's time to end this, Pegasus! Once and for all!"
"Duel!" x2
"Duel~"
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Yugi: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Pegasus: 8000 LP, Hand 5]
"My Turn, Draw." Perhaps considering the large audience present, Pegasus unusually spoke in full English for once, though his pronunciation was as strange as ever, making one suspect he was merely a Japanese man pretending to be American.
The order of this Duel was "Pegasus → Yugi → Pegasus → Hayato." Until Hayato's Turn ended, none of the three parties could enter the Battle Phase; Battle could only begin on the fifth Turn, which was Pegasus's third Turn. As compensation for the 1 vs. 2 Duel, Pegasus's Life Points were doubled to 8000.
"First, me activate this Spell Card, *Toon Table of Contents*." An open book appeared on Pegasus's Field, and seven-colored, rainbow-like letters flew out from its displayed pages. "From my Deck, me add one Toon Card to my Hand."
"To face two 'Duel Kings' like you, even me must be serious, you know~" Pegasus winked playfully. Without even needing to flip through, he directly drew a Card from the top of his Deck. "The Card me add to my Hand is this *Toon World*."
Ignoring Hayato's "You didn't even shuffle your Deck, did you?" grumble, Pegasus revealed the Card and immediately activated it on the Field: "Me Set one Card, then me activate the *Toon World* me just added to my Hand."
"Is that the card that transforms *Blue-Eyes White Dragon* into the unsightly *Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon*?" Yugi watched with a grim expression as the book appeared in Pegasus's Back Row. The book opened, and from it rose a city submerged in darkness. That was the core of the Toon Deck, *Toon World*.
"Fairy tales are quite expensive fantasies, and to maintain *Toon World*, me must Pay 500 Life Points each Turn after this." Pegasus smiled. "Since me cannot enter the Battle Phase, me Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position, then End Turn."
[Pegasus: 8000 LP, Hand 3]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Card] [*Toon World*]
"My Turn, Draw." Yugi drew a card; it was *Dark Magician Girl*. In his Hand, he had already drawn *Cost Down*, a card perfectly suited for *Dark Magician Girl*. Theoretically, he could Summon *Dark Magician Girl* this Turn.
However, before the Duel, Hayato had reminded him that Pegasus was a Minotaur Enthusiast and very skilled at "minotauring" (stealing) other people's Monsters. Although Yugi didn't know what Hayato meant by "minotauring" in that context, he remembered one thing: he absolutely had to be careful that Pegasus didn't take his Monsters.
Since he couldn't enter the Battle Phase, Summoning a powerful Monster too early would only increase the risk. In that case...
"I Set two Cards, then Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position." Yugi set three cards in total and looked at Pegasus. "My Turn ends here."
"Tsk tsk tsk, Yugi-boy, that won't do~" Pegasus said with a disappointed look. "You had the aura of wanting to grind me to dust just now, but in the end, you're just turtling up, eh?"
"Hmph, say whatever you like," Yami Yugi didn't pay much attention to Pegasus's rhetoric. Instead, he lowered his gaze to the Set Cards on the Field, thinking, 'Will that Pegasus guy see through my Set Cards?'
[Yugi: 4000 LP, Hand 3]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Card] [Set Card]
Looks like Gilgamesh said:
1. Both have white hair.
2. Both were defeated by a guy who changes styles.
3. Both were beaten by a brute who sought power.
4. Both can speak Japanese and English.
5. Both love reading.
6. Both were schemed against by a bald man.
Summary:
I watched Saber today and cried, what a good story.
(end of chapter)