Chapter 161: The Father of Duel Monsters - Pegasus J. Crawford
The next day. The Duel Arena inside Duelist Kingdom Castle.
Taking a deep breath, Yugi held the finally tuned Deck in his hand and pushed open the door to the Player Waiting Room, walking into the Corridor leading to the Arena. Turning his head to the right, Hayato also left the waiting 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 Platform that Hayato had used once before. He had faced the Paradox Brothers simultaneously on it. Thinking back, perhaps Pegasus had already anticipated that there would be two Duel Kings ultimately standing before him.
Surrounding the Duel Platform was the Spectator Area, already filled with people from all walks of life invited by Pegasus. Pegasus seemed to be planning to use the momentum of this Duelist Kingdom Tournament to instantly elevate the status of Industrial Illusions, and also to satisfy the condition of "public Duels" proposed by The Big Five.
Joey Wheeler, Téa, Tristan, Bakura, Samejima, Kujaku Mai—Hayato quickly found their figures in the Spectator Area. Seeing Yugi and Hayato appear, they excitedly wanted to stand up and cheer, but constrained by the Industrial Illusions Staff maintaining order around them, they ultimately just waved their hands.
Hayato also spotted some familiar faces—
Rex the "Dinosaur," the Runner-up of the Japan National Selection Tournament, and Mako Tsunami the "Fisherman," the third-place winner with his bare chest. It seemed that besides Weevil, these two hadn't been eliminated and kicked out of Duelist Kingdom, they just hadn't managed to compete into the Top 8;
Uncle Anasis, whom he had Dueled once while gathering Star Chips and who had even sold his Information to Samejima;
Ptah Gallum, who had left the Castle in a huff after being eliminated a few days ago, looking displeased as he watched Samejima and Joey Wheeler sitting in front of him. Hayato guessed maybe he was forced by his family to come watch the Duel?
Hayato even saw a guy who looked very much like Manjoume Shouji, except he was only slightly older. He should be the eldest of the Manjoume Brothers.
Hayato withdrew his gaze from the Spectator Area and looked at Yugi beside him—or rather, the Pharaoh. The moment they stepped out of the Corridor, Hayato could sense the change in the Aura of the person beside him.
After nodding in response to Joey Wheeler and the others in the Spectator Area, the Pharaoh looked sternly at Pegasus, who had already ascended the Duel Platform: "Pegasus, your days of acting recklessly with the Millennium Eye are over. Hand over Kaiba, Keipei, and Ji-chan's Souls!"
"If you want them, you must become the winner of the Duel, you know the Rules," Pegasus said with a smile, raising a hand behind him. The Old Butler respectfully presented a tray, and on the tray lay the Deck Pegasus used.
Hayato turned his head and said, "I knew he'd say that." He then stepped forward, ascending the Duel Platform on the right side, while Yugi ascended the one on the left.
Watching the two get ready, Pegasus also picked up the Deck from the tray and placed it on the Duel Platform in front of him, saying in a theatrical voice, "Coming before me to rescue important people, Hayato boy, Yugi-boy, your determination truly touches me. You must have Dueled countless times on your journey, haven't you?"
"Who knows? Anyway, no matter the situation, I always solve it by Dueling," Hayato Ranted, placing his Deck on the Duel Platform after Pegasus.
Yugi put down his Deck and looked at Pegasus, saying seriously, "It's time to settle 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 a Card." Perhaps considering the large audience present, Pegasus unusually spoke in proper English this time, though his pronunciation was as strange as ever, making one suspect he was just a Japanese person pretending to be an American.
The turn order for this Duel was "Pegasus → Yugi → Pegasus → Hayato." Before Hayato's Turn ended, none of the three could Enter Battle Phase. Battle could only begin on the fifth Turn, which was Pegasus's third Turn. As compensation for the 1 VS 2, Pegasus's Life Points were Double to 8000 Points.
"First, I Activate this Spell Card, Toon Table of Contents." An open book appeared on Pegasus's Field. From the displayed pages, seven-colored letters like a rainbow flew out. "From my Deck, I add one Toon Card to my Hand."
"To face you two 'Duel Kings,' even I must be serious~" Winking playfully, Pegasus didn't even need to shuffle, directly Drawing a Card from the top of his Deck. "The Card I add to my Hand is this Toon World."
Ignoring Hayato's Rant about "You didn't shuffle at all," Pegasus displayed the Card and then Activated it directly on the Field: "I Set one Card, then I Activate the Toon World I just added to my Hand."
"That Card that transformed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon into the ugly Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon?" Yugi looked grimly at the book that appeared in Pegasus's Spell/Trap Zone. The book opened, and a city steeped in Darkness rose from it. That was the core of the Toon Deck, Toon World.
"Fairy Tales are quite expensive Illusions. To maintain Toon World, I must Pay 500 Life Points each Turn after this," Pegasus said with a smile. "Since I cannot Enter Battle Phase, I Summon one Monster in Face-Down Defense Position, then I End Turn."
[Pegasus: 8000 LP, Hand 3]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Card] [Toon World]
"It's my Turn, Draw a Card." Yugi Drew a Card; it was Dark Magician Girl. He had already Drawn Cost Down, a Card very suitable 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 Monster Stealing enthusiast, very skilled at Stealing other people's Monsters. Although he didn't know what Hayato meant by "Monster Stealing," Yugi had somewhat remembered one thing: he must be careful not to have his Monsters taken by Pegasus.
Since he couldn't Enter Battle Phase, Summoning a Powerful Monster too early would only increase the risk. In that case...
"I Set two Cards, then I Summon one Monster in Face-Down Defense Position." Yugi Set three Cards and looked at Pegasus. "My Turn ends here."
"Tsk tsk tsk, Yugi-boy, you can't be like this~" Pegasus looked disappointed. "Just a moment ago, you had the Aura of wanting to grind me to dust, but in the end, you're just turtling?"
"Hmph, say what you will," the Pharaoh didn't pay much mind to Pegasus's Rhetoric. Instead, he looked down at the Set Cards on the Field, thinking, 'Will that guy Pegasus See Through my Set Cards?'
[Yugi: 4000 LP, Hand 3]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Card] [Set Card]