Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy of Seraph ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

Legacy of Seraph

Chapter Eight

Yuan slipped on a dark gray suit jacket and looked himself over in the mirror. He tightened his tie slightly and turned around. "Well, how do I look?" he asked Marik.

"Like you're trying to impress someone," Marik said, "and about to succeed. I like the tie."

Yuan smiled and looked at his tie. All over the tie were computer chips and components, and on the end of the tie was a mouse - not a computer device, but the animal. "Thanks," Yuan said. "Your tie is pretty cool as well." Marik's tie depicted an Egyptian sunset over the pyramids.

"Well, I guess we are ready to go," Marik said. He walked out the door, Yuan close behind.

When they left the room, Yuan and Marik found Yugi and Joey ready to go. Both were wearing black suits, but their ties were different. Joey's tie had classic muscle cars all over it, while Yugi's had the theme of a board game.

"Hey, guys," Yugi said. "What's up?"

"Not much," Yuan said. "I just dozed off. Where are the others?"

"Not ready yet," Joey said. "Knowin' Tristan and Duke, dey probably hid half of deir stuff on each other, and as for Tea and Serenity . . ."

"Being girls, they'll take a while," Yuan finished.

"Bingo." Just then, the door to Tristan and Duke's suite opened.

"Hey, guys," Yuan said as Tristan and Duke walked out of their room. They each wore a black suit, differing once again in their ties. Tristan's tie had various motorcycles on it, while Duke's tie had dice on it.

"Hey, Joey, nice tie," Tristan said. "Although you'd look better in a tie with dogs on it."

"Oh yeah?" Joey shot back angrily. "Well, shouldn't you be wearin' a tie with monkeys on it?"

"Hey, what's all the commotion out here?" Mai walked out of a room and saw Joey and Tristan going at it. "Really. When are you two ever going to grow up?"

Joey and Tristan looked over and saw Mai. Instantly, Joey's face went beet-red when he saw what Mai was wearing. She wore a violet dress with straps that wrapped around the back of her neck. There was no back on her dress; instead, a series of straps cris-crossed her back. The dress stopped just above her high-heel shoes, with cuts on either side to allow extra leg room. On her arms were elbow-length silk gloves. It was obvious that she had spent hours with her dress, her hair, and her makeup to make herself look her absolute best.

Suddenly, Joey felt an elbow in his ribs. "Joey, don't just stand there!" Yuan hissed. "Compliment her!"

"Um, uh, Mai?" Joey said, beginning to sweat. "You, uh, you look great!"

Mai looked over at Joey and smiled. "Why thank you, Joseph," she responded. "You look nice yourself." She then looked around. "Where are the girls?"

"Still getting ready, I guess," Yugi responded.

"Well, we still have twenty minutes," Mai remarked. "I guess I'll wait up here with you guys. So, what's new?"

Yugi, Joey, Marik, Yuan, Tristan, and Duke all looked at each other. "Well, a lot," Yugi said. "We don't have time to go into detail right now, but we'll tell you after the reception."

Mai looked over at Yuan. "Also, how did you guys meet the son of Charles McCann?" Mai asked.

"Again, it's a long story," Yuan said, "but I was in Domino on business. You see, I work for my uncle's computer company, McCann Microchips. I was in Domino to make a business proposal to Seto Kaiba." Just then, the door to Tea and Serenity's suite opened and they walked out.

The boys stood speechless when they saw the girls. Tea wore a black strapless dress that went down to her feet and black velvet gloves. Serenity wore a red dress that went up to her neck and left her arms bare. The dress extended to her feet, and she wore elbow-length white gloves. She also had a silk shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

"Wow, you two look great!" Yugi exclaimed.

Tea smiled. "Thanks, Yugi," she said. She then looked at Mai. "Wow, Mai! You look gorgeous!"

"Why, thank you, Tea," Mai said. "You look great yourself." She then looked at everyone. "You know, it's customary for the guys and girls to act as escorts for each other. You know what that means! Pair up!" Mai locked her arm into Joey's as she watched the boy tense up when she did so.

Tea walked over to Yuan. "Yuan, would you escort me to the ballroom?"

Yuan smiled. "It would be my pleasure." Tea locked her arm with Yuan's arm.

Serenity looked at Yugi. "Yugi, could you escort me?"

Yugi smiled. "Sure." Both were unaware of the murderous expressions on Tristan's and Duke's faces.

-8-

Yuan and Tea walked into the ballroom. There were round tables with white tablecloths everywhere, and there was a dance floor with a stereo system set up on the other side of the room.

"All right!" Tea exclaimed. "There's going to be dancing!"

"Looks like it," Yuan said.

Tea looked at Yuan. "Do you dance?" she asked.

"Sometimes," Yuan said. "I'm decent, I guess. Most of what I do is done on the fly. Problem is, I always tire myself out too quickly."

Yuan took a closer look at the tables. Each table had ten seats, and each seat had a name tag in front of it on the table. He quickly spotted their table. Yuan sat down next to Tea and a man he did not know.

Yuan turned toward the man. He had long silver hair that he had tied back, except for two of his bangs, which fell in front of his face. He had a round, gold patch over one eye, and the other eye was a dark brown. He wore a red suit jacket with black pants . Yuan thought he looked familiar, but he could not quite place his face. Nevertheless, he held out his hand. "Hi, how are you? I'm Yuan McCann."

The man took Yuan's hand and shook it. "Charmed," he said. "I assume you're Charles McCann's son?"

Yuan nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other in the tournament," the man said. Then, Joey and Mai made their way to the table and sat down on Tea's left.

"Hey," Joey said to the man. "You look familiar. Who are you?"

"Joey!" Tea scolded. "Be polite!" She then turned to the man. "I apologize. My friend is not the most civil person in the world."

The man dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "No worries. I get that all the time these days."

One by one, the others made their way to the table and sat down. Finally, Serenity and Yugi walked over and took their seats.

Upon seeing Yugi, the unknown man's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Well, now, this is a pleasant surprise," he said.

"I'm sorry?" Yugi said. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Do you mean to say that you don't recognize me?" the man responded. "I'm hurt. I have changed my appearance, but I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Yugi-boy."

Yugi's eyebrows shot up. "Pegasus!!" He then fell silent. 'Yami!'

'I know, Yugi,' Yami responded. 'I heard everything. It seems that our old foe Pegasus is back.'

'What do you think he wants this time?' Yugi asked.

'I don't know,' Yami asked. 'But I did notice one thing. The aura of hostility I sensed from him in Duelist Kingdom is gone now.'

'What do you mean?' Yugi asked.

'I may be wrong, but I don't think he has any mal intent this time,' Yami said.

"Whaddaya want dis time, Pegasus?" Joey demanded.

Pegasus held up a hand to silence him. "Peace," he said. "I want nothing more than to compete in this tournament."

"Yeah, right!" Joey exclaimed. "Like I believe dat!"

"I think he's telling the truth." Everyone turned to Yugi and found that he had switched out with Yami. "I could sense no hostility or ill intent from him. I think what he's saying is true."

"Well, if you say so . . ." Yuan said. "But why did you change your appearance?"

"Quite simple, really," Pegasus responded. "You noticed that until I spoke until Yugi-boy that none of you recognized me. That was my aim."

"But why wouldn't you want anybody to recognize you?" Joey asked.

"Use your head," Pegasus responded. "Who is the last person who I would want to recognize me here?"

Joey thought for a moment. Then it hit him. "Kaiba!"

"Exactly," Pegasus said. "If Kaiba-boy were to see me here in his tournament, he'd do anything and everything within his power to show me the door."

-8-

Seto Kaiba, dressed to kill, was looking through a few security cameras. So far, everything seemed to be running smoothly. He then looked in one camera. He saw Yugi, Yuan, and the others with a man whom Kaiba did not recognize, yet at the same time looked very familiar. "Roland, get me the seating arrangement," he said. His most trustworthy agent showed up with the seating chart. Kaiba looked at Yugi's table and looked for the name of the mystery man.

Maximillion Pegasus.

Kaiba was stunned beyond belief. How could his most hated adversary slip into his tournament unnoticed? He turned to Roland. "Tell me what the hell is going on here."

"What do you mean, sir?" Roland asked.

"What I mean, Roland, is WHY THE HELL IS MAXIMILLION PEGASUS IN MY TOURNAMENT?!"

"What?" Roland exclaimed, surprised. "I don't know, sir."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. He knew of only one person who could have let him in. "Roland, bring Mokuba here," he said, a calm anger swimming through his voice. "Now."

"I'm here," Mokuba said. "What is it, Seto?"

"Why is Maximillion Pegasus in my tournament?" Kaiba demanded angrily.

"You said yourself that nobody would be barred from entering the tournament," Mokuba said. "Besides, I did some research. Since losing his Millennium Eye, Pegasus has changed."

"Be that as it may, you are NOT allowed to bypass my authority," Kaiba said. "I'll let it go this time, but next time I won't be so easy on you."

-8-

"There's something else, isn't there?" Yami asked after dinner was finished. "You're not telling us something."

"That's my business," Pegasus said.

"Oh, really?" Yami responded. "Would it by chance happen to have something to do with a man bypassing your security and dueling you to less than one thousand life points?"

Pegasus's eyebrows shot up. "What? How could you possibly know about that?"

"I didn't," Yami answered. "You just told me."

Pegasus stared at his plate for a moment. "All right, I don't deny it," he said. "It happened just as Yugi-boy said. But what could have tipped you off?"

Yuan looked around. "Sorry, Pegasus, but it's a long story. It will have to wait until after the reception. I know who it was that did so, but I can't tell you with too many people around." He took a business card out of his pocket and jotted down a number on the back. "Here. This is my room number in this hotel. Meet us up there after the reception."

Confused, Pegasus took the business card. He then nodded. "It's a date. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go to the little boys' room."

After he left, Yami turned to Yuan. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

"I did what I thought best," Yuan responded. "Pegasus is not only an expert duelist, but he is the creator of the present day Duel Monsters. He will be one of the most valuable allies in our fight."

-8-

Pegasus took a seat in one of the stalls in the men's room. As he sat, he took the business card that Yuan gave to him and looked at the front. It was a business card for McCann Microchips. Pegasus knew the company well; in fact, he was a previous client. He had even met Artis McCann on one occasion, back when he ran the company on his own. He knew that Charles had joined his brother in running the company after his retirement. Therefore, it surprised him greatly to see the name of not Charles, but Yuan. Pegasus knew that it was possible that the elder McCann had retired completely and left his son to help Artis, but he was surprised nonetheless. Pegasus could think of no way to keep the media out of a celebrity's private affairs. He decided that he would add that to his list of questions when he talked to Yuan after the reception.

-8-

Pegasus got back to the table just in time for dessert. He decided to start a conversation. "So, Yugi-boy, how's your grandfather doing?"

Joey, Tristan, and Tea all gave Pegasus disapproving glances, but Yugi did not seem to mind. "He's doing well."

"Does he still have that Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Pegasus asked.

Yugi looked down. "He should," he said gloomily. "Upon learning that Grandpa had the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon, Kaiba challenged him for it. Kaiba won and ripped the card up. That way, nobody could use it against him."

Pegasus appeared surprised. Apparently, this was news to him. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number. "Karl, this is Pegasus." Pause. "All right, good." Pause. "That's not why I'm calling, Karl. I have a special request for you. Print up and authenticate a Blue Eyes White Dragon card and place it in the vault. I'll decide what to do with it later." Pause. "Karl, I don't pay you to ask questions, I pay you to work." Pause. "Good. That's what I like to hear. See you later." He then hung up.

Yugi's face turned red. "Really, Pegasus, that isn't necessary."

"Yugi-boy, I want there to be four Blue Eyes White Dragons available," Pegasus said. "It isn't fair that Kaiba-boy should have the only available three in his deck, is it? He needs to learn what it's like to be on the receiving end of its attack."

Soon, the dessert was finished and it was time for the dancing. People got up from their tables and stepped up to the dance floor. Immediately, Tea jumped up and made her way to the dance floor.

"Well, Tea certainly seems excited," Yuan remarked.

"Yeah, Tea can't pass up an opportunity to dance," Yugi commented. "How about you?"

Yuan shook his head. "I tire myself out too quickly."

"Hey, Serenity, you wanna dance?" Duke asked.

"Hey! Back off, dice-boy!" Tristan shouted.

"Back off, both of ya!" Joey interrupted. "Cool it!" Duke and Tristan immediately stopped. Then, a slow song started.

Joey turned his attention to Mai. "Uh, Mai? Would you, uhh, what I mean to say is, um . . ."

"Just shut up and dance with me," Mai responded. Grabbing Joey's hand, she led him onto the dance floor.

Yuan shook his head, grinning. "Those two are a class act. It's obvious they like each other."

Tea walked up to Yuan. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Let's go where?" Yuan asked, playing innocent.

"To dance, of course!" Tea grabbed Yuan by the wrist and gently led him out onto the dance floor. Tea then stepped in front of Yuan and wrapped her hands around her neck. Yuan wrapped his hands around her waist and they began to sway with the music.

"Hey, you seem to be a pretty good dancer to me," Tea remarked.

Yuan blushed. "Well, that's slow dancing. I got some practice in high school."

"Yeah, I bet you were a real hit with the ladies," Tea said.

"Actually, quite the contrary," Yuan answered. "In high school, I was a loser. I looked totally different than I do now. If you saw my senior photograph, you wouldn't know it was me. I still had enough courage to ask girls to dance. Fortunately, the girls I knew were very nice and would willingly dance with me."

Tea thought for a second to bring up a new topic. "Where do you go to school?" she asked.

"I just finished my freshman year at West Virginia University," Yuan said. "My father went there himself. He was born in West Virginia, then moved to New York when he was ten. They moved back to the Mountain State when my father was fifteen and he went to college at WVU. My father was a mechanical engineering major, I believe. I myself am a computer engineering major."

"Is that so you'll be able to fully support your uncle as a business partner?" Tea asked.

"Yes and no," Yuan said. "My father was willing to let me do whatever I wanted, and I chose to get involved with computers. My uncle was happy, yes, but I love working with computers. That's the real reason I chose that career path. Anyway, enough about me. How about you? Have you given any thought to what you want to do?"

"I want to dance," Tea said. "It's been my dream since I was just a kid. In fact, I'd like to live here in New York."

Yuan laughed. "I guess that's the reason you were so excited in the limo. Yeah, Yugi mentioned something to that effect."

The song to which they had been dancing came to an end. "Thanks for the dance," Tea said.

Yuan grinned sheepishly. "Sure. Any time." As he walked back to his seat, he realized something. Man, some things about me never change.

-8-

There was a knock on the door of Yuan and Marik's room. Marik got the door and Mai and Pegasus entered. Mai took a seat on the end of Marik's bed, and Pegasus sat in a chair beside Yuan's bed.

"So, what is this about, you guys?" Mai asked.

"Yes, I've been wondering the same thing," Pegasus said.

"All right," Yuan said. "I know the real reason why this tournament is being held. I also know who attacked you, Pegasus, in your office without getting caught by security. Now, I want you to keep in mind that everything that I will say here is true, no matter how far-fetched it may seem." Yuan took a deep breath. "The truth is, the person who attacked Pegasus, and hundreds more, are in reality aliens from outer space." Suddenly, Mai and Pegasus were completely focused on Yuan.

-8-

"So you see, Kaiba is holding this tournament to draw the Westrams here," Yuan said. "He figures that with all of the world's most powerful duelists here, the Westrams won't stand a chance. However, he is also taking a huge gamble. If any of these duelists lose, they will be ripe for the picking by the Westrams, making them even more powerful than they already are. Imagine how we would fare if they took out all six of the continental champions. Not to mention that the leader of the Westrams has the Millennium Eye. Not even my father could win against him. The only person who can defeat somebody armed with the Millennium Eye is Yugi."

"Hmm," Pegasus said. "You know, it does make sense. But why are you telling us?"

"Because you are both powerful duelists," Yugi said. "Have you ever heard the saying 'there's safety in numbers?' Well, the more strong duelists we have on our side, the better our chances are."

"But why didn't you want to tell us at the reception?" Pegasus asked.

"Think about it," Yuan responded. "The people down there would have only heard bits and pieces of what I had to say. If they didn't get the complete story, they'd think I'm crazy.

"Anyway, the duels don't start until Monday at noon. We have until then to relax. Be prepared for anything, and keep an eye out for anything remotely suspicious."