On route to Duelist Kingdom and…Wait, what is this about a survival game?!

AN: IRL and many things alongside a pseudo field work is making things quite bad for me right now, thats why this chapter came two weeks later after the last one, sorry for the delay, but for now i had my days and very possibly the next two weeks quite busy for now, i will try to post the next chapter by the next weekend if possible, though something says to me that it will be quite the hurdle for now, still enjoy the chapter and good night or day i guess.

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and while the first week was quite tamed, with me helping around Gramps shop, and school being tolerable with the Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan to pass time with, I couldn't help but being anxious most of the time for two reasons.

The first one was Pegasus' side of the deal; I knew that thanks to our bet he wouldn't be able to escape from the consequences that may fall of him if he tried to go back on his word.

Some would thing that since he gave up even before going through the second challenge would have granted me total victory, but the terms of the deal were specific, and those were the best of two, it wouldn't work if it was only one.

With that said I really tried to concentrate in the present, it didn't matter if most of the time I used helping to manage the store as an excuse, of course Gramps started to pay me too, so I wasn't complaining at all.

But imagine my surprise that by Friday of the week before the arrival of the boat that will take us straight to Duelist Kingdom another envelope arrived at my house, this time with a floppy disk of all things, holy son of a waffle, if a VHS and a brick for a PC wasn't enough then this thing just screamed antique.

I miss my laptop and my ME Legendary Edition

Still, going to turn up my dinosaur of a computer, yes I bought one with Gramps help

I inserted the Disk in it intended port, only to, once again, be transported against my will in this murky disgusting place, with none other than the man of the hour himself waiting for me with a… really amicable expression.

OK

I am scared

In this place he was God literally, sadly he had neither the power nor stamina to use the Millennium Eye abilities at it maximum, I will take every blessing with a grain of salt.

I wasn't going to play it like before, not again, especially after what happened to him, once again, that wasn't supposed to happen, thanks Gods this was the Shadow Realm and not the real world or he would have died in that moment.

"Asuto-boy~" his reply was as cheery as eccentric, something that you would expect from him.

"Pegasus…Good day I may add" a little bit over respectful, but again, I killed someone even if only in spirit, you can say that I was trying to avoid the topic, but the glee that I felt at seeing him go up in flames just disturbed me enough to not be affected by my first kill, no, it was worse than that, because it means that something deep inside me changed, something precious, and that scared me a lot.

"Good day indeed" he was really, happy, no, his happiness was genuine, like that of a kid that finally got the toy that he wanted so much directly from Santa's hands, what in the tarnished name happened during this week.

"You are…surprisingly happy" I said, while looking at him as if he was some kind of time bomb at which he nodded with enthusiasm at me "considering how our last…interaction ended" that made him flinch, just for a moment, giving me enough time to analyze the annoying glare directed at me, only to immediately be replaced by that old joyful expression of his.

Funny thing, he was only annoyed at me for reminding of our previous Duel, not really angry or anything, like your typical; Really? Did you just have to remind of that again?! Expression.

"Mm~" his humming had a…feeling of unnatural glee to it, almost infectious, it just made want to ask more what was behind his good mood.

"Oh, you shouldn't concern with my mood right now, I just received a really wonderful reply to one of my project alongside some other, you can say that I am quite happy about it~" he said while walking forward, and sitting down on the same invisible chair.

And with me replicating, the same action, I sat opposite to him, and with a flick of my wrist, a chess board appeared in front of us.

I didn't have powers, no, but in this pace where he actually was a God or Devil depending of his mood, I found myself intrigued, just after I was able to dispose of my charred VHS, for some of the things that happened in our previous Duel, were strictly more in tune with my desire of seeing him burn, after that little episode of Millennium magic that he put me through.

And with reason; of course

This wasn't only the shadow realm, but, it was at the same time a space were our consciousness clashed for dominance, meaning that I, or at least my mind, had some influence in here, of course this was just a theory of mine, that was just proven true.

He wasn't surprised at all, more like intrigued, still, showing mannerism that I have only heard from some of the highest level of society, he conceded me the white pieces, funny considered that I mainly play Dark attribute monsters cards.

Still, our game this time was more peaceful; he seemed to take in quite good mood my more aggressive style of play, while his was refined, almost elegant to a fault.

The sound of our chess pieces being located and relocated, mover or something, honestly I wasn't even think9ng straight right now.

Because, one must always know, that when a villain is in a particular good mood or even worse has no problem in treating amicably the hero or heroine, nothing good it's going to come on out from it.

"I must admit it Asuto-boy~" he said while moving his Bishop just diagonal to my King, Check; damn "I was expecting…a little bit more of antagonism against little old me" I moved my King just behind my Queen ignoring how little by little I was being cornered between my own pieces.

"And why would you think that? My answer was impassive and my posture relaxed contrary to how my own side the field was being stripped of my pieces with each calculated move from my adversary.

"Oh you know, young man, after all neither of us were exactly fair with each other in our last meeting, didn't we?" Who are you even treating like some friend or acquaintance to think that the last time, was just a mere school dispute, treating each other fair my ass, I was kidnapped, well my soul actually, and forced into an space which held no exit against my will, if that isn't a crime then I don't know what it is.

"Oh, please don't you look at me like that; we were just playing a game after all~" was this guy being serious? Did he want to draw a reaction from me or something? Or is there something more to all this?

I know that I started this Game of Chess but for the love of God this guy wasn't exactly making sense to me, it doesn't surprise me if he acted like our past experience was just a joke, but pretty sure I put the fear of God on this bastard thanks to Masquerade; and now a week later he is all cheery and not trying to at least kill me via poisoning or something.

Tch, it seems like I was too engrossed in my thoughts, this bustard just made several moves weakening my already debilitating defense, pretty sure he was cheating too.

"I doubt very much having my soul in the line of being taken, should be considered a game" facts, thank you, but no he didn't lose that damned smile, not even once.

"Mmm~ indeed, but don't you think that the higher the risk the better the prize in the end" he said while moving his Queen, trapping my King but not being in check.

"No" well, that was dryer than the Sahara even coming from me. I could only move my King backwards,

"Is that so? A shame~" he moved his bishop, this time my King being in check contrary to before, only to know that I trapped myself, with my Towers unable to move, my Queen already taken alongside my Bishops and one of my Horses, and my pawns at one move of being promoted, but…my King was trapped near the border of my field, with my some of my remaining pawns not letting me move my King to another square and his Queen and Bishop not letting me advance.

Check Mate

Well, I'll be damned

"Good game Asuto-boy~" for you, you mean.

"Very well Pegasus, I think this was courtesy enough, tell me what do you want" this time dispelling the chess board with an afterthought, I glared with everything I had at him, making him flinch just for a second, good enough to see that he was still wary, not scared anymore, from me.

"Oh my~ is it so strange from me, the host of the next great tournament of Duel Monster in the entire world to show interest in one of my top contestants?" No

Seems like this time my expression betrayed me, since he chuckled in what I think was amusement.

"Very well, you win; the reason why I brought you here was not only to fulfill my part of the deal" his posture changed becoming more regal, while wearing a metaphorical mask of a good natured individual, meaning, a salesman mask, once a corporate slave always a corporate slave, dammit.

"I have come to buy your information regarding Duel Energy" Knew it "You see Asuto-boy~ after our Duel, my mind wouldn't let me rest in peace" he said adopting a posture of internal conflict with his expression mirroring someone who carried a big burden, fucking dramatics, all of them.

"Oh don't misunderstand me, your…dragons, left quite the impressions on me, but you see-" he leaned more in the invisible table that separated us from each other "Since you told me about said energy, I felt like the final piece of a long doing puzzle of mine has finally come to rest in my hands" he said while mimicking a grabbing motion with his right-hand.

"But poor me, to think that said piece wasn't actually in my hands but yours" his flair for dramatics winning over his salesman persona "A Duel, a Duel we said, we played…and you won" he grimaced at the end, most likely remembering how he became a human sized well-done steak.

I wasn't going to deny that brought a smile to my face, just a small one.

Pretty sure that there is something wrong with me, or at least my head.

"Between the vivid memories of my, well, defeat…" now he was being just a sore loser "While the sensation of those horrible flames remained ingrained deep inside my mind, I found, something, no, I found Her" he looked like he was in a trance, like he could see something only for his eyes in this exact moment, something that I wasn't allowed to see.

"My Cecelia, after more than a decade since the last time I saw her" his face now seemed elated, tortured and, above all, a yearning so deep and twisted that made me have goosebumps in that moment.

Yeah, how could I forget, sometimes, it's the most simple of emotions or events that can drive a once sane man into something completely different, most of the time though; a joke, a mockery of whatever they used to be once upon a time.

Losing someone dear to you is quite simple, as simple as blinking

And that's probably what terrifies me the most, I know how easy, simple, is to lose someone.

And I know how easy

Oh how easy is…

To break

Pegasus, at this point was bad news, and I made it worse, next time won't be that easy.

Dammit! You reap what you sow as they say

But now, now I need to put everything in the frying pan, and try to move the next events to my favor.

I am sorry Gramps

 I am sorry guys.

"Duel Energy…" my words got him out from his trance, now paying his underbidding attention to me only "…can be obtained; I don't know what machinery will be needed to extract it successfully, but it can be done" my words were what he desired, what he yearned for "But there is a catch…" his narrowed at that last bit of information.

I wasn't going to make him beg for it, this, after all, was my own scheme from the beginning "…the stronger the duelists, the higher both in amount and quality the energy can be extracted" my words were condemning, both for my friends and every innocent duelist to participate in this farce of a battle royal.

It didn't help that in anime and manga most of them were children, of course I knew that Pegasus couldn't stop the inauguration of Duelist Kingdom and much less find someone that can reveal the mechanism behind Duel Energy alongside developing the machines necessary for its extraction.

It was something researched originated by Viper and Yubel, and while the technology was something made thanks to Viper assistance, Yubel was the one to give away the information of how to use said energy.

While I only knew that it existed as a representation of the life force present in every duelist as well as a very important aspect of the soul.

But beyond that I could only draw blank, the anime and much less the manga didn't explain in detail regarding Duel Energy.

At the end of everything, I was just bluffing, like a certain long nosed God.

Though in my honest opinion, my only real God is that good sir that is always greeting the sun.

Meanwhile Pegasus just closed his eyes, assimilating the information that I could give to him regarding DE, he just sat there humming once or twice while sometimes he moved his body left and right.

Honestly speaking, those were some looooong fifteen awkward minutes of just staring at a man that seemed more ready to contemplate the many paths of life instead of thinking carefully about misguiding information, not to say that is somewhat fake.

"Well, that's has been enough thinking for one day" he said while clasping his hands, I don't know why, I wouldn't say that what I did was right or wrong, but at least I know that I gained his favor, and that means something.

"While I would like to ask more about the finer details of Duel Energy, I will graciously take what has already been gifted to me~" I arched one eyebrow at that, gifted? Fat chance; I coughed a little violently at that, I wasn't going to be subtle about this.

"5 Billion" I said displaying all the fingers of right hand, I could have asked more sure, but I wasn't going to push my hand, and much less with someone as eccentric as Pegasus; no, I was preparing to bar- "Done" he said with a wide smile while clapping once.

Excuse me, DaFuck?!

That easy?!

Ok, there has to be a catch, there always is! I just hadn't seen it yet, I kn- "it is so rare to believe in my words Asuto-boy?~" ok, wipe that Cheshire grin from your face right now bastard, you are not still living with the money of your deceased parents, not everyone can be a multi-billionaire CEO!

I gritted my teeth's, trying not to growl at how…uncaring he sounded when he agreed almost instantly to my payment, still "I want it in cash" I gave my fiercest scowl, trying to make him sweat but- "Of course, there wouldn't be any other way after all" I came from being a corporate slave with a really disgusting work schedule, the point that there was people that couldn't appreciate the effort and time to make money was something that always pissed me off.

HIS jovial smile mixed with an air of pure arrogance, made me clench my teeths in frustration, I should have asked him to personally make for me some of the cards that I still needed; dammit I was careless.

In other thought, maybe I should try doing a new Ritual Beast Deck I always wanted to try one alongside Shadoll, always been a fan of Duel Terminal.

"Now regarding our previous bet" Pegasus said straightening his posture and glancing directly at me, "I think I know one of them Asuto-boy~; and I am sure it must be related to the rules of my Duelist Kingdom I assume~" His smile, infectious, charismatic, but with the air of a know it all that always made people a little mad at him, but only with his charisma he could easily make them forgive him or just pass it, its Maximillian Pegasus what did you expect from him?

I nodded at his inquiry, I wanted to deal with some of the most stupid things that could happen in a Duel, like for example freely summoning any available monster to the field, the field bonus as well as the DnD setting, though, the last one seemed to be the less likely to happen.

"Very well, but I assure you, you will find them…quite entertaining" he said while handing me a pamphlet? Of Duelist Kingdom, giving some of the already known information thanks to the anime, like where it's going to happen, time of arrival and departure of the cruiser that will take us to his private island, it will last an entire week…

Wait a damn minute

I decided to pay more attention to the pamphlet, still not sure if it really was a real one or his own idea of a really bad joke, noticing a couple of changes that weren't in the anime.

1st.-The duration of Duelist Kingdom will last an entire week, and during weekend will be celebrated the quarter finals alongside the semi-finals, with Sunday being the last day, when the finals will happen between not only the two last remaining duelist but immediately after the Final Duel had been resolved, the Duel against Pegasus will follow alongside the coronation of the new King of Duels, or better known as the greatest and strongest player of Duel Monster.

2nd.-The game will still happen in the island, but a new secret rule had been added to the rooster, alongside with the rule of tributing monsters to summon some of those with a higher level, tributing one monster to summon one level five or six monster, while those of level seven to twelve will need two or three, depending on the requirements to summon or special summon a monster.

3rd.- Ritual and Fusion summoned monster can´t attack in the first turn they have been summoned to the field, either from the graveyard, hand or deck.

4th.- Monsters destroyed by card effects will inflict damage to the life points of the owner of said monster equal to half of the attack points of the destroyed monster, this only activates in case it is a monster which effect do not target an specific monster, this rule can be later changed to receiving damage equal to the total attack points of the monster in case this has been affected by cards like Jigen Bakudan, which target and specific monster in the field.

5th.- Monsters affected or destroyed by effects that banish them from play won't count as target of the 4th rule, nonetheless, once this monster had been removed from play they can't come back to the Duel until this has ended.

6th.- The duelists are highly advised to use the entire Duel field in their favor this comes with the advantage of interacting directly with the monsters or some of the most audacious decision during the Duel.

7th.- Each field have been distributed in different key points of the island, once a Duel has begun, the only way to end it is with one duelist or the other to claim victory.

8th.- Spell cards can be used even during the opponent turn and their effects, depending of the card, can even be used by their opponent.

9th.- Depending on the type of field this will give a field bonus attack and defense point as long as the monster type truly is related to the field, the bonus will always duplicated half of the original attack points of the monster that benefits from the field bonus and will we be added to the attack points of any monster that share the type of the original.

10th.- Direct attack its completely valid and there is no need to have a monster always on your side of the field, meaning, in this case the duelist are not obliged to summon a monster on their side of the field to avoid losing the Duel.

11th.- Each participant will have with them a glove in which will be located the stars chips necessary to access to the castle in the center of the island and advance to the finals of the tournament. You need a total of ten to pass neither more nor less.

12th.- The participants, if they agreed on it, can bet their rarest and most precious card. They can only get it back through a Duel. Stealing would count as immediate disqualification from Duelist Kingdom alongside being expelled from the island and consequently banned forever from participating in any official Duel Monster Tournament.

13th.- You can Duel any duelist in the island, there are no friends nor foes here only duelist with a big flame in their hearts to pursue the title of King of Duels.

14th.- The Life Points for each duelist will always be two thousand but this can be decreased or increased depending of the car played, or the strategy of the duelist.

15th.- Spell cards that cause immediate damage effect like Hinotama or Final Flame or any card similar to them, cue spell card that cause immediate damage effect, are banned from the tournament; using them will result in the duelist disqualification alongside being expelled from the island.

16th.- Last but no less important; this is a survival game, trust no one.

The last rule made me speechless, not only thanks to seeing the heavily altered Duelist Kingdom rules, which at its best, or at least the originals rules at that used to be too vague in contrast with this more organized set of rules, I have to give it to Pegasus, the man is a freaking voyeur of the highest class, no doubt he stole the video record of Kaiba and I Duel directly from KC servers, or a certain group of five greedy assholes gave it away with the right incentive.

It's the Green ladies and gentlemen enough said.

I was about to agree to the new rules, I mean I had nothing to say to it, until "Oh I almost forgot~" he said like remembering something utterly and absolutely important, like if it was one of those comedy sketches where the character just forgot something of utter relevance and the very last minute, something I used to do a lot in high school with my old group of friends, always a pleasure to be the bastard sometimes in those times, simpler times.

He grab, made? A pen out of nowhere and with a flourish, he wrote the seventeenth rule with an ease that would have fooled only those with a pea for brain…

…why Joey and Tristan faces did just came to my mind?

Wait…focus Kirihara, focus!

17th This rule must be absolutely, totally and unbreakable from the moment that was written down in this wonderful set of rules, and that is none other than the permanent banning of the Fusion Monster Card known as Masquerade, the Blazing Dragon from any and every official and unofficial Duel to ever exist from the moment that this rule has been written down in the official Duel Monster Rulebook.

Sonofabi-#"%""$#$%"%$"%$"%#""%$"%"%"#%"$%#"%$

"#$%$#%"%$"%"%"%"%$"$#%$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Nonono, my dear boy, this journal as wonderful as it is it shouldn't come with such obscene vocabulary" wait what, Pegasus get out from my journal/diary in this instance!

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH"

FIVE MINUTES LATER + COMEDIC CHASE

Where was I? Oh right!

While some of the words from my mouth could have made a sailor blush like sixteenth years old teen, they were worth it considering the face of abject horror that Pegasus just made at me after my not so little outburst.

Still…have to give something to Masquerade for being such a Good Boy!

........

???

Did someone just laughed or was it my imagination?

Weird, I swear I am the only one in my private suite.

Meh, too many horror films I guess

Though if it really was Masquerade and Co, I will be glad to be so.

I miss them

Ok, enough of the downpour coming back to what truly matters here.

........

Right, headpats, headpats are sacred and can solve many problems at once, they are too the ultimate sacrifice and reward!

Right, now if only I could see and touch my Duel Spirits I think that would solve that problem.

.

..

…

….

Yeah, let me hanging out here, why not?

Ugh, whatever, at least Pegasus expression of utter disgust, is that Tanjiro? Is still good enough to ignore, how my own Monster just let me hanging with the expectation, I just hope they aren't a bunch of trolls.

I mean, they are supposed to be some kind of weird corrupted fairies and dragons you know what could be the possibility of them being massive trolls and assholes to their own master, pff, impossible, right?

Right?!

Cough cough*

After that little, err, episode, Pegasus' fake coughing brought me out to the matter at hand, meaning, the rules of Duelist Kingdom, he was waiting for my approval, even though I knew that he already implemented them, I mean Masquerade perma-banning its example enough, and with this I, literally, participated in making and establishing them, even though I did nothing at all.

He played me in this one, making me use my first favor from me, well played Pegasus, well played.

I grabbed an imaginary cup of wine, made real thanks to the effect of the shadow realm, that answered to Pegasus free imagination use, and gave him a toa-

CLINK*

Did…

Did he just…?

A wink and a smile while taking a sip from the fruity classic wine was his answer.

OH THAT MOTHE"$#"$"$"$"$"$""$"$"$

No, control yourself Kirihara, you are better than that, you are better than this wannabe troll, deep breath boy, deep breaths!

"Oh my!" fake concern and a badly hidden smirk greeted me "It's something wrong Asuto-boy~ you just look like a certain doggy officer that could never trap a funny but cunning rabbit not even once in his life~" oh know he is comparing his cheap cartoon with our situation, fantastic, ugh.

Wait a sec

Oh no…

Looking slightly downward, I could feel how my nonexistent sweat made way through my back, while I was praying that he didn't transform me in something that I wish I have never got to known in this life or my previous one.

Please don't be a furry Please don't be a furryPlease don't be a furryPlease don't be a furryPlease don't be a furryPlease don't be a furryPlease don't be a furry

Looking quickly at myself, and making sure that everything was fine just alleviated my fears, thanks god I wasn't transformed in a dog or something, furries begone!

Laughter came to my ears, or better said, that bastard was just laughing at me, after making me fall for that little ruse of him.

I swear that the veins on my head were about to pop anytime soon.

Concentrate dammit!

"Enough Pegasus!" I yelled while slamming the palm of my hand against the invisible table, what came with it was a tremor inside the very space that we found ourselves in, even Pegasus was shocked by it, if not by the widening of his only visible eye.

OK, that wasn't my intention, but, if it works it works!

"Now, I will follow with my second favor right now!" my statement made him sit straight again, his only remaining eye narrowed at me, he seemed ready to fight against anything that I was going to ask for, of course he was still under the bet effect so he couldn't exactly say no, that didn't mean that he couldn't bargain with me for it, though my second and third favor would be so simple that I was pretty sure he wouldn't have a problem with them.

Now with his sole attention on me, my next words would let him perplexed as well as dumbfounded, as for what did I say?

Well…

…it was quite simple

You see, it was…

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To Be Continued